U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, on March 2 co-sponsored legislation Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., introduced Feb. 16 to direct the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to continue to work jointly with the Israel Space Agency "in identifying and cooperatively pursuing peaceful space exploration and science initiatives in areas of mutual interest," according to the Library of Congress government information web site.

In October 2015, the two agencies signed an agreement that establishes the framework for NASA to utilize ISA technology for future missions to Mars and other endeavors.

The two space agencies have collaborated on various ventures since 1985.

The legislation -- HR 1159 -- had 25 co-sponsors, as of Sunday -- 13 Republicans and 12 Democrats.

Other New York co-sponsors are Reps. Peter King, R-Long Island, and Kathleen Rice, D-Long Island.
Glens Falls student is named to NSHSS

GLENS FALLS  Glens Falls High School senior Zain Ashfaq has been selected to become a member of the National Society of High School Scholars. The society recognizes top scholars who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, scholarship and community commitment.

The announcement was made by NSHSS founder and Chairman Claes Nobel, senior member of the family that established the Nobel Prizes. NSHSS members automatically become lifetime members at the time of their initial membership. At each step along the way  from high school to college to career  NSHSS connects outstanding young scholars with the resources they need to develop their strengths and pursue their passions.

For more information about NSHSS, visit www.nshss.org.

Fort Ann teacher is Teacher of the Week

FORT ANN  Fort Ann Elementary School first-grade teacher Lynn Andrejkovics was named Teacher of the Week on March 6 by TCT Federal Credit Union in Ballston Spa. Every week during the school year, the credit union salutes local educators and school employees for their outstanding efforts during the year.

The Teacher of the Week is nominated by a fellow school community member who wants to acknowledge dedication to students and enthusiasm for learning. All school employees, including teachers, aids, assistants, administration staff, janitors, nurses, bus drivers and more, are eligible to receive the award. To nominate a special school employee and view past Teachers of the Week, visit www.tctfcu.org or email teacher@ adirondackbroadcasting.com.

Nominations are kept on file throughout the school year and one recipient is selected each Monday morning and announced on-air. The award includes gift certificates to local businesses, a commemorative plaque, flowers and gift bag. Teacher of the Week is sponsored in part by TCT Federal Credit Union and Adirondack Broadcasting.

Fort Ann student makes Deans List

FREDONIA  Katelyn Jean White of Fort Ann has been named to the Deans List for the fall 2016 semester at the State University of New York at Fredonia.

Deans List students have earned a grade point average of at least 3.30 or higher for that semester out of a possible 4.0, while carrying a full-time minimum course load of at least 12 credit hours.

Student is inducted into honor society

PORTLAND, Maine  Ashley Ellis of Argyle was inducted into Pi Theta Epilson, a National Honor Society for Occupational Therapy students at the University of New England, on Feb. 6.
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School will present We Will Rock You

LAKE GEORGE  Lake George Jr./Sr. High School Drama Club will present the musical We Will Rock You: School Edition at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Lake George High School auditorium, 381 Canada St.

Directed by Mickey Luce with Music Director Catherine Reid, 40 Lake George students in grades 7 through 12 will present this musical offering based on the music of the rock group Queen. We Will Rock You was the longest running musical at Londons Dominion Theatre and was the longest running musical in West Ends history. Rights for production of this show were only recently released in the United States.

General admission tickets are on sale now for $10 at the high school. Tickets available at the door. Call 668-5452.

Bowlathon will help fund new monument

GLENS FALLS  The Global War On Terrorism Monument Organization will hold its fourth annual Monumental Bowlathon from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Kingpins Alley Family Fun Center, 166 Saratoga Ave., South Glens Falls. For $12 per person, participants can enjoy two hours of open bowling (including shoes), snack bar specials, bar specials, prizes, a basket raffle and a 50/50 raffle.

Established in December 2012, the Global War On Terrorism Monument Organization was created by retired Navy officer Steven Dean in a partnership with the Adirondack Veterans House and VFW Post 2475 of Glens Falls, for the purpose of erecting a monument to commemorate and honor service members of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The monument and landscaping is expected to cost $100,000, which will be paid for entirely through donations.

Information about the Global War On Terrorism Monument Organization, fundraising events and the monument can be found at www.gwotmonument.org.

Cambridge class will host Easter Craft Fair

CAMBRIDGE  Cambridge Central School Districts Class of 2019 will host an Easter Craft Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the school auditorium, 24 S. Park St., as a fundraising effort.

More than 30 unique crafters and vendors will have items for sale. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase with the opportunity to win items donated by the crafters and vendors. The drawing will be held at 2:30 p.m. and ticket holders need not be present to win. Throughout the day, the Easter Bunny will be available for photos at various prices, depending on the photo size. Food and drink concessions will also be available for purchase.

Vendor tables are still available. Email j42799@msn.com for pricing and other details.

Museum will host lecture on knitting

GRANVILLE  The Slate Valley Museum, 17 Water St., will host Knitting in America, a lecture with Carolyn Webb, from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, sponsored by The Village Yarn Shop. The talk will give a history of the craft and how it affected the home front.

Webb, who lives in Bennington, Vermont, has been a knitter for more than 50 years, having learned from her mother when she was about 10. Over the years, she has taken many classes from nationally known knitter-designers, attended national workshops, worked in a local yarn store and taught children and adults how to knit. Sweaters, vests, hats, tops, scarves, toys, mitts, socks and shawls are some of the knitting she has enjoyed.

If you have vintage pieces of knitting or crochet, please bring them and their stories to share with the crowd of knitting enthusiasts. Lecture is free with $5 admission cost.

Public library to host Alzheimers program

CAMBRIDGE  Cambridge Public Library will host Alzheimers: The Basics with MaryLou Gaylord from the Alzheimers Association program from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the library, 21 W. Main St.

This educational program provides information on detection, causes and risk factors, stages of the disease and treatment of Alzheimers disease, dementia and memory loss.

For more information, contact MaryLou at 888-5606.

Community forests are discussion topic

CHESTER  The Town of Chester Library will host a free discussion about community forests at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Town of Chester Library, 6307 Route 9. Guest speaker will be Julie Renaud Evans of the Northern Forest Center.

Refreshments will be served. Contact Craig Leggett at 275-5484 with questions or email townofchestersuper@gmail.com.

Local photographers work to be displayed

LAKE LUZERNE  The Hadley-Luzerne Public Library will display the photography of Don Polunci during the month of April at the library, 19 Main St.

Polunci retired from Glens Falls High School after teaching art and photography for 32 years. He served as vice president of the Adirondack Camera Club and was president of the Southern Adirondack Audubon Society. He is a published photographer and was a finalist in an Adirondack Life photo contest in 2010 and 2012. His work has been published in several magazines and newspapers, including Adirondack Life and National Wildlife Magazine. Don has participated in a number of juried art shows and is very active in the local arts community. He has traveled extensively to photograph nature.

Quilter to teach how to sew nesting totes

FORT EDWARD  Avid quilter and sewer Faye Pollack will hold a workshop to teach how to quilt and sew nesting totes from 1 to 5 p.m. April 2 at the Fort Edward Free Library, 23 East St. The workshop is geared toward adults, but anyone with sewing experience may register. Participants must bring a portable sewing matching; large, good-quality scissors; a 12-inch ruler; pins; and thread colors of neutral black and purple.

The workshop presenter will provide all of the material needed to make two quilted nesting totes. Fee for this workshop is $10 and must be paid five days in advance. Class size is limited to 10 participants. Contact the library at 747-6743 to register, and payments can be made by check to the Fort Edward Free Library.

Museum of Dance

to host dance festival

SARATOGA SPRINGS  The Dance Alliance and Skidmore College Dance Department are sponsoring the annual Dance +27 Festival from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 2 at the National Museum of Dance School of the Arts, 99 S. Broadway.

This years offerings will include toddler and me ballet, Zumba kids, kids hip-hop, yoga, barre, contemporary ballet, jazz, modern, Indian dance, anatomical alignment for dancers and professional headshots.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. Participants can sign up for one class or spend the entire day. To register online or for more information, go to www.dancealliance.org.

Volunteer is honored by area organizations

GREENWICH  Wallace Paprocki was honored March 11 for her volunteer dedication to the Greenwich Free Library I.V.H. Gill Room, Friends of the Library and Willards Mountain Daughters of the American Revolution.

Paprocki joined the Gill Room volunteers in 2006. She indexed all the materials, making it an invaluable resource for genealogists and members of the community. She assists patrons with research as well as joining them in cemetery searches. The Friends of the Library value her role as treasurer as well as her assistance in sorting books for sales. She makes countless trips to the bank and keeps track of what Friends earn and spend. She has been secretary for Willards Mountain DAR since this organization began in the early 1900s. These minutes are invaluable as a record of the history of the area.

Agricultural summer internship available

GREENWICH  Agricultural Stewardship Association will offer one paid summer internship opportunity to provide outreach programming assistance. The intern will be supervised by ASAs communications outreach manager and spend the majority of his or her time working at ASAs office in Greenwich as well as attending programs in Washington and Rensselaer counties and field checking farm data in Washington County.

The community outreach intern position is designed for an undergraduate student to provide hands-on experience in outreach and event programming as well as research and office assistance in a fast-paced nonprofit environment. The position is ideal for a student interested in agricultural and natural resources education, communications, event planning and land trusts. The community outreach intern will primarily work on the following: compiling a contact list and field checking data of all commercial farms in Washington County; providing assistance with community outreach programs including handling logistics, assisting with press and social media and assisting at events; and assisting other staff on projects, field work and office work, as time permits.

To ask questions or apply for the internship, submit a resume and cover letter to Katie Jilek, communications outreach manager, at katie@agstewardship.org. Resumes and cover letters must be received Saturday for consideration. A select group of candidates will be interviewed in late March and early April either in person or by phone.

Chamber will honor new citizen, business

WARRENSBURG  The Warrensburg Chamber is seeking nominations for both the Citizen of the Year and Business of the Year now through April 14. The Chamber of Commerce has annually hosted a Citizen and Business of the Year Celebration to honor an individual and a business that demonstrates an unparalleled dedication to service and general betterment of Warrensburg and surrounding areas.

Any individual or business in the greater Warrensburg area is eligible for consideration. Nominees will be assessed based on criteria set by the chamber, taking into account cumulative achievements and contributions made over a period of years in the addition to achievements made in 2016. For specific criteria, nomination forms and submission information, visit www.warrensburgchamber.com or contact the chamber directly at 623-2161. Winners of the 2017 awards will be announced on or before April 21 and then later honored at the Annual Citizen of the Year and Business of the year banquet.

2017 Walt Grishkot scholarship available

GLENS FALS  The Adirondack Balloon Festival Foundation is accepting applications for the 2017 Walter Grishkot Scholarship program for area college students. The Walter Grishkot Scholarship program provides college scholarships to residents of Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties and the greater Adirondack region who are pursuing careers in aviation- or aerospace-related fields.

The scholarships are presented in memory of Grishkot, co-founder and longtime organizer of the Adirondack Balloon Festival. For information and an application, go to adkballoonfestivalfoundation.org or write to The Adirondack Balloon Festival Foundation, P.O. Box 814, Glens Falls, NY 12801.

Scholarship applications must be received by April 15.

School is waiting

to hear from parents

CAMBRIDGE  Parents of students who will be attending private or parochial schools during the 2017-18 school year are reminded that the Cambridge Central School Board of Education must receive requests for transportation to private or parochial schools prior to the April 1 deadline.

Requests should be directed in writing to Vincent Canini, superintendent of schools, 58 S. Park St., Cambridge, NY 12816 and must be made annually.

Scholarships offered for adult students

The Bruce L. Crary Foundation, the Deo B. Colburn Education Foundation and the Lake Placid Education Foundation are accepting applications for the 2017-18 academic year from students who were either unable to attend college or vocational school after high school and now wish to begin their undergraduate program, or who were unable to complete the requirements of their undergraduate college degree and now plan to return to school as full-time students.

Applicants must reside in either Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton or Warren County and be 25 years of age or older and have been accepted at a local college or vocational school for the fall semester.

To apply, go to www.craryfoundation.org to explore our website and start the application process. There, you will find application instructions and a link to create your account and apply online. Contact the Bruce L. Crary Foundation at 873-6496, P.O. Box 396, Elizabethtown, NY 12932, or at director@craryfoundation.org.

Completed applications and all accompanying materials must be submitted by July 15.

Mental health field scholarships offered

SARATOGA SPRINGS  The Xavior Sam Mastrianni Scholarship Committee recently released funding for educational scholarships to area residents. Scholarship applications are being accepted. The Mastrianni Fund honors the memory of Dr. Sam Mastrianni, a Saratoga Springs psychiatrist and resident whose vision and leadership guided the expansion of mental health services in Saratoga County until his death in 1995.

Each year, multiple scholarships are awarded to students who live within the Capital District region and who are advancing their education or professional development in the field of mental health. Scholarship applicants can represent a broad range of experiences and backgrounds, but preference is given to individuals working in a mental health setting.

For more information or to receive a scholarship application, call Four Winds Saratogas Community Relations Department at 584-3600, ext. 3115. Applications are also available online at www.fourwindshospital.com. Deadline for filing an application is April 28.
GLENS FALLS  It was on the back porch of Annies Baltimore group home that she, while pausing from pulling in the inhaled vapors of a Pall Mall, recited without announcement or ceremony the Gettysburg Address.

And it was in this moment that Michael Mack made sense of it all. Made sense of his mothers life. Made sense of her years of living with schizophrenia, her electroshock therapy, her lengthy hospitalizations, her arrests, her time living on the streets.

I was stunned by it, he said in a phone interview Thursday from his Cambridge, Massachusetts home. It was a testimony to her life. When I think of all of the others who had mental illness, these people have not died in vain.

Mack, an award-winning poet, playwright and actor, now weaves the Gettysburg Address into his poems, his full-length play about how his family waded through life with his mothers mental illness and her eventual recovery.

In his poem, Heart, Mack writes, At the words from these honored dead we take increased devotion I imagined the tens of thousands of mental patients before her who died locked up, forgotten, nameless, these words her call to the unfinished work of finding in their memory a purpose that these dead shall not have died in vain. She closed her textbook circuit road trip of the Gettysburg Address with a drag on her cigarette.

On April 8, Mack will join other writers, poets, artists and musicians for an evening of sharing at the Charles R. Wood Theater for the Come As You Are performance. Through staged readings and songs by area and national writers and musicians, affected in some way by mental illness, the audience gets a first-hand glimpse of how mental illness winds into and around our lives.

And organizers hope the performance begins to dispel the myths and stigma associated with mental illness.

Featured cast members include Mack and Marya Hornbacher, an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, and Pulitzer-nominee for her book Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia.

Organizer and director Logan Beth Fisher, who has experienced mental illness in her family and she herself has struggled with clinical depression, said this years theme is Embrace.

Doing these shows is a way to do something, to feel a little less helpless. This is my way to contribute  of doing something to make the taboo less, she said. When you share stories, there is an inspiration (for people to know,) I am not alone. 

Fisher continued.

We hope people will understand and realize that people with mental illness are your neighbors, co-workers. They are really successful human beings, she said in an interview on Wednesday. It doesnt have to be taboo. One in five people this year will experience some kind of mental illness.

The proceeds from the show will support the services of the Warren-Washington Association for Mental Health. They do such incredible work, Fisher said.

WWAMH serves thousands of individuals in the area. There are 12,000 visits to our outpatient clinic in Hudson Falls, said Nicole Casey, human resources director and community relations manager of WWAMH. Part of our mission is to talk about mental illness in the community. We are hoping the public embraces this event and it puts mental illness on the map.

A beautiful mind

The brain, with its 100 billion neurons, 900 billion glial cells, 100 trillion branches and 1,000 trillion receptors, reacts to stimuli in a series of electrical bursts, spanning a complex map of connections.

And these synaptic connections fire in ways that are not always easy to explain and in ways that scientists are starting to understand as they study what makes us do what we do.

We study the synaptic connections in brains and our goal is to understand electrical activity during behavior. But understanding the brain is not the same as understanding the heart, we know that is a pump, said Linda Overstreet-Wadiche, an associate professor at the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Department of Neurobiology, who studies learning, memory and synaptic plasticity. We havent been that successful because we dont understand how the electrical activity and synapses between neurons work.

In a study published in February, Overstreet-Wadiche and fellow scientists reported that stem cells in the hippocampus  the part of the brain where memories are made  make newborn neurons.

These newborn neurons can make new memories, and change older memories which can be altered or disappear.

While this science is still very new and evolving, Overstreet-Wadiche said it has been known for some time that our brain maps can be altered. And contrary to those who believe that we cannot change our brains, we can.

To simplify: We have a comfortable rut worn in our brain that we travel each day. And even if the behaviors tied to this rut are not healthy, we keep doing them because it is familiar.

The good news is, because our brains are malleable, we can alter these ruts or paths to create new ones.

And the same is true for people with mental illness; new roads can be formed.

Nonetheless, forging a new way of doing things is often painful and uncomfortable, but recovery can happen.

Connections are changing and new connections are being made, said Overstreet-Wadiche.

Come As You Are director Fisher said that her awareness came about through 20 years of therapy. And in a Wednesday afternoon interview just after her Big Cross Street School fourth-graders left for the day, Fisher discusses her own journey.

For me, its the unraveling of what was dysfunctional and learning new strategies to survive. The road is painful to let go  for me it was managing the black, she said. I am a living example of that constant hard work.

Mack was a little boy when his mother was first diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Her presence was so big in our family, each of us struggled with the effects of growing up with that chaos, he said. And Mama herself endured more than any of us. She spent a lot of time in state hospitals, in jail. She was on the streets, at halfway houses.

And while Mack admits it was very sad to see her in these situations, he said things started to change for her, and the 1990s is when the family marks her recovery.

The way he explained it, two group homes she stayed in helped.

But one in particular, that focused on the aspect of community and doing things together, really helped his mother thrive. Everyone helped out with chores, they had a say in how things were done and my Mom flourished, he said. They cared for her and about her  my message is about recovery, about the reality of recovery.

Sharing stories, changing lives

A few years ago, Fisher performed as a cast member in Listen to Your Mother on Broadway, and in 2015 she was invited to co-direct This is My Brave in Boston.

Representatives from the area WWAMH saw her Boston show and asked her if she would bring it to this community, and last year the show at the Wood Theater sold out, she said.

For the 2017 performance, after inviting several nationally known cast members, Fisher held auditions for the local cast at Crandall Public Library. We had 21 audition and we chose five, she said, adding that for those who did not make it, they will use excerpts and quotes from the essays not chosen as part of the evening event.

Fisher said the show has some very funny and memorable moments. Anna Rose Johnson  her essay is in list form, and it is so funny, she said. Last night at rehearsal, it is brilliant, its not to be missed.

I wanted to add outside elements to keep the audience entertained, she said.

Mack said he does not charge for his performance for this event because of the important work being done.

Overcoming the stigma is part of the great work they are doing, he said about the April show.

Casey, of WWAMH, said people often look at mental illness negatively. The more the conversation opens up  and these community members are so brave, facing people they know (for the performance), she said. Logan (Beth Fisher) is the creative mind behind it. Were so grateful.

In trying to explain the stigma, Casey said it is not like a broken arm. A mental illness is often invisible. And because it is invisible, it is hard for people to understand that it is real.

People are often afraid to talk about it, she said. Our work is to help people be part of the community.

Fisher hopes the April show will open minds and hearts.

Find out someones story before you make a judgment with a diagnostic twist, Fisher said. This kind of show shows you this is what mental illness looks like.
GLENS FALLS  When Duane Vaughn looked at his first to-do list as the new executive director of Tri-County United Way, one of the items was a major fundraiser, but he also had some specific thoughts for it.

I really wanted it to be something big, something that people would see and know we were here. I wanted something that would raise a lot of funds for the groups we help, like Big Brothers-Big Sisters, the Salvation Army and Family Services, he said.

At the same time, he didnt want to go back to the well to the same donors who have been helping United Way for so many years. We wanted less donor fatigue.

All of this explains why, on June 17, during LARACs annual event in City Park, there will be dozens of people rappelling off the five-story Queensbury Hotel. The event is called Over The Edge," and is coordinated by a national company, which has run successful events for many non-profits, including Special Olympics New York. It has been done in Albany, but never in this region. One thought was to do it at the Travelers building, but the engineers who examined it said it might not work effectively, leading to choosing The Queensbury.

One of the important things for us is to help the community, and when Duane came to us, we thought it was a great idea, said hotel manager Tyler Herrick. One of the things that Herrick is most excited about is that the event gained permission to use the side of the hotel on Maple Street, which will give everyone at LARAC a view of the event, which will go on all day.

Thats the other thing that is neat about it, Vaughn said. People will go over two at a time, and the event will go on all day, he said. We talked to Candice Frye at LARAC, and she thinks it will go well with their event."

There will be training for those who have not rappelled before, and Vaughn said there are 92 slots available. There is a non-refundable registration fee of $85, and those who want to go over the edge need to raise $1,000. Vaughn said there is also a Toss Your Boss or Toss Your Teacher option, in which groups can raise $2,000 and arrange to send a particular person over the edge.

We are hearing a lot of buzz about that, he said. Were already getting good responses. Whats neat about this is that you can ask a friend or your aunt in Wisconsin to help, and its not a lot.

Vaughn said he is also encouraging competition among banks or restaurants in the event. We are looking for friendly competition, he said. We think it is going to be a lot of fun.

Those under 18 need parental permission. All of the funds raised will remain local.

The goal is $75,000, and United Way intern Stephanie Belden has already raised $750 herself. The total raised so far is $2,190.

For information on volunteering or taking part, go to www.tricountyunitedway.org.
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Stefanik equates tax credits for solar and wind power to tax credits for those aged 50 to 64 to offset the cost of health insurance. She must be a Republican. Poor people cannot afford out-of-pocket costs for health care. Poor people will go without prescription medications. End-of-year tax credits are unworkable when people live paycheck to paycheck. Most of us cannot save for retirement yet alone put money into health savings accounts. Credits for solar and wind power accrue to those who are well off, own their own homes, businesses and corporations in general. Many poor people lucky enough to own their own homes for the time being cannot afford a solar panel array on their rooftops, not to mention a wind turbine.

The only light I can see at the end of the tunnel is the midterm elections when the imbalance in the House and Senate can be reset. The CBO estimate is that 24 million more people will be without health care by 2026. Trump promised to deliver "insurance for everybody." Liar! Given time and opportunity, the Republican ideology, especially that of conservative Republicans, will create untold masses of poor, destitute, unemployed, uneducated, uninsured Americans. Floating the notion that over the coming decades, the cost of health insurance "Trumpcare" will pare the deficit is ridiculous. Just like real estate taxes, the cost of health care will not go down. Congress negotiating prescription drug costs with drug companies like their European counterparts will in fact drive down the federal deficit. Meals on Wheels, Planned Parenthood and true health care insurance for everyone can be maintained and enhanced. Trump and his family, Trump's Leninist and Chief Strategist Steven Bannon, the Cabinet and members of Congress will always have the best health care insurance available for themselves and their loved ones.
Business / Companies

by Staff reporter

GOVERNMENT continues to hunt for a technical partner for national flag carrier Air Zimbabwe, which is saddled with a US$334 million debt, despite recent setbacks in attracting a suitor.Nine airlines  among them Ethiopian Airlines, Angolan Airlines, Boeing, Emirates  have either been engaged or expressed interest in a partnership.Until recently, Air Zimbabwe looked close to concluding an arrangement with US-based Boeing, a unit of Airbus Group SE.Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Dr Jorum Gumbo told The Sunday Mail Business last week that, "We have nine companies that we have spoken with  Many investors want to come, many people have approached us  but no one is bringing anything concrete," said Dr Gumbo.The protracted negotiations could be tied to unfavourable conditions in the global aviation sector and economic challenges facing Zimbabwe.Independent estimates suggest Air Zimbabwe needs US$1 billion to procure new aircraft and service its domestic and foreign debts.The debts stem from navigation, landing and handling fees; fuel supplies; salary arrears; and rentals.Air Zimbabwe has two Boeing 767s, one Boeing 737, one MA60 and an Airbus A320 that is being leased from Angola's Sonangol.Two of the parastatal's long-haul aircraft are undergoing periodic maintenance.Dr Gumbo says, "When they are due for maintenance, they are not allowed to go beyond that period; hence they are not flying. They are undergoing c-checks but we have others that were always in the skies."Difficulties in accessing foreign currency have made it difficult to timeously buy spare parts.Air Zimbabwe officials told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport on February 20 that the loss for the year ended December 31, 2016 slimmed 42 percent to US$15 million from US$26 million in the same period a year earlier.It is envisaged tghat long-haul flights like the Harare-London route will push revenue to US$47 million from US$36 million."The best you can do with an airline is to break-even. Look at what is happening with South African Airways, which people say is strong  All other airlines, including Kenya Airways, are struggling. Apart from Ethiopian Airlines  they have more debts than ours despite operating in environments different from ours," said Dr Gumbo.Ethiopian Airways has been performing relatively well, spurred by an economy that is one of the fastest-growing in the world. The company has increased its routes to around 90 from 69 in 2011.Conversely, Kenya Airways, which is 27 percent-owned by Air France-KLM, has reported losses over the past four years.South African Airways largely depends on government loans and guarantees for its survival and has had seven chief executives in three years as losses widen.SAA is still considered technically insolvent, with its going concern status depending on government guarantees of R19,1 billion.
News / National

by Staff reporter

The United Nations Development Programme's political department is working with local opposition groups to hijack the outcome of Zimbabwe's 2018 harmonised elections, it has emerged.Senior State officials told The Sunday Mail that the department was behind the National Electoral Reform Agenda's planned protests to push for the UNDP unit to run the elections.In 2016, Zimbabwe and the UNDP signed an agreement under which the latter would procure biometric voter registration kits for the elections.However, sources said, Government cancelled that deal and resolved to go it alone after gathering evidence that the UNDP political department was planning to declare the West's preferred candidate the poll winner regardless of what the actual vote outcome would be.It is believed that the same tactic was used in Cote d'Ivoire in 2010 where Mr Laurent Gbagbo lost to opposition leader Mr Alassane Outtara in the UN-supervised presidential election.UN communications specialist for Zimbabwe Mr Sirak Gebrehiwot could not be reached for comment on his mobile phone yesterday, but a reliable source said: "Soon after Government decided to buy the kits, the leader of the UNDP flew to New York to solve the equation and they decided that there would be three scenarios."Firstly, Government proceeds to buy the kits. The second scenario was to continue agitating for the UNDP to buy the kits. This was going to be done by enlisting opposition parties for that purpose. The third scenario was to attack the process itself."Government got wind of this plan which has similar makings of what happened in Ivory Coast. The idea was to make noise over the process and then get the international community to intervene."Another added: "The attack on the process involved roping in opposition elements, and that is why we had your so-called Nera's 'protests' in Harare last week. It was part of that bigger scheme, really, to have the UNDP political department in the thick of things so that they can call the shots come 2018."MDC-T spokesperson Mr Obert Gutu insisted yesterday that they wanted the UNDP to procure the kits."The MDC remains determined to ensure procurement of BVR kits is transparent. The process can never be legitimate and credible if shadowy companies are permitted to control acquisition of this equipment."The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission should carry out its constitutional mandate of organising and running free and fair elections that can pass the test of legitimacy."But Zec chairperson Justice Rita Makarau said opposition elements under Nera had picked the commission as "a soft target" and was trying to draw it into matters outside its mandate.She said there was nothing wrong with Government procuring the kits, adding that MDC-T was being hypocritical by attacking a process it helped create."We are now being seen as a soft target. That is why I called for a walkout of (our meeting with political parties in Harare last week) because we were being abused. The issues that they were raising are not the mandate of Zec, but of Government," she said."All electoral processes must be funded by Government. Our first port of call when we want anything should be the Government. In this instance, we went to Government saying we are going the BVR way and we need assistance to procure the kits."At that time, the indications were that Government would not have been able to raise the kind of money required. We then approached our co-operating partners, and UNDP said they could assist."Justice Makarau went on: "Government then decided to take over the process because they bear the responsibility of funding our operations. We cannot say no to them. Once they said they had found the money, we simply then talked to UNDP to let them know that Government had found the money."Where the money comes from is not our call. I can't speak on behalf of Government because the Clarion Call has always been to fund Zec adequately. So, I think Government is answering to that. Government should fund us and fund us adequately. When people protest over a decision that we have no control over  that is the abuse that we are talking about."
















Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned Monday that Tehran is completely ready to restart its nuclear program if the US fails to live up to its commitments under the July 2015 nuclear deal.





If [the] US creates a situation that continuation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action would damage Tehrans national interest, then Iran is completely ready to come back to the situation it had prior to the JCPOA even more powerfully than before, Zarif was quoted by Iranian state media as saying.





The foreign minister spoke to reporters in Isfahan in central Iran.

On the campaign trail during last years election, US President Donald Trump and many Republican lawmakers vowed to gut the deal once in office. But since the election, the Trump administration has signaled a gentler approach, though it has not provided details of its new policy.





Earlier this month, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said the new administration of the United States just started and they are looking at this issue, but it is very early for them to give their assessment.





During the past couple of months, with the efforts made by skilled Iranian scientists and experts, we have succeeded [in making] operational the most advanced centrifuges, that were just an idea at the time of approving the JCPOA, Zarif is quoted as saying.





The Mehr News Agency quoted him saying the new centrifuges would enrich uranium 20 times faster and more efficiently, and that the technical know-how has now been indigenized.





























US Navy commanders are claiming Iranian forces harassed" American warships as they passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The claims come as tensions are on the rise between the two countries. The incident occurred on Tuesday as a US-led, five-vessel flotilla, which included the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, passed through the waters on its way to the Arabian Gulf.

According to the commanders, the flotilla was approached by two sets of Iranian Navy fast-attack boats, some of which came as close as 870 meters (950 yards) from the aircraft carrier.





"What I don't like about that is they (Iranian boats) were in the middle of international transit waters (while) we had a right to be there as we were exercising freedom of navigation on our way into the Arabian Gulf," Rear Admiral Kenneth Whitesell, commander of the Carrier Strike Group 2, told journalists aboard the aircraft carrier, as quoted by Reuters.





"They also had weapons uncovered as some of the cameras were able to tell. They had some of the weapons manned. We also have aerial data that they were arming all of these weapons."









































The EU 27 leaders recommitted their vows to European integration in Rome on Saturday (25 March) amid warnings that the bloc's unity remains fragile. The heads of state and government met in the same Renaissance-era palace where the six founding countries signed the Treaty of Rome on 25 March, 1957, to establish the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The treaty is now officially celebrated as the birth of today's EU. The mood was downbeat, as the EU's 60th anniversary was celebrated just four days before the UK notifies its withdrawal request, the first member ever to leave the union. The symbolism of EU leaders gathering among the ruins of the ancient Roman empire could not be more telling, as the union struggles to renew itself in the face of rising populism, nationalism, the shock of Brexit, the USs increasingly unpredictable policy, and renewed Russian threats. The celebrations concentrated on reminders of the EUs main achievement of securing peace and prosperity for 60 years after the destruction of the Second World War. Leaders signed a declaration that is designed to set out the path for European integration in the next 10 years. In the so-called Rome declaration, EU leaders claim that "Europe is our common future. They stress unity, which they say is the only way for the EU to be able drive "global dynamics.

The Rome Declarationss wording has been the centre of contention, with Poland and Greece making last minute objections, highlighting the deep divisions that marred the anniversary. It remains to be seen if the Rome summit can give a boost to reforming and revitalising the EU that has come under fire from a rise in anti-establishment and nationalist forces across the continent.





























According to reports, French far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen said that she would restore border control and fight against Islamic fundamentalism if elected to curb terrorism threat in France.

French far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen said that she would restore border control and fight against Islamic fundamentalism if elected to curb terrorism threat in France, in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper on Sunday.









"To begin with, I will restore our national borders. Secondly, I will deport all foreign nationals with [threat to national security] fiche S indicator, who are linked to fundamentalism, in compliance with precautionary principle. I will also fight against Islamic fundamentalism by closing salafist mosques or even by banning the Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF)," Le Pen said answering the question on how she was going to prevent terrorist attacks in France.









France has repeatedly been targeted by terrorists. On March 18, a French national Ziyed Ben Belgacem attacked police in the northern Paris suburb of Garges-les-Gonesse and later arrived at the Paris Orly Airport where he tried to grab a female soldier's weapon, saying he was ready to die for Allah.





Le Pen is known for harsh rhetoric toward French immigration policy. According to recent polls, she is likely to make the second round of French presidential election together with independent candidate Emmanuel Macron, but unlikely to win against him. The first round of the French presidential election is scheduled for April 23, while the run-off between the top two contenders will take place on May 7.





























As the EU leaders discussed the future of the bloc at the summit in Rome, it becomes increasingly apparent that the union needs to undergo significant changes in order to become a place of peace and dignity and to avoid chaos and disintegration.

On March 25, leaders of 27 EU member states signed the Rome Declaration on the challenges and priorities of the post-Brexit European Union. This document became the main highlight of the Rome Summit, held on the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome which laid the foundations of the European Union back in 1957.









The participants of the summit also discussed the possible scenarios of further European integration presented by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

The concepts presented during the meeting basically come down to five options: maintaining the current status quo; maintaining the single market only; the multi-speed Europe; a less extensive but more effective cooperation; and federalization.









Lubos Blaha, Slovak political scientist and MP for the left-wing Direction  Social Democracy (Smer-SD) party, told Sputnik that the first three scenarios are extremely unlikely to succeed, with only the latter two warranting closer examination.









"The fifth scenario, which implies federalization, isnt very attractive for the majority of Europeans, and not particularly realistic. Federation should be created when the countries are economically equal, not when federalization serves merely as a pretext for colonization. And during the last few years this model suffered a number of setbacks in the form of the Greek, Ukrainian and migrant crises," Blaha said.









Therefore, he continued, it is the fourth scenario that looks the most viable out of all the options presented at the summit.





"It offers a greater European influence in areas where it could make all nations stronger, like in the social and economic spheres where only together we can oppose the neoliberal globalization. And greater national autonomy should be retained in areas like migration, foreign policy and culture. At this point this scenario looks like the only viable option," Blaha explained.





































Ban all the things, and when we all live in padded prison cells, we will be safe from terrorists! That is the plan. Because access to information is really the problem, according to the British government. As soon as people dont have access to extremist material online, all this madness will surely stop!

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: The fight against terrorism and hate speech has to be a joint one. The government and security services are doing everything they can and it is clear that social media companies can and must do more. Social media companies have a responsibility when it comes to making sure this material is not disseminated and we have been clear repeatedly that we think that they can and must do more. We are always talking with them on how to achieve that. The ball is now in their court. We will see how they respond.





How laughable that the government claims to be doing everything they can. We all know that is not true. But even more ridiculous is attempting to put all the blame on websites that host content. With massive amount of content on Youtube, how can they be expected to police every single video? They already review 98% of flagged content within 24 hours, and also within 24 hours they usually remove content that the government asks them to take down. It sounds like Youtube is already on board with government censorship, but the British authorities want to go further. What we need is new laws, new fines, and punishment for companies who host extremist content, they say





Damian Collins, who heads the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said bosses should face a new offence of failing to act to remove terrorist videos and manuals from their sites. He was backed by former terror tsar Lord Alex Carlile who said: We need to reinforce the attack on internet radicalisation. If a new law is necessary to compel internet service providers to co-operate with these efforts, it must be made.





And what about failing to remove terrorists from the country? Should governmentofficials face a new offence for that crime? Its not like these terrorists are carrying out precision attacks which require training and special knowledge. They are driving cars through crowds of people. They are opening fire in public. Videos surely can lead to extremism. The government should know, they run the media which leads to widespread support of bombing the hell out of anything that moves in the middle east. While handfuls of westerners were killed in terror attacks, hundreds of innocent Iraqis were bombed to death by America.

So governments can literally fund all the terrorism they want, but if Youtube allows a video promoting terrorism to remain on their sharing platform, they are the ones causing the extremism that leaks violently back into the west.





As governments cry about the splinter in their neighbors eyehow advertisements were shown next to extremist videos, saying that Youtube was profiting off of extremismthey are blind to the log in their own.





Oh and how convenient that when governments are able to force Youtube to take down extremist content online, they may just have given themselves the power to regulate any free speech on the internet, whether it is truly extremist or not. And that is what this all comes down to. The government wants control over the internet, control over what we say, and how we communicate. The terrorists which the government supports and creates will be the excuse for government censorship and oppression of citizens under their control. And that is why the government needs to make social media platforms the enemy. It both distracts from the governments own role in supporting terrorism, and gives them more power to police any opposition on social media to their oppressive rule. The people are creating their own media, and it is cutting into the governments propaganda business. Its always the same: right now they will use their power of censorship against the terrorists, and then they will use the hammer of the law against anyone who speaks out against their murderous, oppressive policies.








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by Staff reporter

President Mugabe will this year host youth meetings in all the country's 10 provinces, interacting freely with young people and addressing their concerns.The meetings were proposed by the Zanu-PF Youth League and subsequently endorsed when the Politburo met in March 2017.Youth League leaders will this week start laying the groundwork in Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Masvingo, the organ's secretary, Kudzanayi Chipanga, told The Sunday Mail.Chipanga said the meetings were a follow-up to the 2016 One Million Man Match which saw hundreds of thousands of youths reaffirm their loyalty to Zanu-PF and President Mugabe in a major show of the party's mass mobilisation might.Chipanga said, "We are going to have Presidential Youth Meetings whereby His Excellency, President Mugabe, will tour all provinces and meet youths. I apprised the last Politburo meeting on the matter, and there were no objections. These meetings are the brainchild of the Zanu-PF Youth League National Executive."In reaffirming the 2014 Congress resolutions, which say there should be one centre of power in the party, the President, we are compelled, as the Youth League, to have direct access to the President. The Youth League has facilitated direct interaction between the President and the youth."This is because we want the President to get first-hand information regarding youth affairs and also for the Youth League to get first-hand information from him. All this will ensure we know what to do and President Mugabe will also know our concerns and grievances."Chipanga continued: "We also took note of the fact that not every young person who wanted to participate in the One Million Man March made it to Harare, hence, we had to dispatch teams to the respective provinces to give them feedback."So, this year, we are not going to call our youths to Harare, but, instead, call on the President and First Secretary of the party to address them in their respective provinces. The programme will be phased; starting with the national youth political commissar, Innocent Hamandishe, visiting the provinces to sensitise our youth leaders on the visits."This will be followed by inter-district meetings which I will address. Then we will invite the President for the main programme. Our plan is to conduct this programme mid-year. We held the One Million Man March on May 25, so this programme should be around the same time."
News / National

by Staff reporter

A woman from Cowdray Park in Bulawayo allegedly locked her mentally unstable grandson in their house for two months when she left for South Africa.A Sunday News crew visited the house last week where they observed that although the gate was not locked, the grandson Nkosilathi Sebele (31) was locked indoors. A neighbour who only identified herself as Ms Sipho Sibanda said sometime in February, Nkosilathi's grandmother Mrs Ida Sebele, allegedly went to South Africa leaving Nkosilathi alone and locked inside the house."This is not the first time Nkosilathi has been left alone, his grandmother once left him last year, but it was only for a week.She went to South Africa for two months, she left him alone, she didn't ask us to look after him because she did not say anything to us," said Ms Sibanda.Ms Sibanda said she was not aware that Nkosilathi had been alone in the house until a relative visited the house three weeks ago."His uncle came three weeks ago when he heard from people that his nephew was locked inside the house, that's how we came to know that Nkosilathi was lone. We used to see a woman who would come every two weeks with groceries since his grandmother went to South Africa, but she never spoke to us," she said.Mrs Sibanda said after learning that Nkosilathi was alone they were now communicating with him although he could not come out as he is still locked inside."From that point we started looking after Nkosilathi, the sad part is that we are not always around hence he cannot count on us, but he told us that he once had a running stomach for two weeks and he also said sometimes he cannot cook food. Asked why his grandmother locked him inside, Nkosilathi said it was because he used to run away."My grandmother locks me up because last time I ran away, I wanted to go to the airport," he said. Sunday News also managed to talk Nkosilathi's uncle, Mr Danisiwe Ngwenya who said he was concerned about the treatment his nephew was being exposed to."When I found out that Nkosilathi was caged in his grandmother's house, I felt pity for him. What kind of a person locks away a mentally disturbed person and leaves him alone? My worry mostly is who cooks for him, then who gives him his medication?" said Mr Ngwenya.
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In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Wallace asked Priebus whether Trump accepted the conclusion from law enforcement and intelligence officials that there was no evidence to support Trump's accusation.

"Is he ready to apologize?" Wallace asked of Trump.

"No. And I don't accept it," Priebus replied.

Priebus echoed the administration's recent position on Trump's claims, which somewhat modified the president's original tweet.

Holding up an enlarged print-out of a New York Times headline, the chief of staff argued that law enforcement or intelligence officials may have collected information on members of the president's transition team.

"The fact is reports have come out for many, many months now that people on the Trump campaign transition team were surveillanced by, potentially, some intelligence group," Priebus said. "Whether they were intentionally swept up, whether their names were unmasked  Chris, you don't know the answer to that question, and I don't either."

He added: "But if people on the Trump transition were unknowingly surveillanced ... I think it's a big problem, and I think ultimately President Trump is going to be proven correct."

When Wallace asked if Trump believed there was a "concerted effort" by the previous White House to leak intelligence information damaging the new administration, the chief of staff answered that the "leaks are apparent."

"There are leaks out there that are injuring the president," Priebus said. "It's wrong and people should be prosecuted."

He added: "There's potentially something very wrong here, but I'm not going to go any further than that."

The Fox News anchor also confronted Priebus about House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes' decision to brief Trumps' team about evidence  unsupported publicly by law enforcement and intelligence officials  that Trump transition officials may have been surveilled.

"Does Chairman Nunes coming to the White House and briefing the president before he briefed his own committee  does that undercut his credibility, and does that open the door for an independent investigation?" Wallace asked.

Priebus refused to endorse or condemn Nunes' brief, saying that the White House doesn't "calculate the decisions that they make and whether they brief someone or not."

"I think we let the House committee do its job and see what they come up with," Priebus said. "And by the way: They're not going to come up with anything."

A chaotic week

Priebus' interview capped a chaotic week in the investigation of Russia's involvement in the 2016 election, which has been confounded by intelligence leaks and Trump's ill-supported accusation of wiretapping.

After Nunes briefed the White House on Tuesday about potential surveillance of Trump officials, Democrats and some Republicans blasted the chairman for informing Trump's team before alerting his own committee, leading some to call for Nunes to resign and convene an independent investigation into Russia's involvement in the election.

The chairman further enraged Democrats when he canceled an open intelligence committee hearing on Russia with former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former acting Attorney General Sally Yates.
In January, Uber lost more than 200,000 customers in a single weekend after the #DeleteUber movement led to a fury of account deletions by customers upset about its ties to President Trump.

But that was just a prelude to Uber's no-good, very bad month. During the roughly 30-day period of mid-February to mid-March, the company has been pummeled by a seemingly never-ending barrage of bad news, with a new crisis almost every day.

If business schools need a new case study for a company in a PR disaster, Uber's last month is as perfect an example as can be found. And it's still not clear how Uber will right its ship.

Here's everything that's happened to Uber in the last month:

Sunday February 19: The beginning

Susan Fowler starts it all with her reflections on "one very, very strange year at Uber." Fowler, a former engineer at the company, alleged in a blog post that she was sexually harassed at Uber and experienced gender bias during her time at the company. She claimed that one manager propositioned her and asked for sex, but her complaints to HR were dismissed because the manager was a high performer. She said Uber continued to ignore her complaints to HR, and then her manager threatened to fire her for reporting things to HR.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick immediately pledges to look into Fowler's investigations, and hires former US Attorney General Eric Holder to lead the investigation. Kalanick responded within hours of publication to say Fowler's account was "abhorrent & against everything we believe in." Uber hires Eric Holder, former US attorney general, to lead an independent investigation into it.

Wednesday February 22: Cocaine and groping

The New York Times publishes a bombshell report that suggests Fowler's claims were not isolated. Employees did cocaine during a company retreat and a manager had to be fired after groping multiple women, according to the report. Former employees said they'd notified Uber's leadership, including Kalanick and CTO Thuan Pham, of the workplace harassment.

Thursday February 23: Investor betrayal and accusations of stolen technology

Uber investors, Freada and Mitch Kapor, blasted the company for failing to change. In an open letter to Uber's investors and board, the Kapors said Uber has ignored the behind-the-scenes work that some of its investors have tried to do for years to change the company culture. "We are speaking up now because we are disappointed and frustrated; we feel we have hit a dead end in trying to influence the company quietly from the inside," the Kapors wrote.

Google, another Uber investor, sued the company for intellectual property theft. In an explosive lawsuit, the Google self-driving-car group, now known as Waymo, accused Uber of using stolen technology to advance its own autonomous-car development. The suit, filed in the US District Court in San Francisco, claimed that a team of ex-Google engineers stole the company's design for the lidar laser sensor that allows self-driving cars to map the environment around them.

Friday February 24: Losing the benefit of the doubt

Uber denied Google's claims of stealing its self-driving tech. "We have reviewed Waymo's claims and determined them to be a baseless attempt to slow down a competitor and we look forward to vigorously defending against them in court," a spokesperson said.

On the same, Uber also had to clarify that it's not behind mysterious efforts to dig up 'intimate' info about the ex engineer who accused it of sex harassment. Fowler tweeted that someone was doing research for a "smear campaign" against her, warning her friends to beware of anyone seeking personal information about her. Uber said it was not involved in any such efforts.

But trust in the company was undermined that same day when a news report revealed that Uber's account of another controversial incident was not entirely forthright. Uber had blamed "human error" for one its self-driving car running a red light on a San Francisco street in December. As The New York Times revealed, it was the self-driving car system that failed to recognize the six stop lights at the intersection and run the red as a passenger entered the crosswalk. The only "human error" was that the human failed to notice the car's error and correct it in time.

One week into the storm, crisis experts agree: Uber needs to make a big statement, and that might mean firing Kalanick.

But Uber had an even worse week to come.

Monday February 27: A high-profile exec is out under a cloud of controversy

Uber's SVP of engineering stepped down over sexual-harassment allegations at his former job at Google. The engineer, Amit Singhal, left Uber after Recode's Kara Swisher notified the company of the allegations through her reporting. When Uber CEO Travis Kalanick found out, he asked Singhal to resign, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person also said that Singhal went through the standard background checks before his employment at Uber and that the sexual-harassment allegations during Singhal's time at Google never came up. Singhal has strenuously denied the allegations.

Tuesday February 28: Kalanick loses his cool

A dashcam video caught Uber CEO in a heated argument over prices. A video published by Bloomberg showed Kalanick losing his cool in an argument with an Uber driver on Super Bowl Sunday after the driver confronted him about lowered fares.

Kalanick then issued a "profound" apology and says he'll seek leadership help. "My job as your leader is to leadand that starts with behaving in a way that makes us all proud," he wrote in the apology. "That is not what I did, and it cannot be explained away. This is the first time I've been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it."

Wednesday March 1: Arch-rival Lyft seizes the moment

Lyft, capitalizing on the moment, is trying to raise $500 million to fight Uber. In a kick 'em when they're down way (or just smart business), The Wall Street Journal reported that Uber rival Lyft is trying to raise an extra half a billion to fund its growth against a cash-flush Uber.

Thursday March 2: Uber has hired another law firm

Ex-Uber engineer Susan Fowler said the company is blaming her for users deleting their account and investigating her personal life. As a result, she's hired her own lawyer. Uber acknowledges that it hired a second law firm, Perkins Coie, to look into her allegations (but, the company says, not investigate her personally).

Uber changed its mind about its self-driving cars. After a clash with California's DMV in December, Uber did an about-face and decided to apply for a permit for its self-driving cars to get them back in California. Its spat with California regulators in December was the beginning of the old Uber starting to rear its ugly head, but the company's change of mind was a sliver of a good press in the maelstrom of scandals.

Friday March 3: 'Greyballs' and another executive resignation

The New York Times revealed that Uber has been secretively deceiving authorities for years with a tool called 'Greyball'. Uber used the tool to evade authorities, particularly at times when city regulators were trying to block the ride-hailing service, according to a report by The New York Times' Mike Isaac. The tool collected data from Uber's app to identify and evade officials in cities like Boston, Paris, and Las Vegas. The Times reports that the program was used in markets where Uber was banned or being resisted by law enforcement.

Uber loses another top VP: Uber's VP of Product and Growth, Ed Baker, suddenly resigned after more than three years at the company. In an email obtained by Recode, Baker said he wanted to join the public sector, but his departure has mysterious timing as Recode alleged there was other "questionable" behavior from the executive.

Meanwhile, the Uber exec and board member who oversaw the HR department has been strangely absent during Uber's biggest crisis. Business Insider reports that

March 7: Uber is officially looking for a COO

Uber CEO Kalanick agrees to get help for the next chapter of Uber. After admitting he needs leadership help following the leaked video him arguing with a driver, Kalanick made it official that he was looking for a COO for the company  "

March 8: Uber changes it mind about greyballing as the executive exodus continues

Uber back-tracked and changed its position on "Greyballing." While it first gleefully admitted that it had used the controversial to target government officials, Uber reversed its position and said it would no longer do so going forward.

The executive exodus also continued with Uber's head of AI only lasting four months at the company. Gary Marcus stepped aside to become an "adviser" to Uber, only four months after the ride-hailing company had acquired his artificial intelligence startup, Geometric Intelligence.

March 17: Leaked data shows Uber's self-driving cars can't drive themselves

To make matters worse, data leaked showed that Uber's self-driving car project is a long way from becoming a reality. One particularly alarming statistic was that in the week that ended March 8, the cars travelled only 0.8 miles on average between each time a human driver had to take control, overriding the self-driving tech, otherwise known as a disengagement. By comparison, Google's self-driving cars are streets ahead. Waymo cars last year were being disengaged at a rate of just once per 5,000 miles, according to data released in February.

March 19: Uber's president quits

Uber suffered another black-eye when its president abruptly quit the company after only six months.

Shortly after Jones' departure, it was reported that another VP was also leaving. Brian McClendon, who lead Uber's mapping teams, had planned to leave the company, but the timing was of course poor given the other departures. McClendon said he was heading back to Kansas where he wants to get into politics.

March 21: Uber says it's turning things around

Given its bad month, Uber is at the point where it's starting to make some changes. In its first press conference since the series of crises started piling up, Uber said it's already taking steps to reverse its course, including:

Releasing a diversity report

Opening an anonymous tip line for employees to air complaints

Holding more than 120 "listening sessions" with employees

Updating 1,500 job descriptions to eliminate any "unconscious bias"

Travis Kalanick was missing from the call because he was busy interviewing COO candidates. But the company's board indicated that it supported Kalanick's continued role in the CEO job. Uber said it's not going to work on filling the various recently-vacated executive positions until it's hired a new COO who can be part of the process.

March 25: Travis Kalanick's visit to a Seoul escort-karaoke bar is revealed

A bombshell report by The Information describes a 2014 Uber team visit to a escort-karaoke bar in Seoul. According to the report, "four male Uber managers picked women out of the group, calling out their numbers, and sat with them."

After the evening, a female Uber employee told HR that the trip made her uncomfortable.

March 25: Uber suspends self-driving car program in Arizona after an autonomous vehicle was involved in a crash in Tempe, Arizona.
News / National

by Simbarashe Sithole

Members of the National People's Party (NPP) freedom fighters wing in Mashonaland Central province have distanced themselves from the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) aligned with ZANU PF officials have said.In an interview with Bulawayo24.com national member of (NPP) freedom fighters wing retired Major Farai Machiri (56) said freedom fighters in NPP are different to those aligned with ZANU PF as they are recognised as a wing and not an affiliate of the party."In National People's Party we are recognised significantly and we are intimately involved in the party activities as a wing of the party unlike in ZANU PF were the war veterans association has been relegated to the status of an affiliate.""Our role in the party is to mobilize the mass peacefully which is quite different from ZANU PF were war veterans are used to intimidate people," said Rtd Major Machiri.Another freedom fighter Themba Dube (59) denounced war veterans aligned with the ruling party and labelled them puppets."We are second in command in the NPP meaning to say we are an essential element of the party and represent the interests of those who liberated this country but as for those affiliated with "Pharaoh" (ZANU PF) there are just puppets without much significance no wonder why we moved out of that dictatorship," said Dube.Meanwhile, freedom fighters in Mashonaland Central converged at their offices in Bindura yesterday and endorsed retired Major Farai Machiri and Temba Dube as their national members representing Mashonaland Central province.
The Charge d Affaires of the European Union in Ghana, Mr. Paolo Salvia has reiterated the commitment of the European Union (EU) to continue its support to Ghana in private sector competitiveness, trade facilitation and fiscal transition.He said this would be done through the regional envelope of the 11th European Development Fund.Mr Salvia made this remark at the final Steering Committee Meeting of the Trade Related Assistance and Quality Enabling Programme (TRAQUE) in Accra.He also said, At the national level, important programmes are already ongoing to support decentralisation, stimulate job creation and improve social protection schemes. Future programmes are being prepared to support investments in the agricultural sector and public finance management.Since its inception in 2011, the TRAQUE Programme has supported the Ministry of Trade and Industry in private sector development and trade facilitation as well as reviewed Ghanas Quality Policy to enable attain a National Quality Infrastructure which functions in line with international best practices.With the Programme ending in March, the 6th Steering Committee Meeting was used to gather relevant stakeholders to evaluate the challenges and impact TRAQUE had made in trade and quality sectors in Ghana.
"You saw that we abolished VAT on real estate, abolished VAT on airline ticket, we abolished the one percent import levy, so many taxes were abolished and this is to allow businesses to flourish and grow," he said. "I challenge the youth to take advantage of this significant opportunity and venture into entrepreneurship."
According to the prosecutor Chief Inspector (C/I) Gregory Yeboah, the victims mother, on Saturday, February 4, 2017, had gone out early in the morning to the market leaving behind the victim and a boy.

He said Abbey enquired from his victim the whereabouts of her mother whereupon he was told she had gone to the market.

Desiring to satisfy his sexual desire, Abbey sent the victims younger brother on an errand leaving him and the woman alone.

READ MORE: House boy who murdered boss and set his body on fire remanded

C/I Gregory Yeboah said the accused person went to the victims room, took advantage of her, had sexual intercourse with her and bolted after the act.

When the victims mother returned from the market, her daughter narrated what happened to her.

The mother filed a complaint at the police station for the suspect to be arrested.

According to (C/I) Gregory Yeboah, a police medical form was issued to the mother to send her daughter for medical examination.
According to Accra-based Starr FM, the incident happened at the banks branch in the Eastern Regional capital Koforidua.

The suspect, who has been named as 29 year old Bernard Otoo Xerxes, keeps the keys of the bank [and] reportedly broke into the safe where cash deposits are kept at night, took away GHC12,000, locked up the bank and absconded, Starrfmonline reports.

Staff of the bank returned to work the following morning and were stranded as Otoo was nowhere to be found to open the bank and calls to his phone did not go through. A spare key was later brought and it was then that it was released that the banks safe had been compromised.

A warrant has been issued by the Koforidua Circuit Court for his arrest and police are asking the public to volunteer information that could lead to his arrest.
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READ MORE: Houseboy stabs boss to death and set his body on fire

The court ordered the decision after the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Simon Apiorsornu, prayed the court to remand the accused person to enable the police carry out further investigation into the matter.

The suspect is alleged to have killed his boss, Samuel Kwabena Poku, 60, after a bitter disagreement ensued between them.

The deceased, who was based in London, reportedly came to Ghana to attend a friend's funeral and oversee some investments.

After the incident, Asante told the family of his former boss that he had gone out to meet some unnamed persons.

All attempt to reach him via telephone was unsuccessful.

Days later, the family reported to the Ofankor police that Mr Poku had gone missing.

On Wednesday, March 15, the body of the deceased was discovered at the Police Hospital morgue.

The body was discovered around Pokuase, Accra, by some residents, who sent the charred body to the hospital for autopsy.

The accused said he first met the deceased when he wanted to work in a barbering salon. According to him, Mr Poku gave him his house to use for the salon, and also to maintain the place since he is not always around.

READ MORE: Angry mob flog 2 men for allegedly stealing chicken

The accused said he used his money to renovate the house and wanted a refund but his boss promised him only GHC1000 which he said was not enough.

A heated argument ensued between them in which Mr Poku asked the suspect to pack out.
News / National

by Staff reporter

23 people were last night injured in two separate accidents that occurred at the same spot near Caves Hotel in Chinhoyi.The first accident involved a Toyota Regius which drove past an intersection before hitting a tree, injuring all the 18 people on board.In the second accident, a truck towing another vehicle veered off the road, hit a parked car at the accident scene before hitting two pedestrians and injuring three more passengers.One of the injured pedestrians is prominent Specialist Surgeon, Dr Samuel Mvurume and his family member.Dr Mvurume and others who were seriously injured were referred to Parirenyatwa hospital in Harare.Mashonaland West Police Spokesman, Inspector Clemence Mabweazara confirmed the incident.
It is also our duty as police and as our collective responsibility, civil society much more to educate people on the consequences of not addressing this vigilante issue, he said.

He continued: "We are talking about war in Serra Leone, we are talking about war in Cote dIvoire, we are talking about wars elsewhere, they did not just happen.

"They happened because people secretly armed themselves, people secretly trained, people secretly prepared and then there was a trigger and the trigger was carried forward. After the trigger, people who perpetrated the [violence] are people who were prepared.

If you are not even prepared and then there is war, you can only run away. But when are prepared, you stand and fight. I am talking about this not for one political party but for all the political parties especially the two main political parties.

And let me also say that if we fail to address this issue, it will cost us one day and it will even cost those who gave birth to do creatures and the consequences will be too much for all of us.

His comments came after weeks of violence acts being perpetrated by the Invincible Forces and the Delta Force, all aligned to the running New Patriotic Party.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Osabarima Oware Asare Pinkro III, the Accra Regional Police Commander, the pair Emmanuel Osei, 28, and Isaac Akye, 36, defrauded people who were looking to buy vehicles which they advertised on the popular online marketplace, Tonaton.

READ ALSO: Kwesi Botchwey committee calls for truce in NDC

The duo also use the aliases Yaw Owusu and Hope Ahetoh, among others in their dealings.

In the first instance, the pair had advertised a car on the platform and a buyer expressed interest and an amount of money (85,000 cedis) was agreed upon. They met up and test drives and inspections were carried on the vehicle by the buyer. The prospective buyer then went in to the Osu branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank to transfer a part payment of 50,000 cedis to them.

READ ALSO: Court sentences man to death by hanging for armed robbery

After the transfer had been made, Ahetoh escaped with another man (yet to be identified) with the car. With the help of the bank closed circuit system, they were identified and arrested.
According to him, the NDC in the last election had infuriated the partys supporters, many of whom, he said, are eager to vent their frustration about the defeat.

"If I start talking, NDC will collapseThere is a bomb hanging on my chest, and if it falls, the party is doomed."

But speaking in a panel broadcast Saturday, Yalley challenged him to voice out his concerns if there is any.

Listen to Allotey Jacobs. What is he saying? He has bomb hanging on his chest. Let him release it. The NDC will not collapse, he stated.
It said the use of the media to rundown fellow party members "is rather unfortunate and must end."

"The Committee headed by Prof. Kwesi Botchwey has been constituted by the Party to go round the country to among others talk to the grassroots and report on the circumstances leading to the 2016 defeat with the view to defining the viable pathway to reorganize and recapture political power in 2020," the statement said.

READ MORE: Kwesi Botchwey committee calls for truce in NDC

The statement comes a day after the Kwesi Botchwey committee had called for truce after weeks of bickering and mudslinging.

The committee urged party members to stop engaging in on-air recriminations and finger point, saying it has the potential to discredit the committee's work.

A senior lecturer at the University of Education Winneba Dr Ahmed Jinapor has attributed the crisis to what he callsleadership vacuum.

"There seems to be a leadership vacuum. Leadership vacuum in the sense that if I am right, I stand to be corrected, if a political party like the NDC of its nature when it is in opposition it is the National Chairman who takes over the party. But today, I havent heard of the national chairman speak, Dr Jinapor told Radio Ghanas Behind the News.
Prof. Oquaye, an avowed critic of Nkrumah's human rights record, also criticised the education curriculum which credits Nkrumah as the founder of Ghana.

He was speaking at the screening of a documentary on the political history of Ghana produced by Paul Adom Otchere at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).

We are not searching apparently about anything including our GDP, Tema Oil Refinery debts, vital statistics that are simple to ascertain in many parts of the world. And this has been an unfortunate part of our history so much so that, today we celebrate one founding father which is palpable false, we have founding fathers," he said.

"Ill like to see Nkrumah celebrated by way of a holiday in his honour as the first President. A president who had a lot of vision in terms of education, health, African unity and so many areas of our national development but definitely not as the founder of this nation because it is palpably false, he added.

But the Convention People's Party (CPP) has pushed back hard against Prof. Oquaye comments, saying it will resist any attempt to rewrite Ghana's political history.
The former president has announced a book tour, beginning Tuesday March 28, 2017.

Mr Mahama made the announcement on his official Twitter account. He said: Starting a round of readings from my book and a series of university lectures this Tuesday, first at my alma mater, University of Ghana.

In 2012, President Mahama (then Vice President) published an autobiography titled My First Coup Detat: Memories from the Lost Decades of Africa. It is a coming of age story that begins when Ghanas first president Kwame Nkrumah is overthrown in 1966; when Mahama was only seven years old. His father, a minister in Nkrumahs government was subsequently arrested and imprisoned by the military junta.

The late African literary giant, Chinua Achebe gave a favourable review of Mr Mahamas book.

He said, with crisp yet sweeping prose, John Mahamas memoir My First Coup DEtat provides insights into Ghanas, and by extension, Africas struggle to weather its historical burden and engage with a world much removed from her dilemma. Without sentimentality or condescension, he exposes home grown African pathologies and helps us understand several contradictions of our post-colonial condition. His is a much welcome work of immense relevance to African studies and deserves serious critical attention.

READ ALSO: Poetry Slam A night of spectacular spoken word and creativity as Ghana turns 60

On a visit to Buckingham Palace in 2014, the president presented a copy of his book to Queen Elizabeth.
Senior party officials, ex-officials and party activists have been engaged in a fierce media debate, sometimes degenerating into insults, accusations and mudslinging, about the cause of the partys defeat in the 2016 polls.

Many have accused the partys National Organiser, Kofi Adams, for igniting the media war when he said former president John Mahama should be made the flagbearer.

There seems to be a leadership vacuum. Leadership vacuum in the sense that if I am right, I stand to be corrected, if a political party like the NDC of its nature when it is in opposition it is the National Chairman who takes over the party. But today, I havent heard of the national chairman speak, Dr Jinapor told Radio Ghanas Behind the News.

As we speak the former president hasnt spoken regarding what has happened even though a body has been mandated to look at the affairs of the NDC regarding what led it losing. And even then, as we speak, people are still making noise, he added.

In his view, the former president must take the ultimate responsibility for the electoral defeat. And the party would have to reflect on its performance as a government and think about the way of coming forward when it comes to 2020.

Asked how the party has handled the post-election defeat, Dr Ahmed said the setting up of the Dr Kwesi Botchwey Committee to look into electoral defeat was a step in the right direction.
It is not a party matter because it is not a party appointment. The person was appointed by the president to work for the nation Ghana," he said."He wasnt appointed to be an NPP officer. The group that went there was not authorised by the party to do that. The national security that is supposed to deal with that matter should deal with it."I condemn that action by the group but national security should take it up. Im going to have a discussion with leaders of the group and also the Regional Security Council are going to meet on that too, he added.
The ban, which was announced on Tuesday, forbids passengers from bringing any electronic devices larger than a cell phone into the cabin of certain flights to the US.

Airlines were sent scrambling for answers to the operational nightmare created by the ban, after getting just 96 hours to comply or risk losing their license to fly into the US.There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the ban's motives, its effectiveness at deterring a terrorist attack, the huge loopholes left open by the Trump administration, and how airlines are expected to comply with the ban and a Federal Aviation Administration prohibition against checking lithium-ion battery devices.

Here's what we know so far.

The ban requires passengers to place all electronic items larger than a cell phone in their checked luggage so the devices cannot be accessed in flight. This includes laptops, tablets, e-readers, portable DVD players, gaming devices larger than a smartphone, and travel-size printers and scanners. However, necessary medical devices are exempt.

The new policy covers only non-stop flights to the US coming from one of 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa  including a few of the busiest transit hubs in the world: Istanbul, Turkey and Dubai in the UAE.

Flights from the US to these destinations will not be affected.

But not all flights from these airlines into the US will be affected by the ban. For instance, Emirates offers flights to New York's JFK International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey from Dubai that stop in Milan, Italy and Athens, Greece. On Thursday, Emirates confirmed that passengers on these flights will be permitted to have their laptops and other electronic devices with them in the cabin.

In addition, no flights operated by US or European airlines will be affected directly by the ban because none offer non-stop service to the US from that region of the world. However, several US carriers including American, United, JetBlue, and Alaska could see their business take a hit. This is because airlines such as Qatar, Turkish, and Emirates feed passengers directly into their respective domestic networks.

The ban calls for all large electronic devices to be packed with checked luggage at each passenger's point of origin. This means that those transiting through the affected airports will be without their devices from the onset of their trip. For instance, if you are traveling from Mumbai, India to Atlanta, GA via Doha, Qatar, your laptop will have to be checked in Mumbai even though it's not one of the airports on the banned list.

Passengers who use the service will be required to declare their large electronic devices to security agents before boarding US-bound flights. The devices would then be packed in secure boxes and stored in the aircraft's cargo hold. The boxes would be returned to the travelers once they reached the US.

Other airlines such as Qatar Airways have indicated they will implement extra security measures to ensure the security of the devices. Although none have yet to clarify what those measure are.

According to US officials, there's no set date for the end of the ban and its need will be periodically reviewed.

According to senior administration officials, the decision to implement these security measures is a result of intelligence showing a risk for terrorist activity involving commercial aviation.

"Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation and are aggressively pursuing innovative methods to undertake their attacks, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items," an official said on Monday.

In addition, several aviation industry analysts who have spoken with Business Insider question whether a ban of this type would even be effective in countering a terrorist attack. Doha, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi are major international transit hubs with extensive multilayered security procedures. US-bound flights are also screened in dedicated facilities using well-trained security professionals who often have experience in law enforcement or the military.

In fact, Abu Dhabi International Airport is equipped with a US Customs and Border Protection pre-clearance facility where passengers and bags headed for the US are screened by US customs officials.

The electronics ban will have a few unintended side effects. One of the most serious is the large number of lithium-ion batteries in the cargo hold of an airliner.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, it's behavior with potentially catastrophic consequences.

"FAA battery fire testing has highlighted the potential risk of a catastrophic aircraft loss due to damage resulting from a lithium battery fire or explosion," the agency wrote in an alert in February. "Current cargo fire suppression systems cannot effectively control a lithium battery fire."

Administration officials told journalists on Monday that they were working with the FAA to maintain a safe flying environment, but they did not state specifics. Business Insider asked DHS for specifics on Tuesday but has not yet heard back from officials.

This is particularly concerning for Michael Mo, the cofounder and CEO of KULR Technologies, a company that specializes in thermal-management systems for batteries.

According to Mo, the only saving grace here is that spare batteries and power banks are still prohibited. Which means only batteries fitted inside devices will be stored with cargo. Even though it's not perfectly safe, these batteries tend to be more stable and less likely to combust.

With the laptop ban still in its infancy, more details will likely emerge in the near future. Stay tuned.
The Times of London published a story citing anonymous German officials who claimed Trump gave Merkel the bill during their meeting in Washington last week.

"No, this is not true," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said when Business Insider reached out to the White House for comment.

The Times reported that one German minister said the alleged exchange was "outrageous" and that "the concept behind putting out such demands is to intimidate the other side, but the chancellor took it calmly and will not respond to such provocations."

Trump has called NATO "obsolete" and long criticized allies for not contributing to defense spending and fighting terrorism, though NATO experts have countered that claim.

"After 9/11, NATO's main vocation became fighting terrorism in Afghanistan," Alexander Vershbow, the former deputy secretary general of NATO, told the New York Times in January. "It is now heavily engaged in training the militaries of many Middle Eastern countries to help them fight terrorism in their own backyard."

That sentiment was echoed by Trump's own defense secretary, retired Marine general James Mattis, in his testimony before Congress during his confirmation hearing. Mattis said at his hearing that NATO was essential to American safety and national security.

In its report claiming that Trump gave Merkel an invoice for NATO spending, the Times of London said the White House had arrived at the final figure of $374 billion by starting at 2002 and calculating "the extent to which German defense spending had fallen short of the 2% target each year, [adding] the amount together  and then [putting] interest on top."

A source close to Merkel who was cited by the Times was characterized as being "dismissive" of the alleged bill.

"The president has a very unorthodox view on NATO defense spending," the source said. "The alliance is not a club with a membership fee. The commitments relate to countries' investment in their defense budgets."

The report claims that Merkel ignored the "provocation." The German chancellor has committed, however, to higher defense spending by Germany.
News / Press Release

by G.Sibanda

A speech presented by HRM King Mzilikazi II at the Service Yokuchinsa held in Bulawayo eGcekeni leNxwala (ezibayeni) on Saturday the 25th March, 2017. The ceremony was conducted by the King with the help of some local pastors and elders.Proof text: John 10:10 "The thief (satan) comes only to steal, and to kill and to destroy; but I (Jesus Christ) have come that you may have life and that you may have it more abundantly to the full, until it overflows."Greetings: Mthwakazi omuhle, ondlela zimhlophe, Sizwe sezizwe, Sizwe samakhosi, Sizwe saMaNdebele ka Mzilikazi, M'buthwakazi Omkhulu weNkosi yoHlanga, Bantwana beSilo, Lina elithandwe nguBaba onguMenzi wezinto zonke, walikhetha phakathi kweAfrica yonke ngeGazi leNdodana Yakhe uJesu Krestu. Ngiyalibingelela ngithi,"Salibonani, Philani kade, liphile kahle!"The Eternal Truth: There is one very fundamental truth that must be clearly understood when one talks of any leadership, be it leading a humble family unit with two or three people, or a national government with hundreds of millions of people and a budget of trillions of dollars. This truth is that; there will always be a "Spiritual Power" that ordains and empowers the leader, and that this "Power" is the actual Ruler of that particular set up, be it a family or church, a kingdom or a republic. Man, whether known to him or not, is only there to do the will of a "Spiritual Master". God is the Creator, Owner and Ruler of all creation including man. However at the fall of Adam and Eve, men forfeited their right to remain citizens of God's government and ruler ship, and by default became subjects of the kingdom of satan the fallen archangel, which is the kingdom of darkness.Jesus Christ came down to earth specifically to restore the earth, and the kingdoms of the earth and man back to God the Creator and Loving Father. This He very successfully did through His death and resurrection. In John 10:10, Jesus refers to satan as a thief who comes only to steal, to kill and to destroy. He then announces His Own mission as One who has come to give us life again, abundant life that actually continuously overflows. He came to restore that which was lost by Adam.Through experience and Godly wisdom I have come to realise that; Anyone who pursues leadership at any level, more so leadership over people and does not understand this fundamental truth, or for some reason ignores it; lacks all wisdom and is totally blind. Such a leader is high risk and very dangerous. The Bible says that our warfare is not against people but against spiritual entities in the heavenly places. These are satan's governmental structures with principalities and rulers of wickedness who run the affairs of men and their governments. That is why Jesus referred to satan as the prince or ruler of this world. Any king or leader "othembe ulwazi lwamabhuku kuphela" and does not understand this is lost. He cannot even protect his people because he neither possesses nor knows the weapons of this crucial warfare.Our Experience: Mzilikazi, the son of Matshobana, in our resent history is the only one who was born a king. He did not fight his way into the throne and did not kill anyone in order to assert himself on the throne. He knew Who his Master was; uMvelinqangi (God), he clearly understood his purpose; to build a nation out of many different people groups and tribes - uM'buthwakazi, he knew what his role was; a Servant Leader - "Inkosi yinkosi ngabantu", his governing system was Ubuntu - which is based on loving others as yourself and respecting one another. King Mzilikazi is still dearly loved and respected by his people to this day because he understood the fundamental truth and aligned himself wisely. Out of a huge diverse nation he was able to create a family atmosphere and he became the Father figure; feared by his enemies but loved and respected by his own people.Since the time of King Lobhengula until now, Isizwe samaNdebele has been under a different "spiritual master" from that of King Mzilikazi. It's been under the "thief", satan, the one who comes only to steal, and to kill and to destroy. Through ignorance or knowingly for the sake of power, Lobhengula chose this master who is a thief when he fought his way into power through a nasty civil war and the continued killing of his own defenceless people and brothers. The use of human elements and charms to enhance power, "ukutshwama" blatant witchcraft, are all programmes of the new master. Tribalism "inkethabetshabi", are all projects of the thief, coming only to destroy a nation that was so meticulously built. His system of governing was "witch hunting".When the "new master" felt he was done with King Lobhengula he embarrassingly drove him out and brought in a much more cruel servant; Cecil John Rhodes, a thief par excellence. After a bloody genocide, he and his team from Mashonaland went into a looting spree. Not only did they steal our wealth and our land, but with the help of their home government and their queen, they stole even our country and united it to their protectorate; Mashonaland. When the "new master" saw that Sir Garfield Todd was too much of a gentleman, he raised Mr Ian Douglas Smith from nowhere, just to come and fight a bloody but losing racial war in order make sure that more Ndebeles die and suffer unnecessarily. Their system of governing was called "racism".Come 1980 and many in Matabeleland thought it was finally over "kanti ababuzanga elangeni". Satan and his principalities had actually passed us over to the government of Mashonaland alias Zimbabwe, a former British protectorate. The stealing, the killing and the destruction has been unparalleled under this regime. The greed is unquenchable, the unexplainable hatred for the Ndebele people resembles only that of the "thief" himself. The Ndebele nation and its people have lost basically everything. The loss is not easy to fathom. I personally used to see and also hear of train loads and busloads of people from Mashonaland sent by their government or its ministers to come and sabotage human life, human development and the economy of the Ndebele by literally taking over their country Matabeleland. This they have successfully and proudly done "according to book" - "gwara", the1979 Grand Plan, and this continues till this day. The human sabotage is too painful to even briefly narrate. Their ruthless system of governing is called "tribalism, nepotism, corruption, extortion and murder". As for the economic sabotage, it has remained a mystery to me how exceptionally viable and highly capitalised companies like the Railways, Cold Storage Commission, Wankie Colliery Company, even the Bulawayo City Council, to name but a few, could be completely derelict all within a single leadership. Throughout Matabeleland our roads have completely disappeared even in the towns. There is no hope for the Ndebele or Matabeleland in anything under this current satanic arrangement, whether their government changes its name from zanu to mdc to people second or even to Mthwakazi whatever. God's plan is to restore what He created in the first place; "The Royal Kingdom of Mthwakazi/Matabeleland", and He will not inherit what the "thief" has created.Ruler ship is spiritual and man has no power to rule but has power to choose a "Spiritual Master", and the choice is limited to only two; God or satan. Satan took over ruler ship of Matabeleland and its people from King Lobhengula. He uses human beings and their weaknesses to achieve his goal.Umthontiso Festival/ Ukuchinsa/ Festival of the First fruitsHowever we are here today to celebrate the end of the rule of satan together with his spiritual and human agents in the country of the Ndebele nation, Matabeleland. My presence here today as King of all the Ndebele people and Matabeleland, HRM King Mzilikazi II, and this ceremony that I am conducting, mark the end of the painful history of the Ndebele people in their own country Matabeleland and the beginning of a new and glorious era. The past is over forever.Yes, my presence here today marks the victory and the freedom and the restoration of the Kingdom of Mthwakazi that I declared at GADADE on November 5, 2016. God has defeated and dislodged satan and I am HIS PLAN for this victory and freedom and restoration. In the mind of God my kingship comes straight after that of King Mzilikazi, uninterrupted, and it comes straight from the Almighty Creator God. It is wholly and completely and directly connected to Master Jesus, the One who came that we may have life and to have it more abundantly, to the full, until it overflows. He is the One who built the Ndebele nation both spiritually and physically through His servant King Mzilikazi, the founder of this nation. Great things will soon begin to happen to this nation of Mthwakazi that will not only shock the world, but will also very much shock even you the citizens. The lives of the people, their economy and their country will change for the better within a record time. It's RESTORATION TIME for the Mthwakazi Kingdom and all glory belongs to Jesus.Now the festival of the first fruits. Exodus 23:19; 34:26. The idea of the festival of first fruits is not a human idea, but it was initiated by God. God instructed the Children of Israel to offer to Him the first fruits of their harvest before utilising them. They were instructed to choose the best of the crop for this offering. This represented the whole harvest and meant that they were acknowledging that all things belong to God and come to us as a gift from Him who is also the Sole Giver of rain. It also was a sign of humility on their part and gave God opportunity to bless the people with all other blessings including good health, wealth and protection.Umthontiso/Ukuchinsa is a traditional practice for us as a people. Bekungadliwa lutho emasimini ungakenziwa umkhuba wokuchinsa. Injongo yalo umkhuba ibiyikuthi ukudla okutsha ovela emasimini kulungiswe kungakadliwa ukuze kungagulisi muntu kodwa kwakhe imizimba yethu. Yikho kwakuthiwa "madolo qina". Umkhuba lo wawuvumela ukuthi ukudla kuvuthwe emasimini lababukhali bengakuthintanga. Kwakuvikela lenyongo. Umthontiso/ ukuchinsa bekuyindlela yokubonga lokubonisa ubukhulu bukaMvelinqangi oNguye osipha izulu. Ngiyazi indlela zingatshiyana ngakho asisoze sizihluphe ngezinto ezinengi ukuze singaphikisani. Okunengi sizakudobha ngendlela.Kulezinto ezintathu ezibalulekileyo ngalezi nkonzo zombili;Okokuqala yikuthi zonke zenziwa ukudla okutsha sekuvuthiwe sekulungele ukudliwa kodwa kungakathintwa muntu.Okwesibili yikuthi zinkonzo ezinika umnumzana, kumbe inkosi, kumbe UNkulunkulu ithuba lokwazisa imuli yakhe kumbe abantu bakhe ukuthi ukudla okutsha sekungadliwa lokubavulela indlela.Okwesithathu: zinkonzo zokubonga lokwazisa lokunikela kuMdali uNkulunkulu, onguye osiphe zonke lezi izipho kunye lempilo.ANNOUNCEMENTSIn the light of the above observations, I want to make the following announcements ngesiNdebele: (please note that I am speaking to you as your Father, as your King and I am speaking mainly for Jesus Christ who is my Master and my King and yours.)Okokuqala Mthwakazi yikuthi iNkululeko yakho lenotho yakho isilungile, isiphelelisiwe.Okwesibili Mthwakazi ngilazisa ukuthi khululekani manje. Ziboneni, ziphatheni okwabakhululekileyo. Tshiyanani lovalo lokwesaba, litshiyane lokusola, umhawu lokuchothoza. Vezani uBuntu benu; uthando lenhlonipho. Lungisani okwenu, likhulume okwenu, lenze okwenu, litshiyane lezinto zonke ezemzini, lingakhulumi ngitsho langazo futhi lingayi lasemhlanganweni yemzini.Okwesithathu Mthwakazi bongani uNkulunkulu oliphe inkululeko le. Bezibondiwe lapha kungaphumeki. Labo bayamangala ukuthi kungenzakala kanjani, kodwa sekwenzakele. Asiphindi sibesesakeni futhi. Konke lokhu kungamandla lokuhlakanipha lomusa lothando lukaJehovah. Ngakho ke Mthwakazi bongani uNkulunkulu lingadinwa.IMPORTANT:1) From today onwards there will be no other agenda for Matabeleland/ Mthwakazi except the King's agenda.2) From today onwards no one shall speak on behalf of Matabeleland/ Mthwakazi except the King or one officially sent by the King. No individual or organisation, no chief or political leader, no traditional leader or committee or family shall officially speak for Mthwakazi/ Matabeleland, her peoples or her affairs (including Gukurahundi) except asked to do so by HRM King Mzilikazi II. Mthwakazi is a kingdom and there is now a King in Matabeleland/ Mthwakazi. I proudly note that, Honourable Mthwakazians have over the many years worked ever so hard for the revival of this Matebele Kingdom and the revival of its Monarchy. These people and their efforts will never be forgotten and they also came at God's appointed time. I bless you. However the King is here now, "koMthwakazi inyoni ivele itshayelwa abadala".3) Mthwakazi Kingdom/ Matabeleland has nothing to do with the Zimbabwean elections. It does not matter whether those elections are held tomorrow or next year, Zimbabwean elections have always been for Zimbabwe and never for us. Don't even discuss them, let alone attend any rallies that talk about those elections. After all it's not even news, they already know the results.INAUGURATION/ CORONATION/ UKUGCOTSHWA KWENKOSIINKOSI UMZILIKAZI II UZAGCOTSHWA LONYAKA 2017 EBUSIKA.The inauguration ceremony for HRM King Mzilikazi II will be held this year 2017 before the rains. The exact date will be announced soon. This is not a Mickey Mouse occasion. It is an international event that will be attended by dignitaries from all over the world. It will also be a marketing platform for the Revived Kingdom of Mthwakazi. Preparatory work for this august event begins in earnest tomorrow, the 26th March, 2017. It is our work and we must more than just support it; we must own it. Do not wait for anybody. If you see the vision do not consult, let us move forward like Gideon's army. Judges 7. Asingabi "ngabayicela isivuthiwe".IMPORTANT:1) During that ceremony the king will announce an Interim Ruling Council, "the King's Council" to commence the exercise of engineering the government infrastructure, the process of drafting the Constitution of the Revived Kingdom of Mthwakazi and the conducting of the general elections.2) The King will also announce the interim Prime Minister who shall consolidate the residue of the government infrastructure and the recruitment and training of an efficient civil service. Fortunately we already have "abantwana benkosi" who are currently serving in all the security departments as well as other areas within this government. Their knowledge and experience will be most valuable.Finally: Now the onus is on you and me to believe in this Project of the Almighty God for the revival of the Mthwakazi Kingdom/ Matabeleland and to believe in His humble servant, King Mzilikazi II. The onus is on you and me to accept this project as our own and for you to accept and respect your King as your own. Let that love and loyalty to your King and your Kingdom, your discipline and your selflessness that once made you the most feared nation between Cape Town and Cairo be rekindled in you. This is an integral part of your restoration. The onus is on you and me to get fully involved in the project and not to be bystanders and commentators. The onus is on you and me to financially support this project as our own and support the volunteers who have sacrificed so much and work ever so hard, day and night to drive this work. Your humble servant has nothing left to sacrifice except himself, his love and his faith, and he will be privileged to live on the crumbs that fall off your tables. His is a full time job and it must be done and now. It is done in the name of Jesus. I call upon the whole Mthwakazi nation to begin to give, I mean sacrificial giving. Giving is very much a part of our restoration agenda, and so is loving and respecting. We will be known the world over as a nation of GIVERS and LOVERS as opposed to thieves and haters. I thank you Mthwakazi, I thank you MaNdebele. God bless you all. I love and respect you all.UKUBA LINDEBELE IS THE BEST THING EVER EMHLABENI LA, IT IS ONLY SECOND TO BEING A CHILD OF GOD. Kungumusa omkhulu kaJehovah ukuthi sibengaMaNdebele, so do not allow tribalists to divide you into little tribal groups. BALAMANGA, ULINDEBELE WENA!
On Monday, March 20, an online news medium, Sahara Reporters, had reported that Melaye did not graduate from ABU.

The lawmaker had claimed that he obtained B.A in Geography from the institution.

He said he also got degrees from the London school of Economics (LSE) and Harvard University, United States - both schools have said they have no record of Melaye obtaining a degree from their institutions.

Harvard, however, noted that the Senator did attend a one week programme in the University, and that was it.

But Melaye, who has instituted a N5 billion libel suit against the publication, insists that he got his first degree from ABU, and according to him, he is an "authentic graduate" and currently pursuing his seventh degree in the institution.

"Go round all the UNIS (universities) I attended in digging more," he had challenged the media.

After thorough checks of Melaye's name on the ABU Alumni Association website on Saturday, March 25, no record of him was found.

The senator's name, Daniel Jonah Melaye, as it appears on a statement of result by the university, returned with zero result.

According to Punch, the ABU Public Relations Officer, Mr. Adamu Mohammed, was not available for comment when the newspaper contacted him.

The President, ABU Alumni Association, Prof. Ahmed Tijanni-Mora, however reacted to the absence of Melaye's name on the website, saying that only the University can confirm if the lawmaker graduated or not.

"The registrars of universities are in the best position to provide information about who attended their universities or not," he said.
Fashola said this during an inspection tour of road projects in Lagos state.

He listed the Truck Park in Apapa, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Tin Can Island/Oworonshoki Expressway, Warff Road Rehabilitation and Reconstruction and the Mosimi/Sagamu as some of the roads in the state receiving attention.

He said that the ongoing road projects across the country was to develop the nations infrastructure which will improve commerce and bring the nation out of recession in line with President Buharis vision.

We have to fulfill Mr Presidents mandate to get this economy out of recession and set it on the path of inclusive growth where money trickles down to the most vulnerable people, he said.

The Minister said that the infrastructural renewal commitment of the Federal Government was giving opportunity to various artisans and other construction professionals job opportunities.

He conveyed the gratitude of the President to artisans and other professionals in the construction sector driving the nations development.

He said government would back up training of artisans with an economic programme.

There must be an economic programme and that programme is the infrastructural renewal that puts everybody to work from the architects to those who really build, he said.

While fielding questions from journalists, he lamented the theft of manhole covers on Eko Bridge by vandals.

He urged residents of the state to take ownership of the manhole covers to prevent their theft.

People persist in vandalising our common assets and it just must stop.

There is need for more law enforcement, he said.

He said FERMAs board would soon be constituted to show governance.

Earlier while inspecting the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the minister said government would continue to disburse funds to ensure contractors continue with the work.

Also, during inspection of the Port Access Link Road project in Apapa, Mr Paolo Prono, Executive Director, Borini Prono, contractor handling the project, said that the firm needed additional one month to complete the sanitary plant building on the site.
Sowore was reacting to Melaye's tweet on Friday, March 24, where he said he would make sure the following the certificate forgery report published by the online news medium.

In a statement, he posted on his Facebook page on Saturday, March 25, the publisher said he would expose those he described as "drug dealers, certificate forgers, money launderers, political manipulators, and assassins."

Sowore wrote: "Folks: It was brought to my attention earlier that Nigerian Senator Dino Melaye promised to send me to jail over the recent unraveling of his questionable educational background. While some are worried, appalled, alarmed and concerned and even scared about this declaration, it had me thinking differently.

"I am a Nigerian citizen who had been through torture, humiliations, and incarceration by dictators in uniform between 1992-1999 before I, eventually, left Nigeria. I have never doubted the power of justice over legalities.

"That a Nigerian Senator in a democratic era could make this proclamation is indeed a sign that our democratic transition was a farce, particular when youve now noticed that Mr. Melaye was sitting at the feet of one of Nigerias worst military dictators, Ibrahim Babangida just a week ago.

"One of Babangidas worst crimes against humanity was the assassination of notable investigative journalists of our time, Dele Giwa, by way of a parcel bomb. Another thing Melaye shares in common with Babangida and his killer squad was using libel lawsuits to silence inquisitions. In the 80s Gani Fawehimi was found liable of libeling the killers of Dele Giwa and asked to pay damages to Halilu Akilu.

"Here is how I am different and also not different, I am not going to run away from criminals running the Nigerian political space until they are defeated, and their ideologies of greed, bloodiness, and avarice are entirely abandoned and discredited forever (Apology to Bob Marley).

"If it takes my life, so be it; if it means another unjust ruling asking for damages for thieves. So be it. We must take our space back from the 10 percenters, drug dealers, certificate forgers, money launderers, political manipulators, and assassins.

Thank you."

ALSO READ: Sahara Reporters is obsessed with me,' Melaye says
In the 30-page document, which went viral last week, el-Rufai asked Buhari to make changes in his government as some if his aides and appointees are selfish and inexperienced.

The Governor named the President's Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal as exambles.

He wrote: "The secretary to the government of the federation and the chief of staff do not have experience in public service, lack humility in addition to being insensitive and rude to virtually most of the party leaders, ministers and governors.

"The chief of staff is totally clueless about the APC and its internal politics at best as he was neither part of its formation nor a participant in the primaries, campaign, and elections.

"In summary, neither of them has the personality, experience, and the reach to manage your politics nationally or even regionally."

He said the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken the country from bad to worse due to lack of proactive decisions by Buhari.

In an interview published by Daily Trust on Sunday, March 26, el-Rufai denied leaking the memo to the media, revealing that he has written over 20 of such letters in the past.

ALSO READ: El-Rufai says critics unfair to Buhari on economic programmes

When asked if the memo has not caused disagreement between him and the people he named in it, he said: "I know Abba Kyari well, he will not disagree with what I wrote there. He knows it to be true and he is not hearing for the first time."

el-Rufai added: "Many people have complained about this, so I dont think it will cause a strain in my relationship with the chief of staff because we have been friends for so many years. But anyone who feels he is upset because of what I have written, so be it.

On how the memo was leaked, the Governor said he has no reason to send it out to the public, stressing that its not the first memo he would write to Buhari.

He said: "First of all, let me say that this is not the first memo that I have written to the president. From the time I began to interact politically with him since 2010, anytime I saw a situation requiring advice or change in direction, I usually went to discuss with him.

"I always said, I will go and reduce it to writing so you can have a document to reflect upon and decide and guide your action.

"This is not even the tenth memo I have written to the president. I have probably written more than 20 memos. I did this at various stages  from our days in the Congress for progressive Change (CPC), before the 2011 elections, after the 2011 elections, and during the merger process.

"I have always felt that my duty to him as my political leader is to pick up what he doesnt hear, because as a lower level person, I get to hear more about what is going on. And if I see things going wrong, I have a duty to go to him and say, This is what Ive heard, the facts I have established and my advice on the way forward.
According to Leadership newspaper, the comptroller-general of the service, Ahmed Jaafaru and other top shots in the NPS are running the secret recruitment.

They allegedly collect as much as N650,000 each from intakes to gain employment into the service.

Over 3,800 people are said to have been recruited underground between October 2016 and now.

Most of the new employees have undergone training and posted to various prisons across the federation, it was learnt.

The report said the second batch of the backdoor recruits are currently undergoing training at some of the prisons service's training schools.

The newspaper cited a top officer at the services national headquarters, Abuja, who said the new recruits were hired into various rank categories, including assistant superintendent of prisons (ASP), inspector of prisons, prison assistant, among others.

The source explained that degree holders are charged N650,000, higher national diploma holders pay N550,000 and school certificate holders pay between N350,000 and N400,000.

"It has reached a point where the illegality should be exposed otherwise cash-strapped job seeking applicants may never be employed. Nigerians should know that there is periodic backdoor recruitment exercise in which positions are simply put up for sale, while top officials fill their pockets and bank accounts in the process," the source said.

Citing another officer, the report said bribe-for-posting-and-promotion scheme is also going on at the service, as well as another racket which ensures that high profile inmates enjoy uncommon privileges.

The source said prison authorities use foot soldiers, corrupt warders and notorious inmates to carry out the illegal activities.

"They have fixed price tags for postings, promotions and entry-level jobs," he claimed.

He also alleged that the promotion of "uncooperative officers" is being delayed for refusing to "jump on the band-wagon of dubious officers who exchange money for promotion."

He added: "Even the deployment of officers to prisons nationwide is often influenced by how much you get to pay and not by merit. Im specifically talking about sensitive positions like that of deputy-comptrollers of prisons, chief warder and yard masters. These are normally those who not only divert funds and foodstuffs meant for inmates, but also use their fronts to extort money from inmates and their relations. This is massively responsible for frequent complaints of poor welfare of inmates, poor maintenance of facilities and gross abuse of prisons rules and of course jailbreak."

The public relations officer of the Nigeria Prisons Service, Francis Enobore, however, described the allegations as "wicked" and "image-slandering."

"NPS has no reason to do underground employment. The general public will be well informed as and when due. If any job seeker is patronising any scammer out of desperation, then such applicants should desist from encouraging and enriching these criminals," he said.

On the alleged ongoing training of the second batch of the secret recruits, Enobore said, "our training colleges are always open to staff to pass through different phases of trainings."

"In fact, our training colleges re-opened in the month of February to enable our personnel meet up with missed courses. So, our facilities are always busy. Those training there are not secret recruits as falsely speculated.

"If your sources have reliable evidence on these biased, discrediting and wicked image slandering allegations against the prisons boss, then let them make such public and win Nigerians support."
Speaking to in an interview with NAN in Washington, Balogun reaffirmed that President Donald Trumps travel ban did not affect Nigerians.

He said: "The executive ban on immigration does not affect Nigerians. Whatever must have taken place regarding visa issuance, vetting at the airports, its all normal.

"All these things have been on even before President Trump. Lets get one thing well. That you are issued visa is not a guarantee that you will end up wherever youre going.

"Its a global thing; its not just United States. Even with us in Nigeria, we issue a visa to you here in the Nigerian embassy.

"There is no guarantee that you will get in when you get to Murtala Muhammed Airport or when you get to Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport.

"The final authority is the man at the point of entry  immigration officers there. For instance, you can come to the embassy here, we ask for all the things you need to get the visa.

"How much do you have that we feel will be enough for you to stay in Nigeria for the period youre going.

"May be as at that time, you were able to show us evidence that you have a thousand dollars which we feel will be enough for you to stay in Nigeria.

"By the time you get to Murtala Muhammed Airport, the man at that end there asked you, all you have to show to him is 100 dollars, definitely, he might turn you back, and thats normal."

"Then there are other things. What manner of visa did you collect to come to the United States?" he asked.

"For instance, a pregnant woman who comes to the United States on visiting visa will probably be turned back at the point of entry because she does not have a medical visa.

ALSO READ: Dambazu says FG will monitor immigrants

"You are coming in on a visiting visa and the immigration man sees you pregnant. Naturally, he will turn you back.

"Even if you have the medical visa, they want to know if you have medical insurance; do you have you medical documents for you to be able to come and use their medical facilities here.
Fani-Kayode, who is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), described the current administration as evil and bloodthirsty.

He stated in a message he posted on his Facebook page on Saturday, March 25.

The politician stated that the only success the Buhari government has recorded is in turning non-Hausa-Fulani Nigerians into second class citizens and slaves.

The statement reads in part: "The Buhari government is evil, weak, incompetent, sectional, bloodthirsty, genocidal, wicked, divisive, mendacious and bereft of any integrity or intellectual pretentions.

"This is a government whose sole intention is to turn non Hausa-Fulani Nigerians into second class citizens and slaves.

"They protect the genocidal maniacs, the killers and the aggressors and they persecute, torment and traumatise the victims of aggression.

"Whether it be Agatu, Ile-Ife, Southern Kaduna, Enugu, Abia or anywhere else the story is the same: the victims are locked up and the murderous barbarians and savages that killed them are rewarded.

"The Buhari administration have come to do nothing but to kill, steal and destroy. Under their watch more Shiite Muslims and Christians gave been butchered than at any other time in our entire history outside the civil war.

"They are a curse. They are an affliction. And the truth is that they are worse than Hitlers Nazis."
The party lost relevance in Nigeria's political sphere after its shocking loss in the 2015 general elections, followed by the leadership crisis that broke it into two factions - the Ali Modu Sheriff and Ahmed Makarfi factions.

Frantic reconciliation efforts, which has been ongoing for months, has failed to reunite the aggrieved members of the party.

Occasioned by the crisis at the national level, a good number of PDP members across the country have defected to the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) to avoid sinking with the PDP ship.

Speaking at his country home in Otuoke, Bayelsa state, when he received the report of Governor Seriake Dickson-led PDP reconciliation committee, Jonathan said he believes that the crisis in the party should be resolved outside the courts.

ALSO READ: 5 important things Jonathan told U.S lawmakers about Nigeria

He commended the efforts of the committee to ensure the two factions embrace negotiations.

He said: "I have always believed that political differences should be resolved outside the courts, but unfortunately we are already involved with it and gone up to the Supreme Court, but we are hopeful of a political solution.

"Party politics is supposed to be a family affair and ought to be resolved amicably without resorting to the courts."

On Friday, March 24, Dickson held a high-level meeting with one of the founding fathers of the party, Mallam Adamu Ciroma.
Opinion / Columnist

Remarks by the Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Christopher Mushohwe to editors in Harare last week.***Let me take this opportunity to welcome you to this briefing session, our first in many such meetings with editors we envisage this year.We are meeting towards the tail-end of the first quarter of the year when ideally we should have met much earlier than this to work on our shared common vision for the year.I am naturally going to raise issues with you regarding our industry which I feel require editorial attention.Similarly, I am expecting you to raise issues which affect your profession that you want to draw my attention to so that my ministry addresses them to enable you to perform better your functional role as watchdog on behalf of our society.Let us arrive at some common understanding about how we should complement each other's efforts in furtherance of multi-faceted obligations as information and media practitioners towards defending and advancing the national interest, promoting national unity, peace and sovereignty.We are meeting against the background of a very good rainy season which bodes well for our country's agriculture, power generation and water bodies for our sustenance and that of our vegetation and fauna.All indications point to a bumper maize crop this year which, surely, is good news for us as a country because it means that Zimbabwe will not be importing maize this year.In fact, we are poised to export surplus maize this year, a feat which has eluded us for the past two decades due to external factors we are all familiar with including perennial droughts and the imposition of illegal sanctions against our country.The good news is that any maize exports will contribute to both foreign currency earnings for the country and foreign currency savings as government will no longer be compelled to import maize and other cereals which have done well this year. We are closer to regaining our lost status as the breadbasket of the sub-region.What a good story we have to share with our own people and to share with the rest of the world!The combination of both good rains and the agricultural skills which our farmers have acquired and sharpened over time, vindicates the country's land reform programme.It debunks the myth that the land acquisition policy which enabled Government to reclaim land  our land  from the few white colonial settlers and giving it back to its rightful owners, killed our agriculture.Land restitution was meant to correct a historical colonial grievance of land disenfranchisement for the Africans and empowering indigenous Zimbabweans as owners of their land.That policy is beginning to bear fruit and the results from the tobacco sector and now maize sector bear ample testimony to the efficacy of that policy decision.And I say to you as editors, there is a good story to tell the nation and the outside world which you cannot afford to ignore.I hope you recall what I said the last time we met in this very boardroom when I shared with you my vision of an unfettered media in Zimbabwe.I challenged both media proprietors and our journalists to defend and grow their industry through responsible and professional behaviour which responds to the dictates of safeguarding and promoting the national interest.Your industry cannot clamour for self-regulation if it fails repeatedly the test of patriotism and valour.I have heard some journalists claim that they were patriotic citizens like everybody else but often wondered why they went out of their way to harm the national interest through their propensity to churn negative stories about Zimbabwe which bring grief to the country and its citizens.Bad publicity about our country does not help anyone at all both friend and foe.It hurts our economy and when the economy suffers, all Zimbabweans without distinction suffer from economic hardships as we are currently experiencing.The consequences of sanctions visit us all.Why do our newsrooms have a propensity to ignore the positive stories that are unfolding in our country today such as the agricultural story I have made reference to earlier on?Is it because they don't see value in reporting such positive developments or is it the result of poor training that has failed to capacitate our journalists to generate positive copy?I have challenged our journalists before to read the country's Constitution which spells out not only their role and privileges as journalists but also the expectations of society regarding the role of the media as watchdog.The Constitution gives quite a comprehensive list of what constitutes national interest which includes the following concerns: the sanctity of our independence and national sovereignty; our right to self-determination; national unity and the indivisibility of Zimbabwe; national security; sensitivity to our economic interests; our right to our natural resources; promotion and preservation of our cultural values and practices; justice; empowerment and of course, democracy.I am drawing your attention to this because I have noticed that our media has suffered a relapse which requires remedial attention.It is failing to discharge its cardinal role of informing, educating and entertaining the nation. Regrettably, we have drifted back to the state where we were in 2008 and 2013 when the media became polarised, too divided to qualify as a coherent industry and profession.The media has been caught up once again in the campaign mode and this time against the backdrop of the 2018 general elections.Sadly, we are beginning to see schisms in our media reflecting the schisms in our poisoned political environment.Our journalists have become embeds in one political party or another and much worse, caught up in factional fights among our political parties.Why are we doing that to ourselves and to our noble profession?We are doing a disservice to our nation and disgracing our profession. We are short-changing society by denying it real news.Our sense of news is no longer about reality on the ground but our own sense of reality based on where we stand with respect to the political developments in our country.In the process we have departed from our mandate as journalists who ensure free expression and the free flow of information.We have become news ourselves thus undermining our watchdog role as members of the fourth estate.I have called you therefore to this meeting as editors to challenge you to reconstruct the role of the media in this country especially as we head towards the 2018 harmonised elections as a bona fide fourth estate which can be relied upon to play its watchdog role in our society.I don't distinguish between the so-called private and public media.To me, your role as journalists is to serve the public in its generality and I want to help you do just that. And that is why from the outset when I joined this ministry, I told you that I operate an open door policy.You are welcome to my office to consult me on matters of Government policy which you want clarified for you so that you are enabled to discharge your duties without hindrance.Steer clear of being political embeds because you are bound to get hurt or caught up in crossfire. You will become fair game once you are identified with any political party or politician.I notice that some among you have fallen into this trap and are finding it difficult to extricate themselves.If you are a recipient of the 'brown envelope' know that there is a heavy price to pay professionally. You get compromised and when you have been abused and are no longer useful you will be spitted out and even exposed.I am aware that these things are happening among some of you and I am warning you to desist from this unprofessional and unethical conduct.Don't delve into politics, it is not your area. You don't belong there if you are a journalist. You belong to the newsroom. Let the politicians fight their own political battles without involving yourselves.Your focus should remain on the ball, defending the national interest and I want to repeat this ad infinitum.You haven't run out of stories to write about.There is a lot that is happening in our country as a result of the steps that Government has taken under Zim-Asset.You should be unpacking for the nation the positive developments that are taking place in our economy right now which give hope to our people that indeed our economy is on the recovery path. Let us desist from relying upon false economists and bookish economics to deride our economic policies.Things are happening on the ground and you only need to visit all the clusters under Zim-Asset to appreciate that there is activity on the ground.Our people will not know about these activities if you don't write or talk about them. A cursory glance at the performance of the clusters under Zim-Asset tells us a positive story.Under the Food Security and Nutrition cluster you situate agriculture and the command programme. Under the infrastructure and Utilities cluster there is a story to tell around transport infrastructure (road rehabilitation and dualisation of the national highways, expansion and rehabilitation of airports and border posts), agriculture infrastructure (irrigation systems rehabilitation and dam construction), energy and power supply projects (Kariba Power Station and Hwange Power Station expansion programmes, Gairezi Hydro Power plant, Binga, Lisulu and Batoka power projects).There are projects under the Value Addition and Beneficiation cluster and the Social Services and Poverty Eradication cluster as well.So really, we have no excuse for not writing positive stories about our country.As we highlight these positive developments taking place in our country, not only will it inspire our people to take an active interest in them but it will also catch the attention of the outside world, particularly the investor.It is our role as journalists to tell the Zimbabwean story. No outsider will do that for us and together we can do it.I thank you.
He stated this at the 31st convocation of the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State (UNIPORT) held on Sunday, March 26, 2017, The Cable News reports.

Represented by the Minister of State For Education, Anthony Onwuka, Buhari said:

"We must stop to continue housing adventurers, who have no business remaining in the universities beyond the time specified for their studies in the universities.

In that wise, it is being proposed that at the end of this academic year, any student with less than 0.5 CGPA should cease to be a student of the university and should be shown the way out.

The universities must continue to have people who are serious in what they have come to do.

If you have less than 0.5 in your CGPA, you are out. You are out for good so that the space will be left for those who have come to do serious business."

ALSO READ: President launches inquiry into projects executed by 9 universities
The vote comes after an unprecedented five years of anti-China protests under current chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, who is seen by opponents as a Beijing puppet and will step down in July.

Hong Kong is semi-autonomous and has been governed under a "one country, two systems" deal since it was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.

But, 20 years on, there are serious concerns Beijing is disregarding the handover agreement designed to protect Hong Kong's way of life.

Frustration among activists at what they see as China's increasing influence and a lack of promised political reform has sparked calls for self-determination for Hong Kong, or even a complete split from China.

Sunday's election is forecast to usher in another divisive leader -- Leung's former deputy Carrie Lam.

Lam is widely seen as Beijing's favourite for the job and would become Hong Kong's first ever woman chief executive.

But she is intensely disliked by the pro-democracy camp after she promoted the Beijing-backed reform package that sparked 2014's massive "Umbrella Movement" protests calling for fully free leadership elections.

That plan said the public could choose the city leader in 2017, but insisted candidates must be vetted first.

It was eventually voted down in parliament by pro-democracy lawmakers.

Uphill struggle

With no further progress on reform, Sunday's vote will be carried out by committee, as it has been since Hong Kong was handed back to China.

Representatives of a broad number of sectors, from business to education, sit on the 1,194-strong committee, but only a quarter are from the democracy camp.

The vast majority of the 3.8 million electorate have no say in the vote.

Pro-democracy committee members say they will throw their weight behind Lam's main rival candidate, ex-finance secretary John Tsang, seen as a more moderate establishment figure.

But activists say he is still on the side of Beijing and reject the vote outright, promising to protest outside the harbourfront voting venue Sunday.

The new leader will face an uphill struggle to unite a city in which young people in particular have lost faith not only in the political system but in their overall prospects.

With salaries too low to meet the cost of property in an overpriced market fuelled by mainland money, getting ahead in life is seen as increasingly difficult.

Lam says she will try to build consensus by focusing on social issues, including poverty and housing.

But critics say she is dodging the bigger political picture.

They fear Lam is "Leung 2.0" and will pave the way for Beijing to extend its influence.

That anxiety comes off the back of a number of incidents under Leung that have rocked public confidence.

They include the disappearance in 2015 of five Hong Kong booksellers known for publishing salacious titles about China's political elite. The booksellers all resurfaced in detention on the mainland.
The Socialist Party (BSP), seen as closer to Russia, garnered 28 percent. Official results were expected from Monday.

Whether Borisov, 57, the burly former firefighter and ex-mayor of Sofia with the common touch, can form a government -- and one that lasts -- remains to be seen.

"I hope we can ensure the rapid formation of a government that responds to the wishes of the people and to the grave international situation," Borisov said late Sunday.

"We have to make sure that the nation is united."

The European Union's poorest country, where the average monthly salary is just 500 euros ($540) and corruption is rife, has now seen three elections in four years.

Borisov, once a bodyguard for Bulgaria's last communist leader, has long dominated national politics, serving as premier from 2009 to 2013 and again from 2014 to 2017.

Both times Borisov quit early, first in 2013 after mass protests and then last November after his candidate for the presidency was beaten by an air force commander backed by the BSP.

BSP disappointment

The BSP managed to almost double its score from the last election -- Borisov's was roughly the same -- under new leader Kornelia Ninova, although exit polls had suggested a tighter race.

A victory for the Socialists would have raised the prospect of the NATO member of 7.4 million people in south-eastern Europe tilting closer to Russia.

A newspaper cartoon had depicted Ninova riding a Trojan Horse with Russian President Vladimir Putin hiding inside.

Russia, which has long had close cultural and economic ties with its Slavic cousins in Bulgaria, has recently been accused of seeking to expand its influence in other Balkan countries.

Ninova had said she was not content with Bulgaria being a "second-class member" of the EU and that she would veto an extension of sanctions imposed by Brussels on Moscow.

But Borisov also said during the campaign that he wanted more "pragmatic" ties with Russia and Ninova, 48, insisted that she remained committed to the EU.

"The pro-Western consensus has been preserved," Parvan Simeonov from the Gallup polling institute told BNT public television.

"Russia's heightened foreign policy ambitions played a role in mobilising the electorate."

Votes for sale

The scourge of graft -- ever-present in Bulgaria -- loomed over the poll, with prosecutors saying 79 electoral fraud probes had been launched.

jpegMpeg4-1280x720The Nova television channel said it had filmed ballots being offered for sale for as little as 15 euros. Voter apathy and disillusionment with the main parties were also widespread.

"The big parties are totally disconnected from the reality of what is going on in Bulgaria and that is outright irresponsible," said IT worker Alexander Naydenov, 35.

Forming a government for Bulgaria -- which will hold the EU presidency in the first half of 2018, just as the bloc negotiates Britain's exit -- will not be easy for Borisov.

In the campaign, he ruled out a tie-up with the centrist Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MDL) party representing Bulgaria's Turkish minority which came third or fourth with around 9.5 percent.

Potential partners include the United Patriots, also on around 9.5 percent, and Veselin Mareshki, who likes being called the Bulgarian Donald Trump, although it was unclear whether his Volya party had passed the minium four percent to enter parliament.
CNN reports that she became the fourth chief executive, with 777 of 1,194 possible votes from a tiny election committee, filled with the city's elite.

These include Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing, pro-Beijing politician Regina Ip, and veteran anti-establishment lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok Hung, as well as Hong Kong deputies to China's National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Formerly a deputy to current Chief Executive CY Leung, Lam beat the former Financial Secretary John Tsang, and retired Judge Woo Kwok-hing to be chosen as the city's next leader.

All three candidates met and shook hands with electors before the voting, which started by 9 a.m. local time and closed two hours later.

This was carried out by the 1,194 members of the election commission, who have been described as "broadly representative."

However, not everyone is happy with the way the city leader. These people took to the streets with their ballots to protest at the "small circle election."

Reportedly, the protest was carried out by around 300 people. Standing outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, they demanded for "true universal suffrage," as conveyed by the messages on their signs.

Speaking with CNN, Joshua Wong, one of the leaders of the protests, said the new leader is "chosen by (Chinese) President Xi Jinping not Hong Kongers."

"It's a selection rather than an election," he added.

He also predicted that there would be another huge protest on July 1, the date for swearing in of the next chief executive. It also marks 20 years under the Chinese rule for the city.

His prediction was backed by Nathan Law, a member of the Legislative Council from Wong's Demosisto party.

He said, "If you appoint a candidate that is not favored by the people, the response will be larger, I think there will be massive protests on July 1.

"We've got a long road to go. People are persistent, and they will fight for a better society."

This is not the first time people have demanded for a change in the political system.

In 2014, this was one of the major demands for "Umbrella Movement," whose protesters closed the city for 79 days.
The Iran-backed rebels staged a show of force over the weekend with the mass rally in Sanaa and a symbolic court ruling against Yemen's embattled president.

Crowds converged on the capital's Sabaeen Square on Sunday, chanting their vows to "resist to the end".

The protest came a day after a rebel court in Sanaa sentenced President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to death for high treason in absentia.

The court found Hadi guilty of "usurping the title of president after the end of his term in office ... instigating attacks by Saudi Arabia and undermining the independence and integrity of the Republic of Yemen", the rebel-controlled Saba agency said.

Six members of the Hadi government were also sentenced to death.

Hadi, whose two-year term in office expired in February 2014, now lives in Saudi Arabia although he also visits his government's temporary capital of Aden.

Iranian 'plot'

The president was placed under house arrest after the Huthis overran the capital in September 2014, and later fled to the southern port city of Aden.

The coalition intervened with airstrikes on March 26, 2015, after Huthis advanced on other parts of the country including the port city.

Hadi's forces have since gained ground in southern Yemen, but the Huthis still control the capital and strategic ports on the Red Sea coastline.

The government-run Saba news agency on Sunday ran an editorial slamming the "rise of the Huthi militia" as an Iranian "plot" targeting Yemen and neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

On Saturday, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a Huthi ally, slammed Saudi Arabia's role in the conflict.

"Free Yemenis will continue to choose resistance, as long as the coalition led by Saudi Arabia continues to choose war," Saba quoted Saleh as saying in a speech marking the two-year anniversary.

Rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi said the coalition had been "living under the illusion that they can take Yemen in a week or a month... but have sunk into the mud".

Possible 'war crime'

Home to one of Al-Qaeda's most dangerous branches, Yemen has a complex history of civil unrest.

The rebels had long complained of marginalisation and in 2011 mobilised protests demanding economic and political reform that led to Saleh's resignation the next year after decades in power.

But the Huthis and Saleh put their differences behind them in 2014, as the rebels took control of the capital with the support of troops still loyal to the former president.

More than 7,700 people have been killed and three million displaced in Yemen since March 2015, the United Nations says.

This month, 42 people, mainly Somali refugees, were killed when a boat transporting them out of Yemen came under an air attack off the main Red Sea port of Hodeida.

On Sunday, Human Rights Watch said there was evidence the attack may have come from the coalition and could amount to a war crime.

Saudi Arabia has denied involvement and called for the United Nations to take control of the Hodeida port, which is currently in the hands of the Huthis.

The United Nations has described Yemen as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today, with fighting leaving millions desperate for food and shelter.
Kagame was commander of the rebel force that put an end to the 1994 slaughter of Rwandan Tutsis by Hutu extremists and has led the country since 2000, as it recovers from the conflict and becomes a regional economic success story.

In Washington to attend the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), he hailed the success of the state of Israel after the horrors of the Holocaust and pledged Rwanda's friendship.

"The security of peoples who have once been targeted for extermination can never be exclusively physical," Kagame told the delegates, who received him with warm applause.

"Until all ideologies which justify killing as a patriotic duty are defeated our world is not truly safe. Not for us, not for anyone."

Israel's relations with African governments have not always been easy.

Some African political movements saw their own struggles against colonial rule reflected in the Palestinian fight for statehood -- and many remember Israel's military support for South Africa's former Apartheid regime.

But Israel has an active diplomatic engagement on the continent and has won friends through economic and technical cooperation with major players like Rwanda.

'Reckless efforts'

Last year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured four African countries -- including Rwanda -- and in October he is expected to meet around 30 leaders at an Israel-Africa summit in Togo.

Kagame visited Israel in 2008 and made clear at AIPAC that he sees the country as a friend and ally, rejecting what he sees as efforts in some quarters to delegitimize Israeli statehood.

"Together with friends like the United States we must call for renewed global solidarity against the reckless efforts to deny genocide and to trivialize the victims," he said.

"Israel has the right to exist and thrive as a full member the international community. This is not an infringement of the rights of any other people," he declared.

Rwanda's friendship with Israel is also a diplomatic boon for both countries, which have both relied on strong US support but have also tried the patience of Washington's foreign policy establishment in recent years.

Under former president Barack Obama, the United States expressed concern at what they saw as an authoritarian drift in Kagame's rule and in particular a 2015 reform to the constitution to allow him to run for a third term.

The White House also sparred with Netanyahu's government, warning that its accelerated program of Jewish settlement building on occupied Palestinian land had put the Middle East peace process in jeopardy.

In 2014, when Rwanda sat on the United Nations Security Council, Kigali abstained from a resolution that advocated the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories but was ultimately rejected.

US President Donald Trump's new administration has so far proved more sympathetic to Israel's ambitions, and both Rwanda and Israel hope for warm relations.

Speaking to AIPAC before Kagame, Israeli's ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer said: "For the first time in years there is no daylight between our governments."
JOE & OWENS VS. REIGNS & ZAYN: 3/25 WWE IN PORTLAND, MAINE LIVE REPORT

By John Lynch on 2017-03-26 00:14:00

Portland Maine Raw Brand Road to Wrestlemania 3/25/17 Notes & Results

Big Cass with Enzo Amore vs. Jinder Mahal

Enzo and Cass got a great reaction. They did their usual entrance, but Enzo didn't speak until they got in the ring. The crowd seemed a little let down when they realized that it wouldn't be a tag match. Jinder looked good, and the crowd loved to hate him. Enzo was entertaining as a corner man. Cass got the pinfall win with a big boot.

Golden Truth and Curtis Axel vs. Titus O'Neil and Shining Stars

Golden Truth got a solid reaction. The crowd loved singing along. Unfortunately, much of the crowd seemed confused who Axel was when his music hit. An Axelmania chant broke out once he got in the ring. I think since he's been off TV for so long, it threw people off. Some fans thought the chant was for Wrestlemania, so you heard both. Also unfortunate was the crowd not caring much about the Shining Stars, but given how they are presented on television, it's not shocking. Axel went into Hogan mode and won with the leg drop. This was a fun match. Axel had the whole crowd into him by the end. Hopefully he is used on television more regularly. After the match, Titus spoke about losing and then tried to get crowd to chant Titusmania, but of course they chanted Titus sucks. He wanted a new opponent to prove himself. Sin Cara came out with no trampoline and to not much of a reaction. People seemed to also somewhat forget about him.

Sin Cara vs. Titus O'Neil

Sin Cara pinned Titus with a swanton in one minute. I wish they had let this have some time. It was over before anyone realized.

WWE Cruiserweight champ Neville vs. Austin Aries

Aries won via pinfall after nailing the elbow. Before the match, Neville got on the mic and bashed the crowd. He refused to defend the belt. Both guys got great reactions. The crowd was really into this one. Thankfully, we did not gave to deal them changing the ropes. They did use purple lighting during the match though.

WWE Raw Tag Team champions The Club vs. Cesaro & Sheamus vs. The New Day (Kofi & Big E)

Anderson pinned Big E with his feet on rope to retain the tag titles. The best way to describe this match is to say it was very spotty. Most of match had one team double team one member of another while everyone else stayed outside and then switched. Rarely was there a point when this wasn't the case. All three teams got great reactions. The crowd had fun with this one. After the match, Cesaro gave Anderson 20 spins. All 5 fan favorites beat up The Club for a few minutes. They then spent some time goofing around together as Woods played Francesca II. Cesaro danced. The crowd then wanted Sheamus to dance. He said for everyone to turn off their cameras, and teased a dance, but then ran away. Cesaro got him back and he danced for a second before running away again.

At intermission, they asked how many Reigns fans were here tonight. Very mixed reaction. This was to hype up signed Reigns posters at merchandise. That was really the only thing they mentioned during intermission.

Bayley, Dana Brooke, Sasha Banks vs Nia Jax, Alicia Fox, Charlotte

Bayley inflatables took a minute to work when she came out. This was a quick paced match with frequent tags. The crowd was excited to see the ladies. They all got strong reactions, especially Sasha and Bayley. Bayley hit the Bayley to Belly on Charlotte for the pinfall win.

Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn

Awesome Owens promo on Portland and on Jericho. Aside from Neville, he was the only to really get the crowd to hate him. Of course Owens is too good at this, so many still cheered him. At the start of the match, Owens put on Sami's hat and started dancing like him. Two minutes in, Joe ran out to cause a disqualification. Owens got back on the mic while double teaming Sami, saying nobody can stop them. At this point I think everyone felt that Rollins or Balor would come out for the save. Of course, instead Roman's music hit and he came out for the save. Everyone was chanting for Balor. Roman had been advertised locally against Strowman, so this wasn't the expected save. I think this situation caused the crowd to not react as positively for Roman.

Roman Reigns & Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe & Kevin Owens

Zayn was in there solo for a long while before getting the hot tag. Roman pinned Owens after spear. The crowd was happy with the final moments of the match. I liked the Joe & Owens team. This was an old style tag match, and I really enjoyed it. The crowd's attitude towards Roman kept shifting from the time he came out. Everything he did got a reaction though.

This event was at a small venue compared to where a live broadcast event would be held. I'm not sure what the current capacity is, but the building was pretty much sold out aside from a few unoccupied stray seats here and there. The venue is small enough that they did not need to utilize the tron or overhead screens during the matches, but it probably would have helped some sections. The lone cameraman only filmed during the in ring promos, which was the only time the screens were used. I guess the lone cameraman was not there to actually film much of anything.

This was an absolutely fun show. I don't care that it was predictable or that it doesn't "count" - what counts is that it was a fun show from start to finish. The crowd was having fun and everyone in the ring looked to be having fun. The crowd made it fun for me. I keep using the word fun because that's what it was and what the WWE should be. This was an audience that was enjoying everything for what it was. Nobody was trying to hijack the show, and there were not constant idiotic chants. It was so refreshing to not be in a crowd of cynical smarky fans. There wasn't even a "This is awesome" chant. I loved it. The crowd had a wide range of ages, but it was mostly families. One section was populated with a group of fans from a local establishment that obtained a block of tickets. They were the only ones trying to get some of the typical TV chants going, but it didn't work in this environment, and even they avoided anything too obnoxious. Lately, the crowds have ruined many great television segments, so it was great for the show tonight to just be the show it was.

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iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt slammed the 2015 Paris accord to combat climate change as "a bad deal."



Pruitt also revealed in an interview with ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday that President Trump will this week sign a new executive order that will eliminate a signature Obama-era policy for combating climate change, the Clean Power Plan.



The policy, which the Supreme Court put on hold pending judicial review, aims to cut carbon emissions from U.S. power plants.



But Pruitt said on ABC's "This Week" that the Obama administration had "a very anti-fossil fuel strategy, coal, natural gas and the rest" and that Trump aims to change that with the goal of producing jobs and lowering electricity rates for consumers.



The former Oklahoma attorney general also suggested the Paris climate accord is unfair to the U.S.



"China and India, the largest producers of [carbon dioxide] internationally, got away scot-free in the climate pact, Pruitt said. So weve penalized ourselves through lost jobs while China and India didnt take steps to address the issue internationally. So Paris was just a bad deal, in my estimation.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Opinion / Columnist

When Pastor Charles Chiriseri died in a traffic accident in September last year, his death left the nation shell-shocked. Even those who didn't know him, felt the sorrow. That is how shocking sudden death can be, especially if it is of a public figure.To worsen the sorrow, it took another month for him to be buried, as his congregants, friends and family prayed for the recovery of his wife, Petunia, who was badly injured in the horrific accident that claimed him.About six months later, when the world had seemingly gotten over the sorrow of his death, intriguing stories in and around the circumstances surrounding his death started to emerge.To those who might have missed the story so far, here is a brief summary. Soon after the accident a number of people arrived at the scene, of which Forget Chikweya, then a bus conductor, and now deceased, was one of them. He is said to have helped himself to a Samsung S6 mobile phone when he helped retrieve Chiriseri's body from the accident wreckage.He died on November 9 last year, in a bus accident along the Bulawayo-Plumtree highway. His was the only death in that accident.Naturally, the Chiriseri accident was attended to by the fire brigade and police. Honest Hleza, one of the fire brigade officers who attended to the scene, also helped himself to a laptop during the course of helping the Chiriseri's.He died in December last year in a car accident, whilst reporting for duty. Of all his workmates in the car transporting them to work, he was the only death.A colleague of his, Mtandazo Rick Dube, who is now before the courts, accused of helping himself to $200 of the money that was on Chiriseri's body, was injured in the accident that claimed Hleza. He spent some months, though, in hospital.Dube was not alone in helping himself to the $200. Mkhokheli Mpofu, a police constable, was one of the trio that helped Dube steal the $200. When Chiriseri died, he had $505 in his pocket, an amount which was logged down and Dube, Mpofu and Tawanda Mawere (another fire officer) signed as witnesses. However, only $305 was passed to the Chiriseri family.As fate would have it, Mpofu, the constable, while manning a roadblock just a few metres from where Pastor Chiriseri died, was knocked down two Fridays ago, by a motorist who claims he didn't see the police officer, as it was around six in the evening. Mpofu died on admission at UB Hospital in Bulawayo.Three deaths, in different circumstances but all of a similar nature (through accidents) and all at different times  November, December and March.That about summarises the sequence of events since Pastor Chiriseri passed away on the fateful night of September 15 last year. And this sequence of events has left social media and forums, bar talks, conspiracy theorists and all those with idle time on their hands, with a lot to talk about.Stranger than fiction, indeed. But what have been the theories?Touch not the anointed has been one school of reasoning. If so, aren't we told that our God is not a God of vengeance?Or are they avenging spirits at work? But then how then do we reconcile the world of Christian faith and avenging spirits, of which the latter are said to be mainly a domain of African traditional spirituality?Some have gone on to suggest that, most probably, the man-of-cloth might have been clothed heavily in issues to do with strengthening of powers. You probably would get the drift of this if you are schooled in African traditional religion. But then again, touch not the anointed.And there have been another school of thought, which has largely been dismissed on account of watching too many Hollywood, or Naija, movies.That there must be a massive cover-up going on. According to this theory, a pastor of the stature of Chiriseri would not move around with a mere $500. How many remember how much was involved when a minister's son died in another tragic accident along the Chirundu highway some three years back? The amount was said to have been in the region of $20 000.So according to this conspiracy theory, Chiriseri might have had an amount of money, which might have been much more than the $500 reportedly logged down. If this was case, this amount might have been retrieved much before the arrival of Pastor Gordon Dube, who was witness to the logging down of the $500.And there must be someone big, or influential, who witnessed this heist  before allocating this loot to himself. And it is this same big fish that is eliminating the small fish from the equation, one by one.This theory, however, has been dismissed by other theorists, as lacking credibility and integrity as Pastor Chiriseri's widow could have raised an official complaint that such an amount went missing from their car. That is if she knew of the existence of this amount in their car in the first instance. Or if the amount could be explainable.Proponents of this theory argue that they can only be convinced that these deaths happened through accidents, if and only when such evidence of the accidents has been availed. That it has been reported that they died in accidents does not mean that the accidents, in actual fact, happened.And there have been some, who have been quick to dismiss the whole set of theories, arguing that this is just pure coincidence  people just dying one after the other. In any case, we are living in a world where we don't belong, we are mere mortals. Just visitors to planet Earth.But those who believe in spirituality, whether African or borrowed, argue that you cannot just tamper with a dead person's belongings and get away with it. They argue that there is a world of spiritual power out there, much more powerful than we can perceive, reason why we are publicly asked if there is anyone owing, or owed by, the dead at funerals. To make peace.To this school of thought, the three deaths are not, and cannot, just be mere coincidence, but an act of the hand of vengeance, squaring up of equations. An eye-for-an-eye scenario.This school of thought further argues that in spite of the arrival of colonialism and its attendantism's, Christianity involved, the world has paid a blind eye to African traditions and its values, spirituality being one of them. That even if you are schooled in matters biblical to whatever level, you remain purely and truly an African, as does your spirit. Hence when your spirits are tampered with, there is room and reason for proving that one's spirits should not be tampered with, even in death. Room and reason why these three deaths occurred, albeit in different spatial circumstances and at different times.But then again, issues of faith and spirituality are usually beyond human comprehension, they belong to the other world, a world which we don't have access to. And at times, a world which we don't dialogue with.
Dee F. Bruemmer learned the art of workplace management and organizational teamwork from someone very close to her  her mother, Mildred Tootie Fischer.

The lessons came at a factory in Quincy, Illinois, where Bruemmers mother was a supervisor for Motorola, and later, Matsushita Electric, which purchased the television manufacturing component of the company.

They brought in the total quality concept, said Bruemmer, who worked at the factory for several months before starting college at Illinois State University, Normal. She observed her mothers management style up close.

Her mother was the kind of supervisor that when you needed help, they would stand next to you. Her whole role was to make sure that everything went smoothly and that people could keep up.

The nurturing, yet goal-oriented style, was not lost on her daughter.

When I went to public works (for the City of Davenport), I saw how that worked and what you meant to people around you.

Bruemmer, a 2017 Athena honoree, retired in 2016 after a 38-year career in the public sector. Her professional successes are many, ranging from being the first woman to be elected president of the Iowa City & County Management Association, to helping reorganize and streamline city operations with the City of Davenport, and, as Scott County administrator from 2008-2016, implementing processes that saved taxpayers millions of dollars.

Those paper yard waste bags that we set out at the curb? Bruemmer is responsible for bringing that concept to the community in response to a state mandate to reduce the amount of yard waste going into landfills.

The Davenport Public Works center on East 46th Street that was constructed during her tenure as public works director is named in her honor. It also is home to two sculptures that connect Bruemmers public service to her love of art, a passion that was instilled in her by her father, Irwin Fischer, who encouraged her to sign on for a tour of Europe after she completed high school a semester early.

That trip, which included stops in London, Paris and Rome, she said, is where my world opened up.

The sculptures, Sophisticated Lady by Clement Meadmore and The Tuning Fork by Beverly Pepper, were formerly on the grounds of the Davenport Museum of Art. Bruemmer had oversight over the museum, including during construction of its successor, the Figge Art Museum, in her role in city management. Today, she is president of the Figge Art Museum Board of Trustees.

Figge Executive Director Tim Schiffer, who nominated Bruemmer for the Athena honor, noted her many accomplishments in public service.

Dee Bruemmer is known as an effective administrator who made significant innovations in efficiency, financial stability and environmental stewardship, he said in his nomination. He said her long history with the art museum and her results-oriented management style have given her a unique perspective as a board member.

As she was completing a masters of public administration degree from Northern Illinois University, she spent three years as the administrative assistant to the city manager in Northfield, Illinois, an affluent suburb north of Chicago.

And while she described her time there as a great learning experience, she ultimately wanted to work for a community that was not wealthy, had all income levels and was diverse.

Davenport fit the bill, and the city lifted a hiring freeze to get Bruemmer on board as assistant to the city administrator.

She credits her one-time boss, City Administrator Cowles Mallory, with being a mentor to her.

He knew what he needed to do to change the culture of the organization, she said. He allowed me to go to all kinds of classes  on performance benchmarks, culture change, and organizational development. She was able to attend the prestigious John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Female mentors in her line of work didnt exist at that time.

There were none, she said, recalling a stormwater conference she attended in Ames, Iowa. The only other woman at the conference was the person at the registration desk handing out badges.

As she progressed through her career, she said, I didnt even know I was breaking barriers.

In retirement, Bruemmer remains active in the community, including being a member of the Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce Q2030 Advisory Committee and on its Mississippi River Work Group.

Its a logical involvement for the woman who was born in a Mississippi River town and made her professional mark in another.

I cannot imagine living anywhere else but along the Mississippi, she said, when asked about the connection. It was another one of my reasons for applying at Davenport so many years ago  It is the regions most valuable resource and its further investment will be a difference maker for our communities.
Its been four and a half months since they suffered devastating losses at the polls, but party leaders said Saturday night at the Scott County Democratic Partys Red, White and Blue fundraising dinner theyre determined to turn things around next year.

About 250 people turned out for the fundraiser at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds.

Much of the evening was spent lambasting Republicans who are in control of government in Washington, D.C., and Des Moines. Citing proposals to kill the Affordable Care Act to a voter identification bill in Iowa, Democratic leaders urged activists to organize and fight back.

We have to stop this nonsense, said Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, the only Democrat in Iowas congressional delegation.

Former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who just formed a group to advocate elimination of the Electoral College, told the crowd that it was time for a new voting rights act.

Some Democrats have called for changing how the nation votes for president after President Donald Trump won the presidency but lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Feingold acknowledged Saturday the Electoral College puts a spotlight on smaller states like Iowa and Wisconsin, but he asked, hows that working out for us? Not so well.

Democrats did some celebrating at the dinner. A number of speakers noted the failure Friday of House Republicans to get a bill passed repealing the Affordable Care Act.

What a great victory for democracy, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said.

Still, Democrats are in a state of transition in the aftermath of last year's losses. The Iowa Democratic Party has a new chair. So does the Democratic National Committee, having just chosen Tom Perez.

DNC Vice Chairman Michael Blake was the evenings keynote speaker. Blake, who worked for former President Barack Obama in Iowa during the 2008 cycle, said beforehand the party is dedicated to work with Iowans  and not just during presidential elections.

"We recognize if you want to have real success, you cant just be here for presidential elections, you cant just be here for the caucus, you have to be here all the time," he said.

A handful of Democrats who are being mentioned as possible candidates for governor also were on hand, including State Rep. Todd Prichard, D-Charles City, state Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines, Jon Neiderbach, a former school board president from Des Moines, and former Iowa Democratic Party Chair Andy McGuire of Des Moines.

Prichard, who grew up in Davenport, announced last Thursday hes formed an exploratory committee. Neiderbach already has said he's running.

They spoke later into the evening.

Davenport Alderman Mike Matson, who represents the city's 7th Ward, also said Saturday that he is considering running for governor. Beforehand, Matson said his experience at City Hall, in the military and in education would be a plus. I think I would be a good leader, he said.

Matson said he could make a decision whether to run by the end of summer.
Search and rescue crews spent most of the day Sunday on the Mississippi River after a driver on the Centennial Bridge reported seeing someone with a satchel or bag jump off the center span Saturday night.

Firefighters said the Big River Rescue and Recovery dive team searched from about 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., when the search was suspended indefinitely because of weather conditions and little available information.

Davenport police and firefighters were dispatched shortly before 6:30 p.m. Saturday to Davenports Centennial Park after the jumper was reported.

On Saturday, firefighters recovered a bag, but it contained no identification.

Rescue boats from Davenport and Rock Island searched the river Saturday near the Centennial Bridge until the search was called off at 8:02 p.m. because of darkness.

 Times staff
On April 11, 1992, a man walking his dog found the body of a full-term baby girl in a plastic bag floating along the bank of the Mississippi River off 17th Street in Moline.

The girl, dubbed Baby Girl April, died from a combination of suffocation and hypothermia.

"What the man found still haunts police and has them wondering why someone would discard a healthy full-term baby 24 hours or less prior to the discovery," Moline Police Detective Scott Williams told the Quad-City Times in April 2014.

Twenty-five years later, her killer has not been found. However, her case is still very much on the minds of police and prosecutors.

We have a job as prosecutors to do what we can to solve these cold cases, Rock Island County States Attorney John McGehee said. Its an issue that just hangs over our head and we dont like to have open cases like this.

Five days after the discovery of her body, Baby Girl April was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Moline.

Over the year, police have worked to identify the mother of the baby, but with no success.

In December 2014, McGehee announced that he had filed a first-degree murder charge against a DNA profile of an unknown female. The DNA was found at the crime scene.

McGehee said that although a suspect has not been identified, a DNA profile is specific enough to file a criminal charge under Illinois law.

The charge also was meant to let the community know that the case is still being investigated.

McGehee and Moline Police Detective Michael Griffin, the lead investigator in the case, said in 2014 that they were in the process of submitting more DNA evidence to the University of North Texas to conduct mitochondrial DNA analysis, which can help determine the family lineage of Baby Girl April.

McGehee said Thursday that there have been no hits yet on the DNA. He said Griffin periodically checks in to make sure were not forgotten here in Moline.

McGehee said it is frustrating that the case has not been solved.

There are cases that are considered to be cold cases and we have them from time to time where theres nothing new that happens, he said. And law enforcement, its frustrating to them, too, because they put a lot of time and a lot of effort and energy into these cases and they really do want to try to get them solved. Its open on their books and its open on ours as well.

Between 1988 and 2003, a total of 18 babies were found either abandoned or dead in the Quad-Cities.

Both Iowa and Illinois passed safe-haven legislation in 2001 to try to prevent such cases. In Illinois, a parent can take a newborn to a hospital, fire or police station, or an emergency medical center and leave in complete privacy without fear of prosecution. In Iowa, a baby can be taken to a hospital, health clinic or nursing home without fear of prosecution.

Were not seeing nearly as many cases as we did in the past because of the law, as well as the social agencies and what they have done to create and environment where if someone cannot care for their baby, there are services out there for that individual," McGehee said. "I think that message is out there now and so we just dont see it nearly as much as in the past.

McGehee is hopeful that justice will come one day for Baby Girl April.

I have to remain hopeful that at some point there will be a hit from the DNA, he said, "that we will be able to get some answers to what happened and why it happened. Until then, I dont think we can give up. We have to continue to push for and try to get this case solved.

Anyone with information on the Baby Girl April case may contact Moline police at 309-797-0401 or Crime Stoppers of the Quad-Cities at 309-762-9500.
A 20-year-old Davenport man currently on probation for a string of felony convictions has been arrested in connection with an armed robbery that occurred Friday night, March 24.

Keenan Jewon Lewis, 431 W. 8th St., is charged with one count of first-degree robbery and one count of being a felon in possession of a handgun.

First-degree robbery carries an automatic prison sentence of 25 years, 70 percent, or 17.5 years, of which must be served before probation can be granted. Felon in possession of a firearm is a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of up to five years.

According to the arrest affidavit filed by Davenport police, at 7:02 p.m. officers were sent to the area of 600 E. 13th St. for a disturbance.

During the investigation, police said that Lewis and another man, Deon Leeonta Levy, 23, whom police described as a co-conspirator, held a victim at gunpoint. He is charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The men forced the victim to drive to the victims home where they took gold, jewelry, frozen food from the freezer, and $177 in cash.

The two men were in an SUV that police were able to stop in an alley off East 12th Street just north of Main Street and across the street from Davenport Central High School.

Police recovered two firearms, one from the SUV and the second, a Springfield XD .40-caliber handgun that Levy dropped in the alley.

The gun Levy dropped had a fully loaded clip and had a round in the chamber.

According to Scott County District Court electronic records, Lewis was sentenced June 30 to two years on probation for a string of felonies dating back to 2014. The charges on which he was convicted and sentenced were: third-degree burglary and second-degree criminal mischief for an incident that occurred May 9, 2014; conspiracy to commit a forcible felony that occurred Aug. 27, 2015; and, possession with the intent to deliver marijuana that occurred Sept. 23, 2015.

Authorities said that Lewis probation will be revoked as he is required to stay out of trouble and break no laws while on probation.

Levy has felony convictions in Illinois for theft, which occurred in 2014, and aggravated drunken driving and aggravated fleeing which occurred in 2014, according to Rock Island County Circuit Court electronic records.

Lewis was being held Saturday night in the Scott County Jail on a $30,000 cash-only bond.

Levy was released from the Scott County Jail after posting 10 percent of a $5,000 bond.
The Illinois Department of Transportation will host an informational meeting about the construction on John Deere Road from 3:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Moline Library, 3210 41st St.

The purpose of the meeting is to update the public and local businesses about the construction work along John Deere Road.

Participants can review the construction staging and traffic plans for the project that will expand John Deere Road to six lanes from 38th Street to 70th Street. People will also get a chance to meet Department of Transportation staff as well as staff from the contractor.

McCarthy Improvement Co. is the contractor for the $5.1 million project that will reconstruct a 2.5 mile section of John Deere Road.
When Stacey Houk talks about her childhood, its intertwined with her memories and affection for the West End of Davenport. She grew up on Rockingham Road.

We walked everywhere, she said, and there were no cell phones.

She remembers hanging out at Harbor Road Park as teenagers. She remembers walking on the frozen Black Hawk Creek as a child, sledding at Fejervary Park and long walks along Telegraph Road. What she remembers most is the access to nature that living on that edge of town afforded her and her friends.

I loved it, she said.

The house where she grew up is now a parking lot. Johnnys Meat Market is gone and so is the little laundromat. But she still loves the neighborhood and loves teaching art to the children who live there through her job at Jackson Elementary.

Houk reached out to me when I started this column series about what we believe and why. She sent me this note: Im 57, female, an art teacher in Davenport Schools. I have lived in Davenport and Bluegrass all of my life, except for six months in San Diego in 1977. I am married and have three children in their 30s. I watch MSNBC every night and Bill Maher is the reason I subscribe to HBO. I voted for Barack Obama in two elections and Hillary Clinton the past election.

I drove out to Jackson Elementary expecting to talk about politics, and in a way we did. But mostly we talked about mentors, the people you meet early in life that shape the course of the rest of it. It was my first time to Jackson Elementary, surrounded by farm fields at the far edge of west Davenport. It was quiet and beautiful, and I promised myself to return to explore some of the nearby trailheads.

Houk graduated from West High School in 1977, she told me. By 19, she was without parents. She never knew her father and her mother was a heroin addict who lived a hard life and died young at 35. Her mothers death changed her life, she said. Houk had been rudderless, but her grandparents stepped in and helped her enroll in college.

It put my life on the right track, she said. She had a mentor to guide her through the following years, an art teacher from West named Don Heggen. He helped her through community college, giving her advice and framing her art and when she went for her bachelors at Marycrest College, after having her children, he was there to help her launch her teaching career.

She has two of Heggens paintings from his pig series in her classroom. He knows he was like a dad to me, she said.

Heggen would start each class with a quote. His art and his teaching style was very expressive, she said. Houk modeled her own teaching after his. I use positive feedback and focus on the kids strengths. I believe kids love art and if you meet a kid who doesnt love art, its the teacher. Everyone has their own way. Its not like math; theres not one right answer.

Houk starts her class by turning on some music. It helps create a feeling that her art room is its own world. On the day I visited, she had students making papier-mache with the White Stripes playing in the background. Are those hearts, I asked, trying to figure out what the shapes were meant to be. They are whatever the students want them to be, she said.

Even though Houk describes the West End of her childhood in an idealized way, she remembers the poverty and she sees herself in the struggles of her students.

Art kept me in school, she said. In the 70s, in this neighborhood, everyone was dropping out of high school. But I knew I could go into Don Heggens art room. Houk is an advocate for art education, but she doesnt like the argument that art has value because it leads to better test scores. Its about more than that to her. Its about building confidence in students by giving them a path to self-expression. Art, music and physical education  I hate that these subjects have to be validated. We have become so test score driven.

She uses her own life to encourage her students when she sees potential but no effort. She reminds them that finding something you love and working hard at it is the way out of poverty.

I dont know what they have going on in their lives as far as poverty and what that means. When there are shootings going on all the time, I dont make a big deal of the little things, like if they dont have a pencil. These kids might have just been evicted or dealing with domestic violence at home. The one thing I can offer them is mutual respect.

At 57, Houk is looking toward the next chapter in her life, wondering what she can do to give back to the community. It's an interesting thing for her to wonder about, considering that this community has literally been her canvas. She has worked with students and artists to build mosaics all over Davenport.

If youve seen the huge mosaic in McKinley Elementary telling the history of McClellan Heights, she made that happen. If youve seen the mosaic at the Davenport School District Administrative Offices, or in Hayes or Eisenhower elementary schools or the large sunflower mosaic in the library at Jackson Elementary, that is her work. The mosaic in the entrance of Jackson Elementary is a Grant Wood-inspired portrait of the building, surrounded by fields. Its made of broken dishes and she can point to the origin of each shard  a gift from a friend, an artist in town, her grandmothers egg dish. The sign next to the mosaic says Guided by Stacey Houk and David Houk and David Schaeffer. Funded by Isabel Bloom.

Mosaics allow kids to create art and then they can come back years later and say, I did that.
Volunteers occupy an important place in the hearts of Iowans for all they do for their friends, for their neighbors and for their communities.

Theres no way we could ever adequately compensate them for their service.

They do this not for fame or fortune. In fact, a sincere thank you and the knowledge that their work helps others is the only reward most of these people seek.

But a bill awaiting debate in the Iowa House of Representatives would lead you to believe that the tens of thousands of Iowans who volunteer to help government bodies are in danger of being scared off if someone finds out they are volunteers.

House File 403 would make the names and other personal information about government volunteers confidential. Supporters say such a law is needed to keep volunteers from being hounded by solicitors.

The proposal seems innocuous enough until you stop to think about its ramifications.

The people of Iowa would have no way of confirming who is helping in the local public schools. People would not know who is lending a hand in the county hospital, picking up trash in the city park or donating their time to pitch in at the public library.

The rationale behind the legislation is bogus, and Iowans should convey those sentiments to members of the Iowa House and Senate.

House File 403 grew out of a decision last year by the Iowa Public Information Board involving the Crawford County Memorial Hospital in Denison. The board ruled that the hospital could not keep secret the names of volunteers who work for the hospital, including those who drive shuttle vans that pick up patients and take them to and from appointments at the hospitals clinics.

The Iowa Hospital Association and Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service both claim that possible public disclosure of the names of volunteers is having a chilling effect on the willingness of people to volunteer to help government bodies.

Thats nonsense.

People volunteer because they want to help their local schools, or the local hospital, or their favorite park. They volunteer because they are proud to do their part to improve the community.

Its unlikely anyone would decide not to volunteer because they are worried their names might be made available to the public and that they might get a thank-you note from someone picked up by the hospital shuttle van or whose child enjoyed the kind volunteer who listened to the child read at school.

Iowas public records law now allows the public to obtain the names and compensation details for all employees who work for state and local governments in this state. The law does not apply to independent, nonprofit organizations.

The Iowa Public Information Board ruled that nothing in the public records law allows governments to keep secret the names of volunteers.

Iowa law does not require government to hand over the home addresses and telephone numbers for its employees. Obviously, that should be the case for volunteers, too.

As volunteers are relied upon to handle duties that once were carried out by employees, its important that the public be able to know who is doing work on their behalf, regardless of whether the person is receiving a salary or doing the work out of the goodness of his or her heart.

The Crawford County hospital case and a few other cases in the headlines illustrate why public accountability and public safety need to take precedence over convenience for volunteers.

A Denison resident filed the complaint last year with the Iowa Public Information Board after hospital officials refused to release the names of its volunteers. Among the volunteers the hospital would not identify was a Denison man who was found guilty in 1994 of committing lascivious acts with two 13-year-old boys he apparently met while working as a Boy Scout leader.

In 1999, an Iowa City man was charged, and later found guilty, of inappropriately touching children and photographing them while working as a volunteer in his wifes elementary school classroom in that city.

More recently, police in Marion charged a 15-year-old Marion High School student with three counts of sexual abuse of 5-year-old kindergarteners last fall at an elementary school where he worked as a classroom volunteer.

No one is advocating that government volunteers should be subjected to more scrutiny than employees are. But volunteers should not be shielded from public scrutiny by House File 403.

In my role as executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a reporter asked me recently about the legislation. My response is worth repeating:

This is about accountability and public safety. The citizens of Iowa have a right to know who is performing government services on their behalf.

I was at the Iowa Capitol last week talking about this legislation. One official who shares my view summed up the issue so nicely:

The only volunteers who care about their name being confidential are those that have something to hide.
U.S. Senate Democrats don't have much political capital to burn. So, it'd be foolish to use it all fighting the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Frankly, there are better hills to die on right now. And Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth had better realize it fast.

Senators have every right to be annoyed with the process surrounding Supreme Court nominees. Republicans, namely Iowa's own Chuck Grassley, last year waged war on the process itself when he blocked then-President Barack Obama's pick.

Democrats don't have the votes to block Gorsuch forever. Digging in and stalling through filibuster, as Minority Leader Chuck Schumer promised, would constitute the same assault on reasoned governance that Grassley adopted leading up to last year's election. It'd be the same intransigence Republicans tapped to grind government to a halt through Obama's presidency. It'd be just another attack on all-important processes and norms that can't take much more. And Schumer's gamble would dare Republicans to go "nuclear" and amend Senate rules to scuttle the very 60-vote threshold that makes Democrats relevant in the first place.

In this fight, Democrats will ultimately lose.

Gorsuch is eminently qualified for the post. One mustn't share his perspective on politics and law to acknowledge that objective fact.

Is he conservative? Sure, maybe even more so than the late Antonin Scalia, whom he'd replace. Have his rulings been overturned? Absolutely.

But Gorsuch is, by every measure, a renowned legal scholar. His opinions -- majority and minority alike -- are erudite and profound.

We share Democrats' concerns about his leanings on dark money, abortion and voting access. But, to put it plainly, Democrats put up a deeply unpopular candidate for president. Republican Donald Trump seized the White House.

Elections have consequences. And Gorsuch is among a handful of Trump's picks who are actually qualified for the job for which they were selected.

The block-everything-at-all-cost approach might be tempting in the age of Trump. It certainly stirred up the GOP's base throughout the Obama years. Democrats, too, would love to rally the angry throngs around their cause. But Trump's administration is so dysfunctional, his ties to foreign governments so questionable, that mounting a doomed bid against Gorsuch would be a waste of precious political power.

Save the anger for congressional investigations into Russia, which, right now, are fueled by almost daily revelations. Save the grandstanding for fights over health care, Trump's "big, beautiful wall" and a needless buildup of the U.S. military. Muster the rage when it's justified, such as when Trump targets religious minorities and the Constitution itself.

Trump's approval ratings are plummeting, polls show. It's only a matter of time before Senate Republicans start abandoning the tweeter-in-chief. Save the high-ground of reason for when it really counts.

For too long, governance itself has been under siege by political hackery. Pledges to stall Gorsuch at all cost are nothing short of the Democrats straining further an already stressed system. The limited political power Democrats wield could prove priceless in a coming stand-off, particularly as Trump's approval ratings plunge and the FBI probes close in on his inner circle.

At the end of the day, every Democrat in the Senate shouldn't carry any guilt for opposing Gorsuch in a floor vote. His is a political-legal bent that should trouble them, but burning the house down with a protracted, made-for-television filibuster would be just another unnecessarily irrational response in the name of politics. There's too much of that already.

Gorsuch is most certainly qualified. That's enough to render Democrats guilty of the same crimes they've long railed against, should they follow through with the filibuster.

In just eight weeks, Trump has given his opponents plenty of reasons to be rightfully enraged. It's up to the dissent to pick its battles or risk undermining any rational basis for its entire cause.
STOCKTON, Calif. | Arnulfo Solorio's desperate mission to recruit farmworkers for the Napa Valley took him far from the pastoral vineyards to a raggedy parking lot in Stockton, in the heart of the Central Valley.

Carrying a fat stack of business cards for his company, Silverado Farming, Solorio approached one prospect, a man with only his bottom set of teeth. He told Solorio that farm work in Stockton pays $11 to $12 an hour. Solorio countered: "Look, we are paying $14.50 now, but we are going up to $16." The man nodded skeptically.

Solorio moved on to two men huddled nearby, and returned quickly. "They were drug addicts," he said. "And they didn't have a car."

Before the day was through, Solorio would make the same pitch to dozens of men and women, approaching a taco truck, a restaurant and a homeless encampment. Time was short: He needed to find 100 workers to fill his ranks by April 1, when grapevines begin to grow and need constant attention.

Solorio is one of a growing number of agricultural businessmen who say they face an urgent shortage of workers. The flow of labor began drying up when President Barack Obama tightened the border. Now President Donald Trump is promising to deport more people, raid more companies and build a wall on the southern border.

That has made California farms a proving ground for the Trump team's theory that by cutting off the flow of immigrants they will free up more jobs for American-born workers and push up their wages.

So far, the results aren't encouraging, for farmers or domestic workers.

Farmers are being forced to make difficult choices about whether to abandon some of the state's hallmark fruits and vegetables, move operations abroad, import workers under a special visa or replace them altogether with machines.

Growers who can afford it have already begun raising worker pay well beyond minimum wage. Wages for crop production in California increased 13 percent from 2010 to 2015, twice as fast as average pay in the state, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Today, farmworkers in the state earn about $30,000 a year if they work full time, about half the overall average pay in California. Most work fewer hours.

Some farmers are even giving laborers benefits normally reserved for white-collar professionals, like 401(k) plans, health insurance, subsidized housing and profit-sharing bonuses. Full-timers at Silverado Farming, for example, get most of those sweeteners, plus 10 paid vacation days, eight paid holidays, and can earn their hourly rate to take English classes.

But the raises and new perks have not tempted native-born Americans to leave their day jobs for the fields. Nine in 10 agriculture workers in California are still foreign born, and more than half are here illegally, according to a federal survey.

Instead, companies growing high-value crops, like Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in Napa, are luring employees from fields in places like Stockton that produce cheaper wine grapes or less profitable fruits and vegetables.

Growers who can't raise wages are losing their employees and dealing with it by mechanizing, downsizing or switching to less labor-intensive crops.

Jeff Klein is doing all of the above. Last year Klein, a fourth-generation Stockton farmer, ran a mental ledger, trying to sort out the pros and cons of persevering in the wine business or quitting. He couldn't make the math work.

Wineries pay Klein a tiny fraction of what they pony up for the same grape variety grown in Napa, and the rising cost of labor meant he was losing money on his vineyards. So in October, Klein decided to rip out 113,000 Chardonnay grapevines that once blanketed land his family has owned for decades. Now they lay heaped into hundreds of piles, waiting to be taken to the dump.

"I try to make any decision I make not emotional. When you're running a business, it has to be a financial decision," he says, sifting through the mangled metal posts.

Five years ago, Klein had a crew of 100 workers pruning, tying and suckering his grapevines. Wineries paid $700 for a ton of grapes, and Klein could make a solid profit paying $8 an hour, the minimum wage.

Last year he could barely get together 45 laborers, and his grapes sold for only $350 per ton. Klein knew his vines were done for when California passed laws raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2023 and requiring daily overtime for field laborers.

"There's not enough guys, and everybody is fighting for everybody else's guys," he says. "In Napa and Sonoma, they're getting $2,000 a ton (for grapes). So, those guys can afford to pay $15. For me, I'm just trying to break even."

Although Trump earned Klein's vote, he worries that recent executive orders ratcheting up deportation plans and calling for a wall are putting a chokehold on an already tight pool of workers.

"That's killing our labor force," says the 35-year-old grower.

Already, fewer Mexicans had been willing to risk border crossings as security and deportations escalated under the Obama Administration. At the same time, Mexico's own economy was mushrooming, offering decent jobs for people who stayed behind.

Klein says he'll spend the next five years planting almond and olive trees, which require a fraction of the human labor.

With the grapevines he has left, Klein is doing what he can to pare his crews. Last year, he bought a leaf puller for $50,000, which turns the delicate process of culling grapevine canopies into an exercise in brute force. The puller hooks onto a tractor and, like an oddly shaped vacuum cleaner, sucks leaves from grapevines.

He used to spend $100 an acre culling the canopies, which allows the right amount of sunlight to hit the grapes and turn them into sugar balls. Now, he says, "It will cost me 20 bucks, and I can get rid of some labor."

About 80 miles west in Napa, growers aren't facing quite the same challenge. Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in Napa go for nearly $6,900 per ton, 10 times more than in San Joaquin County.

That's the reason Napa County pays its farmworkers $41,940 a year, the highest in California, The Times' analysis of federal data shows.

That's also why Leovijildo Martinez clambers into a van around 4:40 a.m. every morning to travel from Stockton to the Napa Valley.

By 6:30 a.m. he is at a Napa vineyard, and 12 hours later, he returns to his two-bedroom apartment.

"You get home, you shower, you eat a couple of tortillas with whatever is here," Martinez says. He gets to see his kids' faces and give them a hug before turning in at 9:30 p.m. They still complain about not seeing him enough.

"It's hard for me, as a man and as a father," he says.

But the commute is paying off. A year ago, the 31-year-old from Mexico was earning $14.75 an hour doing the same work for a different Napa company. He joined Silverado in April and now he's making $19.50 working vineyards that produce grapes for a winery whose bottles go for about $300.

"Everything in Napa is different. They treat you differently there, they don't pressure you, and they respect the law," he says. "If you work here, in Stockton, you don't have enough money."

According to the economic theory behind Trump's immigration crackdown, Americans should be following Martinez's van into the fields.

"The law of supply and demand doesn't stop being true just because you're talking about people," says George Borjas, a Harvard economist and prominent foe of unfettered immigration. "(Farmers) have had an almost endless supply of low-skill workers for a long time, and now they are finding it difficult to transition to a situation where they don't."

Borjas believes the ones who reap the rewards of immigration are employers _ not just farmers, but restaurant owners and well-to-do homeowners who hire landscapers and housekeepers. The people who suffer most, he says, are American workers who contend with more competition for jobs and lower pay.

But Silverado, the farm labor contracting company in Napa, has never had a white, American-born person take an entry-level gig, even after the company increased hourly wages to $4 above the minimum. And Silverado is far from unique.

U.S. workers filled just 2 percent of a sample of farm labor vacancies advertised in 1996, according to a report published by the Labor Department's office of inspector general. "I don't think anybody would dispute that that's roughly the way it is now" as well, says Philip Martin, an economist at UC Davis and one of the country's leading experts on agriculture.

Indeed, Chalmers R. Carr III, the president of Titan Farms, a South Carolina peach giant, told lawmakers at a 2013 hearing that he advertised 2,000 job openings from 2010 through 2012. Carr said he was paying $9.39, $2 more than the state's minimum wage at the time.

He hired 483 U.S. applicants, slightly less than a quarter of what he needed; 109 didn't show up on the first day. Another 321 of them quit, "the vast majority in the first two days," Carr testified. Only 31 lasted for the entire peach season.

Borjas, the Harvard economist, says it may just be that wages are still too low. "Believe me, if the wages were really, really high, you and I would be lining up," Borjas says.

Or perhaps farms are just not a place where native-born Americans want to work. The job is seasonal, so laborers have to alternate between long stretches without any income and months of 60-hour weeks. They work in extreme heat and cold, and spend all day bending over to reach vegetables or climbing up and down ladders to pluck fruit in trees.

"You don't need a deep analysis to understand why farm work wouldn't be attractive to young Americans," says Martin, the agriculture expert.

If farmers upped the average wage to, say, $25 an hour, people born here might think twice. But that's a pipe dream, many argue.

"Well before we got to $25, there would be machines out in the fields, doing pruning or harvesting, or we would lose crops," Martin says.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Already, strawberry growers in Ventura are experimenting with robots that plant seedlings, and growers in Central Coast counties are culling, weeding and even harvesting heads of lettuce with machines. At the outer edge, engineers are trying to teach machines to pick fruit.

Brad Goehring, a fourth-generation farmer, is re-engineering his vineyards so they can be harvested entirely by machines.

The 52-year-old owns 500 acres of wine grapes in Lodi, near Stockton. He tends another 10,000 or so acres of vineyards that belong to several clients across Northern California.

Being the boss used to be fun for Goehring, but his labor problems are wearying.

In the last five years, he has advertised in local newspapers and accepted more than a dozen unemployed applicants from the state's job agency. Even when the average rate on his fields was $20 an hour, the U.S.-born workers lost interest, fast.

"We've never had one come back after lunch," he says.

For now, Goehring is betting his future on 10 floppy rows of Malbec vines. The vines, visible from the slender country road that borders Goehring's house, were among his first experiments in mechanization.

About five years ago, Goehring changed the wiring holding up parts of his vines so that no metal stakes exceed the height of the wire. The setup allows for a machine to prune the top of the vine, as well as both sides.

"I think we can eliminate, I'm just guessing, 85 percent of the labor on these new vineyards," he says, reducing pruning costs from $300 per acre, on average, to $80. He plans to keep spending more on machinery, like his $350,000 tractor-like vehicle that shakes grapes off the vine and catches them before they fall to the ground.

Now, he's replanting entire ranches for clients interested in machine-managed vineyards.

Goehring's long game is hundreds of acres of wine grapes harvested without ever touching human hands. If that doesn't work, he'd reluctantly replace it all with almonds.

"If we have to, we'd go there," he says. If filled with nut trees, his entire property could be managed, he says, by three employees.
Opinion / Columnist

The world is taking a paradigm shift interms of national development. You find that in the past most influential roles, and strategic positions in society were for men and women were merely for domestic issues and providing labour and farming activities. Mostly women are outdone by men, and majority of them are subject to sexual harassment in society and work places. One of the agenda of the United Nations through the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) is gender equality. In Zimbabwe we have seen women rising in politics and development and minority of them taking up national strategic positions both in Government and Private sector.Examples of women taking national roles in politics and developmentGrace MugabeGrace Mugabe the first Lady of Zimbabwe has done her best interms of politics and development. She rose through the ranks from a mere typist to the wife of the president. She has been participating in several development issues such as Danhiko project, Mazoe orphanage project, farming through her family project Gushungo dairy farm project which has contributed employment to many vulnerable families including the surrounding communities. She rose through the ranks to become the women's league boss in Zanu Pf which is a major achievement. In the past women's league in the past was not visible as it is today, she has challenged most men. We have seen her campaigning against girl child and early marriages issues which has affected most young and vulnerable children. This is one of the women who have done so well interms of self-composure and development. She has proved that she has the guts to do things that men cannot do.Jessie MajomeJessie Majome has done very well as a human rights lawyer. She has been very visible in human rights cases. She is one of the lawyers who has done tremendous work interms of human and civil cases. She has fought hard for the rights of women. Interms of education Jessie Majome has done very well being a lawyer by profession. On the other side of her profession, we have seen her doing very well interms of her parliamentary duties. She is one of the few outstanding legislators in the country. She takes parliamentary duties seriously. When conducting public hearings on different bills, she is a brave women who can be able to articulate issues in the right manner.Thokozani KhupeThokozani Khupe is an exemplary in society, motherly, very caring, a natural leader, who rose from the ranks of being a security guard at NRZ Mutare to a Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. When she started during her days at National Railways of Zimbabwe Workers association of Zimbabwe, many ruled her out, but she fought hard to be where she is today. Khupe is one of the few women in society who have proved to have leadership qualities both at party and national level. I had the opportunity to listen to her parliamentary debates, she is an intelligent, vibrant women who knows how to articulate questions without fear. She has done very well interms of education as well. She acquired her MBA from Nasty University in Bulawayo in Zimbabwe.Joice MujuruMujuru fought during the liberation struggle. She participated during and after the national struggle. Despite coming from humble background, she rose through the ranks from a mere young cabinet minister in the 80s to the deputy president of the republic of Zimbabwe. She became the first women to occupy that post since independence. She has been involved in national politics, of recent she has formed her own political outfit National People's Party. She done very well in farming as well. Mujuru despite being the Vice President of Zimbabwe, she acquired a PHD in strategic Management from Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT). Since 1980 she held several cabinet posts such as Land Minister, Water and Agriculture Minister Etc. in the early 80s despite the cabinet positions held by men, she was one of the very few women to be given cabinet positions in Mugabe's Government.Priscilla Mushonga-MisihairambwiShe is one of the outstanding figures in society who has done very well in politics and development. She has been live in parliament, and when you listen to her debates in parliament you can tell she is a visible leader who deserve respect. She is visionary, she bring wealthy ideas to our parliament, and takes development to constituency level. She has participated in many developmental projects, child rights and women issues in Zimbabwe. She has been campaigning against abuse of women and children in society. She has been advocating for child rights and Laws that protect vulnerable in our society. If you listen to her debates she is very vocal interms of national matters. She is after development and very neutral when contributing to national debates.Jane MutasaShe is a Zimbabwean woman known in business and investments circles. She has done very well in investments within and outside the country. Jane Mutasa has done very well in entrepreneurship and business development. She is the founder of the Indigenous Business Women's organization (IBWO). She is one of the outstanding figures in society who has done what other men can never do in business and development. She has risen through the ranks to become one of the very few women to contribute to national development. SHE LED Telecel Zimbabwe as the group chairman.Challenges women face in societySexual harassmentIn most cases most women when they get promoted either in political, development or national politics they face sexual harassment. Most men take advantage of those women. Most of these women give in probably because of fear of victimisation and internal struggles, which is difficult for them to manage. Men take advantage of these promotions to ask for sexual favours. Very few women survive such harsh conditions except the few that know their rights. We urge women to stand for their rights in society and report such cases if there can be any. It is very important for women to participate in national development and politics, and contribute to national economic growth.Lack of resourcesMost resources are channelled to men only. More than 75% of resource allocation are given to men, or they take advantage of having access to resource and divert them for personal gain or their male counterparts. Very few women have access to resources, so they are left with no option except to resort to domestic labour and vending activities.VictimisationMost women are victimised probably because of failing to give in to sexual demands or sexual abuse. Most of these cases are never reported, or exposed because most of the women would want to protect their jobs so they do everything. They can give go to the extent of doing things outside their mandate to please their own bosses.Most women believe leading roles are for menMost women are very shy to take up leading roles. They have fear of the unknown, they don't believe in themselves, they always think its men only. If you very well very few women have very well in leading outstanding roles. It's good for women to take leading roles and participate in national development. There is need for gender diversity and accommodate women so that we have a nationalistic approach and realise their talents as well.Family responsibilitiesMost women cannot take any leadership positions because of family responsibilities. Most women are pre occupied with domestic issues which requires them to be at home most of the time. Maternity issues are some of the challenges as well. They take leave days and also other domestic challenges, attending to domestic and family needs as well.Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo writes in his personal capacity as the Head of Mentorship Institute of National Development and Sustainability (MINDS). He is a development analyst and consultant. He can be contacted at greatorminds@gmail.com
In 1981, Nora Walsh Hussey was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to be superintendent of the Denver Mint.

Hussey, who lived in Sturgis at the time, appeared in front of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee in Washington to answer questions.

They werent difficult, she said. It was short and sweet.

Hussey was unanimously confirmed and moved to Denver, becoming the first non-Coloradan to be superintendent of the Denver Mint, which began striking coins in 1906.

Hussey, who now lives in Spearfish, will turn 102 today. She recalled her days at the mint and earlier involvement in local politics in a recent interview.

Hussey moved to Sturgis in the early 1950s and helped her husband, Shirley, manage his trucking business. She became active in politics, becoming the first woman elected as Chairman of the Meade County Republican Party in 1964. She also served as a Republican Convention delegate and Presidential Elector in 1980.

The Denver Mint is one of four in the U.S. and began striking coins in 1906. It employs approximately 400 workers and produces billions of coins every year. Each coin generated there is designated by a small D mintmark.

Large rolls of metal strips are shipped to Denver, then coin shapes are punched out. The one cent is the only coin stamped onto pre-made planchets. After a process of shaping and striking, coins are counted, bagged, and then driven to Federal Reserve Banks.

The U.S. coin produced in largest quantity is the one-cent penny.

During Husseys seven years at the mint, We made billions of pennies. They were by far ordered the most, she said.

In early 1982, all mint facilities stopped producing the mostly copper-alloy penny and moved to a copper-plated zinc. We had the last backlog of copper in the country, so it wasnt until fall that we changed the penny like they had already done at the rest of the facilities, she said.

Using a patented electroplating process, the new metal-composition strips were struck by dies sent from Philadelphia. Over 6 billion pennies were minted in 1982 at the Denver Mint.

Hussey said that the new zinc-covered pennies were not that much different side by side, but she felt that the older, more copper coins, were just prettier when new.

The modified dies for the new metal mix pennies were not sent right away, so the old dies with larger date numbers were used in production for a short time. Those particular pennies and other die variations from 1982 are considered quite desirable to some collectors today.

Hussey supervised the entire Denver Mint operation until 1987. Since then, her public service has been recognized by Gov. Dennis Daugaard, who proclaimed March 17, 2012, Nora Walsh Hussey Day, commending her for her dedicated and outstanding service to this state and country.

U.S. Sen. John Thune has also paid tribute to her in Congress.

Hussey said she is thankful for her the time she spent at the mint. I made many friends there, she said. It was a fun place to work that I enjoyed immensely.
BELLE FOURCHE | Belle Fourche police reported Tuesday morning that an attempt to scam a local family was thwarted, saving the family $15,000 in cash.

Police said they received a call earlier in the morning from a local citizen who had been a victim of a scam.

The victim's family was told they were going to receive $18 million in cash in a locked briefcase. The victim was instructed to mail $15,000 in cash to an out-of-state address via UPS before they could receive their winnings.

Police said, "It is extremely rare that money is ever recovered during these type of scams. However, because the package was sent UPS, we were able to rapidly track the package, contact the Police Department where it was delivered and the cash was recovered within minutes of being delivered to the address."

But that wasn't quite the end.

"Unfortunately the recipient of the cash was an elderly person who was also a victim of the scam and had instructions to wire the money elsewhere," police said.

The Belle Fourche Police Department and South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation quickly made phone calls that led to interception of the victim's money before it reached its final destination.

Local police also thanked the police officer in another state, who did not hesitate to go to the address and help recover the money.

The Belle Fourche department said in a release, "Please keep your family and friends informed of these types of scams as 99 percent of the time money is not able to be recovered. Mailing cash or wiring cash is never something you should do if someone has contacted you stating you've won a large prize or more money."
Mike Atkinson has to look far afield for housekeepers to work at his Black Hills resort  about 1,000 miles, in fact, to the Mexican border.

Every summer, a crew of 15 foreign guest workers, usually from Mexico, takes up residence in an on-site dormitory while cleaning the rooms and doing the laundry at the Mount Rushmore Resort at Palmer Gulch, where Atkinson is the general manager.

Similar arrangements have become the norm at other tourism-reliant businesses in the Black Hills, including Krulls Market in Hill City, where five Jamaicans have spent many summers working in the grocery store and living behind it.

But this summer could be different. The expiration of a federal law last September has reduced the number of temporary guest workers allowed into the country, and some South Dakota businesses have been unable to hire their usual crew of foreign seasonal help.

That's a problem, especially in parts of the Black Hills where tourists arrive by the millions, local residents are counted in the hundreds and the unemployment rate is around 4 percent. Some employers in those areas are scrambling to find other workers and dreading the possibility of being understaffed when the tourist rush begins in May.

The workers just arent here to be had, said Atkinson, whose resort is between Hill City and Keystone.

To enter the United States, the foreign workers need a passport endorsement known as a visa  in this case, an H-2B visa, the kind awarded for temporary, nonagricultural work in seasonal industries such as hospitality and construction. When their jobs end, the workers go back to their home countries. Some develop lasting ties with their U.S. employers and return year after year for the same seasonal work.

In South Dakota, the annual number of H-2B employers typically ranges from 50 to 100 and the number of H-2B jobs fluctuates between 1,000 and 1,300. Hourly wages span from around $9 for low-end hospitality work to $24 for some high-end construction jobs. Before winning approval to hire H-2B guest workers, employers must show evidence that there are not enough U.S. workers for the jobs and that the employment of H-2B workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.

The total number of H-2B workers admitted nationwide has been capped by law at 66,000 per fiscal year since 1990. During times of high demand for guest workers, Congress has adopted temporary laws exempting returning workers from the cap. The most recent exemption was adopted in the 2015 calendar year, resulting in the issuance of 84,627 H-2B visas during the 2016 fiscal year.

That exemption expired in September and was not renewed by Congress, despite efforts to include it in a December spending bill.

After the December renewal effort failed, U.S. employers scrambled for a place at the front of the application line, hoping to obtain their H-2B workers before the cap was met. In January alone, the U.S. Department of Labor received applications from 4,500 businesses hoping to fill 82,100 H-2B jobs. The other federal agency involved in the program, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, announced last week that it has already received enough petitions to reach the cap for the 2017 fiscal year.

Businesses are not supposed to apply for H-2B guest workers until 90 days before they need them, which means some employers with summertime openings have not yet applied or did not apply soon enough to come in under the cap. Some of those employers now feel arbitrarily punished for the later timing of their seasonal openings.

Nationwide, members of Congress are fielding complaints from affected business owners, and the complaints have sparked action on several fronts. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said Thursday during a conference call with reporters that a solution will probably have to take the form of legislation. He hopes to introduce a bill as soon as next week, he said, with Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. Legislative options include another temporary exemption for returning workers, or a permanently higher cap number.

In the House of Representatives, Jack Bergman, R-Mich., introduced a returning-worker exemption bill this week. Though the text of Bergmans bill was not immediately available, similar past legislation has granted exemptions to workers who were counted against the cap in any of three prior fiscal years.

Also this week, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, questioned U.S. labor secretary nominee Alexander Acosta about H-2B problems during his confirmation hearing, and he pledged to seek solutions.

But any attempt to free up more guest-worker visas this year could be fraught with political tension. Some conservatives say guest-worker programs take jobs away from Americans and give them to foreigners who are willing to work for lower wages and few benefits. Some traditionally Democratic interest groups, such as labor unions, have similar reasons for opposing guest-worker programs, and some liberals decry the entire guest-worker system as a form of indentured servitude. Those swirling political winds and a steady stream of anti-immigrant, America-first rhetoric from then-President-elect Donald Trump reportedly combined to doom the attempted renewal of the returning-worker exemption in December.

In the Black Hills, some employers say their unique, local labor conditions are obscured by the broader political and philosophical debates about guest-worker programs. Some seasonal businesses in the Black Hills are wedged onto remote pockets of private land within the Black Hills National Forest, away from available workers. In the nearest cities, low unemployment rates mean that roughly 96 percent of the people who are willing and able to work are already employed, leaving few people willing to commute for a job cleaning toilets, changing bed sheets and doing laundry.

Atkinson, at Palmer Gulch, said some of his housekeeping positions may go unfilled this summer if he is not allowed to fill them with guest workers. He is advertising the openings in numerous places, mulling higher wages and asking other businesses with approved H-2B applications if they might be willing to let their guest workers moonlight for him.

Atkinson said he has heard all the criticisms of the H-2B program and the assertion that if employers would pay more, American workers would apply for the jobs. That has not been the case in his experience, he said, because of his scant local labor pool, the remoteness of his location and the nature of the work he needs done. He said his H-2B workers, who make up only about 15 percent of his total summertime staff, seem to be the only people who want the housekeeping jobs. The resort has been using the H-2B program to fill those jobs for more than 20 years.

At Krulls Market, owners Jason and Stacia Peters have grown similarly reliant on five H-2B workers who return year after year. Like Atkinson, Jason Peters said he has been stymied this year by the 66,000-visa cap and may not be able to find substitute help.

Its not that locals dont want to work, Peters said. There just aren't enough workers.

Jon Schaff, a professor of political science at Northern State University in Aberdeen, said there is cause for hope. While the broader politics of immigration may be hopelessly mired in controversy, Schaff said, stories of businesses affected by the H-2B visa cap could break through the din and spur Congress to act on that small slice of immigration policy.

If it is true that the Black Hills tourism industry cannot sufficiently staff itself without temporary workers, Schaff said, well, that will change a lot of minds relatively quickly.

Peters wants to believe that. If he cant hire his usual crew of H-2B workers this summer, he anticipates longer workdays for himself, his wife and their few local employees.

I guess, he said, gesturing around the store, well just live here.
South Dakota law enforcement officers made more than 42,000 arrests last year, the highest number in nearly three decades, and officials are pointing to drug offenses as a major driver in the high number of arrests.

Officials highlighted some good news in the state's annual crime report as well, including that murders and rapes were down last year, with 21 homicides reported in 2016 compared with 27 the year before.

According to data from the South Dakota Attorney Generals Office, more than 100 law enforcement agencies in the state reported making 42,200 arrests in 2016. That was the most since roughly 1990, when arrest figures were first included in the attorney generals Crime in South Dakota report.

A significant portion of the 2016 arrests involved assaults (11 percent), driving under the influence (16 percent) and drug offenses (18 percent), according to the report released last week.

Attorney General Marty Jackley attributed the bigger arrest numbers to more proactive law enforcement efforts, including the formation of new task forces. He noted the statewide addition of 168 law enforcement officers last year, as South Dakota's population increased by around 7,000 from the previous year.

Authorities are especially concerned about the rise in drug offenses, particularly the use of the highly addictive drug methamphetamine, which they say is linked to other serious crimes.

Just from 2015 and 2016, weve been able to tie methamphetamine and drug use to assaults, DUIs, vehicular pursuits, crimes of violence like robbery and even some thefts, said Rapid City Assistant Police Chief Don Hedrick. Its a big driver in a lot of the other crimes that are reported in our city.

In 2015, about 12,800 drug offenses were reported statewide. This figure rose to 14,559 last year, accounting for half of the increase in major crimes between the two years, said Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom.

Besides the increase in meth use, Thom sees the legalization of marijuana in Colorado as a big factor in the spike in drug violations. Colorado opened marijuana shops in 2014, two years after voters approved legalizing the recreational use of the drug.

On the other end of the spectrum, crimes such as murder, rape and sexual offenses were down in 2016, Jackley said.

"Those type of serious, violent crimes that South Dakotans are and should be worried about, South Dakota is going in the right direction," he said.

Last year, the state recorded 21 homicides, down from 27 in 2015, a 22 percent decrease. Two Rapid City murders reportedly committed in 2015 but classified as homicides only last year were included in the 2016 crime report, said Jackleys office.

Rapid City saw two homicides last year, a big drop from the citys nine known homicides in 2015. The local police department also reported a lower number of calls for service in 2016 compared with the year before.

In 2015 we saw a large spike in calls for service, in crimes, in arrests, Hedrick said. "And it almost seems like we were on the front edge of the spike that the state saw in 2016.

The number of aggravated assaults, sexual assaults and arson cases in Rapid City also dipped last year, Hedrick said.

The annual crime report does not include offenses committed on the nine Native American reservations in South Dakota. Those crimes are compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The accuracy of the states crime statistics depends on the information provided by the reporting agencies, Jackley's office said. Not all law enforcement agencies submit data every year (94 percent of agencies did so in 2016), and there are years when new crime categories are added, such as identity theft and animal cruelty in 2016.

It is notable that compared with last year, the next-highest number of arrests statewide were reported in the early 1990s. There were 41,509 arrests in 1992 and 41,220 in 1991, while 2015 saw the fourth-highest at 40,069, according to the annual crime reports.

The attorney general's office did not immediately have an explanation for the high arrest numbers in the 1990s, citing a need for further research.
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Jenna Cook, a girl of Chinese origin adopted by an American school teacher over 20 years ago, returned to China to look for her birth parents.

Jenna and her adoptive mother, Margaret Cook. [Photo/Sina.com.cn]

Before her arrival, the Yale student had no idea that her trip in search of her roots would touch so many people in Wuhan city: 50 families came forward in the hope that she might be their abandoned daughter.

Jenna Cook's story started on March 24, 1992, when she was abandoned as a baby near a bus stop in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

She was taken to the Wuhan Children's Welfare House to be cared for.

In June that same year, she was adopted and given the name Jenna Cook by Margaret Cook, a primary schoolteacher who lived in Massachusetts.

Jenna was one of the first 200 Chinese babies to be adopted by American families. About 80,000 children born in China were estimated to have found homes in the United States, mostly girls.

Jenna always knew she was adopted. Living in an area with few Chinese faces around, Jenna's adoptive mother tried her best to look after the girl and her younger sister, who was also a Chinese adoptee. She learned Mandarin, and all about China, socializing with other families with similar adoption backgrounds.

Despite Margaret's best efforts to help her two daughters keep a link with their country of origin, Jenna yearned to find her birth parents.

At the age of 20, Jenna was admitted by Yale University, where she received a grant to fund a trip to China to look for her parents as part of an academic study program.

Accompanied by her adoptive mother, Jenna traveled to Wuhan in 2012 and managed to get her story posted in local newspapers. The article aroused huge public interest.

Dozens of families came forward to say that Jenna was their daughter, 50 of whom claimed to have left an infant in the street where Jenna was found in March, 1992.

Jenna Cook puts up a poster containing her story, trying to find her birth parents in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province. [Photo/Sina.com.cn]

During Jenna's meetings with the 50 families, the girl found them all thoughtful and considerate. Every family treated Jenna as if she were their daughter. They asked Jenna about her life, wanting to know whether she had been well looked-after.

Jenna carried out DNA tests with 37 families, narrowed down from the 50 who'd come forward, but none of them turned to be related to Jenna.

Jenna hugs one of the mothers who came forward to claim her. Sadly DNA tests proved she was not Jenna's mother. [Photo/Sina.com.cn]

It's reported that Jenna has left a sample of her DNA with police in Wuhan, leaving a hope for a possible reunion in the future.
America has become a land of strangers. Even before headphones, PCs and smartphones  all of which were heralded as breakthroughs in human communication but have turned out to be instruments of further isolation  we had begun disconnecting from each other.

More and more, we have chosen to reside near and associate, almost exclusively, with people who look the same as we do, live the same as we do and think the same as we do. Polls tell us that today's Americans do not know their neighbors as well as their parents knew theirs, and that Americans trust each other less than did earlier generations. In spite of all the public posturing about celebrating diversity, we Americans have increasingly self-segregated into our own social and political comfort zones and demographic niches.

To be honest, I grew up, went to school, played ball and worked with people who were very much like me. That all changed for me and millions of my male contemporaries when each of us received a "personal" letter from the president of the United States that began: "Greeting: You are hereby ordered for induction into the Armed Forces of the United States..."

Because, more than 56 years ago, I was able to avoid being drafted into the Army by enlisting in the Marine Corps, I got to live with and serve with Americans who were different from me  different faiths, races, backgrounds, languages and outlooks. But at Parris Island and thereafter, we learned that Marines take care of their own, that they take care of their fellow Marines before themselves, that you can depend on the Marine next to you and that other Marines must be able to depend on you. Unlike in the private sector, loyalty, Marines understand, goes both up and down the chain of command. I never saw combat, was never fired at, but the Marine Corps bonded and connected us, in shared service, to something much larger and greater than ourselves: our country.

Even though I still believe it was a mistake, our nation ended the draft in 1973. For almost 16 years  which is longer than the Civil War, both World Wars and the Korean War combined  Americans in military service have been fighting and dying in Afghanistan. Fourteen years ago, American troops were first sent into combat in Iraq. But all the sacrifice and all the suffering in those wars has been done by just 1 percent of Americans. When some gasbag self-proclaimed patriot on a talk show or at a congressional hearing demands that we send "more troops" (or worse, "more boots"), does he not realize that we are sending time and time again the very same troops who were just there a few months ago?

We all do owe much to each other and to our country. And mandatory two-year national service  civilian or military  is imperative to help us understand the responsibility, as well as the rights, of citizenship and build our connections with our fellow citizens. We could choose to serve in the Peace Corps, Marine Corps, police corps, teacher corps or another civil-service organization. But of this I am sure: Universally shared service would make us all better Americans and our country a better America. The alternative: a place where we do not know each other or why America really is exceptional.
An empty can of Fosters beer in a plastic bag hangs from a barb on Roy Capps fence.

If you want to boil down Capps years of frustration over the unregulated public use of his familys land next to the Bitterroot River, on this day there may not be a better example than that one single inanimate object.

Capp shakes his head slowly in disgust as he points to it.

That just shows the disrespect that people have for this place, he said. Theres no garbage can here. No one is taking care of this place. No one cares how it looks or whats left behind.

This place is the site that hundreds  maybe even thousands  of people use as a fishing access site, beachfront and trailhead every year.

Located immediately downstream from the bridge crossing the Bitterroot River west of Stevensville, the area is often packed full with vehicles and boat trailers during the peak fishing season.

Nearly every one of those is parked on the property that the Capp family has owned since the 1970s.

Over the past year, the family has been in negotiations with the city of Stevensville and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for a land exchange. The Capps have offered 3.6 acres of land they own just below the bridge and another 1.5 acres in town for 8 acres of park land owned by the town of Stevensville.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has agreed to build a new parking area and pit toilet on land currently owned by the Capps if the exchange goes through.

The land swap proposal has its detractors. Some dont want the city to give up any of the 24 acres it owns just downstream from the Capp property.

Recently, the two governmental entities opted to take a hard look at the potential of creating a new fishing access at other locations, including one directly across the river from the Capp property.

That property is owned by the Montana Department of Transportation and Ravalli County.

FWPs fishing access site program manager Rory Zarling said that site would require removing about a foot or so of soil to make a boat launch possible.

The group also looked at the potential of building a new boat launch on the park property already owned by town. The challenge there is the area is in the floodplain, which would create its own set of challenges.

We are somewhat cautious about bulldozing a road into that type of habitat, Zarling said. In order to get a loop, we have the road close to the waters edge. Any time you build a road next to the river, you dont know how stable it will be for the long term.

The challenge for everyone involved with the process is time.

This years fishing season is going to start in earnest very soon.

When Capp drove through his property Friday morning, there were already a number of vehicles there and rafts filled with fishermen at the waters edge.

Capp said his family isnt willing to let the process continue on forever.

Weve been talking about this same proposal since at least 1995, Capp said. Weve been trying to address this issue since the town made that area into a park.

Capps wife, Laurie, said the family would be fine if the town opted to build the fishing access site on the other side of the river or on its own land.

That wouldnt hurt us at all, she said.

But the couple said the city has to make up its mind soon or they will be forced to close their land off to the public.

Ill shut if off, Capp said. Its time for them to make a decision. This has been going on long enough. Its become a community access site on private property.

That fact opens the Capp family to a variety of liability concerns beyond the frustration of the continued degradation of the site.

Capp said he can easily see down into the park from his ranch. When hes called to report trespass violations or other concerns, he said local and county law enforcement have been slow to respond. For a man with a combined 30 years of law enforcement experience as both a civilian and with the U.S. Armys special forces, that lack of security is discouraging.

If I call the police to come to the property, I get a text that says Ill look into it, Capp said. And then I dont even get a call back. Thats what we have deal with here.

On Friday, Capp walked around the parking lot at the towns park to point out the obscene graffiti painted on signs and the building that once housed a bathroom. He watched a man head down the trail with his two unleashed dogs.

The sign right there says that all dogs are supposed to be a leash, he said. They are not taking care of what they already own.

Not long ago, Capp said he spotted a dog running in his field adjacent to the city park. When he confronted its owner about not having his dog under control, Capp said the man swore at him.

I was on my own land when that happened, he said. This isnt the good old days when people helped each other out. The people we are dealing with here are different.

In Capps mind, gaining that additional 8 acres at the far end of the town park will provide him with a little bit more of a buffer from the public. It will also cut down on the size of the land that needs to be patrolled.

Ive taken great pride in caring for this ranch, Capp said. You wont find any bailing twine or other trash on my property and then I see that Foster's can hanging from my fence. It just infuriates me. People dont respect the fact that this is private land.
The University of Montana spectrUM Discovery Areas exhibition, Water, that highlights ecosystem science is visiting Bitterroot schools this month.

Corvallis classes in grades 3-8 enjoyed the interactive exhibit this week.

Rich Durgin, Corvallis Middle School principal, said he has hosted spectrUM exhibits for years.

They have always been engaging and fun, Durgin said. The kids love them and they are good from primary school up high school. Well have all our kids in third through eighth grade come with their science classes.

Eliel Anttila and Michael Jahnke, Montana spectrUM Science Experience educators, guided students through thinking and touching the exhibits created by researchers from UMs Montana Institute on Ecosystems.

A virtual watershed sandbox, a groundwater model and spectrUMs popular erosion table were highlights.

Anttila said that water is part of every Montana experience.

Whether youre in an agricultural area or downtown Missoula you will have a river or groundwater supporting your way of life, he said. Learning the fundamentals about how that water travels in a landscape is really important.

Jahnke said that the start of snow melt season is a great time for students to learn.

Were trying to teach them what they are seeing, he said. We are seeing rivers and streams rise because they are filling from melting snow. This exhibit is a way of understanding what is happening and put it in scientific terms and perspectives.

Jahnke said the water exhibit gives students another topic for experience in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

As Montanans we associate so much with whats around us like rivers and streams, he said. We touch on careers and career fields they could go into that have connections with nature.

The education included water sheds and students discussed geology (by looking at erosion), biology (by looking at insects) and water and air chemistry (by looking at pollution.)

For spectrUM this serves to excited students and see what they could do with science in their lives, Jahnke said.

On Tuesday, Gary Milners sixth grade class enjoyed the spectrUM Water exhibit.

They said they enjoyed the hands-on demonstrations that helped them understand the forces at work.

These exhibits show how dynamic and fragile watersheds are and how our actions influence their health, Milner said. The instructors from spectrUM have done a great job and reinforced to the students ways we can respect and protect these watersheds.

On Friday, Holly Snyders third grade class visited the spectrUM Water exhibit.

My students enjoyed the hands-on experience on the topics weve been learning about, Snyder said. Weve been studying geology, ground water, flooding, erosion and soils and this just happened to be available. It was perfect timing.

SpectrUMs mobile science program travels statewide. The Water exhibit is funded by the Montana Institute on Ecosystems, the Montana National Science Foundation EPSCoR Program and the Clark Fork Coalition. The tour stop is powered by the Jane S. Heman Foundation.

SpectrUM Director Holly Truitt said the goal of spectrUMs mobile outreach is to inspire Montanas next generation about STEM and higher education and to help power a vibrant, homegrown workforce in our state.

Since 2006, spectrUM has traveled to 73 schools and four public libraries in 31 Montana counties. It serves more than 55,000 Montanans annually, of whom more than 75 percent live in rural communities.

Additional spectrUM sponsors include the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, NASA, the Martin Family Foundation, the Montana Space Grant Consortium, the Simons Foundation, GSK-Science in the Summer, and the O.P. and W.E. Edwards Foundation. For more information, visit online spectrum.umt.edu.

The spectrUM Water exhibit was presented at Stevensville schools and will be enjoyed by Hamilton students next week.
A Hamilton man is facing a felony charge of negligent arson after he allegedly attempted to stop firefighters from putting out two large fires burning near some businesses.

Samuel Thomas Stanford, 53, appeared before Ravalli County Justice Jennifer Ray on the felony charge and a misdemeanor count of obstructing a public servant.

According to charging documents, the Hamilton Volunteer Fire Department responded to reports two large fires burning at 150 Stanford Drive in Hamilton.

Stanford had apparently started the fires to burn trash.

One fire was between two vehicles and the other was a collapsed building burning next to trees. One of the trees was on fire and a large amount of grass was also ablaze.

The fires were in the immediate vicinity of several businesses that were open to the public.

Hamilton Fire Chief Brad Mohn told a responding Hamilton police officer that Stanford had been actively attempting to take the fire hoses away from his firefighters to prevent them from dousing the fires.

Mohn said Stanford was placing the firefighters at risk with his actions.

When the officer asked Stanford about the situation, the man said the firefighters just needed to let it burn. At one point, Stanford picked up a shovel and tried to walk toward the fires, but he was disarmed.

An investigator from the county attorneys office later determined that Stanford had put the firefighters and the public at risk due to the proximity of the fire to local businesses and a capped PVC natural gas line.

Ray set bail at $10,000.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned House Republican lawmakers that he will leave Obamacare in place and move on to tax reform if they do not get behind new healthcare legislation and support it in a vote on Friday.

It was not clear late on Thursday evening that Trump and the Republican leaders who crafted the bill had enough support to pass it, meaning they now risk defeat in their first attempt at major legislation and may fail to deliver on a key campaign pledge.

"We have been promising the American people that we will repeal and replace this broken law because its collapsing and its failing families, and tomorrow were proceeding," House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters after an evening all-hands meeting. He ignored reporters who asked if he had secured the votes to pass the bill.

Ryan and leaders in the House of Representatives were forced to postpone a vote on their healthcare bill, formally called the American Health Care Act, earlier on Thursday, dealing Trump an embarrassing setback.

The vote had been symbolically planned for the anniversary of former Democratic President Barack Obama signing his namesake healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act, in 2010. It was supposed to have been Trump's first legislative victory.

Trump and his fellow Republicans had pledged to replace Obamacare, which they view as too intrusive and too expensive.

But, after a week of calling Republican lawmakers and bringing them into the Oval Office for meetings, Trump failed to close the deal with two different factions within his party on time for the planned Thursday vote.

Conservatives felt the bill did not go far enough to repeal Obamacare and moderates felt the plan could hurt their constituents. House Republican leaders had signaled they were ready to work through the weekend to figure out a way to reconcile their differences.

As the healthcare drama unfolded on Capitol Hill, Trump played it cool, taking a break from negotiations to hang out with some truckers, climbing into the cab of a long-haul transport truck parked on the back driveway of the White House, and blowing the horn a few times.

He told reporters the vote would be close but he remained optimistic. "I think were doing well. Well find out in about three hours," he said, just as reports began to surface that the vote had been postponed.

By evening, Trump sent his top lieutenants to a dramatic meeting on Capitol Hill on Thursday night with an ultimatum: he was done talking. According to Representative Chris Collins of New York, a top Trump ally, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told House Republicans that Trump wanted a vote.

"The president has said he wants a vote tomorrow, up or down," Collins said.

"If for any reason it is down, we are just going to move forward with additional parts of his agenda" such as tax reform, Collins told reporters after leaving the meeting.

However, the vote has been seen by financial markets as a crucial test of Trump's ability to work with Congress to deliver on his other priorities, such as tax cuts and infrastructure spending.

Even if their replacement plan does eventually get approval from the House, the legislation faces a potentially tough fight in the Republican-controlled Senate.

The House and Senate had hoped to deliver a new healthcare bill to Trump by April 8, when Congress is scheduled to begin a two-week spring break.

GETTING TO YES?

The Republicans have a majority in the House but, because of united Democratic opposition, can afford to lose only 21 Republican votes. By Thursday morning, NBC News said that 30 Republicans had planned to vote "no" or were leaning that way.

North Carolina Congressman Mark Meadows, the chairman of the pivotal conservative bloc known as the Freedom Caucus, said he and others were struggling to support the plan.

"I am desperately trying to get to yes and I think the president knows that. I told him that personally," Meadows said. However, after Thursday night's meeting, he was still a 'no'.

Obamacare aimed to boost the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies. Some 20 million Americans gained insurance coverage through the law.

The House replacement plan would rescind the taxes created by Obamacare, repeal a penalty against people who do not buy coverage, slash funding for the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled, and modify tax subsidies that help individuals buy plans.

House leaders agreed to four pages of last-minute amendments to the bill, including allowing states to choose which "essential benefits" are required in healthcare insurance plans, and keeping a 0.9 percent surcharge on Medicare for high-income Americans for six years. It was unclear whether that was enough.

Representative Trent Franks, a Freedom Caucus member who had been undeclared on his position on the bill, said he liked the changes. Its going in the right direction, Franks said outside the House.

The amendments will give states more money for maternal health and mental health, said Representative Jeff Fortenberry, a Nebraska moderate who still has not said how he will vote.

MARKETS WATCHING CLOSELY

Uncertainty over the healthcare bill rattled financial markets this week. The delay in the house vote is likely to extend the ups and downs in the stocks of some hospital groups and health insurers.

U.S. stock markets rose steadily in recent months on optimism over a pro-business Trump agenda but fell back sharply on Tuesday as investors worried that failure to push through the healthcare bill could postpone other business-friendly Trump priorities.

"Delay on healthcare equates to delay on tax cuts. That is why the market turned red when the news flow suggested they didn't have a deal," said David Kotok, chairman and chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors, a money management firm.

Others said it was too soon to panic.

"If this thing gets materially delayed or if we get a 'no' vote, we're going to see a horrific market reaction. But if they vote in the morning and it passes, we'll have a hell of a rally," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Pokhara, Nepal: The main opposition party CPN-UML is going to hold mass assemblies in various districts of Province number 2 on March 29 and 30.

UML General Secretary Ishwor Pokharel has said on Sunday that mass meetings under an election campaign will be held in various districts of Province No. 2.

The UML had postponed the mass meetings of the province during the Mechi-Mahakali National Campaign after the violent clash in Saptari on March 6, in which five persons were killed and dozen others were injured.

Speaking at a press meet organized by the Press Chautari in Pokhara, on Sunday General Secretary Pokharel said that senior leaders of the party would address the mass assemblies
Community figures Hector Sanchez, Dave Baskett, Hazel Davelos of CAUSE and George Enriquez offered ideas for possible voting districts for San

Draw a map

The Santa Maria Times has provided a map template on Page A7 of today's edition for your convenience. Please sketch out your idea for new city election districts using the template and based on the listed requirements. You can drop them off at the Santa Maria Times office, 3200 Skyway Drive, take a photo of your map and share it at www.facebook.com/santamariatimes, via Twitter @santamariatimes, or email it to janderson@leecentralcoastnews.com. You can also bring your map to Thursday's public hearing.

Draw your ideas drop them off at our

office, 3200 Skyway Drive; or take a photo

and share it with us on www.facebook.

com/santamariatimes or Twitter @

SantaMariaTimes, or you can email it to

JAnderson@leecentralcoastnews.com

Learn more about the redistricting

process by visiting the citys website, www.

cityofsantamaria.org.
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European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, European Council President Donald Tusk and Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat (L to R) celebrate the signing of the "Declaration of Rome" during a ceremony at Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy, on March 25, 2017. European Union (EU) leaders on Saturday marked the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome founding the integration process, with a major ceremony in the Italian capital. (Xinhua/Jin Yu)

The European Union (EU) leaders tried to revamp integration project by signing a Rome Declaration at a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the founding Treaty of Rome in the Italian capital on Saturday.

In the Rome Declaration, a formal blueprint for EU's future, they vowed to "set out a joint vision for the years to come."

The summit drew heads of state and government from 27 EU member states, along with top EU institutional figures. British Prime Minister Theresa May did not attend, and her government is expected to officially trigger the two-year procedure to leave the bloc next Wednesday.

"The EU is facing unprecedented challenges, both global and domestic," leaders said in the declaration, mentioning conflicts, terrorism, migration, protectionism, and social inequalities.

"Together, we are determined to address the challenges... and to offer to our citizens both security and new opportunities."

The Rome Declaration was signed at the ancient and richly decorated Orazi e Curiazi Hall in Rome's Capitoline Hill, exactly where the original Treaty of Rome was signed 60 years ago.

The 1957 treaty established the European Economic Community (EEC), paving the way to the current European Union.

"Today, we celebrate the perseverance and the cleverness of the (EU) founding fathers," Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said in his opening address."This crowded hall is proof of this: we were six in 1957, and now we are 27."

Gentiloni recalled many achievements of the European integration, but also acknowledged that, facing today's major issues, the EU has found itself unprepared and responded late.

This triggered "a crisis of rejection by segments of the public opinion" and rekindled "close nationalism", according to Gentiloni, who mentioned the Brexit as an example.

"As such, this is the message we want to launch today: we have learned the lesson, and the EU has chosen to start up again, and it has a horizon to do so in the next 10 years," Gentiloni said.

In the declaration, the EU 27 committed to make the EU stronger and more resilient. "Unity is both a necessity and our free choice," they said.

"Taken individually, we would be side-lined by global dynamics. We will act together, at different paces and intensity where necessary, while moving in the same direction."

The reference to "different paces and intensity" of integration was a mild mention of the proposal of a multi-speed EU, which would entail different groups of countries willingly moving towards further integration at different paces within the bloc.

Since the proposal has drawn harsh criticism from Eastern European countries, it was not wholly expressed. Yet, it was embodied in the paper."As a political entity, Europe will either be united, or will not be at all," President of the European Council Donald Tusk said at the ceremony.

"Only a united Europe can be a sovereign Europe in relation to the rest of the word," he added.

In the common declaration, the leaders of the 27 member states and those of the EU institutions pledged to move towards "a Union where citizens feel safe and move freely... and jobs and growth are created."

They also committed to boost EU's social dimension, and to make Europe stronger at global level through both existing partnerships and common security and defence.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker delivered the most optimistic remarks. "However daunting our challenges may feel today, they are in no way comparable to those faced by our founding fathers," he said, referring to the fact that Europe's integration stemmed from the tragedy of World War II.

Both before and during Rome's summit, member states succeeded in smoothing out their different visions of EU's future, according to the EU Commission chief. This would allow "an incipient optimistic mood" about the way to proceed, after Britain leaves.

"Contrary to what has been assumed, there was no big dispute between several conceivable paths," Junker said.
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KNOWLES' FIRST LAW:Whenever a controversy over symbolism erupts in the media, it's usually disguising a completely different symbolic message altogether.

KNOWLES' SECOND LAW:

The old state cults will be re-established under the cover of Woke.

KNOWLES' THIRD LAW:

The old statues and symbols currently being torn down will eventually be replaced by the icons and idols of the new/old state cult.

KNOWLES' LAW ON UFOS:

The probability that a UFO story is a deliberate hoax is correlative to the amount of mainstream media coverage it receives.
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 "End the death penalty for mentally ill criminals" | Main | "Recognizing Redemption: Old Criminal Records and Employment Outcomes" 

James Forman has this lengthy new commentary in the New York Times under the headlined "Justice Springs Eternal." I recommend the full piece to anyone and everyone seeking to take stock and reflect upon the current moment in the modern criminal justice reform movement. Here are some extended excerpts:

After almost 50 years of relentless prison-building in the United States, of aggressive policing and a war on drugs that goes after our most vulnerable citizens, the movement for a more merciful criminal justice system had begun to seem, if not unstoppable, at least plenty powerful.

In 2015, the number of American prisoners declined more than 2 percent, the largest decrease since 1978. By 2014, the incarceration rate for black men, while still stratospheric, had declined 23 percent from its peak in 2001. Even growing numbers of Republicans were acknowledging the moral and fiscal imperative of shrinking the prison state.

And then came President Trump, who caricatures black neighborhoods as killing fields in desperate need of more stop-and-frisk policing, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who shrugs off evidence of systemic police abuses in cities like Chicago and Ferguson, Mo., and says that marijuana is only slightly less awful than heroin. (In fact, nearly 13,000 Americans died from heroin overdoses in 2015, while zero died from marijuana overdoses.)

Such dangerous, ill-informed pronouncements naturally induce weariness and dread. Yet despite this bleak news from Washington, the movement to reduce the prison population and make our criminal justice system more humane is not in retreat. In fact, it is stronger than ever....

The most unexpected victories came in local races for prosecutor. For decades, district attorney candidates competed to prove they were tougher on crime than their opponents. That makes what happened last November so extraordinary: Prosecutors around the country campaigned on promises to charge fewer juveniles as adults, stop prosecuting low-level marijuana possession and seek the death penalty less often. And they did so in places with well-deserved reputations for rough justice, including Chicago, Houston and Tampa, Fla....

These state and local election results get less attention than Mr. Trump and Mr. Sessions, but they may have a bigger impact on incarceration rates. While mass incarceration is a national crisis, it was built locally. Ninety percent of American prisoners are in state, county and local jails, and around 85 percent of law enforcement officers are state and local, not federal.

Of course, the federal government exerts influence on law enforcement at all levels, both through rhetoric (the tone set in Washington filters down) and funding (Congress can encourage states to build more prisons by offering to foot part of the bill). But most crime policy is set by state and local officials: police officers, pretrial services officers, local prosecutors, defense lawyers, juries (in the rare cases that dont end in a plea agreement), judges, state legislatures, corrections departments and state parole boards. During the tough-on-crime era that began in the 1970s, each of those entities became more punitive, and the cumulative impact of their policies and actions caused the number of people in prison or under criminal justice supervision to skyrocket.

Now, the reverse could also prove to be true. If multiple individuals across multiple systems were to become less punitive, the prison population would fall. This is why each state and local electoral victory  even those that dont make news  is so significant. Mass incarceration will have to be dismantled the same way it was constructed: piecemeal, incrementally and, above all, locally.

The question is, what can be done to sustain such progress  especially at a time when crime is rising in some cities and the law-and-order mantra pioneered by Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon in the 1960s has regained currency at the federal level? The answer lies with a new breed of activism that has emerged in response to mass incarceration. Reform groups and nonprofits are tackling issues and adopting strategies that an earlier generation of reformers did not....

[N]o aspect of our criminal justice system is as overworked and underfunded as public defender services. Of the more than $200 billion that states and local governments spend on criminal justice each year, less than 2 percent goes to public defense. Yet improving indigent defense gets scant attention in the conversation about how to fix our criminal justice system.

President Barack Obama wrote a 55-page article about criminal justice reform and didnt mention public defenders, said Jonathan Rapping, the founder of Gideons Promise, an Atlanta-based group that is building a movement of public defenders to drive justice reform. Eighty percent of the people charged with crimes in this country cant afford a defense attorney, Mr. Rapping added. That means that 80 percent of the people in court depend on their public defender to be their voice, to tell their stories and to assert their humanity in a system that routinely denies it. Until we invest in public defenders, our system cannot and will not change.

But what about the prosecutors whom public defenders and their clients face in court? This question points to one more critical item on the criminal justice reform agenda. We must continue to recruit progressive prosecutors to run in local elections, support those who do, and hold them accountable if they win. And let me go one step further: Law students and midcareer lawyers committed to criminal justice reform should consider signing up as assistant district attorneys in offices run by the new crop of progressive prosecutors.

This last suggestion, I confess, doesnt come naturally to me. Ive taught law school for almost 15 years, and during that time Ive repeatedly counseled progressive students against working as prosecutors. I had lots of reasons, but the main one was straightforward: You might go in as a reformer, but the office will change you, not the other way around.

I still believe this is true for most prosecutors offices. But the recent election of prosecutors who criticize racial disparities and challenge wrongful convictions has caused me to change my mind. Prosecutors committed to reform need talented staff members who share that commitment, and our best legal talent should flock to their offices.

Mr. Sessions and Mr. Trump have the largest microphones and will get the most attention. But their agenda faces a rising countermovement across the country. If we stay local and continue to learn from past defeats and recent victories, the movement for a fairer criminal justice system can outlast them and prevail.
Entering the fray of efforts to change California's relationship with the rest of the country is a new campaign to divide the state in two, leaving the liberal enclaves along the coast as far south as Los Angeles to run West California, and giving Republicans potentially two new seats in the Senate in what would presumably be the red state of East California. The UK's Sunday Times picks up the story via "Bad Boy of Brexit" Nigel Farage, who along with "his money man" Arron Bank are helping raise money for this new campaign, in an effort to get a referendum on splitting up California onto the 2018 mid-term election ballot.

The pair were recently in Orange County hosting a couple of events that allegedly raised $1 million from wealthy donors who are tired of California remaining consistently Democratic, its politics typically guided by the population centers of Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

Says Banks to the Sunday Times, "It would be portrayed as the Hollywood elites versus the people, breaking up the bad government." He adds, "Seventy-eight per cent of people in California are unhappy with their government. Its the worlds sixth largest economy and its very badly run."

The plan would put the southernmost part of the coast, including Orange and San Diego Counties, in East California, along with the Inland Empire, Sacramento, and all of the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills.

The UK Sun reports that Farage and Bank were recruited by political strategist Gerry Gunster and Republican Congressional candidate Scott Baugh.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Farage's spokesman Andy Wigmore says of the donors to the campaign so far, "They feel theyve been left out since Reagan. A lot of people who fund Silicon Valley and all the big farmers were there. They believe now Trump has won, this is their chance... All the big money has come out of the woodwork."

Wigmore adds, "This has been done before with West Virginia and Virginia and North and South Dakota, so it can work."

The campaign sounds as excitedly naive as the earlier announced one, operating under the moniker Yes California, which is a liberal-driven effort to get California to secede from the United States entirely  something that would not be legally possible without an amendment to the US constitution that was ratified by 38 states. Nonetheless organizer Marcus Ruiz Evans is persisting with it, hoping to collect 585,407 valid signatures from registered California voters by July 25, 2017 to get his referendum on the 2018 ballot.

The effort has also been stymied by the fact that Evans's co-organizer, and Yes California's president, Louis J. Marinelli, is currently living in Russia and works as an ESL teacher there. It's unclear how much money they have raised to support the signature drive.

Previously: #CalExit (Sadly) Can't Really Happen, But Group Files Petition For It Anyway
The victims in Thursday's quadruple homicide in Sacramento have now been positively identified as 45-year-old Angelique Vasquez, her 14-year-old daughter Mia Vasquez, 11-year-old son Alvin Vasquez, and 21-year-old Ashley Coleman, as the Associated Press is reporting. Though police have not revealed Coleman's connection to the family, several news sources have reported that she was the niece of Angelique Vasquez. Prime suspect Salvador Vasquez-Oliva, 56, is believed to be Angelique Vasquez's husband, and he was detained in San Francisco Thursday, several hours after the bodies were discovered during a welfare check.

The killings happened in the South Land Park neighborhood, and the Sacramento Bee spoke with multiple neighbors who knew the couple, the children, and are shocked by the news. Police investigators only wrapped up their work at the scene on Sunday morning, pulling down crime scene tape that had been up for four days.

On Friday we learned that both Vasquez-Oliva and Vasquez appeared to be employed by the Employment Development Department, however the department has yet to confirm that or make any statement.

Tynya Beverly, a former colleague of Vasquez's at the EDD, tells local news station FOX 40 that Vasquez was "in the process of splitting from her husband," but recently let him move back in to the home with her and the children.

An odd detail that has emerged is that Vasquez was interviewed by FOX 40 barely 12 hours before the murders, speaking about marijuana use at Sacramentos Capitol Towers residential complex. The building owners had told tenants that recreational marijuana would not be allowed on the premises despite the new state law, in compliance with federal law instead. Vasquez said, "I think that's a fair decision."

FOX 40's Sonseeahray Tonsall says she feels grateful that Vasquez "blessed me with some of her time" to help to complete her story.



Previously: 56-Year-Old Man Arrested In SF For Quadruple Homicide In Sacramento
In early January, 22-year-old Pablo Gomez Jr., a senior at UC Berkeley, is suspected of brutally stabbing 27-year-old Emile Inman at the home she shared with several roommates on the 2400 block of Ashby Avenue in Berkeley. Inman, a native of France, was an elementary school teacher and it's unclear if she was known to Gomez or not. Gomez is also suspected of stabbing and injuring another woman north of the Berkeley campus that same day, and then quickly fleeing to Southern California. Berkeleyside originally reported the story, and appended a correction when they learned from a friend of Gomez that Gomez was gender non-conforming and that Gomez's preferred pronoun is "they" or "them." Not long after Ann Coulter and Breitbart discovered how the killing was being covered in this liberal city, and as the Associated Press now reports, the decision to respect Gomez's preferred pronouns has sparked considerable debate  though the AP follows suit, and declines to refer to Gomez as "him."

Berkeleyside was soon forced to shut off commenting on their original post after backlash from the conservative end of the internet grew, with the general consensus being summed up for the AP by College Republicans representative Jonothan Chow: "I think you give away your right to make a demand like that [with your pronouns] when you are arrested for killing somebody."

A week later, Berkeleyside published an op-ed on the topic by Julia Schwartz, who describes herself as "a gender non-conforming 23-year-old chess teacher living in New York City." Schwartz writes, "The they/them backlash is just the latest manifestation of the general discomfort with the knowledge that gender is not a natural truth... While some may use this tragedy as an opportunity to mobilize queerphobia, I would insist that one can mourn the loss of a life without taking away Gomezs right to their gender. Part of understanding and treating gender-queer people as people means accepting that some of us may not be good people, but all people should have the right to gender self-determination."

A mental competency hearing for Gomez happened last Monday in Berkeley, and a consensus could still not be reached between two doctors who conducted evaluations. A third doctor, the "tie-breaker," will now be brought in, and a decision on Gomez's competency has been postponed until May 1, as the Daily Californian reports.

Gomez was known on the Cal campus as a queer activist and member of the Gender Equity Resource Center, but other members there are declining to comment on the story now, per the AP.
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SPRINGDALE, Ark. -- A former military chaplain with more than 33 years of experience in ministry has been named director of chaplain services at Tyson Foods.

Karen Diefendorf will lead and direct Tyson Foods chaplaincy program, which includes more than 90 chaplains who provide pastoral care, counseling and support to team members at many of the companys plant and office locations.

Diefendorf most recently served as a chaplain at Hospice Care of South Carolina and as a part-time chaplain at Tyson Foods Columbia, South Carolina, facility. She has had a distinguished career as a chaplain in the U.S. Army, and served at the highest level at the Army Chief of Chaplains office.

She also has held other positions in the army, including Battalion Chaplain at Fort Benning, Georgia, and Chief of the Training and Development Division at the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School. Diefendorf began her career in the ministry as a pastor at United Methodist Church in Elkhart, Illinois, before attending the Chaplain Officer Basic Course in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.

Karen earned her bachelor's of arts in Christian education from Lincoln Christian College in Illinois. She earned her master's of divinity from Lincoln Christian Seminary in Illinois and her master's of sacred theology from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
The battle over Whiteclay beer sales is heating up in the final weeks before a planned showdown in front of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission.

The state attorney general's office recently accused Whiteclay's four beer stores of committing 22 violations of state liquor laws, including selling to bootleggers, keeping inadequate records and selling alcohol after hours.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the beer stores are trying to prevent the liquor commission from potentially denying reissuance of the stores' licenses.

The activity comes as beer store owners prepare to face off next month with critics who want them shut down. A hearing is scheduled April 6-7 at the Capitol on whether law enforcement in Whiteclay is adequate to let beer sales continue.

The liquor commission scheduled the hearing and ordered the beer stores to reapply for their liquor licenses last year, citing concerns about law enforcement in the unincorporated village in northwest Nebraska.

Whiteclay is home to about a dozen permanent residents and sits just 200 yards from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where alcohol is banned. Yet the four beer stores sell millions of cans of beer and malt liquor each year, much of which is consumed by people on the reservation.

Hobie Rupe, the Liquor Control Commission's executive director, said an audit of the stores that began in fall 2015 uncovered "significant irregularities" that ultimately resulted in the citations from the attorney general's office, which were filed Feb. 27.

"We consider these serious violations and are prepared to provide evidence in support of the allegations," Attorney General Doug Peterson said in a statement.

Rupe said the liquor commission won't consider those citations until at least May or June, after it has weighed in on renewal of the liquor licenses.

Wednesday, attorneys for the beer stores asked a judge in Lincoln to block any action by the liquor commission other than to quickly reissue the licenses, arguing renewal is their clients' constitutionally protected right.

The request was made in a filing in Lancaster County District Court. The beer stores made a similar motion with the liquor commission Tuesday, which Rupe will discuss with the parties involved in a phone conference March 21.

Andrew Snyder of Scottsbluff, an attorney representing the beer stores, did not return a message left at his office late Thursday.

Rupe said he assumed the hearing will still take place as planned next month, but declined to comment further.

Activists who have fought for years to have the stores shut down celebrated the attorney general's decision to pursue legal action against the stores.

"The other shoe may have finally dropped in Whiteclay," said John Maisch, a lawyer and former liquor regulator in Oklahoma who produced a documentary film about the impacts of Whiteclay alcohol sales.
LOS ANGELES  Hardcore "CHiPs" fans hate it and the real California Highway Patrol seems not quite sure what to make of it.

But Larry Wilcox, who rode his motorcycle to everlasting fame in the old "CHiPs" TV series, says that for now, he'll give the benefit of the doubt to "CHIPS," the forthcoming film based loosely  very loosely  on the show that made him and Erik Estrada two of the biggest stars of the 1970s and early '80s.

"I have not seen the film but the trailers looked like a soft-porn version of 'Dumb and Dumber,'" Wilcox said recently. "However, I hear the actors are both very talented and funny, so maybe it all works."

Fans of the original "CHiPs," still widely seen in reruns and on DVD, are far less forgiving. They've been posting angry messages all over the internet since the first trailers for the R-rated action comedy emerged, calling it garbage and disrespectful to police officers everywhere.

In a lengthy "open letter" to Dax Shepard, Sue Walsh of New York accuses the film's writer, director and co-star of mocking the original show with a ridiculous remake filled with nudity, penis jokes and raunchy bathroom humor. (She left out big-breasted women but they're in there, too.)

"'CHiPs' was not just a '70s cop show. It wasn't Shakespeare, no, but it did and does mean a whole lot to a whole lot of people," said Walsh, who is organizing a 40th anniversary reunion of the show this fall that most of the original cast is expected to attend.

To understand why fans are so upset, one must remember what a gentle, family-oriented show "CHiPs" was.

CHP Sgt. Jon Baker (played by Wilcox) and his partner, Estrada's Officer Frank "Ponch' Poncherello, were hunky young straight-arrow cops cruising sun-splashed, surprisingly uncrowded LA freeways on their motorcycles when not cracking jokes or flirting harmlessly with cute female sheriff's deputies.

To the thump of a persistent disco track, Baker and Ponch kept busy rescuing people from cars, occasionally solving folks' personal problems and frequently chasing down miscreants before carting them off to jail without ever drawing their weapons.

"I know that there are people that grew up watching 'CHiPs' and that was part of the reason they decided to join the department," said CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader. "I watched it when I was growing up."

In the film version, however, Shepard and Michael Mena's Baker and Ponch are anything but straight arrows. They accidentally destroy vehicles, cause fiery crashes, blow stuff up and sometimes shoot the wrong people.

"I understand it's a broad comedy," said Clader, adding she hasn't seen the film and won't offer an opinion on the trailer.

She said the CHP did grant the producers some technical assistance, for which the agency was reimbursed. But there's also this disclaimer at the beginning of "CHIPS": "This film is not endorsed by the California Highway Patrol. At all." And sharp-eyed fans will notice the title punctuation of "CHIPS" was changed from the original "CHiPs," further distancing the film from the department.

Estrada, who has a cameo, did not respond to multiple phone and email messages. But in a video clip from a recent premiere, he described it as "a movie you have to view with your adult sense of humor."

As for Wilcox, he says he'll probably see it  eventually.

"I think I will wait for the video," he added.
LOS ANGELES | Rachel Dratch, you might say, is the last line of defense for the new series Imaginary Mary.

As the title character, she records her part  that of an imaginary creature who advises a career woman on all matters of life  after the other actors have filmed theirs.

I get to see what they do, she explains. But Im not there with them.

Instead, Jenna Elfman and company tape in Vancouver while Dratch records in Los Angeles. To understand what Mary is up to, producers use a puppet in the live-action scenes that is replaced when the animation is added.

When the puppet falls down, Dratch says, I can react.

A good gig? Well, you dont have to have hair and makeup or worry about how you look. And theres a sense of freedom to it because youre literally out of your body.

To give Mary a bit of Dratchs personality, producers record her facial expressions, then show them to the animators.

As cool as it might sound, Imaginary Mary isnt the perfect acting assignment.

SNL is the dream job come true, the seven-year Saturday Night Live veteran says. Theres nothing quite like it.

Dratch first grazed the radar as a tough-talking Boston teenager in a recurring sketch with Jimmy Fallon. Then she hit the zeitgeist as Debbie Downer, the woman who could always find a dark side to every situation.

It was just something I thought of randomly one day. I approached the writer Paula Pell and we wrote it.

Debbie became a favorite character and, in short time, a part of the lexicon. Watching CNN, Ill hear someone call someone else a Debbie Downer and its kind of cool. Shes become this term which we did not anticipate.

Although some have suggested she do the character in a movie, Dratch doubts she could command a whole film. Instead, shed rather do other roles, ones that would draw on other talents.

The hard part about being on SNL is coming up with characters. Youre gnashing your teeth if you dont have an idea each week. Thats the pressure part.

Leaving isnt easy, either. Sketch is its own world, the 51-year-old mother of one says. Once youre off, there are sitcoms like (Mary) or movies, really broad comedies.

If thats not the goal, an actor may have to wait for other opportunities.

While Dratch has done guest spots and voices on a number of series, Imaginary Mary is her first lead.

She loves the schedule  she works approximately one day a week  and the time it affords her with her son, Eli, whos 6.

He definitely knows about Debbie Downer, she says with a smile. Hell hear a song and hell say, Hey, thats Debbie Downer but he hasnt really seen much of what Ive done.

Instead, the two like to do voices at home and create their own characters. I try to make him have a normal life.

Mary, meanwhile, is that cheerleader who tries to help her best friend, played by Elfman, take risks. She talks her out of her fear of commitment and sometimes gives advice that a kid would give. Shes not the voice of reason. But her basic motive is to help.

While Dratch is at a loss to describe the character visually, producers say Mary is like a little poofball  nothing specific.

Shes a creature, Dratch adds. Shes what a 6-year-old might draw. And shes lovable.
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SIOUX CITY | Jolie Vega remembers the first time she heard her son Judah's heartbeat.

The sound was music to the Sioux City native's ears. She was instantly in love with the baby growing inside her and her eyes filled with tears of joy.

"The whole pregnancy was just about him and our new lives with having a child and all the plans we had," she recalled. "When we lost him it was devastating, to say the least."

Vega's son was stillborn at 41 weeks gestation in September 2014, and then in January 2015 she had a miscarriage. She said she and her husband, Charlie, felt "blindsided."

"It was very hard on my husband and myself. We were each other's support system," she said. "It was a daily struggle to get up for the day and get going."

Eventually, the couple sought counseling to help them cope. Vega said they also found comfort in confiding in other couples who had similar experiences.

Hoping to help others, Vega founded No Footprint Too Small, a nonprofit organization in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she now lives. The organization supports mothers and families who have experienced pregnancy and/or infant loss.

Miscarriage is the most common type of pregnancy loss, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Studies reveal between 10 and 25 percent of all clinically recognized pregnancies end in miscarriage, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says stillbirth effects about 1 percent of all pregnancies. Each year about 24,000 babies are stillborn in the United States.

One of the most important services No Footprint Too Small offers is birth and bereavement doula support, something Vega said she wishes she would've had when she delivered her son.

Trained birth and bereavement doulas provide both physical and emotional support to mothers during labor and gently facilitate bonding -- holding the baby, bathing the baby or reading to the baby -- afterward. Vega said a stillbirth can be a very traumatic experience for mothers and families.

"You have all of the normal events in labor occurring, but then you have the loss on top of it. It just makes it very emotional," she said. "We basically allow the family the opportunity to say hello to their baby before they have to say goodbye -- that's very important."

No Footprint Too Small, which has about 15 regular volunteers on average, also connects mothers and families to counseling services and support groups in their communities, provides care packages filled with reading materials and mementos, and fashions weighted memory bears -- teddy bears filled with sand to match the exact birth weight of the baby they lost. Vega said the teddy bears are a therapeutic tool for mothers, many of whom report an aching in their arms and chest to hold their baby.

"We create those out of onesies or blankets or any other type of sentimental material the mother would provide or we can provide it for her if she doesn't have materials or doesn't want to let them go," she said.

Vega said her organization has sent memory bears and care packages to families living in Iowa, including Sioux City, as well as Nebraska. In the near future, she said she would like to establish a location for No Footprint Too Small to operate in her home state.

"We're looking into what that would entail and what steps we'd have to take," she said.

As a society, Vega said Americans are uncomfortable dealing with death, especially when it involves a child. She said pregnancy and infant loss can be a "pretty lonely grief journey."

When a stillbirth or miscarriage occurs, she said people often falsely assume something was wrong with the baby or the mother's body or that the mother was doing something harmful during her pregnancy.

She said the best thing you can do for a grieving family is spend time with them. She recommends avoiding saying, "They're in a better place," or "You can just have another baby," which can be particularly hurtful.

"That baby had a unique personality. It was an individual life," she said. "You can simply say, 'I don't know what you're going through and I can't imagine, but I'm here.'"

She said three to six months after the loss of a child is often the most difficult time because the shock has worn off. Mothers and fathers have gone back to work and visits from family members and friends have dropped off.

"Not only be there for them initially, but be sure to follow up and be there down the road for that family," she said.

Many mothers and couples, Vega said are grieving alone because they didn't announce their pregnancy. She said most people wait to go public with a pregnancy until after 12 weeks gestation, because most miscarriages occur in the first trimester. She said these mothers and couples may return to daily life feeling isolated and adopt unhealthy coping methods.

"You not only lose the baby, but you also lose all the hopes and dreams that are associated with that pregnancy," she said. "The outside world didn't have those memories and that common bond, so I think people kind of underestimate the value of that relationship between parents and an unborn child."
SIOUX CITY | The city of Sioux City in recent months has approved multiple settlements and a payment assistance agreement totaling more than $150,000 related to crashes involving city transit buses.

Despite the recent payouts, the city over the past decade has seen a relatively low number of bus crashes for a transit system of its size, compared to the national average, according to a Journal analysis of government data.

Sioux City's head of transit operations says over the millions of miles traveled by transit buses in the past decade, the low number of incidents is a positive for the transit system.

Their number-one priority is safety, said assistant city manager Mike Collett.

Collett said the department also has several safeguards in place to ensure the proper hiring and monitoring of transit drivers, as well as follow-up to complaints and incidents.

Payouts for crashes

Over the past four months, the city has reached settlements and approved payouts for three separate transit bus incidents.

On Nov. 14, the city approved its third separate settlement related to a 2013 accident in which a city bus rear-ended a Sioux City Community School District bus. The city settled all three for a total of $97,200.

On Jan. 23, the city approved a payment assistance agreement to aid with out-of-pocket medical expenses and related expenses for Chad Plante, the 26-year-old Hinton, Iowa, man who was severely injured in November after his car was struck by a Sioux City Transit bus that failed to yield at the intersection of Lewis Boulevard and Outer Drive. He is currently recovering at rehabilitation center in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he is undergoing physical, occupational and speech therapy

Plante's wife, Rosanne Plante, through her attorney, negotiated an agreement, approved by the City Council in January, in which the city voluntarily agreed to cover Chad Plante's out-of-pocket medical expenses related to the accident that are not covered by health insurance, as well as his lost wages for 26 weeks and lodging, food, mileage and other miscellaneous expenses that are submitted to the city. The agreement did not establish a limit on those expenses.

Rosanne Plante, a former assistant city attorney, has said she does not believe the agreement is adequate and that she plans to bring a future lawsuit against the city.

Jamie Pica, the driver of the bus, was fined $100 for failure to obey a traffic control device. She is no longer employed with the city.

In a third transit bus-related accident, the city council late last month agreed to pay a $46,500 settlement to Linda Hofmeyer, who, according to a 2013 lawsuit, was standing at a bus shelter at 520 Jones St. in December 2012 when a city bus fishtailed and pushed her against the bus shelter.

Crash statistics

The city currently employs 13 full-time and 22 part-time drivers and typically runs 21 fixed-route buses per day. The city also has 10 paratransit buses. Sioux City Transit's fixed-route buses travel approximately 620,000 miles per year.

According to the Federal Transit Administration, in the past decade, the city's transit system has been involved in 14 reportable "events." Events required to be reported include collisions in which someone is transported away from the scene of the crash, collisions causing property damage of over $25,000 or resulting in a towed vehicle.

FTA data does not specify whether the city is at fault in each instance.

In 2016, Sioux City Transit buses were involved in three motor vehicle collisions, resulting in one injured bus operator and three injured occupants of other vehicles.

According to summaries of those collisions provided by the city, only in the Nov. 15 crash that seriously injured Plante was the city found at fault.

Transit buses were involved in two collisions in 2015, neither of which were the fault of the transit driver. Transit buses were involved in one collision in 2014 involving a pedestrian, two collisions where transit buses rear-ended vehicles in 2013 and no collisions in 2012, according to the data.

Anne Singleton, safety team leader with the National Transit Database, said the expected number of crashes per year would be around 4 or 5 for a transit system the size of Sioux City's.

"They werent flagged for being outside the expected range," she said.

The wide range of data collected by the NTD is used to help Congress determine the amount of federal funding it allocates. The NTD also does comparative analyses using specifically crash data and "flags" agencies that increase or decrease dramatically compared to the previous year, or that are above the expected national average for a given year.

Comparisons with other Iowa transit systems can be difficult, since many have fewer than 30 vehicles, making them "small systems," which have fewer reporting requirements. Singleton said the NTD does not publish small-systems data publicly.

Des Moines Area Regional Transit, which operates more than 4.5 times the number of buses as Sioux City at peak hours, reported more than 40 collisions over the 10-year time period.

The Iowa DOT also collects statistics for bus-involved crashes, although its data does not specify whether buses are city-owned transit buses, regional transit buses or privately owned.

From 2007 through 2016, 83 non-school bus crashes occurred within Sioux City limits, according to an Iowa DOT database of "reportable" crashes -- those resulting in either personal injury or more than $1,500 in damages.

Of those 83 crashes, one resulted in a fatality: a Dec. 4, 2013, incident in which a woman was struck by a Siouxland Regional Transit System bus at the intersection of Sixth and Cedar streets.

Seven crashes during that time resulted in minor injuries.

Of Iowa's five most-populated cities, Sioux City -- Iowa's fourth-most populated -- ranks lowest in total crashes, as well as lowest in the number of crashes causing injury to people over the 10-year period.

Hiring practices

Collett said the city's hiring process includes a full background check that covers previous employment and 10 years of driving history, a pre-employment physical and a drug test.

Moving violations would be red flags during the hiring process, Collett said, but not instant grounds for disqualification. He said the interview portion of the hiring process is important in learning more about each individual situation and the driver's decision-making process.

"We do not have any hard-and-fast rule on what would disqualify somebody from potentially being an employee," Collett said. "Each individual situation is considered."

Drivers are required to have a class B CDL with passenger endorsement, or to obtain the endorsement after hiring. Drivers are also put in a pool of city employees for random drug testing.

Once drivers are hired, Collett said, the city tracks complaints against drivers, along with other incidents. Those incidents can also include slips and falls on buses and other small accidents.

He said typically only about 10 incidents, most of them minor, occur per month. Drivers fill out incident reports for anything they believe needs to be followed up on, he said, including trips and falls.

"Our driver supervisor follows up on every complaint," Collett said. "Sometimes it's the passenger's issue, sometimes it's ours."

On a monthly basis, a committee of management and drivers go over each report. Collett said he receives about one complaint related to a driver each month on average, but only two to three each year are driving-related, and fewer are substantiated.

Anybody that calls in with any complaint is followed up, Collett said. Sometimes its confirmed and other times the video tells the story.

Collett said he could not remember a time that a complaint led to dismissal of a driver.
Arens caps USD career with second Fulbright Award

VERMILLION, S.D. | Joshua Arens, an honors student majoring in chemistry and double-minoring in Spanish and mathematics at the University of South Dakota, has won the Fulbright Open Study Research Award.

This is the third selective scholarship Arens has won. He previously received the Fulbright Summer Institute award, allowing him to study at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom in the summer of 2014, and a 2016 Harry S. Truman Scholarship, which provides up to $30,000 for graduate study.

Arens is a native of Yankton, South Dakota.

Vanessa Perez named March Rotary Student of the Month

SIOUX CITY | East High School senior Vanessa Perez was named the March 2017 Rotary Club Student of the Month.

Perez was honored during a Rotary Club meeting on March 20.

Perez has participated in large group and individual speech since her freshman year at East High. She is the vice president of student council and the co-founder and leader of the East High School Writers Guild. She was named the 2017 winner of the Scholastic Art and Writing Gold Key.

She is the daughter of Alvaro Perez, Melissa Bates and Cristina Perez.
SIOUX CITY | Some Woodbury County towns have no long-term plans for phasing in new city park playground equipment, modern housing to draw young families or replacement sewer lines able to handle new businesses.

Some towns have settled into a status quo, with new infrastructure coming only when existing items break or some resident decides to lead a quest to improve the town's park. That could be changing in the near future, as most Woodbury County towns by 2019 will have comprehensive plans setting a course over the next 20 to 30 years.

Eleven rural Woodbury County cities without substantial comprehensive plans in 2016 were approved to get county money to create such master plans. So far a county consultant, Simmering-Cory Inc. of Clear Lake, Iowa, has held so-called community visioning sessions in Hornick, Correctionville and Bronson. The next one will be in Sloan on April 18.

"Rural communities understand that while they may not be Sioux City or Des Moines, they are still needing to do things for economic development," said Justin Yarosevich of Simmering-Cory.

Yarosevich said the turnout was sparse in Correctionville, but more plentiful in Bronson and Hornick. He said people want a solid standard of living with quality of life pieces, while keeping low tax rates.

Hornick City Clerk Candi Gress said the December meeting had a solid turnout, in the town of 225 people that lies in a very flat portion of Woodbury County.

"Most people are wanting out of the floodplain," Gress said, while others said Hornick needs to have a gas station added.

The list of the seven other towns that will get new plans includes Pierson, Lawton, Cushing, Anthon, Oto, Danbury and Smithland. Four cities won't be part of the program. Sioux City, Sergeant Bluff and Moville have comprehensive plans completed a few years ago, and another is ongoing in Salix.

The county board of supervisors in 2015 killed a former business loan program and moved to paying for comp plans as a way to boost economic development in the rural areas as a replacement.

The supervisors agreed to use $112,530 in local option sales tax funds to help create comprehensive plans, which summarize priorities and infrastructure needs for towns seeking growth. Those plans are often needed to tap into state and federal grants.

Woodbury County Rural Economic Development Department Director David Gleiser has been giving updates on the comp plans development every three months, with the most recent one coming on Feb. 14.

"The project is on schedule and it seems to be embraced in the communities," Gleiser said.

County officials last got involved in helping create comprehensive plans in 1970. Those plans are now outdated.
LBJ look-and-sound-alike oil baron Rex Tillerson has been out there rattling his sabre. Lyndon Baines Johnson sent 500,000 of us to Vietnam - 58,513 never made it home and 1,626 are still missing. Let Rex go first this time.
SIOUX CITY | With the press of a button located on a 19th-century replica barrel, a very lifelike President Thomas Jefferson dressed in dark green wool breeches and a vest comes to life.

"Find the Northwest Passage. Carefully record what you observe and learn," he tells onlookers. "Make two copies of your records in case one is lost or damaged."

The animatronic Jefferson has been greeting visitors who walk into the Interpretive Center's Enlistment Gallery since its grand opening in late January 2016. He's the center's first animatronic addition since Seaman the Newfoundland dog, who arrived in 2003.

The lines come from Jefferson's June 1803 written instructions to Capt. Meriwether Lewis. Jefferson was the president who instructed Lewis and Clark to search for a direct water route to the Pacific Ocean, and to observe the lay of the land along the way.

Like his three other animatronic counterparts -- Capts. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and Seaman the Newfoundland dog -- Jefferson was constructed by Life Formations of Bowling Green, Ohio, and was introduced during a grand opening held in January 2016.

Director Marcia Poole said after commenting on Jefferson's life-likeness, many people ask, "Was he really that thin?" Poole says Jefferson in real life was 6 feet, 2 1/2 inches and weighed only 181 pounds.

Jefferson is surrounded by replicas of supplies from the day, blankets, fishhooks, a compass, as well as a real antique desk. Poole wrote the script for the speech.

"A lot of people are like, is he real? Is this a real person you have standing here?" said history and education coordinator Sara Olson. "You really don't have too many animatronics in northwest Iowa."

Olson said the center is, in the future, hoping to add another new animatronic: Sgt. Charles Floyd. The Kentucky native died near Sioux City on Aug. 20, 1804, supposedly of appendicitis, and was the only member of the Corps of Discovery to perish along the journey.

Olson said the center wants to reflect a "nice, healthy, robust Floyd," rather than the sick one many people think of.

"We talk about his illness, but we really need to cover his life because he's a large part of Sioux City history," Olson said. "It would be nice for the kids to get to meet Sergeant Floyd."

Olson said the center has a potential script written but is still going through the acquisition process.

Another new addition is a mural by Ho-Chunk artist Henry Payer Jr. of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska titled "Chief Blackbird's (Wazhinga Cabe) Grave: An Indigenous View." Painted in winter 2015, the 12-by-20-foot mural became a permanent exhibit in February.

The mural shows when Lewis and Clark and a handful of their men climbed a hill near present-day Macy, Nebraska, that is named for Chief Blackbird (Wazhinga Cabe) and stuck a flag at his grave. Chief Blackbird died in the 1800-1801 smallpox epidemic.

"The Omaha tribe was a great, powerful tribe at the time so Lewis and Clark wanted to meet with them, but they couldn't find the Omaha tribe," Olson said.

Olson said one theory is that the tribe wanted to avoid the white men because of the diseases they were bringing to the native Americans. Lewis and Clark visited the grave of Chief Blackbird and left a white flag to show their respect for Chief Blackbird and the Omaha tribe.

The center at 900 Larsen Park Road opened in 2002, and the adjoining Betty Strong Encounter Center was built in 2007. The private, nonprofit cultural complex is sustained by Missouri River Historical Development Inc.
SIOUX CITY | This year is shaping up to be a landmark year for the metro area's recreational trail system.

Bidding or construction on as many as six trail-connection projects could begin in Sioux City during 2017, coupled with another two planned for South Sioux City.

"This will be probably the best year ever for trails in Sioux City," said Sioux City Parks and Recreation Director Matt Salvatore. "I dont think well ever see another year where well be doing five to six trails."

Siouxland Trails Foundation spokesperson Bob DeSmidt said 2017 will easily have the most area projects going on at once since the trail foundation was formed in 2003 to champion trail maintenance and construction in the metro.

"There have been several trails built over the succeeding 13 to 14 years, but nothing of this scale," DeSmidt said.

The most anticipated project will be the long-awaited connection of two trails along Sioux City's riverfront. The new trail will span the 1.5-mile gap between the Chautauqua Park and Chris Larsen Park trails, establishing 12 miles of continuous trail along the Missouri River.

The $3.3 million project received two significant funding boosts in 2016, benefiting from a $1.25 million grant from the Missouri River Historical Development Board in May and a $650,000 grant from the Iowa Transportation Commission in mid-October.

Salvatore said a bid letting for the project is scheduled for November of this year.

Other connections to be completed this year include the second phase of the Big Sioux River dike trail, which will extend from the Riverside Aquatic Center to Florence Avenue for seven-tenths of a mile along the riverfront.

On Sioux City's north side, a nearly half-mile trail piece will connect the Floyd River Trail to the Outerbelt Drive Trail, including a bridge crossing railroad tracks in Leeds. Another new trail at Sertoma Park will loop around Cone Park, the all-seasons park slated to open in December 2017.

On the other side of Outer Drive, a .18-mile trail near Clark School will connect to the west arm of the Outerbelt Drive Trail.

A privately funded trail expected to be built in upcoming years along Christy Road near the new Summit Apartments, UnityPoint Sunnybrook Medical Plaza and proposed Overlook Development could also undergo construction sometime during the year, Salvatore said.

In South Sioux City, two trails will add about a mile to the trail system. The first, completely funded by Nebraska's federally funded Safe Routes to School program, will connect Covington Elementary School to the city's trail system.

South Sioux City Parks and Recreation Director Gene Maffit said the project brings the city closer to its goal of connecting all schools and parks to its trail system.

"I think when that project gets done well have only one school thats not connected," Maffit said.

A second trail, funded 80 percent by the Nebraska Department of Roads and 20 percent by South Sioux City, will be a lighted trail running from Siouxland Country Estates, crossing U.S. Highway 20 and connecting with existing trail.

Maffit said the start and completion dates will depend on how soon the state gets to the projects this year.

Planning will also continue for PlyWood Trail, a proposed 16-mile trail in Woodbury and Plymouth counties, stretching from Sioux City to Le Mars.
Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme  La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza.



Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres.




Children and their parents gathered around a blue tarp Saturday morning in Irvine Park & Zoo, gathering dirt, snow, leaves, branches and anything they could find to create their own magic potion pot.

Emily, 3, and Avery Rush, 5, ran toward the trees to collect their ingredients.

My potion is going to turn into a tree thats even bigger than me, Emily said.

Tina Rush of Eagle Point singed her daughters up for the Tinkergarten class, which runs from 9:45 to 11 a.m. Saturdays in Irvine Park.

She thought it would be good to get them out of the house and enjoying the fresh air.

Im excited for it to be a little warmer, but the kids dont mind, Rush said. Its good to get them moving and get in the dirt. Helps beef everything up in their immune system.

Rush was one of 14 other families who signed up for Tinkergarten, which held its first class Saturday morning.

Tinkergarten allows families with children from 18 months to 8 years explore the outdoors with different activities each week.

Brenda Johnson, a stay-at-home mom and former teacher, saw a sponsored message on Facebook about the program, and thought it would be perfect to bring to Chippewa Falls and the surrounding area.

All I needed to bring for class was buckets, potion jars and imagination, she said. Parents can get an idea, too, of things to do at home with their children.

Johnson receives lesson plans, course materials and information from Tinkergarten. To become a Tinkergarten leader, she was required to go through a training, application process and send in a video.

Im always looking for something for my 2-year-old and I to do together, and I figured other families would probably enjoy this as well, Johnson said. Its a good way to connect with nature, and I really like the parent-child connection as well.

Johnson held free trials this past Wednesday and Saturday, and will hold another at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and Sunday, April 2. All were completely full, except the two spots left in the Tuesday session.

After the trials, parents can sign their family up for an 8-week session from April through June. Up to 15 families can join each session, and the cost is $140 for the full eight weeks. Information can be found by going to www.tinkergarten.com/classes and searching for Chippewa Falls.

Its easygoing and child-led; everyone can work at their own pace, Johnson said. (Saturday) seemed to flow really well, and the kids seemed really involved.

All of the classes are held outside, which Johnson anticipates being tricky in a typical Wisconsin winter, but she looks forward to the challenge.

If shes successful, Johnson is considering expanding to hold a couple classes in Eau Claire. Tinkergarten also provides opportunities for leaders like Johnson to hold free community events.

If the spring session fills up, dont worry. Johnson plans on holding the 8-week sessions each season (spring, summer, fall and winter), with a free trial class offered before each one.

Really, all it takes is one class for parents to see the benefits.

Tiffany and Tyler Merriman of Eau Claire brought their sons, Conley, 2, and Hayden, 4, to play, bundling them up in winter coats and hats.

Though the thermometer hovered near 40 degrees, no one seemed to mind the slight chill. The children were all too busy making their own magic potion pots.

Tiffany Merriman said she has a feeling they will be back.

Its really neat to watch how the kids create things without you telling them how to do it, she said. Its also good for them to interact with other kids.
This Week at NASA: The Bipartisan NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 is Signed. NASA

On March 21, President Trump signed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017.

The bipartisan legislation reaffirms Congress commitment to the agency and directs it to pursue a balanced portfolio for space exploration and space science, including continued development of the Space Launch System, Orion, Commercial Crew Program; space and planetary science missions, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, and Europa mission; and ongoing operations of the International Space Station and Commercial Resupply Services Program. In a statement, acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot, who attended the signing, along with two astronauts and members of Congress, thanked the president and Congress for supporting the agency and its mission. Also, Spacewalk Outside the Space Station, SpaceXs Dragon Returns Safely to Earth, Jeff Williams Visits Washington Area, Advanced Woven Thermal Protection, and Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
Dit schreef ik ruim 20 jaar geleden over Paul Cliteur Het recht om Cliteur te kwetsen Ik vermoed dat het de drie sloten op zijn voordeur zij...
Meanwhile, the volcanic unrest continues

Cleveland volcano (USA) exploded on March 25, 2017 and an underwater volcano about 400 km south of Tokyo, Japan could erupt soon.

After Bogoslof, now the Cleveland Volcano exploded in Alaskas Aleutian Islands

After Bogoslof since mid-December 2016, another volcano in Alaskas Aleutian Islands is showing signs of unrest. On Friday, the Alaska Volcano Observatory detected a small explosion at Cleveland Volcano.

Geologists say the event at 8:15 a.m. did not last long and was similar to or smaller than other explosions at Cleveland Volcano.

Geologists say any ash cloud generated probably dissipated and was not above 20,000 feet, where it could threaten airliners traveling between Asia and North America.

Alert to ships in Japan as an underwater volcano about 400 km south of Tokyo could erupt soon

The Meteorological Agency on Friday warned that an underwater volcano about 400 km south of Tokyo could erupt soon. An alert to ships has been issued by the Coast Guard.

Coast guard aircraft found that the color of the ocean surface recently changed apparently due to volcanic activity in the Beyonesu Rocks about 65 km south-southeast of Aogashima Island.

But an eruption is unlikely to seriously affect any of the inhabited islands, including Aogashima. If the eruption occurs around the Beyonesu Rocks, it will be the first since 1970, where a change of color in the ocean was last observed in 1988. In 1952, an eruption in the area killed 31 crew members of a coast guard ship.

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MADISON  With his proposed cuts in federal research and development spending, President Donald Trump risks harming a priority he puts at the top of his own list  national security.

The history of federal investment in research and development, especially since the end of World War II, reflects a bipartisan consensus that money spent on basic and applied research pays economic and security dividends over the long haul while helping the nation respond to short-term crises.

The dawn of the Cold War in the late 1940s and 50s, the space race in the 60s, the oil crisis in the 70s, the defense build-up of the 80s and the post-9/11 threats to homeland security are ready examples of how federal R&D spending often parallels national challenges.

If you want a more secure America, policymakers have agreed for decades, the government must invest enough to stay ahead of competing nations that would like nothing better than to close the historic research and innovation gap.

Trumps discretionary spending budget moves in the opposite direction. It calls for a 20 percent reduction in spending by the National Institutes of Health, a 10 percent cut in the National Science Foundation budget, a 44 percent cut in the Department of Energy budget and the outright elimination of other R&D programs.

These massive reductions are being pushed despite the fact federal R&D spending as a share of the gross domestic product has already declined. It was at a lower level in 2016 than it was at any point since the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957. Federal R&D spending in 2015 was 40 percent less in relative terms than where it stood in the late 1980s.

Supporters of Trumps budget proposal say federal R&D spending is supplanting privately funded research and preventing the marketplace from deciding where to put its own research dollars.

The evidence suggests otherwise: Federal R&D and research supported by states and academic institutions de-risks private investment, thus making it easier for the market to move quickly on vetted ideas and inventions with the greatest potential.

Cutting federal spending on science is a sure way to slow, not advance, (private research) growth, wrote Adams Nager, an economic policy analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

Most studies over time have concluded that private R&D dollars chase the federal investment, leading to creation of economic value and jobs that leverage the public dollars. For example, a 2013 study by the nonprofit Battelle Institute noted that every $1 spent by the federal government on the Human Genome Project led to $65 in genetic-related private activity.

The Trump cuts in federal R&D spending would have a ripple effect in Wisconsin, where federal R&D spending has been a major factor in creation of intellectual property, direct and indirect jobs, company spinoffs and related industry research spending.

Wisconsin is 16th among the states in patents issued per capita, 12th in academic R&D per capita and 15th in industry R&D per capita, all metrics that can be linked to federal investment in key sectors such as the life sciences, advanced manufacturing and engineered products.

UW-Madison, the Medical College of Wisconsin, UW-Milwaukee, Marquette University, the Marshfield Clinic, the BloodCenter of Wisconsin and most UW System campuses receive merit-based federal dollars to conduct research. Most often, the sources are NIH and NSF. Cuts in those grants and contracts would slow progress on critical research that benefits people close to home and far beyond Wisconsins borders.

The UW Board of Regents heard this month about the effects of federal cuts in just one program: the UW Sea Grant Project, which supports research on the Great Lakes through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Elimination of $2 million in federal money in that single project would likely wipe out matching dollars from other sources and endanger efforts to protect the Great Lakes, which support a $62-billion regional economy.

The United States continues to rank as the worlds leading R&D nation in gross expenditures and as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product. Other nations are closing the gap, however, at a time when the challenges to U.S. security and economic dominance are looming in the rear-view mirror. President Trumps proposed cuts stand to draw those challenges even closer.
All three legislators from Southwest Washingtons 19th District agree on the need to fully fund basic education. But theyll likely still vote along party lines when it comes to the GOP budget proposal that passed the Senate last week and which Republicans say would solve the school funding problem.

State Sen. Dean Takko, D-Longview, heavily criticized the GOP Senate budget for its cuts to early childhood education and  like nearly all Senate Democrats  opposed the proposal Thursday.

Their goal was to write a budget without any new revenue, Takko said. They did it on the backs of a whole lot of people.

In return, Takko said state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia  the top Republican budget writer  warned him he would credit state Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, for saving Naselle Youth Camp if he didnt vote for the Senate budget.

A press release announced the camp as having been saved in the Senate budget Wednesday, a day after the GOP plan rolled out. In the release, Braun was quoted as saying Walsh was instrumental in getting the camp added to the proposal.

Rep. Walsh has been a tremendous advocate for this program that the governor proposed cutting, Braun said in the released statement. I want to send a strong message to the community and employees that this is a beneficial program we ought to protect.

He is a man of his word, Takko said with a chuckle Friday. He said in a conversation with Braun weeks earlier, that Braun had already indicated Naselle Youth Camp would be included in the GOP budget. For 13 years Id like to think that Ive been the champion of Naselle Youth Camp. ... Those things do kind of grate on you.

Though Walsh was involved and active in trying to get Naselle beneficiaries to attend public hearings when the camp was still in danger of closing, Naselle has been on the states chopping block several times, long before Walsh was a state legislator.

Walsh said hes been talking to Republican legislators about Naselle since the beginning of his term but added theres lots of arm-twisting that goes on.

Dean did vote against the budget. There was obviously some tension there, but Im not privy to those conversations, Walsh said. I was basically working my side and I think they were working their side. ... Obviously anybody from this part of the state wants (Naselle) to stay open.

Takko was largely critical of GOP budgets reduction of funding for the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program and the Public Works Assistance Account. City lobbyists say the budget leaves only $200 million in loans over the next four years for cities like Longview.

House Democrats are expected to release their budget next week. Walsh shared the same criticisms as Takko and said hes not committed to any decisions. But its no surprise that he, so far, supports the GOP plan.

I like the state Senate budget. I really do, he said. I dont know if theres such a thing as a perfect budget. I would like to work from the Senate budget to a final budget.
When Kalamas new Early Head Start program opens, it will be the only early learning service of its kind in the city. It will be paid for by a $1.6 million grant received earlier this month by Educational Service District 112, which serves six counties in Southwest Washington. The grant will also help fund childcare center-based Early Head Start services in Vancouver, Evergreen, and Ridgefield.

For Kalama, this is a huge deal because they dont have another program like this available. This will provide tremendous opportunity for families living there and working. Childcare and high-quality early learning are so critical for young children, and as a parent its stressful to find those, said Jodi Wall, ESD 112 executive director for early care and education. Its a great opportunity for families to access a program close to home.

Currently, if parents want to access early learning services, they have to commute to other areas, such as Kelso-Longview, Woodland, Vancouver or farther. Of the 53 families surveyed in the Kalama region, 45 of them said there werent adequate childcare options in the area, according to Workforce Southwest Washington, which produced a survey for ESD 112.

The Early Head Start program in Kalama will be a blended learning center that provides educational opportunities and daycare options for infants up to three-year-old toddlers. There will be a total of 16 slots, eight of which are for low-income families and are funded by the grant received by ESD 112. The other eight slots will be private-pay.

Eric Nerison, Superintendent of the Kalama School District, said hes excited to be able to provide early learning opportunities for families in Kalama. With the new program, he said they will be better able to bridge the achievement gap to help all students start kindergarten at the same level.

Not every student or child starts at a level playing field. Some students have greater opportunities in their households than others, and programs like this increase opportunities for all kids involved in it, Nerison said.

ESD 112, with the help of the Kalama School District, is searching for a building to house the program. Wall said theyre looking at existing spaces in Kalama, but said they could pursue other options as well.

Both Nerison and Wall said they hope to open the program this fall, with the chance to expand in the future.

This is just the beginning for early learning services located in Kalama.  Its just exciting to have this seed of opportunity starting and hopefully grow into whatever the communitys level of need and capacity is, Nerison said. Were excited about it. Parents have the opportunity and a place to receive services in Kalama. Were a small community .but we still have a need.
IANS

A ban on laptops and tablets in cabin baggage on flights from Turkey and some countries in the Middle East and North Africa to the US and Britain came into effect on Saturday, the media reported. Officials said devices "larger than a smartphone" must travel in the hold because of an increased risk that they could contain explosives. However, at least one airline was allowing devices to be used up until boarding, reported BBC.

The US ban covered eight countries, while Britain's restrictions applied to six. Nine airlines from eight countries -- Turkey, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait -- were affected by the US ban. They operate about 50 flights a day to the US. UAE airline Emirates was offering complimentary packing and shipping services at gates to enable passengers to use their electronic devices after check-in and until boarding.

Passengers flying on two-leg trips from other countries to the US through Dubai can use their laptops on the first leg of their flights, said the report. The United Kingdom ban, meanwhile, affected all flights out of Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Lebanon. The British ban applied to any device, including smartphones, larger than 16cm long, 9.3cm wide or 1.5cm deep. However, most phones will be smaller than the limit.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the US and Britain to lift the bans as soon as possible, said BBC. The US Department for Homeland Security cited attacks on planes and airports over the past two years as the reason for the ban. European security experts will be meeting next week to discuss the electronics ban by both countries, the Guardian reported.
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Germany last year warded off two cyber attacks by APT28, a top official said Friday, referring to a Russian hacking group also dubbed "Fancy Bear" that experts say successfully targeted Hillary Clinton's U.S. election campaign.

The first, in May 2016, was an attempt to create an Internet domain for Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in the Baltic region, said Arne Schoenbohm, president of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

The second attack, several months later, involved a spear-phishing scheme directed against German parties in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. Experts said that attack used a NATO domain name to try to inject malicious software into the networks of politicians.

The hacking of the Democratic National Committee in the United States and the leaking of confidential emails was part of what U.S. intelligence agencies concluded was a campaign ordered by President Vladimir Putin to influence the U.S. election in favour of Donald Trump. The U.S. agencies warned in January that Russia was likely to target other countries in the same way - a concern for European governments in a year when France and Germany are holding major elections, with Merkel seeking a fourth term.

"Germany remains in danger in the cyber arena since we are highly digitised," Schoenbohm told Reuters in an interview. "The more we digitise, the more dependent we become on networks, the greater the risk of attack." He said his agency was doing all it could to strengthen Germany's defences against such attacks by monitoring government networks and educating politicians and parties about how to protect their networks.

"We give them advice and help them with certain measures. But in the end, what each party does is its own responsibility," Schoenbohm said. Germany was working closely with authorities in the United States, France and elsewhere to compare notes about cyber attacks they had experienced.

Diverse Targets

APT28/Fancy Bear is the same Russian hacking group that officials say stole 16 gigabytes of data from the German parliament in 2015.

It also targeted the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in December, according to U.S. and European security officials, and was responsible for leaking the medical records of top international athletes after Russia's track and field team was banned from last year's Olympics for doping.

In December, Germany's BfV domestic intelligence agency reported a striking increase in Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns it said were aimed at destabilising German society, as well as cyber attacks targeted against political parties. It gave no details at the time.

Reuters
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A Chinese court has ruled in favour of Apple in design patent disputes between the Cupertino, California company and a domestic phone-maker, overturning a ban on selling iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus phones in China, Xinhua news agency reported.

Last May, a Beijing patent regulator ordered Apple's Chinese subsidiary and a local retailer Zoomflight to stop selling the iPhones after Shenzhen Baili Marketing Services lodged a complaint, claiming that the patent for the design of its mobile phone 100c was being infringed by the iPhone sales.

Apple and Zoomflight took the Beijing Intellectual Property Office's ban to court. The Beijing Intellectual Property Court on Friday revoked the ban, saying Apple and Zoomflight did not violate Shenzhen Baili's design patent for 100c phones. The court ruled that the regulator did not follow due procedures in ordering the ban while there was no sufficient proof to claim the designs constituted a violation of intellectual property rights.

Representatives of Beijing Intellectual Property Office and Shenzhen Baili said they would take time to decide whether to appeal the ruling, according to Xinhua. In a related ruling, the same court denied a request by Apple to demand stripping Shenzhen Baili of its design patent for 100c phones.

Apple first filed the request to the Patent Reexamination Board of State Intellectual Property Office. The board rejected the request, but Apple lodged a lawsuit against the rejection. The Beijing Intellectual Property Court on Friday ruled to maintain the board's decision. It is unclear if Apple will appeal.

Reuters
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All existing subscribers of mobile services will have to go for Aadhaar-based re-verification soon, with the government instructing telecom operators to initiate the process. Cellular operators body COAI said its members may meet this week to discuss the modalities of rolling out the verification process for the existing one billion-plus mobile phone users. "...all licensees shall re-verify all existing mobile subscribers (prepaid and postpaid) through Aadhaar-based e-KYC process...," a notification issued by the telecom department said.

It further added that all licensees will have to inform existing subscribers - through advertisements in print and electronic media as well as SMS - about the order of the Supreme Court for re-verification activity. They have also been asked to upload the details of the exercise on their website.

The Supreme Court, in an order in February this year, had observed that, "an effective process has been evolved to ensure the identity verification, as well as, the addresses of all mobile phone subscribers for the new subscribers. In the near future, and more particularly within one year from today, a similar verification will be completed, in case of existing subscribers".

The telecom department has said the operators will use and share common device ecosystem through mutual agreements, and will work out mechanisms to avoid public inconvenience and long queues. When contacted, cellular operators association COAI said that the industry supported the move, but pointed out that the entire exercise will cost Rs 1,000 crore for infrastructure and training, which will have to be borne by the operators. A report by the Times of India points that the cost may be as high as Rs 2,500 crore.

"The issue of fake subscribers will go away. We will try our best to cover the entire base within the stipulated time frame of one year but in case we cannot, we may ask the DoT for an extension," COAI Director General Rajan Mathews said. For re-verification through Aadhaar-based e-KYC process, the operator will send a verification code to the mobile number of the subscriber. Prior to starting the e-KYC, the operator will verify this code from the subscriber so as to confirm the SIM card of the mobile connection is physically available with the subscriber.

"After the completion of the e-KYC process, before updating or overwriting the old subscriber detail in database with the data received through e-KYC process, the licencee will seek confirmation from the subscriber about the re-verification of his/her mobile number after 24 hours through SMS," the notification said. The operator can re-verify more than one mobile connection in one service area through a single e-KYC but not bulk connections.

For issuing additional mobile connections to re-verified subscriber, the operator would have to follow a separate e-KYC process. Verification of a subscriber would not be required in case of conversions - that is prepaid to postpaid connections or vice versa, it clarified.

With inputs from PTI
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Uber Technologies Inc suspended its pilot program for driverless cars on Saturday after a vehicle equipped with the nascent technology crashed on an Arizona roadway, the ride-hailing company and local police said.

The accident, the latest involving a self-driving vehicle operated by one of several companies experimenting with autonomous vehicles, caused no serious injuries, Uber said. Even so, the company said it was grounding driverless cars involved in a pilot program in Arizona, Pittsburgh and San Francisco pending the outcome of investigation into the crash on Friday evening in Tempe.

"We are continuing to look into this incident," an Uber spokeswoman said in an email. The accident occurred when the driver of a second vehicle "failed to yield" to the Uber vehicle while making a turn, said Josie Montenegro, a spokeswoman for the Tempe Police Department. "The vehicles collided, causing the autonomous vehicle to roll onto its side," she said in an email. "There were no serious injuries."

Two 'safety' drivers were in the front seats of the Uber car, which was in self-driving mode at the time of the crash, Uber said in an email, a standard requirement for its self-driving vehicles. The back seat was empty. Photos and a video posted on Twitter by Fresco News, a service that sells content to news outlets, showed a Volvo SUV flipped on its side after an apparent collision involving two other, slightly damaged cars. Uber said the images appeared to be from the Tempe crash scene.

When Uber launched the pilot program in Pittsburgh last year, it said that driverless cars "require human intervention in many conditions, including bad weather." It also said the new technology had the potential to reduce the number of traffic accidents in the country.

The accident is not the first time a self-driving car has been involved in a collision. A driver of a Tesla Motors Inc Model S car operating in autopilot mode was killed in a collision with a truck in Williston, Florida in 2016. A self-driving vehicle operated by Alphabet Inc's Google was involved in a crash last year in Mountain View, California, striking a bus while attempting to navigate around an obstacle.

The collision comes days after Uber's former president Jeff Jones quit less than seven months after joining the San Francisco-based company, the latest in a string of high-level executives who have departed in recent months. In February, Alphabet's Waymo self-driving car unit sued Uber and its Otto autonomous trucking subsidiary, alleging theft of proprietary sensor technology.

Reuters
IANS

A 15-year-old girl whose gangrape was streamed live on Facebook, and her family have been relocated to a "safe space", a media report said. After the video of the attack was published, the authorities offered relocation services to the victim and her family as they started receiving threats and were being harassed, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Saturday.

On Monday, five to six men allegedly gangraped a teenager and streamed the assault live on Facebook. What was more horrifying was that the 40 people who watched the video did nothing -- not even call the police. The incident came to the police's attention on Monday night, when the girl's mother approached the head of Chicago Police and registered a "missing" report. She said the girl disappeared on Sunday from the Lawndale neighbourhood.

The woman also showed to the Chicago Police head the screen shots of the video of the assault. On Tuesday, the girl was found and reunited with her mother. Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the girl was found by Ogden District police officers. The police said the victim was later taken to Comer Children's Hospital.
Death toll from blasts near `Sylhet militant den` rises to 6

A police officer and a leader of Bangladesh Chhatra league (BCL), who were injured in bomb blasts in front of Gotatikor Madrasah adjacent to militant den Atia Mahal in Dakkhin Surma upazila, succumbed to their injuries on Sunday, raising the death toll from the blast to six.

Monirul Islam, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Jalalabad Police Station, and Fahim Ahmed Mahdi, a resident of Kuchai area of the upazila and deputy secretary(environment affairs) of Dakkhin Surma upazila BCL unit succumbed to their injures at Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital, said Jalalabad thana OC Akther Hossain.



Earlier on Saturday evening, four people, including a policeman and an activist of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), were killed and 40 people injured in two bomb blasts near the militant hideout.



The army-led operation to the militant hideout that began around 2pm on Saturday was continuing till filing of this report at 10 am on Sunday.



Besides, two injured officers of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) were referred to Dhaka Combined Military Hospital (CMH) due to their critical condition.



The injured are Lt Col Abul Kalam Azad, commanding officer of intelligence wing of Rab headquarters and deputy commanding officer Major Azad.



Besides, the authorities of OMCH cancelled the vacation of all staff of the hospital following the incident.



Jedan Al Musa, Additional Deputy Police Commissioner (media) of Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP), said two people carrying bombs came to the spot riding a motorcycle and hurled those around 6:45 pm on Saturday when one of the bombs went off, leaving BCL activist Atiq Rahman Apu, 20, dead on the spot and 17 people including Fahim injured, while another bomb remained unexploded.



Minutes later, the unexploded bomb went off when police picked it up to diffuse, leaving Sylhet court inspector Abu Kawsar dead on the spot and officer-in-charge (investigation) Monirul Islam of Jalalabad Police Station, and OC Shah Harun-or-Rashid of Dakkhin Surma Police Station seriously injured.



Police recovered a motorcycle from the spot, Musa added.



Meanwhile, Shiblu Malakar, 27, son of Basanta Malakar of the area, suffered bullet wounds as he was watching the drive from a temple adjacent to Atia Mahal.



Amid explosions and gunshots the members of joint forces, led by army Para Commandos stormed the militants' den on Saturday afternoon and rescued 78 members of 28 families trapped in the building.



After about a 30-hour siege to the 'militants' den' by joint forces , a team of Para Commando Battalion of Bangladesh Army, led by GOC Major General Anwarul Momen, launched operation, 'Twilight', in the building named 'Atia Mahal' around 9 am on Saturday.



On Friday night, army commandos joined the joint forces to raid the house after police cordoned it off in the early hours of Friday. A SWAT unit reached the spot on Friday from Dhaka. -- Source :UNB


2 militants killed, operation to continue: Army

Security forces have been exchanging gunfire with a group of suspected militants holed up in an apartment building in Sylhet

Sylhet, Mar 26 (UNB) - Two 'militants' have so far been killed as the operation, 'Twilight', at the suspected militant hideout at Shibbari in Dakkhin Surma upazila continues.



"We're certain that at least two militants were killed," said Brig Gen Fakhrul Ahsan, spokesperson of the operation, while briefing reporters at a place adjacent to the den on Sunday afternoon.



He also said more militants wearing suicidal vests are still alive inside the building, Atia Mahal.



The army official said it will take more time to end the operation as the militants inside the building are well-equipped with arms, explosives and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). "The entire area has turned risky. Considering the overall situation, it'll take more time to end the standoff."



He continued: "The para commandos will continue the operation until they take control of the house."



Brig Gen Fakhrul said they are heading slowly and cautiously taking into consideration the safety and security of their personnel. "Our primary objective was to evacuate the residents which we did successfully."



He said no army member has so far been injured in the operation.



Earlier, sounds of big explosions and sporadic gunshots were heard from the militant den from Sunday morning amid joint forces' operation that began on Saturday morning.



Meanwhile, the local administration imposed section 144 in the areas around Shibbari while security was beefed up in the city.



Army personnel rescued Josna Rani, an elderly woman, from a nearby building of Atia Mahal around 11am. Later, she was admitted to a hospital as she was ill.



Earlier, a police officer and a leader of Bangladesh Chhatra league (BCL), who were injured in bomb blasts in front of Gotatikor Madrasah adjacent to the militant den, succumbed to their injuries on Sunday, raising the death toll from the blasts to six.



Monirul Islam, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Jalalabad Police Station, and Fahim Ahmed Mahdi, a resident of Kuchai area of the upazila and deputy secretary (environment affairs) of Dakkhin Surma upazila BCL unit, died at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, said Jalalabad thana OC Akther Hossain.



On the other hand, the 1st namaj-e-janaza of the two police officials -- OC Monirul and Sylhet court inspector Abu Kawsar -- was held at the field of Sylhet Police Lines at 2pm, said Akhter.



On Saturday evening, four people, including a policeman and an activist of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), were killed and 40 people injured in two bomb blasts near the militant hideout.



Besides, two injured officers of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) were referred to Dhaka Combined Military Hospital (CMH) due to their critical condition.



The injured are Lt Col Abul Kalam Azad, commanding officer of intelligence wing of Rab headquarters, and deputy commanding officer Major Azad.



Besides, the authorities of OMCH cancelled the vacation of all staff of the hospital following the incident.



Jedan Al Musa, Additional Deputy Police Commissioner (media) of Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP), said two people carrying bombs came to the spot riding a motorcycle and hurled those around 6:45 pm on Saturday when one of the bombs went off, leaving BCL activist Atiq Rahman Apu, 20, dead on the spot and 17 people, including Fahim, injured, while another bomb remained unexploded.



Minutes later, the unexploded bomb went off when police picked it up to diffuse, leaving Sylhet court inspector Abu Kawsar dead on the spot and Monirul and OC Shah Harun-or-Rashid of Dakkhin Surma Police Station seriously injured.



Police recovered a motorcycle from the spot, Musa added.



Besides, Shiblu Malakar, 27, son of Basanta Malakar of the area, suffered bullet wounds as he was watching the drive from a temple adjacent to Atia Mahal.



Amid explosions and gunshots the members of joint forces, led by army Para Commandos stormed the militants' den on Saturday afternoon and rescued 78 members of 28 families trapped in the building.



After about a 30-hour siege to the 'militants' den' by joint forces , a team of Para Commando Battalion of Bangladesh Army, led by GOC Major General Anwarul Momen, launched the operation, 'Twilight', around 9 am on Saturday.
The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- What have we here? Senator Cory Booker just asked Mindy Kaling out for dinner on Twitter, and she happily accepted.



It all started when the New Jersey senator commented on Kaling's show, "The Mindy Project" in which the main character, Mindy Lahari, took a shot at the city of Newark, New Jersey, of which Booker was formerly mayor.



"Ouch! @MindyKaling, heard Dr. Lahiri dissed Newark last night... @VogueMagazine & I disagree," he wrote with a link to a Vogue magazine article raving about the New Jersey city. "(I still [heart] U!)"

Kaling, 37, replied minutes later, saying: "Senator, if Mindy Lahiri shades it, it means we know it's cool. Thanks for the [love]. It's mutual!"

Senator, if Mindy Lahiri shades it, it means we know it's cool. Thanks for the . It's mutual! https://t.co/KW2ibviREc  Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) March 23, 2017

Booker, 47, then said her response was "making my day! Thanks for the clarification."

Next, the senator made a bold request: "And If the [love] is really mutual... Come have dinner with me in Newark? #PleaseSayYes"

You are making my day! Thanks for the clarification. And If the is really mutual... Come have dinner with me in Newark? #PleaseSayYes  https://t.co/fI9IYJYZEX  Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 23, 2017

And she said...

You are making my day! Thanks for the clarification. And If the is really mutual... Come have dinner with me in Newark? #PleaseSayYes  https://t.co/fI9IYJYZEX  Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 23, 2017

It didn't take long for the official Twitter account for the PATH commuter train line between New Jersey and New York to help by offering the trains' schedules.

Still, Booker had a better plan.

"Thank you! PATH train is awesome when you are Jersey bound. But you are @Lyft worthy!" he wrote. "I will send one to you for the door to door."

 Thank you! PATH train is awesome when you are Jersey bound. But you are @Lyft worthy! I will send one to you for the door to door. https://t.co/hTHqqyXLZn  Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 23, 2017

There's no word on whether an actual date is set.



ABC News reached out to both camps, but mum is the word so far.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
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Last December, I penned an article entitled The Myth of Rudy Giuliani Saving the Cigar Industry. In my 6 1/2 years of owning and operating Cigar Coop, it easily was the most controversial article I wrote. Shortly after the 2016 Presidential Election, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was being anointed by some as the man who would save the cigar industry from the draconian regulations imposed on the cigar industry from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the article, I disputed that assumption. I called out a lack of a track record of Giuliani backing the cigar industry and then pointed out the impracticality of such a scenario happening. For five months since the election, we have heard nothing from Giuliani in regards to cigars. Things took somewhat of an interesting turn on March 20th, 2017 when the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers (IPCPR) Association announced they landed Giuliani as its Keynote Speaker for its 2017 Convention in July. Its a move that shocked many  including this author. While I consider this a positive move by both Giuliani and the IPCPR, I dont think it makes him a white knight who will save the cigar industry.

Why did Some Consider Giuliani the Person to Save the Cigar Industry?

Giuliani is known for his love of cigars. Not only does he enjoy cigars, but he is known to frequent cigar establishments. In fact, I met him once at a cigar lounge in Dallas, Texas back in 2012.

On the night of the 2016 Presidential Election, Giuliani made an appearance on Fox News during the early part of the U.S. Presidential election night coverage. During this appearance, Giuliani was assessing some the of the results around the State of Florida. He had stated that Republican candidate Donald Trump was going to win Florida and there were certain neighborhoods indicative of this. One neighborhood was Little Havana and it was the comments concerning Little Havana that set the cigar industry into a frenzy.

I know the Cuban Community in Little Havana and I happen to spend a lot of time there; for a total irrelevant reason  the fact that I love cigars. I know all those families very well, the Padron family, Don Pepin Garcia. Theyre big Trump supporters.

Shortly after that, the cigar community started to look at Giuliani as not only a cigar enthusiast, but also as someone who was willing to take up the fight. In my article the following month, I gave my thoughts on why this happened:

Everyone (including this author) in the cigar industry got very excited about these statements being made on national television  after all, it isnt everyday the cigar industry gets national press from mainstream media. Once Trump secured the presidency, this excitement took on a whole new life. With Trump and Giuliani supposedly being close; and Giuliani being considered for the Cabinet, came the assumption that Giuliani was going to help the cigar industry. This assumption was based on the premise that he was going to explain to Donald Trump about the draconian regulations imposed on the cigar industry by the FDA. Many felt, it was going to be that easy.

Why Giuliani is Not the Person to Save the Industry From The Hands of the FDA

Much has been made of Giulianis ties to President Trump. In fact, Ive heard many say that Giuliani has the ear of the President. The reality of the situation is that Giuliani did not get a Cabinet position. The Presidents Cabinet ultimately is his group of trusted advisors. In terms of regulations by the FDA; the President has a new Secretary of Health and Human Services in Tom Price. I see the relationship between Price and the White House to be the key one  that of President and Trusted Advisor. I dont see Giuliani coming in and circumventing or even complementing the relationship.

Currently, Giulianis role is one of an informal advisor on cybersecurity. Because of his focus in this area, it is doubtful the topic of regulations for the cigar business will on his agenda. Some have postulated he could take on a similar role advising the President on FDA and cigars. The idea floating around that Giuliani would be an informal advisor on cigar industry issues is simply not realistic. While Im willing to give Giuliani the benefit of the doubt that he understands the challenges the cigar industry faces, ultimately I dont feel the cigar industry is big enough to warrant a role as an informal advisor.

In my previous article, I also pointed out what has been a poor track record of Giuliani and the cigar industry. This includes no previous public record of helping the industry out in Washington as well as Giuliani signing a sweeping smoking ban in New York City while Mayor.

We are also coming up on five months since Giulianis appearance on Fox News. With more regulations set to go into effect over the next 18 months, time is running out. He hasnt helped in the past and he hasnt done anything for the industry in the past five months.

Still a Good Move for the IPCPR

While I firmly believe that Giuliani will not lead the charge against the FDA or even open doors, the announcement of him delivering the keynote is not a bad thing. In fact, I still think its a very good and significant thing.

While NFL Hall of Famer Mike Ditka was probably the biggest keynote speaker in recent years (2013), Giuliani coming to IPCPR is even bigger. One can argue Giuliani, a former Mayor and a former Time Magazine Man of the Year is an even bigger name than Ditka. One positive from his November Fox News appearance is that it gave IPCPR a chance to extend an invitation to the former Mayor to speak at IPCPR. The two parties were able to come to an agreement for this to happen. What the terms of that agreement are, we dont know. What is important is that there is an agreement.

Giulianis presence at this years trade show gives IPCPR some instant credibility in terms of having a big name politician at the Convention and Trade Show. This star power also gives IPCPR a chance to bring in additional attendees and opens the possibility of mainstream media even picking up on the story.

Giuliani is known to be a powerful orator. In my mind, there is little doubt that Giuliani will fire up the troops at the opening breakfast  and this is a good thing.

Actions Need to Be Louder Than Words

One thing must be pointed out here  the industry and consumers must not assume that just because Giuliani is giving a speech at IPCPR means he has taken up the fight. As I have pointed out, since 2009 Giuliani has not done anything on the public record to help the cigar industry. I view Rudy Giuliani as a participant and enthusiast in the cigar industry. He has demonstrated this participation in visiting many shops and cigar companies. I look at this upcoming speech as another example of participation  just on a bigger scale. Since he hasnt gone above and beyond, I dont expect him to do so now.

What could change my mind about him leading the charge is if he states during his speech he will help  and gives some sort of a high level plan. But Im not expecting that to happen.

As mentioned above, the clock is ticking. If we have to wait til July to hear that Giuliani is onboard in any way, its probably too late. As we get further into the implementation of these regulations, it is going to be harder to repeal them.

Whether Giuliani is walking the trade show floor or not following the keynote remains to be seen. If he does; hopefully as he talks to retailers, manufacturers and brand owners they will ask him what his plans are to support the industry.

Final Thoughts

When I penned the article on Giuliani back in December, I was hammered for what many perceived was an agenda against Rudy Giuliani. While I have been critical of his record of helping the cigar industry, I have been more critical of the cigar industry placing him on a pedestal as the white knight.

For whatever the reasons Giuliani agreed to do the keynote, he did commit to it. Its an important step and one that was absolutely needed. We still need to support him and the IPCPR regarding his participation at this breakfast. Expecting anything beyond that is wishful thinking.
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When Brianna Pay (nee Presley), artist and Art Specialist/Teen Coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club, moved to Carbondale from Japan in November 2015, something about the transition seemed inevitable. After all, her family migrated to Southern Illinois in the 1800s. Raised in a military family, Pay grew up all over the place, but the two things remained constant in her early years: the Boys & Girls Club and her love of art.

Pay met her husband, Joshua, in Dyess, Texas, where her family settled after her mom retired from the military. Pay was working in the mall there when Joshua walked in. Pay relates that although she swore she would never date an Air Force man, she and Joshua quickly realized they had a strong connection, and when Joshua was assigned a post in Kadena, Japan, they married and moved overseas.

Once there, Pay was hired as a program assistant by the Kadena Teen Center, a military offshoot of the Boys & Girls Club. I was a member of the Boys & Girls Club from the age of 5 to 18, and I already knew the system, so it was a perfect fit. While in Japan, she also developed as an artist. I am completely self-taught." For years I specialized in graphite realism, but got to a point where I felt I had gone as far as I could with that. I then branched into acrylics but that never really stuck, so I took a leap into the intimidating world of oil painting, which is still my medium and one which I am just beginning to understand.

Pays work is mostly portraits, and mostly children. She has an uncanny knack for capturing the essence of a person by slightly exaggerating their features  a touch of the surreal to make them more real, you might say.

I did dabble in commercial portraiture for a little while, but I did not like it. There was too much pressure and it took art from passion to product, and that wasn't for me, Pay said.

Pay said as she masters oil as a medium, she may reconsider this choice, but for now she is happy to be just a plain old artist.

When Pays husbands tour was complete, they decided to move to Southern Illinois. They were looking for a lifestyle more rooted in the land and to be closer to family.

As soon as we moved here things unexpectedly took off with the Boys & Girls Club, Pay said.

Although she had no intention of working immediately after her move, after reaching out to Director Tina Carpenter, Pay said that changed. We really connected. And I really wanted to help implement the Keystone Club in Carbondale. I participated in Keystone when I was a kid. I was president of our branch. I went to the National Keystone conference which happens annually, and it changed my life.

The Keystone Club is a leadership and character building program that gives teens the tool, ideas, and motivation to get ready for career preparation, to achieve academic success, to offer community service and to reach out to other teens. We do a lot of community outreach where we work with other groups, said Pay. For instance, we just worked with the Friends of the Shawnee National Forest to do a trash pickup that was very successful. We also have the kids visit the senior center so they can benefit from interacting with their elders and bring a little of their youthful energy to that population.

Pay said the Boys & Girls Club curriculum integrates the academic themes the kids are seeing in their schools and coordinates with Upward Bound, Rebound, Carbondale Middle School and Lewis School among other academic institutions. When the kids come to the club after school, they follow a specific format. First comes Power Hour, a time dedicated to homework. After Power Hour, they attend two programs per day.

We have programs like Smart Girls and Passport to Manhood which encourage and promote responsibility, but each age group also has the opportunity to go to art, which is the other hat I wear for the organization, said Pay.

I really think I will spend the rest of my life working with the Boys & Girls Club, Pay exclaimed.
BENTON  For livestock producers, cover crops can serve double duty.

Aside from cropland benefits, they can provide economical, temporary grazing for cattle. Producers contemplating such a plan, however, should be cognizant of the drawbacks as well as benefits  like what plants could kill their animals.

There are numerous benefits to the practice, said Southern Illinois University animal science specialist Rebecca Atkinson.

Using cover crops is a way to extend grazing, which is beneficial to the land, she told producers at a beef meeting here. You dont have to worry about your cattle being confined around a hay feeder or manure piling up. Theyre going to be spreading that manure for you across your fields.

Planting cover crops is an increasingly popular farming strategy. Benefits include reducing soil erosion, suppressing weeds and building organic matter. Some legumes can add the equivalent of up to $200 per acre in fertilizer value.

With cover crops you can graze during winter and save money on labor, Atkinson said. Plus, anytime they can graze a fresh forage rather than a harvested forage, the quality goes up. Its going to reduce your overall expenses.

When grazing covers, choosing the right plants is especially critical. Some can cause physical problems or even be fatal to livestock.

Brassicas such as turnips have become popular as cover crops, but cattle dont take to them right away. Atkinson found that out while conducting university trials.

The first time you let them in, they wont go right in and eat  its bitter, she said. I recommend at least mixing it with oats. We had to force-feed it. We literally had to lock them in there. Once they acquire a taste, though, they love them. You may have to do some force-feeding at first.

Turnips can also pose a risk of choking.

Livestock eating too much hairy vetch can develop kidney failure. Lupins  the family of flowering legumes that produce pea-like seeds  can cause birth defects in cows. Amaranth can be fatal, and there is also the danger of it getting out of control in a field.

Atkinson recommends that cows be introduced to a new forage gradually. One way to do that is to make sure their bellies are full before they are put on a cover crops, so that they wont consume too much of the new food.

Never turn your cattle out on any new crop if theyre hungry and thirsty, Atkinson said. Make sure theyre full.

That way, they have a little bit of time to nibble and get acclimated to it.

Supplementing cover crop forage with low-quality forage is an effective means of balancing rations. Strip grazing is a good option for doing that. The practice is especially valuable for producers looking to minimize compaction, especially in no-till operations.

If given access to both, cattle will usually self-regulate.

Its like eating too much ice cream; you get a bellyache, Atkinson said. If you dont have that, then you need to provide a low-quality forage for them in the form of hay, just to keep that water down. Theyre not going to be able to attain everything they need from the cover crop because theres so much water in it.

The cattle need an adjustment period, and Atkinson recommends two hours on the cover crop for the first couple of days, then increasing to four hours for a couple of days.

Before you know it, theyll regulate themselves, she said. Give them some time to adapt; let their rumen adjust. Its a different type of cellulose. A lot of these will have a lot of protein in them.

A plant mix is the best option for balancing nutrients when grazing cover crops. Atkinson is especially keen on covers planted into corn stalks. Diarrhea is a normal consequence of cows ingesting too much rich forage.

Any lush, green forage is going to go right through them, she said. Thats where that low-quality hay comes in. Put them in your corn stalks and you dont have to worry about it.

While cover crops can be an excellent grass forage supplement, farmers should remember why they planted them in the first place. That means not letting cows pick fields clean.

You still have to figure out what your stocking rate is, even though its a cover crop, Atkinson said.

Make sure they get adequate amount of forage. But the purpose of cover crop is to leave something. You want to get both benefits from it.
COBDEN  When theyre roaming Cobdens wide-open pastures, the buffalo of Bison Bluff Farms are perfectly docile, gentle giants. Enclosed in a steel pen and prodded along for shots and deworming, they have a tendency to get irritable.

Two bad-tempered, enormous bulls hold up the entire production by refusing to enter the chute, where they'll receive their deworming treatments from a veterinarian. Bison Bluff Farm owner Clifton Howell rears up on the 1,400-pound animals in a skid-steer loader, menacing them with the machines steel bucket  that gets them moving.

Theyre overheated and theyre mad, Howell said. Theyre not an aggressive animal, but they just dont want to be worked. You turn em loose, and theyre docile as can be, but under confinement, they get stressed and theyll fight you.

Its Buffalo Day at Bison Bluff, the farms twice-annual roundup and deworming event for the 400-head herd. Howell and about a dozen others have been working the animals since 7 a.m., corralling them individually into a steel chute.

The workers administer an internal parasite dewormer into each bisons mouth and spray its back with an external dewormer, a blue liquid that gets absorbed into the bloodstream. Then, depending on whether the animal is fated for slaughter or has been spared for another season, they release the buffalo into the feed lot or the winter pasture. In one or two weeks, the herd will be free to roam Bison Bluff Farms 1,100 acres for the summer.

The inoculation and deworming process takes place each spring before calving season and also in the fall to protect the herd against brucellosis, blackleg and pink eye.

Buffalo eat parasites much worse than cattle do.  In the wild, a buffalo wants to cover about 600 acres a day, OK, so by doing so, hed never come back into contact with his own parasites, Howell said.

Cattle have more or less adapted to confinement, but bison havent.

So my domesticating them or penning them up, youre making them come back into contact with their own parasites, and they dont grow up well  you have to worm em to keep that cleaned out of their stomachs, Howell said.

Dozens of people of all ages have gathered to watch the spectacle in the wooden bleacher-style seating beside the pen. Some spectators, such as Marilyn Wright, of Vienna, attend Buffalo Day year after year.

Just to stand and watch them is breathtaking, Wright said.  Where else can you see bison up close like this?

Terri French, of Cobden, said she wishes the weather wasn't so dreary, but that she loves Buffalo Day for its familial atmosphere.

Everybodys family, even though theyre not family.  I told people at work, bring your kids out. How often do you get to see a buffalo? French said.

Im in construction work, but this is where I get my sanity from, my hobby, said Howell, who also owns C Howell Construction.

Number one, we love the animal  theyre not a production animal like a cow. But if anybody eats buffalo or they like red meat, they really enjoy coming out and being around this. Its camaraderie of all the people, gives them something to do, and these animals were here long before the white man ever was, Howell said.

He points out that bison once roamed the plains of North America in massive herds, before excessive hunting in the 19th century brought the species close to extinction.

Its part of our heritage, he said.
Design Program Founder Harold L. Cohen will return to Southern Illinois University on April 7 and 8 for the School of Art and Designs annual student-centered conference, 2017 Design Days | Evolution.

Cohen, whose originary influence is still felt in the creative curriculum, will be the first speaker on Friday morning and a reception for Mr. and Mrs. Cohen will be held on Saturday afternoon, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Pulliam Hall Design Wing. Cohen, who founded the Carbondale program in design in 1955, was trained in the Bauhaus style and is credited with bringing many notable designers to the area to offer seminars or teach for a semester. One of these, Buckminster Fuller, came to stay, and taught at SIU until 1971.

Conceived to bring professional designers to campus to share their expertise with students, this years conference will salute not only the evolution of SIUs design program, but also illustrate the global impact of design. The two-day event is free and open to the public. Interested community members are most welcome and encouraged to register so that we can plan accordingly: siudesigndays.siu.edu.

April will also provide another occasion for the community to participate with SIUs School of Art in the form of the Rickert-Ziebold Trust Award Competition Exhibition. Each year, seniors in the School of Art and Design are invited to compete, with faculty judging student presentations on the basis of performance and excellence in creative achievement. Winners will be honored in an awards ceremony at the exhibition, which will run from April 3 to 11, the awards reception to be held on April 7 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Surplus Gallery at 432 S. Washington Ave. The exhibition and reception are free events open to the public.

In addition, each spring the University Museum presents to the public the work of some of the School of Art and Designs Master of Fine Arts candidates. Their thesis shows present the culmination of three years in their various art fields. Featured this year from March 31-May 5 are exhibitions in painting, metals, printmaking, ceramics and glass.

We invite you join us at our April events and to see what else is happening in art and design by visiting our website at artanddesign.siu.edu.
Several mallard ducks swam contentedly, chattering incessantly as they searched for food.

Near the Thompson Point dormitory complex, about a half-dozen Southern Illinois University students took advantage of the early spring warmth, casting for bass and sunfish.

Students and staff members filled the asphalt walking paths as cardinals sang overhead.

It was a typical day at Campus Lake  well, almost typical.

The lake is still several feet low as the result of a recently completed renovation project. Total normalcy will return when spring rains restore the lake to its normal pool.

In the past several years, Campus Lake, once a centerpiece of the SIU campus, had become so fouled the water was deemed unsafe. Tons of decaying vegetation, a sanitary sewer leak near the lake and more than 20 storm sewer drains were teaming up to pump the lake full of nutrients.

The nutrient-rich waters promoted the growth of algae. The algae not only choked oxygen from the water, but created a toxic substance that can lead to liver cancer. The lake became so polluted that one of SIUs signature events, the annual Cardboard Regatta, had to be moved to nearby Evergreen Lake.

Thats a far cry from the lakes glory days when hordes of SIU students flocked to the lake to swim, or sunbathe on the beach. Unfortunately, liability issues led to the closure of the beach several years ago, but nonetheless, Campus Lake remained one of the most aesthetically pleasing features of the sprawling campus.

That is until the creeping pollution forced university officials to declare the lake off limits.

Rehabilitation projects are never inexpensive. SIU spent $450,000 on the clean-up, and it appears to be money well spent. In addition, it appears the university got a significant bang for the buck thanks to community involvement, not to mention a stroke of good fortune.

Draining the lake was the first order of business  enough water remained to protect the fish population. Then, it was a matter of letting the exposed areas dry so that massive amounts of vegetative material could be removed.

More than 24,000 tons of decaying leaves and limbs were removed. Marge Brooks, an associate professor of zoology at SIU, said the compost-like material had 40 to 50 years worth of nutrients locked inside.

SIU was able to stretch dollars on the project when a local landowner agreed to take much of the debris. That stroke of luck saved thousands of dollars in disposal and transportation costs.

And, in the final stages of the cleanup, the Sierra Club scoured the banks of other trash and debris.

In the meantime, SIUs zoology and fisheries departments took advantage of the project, using the drawn down lake as a living laboratory. There is no way to put a price tag on the benefits of that unforeseen side effect.

It also needs to be noted that SIU alum Ralph Becker donated $1 million to renovate the Campus Lake boathouse. So, as spring rains replenish the lake, a sense of normalcy will return.

In this case, normalcy is important to SIU, Carbondale and all of Southern Illinois.

SIUs enrollment has dropped significantly over the past 20 years. University and community officials have been working to reverse that trend from years.

A revitalized Campus Lake wont solve the enrollment issue, but it is a significant step in the right direction. A dangerously polluted body of water in the middle of campus, certainly wasnt a selling point for the university.

But, a pristine lake with students rowing about in boats or fishing from shore, is certainly an attraction.

Walking through the woods surrounding the lake can provide students with a few moments of solitude and serenity at the end of a hectic day. Its a win-win.

Welcome back, Campus Lake.
DENMARK -- Three times a week, a car pulls up in front of the Academic Support Center at Denmark Technical College and out pops 10-year-old Katelynn. Sporting a bright pink head bow with matching pink glitter kitty backpack in tow, she eagerly runs to Shannon Williams for her after-school tutoring session. Williams is the director of the Academic Support Center at DTC, where she helps tutor students who are struggling in their courses or who need help passing the Accuplacer tests.

Even though she is busy with the center, Williams was intrigued when asked by Katelynns mom about working with her daughter after school to improve her grades. She was recommended by Katelynns grandmother, who once worked at Denmark Tech and knew the type of services the ASC provided.

Of course, I said 'yes.' I felt that it is always important to give back to the community, Williams said. One of the many things that I decided to do was to strengthen the link between school and family, which would advance a students learning. It is very important to build ones confidence by providing a safe environment, but also making the learning fun.

Snacks are provided, and Katelynn is tutored three days a week, from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

DTC President Christopher Hall is supportive of her efforts and encourages employees to take that extra step and do things out-of-the-box.

What Mrs. Williams is doing in her position with Katelynn is the reason why DTC exists. We were created to provide quality education primarily to our local community," Hall said. "When individuals take time to help students learn, everyone benefits. I applaud Mrs. Williams on her seeing a need and stepping up.

This is the first year Williams has adopted a student from Denmark-Olar Elementary School, but she hopes to continue the program and expand it to other young students who need help. The initiative is not opened to the public at this time but it is being considered for expansion to other elementary school students in the fall of 2017.

Williams is in continual communication with Katelynns mom about her child's academic challenges and strengths so she can provide a customized prescription to fit Katelynns academic needs. Judging from the smiles on Katelynns face and her rising grades in school, she is off to a great start.

Denmark Tech staffed by many employees like Williams who live in the area and are part of the community they serve.

Hall summarized it best when he remarked recently, "Denmark Tech is a 'community' college. One of my primary goals is to involve Denmark in the community and the community in Denmark Tech because without the community, we cannot have a college."

Denmark Technical College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate degrees, diplomas and certificates.
Mrs. Burton was born to the late Elijah and Estill Williams Ray on May 30, 1935, in Denmark. She attended the public schools of Denmark. At an early age, she joined the Honey Ford Baptist Church. She then relocated to Florida with her family during her youth. As a young adult, Daisy moved to New York City and worked in various capacities. While there, she married the late Raymond Burton and became a stepmother to six children, one of whom proceeded her in death. In 2010 she moved back to South Carolina.
Orangeburg Countys Memorial Day service will be held f at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 28, at Veterans Memorial Park.

The featured speaker will be retired U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Dr. Corinthea Stack. A Desert Shield/Desert Storm veteran, Stack was awarded many Unit Citations for leadership and command.

He was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal award on four occasions and the Navy Achievement Medal on three occasions.

Stack attained a Bachelor of Science in math and physical education from Methodist College of Fayetteville, North Carolina, as well as a master's degree in those two area of study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

He earned a Masters of Divinity in pastoral leadership and pastoral counseling from Columbia International University in Columbia and a Doctorate of Theology from His Excellence Theological Seminary through the Charleston and Canton, Ohio campuses.

Stack now pastors in the Seventh Episcopal District of South Carolina with the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

One of 10 siblings, he grew up and was raised in North, where he graduated in 1978 as salutatorian of his class.

While attending school, he was enlisted with the Army Reserves. After high school, he attended The Citadel and later transferred to Methodist College of Fayetteville.

Stack commissioned with the U.S. Army and resigned to join the Marine Corps in January 1985. He rose to the rank of major in 1995 and was medically retired in December 1996.

Stack and his wife of 32 years, Lynn, have two children, three grandchildren. They have four great-grandchildren.

The Memorial Day program will feature the Pledge of Allegiance and singing of the National Anthem. Also, there will be a tribute to POWs and MIAs, along with a wreath-laying ceremony during which all military branches will be honored. Taps will be played, and the program will be concluded with prayer.

Refreshments will be provided at the end of the program.

The observance is being sponsored by a number of local veterans groups.

Veterans Memorial Park is located on Riverside Drive across the street from the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce building.
The U.S. Supreme Court is the crown jewel of our Constitution. It is the steward of our most cherished liberties that are shielded from the whims of fleeting majority opinions: religious liberty, freedom of speech, due process, the right to be left alone, the right to keep and bear arms, and the Great Writ of habeas corpus.

Liberals would transform our Constitution anchored in the eternities of human nature into a document indistinguishable from a restricted railroad ticket good for this day and train only. The Constitution would be amended by judicial decree in lieu of the political processes required by Article V.

The mainstream media are a megaphone for the liberals. Having lost in the political arena, they seek refuge in the Supreme Court  primarily through the notorious swing vote of Justice Anthony Kennedy. Here is one example of the justices creative approach to constitutional interpretation in Lawrence vs. Texas: Freedom extends beyond spatial bounds. Liberty presumes an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression, and certain intimate conduct. The instant case involves liberty of the person both in its spatial and more transcendent dimensions.

Now imagine what America would be like if there were more Anthony Kennedy's appointed to the court, which is what liberals covet. To prevent that nightmare, conservatives must fight for Senate confirmation of President Donald Trumps nominee Neil Gorsuch.

Gorsuch, who currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, is a well accomplished jurist. His intellectual mentor was the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who interpreted the Constitution according to its text and meaning as intended by its architects. Their safeguard against the risk of the Constitutions antiquation was the amendment process enshrined in Article V. They rejected Supreme Court justices acting as platonic guardians to preside over the reduction of citizens to serfs.

Bloomberg columnist Noah Feldman recently wrote, " dont expect much more on the Supreme Court during this election season. When the dust has settled, however, the Supreme Court will return to the front pages very quickly indeed, and the question of who will succeed Scalia will be one of the most pressing issues facing the new president, whoever it is."

Well guess what? He was correct. But the mainstream media have attempted to ignore Gorsuchs Senate Judiciary Committee hearings by focusing instead on the possible collusion between President DonaldTrump and Russia, although there has yet to be any convincing evidence of such a link. Instead of focusing on the nominee who will influence constitutional jurisprudence for decades, media outlets are attempting to distract us with fake news by inflating the importance of the release of DNC authentic emails to Hillary Clintons stupendous electoral defeat.

Gorsuch attended law school with President Barack Obama. He studied at Columbia and Oxford in Great Britain. He clerked for two Supreme Court justices and served as a high-level official in the U.S. Department of Justice. He was unanimously confirmed as a U.S. Circuit Court judge on July 20, 2006. He has labored for a decade as an appellate jurist and earned high praise from his colleagues and scholars.

His detractors misconceive the role of the judge. They fault him for resisting the temptation to play Don Quixote to rescue damsels in distress by stretching the law to the breaking point. He recognizes, in the words of immortalized Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in Missouri, Texas, and Kansas Ry vs. May, that it must be remembered that legislatures are ultimate guardians of the liberties and welfare of the people in quite as great a degree as the courts."

Supreme Court justices live for the ages through the constitutional precedents they establish. Very few decisions are overruled. If Gorsuch is confirmed, his influence on the nation will far outlast Trumps tenure in the White House. By temperament, experience and accomplishments, Gorsuch if perfectly suited to build on the trenchant and enlightened constitutional jurisprudence that earmarked Scalias storied career.

If there have been better trained jurists to sit on the nations highest tribunal, they do not readily come to mind. He should and will be confirmed by an overwhelming vote by the U.S. Senate before the courts October 2016 term concludes.
In August 2014, the South Carolina attorney general handed off to 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe the job of special prosecutor in the public corruption investigation surrounding former Republican House Speaker Bobby Harrell.

The decision to turn to Pascoe, a Democrat and experienced prosecutor, was a sound one by Republican Alan Wilson. As independent counsel, Pascoe pushed the case forward. The result later in 2014 was Harrells resignation as part of a guilty plea to six campaign finance violations. He pledged to cooperate with an ongoing investigation into Statehouse corruption.

Then came complications, with Pascoes authority to utilize the state grand jury being challenged by Wilson. A legal showdown ended in 2016 with Pascoe being vindicated with a court ruling that Wilson could not fire him. Pascoe vowed to push ahead with his investigation.

And he has done so, with results that have shaken the political world in South Carolina.

In December 2016, Charleston Rep. Jim Merrill, a GOP consultant, was indicted on 30 misconduct and ethics charges. Merrill, House majority leader from 2004 to 2008, is accused of illegally profiting from his position. He has been suspended.

Last week came the shocker: an indictment of longtime Richland County Republican Sen. John Courson by the state grand jury. He faces charges of misconduct in office and using campaign funds for personal expenses. Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant suspended Courson pending the case's resolution.

A 72-year-old Marine veteran, Courson was first elected in 1984 and became chairman of the Senate Education Committee in 2005. He was the Senate's top leader from March 2012 to June 2014.

The indictment prompted a strong rebuke of Pascoe.

Courson said in a statement that he has "no doubt" he will be exonerated. He called Pascoe a "partisan Democrat under questionable motives."

His attorney went further. Rose Mary Parham, a former prosecutor, said, "This is a political, partisan witch hunt. Courson is a man of unquestionable integrity who would never use his public office for personal gain in any way."

Beyond political attacks on Pascoe that are not unexpected, the state grand jury saw reason to push ahead with both cases. Merrill and Courson will get their days in court. In the meantime, the special prosecutor has an obligation to push ahead.

As he does, the investigation has prompted lawmakers to take notice of connections with longtime Republican powerbroker Richard Quinn. All three charges against Courson are tied to the senator's payments to Quinn's political consulting firm.

The indictments allege Courson gave Quinn's firm nearly $248,000 and received back nearly $133,000 for personal use. They say the payments were made between December 2006 and December 2012.

While Quinn and his company are not accused of any wrongdoing, Quinns name appears in investigative documents in the Courson case. And with the companys longtime and widespread ties to the Republican leadership, lawmakers are suddenly being cautious.

On Wednesday, the State Ports Authority oversight board decided to delay approval of new Gov. Henry McMasters picks for the SCPA board. The panel wants to thoroughly review the two nominees' associations with Quinn after Quinns name again surfaced in Ports Authority subpoenas provided to The Associated Press and other media. Signed March 7, the subpoenas sought records of the SCPAs payments to Quinn, his son Rep. Rick Quinn, and their firms.

The elder Quinn said Wednesday he's proud of the work done for the ports but outgoing SCPA board Chairman Patrick McKinney, a McMaster political rival being replaced by the governor, has publicly questioned the ports' payments to the Quinns.

With McMaster being a longtime Quinn client, the caution by SCPA screening panel chairman Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Charleston, is understandable.

As reported by AP, Grooms said that a year ago, the two nominees wouldn't have faced questions about their associations, which appear to be small. But amid the Statehouse investigation, "We're going to take our time.

Grooms and the panel of lawmakers delayed voting on whether to send the nominations to the Senate Transportation Committee, where they will face further scrutiny.

The vetting is necessary and justified because, in Grooms words, I'm concerned with the cloud cast over state government in general because of this."

So are we.

And as to Calhoun County resident Pascoe, we dont expect lawmakers to stand up and cheer the actions of the solicitor in his role as special prosecutor. But they have every reason to share in our assessment from 2016 when the local prosecutor got the high courts OK to proceed: The special prosecutor now has no obstacle is his way to pushing the investigation forward, which is exactly what he should do, making any use of the state grand jury that he sees as necessary.
For nearly three minutes this August, darkness will cover Orangeburg, day will become night and travelers from all across the country are coming to see it happen.

On Monday, Aug. 21, at about 2:40 p.m., people will be able to witness the first total eclipse to sweep across the entire country from coast to coast since 1918.

The moon will cover at least part of the sun for two to three hours but halfway through, for up to two minutes and 40 seconds, states along its path, from Oregon to South Carolina, will experience a total eclipse of the sun.

This is the first total eclipse on American soil since 1991 when an eclipse was visible only to Hawaii. This is the first on the mainland of the United States since 1979.

The last time Orangeburg experienced totality was the March 7, 1970, solar eclipse. During that event, Orangeburg was only along the edge of the path and therefore the town experienced darkness that lasted only a short while.

This time around, Orangeburg is one of only six locations in the state of South Carolina that will be directly in the path of totality.

During totality, the sun will look like a doughnut with the dark 'hole' being the moon covering the solar disk, and the doughnut ring  will be a faint glow of the suns outer atmosphere called the corona, said Dr. Donald K. Water, South Carolina State University physics professor.

The sun will disappear from the sky, stars will come out, the horizon glows and the temperature drops, but it will not be complete darkness. Walter said it will be as dark as it gets after sunset, so you will still be able to see.

This is not as dark as in the middle of the night, but it will appear dark enough that dogs will bark, birds will come to roost and cows may even begin to come in from pasture, he said.

Solar eclipses occur every year somewhere in the world but most happen over open ocean or in sparsely populated regions of the globe. It is uncommon to be in the path of totality, so with Orangeburg in the unique position it is, eclipse followers will be coming to the area from everywhere.

Local residents are lucky because anyone in the path can view the eclipse by simply going outdoors at the appointed time.

It is stressed however, that people use special solar viewing glasses whenever the sun is not totally eclipsed.

Only during the time of totality can they look at the sun without any eye protection, Walter said. Just before and after totality, they should NOT look directly at the sun without using special solar glasses or similar welders dark glasses. Normal sunglasses will not provide enough protection.

Unless you have special solar filters for your cameras and telescopes as well, you will not even be able to set up for pictures because the heat of the sun can melt lenses.

There may be professional eclipse watchers with telescopes hooked up to televisions, so asking to watch along with them may be your best bet.

Unfortunately in August there is a good chance that part of the sky will be covered with clouds, Walter said. If clouds obscure the sun, you will not be able to see the faint halo around the sun known as the corona, but the sky will turn dark with or without clouds.

Walter said S.C. State will be sponsoring workshops and talks to the public on the eclipse from April through August.

The Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce will have events available for tourists and local residents to learn more about the phenomenon.

The chamber plans to host a luncheon with guest speakers and astrology tool kits for all guests who participate, President Melinda Jackson said. After the luncheon, we are planning an educational excursion at one of the colleges on the astrological impact of the eclipse.

Jackson said hotels in the Orangeburg area are already full for the date.

Santee is completely booked, Jackson said. 601 hotels are receiving reservations daily for the big event.

A representative from the Comfort Inn & Suites in Santee said rooms have been reserved since July. All were booked by January.

The 100-plus rooms at the Best Western in Santee have also been completely sold out for the weekend.

In Orangeburg, there are not as many reservations being made but a few hotels have already been receiving calls.

The Comfort Inn is completely booked on the Saturday before the eclipse, but rooms are still available for that Sunday.

The Holiday Inn Express said it is receiving calls from all over but the hotel is not yet completely full. The same with the Country Inn & Suites as well as the Hampton Inn & Suites.

The next on-land eclipse will not be until 2020 and will be visible in southern South America only. After that, the next one in America will not occur until 2024.

You can receive more information on the eclipse at www.eclipse2017.org.
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By Trend

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Denmark Svend Olling.

Ambassador Svend Olling reviewed a guard of honor.

Svend Olling presented his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev then had a conversation with the Ambassador.

The head of state stressed the necessity of developing bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Denmark in various areas, including in the field of economy. President Ilham Aliyev noted low level of cooperation between the two countries in the economic sphere, including trade, and underlined the need to have more business contacts.

Touching upon successful activity of Danish companies in Azerbaijan, Ambassador Svend Olling said his country`s company invested in Azerbaijan`s oil sector. Noting that Carlsberg operates in Azerbaijan, he pointed out now they attract investors to Azerbaijan`s food industry. The Ambassador said the Danish companies will bring modern technology to Azerbaijan, and they plan to open a turkey factory in Ismayilli district jointly with Azerbaijan`s partners. The Danish diplomat noted that an agreement on elimination of double taxation will be signed between the two countries, and vowed he will spare no efforts to contribute to expanding the bilateral bonds.

The head of state underlined that the Danish companies` investing in non-oil sector of Azerbaijan`s regions correspond to Azerbaijan`s economic policy, and stressed the importance of it in terms of developing regions, expanding local production, reducing dependence on imports and increasing export opportunities.

They also exchanged views over the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Danish diplomat noted that his country supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Moreover, President Aliyev received credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Portugal Paula Leal da Silva.

Ambassador Paula Leal da Silva reviewed a guard of honor.

Paula Leal da Silva presented her credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev then had a conversation with the Ambassador.

Ambassador Paula Leal da Silva conveyed the best wishes and deep respects of President of the Portuguese Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa to the head of state.

She noted that it is her first visit to Azerbaijan, and the development of Baku made a deep impression on her. Paula Leal da Silva said Portugal is very interested in strengthening and deepening bilateral ties with Azerbaijan.

The head of state noted that Azerbaijan is also keen to expand cooperation with Portugal. President Ilham Aliyev underlined the significance of conducting political consultations between the two countries, and increasing the level of economic activity and business relations.

They noted that the two countries enjoy good opportunities for cooperation in the tourism sector, and discussed prospects for expansion of the bilateral bonds in this area.

The head of state thanked for the greetings of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa, and asked the Ambassador to extend his greetings to the Portuguese President and Prime Minister.
Business owners of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the UAE remain optimistic about their growth prospects this year, according to a survey.

Of the 138 SMEs that participated in the survey conducted by Meed, a leading business intelligence service provider in the Middle East, 74 said they expect to grow their business in 2017 by 10-50 per cent compared with last year. Of this number, 23 business owners said they forecast their business to grow by at least 20 per cent compared to last year; while 15 entrepreneurs see a more robust 50 per cent increase in business against their performance in 2016.

The survey was conducted to determine sentiment among business owners in the UAE, ahead of the Gulf Capital SME Awards, which Meed organises annually to celebrate innovation, success and growth in the SME sector in the emirates.

The optimism shown by entrepreneurs is a good sign of the dynamism and strong fundamentals in the UAE economy. SMEs largely drive the growth in the country as they account for over 90 per cent of registered businesses in the UAE. By creating jobs, growth and income, entrepreneurs are transforming lives and the communities they live in, said Dr Karim El Solh, co-founder and CEO of Gulf Capital, one of the largest alternative asset management firms in the Middle East and the headline sponsor of the awards.

SMEs are the backbone of a growing economy and their strong performance this year will no doubt have a positive impact on the economy, he said.

In anticipation of business growth, close to 70 per cent of those surveyed said they will be hiring additional staff this year, with around 77 per cent saying they will recruit anywhere from 1-10 new employees. A smaller percentage, about 6 per cent, intend to hire in excess of 50 staff, further contributing to job creation, which is critical to service-driven economies and international employment hubs such as the UAEs. Despite the standstill in some business sectors in the emirates, many SMEs are planning to make significant investment in marketing and sales (54 per cent) as well as product development and innovation (38 per cent) to sustain their business growth this year.

The Gulf Capital SME Awards will again recognise outstanding SMEs, business leaders and entrepreneurs in 13 different categories, including Gulf Capital Business of the Year, Business Innovation of the Year, Online Business of the Year, RSA Customer Focus of the Year, Start-up Business of the Year, Sustainable Business of the Year, People & Culture of the Year, Small Business of the Year and Marketing Campaign of the Year; as well as two individual awards for Business Leader of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year. Supporting the UAEs aggressive push for entrepreneurship among its citizens, the programme also recognises locally-owned SMEs with the Emirati Business of the Year award.

A new category, Disruption of the Year Award, has been included in this years edition of the programme. It aims to recognise an SME that has created an innovative disruption, with demonstrable results, that has impacted a new or existing market.

Many of those who received awards in the past have attested to the business benefits of the awards programme. In addition to gaining recognition for their hard work, some entrepreneurs have reported getting more business and new customers because of the exposure they get from the programme, says Becky Crayman, programme director, Meed, which is celebrating 60 years since its launch in 1957.

In order to take part in this years edition of the Gulf Capital SME Awards, endorsed by Dubai SME and Khalifa Fund, SME owners are encouraged to submit their entries online at www.meedsmeawards.com. Deadline is on April 6, 2017.  TradeArabia News Service
Emirates District Cooling (Emicool), a joint venture between Dubai Investments and leading UAE developer Union Properties, said it has been awarded a contract to provide district cooling services at the Mirdif Hills project in Dubai.



Mirdif Hills, a Dh3-billion ($816 million) mixed-use residential, commercial and retail development spread across 3.9 million sq ft, boasts 1,054 apartments  a mix of studio, one-, two-, three-bedroom apartments and duplex units, a four-star hotel with 116 rooms and 128 serviced apartments and a 230-bed hospital.



The project is being developed by Dubai Investments Real Estate Company (DIRC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dubai Investments.



As per the deal, Emicool will deliver 15,000 tonnes of refrigeration (TR) chilled water from its utility complex at the Mirdif Hills site through pipes, valve chambers and heat exchange stations.



The contract covers chilled water system for all residential buildings, hotel, furnished apartments and hospital within the Mirdif Hills project the only freehold development in Mirdif now.



The system, equipped to cater to over 2,400 customers in the implementation stage, will increase Emicools refrigerating tonnes per hour (RTH) production capabilities by 10 per cent, said a senior official.



"As the demand for district cooling services across the UAE and region continues to grow, Emicool is privileged to be associated with the Mirdif Hills project by DIRC," remarked Adib Moubadder, CEO of Emicool.



Emicool has increased its overall productive capacity by 13 per cent in 2016 alone; and the Mirdif Hills project will provide a major push to the companys planned capacity expansion to over 500,000 TR by 2020 amidst rampant construction and pent-up demand for district cooling services.



Obaid Mohammed Al Salami, the general manager of DIRC, said its partnership with Emicool for district cooling services is a perfect fit for Mirdif Hills.



"The project is not only setting benchmarks with its quality standards, but is also committed to offer unmatched facilities and amenities to its users. The district cooling systems will lead to both economic and environmental benefits to the Mirdif Hills residents and tenants," he noted.



Being constructed in two phases, Mirdif Hills is expected to be completed in the Q4 of 2018.-TradeArabia News Service
The Big 5 Saudi, the largest and fastest growing construction show in the kingdom, kicks off in Jeddah tomorrow (March 27) with more than 500 exhibitors from 20 countries across the globe taking part.



Running until March 30, The Big 5 Saudi 2017 will showcase the most innovative products for the built environment, which are vital to delivering successfully Saudi Vision 2030s mega-projects.



This year, The Big 5 Saudi will also host country pavilions from Italy, Turkey, Germany, Greece, China, Qatar, Kuwait, Spain, Hungary and India, said the organisers.

Excitement grows among industry professionals as the largest construction event in the kingdom opens its doors to thousands of industry professionals at the Jeddah Centre for Forums and Events, they stated.



The event will be an exclusive platform for 15,000 peers to network, do business and learn, as it will display 600 brands from regional and international industry leaders, it stated.



With over $700 billion worth of active projects currently going on in the kingdom, and an additional $30 billion investment expected from the Saudi Government in 2017, architects, engineers, developers, manufacturers, suppliers and contractors from around the globe are meeting in Jeddah to capitalise on this growing market, said the organisers.



Since its inception in 2011, The Big 5 Saudi has continually been adapting to keep pace with the fast moving Saudi construction industry and continues to offer the key platform to bring inspirational people, products, and industry knowledge together, remarked Nathan Waugh, the portfolio event director.



According to him, live products and tools demonstrations will provide an interactive display of the most innovative products and technologies. Experts will showcase their products live, giving visitors the opportunity to assess the suitability of a product for their projects right there and then.



Dubai-based Harwal Group, one of the most diversified building material manufacturers in the region, will be showcasing its key solutions at the upcoming event.



The outlook for Saudi Arabian construction remains bright as the industry's output value is forecast to rise by 2020, remarked Adeel Muhammad, Harwal Groups marketing manager.



Its business segments include a wide range of products, from building materials to prefabricated buildings, doors and windows, and furniture. A primary member of the Harwal Group, TSSC, will exhibit the Easywall range this year, he noted.



These lightweight concrete panels are designed to replace block work for internal walls, added Muhammad.

"TSSC will also showcase its range of cold-rolled steel profiles, which offer flexibility in the design and construction of steel buildings. Moreover, Interplast, another key member of Harwal Group, will exhibit its new range of exhaust fans sold under the renowned brand Edison," he added.



Saud Salim Al Mazrouei, the director of Hamriyah Free Zone (HFZA) and Sharjah Airport International Free Zone (SAIF Zone), dubbed the Big 5 Saudi as one of the best industrial exhibitions in the region.



"There is a high potential to meet the business community for networking and for branding our free zone," he noted.



Kent Smoke and Fire Curtains, a British-owned venture based in Dubai, UAE, will make its debut at The Big 5 Saudi.



Saudi Arabia is a land of opportunities in terms of construction and requirement for active firefighting materials. Curtains have been popular amongst consultants in Saudi Arabia and we believe that meeting them personally at the show will nurture successful business ties between us, said its senior official.



Another key play at the event is Command Alkon, a global supplier of automation solutions for producers, haulers and suppliers of ready-mixed concrete, concrete products and aggregate, asphalt and cement.



It is a major provider of solutions for process controls, quality control, batching, dispatching, transportation planning and performance, mobile solutions, GPS telematics, dispatch optimisation, fleet and workforce management, bulk materials distribution, plant and quarry automation, back-office operations, performance management, enterprise content management, voice-based scheduling, and mobile computing.



Besides its core products, Commandbatch and Commandseries, at The Big 5 Saudi 2017 Command Alkon will present TrackIt, a GPS truck tracking and telematics and fleet and workforce management for construction material transportation, and Mobile Connect, that promises to cancel boundaries to where and when customers and staff can request orders, generate tickets, access account information.



"We have been supplying the Saudi market for some 30 years now, and we are still receiving enquiries from our customers in Saudi Arabia, many of whom are optimistic about the future in the short, medium and longer term. We look forward to welcoming visitors to our stand," remarked Simon Gibbs, Command Alkon area sales manager Middle East.



Besides the global players, Saudi-based manufacturers will be also exhibiting their latest solutions for the built environment at the show.



Headquartered in Jeddah, Goldenline Lifts is a trading company supplying elevator's components imported from Europe, Turkey and other countries. The company also installs a wide range of passenger's elevators and home lifts, offering after sales service and annual maintenance contracts.



Our vision is to be a major player and market leader in passenger's elevator, home lifts and lifts spare parts, characterised by high-quality lift's components and service excellence, observed Mohamed Albahr, the sales manager of Goldenline Lifts.

More than just an exhibition, The Big 5 Saudi 2017 will offer 48 complimentary and CPD (Continuous Professional Development)-certified workshops to visitors attending the event, they stated.

Wiith focus on project management, innovation and technology, and sustainability, these will help industry professionals develop their skills and knowledge in areas critical to the future success of their business, said the organisers.



In 2016, The Big 5 Saudi welcomed an impressive 14,985 unique visitors, bringing together over 21,138 participants from 34 countries, with over 3,000 products on display, they added.-TradeArabia News Service
The UAE is expected to boost its expenditure this year, primarily in areas of infrastructure and developmental enterprises, reported state news agency Wam, citing a real estate expert.



Amid the ongoing preparations for Expo 2020 Dubai, the current real estate and tourism investments are expected to further consolidate and propel the economy to further new heights, especially after the global oil prices recovered some of the losses sustained over the past year, according to Knight Frank, a leading independent real estate consultancy.



The property expert said it expected the UAE business outlook in 2017 to be positive. "The Dubai economy will remain the least vulnerable to future economic crises thanks to the current investments made in the build-up towards Expo 2020 Dubai," it stated.



Some of the major investments made by the UAE government last year for boosting industrial infrastructure include Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), Dubai Industrial City, Dubai South, and the expansion of the Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (Dafza), in addition to the Al Saja'a Industrial Oasis by the Sharjah Government.



Such mega investments reflect the countrys ambitious economic diversification plans as part of its strategy to ensure an innovation-based economy based on intensive knowledge activities to contribute to the accelerated efforts made to promote the country as a global and sustainable business destination, stated Knight Frank in the report.



The emirates population is expected to further grow to 3.1 million in 2017, which means increased demand over the already robust real estate sector, it added.
Dubai Airports efforts to reduce its carbon footprint resulted in total energy savings of 5.17 million kWh in 2016 across Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central (DWC)  equivalent to powering 235 homes for a full year, a report said.



The report was issued just ahead of Dubai Airports participation in the Earth Hour on March 25  when all non-essential lights across both DXB and DWC switched off for one hour.



The energy savings are the result of a range of initiatives including installation of systems, active participation in events such as Earth Hour and World Clean Up Day, as well as new projects including the solar panels on the Concourse D building that began operation with the opening of the new facility in February 2016.



Michael Ibbitson, executive vice president of Technology & Infrastructure at Dubai Airports said, In line with the long-term goals of aviation industry, the Airports Council International and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), Dubai Airports' vision is to ultimately attain carbon-neutral growth. Our achievements in 2016 represent an important step in that direction. Dubai Airports is constantly seeking to implement innovative ideas and new technologies to limit our environmental impact in full support of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Environmental Strategy, the Dubai Plan and UAE Vision 2021.



A bulk of the total savings resulted from the replacement of traditional lighting with LEDs for streetlighting, signage and airfield as well as the installation of intelligent occupancy sensors at both airports. The optimisation of chiller plants at DXB and DWC with the installation of energy saving variable frequency drives for pumps and automation for demand-based flow also helped energy conservation efforts during the year.



The array of solar panels installed on the roof of Concourse D at DXB and at the Police facility at DWC also made significant contribution to Dubai Airports energy conservation efforts by generating power.



Dubai Airports also joined millions of people around the world to observe Earth Hour in March last year  switching off all non-essential lights at both the airports for an hour every day for 24 days saving energy equivalent to reducing 106.4 tons of CO2 emissions.



DXB and DWC became the first airports in the GCC states and two of 56 internationally to achieve Level 2 accreditation from the ACIs Airport Carbon Accreditation Programme in 2016.  TradeArabia News Service
The board of directors of Julphar Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries has decided to appoint chief financial officer Jerome Carle as acting general manager.

The appointment will be effective following the departure of current chief executive officer Dr Ayman Sahli on April 20 and until a new CEO is appointed, said a statement.

His Highness Sheikh Faisal Bin Saqr Al Qassimi, Chairman of Julphar, said: The board believes that Jerome is the right person to drive Julphar while we are looking for a new and highly qualified candidate to fill the CEO role, and we are grateful for Jeromes readiness to endorse the role at this time. I want to thank Dr Ayman Sahli for his outstanding service to the company the past eight years, and I personally wish him well in the future."

Carle commented: I would like to thank the Board of Directors for their trust. I am looking forward to working under their guidance. Together with the executive team, I am confident that we will prepare a smooth transition until our new CEO is appointed and ensure that Julphar is in the right direction to reach our 2020 vision.

Established in 1980, Julphar is the largest generic pharmaceutical manufacturer in Middle East and North Africa, producing over 200 branded products across its 15 manufacturing facilities.  TradeArabia News Service
US President Donald Trump has suffered a major setback after his healthcare bill was withdrawn before a vote in Congress on Friday night.

The bill faced certain defeat from members of Trump's Republican party, who control both houses of Congress. However, Trump blamed the minority Democrats for the failure, reported BBC.

Repealing and replacing the healthcare programme enacted by his predecessor, Barack Obama, was one of the president's major election pledges.

Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said he and Trump agreed to withdraw the vote, after it became apparent it would not get the minimum of 215 Republican votes needed.

Multiple reports suggested that between 28 and 35 Republicans were opposed to President Trump's draft American Health Care Act (AHCA).

Some were said to be unhappy that the bill cut health coverage too severely, while others felt the changes did not go far enough.

The bill also appeared unpopular with the public - in one recent poll, just 17 per cent approved of it, stated the report.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the AHCA would reduce the deficit by $336bn between 2017 and 2026.

However, the number of Americans without health insurance would stand at 52 million by the same time - an extra 24 million compared with Obamacare, said the BBC report.

Speaking after the withdrawal, a defiant Trump said Obamacare would "explode", without explaining why.

However, he refrained from criticising Ryan, whose job as speaker of the House involves rallying support for controversial bills.
The Big Clearance Sale is back, and the organisers, the Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), have announced that more than 100 top brands will be participating at this much-awaited retail event from March 30 to April 1.



Incredible offers await shoppers at the three-day event, which will occupy three halls of Dubai World Trade Centre. Shoppers can avail themselves of hefty discounts of over 80 per cent on an extensive range of designer products from some of the worlds most famous fashion, lifestyle and beauty brands.



The event at Zaabeel Halls 1-3 has attracted leading retail groups in the UAE including Azadea, M H Alshaya Co., Apparel Group and Landmark Group, who will be offering shoppers a wide range of merchandise from top brands in apparels, fashion accessories, cosmetics, perfumes, shoes, bags, and much more.



The participating brands, numbering over 100, include Aeropostale, Billionaire, Boggi, Brioni, Carpisa, Charles & Keith, Debenhams, Desigual, DKNY, Dorothy Perkins, Ecco, Ermano Scervino and Footlocker, to name a few.



The Big Clearance Sale will be open from noon till 11:00pm on the first day (March 30) and then from 11:00am to 11:00pm in the remaining two days. Children under 12 years of age must be accompanied by an adult while strollers/prams will be permitted to enter the venue but not inside individual outlets.



The Big Clearance Sale is part of Dubais annual Retail Calendar, which was launched in December 2016. The calendar contains the full programme of anchor retail activities being conducted and promoted at a city-level including shopping related festivals, promotions and seasonal offer periods, mega-sales and clearance events, exclusive retail experiences and activations. - TradeArabia News Service
Batelco, as part of its commitment to sporting events, is sponsoring the 2017 Batelco Challenge, a major days horseracing, to be held on March 31 at the Rashid Equestrian & Horse Racing Club in Sakhir.



As part of the great day of racing, two trophies will be given by Batelco. The featured races are Batelco Group Cup and Batelco Bahrain Cup. A number of Batelcos senior management will be there on the day to enjoy what promises to be a fun-filled event and to award prizes to the winning owners, trainers and jockeys.



Batelco Bahrain CEO Eng. Muna Al Hashemi said: We are delighted to sponsor the Batelco Challenge and give race goers the opportunity to enjoy an entertaining day at the races. The Rashid Equestrian & Horse Racing Clubs management continues to develop the sport of horseracing in the kingdom and their efforts deserve much praise.



Batelcos sponsorship of sporting events forms a major part of the Companys annual contribution. The broad range of organisations that receive support from Batelco reflects the companys values and helps to strengthen community ties, she added.

Batelco senior manager corporate affairs Osama Alsaad added: A love of horses and a passion for racing are inextricably linked with the Kingdom of Bahrain and these races, together with the great prize fund, will fuel interest amongst jockeys, owners and spectators, alike.



Racing enthusiasts, families and all those who would like a great day out are welcome to come along to see the on-track action and celebrate the Batelco Challenge winners. Admission is free and the event runs from 2 pm to 5 pm.  TradeArabia News Service




A true commitment to renewables, and a credible pitch towards investors, should be embedded throughout the organisational structures and processes of companies, , says a London Business School (LBS) expert.



A number of oil and gas majors are going through an existential crisis in recent years given that the world is decisively and rapidly moving away from fossil fuels. Therefore, the future of the industry in its current form seems rather uncertain, says a London Business School (LBS) expert.



According to Dr Ioannis Ioannou, associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship, LBS, it is no surprise that a number of oil companies across the Middle East are already beginning to invest in renewable forms of energy, hoping that such investments will act as a stepping stone for the next phase of the energy landscape.



Dr Ioannou said: For the oil and gas industry, perception and timing are critical  the recently announced $5 billion investment in solar panels by Aramco, ahead of what could become the biggest IPO ever, warrants closer attention. A true commitment to renewables, and a credible pitch towards investors, should be embedded throughout the organisational structures and processes  financial commitments alone may not be enough, especially given the increasing sophistication of the investment community in evaluating companies commitment to a more sustainable future.



Research shows that companies perform better in the long run, and thus produce superior shareholder returns, only when environmental and social issues become part of a corporations DNA. For Aramco, this means a credible commitment to renewables will have to include appropriate ways to incentivise top executives, formal responsibility for the renewables division at the highest levels of the companys hierarchy. It also requires transparency with regards to the companys overall impact on climate change and reporting transparency around both renewables as well as the fossil fuels division of the company.



According to Dr Ioannou, the adoption of these elements would signal deep engagement with stakeholders in the renewables industry in the long term and it will also signal a longer-term time horizon for decision-making at Aramco more broadly. This would result in financial investments carrying a greater weight with investors when they are backed up by credible organisational commitments.



He continued: Importantly, one should also not underestimate the challenge of competing in the same industry  in this case, the energy industry  with two very distinct business models: fossil fuels and solar. Aramcos long-term success  and hence, its ability to generate investment returns  will hinge upon its ability to evaluate whether the synergies generated by competing with two positions in the same industry outweigh the costs, and whether the resulting conflicts can be managed effectively. It is very likely that at Aramco, attempts to run these two businesses side by side will generate various forms of conflict, ranging from challenges in terms of corporate culture and incentives to cannibalisation concerns if the fossil fuels division perceives the renewables division as a threat to its own survival.



If conflicts become too difficult to manage  and given how different the two models are, this is very likely  then putting fossil fuels and renewables under the same roof may not only fail to generate incremental value but it may even destroy value for shareholders. The investment community will undoubtedly be watching closely to see how Aramco manages these challenges, and how the companys commitment to a sustainable future manifests through its organisational processes and structures, over and above its recent financial commitments, he concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
Britain has banned airline passengers on 14 carriers from carrying laptops and other electronic devices in cabin luggage. The ban follows similar one imposed by the US.



British ban, announced hours after the American measure, applies to different airlines. It covers direct flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.



The Turkish government said the US ban was wrong and should be reversed, said a BBC report. The US ban is being imposed as an anti-terrorist precaution, reports said.



The ban will come into force on March 25. Large electronic devices will still be allowed on board in checked baggage.



Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said his country was also considering restrictions on electronics in the cabins of planes.



The airlines affected by the UK ban include British Airways, EasyJet.



The airlines affected by the US ban are Royal Jordanian, EgyptAir, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways.



The airlines included in the US decision have been given a deadline of 07:00 GMT on Saturday to impose the ban, officials said, adding that the restriction had no end date.



An Emirates spokeswoman was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying the airline understood that the US directive would come into effect on March 25 and remain valid until October 14.

A Royal Jordanian statement said flights from Ammans Queen Alia International Airport to the US has been included in the US ban.



It said RJ will implement these instructions as of March 24. "By taking these measures, it spares passengers the hassle of having to go through legal procedures in the US. RJ passengers departing from Queen Alia International Airport to the United States are not allowed to carry any electronic or electrical devices on board the aircraft cabin. Prohibited devices, which include -but not limited to- laptops, iPads, tablets and cameras, can be transported in the checked baggage only, whereas cellular phones and needed medical devices are excluded from the ban," it said.



The RJ stations in the US include: New York, Chicago and Detroit, in addition to Montreal, as it is served by a combined flight with Detroit.



The ban excludes passengers flying from these stations to Amman, the statement said.



"RJ calls upon its passengers traveling to the United States to abide by these instructions to facilitate their travel. They are also requested to inform airport check-in staff of any prohibited devices- which are still in their possession- in order to be put in their checked baggage," it added.
Sherif Madkour has been appointed as the general manager of Media Rotana Dubai.



Madkour joins the team at Media Rotana from Al Maha Arjaan Abu Dhabi where he held the role of general manager for the last four years.



An Egyptian national, Madkour graduated from Helwan University in Cairo and pursued a post-graduate qualification from Brighton College of Technology in the UK.



A seasoned hospitality management professional with a 20-year track-record, Madkour joins Media Rotana as general manager to lead the management of the 537 room hotel; he is committed to providing strategic leadership expertise that ensures effective and efficient overall management of the property.



Sherif started his career with reputable hotels in Germany and the UK. In 2000, he moved to UAE and worked with esteemed groups such as Hilton and Hyatt prior to joining the Rotana in 2005. During his extensive tenure with the brand, he worked at various bespoke properties, including Sharjah Rotana and Rimal Rotana. He also led the successful pre-opening of Centro Al-Barsha, one of Rotanas most widely recognized business hotels in Dubai. - TradeArabia News Service
Air Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa's first and largest low-cost carrier, has announced Trabzon as its latest Turkish destination to enter its route network, starting June 23.



The new seasonal non-stop service provides passengers with the chance to discover Turkeys historic port city, in addition to its already existing services to Istanbul.



The flight will operate three times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, departing Sharjah International Airport at 21:30, and arriving at Trabzon International Airport at 00:05 local time the next day. The return service will depart Trabzon at 00:45, landing in Sharjah at 05:00 local time.



"Trabzon provides travellers with a unique opportunity to experience Turkeys coastal region and witness the history behind one of the oldest trading ports in the country. The new route is a testament to Air Arabias commitment to providing affordable holiday destinations to passengers travelling from the UAE," said Adel Al Ali, group chief executive officer of Air Arabia.



Air Arabia currently operates flights to 125 routes across the globe from five hubs located in the Middle East and North Africa. - TradeArabia News Service
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So when they butt-stroked me to the head from an AK-47 and I was bleeding down the side of my face and they threw me back in the cell I could
12-24 Club receives operations gift

The 12-24 Club has received $60,000 from the McMurry Foundation for operations.

This grant will allow us to continue serving all who seek recovery from addiction every day, said director Dan Cantine. The McMurry Foundation has supported our efforts for over 20 years. Just as important is their commitment to helping others. We are grateful for all that the McMurry Foundation has done for many.

For more information about the 12-24 Club, call 237-8035 or visit www.1224club.org.

Donations needed

The American Legion Post 2 in Casper is asking for donations of garage sale items for a booth at the Super Garage Sale on March 25. Proceeds from the booth help continue to serve veterans and their families in Natrona County.

Large items like furniture cannot be accepted because their is no storage space, but sporting goods, camping gear, hunting and fishing gear, any tools and small cooking appliances would be greatly appreciated.

All items donated are tax deductible and all funds will stay in Natrona County.

For free pick-up of donations, call or text 267-1800. God bless America and all veterans, past and present.

Caps 4 Kids March 22

The March gathering of Caps 4 Kids is 12:30 or 1 p.m., until mid-afternoon on Wednesday, March 22, at the Central Wyoming Senior Center, 1831 E. 4th St. All who knit or crochet are welcome for a few hours of crafting and socialization.

A generous donation of yarn has been received. Come select favorite colors and make a few caps that will be donated next fall to the young and old. There are patterns available or you may use your own design. All sizes of caps are created.

Please contact the Senior Center at 265-4678 for more information. They will forward your inquiry to a member of the group.

School collects shoes March 25

Mount Hope Lutheran School is conducting a shoe drive from 9 to 11 a.m., on March 25, 2017. Mount Hope will earn funds based on the total weight of the shoes collected as Funds2Orgs will purchase all of the donated footwear. Those dollars will then help MHLS to purchase new playground equipment. Anyone may help by donating gently worn, used or new shoes, at Mount Hope Lutheran School, located at 2300 Hickory St. If anyone would like to donate and is unable to stop by on Saturday, March 25, an alternate drop box is located inside Lifetime Fitness, 300 Landmark Dr.

All donated shoes will be redistributed throughout the Funds2Orgs network of microenterprise partners in developing nations. Funds2Orgs helps impoverished people start, maintain and grow businesses in countries such as Haiti, Honduras and other nations in Central America and Africa. Proceeds from the shoe sales are used to feed, clothe and house their families. One budding entrepreneur in Haiti even earned enough to send her son to law school. With Funds2Orgs, your shoes are given a second chance and could help a family in need.

In the U.S. alone, over 600 million pairs of shoes are thrown away per year. A special thanks to Lifetime Fitness for their tremendous support.

Scarves for Special Olympics

Special Olympics Wyoming invites those who knit and crochet to make scarves for the Wyoming Special Olympics athletes to wear at State Winter Games in February 2018. Please use black, grey and white colors, approximately 6- by 60-inches in any pattern. The deadline to receive the scarves is January 2018. Please send scarves to Special Olympics Wyoming, attn. Scarf Project 2017, P.O. Box 624, Jackson, WY 83001. There is more information available at www.sowy.org/other-fundraisers.

Monthly vets ceremony March 31

The Natrona County United Veterans Council and the staff of the Oregon Trail Wyoming State Veterans Cemetery conduct a monthly memorial service for those known Wyoming veterans who have died since the last memorial service February 28, when 86 Wyoming veterans were honored.

This months memorial service is at noon, March 31, in the Tom Walsh Chapel at The Oregon Trail Veterans Cemetery. All are welcome to attend.

The memorial service is provided on behalf of a grateful state and nation as an expression of appreciation for the honorable and faithful service rendered by each of these veterans.

The veterans name, Wyoming community and branch of service is read at roll call. There is a rifle salute, taps, and the folding of a flag.

Community baby shower April 8

The Natrona County Prevention Coalition presents the Community Baby Shower from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 8, 2017, at the Boys and Girls Club of Central Wyoming, 1701 E. K St. The Community Baby Shower is a free celebration for all things babies and toddlers. All expecting parents and parents of children up to age 3 are invited for giveaways, door prizes, interactive activities, and the opportunity to learn about local community resources.

Founded in 2002, the Mission of NCPC is to prevent substance abuse in our community by promoting healthy and positive choices. NCPC is a collaboration of over 40 members made up from community agencies, businesses, and concerned citizens. NCPC is responsible for conducting and holding multiple substance-free events for the community throughout the year, including: Family Day, Community Baby Shower and First Night. Mercer Family Resource Center is the lead agency for NCPC and acts as the Coalitions fiscal agent.

For more information on the Community Baby Shower, please contact Lisa Brown, family and parenting co-chair, at 265-7366 or lbrown@mercercasper.com.

Food of the month

Wyoming Food for Thought Project has announced its food of the month suggestions for the nearly 1,000 weekend food bags its volunteers prepare for food-insecure school students in Natrona County each week. Often, schools, churches and other groups designate certain collection days for a specific type of food as a donation.

The suggested food items may be taken to program headquarters at 900 St. John, but its best to call ahead to make certain someone is there to receive it.

March, cereal; April, granola bars; May, tuna; June, peanut butter; July, pork n beans; August, mac n cheese; September, Chef Boyardee products; October, cereal; November, soup; December, chili.

For more information, call Cassandra at 337-1703.

Blood centers extend hours

United Blood Services is expanding hours at its Casper and Cheyenne donor centers in an effort to make blood donation more convenient for more donors.

The center at 2801 East 2nd Street in Casper will be open six days a week. Closed only on Tuesday, the Casper center will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

The center at 112 E. 8th Ave. in Cheyenne will be open five days a week, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Blood donations can drop as much as 20 percent during the holidays and winter months, but every two seconds, every day of the year a patient in the U.S. needs a blood transfusion.

Whole blood donors are eligible to give blood every eight weeks and are encouraged to donate at least three times each year to help UBS meet the needs of patients.

Donors can save time and fill out their Fast Track Health History Questionnaire online at unitedbloodservices.org the day of their donation. To donate blood, volunteers must be at least 16 years old (16 and 17-year-old donors need a minor donor permit which is available online) and be in good health.

In addition to its community donor centers in Cheyenne and Casper, UBS operates various blood drives across Wyoming. To make an appointment call 877-827-4376 or go to unitedbloodservices.org.

Disabled vets need volunteer drivers

The Disabled American Veterans need volunteer drivers to take veterans to their medical appointment at the VA hospital in Cheyenne. The volunteer driver will transport them in a VA vehicle. If you are interested, please call the DAV transportation office in Cheyenne at 307-778-7577 for further information.

English speakers needed

CHAT, the English Conversation Club at Casper College Adult Learning Center, needs English speakers to meet international community members and help them speak English. Join us for an international potluck in the Werner Technical Center, Rm. 105: March 22, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.; April 13, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.; and May 4, 11 a.m. to noon. For more information, call 268-2230 or email mdugan@caspercollege.edu.
Councilman Todd Murphy just wants to gamble.

Murphy joked that if the Casper City Council approved the city planning commissions recommendation to slightly expand Washington Park to encompass an adjacent, unzoned right-of-way, he would lose the ability to shoot dice and play cards on the plot.

When it becomes park historic, we cant gamble on it, Murphy lamented. Is there any way we can amend that?

Park historic zoning allows for any reasonable use as approved by the planning commission with the exception of gaming/gambling uses.

For shame.

When councilwoman Amanda Huckabay reported that the Casper Chamber of Commerce was expecting to be $24,000 in the black this year, Murphy asked whether the group planned to raffle off the surplus.

No, you cant gamble there either, Todd, Huckabay said.

Im running out places, he replied. Tired of the basement.

***

Wyoming Public Radio made an appearance at the Casper City Council meeting last Tuesday, the first time Ive seen the broadcaster represented.

Maggie Mullen was there to report on the citys plans to hold a public forum addressing reports of sexual assault in the community.

Speaking just outside Council chambers with a group of women who attended the meeting to show support for addressing what they see as an inadequate police response to those reports, Huckabay said Mullen had attended at her invitation.

The Casper native gave a great talk last month at a Wyoming Humanities event at The Lyric.

The topic? How she developed a radio voice amid the competing pressure for female reporters to not sound too feminine  or too masculine  on the air.

So perhaps it was fitting that one of the women wanted to hear her radio voice after Council on Tuesday.

Can you say, Im Maggie Mullen?

Im Maggie Mullen, Mullen obliged.

***

Ive wondered for awhile now whether eclipse festival visitors have actually reserved any of the Casper homes listed on short-term rental websites like Airbnb and VRBO.

A news report a couple months ago touted the high prices  $5,000 per night in some cases  but thats no proof that anyone is actually paying those rates.

It remains anecdotal, but over drinks at Backwards Distillery last week someone told me he had successfully rented his home for $2,000 per night.

Not a bad haul.

***

The Council work session on Feb. 14 ran late, butting into members Valentines Day plans.

City staff handed out some extra Wyoming Symphony Orchestra tickets at the meeting as consolation, and councilman Jesse Morgan snapped them up.

He was ready with a review of their March 18 performance at Natrona County High School.

I used the Valentines Day symphony tickets this weekend, Morgan reported. Symphony went really well for me.

***

With absolutely no regard for my reliance on Council meetings to throw this column together every week, Mayor Kenyne Humphrey cancelled the work session scheduled for this Tuesday.

The cancellation is due to the prearranged absences of four of the Councilmembers, the city announced in a statement.

Im not bitter.
PFLAG discusses

gender fluidity

The Casper community is invited to this months Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays meeting on Sunday at the United Church of Christ, at 15th and Melrose. The business meeting will be from 5 to 5:25 p.m., potluck dinner from 5:30 to 6 p.m. and a program from 6 to 7 p.m. This months program will be on gender fluidity, facilitated by Dr. Joseph Campbell, English and Gender Studies instructor at Casper College. People of all ranges of gender are invited to share in this discussion. Questions or inquiries related to this event can be directed to Rob Johnston (259-5026) or Ruth Ann Leonard (265-5449).

Re-Formation

at Good Shepherd

Good Shepherd Lutheran hosts special Re-Formation Lenten services that were 500 years in the making. This year, there is special Lenten emphasis on the 500th observance of the Reformation, as the Lutheran and Catholic churches observe the richness of what there is in common as people of faith, witness and practice.

The Sunday morning, 9:30 a.m., services following Ash Wednesday will focus on images of The People Who Shook the World, including Martin Luther, Pope Leo X, Prince Frederick, Katie Luther and Friar Johann Tetzel.

All are welcome. Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is located at 51 Primrose Street in Paradise Valley, behind Shepherd of the Valley Healthcare Community. For more information, call the church office at 237-3503.

Lent at Christ Episcopal

Christ Episcopal Church, 415 West Cedar in Glenrock, announces its Lent schedule. Services on the Sundays in Lent are at 9:30 a.m. For info, call Deacon Leigh Earle at 258-2524. The Episcopal Church welcomes all.

Celtic festival March 26

A Celtic festival will be held at 1 p.m. on Sunday at St. Marks Church. The public is welcome. A free will donation will be collected. Music of Ireland and Scotland, vocal and bagpipes, plus Richens-Timm Irish dancers will perform. Punch and scones will be served.

Sunday breakfast at Elks

The Casper Elks Lodge serves breakfast open to the public on Sundays from 8 to 11 a.m. Serving pancakes, biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage links, potatoes, scrambled eggs, French toast and omelets to order. New to the menu is build your own breakfast burrito. Also served is toast, juice, tea and coffee. All you can eat for $7, children 5 to 12 are $3, 4 and under are free. Come down for the best breakfast in town and see the old crew again. For more information, call 234-4839.

Church offers

parenting class

Have a New Kid by Friday is a five-day action plan that works. Internationally recognized family expert Dr. Kevin Leman reveals why kids do what they do and what can be done about it, starting right now.

Hilltop Baptist Church, 220 S. Pennsylvania Ave., will start a new study on Sunday afternoons with the book, Have a New Kid by Friday, March 26 to May 7 at 1:30 p.m. This is a six-week study with a break on Easter. Optional workbooks can be found on Amazon. Childcare will be provided.

UU March events

The public is invited to attend the Unitarian Universalist Community of Casper services and other events at 1040 West 15th Street, just north of the CY Avenue Albertsons. UU Casper is a welcoming, doctrine-free church that fosters individual spiritual growth, ethical living, and inclusive fellowship. Services are Sundays at 10 a.m.

On Sunday, Erich Frankland will lead a discussion forum on the monthly worship theme World Community.
A Wyoming company is requesting almost $5.7 million in loans for farmers who grow sugar beets after heavy rains and frost hurt last year's harvest.

A special call-in meeting of the Wyoming Business Council is scheduled for Thursday to consider the request from the Wyoming Sugar Company.

The company says the loans would help growers who saw beet prices drop last year due to weather-related problems. Wyoming Sugar is owned by 38 growers representing about 60 families in northern Wyoming.

If the proposal is approved by the business council's board of directors, growers would need to submit loan applications by May 15.
A rough translation of Marylands state motto is Strong Deeds, Gentle Words. In the case of a 14-year-old girl who was recently raped and sodomized in a restroom at Rockville High School by two males students, both immigrants, one facing a deportation hearing, that motto in practice has been reversed.

The police report of the incident is so graphic that it cannot be printed in full, but the facts are these: Henry Sanchez, 18, a Guatemala native who has a pending alien removal case against him, and 17-year-old Jose Montano, who came to America from El Salvador eight months ago, have been charged with first-degree rape and two counts of first-degree sexual offenses.

The two are alleged to have dragged the 14-year-old girl into a boys restroom where they raped and sodomized her after she repeatedly screamed no.

Compounding the physical and possible long-term psychological damage to the girl is the response of school authorities and state legislators.

A letter sent to parents from Rockville High School officials said, Ensuring a safe, secure and welcoming learning environment for all of our students is a top priority. Our staff remains vigilant in the monitoring of our school each and every day.

Apparently not.

Among the many questions that should be asked is why Sanchez and Montano  both old enough to be seniors  were placed in a freshman class in the first place. They were given a translator to help them understand what the teacher said in English, but the word that describes that ludicrous decision is easily understood in both English and Spanish  estupido.

Equally stupid is a bill in the legislature that would declare Maryland a sanctuary state. If it passes and survives a likely veto by Gov. Larry Hogan, it would shield illegal immigrants from federal immigration laws. The Republican leader in the House of Delegates, Nic Kipke, says the measure ignores the rule of law and would create anarchy in the state.

One of the things the left claims to always be concerned about are the rights of minorities and the disenfranchised. One hears that argument invoked often in debates over transgender individuals and which bathroom they can use. If that works for liberals in this case, what about the right of a teenage girl to be protected against a violation of her person by illegal immigrants?

A corollary argument is that most illegal immigrants are not violent criminals. We hear the same argument when it comes to Muslims, that not all members of the religion should be judged by the acts of a violent few. Ask the victims or relatives of people who have died or been injured by radical Islamists how they feel about that argument. In the case of the young Rockville High School girl, ask her and her parents, siblings and other relatives if they are OK with allowing people like Sanchez and Montano into their childs school.

The high school from which I graduated is not far from Rockville High. My school was a much safer place. Chewing gum and running in the halls were the worst offenses one could commit, and for repeat offenders that got you a trip to the vice principals office, or detention, and a note home to parents where further discipline was often applied.

If a law like the one under consideration by the Maryland legislature had been in force, Sanchez and Montano might have been shielded from a deportation hearing because authorities would have been prevented from asking them about their immigration status or even their country of origin.

If convicted of the rape charges, they should be punished and then deported. School officials and legislators who have helped create the environment that has allowed such a horrible incident to occur must be held accountable by the citizens of Montgomery County, Maryland and voters statewide.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some March 26 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.
While Arizona has one of the nations highest child-poverty rates, federal money intended to help the poorest families is instead being spent here on foster care, adoptions and services to children who have been removed from their families.

Arizona spent $469 million in 2015 in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or TANF funds, says the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Of that total, 8 percent went to the three objectives established for the federal program: child-care help, job training and direct cash assistance to families.

By contrast, 49 percent of the funding went to the Department of Child Safety, primarily for services rendered once a child has been removed from his or her home after allegations of neglect or abuse. (The remainder went to state agency operating costs and other programs such as domestic violence prevention and services for the elderly.)

Most states spend some TANF money on child abuse and neglect cases, but the average is about 7 percent, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of the federal records.

There is a yawning gap when it comes to Arizonas practices, said Joshua Oehler, economic policy analyst with the Childrens Action Alliance.

This definitely is concerning for us. If you want people to go from welfare to work, they need to have child care, he said. Its vitally important for families to receive this help.

While its legal and within the states wide discretion to use the funds on cases related to child abuse and neglect, thats not what the TANF funds are for, said Karen McLaughlin, director of budget and research for Arizonas Childrens Action Alliance. We think both programs need to be funded adequately, she said, referring to direct help for impoverished families as well as money for child neglect or abuse cases.

Arizona removes children from their homes due to allegations of abuse or neglect at one of the highest rates in the nation. As of mid-March, there were 17,200 children in out-of-home care.

Thats one of the primary reasons the state has shifted so much TANF funding to DCS, said Daniel Scarpinato, spokesman for Gov. Doug Ducey. This spending is reflective of a need that exists in child safety, he said.

We are starting to see some success in terms of reducing backlog and the number of kids in out-of-home care, Scarpinato added. The number of children in state care now is significantly lower, down from nearly 20,000 just a couple of years ago, he said.

Those investments in the Department of Child Safety mean less for other families.

Arizona State Universitys Morrison Institute for Public Policy examined whether focusing on DCS cases is actually compounding the crisis by leaving too many families  the ones that dont face allegations of child neglect or abuse  without help early on.

Morrison Institute Director Thom Reilly concluded that while prioritizing the competing demands of moving parents into the workforce, preserving families and protecting children is not an easy balance for states, he found these needs to be interrelated.

Such policy and fiscal decisions are making it more challenging for poor families with children to enter the workforce, Reilly wrote in a 2015 report. So, what on the surface may seem to be a solution for the states underfunded and underperforming child welfare system  cutting benefits to poor families and shifting TANF funds to the child welfare system  may very well be exacerbating Arizonas child welfare problem.

During fiscal year 2015, roughly 23 out of every 100 families living in poverty received cash assistance through TANF nationwide. In Arizona, 10 or fewer out of every 100 families received that help.

In Arizona, TANF hasnt done its job, largely as a result of the lack of investment through child care support, work activity supports and training people to get good paying, stable jobs, Childrens Action Alliances Oehler said. It really takes a lot of resources and were not devoting those dollars to that.

The number of children living in poverty in Pima County grew from 22 percent in 2009 to 27 percent in 2014, the Annie E. Casey Foundation reports. Statewide, 25 percent of children lived in poverty as of 2015, a Kids Count report shows, ranking Arizona 43rd highest in child-poverty rates.

Two years ago, Arizona became the nations strictest state in the length of time a family can get TANF benefits, reducing help from two years to one.

There is a current legislative proposal that would reinstate the two-year plan. We do have some exceptions in there, including requiring people to comply with job searches and getting your kids to school, Scarpinato said. The school attendance rate, a controversial part of the measure, is expected to be 90 percent.

The reason for that is we should be rewarding good behavior and incentivize people to find work, he said. The best way to break the cycle of poverty is to make sure your children are getting an education and getting to school.

He said that as the number of children in out-of-home care due to allegations of neglect or abuse or continues to decrease, Arizona will re-evaluate how it spends TANF dollars.

Long waiting list

As of Feb. 3, there were 4,190 families and 7,369 children on the waiting list for TANF-subsidized child care statewide, Department of Economic Security data shows. In Pima County, there were 983 families and 1,669 children.

Yadell Urreas name is on that waiting list.

As her daughter approached her first birthday, and the babys father struggled to find full-time employment, Urrea knew the trio needed more income.

She secured a job at a nursery school more than a month ago, and prior to that contacted DES, wondering if she could get some help with child-care costs. She takes her 18-month-old with her to her workplace, where she receives child care that her parents pay for.

We were barely making it paycheck to paycheck with the bills, Urrea said. Theres never money left over to buy clothing or other things that inevitably come up and help with child care would ease that tremendously, she said, until her partner can find more work.

Urrea said she even had to wait to preregister to get on the waiting list. Recently, she was able to get her name listed and now, shes been told, shell need to wait about a year.

Their priorities are to help the families that are involved in DCS, but they should also help the families that are working hard as well, she said.

When there is a family, the idea is that No, you could do it on your own,  she said. What theyve told us in the past is that, if youre not in a DCS case, theres no point in applying.

Families referred for child care assistance through DCS are not subject to the waiting list.

An estimated $49 million will be spent on child care subsidies for DCS-involved families in 2017, with funding coming from the states general fund, the federal Child Care and Development Fund and other federal funds.

Less cash assistance

As poverty numbers climbed, the number of Pima County children receiving help through TANF cash assistance dropped from 17,552 in 2009 to 6,329 in 2015.

Child-care subsidies, according to DES records, were at their highest in 2009 when $15 million was earmarked for that help. Its been down to $2.7 million for the last few fiscal years and is projected to be the same in fiscal year 2016. It hit its lowest point in nearly 10 years in 2012, at $717,800.

Eligibility for TANF is so low, were talking about the most vulnerable people in our state, said Angie Rodgers, president of Arizona Food Banks.

Initially, when TANF was created in 1996, very little of the funding was going to cases involving child abuse and neglect, she said, but now, its completely flipped around.

The DCS definitely needs a lot of help, Rodgers said, but it doesnt have to be on the backs of poor kids.
A federal judge has rejected claims by a Border Patrol agent that he cant be tried on murder charges in his court.

U.S. District Judge Raner Collins said the evidence shows that Lonnie Swartz was standing within a 60-foot zone adjacent to the international border when he shot 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, who was in Mexico.

Collins said he reads the law to say that zone is part of what he is known as the Roosevelt Reservation, an area first claimed by the federal government in 1897. And that, the judge said, means that Swartz, who now is on administrative leave, was standing on federal property when he fired the shot across the border that killed Rodriguez.

The ruling, unless overturned, clears the way for the criminal case against Swartz to proceed.

But Collins, in a separate ruling, blocked federal prosecutors from using at trial some statements Swartz made to a supervisor immediately following the shooting.

The judge said Swartz clearly believed he was compelled to make those statements because of Border Patrol policy. And Collins said such compelled, coerced and involuntary statements are inadmissible.

Swartz is facing a separate civil lawsuit, also in federal court, filed by the mother of the victim. But that case remains on hold until an appellate court decides whether it has jurisdiction in that case.

There apparently is no dispute that Swartz fired the shots, 10 of which an autopsy showed entered from the back.

Swartz contends the boy was throwing rocks across the border, a contention that the boys family denies.

What is in dispute is whether Swartz can face criminal charges in federal court.

Swartzs attorney, Sean Chapman, said his client was standing within the state of Arizona and Santa Cruz County when he discharged his firearm.

That, Chapman argued, means Collins has no jurisdiction to hear the murder charges.

There is no indication that the alleged crime was committed on federal land, Chapman argued.

Collins, however, did not see it that way.

He said the evidence shows the federal government claims a 60-foot stretch of land all along the international border.

And Collins rejected Chapmans claim that federal reservation disappeared after Arizona became a state in 1912.

Even if Arizona has not, in its enabling act, disclaimed all right and title to the lands at issue in this motion, this court would still be satisfied that the Roosevelt Reservation maintained its character after Arizona was admitted as a state of the union, the judge wrote.

In the United States, the Constitution permits the state and federal governments to exercise concurrent jurisdiction without undue influence, Collins wrote. Anyway, he said, The state of Arizona has not protested this courts assertion of jurisdiction over this matter.

The statements at issue were made by Swartz to supervisor Leo Cruz Mendez.

They included, They were throwing rocks, They hit the dog, and I shot and theres someone dead in Mexico.

Collins said Swartz clearly believed he would be exposed to discipline up to and including removal if he did not answer the questions.

The threatened penalty was, therefore, both sufficiently coercive and more than merely hypothetical, the judge concluded.

And Collins said the government, in its questioning, acted as his employer and cannot now use the same statements in its role as prosecutor.

The rulings, released Friday, do not resolve the separate question of whether the youths mother can sue Swartz civilly in federal court.

In October, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments about whether she had standing to sue in federal court because her son was not in the United States at the time of the 2012 shooting.

The appellate justices have not yet ruled, waiting to see what the U.S. Supreme Court decides in a similar case out of Texas.

During arguments, Chapman pointed out that the boy was shot and died in Mexico.

And he argued that any ties the boy had to relatives in the United States were not enough to extend to him the protections of the U.S. Constitution.

But Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union told the judges thats legally irrelevant.

We dont think that you need to want to live in the U.S. to not be shot across the border, he said.

Gelernt warned the three-judge panel it would set a bad precedent to allow Swartz  and anyone else who fires shots across the border  to escape civil liability.
The ouch/oops idea proved irresistibly precious.

In a 20-page document called Diversity and Inclusiveness in the Classroom, the University of Arizonas vice provost for inclusive excellence, Jesus Trevino, suggested a way of dealing with offenses committed in the college classroom, a method that apparently exists at several campuses.

If a student feels hurt or offended by another students comment, the hurt student can say ouch. In acknowledgment, the student who made the hurtful comment says oops. If necessary, there can be further dialogue about this exchange.

Its the kind of touchy-feely idea on college campuses these days that drives some people insane  Im often among them, shaking my head at the absurdity. And so, on March 15, Tucson radio talker Garret Lewis lambasted the guidelines on his KNST 790-AM morning show. Then the usual set of right-leaning outlets picked up the story.

Washington Free Beacon: New Safe Space Guidelines at University of Arizona Treat Students Like Preschoolers.

Breitbart News: University of Arizona Instructs Students to Say Ouch! when Offended.

Fox News: Snowflake Watch: Safe words for safe spaces.

None of the publications bothered to contact the UA, spokesman Chris Sigurdson told me. Thats bad journalism.

Nevertheless, they werent wrong in their criticisms. The guidelines seem to fetishize the idea of marginalized groups and protecting their multiplying ranks from offense.

Introducing the guidelines, for example, Trevino wrote: In addition, many campus constituents have social identities that historically have been underrepresented (e.g. Black/African Americans, Latinx/Chicanx/Hispanic, Asian American/Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, LGBTQIA+ folks, international students and employees, people with diverse religious affiliations, veterans, non-traditional students, women, first-generation college students, and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds).

For those who havent kept up, latinx was invented to replace the masculine-gendered adjective latino and also latin@, which originally replaced latino but was considered exclusionary because it only reflects masculine and feminine gender. LGBTQIA+ takes in intersex people, asexual people, and anybody who isnt actively heterosexual.

Beyond the elaborate lingo, some of the ideas seemed obvious, juvenile or just plain strange.

Collages and other forms of art tap into students creative and visual side, Trevino wrote. Here students might be asked to create a collage depicting intergroup relations or intergroup concepts and ideas.

Can you imagine spending your precious college years making a collage showing intergroup relations, concepts or ideas?! Better to save the tuition and go to truck-driving school.

  

But I may be a particularly prickly audience for this kind of thing. I first heard the phrase P.C. when I visited Oberlin College in Ohio as a high school senior. It was 1986, and I had to ask to find out it meant politically correct. Then I had to ask what that meant. By the time I graduated from college there, I practically had a degree in political correctness.

By now, the phrase has become so pervasive and overused, its practically lost all meaning.

But I got my deepest lesson in this uniform campus mindset when I was a college senior at Oberlin in April 1990. Larry Kramer, who founded the AIDS advocacy group Act Up, spoke at the auditorium one Friday night. After his inflaming speech, students gathered spontaneously outside the student union. After some speechifying by the usual campus activists, one of them proposed a march against bigotry to the college presidents house a couple of blocks away.

To this day I regret not having the courage to raise my hand in that crowd of perhaps 100 students and ask the question on my mind: Why? It was late at night. It seemed like an overly generic cause. And there was no particular reason to go to the college presidents house.

But the march happened, and I hesitantly joined. A student rang the presidents doorbell. Anticlimactically, nobody answered because they werent home. So the decision was made to sit in on the presidents lawn. The whole thing was farcical and would have ended quickly, except the town police unexpectedly showed up. What happened next would not be called a riot because there was little or no violence, but it certainly became a mass disturbance, with arrests, physical struggles, some baton swings, and police vehicles blocked in by gathering protesters.

Looking back, it was all pointless  the march, the police response, the disturbance, the arrests. And that, among other experiences, helped build my skepticism to initiatives like this new one at the UA.

  

If you talk to Trevino and read the guidelines carefully, though, you see some valuable material in their heart. Most of all, it tries to show UA faculty members how to run classroom discussions so everyone is heard and everyone learns.

Trevino, hired as the universitys diversity officer last year for a whopping $214,000 salary, told me he cobbled together the document from lessons hes learned, in rapid response to the 2016 general election. Some professors were having a hard time with polarizing classroom discussions and wanted suggestions, Trevino said. But the problems werent and arent pervasive.

Most of the teaching that takes place in higher education is free of conflict, he told me. Across higher education, you do have these incidents, but its not as if every day we cant talk to each other because people are offended.

Nobody outside the university took much notice of the document, sent to all faculty members. Im guessing few people inside the university took much notice either  till Lewis talked about it on the radio.

Trevino labeled the contents as merely suggestions for faculty who want to engender the broadest possible perspectives, opinions, and experiences and to maximize free speech in the classroom.

While the document works to ensure the aforementioned marginalized groups are heard and not subject to offenses, many of the suggestions would also protect politically conservative students or other minority viewpoints on campus.

If you are going to express your political opinions in the classroom, Trevino wrote to the notoriously liberal faculty, understand that there is a risk of silencing students who do not agree with your views. As a faculty member, when you express your views to students you are doing so out of a position of power.

In another section, he writes, It is important to constantly mix the students so that they can get to know everyone in class, not just those they are comfortable with.

One that really struck me, since Im a loudmouth, was, People who listen more than they speak often have more of value to share. Indeed.

So, yes, the phrase microaggression , used often in these guidelines, makes me squirm. It could be used to enforce ideological uniformity if opposing viewpoints are labeled microaggressions against marginalized groups, requiring an ouch and an oops of apology.

But if used honorably, many of the lessons could have the opposite effect: opening up discussions to broader, free-flowing speech rather than pinching it down.
Twenty years ago, internet access was a luxury that only a small number of schools in the country could afford. Thats no longer true .

As more instructional technology advances and more material lives online instead of on book shelves or in cabinets, nearly all schools in the country have adopted some sort of access to the internet, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

However, data from a nonprofit advocating for better internet access in schools shows Arizona is still lagging.

Thats not to say progress isnt being made; a statewide initiative coupled with federal funding could boost internet connectivity in Arizonas public and charter schools substantially in coming years.

Education Superhighway ranked Arizona 44th worst out of 50 states for connectivity in 2016.

Fifty-five districts and charter schools in the state, including five in Pima County, dont meet the minimum connectivity goal or need more sufficient wireless access.

Internet access enables instruction experiences beyond traditional methods, educators say.

Students in rural areas can gain access to accelerated or specialized courses through the internet. Classes can take virtual field trips to national parks or even world-renowned museums. Teachers can track student progress in real time and use the data to give individualized attention to struggling kids.

There is almost a universal agreement that technology is a critical enabler of teaching and learning in our schools, said Evan Marwell, the CEO of Education Superhighway, the nonprofit using government data to understand internet access issues in schools and helps them with procurement.

But those opportunities may not be there yet for some 250,000 students in the state, many of whom are in rural areas, whose schools do not meet the FCCs minimum connectivity goal.

Its not a mandate, but 100 Kbps, or kilobits per second, per student is what the FCC, State Educational Technology Directors Association and Education Superhighway agree as the minimum bandwidth, or capacity of internet access, to facilitate instructional technology.

Tucson Unified School District, which is largest district in the county, has double the amount of the minimum goal.

Some district make do with less, he said. But given the minimum goal was adopted by the FCC in 2014 and technology advances rapidly, the goal would be harder to achieve in coming years, not easier.

To put things into perspective, Marwell says his household of five has a 100 Mbps, or megabits per second, connection. Thats a thousand times more than 100 Kbps.

But that 100 Mbps is the maximum capacity, not whats being delivered regularly by the service provider, he said. On average, internet customers can expect to get about half the advertised speed.

That boils down to about 10 Mbps per person in Marwells family, he said. To stream a high-definition video, it takes about 5 Mbps.

You can imagine, if youre in a school in rural Arizona that has 100 kids and you only have 10 Mbps of bandwidth, only one, maybe two classrooms can stream a video possibly, he said.

A TALE OF TWO DISTRICTS

About 135 miles west of Tucson in Ajo, Superintendent Bob Dooley has a lot of pride in his district, which serves 435 students, and the instructional technology it provides.

For a small district, were in pretty decent shape, he said. The district received a hefty grant four years ago to update its technology. It now has smart whiteboards in every classroom, computer labs and accelerated or specialized courses students can take online.

We still have textbooks and calculators, but technology is definitely an asset, he said. We would not be serving our students if we didnt expose them to technology.

It worries him that his kids arent getting the same access as those in Phoenix or Tucson though. Larger schools generally tend to have more resources, he said.

Ajo Unified has the same bandwidth of 100 Mbps, which is the same amount that Marwell of Education Superhighway has for his family. The network is shared by staff members too, who use it for important functions like payroll and financial accounts.

Dooley said hes very satisfied with the service hes getting from the local internet service provider, Table Top Telephone Co., though he hasnt got another choice. It is the only provider in the town of about 3,300 people.

When its time for assessments, its kind of like a perfect storm analogy, Dooley said. Two or three classes taking an assessment online at the same time as some kids taking online courses can create delay issues.

To avoid that, the Ajo district plans to triple its bandwidth through a federal funding program called E-Rate, which makes $3.9 billion available to public schools and libraries seeking to improve internet access. It also wants to expand technology use.

We always want to look down the road 25 years, Dooley said.

Across the county, Scott Little, chief financial officer of Amphitheater schools in the Tucson area who also oversees technology, monitors the districts internet usage from his desk. He pulls up a dashboard, which can tell him what sites are using more of the bandwidth and when the peak times are.

As of 2016, the district didnt meet the 100 Kbps per student goal. But Little said he thinks the goal is arbitrary. Its more of a wish list and less of a mandate, he said. At 28 Kbps per student, Amphi makes do by restricting access to things like streaming radio or social media. He can even customize whats restricted to whom.

In my opinion, bandwidth is a bit like jails and roads, he said. You build them, and people will find a way to use them to capacity.

Because capital funding source from the state has dried up, the district is planning on having students bringing in their own devices like tablets and laptops, which would add about 14,000 new connections to the internet, Little said.

To support that and future growth, Amphi is getting a new internet connection and an infrastructure upgrade that would increase the districts bandwidth to 2 Gbps, which is five times more than the existing bandwidth.

Amphi is one of the first school districts in the country to use the E-Rate program to fund something called dark fiber. Fiber optic cables are threads that transmit data. Dark fiber, by extension, is unused fiber optics that can be turned on for more capacity.

So what Amphi is doing is building a system with more capacity than it immediately plans to use to account for growth, Little said. That means if the need for internet capacity grows in coming years, whether its because of enrollment increase or technology advancement, the district can tap into the extra capacity built into the system.

Its all about being cost-effective, Little said. The district would save about $575,000 in 10 years by having the unused fiber optics already in place.

CHANGING TIDE

Arizona is in the bottom tier now, but there are measures in place to change the tide, said Stefan Swiat, an Arizona Department of Education spokesman. The state launched an initiative to expand broadband access in schools, especially in rural areas.

Urban Arizona keeps progressing and keeps getting access to better technology, he said. Rural Arizona keeps falling behind. What this does is level the playing field.

Through a grant program from the K-12 Broadband and Digital Learning Policy Academy, the state education department would receive $10 from the grant for every dollar the state invests.

To enable state investment, the Arizona Corporation Commission recently approved a one-time expansion of the Arizona Universal Service Fund to distribute $8 million.

The initiative would help schools build appropriate infrastructure and help guide them through the procurement process, including helping them make the most of E-Rate. It could benefit 100,000 students in the next two years and level the playing field for rural schools that face challenges in getting high-speed internet.

Its a game changer, Swiat said. This is a once-in-a-generation type of opportunity for Arizona.
A controversial proposed expansion of the University of Arizonas Honors College, including a 1,000-bed dorm, is moving forward despite protests from nearby residents and concerns about the legality of the proposal.

UA officials met with area residents twice last week, offering an overview of the plan to build a six-story building that would span an entire city block between East Drachman and Mabel streets and North Fremont and Santa Rita avenues, north of East Speedway.

The land where the dorm is proposed is owned by American Campus Communities and is outside the official campus boundaries. ACC, based near Austin, Texas, is one of the nations largest developers of student housing communities .

A two-hour meeting Monday on campus had more than 80 people attend, mostly nearby residents who were visibly upset and often alluded to previous disputes with the university expanding into their neighborhoods.

University officials said a second meeting held the following night was less confrontational.

Peter Dourlein, the campus architect for the university, said those attending the second meeting offered suggestions on ways to change the projects physical dimensions that could help alleviate some of their concerns.

In addition to the 1,000-bed dorm building, plans include multi-story buildings for classrooms, office space, a recreation center and a four-story parking garage to be built on the adjacent block between North Park and Fremont avenues.

The university is also considering demolishing several buildings along Park between Drachman and Adams streets, and putting in surface lots to offer additional parking.

The neighborhood now consists of homes, apartments catering to students, university parking lots and vacant land.

Currently, many UA students who are part of the Honors College live in residence halls close to Euclid Avenue and Sixth Street. The UA said there are more than 4,000 students enrolled in the Honors College.

Many frustrated residents said they are weighing their options, legal and political, and were concerned there was little information coming from the university about the proposal.

Some said they hoped the universitys presumed new president, Dr. Robert Robbins, will weigh in on the proposal and work with the neighborhoods.

On Monday night, former City Councilwoman Molly McKasson said she hoped the Tucson City Council would find a way to stop the project, which does not have to abide by city zoning codes, including when it comes to building heights, density and parking requirements.

As of now, the university does not have a formal agreement with the ACC for the project, currently known as a memorandum of understanding.

Councilman Steve Kozachik, who is also a university employee, said the UA has worked hard in the past to establish good rapport with the surrounding neighborhoods and that he hopes the school works with residents over their concerns.

On Friday, Dourlein confirmed he and other university officials are continuing to meet with ACC to discuss plans for the project. He expects that the university will hold more public meetings in about two weeks.
Marana Founders' Day

Alex Mills falls into the water in a dunk tank during Marana's Founders' Day at Ora Mae Harn Park in Marana, Ariz. on Saturday March 25, 2017. The dunk tank was operated by the Marana Community Christian Church to raise money to send kids to summer camp in Prescott. Founders' Day celebrates the history and people of Marana. It was put on by the Marana Heritage Conservancy and the Town of Marana. Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
The Arizona Daily Stars Sportsmens Fund Send a Kid to Camp program raises money so children from low-income households and military families can attend overnight YMCA, Boy Scout and Girl Scout camps and Camp Tatiyee, for school-age children and older teens with special needs, at little or no cost to their families.

Our goal is to raise $190,000 and send 650 local boys and girls to area camps this summer. So far, weve received 465 donations totaling $62,672, which puts us almost a third of the way toward our goal.

Since 1947, the Arizona Daily Star Sportsmens Fund has helped pay for 38,551 children to go to camp. Were one of the oldest 501(c)3 charities in Arizona.

Your contribution qualifies for the Arizona tax credit of up to $800 for donations to qualifying charitable organizations. That tax credit was increased starting for tax year 2016; donations made through April 18, 2017, qualify.

Donations are welcome throughout the year.

Recent donations include:

Stuart Dobbie, $200.

Arlene Douglas, $100.

Judge and Mrs. Terry Douglas, $25.

Joan Duncan, $50.

Judy Dye, $25.

Leroy Edal, $50.

Shirley Erickson, $250.

Donald Erickson, $100.

Addie Everett, $25.

James Ewen, $50.

Betty Feinberg, $100.

Tom Foust, in memory of Chick Hawkins, Jim Riley, Don Hickey, Bill Lovejoy and Bill Breck, $200.

Alan Friedman, $5,000.

Linda Gallimore, $35.

Nimer and Mary Ganem, $100.

Frank Ganz, $25.

Hildreth Garb, $50.

George Garcia, $100.

Wayne Gardner, $50.

Doris Gerganoff, $100.

Bernice Gin, $200.

Adeline Gonzales, $50.

Judith Gray, in memory of Brian E. McCarthy, $50.

Shirley and Don Grieme, $25.

Donald Grimes, $100.

Ron and Sheila Guschel, $15.

Pat Hacker, $200.

Kenneth Halbach, $100.

Patricia Harris, in memory of Ron Harris, $25.

Michael and Lynn Harris, $150.

Marsh Haverty, $50.

Richard and Pamela Hawley, $1,000.

John Heidel Jr., $25.

Cori Hoag, in memory of Wendell Hoag, $100.

Diane Hoelter, $30.

Patrick Hogan, $200.

William Hunchis, $100.

Walter Hutton, $50.

Ross Iwamoto, $50.

Arthur Dixon and Jane Lateer, $100.

Charles Jeffords, $250.

R.E. Jones, $50.

Martin Kahn, $25.

Tom and Mary Keldsien, $100.

Toni Kane, $100.

Nancy Kerkman, $40.

Sara Kessler, $25.

R. Keyzer, $300.

C. King, $50.

Bernice King, $25.

Jay Kittle, $100.

A. Kreutzmann, $100.

James Kuliesh $50.

Malcolm Lav, $25.

Barbara LaWall, $100.

George Lawton, $20.

Yvonne Le Cornu, $20.

Marilyn Lerner, $25.

Brian Loomis, $100.

Mark Lowder, $100.

Sharon Luie-Lew, in memory of Ben Dad Huie, $100.

David and Gypsy Lyle, $100.

Joan and Pete Marum, $100.

Richard Maxwell, $100.

Yvonne Mayer, $100.

T. Mayfield, $50.

J.T. McAndrew, $75.

Gordon McCall, $50.

Mike and Diana McCluskey, $50.

Holly McGuire, $50.

Margaret McLatchie, $35.

A. Meacham, $25.

Lily Meijer, $50.

Maryann Meri, $20.

Clement Mesch, $50.

David Michael, $100.

John Miller, $50.

Ralph and Loretta Miller, $25.

Michael and Helene Miron, $100.

Jerri Moisant, $200.

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Moll, $50.

Lois Montague, $25.

William Morris, $100.

S. Moser, $25.

Barbara Mueller, $100.

Milan Murchek, $100.

Beth Nakhai, $100.

D. Nellist, $35.

Jill Newby, $50.

Mike Niemann, $150.

Norman Ochinero, $100.

Jerry Olson, $50.

Ronald Overholt, $25.

Elaine Owens, $50.

Suzanne Parnell, $100.

Peter Salomon and Patricia Morgan, $1,000.

Thomas Paulus, $400.

C. Pendleton, $200.

Earl and Norma Pennington, $100.

Kathryn Pensinger, $50.

Sally and Bill Powers, $25.

More donations will be acknowledged in the coming week.
iStock/Thinkstock(LONDON) -- The United Kingdom Independence Party's (UKIP) only member of parliament has quit the party to become an independent.

Douglas Carswell, who was with the Conservatives until switching to the Brexit-supporting UKIP in 2014, announced the news on his website on Saturday. The 45-year-old said he joined UKIP "because I desperately wanted [Britain] to leave the [European Union. Now we can be certain that that is going to happen, I have decided that I will be leaving UKIP."

"UKIP might not have managed to win many seats in Parliament, but in a way we are the most successful political party in Britain ever," Carswell said. "We have achieved what we were established to do  and in doing so we have changed the course of our country's history for the better."

Carswell's news comes ahead of British Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to trigger Article 50 on Wednesday, which will begin formal negotiations of the U.K.'s exit from the EU.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
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.
Let me suggest one possible logical explanation. GCHQ, by virtue of being a foreign entity can (and does) easily and routinely collect electronic communications information in the United States. The Brits can do this without having to worry about FISA courts, probable cause, etc. Want proof? Here is the NY Times piece on 17 March 2017 that cites one example:

One of Judge Napolitano's sources apparently was Larry Johnson. However, according to Johnson, the Judge did not accurately report what Johnson had said. According to Mr. Johnson , President Obama did not order anything. Instead, information collected by GCHQ was passed to people in the U.S. intelligence community and then distributed in an unauthorized manner. To deny that GCHQ did not do anything in response to a request from President Obama, but that does not mean that GCHQ (aka General Communication's Headquarters) was passive and doing nothing.

"We've made clear to the administration that these claims are ridiculous and they should be ignored and we've received assurances that these allegations will not be repeated," a Downing Street spokesman told reporters.

"Three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command - he didn't use the NSA, he didn't use the CIA, he didn't use the FBI and he didn't use the Department of Justice," said Napolitano. "He used GCHQ."

Andrew Napolitano, a political commentator and former New Jersey judge, said on Tuesday Obama used GCHQ in order to "make sure there were no American fingerprints."

I learned a long time ago that when you are close to the truth the opposition, if there is any, springs into action and launches a desperate counter attack. That appears to define what happened in the wake of Fox News suspending Judge Andrew Napolitano for the following claim :

The conspiracy theorizing also tested what is often called the special relationship between the United States and Britain. American intelligence agencies enjoy a closer collaboration with their British counterparts than any other in the world. GCHQ was the first agency to warn the United States government that Russia was hacking Democratic Party emails during the presidential campaign

Got that? US and UK have a "special relationship" and the GCHQ was THE FIRST (not the second or third) to warn Obama that Russia supposedly was hacking Democrat Party emails. When did they warn us? Before the discovery of the DNC hack or afterwards? If afterwards, how long? Who received that warning and what steps were taken to take counter measures? Lots of questions.

Here's another one--if the Brits knew that the Russians were hacking the DNC emails then how did they completely miss the Russians passing that info to one Julian Assange, who happens to be holed up in London in the Ecuadorian Embassy?

So why the enormous pushback from the Brits on Fox News? If we were playing Poker I would call that a tell. The Brits, normally implacable, allowed us to see their left eyebrow twitching. Judge Napolitano works for the Murdoch's, who also happen to have significant economic interests in Great Britain. I have heard the the British Government leaned hard on the Murdochs to do something about the Judge. So far, he has been suspended. Remains to be seen if he comes back on air.

To recap, we have the GCHQ routinely collecting on U.S. citizens and sharing that with the United States via NSA. Let me suggest one additional twist--the Brits decided, with encouragement from people in U.S. intelligence (John Brennan, perhaps? Mike Rogers?) to step up their collection on Donald Trump and associates and then passed that information, unfiltered and unmasked, to their U.S. counterparts. Is that what alarmed Devin Nunes earlier this week?

Let's stretch out a bit further. Is it possible that Britain's version of the CIA, MI-6, also got into the act and helped its former officer, one Mr. Steele, compile and distribute the now infamous dossier?

Why in the world would the Brits do something so risky? I think the answer to that is pretty simple, straight forward and self-evident. Trumps policy positions on Syria and NATO represented direct threats to British interests. In Syria, Trump expressed a willingness to side with Russia in defeating ISIS and to withdraw the U.S. from the business of nation building. Trump also turned over the apple cart of status quo foreign policy by stating quite plainly that NATO was an anachronism and needed to be given a good, hard look. Anyone want to argue that our British cousins were comfortable with these policy shifts?

Therefore, it is not a train to crazy town to suggest that GCHQ and MI6 would be quite willing to lend a hand in helping take out Trump. Could that will be one of the key revelations coming down the pike in coming weeks. This also helps account for British establishments' consternation of the claims of Judge Napolitano. It also provides a plausible explanation for the tremendous pressure brought on Judge Napolitano who, without fully understanding what he was talking about, identified a the fat, ugly naked man in the room that looked a lot like the Queen (apologies to her Majesty).

Wouldn't that be a shocker--learning that the Government of Great Britain was working hand in glove with U.S. counterparts to sandbag Donald Trump and his Presidency?

Most overlook an obvious but obscure issue--GCHQ has been collecting intelligence on American citizens for years. Especially Americans of Irish descent or those with ties to Irishmen in the Northern Ireland. That was especially true twenty years ago. You do not have to hold Top Secret clearances to understand this fact. The British were collecting intelligence on Americans with names like Moynihan, O'Keefe, Lang and Kelly. Make no mistake about that.

One final point. The dog that did not bark. By that I mean that notwithstanding all of these machinations, no significant intelligence was generated that provided a smoking gun that could have spelled the end of Donald Trump. How do I know that? Only by deduction. If such information had been scooped up you can be assured that it would have found its way immediately to the front pages of the NY Times and the Washington Post. That has not happened. I think he real story is what did the Brits know and when did they know it? I suspect any further investigations into this matter will put a bit of a damper on US/UK relations.
Britain may have to pay a 50 billion Brexit divorce bill, Sir Keir Starmer MP says.

Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, the shadow Brexit Secretary said it is crucial the UK continues to honour its obligations to international organisations like the European Union.

He added: 'The Labour Party needs to make this case loud and clear. I am prepared to see Britain enter into transitional arrangements over a longer period of time to get the right relationship with our European neighbours.'

However, the Home Secretary Amber Rudd went on to refute these claims.

'Very damaging if there is no deal'

After paying tribute to PC Keith Palmer, the police officer murdered in last week's Westminster attack, Starmer outlined Labour's six tests for the final deal.

He said he wants there to be a discussion about the right deal and to help the Government organise one that is 'right for our country.'

Speaking in response to Marr's question on the Labour Party wanting to preserve a working partnership with the EU, the shadow Brexit Secretary said there are 'pure' Brexiteers who do not want to maintain this collaborative relationship.

The BBC presenter quoted Michel Barnier, who said there is the possibility of no deal with the UK, to which the Labour MP said 'it would be very damaging if there is no deal.There will be protests if that is the case.'

'Hopeless to ask for same benefits'

The Sunday morning presenter asked the Shadow Cabinet member whether or not it is 'a hopeless thing to ask for the exact same benefits that we receive as members of the EU's Single Market and Customs Union.'

But the former barrister said he does not accept Britain cannot continue to receive the same benefits as part of a free trade agreement with the EU.

He said this will deliver the same benefits that membership of these EU bodies currently provides.

He quoted the Brexit Secretary, David Davis, who said in a column for The Sun that this is achievable.

The BBC journalist said the President of the EU Commission, Jean Claude-Juncker, suggested Davis' free trade agreement is achievable and paying a 50 billion divorce bill may be the way to gain continued Single Market access.

He added: 'This is a pretty hefty bill for continued access to the Single Market.'

The Holborn MP said he is not entering a debate about figures.

He said he wants to clarify what the money is for and what the principles behind the divorce bill are before stating whether or not the Labour Party would support paying this fine.

He said Brexit will endure for more than two years once Theresa May triggers Article 50 this week.

This could result in Britain retaining membership of the European Economic Area for the time being.

'No deal better than a bad deal'

The Sunday morning presenter asked Home Secretary Amber Rudd if no deal with the EU is damaging.

She said: 'It is worse to have a bad deal with them than no deal.'

However, she refused to specify if this means the UK would have to pay the divorce bill for continued Single Market access.

The Andrew Marr Show is on every Sunday in between 9am-10am. You can catch the latest episode here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08I62r7/the-andrew-marr-show-26032017/.
This afternoon UK time a car crossing Westminster Bridge in downtown London reportedly accelerated into a crowd of tourists and others on the bridge in an apparent planned attack, causing serious injuries and at least one death. French authorities have already released the information that some French students were among the injured. The terrorist then attempted to enter the Parliament building and was shot after stabbing a policeman. The incident is being classified as a terrorist attack.

What we in the US saw.

Most of the images from the scene of the attack were obviously shot from a helicopter and showed what appeared to be bodies on Westminster Bridge as well as many police, medical personnel, and ambulances.

Rerun scenes from a few minutes earlier showed injured being evacuated on stretchers (gurneys).

MPs speaking by phone from inside the locked down Parliament building told reporters that Prime Minister Theresa May had been in the building at the time shots were apparently heard and her security team quickly moved her from the area, possibly to Number 10, but that hasnt been confirmed.

President Trump in Washington, according to his spokesperson Shan Spicer, had spoken with PM May and assured her that the US would provide any assistance necessary in the wake of the attack.

As of now, (6:30 p.m. GMT) the area around Parliament and Westminster Bridge is still under lockdown and a woman has just recently been pulled from the Thames alive but reportedly seriously injured.

What Londoners saw.

A number of witnesses in London told reporters that they had been on the bridge and saw a half dozen or more bodies but did not know how badly injured they were. They also reported that police and medical personnel arrived quickly and began setting up a perimeter which they then proceeded to push back several times until a large area around the Parliament building was cleared.

Since today was the regular question time for the Prime Minister the House was crowded and other than PM May the members were all held in lockdown in the Parliament building for several hours until they were escorted out twenty at a time.

A medical evacuation helicopter was seen sitting in the park behind Parliament but was not being used to evacuate any injured - It appears that several hospitals are in the immediate vicinity.

One witness, the former Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski told CNN that he had been walking across the bridge for a meeting in Parliament when the attack occurred and further that if he had been on the other side of the road he might well have been among those injured by the speeding car. He posted the following tweet with a video he made at the scene on Westminster Bridge.
Legendary comedian Dave Chappelle is making a return to standup Comedy very soon, releasing to privately filmed specials from the past two years on Netflix on the same day, 21 March. In the trailer for the specials, one called Deep in the Heart of Texas filmed in Austin in 2015 and the other called The Age of Spin filmed last year in LA, Chappelle talks about everything from ISIS to OJ Simpson, and promises some fantastic material to mark his comeback.

Recently, to promote the specials, Chappelle gave an in-depth interview to The New York Times, during which he discussed everything from President Donald Trump to the Bill Cosby scandal to the tragic death of Prince (who he impersonated on his sketch show Chappelles Show).

Its fun to see everybody back

On the topic of many American comics making similar comebacks to the stage (eg Chris Rock), Chappelle said, Its fun to see everybody back. He then added that the whole Trump thing makes it harder for comedians. Clarifying his statement, Chappelle said that Trump is so skewed, its hard to find an angle that sounds fresh, and that joking about Trump on stage is almost like youre part of the chorus and not a soloist. Basically, theres no challenge for comedians to carve their own niche on the subject because Trump is so easy to satirise.

The interviewer asked Chappelle about the Bill Cosby situation, because Cosby is one of his idols and key inspirations, and this summer he will stand trial for many allegations of sexual assault.

Chappelle says that the news was tough for him to process, and said that he didnt want that to detract from his alleged victims at all, but rather he was just stunned by the revelation because Cosby was a hero of (his).

Chappelle said that so many bad things happened to our heroes, citing Muhammad Alis Parkinsons, Richard Pryors MS, and Princes early death.

The comic legend said that before the allegations came out against Cosby, he seemed as though he would just ride out the rest of his life and just die of old age. And this happened. He said, Its awful.

Chappelle is also working on a third special

So, while Chappelles first pair of Netflix specials, Deep in the Heart of Texas and The Age of Spin (both really cool, really intriguing titles, by the way), are set to be released concurrently this Tuesday on 21 March, he revealed during the interview that his deal with Netflix accounted for three specials, and that a third is on its way later on in the year.
It has been a permanent fixture on our TV screens for over 30 years but is popular daytime soap "Neighbours" about to disappear forever from the UK telly schedules?

Our favourite Australian neighbours have been giving us plenty of daytime drama since starting out back in 1985. At its height, it was attracting huge audience figures of nearly 20 million viewers. It also propelled the likes of Holly Valance, Natalie Imbruglia and of course, Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan to stardom. The wedding of their characters, Scott & Charlene is still considered as the favourite episode in Neighbours history.

Now it faces an uncertain future as contract talks stall between Australian producers and Channel 5, which airs the show in this country. So, can a resolution be found?

Iconic characters and themes

"Neighbours" has always provided viewers with fresh, young talent who we instantly enjoy watching but of course, there are iconic characters who have become part of the furniture in Ramsey Street.

Long-serving characters include Toadfish Rebecchi, played by Ryan Maloney and the popular husband and wife team, Susan and Karl Kennedy. Since the Kennedys arrived in 1994, Susan and Karl have been married, divorced, married again and had to deal with illness, affairs and plenty of medical drama. Whether it is a sprained wrist or a leg amputation, Dr.

Karl is the man to see at Erinsborough General Hospital!

Alan Fletcher, who plays the doctor recently spoke to an Australian radio station and dismissed fears of the show being axed. He said: "Our relationship with our broadcasters at Channel 5 and Channel Eleven (Australian network) couldn't be better and couldn't be stronger."

There's also Stefan Dennis who plays the evil Paul Robinson.

After starting out as one of the original cast, Stefan left "Neighbours" in 1993 and featured in other programmes such as "The Bill" and "Dream Team." He returned to the show in 2004, coming back in spectacular fashion as the Lassiter's complex burned down. Even 13 years on, he's still the man no-one wants to double-cross on Ramsey Street.

And there's the iconic theme which has had several remixes over the years;

Can a deal be reached?

It was the BBC who first put "Neighbours" on our UK television sets, airing a new episode at 1.45pm and repeating the programme again at 5.35pm every weekday. It was often one of the first programmes you'd want to watch when coming in from school or college.

Channel 5 became its new home in February 2008, running the show alongside its Australian rival, "Home and Away." However, talks over a new deal have stalled between the UK station and producers of the show, Freemantle Media.

It will never attract the dizzy audience figures of the late 1980s. However, alongside "Big Brother," "Neighbours" is still one of the most popular programmes in the Channel 5 portfolio.

It maintains a strong UK fanbase, despite declining ratings in its own homeland which saw the show moved from Channel Ten to sister digital channel Eleven a few years ago.

Channel 5 is understood to be very keen on keeping the show but they recently got taken over by a new American group, Viacom. The new owners seem reluctant in signing a new deal which has plagued the show's future into doubt. Considering that ratings figures see "Neighbours" outperform "Home and Away" regularly, it would be surprising for Viacom to pull the plug on a show that would be missed if it departs.

It could end up on another channel but with Channel 4 focusing on "Hollyoaks," the BBC not interested having moved "Neighbours" on nine years ago and ITV unlikely to move programmes around to accommodate another soap, the future would be bleak should a new agreement not be reached.

Petitions have already started to keep the show on-the-air. We all have favourite memories of the show and "Neighbours" has produced plenty of dramatic births, marriages, deaths, love stories and disasters. Everyone needs good neighbours and hopefully, a resolution will be reached.
Inventor of the AK-47 rifle unveils 20-ton drone tank that can be remotely piloted

Russian fire arms giant Kalashnikov Concern has recently confirmed that it was developing a new type of unmanned combat ground vehicle (UCGV). According to the company, its proposed UCGV will weigh as much as 20 tons and will feature both a machine gun and a number of laser-guided anti-tank missiles. Kalashnikov Concern CEO Alexei Krivoruchko first confirmed this during an interview with the Russian media outlet Tass.

The company is yet to release details of the vehicle prototype. The new unmanned combat vehicle will weigh three times as much as its predecessor, the seven-ton BAS-01G Soratnik tank, or about as massive as a U.S. Army M1126 Stryker ICV.

The company was named after Mikhail Kalashnikov, a World War II veteran who invented the AK-47 assault rifle. It was believed Kalashnikov Concern has manufactured some 100 million AK-74 assault rifles worldwide. The company is a joint public-private entity, with state-controlled Rostec owning a majority of the stakes.

New Mega-tanks predecessor is no slouch

Kalashkov Concerns latest project was a super-sized version of its predecessor BAS-01G Soratnik. The vehicle was first introduced at Russias Army 2016 Expo in September. BAS-01G Soratnik, which loosely translates to comrades-in-arms, is the companys first unmanned combat ground vehicle and weighs as much as seven tons. The tank was designed to carry both a machine gun and guided missiles. According to the company, BAS-01G Soratnik can travel at top speeds of 25 miles per hour.

The unmanned combat vehicle can be remotely operated by machines within six miles. The tank may also function on its own, given varying degrees of autonomy. BAS-01G Soratnik was fitted with a 7.62 mm Kalashnikov PKTM machine gun, which can be upgraded to a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun. The tank was also fitted with grenade launchers and as many as eight Kornet guided missiles with a range of three miles.

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The tank can be deployed as a bastion, and may operate autonomously on standby mode for 10 days straight. BAS-01G Soratnik was also unveiled at the IDEX-2017 arms fair in the UAE in February.

The tank was designed and developed to meet the Russian Ministry of Defenses need for unmanned vehicles that may aid the military during combat.

More unmanned combat vehicles underway

Estonian defense solutions provider Milrem has successfully tested its first modular unmanned combat vehicle named THeMIS ADDER in November last year. The tanks prototype was unveiled at the Singapore Airshow 2016.

The tank features a base kerb weight of 850 kg, and may carry as much as 750 kg of payload. The tank was fitted with a range of fire power including anti-tank missiles, machine guns and a remote control weapon station. THeMIS ADDERs central weapon station was also capable of accommodating various compatible weapons such as 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, 12.7 mm machine gun, 40 mm automatic grenade launcher and CIS 50MG machine gun.

The tank was also fitted with an on-board video tracking system that enables engagement of both moving and stationary targets. The ADDER also features a laser rangefinder, an optional 40 mm air-bursting munition system and day and night imaging cameras.

The tests were intended to test the stability of our platform and see how the remote weapon station and vehicle communicate and work with each other. To our satisfaction everything worked perfectly, said Milrem CEO Kuldar Vaarsi.

Estonians have proved many times before that we can successfully be on the forefront of innovation and the Milrem unmanned ground vehicle is a great example of that innovation when it comes to new technologies in the military field. THeMIS ADDER has great potential to put Estonia on the map of countries that provide new technologies and solutions to the modern battlefield, said Lieutenant General Riho Terras, Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces.

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

Engadget.com

PopularMechanics.com

Guns.com

Businesswire.com

Army-Technology.com
After the Republicans failure to repeal and replace Obamacare, one of Trumps main campaign pledges, they move swiftly onto putting Trumps Tax plan into place. Donald Trump moved quickly on the perceived defeat of his repealing and replacement of Obamacare by announcing that they will focus on tax Reforms. But what are the details of his tax reforms?

The plan states too few Americans are working, too many jobs have been shipped overseas, and too many middle-class families cannot make ends meet.

What the tax reform paper states

1. Tax relief for middle class Americans: In order to achieve the American dream, let people keep more money in their pockets and increase after-tax wages.

2. Simplify the tax code to reduce the headaches Americans face in preparing their taxes and let everyone keep more of their money.

3. Grow the American economy by discouraging corporate inversions, adding a huge number of new jobs, and making America globally competitive again.

4. Doesnt add to our debt and deficit, which are already too large.

Donald Trump has presented a four-page tax reform that sets out 4 simple goals for his reforms.

But the plan itself is limited in real information of what it would mean for the average American and whilst some ideas look good on the surface, it is the detail that is lacking that is a cause for concern with no data on the reality presented.

The plans detail states that it will change the current tax system will be reduced from 7 bands to 4, they are 0, 10, 20 and 25 percent. He also plans to raise the minimum income for tax to $25,000 if you are single and if you are married and jointly earn below $50,000. He also plans to remove the death tax.

Motivations and positive steps?

However, despite what could be seen as a positive step for those on lower and middle incomes there is decrease in corporation tax of 15%.

This will apply to all business, small and large that also includes freelancers. But the cut itself means that lower to middle income business will end up paying a disproportionate amount compared with larger corporations. 15% of a lower income goes further than that of a higher income.

The motivation for Trump to begin the push for these reforms so soon after the defeat of the replacement for Obamacare is questionable.

But if you look at it from a Trump political perspective rather than the traditional political perspective, this could be a strategy to push through his reforms with little to no opposition. Because he pushed an ultimatum on the party and did not back down from his stance, he can claim to the electorate that he is doing everything he can.

Trump has always conducted business in this manner and nothing will change, when things do not go his way initially, he pushes hard and issues ultimatums often crushing smaller businesses. That is how he regains control of the situations and even if he fails, Trump doesnt wait around for the result but moves swiftly on to the next project. He is conducting government in the same manner and will win in the long run which is a bigger danger to democracy and America.
Donald Trump campaigned to repeal and replace Obamacare as soon as possible but yesterday it was defeated in congress after Republicans could not agree on the terms of the replacement. With many moderates claiming it went far enough and the more deeply conservative saying it did not go far enough and that government should have no say in personal healthcare. Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to vote it through or risk Obamacare still being in place for the near future.

On the surface, Trumps ultimatum, did not work and it was quickly removed from congress after the Republicans could not unite in a decision on the Obamacare replacement.

Trumps power play

There is a large part of the Republican party that firmly believe that the government should have no say in the personal healthcare of its citizens. The bill that Trump put forward was extreme because it was still going to cause 26 million Americans to be without any healthcare coverage but for many deeply Christian conservative Republicans, this was still not far enough.

This bill highlights the Republicans will to not care for those who are the poorest in society. Even Donald Trump was not willing to go as far as many in his party, but there was also another issue rising from the bill. It was clear that Trumps control over other members was limited at best and Trump dislikes not being in control. Hence the ultimatum to push them into a decision and regain control over rebels within his government.
One of the contentious issues in the corporate world is the large gap between executive perks and wages of ordinary employees. Board members and company officials often get the lions share of the compensation, while salaries of the employee are often just a small percentage of what the executives get. But such is not the case in Porsche Germany.

Object of envy

Workers in many companies across the world would surely envy the 21,000 employees of Porsche Germany who will each receive a bonus of 9,111, or about $9,825. The German carmaker broke sales records in 2016 with $24 billion in revenue, a four percent improvement from 2015 revenue, Mashable reported.

The massive profit from the sales of mostly the Macan and Cayenne models for Porsche Germany came from net sales figures of $17,000 per vehicle sold. However, unlike other corporations which would give the bulk of the profit to its executives, the Deutsche company opted to distribute the profit to all 21,000 staff evenly.

Generous employer

It means the Porsche Germany workers  whether they are engineers, factory workers, janitors, cafeteria staff or senior employees  would each receive the equivalent of $9,825 as their 2016 annual bonus. It is roughly equivalent to 22 percent of the $44,925 average annual wage in Germany in 2015, according to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Or more than two months salary.

It is not the first time that Porsche Germany had shared with its employees a generous amount of annual bonus. In early 2016, the yearly windfall the luxury car brand gave to its workers was 8,911. The grant of such enviable amount of bonuses, besides the automaker being a benevolent company, is also because of the strong labor unions and employee representation on company boards.

Exception to the rule

Their labor unions, called works councils, give the employees the chance to participate in top decision-making in companies such as Porsche Germany. A labor representative elected by workers is part of the group that makes major decisions. Mashable noted that such a system is absent in the U.S. where chief executive officers like Marissa Mayer of Yahoo receive millions in annual bonus, except for 2016, despite the tech giant hemorrhaging financially.

Sales of vehicles in the U.S. is not as robust as in Deutschland which is why Porsche Germany could afford to be generous. The latest report said that General Motors would lay off about 1,100 workers from the third shift of the Lansing Delta Township Plant in May as GM phases out the production of the previous generation GMC Arcadia. It is the second lay-offs in GM in 2017. The first was in January when the third shift at the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant was cut because of a decrease in vehicle sales.

However, there are exceptions to the rule such as Hilcorp Energy, one of the biggest privately held oil companies in the U.S. based in Texas. In late December 2015, Hilcorp Energy CEO Jeffrey Hildebrand handed each of the 1,381 workers of the company checks of $100,000 as their 2015 bonus as a reward for meeting Hilcorps five-year-goal to double the companys size. Hilcorp and Porsche Germany are companies definitely worth spending ones lifetime career with.
Soon after Donald Trump became President of the United States on January 20, 2017, his oldest daughter, Ivanka Trump and her husband, jared kushner, left New York and moved into a rented house in Washington, D.C. They have been in the upscale Kalorama neighborhood for just two months, and neighbors have already begun to complain. They are not complaining about loud noise or large pool parties. Instead, the neighbors are complaining that since the couple moved in, they have lost their neighborhood, especially their streets. They said sometimes there are at least 10 Secret Service cars parked on their already crowded streets.

Neighbors' complaint

Marietta Robinson, who lives directly across the street from the family, describes the neighborhood as a three-ring circus since the very first day Ivanka Trump and her family moved in. Robinson added that her neighborhood is now ruined. Several other Kalorama residents have also complained. They claim that lots of things have changed because of their new neighbors.

Several members of the Secret Service follow the entire family wherever they go. So, there are comings and goings all the time. They block part of the street with their vans. Some residents claim the couple doesn't follow the trash pickup schedule, and garbage bags are often left in front of their house.

The neighborhood

There are other politicians in the same neighborhood, but nobody is complaining about them. Former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, along with their daughters, Malia, 18, and Sasha, 15, moved in after they left the White House. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos live in the Kalorama neighborhood.

However, there have been no complaints about any of them.

Secret Service spokeswoman, Nicole Mainor, indicated that the agency met with neighbors and city officials last Friday. They addressed the residents' complaints about parking and other neighborhood issues. They are working on how they can satisfy the neighbors while looking out for the safety of the president's family.
In the month that he's been in the White House, President Donald Trump has only increased his use of social media to get his message across to the American people. With his latest set of grievances, Trump has set his sights on the FBI.

Trump on Twitter

When Donald Trump kicked off his campaign for president, he found that using social media was going to be a major way to connect with potential voters. As his relationship with the mainstream news media continues to deteriorate, the former host of "The Apprentice" has utilized Twitter at an increased rate.

Whether it's to push a policy agenda, criticize a celebrity, or attack political opponents, the president is not shy about using social media to its fullest. As seen on his Twitter feed on February 24, Trump is now going after the FBI.

The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security "leakers" that have permeated our government for a long time. They can't even......  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

"The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security 'leakers' that have permeated our government for a long time," Donald Trump wrote on Twitter early Friday morning. "They can't even find the leakers within the FBI itself," Trump continued. In a follow-up message on Twitter, the billionaire real estate mogul continued to lash out at the FBI.

"Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S." Trump tweeted, before demanding, "FIND NOW."

find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

Over the last month, information has slowly leaked out of the White House, much to the chagrin of Donald Trump.

The most damaging of all the information that has been released has been in reference to retired Gen. Michael Flynn who was forced to resign as National Security Adviser after reports exposed his alleged illegal contact with Russian officials. Trump has continued to speak out about the aforementioned leaks, which he considers one of his main problems as president, along with his ongoing war of words with the press.

Moving forward

While Donald Trump has only been president for just over 30 days, he's already creating controversy and receiving massive backlash. As protests against the administration take place on an almost daily basis, Trump has remained defiant and doesn't look to be backing down from his agenda anytime soon.
In the city of Moscow, Idaho, a 50-year-old woman told Police that the reason she hit a deer with her car is that she was distracted by Bigfoot.

Shortly after midnight on Thursday morning, a woman arrived at the Latah County Sheriff's Office to report that she had hit a deer with her car just outside of Potlatch, Idaho, while driving south on Highway 95. She told officials that she initially saw Bigfoot chasing a deer on the side of the road and checked her mirror to try to get a second glance at Sasquatch.

Bigfoot was hunting a deer

When she turned her eyes from the mirror back to the road, the deer was in front of her and it was too close to avoid hitting.

The accident happened around 11:00 p.m. near post 367.

After hitting the deer that was allegedly being hunted by Bigfoot, the woman continued driving her damaged car to pick up her husband from work before driving to the Sheriff's office in Moscow. Since he did not witness the incident, the husband did not provide the police with a statement.

The Idaho woman

The woman, a resident of Tensed, Idaho in Benewah County, told police officers that Bigfoot was between 7 and 8 feet tall. For the record, that actually registers on the short end of the Bigfoot-sightings height spectrum. Most people who claim to see Bigfoot say he is anywhere from 7 to 10 feet tall.

The woman claims to have sustained a minor neck injury after hitting the deer.

After the report was filed, officials from the Latah County Sheriff's Office were sent to investigate the scene of the accident. No evidence was found near mile marker 366.9 (near Brincken Road North), where the sighting supposedly happened.

No evidence was found

No crime was committed and the police report made no mention of mental illness or intoxication on the part of the woman.

The report did note that she claimed to see Bigfoot, but clearly did not note any evidence. Unlike many popular Bigfoot sightings over the years, there were no blurry photos of the mysterious and elusive creature of legend.

Meanwhile, a man from Oregon is taking the never-ending search for Bigfoot very seriously. A 54-year-old man has devised a very serious plan to obtain evidence this Summer that Sasquatch lives in the woods of the Blue Mountains in northeast Oregon.
A former maid of ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg filed a lawsuit in a Brooklyn federal court over claims that officials of the billionaire are using his $20 million Hamptons mansion for orgies and other sex activities. Nelly Amaya, the dismissed housekeeper sued three executives of Bloomberg for unspecified damages.

Offensive and detailed sex talk

The lawsuit named Diane Gubelli, Marika Sygman, Steve Kaczynski and Ballyshear LLC for unspecified damages. Nelly Amaya, an Ecuadorian immigrant, says the sex talk from couple Marika Sygman and Steve Kaczynski, managers at Ballyshear, was the cause of her physical injury.

After she fled from the couple who allegedly spoke of their masturbation habits and sexual experiences in offensive and explicit detail, she blacked out and fell down a staircase. According to New York Post, Amaya reported that the fall resulted in bruises, back injuries and concussions.

Anti-Hispanic comments

Because of her injuries, Nelly Amaya could not return to work as executive housekeeper of Mayor Bloombergs mansion. Her $70,000 a year pay was cut after eight weeks of working at the Hamptons mansion and she was later fired. She complained to the Human Resources Department of Ballyshear that her injuries were caused by discrimination at work.

Two of her co-workers allegedly made anti-Hispanic comments against her which Nelly Amaya recorded.

But the former housekeeper says Diane Gubelli, an executive at Ballyshear, made her delete all recordings of conversations she had with her co-workers, whom she accused of tormenting her by telling her about the vulgar activities of Marika Sygman and Steve Kaczynski.

Sex in the billiard room

When she was just two weeks in her new job responsible for maintaining 11 bedrooms and eight bathrooms at the 22,000-square foot mansion in Georgia, two co-workers advised Nelly Amaya to be cautious when entering rooms because she might catch Marika Sygman and Steve Kaczynski in their intimate moments.

She also said that she once overheard the couple plan to go to the billiard room in the basement, which is beside the laundry room, to have sex. However, when they realized she heard the couples plan, Marika Sygman allegedly told her not to ask questions.

Marika Sygman reportedly warned Ballyshear employees not to report the sexually charged environment or risk being fired by the mayor.

However, Nelly Amaya clarified that Bloomberg  named by Forbes in 2016 as one of the most powerful people in the world last year - was a respectful and good boss and probably unaware of what was happening in the mansion, because in the last five months, he only came to the mansion thrice.

Nelly Amaya stressed she is sure the mayor did not know what was happening in his mansion,He needs to know he trusts some really bad people." Marika Sygman denied the former housekeepers accusation.

Another housekeeper & immigrant

The lawsuit brings back a sex scandal in 2011 when a hotel maid accused then International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault. Like Nelly Amaya, Nafissatou Diallo, the accuser, was a housekeeper and also an immigrant, but from Guinea in West Africa.

Although the cases against him were eventually dismissed because of loopholes on Diallos statements, Strauss-Kahn admitted the encounter with her at a New York hotel was an error and moral failure which led to his losing the IMF position.
There had been some questions as to whether Trump daughter Ivanka Kushner would be taking over the duties of First Lady since Melania Trump was staying in New York to smooth the transition for her and Donald's 10-year-old son Baron. Ivanka had strenuously denied those suggestions saying on several occasions that,"there is only one First Lady and that's not me."

To learn why so many people are concerned with Ivanka's new job, be sure to read the final two paragraphs below after reading about the more obvious complications.

Top secret

Ivanka now has the top security clearance which goes with a top Presidential advisors job and a second-floor office in the west wing, the business side of The White House (as opposed to the private residence side.)

This is essentially now a family business, just as The Trump Organization was.

35-year-old son-in-law Jared Kushner is a senior White House adviser focused on international trade and on the 3,000-year-old Mid-East problem, and Ivanka now joins him as a top advisor.

Ethics watchdogs are barking

There are major conflicts of interest for both Jared and Ivanka. They have all the same conflicts as President Trump and some brand new ones - Ivanka has her own business operations separate from The Trump Organization.

Despite divesting a number of investments, Ivanka still owns and controls her jewelry and clothing lines. What sensible (and politically astute) woman would meet with President Trump and not be wearing something from the Ivanka lines?

Weve already seen one made for Fox TV Ivanka clothing commercial by White House staffer and alternative fact promoter Kellyanne Conway.

Unusual, not unique

But despite some reports, having a close relative helping out in The White House isnt a unique situation. Three presidential daughters have served as First Ladies.

Chelsea Clinton aided her father by accompanying him on some diplomatic missions while Hillary was running for The Senate.

Anna Roosevelt went to Yalta with her father.

In fact, there have been more than 20 relatives who worked in The White House, including two dozen who at times served as hostess or surrogate First Ladies. They ranged from daughters, daughters-in-law, sisters and one niece, to a cousin, and several aunts.

New problems for Ivanka

But the situation today is truly unique in one way.

The others worked in ceremonial roles. As a top advisor, Ivanka has a policy job but wont be a government employee. She cant be an employee due to the anti-nepotism rules passed after the Kennedy administration.

Ivanka will be a volunteer, albeit one with a top security clearance, advising President Trump. But Ivanka is exempt from all the annoying government regulations requiring employees to use certain secure systems for all communications and keeping careful track of their every official action.

Others in The White House, even Ivanka's husband, also have strict ethics rules regarding things such as taking gifts. They even have to carefully protect and preserve records of all phone calls, letters, and emails.

Ivanka Trump Kushner may not be required to even report gifts or contacts with foreigners.

Jamie Gorelick, Ivankas personal lawyer, told CNN Ivanka, "plans to adhere to the same ethics and records retention rules that apply to government employees." But he emphasized she isn't an employee so technically she isn't requited to follow those rules.

Zero accountability

The last puddle in this Trump ethical quagmire is summed up as follows. On January 22, White House staff Reince Priebus, Jared, Kellyanne, and even Steve Bannon took this oath, "I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; ... and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Ivanka Kushner doesnt take any oath.
A week of drama and conflict closed with a bang on Friday in Washington when President Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan announced they were going to pull the GOP's Healthcare Bill that would have repealed the #Affordable Care Act.

Ryan said that there will be no second attempt and that the nation will live with #Obamacare until it shows itself to be lacking in merit and is presumably overhauled or will fail.

The astonishing conclusion to many years of planning to overturn Obamacare highlights a growing divide in the #Republican Party, and also puts doubts about Trump's ability to negotiate in Congress front and center.

It was also a #sobering defeat for an incoming President who is used to getting his way in business negotiations and who has branded himself as an expert dealmaker. The affair will pall a long shadow over his increasingly ineffective presidency, what with his travel ban court appeals, the troubling Russian allegations that are being investigated by the FBI, and awkward diplomatic struggles and skirmishes with countries such as Australia, Germany and the UK.

Who wins and who loses?

As the bill is put permanently to bed, the losers and the winners will seek to clear their names and reposition themselves within the power circles of Washington. Winners from this defeat include #Obama, Democrats, AARP, the society for older people, as well as Jared Kushner, who refused to back the vote.

But it is President Trump who stands to be seen as the biggest loser in the whole debacle. With murmurings of his inner crisis of self-doubt and his difficulty playing the #Washington game, this was yet another #humiliating setback for a president who was once full of bravado and claimed he could make any deal he wanted, and could do so swiftly and little fuss.

His efforts at legislative change have collapsed before the finish line and his deal-making talents are in doubt. He threw himself intently into trying to persuade reluctant Republican voters who didnt support the bill, and he failed. He also aired much of this over Twitter or through the press.

Legislative wish list

Questions are now circulating about how this will effect other legislative items on Trump's wish list  such as #tax reform  and also his reputation.

Also critically, how much blame will he abscond or attract from grassroots Republicans in the party. Will it be #Trump, or Ryan or the reluctant GOP lawmakers who will be publicly discredited?

On Friday afternoon, speaking from the White House, Trump maintained a presidential and dignified attitude as he announced the decision to pull the bill, instead of lashing out at the lawmakers who didnt fall in line. He made the argument that the Democrats will have to continue to own #Obamacare, and its predicted failings, and that this will disadvantage them politically in the future.

At one point Trump muttered, Theres not much you can do about it, referring to Obamacare. Critics leapt on this as a weak and feeble thing for a President to say, revealing much a blow the setback has been to his office.
On the day after President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders pulled a bill that would have been a first step in fixing an ailing Obamacare health care program, Medicaid budgets are growing astronomically. In fact, a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that in 24 states, 50 percent of all babies births are paid for by Medicaid.

According to the report, there were even eight states where 60 percent of new births were paid for by Medicaid. They included: Louisiana; Arkansas; Nevada; Mississippi; New Mexico; Oklahoma; West Virginia and South Carolina.

States where Medicaid births rank highest

Three states sharing a border with Mexico came in with the highest number of births being paid for by Medicaid, with New Mexico coming in first with 72 percent of its newborns' births being funded by Medicaid. Arkansas came in second with 67 percent, while Louisiana took third place with 65 percent. Meanwhile, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Mississippi tied for fourth place with 64 percent.

At just 27 percent, New Hampshire had the least number of new births being paid for by Medicaid in the United States. In larger states such as Florida, California, and Illinois, one-half of new births were paid for by Medicaid. However, in states like Utah and Virginia, only 31 percent of new births were funded by Medicaid.

Obamacare spurring Medicaid growth

Medicaid growth under Obamacare has been epoch, skyrocketing to more than $552 billion in 2015, according to Kaiser. This is happening in part because lower-income and middle-class individuals and families can no longer afford the premiums being offered by the few private companies that havent pulled out of the Obamacare scheme.

Moreover, even when the premiums under these plans are affordable, their deductibles, as high as $10,000 or more, make them impractical and unpopular among the uninsured.

This somber unintended consequence of Obamacare has spurred a migration of individuals and families from regular health insurance plans to state Medicare programs.

This has caused many states to cry for federal help, despite the country's gargantuan $1-trillion budget deficit. So, when Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress failed to pass legislation to address such looming cost issues like an ever-expanding Medicaid, Democrats  by default  will now be charged with crafting a solution to a healthcare program teetering on bankruptcy.
LINCOLN - In the last week of legislative hearings, several more bills were heard by committees and legislators established new laws.

Lawmakers passed a bill that would protect the right of a public school teacher to wear religious clothing in the classroom.

LB62, sponsored by Norfolk Sen. Jim Scheer, repeals a law that prohibited public school teachers from wearing religious garments in school. It required school boards to suspend teachers who violated the law for one year and terminate them after a second violation. It passed 39-5.

In a unanimous vote, lawmakers removed the requirement for people to receive a letter of referral from a doctor before being treated by a licensed acupuncturist.

LB19 instead requires an acupuncturist to refer a patient to an appropriate practitioner if his or her symptoms are not treatable by acupuncture.

The Government, Military, and Veteran Affairs Committee heard LB485, which would replace Columbus Day with a holiday that would honor indigenous people. It is sponsored by Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln.

The day instead would be called Standing Bear and Indigenous Leaders' Day. Standing Bear, chief of the Ponca Tribe, successfully argued in federal District Court in 1879 that Native Americans are persons under law.

Proponents of the bill included Larry Wright Jr., chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, and Judi gaiashkibos, executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs.

George Matuella, a representative of the Nebraska chapter of the Sons of Italy in America, testified against the bill.

LB650 would make several changes to the procedures used by the state Department of Correctional Services for inmates in solitary confinement.

Sponsored by Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus, the bill would not allow the department to place a member of a vulnerable population in restrictive housing. This includes any inmate who is 18 or younger, pregnant or mentally ill. The bill suggests placing the inmates in immediate segregation to protect the staff.

Schumacher said Nebraska's rates of confinement are significantly higher than other states, and he said the department's consideration of inmates' civil rights may be challenged in court if nothing is done.

The bill would also allow inmates to ask for judicial review of their solitary confinement if they have spent at least 90 days confined in a calendar year.

State Ombudsman Marshall Lux testified in support of the bill and Scott Frakes, director of the Department of Correctional Services opposed it.

The Education Committee heard testimony on two bills focused on civics education. LB155, introduced by Sen. Lydia Brasch of Bancroft, would require high school students to successfully pass a civics test in order to graduate. The examination would be the civics portion of the naturalization test used by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha had similar proposal in LB14, which he proposed amending to require local school districts to create committees that would ensure the curriculum teaches basic civics, history, geography and economics. Passing the civics portion of the naturalization test would be part of the curriculum but wouldn't be required for graduation

The Judiciary Committee also considered several measures:

LB446, introduced by Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, would eliminate Nebraska's death penalty.

LB502, introduced by Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, would adopt the Permitless Concealed Carry Act. The act would prohibit the regulation of concealed handguns by cities and villages, allowing an individual to carry a concealed handgun without a permit.

LB593, introduced by Sen. Dan Hughes of Venango, would make vehicle trespassing a criminal offense.

The Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee considered bills regarding lobbyists:

LB153, sponsored by Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell, would restrict certain officeholders and public employees from becoming lobbyists.

LB664, also introduced by Kuehn, would prohibit a political subdivision from using taxes or fees to employ a lobbyist.
While Republicans have majority-control in the House of Representatives and the Senate, Donald Trump has been unable to sell the GOP Health Care Bill to enough conservative lawmakers to ensure it passes a floor vote. As Republicans fight with themselves over the issue, one host on MSNBC was quick to point out the hypocrisy.

MSNBC on health care

During the 2016 presidential election, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, continued to remain the number one priority for the Republican Party. Donald Trump led the charge, and made attacking the current health care law one of the corner stones of his campaign.

After pulling off the upset and defeating Hillary Clinton last November, it appeared that the future of Obamacare was bleak. However, after Republicans revealed their long-awaited replacement plan, it was universally panned, with many conservatives pushing back at the bill in question. After failing to convince enough Republicans to support the bill, Thursday's planned vote was postponed until Friday, with the former host of "The Apprentice" threatening to keep Obamacare in place unless the party came together and voted before the weekend. As reported by Mediaite on March 24, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough went off on the GOP for their total confusion and hypocrisy on the issue.

On Monday's edition of "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, host and former Repubican congressman Joe Scarborough didn't hold back his thoughts about the Republican's struggle to pass new health care reform.

"This was such an obviously stupid play done by somebody or a group of people who didnt know how Washington worked," Scarborough said. "When they decided to lead with healthcare, why did they decide to lead with Paul Ryans version of healthcare? Scarborough wondered, before noting, "It was completely opposite of what Donald Trump promised every day on the campaign trail.

President Trump gives an ultimatum on the GOP health care bill: Vote Friday or keep Obamacare https://t.co/X0uYFSuZVE pic.twitter.com/aoyW5qzPFc  CNN (@CNN) March 24, 2017

Not stopping there, Joe Scarborough then ripped into Donald Trump for making similar mistakes that were made during Bill Clinton's first term.

"It made no sense," he said, while explaining, "so much of this was the same mistake neophyte president's make when they come into Washington, D.C."

Scarborough Goes on Healthcare Rant: This Was Such an Obviously Stupid Play https://t.co/LmPwxNajcl pic.twitter.com/dh5Bm79hB2  Mediaite (@Mediaite) March 24, 2017

Moving forward

As of press time, Republicans are waiting to hold a vote on their health care bill, the American Health Care Act, which is scheduled to take place later in the day. It's unknown whether or not the GOP will have enough support to pass the bill to the Senate, but it's likely that Donald Trump will lash out if it doesn't.
Donald Trump's failure to deliver a #Republican healthcare bill that would repeal Obamacare failed starkly on Friday. Whilst pundits and commentators are claiming that his fiery style of authority and his lack of understanding of politics are to blame, the main reason for the failure was many years in the making.

There has been a long running war amidst the ranks of the #Republican party for many years, and it has effected many of the party's lawmakers and leaders. This war has been brewing long before Donald Trump's outlandish style and brazen attack on Washington politics became a new reality, and the two conditions together brewed the perfect storm.

#Trump believes that the usual rules of political deal making dont apply to him, but now he has found himself encased not only by rigid rules but also a Civil War in the ranks of the GOP.

Repealing #President Barack Obamas healthcare legacy has been the Republican Partys ultimate import for the last half a decade, but in halting the bill before the party could even vote on it, the fractious far right wing of the GOP out-maneuvered Trump and showed him who was really playing by the #rebel playbook. They took on and defeated the broken party establishment, which Trump must now somehow galvanize and lead.

The stark choice facing the president

And so the president must confront a stark choice: Does he yield to the raucous anti-establishment wing of his party?

Or does he utilize the #Democrats as a pathway to successful governance, since it is them that he could form a coalition with and get things done?

Yes, Trump has blamed the Democrats for his own party's shortcomings but if he is vain enough, or determined enough, to embark on legislative change then it is the Democratic Party that could open the doors of Washington to him.

This is what #Ronald Reagan did in his reign as President, and indeed he forged some of his most important deals with Democrats.

Going beyond the GOP to make deals

The center right of the GOP sided with Trump on the #healthcare bill and earned his praise on Friday. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, one of those from this group, admits that there is an issue in the GOP that needs addressing before they can move on.

Its really a problem in our own party, and thats something hell need to deal with moving forward, said Cole to the New York Times on Sunday.  in the end, theres a group of people in this party who just wont say yes, he added. At some point, I think that means looking beyond our conference.

Nobody knows for sure if Trump will approach this path toward #legislative agility, even though he formerly had little fixed ideology  aside from the art of making money  before he became a politician. As a president, he has utilized the rote #Republican playbook, siding on many issues with Speaker Paul Ryan and the party establishment. And whilst he is enraged about the bill and apparently wants revenge, he does seem determined to move on and galvanize as many of the party's faithful as possible and to marshal the next legislative bills through congress. These include spending bills, a #tax overhaul and a huge infrastructure package, all legislation that he could attract democratic support for, even though it has potential to split the GOP.
Under the Obama administration, the United States had been trying to negotiate with the Syrian Government and even their opposition groups in order to put an end to the Syrian Civil War. Many of these negotiations took place in Geneva, Switzerland. On Friday, the Syrian chief negotiator and Ambassador of the Permanent Representative Mission of Syria to the UN, Bashar al-Ja'afari, said that a U.S.-Turkish-led coalition attack on ISIS in Raqqa was illegitimate unless coordinated with the Syrian government.

Al-Ja'afari's statements are only the latest effort by the Syrian government to express some form of legitimacy and now under a new President Trump, who has promised to "wipe ISIS off the face of the Earth." The ambassador was much more specific with reporters as to who the government currently saw as legitimate enough to wage a war on ISIS in Syria by saying that it was the Syrian Arab Army with the support of Russia and Iran.

He also went as far as to say that the U.S.-led coalition were sponsors of terrorism because they've armed the opposition against the Syrian government.

U.S.-led coalition versus Bashar al-Assad

The Syrian government's accusations against the U.S. being sponsors of terrorism is not new. Since western powers have expressed outrage that the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad started killing civilians during the Arab Spring uprising in the Middle East, al-Assad created the narrative that everyone against him are terrorists. Over the years since the Arab Spring, factions gained support from the region to meet various agendas to topple Assad as he continued to go into cities throughout Syria massacring civilians in order to intimidate and regain control.

This created more instability which allowed terror groups to gain support for their own agendas like ISIS, a group that began recruiting everyone who had an interest in getting rid of Assad and everyone else in order to establish their own caliphate.

The Russian government's involvement in giving Assad cover only complicated matters even more, which claimed to be there to defeat terrorism but still defending the Syrian government which continued to massacre civilians.

It's even been widely reported that the Russian government under Vladimir Putin was contributing to the killing of those civilians with the United Nations and human rights groups -- even the Secretary of State John Kerry --- saying that both Assad and Putin were committing war crimes. Russia would act as the intermediary between the U.S.-led coalition and Syria and would even contribute to the Assad regime's view that the U.S.

was supporting the Islamic State. The Ambassador's recent statements in Geneva were made at a time as that same U.S.-led coalition prepares to drive the Islamic State out of the Northern city of Raqqa, while they also fight the terror group in Mosul, Iraq.

U.S. presence in Syria

For the first time and under a new U.S. president, the U.S. are making their presence known in the fight against the Islamic State. On March 10, the Associated Press reported that American troops were revealing themselves surrounding Raqqa, showing off the American flag on their vehicles as they placed Howitzer guns in position. The city of Manbij nearby from which ISIS was forced out by coalition forces last year, also reportedly had a presence of American forces there, but they're hardly considered troops on the ground as many of them have already been there to train local Kurdish fighters to take on the terror group.

But the U.S. are not the only ones who are the targets of the Syrian government's propaganda as Turkey has also wanted to get Assad out of Syria, as well as the Kurdish groups who they consider terrorists along with ISIS, which has only complicated matters more. It's now being reported by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group that SDF (coalition) fighters are battling ISIS over the Tabqa air base near Raqqa, which they've held since 2014.
A dramatic Week in Washington should end in a light-hearted mood. No doubt Donald Trump in the oval office and House Speaker Paul Ryan are still running through their minds what for them was a distressing week but there are times we should look beyond and remember that despite the votes of politicians life must go on.

Water fight

On the same day that Donald Trump signed the latest order for Keystone XL pipeline which is the subject of much controversy for environmental reasons the BBC reported of another political wrangle in New Zealand concerning water quality.

In this case the political establishment was challenged to resolve the issue with a fist fight.

Conservation trust manager Greg Byrnes took out an ad in the local paper to challenge the government over its swimmable rivers policy. The challenge was to Dr Nick Smith, the countrys water Minister for a fist fight at a swimming hole that is officially classifies as swimmable but which is in effect badly polluted according to Mr. Byrnes.

As stated in the ad The loser to frolic in the hole for no less than 5 minutes. No doubt that would be one way to get the message across but it is unlikely that the Minister will take up the challenge.

On the other hand, we have little doubt may American environmentalists would be more than happy to make a similar challenge to the Oval Office to make the White House understand their worries about the effects of the pipeline and the other new environmental regulations.

Desperate for a date

As reported by Time.com a love struck young man from Northern Queensland in Australia wanted to show his hearts desire that he would go to any length to prove his love for her.

As a result 19 year old Lee De Paauw threw himself into a pool of water to show his ardour towards backpacker Sophie Paterson. There was a catch; the pool of water was infested with crocodiles.

In a scene that the young lady likened to something from Jaws with water full of blood and bones the young man came out of the trial by water with a broken arm but at least his intended belle accepted in his invitation.

In a sign of real honesty, when asked how to describe his gallant act the young beau answered with a single word, Stupidity.

There is no news on the outcome of the romantic tryst.

Political message?

Governments around the world have taken to personalized car number plates to make extra money from rivers wanting to make a unique statement with their vehicles. Often plates have been denied because their contents held double meanings but sometimes the reasons can be stranger. One such occurred this week.

CBC television in Canada this week gave us news of a man from Nova Scotia who went too far and had his plate seized but the message more than being rude may well have been taken as a political statement to the mans neighbours in the United States.

Louis Grabher from Dartmouth had given the plate containing their surname to his father 25 years ago as a reminder of his German heritage and the family kept the plate in his memory.

Sadly somebody took the plate as a reference to an infamous leaked tape from last years presidential campaign and as a result the authorities seized the plate.

He is now challenging the authorities to return his plate as they consider the seizure as a slight on their heritage. We wonder if the family could appeal to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for assistance in the matter.

In the meantime friends and relatives are undoubtedly enjoying a laugh at their expense and wondering who was the mischievous person that reported the plate.
As the White House considers the next stage of its agenda after the failure to pass the repeal of the ACA, the United States is the elephant in the room as the leaders of the #european union attend the 60th anniversary celebrations in Rome of the treaty that led to the european union. The continent is now facing important challenges and one of them comes from President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

From war to peace

The European Leaders that signed the Treaty of Rome in 1956 had in their minds the horrors of World War 2 and many of the continents capital cities still bore signs of the fighting that left over 100 million dead in Europe.

The aim of the treaty was to create a new Europe capable of finding solutions to international conflicts, particularly in Europe, without resorting to war.

The treaty was signed in the midst of the Cold War and many members countries were and still are members of NATO. At the same time these leaders signed what is now called the European Atomic Energy Community, the first of many European wide agencies.

The initial group of countries were Italy as the host, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the then Federal Republic of Germany, now Germany after the reintegration of the Soviet controlled East Germany after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Despite much pressure and internal problems of many countries, including terrorist threats, the current European Union now boasts 28 countries but this month will see the beginning of the official withdrawal of one of them.

Brexit

In June last year Great Britain voted by a narrow margin to withdraw from the EU. This decision will now take its course but many in Britain are against the decision as the protests in support of the EU this week have shown.

Brexit will not end the Union and it will take it new directions as the Body seeks to find a new identity for itself in the light of the recent populist challenges.

Although some of these fears have dissipated with the recent Dutch election result where a record electoral turn out voted against the populist Freedom Party, elections in France and Germany this year will be important for the future directions of the continent.

U.S. and Russia

There are two interested spectators to these elections.

The United States as the major ally of the Union and Russia as it contemplates its next moves in what many consider the expansionist policies of Vladimir Putin.

For this reason the European leaders are interested and worried about the investigations into alleged Russian hacking of the presidential election favouring Donald Trump and at least two European countries, Great Britain and the Netherlands, warned the Obama Administration of the hacking.

Peace and the future

Undoubtedly the EU was a success in giving Europe peace over the last 60 years but this success is now tempered by the problems caused by the waves of refugees from the worlds trouble spots that cause unease in the population and feed the populist politicians.

Just as certainly the celebrations have also been an opportunity for the European leaders to discuss the new future for the continent that will begin when Britain enacts article 50 on March 29th to begin Brexit. This will be another turning point in the continent and it will be interesting to see the consequences on both the EU and Britain.

At the same time the United States will have to concentrate on its EU partners as they will be a fundamental counterpoint in the new Cold War between Washington and Moscow, particularly in light of possible developments in the intelligence communitys investigations of the hacking investigations.

In addition, NATO will be of prime importance, not only for the struggle with Russia but also for international missions to resolve conflicts such as those in the Middle East to finally find a means to end the flood of refugees.

Europe was, remains and always will be a fundamental ally for the United States; a fact that the Oval Office must always remember.
It stands to reason that after their humiliating defeat in Congress over the attempted repeal of Obamacare, that Donald Trump and Paul Ryan have guaranteed a Democratic Congress in 2018. Considering that the repeal of Obamacare was the signature issue of both the Trump campaign and the GOP-led Congress in the 2016 election, it appears that the the defeat of the GOP healthcare bill that would have deprived 24 million Americans of their healthcare, will ensure a Democratic Party Congressional victory in 2018. It would appear that at best, the GOP House, and possibly the Senate too, is on life support, and Trump and Ryan are the triage nurses.

The victor and the spoils

The presumption will be that a president who cannot even get his agenda through Congress in the first few weeks of his presidency does not deserve to have a Congress of his own party in power. The mean reality in politics is that, as the old saying goes, "to the victor goes the spoils." And a president who cannot get his agenda through Congress at the beginning of his presidency, is not a victor.

The President who gave up easily

When former President Barack Obama introduced Obamacare to Congress, he held a summit meeting at Blair House, spoke to a joint session of Congress, visited members of the House and Senate on Capitol HIll, and spoke to the American People about the need for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) on a regular basis.

Altogether, President Obama lobbied his health care act for a year and a half before it finally was passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law.

President Trump, on the other hand, has been in office for eight weeks. He signed an Executive Order of intent to repeal Obamacare on his first day of office, immediately after his inaugural parade.

Trump and Ryan have been lobbying for the passage of their bill repealing Obamacare and replacing it with the new GOP healthcare law throughout the eight weeks of Trump's presidency thus far.

Trump, unlike Obama, gave up when the going got tough. Instead of labeling this week's vote in Congress a "temporary setback," as Obama would have done, Trump put up his arms and gave up.

Besides, Trump, who still is tweeting that Obama wiretapped him, announced that he is going to focus his energies on tax reform, which, he said, he should have done before introducing the healthcare bill. It is highly questionable how effective Trump and Ryan will be at attaining substantive tax cut legislation since such legislation was dependent upon savings from the GOP healthcare act that failed to pass in Congress this week.

Nancy and Chuck get ready

Meanwhile, it appears that Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer should be getting ready to move into their new offices. Nancy has been there before; the Speaker's office needs new curtains. As for Chuck, the Majority Leader's office has been begging for a Democrat for a long time. Both the House and the Senate are up for grabs and it looks like 2018 may very well be the year, thanks to Donald and Paul.
In the month since Donald Trump has been in the White House, he's increased his war on the media. On Friday, Trump took his feud with the press to another level.

Hollywood on Trump

On Friday morning, Donald Trump addressed attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference. For the first part of his speech, Trump elected not to address issues impacting the United States, but rather his problem with the mainstream media, who he continues to refer to as "fake news." The former host of "The Apprentice" repeated the term "fake news" on more than one occasion, claiming that those news outlets are the "enemy of the people." Later on in the afternoon, the White House announced that several news outlets were banned from attending the daily Press Briefing, which quickly resulted in backlash.

As seen across Twitter on February 24, Hollywood celebrities are voicing their opinions on the issue.

Watching DT address CPAC. Astounding that this ball of narcissistic sickness is actually our president. Follow the bouncing cover up.  Rob Reiner (@robreiner) February 24, 2017

Time for media to dig in hard to get the truth out about Trump ties to Russia. 1st amendment and life of our democracy depends on it.  Rob Reiner (@robreiner) February 24, 2017

"Watching DT address CPAC. Astounding that this ball of narcissistic sickness is actually our president," actor and director Rob Reiner wrote on Twitter Friday night, before adding, "Follow the bouncing cover up." In a second tweet, Reiner noted, "Time for media to dig in hard to get the truth out about Trump ties to Russia.

1st amendment and life of our democracy depends on it."

Trump's so crazy his meds are off him.  John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) February 24, 2017

@dmez1029 - no such thing as worse than DONALD - he is it - lowest of the low ..#ImpeachTrump #FreedomOfThePress #RESISTANCE  ROSIE (@Rosie) February 25, 2017

Actor John Fugelsang also hit back at Donald Trump on Twitter following his comments at CPAC and his action against the media.

"Orange 70-year old toddler who got elected because of leaks is here to scream about leaks," Fugelsang wrote, while later adding, "Trump's so crazy his meds are off him." Actress and talk show host Rosie O'Donnell then chimed in, stating, "no such thing as worse than DONALD - he is it - lowest of the low," while using the hashtag "FreedomofthePress."

Cain slew Abel. CNN now known as "Cain Channel" for a "slew" of #fakenews whenever they're "abel." BRIPPITY BAM BLAP! https://t.co/V2S8Owpgkh  Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) February 24, 2017

Fake News is a claim you only hear from people afraid of transparency  Mark Cuban (@mcuban) February 24, 2017

Celebrity resistance

Actor George Takei also took to Twitter to criticize Donald Trump for his media attacks.

After calling his war on the press "unhinged," Takei went on to tweet, "I support non-violent resistance to the increasingly unhinged reign of Trump. It is the only way forward."

I support non-violent resistance to the increasingly unhinged reign of Trump. It is the only way forward.  George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) February 24, 2017

Oh my God. CNN, Los Angeles Times, NY Times and Politico were blocked from White House press briefing. https://t.co/ocjIANoAIS  Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) February 24, 2017

"Oh my God. CNN, Los Angeles Times, NY Times and Politico were blocked from White House press briefing," actress Alyssa Milano sent out on social media. Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban continued his feud with the president, writing, "Fake News is a claim you only hear from people afraid of transparency." As the night moved on, Hollywood didn't hold back its criticism across social media.
After just one month in the White House, President Donald Trump has already received constant criticism and backlash from those who oppose his agenda. Filmmaker Michael Moore warned about what a Trump presidency could mean for the United States during the months leading up to the election, and is now doubling down.

Moore on Trump

When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president back in June 2015, most people didn't take him too seriously. As the months rolled on, Trump started to gain momentum, shaming and picking off each of his Republican primary opponents, which led to his eventual nomination as the party's candidate for president.

Michael Moore took Trump as a legit threat, and even made a documentary film titled "Michael Moore in TrumpLand" to speak out against the former host of "The Apprentice." Moore's criticisms were often brushed off, but were proven correct when Trump culminated his journey for president with an election win over Hillary Clinton. During a February 23 interview on CNN, the award-winning director continued his warning.

Michael Moore spoke with CNN host Don Lemon on Thursday night, and immediately cited a previous quote by Donald Trump where the president claimed he could shoot someone in the middle of New York City and not lose any support. "When he says he believes he could shoot somebody in the head and get away with it," Moore said, "he's proven he can do that over and over again." Moore went on to warn that the president is almost immune to any wrongdoing in the mind's of his supporters, referencing Trump's disparaging remarks about Sen.

John McCain not being a war hero, the comments on the now infamous Access Hollywood tape, and his attack on a gold-star family of a Muslim-American solider killed in Iraq.

Michael Moore: Town hall outcry "makes the Tea Party look like preschool" https://t.co/ctJxkn2tws pic.twitter.com/ks216DBxlB  The Hill (@thehill) February 24, 2017

Moore doubles down

Not stopping there, Michael Moore then predicted that Donald Trump will continue to appoint people who will dismantle fundamental and important parts of the government in order to push his agenda through.

"He's going to do everything he said they were going to do," Moore warned, pointing to his recent cabinet choices to run the EPA and the Department of Education.

"It's their job as Steve Bannon said today, to 'deconstruct,' which is a nice way of saying demolish," he noted, before adding, "that's what they are there for." Moore spent the rest of interview in similar tone, while also stating that the state of the country "will be as bad or worse" moving forward unless Democrats come together to stop it.
ABC's "General Hospital" has had lots of drama lately with Olivia Jerome wreaking havoc in Port Charles by killing her brother, kidnapping people, and trying to blow up the hospital. One couple who was at "GH" at the time survived that ordeal. Finn and Hayden were in lockdown mode when he started having bad addiction withdrawals. Now that he and Hayden are back home, it has gotten much worse. Will Finn survive detoxing on his own without medical help?

Finn goes wild and crazy

It was not a pretty sight on Friday's episode of "General Hospital" when Finn started begging Hayden to let him go.

He was tied to a chair so he could ride out the withdrawal symptoms without hurting anyone or running off. Of course, Hayden didn't listen to him and that is when Finn laid into her. He said some mean things to her, but she knows that it was the drugs talking. However, she knew she needed help.

Hayden called Curtis Ashford and he came just in time. He has been a good friend to Hayden through the good times and the bad and he has this protective mode with her as well. He may just stay with her until her guy comes through the detox.

Will he win the battle?

According to "General Hospital" spoilers for the next week or two, Finn will be facing an uphill battle when it comes to staying away from drugs.

It sounds like he makes it through the worst of it and will make it through this round of getting clean. However, rumor has it that he will be tempted in the coming weeks while he tries to get his life back in order.

A tweet from Daytime Spoiler says that there is a drug dealer who will be showing up in April and it could have some bad consequences if this has to do with Dr.

Finn. He has a lot to lose if he should go back to the drugs. He is on leave right now from the hospital and could lose his license if he doesn't shape up. He could potentially lose Hayden as well. She will stick by him right now, but if he should happen to relapse, she could just throw in the towel and say goodbye to him

How do you think this will all play out? Will Finn fight for his girl or will drugs win out over her? Sound off your thoughts on what you think will happen with this "General Hospital" couple.
NAIROBI  The Kenya Chinese Chamber of Commerce (KCCC), a trade lobby bringing together the Chinese business community operating in the East African nation, was launched on Saturday.

Chairman of the East Africa Chinese Chamber of Commerce Han Jun said the new body is expected to unite and empower members to form a cohesive force among domestic and overseas Chinese.

Han observed that Kenya has become a trading spot of the China-Africa cooperation.

"Kenya has become an important direction and foothold in East Africa for China's Belt and Road Initiative and national strategy of going abroad," he noted.

With many Chinese projects including the ongoing construction of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, the launch of the direct flight of China Southern to Kenya and the completion of the Thika Highway, a number of Chinese firms have been attracted to Kenya.

"The chamber is expected to forge a new chapter between the Chinese people working in Kenya and further the modernization process," KCCC Chairman Zhuo Wu said.

Zhuo said the new chamber will help create additional jobs for the local Kenyan people and contribute to Kenya's economic development programs.

"We are going to continue strengthening the relationship between China and Kenya and also make contributions towards the economic and cultural development of the two countries," said Zhuo.
An update on the bills debated on the floor of the Legislature this week includes one of my own bills LB635. LB635 which would enhance penalties and fines for game law violations was amended into LB566. LB566 is a Natural Resource Committee Priority Bill which would adopt the Interstate Wildlife Violators Compact. The Compact would assist Nebraska in protecting its natural resources by participating in a database of game law violators so that illegal activities in one state can affect a persons hunting, fishing and trapping privileges in all other participating states. Nebraska is one of only two states which have not joined or are not in the process of joining the Compact. LB566 was advanced to select file by a vote of 38-0.

Other bills debated on general file this week includes LB335 introduced by Senator Riepe at the request of the Governor. LB335 would eliminate the implementation of any rate changes in 2017 for child care providers as a result of the Child Care and Development Fund Market Rate Survey in an effort to balance the budget. Nebraska would still need to comply with Federal regulations in this area and adjust rates in 2018. This bill advanced on to select file after several hours of debate.

The Death Penalty debate was revived in the Judiciary Committee this week during the public hearing for LB446 introduced by Senator Chambers. LB446 would eliminate the death penalty which was repealed by the Legislature last session and reinstated by Nebraska voters in November. The Judiciary Committee also heard LR26 on Wednesday, March 22 which was introduced by Senator Vargas. LR26 would oppose any federal action that would rescind Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. There was a great deal of testimony on both bills. This is the last week for most committee hearings as the legislature begins all day debate next week.

Yutan Elementary students toured the Capitol on Wednesday, March 22. I enjoyed getting to meet the students and help introduce them to the legislative process. Another individual who visited the Capitol this week was Robert Kavan, Jr., a Life Scout from Morse Bluff. Kavan Jr. was at the Capitol for the Boy Scouts Report to State at the Governors Residence and Capitol. I appreciated the opportunity to talk with Mr. Kavan and welcome him to the Nebraska Unicameral.

Agriculture is an essential part of our state and District 23. In honor of National Ag Week I wanted to share information about the Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute.

The Nebraska Agricultural Youth Institute is celebrating its 46th anniversary this year and is a five-day program designed to teach current high school juniors and seniors about the agriculture industry and the career possibilities available within it.

Applications are due by April 15 and can be found at http://www.nda.nebraska.gov/nayi. I encourage all those interested to apply and continue the great work of agriculture in our state.

State Senator Bruce Bostelman represents District 23 in the Nebraska Legislature
MONROE  The grinding noise from the pasta machine came to a halt.

Shirley Enquist gave the latest batch of spinach egg noodles a look-over before weighing a portion on an electric scale and placing it in a plastic bag to freeze. It was a test recipe she was trying out, along with the spaghetti sauce simmering in a pot on the stove.

Enquist was trying to come up with a home-cooked meal of noodles and sauce she could package and sell. Her family would be the test subjects to determine whether she found the right balance of flavors. If so, it would be added to the list of products made by the Monroe woman.

For the last 10 years, Enquist has been whipping up different types of food and homemade items at Looking Glass Farms.

It started out as wanting to have fresh, real food for the family. I dont like ingredients that I cant read, Enquist said while standing inside a small building on her farm that serves as a kitchen with sinks, freezers, a refrigerator and stove.

The 10-acre farm is named after Looking Glass Creek, which runs near where Enquist got her start making and selling products.

I didnt necessarily start out as a business. It was more feed the family. From there, I got involved with the farmers market and it has grown from there. I started growing more things, raising more things, she said.

The first product she sold was jams and jellies made from fruit grown at the farm. They were a hit at the annual Columbus Farmers Market in Frankfort Square.

Enquist became coordinator of the local farmers market about eight years ago.

Its fun. I like seeing other people who think along the same lines I do as far as raising their own stuff and wanting to make new things. We get advice from each other, she said.

She is also part of the Nebraska Food Cooperative, a year-round farmers market comprised of producers and consumers across the state. Through that, she sells a variety of items, including jams, jellies, soap, sugar scrubs, fruit syrup, noodles and chickens.

Thousands of chickens are raised at her farm each year. The first shipment of this year's broiler and Rhode Island Red chicks arrived in early March.

On a recent day, the little fuzzballs where chirping and warming themselves under lights inside the coop shared with six caged rabbits that belong to Enquists grandchildren. The broilers will be ready to be dressed in six to eight weeks while the Rhode Island Reds will be kept as laying hens.

Enquist has a U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected poultry-processing facility on site.

Along with poultry, beef and pork are also produced at the farm and sold there, at the farmers market and Red Apple Farmers Market Store along 23rd Street in Columbus.

Enquist grew up on a farm. The O'Neill native is a self-taught cook who tinkers with recipes until she gets what she likes.

When she's not tending to her business, Enquist is an emergency medical technician on the rescue squad in Monroe and teaches EMT classes at Central Community College-Columbus during the winter.

She lives on the farm with her husband, Larry, who is an aerial pipeline control pilot. Enquist said she enjoys being able to create and sell her own products and raise animals.

Im my own boss. If I dont want to make it, I dont have to unless I have orders to fill. If you are going to be successful at it, you have to fill orders. But I think its fun. I like to make things. I like to cook and raise chickens, she said.
March 24, 2017

The late Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was known as the spearhead of the moderate camp in Iran. He also served as the only bridge between the ruling establishment and the Reformists, who faced restrictions following the unrest related to the 2009 presidential elections. When Rafsanjani passed away in January, his death was a major shock for his supporters, who turned out in huge numbers for his funeral alongside politicians who shared his approach to politics.

Considered a pillar of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the US-backed shah, Rafsanjani held several prominent positions over the past decades. In addition to serving as parliament speaker and president, Rafsanjani also played a crucial role in the last years of his life  establishing and leading the moderate camp, and thereby, helping Reformists survive.

In the 2009 presidential elections, the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was proclaimed the victor, but the Reformists, who had two candidates in the race, rejected the results, charging that the balloting had been rigged. After extensive protests, the Reformist candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, were subjected to house arrest in 2012, and the Reformists' activities were restricted.

In addition to Reformists, figures who feel that their home in the conservative camp has been co-opted by hard-liners have been attracted to the moderate camp that emerged in recent years. President Hassan Rouhani, the head of the supreme leaders Inspection Office Akbar Nategh-Nouri and parliament Speaker Ali Larijani are the most prominent faces among the moderates.

Almost the moment Rafsanjani died, many began to wonder who would replace the man considered the thorn in the hard-liners' side. Many figures have been floated as possible successors, but among them, one stands out as a possibly powerful leader of the moderates and one capable of resolving tensions and disagreements between the Reformists and the ruling establishment: Seyyed Hassan Khomeini.

Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, has thus far focused primarily on his studies in Islamic jurisprudence rather than politics. Indeed, despite repeated calls for him to enter the political arena, Khomeini rarely talks politics, and when he does address a political issue, he employs metaphors and poems.

A relatively young 44, Khomeini is popular among youths, because he has constantly emphasized countering hard-line views. This has become problematic, however, as it has made him a frequent target of the hard-liners.

Last year, as elections for the Assembly of Experts approached in February, calls for Khomeinis candidacy grew, with Rafsanjani for the first time publicly asking him to step forward. After Khomeini finally agreed to run, the Guardian Council, tasked with vetting candidates, barred Khomeinis candidacy, supposedly because of his inadequate knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence. The councils decision was assessed by many analysts as politically motivated, as Khomeini was endorsed by many grand ayatollahs, including the highly respected Hossein Vahid Khorasani, and has been teaching Islamic jurisprudence at the highest level at the Qom seminary for more than a decade.

Khomeini is one of the figures whom Rafsanjani hoped would continue his work on Irans political stage. In a rare statement in August 2015, Rafsanjani told Toloue Sobh weekly, It is better if [Hassan Khomeini] runs for the [Assembly of Experts] elections. It is unclear whether I will be alive. It is his turn, and he should come [forward] to protect the revolution [from hard-liners].

When it comes to succeeding Rafsanjani, Khomeini enjoys several advantages. He hails from the famous and well-respected Khomeini family, and he is fully accepted among moderates, Reformists and even a significant number of conservatives, including members of the highly influential Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom.

In May 2014, the conservative Ayatollah Mohammad-Ali Movahedi Kermani, a Tehran Friday prayer leader with views close to the hard-liners, bluntly responded to hard-liners attempt to interrupt Khomeinis speech on the occasion of his grandfathers death. Offended by their actions, Movahedi Kermani said, What is this wrongdoing that you do against the family and grandchildren of the Imam [Ruhollah Khomeini]? These actions must be condemned.

He added, While Hassan was insulted, the supreme leader embraced him and kissed him. The meaning of this embrace was that you insulters must be polite [toward Hassan].

Furthermore, the ultraconservative Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, a member of the Guardian Council, was upset when the grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic was disqualified from running for the Assembly of Experts elections. He had no doubt about Khomeinis knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence.

Unlike Khomeini, other potential candidates to replace Rafsanjani, such as Rouhani and Larijani, do not enjoy good relations with some figures in the conservative and Reformist camps. For example, a number of Reformists remain hesitant about Larijani and Rouhani given the two men's origins in the conservative camp. Rouhani and Larijani also face the same issue of ties among some figures in the conservative camp. The situation is different for Khomeini, however, as he has been successful in maintaining relationships with diverse people, groups and parties.

Moreover, being viewed as a well-respected cleric among the conservatives, Khomeini is one of the few figures who can connect the Reformists with the ruling establishment. Unlike Reformists, who are not trusted by the establishment, Khomeini is believed to have a good relationship with the supreme leader and sometimes meets with him.

Although some analysts believe Nategh-Nouri, who enjoyed a close relationship with Rafsanjani, is a potential candidate for replacing him, he left the political stage more than a decade ago. Moreover, despite calls for his return, he has refused. He appears fully ready, however, to defend Khomeini against attacks by hard-liners. Noting Rafsanjanis full support for Khomeini, Naser Imani, a conservative analyst, has argued, Due to the origins of Hassan Khomeini and his personality, Mr. Nategh has the tendency to support and defend him from the unfair attacks.

Unlike in the past, Khomeini is now more than ever, with the passing of Rafsanjani, sensing the need for him to enter politics and carry the burden of assuming Rafsanjanis role on his shoulders. In this vein, Rouhanis office published a widely shared photograph of himself and Khomeini about to shake hands as Rafsanjani, between them, takes leave. This suggests that Rouhani is counting heavily on Khomeini to play the role of Rafsanjani in the May 19 presidential elections.
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(UOB) has received preliminary approval from the State Bank of Viet Nam to establish a foreign-owned subsidiary bank in the country.  Photo thoibaonganhang

HCM CITY  United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) has received preliminary approval from the State Bank of Viet Nam to establish a foreign-owned subsidiary bank in the country.

It would become the first Singapore bank to be granted a foreign-owned subsidiary bank licence in Viet Nam.

The announcement was made by the State Bank of Viet Nam on Thursday during an official visit to the country by Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Wee Ee Cheong, deputy chairman and CEO of UOB, said: We were the first Singapore bank to operate a foreign bank branch in Viet Nam in 1995. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the Vietnamese authorities and the local financial institutions to contribute to the development and progress of the country, its industry and its people.

The State Bank of Viet Nam has said it will issue an in-principle approval for the foreign-owned subsidiary bank licence by June 2017.

Under the licence, the bank will be able to expand its branch network in the country, thereby enabling UOB to extend financial support and offer best-in-class products and service to consumers and businesses beyond HCM City.

Cheong said that UOB would assist more Vietnamese enterprises in their domestic growth and expansion plans by connecting them to cross-border opportunities through UOBs extensive regional network.

In 2013, UOB set up the FDI Advisory Unit in Viet Nam, its ninth unit in the region, to offer integrated services to its clients expanding their businesses within the country and across borders.

UOB has also been promoting Viet Nam as an investment destination, supporting its regional clients venturing into and expanding within the country.

In 2015, UOB signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Viet Nams Foreign Investment Agency to facilitate trade and investment between Viet Nam and Southeast Asia. It was the agencys first such collaboration with a bank.

Since its incorporation in 1935, UOB has developed a global network of more than 500 offices in 19 countries and territories in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America.  VNS
HCM City has established a Food Safety and Hygiene Management Board, the first of its kind in the country. Pham Khanh Phong Lan, head of the board that will operate on a pilot basis for three years, tells Hai Quan (Customs) that the basic aim is to improve management of food quality.

What are the main tasks of the HCM City Food Safety and Hygiene Management Board?

The board, established under Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucs decision, will have same functions as a department with the main task of implementing prescribed legal documents.

Based on actual implementation of the legal documents and its assessment, the board will propose to the citys Peoples Committee the promulgation of guidelines and policies to further improve management of food quality in the city.

Previously, the quality of food in the city was jointly managed by departments of Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Industry and Commerce. In this process, there were overlaps in the application of laws. Sanctions were not strict enough, and sanction procedures remained complicated. Whenever there were problems related to food safety and hygiene, this department asked that department, wasting time. The management board has been established to address these overlapping issues, to make inspections more effective, test systems and technical barriers, thus preventing contaminated food from flooding the city.

In addition, we will reform the administrative procedures to make it easier for businesses and individuals to obtain food safety and hygiene certification.

As the first such agency in the country, what do you think are the major difficulties and pressures it will face?

The biggest problem will be the overlapping of regulations. Im afraid the regulations will kick each other and the limited capacity of the board will make their implementation more difficult.

Another difficulty is that sanctions of violations are not strict enough, and relevant procedures are complicated. In the past five years, a violator has been fined less than VN200,000 (US$8.8) on average. The board will propose stricter penalties.

Then, food testing is difficult. If the test takes a lot of time, for instance, between 2-3 days, the food has already been consumed. In case we seize some food and the test results show that it meets set requirements, businesses will suffer losses.

In my opinion, in order to deal with such a scenario, two things must be done.

First, it will be necessary to reorganise the food testing system and set up a suitable mechanism for having the tests done by competent bodies in the private sector, given the situation of scarce resources.

Secondly, the inspection of quality should be re-oriented. It is not about mass inspections. It should more about quick checks to screen some suspected food samples. Meanwhil, the peoples supervision of food production and trading businesses should be enhanced.

What about personnel for the board? When will it commence operations?

Currently, about 500 people from three departments have been assigned to work for six functional units under the management board: office, inspection division, licensing division, risk management and poisoning treatment division, information and media division, and quality management division.

The board will begin operations at the earliest possible, though a time has not been fixed.

What are the measures that the board will initiate to improve food safety controls in the city?

The board will consistently implement professional and constructive measures to ensure food safety. HCM City has implemented a project to build safe food chains. In my opinion, along with the inspection and control of enterprises involved in the safe food chains, the board should strengthen control over other types of food at the beginning, whether or not a type of food has been included in the safe food chain.

More than 80 per cent of the food in the city comes from other localities, so the board will advise the citys Peoples Committee to build co-ordination mechanisms with other provinces to control food quality at the place of production. This will benefit the city as well as other provinces.

In addition, the board will expand tracing the origins of certain foods. One key solution we will promote is to pilot safe food business models. Apart from measures to improve food quality management at supermarkets, the board will focus on inspections in the three wholesale markets of Binh ien, Thu uc and Hoc Mon. Food inspectors will be available around the clock with the ability to get quick results after testing vegetables, seafood, meat and other types of food there.

Inspection teams in each district will be responsible for regular supervision of local food production and trading businesses, especially in big markets. A particular focus will be on collective kitchens and temporary markets for workers near industrial zones as these places carry high risks of food safety violations.

During the pilot period, the board will evaluate the effectiveness of its performance based on specific criteria. We will name the violators on the boards website to help people know and boycott them if necessary.  VNS
At his recent exhibition, Vietnamese artist Bui Cong Khanh seems to have little sympathy for the concerns of his audience, as he takes them to a dark room and shows his replica of a city ruined by war. Entitled Me Cung Trang (White Maze) the work is being displayed at the first ever contemporary art collaboration by Vietnamese and South Korean artists in Ha Noi.

Khanhs work is a multi-media installation using ceramics, pedestals, projectors, videos, camcorders and spot lights. He reproduced a broken maze with traditional Bat Trang ceramics. A whole ruined city is enveloped in white clouds, which go slide through bloody battles, and might vanish without a trace.

"My work is a maze or a city without people," said artist Khanh. "Images of the ruins of villages and cities in war zones, especially in Syria where the most brutal fights are going on inspire me. I want to depict the wealthy urban areas that have been left empty and broken."

"The boundary between life and death, prosperity and ruin, peace and danger, has become very thin. The fate of these cities is in the hands of external forces, who do not belong to where they are running the brutal war in order to rearrange the world the way they wish," said Khanh.

"The cruel downfall led by the war haunts me, with the grey white colour covering the walls pierced by bullets, and the collapsed houses blocking the paths, making the city a totally closed-off maze."

Ruins of war: White Maze by Vietnamese Bui Cong Khanh.

Khanh is an artist deeply fascinated with social assumptions of cultural heritage. As one of the first local artists to gain an international reputation in the 1990s, his practice has since embraced painting, sculpture, installation, video and drawing with significant shows across the South East Asian region and beyond.

He has participated in many exhibitions at home and abroad, including Hong Kong, Istanbul, Thailand, South Korea, and Australia.

"By replicating a city from a birds-eye view, Khanh poses questions about the undefined or unstable state of human shelters, under the light of historical nostalgia, diving into the most rooted meaning of what we call home in our perception," said Vietnamese curator Nguyen Anh Tuan.

Khanh is among eight artists who were invited to display their works at the exhibition entitled Undefined Boundary which is being held at the Korean Cultural Centre in Viet Nam. The exhibition was organised as a programme of NEXT Expert Training of Korea Arts Management Service and is co-hosted with the Korean Cultural Centre in Viet Nam.

The Vietnamese artists include Phi Phi Oanh; Uu am Tran Nguyen and Lai Dieu Ha and Korean artists are Seulki Ki; Heaven Baek, Woosung Lee and Hyejin Jo.

The exhibition is being held at the Korean Cultural Centre and Heritage Space contemporary art centre in Ha Noi from March 3 to 31, aiming at presenting arts in various forms such as painting, photography, installation and video centred on the theme of "boundary".

As a Vietnamese-American artist, Oanh is interested in Vietnamese natural lacquer. At the exhibition she displays a sculptural light installation consisting of a projection of miniature "lacquer skins" on to a translucent silk screen.

To create the lacquer skins, Oanh uses the traditional technique of son mai (lacquer painting) directly onto glass slides, then laminates the glass. These skins are projected through "Lacquerscope" devices that she has created to see lacquer paintings in a dematerialised form, as light, to create a different visual encounter with the medium.

"As an artist Im interested in symbolic boundaries and how they are sustained and the way we can overcome them," said Oanh. "Stereotyping and tagging are forms of boundaries I try to confront by creating works that resist simple binary categorisation such as traditional and contemporary, local or global, male or female, authentic or contaminated, human craft and technology".

Oanh studied Vietnamese traditional lacquer painting in Ha Noi in 2004 thanks to a Fulbright Scholarship. Her work combines lacquer with new materials and technologies to extend the scope of the medium as images, reflecting on cross cultural histories and situate the medium in a broader art discourse.

"Oanhs work continues to break down the perceptive limits of lacquer - a type of art with many conventions and complications from traditional to modern plastic art," said curator Tuan. "The form of art changes, forcing the creator and the viewer to change their way of conversing with the artwork, when it appears to be more than just an object."

Unique view: A photo from the Unfamiliar corner series by artist Seulki Ki

Korean artist Seulki Ki brings her work Unfamiliar Corner to the exhibition. Her work includes six photos telling a story of space which is familiar around people. Even though on the surface her works may show different characteristics of people who are actually all alike, in that they involve a very personal experience of looking at the subject from a certain space.

"The personal impressions that I get from the objects from events, sensation, and phenomena that happen around me are important to me. Such impressions function as a filter which indicates both the attitude in approaching the object and the product of the sensation. My impressions are converted into attached images.

"For me, the boundary is defined as the point of decision which pertains to how an artist tries to perceive the world through ones own filters.

"It is difficult to see my photos," said Ki. "They evoke the curiousity of viewers. One day I hope to separate familiar spaces in accordance with my imagination. Each work represents for a separate space. My works focus on awareness sequence of human."

Ki majored in photography at the Seoul Institute of the Arts and graduated as a Master of Fine Arts. She has held solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions in South Korea and Japan.

"Ki dismantles the audiences visual and perceptual memories and experiences by framing familiar places into two dimensional planes of photography," said Korean curator Hye Young Kim.

Artist Lee presents fabric and gouache-on canvas works at Heritage Space, 28 Tran Binh Street. The fabric works, measuring 2m by 2m, look like moving images which viewers can touch and go through. The gouache paintings include three pieces, measuring 65.1cm by 50cm, with the theme of Broken Heart.

"It is first time I have shown my works at an exhibition in Viet Nam. The artworks are created in different mediums but I can feel about the audience and how the artists try to communicate with people through the works," said Lee.

During the exhibition, the artists participated in a roundtable with eight professionals of visual arts from South Korea and Viet Nam to discuss each countrys respective art scenes.

Undefined Boundaries is a project hoping to establish active networks in the visual arts between the two countries on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of their diplomatic relations this year.

"I highly appreciate this exhibition," said Dae Joong Lee, the director of the Korean Cultural Centre. "We should be promoting contemporary artists and their creativity. I hope through the exhibition contemporary artworks by Korean artists will be introduced to Vietnamese audiences and Vietnamese artists will be popular in Korea."  VNS
Hong Van

With a passion for machines and engineering, Nguyen Cao Thuong, a 51-year-old mechanic from the southern province of Kien Giang, has transformed his Vespa scooter into a firefighting vehicle, and used it to battle dozens of blazes since 2010.

When a fire breaks out, this motorbike [scooter-turned-fire engine] can do the work of many people, said Thuong.

Now the locals call me the firefighter.

Thuong is a native of Long Xuyen in An Giang Province. In 1999, due to problems in failed business and debts piling up, he and his wife, along with four children, moved to the remote Vinh Thuan area, where they had no acquaintances.

During the last days of the millenium, when Vietnamese are busy shopping for New Year celebrations, Thuong was unable to afford gifts and treats for his family.

While walking over Vinh Thuan bridge, he thought that a motorcycle repair shop could mean something to the family.

Even without money, Thuong decided to hire land and set up a shop next to an old hospital for his new business. It was short lived, however, closing four or five months later due to a land clearance project. He then began work as a mobile mechanic along the provinces waterways.

After nearly four years, he could finally afford a suitable piece of land.

Local saviour: Thuong has battled a total of 14 blazes since his firefighting scooter was put into use in 2010.  Photos courtesy of Nguyen Cong Thuong

In 2010 Thuong witnessed a fire at the market in Vinh Tien Commune and then later, another fire in Vinh Thuan District. The flames were high enough to overwhelm the locals and their rudimentary equipment, while the fire brigade failed to arrive in time. The houses were subsequently destroyed and a number of people were injured.

The image of the fire, those who suffered severe burns, and those fainting on realising that their whole property had burned down haunted me, said Thuong.

Professional fire trucks do not always come in time or have access to all sites. If there was a fire in remote or rural areas, then how could they reach it? Why not use vehicles that are small and convenient, like a motorbike, said Thuong.

Encouraged by the idea, he decided to sacrifice his Vespa for the experiment.

The biggest obstacle was adapting the Vespas engine to pump water with enough force to extinguish large fires.

Fighting fire: Water can be taken from rivers, lakes or local houses and can reach a distance of 30 metres. As the motorbike is small and convenient, it can access remote areas where cars struggle.

To collect the necessary tools and equipment, he had to go to An Giang, Can Tho and down to Ca Mau Province.

Many people said I was just wasting my time on the bizarre bike, said Thuong. I just laughed.

After a year of work, and buckets of sweat, the bike was finally ready for use. He installed a new horn, slapped on a red colour scheme reminiscent of fire trucks across the world, and added a small fire extinguisher just in case my own bike burns.

He tested the new creation on the banks of the canal.

The bike had the look, but in reality the water was only being sprayed 5 metres high. There were some laughs, but I persevered. A few sleepless nights later and I had managed to make the pump five times stronger, said Thuong.

There was a night when my fire engine bike was still unfinished, and a person ran to my house shouting about a fire. I followed him, bringing along my tools and bike.

Ingenious: Seeing that many farmers were being poisoned when they sprayed pesticides on their crops by hand, which is costly and inefficient, as well as dangerous, Thuong invented a multifunction machine that can spray pesticide, collect garbage and fertilise crops.

After battling the blaze for more than an hour, we eventually extinguished the fire, said Thuong.

To make the firefighting work more efficient, he began on a second set of wheels.

He had to buy another second-hand Vespa bike.

It must be Vespa because my first firefighting bike was made from a Vespa due to the fact that the engines on these scooters can cool down by themselves. Others, including Honda Waves or Dreams motorbikes, only cool down when they are moving, said Thuong.

Water can be taken from rivers, lakes or local houses and can reach a distance of 30 metres in height. As the motorbike is small and convenient, it can access remote areas where fire trucks struggle.

To rebuild his bikes like that, Thuong had to spend money, time and effort.

No one expects fires. Its good that I was able to make a firefighting bike to help others. I do not expect to be paid for this job, he said.

Thuongs firefighting bike was runner up in the third Technical Creativity Competition in 2011 and was invited to be exhibited at the Viet Nam Agriculture Fair held in HCM City.

Seeing that many farmers were being poisoned when they sprayed pesticides on their crops by hand, which is costly and inefficient, as well as dangerous, Thuong invented a multifunction machine that can spray pesticide, fertilise and haverst crops.

The machine weighs only 190kg, meaning it can be operated easily over the rice fields of Vinh Thuan. It can also sprinkle pesticides over an area of 20ha per day. The Department of Science and Technology of Kien Giang supported Thuong in filing for intellectual property rights, said deputy director of Kien Giangs Department of Science and Technology, Nguyen Xuan Niem.

I have always admired Thuongs dedication. He works towards the benefit of others. He has developed and built a number of innovative machines with many practical functions to help farmers, said Niem.

Since 2011, Thuong has exported more than 100 multifuntional farming machines, which are sold at about VN55 million (US$2,400) each, to Laos and Cambodia, and has been awarded with a certificate of praise from the Kien Giang Provinces Peoples Committee. VNS
Nguyen inh ang, 58, is a Vietnamese nuclear physicist working at RIKEN, Japans largest research institution in a range of scientific disciplines. One of the few scientists with two doctorates, he is also a member of Viet Nam Fine Arts Association as well as Subject Fine Arts Association in Japan (Shyutai Bijutsu Kyokai). angs latest research work, Simultaneous Microscopic Description of Nuclear Level Density and Radiative Strength Function, co-authored with Nguyen Quang Hung, associate professor of Duy Tan University, and Le Thi Quynh Huong of the Univerity of Khanh Hoa, was published in the American Physical Societys Physical Review Letters on January 9.

He shares with An Vu his thoughts on his latest research as well as his passion for fine arts.

Inner Sanctum: Can you tell us something about the work that was recently published in the prestigious physics journal Physical Review Letters?

Although this is my fifth publication in Physical Review Letters, it is the first paper in nuclear physics with all co-authors being Vietnamese ever published in this top class physics journal.

The study of two quantities, nuclear level density (NLD) and radiative gamma-ray strength function (RSF), has been a key topic in nuclear physics, as they play significant roles in understanding astrophysical nucleosynthesis, as well as in nuclear energy production and nuclear waste treatment.

This study has picked up since 2000, after experimental physicists at the University of Oslo proposed a method to extract these two quantities in a single experiment. However, there has never been a unified theory capable of simultaneously and microscopically describing both quantities.

In the paper published in Physical Review Letters we proposed, for the very first time, a microscopic and consistent approach to simultaneously describe both the NLD and RSF. The results obtained within our approach agree well with the experimental data without introducing any new parameters. We do not need to adjust the existing parameters as the temperature and gamma-ray energy vary either.

Inner Sanctum: What is the practical meaning and prospects of this project as they pertain to nuclear physics and the recent decision by the Vietnamese government of abolishing the project of nuclear power plant in the country?

Nuclear physics is a fundamental research which helps us discover mysteries of the universe. Our Physical Review Letters paper shows that Viet Nam currently has some researchers, who are capable of conducting a high-quality research at the international level while working inside the country. This has an important meaning since it shows we can build up strong research units through our own efforts at home.

Nuclear physics research should not be confused with the business of nuclear power plants. Regarding the latter, after the worlds great disasters like those occurred at Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011, the world has focused more on developing clean energies like solar and wind energies, artificial photosynthesis, and biofuels.

At present, although clean energy technology may not be competitive compared to nuclear power plants, coal, oil and gas, we cant say nuclear energy is the only choice.

No technology is perfectly secure. Accidents are still caused by unpredictable and random factors, where human errors often lead to severe consequences.

Moreover, nuclear power is quite expensive. It costs 1.4 to 1.7 times more than coal energy, and 1.3 to 1.4 times more than gas energy.

Therefore, I agree with the governments decision to stop the nuclear power plants project in Viet Nam. With nuclear power, the consequence of an accident would be much worse, as not only the ocean and fish, but also the ecosystem and peoples lives would be in great danger.

Inner Sanctum: The study of science has always been a meaningful, but tough work. What are the difficulties in working on the project? Did your family support you?

Both science and art are like love. You dont count when it comes to love. Rarely do I think about winning and losing with research work. I only think about doing what my passion tells me to do, what is meant for me. Science and art meet at one point: they both require creativity. The process itself is often more attractive than the result. In the end, I still find inner peace once I know I have done my best, no matter what the result is. I earn income by doing research in physics, which is sufficient to support the living of my family and schooling of my son from the elementary school until his master graduation.

Inner Sanctum: Besides being a nuclear physicist, you are also a painter. What are your favourite subjects in painting? What inspires you?

I like to draw and paint human figures in photographically realistic and super-realistic ways. Human figures are the most difficult and interesting elements in fine arts, in my opinion. Super-realistically drawing and painting humans, so that they become alive, require a great skill and talent, which only few artists in the world can have. For the past 25 years, I rarely painted landscapes or still-lifes. For me, they only serve as the setting for the human drama, which is the most important subject in arts. However, subjects alone are not my main concern. Idea is the decisive motivation, because estranged from the Idea, Nature is only the corpse of the Understanding, as Hegel said. Idea should be transformed into Soul, without which a painting is just a corpse of Fine Arts.

Inner Sanctum: How long does it take for you to complete a painting? What is your favourite material?

My favourite material is certainly oil on canvas. I also use pencil and pen to draw on paper. My most favourite work is always the latest painting I just finished or the one I am working on. The time spent on an oil painting generally depends on its size. My paintings are done by using a technique, which I developed based on the multilayer painting techniques of ancient Flemish, Renaissance and Baroque masters. This technique consists of several steps, such as priming the support with gesso, dead colouring, monochrome underpainting, laying colours, glazing. Therefore it takes a long time to execute a painting in this technique. However, the multilayer technqiues are the most comprehensive and powerful techniques in oil painting that mankind has ever invented. For a large work ranging from F100 (130 x 162 cm) to F130 (162 x 194 cm) it usually takes from 3 to 5 months. My day starts from 6 am. I paint until 9 or 10 am then go to the institute to work until 7 or 8pm. On the weekends and holidays, I paint all day long.

Inner Sanctum: Can you share with us your upcoming plants and ideas on your research work as well as art?

In physics, I wish to construct a micoscopic foundation for the phonon damping model, which I proposed in 1998 in collaboration with Professor Akito Arima, a renowned Japanese nuclear theorist, former president of the university of Tokyo and RIKEN, as well as former minister of Science and Education of Japan. This model has been applied with success in the last two decades to describe the giant resonance in highly excited nuclei, that is nuclei at a finite temperature, which may also rotate with a finite angular momentum.

I also hope the nuclear physics group led by Professor Nguyen Quang Hung, who was my former PhD student, will grow in close co-operation with nuclear experimentalists at home, laying a strong foundation for nuclear structure research in the country, capable of high quality research works of international standards.

In arts, I dream of restoring the glory of multilayer oil painting. In the last eight years, starting in 2009, I have written more than 30 articles in Vietnamese and delivered seven lectures in Ha Noi and HCM City on this subject.

These articles and lectures marked the first time that the knowledge of oil painting material and multilayer painting technique were systematically and thoroughly explained to the Vietnamese audience.

As for myself, I dream of one day being able to reach the perfect level of Jan Van Eyck, the master of all time in oil painting technique. VNS
CEDAR FALLS  Randolph Bryan bought The House before he knew what he would do with it.

Just between Cedar Falls Main Street business district and its more residential neighborhoods, the house was zoned commercial. Bryans wife, Brooke Altobell, suggested a bistro with a cool French-look.

The ideas evolve, evolve, but it comes right back to Cottonwood, said Bryan, who owns the Waterloo cafe and just expanded the business into The House in January. It was just a natural, easy progression back to Cedar Falls.

Cottonwood Canyon  its name is a blending of the cottonwoods from Bryans native Jamaica and the canyons of South Dakota where the business got its start  has a long history in the Cedar Valley.

The business originally started in Cedar Falls in 2004 and added a location in downtown Waterloo two years later. The former eventually closed while the latter saw business grow with Waterloos commercial downtown.

Bryan, who can be found working at both locations, said any business failings were not for his lack of trying.

He sees now the original Cedar Falls business  located on Waterloo Road  was ahead of its time and struggled to find its identity in doing too much under one roof.

But it found its footing in Waterloo by focusing on coffee  roasted at the Waterloo location  and Jamaican cuisine.

Its me. The shop represents me. I represent the shop. So, I try to incorporate some of the stuff that I enjoy so that my customers can experience all the stuff that I experience, Bryan said.

He said the Waterloo location helped the business grow its name and stay relevant, which made the move back into Cedar Falls that much easier. The Houses location  419 Washington St.  also helps because its on the edge of an expanding commercial downtown in Cedar Falls.

Cedar Falls was a natural fit, because its a part of my community. I spend time in Cedar Falls; I do a lot of stuff in Cedar Falls, likewise Waterloo, so it was just the right opportunity and the right location, I think, that made it a decision to come back, Bryan said.

He said it wasnt necessarily a goal to get back to Cedar Falls.

My goal is to do well irrespective of where I go, Bryan said.

Cottonwood Canyons Cedar Falls location also opened up opportunities to stay open later  and serve beer  as there tends to be more foot traffic into the evening in downtown Cedar Falls than downtown Waterloo. The Cedar Falls location stays open until 9 p.m., where the Waterloo one closes at 3 p.m. and is closed Sundays.

Bryan said he is amenable to the idea of keeping the Waterloo location open later if theres a need for it.

Once the weather warms, the Cedar Falls location also will have a patio out back for people to get fresh air and away from the coziness of the tight quarters in The House.

The businesses are otherwise similar, and Bryan is working to ensure the menu that is offered at Cedar Falls is the same menu offered in Waterloo, particularly the popular jerk chicken bowls.

Bryan said business so far has been good at the Cedar Falls location, and not to the detriment of the Waterloo location. Even after the lunch rush, a continual jingle at the front door of The House told the story of people coming and going throughout the afternoon.

Customer Sarah Frederick, who has lived in Cedar Falls since 2001, said she frequents both locations as she works in downtown Waterloo.

Ive been waiting for this  restaurant since we moved here. We need a coffee place that has a good lunch, Frederick said, adding she had been to the previous Cedar Falls location and regularly stops for coffee in Waterloo.

Frederick came up to Bryan at the Cedar Falls shop to rave about the coffee.

Its the best coffee in town, said Frederick, who also raved about the fresh food. Your coffee, I think its the best coffee Ive ever had.

A love of coffee is what spurred Bryan into the business. He opened his first location in Mitchell, S.D., near the Corn Palace, because he had grown accustomed to good coffee from his days in Boston and couldnt find any in South Dakota.

It started out of a personal need for good coffee and evolved into a business, Bryan said. I learned the business as I go along.

The business in South Dakota ultimately expanded into four locations before Bryan and his family  he and Altobell now have four children  moved to Iowa. Bryan said hes exhausted from starting up a second location so doesnt have current plans to expand further.

This is my home. I adopted Waterloo-Cedar Falls as my home, and this is what I do for a living, so Id like to see them do well, Bryan said. I never say no to an opportunity, if its the right opportunity, but for now, Id like to see if I can make these two work well in the communities that they are in.
GLADBROOK  Tama County Women, Land & Legacy will host a Whats the Buzz? Bees 101 learning session, the groups 30th event, April 6 at Peace United Church of Christ, 201 Johnston St.

Dessert and registration will begin at 6:30 p.m., with the event following at 7 p.m.

Presenter Margaret Hala and her husband of rural Marshalltown have enjoyed beekeeping for more than 30 years. She also has held several officer roles in the Iowa Honey Producers and Central Iowa Beekeepers Associations.

RSVP by April 5 by phoning Mel at (641) 484-2702, ext. 305 or emailing melody.bro@ia.nacdnet.net .

This event is free and open to the public.
Author to read at the Hearst

CEDAR FALLS  The Final Thursday Reading Series will present writer Julianne Couch in a reading at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Hearst Center for the Arts.

She will be reading from her latest book, The Small-Town Midwest: Resilience and Hope in the Twenty-first Century, published by the University of Iowa Press.

Couch lives in Bellevue and is the author of three nonfiction books, a photo-companion, and an essay collection.

Final Thursday Reading Series is held in Mae Latta Hall at the Hearst Center. Open mic sign-up is at 7 p.m. Participants are invited to share their best five minutes of original poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. The open mic begins at 7:15 p.m., and the featured author takes the stage at 8 p.m. There will be a short question-and-answer period as time allows.

Legion will host waffle breakfast

DENVER  The Denver American Legion will have a donation waffle breakfast April 2.

All proceeds will go to the Denver EMTs to help purchase new equipment.

Wartburg band will perform

WAVERLY  The Wartburg Symphonic Band will celebrate the spirit of April Fools Day during its final concert of the year at 7:30 p.m. April 1 in Neumann Auditorium.

The Symphonic Band, under the direction of interim director Richard Scheffel, mostly will perform light-hearted pieces like Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo by Sir Malcolm Arnold.

Seniors in the Symphonic Band also will be recognized during the performance.

The concert also will feature Wartubium, Wartburgs tuba and euphonium ensemble, which will present well-known pieces not originally written for their instruments, but arranged for the ensemble.
ALLISON  Residents grilled state lawmakers over their connections to a conservative nonprofit organization Saturday.

Sen. Bill Dix, Rep. Pat Grassley and Speaker Linda Upmeyer  all Republicans  and Democratic Sen. Amanda Ragan took questions during a legislative forum at the Allison AMVETS Post.

Gary Duneman of Waverly said many of the ideas pushed by the American Legislative Exchange Council  restricting local control of the minimum wage, fighting collective bargaining for public employees and requiring voter identification cards  are being taken up by lawmakers.

It appears to a lot of people that we arent going by the Iowa agenda, the voters agenda, but the corporate agenda. They did not elect you. We elected you, Duneman said.

Stephanie Schwinn of Waverly, who said almost every major bill passed by the Legislature can be found in model policies on ALECs website, accused lawmakers of taking corporate money.

How am I supposed to believe that you are representing the issues that are important to Iowans when you are taking so much money from ALEC  because this legislation wasnt driven by anything that constituents are concerned about. It came straight out of ALEC, Schwinn said.

Grassley cautioned Schwinn against making claims the Legislature is working for partisan groups. He said there are several different organizations lawmakers can be a part of. He said legislators have membership in ALEC as well other similar groups like the somewhat left-leaning National Council of State Legislatures.

Ive never been to an ALEC meeting, and Im not sure what that would entail.  I could probably go a website and find someone that supports every bill that weve done this year, and just because its on the internet doesnt mean the Legislature turned around and modeled a piece of legislature after that, Grassley said.

He said groups like ALEC exist so lawmakers can see how other states are addressing issues.

There are several groups similar to this, and Im not defending ALEC, Im just saying for us to sit here and say thats the only group that goes across state lines and proposes legislation, that is not accurate whatsoever, Grassley said.

ALEC is an organization that has helped educate me on issues that have been perfected and worked on in other states that bring more opportunities to the people in those states, that make the states more attractive to new career opportunities, new jobs, reforming government, Dix said. He said he has taken part in meetings with other legislative organizations like NCSL.

The state of Iowa spends no money on ALEC, but the state pays $160,000 a year in dues to National Council of State Legislatures, Grassley said.
Cedar Valley Jaycees

CEDAR FALLS  Waterloo-Cedar Falls area high school seniors planning to attend an Iowa college or university are encouraged to apply for the $1,000 Cedar Valley Jaycees Bob Molinaro Memorial Scholarship.

The scholarship selection committee will focus primarily on community service and involvement and extracurricular activities. While a minimum GPA of 2.5 is required, the selection process focuses more on community service, which makes this scholarship ideal for students who are actively involved in their community and schools, but may not be at the top of their class. The Cedar Valley Jaycees offer this scholarship to promote volunteerism and to foster an attitude of service that will continue throughout their lives.

Students must submit a personal essay, transcript, resume, and two letters of recommendation with the application form. Applications are available at www.cedarvalleyjaycees.org. All applications must be submitted to scholarship@cedarvalleyjaycees.org by 5 p.m. May 1.

Flint Hills

SHELL ROCK  Flint Hills Resources will award scholarships to local graduating seniors through its Discovery Scholarship program.

The program awards a one-time, $1,500 scholarship to graduating seniors who intend to pursue careers in STEM or agricultural-related fields. The scholarship can be used to help cover the cost of tuition at the college, university, technical college or trade school of the winners choice.

More information and applications are available for students from their schools guidance counselor. Flint Hills Resources Discovery Scholarships are available at Aplington-Parkersburg High School, Clarksville High School, Nashua-Plainfield High School, Tripoli High School and Waverly-Shell Rock High School, Denver High School, Oelwein High School, Sumner-Fredericksburg High School, Wapsie Valley High School and West Central High School.
If only Julius Caesar had listened to the soothsayer who, in plain Latin, warned him, Beware of the Ides of March. Instead, the powerful, arrogant Roman tweeted, er, complained, He is a Dreamer, let us leave him.

And leave he did  forever  on the Ides of March, March 15, 44 B.C.

Someone should have given American farmers, ranchers, and rural residents a similar warning earlier this month when House Republicans and the White House said they had an Obamacare repeal-and-replace plan.

When the plan was unveiled, though, its author, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, dodged brickbats from fellow Republicans, derision from Democrats and, on March 13, a loud Yikes! from much of the country when a Congressional Budget Office review showed 24 million Americans would lose their health care coverage under it.

Its even worse for old aggies, reports the Boston Globe, because a disproportionate number of those 24 million are older and rural  exactly the people whose votes helped catapult Donald Trump into the White House.

Ryan, however, scoffed at the CBO numbers and went into full-wonk mode to defend the pure magic of his plan. The marketplace, he promised, would jump in with new, competitively priced insurance policies to cover the dropped millions.

To many Republicans, the Ryan plan isnt so much about repealing and replacing Obamacare; its more about cutting unnecessary government spending. The speakers plan does that in spades: It cuts nearly $1 trillion from government sponsored health care costs in the coming decade.

The majority of that savings, however, is not flowing back to you or me. Indeed, $594 billion goes for new tax cuts, the largest of which, $145 billion, will go to the wealthiest 0.1 percent of Americans who earn $250,000 or more per year.

At the rural level, an Obamacare repeal will be measured more by life and death than dollars and cents, say two university researchers writing for the Scholars Strategy Network.

In fact, explains the University of Californias Claire Snell-Rood and Cathleen E. Willging of the Behavioral Health Research Center of the Southwest, Because healthcare facilities and workforces are often at the heart of local rural economies, repeal could set off economic death spirals. If Obamacares mandate for people to buy insurance is eliminated along with subsidies that make plans affordable, insurance premiums will soar and coverage will shrink, leading insurance companies to abandon many rural counties altogether.

And, they add, In practice, Obamacare repeal at the federal level will simply shift massive extra costs to state and local governments and to local care facilities, especially in rural areas.

Its a cost few state and local governments can bear, and its one element of RyanCare no one ever mentions: Eliminating health insurance coverage to 24 million Americans does not mean these people wont need medical care. They will, of course; so who pays for it?

You and me  just as we did before Obamacare.

It wont be cheap. In 2015, Florida estimated its insured citizens paid an additional $2,000 per hospital stay, or $1.4 billion in total, to cover the cost of health care for the states uninsured.

Nationwide, the Kaiser Family Foundation pegged that same cost in 2013 at $85 billion. It would be nearer to $100 billion in 2018, or almost equal to any government savings under RyanCare.

Thats exactly why, as President Donald Trump remarked recently, health care reform is so complicated. Barack Obama learned that lesson in 2010. Still, the goal now is the same as then: provide the best health care with the most choice to the largest number of Americans at the fairest price.

Throwing 24 million Americans under the bus neither meets that need nor delivers on Donald Trumps campaign promise of insurance for everybody. By that standard alone, RyanCare already is a loser no matter its fate in Congress.

And you dont need a soothsayer to tell you that.
For most of our countrys history, it was held to be a principle that in the conduct of our foreign relations, politics stopped at the waters edge. No matter how divided we were at home, we attempted to speak with one voice when America stepped abroad.

It is in this vein I suggested in the last article no matter whether Russia attempted to interfere with our recent election or actually impacted the result, it is important to step back and ask a broader question: What should our relationship be today with the former Soviet Union?

In the first article, a look was taken at modern Russia. We found a country struggling economically, plagued by graft and inefficiency. A few, the oligarchs, have acquired great wealth. Yet, despite these conditions, nationalism is on the rise. Vladimir Putin is popular, and the U.S in not well regarded.

But if present conditions drive some of the adventurous foreign exploits of Putin, partially as a distraction from conditions at home, Russian history may play an even heavier hand. That history can be described in one word: space.

In each of the three preceding centuries Russia has suffered invasions, and each time it survived because of space. In 1707, Charles VII of Sweden wanted control of the Baltic Sea and tried to topple Peter the Great. The Russians fought, retreated, scorched the earth behind them and then finally attacked and drove the Swedish king all the way to Turkey.

Napoleon decided to bring them to task for cooperating with the British. In 1812, he launched a spear point attack through Poland and captured Moscow. There he sat, waiting for the Russians to surrender. They didnt come, and by late fall, confronted with a barren country side, he retreated back to France. Six hundred thousand members of the Grand Army left Paris, only 25,000 returned.

But it was the 20th century invasion that defines, more than the others, Russia foreign policy today. Hitler, who signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviets eight days before he invaded Poland, unleashed Operation Barbarossa just two years later and invaded his former ally on a broad front.

Three cities tell the tale of that effort. Moscow  where German tanks came within fifteen miles of the Kremlin  Leningrad and Stalingrad. Leningrad was surrounded and under siege for two-and-a-half years. Over a million Russians died there at the rate of 20,000 a month, most from starvation. Despite these difficulties, neither Moscow nor Leningrad capitulated to the Nazis

But it was at Stalingrad that the war was won. There a German solider of the Third Reich marveled he could cast his eyes on the Volga River, over 2,000 miles from Berlin. But the Russians launched a counterattack, encircled the German army and forced a surrender. History does not record whether the fellow died there or was one of the 90,000 who surrendered, of which only 10,000 survived captivity.

The difficulty of fighting a war so far from home doomed all three invaders. Supply lines were stretched, the countryside wasted by the retreating Russian armies, and the courage of the Russian soldiers was always underestimated.

After Stalingrad, Stalin cleared space in the north, but then turned south to the Ukraine. From there he swept westward and north, through Romania, Bulgaria, and ultimately Poland. When NATO was created in 1955, Stalin promptly formed the Warsaw Pact, made up of most of the eastern European countries under Russian control. Stalin had his space.

Then came 1991 and the great contraction. From a Russian perspective, the Union was almost dismembered. Fourteen former provinces declared independence. Gone from Russia were new countries like Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Georgia. But even more importantly, many of the former Warsaw Pact members were granted admission into NATO. The west now sits on the Russian border, and the space is gone.

Putin may very well want it back. His countrys history tells him he should.
OK, lets rid the country of liberals! I read a convincing article that said liberalism is a disease. It was made clear liberals are destroying America and they are stupid and dont live in reality.

So, lets deport them. That seems to be a popular directive for undesirables these days. I know Im sealing my own fate as the scarlet L emblazoned across my chest will surely reveal me, but I am willing to accept this exile. If we are, in fact, sick, stupid and diseased, I dont want to be part of what is bringing America down. I love this country that much.

Lets not worry about where the liberals will be sent. They (we) will be confused without government handouts, but theres enough Hollywood money to buy Australia after that continent was determined to be a terrorist way station.

Suffice to say America will be populated entirely by the conservatives who, after all, have always been the true patriots. I mean, unless, of course, you are considering the original conservatives who wanted to reconcile with King George. But I digress.

What will America look like? Whos left?

Not too many actors, except for Chuck Norris, Jon Voight and that Baldwin brother no one knows. Not too many dancers will be left, or musicians, for that matter. Trace Adkins, I suppose, but, even Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks will be headlining in the Outback.

And of course Ted Nugent stays (Please!).

Comedy is looking a little thin, too. Outside of Dennis Miller, theres  give me a moment.

About half of the literary community might remain, and most of the elected politicians. At least well get rid of Saturday Night Live! No more Trump satires! Now Donald Trump can be the sole satirist of Donald Trump.

Surely mainstream media will be exiled. I dont think theyll want to leave, but with no one left to watch them, theyll have little choice.

It will be glorious for America! No more work weeks limited to 40 hours and no profit-inhibiting labor laws to slow America down. No more CDC, FDA, FAA, EPA and all those tax consuming protection agencies. Rivers and streams can become natures cheap disposal system once again.

No more tree-hugging, climate-whining, science-insisting liberals to impede the oil-consuming, public education-draining and war-mongering conservatism that will make America great!

Well, Ive got to pack. Australia is a two-day journey, and I want catch the show Tuesday night at Ayers Rock. In fact, its called Rock Ayers and will feature Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, Stevie Wonder, Pearl Jam, Beyonce, Jay Z, James Taylor, John Legend, Green Day, Neil Young and Snoop Dog, with surprise appearances by Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks.

Jon Stewart will be the host, so there should be a few laughs.

(End of satire and beginning of pitch for us all to look past the biases that narrow our perspective. No one wins.)
As renewed construction ramps up on University Avenue, so does the discussion  including both criticisms and praises.

The next phase in Cedar Falls includes work from about the Waterloo Road intersection to Midway Drive at the Waterloo city limits.

Shortly after construction resumed, one-way traffic in each direction on University bottlenecked and backed up vehicles a considerable distance from the Cedar Heights Drive intersection in either direction at different times last week. Some motorists had to wait through several cycles of traffic signals, and some mistakenly followed construction vehicles into work areas thinking it was a through route.

So, theres some irritation, and its heard in a lot of discussions throughout the community. A lot of the problems, and the angst that goes with them, can be attributed to the new construction season and motorists having to slightly change their habits.

However, a recent meeting, mostly with business owners and residents in the affected areas, was mostly positive. Wed all do well to consider some of their points.

Its going to be beautiful when its done, said Brad Jacobson, who has a State Farm Insurance agency at University and Veralta Drive, right in the middle section of this second phase. He said the city and contractors plan to stage construction around his business to maintain access. He also said many of his staff and customers are also using Orchard and Veralta drives to access the business.

My opinion on it is the road had to be redone, Jacobson said. Regardless of what design it is, the construction process is always going to be a challenge. But it needed to happen, and this is just the price of progress. I think when its all done and people are used to driving on it, its going to be beautiful. Well survive.

Cedar Falls Community Development Director Stephanie Houk Sheetz said the city is looking at making adjustments on the timing of the signals at Cedar Heights Avenue and University, as well as at Rownd Street and University, to improve traffic flow. Theyre also exploring how to make signals at Waterloo Road clearer to see.

As always, keeping the lines of communication open throughout the process is important, and we feel the city is doing a good job of reacting to public concern and adjusting accordingly.

One thing were sure of: Complaining about an incredibly deteriorated roadway one year and then complaining about construction the next just isnt a logical progression.

Before construction began, we all knew virtually the entire University Avenue corridor was in dire need of a complete overhaul. The condition of the roadway was a legitimate sore point among residents and motorists for many years.

Like those businesses along University Avenue, we know it was a project that had to be done, and we look forward to the finished product.

There will be congestion. Sometimes it will be irritating.

If nearby business owners and residents can see the positives that lay ahead, we all can. And wed all do well to take the advice of Sheetz about simply being careful drivers. As with constructions zones anywhere, slow down and stay alert.

And keep supporting your local businesses.

Likewise, preliminary discussions are beginning in Waterloo on how that city will approach University Avenue improvements. A public input meeting was held Tuesday in Waterloo and drew perhaps a couple dozen people. There will be more Waterloo meetings in the future, and if you are concerned about how the city will proceed we suggest you attend.
Dear Mr. Berko: My husband has been diagnosed with COPD. His physician prescribed Advair, which has been a blessing. We were so impressed we bought 200 shares of GlaxoSmithKline. We paid $54 a share in 2014. The stock fell right after we bought it all the way to $37. Our stockbroker recommended we sell and use the proceeds to purchase Pfizer.

 PA, Buffalo, N.Y.

Dear PA: I like his Pfizer recommendation but strongly condemn his sell recommendation on GlaxoSmithKline.

One of the reasons the performance of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK-$42) have been stinky is GSKs Advair. Advair, previously an $8 billion-revenue blockbuster drug for the treatment of COPD and asthma, lost its patent in 2016. Advair revenues plunged to $4.4 billion, causing GSK to trade at $37, its lowest price since 2009. Although Advair is still GSKs top-performing drug (16 percent of 2016 revenues), the consensus suggests sales will continue to decline. The good news is GSKs next-generation long-lasting asthma and COPD therapies, Breo and Anoro, topped $1 billion in revenues in 2016. The uptake of Breo and Anoro has lagged for two reasons: 1) Insurers balked at coverage of these expensive drugs. 2) Its difficult to persuade physicians to switch to new products. But GSKs management expects these two drugs to bring in $1.7 billion in 2017. The loss in revenue from Advair has been dwarfed by Breo and Anoro and GSKs HIV drugs, Tivicay and Triumeq, which together should generate $3.4 billion in revenues this year.

GSK seems to be a splendid capital gains recommendation, with a $60 price target by 2018.

This $38 billion company with 102,000 employees has a range of innovative products that in the coming few years could push revenues to $44 billion and net profit margins over 19 percent.

Mutual fund organizations Fidelity, T. Rowe Price and Vanguard and institutions such as State Street, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley, which own more than 100 million shares, seem to agree. So do Value Line, Argus Research, Thomson Reuters, Bank of America and Market Edge, each of which has a buy recommendation on GSK.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 23, 2017 | 11:44 AM | MAYFIELD, KY

Three Graves County residents were arrested late Wednesday night after authorities say a search of their home turned up lots of cocaine and lots of cash.

According to the Graves County Sheriff's Office, drug detectives conducted an eight-month investigation of 45-year-old Cedrich Jackson and 46-year-old Catherine Weatherbee. Sheriff Dewayne Redmon said several covert drug buys were conducted during the investigation, which led to the search of the couple's home on South 10th Street in Mayfield.

During the search of the home, Redmon said more than 151 grams of cocaine, with a street value of $15,130, was found. Several Hydrocodone and Alprazolam prescription pills were found not in the proper containers, some with money inside the bottles with them.

Redmon said more than $11,000 cash, believed to be proceeds from illegal drug sales, was seized during the search.

Jackson and Weatherbee were arrested and each charged with two counts of trafficking cocaine, two counts of trafficking controlled substance, five counts of prescription not in the proper container and possession of drug paraphernalia. Also arrested was Jamel Alubahi for trafficking cocaine.

All three were booked into the Graves County Jail.
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Staying out of debt is easier said than done, I know. However, its something you can do, and its something you should be practicing everyday. As Christians, we are in this world, but we are
This show explores issues of power and family and also look at those issues through the lens of aging and the challenges faced by family and friends when a once fierce intellect begins deteriorating.

WASHINGTON, DC, March 26, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Lean & Hungry Theater, DC's only audio theater company and creator of the Lean & Hungry podcast, will present a special live run of Shakespeare's famous epic tragedy "King Lear," at Atlas Performing Arts Center throughout the month of April, William Shakespeare's birthday month with shows from April 3rd to April 23rd and previews beginning on March 31st.



For this performance, which marks Lean & Hungry Theater's 10th anniversary, founder and artistic director Jessica Hansen takes on issues of aging and cognitive decline. According to Hansen, "This show gives us the opportunity to explore issues of power and family and also look at those issues through the lens of aging and the challenges faced by family and friends when a once fierce intellect begins deteriorating." In recognition of this focus, a portion of the proceeds from this production will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association of the National Capital Area.



This show features a talented cast, including Bill Grimmette in the title role and Jessica Lefkow in the role of Kent, along with company members Duyen Washington and Michael Harris in the roles of Goneril and Cornwall, respectively. This is a rare opportunity to see this unique company in action, as their particular brand of sensory theater is usually hidden behind the microphone. Hansen notes, "We are thrilled to expand our realm into a fully-staged production, while staying true to our roots in the text and rich soundscape." This show boasts a strong technical team, including returning composer and sound designer Roc Lee. The artists have appeared with or taught at The Shakespeare Theatre, The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, The Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, The Washington Shakespeare Company, Studio Theatre, and other local and national companies.



The resident theater company of St. Stephen and the Incarnation, Lean & Hungry Theater is the only company in the Washington, DC metropolitan area dedicated to adapting works of Shakespeare and other classic playwrights for audio to make them accessible to a wider audience. Lean & Hungry's podcast was recently named "Best Undiscovered Podcast" by Podster, who described it in this way: "This fun, enlightened and fresh assessment is discussed by a knowledgeable group of panelists who evaluate the work's relevance and its place in today's world."



The productions and recordings of Lean & Hungry Theater productions are endorsed by the National Federation of the Blind.



Conceived in 2006, Lean & Hungry Theater (Lean & Hungry) is a non-profit educational audio theater company. Drawing primarily on the works of William Shakespeare, Lean & Hungry provides adaptations of classic dramatic works to underserved areas, in established or improvised venues (both live and electronic), for the educational benefit and cultural enrichment of students, families, seniors and other interested groups in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and beyond. Lean & Hungry performances are recorded before a live audience, complete with sound effects and original musical underscoring. The recorded performances are made available as audio streams, audio CD and as radio broadcast productions on NPR affiliates and XM Satellite Radio. These performances also form the basis for the Lean & Hungry Podcast, available on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. For more information, visit www.leanandhungrytheater.com



# # #
"Congress and the Texas 31st Congressional District need leadership, not just someone who avoids his constituents and the issues," Sweeney said.

GEORGETOWN, TX, March 26, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Mike Sweeney announced his candidacy today for the Republican nomination in the Texas 31st Congressional District. Sweeney's campaign is built upon his lifetime of accomplishments in business, community service, international relations and unwavering commitment to true Conservative values.



"Among the many challenges facing our nation today is rebuilding our military, especially Fort Hood," Sweeney said. "Our current Congressman voted in favor of the Budget Control Act of 2011, generally known as Sequestration, which resulted an increase to the debt ceiling over $6 trillion, and had catastrophic consequences for Fort Hood, TX", Sweeney said.



Sweeney further asserted, "Sequestration had an immediate and profound effect on Fort Hood and surrounding communities. Sequestration immediately cost Fort Hood $291 million eliminating funds used for family programs, training, construction, and maintenance. Additionally, our Congressman voted in favor of a bill that resulted in the furlough of 6,000 civilian employees. Since Sequestration, Fort Hood has lost approximately 16,000 personnel. The priorities of the constituents living in the Texas 31st Congressional District, Fort Hood and surrounding communities, our military and Veterans must be a priority that goes beyond mere words, but in to action. The incumbent's actions have not supported his words."



Sweeney promised that his top priority is the constituents of Texas's 31st Congressional District. "They will be heard and I will get results," said Sweeney. Sweeney believes in conservative principles, constitutional governance, and fiscal responsibility. He also believes we need to work hard to improve failing infrastructure, address cyberterrorism, provide access to affordable healthcare, grow the economy and create jobs, and keep our country safe from terrorism and illegal immigration.



"Congress and the Texas 31st Congressional District need leadership, not just someone who avoids his constituents and the issues," Sweeney said. "I've spent my adult life working hard to earn my success and I am ready to bring to Congress my strong work ethic, record of accomplishment, and devoted service."



Sweeney is a software CEO whose experience includes building international relations and coordinating with high-level government officials in Iran, Africa and Israel. He has served on governing boards in banking and the public utility industries. Presently, Sweeney is an elected official who serves his community on the Board of Directors of the Chisolm Trail Special Utility District (CTSUD), that provides services to nearly 8,700 water accounts, representing about 21,750 customers, in a 377 square-mile service area that extends northwest from Georgetown into Bell and Burnet counties. He was instrumental in the merger of CTSUD with the City of Georgetown that resulted in 20% cost savings, and eliminated $70 million dollars in duplicate projects, while ensuring improved water service for all customers.



With his background in computer systems and software development, Sweeney clearly understands the cyberterrorism threat that faces America. "We need a congressman who understands encryption and cyber threats. Every week there is a cyberterrorism incident in the news that affects infrastructure, business and individual privacy. Cyberterrorism is a daily threat to America that originates from within our own borders and from foreign threats around the world."



"My motto is 'Be Heard, Get Results'. Constituents of the Texas 31st Congressional District are disappointed with their incumbent. They have had enough with career politicians who have are more loyal to Washington and special interests than to the people whom they pledged to serve. They want a congressional representative who will get things done for them. I will be that congressman," Sweeney said.



Sweeney is a graduate of Boise State University earning a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. He resides in Georgetown, TX with his wife, Kathy.



https://youtu.be/D9Vracu5WAA



# # #
Mar 26, 2017 | By Julia

Ex-Mythbusters TV personality Adam Savage has gone behind the scenes of the highly anticipated blockbuster Ghost in the Shell, adapted from the original Japanese manga and the 1995 anime film. In the newest installment of Savages web series Tested, the designer paid a visit to New Zealands Weta Workshop, the practical effects studio behind Ghost in the Shell, where he got an exclusive sneak peak of the films acclaimed props, models, and effects.

The Masamune Shirow-adapted film, which comes out later this month, may be best known for sparking controversy around the decision to cast Scarlett Johannson as Japanese lead character Major Motoko Kusanagi, and the whitewashing debates that have since plagued the release.



Yet as Savage notes in the latest episode of Tested, theres a lot to say about the films technical aspects too. Specifically, Major Kusanagis robot skeleton suit deserves its own special mention.

Meticulously crafted from over 300 interconnected, 3D-printed, laser-cut, and hand-modelled components, the robot skeleton is an ode to professional craftsmanship, forsaking the more commonly trodden path of CGI.

What youre looking at is a collection of, basically, 3D printed objects, says a Weta Workshop designer to Savage. [Theres] clear resin, black resin; there are laser-cut components, model-made components, 3D printed steel joints to keep the strength, and we 3D printed nylon for some of the limbs as as well to keep the shape.

As a one-off masterpiece, the exoskeleton took about a month of testing different materials before the Weta Workshop team was satisfied with the results. Director Rupert Sanders was physically present for much of this process, overseeing virtually every detail.

3D printing the individual pieces (which number between 300 and 400) took hundreds of hours, and was based off a complex computer assisted design (CAD) file also made in-house.

Our job is to take that [CAD file] and to turn it into something that can be manufactured, Weta Workshop staff tells Savage.

Perhaps most the impressive aspect is the fact that the entire exoskeleton shown in the Tested segment actually fits inside a ballistic gel layer that is also 3D printed, ultimately creating the silhouette of the character for filming.

Narratively, the famous robot skeleton suit appears in the pivotal scene when Major Kusanagis AI character is physically constructed in the film. There, Scarlett Johannsson transforms into a cyber-enhanced human engineered to be the perfect soldier.

Ghost in the Shell hits theatres on March 31st, 2017.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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Magnolia LNG Site Lease Agreement

Perth, Mar 27, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Liquefied Natural Gas Limited ( ASX:LNG ) ( LNGLY:OTCMKTS ) (LNGL or the Company) is pleased to advise that its wholly owned subsidiary, Magnolia LNG LLC (Magnolia) has requested the Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District proceed with finalizing the Ground Lease for the Magnolia LNG project located in the Port of Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA.



"The Lake Charles port property was originally secured under an option agreement in 2013, and finalizing the ground lease is critical to maintaining the status of our Magnolia project as fully construction ready", said John Baguley, Chief Operating Officer for Magnolia. "A significant element of our success is the superiority of this site as well as the capacity of the Lake Charles Harbor & Terminal District and their experience in the successful operation of the port, including more than 30 years of excellence in LNG shipping operations. We look forward to working closely with the port to extend this enviable record far into the future."



Greg Vesey, Managing Director & CEO of LNGL, further advised, "Obviously, we are pleased to enter into this long-term partnership with the Lake Charles Harbor & Terminal District. Still, the pacing item for our Final Investment Decision and initiation of construction for Magnolia remains finalization of our LNG offtake agreements. An update on our current status and strategies in this regard has been previously announced for Friday, 31 March."



ABOUT MAGNOLIA LNG PROJECT



Magnolia LNG proposes to construct and operate up to four liquefaction production trains, each with a capacity of 2 mtpa or greater using the Company's patented OSMR(R) LNG process technology. Construction and operation includes two 160,000 m3 full containment storage tanks, ship, barge, and truck loading facilities, and supporting infrastructure. The LSTK EPC contract includes all elements of the project necessary to bring the facility into full guaranteed production operations. Magnolia LNG is fully permitted, having received its FERC Order and both FTA and non-FTA approval from the DOE. Final investment decision and initiation of construction is expected upon execution of sufficient offtake agreements to support financing.





About Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd





Liquefied Natural Gas Limited ( ASX:LNG) ( OTCMKTS:LNGLY) (LNGL) is an ASX listed company whose portfolio consists of 100% ownership of the following companies:

- Magnolia LNG, LLC (Magnolia LNG), a US-based subsidiary, which is developing an eight mtpa or greater LNG export terminal, in the Port of Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA;

- Bear Head LNG Corporation Inc. (Bear Head LNG), a Canadian-based subsidiary, which is developing an 8  12 mtpa LNG export terminal in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada with potential for further expansion;

- Bear Paw Pipeline Corporation Inc. (Bear Paw), which is proposing to construct and operate a 62.5 km gas pipeline lateral to connect gas supply to Bear Head LNG; and

- LNG Technology Pty Ltd, a subsidiary which owns and develops the Company's OSMR LNG liquefaction process, a midscale LNG business model that plans to deliver lower capital and operating costs, faster construction, and improved efficiency, relative to larger traditional LNG projects.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha on Saturday demanded that South Court  informally referred to as Jinnah House  the Malabar Hill bungalow where Pakistans founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah resided prior to Partition should be demolished, terming it; a symbol of Partition.

A cultural centre should be built in its place, Mr Lodha suggested in the Assembly. Before Independence, a conspiracy was hatched to divide the country into three pieces in Jinnah House. As per the Enemy Property Act, it has become the governments property, he said.

There is no other option but to demolish it. The Jinnah House has been looked after by public works department and lakhs of rupees are spent every year for maintenance, Mr Lodha said.

Refusing to acknowledge the right of Jinnahs daughter Dina Wadia to the property, the MLA said, Jinnah divided India and his heir cannot claim any right to it. Instead, there should be a cultural centre showcasing Maharashtras glorious past. Jinnah House is situated in Mr Lodhas Malabar Hill constituency.
Fifteen people were shot, one fatally, at a nightclub in Cincinnati, Ohio, early on Sunday, and police said they believed at least two shooters may have been involved.

The motive was still unclear, but Cincinnati Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate said on Twitter that there are no indications this incident is terrorism related.

The shooting took place around 1am when hundreds of people were reported at the Cameo Nightlife club, which the Cincinnati Police Department said has had multiple problems in the past.

At this point its unclear exactly what instigated the shooting, Captain Kimberly Williams said at a televised briefing. We believe that there were at least a couple of shooters involved.

Just a lot of chaos when the shots went off, Williams added.

The suspects were at large and police do not have good descriptions of them, in part because witnesses were reluctant to cooperate, Williams told WCPO.

Several of the victims had life-threatening injuries, WLWT-TV reported on its website, quoting Neudigate, who said hundreds of people were in the nightclub at the time of shooting.

We are in the middle of a very horrific situation that occurred at the nightclub with multiple victims, Neudigate said.

Authorities have said nothing yet about a possible motive for the shooting, which comes less than a year after a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. It was the deadliest mass shooting in US history.

The University of Cincinnati Medical Center admitted eight people early Sunday, a spokeswoman told ABC News, but she did not say specifically whether the patients were connected to the nightclub shooting. A representative of the hospital could not be reached immediately for comment.

Cameo Nightlifes Facebook page says it features College Fridays for students 18 and older and Saturdays 21+ grown and sexy night.

The club, a large single-story structure, is a 7-mile (11 km) drive from downtown Cincinnati near the southeast corner of the city, the heart of the second largest metropolitan area in Ohio with more than 2 million residents.
The Bombay High Court directed the protesting resident doctors in Maharashtra to resume duty straightaway. The civic-run KEM Hospital in Mumbai issued suspension notices to the doctors who did not report to duty despite state Medical Education Minister asking them to resume work. Government has not assured any safety to them but ask them to resume work at any cost. People assaulted them, blackened their faces, attacked them to death but doctors just protested and get back to their work, this has been going on for so long.

Thousands of resident doctors have been striking, demanding enhanced security in the wake of a string of attacks on doctors by patients relatives at government hospitals across the state. The protests have been hampering the services of Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) in various hospitals.

A woman doctor of the civic-run Sion hospital was beaten up by the relatives of a patient, which made the stand of the protesting medicos more aggressive. The doctors in government hospitals are more vulnerable and always assaulted. There is no armed security for them at sensitive places on the hospital premises. There is no alarm system so that the doctors can call the security. There is stringent law to punish the attackers, government should pass a law or make an announcement that the attack on doctors a non-bailable offence and cases should be heard before fast track courts. Unless and until there is no deterrence the attacks on doctors will continue.

According to the data of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations medical department, the present strength of security personnel in KEM hospital is 210 and there is an additional requirement of 306 guards. The current strength of security staff in Sion hospital is 180 and there is an additional requirement of 206. The increasing instances of attacks on doctors have more to do with systemic failure over a period of time rather than any recent stray incident.

System that makes resident doctors, who are essentially post-graduate students, do bulk of the tasks in government hospitals is faulty. If at all possible, senior doctors who are permanent employees should be handling major tasks in government hospitals. But most of the time students are made to handle so many responsibilities that if they strike, the entire health system collapses. The government has put the doctors and patients at loggerheads.

Nurses and para-medical staff should be trained and empowered to handle emergencies and not just be restricted to do paperwork. Shortage of Grade IV employees in hospitals also means that relatives of patients end up doing tasks like pushing trolleys. Shortage of basic medicines in hospitals, even of those on the National List of Essential Medication, forces doctors to ask patients to buy medicines from outside, which only makes doctors suspicious in the eyes of the patients. Lack of working equipment in hospitals forces doctors to direct patients elsewhere which adds to doubt that doctors are hand-in-glove with laboratories when actually they are helpless. Administration lacks the will to improve the conditions of government hospitals, they also fail on various fronts but doctor get victimised due to their direct role in dealing with patients.

Many times, medicines that are nearing expiry dates are dumped in hospitals. Also, leaders come and inaugurate services like dialysis machines and CT scan machines with much fanfare and then fail to sanction essential chemicals or even personnel to run the show. This results in public anger, as people feel that the doctors or medical authorities at hospital are not providing them the services. Moreover, many posts of doctors are left vacant, which burdens the junior doctors. One doctor is handling hundreds of patients a day.

Big hospitals like K.E.M., Sion and J.J. are over-burdened to provide healthcare to the entire population of Mumbai and its suburbs due to lack of development of healthcare facilities in areas like Palghar or Alibaug. Due to lack of co-ordination and concerns, mob of people stormed the hospital and abuse doctors. They get verbal abuse and threats on a daily basis. They dont stop here, at times, they go manhandling and slapping the doctors or blackening their faces or injuring their body. During such crises, no security guards are available to protect the doctor against mob violence. To avoid such situations, doctors are demanding that the government improves the quality of security at hospitals by increasing the numbers of guards and restricting the number of relatives allowed to visit a patient in the ward. Though, promises have been made to better protect the physical safety of doctors, the doctors say little has been done. The Indian government spends 1.15% of its GDP on public healthcare, among the lowest in the world.

Sometimes ago the government introduced a new national health bill that promises to increase that figure to 2.5%. Indias state-run hospitals are scandalously under-resourced and struggle to meet demands; they are not equipped to handle that patient load. Doctors fail to win the confidence of patients because they are helpless with the unequipped and in efficient resources to fulfill the needs of sufferers. They always come under suspension if they refer the patient to another hospital or demand outside medicines or ask for medical reports from private labs. Government is least bothered to improve the conditions of state run hospitals, in such circumstances, people lose their calm and attack the doctors assuming them responsible for everything. There needs to be a proper dialogue between the government and hospital authorities towards the improving health care services, else this will remain a never ending saga.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)
As per the United Nations release India ranked 122nd, behind terror-riven Pakistan and poorest-of-poor Nepal in the global list of the happiest countries. This clearly shows that our country is one of the least happiest countries in the world. It is a serious issue for our communities  unhappiness is a breeding ground for social discontent with a resultant vicious cycle of crime, conflict and insecurity. India ranks the lowest among its South Asian neighbours. Pakistan is at the 80th spot, while Bangladesh is at 110 and Nepal at the 99th spot. According to the report, factors that determine happiness include economic variables, social factors and health factors. So we need to talk about happiness. Hard work, honest work and consistent work is the best remedy for millions of poor people in order to enjoy a higher grade of life. Good fortunes do not come overnight in an ever-growing populated country such as India. We need to create strong social foundations, talk about happiness in our families, our schools, our communities, our organisations. India is the country where people are divided by caste and religion. Discrimination is one of the main problem which leads to social unrest. Happiness is increasingly considered the proper measure of social progress and the goal of public policy. Although money is not the only ingredient for happiness, we Indians need support like caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income etc.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
Gaikwad will celebrate Gudi Padwa with his family and later attend Lok Sabha proceedings.

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad who had received flak for assaulting a 60 year old Air India official said that he is not hiding and will issue a clarification on Wednesday. Gaikwad who was blacklisted by airline companies after the incident had to board August Kranti Express from Hazrat Nizamuddin station to Mumbai on Saturday.

Defending himself Gaikwad said, I am not hiding and will remain present in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. I will come to Omerga on Tuesday and celebrate Marathi new year Gudi Padwa with my family and Shiv Sena activists.

The 57-year-old MP, who represents Osmanabad nonetheless failed to disclose his current location.

A senior Sena leader did not call me to Matoshree and hence I wont be going there to meet senior party leaders, he added.

Gaikwad is yet to return to his home in Umarga, Osmanabad and his family members are waiting for him. Gaikwad said that he had received instructions from senior party leader to refrain from speaking with the media over the controversial incident. Netizens had criticised Gaikwad and said that legislators must behave politely as they are representatives of the people. Even Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray is unhappy with Gaikwad and refused to intervene in this matter. He also has sought a clarification from Gaikwad in this regard. Thus Sena has distanced itself from this incident.

Uddhav said, Shiv Sena has taken serious note of this incident and we condemn it. Our party fights for the rights of the common man and doesnt support violence.

Senior party member Manohar Joshi refrained from commenting on the controversy by saying, We will find out as to why this incident happened. I dont talk about anything without proper information and understanding. I would comment on it after knowing versions of both the side.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said Party has taken the incident (of AI staffers assault) seriously. We do not subscribe to such instances.

On the other hand, Gaikwads wife Usha has come forward in defence of her husband. She said, The Air India is responsible for this incident and my husband has been made a scapegoat. My husband was trying to file a complaint against the substandard service offered by the airline. However instead of filing complaint Air India officials tried to have an argument with him. I have never seen him venting his frustration against anybody.

Gaikwad is planning to take legal action against Air India. He alleged that officials had abused him. He demanded that an inquiry should be initiated into the video (about the incident), which has gone viral.
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'Convert, Leave, or Die:' Iraqi Assyrians and the Dream to Return to Mosul

An Iraqi Assyrian man shows his old camera at his house, which was burned by ISIS before they fled the area, in Qaraqosh, Iraq, February 7, 2017. ( Reuters) In the summer of 2014, Mosul was for the first time in its history almost totally emptied of Christian civilians. More than 200,000 of Iraqi Christians, who make up the fourth largest indigenous Christian population in the Middle East, were forced to flee the city following invasion by ISIS whose leaders gave them the choice to convert, leave, or die then seized their houses and burnt their churches. It was only recently that the Christians of Iraq started harboring hopes of returning to their homes as Iraqi forces managed to reclaim the city, which was home to one of the world's most ancient Christian communities. Reverend Daniel al-Khari, a Chaldean priest who oversees a Christian refugee camp in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan where large numbers of Christians fled, argued that ISIS's departure from Mosul makes it possible to return, yet not safe. According to him, it is not about ISIS's physical presence as much the culture the group managed to nurture in the city. "We can go back but it is a question of safety. We are dealing with a new generation bred by ISIS - they have a radical anti-Christian viewpoint and so it would be really hard to go back," he said, arguing that with the spread of fanaticism he doubts that Muslim and Christian communities can co-exist. Al-Khari particularly referred to ISIS's recruitment and radicalization of children, who came to be labeled "caliphate cubs" and were instructed to walk around the city armed with knives and guns. "It would be very hard for children here and children in Mosul to get together," he added. "We really need to work with the children in Mosul to change what ISIS has implanted there." Long before ISIS Romeo Hakari, head of Assyrian Christian political part Bait al-Nahrain, said that the threat to the existence of the Christian community in Iraq started long before ISIS, particularly with the 2003 US invasion of the country. Hakari blames Western countries for encouraging Iraqi Christians to settle outside Iraq instead of supporting them to rebuild their homes and churches and defend themselves. "European embassies in Iraq, especially the French and German embassies, have facilitated the migration of our people," he said, adding the leaders of the Iraqi Christian communities are holding meetings with EU and US officials to demonstrate the downside of this approach. The Iraqi Christian Relief Council, on the other hand, said that Christians, estimated at 1.5 million before the US invasion, were subjected to systematic persecution as part of the sectarian violence that started in 2003 and continued with the emergence of ISIS so that now the Christian population has decreased by almost 80%. While admitting that Christians in Iraq were victims of the sectarian conflict the followed US invasion, Joel Velkamp traces their persecution back to the era of Saddam Hussein. According to Velkamp, Hussein used his war with Iran as a pretext for getting rid of as many Assyrian Christians as possible since he felt threatened by their affirmation of their non-Arab identity. "Assyrian Christians found themselves drafted for the war more often than other groups. 40,000 of them never returned from the battlefields," he wrote, adding that during his war on Kurds Hussein also destroyed 120 Assyrian villages and killed over a thousand Christians, including priests, which drove Christians to flee the country. Different factions Iraqi writer Gawhar Audish argues that another problem that would hinder the resettlement of Christians in their hometowns is the current conflict between different Christian factions. "There are several armed Christian groups in the Nineveh plain and each is fighting for its own agenda and I wonder how they're capable of doing so at such a critical time when they should unite to liberate their towns from ISIS," he wrote. Audish cited the struggle between the Babylon Brigades and the Syriac Democratic Union as well as attempts by the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, founded by the Assyrian Democratic Movement, at monopolizing power in Christian areas. Audish called the conflict between Christian factions one in which "dwarfs" fight over "leftovers." Several Iraqi Christian figures accused the state-sponsored Popular Mobilization Forces of arming warring factions, thus intensifying the conflict. "The struggle for power in Christian areas led the Chaldean Babylon Brigade to storm the headquarters of the Syriac Union in southern Mosul and abduct the leader of the Syriac Eagles Battalion," said activist Haithan Bakou. Writer Caesar Hermes said that several Christian militias are vying for power in the Nineveh plain. "Examples include Lions of Babylon, Babylon Brigades, the Syriac Children Squadron, Syriac Eagles, and Nineveh Plain Protection Units," he said, warning that the situation is bound to escalate if heads of different Iraqi churches do not take a unified stance against the conflict that "is bound to have graver consequences than the ISIS invasion," as he put it. A sizable number of Christians, however, seem to be quite hopeful, which was demonstrated in their return to several liberated parts and the cross they raised on top of a hill outside Mosul as they cheered "Victory for those who chose faith and those who return." According to the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Baghdad Luis Rafael Sako, the erection of this cross delivers a message to the whole world. "Our ancestors were buried in this pure land and we are going to remain to preserve them with all our might and for future generations," he said. "It is a sincere and great call to return and rebuild." Sako held the first Mass since the ISIS invasion and described it as "the first spark of light shining in all the cities of the Nineveh Plain since the darkness of ISIS" and reassured the congregation that they are finally back in their land.
March 26, 2017

On March 24, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was freed from detention after he was cleared earlier this month of the charge of ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 mass uprising that toppled him. He discreetly left the military hospital in southern Cairo where he had been under house arrest for the last six years to return to his home in the upscale Cairo district of Heliopolis.

Egyptians received the news of his release with mixed reactions. Many of his supporters were overcome with joy, saying the revolution was a foreign conspiracy and that his acquittal is long overdue.

Mubarak is my president to this day. I am delighted to hear that he has returned home, Amgad Zekry, a 29-year-old taxi driver, told Al-Monitor. He is a hero of the October 1973 war and should never have been subjected to such humiliation. Egypt was stable and secure under his rule, he added.

But for the pro-democracy activists who took to the streets six years ago demanding bread, freedom and social justice, Mubaraks release is a hard blow, dashing what little hope they had left for positive change. Lawyer Malek Adly, who was released in September after spending four months in jail for challenging President Abdel Fattah al-Sisis decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, considers it a telling moment.

Im not surprised. The crimes of the current military regime are worse than those committed by Mubarak. If around 900 protesters were killed during the 18 days of the 2011 revolution, an equal number of opposition protesters were massacred in a single day of violence during the forced dispersal by security forces of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood sit-in at Rabia [Square] in August 2013. Tens of thousands of Islamist supporters and liberal activists are behind bars for opposing the regime. Mubaraks release is a blatant example of the selective prosecution that exists, bearing testament to the increasing politicization of the courts, Adly told Al-Monitor.

Sisi has repeatedly denied any interference by the executive branch in the affairs of the judiciary. In a televised speech he gave in April 2016 on the occasion of Egyptian Judiciary Day, he told senior judges gathered in the High Judicial Court that he respects judicial rulings and would never interfere in the legal system.

In the course of the last three years, the convictions of tens of thousands of Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, liberal activists and journalists  many of them in mass trials described by international rights groups as farcical and politically motivated  have raised questions about the independence of the judiciary under Sisis rule. Critics claim that the countrys judiciary, which enjoyed some degree of autonomy from the executive branch under Mubarak despite his attempts to curb its independence, is today being used as a tool of repression to crush dissent.

A flagrant example of the increased politicization of the judiciary is the harsh verdict against prominent political activist Ahmed Douma in the case referred to by Egyptian media as the Cabinet Clashes (violent confrontations that broke out on Dec. 16, 2011, between security forces and pro-democracy activists staging a sit-in to protest the appointment of Kamal El Ganzoury, a Mubarak-era Cabinet minister, as prime minister). On Feb. 4, 2015, a Giza criminal court found Douma guilty of rioting, inciting violence and attacking security forces and sentenced him and 229 other defendants (who were tried in absentia) to life in prison. Douma was also fined 17 million Egyptian pounds (about $940,000 at the current exchange rate) for damages to the Egyptian Scientific Institute, a historic building located near the Cabinet headquarters that was burned during the protests. On hearing the verdict, Douma laughed and clapped sarcastically from his courtroom cage, saying, That is enough. Im happy with the verdict. The tongue-in-cheek comment was enough to earn him an additional three-year sentence for contempt of the court.

The ruling, the harshest against members of the April 6 Movement that mobilized protesters for the revolt that brought down Mubarak, has been denounced by rights advocates as unreasonably excessive."

It was clearly meant as a warning message to silence all dissenters, Adly said. He believes Douma was caught in the middle of a dispute between his defense lawyers and Judge Nagy Shehata. The judge referred defense lawyer Khaled Ali to the prosecution for investigation for insulting the judiciary after Ali suggested that Shehata was biased against the defendants. The Lawyers Syndicate has since called on lawyers to boycott hearings presided over by the judge in protest of his excessive verdicts and his blatant prejudice against liberal activists and opposition figures.

No stranger to controversy, Shehata provoked an international outcry in July 2014 when he sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to between seven and 10 years in jail on charges of belonging to a terrorist group and spreading misinformation to tarnish Egypts image  charges that rights groups said were utterly baseless. The judge is also behind death sentences handed out en masse to scores of Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters.

When Douma was convicted in the 2015 Cabinet Clashes trial, he was already serving a three-year sentence with hard labor. He and fellow founders of the April 6 Movement Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel were arrested in December 2013 on charges of organizing and taking part in illegal protests outside the parliament building in defiance of a controversial law criminalizing protests held without prior authorization from the Interior Ministry. Adel and Maher were released in January after completing their sentences but remain on probation for three years. Authorities are concerned about a possible revival of the pro-democracy movement initiated by the social media-savvy activists that brought down the Mubarak regime six years ago.

Douma has staged intermittent hunger strikes to protest his detention conditions. In a letter smuggled out of his prison cell four months into his incarceration, he wrote, The abdominal pains you feel are not from what you eat; rather, they are from what is eating away at you.

Ali, one of three lawyers on Doumas defense team, told Al-Monitor, "Douma spends 22 hours a day inside a 2 by 3 meter [6 by 10 foot] cell with little access to sunlight and hardly any communication with the outside world. He sleeps on a bare floor and has been denied medical treatment.

The lawyer added, "His toilet is a hole in the ground that requires him to squat on bent knees  a challenge for Douma, who is suffering from intense lower back pain. We are currently negotiating with prison administrators to allow us to provide him with a plastic toilet seat for greater comfort."

Ali and Adly have filed a legal complaint with the State Council demanding that Douma be moved out of solitary confinement, an appeal that is to be reviewed by the State Councils administrative court April 4. Solitary confinement should be reserved for violent inmates who have violated prison regulations and should be used for as short a time as possible as it can cause lasting mental damage after a few days. Douma, who has not committed any offenses while in prison, has been held incommunicado for more than three years now, Ali said.

The legal team has filed an appeal against Doumas life sentence, to be reviewed by an appeals court April 27. Meanwhile, a social media campaign by Egyptian rights activists and celebrities is calling for Doumas release, using the Arabic hashtag #DoumasFreedomIsHisRight. Douma's wife, Nourhan Hefzy, who is allowed to visit her husband once every two weeks, vows to continue to press for his release until the unjust ruling is overturned.

Mubarak and his henchmen walk free while Douma and scores of youth revolutionaries who led the protests against him continue to be denied justice, she told Al-Monitor. The counter-revolution has triumphed. It won the day a president with a military background was elected, paving the way for the persistent vilification of the icons of the revolution by regime loyalists, their incarceration on trumped-up charges and their humiliation in prisons."
March 26, 2017

Turkeys last-ditch efforts to harness Russian military and diplomatic heft to counter the Syrian Kurds and unravel their alliance with the United States are showing few signs of succeeding, like much else in the countrys ill-fated Syrian policy, writes Amberin Zaman.

A Russian agreement with the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) in the Cindires district of Afrin may foreshadow a potential showdown in Idlib, where al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Turkish-backed Salafi groups have taken hold after their defeat in Aleppo.

The introduction of Russian forces in Afrin is reminiscent of what happened in Manbij, where a threatened Turkish assault was deterred by US forces in the north and Russian and Syrian deployments in the south.

If anything, Zaman continues, both the United States and Russia are steadily deepening their ties with the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and its Arab allies who operate under the umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). And viewed from Ankara, they are doing so at Turkeys expense.

The negotiations between Russia and the Syrian Kurds over Afrin included discussion of possible coordination against Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, al-Qaedas Syria affiliate, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, now under the umbrella of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, whose members slipped out of Aleppo with other armed groups under Turkish cover, according to Fehim Tastekin.

Tastekin writes, YPG sources told Al-Monitor the two sides [Russia and the YPG] met at Khmeimim air base near Latakia to discuss developing a joint operation against Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (previously Jabhat al-Nusra), which has made Idlib its central base. The Kurds initially insisted that the partnership should also oppose organizations such as Ahrar al-Sham, which Turkey supports. In the end, the sources said, both parties decided not to debate which organizations they will confront and agreed that Russia will set up a base in Afrin. The Kurds said they rejected Russia's request to have Syrian regime troops at the base and to fly the Syrian flag there."

He adds, "Zelal Ceger, an official with the Kurdish Movement for a Democratic Society in Afrin, said that the Kurds sought an arrangement with Russia because of persistent attacks on Afrin by Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and armed groups that Turkey supports," which includes Salafi and Turkmen armed groups.

Ceger told Tastekin that this war can escalate  hence our call on Russia for an alliance. There has to be coordination between Turkey and us. Russia will provide that coordination to prevent Turkish attacks against Afrin."

Tastekin adds that YPG officials rejected a US proposal to include Syrian Kurdish forces backed by Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani, calling it a conspiracy that could lead to war among the Kurds.

Zaman writes, Turkeys strongest card is its long border with Syria and continued influence over assorted Syrian rebel groups, which it has united under the Euphrates Shield command. Since August, Turkey and its rebel allies have cleared the Turkish border of IS forces and after a bloody and protracted offensive captured the IS-controlled town of al-Bab last month. But firmly hemmed in to the east by Russian, Syrian regime and US forces and now to the west by Russian forces in Afrin, Euphrates Shield appears to have reached the limits of its expansion.

She adds, The recent split in Ahrar al-Sham, one of the most powerful rebel factions in Syria, with its top leaders defecting to the Jabhat al-Nusra-dominated and al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, will have further weakened Turkeys hand."

While the United States is consumed with planning for unseating the Islamic State (IS) in Raqqa, Idlib may prove a comparable or perhaps even more explosive fault line because of the blurred lines among anti-Western Salafi groups such as Ahrar al-Sham, which is backed by Turkey, and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Tamer Osman reports that Syrian warplanes are increasingly hovering in the sky over Idlib in northern Syria and targeting several residential areas inside the city.

Tastekin writes, The Syrian army has been clearing out IS forces from their last Aleppo stronghold. Thanks to an agreement between Turkey and Russia, Turkish-supported armed groups  which oppose the Syrian regime but were also fighting IS in Aleppo  were allowed to leave there with their weapons and families. Most of them settled in Idlib and Azaz.  Russia and Turkey disagree on what to do with these anti-Syrian (and therefore, anti-Russian) groups. Russia wants them disbanded. Turkey would like them to hold onto that area and join the pro-Turkish Free Syrian Army factions to fight the Kurds and keep them from establishing a continuous autonomous region near Turkey's border. If Russia and the Syrian army open a front against Idlib, clashes with the Turkish-backed groups could spill over to Afrin. Although the Kurds are focused on defending Afrin, they may be amenable to a joint operation with the Russians against threats from Idlib.

The biggest problem, Osman continues, "is the lives of hundreds of thousands of Syrians living in Idlib, as these will not be able to find another shelter amid the ongoing airstrikes falling on the city and its suburbs. This same scenario occurred in areas now controlled by the Syrian regime forces such as the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo.

Khaled al-Khateb reports from Aleppo, Turkey has been training a police organization, the Free Syrian Police (FSP), to help out with secondary operations in Aleppo province so the Free Syrian Army (FSA) can focus on fighting and maintaining control of the areas it has captured.

Khateb writes, The FSA's presence there makes residents targets for the Islamic State (IS)." He adds, "The first FSP group, stationed in Jarablus, was recruited in late 2016 from Syrian refugee camps scattered in Gaziantep and Kilis in southern Turkey, unlike the second group stationed in Azaz and nearby towns, which mostly came from Aleppo province. There has been no shortage of recruits.

Semih Idiz explains that there is also speculation, fueled by remarks made by Erdogan in the recent past, about a Turkish effort to turn the FSA into Syrias new army. If this were to come about, it would mean a Sunni-dominated, anti-Kurdish and anti-Shiite army. Given the big picture as it stands today, though, such an army is highly unlikely to be formed, since it would be blocked by Russia and the United States. The bottom line in all of this is that the prospects for Ankaras realizing its aims in Syria appear to be dimming by the day  a fact that is also being increasingly noted by Turkish analysts.
March 23, 2017

Alarm bells went off last week in Education Minister Naftali Bennets right-wing HaBayit HaYehudi party during Jason Greenblatts March 13-16 visit. The Israeli right expected the US presidents representative for international negotiations to be a political messiah that would greenlight for the government the continuation of its settlement policy and its de facto annexation policies in Area C.

According to a senior Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) official with direct access to Prime Minister (and Foreign Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu, Greenblatts rhetoric was in fact very promising. Greenblatt pushed all the right buttons and used all the right terms, including references to the unshakable alliance between the two countries, a new page in the US-Israeli relationship, Israels security being of paramount interest to the United States, Israel the Jewish state, etc.

Yet the MFA official noted that for a government whose prime interest is to prevent at any cost a two-state solution, there were also some alarming statements of intention voiced by the US envoy. For instance, Greenblatt emphasized on several occasions during his visit President Donald Trumps interest in a regional deal and his interest in advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace. While a preference for a two-state solution was not uttered, the implication of a future Palestinian state was obvious. Greenblatt also alluded to a possible summit between Trump, Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, possibly in Cairo later this year.

As it turned out, Greenblatt follows in his masters tweeting footsteps. But the tweets of the envoy did not really please his hosts. Particularly disturbing were apparently two consecutive tweets he posted while in Jerusalem, one from a synagogue and one from a Palestinian house, with a similar picture of the Western Wall and the mosques.

The most difficult issue for the prime minister, according to the MFA official, was the hours spent on finding an agreed formula on settlement construction and restraint. While apparently Netanyahu showed some flexibility, it did not satisfy the Americans. Initially, the US envoy insisted on settlement construction continuing within the settlement blocs only in the already built areas, which the prime minister could not accept. Bennett  the elephant in the room  would not have been happy.

Still, this does not mean that this was a John Kerry-style mission by a Republican envoy. Contrary to the Barack Obama administration, the current one is generally more right wing, forceful and nationalistic, and a riddle in terms of its future plans.

In Ramallah, reactions to the Greenblatt mission and visit were a mixture of deep suspicion with some positive sense of surprise. A senior official in the PLO close to Abbas expressed himself on the issue of Greenblatt in person with some humorous cynicism. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said, At first we had the impression that we were talking to an Israeli envoy, but not because he is an Orthodox Jew; we are familiar with Jewish envoys such as Dennis Ross, Aaron Miller, Dan Kurtzer and Martin Indyk. We receive them better than Israel would have received a Muslim American envoy.

Greenblatt, according to the PLO official, actually expressed an equal empathetic approach to both sides. He emphasized the US presidents wish to study Greenblatts impressions upon his return in order to formulate an American policy toward Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolution within a regional framework. Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia would serve as an umbrella for peacemaking, as well as for the struggle against fundamentalist terror. While skeptical, the PLO official concluded from the Greenblatt visit that there could be a partner in the new Washington for Palestinian policy initiatives on a two-state solution, stating, Donald Trump may surprise us all with a proposed regional deal.

Some in the Palestinian leadership are focusing on preparing policy proposals to be conveyed to the White House, bringing into account what they heard from the US envoy. The impression they were left with from the talks with Greenblatt was that the future of the settlers is the biggest impediment to a fair two-state solution along the 1967 lines.

The PLO senior official said that the main policy proposal that is currently being explored by PLO pragmatists close to Abbas offers most Israeli settlers to remain in their homes under Palestinian sovereignty within the framework of a two-state solution. The proposal draft is based on three basic elements. The first is that the border of the two states would be the 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital and a 2% land swap of the West Bank. Then there is the issue of the settlers. Some Israeli settlers would relocate into the 2% settlement blocs, mainly in the Jerusalem area; the others, if they wish, could remain in their houses under full Palestinian sovereignty, law and security jurisdiction. They would remain Israeli citizens. The third element is negotiating all other core issues toward a permanent status agreement on the basis of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

Greenblatts mission left some Israelis and Palestinians surprised, and it sparked some fresh thinking. Nevertheless, it left the parties with their traditional skepticism and suspicion about any real initiative for a historic compromise.
March 24, 2017

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Following Muslim leader Saladins conquest of the city of Jerusalem in A.D. 1187, a dispute broke out between the different Christian denominations about the rightful owner of the key to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This prompted Saladin to order the key to the church to be retained by the Ghodayya Hashemite family, which hails from the city of Jerusalem in Palestine.

According to historical accounts, the Muslim family was entrusted with the key upon the agreement of all Christian denominations at the time. Ever since, a member of the Ghodayya family opens and closes the gate and guards the church every day.

Adib Joudeh al-Husseini al-Ghodayya, the current custodian of the church key and holder of the Holy Sepulchre Seal, told Al-Monitor that Saladin entrusted Christians with safeguarding Jerusalem, following the example of Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, as a way to preserve the Christian religious monuments.

Ibn al-Khattab had written a letter to the people of Jerusalem during the Muslims conquest of the city, entrusting them with the protection of the churches and their properties, demanding that no Jew dwell in the city. The Pact of Umar is considered to be one of the most important documents in the history of Jerusalem and Palestine.

Ghodayya said that his ancestors were a noble family in Jerusalem and that Saladin entrusted them with the key to the church and with the protection of its properties. He said this was an honor to his family and a bold and blessed step.

He added that he has more than 165 fermans (a royal mandate or decree) issued by the sultans of the successive Islamic caliphates, providing for the appointment of his family members in positions of honor, including the custodianship of the church key.

Ghodayya opens the church gate every day at 4 a.m. and closes it at 8:30 p.m., receiving important visitors and clergymen.

In addition, he holds another position, which is the holder of the Holy Sepulchre Seal as per a decree by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Christian clerics would enter the holy sepulchre chamber in the church to inspect it and make sure that no flammable materials were found inside. The door to the tomb would be then closed with holy beeswax sealant. Ghodayya would then fix his personal seal on it on Easter Saturday every year.

When asked how he feels holding the key to this important church, Ghodayya said, The church is my second home. When I look at its gate, I can see my grandparents and my great-grandparents. I can see Saladin standing in front of it.

He added, I am proud of my family who holds the key to the holiest and oldest church. This should not be a pride only to my family but to every Muslim in the world."

Ghodayya noted that his position is honorary and he does not receive any payment for his services. It is an honorary position that is passed on from one generation to another in the family since the days of Saladin, without any interference from the church, as per Saladins will.

For his part, Father Manuel Musallam, the head of the PLO Department of the Christian World, said that the protection of Palestines Christians figures in the Pact of Umar and the Holy Quran.

Musallam told Al-Monitor, The Pact of Umar is the true key to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Omar ibn al-Khattab handed the pact along with the key to Muslims before Christians, which is a message that he entrusted Muslims with the [protection of Christians and the church].

Musallam said that the pact had laid strong foundations for the relations between Christians and Muslims. He considered that the goal behind having a Muslim family entrusted with the key to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is for protection and to prevent any disagreement between the Christian denominations.

The noble Muslim family [of Ghodayya] has been present in the church, providing it with protection and power. We do not coexist with Muslims, but we share living with them. We live together, we are not strangers, Musallam added.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is seen as the most important Christian religious monument in Jerusalem and is located in the heart of the Old City. Queen Helena is considered to be the first to have ordered the construction of the church in A.D. 335.

The church is believed to house the tomb of Jesus, who according to Christian belief was resurrected three days after his crucifixion and death.

The church is also believed to include the Calvary, where Christians believe Jesus was crucified.
March 23, 2017

BAGHDAD  Iraqi parliamentarian Jamila al-Obeidi called on March 12 for a bill that would offer financial support to men who take on more than one wife. She said the measure would be one way to tackle the social problems facing widows and divorced women in Iraq.

Obeidi stressed the seriousness of the bill, which will likely be sent to parliament for consideration in the coming months.

Obeidi believes the bill would be a crucial step in Iraq, given the country's large number of widows and divorced women, estimated respectively at 2 million and 4 million.

Yet Obeidi's proposal provoked much controversy in Iraq. Many have come out in support of it, like parliamentarian Motashar al-Samarrai, who told Iraqi media that the proposed bill was "in line with Islamic Sharia." He said that it is a woman's right to have sexual relations but within the bounds of marriage.

Other parliamentarians and activists had a different take on the issue. Iraqi activist and artist Najha Salih took to social media to speak out against the bill, which she deemed "reactionary" and a step backward.

Female parliamentarians Vian Dakhil and Maysoon al-Damluji also denounced the proposed bill. Parliamentarian Hanan al-Fitlawi said that the bill had prompted a dispute among female members of parliament, "as some parliamentarians support this polygamy bill, while others are strongly attacking it, considering it a way to objectify women.

Even if the bill was passed, it would not be observed, wrote the editor-in-chief of Noor Economic Magazine, Raed al-Hashemi. Most Iraqis can barely make ends meet for one family, let alone several ones. How is it reasonable to call for such legislation? he wrote in an article published March 18.

The law will exacerbate the economic and social problems of the family and will not solve any of the womens social problems. On the contrary, it will increase them, Intisar al-Jabouri, a member of the parliamentary Committee for Women, Family and Childhood, told Al-Monitor.

Obeidi told Al-Monitor during a telephone interview, The legislation aims at protecting the widows and divorced women against exploitation by men, as women have increasingly been harassed, not to mention the spread of poverty and prostitution among this vulnerable group.

She added, The main objective of the bill is to break the social isolation of widows and divorced women by eliminating this look of inferiority of them and reintegrating them into the family."

Obeidi's proposed bill was not new in its discussion of polygamy, as the phenomenon is still practiced in Iraq. Polygamy is accepted and is not seen as a taboo," said Raed Shaker al-Kalabi, a tribal sheikh in the south. "It is socially common in the city and the countryside.

Kalabi, who is also a professor at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad, told Al-Monitor, Polygamy is a response to the social problems  from the wars in Iraq, which leaves widows and orphans behind. In the countryside, men get married to several women to have more children, who will help with agricultural work.

Iraqi media reported in 2016 that one Iraqi man had five wives and 33 children. In 2013, media reported on a young man who married two women at the same time.

At the legal level, Iraq's Personal Status Law does not permit a second marriage unless three conditions are met: the first wifes knowledge of the second marriage; plausible grounds for such a marriage, such as the first wifes inability to have children; and financial capacity to support additional wives.

The law derives its spirit from the fundamentals of Islam," said Abdul Hussein Ali, a cleric and an expert in Sharia. "[The law] is necessary so that the official courts can check if a man meets the three conditions before getting another wife.

The Iraqi Constitution allows men to marry up to four women if they meet those three conditions, as stipulated by Iraq's Personal Status Law of 1959, which states, Polygamy is not permissible if the men cannot be fair with his wives. The courts judges have the sole discretion to decide on this. As a result, many prefer not to get married before a court.

Rizan al-Sheik Daleer, a member of the parliamentary Committee for Women, Family and Childhood, told Al-Monitor, Polygamy is not the answer to the widows' and divorced womens social problems. [The answer is in] empowering women, educating them and providing them with job opportunities in a society where men dominate all positions and jobs.

She said, We must work on preparing programs to train and empower women and to enhance their social and political role. The problems of women cannot only be solved through marriage. Polygamy could lead to further domestic violence in the absence of a law to protect women.

Daleer suggested that widows and divorced women should be prioritized for government jobs so they can empower themselves economically and socially. These women could even be employed in rehabilitated factories or integrated into the army and police.

The key to solving the problems of widows and divorced women lies in spreading awareness among women. Through education and vocational training, women will be able to find jobs, achieve economic and social independence, and support themselves and their children. At that point, marriage will become the less needed and less appealing option.
united.jpg

United Airlines jets are seen in an undated file photo.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip, file)

DENVER -- Two teenage girls were barred by a gate agent from boarding a United Airlines flight from Denver to Minneapolis because they were wearing leggings.

The girls were not allowed onto the Sunday morning flight because they were traveling under an United Airlines employee travel pass that includes a dress code, United spokesman Jonathan Guerin said.

That dress code bars pass travelers from wearing spandex or lycra pants such as leggings. Guerin said the teenagers agreed to change their clothing and take a later flight.

The airline's actions sparked a backlash on Twitter. Activist Shannon Watts of Denver tweeted that she witnessed Sunday's events and questioned United's decision to police women's clothing.

"She's forcing them to change or put dresses on over leggings or they can't board," said Watts, who was at a gate. "Since when does @united police women's clothing?"

She later sent out several other tweets questioning the airline's decision.

1) 3 girls inspected for wearing perfectly acceptable leggings. 2 not allowed to board. I don't care what kind of passengers they were. https://t.co/9VwGKgvWys  Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) March 26, 2017

2) This behavior is sexist and sexualizes young girls. Not to mention that the families were mortified and inconveninced.  Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) March 26, 2017

3) As the mother of 4 daughters who live and travel in yoga pants, I'd like to know how many boys @United has penalized for the same reason.  Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) March 26, 2017

Guerin says ticketed passengers are not subject to the same dress code and can wear leggings.

"Our regular passengers are not going to be denied boarding because they are wearing leggings or yoga pants," he told The Washington Post. "But when flying as a pass traveler, we require this pass travelers to follow rules, and that is one of those rules.

"They were not compliant with the dress policy with the benefit," Guerin said, adding that the girls were aware of the internal rule. "This morning, the attire of the pass travelers on this flight didn't meet the dress code policy."

Travelers familiar with the airline employee travel pass say it has long been a requirement for those using the benefit to dress up more than paying passengers.

Others soon weighed in on the airline's actions:

Leggings are business attire for 10 year olds. Their business is being children.  Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) March 26, 2017

Rules for dress that disproportionately affect girls and women are outdated and need to be changed immediately, @United.  Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) March 26, 2017
A double homicide investigation is underway after two men were found shot to death in Opelika Saturday night.

Opelika police responded at 9:14 p.m. to a 911 call of shots fired in the 400 block of Toomer Court, said Lee County Coroner Bill Harris. Police and Opelika Fire and Rescue arrived to find two men wounded by the gunfire.

Sedric Darrell Lewis, 27, was pronounced dead on the scene, Harris said. Derris Terrel Harris, 31, was rushed by ambulance to East Alabama Medical Center where he died shortly after arriving at the emergency room. The bodies of both victims have been sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences' medical examiner's office for autopsies.

The slayings remain under investigation by the Lee County Coroner's Office, the Opelika Police Department and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.

Anyone with any information on this case, or who may have seen something in this area, is urged to contact the Opelika Police at (334) 705-5220 or the Opelika Police Secret Witness Hotline at 334-745-8665 or the Lee County Coroner's Office Secret Witness line at 334-745-8686. All calls may remain anonymous.
Five Points South is a melting pot, many of its residents and business owners say.

Over a span of 130 years, the district in Birmingham's Southside became known as a "town within a city" and a retail and culinary destination in the Magic City.

Five Points South is Birmingham's town square, said Steve Alexander, who lives and works in Southside. When people want to eat or drink, or when they want to protest, they head to Five Points South, he said.

While the Birmingham neighborhoods of Avondale, Lake View and downtown are enjoying a rebirth, Five Points South merchants and residents are banding together for the first time to bring the focus back on their district.

"We are going to bring the focus back on Five Points ourselves," said George Reis, owner of Ocean Restaurant and 5 Point Public House Oyster Bar.

Merchants and residents formed the Five Points Alliance, a non-profit organization, and, this year, are setting out to draft and adopt a master plan for the district.

Organizers, which also include UAB and REV Birmingham, hope the 130th anniversary of Five Points South will serve as a catalyst to move the neighborhood forward.

The planning process begins this week with the first in a series of community involvement meetings. The first meeting is for civic leaders and is set for Wednesday, March 29 at 9 a.m. at the Starbucks at 1927 11th Ave S. Click here for upcoming meetings and events.

"I want to really bring our neighborhood together: the merchants and the residents. We have a lot of churches right in that neighborhood," said Reis, who serves as president of the Five Points Alliance board. "I would love to bring all of that together and have a true synergy of an inner-city neighborhood."

What is Five Points?

Five Points South received its name for the intersection at its core, which is forced into a five-pointed star by the convergence of 20th Street South (in two directions), 11th Avenue South (in two directions), and Magnolia Avenue.

Before becoming a part of Birmingham, Five Points was originally incorporated as the town of Highland for about six years. Highland was a hub for streetcar lines, which sparked the building of houses and apartment buildings. The influx of residents sparked commercial development.

The neighborhood became a microcosm of Birmingham, according to The Journal, a publication of the Birmingham Historical Society. This diversity and mix of residential, retail, bars and restaurants and service businesses remains 130 years later.

"We embrace that grungy edgy vibe here," said Joe Babin, owner of Orbit Salon in Five Points and alliance member. "(Five Points) is a nice little bubble for different cultures."

Reis said he opened Ocean Restaurant in Five Points 15 years ago.

"If you wanted to be a fine dining restaurant, you went to Five Points," he said.

Five Points boasts a number of nationally acclaimed restaurants such as Highlands Bar & Grill, Bottega, Chez Fonfon and Hot and Hot Fish Club.

Map of Five Points South (REV Birmingham)

Master plan

Brian Templeton, a project manager for UAB Planning Design and Construction, serves on the board of the Five Points Alliance and is assisting in the drafting of a master plan. He said the process will take 18 months and require input from residents, business and property owners, and others.

A master plan uses crowd-sourced information to identify the needs and wants of a neighborhood, he said. This lets all of the stakeholders invest their money wisely.

Templeton said the master plan will include maps of the neighborhood's street and sidewalk network, major trees and landscaping, and active and passive green spaces.

By identifying what the neighborhood already has, Templeton said, stakeholders can help identify what the neighborhood needs -- such as bike lanes or more parks.

"The goals are really going to be driven by the community, and that is why we are seeking community input," he said.

The process will also include studying how Five Points South can tie into other parts of the city, such as the Glen Iris neighborhood, UAB, Vulcan Trail and Railroad Park. It also will look at long-range greenspace plans and business district guidelines.

John Boone, of Orchestra Partners, said he and his partner recently invested in the "undervalued market" of Five Points South with the purchase of the old Bailey Brothers Music Co. Building on 20th Street. It has stood vacant for about two years.

Orchestra Partners plans to open a yet-to-be named social bowling concept by the end of the year. The project will include an upscale bar, restaurant and other attractions.

"Now everyone wants to live downtown and people are excited about Birmingham," Boone said. "It is easy for people who have lived here for a long time to invest back into Five Points with this alliance."

He said Five Points South has been stagnant, but now is the time to kick-start neighborhood reinvestment.

Five Points South's biggest asset, according to Boone, is its walkability. This factor will keep the neighborhood sustainable, he said.

Moving forward

Alexander said one of the priorities of the alliance is to bring the City Action Partnership (CAP), a safety program, to Five Points South. This would require support from at least two-thirds of the property owners of the Five Points business district.

"We believe that CAP's presence was instrumental in the success we've all seen downtown in recent years, so we would like to see that extra level of public service added to the experience of everyone who works in, lives in, or visits Five Points South," he said.

Because of its non-profit status, Five Points Alliance can accept tax-deductible donations and is eligible for grants for streetscape and building improvements.

Another goal of the alliance is to develop "Operation Facelift" that will encourage property owners to update commercial facades.

Much of this is already happening.

According to REV Birmingham, more than $29 million is projected to be invested in Five Points South in 2017. These projects include the new Homewood Suites and the rebranding of Hotel Highland to Hotel Indigo. It also includes renovations of the Bailey Brothers Building, Shepherd-Sloss Building and Highland Manor Apartments renovation.
Brothers Arthur and David Pike discuss and sign their book on NM's historical sites that are easily accessible via detours down obscure backroads and overlooked off-ramps.

BROTHERS TALK NM TRAVEL DESTINATIONS 3:00 PM SUNDAY, MARCH 26, AT PAGE ONE

Brothers Arthur and David Pike, both of whom earned Bachelor's degrees at NM State University, will be at Page One Books 3:00 pm Sunday, March 26, to talk about and sign their non-fiction effort, "Detour New Mexico: Historic Destinations and Natural Wonders."

The book is described as such: "New Mexico's rich and varied history is easily accessible via detours down obscure backroads and overlooked off-ramps. By taking the road less traveled in any direction, visitors can experience ancient landmarks, cultural heritage sites and striking vistas. Stop at places along the old Route 66, sample the world's best chiles by the Rio Grande or soak in geothermal water flowing under Truth or Consequences. Ancient dwellings in remote canyons, the town where the first atomic bomb was secretly assembled and the grave of Billy the Kid all lie off the beaten path in the Land of Enchantment. Authors Arthur and David Pike map out these and many more worthwhile points of interest for the curious traveler."

David Pike earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from New Mexico State University and a master's degree in creative nonfiction from Johns Hopkins University. He published an updated version of his comprehensive guide to the historic markers of the state, "Roadside New Mexico," in 2015. The book won the state's Heritage Preservation Award in 2016. His essays on out-of-the-way New Mexico places and people have appeared in "New Mexico" magazine. He currently resides in Albuquerque.

Arthur Pike earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from New Mexico State University as well as a master's degree in technical and professional communication from NMSU. He lives with his family in Houston, Texas, where he manages a communication function for an energy company and writes short- and long-form fiction.

Page One Books is located at 5850 Eubank Blvd NE, Suite B-41, in Albuquerque's Mountain Run Shopping Center (southeast corner of Eubank and Juan Tabo). The Pike brothers event is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 294-2026 or visit www.page1book.com.

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Arcadia Publishing web page on book: https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/products/9781467118507
A new program launching this week will bring cardboard boxes that can double as sleeping spaces to all parents across Alabama in an effort to reduce the state's high rate of infant mortality.

The partnership between Baby Box Co. and the Alabama Rural Development Office will be the third for the company, which has started similar programs in Ohio and New Jersey. Parents can go online, watch short educational videos and take a quiz to qualify for a box. Once they have obtained certificates of completion, parents can pick up boxes from distribution sites or arrange for home delivery.

"Each box is essentially a cardboard bassinet," said Jennifer Clary, CEO of the Baby Box Co.

Each box contains a firm mattress and fitted sheet and can hold a baby up to age six months, Clary said. Boxes also contain onesies, diapers, wipes and breastfeeding supplies.

"We are excited to be one of the first states to offer this program statewide to provide families with the tools and education to give their babies a healthy start in life," said Ron Sparks, Director of Alabama Rural Development Office, in a press release. "The ultimate goal of the program is to save babies' lives."

Boxes provide a safe sleeping environment for babies and are easy to transport. But Clary said parents also benefit from the educational component. The videos teach parents about safe sleep and baby care.

Alabama's infant mortality rate is higher than the national average. Every year, hundreds of babies born in the state die before their first birthdays. The infant mortality rate has risen for African-American babies in Alabama, who die at more than twice the rate of their white counterparts.

Many babies die as a result of suffocation from unsafe sleeping. Doctors encourage parents to put babies to sleep on their backs in cribs or bassinets without bumpers, pillows, blankets or stuffed animals.

The program is modeled after the Finnish tradition of providing sleeping boxes filled with baby supplies to expectant parents. The box gives babies "an equal start in life," according to a 2013 BBC News story about the program. Finland has one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world. In Finland, 1.3 out of 1,000 children died during infancy in 2013, compared to 8.6 in Alabama.

"There is much work to be done to address the ongoing challenge of infant mortality here in the state," said Dr. Tom Miller, state health officer, in a press release. "This initiative will assist in addressing the challenge by providing education to parents from medical providers that practice within our state."

Baby boxes in Alabama will be available to all parents, regardless of income. Many parents in Alabama may not have a crib or bassinet where their baby can sleep. The boxes will fix part of the problem, Clary said.

"It really is the education that I think is going to lead to improved health," Clary said.
Medal of Honor recipient Bennie Adkins of Alabama was among the nation's most decorated war heroes meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday.

Twenty-five medal recipients - about a third of the living recipients of the nation's highest military honor - attended the ceremony in honor of Medal of Honor Day. Medal of Honor Day was designated by Congress in 1990 but, except for a visit to Arlington National Cemetery by President Barack Obama in 2009, has gone largely without official Presidential recognition.

"Each of you has risen above and beyond the call of duty in defense of our country, our people, and our flag. You have poured out your hearts, your sweat, and your tears like few others, and your blood - most importantly your blood for the United States of America," President Trump said.

"You are the soul of our nation, and a grateful republic salutes you."

Defense Secretary James Mattis, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and Vice President Mike Pence also attended the Oval Office event.

The attendees and the Medal of Honor Society presented Trump with the book, "Portraits of Valor," which contained the signature of all those present and about 200 other medal recipients.

Adkins, who lives in Opelika, received the Medal of Honor in 2014 in recognition for heroism he displayed during three days of fierce battle against North Vietnamese soldiers in the spring of 1966. He is credited with fending off enemy forces, despite being wounded himself, and saving the lives of his fellow soldiers.

According to the Pentagon, 3,498 people have received the Medal of Honor. Seventy-five of them are alive today.
Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste

Lawrence Battiste, who was selected as Mobile's chief of police by Mayor Sandy Stimpson in March 2017, is shown in his office on Wednesday, March 22, 2017. Some of the memorabilia behind him reflects his 16 years at the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, part of which he spent in the SWAT unit. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com)

As Mobile's newest chief of police, Lawrence Battiste brings deep roots in the area and a resume that blends the tactical focus of SWAT team experience with deep insight into issues of juvenile crime and justice.

His record leads one Mobile judge who worked closely with him to offer an enthusiastic endorsement. "I think he's the right person right now for the job," said Juvenile Judge Edmond Naman. "I'm so excited and thrilled for him and his family and really for our community. They're really getting a fine man, I'll tell you that."

In a sense, Battiste's rise to the chief's office has been rapid: He became assistant chief to James Barber less than two years ago, in May 2015. There was no particular warning of an impending change before Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson announced on Friday, March 17, that he'd accepted the resignation of Public Safety Director Richard Landolt and that he intended to move Barber to that position and elevate Battiste to chief. By Tuesday, March 21, the Mobile City Council had given its approval.

But in another sense, the promotion caps a law enforcement career that began almost by accident nearly 30 years ago.

"My father was in the Air Force, so I was born over at Brookley," said Battiste, who described his life and career during an interview this week at his office at police headquarters.

His mother's parents resided in the Down the Bay area, his father's in the Bottoms area of Toulminville. "I frequented both sides of town, from time to time," Battiste said of his childhood. The family moved to Dallas for a few years during his elementary school years, then came back in time for him to attend Mae Eanes Middle School and graduate from B.C. Rain High School with the class of 1981.

Though he couldn't have made the connection at the time, he already was having experiences with the type of youth engagement programs that remain a concern for the city almost 40 years later. This summer Mobile is hoping to coordinate jobs for hundreds of young people through its YES initiative, overseen by the Mobile Police Department. Under similar programs, Battiste said, he did three summer internships - one on a trash pickup crew, one in the supply department at USA Medical Center and the last working for the Coast Guard at Brookley as a dental assistant.

After graduation "I thought I wanted to go to college. I played around," Battiste said with a laugh. "Ultimately I made the decision that I was going to go in the Navy." There too he worked as a dental assistant. Leaving after five years of service, he had a wife and a daughter and was thinking about nursing school. (He and Angelia Battiste have now been married for more than 31 years. That daughter is now 29, and the Battistes also have 26-year-old twin sons who are both in law enforcement.)

Back in the civilian world, he had a hard time finding a job that would allow him to support his family and further his education. He took a law enforcement test, did well, and was hired in 1989 by the Mobile County Sheriff's Department.

"I actually got into law enforcement by accident, to be honest," he said. But if it started as a fluke, it ended with him "actually finding a passion, and really finding my purpose in life," he said.

Lawrence Battiste, who was selected as Mobile's chief of police by Mayor Sandy Stimpson in March 2017, is shown in his office on Wednesday, March 22, 2017. The B.C. Rain High School jersey is his brother's; the Auburn University memorabilia below it reflects his daughter's studies there. The plaque visible to his right honors his service during his time as chief of the Prichard Police Department. (Lawrence Specker/LSpecker@AL.com)

What made the difference was that he found something he didn't necessarily expect. Battiste said he suspects that when most people think of law enforcement officers in action, they think of them putting people in handcuffs.

"That's kind of the way I thought about it, prior to getting involved in it," he said. "But once I started working in law enforcement, I realized there were so many different areas, like youth aid and sex crimes and child advocacy and those different things, where you have an opportunity to impact people's lives in a different way. ... That has been real rewarding to me."

Battiste served more than 15 years with the sheriff's office. For nine he was part its SWAT unit, and for three of those he was SWAT commander. He came to an understanding that despite its militaristic image, the units are more about deterrence and negotiation than brute force. "SWAT is a life-saving unit of the department," he said. "It's not a life-taking unit."

Battiste continued his education. Today he holds an associate's degree in criminal justice from Bishop State, plus a bachelor's in human resources and a master's in justice administration, both from Faulkner University. In 2004 he became chief of the Prichard Police Department, giving him his first experience as a city's top cop. In 2009 he shifted to a completely different field, becoming Mobile's chief juvenile probation officer.

In 2016, Barber had cause to speak long and often on the subject of youth violence. Mobile grappled with the aftermath of the Michael Moore case, in which an officer fatally shot a black teen under disputed circumstances. Young people's willingness to use deadly force was cited by Barber as a factor in an October homicide spree, and his concerns appeared to be borne out by the month's highest-profile case, after a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old were charged in the apparently random shooting of single mother Delauna Anderson Powell.

Battiste's time as a juvenile probation officer give him intimate knowledge of the legal and cultural terrain.

"One thing I bring from it is that perspective [that] there are usually a lot of external forces that we as individuals, when we get called to a crisis, can't see immediately when we get there," Battiste said. "It gave me the perspective to start looking at more than what the crime might be, but what is the underlying factor that caused the criminality. If you can some way kind of determine what was that factor, and if you can help direct the person past that particular hurdle, sometimes it helps put them back on track."

"He's got a really good way with the kids, and an understanding of their needs," said Naman, who credits Battiste with helping to reform many aspects of operations at Strickland Youth Center. In that phase of his career, Naman said, Battiste was "never off the clock."

That makes him well equipped to grapple with some of Mobile's most serious policing issues, Naman said. "I think the biggest problems we face in this day deal with youth violence and youth crime," he said.

Battiste said that one thing he learned over the years is that conduct that appears disrespectful to an officer, on the part of a young person, might not be intended as such. It might simply be the way they learned to conduct themselves at home. Battiste doesn't mean by this that it's less of a problem - he just means that really solving the problem means considering the bigger picture.

"Let's look at the broad picture," he said. "Is the home clean, is mama fully dressed when we show up? I can remember when we did a walk and talk with the mayor, I guess about two or three months ago, we were walking a neighborhood in particular, and this little kid was, 'Man, I want you to come to my house.' He was on a bicycle and he led us to his house. And when we got to the house, mom was in the house, she didn't have on a top, she was sitting on the couch with her bra on. And she came to the door and said, 'Is that the g--d-- mayor? Yeah, that's the g--d--mayor!' So when you see that, how would you expect the child to react in any different way? Because that's the way the parent acts."

It's possible to take too broad a view, Battiste said. Many situations require immediate action. But, like Barber, he said progress in police-community relations depends on police and citizens being able to consider each others' viewpoints.

"You have to be willing to hear what the problem is before you start trying to create a solution to the problem," he said. "Sometimes we get in trouble because we want to react to the problem before we've even seen the really full kind of broad view of what the problem really is."

Another priority for Battiste is training. The Mobile Police Department has made great strides on that front in recent years, he said, and he's visited other agencies where he thought the training didn't measure up to Mobile's. But he intends to go further. He said a particular priority is for more Mobile cops to get training outside the area - training that not only improves their technical skills, but also exposes them to other perspectives.

"Where I see Mobile currently ... I've inherited a very well put together department," Battiste said. "I think that the men and women that are here are excellent professionals."

"I think Mobile socially, as a whole, there is a healthy respect for public safety," Battiste said. "In general we are and will continue to be as transparent as possible with the public."

Battiste understands that the job is likely to come with its share of headaches. But he said there's another, more personal lesson he's picked up over the years.

"I've learned that every situation you find yourself in, there's a reason for you being there," he said.

Note: This article has been corrected to reflect that Battiste has degrees from Faulkner University, not Faulkner State.
Dozens of civilians died in a recent coalition strike aimed at killing an ISIL commander in Mosul, residents say.

Mosul, Iraq  It was just past 8pm on January 11 when an air strike killed Ebtisam Ataallahs neighbours.

The intermittent electricity had come on a few minutes earlier  a rarity in the al-Amel district of ISIL-held western Mosul  so Ataallah, 44, had begun baking bread in a corner of their courtyard. Her four children remained indoors.

Two large blasts in quick succession knocked her to the ground, filling the air with dust, rubble and confusion. Inside the house, an external wall collapsed on top of her 16-year-old son Imran where he slept. He awoke covered in bricks and screaming, his leg badly broken.

In the now ruined room above him lay the body of a man thrown clear of the adjacent building by the impact, a young girl miraculously still alive in his arms.

Zaidan, 55, was having dinner with his family a street away when he heard the blasts. He rushed to the scene with his brother and two younger cousins.

When we got there, we heard women and children screaming under the rubble, the silver-haired 55-year-old, who declined to provide his last name, told Al Jazeera. So, we went to help.

As he extricated a young girl and took her to a nearby house, a third air strike hit, landing on top of the rescuers. His brother and one cousin were killed, and another cousin,19, was injured. Zaidan eventually found the top half of his brothers corpse in the grounds of a school one block over; his legs were tangled in the remains of an awning over the Ataallahs house.

At least six households were wiped out in the strike, according to a number of witnesses. Those who combed the rubble for bodies said that they found the remains of 37 people, mostly women and children. They recognised all but two. A photograph said to be from the scene circulated by local activists showed a dusty, blood-covered baby wrapped in a red blanket.

All of the interviewees believed the target of the attack was Harbi Abdel Qader, a commander with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS)  but added that he escaped unharmed in the few minutes before the third explosion.

The substantial death toll in al-Amel was uncovered at a time when civilian casualties from both air strikes and Iraqi shelling appear to be mounting in west Mosul, amid international pressure for a swift resolution to the six-month-old operation to retake the city from ISIL.

On Friday, the US military said that its aircraft were involved in strikes on a nearby neighbourhood that residents said had killed as many as 200 people. Iraqi forces were still concentrating on clearing the armed group from the eastern half of the city in January, but civilian casualties due to air strikes were already being reported in the densely populated western parts of the city.

Now, as government forces push ISIL back still further, some of these blast sites are becoming accessible, including al-Amel, which was only cleared in mid-March.

The scene of the attack is still pure devastation. Individual houses have been reduced to twisted concrete and debris dotted with blankets and tattered items of clothing scattered throughout.

The US-led international anti-ISIL coalition has conducted hundreds of air strikes in support of the Mosul offensive, while the Iraqi air force has carried out its own, more limited operations.

A spokesperson for the coalition acknowledged reports of air strikes in Mosul resulting in civilian casualties on January 11 and 12, noting that while coalition forces work diligently to be precise, the January strike would be investigated further.

Coalition and Iraqi forces are required to operate under strict rules of engagement aimed at minimising civilian casualties. The coalition estimates that, as of March 4, 220 non-combatants have died in strikes it carried out since the international campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria began in 2014. Independent monitoring group Airwars suggests the figure is far higher, with as many as a thousand claimed deaths reported this month alone.

In al-Amel, residents said that, besides Qader and a low-ranking ISIL member, none of those who lived in the bombed area had any links to ISIL. Ataallahs neighbour, Ali Khalat, moved there seven years earlier with his wife, children and grandchildren. They ran a small shop from their home and the older men drove a taxi to supplement their income.

It was Ahmed Khalat, one of Alis sons, who was blasted into the Ataallahs home holding one of his daughters. She, along with her sister and brother, were the only survivors.

The two families were not close, but neighbourly, and the Khalats were well-thought-of in the area. They were good people and they were taking care of each other, Ataallah recalled.





At least five other civilian households were hit in the same strike. All were killed. The dead included Namis Salem Khadar, his wife Suha, and their two children, Sara and Sidra. The family can be seen in a picture recovered from the site dated June 4, 2012.

Apparently taken at a fairground, it shows Namis sitting on one end of a bench in a crisp white thawb and Suha perched on the other, wisps of brown hair escaping from a patterned headscarf. Sara stands between them, a small girl in red and white dress gazing solemnly at the camera.

Rakan Sukur, 48, was among those who helped to recover bodies from the rubble and line them up outside the house for collection by family members. A grey-haired man with prominent features and a black moustache. It was he who retrieved the family photo albums.

You cant imagine how I suffered to find these, he said, describing how he darted in to grab them as heavy machinery worked to remove chunks of masonry. There were pieces [of bodies] there, too.

He and others were sure that Qader was not among the dead. The stocky, grey-bearded ISIL commander, who, in the neighbourhood, was said to have been an air force pilot under Saddam Husseins regime, was familiar to them and had even attempted to recruit local men.

He used to come to the mosque and speak to us, encouraging all to fight, Zaidan added.

READ MORE: Battle for Mosul upends false Iraq narrative

Last week, Iraqi special forces were still battling ISIL just 200 metres from the scene of the al-Amel strike. Bullets cracked overhead with great frequency, punctuated by the sporadic boom of artillery shells. The fight centred on a graveyard where some of the dead from the January strike had been buried.

Ataallahs family has replaced the broken walls and windows of their home with stacks of breeze blocks that once made up their neighbours homes. It is a precaution against mortars, two of which landed in their courtyard recently, leaving black marks and shattered tiles.

Her son, Imran, still hobbles around on crutches. The room where he was buried for a time is still just rubble, and he points to the blanket that he was under when it happened.

I had one breath there. I used it to shout, he recalled. In a cast, his broken leg appears dark and swollen, and he dabs a handkerchief at an infected eye that will not stop watering.

The family understands what happened and who is responsible.

We know what an air strike sounds like, said 25-year-old Radwan, Ataallahs eldest son. Seconds later, a jet called in by special forces roared overhead, reportedly to bomb an ISIL target a few blocks away.

Understanding why is harder.

They killed most of our neighbourhood for one ISIL member and they didnt even get him, Ataallah said despairingly. I dont understand it.
The idea of future land swaps has been used to justify expanding Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, analysts say.

When Israeli opposition leader and Labour Party chairman Isaac Herzog published a plan for kick-starting the peace process last month, one of his stated goals was to save the settlement blocs  areas of the West Bank where Israel has built clusters of settlements, including larger towns.





Settlement blocs are often referred to by politicians and pundits alike, but there is no common understanding about precisely what the term means.

From Israels point of view, I think the term is intentionally vague and amorphous, Daniel Levy, president of the US/Middle East Project think-tank, told Al Jazeera. Absent clear delineation, it is a meaningless formulation, and on the vast majority of occasions when it is loosely referred to, there is a deliberate absence of delineation.

In negotiations over the past two decades, Israel has demanded that West Bank settlement blocs become part of Israeli territory in any final deal, typically as part of a land swap in which certain areas within Israel become part of a future Palestinian state. But on the rare occasions when talks have reached the details stage, there have been significant hurdles.

The blocs encompass large swaths of land and, depending on the negotiators, can often be 10 or more percent of the West Bank, Diana Buttu, a lawyer and former adviser to Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) negotiators, told Al Jazeera.

Palestinian maps presented in various rounds of negotiations have allowed Israel to annex some two or three percent of the occupied West Bank. The best Israeli offer, territorially speaking, came via Ehud Olmert in 2008  6.5 percent, at close to a one-to-one swap  but that was when he was already a lame-duck prime minister.

READ MORE: Israels settlement law  Consolidating apartheid

Nor is it just about percentages: Olmerts proposed territorial swaps, for example, raised important questions for Palestinian negotiators, who claimed that swapping out settlements such as Ariel, Maale Adumim and others would prejudice contiguity, water aquifers and the viability of Palestine.

No Israeli government to date has accepted the Palestinian stipulation that land swaps be fully equal in size and quality, veteran Israeli negotiator Michael Herzog acknowledged.

While many have despaired over the prospect of a two-state solution, the concept of land swaps has remained crucial for those who remain optimistic about its viability. Pro-Israeli groups have dismissed concerns about Israeli settlement expansion  and its effect on the possibility of Palestinian statehood  in light of potential future land swaps.

Eric Pickles, chairman of the UK parliamentary pressure group Conservative Friends of Israel, recently urged Theresa Mays government against treating all settlements equally, specifically on the basis that there will be land swaps. He suggested that some settlements should, therefore, be exempt from criticism.

Analysts also expect Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deflect pressure from the international community against illegal Israeli settlements by using the concept of blocs and swaps.

He could say, Ill focus on continued growth within the blocs, but dont ask me to define the blocs, and Ill show restraint outside the blocs, but dont ask me to define restraint,' Levy said.

For Palestinians, such dodging is one of the key problems with the land swaps concept. According to Buttu, the land swaps have delayed and hindered negotiations and also fuelled the Israeli mindset that it is perfectly acceptable to steal land and build settlements because other land will be swapped in the future.

Meanwhile, Israeli settlements continue to have an impact on the ground.

There are clear links between settlement policies and practices, illegal under international law, and humanitarian needs, Robert Piper, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, told Al Jazeera. This is true both for large settlements as well as small, more remote ones.

The land swaps have ... fuelled the Israeli mindset that it is perfectly acceptable to steal land and build settlements because other land will be 'swapped' in the future. by Diana Buttu, lawyer

UN agencies, as well as Palestinian and Israeli groups, routinely document what Israels settlements  built in contravention of international law  mean for Palestinians.

With settlement expansion, Palestinians lose access to land, and frequently, to natural resources like water springs, Piper said. They often face physical violence and intimidation, compounded by movement restrictions.

Experts deny the suggestion by some politicians and pro-Israeli groups that land swaps are a kind of magic formula for achieving a viable two-state solution.

Valentina Azarova, an international lawyer and researcher based at Koc University in Istanbul, Turkey, told Al Jazeera that a peace agreement that permits settlement blocs to be part of land swaps could be invalidated by operation of international law for its conflict with the peremptory norm prohibiting the acquisition of territory by force.

Even if an agreement preserved a two-state solution in territorial terms, that in itself would be no guarantee of civil and political rights, or the right of displaced persons to return home, and as such, would be only a partial contribution to the resolution of the conflict, Azarova said.

For Buttu, only a full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories could save the two-state solution  but that is not on the agenda of any plausible Israeli government. Even a land swap of a small percent would leave more than 100,000 settlers in place, with no political appetite for their removal.

There are creative solutions to various problems, Levy said. But creative solutions cant paper over a gap that is so huge, because one side simply does not accept the legitimacy of the independent sovereign existence of the other.
When infant remains were found in a former home for unwed mothers last month, it didnt come as a surprise to everyone.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that up to 800 infants had been buried in a disused sewage tank. Historian Catherine Corless, who investigated the case, has said in an Irish Times article that she believes the number to be fewer than 200.

Tuam, Ireland  When human remains were discovered in a septic tank in Tuam, in western Ireland, last month it didnt come as a complete surprise to everyone.

The unearthing at the site  a former home for unmarried mothers  was the result of a government commission charged with investigating claims of abuse by religious orders. Excavations uncovered an underground structure where human remains were found.

Local historian Catherine Corless had initially uncovered details of a mass grave at the home run by the Catholic Church affiliated Bons Secours, where fewer than 200 infants born to unmarried mothers had been unofficially buried in a disused sewage tank.

But a 2014 email sent by Bons Secours PR representative Terry Prone to filmmaker Saskia Weber dismissed the need for an investigation into the site, saying: If you come here, youll find no mass grave, no evidence that children were ever so buried, and a local police force casting their eyes to heaven and saying Yeah, a few bones were found  but this was an area where famine victims were buried. So?

READ MORE: Catholic Irelands saints and sinners

My baby was taken from me

For many in Ireland, the discovery has reignited painful memories of the nations treatment of single mothers who broke the strict cultural and social norms of a deeply conservative society.

Long after the nuns had closed the doors of the home in Tuam in 1961, Louise Gallagher found herself in one of Irelands last Mother and Baby Homes in 1988.

When I heard about Tuam. I didnt feel right. I felt awful but I couldnt explain it, the 44-year-old says. Younger women like me didnt have it as bad as the older ones, we didnt have to work for years in the laundries, so you feel guilty for being upset.

But really, I was never right after my baby was taken from me. Its like being in a permanent state of grief.

Louise, who lived in rural Ireland, discovered that she was pregnant when she was 16. But being a single mother carried a stigma perpetuated by the Catholic Church and spurred on by wider society.

READ MORE: Survivors remember Irelands Magdalene laundries

She was sent to a Mother and Baby home run by nuns in Dunboyne town, Meath County.

It was arranged between my mother, the local doctor and Cura  a Catholic crisis pregnancy organisation, she says.

I spent two months there, the place was full of girls when I arrived. My mother said I would have to sleep on the floor if there was no bed for me.

I never had a choice, I felt powerless and that I should be grateful.

Mass graves

Irelands Mother and Baby homes were residential establishments for unmarried pregnant women run by the Church and funded by the state. Parents would often take their unmarried pregnant daughters  shunned by the community  to them.



Irelands mother and baby homes scandal

During their most brutal years  which spanned nearly a century  thousands of children perished in them due to malnutrition and lack of care. They were thrown into mass graves on land owned by the Catholic Church.

Many women entered as minors and were forced to give their children up for adoption, signing the papers under the watchful eyes of nuns and social workers.

They used us to make money, says Louise. We used to pack cards for the nuns in the home, we werent forced to but you were made to feel grateful even when they took our babies.

They were also getting money from the government to deal with us. One wealthy girl I shared a room with told me her parents were giving a donation to the nuns and the couples that got our babies also gave donations to the Orders.

We were brought from the home into Holles Street Hospital, in Dublin, for maternity care and then the Catholic Protection and Rescue Services of Ireland who managed our forced adoptions. Everyone was taking their cut, she adds.

Despite the discovery in Tuam, the religious Orders in Ireland have failed to contribute to redress schemes for women whose children died or were adopted out of Mother and Baby homes.

Compensation

Irelands Minister for Health Simon Harri, has demanded a more hardline approach to the Orders, which have failed to compensate the victims of church abuse.

So far, the religious Orders  who are supposed to pay for half the scheme  have contributed 192 million ($207m) of the 1.5 billion ($1.6bn) required to compensate those affected.

Clare Daly, an independent member of parliament, says the schemes are poorly constructed and allow both the Church and the state to shirk responsibility. But she agrees with Harris that more needs to be done to hold the religious Orders to account.

READ MORE: Irelands shocking record on womens rights

Obviously the original deal was a bad one for the Irish taxpayer and the survivors of abuse, and a good one for the religious Orders who got off very lightly. At this stage huge pressure should be put on the religious organisations to fulfil their original commitments. While it seems that they have no legal obligation they certainly have a moral one, she says.

As well as refusing to fully compensate the women sent to Mother and Baby homes, the religious Orders have been accused of silencing those who say they were abused in Church-run, state-funded industrial schools for orphans and children of unmarried parents.

Victims of Church abuse

Tom Wall, from the small town of Glin, County Limerick, was sent to an industrial school run by the Christian Brothers, after a judge signed a document giving the Church custody of him. He remained there from 1952 until he turned 16 in 1965.

During that time he says he was sexually abused and routinely beaten. Tom, who wrote a book about his time in Glin, is now embroiled in a legal battle with the Christian Brothers, who he claims are deliberately trying to conceal the extent of abuse faced by children under Church guardianship.

When the Christian Brothers were leaving Glin in 1973, I was ordered by the Superior Brother Murry to burn all the documents that he gave me, but was told that I could keep any that I particularly wanted, he recalls.

As I was looking for my own file I held back some of the documents that I had been told to burn and I put them in the attic of a house in Glin. In 2015, I donated this collection to the University of Limerick.

Tom was the last boy sent to the industrial school, but his battles with the Order he says abused him havent yet ended.

The Christian Brothers are currently asserting property rights over the files and letters sent to the boys by family members who tried to contact them. The Order claims the documents are the property of the Church and do not belong in the university archives.

I dont understand how the Christian Brothers who were found guilty of serious physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children that were under state care in the industrial schools can now claim to own the last remaining documents recording the lives of these boys, many of whom they abused, the 67-year-old says.

Clare thinks files like those Tom preserved need to be handed over to the government to fully assess the scope and impact of Irelands history of confinement.



Scandal sparks Ireland church-state debate

The state should act on the recommendations and requests that survivor groups have been communicating for years now, to include everyone in the investigation, to hand over all the files held by the relevant institutions and carry out a full audit of those files, she says.

Al Jazeera wrote to the European Province of the Congregation of Christian Brothers to request comment but did not receive a reply by the time of publication.

Legal battles

As Ireland grapples with the latest in a long line of Church scandals, those sent to Catholic institutions remain at the coalface of costly legal battles against a Church that shows little sign of remorse and a state frequently criticised by the United Nations for failing to provide adequate redress.

Wendy Lyon, a human rights lawyer based in the Irish capital Dublin, represents survivors of institutional abuse. She claims Irelands statute of limitations and ex gratia tags  which absolve the state of responsibility  are blockades to justice for survivors of these institutions.

In Ireland, the statute of limitations is absolute. Unlike other countries this means theres no provision for a court to waive the statute of limitations in the interest of justice. Then, every redress scheme we are presented with is progressively worse, they are still talking about ex gratia schemes, she says.

Wendy believes the state will only address cases of historical abuses when prompted by the media, and uses its legal cannon to block those seeking financial redress.

READ MORE: Ireland accused of whitewashing childbirth scandal

Currently the state is obstructing women from access to these inadequate schemes. Now we have two cases in the court for women locked out of schemes, for not fitting their criteria. The state is going to great lengths to keep them out of financial redress, which is strange when you consider how much they pay in legal costs, she says.

Louise says that she continues to be haunted by the unrepentant attitude of the Church.

I firmly put the blame on the Church, she says. The society enabled it and funded it but they guided the values at the time. Ive spent my whole life feeling inferior because of them, since I was 16, I just dont know what it is like to feel normal. I still feel so much shame.
A renaissance of political printmaking seeks to counter cultural domination and give voice to the disenfranchised.

Oaxaca, Mexico  This past October at Espacia Zapata, a print shop on a colourful city street in Oaxaca, Mexico, a group of artists from the art collective Assembly of Revolutionary Artists of Oaxaca (ASARO) gathered, surrounded by large hand-cranked presses and stacks of ink covered printing screens.

That night they took to the streets, illegally pasting politically charged screen prints on the walls of Oaxaca City, one of Mexicos premier tourist destinations, a UNESCO world heritage site and  for the past 10 years  the centre of a burgeoning political street art movement that has arisen from the political turmoil in the southern state.

The simple act of sticking something out on the street means now you are a criminal, said Ivan Michel, one of the artists.

Our art counters and is subversive. [It is] social and, in some cases, its political, added Mario Guzman, another ASARO artist, speaking about the collectives mission to provide alternative commentary to the state-driven narrative which permeates Oaxacan society and silences dissent, often violently.

Today, Espacia Zapata  named after Mexicos revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata  is one of a dozen or so studios/print shops that have arisen in Oaxaca, each owned and operated by independent local collectives of artists.

Together, they represent a renaissance of alternative radical popular political printmaking, and the continuation of a long tradition in Mexico that began before the revolution and gained worldwide renown through artists such as Jose Guadalupe Posada, Leopoldo Mendez and Diego Rivera.

We understand that we are a continuation of a great tradition in Mexico, said Mario, whose art seeks to intervene in public spaces with commentary about issues that affect the disenfranchised.

READ MORE: Police are promoting graffiti in Mexico City

Art as an instrument to support the people

This past year marked the 10th anniversary of ASARO.

One of the ideas that we all had was that art is an instrument to support the struggles of our people by Chapo, artist from the ASARO

The group emerged during the 2006 popular protest, when striking teachers  demanding better education in the impoverished state  were met with state violence, resulting in the deaths of at least 17 people. Oaxacas residents erected barricades and took over luxury hotels, government buildings, and even television and radio stations.

Our families, our neighbours went out to the streets to support their teachers, said Ivan, recalling the protest. During those actions, I went out as just a kid to confront and to defend.

Chapo, another artist from the ASARO collective, echoes the same sense of urgency that first pushed the artists to organise. We were art students and we started painting because people gave us spray paint. Thats how it started, he explained.

One of the ideas that we all had was that art is an instrument to support the struggles of our people. That is the essence. It is an instrument that opens discussion or analysis of problems that are developing in our environment, said Chapo.

ASARO has continued to play a role in changing the appearance of Oaxacas city streets. Their work recycles popular imagery remixed with revolutionary heroes, indigenous symbolism, subcultural rebellion, and depictions of villainous politicians.

To a tourist that walks by and sees our work, they are able to look at the reality of our state that maybe isnt seen within the international media, said Ivan.

ASARO continues to be the artistic wing of the now 10-year battle waged by Oaxacas teachers union against a series of education reforms by the federal government that they argue cement the cultural domination of this historically marginalised region.

READ MORE: Mexico  Mourning those killed during teacher protests

As recently as this summer, Mexican federal police clashed with teachers fighting for indigenous autonomy, killing eight civilians.

We organised a brigade to create wheat-paste [posters] that supported the teachers movement, said Ivan. When they dislodged the teacher sit-in strike, they simultaneously took down all the wheat-pastes in favour of the teachers movement.

For many, the ephemeral nature of street art drives innovation and quality. Its [the prints] life isnt very long if we put it in Oaxacas Centro [downtown] district, said Mario. Thats why it is important to create quality work, so people embrace it before the government comes and takes it down.

Graphic tourism

While ASARO and groups like them have faced constant censorship and erasure, their popularity has continued to rise.

This reality was on display in October, on the northeast corner of Oaxacas tourist and commercial centre, where hundreds of foreigners browsed the art at the third annual Feria Grafica. The event featured dozens of local printmakers and artists  some selling prints for up to $1,000 to tourists and art enthusiasts.

The event, the third of its kind, reflects the growth and evolution of Oaxaca, a city that has become the capital of Mexican printmaking.

In the 80s, it was very difficult due to the shortage of [printing] presses that were available, said Ivan. [But] in 2006, [Oaxaca] became a seedbed of printmaking.

Today, there are more than 10 workshops that, according to Ivan, work together to foster brotherhood and sisterhood amongst our spaces and enrich the print community.

Right now, its a boom, he added.

This growth is rooted in the 2006 protests which, Mario said, opened up alternative spaces.

In the years since, some of the street art has begun to move into the gallery, as a commercial market has emerged.

At first, we used to say I cant make something like this because how am I going to sell it?' said Ivan. We had to break through that and say Im gonna do this because I feel it and its whats happening.

Now theres a market for this kind of work.

READ MORE: Change through art  Latin Americas other revolution

This popularisation of the Oaxacan prints and their movement inside is apparent at art fairs, in galleries and also in the numerous coffee shops, mezcalerias and chic artisanal restaurants that have opened in Oaxaca in recent years. Inside these spaces, owners exhibit the textured woodcut prints infused with indigenous and political symbolism.

The prints are appreciated and sought after for their highly skilled production; techniques handed down from master to apprentice, much like the celebrated Oaxacan culinary tradition.

For the artists, the embrace of the local community has given them hope that their revolutionary art is sustainable, even profitable, allowing them to develop and expand their work.

Yet, regardless of all these changes, their focus remains on the public and the streets.

When ASARO makes pieces, many of them do end up in the gallery where its bought and sold, said Mario. But that art was originally destined to be out in the street, in spaces of public domain.

Generational resistance

When we see that something bad is happening in our community we unite and work together by Ivan Michel, artist

Back at Espacio Zapata, Marios daughter works alongside him. She comes to the studio each day after school. She is a permanent fixture here, said Mario.

For Mario, and many Oaxacans, culture, tradition, and collective memory remain a vital part of identity. And art is seen as something that needs to be both inherited and protected.

When we see that something bad is happening in our community we unite and work together, said Ivan. That gets passed down to our youth. They grow up knowing they have to protect one another.

It also remains a vital source of resistance for the people of Oaxaca who have for centuries fought off domination by outsiders.

Oaxaca artists printing on the instrument to support the struggles of our people. That is the essence, said Mario.
By the time Dawit arrived in Ethiopia aged 29, he had been twice arrested and imprisoned by the Eritrean government. We met Dawit in a refugee camp called Adi Harush in Northern Ethiopia, where he had settled nine months earlier, hoping to build his future in the host country. Despite being a qualified health professional, his hopes were quickly dashed by the limited employment options in Ethiopia. He could not find a way of supporting himself, let alone his ageing parents back in Eritrea.

Ethiopia is a leading country of asylum in the region. Dawit is one of more than 700,000 refugees in the country. Western governments are eager to keep them there and are increasingly using aid to prevent or reduce irregular onward migration.

These days, Dawit dreams of going to Europe where he has Eritrean friends. He has heard that they are allowed to work and study. Having applied for resettlement, he feels disillusioned. Others who applied later than him have been accepted, but his turn has not yet come.

The Resettlement Obsession





Resettlement programmes, which relocate refugees from temporary camps to Western host countries, have a number of objectives. On the one hand, they protect vulnerable refugees, on the other, they can be seen as a measure to prevent irregular migration. Given that it is not possible to apply for asylum before entering a country, resettlement is one of the few legal channels available to Eritreans to get to Western countries. As a virtually cost-free option, it has become the ultimate lottery for many. Yet those who apply end up paying a heavy price in other ways.

The dream of resettlement  known as buufis in the Somali language  is a common state of mind for many refugees in Dadaab camp in Kenya. A psychological condition created by a longing or desire for resettlement that becomes a constant preoccupation, it creates a toxic combination of hope and disillusionment among Somali refugees in Kenya. The state of limbo has been known to cause adverse psychological effects when resettlement hopes are not realised.

The same can be said of Eritrean refugees living in Ethiopia, who dream of leaving through resettlement. While sacrificing other options, such as moving freely and potentially working in urban areas, refugees get stranded indefinitely in camps, waiting for the outcome of their resettlement applications.

OPINION: EU should invest in development, not security in Africa

Resettlement shapes the way people think about their futures, but it also shapes their aspirations. For instance, Negesti, who is 34, arrived with her children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2013. Her husband had left before them, but she has not been able to find him. Now on her own, she is worried about her childrens education and struggles to earn enough to feed them and meet their basic needs in the expensive Ethiopian capital, where refugees have few rights. She has applied for resettlement but without fully understanding the procedure. While waiting without a timeframe, the young mother is left with more questions than answers. Every day she wonders why she has not been called for an interview.

Scarce opportunities

Despite the hopes of many like Negesti, resettlement rates for Eritreans are extremely slim, with some data suggesting that only one in 100 gets accepted. A mere 1 percent of refugees in Ethiopia  the largest refugee hosting nation in Africa  were resettled last year.

When all options, including returns and local integration become intractable, resettlement becomes a de-facto option for unaccompanied minors, youth, single men and women, families and the elderly. by

The United States  which resettles 97 percent of Eritreans according to recent estimates, resettled only 1,783 individuals in 2015. With President Donald Trumps January 27 travel ban, refugees were temporarily barred from entering US soil. Despite Eritreans not being included in the ban, refugee resettlement interviews have been put on hold in the region, including those for refugees of all nationalities in Ethiopia in anticipation of further policy changes.

By offering the possibility of a different future, the hopes of resettlement compels people to stay put for long periods of time. Based on our interviews with single mothers it may also lead women to compromise their wellbeing, for the sake of their childrens futures. We found that many mothers made the choice of resettlement so that their children would not have to grow up in a refugee camp, without rights to employment and further education in Ethiopia.

Women refugees are also aware that migrating to Europe through irregular means often involves extortion and physical and sexual abuse along the way, including detention and torture in transit countries such as Libya. On the other hand, if they remain in Ethiopia, their children will not be able to attend school. Left with little choice, they pin their hopes on being resettled in a safe, third country.

Desperate choices

While aspirations of resettlement can initially prevent irregular migration, the effect dissipates over time. Our research found that as refugees fail to migrate through formal channels, the idea of irregular transit becomes more tolerable, and often the only available means.

While fully realising the risks of crossing the Sahara and Mediterranean, one interviewee, Yacob, reflected on the options available to him: I would have preferred the legal way, but it is becoming difficult. Resettlement is scarce, he explained. Although he plans to persist with the legal routes for the time being, he admitted considering irregular alternatives.

OPINION  UN refugees and migrants summit: All talk, no action

Limited or lack of access to legal migration options can push refugees in Ethiopia into taking irregular options. Our respondents confirmed that people are increasingly opting for clandestine routes to Europe, as they realise they have no viable future in Ethiopia.

People told us that they consider the resettlement process unfair, with specific nationalities and demographics receiving preferential treatment. During our interviews, many complained about alleged corruption in the resettlement allocation process, with some cases being expedited.

They are not fairly distributing the resettlement opportunities so some refugees risk their lives by leaving the camp and going on secondary movement, one of the respondents who wanted to remain unnamed, told us.

The way forward





There are a number of measures that can pave the way for safe and official means of migration for Eritreans, who will probably continue to leave in significant numbers regardless of their statuses and classifications under international asylum laws.

First, policy measures should recognise the diversity of Eritreans living in Ethiopia, who are in need of durable solutions. When all options, including returns and local integration become intractable, resettlement becomes a de-facto option for unaccompanied minors, youth, single men and women, families and the elderly.

Second, legal pathways, like resettlement, should be developed, not restricted. Resettlement programmes serve a vital protection function by offering safe passage. Beyond resettlement, humanitarian visas, study scholarships and special categories for women and children should be expanded.

READ MORE: Rejected by Israel, Eritreans find shelter in Germany

Third, information about resettlement should be made clearer and more accessible. In our research, we found that people are often uncertain about how resettlement works, particularly in relation to timeframes and the rates of acceptance. A more transparent process, and clear information about procedures and applications would allow asylum seekers to make informed decisions, based on realities.

This, in turn, would minimise the mental stress that many like Dawit experience when their lives are suspended in limbo, and they lose the most formative years of their lives, during which they should be building their futures.

Nassim Majidi is the founder and co-director at Samuel Hall, an affiliate researcher at Sciences Pos CERI, and a Research Associate at the African Centre for Migration and Society  University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Jessica Hagen-Zanker is Migration Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute, where she leads the migration research.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
,      :  10     ,    ;     52 
As President Donald Trump proposed budget cuts that will abolish the National Endowment for the Arts  and justly invited comparison with ISIL destroying statues with sledgehammers in Iraqs Mosul Museum  I happened to see three movies while pondering the fate of art in the age of crude capitalism championed by unbridled militarism in the span of one week.

The first of these three films destroyed my faith in a magnificent director that I have loved and admired over the last quarter century, the second restored my hope through a young filmmaker whom I had never known before, and the third gave me a sublime sense of trust in a medium that, for over a century, has consistently reinvented itself.

Zhang Yimous The Great Wall was a calamity of colossal proportion. Barry Jenkins Moonlight was a poetic revelation of astounding poise. Raoul Pecks I Am Not Your Negro radically rethinks the very idea of a documentary film by bringing back to life a book proposal by the towering literary figure James Baldwin that was never actually written.

How does that happen? How is it that a filmmaker of exquisite capabilities like Zhang Yimou can fall so blindingly for a banal creampuff like The Great Wall, while a young filmmaker of very little reputation can produce a beautiful film like Moonlight? The answer is perhaps in the third film that overcomes such questions and points to a way out.

The Great Fall of a Filmmaker

What a horror to walk into a theatre to watch a film by Zhang Yimou and walk out aghast at the commercial calamity that has stricken a once-beautiful mind! The Chinese-Hollywood epic The Great Wall is a banal and boring cocktail party of CGI-infested monstrosities warning of visual gibberish and announcing, evidently, a new period in US-China film production.

'The Great Wall' is a great tragedy: the final fall and collapse of a once exquisitely gifted filmmaker whose early masterpieces I have known and loved and taught chapter and verse for decades. by

Before the film was out, the buzzword was about the patent miscasting of Matt Damon in an Asian film. After you watch the film, you exit the theatre missing the time when such Tarzan, white-rescue, fantasies were the only affliction you had to endure in a film.

The Great Wall is a great tragedy: The final fall and collapse of a once-exquisitely gifted filmmaker whose early masterpieces I have known and loved and taught chapter and verse for decades. This cannot be the man who once made Raise the Red Lantern (1991), or To Live (1994), or The Road Home (1999).

The enormity of the Chinese market for Hollywood productions has now ended up with a film that predictably centers around three European mercenaries venturing into China in search of gunpowder, introducing the bewildered audiences to the legend of the Taotie, locust-like ocean-waves of flesh-eating monsters swarm who scale the Great Wall every 60 years to feed on Hollywoods mind-numbing greed and banality.

William (Matt Damon), Tovar (Pedro Pascal) and Ballard (Willem Dafoe) are the three Europeans cast as the hero, the sidekick, and the required villain, respectively, on a threadbare cliche narrative in which you can see the rotten skeletons of ancient Hollywood history through its state-of-the-art CGI gadgetry.

The politics of the film, deliberate or otherwise, are straight out of Donald Trumps great big wall along the southern US border meeting Benjamin Netanyahus apartheid wall in Palestine.

The sea of monsters come to awash Chinese civilisation in almost uncanny similarity to Trumps delusional characterisation of Mexicans coming to the United States. You even have a scene where the Chinese generals discover tunnels these monsters have dug to attack China, slightly reminiscent of Israels imagined villa in the jungle.

The birth of a filmmaker

As we lose Zhang Yimou to the bottomless abyss of globalised Hollywood, we gain a young filmmaker of exquisite subtlety. Barry Jenkins second feature film Moonlight unfolds like an incredulous dream, from the heart of a heartless nightmare he crafts a work of art of such poetic precision that you sit there and marvel, Where did he come from, how did he do it, what miracle is it when from the depth of an abyss a visionary artist can craft a work of such truth and sublimity?





Moonlight narrates the story of one fragile black boy called Chiron as he grows up in a poor neighbourhood in Miami to become a strong, handsome young man having built a robust muscular fortress of a body around his frightened fragile soul inside.

Moonlight is about growing up poor, black, fragile, and frightened; bewilderedly meandering your way through a wasteland of poverty, drug abuse, violence, and a lonesome souls search for solace. Moonlight is about the caring and competent hand of an artist gently searching in those very debris of debilitating destitution and finding a jewel of aesthetic craftsmanship to behold and marvel.

From the rock-bottom roots of urban destitution Barry Jenkins has made a beautifully self-conscious work of art that has found a passage to itself on the borderline of so many other lost souls.

But Chiron is no abstraction. He is the living indictment of the world that has terrorised him. His survival in Barry Jenkins art is the sublated consciousness of that world, its moral abnegation, aesthetic consolation.

I am not your Negro

Zhang Yimou and Barry Jenkins happen at the two opposite ends of a predatory capitalism that can buy and sell anything: in one, it decidedly destroys a once-visionary artist and, in the other, it enables a young artist to uplift the soul of a broken world to allegorical fragments of truth.

There was once a Barry Jenkins in Zhang Yimou, and for all we know, there might be a Zhang Yimou in the future of Barry Jenkins. What matters is not why or how an artist falls and another rises. But where and whence is the source of that beautifully defiant creative consciousness that sustains our trust that there must be a purpose for poets in a destitute time, as Friedrich Holderlin once put it.

OPINION: Hollywood strikes defiant tone against Trumps America

What distinguishes the lucratively commercialised Zhang Yimou from the promising vision of Barry Jenkins is the steady hand of an artist like Raoul Peck.

The significance of Pecks masterpiece is not in the plentiful of video clips that have reached us from various public occasions in which James Baldwin spoke his exquisitely brilliant mind. Today, all these videos and even more are available in public domain. What matters most is the manner in which Peck has melodiously woven them together and, along with the sonorous voice-over of Samuel Jackson, invested them with a piercing contemporary power and poignancy. He has poured Baldwins beautifully ageing wine in a masterfully crafted new bottle.

In The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1935), Walter Benjamin famously made a distinction between the original and the copy, which in his estimation has lost the aura of the original. What today we witness when we move away from the commercial contours of The Great Wall through the promising balance of Moonlight and come towards the sublimity Raoul Peck has crafted in I Am Not Your Negro is the full gamut of that aura: from the lost and lonesome soul of a capitalist banality to the rediscovery of truth in the age of fake facts, of destroying the ancient and defunding the contemporary arts.

Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
It is highest number of humanitarian workers killed in one incident since South Sudan descended into conflict in 2013.

Six aid workers have been killed in an ambush in famine-hit South Sudan, the United Nations said on Sunday, without specifying what organisation they worked for.

The victims were attacked on Saturday as they travelled from the capital, Juba, to the eastern town of Pibor, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

I am appalled and outraged by the heinous murder of six courageous humanitarians in South Sudan, Eugene Owusu, the UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, said in a statement.

At a time when humanitarian needs have reached unprecedented levels, it is entirely unacceptable that those who are trying to help are being attacked and killed, Owusu added.

READ MORE: South Sudan famine  Eating water lilies to survive

According to OCHA, it was the highest number of humanitarian workers killed in one incident since the start of a civil war more than three years ago.

Saturdays ambush followed two other attacks on aid workers this month, shortly after South Sudan declared famine last month in two counties of Unity state, saying 100,000 people face starvation and another million are on the brink of famine.

After gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, the worlds youngest nation descended into war in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his rival and former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

Tens of thousands have since died and 3.5 million people have been displaced, while a surge in fighting since July has devastated food production in areas that had been stable for farmers.

At least 79 humanitarians have been killed in South Sudan since the conflict began, including at least 12 killed this year, OCHA said.

These attacks against aid workers and aid assets are utterly reprehensible, Owusu said. They not only put the lives of aid workers at risk, they also threaten the lives of thousands of South Sudanese who rely on our assistance for their survival.

Earlier this month, the government announced plans to charge a levy of $10,000 for each foreign aid worker, which along with the danger of abduction could hurt efforts to help the hungry.

On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres accused South Sudans government of ignoring the plight of tens of thousands of people suffering from famine, 7.5 million in need of humanitarian aid and thousands fleeing the fighting.

There is a strong consensus that South Sudanese leaders need to do more to demonstrate their commitment to the wellbeing of the countrys people, who are among the poorest in the world, Guterres said during a UN Security Council briefing.

INTERACTIVE: Mapping six months of hunger in the Horn of Africa





Joseph Moum Malok, South Sudans deputy UN ambassador, said the government takes issue with the accusation, adding that other parts of the country are affected by drought.

He also said the government will spare no efforts to help address the situation and calls upon the international community to help address this urgent matter.

A confidential UN report, which was seen by the AFP and Reuters news agencies earlier this month, found that the famine was largely caused by Jubas military operations.

The bulk of evidence suggests that the famine in Unity state has resulted from protracted conflict and, in particular, the cumulative toll of repeated military operations undertaken by the government in southern Unity beginning in 2014, the report said.

It also said the government is spending its oil revenue on weapons, even as the country descends into a famine.

The government rejected the reports allegations.
Bulgarias centre-right GERB party is projected to win Sundays snap parliamentary election, according to a pair of exit polls.

GERB, led by ex-Prime Minister Boyjo Borisov, won between 32.2 percent and 32.8 percent of the vote, while the Socialists trailed behind with 28 percent to 28.4 percent, exit polls by Alpha Research and Gallup International Balkan (GIB) said.

Borisov said the election result confirmed categorically that GERB should be the leading ruling party, adding that he would make utmost efforts with potential coalition partners to form a government quickly.

Socialist party leader, Kornelia Ninova, conceded defeat late on Sunday, but said the party would look at options for forming a government should the GERB party fail to do so.

If they fail to form a government and we receive a mandate, we will try to form a Bulgarian government to ensure stability in the country, Ninova told reporters.

Three other parties were projected to win at least four percent of the votes and qualify for the parliament: the rightist United Patriots coalition, with 8.8 percent; the Party for Rights and Freedoms of ethnic Turks with 7.7 percent; and newcomers Volya with 4.6 percent.

Official results are expected on Monday. If they confirm the exit polls, Borisov will be handed a mandate to form his third cabinet.

Forming a government after Bulgarias third election in four years will be tough, however, and the resulting coalition may be short-lived, experts say.

Reporting from the countrys capital, Sofia, Al Jazeeras Matea Damjanovic said the latest exit polls suggest six parties will enter into the parliament.

She added that Borisov and his political party, GERB, will have to form a coalition, and probably they will do it with the United Patriots and Volya.

Bounce-back Borisov

A former firefighter and bodyguard, 57-year-old Borisov has been a towering figure in Bulgarian politics in recent years.





He has been premier twice but resigned both times  once in 2013 after nationwide protests against poverty and most recently in November after the loss of GERBs presidential candidate to Rumen Radev, a former air force general backed by the Socialists.

Borisov said he wanted a third mandate to guarantee stability.

I voted for a stable, predictable and united Bulgaria, because tomorrow our nation needs to be united, Borisov said after casting his ballot.

Along with the immigration, the election campaign focused on the future of the European Union, which Bulgaria joined in 2007, and the influence of Russia and Turkey on domestic politics.

The Socialist Party of ex-communists has pledged to improve economic relations with Russia, appealing to voters who feel let down by the EU. Bulgaria is also a member of NATO.

Socialist leader Ninova wants EU sanctions against Russia lifted, seeks a bigger role for the state in the economy and has wooed voters with promises of higher salaries and pensions.

Ninova said she voted on Sunday for security at our borders and inside the country, for justice, and lastly not to give an opportunity to another country, no matter if it comes from East, West or South, to interfere in our politics.

A caretaker cabinet took over in late January, shortly after Radev was inaugurated and in position to dissolve the parliament and schedule the elections.

But analysts have warned that the resulting coalition may not last long.

It seems that some configuration of political parties who support the oligarchic government model will win the elections, political analyst Evgeni Daynov told the AFP news agency.

But because society has already realised how dangerous corruption is, this will inevitably lead to a highly unstable government.
Voting begins in third poll since 2003 amid expectations that it would once again result in a fragmented parliament.

A tight race is predicted in Bulgarias parliamentary election on Sunday as the Socialists, seen as closer to Russia, aim to prevent another comeback by two-times centre-right premier Boyko Borisov.

Opinion polls in the European Unions poorest country, where the average monthly salary is only 500 euros ($540) and corruption is rife, also indicate a strong showing by the nationalist United Patriots, who are tipped to come third.





Forming a government after Bulgarias third election in four years will be tough, and the resulting coalition may be short-lived, experts say.

Left-wing live-wire

Kornelia Ninova, 48, has injected fresh vigour into the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), successor to the Communist Party, since becoming its first female leader last year.

Moscow and Sofia have deep cultural and economic ties and Ninova says she will veto a renewal of EU sanctions on Russia.

A recent cartoon depicted her on a Trojan Horse with Russian President Vladimir Putin inside.

Bulgarias would-be first female prime minister, a former lawyer and business executive, has also criticised the EU, which Bulgaria joined a decade ago.

We are the party that ushered Bulgaria into the European Union and NATO  But we do not want to be a second-class member, Ninova told AFP news agency in a recent interview.

Ninova enjoyed a major success in November when Rumen Radev, a former airforce commander backed by the BSP, was unexpectedly elected president.

Bounce-back Borisov

Burly former firefighter and bodyguard Borisov, 57, head of the centre-right GERB party, has been the towering figure in Bulgarian politics in recent years.

He has been premier twice but resigned both times, once in 2013 after nationwide protests against poverty and most recently in November after the presidential election.

Like most Bulgarians he also has a soft spot for Russia, giving Putin a puppy in 2010 and calling in the campaign for pragmatic ties, but he toes the EU line on sanctions.

And again like many compatriots, he is an enthusiastic European.

Borisov says he wants a third mandate to guarantee stability. But although surveys suggest GERB may come first, analysts say voters may have had enough of him.

Turkish connection

Mustafa Karadaya, 46, heads the centrist Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MDL) representing mostly Bulgarias 700,000-strong Turkish minority, a legacy of centuries of Ottoman rule.

The party, expected to garner between 8 and 11 percent of the vote, has however become critical of Turkey and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

REPORTERS NOTEBOOK: Exile in Diyarbakir

Karadaya says Erdogan has abandoned the values of Ataturk, modern Turkeys founder.

Last year a splinter more pro-Ankara group split off and formed a new party, Dost. Turkey has openly supported it, creating a rift with its neighbour.

Kingmaker patriots

A new nationalist grouping, the United Patriots, has jumped on this spat with Turkey to boost its support, while railing against migrants, Muslims, Roma and gay people.

Krasimir Karakachanov, 51, one of its three leaders, came third in the presidential election, and the United Patriots could repeat the feat on Sunday. It might then act as kingmaker in coalition talks.

Karakachanov doesnt question Bulgarias place in the EU and NATO. But he has called for sanctions on Moscow to be lifted.

Make Bulgaria great again

Another player in coalition discussions might be Veselin Mareshki, 49, a colourful populist who likes being called the Bulgarian Donald Trump, and his party Volya.

Like the US president, Mareshki is a businessman and political novice promising to drain the swamp of Bulgarian politics. He came fourth in the presidential race.

OPINION: Romania, Bulgarians are jealous

To demonstrate his prowess, his chain of petrol stations are currently selling fuel for 15 percent less than its competitors to show that the sector is a cartel.

Unstable government

In the ex-communist nations third election in four years, many voters are turning away from the main parties towards groups on the fringes, or are not bothering to vote.

I will back neither Borisov nor the opposition Socialists. I do not believe them any more, teacher Tsvetomira Tosheva, 47, told AFP news agency in Sofia.

The resulting government may not last long.

It seems that some configuration of political parties who support the oligarchic government model will win the elections, political analyst Evgeni Daynov told AFP.

But because society has already realised how dangerous corruption is, this will inevitably lead to a highly unstable government.
The rescue comes just days after hundreds of people were feared drowned after boat disasters off the Libyan coast.

One woman was found dead while more than 1,000 refugees were rescued off the Libyan coast, aid groups said on Sunday.

Around 400 people were crammed onto a single wooden boat, while others were picked up from huge inflatable dinghies, which had set sail from the coast of Libya, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and SOS Mediterranee.

A young woman was found unconscious on one of the vessels and later died, MSF said.

Busy day in the #Mediterranean. #Prudence just rescued 128 men, women and children from this dinghy. Our boat has now 540 #people onboard. pic.twitter.com/IGwCSAZraJ  MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) March 26, 2017

Two rescue ships found the refugees, just days after 250 migrants and refugees from African countries were reported missing in boat disasters off the Libyan coast.

The weekend rescues mean that about 22,000 mainly African refugees have been picked up heading to Italy so far this year, while around 520 have died trying to make the crossing.

READ MORE: 2016: The year the world stopped caring about refugees

An Italian prosecutor said last week that humanitarian ships operating off Libya were undermining the fight against people smugglers and opening a corridor that is ultimately leading to more deaths.





Non-governmental organisations deny any wrongdoing, saying they are simply looking to save lives.

Despite rough winter seas, refugee departures from Libya on boats chartered by people traffickers have accelerated in recent months from already record levels.

More people died in the Mediterranean over the first nine weeks of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says. From January 1 to March 9 this year, at least 521 people drowned while attempting to cross the rough waters compared to 471 in the same period a year ago.

There were about 5,000 recorded deaths in all of 2016.

Last month, European leaders signed a controversial plan to help stem the flow of African migrants to Europe. As part of the deal, the European Union will give $215m to Libyas fragile government to step up efforts to stop boats in the countrys territorial waters.

READ MORE: EU roadmap for Libya to stem flow of sea migrants

The EU will also provide support for the setting up of safe camps in Libya and the voluntary repatriation of refugees willing to return to their countries of origin.

The plan has been criticised by several aid groups, however, that say leaders have abandoned humanitarian values and misrepresented conditions in Libya, where the UN-backed government of Fayez Serraj has only shaky and partial hold on the country.
Hamas closes northern Gaza crossing until further notice, as it reflects on Mazen Faqhas killing, blamed on Israel.

Hamas authorities have shut the Gaza border with Israel after the killing of a senior commander, which Hamas blamed on Israel and its collaborators.

The rare measure reflected Hamas shock after the killing of Mazen Faqha , who was found shot dead at the entrance of his Gaza City home late on Friday.

Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Iyad al-Bozum on Sunday announced (Arabic) that the Beit Hanoun checkpoint, which faces the Israeli crossing of Erez in the north of the Gaza Strip, would be closed until further notice.

In light of the humanitarian situation, only the residents of Gaza with humanitarian cases will be allowed to return to Gaza via the Beit Hanoun checkpoint, Bozum said.

Hamas foreign ministry clarified in a press release on Monday that it would allow the families of prisoners, people seeking medical care, women, and all males under the age of 15 and over the age of 45 to exit Gaza through the Beit Hanoun checkpoint.

Hamas security services are investigating the circumstances of Faqhas killing.

Bozum called on Gazas citizens and media to be responsible in dealing with the event and not to circulate rumours about the incident.

IN PICTURES: Thousands attend Gaza funeral of slain Hamas official

Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas official, told Al Jazeera that Hamas will not announce how it plans to respond to the assassination, but the blood of our people will not go in vain, especially in a crime this big.

On whether the group plans to respond militarily, al-Zahar said, This is a security issue that we cannot disclose. But for sure, the Israeli entity will be punished and deterred.

Hamas, the group that rules Gaza, said Faqha was shot four times in the head with a silenced gun. The group said that Israel and its collaborators were responsible for the killing.

No one would benefit from this crime except the Zionist enemy and not to mention, the Zionist enemy announced in all of its media that the leader, Mazen Faqha, is on the top of the wanted list, senior Hamas official Salah al-Bardawil told Al Jazeera.

The Palestinian resistance has its methods and the capacity to respond, al-Bardawil said.

The punishment will be of the same nature as the attack. The matter is now in the resistance movements hands, he added.

READ MORE: Hamas blames Israel after Mazen Faqha assassination

Faqha, 38, was a senior Hamas official in the Israeli-occupied West Bank when he was jailed by Israel in 2003 for planning attacks against Israelis.

He was sentenced to nine life terms but was released into the Gaza Strip as one of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners that Israel let go in exchange for soldier Gilad Shalit.

Shalit was held in the coastal enclave after being seized in a cross-border raid in 2006.

An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the assassination in the Hamas-run Palestinian coastal enclave, which has been under Israeli blockade since 2006.

The Islamic Jihad movement said Faqhas assassination marked the beginning of a new offensive by Israel against the Palestinian resistance, and that the resistance had the right to respond and defend itself.

With additional reporting by Hosam Salem from Gaza .
Sanctions target 15 American companies, which Tehran alleges are supporting atrocities by Israel in Palestinian lands.

Iran has announced sanctions against 15 US companies, alleging they support terrorism, repression and Israels occupation of Palestine, in retaliation for measures earlier announced by Washington.

A foreign ministry statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency on Sunday said the sanctions barred companies from any agreements with Iranian firms, and that former and current directors would not be eligible for visas into Iran.

It also said any of the companys assets in Iran could be seized.

The sanctioned companies have, directly and/or indirectly, been involved in the brutal atrocities committed by the Zionist regime in the occupied Palestinian territories, or they have supported the regimes terrorist activities and Israels development of Zionist settlements on the Palestinian soil, the IRNA report said.

READ MORE: Is Trump leading the US on a warpath with Iran?

The report referred to the sanctions as a reciprocal act, without elaborating.

Irans new sanctions come after US President Donald Trumps administration in February sanctioned more than two dozen people and companies in retaliation for a recent ballistic missile test.

The wide-ranging list from an American real estate company to a major arms manufacturer appeared more symbolic than anything else, as the firms were not immediately known to be doing business anywhere in the Islamic Republic.

The companies named did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday.

Among the companies targeted are ITT Corp, missile-maker Raytheon and truck maker Oshkosh, which has worked closely with Israeli armoured-products maker, Plasan.

The Israeli defence ministry is reportedly seeking to buy some 200 tactical trucks from the Wisconsin-based company.

Kahr Arms and Magnum Research, two sanctioned firms which share the same parent company, advertise .44-calibre Magnum and .50-calibre Desert Eagle pistols  a product line that previously has been made in Israel.

Tensions have been brewing between Tehran and Washington since Trump took office in January.

On Sunday, a senior Iranian politician was reported as saying that Iran would consider a bill branding the US military and the CIA terrorist groups if the US Congress passes a bill designating Irans Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organisation.





Allaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of parliaments national security and foreign policy committee, was quoted by Iranian state television as saying the move to further sanction the Revolutionary Guard goes against the 2015 nuclear deal Iran reached with the US and other world powers.

The agreement saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some economic sanctions.

In the time since, Chicago-based Boeing has struck a $16.6bn deal with Iran for passenger planes.

Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since 1979, when students stormed the US embassy and took 52 Americans hostages for 444 days.
The coordinated protests called by opposition leader Alexei Navalny are some of the largest in Russia since 2011-12.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and dozens of others have been arrested as thousands of people across Russia defied bans on rallies to protest against government corruption.

The demonstrations on Sunday were organised by Navalny, a Kremlin critic and anti-corruption campaigner, who urged people to take to the streets to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Dont try to fight for me, Navalny wrote on Twitter after police in Moscow put him in a minibus, urging people to stay with the rally. Our issue today is the fight against corruption.





Navalny called for the protests after publishing a detailed report this month accusing Medvedev of controlling a property empire through a shadowy network of non-profit organisations.

Medvedev, who has so far made no comments on the claims, is accused of amassing a private collection of mansions, yachts and vineyards. As the alleged luxuries include a house for raising ducks, many of the placards in the protests showed mocking images of yellow toy ducks.

The protests, which attracted crowds of hundreds or thousands in most sizeable Russian cities, were the largest coordinated outpourings of dissatisfaction in Russia since mass protests in 2011-2012.

Navalnys website had previously said that more than 80 towns and cities across Russia would hold protests on Sunday and that authorities had not sanctioned the majority of the rallies.

Al Jazeeras Rory Challands, reporting from Moscow, said the big story of the day was the number of demonstrations taking place across Russia.

That is rare, he said. This suggest that Alexei Navalnys anti-corruption message is really resonating at the moment in Russia, in a way that more generalised anti-government messages dont.

When people feel like the politicians above them are cheating them, that it seems is when Russians get angry and stand up and do something.

Russian authorities had warned Navalnys supporters on Friday not to attend the rally because the event had not been sanctioned by the city administration.

The Russian constitution allows public gatherings but recent laws have criminalised protests not authorised by city authorities, who frequently refuse to grant permission for rallies by Kremlin critics.

OPINION: Russias soft warfare

In the far eastern city of Vladivostok, a Reuters news agency reporter saw the arrest of at least 30 protesters at an unsanctioned rally drawing hundreds of young people to a square near the citys railway station.

The arrests started after protesters unfurled banners reading Corruption steals our future and The prime minister should answer.

The protesters then marched to a police station to demand that those arrested be freed.

Hundreds also rallied in the city of Yekaterinburg in the industrial Urals region.

Witnesses said at least four people holding banners were arrested on the citys Labour Square, where opposition protesters, nationalists and supporters of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party gathered.

Police said 500 to 700 people had gathered on Labour Square but did not confirm that there had been any detentions.

Corruption affects every person. The fight against corruption can unite all people irrespective of their convictions, 20-year-old student Ivan told Reuters, asking that his last name not be published.

OPINION: Under surveillance in Russia

Some demonstrators have protested with their faces painted green, a reference to a recent attack on Navalny when an assailant threw a green anti-septic liquid in his face.

In February, a Russian court found Navalny guilty in a retrial of a 2013 fraud case, which barred him from running for president next year.

Judge Alexei Vtyurin handed down a five-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of about $8,500 to Navalny for embezzling timber worth about $500,000.

Navalny, 40, pledged to appeal against the politically motivated ruling and continue with his plans of challenging President Vladimir Putin in the forthcoming presidential elections, even though the Russian law bars anyone convicted of a crime from running for a public office for 10 years.
Electoral Committee begins vote counting in deeply divided city, with some fearful of China curtailing its freedoms.

A mainly pro-China committee has begun vote counting in an election for a new leader of Hong Kong to take the helm of the deeply divided city, which is fearful Beijing is curtailing its freedoms.

It is the first leadership vote since mass Umbrella Movement  rallies calling for fully free elections in 2014 failed to win reform and comes after a turbulent term under current chief executive Leung Chun-ying.

Leung is seen by opponents as a Beijing puppet and will step down in July after five years in charge.

Hong Kong is semi-autonomous and has been governed under a one country, two systems deal since it was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.

OPINION: Hong Kongs election  A vote without voters

But, 20 years on, there are serious concerns Beijing is disregarding the handover agreement designed to protect Hong Kongs way of life.

Activists call the vote a sham as around three quarters of committee members are from the pro-mainland camp.

Al Jazeeras Adrian Brown, reporting from Hong Kong, explained that the election committee counted about 1,194 members that represent a cross-section of business and interest groups in the city.

It is important to remember that these committee members are overwhelmingly susceptible to Beijings way of thinking, he said.

And in this election, China has made it very clear who it wants to win. The people will not have a say in these elections, it is the committee who have been voting in secret.

Frustration at what they see as Chinas increasing influence and a lack of promised political reform has sparked calls for self-determination for Hong Kong, or even a complete split from China.

Carrie Lam frontrunner

Sundays election is forecast to usher in another divisive leader  Leungs former deputy Carrie Lam.

Lam is widely seen as Beijings favourite for the job and would become Hong Kongs first ever woman chief executive.

She is intensely disliked by the pro-democracy camp after promoting the Beijing-backed reform package that sparked 2014s massive protests.

If she wins, this is the beginning of a long and an uphill battle, Andrew Leung, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera.

Weve got two big issues there; one issue is that there was a huge rift between the establishment and the pan democrats who feel that they are disenfranchised. They dont have a role in governance, so politically they need to push the envelope further and futher.

The second thing, of course, is the society. There are those young people who dont see any hope for their future, so Carrie Lam needs to express their aspirations, aspirations of the anti-Beijing and anti-establishment camp, Leung said.

That plan said the public could choose the city leader in 2017, but insisted candidates must be vetted first.

It was eventually voted down in parliament by pro-democracy politicians and reforms have been shelved ever since.

As the election got under way on Sunday, hundreds of protesters, including leading pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, gathered near the harbour-front voting venue.

WATCH: Hong Kongs Localist Revolutionaries

They chanted: Oppose central authority appointment, we choose our own government!

Protesters were held back by police as some tried to push through barriers.

Nearby, pro-China supporters played marching music surrounded by national and city flags.

Rebel legislator Nathan Law, who as a member of Hong Kongs Legislative Council has an automatic vote, said he would enter a blank ballot.

It is still a selection from the Beijing government, Law told AFP news agency.
Fencing starts along Pakistans disputed border with Afghanistan in bid to stop fighters movement.

Pakistans military has begun fencing parts of its disputed northwestern border with Afghanistan to curb the movement of Pakistani Taliban fighters it says are based on Afghan soil, according to a statement.

Fencing started in the Pakistani Bajaur and Mohmand districts, which border the eastern Afghan provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar, Pakistans Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa announced on Saturday.

Pakistan shares a mountainous and largely unpatrolled 2,500km-long border with Afghanistan, which the latter disputes. Previous attempts to fence or formally demarcate the border have met with resistance from Kabul.

READ MORE: Clashes on Pakistan-Afghanistan border kill 15

In June, at least four people were killed when Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged artillery fire over Pakistan building a formal border control complex at Torkham, the main border crossing between the two countries.

The clash marked a continuing souring of relations between the South Asian neighbours.

Pakistan sealed all border crossings with Afghanistan in mid-February, during a wave of attacks on Pakistani soil that killed at least 130 people.

Those attacks were followed by frequent skirmishes between Pakistani Taliban fighters and Pakistans military along the border in the Mohmand, Khyber and other districts.

In the latest such violence, on March 17, at least eight people, including two soldiers, were killed in a Pakistani Taliban attack on Pakistani border posts from the Afghan side of the border.

The border closure remained in place for more than a month, leaving thousands of visitors and tons of perishable goods stranded on either side of the border.

On March 20, Pakistans Prime Minister ordered the reopening of the border for all traffic on humanitarian grounds.

Addressing troops deployed on the border in Mohmand and Orakzai districts on Saturday, Bajwa said technical surveillance means are also being deployed along the border besides regular air surveillance, a Pakistani military statement said.

READ MORE: ISIL expands in Afghan-Pakistan areas, widening attacks

Bajwa said that Pakistan was working with Afghanistan to develop a bilateral border security mechanism.

A better managed, secure and peaceful border is in mutual interest of both brotherly countries who have given phenomenal sacrifices in war against terrorism, he said.

The Pakistan-Afghanistan border has been at the centre of accusations hurled by both governments against each other.

Pakistan and Afghanistan accuse each other of sheltering elements of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban respectively.

Both sides deny the charges, although major leaders from both groups have been killed on the others soil in the past.

Pakistans military is now building more than 420 small forts along the border, and deploying radar sensors to detect cross-border movement, Pakistans Dawn newspaper on Sunday.

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeeras Web Correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim
The historic Route 72 bridge over Stouts Creek in Iron County will soon be replaced with a newer, more stable structure and residents were invited to a public meeting held by the Missouri Department of Transportation last week in the Arcadia Valley Middle School / High School cafeteria in Ironton to learn about the options under consideration.

Approximately 50 people showed up to discuss the proposed improvements to the bridge with members of the project team, including Project Manager Jason Williams, Area Engineer Brian Okenfuss and Transportation Project Designer Jeff Wachter.

"The project includes replacing the bridge over Stouts Creek, located east of Arcadia," Williams said. "Three alternatives are being considered, two of which include constructing the bridge in a different location  either to the north or south of the existing structure. The other includes replacing the bridge at its existing location, which would result in a road closure during construction."

According to Williams, the project is expected to be awarded in 2018, with construction beginning sometime that summer.

While the old bridge is a quaint reminder of an earlier time when a Model T was the preferred mode of transportation, there's quite a bit of history there that most travelers from Fredericktown to the Arcadia Valley would never have reason to be aware of.

Built in 1928, the Stouts Creek Bridge is a 122-foot-long single span, open-spandrel concrete arch bridge with a 20-foot-wide deck.

"It was constructed by the Republic Concrete Construction Company as part of the construction of what was then Route 70, but is now Route 72, between Ironton and Fredericktown," Williams said. "The bridge is significant both for its engineering and for transportation. It was designed to fit aesthetically into the landscape with a span that gracefully spanned the Shut-Ins of Stouts Creek.

"The granite walls along Route 72 were constructed between the years of 1929 and 1930, following the opening of the highway. The project used local materials and expertise to build the stone walls at Stouts Creek and along Lake Killarney, providing attractive barriers to the traffic of the day. The walls are significant for their association in community planning and development and transportation. Local boosters saw the development of the highway as a great economic opportunity and the stone walls enhanced the natural beauty of the drive."

Williams explained that an historical upper road and lower road were identified in the project area that in some places includes a dry-stacked stone retaining wall, or revetment.

"MoDOT research indicates that the upper road is a segment of the early Fredericktown Road that was used from the mid-1810s through the 1850s," he said. "The upper road served the Tong-Ashebran furnace which operated along Stouts Creek. The Hildebrand Detachment of Cherokees passed through the Stouts Creek area in February 1839 on the Trail of Tears journey. They camped beside Knob Creek, northeast of Shepherd Mountain, and are reported to have traveled along the Fredericktown Road.

"The lower road has a rhyolite revetment and a gravel roadbed that may have developed starting in the 1830s. The state road from Jackson to Massie's Iron Works  Fredericktown to Caledonia State Road by way of Iron Mountain  was authorized by the Missouri Legislature in 1839, presumably along the route of a preexisting road through Stout's Creek Shut-In."

Williams added that it is likely the roadway was a part of the Hildebrand route of the Trail of Tears, and noted that the lower road was also important for troop movement during the Civil War.

"In October 1861, the Illinois 38th Infantry Volunteers, 21st Illinois, 350 men of the 1st Indiana Cavalry and Schofield's Artillery used the road traveling to and from the Battle of Fredericktown," he said. "Then, in April 1863, the 3rd Missouri Cavalry followed the road to Fredericktown and then to Jackson where they skirmished with Gen. John S. Marmaduke's confederate troops. Two months later, 5,300 members of the Union cavalry camped in the Arcadia Valley  some along the Fredericktown Road near the shut-in, including the 25th Ohio Light Artillery.

"They would follow the Fredericktown-Jackson Road toward Bloomfield and Chalk Bluff to counter Gen. Sterling Price's 1863 raid. Finally, from Sept. 26-28, 1864, Gen. Price used the road to reach the Battle of Ft. Davidson in Pilot Knob, which included a skirmish at the Shut-In Gap between Selmon's Arkansas Cavalry and the Missouri 47th Infantry and 3rd State Militia Cavalry."

Despite the historical significance of the bridge and its surroundings, the sad truth is that time marches on and the almost 90-year-old bridge is growing feeble in its old age. Iron County Presiding Commissioner Jim Scaggs admitted the time has arrived when something must be done.

"The main thing is that the bridge is looking bad," he said. "It's deteriorated to the point where the concrete deck is in bad shape and the abutments are in bad shape. I mean it's still safe, but we have a lot of truck traffic over that road and the bridge needs to be replaced bad. My take on the alternate routes that they proposed at the meeting is that alternate A is probably the most suitable of the three.

"Alternate B  closing the road for a construction season that normally lasts nine months ... well, we just can't handle that. We couldn't get emergency vehicles through there or pick up school kids. It presents a whole host of issues that would really be hard on us. So, I'll be writing letters on behalf of the commission  along with adding some residents' comments as well  supporting the Alternate A route. That means they'll build a bypass and leave the old bridge open during the construction period."

Asked if there has been any thought given to what will be done with the old bridge once the new one has been put in place, Scaggs said, "I know the Stouts Creek Bridge is on the list of historical bridges and they've actually advertised that if anybody wants it, they can come get it. There's not been any takers on that. I don't know if they will destroy it or leave it there as a historical structure, or not. I don't know what they're planning."

Some historians are hoping that the old Stouts Creek Bridge can be saved and used by future generations as a scenic overlook of the shut-ins. James Baughn of bridgehunter.com said, "If this could be pulled off, it would be a triple crown for visitors  pioneer history, Civil War history and a historic bridge."
Moroccos new Prime Minister Saad Eddine el-Othmani has succeeded in building a governing coalition, ending a five-month political deadlock after only eight days in office.

El-Othmani, 61, of the Islamist Party for Justice and Development, or PJD, announced in a press conference in Rabat on Saturday that an agreement has been reached with six political parties to form a coalition government.

We will proceed step by step, Othmani told AP news agency after the announcement.





Now that we have defined the members of the government coalition, three steps remain: defining the flowchart and structure of government, then the ministerial portfolios, and then the ministerial departments that each party in the coalition will manage.

The coalition includes pro-market, conservative and socialist parties.

The Islamist PJD won parliamentary elections in October but did not win enough seats to govern alone. Under Moroccos election law no party can win an outright majority in parliament, making coalition governments a necessity.

Abdelilah Benkirane  Othmanis predecessor  failed to build a coalition and alienated potential partners. The protracted crisis was hurting the economy and Moroccos image, and the king fired Benkirane this month in an unusual intervention.

El-Othmani was appointed prime minister on March 17.

READ MORE: Moroccos February 20 movement: Demands still alive

The new six-party coalition includes the PJD, pro-market parties RNI and UC, conservative MP party and the socialist parties USFP and PPS. Together they hold 240 seats in the 395-seat House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament.

The cabinets ministers are chosen by the prime minister, after consultation with other parties forming the government coalition, then appointed by the king.
Two-year war has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis have rallied in the capital, Sanaa, to mark the second anniversary of a war between a Saudi-led military coalition and rebels who had overthrown the government.

The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people and pushed the impoverished country to the brink of famine , according to the United Nations.

The gathering on Sunday, which was organised by Houthi rebels, was the biggest event since an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia entered the conflict in March 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognised government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.

Witnesses said that a crowd estimated at more than 100,000 people comprising supporters of the Houthis and former President Ali Abdullah Salehs General Peoples Congress (GPC) party pressed into Sabeen Square in central Sanaa.

IN PHOTOS: In Yemen, no one knows when he is going to die

Many waved the red, white and black national colours and chanted against an air campaign targeting the rebels.

Saleh al-Samad, chairman of a governing ruling council that comprises members of the Houthis and Salehs GPC, told the crowds that the battle is still fierce and the war will not end without a victory for the truth and justice.

Ex-president Saleh, who had rarely been seen in public since he was forced to step down following months of protests in 2011 against his 30 years in office, made a brief appearance to cheers from supporters as the crowd began to disperse.

Hadi was removed after Houthi forces took control of Sanaa in September 2014.

His forces have regained territory since the intervention began, but the rebels still control Sanaa and ports on the southern coast.

The UN estimates that more than 10,000 people, including nearly 5,000 civilians, have been killed in the fighting, and some 40,000 people have been wounded.

The war has also left the country on the brink of a famine, with millions of people displaced, and an estimated seven million people going hungry , according to a UN report.





In Sanaa, Emma OLeary of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Al Jazeera that the needs of the civilians are enormous and difficult to describe.

We are doing our best to respond to the crisis, but the reality is that this is an extremely difficult environment for all of us, OLeary said.

Security issues, such as the air strikes and the ground fighting, as well as bureaucratic constraints are a real concern, and that the warring parties must return to the negotiating table, she said.

Several rounds of UN-mediated peace talks in Switzerland and in Kuwait have failed to produce an agreement.

The Houthis and the GPC are demanding an agreement on a new administration comprising all parties to run the country until new elections, while Hadi supporters say that the Houthis must hand over their weapons and quit the cities they have seized since 2014.

Baraa Shiban, Yemen project coordinator for the UK-based human rights group Reprieve, said the conflict showed no signs of ending.

We have a situation where the Yemeni government has managed to gain some territory  but that doesnt mean were in any way or form close to the end of the conflict, he told Al Jazeera.

Were looking maybe at a situation of stalemate, where actually no one is able to totally defeat one another  it looks like the humanitarian situation will only deteriorate even further and we have a peace process that is collapsing day by day.
Minister Amber Rudd calls messaging encryption unacceptable, says security services must have access to that content.

The British government has said its security services must have access to encrypted messaging applications such as WhatsApp to prevent violent crimes.

UK media reports have suggested that the man behind an attack in London last week sent an encrypted WhatsApp message moments before killing four people by ploughing his car into pedestrians and fatally stabbing a policeman.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said on Sunday it was completely unacceptable that police and security services had not been able to crack the heavily encrypted service.

You cant have a situation where you have terrorists talking to each other  where this terrorist sent a WhatsApp message  and it cant be accessed, she told SkyNews.

READ MORE: Seeking solace in wake of the Westminster attack

Police said on Saturday that they still do not know why the suspect, 52-year-old Khalid Masood  had carried out the attack in central London, adding it was likely that he had acted alone, despite a claim by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

In a separate interview with the BBC, Rudd said end-to-end encryption was vital to cybersecurity to ensure that business, banking and other transactions were safe  but insisted it must also be accessible.

Its not incompatible. You can have a system whereby they can build it so that we can have access to it when it is absolutely necessary.

Rudd said she did not yet intend to force the industrys hand with new legislation, but would meet key players on Thursday to discuss this issue.

Al Jazeeras technology correspondent, Tarek Bazley, said he expects tech companies to resist efforts by governments around the world to look into the communications of private individuals.

I do not think they will receive it at all well, he said.

The push in recent years has been towards privacy and security. For these tech companies to change their position on the basis of a single British politician and her view, after a single event like this we have seen in London, I think that is unlikely.

What Rudd is proposing, a backdoor way of accessing messages that could be administered through a court order, would be open to abuse and potential hackers, Bazley said.

And that would make a mockery of the whole notion of security.

Brian Paddick, a home affairs spokesman for the opposition Liberal Democrats and former deputy assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police, said the security services could view the content of suspected terrorists encrypted messages.

The real question is, could lives have been saved in London last week if end-to-end encryption had been banned? All the evidence suggests that the answer is no.

There may be difficulties in taking on technology companies such as Facebook-owned WhatsApp.





According to technology magazine Wired, end-to-end encryption means messages can only be decoded by the sender and recipient and not by anyone in between, including the company providing the service.

In the United States, where WhatsApp is based, officials have been trying to make US technology firms provide a way around encryption, talks that have intensified since a mass shooting in San Bernardino in December of 2015.

Last year, US authorities also fought a legal battle with tech giant Apple to get it to unlock a smartphone used by the perpetrator of San Bernardino attack.

The FBIs own experts ended up breaking into the device.
Anti-ISIL push resumes after brief pause following reports of a large number of civilian deaths by coalition air raids.

The Iraqi army on Sunday resumed operations against ISIL in Mosul after a one-day pause, amid growing concerns over an escalating civilian death toll as fierce fighting spreads to the citys most densely populated areas.

The offensive was briefly put on hold after local officials and residents in west Mosul said suspected US-led coalition air raids last week had killed scores of civilians at the ISIL-held al-Jadida district.





Security forces on Saturday did not permit journalists to get to where the strikes were said to have taken place, but the coalition admitted that it had struck the area on March 17, and said it was investigating the reports of civilian deaths.

Details about what exactly happened on March 17 are difficult to confirm as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters to recapture the heavily populated parts of the western half of Mosul, the armed groups last stronghold in Iraq.

Witnesses and local officials said that more than 200 bodies were pulled from a collapsed building after a coalition air raid.

But in a statement on Sunday, the Iraqi army said there was no sign that the destroyed structure had been hit by a strike  blaming its collapse on booby traps set by ISIL instead.

A team of military experts from field commanders checked the building where the media reported that the house was completely destroyed. All walls were booby-trapped and there is no hole that indicates an air strike, it said, adding that 61 bodies were recovered from the rubble.

READ MORE: Grief and questions amid wreckage of Mosul air strikes

Al Jazeeras Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from a hospital in Erbil, northern Iraq, spoke to people who confirmed that they had lost family members in the air raids of March 17.

Weve been speaking to some of the patients and certainly the words air strikes come up a lot in the conversation, she said, referring to a man who said 22 of his relatives had been killed in an air raid, while he had to spend several days under the rubble before being rescued.

When you ask them what happened  people here say the main problem is that you have ISIL fighters who are roaming around, going in and out of houses, on top of rooftops to take positions and then disappearing.

So apparently many of the air strikes, according to the people we spoke here, hit the wrong target  simply by the time the air strike arrives and is called in, the ISIL fighters have disappeared.





Brutal fighting

The US-backed offensive to drive ISIL out of Mosul, now in its sixth month, has recaptured most of the city.

The Iraqi government announced that eastern Mosul had been recaptured from ISIL in January, but residents still report almost daily fighting in some areas.

Iraqi security and medical sources on Sunday said a t least 16 civilians, including two children, were killed by ISIL shelling in a popular marketplace in eastern Mosul.

Another 43 civilians were wounded in the attack, according to the sources.

In western Mosul, the Iraqi armys advances have stuttered in the past two weeks as fighting enters the narrow alleys of the Old City, home to the al-Nuri Mosque where ISIL groups leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate spanning large areas of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Iraqi forces on Sunday deployed snipers to target ISIL fighters who were using civilians as human shields, Joint Operations Command spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Rasool told the AFP news agency.

The military was relying on light and medium weapons, among them sniper [rifles], to hunt for Daesh [ISIL] members located among civilians, he said.

READ MORE: Battle for Mosul  Civilians at grave risk

Rasool accused ISIL of gathering civilians together and then blowing up explosives-rigged vehicles nearby to make it look like Iraqi forces  are targeting innocent civilians.

However, Iraqi forces have also frequently fired mortar rounds and unguided rockets during the battle for west Mosul  weapons that pose a much greater risk to residents of areas where fighting is taking place.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians are still inside the Old City and are exposed to the intense fighting.

Patients here say there is nowhere safe in western Mosul for civilians, Al Jazeeras Abdel-Hamid, reporting from the hospital in Erbil, said.

They say the fight in western Mosul is not the same as the fight that happened in the east part of the city. They say its much more brutal, with many more air strikes and much more shelling.

According to Iraqi authorities, more than 200,000 people have fled west Mosul since the operation to retake the area was launched on February 19.

But the United Nations has said that about 600,000 are still present inside the city.

Caroline Gluck, a senior public information officer in Iraq with the UNs refugee agency, said the situation is deteriorating daily.

The fighting is coming closer to peoples homes. Its a very densely packed area, particularly in the Old City, so families have been terrified by the mortars, the shelling and the air strikes, she told Al Jazeera from Baghdad.

Gluck said a major factor in many residents very difficult decision to flee is growing hunger.

Families have told us they rely on one meal a day  and that meal is really just water and flour. People are getting desperate; there is no fuel, no heating, and they are burning furniture and old rugs to try and stay warm.
Controversial article previously allowed rapists to avoid charges if they married their victims.

Moroccos parliament has unanimously amended an article in the penal code that allowed a rapist to escape prosecution if he married his underage victim.

The amendment to Article 475 of the penal code, first proposed by the countrys Islamist-led government a year ago, was amended by lawmakers on Wednesday, parliamentary sources said.

The article in question made international headlines in March 2012 when Amina al-Filali, 16, was forced to marry a man who had allegedly raped her.

After seven months of marriage to the 23-year-old man, she committed suicide in 2012. Her parents and a judge had forced the marriage to protect the family honour.

The incident sparked calls for the law to be changed. The traditional practise of forced marriage can be found across the Middle East and in countries such as India and Afghanistan, where the loss of a womans virginity out of wedlock puts a stain on a familys honour.

Its not enough

Right activists hailed the amendment, while stressing that much more remained to be done to promote gender equality, outlaw child marriage and protect women from violence in the North African country.

Its a very important step. But its not enough. We are campaigning for a complete overhaul of the penal code for women, Fatima Maghnaoui, who heads a group supporting women victims of violence, told the AFP news agency.

Global advocacy group Avaaz said it had handed a petition signed by more than a million people to Moroccos parliament demanding that the government adopt promised legislation to combat violence against women.

Amnesty International said Wednesdays amendment was a step in the right direction but long overdue, and urged a comprehensive strategy to protect women and girls from violence in Morocco.

It is true that this is just a detail compared to all of our demands but it had to be done. by Nezha Aloui, Union for Feminist Work

It took 16-year-old Amina Filalis suicide and nearly two years for the parliament to close the loophole that allowed rapists to avoid accountability, said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, the rights groups deputy regional director.

Its time to have laws that protect survivors of sexual abuse, she added.

While the marriage age is officially 18 in Morocco, judges routinely approve much younger unions in the country.

Activists have called for a complete revamping of the countrys laws dealing with rape. However, in the case to the amendment of the existing article, only the language that stated the allowing of rapists to marry their victims to escape prosecution was deleted.

It is true that this is just a detail compared to all of our demands but it had to be done, said Nezha Aloui, of the Union for Feminist Work. I salute the mobilisation and maturity parliament showed by voting unanimously.

As in numerous other Arab countries, sexual harassment of women is commonplace in Morocco, despite the adoption of a new constitution in 2011 that enshrines gender equality and urges the state to promote it.

An official study published last month said nearly nine percent of Moroccan women have been physically subjected to sexual violence at least once.

More than 50 percent of violence against women is thought to take place within marriage, and marital rape is not recognised as a crime.

A bill proposed by the Moroccan government, threatening prison sentences of up to 25 years for perpetrators of violence against women, is still in the drafting stage.
Shakespeares play Othello showcases the most vile character in all of drama -- a man often referred to as honest Iago. He is especially horrifying because he is charming, efficient, and intelligent, but mostly because he often breaks the fourth wall, looks the audience right in the eye, and tells us what his next diabolical move will be. Were in on it whether we want to be or not. He creates chaos just because he can and we are powerless to stop him. Watching the news these days feels much like watching Othello.

We listen to the "news" (a word of increasingly unclear meaning), most of which deals with riots and robberies, murder and mayhem, barbarism, and skullduggery at even the highest levels of government. Change -- technological, social, and financial -- is happening at lightning speed, but we have to be careful how we talk about it because the word-police are listening, and our most valuable words have been drained of their semantic weight and locked away in a closet. Of what use is "hate," or "woman," or "Nazi"?

Were beginning to realize that our most important institutions -- our schools and our churches -- are closing minds rather than opening them, that our medical system is itself on life support, that our children have nothing to rely on other than the government that has done this to them, or the drugs being smuggled across our unattended borders. Our culture is disintegrating before our eyes.

China, North Korea, and Russia (Can I talk about that country without risking being wiretapped?) to say nothing of the entire Muslim world are all gearing up for a major fight and were not ready. Muslim "refugees" (another word thats taken a beating) have successfully invaded much of Europe and half of this country wants them to do the same here. Is it not the epitome of chaos to desire that ones own country be invaded?

Crime, which used to be fueled by need as much as by greed, has become senseless and random. Logic has taken a back seat to untrammeled emotion. Common sense is dead, but I neednt say more -- were all painfully aware of the chasm opening beneath out feet and we feel as powerless to stop it, as we do Iago.

But dont all things work together for good? (Romans 8:28) Yes, they do -- for those who love God. Isnt it true that underneath are the everlasting arms? (Deuteronomy 33:27) It is true. Gods order is evident everywhere. It is the backdrop for the chaos. Nothing is happening randomly. Nothing is out of His control. Nothing occurs that He didnt foreknow. Lets look at the evidence:

First, we must look to nature. The more we learn about it -- the more we see the order of God, the less random things appear. Back in the 19th century people like Darwin could get away with ideas based on random mutation in simple cells and dog-eat-dog survival of the fittest, but now we know that the smallest of mechanisms bears the traits of super-engineering, not of haphazard happenstance. The famous flagellum motor of single-celled organisms, the human eye, hummingbird tongues are so intricate that it is more likely that a toddler could dump out the letters of a Scrabble game and spell macroevolution than it is that these amazing mechanisms happened on their own.

Not only is nature too complicated to be a willy-nilly arrangement, but its too mathematical for that. Look at Fibonacci sequences, which appear throughout nature, both in 3-dimensional space, and in the 4th dimension as well. The Fibonacci sequence 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144 (each succeeding number being the sum of the two previous integers), and the physical pattern that graphing the sequence produces, shows up in everything from the organization of the sections of a pine-cone to the human X chromosome inheritance tree. When graphed, these numbers produce a spiral confined to the ancient concept of the Golden Mean. Nature is not chaotic; its perfect proportions prove that. Perhaps the greatest damage Darwin did to thinking was to convince us of the randomness of nature -- a lie if there ever was one.

We also need to look at fractals. A fractal is a pattern that self-replicates at an ever-increasing (or decreasing) scale. We see these patterns in the angle at which the veins in a leaf leave the stem, in the way branches head away from the trunk. We see them in snowflakes and crystal formations, in electrical discharges and river patterns. Even the circulatory system, with its network of arteries, veins, and capillaries demonstrates fractal organization. Pineapples display fractal repetitions, as do earthquakes, ocean waves and even the rings of Saturn. When we look casually at nature we mistake its profusion and lavishness as arbitrary, as accidental, but none of it is.

Our brains, they say, are pattern-seeking devices, which is interesting because there are so many patterns to find. From the iambic beating of our hearts to the rotations of days and seasons, we are surrounded by pattern. We reproduce it in our language, our art, and our music. We have, since the earliest times recognized the patterns in the stars -- note the mention of the constellations in the book of Job, probably written around 4,500 years ago.

It is Jobs God who gave Israel the Law, who organized a camp of 2 million people -- the tents in neat rows according to the 12 tribes, three on each side of the Tabernacle. It was this God who provided them food and water in the wilderness, this God who stopped the Jordan and brought down the walls of Jericho.

We lose sight of all this in the frantic beat of modern life, but it is still there. The very stars have been making patterns lately -- the four blood moons that coincided strangely with Jewish feast days and were punctuated halfway through with a total eclipse. This coming fall -- the 23rd of September -- well see an amazing pattern when Leo and Virgo and Jupiter and Orions belt all arrange themselves just as Revelation 12 says they will. This will happen on the Jewish New Year during the Feast of Trumpets. Things are right on schedule.

Just because women have taken to dressing up as vaginas and milling around in public demanding the right to kill the babies the vagina was designed to bring forth; just because colleges no longer allow ideas; just because feminists seem to prefer Sharia law or because sexual abuse of a child is now being declared normal, we should not conclude that the world has spun off into the unknown.

The same God that parted the Red Sea is still in control. His Word has warned us the time would come when men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, [a]haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [b]godliness, although they have denied its power (2 Timothy 3:2)

If God knew society would devolve so, did He not also provide solution for such an eventuality? He did. The patterns of His plans are forming out of the miasma. His hand is on history. His will will be done. God also knew what Iago (i.e. Satan) would do, and unlike us, He has the power to stop him. Christ will return and the chaos, as loud and horrifying and painful as it is right now, will soon be calmed, there will be peace on Earth, and we will, as we once did in Eden, feel the safety of the arms of God.

Deana Chadwell blogs at www.ASingleWindow.com and is an adjunct writing professor at Pacific Bible College in southwestern Oregon.
It seems that you can't get through a day on social media, or watching news programs, without hearing the words racist, bigot, sexist, homophobe, or some other offensive term, the use of which has become so routine as to render its usage meaningless. I've read threads on Facebook that begin with a poster telling us how much he detested the policies of the Obama administration. Within minutes, someone is sure to counter with accusations of racism. It's an effective tactic, because such a label strikes terror in the hearts and minds of decent people. (Genuine bigots are not bothered by such accusations because they recognize the accuracy of the charge and may even be proud of it.) It also has the effect of controlling the dialogue in a given situation. Putting people on defense forces them to assure their accusers how open-minded and fair they are, rather than debating the issue in question. The accuser is on offense, the accused on defense.

Listening to these vituperative exercises would make one think we were still living in the 1950s and '60s, when blacks were in segregated areas of cities, schools, and buses. Moreover, if you dare to proclaim that blacks have overcome the racial barriers of the past, someone is certain to tell you there's still a long way to go. It doesn't matter that there are black billionaires, black titans of industry, black Hollywood celebrities winning Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, and dozens of awards for music, sports, and academic excellence. Furthermore, the fact that a black man was president of the most powerful country in the world for the past eight years also doesn't seem to curtail the notion that racism is rampant in our country.

If there's still a long way to go, it would seem that whites could say the same about their progress, thereby making the statement relevant to every race or nationality. The difference is that when blacks don't get the job, the promotion, the role, the nomination, and so forth, they can claim it's because of their color. Whites get passed up for the same things all the time, but they don't have the same crutch to lean on. That "crutch" has a crippling effect on those who find it easier to blame the system for their lack of success, rather than admit to their own inadequacies.

Additionally, the casual use of racial accusations tends to delegitimize actual bias inasmuch as it becomes a "cry wolf" scenario that incurs public skepticism and contempt. Hence, when someone with an obvious racial bias is accused, it may fall on deaf ears for those who are tired of hearing the same old hackneyed refrain. Nevertheless, for those who seek to gain the advantage by using reckless exhortations, the most they can expect to achieve is a Pyrrhic victory over those who are easily intimidated. On the other hand, it's refreshing to see an increasing number of prominent blacks criticizing race hustlers. Of course, when they do, they get assailed as "Uncle Toms" or "house negroes."

When Donald Trump talked during the campaign about building a wall and stopping the flow of criminal aliens and the flood of drugs across our southern border, he was smeared with some sort of "ism." The purpose of such calumny is to create the false image of American hatred for Mexicans. Once again, we're supposed to launch into a self-redeeming monologue about how many of our family members and friends are Hispanic in order to assure our bogus inquisitors how utterly human we are. Not that it will have any effect on the anti-America crowd, who view such pathetic rebuttals as weaknesses to exploit. Consequently, when President Trump tries to fulfill the campaign promises that got him elected, he's an easy target for the smear merchants and open border nihilists who will be happy only if they could destroy our country's sovereignty.

In the final analysis, we must decide if race-baiting is going to be the weapon that defeats us, or are we going to stand our ground and refuse to have our free speech and our security marginalized by those who use skin pigmentation and other spurious distractions to blur the line between common sense and a muddled form of judgment? Fortunately, we have a president with an iron will who doesn't let his detractors divert his attention with fake narratives. If he can deal with a powerful corrupt establishment and their equally venal cronies in the left-wing media, pounding on him every hour of every day, we should be strong enough to have his back by not getting wobbly-kneed every time hate-mongers call us names on social media.
Matryoshkas are Russian nesting dolls. Inside each doll are several others, smaller but identically shaped characters, until you get to the smallest one inside. Studying what we have learned of the timeline -- and we still dont have the entire story -- we see Wikileaks, the smallest, at the core, and Obama as the largest piece in what is the most historically outrageous misuse of the people and institutions of government for partisan advantage.

Wikileaks

During the campaign, Wikileaks posted a number of email messages from the DNC -- largely Podesta, but Hillary as well. The communications (not well reported, but, in any event, more embarrassing tittle tattle) had been on unsecured accounts, poorly guarded and easily accessed because of carelessness on the part of the Hillary team. Assange, who published them, denied the source of this information was Russian hackers. This now has been confirmed by the heads of our intelligence community, but the Clinton camp claim that the Russians did it set the stage for the notion that her opponent was the favored candidate of the Russians.

Apart from the fact that our intelligence services have denied the claim, there are a number of reasons to believe that the Russians would have preferred Hillary to Trump. For one thing, Russia is in terrible financial shape and relies on its sales of oil and gas to Europe to stay afloat. Is it sensible to believe that the Russians would prefer Trump, who made clear he wanted to vastly increase U.S. oil and gas production, over Hillary, who gave every indication of keeping it down and the worldwide price of oil and gas higher? (I cant imagine -- for the same reason -- that Iran and OPEC wouldnt prefer her as well.) Why you do suppose the Russians have been funding green groups in Europe -- and possibly here -- who oppose fracking?

Secondly, for eight years Russian businesses and businessmen closely aligned with Putin pumped millions into the Clinton Foundation slush fund, paid her husband a half-million dollars for a single speech, and got in return a substantial portion of our uranium assets when, as Secretary of State, Hillary okayed their purchase. Finally, John Podesta, chair of Hillarys presidential campaign was closely aligned with Russian interests. His brother was hired by the Russians to lobby for the uranium sale. He was on the board of a company closely aligned with Putin.

As the crack investigative reporter Richard Pollock notes:

John Podesta, national chairman of former Secretary of State Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign, may have opened himself up to a Russian influence campaign designed to temper his views of the Kremlin, The Daily Caller News Foundation (TheDCNF) Investigative Group has learned. Influence campaigns are conducted by many governments -- including the United States -- with the aim of influencing decision makers in other countries to realign their geopolitical worldviews more closely to the influencing country. Some national security experts interviewed by The DCNF wonder if Podesta may still be a target of Russian influence. They trace the campaign back to his company board membership, in which one-third of the board were top Russian businessmen with direct ties to the Kremlin. The last time Podesta talked negatively about Russia was Dec. 18, 2016, when he charged in an NBC Meet the Press interview the 2016 election was distorted by the Russian intervention. The former Clinton national campaign chairman has since been silent, even as other former top Clinton aides, such as Robby Mook, Brian Fallon and Jim Margolis have repeatedly aimed high-decibel rhetoric at President Donald Trump about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race. [snip] Podestas silence is particularly striking, according to retired Air Force Col. James Waurishuk. We havent heard very much from Podesta lately, particularly on the subject of Russias interference in the elections, Waurishuk told the DCNF. He served on the National Security Council and worked on information operations for military intelligence.

The suggestion is that hes staying out of it because the Russians want this chatter about their influence silenced.

In any event, Russia has now been cleared of the claim, yet in the recesses of the dimmer voters minds the charge remains a cogent explanation of why their candidate lost the election.

The National Security Agency and the FISA

The NSA engages in global monitoring for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence. It does by passive means (signals Intelligence) and active means like physically bugging systems and through subversive software. It assists and coordinates SIGINT elements at other government organization like the DIA.

Domestic communications can be intercepted under two circumstances: in the first instance to protect us against sabotage or international terrorism or sabotage. In such a case, when authorized by the president through the attorney general, it can be done without a court order provided that it is for only one year and only to acquire foreign intelligence information and there is real likelihood that a U.S. person is a party to the communication. Even then it must be done in such a way to minimize the impact on the U.S. person. The attorney general must report such surveillance under seal to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and report their compliance to both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.

Surveillance can also be done on a court order from FISA when the attorney general persuades the court that there is probable cause (i.e. a reasonable suspicion) that the target is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power and the minimization requirements for information pertaining to U.S. persons will be followed. Such orders may be approved for 90 days,120 days, or a year.

FISA court authorization is almost always granted. Reliable reports indicate that the Obama administration sought authorization in July of last year when Trump appeared a likely opponent (the application is still secret) and it was denied. These reports also state that a pared-down application was sought in October and granted by the court. We have no idea on what basis the Department of Justice sought these warrants nor who the purported target was.

From the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, we learned this week that Trump teams conversations were caught in the surveillance, that for over nine months this was never reported to his committee. Moreover, it is public knowledge that three days before the inauguration in January, for no legitimate purpose, President Obama authorized wide distribution of the surveillance reports to 16 other agencies, the names of U.S. persons involved in the conversations were not redacted, the contents were of no intelligence value and they were widely leaked -- a perfectly predictable consequence of spreading the raw data so widely in contrast to normal redaction and dissemination patterns. Suspicious minds like mine think this may well have been to further hamper the incoming administration by leaks designed to embarrass members of his team. Nunes also reported the post-election spying had nothing to do with Russia. By January 20, for example, the New York Times reported that Trump had been wiretapped.

We learned this week from Nunes work that the investigation is continuing.

On his own Mike Rogers, head of NSA, met privately with Trump shortly after the inauguration. We have no details of their discussion, but my guess is he told him what had happened and how. At the moment, Rogers appears to be the sole white hat in our intelligence network. But he may not be the only one, which, I think, would mean a number of former Obama officials have to be looking for lawyers.

Tom Lipscomb, a former reporter and online friend, thinks the white hats in the intelligence community fed the truth about the wiretapping directly to Trump so he could weed out from their ranks the Obama confederates. Like him, I think the Trump tweet that he was wiretapped was smart. Hes giving fair warning to what is coming, and the claims that Trump was engaged in some crazy conspiracy are evaporating just as had the earlier nonsense that he and the Russians were conspiring via Wikileaks.

Christopher Steele and John McCain

Christopher Steele is a former British intelligence agent of dubious character and credibility. He had been hired early by the Clinton camp to dig up dirt on Trump. When Hillary ended that agreement, unnamed Republicans engaged him to continue, and when they stopped paying him, the FBI -- for as yet unexplained reasons -- took him up. His dossier is preposterous, based on accounts to his aides from unnamed and thus unverifiable sources. In the rare instance when they provide recognizable details, they have been proven false. As incredible as the dossier was, it was used to tar Trump with salacious nonsense and to further encourage the ridiculous notion that he and his team were Russian agents.

There are three different versions of how John McCain, a bitter #NeverTrumper always seeking media cuddles and enamored by globalization, came to get the dossier -- he says, in December. In one version, he got it from a member of the McCain Institute, in other published accounts he dispatched someone abroad to get it, and in a third he first heard of it from a former British ambassador while at a meeting in Halifax. That hes offered various tales in itself suggests some dissembling on his part. Nevertheless, he concedes he widely distributed the scurrilous dossier to the media and members of Congress. He was either a useful dupe of those determined to bring down Trump or a willing partner of theirs. Right now, hes flailing about abroad, attacking the president and moaning that Trump hasnt yet met with him.

The Media

John Nolte, writing for the Daily Caller, highlights how it is apparent that the media knew of the spying operation and later covered it up:

Of course the media knew what the Obama administration had done. First off, when they thought the news would hurt Trump, the national media publicly reported on the fact that the Obama administration had spied on Team Trump. It was only after that knowledge became a liability for Precious Barry that the media pretended otherwise. In other words, they LIED.

Jim Geraghty at National Review cites a specific example of the media-leaker waltz:

On January 12, the Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wrote: According to a senior U.S. government official, Flynn phoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak several times on Dec. 29, the day the Obama administration announced the expulsion of 35 Russian officials as well as other measures in retaliation for the hacking. What did Flynn say, and did it undercut the U.S. sanctions? The Logan Act (though never enforced) bars U.S. citizens from correspondence intending to influence a foreign government about disputes with the United States. Was its spirit violated? The Trump campaign didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. This is a leak of classified information. Michael Flynn was not, as far as we know, a target of any U.S. government surveillance. He was one of the figures whose conversations was incidentally recorded, presumably as part of the regular monitoring of Kislyak. People within the U.S. government are not supposed to take the information that is incidentally recorded and then run to David Ignatius because they dont like the American citizen who was recorded. Thats not the purpose of our domestic counterintelligence operations. Even if Flynn had violated the Logan Act -- which, as we all know, no one has never been prosecuted for violating -- there are legitimate avenues for dealing with that, namely going to law enforcement and a prosecutor. (Invoking the Logan Act in this circumstance is particularly nonsensical, because the interpretation Ignatius floats would criminalize just about any discussion between a presidential candidate, a president-elect or his team and any representative of a foreign government on any matter of importance. If you ask a foreign official if his country would make a concession on Issue X in exchange for a U.S. concession on Issue Y, BOOM! Call out the SWAT teams, weve got a Logan Act violation!) There are a lot of reasons not to like Michael Flynn, but that doesnt change the fact that somebody broke the law and leaked classified information in an effort to get him in trouble. That is wrong and that is illegal, and Nunes is right to point out were going down a dangerous road when information collected by U.S. intelligence agencies about American citizens starts getting strategically leaked for partisan purposes.

No matter how many dolls are hidden in the nest -- Comey, Clapper, Brennan, Lynch -- it is undeniable that they all fit under the big one -- Obama. It was he who authorized the surveillance and multiagency distribution of intelligence -- in Bob Woodwards reading, highly classified gossip -- about political opponent Trump and his team -- invading their privacy in violation of the law. If you were inclined to want Americans to lose faith in their intelligence community and media you couldnt have done a better job than they did themselves. The Russians didnt have to do a thing.
The future of American-Russian relations and the balance of power in Europe will  at least in the short run  depend on a resolution of the Ukrainian conflict.

While President Trump expresses the desire to have good relations with Russia, his UN envoy Nikki Haley stated, The United States continues to condemn and call for an immediate end to the Russian occupation of Crimea. She added, Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control over the peninsula to Ukraine the administration unaware, apparently, that the historical experience of return is hardly a Russian specialty.

Impervious to political reality, the Trump administration refuses to recognize that Crimea has turned its clocks to Moscow time, both literally and figuratively. It has joined Russia, and regardless of Western sanctions and condemnations, there is no turning back of this historic clock; Crimea is irreversible and non-negotiable. But the Eastern Ukraine is open to negotiations and an amicable resolution.

This is one of many ethnic conflicts that have become increasingly common in the Post-Cold War period. For many countries arbitrarily created after the Second Word War the unifying principle was the power of the state that forced citizens to tolerate a plethora of incompatibilities. Proliferations of democratic principles resulted in weakening or overturn of the authoritarian regimes and absence of enforcement gave rise to nationalistic aspirations that challenge the cohesiveness of the established order, in some instances, to the point of no order at all.

In Ukraine, which prior to the disintegration of the Soviet Union had never set up an independent government, resentments and grievances suppressed by the power of the Soviet state broke out into a civil war.

Usually in conflicts, each side is pursuing an outcome incompatible with the strategic ambition of its adversary, but the Ukrainian saga has an interesting twist to it. President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, totally ignorant of how this Eastern European game is played, were deceived by both their sworn friend Petro Poroshenko and their professed adversary Vladimir Putin. Despite their differences, Poroshenko and Putin converge on one important aspect: neither of them wants Eastern Ukraine. Putin could occupy Eastern Ukraine within 48 hours and face no resistance. Poroshenko could accept a limited autonomy for the belligerent East, which it demanded from the outset, and avoid a bloody conflict altogether.

But the rulers in Kiev are not motivated by one country, one destiny; they are not motivated by concern for the stability and integrity of Ukraine; rather, they are moved by billions in financial aid. The aspiration of Poroshenko and his associates is to become in some sense the Palestinians of Europe, victims of Russian aggression, just as the actual Palestinians are perceived as being victims of Israel. Defeated by superior force, they want the EU to adopt them and make Ukraine a black hole for billions of dollars and euros, with no end in sight.

The fact is that despite international support, Kiev lacks the means to preserve Ukraine as a unitary state. Therefore, Poroshenkos survival is predicated on defeat. Just as in the case of the Palestinians, whose every defeat functions as a catalyst to attract worldwide sympathy and international donors, the continuation of hostilities, for Poroshenko, is an inevitable necessity.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, Poroshenko almost is asking, What is our aim? It is defeat, defeat at all costs. The more that Eastern Ukrainian cities are turned into Aleppos and civilians are killed, the less likely it is that Eastern Ukraine will accept any kind of reconciliation with Kiev. The greater the territorial losses, the more Ukrainian soldiers killed, the more victimized Ukrainians are perceived, the better for Poroshenko politically. With little subtlety, he is inciting and manipulating the rivalries between Russia and the United States on behalf of his own agenda.

Putin does not want a devastated Eastern Ukraine as part of Russia either; nor can he afford it. Although two million Eastern Ukrainians have already voted against Kiev with their feet, seeking refuge in Russia, unlike predominantly Russian Crimea, which voted overwhelmingly to join Russia, the binational population of Eastern Ukraine will be hesitant to replace the Ukrainian mess with the uncertainty of joining the Russians bedlam and the inevitability of a military draft of their sons into the Russian army. Therefore, integration of Eastern Ukraine into the Russian Federation may be costly and problematic.

Within this context, if the West accepts Crimea as part of Russia and recognizes the independence of Eastern Ukraine, paradoxically, all sides will achieve their respective objectives. The populations of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine will acquire national identity; no more Ukrainian language taught in schools, no more Russian movies translated into Ukrainian and no more worthless Ukrainian hryvnia used as legal tender. Putin gets the United States as a powerful ally in the war against radical Islam. Western Ukraine becomes an orphan of Europe, and Poroshenko and his cronies, who provoked the conflict by declaring their intent to join the EU and NATO, get their payoff  and the EU has to adopt a much smaller country.

Woodrow Wilson would have no difficulty endorsing this approach. Wilsonian principles of national self-determination should apply to Ukraine just as they were applied to Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Scotland, the Falkland Islands and Cyprus, where, in a very similar situation, restoration of the status quo ante proved to be impossible. Nevertheless, the peaceful coexistence of Greeks and Turks was achieved by partitioning the island. So, the central question in the current situation becomes why do we care if there are two Ukraines  or even three or four?

The West should be open to a genuine reconciliation with Russia as it prepares to play a major role in the global balance of power. Whether that role is constructive or destructive will depend on whether the vanquished enemy is finally accepted into the family of nations or continues to be treated as the heir to the Soviet Union.

Alexander G. Markovsky (www.alexmarkovsky.com), author of "Liberal Bolshevism: America Did Not Defeat Communism, She Adopted It," was born and educated in the Soviet Union and now lives in Houston, Texas. He holds degrees in economics and political science from the University of Marxism-Leninism. He is a contributor to FamilySecurityMatters.org and New York Daily News, his work also appears on American Thinker, The Hill, RedState.com, Israpundit.com and WorldNetDaily.com.
One of the most widely accepted misconceptions concerning the Arab-Israel conflict (a subject awash in misconceptions) is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a hard-core right-winger. There is nothing in his behavior as prime minister from his first years in that office (1997-99) or in his more recent period in that office, beginning in 2009, to support this belief. On the contrary, like his predecessors, he has made repeated dramatic territorial and other concessions, including acceptance of the so-called two-state solution.

In Jan. 1997, still in the first year of his first term, he signed the Hebron Protocol with the Palestine Authority, turning over most of Hebron, after Jerusalem the most important city in Jewish history, to the PA. Netanyahu did so little to change Labors disastrous post-Oslo policy that erstwhile supporter Benny Begin (Menachems son) derided him at a Likud Party meeting in March of that year. Arafat releases terrorists and so does Israel. Arafat smuggles in weapons and we give him assault rifles to round off his stores We have government offices in Jerusalem [supposedly the unified capital of Israel] and so do they. The following year, under President Clintons prodding, Netanyahu signed the Wye River Memorandum in which he promised to turn over 40% of Judea and Samaria to Arafat, a safe corridor between these areas and Gaza, even an airport in Gaza. Its true Wye was not implemented, but thats only because (predictably) Arafat promptly reneged on his commitments under the agreement.

That same year, Netanyahu embarked on secret negotiations with Syria in which he offered to return the Golan Heights. Was Netanyahu prepared to go back to the 1967 border (which Clinton and Dennis Ross assert in their respective memoirs) or did Netanyahu, according to other reports, hold out for several kilometers beyond the international border line? Although Assad backed out, according to widespread reports in the Israeli press, in 2010 Netanyahu tried again, this time with Bashar Assad, offering to return to the June 4, 1967 lines. Fortunately, the negotiations collapsed with the onset of the rebellion against the Syrian ruler. (One shudders to think what success would have meant for Israel, with Hizballah and/or ISIS embedded on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.)

That near miss with disaster has not prevented Netanyahu from continuing to offer major concessions. In the wake of Obamas Cairo speech, Netanyahu agreed to adopt the two-state solution as his governments policy. Moreover, retired Brigadier General Michael Herzog (brother of Israeli Labor Party head Yitzhak Herzog), who has participated in almost all Israels peace negotiations since Oslo in 1993, writes in The American Interest that Netanyahu in the Obama years offered such large withdrawals that he could not admit their scale to the Israeli public or his coalition partners.

And contrary to the widespread perception, fostered by the media, that Netanyahu has peppered the landscape of Judea and Samaria with Jewish settlements, Israel has not built a new settlement in 25 years. The much publicized on and off settlement freezes to which Netanyahu has agreed applied to existing communities, the freezes meaning there was no building even to accommodate natural population growth within them.

So what accounts for Netanyahus reputation as an unbudging hawk? The reason is that he knows better than he acts, with the result that his rhetoric differs from his policies far more than has been the case with other Israeli leaders. Prime Minister Shimon Peres seems clearly to have believed in the mirage he concocted of a New Middle East. Prime Minister Olmert appears to have genuinely felt the emotions which in 2005 (in a speech to the Israel Policy Forum) he attributed to the people of Israel as a whole: We are tired to fighting; we are tired of being courageous; we are tired of winning; we are tired of defeating our enemies.

But Netanyahu sounds very different. He has a long history of realism about the Arab-Israel conflict. As far back as 1978, fifteen years before Oslo, Netanyahu went to what remains the heart of the matter: The real cause of the conflict is the Arab refusal to accept the state of Israel. In a January 28, 1985 interview with the New York Post, Netanyahu, then Israels UN ambassador, said of Judea and Samaria: Were not going to survive if we get out of that territory -- well die. In September 1993, as Oslo was being celebrated by a country dizzy with the hopes for peace Rabin and Peres had promised, Netanyahu addressed Peres in the Knesset: You are much worse than [British Prime Minister Neville] Chamberlain, because Chamberlain threatened the security and freedom of another nation, while you are threatening the security and freedom of your own. One could go on and on quoting from Netanyahus eloquent speeches, articles, books, and interviews focusing on the delusory premises and devastating consequences of the so-called peace process. Obamas betrayal at the UN, orchestrating Resolution 2334 in the last days of his administration, provoked Netanyahu into a fresh burst of honesty as he declared that the PA had no intention of living beside Israel but was determined to replace it.

The fact that Netanyahu obviously comprehends and is able to articulate Israels situation so well -- along with his genuine success in pushing through economic reforms that have propelled Israel from socialist basket case to technological powerhouse -- have won him considerable wiggle room with those who might normally be expected to sharply criticize his policies. But even his long-time staunch defender Caroline Glick has balked at Netanyahus most recent failure of political courage and resolve, arguing that if you refuse to act on your knowledge of the enemy, you will lose your war against him. Glick observes that it is deeply destructive for Israel to continue paying lip service to the fake peace process. And yet, that is precisely what Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing. In Glicks view the advent of Trump, well-disposed toward Israel and the first president in decades not wedded to the delusory two-state solution, offered Netanyahu an opportunity to explain why it could not succeed and an alternative approach was essential -- and he had squandered it.

If there are two Netanyahus, complicating matters further, there are also two President Trumps. In striking contrast to Obama, the first Trump, in word and deed, is strongly supportive of Israel. Early on, Trump departed from precedent in stating that he did not think Israeli settlements were a barrier to peace. In the transition period before taking the oath of office, at Netanyahus request, Trump sought to derail Obamas farewell assault on Israel at the UN by persuading Egypts al Sisi, who had officially proposed the anti-Israel resolution, to withdraw it. (Obama promptly found other sponsors for his knife in Israels back Resolution 2334, so it passed anyway.) Trump promised to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and although he has not fulfilled the promise thus far, he seems to have genuinely wanted to do so. When Trump met with Netanyahu on February 15 at the White House, he suggested he would not be bound by the past sacrosanct allegiance to the two-state solution: Im looking at two state and one state formulations.

Newly appointed ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley blew such a breath of fresh air into its see-no-evil-but-Israel culture that the New York Sun dubbed her Haleys Comet. She denounced the obsession with attacking Israel and declared the U.S. would cease any participation in the UN Human Rights Council until it cleaned up its act. The Washington Free Beacon quotes a senior administration official calling the Human Rights Council morally bankrupt and saying Weve wasted enough time and money on it.

Trump appointed two strong supporters of Israel (including the much-maligned settlements) to prominent positions, David Friedman as ambassador to Israel and Jason Greenblatt as Special Envoy for International Negotiations. Indeed, Friedman was such a strong supporter that he set off a strong effort among such anti-Israel Jewish groups as J Street to block his appointment in Congress.

However, there are worrisome signs of a second Donald Trump. On Nov. 22, 2016, not long after his election, in an interview with New York Times editors, he said I would love to be the one who made peace with Israel and the Palestinians. That would be such a great achievement. He proposed sending his Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner to lay the groundwork. And on Feb. 15, at the White House, after the words quoted above Im looking at two state and one state formulations he added Im very happy with the one both parties like. All this suggests a dangerous ignorance about the nature of the Arab-Israel conflict. There is no conceivable formulation Kushner or anyone else can come up that both sides like because Abbas and the PA want to replace Israel, not live in peace beside it.

Trumps willingness to live with expanded Israeli building activities in Judea and Samaria seems to be evaporating as well. He sent Greenblatt to Jerusalem to inform Netanyahu that Trump would support construction in Jerusalem but wanted a quota on new building inside major Jewish communities beyond the old Green Line and no new construction in isolated West Bank settlements. This would force Netanyahu to renege on his promise to build a new settlement for the evacuees of the now destroyed (thanks to a ruling by Israels Supreme Court) community of Amona. According to Daniel Horowitz in Conservative Review, the pressure is so strong Netanyahu has held off on his plans to fully annex Maale Adumim, the largest suburb of Jerusalem.

Trump has also balanced his pro-Israel appointments with anti-Israel officials. He has retained Yael Lempert, regarded as one of the most radically anti-Israel individuals in the anti-Israel Obama administration, as the person responsible for Israeli-Palestinian issues on the National Security Council. He has retained Michael Ratney, former U.S. consul in Jerusalem, to head the Israeli-Palestinian desk at the State Department. Ratney, according to the Times of Israel, oversaw a program in effect setting up an armed Palestinian militia in the consulate. Typifying this balanced approach, Trump sent Lempert to accompany Greenblatt in meeting with Abbas and pressuring Israel.

Its too early to know how the multifaceted collision between the two Netanyahus and two Trumps will turn out. But one thing is certain: no genuine peace lies at the end of the road.
DESLOGE -- Norman L Faulkner, 92, of Roswell, New Mexico, formerly of Farmington, Missouri, went home to his Heavenly Father on Monday, March 20, 2017, at Lovelace Regional Hospital in Roswell, New Mexico, while holding his daughters hands.

Norman was born December 11, 1924, and enlisted in the Army during WWII as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne. He saw service during the D Day invasion and was in Bastogne. Following his decorated service he returned home to Elvins, where he went to work in the lead mines before starting his lifelong career in construction. He built family homes, apartment complexes and roadside rest areas throughout Missouri and Mississippi. Norman spent his life doing exactly what he loved.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Vivian; daughter, Susan; parents, Clara and Tillman; brother, Don; and sisters, Doris and Bonnie Rose.

He is survived by brother, Cliff Faulkner and wife Mary Lynn of Elvins; daughters, Sally Ann (Mrs. Dan Moats) and Barbara Le (Mrs. Stephen Roby); grandchildren, Matthew Dyer and wife Amanda, Jennipher Moats, Clinton Roby and wife Beth and Jessica Rush and husband JaRon; great-grandchildren, Tucker and Lottie Dyer, Talia Rush and Reed Roby and numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be Thursday, March 30, 2017, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at C.Z. Boyer and Son Funeral Home in Desloge. Service will be 11a.m. Friday, March 31, 2017, at C.Z. Boyer and Son Chapel in Desloge with Pastor Bradford Laubinger officiating. Inurnment with full military honors will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the American Diabetes Association. View obituary and share condolences online at www.czboyer.com.
Host Bill Maher of "Real Time" on HBO upset some members of his panel when the discussion turned to the terrorist attack in London last week.

Some panel members tried to dismiss the Muslim angle to the attack, insisting it had nothing to do with Islam. But Maher offered a classic put down of that idea that bears repeating.

The Hill:

"This is another example where we take one group of people and we demonize them," said Louise Mensch, a Heat Street columnist and former Conservative member of the U.K. Parliament.

"The guy was British-born. His name was Adrian before his converted. And partisans of Russia were out in the streets saying it was an illegal immigrant who did it, trying to turn the London people against our Muslim friends and neighbors. And you're not going to do that."

Maher, who often clashes with guests on his program regarding radical Islamic terrorism, disagreed with Menschs take.

"Let's not pretend this has nothing to do with Islam, the religion," he said.

"It doesn't," Mensch responded. "It has nothing to do with Islam the same way Timothy McVeigh had nothing to do with Roman Catholicism."

McVeigh carried out the 1995 bombing of a government building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.

"Every time some bomb goes off, before it goes off, somebody yells Allahu Akbar! said Maher. "I never hear anybody go Merry Christmas! This ones for the flying nun! 

"When Christians do anything like this, do we ever say, 'Christian terrorism? asked Yale professor and author Timothy Snyder.

"No. But is Christian terrorism as big a problem?" asked Maher in response.

If you lived in Oklahoma City in the 90s," injected MSNBC host Chris Hayes. "We're talking about London here."

"That's a false equivalency," Maher shot back. "Are there Christian terrorist armies like ISIS?"

"The IRA that blew up London for 15 years!" Hayes exclaimed.

"Yes. But that's the past! We're living in the now. There was also the Inquisition," retorted Maher.

"Are there Christian terrorist armies now. .. like ISIS, Al Qaeda, al-Shaabab, Boko Haram? Are there armies like that in the world that aren't Muslim?" he asked. "Let's not f--k around anymore! Can we get real?"

"I literally don't agree with you," Mensch said. "Russia is sending Chechen militants into ISIS trying to leverage this against a billion people."
French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron received a big boost on Saturday when 9 center-right senators allied with his conservative rival, Francois Fillon, penned an op ed coming out in support of Macron.

Fillon, under investigation for corruption, was the front runner for president in the early stages of the campaign but has since been overtaken by National Front leader Marine Le Pen. The defection of the 9 senators from the UDI-UC party is an indication that the French establishment is coming together in order to defeat Le Pen in the second round of balloting. The first round will take place in April where no candidate is expected to receive 50% of the vote. The second round will be held in May and Macron is well positioned to win his head to head match up with Le Pen.

Reuters:

The nine senators from the UDI-UC party wrote a joint op-ed in the Journal du Dimanche weekly to say they would support Macron, a former minister in Socialist President Francois Hollande's government, because of his pro-European stance and bid to go beyond the Left-Right political divide. "Emmanuel Macron's method is the right one," they wrote, adding: "He wants to bring people together ... and trigger a new dialogue between the French people and their representatives." Fillon was the frontrunner for France's April and May presidential election until an investigative weekly reported in late January that he had paid his wife as his parliamentary assistant for work she did not do. He denies any wrongdoing but magistrates put him under investigation, a first for a presidential candidate in France. Macron, an independent centrist who created his own En Marche! (Onwards!) party last year, is now topping the polls and is forecast to beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen in an election run-off. The high number of undecided voters, however, means the ballot remains quite unpredictable. On Saturday, Fillon's aides used an umbrella to shield him from eggs thrown by protesters in southwest France as the beleaguered conservative fell further behind Macron and Le Pen in opinion polls ahead of the April 23 first-round vote.

The opinion polls show Le Pen either tied or within one or two percentage points of Macron in the election's first round. But in head to head match ups with Macron in the second, decisive round, Le Pen is losing badly. However, an unprecedented number of French voters are still undecided, which leaves open the possibility that Le Pen could still make up ground.

If she does, it will be against a tidal wave of negative media reminiscent of what Donald Trump was forced to endure. The difference is that the French media is much more brutal than the US press, as they are protraying Le Pen as an out and out fascist.

But every terror attack and every wave of illegal immigrants bolsters support for Le Pen despite the overwhelmingly biased coverage. With so many voters undecided - and the surprising outcome of the American election still a possibility to be duplicated in France - Le Pen should not be counted out.
You may recall the story of Joanne Chesimard. A radical and violent leftist, She was convicted in the 1970's of killing a New Jersey state trooper and then escaped to Cuba.

Joanne then became Assata Shakur and was granted political asylum in Cuba. More than that, she became the darling of the revolution or the black woman who represented everything racist and evil about the US. It was pathetic.

We are happy to see that Governor Christie wants to bring her to justice, as we read a couple of days ago:

In 2015, when then-President Barack Obama reopened relations between the United States and Cuba, there was hope that Chesimard would be returned to finish her life sentence. But she remains free today, even though the Obama administration said her return would be part of diplomatic negotiations with the communist regime. Appearing Friday night on Fox News Channel's "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Christie said "it's outrageous" that Chesimard lives in freedom, and he pressed the administration of President Donald Trump to fight for her extradition to the U.S. "I hope that what the Trump Administration is going to do is, before we take any further steps with a relationship with Cuba, that they say, 'Listen, first and foremost, return this fugitive from justice back to New Jersey so that she can rightfully serve the rest of her term for murdering a police officer,'" said Christie, a friend and supporter of Trump. "I think this is something that Secretary of State [Rex] Tillerson and others in the Trump Administration should make a top priority in any dealings they have with Cuba," Christie added.

Indeed it should be a top priority!

The Chesimard case is exhibit A of everything that was wrong with President Obama's deal with the Castro regime.

Unfortunately, the Obama team did not demand her release, or frankly demand anything at all. it was simply a case of Mr. Obama desperately seeking a deal and not looking out for the US, or in this case a public official killed by a terrorist.

The Castro regime needs dollars and harboring this "oldie revolutionary" is of little value. She means nothing today and should have been one of the many conditions that the Obama team put on the table.

Let's hope that President Trump takes a different posture. State Trooper Werner Foerster's family deserves nothing less.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
Openly and routinely, an arm of the Mexican government is at work, helping a convicted welfare cheater stay in America and eligible for all the subsidies that a mother of 12 qualifies for. Its a heckuva lot more than she would get if she took herself and her kids back to her homeland. I am no expert on Mexican immigration law, though I understand it is tougher than ours, generally, but I suspect that a native born Mexican national could bring her children into that country and reside there legally.

KVUE TV presents the details of the case, accepting the view that deporting the illegal alien would break up the family, as if they could not live together legally in Mexico, an assumption I am not certain about.

An undocumented mother of 12 is fighting deportation and shes getting help from the Mexican Consulate in McAllen, Texas.

Shes one of hundreds across the country targeted in renewed federal efforts to crack down on criminal aliens.

Norma Roman tries to keep herself and her children busy. The mother, whose kids were all born in the U.S., helps her kids with their homework to take their minds off a grim reality: the possible separation from their mother.

She says shes placing her faith in god and in her attorney. She currently has an "order of removal" by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after multiple run-ins with the law.

In 2011, Norma overstayed her visa and left the country only to be smuggled back days later.

In September, Norma was arrested for taking an extra $5,000 in food stamps, aid Norma claims she didnt know she wasnt supposed to receive.

She says that she spent 36 days in jail and paid the money back.

But with limited resources to fight deportation, the 39-year-old turned to the Mexican Consulate for help.

Consul Guillermo Ordorica says that all 50 Mexican Consulates in the U.S. were instructed by the Mexican government to provide legal aid and create what are known as "centers for defense."

Its all in response to the increasing number of immigration raids by the Trump administration.

Because of narratives that have been running around in all around the country, our people have expressed some fears about their condition in the country, Consul Ordorica said.

Norma says that the consulate helped pay for legal services and petitioned the U.S. government for a stay of deportation.

Her concerns are for the care of her children. She says that two of her kids have learning disabilities and are under treatment, while her husband is gone three months at a time as a seasonal worker. (snip)

No matter what happens, the undocumented mother says she will return to the U.S. any way possible.

UPDATE:

Norma Roman says that her petition to stay has been denied and is waiting to find out when exactly shes required to turn herself in to be deported. When asked if Norma falls under Trumps priorities for removal, ICE replied saying that they are looking into the case and may respond with another statement on a later date.
In the face of American states and courts allowing Sharia Law to be a factor in our justice system, and the ongoing demand of jihadists that sharia law should rule the world, a number of states have advanced laws that would prohibit its application. Montana is on the verge of passing such a law, carefully designed to withstand legal challenges asserting that it unfairly discriminates against Muslims, despite the best efforts of a Democrat legislator to insert a poison pill.

Erin Loranger reports on the Billings Gazette:

After a lengthy debate, with Democrats and Republicans disagreeing on the intent of a Senate bill to prohibit state courts from applying foreign law, the legislation advanced in the House largely along party lines with a 56-44 vote. Aenate Bill 97, carried by Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, doesnt specifically mention Sharia law, but it was the only kind of foreign law mentioned during testimony in both the Senate and House judiciary committees.

That religious neutrality, so central to a laws constitutionality, would have been sabotaged if a Democrat legislator had gotten her way:

Rep. Ellie Hill Smith, D-Missoula, said the testimony in the House Judiciary committee was also peppered with anti-Muslim bigotry. Since she thinks the bill targets people who practice Islam, she introduced an amendment that specifies a ban on both Sharia Law and the Law of Moses. In the amendments language, a court would not be able to include the Law of Moses, which bans clothing made of two or more fabrics (Leviticus 19:19), the use of bears in retaliation for mocking the bald (II Kings 2:23-24), or the stoning of gluttons and drunkards (Deuteronomy 21: 18-21). The courts have said that laws that single out certain religions violate the First Amendment, she said. So with this amendment I think we can show the state of Montana that is not just about Islamic Law. The amendment failed 82-18.

This is the legislative equivalent of a fake hate crime: we know you hate Muslims, so well make the higher truth clear to all, never mind what you actually wrote.

An equally misguided Democrat legislator elaborated on the strategy:

Rep. Laurie Bishop, D-Livingston, said the legislation is almost identical to a bill that was struck down in Oklahoma for specifically mentioning Sharia Law. She said Regiers version has the same end result even if it doesnt say Sharia Law. Lets not forget the roots of this bill, she said. Lets not forget that our children are watching.

Representative Laurie Bishop (D-Livingston)

Ahem, Rep, Bishop: the only reason that the law would have the same effect is that only Muslims are attempting to make their religious law superior to our American law. Jews do not impose their religious law, nor do Mormons, Buddhists, Hindus, or Christians. In the world today, there is one group of a billion-plus people that has an active, well-funded, and (whenever it wishes) violent movement to impose its religious law by force on others, if necessary, but by submission to dhimmitude (backed by the threat of force), if possible.

If Buddhists, Hindus, or Christians were to advance such an effort through the courts, they would be covered, too.

Hat tip: Cheryl Jacobs Lewin
Its the feel-good story of the day for naive people: Huma and Tony working hard on their marriage. The New York Post (of course!) has the story:

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool Huma Abedin four times, and shell still take you back. After years of public humiliation by her sext-a-holic husband, Anthony Weiner, 40-year-old Abedin finally separated from the former congressman in August, one day after The Post reported that he had sent yet another explicit photo to a woman  this one showing his toddler son asleep beside him. But sources tell The Post that Hillary Clintons righthand woman is now giving the marriage another try. Huma has been working hard on her relationship with Anthony, said a source close to the Abedin family. He has been spending 80 to 90 percent of his time at the [Irving Place apartment] they share . . . If there is a disagreement, he goes to his mothers apartment in Brooklyn.

Huma had to jettison Tony because of the negative impact his sexting scandal on the Hillary campaign, where Huma was the highly visible right hand girl of Hillary Clinton. It was always a bizarre matchup that reeked of political convenience and cover, even if there were some spark of attraction between the two very, very odd people.

If anybody is working hard, it is Tony, who has little bargaining leverage on Huma. She has signaled a shift in personal strategy, toward celebrityhood:

Lately, though, Abedin has been embracing the spotlight like never before. She was in the front row at the Prabal Gurung and Oscar de la Renta/Monse shows this past New York Fashion Week. She was spotted accompanying Clinton to the John Barrett Salon last week for a paparazzi-friendly glam session. And this past week, she has been gallivanting around Los Angeles with a big smile on her face. She made a very public visit to Disneyland with actor Tony Goldwyn  who played the president on Scandal. She also attended the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star ceremony for film producer Haim Saban on Wednesday with famous womanizer and composer David Foster. The Clinton source said that, despite her seeming reluctance, Abedin has always adored that celebrity st. She loves the fashion world. She always has. When she married Anthony, nobody could understand it because hes one of the worlds greatest aholes . . . but she saw a life she wanted to live, that provided her with a lot of the stuff that shes drawn to. Hes also not surprised that the duo is getting back together given that Abedin has been encamped with the Clintons for more than two decades. You can be around a real world of value or you can live in a fake Clinton world thats totally dysfunctional and without principle . . . and [with] an incredible amount of selfishness and narcissism, the source explained. She doesnt know any different because she doesnt want to know any different.

Everything that Huma derives depends on the Clinton Machine. Whatever else is at work here depends on that fact as a given.

And, as my friend Ed Timperlake reminds me, spouses can't be compelled to testify against each other.
US Central Command is investigating an air strike by coalition forces in Mosul that may be responsible for dozens of civilian deaths.

CENTCOM says that a strike on ISIS fighters and equipment did occur in the area where up to 200 civilians were killed, but they are unable to confirm whether the deaths were due to the air strike.

The strike was called in by Iraqi forces who are battling to retake the city from ISIS.

NBCNews:

Officials had previously confirmed an investigation was underway as to whether the strike was executed by the U.S. rather than by other coalition members, or even by ISIS. It comes as Iraqi vice president Osama al-Nujaifi, who is from Mosul, described the incident as a "humanitarian catastrophe" blaming the U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and the excessive use of force by federal police forces. He called for an emergency session of the Iraqi parliament to discuss the catastrophe and to begin a parliamentary investigation into its cause. The strike comes in the same month as two other high-profile strikes in Syria, where the coalition is also fighting ISIS. In total, the three strikes have resulted in unconfirmed reports of upwards of 350 civilian casualties. The vice president said a change in the rules of engagement  which are meant to minimize civilian casualties in Iraq and Syria  had resulted in the "martyrdom of hundreds of civilians". A senior U.S. defense official denied on Saturday that there had been any change in the rules of engagement. The CENTCOM statement said "our goal has always been for zero civilian casualties." A civilian casualty report is issued monthly, CENTCOM added, verifying allegations and that coalition airstrikes are executed in compliance with the Law of Armed Conflict. March could prove to be the deadliest month for civilians at the hands of U.S. airstrikes since the war began, potentially taking the tally to more than 1,000 civilians killed.

The New York Times quotes an Iraqi military source in explaining how so many civilians were killed:

Iraqi officers, though, say they know exactly what happened: Maj. Gen. Maan al-Saadi, a commander of the Iraqi special forces, said that the civilian deaths were a result of a coalition airstrike that his men had called in, to take out snipers on the roofs of three houses in a neighborhood called Mosul Jidideh. General Saadi said the special forces were unaware that the houses basements were filled with civilians. After the bombing we were surprised by the civilian victims, the general said, and I think it was a trap by ISIS to stop the bombing operations and turn public opinion against us.

The Iraqi military has halted all offensive operations while the investigation proceeds.

What seems clear is that ISIS, as it always has done, is hiding behind civilians hoping to deter attacks on their positions, or failing that, reaping a propaganda victory when civilians die. CENTCOM denies that the rules of engagement have changed and the fact that the coalition aircraft were unaware that civilians were hiding in the basements of those houses confirms that.

The death of civilians in wartime is a tragedy. But the enemy has made their deaths a part of their war effort. That has been their choice. We either continue to execute operations with care toward civilians as we have been doing, or basically surrender the initiative to the enemy. The latter choice is unacceptable, which means we haven't seen the last of accidental civilian deaths.
There is a sickness in American society, fanned by the propaganda campaigns of the left, and it is killing people. White males, in large numbers, are simply losing their will to live, and as a result, they are dying so prematurely and in such large numbers that a startling demographic gap has emerged. It is not just the opioid epidemic that is killing off white working class males, it is a spiritual crisis, and Princeton economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton have the numbers to sustain this conclusion.

Jeff Guo of the Washington Post reveals the new findings of the two economists who first noticed the declining white male mortality.

The problem of dying whites cant only be blamed on rising rates of drug overdoses, suicides and chronic alcoholism, they say. More and more, middle-aged white Americans are dying for all kinds of reasons  and the underlying issue may have less to do with opioids and more to do with how society has left behind the working class. Ultimately, we see our story as about the collapse of the white, high school educated, working class after its heyday in the 1970s, and the pathologies that accompany that decline, they write. This is slightly different than what they said in their first paper, where they emphasized that the trend of rising white mortality was largely accounted for by increasing death rates from drug and alcohol poisonings, suicide, and chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis. That's technically correct  but by focusing only on the increase in death rates, Case and Deaton distracted from the larger picture. The alarming fact isn't just that middle-aged whites are dying faster, but also that mortality rates have been dramatically declining in nearly every other rich country. The United States is getting left behind.

That last point, that American white males are the exception, is the real proof that something particularly dangerous and harmful has been underway in American society. The two economists have summed up the relative change in mortality with this startling chart:

As Case and Deaton show, the gap in mortality between white middle-aged Americans and middle-aged Germans is about 125 deaths per 100,000 people now. Every year, of 100,000 Germans between the ages of 45 and 54, about 285 die. In the United States, it's more than 410. Out of those 125 additional American deaths, only about 40 might be explained by the spike in deadly drug use, drinking and suicides. And the rest? Its hard to say. In their latest paper, Case and Deaton say that heart disease is part of the problem. While other countries have cut down heart disease deaths by over 40 percent in the past 15 years, heart disease remains a significant killer for white middle-aged Americans.

For at least four decades, white males have been under continuous assault as bearers of white privilege and beneficiaries of sexism. Special preferences and privileges have been granted to other groups, but that is the least of it. More importantly, the very basis of the psychological self-worth of white males have been under attack. White males are frequently instructed by authority figures in education and the media that they are responsible for most of the evils of the modern world, that the achievements of Euro-American civilization are a net loss for humanity, stained by exploitation, racism, unfairness, and every other collective evil the progressive mind can manufacture.

Some white males are relatively unscathed by the psychological warfare, but others are more vulnerable. Those who have educational, financial, or employment achievements that have rewarded their efforts may be able to keep going as productive members of society, their self-esteem resting on tangible fruits of their work and social position. But other white males, especially those who work with their hands and have been seeing job opportunities contract or disappear, have been losing the basis for a robust sense of self-worth as their job opportunities disappear.

We now have statistical evidence that political correctness kills.

A friend, David Kahn, comments:

This is terribly troubling. How all this has fallen outside the focus of our political debate is astonishing. This would seem to be at least as important as the issues of the day including which bathroom you can use, police abuse and who can be legally married to whom. It's easy to understand why these people would resent the attention being paid to these issues and to the rights of the illegal immigrants.

Indeed.

Hat tip: David Kahn
The Anti-Defamation League has disgraced itself, and defamed a friend of Israel and the Jews. By blaming President Trump for the wave of telephone threats to Jewish organizations, an organization that once defended Jews from unjust attacks has turned into a purveyor of unjust attacks. Like many Jewish organizations, the ADL seems to have substituted liberalism for Judaism as the prime mover of its activities.

A Jaccuse article has been published by the normally progressive JTA (originally Jewish Telegraph Agency) news service, and it is devastating:

Many Jewish groups blamed white supremacists, emboldened by Donald Trumps campaign, for the bomb threats that have plagued Jewish institutions since the beginning of this year. It appears the groups were wrong. The news that one Jewish teen  an Israeli, no less  was behind most of the approximately 150 bomb threats that have hit Jewish community centers since the start of 2017 is a shocking twist in light of months in which the Anti-Defamation League and other groups pointed their collective finger at the far right. Were in unprecedented times, said Oren Segal, director of the ADLs Center on Extremism, at a March 10 news conference on the bomb threats. Weve never seen, ever, the volume of bomb threats that weve seen. White supremacists in this country feel more emboldened than they ever have before because of the public discourse and divisive rhetoric. The ADL has repeatedly charged Trump with emboldening extremists, anti-Semites and far-right groups in the U.S. Other groups were even more explicit in linking rising anti-Semitic acts this year to the new president. On Jan. 10, following the first wave of JCC bomb threats, Bend The Arc, a liberal Jewish group, said that Trump helped to create the atmosphere of bigotry and violence that has resulted in these dangerous threats against Jewish institutions and individuals. In February, the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect said in a statement to Trump that Rightly or wrongly, the most vicious anti-Semites in America are looking at you and your Administration as a nationalistic movement granting them permission to attack Jews. But the perpetrator of the anti-Semitic acts, while his political opinions are not known, does not fit the profile of a white supremacist. According to Israeli reports, hes a mentally ill Israeli-American Jewish teenager. He worked from home, using a computer lab with sophisticated equipment, encryption and transmission systems, and a powerful antenna, according to reports. And his father may have known what he was doing. Israels anti-fraud squad arrested the 19-year-old suspect at his home in southern Israel and searched the premises on Thursday. He was brought to court and ordered held until March 30.

Do the highly-paid muckety-mucks at the ADL understand the gravity of their bigotry? Do they understand the moral legitimacy they have sacrificed? Do they understand that they hafe betrayed their original mission?

I doubt it, frankly.

There is more Jew hatred in todays world than any time since Hitlers defeat. Instead of addressing the actual sources of this scourge (Islamism aligned with progressivism), the ADL panders to the politics of its donor base.

Whistling past the graveyard, as once again, this time in Tehran, plans are afoot to eliminate Jews from the face of the earth.
A "Make America Great Again" rally in Huntingdon Beach, California was disrupted by black-clad anti-Trump protesters on Saturday when a masked counterprotester doused pro-Trump demonstrators with pepper spray.

The rally quickly turned violent as the pro-Trump crowd sought to protect themselves from the onslaught.

Los Angeles Times:

The anti-Trump protester, dressed in all black and wearing a mask, attacked an organizer of the event, Jennifer Sterling, and other members of the march with the irritant, causing a group of marchers to tackle the masked man, punching and kicking him. The use of pepper spray was confirmed by California State Parks Capt. Kevin Pearsall. The masked man was able to regain his footing and backpedaled as a group of flag-bearing marchers trailed him. He fled by jumping over the fence that separates the lot from Pacific Coast Highway but was quickly detained by California Highway Patrol officers. Pearsall said the masked man had been arrested along with two other male counterprotesters on suspicion of illegal use of pepper spray. Pearsall said a female counterprotester also was arrested on suspicion of assault and battery. Travis Guenther, whose wife was also pepper-sprayed, said he was among those who chased the masked man. He hit him with a flag that read "Trump, Make America Great Again." "I hit him five times with the flag over his head," said Guenther, who yelled at the man as the man was detained by law enforcement officials. "We're not xenophobic," Guenther said. "We're not racist. We're just proud Americans." Ray Evans, 55, of Westminster said he was trying to wrest a stick from a counterprotester who was using it as a weapon when he was pepper-sprayed by a woman. State Parks officers gave Evans water to clear the spray from his eyes, which he struggled to keep open.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio blamed racist violence on Donald Trump, saying he has created a "dynamic of hate" in America.

Let him come to Huntingdon Beach. There, he will witness first hand the real "dynamic of hate" - the deliberate incitement of violence toward ordinary people by exaggerating, lying, hysterical leftists. Peaceful pro-Trump protesters have not created this dynamic. The violence against Trump supporters was carefully planned and designed to goad the pro-Trump rally goers into violently reacting to the physical provocations of the left.

It didn't work out quite the way they planned it.
Country

Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Canada Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cuba, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Dominican Republic Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Haiti, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Jamaica Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Mexico, United Mexican States Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu US Virgin Islands Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
A rare Vietnamese chicken breed called the Dong Tao, prized for its delicious meat, has one of the most thickest legs usually not seen among birds of that size. This chicken breed is endemic to the Dong Tao commune in Khoai Chau district, about 30km from Hanoi. Once bred exclusively to serve the royal family and mandarins, this rare breed is now prized by chicken breeders and its meat is served in expensive restaurants that cater to the wealthy. The legs themselves are a delicacy.

The Dong Tao chicken has an imposing figure, a healthy body and stout legs covered with reddish scales. A male adult Dong Tao chicken can weigh up to 6 kilograms and develop legs as thick as a humans wrist. The hens are generally white, while the cocks have colorful feathers.

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The bird is in high demand but also in short supply, which explains its high price. A pair of Dong Tao chicken can fetch $2,500.

The chicken are very sensitive to weather changes and tend to lay fewer eggs than normal chicken. Their unhelpfully big feet makes the hatching process even more difficult, so breeders have to assist the hens in order to produce chicks. A new born chick takes eight months to one year to become a sellable bird of three to five kilograms.

Also see: Ayam Cemani: A Rare Chicken Breed That is Black Inside Out

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Dong Tao chickens take part in a beauty contest on occasion of the Lunar Year in January 2015. Photo credit

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Sources: www.baodongnai.com.vn / Wikipedia / Vietnam Plus via Oddity Central
Bridging the Divide The struggle to move past segregated schools

At a time when Maryland's population is growing more diverse, the schools are becoming more segregated. With a grant from the Education Writers Association, Baltimore Sun reporters Liz Bowie and Erica L. Green examined local attempts to better integrate schools by race and class. Along with photographer Lloyd Fox, they interviewed students, teachers, parents and researchers. The Sun also commissioned an analysis from the Maryland Equity Project at the University of Maryland to create a database that breaks down every public school's racial and socioeconomic makeup.
Mans vanity plate banned for being offensive to women

Lorne Grabher is the victim of bureaucrats who saw his surname and thought him guilty of offence causing. Nova Scotias Registrar of Motor Vehicles banned Mr Grabhers personalised number plate  GRABHER  on the grounds that it could be misinterpreted as a socially unacceptable slogan.

Worse, he could have ben mistaken for the American President.

Mr Grabher protested. The name on the plate was my last name Grabher and has been in the family for over 25 years, he wrote on Facebook. This plate changed hands within the family three times with no issue but because one complaint was lodged Ms. Director of Road Safety used her authority to cancel my plate. Where does it state that my last name is considered a slogan in the Motor Vehicle Act?

The Department of Transportation told CBS the plate some individuals interpret [GRABHER] as misogynistic and promoting violence against women. With no way to denote that it is a family name on the plate, the department determined it was in the publics best interest to remove it from circulation.

Might it also be wise to remove Mr Grabher from society lest he adhere to the cruse of nominative determinism, by which a persons destiny is shaped by their name?

Incidentally, the man in charge iof Nova Scotias transport is Mark Furey. Approach with caution.

Karen Strike

Posted: 26th, March 2017 | In: Strange But True Comment | TrackBack | Permalink


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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.
Photographer and filmmaker Moffatt never wants to repeat herself. The pavilion will feature two new large-scale photographic suites and two films. Commissioned by Naomi Milgrom and curated by Natalie King, the exact nature of the works in this exhibition is still a tightly guarded secret, but Moffatt says she used a lot of natural light  often shooting directly into the sun.
Violence erupted at a Make America Great Again rally in Huntington Beach on Saturday after a protester opposed to President Trump allegedly doused a female organizer of the event with pepper spray, sparking a brawl that ended with several arrests.



A group of flag-waving Trump supporters tackled the man with the pepper spray, who was wearing a black mask, and started punching and kicking him, according to witnesses. Several other fights also broke out between demonstrators.



The crowd chased the masked man, who jumped over a fence and started running along Pacific Coast Highway, where he was detained by California Highway Patrol officers.



A handful of counter-protesters fled the scene.



Travis Guenther, whose wife was also pepper-sprayed, said he was among those who chased the masked man and struck him with a flag that said, "Trump, Make America Great Again."



"I hit him five times with the flag over his head," said Guenther, who yelled at the man as he was detained by law enforcement officials.



"How is your head?" he asked the man.



"Were not xenophobic," Guenther said. "We're not racist. We're just proud Americans."



Jennifer Sterling of Huntington Beach, the organizer who was hit with pepper spray, seemed unfazed by the incident, which involved a small number of protesters.



"It was a quick reaction," she said. "There was about 12 of them."



A scuffule breaks out during a Make America Great Again March on Saturday, March 25, 2017, in Huntington Beach, Calif.  Irfan Khan A scuffule breaks out during a Make America Great Again March on Saturday, March 25, 2017, in Huntington Beach, Calif. Sterling said the rally was not simply for Trump but also a patriotic rally, celebrating first responders, military veterans, the vice president and the president. The noontime rally and march at Bolsa Chica State Beach was one of about 40 affiliated events scheduled nationwide.



The dozen or so counter-demonstrators  including one who wore a patch that said, Only You Can Resist Racists Liars  were overwhelmed by several hundred Trump supporters. They all refused to identify themselves, but one told a reporter that the group only used pepper spray after they were shoved and punched by their rivals.



But Steele Vaz, 17, of Huntington Beach said he saw masked people spray and punch Sterling and got in the middle to try and break it up.



"I was here to support [Trump] but I didn't know it was going to be violent," said Steele, who was there with his family. "They sprayed her. They were punching her."



His mother Arlet Vaz said she was proud of her son' actions.



"He did the right thing," she said. "He'll defend anybody."



Vaz said this won't stop the family from attending more pro-Trump rallies.



"There is even more reason to go," she said.



Capt. Kevin Pearsall of California State Parks said six people were originally detained but only four were arrested. He said three men were arrested on suspicion of illegal use of a Taser, and one woman was arrested on suspicion of assault and battery. None of their names were immediately released.



Pearsall said all of those arrested were counter-demonstrators.



A separate pro-Trump rally was held Saturday in Hollywood without incident. About 100 people attended the more festive affair, which included music and dancing.



They blamed the media and an evil "globalist" agenda pushed by liberal elites for casting them as bigots.



Elsa Aldeguer, a Latina who said she was head of the Latino Coalition of Los Angeles, had her 9-year-old son speak to the crowd.



The child railed against the mainstream media.



"The media only says bad things about Trump. They don't say the good things about Trump," the boy said to an eruption of cheers.



Others said they were proud of their peaceful event and pointed to the group's diversity as proof that they are not racists.



"We're not here to fight," said Daniel, a Cal State Northridge student from Arcadia who declined to give his last name. Were here to stand up for our beliefs.
New Delhi: The detention of two Sufi clerics from Delhis Nizamuddin dargah was probably the result of a botched operation by Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), a report has said.

The uncle-nephew duo of Asif Nizami and Nizam Nizami were detained by Pakistan intelligence operatives earlier this week on the suspicion that Nizam's frequent visits indicated an underhand agenda, said the report.

The detention was preceded by a report in a Pakistan publication raising doubts over the purpose of the Sufi clerics visit to Lahore. The publication had accused the clerics of being R&AW agents, and on their return to India, the clerics had blamed a Pakistani newspaper for their detention.

The detentions were possibly spurred by the suspicion that the frequent trips of Nizam Nizami to Pakistan had probably been "facilitated" by the Indian government, the report said.

As for Asif Nizami, he was a collateral victim, said the report, having travelled to Pakistan merely to meet his sister living there.

Thus, the Pakistani intelligence agencies could not wheedle any information out of the two Sufi clerics. The operation seems to have been conducted while keeping the Pakistani government in the dark, which also backfired on the ISI, the report said.

After diplomatic heat between India and Pakistan, the two clerics were released for want of evidence.

Pakistan had earlier denied knowledge of the clerics whereabouts, before admitting they were in the custody of its intelligence agencies and releasing them.

The report suggested that the clerics religious orientation  their affiliation with the Sufi sect of Islam, may also have raised hackles. Orthodox sections of Pakistani society do not see the Sufis as genuine Muslims, and Sufi shrines have been attacked and clerics killed by fundamentalists.
Bengaluru: While backing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's remark on anti-Romeo squads, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said that the former's remark was very significant and it clarified that innocent people would not be troubled with this initiative.

"He made it very clear that the anti-Romeo squad which was very essential in Uttar Pradesh is not to harass the couples or students or girls who are interacting with mutual consent. This was a very significant message from him that innocent people will not be troubled," BJP leader S Prakash told ANI.

Prakash said that the clarification was very essential as many doubts were raised, which have now been dispelled by the Chief Minister with his remark.

On Saturday, Adityanath said the anti-Romeo squads must not trouble youngsters unnecessarily, adding that stern action would be taken against the eve-teasers.

"We have formed anti-Romeo squads and now eve-teasers will be dealt with. But girls and boys on moving around or sitting at any place should not be troubled if it is with their consent," Adityanath said in his address at the Maharana Pratap Inter College in Gorakhpur.

Adityanath further said that his government has asked the administration to act strictly on such matters.

Following Adityanath's orders for the safety of girls in the state, Director General of Police (DGP) Javeed Ahmed on Wednesday launched 'anti-Romeo' squads to check on eve-teasing in public areas.

Adityanath had directed the state police to adopt a zero tolerance towards crime and take immediate steps towards improving law and order in the state.
Meanwhile, 2 terrorists snatched a loaded AK-47 assault rifle from a cleric's PSO and attacked him with chilli powder.

Srinagar: In yet another case of policemen being threatened in the Valley, militants barged into the house of a sub-inspector last night in Budgam district, took his son and a nephew hostage, ransacked the house and later set a car ablaze.

The militants drove away in the car with the two boys but later let them off and set the vehicle on fire, police said.

The incident came barely three weeks after militants had barged into the house of a senior police officer in Shopian in South Kashmir and ransacked his house, sending shockwaves among police officers fighting militancy for last 26 years.

The militants entered the house of Sub Inspector M Subhan Bhat and started ransacking his house in Chadoora area of the district in central Kashmir, official sources said, adding that they later took his son and a nephew as hostage and drove away in the car.

According to police sources, the militants said they wanted to kill the officer, who is currently posted at the Baramulla district jail where militant-turned separatist leader Masarat Alam is lodged.

The militants threatened the two boys and fired several rounds in air before setting the car ablaze, they said.

Director General of Police S P Vaid told PTI that stern action would be taken against those responsible for the incident.

"It's the most unfortunate incident to have happened. The terrorists are feeling the heat and stooping so low. Our humane approach should not be seen as our weakness. I will ensure welfare of every personnel in my force and such incidents will be dealt with an iron hand," he said.

Police has launched a manhunt to nab the people after gathering information about the militants from the kins and neighbours.

Director General of Prisons S K Mishra told PTI that he has called for a review meeting tomorrow to ascertain the safety of his personnel and their families guarding various jails in the state.
High alert sounded as cops come under intensified offensive days ahead of bypolls

Policemen conduct a search operation in Jammu and Sunday after three youth attacked the personal security officer of a cleric and snatched his AK-47 rifle. (Photo: PTI)

Srinagar/Jammu: Militants carried out two attacks on police forces in Jammu and Kashmir late Saturday night, pushing the state to a high alert days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit and the upcoming parliamentary by-elections there.

The first incident was reported from Budgam district, which falls under Srinagar parliamentary seat going to polls in the second week of April, where militants barged into the house of a sub-inspector and took his son and a nephew hostage, ransacked the house and set a car ablaze.

The militants drove away in the car with the two boys, and let them off later, setting the vehicle on fire, police said.

The incident came barely three weeks after militants barged into the house of a senior police officer in Shopian in south Kashmir and ransacked his house.

The militants entered the house of sub-inspector M. Subhan Bhat and started ransacking his house in Chadoora area of the district in central Kashmir, official sources said, adding that they later took his son and a nephew as hostage and drove away in the car.

Police said the militants wanted to kill the officer who is currently posted at Baramulla district jail, where separatist leader Masarat Alam is lodged.

In another incident, three boys riding a motorcycle threw chilli powder into the eyes of a personal security officer of a cleric in Jammu, besides hitting him with blunt objects and fleeing with his AK-47 rifle.

A high alert was immediately sounded in Jammu city and security was strengthened in view of the Prime Ministers visit there on April 2 for the inauguration of the Chenani-Nashri tunnel.

Police arrested two of the suspects  Masood and Shahid  and launched a hunt to track down the third accused, Asif, who fled with the AK-47 rifle.

Masood hails from Shopian district. All the three have a police record of being stone-pelters. The injured constable has been admitted to hospital.
The Prime Minister also touched upon cleanliness, wastage of food and fighting depression during his radio address.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon the people to take the fight against black money and graft to the next level by shunning cash and going digital.

Urging 125 crore Indians to become a part of the countrys transformation and realise the dream of New India, Mr Modi, in the 30th edition of Mann Ki Baat broadcast by AIR, asked people to shift to digital mode of payment for all transactions  from paying school fee and buying medicine or items from fair price shops, to purchasing air and train tickets.

You cant imagine how you can serve the country in this way and become a brave soldier in the fight against black money and corruption, he said.

After invoking the sacrifice of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, and recalling Mahatma Gandhis Champaran Satyagraha, Mr Modi said that if Indians take a pledge and unite to work towards it, a bhavya (grand) and divya (brilliant) India will become a reality. March 23 was the death anniversary of the three martyrs, and 2017 marks the centenary of Champaran Satyagraha.

New India is neither a government programme, nor is it the manifesto of a political party, nor is it a project. New India is the essence of the emotions of the 125 crore Indians wanting to come together and create a magnificent India, he said.

Observing that the Budget had announced that there would be 2,500 crore digital transactions this year, he said if 125 crore countrymen resolve, they need not wait for a year; they can do it in six months.

Expressing gratitude to the people, Mr Modi said that over the last few months the country has witnessed an atmosphere in which people in large numbers have participated in the digital payment, Digidhan movement.

There has also been an increase in curiosity about cashless transactions. The poorest of the poor are making attempts to learn, and people are gradually moving towards doing business without cash. There has been a surge in various modes of digital payment after demonetisation, he said, adding that the BHIM App, launched about two and a half months ago, has already been downloaded by one and half crore people.

Mr Modi began his radio address, the first after the BJPs landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and forming coalition governments in Goa and Manipur, by greeting the people of Bangladesh on their Independence Day.

The Prime Minister also touched upon cleanliness, wastage of food and fighting depression during his radio address.
Chemicals and fertilisers ministry seeks to take over the health ministrys major revenue generating wing.

New Delhi: A proposal by the chemicals and fertilisers ministry to take over the health ministrys major revenue generating wing  the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation  could set off a turf war.

The department of pharmaceuticals, which comes under the chemicals and fertilisers ministry, has moved a proposal to the Cabinet secretariat suggesting to subsume CDSCO, the national regulatory body for pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

According to the proposal, the department has suggesting moving CDSCO from the health ministry. They have also suggested creating a separate ministry which will work both as facilitator and regulator for pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

The government is contemplating if all pharma related departments can be brought under one roof, a source said. Sources said the Cabinet secretariat has sought comments from all those whose business will be impacted due to the proposal, which the health and family welfare ministries, the department of industrial policy and promotion, and the commerce ministry.

The move comes after a group of secretaries in its recommendations to the Prime Minister recently suggested that pharmaceuticals and Ayush ministry be shifted to the health ministry.

Significantly, the group comprised secretaries from the health ministry, Ayush, health research and pharmaceuticals, among others. The recent proposal by the chemical and fertiliser ministry has, therefore, not gone well with many.

There has been a need of right-sizing institutions, and in the recent recommendations to the PM it was suggested that the pharma sector and Ayush should come under the health ministry, a source said.

The proposal to take over the reins of the drug controller is completely opposite to what was suggested to the PM and is likely to cause a stir, the source said.

At present, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation and the Drug Controller General of India, under the health ministry, deal with regulatory control over import of drugs, approval of new drugs and clinical trials. The CDSCO lays down the standards of drugs, an expert said.
Statement made in presence of UP minister Suresh Rana.

Lucknow: A newly elected BJP MLA, Vikram Saini, has said that he would break the limbs of those people who do not respect cows and kill them.

The MLA represents the Khatauli Assembly segment in Muzaffarnagar district and is an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case. He was detained under the National Security Act.

Speaking at a function in his constituency on Saturday evening, he said, I will break the hands and legs of people who do not take pride in chanting Vande Mataram and dont consider cows to be their mothers and kill them.

The MLA made this statement in the presence of UP minister Suresh Rana. We are ready to fulfill our promises. We have a team of youth activists to take action against such persons, he said.

The remarks came on a day when UP chief minister Adityanath Yogi directed that the ban on cow smuggling be enforced and action be taken only against unauthorised slaughterhouses. The chief minister has made it clear that slaughterhouses that are operating legally would not be touched.
The Shiv Sena also criticised Gaikwad for his behaviour, but MP Sanjay Raut said party leaders would

Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was banned by seven airlines after he assaulted a 60-year-old Air India staff while boarding the flight at Delhi Airport, has threatened to sue the national carrier and IndiGo for cancelling his tickets.

"I will take legal action against IndiGo and Air India for cancelling my confirmed tickets," Gaikwad, who was supposed to fly to Pune from Delhi, said on Sunday.

The national carrier had cancelled Gaikwads return ticket to Pune after he boastfully asserted he would board the flight. Private airline IndiGo followed suit. With no travel option available, he was forced to take a train back from Delhi.

Gaikwad, an MP from Osmanabad, had assaulted R Sukumar after being unable to travel business class on an all-economy flight from Pune to New Delhi. Air India officials claim they had informed the MPs office, at the time of booking, that the plane was all-economy.

Speaking to media later that day, Gaikwad had admitted hitting Sukumar 25 times with slipper while justified his act, saying the staff had misbehaved with him and that he wont take abuses from anyone.

The Delhi Police had lodged an FIR against the lawmaker based on a complaint filed by Air India, which had also blacklisted Gaikwad. Later, IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, AirAsia India and Vistara also bared the MP from flying on their network.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had condemned the incident, saying, No political party will encourage physical assault. It should never have happened.

The Shiv Sena also criticised Gaikwad for his behaviour, but Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said party leaders would "raise their hand" wherever needed.
The BJP has roped in hundreds of vistaraks to assist it in expanding its base across the country.

New Delhi: With an eye on the 2019 electoral battle and also as part of BJPs strategy to expand its organisational base, party president Amit Shah has deputed vistaraks to expand its reach of thoughts and Prime Minister Narendra Modis message of sabka saath sabka vikas. Taken from the RSS model, vistaraks are volunteers but not full-timers like the pracharaks and also consists of professionals. The BJP has roped in hundreds of vistaraks to assist it in expanding its base across the country.

Also, the much awaited re-organisation of Mr Shahs team could take place soon with a new organisational general secretary, a post held by a RSS man.

These vistaraks have been assigned the task to convey BJPs message and highlight central governments schemes and apprise the party leadership of the real situation on the ground.

These vistaraks will spend atleast one month at the mandal level, meeting party workers, leaders and supporters to ascertain the issues troubling the party, which would then be resolved by the leadership. Mr Shah himself will be visiting state units from next month for a reality check of the partys real organisational strength.

Mr Shah wants partys state units to remain battle-ready before 2019 and also for the Assembly elections in states including Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and those scheduled for next year.

Speculation is rife that ahead of the next national executive meeting of the BJP, Mr Shahs new team could be declared. Some new faces would also be added in Mr Shahs team as some of its members are now part of the Adityanath Yogi-led Uttar Pradesh government. Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Rawat was also part of the central team.

A booth is an administrative unit, followed by a ward and then a mandal. Depending on the size of the state, a mandal could consist of 80 to 100 booths.

Also, office bearers at the mandal level in each state have also been asked to swap their work with another mandals office bearers to understand wide ranging issues from their respective state. They have been asked to work at a different mandal for atleast a month.
This mixed picture shows that the relationship between religiosity and death anxiety may not be fixed.

London: Does religion make you less afraid of death? People on two far ends of the spectrum - atheists as well as those who are very religious are least fearful of dying, scientists say.

Researchers, including those from Oxford University in the UK, studied the relationship between death anxiety and religious belief. They found about 100 relevant articles, published between 1961 and 2014, containing information about 26,000 people worldwide.

Combining this data, they found that higher levels of religiosity were weakly linked with lower levels of death anxiety. The effects were similar whether they looked at religious beliefs such as belief in God, and an afterlife, or religious behaviour like going to church, and praying, researchers said.

The meta-analysis showed that while people who were intrinsically religious enjoyed lower levels of death anxiety, those who were extrinsically religious revealed higher levels of death anxiety.

Extrinsic religiosity is when religious behaviour is motivated by pragmatic considerations such as the social or emotional benefits of following a religion, whereas intrinsic religiosity refers to religious behaviour driven by true belief.

The findings were mixed across the studies, with only 30 per cent of the effects showing this finding. About 18 per cent of the studies found that religious people were more afraid of death than non-religious people and over half the research showed no link at all between the fear of death and religiosity.

This mixed picture shows that the relationship between religiosity and death anxiety may not be fixed, but may differ from context to context, researchers said.

Researchers also checked for curvilinear patterns in the data. Out of the 100 studies, the team only found 11 studies that were robust enough to test this idea, however, of these, almost all (10) formed this pattern.

"This definitely complicates the old view, that religious people are less afraid of death than nonreligious people. It may well be that atheism also provides comfort from death, or that people who are just not afraid of death are not compelled to seek religion," said Jonathan Jong of Coventry University in the UK.

The research was published in the journal Religion, Brain and Behaviour.
Competing for a coveted prize at Nasas fourth Human Exploration Rover Challenge, the team travelled to Huntsville, Albama on Sunday.

Taking a trip to NASA is the stuff of dreams for many. But for a team of six engineering students from Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management, NMIMS  or Technovators as they call themselves  this dream has finally turned into reality. Competing for a coveted prize at Nasas fourth Human Exploration Rover Challenge, the team travelled to Huntsville, Albama on Sunday. Consisting of four boys and two girls, it is the only team to make the cut among Mumbai colleges, apart from two others from across the country. With over 99 teams participating from across the globe, the bars are raised high. Speaking to us over the phone from the space haven, team leader Tirth Shah explains what the challenge entails. Students are expected to build and design their own rovers from scratch, which are then tested on a makeshift pathway similar to the celestial bodies in the solar system, he shares.

Team Technovators has designed, fabricated and tested the rover, which weighs over 108 kg. Theyve spent over six months building the vehicle and are now waiting for it to be shipped. Chirag Kulkarni was the manufacturing in-charge and took care of every minor detail during the fabrication process. It was a wonderful experience. I learned many practical aspects, scope and limitations of engineering. To make sure our rover is stable in extreme conditions, we had to do multiple calculations to get the correct centre of gravity. We studied how the other rovers are built and took the risk of making the light- weight rover, he adds.

The wheels of the rover have been designed after rigorous testing and prototyping and the team has already applied for a patent of the design. Sarthak Agarwal used his expertise of software design for designing the wheels. The periphery of the wheel is in the form of a bent M shape, which increases traction three-folds, thus providing a better grip, he explains.

Having made their way to the US on the weekend, the teams immediate excitement was marred by a glitch at the airport. Speaking to us hours after landing, the team is without its luggage, thanks to the airport authorities misplacing them. The actual competition begins on March 30, but for us it has already begun. We have been travelling for 22-hours and our bags are nowhere in sight. The airlines has promised that they will send it in two days, we can only keep our fingers crossed, says the hopeful team leader.

Twenty-year-old Birva Ghodasara understands the pressure such global competitions bring, but she chooses to focus on her first trip to U.S instead. There is always a little bit of pressure in any competition. But more importantly we want to take away an experience of a lifetime from this dream trip. This is an excellent opportunity to work alongside NASA astronauts, she says excitedly.
Claim neither court nor government took action against colleagues assailants.

Mumbai: The states resident doctors may have resumed duty late on Friday night in the wake of the Bombay high courts rap and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis warning, but some of them took to microblogging site Twitter on Saturday to slam the high court and Mr Fadnavis.

The angry doctors tweeted that neither the court nor the government had taken any action against their colleagues assailants in spite of repeated cases. Doctors questioned whether the high court judges themselves were harassing victims and supporting the criminals.

Nearly 4,000 resident doctors were on strike from Monday to Friday evening, demanding enhanced security in the wake of a string of attacks on their colleagues by patients relatives at government hospitals across the state. However, the high court on Friday asked the doctors to resume duty by Saturday morning at the latest.

Umesh Yadav, claiming to be a doctor, had tweeted, The Bombay high court took 12 years to find Salman Khan was driving or not but within few hours founds doctors strike illegal(sic).

Another, person named Dr Suraj Thakuriya tweeted, Million of cases are pending in court for years. If they cannot give decision on time, they are not fit for the profession (sic).

The high court on Friday had said, We listened to doctors on Thursday and understood your problems, showing sympathy to you (doctors). We directed the hospital management not to take punitive action against you, but still you have not withdrawn the strike and have taken undue advantage of sympathy.

Resident doctors also tweeted at the judges who heard the case, saying that they were safer than doctors. If judges start working like doctors, they will die and if doctors start working like judges, whole country will die, tweeted one Dr Navin Kumar.

Meanwhile, Sagar Mundada of Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) said, Initially a few doctors had taken to Twitter, following the high courts ruling. But we as an organisation do not share the opinions expressed by individuals on Twitter. Our view is clear and we have said that in court that were are resuming duty and we hope the government will fulfil our demands. Meanwhile, resident doctors have demanded that attacks on them be made non-bailable offence. After protests in 2010, the state had framed the Doctors Protection Act, 2010 but the doctors have claimed it has never been used.
The resident doctors all over the state resumed duty (Friday) midnight itself and rest have joined (Saturday) morning.

Mumbai: All resident doctors who went on mass leave to protest assaults on colleagues across the state, resumed duty across Maharashtra at civic- and government -run hospitals. No stringent action has been taken against them as they have rejoined duty. The directorate of medical education and research (DMER), Dr Pravin Shingare, confirmed the same on Saturday.

The doctors mass leave (strike) agitation was called off in the wee hours of Friday, after the negotiations held between doctors and medical education minister Girish Mahajan, state health minister Dr Deepak Sawant and chief minister Devendra Fadnvis. The strike was also called off after an ultimatum issued by the Bombay high court.

Dr Yashwardhan Kabra, president, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), said, The resident doctors all over the state resumed duty (Friday) midnight itself and rest have joined (Saturday) morning. He said their three major demands were armed police security and alarm system in hospitals and that per patient two passes should be issued.

The government issued a letter of assurance, our demands are fulfilled. Adequate security will be deployed across hospitals. A two-pass system per patient will be started immediately at casualty, while one pass will be allowed per patient in general wards. Visiting hours have been fixed between 7.30 am and 8.30 am in the morning, and between 4.30 pm and 6.30 pm in the evening, he said.

The letter of assurance issued by the state government said First Information Reports (FIRs) in cases of assault on doctors on duty is to be lodged strictly under the Doctors Protection Act 2010 by the institute or hospital where the incident takes place.

An alarm will be installed at all government hospitals by April 30, 2017 to inform the staff in emergency situations.
He also said that tackling terrorism is the top priority for Mumbai police in their endeavour to keep the city safe and secure.

Mumbai: The city police have been able to rein in the underworld activities and are confident of tackling the organised crime syndicates, Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar has said.

"Tackling organised crime syndicates is an important task for police in Mumbai. There must be an action plan to tackle the organised crime syndicates in Mumbai," Padsalgikar told PTI on Saturday.

"We have arrested some important gang members and have been successful in overpowering the underworld," he claimed.

"They will try to make a comeback, but, we will deal with them," said Padsalgikar, who took over as Mumbai Police Commissioner 14 months ago.

"We can control gangs and their members by applying stringent legal provisions for serious crimes," he said, when his attention was drawn to the absence of police encounters which were a permanent fixture in the 90s.

He also said that tackling terrorism is the top priority for Mumbai police in their endeavour to keep the city safe and secure.

"We need to take note of behavioural changes of the youth," he said.

With the help of Anti-Terrorism Squad, the Mumbai police have started an initiative to de-radicalise the youth, Padsalgikar said.

"The youth must know where their future is. They must not indulge in wrong activities. They must listen to their parents and good people in society," he said.

On starting the eight-hour duty for the police personnel, he said, "We have started this initiative on an experimental basis at a few police stations."

The initiative has been started at 44 out of the total 93 police stations in Mumbai, he said.

Ten more police stations will be added to this list in the coming days, the top police officer said.

The initiative involves rationalisation of human resources and proper work allocation. It does not entail any additional manpower and funds, Padsalgikar said.

"Due to the eight-hour duty, the stress level of police personnel is down and they are now able to give more time to their families," he said.
Sources from Sena mentioned that Gaikwad and his wife are currently staying at a relatives house in Pune.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena member of Parliament (MP) Ravindra Gaikwad, who attained infamy for beating an Air India (AI) employee with his sandal 25 times, is yet to reach his home in Osmanabad after alighting from a Mumbai-bound train on Saturday.

Gaikwad is allegedly in Pune, at his relatives house and is not expected to go to his house soon, sources said. His supporters claim that a bandh has been called in Osmanabad on Monday to protest against the airlines decision to not fly Gaikwad. He is expected to go back to Delhi, and hence apparently is not coming to Osamanabad, and will take a train again. While the contact numbers of Gaikwad and his wife are not available, a certain Mr Joshi, who claims to be Gaikwads personal assistant, answered a call made to his house in Osmanabad.

When this reporter asked Mr Joshi about the whereabouts of Gaikwad, he said, Gaikwad is not in Osmanabad. He has not come here and there is no confirmation on when he will reach Osmanabad. He has to go back to Delhi and will go back via Pune or Mumbai.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena in Mumbai clarified that the party has not called for any bandh in Osmanabad. However, Mr Joshi claimed that the party has called for the bandh. The deputy leader of Sena in Osmanabad, has called for a bandh, he said.

Sources from Sena mentioned that Gaikwad and his wife are currently staying at a relatives house in Pune. The Sena MP grabbed headlines after he used his sandals to assault an AI employee for not being accommodated in business class. After the incident, AI and several other airlines barred Gaikwad from flying with them. Consequently, Gaikwad was forced to board a train from Delhi. The media was waiting for Gaikwad in Mumbai on Saturday, but he got down midway at Vapi and left for Pune by road.
Tambe, a resident of Mumbra, allegedly joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in September 2016.

Mumbai: Officials from the ministry of external affairs (MEA) have allegedly established contact with Mumbras alleged Islamic State (IS) recruit Tabrez Tambe (28), who left the country last September to join the terror outfits fighters in Libya.

The MEA allegedly asked Tambe, who is wanted in a case registered by the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) under the antiterror unlawful activities prevention act (UAPA) last December, to return to India and face the probe.

Sources from the ATS said that MEA officials spoke to Tambe on the telephone on encrypted channels. We traced Tabrez through sources and later made MEA officers talk to him two weeks ago on encrypted channels, said an ATS source.

After contacting Tambe, the ATS shared the contact details with the MEA. Sources from the MEA were tight-lipped about the exact details of the encrypted conversations with Tambe as the process is still underway. The MEA has begun approaching the various power centres in Libya to facilitate Tambes return. He is allegedly under the custody of Libyan authorities.

Tambe, a resident of Mumbra, allegedly joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in September 2016. He worked as a cargo handler and had left his home in September on the pretext of getting work in Egypt. His family came to know about his IS connection when he contacted his brother, Saud in December 2016. He told him that he was arrested in Libya. Tambe went Libya to join the ISIS with his friend Ali. Despite repeated attempts, Saud was unavailable for comment. Sources from the MEA confirmed that senior officials had spoken to Tambe 15 days ago. Efforts will be taken to bring Tabrez back to India. Although Ali is still untraceable, it is still unclear where he has gone, the source said.

The Centre had tried to connect with each of the three Libyan governments and also contacted the three main militias in Libya to trace Tambe.
If you hate Mr Zardari, you believe hell do anything for money and is motivated by nothing else.

It could just be the absence of meaty stuff. No Panama, Fasaad already inducing yawns  the national circus needed some excitement. And theres nothing like a bit of civilian bashing to energise the system again. Maybe itll disappear once Panama returns or something new and unexpected happens  never say never in this land of ours. But already it has taken a turn for the nasty. History is being rewritten at will. On, then, to this Osama business. Worlds deadliest terrorist found in Pakistan. Not a great place to be, was always going to have repercussions, etc. It takes a special kind of distortion though for, six years later, a contrived dispute over visas to eclipse the real issue. But theres a reason for it.

From Raymond Davis to the Abbottabad raid to Mikes Haqqani Network is a Veritable Arm of the ISI to Memogate  2011 was an annus horribilis, for civ-mil and Pak-US. And, improbably, it was all connected. Years later, theres no real reason to disbelieve the core of the boys public claim.

Zardari and Co. probably did facilitate a surge in American intel types in Pakistan, and Zardari and Co. probably did make some kind of idiotic offer to the Americans in Memogate. But thats not really what angered the boys. What scared them was that a master dealmaker in Mr Zardari and a frustrated Pentagon and disillusioned White House on the other side might actually pull off something. Something that would loosen the boys iron grip. Rewind to 2010. Gen. Kayani was popular and had forced Mr Zardari into retreat. By year end, Gen. Kayani had grabbed an extension for himself and things were looking pretty bleak for the PPP in terms of policy. After the no-first-strike and ISI-to-Interior missteps early on, the PPP had been muscled out. The Mumbai attacks sealed the civilians irrelevance. But Mr Zardari, for all his love of money, wanted something more than mere figurehead status. Maybe it was the memory of BB and a desperation to be seen as her equal, but he wanted back in the policy game. And thats where the trouble began  again.

If you hate Mr Zardari, you believe hell do anything for money and is motivated by nothing else. If you can allow yourself a wee bit of generosity, you may be able to put your finger on the policy disagreement. Its not very hard to see what both sides may have been thinking. The civilian preference was straightforward though, equally obviously, fiendishly difficult to effect: shut down the jihad network at home, bolster the precarious Afghan State and open up to India. Rebuffed by the boys within months of arriving, and having complicated partners in Kabul and Delhi, Mr Zardari turned to the obvious power with the obvious interest and clout: the US. His recent publicly expressed disappointment with Mr Obama tells its own tale.

But back then Mr Zardari did what all civilians, desperate and uncertain but dogged in their own way, do: offered whatever the hell he thought may cause the Americans to show interest in him again. On the other side, the boys didnt  couldnt  really think that Mr Zardari would succeed. After all, 9/11 had only resulted in a shelving of the jihad project, not dismantling it. But allow a large-scale American intel presence inside Pakistan, and dangerous, funny, other things could start to happen. We all know how things turned out to be. Mr Husain was too conniving, Mr Zardari naive, Mr Obama already disengaged and the boys unduly paranoid. So, the boys won  as they mostly do. Pakistan? Thats another matter. But if theyre old wounds, why the fresh fake outrage? Because the civilians cant be allowed to forget whos boss, or what the boys can do to them.

By arrangement with Dawn
Germany last year warded off two cyberattacks by APT28, a top official said Friday, referring to a Russian hacking group also dubbed "Fancy Bear" that experts say successfully targeted Hillary Clinton's US election campaign.

The first, in May 2016, was an attempt to create an internet domain for chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in the Baltic region, said Arne Schoenbohm, president of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

The second attack, several months later, involved a spear-phishing scheme directed against German parties in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. Experts said that attack used a NATO domain name to try to inject malicious software into the networks of politicians.

The hacking of the Democratic National Committee in the United States and the leaking of confidential emails was part of what US intelligence agencies concluded was a campaign ordered by president Vladimir Putin to influence the US election in favour of Donald Trump.

The US agencies warned in January that Russia was likely to target other countries in the same way -- a concern for European governments in a year when France and Germany are holding major elections, with Merkel seeking a fourth term.

"Germany remains in danger in the cyber arena since we are highly digitised," Schoenbohm told Reuters in an interview. "The more we digitise, the more dependent we become on networks, the greater the risk of attack."

He said his agency was doing all it could to strengthen Germany's defences against such attacks by monitoring government networks and educating politicians and parties about how to protect their networks.

"We give them advice and help them with certain measures. But in the end, what each party does is its own responsibility," Schoenbohm said.

Germany was working closely with authorities in the United States, France and elsewhere to compare notes about cyberattacks they had experienced.

Diverse targets

APT28/Fancy Bear is the same Russian hacking group that officials say stole 16 gigabytes of data from the German parliament in 2015.

It also targeted the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in December, according to US and European security officials, and was responsible for leaking the medical records of top international athletes after Russia's track and field team was banned from last year's Olympics for doping.

In December, Germany's BfV domestic intelligence agency reported a striking increase in Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns it said were aimed at destabilising German society, as well as cyberattacks targeted against political parties. It gave no details at the time.

Schoenbohm said neither of the 2016 attacks targeting Germany - or a string of others he did not detail - was successful, but it was unclear to what extent political parties might have experienced security breaches.

BSI experts will host a workshop next week for politicians in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia ahead of May 12 elections there, and a similar one for Bundestag members in Berlin.

Schoenbohm welcomed work by Merkel's coalition on a law that would bolster security for a growing number of household appliances that linked to the Internet and therefore vulnerable to attack.

He said the law could include a BSI "seal of approval" to help consumers identify which gadgets were secure.

"The worst thing that could happen" would be that consumers withdrew from the so-called 'Internet of Things' for fear of being hacked, he said. "We want to have a successful digitisation."
Uber has grounded its fleet of self-driving cars pending an investigation into the crash of an Uber autonomous vehicle in Arizona, a spokesperson for the car-hailing service said Sunday.

No one was seriously injured in the accident which occurred Friday in Tempe, Arizona while the vehicle -- a Volvo SUV -- was in self-driving mode, the company said.

"We are continuing to look into this incident and can confirm we had no backseat passengers in the vehicle," the Uber spokesperson said.

The accident occurred when the other vehicle "failed to yield" while making a left turn, Tempe police spokeswoman Josie Montenegros said.

"The vehicles collided causing the autonomous vehicle to roll onto it's side. There were no serious injuries," she said.

Self-driving Uber vehicles always have a driver who can take over the controls at any time.

Montenegro said it was uncertain whether the Uber driver was controlling the vehicle at the time of the collision.

The company grounded its self-driving vehicles in Arizona after the accident, and then followed up on Saturday pulling them off the road in Pittsburg and San Francisco, the two other locations where it operates self-driving vehicles, the company said.

The car-hailing service has been dented by a series of bad news stories, including disclosures about a culture of sexism, cut-throat workplace tactics and covert use of law enforcement-evading software.

A number of executives have left the company in recent weeks, including president Jeff Jones, as troubles have mounted.

Advocates of self-driving cars say that they can cut down on deadly traffic accidents by eliminating human error.

But there have been accidents, including a fatality in Florida in May when a truck struck a speeding Tesla that was on autopilot.

An investigation found no safety-related defects with the autopilot system, but concluded that the driver may have had time to avert the crash if he had been paying closer attention.
India House is a community centre built by Americans of Indian origin in the Greater Houston area to serve all who need help.

India's Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna hands over to Ian Grillot a cheque of USD 100,000 raised by the Indian American community at the 14th annual gala of India House Houston on Sunday. (Photo: AP)

Houston: Ian Grillot, who was injured while trying to intervene during the Kansas shooting incident that killed Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, was felicitated by Indian-Americans community in Houston.

"It is not every day that one meets a genuine hero - a person who risks his life for another, and takes a bullet for a complete stranger. Ian Grillot is a man who reminds us of the promise of America and its greatness," said Jiten Agarwal, a prominent Houstonian and Chair of India House Houston's annual gala, according to a statement posted on Facebook by the community.

India House is a community centre built by Americans of Indian origin in the Greater Houston area to serve all who need help.

According to the statement, on behalf of the Indian-American community in Houston, India House recognized this act beyond the call of duty and has extended the community's gratitude to Ian Grillot by helping him to buy a house with a $1,00,000 cheque.

Charlie Yalamanchili, a prominent Houstonian of Indian-origin, proposed the house purchase, and offered to match every dollar raised by India House for this cause. With such generous support from Yalamanchili, India House raised $100,000 that will help Ian buy a house in his hometown in Kansas. This initiative was strongly encouraged and supported by the Consul General of India in Houston, Dr Anupam Ray, according to the statement.

Kuchibhotla was shot dead on February 22 in Kansas in an alleged racial attack, after the gunman, Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran was heard shouting "get out of my country".

The incident also left two others injured including Grillot who stood up to the adversity.
Dhaka: Two explosions ripped through a crowd Saturday, killing six people and injuring some 50 in Bangladesh's northeastern city of Sylhet as army commandos stormed an Islamist extremist hideout, police said.

The "powerful" blasts went off some 400 yards (metres) from the hideout, targeting police and hundreds of onlookers who were watching the commandos conduct an anti-militant operation at a five-storey apartment building, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Sylhet police Basudeb Banik told AFP "six people including two police officers were killed" in the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group via its propaganda agency Amaq.

He said around 50 people were injured including about a dozen police and security officers.

Several people were reported to be in critical condition, including the head of intelligence of the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which is tasked with combating Islamist extremism in the country, he said.

Police primarily suspect the blasts were the work of a new faction of the homegrown extremist group, Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which has been blamed for a wave of attacks in recent years.

Police could not confirm if it was a suicide attack but believe one of the attackers could be among the dead.

IS claimed via Amaq that there were "dozens killed and wounded among Bangladeshi forces as a result of the detonation of an explosive device", according to US-based monitoring agency SITE Intelligence Group.

Banik rejected the claim, saying IS does not have any presence in the country.

The blasts occurred after an hours-long exchange of gunfire and commandos rescued "78 civilian hostages" from the hideout where several Islamist militants were holed up in a ground-floor apartment.

"Our main task was to rescue the hostages, which we have done successfully. We were able to rescue all 78 people safely," army spokesman Brigadier General Fakhrul Ahsan told reporters.He said the extremists were still inside the apartment building where they had barricaded themselves and laid explosive devices.

"As a result the whole operation is being conducted carefully," he said.

The commandos backed by armoured personnel carriers launched the operation after a more than 30-hour standoff that began early Friday morning when police sealed off the building as militants detonated small bombs.

The spokesman could not say how many extremists were in the building, but police said there were at least two including a woman.

"They are Islamist extremists," police spokesman Musa said, adding they shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is the greatest).

Police used loudspeakers to ask the extremists to surrender, but they refused to give up, Musa said.

The raid came after a series of suicide attacks on security camps by Islamist extremists this month including one at a police checkpoint near the country's main international airport on Friday night.

Two of the three attacks, including Friday's blast in which the suicide attacker was killed, were claimed by the Islamic State group.

This month a police elite unit also stormed a building outside the port city of Chittagong, killing four members of JMB, including a woman.

IS has claimed responsibility for a wave of killings since 2015 including a major attack on a Dhaka cafe last year in which 22 people, including 18 foreign hostages, were killed.

The Bangladeshi government denies IS has any presence in the country, arguing instead that a new faction of JMB was behind the attacks.
Baptism inspires us to follow Jesus and judge men and things according to a new scale of values that comes from God, as well as to walk in the light, that is to "abandon false lights. Francis thanked Milan and the Milanese for the warm reception they showed him yesterday. He also said that it is true that "In Milan people are welcomed heart in hand.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Pope Francis on Sunday spoke about the passage from the Gospel of John (Jn 9,1-41) in which Jesus gives sight to a man blind from birth.

In his address, the pontiff said that Baptism inspires us to follow Jesus, and thus judge men and things according to a new scale of values that comes from God, as well as walk in the light, that is "abandon false lights, the "cold fatuous prejudice towards others "and the "seductive and ambiguous" one of personal interest.

Speaking to a crowd of some 40,000 people in St Peter's Square, the Holy Father said that "Jesus and a man born blind are at the heart of the Gospel of this Fourth Sunday of Lent. Christ restored his sight and worked this miracle with a kind of symbolic ritual: first he mixed earth with saliva and rubbed it on his eyes, then ordered him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. The blind man went, washed, and regained his eyesight. With this miracle, Jesus revealed himself as the light of the world; and the man born blind represents each one of us, created to know God but because of sin are like the blind, we need a new light, that of faith, that Jesus has given us.

In fact, the blind man in the Gospel, by regaining his eyesight, opened up to the mystery of Christ. Do you believe in the Son of man? Jesus asked (v. 35). Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him? answered the healed blind man (v. 36). You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he (v. 37). I do believe, Lord, and he bowed down before Jesus.

"This episode leads us to reflect on our faith in Christ, the Son of God. At the same time, it also refers to Baptism, which is the first sacrament of the faith, the sacrament that makes 'us come to light' through rebirth in water and the Holy Spirit, like it happened to the man born blind, who opened his eyes after washing in the Pool of Siloam. The man born blind and healed represents us when we do not realise that Jesus is the light of the world, when we look elsewhere, when we prefer to rely on little lights, when we fumble in the dark.

The fact that the blind man has no name helps us see ourselves with our face and our name in his story. We too have been 'enlightened' by Christ in Baptism, and so we are called to behave like children of light. This requires a radical change in mind-set, an ability to judge men and things according to a new scale of values, which comes from God. The sacrament of Baptism, in fact, demands a firm and determined choice to live like children of light and walk in the light."

"What does it mean to have the true light, what does it mean to walk in the light? It means first of all abandon the false lights: the cold fatuous light of prejudice towards others because prejudice distorts reality and fills us of hate against those whom we judge without mercy and condemn without appeal. This is a daily evil: talking about others means walking in the shadow.

Another false light, one that is seductive and ambiguous, is self-interest. If we value people and things based on the criterion of our profit, our pleasure, our prestige, we are not truthful in relations and situations. If we go down the road of self-interest, we are walking in the shadow.

May the Blessed Virgin, who first welcomed Jesus, light of the world, grant us the grace of welcoming again this Lent the light of faith, rediscovering the inestimable gift of Baptism. May this new light transform our attitudes and actions so that we too, starting with our poverty and smallness, be bearers of a ray of the light of Christ."

After the Marian prayer, Francis said that yesterday in Almeria, Spain, Jose Alvarez-Benavides y de la Torre and 114 companions who died a martyrs death in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War were beatified. "These priests, religious and lay people were heroic witnesses of Christ and his Gospel of peace and fraternal reconciliation. May their example and intercession sustain the Church's involvement in building the civilisation of love."

The pope then thanked the city and the people Milan for the warm welcome they showed him yesterday. It is true, he said in Milanese "A Milan si riceve col core in man" (In Milan people are welcomed heart in hand).
Choosing A Watch Winder For Your Rolex

Make Sure Your Rolex Is Always Ready For Action With These Pro Winders

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

There are several items most men aim to own in their lifetimes. A high-end Swiss watch usually ranks high on the list. Not just any watch, however  more often than not the object of desire is a Rolex. The name is synonymous with luxury and prestige, a universal symbol of success and permanent style. As a name, it has earned iconic status over time backed by an unshakable dedication to craftsmanship and utter practicality and is frequently cited as the brand with the best reputation in the entire world. And thats not mere marketing.

If youre lucky enough to afford a Rolex in the first place then youve obviously achieved some measure of success. However, its an unfortunate fact that most men dont realize that there is some maintenance involved in owning one. Would you buy a Ferrari and then never wash it or change the oil? Of course not. In addition to servicing it every five years (on average), there are other things you can do to make sure your Rolex stays in mint condition and becomes an heirloom worthy of passing down to your children.

A watch case is obviously a better bet than just throwing it in a drawer. But a watch winder is a more intelligent solution as it will not only preserve your timepiece from scratches and dust but will also keep it running properly as well as set to the correct time and date. Look for one with a solid case and silent motor capable of running long enough to keep the watch up to speed and functioning smoothly. The best ones will even allow you to set the turns per day (TPD).

Why Should You Own A Rolex?

A Rolex is a powerful status symbol and there will always be some men who buy one simply to convey a message to other people. However, that shouldnt be your primary reason for purchasing one. Instead consider the personal satisfaction youll get from owning something beautifully made that will last a lifetime, always function properly and never leave you wishing youd gotten something better  you already have the best.

As Paul Altieri, founder of online Rolex boutique Bobs Watches and one of the worlds top Rolex collectors puts it, Maybe you admire men like JFK, Paul Newman and Steve McQueen who owned Rolex watches that became part of their personas. Maybe you want the ultimate diving watch  the Rolex Submariner  because youre into adventure sports, or maybe you just like the look of it given that its the best watch design ever created.

As Altieri notes, Of course it makes a statement about what kind of man you are, but buy a Rolex for the man you hope to be, not just the one you want others to admire. If it also helps you get the best table at a fancy restaurant, so much the better. Yes, this has been known to happen. However, if you turn out not to be the person your watch says you are it could cause problems down the line.

Why Buy A Watch Winder For Your Rolex?

A couple of reasons come to mind. First is convenience, as a watch winder will regulate the power in the movement of the Rolex by constantly rotating the watch. It can keep your automatic watch wound even when its not being worn, while keeping the lubricants of the device flowing to prevent oil from congealing. If you own multiple Rolexes a winder with more than one cup can keep them all ready to be worn at any time. Keep in mind Rolexes are designed to wind in both directions.

Secondly, a watch winder can be just as much of a decorative item as a functional one. Whether its housing just one or several watches, the device provides your high-priced wrist wear a platform to shine as guests and spectators admire it, should you choose to let them. Most watch winder builders furnish their creations with quality materials to complement the premium appearance of the timepieces inside.

Additional features are quite common on modern watch winders too. This can consist of specialties like optional fast-winding or sleep functions. Both are useful options for the dedicated Rolex wearer. Extra storage slots can be found on some models, storing extra links for your watch band, specially ordered dials or other accessories. Here are the best ones you can buy at various price points:

Swiss KubiK Watch Winder

Over 18 months of research and development went into the design of the Swiss Kubik winder. It is made in Switzerland especially for fine Swiss watches, of which Rolex is the ultimate example. This is a fairly basic model but it allows the beauty of the watch to shine through. The hand-stitched leather covering the exterior is a nice touch, and it has a USB interface allowing for personalized programming.

$875.00 at Amazon.com

Orbita Sparta Bold Black Single Watch Winder

Revered for its battery efficiency, silent operation, and ingenious design, the Sparta favors performance over flash. Orbitas patented Rotorwind Movement mans the mechanical ship  swinging and oscillating your Rolex as opposed to rotating it. This can trigger a 10-minute cycle with an estimated 900-950 TPD or 15-minute cycle with 750 TPD  depending on preference. Thanks to the winders unique construction, the machine uses little battery life, therefore conserving power for longevity.

$250.75 at Amazon.com

Rapport Tetra Single Watch Winder

Available in two highly polished veneers, the wood-cased version of the Tetra Mono remains a consumer favorite thanks to its rich appearance. The brushed aluminum plate on the front adds more pop to your Submariner when placed on the soft black leather holder. Its even fully adjustable to accept all sizes of watch strap or link bracelet. Enjoy programmable winding modes through the controls on the back of the unit.

$674.10 at Amazon.com

Wolf Heritage Single Winder With Cover and Storage

Value engineered to offer high quality at an affordable price, this single-winding cube is the essence of efficiency and style. Intermittent rotation with pause functionality and pre-programmed sleep phases ensure the winder's mechanism operates smoothly for years on end. Theres also an optional 12-hour delay setting. Silent nylon gears are built into the winder for noise-free operation. The extra storage compartment for two Rolexes completes the package.

$225.00 at Amazon.com

Scatola del Tempo Rotori 6RT Watch Winder

Now for something more extravagant, from Scatola Del Tempo, creator of the original watch winder. Lets say you have six Rolexes. This is the winner that suits them all. Finished in tanned leather with silk inserts, its rotors are equipped with high precision micro-motors commanded by a microprocessor and can rotate the watches clockwise or anti-clockwise as you prefer.

$6,520.00 at Amazon.com

Volta Cambridge Watch Winder

One of our favorite watch winders for a comprehensive collection. This winder practically features a natty carbon fiber finish. Control everything through the LCD control screen on the inside of the winder, plus utilize the special speed-winding option for instant resurrection when your watch dies. A sleep mode comes programmed into the winder to simulate the daily use of the watch wearer, while saving energy during the night or weekends. In addition, Volta manufactures each winder with its own serial number, adding a touch of exclusivity to your already elite collection.

$1,270.75 at Amazon.com

Belocia Triple Automatic Watch Winder

This three watch winder makes a great design note for your desk or study, thanks to the ebony wood piano finish. A reliable and silent motor powers five-timer options: 650, 900, 1200, 1500, and 1800 TPD, with intermediate rest cycles to eliminate potential stress on watch movements. Programming is straightforward with an easy-to-read LCD screen and basic commands. Its a pretty smart and super-affordable buy for the Rolex freshman looking maintain his opulent image.

$249.95 at Amazon.com

Orbita Siena Dual Watchwinder

The burled walnut or teak veneer on this beauty displays your Rolexes like works of art, along with the soft-touch rich suede interior and beveled glass viewing panel. Orbita made the Siena battery-operated, but dont let that scare you  it will run for a solid five years before any battery replacements are necessary and it does away with messy-looking dangling power cords.

$1,100.75 at Amazon.com

Wolf Roadster 8 Piece Winder

Another masterpiece from Wolf. With the looks and quality of high-end Scandinavian stereo equipment, this is the highest capacity winder on this list, with space for eight timepieces. It features an ebony Macassar faceplate, two winding modules, three-piece watch storage, a travel case, and locking glass cover. Not too shabby.

$1,917.99 on Amazon.com

Orbita Tourbillon 3

The most striking winder on the list is a piece of horological sculpture in its own right, with a crystal glass sleeve and exposed circuitry letting the timepieces take center stage. A photo-optic system counts each cylinder rotation and automatically advances the rest position 30 after each rotation negating errors caused by gravity. This winder comes with a two-year warranty.

$2,545.75 at Amazon.com

Related Reading

Keep Your Automatic Watch Perfectly On Time With These Slick Winders

Your Handsome Timepiece Collection Deserves An Equally Handsome Case

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IMF Bentham is expanding in Asia, hiring a former senior litigator at Allen & Overy to head its new Singapore office.Australias largest litigation funder has hired Tom Glasgow, a former senior associate at A&Os international arbitration group in Hong Kong and Singapore, as investment manager for Asia. Before joining A&O, he was senior solicitor at Russell McVeaghs general litigation and dispute resolution group.The new Singapore office, which is opening ahead of schedule, takes advantage of recently passed legislation that allows third-party litigation funding in international arbitration conducted in the country. The litigation funding firm also noted that similar legislation is being considered in Hong Kong, where courts can currently permit funding of insolvency and access to justice claims.IMF Bentham is also seeing increasing demand for its capital from law firms and clients across Asia.Clive Bowman, chief executive for Australia and Asia, said that Glasgow not only brings experience as a commercial disputes lawyer in the region, but also a wealth of contacts across various jurisdictions in Asia.Hong Kong and Singapore were actively embracing third-party funding in areas such as arbitration to increase their competitiveness as leading centres for international dispute resolution, Glasgow said. There is potential for long-term growth in these markets, and I am really excited by the opportunity to unlock that potential with a funder of IMF's size and experience.IMF Bentham CEO, Andrew Saker, said that the early launch of its Asian business is a natural progression for the company. It has already funded three matters in Asia to date, he said.IMF Bentham Pte Ltd will be a wholly owned subsidiary of the IMF group, incorporated in Singapore. It will initially focus on funding arbitration and insolvency claims in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Indias Singhania & Co has forged a joint venture with Italys CBA Studio Legale e Tributario, as India gears up for more foreign direct investment.CBA is one of Italys top tax law firms, with more than 120 professionals working out of offices in Milan, Rome, Padua, Venice, and Munich. CBA and Singhaina formally signed their JV agreement at the Consulate General of Italy in Mumbai, according to Bar and Bench.In recent years, [the] Indian government led by Modi has launched actions to facilitate foreign direct investments in 15 sectors, including [the] defence, construction, retail trade, banking, and manufacturing sectors, where Italy excels on an international level; we will work together with Singhania to help Italian companies to find the best conditions to seize the opportunities of such a growing market, said Angelo Bonissoni, CBA managing partner, in a statement.We aim at helping entrepreneurs and operators of different cultures and economies to identify projects and initiatives in the various countries, as well as facilitating financial support to companies and entrepreneurs.Pradeep Jain, managing partner of the Mumbai and Indore offices of Singhaina, said that the JV aims to enhance the firms services through a more global reach.
By David Glance, Director of UWA Centre for Software Practice, University of Western Australia

Author

Estonia is a small country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe with a population of 1.3 million and a GDP of US $23 billion, roughly 10% of Apples annual earnings.

Since its independence from Russia in 1991, Estonia has been rapidly implementing a digital economy. It established online voting in 2007, has provided many government services online, has medical records and prescriptions online and has a fibre broadband network that gives it average speeds similar to those of Korea.

Perhaps the most radical move by the Estonian Government was to introduce an e-Residency program in 2014 which would allow anyone from around the world to become a virtual citizen and start, and run, a business from Estonia.

Applying for e-Residency is simply a matter of filling out an online form, uploading a copy of a passport and a photo, and paying a 100 Euro fee. The application process takes about 4 weeks, during which time a police background check is run. Once approved, it is necessary to turn up at a collection point, usually an Estonian embassy, and collect a smart card that is loaded with a digital certificate representing an e-Residents digital identity.

Every e-Resident is given an official email address @eesti.ee and is then able to use one of the many services to set up a company and bank account in the country, although the bank requires the person opening the account to visit Estonia at least once to open the account. One of the benefits of establishing a company in Estonia is that there is no corporate tax on money that is left within the company.

Since its inception, there has been 17,000 e-Residencies approved with the majority originating in Finland, Russia and the USA. 1,380 new companies have been established by e-Residents, mostly in the technology area but covering a range of other activities. There has been a surge in interest from the UK since the vote to leave the EU with an Estonian e-Residency seen as one way of retaining the ability to operate within the economic zone.

The aim is to have 10 million e-Residents by 2025 and so there is still a way to go to reach that number but the concept has created a constant stream of visitors from other countries trying to learn about the programme.

The idea of a cloud country that follows the same principles of cloud computing or cloud data storage is one that resonates with all sorts of possibilities. Firstly, it acknowledges that as far as our lives on the Internet are concerned, the idea of nationality has less meaning as we are able to interact with any one, at any time, with almost any service, around the globe. Physical restrictions that are imposed by geography, like licensing of content for example, can be circumvented through the use of VPNs connecting through to any country at will.

Once a business is online, it can operate globally with relative ease, handling different currencies and different tax requirements transparently. Even language is no longer a barrier with services like Google Translate becoming increasingly fluent.

The Internet and social networks have created and facilitated global communities that are organised by common interests and ideals rather than the main driver of national identity: physical location.

Like Amazon has done with its computing technology, Estonia has put its government services online and made spare capacity available for others outside its country. It has stopped short of extending the benefits and services offered to e-Residents but that is really only a matter of time as e-Residents contribute increasing amounts of revenue to the country. e-Residency doesnt give the holder any additional rights to enter the country or the EU, but considering that travel is sometimes a necessity for business at least, it makes sense to provide e-Residents with some form of access to travel freely within the European Union.

In researching this article, I applied for an Estonian e-Residency whilst in Helsinki at the Slush startup festival in November, 2016. Once accepted, to pick up the identity card, I had to travel to the Estonian Embassy in Canberra, Australia from Perth where I live. Walking through Australian bush on a hot day was a far cry from the subzero temperatures of Helsinki. Having returned home, e-Residency has now thankfully moved online.

Disclosure

David Glance is an Estonian e-Resident

Originally published in The Conversation.
The pilot of a Turbine Otter that crashed in Alaska in 2015, killing all nine aboard, had turned off the terrain awareness and warning system before the aircraft hit the side of a mountain near Ketchikan. The NTSB released the factual docket on the crash of the Promech Air crash, which occurred in marginal VFR conditions in Misty Fjords National Monument east of Ketchikan. The eight passengers were all cruise ship passengers on a sightseeing tour. Pilot Bryan Krill, 64, had, at some point in the trip, set the TAWS system to Inhibit, which was a common practice in the mountainous terrain to stop the system from going off frequently, according to the report. The crash was characterized by Clint Johnson, the NTSBs chief investigator in Alaska, as controlled flight into terrain.

The NTSB said Krill had done two sightseeing trips that day while another carrier had cancelled its flights because of the weather. He was flying one of three aircraft on the tour. They were on their way back to Ketchikan at the time of the crash. Promech was taking part in the Medallion Foundation, a nonprofit accident avoidance group formed by the Alaska Air Carriers Association, that recognizes carriers for their efforts to prevent CFIT accidents.
26 March 2017 10:02 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to Bangladesh's President Abdul Hamid.

"On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I extend my most sincere congratulations to you and your people on the occasion of the public holiday of the People's Republic of Bangladesh  Independence Day.

On this remarkable day, I wish you robust health, success in your work, and the friendly people of Bangladesh peace and prosperity" said the congratulatory letter.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
26 March 2017 13:12 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Denmark Svend Olling.

Ambassador Svend Olling reviewed a guard of honor.

Svend Olling presented his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev then had a conversation with the Ambassador.

The head of state stressed the necessity of developing bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Denmark in various areas, including in the field of economy. President Ilham Aliyev noted low level of cooperation between the two countries in the economic sphere, including trade, and underlined the need to have more business contacts.

Touching upon successful activity of Danish companies in Azerbaijan, Ambassador Svend Olling said his country`s company invested in Azerbaijan`s oil sector. Noting that Carlsberg operates in Azerbaijan, he pointed out now they attract investors to Azerbaijan`s food industry. The Ambassador said the Danish companies will bring modern technology to Azerbaijan, and they plan to open a turkey factory in Ismayilli district jointly with Azerbaijan`s partners. The Danish diplomat noted that an agreement on elimination of double taxation will be signed between the two countries, and vowed he will spare no efforts to contribute to expanding the bilateral bonds.

The head of state underlined that the Danish companies` investing in non-oil sector of Azerbaijan`s regions correspond to Azerbaijan`s economic policy, and stressed the importance of it in terms of developing regions, expanding local production, reducing dependence on imports and increasing export opportunities.

They also exchanged views over the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Danish diplomat noted that his country supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Moreover, President Aliyev received credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Portugal Paula Leal da Silva.

Ambassador Paula Leal da Silva reviewed a guard of honor.

Paula Leal da Silva presented her credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev then had a conversation with the Ambassador.

Ambassador Paula Leal da Silva conveyed the best wishes and deep respects of President of the Portuguese Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa to the head of state.

She noted that it is her first visit to Azerbaijan, and the development of Baku made a deep impression on her. Paula Leal da Silva said Portugal is very interested in strengthening and deepening bilateral ties with Azerbaijan.

The head of state noted that Azerbaijan is also keen to expand cooperation with Portugal. President Ilham Aliyev underlined the significance of conducting political consultations between the two countries, and increasing the level of economic activity and business relations.

They noted that the two countries enjoy good opportunities for cooperation in the tourism sector, and discussed prospects for expansion of the bilateral bonds in this area.

The head of state thanked for the greetings of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa, and asked the Ambassador to extend his greetings to the Portuguese President and Prime Minister.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Octave Levenspiel, 90, passed away peacefully on Sunday, March 5, 2017. A celebration of his life will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 29, in the Oregon State Memorial Union Lounge with the service beginning at 2 p.m. For more information, go to levenspiel.com.

Billy Jack Christopher, 70, of Albany, passed away Thursday at the Samaritan Evergreen Hospice House. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m., Thursday, April 6, 2017, at Grace Bible Fellowship. Fisher Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Alton Gustavius Williams, Jr., 70, passed away Tuesday, March 21, 2017. A viewing will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, March 30, at the Crown Memorial Center, 8970 SW Tualatin Sherwood Road, Tualatin. A funeral service with full military honors will follow at 1:30 p.m. at Willamette National Cemetery, 11800 SE Mt. Scott Blvd., Portland.
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Despite all the threats that were given out by the Coast regional coordinator Nelson Marwa, the ODM rally at Tononoka showed how Mombasa is still an ODM zone. The Rally which had teams from all corners of Mombasa was successfully and made the Team Jubilee in Mombasa worried.The difference between the ODM rally and the Jubilee rally which both held on the same grounds is that ODM had Mombasa native as the Majority. Teams from Kisauni, Mvita, Likoni, Changamwe, Nyali and Mtwapa were approximately 4000 people in addition to others from Malindi, Taita Taveta, Tana River and Lamu comprised of 20 % attended. The Jubilee had 80% of other regions and 20% from Mombasa.It is also seen that the in house arrest for the Governor terrible failed and he has led the rally welcoming his leader Raila Odinga. The Mombasa town was had an Orange theme because of their leader and theme colour of the party.It is known that the governor Hassan Joho has not yet started his campaign in Mombasa to secure for his seat. It is only the Jubilee aspirant Suleiman Shahbaal struggling to unseat the Governor. The Government has been campaigning for him in Mombasa and currently. Ali Joho is the Most influential governor in Kenya with a lot of support from Five regions, followed by Dr Evans Kidero.According to the Infotrak polls, Governor Ali Joho has the most Votes in Mombasa. People are still trusting him from all angles of the coast region. Mombasa is the heart of the Coast Region. The Governor is the lead for more than 70percent compared to Suleiman Shahbaal and Omar Hassan.
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The activist and acclaimed writer spoke openly about her relationship with her mother.

Booker-prize winning author Arundhati Roy said knew she would be a writer from a very young age because she understood her mothers personal anguish when she was just three years old.

The celebrated Indian writer and political activist detailed her complex relationship with her harsh, bitter and beautiful mother, who had a lot of anger against her.

Although she studied architecture and dabbled in other things, being a writer was always what Arundhati knew she would end up doing because she understood why her mother was so strict with her.

Arundhati, 55, told Kirsty Young on BBC Radio 4s Desert Island Discs: (My mother) was obviously a very headstrong and beautiful woman.

And I think when I was even three years old I might have been a writer then, because it was hard to be that young and to understand why an adult who was harsh with you was being harsh because her own heart was broken.

Children shouldnt understand those things, but writer children probably do.

Arundhati, whose mother Mary is a prominent womens rights activist and educator in India, had broken the cardinal rule by marrying outside of her religion and, after divorcing her husband and returning to her home village with two young children, it became clear they were not wanted there.

Arundhati said her mother was raging because of her own difficult childhood, and was also ill, both of which impacted on her own formative years.

She said: She was very ill all the time, she had asthma, she didnt have anywhere to go so she was living in my grandmothers house and everybody used to tell us you have no right to be here.

She was harsh and she was bitter and she was beautiful and she was tender. I suppose when somebody upset her, the only people she could take it out on was me and my brother, so there was a lot of anger against us.

Arundhati said her mother would compare her to a millstone around her neck, but that Mary would also embrace us too, and love us.

It was difficult because you never knew what was coming at you, which was very unsettling I suppose, but maybe thats what made me a writer, she said.

My mother broke me and made me and broke me and made me, and she still does.

Arundhati, who left home at 16, won the Booker prize for her debut novel The God Of Small Things in 1997, her only work of fiction to date, although she is now gearing up for the release of her second novel, The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness, after a 20-year gap.

She has become known for writing many works of non-fiction on topics ranging from global politics to Indias nuclear weaponisation.

During her interview, Arundhati said I write things because sometimes I just cant not write them, and added: In a way, I have 20 years of essays I never meant to write.

Asked if she is deliberately provocative in her writing, Arundhati said she does not always manage to filter out her anger and added defiantly: But why should I?

Arundhati chose songs from artists from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin to take to a desert island with her.

Desert Island Discs is on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday at 11.15am.
Members of the Civil Defence pilot a drone near to Annagh Head, Co Mayo

The black box of the R116 helicopter crash has been located at the crash site

The Irish Naval Service vessel L.E. Eithne (rear) and the search vessel Granuaile in Blacksod Bay, Co. Mayo, Ireland, as the search continues for an Irish Coast Guard helicopter which went missing off the west coast of Ireland.

Members of the Irish Coastguard continue searching along the coastline near Blacksod, Co. Mayo, Ireland

The body of Captain Mark Duffy is brought ashore at Blacksod Co. Mayo, Ireland, recovered from the wreckage of an Irish Coast Guard helicopter that crashed in the Atlantic.

The body of Captain Mark Duffy is driven in a hearse along the seafront accompanied by a guard of honour at Blacksod Co. Mayo, Ireland, recovered from the wreckage of an Irish Coast Guard helicopter that crashed in the Atlantic.

The body of Captain Mark Duffy is driven in a hearse along the seafront accompanied by a guard of honour at Blacksod Co. Mayo, Ireland, recovered from the wreckage of an Irish Coast Guard helicopter that crashed in the Atlantic.

Divers have recovered the body of Captain Mark Duffy, one of the Irish Coast Guard crew who died when their helicopter crashed off the Co Mayo coast.

The remains were discovered on Friday in the cockpit of Rescue 116 off Blackrock island, about 13km (eight miles) off the coast.

The wreck lies 40m down with divers needing swells below 3m for a safe recovery operation.

The body of Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, a 45-year-old mother-of-one, was the first one of the four crew to have been recovered from the ocean.

The other crew members were Captain Mark Duffy, Winchman Ciaran Smith and Winch Operator Paul Ormsby.

Navy divers freed the body of a crewman from the cockpit of the wreckage on Sunday, authorities leading the recovery operation confirmed.

The black box, which holds the flight data and voice records, was taken from the wreckage on Friday and flown to Farnborough in England.

Some water is believed to have seeped into the unit and Ireland's Air Accident Investigations Unit (AAIU) hopes the specialist facilities in the UK will allow the unit to be dried and the data downloaded.

Investigators believe the tail of Rescue 116 hit rocks on the western end of the island as it returned from supporting a rescue mission to refuel at Blacksod.

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There was no indication of any danger moments before the Sikorsky S92 vanished, with the crew's final transmission: "Shortly landing at Blacksod."

Captain Duffy's body was brought to the pier in Blacksod by Naval Service officers, including Lieutenant Commander Darragh Kirwan and Lieutenant Dan Humphries, officer in charge of the Naval Service dive section.

Lt Cmdr Kirwan said: "It's not lost on us that the families are all here as well.

"At the end of the day it is about the families.

"It would be on our minds, first of all for the divers to be successful this morning and to bring back the body of one of the crew members and obviously to give some respect and dignity on the journey back in and to be able to effectively offer ceremony to the recovery of that body when we brought it back ashore."

The coffin, draped in the Irish Tricolour, was driven off the pier with a lone piper leading the cortege.

Behind the hearse scores of Irish Coast Guard staff and others involved in the search and recovery over the last 12 days formed a guard of honour and escorted the remains out of the village.

A few miles away in the village of Aghleam scores of local parents and children gathered at the roadside to pay their respects.

The search continues for the bodies of the two remaining crew.
"Hero" MP Tobias Ellwood has said he is "heartbroken" that his efforts to save the life of a police officer during the Westminster terror attack were ultimately unsuccessful.

The Foreign Office minister ran towards gunfire to help Pc Keith Palmer, who was stabbed in Wednesday's attack by terrorist Khalid Masood.

Mr Ellwood was pictured with blood on his face and clothes as he tried to give Pc Palmer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and stem the blood amid the carnage in New Palace Yard, but the officer died from his injuries.

The former soldier said he was just doing what he was trained to do as he praised the "humbling" and "overwhelming" messages of support from the policing fraternity.

He intends to write to Pc Palmer's family to offer his condolences and said he was "honoured" to be appointed to the Privy Council, alongside security minister Ben Wallace, in recognition of their roles in responding to the atrocity.

Mr Ellwood, who has been branded a hero for his actions, said in a statement: "I am heartbroken that I could not do more for Pc Keith Palmer who gave his life in holding the line against terrorism and defending democracy. I shall be writing to the family of Pc Palmer to offer my sincere condolences.

"It is right that despite the terrible events on Wednesday, Parliamentary business continued the next day as usual, the democratic machine was not interrupted and our way of life did not stop.

"I'm deeply humbled and overwhelmed by the messages of support, especially from the policing fraternity, which I now realise is as close knit as the military's in supporting its own.

"I played only a small part that day, doing what I was taught to do, and am honoured to have been invited to join the Privy Council afterwards.

"It is right that we concentrate our thoughts on the victims as we stand side by side to protect all that we hold dear, including our precious values and way of life which will always prevail."

Mr Ellwood, whose brother Jonathan was killed in the 2002 Bali terrorist bombing, said Pc Palmer was the real hero because he protected Parliament from the attack.

The minister told the Sunday Express: "The story is not about me. He was the hero, not me. I don't deserve the praise because I couldn't save him."

Tory MPs renewed calls for Mr Ellwood to be honoured.

James Cleverly, a former Army colleague of Pc Palmer, told the newspaper: "I know it is probably the last thing he would want or seek but what Tobias did - the incredibly brave and decisive action he took - deserves recognition which is why - just like Keith - he should also be considered for an award.

"There are number of military and civilian gallantry awards and there is a process to go through but I hope the eventual outcome of those processes is the right one."

Fellow Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said he should be given a knighthood.

"I think the title Sir Tobias is in order," he said. "Politicians have been given knighthoods for a lot less."
Duncan Hunter has been repeatedly implicated in the scandal that sent his close associate Randy "Duke" Cunningham to federal prison for several years. We started covering his role in 2005 . A powerful chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, many of whose members were on a years-long gravy train of bribery from defense contractors-- although only Cunningham was charged in the end-- Hunter attempted to evade the noose tightening around his fat neck by-- of all things-- running for president. On March 20, 2007 he announced he would not seek reelection to the House and-- too late for anyone else to mount a credible campaign just over 32 months away-- his alcoholic son, also named Duncan Hunter won the seat without campaigning from voters who overwhelmingly thought they were voting for his father who had been their congressman since 1981.





NY Times headline this week: CA-50 is a massive red hellhole, the inland-- mostly desert-- parts of San Diego County. It heads east past El Cajon, from Santee to Lakeside, Ramona, Escondido, up to Temecula and then out into the wilderness. The PVI is R+14 and Obama lost the district badly to McCain (40%) and Romney (38%). Hillary was crushed by Trump 54.6% to 39.6% in this district time has forgotten. This week the scandal surrounding Duncan-the-Younger, which we've been covering all year , finally broke out into the national mainstream. Eric Lichtblau'sheadline this week: Duncan Hunter Under Criminal Investigation for Ethics Violations





Hunter is a hapless backbencher who's best known in Congress as someone who likes to vape-- and get drunk. When the Office of Congressional Ethics started getting serious about his criminal activities he tried to have the Office abolished-- and failed. And now the Justice Department has officially opened a criminal investigation into Hunter, who routinely sells legislation to companies willing to write his campaign checks, for spending tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds on personal expenses. He already paid back over $60,000 in stolen funds for a wide range of purchases, from oral surgery, a garage door, video games, resort stays and a jewelry he bought in Italy. The defense and transportation companies who have financed his slimy career and whose business is affected by committees upon which he serves, certainly don't care that he uses their contributions to fly his pet rabbit around the country, pay his bills in a nail salon, buy surf boards and groceries and keep his family car topped off with gas. But using campaign funds for personal benefit is prohibited by federal law, since it gives contributors lots of influence over corrupt members like Hunter, who also pays his unqualified wife $3,000 a month from the funds to "run" his home campaign office.













Predictably, Hunter was an early and ardent Trump supporter and there were rumors swirling in DC that Trump might give him one of several top national security posts, an idea that was killed when Trump was told that Hunter is an alcoholic who has trouble controlling himself. Trump loved the idea that Hunter told the local media that if Trump appointed him to something, he wanted to restore "a warrior culture, a warrior mentality" to the government.

The House Ethics Committee, which has been examining Mr. Hunters possible misuse of campaign funds, said in a statement on Thursday that it would put its review on hold at the request of the Justice Department.



Typically, the Justice Department asks the ethics committee to hold off on a review because it has opened a criminal investigation of its own. A person with knowledge of the case said prosecutors have notified Mr. Hunter of their criminal investigation.



...A confidential referral to the ethics committee by the Office of Congressional Ethics, which was made public on Thursday, detailed the wide scope of his possible campaign violations.



Mr. Hunter may have converted tens of thousands of dollars of campaign funds from his congressional campaign committee to personal use to pay for family travel, flights, utilities, health care, school uniforms and tuition, jewelry, groceries, and other goods, services, and expenses, said the ethics office, an independent body that House Republicans tried to shut down in January.



A watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, brought a complaint with the ethics office last April charging that Mr. Hunters campaign spending included family trips to Italy and Hawaii, consulting fees to his wife, payments to his childrens parochial school and $1,300 for video games that he said his teenage son mistakenly charged to a credit card.



...Hunters Democratic opponent in last years election tried to make the mounting reports of the congressmans legal problems a campaign issue. But Mr. Hunter easily won re-election.

His opponent, Patrick Malloy, had no support from the DCCC, of course, and only raised $27,016 in his race against Hunter, who raised $1,194,881, most of it from special interests (67%) and only 3% from small donors. Hunter won with 63.9% of the vote. Two years earlier he had won with 71%, and two years before that with 68%. Going all the way back to the 2000 election cycle, there hasn't been one donation or even an in-kind contribution for any Democrat who's run against Hunter. The district's voters may not even be aware that there's a Democratic Party in their district, at least on the congressional level. Because of that-- even with Hunter the subject of a criminal investigation-- the Democrat challenging him this cycle, either Malloy again or Gloria Chadwick, will be starting from scratch with nothing to build on. Well, not nothing-- they have Duncan Hunter himself, who many of his constituents are starting to realize is an A-Class asshole after a series of nasty and contentious town hall meetings this month.
Men carry an injured victim of the militant attack in Sylhet district, March 25, 2017.

Updated at 10 a.m. ET on 2017-03-26

Two alleged extremists were killed Sunday, a day after two police officers and at least four other people were killed in two attacks outside a militant den being raided in Shabbari area of northeastern Sylhet district, according to officials.

Officials said this is the first time militants carried out attacks while police and military officers were conducting raids. On Sunday, commandos shot and killed two suspected Islamist militants inside the five-story apartment building.

Our commandos could effectively engage two of them. We can confirm the two were killed," Brig. Gen. Fakhrul Ahsan told reporters, according to Agence France-Presse. Ahsan said both militants were wearing suicide bomb vests  and one of the vests exploded.

On Saturday, Bangladesh media reported that around 7 p.m. a man wearing a traditional lungi and carrying a polythene bag tried to join onlookers and reporters near the apartment building in Sylhet district, about 250 km (155 miles) from Dhaka.

As people asked him what he was carrying, the man replied a red leafy vegetable before an explosion occurred. As police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officers rushed to the scene, a second device exploded. As many as 40 people were injured.

The explosions occurred a day after a man carrying a bomb died when it blew up in front of a police checkpoint outside a Dhaka airport. The extremist group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the blasts on Friday and Saturday, according to SITE Intelligence, a U.S.-based website that monitors online communications among Islamic militant groups worldwide.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and police and hospital sources released details about those injured in the attacks.

We got a message that one on-duty police officer and two others died in militant attacks outside the den. The army, SWAT (special weapons and tactics) and police have been continuing the operation to free the house, Kamal told BenarNews at 10:45 p.m. Saturday.

He did not release the names of those killed, but added that the number of injured could be 40 including police officials.

Sylhet Metropolitan Police Zedan Al Musa spokesman identified three killed as police inspector Chowdhury Md Kawser, second-year Madan Mohan College student Wahidul Islam Topu and Sylhet resident Shahidul Islam. Sources said a fourth person, who has not been identified, also died in the attack.

Jalalabad Police Officer In Charge Akther Hossein told reporters at 2 a.m. Sunday that Jalalabad officer Monirul Islam died at Osmani Medical College Hospital. In addition, Sylhet District Chatra League Vice President confirmed that Janjatul Fahim also died at the same hospital.

A source at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital said RAB Lt. Col. Abul Kalam Azad was transferred to Dhakas Combined Military Hospital for treatment. Two others, a RAB officer and an officer from Jalalbad police station, were also injured.

Operation began Thursday

Acting on a tip, police surrounded the apartment building at 2:30 a.m. Thursday. The militants had been confined to one of the ground floor apartments in the building containing 29 apartments, law enforcers said.

On Friday, SWAT members joined police surrounding the building.

Witness Abdul Hakim told BenarNews that the militants  at least one woman and one man rebuffed the police call to surrender and shouted send in SWAT, why wait?

That evening, Bangladesh Army commandos arrived and launched a raid, codenamed Twilight, around 9:30 a.m. Saturday. The raid was expected to continue into Sunday morning.

The militants responded with gunshots from inside the building. As the army commandos carried out the raid, SWAT and other police maintained positions around the building.

The unknown number of militants continued to shoot at commandos and set off grenades. At 2 p.m., the militants intensified shooting, slowing the advance into the building.

We are going slow. The militants had used IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in different parts of the building as trap, army spokesman Brig. Gen. Fakhrul Ahsan said. The operation has been ongoing.

Fire brigade members joined the effort to rescue those trapped in the apartments. Ahsan told reporters around 6:40 p.m. Saturday that 78 civilians were rescued unhurt.

Tenants of the building in Sylhet district are led to safety, March 25, 2017. [Star Mail]

Ongoing violence

While police were surrounding the suspected militant den in Sylhet on Friday night, a man died when the bomb he was carrying blew up in front of a police checkpoint outside Dhakas main international airport. It was the second explosion in a week involving a suicide bomber near the aviation hub, authorities said.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said the incident was not a suicide bombing and that it was not related to last weeks explosion at a camp near the airport housing Bangladeshs counter-terrorist Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). On March 17, two RAB members were injured when a suicide bomber approached them and detonated his bomb after scaling a wall and infiltrating the camp, officials said.
After killing two alleged extremists holed up in a five-story apartment building in Sylhet district, Bangladesh army officials on Sunday announced commandos would need more time to finish the raid that began on Saturday  a day when six people were killed.

Two police and four other people were killed in two attacks Saturday evening outside the militant den, marking the first time militants carried out attacks while police and military officers were conducting operations, according to officials.

On Sunday, army spokesman Brig. Gen. Fakhrul Ahsan told reporters that one of the alleged militants blew himself up and others remained inside the building.

We have confirmed the death of two militants. One of them wore a suicide vest, Ahsan briefed reporters Sunday afternoon about the raids progress. Our commandos fired as the two militants started running (inside the building). One of them detonated the suicide vest after they fell, he said.

In an effort to gain control of the building, Ahsan said the commandoes fired rocket launchers in the morning but other suspected militants remained holed up. The commandos followed up with tear gas shells.

Then the militants got troubled and they started moving, he said, adding he did not know how many remain in the building.

They are very cautious and are clad in suicide vests, he said. They have been carrying small arms, explosives, IEDs (improvised explosive devices)  they are well-equipped.

Ahsan said the militants placed IEDs at different strategic spots of the building to slow the advance of the commandos.

Witnesses described hearing explosions inside the building at around 9:15a.m. By 11:45 a.m., they heard four explosions, the last described as massive.

They (militants) are picking up and throwing the grenades we are using against them back at us. They also know the tactic of setting a fire to counteract tear gas, Ahsan said.

Deadly attack

Around 7 p.m. Saturday, a man carrying a polythene bag tried to join onlookers and reporters near the apartment building in Sylhet district, about 250 km (155 miles) from Dhaka. As people asked him what he was carrying, the man replied a red leafy vegetable before an explosion occurred.

When police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officers rushed to the scene, a second device exploded, leaving six dead and as many as 40 people injured.

Officials identified the officers killed as police inspector Chowdhury Md Kawser and officer Monirul Islam. At least three other police were injured.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said onlookers have since been banned from gathering near the apartment.

He told BenarNews that the commandos were conducting the raid carefully to prevent loss of life and wealth, adding some big fish could be inside the building, without naming anyone.

Our commandoes are doing their jobs and we do not know when the operation will end, Kamal said.

Ongoing violence

On Friday as police focused on the incident in Sylhet, a man died when the bomb he was carrying blew up in front of a police checkpoint outside Dhakas main international airport. It was the second explosion in a week involving a suicide bomber near the aviation hub, authorities said.

SITE Intelligence, a U.S.-based website that monitors online communications among Islamic militant groups worldwide, reported the extremist group Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the Friday and Saturday explosions.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said the Friday incident was not related to last weeks explosion at a camp near the airport housing Bangladeshs counter-terrorist Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). On March 17, two RAB members were injured when a suicide bomber detonated his bomb after scaling a wall and infiltrating the camp.
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On July 27, 1724, a German farmer named Jurgen Meyer made a bizarre discovery. While working in the fields on a farm just outside the German town of Hamelin, he came across what he first took to be a "naked, brownish, black-haired creature." This turned out to be a boy, apparently twelve years of age, who was walking on all fours and who ran up a nearby tree whenever anyone approached him. Though the boy seemed unable to communicate in any way, Meyer was able to entice him to enter the town by offering a pair of apples. Frightened by a mob of street boys, the strange child was eventually locked up in the local jail, more for his own protection than any real concern about public safety.

The boy, who was quickly christened Peter, was later transferred to a local hospital where doctors could study his odd behaviour. Peter continued to behave like a four-footed animal who preferred to sleep in his straw pallet instead of the bed that was offered him. He also seemed unused to standing erect and preferred to rest on his haunches or crouching on all fours as if he were a dog or cat. Frightened by where he was staying, Peter made frequent attempts at escaping, He also refused to eat the cooked food that had been prepared for him and preferred to catch and eat birds which he tore apart with his bare hands. When not eating meat, he preferred raw vegetables and grass. While naked when originally caught, he eventually became used to wearing clothes though getting him to accept shoes was quite a trial.

After a brief stay in Hamelin where he lived with a clothmaker who agreed to take care of him, Peter eventually came to the attention of George, the Duke of Hanover (who had recently been crowned King George I of Great Britain). By order of the king, Peter was taken to the Herrenhausen Palace near Hanover as a ward of the royal family. Treated as a curiosity, the "Wild Boy of Hamelin", as he came to be known, was dressed in a suit of fine clothes and seated at the king's table for his meals. Unfortunately, his hosts soon discovered that the boy had no social skills whatsoever. Gorging himself on whatever food he could shove into his mouth, he grabbed at every dish he could reach and the noisy sounds of his eating offended everyone at the the table. The disgusted king finally ordered him to be removed from the dining area.

After a few months of life at the palace, Peter (a.k.a., "Wild Peter") managed to escape back to the forest though he was soon recaptured. Intrigued by his story, George's daughter-in-law Caroline (who was then Princess of Wales) arranged for him to be brought to England in 1726. Once Peter arrived in London, he quickly became a sensation. Not only was Peter a real-life feral child like the kind described in fairy tales and old legends, his amusing antics also made him extremely popular at court. Peter also became a particular favourite of Caroline who arranged for him to live in her palace apartments as a virtual pet. Palace life wasn't easy for a boy who had grown up in a forest however which was why Caroline arranged for Dr. John Arbuthnot to oversee his education.

Along with being a physician, John Arbuthnot was also well-known for his accomplishments in various fields including literature, medicine, and mathematics. He was also one of the early pioneers in the use of vaccination to prevent smallpox and was a familiar sight at court. Even though Arbuthnot's efforts at teaching Peter to speak seemed doomed to failure, he did manage to make him a bit more socialized. Not only did Peter become used to wearing his tailor-made clothes, but he also learned to bow and to kiss the hand of any woman presented to him. But that was as far as he was able to go in terms of education. Aside from saying his own name and "King George" (albeit in a rather garbled form), Peter never learned how to speak and, by 1728, Arbuthnot had given up after declaring Peter untrainable.

By that time, the public clamor over Peter hard largely died down as people got tired of him. And so had Caroline. She then made arrangements for her pet to be retired to a farm in Hertfordshire. A generous crown pension was assigned for his upkeep but, from that point on, Peter was basically expected to remain on the farm and not make any trouble. Which, considering he was still incapable of understanding language, seemed a bit much to expect of him. Though he was still an adolescent (as far as anyone could tell given that nobody knew his true age), Peter developed quite a taste for gin and also enjoyed swaying to music until he became exhausted.

In the years that followed, Peter seemed to show a knack for getting caught up in the political upheavals that gripped the United Kingdom, mainly because he tended to wander off the farm where he was living. In 1745, during the Jacobite Rebellion, Peter was caught by soldiers and held for his own safety (mainly because he was unable to answer any questions that were posed to him). While in prison, a fire broke out and, while the other inmates were being evacuated, Peter simply sat and enjoyed the heat.

Though he was released soon enough, Peter continued wandering and, six years later, was arrested near Norwich as a suspected Spanish agent. Finally, the farmer who had been taking care of him arranged for Peter to be fitted with a heavy leather collar with the inscription: "Peter, the wild man of Hanover. Whoever will bring him to Mister Fenn at Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire will be paid for his trouble." Peter became used to the collar which prevented any further problems with his wandering.

Peter, the Wild Man of Hanover, finally died on February 22, 1785 having lived to the ripe age of 72. He was buried in Northchurch and his grave can still be seen on the St. Mary's Church grounds directly outside the main doors of the building. The grave has since been declared a heritage site and is considered one of the more unique tourist sights in the area. Also, the leather collar he had worn is still preserved at Berkhamsted School. Despite these tangible artifacts of his life, Peter's legacy seems harder to determine though. Despite the endless philosophical speculations raised about him, including writings by Daniel Defoe and Lord Monboddo over whether Peter was a feral child who had been raised by animals in the wild, modern researchers have come up with a more plausible explanation.

Though there is no way to tell when he had really been abandoned, one researcher has argued that Peter suffered from PittHopkins syndrome, a condition that was only identified centuries after his death. Rather than being abandoned as a child, he might well have been left to fend for himself only a short time before he was actually found. Who may have abandoned him and what kind of life he might have had beforehand will likely never be known however.

The most lasting legacy Peter left behind was likely due to Jonathan Swift who based the yahoos featured in his classic novel, Gulliver's Travels, on him. In all, an ironic form of literary immortality for someone who had never learned to speak or read English.
bigtrial.net

I Ain't Leaving

Rufus Seth Williams, our corrupt and scandal-plagued district attorney, has a few new problems to contend with.When we last saw our intrepid D.A. last week, he was pleading not guilty to a 23-count, 50-page federal indictment charging him with bribery, extortion, wire fraud, and honest services fraud. In the indictment, the feds also accused Williams of stealing $20,000 from his own 84-year-old mother.But, as court papers filed last week reveal, Williams has other problems. The free-spending D.A., who has stubbornly refused to resign from his $175,000 a-year position, is broke and can't afford to hire a lawyer to defend himself. So the court may have to appoint one for him. Because the D.A.'s original criminal lawyer has already flown the coop. And his current lawyer is asking a judge to let him out of the case.The D.A.'s original criminal lawyer, John J. Pease, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, was getting paidby the city of Philadelphia. But ever since Williams was indicted last week, the city can no longer pay for his defense, according to court papers filed last week.Michael J. Diamondstein, the lawyer who replaced Pease when Williams pleaded not guilty last week, has already filed a motion to withdraw from the case.In a March 23rd letter to U.S. District Court Judge Paul Diamond, Diamondstein cited the "unique nature and circumstances of this case" that D.A. Williams is charged with."Moving forward, I do not believe that I can represent Mr. Williams so long as he is the sitting district attorney," Diamondstein wrote the judge. "Putting aside the issue of whether Mr. Williams can afford to be represented by private counsel, the nature of my criminal practice would make continuing on as counsel to the sitting District attorney of Philadelphia too challenging."It would also be a conflict of interest.Williams is free on $50,000 bail. There are several conditions to his continued freedom. He had to surrender his passport and agree to restrict his travel to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.Sadly for our beleaguered D.A., who could probably use another free vacation right now, the bail order means no more free trips to Las Vegas, Florida, San Diego or Punta Cana, which, according to the federal indictment, are the D.A.'s favored destinations. Especially when his friends are footing the bills.As a condition of bail, Williams had to surrender his firearms. He also had to agree that any and all firearms "must be removed from the premises" at his home. He also can't allow any firearms "to be brought into the premises."The D.A. also had to agree that he would "have no contact with any victims, potential witnesses, or co-defendants in this case with the exception of the friend identified in the indictment as Person No. 2 with whom the defendant shall not discuss the case."In the indictment, Person No. 2 was referred to as the D.A.'s "girlfriend." The conditions of bail were agreed to on March 22nd by Diamdonstein, on behalf of Williams. But when he appeared as the D.A.'s lawyer, Diamondstein told the judge, it was just a temporary gig."However, as indicated above, I do not expect that I will be able to enter my appearance movingforward," wrote Diamonstein, who declined comment.Williams didn't want to advertise his money problems, and how they were impacting his legal problems. So his lawyer tried unsuccessfully to seal the record.In a motion to seal that accompanied Diamondstein's request to withdraw from the case, the lawyer wrote the "nature of the agreement" between the D.A. and Pease indicated that if "Mr. Williams was charged with a crime that the city would no longer pay Mr. Williams' legal fees.""When Mr. Williams was indicted, Mr. Pease could no longer represent Mr. Williams," Diamondstein wrote the judge.Williams didn't take Pease's advice. A proposed guilty plea bargain with the feds supposedly came with only a two year prison sentence, fairly light for what the D.A. is accused of. But rather than cut a deal, Williams decided to take his chances going to trial in federal court. Where the feds win 90 percent of the time.But the D.A., who specializes in hanging other criminals out to dry, preferred to keep his own business under cover."Because the factual averments and information contained herein and in the above referenced letter are extremely sensitive and confidential, Mr. Williams respectfully seeks leave of the court to file the same under seal," Diamondstein wrote."Here, a sealing order is appropriate as the letter and the within filing deals with Mr. Williams' choice of counsel and the need for confidentiality and secrecy outweigh the public interest in accesss to these particular records," Diamondstein wrote."Moreover, the extent of the order sought is narrowly tailored such that any infringement on the common law right of access to judicial records will be no greater than necessary to protect Mr. Williiams' confidential decision," Diamonstein wrote.But if the D.A. thought he was going to get any breaks from Judge Diamond, he was mistaken.In an order filed March 24th, the judge denied Diamondstein's request to withdraw from the case as "a frivolous order." As for Diamondstein's motion to seal, the judge wrote that it was "denied as contrary to law."According to Diamondstein's motion to seal, the D.A.'s legal problems began on March 21st, when Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Zauzmer "advised that Mr. Williams was going to be indicted forthwith."In his motion to seal, Diamondstien told the judge that he advised Mr. Zauzmer that "due to a host of issues but not limited to whether Mr. Williams could afford to have privately retained counsel," that Diamondstein was "not in a position to enter a regular appearance."On March 24, after his original motion to withdraw from the case was denied by the judge, Diamondstein filed another one. In his latest motion, Diamondstein explained to the judge that because of his late entry into the case, he did not have time to consult an ethics counsel to find out whether he could continue to represent the D.A. while maintaining his criminal practice.In addition, "Mr. Williams does not have the fianancial ability to retain him for trial in this matter," Diamondstein wrote.Williams is facing an uphill climb. Judge Diamond, as he has already demonstrated, may be the toughest judge down at the federal courthouse for a criminal defendant to face. In addition, the prosecutor in the case, according to a recent court filing, will be Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Zauzmer, the prosecutor who put away former state Senator Vincent J. Fumo.Williams may have other legal problems as well. In the federal indictment last week, there were several new disclosures about as-yet unreported gifts that the D.A. has accepted, such as a preowned 1997 Jaguar XK8 convertible worth $4,160.Williams has already been fined $62,000 by the city's Ethics Board for accepting $175,000 in undeclared gifts and income. But don't be surprised if the city Ethics Board, armed with new evidence provided by the feds, decides to reopen an investigation into Williams' finances.The I.R.S. may also be investigating whether Williams paid any income tax on any of the unreported gifts and cash that he was taking in. Going on what we already know about how this guy operates, a safe bet would be no.
A man has been shot in Dublin city centre. The shooting took place at around 9.55pm.

The man was reportedly shot in the chest in the incident on Railway Street in Dublin's north Inner city.
The widow of the late Martin McGuinness has said the family were touched by solace and comfort offered to them since his death.

The former IRA commander, Northern Ireland deputy first minister and Sinn Fein negotiator died last week aged 66 after suffering a rare heart condition.

US president Bill Clinton led tributes at his funeral in Derry last Thursday.

Widow Bernie McGuinness said the family has been left heartbroken by his death.

"I and our entire family have been touched by the efforts of so many to provide solace and comfort to us throughout this very difficult period.

"Martin was my husband, a father and a grandfather.

"He was a republican activist for all of his adult life. He was passionate about his political beliefs but also about his many other interests.

"Despite the frequency with which his political activism took him away from our home and family, he was at heart a proud family man who took great delight in the accomplishments of our children and grandchildren.

"He loved his family. And we love him. Our hearts are broken."

Mrs McGuinness also thanked people who called to the family home in the last week, held vigils or attended the funeral.

She also thanked medical staff and others who provided support.

"Words cannot express our appreciation at the outpouring of love and solidarity, which embraced us throughout Thursday," she said.
A second man has been arrested by police investigating an explosive attack on officers in the North.

Three police officers escaped injury when their patrol was targeted in the Townsend Street area of Strabane, Co Tyrone, on Tuesday night.
A man on a double decker bus on the Las Vegas Strip pulled out a gun and opened fire, killing one person and wounding another before barricading himself inside in a stand-off that lasted hours.

The siege began at about 11am local time on Saturday as the bus stopped on Las Vegas Boulevard, near the Cosmopolitan hotel-casino.

"He was on the bus. He was shooting people on the bus. He was just contained to that location. He never exited the bus," Clark County assistant sheriff Tom Roberts said.

Two people were taken to the hospital after the shooting, University Medical Centre spokeswoman Danita Cohen said. One died and the other was said to be in a fair condition.

For hours, crisis negotiators, robots and armoured vehicles surrounded the bus with authorities uncertain if there were any more victims inside.

Meanwhile, officers swept into the casinos to warn tourists to bunker down until further notice, leaving the normally bustling pedestrian areas and a road notorious for taxi-to-taxi traffic empty.

The Strip was shut down in both directions.

Some in the Cosmopolitan - hotel guests out over their balconies and party people on the pool deck - saw the tense situation unfold below.

Former basketball player Scot Pollard, who is staying at the Cosmopolitan, said he was at a bar at the hotel-casino around 11am when he saw several people, including staff, running through the area towards the casino, screaming "Get out of the way".

"We can hear them negotiating. We can hear them saying things like, 'No one else needs to get hurt', 'Come out with your hands up. We are not going anywhere. We are not leaving', " he said.

Visitors were also hiding inside some of the other prominent casino properties affected, including the Bellagio, Paris, Planet Hollywood and Bally, which in addition to hotels and casinos also hold restaurants, shops and attractions.

Las Vegas police officer Larry Hadfield said the man, who had a handgun, gave himself up just before 3.30pm without incident.

Police did not open fire and said they believe the man is the only suspect.

They ruled out terrorism or any connection to an earlier robbery nearby that shut down a part of the Bellagio.

By 4pm, pedestrians were back in the area and northbound traffic on Las Vegas boulevard had reopened while investigators worked to clean up the other lane where the bus was still grounded.

The bus is operated by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. The agency said its bus driver was not hurt.

It is not known how many people were on the bus at the time of the shooting but it appears that those who were there were able to flee.

Police set up a hotline for passengers to report what they witnessed.

AP
Security at UK Parliament's gates was breached last year by an intruder who flashed fake identification and wandered around the estate for 12 hours, it has been claimed.

The Sunday Telegraph said officers at Carriage Gates, where Pc Keith Palmer was stationed when he was stabbed by Khalid Masood in Wednesday's terror attack, were fooled by a 29-year-old who did not have security clearance.

He then wandered around the Palace of Westminster before eventually breaking into Moncrieff's bar in the parliamentary press gallery and was discovered drunk the next morning, it was claimed.

It comes after parliamentarians called for security to be tightened at the entrance, which faces Parliament Square, after a video showed the complex's gates were left open and apparently unmanned after Wednesday's terror attack.

Yards away, separate footage showed Prime Minister Theresa May being rushed from the building and into a waiting car.

A parliamentary spokesman said Commons and Lords authorities were holding a series of "exceptional meetings" on security next week following the atrocity.

One of the plans under consideration could include adding another layer of security outside Carriage Gates in a move which could close the road outside the Commons to all but parliamentary traffic, according to the Mail on Sunday.

The parliamentary spokesman said: "Following the creation of the Parliamentary Security Department in January 2016, security measures in and around the Parliamentary Estate have been reviewed, upgraded and enhanced.

"As is good practice following any significant incident, the Houses, in conjunction with the police and other bodies, are carrying out a review of security around this specific incident (Wednesday's terror attack).

"It was just savage" - Team GB boxer Frazer Clarke witnessed and filmed some of the #Westminster terror attack pic.twitter.com/BmLSblm3p5  Sky News (@SkyNews) March 26, 2017

"A series of exceptional meetings are scheduled for next week including a joint meeting of the House of Commons and House of Lords Commissions where the details of the review are expected to be discussed.

"Security of members, staff and the visiting public is our highest priority. For Parliament to fulfil its democratic function, it is crucial that it remain open and accessible to the public."

Meanwhile, the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation Lord Carlile said the attack strengthened the case against plans to move MPs and peers out of the historic Palace while major restoration work takes place.

"I personally favour staying where we are," he told the Observer. "Anything that makes the case that we should stay in one building will be seized upon.

"The security issues and costs of moving us out to different locations would be very considerable. I am sure that people will be pressing to remain within the parliamentary estate."

"He was a violent Christian long before he was a violent Muslim" @SayeedaWarsi on Westminster terror attacker Khalid Masood #marr pic.twitter.com/IcHVsO6Ldk  The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) March 26, 2017

PA
Foreign bribery scandals involving Australian companies would "most likely not be detected at all" without company insiders blowing the whistle, the Australian Federal Police has warned.

In a submission to a government inquiry into whistleblower protections, the AFP raised concerns about corporate cover-ups and said the law needed to be changed to help employees exposed to wrongdoing speak out and be protected.

The submission, to the parliamentary joint committee inquiry on whistleblower protections, says current protections for whistleblowers are insufficient to encourage insiders to come forward, especially in the private sector.

"In the corporate context, there may be a culture of 'cover up', where potential whistleblowers are discouraged or prevented from raising their concerns," the submission says.
The latest report card on ABC boss Michelle Guthrie's push for diversity at the public broadcaster shows women make up 45 per cent of executives, while just 12 per cent of senior staff come from non-English speaking backgrounds.

The first woman appointed managing director of the 5000-strong organisation, Ms Guthrie has previously questioned why programmers cared more about the British royal family than culture in Australia's own region.

A new report on equity and diversity shows 148 women were employed at the senior executive level in 2015-16, compared with 175 men.

The number falls short of a goal for 50 per cent female representation.
The brutal murder of Iranian asylum seeker Reza Barati at the Manus Island detention camp has been dramatised in a new play staged in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Simply titled Manus, the script draws on direct quotes from asylum seekers held in Australia's offshore detention camps, and has drawn an audience of high-ranking officials.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister and the man trusted as the chief negotiator in the nuclear deal that saw international sanctions lifted from Iran, attended one night and later mingled with the actors and a former asylum seeker held on Manus Island.

"I tried to invite authorities of Foreign Ministry because of the issue of my play that directly related to their job," the play's director, Nazanin Sahamizadeh, told Fairfax Media from Tehran.
Back for more Sometimes the simplest treatments are the best. I have always had a fear that my back could be harbouring unwanted blemishes, but how do you know and how do you get to them? The answer is a back treatment with a skincare magician like Sue Dann, who uses the cult product Dr Spiller in her "back facial". This treatment includes cleansing, steam, exfoliation with an enzyme peel, extractions and massage with a collagen lotion, and a declogging and anti-ageing mask, and afterwards my back feels clean as a whistle. This is a great treatment to have prior to summer exposure. Under the lash I have become addicted to eyelash extensions and they have revolutionised my make-up application. Having lush, defined lashes, along with whitened teeth, are two of the best anti-ageing treatments I know. After a fresh set of lashes, I've even been known to apply just foundation and lip colour and that's it!

When you sign up, lash application takes roughly an hour and a half. Extensions come in all shapes, sizes, thickness and material (silk, mink and human hair), from 8 to 15 millimetres. The latest update is 3D volume lashes, which are three silk lashes applied with a specialised glue to each natural lash. The daily grind Another find that has two-in-one appeal is Botox aimed at preventing teeth clenching and grinding. I've been a clencher since I was 12, and wear a dental splint at night to protect my teeth. When I get this treatment, Dr Joseph Hkeik injects Botox into the bulk of the masseter muscles to weaken them and reduce grinding and clenching. This relieves teeth abrasion, muscle pain and tension headaches, and also softens the angle of the jaw and sculpts cheekbones. After a week the muscles relax, and while chewing can be a little weird initially, you soon adjust. After six weeks my jawline has softened and you can cut glass with my cheekbones. The results last six to 12 months. New Age anti-ager

Some natural therapies have worked wonders for me, including a facial with natural therapist Fumi Yamamoto. Fumi's treatments combine facial reflexology, acupressure point massage, facial yoga and meditation, and her mission is to get skin glowing and balanced by getting rid of toxins and delivering more nutrients to the cells through lymphatic drainage. She worked from my feet up to my head, including a heavy-duty skull workout, paying special attention to the stress locked in my face, neck and those problem shoulders using muscle-release techniques and essential oils. Ninety minutes later, my jawline and cheekbones looked more defined and I seemed to be standing taller. This is great for puffiness from jet lag. Aye eye! I love having my eyebrows shaped and dyed, as they really do frame up the face, but I am crap at maintaining them. So the fail-safe solution is brow tattooing, which lasts around 12 months, with brow expert Amy Jean Linnehan. The process involves anaesthetic cream on my brows for an hour, followed by Amy Jean working an etching pen with seven sharpened tips over my brows, weaving fine, hair-like strokes between the existing hairs. There are four sweeps over each brow, punctuated with application of the hypoallergenic pigment. The sensation is of sharp scratching, which is a little uncomfortable. A strange thing I've discovered is that my left brow is more sensitive than the right.

My brows end up looking very dark and defined, with a perfectly shaped arch, before fading and settling into a very natural shade. I had to keep them dry for the first five days when showering to stop the water diluting the dye, and also had to keep them out of the direct sun for the first week. Who nose? As I age, the barely noticeable capillaries on my nose have decided to take centre stage, so addressing them has become crucial. Dr Deborah Davies' skill in wielding the sclerotherapy needle to combat leg veins is legendary, so I went to see her about my nose. She works wonders with the yellow light delivered by the powerful photo-regeneration Candela Vbeam Laser, combining it with 20 per cent saline solution injections. The saline injections initially weaken the veins and the yellow light from the Vbeam laser then targets the red blood vessels to finish them off. On the day, I sucked on some nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for a little light relief as Deborah worked her magic. The laser stung a little and the injections were quite intense, as the nose area is very sensitive. Ice was then applied to calm the area post-treatment. Afterwards, I could see that most of the capillaries had gone, but there was one troublesome one still hanging in there so I have booked a follow-up zap. Maintenance, maintenance. Get a boost

I am always on the lookout for boosting treatments, and facialist Melanie Grant is famous for hers. It entails a deep cleanse and a diamond microdermabrasion that deeply exfoliates, polishes and buffs skin. Next step is a corrective hydrating booster and then infrared Omnilux Revive light therapy, which works to help reduce fine lines, boost collagen and improve skin texture. The finishing touch is a moisturiser with sunscreen. If you have a big event to attend, it's best to have this one hour treatment 24 hours beforehand, to give your skin time to settle. Losing the thread Another big hit on the beauty radar was when I had my first facial threading session  the ancient hair removal technique that originated in the Middle East. After cleansing, antibacterial organic cotton thread is used to remove any facial hair. Post-treatment, the circulation of blood to the face is increased, which can cause redness for 24 hours and a few little bumps, but my skin felt the softest and smoothest it had ever been. The threading not only removes downy hair but also acts as an exfoliator and helps stimulate collagen production. The following day, my face looked radiant, moisturiser glided on like a dream and my foundation looked flawless.
It's never easy seeing your ex move on with another, but when that ex is Matty Johnson looking for love with at least 22 potential suitors on national television, what do you do?

Well, if you're last year's Bachelorette, Georgia Love, you avoid The Bachelor.

Despite her doing the dumping, she told Fairfax Media this week it will be hard to watch the marketing manager, 29, woo the woman he has said he wants "to spend the rest of [his] life with".

"It will be like watching an ex dating a whole bunch of people, which no one really wants to see," Love said at the announcement of her new ambassador role for beauty brand Palmer's at Nour, Surry Hills.
Principals from leading private schools have warned that a new literacy and numeracy test which year 9 students must pass to qualify for their HSC will divide students, place too much emphasis on NAPLAN and cause anxiety among teenagers.

Parents have also expressed their concerns with the extra online test for all students who do not achieve three band 8s in year 9 NAPLAN this year.

The NSW Education Standards Authority, formerly the Board of Studies, has released sample tests, which are described as being set at a "functional level" of literacy and numeracy for "day-to-day life". At least 50 per cent of year 9 students will have to do the new test because they will not reach the NAPLAN benchmark.

Paul Teys, the head of Hunter Valley Grammar School, said a group of independent school heads was meeting with the standards authority this week to outline their complaints about the new test. He said an additional external exam was an unnecessary distraction to students and teachers.
A court has allowed a four-year-old girl to be adopted by a same-sex couple despite her birth parents' opposition on the basis of their Catholic faith.

The girl was taken from her birth mother at four days old due to the mother's long history of drug use and conviction for the manslaughter of her infant son seven years earlier.

The birth mother opposed the child's adoption on the basis of her Catholic faith.

The seven-month boy died from methadone and benzodiazepine poisoning and while his mother was found guilty over giving the boy the drugs causing his death, she continues to blame her then-partner for administrating the fatal drugs.

A same-sex couple who have cared for the girl  known for legal reasons as CJD  since she was six months old wished to legally adopt her.
A 29-year-old man is in a serious condition in hospital after he was shot outside a house in Sydney's south-west on Sunday in what is believed to be a targeted attack.

Emergency services were called to Torrens Street in Canley Vale about 3.40pm on Sunday after reports that shots had been fired.

NSW Ambulance said the man had suffered a single gunshot wound to his right hip.

Witness Elsie Davis told Seven News that the victim had "blood all over his arms and shirt and was holding on to the right side of him".

"Blood was just pouring, I was shaking up and didn't know what to think," she said.
Former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr says he is making representations in Beijing and Canberra about the case of Sydney academic Feng Chongyi.

Dr Feng, an associate professor of China Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney, was prevented from boarding a plane at Guangzhou airport on Friday morning and again on Saturday night.

Two Chinese lawyers who are in contact with Dr Feng say he was advised verbally by security police that he was under suspicion of threatening state security.

He had not been shown any documentation before being stopped from leaving China, they said.
Police are imploring drivers to slow down and drive safely after six people died on NSW roads over the weekend.

Among those killed was a three-year-old girl, who was hit by a truck in South Grafton on Sunday morning, the latest victim in a horror 48 hours across NSW.

In a separate crash in Port Botany in Sydney's east on Saturday night, teen sweethearts Giovanni Santoro, 18, and Tamara Jordanoski, 17, died when their car crashed into a power pole and exploded in flames.

"We're imploring drivers today, as we do all the time, to watch your speed, think about what you're doing and be prepared each time you go for a drive," Traffic and Highway Patrol Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy said.
An Acacia Ridge woman has been found safe and well in the early hours of Monday morning, after being reported missing on Saturday.

Siobhan Prideaux, 27, was last seen leaving her home on Mitchell Street on foot about 8pm and police had held concerns for her welfare as she suffered from a medical condition.

Siobhan Prideaux was last seen leaving her Acacia Ridge home on Saturday night, but was found in her hometown on Monday morning. Credit:Queensland Police Service

However, police said she was found in Acacia Ridge about 3am on Monday, ending the search which had led to police appealing for public help to find Ms Prideaux.
According to the World Health Organisation there were 212 million cases of malaria in 2015 and 429,000 deaths. About malaria In 2015, nearly half of the world's population was at risk of malaria.

Most malaria cases and deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.

South East Asia, Latin America and the Middle East are also at risk.

In 2015, 91 countries had major problems with malaria.

Children under five, pregnant women, people with HIV/AIDS and non-immune migrants are most at risk.

80 per cent of victims are children. Professor Good and fellow researcher Danielle Stanisic first began clinical trials in 2013 with Gold Coast University Hospital. Professor Good said he wanted to take the vaccine to show it was safe.

"I wouldn't ask people to do what I wouldn't be prepared to do, and we couldn't do this without the volunteers who give their time to us knowing they are helping further work towards a cure," he said. For the past four years volunteers have taken the trial vaccine two days a month. The trial vaccine "inactivates" human malaria parasites, preventing them from growing and causing a malaria infection. Dr Stanisic said when pre-clinical trials were successful the research team decided to push on to the human trials in 2013. "We've now taken a human version of the vaccine and tested it in volunteers and shown it is safe and induces an immune response," she said.

"This is a world first. We are the first to put a vaccine like this into humans that has potential to protect against multiple strains and species of malaria." Associate Professor Culleton, from the Malaria Unit at the Institute of Tropical Medicine at Nagasaki University, Japan said the research was an extremely important step forward. "This work is an exciting advance in the development of an effective malaria vaccine," Professor Culleton said. "We desperately need new approaches to the control and eventual elimination of malaria, an insidious disease that preys on young children in the tropics," he said. He said the Griffith University research approach gave it an advantage over previous research.

"Most of the malaria vaccines currently in development are based on single parasite proteins," Professor Culleton said. "Good and Stanisic's approach is radically different," he said. "It uses an attenuated form of the whole malaria parasite, which, in theory, should provide the immune system with multiple targets against which it can mount a response." He stressed it was still preliminary data that had to be tested against many strains of malaria. "(However) if their vaccine achieves this cross-species protection, it would be a huge step forward towards a malaria-free world."

Gold Coast Health director of infectious diseases Dr John Gerrard said the Gold Coast University Hospital oversaw the medical standards for the research. "For the past four years, eight medical specialists have provided medical oversight for the volunteers participating in the trial," he said. There are approximately 3.2 billion people currently living with malaria. The Griffith University and Gold Coast Medical Hospital project will be formally launched on Monday by Australia's Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove. Rotary groups have a fundraising appeal that will begin to raise the $500,000 to get the vaccine to countries where malaria is a major health risk.
While the cyclone is not expected to make landfall until Tuesday, authorities are taking no chances. North Queensland's emergency services continued to pool resources on Sunday afternoon, adding more manpower to the region's emergency arsenal. A thousand emergency service personnel have been pre-deployed or placed on standby, while the Defence Force is on hand to help disaster crews. An extra 25 paramedics and 100 police officers have been identified for deployment to the far north or Townsville districts. The Blood Service has formed a regional incident management committee to ensure ongoing availability of blood products.

Residents refuse evacuation orders, sign disclaimers Meanwhile, a small collective of residents in the town of Alva Beach, South of Townsville, have refused orders to evacuate. When police and SES officers knocked on Jan Bridges' door on Sunday evening, informing her that a forced evacuation of the low-lying area had been enacted, she refused to leave. "I'm staying," she told emergency service workers, according to AAP. Police told nearby resident Janelle Eade they couldn't force her to leave, but warned a four-metre surge of water was expected to flood the town on Tuesday as the Category 4 cyclone made landfall.

Ms Eade said she had dogs to care for and wouldn't leave her home, instead choosing to sign a disclaimer confirming her decision. However, State Disaster Coordinator Michael Gollschewski has warned residents in the evacuation zones that "tomorrow will be too late." Backpackers brace for Cyclone Debbie Airlie Beach tourists and localsare feeling anxious about the cyclone brewing off the north Queensland coast. But backpackers, it seems, don't have the same worry, with a number even trying to head north to Townsville ahead of the storm.

Gemma and Matt Dungey who work at the Big Four Caravan Park said they had been through a category 2 cyclone before, but Tropical Cyclone Debbie is expected to intensify to a category 4 before crossing the coast on Tuesday. "We had to warn all the guests about it, I did get home feeling a bit anxious," Ms Dungey said. Geoffrey and Agnes Lawler were in Airlie Beach on holiday from Wollongong, visiting their son, and said they were worried about the coming cyclone. "I'm scared stiff," Ms Lawler said. But backpackers seem to be less worried.

A staff member at a backpackers who declined to be named said about 15 planned to head north despite the weather warnings. "The backpackers don't believe it," she said. "I just told them to take water, money, food." Staff have been warning backpackers to withdraw money while they can and bunker down in their rooms if the cyclone crosses at Airlie Beach. "We want everyone to stay safe," she said.

She said everything was shut until Wednesday at least and tours were cancelled. Some residents, like shop owner Maja Zwolsman, are making the most of the 20,000 sandbags that have been made available by the Townsville City Council. "Shop is sandbagged. Home is prepared. Now we wait," Ms Zwolsman said on Sunday. "We use whatever is handy for sandbagging," she added. "We've prepared as best we can and that's the best we can do."

While some tourists are hoping to ride out the storm or even continue their travels across the region, Tom and Laura Britton are planning to cut their losses and take flight before the storm hits. The Canadian couple had been on a bare boat, booked for a week of cruising around the Whitsundays but were called back to the marina on Saturday. With their flight from Proserpine cancelled on Sunday morning, the pair are now hoping to drive to Brisbane to fly on to Melbourne from there. "It's been an interesting turn of events," Mr Birtton said. "We enjoyed being on the boat so it's a little disappointing, but we have a couple of days credit so we'll come back," Ms Britton said. Mr Britton agreed, and said they would happily come back to North Queensland.

"Were not at all put off." Flights grounded Meanwhile, flights to north east Queensland have been grounded in anticipation of the storm's arrival. Jetstar, Virgin and Qantas have cancelled flights to and from Townsville airport for Monday and Tuesday. The airlines have also cancelled some flights into and out of Mackay airport.
Tea Smith has carved out a career building websites and copywriting under the business name Kintsugi. But she's never bothered building one for herself.

The Perth woman insists that most people search for her by name. And she's right there on LinkedIn, she points out.

Tea Smith runs copywriting business Kintsugi without a website.

"People have recommended me and so a new client often picks up the phone. My business has grown slowly and steadily over the years. I just haven't seen the relevance of having a website. I don't see the point."

Smith admits running a business without a website has relied on an element of luck. "I've been leaning on my LinkedIn profile and my blog, which builds my personal brand."
A new pub with poker machines has been approved just a few hundred metres from a primary school and childcare centre, infuriating residents in an area with a high number of first home buyers.

Cardinia Council has approved a development plan for a precinct around Station Street and the Princes Highway in Officer. The plan allows for a pokies venue to be built.

Andrew McNabb, foreground, with other Officer residents angry about new a pokies venue. Credit:Arsineh Houspian

The decision has angered residents who feel the council had failed to consult the community adequately about putting pokies in an area close to a school.

The council has received a specific application for a hotel, a pokies venue and a medical centre at 1 Station Street, Officer, but this has yet to be approved.
Sienna in Princess Margaret Hospital following her surgery. Credit:Kelly Gay "After shutting the treadmill off I ran back into the kitchen area and for the first time really looked at my daughter and her injuries... what a horrific sight." Sienna had suffered horrific friction burns on the majority of her body, and was taken to the South Hedland Hospital emergency department for treatment. "They assessed her wounds and took photos sending them off to the burns unit in Perth for them to give advice on what they thought.," Ms Gay said. "After the photos were taken they needed to dress the burns and, in order to do this my husband, myself, and several nurses had to hold her down while she screamed and thrashed around in agony... it simply broke my heart.

"They decided they had to give her gas to calm her down which she also refused due to being so scared and traumatised so as well as pinning her down I had to hold her oxygen mask on her little face." It soon became clear her injuries were too serious to treat in the regional hospital, and Sienna would require skin grafts at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in the Total Care Burns Unit. "She has been confined to her hospital bed due to infection control and has had to undergo several sessions of dermabrasion to her stomach and right arm and hand. "[She has also now] undergone surgery to have a skin graft to her right arm and hand." Ms Gay said Sienna has been suffering nightmares about the accident, and refuses to let doctors near her.

Consumer Protection WA acting commissioner David Hillyard said these sorts of accidents were not uncommon. "On average, about a dozen children a year are seriously injured by friction burns and, in more severe cases, children have needed skin grafts and have permanently lost the normal use of their fingers and hands due to treadmill accidents," he said.



"Consumers need to be cautious when using treadmills when there are children in the home. The best solution is to keep the treadmill in a separate room that can be closed off to children, or use barriers to keep children away. If not being used, treadmills should be unplugged from the power socket."



Ms Gay said she hoped sharing her story could be a cautionary tale for other families. "I don't think anyone can fully explain the affects something like this has on them... please take the safety key out of your home treadmill and put it under lock and key if you have young children." "I always hide mine but the one time I got complacent this happened and I can tell you, no parent wants to or should have to see their child go through what mine is going through... I always told my kids to stay away from my treadmill as it wasn't a toy but I never in my wildest dreams thought that a treadmill belt was capable of such bad burns. Loading
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From start to finish, the Annual Awards for Corporate Excellence, held on Saturday evening, toasted the indomitable spirit of Indian entrepreneurship that was ready to fight all odds. And the Crystal Room at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, filled to capacity by familiar faces and famous names, clapped in unison when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the Chief Guest at the function, said categorically that the goods and services tax would roll out from July 1, after a prolonged but truly exemplary exercise in deliberative democracy.
When Vodafone India and the Birla groups Idea Cellular came together last week, there were numerous quips doing the rounds on social media. One message was about how every idea must come to an end, another was how Indian telecom was finally going to the dogs (a reference to the iconic Vodafone pug) and one used a popular tagline from the Idea ads and gave the thumbs up to the merger saying, What an idea, Sirjee?.
The Indian Navy's iconic Tupolev-142M anti-submarine warfare aircraft will be decommissioned on Wednesday after serving as a mainstay in guarding the Indian Ocean region for almost three decades.

The Soviet-era aircraft, known as one of the most formidable airborne reconnaissance platforms around the world, were part of all major naval exercises and operations of since its induction in 1988.

The Tupolev-142M fleet is being replaced by 12 Boeing P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft, which are equipped with harpoon anti-ship missiles, lightweight torpedoes, rockets and new generation sensors and radars.

A navy official said the Tupolev-142M aircraft would be decommissioned by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba on March 29 at a ceremony at INS Rajali, India's premier naval air station in Tamil Nadu's Arakkonam.

A total of eight Tupolev-142Ms were inducted into the Navy and, currently, only three of them are in operation.

"The aircraft has done the proud by participating in all major naval exercises and operations with distinction. The aircraft saw action during Operation Cactus in Maldives and participated in operational missions off Sri Lanka to provide airborne surveillance," said the official.

With its four powerful engines, slender fuselage and swept wings, Tupolev is the fastest turboprop aircraft in the world and reportedly is difficult to intercept by fighters.

The decommissioning of the reconnaissance aircraft comes weeks after the Navy bid farewell to its aircraft carrier, INS Viraat.

"TU-142M aircraft have had a distinguished service with over 30,000 hours of accident-free flying. During its service life, the aircraft has undergone several modifications and retro fitments to keep up with evolving technology and changing requirements of . As a result, the aircraft has throughout its service life been participating in and has been a major factor during all Naval operations. Despite being in its twilight years, the aircraft performed exceptionally well during the recently conducted Naval Exercise TROPEX in March 2017," the official said.

The role of TU-142M will now be taken on by the newly-inducted P-8l aircraft.

"The P-8I aircraft has proven all its systems and has been fully integrated into the operational grid of the Indian Navy. Commander Yogender Mair, the last commanding officer of the squadron with TU142M aircraft will hand over the reins to Commander V Ranganathan, who will be the first Squadron Commanding Officer with the P-8l," said the official.

The Boeing P-8I aircraft was dedicated to the nation by then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in November 2015.

The Navy will also celebrate the silver jubilee of INS Rajali, the naval air station which was synonymous with the Tupolev and its home for the last 29 years.

The 'heritage display' of TU-142M would also be inaugurated as part of the ceremony.
On Friday, as one airline after other started making public announcement about not allowing Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad in their aircraft, the civil aviation ministry found itself in a peculiar situation.

Senior officials of the ministry led by minister Jayant Sinha were examining if the current laws allowed the airlines to take such a step. We were examining the legality if the airlines can blacklist a certain person and if they are allowed to refuse boarding to a bonafide ticket holder under the current laws, a senior civil aviation ministry official said.

Civil aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey said that the ministry has received many suggestions from the airlines and was now studying examples of other countries where such a system exist. We are deciding the modus operandi of having such a list, it has to be full proof if it comes, there should be concrete laws deciding what situations can lead to a person to be blacklisted, how long the ban will last and what will be the redressal mechanism for a passenger if he feels that he has been wrongly indicted, Choubey told Business Standard in an interview. Among developed markets, UK doesnt maintain a no- fly list but each individual airline will have its own list and can ban a passenger. Following the 9/11 attacks USA government in coordination with airlines implemented a common no-fly list according to which people who have their name on the list are not permitted to board an aircraft in and out of the country.

Never before it happened that airlines in unision had decided to refuse boarding to a particular person and the person being a parliamentarian added to the urgency. Presently the CAR, Section 3, Series M Part VI which lays down the regulations of how an airline should deal with an unruly passenger allows the airlines to refuse embarkation or being off-loaded but doesnt have the provision of a permanent black list.

There are separate provisions of dealing with such passenger when the aircrafts on ground and it is on air, but not a composite common guideline, in the absence of such a system airlines form their own SOP to deal with a situation, the official said. For instance, IndiGo has trained its cabin crews to follow a four-level procedure to thwart such incidents on air. The four levels indicate what the crew response should be during incidents like verbal abuse following which a warning is given, to restraining the passengers using handcuffs when a serious incident like breaking into cockpit is attempted. We want a no fly list, IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh said.

Senior airline executives also say that maintaining a black list should be preceded by forming mechanism of identifying a passenger. How does an airline identify a blacklisted person when he doesnt need to furnish any documentation while booking a ticket, in US social security card is compulsory while booking a domestic ticket, here we have passport compulsory for international booking but nothing while domestic travel, the executive said.

The ministry has been considering bringing a no-fly list for a long time and the current incident allowed them the opportunity to expedite the process. Great leaders bring in revolution, perhaps this incident by a political leader will bring in revolution in Indian civil aviation", quipped an airline official.
With the State facing the worst drought in the past 115 years, the Government of Kerala asks the Centre to release a relief assistance of close to Rs 1,000 crore. Kerala Ministers are expected to meet Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Radha Mohan Singh and others on March 28.
Third meeting of G-20 framework working group to be held at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh (UP) on 28th and 29th March, 2017; to deliberate on current global economic situation and other important development challenges. .

The 3rd G-20 Framework Working Group (FWG) Meeting under the G-20 German Presidency is being co-hosted by Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Varanasi on 28th and 29th of March, 2017. The first two G 20 FWG meetings under the G-20 German Presidency have already been held at Berlin in Dec 16 and at Riyadh in Feb 17. .

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Since the inception of the FWG in 2009, this is the fourth occasion that India is hosting this meeting. Previously, India had hosted the G-20 FWG Meetings in Neemrana, Rajasthan (2012 under Mexican Presidency), in Goa (in 2014 under G-20 Australian Presidency) and in Kerala (2015 under G-20 Turkish Presidency). .

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In the forthcoming meeting in Varanasi, the G-20 FWG will discuss the current global economic situation as well as deliberate on the policy options that countries can pursue to counter the important development challenges. One important focus of this meeting will be to deliberate on the inclusive growth agenda of G-20 and to formulate a framework that will enable countries to help frame country specific inclusive growth policies. .

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The G-20 is the group of 19 countries and European Union (EU) deliberating on global economic issues and other important development challenges. G-20 Framework Working Group (FWG) is one of the core working groups of G-20. The mandate of FWG is to deliberate on the challenges facing the global economy and the policy options that countries can use to address these challenges. India along with Canada has been co-chairing this group. .

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As India and other countries await an automatic exchange of information from next year about suspected hoarders in Swiss banks, Switzerland has said it can suspend such sharing of details any time if confidentiality is not maintained.

As part of an commitment to fight the menace, Switzerland has affected the automatic exchange of information standard since January 1, 2017, and the sharing of details under this framework will begin next year with the first batch of countries, including India.

"Domestic financial institutions are collecting this data for the first time this year, and the Swiss tax authorities will exchange it with their counterparts in partner states in 2018," said the State Secretariat for Financial Matters (SIF).

The Swiss agency, which is mandated to defend the interests of Switzerland on financial and tax matters and participates in international negotiations, said further in its latest quarterly newsletter that necessary steps will be in place to ensure the exchanged data do not fall into the wrong hands or get misused.

"Switzerland is prepared in principle to introduce the automatic exchange of information with all states and territories which meet the relevant requirements. In this sense, the confidentiality and security of the data are important elements of this international standard.

Switzerland implements the automatic reciprocal exchange of information only with countries which can guarantee confidentiality and data protection. Before any exchanges occur, the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes carries out a thorough examination as to whether or not the partner states which have undertaken to introduce the automatic exchange of information comply with the requirements.

In some important cases, Switzerland additionally gets an on-the-spot impression of the situation in the partner states. Given that Switzerland does not belong to the group of countries which implemented the standard early on (so-called early adopters), it is also benefiting from the experience of other countries.

Before the first exchange occurs, it will be able to examine if all significant elements of the standard have been met. Should it subsequently transpire that a country has not fulfilled its obligations, Switzerland can at any time suspend the automatic exchange of information with the country concerned," the SIF said.

The Swiss agency further said the system in place so far has been "relatively simple", wherein whenever a foreign tax authority was interested in obtaining information located in Switzerland, it had to make a request for administrative assistance.

"However, the rapid international developments in recent years have provided Switzerland with two new forms of exchange of information in the area of taxes: spontaneous and automatic exchange of information (AEOI)," it added.

In the case of the AEOI, countries mutually exchange information automatically on financial accounts and the details, in this case, are determined as the standards drawn up by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The information in spontaneous exchange needs to be exchanged if the transmitting country suspects that the information available might be of interest to another country.

While the spontaneous exchange has nothing to do with voluntary in this context  it only means that no preliminary request has been submitted  this framework was being handled very differently from country to country up to now, the SIF said.

"Within the scope of the OECD and G20 project to combat base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), the spontaneous exchange of information was specified for the first time in the area of advance tax rulings, where there is a risk of base erosion or profit shifting. The Federal Council adopted the current international standard in this area in the context of a revision of the Tax Administrative Assistance Ordinance. Switzerland will spontaneously exchange information on advance tax rulings for the first time next year," it added.

The agency further said that over the past 30 years, the number of domestic bank branches in Switzerland has almost halved.

A reduction in the number of banking institutions and their branches can be the result of mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies.

A number of policy measures have been put in place by Swiss authorities in recent years to address concerns of its banks providing high secrecy walls around their global clients. New rules make it much easier for several foreign jurisdictions, including India, to get details from Switzerland about people suspected to be involved in tax evasion and other financial crimes.

Switzerland has also been issuing notices to several resident Indians and even Indians settled abroad after the receipt of a request from India for "administrative assistance", including information about their Swiss bank account details.

As per the local law, Switzerland gives an opportunity to the entity concerned to challenge the sharing of information, before providing the assistance to the requesting nation.

While India and Switzerland late last year signed a new pact for automatic exchange of information about account details 2018 onwards, the pending requests have been made under their existing bilateral tax treaty.

The pace of seeking such details seems to have quickened in recent months, going by the sudden spurt in the number of Indian names figuring in such notifications.
Beijing favourite Carrie Lam was selected as Hong Kong's new leader on Sunday by a mainly pro-China committee, in an election dismissed as a sham by democracy activists who fear the loss of the city's cherished freedoms.

It is the first leadership vote since the mass "Umbrella Movement" rallies calling for fully free elections in 2014 failed to win reforms and comes after a turbulent term under current Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.

Leung, who is seen by opponents as a Beijing puppet, and will step down in July after five years in charge.

is semi-autonomous and has been governed under a "one country, two systems" deal since it was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.

But, 20 years on, there are serious concerns Beijing is disregarding the handover agreement designed to protect Hong Kong's way of life.

Around three quarters of the 1,194 members of the election committee were from the mainland camp.

An emotional Lam bowed to supporters at it was announced she had won comprehensively with 777 votes against 365 for her more moderate establishment rival John Tsang.

The third and most liberal candidate, Woo Kwok-hing, received just 21 votes.

Frustration at what activists see as China's increasing influence and a lack of promised political reform has sparked calls for self-determination for Hong Kong, or even a complete split from China.

Lam was widely seen as Beijing's pick for the job throughout the race and will become Hong Kong's first ever woman chief executive.

She is intensely disliked by the pro-democracy camp after promoting the Beijing-backed reform package that sparked 2014's massive protests.

That plan said the public could choose the city leader in 2017, but insisted candidates must be vetted first.

It was eventually voted down in Parliament by pro-democracy lawmakers and reforms have been shelved ever since.

Hundreds of protesters, including leading pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, gathered near the harbour-front voting venue.

They chanted: "Oppose central authority appointment, we choose our own government!"

Protesters were held back by police as some tried to push through barriers.

Nearby, pro-China supporters played marching music surrounded by national and city flags.

Rebel legislator Nathan Law, who as a lawmaker has an automatic vote, said he would enter a blank ballot.

"It is still a selection from the Beijing government," Law told AFP.
Iran will impose sanctions on 15 US companies for their support for Israel and its "terrorist actions", state news agency Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said in Tehran.

The decision, which is largely symbolic because the firms do not do business with Iran, comes two days after the US announced new sanctions on a number of foreign firms accused of collaborating with Iran's weapons programme.

Iran's sanctions target US firms that provide arms and equipment to Israel "for use against the Palestinians", IRNA said.

"All transactions with these firms are forbidden, their assets will be seized and their officials will not be able to obtain a visa," it added.

The firms include United Technologies, ITT Corporation, Magnum Research INC, Military Armament Corporation and Bushmaster Firearms .

The list also included Re/Max Real Estate, which Tehran accuses of "buying and selling homes in settlements located in the occupied territories".

Tensions have mounted between Tehran and Washington since US President Donald Trump took office in January.

On Friday, Washington announced sanctions against foreign firms and individuals over allegedly collaborating with the weapons programmes of Iran and North Korea.

Trump has repeatedly criticised a July 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that saw the Islamic republic curb its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

Washington last month imposed new sanctions on individuals and companies supporting Iran's ballistic missile programme and on its elite Revolutionary Guards.

US lawmakers are now seeking to further increase pressure, proposing a new law that would see Iran's Revolutionary Guards listed as a terrorist organisation.
Dogs clearly love to smell. They snarfle their way along the sidewalk. They plant their snouts where you wish they wouldnt. They snuffle, snort and sneeze, pulling in great gulps of air and sorting out the scents as they go.
No other country in the European Union has as much lending concentrated in as few banks as Finland.To deal with the risk of one lender bringing down the entire economy, the Finnish Ministry wants to add a systemic risk buffer to the regulators toolbox. The idea is that the watchdog should be free to apply an extra layer of capital if it sees non-cyclical, long-term risks building up. More specifically, the Financial Supervisory Authority could force banks operating in Finland to hold between 1 per cent and 5 per cent core capital on top of existing buffers.Nordea Bank AB, Danske Bank A/S and OP Group together control 90 per cent of the lending market in Finland, which is the Nordic regions only euro member. Part of the concern authorities in Helsinki are trying to address is that problems surfacing in the rest of the single currency bloc could spill over into Finland.But Finlands top bank lobby group says its an unreasonable prospect for the industry to face yet another buffer requirement, and warns that any steps in that direction would only hurt lending and economic growth.Finland should not punish banks for no good reason, Piia-Noora Kauppi, who leads the financial sectors umbrella organization Federation of Finnish Financial Services FK, said in an interview. It should wait until a good compromise is found on the European level.Kauppi says that the ministrys proposal gives the regulator a whole lot of freedom to decide when to impose additional requirements. A systemic risk buffer would naturally raise the cost of lending to customers.Most of Finlands banking risk is concentrated on the countrys housing market. The country is one of eight in the EU to have received a warning from the European Systemic Risk Board over medium-term vulnerabilities on its residential real-estate market.Finland is taking advantage of a clause under European capital rules that allows national regulators to impose stricter requirements to address macro-prudential or systemic risk. The proposed buffer has yet to make its way to Finlands parliament. The country has already applied local requirements for too-big-to-fail lenders.The FSA has said it plans to seek more powers, including to force the amortization of mortgages, if risks grow. Its set to decide on Tuesday whether to apply the macro-prudential tools at its disposal, including a counter-cyclical capital buffer.Kauppi says new macro-prudential tools would hit banks corporate lending and hurt investment just as Finlands economy shows some signs of recovering.The concern is whether the right time is now, she said.
Fresh off a defeat on US healthcare legislation, the warned rebellious conservative lawmakers that they should get behind President Donald Trump's agenda or he may bypass them on future legislative fights, including tax reform.
Earnings downgrades have become a regular feature in Indian stock . However, the infection that caught India Inc about three years earlier is now manifesting into a disease.
With the Assembly elections behind it, the market is preparing for the results season. Jigar Shah, chief executive officer, Maybank Kim Eng Securities, in an interview to Puneet Wadhwa says he expects the earnings for 2016-17 to rise by 3-5 per cent, and for 2017-18 by about 9-10 per cent. Edited excerpts:
India's first electronics design and product firm will raise funds in an initial public offer by July, giving longstanding investors such as Silicon Valley entrepreneur Desh Deshpande, Mayfield Partners and Intel Capital an exit in the company.
Taking a jibe at the Aam Admi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party leader (BJP) Shazia Ilmi on Sunday advised Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to stop fooling public with his promises to abolish house tax while campaigning for the upcoming MCD elections.

"Arvind Kejriwal continues to be himself and he does what he exactly does best. Just before the election he shows up something new something that is unworkable, but nevertheless fools people. My appeal to him would be to please stop fooling public of Delhi. They are not dunces, morons. Please do not play with them," BJP leader Shazia Ilmi told ANI.

Asserting that the whole property tax accounts to more than 30 percent of the collection which is an obligatory tax under the MCD Act 1957-58, the BJP leader suggested that local bodies have to be self reliant and shouldn't be totally dependent on the state or centre's assistance.

She further said, "It is not in his jurisdiction and whatsoever to have an amendment to this effect. So I feel Kejriwal is very deluded."

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal Saturday said the party plans to abolish house tax (residential) if voted into power in the upcoming municipal elections. Kejriwal also said that any pending tax will be waived off.

He called the house tax structure "draconian" and said that it had become a source of widespread corruption for councillors and officers in the MCDs.

There are around nine lakh property tax payers in Delhi and revenue of Rs 600 crore is generated annually through house tax.

When the AAP had campaigned for Assembly elections in 2013 and 2015, the biggest promise it made was of free water and cheaper electricity. The cost of power in Delhi has remained the same since the party came into power in 2015. Every household is given 20 kilo litres of free water a month.

The three municipal corporations go to polls on April 23, while votes will be counted on April 26.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The ruling Awami League, which had led the Liberation War that caused Bangladesh to gain freedom from Pakistani occupancy in 1971, is all set to mark the 46th anniversary of the country's independence.

The party, along with the rest of the nation, will organise a number of programmes on the occasion, with due significance and utmost tribute to the martyrs and freedom fighters, as reported by the Dhaka Tribune.

The party will hoist national and party flags at the residence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibar Rahman, who played a key role in the country's independence and also at its central and local offices across the country at the dawn.

Floral wreaths will be placed at the National Martyrs' Memorial in Savar at 6 a.m. on behalf of the party, as mark of respect to the war heroes and in commemoration of them, after President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pay their homage.

Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader, in an statement, urged party leaders and activists to observe the day along with the countrymen and the party's affiliated bodies with highest enthusiasm.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bending to the pressure of massive loans, a farmer tried to take his life by immolating himself outside Gorakhnath Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur today, but was rescued by the locals.

After the locals intervened and stopped him from the taking the extreme step, he was immediately detained by the police and taken to the nearby police station.

"Nobody is there to listen to my plea. I am under a huge debt and my health is deteriorating. I need help," A sobbing Rajkumar Bharti said.

Bharti, who is from Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh, was prevented from by the people present there near the temple at the time.

He demanded loan which he took for his treatment.

It is not yet clear as to whether Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took note of the demand made by the person.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the new Uttar Pradesh government would take a decision in its first cabinet meeting on the loan waiver scheme for the farmers of state.

No such step has been taken by the Yogi Adityanath government till now.

Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ruled out farm loan waivers by the Centre but said states can utilise their own resources in this regard.

He clarified that the Centre will not adopt a selective approach by helping one state and not the others.

"This issue (loan waiver) has cropped up in several states. The Centre has its policies for agriculture sector under which we provide interest subvention and other support. We will continue to give all that. If a state has its own resources and want to go ahead in that direction, it will have to find its resources. The situation where the Centre will help one state and not the others will not arise," Jaitley said in the Rajya Sabha.

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Ian Grillot, who was injured while trying to intervene during the Kansas shooting incident that killed Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla, was felicitated by Indian-Americans community in Houston.

"It is not every day that one meets a genuine hero - a person who risks his life for another, and takes a bullet for a complete stranger. Ian Grillot is a man who reminds us of the promise of America and its greatness," said Jiten Agarwal, a prominent Houstonian and Chair of India House Houston's annual gala, according to a statement posted on Facebook by the community.

India House is a community center built by Americans of Indian origin in the Greater Houston area to serve all who need help.

According to the statement, on behalf of the Indian-American community in Houston, India House recognized this act beyond the call of duty and has extended the community's gratitude to Ian Grillot by helping him to buy a house with a USD 1,00,000 cheque.

Charlie Yalamanchili, a prominent Houstonian of Indian origin, proposed the house purchase, and offered to match every dollar raised by India House for this cause. With such generous support from Yalamanchili, India House raised $100,000 that will help Ian buy a house in his hometown in Kansas. This initiative was strongly encouraged and supported by the Consul General of India in Houston, Dr. Anupam Ray, according to the statement.

Kuchibhotla was shot dead on February 22 in Kansas in an alleged racial attack, after the gunman, Adam Purinton, 51 who is a Navy veteran was heard shouting "get out of my country".

The incident also left two others injured including Grillot who stood up to the adversity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a protest against ban on the illegal slaughter houses in Uttar Pradesh, the chicken and mutton Mandi Committee has called for an indefinite strike in Lucknow.

The committee has also asked the meat traders to shut their restaurants and hotels, while stating that under the guise of closure of illegal slaughter house, the government is pestering the small businessmen.

It further said that the strike would be continued and shops would remain closed if the government does not chalk out any alternative arrangements.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath earlier on March 22 directed all police officials to prepare an action plan to shut slaughter houses.

According to sources, Adityanath has also directed the police to put complete ban on cow smuggling.

The BJP earlier its election manifesto has stated that it would take strict steps to close down all illegal slaughterhouses besides banning mechanised one's if it comes to power. BJP President Amit Shah in his election meetings and various rallies during campaigning also said the same.

The ruling party believes that due to cow smuggling, dairy-based industries have failed to flourish. It also stated that during the past state governments there has been a stagnant dip in cattle count, reflecting that the previous government failed to put a check on it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The North Korean military on Sunday warned the United States and South Korea against any attempt to stage a "special operation" to hit its leadership and military installations, including the nuclear arms base.

According to Xinhua news agency, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency that it is ready to "mercilessly smash the enemy's moves with its own style of special operation and preemptive attack, now that the sinister aim of the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean War maniacs' 'special operation' to hurt the dignity of the DPRK's supreme leadership has become clear, and they disclosed even the dangerous attempt at 'preemptive attack.'"

It accused the United States and South Korea of being "busy staging madcap joint military drills for aggression involving more than 300,000 troops, U.S. nuclear carrier Carl Vinson and B-1B and other nuclear strategic assets."

"The situation has reached an extreme phase which should not be overlooked," the General Staff said in the statement.

North Korea has protested against the drills, calling them a rehearsal for war, and responded with a series of missile tests.

On March 13, combined forces of South Korea and the United States kicked off the annual command post exercise.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed disappointment over the U.S. authorities' decision to introduce sanctions against eight more Russian companies.

"The US administration's decision to introduce restrictions against a number of Russian organizations, including those linked to aircraft construction and training aviation specialists, raises eyebrows and arouses disappointment," TASS news agency quoted the ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying on her Facebook page.

She said that the sanction have been placed without providing proper explanation.

"This new portion of sanctions does not pose any serious problems for us, of course, however, the Americans did not even name the reasons but just referred to their legislation prohibiting themselves to cooperate with Iran and Syria," she added.

Russia's Foreign Ministry notes that this step "is not in line with Washington's statements on priority of fight against terrorism, including its nest on the Syrian territory."

On Saturday, the US Administration imposed sanctions on eight more Russian companies accusing them of violating U.S. non-proliferation law concerning Iran, North Korea and Syria since 2009. Traditionally, the U.S. does not specify its claims to the Russian companies.

The current sanctions, due to remain in force for the coming two years, ban US departments and agencies from buying any goods or services from blacklisted companies, from selling arms and military hardware to them. Also, the sanctioned companies can neither obtain licenses for buying goods listed in the export control nor get assistance.

Among the sanctioned companies are Russia's main weapons exporter Rosobornexport, the 150th aircraft repair plant, the Aviaexport foreign economic trade company, the Bazalt Scientific and Research Corporation, the Scientific and Production Corporation 'Engineering Design Bureau (weapons manufacturing companies), the Ulyanovsk Higher Civil Aviation School, the Urals Civil Aviation Training Center, and the Zhukovsky - Gagarin Air Force Academy.

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Pakistan Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry has reiterated that Islamabad wants good relations with India, but every time the dialogue process is halted, it eventually helps the terrorists to have their way.

"It is imperative that Pakistan and India should engage in a meaningful dialogue and play a positive role for peace and stability of the region," ARY News quoted Aizaz as saying.

He was addressing his first gathering of U.S. media persons at the Embassy of Pakistan.

The dialogue between the hostile neighbours hit a major roadblock after the attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in January last year in which four terrorists and two security personnel were killed in the gun battle.

The attack had stalled hopes of revived peace talks between the nations after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his counterpart Nawaz Sharif in a surprise visit to Islamabad in December 2015.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least one person has reportedly been killed and several others injured after a gunman opened fire at Cameo Night Club in Cincinnati, Ohio, local U.S. media reported.

The injured have been taken to hospital and police is investigating the incident.

"On scene Cameo Night Club 4601 Kellogg. 14 victims shot, one victim decreased," Cincinnati Police tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a horrific incident in Uttar Pradesh, a government officer shot dead a dog for barking at him and at his dog at Moradabad's Kashiram Nagar.

The incident took place yesterday evening.

The stray dog used to live in the Kashiram Nagar colony and according to the residents they used to feed him and in turn the dog guarded the area.

The accused shot the dog thrice with his licensed pistol after it barked at him once.

However, the officer said that he took the step in 'self-defence'.

The shooter, Vimal Dheer, has been booked under relevant Sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and has been arrested by the police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 12 Indian fishermen were arrested by Sri Lankan navy for allegedly poaching in its waters, it said on Sunday.

The navy on Saturday also seized two of their trawlers for allegedly fishing in Sri Lankan waters northwest of Delft Island, Colombo Page reported.

The Indian fishermen will be handed over to the Jaffna Assistant Director of Fisheries for investigation, the navy said.

--IANS

py/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least six persons, including two police officials, were killed and over 40 were injured in two explosions on Saturday near a militant hideout in Sylhet city, some 240 km from capital Dhaka, local police said.

Sylhet Metropolitan Police Additional Deputy Commissioner Zedan Al Musa confirmed the death toll to bdnews24.com early on Sunday.

The explosions came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint near the country's main airport in Dhaka in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

Of those seriously wounded include Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Intelligence chief who has been airlifted to Dhaka for better treatment.

One of the injured persons, Gulzar Ahmed, told bdnews24.com at the hospital that some onlookers stopped a person carrying a black polythene bag.

"The blast occurred just after he said that there was red spinach in the bag. Five to six people were injured in the explosion," he said.

"Another large explosion occurred when police and RAB rushed to the scene. Around 25 people were injured in the second blast," he added.

Witnesses earlier said two people riding a motorcycle 'carried out an explosion' at one end of the street where the militant hideout is located.

The blasts came within an hour of a media briefing on a raid at the militant hideout in which an army spokesperson said the commandos were storming a complex housing two buildings -- one five-storey and the other four-storey.

Mediapersons and onlookers in the area were asked to move at least a kilometre away when troops from the Para-Commando Battalion began the assault on Saturday morning to round off a 30-hour siege to the complex.

Police said the militants rented a flat some months ago. The 30 families residing in as many other units of the buildings were trapped during the raid.

The commandos have rescued 78 people from the building, which the army spokesperson said was their priority.

--IANS

lok/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Border Security Force (BSF) has been put on high alert along the India-Bangladesh border following twin blasts in Bangladesh's Sylhet city, an official said on Sunday.

"Our troopers are on high alert along the India-Bangladesh after a series of blasts in Bangladesh," BSF Inspector General, Meghalaya frontier P.K. Dubey told IANS.

BSF officials have shared intelligence inputs with Meghalaya Police following the explosions, he added.

"We are not taking any chances with such activities and all necessary measures have been taken to prevent perpetrators from entering our side of the border," Dubey said.

The six dead in the two blasts on Saturday near a militant hideout in Sylhet includes two Bangladesh police officials. The blasts came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint near the Dhaka airport in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

A Meghalaya Police official also said that they had also taken necessary measures.

"We have instructed our personnel posted close to the border to remain and to keep strict vigil in close coordination with the BSF," the official said.

India has a 1,880 km border with Bangladesh along four states -- Tripura (856 km), Assam (263 km), Meghalaya (443 km), and Mizoram (318 km).

--IANS

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Fashion designer Masaba Gupta, who has collaborated with an ongoing Denim Festival here, says denims are loved the world over.

The Denim Festival at the High Street Phoenix here, is exhibiting the evolution of denims in collaboration with Masaba and other brands like Gas, Wrangler, Jack & Jones, Only, Forever New, Lee, Vero Moda, Celio and Pepe Jeans. These are exhibiting the evolution of denims.

"The Denim fest is a great fashion initiative. It's a nice way of celebrating denims which is a universal favourite apparel which is agnostic of trends and genders. Since my new collection is all about denims, I can very well relate to the fest," Masaba told IANS.

Known for her quirky and colourful prints, Masaba's new range is a mix of playful polkas with tinges of pink and silver foil.

"The denim range is specially tailored with silhouettes like relaxed jackets, button down skirts, bow tops, oversized trousers and bustier and the denim sari perfect for the summer stroll," she said.

The fest, which started on March 22, will end on March 30.

--IANS

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Expressing his gratitude to people for taking to digital payments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his radio address 'Mann Ki Baat' said that every Indian can combat black money.

Modi said that with a firm resolution India can see 2.5 crore digital transactions within next six months rather than waiting for a year.

"I express my gratitude to the citizens for going for digital transaction. Every Indian can be a crusader against black money just by opting for digital payment rather than cash transactions," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that after demonetisation people began proffering digital transactions and there had been huge increase in digital transactions.

"Within two months of its launch, there had been 1.5 crore downloads of BHIM app, this is commendable... If 125 crore citizens make a resolution, then we can achieve the target of 2.5 crore digital transactions within six months and not wait for a year..."

"Just make sure that you submit the school fee of your children, railway or airline bookings and other transactions are done through digital mode," Modi said.

--IANS

kd/py/vt

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A wanted commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen was among the two militants shot dead in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district after a brief gunfight on Sunday, police said.

"The militants, travelling in a vehicle, were challenged at a 'naka' (checkpost) set up by security forces in Padgampora area of Pulwama, but instead of giving themselves up, started firing at the security personnel triggering a brief gunfight in which both were killed," a police officer said here.

"The two slain militants have been identified as Rayees Kachroo of Rajpora in Pulwama and Farooq Hurra of Nazneenpora in Shopian district. Kachroo was on top of the security forces' wanted list of militants operating in south areas.

"He was wanted in connection with attacks on security forces. His killing is a major setback to militancy in south Kashmir," the officer said.

Security forces had set up the checkpost in Padgampora area following information about the movement of militants.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Odisha Police on Sunday claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of ATM looters, with the arrest of a main accused from Uttarakhand.

The Commissionerate Police arrested gang leader Ajay Choudhury, a resident of Uttarakhand, for looting around Rs 50 lakh from five ATM machines in Puri, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, Director General of Police (DGP) K.B. Singh told media persons.

The DGP said police were undertaking raids in different parts of the country to arrest the other members of the ATM looters' gang.

The police have seized one Apple laptop, a hard disk and three mobile phones from Choudhury's possession. Besides, six bank accounts having Rs 8 lakh in deposits and one bank locker were also frozen by the Commissionerate Police.

Singh said the robbers didn't use mobile phones while committing the crime.

"The thieves, in this case, didn't use mobile phones as they were communicating through an app. The culprits were using a Chinese malware for the purpose. They first install it into the system through the USB port and then they reboot it," the DGP added.

Notably, Choudhury was jailed in 2014 in an ATM skimming case. Besides, he was allegedly involved in a similar kind of offence in Lucknow last year.

--IANS

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The fire at the ordnance factory in Jabalpur did not have any effect on India's inventory as only old materials were gutted, Defence Ministry sources said on Sunday.

The ministry sources also said a probe would find out what caused the fire.

On Saturday evening, a major fire broke out at the ordnance factory at Khamaria in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and a series of explosions were heard.

The fire, which started around 6.20 p.m. was controlled around 9.15 p.m., officials said.

"Only the magazine building has been destroyed in the fire. The material that was gutted was old ordnance. This will not have any major effect on the inventory, the ordnance currently in use is safe," an official of th factory told IANS.

"A probe will go into the reason for the fire and the extent of damage," the official added.

Jabalpur District Magistrate M.C. Chaudhary told IANS that the fire broke out in the F-3 section of the factory after a series of explosions caused by bombs.

Authorities said no one was injured in the incident.

On May 31, 2016, 19 persons were killed in a massive fire at Pulgaon arms depot in Maharashtra. Besides, 17 others were injured.

While the Pulgaon fire was blamed on faulty anti-tank mines, the reason for fire in Jabalpur factory would be known only after a probe is completed, the officials said.

--IANS

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Actress Kate Winslet is "an extremely intuitive and emotional person", apart from being a master in her craft, says John Downer, director of documentary "Snow Chick - A Penguins Tale".

Winslet has narrated the documentary -- which tells the story of an emperor penguin chick battling for survival in Antarctic region -- and also highlights climatic changes. The documentary will air in India on Sony BBC Earth on April 1.

"I met Kate Winslet long time ago. We hit it off so well. She is such a wonderful person and a fine actress. It's the freshness she brings to the show," Downer told IANS over email from Britain.

Downer also pointed out how Winslet's voice in the series "personifies her own inner feeling".

He added: "One great thing about her is the fact that though she hasn't seen the film but her voice personifies her own inner feeling about the snow chick's emotion. She isn't just reading the lines but actually is feeling it. She is an extremely intuitive and emotion person at the same time an amazing actress which comes across when she speaks and narrates."

Downer says he wants people to know and understand the "harsh environment" that they shot in.

"People must also understand the complexities of the climate that the production has to face. We would want them to empathise with the crew and at the same time enjoy the cute penguins," he added.

--IANS

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Transport Minister A K Saseendran resigned on Sunday after an audio emerged in which he is heard having a lewd conversation with a woman on phone.

A five-time legislator from the Nationalist Congress Party, the minister announced the resignation at Kozhikode. The audio was released by Mangalam TV.

Earlier, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the media that he had taken the report seriously and promised action.

Last year, CPI-M strongman and Industries Minister E P Jayarajan quit on charges of nepotism.
Kerala Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran resigned on Sunday after an audio emerged in which he is heard having a lewd conversation with a woman on phone.

A five-time Nationalist Congress Party legislator, the minister announced the resignation at a hurriedly-called press conference here. The audio was released by Mangalam TV.

But the politician maintained he had done no wrong. "I always behave with everyone very politely," Saseendran said.

"The need of the hour in the wake of this particular news report is not to look into the merits of the case but uphold the morality of my party, government and myself. Hence, I am stepping down.

"I am ready to face any probe by any agency and I have no complaints against anyone."

Asked if he smelt a conspiracy, Saseendran said this has to be established in an investigation.

"I did not want to cling on to this post on technical grounds because then the complaint would have come that a fair probe can't happen. I don't wish to hear that and hence decided to quit," he added.

Earlier, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the media that he had taken the TV report seriously and promised action.

Saseendran is the second minister to resign since the Left Democratic Front (LDF) took power in Kerala last year.

Last year, CPI-M strongman and Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan quit on charges of nepotism.

--IANS

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday condemned the twin blasts in Bangladesh's Sylhet city which killed six persons.

"Strongly condemn the suicide attack in Sylhet. My solidarity with the brothers and sisters in Bangladesh," Banerjee tweeted.

More than 40 others were injured in the explosions on Saturday near a militant hideout in the city.

--IANS

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Militants ransacked the house of a police officer in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district and drove off with his son and nephew in his car before freeing the youngsters and torching the vehicle, police said.

The militants forced their way into the house of Sub-Inspector Muhammad Subhan Bhat in Chadoora area late Saturday evening and ransacked it. State police chief S.P. Vaid assured action.

Last month, militants ransacked the house of a senior police officer in south Kashmir's Shopian district after threatening the inmates of dire consequences if the officer did not quit his job.

--IANS

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Morocco's Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani said here on Saturday that he had agreed to form a coalition government with five other parties.

El Othmani told the press that the new coalition will consist of six parties, namely his Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), the liberal National Rally of Independents (RNI), the nationalist Popular Movement (MP), the Constitutional Union Party (UC), the leftists parties of Socialist Union of Popular Forces Party (USFP) and the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS), Xinhua news agency reported.

--IANS

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Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari will begin a state visit to India on April 17, a media report said on Sunday.

The Nepal President's Office confirmed her India visit, which will be her first foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015, the Kathmandu Post reported.

The President will be meeting her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, leaders from the ruling and opposition parties and top Indian officials on April 18 in New Delhi, said Madan Kumar Bhattarai, Foreign Relations Adviser to Bhandari.

The itinerary of the visit is yet to be finalised, he added. Some minor agreements as a gesture of friendly relations between Nepal and India will likely be sealed during her visit.

The President was preparing to visit India in May last year but it was cancelled due to the lack of preparations on the government's part.

After completing her engagements in Delhi, she will be attending a function at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

--IANS

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the 'New India' was a joint call and desire of 125 crore Indians and called upon the people to perform their duties as responsible citizens.

In his monthly radio address 'Mann ki Baat', the first since the Bharatiya Janata Party's victories in the recently concluded assembly elections in five states, Modi said small and steady steps by all Indians can lead to realisation of a new and transformed India.

"We are in the 21st century and there is no Indian who doesn't want to transform India. New India is neither a government project nor a manifesto of a political party. It is the joint call and desire of 125 crore Indians to transform India," said Modi.

"Everything is not linked to the budget or government funds. If every citizen pledges to be more responsible, performs his duties, then this dream of new and transformed India can be easily realised," he said.

"If we look at the society, there are many who are serving the society in their own ways. Some are serving patients in hospitals, others are voluntarily donating blood and some others feeding the poor."

"Service is the core of our values. If we obey traffic rules, pledge not to use petrol or diesel once a week, resolve to be more responsible, if we do things step by step, we can achieve a new India," Modi added.

--IANS

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Bihar's ruling JD-U on Sunday urged all non-BJP parties, including the Congress, to accept the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to challenge the party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Janata Dal-United state president Vashisht Narain Singh told media here that the time has come that all non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parties should come together at a platform and declare Nitish Kumar as their leader.

"In the changed situation in the country, Nitish Kumar is the only alternative to Modi," he said. Nitish Kumar is the president of JD-U.

Last year and this year as well, JD-U leaders and workers publicly tried to project Nitish Kumar as the prime ministerial candidate in the 2019 general election against Modi.

According to senior JD-U leaders here, Nitish is keen to be projected as prime ministerial candidate of the combined opposition to counter Modi.

--IANS

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A series of explosions at the ordanance factory at Khamaria here destroyed only old stored explosives and ammunition, a senior official said on Sunday.

Only the magazine building was damaged in the blasts that occurred on Saturday evening while the other buildings in the complex were unaffected, Senior General Manager A.K. Aggarwal told the media here.

The explosions began at 6.25 p.m. and continued for around 45 minutes, damaging the magazine building -- where old RCL 1,067 or explosives and other ammunition are stored, said Aggarwal who on Sunday inspected the damaged portion of the ordnance factory.

Earlier, Defence Ministry sources said the fire that broke out due to explosions at the ordnance factory in Madhya Pradesh did not affect India's defence inventory.

Jabalpur District Magistrate M.C. Chaudhary told IANS that the fire broke out in the F-3 section of the factory due to series of explosions caused by bombs.

Authorities said no one was injured in the incident.

As many as 19 persons were killed in a massive fire at Pulgaon arms depot in Maharashtra on May 31, 2016, and 17 others were injured.

While the Pulgaon fire was blamed on faulty anti-tank mines, the reason for fire in Jabalpur factory would be known only after a probe is completed, the officials here said.

--IANS

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Ram Gopal Varma has earned the wrath of actor Pawan Kalyan's fans after the filmmaker went on to criticise the star's latest Telugu outing "Katamarayudu", while also targeting his personal life and family.

In a series of late-night tweets on Saturday, Varma spewed venom on Pawan Kalyan.

Varma said Pawan Kalyan made profits by selling his film at an exorbitant price to distributors.

"Making film in Rs 30 crore, selling at Rs 100 crore and pocketing Rs 70 crore and enjoying daughters' birthday is no less than Nero playing Fidel when Rome was burning," Varma tweeted.

On the day of release of "Katamarayudu", Pawan Kalyan's daughter Aadhya turned seven. He spent the whole day with her and his ex-wife Renu Desai.

Varma went on to blame the actor's fans for "distracting him from real strength".

He also said that Pawan Kalyan doesn't bear losses of a film unlike superstar Rajinikanth.

"Rajinikanth cares about exhibitors losing and returns money to them because he failed to deliver," he said.

Varma wrote: "A 50+ man (referring to himself) with married daughter watching porn is more powerfully honest than delivering a powerless film and celebrating birthdays of two daughters with two wives."

Varma's tweets resulted in a war of words with staunch fans of Pawan Kalyan.

--IANS

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A rebellion began Indian-American teen Indrani Das on her way to the brain research that got her the quarter-million-dollar Regeneron Science Talent Search award for high school students.

Most Indian parents want their children to become doctors, but not her parents.

Das, who calls herself a "rebel", recalled to IANS that her parents had told her: "Whatever you do, don't be a doctor. Don't become a doctor, it's long and expensive."

"So I decided I wanted to be a doctor," she said.

And that rebellious ambition led her to her medical-oriented science project.

Her parents Bidyut and Tanima Das, who are from Kolkata and now live in Oradell, New Jersey, are bankers by profession.

The 17-year-old, who is in the final year of high school at the Academy for Medical Science Technology in Hackensack, said she wants to become a doctor who simultaneously does scientific research.

"I want to be physician-scientist," she said. "I would like to see patients, but I would also like to do research."

Her project on finding ways to treat damage to the brain from injuries or disease won her the top prize earlier this month in the nation's foremost science contest sponsored by Regeneron and conducted by Society for Science and the Public (SSP).

Nicknamed the "Junior Nobel Prize", the Science Talent Search competition was originally sponsored by Westinghouse in 1942 and Intel took it up from 1998 till last year.

Twelve of the contest alumni have won Nobel Prizes.

Indian American teens took five of the top ten awards in this year's competition in which 1,700 high school students participated.

SSP President Maya Ajmera said Das's "dedication to making the world a better place through science -- whether through her research on treating brain damage or volunteer work in her community -- is truly inspiring".

Explaining her research, Das said that when Alzheimer, Parkinson's, stroke or a traumatic injury affects the brain, the neurons, which are the main signal cells of the brain, are killed.

Next the supporting cells -- astrocytes -- that are supposed to nurture and protect the neurons, go awry and create a toxic chemical environment, poisoning the neurons.

"My work concentrates on getting these supporting cells to behave correctly," Das said. "I found one way it can be made better, essentially by increasing one protein at the membrane of these supporting cells."

"It pushes these supporting cells with treatment to create a chemical environment that is safer and cleaner for neurons to grow in" after a damage to the brain, she said.

There are several steps before a medical treatment based on her research can become available to patients.

"First thing I will need to do is use my treatment in animal models," Das said. "So I will have to work on increasing the complexity of my models."

She said that she wants to find out where and how exactly the treatment is effective.

"Finding how it works will will help me back-track and understand this whole injury condition better, which is something nobody really understands," she said.

Her school is equipped with a cell culture facility for her research.

Her mentor, Donna Leonardi, was her biology teacher. She is a former lab director at New York Presbyterian, a major medical facility affiliated with Columbia and Cornell universities.

In preparation for a medical career, Das got certified as an emergency medical technician (EMT) last year. As a volunteer EMT she goes out on ambulances to attend to emergencies as a first responder.

Besides her studies and research, she manages to find time for non-medical activities too. "I play the trumpet," she said. "I enjoy skeet-shooting, weightlifting."

And one of her ambitions for college? " I hope to play rugby in college," she said. "I told you I was a rebel."

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@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.)
At least six persons, including two police officers, were killed in two explosions in Bangladesh's Sylhet city, police said on Sunday.

More than 40 others were injured in the blasts on Saturday near a militant hideout in the city, some 240 km from capital Dhaka.

Sylhet Metropolitan Police Additional Deputy Commissioner Zedan Al Musa said the explosions came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up near the country's main airport in Dhaka.

That attack was claimed by Islamic State.

The seriously wounded include Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Intelligence chief who has been flown to Dhaka for better treatment.

One of the injured, Gulzar Ahmed, told bdnews24.com that some onlookers stopped a person carrying a black polythene bag.

"The blast occurred just after he said that there was red spinach in the bag. Five to six people were injured in the explosion," he said.

"Another large explosion occurred when police and RAB rushed to the scene. Around 25 people were injured in the second blast," he added.

Witnesses earlier blamed two people riding a motorcycle for the explosion at one end of the street where the militant hideout is located.

The blasts came within an hour of a media briefing on a raid at the hideout housing two buildings - one five-storey and the other four-storey.

Police said the militants rented a flat some months ago.

Commandos rescued 78 people from the building.

--IANS

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Low-cost carrier SpiceJet on Sunday launched its daily direct Delhi-Surat-Delhi service with a traditional flag-off and lamp lighting ceremony at Surat airport, the airlines said.

The new flight is in line with the emphasis being laid on "regional connectivity", SpiceJet said in a release here.

"The new flight is part of enhanced summer schedule and will augment its connectivity in the domestic sector," it said.

The flight was inaugurated by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, who was accompanied by SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh, along with others, on board the Boeing 737-800 aircraft in the flight from Delhi to Surat.

"SpiceJet is proud to connect Surat, one of the fastest growing cities of the country with the national capital. Our twice daily flights will offer immense flexibility to the corporate and leisure travellers on the SpiceJet network," Singh said in the statement.

The new flight was greeted with the traditional water cannon salute after it landed at Surat airport, the release said.

The first boarding pass was handed over to the first passenger at Surat Airport, it added.

--IANS

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TDP MP Kesineni Nani and MLA Bonda Uma on Sunday apologised to Andhra Pradesh State Transport Commissioner N. Bala Subramanyam for allegedly misbehaving with him.

This followed a threat by Transport Department employees to go on pen-down strike from Monday and the subsequent intervention by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Nani and and legislator Bonda Uma assured the Subramanyam that such incident will not recur.

Earlier, they met Naidu and gave their version of the incident that took place at the commissioner's office Saturday.

Naidu, also the TDP chief, said leaders of ruling party should be more cautious and should not give scope for any controversy.

Transport officials Sunday held a media conference to demand that the Vijayawada MP and MLA tender an unconditional apology.

An official said Nani, who owns a bus transport company, tried to pressurise the Commissioner to change a road accident report and when he refused to oblige, he along with his supporters staged a protest.

Nani and others entered into a verbal duel and obstructed the way of the Commissioner for about two hours.

The MP alleged that due to the "corrupt" practices of transport officials, around 400 private buses were operating across the state without permits.

He sought immediate seizure of private buses operating without permits.

"Around 150 buses which belong to Orange Travels are operating in Vijayawada and around 400 buses are operating across the state. Owner of Orange travels, Sunil Reddy, is a 'benami' (proxy) of YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy. He is influencing transport department officials by offering bribes," Nani alleged.

Subramanyam denied the allegations and said every bus was paying taxes to the Transport Department and operating with permit.

--IANS

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Border trade between India and Myanmar was disrupted on Sunday for several hours along the international border in Manipur due to protest by villagers on the Indian side.

However, the stand-off was resolved after talks at the official level.

Police said a large number of villagers of Haollenphai near the international border shouted slogans against Myanmarese authority earlier in the day to demand return of saw mill machinery seized by officials of the neighbouring country.

While the Myanmarese officials claimed that the saw mill was in their territory, the villagers said it lies in Indian territory.

After the protesting villagers locked the gate on the Indian side, Myanmarese officials did the same after a few hours, leaving hundreds of Indian tourists and traders stranded at Namphalong and Tamu.

Official sources said the issue needed to be discussed at the diplomatic level.
US President Donald Trump's counter-terrorism adviser compared Islamic State militants fleeing the Middle East to "cockroaches", vowing to "obliterate" the extremist group, the media reported.

"We're going to obliterate IS. We're going to wipe them off the face of the Earth," White House deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka told Fox News on Saturday.

"But before we get all of them, what's going to happen? Some of them, like the cockroaches, when you switch the light on they're going to scurry. We want to stop them coming here."

Trump's executive order barring citizens of six Muslim-majority countries from entering the US is geared toward blocking militants travelling from the Middle East to America, Gorka said.

"So it's not the person flying from Los Angeles to New York that's the threat," he said.

"It's the IS recruit, who's travelling out of Mosul (Iraq), out of the Middle East, out of Syria."

Gorka's comments came after a terrorist attack in London on Wednesday committed by a 52-year-old UK-born man, The Hill magazine reported.

IS claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed five people and left at least 50 people injured.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two of the three persons who snatched an AK-47 rifle from a policeman here have been arrested, police said on Sunday.

"The third person is still at large with the stolen weapon but will be arrested soon," Inspector General of Police S.D. Singh Jamwal told IANS.

The two, from the Kashmir Valley, were arrested after the Saturday incident, Jamwal said. He did not say if the incident was connected with militancy.

The three snatched the rifle from policeman Muhammad Hanief near the Tawi Bridge.

Hanief was the security guard of Maulana Dehlavi, Chairman of Anjuman-e-Minhaj-e-Rasool, a religious organisation.

The Islamic cleric is visiting Jammu. The policeman was returning to the district police lines after dropping Dehlavi at the state guest house here when he was attacked and his AK-47 snatched.

--IANS

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Two militants were killed on Thursday in an operation by the security forces in Sopore town in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

In a quick operation, police identified the two terrorists who were instrumental in throwing a grenade on its men on Wednesday in Sopore town in which four policemen were injured, a police spokesman said here.

"The two terrorists were eliminated in a joint operation with 22 Rashtriya Rifles, 92, 177 and 179 battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)," the spokesperson added.

Since the end of October 2016, armed robbers have struck at various branches of banks in Jammu and Kashmir, looting nearly Rs 92 lakh in 13 separate attacks.

There have been four incidents in four days this month, beginning with the bloody attack on a cash van on May 1 during which militants shot dead five policemen and two bank security guards, and including two attacks in two hours in adjacent villages in Pulwama.

The incidents coincide with the spike in militancy and mass protests that followed the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani last July.
US ride-hailing company Uber has suspended its self-driving cars from the roads after an accident involving one such vehicle, the media reported on Sunday.

Pictures posted online showed the car on its right side on a street in Arizona, next to another badly damaged vehicle, the BBC reported.

The car -- a Volvo SUV -- was in self-driving mode at the time of the crash, on Friday, Uber said in a statement on Saturday. No one was injured.

A police official said the accident occurred when the other vehicle "failed to yield" to the Uber car at a left turn.

"There was a person behind the wheel. It is uncertain at this time if they were controlling the vehicle at the time of the collision," the official said.

Uber's self-driving cars always have a human in the driving seat who can take over the controls.

The company pulled its self-driving vehicles off the road in Arizona at first, followed by test sites in Pennsylvania and California -- all three states where it operated the vehicles.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US ride-hailing company Uber has suspended its self-driving cars from the roads after one such vehicle crashed in Arizona, the media reported on Sunday.

Pictures posted online showed the car on its right side on a street, next to another badly damaged vehicle, the BBC reported.

US-based Fresco News posted the images and video on Facebook on Saturday and wrote: "No injuries yet reported in an accident involving a self-driving Uber."

A police official said the accident occurred when the other vehicle "failed to yield" to the Uber car at a left turn.

"There was a person behind the wheel. It is uncertain at this time if they were controlling the vehicle at the time of the collision," the official said.

The company pulled its self-driving vehicles off the road in Arizona at first, followed by test sites in Pennsylvania and California -- all three states where it operated the vehicles.

Uber began testing its self-driving cars in Arizona in February after California's Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the registrations of the company's fleet operating in San Francisco.

Uber had refused to apply for a $150 permit to test the vehicles in the city.

Already mired in several controversies, this crash is the latest in a string of highly public incidents involving the ride-sharing company.

The company lost several big executives since February.

Last week, Uber President Jeff Jones said he was quitting after six months on the job. The company confirmed Jones' departure.

"We want to thank Jeff for his six months at the company and wish him all the best," the company said in a statement.

Uber's head of growth and product, Ed Baker, resigned from the company early in March. Also, an India-born Uber executive quit over an old harassment claim.

Amit Singhal, who was born in Uttar Pradesh, left his job for not disclosing an allegation of sexual harassment by his former employer Google.

Uber is also fighting a legal battle after Google's self-driving car company Waymo filed a lawsuit against Uber for allegedly stealing trade secrets and technology from it.

The lawsuit, filed on March 9 against Uber's self-driving vehicle unit Otto that it bought last year for $680 million, argued that former Waymo manager Anthony Levandowski took information when he left the company and later co-founded Otto in January 2016.

The company said it found that six weeks before his resignation, Levandowski downloaded over 14,000 highly confidential and proprietary design files for Waymo's various hardware systems, including designs of Waymo's custom-built "Light Detection and Ranging" (LiDAR) and circuit board.

Levandowski copied the data to an external drive. He later wiped and reformatted the laptop in an attempt to erase forensic fingerprints.

--IANS

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Bihar Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav, son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, was recently asked by Opposition leaders in the state to get married, so that he could learn to be responsible. Speaking to journalists outside the state Assembly in Patna, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Prem Kumar said: At present he (Yadav) is not serious about anything. I believe once he gets married he will become serious and disciplined in life and give proper answers. Kumar also offered to play matchmaker and find a suitable girl for the health minister. RJD leaders were, obviously, unhappy about this. RJD Assembly member Bhola Yadav, said, Tej Pratap will get married when it is appropriate; Prem Kumar need not worry. Yadavs brother and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, who received several marriage proposals over WhatsApp last year, said, If Premji is worried about unmarried leaders, he should ask the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana (Yogi Adityanath and Manohar Lal Khattar, respectively) to tie the knot first.
When the regulator for the downstream petroleum sector was set up in 2006, a suggestion from the ministry of finance to have a common appellate tribunal for power and petroleum was incorporated in the enabling legislation. Subsequently in 2014 and then again in 2015, the jurisdiction of the Securities Appellate Tribunal was widened to include appeals against orders passed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority. The underlying theme for such integration has been taken forward in a much sweeping manner by the government through amendments in the Finance Bill, 2017.
Last week, the Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill, 2017, and it will go to the Rajya Sabha, but as it is a Money Bill the Upper House cannot reject it or even force any amendments. The government proposed several additional amendments to the Bill, which in total change over 40 other existing laws. Many of these amendments are to pass legislation in which the issue being addressed is not financial in nature. It is a basic pillar of Indias constitutional set-up that such laws also receive the approval of the Rajya Sabha, but by tacking them on to the Finance Bill, the government has essentially bypassed this necessity. This is another example of the government using the Money Bill provision to avoid scrutiny in the Rajya Sabha, where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies do not have a majority. In the past, the government has used this provision to pass, for example, the Aadhaar Act. It now appears that it intends to use this method routinely, which would have severely deleterious consequences not just for the constitutional order but for the legitimacy of these new laws.
To make litigation more affordable, the Supreme Court (SC) has introduced a scheme called Middle Income Group Legal Aid Society. Those earning up to Rs 60,000 a month or Rs 7.5 lakh a year can approach the society and hire a lawyer at rates much lower than what an advocate would charge otherwise to fight a case in the SC.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the nation through his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', greeted Bangladesh on its Independence Day. "India will always stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Bangladesh, I wish them the best", PM Modi said.
Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Sunday praised former Prime Minister as the only good human being in the (Nehru-Gandhi) family and said he had contributed to the awakening of the Hindus.

" was the only good human being in the (Nehru-Gandhi) family and had contributed to the awakening of the Hindus," he told reporters in Patna.

Swamy, a Rajya Sabha MP, recalled that the former Prime Minister had allowed telecast of popular mythological serial Ramayana on Doordarshan and later got the locks of Ram temple at Ayodhya opened for prayers.

"Rajiv (Gandhi) allowed telecast of the mythological soap Ramayana on Doordarshan, the television network, despite fierce opposition from Congress leaders," he said.

Swamy exuded optimism about a resolution of the vexed Ayodhya dispute in the wake of the Supreme Court's prodding to the contending parties to work out an off-the-court settlement.

The senior BJP leader took a dig at the Congress over its electoral reverses, saying, "The Congress appears to be in a mood to commit suicide... We are there to carry out its funeral."



Swamy was here to deliver a lecture on the Ayodhya issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known to pull off surprises. Yet, except for a clique which looks up to Amit Shah, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, as its patron, the rest of the party was stumped when was declared the Uttar Pradesh chief minister on March 18.

Even Shahs inner circle received the news in bits and pieces, depending on how much each member needed to know at a certain point. From the accounts put together after speaking with members of the BJPs parliamentary board, the apex policy and decision making body, and Shahs associates, it appeared Modi and he took the call in unison. And, communicated it as a fait accompli to the other leaders and functionaries.

And, it is apparent that Adityanaths choice was premeditated. It featured among a quartet of names that were circulated till the end. These included home minister Rajnath Singh, the UP party president and Phulpur MP, Keshav Prasad Maurya, and the junior railways and communications minister, Manoj Sinha. These names might have been a feint to turn the spotlight away from Adityanath. For, as a leader put it, There were forces that actively worked against him since 2002, fearing he might destabilise the UP BJP establishment.



Why



Shah had his sights set on Adityanath after the Lok Sabha election of 2014, wondering if the current CM could helm the UP unit. He sounded out Modi on Adityanath shortly after but the duo kept quiet, anticipating that even a hint might push the ever watchful UP factions to plot counter-moves. Modi and Shah were also aware that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) could be unreceptive, as Adityanaths equation with it was patchy, despite their ideological beliefs.

What tipped the scales in the Adityanaths favour resonated in the post facto reasoning offered by party leaders and supporters. That the high priest of the Gorakhnath Math was not identified with a caste (although he is a Rajput and the community fervently celebrated his elevation), he was extremely popular (although it was left to Shah to discover the charisma ostensibly latent for 19 years); he was single and, therefore, free of the corrupt practices that politicians families allegedly get into; uncompromising on Hindutva; young and a tough administrator.

Most important, he marked a break from the old order that ruled over the UP BJP for decades. Sinha, Rajnath and, to an extent, Maurya are part of that order. If one of them had been at the helm, the government would have seemed like an extension of the previous one, with the familiar features of corruption and nepotism, said a party source.

Shah recognised Adityanaths leadership potential in 2013, when engaged in UP as a general secretary. He spent three days at the Gorakhnath monastery in Gorakhpur. And, was impressed by Adityanaths ability to preside over a massive institution such as that, beside the young cadre he had raised through the Hindu Yuva Vahini. Also noting that he merged administrative and organisational skills with political instincts. Adityanath has never lost an election since his debut in 1998. He speaks of peoples issues in a straight way, without mincing words. The idea of creating the Romeo squads to protect young college-going women was first articulated by him. Although he is portrayed as anti-Muslim, he alone has the ability to convert his popularity into votes, even in seats with few Muslim voters, a source said.

The manoeuvres



But, Shah had principally factored in Yogis sway over large sections of Hindus when hed thought of appointing him the UP party head in 2016. He was advised against it because Adityanath was a red rag to a few influential leaders. The UP CM himself refused the offer, after which Shah picked Maurya.

Not that the Yogi was Shahs perfect mascot all the time. In a slew of byelections held five months after the Lok Sabha poll in UP, the BJP lost eight of the 11 seats to the Samajwadi Party. Adityanath had been put in charge of the exercise and campaigned in all the constituencies, reinforcing the message of Hindu unity against the perceived threats from a religious community. It was around that time that Sultanpur MP Varun Gandhi, who for long fancied himself as a chief ministerial candidate, rekindled his ambition. Foregrounding Adityanath was Shahs way of asking Varun Gandhi to recede.

The loss in the bypolls did not undermine Shahs faith in Adityanath. Aware that the Yogis detractors could counter-strike, Shah tactically distanced himself and did not marshal his services in the campaign for the Maharashtra polls, when hed relocated the entire UP BJP to Mumbai, to work on the north Indian migrant voters.

Adityanath endeared himself to Modi for three reasons. Hed adopted his spiritual guru, the late Mahant Avaidyanath as his father in place of his biological parent; to the PM, that denoted a spirit of self-abnegation. Then, Adityanath organised the largest public meeting for Modi at Gorakhpur before the 2014 election. And, finally, he spoke bluntly. Modi was taken aback when Adityanath plainly asked him when he would revive a dead fertiliser plant and set up an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (both in Gorakhpur). Nobody he knew had displayed this sort of commitment to his constituency, a source said. On July 22, 2016, the PM laid the foundation stones of both projects, Adityanath by his side.

If Modi and Shah did not project Adityanath as CM, it was out of expediency. First, the RSS was on the ground, working overtime for the BJP in the election. The leadership duo could not antagonise it by thrusting Adityanths name. Influenced by the UP leaders, the RSS viewed Adityanath as a disruptor. The Sangh never forgot that in December 2006, when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was to host a congregation of clergy in Delhi, Adityanath called a parallel meet in Gorakhpur and spirited away high-profile Shankaracharyas and Mahants from the formers jamboree. Fearing the rival shows might expose faultlines in the Hindu clergy, the VHP called off its meeting and its then president, Ashok Singhal, went to Gorakhpur to be with Adityanath.

Second, Rajnath Singhs persona continued to loom over the UP political landscape. Rajnath never hit it off with the Yogi, suspecting the latter was out to appropriate his hold over the Rajputs. Before the 2002 UP elections, when Adityanth figured that Rajnath, then the CM, had curtailed the latitude he had in distributing tickets, he floated his own party, the Hindu Yuva Vahini, and fielded rivals against the BJP. Adityanath ensured many official BJP candidates lost in his fiefs in eastern UP.

The Vahini was a perennial source of trouble for the BJP. In 2017, Shah checkmated the damage it could cause by giving Adityanath a free say in distributing tickets. He also enhanced Adityanaths standing in other ways. Shah let him address the largest number of rallies, 150 in all, from Ballia in the east to Noida in the northwest. And, sent a special aircraft to tow him to Lucknow when hed released the BJP manifesto. Shah also made him the BJPs star campaigner in the BrihanMumbai municipal polls.

The wrap-up



When the UP polls were in the fourth round, the BJPs internal surveys ranked Adityanath on top of the popularity charts, although the ranking was contested by those close to Rajnath. Rajnath was consulted only in the preliminary stages of the talks on the CM that were called after the verdict was out. Although Rajnath was reluctant to take on the assignment before the polls, the word was that after the victory, he was more than willing to. As was Maurya, who revealed his ambitions through cheerleaders like Vidya Sagar Sonkar, Vikramjit Maurya and Harish Chandra Shrivastava.

Sinhas candidacy was apparently disfavoured by many MLAs, who conveyed to the leaders that not only did he come from a politically marginal caste, the Bhumihar; he rarely, if ever, ensured the victories of the few Bhumihar MLAs put up in his region. Finally, after the parliamentary board empowered Shah to elect the CM, he, a source said, chose the one who was young, hardworking, honest and wore saffron robes. Shah individually phoned the board members and said Adityanath was the ordained one. Barring one or two, who sounded as though they had misgivings, the rest claimed they were elated, the source said.
More than 100 Indian were arrested and 19 of their boats seized today by Pakistan for allegedly fishing in their territorial waters off Gujarat coast, Pakistani officials and a association in India said.

Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) arrested the and seized the boats off Jakhau coast in Kutch district.

A PMSA spokesman confirmed the fishermen and the boats had been handed over to the local police for further action. The fishermen would be presented in a court on Monday and from there the judicial magistrate would send them to jail as per the procedure, according to a police official.

"We have become used to this routine now as these Indian fishermen get arrested illegally fishing in our waters every month or so," the official said.

Earlier today, India's Fishworkers' Forum secretary Manish Lodhari said, "We have learnt that more than 100 fishermen who were on board around 18 fishing boats were apprehended by PMSA near the international maritime boundary line off Jakhau coast yesterday."



"The fishermen who escaped (the arrest) have informed us about this," he said.

The PMSA had earlier this month also apprehended 115 fishermen and seized 19 boats.

Today's development came after the Indian Coast Guard captured nine Pakistani nationals along with a fishing boat in the same area off Jakhau coast on Friday.

In March, the PMSA has in separate incidents arrested nearly 225 fishermen along with three dozen boats, according to Lodhari.

Last month, the BSF had apprehended four abandoned Pakistani fishing boats near Sir Creek in Kutch district, while on January 27, the Pakistani maritime agency had arrested 60 Indian fishermen and seized 10 boats.

FIshermen from both countries are arrested frequently for inadvertently trespassing into each other's waters.

However, at times India and Pakistan have released them as a goodwill gesture to the other country. On January 5, some 219 Indian fishermen were released by Pakistan after 220 of them were released on December 25 last year.
The Special Task Force (STF) and district police today seized 11 quintals of ganja (Marijuana) worth over Rs one crore from a container truck and arrested two smugglers from Bihar's Begusarai district.

Acting on a tip off, the STF and district police in a joint operation intercepted the truck at Chiranjivipur village located near NH 28 within the limits of Bachhwara police station of the district and during a search, 11 quintals of ganja was recovered, Superintendent of Police Ranjit Kumar Mishra said.

The value of the seized contraband was worth over Rs one crore in international market, he said.

The truck had come to Begusarai from Tripura, the SP said adding, the Police were interrogating the two smugglers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 12 labourers were killed today when a truck collided head-on with a mini van on a highway connecting Dhaka and southern Khulna town in Bangladesh's Chuadanga district, police said.

The labourers were killed when the truck collided head-on with the mini van, carrying 18 day labours, officer-in-charge of local police station Abu Jihad was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.

Those killed were from Damurhuda Upazila. Though their identity could not be immediately ascertained, police said they were believed to be wage labourers.

The injured have been admitted at Chuadanga Sadar hospital.

Bangladesh has one of the highest fatality rates for road accidents in the world. Hundreds of people die in road accidents every year. Bad roads and rash driving cause most of the accidents.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least two people opened fire inside a crowded nightclub early this morning, killing one person and wounding more than a dozen others in what authorities described as a chaotic scene.

It was not clear what prompted the shooting at the Cameo club in Cincinnati, Ohio at about 1:30 am., and authorities didn't immediately have any suspects.

"Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst," Capt Kim Williams said.

Several officers were working security detail at the club and performed first aid and tried to revive the person that died, Williams said.

Fifteen people were shot. Some of them drove themselves to area hospitals and others were taken by ambulance. Authorities are interviewing several witnesses, but Williams said a lot of the club goers had left.

"The biggest problem when you have a large crowd like this and the shots ring out, a lot of the witnesses disappear," she said.

Authorities were asking anyone with information to come forward. Williams said investigators are checking to see if surveillance cameras were working.

WLWT reported that at least one person was in critical condition at University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least three persons, including a woman, were injured after a high-speed car mowed them down in north London.

Scotland Yard said four teenagers armed with knives have been arrested in connection with the incident, which is not being treated as "terrorist related".

"Police were called to reports of a car in collision with a number of people. Officers and London Ambulance Service attended the scene. Three people - two males and one female - were taken to hospital for treatment to their injuries, Metropolitan Police said.

"The occupants decamped from the car and fled the scene on foot. Four males, aged between 17 and 19, have since been arrested on suspicion of a variety of offences including GBH [grievous bodily harm] with intent and possession of points and blades. All four remain in custody," it said.

Two knives were recovered at the scene; one inside the car and one found near the car.

"This is not being treated as terrorist related," the Metropolitan Police Service statement added.

Eyewitnesses took to Twitter to describe the carnage left by the car after it mounted the pavement.

Jade Barlow wrote: "It's all kicking off on Essex road, Islington... A handful of casualties and a very large knife... hmmm. An abandoned knife and a handful of mowed down casualties."



The incident comes just days after terror suspect Khalid Masood had on Wednesday driven a car at high speed down Westminster Bridge in London before attempting an attack on the Parliament, killing four people and injuring 50.

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The Haryana Forest Department is planning to release eight vultures, which were bred in captivity, into the wild after attaching tracking devices to them.

This will be the first-ever release of White-backed, Long-billed and Slender-billed vultures into the wild, a spokesman of the Haryana Forest Department said here today.

With a view of tracking the endangered vultures after their release into the wild, the Centre had granted permission for attaching satellite transmitters - Platform Transmitter Terminals (PTTs) to them.

Vultures, which act as natural scavengers, have immense ecological, economic, social and religious importance.

However, as their population started declining rapidly in the 1990s, Haryana initiated a programme for their conservation and reintroduction into the wild.

On June 3, last year, Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar, and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, initiated reintroduction of vultures into the wild from the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre in Pinjore.

The spokesman said only wing-tags could be put on the birds for identification and one bird could be followed for 45 days.

"By then, the bird had successfully started locating food and water and was flying very high into the clouds. This was for the first time that successful reintroduction of vultures into the wild was carried out," he said.

"However, it was not possible to follow the birds further because no tracking device was put on them. Therefore, the Forest Department initiated the process of obtaining permission from the Centre's Department of Telecommunications in November, 2015 to put Platform Transmitter Terminals (PTTs) on vultures to help locate them through satellite once they are released into wild," the spokesman said.

Haryana Forest Minister Rao Narbir Singh, had written a demi-official letter to the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change requesting him to grant permission to the Forest Department to deploy PTTs, he said.

The department has deposited the required fee with the Union Ministry of Telecommunication in February this year and the frequencies on which the satellites would operate would soon be issued, he said.

The Forest Department, in collaboration with Bombay Natural History Society, had established the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre in Pinjore in 2001, to save the three critically-endangered resident species of vultures from possible extinction.

This is the first-of-its-kind centre in Asia and houses 226 birds of the three species of vultures.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Global hospitality major Accor Hotels plans to add up to nine hotels in India this year targeting to offer a total of over 10,000 rooms across its properties in the country.

The French hospitality firm currently has 46 hotels with a total of over 8,700 rooms in India under ten brands ranging from luxury to economy spread across 19 cities.

"We plan to open up to nine hotels in India this year. We will have 55 hotels in India by the end of this year with over 10,000 rooms," AccorHotels, Chief Operating Officer India and South Asia Jean-Michel Casse told PTI.

Out of the new hotels that the company is planning to open this year, the majority will be under Novotel and ibis brands, he added.

"Today the majority of our hotels are between Novotel and ibis brands. Around 50 per cent of our hotels are under these two brands and rest are in the other eight brands," Casse said.

With the opening of new hotels, the company will enter new cities such as Lucknow, Guwahati, Nagpur and Coimbatore, he added.

Casse said Accor is also looking to intensify presence in key cities in major Indian hubs.

When asked about the business model the company plans to follow for growth, Casse said: "We want to continue developing asset light through management contract".

The hospitality major currently has brands like Pullman, Novotel, ibis, Formule1, Fairmont and Sofitel among others in India.

Accor Hotels Group, at present, has 2,40,000 employees in over 4,100 hotels in 95 countries. It has a portfolio of over 20 brands from luxury to economy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Aditya Nath Yogi today paid rich tributes to Yogiraj Baba Gambhirnath on the saint's 100th death anniversary here.

Aditya Nath, who reached his Assembly constituency here yesterday, praised the tradition and knowledge of Indian saints.

"Baba Gambhirnath had mastered different types of Yoga (Hath Yoga, Raj Yoga and Laya Yoga). There was no Yogi like him in the last 800 years. I urge you to take Yoga to each and every household," he said.

Making a reference to Hindu poet-saint Tulsidas, the Chief Minister said, "Tulsidas had said that he knew only one Raja, and it was Raja Ram. Tulsidas never considered Akbar as his king, he considered Lord Ram as his king."



Aditya Nath also visited the 'gaushala' (cowshed) located in the premises of Gorakhnath Temple early this morning, and fed the cows.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Does religion make you less afraid of death? People on two far ends of the spectrum - atheists as well as those who are very religious are least fearful of dying, scientists say.

Researchers, including those from Oxford University in the UK, studied the relationship between death anxiety and religious belief.

They found about 100 relevant articles, published between 1961 and 2014, containing information about 26,000 people worldwide.

Combining this data, they found that higher levels of religiosity were weakly linked with lower levels of death anxiety.

The effects were similar whether they looked at religious beliefs such as belief in God, and an afterlife, or religious behaviour like going to church, and praying, researchers said.

The meta-analysis showed that while people who were intrinsically religious enjoyed lower levels of death anxiety, those who were extrinsically religious revealed higher levels of death anxiety.

Extrinsic religiosity is when religious behaviour is motivated by pragmatic considerations such as the social or emotional benefits of following a religion, whereas intrinsic religiosity refers to religious behaviour driven by true belief.

The findings were mixed across the studies, with only 30 per cent of the effects showing this finding.

About 18 per cent of the studies found that religious people were more afraid of death than non-religious people and over half the research showed no link at all between the fear of death and religiosity.

This mixed picture shows that the relationship between religiosity and death anxiety may not be fixed, but may differ from context to context, researchers said.

Researchers also checked for curvilinear patterns in the data. Out of the 100 studies, the team only found 11 studies that were robust enough to test this idea, however, of these, almost all (10) formed this pattern.

"This definitely complicates the old view, that religious people are less afraid of death than nonreligious people. It may well be that atheism also provides comfort from death, or that people who are just not afraid of death are not compelled to seek religion," said Jonathan Jong of Coventry University in the UK.

The research was published in the journal Religion, Brain and Behaviour.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Boyko Borisov, the karate-chopping comeback specialist of Bulgarian politics, looked to have done it again today as exit polls from a snap election put his pro-EU centre-right party in first place.

Borisov's European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party won around 32 percent, the exit polls showed, ahead of the Socialist Party (BSP), seen as closer to Russia, on around 28 percent.

Whether the burly former firefighter and mayor of Sofia, 57, can form a stable coalition remains to be seen, however.

The European Union's poorest country, where the average monthly salary is just 500 euros ($540) and corruption is rife, has been beset by instability for years.

This was the third election in four years.

Borisov, 57, once a bodyguard for Bulgaria's last communist leader, has long dominated national politics, serving as premier from 2009 to 2013 and again from 2014 to 2017.

In between, the BSP was in power for barely a year.

Both times Borisov quit early, first in 2013 after mass protests and then last November after his candidate for the presidency was beaten by an air force general backed by the BSP.

Forming a coalition this time will be tough.

The nationalist United Patriots looked to have come third with around eight percent, although the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MDL) party, representing Bulgaria's Turkish minority, may have beaten them.

The performance of the BSP, the successors to the Communist Party, was worse than expected after its new leader Kornelia Ninova energised the party.

But its weak showing will be a relief to observers who thought that a Socialist victory might see NATO member Bulgaria tilt more towards Russia.

Moscow, which has long had close cultural and economic ties with Bulgaria, has been accused of seeking to expand its influence in other Balkan countries in recent months.

Ninova had said she was not content with Bulgaria being a "second-class member" of the EU and that she would veto an extension of sanctions imposed by Brussels on Moscow.

But Borisov also said during the campaign that he wanted more "pragmatic" ties with Russia and Ninova, 48, insisted that she remained committed to the EU.

"We are the party that ushered Bulgaria into the European Union and NATO and we stand by (our obligations in) these organisations," she told AFP in a recent interview.

The campaign also saw a spat erupt between Bulgaria and its neighbour Turkey.

Bulgaria is home to a 700,000-strong Muslim minority, most of them ethnic Turks, while at least 200,000 ethnic Turks with Bulgarian passports live in Turkey.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) plans to audit the impact of note ban and the affect it has had on government tax revenues, said CAG Shashi Kant Sharma.

In an interview to PTI, he said the auditor is gearing up to audit tax revenues under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and has started capacity building and reorienting its audit methodology and procedures.

Among the special audits, CAG has already completed audit of agricultural crop insurance scheme and flood control and flood forecasting and is now engaged in several important audits like Right to Education, National Rural Health Mission, defence pensions and Ganga Rejuvenation, he said. "These reports should be ready by the end of the current year."

Sharma asserted that CAG has audit jurisdiction over any body or authority which has any relation to government revenues and expenditure and resistance by some like city development bodies, Discoms and metro corporations will wither away.

"We plan to audit certain issues related to fiscal impact of demonetisation, largely its impact on tax revenues," he said.

The government had withdrawn old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes from circulation on November 8 last year, and announced a new tax amnesty scheme for those holding unaccounted junked currency.

CAG audit may look into expenditure on printing of notes, the Reserve Bank of India dividend payout and banking transaction data.

The auditor has also conveyed to the government its stand on the recent move of the GST Council to delete section 65 of the preliminary draft that authorised CAG to audit GST.

"Our mandate covers GST just like the earlier taxation regimes were covered. We have already started work on restructuring of our revenue audit arrangements to meet this likely challenge when GST is introduced. This exercise would include issues of capacity building, data access and analysis, reorientation of audit methodology and procedures and developing end-to-end IT solutions," he said.

Sharma said executive, legislature, judiciary and audit have clearly demarcated roles and responsibilities.

"The framers of our Constitution were fully aware of the concept of checks and balances and hence you find the mention of Judiciary and CAG in the fifth part of the Constitution along with legislature and executive," he said, adding, "The CAG's DPC Act of 1971 provides the details of the mandate and scope of audit available to us."

Stating that there are no lacunae in CAG's empowerment but with advent of time, the governance models have undergone changes.

The September 2014 judgement of the Supreme Court in the telecom case "reinforced an important principle that wherever public resources are being used by private companies for revenue generation, CAG will have a duty to examine as to whether the government is getting due share of such revenue," he said.

"So, I can say that the bodies and authorities which have any relation to government revenues and expenditure are under the audit jurisdiction of CAG," he said.

City development bodies, electricity distribution companies and metro corporations "resist" CAG audit on the ground of being autonomous or on the ground of getting no support of the government although they perform the functions which were earlier being performed by the government departments, he said.

"I believe the situation will settle down with passage of time and such resistance will wither away," he added.
Amid talks of capping iron ore prices, miners' body FIMI has warned that any such move by the government could prove fatal for the industry at a time when there are signs of turnaround.

India's iron ore output is projected to grow to about 170 million tonnes (MT) this fiscal despite ban and has surged 27 per cent to 154.48 MT during April-January as against 122 MT in the same period of 2015-16.

"If at all the government has to put a price cap, it should cap steel prices which impact millions of consumers through downstream industries instead of iron ore for which there are limited buyers -- a few steel companies," Secretary General, Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI), RK Sharma told PTI.

Majority of steel companies have raw material security and only a few depend on iron ore from the market whereas steel is the key raw material for many downstream industries related to auto parts, construction etc and government should protect these consumers' interests too, he said.

He also wondered why steel companies with abundant domestic iron ore resources were not able to meet their counterparts from Japan and Korea.

"Any such attempt to put a cap on iron ore prices may spell doom for the industry at a time when there are signs of revival in the industry," Sharma said.

As per FIMI projections, output is likely to reach 170 MT this fiscal.

An official said that the government has called a meeting of iron ore and steel companies on March 29 to discuss the issue of capping iron ore prices.

The meeting will have representation from Ministry of Coal as well apart from Steel and Mines Ministries. Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh earlier this month had said a panel on iron ore pricing will submit its recommendations by the month-end.

Asserting that there should not be much fluctuation in the prices of iron ore, Singh has said that the government wanted iron ore prices to be competitive.

FIMI said the government undertook a slew of steps like imposing anti-dumping duties and MIP to safeguard steelmakers but failed to address the woes of iron ore miners with life of captive mines remaining only till March 31, 2020 after which auction route would be adopted.

FIMI said, "As high as 145 MT of iron ore was lying at mine heads of which 123 MT was in Odisha and Jharkhand only which have maximum number of steel plants."



The industry body also said that the country's top iron ore producer NMDC was selling ore at less than half of the international prices.

Government had earlier said an expert group will be formed to study sale of iron ore by NMDC which will also analyse the mining giant's ore pricing and auction.

The prices of ore (62 percent FE content) have collapsed from a high of USD 150 per metric tonne in January 2013 to merely USD 40 per metric tonne by December 2015 on account of slowdown in China's steel production.

India's exports slumped from a peak of 117 MT in March 2010 to 4.5 MT last year, as per data.

According to Mines Secretary Arun Kumar, the country's iron ore production has increased significantly to 154.48 MT during April-January of 2016-17 and total value of the ore produced during the 10 months stood at Rs 19,417 crore.

Iron ore output had nosedived with an average annual contraction of 9.4 per cent in 2012-16, following the mining ban in the three largest iron-ore producing states -- Goa, Odisha and Karnataka -- which has since been lifted.

Mining player Vedanta has recently said the worst phase for the domestic iron ore industry was over and exuded confidence that its Goa arm was prepared to sustain the export momentum amid softening global prices and subdued demand.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group was focusing on expanding its presence in south India which now accounts for 30 per cent of its existing inventory, a top company official said today.

"To begin with, the company's growth was dominantly in northern states, but for the last two years we have been foraying into the south market, in order to get Pan-India tag. We are focusing on all southern states and as much as 30 per cent of our inventory now is in the south," group's CEO (South Asia) Raj Rana told PTI here.

He said the company would have a total of 170 hotels under operation and development in the country in next three years.

"The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has been in India for almost 15 years. Right now, we have 84 operating hotels. We have plans to reach upto 170 hotels under operation and development in India by 2020," he said.

The company had opened Radisson Blu Atria here recently. "This is our third hotel in the city and altogether now we have six in Karnataka," he said.

He further said corporate business was their niche market as it brought higher average rates. But it was equally strong in leisure and particularly focused on religious destinations.

The company was having hotels in 60 cities, including 16 state capitals, and the strength of its growth had been the 'trust' the hotel owners had in them, Rana said.

On investments, Rana said the company invests in brands, distribution systems and revenue-driving platforms. For brick-and-mortar units, the company relied on its partners. The company had also signed a deal with Bestech, a hospitality company which will build 49 Park Inn byRadisson Hotels, he added.

"We typically follow a sort of hub and spokes strategy to expand base," he said. The hub and spokes strategy is where the company first forays into unexplored market and then expands in other cities of the state, he explained.

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A cleric has been arrested in Chawla village here on charges of raping a woman and blackmailing her with a video of the act, police said today.

According to a complaint by the victim, the cleric Hafiz Aslam had sexual relations with her in 2013 and made an obscene video of her, circle officer Arun Kumar Singh said.

The woman later got married to another man but the accused threatened to send the video to her husband to pressurise her for sex, Singh said.

The cleric then sent the video to the husband three days back following which he was arrested by police yesterday.

A case has been lodged under relevant sections of the IPC.

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Security was on Sunday stepped up in the communal violence-hit Vadavali village in Patan district where one person was killed after clashes even as members of the two communities lodged cross FIRs against 45 persons.

A combing operation is on in the village, located around 100 km from Ahmedabad, police said, adding the situation is now peaceful.

Tight security is in place to avoid any further clash, Patan Superintendent of Police A G Chauhan told PTI.

"A total of 150 police personnel from Patan and Banaskantha districts are stationed at the village apart from two companies of State Reserve Police and several senior police officials. The situation is peaceful," Chauhan said.

An officer at Chanasma police station said the members of the two communities filed cross FIRs against 45 persons.

He said that 31 persons have been booked under various IPC sections, including 302 (murder), 147, 148, 149 (rioting armed with deadly weapons, unlawful assembly), 395, 397 (robbery), 435 and 436 (mischief by fire).

Besides, 14 persons have been booked under all the above sections except that for murder, the official said.

One person had on Saturday succumbed to injuries sustained during the clash while six others were injured.

The violence started following a minor fight between two students of different communities, an official of Chanasana police station said.

Soon the dispute escalated and the members of the two communities attacked each other with sticks, iron rods and other weapons.

Police fired seven rounds in the air and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the mob who torched vehicles and some houses.

The injured persons have been admitted to a hospital, police said.
The opposition Democratic Party is willing to work with the White House and the Republicans to improve Obamacare, but repealing the affordable healthcare act is off the table, a top Democrat said today.

"We have ideas, they have ideas to try to improve Obamacare. We never said it was perfect. We always said we would work with them to improve it. We just said repeal was off the table," Senate Minority Leader Senator Chares Schumer told ABC .

On Friday, House Speaker Paul Ryan pulled out vote on a legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare as he was unable to muster enough votes to get it through the Congress. This was considered a major setback for US President Donald Trump, as this was one of his major poll promises.

The Democrats have blamed Trump for not consulting them on the issue.

"The bottom line is very simple. President never called us once about this. They came on board with repeal, which they knew every Democrat would oppose, and no one believes that, but I would say this, we Democrats, provided our Republican colleagues drop replace and stop undermining the Affordable Care Act (ACA), are willing to work with our Republican friends... As long as they say no more repeal.

"That is a loser. Seventeen per cent of Americans liked Trumpcare. They did not want it. Stop undermining ACA and we will work with them," Schumer said.

Trump has blamed the Democrats for the legislation not getting through the Congress, but the Democrats insisted that it was a "disastrous" legislation.

"The bill that was defeated should have been defeated. It was a disastrous piece of legislation primarily designed to provide USD 300 billion in tax breaks to the top two per cent, throwing 24 million people off of health insurance, raising premiums for older workers in a very, very significant way," Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders told CNN.

"It was defeated. The American people wanted it defeated. And I am glad that we were able to accomplish that. Now, as you indicated, of course, Obamacare has serious problems. Deductibles are too high. Premiums are too high. The cost of healthcare is going up at a much faster rate than it should," he said.

Sanders, a popular presidential candidate who lost to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primaries, said he would soon introduce a Medicare-for-all single payer program.

He has already introduced a legislation to bring down the cost of prescription drugs.

Republican Senator from Ohio John Kasich, who was one of the major Trump opponents during primaries, said "you cannot have major changes in major programs affecting things like healthcare without including Democrats from the very beginning and asking them to be constructive".

However, the Republican Congressman Mark Meadows told ABC that this was neither a defeat nor an end of the debate.

"The narrative that your panel is talking about in terms of defeat, you know, this was not a final passage, this was one bill that was going to go to the Senate, get revised and come back. If it was the final bill, that would be accurate," Meadows said.

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Sahara Force India made a promising start to the 2017 Formula One season with a double points finish through Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon at the Australian Grand Prix, here today.

Perez, who was on 11th spot on the grid, made two bold moves to finish the 57-lap race in seventh place.

It was a memorable race for Econ as he scored his first point in Formula 1 on his Force India debut, passing two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso to secure 10th place.

Force India collected seven points from the weekend, one less than Williams with Felipe Massa finishing sixth.

The Silverstone-squad had finished a record fourth in team standings last year, beating the likes of Williams and McLaren.

Perez said it was a satisfying result.

"I am very pleased with the result and I don't believe there is anything we could have done better today. Seventh place was the most we could achieve and the team had to make all the right calls to get this result," said Perez.

"We had the correct strategy and we managed the tyres well to bring the points home. We still had to pull a few big moves on Kvyat and Sainz, even though it was not easy to overtake, but once I was in clean air I felt I was in a very strong position.

"Driving these cars is so much fun: you can push a lot harder than in the past and I was doing my fastest laps towards the end of the race. We know we still need to improve this car and there is more performance to come," added the Mexican.

Ocon, who started 14th on the grid, enjoyed his battle with Alonso.

"Scoring my first point in Melbourne is a very nice reward after what has been quite a tough weekend," said Ocon.

"I spent almost the entire race fighting against Fernando (Alonso) because we were side-by-side for the first lap of the race. He was able to stay ahead and I had to chase him for the rest of the afternoon.

"It was a hard fight because Fernando is a tough opponent and it was so difficult to get close and overtake. Eventually I found a gap in the last few laps and took my chance going into turn one. It was a big moment for my race and took me into the points.

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French police have arrested four men after an armed robbery on a Cartier jewellery store in Monaco and most of the stolen items have been recovered, sources close to the probe said today.

The raid on the store near the casino building in the centre of the principality was carried out in broad daylight yesterday.

Police sealed off all roads leading out of Monaco immediately after the raid and ordered people to remain inside the casino and nearby shops while they searched for the suspects.

One man was arrested shortly after the raid and a gun was recovered and another two men were picked up in Monaco later yesterday, the source said.

A fourth man was arrested in France.

Armed robberies are rare in Monaco, one of Europe's playgrounds for the rich, although in 2012 four Lithuanian men stole a collection of around 50 watches worth around 200,000 euros from a jewellery store.

The men were later arrested and at trial were sentenced to prison sentences of between five and 13 years.

A Cartier store was also the target in 2015 when a masked man carrying a machine pistol burst into a store in the French Riviera resort of Cannes during the annual film festival.

He let two accomplices enter the shop and they stole watches and jewels with a value of 17.5 million euros (USD 18.9 million).

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A trader allegedly received an extortion demand of Rs 2 lakh from a notorious criminal in Shamli district, police said today.

Ramotar was threatened by Furkan who also demanded Rs 2 lakh as extortion in Kairana town yesterday, Circle Officer Bhushan Verma said.

A case has been registered against Furkan. The victim has been provided security by the district police, Verma said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government is working on certain options to accommodate demands related to tax and duty concessions sought by iPhone maker Apple for setting up a manufacturing unit in India.

Although the Finance Ministry has prima facie rejected the demands of the US-based technology major, senior executives of the company met an inter-ministerial group recently to deliberate upon the issue.

The group discussed at length the demands of the company, sources said, adding that the government is trying to find ways through which certain support measures could be extended to the American firm.

Sources also said the company is asking for concessions as it wants to bring in its supply chain or component makers to the country as Apple cannot source inputs locally.

The company also wants duty exemptions on the products to be bought from special economic zones (SEZs).

At present, goods exported from SEZs do not attract any duty but import duties are levied if items produced in special economic zones are sold in the domestic market.

There is a possibility that this demand could be met by the government as several domestic companies are also demanding for the same.

On the other hand, certain duty concessions being sought by Apple are very difficult to meet as India is gradually becoming a manufacturing hub of smartphones.

A strong supply chain is being established in the country despite any sop or concession offered to any player. Also, no domestic or foreign manufacturer has sought any concession from the government so far.

There is dilemma that if the government extends support to Apple, it may weaken this strong supply chain.

"So the government has to make a balance," sources added.

Apple has also sought relaxations for consumables for smartphone manufacturing and service or repair for 15 years.

In January, Apple had indicated to the government that it is ready with a blueprint to begin manufacturing iPhones in India, but wants fiscal concessions, including customs duty waiver on import of components.

The company sells its products through Apple-owned retail stores in countries like China, Germany, the US, the UK and France, among others. It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors such as Redington and Ingram Micro.
AAP leader and Delhi Minister Gopal Rai today accused the Gujarat government of creating fear among the public.

Rai, who is AAP's in-charge for Gujarat, kicked off party's campaign for Assembly polls scheduled later this year, by addressing booth level workers here.

"BJP government in the state is creating fear in minds of people and is full of corruption. Opposition Congress is also a participant and supports BJP in corrupt activities. In such a situation, only AAP can rid people of the terror of BJP," said Rai.

He asked party workers to take a pledge to defeat BJP in the Assembly polls like in Delhi.

"Take the achievements of Delhi government to the public...Let us pledge to defeat BJP," he said.

The meeting was earlier planned to be addressed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, but he cancelled his visit due to preparations for MCD elections in the national capital.

The party said it will begin door-to-door campaign from next month and organise farmers' agitation on May 1, following which it will present farmers' 7-point demand to the state government.

The event was marred by controversy with some AAP members, wearing the party cap, raised slogans against their leaders alleging that they were involved in selling party tickets.

They were then forced out of the venue by other members.

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Unidentified gunmen barged into a government employee's house in central Kashmir's Budgam district and set fire to a car belonging to one of his relatives, police said today.

Mohammad Subhan Bhat, who works in the Baramulla District Jail, was not present in his house in Chadoora area of the district when the incident took place late last night.

The gunmen took away a vehicle belonging to Bhat's nephew and later burnt it, a police official said.

A hunt has been launched to nab the gunmen.

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The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government is mulling to link the Haj application process with the Aadhaar number of the applicant to ensure "greater transparency" in selection of pilgrims.

Officials believe that this would help in identifying those who had undertaken the pilgrimage more than once.

Minister of State for Minority Affairs in the UP government, Mohsin Raza, told PTI, "We are planning to link the process of filing of the Haj application with the Aadhaar number of the applicant, so as to check whether the applicant had undertaken Haj earlier or not. This would ensure greater transparency."

This would help the government identify genuine applicants.

"The process is about to start and soon some concrete mechanism would be put in place," he asserted.

Asked whether the process of filing of Haj application would also be linked to Income Tax Returns, Raza said there was no such proposal.

"We will bring transparency and honesty to the system under our government. It should not be like I allow only my family and relatives to avail the benefits," the minister said.

The UP minister emphasised that the state government would ensure 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas'.

UP Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mazhar Abbas said, "If linking Aadhaar with the Haj application process could ensure transparency, then it must be incorporate into the current system."

On Saturday, Raza had made an appeal to the "rich Muslims" of Uttar Pradesh to consider giving up Haj subsidy, so that the poor and deserving could get an opportunity to perform Haj.

"The poor must get subsidy for and not the affluent ones. I appeal to the rich Muslims to give up their Haj subsidy so that the poor and deserving may get an opportunity," Raza had said.

The Centre provides subsidy to Muslim pilgrims for Haj. Every state has its Haj quota.

"UP's Haj quota has been increased by 8,000 and today it stands at 29,000," Raza said, adding that the UP government would ensure that the deserving persons, who don't have the means to go, get help to perform the Haj.

"If a person is a multi-millionaire he should not seek subsidy. He should rather give up the subsidy, so that another genuine pilgrim gets a chance," he had said.
State-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has finalised a major plan to manufacture nearly 1,000 military helicopters and over a hundred planes, in tune with government's focus on speeding up defence indigenisation.

HAL Chairman and Managing Director T Suvarna Raju said the company has also ramped up its infrastructure to deliver 123 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft to the India Air Force with an annual delivery of 16 jets from 2018-19 onwards.

In the next five years, the HAL will also carry out major upgrade of almost the entire fighter fleet of IAF including Su-30MKI, Jaguars and Mirage jets, making them more lethal, he said.

"Next five years will be really vibrant time for HAL. We are upgrading almost every major platform including Sukhois, Jaguars, Mirage and Hawks.

"We are going to build around 1,000 helicopters including Kamov 226, LCH (Light Combat Helicopter) ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) in the next 10 years," Raju told PTI in an interview.

The HAL and Russian defence firms have finalised a Joint Venture agreement for production of light weight multi-role 'Kamov 226T' helicopters in India which will replace the aging fleet of Cheetah and Chetak choppers.

The inter-government agreement for the deal was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia in December, 2015.

On manufacture of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, the HAL chief said its production will be doubled from current eight aircraft per year to 16 from 2018-19. Tejas, the smallest and lightest of its class, was inducted into the IAF in July last year.

The HAL has an order from IAF to supply 40 Tejas. The government has also approved the procurement of 83 Tejas Mk-1A taking the total number of the aircraft to be manufactured by HAL to 123.

Raju said besides enhancing infrastructure for redouble manufacturing of Tejas, HAL has also outsourced manufacture of some major components including wings and fuselage of the jet to private industry which will further speed up rate of production.

Calling Sukhoi upgrade a major programme, he said the fleet will be equipped with missiles, avionics and sensors. Both India and Russia have been in negotiation for upgrade of the Su-30MKI to a near fifth-generation level.

Earlier this month, India and Russia signed two key agreements for long-term maintenance and technical support for the Su-30MKI fleet.

India is one of the largest importers of arms and military platforms globally. The government has been focusing significantly on promoting defence indigenisation by taking a slew of reform initiatives including liberalising FDI in defence sector.

Reflecting government's focus in the area, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley earlier this month had said India was not happy with the label of world's largest importer of weapons system and had asked the industry to take advantage of government's policy to promote defence production.
HyperCity Retail, part of the K Raheja Corp Group, plans to maintain a sustained focus on international food products as it expects the segment to account for 10 per cent of its portfolio next year, a company official said.

"Our clientele is upwardly mobile customers and we have been focusing on international products to cater to those who are looking for a global experience.

We expect that 10 per cent of our sales will come from this segment in the next year or so," HyperCity Retail CEO Ramesh Menon told PTI.

Presently, the segment accounts for about 5-7 per cent of its sales, he said.

HyperCity Retail has a presence in gourmet foods, besides a supply tie-up with UK-based supermarkets chain Waitrose.

The company is also looking to launch its e-commerce business next month.

"We are already testing the beta version. We will launch it soon, and will follow the hyper-local format," Menon said.

The company said it would like to woo customers who make their monthly purchases from its store to also make top-ups.

"Presently, our customers might shop here every month, or twice a month typically. They use their local kirana stores for top-ups. We want to make it easier for these customers to purchase from us," he added.

HyperCity, at present operates 19 stores in cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jaipur, Pune, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Noida.

In the middle of last year, the company altered its strategy to focus on smaller stores due to space constraints.

Earlier, it had opened stores occupying 70,000-80,000 square feet. The new stores, which the company will open, will be half the size at 40,000-45,000 square feet.

This is also one step ahead in adopting an omni-channel presence with its own website to cater to urban customers, Menon said.

The company will focus on metros and tier I cities and look to open stores where it already has a presence.

Last year, HyperCity Retail reported a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore.

K Raheja Corp Group also operates retail chains under Shoppers Stop and Crosswords in India.

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Having imported fruits from all over the world for over 50 years, domestic firm IG International has entered the exports business by shipping grapes to Europe, Russia and South Asian countries.

"After success in the import business, we wanted to set up our own export division to sell high-quality produce overseas.

"Initially, we have shipped grapes to Europe, Russia and South Asian countries. We are targeting to export over 5,000 tonnes of grapes and bananas by the next financial year," IG International Director Tarun Arora told PTI.

Currently, the Mumbai-based company has already shipped over 1,000 tonnes.

"We are looking at initially procuring bananas and grapes on the spot from farmers. From next year, we are planning to enter contract farming, where the farmers will follow company-specific norms to comply with standards of many countries," he added.

IG International, he said, is looking at markets like the South East Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Far East and Sri Lanka as lucrative destinations with huge potential for Indian produce.

"We have begun exporting to a few countries, but going forward, we want to strengthen our presence and expand footprint. We see South East Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Far East, Sri Lanka regions as lucrative markets to export Indian produce," Arora said.

The company is also looking at expanding its portfolio of fruits, he said.

"We are exploring horticultural produces like onions potatoes, mango through air, tender coconut and dragon fruit among others for exports," he added.

IG International imports fresh produce from 22 countries and has handling capacities of over 31 varieties of fruits.

Arora said, the company is eyeing over 20 per cent growth in sales at Rs 600 crore in the next financial year, from Rs 500 crore estimated in 2016-17.

He said in imports, the company's basket is almost full, however, it is mulling bringing in persimmon, a subtropical fruit, from Spain to the Indian dining table.

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Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) will not be hiring its own PhD students as faculty members on completion of their course despite their academic and research credentials.

"We are not open to hiring our own PhD students as faculty members and would prefer to hire the best faculty from across the country and the globe. Hiring your own students is like marrying in your own family," Director Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi told PTI.

"It is a very regressive practice as somebody who has studied here only will not get fresh ideas as their umbilical cord will never be broken. He or she will have seniors and teachers to support and guide so the person will never develop an individuality despite his academic and research credentials," he added.

The premier institute, however, is welcoming its BTech students to pursue PhD on completion of their engineering degrees. It also plans to hire more foreign faculty members as the government has relaxed norms for hiring foreign faculty in IITs.

"There are foreign faculty members in IITs right now as well, but they are just a handful because of stringent government norms. However, the norms are getting relaxed now to let us hire more foreign nationals," Chaturvedi said.

Foreign faculty in IITs can work as contractual employees for five years. The contract is renewable and though they are not offered permanent positions, they get paid at par with faculty members in India.

After paving the way for direct admission of BTech students in PhD courses, the HRD Ministry has also come up with a Prime Minister's Research fellowship under which Selected PhD fellows at receiving Rs 75,000 per month but will have to return the entire amount if they leave the course midway. The scheme, however, is yet to get the Cabinet nod.
A 24-year-old American, who took a bullet for an Indian, has been honoured as 'A True American Hero' by the Indian-American community in Houston which raised $100,000 to help him buy a house in his hometown Kansas.

Ian Grillot, who was injured when he tried to intervene in the shooting by a Navy veteran targetting Indians at a bar in Olathe, Kansas last month, was honoured as 'A True American Hero' at the 14th annual gala of India House Houston here.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured in the shooting.

"On behalf of the Indian-American community in Houston, India House recognised this selfless act beyond the call of duty and has extended the community's gratitude to Ian Grillot by helping him to buy a house," said a statement posted on the India House Houston Facebook page.

India House raised $100,000 as part of an initiative supported by the Consul General of India in Houston Dr Anupam Ray to help Ian buy a house in his hometown, it said.

India's Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna handed over a cheque of $100,000 to Ian.

"I don't know if I could've lived with myself if I wouldn't have stopped or attempted to stop the shooter because that would've been completely devastating.

"I do now have a very powerful message and if I can help empower people and spread hope and love, then why not? I am honored to be at India House that serves so many families from so many communities in the Houston area," Ian said.

India House is a community center built by Americans of Indian origin in the Greater Houston area.

"It is not every day that one meets a genuine hero - a person who risks his life for another, and takes a bullet for a complete stranger. Ian Grillot is a man who reminds us of the promise of America and its greatness," said Jiten Agarwal, a prominent Houstonian and Chair of the annual gala.
Iran will impose sanctions on 15 US companies for their support for Israel and its "terrorist actions", state agency IRNA said today.

The decision, which is largely symbolic because the firms do not do business with Iran, comes two days after the US announced sanctions on a number of foreign firms accused of collaborating with Iran's armament programme.

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The authorities rewarded the inmates of the Gurdaspur central jail who "exhibited good behavior" and saved some staffers when some prisoners clashed last week.

The jail authorities today claimed the prisoners have returned to their daily routine.

"The situation in Gurdaspur jail is normal now," Punjab's Additional Director General of Police (Prison) Rohit Chaudhary said.

"We have announced several measures for the inmates who exhibited good behavior during the incident of rioting by about 150 inmates," he said.

The inmates of four barracks were rewarded for sheltering four prison staff members who were stuck during the disturbance and saved them from any harm at the hands of rowdy group, a jail official said.

Violence had erupted in Gurdaspur jail after two groups of undertrials clashed when one group thrashed two staff members in the afternoon of March 24, forcing the police to open fire in the air, to rein them in.

On Friday night, around 150 inmates again ran amok with several inmates including hardened criminals making a jailbreak bid by breaking portion of the outer wall of the jail which was thwarted by police.

They broke locks of all the jail barracks, besides destroying CCTVs, mobile jammers and setting ablaze the quilts and furniture.

Gauging the gravity of the situation, additional force including SWAT was brought from Majitha, Tarn Taran and Amritsar to control the violence.

The situation was brought under control in the wee hours of Saturday, police said, adding that teargas shells were also lobbed.

As many as 21 inmates were shifted to other jails while 30 inmates were booked for attempt to murder, rioting, damaging public property, police said.

A mobile phone was also recovered from a gangster Jagtar Singh Jagga, police said.

Undertrials were upset over the increased security measures at the jail and alleged that the jail authorities used abusive language against them, a police officer said.

A bakery unit has also been approved for inmates while computer, yoga, music, English and meditation classes will be started next week in the barracks where the disturbance took place, official said.

More than 44 leave cases were approved which were pending in DC office, the official said.

Inmates were also encouraged to enroll for IGNOU courses in special enrollment drive and 31 inmates have expressed interest for it, the official said.

As a special measure, inmates were allowed to meet their relatives for the whole week, the official said.

A helpline number for the quick disposal of parole cases will be started in the DC office, the official said.

There are around 900 inmates in Gurdaspur jail.

The jail authorities also held meeting with inmates of all the barracks and a peace committee was constituted with inmates of each barrack. Inmate pledged to prevent other inmates from indulging in creating disturbance in the jail, official said.

Taking a serious view of the jail violence, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has convened a high-level meeting of police and Home department officials next week to review the security in the state's prisons.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
JSW Steel is keen to capitalise on the stress in the sector by acquiring distressed alloy so that it can expand its capacity faster, a top official has said.

We are looking at distressed for acquisition, JSW Steel Chairman Sajjan Jindal told a select group of mediapersons at an event here to commission the groups port project over the weekend.

He was replying to a question on whether his company would be looking at acquiring distressed steel like Monnet or Bhushan Steel.

JSW is in a position to consolidate this industry. And in case, anywhere in the world, if steel industry has to remain consolidated, there cannot be too many players, Jindal said.

He said the steel sector was passing through a difficult phase with companies facing problems due to a collapse in prices following the 2008 financial crisis from which the global economy is yet to come out.

The billionaire industrialist, however, hinted that the worst is behind the steel makers with a recent surge in demand and prices, which is reflected in the numbers showing a jump in exports.

I wouldnt say the problems are behind us fully, but as of today the industry is doing well, he said.

Jindal also thanked the finance and commerce ministries for measures, like anti-dumping duties and minimum support price, taken over the past year which have all helped the sector.

It can be noted that the sector is one of the most stressed, leaving banks with a pile of dud assets.

In some cases, banks have replaced the management after revamping their loans and converting their debt into equity, and then looking for buyers.

Stating that it is up to the finance ministry and the banks to decide on the future course of action on bad loans, Jindal underlined the need for adopting a transparent process to deal with bad assets.
Actor Jonny Lee Miller says he had to 'dodge people' while filming "T2: Trainspotting" in Scotland as they were keen to know what was going on.

The 44-year-old actor stars as Simon 'Sick Boy' Williamson in the sequel to the hit 1996 drama film.

"When we made the first movie, no one cared, right? No one knew who we were or what we were doing. (The sequel) was a little bit challenging because you've got people paying attention to you and it just sort of changes everything a little bit.

"You have to try to dodge people and try to lose photographers, and try and mask what you're doing because you don't want it ruined for everybody," Miller told People magazine.

Miller says he decided to reprise his role as Simon because he had "faith" in director Danny Boyle.

"I always felt (a sequel) was a possibility. And I had faith in Danny Boyle, I really do. I know that he's not going to pull the trigger on something if it's not right.

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Is man free enough to think without any restrictions given the "law is invisible" and the "court untouched"? Writer Franz Kafka had questioned a century ago in his "The Trial".

The German writer's iconic short story has been adapted into a Hindi play 'Giraftari' to address "situations" in present day India, which the director Rama Pandey feels, are similar to the early 20th century in Europe.

Today people are grappling with Kafkaesque experiences, says Pandey, as her play attempts to pillory the system in a contemporary narrative, much like what Kafka's path-breaking literature did to the Austro-Hungarian bureaucracy in his time.

"The bhaav (feelings) used by Kafka in every scene depicted the social order of the day. We have tried to simplify it and adapt to the local conditions here. This play is about a man's arrest and why he was arrested," she told PTI.

Written during 1914-15 and originally titled 'Der Procez' in German, "The Trial" has been a touchstone of 20th-century critical interpretation with subject experts even considering it a "mirror for any sectarian reading".

But not much has changed in society even in the modern world -- people are kept captive by the system, says Pandey.

"In totality, nothing has changed in the modern world. The man was alienated from the society in the 1920s, 1930s, 1950s and even in 2017, the system, the law remain the same...People follow the system foolishly without logical conclusions," she says.

Much like Kafka, Pandey has kept the writing of the play "bold", punctuating the intense plot with well-timed humour.

She believes theatre must always have a purpose, and render the audience with a "thought-provoking" experience.

The play which was staged here recently, was penned and directed by Pandey over a period of a whole year during which she went through as many as 40 books on and by Kafka to recreate the literary genius of the iconic writer.

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The Haryana government today announced abolition of market fee for small traders having an annual turnover of upto Rs five lakh.

The abolition of the fee was among a number sops announced by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar during a trader's conference 'Virat Vyapari Sammelan' here.

He also announced the government's decision to change the upper financial limit for VAT/CST refund and initiating an annual award for the traders who would pay maximum taxes.

Addressing the conference, Khattar said that the Traders Advisory Committees would be formed to redress the grievances of the traders at the district level.

He also said the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner would be competent to allow VAT/CST refund upto Rs 25 lakh, whereas Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner or other officer in the headquarters would be competent to allow VAT/ CST refund over Rs 25 lakh.

The Chief Minister also said that the government had decided to fix the collector rate of any immovable property at par with the market rate in the state.

"This would be implemented from April 1, so as to ensure complete transparency in the system," Khattar said.

The Chief Minister said that the government has in-principle agreed to provide insurance cover to Haryana traders so that they could be brought under the ambit of social security.

"The insurance cover facility to the traders would be provided in which traders would have to deposit some premium and rest amount would be shared by the government," he said.

Khattar said that one lakh CCTV cameras would be installed during next year at public places in the state for security purposes.

The government had already installed about two lakh CCTV cameras in the state, he said, adding that the traders to should install such cameras inside and at the main gate of their shops.

"Apart from this, the traders should also completely adopt online mode of transactions," he said.

Referring to the Goods and Service Tax (GST), which is likely to be rolled out from July 1, Khattar said traders having annual turnover over Rs 20 lakh would have to register themselves by March 31. More than 62 per cent traders have already been registered and hoped that remaining would be covered by March 31.

The traders would get rid of 'inspector raj' in real terms with the implementation of GST, which is the biggest tax reform, he added.

Khattar said that rates of electricity would be reduced



ranging from 16 paisa to 60 paisa per unit from April 1.

"This decision would also help the traders as the government is supplying 24 hours electricity where line losses are zero," Khattar said.

He said that the state government had already constituted Traders Welfare Board to address the problems and issues of traders in the state.

Apart from the rolling of new Enterprises promotion policy, the government had signed MoU worth Rs seven lakh crore in Global Investors Summit held in Gurugram last year, the CM said.

Speaking on this occasion, Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu said that he would provide all kind of assistance for the welfare of traders.

Despite a small state, Haryana is contributing over 3.5 per cent in the country's GDP and the credit of the same goes to our traders and entrepreneurs, Abhimanyu said.
A 23-year-old college student has allegedly committed suicide at Kaushambi district after the police "failed to act" against the youth who misbehaved with her and instead lodged a case against her uncle, prompting the authority to order a probe into the incident.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya today said that an inquiry has been ordered in the case.

"We have ordered an inquiry into the incident. We will see to it that justice is done," he told reporters.

The woman hung herself at her house in Pipri police station area of Kaushambi yesterday.

The victim had complained to her uncle that the youth misbehaved with her when she was on her way to college. Her uncle allegedly went to the youth's house along with some friends where a skirmish took place between both the sides, police said.

The woman's uncle lodged a complaint with the police but reportedly no action was taken.

However, an FIR was lodged against the victim's uncle on Friday for beating up the youth, following which the woman reportedly went into a state of shock and took the extreme step.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Minister supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for giving up use of petrol once every week in his "Mann ki baat" broadcast today.

He said the newly-elected BJP government in the state "will lead by example to take forward the PM's message".

Maurya, who is also the state BJP president, represents the Phoolpur Lok Sabha seat, which covers a major part of Allahabad city.

The BJP leader was given a rousing welcome by party leaders on his first tour of his home town after becoming the Deputy CM of the state.

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The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) hopes to begin the tunnelling work for the 33.5-km Metro 3 corridor from October this year.

"As per the contracts awarded for constructing the Metro stations, the contractor will have to procure the tunnel boring machines. An order for 17 machines has been already placed and by October we hope to start the actual tunnelling work," MMRC's Managing Director Ashwini Bhide told PTI.

She said the machines, which are being imported, will start coming in from July.

The tunnel boring machines are being imported from Germany, Austria, Canada among others. But all these machines are China made.

The machines will dig twin tunnels for the entire stretch of the Rs 23,136 crore Metro line from Colaba in the southern tip of the megapolis to Seepz (Andheri) in the north.

The MMRC hopes build 200 metres of tunnels everyday.

The corporation has fabricated the first tunnel ring for the underground Metro at its Wadala casting yard. These segment rings will help strengthen the tunnel after being bored into by the TBMs.

According to MMRC's project director S K Gupta, the initial tunnelling may begin from locations like Cuffe Parade, Pali Naka and Naya Nagar.

"Two shafts are getting ready near Pali Naka (in Bandra) and Naya Nagar (in Mahim), so we can start the work from these areas," he said.

"The shafts at other locations are also getting ready but they may take some time as the tree felling issue is still getting resolved. But we are confident of starting tunnelling at least at these three locations," he said.

The Bombay High Court had last week issued a notice to Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) seeking its response on whether it had granted clearance to the MMRC to construct nine stations under the Metro Line-3 project.

The HC was hearing a petition filed by residents of Churchgate in South Mumbai against the proposed cutting of 5,000 trees to pave way for the Seepz-Colaba Metro project.

The petitioners had claimed that nine stations in the line fall in Coastal Regulation Zone and the MoEF has refused permission to MMRC to carry out construction in those areas.

MMRC counsel Aspi Chinoy had said the authority was incurring heavy monetary loss due to the pendency of the petition as the high court had earlier restricted them from cutting any trees till further orders.

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is planning to launch a balloon-based observatory that will measure emissions from the interstellar medium - the cosmic material found between stars.

The data from the mission will help scientists determine the life cycle of interstellar gas in our Milky Way galaxy, witness the formation and destruction of star-forming clouds, and understand the dynamics and gas flow in the vicinity of the centre of our galaxy.

The Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory (GUSTO) mission, led by principal investigator Christopher Walker of the University of Arizona, will fly an Ultralong-Duration Balloon (ULDB) carrying a telescope with carbon, oxygen and nitrogen emission line detectors.

This unique combination of data will provide the spectral and spatial resolution information needed for researchers to untangle the complexities of the interstellar medium, and map out large sections of the plane of our Milky Way galaxy and the nearby galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud.

"GUSTO will provide the first complete study of all phases of the stellar life cycle, from the formation of molecular clouds, through star birth and evolution, to the formation of gas clouds and the re-initiation of the cycle," said Paul Hertz, astrophysics division director in the Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

The mission is targeted for launch in 2021 from McMurdo, Antarctica, and is expected to stay in the air between 100 to 170 days, depending on weather conditions.

It will cost about $40 million, including the balloon launch funding and the cost of post-launch operations and data analysis.
Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari will visit India from April 17, her first official foreign trip after assuming office in 2015.

The President's Office has confirmed her India visit, though the detail itinerary of the visit is yet to be made public.

Bhandari, Nepal's first woman President, is visiting India at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.

During the visit, she will meet President Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other leaders from the ruling and opposition parties, said Madan Kumar Bhattarai, foreign relations adviser to Bhandari.

Bhandari will also visit Varanasi, where she will attend a function at the Banaras Hindu University.

"Some agreements as a gesture of friendly relations between Nepal and India is likely to be sealed during her visit," Bhattarai said.

Bhandari was scheduled to visit India in May last year, but it was cancelled after the then cabinet did not endorse the visit programme citing lack of preparations on the part of the government.

The bilateral ties between the two countries had faced turbulence last year due to the Madhesi agitation and subsequent blockade which halted the supply of essential goods to landlocked Nepal from India.

Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, had been demanding the new Constitution be amended to include their concerns about adequate political representation and redrawing of federal boundaries.

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BiharChief MinisterNitish Kumartoday administered a pledge to shun liquor to thousands of people in Chhattisgarh, at a community convention here.

He also appealed to them to work to ensure that liquor gets banned completely in the BJP-ruled state.

Nitish observed that Chhattisgarh can become a model state, if prohibition is implemented.

"Liquor ban has to be enforced to protect society. People should take the resolution to continue their campaign against the liquor until they succeed," the JD(U) president said while addressing the 71st convention of 'Manwa Kurmi Kshatriya Samaj' at Parastarai village, located around 20 kms from here.

BJP MP from Raipur, Ramesh Bais, state unit Congress president Bhupesh Baghel and BJP MLA from Dharsinwa Devji Bhai Patel were present at the programme, which was organised for administration of oath to fight for banning liquor.

A delegation of the Kurmi samaj, along with some office-bearers of JD(U) in Chhattisgarh, had visited Patna last week to invite the Bihar CM to attend the event as chief guest.

Around 10,000 people attended the convention.

During his address, Nitish talked about how prohibition was implemented in his home state, and the results it has generated.

"I was against liquor sale right from the beginning, but there was a lot of confusion in my mind that whether the step will be successful or not. In the past also, Bihar had tried to ban liquor in 1977-78 under then chief minister Karpoori Thakur, but failed to implement it effectively.

"In Haryana also, the prohibition decision was later revoked. However, when some women during a programme (ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar) had asked me to ban liquor, I promised them to enforce it if I was voted to power. After the election, I had implemented the prohibition," the CM said.

Nitish said his government did not care about the loss of revenue arising out of the ban, as the decision was taken for a social cause.

"Rather, the liquorban has resulted into economic prosperity for the state. Bihar has witnessed a hike in the sale of milk, sweets, curd and other related products, besides garments, furniture, stitching machines etc, which clearly indicates that people are spending money they saved after leaving their drinking habit, for good things," he said.

Nitish observed that contrary to the claims of the critics, the number of tourists visiting Bihar has actually gone up.

"Apart from a decline in the incidents of crime and road accidents, the liquor ban has led to peace in society, love within family and ensured protection to the future of children," the CM said.

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The Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) today said an out-of-court settlement of the Ayodhya dispute was not possible with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath at the helm of affairs.

"With Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath at the helm of affairs, there is no hope that justice will prevail with the Muslims. Both of them have been BJP workers and supporters of Ram temple movement," BMAC Convenor Zafaryab Jilani said after a meeting of its office bearers here.

Earlier the prime ministers used to be "neutral" on the contentious issue, he said.

Jilani said the solution to the Babri Masjid title suit can be arrived only through the Supreme Court.

The BMAC meeting was held against the backdrop of the apex court recently asking parties involved to sit together and arrive at a consensus on the issue, which has been dragging on for decades.

"Efforts were made in the past for out-of-court settlement, but proved to be futile," Jilani told the meeting.

The BMAC office bearers were also of the view that if the Chief Justice of India or any other judge took an initiative to find a solution to the issue, the Muslims would certainly support the move.

"We are ready if he (CJI) nominates a team for hearing the matter. But out-of-court settlement is not possible. If the SC passes an order in this regard, we will look at it," Jilani had said on March 21, the day the apex court had observed that the matter was "sensitive and sentimental and it is best to settle it amicably.

(Reopens DEL 45)



Jilani had earlier said that going by his experience of last three decades, he feels that the matter cannot be settled outside the court and referred to unsuccessful negotiation attempts made during the tenures of former Prime Ministers Chandrashekhar and P V Narasimha Rao.

"Let them hear us, we are prepared. But we are not ready for out of court settlement," he said.

"In 1986, talks started between the then Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamkoti and President Muslim Personal Law Board Ali Miyan Nadvi but it failed.

"Later in 1990, Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat talked but no results came. PM Narasimha Rao also constituted a committee and attempts of talks were made through Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahai but in 1992 the mosque was demolished," he said.

He said after the demolition, the then Muslim Personal Law Board President Rabe Hasan Nadvi had sought a written proposal from Shankaracharya of Kanchi in which he said Muslims should leave claim on three mosques, which was not acceptable.

The ruling BJP at the Centre has, however, welcomed the apex court's suggestion, insisting that the parties to the case should keep in mind its "sensitivity", while the Congress has been guarded in its response, saying there should be a "consensus-based" solution or the SC adjudicate the matter on merit.

Aditya Nath has said that aggrieved parties must sit together to resolve the matter. Terming the Supreme Court's observation as a "solid" one, he had said, "It is a welcome step.
BJP president Amit Shah today said the key objective of his party is to build a strong India, which is "free from casteism, corruption, regionalism and the Congress".

"The objective is to build a strong India which is free from casteism, corruption, regionalism as well as the Congress. The party workers will dedicatedly contribute towards achieving this target," he said.

Shah was addressing BJP workers on the concluding day of the three-day state-level 'Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shatabdi Karyakarta Vistar' workshop here.

He said the BJP plans to expand its footprint in the birth centenary year of Jana Sangh ideologue Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay and is observing the birth centenary year of Upadhyay as the year of the party's national work expansion scheme.

"Therefore, the workers will have to shoulder the responsibility of expanding the party's base at the grassroots level," he was quoted as saying in a BJP release.

The event was not open to the media.

Shah said it was of paramount importance to the BJP and the scheme would succeed only with the utmost dedication of the party workers.

He also called upon party workers to take the policies and programmes of the BJP as well as the Haryana government to the grassroots-level.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said his government was following the 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas' mantra of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Of the 120 welfare schemes launched in the state, most have already been implemented while the remaining were in progress, he said.

The new enterprises promotion policy was framed to attract and promote businesses in the state, he added.

Earlier, Khattar, state Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Finance Minister Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu, state BJP chief Subhash Barala, senior party leaders Suresh Bhatt and Anil Jain welcomed Shah.

On his way back to Delhi, the BJP chief had brief stopovers at Karnal and Panipat, where he was greeted by the party workers.

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One person was killed and another wounded in a shooting on the busy Las Vegas strip as police surrounded a bus in which a suspect was reportedly barricaded, local media reported.

Police tweeted that a section of South Las Vegas Boulevard remained closed "due to a barricade subject on bus," adding: "Please avoid the area."



Aerial photos showed police vehicles surrounding a long, white two-story bus, and witnesses tweeted that police were using loudspeakers to negotiate with someone inside the vehicle.

"The shooting incident happened on the bus," Las Vegas Metro Police spokesman Larry Hadfield told USA Today. "We had one single shooting incident with two victims. Both were transported to the trauma center and one is deceased."



It was not immediately clear whether the incident was connected to a robbery nearby in which as many as three robbers wearing animal masks -- one tweet showed a person wearing a pink pig mask -- used sledgehammers to break into a jewelry case in a store in the high-end Bellagio Hotel.

The suspects in that incident wore black suits or tuxedos, police Lieutenant Carlos Hank told the Las Vegas Journal-Review.

"It's like a movie," he said. "It's just crazy."



Police attributed initial reports of an active shooter to people hearing the sound of the glass in jewelry cases being broken.

The luxury resort was briefly put on lockdown, and at least one person was taken into custody.

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Hundreds of people including top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny were arrested today as thousands of Russians defied bans to stage protests across the country against corruption.

Navalny had called for the marches after publishing a detailed report this month accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of controlling a property empire through a shadowy network of nonprofit organisations.

The report has been viewed over 11 million times on YouTube, but so far Medvedev has made no comment on the claims.

Today's march in was one of the biggest unauthorised demonstrations in recent years, with police putting turnout at 7,000-8,000 people.

Police detained Navalny, who has announced plans to run for president in the 2018 election, as he was walking to the protest, putting him in a police minibus.

The crowd briefly tried to block it from driving off, shouting "Shame!" and "Let him out!"



"Guys, I am all right, go on along Tverskaya," Navalny tweeted from the van.

Police said about 500 people had been arrested in Moscow, while OVD-Info, a website that monitors the detention of activists, said at least 700 had been detained, as well as dozens in other cities.

A spokeswoman for Navalny's Anti-corruption Foundation (FBK) said on Twitter than he would be held overnight before being brought before a judge tomorrow.

Thousands of people filled central Pushkin Square, some shouting "Russia without Putin", referring to President Vladimir Putin. Some climbed on to lamp posts and the monument to poet Alexander Pushkin, shouting "impeachment!"



Dozens of police vans and rows of riot officers were lined up as a police helicopter hovered overhead.

"We have all seen the movie, it gives specific examples of corruption, and there has been no reaction," Nikolai Moisey, a 26-year-old factory worker, said of the claims against Medvedev.

"They steal and they lie but still people will be patient to the end. The protest is a first push for people to start acting."



Police officers moved to detain protesters and clear the square, with some using truncheons and pepper spray to disperse the crowd, AFP correspondents said.

Police also searched FBK offices over alleged incitement to hatred, and "Everyone was detained and brought to the police," the organisation's spokeswoman Kira Iarmych said.

Despite the dramatic scenes in Moscow, state TV did not cover the protests, instead showing soap operas and nature films.
More than 130 people were detained today in Moscow as thousands attended a rally against government corruption, according to a rights group tracking arrests.

"Over 130 people have been detained in Moscow," the group, OVD Info, said on Twitter, with more detentions ongoing in the city centre where police had used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

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State-run has joined hands with public sector chopper maker Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) to train helicopter pilots.

"We have just tied-up with HAL to train helicopter pilots. This is a first in the country as there is no training facility for chopper pilots. We will begin the course in Bengaluru in July," Chairman and Managing Director B P Sharma told PTI.

However, he refused to divulge more details about the commercial side of the plan as well as how many students they will take in to train annually.

is a joint venture where state-owned ONGC holds 49 per cent.

Sharma said that currently Pawan Hans fully depends on pilots from the Defence forces, especially the Air Force, to operate his fleet of 46 helicopters.

He said none of their 150-odd pilots are from the non-defence background. Most of the pilots are from the Air Force, Army and the Navy. Some are also from the Coast Guard.

The industry also depends on foreign pilots, while private operators and also get people trained overseas as there is no facility to train helicopter pilots in the country now, Sharma said.

There are 260 civilian helicopters in the country and so there is a large market for pilots.

"We will tell the students about cent per cent placement," which is easily manageable considering the large demand in the market, he said.

Over the past week, Pawan Hans also tied-up with Mumbai University to offer a Bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering along with a course on aircraft maintenance engineering from the next academic session.

The course will be offered to 60 students and will be imparted by professionals from Pawan Hans Helicopter Training Institute, while it will be monitored by the Garware Institute of Career Education & Development.

Sharma also said after the 'Delhi Darshan' chopper



rides in the national capital, the company will also be launching a similar service in Mumbai.

Asked about the status of the agreement it had inked some years back with the state tourism body MTDC, he said it was suspended by them but now they want to resume it.

"I expect it to happen shortly," he said.

Last Thursday, national chopper operator announced 'Delhi Darshan' chopper rides from next month with a 10-minute sortie costing Rs 2,499 per person.

Besides, the state-owned aviation firm will also offer a 20-minute helicopter ride for Rs 4,999.

Sharma said he also has plans for a helicopter taxi like facility in Mumbai so that different parts of the city can be connected to airport.

The Delhi Darshan ride was inaugurated at its first heliport at Rohini in north Delhi and the commercial service will begin from April 1.

Built at a cost of Rs 100 crore for flying in and out of Delhi to nearby areas in choppers, the Rohini heliport is spread over 25 acres and consists of a terminal building that can house 150 passengers, four hangars with parking capacity for 16 helicopters and nine parking bays.
Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh today stressed that there should be no bitterness in politics, saying the lawmakers should work to strengthen the democracy.

Addressing at a function at the Indira Gandhi Panchayti Raj Sansthan here, he said that the Opposition's work is to criticise the government and the government should also play its role by replying to the Opposition with responsibility.

In the programme organised by former MLAs, Singh said that politics has no place for bitterness and sitting as well as former MLAs have their own responsibilities and they should work to strengthen the democracy.

Punjab Governor V P Singh asked the former Rajasthan MLAs to visit schools in villages and share their experiences with the students so that they can know more about the democracy and its values.

State Assembly Speaker Kailash Meghwal, Deputy Speaker Rao Rajendra Singh and others were present on the occasion.

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Production house Lyca today expressed sadness over the "negative environment" surrounding its charity programme involving actor Rajinikanth in Sri Lanka and denied links with the Rajapaksa family, as claimed by some outfits here.

"We are saddened by the development of a negative environment surrounding the aid programmes of a charity to further the political gain of some elements. We don't want the Superstar (Rajinikanth) to be subjected to an uncomfortable and embarrassing situation," Lyca's Gnanam Foundation said.

The actor, currently filming "2.0" produced by Lyca, was slated to hand over houses to 150 displaced Tamils at an event in Vavuniya in North Sri Lanka on April 9, built by the foundation.

He had, however, given in to opposition from pro-Tamil outfits who cautioned him against his "involvement" in the ethnic issue and called off his visit yesterday.

"Consequently, it is with profound regret that we inform you that the events planned on 9th of April in Jaffna and Mr Rajinikanth's visit to Sri Lanka have been cancelled," the foundation said in a statement.

However, Lyca Gnanam Village will be officially opened as planned on April 10, 2017 and the houses will be handed over to the recipients, it added.

It also reiterated it had no business ties with former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, criticised in Tamil Nadu for the civilian deaths during the peak of armed assault on rebel LTTE in 2009.

"It is a well-known fact that numerous baseless rumours have been fabricated by our business competitors, stating that we have a business relationship with the past Rajapaksa regime. Our continuous actions to date have proved that such reports are untrue and unfounded," it said.

Some of its business competitors were still continuing to make such allegations, it claimed.

It also took exception to "some Tamil Nadu politicians who repeatedly speak out in support of those who are attempting to gain petty advantage by spreading rumours like these."



"We suspect that these politicians are repeatedly spreading these fabricated and baseless rumours due to their obligations to our business competitors," it charged, but did not name anybody.

The foundation said it welcomed and supported the efforts of Tamil political leaders "who are working tirelessly to achieve a long-lasting political solution to Eelam Tamils."



"We humbly request that those who are concerned about and support the Sri Lankan Tamils let us continue our efforts to alleviate the suffering of our people," it added.

However, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), one of the political parties which opposed Rajinikanth's visit, refuted Lyca's charges.

"Our motive is not to oppose Rajinikanth or Lyca or seek



publicity. If Lyca thinks so, it is sheer imagination," VCK founder Thol Thirumavalavan said.

Lauding Rajinikanth for his "maturity" in understanding the issue in the right context, he asked what kind of political mileage one could derive out of this issue.

"It is laughable if one believes opposing Rajinikanth's Sri Lanka visit or an anti-Lyca stand will endear people to them. In fact, the fears of Tamils in the Northern Province is that the Sinhala rulers are trying to derive political mileage out of the issue," he said in a statement.

The former MP said there was no need for him to take a stand opposed to Lyca and that he was never opposing their rehabilitation efforts for Tamils.

VCK only did not find the present situation "conducive" for the actor to visit Sri Lanka, Thirumavalavan said, adding, his party opposed it as it wanted to ensure Lankan government did not gain advantage out of the event.

Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) founder T Velmurugan, who had also opposed the visit, could not be reached for a comment immediately.

Rajinikanth had yesterday announced his decision to cancel his Lankan visit, after Thirumavalavan and Velmurugan, besides MDMK founder Vaiko, had requested him to do so.

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Later Velmurugan also denied he was raking up the issue for publicity.

He said it was Lyca which was trying to gain publicity by "dragging" politicians like him in the issue.

"Actually, we had requested Rajinikanth through a close friend, asking him to not to attend the event as it would be politicised by the Lankan government for its own advantage. We never had anything to do with Lyca," he told
Home Minister Rajnath Singh today reviewed the security situation in Assam along with Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and top officials of the central and state governments.

During the hour-long meeting, the Home Minister was briefed about the steps taken to check violence perpetrated by insurgents, ongoing process of preparing the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and security along the Indo-Bangladesh border, besides others.

Singh directed that action should be taken against those who continue to indulge in violence, official sources said.

The minister hoped that the work on NRC would be completed at the earliest without anomalies.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Assam Chief Secretary V K Pipersenia and senior officials of both central and state governments attended the meeting.

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Saudi Arabia has permitted a Chinese firm to set up a factory to manufacture hunter-killer aerial drones for the first time in the Middle East, in a boost to China's drone manufacturing industry.

Saudi Arabia's key science and technology organisation has confirmed that one of the deals sealed during Saudi King Salman's visit to China this month was an agreement to set up the first factory for Chinese hunter-killer aerial drones in the Middle East.

IHS Jane's Defence Weekly reported on Thursday that the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) had signed a partnership agreement on March 16 with China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), which makes China's CH-4 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a model with similar capabilities to the American Air Force's MQ-1 Predator.

China and Saudi Arabia signed USD 65 billion worth of deals in energy, culture, education and technology during the king's visit in the middle of this month.

A Chinese military website and military experts said Saudi Technology Development and Investment Company (TAQNIA) had signed a protocol with China's Aerospace Long-March International Trade (ALIT) for the drone production line at the biennial International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi in February, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported today.

TAQNIA is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, while ALIT is a Chinese export-import company that specialises in aerospace technologies.

Earlier this month, China's Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute said its latest combat drone, which made its maiden test, is comparable to the United States MQ-9 Reaper and may turn out to be a "biggest export deal" for the country.

A yellow prototype of the Wing Loong II conducted a 31-minute test flight from an unidentified airport in north western China last week, the Institute told the state media.

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The Ordnance Factory, Khamaria (OFK) today ruled out sabotage or any conspiracy behind a series of explosions and subsequent fire at its premises last evening.

A Board of Inquiry (BoI) was constituted today to probe into the explosions and fire at the factory in Jabalpur district here.

"A BoI presided by Controller of Quality Assurance, Military Explosives, Pune, will probe the explosions and fire that destroyed the discarded anti-tank 106 mm Recoilless (RCL) ammunition," OFK Senior General Manager AK Agarwal told PTI.

"There is no sabotage or conspiracy behind the explosions and fire," he firmly said when asked about the cause behind the incident when there was no worker in the OFK at that time.

The senior GM said the rise in the temperature might have caused the explosions that sparked off the fire.

Agarwal admitted that the building number 845 in filling section 3 of the OFK, has been destroyed in the blaze.

He said the Indian Army was not using 106 mm RCL ammunition for quite some time.

Asked about the count of the shots, which went off in the explosions, he said it is being still found out.

Agarwal said the work in the OFK will resume tomorrow.

"Hundred per cent production will start on Monday for sure after the Sunday off," he said.

A series of explosions for around three hours rattled the OFK on Saturday evening. The explosions triggered a huge fire which was put out by 25 fire tenders.

No one was injured in the explosions and fire as it took place after the workers had left for home after the work.

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India-US relations are set to get stronger and there's been a remarkable shift in the bilateral ties, India's envoy to the US Navtej Sarna said as he hailed the contributions of Indian-Americans "in this journey".

"I have been fortunate to witness the remarkable shift in the US-India bilateral relationship. There is a clear signal that our ties are only going to get stronger," Sarna said at the India House Gala yesterday.

"I always think of this potential in two different directions, one is if you look back to it at: send back to India skills, experiences, technology, best practices that you have learnt or taught in your experiences here," he said.

The Indian government recognises the contribution of the Indian-American community in supporting the bilateral ties, he said.

"If you continue to integrate and play a greater role in the country of your adoption (US), it can only help the India-US engagement. We have seen immense contribution of this community in any field. There is no reason to doubt ourselves, this is a hugely strong pillar of the India US relationship that will take us forward for everybody's good," Sarna said.

Sarna, who visited Houston first the time since he took over as the ambassador recently, was the chief guest at the gala and felicitated the American "hero" Ian Grillot, who took a bullet for an Indian in Kansas, by handing him USD 100,000.

"He is a young man who has shown exceptional courage, strength of very fundamental human values. No amount of honour that India or the Indian Americans bestow on him will be re-compensed enough for that moment of exceptional fortitude and character" he said.

It is a privilege to be representing India in the US at this point in time, he said adding, "we are all representatives of India as I am."



Earlier in the day, Sarna visited Mahindra USA plant's assembly and distribution centre along with Consul-General in Houston Anupam Ray and Indo-American Chamber of Great Houston delegation.

A banner over the entrance said in bold letters: "This isMahindraterritory." Inside, the hangar-like building reverberates with grinding metal sounds as the machines and workers putting the vehicle parts together.

Mahindrais among a number of Indian companies that are expanding their operations in the US. Mani Iyer, chief executive atMahindraUSA, informed that the firm expected to double its revenue to USD 1 billion in the next three years.

Iyer said it had been a great learning to do business in the US. "We are not here to outsource jobs. We are here to be local, to cooperate with universities and community colleges, and to promote development."



"If you can drive in India, you can drive anywhere, but if you can sell in the US, you can sell anywhere in the world," said Iyer.

Mahindra first came to Houston in 1991.

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British police today made a new arrest as part of an investigation by the Counter Terrorism Command into the attack on UK Parliament, Scotland Yard today said.

"A 30-year-old man was arrested on Sunday at an address in Birmingham on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts. He was detained under the Terrorism Act and currently remains in police custody," the police statement said.

A 58-year-old man who was arrested on March 23 on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts and detained under the act remains in police custody, the Metropolitan Police said.

A 32-year-old woman was arrested on March 24 on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts under PACE and has been released on bail until a date in late March.

"Officers have carried out a total of 15 searches at various addresses in east London (two), south London (one), Brighton (one), Surrey (one), Carmarthenshire (one), Birmingham (eight) and Manchester (one). Fourteen searches have now concluded, with one ongoing at an address in Birmingham," the Met said.

In total, 12 people have been arrested as part of the investigation. Nine have been released with no further action.

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will invest Rs 15,000 crore over the next 7-8 years for the development of around 30 ongoing projects, largely residential, across six major cities.

Chennai-based Shriram Properties, the real estate arm of financial giant Shriram Group, has also decided to focus on affordable housing after the government's decision to accord infrastructure status to this segment as well as provide other tax sops and interest subvention to home buyers and builders.

"We have completed and delivered about 15 million sq ft and are currently developing 25-30 projects comprising 60 million sq ft area in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Vizag, Coimbatore and Kolkata," company's Managing Director M Murali told PTI.

Out of 60 million sq ft, he said about 18 million sq ft is already under construction and work on remaining would start in phases.

On proposed investment in these projects, Murali said the total investment on construction will be around Rs 15,000 crore, which would be met through internal accruals and bank loans.

The company has raised about $460 million from investors at entity level as well as projects level but it does not have plans to raise further amount, he added.

Walton street, Starwood capital, TPG Capital, Tata Opportunities Fund, HYPO, Sun Apollo, ASK, Motilal Oswal, Amplus, ICICI Prudential have invested in .

When asked about sales, Murali said the company is likely to achieve sales bookings of Rs 950 crore this fiscal as against Rs 750 crore last year despite demonetisation.

He said the company is targeting sales bookings of Rs 1,350 crore for next fiscal.

has a land bank of 1,200 acres for future development.

On the listing plan, he said: "We will come with an initial public offer (IPO) when the market is right".

Shriram Properties is also planning to enter Mumbai property market next fiscal where its focus will be on mid-market and affordable housing and little bit of luxury.
Actor Ian Kenny has been cast in Han Solo Star Wars stand-alone film.

Kenny will join Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Donald Glover and Joonas Suotamo in the movie, reported Variety.

However, his role in the film has not yet been announced.

Kenny is best known for his performance in musical coming-of-age comedy drama "Sing Street", which was nominated for Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy. He also appeared on Irish TV series "Fair City".

Han Solo movie is scheduled to release in the US on May 25 next year.

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Talks to resolve Northern Ireland's political stalemate have reached the "end of the road", the Sinn Fein party said, but London said it hoped a power-sharing government could be formed ahead of deadline.

After three weeks of negotiations to form a power-sharing executive in the province, the Irish Republican party Sinn Fein said yesterday that no deal had been reached.

Sinn Fein, representing Catholic Irish nationalists, and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of the pro-British Protestants, have until Monday afternoon to reach an agreement or governance of the province could be transferred to London.

"Today we have come to the end of the road," said Michelle O'Neill, the party's leader in Northern Ireland.

"The talks process has run its course and Sinn Fein will not be nominating for the position of speaker or for the executive office tomorrow."



DUP Leader Arlene Foster gave a similar assessment of the Belfast talks, which have been chaired by Britain's Northern Ireland Minister James Brokenshire.

"Regrettable the reality is that sufficient progress was not achieved in the time available to form a new executive," said Foster, who served as first minister before the executive collapsed.

The political crisis began when O'Neill's predecessor, Martin McGuinness, stepped down in protest at the handling of a botched green energy programme by Foster.

McGuinness died on Tuesday of a rare heart condition.

Despite Sinn Fein's assertion that talks were over, the British government said it was still determined to see a "functioning executive" put in place.

"Even at this stage I urge political parties to agree to work to form an executive and provide people here with the strong and stable devolved government that they want," said Brokenshire.

The discussions have also been keenly followed by Dublin, with Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan calling for power-sharing to be re-established.

"I therefore urge the parties to avail of the remaining time available to re-engage on the few outstanding issues that divide them," he said yesterday.

If Northern Ireland's main parties fail to reach a deal by 4:00pm (1500 GMT) on Monday, Brokenshire will intervene, which could lead to direct rule from London being imposed.

The minister could also call fresh elections, although those held in March following McGuinness's resignation failed to resolve the differences between Sinn Fein and the DUP.

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Six aid workers have been killed in an ambush in famine-hit South Sudan, the UN's humanitarian agency said today, the highest number murdered in one incident since the start of a three-year civil war.

"I am appalled and outraged by the heinous murder yesterday of six courageous humanitarians in South Sudan," said Eugene Owusu of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The agency did not say who the aid workers were employed by.

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Spain's economy minister would be a good head of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said today as the current chair faces calls to resign.

Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister, has been under pressure to step down since he said in an interview published Monday in a German newspaper that southern European countries blew their money on "drinks and women".

Southern Europeans reacted strongly, with Portugal's prime minister and former Italian premier Matteo Renzi calling for Dijsselbloem to step down.

Dijsselbloem's job was already up in the air after his party lost out in elections in The Netherlands last week. His mandate as head of the Eurogroup lasts until January 2018.

Asked if in the wake of the controversy over Dijsselbloem's comments Spain would like the head of the Eurogroup to be Spanish, Rajoy backed Spanish Economy Luis de Guindos for the post in an interview published in several newspapers including top-selling El Pais.

"What can I say. Certainly the Spanish economy minister, if you ask me this, is one of the most important and competent personalities in the Eurogroup," the prime minister said.

De Guindos has served as Economy Ministry in the centre-right government of Rajoy since it took power in December 2011 -- the year Spain found itself at the heart of a growing eurozone crisis.

He had to steer through deep spending cuts as Spain tried to rein in its gaping deficit and oversaw a 41-billion-euro (USD 44 billion) European bailout of the country's ailing banks.

De Guindos was the main challenger to replace Dijsselbloem as the head of the Eurogroup when his first term expired in 2015 but in the end the Dutchman secured his re-election to the powerful post.

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Budget carrier SpiceJet today launched its services to Surat with a direct flight from here to Gujarat's textile city.

The new flight is part of SpiceJet's enhanced summer schedule and will augment its connectivity in the domestic sector, the airline said in a release.

The flight was inaugurated by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha. He was accompanied by SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh along with others onboard the Boeing 737-800 aircraft in its flight to Surat, it said.

"SpiceJet is proud to connect Surat, one of the fastest growing cities of the country with the national capital. Our twice daily flights will offer immense flexibility to the corporate and leisure travellers on the SpiceJet network," Singh said.

The new flight was greeted with the traditional water cannon salute after it landed at Surat airport, the release said.

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Sudan said today it will begin this week a joint air force drill with Saudi Arabia, the first such manoeuvres since Khartoum allied with Riyadh after breaking ties with Tehran in 2015.

The exercises will be held from March 29 until April 12 in Meroe, north of Khartoum, and will involve hundreds of air force personnel from both countries.

For years, the Islamist regime in Khartoum maintained close relations with Iran, but as sectarian divisions in the region were sharpened by the conflict in Syria, Khartoum allied with Riyadh.

In 2015 it announced it would take part in a Saudi-led military intervention in nearby Yemen against Iran-backed rebels.

The air drills are aimed at improving the operational capacities of the two air forces, improving techniques related to air operations and promoting cooperation, a senior Sudanese air force officer told reporters.

"The plan to hold these exercises was proposed by our brothers in Saudi Arabia," said Salaheddin Abdul Khalid, acting chief of staff of Sudanese air force.

"We have been planning this exercise for nearly a year."



Sudan will participate in the manoeuvres with more than two dozen fighter planes including MiG-29s and Sukhoi jets, he said.

Saudi Arabia will have F-15s and Eurofighter Typhoons taking part.

A group of Saudi fighter pilots will also stage an air show in Khartoum between April 10 and 12.

Ties between Khartoum and Riyadh have strengthened after Sudan joined the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen that is fighting the Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

"Saudi Arabia is now familiar with our skills and I am myself fighting in Yemen," said Abdul Khalid.

Analysts say the relationship serves both countries, with Sudan eager to ease its international isolation and Saudi Arabia looking for avenues for investment to reduce its dependence on oil.

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Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance, today seized a military airport from the Islamic State jihadist group in northern Syria, a spokesman said.

The capture of Tabqa airbase comes as the alliance prepares an attack on IS's de facto Syrian capital Raqa, seeking to effectively surround the city before launching its assault.

SDF forces are also battling for the nearby Tabqa dam, held by IS, which was forced out of service on today after its power station was damaged, a technical source there told AFP.

"The Syrian Democratic Forces have full control of Tabqa military airport and operations to clear and demine are under way in order to secure the airport fully," spokesman Talal Sello told AFP.

SDF forces entered the airport earlier today, backed by heavy artillery fire and air strikes by the US-led coalition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

IS seized the base from government troops in August 2014 and carried out one of its worst massacres there, killing up to 200 government soldiers.

With support from the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq, SDF fighters have inched closer to Raqa, taking territory to the north and east.

At their closest point, they are just eight kilometres (five miles) from the city, to the northeast.

But they are mostly further away, between 18 and 29 kilometres from Raqa.

Earlier this week, US forces airlifted SDF fighters behind IS lines to allow them to launch the Tabqa assault, and on Friday the alliance reached one of the dam's entrances.

But the fight for the dam, the biggest in Syria, forced it out of service on today, risking dangerous rising water levels.

"Shelling on the area... That supplies that dam with electricity has put it out of service," the technical source said.

"The work needed to fix the problem is not possible because there is not sufficient staff available as a result of the intensive shelling in the area of the dam," he added.

"If the problem is not fixed, it will begin to pose a danger to the dam."



The SDF's Sello told AFP there was no imminent danger to the dam, adding it had not been hit in air strikes.

The dam remains under IS control, with SDF progress being hampered by the exposed nature of the terrain, which is also heavily mined, the Observatory said.

IS issued warnings through its propaganda agency Amaq that the dam "is threatened with collapse at any moment because of American strikes and a large rise in water levels".

But the source at the dam told AFP there had not yet been significant water level increases, though he acknowledged levels would rise if the facility remained out of service.

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The city police have been able to rein in the underworld activities and are confident of tackling the organised crime syndicates, Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar has said.

"Tackling organised crime syndicates is an important task for police in Mumbai. There must be an action plan to tackle the organised crime syndicates in Mumbai," Padsalgikar told PTI yesterday.

"We have arrested some important gang members and have been successful in overpowering the underworld," he claimed.

"They will try to make a comeback, but, we will deal with them," said Padsalgikar, who took over as Mumbai Police Commissioner 14 months ago.

"We can control gangs and their members by applying stringent legal provisions for serious crimes," he said, when his attention was drawn to the absence of police encounters which were a permanent fixture in the 90s.

He also said that tackling terrorism is the top priority for Mumbai police in their endeavour to keep the city safe and secure.

"We need to take note of behavioural changes of the youth," he said.

With the help of Anti-Terrorism Squad, the Mumbai police have started an initiative to de-radicalise the youth, Padsalgikar said.

"The youth must know where their future is. They must not indulge in wrong activities. They must listen to their parents and good people in society," he said.

On starting the eight-hour duty for the police personnel, he said, "We have started this initiative on an experimental basis at a few police stations."



The initiative has been started at 44 out of the total 93 police stations in Mumbai, he said.

Ten more police stations will be added to this list in the coming days, the top police officer said.

The initiative involves rationalisation of human resources and proper work allocation. It does not entail any additional manpower and funds, Padsalgikar said.

"Due to the eight-hour duty, the stress level of police personnel is down and they are now able to give more time to their families," he said.

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Three Ukrainian soldiers died in fresh clashes in the country's rebel east, the military said.

"Three officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were killed as a result of shelling near the Avdiivka base", some 12 kilometres (about 7 miles) north from the rebel stronghold Donetsk, the army said yesterday.

Kiev had earlier reported that Kremlin-backed separatists used Grad rocket launchers to shell residential areas, which left 17 houses in ruins.

Military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said two civilians died in Zaytseve, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Donetsk.

"It was a man and a woman who were on the street when the enemy shelled residential areas", Motuzyanyk told journalists.

Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since the start of a pro-Russian insurgency in 2014 which Kiev and the West accuse Moscow of masterminding.

That conflict, and Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, have pushed ties between Moscow and the West to their lowest point since the Cold War.

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US President Donald Trump's counter-terrorism adviser has compared ISIS militants fleeing the Middle East for America to scurrying "cockroaches," vowing to wipe them off the face of the Earth, a media report said.

"We're going to obliterate ISIS. We're going to wipe them off the face of the Earth," White House Deputy Assistant Sebastian Gorka told Fox .

"But before we get all of them, what's going to happen? Some of them, like the cockroaches, when you switch the light on they're going to scurry. We want to stop them coming here," he said.

Gorka defended the Trump administration's executive order barring citizens of six Muslim-majority countries from entering the US, saying it is geared toward blocking militants traveling from the Middle East to the US.

He asserted that domestic threats do not pose a significant security concern, The Hill magazine reported.

"So it's not the person flying from L.A. To New York that's the threat," he said. "It's the ISIS recruit, who's traveling out of Mosul, out of the Middle East, out of Syria.

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Two staff nurses of state-run Gandhi Hospital were today suspended after allegations that they administered expired injections to some children undergoing treatment there.

However, the hospital and health officials have denied the allegations.

The parents of around 10 children, who were admitted to hospital yesterday for various ailments alleged that their kids suffered reaction ranging from fever, motions to allergy after the nurses administered them with "expired" injections.

The Telangana Director of Medical Education (DME) M Ramani said an inquiry will be conducted in this regard tomorrow.

"An inquiry will be conducted tomorrow following allegations by some parents that expired injections were given. Two staff nurses have been suspended pending inquiry," Ramani told PTI.

They (parents) are alleging that "sisters" (nurses) have given injections that were expired, however, "It is not expired injections...What has been given is within expiry date only, but inquiry has to be conducted," she added.

Earlier, on March 18, two personnel of the hospital were suspended for allegedly demanding money for use of a wheel-chair from a patient having severe immobility problem.

The matter hogged limelight after patient, S Raju (in his 40s) had to move around in the hospital using a toy-vehicle as he was unable to shell out the alleged bribe amount of Rs 100 to Rs 200 for getting a wheel-chair.

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Westminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood sent a WhatsApp message that cannot be accessed because it was encrypted by the popular messaging service, a top British security official said today.

British press reports suggest Masood used the messaging service owned by Facebook just minutes before the Wednesday rampage that left three pedestrians and one police officer dead and dozens more wounded.

As controversy swirled over the encrypted messages, police made another arrest in Birmingham, England, where Masood had lived.

The 30-year-old is one of two men now in custody over possible links to the attack. Neither has been charged or publicly named.

Masood was shot dead on the grounds of Parliament.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd used appearances on BBC and Sky News to urge WhatsApp and other encrypted services to make their platforms accessible to intelligence services and police trying to carrying out lawful eavesdropping.

"We need to make sure that organizations like WhatsApp, and there are plenty of like that, don't provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other," she said.

Rudd did not provide any details about Masood's use of WhatsApp, saying only "this terrorist sent a WhatsApp message and it can't be accessed."



But her call for a "back door" system to allow authorities to retrieve information is likely to meet resistance from the tech industry, which has faced previous law enforcement demands for access to data after major attacks.

In the United States, Apple fought the FBI's request for the passcodes needed to unlock an iPhone that had been used by one of the perpetrators in the 2015 extremist attack in San Bernardino, California.

The FBI initially claimed it could obtain the data only with Apple's help, but ultimately found another way to hack into the locked phone.

Masood drove a rented SUV into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before smashing it into Parliament's gates and rushing onto the grounds, where he fatally stabbed a policeman and was shot by other officers.

A detailed police reconstruction has found the entire attack lasted 82 seconds.

Police are trying to pinpoint his motive and identify any possible accomplices, making the WhatsApp message a potential clue to his state of mind and his social media contacts.

Rudd said attacks like Masood's would be easier to prevent if authorities could penetrate encrypted services after obtaining warrants similar to the ones used to listen in on telephone calls or, in snail mail days, to steam open letters and read their contents.

Without a change in the system, she said terrorists would be able to communicate with each other without fear of being overheard even in cases where a legal warrant has been obtained.

Rudd also urged technology companies to do a better job at preventing the publication of material that promotes extremism.

She plans to meet with firms Thursday about setting up an industry board that would take steps to make the web less useful to extremists.
Akere T.. MUNA W. Musa

Barrister Akere MUNA who was recently heard at Cameroons State Defense Secretariat has revealed that he was interrogated for hostility toward the homeland, advocating terrorism, secession, revolution, insurrection, compromising the security of the State. He reveals that he was accompanied by four former Presidents of Cameroon Bar Council and present President.

Statement from Barrister Akere Muna on the events of this week:

On March 20, 2017, I received a summons requiring that I show up to the National Defense Secretariat (SED) on Wednesday, March 23. Due to a prior commitment, I informed the SED of my intention to fulfill my professional commitments in South Africa on that day, offering instead to have the hearing on the morning of Friday, March 24.

I was accompanied to SED on Friday morning by the President of the Cameroon Bar Association, as well as four former presidents of the Bar and many members of the Bar Council. On arrival, I found over a hundred lawyers waiting outside. They waited patiently outside while I was being heard by a Lieutenant of the gendarmerie. These are the charges that were levied against me:

- Hostility toward the homeland

- Advocating terrorism

- Secession

- Revolution

- Insurrection

- Compromising the security of the State

These charges, it would seem, stemmed from the content of articles that I had published in the Le Jour daily newspaper. The first article appeared on December 19, 2016, entitled The Inevitable Nature of Change in which I examine the futility of resisting change. The second appeared on January 10, 2017, entitled Cameroon is One and Indivisible: Which Cameroon? in which I discuss the questions of unity that plague our country.

The investigation, I was informed, was opened at the request of the Commissioner of Government at the Military Tribunal. I responded to all the questions asked truthfully, reaffirming my convictions and standing behind the words I wrote in those articles. After a few hours I was allowed to leave the gendarmerie. The report of the investigation will be transmitted to the commissioner of government.

I am grateful for the outpour of kindness and support that I received from well-wishers both online and off. To those who, fearing for my safety, encouraged me to stay away from Cameroon, I say thank you for your concern, but my conscience is my judge and I believe am not guilty of wrongdoing. I love my country and I will always speak up in the interest of a better tomorrow.

Akere T. Muna

By Wilson MUSA
John Fru Ndi (Avril 2015) Archives

The Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, SDF has said he will not support fleeing Hon Joseph Wirba.

Speaking at the opening of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at his Nkolfolou residence on the outskirts of Yaounde on Saturday March 25, Ni John Fru Ndi said Hon Wirbas famous intervention in parliament on the Anglophone problem was the MPs personal point of view.

When he talked in parliament the way he did I congratulated him and told him he talked more on a personal point of view; using I not we, the SDF chairman said about Hon Joe Wirba.

Fru Ndi disclosed that he cautioned the SDF Member of Parliament for Jakiri Special Constituency and told him that in the future when hes talking, he should make sure that hes talking as an SDF member.

But he went and organized a rally in Nso, his other colleague MPs were not there, the Mayor of Kumbo was not there, the SDF electoral district chairman for Kumbo was not there, the divisional coordinator of the party for Bui never attended that rally. And so when all this is done, you want me to make a statement, what statement? the SDF chairman said in relation to an appeal for support by the escapee SDF MP.

When somebody does something and does not involve the party, should I just jump in and start supporting? Is the SDF a place for opportunism where you come and start your own thing, running in your own direction or it is a place where we can sit down, discuss and agree that we are going in this direction and we find ourselves going? Fru Ndi questioned further.

It should be recalled that Hon Wirba is on the run following a warrant of arrest for him. In a message on social media page, he has vowed to continue to the fight till the Biya regime recognizes and respects the rights of Anglophones in the country.
"If a patient comes in and says they are unwell and they feel they've got the disease or illness the doctor should presume that's correct rather than presume they've got some other agenda for saying it," he said.
"It is also true that politics is a really tough game and a lot of representatives come from these backgrounds shouldn't surprise us, and in some respects mean they come to the job knowing what's involved and having some training in the tasks," he said.
"We in the government have come to that conclusion and the truth is that future governments will get as much if not more of the payback than us but it's the right thing to do for Australia.
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 ...
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.

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United States Senator Elizabeth Warren said the Securities and Exchange Commission should be vigilant in ensuring that billionaire investor Carl Icahn isnt using his role as an adviser to the Trump administration to gain unfair trading advantages.

I do not understand how we can have someone who continues to trade in a market and is influencing regulatory policy simultaneously, the Massachusetts Democrat said Thursday at the Senate confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton, President Donald Trumps nominee to lead the SEC. I want to hear the chair of the SEC say hes going to look into this and I hope put a stop to it.

In December, then-President-elect Trump announced that hed tapped Icahn as a special adviser on rules. Icahns help on the strangling regulations that our country is faced with will be invaluable, Trump said at the time.

The unusual nature of the special adviser role, Icahns extensive investment portfolio and some of the trades since his appointment have raised conflict of interest concerns. As Wall Streets main regulator, the SEC plays a leading role investigating market violations such as insider trading.

EPA Administrator

Icahn helped choose the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, pressing at least three potential candidates about an obscure policy issue that affects the value of a pair of oil refineries he owns. He said he met twice with Trumps choice to lead the agency, Scott Pruitt, and had additional phone calls prior to the selection. In February, he convinced a leading ethanol trade group to drop its opposition to the EPA policy change hes seeking, and the groups president said Icahn appeared to be driving government policy on theissue.

If carried out, Icahns advice on the EPA issue would lead to a collapse in thevalue of a type of renewable fuel credit traded by oil refineries. Icahn said this month that he was wagering on a decline in the value of these credits.

Clayton, a Wall Street lawyer who has represented banks and hedge funds, said at Thursdays hearing that he met with Icahn shortly after being nominated to lead the SEC. Their discussion was focused on activist investingbuying shares in a publicly-traded company with the goal of gaining influence to push for changesand Icahns view that such trading strategies are beneficial to markets, he said.

Clayton added that they didnt talk about any of Icahns specific investments. Asked whether any trades could be deemed illicit, Clayton cautioned that insider trading is very fact specific.

Icahn said in an interview earlier this month that his conversation with Clayton lasted about 10 minutes and the two discussed the billionaires view that the SEC should focus enforcement actions on executives and directors responsible for wrongdoing, rather than the companies themselves. Clayton agreed with that philosophy, Icahn said. After the meeting, Icahn said he told Trump in a brief phone call that hed made a good choice in picking Clayton.

A representative for Icahn didnt immediately respond to a request seeking comment on Warrens statements at the hearing.

Earlier in the hearing on Thursday, Clayton told senators he wouldnt play favorites as head of the SEC and that hes committed to going after misdeeds.

Clayton, an independent, will probably be cleared by the Senate as Republicans have enough votes to approve him. No date has been set for a full Senate vote on his confirmation as chairman.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Photo: Urban Distillery

Okanagan booze will be on display in Vancouver in April at the fourth annual BC Distilled Festival.

The artisan distillery event takes place at the Croatian Cultural Centre on April 8.

Thirty-four distilleries will be at the festival, showing of their spirits.

Of the 34, seven distilleries from the Okanagan will be making their way down to the coast, including Kelowna's Okanagan Spirits and Urban Distillery.

Oliver's Dubh Glas Distillery, Naramata's Legend Distilling, Penticton's Maple Leaf Spirits, Summerland's Okanagan Crush Pad and Penticton's Old Order Distilling round out the Okanagan offerings.

Prior to the festival, Legacy Liquor store will be hosting three showcases, showing off B.C. gins on April 3, B.C. whiskies on April 4 and B.C. barrel-aged gins on April 5.

Tickets to the festival, and the three tasting events, can be found online.
Photo: Getty Images

An extra $20 million in B.C. government funding will be going into genome research projects, including cancer research and pharmaceutical genomics.

That funding will be going toward Genome BC, which researches human health, along with forestry, fisheries, agriculture, bioenergy, mining and the environment. The funding announcement following the second-annual #BCTECH Summit.

"With the genome sequencing technology pioneered by Genome BC, we've already seen answers come forward for some of life's most challenging cases like genetic disorders and cancer projects, tackling even the toughest diagnoses," said Health Minister Terry Lake.

On top of funding research, the government says injecting funding into projects helps stimulate the research sector in B.C.

"That's why we will continue to support Genome BC, a world leader in fighting rare and deadly diseases," said Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services Amrik Virk.

Genomics in health care is intended to stray from a one-drug-fits-all model to more personalized and precise health-care system.

Genome BC's research includes hereditary and childhood cancer; biobanking and pharmacogenomics research into adverse drug interactions. The group is also looking at infectious diseases like HIV, tuburculosis, Hepatitis C, rare diseases and Avian flu.

Genome BC president and CEO Dr. Pascal Spothelfer says the funding will help attract investment from other groups nationally and internationally.

"Our work demonstrates the breadth and scope of B.C.'s leading scientists and shines a light on the vibrant life sciences cluster in our province," Spothelfer said. "This work will enable swift and significant clinical uptake of precision health to deliver improved patient outcomes."

Not including the most recent funding announcement, the B.C. government has provided $221.5 million to Genome BC since 2001.
Photo: Contributed

An airstrike targeting Islamic State militants in the Iraqi city of Mosul that witnesses say killed at least 100 people was in fact launched by the U.S. military, American officials said Saturday.

U.S. officials did not confirm the reports of civilian casualties but opened an investigation. In the days following the March 17 airstrike, U.S. officials had said they were unsure whether American forces were behind the attack.

The statement issued by the U.S.-led coalition said the airstrike had been requested by Iraqi security forces to target IS fighters and equipment "at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties." U.S.-backed government troops were fighting IS forces in that area of western Mosul, the statement said.

The coalition said it takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously and a formal Civilian Casualty Credibility Assessment had been opened to determine the facts surrounding this strike and the validity of the allegation of civilian casualties.

"Our goal has always been for zero civilian casualties, but the coalition will not abandon our commitment to our Iraqi partners because of ISIS's inhuman tactics terrorizing civilians, using human shields, and fighting from protected sites such as schools, hospitals, religious sites and civilian neighbourhoods," the coalition said.

Altaf Musani, representative of the World Health Organization in Iraq, told The Associated Press in the Jordanian capital of Amman that the organization's priority was quick treatment for those wounded.

"It is our understanding that there was an incident and we have worked with the local health actors and they have confirmed more than 100 are dead," Musani said.

Musani said that since the operations in Mosul began in October, there have been at least 5,300 people referred to hospitals in and around the city. He added that since the attack on western Mosul began last month, "we have managed to capture more than 1,300" cases.

"When you take a better look at what those numbers mean, what is worrying for the WHO and aid actors is that roughly 30 per cent of the total numbers are women," he said. "Roughly 30 per cent of that large number are children under 15, and that is deeply concerning because of the capacities needed to treat those wounded coming out of the front lines."

President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to dramatically ramp up the assault on Islamic State militants and has vowed to eradicate it.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis met in recent days with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Ababi and foreign ministers from the coalition partners at the State Department to explore new ideas to expand the fight against IS in Mosul.

Earlier Saturday, senior Sunni Muslim politicians expressed concern over reports of airstrikes that allegedly killed the civilians. Residents reported two airstrikes hitting a residential area on March 13 and 17. The Iraqi Defence Ministry has provided no immediate comment.

In tweets published on his official account, parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri said "we realize the huge responsibility the liberating forces shoulder" and call on them to "spare no effort to save the civilians."

In a statement issued on his website, Vice-President Osama al-Nujaifi, himself from Mosul, described the incident as a "humanitarian catastrophe," blaming the U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and excessive use of force by militarized Federal Police forces. Al-Nujaifi put the number of civilians killed at "hundreds." He called for an emergency parliament session and an immediate investigation into the incident.
Photo: The Canadian Press

UPDATE: 4 p.m.

Las Vegas police say the gunman in a fatal shooting on the Strip who barricaded himself inside a public bus has surrendered peacefully after shutting down the busy tourism corridor for hours.

The standoff began about 11 a.m. Saturday with a shooting that killed one person and injured another. It happened on a double-decker bus on Las Vegas Boulevard near the Cosmopolitan hotel-casino.

University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said two people were taken to the hospital after the shooting. She said one died and the other was in fair condition. Police said that person suffered minor injuries.

Las Vegas Police officer Larry Hadfield said just before 3:30 p.m. that the man had a handgun and surrendered without incident. Police did not open fire. Crisis negotiators, robots and armoured vehicles were on the scene.

Police said they believe the armed man on the bus is the only suspect and that they have ruled out terrorism or any relationship to an earlier robbery nearby that shut down a part of the Bellagio hotel-casino.

Hadfield said the casino properties in the area have been co-operating by keeping people from exiting through their front doors onto the Strip.

A gunman barricaded himself inside a bus Saturday along the Las Vegas Strip after a shooting that left one person dead, officials said.

The attack prompted a partial closure of the busy boulevard. Police stood watch near the bus.

The standoff began after a shooting was reported on Las Vegas Boulevard in the heart of the Strip near the Cosmopolitan hotel-casino.

University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said two people were taken to the hospital after the shooting.

She said one died and the other was in fair condition.

Police say they do not believe there are any other suspects. No further information was available.
Photo: @bethquirie

UPDATE: 5:10 p.m.

The stranded hiker has been rescued by an RCMP helicopter, and has been transported to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops by the BC Ambulance Service.

The extent of the man's injuries is unknown.

Vernon Search and Rescue arrived at the scene just as the police helicopter completed the rescue, and they are now returning.

UPDATE: 4:15 p.m.

A member of the Kamloops Fire Department says the rescue operation of the fallen hiker is taking place in the Cinnamon Ridge region of Kamloops, on the north side of the Thompson River.

ORIGINAL: 3:30 p.m

A hiker has fallen off a 40-foot cliff near Kamloops, prompting a response from BC Air Rescue and the Vernon Search and Rescue.

Ian Wilson with Wildcat Helicopters, the provider of the helicopter, says a crew is currently en route to the scene, but he is unsure of the man's condition, or his exact whereabouts.

The helicopter is expected to arrive at about 4:30 p.m.

More information will be provided as it becomes available.
Photo: Contributed

New York police say a 13-year-old boy was killed and another teenager was injured as they tried to hop along rooftops in Brooklyn and plunged about four stories to the ground.

The boys were found in the back of the building in Bushwick about 5:30 p.m. Friday. Thirteen-year-old Rame Pierre-Louis had severe trauma to his head and body. His 15-year-old friend had pelvic injuries but was expected to live.

Neighbours told the Daily News of New York that teens often climb to the rooftop and hang out. A couch was set up on the roof. The teens who fell didn't live in the building.

In January last year, a 15-year-old girl died after she tried to jump from one rooftop to another in Manhattan and fell five stories.
Photo: CTV

Surrey firefighters freed a patient pinned under an SUV at a Guildford area townhouse complex overnight.

About midnight Saturday, emergency crews were called to the scene on 103rd Avenue, where a pedestrian was struck by the Ford Explorer on the underground parkade ramp at the complex.

Firefighters, paramedics and police attended the scene.

The victim was removed from under the vehicle with the aid of airbags to lift it.

There is no word on the condition of the pedestrian.

Police are investigating the incident.
Chief Judge of the Supreme Peoples Court of Vietnam Nguyen Hoa Binh, who is currently chair of the council, announced that the CACJ has been recognised as an official associated entity of the ASEAN.

Chief Judge of the Supreme Peoples Court of Vietnam

Nguyen Hoa Binh speak at the function. (Photo: VNA)



As from January 19th, 2017, the council enjoys all rights and obligations as an official entity associated with the association, which is shown in the amendment of Part 1, Annex 2 of the ASEAN Charter to Parliament and Court.



Binh expressed hope that the CACJ will actively join activities of ASEAN for the building of a dynamic, harmonious, law-governed and people-centred ASEAN Community.



The fifth CACJ meeting focused on the process of institutionalization of the CACJ, the building of a portal of ASEAN courts, and some professional issues.



The Vietnamese delegation at the meeting contributed constructive ideas on the formation of a CACJ secretariat and cooperation in judicial training between ASEAN member countries and outside partners.



Participants agreed on the establishment of a CACJ secretariat for the next five years, with Singapore as secretary general and Brunei as vice secretary general.



The CACJ President also signed a memorandum of understanding on a tripartite cooperation among CACJ, the Supreme Court of Singapore and its Academy of Law, which assigns the academy to represent the CACJ in developing an online portal for the council, which is funded by the Norwegian Government.



Regarding the notification of judicial documents in civil procedure in ASEAN, they concurred that all countries should submit their national report on legal regulations in the field to the research group of the council for designing a model law as reference for member countries.



On the management of verdicts and court technology, participants agreed that member countries should send their reports on their own management model to the CACJ working group, so as for the group to build a referential procedure.



Meanwhile, the courts of Malaysia and Singapore pledged to continue sharing their experience in information technology related to court activities with other members.



Regarding judicial training, the countries reached consensus to focus on training in the implementation of intellectual property rights, the law on bankruptcy, and the harmonization of ASEAN s laws of trade and environment.



They also discussed a report by a working group for trans-national disputes related to children, and approved the working plan of the group. Accordingly, a training course on handling family disputes will be held in the Philippines in October this year.





Participants at the meeting signed a joint statement affirming their determination in institutionalizing the CACJ and boosting partnership in improving judicial capacity among regional countries, thus ensuring their comprehensive cooperation serving the building of the ASEAN Community./.
In his speech at the Sherpa Meeting of the G20 Developing and Emerging Economies in Frankfurt, Germany on March 23rd -24th, Minh, head of the delegation of Vietnam-the host of APEC 2017 to the meeting, suggested a closer coordination between APEC and G20 in issues of shared concern, especially in economic connectivity promotion.

Photo: Illustrative image (Source: CCTV)



Vietnamese delegates shared results and experience in solving issues related to globalisation and multilateral trade within the UN high-level meeting for the Euro-Asia region on improving cooperation on transit, trade facilitation and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, and cooperation mechanisms in the Greater Mekong Subregion and the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong and Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (ACMECS-CLMV) Economic Cooperation Strategy.They also proposed initiatives to promote economic links, tripartite cooperation to help Africa, and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and those to fight corruption and illegal trading of wild animals, and adapt to climate change.Looking toward to the theme Shaping an interconnected world, the meetings agenda focused on the worlds economic prospect, and global development issues such as improving living standards, promoting trade, investment and sustainable development, ensuring food security, and supporting Africa countries.Delegates also debated on issues related to health and disease; terrorism and corruption prevention, climate change and energy, and immigration.The meeting was part of preparations for the G20 Summit slated for Hamburg city in early July 2017.It is the second time Vietnam has been invited to G20 Summit and related meetings. The country attended the G20 meetings in 2010 in the Republic of Korea and Canada when it assumed the Chair of ASEAN. The countrys attendance to the events importantly contributed to enhancing the countrys role and position in the international arena.On the sidelines of the meeting, Assistant Minh had separate meetings with head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and delegations from other G20 member economies./.
The stricken South Korean Sewol ferry [Photo: CGTN]

The stricken South Korean Sewol ferry fully emerged from the water at around 21:15 local time on Saturday.

The salvage operation was conducted by Chinas Shanghai Salvage Company.

A total of 304 people, most of whom were high school students on a school trip, died when the ferry sank on April 16, 2014, with investigators concluding that the sinking was a man-made disaster. Nine bodies are still unaccounted for.

A search for the bodies of the missing nine will begin when the ship arrives at the port of Mokpo, scheduled to be as early as next Tuesday or Wednesday, reported South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing Lee Cheol-jo, a senior official at the country's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
Motormouth advises that it's best to change all four tires at once, even if only one needs it, to maintain proper grip and balance. (f9photos / iStock)

Q: I recently replaced one tire due to a puncture. Now the tire pressure monitor light sometimes comes on and goes off while driving. I think it is due to the difference in the new tire circumference. The other tires are 3 years old and have 15,000 to 20,000 miles of wear. Will this difference in tire circumference harm the transaxle when the un-matched pair of tires is being used on the front?

 D.B., Chicago

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A: Yes, it could cause problems, especially if your vehicle has four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. A viscous coupling or a differential comes into play whenever the vehicle turns. But it is not designed to run continuously, which happens if the wheels are different diameters. Carmakers usually state in the owner's manual that all tires should be replaced simultaneously. If you rotated your tires religiously, they will all wear out at the same time. But if you only need one tire, you may be able to have the new one shaved down to the same diameter as the ones in use.

Q: I have been noticing more cars for which, when a turn signal is on, the headlight turns off on the side of the car on which the signal is blinking. I cannot understand what the purpose would be. I suppose someone could argue that when the car turns, opposing traffic will not be blinded by that particular headlight. Thank you for any illumination.

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 H.K., Inverness

A: It probably was not the headlights, but the daytime running lights that were extinguished. The reasoning is to make the turn signals more noticeable when activated. Some manufacturers switch the LED daytime running lights from white to amber.

Q: I have a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica with about 140,000 miles. After a recent oil change at a reliable local shop, I was advised that the car has "cradle rot." Repair involves engine removal and part replacement. Cost was estimated at about $4,000. Do you have any information? I assume there wasn't a recall, and if there was I wasn't notified.

 J.W., Elkhorn, Wis.

A: Vehicles driven in Snow Belt states suffered the most corrosion damage due to road salt. There was a class-action lawsuit filed in 2015 in Ohio, but it was unsuccessful. According to the Clark, Perdue & List law firm's website, "The manufacturer of those vehicles, Chrysler LLC ('old Chrysler'), filed for bankruptcy in 2009. The assets owned by old Chrysler, including the Pacifica brand, were purchased by a new corporation now known as FCA US LLC ('new Chrysler'). New Chrysler argued that it is not responsible for defects in vehicles manufactured by old Chrysler. Our arguments to the contrary have been rejected by the Federal Court for the Northern District of Ohio and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals."

Send questions along with name and town to Motormouth, Rides, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Fourth Floor, Chicago, IL 60611 or motormouth.trib@verizon.net.
Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran spent a week last month working as a corrections officer in the Lake County Jail following a five-week training program.

The sheriff said he wanted to get a feel for what corrections officers deal with on a regular basis, and he was able to do that. In August 2008, Curran spent a week as an inmate at the jail in an effort to draw attention to overcrowding issues there.

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He said his biggest takeaway from the stint as a corrections officer is that the job requires alertness at all times to protect oneself and other inmates.

Curran said that even though it was no secret he was the sheriff, he felt many of the same pressures that all corrections officers deal with, especially the fact that certain inmates will try to "take advantage of you, other inmates and the situation."

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But he said that after the training period, "I felt prepared."

During his time as a corrections officer, he was assigned oversight of one of the jail's 60-person direct supervision pods. Constant vigilance is the key, he said, because under the direct supervision philosophy, inmates are outside of their cells in the pod for much of the day.

Inmates are being transferred to and from court, receiving visitors and medical care, and participating in programs.

"It's a very bustling place," he said.

Not surprisingly, Curran said he felt more vulnerable as an inmate than during his recent stint as a jail officer.

While he was incarcerated, Curran said despite being sheriff, he felt keenly aware that he could be attacked at any time. But he also said he developed an understanding for many of the inmates and tried to guide those who would listen toward faith and self-improvement.

After experiencing the jail from a supervision standpoint, he said he respects the rigors of the job and what his employees there do on a day-to-day basis.

"Corrections officers have one of the toughest jobs in the world," he said.

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National Victim's Rights Week at CLC

April 4 offers the opportunity for citizens to participate in a civic exercise that should be important to everyone.

Yes, April 4 is Election Day, but it is also the date of Lake County's annual event to recognize and raise awareness of National Crime Victim's Rights Week.

The free event at College of Lake County's Grayslake Campus includes a resource fair from 5:30 to 6 p.m. and the program itself from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

"It's important because victims of crime can often feel like they have no voice," Sandra Bankston, a victim coordinator with Lake County Children's Advocacy Center, said of the event. "It serves as a way to unify the community and remind people that when a crime occurs, the victims are real people and they have rights."

The keynote speaker at the event will be Vicki Crompton-Tetter, who lost her daughter, Jenny, at age 15, to violence. Since Jenny's death, Crompton-Tetter has been active in educating teens, parents and counselors on the issue of teen dating violence. She also lectures on the topics of grief, victimization and forgiveness.

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According to the Lake County State's Attorney's Office, her audiences have included high school students, church groups, police officers, members of the judiciary, and mental health counselors. She also is the author of the book "Saving Beauty from the Beast: How to Protect Your Daughter from Unhealthy Relationships."

She has appeared in the national spotlight on shows including "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "The Today Show," "60 Minutes," and MSNBC.

There also will be a performance by the Shine Bright Dance Studio, featuring students using their talent to perform specially choreographed dances.

The program is sponsored by the state's attorney's office and funded through a federal grant program.

The event will be held in the Lower Level Auditorium of CLC's A Wing.

New Leadership appointments in Lake Circuit Court

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Two leadership appointments in Lake County Circuit Court have been announced by Chief Judge Jorge Ortiz.

Ortiz said that after a nationwide search, Danny Davis, a court administrator from Colorado, has been named executive director of the circuit court, replacing former longtime Executive Director Robert Zastany.

Davis previously served as district administrator for the 4th Judicial District in Colorado Springs and earlier for the 5th Judicial District in Eagle, Colorado.

Ortiz also said that James J. Edwards has been named director of juvenile probation and detention services, taking over for former Director of Juvenile Probation and Detention Services Robert Cesar.

Edwards currently serves as the chief managing officer of the Juvenile Division for the McHenry County Department of Probation and Court Services in the 22nd Judicial Circuit. Before working for McHenry County, Edwards was program coordinator and then deputy director for the Social Service Department of the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Both Zastany and Cesar took advantage of the county's recent accelerated retirement program, which Ortiz said left the circuit with some major shoes to fill.

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"I look forward to working with Danny Davis and James Edwards, who are very talented and experienced court managers, in the administration of justice." Ortiz said.

jrnewton@tribpub.com

Twitter @jimnewton5
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last week, one-third of Americans say they would struggle to raise $2,000 in the event that they were hit with an emergency. That indication of ongoing financial fragility is especially sobering because such emergencies can and do happen. Imagine, for example, that you lived on Staten Island during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Twenty-four residents were killed by the storm, and there was unparalleled destruction of dwellings, especially in the coastal communities of what has remained mostly a blue-collar community despite its proximity to the ever-growing affluence of glittering Manhattan.

Sharyn Rothstein's play "By the Water," a piece that premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 2014 and can now be seen at the Northlight Theatre under the very solid direction of the emerging Cody Estle, is about all those things: Sandy, Staten Island and the shifting sands of life from paycheck to paycheck.

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This is not an excessively ambitious drama; there is no epic coming together of disparate plot strands. The one-set physical production is conventional. A debt is owed to old-school American realism, be it gritty TV naturalism or such plays as Arthur Miller's "All My Sons."

But new, non-condescending plays about working-class characters remain rare, especially dramas where you feel like the writer really knows and cares about the people whose fates she is chronicling, and there is poignancy in this writing. This is not as depressing a play as it may sound, even though it was sparked by the real-life destruction of a neighborhood.

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It is a work appreciative of human resilience. And also a reminder of how you can get to 60 and find that all you have worked for over your life has been washed away.

"By the Water" is also a chance to see some distinguished Chicago acting, led here by Francis Guinan, the Steppenwolf ensemble member who here plays a guy named Marty Murphy, a fellow who has gotten by with the kind of rigs of the system that are not uncommon among the financially strapped, but that cause problems when your house fills with water and even those who want to help want first to examine the paperwork.

Rothstein is clearly sympathetic to Marty's malaise, but she also holds him accountable for the trajectory of his marriage to Mary (Penny Slusher), a kind woman trapped in her husband's mistakes. And she similarly wants to probe his relationship with his two very different adult sons, the successful Sal (played by Jordan Brown) and the struggling Brian (Joel Reitsma, in a breakout performance), both of whom have complexities of their own and have also come to see just how hard their dad is to help.

Guinan specializes in middle-age guys who refuse to let go of their delusions (he has quite the collection by now), and he throws himself whole-hog into Marty  alternately raging and kvetching, and ultimately descending into a kind of emotional chaos to which Guinan gives full-throated expression. He's matched by Patrick Clear, who plays Marty's best pal Philip Carter. The Carters (Janet Ulrich Brooks plays his wife, Andrea) are trying to persuade the Murphys to take up the state's offer to buy the ruined houses and let the coast return to its natural state, but the offer only is triggered when 80 percent of the residents agree. Marty, who has his reasons, wants to stay.

And Guinan makes sure that you understand why.

There's also a sweet subplot involving a romance with an air of desperation  it takes place between the recently divorced Carter daughter Emily (Amanda Drinkall) and Brian, who has just been released from prison.

You intuit that the pair have about as much chance of making it as a house rebuilt on Oakwood Beach, especially since Emily says it's just about sex anyway. But you pull for them, thanks in no small measure to these actors' ability to grasp how we look for small atolls in the storms of life.

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

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cjones5@chicagotribune.com

Twitter@ChrisJonesTrib

REVIEW: "By the Water" (3 stars)

When: Through April 23

Where: Northlight Theatre at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie

Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes

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Tickets: $30-$81 at 847-673-6300 or northlight.org

MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR







Watch the latest movie trailers.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
Chicaog police say they arrested Anthony Kennedy, 32, after he ran from them outside his home and they found a gun and marijuana in a baby stroller in the Austin neighborhood Friday, March 24, 2017. (Chicago police photo)

Police arrested a man who was outside his Austin neighborhood home Friday with a 1-year-old boy when they found a gun and marijuana in a baby stroller, authorities said.

Anthony Kennedy, 32, of the 100 block of North Leclaire Avenue, was arrested after police responded about 3:15 p.m. Friday to a call of a man with a gun on the block, according to a news release. He was ordered held in lieu of $100,000 bail on a felony charge of unlawful possession of a handgun by a felon, as well as misdemeanor child endangerment and other charges.

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Police were called to the block and when they started going up to Kennedy, he ran away, but was soon caught, according to the release. Officers found a handgun and marijuana in a baby stroller.

A 1-year-old boy who was with Kennedy was placed in the care of a relative.

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Officers found out Kennedy was wanted in connection with a domestic battery, multiple violations of an order or protection and two incidents of criminal damage to property, according to police. He's been arrested several times since 2012 on crimes which were prosecuted in Domestic Violence Court, and even pled guilty and was sentenced to probation in 2012, according to court records.

Kennedy is due back in court on Friday, according to jail records.
Dywon Shepard, 32, is charged with trying to lure a 13-year-old girl into his car in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. (Chicago police photo)

A Southwest Side man stood before a judge Saturday, a week after authorities say he tried to lure a 13-year-old girl into his car in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood.

Chicago police quickly released a community alert March 18 after the young victim reported that an unknown man, who appeared to be 35 to 40 years old, gestured to the girl to come to his car in the 6000 block of South Talman Avenue.

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In court, a judge ordered Dywon Shepard, 32, of the 2500 block of West 60th Street, who was charged with attempted child abduction, luring a child, held on $250,000.

The girl was crossing Talman with her 3-year-old nephew toward her mother's car when Shepard's car quickly drove up and blocked her path, prosecutors said. Shepard then asked the girl, "Where y'all going?" according to Assistant State's Attorney Andrew Yassan.

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The girl ignored Shepard but told her mother what the man asked her once she got in her mother's car. The girl's mother became angry and called the child's father to tell him what happened. When she spotted Shepard's dark green Ford Escort coming back toward her car, she got out and stood in the path of the car, prompting Shepard to stop. When he asked, "Where did that girl go?" the mother identified herself as the child's mother and he left, Yassan said.

The break in the case came a short time later when a young witness approached the girl and her mother at the scene and told them the driver had done the same thing to her. That witness had called her boyfriend, who arrived to pick her up. The pair followed Shepard's car, taking down his license plate and snapping photos that they sent to Chicago police, authorities said.

Shepard, who has a long criminal record that includes felony and misdemeanor convictions, turned himself in to police Friday after learning of the bulletin, authorities said. The girl and most of the witnesses picked out Shepard from a photo array.

He is scheduled to return to court next week.
Chicago State University trustees will vote on potential leadership changes at a Monday morning meeting, where it is widely expected ex-Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas will be given a top administrative role.

The board is convening for a special session, which was added to the schedule amid a frenetic week of rumors and political wrangling.

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What exact responsibilities Vallas could assume are not clear. Nor is it known how any changes in upper administration will affect the job of interim President Cecil B. Lucy, who has led the university since September. But the shift comes as Gov. Bruce Rauner ramps up efforts to engineer a turnaround at the beleaguered Far South Side university by handing direct control over to his political rival-turned-ally.

"Chicago State University is in crisis and requires transformational change in order to improve student success," Secretary of Education Beth Purvis said in a statement. "While this is a board decision, we believe that Paul Vallas has the skills to implement a strategic plan that will lay a strong foundation for a new president. It is our expectation the board would launch a comprehensive, nationwide search within six months to recruit and hire the right long-term candidate."

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Lucy has not responded to requests for comment.

Rauner appointed Vallas, attorneys Nicholas Gowen and Tiffany Harper, and business owner Kam Buckner to Chicago State's board in January. He also created an eight-member advisory panel, putting the group on notice he expected aggressive moves to resolve financial, academic and administrative bungles at the university.

Rauner was clear he wanted Vallas to lead the board, but trustees had already elected the Rev. Marshall Hatch Sr. as their chairman. As weeks went by with no major reforms underway, Purvis met with Vallas, Hatch and advisory member Tony Anderson to brainstorm a game plan that would put Vallas in a crisis management role.

The issue has struck a nerve among politicians from Springfield to Chicago.

Vallas and Purvis both said he would not be president and his job would be temporary. Gowen said no matter the outcome of Monday's meeting, the board would launch a nationwide search for a permanent president.

Still, a group of Chicago aldermen and county commissioners  who said they supported Lucy to continue  accused the governor of overstepping his authority.

"We are not going to stand idly by and let someone just pick or appoint who they want to be the president of Chicago State," Cook County Commissioner Stanley Moore said at a news conference Friday.

"I think it's a flawed method of doing something," said Ald. Roderick Sawyer, 6th, chairman of the aldermanic Black Caucus. "They would not do this at any other university in the state."

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Vallas has some vocal support in his corner as well, including from former senate leader Emil Jones, who directed so much state money to the campus at 95th Street and King Drive that it was often called "Emil Jones U."

"Chicago State University is on life support," Jones said in a statement. "I urge those with conflicting political agendas to carefully consider the bigger picture. The university needs a crisis manager. CSU's future  perhaps its very existence as an independent university  hangs in the balance."

The debate over who should lead has opened old wounds for some faculty and students, who felt aggrieved by the controversial ousting of former President Thomas Calhoun Jr.

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Calhoun, hired in late 2015 to take over for Wayne Watson, unexpectedly resigned in September after only nine months on the job and received a $600,000 settlement to leave immediately. His departure was unpopular, as Calhoun was well-liked on campus. Faculty members have continued to voice their support for Calhoun.

Lucy, then the university's chief financial officer, was named as interim president.

Robert Bionaz, head of the faculty union, sent trustees a letter Friday saying a survey showed an overwhelming push for a leadership change, even if that means putting Vallas in charge temporarily.

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"I do not think it (is) an exaggeration to say that this university's fate depends upon the action you take in the next few days," the letter reads. "(T)he faculty and staff of our local chapter want to see the university reformed and believe that changes in senior management are vital if this university is to survive. Therefore, we will support any board decision that results in such changes."

Chicago Tribune's Grace Wong contributed.

drhodes@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @rhodes_dawn
In allowing liquor sales, Kenilworth follows the lead of other formerly dry suburbs that have moved away from such bans. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Kenilworth  one of the last Chicago suburbs to prohibit the sale of alcohol  is dry no more.

Leaders of the tiny North Shore village voted last week to allow liquor sales in hopes of attracting restaurants and other businesses to their small retail district.

In doing so, Kenilworth follows the lead of other formerly dry suburbs that have moved away from such bans, including Evanston , Oak Park , Park Ridge , Zion and Wheaton. That leaves south suburban South Holland  which also bans the sale of pornography  as possibly the last Chicago-area community to continue to prohibit liquor sales, as well as bars.

Religious, philosophical and sometimes practical concerns kept booze bans in place in some Chicago-area communities long after Prohibition ended in 1933. But changing times, and the prospect of a new public revenue source, have lured many communities away from outright bans, including now Kenilworth, which Forbes.com in 2011 called the "most exclusive neighborhood in the Midwest."

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Village President Bill Russell said it was more circumstances than public policy that kept the local prohibition in place for so long.

"We weren't trying to be dry," he said. "If you'd asked most people, they probably would have assumed we just didn't have any place selling liquor, not that it wasn't permitted."

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Kyle Mathers, a curator with the Kenilworth Historical Society, said the village's dry status might have stemmed from the religious beliefs of founder Joseph Sears, a member of an alcohol-abstaining church. Whatever the origins, the absence of a liquor code had become "another hurdle" to attracting restaurants to town, said Village Manager Patrick Brennan.

"Most people calling us who wanted to start a new business had no idea they couldn't get a license. A lot of them never called back," he said. "There are so many hurdles to starting a new business, and we felt this was an easy way to remove one of those hurdles."

Kenilworth's little business district  a few blocks along Green Bay Road and a small section of Park Drive  has no restaurants, coffee shops or cafes. That's despite empty spaces that could accommodate such businesses and a 2009 ordinance allowing restaurants in the district, Brennan said.

Trustees approved the new ordinance without protest from residents, the village manager said. It allows the village to award licenses for the sale of beer, wine and liquor at restaurants, coffee shops, clubs, special events and at the historic Kenilworth Assembly Hall. Packaged liquor sales were also approved, and a special license was created to allow sidewalk alcohol sales by any entity holding a liquor license.

Julie Yusim, executive director of the Wilmette/Kenilworth Chamber of Commerce, said her board is "elated."

"It's very, very exciting. It opens up so many possibilities for them. I know the residents would love to have a cafe or pub right there in their own town," she said. "I think once the word starts spreading, they'll get a lot of requests to move in. I expect to get some calls."

Said Russell, the village president: "I think residents here would like to be able to walk to a nice restaurant or cafe in town and have a glass of wine with their dinner."

While Kenilworth's shift doesn't appear to have stirred up much controversy, some communities have met opposition in recent years when they loosened alcohol restrictions. Some suburbs compromised by allowing sales only where food is served or by banning Sunday sales.

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In 2004, voters ended a liquor sale prohibition in Zion, a far north suburb with religious roots where spitting, cursing, tobacco and pork were also once outlawed.

Most people calling us who wanted to start a new business had no idea they couldn't get a license. A lot of them never called back.  Patrick Brennan, village manager

Zion Mayor Al Hill said the move has allowed several restaurants to thrive in the town. When the law changed, Hill was the director of the local park district, which obtained the city's first liquor license for a banquet hall.

"It's been very successful," he said.

Remaining restrictions  sales are still banned at convenience stores and gas stations  provide a way of balancing the need to spur economic development with "the unique history of Zion" and "traditions that are still important to people."

In northwest suburban Park Ridge, acting Mayor Marty Maloney said the city "has come a long way" from its dry days and even in the past couple of years has loosened restrictions that he called "somewhat silly." One such rule the council eliminated about a year ago restricted the number of TVs allowed in a business serving alcohol, he said.

"Frankly, we've experienced a ton of growth in the last two or three years of places that could not have been opened (under the former liquor code)," Maloney said.

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Daniel Okrent, journalist and author of "Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition," said the move by individual communities away from alcohol bans "has been happening all over the country in the last 40 to 50 years."

Often driven by the need to grow revenue and attract tourism, alcohol sales can be a popular way to help a local government's finances without directly raising taxes on residents, he said.

"Prohibition itself ended because the country was in a deep depression," he said. "The one place you could always turn to was alcohol sales."

Remaining dry towns are more commonly found in rural America and are increasingly unusual in urban areas like Chicago, Okrent said.

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But Sarah Ward, president of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which is based in Evanston, said her group remains troubled by the trend toward social drinking.

"It says that everybody seems to think that there's a need to drink. Society is going to pay for this kind of behavior," she said, referencing drunken driving and fetal alcohol syndrome.

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Ward said restaurants that don't serve alcohol can still be successful. As it happens, the group's national project this year is to reward plaques to restaurants who neither serve nor cook with alcohol.

"I think you can still make a living without alcohol," she said.

Kate Thayer is a Chicago Tribune reporter; Kathy Routliffe is a Pioneer Press reporter. Pioneer Press reporter Jennifer Johnson contributed.

kthayer@chicagotribune.com

kroutliffe@pioneerlocal.com
BEIJING - A Chinese court has ruled in favor of Apple Inc. in design patent disputes between it and a domestic phone-maker, overturning a ban on selling iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus phones in China.

Last May, a Beijing patent regulator ordered Apple's Chinese subsidiary and a local retailer Zoomflight to stop selling the said phones after Shenzhen Baili Marketing services Co. (Shenzhen Baili) lodged a complaint to it, claiming that the patent for the design of its mobile phone 100c was being infringed upon by the iPhone sales.

Apple and Zoomflight took the Beijing Intellectual Property Office's banning order to court.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court on Friday revoked the ban, saying Apple and Zoomflight did not violate Shenzhen Baili's design patent for 100c phones.

The court ruled that the regulator did not follow due procedures in ordering the ban while there is no sufficient proof to claim the designs constitute violation of intellectual property rights.

Representatives of Beijing Intellectual Property Office and Shenzhen Baili said they would take time to decide whether to appeal the ruling.

In another related ruling, the same court denied a request by Apple to demand stripping Shenzhen Baili of its design patent for 100c phones. Apple first filed the request to the Patent Reexamination Board of State Intellectual Property Office. The board rejected the request, but Apple lodged a lawsuit against the rejection to court.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court on Friday ruled to maintain the board's decision. It remains not immediately clear if Apple will appeal.

Apple phones are popular among China's urban young people, but the sale faces stiff competition from domestic phone makers, which produce a wider range of affordable and quality smart phones.

Last year, three domestic brands -- OPPO, Huawei and Vivo -- outperformed Apple as China's top selling phone brands, according to a report by the International Data Corporation.

OPPO sold 78.4 million handsets in China last year, tailed by Huawei with 76.6 million units.
David Rodriguez, 28, is charged with shooting and seriously wounding a rival gang member who was oncrutches during a quarrel Feb. 24, 2017,in the 10600 block of South Hoxie Avenue in the South Deering neighborhood. (Chicago police photo)

A Southeast Side man shot and seriously wounded a rival gang member who was on crutches during a quarrel about a block from the shooter's home last month, prosecutors said Saturday.

Authorities arrested David Rodriguez at his home in the 10700 block of South Hoxie Avenue in the South Deering neighborhood Friday morning during a parole check after learning he was the subject of an investigative alert in a Feb. 24 shooting. Rodriguez, 28, who was charged with attempted murder, was ordered held without bail by Judge Laura Sullivan at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

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A little before noon Feb. 24, Rodriguez got into a dispute with a 44-year-old neighbor who had known Rodriguez for about 10 years but was a member of a different gang from Rodriguez, a self-admitted Latin Count member, according to authorities.

The day of the shooting, the victim was standing outside of his home, using crutches needed because of years-old injury, prosecutors said. In front of the victim's home in the 10600 block of South Hoxie, Rodriguez walked up to the man and asked why the man was messing with him, prosecutor said. Rodriguez cursed at the older man, then pulled out a handgun, shooting the victim twice, Assistant State's Attorney Andrew Yassan told the court. Rodriguez's first shot hit the man in the abdomen, causing him to fall backwards, and the second shot hit the man under the arm, Yassan said.

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The victim was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where doctors removed the bullet from his abdomen, authorities said.

After the shooting, Rodriguez ran away through a gangway.

A witness who heard the gunshots saw Rodriguez walking down an alley and fleeing in a maroon van, and later identified him from among a photo array. The victim also identified Rodriguez by name.

Rodriguez is expected to return to court next week.
Cincinnati police chief Eliot Isaac said it doesn't appear there is any video footage of the deadly nightclub shooting. (John Minchillo / AP)

Cincinnati police searched for suspects in a nightclub shooting that left one man dead and 16 other people injured and sent club patrons diving to the ground to dodge bullets in what they described as a chaotic and terrifying scene.

A gunfight broke out inside the crowded Cameo club early Sunday after a dispute among several patrons escalated into a shootout, authorities said. Some 200 people were inside the club near the Ohio River, east of downtown Cincinnati at the time.

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"What we know at this point in the investigation is that several local men got into some type of dispute inside the bar, and it escalated into shots being fired from several individuals," Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said. It was not immediately clear how many people fired shots.

The chief updated the number of injured to 16 on Monday morning, saying another person had come forward. He said it doesn't appear there was any video footage of the shooting. He also said the nightclub had metal detectors, or wands, but it wasn't something the club was required to have.

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Mayor John Cranley called the shooting of so many people enjoying themselves at a club "absolutely unacceptable."

"We live in a city and a country where we ought to be able to go out and have a good time and not be terrorized by gun violence," Cranley said at a Monday morning update.

City manager Harry Black said he believes the city is safe but security must be continuously worked on.

"Cincinnati does not operate in a vacuum," Black said. "We have issues which are sort of like a microcosm of what's going on in the rest of the country and we're going to have incidents that are going to occur."

O'Bryan Spikes, 27, was killed and 16 other people were injured. At least five victims remained hospitalized Monday morning. A University of Cincinnati Medical Center spokeswoman said shortly before daybreak that two were in critical condition and three were in stable.

No suspects were in custody in the shooting at the club, which police said has a history of gun violence.

Club patron Mauricio Thompson described a chaotic scene in which as many as 20 shots were fired as people scrambled to get away. He said there was a fight and people were yelling for security to intervene before the gunfire began.

"Once I got outside, people coming out bloody, gunshot wounds on them, some of their friends carrying them to the car, rushing them to the hospital," Thompson told WCPO-TV. "It was just crazy."

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Another patron told the television station that she dove to the ground outside of the nightclub to dodge bullets, and that her boyfriend climbed on top of her to protect her.

"I thought I was going to die. At that point survival skills started kicking in," said Sherell, who preferred not to give her last name. "Once I heard the third shot  I didn't know whether it was coming from outside, someone was shooting at the club, or whether it was coming from inside."

Isaac said the club has its own security operation that uses detection wands and pat-downs, but that police believe several firearms somehow got inside. Four officers were working security in the club's parking lot and some tried unsuccessfully to revive the man who died.

The club has a history of gun violence, including a shooting inside the club on New Year's Day in 2015 and one in the parking lot in September of that year, City Manager Harry Black said.

Four candles illuminated a makeshift memorial outside the club on a foggy Monday morning. A poster dedicated to Spikes said "R.I.P. Lucky" and "Father Son Uncle Brother!!" The club's operator said it will remain closed until the police probe and an internal investigation are completed.

Cameo's Facebook page, which later was taken down, said it caters to college students on Friday nights, when anyone over 18 is allowed in, while Saturdays are "grown and sexy night" for ages 21 and older.

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"Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst," Police Capt. Kim Williams said.

Authorities asked anyone with information on the shooting to come forward. Investigators were checking to see if surveillance cameras were working, Williams said.

The operator of the nightclub, Jay Rodgers, released a statement Sunday night calling the shooting "senseless."

"We will do everything in our power to cooperate and make sure the monsters that did this are caught and brought to justice," said Rodgers.

Associated Press reporter Mike Householder in Cincinnati contributed to this report.
When Helen Beristain told her husband she was voting for Donald Trump last year, he warned her that the Republican nominee planned to "get rid of the Mexicans."

Defending her vote, Beristain quoted Trump directly, noting that the tough-talking Republican said he would kick only the "bad hombres" out of the country, according to the South Bend Tribune.

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Months later, Roberto Beristain  a successful businessman, respected member of his Indiana town and the father of three American-born children  languishes in a detention facility with hardened criminals as he awaits his deportation back to Mexico, the country he left in 1998.

"I wish I didn't vote at all," Helen Beristain told the Tribune. "I did it for the economy. We needed a change."

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Critics on the left have blasted Helen Beristain for not taking the president's rhetoric seriously and allowing his administration to plunge the country into what they consider a chaotic and inhumane immigration debacle. Critics on the right have inundated the family with racist threats and attacked Beristain for giving refuge to the love of her life, a man they consider a foreign interloper.

Caught somewhere in the middle of the fiery political clash are people like Roberto Beristain  individuals who have built a successful life inside the confines of the fuzzy, legal limbo in which they exist. Supporters say the 43-year-old has never broken the law and doesn't have so much as a parking ticket on his record. The mayor of South Bend, Ind., the conservative community the Beristains call home, called him "one of its model residents."

But Beristain's model citizenship didn't stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials from arresting him when he showed up for his annual meeting with the agency on Feb. 6. Beristain  who had obtained a Social Security card, a work permit and a driver's license  was expecting to return home to his family and business.

Instead, he was taken into custody, setting off a last-ditch effort by family members and multiple lawyers to free him from ICE custody. Thus far, those efforts have failed. Family members told the Tribune that ICE officials had informed them that Beristain would be deported Friday.

Beristain has been in the United States since 1998, when he visited an aunt in California and decided not to return to Mexico, according to the Tribune. He would go on to marry his wife, start a family and put down roots in Indiana, where he is the owner of a popular restaurant called Eddie's Steak Shed, which employs 20 American citizens, advocates told The Washington Post. He has worked at the restaurant for the past eight years and bought it from his sister-in-law in January.

In 2000, the ICE spokeswoman said, a federal immigration judge granted him "voluntary departure" for a 60-day period. Because he didn't leave the United States during that 60-day period, Beristain's "voluntary departure order reverted to a final order of removal," the spokeswoman said.

And yet, by cooperating with ICE officials, Beristain was able to lead a normal life in plain view, one that included a work permit and a driver's license. He even has a Social Security number that says "Valid only with Department of Homeland Security authorization," the Tribune reported.

Jason Flora, an Indianapolis lawyer who has worked on Beristain's case, said that, under his previous agreement with DHS, Beristain had an "order of supervision," which allows immigrants with a removal order to remain in the country for a humanitarian reason, such as having sole custody of children or taking care of family members.

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"Essentially," Flora said, "they're saying you're not bad enough to be deported."

Reached by phone Friday afternoon, the family's spokesman, Chicago lawyer Adam Ansari, told The Post that ICE officials had told him that Beristain would be moved from his current location inside a county jail in Kenosha, Wis., to New Orleans, where he'll be held another two weeks before being deported to Mexico.

The situation is always fluid and accurate information is often hard to come by, Ansari said. What was clear, he said, was that the entire process since Beristain's arrest had been "inhumane" and that the Beristain family is "distraught."

"How do you explain this to children," he said, noting that Beristain's children are 15, 14 and 8 years old. "Trying to explain this to children from the immigrant community has been really hard. You're telling them that their loved one is in jail not because they did something wrong, but because of their country of origin and what they look like.

"This is hurting the entire community and people are scared," he added.

Reached by email, an ICE spokeswoman said Beristain "remains in ICE custody pending his removal to Mexico."

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"For operational security reasons, ICE does not release information regarding upcoming removals," she added.

Stories such as Beristain's  in which law-abiding parents are deported because of their immigration status  have inundated the news media in recent months. The Twitter account "Trump Regrets" has amassed nearly 260,000 followers by retweeting disappointed and angry Trump voters.

"Previously," as The Washington Post's Samantha Schmidt and Sarah Larimer reported last month, "the Obama administration prioritized the deportation of people who were violent offenders or had ties to criminal gangs. Trump's executive order on Jan. 25 expanded priorities to include any undocumented immigrants who had been convicted of a criminal offense."

"Personally, I think the president should be giving him a handshake," said Flora, the lawyer who had worked with Beristain. "Either Trump was lying when he said we were only deporting bad guys or Trump's view of bad guys is so expansive it can literally include every single immigrant."

Days after Beristain's arrest, Flora said, he filed a "stay of removal" to prevent deportation, but it was rejected March 15.

"Once the case is finalized and done, there's really no reason to keep him around in their eyes," Flora said, referring to ICE. "They think, 'Why take up jail space for no reason if all the legal options have been exhausted?'"

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Flora said the decision to deport Beristain is a "wildly disproportionate" response when measured against the law he broke nearly two decades ago.

"If you asked 100 people to paint you a picture of a bad guy, no one would draw anyone remotely resembling Roberto," he said.

Helen Beristain told the Tribune that  in their effort to get her husband U.S. citizenship  the couple has had 10 attorneys over the past 18 years. Many of those attorneys, she said, told them that they had no choice but to wait for immigration laws to change.

Instead of changing in the couple's favor, the laws evolved to make her husband more vulnerable to deportation, a development the Beristains never expected. She told the Tribune that Trump's deportation measures  the ones she thought her family would be exempt from  are harming "regular people."

"I understand when you're a criminal and you do bad things, you shouldn't be in the country," Helen Beristain told the CBS TV affiliate WSBT. "But when you're a good citizen and you support and you help and you pay taxes and you give jobs to people, you should be able to stay."

"We were for Mr. Trump," she added. "We were very happy he became the president. Whatever he says, he is right. But, like he said, the good people have a chance to become citizens of the United States."
This week in Washington, a staggered president and his party dig out from the rubble of their failed Obamacare replacement effort.

As House Speaker Paul Ryan says, there's no sugarcoating this. The politics of the Republicans' failure to pass, or even vote on, the American Health Care Act was ugly. House conservatives in the Freedom Caucus sought a full repeal without an effective replacement, guaranteeing the smoldering political debris in Washington. Why be greedy? Millions of Americans gained coverage via Obamacare. You can't replace something, no matter how gravely flawed, with nothing.

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But after a weekend of blame-mongering and political handicapping, let's set that aside and focus on what's most important here: What happens now for Americans with Obamacare coverage, for others who've rejected that option, and for those who'll want to buy coverage in the future? The GOP failure won't halt the turmoil in Obamacare markets. The law will continue to falter: Americans struggle to pay fast-rising premiums and deductibles for insurance that's less useful to them because of shrinking doctor and hospital networks. Insurers who haven't already bolted for the exits will soon decide whether they'll offer coverage next year. Already nearly a third of American counties have but one carrier. What happens if there is none?

President Donald Trump tried to spin defeat into a prediction about imperiled coverage. "The best thing that could happen is exactly what happened  watch," he told The New York Times. "... Obamacare unfortunately will explode."

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Not necessarily. His administration could sabotage, or try to shore up, Obamacare. It can make rules that will discourage insurers from entering, or staying in, markets. It can move to reduce subsidies and discourage some lower-income people from buying coverage. That would be a huge mistake.

If the system collapses, if people lose coverage or can't afford it, Trump imagines that they'll blame Democrats who passed the law in the first place. No, voters will blame the person in charge. That's you, Mr. Trump. This is your watch. So be careful what disaster you anticipate.

Trump says he'll move on to the next items on his agenda. But Congress can still craft a better replacement. Instead of Washington point-and-blame gridlock, here's a suggestion: Start over. How so?

Hard-right and hard-left House members won't like this; the former want to exterminate the program and the latter won't admit that it's foundering. But Republicans and Democrats from the middle three-fourths of the ideological spectrum can swallow their partisan pride and work to preserve Obamacare's advantage while fixing its structural flaws and climbing costs. An effective if uneasy alliance could shape a reform bill that would help more people afford insurance. A bill that would pare back premium costs and free people from rigid mandates such as today's metal-tier hierarchy of benefits.

And Obamacare's huge Medicaid expansion in Illinois and elsewhere? In the spirit of the AHCA, the administration should offer maximum flexibility to states that want to experiment with cost-saving, quality-improving reforms. We hope Illinois, which could face vast Medicaid cost hikes, is one of them.

Our concern is that, unless sensible lawmakers step up, Trump will be correct: Obamacare will collapse of its own weight. The Freedom Caucus won't relent. Nor will Obamacare die-hards.

Trump, by contrast, isn't an ideologue. He'd likely work with mainstream lawmakers to craft a flexible, cost-conscious reform plan that would attract millions of Americans to its coverage options.

We're talking about you, Democratic Reps. Mike Quigley and Robin Kelly. And you, Republican Reps. Randy Hultgren and Peter Roskam. And every other Illinoisan in Congress  that is, all of you who boast to us that you can "work across the aisle." Do it now or spare us the pabulum when you're up for re-election.

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A Republican Congress with a Republican president couldn't fix what a Democratic Congress with a Democratic president got wrong. This is the time to shine for Democrats and Republicans who share the same goal  to help Americans buy health coverage they want at prices they can afford.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
To China: Why, with a dictator at the helm of your neighbor/satellite country North Korea, do you offer that government fuel, supplies  anything  knowing it is starving its people and threatening to blast the Japanese, and perhaps others?

If the whole region could be destabilized, why help Kim Jong Un in his mad downward spiral? Are you keen to take over these lands yourself  or willing to leave the way open for Russia to try?

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And if North Korean missiles could strike Japan, how little would it take to adjust the computers so North Korea would hit you instead? Do you have any assurances beyond mere words  anything at all?

 Maja Ramirez, Chicago
The Lake Zurich Fire Department responds to a house fire at 1181 Centoni Drive on March 25, 2017, in Lake Zurich. (Joe Shuman / Chicago Tribune)

A structure fire caused significant damage to a Lake Zurich home early Saturday morning, village fire officials reported.

Firefighters arrived at 2:51 a.m. to the fire on the 1100 block of Centroni Drive, according to a news release from the Lake Zurich Fire Rescue Department. They encountered "heavy fire and smoke conditions," officials said, and eventually extinguished the fire.

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There were no injuries reported at the time of the fire, and the Red Cross was assisting a displaced family with lodging, according to the release. The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

Multiple agencies assisted in the response, including fire departments from Fox River Grove, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Lincolnshire, Mundelein and Wauconda, according to the release.

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The Lake Zurich Fire Department responds to a house fire at 1181 Centoni Drive on March 25, 2017, in Lake Zurich. (Joe Shuman / Chicago Tribune)

lhammill@tribpub.com

Twitter @lucashammill
Mayra-Gaytan-Morales shakes hands with North Chicago School District 187's Chief Education Officer Ben Martindale after she was sworn onto the district's independent authority board on Thursday, March 23. (Yadira Sanchez Olson / Lake County News-Sun)

North Chicago School District 187 has welcomed the first Hispanic member to its independent authority board.

Mayra Gaytan-Morales has a doctorate in higher education administration and is assistant dean for Academic Programs and Services at the University Center of Lake County. Prior to that, Gaytan-Morales was director of the University Center's Waukegan campus.

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Gaytan-Morales was appointed to the District 187's five-member governing board by State Superintendent, Tony Smith.

On Thursday, during the district's monthly regular board meeting, the Grayslake mother took an oath to act in the best interest of all North Chicago students and help the schools' leadership work toward providing them with quality education.

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Noted by Ben Martindale, the district's chief executive officer, was a crowd larger than usual for such an event.

"I think she's going to be a popular school board member," Martindale said. "I don't think I've ever seen this many people join us for a swearing-in before."

Gaytan-Morales is coming in at a time when the school community is experiencing changing demographics and now has a little more than half of its population identifying as Hispanic.

According to the 2015-16 Illinois Report Card, 52.6 percent of North Chicago students are identified as Hispanic. Following are 38.1 percent who are identified as black and 5.7 percent as white.

American Indian, Asian and those identified as two or more races make up less than 5 percent of the schools' population.

Lissette Brito, director of ELL Services, said the appointment of Gaytan-Morales is "a big deal" for the district.

"The system can be intimidating even for teachers and parents who are familiar with it. Someone who looks like them, can speak their language and has an educational background is a perfect fit for our community," Brito said.

Adding that the perspective of a Hispanic board member can bring different ideas and angles to the table, Gaytan-Morales said, "Bottom line is, we're all working toward the student's success."

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In her new role, Gaytan-Morales is expected to assist with the restructuring of many upcoming programs, such as the English Language Learners program, which is due to expand and roll out as a dual-language program in kindergarten next year.

"Very important work is taking place. We're asking parents and the community to get involved in the education of students for a common goal toward making our schools more attractive and, for that work, everyone needs to feel invited, Gaytan-Morales said.

The appointment of a Hispanic member was long overdue, Martindale said.

Yadira Sanchez Olson is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun
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.
Color Edu's Study Tour took students to Florence, Italy. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A bowl of noodles or a piece of cloth draped over a bicycle shed are the simple kinds of things that can get the creative juices flowing

"Held high up against the sun, the violet bead of grape melts into a purple sea". Guan Yanfei wrote the lines when she was 12, for the thick album of paintings published in memory of art, in the way she saw it, as her first love.

Two years have passed since then. Today Yanfei is still fond of using sunlight as a metaphor, in an effort to describe the thrill and enchantment of a creative process, feelings that are almost beyond words.

"I felt like water, blended with the oil that was my paint," she says. "Together we rolled down the canvass in large drops, reflective of the sunlight that fills the room."

Indeed, oil is her favorite medium, as the collection of her light-soaked works demonstrate. The colors are heaped onto the canvass, probably by a paint knife, to create a matte surface full of tension, texture and a creative maelstrom. In short, they are mood paintings.

And it is this mood-recording process of art making that Wang Wei, founder of Color Edu, is determined to show to his young students. "Strokes and sentiments - they are inseparable," says the 34-year-old, who founded his own children's art education center after spending a decade in the industry.

"I chose gouache for my youngest students - four or five-year-olds - instead of the more commonly used watercolor or Chinese ink because gouache is less free-flowing and so is easier to control for a child. Its quality also means that it is more capable of documenting the entire creative process than many other media. Every stroke and every dab is visible from the final work, even those first painted and later regretted. I want the connection between a child and what he or she paints to be more visceral and palpable. In this way the child learns to express him or herself through art." (The oil classes are available for children aged 8 and above.)
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A leading Kenyan afro-pop band Sauti Sol, is set to make its first tour of China in May this year.

The four-man band, that originally started as a cappella group, are set to sing in Swahili and Chinese.

"We intend to promote Kenyan music in China and also invite Chinese musicians to come to Kenya and perform," the band's leader Bien-Aime Baraza told Xinhua in an interview in Nairobi on Saturday.

Baraza revealed that during the ten-day tour, the band will perform in Chinese cities including Beijing, Shangai, and Chengdu.

"We plan to meet and perform alongside the Chinese musicians and plan on the promotion of cultural exchange since Kenyans know very little about Chinese culture besides business and foods," he added.

He observed that the trip will create an open understanding between the two countries and encourage diplomacy at a different level by tapping music knowledge from the Asian population.

Sauti Sol was crowned Best Group in Africa at the 2016 MTV Africa Music awards, Soundcity MTV Awards, AFRIMA Awards and UK's BEFFTA Awards.

The band has previously toured Europe, United States of America and several African countries.

The band that is composed of Baraza, Willis Austin Chimano, Polycarp Otieno and Savara Mudigi are currently looking for sponsors to enable them perform in the Chinese cities.
Delegates speak at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan Province on March 24, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Economic globalization, not isolation, will ensure a better future for Asia and the world, according to the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) in Hainan Province.

The theme of the conference - "Globalization and Free Trade: The Asian Perspectives" - reflects the attention to economic globalization paid by the international community, especially Asian countries, said Chinese President Xi Jinping in a congratulatory letter to the conference's opening session on Saturday.

Xi called upon attendees at the conference to pool their wisdom on solving the major problems facing the world and regional economy, and push forward a more dynamic, inclusive and sustainable economic globalization process.

The conference, which concludes on March 26, chimes with China's stance and efforts on globalization despite increasing anti-globalization sentiment.

In his January speech during the World Economic Forum at Davos, Xi said protectionism is like "locking oneself in a dark room."

In a speech at the opening ceremony at Boao, Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli asked Asian countries to promote economic globalization and free trade, and forge a community of common destiny for Asia and mankind.

To achieve that goal, Asia needs peace, innovation, openness, sharing and fairness, said Zhang.

Globalization wins global ovation

China's confidence resonates with international community.

Leslie Maasdorp, vice president and CFO of the New Development Bank, said the world is in the midst of a transition where questions are being raised about the downside of globalization.

Maasdorp said that Xi's letter and the address from the vice premier cemented the view that China sees globalization as a positive force for the world and will defend free trade.

"We are pleased to hear some of the key words such as openness and inclusiveness that China is reaffirming to support the next phase development of globalization," said Peder Holk Nielsen, CEO of Denmark-based biotech firm Novozymes.

"Innovation is regarded as a prominent impetus to global economic vitality through new technologies and new development models," Nielsen said.

Elaborating on innovation, Zhang Gaoli called for economic structural reform, utilization of new technology and development of a new economy.

David Morris, chief representative of the Pacific Islands Forum, said, "The Pacific Islands region has vast resources but is remote from major economies, so we look forward to more open markets, better connectivity and international cooperation to support sustainable development."

In his speech, Zhang reaffirmed China's commitment to further opening up its market, saying that the country is expected to import goods worth 8 trillion U.S. dollars in the next five years.

During the period, China will attract 600 billion dollars of foreign investment, with outbound investment reaching 750 billion dollars, he said.

Belt and road: The way forward

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013 with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa, is part of the Chinese answer to globalization.

The initiative, which has seen the participation of more than 100 countries and international organizations, has helped stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and improve quality of life, said the vice premier.

The scheme has promoted economic and trade cooperation and offered a new way to curb the anti-globalization trend, according to BFA's annual report on the development of emerging economies.

Hans-Paul Burkner, chairman of the Boston Consulting Group, said, "The Belt and Road Initiative is very important to connecting countries and creating more opportunities for exchanges of goods and services."

Burkner believes the initiative can push globalization to a new level, as it can connect more countries in Asia and beyond to the world economy.

Vice president of Asian Development Bank Stephen Groff said, "It is an ambitious plan for the region as a whole, and we are strong supporters for the notion of regional cooperation and integration."

Future strong growth for Asia is dependent on the ability of Asian economies to further integrate, Groff said.

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz said the initiative strengthens the links between Pakistan and China.

"We have started working on several projects, and more would happen," he said. "Once you improve connectivity, you create interdependence, which puts friendship and relationships on a solid footing."

"The initiative will carry much of the hopes of a new round of globalization," said Chi Fulin, head of the China Institute for Reform and Development.

No more losing out

The BFA also addresses the challenges of economic globalization, including the feared gap between winners and losers.

Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal said that there has been a critical asymmetry in sharing the benefits of globalization, which has led to apprehensions in various parts of the world.

Zhou Wenzhong, BFA's secretary general, said though globalization has driven the world economy and poverty alleviation over the past decades, it has also accentuated the imbalance between growth and distribution, capital and labor, efficiency and fairness.

How a country accommodates people and industries which are on the losing end of globalization determines its integration with others, said Yao Zhizhong, deputy director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Generally speaking, globalization is beneficial to emerging economies, and its progress hinges on the management of negative effects, he said.

There are no losers in globalization, said Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

"Blaming globalization works in nobody's interests," Jin said. Although the extent of benefits may vary, an open dialogue can enhance mutual understanding.

Globalization is a natural process but countries have to improve domestic policies, Jin said.
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President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the opening ceremony of the 2017 annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia, held in China's Hainan Province Saturday morning.

Since its establishment 16 years ago, the Boao Forum for Asia has played an important role in building Asian consensus, promoting Asian cooperation and upgrading Asian influence, Xi noted.

The theme for this year's conference is "Globalization and Free Trade: The Asian Perspectives."

Xi said the theme reflected the attention on economic globalization paid by the international community, especially the Asian countries.

The president called upon attendees of the conference to pool their wisdom on solving the major problems faced by the world and regional economy, and jointly push forward a more dynamic, inclusive and sustainable economic globalization process.

Talking about economic globalization in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony, Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli asked the Asian countries to join hands in promoting economic globalization and free trade, and forging the community of common destiny for Asia and the mankind.

To achieve that goal, the Asian countries should promote a development mode featuring peace, innovation, openness, sharing and fairness, said Zhang.
Presidential candidates Lenin Moreno (L) and Guillermo Lasso (R). [Photo/Xinhua]

Red lights are flashing warning signals across Ecuador, where millions in the small South American nation are preparing to return to the polls on April 2, after casting ballots on February 19 in the first of two presidential polls to choose who will replace outgoing President Rafael Correa.

The upcoming poll will determine the fate of the Correa-led 10-year-old Citizens Revolution, which cut poverty in half under a system of 21st Century Socialism, which created what the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) judged as the worlds most inclusive period of economic growth.

Located between Peru and Colombia and with ownership of the Galapagos Islands 1,000 miles away in the Pacific, the 272,045 square kilometer country of over 15 million people has seen much social progress under Correa, who from 2007 restored peace and stability, social and economic progress, to a nation that earlier counted seven presidents in ten years.

Correas two successive administrations put political reform alongside economic nationalism. He moved swiftly to overhaul the constitution and the discredited political institutions and renegotiated agreements with the mainly American private oil companies to increase the countrys share of its oil revenue.

But as with all left, progressive or liberal governments south of its border, the U.S. has been quite displeased -- over the past decade -- with Correas absolute refusal to cooperate with or pursue its South American policies or dictates.

Lenin Moreno, Correas successor to lead the ruling Allianza Pais party, won the majority of the votes in the first round. But he didnt get the 40 percent needed  plus a 10 percent margin over his closest rival to win outright.

Ecuadoreans now have to choose between either continuing the progressive, political, social and economic policies Correa led, or changing to the fiscally conservative and right-wing policies of a pro-U.S. financial oligarch who already promises to reverse social gains and cut social spending.

The two leading candidates for the April 2 poll each represent an opposite side of Ecuadors clear-cut left-right political spectrum.

The leading candidate, Vice President Lenin Moreno, is a co-leader of the Citizens Revolution.

He has published ten books (on issues ranging from philosophy to humor) and had active ties with the grassroots "forajido" movement in Quito, which helped organize the popular uprising that toppled President Alfredo Palacio in 2005.

One of several 2006 diplomatic notes from the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador  originally leaked by Wikileaks and re-released ahead of the February 2017 poll  noted Moreno's "genuine commitment to making a positive difference" in Ecuador.

The memo also said that the then newly-elected Vice President Moreno "conveyed a sincere desire to improve coordination of social programs" and he had "a mature, serene demeanor and a genuine commitment to making a positive difference for his country."

It also said he "spoke with passion about the need to attend better to the country's most disadvantaged populations" and "underscored the importance of the fight against corruption."

The leading right wing candidate, former banker Guillermo Lasso, was revealed in the same leaked cables as a regular visitor to and political consultant for U.S. officials in Ecuador. But he was also one of the most powerful figures in Ecuador's finance sector.

A former head of Coca-Cola's Ecuador operations, Lasso was also a president of the Bank of Guayaquil.

In 1998, he was appointed Governor of Guayas province by President Jamil Mahuad, and as one of his biggest election campaign financiers, Mahuad appointed him Ecuadors Minister of Finance and Energy in 1999.

In 2000, the U.S. dollar replaced the Sucre as the national currency. But soon after, Lasso tactically resigned as finance minister just months before Mahuad fled the country, after being ousted by an uprising led by the countrys indigenous people.

The uprising had been inspired by a massive banking and dollarization scandal under Lassos watch that crippled the country's economy and led to the forced migration of almost three million Ecuadoreans.

Much is at stake ahead of the final ballot.

The past decade saw a repatriation of fiscal sovereignty to Ecuador through a taming of the influence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the U.S. lost a strategic military base it had in Ecuador and U.S. multinationals lost much of their absolute control of the nations vast oil resources.

Correa also rejected U.S. demands to deliver Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who was granted political asylum five years ago at the Ecuador Embassy in London.

Washington remains very keen on Assange, and Lasso has already promised to expel him from the embassy within 30 days, if he wins the vote. However, the U.S. is also quite interested in regime change in Quito  and for bigger strategic geopolitical, economic and security reasons.

Emboldened by the constitutional coup that deposed leftist Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, strengthened by the right-wing replacement of successive left-leaning governments in Argentina and supporting the increasingly aggressive agitation by the Venezuelan opposition of late, Washington smells blood in Ecuador.

Across South America, the expectation today is that the U.S. may use the period leading to the final ballot to try to reverse Morenos lead.

The President elected on April 2 will be sworn-in on May 24.

The warning signals are therefore flashing across Ecuador, urging urgent protection against external efforts to reverse the current clear course towards continuity of the Correa legacy with Moreno leading the Allianza Pais and taking the Citizens Revolution to its next stage.

Earl Bousquet is a contributor to china.org.cn, editor-at-large of The Diplomatic Courier and author of an online regional newspaper column entitled Chronicles of a Chronic Caribbean Chronicler.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
From hotels with segregated swimming pools to jelly made from seaweed instead of pig bones, Buddhist Thailand is chasing halal gold as it welcomes Muslim visitors and touts its wares to the Islamic world. [Photo/Agencies]

Tourist paradise works hard to tap Islamic market.

From hotels with segregated swimming pools to jelly made from seaweed instead of pig bones, Buddhist Thailand is chasing halal gold as it welcomes Muslim visitors and touts its wares to the Islamic world.

Inside the cavernous dining hall of the five-star Al Meroz hotel in a Muslim suburb of Bangkok, an elderly man with a wispy beard recites verses of the Quran as a nervous-looking groom awaits the arrival of his bride.

The young man bursts into a smile as his soon-to-be wife appears, clad in a brilliant white dress with matching headscarf.

The ceremony is one of dozens of marriages held over the last few months at the Al Meroz - the city's first entirely halal hotel.

Thailand has long been a draw for the world's sun-seekers and hedonists, drawn to its parties, red-light districts, cheap booze and tropical beaches.
Representatives of BRICS countries pose in Feb. at the opening ceremony of the year's first BRICS Sherpa meeting in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. [Photo/Xinhua]

The BRICS consortium has emerged as an effective group offering innovative solutions to developmental challenges, led by the three prominent members, China, Russia and India, while Brazil and South Africa are more generally beneficiaries of the alliance.

BRICS countries have become an important part of the emerging markets, contributing to 80 percent of global growth in 2016 , according to the IMF. Chinas contribution has expanded the sphere of influence to include counter-terrorism and environmental matters, giving this thriving forum immense potential as a geo-political game-changer.

Recently, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi revealed Chinas intention to  explore modalities for BRICS-Plus , through outreach dialogue with other major developing countries. Such a move would extend its global role and make it a leading platform representing interests of emerging economies and the global south.

Immediately, this set off alarm bells within India, which doesnt want to see any disturbance of the status quo, especially as Pakistan, Chinas closest ally, would be an obvious first addition. Theres no doubt India wishes to deny space to its sub-continent rival and keep it out of BRICS.

Amid considerable consternation, there is Indian talk of how China initially described BRICS as a unified fist of just five countries, and also that it adopts a rigid line in the United Nations but desires a more  accommodative agenda  where Pakistan is concerned.

India wonders aloud why China wishes to extend the BRICS outreach, but excludes countries such as Japan, South Korea and Canada from the equation.

At the last BRICS Summit 2016 in Goa, India made maximum efforts to project Pakistan as the mothership of terrorism, but was ignored by Russia and China. Pakistans inclusion must seem like a bad dream for India and it complains of how China wants to make BRICS a political forum.

Some things never change. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit faced a similar scenario in 2016 when Pakistan intended to propose China as a 9th member. This matter had been raised at previous meetings only for New Delhi to quash discussion.

As a senior Indian External Affairs Ministry official said: They (Pakistan) argue that China can play an important role in persuading Central Asian republics and Iran to join the new arrangement. But [.]SAARC members will have little interest in supporting the idea. There is not much benefit for Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka in joining a land route far from their borders, and Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have their own ports.

Consequently, India hijacked that entire conference by backing out and pressurizing other participants in the group [bringing together Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan] not to attend.

The event in Islamabad had to be cancelled as Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan quickly followed New Delhis lead, and it seems likely India will follow the same pattern at the next BRICS summit.

However, this time the BRICS-Plus suggestion cannot be swept aside as China holds the forum presidency for 2017 and it is hosting the next BRICS summit in Xiamen this September.

Chinas vision is to carry along rising economies like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Iran, Turkey, Nigeria, Philippine, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia, in the belief that restricting BRICS to its original membership only diminishes its scope and influence.

According to India, such additions would ultimately turn BRICS into another SCO. Professor Mohan Malik has commented: India would be the worst affected among BRICS partners. After expansion, the organization would lose its focus and coherence on development issues and become more like a political platform for China.

He cited the example of last years BRICS forum, At the 2016 BRICS summit in Goa, Beijing was successful in thwarting Indias attempts to isolate and condemn its ally Pakistan over cross-border terrorism.

Pragmatically, BRICS can deliver much more under Chinas win-win formula instead of drawing lines and isolating countries on the basis of likes and dislikes. Where Beijing is concerned, there is no closed-door policy, typified by the recent visit to Washington of Beijings top-ranking emissary with the message of "non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation."

Even as the U.S. was installing missile system THAAD in South Korea that deeply concerns China, Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke about a consensus between Xi and Trump to "follow the principle of  win-win cooperation," as there was "no reason why China and the United States cannot become excellent partners."

It is hoped India lets BRICS grow without trying to narrow down its framework, as Chinas peace initiatives have the greater chance of success.

Sabena Siddiqui (Twitter: @sabena_siddiqi) is a foreign affairs journalist and lawyer based in Pakistan.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni signs the "Declaration of Rome" during a ceremony at Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy, on March 25, 2017. European Union (EU) leaders on Saturday marked the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome founding the integration process, with a major ceremony in the Italian capital. (Xinhua/Jin Yu)

European Union (EU) leaders on Saturday marked the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome founding the integration process, with a major ceremony in the Italian capital.

The heads of state and government of 27 member states, and top EU officials, were welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and Rome mayor Virginia Raggi at the Capitoline Hill, where the Treaty of Rome was signed on March 25, 1957.

The summit was meant as both a commemorative event and a "decisive moment" for the EU, given Britain's unprecedented decision to leave the Union and other major challenges facing the bloc.

"Today, we celebrate the perseverance and the cleverness of EU's founding fathers, which has its best proof in this crowded hall," Gentiloni said in his opening speech in the very place where the Treaty of Rome was signed 60 years ago.

"We were six in 1957, and now we are 27," he added, referring to leaders of the six founding member states, namely Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, who witnessed the birth of the Treaty of Rome.

The Treaty established the European Economic Community (EEC), which paved the way for the later European Union.

In his address, Gentiloni also recalled many achievements of the European integration project, while acknowledging that EU has found itself unprepared and responded late before major recent challenges such as migration, economic crisis, and unemployment among others.

"This has triggered a rejection in segments of the public opinion, and rekindled nationalist forces that we thought were buried in the past," he stressed.

He added the trust of EU citizens would need to be restored by stimulating growth, tackling social inequalities, and reaffirming common European values.

According to President of the European Council Donald Tusk, unity only would ensure the bloc's survival as a political entity. "Either Europe will be united, or it will not be at all," Tusk remarked at the ceremony.

All 27 leaders later signed the "Declaration of Rome" meant to revive the fundamental principles of EU's integration, and outline its future perspectives.

Previous objections from Poland and Greece on the blueprint -- about the idea of a multi-speed Europe and EU's austerity policies, respectively -- were lifted ahead of the ceremony.

President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker expressed confidence in the bloc's ability to overcome difficulties.

"As much as they are daunting, today's challenges are not at all comparable to those faced by our founding fathers," Junker said, referring to the fact that Europe's integration process stemmed from the huge destruction of the World War II.

Saturday's celebrations took place amid strict security measures, and some 5,000 police officers were deployed across the city. The alert had been raised since Friday, due to both the EU summit and the terror attack in London on March 22.
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Most parts of Brunei went dark on Saturday evening as thousands of Bruneians with glow sticks and candles joined people from 178 countries and territories in the global Earth Hour campaign.

The world's largest grassroots movement founded by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) will see millions of participants around the globe switching off lights for one hour in an effort to shine a light on climate action and the role people can play in the global efforts to fight climate change.

In Brunei, Earth Hour was observed with two iconic landmarks in the capital - Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Complex and Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque - as focal points as the event rolled across the globe simultaneously.

"While the world is experiencing the impacts of climate change, we are also watching countries uniting to create climate-friendly legislation across the globe," said Mohd Rimey, country manager of Earth Hour Brunei.

"In Brunei, from a humble start in 2010, Earth Hour shows that even though we are affected by climate change, there are communities and organizations in the Sultanate putting their efforts to reduce our carbon footprint," Rimey said.

"Switching off lights and/or changing one's profile picture (on social media) are symbolic gestures the first steps toward taking a stand on climate action," he said.

"When individuals unite, the power of the collective can create a massive impact as we have seen with Earth Hour observations over the past decade," he added.

Earth Hour was initially launched in 2007 as a global movement of solidarity for climate action.

After 10 years of the world's first Earth Hour in Sydney, WWF's landmark movement has seen unprecedented developments taking place in the battle against climate change.
 Flash

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in New Zealand on Sunday for an official visit, the first to the Oceanian country since he took office as Chinese premier in 2013.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (1st R) arrives with his wife Cheng Hong (2nd R) in Wellington, New Zealand, March 26, 2017, for an official visit to New Zealand at the invitation of his New Zealand's counterpart Bill English. [Photo/Xinhua]

During the four-day stay, Li is scheduled to hold talks with his New Zealand's counterpart Bill English and meet Governor-General Patsy Reddy and other officials. He will also pay a visit to Auckland, the largest city of the country, for a number of business and culture exchange activities.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-New Zealand relations. Li's visit, the first by a Chinese premier in 11 years, is widely expected to further strengthen bilateral ties.

The two sides will expand cooperation in such areas as infrastructure, agriculture and husbandry, technological innovation, education, culture, tourism and civil aviation, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang told a press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

The visit will send a positive signal that China and New Zealand are committed to trade and investment liberalization and regional peace and stability, Zheng said.

For his part, English expressed hopes for closer ties and cooperation between the two countries.

"The visit is an important opportunity to set the agenda for the next stage of our strong relationship and demonstrates our shared commitment to open trade and economic growth," English said in a statement.

Bilateral trade between China and New Zealand has increased nearly threefold compared with 2008, when the two countries reached a free trade agreement. The first round of negotiations on upgrading the deal will be held in the first half of this year.

The upgrading will bring more opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation, and push the two sides to increase market openness and reach consensus on such areas as services, trade and e-commerce, Zheng said.

It is the second and final leg of Li's trip to Oceania. He was in Australia for a five-day visit during March 22-26.
BEIJING  Industrial experts and officials believe that the "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" will provide strong support for an upgraded economy in China and drive economic development in southern China.

According to the annual government work report in 2017, China will draw up a plan for the development of a city cluster in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, give full play to the distinctive strengths of Hong Kong and Macao, and elevate their positions and roles in the country's economic development and opening up.

First addressed in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), the idea of building a Greater Bay Area is not new. It is an updated version of previous regional development initiatives, such as the Pearl River Delta and the Pan-Pearl River Delta.

"Delta initiative" focuses on driving mainland development, while "bay area initiative" stresses external links and grabbing a commanding position in the global industry chain, said Sun Bushu, vice head of a city study institute in southern China.

The "bay area initiative" is based on natural geographical conditions and has taken a leading role in economic reform. It features an open economic structure, highly effective resource allocation and advanced international communication network.

World's top "bay area initiatives," such as Bay Area near San Francisco, feature developed service industries, major global financial centers and transportation junctions, said Guo Wanda, executive vice president with the China Development Institute.

The Greater Bay Area will include the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and nine cities in South China's Guangdong province, namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhongshan, Foshan, Zhaoqing and Jiangmen.

"The Greater Bay Area covers less than one percent of the country's land area and its population accounts for less than five percent of the total. However, it created 13 percent of the nation's GDP in 2015," said Wu Sikang, an official with the Shenzhen municipal government.

As early as in 2014, GDP in the area reached $1.2 trillion, twice that in the Bay Area near San Francisco, and the value of imports and exports was about $1.5 trillion.

In the beginning of reform and opening up, the Pearl River Delta in southern China functioned as the "world's factory," with Hong Kong as its "storefront." In the 21st century, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have deeply integrated and entered a new phase of coordinated development.

In 2013, GDP of the Greater Bay Area exceeded that of Indonesia and Saudi Arabia and was about the same level as the Republic of Korea and Spain. It has become important for supporting China's strategic development, said Lu Wenbin, a Shenzhen official.

The Greater Bay Area is also a cultural link connecting overseas Chinese, English and Portuguese and a bridge to countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Lu added.

One country, two systems: Major advantage

The Greater Bay Area is operated with Chinese characteristics in accordance with the principle of "one country, two systems," under which the people of Hong Kong govern Hong Kong, the people of Macao govern Macao, and both regions enjoy a high degree of autonomy.

"The principle of 'one country, two systems' is a prominent trait and advantage of the Greater Bay Area," said Chen Guanghan, deputy dean with the Institute of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Development Studies of the Sun Yat-sen University.

The diversified and complementary traits of different systems will boost cooperation in the bay area, Chen said.

Since reform and opening up in the 1970s, Hong Kong and Macao have been a channel for foreign investment to enter the Pearl River Delta, and now act as a platform for mainland enterprises to become more global, Chen added.

Mo Daoming, professor with the Institute of Public Policy of the South China University of Technology, said that the high degree of economic freedom and legal systems in line with international standards are also advantages of Hong Kong and Macao.

Lin Jiang, vice dean with the Institute of Free Trade Zones of Sun Yat-sen University, said that Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao should stick to the principle of "one country, two systems," while making use of their own strengths.

"It is another challenge," Lin added.

Lin suggested establishing new innovative companies in the area to promote the development of the Greater Bay Area and a city cluster.
Bike-sharing companies should have the will to take on responsibility when problems emerge and maintain an active dialogue with the government, said Dai Wei, CEO of ofo, a rapidly-growing player in the sector.

The comments came as several cities in China are considering regulating the booming sector amid worries that urban streets may be overloaded with bicycles and that bike-sharing's rapid growth will bring security concerns.

"We should play an active role in communicating with government agencies and realize that they are quite supportive of innovation. It is just that the two sides need to work together to solve problems," Dai said at a panel discussion during the Boao Forum for Asia on Sunday.

According to Dai, the bike-sharing market in Beijing, Shanghai and other first-tier cities in China is far from saturated.

"As we increase rental bicycles there, the usage rate per bike is still growing," Dai said.

The Shanghai Bicycle Association estimates that more than 280,000 rental bikes are in service in Shanghai, with the number expected to reach 500,000 by June.

Earlier this month, Shanghai launched a draft guide for bike-sharing service providers, the first of its kind in China, to regulate the sector. It states that rental bikes that have been in service for three consecutive years must be discarded as unserviceable and may not come back into service.

Dai's comments were echoed by other entrepreneurs who attended the Boao Forum for Asia on Sunday.

Huang Wei, CEO of Zhuanzhuan, a platform for sharing second-hand items, said China's sharing economy has entered into a new stage where internet companies should not be afraid of regulation.

"We should step up cooperation with local governments to cultivate trust among people, which will pave the way for more robust growth of the sharing economy in China," he added.
The session of "the 10th Anniversary of the Subprime Crisis: A Look Back" is held during the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2017 in Boao, south China's Hainan Province, March 26, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping's call for inclusive and sustainable globalization received international recognition and support at the Boao Forum for Asia, with participants agreeing that greater inclusiveness and fairness are needed to ensure shared benefits and common prosperity.

Political leaders, academics and entrepreneurs from home and abroad attending the forum in Hainan province acknowledged China's role in not only defending globalization but also mobilizing coordinated efforts to address the problems and fix the flaws in the global economic system, observers said. The forum ended on Sunday.

In a letter, Xi called on forum participants to pool their wisdom to solve the major problems facing the world and regional economies and to push a more dynamic, inclusive and sustainable globalization process.

Xi said that the theme of the forumGlobalization and Free Trade: The Asian Perspectivesreflected the keen attention on the issue from the international community, especially in Asia.

The president lauded the role of the forum in building an Asian consensus, promoting Asian cooperation and upgrading Asian influence since its establishment 16 years ago.

Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli, in his keynote speech, stressed that Asian countries should collectively push for a more inclusive globalization, promote balanced and fair development and reform global economic governance.

Forum participants' statements showed their recognition that globalization is an inevitable trend and a natural outcome of scientific breakthroughs and technological progress that have enabled many countries to achieve substantial economic and social progress.

But they pointed out pressing issues such as widened inequality and fragmentation of global trade, which should not be neglected as trade and investment are liberalized.

In a joint declaration, members of the forum said that reversing globalization is unlikely to solve problems, and could even create new challenges for global growth. They agreed that the world must adapt to the globalization trend and reform global governance.

Former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said that multilateralism should increase the inclusiveness of globalization, warning that "ever-increasing" bilateral interactions could cause trade imbalances.

"We see the tendency of countries to go around multilateral systems such as the United Nations. If we want to ensure the inclusiveness of globalization, we need multilateral arrangements and all participants sitting at the table," he said.

Hans-Paul Burkner, chairman of the Boston Consulting Group, a US-based worldwide company, said globalization has benefited the majority of people in the world and countries should work together to promote fair trade and to address the challenges facing globalization.

"As we go forward, with tension and protectionist measures rising, we need to continue to open up and to encourage the fair exchange of goods and services as President Xi also mentioned ... and to make sure it is win-win," he said.

While recognizing the positive role of globalization, Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal noted that imbalances in its benefits are evidenced by the expressions in some countries of people feeling marginalized.

He said Asia is an ideal region to lead the next phase of globalization, and future efforts should focus on increasing inclusiveness to avoid dividing people into winners and losers.

Forum participants said they also agreed that stepping up domestic structural reforms, facilitating innovation to generate new businesses and jobs, and taking effective measures to deal with the cost of free trade will help solve problems in the globalized world.

Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, said that blaming globalization works in no one's interest and governments should improve their social and economic policies to address the downsides of globalization, such as the loss of jobs in some sectors.

Former US secretary of commerce Carlos Gutierrez pointed out that governments should focus on preparing for the rapid development of robotics and automation rather than blaming globalization as a cause of unemployment.

"The biggest threat in the future is not trade and globalization but robotics, as millions of jobs could be lost because of that. ... Governments should retrain people who lose their jobs so they can get new skills that will be relevant in the future," he said.
Delegates speak at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan Province on March 24, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

The New Development Bank plans to co-finance infrastructure projects with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank along the Belt and Road economies after more members join in, the NDB's vice president said on Sunday.

"There will be unlimited opportunities to co-finance projects with the AIIB in the future along the Belt and Road, because we share so much in common while selecting projects," Leslie Maasdorp told China Daily during the Boao Forum for Asia.

One year older than its peer multilateral bank AIIB, the NDB was opened in Shanghai in 2015, founded by the BRICS emerging economies, which include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

"We are both interested in investing in projects that are sustainable, commercially viable and have long term economic benefits," he said. "Countries along the Belt and Road have huge demand for such projects, and we can work together to fill the infrastructural gap."

Future projects can be those that would produce spillover effects to neighboring economies, similar to the latest one approved by the NDB, an offshore wind project located in Xiamen, Fujian province, according to Maasdorp.

The wind farm is designed to have a total capacity of 700 megawatts, making it one of China's largest projects of this kind, according to an online announcement by the NDB in December.

Maasdorp said one major difference between the two banks is that the NDB now only focuses on meeting the demands of five founding members, because the capital comes from the five, while AIIB has a universal procurement policy.

But the policy might change in the future as the NDB looks at new members in the coming years, Maasdorp said.

Similar to AIIB, the bank is keeping its door open to all members in the United Nations, Maasdorp said.

Maasdorp said the bank welcomes applicants along the Belt and Road.

The ultimate membership composition would be 80 percent of developing countries and 20 percent of developed countries, as the NDB wrote in its founding documents.
BEIJING  A Chinese court has ruled in favor of Apple Inc in design patent disputes between it and a domestic phone-maker, overturning a ban on selling iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus phones in China.

Last May, a Beijing patent regulator ordered Apple's Chinese subsidiary and a local retailer Zoomflight to stop selling the said phones after Shenzhen Baili Marketing services Co (Shenzhen Baili) lodged a complaint to it, claiming that the patent for the design of its mobile phone 100c was being infringed upon by the iPhone sales.

Apple and Zoomflight took the Beijing Intellectual Property Office's banning order to court.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court on Friday revoked the ban, saying Apple and Zoomflight did not violate Shenzhen Baili's design patent for 100c phones.

The court ruled that the regulator did not follow due procedures in ordering the ban while there is no sufficient proof to claim the designs constitute violation of intellectual property rights.

Representatives of Beijing Intellectual Property Office and Shenzhen Baili said they would take time to decide whether to appeal the ruling.

In another related ruling, the same court denied a request by Apple to demand stripping Shenzhen Baili of its design patent for 100c phones. Apple first filed the request to the Patent Reexamination Board of State Intellectual Property Office. The board rejected the request, but Apple lodged a lawsuit against the rejection to court.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court on Friday ruled to maintain the board's decision. It remains not immediately clear if Apple will appeal.

Apple phones are popular among China's urban young people, but the sale faces stiff competition from domestic phone makers, which produce a wider range of affordable and quality smart phones.

Last year, three domestic brands - OPPO, Huawei and Vivo - outperformed Apple as China's top selling phone brands, according to a report by the International Data Corporation.

OPPO sold 78.4 million handsets in China last year, tailed by Huawei with 76.6 million units.
ISLAMABAD -- A contingent of the guard of honor of the three services of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) took part in a grand military parade held in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Thursday morning to mark the country's Republic Day.

In his speech to the parade, Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain thanked China for sending its soldiers for the Pakistan Day parade and described it as an historic opportunity.

He said the Chinese army contingent had never participated in such events earlier in Pakistan.

The president also talked about the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, saying the project is a best example of China-Pakistan economic partnership.

The 90-member contingent of the PLA has come to Pakistan to feature in the parade on the invitation of the Pakistani side.

Earlier on a rehearsal day of the parade, Major General Li Jianbo, head of the Chinese contingent, told media "We have come here to convey a message of friendship to Pakistan on behalf of the Chinese people and the Chinese army. We sincerely hope that Pakistan will progress day by day and its army will be stronger and stronger."

Saudi Special Force's contingents and Turkish Janissary Military Band also participated in the parade.

Pakistan Day, or Republic Day, is a national holiday in Pakistan to commemorate March 23, 1940 when a resolution was passed in Lahore, now Pakistan's eastern city, to demand a separate homeland for the Muslims of the British Indian Empire.

Seven years after the resolution was passed, the British Indian Empire was divided into two states, India and Pakistan.
(Xinhua) 10:40, March 26, 2017

Premier Li meets with New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Saturday, March 25, 2017. [Photo: gov.cn

Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday called for enhancing cooperation with the Australian state of New South Wales.

Li made the remark when meeting with New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian in Sydney during his five-day visit to Australia.

"We encourage Chinese companies to enhance cooperation with New South Wales, and expand cooperation in the fields of energy and resources, agriculture and animal husbandry, finance, and science and technological innovation, "Li said.

China also urges its companies to increase exchanges with companies of New South Wales in economy and trade, investment, culture, education and tourism, he added.

While stating that China will open its door wider and wider, Li said he hopes that New South Wales would provide good environment and convenience for Chinese companies to invest and do business in the state.

Describing Li's visit to Australia as productive, fruitful and successful, Berejiklian said New South Wales treasures China-Australia friendship and is willing to seize the opportunity provided by the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement to expand cooperation with China in the fields of finance, medical care, education and tourism.

Berejiklian said more Chinese companies are welcome to invest in the state of New South Wales.
UNITED NATIONS -- Zhang Yinjun, who founded a non-profit program to help young people across China to prevent HIV/AIDS, told Xinhua that as a mother, she was very much saddened and worried to read heart-rending news stories about the growing number of Chinese young people who have contracted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes the killer disease AIDS.

A man lights candles on a red ribbon-shaped cloth in observance of the World AIDS Day in Quezon City, the Philippines, Dec. 1, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Zhang quit her job at the Chinese Ministry of Public Health 12 years ago to set up the AIDS Prevention Education Project for Chinese Youth (APEPCY). She has dedicated the past years to HIV/AIDS prevention education and poverty alleviation among Chinese youth.

"We primarily offer education focused on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, comprehensive sex education and personal development training," said Zhang, who was at UN Headquarters in New York to attend a two-week meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which began on March 13.

The CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Zhang and her team carried out the program by offering classes and lectures.

The class, known as "Youth Love Cabin," is sponsored by the APEPCY to promote sex education in Chinese schools, including kindergarten, primary school, middle school and universities all around China to help prevent HIV/AIDS transmission among youths.

Zhang said that she started this program because she believed that effective HIV/AIDS prevention lies in better sex education for youngsters.

"We aim to prevent the transmission of AIDS from the root source, and to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, especially among adolescents," she said.

However, the program did not have a happy beginning in a country where sex education has been a taboo subject for centuries, she said.

"Initially, people shied away from us just like what they did to plagues," she said. "Some people even called me 'Dr. Porn'."

In order to reach out to more people, Zhang had to sustain the program with her own money and turned her apartment in Beijing into the program office in her early years of the endeavor.

Against a backdrop of the rising number of Chinese living with HIV/AIDS, there has been no official sex education in schools to teach students how to protect themselves, she said.

Her unremitting efforts paid off as a moved headmaster was willing to introduce the program into his school, marking the beginning of the national recognition of the benefit of the program.

Since its establishment in 2006, APEPCY has set up more than 1,000 AIDS prevention centers, or cabins, in more than 20 provinces and cities in China to explore a new way to teach AIDS prevention and sex education, she said. In total, more than 10 million students, teachers and parents have directly benefited from this work.

"In particular, our work in China's Yunnan province has received the attention and support of UNAIDS, where we carry out cross-border as well as cross-sector cooperation," Zhang said.

In September 2016, Michel Sidibe, the UN under-secretary-general and UNAIDS executive director, traveled to Yunnan in South China and visited the local APEPCY stations.

He commended the efforts and expressed the hope that Zhang and her team can share their experience in sexuality education with schools in other parts of the world.

AIDS prevention and treatment were also incorporated into the 2030 Agenda, a guideline for global sustainable development efforts for the years running up to 2030, Zhang noted.

"In my 12 years of this charitable work, I have had the most contact with women and children," Zhang said, adding that she and her team have helped more than 12,000 families in poverty, most of whom live near the border areas of China.

"I feel that I need to motivate more women, and more mothers to be involved in this endeavor," she said.
Candidates Tsang Chun-wah, Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Woo Kwok-hing (from R to L) pose for a photo in Hong Kong, south China, March 26, 2017. The voting for the fifth-term chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) started on Sunday. [Photo/Xinhua]

HONG KONG - Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Sunday won the election of the fifth-term chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR).

The Electoral Affairs Commission of the Hong Kong SAR declared that Lam garnered 777 of 1,163 valid votes, followed by Tsang Chun-wah with 365 and Woo Kwok-hing with 21.

A candidate wins the election when he or she obtains more than 600 valid votes in any round of voting and will be appointed by the central government, according to Hong Kong's Basic Law and the Chief Executive Election Ordinance.

After the appointment, the winner will take oath of office on July 1 and become the fifth-term chief executive.

The voting started at 9 am local time (0100 GMT) and nearly 1,200 members of the Election Committee for the next chief executive cast their votes by secret ballot at the main polling station in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.
BEIJING - Industrial experts and officials believe that the "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" will provide strong support for an upgraded economy in China and drive economic development in southern China.

According to the annual government work report in 2017, China will draw up a plan for the development of a city cluster in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, give full play to the distinctive strengths of Hong Kong and Macao, and elevate their positions and roles in the country's economic development and opening up.

First addressed in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), the idea of building a Greater Bay Area is not new. It is an updated version of previous regional development initiatives, such as the Pearl River Delta and the Pan-Pearl River Delta.

"Delta initiative" focuses on driving mainland development, while "bay area initiative" stresses external links and grabbing a commanding position in the global industry chain, said Sun Bushu, vice head of a city study institute in southern China.

The "bay area initiative" is based on natural geographical conditions and has taken a leading role in economic reform. It features an open economic structure, highly effective resource allocation and advanced international communication network.

World's top "bay area initiatives," such as Bay Area near San Francisco, feature developed service industries, major global financial centers and transportation junctions, said Guo Wanda, executive vice president with the China Development Institute.

The Greater Bay Area will include the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and nine cities in south China's Guangdong Province, namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhongshan, Foshan, Zhaoqing and Jiangmen.

"The Greater Bay Area covers less than one percent of the country's land area and its population accounts for less than five percent of the total. However, it created 13 percent of the nation's GDP in 2015," said Wu Sikang, an official with the Shenzhen municipal government.

As early as in 2014, GDP in the area reached $1.2 trillion, twice that in the Bay Area near San Francisco, and the value of imports and exports was about 1.5 trillion dollars.

In the beginning of reform and opening up, the Pearl River Delta in southern China functioned as the "world's factory," with Hong Kong as its "storefront." In the 21st century, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have deeply integrated and entered a new phase of coordinated development.

In 2013, GDP of the Greater Bay Area exceeded that of Indonesia and Saudi Arabia and was about the same level as the Republic of Korea and Spain. It has become important for supporting China's strategic development, said Lu Wenbin, a Shenzhen official.

The Greater Bay Area is also a cultural link connecting overseas Chinese, English and Portuguese and a bridge to countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Lu added.

ONE COUNTRY, TWO SYSTEMS: MAJOR ADVANTAGE

The Greater Bay Area is operated with Chinese characteristics in accordance with the principle of "one country, two systems," under which the people of Hong Kong govern Hong Kong, the people of Macao govern Macao, and both regions enjoy a high degree of autonomy.

"The principle of 'one country, two systems' is a prominent trait and advantage of the Greater Bay Area," said Chen Guanghan, deputy dean with the Institute of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Development Studies of the Sun Yat-sen University.

The diversified and complementary traits of different systems will boost cooperation in the bay area, Chen said.

Since reform and opening up in the 1970s, Hong Kong and Macao have been a channel for foreign investment to enter the Pearl River Delta, and now act as a platform for mainland enterprises to become more global, Chen added.

Mo Daoming, professor with the Institute of Public Policy of the South China University of Technology, said that the high degree of economic freedom and legal systems in line with international standards are also advantages of Hong Kong and Macao.

Lin Jiang, vice dean with the Institute of Free Trade Zones of Sun Yat-sen University, said that Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao should stick to the the principle of "one country, two systems," while making use of their own strengths.

"It is another challenge," Lin added.

Lin suggested establishing new innovative companies in the area to promote the development of the Greater Bay Area and a city cluster.
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Editor's note: Despite the skyrocketing prices of properties located near best schools, many parents are willing to spend the money and get their children admitted to the top schools. Is going to the best schools worth the money? Forum readers share their opinions.

Gayle (US)

There is a similar issue in the United States with unequal funding for schools. Schools in the US are funded by local property taxes, which are based on the value of the houses people live in. Rich people in wealthy neighborhoods have much more valuable houses, so therefore they pay more property tax and their schools have more money. Poor people pay less property tax, or none if they own no property, therefore their schools are much poorer. In some poor areas of the United States, especially in the inner cities, schools are shockingly inadequate. The rich often send their children to private schools, which are intended to be elite schools, no one pretends differently. But in spite of the very unequal funding of public schools, it is not supposed to be intentional. It is just a problem no one wants to solve because the obvious solution is to average out and equalize the funding, but the rich fear that they would be losing, so they block such measures with their influence.
CAI MENG/CHINA DAILY

The craze for station-less bicycle-sharing services is rising at an increasing pace in China, with most service apps offering free deals to customers at the expense of deep-pocketed investors.

Mobike, one of the bike-sharing service providers, stopped charging riders from March 3, and has just extended the complimentary session to the weekend. Bluegogo, another bike-sharing company, still allows its users free rides for the first hour. The new player in town is quickly catching up by offering blue-painted bikes that resemble the GPS-enabled Mobike Lite models but weigh less, and come at no service cost. It reportedly has more than 5 million active users.

Teaming up with Sesame Credit, a credit rating agency that is part of the Ant Financial Services Group owned by e-commerce giant Alibaba, Ofo is allowing Shanghai users with a credit score of 650 or more to rent a bike without paying the 99 yuan ($14.4) mandatory deposit. It is widely seen as a move to trigger another round of "cash-burning" promotion in the sector, which only started to grow less than a year ago.

Their cut-throat competition to attract users and grab market shares is reminiscent of the tussle between car-hailing giants Uber China and Didi Chuxing, which saw the US company offering huge concessions when the subsidy battle came to a grinding halt.

That cities including Beijing and Shanghai are mulling drafting guidelines for the bike-sharing services should help cool down the competition. The Shanghai transport authority has reportedly asked six bike-sharing companies to stop adding new bicycles to their "fleet" in the city, while 10 streets of Xicheng district of Beijing are now off limits to sharing bikes.

Pouring subsidies into the market, which is a popular campaign tactic used by internet-based startups, can be effective in the short term but cannot last long. It can work exceedingly well in the early stages, because customers vote with their feet and are inclined to vouch for apps that offer the best bargain. Weeks of free rides and one-for-two top-up policies are no doubt a magnet for potential users.

But they depend heavily on the sustainability of financial support, as none of the service apps has released projections for their profitability in the face of rising maintenance costs. The withdrawal of investors could make a life-and-death difference to the bike-rental sector. And the exodus of customers would be even more disruptive once their end of the bargain is compromised.

In the car-hailing service sector, the merger between Didi and Uber was followed by skepticism over their de facto monopoly and tighter restrictions on ride-sharing drivers and vehicles, leading to a decline in the market share of the new ride-sharing juggernaut. The rise of rivals like the State-owned Beijing Shouqi Group also helped readjust the fares to reasonable levels and end the ruthless game of capital in the ride-hailing market.

As the bike-sharing service becomes increasingly homogenized, operators need to think beyond offering free rides and producing more bikes. Attracting decent, loyal users is definitely worth a try. Sesame Credit's data can offer a glimpse into users' financial capability, debt-paying ability and shopping preferences. And credit marking by the bike-hiring apps can help complete the whole picture.

Their combination bodes well for the efforts to build a nationwide credit system which citizens are subjected to. The idea of rewarding credible users and keeping unruly ones at bay may be a better way of keeping quality active customers than simply offering free rides. The money-pouring battle will end up hurting all bike-sharing service providers if they do not focus on improving services and insurance policies.

Zhu Wei is deputy director of the Communication Law Center at China University of Political Science and Law. The article is an excerpt from his interview with China Daily's Cui Shoufeng.
The possibility of a policy U-turn by Washington to embrace the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank following Donald Trump's win in the US presidential election is to be welcomed, since it would be in the interests of the United States and Asia at large.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank approved 13 new members on Thursday. It now has 70 members, more than the number of members of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development or Asian Development Bank.

The AIIB has become the world's second-largest multilateral development agency, with members from different continents. And its fast development in the past year shows the international community's confidence in China, which broke through the barriers created by the United States to attract some developed countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany and France, as founding members.

That the latest members of the AIIB include more developed countries, such as Canada and Belgium, indicates the international community is also optimistic about China's global development plan.

In the first year of its operation, the AIIB gave $1.73 billion as loans for nine infrastructure construction projects in fields such as energy and transport in seven developing countries in Asia. The AIIB's steady and impressive performance has further consolidated its position as a development bank, and the expansion of its membership should encourage more developing countries to approach it for support to improve their infrastructure and business environment.

The fact that 13 more members have joined the AIIB is, in more ways than one, a stamp of approval of its professionalism. The bank's expansion also sends a message to the United States that it was not established to help change the current international financial system, but to supplement its functions, and the Donald Trump administration should consider joining it.

A key reason why China took the lead in establishing the AIIB is that the current international financial system cannot fully meet the requirements of China and other emerging market economies for further economic development.

Besides, some economists in the US, including former Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke, and some Western media outlets, such as the Financial Times, believe it is the US that forced the birth of the AIIB.

The US-led international financial system is unfair, but it is not in China's interest to change the system. More important, any drastic change in the system will create uncertainties and risks, which no economy wants.

China believes in reform, and it is optimistic about making the international financial system more efficient by supplementing the roles of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

China has no intention of challenging the current US-dominated global economic and political systems. And its Belt and Road Initiative (the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road) is by no means comparable to the US' Marshall Plan, which, to some extent, partly led to the Cold War.

Although China is promoting a series of bilateral and regional free trade agreements, its objective is not pre-World War II Britain's "imperial preference", or to create a world market parallel to that led by the US.

China knows full well that only a multilateral trade system can meet its demand for an expanding global market. And that's why it has an open mind on many West-dominated international trade arrangements. And AIIB will take an inclusive approach for a better international financial system.

The author is a researcher in international trade and economics with the Ministry of Commerce.
US President Donald Trump talks to journalist at the Oval Office of the White House after the AHCA health care bill was pulled before a vote, accompanied by US Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price (2nd R) and Vice President Mike Pence (not pictured), in Washington, US, March 24, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - The day after the flaming out of US President Donald Trump's first major legislative initiative, his supporters across America were lashing out - at conservatives, at Democrats, at leaders of his Republican Party in Congress.

Only Trump himself was spared their wrath.

Many voters who elected him appeared largely willing to give him a pass on the collapse of his campaign promise to overhaul the US healthcare system, stressing his short time in office.

"Being a businessman, he'll not take 'no' for an answer," said Tony Nappi, a 71-year-old from Trinity, Florida, one of the many disappointed Republicans on his weekend softball team.

"He'll get the job done."

Support for Trump appeared unflagging, from the playing fields of a Republican stronghold in central Florida to the small town diners of North Carolina, the suburbs of Arkansas and the streets of working-class Staten Island in New York City.

Rebellion among members of his own party sealed the failure of Trump's effort to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act - known as Obamacare - the signature domestic policy achievement of Democratic former President Barack Obama.

Despite casting himself on the campaign trail as "the best dealmaker there is", Trump could not save the healthcare bill yanked by Republican leaders in the House of Representatives on Friday in an embarrassing turn of events for them and Trump. Objections among Republican moderates and the party's most conservative lawmakers left leaders short of the votes needed for passage, with Democrats unified in opposition.

"He can't wave a magic wand," said Ramona Bourdo, 70, a retired nurse, eating breakfast at a McDonald's in suburban Little Rock, Arkansas. "I've not lost confidence in him."

Still, the barista at the Grind Cafe in Morganton, North Carolina, who cannot afford his own insurance and remains on his parents' plan, felt Trump shared responsibility in the debacle.

"I think it's partially his fault," said Joel Martin, a 21-year-old Republican and Trump supporter. "I don't think he has enough personal knowledge to do what he needs to do to get a healthcare bill through Congress."

His hometown, population 17,000, sits within the heavily rural congressional district of Representative Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican whose opposition as the head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus helped sink the bill.

Sharing in the frustration of loyal Republicans was 82-year-old Jeanette Madison, a registered independent in the New York City borough of Staten Island, who voted for Trump.

"I blame the Democrats and Republicans in Congress. They area bunch of bastards. I'm just fed up," she said, apologizing for colorful language as she walked her dog down a city street.

LESSONS TO LEARN

In Florida's Pasco County, where Trump's stronger-than-expected showing helped to seal his victory in the largest US battleground state, some fans seized on the silver lining.

Neighbors Patti Niehaus, a Democrat, and Margie Hahne, a Republican, agreed that Trump may have needed last week's crashcourse in governing, having never before held elected office.

"You can't just go and tell people what to do like he's used to doing," said Hahne, 74. "Trump's got to learn a lot."

Bridging Tampa's booming suburbs and still rural parts of central Florida, Pasco County lies in a politically decisive swing region of the state along the Interstate 4 highway corridor linking Tampa and Orlando.

Trump won 58.4 percent of the vote in the mostly white, working- and middle-class county, surpassing the past two Republican presidential candidates by tens of thousands of votes.

His pledge to end Obamacare helped to sway Kelle DeGroat, a 37-year-old nurse, a Republican who is open to other parties.

"I thought there was a good plan the way he talked," said DeGroat, still confident in Trump's ability to make reform happen. "I was shocked that it didn't pass."

Other Republicans applauded their leaders for returning to the drawing board, with polls showing the derailed healthcare plan to be unpopular following predictions that it would jeopardize or increase the cost of insurance for millions.

Lisa Collins, a 53-year-old teacher with two adult children benefiting from Obamacare, for the first time started calling the region's elected representatives to voice her opposition.

"This is a success that the party listened," said Collins, a Republican who did not support Trump. "To me, that's amazing.

They represented the average normal guy, the small guy."

Reuters
The US military said onSaturday a US-led coalition strike had hit an IslamicState-held area of Iraq's Mosul where residents and officialssay as many as 200 civilians may have been killed as result ofan air raid. [Photo/Agencies]

MOSUL, Iraq - The US military said on Saturday a US-led coalition strike had hit an Islamic State-held area of Iraq's Mosul where residents and officials say as many as 200 civilians may have been killed as result of an air raid.

The American confirmation followed a decision by Iraqi government forces to pause their drive to recapture west Mosul on Saturday because of the high rate of civilian casualties, asecurity forces spokesman said, a move apparently motivated by the incident.

With fighting intensifying to recapture Mosul, around half amillion civilians remain in Islamic State-held areas in the west of the city, complicating use of air strikes and heavy artilliary to drive the hardline militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq.

Iraqi forces are pushing into Mosul's Old City, where fleeing residents say militants are hiding among the civilian population, sheltering in family homes and using the narrow alleyways and streets to their advantage.

What happened in the incident on March 17 in Mosul al-Jadida district is still unclear. Some residents say a coalition airstrike hit an explosive-filled truck, detonating a blast that collapsed buildings packed with families.

US military officials say they are investigating, but initial reports from residents and Iraqi officials in the past week said dozens of people had been killed after air strikes byUS-led coalition forces.

Mosul municipality chief, Abdul Sattar al-Habbo, who is supervising the rescue, said 240 bodies had been pulled from the rubble of collapsed buildings. Previous estimates from local officials had said around 130 people had died.

The United Nations also expressed its profound concern, saying it was "stunned by this terrible loss of life".

US Central Command, which oversees US military Middle East operations, said on Saturday that a review determined that US-led coalition operation, requested by the Iraqi government, had struck Islamic State fighters and equipment "at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties".

It was investigating to determine the facts and the validityof reports of civilian casualties, it said. It did not specifywhich coalition nation carried out the strike.

The exact cause of the collapses was not clear but a local lawmaker and two residents said on Thursday the air strikes may have detonated an IS truck filled with explosives, destroying buildings in the heavily-populated area.

The speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Salim al-Jabouri, said in a statement: "What's happening in the west part of Mosul is extremely serious and could not be tolerated under any circumstances."

Up to 600,000 civilians are still believed to remain in IS-held areas of Mosul, a challenge to the government offensive tactically but also politically as the Shi'ite Muslim-led government seeks to avoid alienating people in the mainly Sunni city.

NEW TACTICS

Residents escaping besieged western Mosul have told of Iraqi and US-led coalition air strikes demolishing buildings and killing civilians in several cases.

The insurgents have also used civilians as human shields and opened fire on them as they try to escape Islamic State-held neighbourhoods, fleeing residents said.

"The recent high death toll among civilians inside the Old City forced us to halt operations to review our plans," a Federal Police spokesman said on Saturday. "It's a time for weighing new offensive plans and tactics. No combat operationsare to go on."

The offensive to drive Islamic State out of Mosul, now in its sixth month, has recaptured the entire eastern side of Mosul and about half of the west.

But advances have stuttered in the last two weeks as fighting enters the alleys of the Old City, home to the al-Nuri mosque where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declareda caliphate spanning large areas of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

"We need to make sure that taking out Daesh (Islamic State) from the Old City will not cost unwanted high casualties among civilians. We need surgical accurate operations to target terrorists without causing collateral damage among residents,"the Federal Police spokesman said.

A US deputy commanding general for the coalition told Reuters on Friday that the solution could lie in a change oftactics. The Iraqi military is assessing opening up anotherfront and isolating the Old City, US Army Brigadier GeneralJohn Richardson said.

Fleeing residents have described grim living conditionsinside IS-held parts of Mosul, saying there was no running water or electricity and no food coming in.

But families are streaming out of the northern city, Iraq's second largest, in their thousands each day, headed for cold, crowded camps or to stay with relatives. Hunger and fighting are making life unbearable inside.

The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said that since the campaign on western Mosul began on Feb. 19, unconfirmed reports said nearly 700 civilians had been killed by government and coalition air strikes or Islamic State actions.

The militants have used car bombs, snipers and mortar fire to counter the offensive. They have also stationed themselves in homes belonging to Mosul residents to fire at Iraqi troops, often drawing air or artillery strikes that have killed civilians.

The United Nations chief humanitarian official, Lise Grande, said civilians were at extreme risk as the fighting intensified and all sides must to do their utmost to avoid such casualties.

"International humanitarian law is clear. Parties to the conflict  all parties  are obliged to do everything possibleto protect civilians. This means that combatants cannot use people as human shields and cannot imperil lives through indiscriminate use of fire-power," she said in a statement.

Reuters
The undated photo shows the sunken passenger ferry Sewol in waters off Jindo Island, South Korea. The sunken South Korean passenger ferry Sewol was lifted successfully, officials said on Saturday. [Photo/Xinhua]

SEOUL - A candlelight rally was held once again in South Korea on Saturday night to demand truth behind the country's worst maritime disaster that claimed over 300 lives three years ago.

The 6,825-ton passenger ferry Sewol capsized and sank in waters off Jindo Island on April 16, 2014. After having lain in the seabed to the southwest of South Korea, the ill-fated vessel was salvaged earlier this week.

The ferry was transported to a semi-submersible barge that would carry it to a port in Mokpo, about 90 km away from the site. At the port, search operations will be conducted as nine bodies are still unaccounted for.

Organizers said over 100,000 South Koreans gathered at the Gwanghwamun square in central Seoul to participate in the candlelit vigil.

People chanted "Get to the bottom of the Sewol disaster" and "Imprison Park Geun-hye."

Just two weeks after the constitutional court's ruling on March 10 to remove former President Park Geun-hye from office, the ferry was successfully lifted above the sea.

Suspicions were raised that the Park administration had deliberately delayed the lifting for three years to cover up truth behind the maritime tragedy that killed 304 passengers, mostly high school students on a school trip.
(Xinhua) 14:15, March 26, 2017

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here on Sunday for an official visit to New Zealand, the first to the Oceanian country since he took office as Chinese premier in 2013.

During the four-day stay, Li is scheduled to hold talks with his New Zealand's counterpart Bill English and meet Governor-General Patsy Reddy and other officials. He will also pay a visit to Auckland, the largest city of the country, for a number of business and culture exchange activities.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-New Zealand relations. Li's visit, the first by a Chinese premier in 11 years, is widely expected to further strengthen bilateral ties.

The two sides will expand cooperation in such areas as infrastructure, agriculture and husbandry, technological innovation, education, culture, tourism and civil aviation, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang told a press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

The visit will send a positive signal that China and New Zealand are committed to trade and investment liberalization and regional peace and stability, Zheng said.

For his part, English expressed hopes for closer ties and cooperation between the two countries.

"The visit is an important opportunity to set the agenda for the next stage of our strong relationship and demonstrates our shared commitment to open trade and economic growth," English said in a statement.

Bilateral trade between China and New Zealand has increased nearly threefold compared with 2008, when the two countries reached a free trade agreement. The first round of negotiations on upgrading the deal will be held in the first half of this year.

The upgrading will bring more opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation, and push the two sides to increase market openness and reach consensus on such areas as services, trade and e-commerce, Zheng said.

It is the second and final leg of Li's trip to Oceania. He was in Australia for a five-day visit during March 22-26.
Paul Boyle, vice-chancellor of the University of Leicester(left) and Lu Zhongchang, vice-president of Dalian University of Technology jointly announced the opening of the new campus last Friday in Panjin, Northeast China's Liaoning province. [Photo/China Daily]

The UK's University of Leicester announced at the weekend that it will establish its first-ever overseas campus jointly with Chinese partner Dalian University of Technology, in Panjin, a coastal city 560 kilometers northeast of Beijing.

Paul Boyle, vice-chancellor of the university, said this new international institute will serve not only local Chinese students, but learners from the United Kingdom as well.

"It is serious collaboration," he said. "We will work together with our Chinese partner to build a bridge, which is over 8,000 kilometers long and it will be built by the professors, officials and students from both sides."

The University of Leicester, which was founded in 1921, is ranked 26th in the UK's education league table, according to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2017. It has around 28,000 students, including nearly 10,000 international students from more than 70 countries and regions.

Lu Zhongchang, vice-president of Dalian University of Technology, said the collaboration is part of the institute's efforts to advance international cooperation. He said he hopes it will provide support for regional economic development.

Dalian University of Technology is one of China's leading schools and has a good reputation for delivering excellence in chemistry, mechanics, and environmental science. It has set up cooperation agreements with 207 universities, enterprises and international organizations from 29 countries and regions.
Premier Li Keqiang shares a light moment with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during a news conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Friday. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - China and Australia on Friday inked a series of bilateral agreements and moved to expand free trade between the two major Asia-Pacific economies in a vote of confidence for regional cooperation in the face of rising protectionism.

Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Australian counterpart, Malcolm Turnbull in Canberra witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation documents in such fields as the economy and trade, innovation, agriculture, food, intellectual property, security of law enforcement, tourism and education.

The two countries also started negotiations to further expand the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) to other fields, especially services and investment, Li told the Australia-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum in Sydney.

In the new global reality that seems to be tilting towards protectionism and anti-globalization, China and Australia offer a perfect example of how free trade does not lead to tit-for-tat combat, but generates gains for both.

Australia, a country abundant in natural resources, needs globalization for international trade, while the world's biggest trader China needs an open market.

As Australia's biggest trading partner for the past 8 years, China has been a loyal buyer of everything from iron ore to milk powder and a passionate salesman of everything the country makes. Australia has become China's eighth largest trading partner.

China-Australia bilateral trade reached 104 billion U.S. Dollars in 2016, expanding at least 1,500-fold since the two forged diplomatic relations in 1972.

"Those solid facts tell the world they need each other," said Liu Qing, head of the Asia-Pacific department at the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS).

No doubt protectionism is going to win applause somewhere somehow, said Liu, but it would not change the prospects between China and Australia.

The two have highly complementary economies and development strategies, said Liu, referring to China's Belt and Road Initiative and Australia's development plan in its north.

In an article on The Australian newspaper on Thursday, Li said, "Advance is a key word in both the Chinese and Australian national anthems."

He believed that the two countries will counter global instability through steady development and co-operation.

China and Australia have a long history of cooperation.

The two countries sign the ChAFTA in 2015, which immediately brought down tariffs for Australian beef, wine, fruits and other products to have easier access to the Chinese market.

In the wine industry, before ChAFTA, China was Australia's second-largest market, worth about 320 million U.S. dollars in 2015-2016. Australian wine was subject to a 14-percent tariff before it hit Chinese shelves.

Now about a year later, with the tariff reduced to 5.6 percent, China has become Australia's largest market for wine, now worth almost 375 million U.S. dollars annually.

According to the ChAFTA, a third round of tariff cuts took place in January. When the agreement is fully implemented, 96 percent of Australian goods will be duty free, so are 100 percent of Chinese exports to Australia.

China and Australia do not always see eye to eye -- anti-dumping probes come and go -- and the ChAFTA process was full of twists and turns.

But the fact that they have overcome various hurdles and reached the present stage demonstrates that they have both the will and the wisdom to chart a win-win course.

"This is a bilateral relationship that has been overwhelmingly good for both countries," said James Laurenceson, deputy director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney.

"You don't trade because one person wins and one person loses. That's the beauty of economics; whether it's trade or investment, it's a positive sum game," said Laurenceson.
SYDNEY - Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday called for enhancing cooperation with the Australian state of New South Wales.

Li made the remark when meeting with New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian in Sydney during his five-day visit to Australia.

"We encourage Chinese companies to enhance cooperation with New South Wales, and expand cooperation in the fields of energy and resources, agriculture and animal husbandry, finance, and science and technological innovation, " Li said.

China also urges its companies to increase exchanges with companies of New South Wales in economy and trade, investment, culture, education and tourism, he added.

While stating that China will open its door wider and wider, Li said he hopes that New South Wales would provide good environment and convenience for Chinese companies to invest and do business in the state.

Describing Li's visit to Australia as productive, fruitful and successful, Berejiklian said New South Wales treasures China-Australia friendship and is willing to seize the opportunity provided by the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement to expand cooperation with China in the fields of finance, medical care, education and tourism.

Berejiklian said more Chinese companies are welcome to invest in the state of New South Wales.
WELLINGTON - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's upcoming visit to New Zealand is of great significance to the promotion of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries in a new era, Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Lutong has said in published article.

At the invitation of New Zealand's Prime Minister Bill English, Li kicks off a four-day official visit to the Oceanian country on Sunday, marking the first visit by a Chinese premier in 11 years.

The visit also comes at the 45th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations.

Practical cooperation in various fields between China and New Zealand has made remarkable progress, with bilateral trade exceeding 20 billion New Zealand dollars (14.08 billion U.S. dollars) last year, up nearly 5 percent year on year, Wang wrote, adding that the two sides are working to bring the volume up to 30 billion New Zealand dollars (21.12 billion U.S. dollars) by 2020.

Noting that China is the world's largest developing country and New Zealand is a small- to medium-sized developed economy, they are highly complementary in trade, Wang said, adding that bilateral trade in goods is booming and trade in services, especially tourism, is rising rapidly.

Meanwhile, New Zealand has seen more investment from Chinese enterprises in such areas as new agriculture, animal husbandry, food processing, finance and aviation.

Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has great potential, said Wang, adding that the two countries could further strengthen collaboration in food processing, emerging industries, sci-tech innovation, environmental cooperation, large mechanical and electrical products, and telecommunication.

He said Chinese enterprises are still at an early stage of investing in New Zealand and have bright prospects, especially as the country's demand for infrastructure upgrading is urgent and has a huge market.

Wang said China hopes New Zealand's government will provide a more open, fairer and more transparent investment and operation environment for Chinese enterprises investing in New Zealand, so as to lay a more solid foundation for the two nations to further expand their practical cooperation.

In addition, Wang wrote, New Zealand is a "natural extension" of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, so China welcomes New Zealand to participate in building the Belt and Road.

The Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road and was put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

China will invite New Zealand to attend a high-level meeting within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative in May to deepen dialogues and exchanges, expand consensus and jointly engage in win-win cooperation, he said.

New Zealand is the first Western developed country to launch negotiations to upgrade the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China, with the first round of talks scheduled for this year, he said.

Wang said the two sides aim to comprehensively upgrade the FTA through negotiations, rather than just discussing a specific sector.

Negotiations will touch on investment, service trade, quarantine of animals and plants, the Principle of Original Production Place, economy and technology, e-commerce, and competition policies, in order to promote the FTA to a higher level.

Moreover, China has been New Zealand's largest source of foreign students for more than a decade, with 31,000 Chinese students studying in various educational institutions last year.

The two countries have cooperated in building three Confucius Institutes and 30 Confucius Classrooms in New Zealand, and more than 300 primary and middle schools here have Mandarin courses, with more than 40,000 primary and middle school students learning Mandarin Chinese.

On cultural exchanges, both governments and the public have been quite active, with various cultural forms and schools being introduced to each other, such as Lantern Festival activities, Chinese Week programs and Chinese cultural centers.

According to statistics from the New Zealand government, the number of Chinese citizens arriving in the country exceeded 400,000 in 2016.

China and New Zealand have in recent years cooperated actively in facilitating personnel exchanges. Since 2015, Immigration New Zealand has established cooperation with many Chinese enterprises, institutions and aviation companies in signing facilitation memorandums and other documents.

Meanwhile, New Zealand also issues one-stop Pathway Student Visas to Chinese students, with periods of validity up to five years. In 2017, New Zealand will launch facilitation procedures for Chinese citizens' customs clearance in New Zealand airports and offer multi-entry visas valid for up to five years.

Wang said these measures are of great significance to boosting personnel exchanges and deepening practical cooperation.

The development of China-New Zealand relations over the past 45 years shows that the two sides respect each other and treat each other as equals with sincerity and mutual trust, said the ambassador.

The two countries should seize the opportunities of Li's visit and the 45th anniversary to expand cooperation and implement the consensus on building their comprehensive strategic partnership, Wang said.

Given the current international circumstances, he said, China and New Zealand should also take concrete actions to jointly safeguard global free trade, oppose trade protectionism and direct globalization towards a more inclusive and beneficial direction.

By doing so, they will contribute to building an open world economy and give full play to the exemplary role of the China-New Zealand comprehensive strategic partnership, according to Wang's article.
WELLINGTON - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here on Sunday for an official visit to New Zealand, the first to the Oceanian country since he took office as Chinese premier in 2013.

During the four-day stay, Li is scheduled to hold talks with his New Zealand's counterpart Bill English and meet Governor-General Patsy Reddy and other officials. He will also pay a visit to Auckland, the largest city of the country, for a number of business and culture exchange activities.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-New Zealand relations. Li's visit, the first by a Chinese premier in 11 years, is widely expected to further strengthen bilateral ties.

The two sides will expand cooperation in such areas as infrastructure, agriculture and husbandry, technological innovation, education, culture, tourism and civil aviation, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang told a press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

The visit will send a positive signal that China and New Zealand are committed to trade and investment liberalization and regional peace and stability, Zheng said.

For his part, English expressed hopes for closer ties and cooperation between the two countries.

"The visit is an important opportunity to set the agenda for the next stage of our strong relationship and demonstrates our shared commitment to open trade and economic growth," English said in a statement.

Bilateral trade between China and New Zealand has increased nearly threefold compared with 2008, when the two countries reached a free trade agreement. The first round of negotiations on upgrading the deal will be held in the first half of this year.

The upgrading will bring more opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation, and push the two sides to increase market openness and reach consensus on such areas as services, trade and e-commerce, Zheng said.

It is the second and final leg of Li's trip to Oceania. He was in Australia for a five-day visit during March 22-26.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives with his wife Cheng Hong in Wellington, New Zealand, March 26, 2017, for an official visit to New Zealand at the invitation of his New Zealand's counterpart Bill English. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Wellington on Sunday to start a four-day visit to New Zealand after his trip to Australia, the first such trip by a Chinese premier in 11 years.

New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English treated Li and his wife Cheng Hong a private dinner. The two leaders will hold formal meetings to discuss a range of issues of common interests and witness the signing of cooperative documents. Li will fly to Auckland to meet with business leaders before heading back to Beijing.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives with his wife Cheng Hong in Wellington, New Zealand, March 26, 2017, for an official visit to New Zealand at the invitation of his New Zealand's counterpart Bill English. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"Premier Li's visit marks the 45th year of diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand...I look forward to discussing with him opportunities for our two countries and the region," English said on his official website.

The two countries have maintained frequent high-level exchanges.

In 2009, Li visited New Zealand as Vice-Premier at the invitation of English, then New Zealand's deputy prime minister.

China is New Zealand's largest trading partner. In addition, more than 400,000 Chinese tourists visited New Zealand last year and nearly 35,000 Chinese students are now studying in the country.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 26

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 118 times violated the ceasefire in various directions along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told Trend March 26.

The Armenian army was using large caliber machine guns and 60-millimeter mortars.

Azerbaijani Armed Forces located on nameless heights and in Bala Jafarli, Kamarli, Farahli and Gushchu Ayrim villages of Gazakh district and in Munjuglu village of Tovuz district, underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located on nameless heights in Ijevan district, Dovekh village and on nameless heights of Noyemberyan district and Aygedzor village of Berd district.

Moreover, the Azerbaijani army positions were shelled from the Armenian positions located near the Armenian-occupied Yarimja village of Tartar district, Kuropatkino village of Khojavend district, Gorgan, Horadiz villages of Fizuli district and Mehdili village of Jabrayil district, as well as from positions located on nameless heights in Goranboy, Tartar, Khojavend, Fizuli and Jabrayil districts.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 26

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Denmark Svend Olling.

Ambassador Svend Olling reviewed a guard of honor.

Svend Olling presented his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev then had a conversation with the Ambassador.

The head of state stressed the necessity of developing bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Denmark in various areas, including in the field of economy. President Ilham Aliyev noted low level of cooperation between the two countries in the economic sphere, including trade, and underlined the need to have more business contacts.

Touching upon successful activity of Danish companies in Azerbaijan, Ambassador Svend Olling said his country`s company invested in Azerbaijan`s oil sector. Noting that Carlsberg operates in Azerbaijan, he pointed out now they attract investors to Azerbaijan`s food industry. The Ambassador said the Danish companies will bring modern technology to Azerbaijan, and they plan to open a turkey factory in Ismayilli district jointly with Azerbaijan`s partners. The Danish diplomat noted that an agreement on elimination of double taxation will be signed between the two countries, and vowed he will spare no efforts to contribute to expanding the bilateral bonds.

The head of state underlined that the Danish companies` investing in non-oil sector of Azerbaijan`s regions correspond to Azerbaijan`s economic policy, and stressed the importance of it in terms of developing regions, expanding local production, reducing dependence on imports and increasing export opportunities.

They also exchanged views over the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Danish diplomat noted that his country supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Moreover, President Aliyev received credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Portugal Paula Leal da Silva.

Ambassador Paula Leal da Silva reviewed a guard of honor.

Paula Leal da Silva presented her credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev then had a conversation with the Ambassador.

Ambassador Paula Leal da Silva conveyed the best wishes and deep respects of President of the Portuguese Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa to the head of state.

She noted that it is her first visit to Azerbaijan, and the development of Baku made a deep impression on her. Paula Leal da Silva said Portugal is very interested in strengthening and deepening bilateral ties with Azerbaijan.

The head of state noted that Azerbaijan is also keen to expand cooperation with Portugal. President Ilham Aliyev underlined the significance of conducting political consultations between the two countries, and increasing the level of economic activity and business relations.

They noted that the two countries enjoy good opportunities for cooperation in the tourism sector, and discussed prospects for expansion of the bilateral bonds in this area.

The head of state thanked for the greetings of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa, and asked the Ambassador to extend his greetings to the Portuguese President and Prime Minister.
(Photo : USFK) U.S. and South Korean Marines at Foal Eagle.

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U.S. Marine Corps Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters based in Japan for the first time conducted precision bombing of ground targets in South Korea while the elite SEAL Team Six and other units belonging to the U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) practiced a "decapitation raid" to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.



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Both events are part of the ongoing Foal Eagle and Key Resolve military exercises, which began early March and are scheduled to end early April. Held annually since 1997, both drills demonstrate the resolve of the South Korean-U.S. military to deter war on the Korean peninsula, and to improve their combined and joint operational posture.



The F-35Bs from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121), also known as the "Green Knights," returned to Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni in Japan after the Korea Marine Exercise Program (KMEP) that's part of Foal Eagle and Key Resolve.



The squadron deployed 10 of its 16 stealth fighters to Iwakuni in January. The remaining six fighters will arrive in June.



At least eight of these F-35Bs took part in a simulation-based precision bombing drill at the Pilsung Shooting Range in the eastern province of Gangwon.



United States Forces Korea (USFK) confirmed the F-35B sorties and said it reflects Washington's commitment to a robust alliance with South Korea. USFK is the joint headquarters through which U.S. combat forces will be sent to the Combined Forces Command fighting units in the event of a Second Korean War.



"The deployment of the most advanced aircraft the USMC has in their inventory to Korea is yet another example of how dedicated the United States is to supporting the ROK-U.S. Alliance," said Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, USFK commander.



"The training within the KMEP program helps ensure our readiness and is critical for our Alliance as we maintain security and stability on the Korean Peninsula."



Strong speculation persists that SEAL Team Six, the unit that killed al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden in 2011, remains in South Korea and is flexing its muscle along with other units comprising the U.S. SOF.



Other SOF units at Foal Eagle and Key Resolve are the Army Rangers, Delta Force and the Green Berets.



"A bigger number of and more diverse US special operation forces will take part in this year's Foal Eagle and Key Resolve exercises to practice missions to infiltrate into the North, remove the North's war command and demolition of its key military facilities," according to a South Korean official quoted by South Korean media.



Foal Eagle is a combined Field Training Exercise (FTX) conducted annually by the Republic of Korea Armed Forces (ROKAF) and USFK under the auspices of the Combined Forces Command. Key Resolve is an annual command post exercise (CPX) held by USFK, and conducted with ROKAF.



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TagsU.S. Marine Corps, Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters, Japan, SEAL Team Six, U.S. Special Operations Forces, Foal Eagle, Key Resolve, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121)
(Photo : PLA) Chinese troops in occupied Tibet.

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The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has taken a small but significant step towards ensuring its troops can fight in the Tibetan Plateau -- also called the Roof of the World because of its average elevation of 4,500 meters -- by building extensive oxygen production and supply facilities in this oxygen-deprived war zone.



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The PLA also said it built the same facilities for troops stationed in the Pamir Mountains, a mountain range in Central Asia. The Pamirs are among the world's highest mountains with its highest point being 7,600 meters above sea level.



The western part of the Tibetan Plateau borders the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir while China claims ownership of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh to the south of the plateau. The two Indian states, which are heavily militarized on both sides of the border, will be the likely sites of a war pitting the Indian Army against the People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF).



Units of the PLAGF have been equipped with 165 oxygen generation stations; eight hyperbaric oxygen chambers; 12 plateau oxygen trucks; 4,807 small oxygen generators and 6,830 oxygen cylinders, said the PLA..



The Logistics Support Department of the Central Military Commission (CMC) seeks to ensure the effective management and maintenance of the oxygen production facilities in this high altitude region. The PLA said an integrated military-civilian maintenance network and spare parts supply channels will be established to ensure oxygen supplies.



The oxygen production-supply integrated support will be incorporated into the joint operation system of PLA troops facing the Indian Army stationed in the plateau. Oxygen supply facilities are available by the bedside of individual soldiers, said the PLA.



Mobile and base support of oxygen supply are available for troops in training. The full-process oxygen supply mode in wartime is now being tested.



"A total of 12 joint maintenance points have been set up with technical staff coming from both military and civilian units," said an official of the Health Bureau under the CMC's Logistics Support Department.



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TagsPeople's Liberation Army, PLA, Tibetan Plateau, Pamir Mountains, People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Among the contenders to replace the A-10: the A-29 Embraer EMB Super Tucano (top) and the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master.

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The U.S. Air Force still can't make up its mind on what kind of aircraft will replace the legendary Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft first flown in 1972.



So, it's taken to covering all the bases and is considering building a new ground attack plane; adjusting an existing aircraft or upgrading the A-10.



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The Air Force is now exploring "draft requirements" concepts and figuring-out the attributes a new A-10-like aircraft needs to have in order to provide U.S. ground troops with effective close-air support until the 2050s.



As part of this extensive process, the Air Force will evaluate the avionics, engineering, weapons, armor and technical redundancy the new A-10 will need to survive more lethal future battlefields. The core technical advantages that made the A-10 famous, however, will be preserved and expanded when designing the new aircraft.



Among these advantages are superior armor protection for the pilot; a massive 30 mm rotary cannon; a heavy weapons load and unrelenting reliability.



The Air Force intends to keep the A-10 operational for many more years until the plane retires in 2022, but that's a big if.



"We are developing that draft requirements document. We are staffing it around the Air Force now," said Lt. Gen. James Holmes, Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Requirements.



"When it's ready, then we will compare that to what we have available, compare it to keeping the A-10, compare it to what it would take to replace it with another airplane, and we will work through that process."



Gen. Holmes said the Air Force is exploring ways to achieve, preserve and sustain air superiority in long-term, high-end combat engagements. The Air Force is looking for the optimal type of close-air-support platform by weighing various considerations.



Among existing aircraft being considered as the A-10's replacement are the Embraer EMB 314/A-29 Super Tucano from Brazil and the Raytheon T-100 / Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master from Italy.



The Super Tucano is a turboprop aircraft designed for light attack, counter insurgency (COIN) and close air support. The M-346 Master was originally designed as a military twin-engine transonic trainer aircraft but can conduct CAS missions, anti-shipping and aerial combat missions.



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TagsU.S. Air Force, Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, close-air support, Lt. Gen. James Holmes, mbraer EMB 314/A-29 Super Tucano, Raytheon T-100 / Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master
(Photo : Getty Images) The court concluded that both phones (Apple's iPhone 6 and Baili's 100c smartphone) look "easily distinguishable in the eyes of consumers."

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Apple on Saturday scored a judicial victory that could potentially turn into a watershed moment for company's copyright infringement battle in the Chinese smartphone market. A regional patent tribunal in Beijing has overturned last year's ruling that accused Apple of stealing the iPhone 6's design from a local Chinese phone manufacturer Shenzhen Baili, resulting in a subsequent ban on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the country.



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"The court "quashes the decision of the bureau" and "recognizes that Apple ... has not infringed the design patent filed by the company Shenzhen Baili," the People's Court Daily reported.



The court concluded that both phones (Apple's iPhone 6 and Baili's 100c smartphone) look "easily distinguishable in the eyes of consumers."



The judgment will come as a huge blow for the embattled Shenzhen Baili, which has been struggling even after it won the copyright infringement suit in May last year. The company's products are said to barely have a presence in the smartphone market and it is likely to exit the market in a matter of few months.



As for Apple, the judgment would not have any positive impact on its sales as such, since the sale of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have continued uninterrupted after it appealed against last year's judgment in a regional patent tribunal.



Nonetheless, Apple's victory is likely to be taken seriously by local Chinese manufacturers, which are notorious for filing copyright infringement cases against their big western rival companies. Analysts claim that copyright infringement has become sort of a powerful weapon for local manufacturers, which they often use it against big Western multinational corporations as they can't financially compete with them.



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Tagsapple, iPhone 6, Apple China, china
(Photo : Getty Images) After concluding his five-day tour to Australia, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in New Zealand on Sunday for a two-day visit. He was welcomed by New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English at Wellington airport.

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Arrived in New Zealand on Sunday for a two-day visit that will mainly focus on strengthening trade ties between the two countries. Li is the first high-profile Chinese leader to arrive in New Zealand after the former Prime Minister John Key visited the Asian country last year.



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Li and his wife Madame Cheng were welcomed at the Wellington airport by his counterpart Bill English and his wife, Mary. Wellington City Councillor Simon Woolf and New Zealand's Ambassador to China John McKinnon were also present at the welcome ceremony.



New Zealand has pinned high hopes on Chinese Premier's visit. Talks on upgrading the existing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be high on English's list. English's predecessor Key had pushed for upgrading the FTA during his visit to China last year. He had stated that the talks over the FTA issue would officially begin in the first half of 2017.



For New Zealand, the upgrading of the FTA would help the country to cope with the possible fallout of President Donald Trump's ongoing trade protectionism campaign. The U.S. has withdrawn from Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement in a strong signal that it will no more be the champion of globalization and free trade.



China is fundamentally an important nation for Wellington's economic ambitions amid the global slowdown. The Asian giant is New Zealand's second-largest trading partner and also its biggest market for export.



Trade between the two countries has boomed since the signing of FTA in 2008, with two-way trade reaching a new high of $23 billion in 2016. This is three times more than what existed before the signing of FTA in 2008.



However, both countries share a very tense relationship over the South China Sea and human right issues. New Zealand's decision to side with the U.S. over sensitive political issues has often cast a shadow on their bilateral relationship.



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Tagschina, new zealand, China and New Zealand, Li Keqiang
(Photo : Getty Images) Lam secured a total of 777 votes, while her closest competitor John Tsang received only 365 votes.

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Carrie Lam, a 59-year-old civil servant, was elected as Hong Kong's next chief executive on Sunday, after receiving an overwhelming number of votes from 12,000 strong committee members. Lam is the first woman to be elected to the highest executive post in the semi-autonomous city.



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Lam secured a total of 777 votes, while her closest competitor John Tsang received only 365 votes. Woo Kwok-hing, another candidate in the race for the top post, received only 21 votes.



At her acceptance speech, Lam promised to work towards making Hong Kong a more peaceful city and get rid of what she described as "divisive politics" plaguing the international financial hub.



"Hong Kong, our home, is suffering from quite a serious divisiveness and has accumulated a lot of frustrations. My priority will be to heal the divide," she said. The new leader gave a stern message to pro-democracy supporters.



"I too want more democracy in Hong Kong," she asserted. "But Hong Kong is facing a lot of serious problems. So why don't we start with the easier subjects?"



Lam's victory is seen as a result of Beijing's interference in Hong Kong election



While many have described Lam's victory as a historic moment, China's critics alleged that her election is yet another symbol of the Asian giant's growing interference in the internal matters of Hong Kong.



To prove their case, critics have resorted to opinion polls, which claimed that John Tsang was the clear public favorite and enjoyed unanimous support among Hong Kong's masses. Lam's victory, according to critics, entails that Beijing wanted someone who is a pro-Chinese and can implement their tough policies to quell down the pro-democracy wave in the former British colony.



Since 2014, Hong Kong has been witnessing what political pundit have called "Umbrella protests," protest for the Chinese leadership to hold free and fair elections and grant more democratic rights to citizens of the semi-autonomous city.



Last year, the pro-democracy wave once again resurrected in the former British colony, after two pro-independent lawmakers were barred from the legislature following an oath taking fiasco.



Hong Kong officially became part of Mainland China in 1996 under an agreement with the British, which ruled the city for more than 100 years. According to the agreement, Beijing has to ensure that Hong Kong remains a semi-autonomous city and that all its democratic rights are preserved.



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TagsHong Kong, Carrie Lam, Hong Kong election, china, China and Hong Kong
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 26

By Anvar Mammadov  Trend:

Italy ranked first in the list of Azerbaijans foreign trading partners in Jan.-Feb. 2017 with a trade turnover of $461.5 million, said a report of Azerbaijans State Customs Committee.

Italys share among Azerbaijans trade partners is 17.57 percent. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Italy increased by 41.4 percent in Jan.-Feb. 2017, as compared to the same period of 2016, according to the report.

Turkey ranked second among Azerbaijan's trading partners in the first two months of 2017. Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey amounted to $239.02 million in Jan.-Feb. 2017, which is an increase of almost 70 percent compared to the same period of 2016. Turkeys share among Azerbaijans trade partners is 9.1 percent.

Russia with a share of 8.96 percent ($235.4 million) ranked third among trade partners of Azerbaijan in Jan.-Feb. 2017. Russia is followed by China with 8.72 percent ($228.95 million) and Germany with 4.82 percent ($126.57 million).

The share of the top five countries in total trade turnover of Azerbaijan is 49.17 percent.

Azerbaijani products worth $422.67 million (25.55 percent) were exported to Italy. Italy is followed by China with a share of 7.46 percent ($123.35 million), Israel with 6.76 percent ($111.89 million), Taiwan with 6.55 percent ($108.39 million) and Portugal with 5.97 percent ($98.66 million).The share of these countries in total export volume of Azerbaijan is 52.29 percent.

Azerbaijan's foreign trade turnover with 137 countries totaled $2.63 billion in Jan.-Feb. 2017, which is 20.09 percent more than in the same period of 2016. Azerbaijan carried out export operations in the amount of $1.65 billion and import operations  $971.97 million.
Christians displaced by Boko Haram being denied food, relief goods in Nigerian refugee camps

Troubles are piling up on the beleaguered Christians in Nigeria. Already the target of persecution by the savage Boko Haram terrorist group, the Christians who have been displaced from their homes by the Islamist extremists are also being subjected to discrimination in the displacement camps run by local Muslim organisations, the Christian persecution watchdog Open Doors U.K. has revealed.

In some instances, Muslim relief workers are telling Christian refugees coming to their camps that food and relief goods are "not for Christians," said Bishop William Naga, who fled his home in Borno state.

Emily Fuentes, the communications director for Open Doors U.S.A., attested to the discrimination being suffered by Christian refugees. In an interview with The Christian Post, she explained that although Christians are the main targets of Boko Haram militants, the latter also prey on their fellow Muslims in the Muslim-majority region of northeast Nigeria, prompting these Muslims to also seek refuge in the displacement camps.

Because of this, Muslim organisations running the camps feel inclined to give Muslims "preferential treatment," Fuentes said.

"Christians often get pushed to the back of the line," she said. "Because Muslims are the majority there, even non-extremist Muslims, some of their neighbours are typically going to get preferential treatment by those providing food and assistance because of their Muslim faith. Christians might be discriminated against and some of those cases have been reported. It's just preferential treatment because they are not the majority religion in that part of the country."

To help ease the plight of Christian refugees in Nigeria, Christian churches and other organisations have begun setting up displacement camps for Christians, which are being supported by Open Doors and its local partners on the ground.

"We have started informal, purely Christian camps because Christians were being segregated in the formal camps," said John Gwamma, the head of an informal Christian camp.

Fuentes said unlike the camps where Christians are discriminated against, the camps they are setting up will be open not only to Christians but to other people as well, regardless of their faith.

On its latest World Watch list, Open Doors ranks Nigeria as the 12th worst Christian-persecuting country in the world.
Evangelist thwarts attempt to silence him as Uganda court drops cases filed against him by Muslim extremists

An evangelist in Uganda foiled another attempt to silence him when a judge dropped cases filed against him, which were aimed at defaming him and stoking Muslim anger on him for providing refuge to Christian converts, sources said.

Muwanguzi Hassan, a lay leader with the Church of Uganda, was earlier charged on March 10 with kidnapping and performing "human sacrifice," the Morning Star News reported.

However, three days later, the court dropped the charges after the complainant and his attorney twice failed to appear in court.

Muwanguzi said his attorney asked him to file a defamation case against his accusers, but he told the lawyer that "as a Christian I will forgive them, just as our master Jesus did."

For years now, Muwanguzi has been the target of Muslim extremists who want him dead for having converted a large number of Muslims to Christianity.

The evangelist said he is thankful to the prayers of church members, which he said are encouraging him to go on with his mission despite the mounting dangers he is facing.

He appealed to Christians to continue praying for him. "Though the case has been dropped, I still need prayers because persecution is still going on, and I still have fears since I am taking care of many converts from Islam. I need protection and support for these new converts. I know nothing will separate me from the love of Christ and in serving Him," he said.

Earlier this month, he learned that an Islamist leader had urged Muslim villagers to kill him.

In an effort to defame him, his enemies accused him last month of kidnapping and performing a human sacrifice, which he categorically denied.

Muwanguzi, a married father of six, has escaped death at least twice, according to a previous report. In June 2015, he was nearly ambushed by Muslim extremists who raided his house.

Men armed with knives and clubs broke into his house one night and stole his personal belongings. Fortunately, he and his family were away at that time attending a prayer meeting.

In 2014, Muslim extremists tried to poison him and his 12-year-old daughter, but they survived.
Male student sues school district over privacy rights for allowing girl to undress in boys' locker room

A high school student in Pennsylvania was shocked when he saw a girl inside the boy's locker room taking off her clothes sometime in October last year.

Even though he knew that the girl identifies herself as a boy, the male student still felt that the local school district violated his privacy rights by allowing transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms of their preferred gender, The Christian Post reported.

The studentanonymously referred to in court documents as "Joel Doe"and his parents then decided to file a federal lawsuit against the Boyertown Area School District.

The lawsuit states that the school district's bathroom policy "needlessly subjects Doe to the risk that his partially unclothed body will be exposed to the opposite sex and that he will be exposed to a partially clothed person of the opposite-sex, as actually occurred when the policy was first implemented."

"Plaintiff has experienced embarrassment and humiliation, both in terms of being viewed and viewing a student of the opposite sex in a state of undress and because of the stigmatization and criticism he received from other students and adults, fueled by the administration's policy and actions," the lawsuit reads.

"He also fears the future embarrassment of meeting students of the opposite sex in the bathroom when simply relieving himself," it adds.

Because of the situation, the plaintiff "now avoids using the restroom during the school day because of the ongoing risk of having his privacy violated."

The student and his parents are being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the Pennsylvania-based firm Independence Law Center.

"No school should rob any student of his legally protected personal privacy," ILC Chief Counsel Randall Wenger said in a statement. "We trust that our children won't be forced into emotionally vulnerable situations like this when they are in the care of our schools because it's a school's duty to protect and respect the bodily privacy and dignity of all students. In this case, school officials are clearly ignoring that duty."

The lawsuit was filed after the Trump administration issued a directive last February revoking federal guidelines issued by former President Barack Obama that allowed public school students to use restrooms and other facilities corresponding to their gender identity, Fox News reported.
Voters blame everybody but Trump for Obamacare repeal failure

The day after the flaming out of US President Donald Trump's first major legislative initiative, his supporters across America were lashing out  at conservatives, at Democrats, at leaders of his Republican Party in Congress.

Only Trump himself was spared their wrath.

Many voters who elected him appeared largely willing to give him a pass on the collapse of his campaign promise to overhaul the US healthcare system, stressing his short time in office.

'Being a businessman, he'll not take "no" for an answer,' said Tony Nappi, a 71-year-old from Trinity, Florida, one of the many disappointed Republicans on his weekend softball team. 'He'll get the job done.'

Support for Trump appeared unflagging, from the playing fields of a Republican stronghold in central Florida to the small town diners of North Carolina, the suburbs of Arkansas and the streets of workingclass Staten Island in New York City.

Rebellion among members of his own party sealed the failure of Trump's effort to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act  known as Obamacare  the signature domestic policy achievement of Democratic former President Barack Obama.

Despite casting himself on the campaign trail as 'the best dealmaker there is', Trump could not save the healthcare bill yanked by Republican leaders in the House of Representatives on Friday in an embarrassing turn of events for them and Trump. Objections among Republican moderates and the party's most conservative lawmakers left leaders short of the votes needed for passage, with Democrats unified in opposition.

'He can't wave a magic wand,' said Ramona Bourdo, 70, a retired nurse, eating breakfast at a McDonald's in suburban Little Rock, Arkansas. 'I've not lost confidence in him.'

Still, the barista at the Grind Cafe in Morganton, North Carolina, who cannot afford his own insurance and remains on his parents' plan, felt Trump shared responsibility in the debacle.

'I think it's partially his fault,' said Joel Martin, a 21yearold Republican and Trump supporter. 'I don't think he has enough personal knowledge to do what he needs to do to get a healthcare bill through Congress.'

His hometown, population 17,000, sits within the heavily rural congressional district of Representative Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican whose opposition as the head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus helped sink the bill.

Sharing in the frustration of loyal Republicans was 82-year-old Jeanette Madison, a registered independent in the New York City borough of Staten Island, who voted for Trump.

'I blame the Democrats and Republicans in Congress,' she said as she walked her dog down a city street.

In Florida's Pasco County, where Trump's stronger-than-expected showing helped to seal his victory in the largest US battleground state, some fans seized on the silver lining.

Neighbours Patti Niehaus, a Democrat, and Margie Hahne, a Republican, agreed that Trump may have needed last week's crash course in governing, having never before held elected office.

'You can't just go and tell people what to do like he's used to doing,' said Hahne, 74. 'Trump's got to learn a lot.'

Bridging Tampa's booming suburbs and still rural parts of central Florida, Pasco County lies in a politically decisive swing region of the state along the Interstate 4 highway corridor linking Tampa and Orlando.

Trump won 58.4 per cent of the vote in the mostly white, working- and middle-class county, surpassing the past two Republican presidential candidates by tens of thousands of votes.

His pledge to end Obamacare helped to sway Kelle DeGroat, a 37yearold nurse, a Republican who is open to other parties.

'I thought there was a good plan the way he talked,' said DeGroat, still confident in Trump's ability to make reform happen. 'I was shocked that it didn't pass.'

Other Republicans applauded their leaders for returning to the drawing board, with polls showing the derailed healthcare plan to be unpopular following predictions that it would jeopardise or increase the cost of insurance for millions.

Lisa Collins, a 53yearold teacher with two adult children benefiting from Obamacare, for the first time started calling the region's elected representatives to voice her opposition.

'This is a success that the party listened,' said Collins, a Republican who did not support Trump. 'To me, that's amazing. They represented the average normal guy, the small guy.'
'Watu Wote' film showcases Muslims' love for Christians

People from different faiths can extend kindness, show respect to one another, and forge friendships, and this is what the new film "Watu Wote," which means "All of Us," seeks to prove.

The film, which is set to premiere next month, will share the ordeals faced by a group of Muslims who went out of their way to protect Christians from the al-Shabaab militants, according to Christian Daily.

The Christian bus passengers were ambushed in Mandera, Kenya in December 2015. Kenya's northeastern region chief administrator Mohamud Saleh told Al Jazeera that the militants tried to flag the bus down. When the driver refused to stop, they fired shots at it, instantly killing two passengers and injuring several others.

When the militants got inside the bus, they asked the 62 Muslims on board to point out the Christian passengers. However, the Muslims refused to do so. Even though the militants threatened to kill or harm them should they refuse to cooperate, the Muslim passengers bravely protected the Christians and stood their ground.

"Watu Wote" director Katja Benrath, who studies at the Hamburg Media School in Germany, is simply astounded by the kindness and bravery shown by these Muslims to Christians on that fateful day. For her, their actions only prove that there is hope for humanity.

"We were touched by the story ... that in a situation like this one humanity could win," Benrath said. "In this life-threatening moment, people stood up for each other  not caring about the religion of the next person because they wanted to save and shield human beings."

While making the film in Mandera, Benrath saw for herself the respect both Christians and Muslims had for each other. She said their unity helped contribute to their community's strength.

Meanwhile, Mandera-based Roman Catholic priest John Musyoka said the film will definitely help change people's minds about terrorism in the Muslim world.
WASHINGTON -- Several dozen people assembled Saturday outside the White House to demand an investigation into the unfounded Internet rumor known as "Pizzagate."

Wearing T-shirts and holding banners defending the conspiracy theory -- which falsely linked Hillary Clinton to an alleged child-sex-trafficking ring operating out of a D.C. pizza parlor -- protesters took turns climbing onto an elevated stage in Lafayette Square to demand politicians and mainstream news media take their claims seriously.

"I don't have any doubt that Pizzagate is real," said Kori Hayes, who drove with his wife and three kids to Washington from Middleburg, Fla., on Friday night for the event. "But nothing is being said about it."

The demonstration came a day after the widely debunked conspiracy theory suffered two further blows.

On Friday, a North Carolina man pleaded guilty to weapons and assault charges in connection to an ill-fated attempt to expose the alleged sex-trafficking operation.

More for you Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones backs off 'Pizzagate' claims

Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, admitted traveling to Comet Ping Pong in Northwest Washington on Dec. 4, anticipating a violent confrontation over his personal investigation of Pizzagate. He entered the restaurant holding an assault rifle, prompting a panicked evacuation by workers and customers. Welch fired the rifle at least once while searching for evidence of child sex abuse. After finding none, he surrendered to police.

Also on Friday, Alex Jones, a conspiracy-loving media personality who pushed the Pizzagate narrative, apologized for his role in spreading the viral story.

Jones posted a 6-minute video on his website, "InfoWars," in which he apologized to James Alefantis, the owner of Comet Ping Pong.

"I made comments about Mr. Alefantis that in hindsight I regret, and for which I apologize to him," Jones said. "We relied on third-party accounts of alleged activities and conduct at the restaurant. We also relied on accounts of [two] reporters who are no longer with us."

"To my knowledge today, neither Mr. Alefantis nor his restaurant Comet Ping Pong, were involved in any human trafficking as was part of the theories about Pizzagate," he added. The story, he said, "was based upon what we now believe was an incorrect narrative."

Neither of those developments dissuaded the 50 or so protesters from demonstrating outside the White House on Saturday.

Hayes called InfoWars "the only place you can get the news nowadays where it's not opinion," but said he wasn't bothered by Jones's about-face on Pizzagate.

"This paper in my hand is at least enough for an investigation," he said, holding a flier labeled "Pizzagate/Pedogate" that listed "pedophile code words and symbols" supposedly found at Comet Ping Pong.

Hayes wore a shirt saying "Pizzagate is Not Fake News." His wife, Danielle, 31, wore one reading "Investigate Pizzagate."

Their three children, ages 9, 5 and 2, each wore shirts saying "I Am Not Pizza #pizzagate."

"We've been watching since the [John] Podesta emails came out on Wikileaks," Danielle said. "And we just followed it down the rabbit hole."

They said they learned of Saturday's protest from a video posted to YouTube by David Seaman.

Seaman, who spoke at the rally, declined to speak to The Washington Post, calling the newspaper "fake news" and screaming expletives at a reporter.

Several protesters said they were motivated to attend the event because of abuse they themselves had suffered or witnessed.

George, an editor from New Hampshire who declined to give his last name, held up a banner reading "Pedophilia Ruined My Childhood" and "Investigate #Pizzagate."

"I was a victim of childhood abuse for 12 years," he told The Post. "I don't know if [PizzaGate] is legit or not, but I think it should be investigated."
Texas is the proud home of more than 170,000 servicemembers and roughly 1.5 million veterans. Within our state's borders lies Military City, USA  also known as San Antonio  and many military installations, large and small.

But among all our servicemembers and veterans, Texas' most decorated unit remains the group of 532 brave men we now call the "Texas Lost Battalion," who were captured by the Japanese 75 years ago, in March 1942.

The story starts earlier, in the fall of 1940, when the 36th Division of the Texas National Guard arrived just outside of Brownswood at one of Texas' largest training centers, Camp Bowie. World War II had engulfed both Europe and Asia, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt had issued orders in late August to mobilize the National Guard.

After a brief period of training, the unit traveled to a port in San Francisco, embarked on The Republic as the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, and set sail for the Pacific Theater.

Two weeks into the journey, on Dec. 7, 1941, The Republic and its convoy were just west of Hawaii when troops heard the news of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States officially joined the war, and The Republic shifted course from its original destination, the Philippines, to defend the Dutch East Indies.

The 36th Infantry Division arrived on the island of Java on Jan. 11, 1942, the very same day the Japanese began their invasion of the Dutch Islands. The 36th Infantry Division supported the 19th Heavy Bombardment Group as they fought off the Japanese. But when that Group left Java for Australia, the 36th was left behind in the increasingly grim Java.

It was then, after most other Allied units had retreated to Australia, that the Japanese completed the demise of the Dutch Islands and took the remaining units prisoner. The Japanese neglected to file the identities of the captured units, so the 36th Infantry Division fell off the United States' radar. The U.S. Military and the soldiers' families had lost track of the 36th Infantry Division, and so they earned the fabled name "Texas Lost Battalion."

For the next three years, the Texas Lost Battalion was forced to endure brutal conditions in Japanese Prisoner of War (POW) camps. The Texas soldiers were dragged through the Dutch East Indies, Singapore, Burma, and Thailand, working back-breaking jobs in brutal conditions as their fellow POWs perished around them, including the Railroad of Death connecting Burma and Bangkok and the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai.

The Texas Lost Battalion was  figuratively  found on Sept. 16, 1944. On that day, American submarines sank two Japanese freighters transporting British and Australian POWs in the Pacific, and the surviving POWs told stories of working alongside Texas soldiers from the 36th Infantry Division.

On Aug. 15, 1945, the soldiers of the Texas Lost Battalion were finally liberated  some 42 months after their capture. Unfortunately, not all of the 532 brave troops that embarked on The Republic in 1941 returned home after the war. Each of them has a story to tell, and the legacy of their heroic service lives on.

Their story is one of unwavering courage, unspeakable sacrifice, and unbreakable dedication. It's a story we must continue to share, generation to generation. That's why earlier this month, I submitted their story to be memorialized in the Congressional Record, so Texans, and all Americans, can reflect upon the storied Texas Lost Battalion and always remember that freedom isn't free.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 26

By Farhad Daneshvar  Trend:

The Islamic Republic of Iran hopes that President Hassan Rouhanis upcoming visit to Moscow would be a turning point in bilateral cooperation in various areas in particular economic, trade and industrial cooperation, a senior diplomat says.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi has described Russia as a powerful and influential country, adding that the two countries have promoted proper cooperation on bilateral and regional issues over the recent years, ILNA news agency reported.

Speaking about ups and downs in diplomatic ties between the two countries over the past five centuries, he said that Tehran and Moscow had considerable and effective cooperation over the recent years as they share common viewpoints on tackling extremism and terrorist groups.

Although there are some differences between Tehran and Moscow on tackling terrorism, but cooperation between the two countries has slowed the growth of terrorist groups, he added.

According to the spokesperson, President Rouhani and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, are expected to discuss regional issues in particular Syrian crisis and ways to put an end to the issue as well as tackling terrorism and extremism during the two day visit in Moscow.

He further touched upon economic ties between Iran and Russia expressing his dissatisfaction with the level of economic relations and called for making efforts aimed at increasing the volume of trade.

Bahram Qassemi said that about ten documents on cooperation in various fields are expected to be inked during the visit.

President Rouhani is slated to arrive in Moscow on March 27.
The Houston Palestinian Festival kicked off their 7th annual weekend celebration with traditional Dabkeh dancing, traditional food from local vendors and a live band that reenacted a Palestinian wedding.

Within the two days of the festival, Ruba Afifi, Festival Chair, said they reach over 10 thousand attendees.

"The purpose of the Palestinian American Culture Center is to empower but also to grow and to create awareness within the community, the Palestinian community but also the Houston community at large."
Houstonians know to take advantage of this city's short-lived pleasant temperatures. And who better to invite for dinner and drinks than your dog?

Although there are still several Houston restaurants that won't invite pets onto their patios, plenty have officially been granted the city's permission to do so.
Harris County Fire Marshals are assisting with a fire that started Saturday afternoon at Big Daddy's BBQ in northwest Houston, according to a tweet from their organization.

Cy-Fair Volunteer department originally responded to the the 3-alarm fire around 1:45 p.m. in the 4900 block of North Highway 6, according to reports from KHOU and KPRC.
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More than 100 warring opponents and supporters of President Donald Trump hurled obscenities, insults and sexual slurs at one another for more than three hours during a vociferous pair of Saturday rallies outside Houston's City Hall.

Toting #ResistTrump signs, protesters shouted "F--- Trump" as a smaller group of opposing demonstrators tried to drown them out with chants of "USA, USA" and "We won. We won."

Dressed head to toe in neon pink, one supporter of the new administration held "Princess" and "You're #1" balloons as she danced on top of a wall. Nearby, a woman wrapped herself in a Texas flag with an image of a gun on it and shrieked "racist, racist, racist!" at Trump opponents across the street, who were inexplicably joined by a dancing red Power Ranger.

MEETING TIME: Hundreds pack into Texas congressman's town hall

The mid-day demonstration was initially planned as a pro-Trump event, although anti-Trump crowds showed up an hour earlier to preempt their opponents' arrival.

"I'm just here to celebrate," said Trump supporter Cooper Jackson. "It's important for Trump supporters in Houston to join together because Houston is such an estranged place for a Trump supporter."

David Michael Smith said he and his fellow Trump protesters showed up to push back.

"Every time they come out we will be here, opposing his racism and anti-immigrant policies," he said.

Masked Trump protesters who said they did not identify with any particular group showed up early on. Though most declined to explain their reasons for concealing their identities, one said it was "for our own protection."

SOCIAL MEDIA: #TrumpTruck memes take over the internet for a day

As the event wore on, many of the masked demonstrators disbanded and the event migrated from the Hermann Square side of City Hall to the Bagby Street side.

"F--- Trump, f--- Pence, f--- your wall, f--- your fence," rally opponents shouted as the crowd grew rowdier. Eventually, Trump foes and supporters started trading insults and seemingly irrelevant sexual slurs, along with various creative and obscene gestures.

"They don't believe in our country," Jackson said of the Trump opponents. "They don't believe in the USA. They believe they are victims, and that kind of victimhood is lethal. It ruins your life -- almost like modern-day feminism."

Gina Nelms, a Houstonian who helped organize the pro-Trump event, said she wanted to show solidarity with a president "who has gotten so much done in such a short amount of time."

Sitting on the Hermann Square side of the building, demonstrators with Indivisible Houston were not impressed with the raucous goings-on.

ON CAMPUS: Rick Perry stirs debate over Texas A&M student elections

"We don't like the intimidating stance they have," said Cindy Stinson, gesturing to the masked protesters, "but we have the same agenda."

Stinson said the newly formed group is non-partisan, and welcomes anyone.

"We just don't like Trump," offered Patricia Gallini.

In all, the president's detractors far outnumbered his fans.

"It is always harder when your guy is in office," said Trump supporter Rolando Garcia. "It's always easier for the people out of office to get riled up so I think we're seeing that."

Despite the animosity of the day, Nelms offered hope for the future.

"At some point everyone can find some type of common ground," she said. "If we could all just sit down and have one conversation, we can start breaking down these barriers and coming together as a nation."

As the event started winding down, an elderly man on tandem bike slowly rode by and flashed a sly smile as he flipped off the thinning crowd of Trump supporters.

>>>Scroll through the above gallery to see scenes from the protests as well as who in the Texas delegation backs Donald Trumps agenda
A retired Houston police officer shot his knife-wielding neighbor Saturday night, authorities said.

The 58-year-old former officer was working in his yard in the 18000 block of Harnet around 7:20 p.m. when his 20-year-old neighbor approached him - wearing a black ski mask and holding a black-handled machete, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

The homeowner told the suspect several times to drop the knife. When he refused, the retired officer shot him once in the leg, authorities said.

The homeowner said the suspect was not making sense and was claiming vision and voices were commanding him. He was transported by to a hospital in stable condition, authorities said.

A grand jury will decide whether to pursue criminal charges.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 26

By Farhad Daneshvar  Trend:

Iran says it has imposed retaliatory sanctions on 15 American companies because of their support of terrorism two days after Washington introduced fresh bans on 30 foreign companies and individuals for aiding Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement on March 26 announced that Tehran has slapped the sanction on the US companies over their ties with Israel, domestic media sources reported.

The announcement accuses the sanctioned companies of participating in repressing people of the region and contributing to the expansion of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories.

The ministry further described Washingtons recent bans as a violation of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
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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Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 26

By Farhad Daneshvar  Trend:

A high-ranking Iranian security official has sharply criticized a recent airstrike by the US-led coalition on Iraqi city of Mosul following reports of high civilian casualties.

Secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani has described the airstrike as a war crime, accusing the US army of murdering innocent people under the pretext of fighting terrorism, Tasnim news agency reported.

He further called for probing into the issue through a fair court and said it has become a common practice for the US army to kill innocent civilians.

Ali Shamkhani also urged the UN to take measures aimed at protecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of countries.

The US military has acknowledged it launched an airstrike on the so called Islamic State terrorist group in Mosul on March 17.

The UN has expressed concerns as reports broke on high civilian casualties claiming that at least 200 people had been killed in the airstrike.
Ambulance

At least 15 people were shot -- one fatally -- at a Cincinnati nightclub early Sunday.

(cleveland.com file photo)

CINCINNATI, Ohio - About 15 people were shot - one fatally - during an early Sunday shooting at a Cincinnati nightclub.

The shooting happened about 1 a.m. at Cameo Night Club, in the city's East End neighborhood near Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport, WCPO reports. Cincinnati police believe there was only one shooter, who remains at-large.

While the shooter's motive is still unclear, Cincinnati police Assistant Chief Paul Neudigate told cincinnati.com that "there [is] no indication this incident is terrorism related."

The individual killed in the shooting has not been publicly identified. Eight of the shooting victims were taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, including one victim in critical condition and three more in serious condition, WLWT reports.

Six additional shooting victims are in stable condition at various hospitals, and four people have been treated for wounds at a hospital and released, according to WLWT.

The warehouse-style nightclub was packed when the shooting happened, causing confusion for clubbers when the shooting began, police said.

"I do believe it was a very large crowd earlier this evening when it started," Cincinnati police Capt. Kimberly Williams told WCPO. "But just a lot of chaos, obviously, when the shots went off... people just trying to get out of the way, get out of harm's way."

All available Cincinnati police units are helping with the large-scale investigation, the department said in a Tweet Sunday morning. A team from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was also at the shooting scene, according to WCPO.

Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman and Gov. John Kasich have each addressed the shooting. In a statement, Portman wrote that "while we are still learning the details surrounding this horrific tragedy, we thank our first responders for acting quickly and providing critical care for those at the scene."

Saddened to learn about last night's shooting in Cincinnati. Our prayers are with the victims and families of all of those involved. (1/2)  John Kasich (@JohnKasich) March 26, 2017

I've instructed our administration to offer any assistance the state can provide. (2/2)  John Kasich (@JohnKasich) March 26, 2017

Cincinnati police plan to give an update on the shooting investigation after 11 a.m., according to a department tweet.

Update: Cameo Night Club 15 gun shot victims, 1 deceased. Homicide unit and all available resources are being utilized. Next update after 11  Cincinnati Police Department (@CincyPD) March 26, 2017

If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section.
Architect urges pushing race barrier ARTS John Hay students draw inspiration from woman who became a pioneer from A1

Donte Compton, left, and Michael Ricks, students at the Cleveland School of Architecture and Design, put finishing touches on their architectural model during a workshop three years ago. Their school, part of the Cleveland school district's John Hay campus, scores as well, or better, than private voucher schools in the city on state tests.

(Gus Chan/The Plain Dealer )

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohio's school voucher and testing system does not give a good comparison between public high schools and the private high schools that take the vouchers.

The private schools don't want to take the same tests, and usually don't.

The state is also not reporting results the same way for private high schools schools as public ones.

And since most voucher high schools have selective admissions with special tests and interviews that most public schools don't have, test scores are often skewed.

While private schools that cherry-pick their students often have better looking test scores, so do public magnet schools with competitive admissions. In Cleveland, those schools even scored better than schools like St. Ignatius.

Old tests gave a comparison

The old Ohio Graduation Tests used to offer some comparison, since public school students and voucher students had to pass them in order to receive diplomas.

In 2013-14, the last OGT scores formally studied by the state showed private voucher high schools scoring much higher than standard, non-competitive public schools - all schools the state classified as failing schools - that students would have been assigned to without a voucher.

- In Cleveland, proficiency rates were 20 points higher at voucher high schools in English and 18 points higher in math.

- That gap was more than 25 points in each subject statewide.

Those gaps, though, don't take into account how selectively a private school selects its students or how much a school truly helped a student learn. The state doesn't even track that.

A tough admissions process is important for a lot of parents who pick private schools so that students don't have to deal with low-performers or those with behavior problems.

But comparing scores of selective schools to neighborhood schools that accept anyone won't tell you which school is doing a better job.

Those same 2013-14 OGT results show that while the Cleveland school district's scores were low, all three competitive-admissions schools at the district's John Hay campus in University Circle scored as well or better than schools like St. Ignatius and St. Joseph Academy.

Cleveland's Early College High School, the School of Architecture and Design and the School of Science and Medicine all had at least 97.8 percent of their students score as proficient on the reading and math OGT that year.

While St. Ignatius, Benedictine and St. Joseph high schools all scored as well as those district schools in reading, all three private schools had worse math results - still strong, but below that of the district magnets.

St. Edward High School in Lakewood was not included in the voucher program yet, so no comparison is available.

Other voucher high schools that have admissions criteria, but are not as competitive, like St. Martin de Porres and Cleveland Central Catholic had scores well below those at the district's selective schools.

See detailed results below.

Testing changes blur comparisons today

Even these flawed and incomplete comparisons are not available now, once the state dropped the OGT starting with this year's 11th graders and shifted to new Common Core-based End-Of Course exams (EOCs) with this year's 11th graders.

That scrambled the test landscape, leaving gaps in scores and a mismatch of public school and voucher school tests,

Private schools - both voucher schools and much-pricier private schools who do not participate in the voucher program - objected to forcing students to take so many tests that were not part of the schools' mission and course structure.

The Catholic Conference of Ohio, an association of all bishops in Ohio, was among those who opposed having to take the new tests, so the legislature voted to allow voucher students to take alternative tests for each subject instead. Students could also graduate just with strong SAT or ACT scores.

Some private schools don't give tests they don't have to

When the state delayed in naming alternative tests, many schools used that as a chance to skip testing altogether. They had students skip the EOCs and either take no standardized tests at all or just whichever ones the schools already used.

St. Ignatius High School spokesperson Lisa Metro said students were not required to take state tests last year, so no 9th or 10th graders took any state tests. Now that alternative tests are in place, 10th graders this year are taking the Iowa standardized tests while juniors will just take the SATs.

St. Edward High School in Lakewood did much the same thing, giving no state EOC exams and planning to have students just take the SAT.

As a result, the state has no scores to report for either school for the 2015-16 school year.

Other schools like Cleveland Central Catholic High School and St. Joseph Academy had students take the state EOC's anyway, to make extra sure students would meet all state graduation requirements.

"I did not want our students to be in the position of scrambling," said Sister Allison Marie Gusdanovic, principal of Cleveland Central Catholic.

"Vouchers are important to us and our families, so we're dotting all the I's and crossing the T's," said St. Joseph President Mary Ann Corrigan-Davis.

For last school year, the state is reporting only results from voucher schools that used state End-Of-Course exams, so some have scores and many do not. In addition, the state is reporting results by grade, but not by each exam, so it often combines multiple tests (like Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry) into a single score for a grade.

And public and private schools schools are giving those exams at different times. While some have 9th grade results to report, others report only for 10th.

Others may just stick with the ACT or SAT and report only those.

A state panel is reviewing Ohio's graduation requirements now and will have a recommendation to the state school board next month. It is unclear if any changes would affect voucher and other private schools.

How the Cleveland school district's competitive admissions high schools scored against voucher high schools:

The three Cleveland school district schools with competitive admissions scored just as well on their 10th grade state tests as students at St. Ignatius and other selective and private voucher schools. Data is from 2013-14, the last year with a detailed comparison from the state.

Scores are from the old Ohio Graduation Tests, which were given to 10th graders. Though students that scored low had to re-take them, but strong scores meant students were done with any state tests.
16th annual American Flag Decorating Ceremony in honor of Veterans for Memorial Day

What does it mean to be a responsible American? What does it mean to sacrifice for country? Ann Maundy takes a moment in front of the gravestone of her husband, John Maundy, after the 16th annual Flag Decorating Ceremony at the Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman, Ohio on May 28, 2016. John Maundy was an Army veteran who served during the Korean War and died in 2004. Ann was visiting the grave with her daughter Diane Novak. They both usually visit over the Memorial Day weekend. (Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)

Remember "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader?"

It used to be one of my favorite TV quiz shows. The degree of difficulty of many of the questions -- and the range of topics they covered, from history to literature to math -- was taxing enough to make me feel a slight sense of satisfaction whenever I outsmarted the show's contestants.

I also took strange pleasure in the way adult losers on the show had to face the camera and utter the phrase, "I am not smarter than a fifth-grader." The thought of having to make that confession was enough to prevent me from ever seeking to actually appear on the show.

I recalled the quiz show several days ago when a friend who is studying to become a United States citizen asked me a question that temporarily stumped me.

"Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government?"

"That's easy. The federal government can declare war or enter into treaties," I responded.

"Name something else," my friend prodded, apparently not getting the expected answer.

The follow-up demand unexpectedly bothered me. On further reflection, it caused my mind to race a bit. Suddenly, I was reminded of the obvious: the federal government has extraordinary and sweeping control over our lives, movement, behavior and even our health.

"That question is too wide-open for me," I finally responded.

"The United States government can also print money," my friend said.

Of course! The United States government controls the Treasury, I thought, resisting the impulse to track down a camera and confess to it that I am not smarter than a fifth-grader. But American life, the Constitution and representative government aren't simple fill-in-the-blank-propositions.

Ours is a nation of law, but it is also a nation founded on the notion that our freedoms are universal -- our most precious birthright -- and that any infringement upon them is an assault on the life and meaning of the country.

Perhaps that is why so many people are nervous and agitated as they wonder in which direction America is headed. Is the pendulum swinging into a place where fundamental rights, freedoms and principles that unite us are under dangerous assault?

At the Democratic National Convention last July, Khizr Kahn, who lost a son in Iraq in 2004, offered a stunning rebuke of the GOP nominee, Donald Trump.

"You're asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words 'liberty' and 'equal protection of law,'" said the Gold Star father.

I also took the rebuke personally. I realized it had been decades since I had reread the Constitution. It didn't seem like the rebuke should have been limited to Trump, who had been threatening to impose a ban on Muslims coming into the country. The rebuke was a harsh reminder that many who claim to be good Americans have lost the sense of what it means to be an American citizen.

A good American citizen participates in the affairs of government by voting for responsible leaders. A good American fully understands and defends the freedoms this country was founded on.

Now is a good time to brush up on our civics.

We might not all be smarter than fifth-graders; there are a lot of smart kids out there. However, there is no excuse for not being as knowledgeable about the Constitution as those newcomers who seek to join our great nation-building experiment.
Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, who will visit Moscow on Monday, hopes that anti-Russia sanctions regime will soon be revised toward lifting of restrictions, which will contribute to the development of bilateral trade-economic relations, Sputnik reported.

"Certainly, we hope that this moment of the revision of the sanctions regime may come soon, bringing new opportunities for the economy and enterprises of our two countries," Alfano said.

Alfano specified that the duration of the sanctions is linked to the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

"Only constructive efforts toward the achievement of this goal will open the way for the revision of the sanctions regime," he underlined.

Alfano added that sanctions are "an instrument, not a goal in itself."

"This means that their use is subject to one aim - to restore a positive dialogue with Moscow, some political decisions of which we do not share," Alfano said.

Alfano also said that he hopes for the return to the G8 format with the participation of Russia.

"The importance of dialogue with Moscow on issues of mutual interest - this is a principle shared in both EU and NATO circles. We believe that this interest also exists within the G7 forum," Alfano said.

"I hope that the summit in Taormina will be the last in the G7 format, and the next summit after Taormina will be held in the G8 format with Russia's participation. This scenario, however, depends on Moscows approach that [needs to be] constructive and aimed at cooperation. We believe that Russia will soon once again become a trusted partner, the constructive contribution of which on the international arena we had the opportunity to appreciate in the past," Alfano added.

Russia can play a decisive role in the settlement of the crisis in Syria, given the influence Moscow can exert on the sides to the Syrian conflict, particularly on the government, according to Alfano.

"Russia can play a crucial role, having in mind the positive influence Moscow can exert on the Syrian sides, and in particular on the Damascus regime, engaging it in fair negotiations. Without a credible political transition there will be neither reconciliation in Syria, nor the possible victory over terrorism," Alfano said.

"Russia can and should play a pivotal role in restoring the truce and in unblocking the humanitarian access to areas besieged by the regime, putting an end to the behavior that is very dangerous both from the point of view of international humanitarian law and from the ethical point of view," Alfano added.
Spring Fever is spreading.

After a late winter blast of snow and cold blanketed much of the country, record numbers of travelers are expected to hit the road over the next several weeks. Airlines For America estimates 145 million spring travelers will fly somewhere by April 30th. The industry trade group estimated that figure represents a 4 increase over last year.

But if you're still looking for a destination vacation, there are some deals to be found. For example, if you're in the mood for a romantic getaway, you could consider a trip just north of the border.

"We love Quebec City," Budget Travel's editor-in-chief, Robert Firpo-Cappiello, told CNBC's On the Money in an interview recently.



He explained a trip to Canada is a cheaper way to enjoy an international destination, without the long flight across the Atlantic.



"It's Paris without quite the price tag. You're talking about cobblestone streets, sipping good wine, eating French food," he said, adding that the exchange rate with Canada is "very good right now." In addition, travelers can find hotels for under $200 per night.


President Donald Trump reportedly handed German Chancellor Angela Merkel a bill for around 300 billion ($374 billion) for the money her country "owed" Nato for defending it, a report said on Sunday, a claim that was flatly rejected by the White House.



The Times, a U.K.-based publication, cited unnamed sources that claimed Trump handed Merkel a bill for the U.S.'s services to the alliance when the two met recently in Washington. Trump has chided several countries in the alliance, including Germany, for not spending enough on defense, forcing the U.S. to shoulder most of the financial and logistic burden.

However, Michael Short, a White House spokesperson told CNBC that the report was "false."

'According to The Times, a German minister described the action taken by Trump as "outrageous" and said that Merkel "will not respond to such provocations".



"The president has a very unorthodox view on Nato defense spending," another source told the publication. "The alliance is not a club with a membership fee. The commitments relate to countries' investment in their defense budgets."

Trump has minced no words about the trans-Atlantic alliance, and has not been shy in reprimanding Europe's largest economy about fulfilling its obligations to NATO. A day after meeting with the German chancellor, the president claimed via Twitter that Germany owed "vast sums of money" to the alliance.

In a January interview, Trump told Germany's Bild newspaper that the alliance was "obsolete." The remark stoked concern in European capitals that the new American president would abandon the fulcrum of the West's post-war defense posture.

The president has urged NATO countries to stick to a commitment made in 2014 to invest 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in defense. However, only the U.S., Britain, Estonia, Greece and Poland currently meet that benchmark.

Read the full report from The Times here.

--CNBC's Steve Kopack contributed to this article




In 2014, I spoke with Gavin Pretor-Pinney, the founder of The Cloud Appreciation Society, about his quixotic mission: to get recognition for a new category of cloud called the "undulatus asperatus." For years, individuals from across the world had been sending him pictures of the unusual formations, trying to figure out what they were. But they had no official name.

Friday, on World Meteorological Day  nine years after the classification was first submitted  the World Meteorological Organization finally recognized Pretor-Pinney's clouds in the updated version of the International Cloud Atlas, though the name has been tweaked to "asperitas." They're the first new addition to the Atlas in over half a century.

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Pretor-Pinney described the formations as "localized waves in the cloud base, either smooth or dappled with smaller features, sometimes descending into sharp points, as if viewing a roughened sea surface from below. Varying levels of illumination and thickness of cloud can lead to dramatic visual effects." Asperitas clouds tend to be low-lying, and are caused by weather fronts that create undulating waves in the atmosphere.
Snap Inc. Chief Strategy Officer Imran Khan follows the IPO of his company's stock at the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, March 2, 2017. Richard Drew | AP

Even as a college student in 2000, multimillionaire Imran Khan was ahead of his time. Today, 39-year-old Khan is the chief strategy officer of Snapchat, the man behind the curtain whose youthful exuberance, illustrious network and Wall Street chops have shepherded the company to stardom. But in 2000, the dotcom bubble and Y2K loomed large. Alibaba was a year old, Amazon sold books, Facebook and YouTube didn't exist  and Khan was a kid from Bangladesh. "We possess technology [that] gives us more information about our world and ourselves than we've ever had before," his University of Denver yearbook read. "Within our massive global database is the answer that we keep ignoring."

Then, Khan was just another smiling face on page 154. He would ultimately come to shape the future for internet users across the world. In the vein of investor Bill Gurley and writer Om Malik, Khan was already launching a mini-new media operation of his own: A newsletter run by students in the Economics department. The newsletter fizzled out, but professor Tracy Mott remembers Khan's initiative and energy. Khan also proposed his own independent study, and went outside the curriculum to take classes on monetary policy and financial markets, Mott said. "He had a very pleasant personality and a lot of energy," Mott said. "He and his parents took Professor Ho and me to dinner right before graduation." Mike Durney of DHI Group recalls a different meal with Khan, a lunch on a snowy day nearly a decade later. By then, Khan had shot up the ranks on Wall Street, working at a tech company and investment firms and becoming top analyst at JPMorgan by 2004.

He was able to rise to any occasion.

By the time of the 2008 financial crisis, Imran "Dot.Khan" Khan's JPMorgan reports, "Nothing but Net," were of biblical importance on Wall Street. One 2009 report has predictions that now read like a history lesson, foreshadowing the dominance of Amazon, MySpace's fall and Facebook's rise, and Google's cloud and Android platform. Khan covered DHI, which went public in 2007. "When he was a star research analyst, I always found his thinking to somewhat forward-looking, and investment banking-like, as opposed to pure research," said Durney, then chief financial officer and now CEO. "I remember having lunch with him when he was still a research analyst. The conversation wasn't as much about models and expectations, it was more, 'How do you think about how the company will be in a couple years?,' 'What do you need to drive the business?' I always found that to be a little different than your average research analyst." One person who knew Khan told Business Insider that he "clawed his way up." Durney disagrees. "Some people you can have a conversation with them, and their aspirations are on their sleeve," Durney said. "I didn't get that impression from him. The reason he is successful there is because his thinking is very forward-looking."

Snap Inc. chief strategy officer, Imran Khan, takes a photograph on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) while waiting for Snap Inc. to post their IPO in New York, U.S., March 2, 2017. Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The holidays are creeping up on us
A total of 41 PKK terrorists were killed in separate operations in Turkey and northern Iraq, according to official sources on Sunday, Anadolu reported.

At least 14 terrorists were killed in an air-backed operation by gendarmerie forces in Turkey's eastern Tunceli province early Sunday, the governor's office said in a statement.

The operation left one soldier injured, the statement said, adding that the operation was ongoing in the region.

On Saturday, 19 terrorists were killed in two air-backed operations in southeastern Hakkari province's Yuksekova district, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement on its website.

The Turkish military also conducted on Friday several air operations in northern Iraq, killing eight terrorists, the statement added.

Since it resumed its armed campaign in July 2015, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of approximately 1,200 security personnel and civilians, including women and children.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday slammed again the Swiss government over a mass meeting of the members and sympathizers of the PKK terrorist group in capital Bern, Anadolu reported.

Some 250 PKK members and supporters took part in a rally in front of the Federal Parliament building in the Swiss capital Bern on Saturday. In the meeting, a banner read "Kill Erdogan", picturing him with a gun pointed at his head.

"It is very interesting indeed that this terrorist organization is taking to the streets hand in hand with their leftist parties," Erdogan said during an opening ceremony in Istanbul's Gaziosmanpasa district.

The president was referring to the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP) and The Swiss Green Party which supported the meeting, which saw no police intervention despite the banner calling for Erdogan's death.

The rally was also attended by supporters of the far-left terrorist group DHKP-C, and YPG, the armed wing of PYD, which is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.

"Where is this place? Switzerland. Where is this place? The Netherlands. Where is this place? Belgium. Where is this place? Germany," Erdogan said in reference to the EU countries allowing public demonstrations of the PKK.

"When we say this, they get upset. Don't. What goes around comes around," Erdogan added.

The president said Turkey did not harbor any hostile feelings for any country or society, and just wanted to establish "the best" relations with everyone.

"I have a message for our neighbors, and in particular the European countries, U.S. and Russia. We are not enemies with anyone. Quite the contrary, we would like to establish the best possible political, economic and social relations with each country and society," he said.
When Douglas Carswell defected from the Conservatives and joined UKIP, this site wrote that we should all be very nice about him. This was because he is essentially a member of the conservative family (though certainly not a Tory), and the Party, as that familys political home in Britain, should be looking to reabsorb its members. The co-author of Direct Democracy  together with our columnist Daniel Hannan  also has ideas that are worth listening to, if not necessarily always acting on.

And we think now that the Conservatives should not only still be nice about him, but nice to him. Theresa May should be seeking to use the talents of people of other parties who have something to offer. Gisela Stuart is one; Carswell himself is another. Might there be a role for him in Uganda, where he was raised during the Idi Amin years? There is also a less elevated reason for cuddling up to him. The Government has a working majority of only 17. May needs all the help she can get.

However, there are limits. Carswell says that he doesnt now want to join the Conservatives. Then again, he said that he was 100 per cent UKIP only shortly before he left it. So if he comes round to wanting to rejoin the Party, there is no good reason why he shouldnt be allowed to. However, this isnt to say that he can be the Conservative candidate in Clacton in 2020. After all, he walked out on his Association when he joined UKIP. Any such decision would be for them. And they have a local councillor, Giles Watling, who has fought the seat twice.

One of Carswells core beliefs is that the old way of doing politics has had its time. He might think today on reflection that the old politics is doing rather well. The two main parties consolidated their grip on the Commons in 2015. The new challenger, UKIP, won no seat other than Carswells, and is now shedding its leading lights at both ends  Aaron Banks, with his money, at one; Carswell himself, with his seat, at the other. The latter has learned a terrible lesson, which though not unique will have been painful: Nigel Farage is a tricky man to work with.

No split is too deep and no defection too prominent to collapse UKIPs core support  at least to date. The odds are that it will carry on kipping, taking votes from the main parties and competing with whatever bandwagon Banks sets up (assuming, of course, that hes capable of constructing one). But it is unlikely to get a big second wind in its sails without banding together with some new fifth force. A final point: when Carswell left the Conservatives, he called a by-election. Now that he is leaving UKIP, it follows that he should do so again.
Douglas Carswell was always a very atypical UKIP politician. This mornings Observer reports that Leave.EU have branded him a Tory plant and whilst that may not be quite true, by his own admission his motivations for joining up resemble those of an entryist.

According to Tim Shipmans seminal book on the EU referendum, All Out War, his explicit goal was to go in and try to detoxify it before the contest began in earnest. He may also have planned long-term to make sure that a moderate campaign had high-profile UKIP support in the event of a contested nomination.

So his abandoning the Peoples Army now, when his stated reasons for ever having joined it are complete, need not be a signal that the party is in terminal decline. But as John Rentoul points out in the Independent on Sunday, there are plenty more:

The referendum deprived it of its reason for being. Farages last resignation (the third or fourth, depending on your definition) thereafter deprived it of its most charismatic personality. His successor Paul Nuttalls defeat in the Stoke by-election last month ended its chance of being the anti-Labour protest party of the North and Midlands.

Having lost its only MP (and thus any hope of Short Money), with its contingent of MEPs set to lose their jobs in a couple of years, and having parted ways with Arron Banks, UKIPs days as an operationally-viable party may be numbered. If this is the case  and it may not, two years being a very long time in politics  it will serve history as a fine example of the British party system doing its job.

Our system makes it very difficult for minor parties to break through, except where they have geographically-concentrated support. When one finds a real current of popular sentiment and starts to exert great pressure on the major parties, one or both of them adapt and absorb the popular parts of its agenda. They often strip out some of the more noxious or radical elements for good measure.

Brexit is a case in point: its not difficult to imagine UKIP doing better if Theresa May hadnt moved the Conservatives so decisively onto its political territory. Scarcely anybody at this point can believe that the Prime Minister is not deadly serious about delivering a real/hard/clean break from our membership of the EU. Brexit doesnt need a party.

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats are enjoying a resurgence precisely because their political space has been unexpected vacated. Whilst the Conservatives have moved right, Labour under Jeremy Corbyn have wandered off the leftward edge of the map altogether.

Metropolitan liberals, or whatever you want to call them, are finding a sharper political identity in the aftermath of their referendum defeat. They used to more or less run all three of the main parties; now it increasingly looks as if theyll need one of their own.

Will this lead Tim Farrons party to the sort of major third-party breakthrough that Sir Nigel Farages never managed? Perhaps not: a very good result for them looks right now to mean 20-something seats, about a third of their heyday. Its also important not to overstate the Richmond by-election, where they defeated an MP who lacked party support, association data, or the advantages Tories will possess when the voters are actually choosing a government, by a fairly narrow margin.

On the other hand, Corbyns leadership may have short-circuited the usual two-party immune system. If Labour cant move onto that liberal ground  and there are serious strategic challenges to their doing so  then the Liberal Democrats (or some new party built out of them) may build up sufficient pressure to break through. Major parties do fail in the British system: the Liberals did a hundred years ago, and it could be Labours turn. Sometimes a political era passes, and its party with it.

It may be UKIPs misfortune, as an institution, to be competing with the Conservative and Unionist Party, one of the most formidable political survivors in history. But it is surely Euroscepticisms great gain: by the time Continuity Remain have been through their realignment, their moment may have passed as well.
Close

Finally, fans of "Hawaii Five-0" have every reason to smile, as CBS confirmed the renewal of its eighth installment. However, the sad news is that Ssason 8 could be the last one for actor, Alex O' Loughlin.

"Hawaii Five-0" Gets Renewal For Season 8

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Hawaii Five-0" Season 8 features in the renewal list of CBS, along some of the other shows.The current season had a great opening in terms of viewership ratings, which could be the reasons why the series got its renewal quite early.

But, while the show's green signal for its renewal is a great news, the fact that actor Alex O' Loughlin will bid adieu to the show after season 8 comes in as a great shock. The actor is seen in the role of Steve McGarett in the show.

O' Loughlin spoke to Collider to express why he will not return after the end of season 8. The actor said, "I've decided. Beyond anything else, I don't want to do anymore because I don"t want to kill it."

He further said, "It's still got some magic left in it.mIt's hard to keep it alive and fresh...hard to keep it fun and new, each day." Loughlin also added, "The other thing is that physically, I've had a lot of injuries. I don't think I can physically do any more than eight years."

So, it looks that his job in the series has had an impact on the health of the actor apart from the issue of keeping his magic alive. The occasional injuries have now given rise to certain back-related problems for O' Loughlin by his own admission.

"Hawaii Five-0" Season 8 May Be Series' End

O' Loughlin appears to be pretty confident about his exit in the future. As such, Peter Lenkov, the Executive Producer mentioned that he does not want to continue the series if the actor is not in it.

So, the pertinent question that pops up here is will "Hawaii Five-0" Season 8 Mark the end of the series? In case, O' Loughlin remains decisive about leaving and Lenkov does not waver from his conditions, Season 8 could mark the end of "Hawaii Five-0."

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Sandra Bullock at the screening of her film ''Gravity'' at the London Film Festival. (Photo : REUTERS/ANDREW WINNING)

"Ocean's 8" is the new film project of Warner Bros. Pictures in partnership with Village Roadshow Pictures. The new movie is said to release on June 8, 2018 across the U.S.



The film features an all-female cast, in which Sandra Bullock plays the lead protagonist.



Variety reported that the movie is set during the summer of 2018, when Debbie Ocean (portrayed by Bullock) is attempting to pull off the heist of the century during the New York City's star-studded annual Met Gala.



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In order for the plan to work, Debbie Ocean needs to gather a group of people as part of her workforce, wherein Cate Blanchett and Rihanna will be all on board as part of Ocean's crew, playing the characters of Lou and Nine Ball respectively. Among others, Mindy Kaling, Anne Hathaway and Sarah Paulson will also be featured in "Ocean's 8."



Matt Damon, Damian Lewis, Dakota Fanning and James Corden are said to appear in the film as well. Among the movie's stellar list of cameo appearances include half-siblings Kendall Jenner and Kim Kardashian. Mirror reported that Kardashian has been stealing the spotlight as she walks on the set of "Ocean's 8." Photos taken of Kardashin shows that she is wearing a see-through sheer gown covered in a furry cream jacket and strutted in her skyscraper heels.



Gary Ross is said to direct "Ocean's 8," who is popular with his projects such as "Seabiscuit," "The Hunger Games" and "Free State of Jones." Ross and Olivia Milch both wrote the screenplay.



As part of the executive producing team, Bullock set the mood of "Ocean's Eight" as more of a child-friendly set. Even Hathaway is full of praise for Bullock for bringing such atmosphere to the set.



Moreover, the film's producers reportedly hired a therapist in order to avoid fights amongst the all-female cast members. There is said to be a counselor on call to make sure that the cast get along perfectly well, and that the production of the movie will end on a good note.



Meanwhile, the United Nations recently invited Hathaway to become an ambassador to the UN. The inspiration behind Hathaway's commitment is her 11-month-old son Jonathan.






The reason for the challenge is, says the report, it raises Indias direct food subsidy bill from roughly $15 billion a year to $21 billion, adding, In comparison, the United States increased its agricultural domestic support from $60 billion in 1995 to $140 billion in 2013.

The matter has not been resolved, except for a negotiated pause in dispute actions against countries with existing programmes that notify the WTO and promise to negotiate a permanent solution, the report states.

The warning comes despite the fact that, on a scale of 1, UNDPs Human Development Index (HDI) for India is found to be 0.625, ranking the country No 131st among 185 countries. However, calculated by taking into account inequality, the Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI) is 0.443, suggesting a loss of 29.2%, ranking the country 131st among 179 countries.

Arrived at on the basis of different types of inequalities, the report states, the report calculates human inequality coefficient to be 26%, inequality in life expectancy at birth 24%, inequality in education 29.4%, and inequality in income 16.1%. Further, the report finds there is a gender gap in the HDI of males and females  it is 0.549 for females and 0.671 for males.

UNDP says, The international agenda should be to set rules to expand trade in goods, services and knowledge to favour human development and sustainable development goals, insisting, The key reforms to advance this agenda include finalizing the WTOs Doha Round, reforming the global intellectual property rights regime and reforming the global investor protection regime.

Underlining that multilateral and bilateral organizations determine the main rules and standards in this report, UNDP says, For trade in goods and services the WTO is the main standard-setting entity: Member countries are bound by its norms.



In what may sound music to the ears of the Narendra Modi government, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has warned India that the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, promulgated by the previous UPA government, saying that it has put India at loggerheads with the World Trade Organization (WTO). A highlighted sub-section titled WTO and Indias national development policies of the chapter Transforming global institutions in the UNDPs Human Development Report 2016 says, the right to food is the biggest ever food safety net programme, distributing highly subsidized food grain (61 million tonnes) to 67% of the population.However, it warns the report, The scale of buying grain from poor farmers for sale to poorer consumers put India at risk of violating its WTO obligations in agriculture, insisting, WTO members are subject to trade sanctions if they breach a ceiling on their agricultural subsidies.Pointing out that the method of calculating the ceiling is fixed on the basis of 198688 prices and in national currency, an unusually low baseline, the report states, This clear asymmetry in international rules reduces national space for development policy.Says the report, India, as other developing countries, did not have large agricultural subsidies when the rules were originally agreed, adding, The act  which aims to stave off hunger for 840 million people and which can play a pivotal role in the UN agenda to end hunger everywhere  is being challenged.
Sony Mobile Communications Inc.'s Xperia booth is seen at the Tokyo Game Show 2016 on September 16, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan. The Tokyo Game Show 2016 is held from September 15 to Septem. (Photo : Getty Images/ Tomohiro Ohsumi)

After receiving its latest certification in Russia, Sony officially announced its entry-level smartphone Xperia L1. The said smartphone boasts a large display on a near edge-to-edge screen and an efficient mobile chipset, along with smart software features.



The Sony Xperia L1 features a 5.5-inch display with 720X1080 screen resolution. Its physical chassis comes with Sony's traditional rectangular shape while running on its edges gives users a smooth rounded finish.



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The bezel-less look on this Xperia L1 follows the company's venture on near bezel-less displays. However, this smartphone still features large bezels above and below the screen that is the same with Xperia XZ Premium and Xperia XA1 Ultra phones.



Under the hood, the Sony Xperia L1 device is powered by a 1.45GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737T chipset and Mali-T720 MP2 GPU, coupled with 2GB of RAM, NDTV reported. Despite a low-end spec on its innards, Sony claims that this smartphone delivers "smooth performance." The device comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage which can be further expanded via microSD card slot.



Another selling point on the Sony Xperia L1 is its smart software features like the "Xperia Actions." This mode aims to adapt the phone's settings and functionality based on the user's environment, Tech Radar reported. For example, it adapts the device to match the time and the surroundings, by dimming the display and setting the phone to "do not disturb" automatically as part of a "good night" mode.



In addition, the Smart Cleaner feature works in the phone's background, which automatically removes cached data and unused processes.



In its optics department, the Xperia L1 camera module features a 13-megapixel rear camera with f/2.2 aperture. Up front, it comes with a 5-megapixel sensor that can cover a 24mm wide angle and goes with f/2.2 aperture.



On the software front, the Sony Xperia L1 runs on Android 7.0 Nougat firmware. Its battery information reveals a small 2,620 mAh battery, which supports Qnovo Adaptive Charging to extend the lifespan of the cell. The smartphone still carries Sony's STAMINA mode for battery saving and extra juice.



Its connectivity options include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.2 with aptX, NFC, A-GPS, GLONASS, and USB Type-C. The smartphone measures 151x74x8.7mm and weigh 180 grams.



As of this writing, the price and availability for the Sony Xperia L1 are not known, although several rumors suggest that the smartphone is expected to launch in select markets including Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, North America and Latin America in April.






As we discussed in a couple of earlier posts , we have been thinking recently about the use of exit consents to restructure sovereign debt, especially in the context of Venezuela and PDVSA, the state oil company. Though focused on corporate workouts, Bill Bratton and Adam Levitin's new paper, The New Bond Workouts , raises questions that also matter in the sovereign context. Bratton and Levitin give a detailed account of the Second Circuit's Marblegate opinion, a 2-1 decision that seems to authorize very aggressive use of the exit consent technique. (Creditors were essentially given a choice between accepting the restructuring plan or being left with claims against an entity that was nothing more than an empty shell.) Bratton and Levitin generally approve of the Second Circuit's decision, but also suggest that courts should revive the doctrine of intercreditor good faith to police against coercive workouts of bond debt.

Bratton and Levitin also talk about how, after Marblegate, bond issuers might be tempted to use both the exit consent technique and collective action clauses. Doing so might put enormous pressure on creditors to participate in a restructuring. For instance, an issuer might design an exchange offer in which participating creditors also vote to eviscerate the payment terms of the old bonds--essentially, threatening potential holdouts that they will be left with worthless instruments. In the English Assenagon case , the court rejected a similar use of exit consents and--interestingly enough--justified this decision in part by invoking something like a duty of good faith among creditors.

To highlight the link to sovereign restructurings, it is possible that exit consents would play a role in any restructuring by both Venezuela and PDVSA. Some rumors are also circulating that Venezuela might attempt to pair exit consents with collective action clauses, along the lines described above. The important question, then, is whether U.S. courts will find ways to limit unduly coercive methods. As we explained in another post (also linked above), Marblegate involved the Trust Indenture Act, which does not apply to foreign sovereigns (and Venezuela does not use the trust structure in any event). Still, the case may prove instructive. And as Bratton and Levitin also point out, there are old (but never overruled) New York cases that support a rule that creditors owe at least minimal duties to each other in the context of a workout.

A careful examination of the facts in Marblegate should caution against assuming that bond issuers and creditor majorities can implement coercive restructuring plans. Indeed, in Marblegate, there was an obvious holdout problem, with one creditor trying to get a disproportionate share of the limited pie. The equities will not always be so clear. In the sovereign context, it is not clear where the limits on coercive restructurings will come from, if not from the Trust Indenture Act. But since both Venezuela's and PDVSA's bonds are governed by New York law, one would assume holdout creditors will begin by looking there. If so, perhaps those old New York cases will be dusted off and given new life in the modern context.
Rapper Eminem attends The 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on February 13, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Larry Busacca)

"Rap God" rapper Eminem is set to headline Reading and Leeds Festival 2017. One of the performers joining him during the event is "Gossip Girl" alum Taylor Momsen and her band The Pretty Reckless.



Momsen was recently interviewed by Meltdown of the WRIF radio station in Detroit, Michigan, the hometown of Eminem. During the interview, the "Gossip Girl" alum admitted that she is a fan of the Detroit rapper.



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For Momsen, Eminem is an amazing rapper. She even went on to describe him as "a genius in his own right."



As a fan of Eminem, Momsen is willing to record a collaboration song with the Detroit rapper. The frontwoman of The Pretty Reckless just wants the circumstance and the song to be "natural and organic and worked out in an actual artistic way."



Fans of Eminem are still eager to know the release date of his upcoming ninth studio album. His eighth and most recent album "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" was released in 2013.



On the other hand, The Pretty Reckless released its most recent studio album on Oct. 21, 2016. Titled "Who You Selling For," the album is the band's third studio album and was produced by Kato Khandwala, the band's longtime collaborator.



Pretty Reckless will continue to tour before 2018 in support of "Who You Selling For." Aside from Reading and Leeds Festival 2017, the band will perform in several festival shows including Carolina Rebellion, Rocklahoma, and Rock on the Range.



This is the third time Eminem is headlining Reading and Leeds Festival and it is "beyond exciting," NME quoted him Festival Republic CEO Melvin Benn as saying. Joining the "Rap God" rapper and the The Pretty Reckless frontwoman in the festival on Aug. 26-27 are Korn, Major Lazer, Flume, Andy C, While She Sleeps, Tom Misch, Sundara Karma, Moose Blood and Migos, among others.



Meanwhile, watch the The Pretty Reckless song "Oh My God" music video here:






Dannel P. Malloy and Tom Foley never had much to agree on  except Greg Butler.

The major power company executive was a token Republican on Malloys 2010 gubernatorial transition team and was tabbed for a similar role by Foley had the GOP nominee prevailed in that tight race.

Now Butler, an executive vice president and general counsel of Eversource Energy, may have designs of his own of being governor.

Im flattered that people have asked me to consider doing this, Butler said. I care a lot about the state of Connecticut and our future and Im not ruling it out.

The 59-year-old former Justice Department senior attorney-adviser under President George H.W. Bush avoided criticizing Malloy, a Democrat who is undecided on whether to seek a third term next year. He would not elaborate on his future.

Malloy declined to comment through a spokeswoman Thursday.

Liz Kurantowicz, a former chief of staff for the Connecticut GOP and political consultant from Fairfield, said Butler is held in high esteem.

It I were to ascribe one characteristic to him it would be a leader, Kurantowicz said. We need a fresh approach to the way we do business here in the state. I think hes got a tremendous background. Hes a great person. The state would be lucky to have a leader like him.

Butler has never held elected office, a bright-line contrast from the stable of GOP legislators and mayors competing for governor. He would be relying on his law resume and community service record, not to mention references from the New Englands largest energy provider. Whether thats a help or hindrance to Butler, who resides in the Hartford suburb of Marlborough, remains to be seen.

Northeast Utilities, the predecessor of Eversource, shouldered its share of criticism earlier in Butlers tenure, especially for its slow restoration efforts after Hurricane Irene and an October noreaster that dumped heavy snow across the state, both in 2011. The sluggish response forced the resignation of NU subsidiary Connecticut Light & Power President and COO Jeff Butler, who is not related to Butler.

Eversource most recently drew the scrutiny of the CBS news program 60 Minutes, which pointed to the utility as an example of a company that has used a controversial H-1B visa program to lay off 220 American IT workers and replace them with cheaper workers from overseas. The program has become the bane of Donald Trump, who frequently assailed it during last years presidential campaign.

Three years ago we made strategic changes to our IT department to support the merger of two companies and keep pace with changing technologies to better serve our customers, said Tricia Taskey Modifica, an Eversource spokeswoman. We approached this change with sensitivity and respect for the affected employees by offering comprehensive severance packages, career transition and training services, and extended healthcare coverage. Its important to note, the IT function is an essential part of our capability to provide reliable energy and service to our customers.

Butler is board chairman of the Connecticut Health Foundation, the states largest nonprofit grant-making entity that seeks to improve medical outcomes for underserved populations. Hes a trustee of the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, the parent of the Connecticut Public Television and WNPR.

In December, Butler lost his wife of 33 years, Nancy Butler, to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (better known as Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS). She was the founding pastor of Riverfront Family Church, an evangelical church in Hartford.

nvigdor@hearstmediact.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy
The Environment Committee wrapped up its legislative business last week in a maddening flurry of do-overs, a failed attempt by Republicans to override their GOP co-chairman, and assorted well-meaning but flawed attempts to somehow, some way, provide adequate funding for operation of the state parks.

It was a tall order because the committee wants to do the near-impossible: provide a dedicated fund of at least $11 million squirreled away somewhere safe, where the cash might not be raided by other factions of the money-starved General Assembly.

Picture Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr.  he with the weight of the family name, and the aspirations to run for governor  becoming flummoxed by another millionaire, hypothetically smoking a cigarette while standing ankle-deep in Long Island Sound, her middle finger pointed toward Hartford.

The second-term Kennedy, D-Branford, is in his third year as co-chairman of the committee, which thanks to Republican gains in the November election, now has two other co-chairmen: Sen. Craig Miner, a Litchfield Republican and Rep. Mike Demicco, D-Farmington.

The committee is the test kitchen for the new three-headed committee chairman that is changing the agendas of all 27 legislative panels and bringing Republican-backed bills to public hearings and committee votes for the first time in more than 20 years. The panels importance in the legislative pecking order is second-tier, somewhere between the Public Safety Committee and the Judiciary Committee. Essentially, most bills that emerge from Environment have to eventually go to the Judiciary Committee and the tax-writing Finance Committee or the budget-writing Appropriations Committee.

Still, Environment isnt a bad place for Kennedy to spread his wings, gather support from coastal lawmakers and address some quality-of-life issues that affect state residents. So the committee has pushed out a couple bills that would create 5-cent surcharges on plastic shopping bags from super markets and larger stores. One of the bills would hide the parks funding in a maintenance, repair and improvement account, which would presumably be safe from cash-strapped raids, clinically called sweeps by lawmakers and the governor.

We need alternative revenue streams to save our state parks, Kennedy told the committee. A tax on plastic bags is not the way to do it, replied Rep. Melissa Ziobron, R-East Haddam, who supports the concept of a passport, a $10 surcharge on DMV vehicle registrations that would allow for unlimited access to state parks while raising $29 million.

I couldnt get that bill out of committee, a seemingly exasperated Kennedy retorted. We couldnt get enough support. He warned that there is talk of eliminating free park admissions for those 65 and over, as well as the possibility of changing the per-car charge at park gates to a per-person admission.

Rep. Steve Harding, R-Brookfield, ranking member of the committee, came up with a late-breaking amendment, going over Miners head in attempt to kill the plastic-bag surcharge, but create a dedicated fund for park funds.

Miner, a carpenter who fulfills the classic characterization of the citizen lawmaker, is a wily, straight-shooter in his first Senate term after 16 years in the House, who could be the perfect conservative liaison between the more-frothing elements of the committees GOP membership, and the narrow Democratic majority on the panel.

So he put down the uprising by siding with the Democrats. Im not a fan of fees and taxes and everything else, but I do think there are occasions when the environmental implications of something are such that perhaps that is the only way to help people make a better decision, Miner said.

After some fits and starts, the committee finally approved two anti-smoking bills. Republicans had some amount of fun poking holes in Kennedys proposal to prohibit smoking within 20 feet of a state beach.

The more-starboard Republicans on the committee first asked how the 20 feet was going to be measured: from the parking lot? From the front gate? Kennedy admitted that the legislation comes with no civil or criminal fines. I kind of view this as a public policy of our state, Kennedy said. I think were asking people to rely on their common sense.

Then first-term Sen. Heather Bond Somers, R-Groton, created a negative scenario that Kennedy could understand. Since the space between the high and low-tide lines along the shore is public property, a shore-front owner could be in violation of the law for huffing a butt in ankle-deep water at mid-tide.

It sounds to me like every beach, public and private, Miner wryly added.

Thats an interesting question, Kennedy admitted in that trademark family voice without the Bawston accent. Its not the intent to stop people from smoking on their own private beach.

Kennedy held the bill for a couple days, rewriting the language to restrict the no-smoking, no-penalty law to state-park beaches, eliminating the threat to those chain-smoking Thurston Howells up and down the golden Connecticut coastal towns, where they enjoy their Sound views and cigarettes, until the next wave of climate-change disaster breaks.

One of the most prominent types of debris on our beaches are pieces of plastic and cigarettes, Kennedy said when the time came to vote.

Ken Dixon can be reached in the Capitol at 860-549-4670 or at kdixon@ctpost.com. See twitter.com/KenDixonCT. His Facebook address is kendixonct.hearst. Dixons Connecticut Blog-o-rama is at blog.ctnews.com/dixon/
Four other militants were also killed during the operation, the Egyptian military said on Sunday

Five militants were killed in an army raid in North Sinai including a leading member of Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, an Egyptian army spokesman announced on Sunday.

The army's statement did not name the Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis leader or provide any further information on the militants killed. A picture was posted with the statement, showing what appears to be the body of a dead man with an assault rifle.

Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks against security personnel and installations in North Sinai.

The group, which originated in Sinai, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and its leader, Abu Bakr El-Baghdadi, last year.

Egypts army and police forces have been waging a war, which has intensified over the past three years, against an Islamist militant insurgency in North Sinai that has seen hundreds of security personnel killed, as well as hundreds of militants killed in security campaigns.

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The head of Egypt's lawyers syndicate Sameh Ashour has denied the existence of a crisis between the union's lawyers and the judicial authority, saying that the one-day strike from criminal courts held last week was a decision made during the general meeting of the main union and its branches.

In a statement on the syndicate's website Saturday night, Ashour also said there would be no unjustified escalation in the union's disagreement with the judiciary, and that negotiations on this matter should be kept private.

Ashour and the leaders of the country's branch syndicates held a meeting Saturday to discuss several issues including a recent verdict against eight lawyers in the Upper Egyptian city of Minya which prompted last week's protest.

Earlier this month, a Minya criminal court sentenced seven lawyers to five years in prison and another to three years over charges of blocking access to a public facility, preventing a judge from carrying out his duty and insulting the judiciary. The case dates back to a protest staged by the defendants outside a local court in March 2013.

The 2013 protest came after what the syndicate said was a judges harsh sentencing for some of the lawyers clients without hearing the defence.

The lawyers were tried and sentenced by the criminal court despite the fact that the judge who filed the initial complaint against them withdrew his motion. Shortly following the sentence, the syndicate decided to boycott court sessions in all of Minya's criminal courts.

However, syndicate spokesperson Magdy Abdel-Halim told Ahram Online that "the strike at Minya has been suspended this week, to provide a chance to negotiate the release of the lawyers."

Ashour agreed during Saturday's meeting to establish a special defence committee to deal with the Minya lawyers' case.

"The syndicate and judicial authority normally enjoy good relations; only the verdict against the lawyers of Minya affected that balance. It is bound to be solved, and the lawyers will be released," he added.

Egyptian lawyers held last week a nationwide one-day strike from attending session in the countrys criminal courts to protest the jail sentence against their colleagues in the southern governorate.

Abdel-Halim told Ahram Online earlier that the strike aims to push for an urgent court hearing to release those lawyers in prison,

We are protesting for justice. We will refer the lawyers who did not comply with the strike to the syndicates disciplinary committee," he added.

The syndicate decided that the nationwide strike would be held for one day only so as not to negatively impact defendants and clients.

However, Ashour warned syndicate members about talking to the media and urged them not be dragged into statements that would exaggerate the severity of the standoff, saying there was "plotting against the lawyers syndicate, an intent to weaken it."

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When Theresa May triggers Article 50 on Wednesday, it should not be a cause for celebration. This is when the hard work begins.

There will be ups and downs as both sides in the negotiations bluff and double bluff, seek advantage and try to discover red lines. There will be roles to play, faces to maintain and domestic politics to heed.

I have strongly disagreed with those who have given the rights of EU citizens in the UK a higher priority than those of Brits abroad. But I do agree we need normalisation and this should be sorted within weeks.

Nadhim Zahawi writes: 'When Theresa May triggers Article 50 on Wednesday, it should not be a cause for celebration. This is when the hard work begins'

There are some who still believe the lie that Britain is turning its back on Europe, that Brexit was won by the far-Right and tinged with racism.

The reality needs to be shown early on. We will remain solid, dependable and reliable partners. We just have no desire for a supra-national political organisation creating our laws.

Britain must reassure our friends that we are not embarking on the Brexit caricature they have been told to fear. To do this we need to seize every opportunity for easy, mutually beneficial wins.

Another example is our continued security commitment. The victims of the Westminster Bridge attack were not just from Britain but from around the world.

Another example is our continued security commitment. The victims of the Westminster Bridge attack were not just from Britain but from around the world

It was a stark reminder that people share the same risks, wherever they are. To do our utmost to reduce those dangers we all must work together to fight and frustrate these terrorists.

But we need to remember why Parliament was a target. The Palace of Westminster houses the worlds most famous symbol of democracy. And at this moment we should be reminded it is a symbol created from, and has time and again brought forth, political innovation.

Now we must see this negotiation period as an opportunity to become political innovators once more.

All this will take time, patience and reason. Wednesday is just the start.
Police Officer Keith Palmer

Once again it is the ordinary British police officer who stands between us and evil.

PC Keith Palmer died, tragically but bravely, because his killer knew he had to get past him to fulfil his grisly mission. The assassin died moments later because another officer, still anonymous, acted with speed and skill.

Few of us think very often about how much we owe to people such as this, who daily go to work not knowing if they will come home safely, and who are the (usually unarmed) front line of the British state. Perhaps the sad and painful events of last Wednesday will cause us to recall that more often. They might also lead to some sensible changes in the way we deal with terror itself.

What can we do that we do not already do? Some things are obvious. Much tougher steps should be taken to act against known jihadis who have illegally travelled to the Middle East to fight with IS. This can be achieved under existing laws and it is a disgrace we do so little.

Then there is the question of how we catch mass murderers such as Masood before they strike.

The security service, MI5, does an excellent job in keeping watch on the shifting and confusing world of Islamic fanaticism.

But as the Masood case shows, MI5 quite reasonably concentrates on those who are openly politically active or known religious fanatics.

Terrorist Khalid Masood

It is far harder for it to assess the danger from chaotic and incoherent people on the fringes of jihadism. It cannot read minds or know in advance that someone who was once a brief blip on its radar is now hurrying, with evil intent, towards Parliament Square.

Nor is there any evidence so far that Masoods intentions could have been learned by a more intrusive system of state snooping on phone calls and emails.

As Michael Burleigh argues in The Mail on Sunday today, there is good reason to apply more imaginative, less bureaucratic and mechanical means to the task of keeping track of potential terrorists.

And who is better placed to do this than the police? It is becoming increasingly clear that attackers such as Masood, like the Nice and Berlin mass-killers, come from the twilight world of petty crime and drug-dealing. Many have been in prison. Not all, even late in their lives, are devout Muslims. Anti-extremism programmes will not necessarily find them.

It is the police who have the best understanding of this shadowy area of national life. It is the police, with their close knowledge of the neighbourhoods they patrol, who receive the earliest intelligence of sudden unexpected and uncharacteristic behaviour. It is the police who are increasingly recruiting Muslim officers and getting on good and friendly terms with the law-abiding and peaceful citizens who make up the enormous majority of Britains Muslim community.

These efforts need to be stepped up, encouraged and co-ordinated nationally. This would not only be a good way to remember the modest, unassuming courage of Keith Palmer. It would also be a good way to make such sad deaths less likely, and to make this country and its people safer from those who wish us ill.
Martin McGuinness had his eye up against the peephole of the door of Sinn Feins shabby office in Derrys Bogside. Standing in the narrow hallway, McGuinness was staring out at a squad of British Army soldiers milling in the street outside. F*****s. B******s, he snarled.

I was standing just behind the then leader of the Provisional IRA, wondering if the flimsy wooden door was about to come crashing in on us under the weight of a burly squaddies shoulder-charge. The year was 1991 and the IRAs war was still raging. Back then no other living person was a greater danger to the British state than Martin McGuinness.

In February, the IRA had mortar-bombed Downing Street, coming within feet of killing the entire Cabinet. Seven years earlier the IRAs secretive Army Council, on which McGuinness was a perpetual force, had sanctioned the Brighton bomb that nearly killed Margaret Thatcher.

In 1991 no other living person was a greater danger to the British state than McGuinness

Hundreds of people would die before Irelands Troubles ceased.

I was in Derry investigating rumours of secret peace talks between the IRA and the British Government. But just after I finished interviewing McGuinness at the Sinn Fein office, we ran into a British Army patrol cruising the streets of the IRAs stronghold.

At the sight of McGuinness, the soldiers jumped out of their armoured Land Rovers and ordered him to open the boot of his car. The patrols intelligence officer, at last rubbing shoulders with the enemys chief general, struck up a false bonhomie.

Hows it going, Martin? Open the boot of the car, Martin Nice day, Martin, eh? McGuinness turned away defiantly. Open it your f****** self, he said as he walked back to the Sinn Fein office.

I jumped in behind him. McGuinnesss simple but absolute denial of British Crown authority shocked me. Heavily armed soldiers are not the type of people you tell to f*** off.

McGuinness had been irritated but not, I felt, frightened or intimidated by the presence of these enemies. But I was also struck by the crudity of McGuinnesss response; this street fighter turned guerrilla statesman had not moved far from his roots. His disdain for the Crown was still couched in the language of the rioter.

This street fighter turned guerrilla statesman never moved far from his rioting roots

It was a stunning insight into the mind of the man who led the most ferocious terrorist movement in the Western world. Despite all the claims of warm family chats from politicians such as Tony Blair, McGuinness remained an enigma until the end of his life. A dangerous cold fish who had for decades no compunction about killing other men.

The real McGuinness was a closed book who only revealed what he wished others to see. All the subtle everyday expressive nuances that guide us to the mental state of our fellow humans, the arch of an eye to express puzzlement, were absent in McGuinness. He was a stone-cold poker player who outmatched his adversaries, Unionist or British, in the tortuous rounds of peace talks that led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Back in Derry I had by chance caught the future statesman of peace in character. It was a momentary slip of the mask for which McGuinness would never forgive me. When I quoted his swearing in a book I later wrote about the IRA, McGuinness phoned me at home, incensed that I had punctured his crafted image of a church-going, genial, family man. He vowed never speak to me again.

For decades Martin McGuinness led one of the most ferocious terrorist movements in the Western world

At his funeral, McGuinness was hailed as an Irish Nelson Mandela. Prime ministers and presidents came, flags flew at half mast on government buildings, and thousands lined the streets of Derry. In his eulogy, former US President Bill Clinton said the congregation had to finish the work that is to be done.

But such glib panegyrics are an outright denial of history and the very personal responsibility for the Troubles that lies on McGuinnesss shoulders.

In the very same city, the Derry Brigade he masterminded ordered its followers to bomb the town flat, shoot policemen in the head, murder suspected informers, and tar and feather young women for the crime of dating British soldiers.

Ironically, McGuinness the heroic peacemaker will now share the same earth of Derry City Cemetery with scores of those IRA victims, many of whose killings he personally sanctioned.

The real question, the real judgment, on McGuinness remains unasked and unanswered: was all the damage, all the bloodshed, he wrought as a Provisional IRA commander anything other than purposeless killing? The fawning funereal coverage also masks the far more dangerous present threat Sinn Fein poses to the stability of both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

Along with the Machiavellian Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams (pictured left), McGuinness was a stone cold poker player in the torturous rounds of peace talks with the British

McGuinnesss last political act was to plunge the peace process again into crisis by bringing down the Stormont Assembly in a manufactured row against his Democratic Unionist Party opponents.

Even as Deputy First Minister, McGuinness was never there to help run a better British-ruled Northern Ireland. His unswerving aim  handshakes with the Queen aside  was to destroy her rule and bring a United Ireland into being. His loyalty was always to Oglaigh na hEireann, the Gaelic name for the IRA, whatever the cost in blood and lives.

Even now Sinn Fein is no more than a pretend democratic party clandestinely commanded by the remnants of McGuinnesss old IRA Army Council and their Machiavellian leader Gerry Adams. Parts of Belfasts Catholic communities are ruled in terror by British-taxpayer funded republican community workers. And at the next Irish general election, Sinn Fein could easily force its way into power in a coalition government in Dublin. The long war that McGuinness fought so violently for most of his life is far from over.

To understand McGuinness we have to return to the sectarian world of Derry in the 1970s when a corrupt Protestant police force batoned peaceful Catholic demonstrators off the streets for protesting about discrimination in housing and employment. The protests soon descended into riots and McGuinness, unlike the vast majority of his fellow citizens, made his fateful choice to take up the gun and join in a devils bargain with the hateful fanatics of the old IRA.

It was in Derry that McGuinness made the fateful choice to take up the gun and join in a devil's bargain with the hateful fanatics of the IRA

McGuinness swiftly became the protege of the old southern IRA leaders eager to supply guns and bombs in return for the futile glory of once again killing British soldiers on Irish soil. McGuinness, barely 19, was their boy general, a good Catholic who loved his wife, went to Mass on Sunday, and took to the roofs at night to snipe at British Army posts.

As Northern Ireland descended into near civil war, Derry was soon a cauldron of killing and mayhem. Other Derry politicians, such as the Social Democrat John Hume, fought for peace but McGuinness committed himself to war, wrecking every attempt at peace talks for the next 20 years.

There is no moral equivalence between the wrongs of anti-Catholic discrimination and the wrongs of blowing up pubs full of innocent civilians. But when asked, McGuinness would always justify the IRAs murders as a war against British occupation.

In 1998, when the Ulster peace deal was struck, the constitutional position of Northern Ireland remained unchanged. The same power-sharing deal that had once been offered decades before by previous British Governments and decried by McGuinness as treachery was repackaged and served up to his own followers as an overwhelming victory.

None of the IRAs killing, the bombed cities, had brought a United Ireland one inch closer. His own life as an IRA gunman achieved nothing. Now, if only the dead could still speak, even as they lie alongside McGuinness beneath the earth of Derry City Cemetery, surely they would finally shame an answer from him: what, Martin, was all the killing for?
So, the fateful day is upon us. Not so much the Ides of March  more the march of IDS; the day Iain Duncan Smith and others have been counting down on their Brexit Advent calendars since Theresa May said shed trigger Article 50 by the end of March.

Im reminded of the build-up to the Iraq War in 2003, and the armchair general who told his guests at dinner: If were going to go in, weve absolutely, definitely GOT to do it by the middle of March. Whys that, darling? his wife chipped in. Because of Cheltenham races.

Im not sure why this date was chosen for B-Day, which some at Westminster insist on calling it; presumably to signal to the French were looking for a clean exit.

Rory Bremner writes: 'Im not sure why this date was chosen for B-Day, which some at Westminster insist on calling it; presumably to signal to the French were looking for a clean exit'

I cant help feeling that April 1 would be more fitting, since there are times when Brexit feels like an elaborate practical joke, alongside the election of Donald Trump and the appointment of Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary.

But its no joke, not for the Remainers or the majority who voted to leave the EU last June. And the consequences of that binary decision have grown even starker in the intervening nine months.

Dont get me wrong. I understand there were millions of people who were left angry, disillusioned, ignored or neglected after years of a liberal, or rather neo-liberal, consensus, which championed globalisation while failing to mitigate its effects on the less well-off and more vulnerable sections of our society.

That, combined with an EU leadership complacent to the point of arrogance, even now, left the door open for the demagogues who exploited that anger in order to blame foreigners in general and the EU in particular.

It's the march of IDS: the day Iain Duncan Smith and others have been counting down on their Brexit Advent calendars since Theresa May said shed trigger Article 50 by the end of March

And while the public may have been barking up the right tree, it was at the wrong cat. It wasnt the EU or immigration that was the problem, but the effects of recession and austerity, and the shocking state of our NHS.

Hospitals struggle to fill vacancies and many have to go abroad to recruit British doctors, let alone EU nationals.

But in leaving the EU, weve not only thrown the baby out with the bathwater; weve thrown out the bath  plus, those who plumbed it in the first place. Some 39,000 Eastern Europeans left in the three months after Brexit.

Then there are all the other consequences of Brexit, intended and unintended, for the EU institutions based here. For the EU nationals who make up 13 per cent of Londons workforce, 16 per cent of university academics, 8 per cent of construction workers, and up to 10 per cent of NHS staff.

But we are where we are. Brexit means Brexit, as our PM has said. But if it is to be so, let us at least make the very best of it

Consequences too, for lawyers wholl have to scrutinise 20,833 laws and rules between now and Brexit (a rate of around 40 a day during the two-year exit period). I wonder how much of this was understood when we voted.

Certainly its the only vote I can remember where the manifesto turned up more than seven months after the public went to the polls, in the form of the Governments White Paper. Was this what we voted for? It was easy to ridicule and caricature Europe-bent bananas and all; the reality is those regulations worked to our common advantage.

An example: some years ago, my colleagues John Bird and John Fortune, researching a show about Europe, arrived in Strasbourg on the day its Parliament was debating the harmonisation of lawnmower noise. It seemed beyond satire.

But a few weeks ago, I learned that debate had in fact been initiated by the British. The Germans were using their national legislation to block the export of British lawnmowers. The British insisted that, in order to have a level playing field, there should be an EU-wide standard decided by Parliament.

Like many Remainers, I wish we were only giving up Europe for Lent. But if not, lets at least come out of it smelling of roses. Isnt that what B-days are all about?

What we scoffed at was in fact part and parcel of ensuring an open market across Europe. We know the consequences of leaving now. We might have imagined some of them before the vote.

One man did, arguing that leaving the Single Market [will] cause at least some business uncertainty, while embroiling the Government for several years in a fiddly process of negotiating new arrangements, so diverting energy from the real problems of this country  low skills, low social mobility, low investment etc  that have nothing to do with Europe. ]

That man? Why, our very own Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, in February last year.

But we are where we are. Brexit means Brexit, as our PM has said. But if it is to be so, let us at least make the very best of it.

After the Scottish Referendum, my first instinct, as a Unionist, was to reach out to Nationalist friends, recognising their dreams had been dashed, and promise to push the Government to deliver further powers so Scotland could have more control while keeping the benefits of the Union.

Currently there are 125,000 EU nationals among the international students who generate 26 billion for the economy and support 200,000 jobs

Now, as B-day approaches, I hope the Brexiteers can recognise the concerns of Remainers, at least in the area of EU nationals.

A start would be to persuade Mrs May to take EU students out of immigration figures. How many people knew when net migration was 330,000, more than half were students? Currently there are 125,000 EU nationals among the international students who generate 26 billion for the economy and support 200,000 jobs.

To remove them from migration figures would not only cut those figures in half, but show the world that Britain, post Brexit, is open for study, learning and research.

Like many Remainers, I wish we were only giving up Europe for Lent. But if not, lets at least come out of it smelling of roses. Isnt that what B-days are all about?
The more we boast about how calm, tough and united we are, the more we prove it is not so. The official response to Wednesday's events looked like panic and over-reaction to me.

Just as in the days after Diana died, we have become a nation of unreasoning weepers, laying flowers, lowering flags and lighting candles, and congratulating ourselves on how wonderful we are, while not thinking at all.

The only thing missing so far is the Blair creature trying to hijack other people's tears. Thank Heaven for small mercies.

I suspect there is a large minority, perhaps a majority, gritting its teeth and stifling dissent  for fear that a temporary dictatorship of grief will punish them for failing to show the required emotions. Maybe it's just me. Anyway, here goes.

On Wednesday, terrorist Khalid Masood drove a car into crowds of people on Westminster Bridge before he was shot dead (pictured)

First, I am as grieved by the deaths of a police officer and several other innocents as anyone else. I hope what I write here will persuade people to take actions which will make such things less likely in future.

What should we do? Well, it might be wise to tell the truth. First, we have absolutely no evidence that the Westminster murders originated with Islamic State. They claim responsibility for every horror, but on this occasion they were as wrong about the name of the culprit as Channel 4 News.

Surely, if they'd ordered it, they would have known who had done it?

As I have pointed out so many times before, many of these actions are committed by criminal misfits with long histories of theft, petty violence and drug abuse.

The Nice killer, a drunkard and drug-abuser who never went near a mosque, was one such. The Berlin truck-driver was an arsonist, thief and bar-brawler. The Westminster killer was another lowlife jailbird, who had been in prison three times for (among other things) stabbing a man in the face. He had several other convictions, but Scotland Yard inexplicably refuses to tell me what they were.

A former school friend says he began to go downhill after he started smoking cannabis in his teens. Even if he gave up later, cannabis is linked to long-term, lingering mental illness.

He is also said by some who knew him to have been a bodybuilder, so he may have been taking steroids  these powerful mood-influencing drugs were also used by the Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Breivik, the rampage killer Raoul Moat, and the Orlando mass-killer Omar Mateen. I doubt we'll ever know, since the authorities, obsessed with finding links to a bearded supremo in an eastern cave, are almost totally uninterested in the amazingly strong correlation between mind-altering drugs and crazed violence, and so don't find out.

Workmen fence off floral tributes in Parliament Square, following the attack in Westminster earlier in the week

Why is this? Partly it's because dogmatic neo-conservatives and 'security' lobbyists make a good living out of exaggerating the genuine but limited Islamist threat. Partly it's because our elite is full (for some reason) of sympathisers with drug legalisation, who are on the edge of success  and really don't want the world to realise just how dangerous these drugs really are.

Whatever the reason, those who don't take the trouble to study such events with an open mind are doomed to undergo them again.

A film that might just teach us something

On a long-ago childhood holiday in Jersey, I was astonished to learn that part of our country had been under Nazi occupation, because we were too weak to defend it. Worse, some of the inhabitants had behaved just as badly as in the rest of Europe.

I am glad that the film Another Mother's Son will make more people aware of this grim episode. It might mean that fewer British people sneer loftily at the French for what they suffered. It might even mean they once again take our neglected defence seriously.

The hypocrisy behind so-tough Theresa

Does the Prime Minister actually think about what she says? On Wednesday, just after noon, she told the House of Commons: 'I would like to express my condolences to the family and colleagues of the former Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness.'

Standing in the same place less than 24 hours later, she said: 'We are not afraid, and our resolve will never waver in the face of terrorism.' And on the same day, James Brokenshire, her Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, attended the funeral of Mr McGuinness. I will try to be unemotional here.

Mr McGuinness was beyond doubt one of the heads of Europe's most successful terrorist murder gangs. We cannot know what he may have done with his own hands, but we do know that he repeatedly ordered the killings of others. There is little doubt that he also approved acts of torture and kidnapping. He did this for many years.

He did not stop doing so because he was sorry. Nor was he defeated. Delude yourself as much as you like, the widowmaker McGuinness was the conqueror of Britain. It is our army that went home. It was our surveillance equipment that was dismantled on IRA orders. The IRA kept their guns. We were the ones who had to disband the Royal Ulster Constabulary and its devastatingly effective Special Branch, because the IRA hated them. It was we, the vanquished side, who released scores of gruesome terrorists from just jail sentences.

On Wednesday, just after noon, Prime Minister Theresa May (pictured) told the House of Commons: 'I would like to express my condolences to the family and colleagues of the former Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness'

It was we, the losers, who granted a de facto amnesty to any such killers we had not yet caught. It was we, the beaten, surrendered side, who had to remove the symbols of our former power, the Union Flag and the Crown of St Edward, from cap badges, flagpoles, official buildings and documents. It was we who agreed to pay the widowmaker McGuinness a salary of more than 100,000 a year, much of which he handed over to 'the movement'. Why, we even forced the poor Queen to smile at him.

In the end, as we have agreed, we will also hand over a large piece of our sovereign territory to a foreign power. What sort of idiot calls this victory?

McGuinness was aided in this by the US President Bill Clinton, who happily travelled to this terrorist killer's funeral. This is a piece of history I witnessed personally: Mr Clinton, trying to win back Roman Catholic working-class voters disgusted by his views on abortion, took money and backing from Irish America.

And when they came and demanded payback for their help, he kicked Britain in the stomach and welcomed Sinn Fein into the White House. And the British Government, seeing which way the wind was blowing, wavered in the face of terrorism. My, how it wavered.

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Just 24 hours after the murderous attack launched against them, Britains MPs delivered the perfect response.

Not through the formal statements by the Prime Minister and other members  measured and moving though they were  but in the session on international trade that preceded it.

Could the Minister give a commitment our embassies would assist in showcasing great British beers around the world, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox was asked.

This week, the House of Commons will steel itself, then return to business. And not just any business, but the issue that will define Britains destiny for the rest of this century  the triggering of Article 50

Oh yes, he could promise to take a close personal interest, he responded. The assembled members laughed. And as they did so they collectively raised two fingers to the men of terror.

This week, the House of Commons will steel itself, then return to business. And not just any business, but the issue that will define Britains destiny for the rest of this century  the triggering of Article 50.

There will be little fanfare. No banners will flutter or trumpets blare as we cross our Rubicon. Instead, a letter will be delivered to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, followed by a simple address by Theresa May to Parliament.

Could the Minister give a commitment our embassies would assist in showcasing great British beers around the world, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox was asked. Oh yes, he could promise to take a close personal interest, he responded. The assembled members laughed

An understated  some might say quintessentially British  way of marking the end of 44 years of union.

It has been described by some  me included  as a great leap in the dark. But we have been deluding ourselves. A leap in the dark at least holds out the hope of a soft landing. And as things stand, we are heading, eyes wide open, for the jagged rocks.

Those who campaigned for Brexit have been proved right about many things. They accurately judged the mood of the nation.

They correctly identified how claims by the Remain camp of an instant economic implosion were hyperbolic. They have successfully outflanked the numerous attempts by opponents to delay and disrupt the timetable for withdrawal.

When Mrs May says no deal is better than a bad deal she doesnt mean a word of it. She is fully aware of the impact of crashing out of the EU straight to World Trade Organisation terms

Actually, they have been actively assisted by those opponents. Since Brexit, the Remain campaign have become a rabble. Their numerous rebellions have been routed. Their demands have become confused and contradictory.

Do they respect the judgment of the British people, or do they think the public have been duped? Is single-market membership the political priority, or is it reflecting the publics clear repudiation of free movement?

So yes, the Brexiteers have skilfully milked their triumph of June 2016. But now they, and the rest of us, are about to collide with reality.

Its entirely conceivable that a soft Brexit, in which Britain maintains many of our existing EU trading and regulatory relationships, could be made to work.

Its even possible that, with a bit of luck and skilful negotiation, a hard Brexit, involving a much looser trading framework, could also be sustainable.

But when Article 50 is triggered on Wednesday, it will propel us not towards a soft Brexit or a hard Brexit, but a Kamikaze Brexit.

There is no model of Brexit  not hard, not soft, not manly but tender Brexit  that can be constructed without some compromise between the UK and our European partners. It is a prerequisite for the sort of clean and orderly withdrawal that business and the financial markets require.

But the architects of Brexit will not countenance such a compromise. For them, that equals betrayal. Indeed, the thought of compromise was what drove them with such ferocity towards Brexit in the first place.

When Mrs May says no deal is better than a bad deal she doesnt mean a word of it. She is fully aware of the impact of crashing out of the EU straight to World Trade Organisation terms. Its just a bargaining position  and a perfectly legitimate one.

But to the Brexit ultras on her backbenches, its not a negotiating stance but an article of faith.

To them, no deal is not better than a bad deal, it is the deal. It is the best way  the only way  to fully and finally satiate their anti-European lust. Via the sweet, sensuous taste of pure Brexit.

Less than a year ago, 84 of her backbenchers voted for Andrea Leadsom to be Prime Minister

Obviously not all Brexit supporters take such a fundamentalist view. But enough do. Mrs May has a majority of 14.

Less than a year ago, 84 of her backbenchers voted for Andrea Leadsom to be Prime Minister.

The same people who wanted Ms Leadsom to have her finger on the nuclear button now enjoy an effective veto over the Brexit negotiations.

We know how they will wield it. There is no need to gaze into the crystal ball. Just ask John Major or David Cameron what happens when the Conservatives Eurosceptic wing feels the hand of history on its shoulder.

Theyre just waiting to pounce, one Minister confirmed to me.

So there will be no leap into the dark. The issue is not in doubt. By her stubborn refusal to call an early Election  and secure the enhanced majority that would allow her to maintain control of the negotiations  Mrs May has sealed her fate.

And ours. On Wednesday we will jump, and we will fall. Kamikaze Brexit beckons. There is no prospect of a soft landing.

Jezza aid takes a paper pasting

Labours rebels are switching tactics. After a period of sitting back and allowing Jeremy Corbyn to fail on his own terms, they are preparing to ramp up the pressure on his inner circle  and in particular his communications director Seumas Milne.

Milnes been hiding in the shadows for too long, a Labour MP informs me. Its time to flush him out.

This process began last week at an acrimonious meeting of the Labour Parliamentary Party, where MPs and peers directly confronted Milne over his role in a series of briefings against Labour deputy leader Tom Watson.

Labour's rebels are preparing to ramp up the pressure on Jeremy Corbyn's inner circle, particularly his communications director Seumas Milne

In stormy scenes, former whip Lord Watts accused Milne of being a disgrace, which led to Milne threatening to put in a formal complaint.

Milne then claimed Shadow Defence Minister Wayne David had attacked him after being struck on the arm with an order paper.

Hed better get used to it, another MP warns. Were going to start turning up the heat.

Oh, brother!
Every time I think of Hugh Owens, the mushroom magnate who keeps denying his wife, Tini, a divorce, I think of those men who keep women entombed in hidey-holes in dank basements.

Like them, Mr Owens is using all his fading power to keep a woman from breathing the sweet air of the freedom she craves.

Instead of relying on actual imprisonment, though, Owens is engaged in an extraordinary effort to prevent the woman who has already left him emotionally and physically from leaving him contractually, too. And his repeated success in this crazed aim proves beyond doubt that the law when it comes to the state of our unions is old and rotten. But first, to recap.

Tini Owens, 66, is trying to divorce husband Hugh Owens

Last week, three Appeal Court justices upheld the verdict of a judge that even though Mrs Owens was trapped in a loveless and desperately unhappy marriage, sorry, Madam: this was not grounds for divorce.

What we can take away from this is sobering. Mr Owenss shocking treatment of his spouse is enabled by outdated statute.

While her grounds for claiming unreasonable behaviour lacked beef and were anodyne, the judges ruled, her 78-year-old husbands contention that the couple  who have been married for four decades  still had a few years left to enjoy together mystifyingly held water. The upshot of two court cases is that Mrs Owens, 66, must remain the locked-in wife.

Leaving aside the Owenses for a sec, what all this reveals is that there are three of us in all our marriages: husband, wife, and the State. You cant marry without the permission of the State  and you cant divorce without the permission of the State. This reach into our personal lives would be OK if our laws kept pace with change.

In my lifetime, weve had civil partnerships, weve had gay marriage, weve had an app called Splitsville, and divorce hotels in the US, where married couples can check in on Friday and leave on Sunday massaged, pampered and divorced. Yet we dont have modern family laws at all  nothing has changed since the Divorce Reform Act of 1969.

If we want to divorce, we still have to blame our spouse, and prove fault. This isnt just bad for the Mrs Owens of the world, whose other halves contest the divorce and demand that wedlock means padlock (last year there were 113,996 petitions for divorce, of which 2,600 were contested).

Its also bad for cohabiting, unmarried couples, the fastest-growing type of family in the UK, who have scant legal rights at all.

The lead justice, to his credit, knew this was wrong, and, in his judgment, almost begged Mr Owens to reconsider his position and relent and consent to a divorce as his wife was in a very unhappy situation.

And I do hope that he does. For until that moment, Mrs Owens is like a bug thats crawled into those vermin-control boxes you get in America called Roach Motels. She checked in, but she cant check out  not until 2020, when the couple will have been separated for the full five years demanded by law. Only then can she walk free.

The justice also defended himself by saying he didnt write the law, he applied it, and hospital-passed responsibility for the whole mess to MPs. He said Parliament must hurry up and bring in no-fault, divorce-on-demand soon.

Well, as it happened, Parliament had the chance to do just that last month but MPs swerved, on the grounds that making divorce any easier is a hot political potato. Which is not cool.

We cant call ourselves a civilised country  as so many did last week  and have such awful divorce laws that oppress some, neglect others and shame us all.

Theresa May did us proud last week, so I feel hesitant about pointing out the howler in her interview with US Vogue.

It might be the fault of the American publication and photographer, but no sensible Englishwoman, even a premier noted for her fancy footwear, would go for a walk  as the picture caption stated  in pointy patent leather boots.

Muddy wellingtons: always. Over the knee kinky boots: never!

Act like a real star Gwynnie and get some coffee cake down you

Gwyneth Paltrow, right, a purebred blonde who subsists on goats milk alone, has been put back in her box by our own Joan Collins, who says Ms Paltrows goats milk cleanse is a fad and clean eating is silly.

Then Miss Collins revealed she starts her day, as all normal people do, with a mug of builders followed by two cups of proper coffee. Game, set and match to Alexis, Gwynnie.

PS: I once invited Miss Collins to tea. She put in so much sugar the teaspoon almost stood up, and laid about the coffee and walnut cake (3.99 from Tesco) as if she hadnt eaten for a week. Our kind of gal.

Kate tells the world: I'm a PROPER mum

The Duchess of Cambridge used the launch of a mental health project to admit that even she found motherhood exhausting.

Reading between the lines, this is Kate reassuring the nation that, although she has support at home that most do not, shes no remote presence.

Indeed, shes a hands-on, full-time mum, who fits in Royal duties between Prince Georges new school run to Thomass, Battersea (oops  why not a first school within walking distance of Kensington Palace?) and Charlottes tumble tots.

What a relaxed and positive message about regal motherhood. Happy Mothers Day!
A social media uproar over a painting depicting lynching victim Emmett Till has led to protests and a viral hoax looking to have the artwork removed.

The painting, entitled Open Casket by Dana Schutz, is currently on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and is causing quite the stir among the art community.

The work depicts the disfigured corpse of 14-year-old Emmett Till, who was murdered on August 28, 1955. His death, and the photograph of his badly beaten body has become synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement.

Sparking fury: Open Casket by Dana Schutz, a work on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, has become the subject of controversy

Standing up: Black artist Parker Bright recently staged a week-long protest of the painting

Schutz's painting of the young victim was recently the subject of a week-long protest by black artist Parker Bright, who spent several days standing in front of it at the Whitney.

He documented his stand in a Facebook Live video that saw him approach the artwork and reveal his T-shirt to read 'lynch mobs' with a cross through it.

He also discussed his views with those around him on camera, explaining that he didn't believe that Schutz, who is white, could speak to the pain of black people.

'Schutz doesn't have the privilege to speak for the black people as a whole or for Emmett Till's family,' he said in the video.

Under fire: Bright claimed that artist Schutz (right) doesn't have the privilege to speak for the black people as a whole or for Emmett Till's family'

Famous face: Emmett Till was murdered on August 28, 1955, aged 14, and has since become a Civil Rights icon

The painting has since inspired a number of other think pieces, as well as an open letter by artist and writer Hannah Black - which has since been removed - that was co-signed by 47 other artists asking for the painting's removal.

Many blasted Schutz for 'profiting' off of the pain of African Americans.

However, Schutz has since responded to the backlash, explaining that the work 'was never and is not for sale'.

She added that the painting is 'not a rendering of the photograph but is more an engagement with the loss.'

In the statement to NBCBLK, she added that she not only understood the outrage but, in fact, welcomed it.

Doing the trick: In response to the criticism, Dana said that she understood the backlash and said she doesn't object 'to people questioning the work or even my right to make it'

'Till's photograph was a sacred image of the Civil Rights movement and I am a white woman. I did not take making this painting lightly,' she said.

'I don't object to people questioning the work or even my right to make it. There has to be an open discussion.'

She claimed that the painting was inspired by the violence against black men committed by law enforcement over the summer in 2016, saying that Emmett's story is relevant to the times.

Despite the controversy, the curators of the Whitney Biennial have expressed their intention to leave the painting where it as, as well as defended their decision to feature it, calling it an 'unsettling image that speaks to the long-standing violence that has been inflicted upon African Americans.'
An Egyptian prosecution has ordered a four-day detention of a 35-year-old man pending investigation into allegations that he raped a 20-month-old child in the Nile Delta governorate of Daqahliya, a case that has sparked anger in the country over the weekend, the child's lawyer Reda El-Danbouki said on Sunday.



According to investigations, the suspect, who was the victim's neighbour, kidnapped the child on Friday as she was playing in front of her house in Belqas village, taking her to a secluded area and raping her.

The child was later found by residents and taken to Belqas Central Hospital, where she received emergency surgery for vaginal bleeding.

According to the lawyer, the child was discharged from the hospital on Sunday to be examined by medical examiners ahead of a report to be submitted to the prosecution.

The suspect was arrested by police on the same day and has confessed to the crime.

"The defendant was previously a suspect in a murder case, and neighbours say he suffered from a sexual obsession," El-Danbouki told Ahram Online.

Shortly after the incident, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported that residents of the village attempted to burn down the house of the suspect, who lives alone.

"I still can't believe it. The child's mother is in shock, and we will do our best to ensure the suspect gets the death penalty," the lawyer said.

On Saturday, the National Council of Women's Daqahliya branch issued a statement calling for the maximum penalty against the defendant, with the council set to hold a meeting to discuss providing aid to the child and her family.

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Last year a pair of models and best friends made headlines news with their incredible tale of a selfless surrogacy followed by a second miraculous pregnancy.

But it has been months since Rosie Luik, 32, and Lauren Lichtnauer, 37, have spoken a word to each other, it has been revealed.

The women's incredible story became known after they both appeared on 60 Minutes in May 2016.

Rosie revealed that she decided to have her best friend's baby in 2011 after watching Lauren go through 21 unsuccessful IVF treatments and four miscarriages.

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Rosie Luik, 32, (left) and Lauren Lichtnauer, 37, (right) were best friends with an incredible story - Rosie acted as a surrogate for Lauren after she had 21 unsuccessful IVF attempts

The women made headlines when they shared their touching story on 60 Minutes last year (pictured). But Lauren has now revealed that they haven't spoken since the segment aired

'I just blurted it out, I said, "Look, we'll discuss it later, but basically I'm going to have your baby,"' she told 60 Minutes at the time.

'I knew I was good at it. I'd had three babies. I had never had a complication. I just wanted to help Lauren.'

Lauren admitted at the time that she was amazed at her best friend's selflessness, but that there was a part of her that couldn't help but feel jealous.

'As much as I love Rosie and loved her then there was part of me that would look at her and secretly hate her,' she candidly revealed in the interview.

The pair's story only became even more incredible when, in a twist of fate, Lauren fell pregnant just weeks before Rosie was due to give birth to the twins, Amelia and Saskia.

At the time, the women said the entire experience had only brought them closer.

Lauren claims that Rosie blocked her from social media and began talking to other news outlets about the surrogacy without her best friend

Lauren said she felt Rosie was 'using the girls' in order to try and boost her own publicity

She believes that Rosie has been using the best friends' story to promote her own steadily rising modelling career

'Seeing my best friend's face when [the girls] were placed in her arms was just magical,' Rosie said. 'And it's something I will never forget.'

But Lauren is now claiming that 'forget' is exactly what Rosie did after the interview aired, alleging that the Brisbane model completely cut her off and blocked her from social media.

Lauren, now a mother of six, said she and Rosie had agreed to interviews together but that her friend soon abandoned the promise.

'She started to talk to various news outlets about the surrogacy and promoted her modeling,' Lauren told The Courier Mail.

'I wasn't happy about her using the girls to do that.'

Lauren believes that Rosie has been using the best friends' story to promote her own steadily rising modelling career, even calling her an 'attention seeker'.

Rosie has refused to comment on Lauren's allegations, telling Daily Mail Australia her focus was on 'inspiring other women and mothers step out of their comfort zones'

Rosie (pictured with one of her daughters) has found incredible success as a model despite her late entrance into the industry, even landing a gig with Beyond Coconut Water

Rosie did not want to comment on Lauren's allegations.

'I am not interested in commenting on this story,' she told Daily Mail Australia in a statement.

'I am all about inspiring other women and mothers to step out of their comfort zone and achieve their goals while also having women support each other.'

Rosie has found incredible success as a model despite her late entrance into the industry.

She was inspired to pursue her childhood dream after nearly losing her life.

The model revealed in interviews that, after delivering Amelia and Saskia, she contracted an infection that resurfaced after giving birth to her fourth child.

Rosie had to have a hysterectomy and then developed peritonitis, an infection of the stomach organs that can be life-threatening.

The mother-of-four is also the Australian ambassador for Britney Spears' lingerie line

Meanwhile, Lauren (pictured with one of her twins) has legally changed her family's surname to Hartwin to further separate herself from the story that first made her and Rosie famous

The mum-of-four had to be hospitalised for three months as she fought for her life, the infection so severe at one point her husband was warned she might not survive.

It was an experience that Rosie later said pushed her to follow her childhood dreams to become a model.

She has since landed a number of major projects, including Beyond Coconut Water.

Rosie is also currently the Australian ambassador for Britney Spears' lingerie line, Intimate Britney Spears.

Meanwhile, Lauren has legally changed her family's surname to Hartwin to further separate herself from the story that first made her and Rosie famous.

She is also currently working as a freelance model.
Frederick Hervey, the 8th Marquess of Bristol, can claim a heritage so calamitous it puts other disreputable lineages firmly in the shade. Pictured with sister Lady Victoria Hervey

Scandals have long been as much of a feature of certain aristocratic families as grand titles and vast, crumbling houses.

Yet Frederick Hervey, the 8th Marquess of Bristol, can claim a heritage so calamitous it puts other disreputable lineages firmly in the shade.

His father Victor, a playboy known as The Reptile, was married three times, went to jail for jewel theft, and briefly found employment as an arms dealer.

His half-brother, John, squandered 30 million on drugs and high living, lost the family seat, Ickworth House in Suffolk, and died at just 44. Another half-brother, Lord Nicholas Hervey, hanged himself after battling drugs and depression.

Then there are Fredericks sisters, Lady Victoria and Lady Isabella, who became It Girls in the 2000s largely due to Victorias penchant for nipple-flashing  on yachts, in mens magazines and somehow by accident while attending elegant soirees.

They cashed in by providing downmarket shows such as Celebrity Love Island with an incongruous injection of posh totty.

So perhaps its unsurprising that Frederick, or Fred as he is known, is somewhat wary about discussing his notorious relatives  even though he is without so much as a hint of his forefathers infamous dissolution. Smartly turned out in a crisp navy suit, with impeccable manners and an obviously sharp brain, he chooses his words carefully for this, his first proper interview.

Rather than lambast his brother John  whom Lady Victoria once described as evil  he seems determined to strike a very forgiving note.

I dont feel anger towards my brother because when youre a drug addict, youre not rationally deciding to do things  something else is controlling you, he says.

For more than 500 years, the Ickworth estate near Bury St Edmunds belonged to the Herveys. They built and demolished two mansions there before

John was a drug addict and shouldnt have been given control of things maybe he shouldnt have had control of. If you take a drug like heroin its a way of blocking your feelings, so it stunts you emotionally, which made him quite child-like.

My mother and John didnt get on, so when I was a child I didnt see him much, but I became close to him later in his life, when I was older. I never knew my father, because he died when I was five, so when I got closer to John it had a huge impact on me.

He was the only male member of the paternal line of my family Ive ever known. By the time I got to know him, he was quite ill and frail, but Id go to stay with him and he was nothing but caring towards me. He made me promise I wouldnt ever try drugs. I kept my promise to him, and never did.

His half-brother, John, squandered 30 million on drugs and high living, lost the family seat, Ickworth House in Suffolk, and died at just 44

Fred, 37, believes the losses he has suffered  first of his father, then Nicholas when he was 18 and John the following year  have made him more determined to make a success of his life.

I dont block out what happened to my family, but I dont dwell on it either, he says. Ive tried to take what meaning I can from it and move on with my life. Having two brothers who died made me very aware of mortality and how finite life is, and it made me want to work hard to achieve things which make a difference.

Like everyone, I have a last name, and while my title is a bit longer than most peoples, it doesnt define me.

Im not burdened by anything. Im not going to be pressured into doing anything just because its expected of me. Im careful to make sure Im leading my life my way.

To that end, Fred has just launched a new business, Brickowner, a platform which allows investors to buy a stake in properties. His fascination with the concept, he admits, stems directly from his familys experiences with building  and losing  property and wealth over the course of generations.

For more than 500 years, the Ickworth estate near Bury St Edmunds belonged to the Herveys. They built and demolished two mansions there before the eccentric 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry built Ickworth House, an Italianate palace with a vast rotunda, in 1795.

In 1956, the house and estate were surrendered to the Treasury in lieu of death duties and handed to the National Trust. A lease enabled the family to live in the East Wing until that too was sold by John to the National Trust for 100,000 in 1996.

As a result, Fred finds himself a Marquess without a manor. So does he feel resentful at being shut out of the family seat?

If youd asked me about Ickworth when I was 20, Id probably have been more upset then, but if youre a healthy person you move on and evolve. One day he would like to return to Suffolk, but for the moment he lives surrounded by oil paintings and heirlooms in a rented flat in Chelsea.

His familys recent history is a complicated business. John was the only son of Victor Hervey, the 6th Marquess of Bristol, and his first wife, Lady Pauline, who divorced when John was four. Victor, briefly a career criminal, was jailed for three years for his part in a robbery. His accomplices were sentenced to lashes with a cat o nine tails .

Fred, 37, (centre) believes the losses he has suffered  first of his father, then Nicholas when he was 18 and John the following year  have made him more determined to make a success of his life

Victor remarried and had a second son, Nicholas. Then in 1974 he was married for a third time to his former secretary, Yvonne Sutton, with whom he had Lady Victoria, Fred and Lady Isabella.

Fred spent his early years in Monaco, where Victor was living as a tax exile until his death in 1985. When Fred was seven his mother and the children returned to live in London, spending their holidays from boarding school in Monaco.

Freds half-brother John, meanwhile, had inherited 4 million and 16,000 acres of farmland and woods after he turned 21.

He gradually spiralled out of control, taking ruinous quantities of cocaine and heroin, sleeping with what he claimed had been 2,000 male prostitutes and flying his helicopter while high on drugs.

Freds half-brother John, meanwhile, had inherited 4 million and 16,000 acres of farmland and woods after he turned 21

John disliked Freds mother Yvonne and tried unsuccessfully to sue Victor after his will named her and her children as the main beneficiaries of his personal wealth (separate from the Bristol estate).

When Fred arrived at Eton he became increasingly aware of the family divisions. Wed all read the newspapers, so Johns problems were difficult to avoid, he says.

It was no great shock when John died in 1999, aged 44, having squandered his fortune. Just 5,000 remained in the estate, which was engulfed by expenses.

To his half-brother and sisters he left little or nothing beyond the title of Marquess, which Fred inherited when he was 19.

I think I was expecting it because of Johns health problems, but his death affected me far more than other members of my immediate family, says Fred. Id spent far more time with him and was much closer to him than my sisters were. Becoming Marquess was something I had to adjust to. As the third son, I hadnt expected to inherit the title. John was quite high profile, so obviously that meant when he died it shoved me into the limelight a bit, too.

His sisters fondness for attention is something Fred does not share. Although supportive of their exploits, he says he never saw any of their reality television appearances. Theyve done what they wanted to do and Ive done my own thing, he says.

His sisters fondness for attention is something Fred does not share. Pictured right, sister Lady Isabella Hervey, who lives in Brussels with husband Christophe De Pauw

Lady Isabella now lives in Brussels with her husband, businessman Christophe De Pauw, and baby, named Victor after their late father. Lady Victoria, who has just written a semi-autobiographical novel entitled Lady In Waiting, has lived in Los Angeles for 14 years. I get on well with them both, says Fred. Were scattered around the world, but when were in the same place we get together with our mother.

After graduating from Edinburgh University, Fred spent seven years living in Estonia, where he managed property investments in the emerging Baltics market.

He views his title as part of him, but not the defining feature.

In my normal day-to-day life Im just Fred, but there are occasions where Im invited because of my title, for example to the Suffolk charities where Ive been asked to be a patron  The Athenaeum in Bury, Friends of West Suffolk Hospital and Friends of the West Suffolk Record Office, where all my familys papers are kept  and if I turned up dressed in jeans and a T-shirt it wouldnt be appropriate.

He is at peace with his familys history and keen to remember his more successful ancestors.

Everyone grabs on to more recent events. There have been ups and downs just like in any family but my history includes people who did interesting, unusual things, too.

Although effectively powerless to reclaim his family seat, in 2005 he started a charity to raise money to refurbish St Marys Church at Ickworth, his familys spiritual home.

Generations of my family are buried there, including my father and my brothers, so I felt a need to restore it, he says. After it was made redundant in 1984 and John bought it, it fell into a very bad state of repair. People had stolen stained glass, there were holes in the roof. There was a painted gold dove on the font cover and someone had even cut that off.

John disliked Freds mother Yvonne and tried unsuccessfully to sue Victor after his will named her and her children as the main beneficiaries of his personal wealth (separate from the Bristol estate). Pictured right leaving court

We raised around 1.2 million and now its open to the public for six religious services a year, and concerts and exhibitions. Im really pleased to have made a difference. If I die tomorrow, its there.

It makes sense, given the Hervey history, that Fred would place more faith in tangible assets such as bricks and mortar than mere cash, which can be frittered away.

It makes sense, given the Hervey history, that Fred would place more faith in tangible assets such as bricks and mortar than mere cash, which can be frittered away. Its this conviction which drives him in Brickowner

Its this conviction which drives him in Brickowner. People with as little as 100 can invest in properties, which will then be looked after by asset managers. Investors will receive monthly dividends and after a year can sell their share.

If you own real assets, you can conserve wealth inter-generationally, but as soon as you liquidate those assets and have cash in the bank, that disappears very quickly, he says.

Ive seen both those things happen in my family, and its what makes me want to help people own stakes in property  for instance, those who cant afford to get on to the housing ladder.

Theres a link back to the building my family did in the past, but this is a modern day version of working with property. I think it will help people, and thats what Im driven to do.

Fred has an American girlfriend, Melissa, and hopes one day to marry, have children and move back to the Ickworth area.

I feel such a strong link to it, he says. Id love to build my own house there  thats my dream.

With luck it would have more solid foundations than the recent past, at least.


Pregnant Helen Skelton has revealed how complications she suffered giving birth to her first son have made her 'more nervous' about going into labour with her second child.

The Countryfile presenter, who lives in the south of France with her rugby player husband Richie Myler, said she saw first-hand how 'stuff goes wrong', after her son Ernie was delivered in a water bath with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.

The couple, whose second baby is due this spring, are also planning a more traditional labour after the complications with Ernie's holistic birth.

Complications: Helen revealed how son Ernie was delivered in a water bath with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Pictured, Helen and husband Richie with Ernie, now one

Expecting! The couple announced their news in this touching Instagram post last September

Labour fears: The former Blue Peter presenter admitted she was 'more nervous this time'

Speaking to the Sunday Express' S Magazine, Helen said: 'With Ernie, I was all about the pain-free birth in the water with aromatherapy, but life teaches you a few things.

'I've had friends who've had awful situations and my little boy's cord was round his neck, so I'm a bit more realistic that it is a big deal and stuff does go wrong, so I'm more nervous this time.

'And last time I left it too late for any pain relief, but you don't win any medals for that so I'll be asking for the drugs very early on.'

Former Blue Peter presenter Helen, 33, and Richie, 26, tied the knot in Cumbria in December 2013, at Kirkby Thore's St Michael's church in her childhood village, near Penrith.

Ernie was born in Britain in June 2015. Their second child will be born in the French city of Perpignan, where Richie plays rugby for Super League team the Catalans Dragons.

Helen and Ernie made headlines earlier this year when she was asked to take the toddler home from his first day of playgroup after just 20 minutes when he 'screamed the place down'

Speaking to MailOnline last month, Helen revealed how Ernie was still a little confused about becoming a big brother.

'I don't think he really understands,' she said. 'Everyone keeps asking him where the baby is and he points to himself.'

Helen and Ernie made headlines earlier this year when she was asked to take the toddler home from his first day of playgroup after just 20 minutes when he 'screamed the place down'.

Shortly afterwards the 33-year-old shared the 'worst day of her parenting life' in a candid tweet to her 116,000 followers. Within hours the post had gone viral as it struck a chord with mothers around the world.
Advertisement

The fashions and landscapes might change, but these charming photos prove a mother's love is constant.

Celebrating Mother's Day, the collection of black-and-white images captures mothers with their children in cities and towns across the UK from the 1890s onwards.They show families spending time together in parks, at the beach, or running errands in town - the same activities we enjoy today.

The oldest photograph, dating back to 1890, shows a mother and her three children on the way to fetch water across the rugged landscape of Haverfordwest, in Pembrokeshire.

The images document from the turn of the century to the 1960s, when mothers are seen relaxing with their children by the seaside and strolling with their pushchairs through city streets.

They are all taken from the Francis Frith Collection, whose 300,000 images offer a fascinating snapshot of how we used to live.

1890: A mother and her children fetch the water against the stunning rural landscape of Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire

1890: A mother and her three daughters, all wearing feminine dresses for a day out, stop for a photo in Barnstaple, Devon

1900: With expert skill, a mother lowers a pram onto bustling Southgate Street, in Gloucester, as a young girl follows behind

1906: A family dressed in matching wide-brimmed hats and summer whites are captured on a shopping trip in Reigate, Surrey

1906: A mother and her five young children relax on the front porch outside their home in the village of Boscastle, Cornwall

1906: Two young girls hold hands for a photo as they join their mothers on a shopping trip in Boscastle, Cornwall

1908: Two young women dressed in blouses, long skirts and floral hats, take an infant for a walk in Romford, east London

1908: The path around the pond is filled with women pushing strollers in this photograph taken in Romford, east London

1910: A mother cradles her child to her chest as they cross the River Avon from the mill at Cropthorne, in Worcestershire

1919: Surrounded by pretty flowerbeds, a mother and her daughter take a doll in a pushchair for a stroll in Chelmsford, Essex

1921: Admiring the view, a mother and child sit together on a grassy slope by the side of a path in Frinton-on-Sea, in Essex

1923: Making the most of the warm weather, two women push prams along the promenade in Sandown, on the Isle of Wight

1950: Mothers chat as they push their children down the high street on a sunny day in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire

1952: A mother and her toddler daughter smile as they leave the post office in Hixon, Staffordshire

1955: A patient mother watches over her daughter as she builds a sandcastle on the beach in Trusthorpe, Lincolnshire

1960: Dressed in feminine sundresses, mothers meet for a children's playdate at the seaside in East Wittering, West Sussex
Hundreds of thousands of women with a painful womb condition are left to cope without specialised care and are often dismissed as imagining their symptoms, a report says.

Some 40 per cent of those with endometriosis  a chronic condition suffered by two million in Britain  have to visit their GP ten times before they are referred to a specialist, it reveals.

For 10 per cent of women it takes 15 years of seeking help to receive a diagnosis, according to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Womens Health.

Hundreds of thousands of women with a painful womb condition are left to cope without specialised care

Todays 51-page report, based on interviews with 2,600 women who have suffered with endometriosis or fibroids, reveal many doctors do not take their complaints seriously.

Endometriosis arises when cells normally found in the womb lining attach themselves to other parts of the pelvic area, causing scar tissue, pain and inflammation.

Fibroids are non-cancerous growths that develop in or around the uterus.

Women are often told the problem is all in the head or that their symptoms are just period pain, the MPs say.

Others are wrongly told the only treatment option is to have a hysterectomy, removing their womb and ending their chance of having children. Paula Sherriff, the MP for Dewsbury who chairs the all-party group, said: The treatment women are receiving is outrageous.

One affected woman told the reports authors: I was dismissed by my GP so many times over so many years that I started to even doubt myself. I felt like I was going crazy because no one would take me seriously. Another said: The first GP I saw fobbed me off, saying periods are painful  at this point I was passing out due to pain.

Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff said the treatment women receive is 'outrageous'

A third woman said: I was often made to feel it was all in my head and that my symptoms were caused by stress and irritable bowel syndrome. One in ten women of childbearing age suffer from endometriosis. NHS guidelines say anyone suspected of having the condition should be considered for referral to a gynaecologist. The guidance specifically states that any woman who asks for a referral should be given one.

The condition can be managed with hormone medication or by surgically removing endometrial tissue. A more drastic option is to have a hysterectomy  a procedure undertaken by 29,000 women a year.

But the report says too many are told to take this path without considering other options.

Miss Sherriff said: The statistics in this report show that women are all too often dismissed by healthcare professionals when discussing their symptoms and choices.

The fact that almost 50 per cent of women did not feel that they were treated with dignity and respect is appalling.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, of the Royal College of GPs, said: GPs often find themselves in an incredibly difficult position as the symptoms are so broad, and some are similar to other conditions, and so can only refer if they are sure endometriosis might be the underlying cause, or else secondary care would be unable to cope with demand.

NHS England said: The NHS takes womens health and satisfaction with services provided extremely seriously, and will carefully consider the report.
A comment article on 27 July (Vile slurs about Prince George and the sheer nastiness of our new Leftist elite) incorrectly claimed that British Council manager Angela Gibbins was a foul mouthed Internet troll who had written an abusive Facebook post about 3 year old Prince George, in which she described him as a F****** D***head. In fact Ms Gibbins had only made comments about children and privilege in a sub-thread conversation with friends. We accept that Ms Gibbins did not make the abusive comment, support it or use abusive language of any kind. We apologise for suggesting otherwise.

If you wish to report an inaccuracy, please email corrections@dailymail. co.uk. To make a formal complaint under IPSO rules go to www. dailymail.co.uk/readerseditor. You can also write to Readers' Editor, Daily Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or contact IPSO directly at ipso.co.uk
According to author and marital therapist Andrew G Marshall, how women behave with their mother in childhood sets the pattern for their future relationships. So are you a Doer, a Stickler, or a Coddled Child? And what impact is it having on you and your partner? Read on to find out...

THE BEST PAL

When you were a child, your lovely, supportive mum always told you how wonderful you were  perhaps you were even her favourite. Today, you hang out together, borrow each others clothes and she comes to all your parties.

The 'best pal' shares clothes with her mum and will happily bring her along to a party

Impact on relationships This level of closeness with your mother can make it difficult to be your own person. You may be hooked on approval and pleasing people. No wonder you often agree to things you dont want to do  or say yes to someones face, then have to wriggle out of an arrangement later. You will often feel torn between pleasing your mother and your partner: she probably has strong opinions about his behaviour; he doubtless thinks shes round at your house far too much.

The solution Remember, its always OK to say no or to disagree. In fact, your partner might find honesty refreshing because hell know where he stands. Once your true opinions are out in the open, the two of you will be able to negotiate and either find a healthy compromise or do a deal (Ill pick up the kids if you stop off at the supermarket).

It is impossible to be perfect, and running yourself down for every shortfall doesnt help

THE STICKLER

Growing up, you felt under pressure to get everything right at home and to achieve top grades at school. Perhaps your mother was ill or unstable and you didnt want to rock the boat at home. Maybe she had a sharp tongue and it was easier to toe the line than risk her criticism.

Impact on relationships Youre always thinking two or three steps ahead in order to spot potential problems and to circumvent them. Unfortunately, this keeps you permanently on edge and when things dont go to plan you explode  often out of all proportion. You find it hard to tolerate your partner being anything other than at the top of his game, and the result is that you are often highly critical.

The solution Start by being compassionate with yourself. It is impossible to be perfect, and running yourself down for every shortfall doesnt help. If you can cut yourself some slack, your overall anxiety level will drop. It will also make life easier for your partner because youll be less snappy and less likely to hold him to your exacting standards.

THE REBEL

While some daughters will do anything to keep the peace, you went in the opposite direction and sometimes deliberately rebelled  perhaps against a controlling or unpredictable mother  to provoke a row. This meant you were probably blamed for things that werent your fault so you have grown up with the sense that youre a constant disappointment.

'Rebel' daughters often grow up with a sense that they're a disappointment, which can result in defensiveness in romantic relationships

Impact on relationships You are easily triggered to anger or tears: sometimes by what other people see as small things. What your partner doesnt understand is that a fairly innocent comment such as, I wouldnt do it that way, is given extra power because it echoes something your mother used to say. Furthermore, youre so used to criticism that you probably hear it when none is intended. For example, your husband might say of someone he met at work or at a party, I found her interesting, but you will hear, I dont find you interesting.

The solution Rather than automatically being defensive or going on the attack when your partner says something you think is critical, double check that youve drawn the right conclusion  for example, ask, Did you say you find me boring? In this way, youll go into battle only when its really necessary. If you deal with small issues as they happen (rather than muttering under your breath), you will find it easier to keep a sense of proportion because youll not be carrying a load of unresolved niggles.

If you felt rejected or abandoned as a child, deep down you will feel that there is something wrong with you

THE ORPHAN

For whatever reason, you have little or no relationship with your mother. Perhaps she died when you were young, or had postnatal depression when you were born and wasnt able to bond with you properly. Or maybe a catastrophic row has left the two of you estranged. Either way, you probably feel motherless.

Impact on relationships You find it hard to trust people. You have only a handful of close friends and when your faith in someone is lost it is almost impossible for them to win it back. You expect to be let down (and may even get a perverse pleasure when it happens). No wonder youve built a wall round yourself for protection. Unfortunately, this can make it hard to find a partner.

The solution If you felt rejected or abandoned as a child, deep down you will feel that there is something wrong with you. Think about the message that you understood from your mother. For example, Everybody I love leaves me: you will find that this is the lens through which you have filtered your life. Step back and challenge that childhood message with adult eyes because it is probably distorted or inaccurate.

You and your mother are constantly bickering because you are so different

THE BLACK SHEEP

You and your mother are constantly bickering because you are so different. You may have chosen a career that is inexplicable to her, or perhaps your politics are diametrically opposed. Occasionally, you even wonder if there was a mix-up at the hospital and you went home with the wrong mother.

Impact on relationships Now you are a grown-up, you have found people who understand you. However, when you have to mix in unfamiliar situations  such as starting a new job  you will still worry about fitting in. You are likely to have married someone who is different to you  from another culture, or there is an age gap. When youre stressed or tired, youll probably find aspects of his family or him a bit weird. You will suddenly find the childhood roles between you and your mother reversed  now youre the one finding yourself at odds with someone else.

The solution If you come from different backgrounds, try building a bridge by saying, In my family, we did it this way, how did you do it in your family? When we love someone it is easy to make assumptions, but this is one of the top causes of relationship unhappiness. So instead of jumping to conclusions  You fell asleep on the sofa because it was easier than talking to me  ask an open question: Why did you nod off?

THE CODDLED CHILD

Youre the one whose mother is always ready to help. She will come round and wait for tradesmen while youre at work  and leave a pile of freshly ironed clothes on your bed while shes at it. When you were at university, she read books on your reading list so you could discuss your essays together. Even though you are now a grown-up, shes still constantly bailing you out.

You hold potential partners at arms length because youre worried that, like your mother, they will take over

Impact on relationships You suffer from learned helplessness. You will either be dependent on your partner for practical things  motorway driving or dealing with authority figures such as your childrens headteacher  or dump your bad moods on him because you expect him to make everything better. Alternatively, you hold potential partners at arms length because youre worried that, like your mother, they will take over.

The solution Identify a responsibility that you could take on yourself, such as unblocking the sink  youll be amazed by the boost to your self-esteem. Discuss with your partner whether he feels overloaded and look for a more equitable balance between the two of you. If youre single, spotting your fear of being swallowed up is half the battle to solving it; next time a potential boyfriend appears to be moving in on you, remind yourself, He is not my mother. If that doesnt work, you probably need to put up a boundary; for example: A summer holiday together sounds great but lets start with a weekend away.

THE DOER

You have a perfectly amicable relationship with your mother but there are no girly shopping trips and any phone calls are about practical things rather than pouring out your heart. Your bond is pragmatic: you know she loves you even if she never says it.

As a 'doer' your bond with your mother is a pragmatic one: you know she loves you even if she never says it

Impact on relationships You may be more concerned about crossing chores off your list than having fun with your partner. Your family didnt really do feelings when you were growing up, so you will not be particularly aware of yours  or perhaps you keep busy to distract yourself from them. Thats fine in the short or medium term but when you reach your middle years, you may wonder Whats the point? Beware of sliding from feeling flat into low-level depression.

The solution Make a conscious effort to be more romantic with your partner. Book a weekend away without the children. Hold hands or take a bubble bath together. If your husband starts messing around, or asks for a cuddle, your first reaction might be, I must tidy the kitchen, but push that thought away and join in. You will be amazed at the positive reaction it will get from him and how five minutes of silliness will improve your love life.

You might still be single because no man can measure up to your father

THE DADDY'S GIRL

If your work colleagues overheard you on the phone, laughing at your fathers jokes, they would probably think he was your new man. Youre much closer to your dad than your mum  and your bond with her is suffering.

Impact on relationships Youre probably a mans woman, and find your friendships with women compromised because you ignore them when there is a man to impress. You might still be single because no man can measure up to your father. If you are married, your husband may feel emasculated  especially if youre always running to Daddy for money.

The solution Rebalance your life by cultivating female friendships and spending more one-on-one time with your mother. Put your husband first and listen to his frustrations about your father. If youre single, next time youre tempted to sulk with a potential partner, think, What would an adult do?

HOW TO DEAL WITH A TRICKY MUM

1 Try to understand your mother better and how her childhood impacted on her. Ask about her relationship with her mother. You will discover her behaviour is not only a reaction to you.

2 Write a letter youre not going to send. This is powerful if you no longer speak to your mother. Imagine yourself at a significant year in your childhood and write down everything you were unable to say  it will make you feel lighter and less resentful.

3 Forgive her in your heart. She did her best at the time and what she thought was right.

4 Rather than waiting for her to change, come up with one small thing you could change  for example, count to ten when she says something upsetting.

5 Keep it adult to adult. Instead of falling into old childhood patterns  such as sulking, people pleasing or rebelling  try asking, What did you mean by that? or, Why do we brush each other up the wrong way?

6 Make it extra-special. Tell your mother what you appreciate about her rather than assuming she knows. The more specific the compliment, for example, I love the way you read the childrens bedtime story, the more powerful it is.

Andrew G Marshall is the author of Wake Up and Change Your Life: How To Survive a Crisis and Be Stronger, Wiser and Happier (Marshall Method Publishing, 12.99); andrewgmarshall.com

What mum means to me

KATE WINSLET

Every woman has a mother and every woman will have an issue with things she did or didnt do. It just depends on how you choose to process the lessons that you learned from her.

KATE HUDSON

Ive always had a really super relationship with her [actress Goldie Hawn]. I talk about everything. Ive never felt Ive had to hide anything from her. She has always been my confidante.

Kate Winslet (left) and Kate Hudson (right)

DREW BARRYMORE

My relationship with my mother is so complicated. Its the hardest subject in my life. Ive always felt guilt, empathy and utter sensitivity. But we cant be in each others lives at this point.

DAVINA McCALL

When my mother died I felt a sense of relief. I imagined her in the hospital bed. All I kept saying was, I forgive you. I forgive you. I forgive you.

Drew Barrymore (left) and Davina McCall (right)

JOAN COLLINS

My mother was a domestic goddess and Mother Earth figure, was sweet and placid, just how the perfect wife was supposed to be  and I was determined not to be.

BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD

My mother made me what I am. She gave me the desire to excel. She taught me to read before I was four and gave me an education I couldnt get at school. The day I left home, she wrote in her diary that the sunshine had gone out of her life.

Joan Collins (left) and Barbara Taylor Bradford (right)

SAM RODDICK

I was dyslexic at school and did terribly. But thanks to my mum [Body Shop founder Anita Roddick], I was always confident. She was first and foremost a teacher. She believed in my intelligence, so I did too.

BARBRA STREISAND

My mother meant well. She loved me as best she could. She never praised me to my face but I feel she praised me to other people. I was always trying to prove to her that I was worthy of being somebody.
Jo and Sarah answer real questions from readers: to put your query, go to beautybible.com

Q I keep hearing about double cleansing your face but I don't really understand it. Can you clarify? And why would we do it?

A Double cleansing is exactly that: a two-step process of cleaning your face twice (at night only, one-stage is fine in the morning). Experts all extol the virtues of double cleansing for achieving better skin in every way. Skin expert Dr Tom Mammone of Clinique explains: Properly cleansed skin has a tremendous impact on its function and is less likely to produce clogged pores and has less frequent and less severe breakouts and blemishes.

For more information follow Beauty Bible online here or on Facebook and Twitter

Also, really clean skin takes up skincare products such as serum and moisturiser far more effectively and make-up sits better and lasts longer. And if you were worried, as we were, that double cleansing might impair the skin barrier, the answer is that it actually leaves it stronger and healthier, according to Dr Mammone.

The idea of double cleansing is that before you begin cleansing proper, you need to remove make-up (which is designed to last these days), sunscreen, bacteria, grime and pollution, and thus unclog pores. Not removing make-up first would be like showering with your clothes on, explains Dr Mammone, who is Vice President Skin Physiology and Pharmacology for Clinique worldwide (a mouthful but he really does know pretty well everything about skin).

The two steps can be carried out with different products: say, a balm or oil first for dry, sensitive or normal skin, with a gentle foaming cleanser for combination or oily. Our current favourites are Annee de Mamiels natural Botaniques Restorative Cleansing Balm, 54 for 100ml, which melts away the days residue, with Erborian Double Mousse Gentle Cleansing Foam for combination, 22 for 90 ml. Liz Earles best-selling Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, 14 for 100 ml, has won legions of awards for a good reason, and should suit all skin types. It also whisks off eye make-up, without any stinging we find.

Micellar waters are another option: due to their chemical structure, these magic waters, which you put on a cotton wool pad, remove make-up and cleanse and help hydrate skin. We are just trialling these for Beauty Bible Awards 2017 so will be able to tell you the winners soon.

For the second stage of double cleansing, you might want to try a super-effective sonic brush with a gel cleanser (we happily use Cleanse & Polish for this stage). The Foreo range of Facial Cleansing Brushes is our top favourite here, not cheap but they seem to last for years (Sarahs is about three years old and going strong). The website is foreo.com but its worth foraging online for special offers.

Clinique also offer a Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush, 79 which is, they tell us, clinically proven to significantly increase radiance and smoothness, improve skin texture and unclog pores, and should be gentle enough for daily use.

A significant innovation for another two-step seasonal skin treat, which you can use in conjunction with double cleansing, is Cliniques Fresh Pressed 7-Day System with Pure Vitamin C, 25, which contains 7 single-use packets of Renewing Powder Cleanser with Pure Vitamin C, and one 7-day vial of Daily Booster with Pure Vitamin C 10%. This is garnering fantastic reviews for leaving skin brighter, smoother and healthier-looking.

The bestselling status of this Sebium Global range points to its effectiveness

Beauty Bible loves Bioderma Sebium Global Intensive Purifying Care, 14 for 30 ml. You probably know Bioderma from their micellar water: one bottles sold every three seconds in the UK. (And small wonder.) One of those French pharmacy brands that we used to seek out on a trip to Paris, theyre now firmly established at Boots, where one of the key ranges is Sebium, targeted at problem and oily skins.

This sets out to control sebum with a one-shade-suits-all, lightly tinted cream featuring AHA esters said to bioloigically treat the causes and consequences of blemishes. Its matte without being at all flat-looking (actually, too-matte accentuates the lumpiness of breakouts), and its a great make-up base if you dont feel this is enough coverage.

We are most certainly giving it to some young women with troubled complexions that we know, but the bestselling status of this Sebium Global range points to its effectiveness  and what we already love about this is at you flip open the lid to reveal a green-tinted balm which calms the redness of a blemish while delivering its antibacterial cargo of ingredients.

For more information follow Beauty Bible online here or on Facebook and Twitter
Meat is firmly off the menu at restaurants across Uttar Pradesh as a host of illegal abattoirs have been forced to shut shop under the newly-elected Yogi Adityanath government.

The Muslim-dominated western parts, adjoining the national Capital, are among the worst affected, Mail Today has found.

While the debilitated meat supply highlights the fact that previous governments in UP had turned a blind eye to unlawful slaughterhouses, it also proves the incumbent government has no plan to avoid a crisis situation.

A shop owner of Muslim Dhaba at Dasna waiting for customers. Majority of eatery owners are claiming that sales are down by 50 to 70%

'I have not seen such scarcity of raw meat in the last 35 years that we have been in business,' said Mohamad Khalid, owner of Al-Nafis dhaba at Dasna on NH 24.

'The last 10 days have been harrowing. This is worse than the demonetisation phase,' said Khalid, the second generation owner of the popular dhaba serving highway frequenters.

The accumulated losses in the last two months since the BJP manifesto promised closure of illegal slaughterhouses runs into Rs 4,000 crore, according to All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association.

Association members recently met Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow and requested him to intervene in protecting legal business and clear confusion.

Four mechanised plants, which slaughter and process buffalo meat, were shut last week by district administration across UP.

A host of illegal abattoirs have been forced to shut shop under the newly-elected Yogi Adityanath government

First it was note ban and now meat ban. We live in an area where the economy depends on unorganised sectors. Now people are losing bread and jobs.

Two of them were in Meerut and one each in Bijnor and Saharanpur. The exporters' association said while the move by the government is against illegal slaughterhouses, an overzealous tribe of officers and vigilante groups have forced even legal traders to suspend operations.

'Transporting meat is a risky task nowadays and only very few vehicle-owners are ready to stick their necks out,' said a meat trader.

But the numbers speak for themselves. 'UP has only 41 slaughter houses, which are certified by the Union ministry. These units contribute to 60-70 per cent of the total export of buffalo meat, worth around Rs 320 billion.

The fear of closure is among the owners' mind, who are now being troubled by several agencies,' Fauzan Alavi, member secretary of the exporters' association told Mail Today.

Several small illegal slaughterhouses that the Mail Today team spoke to were united in complaining that certification process for an abattoir is a tedious process, often requiring multiple clearances at the state and central level.

'It is not feasible for a small operator to attain all the clearances,' said one such owner, who downed shutters soon after Yogi's ascension as CM.

The closure of these slaughterhouses has a ripple effect on smaller units selling meat or cooked preparations.

A number of small eateries and mobile food carts in Muzaffarnagar and Ghaziabad have been out of business.

Chetan, a chicken shop owner at Murad Nagar in Ghaziabad, told Mail Today that 20 members of his family are dependent on his shop, that has been running for seven years.

But now, uncertainty looms on them as he could be forced to look for other job.

Indian Money Rs 100 = 1.19 1 Lakh = 100,000 (hundred thousand) 10 Lakh = 1,000,000 (a million) 1 Crore = 10,000,000 (ten million) Advertisement

'Police warned me to shut the shop. I have put a curtain at the entry of my shop to keep business limited only to loyal customers. I will apply for a license at the office and if I do not get it, I would think of another business like selling vegetables,' he said.

'Taking surprise decisions is the BJP's trademark,' said owner of a food cart, Ishaan Qureshi, in Muzaffarnagar.

'First it was note ban and now meat ban. We live in an area where the economy depends on unorganised sectors. Now people are losing bread and jobs.'

Meat shops and eateries in proximity with the national Capital still had an easy run as they shifted their supply route towards Delhi's Ghazipur meat mandi.

'Our hotel has a daily consumption of 30-35 kg of buffalo meat that was earlier available in slaughterhouses locally.

Now, we are purchasing it from Ghazipur at Rs 170- 180 per kg, which is Rs 30 higher than earlier,' said Mohammad Akhlak, owner of Shahdan Muslim Dhaba on NH 24.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has come down hard on the illegal meat trade

'Ninety per cent of eateries have either closed temporarily or raised their prices.'

Akhlak said in the last one week police vigilance has been high and seizure of meat consignment always looms large during transportation.

There is total fear in the mind of street vendors and roadside eateries about restarting their businesses, he added.

Fate of meat trade workers uncertain

By Shashank Shekhar

Action against the illegal slaughter of cows and buffaloes has left several authorised mechanised slaughterhouses - mostly in western UP - in serious trouble.

Owners claim the fate of more than 6.5 lakh (hundred thousand) employees directly involved with the Rs 22,000-crore trade remains hanging as officials are taking action without sending any notice.

They also complain of being harassed by 'vigilante groups'. In the last one week, four mechanised plants have been shut in UP. Officials have also sealed buffalo meat processing plants belonging to a former BSP MP's family.

A Priest paints Swastika and and Om sign on the wall of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Aditya Nath Yogi's official residence in Lucknow

Samples were seized and forwarded for forensic examination to check whether they contained beef.

Exporters say action against units are initiated without any showcause notice or warning.

Even those operational for several years with approvals from Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), which comes under the Union ministry of commerce and industry, were targeted.

'There are more than 40 mechanised units in UP. All of them have necessary approvals and have been exporting buffalo meat to more than 70 countries for several years,' said Fauzan Alavi, member secretary, All India Meat & Livestock Exporters Association.

The association has given a three-page letter to the CMO requesting Yogi Adityanath to intervene.

'UP alone contributes 60-70 per cent of the total buffalo meat exported from the country.

Some 6.5 lakh people are engaged directly with the industry and with allied sectors such as dairy and leather,' Alavi said.

Some owners said vigilante groups are harassing and extorting money as they stop trucks carrying buffalo. Intekhab Alam, general manager of Eagle Continental Foods, said his firm employs about 1,300 people who are just a small fraction of the workforce that will rendered jobless if the all abattoirs are shut down.

'We have been closely working with government agencies and each time, a government veterinarian is present to monitor the entire process,' Alam said.
After going through a painful divorce, 34-year-old Amit Kumar (name changed) decided to give marriage a second chance.

The Gurgaon-based corporate professional logged in a matrimonial site and met a woman, who was also 'going through divorce' as the mother of an eight-year-old daughter.

Amit Kumar was shocked to find out that the women imposed rape charges against him, after finding out that he had been meeting other women.

A man was accused of rape after meeting someone on a 'matrimonial' website (file pic)

She had alleged that Kumar raped her on the false promise of marriage and even threatened to harm her daughter if she revealed the incident.

However, it did not take long for Amit to realise, that the woman had accused her second husband of the same crime.

Kumar moved the Delhi High Court to quash the FIR against him. While he has succeeded in doing so, Amit is still struggling emotionally to come to terms with the accusation.

Kumar spent a day police custody and had spent another in the notorious Tihar prison.

The woman met him through a matrimonial site and went to the police to pursue rape charges on the false promise of marriage (picture for representation only)

Speaking to Mail Today, Kumar's counsel Parth Goswami said, 'Ten months before filing the FIR against my client, this woman had filed an FIR against her previous husband.

According to the lawyer, once married, 'she filed for divorce just after six days of marriage and took Rs 3 lakh as a settlement amount.

'While we have got the FIR quashed against Amit, the incident has scarred him for life.'

Amit told the court that the woman had lodged a similar FIR against others and this was her modus-operandi, with an eventual intention to extort money.

'The woman married twice with a subsisting marriage. The allegations that sexual acts with the petitioner were on a false promise of marriage are belied on the face of it,' the court was told.

Legal experts and men rights' activist say there has been a rampant use of social networking sites to trap men and slap them with false charges to extort money. Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj, social activist and filmmaker told Mail Today, 'There are many men who have reached out to me with cases filed on them barely few days after the marriage.

A man has been fighting cases for the last three years. His wife left him within one month of their marriage, saying she couldn't live with his mother.

While pursuing cases against the man, she made profiles on several matrimonial websites claiming herself to be unmarried, to trap other men.

'In-depth investigation of people's backgrounds is important before finalising alliance through online portals.

'There are many frauds on these sites. Ministries are only concerned about duped women, but there are actually many men who have been cheated and slapped with fake cases and allegations.'
An Egypt misdemeanour court handed on Sunday jail sentences to 56 people over a 2016 migrant boat capsizing disaster off Egypt's Mediterranean coast that left around 200 people dead.

A Rosetta court in the northern Beheira province handed sentences ranging from two to 13 years to the convicted and acquitted one woman.

The convicted were found guilty of manslaughter, negligence, endangering lives, using a vessel without a license and not using adequate rescue equipment.

The defendants can still appeal their sentences.

The migrant boat, which was carrying several hundred migrants of different nationalities, sailed from Egypt's Mediterranean port city of Rosetta and was heading to Italy before it capsized 12 kilometres off the Egyptian coast. The accident was one of the deadliest incidents involving migrants attempting a journey to Europe for better opportunities and living standards.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 5,000 migrants are thought to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in 2016, a record figure the organisation described as a devastating milestone.

In recent years, thousands of migrants and refugees from a variety of countries have attempted to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, with an increasing number departing via smugglers' boats from Egypt's northern coast.

In November, Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified a law aimed at curbing irregular migration and cracking down on human smuggling.

While the legislation does not punish the migrants themselves, it imposes jail terms on those convicted of smuggling migrants or acting as brokers or facilitators.



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While diplomatic tensions between Pakistan and India continue to escalate, a Pakistani father has decided to forgive 10 Indian youths found guilty of murdering his son in UAE in 2015.

Muhammad Farhan of Peshawar was killed in 2015 during a brawl over boot-legging in Al Ain city.

In December last year, a UAE court sentenced the 10 - all from Punjab - to death.

Muhammad Riaz (right), the father of the deceased, along with Dubai-based hotelier SP Singh Oberoi who convinced the family to save the convicts from death sentence

Another youth had been spared the gallows, but was fined Rs 2 lakh.

Muhammad Riaz, the father of the deceased, has now decided to forgive his son's murderers after consulting his family members and other relatives.

'It's true that Riaz has decided to forgive them. It was a painful decision. However, he has made the final decision,' a member of Riaz's family told Mail Today.

Mail Today discovered that Dubai-based hotelier and social worker SP Singh Oberoi played the vital role in saving the death row convicts.

Oberoi runs an NGO that has been fronting the campaign to save the lives of death row convicts. His long effort has finally convinced the deceased's family to accept 'money for blood'.

Sources say it was his NGO that arranged the 'money for blood'. However, the amount of money is not known.

A court in Abu Dhabi recently ruled in favour of 'money for blood' asking the convicts' counsel to submit the same.

According to UAE law, if one causes the death or injury of another person accidentally or intentionally, the person has to pay blood money (diya).

The blood money is to be paid to the victim's family as compensation and the amount is given in accordance with Sharia law.

Muhammad Farhan of Peshawar was killed in 2015 during a brawl over boot-legging

Death row convicts can file an appeal against death penalty if both the parties reach a settlement. Followed by the court ruling, Riaz flew to Abu Dhabi last week to sign the requisite documents.

Oberoi's NGO bore his travelling expenses too. With this agreement, a ray of hope has emerged for the 10 Indian youths to start life afresh.

Oberoi had saved 17 youths from Punjab and Haryana from death row in the past. He has already filed an appeal in the Abu Dhabi High Court against death penalty to the 10 convicts in this case.

Sources said all the 10 belong to poor families, who have been working in UAE as plumbers, electricians or laborers.

They are Harpreet Singh (24) and Chander Shekhar from Hoshiarpur district, Toni (24) of Batala, Satminder Singh (25) of Thikriwal village, Ajay Kumar (27) of Punia village, Dharamvir Singh (25) and Kulwinder Singh of Ludhiana, Harjinder Singh of Moga, Gurpreet Singh of Patiala and Jagjit Singh of Gurdaspur.

Soon after they were sentenced to death, their families had approached AAP and BJP leaders, and had even met the chairman of Punjab SC Commission, but to no avail.

After that, they approached Oberoi. The UAE court has set April 12 as the next date of hearing.
Asking people to take the fight against black money and graft to the next level, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged India to use less cash and continue to support the movement towards digital payments.

In his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' programme, he also spoke of building a 'New India', which he said can be achieved when 125 crore Indians take a pledge and work towards it, together.

'My dear countrymen, we must take our fight against black money and corruption to the next level. We should contribute towards ensuring reducing the use of cash, of currency notes,' said the prime minister.

In his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' programme, Modi spoke of building a 'New India', which he said can be achieved when 125 crore Indians take a pledge and unitedly work towards it

Asking the people to pay school fees, buy medicines or items from fair price shops or purchase air and train tickets digitally, he said, 'We can do this in our day-to-day lives.

Modi spoke about poet Rabindranath Tagore, who has authored the national anthems of Bangladesh and India

'You can't imagine how you can serve the country in this way and become a brave soldier in the fight against black money and corruption.'

Observing that the budget had announced that there would be Rs 2,500 crore digital transactions this year, he said, 'If 125 crore countrymen can resolve, they need not wait for a year; they can do it in six months.'

Expressing gratitude to the people, Modi said over the last few months the country has witnessed an atmosphere in which people in large numbers have participated in the digital payment, 'Digidhan' movement.

'There has also been an increase in curiosity about cashless transactions. The poorest of the poor are making attempts to learn, and people are gradually moving towards doing business without cash.

Modi has asked people to take the fight against black money and graft to the next level

'There has been a surge in various modes of digital payment after demonetisation,' he said, adding the BHIM app - launched about two and a half months ago - has already been downloaded by one and half crore people.

In his address, the PM also touched upon subjects ranging from building a New India to Swachh Bharat, besides greeting the people of Bangladesh on their independence day saying India will always stand with them in the struggle for peace, security and development in the region.

'I hope that Bangladesh marches ahead on the path of progress. I also assure the citizens of Bangladesh that India is a strong partner, and a good friend, and we will continue to work together shoulder to shoulder to contribute towards the peace, security and development of this entire region,' he said.

He said it was a matter of pride that Rabindranath Tagore, who has authored the national anthems of Bangladesh and India, had given up his knighthood in protest against the 1919 massacre of people in Jallianwala Bagh by the British.

Modi urged India to use less cash and continue to support digital payments

'This had also provided an inspiration and a mission in life to a young teenager, who until then had spent his days playing merrily in the fields. This youngster was none other than Bhagat Singh, then 12 years old, to evolve as a martyr.'

Modi also referred to the Champaran Satyagraha launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917, saying through his demeanour and deeds, he could inspire the poorest of the poor, the most illiterate, to unite and come together out into the open for the struggle against the British Rule.

'This was a manifestation of an incredible inner strength, through which we can experience the vastness of Mahatma Gandhi's great persona,'said Modi.
A story has emerged concerning pro-Pakistan separatist leader Asiya Andrabi allegedly rejecting her son's love affair because the girl in question belonged to a 'lower caste'.

The younger son of the Dukhtaran-e-Milat chief reportedly had an affair with a girl from Srinagar.

Sources say that he was quite adamant on marrying her. However, as the girl's father is a tailor, Andrabi is alleged to have been very upset with the match.

A story has emerged concerning pro-Pakistan separatist leader Asiya Andrabi rejecting her son's love affair because the girl in question belonged to a 'lower caste' (file pic)

Sources added that despite repeated pleadings by the girl's father, she refused to accept the girl as her daughter-in-law.

Andrabi is a 'peer', the highest caste among Kashmiri Muslims.

As matters deteriorated, Andrabi is alleged to have used her position, influence and strong connections to threaten the girl's family.

Sources say at one point of time, the girl's father contemplated approaching the police to register a case against Andrabi and her family, but backed off after repeated threats.

When India Today tried to get in touch with Andrabi, she called the reports 'fabricated' and said, 'Indian agencies cannot harm my pious institution by these fabricated stories.'

Andrabi claims to be working for the betterment of women in Kashmir and has often been making false allegations against security forces and the government of 'harassing women in Kashmir as a matter of state policy'.

She claims to be an ardent follower of Islam, advocates Kashmir to be an Islamic issue and vociferously calls for merger of the state with Pakistan.

Andrabi has faced flak earlier too for her alleged hypocrisy.

While she exhorts the youth to join terrorism, sacrifice their lives and indulge in unrest, her elder son Mohd. Bin Qasim, after completing his Bachelors in Information Technology from Malaysia International University, is presently pursuing more studies in Australia and is not being asked to join his mother's military struggle.

Interestingly, her elder son, in a Facebook post related to actress Zaira Waseem's criticism, described them as 'jaahil'. After he faced severe criticism, he deleted the post.

Andrabi's husband Qasim Fakhtoo is a murder convict lodged in Srinagar. He heads an organisation named Muslim Deeni Mahaz with the objective of 'preaching, propagating and promoting Islam'.
One of the major highlights of the week gone by was Vodafone India and Idea Cellular agreeing to merge in a deal valued at $23.2 billion (Rs 1.5 lakh crore).

The deal will create India's largest mobile telephony company with more than 395 million subscribers, 35 per cent of the market share, and 41 per cent of revenue shares.

Although Vodafone global chief Vittorio Colao would like us to believe that the deal was driven by the need to create better infrastructure in the age of data, it goes without saying that the exponential growth of the latest telecom entrant Reliance Jio's 4G subscriber base (which surpassed the 100-million mark) has been sending shockwaves through the industry and has necessitated this consolidation.

One of the major highlights of the week gone by was Vodafone India and Idea Cellular agreeing to merge in a deal valued at $23.2 billion (Rs 1.5 lakh crore)

Although Colao stresses that the deal was done 'on equal terms', a section of experts feel it is Idea which has got an upper hand.

Proxy firms such as Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) believe that Vodafone India, a subsidiary of the UK telecom giant, should have dominated the deal, since it is the larger of the two companies.

Vodafone India had 204.69 million subscribers, while Idea Cellular, owned by the Aditya Birla Group, had 190.5 million subscribers in December.

India has a total mobile subscriber base of 810 million. As per the deal, Vodafone will own 45.1 per cent of the combined company, Idea will hold 26 per cent, and public shareholders the rest.

Vodafone has allowed the Aditya Birla group a three-year period (the standstill period) to equalise the equity stake, yet allowed it equal voting rights before stake equalisation.

Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani delivers his speech in Mumbai

During the standstill period, until equalisation is achieved, voting rights of the additional shares held by Vodafone will be restricted and votes will be exercised jointly under the terms of the shareholders' agreement.

'While this may be conducive to a harmonious merger, it has shortchanged Vodafone plc's shareholders of their voting rights,' argues IiAS, in an advisory.

Vodafone has also granted a call option on 9.5 per cent of its equity without any premium.

A call option is an agreement that gives an investor the right, but not the obligation, to buy a stock at a specified price within a specific time period.

The Aditya Birla group can, within the next three years, acquire from Vodafone upto 9.5 per cent of the combined entity's shares at a pre-determined value of Rs 130.

Kumar Mangalam Birla (L), chairman of Aditya Birla Group, listens to Vittorio Colao, CEO of Vodafone Group

In case the Aditya Birla group does not acquire this equity, Vodafone will be compelled to sell down its equity stake till it equalizes with that of the Aditya Birla group.

'Therefore, if the price of Rs 130 is not attractive, the Aditya Birla group will not exercise its option to purchase equity and Vodafone will have lost the opportunity to encash its holdings,' says IiAS.

Last but not the least, Vodafone will appoint the chief financial officer (CFO), while the board Chairmanship has been ceded to Aditya Birla group, and group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla will be chairman of the new entity.

The CEO and COO selection will be a joint decision. Each will nominate three members to the twelve-member board, with the balance six being independents.

Vodafone India had 204.69 million subscribers, while Idea Cellular, owned by the Aditya Birla Group, had 190.5 million subscribers in December

Vodafone would not have really minded even if it did not get an upper hand as IiAS argues. Although the second largest mobile telephony firm in India (Bharti Airtel was the largest with 265.85 million subscribers as on December 2016, but will now move to second place, next to the Idea-Vodafone combine), the threat from Jio, driven by the latter's superior technology and infrastructure, has been simply too big.

And customers of both Idea and Vodafone wouldn't mind any of these. For them, the deal is a big positive, since it marries the financial muscle of Idea's promoters with the technological edge from Vodafone.

This would lead to better infrastructure, better services and better tariffs for the combined entity, which would hold 1,850 MHz of liberalised spectrum, and will be capable of building substantial data capacity.

As the adage goes, all's well that ends well.
Anyone who hoped the Brexit referendum result would mean they would hear less from Europe is about to be brutally disabused.

The triggering of Article 50 this week will start the real negotiations about our departure from the EU and it means we will all hear far more from Europe than ever before.

The last nine months of drift have created the illusion that this is a debate inside the UK, with occasional interjection from the EU President or some other continental politician.

Prime Minister Theresa May at a meeting with local business leaders at Ski-Tech Daresbury

It is about to become a debate with Europe, in which the European Commission and 27 other member countries will have as much to say (perhaps more) than David Davis or Boris Johnson.

The idea that the UK can exit Europe without any kind of deal on future trade arrangements is a chilling prospect.

The triggering of Article 50 must be the start of an unparalleled effort to secure the best arrangements possible for UK business  and in these negotiations the voice of businesses must be heard.

Sadly, there have been many scandals surrounding business in recent years that have shattered public trust in commerce and undermined the respect that business can hope to command in public debates.

Nevertheless, business must be part of this debate about what deal we now seek to strike with the EU. It is just as important as the crude In/Out debate last year.

Of course, business must not be given an uncritical hearing  any lobbying or complaining that is self-serving will do more harm than good and only confirm the views of those who have long since written off business as representing a cynical elite.

Businesses of all sizes must make their views known. And politicians must listen, not unquestioningly, but studiously.

The success of the next two years of negotiation will be measured quite simply  by the economic prosperity of ordinary households.
The 20 biggest banks in Europe have been accused of funnelling 18bn of profits through tax havens in a bid to save cash.

A report by Oxfam claimed one in every four pounds of profit made by these giant lenders in 2015 was booked in a low-tax nation.

British banks were found to have made 9bn in countries defined as tax havens by the charity  or 67 per cent of their global profits.

Accused: The top 20 banks in Europe have been blamed for funnelling 18bn of profits through tax havens

Oxfam said that in Luxembourg alone  the secretive state once run by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker  the four largest lenders reported 4.2bn of profits, more than they claimed to have made in the UK, Sweden and Germany combined.

Because profits are taxed in the country where they are earned, this allows them to keep their bills down and dole more money out to bosses and shareholders.

However, industry experts argued Oxfams approach was flawed. The British Bankers Association said: The UK banks listed comply with the HMRC Code of Practice.
The parents of missing boy William Tyrrell forged ahead with a home renovation worth $769,000 in the months after their little 'Spiderman' disappeared, council documents show.

The boys' parents  who cannot be named for legal reasons  have spoken of their devastation over how the toddler missed the construction works on what was meant to be their 'forever family home', on Sydney's north shore.

The heartbroken mother and father have been attacked by trolls on social media over the renovations, which were first approved by Ku-ring-gai Council in July 2013, more than a year before their child was snatched from his grandmother's house.

In their development - which was estimated to cost $769,241 - the couple put in for a 'first floor addition' and a carport. Distressingly, the parents have said the home renovations included a new bedroom that was meant for William.

William Tyrrell disappeared aged three from his grandmother's home at Kendall, in northern New South Wales on September 14, 2014

A nine day police search did not find a trace of the missing boy, last seen wearing a Spiderman costume about 10.30am

William's parents, who cannot be identified, have spoken to 60 Minutes about his disappearance

Pictured: A view of the Sydney house belonging to William's parents which was renovated in 2015. Tragically, it was to include a bedroom for the missing boy

Council documents showed the couple submitted a 'modification devlopment application' for construction work on December 15, 2014, three months months after William's startling disappearance from his grandmother's house in Kendall, on the north coast of New South Wales.

Two months later, on February 4, an 'application for construction certificate' was submitted.

The renovations have since been finished and the property has expanded significantly.

In a letter written to coincide with National Missing Persons week in 2015, the mother and father said it was difficult to plan for the future without knowing what had happened to their little boy.

'It's incredibly hard thinking about our plans and dreams for the future now,' the parents wrote.

'When we think of the plans we might make, often we question ourselves because we want so much to include William.

'How can we plan for our family's future without him and yet, do we try and make plans as if he's not with us?'

The letter continued: 'We have almost completed our renovations on our home for our little family,' the parents wrote.

'We had planned those a while ago and we planned for it to become our 'forever family home'.

'It's heartbreaking that William has missed out on all the fun things that he (would) have been so excited to be a part of  the diggers, the saws cutting timber for the roof, the trucks and all the trades working on our family home.

'He (would) have been so, so very excited especially knowing he wold be getting his new room upstairs with lots more room for all his toys!

'Having missed out on the fun of building, we hope that when William comes home to us he loves how we've made his room his own special magic place.'

The family, who have previously made a public appeal for their boy on TV program 60 Minutes, declined to comment to Daily Mail Australia this week.

TIMELINE: TYRRELL RENOVATION April 2013: William Tyrrell's parents put in development application (DA) on their house July 2013: DA for 'first floor addition and carport' is approved by local council* December 2014: Parents modify development plans for the first floor bedroom January 2015: Construction certificate approved by certifying authority February 2015: Construction certificate submitted to council August 2015: Couple speak of heartbreak of renovations without William; trolling 2015 - present: Renovations are finished * Council spokesperson says construction generally must start on DAs within two years of an application being approved Advertisement

Police have been deluged with information - but it has not yet led them to the location of the missing boy

There had been 1000 alleged sightings of the little boy in New South Wales and more than 300 in other states and overseas, a State Crime Command spokeswoman said

Police have released pictures of cars believed to have been seen out the front of William's grandmother's house on September 14, 2014

When police announced a $1 million reward for information leading to his discovery last September, detectives had received more than 3000 calls from the public.

There had been 1000 alleged sightings of the little boy in New South Wales and more than 300 in other states and overseas, a State Crime Command spokeswoman said.

There are hundreds of persons of interest in the investigation, which is being spearheaded by Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin and a strike force codenamed Rosann.

The most prominent being washing machine repairman Bill Spedding, whose home was raided in the early stages. He has denied any role in the boy's disappearance.

If you have seen William or have information relating to his disappearance, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at Crime Stoppers online reporting page. You can remain anonymous.
Driver: Jamie Urton, pictured, was shot after his car hit a four-year-old boy who was in the street

A driver was shot after his car hit a four-year-old boy who was in the street, according to police in Cincinnati.

Driver Jamie Urton, 44, was taken to a hospital and died during surgery.

Urton had just left work and was with a co-worker when the boy was struck Friday, police said Saturday.

The child was crossing Kenton Street in Walnut Hills at about 12pm when he was hit, Fox 19 reports.

Sgt. Eric Franz told DailyMail.com that three men in the area 'charged' at Urton and his passenger and assaulted them.

Authorities, Fox 19 reported, say Urton and his passenger either got out of the vehicle or were dragged before being assaulted by three people.

Franz said that he didn't have information on how Urton and the passenger left the vehicle.

Police say that Urton was shot several times in the incident. Urton's passenger suffered minor injuries in the fight but was not shot, according to authorities.

Urton was taken to a hospital and died during surgery, Franz said.

The four-year-old child was hurt but is expected to be alright.

Sgt. Eric Franz told DailyMail.com that three men in the area at some point 'charged' at Urton and his passenger and assaulted them

Urton is seen in this Facebook photograph. He was taken to a hospital and died during surgery

Authorities are looking for three suspects in the case.

Police say it's not clear yet if any other circumstances led to the shooting just outside downtown Cincinnati.

Capt. Martin Mack told Fox 19: 'We don't know what the precipitating incident, other than the accident, was in this situation.'

He said: 'There has been a shooting or several shootings on Kenton this year and so, you know, the police... we have definitely increased our patrols in this area.'

Authorities are looking for three suspects in the case
Turkey's president said the country might pursue a Brexit-like referendum on its European Union membership.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan brought up the proposal at a Turkish-UK forum in the southern city of Antalya, referring to the British departure from the EU and saying Turkey 'might' hold a similar referendum after the April 16 vote to expand the powers of the Turkish presidency.

The negotiation process for Turkey joining the EU began in 2005, but has been at a standstill for years, and the vote is likely to be a choice between pursuing membership or abandoning the plans to become a part of Europe.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters in Antalya, Turkey, Saturday, March 25, 2017

Tensions between Ankara and several European capitals have been escalating ahead of the contentious April 16 referendum.

Turkish opposition members and Western allies have criticized the constitutional referendum, saying it would grant Erdogan unprecedented authority with limited checks and balances.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Earlier this month, Dutch and German authorities restricted Turkish officials from campaigning for diaspora votes, resulting in harsh criticism from Ankara.

At a rally earlier Saturday, Erdogan lashed out at the critics who claimed Turkey would not be allowed into the EU if the referendum passed, saying it would 'make our job easier' if Europe made that call and adding 'Turkey is no one's whipping boy'.

Erdogan also criticized a demonstration in Switzerland on Saturday where protestors hung a giant banner depicting the Turkish president with a gun to his head.

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned Swiss charge d'affaires to condemn the incident and that the minister had called his Swiss counterpart to voice his displeasure.

The statement also claimed the demonstrators belonged to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, adding that it would be 'closely monitoring the legal and administrative actions to be taken by Swiss authorities regarding this crime.'
A northern Idaho woman told police she crashed into a deer because she was distracted by a sasquatch in her rearview mirror.

The 50-year-old Tensed woman of Tensed, 300 miles north of Boise, was driving south on U.S. Highway 95 on Wednesday when she struck a deer near Potlatch, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported.

The woman, who was driving a Subaru Forester, described a seven-to-eight-foot tall 'shaggy' object to authorities.

An Idaho woman said she crashed into a deer because she was distracted by the sight in her rearview mirror of a 'shaggy' object as much as eight feet tall chasing a deer. Pictured: A Getty Images rendering of a sasquatch-like figure

The woman, whose crash report was listed as vehicle versus deer and did not mention Bigfoot, was driving a Subaru Forester, pictured

The woman told Benewah County Sheriff's officials that she believed this creature was a sasquatch.

She added that the creature was chasing a deer on the side of the road.

She said she checked one of her mirrors to get a second look at the beast and when she looked up, the deer ran in front of her.

Sheriff's officials marked the incident as a vehicle versus deer collision but did not report any evidence of Bigfoot.

The woman was not badly injured and continued on to pick up her husband from work.
Several campaigns and prominent figures in Egypt are calling for the release from prison of 21-year-old Ahmed El-Khatib after he was diagnosed with the rare disease visceral leishmaniasis.

El-Khatib's sister Fatma told Ahram Online on Sunday that the family wants a pardon for her brother, who is currently receiving treatment in Abassiya Fever Hospital and is not allowed family visits, so that he can be treated at a private hospital or abroad.

"Ahmed is suffering from severe immunodeficiency, weight loss, loss of appetite, his liver and spleen have swollen, and he urgently needs treatment or the disease will lead to his death. Any simple infection could kill him, and we are not able to follow his medical condition," added Fatma El-Khatib.

El-Khatib was arrested in 2014 after he returned to Egypt from a visit to Turkey and was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years in prison for belonging to a terrorist group and disrupting public order.

"His health started to deteriorate after he was moved to Wadi El-Natron prison in May 2016," the sister said.

An online campaign and several human rights groups, including the Freedom for the Brave campaign, have called for his release to receive proper treatment.

El-Khatib's family launched a campaign calling for his release in late February after he started suffering from fatigue.

The family says it submitted numerous complaints to the Prisons Administration, the public prosecutor, and the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), as well as the Egyptian president.

Article 36 of the law 396 on prison regulation says "any sentenced prisoner whose doctor determines suffers of a disease that puts his life at risk or disables him should be checked by the head of medical department of prisons to determine if he should be released [for treatment]."

Before he was arrested, El-Khatib was a student of bio-technology at Misr University for Science and Technology.

On Saturday, Osama El-Ghazaly Harb, the head of a committee created late last year by the president to recommend for pardon youth arrested in politically-related cases, endorsed the call for El-Khatib's release.

Harb said in an Interview on Dream TV that "when the committee was first formed, we recommended 529 people for pardon, and El-Khatib was number 292 on this list."

"Considering his age and health condition, regardless of the charges against him, the president should intervene to release him."

Member of the pardon committee Karim El-Sakka told Ahram Online that the committee is currently reviewing El-Khatib's situation as a special and urgent case.

In late October 2016, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi formed the committee to review the cases of those imprisoned in politically related crimes and others who meet certain other conditions, such as families who have more than one member in jail.

In the past three years, authorities have arrested and tried thousands of people on charges of membership in banned terrorist groups, committing violent acts against the state or breaking the protest law.

George Isaac, a member of the National Council for Human Rights, blames the conditions under which El-Khatib was held for his deteriorating health.

"El-Khatib got his disease in prison, it is an infection caused by dirt. We are calling on the health ministry to check all prisons, because their conditions lead to such diseases, and we should protect both prisoners and prison officials from these diseases," said Isaac.

El-Khatib's sister said that the family was able to sneak two samples of his blood out of the prison, one in September and the other in December, and have them tested at a private lab.

The test revealed that El-Khatib, who was being held in Tora Prison, had an immunity problem and needed to undergo a test of his bone marrow.

"The prison hospital did not have the capability to conduct this test, so we asked that Ahmed be transferred to another hospital," his sister said.

"We again made several complaints, including for medical negligence, against the prison hospital, but they delayed until March, when we first knew about Ahmed's rare disease," said the sister.

Isaac says "I'm personally concerned with treatment for El-Khatib, which is more important to me than his release. His release is in the hands of the presidency, and we are seeking it, but we are asking the public prosecutor and the interior ministry to allow him to be treated."

Local and international human rights organisation have repeatedly condemned deaths in Egyptian prisons, which they attribute to numerous reasons including overcrowded cells and lack of adequate medical care.

Egyptian authorities, however, have repeatedly denied these claims.

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A Make America Great Again rally that began with a dove release to symbolize peace turned violent after supporters were doused with pepper spray by anti-Trump protesters during in Southern California. The pepper spraying followed brawls between Trump supporters and protesters.

The clashes, which led to three arrests after police clad in riot gear intervened, came before the president posted a tweet thanking those who marched. In Huntington Beach alone, almost 2,000 Trump supporters gathered for the pro-Trump rally.

After another week of vicious confrontations, President Trump wrote on Twitter at 5.30pm DC time, an hour after the reports of the violence were published: 'Thanks you for all of the Trump Rallies today. Amazing support. We will all MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'

In addition to the angry scuffles on Huntington Beach, protesters clashed with MAGA marchers in Philadelphia and in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. There were also rallies across the country in Lansing, Boston, and Providence, Rhode Island.

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Jennifer Sterling, one of the organizers of the pro-Donald Trump rally reacts after getting hit with pepper spray in Huntington Beach

A police dog snarls at a man at a Trump rally. A scuffle involving pepper spray broke out between the supporters and the protesters Saturday

Trump supporters and protesters approach each other during a violent scuffle in Huntington Beach

A clash between Trump supporters and protesters clashed at a Make America Great Again march before the president tweeted his support for the rallies

Trump supporters retaliated against anti-Trump protesters at the Huntington Beach march Saturday

A pro-Trump rally participant is punched in the face by an anti-Trump protester on Saturday during a violent scuffle

Supporters of President Trump clash with protesters during a Make America Great Again March Saturday

Trump supporters walk with signs claiming they are the 'silent majority' as protesters clashed and used pepper spray

A Trump supporter at a Make America Great Again rally tries to pull off the t-shirt that is masking a protester's face

A supporter of President Trump, top, clashes with an anti-Trump protester who appears to be holding a spray

After the pepper spraying in Huntington Beach, the president tweeted support for 'all of the Trump Rallies'

The pepper-sprayed marchers were seen cringing in pain as other supporters clad in Trump t-shirts helped them. One man in an army green Trump hat angrily chased a protester with an American flag. Police dogs snapped at the protesters as officers in riot gear yelled at the masked men.

One of the sprayers was one of the men in a black mask according to the Los Angeles Times. The supporters reportedly started punching and kicking the man after the attack.

The violence erupted when the march of about 2,000 people at Bolsa Chica State Beach reached a group of about 30 protesters, some of whom began spraying them after brawls broke out, according to Capt. Kevin Pearsall of the California State Parks Police.

Three people were arrested on suspicion of illegal use of pepper spray, he said.

There were several other arrests and two people suffered minor injuries, but Pearsall said he did not immediately have further details.

According to an account by OC Weekly who were on the scene as well, the violence began before the initial pepper spraying and started with a physical fight between protesters and Trump supporters.

The publication also says a group of neo-Nazis attended the rally and spewed racial slurs at the protesters.

An anti-Trump protester gets taken down by a police dog after a fight with Trump supporters

A pro-Trump demonstrator chases a protester with an American flag at a MAGA march in Huntington Beach

Supporters of President Donald Trump release white doves before the march in Huntington Beach

A masked protester pushes a Trump supporter at a MAGA rally in Huntington Beach on Saturday

A woman marches at a Make American Great Again march in Huntington Beach. The rally was attacked by protesters with pepper spray

A supporter of President Donald Trump, center, clashes with an anti-Trump protester at a MAGA rally

Pro Trump and anti Trump marchers clash in a violent scuffle in Huntington Beach that led to three arrests

Anti-Trump protesters in black outfits block a march by supporters of President Donald Trump during a demonstration in Huntington Beach

The Times reported that an anti-Trump protester who allegedly used the eye irritant was kicked and punched in the sand by a group of Trump supporters.

Protesters said before the march began that they planned to try to stop the march's progress with a 'human wall.'

Travis Guenther was pepper sprayed by the protester and said he hit him in the head five times with a Trump flag.

He said: 'We're not xenophobic. We're not racist. We're just proud Americans.'

In Orange County, 62 percent of the votes for president in the general election went to Hillary Clinton and 32 percent went to President Trump.

Earlier this month, a rally in Berkeley, California, in support of Trump turned violent and his supporters clashed with protesters in several fights that led to the arrest of 10 people and left at least seven people injured.

Masked protesters face off against Trump supporters at a Make America Great Again rally Saturday

Trump supporters gather on the beach in Southern California before a violent scuffle breaks out with protesters

Demonstrators at a Trump rally hold up signs to support the new president and Breitbart News

A man wearing a shirt with communist symbolism protests a Trump rally in Huntington Beach on Saturday

A trump supporter wears a Hillary Clinton mask at a pro-Trump rally that turned violent on Saturday

Police watch over a protester who appears to have been detained during the anti-Trump scuffle Saturday

Baby Eva Erbacker wears patriotic colors at a rally in support of President Trump at the Huntington Beach rally

At another rally today, a member of the Philadelphia Police civil affairs unit watches, Robert Beck, foreground left, who was visiting from Texas, and a protester from another group shout at each other in Philadelphia

Supporters of President Donald Trump yell at anti-Trump demonstrators during the 'Make America Great Again' march and rally Saturday
Rachael Moore's children weren't thinking when they jumped to her defence after she was shot in their Brisbane home by her former partner.

Instinctively they knew they had to do what they could to save their mum's life.

Ms Moore and her five children were getting ready for bed on April 11, 2014, when they heard Daryl Fields pull into the driveway.

Eldest son Jayden Caulfield, 17, said his drunk stepfather kicked down the door of the bedroom they had hidden in, stared at them and then went to get a shotgun.

'We all pleaded with him not to do it for a while but then he pulled it up, cocked it and shot mum in the arm,' he told AAP.

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Rachael Moore, top right, was saved by the bravery of her children after her drunk ex shot her. From left, Samantha, Cameron, Zane, Jayden, and Kaylea Caulfield

Jayden, Cameron, and Kaylea Caulfield pictured in 2015, the year after they helped save their mother's life after she was attacked by her drunk ex

'We all pleaded with him not to do it for a while but then he pulled it up, cocked it and shot mum,' Jayden Caulfield, now 17, said after it was revealed he will receive an award for bravery

It was then that the children risked their own safety to save their mum.

Cameron Caulfield, 15, told AAP he hit Fields in the stomach and wrestled the gun out of his hands.

'I wasn't even thinking, more instinct took over,' he said.

Jayden then had to stop him from strangling his mum and gouging her eye out.

'There wasn't really room to be scared,' he told AAP.

'We just had to get it done.'

While he was wrestling with Fields, 12-year-old daughter Kaylea Caulfield took her mum outside.

Daryl Fields is pictured with Rachael Moore, whom he ended up shooting in the shoulder

Fields was sentenced to 12 years' jail for attempted murder, but he will be eligible for parole after serving eight

Zane Fields, who was just four at the time, hid his youngest sister Samantha Fields under the bed until police arrived and took their dad away.

It was these acts of courage that resulted in four of Ms Moore's five children being announced on Sunday as the recipients of Australian Bravery Awards.

Jayden and Cameron will receive the Star of Courage at a ceremony later this year, while Kaylea and Zane will receive the Bravery Medal.

Jayden said it was an honour, but he also wanted to use the recognition to help other children subjected to domestic violence.

'One thing that really helped me out in particular was counselling,' he told AAP.

'It's mostly young boys and men who don't want to do it because they're like 'that's for weaklings, I don't need to do that'.

'You don't realise until three sessions in that actually you've got a problem and they work with you and start making it better.'

Ms Moore has had 36 operations on her arm since the shooting, but she remains permanently disabled and likely requires more surgery. She is pictured in 2015

Ms Moore said she was proud of her children but sad they had to endure such a traumatic experience.

'They grew up overnight, it's pretty sad really,' she told AAP.

'They've had to take on so many other things around the house I can't do.'

Ms Moore has had 36 operations on her arm since the shooting, but she remains permanently disabled and likely requires more surgery.

The Brisbane Supreme Court heard during Fields' sentencing in October 2016 that he intended to shoot Ms Moore in the chest, but she moved before he fired.

Fields was sentenced to 12 years' jail for her attempted murder, but he will be eligible for parole after serving eight.

Ms Moore said more support services like removalists and people to help with pets were needed for women who were victims of domestic violence.

But she also urged parents and authorities to pay more attention to children.

'Parents need to be looking and listening to their children when they're scared,' she told AAP.

'Their voices need to be heard.'

National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT. In an emergency call triple-zero.
Dozens of Remain MPs have rushed to the defence of the BBC in the Brexit bias row as the clock ticks down to the moment on Wednesday when the Prime Minister triggers Article 50 to leave the EU.

A cross-party group of MPs will urge BBC Director-General Lord Hall not to be bullied by Brexiteers who accuse the Corporation of doom-mongering about the UKs economic prospects outside Europe.

The growing row comes as Theresa May prepares to write to European Council President Donald Tusk to formally start the two-year process for exiting the EU.

Dozens of Remain MPs have rushed to the defence of the BBC in the Brexit bias row as the clock ticks down to the moment on Wednesday when the Prime Minister triggers Article 50 to leave the EU

On Thursday, just hours after sending the letter, Mrs May will publish the first details of the Great Reform Bill  the mega-legislation to convert thousands of EU laws and regulations into purely British powers.

Yesterday, tens of thousands marched through Central London in a last-ditch call for Britain to remain in the EU. The demonstration coincided with a summit in Rome  without Mrs May  where leaders of the remaining 27 member states marked the EUs 60th anniversary and discussed its post- Brexit future.

The BBC row comes after more than 70 MPs wrote to Lord Hall last week to complain the Corporations reporting was skewed and threatened to undermine our efforts to carve out a new global role for this country. Now Labour MP Pat McFadden is organising a rival letter, signed by dozens of Remain-supporting MPs, urging the BBC to resist the bullying Brexiteers.

A cross-party group of MPs will urge BBC Director-General Lord Hall not to be bullied by Brexiteers. Yesterday, tens of thousands marched in London in a last-ditch call for the government not to trigger Article 50

It is expected to say the BBC should defend its independence and impartiality robustly, report fearlessly on all issues relating to Brexit and not succumb to any pressure to skew coverage one way or the other.

Mr McFaddens move came as pro-Brexit MPs renewed their attack on the BBC by claiming its flagship Today programme on Radio 4 promoted project fear in the aftermath of Junes referendum.

The MPs, led by Labours Kate Hoey and Conservative Philip Davies, said that in the six months since the referendum, the number of anti-Brexit speakers on Todays business news section outnumbered pro-Brexit voices three to one.

The Great Repeal Bill will scrap the 1972 European Communities Act, which enshrined the supremacy of EU law over British legislation. Brexit Secretary David Davis has said that by converting all current EU laws into UK law, businesses and workers will be given maximum possible certainty.

The BBC row comes after more than 70 MPs wrote to Lord Hall last week to complain the Corporations reporting was skewed

However, sources claim he has been shocked by the scale and complexity of the task and by the shortage of skilled staff available to undertake the work.

A Government source said the triggering of Article 50 will mark a defining moment in this countrys history. A strong, sovereign country needs control of its own laws. That, more than anything else, was what drove the referendum result: a desire for the country to be in control of its own destiny.

Meanwhile, a House of Lords select committee report today warns Brexit will blow a multi-million pound hole in the finances of charities. It says they face a challenging future due to the loss of more than 200 million a year in funding and the severing of vital links with European institutes.

Let's not throw baby out with the bathwater - and the bath, too

COMMENT BY RORY BREMNER

So, the fateful day is upon us. Not so much the Ides of March  more the march of IDS; the day Iain Duncan Smith and others have been counting down on their Brexit Advent calendars since Theresa May said shed trigger Article 50 by the end of March.

Im reminded of the build-up to the Iraq War in 2003, and the armchair general who told his guests at dinner: If were going to go in, weve absolutely, definitely GOT to do it by the middle of March. Whys that, darling? his wife chipped in. Because of Cheltenham races.

Im not sure why this date was chosen for B-Day, which some at Westminster insist on calling it; presumably to signal to the French were looking for a clean exit. I cant help feeling that April 1 would be more fitting, since there are times when Brexit feels like an elaborate practical joke, alongside the election of Donald Trump and the appointment of Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary.

Rory Bremner writes: 'Im not sure why this date was chosen for B-Day, which some at Westminster insist on calling it; presumably to signal to the French were looking for a clean exit'

But its no joke, not for the Remainers or the majority who voted to leave the EU last June. And the consequences of that binary decision have grown even starker in the intervening nine months. Dont get me wrong. I understand there were millions of people who were left angry, disillusioned, ignored or neglected after years of a liberal, or rather neo-liberal, consensus, which championed globalisation while failing to mitigate its effects on the less well-off and more vulnerable sections of our society.

That, combined with an EU leadership complacent to the point of arrogance, even now, left the door open for the demagogues who exploited that anger in order to blame foreigners in general and the EU in particular.

And while the public may have been barking up the right tree, it was at the wrong cat. It wasnt the EU or immigration that was the problem, but the effects of recession and austerity, and the shocking state of our NHS.

It's the march of IDS: the day Iain Duncan Smith and others have been counting down on their Brexit Advent calendars since Theresa May said shed trigger Article 50 by the end of March

Hospitals struggle to fill vacancies and many have to go abroad to recruit British doctors, let alone EU nationals. But in leaving the EU, weve not only thrown the baby out with the bathwater; weve thrown out the bath  plus, those who plumbed it in the first place. Some 39,000 Eastern Europeans left in the three months after Brexit.

Then there are all the other consequences of Brexit, intended and unintended, for the EU institutions based here. For the EU nationals who make up 13 per cent of Londons workforce, 16 per cent of university academics, 8 per cent of construction workers, and up to 10 per cent of NHS staff.

Consequences too, for lawyers wholl have to scrutinise 20,833 laws and rules between now and Brexit (a rate of around 40 a day during the two-year exit period). I wonder how much of this was understood when we voted.

Certainly its the only vote I can remember where the manifesto turned up more than seven months after the public went to the polls, in the form of the Governments White Paper. Was this what we voted for? It was easy to ridicule and caricature Europe-bent bananas and all; the reality is those regulations worked to our common advantage.

An example: some years ago, my colleagues John Bird and John Fortune, researching a show about Europe, arrived in Strasbourg on the day its Parliament was debating the harmonisation of lawnmower noise. It seemed beyond satire.

But a few weeks ago, I learned that debate had in fact been initiated by the British. The Germans were using their national legislation to block the export of British lawnmowers. The British insisted that, in order to have a level playing field, there should be an EU-wide standard decided by Parliament.

But we are where we are. Brexit means Brexit, as our PM has said. But if it is to be so, let us at least make the very best of it

What we scoffed at was in fact part and parcel of ensuring an open market across Europe. We know the consequences of leaving now. We might have imagined some of them before the vote.

One man did, arguing that leaving the Single Market [will] cause at least some business uncertainty, while embroiling the Government for several years in a fiddly process of negotiating new arrangements, so diverting energy from the real problems of this country  low skills, low social mobility, low investment etc  that have nothing to do with Europe. That man? Why, our very own Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, in February last year.

But we are where we are. Brexit means Brexit, as our PM has said. But if it is to be so, let us at least make the very best of it. After the Scottish Referendum, my first instinct, as a Unionist, was to reach out to Nationalist friends, recognising their dreams had been dashed, and promise to push the Government to deliver further powers so Scotland could have more control while keeping the benefits of the Union.

Like many Remainers, I wish we were only giving up Europe for Lent. But if not, lets at least come out of it smelling of roses. Isnt that what B-days are all about?

Now, as B-day approaches, I hope the Brexiteers can recognise the concerns of Remainers, at least in the area of EU nationals.

A start would be to persuade Mrs May to take EU students out of immigration figures. How many people knew when net migration was 330,000, more than half were students? Currently there are 125,000 EU nationals among the international students who generate 26 billion for the economy and support 200,000 jobs.

To remove them from migration figures would not only cut those figures in half, but show the world that Britain, post Brexit, is open for study, learning and research.

Like many Remainers, I wish we were only giving up Europe for Lent. But if not, lets at least come out of it smelling of roses. Isnt that what B-days are all about?

Goodbye, but it's vital we still lead in Europe

COMMENT BY NADHIM ZAHAWI

When Theresa May triggers Article 50 on Wednesday, it should not be a cause for celebration. This is when the hard work begins.

There will be ups and downs as both sides in the negotiations bluff and double bluff, seek advantage and try to discover red lines. There will be roles to play, faces to maintain and domestic politics to heed.

I have strongly disagreed with those who have given the rights of EU citizens in the UK a higher priority than those of Brits abroad. But I do agree we need normalisation and this should be sorted within weeks.

Nadhim Zahawi writes: 'When Theresa May triggers Article 50 on Wednesday, it should not be a cause for celebration. This is when the hard work begins'

There are some who still believe the lie that Britain is turning its back on Europe, that Brexit was won by the far-Right and tinged with racism.

The reality needs to be shown early on. We will remain solid, dependable and reliable partners. We just have no desire for a supra-national political organisation creating our laws.

Britain must reassure our friends that we are not embarking on the Brexit caricature they have been told to fear. To do this we need to seize every opportunity for easy, mutually beneficial wins.

Another example is our continued security commitment. The victims of the Westminster Bridge attack were not just from Britain but from around the world.

Another example is our continued security commitment. The victims of the Westminster Bridge attack were not just from Britain but from around the world

It was a stark reminder that people share the same risks, wherever they are. To do our utmost to reduce those dangers we all must work together to fight and frustrate these terrorists.

But we need to remember why Parliament was a target. The Palace of Westminster houses the worlds most famous symbol of democracy. And at this moment we should be reminded it is a symbol created from, and has time and again brought forth, political innovation.

Now we must see this negotiation period as an opportunity to become political innovators once more.

All this will take time, patience and reason. Wednesday is just the start.
Parliament would be protected by a new security 'air lock' under a radical plan being considered in the wake of the latest terror attack.

It would put the Commons' Carriage Gates entrance  breached by terrorist Khalid Masood last week  behind a new security perimeter extending into Parliament Square.

And it could mean closing the road outside the Commons to all but parliamentary traffic.

Defence: Armed officers on guard outside Houses of Parliament

The proposals  drawn up with expert advice  will have to be agreed with Westminster city council chiefs, due to meet MPs this week to hammer out new security plans for the Palace of Westminster.

Commons insiders admitted that the ambitious new scheme was 'no short-term solution', with more immediate security improvements such as counter-terror bollards now expected.

They also admit that the scheme may prove too controversial to achieve in full.

A source said: 'Anything involving road closures will be controversial, so we're talking of a long-term project that will take a long time.

The new security perimeter could be extended to Parliament Square, pictured covered in floral tributes following Wednesday's attack

'But the idea would be to take the current Commons security perimeter out into Parliament Square, beyond the existing road.

'The road would still be there but potentially only MPs and parliamentary staff would use it  and they would have to join it via secure entrances.

'In effect, this would form a sealed air lock just for the Commons use and making a repeat of last week's attack just not possible.'

A Parliamentary spokesman said of security: 'As is good practice following any significant incident, the Houses, in conjunction with the police and other bodies, are carrying out a review of security around this specific incident.

'A series of exceptional meetings are scheduled for this week including a joint meeting of the House of Commons and House of Lords Commissions where the details of the review are expected to be discussed.'
An alcohol-free wine designed for pets to make them euphoric, affectionate and sleepy has gone on sale in Britain. A 6.50 bottle or wine and 13 Catini cocktail are available

A glass of wine can be a relaxing antidote to a stressful day at work  but its not a treat that you could share with your faithful pet.

Until now.

New wines designed for cats and dogs have gone on sale in Britain, making the animals euphoric, affectionate and then sleepy.

Cats can lap up white Meows-ling, red Purr-gandy, or Meow and Chandon bubbly, while dog have a choice of white FetchMe Grigio, red FetchMe Noir, and Dog Perignon fizz.

But they are alcohol-free, and designed with the aid of vets. Robert Benson sells the 6.50 bottles of wine and 13 Catini cocktail shots at his stall on Altrincham Market in Cheshire.

He started importing the treats from America after seeking something a little more artisan as a treat for his labrador Buster and dachshund Vivienne.

He explained: I wanted something that you wouldnt get on the high street or in a pet store.

People come to the market for nice food and drink for themselves and I thought it would be good to let the pets share the wine experience too.

They contain things like catnip, bacon extract, salmon oil, valerian root and filtered water.

The cat wine is said to make them euphoric and very lively, then they settle down after a while and become more affectionate, and the dogs just love lapping it up and having a snooze.

The cat wine is said to make them euphoric and very lively, then they settle down after a while and become more affectionate, and the dogs just love lapping it up and having a snooze,' according to stall owner Robert Benson

Mr Benson, 37, gets his stock from the Pet Winery in Fort Myers, Florida. Founder Taryn Nahn said: Its cute and fun and the whole idea is that you dont have to drink alone  you can have a glass of wine with your dog or cat. People howl with laughter when I tell them what I do. They think its crazy  but our pets are an extension of us and its nice to be able to share moments with them, whether its dressing them like us or having a glass of wine together.

The drinks have health benefits too. The fish oil is great for their coat, skin, joints and digestion, and the drinks keep them hydrated.

Soon well have a Dogtini spirit made with peppermint oil to freshen dogs breath, but of course they will only have a shot of that, rather than a whole bottle.
During the peak of Melbourne's notorious gangland killings, convicted murderer and drug trafficker Carl Williams was a feared man who commanded respect.

But that didn't stop fellow maximum security inmate Matthew Johnson from beating him to death with a metal bar after he became a police informant behind bars.

In a taped prison phone call after the brutal murder, Johnson described his former friend Williams as a 'fat f***ing sook' who 'bit off more than he could chew'.

'In here mate he's just another bare bum in the f*****g shower block ... or he was. Yeah, and out there the only reason he got away with so much is because no-one suspected he was a f*****g idiot,' Johnson said.

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Melbourne gangland figure Carl Williams was a 'fat sook' who 'bit off more than he could chew' - according to the man who killed him after he became a police informant while behind bars

Fellow maximum security inmate Matthew Johnson beat Williams to death with a metal bar. A taped prison phone call after the murder showed that he had no respect for the drug trafficker

The chilling audio, which will be aired on Channel Seven's Murder Uncovered on Monday night, gives a rare insight into the motives of Johnson.

Williams' lawyer, Peter Faris QC, told Murder Uncovered his client was 'stupid'.

'I don't believe Carl killed anyone. Carl was gutless and I don't think he had the guts to pull the trigger and kill anybody,' he said.

He also revealed that he never asked Williams whether he had killed anyone, saying it would make him a witness and put him at risk of being killed by Carl or 'his friends'.

In 2011, Johnson was found guilty of the 2010 murder of Williams and sentenced to a minimum of 32 years in prison.

He committed the cold-blooded murder with full knowledge that the entire attack would be captured on CCTV.

Johnson killed Williams with full knowledge that the entire attack would be captured on CCTV (pictured)

Williams' lawyer, Peter Faris QC, told Murder Uncovered his client was 'stupid'

Johnson is reportedly the leader of a feared gang within Victoria's correctional system named the 'Prisoners of War'

Johnson's criminal history includes 119 prior convictions for serious offences, having served ten previous terms of imprisonment.

Known in prison circles as 'The General' - Johnson is reportedly the leader of a feared gang within Victoria's correctional system named the 'Prisoners of War'.

A report by a Victorian Ombudsman in 2012 revealed that POW members were 'responsible for a series of violent assaults on prisoners and prison', including an assault on a prisoner who was allegedly acting as a police informant.

According to the Herald Sun, Johnson is believed to have played a part in a recent violent rampage targeting the surviving Williams family members.

Rodney Philips, 25, and Sam Liszczak, 23, were reportedly described as 'disciples' of Johnson during their time alongside him in Victoria's Barwon Prison.

On Monday they admitted to shooting a policeman in the head after firing shots at a home belonging to Carl William's father.

Constable Ben Ashmole was badly wounded by shot gun pellets on July 7, 2015 while trying to intercept the men who had fired shots at George Williams' house in Broadmeadows.

Williams lawyer (pictured) also revealed he never asked Williams whether he had killed anyone, saying it would make him a witness and put him at risk of being killed by Carl or 'his friends'
An olive has always been the preferred final garnish for the perfect martini. But in a new twist, some trendy bars are starting to add a splash of olive oil to James Bonds favourite cocktail.

Although the news might cause 007 to raise an eyebrow, mixologists say the unlikely ingredient adds a distinctive texture and fragrance.

Davide Gagliazzo, bar manager of Gordon Ramsays Union Street Cafe in Southwark, South London, said: I think Bond would love it. Olive oil enriches the drink  it gives it a silky texture and complexity.

Cocktail makers are using olive oil in the martini, James Bond's favourite drink. According to mixologist Davide Gagliazzo, the ingredient gives the drink 'texture and complexity'

He explained that because oil is less dense than water and alcohol, it tends to rise to the top, enabling the drinker to smell its pungent aroma.

Mr Gagliazzo has dreamt up new cocktails including the Olive Sour, which includes Martini Ambrato, Bombay Sapphire gin, olive oil and egg white, and the Cioccoliato, which pairs Bacardi and Martini Dry with chocolate liqueur, mint and olive oil.

He uses a range of oils for different drinks, including a light and fruity variety called Leccino, and a more full bodied type called Coratina.

Ian Fleming stipulated in the 1953 novel Casino Royale that Bond's drink is made from three measures of Gordons, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet - a now discontinued aperitif (file photo)

The olive oil trend started in the US, where it replaced an even more bizarre fad for animal fat.

Fat-washing, as it is known, involves putting in liquid bacon fat or dripping into a cocktail, then chilling it so that the fat solidifies. It is then removed, but the spirit retains the flavour.

Its all a long way from Bonds drink, which Ian Fleming stipulated in the 1953 novel Casino Royale as being three measures of Gordons, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet  a now-discontinued aperitif.
Fox News has fired veteran comptroller Judy Slater over allegations her behavior toward African-American colleagues was 'abhorrent'.

Slater, who is white and had been with the network for 19 years, is accused of making demeaning remarks to African-American colleagues and ridiculing the way they pronounce words.

She allegedly asked one African-American employee if all three of her children were fathered by the same man, The Wrap reports.

Judy Slater, Fox News' longtime comptroller, was fired for making 'racist comments' to her African-American colleagues

Kevin Lord (pictured left), executive vice president of human resources with the company, oversaw the investigation that resulted in Slater's termination; Former Fox News head Roger Ailes (picturedright ) was forced to resign following a sexual harassment lawsuit in July

In another incident, Slater reportedly called an African-American woman 'sista' and mocked the speech of black employees, openly complaining that they mispronounce words.

She reportedly went so far as to write down words like 'sister', 'mother' and 'father' and asked the African-American employees to pronounce them aloud.

On another occasion, Slater allegedly raised her hands in a 'hands up, don't shoot' gesture when she was wished good night by two African-American employees.

Slater's behavior was investigated after it was made known to Kevin Lord, executive vice president of human resources with the company.

Ailes resigned shortly after star anchor Megyn Kelly (left) also made sexual harassment allegations against her boss during the investigation which began after former Fox host Gretchen Carlson (right) filed a lawsuit

'We take any complaint of this nature very seriously and took the appropriate action in investigating and firing Ms Slater within two weeks of this being brought to our attention,' said a network spokesperson. 'There is no place for abhorrent behavior like this at Fox News.'

Rupert Murdoch (pictured), chairman and acting CEO of Fox News Channel, considered Ailes one of his closest allies

Slater joined Fox News Channel in 1998, overseeing the company's accounts. She was promoted in 2006 to vice president and controller.

Fox News is no stranger to internal investigations, with sexual harassment lawsuits in the last year from numerous employees that led to the firing of the network's CEO Roger Ailes.

The drama began on July 6, after former co-host of Fox & Friends, Gretchen Carlson, filed a lawsuit against Ailes alleging sexual harassment. She claimed the Fox boss cancelled her show when she rebuffed his sexual advances.

Former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly joined other women who came forward to accuse Ailes of sexual harassment following Carlson's July lawsuit.

Kelly claimed Ailes tried to sexually assault her in his office and hinted that she would be fired for refusing his advances.

The 76-year-old strongly denied the allegations.

Since then, Fox agreed to settle with Carlson and a handful of other female employees, including former booker Laurie Luhn and ex-Fox news chief Andrea Tantaros.

Tantaros told Good Morning America in October that she refused a seven-figure settlement in her sexual harassment case against Ailes and O'Reilly Factor host Bill O'Reilly because the network wanted her 'eternal silence'.



The network responded to Luhn's sexual harassment allegations against Ailes by giving her a $3.15million payout.

Ailes was hired by Rupert Murdoch, chairman and acting CEO of Fox News Channel, to invent Fox News two decades ago. Murdoch considered him to be one of his closest allies.

Other company leaders have been accused of sexual harassment.

Former Fox News contributor Tamara Holder and 21st Century Fox reportedly worked out a deal last month that awarded her $2.5million following her allegations that she was sexually assaulted by Francisco Cortes, the vice president of Fox News Latino, two years ago.

In addition to paying out millions, the network also terminated Cortes, who in 2004 was personally selected by Ailes as the first member of the disgraced CEO's apprentice program.

Cortes did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com, but his lawyer Jay Sanchez said he was 'presently considering Mr Cortes legal options'.
A police officer who was fired from the North Chicago Police Department is suing his former employer, claiming he was let go because he complained about anti-Muslim comments.

Ramtin Sabet, an Iranian immigrant, was let go in February and is suing the department and city.

He claims they failed to take action when he complained his colleagues would call him things such as an 'ISIS leader' or a 'terrorist' and joked that he 'trained with Al Qaeda.'

Ramtin Sabet is suing the North Chicago Police Department and the city claiming he was fired because he complained about anti-Muslim comments

Sabet worked as a police officer for 15 years before his termination, 10 of those years were with North Chicago.

He initially filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint in 2012 about the harassment. He said in the complaint officers made fun of his religion, culture, food and joked that he road a goat or camel to work.

Sabet told the Chicago Tribune: 'It was like I was being hazed all the time.'

He filed a second complaint in November 2016 and was granted the right to sue this time. He was placed on administrative leave the same month.

In 2015 and 2016 Sabet was reported for allegedly making anti-Semitic comments, which he denies.

The North Chicago Police Department say Sabet was fired for violating 'rules and regulations'

He claims in the meeting he was threatened with 'possibly termination' which the department denies.

Police Chief Richard Wilson told the Tribune in a statement: 'Officer Sabet was terminated for violations of police department rules and regulations.'

'He has challenged that determination. The city plans to vigorously defend its decision.'

The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is representing Sabet.

Sabet was hired at another law enforcement agency but said he had to take a pay cut.

Hoda Katebi, the communications coordinator of CAIR Chicago told ABC 7 Chicago: 'This sort of hateful, toxic climate and culture is not unique to city of North Chicago Police Department. It will not be ignored. It will not be tolerated.'
They can only hug for a few seconds while armed guards look on, but that hasn't stopped a Kiwi woman flying halfway across the word for her prisoner boyfriend.

Brooke McGregor, from Dunedin, is dating U.S. convicted murderer Michael Douglass after they exchanged letters through a prisoner pen pal website.

She travelled to Middletown, Ohio, in January and will stay until April 20, seeing the 27-year-old on the two days a month he is allowed full-day visits.

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Brooke McGregor, 23, traveled from New Zealand to the U.S. to meet her convicted murderer boyfriend Michael Douglass, 27, in jail

Douglass is serving a life sentence without parole for his part in stabbing to death Bangladeshi man Sabyasachi Debnath in 2007, but insists he is innocent

'Most people looked at me like I was crazy when I told them I was in a relationship with someone doing life,' she told the Taranaki Daily News.

'He holds my hand all day, when he's not eating. I was scared at how fast my feelings developed for somebody who I knew may never be able to come home to me.'

The 23-year-old is staying with Douglass' family and makes the three-hour journey to Toledo Correctional Institution with them.

The couple are only allowed one hug at the start of the visit but can hold hands all day while armed guards watch their every move.

The couple met on a prisoner pen pal website after she was drawn to his 'cheeky smile' and eyes that 'begged for love and somebody to care'

The couple are only allowed one hug at the start of full-day visits he is permitted each month but can hold hands while armed guards watch their every move

The pair exchanged dozens of letters over a few months starting in August before Ms McGregor made the 'snap decision' to see him in person

Douglass is serving a life sentence without parole for his part in stabbing to death Bangladeshi man Sabyasachi Debnath in 2007, but insists he is innocent.

Ms McGregor first wrote to him on August 31 after being drawn to his 'cheeky smile' and eyes that 'begged for love and somebody to care'.

'I love to laugh and smile. I help keep a smile on your face. I'm a good listener, ask me anything you want,' Douglass wrote on his writeaprisoner.com profile.

The young felon wrote back saying it was okay she was from New Zealand because he just wanted a friend, but knew he loved her from the first letter.

'I'm hoping to find a lifelong friend. Someone I bond with, depend on, laugh with and just talk about any and everything with and vice versa. I have yet to find a real true friend in life,' he wrote in his first letter to her.

The 23-year-old is staying with Douglass' family and makes the three-hour journey to Toledo Correctional Institution with them

'I love to laugh and smile. I help keep a smile on your face. I'm a good listener, ask me anything you want,' Douglass wrote on his writeaprisoner.com profile

Douglass also complimented her picture, bonded over their shared love of tattoos, and said he longed to hear about NZ.

He said he was a 'very loyal person' but that it was 'probably by best and worst quality' that was never shown in return - and helped land him in jail.

The pair exchanged dozens of letters over the next few months before Ms McGregor made the 'snap decision' to see him in person.

She planned to work in NZ to save up for another trip to Ohio and pursue a law degree in an effort to free him.

Ms McGregor insists her beloved was wrongly convicted as a wayward 18-year-old and was trying to raise money for an appeal.

'Michael is one of a kind. He is a kind, bright, loving, caring soul, who placed his trust and loyalty in the wrong person and ultimately it ended up costing him freedom and life,' she wrote on a crowdfunding page.

Douglass confessed to aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated burglary, theft, tampering with evidence, and breaking and entering

Ms McGregor insists her beloved was wrongly convicted as a wayward 18-year-old and was trying to raise money for an appeal

Douglass was convicted along with Roger Whitten, then aged 18, and his sister Amber Rodriguez, 16, of Mr Debnath's brutal murder in a motel room.

He confessed to aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated burglary, theft, tampering with evidence, and breaking and entering.

The victim was found tied up with tape at the feet, thighs and neck, stabbed more than eight times, and beaten in the head on November 12, 2007.

Whitten and Rodriguez were in an incestuous relationship and planned to rob Mr Debnath after he allegedly raped the teenage girl, court documents read.

Ms McGregor claimed it was Whitten who stabbed him to death, not Douglass, when he flew into a rage during the attempt.

She said Douglass was 'railroaded' into pleading guilty by his lawyer, who said he would only get 20 years with an early plea instead of the death penalty.

Douglass (L) was convicted along with Roger Whitten (R), then aged 18, and his sister Amber Rodriguez, 16, of Mr Debnath's brutal murder in a motel room

Douglass as a child as seen on a crowdfunding page to pay for legal efforts to free him

The lawyer then claimed he advised his client against the plea bargain, which caused a commotion in court.

Rodriguez would be eligible for parole after 30 years and Whitten 40 but Douglass received life without parole, causing him to spit, swear and try to break free.

Ms McGregor said his first public defender was sacked and the second one was surprised the judge thought him 'capable of handling a case like this'.

She further alleged that according to news reports the now-deceased judge had several heated exchanges with Douglass' family, was 'shouting and visibly angry' when talking to him, and said prosecutors should have asked for a death sentence.

The student vowed to 'never give up on him' and wrote numerous letters to authorities and prisoner advocacy groups on his behalf.
Egypt's housing ministry began on Saturday to gather compensation preferences from disgruntled residents of a lower-income area in central Cairo known as the Maspero Triangle, which the government has been trying for years to evacuate for development into an investment and residential hub.

On Saturday, the ministry issued forms for locals to choose from a number of alternatives to make way for the development of the strategic area, which neighbours deluxe shopping malls and five-star hotels along Nile Corniche.

Residents in the area have for years balked at the prospect of being moved from their homes, where they work and where their families have lived for decades.

"No one will leave the area against their will, not only in Maspero, but in any slum development project in the country," deputy housing minister Ahmed Adel Darwish said in TV comments on Saturday.

Residents have been given three weeks to fill in the forms to choose their preferred form of compensation, Darwish said, though he did not clarify what would done with residents who refuse all of the options.

The government has listed five methods of compensation for locals in return for their homes, which will be demolished and replaced with commercial and residential buildings over three years.

These options include: leasing an apartment in the area after development is complete, to be owned after 30 years; renting a home in the area; buying a home in the area; receiving a one-time financial compensation of EGP 100,000; or relocating to El-Asmarat neighbourhood in Muqattam district.

The Maspero triangle, in the old Boulaq neighbourhood by the Nile, is home to countless small workshops.

The area, which was given its name because of its triangle shape on the map, stands on 74 feddans (77 acres) and is home to at least 18,000 residents, according to 2014 estimates by Madd platform, an independent urban development institution.

The dispute over the area dates back some three decades, when development projects began to be proposed and Gulf investors started acquiring buildings and blocks of land in the area.

The government says it is willing to provide houses for the 4,500 families in the area after development is complete, but residents say the solution is inadequate because they would not be able to afford to rent or buy in the area after its development.

The lowest rent the government is requesting from residents opting to stay in the area is EGP 1,000  a hefty sum for lower-income families who struggle to make ends meet.

Other more costly alternatives include paying rent of EGP 1,600-2,500 or a monthly instalment of EGP 2,850-3,660 to own a property in 30 years.

Another option is to move to El-Asmarat at a monthly rent of EGP 300.

Residents say El-Asmarat is far from where they work and that their utility bills would be 10-fold in this neighbourhood.

As for temporary residence pending the completion of development, residents will either be offered homes in Badr, 6 October City or an EGP 1,000 monthly allowance to rent a home in the area of their choice.

Mahmoud Shaaban, the representative of tenants in the area, told Ahram Online that "most of the residents are poor and could never pay EGP 1,000-2,000 in rent per month."

According to Shaaban, the majority of locals in the area currently rent their homes.

"The government is therefore aiming to push residents to evacuate by leaving-them no option but to accept the EGP 100,000 in financial compensation; they can simply afford no other alternative," Shaaban said.

The government has pledged to disburse the money in three weeks time, which Shaaban says is meant to push people move out and lower the large number of sitting residents who are against the move.

"We are not against development, we are against the high payments required if we choose to stay here," 30-year-old Mahmoud, a resident of the area, said in TV comments on Saturday.

Shabaan said owners of lands and property will have another scheme for compensation, while shop owners will receive 30 percent of their property's value in cash.

A list of demands by residents presented to the housing ministry earlier this month included lowering rent to EGP 300 and ownership instalments to EGP 700; increasing the cash compensation; and offering alternative residential units in a nearby area.

"All the current alternatives do not work. What would EGP 100,000 buy these days, a kiosk?" one resident asked.

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It was a murderous attack on the people of Britain at the very seat of our democracy  and under the watchful gaze of the statue of Sir Winston Churchill, a man who, more than anyone in the past two centuries, has symbolised the spirit of defiance.

Khalid Masoods senseless rampage is a bloody reminder that now more than ever a Churchillian spirit is what we need: defiance, but laced with sharp intelligence.

Of course, there has been criticism of the security arrangements at Parliament, and of our overworked security services. Perhaps it is inevitable. But much of this is unfair. In fact, Britains Government quarter has no shortage of physical obstacles, armed policemen, surveillance cameras and scanners to detect weapons.

'Khalid Masoods senseless rampage is a bloody reminder that now more than ever a Churchillian spirit is what we need'

Parliament should always be accessible  and, remember, closed gates create risks, too. Members of the Cabinet are static targets if they have to sit and wait to enter the Palace of Westminster.

But the pressing issues lie elsewhere. We must look at what is taking place 3,000 miles away in the desert towns of Mosul and Raqqa, where Islamic State is suffering a desperate and almost certainly fatal military collapse. The disturbing result of this is that we here in Britain and in Europe must expect to become the new front line. There is every reason to believe the failure of ISs caliphate will be played out on our streets.

The statistics of defeat are clear. IS has lost 30 per cent of the territory it controlled in Syria, and 62 per cent of what it held in Iraq. The battle for Mosul, its Iraqi stronghold, is approaching a final conclusion. Normal life is resuming for the oppressed people in the eastern part of the city, which was finally retaken in January after a three-month campaign by Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

Now, 100,000 Iraqi troops are bravely fighting their way into the western part of the city, where 2,000 IS fighters are effectively trapped inside its warrens, facing almost certain death. The front line is 500 yards from the al-Nouri mosque, where in July 2014 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the caliphate.

There is no sign of him there now, nor of the 40 IS commanders who have been killed in US air strikes. Baghdadis last audio message was in November.

Those returning from fighting with IS should be interned

For sure, Mosul is a tough battle  with dense smoke and rubble concealing IS snipers  but there is no doubt about who will win.

Meanwhile, the Syrian town of Raqqa, the IS capital, is under siege from American troops and their Syrian Kurdish allies, the Turks, plus Syrian government forces backed by Iran and Russia. Again, the eventual result is clear.

But if all this is desperately needed good news for the people of Mosul and Raqqa, it is time for the citizens of Europe to take note.

IS is losing both its territory and the tax revenues that sustained it, and so must find other ways of making a mark  of reminding its sympathisers that it is not yet defeated.

There are other signs of the terror groups decline. Its reach on social media is much diminished from the days when it publicised horrific acts of cruelty with slick videos. Iraqi experts believe that IS is no longer capable of producing them. Recent efforts have been of poor quality.

ISs Twitter activity has been reduced by 45 per cent since 2014. New IS accounts are removed after only two days.

It is an unmistakeable retreat, which is why there has been an upsurge in IS terror attacks everywhere. Some 55 people were killed when an open-air used car market was hit in Baghdad, and more than 30 people died as IS killers dressed as doctors struck a military hospital in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

'We should not congratulate ourselves on the fact that Khalid Masood killed four people and no more. We must act now'

Attacks in Europe are highly likely, and as last Wednesday made clear, Britain is very much in the firing line.

There is no reason why networks used to smuggle foreign volunteers to Syria could not be used for the opposite purpose, and place those same volunteers back into the wealthy capitals of Europe.

Certainly, as we saw in the November 2015 Paris attacks, trained IS fighters know how to infiltrate the waves of migrants and refugees. How then should we respond?

The first answer is with maximum caution. Since several hundred of those who went to fight with IS, or to live in its caliphate, may return to these shores, we should consider interning them until we are satisfied they have not committed murder or rape, for which they should be tried back in Iraq and Syria, and that they represent no future danger here. The onus should be on them to prove otherwise.

If this means building new jails, so be it.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Those who have broken the law by joining proscribed organisations and pursuing terrorist causes abroad, such as those jihadis revealed to be at liberty on page 13 of todays Mail on Sunday, must not expect to enjoy the full freedom enjoyed by other British citizens.

We must also deal with an associated problem  the radicalisation of those already here, particularly through the prison system.

The truth is that mosques are no longer the main incubators of terrorism (and we should pay due respect to those Muslim clerics who see off radical interlopers, not to mention women who resist the tyranny of radical imams).

Instead, IS has discovered the potential in Britains huge prison population, where religious conversion can seem an avenue to salvation when life has reached its nadir. This involves conversion to a highly angry and resentful version of Islam, known as prislam.

There is not much talk of peace and goodwill.

As a matter of urgency, we need to isolate jihadist ideologues from other criminal inmates  perhaps as the Dutch do by creating jails within jails, with specialist staff to handle them.

Moreover, known jihadis should be imprisoned as far from their support networks as possible, as the Spanish authorities did by jailing ETA inmates hundreds of miles from the Basque region.

Then there is our shocking complacency about what are effectively Muslim enclaves, in Birmingham, Blackburn, Leicester, Luton, and parts of east London such as Tower Hamlets.

It seems incredible that in a British Muslim population of 3.1 million, as many as 200,000 women do not speak English.

'As we saw in the November 2015 Paris attacks, trained IS fighters know how to infiltrate the waves of migrants and refugees'

It is troubling, too, that in parts of Birmingham, once colourful saris and shalwar kameez have been replaced by more restrictive clothes in pervasive black, symbolic of more puritanical versions of Islam. Four-year-olds are being made to wear hijabs and even polygamy is smiled on, often by Saudi-influenced mullahs from backward areas of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Disgracefully, we have also allowed countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia  nations we should be suspicious of  to finance mosques and schools that propagate intolerant versions of Islam and actively retard integration.

Deft changes to school catchment areas and to boards of governors might help reverse that, as would more positive emphasis on groups who have integrated well, from the Chinese via the Jews to the Poles and Vietnamese. Most of all, however, we need to become more intelligent in the way we work.

GCHQ and MI5 have had some notable successes, but just consider the scale of the task. At any one time, 4,000 MI5 personnel have 3,000 suspected jihadist sympathisers on their radar, of whom 500 may require constant monitoring, some of it electronic.

Putting this number of suspects under human surveillance requires a huge number of people and, moreover, is a job that requires years of training.

Assuming that it takes 30 officers to mount 24/7 individual surveillance operations, one would need 15,000 officers to monitor 500 jihadis, or nearly four times the entire workforce of MI5. They must, then, concentrate on who is actually a real threat and on the major jihadi networks, especially those with known links to IS or Al Qaeda abroad.

We need to be smarter and learn from others, like the Israelis

One answer is relying on big data scooped up from intercepts, card transactions and social media accounts. But I have major doubts about that approach, as the sheer quantity means useful analysis becomes impossible. The Americans have gone down this route, and we risk doing the same. Big data may help sell advertising space or beef burgers, or win elections, but I doubt its ability to identify terrorists.

We must instead be smarter and take lessons from, among others, the Israelis, who rely on old-fashioned human capabilities.

At Israeli airports there is far less reliance on electronic systems, and more on intelligent border guards who ask crucial and effective questions. These are not low-paid dullards from some private sub-contractor firm either, but people with backgrounds in the armed forces and security services.The Israelis spend more time observing human behaviour for signs of agitation or controlled anxiety, and far less dutifully going through rote procedures. You dont have to remove your shoes at Ben Gurion airport, by the way.

In my case, they checked me out by simply asking how to pronounce the surname in my passport  something few foreigners would guess.

In Britain, we have moved away from this approach. I would like to see the return of the police Special Branch, with its focus on infiltration and subversion.

Despite having been founded in 1883, the branch was abolished in 2006 by Sir Ian Blair, and absorbed into S015, the counter-terrorism command. Much local expertise, and the proverbial coppers nose of experienced detectives, was lost in the process.

'It was a murderous attack on the people of Britain at the very seat of our democracy'

It is true that other countries have seen more terrible atrocities. But we should not congratulate ourselves on the fact that Khalid Masood killed four people and no more. We must act now.

We should review the people and systems we have in place to see what can be improved. We should be wary of resorting to cheap and low-grade private subcontractors. We need more local bobbies and a revived Special Branch to deal with extremism and subversion where it thrives on the ground.

There is no point inflating the ranks of MI5, because it takes so much time to train people properly. Do not pass more laws  enforce the plethora of laws we have already.

We still need boots on the ground  this time here in our towns and cities. But  and this is crucial  they must be worn by educated, intelligent, committed officers.

It is time to get to grips with our ports, with our airports, our schools, our university bars, our crumbling prison cells, and that anonymous world of shabby flats and houses in the rootless urban areas that have been such magnets to terrorists in Belgium, France and now in Britain, too.

Above all, we need to embolden our Muslim compatriots to stand with us in Churchillian defiance. To use his words, we must not flag or fail.

For while the time and context of our finest hour might now be rather different, the threat we face is very real indeed.
It's a fate mums everywhere will hope to escape today  a blissful Mothers Day lie-in ruined by the boisterous behaviour of her youngsters.

Despite this lioness wanting just a little bit more snooze time, three feisty cubs clearly had other ideas.

Try as she might to keep her eyes shut, she finally raised them to the heavens in quiet despair, thanks to her rude awakening.

This glimpse of family life was captured by photographer Ingo Gerlach during a trip to Kenyas Masai Mara.

He said: It was hilarious to see the lionesss eyes turn to heaven like her human counterparts will no doubt be doing this morning.

A lioness is given a rude awakening from her fiesty cubs in Kenya's Masai Mara, even though she just wants a lie in

Even though she tries to screw her eyes shut, the young cats nudge and push her until she wakes up. Pictured, the mother looks to the heavens in quiet despair

When the lioness sits up, her cubs start to play with her, rolling and tumbling about her body
Author Fay Weldon has risked infuriating fellow feminists by claiming their cause left two-thirds of British women worse off.

In an interview in The Mail on Sundays Event magazine today, Weldon, 85, says the feminist revolution had adverse implications by halving the male wage, so it no longer supported a family.

That meant some women had to get jobs, even if they would rather have been at home with their children. Women had to work to support the family. So for two in three women, it really was a problem.

Elsewhere in the interview, Weldon also launches an astonishing attack on the bad women who have accused Donald Trump of sexual harassment. She argues that the US Presidents foolish and neurotic accusers are trying to make a fast buck out of the situation.

Weldon is never afraid to express an unpopular or controversial opinion: I think Trump hatred is a very foolish move. It seems to me to be a sort of neurotic fear of something new.

I suspect the kind of women who Trump molests are not necessarily against the molestation but hope to make money out of it, she says. Because not all women are good women. There are as many bad women as bad men.

Weldon, who worked in advertising before finding fame as a novelist in the late 1960s, claims that behaviour now classed as harassment was looked upon differently in her day.

She adds: In my youth, what is now seen as sexual harassment was seen as welcome attention. Actually, if men took notice of you in an office, you were very pleased.

Her views on Trump will anger fellow feminists who have come to regard him as a hate figure because of his alleged treatment of women.

But Weldon says its time women stopped seeing themselves as victims. This was right and proper 20 or 30 years ago when they couldnt earn, they couldnt work, they couldnt join the professions. Well all that has changed.

It is not the first time Weldon has courted controversy. In 1998, she provoked uproar by claiming that rape wasnt the worse thing that could happen to a woman.

She is also likely to ruffle more than a few feathers with a sequel to her best-known novel, The Life And Loves Of A She Devil. In the Death Of A She Devil, the She Devils grandson Tyler undergoes a sex-change operation so that he can get his hands on her fortune.

And like Womans Hour presenter Jenni Murray, Weldon says she came to the conclusion that men who have a sex change can never really become women.

Thirty years after her terrifying tale blazed onto screens, She Devil creator Fay Weldon returns - with views on the sex wars that'll leave feminists fuming

By Cole Moreton For Event Magazine

The She Devil is back. Thirty years after she made men shudder and women laugh with her most famous story  a feminist revenge fantasy in which a wronged wife steals her husbands money, gets him put in jail and has plastic surgery to look exactly like his mistress  Fay Weldon is reviving the characters in The Life And Loves Of A She Devil for both page and screen in the modern age.

Women have won. The balance of power has moved. Men do now envy women because women have it so easy, says the veteran novelist, who loves to make mischief. She knows the world has changed dramatically since the original book was made into a hit television series in 1986, starring Dennis Waterman as the unfaithful husband Bobbo, Patricia Hodge as his beautiful mistress Mary and Julie T Wallace as Ruth, the wronged wife.

So now she has written a sequel, Death Of A She Devil, which pitches her straight into one of the most bitter debates of our times: transgender rights.

Weldon knows the world has changed dramatically since the original book was made into a hit television series in 1986, starring Dennis Waterman and Julie T. Wallace (above)

The only way men have of fighting back against the natural superiority of women is by becoming women themselves, says the new book, a brilliant black comedy that sees the original heroines grandson attempt to inherit her multi-million pound feminist empire by copying her tactics and having therapy and plastic surgery to try to become a woman. Except he doesnt quite manage it, because transgender men never really can become women and have no right to say they are, insists Weldon.

As Jenni Murray [the presenter of Radio 4s Womans Hour who attracted fury for her comments recently] said: If you have not been brought up with all the trials of being a woman, to claim youre a woman in later life is hardly fair. That seems to me to be the case. They havent earned the right.

Her willingness to fly in the face of political correctness  even while speaking up for womens rights  made Weldon a star performer on radio and TV in the Eighties and Nineties, and at the age of 85 she still wants to wind us up, get a chuckle and provoke a thought.

I think Trump hatred is a very foolish move. It seems to me to be a sort of neurotic fear of something new.

Isnt he abusive to women?

Hes the hookers best friend.

At this point her third husband, Nick Fox, a poet who is also her manager, leaps across the kitchen and tries to stop the interview. I think thats enough!

She lets him have his say, then quietly insists on finishing her thought. Its incendiary.

In my youth, what is now seen as sexual harassment was seen as welcome attention. Actually, if men took notice of you in an office you were very pleased. I suspect that the kind of women who Trump molests are  though I may be completely wrong  not necessarily against the molestation but hope to make money out of it. Because not all women are good women. There are as many bad women as bad men.

Weldon with her son Samuel in 1980: 'I have four sons and Nick has three, so naturally you begin to think boys have a hard time. And its the girls at the top.'

Weldon with her husband Nick Fox at a book launch in London. They met after she left her previous husband, Ron Weldon, who died of a heart attack the day their divorce came through

Thats an astonishing thing to hear from one of our leading female voices  described by the writer Caitlin Moran as a tribal elder  but she does love to spring surprises. Appearances are deceptive with Weldon. Never mind the soft blue velvet jacket or the neat, silvery bob. Look at the steely eyes, watch her insist that she will be heard.

She had to fight hard for that in her youth. Weldon studied psychology and economics but left university when she had a son. She married a man 25 years older, who put her to work as a hostess in a Soho nightclub. But she left him and went into advertising, becoming associated with the successful slogan, Go to work on an egg!

She was married to a jazz musician and in the process of having three more sons when her debut novel, The Fat Womans Joke, became a success. But it was The Life And Loves Of A She Devil that brought real fame and money in 1983. My mother said, If youre going to call a novel that, nobody will ever take you seriously again. It shows how wrong mothers can be.

READ AN EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM FAY WELDON'S NEW BOOK These days, when the She Devil wakes she must remind herself who she is. I am in my 80s now and I see no one fit to follow in my footsteps. Who can be trusted to come after me? My children and my childrens children will not even speak to me. Who will take over when I am gone, will leap out of bed every morning to look after and improve the world? Who will rule in the High Tower? But I am Lady Ruth Patchett, the She Devil. I am the one who has dominion over the High Tower and all its satellites. I am President and Chief Executive of the Institute for Gender Parity. Once upon a time Mary Fisher, a wicked purveyor of romantic fiction, a teller of lies, ruled here in the High Tower, but she is well dead and gone. Where once she sipped champagne, lit her scented candles and slept with other womens husbands, notably mine, now I, Ruth Patchett, She Devil, rule the roost. I am as good as any man, and crow the triumph of the true, the proud, the honest working women of today, the ones that we set free. Gone with the wind are Mary Fishers simpering ninnies, raising their doe-eyes in adoration of lusty dinosaur men, and thank the gods for that  though gone too, come to think of it, are the lusty men. Lusty is so out of fashion. But still I wake uneasy in the mornings. And aching too, as one does at 84. All is not well. Is it conscience that troubles me? When I step out upon the ground it seems to tremble  is it that the sea batters the rocks on which the High Tower stands, or is it just that my limbs are old? I always did the best I could, surely, within the limits of my own nature. I am without guilt. So why am I so hated? Why do I hate myself? Why does no one bring me my coffee? Surely its time? Morning light seeps round the edges of the blinds. I have work to do. The nation needs me. Women need me.  Fay Weldon, 2017. Death Of A She Devil is published by Head of Zeus on April 6, priced 16.99. Offer price 12.74 (25% discount) until April 2. Pre-order at www. mailbookshop.co.uk or call 0844 571 0640 Advertisement

Back then, the cosmetic surgery that Ruth the She Devil had was considered extreme. Now nips, tucks, injections, face-lifts, boob jobs and more drastic work are commonplace. Its absolutely horrifying. The idea that God gave you a certain appearance and you played your cards as best you could  which is very good for peoples character really  has vanished. And the idea that looks are everything has taken over.

Weldon accidentally reveals that we can expect to see a fresh TV version of the classic series as well as the sequel. Theyre going to remake the first one and do this new one as well. I dont know if this is public knowledge.

She has written more than 20 other novels as well as screenplays, so why revive this one now? People have asked me to revive the story for a long time, but I couldnt see what there was to write about really, until Germaine Greer denied transgenderism by saying chopping off someones d*** didnt make you a woman. That I thought was very interesting and seemed to be where feminism had come to.

Dennis Waterman and Patricia Hodge starred in the 1986 TV adaptation of Weldon's original book The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, which was filmed on location at Belle Tout lighthouse

Greer was forced to drop out of a speech at Cardiff University in 2015 after a petition was raised calling for her to be banned. The transgender comic Rebecca Root described her views as absurd and grossly offensive. But Weldon clearly shares them, having thought hard about whether a transgender man can ever really become a woman. This is investigated in the novel and then you realise that no, it has not convinced me. Tyler does remain a man, because although his body changes his masculinity has not.

He does not have the operation to remove his Adams apple and change his way of speaking. You can have your vocal cords attended to and have a little nice sweet voice, but men tend not to do that. She cites Caitlyn Jenner, the television personality formerly known as Bruce. She keeps her voice because it is the voice of power.

The book opens with Tylers grandmother Ruth, the original She Devil, presiding over a community of women at The High Tower, her seaside mansion, with her mad, frail husband Bobbo locked in the top room and the ghost of the mistress Mary raging as she haunts them all. The women of the world gave up romance, subservience and submission, and once empowered, took to hard work, truth and reality. Much good has it done them.

Weldon remains firmly in favour of the bloodless revolution that was feminism, but believes that only one woman in three really benefited. By going out to work they halved the male wage, so a male wage no longer supported a family. So women had to go out to work to help support the family.

That meant others had to get jobs even if they would rather have been with their children. So for two in three women it really was a problem, she says.

The advent of the nursery has been awful. Because its so convenient. Because you dont have the responsibility of bringing up your own child. You put its care, its information, its understanding, into the hands of someone else, who is  because the women who look after babies are paid less than the women who are going out to work  not going to be on the same level. So painful though childcare is, it is still a sacrifice, a sacrifice I would have thought has to be made.

Its time for women to stop seeing themselves as victims, she says. This was right and proper 20 or 30 years ago when they couldnt earn, they couldnt work, they couldnt join the professions. Well all that has changed. Women can choose who they marry, how much they earn, whether they have children  they have choice, which is sort of enforced by law. So why do they see themselves as victims? I dont know. But they go on thinking men are their oppressors.

As a part-time professor of creative writing at Bath Spa University, Weldon is distressed at what she sees. Younger men have it very hard indeed. Theyre very nice about it but there is a general assumption from the women in the class that the men dont know whats going on. And theyre sort of pitied, rather than respected.

In the old days, she says, young women lacked confidence and had too little self-esteem. Now the opposite is true.

Young women need classes in low self-esteem, not in high self-esteem. This is the same for both men and women actually. Theyre brought up now to have an unrealistic view of themselves. It makes them very hard to relate to the real world. It makes them live in a sort of bubble. It makes them long for safe spaces. They wont listen to anybody else. They deny the existence of other thoughts and other people, which makes thought rather difficult for them. It makes them terribly easy to offend.

What can be done?

Give them cushions and wait till they have their own children and all things will become clear. Youd hope universities would help them grow up but they just give in to them straight away, as they as parents probably gave in to their own children.

Weldon on Caitlyn Jenner: You can have your vocal cords attended to and have a little nice sweet voice, but men tend not to do that. She keeps her voice because it is the voice of power.

Weldon was only 22 when she had her first son and she married a headmaster called Ronald Bateman, who was twice her age, in order to keep a roof over their head. Poor Ronald, she wrote in her autobiography Auto Da Fay. I was a heartless, practical monster.

On the other hand, he needed a wife for his CV, wasnt interested in making love and forced her to have sex with a stranger. The marriage lasted two years.

Days after the divorce she married Ron Weldon, a jazz player and artist, who gave her his surname and three sons. They were together for 30 years, until his new astrological therapist said the couples star signs were incompatible and became his lover. He died of a heart attack on the day their divorce came through in 1994. By then she had met Nick Fox in a bookshop he was running.

This smart, gregarious man with big, bushy eyebrows is 15 years her junior. He hovers in the background cooking scrambled eggs for us both until his Trump intervention. Over lunch, hes surprisingly willing to interrupt and cut across her opinions. Fox is forceful but hes also a charmer, and she seems to like him that way.

I have four sons and Nick has three, so naturally you begin to think boys have a hard time. And its the girls at the top. No one sympathises really with their wives. For the girls, jobs are easier, and girls are much more adaptable. Boys are much more full of pride and dignity, and they dont want to have it attacked.

She calls them boys but the youngest is in his 30s and the oldest in his 60s. Weldon also has seven grandchildren now.

The new novel explores old age and even death, as Mary haunts the High Tower, Bobbo approaches his end and the She Devil fears her own. But Fay Weldon is not afraid. Im a person who says to the doctors, Do not resuscitate. Ive done enough, thank you very much. Im not frightened of death. One is frightened of the manner of ones death, one doesnt want it to be disagreeable, but once youve lived long enough, cessation is no worry.

Weldon has had two near-death experiences, once as a teenager and again much later when her heart stopped when she was in hospital and she appeared to see the entrance to an afterlife. My belief about the afterlife is that its not a reward, it is simply a continuation. I dont believe in extinction.

Armed with that confidence, she will go on speaking and writing as she pleases, wanting to make us laugh and think, no matter how much hot water she might land herself in.

Im just looking at the world, I really am. Obviously, the hot water is a sort of danger  but one hopes to have subverted that, by the simple power of merriment!
A Florida family wearing 'Pizzagate'-themed shirts were among the protesters who gathered in Washington, DC, over the weekend at a rally calling for the conspiracy theory to be investigated.

About 50 people gathered in Lafayette Square near the White House on Saturday, according to the Washington Post.

Father Kori Hayes, 25, was at the rally with his wife Danielle Hayes, along with the couple's children, who are two, five, and nine years old, the newspaper said.

Kori, who sported a shirt with the slogan 'Pizzagate is not fake news,' told the Post: 'I don't have any doubt that Pizzagate is real. But nothing is being done about it.'

The 'Pizzagate' conspiracy theory is based on claims that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief John Podesta ran a child sex abuse ring at the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in the nation's capital.

Danielle Hayes (left), her husband Kori Hayes (right) and the couple's three children all wore 'Pizzagate'-themed shirts at a DC rally on Saturday calling for the conspiracy theory to be investigated

Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, pleaded guilty on Friday to shooting up the pizzeria Comet Ping Pong after reading fake online news stories claiming Hillary Clinton was harboring sex slaves in the basement

It started when emails belonging to Podesta were released by WikiLeaks.

The owner of the pizza shop, James Alefantis, was mentioned in the emails. He is a Democrat supporter and was talking about a fundraiser.

Some of the rumors claimed that kidnapped and trafficked children were being kept in the pizzeria's back rooms and secret tunnels where they were being molested.

There has been no evidence of the so-called abuse, no investigation and no victims who have come forward.

Danielle Hayes, 31, whose shirt featured the message 'Investigate Pizzagate,' told the Post: 'We've been watching since the [John] Podesta emails came out on Wikileaks.

'And we just followed it down the rabbit hole.'

Another person in attendance at the Saturday rally, an editor from New Hampshire named George, told the Post: 'I was a victim of childhood abuse for 12 years.

'I don't know if [PizzaGate] is legit or not, but I think it should be investigated.'

Welch fired multiple shots from an AR-15 assault rifle (similar to the one pictured) inside restaurant, after driving from his home in North Carolina. No one was injured, according to authorities

Demonstrators spoke on a stage insisting 'Pizzagate' is real, the Post said.

Earlier this week, Alex Jones of the popular website InfoWars apologized for spreading the conspiracy theory, the newspaper noted.

He said in a video posted on YouTube Friday: 'I made comments about Mr. Alefantis that in hindsight I regret, and for which I apologize to him.

'We were participating in a discussion that was being written about by scores of media outlets, in one of the most hotly contested and disputed political environments our country has ever seen.'

'We relied on third-party accounts of alleged activities and conduct at the restaurant. We also relied on accounts of reporters who are no longer with us.'

According to eyewitnesses, Welch spent 45 minutes inside the pizzeria where he was said to be looking for the secret tunnels identified in the false news stories, which has caused the restaurant to be a target of numerous threats

Jones said: 'To my knowledge today, neither Mr. Alefantis, nor his restaurant Comet Ping Pong, were involved in any human trafficking as was part of the theories about Pizzagate that were being written about in many media outlets and which we commented upon.'

Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, pleaded guilty on Friday to shooting up Comet Ping Pong after reading fake online news stories claiming Hillary Clinton was harboring sex slaves in the basement.

Welch said during a hearing in US District Court in Washington, DC, that he had agreed to plead guilty to interstate transportation of a firearm and assault with a dangerous weapon.

On December 4, 2016, he walked into the pizzeria with an assault rifle and demanded to know the truth about the 'Pizzagate' conspiracy, claiming the former Democrat presidential candidate had abused children in the basement, a rumor which was perpetuated online by fake news sites.

Welch has also agreed to pay approximately $5,700 for damage he caused in the restaurant

The 28-year-old fired multiple shots from an AR-15 assault rifle inside restaurant, after driving there from his home in North Carolina. No one was injured, according to authorities.

As part of the guilty plea, prosecutors will drop a third charge, possessing a firearm during a crime of violence, which had carried a mandatory minimum prison term of five years.

Police said that Welch told them he was carrying out a 'self-investigation' into 'Pizzagate' - which was widely circulating on fake news sites and forums at the time.

Lawyers said in court that under sentencing guidelines Welch likely faces one-and-a-half to two years in prison as a result of the interstate transportation charge and one-and-a-half to five years for the assault charge.

WBTV in North Carolina also reported that a man with the same name ran over a black 13-year-old boy while behind the wheel of his car on October 24. The teenager survived and Welch was not arrested as a result

Sentences on the charges could run either consecutively or concurrently. Prosecutors and Welch's defense attorney did not say Friday what sentences they intend to ask for.

Welch has also agreed to pay approximately $5,700 for damage he caused in the restaurant.

Sentencing is set for June 22.

According to eyewitnesses, Welch spent 45 minutes inside the pizzeria where he was said to be looking for the secret tunnels identified in the false news stories, which has caused the restaurant to be a target of numerous threats.

Sharif Silmi, an attorney who was at the restaurant and witnessed the incident, told DailyMail.com people are now claiming he was a crisis actor who was stationed inside the venue by the government. Conspiracy theorists attacked him on Twitter when he was interviewed by a local TV station.

When Welch first entered the store, he left customers and staff terrified when he walked through the front door and through to the back of the restaurant.

Police said he pointed a gun at an employee and threatened them before they were able to escape and notify police. Several customers and employees took shelter in nearby businesses.

They added that the lone gunman then fired one or more shots into the floor. Authorities found two firearms inside the restaurant.

There was also a shotgun and a folding knife in his car parked outside. They said the incident was not terrorism related.

Owner of Comet Ping Pong James Alefantis said: 'What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences

Pictured is James Alefantis, the owner of Comet Ping Pong

WBTV in North Carolina also reported that a man with the same name ran over a black 13-year-old boy while behind the wheel of his car on October 24. The teenager survived and Welch was not arrested as a result.

Owner of Comet Ping Pong James Alefantis said: 'What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences.

'I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away.'
A former New Mexico Republican chairman has had handguns stolen from his unlocked car four times over the span of a month by the same alleged gang member.

Allen Weh, former state GOP chairman, reported to police on September 19 that someone stole an unsecured gun from his gray SUV in the parking lot of CSI Aviation, where he is CEO.

The thefts happened again on September 22, October 13 and November 16.

Weh, who kept replacing the firearms, took partial responsibility for the thefts, but also blamed the criminal justice system.

Scroll down for video

Daniel Sandoval (left), 19, allegedly stole four handguns from former New Mexico GOP chairman Allen Weh's (right) unlocked SUV

Courtesy of KOB 4

'Some of it was my own stupidity. I left my car unlocked. I should have locked it,' he told KOB 4. 'But what really bothers me is the criminal activity in this community that's gone on and allowed to take place by judges. It's got to end.'

By the third theft, CSI Aviation had installed surveillance cameras and captured 19-year-old Daniel Sandoval stealing a Smith & Wesson 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun from his car.

When Weh went outside to confront the suspect, Sandoval, an alleged member of a violent Albuquerque gang, reportedly pointed the gun at the CEO 'in a threatening manner' then ran to a car and took off, reports KOB 4.

Sandoval, an alleged gang member, can be seen stealing a Smith & Wesson 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun from Weh's grey SUV in this surveillance footage

When Weh went outside to confront the suspect, Sandoval (pictured) reportedly pointed the gun at the CEO 'in a threatening manner' then ran to a car and took off

'That wasn't the first time I've ever looked down the long end of a gun,' said Weh. 'But the fact of the matter is, you don't expect it in your own parking lot.'

Sandoval was charged with aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, receiving stolen property and conspiracy.

He is one of two members arrested in September for the murder of church deacon Hector Aguirre, who was run down as he tried to stop them from stealing his work van.
A Melbourne fisherman became trapped underneath his car after it slid down a muddy embankment.

The incident near the Melton Reservoir in Brookfield around 9.20am on Sunday left the man stuck under his car for about four minutes before he was freed by a bystander, officials said.

Police said the man, aged in his 30s, was parking his vehicle at a fishing spot near Clarkes Road when it started to slide.

An incident near the Melton Reservoir in Brookfield around 9.20am on Sunday left a fisherman stuck under his car for about four minutes before he was freed by a bystander

The man got out of the car and attempted to stop it when it rolled over him, according to a Victoria Police spokesperson.

Paramedics arrived and transported the fisherman to Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious condition, an Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said.

The man suffered head and chest injuries, and burns on his leg, the spokesperson said.

Brookfield is a suburb located in Melbourne's far west, about 43km from the city's central business district.
A New Zealand woman has got a little more then she asked for after finding live maggots in her meal.

The woman claims she was eating at the BBQ Duck Palace in Auckland on Saturday when she noticed something odd about the food that had just been placed in front of her.

She posted a video of the shocking discovery to Facebook and captioned it: 'Absolutely disgusted at this! Warning for everyone not to eat here! Please share!'.

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A New Zealand woman has got a little more then she asked for after finding live maggots in her meal at BBQ Duck Palace in Auckland

The video shows a woman holding a plate of meat, sat on top of a bed of rice at the Chinese retaurant.

The camera zooms in to show a number of small white insects crawling out of the meat.

The video then pans around the restaurant and a woman can be heard saying 'this is where we are'.

The camera then returns to the plate of food which is handed to a male who further inspects the meal.

The video then pans around the restaurant and a woman can be heard saying 'this is where we are'

The camera then returns to the plate of food which is handed to a male who further inspects the meal

After the video had ended the woman took the food back to the counter and staff were horrified, according to The New Zealand Herald.

The owner of the restaurant said she was shocked by the woman's video and only found out when the video was shared on Facebook.

'I'm very surprised,' she told the publication. 'We roast the chicken first then the chicken will cool down. Before we serve it we put the chicken in the deep fryer then we cut it.'

The video has since been shared over 1,700 times while the unofficial Facebook page for the restaurant has been inundated with negative reviews.
After an American airstrikes in Mosul killed almost 200 civilians, some are questioning if the rules meant to minimize these deaths have been relaxed under Trump's administration.

The New York Times reports the air strike on Friday is raising concerns about the high civilian death count regarding President Trump's vow to rapidly destroy the Islamic State.

On Saturday, the American-led military coalition in Iraq announced it was investigating the recent strikes.

Local residents help Iraqi civil defense force members recover corpses trapped in the rubble of a home destroyed by reported coalition air strikes in the al-Jadida neighborhood of Mosul

Family members identify the dead bodies recovered in the rubble of a destroyed home after there were reported coalition air strikes in the al-Jadida neighborhood of Mosul

The March 17 strike claimed at least 137 civilian lives according to residents, which compares in number to the 130 killed in the 2015 terrorist attack in Paris.

The body count may amount to 200 civilians but not all of the bodies have been recovered.

Iraqi officials say many of the deaths occurred when a missile struck a car bomb.

The president has asked the Pentagon to ease restrictions on military operations that were put into place to protect civilians, according to the Washington Post.

On Friday, officials said the rules had not changed but there has been an increased use of airstrikes in Syria and Iraq.

Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman told the Times: 'Theres been no loosening of the rules of engagement. There are three major offensives going on right now, at the same time,' he said referring to West Mosul, Raqqa, Syria and Tabqa Dam, Syria.

Iraqi civil defense force members recover a dead body buried in the rubble of a home destroyed by reported coalition air strikes

Airwars, a non profit that tracks civilian casualties from Airstrikes in Syria and Iraq reveals 1,058 were killed so far this month. By comparison, 465 civilians died in December during Obama's final full month.

The March 17 strike was reportedly called in by Maan al-Saadi, a commander of the Iraqi special forces. Snipers were ordered to be struck from roofs but the forces did not know there were innocent people in the basement, according to Iraqi officers.

Iraqi counter terrosim commander Lt. Gen. Abdul Ghani al-Assadi told the Post: They ISIS fighters 'have a new style of fighting, which is a heinous one. They gather civilians into a house where they are fighting so we will request an airstrike and then they will die with the civilians.'
A family boating outing took a nearly tragic turn in Canada as two men and a boy were thrown out of the watercraft and a girl was left inside the moving vehicle.

On the boat near Cowichan Bay, British Columbia were a man, his two-year-old son and five-year-old daughter and the man's brother, none of whose names were released.

The men and the boy were thrown overboard when one man accidentally bumped the boat's throttle.

The scared girl was left inside the boat, which was doing donuts in the water.

A father, uncle and two-year-old boy were out boating when they were thrown into the water near Cowichan Bay, British Columbia after one of the men accidentally bumped the boat's throttle. Pictured: The boat

The man's five-year-old daughter was left inside the boat, which was doing donuts uncontrollably. Pictured: Cowichan Bay

Whale-watching company employee Gary Sutton saw the three in the water while searching for orcas. He and other employees rescued the family

A whale-watching company employee, Gary Sutton, told CTV News: 'It was the craziest thing I've ever seen out there.'

Sutton and other employees from Ocean Ecoventures noticed the three people in the water while out searching for orcas.

After saving the three in the water, the inadvertent rescuers were able to communicate to her to pull the boat's red cord, or kill cord, which stopped the boat.

The four were taken to the hospital and are expected to recover to be alright. The children were wearing life jackets but the men were not.

Sutton said the girl had told him: 'I love my brother so much and I thought I was going to watch him die.'
South Australian police have issued a fresh plea for information to help find the bodies of a young couple involved in the drug trade who went missing more than 30 years ago.

Roy Naylor, 27, and his 19-year-old wife Sonya were last seen at a motel in Adelaide where they were living in 1984.

In 1990 a coroner ruled that the pair were most likely dead, probably the result of their heavy involvement in the heroin trade.

Roy Naylor, 27, and his 19-year-old wife Sonya (pictured) were last seen at a motel in Adelaide where they were living in 1984

Detective Senior Constable Edward Boyes said while the Naylors were thought to have been murdered, finding their bodies was important to family members.

'Both Roy and Sonya have families who are still struggling with this, and I would appeal for anyone with information that could lead to the recovery of their bodies to speak up now,' he said.

'Finding them is as important to their families today as it was 30 years ago.'

Detective Boyes said the Naylors reportedly owed a substantial drug debt and were known to be part of a large-scale syndicate bringing heroin to Adelaide from Sydney before distributing it to local dealers.

Roy Naylor had been jointly charged with drug trafficking but had not faced trial at the time of his disappearance.

'They were among the major players in the heroin scene at the time,' he said.

'There were a number of stories swirling through the drug community about what happened to the Naylors and why.

'We don't know the answers to why exactly they disappeared or where their bodies are, and it could even be that those involved in their deaths are already dead themselves.'

Detective Boyes said there had been reported sightings of the couple after they went missing but nothing had been corroborated.

Extensive inquiries had been conducted throughout Australia and with Interpol overseas, but there was no evidence the couple were alive.
Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received on Sunday the head of the World Jewish Congress (WSJ) Ronald Lauder in Cairo for the second time this year.

Presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said the meeting reflects Egypts keenness on communicating with all parts of American society on boosting bilateral understanding of the current challenges faced by the region.

President El-Sisi stressed the strong and strategic ties binding Egypt and the United States, assuring more cooperation during the upcoming period on all levels.

Lauder expressed his appreciation for Egypt's role in maintaining stability and peace in the Middle East and its efforts to combat terrorism.

He also stressed that President El-Sisis upcoming visit to the United States in April will contribute to enhancing bilateral and strategic relations amid the global war against terrorism.

The US-based World Jewish Congress was founded in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organisations.

Last December, El-Sisi received a delegation from the American-Jewish Committee (AJC) at the Ittihadiya Presidential Palace in Cairo.

He also met last month with leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, where they discussed a number of issues including Egyptian-US relations and regional affairs.
Two children and three men were injured in a blast at the Belanglo State Forest.

The explosion around 12.30pm on Sunday at a picnic area near Dalys Road left the five victims with severe burns, officials said.

Police believe the victims were trying to light a barbecue when the explosion occurred.

Police described the victims as a family, but their exact relationship was unknown.

Two children and three men were injured in a blast at the Belanglo State Forest. One child and a man were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries. Pictured, a picnic area near the blast site

An NSW Ambulance spokesperson said one of the children is five years old, and the other is aged around six.

One adult and a child sustained serious burns to the face and chest and had to be airlifted to Concord Hospital, officials said.

The other child sustained only minor injuries.

That child and one of the adults were tranpsorted to Westmead Children's Hospital, while the third adult was taken to Liverpool Hospital, the NSW Ambulance spokesperson said.

Police are treating the blast site as a crime scene and detectives and forensic officers are investigating.

Belanglo is located approximately 90 kilometres west of Wollongong.
Democrats are demanding greater transparency from President Donald Trump  and they're doing so with a cheeky acronym.

The opposition party is introducing legislation that would require the president to disclose the names of anyone who visits the White House or 'any other location at which the president or vice president regularly conducts official business.'

The new legislation, which was introduced in both houses of Congress on Friday, is titled 'Making Access Records Available to Lead American Government Openness Act'  or, the MAR-A-LAGO Act, according to NBC News.

Mar-a-Lago is Trump's personal Florida retreat to which he flies regularly on weekends.

The Democrats want to require President Donald Trump (seen second to right with his wife, Melania, far right, and the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second from left, and his wife, Akie at Mar-a-Lago) to disclose the names of visitors to the White House or his Florida club

If the bill is signed into law, it would mandate the creation of a public database which would be updated every 90 days.

The proposal is part of lawmakers' concerns that Trump is flirting with ethics violations by failing to disclose the identities of the guests with whom he comes into contact at his private club in Palm Beach, Florida.

In the two months since assuming the presidency, Trump has conducted official government business at Mar-a-Lago, where he has hosted the prime minister of Japan as well as other government officials and leaders.

Trump is also planning to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago next month.

Since 2009, the White House website has maintained a visitors' logs so that the public knows the identities of the individuals who meet the president. When Trump took office, the log has not been updated (above)

Ethics watchdogs and observers have also raised questions about new members at Mar-a-Lago, which costs $200,000 to join, paying for access to the president.

Since 2009, the White House website has maintained a visitors' logs so that the public knows the identities of the individuals who meet the president.

When Trump took office, the official page Whitehouse.gov posts a 'this page is being updated' message in the visitor access records section.

The message has not changed since Trump took office.

The Obama administration was sued in 2009 by a pro-transparency organization demanding that it create the log and list the names of those visiting the White House.

The Obama White House subsequently maintained the logs for the next seven years, listing over 6 million visitors to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

'It's simple: the American people have a right to know who has access to the president and who has leverage over this administration,' said New Mexico Senator Tom Udall.

'If the Trump administration isn't going to continue a practice that was widely lauded by leaders across the political spectrum, Congress should mandate disclosure to guarantee public access to the visitor log records,' said John Wonderlich, the head a pro-transparency watchdog, the Sunlight Foundation.
A Catholic priest who was stabbed in the neck says he does not harbour any hate or anger towards his attacker.

Father Tomy Kalathoor Mathew, 48, said he was instead praying for the man who attacked him just before he was about to begin a morning mass at St Matthew's church in the Melbourne suburb of Fawkner North on March 19.

'I am praying for him, because I know that he is sick. I don't have any hatred or anger towards him,' Father Tomy told the Herald Sun.

Father Tomy Kalathoor Mathew (pictured) said he was praying for the man who stabbed him in the neck before a morning mass on March 19

Father Tomy was not seriously injured in the brazen attack but was rushed to hospital after he was given first aid inside the church

The alleged offender had gone to the church three times last month looking for Father Tomy, asking 'Where's that Indian?'

The priest then first met the man on March 4.

'He told me he was not going to let me celebrate mass here, that I'm an Indian and Indians are either Hindu or Muslim. That's his ignorance. There are nearly 20 million Catholics in India,' Father Tomy said.

Father Tomy returned to the church on Sunday for morning mass, thanking members of the congregation for their support and prayers.

Father Tomy said he doesn't have any hatred or anger towards his attacker

Father Tomy is well-liked by congregation members, who were shocked by the stabbing attack

He had to be rushed to hospital after the stabbing but was not seriously injured.

A 72-year-old man has been charged over the brutal attack, which was described as 'appalling' by the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne.

The attacker allegedly yelled 'you are Indian, a Hindu or Muslim, you cannot say mass... I will kill you,' church officials told the Herald Sun.

The man was charged with intentionally and recklessly causing injury, and will appear in the Broadmeadows Magistrates' Court on June 13.

Father Tomy has been the parish priest of St Matthew's since late 2014 and is well-liked by congregation members, who were shocked by the attack.
EU citizens are set to keep rights to benefits after Brexit in a move that could spark a fresh row over broken Tory manifesto promises.

A compromise floated by Brexit Secretary David Davis is said to involve three million nationals already in this country still being entitled to welfare.

The deal is potentially explosive as it could breach two commitments from the Conservatives' 2015 election prospectus.

Under David Cameron the party pledged that EU migrants would not be allowed to claim benefits until they had been in the UK for four years, and also insisted there would be a ban on 'exporting' child benefit to offspring in other countries.

Brexit Secretary David Davis is preparing proposals for guaranteeing rights for EU nationals already in Britain after the PM triggers our EU divorce

The issue of rights for EU nationals currently living in Britain, and Britons living on the continent, is due to be one of the earliest hurdles to be cleared in the looming negotiations.

Theresa May will launch the crucial talks on Wednesday when she sends a letter to Brussels formally triggering the Article 50 divorce process.

According to the Sunday Times, a paper submitted by Mr Davis's Brexit Department to a cabinet sub-committee has recommended that EU nationals in the UK when the PM takes the historic step should keep their rights to state handouts.

Those who arrive after Wednesday will not be entitled to the benefits.

But ministers have apparently been warned that any attempt to withdraw child benefit from those already here would undermine the health and pension rights of Britons in countries like Spain.

The assurance would be highly controversial as the Tory manifesto said migrants would only be able to claim benefits after living in the UK for four years.

It added: 'If an EU migrant's child is living abroad, then they should receive no child benefit or child tax credit, no matter how long they have worked in the UK and no matter how much tax they have paid.'

The government has already been embroiled in one storm over broken promises after Philip Hammond proposed hiking national insurance rates for the self-employed in the Budget. He has since abandoned the idea.

The child benefit issue was due to be discussed at the cabinet's Brexit committee last week, but was postponed after the terrorist attack on Westminster.

A senior government source told the Sunday Times: 'The recommendation from Dexeu is that as a priority we need to secure rights for UK citizens in the EU.

'The recommendation is that for what they call 'the stock' of people, the EU migrants who are already here, that they should continue to have their rights, which includes being able to export child benefit. That paper was put in front of ministers last week.'

No final decisions are believed to have been taken on the approach to EU national rights.

Theresa May will launch the formal Brexit talks on Wednesday by sending a letter to the EU triggering Article 50

Mrs May's letter to European Council president Donald Tusk invoking Article 50 on Wednesday is expected to be seven or eight pages long.

On Thursday the government will publish a white paper outlining the Great Repeal Bill - which is intended to encode all EU law into domestic legislation.

The bill, which will feature in the Queen's speech in May, will abolish the 1972 European Communities Act that underpins EU membership.

Ancient executive powers dating from Henry VIII's time are being extended so ministers can tweak hundreds of laws and regulations which would otherwise cease to function properly after Brexit.

They include laws that refer to rulings by EU bodies.

But the powers will be time limited to avoid accusations of undermining parliament.

A Government source said: 'Next week will mark a defining moment in this country's history, when the Prime Minister invokes Article 50 and opens the way for formal negotiations to leave the European Union and build a truly global Britain.

'But a strong, sovereign country needs control of its own laws. That, more than anything else, was what drove the referendum result: a desire for the country to be in control of its own destiny.

'So next week we will get on with the job, and set out the steps we will take to ensure control of our laws lies in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.'

The House of Lords Constitution Committee earlier this month acknowledged that the Government may have to use Henry VIII powers to adapt existing EU law to fit the UK's framework and to respond swiftly to the Brexit negotiations.
Evidence has emerged in Germany that politicians were warned nine months before Berlin's Christmas market massacre that Islamic State disciple Anis Amri was plotting carnage.

The State Criminal Office in North Rhine-Westphalia made Tunisian-born Amri's lethal intentions known to authorities in March 2016.

But the bogus asylum seeker remained at large until December 19 when he hijacked a Polish lorry and drove it into a crowd of revelers in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring dozens more.

Amri, 24, fled across Europe to Milan, Italy, where he was shot dead by police five days later.

The State Criminal Office in North Rhine-Westphalia made Anis Amri's intentions known to authorities in March 2016. But he remained at large until December 19 when he hijacked a Polish lorry and drove it into a crowd of revelers in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring dozens more

It was known that Amri had moved in and out of the radar of police and intelligence services during his time in Germany.

But now a letter has surfaced written in March last year to the ministry of the interior of the state parliament in Duesseldorf which stated: 'Amri presents a threat in the form of a suicide attack. The commission of a terrorist attack by Amri is expected.'

The letter went on to suggest deporting him and contained evidence of a tapped phone conversation in he had in February in which Amri used the word 'Dougma' - a metaphor, say German spies, that Islamists use to mean a 'suicide bombing'.

The deportation was never arranged because the North Rhine-Westphalian authorities concluded that expulsion was unenforceable.

And additionally, Amri claimed to have no passport and Germany could not send him home because Tunis denied he was a citizen until the day after the killings.

Even after the attack, regional Interior Minister Ralf Jager several times said it was not 'legally possible' to order a deportation.

A letter has surfaced written in March last year to the ministry of the interior of the state parliament in Duesseldorf which stated: 'Amri presents a threat in the form of a suicide attack. Pictured above, the aftermath of Amri's attack on the Berlin Christmas market

The new details are a further embarrassment to the government whose intelligence services are struggling to contain terror threats from Islamic fanatics who smuggled themselves into the country disguised as refugees.

Jager, a left wing politician, has been blasted as a security risk for Germany by rival conservatives for failing to pass on the details of the threat.

After the attack, regional Interior Minister Ralf Jager several times said it was not 'legally possible' to order Amri's deportation

Armin Laschet, chief of the CDU conservatives in the state, said: 'He presents a risk for everyone in Germany.'

The Liberal FDP party is calling for his resignation.

Jager will testify before a parliamentary committee of inquiry on Wednesday about his failure to act on the police warning.

Earlier this month, German authorities raided apartments linked to a mosque in the city of Hildesheim visited by Amri.

The local state interior ministry said more than 300 police searched the apartments of eight people and shut down the mosque and the association which ran it, saying it recruited young Muslims to join Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

'The ban of the association breaks up a hot spot of the radical Salafist scene in Germany,' Lower Saxony Interior Minister Boris Pistorius said, referring to Muslims who espouse a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam.

Authorities raided the mosque in the summer of 2016 over suspicions that it was radicalizing Muslims and encouraging them to travel to war zones in Syria and Iraq.

An Iraqi Islamist ideologist arrested in November for running a ring to recruit for Islamic State had preached at the banned mosque in Hildesheim, some 280 km.
Oscar bosses are set to overhaul the ceremony after backstage bungling led to the wrong film being awarded Best Picture at last month's gala.

All 54 board members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will meet in secret Beverly Hills next week to vote on 'new protocols' to avoid a repeat of last month's farce.

Hollywood luminaries such as Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg will be in attendance on Tuesday, though it is not clear what actions they might take.

The Academy board of governors will meet in secret in Beverly Hills next week to vote on 'new protocols' to avoid wrong winners being announced after the La La Land fiasco

Accountants Brian Cullinan (right) and Martha Ruiz (left) managed to hand out the wrong envelope for Best Picture, leading to La La Land being announced instead of Moonlight

A spokesman for the Academy confirmed the meeting to The Express, but refused to 'speculate' on the outcome. Mail Online has also reached out for comment.

Academy officials have already fired Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, two Pricewaterhouse Coopers accountants who were responsible for handing out winners' envelopes at this year's ceremony.

A mistake by Cullinan saw Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway handed the back-up envelope for the Best Actress in a Leading Role award, when they were supposed to be announcing Best Picture.

A clearly confused Beatty opened the envelope on stage to find Emma Stone's name inside, along with La La Land, the name of the film in which she starred.

After several moments of hesitation, Dunaway announced La La Land as the winner, cuing celebrations from the directors and cast.

But backstage there was panic as it quickly dawned on officials that the actual winner was Moonlight.

Showrunners rushed to correct the error, but were delayed because Ruiz had locked her briefcase containing the correct envelope.

Meanwhile in front of a worldwide audience of tens of millions, La La Land director Damien Chazelle was giving his acceptance speech, blissfully unaware of the error.

It is not known what additional measures the Academy will take when they vote on Tuesday, but Cullinan and Ruiz have already told they will not be welcomed back

Eventually Cullinan and Ruiz appeared on stage, handing the actual winner's card to La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz.

He made his way to the microphone where he announced there had been a mistake.

'This is not a joke,' he told shocked celebrities inside the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and those watching in more than 200 countries around the world.

Images subsequently surfaced showing Cullinan juggling multiple envelopes backstage while also snapping selfies with celebrities.

It also emerged that he tweeted a picture of Emma Stone at the same minute as Beatty and Dunaway opened the wrong envelope.

Behind-the-scenes images showed Cullinan staring at his phone, ignoring Beatty as he stalled for time on stage, unaware of the catastrophic error.

Both Ruiz and Cullinan were assigned around-the-clock armed guards after the ceremony when they received death threats.

While Princewaterhouse Coopers accepted full responsibility for the debacle, the Academy said it will retain their services in announcing future awards.

Ruiz and Cullinan have both retained their jobs at the accounting firm, though will not be invited back to the ceremony.
Westminster terror attacker Khalid Masood, 52, died after he was gunned down by police on Wednesday outside Parliament

Parents at the school where London killer Khalid Masood dropped his children off each day urged staff to address his poor hygiene, it has been claimed.

On Wednesday the 52-year-old mowed down three members of the public and stabbed hero police officer Keith Palmer to death outside the Houses of Parliament.

The Muslim convert, who was born Adrian Elms in Kent, alarmed fellow parents at Brookfields Primary School in Birmingham, with his extreme views and body odour, a mother has revealed.

Sabrina Hussain said she did not allow her eight-year-old daughter to visit Masood's youngest child at home because the extremist sent 'a shiver down her spine'.

She said: 'I just can't believe my daughter was friend's with a serial killer's daughter.'

She said Masood's family had moved to London, supposedly to look after an elderly relative, and she was shocked that he carried out the killings.

The mother continued: 'There was always something not quite right about him. He would never look me in the eye and spoke only to Muslim men.

Khalid Masood (pictured, centre, in red top) pictured in the 1990s taking part in a tug-of-war in Northian in West Sussex

Masood, fourth from left in back row, was a popular athlete in his school days in Tunbridge Wells

Parents at Brookfields Primary School in Birmingham voiced concerns about Masood months before his rampage, which claimed four innocent lives on Wednesday

Sabrina Hussain said Masood sent a 'chill' down her spine whenever she went anywhere near him

'He was really strange. He was like "I am a proper Muslim, and I will speak to no woman".

'Maybe he didn't like me because I was a Westernised Asian girl. Whenever I stood anywhere near him a chill went down my spine.

'That's why I would never allow my daughter to go round there and play. I just knew there wasn't something quite right.'

She stated: 'One time he said to my daughter "Mariam speaks about you all the time, you will have to come round to play". But he didn't utter a word to me, he just ignored me.

Masood's friends have now claimed he frequently got high on drugs including crack cocaine and acid

'He was just inviting a nine-year-old girl to his house without talking to that girl's mum, which I found really strange.'

Her daughter was due to go to a party at Masood's home, but changed her mind. She said: 'Call it mother's intuition, or whatever you like, but I just knew there was something not right with him and I didn't want my daughter there.

'I told her the party had been cancelled and drove home - my daughter was gutted but I just didn't feel comfortable taking her there.'

After seeing what had happened, she said: 'When I saw what he did, it left me chilled to the bone.

'It is absolutely terrifying - especially when that evil was on your own doorstep the whole time.'

According to the Sun, his former landlady Cassie Havard, kicked him out after he spent thousands of pounds on hookers.

She said: 'He wasnt a proper Muslim. He s*****d prostitutes, smoked copious amounts of crack and stuck knives in peoples faces.

'He was a madman. After one four-day crack session, one druggie pal got paranoid and accused him of being an undercover cop.

Metropolitan policeman Keith Palmer (left), Mother-of-two Aysha Frade (centre) and US tourist Kurt Cochran (right) have been named as victims of the attack

Masood killed four people when his car mounted the pavement on Westminster Bridge before attacking PC Keith Palmer in a knife attack outside Parliament

It comes as it has also emerged that Masood funded his rampage with taxpayer money, as the 52-year-old was living on benefits.

The Daily Star Sunday reports that police are now probing claims he was a serial benefits cheat, claiming hundreds a month in housing benefits and income support.

Masood's drive of terror began at approximately 2.40pm on March 22 when he used a rented Hyundai to mow down pedestrians on the Westminster Bridge before ploughing the car into the Carriage Gates of Parliament.

He then got out of the car and ran towards the House, stabbing PC Keith Palmer on the way, who died of his injuries.

Four people have died, excluding the attacker, including PC Palmer, Londoner Leslie Rhodes, 75, US tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, and mother-of-two Aysha Frade, 43.
Authorities in Alabama say two teenagers and two adults were killed in a small plane crash on Saturday as officials say the plane 'appeared to come apart in the sky' during the flight.

Blount County Operations Commander Tim Kent told Al.com the deceased are believed to be family members.

They are identified as a 16-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl, a 45-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman. Officials have not released the names of the victims.

Blount County 911 executive director Caleb Branch says the Cessna 210 departed from Kissimmee, Florida, and was traveling to Jackson, Tennessee.

Authorities in Alabama say two teenagers and two adults were killed in a small plane crash on Saturday as officials say the plane 'appeared to come apart in the sky' during the flight. (debris above)

Blount County Operations Commander Tim Kent said the deceased are believed to be family members as they are identified as a 16-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl, a 45-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman. (debris above)

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane around 2:30pm on Saturday.

Minutes later, a 'may day' call was received at 2:34pm, which was around the same time a band of wind came through the area.

The plane crashed shortly after that near Alabama 160 and Cox Cove Road near a Dollar General store.

Kent told the newspaper that the wings of the small plane came off of the aircraft in-flight.

Witness Josh Phillips said he was working with his father in their backyard when they heard a loud noise sounding like a plane crashed.

Assistant Fire Chief Kyle Ellison (center) said that investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of deadly crash

'It honestly sounded like the classic noise you hear kids make when they pretend to be a plane,' he told WESH. 'I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know it was a plane.'

Phillips said that a 4-foot portion of the Cessna's tail landed in his neighbor's yard across the street.

In addition, the plane's door was found by neighbors in the woods.

Assistant Fire Chief Kyle Ellison from West Blount County Fire said that investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of deadly crash.
A 27-year-old man was shot dead inside a packed Cincinnati nightclub early Sunday morning after gunfire erupted inside the crowded venue leaving another 15 people injured.

Cincinnati police Chief Eliot Isaac said during a news conference that 27-year-old O'Bryan Spikes, a father-of-three, died in the horrific shooting at the Cameo club on Kellogg Avenue in the city.

Isaac said the shooting, which is not terrorism related, was reported just after 1am as police believe multiple shots were fired from more than one firearm. No arrests have been made related to the incident.

'The conflict is believed to have begun between specific groups or individuals earlier in the day, escalating and ultimately leading to this tragedy occurring at the nightclub,' Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black said.

Of the injured, two people are in critical condition, three people are in serious condition and four people are in stable condition all at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, WLWT reported.

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O'Bryan Spikes (above), 27, died in the horrific shooting that left another 15 people injured at the Cameo club on Kellogg Avenue in the city early Sunday morning

Tributes to Spikes (above) are being posted by friends and family to his social media, many of whom are in shock over his death. He was a father to three young children

Cincinnati police Chief Eliot Isaac (above) said during a news conference the shooting, which is not terrorism related, was reported just after 1am as police believe multiple shots were fired from more than one firearm

Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black said: 'The conflict is believed to have begun between specific groups or individuals earlier in the day, escalating and ultimately leading to this tragedy occurring at the nightclub' (scene above)

No arrests have been made related to the incident as police are still searching for suspects (scene above)

Of the shooting, Cincinnati police Capt. Kim Williams said there was 'just a lot of chaos, obviously, when shots were fired. Saturday night, it is a very young crowd.' (scene above)

Two victims were treated and released from Bethesda North Hospital, while two more are in stable condition at Christ Hospital.

One victim was treated and released from Mercy Anderson and another was also treated and released from Mercy West.

No details have been released on the types of injuries or the identities of the shooting victims.

It's unclear how firearms were allowed inside the venue, as Issac said that every person inside the club should have been checked by security to see if they were carrying weapons.

Several officers were working security detail at the club and performed first aid and tried to revive Spikes.

Earlier Sunday morning, Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate said: 'We are in the middle of a very horrific situation that occurred at the nightclub with multiple victims.

'It's going to be a long night for our homicide units to investigate.'

Capt. Kim Williams said there was 'just a lot of chaos, obviously, when shots were fired.

'Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst.'

She added: 'Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst.' (scene above)

Of the injured, two people are in critical condition, three people are in serious condition and four people are in stable condition all at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center (scene above)

Two victims were treated and released from Bethesda North Hospital, while two more are in stable condition at Christ Hospital. One victim was treated and released from Mercy Anderson and another was also treated and released from Mercy West (scene above)

Several officers were working security detail at the club and performed first aid and tried to revive the person who died, Williams said. (scene above)

In addition to searching for the shooter or shooters, police are also trying to track down witnesses who fled the scene when the bloody attack happened at the venue where hundreds had gathered for what was promoted online by the nightclub to be a 'grown and sexy night.'

'The biggest problem when you have a large crowd like this and the shots ring out, a lot of the witnesses disappear,' Williams said.

'...everyone that we can identify is being interviewed,' Neudigate added.

Authorities were asking anyone with information to come forward. Williams said investigators are checking to see if surveillance cameras were working.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said during a CNN interview Sunday morning that there's not a lot of information in regards to the incident.

Kasich said the mayor of Cincinnati will be on the scene for most of the day before questioning 'where is it safe to go?'

Authorities were asking anyone with information to come forward. Williams said investigators are checking to see if surveillance cameras were working. (scene above)

Ohio Gov. John Kasich sent a tweet offering prayers to the victims and families of those involved in the incident. (scene above)

Ohio Gov. @JohnKasich on the Cincinnati nightclub shooting: Where is it safe to go? https://t.co/xDcGUwtf2L  CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 26, 2017

Earlier in the morning, Kasich sent a tweet offering prayers to the victims and families of those involved in the incident.

He wrote: 'Saddened to learn about last night's shooting in Cincinnati. Our prayers are with the victims and families of all of those involved. (1/2)

'I've instructed our administration to offer any assistance the state can provide. (2/2)'

This is not the first shooting at Cameo Club. Back in 2015, three men were left injured after being shot outside the venue.

Two of the victims were hurt during a 'melee' involving a dozen people.

Moments later someone involved in the fight fired up to four shots striking a 21-year-old in the foot.

Cameo Club describes Saturday night as a 'grown up and sexy night' for partygoers who are over the age of 21. Police are pictured at the scene

In 2015 three men were left injured after being shot outside the nightclub, pictured

The area where Cameo club is located is mostly industrial but also home to several nightclubs with a smattering of homes.

It's also fairly desolate at night, with the exception of the nightlife scene and 24-hour gas stations.

The road where the club sits was easily cordoned off by a single police cruiser and officer at either end.

The incident comes less than a year after a gunman slaughtered 49 innocent revelers in the deadliest mass shooting in US history.

Omar Mateen, 29, stormed into the Pulse nightclub in Florida before opening fire.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack which left dozens of victims injured as well as the dead.

Shortly before the attack, Mateen, who was born in New York to Afghan parents, called 911 and pledged allegiance to terror leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, law enforcement officials said at the time.
For the past four decades Gamil Mattar has been consumed by Arab affairs, first as a diplomat, then as a researcher and now as a prominent commentator and analyst who is very well frequented with Arab foreign policy circles.



This week, ahead of the Arab Summit that is scheduled for Tuesday in Amman, Mattar told Ahram Online that he has really no big expectations of the summit, despite the many challenges facing the Arab world on so many levels.



His reasons are many, varying from a lack of political will to the complexity of each problem. However, Mattars greatest source of disappointment over the lack of collective Arab action is the "sad fact" that "there is no such thing as an Arab order left.



I hate to say it, but this is where we are now; there is no Arab world as such. There are Arab countries and there is a Middle East to which these countries subscribe, Mattar said.



The Amman summit is due to take place against the backdrop of diplomatic efforts to bring a semblance of order or peace to two Arab countries in particular: Syria and Libya.



Both have been crushed by the militant political bras de fer that followed the outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2011, which managed  with Western help  to eliminate Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi who had ruled for 40 years, but failed to bring an end to the regime of Syrian ruler Bashar Al-Assad, who has been in office since June 2000, in succession to his father who ruled for three decades.

Other Arab countries are also suffering considerable instability: Yemen that is steeped in poverty and strife among conflicting powers supported by battling regional players, essentially Saudi Arabia and Iran; Iraq that is still failing to recover from the multiple ethnic fissures that emerged following the US-led war and invasion in 2003; and Somalia, whose strategic placing on the Red Sea brings to it considerable foreign, regional and international interference.



A great part of this and other problems among Arab states have to do with the high level of presumption that many Arab capitals tend towards regarding their status in comparison to other Arab countries, and about the role they could play beyond their own borders, Mattar said.



'Outside intervention'



These same Arab capitals have also failed to put a lid on expanding intervention in Arab affairs on the part of international and regional powers, particularly Iran, Turkey and of course Israel that is pursuing endlessly expansionist policies across the region and not only when it comes to Palestine," Mattar argues.



Outside intervention is such that it would be hard to argue, he says, that Arab affairs are even mostly decided within the realm of the Arab order.



This might be something that we will read in resolutions to be adopted by the Amman summit, but beyond that it is essentially and unfortunately a very feeble influence that most Arab capitals have on the management of Arab affairs.



Syria is a country that has been contested since 2011, essentially between Riyadh and Tehran. Today, the countrys affairs and future is essentially being decided by Russia in consultation with Iran. Libya, meanwhile, is a country that three North African Arab capitals  Cairo, Tunis and Algiers  are trying to fix, but any final scheme would have to be approved by the UN, the EU, the US and Russia.

The Palestinian file  once called "the central cause of the Arab world"  has been put on the backburner for more than five years with most Arab capitals immersed in the waves of the Arab Spring, or trying to ward it off. There is consensus neither among key Palestinian figures nor among concerned Arab capitals, while the position of the US administration under Donald Trump remains ambiguous.

How did the Arab world arrive to such an impasse, seven decades after the launch of the Arab League that was intended as a forum to cement and develop a nascent Arab order? Answers Mattar: It has been a long and unfortunate road of mismanagement and wrong choices.



For Mattar, the Arab world or Arab order has become fudged into a larger Middle East. One reason for this, Mattar argues, relates to the failure of Arab leaders to properly manage Arab resources to serve Arab interests, either at the national or larger regional level.



There has been a lot of waste; a lot of resources have been drained in futile ways, be it oil, investment capacity, political influence, and the rest of it. They have all been irrationally spent and I would not say that any single Arab leader is without guilt, in one way or another, Mattar argued.



At a wider level there is the failure of the today 22 member states of the Arab League, which represents the Arab order, to achieve any sort of integration, be it political, economic or in security matters.



Since the signing of the joint Arab security treaty in the early 1950s, Mattar reminds, There has effectively been less than a handful of meetings for Arab ministers of defence, and that was that, really."



A couple of years ago, Egypt put forward a new proposal to establish a joint Arab military force, but this proposal was immediately crushed by Saudi Arabia that pursued instead a made-to-measure alliance for its war in Yemen, Mattar said.



According to Mattar, the failure to integrate has essentially been about the reluctance of some Arab countries to acknowledge the leadership of others: first the Saudis declined the leadership of Egypts Gamal Abdel Nasser; then the Saudis shrugged the attempts of Iraqs Saddam Hussein to assume leadership of the Arab world.



This is not just about military or political leadership, but even development and culture, Mattar said. As a result, he added, The very pioneering and promising plans for integration that were schemed in some of the best Arab brains in the 1950s through the 1970s were all trashed, or almost.



While failing to act collectively, Mattar said, Arab countries for the most part were failing to make any significant development leaps, at least serious development that goes beyond the mere finding of oil or other natural resources.



This lack of development is not just about prevailing autocracy, but also curtailing civil society, despite the many promising syndicates and workers unions that were there across Arab countries. With declining soft power capacity came also a lack of vision for the future.



This said, of course, in a sense we have to acknowledge that the failure of the Arab League has to do with the way it was established by the British in the mid-1940s, when they knew that the time was coming for them to leave this part of the world in the wake of the end of their empire and the rise of the US after World War II.



The very member states of this pan-Arab organisation were also, in many cases, the making of imperial powers, in the Sykes-Picot Agreement.



So we ended up with some Arab leaders who were not really content with the borders of their newly independent nation states and who tried to expand the scope of their power, either through attempted unities as pursued by Libyas Muammar Gaddafi or by war as pursued by Iraqs Saddam Hussein. And these leaders were assembled in a unity framework that they had not really visualised or structured, Mattar said.



Throughout its seven plus decades, Mattar said, the Arab League has faced serious challenges that raised question marks over its credibility.



These, he argued, included the failure of Arab states to take a clear supportive position towards Nassers decision to nationalise the Suez Canal; the failure of Arab countries to agree on a position on the war in Yemen in the 1960s and the failure of the Arab countries to prevent the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in the 1990s, despite a successful effort a couple of decades earlier that prevented a similar attack.



The challenges also included the subsequent stance in support of foreign military intervention in the Gulf to liberate Kuwait; and the failure of Arab countries to take a collective position on how best to handle the Palestinian cause.



And, of course, the suspension of Egypts membership in the Arab League upon its peace deal with Israel in 1979 dealt one of the most serious blows to the Arab League, given the central role and responsibility that Egypt always had in the League, Mattar said.



Despite the establishment of a branch of the pan-Arab organisation in Tunis during the decade of Egypt's suspension from the League, and a potential new branch opening in the UAE, to host leading Arab meetings, Mattar argues that the role of Egypt as host of the Arab League headquarters remains central.



Consequently, any serious attempt to improve the state of the Arab organisation would have to have a strong Egyptian push, something that does not seem to be in the works for now.



Amid the many home front challenges that the Arab Spring brought to Egypt, Cairo has had little energy to invest in the pan-Arab organisation. Of course, a lack of initiative was there before, given the fact that [former president Hosni] Mubarak had chosen to manage relations with a few selected Arab leaders away from the pan-Arab organisation, Mattar said.



But it was the Arab Spring, Mattar said, that put the pan-Arab organisation before the most unsettling questions: what kind of Arab regimes should the League support, and what form should Arab nation-states take?



Following the initial success of the January Revolution in Egypt, the League acted to support calls for democracy in Libya, Syria and Yemen. It took the decision to suspend the membership of Libya and Syria in condemnation of regime attempts in both countries to quash protests and demands for democracy.



The elimination of Gaddafi allowed the Arab League to bring Libya back in, under a new transitional government.



Prompt Saudi intervention in Yemen, the immediate backyard of the oil rich monarchy, and the quasi war between Saudi Arabia and Iran there and in Syria, prohibited a long term effective role for the Arab League, especially as Egypt, the central Arab country, was suffering internal disturbances with the failure of the elected Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi to act inclusively.



His ouster later inaugurated a reversal of the tide of the Arab Spring across the region.



Today, Mattar argues, the question as to the nature of the Arab nation state, put to the pan-Arab organisation, remains pending. Yemen and Libya, both suffering serious disturbances, are still present in the organisation while Syria remains out, despite the keen wish of some countries  including Egypt  that the regime of Bashar Al-Assad be reinstated in the pan-Arab organisation.

The key developments do not start in the Arab League; they start elsewhere, maybe in Tehran or Ankara or Washington, and then they are accommodated in the Arab League. This is why I am convinced that there is not much to be expected of the Arab summit beyond traditional positions that have little impact on the ground. And this is why I stand by my assessment that there is not much left of the Arab order, Mattar concluded.

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A teenage couple were killed when their car slammed into a power pole and burst into flames in Sydney on Saturday night.

Tamara Jordanoski and John Santoro died at the scene of the horrific crash in Port Botany in the city's south-east at about 10.30pm.

Passers-by tried to pull the couple from the burning BMW but were forced back by the flames.

Tamara Jordanoski (right) and John Santoro (left) died at the scene of the horrific crash in Port Botany in the Sydney's south-east at about 10.30pm

Passers-by tried to pull the couple from the burning BMW but were forced back by the flames

On Sunday, Mr Santoro's sister Selen said the couple (pictured) were inseparable

'We ran to the car and tried to open the door,' one witness told Nine News.

'But the car blew up again and we had to move back. There was nothing we could do. They were already dead.'

Family and friends of the teenagers were seen rushing to the scene and collapsing when they saw the wreckage.

Police are looking into whether the car, which displayed P-plates, may have been street racing before it rolled and crashed at the intersection of Botany Road and Bumborah Point Road.

'There are a number of witnesses we are speaking to in relation to that crash and we are investigating if speed was a factor,' Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy said.

Tamara Jordanoski (right) and John Santoro (left) died at the scene of the horrific crash in Port Botany in the Sydney's south-east at about 10.30pm

The couple (pictured) were killed when a car slammed into a power pole and burst into flames on Saturday night

Police are looking into whether the car (pictured) may have been street racing before it rolled and crashed

Family and friends of the teenagers were seen rushing to the scene and collapsing when they saw the raging fire

On Sunday, Mr Santoro's sister Selen told Nine News the couple were inseparable.

'They did everything together and just wanted to be together... Mr brother loved Tamara too much and wouldn't have done anything to hurt her,' she said.

Shortly after the tragedy, she took to Facebook to pay tribute to her brother.

'I already miss you little brother... I cannot imagine my life without u, I cannot live without u, u were always by my side, always us 2 against the world. I could have not asked for a better brother then u (sic).'

Investigators are also looking into whether fatigue or inexperience may have been factors behind the deadly crash, a NSW Police spokesperson said.

Witnesses said the car burst into flames and continue to exploded as they tried to help the teenagers

'Mr brother loved Tamara too much and wouldn't have done anything to hurt her,' Mr Santoro's sister Selen (pictured) said at the scene on Sunday

Investigators are also looking into whether fatigue or inexperience may have been factors behind the deadly crash

A witness told the Daily Telegraph the car was seen speeding before it smashed into the pole.

'He was going easily over 100kms. No less than 120 or 130. They were flying,' the witness said.

'They lost control and fish-tailed. The car flipped on its side and went smack bang into the pole and burst into flames.'
A 'war game' that simulated gun-wielding terrorists ramming a car through the gates of Parliament is said to have exposed glaring weaknesses in security.

The exercise is said to have found that four extremists armed with automatic weapons could get into the Commons chamber - and ended with 'most MPs dead'.

The grim scenario was apparently tested by the security services and parliamentary authorities over the past year.

It underlines concerns about weaknesses in the defences at the heart of British democracy - after Khalid Masood was able to maraud on to the estate and Pc Keith Palmer to death, having mowed down dozens of pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.

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Khalid Masood used a hired car to mow down dozens of pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before entering the grounds of Parliament and stabbing Pc Keith Palmer to death

There are questions about why there were no armed police manning the main Carriage Gates at parliament, which were open to allow ministers to drive in and vote. He was only shot by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon's close protection officers.

It has also emerged the gates remained open and unprotected for several minutes after Masood's deadly assault.

MailOnline revealed on Friday that MPs had railed against armed police being deployed at the Parliamentary gates because they created a bad 'atmosphere'.

There were also a slew of complaints that security barriers to prevent terrorists ramming cars into the building were 'ugly'.

The complaints, in response to a survey by the House authorities in 2014, lay bare the extent of resistance among politicians to modernising security on the estate.

There is now pressure for the area outside the palace to be pedestrianised - reviving a long-standing project that has been championed by Sadiq Khan. Barring traffic from the area would potentially make access easier to control.

Scotland Yard's anti-terror chief Mark Rowley has insisted that Parliament's security arrangements were 'proportionate' - but confirmed they would be reviewed.

The Carriage Gates at parliament have been identified as a 'weak spot' in its defences

Critics have claimed the main entrance to the Palace of Westminster had long been a weak spot on the estate because the imposing iron gates are left open for most of the day.

According to the Sunday Times, a 'war game' staged by police commanders, the parliamentary authorities and security experts considered what would happen if four terrorists with automatic weapons broke through the gates in a 4x4 vehicle.

The 'table-top' exercise concluded that the gunmen were able to enter the Commons during a vote and 'most of the MPs died'.

Lib Dem MP Tom Brake, a member of the ruling Commons Commission, suggested on Friday that officers manning the gates should always be armed or accompanied more closely by armed colleagues.

SECURITY WAS BEEFED UP AFTER 9/11 AND TUBE BOMBINGS The 30million a year security operation at parliament has undergone a massive overhaul in recent years. As the terror threat increased in the wake of 9/11 and then the London bombings, there were increasing concerns that the protection was too weak and ad hoc. Barricades were installed outside to prevent vehicles being rammed though the walls. Passes to gain access to the estate were made more secure. A glass screen was also installed in the public gallery after Tony Blair was targeted with flour by protesters. Traditionally the Serjeant-at-Arms has been in charge of security on the Commons estate, assisted by a team of so-called 'men in tights'. Black Rod has an equivalent role in the Lords. But the officials have not been obliged to have any special security background - typically being promoted from within the ranks of the Parliamentary service. In practice, much of the protection for the Palace has been provided by Scotland Yard through a contract with the Parliament authorities. Around 500 personnel are thought to have been involved. In 2011 the Houses finally decided that the arrangements were not coherent enough, and created a post of Parliamentary Security Director with a dedicated team to oversee both the Lords and the Commons. Paul Martin, the first PSD, was ex MI5. There was another major upheaval in 2015 when parliament renegotiated its contract with the Met in a bid to save money. Initially there were rumours that a contractor such as G4S could be brought in. However, all the civilian personnel provided by the Met were then brought on to the parliamentary staff. The House insisted at the time that the number of officers was not being reduced. The most senior officer based on the site is thought to be an inspector. Advertisement

'These officers are the most vulnerable ... and the arrangements have got to be scrutinised to see if in future we need to have different arrangements surrounding them.'

He said there was already a project under way to improve security at the Carriage Gates.

Commons Leader David Lidington today said he was not aware of the 'war game' to test security.

He also denied that MPs had called for armed guards to be removed from Carriage Gates.

Mr Lidington told BBC Sunday Politics: 'The idea that there have been protests from MPs that led to any operational changes is simply not the case.

'What's happened in the last couple of years is that the security arrangements in New Palace Yard have actually been strengthened.'

He added: 'There are armed guards at all times in the secure estate of the Palace of Westminster, it is a matter for the security authorities and in particular for the police and direct command of those officers to decide how they are best deployed.'

Mr Lidington also denied there was a shortage of armed police in Parliament.

He said: 'I'm in no position to comment on the details operationally but my understanding is that the number of people available is what the police and the security authorities working together have decided to deploy, that they think was commensurate with the threat that we faced.'

Extensive interviews conducted with MPs and their staff in by Commons staff in 2014 revealed that many were unhappy with the level of security in place at the time.

A report prepared for the cross-party Administration Committee in April that year stated: 'Members also voiced concerns about the appearance of the security barriers surrounding the Palace.

'Some considered these to be extremely ugly and out of keeping with a major heritage site.

'It was noted that the stone barriers outside the Treasury and Foreign and Commonwealth Office were aesthetically pleasing and a similar style would be preferable outside the Palace of Westminster.

'Some Members and staff also noted that the presence of armed guards outside the main visitor entrances did not create a welcoming atmosphere.'

It added: 'The security barriers outside the Palace were regarded as ugly and the presence of armed police was off-putting.'

Lord Hain, who was Leader of the House of Commons between 2003 and 2005, said there had long been a cultural resistance to bolstering security at parliament.

He told MailOnline he was sat next to Tony Blair in 2004 when he was hit with flour thrown from the public gallery.

That scare sparked concerns that most of the Cabinet and Opposition frontbench could be wiped out by a single attack using ricin or anthrax.

But Lord Hain said he still had trouble persuading MPs that a glass screen should be installed in the public gallery.

'The situation has improved,' he said.

'It is clear that the Carriage Gates are the most vulnerable point.'
The daughter of Westminster attacker Khalid Masood fought against her jihadist father's ideals and refused to give up her western lifestyle.

The defiant 18-year-old who is second of the Westminster attacker's three children, refused to wear a veil and submit to her father's strict Islamic way of life.

A photo of the attractive teen, wearing a glamorous black dress and smiling at the camera, paints a very different image to what might be expected of the daughter of an Islamic fanatic.

But while the teenager battled Masood's demands, her older sister, 24, chose another path.

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Khalid Masood (left), born Adrian Elms, met Jane Harvey (right) in 1991 before he had converted to Islam

The older sibling obediently followed her father's wishes and converted to Islam and now wears a veil.

The girls are the daughters of Jane Harvey who Masood, 52, met in 1991 before he was radicalised in prison.

Their relationship broke down in 2002, after his two-year jail term for brutally attacking a pub landlord in a fit of rage.

After meeting Miss Harvey, Masood - who was born Adrian Elms in Dartford, Kent - moved into her 700,000 home in the well-to-do village of Northiam, near Rye in East Sussex.

The couple went on to have two daughters and Masood worked as a manager in Miss Harvey's business, Aaron Chemicals.

A friend, who did not want to be named, said he had been a 'charming' young man when the pair had been together.

MASOOD: 'NOT A PROPER MUSLIM' Terrorist Khalid Masood enjoyed sex sessions with prostitutes while high on drugs, friends have claimed. Pictured, Masood in 1990 Terrorist Khalid Masood enjoyed marathon sex sessions with prostitutes while high on drugs, his friends have claimed. Masood was 'not a proper Muslim' according to people who knew the killer. The 52-year-old's pals have revealed that he frequently got high on drugs including crack cocaine and acid. According to the Sun, his former landlady Cassie Havard, kicked him out after he spent thousands of pounds on hookers. She said: 'He wasnt a proper Muslim. He s*****d prostitutes, smoked copious amounts of crack and stuck knives in peoples faces.' Another friend told the paper Masood, who taught in Saudi Arabia and went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, would get through a cocktail of drugs 'like a steam train'. They revealed: 'He went to clubs and raves but mainly house parties. He was a party animal. 'While on ecstasy he would go on for hours. But while winding down he would get a joint and listen to Bob Marley.' Advertisement

Of Miss Harvey, 48, known to her friends as Jay, she said: 'Jay's a very efficient, business type person. She's always provided for her children.'

But when their oldest daughter was eight, Masood was jailed after slashing a man's face with a knife in a violent confrontation outside a local pub.

He tried to blame racism for the appalling violence, which left his victim Piers Mott needing 20 stitches to a gaping wound in his cheek.

Neighbours said he abandoned his old life after his release from prison, including Miss Harvey and their young daughters.

One villager said: 'When he got out of prison he decided he wanted to live an Islamic life and didn't want anything to do with his past life at all.

Masood  still using the name Adrian Elms  married Farzana Malik at Medway Register Office in Rochester, Kent

'He left Jay and the girls and went to live in some dump in Eastbourne, and I think he met someone else. He never came back after that and Jay was left to bring up the two girls on her own.'

In 2004, Masood  still using the name Adrian Elms  married Farzana Malik, then a 25-year-old marketing assistant, at Medway Register Office in Rochester, Kent.

The couple have since split and she has married again.

His next long-term relationship was with Rohey Hydara, 39, with whom he shared a series of short-term homes in London and Luton.

It is believed that after converting, the older daughter moved in with her father and his new partner in Luton and later followed him when he moved on to Birmingham.

A friend said: 'She wore a face veil and I think she changed her name.'

Pictured: Khalid Masood is treated by paramedics after his horrific attack on Westminster

Metropolitan policeman Keith Palmer (left), mother-of-two Aysha Frade (centre) and US tourist Kurt Cochran (right) were victims of the attack on Westminster

The older girl's decision to live with her father is said to have caused friction between her and her mother.

Last night, the Met said Masood's partner Hydara, 39, was released on bail pending further inquiries. She was arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.

The investigation into the Westminster carnage is still ongoing with police holding a 58-year-old man in custody after he was arrested in Birmingham.

Masood used a rented Hyundai 4x4 to mow down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before ploughing the car into the Carriage Gates of Parliament, at 2.30pm on March 22.

He then got out of the car and ran towards the House of Commons, stabbing PC Keith Palmer to death. Moments after the rampage, Masood was shot dead by an armed officer.

His other victims included Londoner Leslie Rhodes, 75, US tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, and mother-of-two Aysha Frade, 43.
A gaping 100ft hole tore into the side of a cargo ship as it left a dock.

The ship ran into trouble navigating a narrow berth when it struck a concrete quay wall-tearing an enormous split into its side.

The mighty 656ft long Florentia cargo ship came into contact with the entrance to the former King George V dry dock in Southampton, Hants, at 11.15am on Saturday morning.

The Maltese-flagged ship was being tugged back out to sea at slow speed when the unfortunate incident happened.

The resulting scrape left a hole approximately 4 metres long in its side, and requiring repair work before going back out to sea.

Retired engineer and keen sailor Phil Kempsey, who often navigates around Southampton Water, listened on the marine radio, which he uses to communicate with the port authority as one of the spotters warned: 'You're going to touch it pilot.'

Unfortunately the collision occurred, and Phil was able to capture the moment on video and on his camera which shows the resulting damage.

The 67-year-old, from Hythe, Hants, said: 'I have got a marine band radio as I sail on the water, so I know when tugs are being moved about, and I could hear them saying 'you're going to touch it pilot'.

'The old dry dock is being used to load bulk cargo, but the entrance is slightly narrower than the rest of the docks.

The mighty 656ft long Florentia cargo ship came into contact with the entrance to the former King George V dry dock in Southampton

The Maltese-flagged ship was being tugged back out to sea at slow speed when the unfortunate incident happened

'This ship can load 60,000 Tonnes of bulk cargo, and moves out from dock slowly at about 5mph, and it just touched the side and tore a hole in it.

'I have got a dinghy and I go out photographing ships on Southampton Water, so I need the radio to keep in touch with the Port Authority.

'At the time I believe the boat was loading up scrap metal in the dock, and now he's had to move to a side berth.

'There's no way he could put it to sea - it's too dangerous.'

The ship was parked up in the former dry dock, which was once a narrow basin in which water is allowed to flood or drain.

The ship was parked up in the former dry dock, which was once a narrow basin in which water is allowed to flood or drain

This allowed boats to be loaded or worked on before heading back out to sea, but the gates were removed some years ago and it remains a berth today.

The King George V graving dock was once the largest in the world, but container ships have grown so much in size that it can no longer cater for bigger ships.

A spokesperson for the Port of Southampton said: 'I can confirm there was an incident with the MV Florentia making contact with a quay wall.

'There were no injuries and there was no pollution as a result.

'Port operations are continuing unaffected. An investigation into the incident is now underway.'
Armed police closed off a section of the City of London after reports of two suspect packages.

The incident took place in Barbican and Transport for London has closed Barbican tube station until further notice.

The capital is on high alert after Wednesday's terror attack at Westminster, which killed four innocent people and injured dozens more.

Pictures of armed police patrolling Goswell Road were posted on social media

Armed police have closed off a section of the City of London after reports of two suspect packages

The British Transport Police said an unattended bag on a train has been deemed safe, but officers continued to investigate a package left on a bridge nearby.

Pictures of armed police patrolling Goswell Road were posted on social media.

British Transport Police said: 'Unattended bag on Train deemed safe by our medic and Unattended item on over bridge near Barbican @CityPolice also on scene #WeAreNotAfraid.'

A Transport for London spokesperson said: 'Barbican station is closed due to a security alert outside the station. It will reopen when police give us the go ahead.'

This afternoon the area was deemed safe and the cordons were lifted.

Barbican tube station also reopened and services were back to normal.

The incident is ongoing in Barbican and Transport for London has closed Barbican tube station until further notice
Russia has built a hypersonic missile capable of destroying an aircraft carrier with a single impact, it has been reported.

Kremlin chiefs claim to have constructed a Zircon cruise missile which travels between 3,800mph and 4,600mph - five to six times the speed of sound.

Experts warn the 'unstoppable' projectiles could spell disaster for the Navy's new 6.2billion aircraft carriers, the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.

Russia has reportedly built a Zircon hypersonic missile which is capable of traveling up to six times the speed of sound, making it 'unstoppable'

The Zircon is capable of traveling twice as fast as the Royal Navy's Sea Ceptor missile (pictured) which would be responsible for shooting it down

Current Navy anti-missile defenses are only equipped to shoot down projectiles traveling 2,300mph, meaning they would be useless against the Zicron.

This would force aircraft carriers to anchor outside of their estimated 500 mile range

That would make it impossible for the carrier's jets and helicopters to reach their target, carry out their mission, and return without running out of fuel - effectively rendering them useless.

Pete Sandeman, a naval expert, told the Sunday People: 'Defence against hypersonic missiles presents a huge challenge to surface ships.

'There is so little time to react that even if detected, existing defences may be entirely inadequate.

'Even if the missile is broken up or detonated by close-in weapons, the debris has so much kinetic energy that the ship may still be badly damaged.'

The new weapon has entered the testing phase, according to reports, and could be fitted to Russian carrier Pyotr Velikiy by 2022

The missile could render the Navy's new 6.2billion aircraft carriers the HMS Queen Elizabeth (pictured, artist's impression) and HMS Prince of Wales redundant, experts have warned

The weapon entered testing earlier this year, and could be fitted to nuclear-powered cruiser Pyotr Velikiy as soon as 2018, Russian state media reports.

It can be fired from land, sea and submarines carrying payloads ranging from high explosive to nuclear.

The Zicron uses Scramjet technology which mixes fuel with air and allows it to burn at hypersonic speeds.

That means the projectile can travel at astonishing speeds - covering 155 miles in 2.5 minutes, which is faster than a sniper's bullet.

The setback is just the latest in a long line of problems with the Royal Navy's new carriers after a report earlier this month found they were beset with technical issues, facing delays and could go over-budget.

ZIRCON MISSILE Role: Offensive, capable of carrying explosive or nuclear payloads Speed: 3,800mph to 4,600mph Range: Up to 500 miles Status: In testing, deployed by 2022 Advertisement
A team of elite SAS officers will be stationed permanently in London ready to respond to terror attacks after this week's atrocity, it is claimed.

The elite troops will be positioned in a secret location ready to shoot down terrorists if required, according to a report.

It comes after four people were killed by jihadi Khalid Masood on Wednesday outside the Houses of Parliament, but the Ministry of Defence has not confirmed the move.

The move comes after Wednesday's terror attack outside the Palace of Westminster, carried out by Khalid Masood

A report in the Daily Star Sunday claims the team will be on 'immediate notice to move' in the event of a terror attack.

A spokeswoman from the Ministry of Defence declined to comment, telling MailOnline: 'We never comment on Special Forces activities.'

New 'rings of steel' have been put up around tourist sites around tourist spots in the capital, including the Houses of Parliament, the Mall, Green Park and Constitution Hill.

The bright yellow barriers are wide enough for people to walk through, but too narrow for cars to fit through.

A security review is underway aimed at protecting Parliament.

This week Theresa Villiers, the former Northern Ireland secretary, asked MPs in the Commons: Is it time to consider whether the police who guard sensitive sites known to be of interest to terrorists like Parliament or airports should routinely carry weapons, even when those officers are not part of the units tasked with armed response?

The arches have been put up on the Mall, Green Park and Constitution Hill. A Met Police spokesman said it is not in response to another terror threat

Former Met Police commander Kevin Hurley was among those who criticised apparent deficiencies in security.

It almost beggars belief that a uniformed constable at the front gate of Parliament should be performing his duties when not even armed with a pistol, he said.

When a suicide attacker starts, you have to stop him instantly. We have seen what a relatively unfit terrorist can do with a knife and car. Imagine if three fit young terrorists armed with AK47s had attacked Parliament. There would have been a very large number of casualties.'
The 'Bad Boys of Brexit' who led the campaign to break Britain away from the European Union have taken on a new exit challenge: splitting California into two states.

Former UKip leader Nigel Farage and Leave backer Arron Banks have just returned from the United States, where they helped raise $1million (800,000) for a 'Calexit' campaign, which would split California into two eastern and western regions.

There are several 'Calexit' campaigns competing for a referendum in the United States, with one aiming to remove the state from America entirely as a response to President Donald Trump being elected last year.

Farage and Banks, who led the 'Leave.EU' campaign, appear to be pitting the eastern, more rural side of California against the western 'coastal elite' liberals in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Former UKip leader Nigel Farage and Leave backer Arron Banks have just returned from California, where they helped raise $1million (800,000) for a 'Calexit' campaign, which would split the state in two

Farage and Banks, who led the 'Leave.EU' campaign, appear to be pitting the eastern, more rural side of California against the western 'coastal elite' liberals in Los Angeles and San Francisco in their campaign to split California into two parts

If broken apart, the eastern part of California would more likely vote Republican, giving the party two more senators and electoral college votes for a 2020 presidential election.

The Western side of the state would likely continue to vote Democrat in elections.

Farage and Banks' goal is to hold a referendum during the US midterm elections in 2018, according to The Sunday Times.

Banks said of the campaign: 'It would be portrayed as the Hollywood elites versus the people, breaking up the bad government. Seventy-eight per cent of people in California are unhappy with their government. It's the world's sixth largest economy and it's very badly run.'

Banks said he and Farage wanted to show people in California 'how to light a fire and win' the Calexit referendum.

The pair were recruited for the campaign by polling expert Gerry Gunster and Republican Scott Baugh, a former member of the state assembly.

Banks, Farage and their spokesman Andy Wigmore were in California two weeks ago to receive an award for their Brexit campaign from the American Association of Political Consultants.

While in the state, Farage attended several events in Orange County, where Baugh is based, and about $1million was raised for the 'Calexit' campaign.

Banks, Farage and their spokesman Andy Wigmore were in California two weeks ago to receive an award for their Brexit campaign from the American Association of Political Consultants

Wigmore said that those who raised money - agriculture tycoons and tech entrepreneurs - have felt 'left out since [Former President Ronald] Reagan'.

'This has been done before with West Virginia and Virginia and North and South Dakota, so it can work,' he said.

Banks added: 'We were saying that people said the same about Brexit  and we just went and did it. The money was pledged to take it to the next level. This could be the greatest political showdown ever.'

Gunster has helped win 30 state referendums in America and predicted the EU vote within .01 per cent.

In California, 365,800 people have to sign a petition for a proposition to appear on a ballot.

With a population of nearly 40 million, California is one of the most diverse states in America, with whites outnumbered by Hispanics and members of other ethnic groups,

In 2015, it also had the sixth largest economy in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund -- ahead of France and India.

In November's election, the state broke nearly two-to-one in favor of Trump's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Another Calexit campaign emerging, called Yes California, would see the state seceding from America entirely.

Should that initiative make it on the ballot, a 'Yes' vote would repeal clauses in the California Constitution 'stating California is an inseparable part of the United States and that the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land,' a statement from California's Secretary of State Alex Padilla's office said.

Farage, the former UKip leader, was the first British politician to meet President Donald Trump after his election win

Voters would then need to decide in another referendum in 2019 whether California should become a separate country.

Yes California campaigners are pushing for independence on grounds the state is out of step with the rest of the US and could flourish on its own.

'In our view, the United States of America represents so many things that conflict with Californian values, and our continued statehood means California will continue subsidizing the other states to our own detriment, and to the detriment of our children,' according to their website.

Farage, the former UKip leader, was the first British politician to meet Trump after his election win.

He and the other 'Bad Boys of Brexit' held a boozy Washington DC party ahead of now-President Donald Trump's inauguration in January

Farage toasted the billionaire tycoon in front of a rowdy crowd during a speech ahead of the presidential win.

In a speech to the packed room he said: 'Brexit was great but Trump becoming president is Brexit plus, plus, plus. He was right when he said it was a movement - but a movement can't exist, or flourish, without a leader. And Trump is the only man I've ever met in my life who has made me feel like an introvert.

'He is a larger than life personality. When he was given the rule book for how you run for president he tore up the book and threw it out of the window.

In February, Farage posted a picture of him having 'dinner with The Donald' at a Trump Hotel on Twitter

'And I guess, when I look back in the years to come, perhaps the greatest joy of 2016 was that realisation, as state after state in the mid-West went red, just to see the faces of those democrats.

'I've spent most my life in politics being regarded, I suppose, as the patron saint of lost causes.

'Through most of my life, what happens in America in terms of social trends or developments, we follow four or five years later. America is the leader.

'Now I would like to think in my own little way that what we did with Brexit was the beginning of what is going to turn out to be a global revolution and that Trump's victory is a part of that.'

Farage said: 'We've had Brexit and perhaps that contributed just a little bit to things changing in the USA and who's to say that bandwagon won't continue to roll in 2017 across much of Europe.'

In February, Farage posted a picture of him having 'dinner with The Donald' on Twitter.

Finding common ground with some of Trump's criticism of the political establishment, Farage met the president in November and has offered his services as Britain's ambassador to the United States - something that has been rejected by Prime Minister Theresa May's government.

Entitled 'Dinner with The Donald', Farage posted a picture of himself smiling at a camera, with Trump and four other people around a table in a photo which gave the location as the Trump International Hotel.
Tropical Cyclone Debbie is expected to make landfall as a category 4 system early on Tuesday morning as authorities warn residents to take cover.

The cyclone is forecast to hit just south of Ayr at about 6am on Tuesday with wind gusts of up to 280km/h ravaging the coast.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned winds of up to 100km/h will develop in the Townsville as early as 4pm on Monday based on Cyclone Debbie's current path.

Residents are being told to take precautions and find shelter while a decision on evacuations will be made at 5am on Monday.

All schools in Townsville will be closed on Monday as high winds from the cyclone ravage the area.

Tropical cyclone Debbie is expected to make landfall as a category 4 system early on Tuesday morning as authorities warn residents to take cover

The path of Cyclone Debbie as of Sunday afternoon

Near empty supermarket shelves are seen as Townsville residents prepare for Cyclone Debbie

Schools between Ayr and Proserpine will also be closed.

Whitsunday mayor Andrew Willcox is urging residents to seek shelter with family or friends at higher ground.

'If you are unable to evacuate, the Cyclone Shelters in Bowen and Proserpine will be opened on Monday as a last resort,' he said on Sunday.

'The cyclone shelters have capacity for 800 people each and are only available to those people at highest risk from cyclone effects that have no other option.'

A storm tide watch and act alert has been issued for Dingo Beach, Conway Beach, Cape Upstart, Bowen, Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour.

The Whitsunday Regional Council has reminded residents delaying evacuation may mean evacuation routes are flooded and residents may not be able to leave the area.

Windows are boarded up with plywood for protection at a funeral home ahead of the cyclone

Townsville residents are filling up sandbags in preparation for the cyclone on Sunday

TROPICAL CYCLONE CATEGORY SYSTEM CATEGORY 5 (severe tropical cyclone) Extremely dangerous with widespread destruction. A Category 5 cyclone's strongest winds are VERY DESTRUCTIVE winds with typical gusts over open flat land of more than 280 km/h. These winds correspond to the highest category on the Beaufort scale, Beaufort 12 (Hurricane). CATEGORY 4 (severe tropical cyclone) Significant roofing loss and structural damage. Many caravans destroyed and blown away. Dangerous airborne debris. Widespread power failures. A Category 4 cyclone's strongest winds are VERY DESTRUCTIVE winds with typical gusts over open flat land of 225 - 279 km/h. These winds correspond to the highest category on the Beaufort scale, Beaufort 12 (Hurricane). CATEGORY 3 (severe tropical cyclone) Some roof and structural damage. Some caravans destroyed. Power failures likely. A Category 3 cyclone's strongest winds are VERY DESTRUCTIVE winds with typical gusts over open flat land of 165 - 224 km/h. These winds correspond to the highest category on the Beaufort scale, Beaufort 12 (Hurricane). Advertisement

Despite severe weather warnings, up 15 backpackers are planning to head north, the Brisbane Times reported.

A staff member at a backpackers hostel, who wished to remain anonymous, said travellers were not convinced about the coming cyclone.

'The backpackers don't believe it,' she said.

Premier Palaszczuk has urged people not to wait until Monday to prepare because it could 'be too late'.

'This is the time that you should now be preparing,' she said.

'Make sure that properties are secured, gutters are cleaned. Use this time to make sure that you have your emergency kits ready.'

BoM meteorologist Andrea Peace said a Category 4 would cause 'significant structural damage, dangerous airborne debris and also power failures'.

The main entrance of a funeral home has been guarded with several sandbags amid cyclone

Sandbags are seen in the back of a ute in preparation for Cyclone Debbie on Sunday

The window of a funeral home in Townsville has been boarded up with plywood for protection

Queensland residents have cleared out shelves at supermarkets amid tropical Cyclone Debbie

A Townsville Woolworths cleared of bottled water in preparation for Cyclone Debbie

Queensland's first tropical cylone in two years is threatening to deliver a major impact on the state's northern coast (pictured: Hinchinbrook Channel in Far North Queensland)

Ms Peace said heavy rain in excess of 200mm per day was expected to develop on Sunday along the far north and central Queensland coast, as well as in adjacent inland areas.

'Abnormally high tides are also expected to occur between at least Lucinda and Mackay as the cyclone approaches the coast,' she said.

'Large waves may also develop along the beachfront so coastal inundation is likely and those highest waves will be on the southern side of the cyclone.'

A cyclone watch zone for residents living between Ayr and St Lawrence - including Bowen, Mackay and the Whitsunday Islands - remains in place.

A young family working together to fill their sandbags in preparation for Cyclone Debbie

Residents are stocking up with sandbags to protect them home as the cyclone approaches

Dark clouds fill the sky above Townsville as cyclone Debbie is set to pick up pace on Sunday

A young girl and boy look out to sea as residents prepare and wait for cyclone Debbie

Empty supermarket shelves are seen as residents prepare for the cyclone on Sunday

Queensland residents have cleared out shelves at supermarkets amid tropical Cyclone Debbie while forecasters have not ruled out the possibility the storm could develop into Category 5

Coordination centres in Cairns, Innisfail, Townsville and Mackay have also been activated.

The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services have deployed 50 staff from its Disaster Assistance and Response Team to Cairns to bolster local crews.

Canadians Tom and Laura Britton were among dozens of people queuing at the Hertz car hire centre on Sunday desperately trying to secure the last pair of wheels out of town.

The couple were yachting around the Whitsundays but were forced to return to the mainland on Saturday.

Their Jetstar flight out of Proserpine Airport was scheduled for Monday morning, but has been cancelled and the couple now hope to drive to Brisbane to fly onwards to Melbourne form there.

Near empty supermarket shelves are seen as Townsville residents prepare for Cyclone Debbie

A Townsville resident puts sandbags in the back of his ute in preparation for Cyclone Debbie

Residents have been urged to plan ahead as Cyclone Debbie could increase to a Category Four by the time it hits the north Queensland Coast on Tuesday

'It's an interesting turn of events,' Mrs Britton said.

'We really enjoyed being on the boat so we are a little bummed.'

Local businesswoman Tracey Lord was one of the first people through the door at Woolworths as the doors opened on Sunday.

Ms Lord said Debbie would be her 28th cyclone but the worst she had experienced was a Category 4.

She said her last minute supplies were for her food truck Cosmos within which she planned to hit the street once she got the all clear.

'We've got generators ready,' Ms Lord said.

'If we lose power we will be able to feed people.'

A cyclone brewing off far north Queensland coast could intensify into a Category 5 (pictured: Whitehaven Beach along Whitsunday Island)
A 50-year-old Tennessee teacher and 15-year-old girl who have been on the run together for two weeks wrote love letters to each other and saved them as draft emails on his classroom computer before going on the run.

Tad Cummins and Elizabeth Thomas have been missing from Columbia, Tennessee, since March 13.

Amber alerts are in place in their home state and in Alabama but police say the pair could be anywhere.

Before they vanished, they left romantic letters for one another on Cummins' classroom computer at Culleoka School.

They included one message from Cummins to the underage girl which began: 'I saw you standing next to your backpack this morning.'

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Tad Cummins and Elizabeth Thomas left love notes for each other on his classroom computer at Culleoka School in Columbia, Tennessee, before vanishing. The pair are pictured in the classroom, above, in January

Elizabeth, 15, and Cummins, 50, have not been seen since March 13. A warrant has been issued for his arrest and there are Amber Alerts in place in Tennessee and Alabama

The note went on to describe parts of the teenager's body, investigators told WAAY.

'They would write the message and let it save as a draft. The other person would log in, read the message and then delete it and then write another message that was saved as a draft,' Maury County District Attorney Brent Cooper said.

'If you read them you would immediately recognize you are reading messages between two people who have a romantic interest in each other.'

Last week, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released a photograph of the pair taken in Cummins' classroom in January.

They appeared in the image talking over his desk.

Another student at the school reported seeing them kissing on the lips in the same classroom on January 23 but Cummins, who describes himself as a 'Jesus freak', was allowed to carry on teaching.

Police in Maury County began investigating the report but he was never arrested. School board staff did not immediately tell Elizabeth's family about the allegations.

It was only when an officer went to their home to investigate them that they realized what had been alleged by the other student.

Elizabeth changed her Instagram biography before she vanished to describe herself as a 'wife'. She also added a ring emoji to the description

Cummins visited a Walmart in Columbia, Tennessee, the day before he vanished with the girl. He was filmed on surveillance cameras buying dark brown women's hair dye

The dark brow hair dye teacher Tad Cummins was seen buying (right) and Elizabeth (left)

Another student at the school reported seeing the pair kissing on the lips on January 23 but Cummins was allowed to continue teaching

A reported sighting of the pair was made in Corpus Christi, Texas, last week but so far it has led to nothing

Instead of removing him from teaching, staff removed Elizabeth from Cummins' class. They were however found together alone in his classroom again weeks later and he was suspended.

On March 12, the day before the pair disappeared, Cummins was filmed on surveillance footage buying dark brown women's hair dye.

Elizabeth, who is one of ten children, littered social media with posts about romance and love and started calling herself 'wife' on Instagram.

She made several references to a 'mission' that was 'almost complete'.

On March 13, she told family she was going to spend the day with a friend. One of her siblings has since revealed that the teenager told them to call police if she did not return home that night.

Authorities believe she may have gone willingly with Cummins, who they say has been grooming her for sex for some time.

Cummins was seen filling up his silver Nissan Rogue with gas on the day the pair disappeared

It does not diminish the danger she is now in - police say he is armed with two handguns.

Other staff at the school have joined the duo's families in making desperate pleas for them to return safely.

This image of Elizabeth was taken on March 13, the day she vanished. She appears to be carrying clothes

One has offered a $5,000 reward while local lawmakers have spoken directly to him, warning: 'It's time to man up'.

Elizabeth's mother spoke to DailyMail.com last week in an exclusive interview to share her fears.

She labeled her daughter's captor 'disturbed' and said she worried Elizabeth would either end up pregnant or dead.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the hunt for the pair, has received hundreds of tips but none have come to fruition.

One reported sighting of the pair was made in Corpus Christi, a coastal city in south east Texas, last week.

They were reported to have been seen in the tiny town of North Beach which sits just 160 miles from the Mexican border.

Nothing ever came of the tip-off and police have not clarified whether they believe it was credible or a case of mistaken identity.

Anyone with information of their whereabouts is urged to call 1-800-TBI-FIND. Police are asking anyone who sees a silver Nissan Rogue with a license plate of TN 976-ZPT to call 911 immediately.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday lashed out again in the diplomatic row with the European Union saying it would be "easier" if the EU just rejected Turkey's bid to join the bloc.

Turkey and Europe are locked in a bitter dispute after Germany and the Netherlands blocked Turkish ministers from campaigning in the local Turkish communities for a 'yes' vote on boosting Erdogan's powers in next month's referendum.

"What? If a 'yes' comes out on April 16, they would not take us into the European Union? Oh, If only they could give this decision! They would make our work easier," Erdogan said at a rally in the southern city of Antalya.

Despite severely strained relations with Brussels, no EU leader has openly said a 'yes' vote would spell the end of Turkey's already-embattled bid to join the bloc.

But Erdogan told the rally that "April 16 would be a breaking point," referring to EU-Turkey relations if the 'yes' vote wins.

"We will put this (EU-Turkey) business on the table because Turkey is no one's whipping boy," he added, indicating that Ankara could reconsider its relationship with Brussels.

And among some European politicians, there has been discussion over what the future of Turkey's membership process would be.

Kati Piri, the European Parliament's Rapporteur for Turkey, wrote for Politico Europe earlier this week that if a majority of voters approved the constitutional changes, "the European Parliament will have to assess whether the country's new governance structure meets the EU's Copenhagen accession criteria".

In the referendum Turks will decide whether to approve constitutional changes that would create an executive presidency and would see the role of prime minister axed.

While the government argues it is necessary for political stability and would avoid fragile coalition governments, critics fear it will lead to one-man rule.

Erdogan has repeatedly accused European countries including Germany of using "Nazi measures" -- comments that have been condemned by the bloc's leaders.

"For as long as you continue to call me dictator, I will continue to call you fascist, Nazi," Erdogan retorted.

Another contentious issue is the death penalty, which the Turkish president said again Saturday he would approve if it was passed by parliament and brought to him.

"What? If the death penalty is introduced for the 249 people killed, Turkey has no place in Europe. Oh, let it not be!" he said, referring to the number of people killed during last July's failed coup.

Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2004 as part of its bid to join the EU.

But Brussels has repeatedly made clear that any move to bring it back would scupper Turkey's efforts to join the bloc.

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A determined jobseeker who was rejected by Boots for not dressing 'conservatively enough' has been hired by the firm's high street rival Superdrug.

Rosie Reilly, 26, was turned down midway through an interview with Boots earlier this month when staff deemed her outfit as inappropriate.

When she took to Twitter to condemn the situation, users responded with outrage - unable to understand why the store took issue with her high-collared blouse and knee-length black skirt.

However, last week Reilly, of Colchester, Essex, started her new position as a retail assistant in Superdrug and posted online that she had 'that Superdrug feeling' before starting her first shift.

Rosie Reilly, 26, who was turned down midway through an interview with Boots earlier this month when staff deemed her outfit as inappropriate, landed a job at Superdrug as a sales adviser

Reilly said that a Boots employee told her she wasn't dressed conservatively enough for her interview, when she turned up in a knee-length shirt and high-collared shirt (pictured above)

After her first spell on the shop floor Reilly posted: 'First shift done! Everyone's so lovely and it feels so good to be working in retail again.'

She even added how one customer recognised her from the Boots debacle and they had a 'lovely' conversation.

On Sunday, Reilly said of her new job: 'It feels brilliant to have got a job in retail again, I've always felt that retail was my forte.

'My confidence has definitely been boosted. It's been nice to move on from what happened at Boots and to look ahead to the future.'

She says her run in with Boots was not mentioned at all during her Superdrug interview process which pleased her because she 'felt like there was more to me than what happened at Boots'.

Since securing the job in East Sheen, London, she has been able to move in with her girlfriend Leah in Twickenham.

Before starting her first day at Superdrug, Reilly posted a photo of her in her first-day outfit and a photo of her new name tag

Reilly said that customers at the Superdrug recognised her after her Boots interview story went viral

Since getting her new job, Reilly was able to move in with her girlfriend and is now saving up for a holiday

Reilly (pictured in her Boots interview outfit) says her run in with Boots was not mentioned at all during her Superdrug interview process which pleased her because she 'felt like there was more to me than what happened at Boots

Talking about her future plans she said: 'My plan now that I'm at Superdrug is to work hard so I can start to save up to go on holiday with my girlfriend. After paying my bills, of course!'

The irony of the job offer was not lost on some of Reilly's twitter followers with one saying: 'This is the best ending to the Boots Saga oh my god'.

A number of others sent messages of congratulations and support.

Reilly was wearing a black and white high-collared blouse and a knee-length black skirt when she met bosses at her local Boots Opticians, where she had applied for a job as a full-time sales assistant.

But after the first part of the interview, she claims she was told what she was wearing was 'inappropriate' for the second stage - a trial on the shop floor.

Reilly, of Colchester, Essex, who has the panel of her nose and ears pierced and a hairstyle which is short at the sides and curly on top, said she informed staff of her appearance before the Boots interview.

Reilly, of Colchester, Essex, who has the panel of her nose and ears pierced and a hairstyle which is short at the sides and curly on top, said she informed staff of her appearance before the interview

She said: 'I always check what to wear and explain about my hair and piercings.

'Boots didn't tell me to dress in any way but smart casual and that's what I did. The interviewer said he did like my style but it it wasn't appropriate for Boots.

'When you're unemployed you're already not feeling 100 per cent, then something like this can really knock your confidence.

'She didn't really seem interested in my experience.'

Reilly has previously worked at Debenhams, River Island, Topshop, BHS and Lush and went in for the job interview at Boots in Colchester, Essex, earlier this month.

She said her style has 'never been a problem' in any of these previous positions and that her outfit was her 'go to' interview attire.

The retail worker admitted her hairstyle is 'unconventional' but said that the interviewer did not directly say this was the issue.

She also has two tattoos on her arms which were partly visible - but said these were not mentioned specifically either.

Reilly was offered the opportunity to come back on another day 'dressed appropriately' but decided against returning.
A same-sex couple have been granted permission by the NSW Supreme Court to adopt a four-year-old girl following a clash with her birth parents over her religious upbringing.

The birth mother, who lost care of the child four days after birth because of a previous conviction for manslaughter and drug abuse issues, wanted the girl to be raised as a Catholic.

The adoptive parents have no particular religious beliefs and would not agree to raise the child in a faith they didn't share, according to the Supreme Court decision.

A lesbian couple have been allowed to adopt a four-year-old girl (stock picture)

They did however agree to have the girl attend Bible studies to allow her to learn about the Catholic faith.

The birth mother's manslaughter conviction came after the death of her seven-month-old son, who died from methadone and benzodiazepine poisoning.

She blames her then-partner for administering the drugs to the child, according to the Supreme Court decision.

The girl, who is known as CJD for legal reasons, has been cared for by the same-sex couple since she was six months old.

The university-educated lesbian women hoped to adopt the girl but came into issues when they would not agree to raising the child under the Catholic faith.

The NSW Supreme Court was told the birth mother was 'a practising Catholic and she [was] not comfortable with the placement of CJD with the proposed adoptive parents because of her upbringing and religious values'.

The father of the girl claimed he was from a Catholic family and said he wanted his child to be raised in the same faith.

Both the mother and father were found to be unfit to parent the child who already suffers from behavioural issues.

The father is affected by mental health issues, which include bipolar disorder, but says he is managing those issues properly, the court heard.

He opposed the girl's adoption because he feels he was never given a proper chance to care for the child, but does not believe the adoptive parents' status as a same-sex couple would negatively affect the girl.

However, he shared the birth mother's wish that the girl be christened.

Despite being removed from her parents care at four days old due to drug abuse issues the girl's birth mother and father opposed the adoption as she wouldn't be raised as a Catholic

The foster parents fought to adopt the child saying the Catholic religion did not support homosexual relationships but they were more than fit to care for the girl (stock picture)

Justice John Sackar said although the law accommodated to preserve cultural and religious ties, they should not outweigh the child's best interests.

'Religion of course is only one of a multitude of factors the court is to consider in determining CJD's best interests,' he said.

'While the birth parents' religious beliefs must be respected, the proposed adoptive parents' attitude to the Catholic faith requires equal respect.'

Justice Sackar also made comments relating to the mental state of the mother who refuses to take responsibility for the death of her son.

She had been granted parole after three and a half years but went back to jail after showing positive on drug tests.

The couple have agreed to visit the birth parents regularly and ensured they would facilitate a relationship with the Christian faith through Bible lessons.

'[The adoptive parents] believed scripture classes taught by somebody who believes in the religion would be a more meaningful way for CJD to learn about Catholicism,' the justice wrote.

They also said they would let the girl make up her own mind as to if and what religion she could be a part of.

It was also determined by the Judge that the child's surname would be changed to that of her adoptive parents.
A four-year-old girl died as she was cradled in the arms of her mother after being mowed down in a hit-and-run crash.

Violet-Grace Youens was knocked down by a black Ford Focus as she walked home from school with her grandmother in St Helens, Merseyside, on Friday afternoon.

The youngster passed away in hospital, while her grandmother remains in serious but stable condition.

Violet-Grace Youens was knocked down by a black Ford Focus as she walked with her grandmother in St Helens, Merseyside, on Friday afternoon

Pictured: The scene of the tragic hit-and-run collision that caused Violet fatal injuries and left her grandmother in hospital

Violet's mother, Rebecca Youens, spoke of her grief in an emotional post on Facebook, the day after tragic death.

She wrote: 'My beautiful baby girl passed away in my arms on 25/03/2017 at 23.38.

'Thank you for all your well wishes. She was just too poorly.

'However, my brave baby girl saved two lives by donating her kidneys and pancreas. I am truly heartbroken but proud of my little fighter.'

In a brief statement the family added that they were 'Devastated by the loss of their beautiful daughter but they wanted the organ donations to benefit other children and give them a chance to lead long and happy lives'.

Two men jumped out of the car and fled the scene of the crash at 3pm on Friday.

Merseyside Police have now released CCTV images of the pair, who were both described as white, aged 15-20, around 5ft 10in tall, of slim build with brown hair.

Violet's grandmother remains in a stable but serious condition. The four-year-old's pancreas and kidneys were donated to others. Pictured, a woman lays a tribute at the site of the hit and run

In a brief statement the family said they were 'devastated by the loss of their beautiful daughter but they wanted to organ donations to benefit other children'. Pictured, a touching note left at the side of the road

Two men jumped out of the car and fled the scene of the crash at 3pm on Friday. Pictured, a bunch of yellow flowers with a note of condolence for Violet and her family

Pictured: Merseyside Police now wish to speak to these men who were seen fleeing the scene of the crash

One of the men was wearing a royal blue T-shirt and shorts of the same colour, while the other was wearing a black t-shirt, black shorts and dark trainers.

Hundreds of people have since taken to social media to offer messages of support and condolence to Violet's family, using the hashtag #PrayForViolet.

One relative tweeted: 'My beautiful niece, taken far too soon. Sleep well my angel. Goodnight #PrayForViolet'

On Facebook, Phil Winterson posted: 'So sad such a sweet baby girl. Got two girls myself and couldn't dream of what there going through right now RIP little one.'

Kate Gilroy said: 'RIP Violet grace. Condolences to your family. Absolutely heartbreaking reading her mum's status this morning.'

Hundreds of people have since taken to social media to offer messages of support and condolence to Violet's family, using the hashtag #PrayForViolet, while well wishers in the area have laid flowers

A small collection of flowers, teddies and soft toys have appeared at the site of the crash

Pictured, a woman leans down as she lays a bunch of flowers at the side of the pavement. One relative tweeted: 'My beautiful niece, taken far too soon'
An elderly couple hoping to visit their grandkids in Michigan from Florida, found themselves on an unexpected adventure when they were sent to upstate New York instead.

Helen Wheeker, 96, and her husband George Nobel, 89, took off from their winter home of Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday expecting to land in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Instead the Michigan couple were put on a flight to the tiny town of Ogdensburg, New York, on the border with Canada. But they bore the mistake in good spirits.

'I call this our most exciting adventure,' Helen told WoodTV, adding: 'How many people very close to 100 get to do this stuff?'

Up in the air: Helen Wheeker, 96, and George Nobel, 89, wanted to fly from Florida to Michigan to see their grandkids in Grand Rapids. Instead they ended up in Ogdensburg, New York

The couple were redirected due to a mistake by their carrier, Allegiant Air.

'An employee went and got them, and at the same time, there was a glitch with the scanning device that they used to scan boarding passes,' Allegiant spokesperson Hilarie Grey told 7 News Miami.

'There was obviously some human error there as well. Obviously, we can't apologize enough.'

Sadly for the couple, they didn't get the opportunity to see the bright city lights of Ogdensburg, population 11,000.

Not that they were too bothered. 'If it was New York City, Well, that'd be cool,' Helen said.

Instead, they sat around in the plane eating crackers, bored out of their minds until they could fly back to Florida.

Plane crazy: They were put on the flight to the 11,000-person town by an Allegiant staff member after a scanner malfunction on Wednesday, and were flown back to Florida

But there was one highlight.

'The pilot was drop dead handsome, and I remember when I was young enough to be excited about that, so that woke me up a little bit,' Helen said.

The couple were put up in a hotel in Florida by the airline, and flew to Michigan on Saturday.

And while they have spent winters in Florida for the past few years, this little journey has been their last, says George.

'We've enjoyed being there, and we've enjoyed being here,' said Nobel, 'but I think we're gonna stay in Michigan from now on. Our travel days are over.'
A mother who admitted she lost her child while drunk after previously claiming her girl was kidnapped has been arrested.

Maria Irias, 29, was arrested on Sunday afternoon. She has been charged with making a false police report and child neglect without great bodily harm, and is currently being held at the Palm Beach County Jail.

It comes after an Amber Alert was issued for six-year-old Nataly Irias after her mom reported her missing in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday afternoon.

Maria Irias (left), 29, was arrested on Sunday afternoon, after she lied and told police her six-year-old daughter had been kidnapped on Saturday afternoon

Maria Irias claimed she had been at a nearby grocery store with her daughter, when a man she did not know offered to give them a lift home to the Tavaras Cove Mobile Home Park, Palm Beach Police said.

According to her original story, the mom told police she got out of the car when they reached home about 4pm, only for the black or Hispanic man to speed off with her daughter still inside.

She described the man as: 30 to 35 years old, bald, no facial hair, 56, medium skin color with a thin build. She also said he was driving a small newer model black SUV.

Nataly's mother claimed she had been at the nearby El Bodegon grocery store (pictured) with her daughter, when a man she did not know offered to give them a lift home

According to her original story, the mother told police she got out of the car when they reached their home at Tavaras Cove Mobile Home Park (pictured), before the man sped off with her daughter

But the mother has since corrected the story, and confessed that she had been drinking and no kidnapping took place.

'After further investigation the mother admitted to detectives that she was not at the store, she did not accept a ride from a Hispanic male and the child was NOT kidnapped,' the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office said in a news release.

Police found the missing girl on Sunday morning.
A couple's quiet night in was ruined when they were spooked by loud, unexplained noises that lasted 40 minutes.

Calvin Kirlew, 24, and his partner, listened in 'shock' as trumpet-like sounds blared across the night sky in Nottingham, East Midlands.

A video of the sounds has left viewers baffled after Calvin uploaded it to his Facebook page on Tuesday evening.

In the short clip Mr Kirlew said: 'We've been hearing these noises outside for about five, ten minutes.'

Then the freaked-out marketing worker was interrupted by a loud sound, similar to a a trumpet, which can be heard at several different pitches.

He said: 'What the f*** is it?'

U-FO real? Calvin Kirlew, 24, captured footage of eerie noises on his mobile phone in Nottingham, East Midlands. He said the spooky outbursts lasted 40 minutes

'I was amazed I actually managed to get it recorded. It was going on for about five or 10 minutes before I started recording and then it carried on for about another 30 minutes,' he told the Nottingham Post.

'It was coming from the direction of the Victoria Centre but from the sky. I was at home with my partner and we could both hear it - it was really weird.'

Mr Kirlew added: 'On the video I am quite shocked. It was strange. I messaged my friend who lives in Wollaton but he said he couldn't hear it. I have no idea what it might be.'

Similar outbursts have been captured in countries around the world including the US, Ukraine and Germany. The first video posted on YouTube recording the unusual, unearthly sounds was in 2008 when a user recorded the strange sounds in the sky from Homel, in Belarus

Facebook user Shannon Parkinson said: 'We heard this exact noise couple of years ago me and my other half. I'm glad someone nearby heard it too!

'Thanks for the proof we are not mad, Calvin.'

Eerie sounds have been heard at different times and in locations across the world for almost a decade.

Similar outbursts have been captured in countries around the world including the US, Ukraine and Germany.

The first video posted on YouTube recording the unusual, unearthly sounds was in 2008 when a user recorded the strange sounds in the sky from Homel, in Belarus.
A ban on laptops and iPads could be extended to all flights amid fears over new terror tactics, the Home Secretary has suggested.

The tough rules introduced this month mean travellers coming direct from six countries in the Middle East and North Africa have to stow electronic devices larger than a phone in the hold.

But Amber Rudd hinted that the restrictions could be expanded much more widely - potentially affecting millions of holidaymakers and business people.

The comments came as the Cabinet minister was interviewed about the terror threat on the BBC's Andrew Marr show today.

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The hint came as Amber Rudd was interviewed about the terror threat on the BBC's Andrew Marr show today

Some easyJet flights are subject to the current restrictions on electronic devices on flights

She was asked why the restrictions were only limited to flights from six countries if they were in response to a new tactic from extremists of fitting bombs into electronic devices.

'It is difficult to say how far this will go, whether we will at some stage arrive at that place,' Ms Rudd said.

'But at the moment the government has made the decision on where to have the ban in place based on intelligence we have received.'

Baffled computer experts have questioned the design of the new rules, suggesting a laptop bomb would be just as effective in the hold as in the cabin.

The move to beef up UK security covers all direct flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia.

The shake-up comes after America imposed similar but wider restrictions on flights from eight countries - based on the same intelligence information the UK authorities had seen.

The move is not thought to be in response to a specific plot.

The rules will cover all kit larger than 6.3 inches long, 3.6 inches wide and 0.6 inches deep. This covers all major smartphones but is smaller than an iPad mini or a Kindle.

Concerns were raised last year when insurgent group al-Shabaab smuggled an explosive-filled laptop on to a flight out of Mogadishu.

It blew a hole in the side of the plane, but the aircraft was still low enough that the pilot was able to land the plane safely.

The tougher rules came weeks after it was revealed that UK security services have foiled 13 potential attacks in less than four years, while counter-terrorism units are running more than 500 investigations at any time.

The official threat level for international terrorism has stood at severe, meaning an attack is 'highly likely', for more than two years.

The ban covers all devices bigger than a smart phone - meaning even iPad mini and Kindles are excluded, alongside full size laptops
The widow of the late Martin McGuinness has said the family were touched by solace and comfort offered to them since the former IRA commander's death.

The ex-Northern Ireland deputy first minister and Sinn Fein negotiator died last week, aged 66, after suffering a rare heart condition.

US president Bill Clinton led tributes at his funeral in Londonderry on Thursday.

The widow (front right) of the late Martin McGuinness has said the family were touched by solace and comfort offered to them since the former IRA commander's death

Martin McGuinness's wife Bernadette (Bernie) is comforted outside his home in the Bogside area of Londonderry

The coffin of Northern Ireland's former deputy first minister and ex-IRA commander Martin McGuinness is carried down Westland Street into the Bogside ahead of his funeral

Widow Bernie McGuinness said the family has been left heartbroken by his death.

'I and our entire family have been touched by the efforts of so many to provide solace and comfort to us throughout this very difficult period.

'Martin was my husband, a father and a grandfather.

'He was a republican activist for all of his adult life. He was passionate about his political beliefs but also about his many other interests.

'Despite the frequency with which his political activism took him away from our home and family, he was at heart a proud family man who took great delight in the accomplishments of our children and grandchildren.

'He loved his family. And we love him. Our hearts are broken.'

Mrs McGuinness also thanked people who called to the family home in the last week, held vigils or attended the funeral.

She also thanked medical staff and others who provided support.

A piper played as his coffin was carried onto the street where a tricolour flag was placed on top by members of Sinn Fein. The crowd broke into applause as family members slowly carried the coffin along the street

Family and friends at the funeral of Martin McGuinness takes place at St Columba's Church Long Tower, in Londonderry

'Words cannot express our appreciation at the outpouring of love and solidarity, which embraced us throughout Thursday,' she said.

Thousands of people thronged the streets of Londonderry's Bogside as the veteran Sinn Fein figure's funeral took place in St Columba's Church. Mr McGuinness died on Tuesday from a rare heart condition aged 66.

Mr Clinton and ex-Democratic Unionist Stormont first ministers Peter Robinson and Arlene Foster were among those attending Thursday's requiem mass.

Mr McGuinness's beloved Bogside neighbourhood came to a standstill as his coffin was walked to St Columba's Church, led by a lone piper

Looking down on a coffin draped in an Irish tricolour, the former US president, who was central to the Good Friday Agreement negotiations, implored today's leaders to continue to build peace in Northern Ireland.

'He persevered and he prevailed. He risked the wrath of his comrades and the rejection of his adversaries,' Mr Clinton said.

'He made honourable compromises and was strong enough to keep them and came to be trusted because his word was good.

'And he never stopped being who he was. A good husband, a good father, a follower of the faith of his father and mother and a passionate believer in a free, secure, self-governing Ireland.

'The only thing that happened was that he shrank the definition of 'us' and expanded the definition of 'them'.'

Former US President Bill Clinton touches the coffin during the funeral of Northern Ireland's former deputy first minister and ex-IRA commander Martin McGuinness at St Columba's Church Long Tower, after giving his speech (right)

Mr Clinton added: 'Our friend earned this vast crowd today. Even more, he earned the right to ask us to honour his legacy by our living. To finish the work that is there to be done.'

Mr Clinton spoke briefly with the McGuinness family after his passionate eulogy and touched the coffin as he walked by.

Mr McGuinness's beloved Bogside neighbourhood came to a standstill as his coffin was walked to St Columba's Church, led by a lone piper.
A three-year-old girl has undergone emergency skin grafts to her right hand and stomach after a freak treadmill accident.

Kelly Gay, 35, was on the phone outside her home in South Headland, north western Western Australia, with her service provider last Saturday when she heard a blood curdling scream come from inside.

'I wasn't quite sure what I was going to be confronted with,' the mother-of-two told Daily Mail Australia.

Brave Sienna Gay, 3, suffered severe friction burns to her right hand and stomach after she became trapped between a wall and a treadmill in a freak accident

Sienna received a skin graft to her right arm and stomach in Perth

The brave young girl pictured in Princess Margaret Hospital after surgery

Bursting through the doors Mrs Gay found her husband, Adam, on the treadmill desperately trying to save his daughter Sienna - who had become wedged between the wall by the exercise machine.

Sienna suffered severe burns to her hand from the treadmill

'I moved closer to the treadmill and it was on maximum speed and on an incline,' she said.

'My husband was using his hands on the wall and feet and all his strength to stop the belt to get her out. She was wedged against the wall and treadmill belt before he finally stopped it.'

Having been turned on when the kids were playing in the toy room, the treadmill belt was going at 22km/h causing friction burns to the stomach and right hand of Sienna.

Mrs Gay removed the key to turn off the treadmill before she was able to assess Sienna - a haunting memory she will never forget.

'I went backed into the kitchen and looked at my daughter and it was the most horrific sight. I will never get it out of my mind,' she said.

Sienna Gay on the Monday after the incident in hospital

'Her stomach was red and her hand was the worst - it looked like it had been through a grater.'

Sienna's parents rushed the three-year-old to South Headland Hospital.

'She was so distressed and thrashing and kicking. We all had to pin her down and I had to hold the oxygen mask on her face. It broke my heart looking into her eyes,' Mrs Gay said.

After brave Sienna calmed down the doctors and nurses were able to wash and dress the wounds.

But the distress was far from over as the family were told they had to go from rural South Headlands to Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth immediately for surgery.

Three-year-old Sienna Gay from South Headland recovering in hospital

Sienna playing with some bubbles on the Monday after the incident

To make matters worse Mrs Gay said the patient assisted travel scheme, aimed at helping people with medical emergencies in rural Australia reach hospitals, only offered to fly Sienna and herself to Perth.

Mr Gay, 42, was left with no choice but to drive 19 hours with their son to catch up with them.

In the following days Sienna underwent surgery where they grafted skin from her bottom cheek to her right arm and spraying it onto her fingers and stomach.

Brave Sienna was moved to the Ronald McDonald house where she is now recovering and hopefully waiting on doctors approval to fly home next Thursday.

Unfortunately, Mrs Gay - who has not left her daughter's side since the incident - said the whole situation has been draining on the three-year-old.

'She is not doing very well she is crying in her bed. It is all just hit her, what exactly has gone on in the last few days,' Mrs Gay told Daily Mail Australia.

'I am crossing my fingers that everything is going to improve.'

Mrs Gay said she hoped the horrible incident would at least help other parents with inquisitive children to take extra safety precautions when it comes to exercise equipment.

'Turn it off at the wall, pull the chord out and hide the key. Do not leave the key or any exercise equipment around young children. They are curious and intrigued.'
A breed of mutant owl-like cats made popular by Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran should be banned because their genes make them prone to arthritis, according to campaigners.

Scottish fold cats are known for their adorable floppy ears and prominent whiskers that make it look like they are smiling.

But experts have warned that the genetic mutation which causes the breed's appearance could make the animals vulnerable to health problems.

Veterinary internal medicine specialist Dr Richard Malik of Sydney University said breeding the cats is 'cruel' and 'ethically indefensible'.

Scottish fold cats are known for their adorable floppy ears and prominent whiskers that make it look like they are smiling. Taylor Swift, pictured above left, has one named Olivia Benson

It is thought that the cartilage abnormality which causes their ears to fold forward could also cause joint problems.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) is calling for the SNP government to ban breeding of the animals.

SSPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn told The Times: 'It is common for the breed to suffer from serious health problems.

'The cartilage and bones do not develop properly, which leads to arthritis and other painful joint diseases that can cause reluctance to move, abnormal posture and gait, lameness and short, misshapen limbs.'

'We welcome any change to legislation to prevent the breeding and sale of Scottish fold cats.'

Experts have warned the genetic mutation which causes the Scottish fold breed's appearance could make the animals vulnerable to health problems

SSPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said it is 'common' for the Scottish fold breed, pictured above, to suffer from health problems

A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'There is currently no breeding ban on the Scottish fold cat or restrictions on cat breeding in Scotland.

'However, we are currently considering the issue of pet breeding as part of an ongoing review of pet welfare.

'The Scottish government would encourage anyone breeding any type of animal to avoid breeding from any individual animals with genetic problems likely to give rise to ill health.'

A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'There is currently no breeding ban on the Scottish fold cat or restrictions on cat breeding in Scotland'

It is thought that the cartilage abnormality which causes Scottish fold cats, pictured above, to have floppy ears could also create joint problems

Swift's cat is named Olivia Benson - after Mariska Hargitay's sex crimes detective character from NBC's Law & Order.

Breeds that put the cat among the pigeons Lykoi: Looks like a werewolf and behaves like a dog. Gets its spooky looks because of a genetic mutation in a domestic shorthair cat.

Sphynxiebob: Identical to a regular Sphynxbreed - it has round ears, the hairless features and a muscular build. The only difference is the short bobtail on its rear.

BamBob: Identical to the Bambino cat - which is hairless and carries the gene for short legs. Like the Sphynxiebob they also have short bobtails. Advertisement

Taylor has said that Olivia Benson refuses to stay confined in a cat carrier, so she has to tote it around during outings.

'The kitten freaks out about being put in the cat carrier,' she explained to Access Hollywood of snaps taken last year showing the pop star on an excursion with her pet.

'So I was just like, "OK, all right, we're gonna just do this!"'

'It was like a 10-foot walk from my door to the car!' she said. 'What I thought was funny about those pictures is that, like, the cat is looking straight at the cameras!'

Olivia Benson has company with Taylor's other cat, Meredith Grey - named after Ellen Pompeo's Grey's Anatomy doctor.

The pets are named after TV characters she considers to be 'strong, complex, independent women'.
Human Rights Watch urged Jordan on Sunday to deny entry to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir or arrest him over alleged war crimes in Darfur if he visits this week.

Bashir has reportedly been invited to a summit of the Arab League to take place in Jordan on Wednesday.

"Jordan should deny entry to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir or arrest him if he enters the country," New York-based HRW said in a statement.

The Sudanese president is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide related to the conflict in Darfur.

The Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for Bashir in 2009 and 2010, but he has so far evaded arrest and steadfastly denies the charges.

"Jordan would be defying its international obligations as an ICC member if it allows Bashir to visit without arresting him," said Elise Keppler, associate international justice director at HRW.

The conflict in Darfur, a region the size of France, erupted in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Bashir's Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, accusing it of marginalising the region economically and politically.

At least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and another 2.5 million displaced since the conflict erupted, the United Nations says.

In 2015, South Africa refused to arrest Bashir when he attended an African Union summit there, claiming he had immunity as the head of an AU member state.

The ICC is to hold a public hearing on April 7 to probe whether South Africa -- a signatory to the Rome Statute of the world war crimes court -- failed in its duty in refusing to do so.

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Refugees from Iraq and Syria who settle in Australia sit a five-day course to learn about the country.

The Federal Government announced in 2015 a one-off intake of 12,000 refugees from the war-torn region amid the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Successful applicants sit in a room filled with flags, photos of footy heroes and boomerangs as they go through the five-day course on Australian life, Channel Nine's 60 Minutes program revealed.

Refugees from Iraq and Syria who settle in Australia sit a five-day course to learn about the country. One part of the course involves the coordinator throwing a balloon, which signifies a job in Australia, into the air. The refugees are encouraged to grab it

Sitting in a room filled with flags, photos of footy heroes and boomerangs, successful applicants go learn about Australia's history, its education system, housing and how to get a job once they arrive

Prior to their arrival, they learn about Australia's history, its education system, housing and how to get a job once they resettle.

One part of the course involves the coordinator throwing a balloon, which signifies a job in Australia, into the air.

The refugees are encouraged to grab it with both hands.

Details have also emerged about a 'thorough' vetting process designed to 'weed out extremists.'

Those who sit the course are previously subjected to 'thorough' character checks designed to prevent extremists from entering the country.

The government announced in 2015 a one-off intake of 12,000 refugees from the war-torn region amid the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Pictured, displaced Iraqis flee their homes as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State militants in western Mosul

The selection process is overseen by John Moorhouse, the Department of Immigration's Middle East and Africa Regional Director.

'All of our processes are designed to weed out extremists. That's the truth,' he told the Channel Nine program.

'We don't rely on what the person gives us. We have the capacity to look behind those as well.

'I can't comment on the details of the security checking - it's not sensible for us to do that - but they are thorough.'

Mr Moorhouse revealed the overwhelming majority of the 12,000 successful applicants were Christians, despite Islam being the dominant religion in the region.

'It's a substantial majority, and that is because the government has asked us to focus on persecuted minorities,' Mr Moorhouse said.

Refugees who sat the course were previously subjected to 'thorough' character checks. Above, a displaced Iraqi child walks over mud at Hammam al-Alil camp

'All of our processes are designed to weed out extremists. That's the truth,' Mr Moorhouse said

'The government has emphasised that it wants us to focus on the most vulnerable people - people from persecuted minorities, families and children.'

More than 60 per cent of the 12,000 refugees, many who are desperately trying to escape ISIS, already have family in Australia.

It was announced last week 10,000 refugees have already arrived, while the remainder will be resettled in the coming months.

Between July 1, 2015 and March 21 this year, more than 21,000 visas have been granted to people affected by the conflict in Syria and Iraq.

More than 60 per cent of the 12,000 refugees, many who are desperately trying to escape ISIS, already have family in Australia. Pictured, Syrian refugees, wait to enter Turkey

Between 1 July 2015 and 21 March 2017, more than 21,000 visas have been granted to people affected by the conflict in Syria and Iraq. This displaced Syrian girl with an amputated leg checks her phone at the Bab Al-Salam refugee camp, near the Syrian-Turkish border
A newly opened cafe is at the centre of a racism row over the naming of a burger.

Master Toms, in Brisbane's city centre, only flung open its doors less than four months ago but it has already found itself embroiled in accusations of racism, 9News reported.

The cafe has named one of its burgers Uncle Tom, which is also a derogatory term describing a black person who is considered to be excessively obedient to a white person.

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A Brisbane cafe is at the centre of a racism row after naming one of its burgers Uncle Tom

Customer Jonathan Butler-White said he felt a 'mix of disappointment and anger' when he noticed the burger's name

Master Toms manager Eduardo Cantarelli has now vowed to change the burger's name

The name first came to prominence in the novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the mid-1800s.

The novel, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, details the suffering of African-American slaves.

Customer Jonathan Butler-White, who noticed the name when he dropped by the cafe recently, said he felt a 'mix of disappointment and anger'.

'I think it's concerning but I don't think it's surprising,' he said.

'I did leave straight away.'

Mr Butler-White then made his feelings known to the cafe through social media who told him they were 'completely unaware' of the name's historical meaning.

Master Tom's manager Eduardo Cantarelli vowed to change the burger's name and update the menu.

'We really want to change that because that's not good for us, it's not good for the business,' Mr Cantarelli said.

Reaction to the name of burger on social media has been mixed

Reaction on social media to the name of the burger has been mixed.

'Why does the burger need a derogatory name? Why not change the name to something that doesn't resound with such violence, racism etc,' one person commented.

Another said: 'Is it just me or is political correctness going a bit overboard? I wouldn't even have considered the name'.

Mr Butler-White said he was now prepared to give the cafe the benefit of the doubt.

The Uncle Tom burger has been retailing at $17, with fresh ground lean beef mince, with bacon, fried egg, cheese, beetroot, tomato, lettuce and house sauce, served in a lightly toasted bun.
A Philadelphia police officer has been caught on camera attacking an anti-Donald Trump protester with a bike.

The unnamed cop was seen shortly after 2:30pm on Saturday swinging his bike at the man during a massive march against the president.

Police were stationed near Independence Hall - the site of a planned 'Pennsylvania Make America Great Again' march, which had been put together by some of Trump's supporters.

However, the event was derailed by the opposing group made up of about 500 people, and eventually Philly PD shut down the Trump march.

A police officer (pictured) has been caught on camera swinging his bike at a protester (right) during a Trump rally

The video started by showing the officer pick up the bike (left), and after swinging it other people and officers stopped to look at the scene (right)

Courtesy of Joshua Scott Albert

Philly.com reports the pro-president group had a protest to take to the streets, while the anti-Trump group did not.

Trump's supporters were pictured carrying flags and signs during their event. The opposition group featured many people dressed in black, and some who burned flags.

On Saturday night, Philadelphia Police said there had been no reports of property damage from the events earlier in the day.

Pro-Trump supporters shout at anti-Trump protesters during the Make America Great Again demonstration in Philadelphia on Saturday, March 25

A man is seen cheering for Donald Trump during the Make America Great Again rally in Philadelphia on Saturday

Spokesman Eric Gripp added there had been no injuries, and two people were issued citations for disorderly conduct, Philly.com reports.

Other videos posted to social media on Saturday afternoon showed police appearing to clash with other protesters on the streets.

In one video, it looked as though a group of officers shoved a man to the ground. It is unclear in the clip whether the person who was pushed was a Trump supporter or detractor.

There were also demonstrations in California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Michigan on Saturday.
A man, a nine-year-old boy and one-year old baby girl have been killed following a tragedy involving a car and a semi-trailer on highway several hours drive north of Brisbane.

The 45-year-old man and the boy were killed instantly when the car they were in collided with a southbound truck on the Bruce Highway at Gunalda, northwest of Gympie on Sunday shortly after 11am.

Television news footage captured the burnt-out wreckage of the car.

The burnt out car where a man, 45, and a boy, 9, were killed instantly in a truck crash

The semi-trailer being towed from the crash scene on the Bruce Highway at Gunalda

The baby girl died late on Sunday night, almost 12 hours later after being airlifted to Brisbane's Lady Cilento Hospital in a critical condition.

A Queensland police spokeswoman was unable to confirm if they the three people killed, a two-hour drive north of Brisbane, were related.

'They're known to each other,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

But the spokeswoman would not confirm their relationship.

The tragedy happened on the same day a three-year-old girl was killed after being hit by a truck in northern New South Wales.

The girl was struck at a home on Hawthorne Street in South Grafton just after 8am on Sunday.

Paramedics were called to the scene and and treated the toddler before transferring her to Grafton Base Hospital.
Three Eritrean migrants have been detained by police after they were pulled out of the back of a lorry in Cambridgeshire.

The men were discovered hiding in the back of a truck which arrived in Britain from the Czech Republic after the driver became suspicious and called police.

Dramatic images showed the men being pulled from the truck near Peterborough on Saturday afternoon before being bundled into waiting police vehicles.

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Three Eritrean men have been detained by police after they were discovered hiding in the back of a lorry which arrived in Britain from the Czech Republic

A worried truck driver called police on Saturday afternoon after he heard strange noises coming from his trailer before the men were discovered

The truck was stopped outside Peterborough where officers found the men hiding inside before searching them and putting them into waiting vehicles

Cambridgeshire Police refused to give any more details on the incident when contacted by Mail Online.

It is unclear whether the men were arrested, if they have been charged with a crime, or whether they will be allowed to remain in the UK.

Most Eritreans arrive in Europe via Libya after an old route via Egypt and Israel was blocked by border fences and guards with order to shoot on sight, according to Oxford University's Refugee Studies Centre.

Cambridgeshire Police refused to say what happened to the immigrants after they were detained, whether they have been charged, or whether they will be allowed to remain

Eritreans make up one of the largest single groups seeking asylum in the UK each year, with more than 3,000 arriving in 2015 alone

The men were discovered hiding in the back of a truck belonging to a Czech transport company, based in the town of Oparany, 60 miles south of Prague

The majority of Eritreans who arrive in Europe end up applying for asylum, having fled rampant political repression, forced labour, and indefinite military conscription that has earned the country the moniker of 'Africa's North Korea'.

In 2015 Eritreans made up the largest single group to apply for asylum in the UK, with 3,695 applications lodged.

Around a third of those applications were granted, according to data published by The Guardian.

However the proportion being granted asylum is now likely to far higher after a ruling last year which made it more difficult to deport Eritrean asylum seekers.

Home Office guidance had recommended deporting Eritrean refugees, but it was changed last year after a legal challenge by human rights groups

Police were seen combing the truck for anyone else stowed away inside, but were unable to find anyone else hiding there

Previous Home Office guidance deemed that it was safe to return asylum seekers who fled Eritrea illegally.

But the department was forced to change that guidance in October last year after a legal challenge brought on behalf of three asylum seekers found those being returned were at significant risk of harm or persecution.

In the first quarter of 2016, as the Home Office guidance on Eritrean refugees came under scrutiny, around 86 per cent of application were granted.

Last month, a video appeared online showing six illegal immigrants in the back of a British driver's lorry.

It is thought they boarded in Caen, France as he made his way back from Spain.
Alluding to his own scandalous past, Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., had an appropriate warning for Republican lawmakers and White House staffers last week.

'I'm here to tell you, sometimes that testosterone can get you in trouble,' Sanford said at a meeting Thursday between White House officials, Republican leadership and the Freedom Caucus, in which no women had yet to speak.

CNN reported the quip, which came before the Republican healthcare bill's demise.

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Rep. Mark Sanford (right), walking into the White House with a fellow House Freedom Caucus member, Rep. Justin Amash (left), reportedly warned his colleagues about there being too few women speaking at a Thursday meeting

Mark Sanford made the testosterone quip at his own expense, alluding to his scandalous past of having an Argentinian mistress while serving as governor of his state and having staff lie and say he was 'hiking the Appalachian Trail' when he disappeared for six days

While Sanford was allowing his Republican peers to have a quick laugh at his own expense  while serving as South Carolina's governor, Sanford disappeared for six days in 2009, engaged in an extramarital affair in Argentina, while staff said he was 'hiking the Appalachian Trail'  he was also shedding light on the GOP's women problem.

Earlier on Thursday Vice President Mike Pence had tweeted out a photo, saying he was glad to be sitting in on a meeting between the president and the House Freedom Caucus, of which Sanford is a member.

The photo captured 25 individuals, and one person's left hand, and not one was a woman.

The gender imbalance was quickly noticed on Twitter.

'A rare look inside the GOP's women's health caucus,' snarked Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

The House's Freedom Caucus, the more conservative wing of the Republican Party, has no prominent female members.

It's chaired by Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and includes Sanford, along with Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, Mo Brooks, R-Ala., and Justin Amash, R-Mich.

Vice President Mike Pence's tweet got a lot of attention for there being no women in the room as top White House officials met with the House Freedom Caucus on Thursday

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray sent out a snarky tweet, as a room of all men discussed getting rid of coverage mandates, which included maternity care

To make optics worse, the Freedom Caucus wanted the government to strip mandatory coverage requirements, which included, among other things, maternity care.

Sanford's comment also comes after Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., got in trouble for saying, when asked about benefits that could be scrapped, 'I wouldn't want to lose my mammograms.'

In that scenario, Roberts' dry sense of humor didn't get much of a laugh with the Republican lawmaker later apologizing.

'I deeply regret my comments on such an important topic,' Roberts said in a statement. 'I know several individuals whose lives have been saved by mammograms, and I recognize how essential they are to women's health. I never intended to indicate otherwise, and I apologize for my comments.'

Additionally, in an effort to push back from the message Pence sent by sharing a photo of a woman-less room, the White House's social media director Dan Scavino tweeted a photo of Trump meeting with a more moderate group, which included several female lawmakers and Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway.

'Underway- @POTUS Trump and @VP Pence begin meeting with the Tuesday Group in the Cabinet Room here at the @WhiteHouse,' Scavino wrote, sharing a photo with five women and 11 men.
The family of a Utah woman who was run down in London's terror attack while her husband was killed, thanked her supporters for the outpouring of love and said her health was improving.

Kurt and Melissa Cochran were the first people hit when ISIS terrorist Khalid Masood plowed his Hyundai 4x4 through a crowd of people on Westminster Bridge on Wednesday.

Kurt Cochran, 54, died when he was thrown over the bridge onto a walkway below and Melissa, 46, was left lying in a pool of her blood as she nursed a broken leg and rib.

Her family gave an update of her health condition and thanked supporters for their 'outpouring of love' on Saturday.

The statement made on the Utah couple's GoFundMe page said: 'Melissa wants all of you to know how much she loves you. She is so grateful and overwhelmed with your generosity and outpouring of love.

'Her health is steadily improving. Thank you all for the kind words and pledges of support.'

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Melissa Cochran's family said her health was improving on Saturday. She was injured in London's terror attack on Wednesday. Her husband, Kurt Cochran, 54, was killed when he was thrown off Westminster Bridge

Her family has given the first update of the 46-year-old's health condition on a fundraising page and thanked supporters for their 'outpouring of love'

The Utah couple was celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in Europe. They were due to return home to the United States on Thursday

Earlier in the week, devastated family and friends of Kurt Cochran paid tribute to the husband and father as a wonderful and passionate man.

His son Tyler Cochran was among those to pay tribute to his father as news spread across the world. The couple were in Europe to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.

'Everybody loved my father. Always wanted to live in his shadow. Never imagined living like this,' Tyler wrote on Facebook.

He also mentioned Donald Trump's recognition of his father after the president tweeted he was a 'great American' shortly after the attack.

'Over 81k likes from a tweet from POTUS that had my father's name in his mouth. Lord knows none of us will get the same recognition on the way out,' Tyler wrote.

Earlier in the week, Kurt's son Tyler Cochran was among those to pay tribute as he mentioned Donald Trump's recognition of his father as a 'great American'

Cochran's nephew Mitch Burton said he was broken following news of the tragic death

Other relatives took to social media to express their heartache over Cochran's tragic death.

'Thank you for showing me how to be happy no matter what. I love you and can't wait to hang out with you again in the Sky. I wish it was under different circumstances,' his nephew Mitch Burton wrote on Facebook.

He added: 'I hope and pray that the closeness of our family will last forever. See you soon, and I pray we'll make millions more memories together.'

Another relative added: 'This pain is so heart wrenching and raw it has rocked our family and all that knew him to its core. We will miss Kurt beyond words. We love you Kurt. RIP.'

The couple were on a dream trip of Europe at the time and London was their final stop. They were supported to return home to the U.S. on Thursday.

Other relatives took to social media to express their heartache over Cochran's tragic death

President Trump paid tribute to the man as a 'great American' on Thursday morning

They had already visited Holland, Germany, Ireland and Scotland and were in the English capital to spend time with Melissa's parents who work there as missionaries for the Church of the Latter Day Saints.

'Kurt was a good man and a loving husband to our daughter and sister Melissa. They were in Europe to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary,' Cochran's brother in law Clint Payne said in a statement.

'Our hearts ache for her and their children in losing their loving companion and father. Please continue to pray for our family.'

Cochran is understood to have had two sons from a previous marriage. The couple did not have any children together.

A fundraising page has been set up to help Melissa with lost income.

Cochran hurled over the parapet and landed on the concrete walkway under the bridge

Strangers consoled Melissa Cochran as she lay on the bridge next to a toppled postcard stand before an ambulance arrived

The mother desperately clutched onto a stranger who held her bleeding head as she lay among scattered postcards while they waited for an ambulance

The pair were on the south London end of the bridge, opposite the Houses of Parliament, when they were hit. Mr Cochran was either pushed over the edge or jumped on to the walkway below

The couple had run a recording studio together for the past 10 years in West Bountiful, Utah.

'He did live his dream, and not a lot of people get to do that or have the drive to do that, and I really admire him for that,' friend Nate Kizerian told Good4Utah.

'He was very instrumental to the Utah music scene, especially in Davis County. He brought a lot of bands together.'

He added that Cochran and his wife were 'amazing together - so happy'.

Cochran is among four innocent victims who died in the attacks.

The others include a mother who was on her way to collect her children from school, a 75-year-old man and a policeman who was stabbed by the terrorist outside the Houses of Parliament.

Aysha Frade, 43, was on her way to collect her daughters aged eight and 11 when she was hit and thrown under a bus.

Policeman Keith Palmer was stabbed by the terrorist in New Palace Yard outside the Houses of Parliament.

Mr Cochran's family confirmed that he had succumb to his injuries on Facebook on Thursday. The pair have run a recording studio from their Utah home for the last 10 years

They were in London as part of a tour of Europe when they were struck on Wednesday afternoon

Mrs Cochran is currently in a London hospital recovering from a broken leg and a broken rib

A fundraising page launched for his family has reached nearly 130,000 ($160,000). British Prime Minister Theresa May said of the 48-year-old father: 'He was every inch a hero. And his actions will never be forgotten.'

A 75-year-old man named Leslie Rhodes died from his injuries on Thursday.

It comes as ISIS claimed responsibility for the atrocities. Masood drove his 4x4 from the south end of Westminster Bridge. He later died in hospital after being shot by police.

President Trump said he had shared a phone call with Prime Minister Theresa May to express his condolences on Wednesday night.

Aysha Frade, left, was also killed on the bridge. She was on her way to collect her daughters from school. PC Keith Palmer, right, died after being stabbed
Prison's security sealed in the hole that was used by 29 prisoners to escape from a Mexican prison (pictured)

A Mexican jail experienced a massive escape on Thursday when 29 inmates tunneled under the prison's wall.

Sixteen of that original 29 are still on the run, after 13 were caught, and authorities have said that most of them are suspected to be members of the Zetas drug cartel.

The inmates escaped through a 120-foot tunnel out of a prison in Ciudad Victoria, in the northern Mexican border state of Tamaulipas.

Luis Alberto Rodriguez, a state security spokesman, told Fox News that the tunnel was five meters deep and 40 long, and the opening was hidden in a hut that the inmates illegally constructed in a part of the prison they essentially controlled.

As soon as prison authorities were made aware of the escape, officials destroyed unauthorized shelters constructed by inmates on prison grounds and searched all of their cells, reported CNN.

The inmates escaped through a 120-foot tunnel out of a prison in Ciudad Victoria, in the northern Mexican border state of Tamaulipas

This took place through Thursday night and all of Friday. On Saturday the prison's security also sealed in the hole that was used in the prisoners bid for freedom with concrete.

In reaction to those efforts by security guards, a riot broke out in the prison on Friday night.

Three inmates were stabbed to death and one was injured, according to officials.

Inmates also set debris on fire during the riot, but all flames were put out within an hour.

Officials are looking for those prisoners who are still currently on the run, authorities have said.
A police officer has lost his job and been laughed out of court after a lengthy legal battle over a used razor he tried to take back to Boots.

Shane Bird, 47, was fired after attempting to get a refund for the 69.99 Braun shaver - which had clearly been used and contained traces of his DNA.

He denied any wrongdoing and took the case to crown court - where a jury convicted him and left him with a bill of over 3,200.

The conviction lost him his job with Avon and Somerset Police, but the former officer refused to accept the outcome and took the case to the Court of Appeal in London.

Former Avon and Somerset Police officer Shane Bird, 47, was fired after attempting to get a refund for the 69.99 Braun shaver - which had been used and contained traces of his DNA

But bringing his two-and-a-half years fight to an end, the court branded his application a 'waste of time', and denied his appeal.

Speaking at the court on Tuesday, Justice Carr said: 'This has represented an unacceptable waste of the time of staff and of three judges of the Court of Appeal.

'There was an overwhelming case against him that he handed in a razor which he knew was old.'

Bird, from Midsomer Norton, Somerset, took a used electric razor and tried to obtain a refund or replacement from the Boots store in September 2014.

When the company refused to take the razor back, he decided to take the company to court.

Prosecutors said the Braun razor had clearly been used, was worn in places and was contaminated with Bird's DNA.

The once-respected officer denied any wrongdoing, but was found guilty in November 2015 by a jury at Taunton Crown Court.

Bird was fined 500, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of 50, compensation of 69.99 and also court costs of 2,800.

In February 2016 he was then dismissed from Avon and Somerset Police after a misconduct panel concluded he had breached standards of professional behaviour.

The conviction lost him his job with Avon and Somerset Police, who said he had breached standards of professional behaviour

The hearing ruled: 'He had been dishonest in that he had carried out a fraudulent refund and gained financially; and by bringing discreditable conduct on the police service by virtue of his conduct.

'The panel found that the allegations against Police Sergeant Bird were proven as gross misconduct and that he be dismissed without notice.'

But representing himself, Bird claimed he had been badly represented at his trial and that the guilty verdict should be overturned at the Court of Appeal this week.

Bird told the judge, sitting with Mr Justice Gilbart and Lady Justice Thirlwall, that his trial lawyers had failed him.

They had failed to gather evidence of his good character or to get the razor tested to see if anyone else's DNA was on it, he said.

But Mrs Justice Carr said there had been ample evidence on which the jury could convict him and no valid criticism could be made of his lawyers.

He had been advised that the case against him at his trial was 'strong' and, once he had given his evidence, his defence was 'unsustainable'.

She said there was no arguable basis for an appeal, before branding his application a 'waste of time'.

It should not have been started in the first place and certainly not continued after he had been told he stood no chance, she said.

The judges ordered Bird to pay the 69.30 cost of preparing transcripts for the case.

Bird, who was born in Bath, Somerset, moved to the beat in Bristol in 2004 after he was forced out of his home city by a hate campaign from local criminals.

He was previously nominated by Avon and Somerset Police for probationer of the year.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party looks set to come out on top despite fears of a resurgent centre-left party after a tiny German state went to the polls.

Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) appear to have clinched the regional election of Saarland by a wide margin, dealing an early blow to centre-left hopes of ending her more than decade-long reign.

In the state vote held six months before the general election, the CDU won 40 percent of the vote beating the 30 percent gained by the Social Democrats (SPD), according to early results reported by public broadcaster ZDF.

Broadcaster ARD estimated a slightly bigger lead for the CDU of 41 percent against 29.5 for the SPD.

Chancellor Angela Merkel faces her first test ahead of September's election, as Saarland goes to the polls

The vote was held in the tiny state of Saarland on the French border, which has a population of only one million, but was seen as a bellwether ahead of the September 24 general election in which Merkel is seeking a fourth term.

The SPD have made strong gains in national opinion surveys since Martin Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament, took over in January, and is now polling neck-and-neck nationally with Merkel's CDU.

But the 'Schulz effect' did not translate into the strong results the SPD had hoped for in Saarland, a former coal mining region, which held the first of three German state polls scheduled in the run-up to the national election.

It was Merkel's first major hurdle as German voters went to the polls today for the first time ahead of this year's election.

People in the tiny Saarland state, which borders France, were voting in Parliamentary elections.

It will be the first test of the challenge the Social Democrats (SDP), headed by new leader Martin Schulz, will pose

Headed by new leader Martin Schulz, it was the SDP's first challenge to Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.

The centre-left was hoping to strike a blow to the Chancellor ahead of September's election.

Schulz, former president of the European Parliament, has been credited with a chance in the SDP's fortunes, with party support increasing by around 10 per cent, and it is now polling neck-and-neck with Merkel's conservative bloc.

The SPD is currently the CDU's unhappy junior partner in Saarland and in the national government - and in both cases hopes to grab power by teaming up with other left-wing parties.

Even if the CDU comes out ahead in Saarland, the SPD could potentially seek a coalition with the far-left Linke and possibly the ecologist Greens parties - a so-called 'red-red-green' alliance.

THE BATTLE FOR SAARLAND In Saarland, the latest poll for broadcaster ZDF gave the CDU a clear lead at 37 percent over the SPD's 32 percent - with the SPD's potential ally the Linke scoring 12.5 percent. The incumbent is popular CDU premier Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, 54, often dubbed simply AKK, who is considered pragmatic and unpretentious. Her SPD challenger is deputy premier Anke Rehlinger, 40, who happens to hold the state record in shot put (16.03 metres). Advertisement

The parties are currently running the city-state of Berlin, although at a national level they disagree over major policies - including membership of NATO, which Linke rejects.

Initial reports suggest the turnout for the polls, which opened at 6am, could higher than the 62 percent five years ago.

While Merkel long seemed invincible at the ballot box, she has been weakened by a backlash against her decision to open German borders to refugees which has brought in a million asylum seekers since 2015.

This has boosted the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party which, despite a recent dip in popularity, already has a presence in 10 of Germany's 16 state assemblies.

It is expected to add an 11th in Saarland on Sunday.

As the refugee crisis has abated, the campaign race is increasingly being fought along traditional ideological lines.

While Merkel broadly argues that Germany, the EU's export engine, is prosperous and needs to stay competitive to keep it that way, Schulz points to the army of 'working poor' and promises to narrow the wealth gap.

Schulz also vowed that, if elected chancellor, he would work to strengthen the EU, equalise pay for female workers and give half of his party's ministerial posts to women, in an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

On the Saarland election, he vowed: 'We want to be the strongest party. And we want Anke Rehlinger to be state premier. And then we want to change things ... We have fought till the last minute, I am very confident.'

Merkel, 62, has warned local voters that 'red-red or red-red-green experiments should be avoided' and urged them to stick with the CDU's 'path of success'.

Saarland, though small, in some ways reflects bigger economic challenges. The former coal region, where the last mine closed in 2012, has sought to establish itself as a research and IT hub.

Predominantly Catholic Saarland, occupied by France after World War II, has since the mid-1950s been ruled by the CDU, alone or in coalition, except for the 1985-98 reign of former SPD premier Oskar Lafontaine.

Lafontaine, who later defected to the Linke party, has campaigned with posters that promise 'We've paid enough - now it's the turn of the rich'.
Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance, on Sunday seized a military airport from the Islamic State group in northern Syria, a spokesman said.

The capture of Tabqa airbase comes as the alliance prepares an attack on IS's de facto Syrian capital Raqa, seeking to effectively surround the city before launching its assault.

SDF forces are also battling for the nearby Tabqa dam, held by IS, which was forced out of service on Sunday after its power station was damaged, a technical source there told AFP.

"The Syrian Democratic Forces have full control of Tabqa military airport and operations to clear and demine are under way in order to secure the airport fully," spokesman Talal Sello told AFP.

SDF forces entered the airport earlier Sunday, backed by heavy artillery fire and air strikes by the US-led coalition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

IS seized the base from government troops in August 2014 and carried out one of its worst massacres there, killing up to 200 government soldiers.

With support from the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq, SDF fighters have inched closer to Raqa, taking territory to the north and east.

At their closest point, they are just eight kilometres (five miles) from the city, to the northeast.

But they are mostly further away, between 18 and 29 kilometres from Raqa.

Earlier this week, US forces airlifted SDF fighters behind IS lines to allow them to launch the Tabqa assault, and on Friday the alliance reached one of the dam's entrances.

But the fight for the dam, the biggest in Syria, forced it out of service on Sunday, risking dangerous rising water levels.

"Shelling on the area... that supplies that dam with electricity has put it out of service," the technical source said.

"The work needed to fix the problem is not possible because there is not sufficient staff available as a result of the intensive shelling in the area of the dam," he added.

"If the problem is not fixed, it will begin to pose a danger to the dam."

The SDF's Sello told AFP there was no imminent danger to the dam, adding it had not been hit in air strikes.

The dam remains under IS control, with SDF progress being hampered by the exposed nature of the terrain, which is also heavily mined, the Observatory said.

IS issued warnings through its propaganda agency Amaq that the dam "is threatened with collapse at any moment because of American strikes and a large rise in water levels".

But the source at the dam told AFP there had not yet been significant water level increases, though he acknowledged levels would rise if the facility remained out of service.

Earlier this year, the UN's humanitarian coordination agency OCHA said water levels in the Euphrates had risen 10 metres (33 feet) since late January, in part from heavy rainfall and snow.

But it warned that damage to the dam "could lead to massive scale flooding across Raqa and as far away as Deir Ezzor" province to the southeast.

Any further rises in the water level or damage to the Tabqa dam "would have catastrophic humanitarian implications in all areas downstream", the UN warned.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since its conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

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Joe Biden has claimed he could have won the Oval Office if he ran for president in 2016.

The former Vice President told students at Colgate University in New York on Friday he believes he could upgraded to the top office in Washington, but admitted the Democratic primary would have been 'very difficult'.

Biden discussed the matter after being asked if he regretted not getting in the race to replace Barack Obama in the White House.

Joe Biden has claimed he could have taken the Oval Office if he ran for president in 2016. The former VP is pictured at Colgate University in New York on Friday night

'On a college campus I will never, never do anything other than answer the question completely unvarnished and straightforward,' he said, the Utica Observer-Dispatch reports.





'The answer is that I had planned on running for president. And although it would have been a very difficult primary, I think I could have won.





'Do I regret not being president? Yes.'





Biden added he had collected data during the time he was weighing up a bid, and he was confident he could have won the White House - presuming he would have secured the Democratic nomination.

'I had planned on running for president. And although it would have been a very difficult primary, I think I could have won,' Biden (pictured) told the crowd in New York

Biden added he had collected data during the time he was weighing up a bid, and he was confident he could have won the White House. The former VP posed for pictures with the huge crowd of adoring students

The former Senator who served Delaware for more than 35 years then spoke about his son, Beau's, battle with brain cancer - which he said kept him out of the race.

'I didn't run because no man or woman should announce they're running for president of the United States unless they can look the public in the eye and promise you they can give you 100 per cent,' Biden said.

Beau Biden died in May 2015. It has previously been reported he desperately wanted his father to run for President.

Joe Biden is seen during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania with Hillary Clinton in August. Biden said if he would've been able to beat Clinton for the nomination, he was confident he would have became president

Biden has run for president twice before - in 1987 and 2007. He is pictured during his first bid

Wrapping up his speech, Biden told the crowd he hopes the man he believed he could have beat, Donald Trump, 'grows into the job a little bit' and becomes a success.

'I don't have a lot of hope now,' Biden said, before adding: 'I hope that he succeeds'.

Biden previously ran for president in 1987 and 2007.

The former Senator who served Delaware for more than 35 years also spoke about his son, Beau's, battle with brain cancer - which he said kept him out of the race. The two are seen together at the Democratic National Convention in 2008
United Airlines has been accused of body shaming and sexism after refusing to allow a 10-year-old girl to board a flight because she was wearing spandex leggings.

The airline defended its decision to not allow the child and two others on their flight from Denver to Minneapolis on Sunday, telling outraged Twitter users who complained about it that they reserved the right to refuse anyone who did not meet its dress code.

Whether or not a person is suitably dressed is at the discretion of gate agents, it explained.

The girl was eventually allowed on after changing in to a dress in her bag but two others, whose ages are not known, were not allowed on because they did not have a change of clothes handy.

United Airlines refused three girls, one of whom was 10, on board a flight from Denver to Minneapolis because they were wearing leggings on Sunday. It defended the decision after receiving complaints from other passengers on Twitter

The row began when a fellow passenger took to Twitter in bewilderment on Sunday morning after watching the agent tell the girl, and two others, that they were inappropriately dressed.

The gate agent told the girl to change out of her leggings and in to a dress (file image)

'A United gate agent isn't letting girls in leggings get on flight from Denver to Minneapolis because spandex is not allowed?' Shannon Watts said, tagging the airline in her tweet to prompt an explanation.

'She's forcing them to change or put dresses on over leggings or they can't board.

'Since when does police women's clothing?'

The gate agent told the girls she 'doesn't make the rules, just follows them,' Ms Watts added.

She quickly gathered support from other Twitter users who were just as shocked as she.

Despite the agent's apparent claim that she was merely following policy, the airline responded to Ms Watts to say that it was her decision if someone was suitably dressed.

It defended its right to refuse a passenger entry based on apparel and referred critics in the thread of tweets to its 'Contract of Carriage'.

The airline said it was at the discretion of the gate agent to decide who was 'properly' clothed, the only requirement listed for dress code in its contract of carriage

Outraged Twitter users accused the airline of body shaming and sexism

The contract's only mention of dress code is to allow agents the right to refuse anyone who is 'barefoot or not properly clothed'.

Stunned critics lambasted the airline for defending the policy.

'If leggings aren't allowed then what about shorts and dresses. Sounds like united Airlines is bodyshaming,' said one.

'United Airlines is defending their decision to prevent pre-teen girls wearing leggings from boarding a flight due to their attire,' another wrote alongside a string of thumbs-down emojis.

Its Twitter operators continued to defend the decision without going in to further detail on Sunday morning.

United later told DailyMail.com that the trio were traveling as guests of airline staff and were therefore held to a more formal dress code as is standard across many airlines.

Passengers with regular tickets would not have been held to the same standard, a spokesman said.
Father-of-two Gerald Macey, 55, tragically died after a car smashed into traffic lights while he was walking

A BMW driver has been arrested after a grandfather was killed by falling traffic lights.

Father-of-two Gerald Macey, 55, tragically died after a car smashed into traffic lights while he was walking.

Now his family has paid tribute to the grandad described as 'a fun-loving character'.

A 21-year-old man, who was driving a dark coloured BMW 5 series, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

He has now been released on bail following the crash at around 4.16pm on Gorseinon's High Street in Swansea, Wales.

Mr Macey's family described him as a 'much-loved and cherished husband, father, bampy, son, brother, brother-in-law and uncle.'

His wife Jackie died 12 years ago and his family said that since then he had 'dedicated his life' to his children Melanie and Sean and his grandson.

They said: 'Nobody ever had a bad word to say about him. He was a fun-loving character, always busy and 'on the go' and would literally never sit down.'

Mr Macey was retired having previously worked in the construction and coal mining industries.

The road was closed for six hours on Friday while investigation work was carried out.

South Wales Police are appealing for information.
RAF jets were operating in the region of Mosul where hundreds of civilians were allegedly killed in coalition airstrikes, officials have said.

British Tornado aircraft destroyed five terrorist Islamic State targets using laser-guided Paveway IV missiles weighing 500lbs each.

The planes were flying in 'very challenging conditions with heavy cloud' on the day that as many as 200 civilians are said to have lost their lives in coalition strikes on the al-Jadida neighbourhood in western Mosul.

The US-led coalition said it had carried out a strike on ISIS militants and equipment in the area of the reported deaths on March 17 and had launched an investigation.

The RAF tornados - similar to those pictured above - were flying in 'very challenging conditions with heavy cloud' on the day that as many as 200 civilians are said to have lost their lives (stock photo)

An Iraqi man inspects the damage in Mosul's al-Jadida neighbourhood which was destroyed by reported coalition air strikes

An Iraqi counter-terrorism forces member stands guard in Mosul's al-Jadida neighbourhood on March 26, 2017, following air strikes in which civilians have been reportedly killed

RAF officials refused to confirm whether their jets were flying in the specific area of the deadly bombings but said they were 'supporting the liberation of western Mosul'.

A spokesman told MailOnline: 'We are aware of reports [of civilian casualties] and will support the coalition investigation as required.'

What happened on March 17 remains unclear and details are difficult to confirm as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State to recapture the densely populated parts of the western half of Mosul, the militant group's last stronghold in Iraq.

A local politician and two witnesses said a coalition air strike may have targeted a large truck bomb, triggering a blast that collapsed buildings.

However, the military casualty figure was lower than that given by local officials who said 240 bodies had been pulled from the rubble.

Iraqi rescue workers take a part in a search operation for the bodies of victims under the rubble of houses destroyed during the fighting between the Iraqi forces and ISIS

The March 17 strike was reportedly called in by Maan al-Saadi, a commander of the Iraqi special forces.

Snipers were ordered to be struck from roofs but the forces did not know there were innocent people in the basement, according to Iraqi officers.

One man who survived the blast told reporters: 'The entire neighbourhood was fleeing because of missiles so people had taken refuge here.

'I didn't know if it was a shelter. I didn't know we couldn't go there. My entire family is inside, 27 people. We pulled only one of them out. We don't know about the rest.'

Iraqi forces have retaken the east of Mosul and half of the west, across the Tigris River that divides Iraq's second city.

Iraqis clean up the rubble of destroyed buildings in Mosul's al-Jadida neighbourhood which was hit by reported coalition airstrikes

Thousands of people are fleeing each day to escape the fighting and increasingly difficult conditions.

The RAF spokesman added: 'As operations to liberate western Mosul and Raqqa intensify, the RAF continues to provide precision close air support to ground forces engaged in difficult urban combat.

'We conduct detailed assessments after each strike and review information from organisations such as Airwars and we have not seen evidence that we have been responsible for civilian casualties so far.

'Through our rigorous targeting processes we will continue to seek to minimise the risk of civilian casualties, but that risk can never be removed entirely.'

Rights groups have expressed concern over the mounting civilian death toll, with Islamic State fighting among homes and densely-populated areas as the campaign to defeat the militant group in its last Iraqi stronghold enters its sixth month.

Iraqi military and US-led coalition have been countering with heavy weaponry and air strikes to support troops on the ground moving into the narrow alleyways of Mosul's Old City.
Jeremy Corbyn was accused yesterday of trying to sabotage Brexit after he threatened to vote against any final deal with the rest of the EU.

The Labour leader said his party would only vote for a deal if it delivered unfettered access to the single market, which EU leaders have already ruled out.

It prompted accusations he was setting impossible tests for the outcome of talks  set to begin within weeks  in order to find an excuse for blocking a deal. The row came as Unite union boss Len McCluskey said Mr Corbyn should be given a chance and allowed 15 months to improve Labours poll ratings.

Jeremy Corbyn, pictured on ITV's Peston programme today, risked a fresh row over his willingness to tackle terrorism with muddled comments on when it was right for police to shoot to kill

Mr Corbyn told ITVs Peston on Sunday: Were very clear that there has to be unfettered access to the European market, otherwise the threat to jobs in this country is absolutely huge. Most of our manufacturing industries have a European sale and European supply chain in them. And if we dont maintain this unfettered access then quite clearly those industries are very much at risk.

Theresa May will fire the starting gun on Article 50 on Wednesday in a letter to the EU.

Today Labours Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer will set out six tests for whether the party would support a final deal.

In a hardening of Labours position, he said any new arrangements must deliver the same benefits as the UKs current relationship with the EU.

He said: I make it clear that if our tests are not met then we do not intend to support the deal the Government comes back with.

Sir Keir Starmer has said Labour will vote against a Brexit deal unless Theresa May secures the 'exact same benefits' as EU membership

Last night former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith said it was a hollow threat. He added: This is an absurd statement. If Parliament doesnt vote for the deal then we leave without any deal at all.

Theyre under pressure from their own side to have a position and this demand is just weasel words. We dont have untrammelled access as it is. Tory MP Philip Davies said: He may be trying sabotage but it would be futile sabotage as we are either leaving with a deal or leaving without a deal. If he wants to leave without a deal then clearly he would be voting for the hardest possible Brexit. Is that what he is advocating?

Dominic Raab, a member of the Committee on Exiting the European Union, said: Theres only one party that will deliver the will of the British people. Weve got a plan for Britain and 12 clear negotiating principles to get us a Brexit deal that works for the whole country.

Labours attempts to lay conditions and delays are all about containing divisions in the Labour Party, but are utterly out of touch with the values and wishes of ordinary working people.

Sir Keir told The Andrew Marr Show that Labour accepts freedom of movement rules will go when Britain leaves  in an apparent reversal of Mr Corbyns previous suggestions.

He said: We are clear that immigration was part of the debate in the referendum and therefore there has got to be change to the freedom of movement rules, so that goes. That has to go when we exit the EU, therefore there wont be that rule.

Yesterday Mr McCluskey came to Mr Corbyns defence, saying the Labour leader was being slaughtered by the media for putting forward policies to build a different... better Britain.

But the general secretary of Unite, Britains biggest union, said Mr Corbyn himself would want to look at the partys direction if there was no change in 15 months.

Mr Corbyn, who has twice been elected party leader on a landslide of votes from party members, has said Labour is ready for a General Election if one is called.

Speaking on Radio 5s Pienaars Politics, Mr McCluskey said there had been a shameful campaign of lies, innuendo and smears, warning: It strains the relationship between unions and the Labour Party.

My members dont vote to affiliate to the Labour Party so they can be abused by certain Labour leaders.

He said deputy leader Tom Watson was playing a dangerous game, adding: You are talking about people skilled in the dark arts. It has never entered the trade union movement, and it should stop.

Mr McCluskey said Labour needed an element of unity so its policies can be fairly listened to rather than sideshows, gimmicks and stupid stunts. He added that over the next 15 months there will be answers to whether Labours appeal to the electorate was improving.

He said: Jeremy Corbyn will be involved in debates and discussions on where the party is going  but give him a chance and let us see where that takes us.



BBC accused of bias AGAIN

The BBC is accused of anti-Brexit bias today over the guest speakers on the Radio 4 Today programme.

The News-watch monitoring group found that of 366 guest speakers on the business news segment between June 24 and December 22 last year, the majority were negative about Britains prospects outside the EU.

Compared to 192 with negative views, just 60  or 16 per cent  expressed pro-Brexit views. The remaining 114 contributions were neutral. Labour MP Kate Hoey said: Many of the BBC journalists have not been able to hide their personal bias in favour of staying in the EU.

The report also found that just 22  or 10 per cent  of introductions to the segment were positive.

A BBC spokesman said: The BBC has and will continue to cover Brexit in a responsible and impartial way independent of political pressure.

Dyson says we'll thrive

Dyson supremo Sir James Dyson says forging fresh ties with the Commonwealth will negate any potential impact resulting from Brexit

The billionaire inventor of the Dyson vacuum cleaner said Britain will thrive after forging fresh ties with Commonwealth countries after Brexit.

Sir James Dyson, owner of the multi-billion-pound company, is investing 2.5billion in research and development  most of it in the UK.

Dyson now employs 3,500 in Britain and is ploughing investment into its 517-acre Wiltshire campus.

Sir James, 69, who has amassed a fortune of 5billion, said: Im really looking forward to engaging with the Commonwealth, which is what Britain will now do.

We can reconnect with the Commonwealth and with India in particular  its an exciting marketplace.

He added: Europe is only 15 per cent of our global trade. Were excited about the opportunity of Britain thinking on its own.

Corbyn risks fresh row over whether police should shoot to kill terrorists

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn caused fresh controversy by refusing to condone shoot-to-kill policy

Jeremy Corbyn risked a fresh row over his willingness to tackle terrorism today as he suggested shooting Khalid Masood was the 'response that was made at the time'.

The Labour leader was repeatedly quizzed over his view on the shoot-to-kill policy as he appeared on ITV's Peston programme.

But the veteran left-winger seemed unwilling to give a clear statement as he said police using deadly force was 'acceptable in a defensive situation ... such as happened on Wednesday'.

When presenter Robert Peston prompted him that it was the 'perfectly legitimate, the right response', Mr Corbyn replied: 'Well it was the response that was made at the time, there was no other thing to do at that time.'

Pressed again on whether he supported police's ability to shoot to kill in such situations, Mr Corbyn said: 'Yes. But you have got to be careful that you don't end up with what you had in Ireland in the 1980s.'
A jammed gun may have saved the lives of members of an Oklahoma fraternity after a rap-obsessed student allegedly fired rounds at the house before he killed himself.

Vincent Valentin was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, nearby the Oklahoma University fraternity house where he reportedly fired a gun after barreling his truck through the backyard fence on Wednesday.

The rap-obsessed 21-year-old had fired two rounds at the Phi Gamma Delta house before pointing the firearm at fraternity members and pulling the trigger, according to Norman, Oklahoma, police.

A 'malfunction' caused the gun to jam, possibly saving the lives of the men, as Valentin fled the scene and was later found dead in an apparent suicide, 100 yards away from the house.

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Vincent Valentin, 21, was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he allegedly fired shots at Oklahoma University's Phi Gamma Delta house on Wednesday

According to police, the university student drove his pickup truck through the house's backyard fence (pictured) and fired two shots at the building before turning the weapon on fraternity members

The gun jammed and Valentin fled the scene on foot. He was later found dead 100 yards away from the Phi Gamma Delta (pictured) house in Norman, Oklahoma

Valentin was a student of the university, studying English. He was an aspiring rapper and producer and obsessed with hip-hop stars such as Lil Wayne, Drake, Future and DJ Metro Boomin.

Hours before his death, he tweeted he had let Satan 'reincarnate inside' him, it was 'doomsday' and that because he was bullied, he would have to 'murder everyone'.

Video courtesy of News 9 Oklahoma

Valentin had run into trouble with the law previously, including domestic violence issues with an ex-girlfriend, but she didn't want to press charges, reported KFOR.

Before Valentin was seen at the fraternity house, police were alerted to an incident at Walmart around 11pm where Valentin was whacking bushes outside the store with a hatchet, according to a police report.

Valentin was an aspiring rapper and producer. He tweeted hours before his death that because he was bullied he would have to 'murder everyone'

The student had also allegedly pulled the firearm on a Walmart employee shortly before he headed to the fraternity house. Norman police recieved a call to that incident around 11pm

When a store employee confronted him, the student pointed a gun at the staff member, the report continued.

Shortly after Valentin was reported being at Walmart, police were called to the Phi Gamma Delta house.

Valentin posed with a photo of a gun on March 8 and posted the image to Twitter

Valentin allegedly fired two shots at the house, causing members to confront him.

He then pulled the gun on the men but the weapon wouldn't work, according to police.

Norman Police Public Information Officer Sarah Jensen said to KWTV: 'There was some sort of malfunction that prevented the gun from firing, thankfully.'

She added that Valentin threw the hatchet at the fraternity men before fleeing the scene on foot.

Police are still investigating the ties Valentin had with the fraternity.

Jensen said: 'We know there was a prior relationship with them, as a group, and there were some issues that had come up and they believe this could have somehow contributed to this incident.'

KFOR reported that Valentin had given the fraternity an one-star ranking on Facebook, a possible clue to how the incident began.

A witness told KWTV: 'I heard a loud crash. The guy opened the door and cocked the gun. He started firing the gun into the air.'

On Twitter, Valentin posted a photo of himself with a gun on March 8, he caption the photo: '6 God but GS I'm the gun squad'.
One of the organizers of 'the next women's march' has agreed to be deported from America in exchange for no jail time because she lied about having been convicted of terrorism, it has emerged.

Rasmea Yousef Odeh is a resident of Chicago, and has lived in the US for about 20 years, and plans to plead guilty to unlawful procurement of naturalization in a deal that will allow her to leave the United States and avoid a possible 18-month prison sentence, reported the Washington Times.

She is scheduled to undergo another trial after a US appeals court vacated her 2014 conviction due to false answers given by an expert witness who was suffering from PTSD.

Rasmea Yousef Odeh is a resident of Chicago, and has lived in the US for about 20 years, and plans to plead guilty to unlawful procurement of naturalization in a deal that will allow her to leave the United States and avoid a possible 18-month prison sentence, reported the Washington Times

In 1969 the Palestinian activist was convicted in the bombing of a supermarket in Israel that killed two Hebrew University students.

Her supporters believe it will be impossible for her to expect a fair trial while in the Untied States.

'The prosecution team is now under the regime of racist Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and a new superseding indictment re-frames this as a case about "terrorism" rather than immigration,' the Justice for Rasmea and US Palestinian Community Networks said in a statement on Thursday.

'There is the great likelihood that a jury would be prejudiced by hearing the zionist Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel call Rasmea a terrorist and her supporters mobs and hordes, as he has done many times before,' the post continued.

Her supporter believe it will be impossible for her to expect a fair trial while in the Untied States

Rasmea was also one of a number of people who organized the worldwide strike 'Day Without a Woman,' as well as numerous women's marches that have taken place around the country.

Odeh (seen in 2004): Moved to the US in 1995, and applied for US citizenship in 2004. Both times she declined to mention having been convicted of the bombing

In an open letter printed in The Guardian, she was also one of several authors who called on women across the US to take part in 'striking, marching, blocking roads' and other activities in a day of 'grassroots, anti-capitalist feminism'.

In the open letter on the British news site, the group of eight women complain that 'corporate feminism' isn't doing enough for 'the 99%'.

Instead, they say, women of all classes and colors should take part in 'abstaining from domestic, care and sex work, boycotting, calling out misogynistic politicians and companies, striking in educational institutions' on March 8.

After the letter was published, it was revealed by the New York Post that Odeh is a convicted terrorist, who in February 1969 was involved in planting two bombs in an Israeli supermarket and a third at the British Consulate in Israel.

One of the bombs detonated in the busy SuperSol supermarket on February 21, killing two young men - Leon Kanner, 21, and Eddie Joffe, 22 - who had stopped in to pick up groceries for a trip.

Nine others were injured in the explosion. The second supermarket bomb was found and defused by police. At the same time a bomb planted at the British Consulate failed to go off.

Odeh is a convicted terrorist, who in February 1969 was involved in planting two bombs in an Israeli supermarket and a third at the British Consulate in Israel. One of the bombs detonated in the busy SuperSol supermarket on February 21, killing two young men - Leon Kanner, 21, and Eddie Joffe, 22 - who had stopped in to pick up groceries for a trip

In 1995, she entered the US from Jordan, and nine years later applied for - and received - American citizenship

Odeh, then 22, was also involved in placement of a second bomb at the Consulate, on February 25.

That one did explode, but no-one was killed because it had been found and moved to a safe location before detonation.

Odeh, a Palestinian, was a member of the Marxist-Leninist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) - itself the biggest part of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

She was convicted the following year, in 1970.

Her lawyers claimed that her confession was tortured out of her by Israeli military.

She served 10 years in prison before being freed in an exchange program for Israeli prisoners.

In 1995, she entered the US from Jordan, and nine years later applied for - and received - American citizenship.

But In 2013 she was indicted on immigration fraud charges after it was alleged that she had lied to customs officials about her criminal past.
Boris Johnson has vowed to always include women in his entourage after turning up at a female empowerment event with an all-male group in the US.

The Foreign Secretary will also ban so-called 'manels' - panels made up entirely of men - in the Foreign Office in a bid to boost diversity.

Announcing an end to all-male cabals in the department, Mr Johnson said: 'From now on the travelling team with the Foreign Secretary will never be all male.

Boris Johnson has vowed to always include women in his entourage in the future

The Foreign Secretary will also ban so-called 'manels' - panels made up entirely of men

'We will also end 'manels', or all men panels, in the FCO.

'All will now be more diverse and representing of the country.'

The move follows an embarrassing moment for Mr Johnson on a trip to New York when he attended an event focused on giving women worldwide better access to education, jobs and democracy, accompanied entirely by men.

The Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP was in the city to address the UN.

He said: 'It was very apparent on my trip this week to the US, and having arrived at a gender empowerment event with an all-men entourage, that we must practise what we preach.'

Boris Johnson was pictured standing on a chair in a restaurant in Harlem as he dined with former prime minister David Cameron, circled, on Thursday night

Mr Johnson's aides have said he was joking when he urged Mr Cameron to consider becoming the next secretary general of Nato

While in New York Mr Johnson had dinner with former prime minister David Cameron at the Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem.

It is understood the former mayor of London urged Mr Cameron to consider a 200,000-a-year job as the next secretary general of Nato, although Mr Johnson's team said he had just been joking.

During the meal on Thursday night the Foreign Secretary was also photographed standing on a chair, fuelling claims he was dancing at the eatery.

But his aides denied the rumours - saying he was merely struggling to get out of his seat.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt apologised for failing a family whose one year old son died from sepsis.

Mr Hunt was at a private service in Cornwall for William Mead who died in 2014.

William's parents Melissa and Paul have campaigned since their son's death for greater awareness of the bacterial infection which attacks organs.

Mr Hunt said: 'I have come here today to say sorry because this weekend William should have been enjoying the beautiful Cornish sunshine with his parents.

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Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt apologised for failing a family whose one year old son William Mead died from sepsis, despite his family ringing NHS 111 who missed the warning signs

Melissa, from Penryn, Cornwall, said: 'Jeremy has been part of William's journey. 'He has been a really important pivotal part making sure the Government support the sepsis campaign.'

'And because we, I as Health Secretary, the Government, the NHS, let down William, Paul and Melissa.

'We didn't spot his sepsis before it was too late.'

Following William Mead's tragic death, the Daily Mail has campaigned to raise awareness of the deadly condition.

Around 44,000 in the UK die every year from sepsis.

William Mead from Cornwall, died aged 12 months in 2014 after a catalogue of errors, misdiagnoses and missed opportunities by doctors and NHS helpline staff

William's parents Melissa (left) and Paul have campaigned since their son's death for greater awareness of the bacterial infection which attacks organs

Signs of sepsis (under 5) Ring 999 when your child: Looks mottled, bluish or pale

Is very lethargic or difficult to wake

Feels abnormally cold to touch

Is breathing very fast

Has a rash that does not fade when you press it

Has a fit or convulsion Advertisement

Signs of sepsis (adults) Ring 999 if someone has: A high temperature (fever) or low body temperature

Chills and shivering

A fast heartbeat

Fast breathing Advertisement

Melissa, from Penryn, Cornwall, said: 'Jeremy has been part of William's journey.

'He has been a really important pivotal part making sure the Government support the sepsis campaign.'

The private service was held at Truro Cathedral.

Research by the York Health Economics Consortium suggests 260,000 Britons develop the condition every year. This figure is 110,000 higher than previous estimates, which put the number of affected patients at 150,000.

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of NHS England, said far more can be done to combat the illnesss terrible toll.

Sepsis, known as the silent killer, strikes when a bacterial infection such as septicaemia or blood poisoning sparks a violent immune response, in which the body attacks its own organs.

If antibiotics are given quickly it can be effectively treated.

But sepsis is notoriously difficult to diagnose until it is too late, and kills at least 44,000 patients a year  more than breast, bowel and prostate cancer combined. The latest report suggests deaths may be far higher  but a second study will be launched to clarify this.

Dr Ron Daniels, chief executive of the UK Sepsis Trust, said deaths may be as high as 65,000.

The Daily Mail launched its End the Sepsis Scandal campaign last year to raise awareness of symptoms among patients and staff.

York Health Economics Consortium is an independent think-tank owned by the University of York.

Its report said sepsis costs the UK economy 15.6billion a year, adding that earlier diagnosis and treatment could save more than 14,000 lives annually.

Melissa (right), from Penryn, Cornwall, said: 'Jeremy has been part of William's journey. 'He has been a really important pivotal part making sure the Government support the sepsis campaign.'

But sepsis is notoriously difficult to diagnose until it is too late, and kills at least 44,000 patients a year  more than breast, bowel and prostate cancer combined

Dr Daniels said: Weve long been aware that sepsis causes thousands of unnecessary deaths every year and presents an unmanageable economic burden.

A crippling paucity of data has thus far confined us to conservative estimates, but the figures reported in YHECs study are a shocking new indication of the gravity and sheer scale of the problem. Its sobering to learn that the issue is so much greater than previously estimated.

Sir Bruce, who will today host an event in Parliament where the findings will be presented, said: Health professionals are spotting and treating more cases of sepsis than ever before, but there is still more we can do to reduce the terrible toll that this severe and life-threatening condition has on patients and their families.

Thats why we are working closely with the UK Sepsis Trust and medical leaders on awareness-raising to ensure that the signs of sepsis are spotted as soon as possible, as well as introducing more measures than ever before to support and equip organisations and health professionals to improve the chances of survival and reduce complications.

Important NHS advice on Sepsis.
As celebrities and lawmakers demand investigations into why young black women are disappearing from Washington, DC's streets, historic cases of city cops involved in child sexual abuses have re-emerged.

On Thursday a tweet claiming that 14 black DC girls had vanished in 24 hours went viral. The figures were inflated, but celebs such as Sean 'Diddy' Combs and LL Cool J tweeted their concerns.

That same week, lawmakers in Congress wrote to the FBI and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to ask for federal investigations into the city's missing youths.

Now the cases of two police officers who sexually abused missing teenage girls in 2013 have re-emerged, casting a light on a grim part of recent DC history.

Arrested: Linwood Barnhill Jr (left) was convicted in 2014 of pimping out two teens and having sex with a third. His fellow DC cop, Marc Washington (right) killed himself in 2013 after being arrested for taking nude pictures of a 15-year-old

Suspicions: Some have raised concerns that corrupt cops such as Barnhill and Washington might be involved in the frequent disappearances of young black girls in DC

Accusations: These comments came from the DC police's Facebook page. There is no evidence that this is the case, or that Linwood might be connected to present disappearances

In December of 2013, DC cop Linwood Barnhill Jr, then 48, was arrested for acting as a pimp to two teenage girls after a missing 16-year-old was found in his home.

She told cops Barnhill asked at a mall if she would be interested in modeling, then took photos of her clothed and unclothed, and arranged to take her to a sexual encounter with a man, although that meeting didn't happen.

Two other girls - one 15, one 17 - also said that Barnhill had asked them separately to model for him, both clothed and unclothed.

DC women and teen girls who were reported missing in 2017 who have NOT been found Jessy Hernandez, 23

Shaniah Boyd, 14

Dashann Wallace, 15

Chantese Zimmerman, 15

Demetria Carthens, 17

Faith Nelson, 16 Source: Metropolitan Police Department as of 10am 3/26/17 Advertisement

The 15-year-old was them pimped out to a man in his forties or fifties, while Barnhill filmed himself performing a sex act with the 17-year-old.

Barnhill pleaded guilty to two counts of pandering a minor and one count of possession of child pornography, and was jailed for seven years in 2014.

The judge said he was not given a higher sentence - of up to 24 years - to help protect the victims' privacy and because he did not abuse his powers as an officer when committing his crimes.

One of the children's attorneys said that was not true - that his client knew he was a cop and was afraid to testify because she feared other police may be involved.

Such claims were not tested in court or proven, however.

Barnhill's arrest came weeks after another cop, Marc Washington, was arrested on child pornography charges in a separate case after taking photos of a 15-year-old girl.

Washington, 32, had gone to the home of the girl, who was previously reported missing, and ordered her to remove her clothes before taking photos of her.

After his arrest, cops found hundreds of photos on his phone from the previous two years, some of which were of women who had reported domestic violence.

He was released after a week, but was found dead in the Potomac River, with his house arrest GPS bracelet still attached. His death was ruled a suicide.

Photos: Barnhill's Photobucket account had pictures of semi-nude women of various ages. He was jailed for seven years. One of his victims was scared that other cops were involved

Pictured: His account also had photos of money being counted (left) and what appeared to be drugs (right). There's no evidence that recent disappearances are cop-related

Both of these cases re-entered the public's consciousness over the weekend after a much-shared tweet by @DeeTwoCents that asked 'how 14 black girls go missing in 24 hours in DC and it's not a g*****n news story?!'

That claim was not accurate, but the truth - that ten juveniles vanished between March 19 and 23, two of whom have still not been found - is not much better.

In the days that followed celebrities - including LL Cool J, Diddy, comedian Patton Oswalt and Selma director Ava DuVernay - shared the story, which trended under #missingdcgirls.

Police said at the time that Washington's case was not connected to Barnhill's.

And there is no evidence that either case is connected to the recent disappearances in DC, or that police officers are suspects in current child vanishing cases.

Despite the absence of any evidence, locals have begun to accuse the Washington Metropolitan Police Department of a conspiracy on its Facebook page.

One user, Luke Dent, commented: 'Why don't y'all admit y'all have something to do with those missing black girls?'

Sandra Tingle Talamantez, meanwhile, asked: 'Where are the girls that are missing. What are you covering up for sick people. Get on it. Human trafficking no doubt.

'The country views your city as corrupt like the government which is probably involved.'

-

Viral: This Friday tweet went viral. The claim is not accurate, though ten kids went missing from March 19-23, two of whom have still not been found. However, it inspired a wave of concern

Disappeared: Shaniah Boyd (left), 14, disappeared on March 18. Relisha Rudd (right), 8, went missing in 2014. Police say the numbers of missing juveniles is actually down in 2017

She added: 'Hillary sickos.'

That last sentence may be linked to the discredited 'Pizzagate' conspiracy, which claimed that Hillary Clinton and other Democrats had been trafficking children using DC pizza parlor Comet Ping Pong.

The hoax was promoted heavily by conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones, who publicly apologized on Friday for promoting the claims.

Official police statistics say that the number of missing child cases in the District dropped in previous years.

DC men and teen boys who were reported missing in 2017 who have NOT been found Shani Burriss, 17

Jaylen Lee, 14

Darrelle Johnson, 50

Charles Little, 65

Jimmy Grimes, 58

Zyaire Flemmings, 15

Navaras Johnson, 14

Dionte Monk, 23

Johnnie Curry, 54

Clayton Carter, 17

Shaun Queen, 21 Source: Metropolitan Police Department as of 10am 3/26/17 Advertisement

Such cases fell in number from 2,433 in 2015 to 2,242 in 2016. The highest total recently, 2,610, was back in 2001.

The MPD also told Fox Baltimore that there had been no uptick in human trafficking, that 95 per cent of cases in 2017 had been solved, and that they were now using social media for all 'critical' missing persons.

It was the increased awareness among the public of missing children that had given the impression of more cases, police suggested.

Troubled by the reports that later inspired the twitter furor, a pair of DC lawmakers on Tuesday wrote a letter asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director James Comey get involved.

The discovery of the letter, written by Congressional Black Caucus chairman Cedric Richmond (D-LA), and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District in Congress, emerged on Sunday.

'Ten children of color went missing in our nation's capital in a period of two weeks and at first garnered very little media attention. That's deeply disturbing,' the letter read.

'Whether these recent disappearances are an anomaly or signals of underlying trends, it is essential that the Department of Justice and the FBI use all of the tools at their disposal to help local officials investigate these events, and return these children to their parents as soon as possible.'

Fears: Rep. Cedric Richmond was one of two lawmakers who asked the FBI to investigate the disappearances and see if there was anything sinister about them

Some good news came on Saturday, as one of the missing youths from the much-shared report, 18-year-old Vaneisha Weaver, was announced as having been found.

She had last been seen in the 1400 Block of Columbia Road on February 16, and reported missing on February 21.

An MPD spokesman said she was in good health, but could not release any other details.

As of 2pm Sunday there were ten under-18s reported as missing on the Washington Metropolitan Police Department's website.

All are black, and half of them are girls. One other female, a Hispanic woman aged 23, is also missing.

Still missing: There are six females reported missing in 2017 who have not yet been found, five of whom are under 18. They include Shaniah Boyd (left), 14, and Demetria Carthens (right), 17

Gone: Other missing girls in the Washington, DC, are include Faith Nelson (left), 16, and Dashann Wallace (right), 15
With 29 days to go before the first round of France's two-stage presidential election, outgoing head of state Francois Hollande has urged candidates to keep faith with the European Union even as Britain prepares to leave the bloc.

Here are three things that happened in the campaign on Saturday:

Conservative candidate Francois Fillon, under pressure over allegations of fake parliamentary jobs for the family which have hit his poll ratings, received a chaotic reception on a trip to the southern Basque region where some protesters pelted him with eggs.

Fillon, who has accused Hollande of helping foment a smear campaign against him amid claims his wife was on the public payroll but did little for her salary, ran the gauntlet in the small town of Cambo-les-Bains. Locals demanding an amnesty for radical Basque nationalists banged pots and pans, hurled abuse and objects.

"The more they demonstrate the more the French will back me," Fillon insisted before meeting with local officials.

President Francois Hollande warned would-be successors they should cleave closely to Europe as it was "impossible" that France could contemplate going its own way.

In a barb aimed at far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen, Hollande said: "So some want to quit Europe? Well let them show the French people they would be better off alone fighting terrorism without the indispensable European coordination...

"Let them show that without the single currency and (single) market there would be more jobs, activity and better purchasing power," Hollande said in Rome where he attended the ceremonies marking the EU's 60th anniversary.

Le Pen, favoured in opiniion polls to reach the second-round run-off vote in May, wants France to dump the euro, but Hollande said that would lead to devaluation and loss of purchasing power as he warned against nationalist populism.

French centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron, seen in polls as beating Marine Le Pen in the May 7 run-off, was in Reunion, a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean, where alongside discussing local issues, he told voters he was "not Father Christmas."

"I don't have the solution to all problems and I am not Father Christmas," the 39-year-old former economy minister and banker admitted, saying he had not come to make "promises."

He indicated he would focus on education as a priority on an island where around one in five youths are illiterate.

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An environmental photographer has revealed the extraordinary journey she embarked on to capture dozens of stunning images showing the various angles of the Arctic melting.

Diane Tuft traveled around the North Pole, Norway and the icebergs of Greenland to document the Arctic Circle before the ice-capped landscape disappears.

The mixed media artist published the remarkable images in a new book, The Arctic Melt: Images of a Disappearing Landscape, that's set to be released April 20.

Diane Tuft's new book reveals the extraordinary journey she embarked on to capture dozens of stunning images showing the various angles of the Arctic melting. Pictured above is the Arctic Ocean

The environmental photographer traveled around the North Pole, Norway and the icebergs of Greenland to document the Arctic Circle before the ice-capped landscape disappears.

The mixed media artist published the remarkable images in a new book , The Arctic Melt: Images of a Disappearing Landscape, that's set to be released April 20. Pictured above is Disko Bay in Greenland

The book features an introduction by leading climate scientist Joe Romm, as it's separated into six thematic episodes showing Tuft's images. Pictured above is Disko Bay in Greenland

Of the book, she told Architectural Digest:'For the past 20 years, I have focused on capturing the environment's visual effects on our landscape.' Pictured above is Disko Bay in Greenland

She added: 'Global warming has caused the Arctic to melt faster than any other area on earth, and I was compelled to photograph its landscape before it disappears.' Pictured above in Isfjorden, Norway

The book features an introduction by leading climate scientist Joe Romm, as it's separated into six thematic episodes showing Tuft's images.

'For the past 20 years, I have focused on capturing the environment's visual effects on our landscape,' Tuft told Architectural Digest.

'Global warming has caused the Arctic to melt faster than any other area on earth, and I was compelled to photograph its landscape before it disappears.

Tuft's work has been widely exhibited across the country. Pictured above is De Quervain Havn, Greenland

The activist said: 'While this was an amazing experience, it disturbed me to know that my trip through the Arctic Ocean was only possible because of the Arctic melt.' Pictured above is 69 degrees north in Greenland

'I hope that with visual documentation my work will demonstrate to the public that climate change is real, and that we need to encourage policies that address the issue of global warming before it is too late.'

The photos in the new book were captured during during the summers of 2015 and 2016 that saw Tuft traveling by plane, boat, and helicopter to the different regions.

'While this was an amazing experience, it disturbed me to know that my trip through the Arctic Ocean was only possible because of the Arctic melt,' she said.

'For thousands of years, the sea ice during the Arctic winters through the month of June was always too thick for surface vessels to access the North Pole.

'But now, because of climate change, our vessel was the third earliest to ever reach the Pole and the only vessel to arrive during the summer solstice.' Pictured above is Kongsfjoden, Svalbard, Norway

Her work is held in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. Pictured above is Arctic Ice

'But now, because of climate change, our vessel was the third earliest to ever reach the Pole and the only vessel to arrive during the summer solstice.'

Tuft hopes the images will increase the discussion on curbing carbon emissions in an effort to slow the effects of climate change.

Her work is held in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.

She has a degree in mathematics from the University of Connecticut and also studied art at Pratt Institute, New York.
The Government has been urged to cap the fees charged by directory services numbers amid stories of customers racking up three-figure bills.

In one instance, a 90-year-old woman was charged 501 after a directory service repeatedly tried to connect her at a cost of 7.99 per minute.

Asking for the phone number for her water company, she phoned six times and was charged 15.98 for each connection.

In one instance, a 90-year-old woman was charged 501 after a directory service repeatedly tried to connect her at a cost of 7.99 per minute

It comes after it was revealed that the 118 004 number was the UKs most expensive directory inquiries service.

It has since been shut down amid pressure from campaigners, who have also rallied against Ofcom for opting not to put a cap of fees as part of a review in 2015.

Martin Lewis, who founded the consumer website moneysavingexpert.com, branded the prices 'disgraceful'.

He added: 'It's the elderly who don't have access to the internet who tend to use these services and they deserve far better protection.'
Hundreds of Russians including Progress Party leader Alexei Navalny were arrested today as thousands defied bans to stage anti-corruption protests across the country.

Navalny called for the marches after publishing a detailed report this month accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of controlling a property empire through a shadowy network of nonprofit organisations.

The report has been viewed over 11 million times on YouTube but so far Medvedev has made no comment on the claims.

Hundreds of Russians including Progress Party leader Alexei Navalny were arrested today as thousands defied bans to stage anti-corruption protests across the country

Navalny called for the marches after accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of controlling a property empire through a shadowy network of nonprofit organisations

Sunday's march in Moscow was one of the biggest unauthorised demonstrations in recent years, with police putting turnout at 8,000 people

Police bundled Navalny into a minibus as he was walking to the protest. Pictured: An activist being led away

Sunday's march in Moscow was one of the biggest unauthorised demonstrations in recent years, with police putting turnout at 8,000 people.

Police bundled Navalny into a minibus as he was walking to the protest.

The crowd briefly tried to block it from driving off, shouting 'Shame!' and 'Let him out!'

'Guys, I am all right, go on along Tverskaya,' Navalny tweeted from the van.

Police said about 500 people had been arrested in Moscow, while OVD-Info, a website that monitors the detention of activists, said at least 700 had been detained, as well as dozens in other cities.

A spokeswoman for Navalny's Anti-corruption Foundation (FBK) said on Twitter than he would be held overnight before being brought before a judge on Monday.

Police said about 500 people had been arrested in Moscow, while OVD-Info, a website that monitors the detention of activists, said at least 700 had been detained

A spokeswoman for Navalny's Anti-corruption Foundation (FBK) said on Twitter than he would be held overnight before being brought before a judge on Monday

Thousands of people filled central Pushkin Square, some shouting 'Russia without Putin'

Dozens of police vans and rows of riot officers were lined up as a police helicopter hovered overhead

Thousands of people filled central Pushkin Square, some shouting 'Russia without Putin'.

Some climbed on to lamp posts and the monument to poet Alexander Pushkin, shouting 'impeachment!'

Dozens of police vans and rows of riot officers were lined up as a police helicopter hovered overhead.

Police officers moved to detain protesters and clear the square, with some using truncheons and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

Police also searched FBK offices over alleged incitement to hatred, and 'Everyone was detained and brought to the police,' the organisation's spokeswoman Kira Iarmych said.

Despite the dramatic scenes in Moscow, state TV did not cover the protests, instead showing soap operas and nature films.

Police officers moved to detain protesters and clear the square, with some using truncheons and pepper spray to disperse the crowd

Despite the dramatic scenes in Moscow, state TV did not cover the protests, instead showing soap operas and nature films

Some climbed on to lamp posts and the monument to poet Alexander Pushkin, shouting 'impeachment!'

Police also searched FBK offices over alleged incitement to hatred, and 'Eeeryone was detained and brought to the police,' the organisation's spokeswoman Kira Iarmych said

'The whole country is tired of corruption on such a scale,' 50-year-old Natalia Demidova said. 'Medvedev should be fired once such exposes come to light.'

'The whole country is tired of corruption on such a scale,' 50-year-old Natalia Demidova said. 'Medvedev should be fired once such exposes come to light.'

Elsewhere, about 2,000 gathered in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, carrying signs such as 'No to corruption.'

Some held up images of yellow rubber ducks, following reports that Medvedev has a special house for a duck on one of his properties.

In Saint Petersburg, about 4,000 people gathered in the city centre. 'We're tired of the lies, we have to do something,' said protester Sergei Timofeyev.

Russian riot policemen detain an opposition activist during a protest rally at Pushkinskaya Square

Elsewhere, about 2,000 gathered in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, carrying signs such as 'No to corruption.'

In Saint Petersburg, about 4,000 people gathered in the city centre. 'We're tired of the lies, we have to do something,' said protester Sergei Timofeyev

Some held up images of yellow rubber ducks, following reports that Medvedev has a special house for a duck on one of his properties

Local media estimated about 1,500 people turned out in each of the Siberian cities of Krasnoyarsk and Omsk.

The Russian constitution allows public gatherings, but recent laws have criminalised protests unauthorised by city authorities, who frequently refuse to grant permission for rallies by Kremlin critics.

Navalny said on his website that 99 Russian cities planned to protest, but that in 72 of them the local authorities did not give permission, citing reasons such as street cleaning, a bell-ringing concert and rival events by various pro-Kremlin groups.

The authorities had also pressured students not to attend, with some cities even scheduling exams for Sunday, according to reports.

Local media estimated about 1,500 people turned out in each of the Siberian cities of Krasnoyarsk and Omsk

Alexei Navalny, center, walks in downtown Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 26, 2017

Russian riot policemen detain an opposition activist during a protest rally in Moscow

In the far-eastern city of Vladivostok, about 700 people nonetheless turned up, local website Prima Media said, and a dozen people were detained by the national guard

In the far-eastern city of Vladivostok, about 700 people nonetheless turned up, local website Prima Media said, and a dozen people were detained by the national guard.

In the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,000 people turned up.

Navalny, a 40-year-old lawyer by training announced plans to run for the presidency after he won a surprise 27 percent of the vote in the Moscow mayoral election in 2013.

But he has been the subject of several legal prosecutions in recent years, and in February he was found guilty of embezzlement and given a five-year suspended sentence which could make him ineligible to run in next year's vote.

In the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,000 people turned up to protest against the government

The Russian constitution allows public gatherings, but recent laws have criminalised protests unauthorised by city authorities
Secret Service agents have arrested a woman for the third time this week for trying to make her way over the White House fence.

Marci Anderson Wahl was caught early Sunday morning after she set off an alarm trying to scale a fence near the southeast corner of the Treasury building.

This was the 38-year-old's third time being arrested in six days near the White House entrance.

Secret Service agents have arrested Marci Anderson Wahl for the third time this week for trying to make her way over the White House fence (stock image)

Wahl was arrested with a backpack and sleeping bag on her person, and an explosive ordnance disposal team cleared the items and found no weapons or hazardous materials on her, reported WJLA.

She was arrested for the first time on Tuesday after attempting to jump over the southwest corner of the fence next to E Street around 10:45pm.

That night, she became 'entangled in the security features affixed to the top' of the fence, and Secret Service confirmed she was suspended in the air on the inside of the fence when they found her, and a police statement stated that her shoelaces were entangled, forcing her upside-down.

Wahl told the Secret Service that she was there to 'speak with President Donald Trump,' according to police.

She was arrested for unlawful entry, and later issued a 'Stay Away' order after appearing in court on Wednesday.

Wahl was again arrested on Friday when an officer saw her near Lafayette Park in Washington, DC, when she was charged with Contempt of Court in violation of the stay away order, reported WJLA.

She pleaded not guilty in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia on Saturday, just hours before making her most recent attempt.

Marci Anderson Wahl was caught early Sunday morning after she set off an alarm trying to scale a fence near the southeast corner of the Treasury building (stock image)

Wahl was released, but ordered to appear in court again on April 27. Following the Sunday arrest, she was charged with unlawful entry and contempt of court.

Her breaches are just some of the recent security concerns that have brought the Secret Service under heightened scrutiny, and have renewed a debate for a new White House fence.

Earlier this month, a 26-year-old man scaled the grounds' fence and walked around for about 15 minutes before being caught with two cans of pepper spray on his person.
Shoppers screamed in terror when a 45-metre escalator suddenly changed directions and hurled people to the floor of a Hong Kong shopping centre.

At least 17 people were injured in the incident at Mong Kok mall on Langham Place, including one man who was taken to hospital.

In the incident, captured on CCTV, dozens of shoppers were queuing to go upstairs in the shopping centre.

At least 17 people were injured when an escalator in a shopping centre in Hong Kong suddenly changed direction

In the incident, captured on CCTV, dozens of shoppers were queuing to go upstairs at the Mong Kok mall

When the escalator suddenly changed direction, almost everyone shifted to the left and grabbed onto the handrail for stability.

As the machine started going down, it sped up, causing shoppers to pile onto each other at the foot of the escalator.

When the upward escalator malfunctioned, people travelling downstairs ran to get on to firm ground.

Both directions slowed to a halt and some shoppers tried to get upstairs by walking up the stationary escalator.

Shoppers on the lower floor ran to the pile of bodies to pull people up and make sure they were alright.

The dramatic video has been watched by hundreds of thousands of people on Facebook since the Saturday incident.

When the escalator changed direction, the shoppers grabbed the hand rail for support. It sped downstairs, throwing people onto the ground

Shoppers on the lower floor ran to the pile of bodies to pull people up and make sure they were alright

One man, who suffered serious head injuries, was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

A woman called Tina told the South China Morning Post: 'I heard people screaming. The escalator was going down but the speed accelerated.

'People started to panic and some fell down.'
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Residents in far North Queensland are refusing to evacuate their homes despite the threat of the worst cyclone in six years, with winds of 280 km/h and damaging floods.

On Sunday, emergency service doorknocked homes between Proserpine and Home Hill urging them to relocate further north to Cairns, with the 'window of opportunity drastically closing' before the roads start flooding.

Many said they would not budge, including Queens Beach resident Darrell Locke, 62, who said it was the sixth cyclone his family have experienced and will 'stick it out'.

But on Monday morning, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warned the cyclone was tracking further south and there was 'no time for complacency'.

'You might not think this cyclone is going to be rough, but the winds we are expecting in the Townsville region are going to be more severe than those experience in Cyclone Yasi,' she said during a press conference.

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Tropical cyclone Debbie is expected to make landfall as a category 4 system early on Tuesday morning as authorities warn residents to take cover

Resident Jan Bridges in Ayr, south of Townsville, told police she would not leave her home after they came to evacuate her on Sunday

Whitsunday mayor Andrew Willcox is urging residents to seek shelter with family or friends at higher ground. Pictured is police telling this resident to leave his home

'The window of opportunity to leave is drastically closing.

'These winds are going to be severe and we will see structural damage'.

Just after midday on Monday, Cyclone Debbie was upgraded to a Category 3 with peak gusts of 165km/h and was sitting east of Bowen.

The winds, rain and tides are expected to intensify within the next 24 hours.

On Monday, a tourist died in a car accident in Proserpine and Police Commissioner Ian Stewart confirmed the death was 'associated with this weather event'.

Ms Palaszczuk said more than 3,500 people had already been evacuated from the areas between Home Hill and Proserpine and taken to Cairns on buses.

A further 2,000 people will be asked to leave Bowen on Monday as the cyclone, expected to have a wind core of 100 kilometres wide, tracks further south.

Queensland Police Service Deputy Commissioner, Steve Gollschewski, said police would return to doorknock residents who refused to leave their homes, urging them to reconsider.

'Some who have decided to stay, we are going back today and telling them they need to move on,' he said during the press conference.

'If you are in a storm surge zone and you are directed to move, you need to move'.

In Alva Beach, resident Janelle Eade refused to leave on Sunday, even though she was warned of a four-metre surge of water expected to flood the town.

Ms Eade said she had dogs to care for and wouldn't leave her home, instead choosing to sign a disclaimer confirming her decision.

On Monday morning, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (left) gave a press conference and warned the cyclone was tracking further south and there was 'no time for complacency'

Some residents appeared to be prepared for the major storm event and a fence in Bowen (pictured) had 'Cyclone Debbie Bring It On,' scrawled across it

Builder Graham Wilson (pictured) posed in front of his message on Monday morning as Cyclone Debbie was upgraded to a category 3

Police doorknocked Queensland residents on Sunday to tell them to leave their homes ahead of Cyclone Debbie

'The window of opportunity to leave is drastically closing,' Ms Palaszczuk said on Monday during a press conference on the cyclone

On Monday morning, Cyclone Debbie was still at a category 2, but is expected to develop into a category 4 system throughout the day

As the strong winds and rain began to pummel the Whitsundays, on Queensland's northeast coast, one resident shared a photo of the 'first sign of damage' after the roof of her neighbour's garden shed flew off

Near empty supermarket shelves are seen as Townsville residents prepare for Cyclone Debbie

Shop owners were seen sandbagging businesses in Ayr on Monday, including Chris Watt (pictured) who prepared his Toyworld store for the inevitable storm

SES worker Joel Wuttke told AAP he wasn't surprised people had chosen to stay in their homes.

'They think that because last time it didn't happen it won't happen this time,' he said. 'But this time might be different.'

On Monday morning, Cyclone Debbie was still at a category 2, but is expected to develop into a category 4 system throughout the day.

As the strong winds and rain began to pummel the Whitsundays, on Queensland's northeast coast, on Monday one resident shared a photo of the 'first sign of damage' after the roof of her neighbour's garden shed flew off.

In Bowen, one resident urged their neighbours to 'do your best' after spray painting a huge message across their property fence.

'Cyclone Debbie, bring it on. Bowen is not a p**** town. Do the best you got,' it read.

Evacuations began on Sunday, with the Whitsunday Regional Council ordering people in several low-lying coastal areas of the region ahead of a forecast significant tidal storm surge to seek higher ground.

Ayr resident Ernie Woods, 82, (pictured) sought shelter at an evacuation centre in the town as the cyclone developed

Everyone pitched in on Monday to fill up sandbags for their homes and businesses in Bowen as the cyclone was upgraded to a category 3

In Hamilton Island, residents used cables to secure the tree trunks lining the street to try and prevent them toppling in the wind

In the Whitsundays (pictured) the rain and winds set in on Monday ahead of the Category 4 cyclone

This Bowan resident urged the town to 'do your best' as the major weather event started showing signs of moving across Queensland's coast

Windows are boarded up with plywood for protection at a funeral home ahead of the cyclone

Louisa Ghee (left), her sister Kylie (centre) and their family took shelter at an evacuation centre in the town of Ayr on Monday

Locals in Ayr were seen boarding up businesses in the town, including this homewares shop, on Monday ahead of Cyclone Debbie

TROPICAL CYCLONE CATEGORY SYSTEM CATEGORY 5 (severe tropical cyclone) Extremely dangerous with widespread destruction. A Category 5 cyclone's strongest winds are VERY DESTRUCTIVE winds with typical gusts over open flat land of more than 280 km/h. These winds correspond to the highest category on the Beaufort scale, Beaufort 12 (Hurricane). CATEGORY 4 (severe tropical cyclone) Significant roofing loss and structural damage. Many caravans destroyed and blown away. Dangerous airborne debris. Widespread power failures. A Category 4 cyclone's strongest winds are VERY DESTRUCTIVE winds with typical gusts over open flat land of 225 - 279 km/h. These winds correspond to the highest category on the Beaufort scale, Beaufort 12 (Hurricane). CATEGORY 3 (severe tropical cyclone) Some roof and structural damage. Some caravans destroyed. Power failures likely. A Category 3 cyclone's strongest winds are VERY DESTRUCTIVE winds with typical gusts over open flat land of 165 - 224 km/h. These winds correspond to the highest category on the Beaufort scale, Beaufort 12 (Hurricane). Advertisement

Schools in coastal areas near Ayr to Proserpine were closed on Monday, with parents advised to check the Education Department's school closures website or with school directly.

James Cook University has closed its campuses in Cairns, Townsville Ayr and Mackay for Monday, with Cairns expected to re-open on Tuesday.

Jetstar, Virgin and Qantas have cancelled many flights in and out of Townsville, Hamilton Island and Mackay.

Whitsunday mayor Andrew Willcox urged residents to seek shelter with family or friends at higher ground.

'If you are unable to evacuate, the Cyclone Shelters in Bowen and Proserpine will be opened on Monday as a last resort,' he said on Sunday.

'The cyclone shelters have capacity for 800 people each and are only available to those people at highest risk from cyclone effects that have no other option.'

A storm tide watch and act alert has been issued for Dingo Beach, Conway Beach, Cape Upstart, Bowen, Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour.

The Whitsunday Regional Council has reminded residents delaying evacuation may mean evacuation routes are flooded and residents may not be able to leave the area.

These Bowen residents were seen tying up sandbags on Monday as the wind picked up on Monday

These Townsville residents filled up their sandbags on Sunday to take to their properties ahead of Cyclone Debbie

A storm tide watch and act alert has been issued for Dingo Beach, Conway Beach, Cape Upstart, Bowen, Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour. The cyclone developing is pictured

On Sunday, emergency services doorknocked homes in the small town of Alva Beach, south of Townsville, and Bowen, but many said they would not budge

Jan Bridges (pictured) signed a disclaimed stating she was told by emergency services to leave her home, but refused

The main entrance of a funeral home has been guarded with several sandbags amid cyclone

Sandbags are seen in the back of a ute in preparation for Cyclone Debbie on Sunday

The window of a funeral home in Townsville has been boarded up with plywood for protection

Queensland residents have cleared out shelves at supermarkets amid tropical Cyclone Debbie

A Townsville Woolworths cleared of bottled water in preparation for Cyclone Debbie

Despite severe weather warnings, up 15 backpackers are planning to head north, the Brisbane Times reported.

A staff member at a backpackers hostel, who wished to remain anonymous, said travellers were not convinced about the coming cyclone.

'The backpackers don't believe it,' she said.

BoM meteorologist Andrea Peace said a Category 4 would cause 'significant structural damage, dangerous airborne debris and also power failures'.

Ms Peace said heavy rain in excess of 200mm per day was expected to develop on Sunday along the far north and central Queensland coast, as well as in adjacent inland areas.

'Abnormally high tides are also expected to occur between at least Lucinda and Mackay as the cyclone approaches the coast,' she said.

'Large waves may also develop along the beachfront so coastal inundation is likely and those highest waves will be on the southern side of the cyclone.'

A cyclone watch zone for residents living between Ayr and St Lawrence - including Bowen, Mackay and the Whitsunday Islands - remains in place.

Police told this resident to evacuate his home on Sunday ahead of the massive weather event

A young family working together to fill their sandbags in preparation for Cyclone Debbie

Residents are stocking up with sandbags to protect them home as the cyclone approaches

Empty supermarket shelves are seen as residents prepare for the cyclone on Sunday

Queensland residents have cleared out shelves at supermarkets amid tropical Cyclone Debbie while forecasters have not ruled out the possibility the storm could develop into Category 5

Near empty supermarket shelves are seen as Townsville residents prepare for Cyclone Debbie

A Townsville resident puts sandbags in the back of his ute in preparation for Cyclone Debbie

Coordination centres in Cairns, Innisfail, Townsville and Mackay have also been activated.

The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services deployed 50 staff from its Disaster Assistance and Response Team to Cairns to bolster local crews.

Canadians Tom and Laura Britton were among dozens of people queuing at the Hertz car hire centre on Sunday desperately trying to secure the last pair of wheels out of town.

The couple were yachting around the Whitsundays but were forced to return to the mainland on Saturday.

Their Jetstar flight out of Proserpine Airport was scheduled for Monday morning, but has been cancelled and the couple now hope to drive to Brisbane to fly onwards to Melbourne form there.

Residents have been urged to plan ahead as Cyclone Debbie could increase to a Category Four by the time it hits the north Queensland Coast on Tuesday
A shocking video shows a daycare worker picking a four-year-old girl up by the arm and slamming her on the ground before taking her to a corner 'to clean up her blood'.

Gregory Diglin was charged with injury to a child after he was captured on surveillance footage yelling at a little girl before slamming her on the floor at Children's Lighthouse Daycare in Spring, Texas, on Wednesday.

After the child began screaming in pain, Diglin took her to a corner of the room and tried to clean up her blood, according to Montgomery County police.

Officials were alerted to the situation after the child's mother called police and said her child was assaulted after she noticed her daughter had a split lip.

Gregory Diglin was charged with injury to a child after he was captured on surveillance footage yelling at a little girl before he slammed her on the floor at Children's Lighthouse Daycare in Spring, Texas, on Wednesday. Diglin pictured in his mugshot (left) and booking photo (right)

He yelled at the girl to 'get off the floor' before he grabbed her by the arm and slammed her into the ground. Almost immediately, the child began to scream in pain

Jeff Kemp, the family's attorney, said to KHOU: 'The little girl is actually quite smart and was able to explain very well for a four-year-old what had happened.'

He added: 'What happened is every parent's worst nightmare.'

The daycare video shows Diglin yelling at the child because she wouldn't get off the floor. He says to her: 'Don't tell me no! Get off the floor!'

Diglin is then seen taking a step towards the child, grabbing her by the arm and throwing her to the ground.

Almost immediately, the girl wails in pain and Diglin then seems concerned and softens his tone.

He tells the girl to come with him and leads her away from the view of the camera.

When Diglin realizes he hurt the child, he led her to a corner where he tried to clean up her blood, according to Montgomery County police

Police said Diglin then attempted to clean up the girl's blood. Officials also reported that although she is expected to make a full recovery she may have long-term dental trauma.

Diglin is now being held at the Montgomery County Jail on a $200,000 bond, reported ABC 7.

Chief Matthew Rodrigue of Montgomery County Constables Office, Precinct 3 said to KHOU: 'It is a high bond. This is a pretty violent action toward a very small child. We take these things very seriously in Montgomery County.'

He added to Click2Houston: 'The child has sustained injuries to the face and mouth area, busted lips, damage to the gums, featured dental damage as well.'

Officials were alerted to the situation after the child's mother called police and said her child was assaulted after she noticed her daughter had a split lip. Pictured: Children's Lighthouse Daycare in Spring, Texas

Children's Lighthouse Daycare released a statement on Friday that said: 'A teacher who is now no longer employed at Childrens Lighthouse of Spring Harmony acted in a manner that neither we nor our franchisee accept or condone.

'The owners of Childrens Lighthouse of Spring Harmony terminated the teachers employment immediately.

'Childrens Lighthouse Franchise Company and the owners of Childrens Lighthouse of Spring Harmony are cooperating with local authorities to ensure that the situation is handled properly.'
Prince Harry has been courting Meghan Markle since just last summer, but he's already impatient to settle down with the actress.

I can disclose that the 32-year-old Prince is to move into a new apartment at Kensington Palace, where he will live with Suits star Meghan, 35.

Harry has been taking a very close interest in the renovations to the apartment. 'He keeps popping round and asking when it will be ready,' a source tells me. 'He seems in a real hurry to move in with Meghan.'

Prince Harry has been courting Meghan Markle since just last summer, but he's already impatient to settle down with the actress

Moving in? The royal residence - showing the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's apartment in the background and Nottingham Cottage, were Prince Harry resides

The U.S. actress has been a regular visitor to Nottingham Cottage, the two-bedroom 'bachelor pad' where Harry currently lives at the palace.

The new apartment is said to be much closer to the huge wing that will be the permanent home for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge from September, when Prince George will start at the 17,000-per-year Thomas's school in Battersea, South London. 'It's sweet that Harry and Meghan will be living next to William and Kate,' adds the source.

Kensington Palace spokesmen have refused to comment on suggestions that an engagement announcement for Harry could be imminent.

Kensington Palace spokesmen have refused to comment on suggestions that an engagement announcement for Harry could be imminent

I can disclose that the 32-year-old Prince is to move into a new apartment at Kensington Palace, where he will live with Suits star Meghan, 35

Meghan, who divorced her first husband after a two-year marriage, is said to be keen to have children with Harry. After their romance was disclosed last autumn, the Prince took the rare step of confirming Meghan as his girlfriend in a statement.

He had never spoken publicly about his courtship of aspiring actress Cressida Bonas or his on-off romance with law graduate Chelsy Davy.

William and Kate have 22 rooms and two kitchens in their lavishly refurbished apartment. A palace spokesman declines to comment on Prince Harry's new apartment, describing it as a 'private matter'.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has taken the dramatic step of ordering her three senators to go 'on strike' until a new deal for cane farmers is sorted.

The firebrand leader has refused to support any legislation until the Federal Government intervenes in helping Queensland cane growers in their price dispute with Willmar Sugar Mills.

It comes as a fresh headache for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who is looking to steer key legislation through parliament in the final sitting week before the May budget.

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Pauline Hanson has called on her One Nation senators to go on strike until a new deal for cane farmers is resolved, much to the chagrin of Malcolm Turnbull

The 'rogue' Ms Hanson has criticised Mr Turnbull for his silence, saying he was giving the cane growers in North Queensland a headache.

'They've got their backs to the wall,' she said on Monday.

'(Deputy Prime Minister) Barnaby Joyce promised the cane growers it will be fixed by Christmas last year and nothing has been done.'

Her comments come only weeks after she directly called the prime minister from her mobile phone and handed him around to chat with cane farmers she was meeting in Queensland.

Mill owner Wilmar and Queensland Sugar Mills have been unable to reach a new supply agreement to determine mill access and sugar prices, leaving about 1500 farmers unable to crush their cane ahead of the 2017 season.

Ms Hanson is pushing for a mandatory code of conduct for the industry.

The One Nation leader has refused to support any legislation until the Federal Government intervenes in helping Queensland cane growers have a say in the marketing and sale of their crop. Pictured, A sugar cane harvest in Queensland

Treasurer Scott Morrison insisted the federal government had been working with QSL and Wilmar to reach an agreement, but conceded that it was going to take time.

'I don't think Australians expect their parliamentarians to go on strike. I think they expect them to turn up to work and do the job,' he told ABC radio.

Nationals senator John Williams supports her call, but insists she shouldn't 'blackmail' the coalition.

'I think that Pauline should work with the legislation, deal with one issue as it comes through, not just hold a gun to our head,' he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce told reporters in Canberra on Friday that Pauline Hanson's description of Islam as a disease, was 'bat poo crazy'

It's the latest war of words between the Queensland senator and the Federal government, with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce calling Ms Hanson's comments that Islam was a 'disease' as 'bat poo crazy'.

Speaking in front of reporters in Canberra on Friday, Mr Joyce lambasted some of the more 'crazy' claims, heard from the One Nation party.

'The more I hear from One Nation, the more I think that other people are hearing the same stuff, it's kind of crazy,' Mr Joyce said.

Speaking with Nine News on Friday Ms Hanson described Islam as a disease that 'we need to vaccinate ourselves against'.

It's the latest war of words between the firebrand One Nation leader and the Federal government with her #Pray4MuslimBan drawing the wrath of Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce

Her comments comes in the wake of London's Westminster terror attack in which she urged Australians to use the hashtag 'pray for Muslim ban'.

Ms Hanson refused to back down from her controversial proposal, claiming many Australians agreed with her but were too 'frightened' to admit it.

'It's pray for Muslim ban. That is how you solve the problem,' she added.
The white supremacist who is accused of stabbing a black man to death in New York City reportedly said he regretted the killing but only because he desired to kill a 'young thug' or 'more successful' black victim.

While speaking from Rikers Island jail, 28-year-old James Harris Jackson apparently provided an explanation for the killing of Timothy Caughman, 66, last week on West 35th Street and Ninth Avenue in the Hells Kitchen area of the city.

'I'm sorry I killed that man,' Jackson told the New York Daily News. 'It was pitch black, I picked a dark place. I didn't know he was elderly.'

Jackson, who is charged with murder as a hate crime, added that he would have rather killed 'a young thug' or 'a successful older black man with blondes...people you see in Midtown.'

James Harris Jackson, 28, said he regretted killing an elderly black man only because he desired to kill a younger or 'more successful' black victim. Above he is pictured in New York City court on Thursday facing charges in the stabbing death of Timothy Caughman, 66

Jackson, who is a white supremacist, said that he's sorry for killing Caughman. He said: 'I'm sorry I killed that man. It was pitch black, I picked a dark place. I didn't know he was elderly.' Pictured in court on Thursday

Caughman (pictured) was collecting cans in Midtown Manhattan on Monday when he was allegedly stabbed to death by Jackson with a sword. Jackson said he didn't hate Caughman

He said that he didn't hate the 66-year-old victim whom he is accused of stabbing in the chest with a sword.

'I don't hate anyone I don't think is on my level,' Jackson, who turned himself into police on Wednesday in Times Square, told the Daily News.

Authorities say that Jackson traveled to New York City from Baltimore with the intent of killing and picked the Big Apple as his destination because he wanted 'maximum media exposure'.

He explained that he wanted this initial killing to be 'a practice run', or the first step in a bigger plan to cause more casualties.

One of Jackson's goals was to reportedly force women to reconsider their interracial relationships.

'Well, if that guy feels so strongly about it, maybe I shouldn't do it,' he said in reference to the thoughts in women he wanted to inspire.

Police found two knives - one of which was the black sword reportedly used to kill Caughman - in the man's coat at the police station

After the elderly man's death, Jackson's desire to kill more people apparently faded.

'I got depressed...I saw it was too late. It's irreversible,' Jackson, who previously served in the military said. 'I didn't want to put my family through any more pain.

'My family is as liberal as they come... typical liberal Democrats.'

Jackson shared that his grandfather in Louisiana was 'very pro-integration' and even had crosses burned on his lawn.

However, Jackson revealed that he began to have racist thoughts at the age of three, but only shared his views with 'like-minded people' online.

'The white race is being eroded... No one cares about you. The Chinese don't care about you, the blacks don't care about you,' he said.

Just days ago, police removed a large black case from Jackson's Baltimore home where he'd been living (above)

Jackson also shared that his ideal society was '1950s America'.

Just days ago, police were photographed removing evidence from Jackson's home after he was charged with the racially-motivated, random murder of Caughman.

Baltimore and New York police officers entered a row house where accused killer James Harris Jackson had been living in the smart Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland.

One detective told DailyMail.com that they had no other warrants to serve on properties in the city and that they 'got what they came for'. One officer left carrying a large, flat black case.
Fifteen people were shot, one fatally, at a nightclub in Cincinnati, Ohio, early on Sunday, and police said they believed at least two shooters may have been involved.

The shooting took place around 1 a.m. when hundreds of people were reported at the Cameo Nightlife club, which the Cincinnati Police Department said has had "multiple problems" in the past.

"At this point it's unclear exactly what instigated the shooting," Captain Kimberly Williams said at a televised briefing. "We believe that there were at least a couple of shooters involved."

"Just a lot of chaos when the shots went off," Williams added.

The suspects were at large and police do not have good descriptions of them, in part because witnesses were reluctant to cooperate, Williams told WCPO.

Several of the victims had life-threatening injuries, WLWT-TV reported on its website, quoting Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate, who said hundreds of people were in the nightclub at the time of shooting.

Authorities have said nothing yet about a possible motive for the shooting, which comes less than a year after a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. It was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

The University of Cincinnati Medical Center admitted eight people early Sunday, a spokeswoman told ABC News, but she did not say specifically whether the patients were connected to the nightclub shooting. A representative of the hospital could not be reached immediately for comment.

Cameo Nightlife's Facebook page says it features "College Friday's" for students 18 and older and "Saturday's 21+ grown and sexy night."

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This is the shocking moment that an anti-fascist demonstration at a pro-Trump march in California spiraled into violence, ending with one man being hit with a Trump flag.

The scenes, filmed at the MAGA (Make America Great Again) March in Huntington Beach, California, on Saturday, show Trump supporters stomping up the sand, with black-clad protesters marching alongside.

Then a Trump protester lunges forward at a marcher, setting off a chain of reactions that ends in a confrontation between two other men. This was just one violent incident of many at the march, which saw four people arrested.

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Video shows an anti-fascist protester (center, in black) being struck with a Make America Great Again flag at a pro-Trump march at Huntington Beach in LA. The man with the flag said the protester had pepper-sprayed his wife

WARNING: Strong language and scenes of violence

Shouts are being bandied about when the fight breaks out, and a Trump fan in a white shirt shoves a photographer who is facing away from him.

One of the anti-fascist protesters then intervenes, getting between the Trump supporter and the photographer - only for the Trump supporter to start punching him repeatedly.

A female Trump supporter in a flag-patterned cowboy hat, later identified by press as organizer Jennifer Sterling, tries to break the pair apart.

But then a third supporter in a grey shirt jumps in behind her and starts hitting the anti-fascist protester as well.

Sterling pulls the grey-shirted man away, just as another figure in black - a thin man with sunglasses and a black hood - appears to pepper-spray them both in the face.

The man disappears off-camera, while Sterling staggers around blindly, calling for help. She falls over and the march continues.

The incident began when the woman (left, in cowboy hat) tried to stop a Trump supporter (left, in grey shirt) hitting an anti-fascist protester (left, in black hat). As she separated them (right), a man in shades (center, rear) apparently sprayed her

The woman, Jennifer Sterling (pictured), was one of the rally's organizers. The man seen striking the alleged pepper-spray protester later in the video said that he was Sterling's husband

Minutes later, a fourth Trump protester with a beard and Make America Great flag jumps onto the scene.

He begins to pursue the thin man, shouting 'He sprayed my wife!'

The bearded man swings at the protester, managing to hit him on the shoulder with the flag.

But he is ordered away by another man, who appears to be one of the march's organizers.

The sporadic fights lasted for around half an hour. Four protesters were arrested and two detained, the OC Register reported.

In total, the march attracted around 2,000 Trump supporters and a handful of protesters.

That wasn't the only incident of violence at the event, which attracted 2,000 Trump supporters and substantially fewer anti-fascist protesters. Here a Trump fan in grey shoves a protester to the ground

Another scuffle saw this man being punched in the face. In total the violence lasted for around 30 minutes, witnesses said. Nevertheless, the march - and protest - carried on

A Trump supporter and a protester go head-to-head in this photograph. Some of the Trump fans (none pictured) had flags with swastikas on - much to the dismay of some of the other supporters

An anti-fascist protester punches a Trump supporter in the face. Police say that they arrested three male protesters for using pepper spray, while a fourth - a woman - was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor assault and battery

Some of the Trump supporters had flags with swastikas on. Pro-Trump marcher Tim Morris said: 'These guys don't represent all of us.'

Another Trump supporter, John Beamaan, said he was upset by the fighting: 'This is frustrating because we are trying to claim the higher ground here.'

Jordan Hoiberg told the site he saw a protester wield pepper spray in self-defense.

'We were expecting it to be more peaceful,' said Hoiberg, a member of the Socialist Party USA, which was one of the protest's organizers. 'We were not about to start something when we are ten people and they are a thousand. That would be suicidal.'

Three male protesters were charged with felony illegal use of pepper spray and one woman was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor assault and battery.

The two detained protesters were not arrested.

Police said only two injuries were reported - both small cuts that didnt require any treatment.

Young Trump supporters gather to cheer on the parade. One of the protesters said that he expected the event to be more peaceful

Police say that only two people said they were injured, and they only had small cuts. No-one was hospitalized after the violent scuffles

An anti-fascist protester cowers in front of a police dog on Huntington Beach

One of the protest's organizers was the Socialist Party USA - as is perhaps hinted at on this person's shirt

A protester is seen walking away from a group of Trump supporters at the parade

There were several confrontations - verbal as well as physical - during the day's event
Two men and one woman have been arrested in connection with the alleged ongoing sexual abuse of an eight-year-old Colorado girl.

Victor White, 56, Mario Dominguez, 26, and Cristal Middleton, 21, were all arrested in connection with a complicated sexual assault case, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday.

They are all facing multiple charges related to the ongoing sexual assault dating back to late 2015, of an eight-year-old female from South Fork, Colorado.

Investigators will not release details about the connection to the victim and the suspects in order to protect her identity. The crimes took place at a South Fork apartment complex.

Victor White, 56, (left) Mario Dominguez, 26, (center) and Cristal Middleton, 21, (right) were all arrested in connection with a complicated sexual assault case of an eight-year-old girl, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday

All three suspects are currently all being held at the Rio Grande County Jail on various bond amounts, reported the Denver Post.

White, of Del Norte, Colorado, is being held on $150,000 bond; Dominguez, also of Del Norte, Colorado, is being held on $175,000 bond; and Middleton is being held at a $100,000 bail.

According to the report, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation was asked by South Fork Police to help with a complex sexual assault investigation, in November 2016.

Officials are still investigating if there are more victims.
Teegan Harvey (pictured) is the 18-year-old daughter of Westminster killer Khalid Masood

The defiant 18-year-old daughter of Westminster killer Khalid Masood fought against his new ideals after he suddenly converted to Islam.

Teegan Harvey remained at the family home after he abandoned her mother more than a decade ago.

She went on to become a popular and successful pupil at a 15,000-a-year private school before joining a grammar for sixth form.

Photographs of her posted online show a confident and fashionable teenager who is a far cry from what might be expected of the daughter of an Islamist fanatic.

In May last year, she posted a photo of herself wearing a low-cut prom dress as she attended her school's leavers' party.

One family friend of Teegan said Masood now appeared to be almost entirely absent from her life. 'They never mentioned the father at all, and until all this I knew absolutely nothing about him,' he said.

By contrast, Teegan's older sister Andi followed in her father's footsteps in converting to Islam and is now believed to be in Birmingham, the city he most recently called home.

Neighbours said the 24-year-old wears traditional Islamic dress and is always seen with her face covered in public. The girls' radically different paths are believed to have caused considerable friction within the family.

Jane Harvey (shown right with her daughter Teegan) is the former partner of Masood (shown left)

One acquaintance also said he believed Andi had recently given birth, making 52-year-old Masood  who was shot dead at the scene of the attack last Wednesday  and his former partner grandparents.

Last night, Teegan remained with her mother Jane Harvey, who has a new partner, at their 300,000 semi-detached home in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

A schoolfriend of Andi when she lived in Northiam, East Sussex, said her mother, Jane, had been 'totally against' the idea of Teegan joining her father and wanted her daughter to stay with her.

Luke Lawrence, 23, told The Sun: 'Andi was older and could be very headstrong, so she just went off and did it anyway.'

Mr Lawrence added that he could not understand why the 'popular and attractive' Andi went off to join her 'nutter' father.

'Andi was a lovely girl but, when she moved away to become a Muslim, she cut off contact with her friends here', adding: She went off to live with her dad after he converted her.'

Ms Harvey, 48, a successful businesswoman known as Jay, first settled in the picturesque village of Northiam, after meeting Masood in the early 1990s. Then known as Adrian Elms, he worked alongside her at Aaron Chemicals in nearby Bodiam.

Pictured: Khalid Masood is treated by paramedics after his horrific attack on Westminster

The couple first had Andi  who has Jay as her middle name  in 1992 before Teegan was born six years later.

Both girls attended their local primary, and Teegan went on to the 5,000-a-term Claremont School, in St Leonards-on-Sea. But Masood fell in with a bad crowd and began getting into fights, leading to his arrest and eventually two jail sentences.

When Andi was eight, Masood was jailed after slashing a man's face with a knife in a violent confrontation outside a local pub.

He blamed racism for triggering the appalling violence, which left his victim Piers Mott needing 20 stitches to a gaping wound in his cheek. A neighbour said: 'In prison he was radicalised by other inmates and converted to Islam. He became a real extremist.

'When he got out of prison he decided he wanted to live an Islamic life and didn't want anything to do with his past life at all.

'He left Jay and the girls and went to live in some dump in Eastbourne and I think he met someone else. He never came back after that and Jay was left to bring up the two girls on her own.'

A family friend said Masood's former partner Jane Harvey (left) was totally against Teegan (right) going to live with her father

According to residents, the estranged couple stayed in touch and the two girls did see their father intermittently.

But tragedy struck the family in 2008 when Andi, then 16, was run over while crossing the road to catch her school bus.

The neighbour added: 'It's such a dangerous road. She was knocked down and she almost died. She was severely injured and her parents had to keep a bedside vigil.

'She was in hospital for ages and was then left disabled. She had to relearn everything and was left in a wheelchair.'

In 2004, Masood  still using the name Adrian Elms  married Farzana Malik, then a 25-year-old marketing assistant, at Medway Register Office in Rochester, Kent. A few years ago, Andi also converted to Islam and went to live with her father in Luton, then later Birmingham.

The neighbour said: 'No one could really believe it because she was never religious before. She adopted all the Muslim customs including wearing a headscarf.'

Masood used this hire car to kill pedestrians then smashed into Parliament's railings

Metropolitan policeman Keith Palmer (left), mother-of-two Aysha Frade (centre) and US tourist Kurt Cochran (right) were victims of the attack on Westminster

Meanwhile, Teegan remained with her mother, enjoying an affluent middle-class lifestyle. Her wide circle of friends included the children of farmers and well-heeled commuters, mostly living in large detached houses in the Kent and Sussex countryside. The father of one of her former school friends said: 'She's a lovely girl and her mother is lovely as well.

'As far as I'm aware they had nothing to do with her father.'

According to her birth certificate, Andi was born in April 1992 at the Pembury Hospital in Erith, Kent. At that time, Masood gave his occupation as a 'sales rep'.

Miss Harvey still owns their former cottage in Northiam, which is currently rented out.

One villager claimed the property is linked to a long-running dispute over the building of some garages and cannot be sold.
German supermarket giant Aldi is preparing for its biggest branding change in 20 years with a new logo, but customers have already slammed it for looking 'retro'.

The slight design change will be the first major aesthetic mix-up for the global discount supermarket chain since it launched in Australia in 2001.

Some customers took to social media to criticise the new logo - which features the iconic letter 'A' but with softer edges and warmer colours to create a 3D appearance.

German supermarket giant Aldi is preparing for a brand new logo to be rolled out globally (old logo pictured left, new pictured right)

But customers were quick to head to social media to slam the supermarket chain for the 'retro' design

One social media user said the logo revamp was a 'missed opportunity' that looked like Adidas

'New Aldi tries so hard to look 'modern' that it actually looks more retro... kind of reminds me of an airline logo (to be honest),' wrote Elliott.

'I feel like Aldi missed an opportunity with the redesign of their logo. Could have gone more high-end, not Adidas,' wrote Sean.

'Not keen on the new Aldi logo. Looks too much like a car (company) to me, and going into 3D rather than flat is going against trends?,' Emma tweeted.

'Aldi's new logo: the gradients are not contemporary and still got the borders. A missed opportunity,' added Jenny.

Aldi has not changed its logo since it launched in Australia (Victorian store pictured) in 2001

A spokesperson for Aldi told Daily Mail Australia the new logo aimed to 'reflect the contemporary image of ALDI and key developments it has recently undertaken.'

'The principle of simplicity is reflected in the new logo. Despite an updated appearance, it still contains the typical ALDI colours,' the spokesperson added.

'Even the familiar 'A' symbol in light blue still forms part of the new logo, but now also functions as a modern independent design element.'

Former Aldi executive Paul Foley told the Sydney Morning Herald that Aldi's brand and vision was updated every seven years to reflect changing societal values.

'This logo change reflects the tech, modernity and cool that has been introduced to the Aldi brand in recent years,' he told the publication.

The new logo has already been rolled out in China, and is reportedly set to reach Australia and other Aldi stores worldwide by June 2017.

Some claimed the 3D design was 'going against trends' and 'looked like a car company'
Greenpeace activists with abseiling equipment climbed a Commonwealth Bank building in central Sydney on Monday to protest fossil fuel industry loans.

Protesters gathered at the bank's Darling Walk branch on Harbour Street, where two members dangling above the ground via cables unfurled a banner.

The banner, which read 'CommBank CAN Break Free from Coal', was in protest of $4billion of loans handed to the fossil fuel industry by Commonwealth Bank, Greenpeace said.

The two climbers were brought down by NSW Police and taken away in wagons.

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Greenpeace members with abseiling equipment climbed a Commonwealth Bank building in the Sydney CBD to protest loans to the fossil fuel industry

Protesters gathered at the bank's Darling Walk branch on Harbour Street and unfurled a banner on Monday morning

'CommBank aka Coal Bank receive an early morning message to break free from coal,' the environmentalist group said on Twitter.

'Coal is polluting our world and threatening irreplaceable wonders like Great Barrier Reef. CommBank must stop funding new coal.

'They have funded far too much of fossil fuels in past two years since the Paris agreement' a Greenpeace member said.

Police attended the scene and monitored the protest.

A banner reading 'CommBank CAN Break Free from Coal', was in protest of $4billion of loans handed to the fossil fuel industry by Commonwealth Bank, Greenpeace said

Greenpeace members began climbing the building at around 7am and the protest continued throughout the morning. Two people were taken away in police wagons

Greenpeace members began climbing the building at around 7am and the protest continued throughout the morning.

Around 8am protesters shouted 'CommBank can break free from coal' and unfurled the banner, which became stuck momentarily.

Protesters wrote 'please explain' letters to Commonwealth Bank before each person lined up to handover their note inside the branch.

Monday's protest was the latest in a series against Commonwealth Bank, which has included demonstrations in Byron Bay and Adelaide's Rundle Mall.

Protesters wrote 'please explain' letters to Commonwealth Bank after the banner was unfurled

Each person lined up to handover their 'please explain' letter inside the Darling Walk branch
Westminster terror attacker Khalid Masood, 52, died after he was gunned down by police on Wednesday outside Parliament

British-born killer Khalid Masood was known as a potential terrorist in 2010 after a trip to Saudi Arabia alerted MI5.

Theresa May told the House of Commons this week that the 52-year-old murderer was merely a 'peripheral' figure when spies were monitoring his actions in the years building up to his massacre in London on Wednesday.

But it has emerged the authorities had considered him to have potential for extremism due to links with hate preacher Anjem Choudary and the prohibited al-Muhajiroun group.

It is not clear how closely Masood was being followed by MI5 or for how long, but he first came to their attention six years ago.

Pressure has now begun to mount on the authorities to make his file public after he slipped through the net to commit the atrocities this week which led to the deaths of four innocent people.

Dozens of people were also injured when the terrorist, born Adrian Elms, mounted the pavement on Westminster Bridge to deliberately mow down pedestrians and cyclists.

He then crashed his 4x4 into railings outside Parliament before getting out of the car and fatally stabbing police officer Keith Palmer.

Four people have died, excluding the attacker who was shot dead, including PC Palmer, Londoner Leslie Rhodes, 75, US tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, and mother-of-two Aysha Frade, 43.

Masood's friends have now claimed he frequently got high on drugs including crack cocaine and acid

Masood taught English in Saudi Arabia, and it has been revealed that he made two trips to the Middle East between 2005 and 2009, according to The Guardian.

When MI5 started looking into his criminal lifestyle, they found that he was part of a plot to blow up an army base in Luton using a remote control car.

He and four terrorists linked to al-Qaeda, according to The Daily Telegraph, had also discussed using explosives to take out a US Air Force base, a shopping centre and an English Defence League (EDL) meeting point.

Zahid Iqbal, Mohammed Sharfaraz Ahmed, Syed Hussein and Umar Arshad were jailed for a total of 44 years in 2013 after admitting the plot, but Masood was never charged.

This is despite him telling Ahmed: 'At the bottom of the gate, there's quite a big gap.

'If you had a little toy car, it drives under one of their vehicles or something,' according to the paper.

It appeared Masood was never too far away from fellow terrorists.

When he was living in Luton, he became close friends with Iraqi-born Taimour Abdulwahab who blew up his car, then himself, in Stockholm, injuring two people.

Metropolitan policeman Keith Palmer (left), Mother-of-two Aysha Frade (centre) and US tourist Kurt Cochran (right) have been named as victims of the attack

In a statement addressing the Westminster terrorist's criminal past, a Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'Masood was also known by a number of aliases. He was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack.

'However, he was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH, possession of offensive weapons and public order offences.

'His first conviction was in November 1983 for criminal damage and his last conviction was in December 2003 for possession of a knife.

'He has not been convicted for any terrorism offences.'

Masood killed four people when his car mounted the pavement on Westminster Bridge before attacking PC Keith Palmer in a knife attack outside Parliament

It comes as it has also emerged that Masood funded his rampage with taxpayer money, as the 52-year-old was living on benefits.

The Daily Star Sunday reports that police are now probing claims he was a serial benefits cheat, claiming hundreds a month in housing benefits and income support.

Masood's drive of terror began at approximately 2.40pm on March 22 when he used a rented Hyundai to kill his victims.

On Tuesday night, he had stayed in a hotel in Brighton before driving up to the capital and commit his act of terror, thought to have been inspired by ISIS.
David Cameron's Downing Street was accused of a blatant cover-up last night over failed plans to crack down on Uber.

The ex-PM and George Osborne allegedly told aides to lobby Boris Johnson against curbs on the online taxi firm.

The Daily Mail revealed on Saturday that a No 10 adviser swapped emails with senior staff working for the then London mayor.

The ex-PM and George Osborne allegedly told aides to lobby Boris Johnson against curbs on the online taxi firm

Yet last night it emerged that Downing Street had failed to divulge details of the alleged lobbying operation when asked to do so under freedom of information laws.

Officials insisted  a year ago  there were no records of any exchanges. This later proved untrue when Transport for London officials released details of the correspondence.

Calls were made yesterday for an inquiry over both the alleged cover-up and the Government's links to the US taxi firm.

Opposition politicians pointed out that Rachel Whetstone, a senior vice-president at Uber, is a personal friend of both Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne.

'This blatant cover-up by 10 Downing Street must now lead to a formal inquiry,' said Caroline Pidgeon, the Lib Dem chairman of the London Assembly's transport committee.

Labour MP Wes Streeting also called for Theresa May to launch a probe into the issue. 'It is pretty clear that, in contrast to the openness and transparency of Transport for London, that Downing Street under David Cameron tried to cover up its cosy relationship with Uber,' he said.

'Under David Cameron, Downing Street was clearly acting as the lobbying arm for Uber which is extraordinary.'

When Mr Johnson was mayor of London in September 2015 he threatened to curtail the activities of Uber, a smartphone app that allows users to hail a minicab.

There were fears the web giant was putting traditional taxis out of business and contributing to congestion, air pollution, illegal parking and accidents.

Police figures also showed that rape or assault claims were being made about Uber's London drivers at a rate of one every 11 days.

Last night it emerged that Downing Street had failed to divulge details of the alleged lobbying operation

Mr Johnson wanted to force all drivers to pass a written English test. He also wanted to force all private hire firms to wait at least five minutes before accepting a booking and picking up a customer.

In response, Uber launched a petition, claiming that Mr Johnson's 'bureaucratic' proposals would make it harder and more expensive to travel around London. Within hours of the petition being launched, the mayor and senior aides began to be sent messages from Downing Street. Even Mr Cameron and George Osborne were understood to have sent texts to the mayor's mobile phone.

Daniel Korski, the deputy head of Mr Cameron's policy unit, was assigned to 'lead' talks between the mayor and his senior staff.

Email exchanges released by Transport for London under freedom of information laws, and revealed by the Mail on Saturday, showed how he offered alternative proposals on how to deal with congestion and pollution. Last night, it emerged that Mr Cameron's former assistant private secretary, Nicholas Howard, had also been asked for details of any email exchanges between Mr Korski, and either TfL or the Mayor of London's office.

But when Mr Howard responded a month later, in March 2016, he said only: 'We do not hold information in relation to your request.'

Mr Korski had in fact exchanged at least seven emails regarding proposed Uber legislation with both TfL officials and senior mayoral staff.

Labour MP Wes Streeting also called for Theresa May to launch a probe into the issue

Last night a No 10 spokesman said: 'Any suggestion of a cover-up is categorically untrue. Anyone who is dissatisfied with an FoI response is advised that they have the right to request an internal review about its handling.' However no further explanation was provided.

Mr Korski said he had no knowledge of the freedom of information request and had no input into No 10's misleading response to it. He also denied lobbying on behalf of Uber, saying the idea was 'fanciful'. He added: 'The idea that I acted inappropriately because of a relationship between the then PM and Rachel Whestone is even more absurd.'

But Steve McNamara of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association said: 'This affair, and the cover up, is nothing short of a national scandal and the LTDA is therefore calling for a parliamentary enquiry to establish what went on and who was responsible.'

The emails No10 said didn't exist

Just over a year ago, Downing Street was served with a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act.

It came from Christopher Morris, a political aide working for the Liberal Democrats in the London Assembly, and it sought to get to the bottom of a sensational rumour sweeping City Hall.

Mr Morris had been reliably informed that David Cameron and George Osborne had overseen a vigorous secret lobbying campaign to stop Boris Johnson from seeking to tighten regulations on the taxi firm Uber.

According to his sources, the pair had tasked Daniel Korski, deputy head of the prime ministers policy unit, with ensuring that Londons mayor did nothing whatsoever to upset the Californian web company.

Back in September 2015, Mr Johnson had announced a Private Hire Regulations Review in which he floated a number of potential policies designed to rein in Uber, which runs a mobile phone app that allows users to hail a minicab at the push of a button.

He wanted, among other things, to ease congestion, increase passenger safety, and protect the livelihoods of traditional black cabbies, who were being driven out of business by the low cost rival. But in January 2016, the mayor announced that almost all of the proposals were to be dropped.

The big question is: why? Mr Johnson insisted the climbdown followed a public consultation.

But Mr Morris had been told that the move came after the mayor was summoned to meetings at which Mr Korski and senior ministers, including Business Secretary Sajid Javid, had personally ordered him to lay off Uber.

He believed that Mr Korski had also bombarded officials at Transport for London, which was in charge of the review, with calls and emails and met with them to water down any regulations.

Some of the phone calls and other messages circulated during this campaign had, he was told, been very hostile indeed.

That was the rumour, at least. To see whether it might be true, Mr Morris asked Downing Street in late February to send him details of all correspondence since January 1st 2015 between Mr Korski and either the mayors office, or TfL.

On March 30 last year, Downing Street responded, in a letter sent on headed notepaper and signed by Nicolas Howard, assistant private secretary to Mr Cameron.

It was short, unequivocal, and to the point: We do not hold information in relation to your request.

In other words, the prime ministers office was saying it had no record, whatsoever, of any correspondence between Mr Korski and officials who worked for either TfL or for Mr Johnson. No emails, copies of letters, or notes of phone calls existed.

The letter was sent under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which requires government officials  who are, of course, servants of the public  to answer all requests truthfully.

However as the Mail revealed on Saturday, several emails were in fact sent from Mr Korskis government email account to senior figures working for both Johnson and TfL during the period in question.

They emerged courtesy of a second freedom of information request, this time submitted to Transport for London by Mr Morris, asking for any correspondence involving Mr Korski and its officials.

In response to the request, TfL had produced a dossier of emails, including three that the Downing Street aide wrote in October 2015, and four that were sent to him around the same time.

Two were sent by Mr Korski to Leon Daniels, the managing director of surface transport at TFL, and carried the subject: Regs review  follow up. They revealed that the Downing Street aide had met and corresponded extensively with Mr Daniels to ensure that Mr Johnsons review was headed in what he called a sensible direction.

Mr Korskis other email was sent to Isabel Dedring, Mr Johnsons deputy mayor in charge of transport as part of the same email chain, setting up a meeting to discuss options to resolve the disagreement between No 10 and the mayors office.

The cache of emails also revealed that Mr Korski had sat in on a meeting held on December 16, 2015 at which Mr Johnson discussed Uber with Sajid Javid, and Cameron ally Oliver Letwin.

An official note recorded that different views were exchanged.

Since these messages would all have been sitting on Downing Streets email servers, at the time Mr Howard wrote his March 30 letter to Mr Morris, its hard to understand how they were not found and disclosed.

After all, a search Mr Korskis email account would have instantly turned them up, at the push of a button.

Downing Street last night formally denied any cover up in relation to the FoI inquiry, and we must of course at this stage take them at their word.

Yet what cannot be denied is that both Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne, not to mention Mr Korski, had plenty of reasons for wanting their advocacy work on behalf of Uber to remain firmly out of the public domain.

The American internet company pays almost no tax in the UK, funnelling its British revenues to the tax haven of Bermuda, via the Netherlands. As such it makes a peculiar organisation for Downing Street officials, not to mention a British chancellor and prime minister, to be lobbying for.

Since London transport is fully devolved to the mayor, its also a policy area that they are supposed to have no responsibility for.

Yet  crucially, perhaps  the firm also happens to have since early 2015 employed one of Mr Cameron and Mr Osbornes closest personal friends, 49-year-old Rachel Whetstone, as one of its most senior UK executives.

The godmother of Camerons late son Ivan, and a chum of both mens respective wives, she and her husband Steve Hilton (the ex PMs former director of strategy) even bought a holiday cottage near the Camerons country seat in the Cotswolds.

In other words, the then prime ministers lobbying on behalf of Uber could have given an appearance of serious impropriety  leading to allegations that he was granting special favours for a friend.

For Mr Osborne, the picture looks doubly awkward, since one of Ubers major investors, US finance house BlackRock, recently employed him on a salary of 650,000 to work 48 days a year as an adviser.

Quite how the duo intend to justify their secret lobbying for the Californian technology firm remains a mystery: neither has yet commented on it. Exactly why Downing Street failed to disclose its record of this lobbying campaign, in apparent contravention of the Freedom of Information Act, is also unclear  though it should be noted that Mr Howard was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in Mr Camerons resignation honours.

What few will argue with, however, is that only a rigorous parliamentary inquiry can now hope to get to the bottom of what really went on, in this increasingly murky affair.

Was a deal done at Sexy Fish restaurant?

With its gold leaf ceiling and glittering contemporary sculptures, including a naked blue mermaid by Damien Hirst, Mayfairs Sexy Fish restaurant was quite the scene when it opened just before Christmas 2015.

Kate Moss and Cheryl Cole were spotted tucking into its pan-Asian menu, which sold steak at 110 a pop and a plate of sashimi for 65 beyond its crystal-encrusted front door.

Yet on December 22 that year a very different crowd headed into its basement private dining area, with its pink marble floors and what purports to be the worlds largest coral fish tank. David and Samantha Cameron sauntered into the venue, closely followed by Chancellor George Osborne and his wife Frances.

They were there at the behest of a woman who was once, rightly, described as one half of the power couple behind the Tory throne.

Mayfairs Sexy Fish restaurant was quite the scene when it opened just before Christmas 2015

She was Rachel Whetstone, wife of Mr Camerons former policy guru Steve Hilton, godmother to his late son Ivan, and one of his oldest personal friends.

The occasion was a Christmas party, organised at great expense so that a few dozen of the extraordinarily well-connected PR womans closest chums and contacts could toast the festive season.

Also on the guest list were a smattering of mostly Left-leaning journalists, including Newsnight boss Ian Katz and his wife Justine Roberts, who runs the internet site Mumsnet; Sunday Times scribe Camilla Cavendish, who had just been made head of the No 10 policy unit and was this year handed a peerage; and journalist Jenni Russell, whose child can boast Ed Miliband as godfather.

At the time, the bash made some unflattering headlines. As Quentin Letts perceptively wrote in these pages, the event only added to the impression that in the era of Cameron, Britain was being run by a moneyed chumocracy detached from the masses.

Today, that glitzy soiree is starting to look even more ill-advised.

For as the Daily Mail revealed on Saturday, it occurred at a time when Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne were secretly devoting an extraordinary amount of their energy to a lobbying campaign designed to benefit Miss Whetstones company, Uber.

Intriguingly, one of the lucky few who Miss Whetstone ensured could rub shoulders with the two most powerful men in Britain at the bash was Tim Allan, a lobbyist who runs Portland Communications.

He once, several years earlier, gave her a job. By happy coincidence, when she moved on to Google and then Uber, those companies gave lucrative contracts to Portland.

All of which meant that, for several hours in Londons most fashionable restaurant, the Prime Minister and Chancellor found themselves alongside Ubers head of communications (Miss Whetstone) and the man in charge of its lobbying firm.
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Forty-six dogs no longer have to await death in the filthy dark cages of a dog meat farm in South Korea.

The dogs landed at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Sunday after being rescued by the Humane Society International (HSI).

Each of them will head to shelters in New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

The HSI is responsible for saving the dogs that would otherwise have been slaughtered at the farm located in Goyang, South Korea.

Safe and sound: Forty-six dogs, including this handsome fellow, Walter, no longer have to await death in the filthy dark cages of a dog meat farm in South Korea. The dogs landed at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Sunday after being rescued by the Humane Society International (HSI)

Each of the dogs will head to shelters in New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The HSI is responsible for saving the dogs that would otherwise have been slaughtered at the farm located in Goyang, South Korea. Animal Haven Director of Operations Mantat Wong receives a crate of rescued puppies from Animal Haven volunteer Nicole Smith on Sunday

Officials from the society said the pups awaited death in dirty, dark cages, and were fed barely enough to survive. In the US, the dogs will be available for adoption. But first, the Animal Habitat Shelter of New York plans to make sure each one is ready for a new life in someone's home. Smith is seen carrying one of the rescued pups in New York

Just last week, the owner of the farm in Goyang decided he no longer wanted to be part of the country's controversial dog meat trade. Humane Society International's Director of Companion Animals and Engagement Kelly O'Meara stands on PAART's Disaster Relief and Transport Trailer holding Bonny, one of the rescued dogs

The farmer and his wife, both in their 70s, had a change of heart and made an agreement with the Humane Society to permanently shut their farm, which is located just 12 miles north-west of central Seoul. Animal Haven volunteer Rebecca Davison opens Walter the dog's pen onboard a Disaster Relief and Transport Trailer

Officials from the society say they awaited death in dirty, dark cages, and were fed barely enough to survive. In the United States, the dogs will be available for adoption.

But first, the Animal Habitat Shelter of New York plans to make sure each one is ready for a new life in someone's home.

Just last week, the owner of the farm in Goyang decided he no longer wanted to be part of the country's controversial dog meat trade.

The farmer and his wife, both in their 70s, had a change of heart and made an agreement with the Humane Society to permanently shut their farm, which is located just 12 miles north-west of central Seoul.

The entirely indoor facility was 'unlike anything the team had seen before', the Humane Society said, with 'a dark labyrinth layout of narrow corridors reaching pens and cages of dogs living without daylight or fresh air'.

The Humane Society has helped save more than 800 South Korean dogs on farms since 2015. But the organization faces a tough battle, because South Korea shamefully boasts 17,000 dog meat facilities.

A variety of dog breeds were found at the farm, including pinscher mixes, Jindo mixes, a great Pyrenees/golden retriever mix, a German shorthaired pointer, Shih Tzus and a little corgi/Chihuahua mix.

The owner of the dogs said he is hoping to retire, and contacted the Humane Society in hopes of finding the dogs safe homes.

The entirely indoor facility was 'unlike anything the team had seen before', the Humane Society said, with 'a dark labyrinth layout of narrow corridors reaching pens and cages of dogs living without daylight or fresh air'. Pictured is Walter peering out from his open pen

The Humane Society has helped save more than 800 South Korean dogs on farms since 2015. But the organization faces a tough battle, because South Korea shamefully boasts 17,000 dog meat facilities

A variety of dog breeds were found at the farm, including pinscher mixes, Jindo mixes, a great Pyrenees/golden retriever mix, a German shorthaired pointer, Shih Tzus and a little corgi/Chihuahua mix. Walter greets a fellow dog aboard the transport vehicle

The owner of the dogs said he is hoping to retire, and contacted the Humane Society in hopes of finding the dogs safe homes. PAART Director of Operations Lynda Manko and HSI's O'Meara comfort one of the rescued dogs

Speaking through a translator, the farmer, Mr Kim, said: 'I've been farming dogs for 20 years, but in all that time I've never killed them or taken them to the slaughter house myself.

'Mostly dog traders came to my farm to take them away. Personally, I like dogs, and I kept feeling bad whenever I sold them to the traders.

'The business has never been that big, I used to have around 20 dogs and I tried to leave the dog meat industry several times but somehow people gave me dogs and I restarted. I used to eat dog meat but now I can't eat it.

'These days I mostly don't want to sell the dogs, so I don't and that's why we now have more than 50 dogs. Plus, now I've got old so it's too much work for me too.

'I've heard that more and more dog meat restaurants are shutting down and now it's not a business that people are willing to do for a living.

'Dog meat consumers are also getting less and less, so although I can't say it will be ended, I can say it is a dying business for sure.

'I think that HSI's idea to urge the South Korean government to work with farmers like me to close farms, is a great plan.'

The Goyang farm is the seventh dog meat farm that HSI has closed in South Korea, saving more than 800 dogs as part of its campaign to put an end to dog meat consumption across Asia

Consumption of dog meat is on the decline in South Korea, where it is mainly eaten by older people and dogs are increasingly popular as pets. PAART volunteer David Manko sits with one of the rescued dogs

The HSI hopes the government will ban the breeding of dogs for meat ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in South Korea. Two adorable black pups are seen in a crate after their rescue

Adam Parascandola, director of animal protection and crisis response for the HSI, said that the living conditions at the farm were 'deplorable', and the organization is looking forward to finding the dogs new homes.

'In the more than two years that I've been part of our campaign to shut down the dog meat trade in Asia, I thought I'd seen it all until I first saw this facility,' he said.

He added: 'It literally took my breath away, not least because when we first entered the darkness, the stench was overpowering.

'The ammonia burned the back of our throats. We could hear the dogs' desperate barks but we couldn't see their faces properly, just their eyes peering out.

This is the seventh dog meat farm that HSI has closed in South Korea, saving more than 800 dogs as part of its campaign to put an end to dog meat consumption across Asia.

More than 2.5 million dogs are raised for human consumption a year across the 17,000 dog meat facilities in South Korea.

But consumption of dog meat is on the decline in South Korea, where it is mainly eaten by older people and dogs are increasingly popular as pets.

The HSI hopes the government will ban the breeding of dogs for meat ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in South Korea.

Adam Parascandola, director of animal protection and crisis response for the HSI, said that the living conditions at the farm were 'deplorable', and the organization is looking forward to finding the dogs new homes. Walter is pictured checking out his surroundings

'The ammonia burned the back of our throats. We could hear the dogs' desperate barks but we couldn't see their faces properly, just their eyes peering out,' Parascandola said. Pictured is O'Meara with Bonny
The boss of Sydney Trains has warned there is a very real danger of a terrorist attack like the recent one in London happening here.

Chief executive Howard Collins, who was in charge of the London Underground when it was hit by bombings in 2005, called the recent attack in Westminster 'shocking and frightening.'

The simple and 'low-tech nature' of the attack has made those in a position of responsibility, like himself, rethink how best to ensure the safety of the lives they're entrusted with, he told the Daily Telegraph.

Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins (pictured) says there is a real danger of London-style terror attack in Sydney

Mr Collins, who was awarded an OBE for his role in keeping the Tube safe during the 2012 Olympic Games in London, said Sydney is as prepared as possible for an attack.

But he said that Sydneysiders must remain vigilant as these days even the most 'mundane' objects have become weapons.

'While we constantly plan for the worst, we must also be realistic,' Mr Collins said.

'In an environment where even the most mundane objects of daily life have become weapons, we must ensure society continues to become more and more vigilant to potential dangers.'

He added that as high-profile are becoming the norm, it has become more important for people to understand what represents a risk.

An extremist went on a rampage in London last week and left four people dead when he rammed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge then stabbed a police officer

Last week, a British man went on a rampage that left four victims dead and dozens more injured, including an Adelaide woman whose foot was crushed in the attack.

Khalid Masood drove a rented SUV into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before smashing it into the gates of Parliament and rushing onto the ground where he fatally stabbed a policeman before he was shot dead by other officers.

Since then, investigators are trying to piece together who the man, a convert to Islam, became radicalised.

NSW Counter-Terrorism Minister David Elliott has said families must play a bigger role in the fight against terror by warning police about signs of potential radicalisation in their relatives.

Security is expected to be ramped up for major events in the city following last weeks attack  including during Anzac Day celebrations in April.

But Mr Elliot says it is parents, siblings and friends of young people who are most likely to spot worrying changes in behaviour  and must inform authorities before a police response is needed.
Nature broadcaster Chris Packham has revealed he wants his ashes to be mixed and buried with his pet poodles when he dies.

The TV presenter and naturalist has said he was totally devastated when his 13-year-old miniature poodle Itchy passed away just before Christmas.

The Springwatch star, 55, said he owes a huge debt to his dogs, who he credits with keeping him going when he once felt suicidal.

Chris Packham with his poodles Itchy and Scratchy

He said he would like his ashes mingled with those of Itchy, who is currently being kept in cold storage, and his brother Scratchy, who is still alive.

And when he finally passes away, he wants to cremated  so that his remains can be reunited with those of his dogs.

Eventually it is his hope he will be recycled and form part of another living thing, such as a sparrowhawk.

Speaking of the loss of Itchy, he said in an emotional interview with the Daily Mail: It has been a very miserable. Weve had a crap time since December.

Im going to have Itchy cremated and eventually his brother Stratchy. And eventually me too. And then our ashes are going to get all mixed together and thrown out in the woods in a favourite spot in the New Forest so that we can be something together.

I love them so much I want to be part of them and I want them to part of me in this lifetime.

I am not spiritual in any sort of way. All I know is that we are all made of carbon, and if their carbon mixes with mine it could become a blade of grass that gets eaten by a caterpillar that gets eaten by a blue tit that gets eaten by a sparrow hawk, so obviously the three of us could be part of a sparrow hawk at one point. And thats the way the world goes round.

He added: For me, its a means of dealing with a very personal relationship while remaining pragmatic about science.

Packham, right, with fellow Winterwatch presenters Michaela Strachan and Martin Hughes-Games

There is nothing spiritual, I have no soul. I dont believe in anything like that. But I do know that everything is recycled and I just rather like the idea of being recycled with them. Because collectively we had such joy in those woods.

Right now, Itchy is in a freezer in my barn but in time, someone will have the job of mixing us together and scattering us underneath our favourite tree where we used to sit.

The popular TV host revealed last year that his beloved dogs saved him from taking his own life. He has suffered from depression and admitted how close he came to committing suicide.

The boys loved me so I couldnt do it. They kept me alive. I owe them my life. I always will, he wrote in his memoir, Fingers In The Sparkle Jar.

In the book, he also revealed his life-long battle with Aspergers Syndrome. He realised he had form of autism in 1995 at the age of 34.

The television host admitted that suicidal thoughts first surfaced in 2003 after the death of his one-year-old dog Fish.

The television host admitted that suicidal thoughts first surfaced in 2003

I hadnt made any mental preparation for losing Fish. The whole episode was like some ghastly movie, he said.

He explained how he ultimately failed to go through with the act because he knew he would not be able to successfully take an overdose.

Long-term partner Charlotte Corney bought him Itchy and Scratchy - and he has frequently described them as the loves of his life.

He said: We always had a very close bond the three of us - we were like three peas in a pod. Its a mutual love affair, very much so. We always shared our space and our food and our time.

He reveals this time he feels he was more mentally equipped to cope with the sense of loss and grief when Itchy died: Losing a dog is one of the heartaches of being a dog owner. It is one of those things, he says.

They give unconditionally and so do you. I have had a very deep and complete relationship with them but they dont live as long as we do. And its better because its not nice for them to outlive us.

He says that Charlotte, a zoo keeper, is unfazed by his passion for his pets: She has always known the boys are the loves of my life. But then shes got tigers that are the loves of her life. I am very fortunate that I have a partner who understands that relationship and appreciates it. It is not an alternative relationship to one that youd have with a human but it is equally as powerful and important.

The Springwatch star said he would like his ashes mingled with those of his dogs

I used to to get very cross when people would say :Whats the fuss about? Its just a dog. But I dont now.

If anything, I just think: Its your loss if you dont understand. I never say anything. I think: Obviously you havent had the joy Ive had. What a shame.

Packham travelled to Japan this week to film a Springwatch Easter special.

Support for sufferers For confidential support call the Samaritans on 1 (800) 273-TALK visit a local Samaritans branch or see www.samaritansusa.org for details. In the UK, contact HOPELine UK helplines services on 0800 068 41 41, text 07786 209 697, or email pat@papyrus-uk.org. Advertisement

He has cut back his overseas trips to be around for his ageing pets: I missed them tremendously when I was away from them for long periods and vice versa he said.

The TV host will be back on screens later this year with a new BBC2 series You and Your Dog: The Ultimate Contest.

He said: We filmed some scenes of me and the boys in the New Forest last September but they are not in the series. Much as I have always loved seeing them on screen, it was a bit of a relief not to have to sit and watch them. That would have been very hard.

The four-part competition takes place in the Lake District. Owners and dogs of different breeds, shapes and sizes, will represent the six key regions of Britain as they battle it out with a series of challenges over 10 days to be crowned best dog. There is also science about why the bond between man and dog is so strong.
German voters went to the polls Sunday in tiny Saarland state, where a resurgent centre-left hopes to strike a first blow in their battle to topple Chancellor Angela Merkel this year.

Although the state bordering France is home to just one million people, its vote half a year before national elections is seen as a test of the Social Democrats' rising fortunes under new leader Martin Schulz.

The SPD, having long played second fiddle to Merkel in a national right-left grand coalition, has been re-energised since the folksy and plain-spoken Schulz became its chairman in January.

The former president of the European Parliament has lifted party support by 10 percent with promises to help the socially disadvantaged and end Merkel's almost 12-year reign in September elections.

The "Schulz mania" has seen younger voters flock to the more than 150-year-old workers' party, which is now polling neck-and-neck at the national level with Merkel's conservative bloc.

The SPD is currently the CDU's unhappy junior partner in Saarland and in the national government -- and in both cases hopes to grab power by teaming up with other leftist parties.

Even if the CDU comes out ahead in Saarland, the SPD could potentially seek a coalition with the far-left Linke and possibly the ecologist Greens parties -- a so-called "red-red-green" alliance.

The same trio is now running the city-state of Berlin, although policy hurdles remain at the national level, given that the Linke, for example, rejects German membership of NATO.

In Saarland, the latest poll for broadcaster ZDF gave the CDU a clear lead at 37 percent over the SPD's 32 percent, with the SPD's potential ally the Linke scoring 12.5 percent.

The incumbent is popular CDU premier Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, 54, often dubbed simply "AKK", who is considered pragmatic and unpretentious, dressing up as a cleaning lady at carnival festivities.

Her SPD challenger is deputy premier Anke Rehlinger, 40, who happens to hold the state record in shot put (16.03 metres).

Polls opened at 0600 GMT, and about one third of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 1200 GMT, slightly more than in 2012 elections, suggesting turnout for the day could be higher than the 62 percent five years ago.

First projections by public broadcasters were expected shortly after polls close at 1600 GMT -- although talks to forge a governing coalition could then take days or weeks.

While Merkel long seemed invincible at the ballot box, she has been weakened by a backlash against her decision to open German borders to refugees which has brought in a million asylum seekers since 2015.

This has boosted the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party which, despite a recent dip in popularity, already has a presence in 10 of Germany's 16 state assemblies. It is expected to add an 11th in Saarland on Sunday.

As the refugee crisis has abated, the campaign race is increasingly being fought along traditional ideological lines.

While Merkel broadly argues that Germany, the EU's export engine, is prosperous and needs to stay competitive to keep it that way, Schulz points to the army of "working poor" and promises to narrow the wealth gap.

Schulz also vowed that, if elected chancellor, he would work to strengthen the EU, equalise pay for female workers and give half of his party's ministerial posts to women, in an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

On the Saarland election, he vowed: "We want to be the strongest party. And we want Anke Rehlinger to be state premier. And then we want to change things ... We have fought till the last minute, I am very confident."

Merkel, 62, has warned local voters that "red-red or red-red-green experiments should be avoided" and urged them to stick with the CDU's "path of success".

Saarland, though small, in some ways reflects bigger economic challenges. The former coal region, where the last mine closed in 2012, has sought to establish itself as a research and IT hub.

Predominantly Catholic Saarland, occupied by France after World War II, has since the mid-1950s been ruled by the CDU, alone or in coalition, except for the 1985-98 reign of former SPD premier Oskar Lafontaine.

Lafontaine, who later defected to the Linke party, has campaigned with posters that promise "We've paid enough -- now it's the turn of the rich".

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House prices in parts of London have tumbled by nearly 15 per cent in the past 12 months following a tax raid by George Osborne, according to a report.

Estate agency giant Knight Frank said values have been slashed as a result of higher rates of stamp duty introduced by the former Chancellor before he was sacked.

The boss of rival Savills said the stamp duty surcharge on second homes and buy-to-let properties was the final nail in the coffin for the London market.

House prices in parts of London have seen a 15% drop in value thanks to former Chancellor's George Osborne's increased rates of stamp duty. The worst affected was Bayswater

But Knight Frank said price declines may be close to bottoming out as the fall in the pound following the Brexit vote makes property in Britain more attractive to wealthy foreign buyers.

There are also signs that overseas investors worried about looming elections in France and Germany and the outlook in the United States under Donald Trump are ploughing money into Britain.

Signs of stability have emerged against an uncertain political backdrop, said the report by Knight Frank.

Knight Frank said the average price of a house in the prime central London market has fallen 6.6 per cent in the past year.

Estate agency giant Knight Frank said values have been slashed as a result of higher rates of stamp duty introduced by the former Chancellor before he was sacked (stock: Notting Hill)

The worst hit area was Bayswater, north of Hyde Park, where prices fell 14.7 per cent, while Chelsea suffered a 13.3 per cent fall and Kensington an 11.6 per cent drop.

Other areas to be hit were Notting Hill, down 10.7 per cent, Fulham, off 10.2 per cent, and South Kensington and Knightsbridge where average prices fell 7.4 per cent.

Knight Frank, which specialises in selling multi-million pound homes across London, put the blame firmly at the door of Mr Osborne and the recent hikes in stamp duty.

Asking prices have been revised down as a result of higher rates of stamp duty, said Tom Bill, head of residential research in London for Knight Frank.

It should be remembered that Brexit has only had a marginal impact on the prime London property market to date.

Stamp duty has been the primary cause of the recent market slowdown and Chancellor Philip Hammond is the politician who will continue to wield the most influence over the market.

As Chancellor, Mr Osborne raised stamp duty on homes worth more than 937,500  hitting vast swathes of the London housing market.

The increase has pushed the levy on a 2million home up by 53,750 to 153,750 while the tax on a 5million home has gone up by 163,750 to 513,750.

Mr Osborne also introduced a three percentage point stamp duty surcharge on second homes and properties bought by landlords including buy-to-let investors.

Jeremy Helsby, chief executive of rival estate agent Savills, said: For London, the extra 3 per cent for the second homes is just the final nail in the coffin. The original rates were high already, but London is a market where lots of people have second homes. That extra 3 per cent has really hurt the market.

The worst hit area was Bayswater, north of Hyde Park, where prices fell 14.7 per cent, while Chelsea suffered a 13.3 per cent fall and Kensington an 11.6 per cent drop. Other areas to be hit were Notting Hill, down 10.7 per cent, Fulham, off 10.2 per cent, and South Kensington and Knightsbridge where average prices fell 7.4 per cent (stock image of a Notting Hill home)

But the Knight Frank report found that prices across prime central London nudged up a tiny 0.1 per cent in February alone, while the number of transactions it has dealt with in the last six months was 20 per cent higher than in the same period a year ago.

Mr Bill said foreigners have been attracted to the capital by the fall in the pound, with those buying in US dollars seeing a 21 per cent discount since the Brexit vote.

Indian and Hong Kong buyers have also seen a 21 per cent discount while prices are down 17 per cent for Chinese investors and 28 per cent for Russians.

London could also benefit from geopolitical uncertainty, including a full calendar of European elections and a US President whose style marks a break with convention, Mr Bill added.
A detective who spent three years looking for Madeleine McCann has claimed her abductor told someone else about the crime.

Detective inspector Dave Edgar, 60, believes the kidnapper is being protected and is urging those with information to come forward.

He is sure parents Kate and Gerry McCann were not involved and said the disappearance was intricately planned.

Detective inspector Dave Edgar, 60, claims Madeleine McCann's kidnapper told someone else about the crime and is urging them to come forward with information

Madeleine disappeared in May 2007 from Portuguese resort Praia da Luz. Edgar believes the girl could still be alive. If she is, she will turn 14 in May

Speaking to the Mirror, he said: 'If anyone confided in you, now is the time to come forward.

'They [abductors] cant keep it to themselves and research has shown they always confide in someone else.'

Edgar also believes she could still be alive.

He said: 'Until such time that a body is found it is a live investigation and there is always hope [Madeleine is alive].'

Edgar was hired by the McCann's to look into Madeleine's disappearance. He also said there was no evidence to arrest suspects Raymond Hewlett and Euclides Monteiro

Edgar, who runs Alpha Investigations Group, was hired by the McCanns to look into Madeleine's disappearance.

The Metropolitan Police took over the case in 2011.

He said there was no evidence to arrest paedophile Raymond Hewlett or Euclides Monteiro, two suspects in the inquiry.

Hewlett died in 2007, aged 64, while Monteiro, 40, died in 2009.

Madeleine McCann disappeared from Portuguese resort Praia da Luz in May 2007 as her parents were dining at a nearby restaurant.

If she is still alive, the girl will turn 14 in May.

The inquiry, which has cost more than 12 million, could be in its last year as topped-up funds are set to run out at the end of March.

In 2009, Edgar told the Belfast Telegraph he believed Madeleine was being held in an underground cell or dungeon, like the victims of Josef Fritzl.

The former detective is sure Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured) were not involved in the disappearance and thinks the abduction had to have been intricately organised

Pictured, the Ocean Club in Praia Da Luz where Madeleine disappeared in May 2007. In 2009, Edgar claimed Madeleine was being held in an underground cell, like the victims of Josef Fritzl

The news comes after Kate and Gerry McCann lost their third libel case against the Portuguese detective who claimed they faked Madeleine's abduction.

Madeleine: The Truth of the Lie was written by Goncalo Amaral, the policemen who headed the hunt for the girl.

Earlier in March, Portuguese crime expert Moita Flores made the outrageous claim Madeleine died in an apartment in the resort.
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The natural world  it can be awe-inspiring, spooky, fragile, bewildering, hilarious, beautiful, cute and scary, and these incredible images capture all of these sides to it, and more.

They are all commended and shortlisted entries for the nature, natural world and wildlife categories of the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards - the world's largest photography competition.

One star entry is a magnificent picture of the Milk Way taken in La Palma, Spain, in the Caldera de Taburiente National Park.

Magnificent is also the best description of Mount Fuji taken by Malaysian photographer Ann Ric.

One image that shows the natural world at its cutest, meanwhile, is of a European ground squirrel reaching for a dandelion. Equally heart-melting is the beautifully composed shot of a black rhino cow showing maternal affection to her calf at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.

Here MailOnline Travel showcases pictures of the natural world in all its glory, taken by some of the very best photographers around. Images from the competition will be displayed at London's Somerset House between April 21 and May 7, 2017. The winners will be announced on April 20.

A magnificent picture of the Milk Way taken in La Palma, Spain, in the Caldera de Taburiente National Park

A beautifully composed shot of a black rhino cow showing maternal affection to her calf at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya

A very rare European ground squirrel (spermophilus), reaching out for its breakfast. These cute rodents simply love to eat dandelions

This stunning image of Mount Fuji taken by Malaysian Ann Ric is simply described by the photographer as 'moody'

A hauntingly beautiful shot of a partially frozen lake by Hiroshi Tanita called 'Borderline'. The eye is drawn to the boundary marked out by the snow

A beautiful snowy beech forest near the village of Moldava in the Ore Mountains, Czech Republic

Photographer Vladimir Voychuk said: 'This is how the planet's fiery breathe looks. When a volcano wakes up, lava streams and their blazing glow are visible even hundreds of kilometers away. Observation of this phenomena in a relative proximity is absolutely breathtaking.' This image shows the eruption of Klyuchevskaya Sopka in Russia

Photographer Antonio Caputo said that he was on his way to the peaks of Tre Cime di Lavaredo in Italy when he spotted an opportunity to capture these ghostly trees

Cute alert: Wild monkeys at the walls of the monastery on Mount Popa, Myanmar

Scotland looks beguiling dramatic in this shot by Shahbaz Majeed. He said he grabbed this shot with his zoom lens to focus on the light hitting the peak in the distance

Baboons at the highlands of Ethiopia. 'It looks like they're just sitting there - thinking about life,' said photographer Bar Kaufman

Often incorrectly defined as jellyfish, the Portuguese man o'war is a siphonophore - a colonial organism. While the bell is completely harmless, their tentacles can deliver very painful stings. Photographer Enrico Villa said: 'When I took this shot, the man o'war was floating on the water surface a few miles off the south coast of Pico Island (Azores, Portugal). Back home, I looked at the picture and realised, much to my surprise, that I had got a shot with a very abstract mood from a 100 per cent real photograph. Very calm seas and smooth wavelets led to the totally unexpected reflections'

A puffin with a mouthful of sand eels on Skomer Island in Wales, left, and going eye-to-eye with a northern gannet off the coast of Scotland, right

A rare baby European ground squirrel in Austria tries to reach a flower for breakfast. 'Time visiting these squirrels isn't lost time - whether you get good photos out of the session or not. They are just heart-warming guys,' said photographer Henrik Spranz

Claw-some: A male polar bear in the Arctic, near Svalbard, pictured in August 2016

A solitary elephant is showered by light in a magnificent sun burst in Gujarat, India

Egg-cellent: A yellowhead jawfish with a mouthful of its future offspring. The eyes on each egg are clearly visible and indicate that the eggs are almost ready to be released. The father takes on the role of guardian during this period of incubation and will forsake his own sustenance in order to give them the best chance of surviving. Shot in Saint Lucia

This picture of a dragonfly perched on top of a frog's head, looking like a helicopter, won snapper Lessy Sebastian a commended gong at the Sony Awards

This eye-catching image of a lake and woodland was taken in the Bernese Oberland canton of Bern, Switzerland

A tiny hawksbill turtle back-lit by the setting sun as it swims out to sea moments after hatching at Lissenung Island, Papua New Guinea

A mother Atlantic spotted dolphin and her calf peacefully swim by in the clear waters of the Bahamas

A pod of Atlantic spotted dolphins in the Bahamas exhibit their cooperative hunting behaviour as they attempt to catch a juvenile fish that was hiding under the sand, left. On the right is a kingfisher hunting in Spain

These flamingos were shot on the shores of the Namibian Coast. Photographer Alessandra Meniconzi loved their 'beauty and elegance'

Paws for thought: A white-breasted stone marten leaps over some roots in the Czech Republic

Watching thousands of wildebeest crossing the Mara river is a sight to behold. It is one of the most daring challenges that a wildebeest takes on in his life as it battles, not just the ferocity of the fast flowing river but also the lurking apex predators. 'It is difficult to capture all the chaos and confusion in a single image,' said photographer Sonalini Khetrapal, 'but I have tried to bring out a small aspect of the crossing. With dust clouds seen from miles away and the splashing of water heard from quite a distance, the entire scene is full of excitement and drama'

Winging it: Min Ouyang was commended for this startling image of birds being fed

Ready for your close-up? This carpenter ant in Russia most certainly was

A herd of cape buffalo beneath the stars at a watering hole in the Zimanga Private Game Reserve in South Africa

This wondrous picture of a dew-soaked damselfly is a combination of five stacked exposures

What a buzz: An Anna's hummingbird and bees drinking from a water fountain on a very hot California day in 2016

A darkly enchanting picture of Skogafoss waterfall in Iceland, left. On the right is an incredible picture of a bird feeding on Punggol Barat Island in Singapore

How low-light can you go? This amazing image was taken in Liuwa Plain National Park in the west of Zambia

This hyena in west Zambia was captured using a remote-control camera. It's truly a never-before-seen image

The iceberg graveyard: These icebergs were captured in Antarctica and rise up about 100 feet from sea level. They were formed after an ice shelf collapsed a few years ago due to global warming. 'The scene was magnificent, but also incredibly scary,' said photographer Josselin Cornou

A climber on Belukha Mountain, Altai Republic, Russia. This image was shortlisted in the Nature category

Heavenly campsite: The Milky Way hangs elegantly over a yurt in Inner Mongolia

'The Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island [in Canada] is a complete wilderness,' said Andrew Robertson. 'The only refuge I found on my two week trek was this ice cave at the foot of the Turner Glacier'

This was taken off the back of photographer Gordon Becker's jetski on western Australia's south coast. Water draws off a shallow reef shelf creating backwash that collides with oncoming waves. Here a wave explodes into a golden flare in the soft morning light

Blooming marvellous: A mesmerising flowery plain in the Sibillini Mountains National Park in Italy

This image captures a lone green tree in Nagano Prefecture in Japan. It was shortlisted in the Nature category

This image, called 'Determination', was taken after a fresh layer of snow coated the landscape

Purple haze: An amazing sunset in Valensole in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France
While their loyal fans are now seeing the aftermath of their explosive split.

Viewers of The Only Way Is Essex will see the beginning of the end of Megan McKenna and Pete Wick's romance on Sunday night's episode as they celebrate their first year together.

The couple - who confirmed their break-up earlier this month - air their frustrations in a moment when they should be happily reflecting on their first 12 months together, leaving 24-year-old Megan tearful and questioning their future together.

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Tension: Viewers of The Only Way Is Essex will see the beginning of the end of Megan McKenna and Pete Wick's romance on Sunday's episode as they celebrate their first year together

As tensions mount, the brunette beauty is reduced to tears as she chats to her mother about the state of their romance.

The ITVBe darling candidly opens up to her mum Tanya, admitting she's finding it hard to get over Pete's sexting scandal and move on.

The 28-year-old reality star was previously revealed to have sent a number of explicit texts to former partner Jacqui Ryland, 30, last September leading to the on/off couple to take a break from their relationship for a number of weeks.

While the pair had overcome the controversy, it appears that trust is playing heavily on her mind as they mark their first year of dating.

Questioning: The couple - who confirmed their break-up earlier this month - air their frustrations in a moment when they should be happily reflecting on their first 12 months together, leaving 24-year-old Megan questioning their future together

Now a reality: The 28-year-old reality star was previously revealed to have sent a number of explicit texts to former partner Jacqui Ryland, 30, last September leading to the on/off couple to take a break from their relationship for a number of weeks

Trust: The ITVBe darling candidly opened up to her mum Tanya admitting she's finding it hard to get over Pete's sexting scandal and move on

Elsewhere, Georgia Kousoulou meets with series newbies Amber Turner and Yazmin Oukhellou over snide remarks they made about her.

Questioning their comments, the blonde bombshell makes things awkward as she called Amber T out on her recent behaviour with Dan Edgar after it was revealed that during the cast pilgrimage to Tenerife she had spent a night with him.

Although fans endured watching her romance with ex Jamie Reed disintegrate, her run-in with Georgia left Lydia Bright and Amber Dowding cringing as the awkwardness between them escalated to a new high.

Getting to the bottom of it: Elsewhere, Georgia Kousoulou meets with series newbie Amber Turner (R) over snide remarks they made about her

Tense: Questioning their comments, the blonde bombshell appeared to make things awkward as she called Amber T out on her recent behaviour with Dan Edgar

Awkward: Her run-in with Georgia left Lydia Bright and Amber Dowding cringing as the awkwardness between them escalated to a new high

Yet, viewers will be later left reeling after Chloe Lewis' revelation to Kate Wright about kissing her former flame Dan leaves the beauty wanting to get answers.

Despite admitting she wasn't upset by the news, it appears that Kate isn't completely over her ex - who smooched Chloe L before he met the 25-year-old - as she heads to the gym for an explosive confrontation.

Furious that she spilled the beans, Dan challenges Chloe L on why she told Kate in the first place, and suggests that Chloe L's feelings for him have never entirely gone away.

Working it out: Despite admitting she wasn't upset by the news, it appears that Kate isn't completely over her ex - who smooched Chloe L before he met the 25-year-old - as she heads to the gym for an explosive confrontation

Questioning: Kate went to the gym looking for answers from Dan about his past with Chloe L

Upset: Furious that she spilled the beans, Dan challenges Chloe L on why she told Kate in the first place, and suggests that Chloe L's feelings for him have never entirely gone away

Hunky: Meanwhile, Charlie King makes a triumphant returns to Essex to help Gemma Collins on her latest fitness ques

Meanwhile, Charlie King makes a triumphant returns to Essex to help Gemma Collins on her latest fitness quest.

Wanting to give her some motivation, he comes up with an interesting way to jump start her workout transformation.

The hunky reality star leaves Gemma impressed when he displays the results of his own body building regime.

Chilling: Meanwhile, Pete was seen enjoying a sunny day out in Brentwood

Fashionable: The star looked super trendy in a biker jacket, white tee and skinny jeans
T.E. Lawrence is one of the most famous - if controversial - British historical figures.

But not much is known about the 'female Lawrence of Arabia', Gertrude Bell, an early 20th Century writer and archaeologist played by Nicole Kidman in Werner Hertzog's Queen of the Desert.

A new trailer sees Nicole channelling the intrepid explorer, sitting astride a camel and conversing with tribesmen.

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Why now? New trailer shows Nicole Kidman as 'female Lawrence of Arabia' alongside Robert Pattinson's explorer hero in panned movie Queen of the Desert, as the it opens in America two years after its initial premiere in Berlin

In a voiceover, Nicole's Gertrude says: 'Paradise has no time, no age. It awaits us.'

She then explains: 'For the first time in my life, I know who I am, my heart belongs to no one but the desert.'

Robert Pattinson cuts a dashing figure as the legendary hero. In the trailer he can be seen telling Nicole's Gertrude, insightfully, that he 'does not think the right man for her has been born yet'.

Reappearance: The movie also stars Robert Pattinson, James Franco and Damian Lewis

The anticipated movie - which also stars Robert Pattinson, James Franco and Damian Lewis - premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2015 but has not been seen in American or British cinemas following lukewarm reviews.

The film follows the life of County Durham-born Gertrude, who is credited with playing a major role in establishing the modern state of Iraq, where she died at the age of 57 in 1926.

Distributors describe the movie as 'set against the backdrop of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, Bell sets off on an epic odyssey as an attache of the British Empire to chart and define the modern borders of the Middle East'.

Nicole is currently enjoying critical acclaim for her scene-stealing performance in Oscar-nominated Lion and her nuanced and powerful depiction of a woman in a twisted but passionate abusive relationship in big-name TV drama Big Little Lies.

Dashing: Robert Pattinson cuts a dashing figure as the legendary hero. In the trailer he can be seen telling Nicole's Gertrude, insightfully, that he 'does not think the right man for her has been born yet'

Spy talk: The anticipated movie - which also stars Robert Pattinson, James Franco and Damian Lewis - originally premiered in 2015

But the superstar was not having such a run of success a few years ago.

When Queen of the Desert originally premiered to critics in Berlin in 2015, Nicole had just seen her Grace Kelly biopic Grace Of Monaco go straight-to-Lifetime after it was crucified by critics at Cannes.

Back in 2015, Nicole spoke about the role, saying: 'She's the female Lawrence of Arabia.'

'She was English, and basically defined the borders between Iraq and Jordan that exist today, borders that she negotiated between Churchill and different Arab leaders.'

She added: 'She went out to the desert with the Bedouin and all the different tribes that were feuding at the turn of the 19th century.'

Star cast: Other attractive names attached include Eton-educated British star Damian Lewis, who plays a conventional army type who is married, but falls for Nicole's character and her unusual brand of femininity for the age

Incredible: Nicole said of her character: 'She was English, and basically defined the borders between Iraq and Jordan that exist today, borders that she negotiated between Churchill and different Arab leaders'

The movie was directed by lauded German filmmaker Werner Herzog, 74, who is known for making historical documentaries as well as feature films.

Queen Of The Desert marked his first feature film in six years and, before its initial screening, was tipped as a possible Oscar nominee.

Other attractive names attached include Eton-educated British star Damian Lewis, who plays a conventional army type who is married, but falls for Nicole's character and her unusual brand of femininity for the age.

Beautiful filming: The movie was directed by lauded German filmmaker Werner Herzog, 74, who is known for making historical documentaries as well as feature films

Stunning: Gertrude, who was very tall, is portrayed by the willowy Oscar-winning actress

In a nod to T.E. Lawrence's paternalistic attitude to the entire Arab world and their struggle against the Ottoman Empire, Gertrude can be heard saying she is attracted to spending time in the desert because she is attracted to the people there and 'their freedom, their poetry of life'.

After arriving in Tehran, Gertrude falls in love with a junior British diplomat (James Franco).

But after their prospective union does not meet with approval from her illustrious family, she turns her frustrated love to the desert.

Love redirected: After arriving in Tehran, Gertrude falls in love with a junior British diplomat (James Franco), but after their prospective union does not meet with approval from her illustrious family, she turns her frustrated love to the desert

Intrepid: The film then follows her journey and adventures through the desert in Iran, into Iraq and further across the Arab world

The film then follows her journey and adventures through the desert in Iran, into Iraq and further across the Arab world on a perilous but life-changing journey, seeing her find real freedom for the first time.

A highlight is her meeting the legendary explorer and negotiator T.E.Lawrence.

The film premiered at 65th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2015 to lukewarm reviews.

Panned: The film premiered at 65th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2015 to lukewarm reviews

Critical reception: It currently enjoys a dismal ten per cent approval rating on popular film criticism website Rotten Tomatoes and, although it was released in Germany, did not screen in UK cinemas that year

It currently enjoys a dismal ten per cent approval rating on popular film criticism website Rotten Tomatoes and, although it was released in Germany, did not screen in UK cinemas that year.

Variety damned it as a 'dramatically underpowered epic', while IndieWire dubbed the film 'Werner Herzog's worst movie in years'.

But two years after it premiered at the Berlinale, a US audience will get to enjoy the film on demand or in movie theatres.

IFC Films acquired the US right to the film and will release it on April 17.
She has been known for her glamorous lifestyle on Made In Chelsea since she first appeared on the E4 show back in 2013.

But on Saturday Stephanie Pratt looked slightly less than her usual composed self as she clutched her tiny new puppy, Max, while attempting to stop her dress from blowing open.

The reality star, 30, was wearing a plunging, floral print dress with a thigh-high split to attend a social media influencer event at the Rooms on Regents Park.

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Puppy saviour: MIC star Stephanie Pratt looked a far cry from her usual composed self as she clutched her tiny new puppy, Max, while trying to stop her dress from blowing open on Saturday

On entering the venue Stephanie had not accounted for the windy spring weather and carefully positioned the pooch over her left arm, while ensuring everything stayed in place.

Max, who has been with his new owner for around a week, stared down the lens in an already-accustomed fashion as he leaned over the blonde star's arm.

Allowing her tresses to flow loose and natural around her face and opting for lashings of mascara, Stephanie strode into the central London venue.

The slit in her dress revealed the star's slender, tanned legs and she completed her laid-back chic look with chunky-heeled black boots and a patterned leather rucksack slung over one shoulder.

Cheeky grin: Stephanie grinned sheepishly as she returned her dress to its rightful position and balanced her pet pooch - who was still staring straight down the barrel of the lens - over one arm

Beautiful: The slit in her dress revealed the star's slender, tanned legs and she completed her laid-back chic look with chunky-heeled black boots and a patterned leather rucksack slung over one shoulder

True love: Sharing a sweet selfie of her cuddling the adorable black pooch, Stephanie explained to fans: 'U guys know I'm dog obsessed & for 3 years something has been missing in my life here in London- I am so happy to introduce my sweet little boy #Max (sic)'

The California native may have lived in London for several years with a huge fan base, but it was not enough.

The reality star recently revealed that she felt there was 'something missing' in her life, following her relocation from the States.

And the blonde beauty was quick to fill this void with a new furry friend last week, as she took to Instagram to announce she had bought a puppy.

Sharing a sweet selfie of her cuddling the adorable black pooch, she explained to fans: 'U guys know I'm dog obsessed & for 3 years something has been missing in my life here in London- I am so happy to introduce my sweet little boy #Max (sic)'

Filling the void: The California native may have lived in London for several years and have a huge fan base, but it was not enough - so she got Max to make her life complete

Posing up a storm: Max stole the show yet again at the red carpet for the event

Since getting her tiny black canine friend, Stephanie has hardly been spotted out of his company.

On Sunday he put in a furry appearance in an Instagram shot with the blonde bomshell wearing a smart blue lace outfit - even wearing a complementary blue hoodie.

Adding to his owner's outfit on this occasion, rather than protecting her, the pup shot a sultry gaze at the camera as Stephanie smiled.

On point: The MIC star has amassed 845,000 followers on Instagram and uses her mass following to promote health and fitness

Advice: Stephanie spoke at the social media influencers event alongside other big names

In conversation: Fellow Instagram star Doina Ciobanu (right), a London-based fashion blogger and model with more than 200,000 followers on social media, also gave her tips

The MIC star, who has amassed 845,000 followers on Instagram and uses her mass following to promote health and fitness, spoke at the social media influencers event alongside other big names.

Also in attendance was Xenia Tchoumi, a Russian-swiss model, actress, blogger and entrepreneur who has more than one million followers on Instagram and spends much of her time in London.

As was the young women's fellow Instagram star Doina Ciobanu, a London-based fashion blogger and model with more than 200,000 followers on social media.

The stunning influencer bills herself as a Londoner who focuses on fashion for work and politics as a hobby.

'Smurf vibes': On Sunday Max put in a furry appearance in an Instagram shot with the blonde bomshell wearing a smart blue lace outfit - even wearing a complementary 'smurf vibe' hoodie
When she told him she'd fallen in love with someone else, she broke his heart.

And despite appearing madly in love with Lee Elliot, it seems that Georgia Love doesn't like the prospect of watching her ex Matthew 'Matty J' Johnson move on.

The former Bachelorette star has revealed she doesn't plan on watching Matty J in the new season of The Bachelor, saying it will be too hard to see her former flame flirting with 22 women, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Sunday.

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Steering clear: Georgia Love (pictured) has revealed she doesn't plan on watching Matty J in the new season of The Bachelor

Speaking at the launch of a beauty brand for which she is now the face, Georgia, 27, said she didn't even contact Matty J after he was announced as The Bachelor.

'It will be like watching an ex dating a whole bunch of people, which no one really wants to see,' Georgia said.

'I care for him very much and I genuinely want him to be happy, so I am very excited for him.'

Awkward: The 27-year-old said it will be too hard to see her former flame flirting with 22 girls

Since leaving The Bachelorette mansion hand-in-hand with her beau Lee, the reality TV lovers have faced a number of rumours about their relationship.

Claims of arguments, cheating, turmoil and being in 'splitsville' have left Georgia 'fed up'.

The brunette beauty slammed the speculation around her relationship, saying that just because they spend time apart doesn't mean they're not still together.

'We don't see each other every day and when we do, we don't post a photo together every time,' she said.

Moving on: 'It will be like watching an ex dating a whole bunch of people, which no one really wants to see,' Georgia said

Hitting out: The brunette beauty also slammed the speculation around her relationship with Lee Elliot, saying she was 'fed up' with regular rumours of fighting and a potential break-up

'It's this bizarre thing when we are not posting photos every second day, people think we have broken up, but we are not.'

And the journalist was keen to prove that they're seemingly happier than ever with a fun snap on Instagram on Sunday.

Taking to Instagram, Georgia shared a romantic update alongside her hunky beau at a music festival in Victoria's Yarra Valley.

Drunk in love! On Saturday she showed that the pair are happier than ever, with a fun-loving photo of the pair at a music festival in Victoria's Yarra Valley shared to her Instagram page

Dancing the afternoon away: The couple groved to musical acts such as PNAU and Miami Horror at the Hot Dub Wine Machine festival

In the snap, Georgia and Lee are seen dancing in what appears to be a VIP section at the Hot Dub Wine Machine festival.

Georgia showcased her curves in a plunging black romper with frill detailing around the bust, while Lee kept his look casual in faded jeans, a white T-shirt and sunglasses.

Both appeared to enjoy dancing the afternoon away grooving to acts such as PNAU and Miami Horror.

'Hands up if you like to chardy! #hotdubwinemachine #bestchardyever #iwannadancewithsomebody,' Georgia captioned her update.
The Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department is facing growing outcry after it began publicizing via Twitter the large number of teenage girls who recently went missing in its jurisdiction.

Numerous celebrities have also called for action including Olivia Wilde, Kris Jenner, Beyonce's mom - Tina Knowles Lawson, Taraji P. Henson, Sean Diddy Combs, Gabrielle Union, Sophia Bush, LL Cool J and Bravo exec Andy Cohen, to name a few.

'It is deeply disturbing that the disappearance of dozens of young girls is "business as usual" in our nation's capital, my childhood home,' the 33-year-old former House star posted on Saturday alongside an image of a missing children milk carton.

'It is deeply disturbing': Olivia Wilde took to Instashares her 'horror' over missing black girls in Washington DC

'Find our girls': The 33-year-old former House star took to Instagram on Saturday and posted an image of a missing children milk carton

Olivia continued: 'The response that these numbers aren't any higher than normal should only make us more horrified.

'Kids of color have been unrecognized and uncared for by law enforcement, the education system (as a whole, not the heroic teachers working hard every day for far too little pay), and government in general, for far too long.

'It starts with us demanding justice, demanding equal media coverage, and voting with vulnerable kids in mind, instead of dollar signs and fear. #findourgirls.'

One post by Danielle Moodie-Mills that had been retweeted 41,000 times, claimed that 14 black girls went missing in the area over 24 hours.

'This has got to stop!': Beyonce's mom, Tina Knowles Lawson, captioned an Instagram photo of a missing flier poster of a particular girl who had been found

Sad truth: Taraji P. Henson reposted an image stating that 14 girls went missing within 24 hours, and although the post was inaccurate, the reality is not much better

Although the post was inaccurate, the reality is not much better - since March 19, 10 juveniles were reported missing and six have been found according to NBC Washington.

The police department claims this rate of missing children reports is in fact sadly normal, although cases have actually been decreasing - and that their use of social media has merely highlighted the problem to an unsuspecting public.

Police claim the majority of the cases are teens who run away from home and subsequently return home.

Yet there remain 37 open missing minor cases in the city and all of them are black or Latino according to the Huffington Post.

'Please call': Viola Davis and numerous other celebrities including Gabrielle Union shared a video with several of the missing girls' photos to raise awareness

'Tragedy': Sean Diddy Combs sent his well wishes and prayers to the families of the missing girls

'We must make some noise!!,' Tina Knowles Lawson captioned an Instagram photo of a missing flier poster of a particular girl who had been found.

'Why are we just hearing about this. Why is this not the number one topic in America right now?

'This has got to stop! This particular girl was found. There are conflicting stories but all of these girls are not runaways!!! Dont fall for that! It is a well known fact that a missing person of color Black, Latin or other. does not get the media coverage eqaul to a missing white person. (sic)'

Taraji P. Henson and Viola Davis both took to social media and expressed their support.

'Let's keep it going!': LL Cool J went on a Twitter rant and posted numerous tweets in support of the search efforts for the missing DC girls

'Unfathomable!': Bravo exec Andy Cohen also took to the popular social media site and shared his pain over the tragedies

The Oscar-winning Fences star - along with numerous others including Gabrielle Union - shared a video with several of the missing girls' photos and a caption that asked followers to call with tips if they had any information.

'My prayers go out to the families effected by this tragedy. God bless #PrayForDC #FindOurGirls,' Sean Diddy Combs tweeted.

'Ten children of color went missing in our nation's capital in a period of two weeks and at first garnered very little media attention. That's deeply disturbing,' Congressional Black Caucus chairman Representative Cedric Richmond said in a letter obtained by the Associated Press.

'Whether these recent disappearances are an anomaly or signals of underlying trends, it is essential that the Department of Justice and the FBI use all of the tools at their disposal to help local officials investigate these events, and return these children to their parents as soon as possible,' Richmond said.
She's known for being a member of the band, The Waifs.

But Donna Simpson, 46, has now set her sights on reality TV.

The blonde artist told The Daily Telegraph on Sunday that she wants to have a stint on the small box, admitting: 'It's on my bucket list.'

Heading to the jungle? Donna Simpson (pictured) reveals she wants to have a stint on reality TV as her band The Waifs celebrate their 25th anniversary tour

'It's on my bucket list to go on a reality show and not have anyone know I am Donna Simpson from The Waifs,' Donna said.

'But no cooking shows.'

According to the publication, I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and Married at First Sight would be right up her alley.

She added that she's glad the group have kept out of the gossip section of magazines, despite wanting to head on TV.

Who would of thought! According to the publication, I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and or Married at First Sight would be right up her alley (seen with The Waifs)

Her new desire comes as she and The Waifs tour for their 25th anniversary with the release of their new album, Ironbark.

Ironbark was their first number one album on the mainstream charts with the folk group topping the ARIA charts.

On Facebook, the group seemed overwhelmed at the feat, with their status receiving over three thousand likes.

'All you good people who stepped out and bought the album have sent The Waifs name rocketing to the top of the charts for the first time in 25 years. Not to shabby for a middle aged folk band! This is fun,' they wrote in part of a post.

Hitting the road: The band have just released their new album

The group kicked off their national tour earlier this month, and are heading to all parts of the country, finishing up on April 15 in Broome, Western Australia.

The group are also heading to the US in August to play with musician John Butler in Illinois.

The group features Donna and brunette sister Vikki Thorn and Josh Cummingham.

They are known for tracks including London Still and Bridal Train.

Donna and Vikki also perform as The Stray Sisters.

In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald in 2014, Donna said the pair can fight both on and off the stage.

'We fight. Oh my God, we fight on stage! We can't help it. We're kind of mortified in a sense that people know it and see it,' she said.
She has no shortage of male admirers - including F1 driver Lewis Hamilton.

And Sofia Richie was turning heads once again as she stepped out in New York City on Saturday.

The 18-year-old daughter of Lionel Richie received admiring glances after unveiling her new hair-do.

New do! Sofia Richie was turning heads once again as she stepped out in New York City on Saturday

The teenager had longer straight blonde locks in a sleek bob - after recently sporting a shorter curlier style.

The pretty blonde stood out in red tartan trousers which were flared and cropped.

She had thick heeled black velvet boots to complete her style.

Well-tressed: The 18-year-old daughter of Lionel Richie received admiring glances after unveiling her new hair-do

The younger sister of Nicole Richie kept snug in a black hoodie, and had retro red-lens sunglasses on.

She was carrying a black bag and apparently some new purchases in a shopping carrier.

Sofia also shared Snapchat videos in her outfit, revealing her toned abs.

Shes done little recently to dispel persistent rumours of a burgeoning romance with Lewis Hamilton after liking a snap of the partially clothed sportsman on social media.

Well plaid: The teenager had longer straight blonde locks in a sleek bob - after recently sporting a shorter curlier style

Retail therapy: She was carrying a black bag and apparently some new purchases in a shopping carrier

Earlier this month she liked a sizzling snap of F1 driver Lewis, 32, on Instagram - just hours after he was tapping away on her profile himself.

The teenager posted a cheeky Emoji under the snap of Lewis, which he shared on Wednesday, shortly after she posed and pouted for a snap which he too liked.

At the end of January, the duo, who share a 14 year age gap, were seen on a sushi date at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills - sparking rumours they were an item.

Social media queen: Sofia also shared Snapchat videos in her outfit, revealing her toned abs

Having fun: She added filters to her Snapchat

While they have remained tight-lipped over the reported romance, their social media activity seems to speak volumes.

Sofia was no doubt captivated by Lewis' mirror selfie which saw him peel off his shirt to best show off his incredibly taut physique while pouting into the camera.

She also shared the 'see no evil' monkey, which is often seen as a cheeky sign due to the coy look - making for a cheeky gesture towards her rumoured flame.

Sofia has previously been linked to a string of stars including Justin Bieber, Cameron Dallas and Brooklyn Beckham.

Lewis meanwhile was well known for dating Nicole Scherzinger before splitting in 2015 before he was linked to Winnie Harlow and Rita Ora later on.

New do! She previously had a shorter wavier hair style

Hello Mr Hamilton! Sofia did little to quash claims of her relationship with Lewis Hamilton as she liked a sizzling snap of the F1 driver on Instagram - just hours after he was tapping away on her profile himself

Cheeky! The teenager posted a cheeky Emoji under the snap of Lewis, which he shared on Wednesday, shortly after she posed and pouted for a snap which he too liked

Rock royalty: She's the youngest daughter of music legend Lionel Richie




Egypt attracted $3.1 billion of foreign investment in domestic debt instruments since the flotation of the pound in November up until mid-March, Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Kojak told Reuters on Sunday.

Kojak said the funds were invested in treasury bills and bonds.

The Central Bank said earlier this month that foreign investment in treasury bills rose to a net purchase of $686.7 million in the first half of the 2016/17 financial year, compared to net sales of $38.3 million a year ago.

Egypt's fiscal year begins on July 1.

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Kendall Jenner ditched some layers for a relaxed lunch out in Malibu on Saturday.

The 21-year-old was spotted rocking a crop top that flashed her toned physique as she left lunch at the Soho House.

Kendall had her brunette tresses scraped up into a messy little bun as she headed outside of the trendy restaurant.

Checkmate! Kendall Jenner ditched some layers for a relaxed lunch out in Malibu on Sunday

Off she goes: The 21-year-old was spotted rocking a crop top that flashed her toned physique as she left lunch at the Soho House

She teamed the crop top with a red flannel shirt and high waist black trousers that were belted into her narrow waistline.

Kendall accessorized the dressed down look with a gold and trendy statement necklace.

And she wore a casual pair of b&w Vans sneakers.

The model finished off the look with a large pair of sunglasses and carried a little red wallet.

Added extras: She teamed the crop top with a red flannel shirt and high waist black trousers that were belted into her narrow waistline

Glam: The star accessorized with a statement necklace and b&w Vans shoes

Patchwork! The model's flannel shirt was topped off with a playful patch

It's been a stressful week for Kendall.

Last Thursday, $200,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from the model's home after she had a small party at her place.

The model had called police in the early hours of Thursday morning after she noticed the accessories missing from her bedroom.

The theft comes as the family finally talked in depth on their show Keeping Up With The Kardashians about Kim Kardashian being robbed at gun point in Paris last year.

In the emotional episode which aired on Sunday, the family spoke of their terror for Kim, while Kim tearfully revealed she thought she would be raped and murdered during the ordeal.

Extremely stressful: Last Thursday, $200,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from the model's home after she had a small party at her place
Terrence Howard has claimed on Twitter he's 'never been abusive' to anyone his entire life.

It comes 18 months after the 48-year-old admitted in an interview with Rolling Stone that he hit his ex-wife Lori McCommas.

The actor had a mini Twitter rant on Saturday, apparently in response to a People article that quoted him as saying he had made 'terrible mistakes in the past'; clarifying that by 'mistakes' he meant misplacing his trust, rather than beating up women.

'I've never been abusive to anyone in my entire life': Terrence Howard plead his innocence on Twitter on Saturday (pictured in Hollywood in 2017)

'When I say that I've made mistakes, it is not regarding violence but judgement. Trusting the wrong people!' he tweeted.

'I've never been abusive to anyone in my entire life. I have loved and paid the price for love. I am the same loving being since day 1!'

The claim seemed to contradict an interview he gave to Rolling Stone in September 2015, in which he admitted slapping his first wife Lori in front of their three children.

'She was talking to me real strong, and I lost my mind and slapped her in front of the kids,' he said at the time.

Mistake mistake: The actor had a mini Twitter rant apparently in response to a People article that quoted him as saying he had made 'terrible mistakes in the past', clarifying that by 'mistakes' he meant misplacing his trust, rather than beating up women

Violent past: The claim seemed to contradict an interview he gave to Rolling Stone in September 2015, in which he admitted slapping his first wife Lori McCommas in front of their three children

The Empire star turned to semantics to help with his defense on Saturday, insisting he never 'punched' her.

'Having an altercation is very different than abuse...' he declared, 'and for the record I never punched her in the face get the facts straight.'

Incidentally, the police report at the time, Lori said she was punched with a closed fist  twice.

In that same Rolling Stone interview, he claimed the reason he hit second wife Michelle Ghent was because she was macing him and he was trying to bat her away in self defence. He never explained why his wife was allegedly trying to mace him in the first place.

Excuse: The Empire star turned to semantics to help with his defense on Saturday, insisting he never 'punched' her

Self defense: In that same Rolling Stone interview, he claimed the reason he hit second wife Michelle Ghent was because she was macing him and he was trying to bat her away in self defense. He never explained why his wife was allegedly trying to mace him in the first place.

Painful: Michelle and the black eye she says she got from Howard during their trip to Costa Rica

Michelle was granted a restraining order after accusing him of choking, hitting and kicking her, leaving her with a black eye during their trip to Costa Rica, according to TMZ.

'This double standard that has permitted abusive women to feel that they can assault a man and not reap where they have sowed is wrong!' Howard tweeted on Saturday.

He also tweeted: 'I firmly believe that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. Kiss for a [kiss]'.

Her side: In Wednesday's People article, Terrence's third and current wife Mira Pak, with whom he has two sons, claimed the actor wouldn't hurt a fly

Day job: The 48-year-old plays Lucious Lyon in the hit television series Empire

'You come for me, I come for you. Eye for an eye!' he reiterated five hours later.

In Wednesday's People article, Terrence's third and current wife Mira Pak, with whom he has two sons, claimed the actor wouldn't hurt a fly.

It's not just his ex-wives who accused him of violence either; Howard's 'I've never been abusive' tweet also ignores a long trail of accusers he has left in his wake through the years.

As a two-year-old child, Howard witnessed his father Tyrone stab a man to death at a mall in Cleveland after a row broke out in a line to see Santa. He only served 11 months in prison.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is set to hit theaters on May 26.

And to tide fans over until the release of the fifth film in the franchise, Disney shared a new trailer of the movie on Saturday.

In the newest trailer, Johnny Depp's character Jack Sparrow gets more familiar with astronomer Carina Smyth, played by Kaya Scoderlario.

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Disney released a trailer for Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which is set to hit theaters on May 26; Johnny Depp and Kaya Scoderlario in character

She asks, 'Are all pirates this stupid?' to which Jack quickly answers yes.

Although the brand new trailer features the same scenes as the extended trailer released earlier this month, there are new elements added.

Carina says in the minute long trailer: 'I'm a woman of science. I choose not to believe in ghosts.

Brenton Thwaites, who plays the Royal Navy sailor Henry, points out that an large group of ghosts are racing toward them at that very moment.

Total shock: Although the brand new trailer features the same scenes as an extended trailer released earlier this month, their are new elements added

The plot line for the film revolves around Captain Armando Salazar, played by Javier Bardem, who has a goal of 'eliminating' every pirate, especially Jack.

Jack is also asked by Henry, 'Are you sure you are the Jack Sparrow? Where is your pants?'

To which a trouser-less Jack quips: 'A great pirate does not require such intricacies.'

Exciting: In the newest trailer, Johnny's character Jack Sparrow (C) get more familiar with astronomer Carina Smyth, played by Kaya Scoderlario (L); Brenton Thwaites (R)

Here they come: Carina says in the minute long trailer: 'I'm a woman of science. I choose not to believe in ghosts

Oops on his part: Jack is also asked by Henry, 'Are you sure you are the Jack Sparrow? Where is your pants?'

Forgot something Jack? To which a trouser-less Jack answers: 'A great pirate does not require such intricacies'

Also in the trailer is the young Jack Sparrow, who is the source of Captain Salazar's rage.

Captain Salazar, who escapes Devil's Triangle, returns as a ghost with the goal of killing all pirates: 'I will have my revenge.'

Scenes of a drinking Jack as well as him tripping and falling on his face also made the cut for the latest trailer.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will be released on May 26, 2017; Geoffrey Rush and Orlando Bloom also star in the film.

Handsome looking guy: Also in the trailer is the young Jack Sparrow, who is the source of Captain Salazar's rage

So scary: Captain Armando Salazar appears to have escaped Devil's Triangle and his ghost returns to kill all pirates: 'I will have my revenge'

Terrifying: Javier's character Captain Salazar is a ghost with a clear goal
Chris Rock kicked off his Total Blackout tour on Saturday evening.

But fans were in for a huge surprise when, following the opening act, comedian Dave Chappelle walked out on stage at the Saenger Theatre.

Rock's solo act turned into a duet, as Chappelle delivered 10 minutes of material before Chris came out and then stayed onstage during the headliner's entire set, according to Nola.com.

Dream team: Chris Rock, Jeffrey Ross, Eric Andre and Dave Chappelle all performed at the Saenger Theatre during Rock's first night in New Orleans

What a surprise! Rock's show was crashed by Chappelle (pictured in December in Miami)

As he took the stage to an 'enormous ovation,' the Chappelle's Show star said: 'Tonight, you are all part of a social experiment...Stranger things have happened in New Orleans.'

The website reported the unexpected performance was 'hilarious' and seemed to even take the stars by surprise.

Jeffrey Ross and Eric Andre - who was supported by girlfriend Rosario Dawson - opened for the popular comics.

Tyra Banks was also in the audience.

Longtime friends: Dave and Chris have been friends for well over a decade and are both established comedians. They are pictured in 2014

She tweeted: 'Witnessed comedic history tonight. @chrisrock & @DaveChappelle on the stage together. Magic.'

No cell phones were allowed inside the theater, per tour rules.

When Dave and Chris were on stage together, in what is a momentous moment for comedy fans, Rock said with a grin: 'Oh, you wish you had your phones, right?'

Members of the audience took to Twitter to comment on the evening.

Buzzfeed national correspondent John Stanton tweeted: 'Can't even explain how ill it was to see @realjeffreyross and @ericandre open for @DaveChappelle and @chrisrock talking s**t for an hour'

Supportive: Chris and Dave support friend and fellow comedian Neal Brennan in 2016

He also wrote: 'Went to the Chris Rock show tonight. Instead we got Jeff Ross, Eric Andre, Dave Chappelle AND Chris Rock. F***in insane.'

Another fan wrote: 'We witnessed history! Dave Chappelle & Chris Rock performing on the same stage at the same time!'

The night was the first of three for Chris, who commented at one point: 'Y'all got a weird show.'

Old friends: Chris and Dave in 2006 during Spike Lee's 20 Anniversary Celebration Benefit

Chappelle will not be storming the stage at any of Rock's other two shows, since he has gigs lined up himself Austin, Texas beginning on Sunday.

He is enjoying the huge success afforded to him by the release of two Netflix specials this week after over a decade-long hiatus from the spotlight.

At the end of the stand up, he commented: 'This might be one of the flyest things I've ever been a part of.'
She never lets her fans down with her quirky red carpet style choices.

And Thandie Newton cut a sophisticated figure in a sequin floral embroidered pencil skirt as she attended a Westworld screening in Hollywood on Saturday night.

The British actress, who plays Maeve Millay in the hit science fiction series, paired her eye-catching skirt with a patterned blouse.

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Eye-catching: Thandie Newton, 44, shimmered in a sequin pencil skirt and patterned blouse as she attended a Westworld event in Hollywood on Saturday

The 44-year-old star looked composed in her unusual rose gold shimmering skirt.

Her blouse featured a pattern of birds perching on branches with delicate ruffles across the bodice and at her cuffs.

The mother-of-three donned pretty pastel pink peep-toe t-bar sandals and swept her raven locks back into a high ponytail.

Stunning: The beautiful British actress and mum-of-three looked sultry at the event, emphasising her eyes with a sweep of bronze shadow and loading her lashes with mascara

Style setter: Thandie paired her shimmering skirt with a blouse which featured a pattern of birds perching on branches and a pair of pretty pink t-bar sandals

Thandie accentuated her eyes with bronze shadow, eye liner and loaded her lashes with mascara.

The Mission: Impossible II star also sported delicate gold earrings for the event.

The actress is enjoying a successful period, starring in two major series: Westworld and Line of Duty.

She appears in Westworld totally naked but Thandie has insisted the scenes do not make her uncomfortable and in fact the challenge is liberating.

'I was more comfortable naked!' Westworld and Line Of Duty star Thandie admitted she prefers acting totally nude than in 'inviting and provocative' costumes

'I found myself more empowered naked than I did with the saloon outfit on,' she said, comparing her nude scenes to the ones in which she wears frilly, figure-clinging, busty costumes for her sex worker robot character, Maeve Millay.

'I was more comfortable naked because the costume was the most potent objectification of a woman, with the boobs pushed right up, the tiny waist.

'Its an invitation for sex,' she said while in conversation with Line Of Duty exec Jed Mercurio.

'The fishnet tights, the little heels with the laces... Its all about sensuality. Its about eroticism. Its about "Look, but dont touch".

'Its all there to make the invitation for sex as provocative as possible and then the promise of satisfaction is practically just there.'

Empowering: A staunch advocate for gender and racial equality, the British star explained that acting in the busty costume garnered a kind of unwanted, lewd attention on set, while her nude scenes saw her treated much more respectfully

A staunch advocate for gender and racial equality, the British star explained that acting in the busty costume garnered unwanted, lewd attention on set, while her nude scenes saw her treated much more respectfully.

Her Line Of Duty role, DCI Roz Huntley, sees her tackle an empowering female character in a different way.

'I realised we were going to do something horribly, diabolically real. I found the most horrible shoes and pop socks that I would insist on pulling up so you could see them,' she said of the part, which sees her play a law-enforcing professional mother, whose costumes were far from revealing.

'Every woman will recognise the frustrations,' Thandie said of Roz, who is a mum of two being investigated for possible corruption by AC-12.

Strong woman: Thandie is currently starring in two major series - Westworld and Line Of Duty

'In every role, in every job, every line of work, as a mother you just have to be twice as good and if youre black you have to be twice as good on top of that,' she went on, addressing race.

'Shes a Senior Investigating Officer and shes taken five years off, to raise her family and has to claw her way back to where she was. Its a very real problem, what is most degrading is the sexual abuse that goes on whether its verbal or whether its physical its very tough on women.

'Roz is under a hell of a lot of pressure and the audience sees that pressure and that allows the audience to be judge and jury, which I think is fantastic.'

On top of feminism and racial issues, Thandie has had her own experiences with body image - suffering from bulimia while at Cambridge University, where she studied anthropology.

Sex-bot: 'The fishnet tights, the little heels with the laces... Its all about sensuality. Its about eroticism. Its about "Look, but dont touch",' she explained

Stunning: Her Line Of Duty role, DCI Roz Huntley, sees her tackle an empowering female character in a different way

Drawing on experience: On top of feminism and racial issues, Thandie has had her own experiences with body image - suffering from bulimia whilst at Cambridge University, where she studied anthropology

'I was not perceived as the person that boys wanted to go out with. And that has a very strong effect on a young girl,' she said. 'I was lying in bed and I remember feeling my heart against my rib cage. Because my ribs were so close to my skin it was like my heart was coming out. I thought: "F***, Im going to die".'

Since dabbling with acting, which she first did when she was 16 years old, she was lured into touching herself on camera for an audition, which the director is said to have used privately at sex parties.

Award-winning: When first starting out in acting, Thandie was lured into touching herself on camera for an audition, which the director is said to have used privately at sex parties

The star admits she joined the cast of Line Of Duty without having seen the previous three seasons or even reading the script for season four.

She said: 'I hadnt seen any of it before but I had a call from my agent and she said, "If you ever want to work on British television this is the best thing you could ever do."

'I watched it with my husband and I could not stop from episode to episode. I didnt know what was going to happen in the episodes but I just signed on.'

Filming took place in Northern Ireland and Thandie recalled how she enlisted her children's nanny to help her learn the lengthy mass of lines in the scripts.

'She would dread it every night. Id ply her with wine, really expensive wine, to sweeten her up, then Id be going through lines, psyched because of the day of filming. Poor woman, I should have paid her a bit more,' she revealed.
She often opts for rather racy ensembles for a night on the tiles.

And Abigail Clarke stepped out in another revealing number as she attended the Pingr launch party at London's Maddox Club on Saturday night.

The former TOWIE star, 25, showed off her ample cleavage and a flash of thigh in a tight-fitting shirt dress, which she teamed with thigh-high suede boots.

Night out: Abigail Clarke stepped out in a revealing number as she attended the Pingr launch party at London's Maddox Club on Saturday night

The brunette beauty draped an embroidered denim jacket over her shoulders to fend off the night-time chill, before adding a chic clutch bag to complete the ensemble.

Wearing her tresses down over her shoulders in loose curls, she showed off her glowing complexion with a dash of blusher.

She finished off the glamorous make-up look with lashings of mascara and a shimmering pink lip gloss.

Working it: The former TOWIE star, 25, showed off her ample cleavage and a flash of thigh in a tight-fitting shirt dress

Brunette beauty: Wearing her tresses down over her shoulders in loose curls, she showed off her glowing complexion with a dash of blusher

The TV personality was accompanied on the night out by her good friend Junaid Ahmed.

The model, 22, opted for a denim shirt teamed with white ripped jeans and black ankle boots for the launch event.

Abigail previously spoke out about the hurt she felt after her breasts were called 'grotesque' and compared to 'a pair of grapefruits stuck on her chest' by social media users.

Glam: She accentuated her eyes with lashings of mascara and a shimmering pink lip gloss

Finishing touches: The reality star teamed the mini dress with thigh-high suede boots, adding an embroidered denim jacket to fend off the night-time chill

Male pal: She was accompanied on the night out by her good friend Junaid Ahmed

She told Closer magazine: 'It was horrible to hear and really hard to take criticism about your looks - it's hurtful.'

Abigail insisted she didn't realise her chest looked 'bigger than normal' or 'gappy', and doesn't understand why everyone attacked her for it.

However, the stunner is adamant she doesn't regret her decision to have breast implants, taking her chest from a 32A cup to a 32D in 2012.

Abigail enjoyed a fleeting stint on The Only Way Is Essex in 2013 and has since launched her own health and fitness brand.

Stepping out: The pair's outfits complemented each other with both opting for denim

Having fun: Abigail and Junaid were seen pulling faces at each other as they arrived at the club

Strike a pose: Junaid opted for a denim shirt teamed with white ripped jeans and black ankle boots for the launch event

Partying the night away: Abigail appeared to be in good spirits as she attended the event
She's the mother of four beautiful children.

And Victoria Beckham was lavished with praise from her brood as she joined the host of stars celebrating Mother's Day in the UK on Sunday.

Taking to Instagram, the 42-year-old designer - who shares Brooklyn, 18, Romeo, 14, Cruz, 11, and Harper, five with husband David - showed off the adorable card her youngest had made her.

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Cute: Victoria Beckham was lavished with praise in a sweet card from her daughter Harper as she joined the host of stars celebrating Mother's Day in the UK on Sunday

The cute handmade creation was written out neatly with Harper alongside a drawing and read: 'Dear mummy, I hope you have a lovely day with us. enjoy lunch you are vere spesial to me you are my best friend i hav evr met love Harper. hooray hooray for mummy [sic].'

Victoria captioned the snap: 'Feeling very loved today The sweetest card from my best friend x I love u all so much x @davidbeckham @brooklynbeckham @romeobeckham @cruzbeckham X VB.'

The five-year-old also created another card which Victoria filmed herself reading whilst Harper sang along in the background.

'Does it get any cuter?!?! I love my babies and feel beyond blessed x I love u so much @davidbeckham,' she captioned the snap.

Best friends: Harper described mum Victoria as her 'best friend' in the cute card

Sweet: The five-year-old also created another card which Victoria filmed herself reading whilst Harper sang along in the background

David was also full of praise for his wife - as he called her an 'amazing mummy'.

Posting a black and white snap of the family looking out at the horizon, he wrote of the 42-year-old designer: 'Happy mama's day to another amazing mummy ...

'Someone that has raised these beautiful little ones to be the most precious , special and loved children ... A woman that has drive , passion , intelligence and love for her children what gets any better than that ??

'Thank you for giving me the most beautiful gift @victoriabeckham ( To all the mums have an amazing day ).'

Victoria also received praise from their eldest son Brooklyn, who shared a sweet selfie of the pair captioned: 'Happy Mother's Day. X love you to the moon and back.'

Family fun: David was also full of praise for his wife - as he called her an 'amazing mummy' whilst sharing a snap of the group huddled together looking out on the horizon

Cute: Victoria also received praise from their eldest son Brooklyn, who shared a sweet selfie of the pair captioned: 'Happy Mother's Day. X love you to the moon and back'

Sweet: Romeo Beckham wrote 'Happy Mother's Day mum xx I can't ask for a cooler,nicer and joyful mum. love u lots and lots have a great day'

Perfect pair: Meanwhile, David was also quick to pay tribute to his own mother Sandra, posting a collage of cute pictures of the pair

Meanwhile, David was also quick to pay tribute to his own mother Sandra, posting a collage of cute pictures of the pair.

He wrote: 'Happy Mother's Day to the most amazing mum... You deserve a day of love and looking after every single day but today is your day so don't resist the love that will be coming your way because normally you make it about everyone else except you...

'Thank you for being that person that has always been here for me no matter what... Happy Mother's Day mum x p.s I secretly love when you comment on my posts @sandra_beckham49.'

Cute: Scarlett Moffatt shared a sweet collage captioned: 'Happy Mother's Day to my best friend in the whole entire universe. Love you all the world and back again @bettymoff23 #love'

Sweet: Helen Flanagan posted a black and white selfie with her mum captioned: 'Happy Mother's Day to my amazing mum my best friend and my rock'

Two of a kind: Helen also shared a sweet clip of herself cuddled up to daughter Matilda and planting a kiss on her adorable daughter

Throwback: Lucy Mecklenburgh revealed she'd be treating her mother to lunch as she shared a cute throwback picture with her mum and sister

Sweet: Fearne Cotton shared two pictures of her glamorous mother, which she captioned: 'Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful, loving, tenacious, thoughtful mumma'

Lovely: Fearne wrote: 'Those lovely blue eyes have shown me a lot of wisdom and protection over the years. They've also scared the sh**e out of me when I've been troublesome. So grateful for you mumma x'

The Beckham's weren't the only famous family celebrating Mother's Day, with Scarlett Moffatt sharing a sweet collage captioned: 'Happy Mother's Day to my best friend in the whole entire universe. Love you all the world and back again @bettymoff23 #mothersday #love.'

Helen Flanagan posted a black and white selfie with her mum captioned: 'Happy Mother's Day to my amazing mum my best friend and my rock.

'Thankyou for absolutely everything you do for me, especially so I can go back to work and do a job I love and being the best "mama" to Matilda and Isabelle, they both love you so much xxx

'You are so selfless to all four of us and I am so lucky to call you my mum. I don't know what I'd do without you xxx Love you.'

Close bond: David Walliams shared a sweet photo with his mother Kathleen, writing: 'Today I am enjoying the sunshine with my mum. I hope you are too'

Loving son: Liz Hurley shared an adorable photo with son Damian, now 14, with the caption: 'Being a mother is magical. Happy mother's day everyone xxx'

Missing mum: Nigella Lawson posted a picture of her stunning mother, who died more than 20 years ago, with the caption: '1936 - 1985 #motherday'

Superwoman: Kimberley Walsh gushed about her mum, writing: 'Happy Mother's Day mum! You really are a real life superwoman. I think I only realise quite how much now I'm a mum of two myself! How you coped with the four of us on your own I'll never know! Now we have repaid you with 5 hilarious and seriously noisy grandsons. Love you so much'

Ace! McFly's Danny Jones wrote: 'Here's to my ace mum who has the biggest heart in the world, and makes this planet a much better place. The fun, the love and the comfort you give me is endless. Thank you mum, Love you xx'

So cute: Ferne McCann posted an adorable note she wrote about her mum at school as a six year old, with the caption: 'Happy Mothers Day Mama, thank you for making me giggle, washing my clothes (still), knowing exactly where my things are when i've lost them around the house and for being an amazing mum. Love you'

Liz Hurley shared a gorgeous throwback photo with son Damian, now 14, with the caption: 'Being a mother is magical. Happy mother's day everyone xxx'

And Ferne McCann posted a note she wrote about her mum at school as a six year old, with the caption: 'Happy Mothers Day Mama, thank you for making me giggle, washing my clothes (still), knowing exactly where my things are when i've lost them around the house and for being an amazing mum. Love you'

Nigella Lawson added a poignant photograph to the mix, posting a photo of her mother Vanessa, who died from cancer more than 20 years ago, with the caption: '1936 - 1985 #mothersday'

Adorable: Katie Piper wrote: 'I love you Mum- Happy Mothers Day #mamailoveyou #mothersday #mothy #moth'

Wine time: Gemma Oaten quipped: 'Mamma and me. Love her. So much guidance... In wine, wine, life, wine, men, wine wine and the woman I am... And wine!'

Throwback: TOWIE's Georgia Kousoulou wrote: 'Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful mum, we love you so much, thank you for everything you do for me @gracekousoulou & @antkousoulou Love this #tb picture'

Three of a kind: Dan Osborne paid tribute to his mother and fiancee posting: 'Happy Mothers Day to these 2 incredible women.. Thank you to them both for everything they do for me & most importantly my children. You really are both incredible people and you are amazing parents. Ella has the best mummy & I do too. Love you both'

Adorable: Dan also posted a picture of Jacqueline with their daughter Ella

Cute: Jacqueline then shared a picture with her mum captioned 'You are the life and soul of the family and make us smile always. The strongest women I have ever met and known. One day I hope to be as strong as you, and as funny. Also you are one crazy Irish woman...'

Double trouble: Jacqueline posed with Ella and wrote 'I will love you always princess, spent the whole morning just me and her, now the rest of the family are coming over, what a perfect mothers day so far!'

Loving life: Former TOWIE star Billi Mucklow wrote: '@paulamucklow Best Mummy And Nanny We All Love You Unconditionally'

Open up: The mother-of-one also received she'd been treated on the day as she shared a snap of her card captioned: 'I Love Being A Mammy '

Dream team: Tallia Storm wrote 'HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO THE MOST AMAZING MUMMY ON THE PLANET I love you so much!!! Thank you for all you do for us & inspiring us every day'

Seeing double: Marnie Simpson posted 'Thank you for learning me to be who I am mamma. I really owe you a lot and I love you incredibly it's hurts. Your a amazing mother and I adore you inside and out. My rock my best friend my hero @sharrakenney Happy mothers day'

Throwback: Georgia May Foote quipped 'Happy mothers day to this ball of frizz... been putting up with me being a pain in the arse from birth! Love you Mum'

Lucy Mecklenburgh revealed she'd be treating her mother to lunch as she shared a cute throwback picture with her mum and sister Lydia captioned: 'Happy Mother's Day to my lovely mummy & all the special mums out there!

'I need to decide what roast dinner I'm going to make today? @lydiameck your on homemade dessert duty! #happymothersday #mothersday #family.'

Fearne Cotton shared two pictures of her glamorous mother, which she captioned: 'Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful, loving, tenacious, thoughtful mumma. Love and thanks to all the mums, mother figures, new mums and mums that are no longer here.

'Those lovely blue eyes have shown me a lot of wisdom and protection over the years. They've also scared the sh**e out of me when I've been troublesome. So grateful for you mumma x.'

Terrific trio: Danielle Lloyd wrote: 'Happy Mother's Day to the best mummy and nanny in the world don't know what id do without you! Always there for me love you so much'

Yummy mummy: Melanie Sykes shared a picture of her mother written 'My Mum the one and only Wendy Sykes #mothersday #beautifulmama #angloindian #beauty this pic was taken at my 21st birthday party she was 41years old'

Sweet: Mother-of-two Imogen Thomas wrote: 'Happy Mother's Day to all you beautiful mamas. You have the hardest job in the world- never let anyone underestimate you as a mother'

Out and about: Imogen then enjoyed a day out with her own mother

Lovely: Gaz Beadle wrote: 'Happy Mother's Day to the best mam in the world !!! I love you more then you could ever imagine and I am so lucky to always have you by my side and supporting me no matter what I do... I will see you soon #mothersday'

Blonde beauties: Billie Faiers wrote 'Happy Mother's Day my beautiful mumma @suziewells123 ... we all love you so much, Thank you for everything you do for us, You truly are my best friend .. love u lots'

Sister act: Billie's sister Sam also paid tribute 'Happy Mothers Day My Beautiful Mummy.  You are so special to us. You are funny, kind, a crazy dancer & much more I love you with all my heart thank you for being my mummy  @suziewells123'

Baby love: Sam showed the gifts baby boy Paul had 'given' her, captioned 'you know me too well paul mummy is blessed to have you as my son #HappyMothersDay'

Sisterly love: Billie wished Sam Happy Mother's Day posting 'Thank you for supporting me through this whole journey called motherhood! Since having Nelly and now baby no 2, knowing you're not doing it on your own makes everything a little less scary'

Three's company: Lizzie Cundy wrote 'I'm the luckiest Mum ever to have these amazing sons . My world . A very Happy Mother's Day to you all  #mothersday'

Sweet: Amber Dowding posted 'Your really are special. You constantly put everyone before yourself, you go above & beyond to do what you can for us, you support us & (annoy us at times) and most importantly you've given me your rhythm'

Aww: Millie Mackintosh shared a throwback captioned 'Love you mumma'

New mum: Geri Horner posed with her baby boy as she wrote 'Happy Mother's Day Everyone . To my own mother who worked so tirelessly to look after us , who taught me so much , and helps me with my own children . - mothering comes in all different ways'

Kind words: Danielle Armstrong posted 'Happy Mother's Day to my gorgeous mum @debbie.armstrong_2017 you mean the world to me and I don't no what me and @lannen22 would do without you. Thanks for just being you. Love you x #happymothersday'

Kind: Daisy Lowe shared 'Happiest Mother's Day everyone! And especially to my dearest mumma @pearllowe the strongest, coolest and most inspiring woman I know. Thanks for making me and nurturing me into who I am today - love you more than you could ever know'

80s: Jacqui Ritchie posted 'Dear Mum, you have always been so consistant, in your strength, in your love, in your selflessness. I really appreciate every moment that you have invested in me. All those times when it was tiring and no one else was there to witness you soldiering on, they are now palpable in our bond and in my love for you'

Lucky: Jacqui also shared a sweet snap of the flowers her children with Guy Ritchie had given her which she captioned '#luckymummy'

Loving life: Nicola Roberts shared a snap 'Happy Mother's Day Mum . Love you x'

Kind words: Perrie Edwards wrote 'Can't even put into words how lucky I am to have this crazy ambitious, strong woman in my life!'

Sweet: Emma Bunton wrote 'Happy Mother's Day! You have been by my side every step of the way, and I couldn't have done any of it without your love and support. My mum, my friend'

Cute: Olly Murs shared 'Happy Mother's Day mum!! You only get one and I'm eternally grateful it was you'

Lovely: Gordon Ramsay remarked 'Happy Mother's Day Mum and thank you for being a tower of strength love you Gordon xxx'

Seeing double: Mollie King shared 'Happy Mother's Day to my bestest friend on the whole planet. Thank you for always dreaming big with me and being the person one who would listen to my plans of becoming a "pop star" since I was 8 years old. I love you'

Yummy mummy: Tamara was celebrating with daughter Sophia as she shared 'Mother's Day lunch with my love'

Getting in early: Ferne McCann shared her snap with her mother a day early on Instagram

Sweet: Giovanna Fletcher posted a throwback captioned 'Happy Mother's Day to my mummy! Thank you for all you do for us. Xxx'

Retro: Giovanna's husband Tom shared some retro snaps of the pair captioned 'Happy Mother's Day Mum. Love you. Thanks for always being awesome. X'

Seeing double: Naomi Campbell shared a snap of her youthful mother captioned '#happymothersday @valeriemorriscampbell I love you !! Thank you for giving me Life'

Adorable: Pixie Lott shared 'Happy Mamas Day to the best Mama of her 3 kitty's and everyone she meets @bevstacat123 and to all the mama's'

Mother's Day was a poignant moment of reflection for some stars, with Frankie Essex paying tribute to her late mother - who committed suicide whilst Frankie was a child.

She wrote: 'Wishing My Angel in Heaven a Happy Mother's Day also to all the gorgeous Mummys out there what would we all do without you amazing mummys who look after and care for us all...your all the best!!!

'If your Mummy can't be with us today like mine they are all with us in our hearts and memories let this day be a day to celebrate them I Blow a kiss to you mum today and thank you for everything you ever did for me I love you and I will miss you forever #happymothersday I have the best memories of you.'

Stella McCartney followed suit in paying homage to her late mother, who passed away in 1998, as she posted a snap of her mum Linda while penning: 'As Mother's Day arrives here in Britain, I need to pause and reflect on my Mother.

'The depth to which she has inspired my life is unimaginable. She was a mum with unconditional love, she was a true beauty inside and out. Comfortable in her own skin and her sense of style was like no one else around, which inspired me to try to not be anyone I am not in my life and her natural confidence is at the core of my principles and dreams for all the Stella women I touch through my work.

'Her love of animals inspired my responsible beliefs and along with dad, they taught me to look at the world around me and to serve it and respect it in all I do. I look at my babies and as their mum all I want is to be as great as my mother was to me. I love you Linda Louise. x Stella'.

Announcement: Danielle Bux used Mother's Day as an opportunity to confirm her pregnancy sharing a snap of her blossoming baby bump

Sad passing: Frankie Essex payed tribute to her late mother, writing 'Wishing My Angel in Heaven a Happy Mother's Day also to all the gorgeous Mummys out there what would we all do without you amazing mummys who look after and care for us all...your all the best!!!'

Taking it easy: Holly Willoughby was enjoying some relaxation time with daughter Belle, sharing a snap captioned 'Feet up and sunshine!!! #happymothersday'

Nice: Louise Redknapp wrote 'Mum I love you thanks for being my rock @lynnebeth51  I'm very lucky to have you as my mum x'

Creative: Davina showed off the card her kids had made for her, writing 'Loved my Mother's Day card !! Lols x A quick note to anyone who has a tough relationship with their mum x that's ok... you only need one positive maternal role model in your life to help you learn what it is to be a mum'

Seeing double: Lily Allen shared a sweet black and white snap of her mother

Three of a kind: Amanda Holden cuddled up to her children for Mother's Day

Sweet: Kate Beckinsale wrote 'Happy Mother's Day . I am so lucky to have the best dearest kindest biggest hearted funny brilliant mama . Side note this is the last time I drove a car'

Across the pond: Gwyneth Paltrow shared 'Happy UK Mother's Day to all, especially this lovely Mum of 5 and extra special grandmother of 6 #alimartin'

All smiles: Vicky Pattison wrote 'A special and heartfelt shoutout to the best Mother I know.. @mammypatto!!! I don't know how you've put up with me over the years petal and I do hope I'm getting better as I get older and making you proud...'
She's the former children's entertainer who reinvented herself into a travel TV presenter.

But Charli Robinson appears to have taken the weekend off to celebrate her race car driver boyfriend's win at the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday.

The 37-year-old looked proud as punch standing by Liam Talbot after coming first in Race 4.

Winning! Charli Robinson celebrated her race car driver boyfriend, Liam Talbot's win at the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday

As Liam, the son of legendary mining entrepreneur Ken Talbot, holds both trophy and a bottle of Chandon champagne, and still dressed in his racing suit.

The couple seemed smitten as they posed close together for the cameras, with Charli even planting a kiss on Liam's cheek.

The Sea FM Gold Coast breakfast show host looked every bit the stylist WAG in her chic leather mini skirt and white Tee.

Sealed with a kiss! She planted a kiss on the cheek of son of the legendary mining entrepreneur Ken Talbot

Getting bubbly: The couple seemed smitten as they posed close together for the cameras, with Liam taking a sip from his champagne

Enjoying the celebrations! The Sea FM Gold Coast breakfast show host looked every bit the stylist WAG in her chic leather mini skirt and white Tee

She matched her with a pair of gold toe Adidas superstar sneakers and aviator style sunglasses hanging from her shirt.

The former Hi-5 member took to Instagram to congratulate her beau his accomplishment.

She captioned her post: 'Yay!!!!! He won the race today!'

'Congratulations @liamtalbotracing you put in so much hard work, enjoy the celebrations! Congrats to all the teams @walkinshawgt3 #AusGT @ausgrandprix #AusGP #F1 #Melbourne,' she added to the post.

Racing fan: The former Hi-5 member took to Instagram to congratulate her beau his accomplishment captioning her post: 'Yay!!!!! He won the race today!'

She and Liam first spoke about their relationship to the Gold Coast Bulletin last year.

'I was raised to be a car racing fan, so now it's like I've met the man of my dreams,' Charli said.

'Now watching, knowing the person you care about is behind the wheel, makes it even more exciting and nerve-racking,' she added.

'I love seeing her smile  it's an unbelievable smile,' Liam said.
Just two weeks ago, reports emerged that she was 'top of the list' for Channel 4's celebrity spin-off.

And Michelle Keegan has now hinted that she is desperate to take par after being unable to take part last year - even suggesting that her culinary skills are sure to impress.

Michelle told the Daily Star Sunday: 'I just love Bake Off. I'm a massive fan of that show.

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Baking fan: Michelle Keegan has revealed that she would love to take part in the Great British Bake Off celebrity special after she was unable to appear last year due to work commitments

'I got offered the chance to take part last year, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to do it because I was away working.

'But I'm hoping they will ask me again because I'd just love to have a go.'

The 29-year-old thinks she stands a good chance of impressing Bake Off hosts Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith and insisted that she can cook well.

Winner: The beauty believed that her culinary skills would impress on the show

Gritty show: Michelle is currently filming the third series of Our Girl in South Africa

The show moved from BBC to Channel 4 in a highly publicised dispute between the production company Love Productions and the BBC over how much the broadcaster would pay to air the programme.

Bake Off will be back on our screens this autumn with a celebrity special and bosses reportedly know the pressure is on.

After Michelle was unable to appear on the show last year, they are keen to secure her for the debut special on Channel 4.

Hard to impress: Michelle thinks she can win over Bake Off judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith

The only issue is whether the in-demand star can fit in in around her other work projects.

Michelle, who is married to former TOWIE star Mark Wright, will shortly be travelling to South Africa to film the third series of BBC show Our Girl.

But bosses are pulling out all the stops to make Bake Off an offer she can't turn down.

Famous names who have appeared in the Great British Bake Off celebrity specials include Joanna Lumley and David Cameron's wife Samantha.
Sean wasn't the only one left heartbroken when Susan dumped him on Married At First Sight.

The show's viewers also recoiled in shock and despair as the lovable cowboy saw his relationship come crashing down at the final vow renewal ceremony on Sunday night's episode.

Fans were quick to take to social media and dub the saga 'the year's worst breakup'.

Broken man: Sean wasn't the only one left heartbroken when Susan dumped him on Married At First Sight

One user tweeted: 'Susan and Shaun. The years worst breakup #MAFS #nooooo #justgiveitago.'

Another outraged viewer tweeted: 'SUSAN WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?! #MAFS.'

Susan was also labeled a 'devil' for her decision to part ways with the man who seemed to be perfect for her.

After her decision not to relocate across the country to his farm, one user tweeted: 'When real life gets in the way of real love.'

All over: The show's viewers also recoiled in shock and despair as the lovable cowboy saw his relationship come crashing down at the final vow renewal ceremony on Sunday night's episode

The Queensland farm boy and Perth city girl were star-crossed lovers from the start as they battled distance but won over our hearts.

But it seemed there were not enough horseback rides or shared baths to keep this sweet couple together as Susan decided a life apart would be better.

It was a heartbreaking ending that, at least at first, didn't seem possible as the couple first began their week apart from one another.

They were fan favourites from the start as they began their journey on Married At First Sight, but Susan and Sean shockingly decided to break up at their vow renewal ceremony

A life on Sean's rural Queensland farm was just too much for Perth girl Susan, she revealed

The decision completely crushed cowboy Sean, who had been heartbroken just being apart from Susan for a few days

Sean admitted he missed Susan the minute they separated as he returned to his farm and gazed longingly at their wedding day photo.

'It is very hard and it does hurt a lot. Finding love is hard, because I am isolated out in where I live,' he says in a moment made all the more crushing by what would follow.

'That's why I've tried this experiment,' the cowboy adds.

'I am lonely and, as hard as it is to admit, I'm not afraid to speak up and say you do get lonely sometimes.'

There's then a montage of romance as we see the couple enjoy hot air balloons at sunset, sweet picnics and Sean's toast to 'my beautiful wife'.

'The experts, they did a pretty fine job of matching Susan and I,' Sean continues.

'From the moment we laid eyes on each other and how we just connected was totally amazing.

'I think we are the perfect people for each other.

The finale episode started off hopeful as Sean happily recalled Susan's reveal at the last dinner party that she was willing to move to his farm

And as Susan returned home to Perth for the week, it seemed she was also looking forward to a life with Sean who she said she 'absolutely loved'

'Love is a big thing, and I'm definitely in love with her and I'm looking forward to what the future holds.'

And as Susan returned home to Perth for the week, it seemed she was also looking forward to a life with Sean.

'I absolutely love Sean,' she admits to the camera.

'He's been amazing ever since I met him. I wanted someone that could commit to me, and I found that in Sean.'

Susan revealed she knew she could not let Sean go after he stood up for Cheryl following an explosive boys' night.

'I thought, he's a man who did the right thing, and cared for someone else and worried about her feelings,' Susan said.

But everything changed when Susan met with her friend Gemma, who asked how a 'city beach girl' could possibly live happily ever after with a 'country farm boy'

The discussion completely crushed Susan, who later said the conversation 'hit me like a truck'

'And that's when I knew... I should try anything in my power, that I can think of to try and see each other after this experiment and see if it can work.'

'I'm going to completely go for the relationship,' she declared with a shocking finality just seven minutes into the finale. 'I want Sean in my life forever.'

But all seemed to change after Susan sat down with a friend named Gemma, who bluntly told her it would never work.

After Susan happily blabbered to her friend about how Sean was the right man for her in 'so many ways', Gemma decided she needed to provide a reality check.

'Can a relationship last with your lifestyles being different?' she asked her friend.

'How can you possibly, as a city girl who loves the beach, who loves the spontaneity of life, be with someone whose a country boy, a farm boy?'

She was clearly emotional as she waited to meet Sean at the altar for their vow renewal

The affectionate couple, infamous for their instant love of taking baths with one another, shared a romantic kiss as they greeted each other

'I just don't see how this could be something worthwhile for you... That's just not what you want in life.'

The conversation clearly rattled Susan even as she meekly told Gemma: 'But I know that he wants to do anything to try and make it work.'

'This has hit me like a truck,' Susan later admits to the camera.

'I'm completely overwhelmed, I have no idea what to do.'

As Sean continued to struggle with just being apart from Susan for a few days, she was thankful for distance as she struggled with her decision.

'Having the opportunity to have some time apart from Sean was very important for me to think clearly,' she reveals.

And Sean happily smiled at his reality show bride as he began his vows and revealed she had changed his life 'for the better'

And as Susan at first begins her own vows, it seemed as though they may get the happy ending after all as she revealed all the qualities she loves about Sean

'It's been a bit of a complete emotional roller coaster. I know that he can't move, so it's definitely up to me whether this relationship works,' she adds.

'This is the most important decision that I've ever made in my life, all I keep thinking is, 'This guy is really right for you, why would you give up on love?''

We seem to get our answer as Susan gives Sean a hug at the start of the ceremony, and tells her he couldn't stop thinking about her while they were apart.

'Every time I was doing things with the horses, you were always still on the back of my mind,' the country boy tells the city girl.

'I was walking on the beach,' Susan then jokes, reminding him - and the viewers - they are worlds apart.

The ceremony only becomes more shattering as Sean launches into his vows, telling Susan she is his 'perfect match'.

'I've had the chance to experience a lot of incredible things during this experiment for the first time, but most of all I've been able to experience them with you,' he tells her.

'From the moment I met you at the altar and you grabbed my hand, I felt an immediate connection with you and I was instantly at ease.'

'You're everything I could ever want, I'm so happy I've met you and you've changed my life for the better.'

The couple shared a heartbreaking last embrace after Susan revealed that she couldn't stay

Susan then tells Sean to 'keep being a good man' before she finally walks away from him

'I love you as the person you are and my heart wants nothing more than to ride off into the sunset together forever.'

And as Susan at first begins her own vows, it seemed as though they may get the happy ending after all as she revealed all the qualities she loves about Sean.

'I married such a kind, gentle and empathetic man,' she begins.

'Sean, I absolutely love how caring you are, you stand up and try to stop mistreatment of others.'

'You committed yourself to be my husband and for that I completely love you.'

'When I'm with you I feel alive, I feel happy, I feel very respected, and I can't even begin to picture my life without you.'

'And it's made me question whether love is more important than the hurdles that we have to overcome.'

But, it seems, the answer for Susan was no after all.

'At the last dinner party I thought that, "No, I don't want to give this great guy up", but I have to truly be honest with myself and think about my happiness,' she reveals.

Sean revealed he was completely crushed as he was forced to watch Susan leave him for good

The cowboy said he understood why they couldn't be together, but said he would love Susan 'now and forever'

'And if I could really see myself in your world, on your farm, and completely missing my world and everything that makes me happy on a daily basis.'

'I've decided I can't be in a relationship with you,' Susan concludes before adding, 'I hope we can be the best of friends.'

She then tells Sean 'I love you' as they hug and he can only respond, 'I love you too'.

'I'm so glad I met you,' Susan whispers as the couple gaze into each other's eyes.

'I had a really good man in my life,' she tells him.

'Keep being a good man.'

Sean then kisses Susan's hand, thanking her for the journey.

'That was very hard to just stand there and wave goodbye and see her go,' Sean says as Susan walks away.

'I understand why we can't be together, but I've loved every moment I've been with Susan in this experiment.'

'I love Susan. Now and forever.'
British Petroleum (BP) has made a gas discovery as part of the North Damietta Offshore Concession in Egypt's Nile Delta, the third such discovery in two years in same block, the company announced on Sunday.

The Qattameya Shallow-1 exploration well was drilled to a depth of 1,961 metres in water depth of around 108 metres, the company said.

"This latest discovery confirms our belief that the Nile Delta is a world-class basin," BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said in a statement.

The well is 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Damietta city in northern Egypt.

BP, which produces around 40 percent of Egypt's total gas, has 100 percent equity in the discovery.

This discovery by BP comes nearly two years after another discovery in the same area estimated to exceed 5 trillion cubic feet (tcf).

In June 2016, BP and Italy's Eni announced a "significant" gas discovery in the Baltim South West area estimated at 70-80 billion cubic metres of gas.

BP has been aiming to increase investments in Egypt, with plans to invest some $13 billion in the country before 2020, according to a November 2016 press release by the UK embassy in Cairo.

In February, Egypts petroleum ministry, Italian company Eni and BP signed a deal in Cairo to complete the sale to BP of a 10 percent stake in the "super-giant" Zohr gas field in the Shorouk concession off Egypts Mediterranean shore.

Zohr, discovered by Eni in August 2015, is the largest gas field in the Mediterranean, estimated to contain 850 billion cubic metres of gas.

Egypts production of natural gas is currently estimated at around 4.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd), and is expected to increase by 1.5 bcfd by the end of 2017, according to a February statement by the petroleum ministry.

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Pete Evans revealed in the build-up to a tell-all interview with Channel Seven that he had suffered from a 'crippling condition' for his whole life.

And the controversial chef told Sunday Night that the condition he'd been keeping a secret was shyness.

The My Kitchen Rules host told journalist Alex Cullen how it dated back to his school days.

Coming clean: Pete Evans told Sunday Night that the 'crippling condition' he'd been keeping a secret his whole life was shyness

Young Pete: On Sunday Night they featured a collage of images of a much younger Pete

He said: 'I suffered from crippling shyness at school, that's for sure. It's sort of been with me all of my life. Even now, I like to keep a pretty low profile, believe it or not.

'And I really just try to be around my family, for my family unit, my kids, my wife, our animals and live a pretty quiet life.'

'It's something that's been with me my whole life,' the Paleo enthusiast shared to camera.

Secret: Pete has been suffering from crippling shyness

'It's been with me my whole life': MKR's controversial judge Pete revealed that he has a crippling condition, while discussing the many controversial claims he's been at the centre of

Dressed down in a T-shirt and casual trousers, the personality appeared ready to address the many claims that he's been at the centre of.

'You have your critics, there are controversies, let's just share the truth,' Pete says in the opening moments.

Sharing all: Pete sat down with journalist Alex Cullen for an exclusive, tell-all interview on Sunday night

The chef has made headlines, not so much for his recipes, but rather his controversial claims.

Pete has alleged that sunscreen is dangerous, fluoride is poison, and calcium in dairy is a myth and the biggest marketing ploy.

The outspoken star has also been at the centre of rumours surrounding a rift with MKR co-host Manu Feildel, which he has denied in recent televised interviews.

Set to reveal: The personality shared with Alex that he's ready to talk about the crippling condition he's been faced with his entire life

Not one to shy away from speaking his mind, Pete warned his fans on social media not to use conventional sunscreen, claiming they're full of 'chemicals' and promoted an unregulated zinc-based product instead.

Skin cancer survivors blasted the TV presenter and a spokesperson for Cancer Council Australia said his comments were 'irresponsible' and 'quite dangerous'.

The furious backlash from the public forced Pete's wife Nicola Robinson to jump to his defence.

Support: Pete's wife Nicola Robinson (pictured) has also come to her husband's defence, after Pete was criticised for his claims that store bought sunscreens are dangerous

The former glamour model said in a lengthy Instagram post: 'There's just no need for fear filled name calling or slander, just mature conversation between truth seeking, authentic people whose combined, core driving force is to create a better life for all.'

Pete and his wife Nicola Robinson have claimed fluoride toothpaste is 'toxic' and instead, use a homemade, remineralising toothpaste.

Nicola posted to Instagram last year: 'There's plenty of information about our pearly whites coming to light too!

'Like the arising knowledge about tooth remineralisation  an Earth Suit function that many teeth enthusiasts once deemed impossible! A simple 'Google' search will lead you all over the show and enlighten you as to how to care for your precious ivories inside and out'.

The natural remedy consists of calcium powder, baking soda, coconut oil and other minerals Diatomaceous Earth and Xylitol Powder.

Dairy: The celebrity chef was also prepared to talk about the 'calcium dairy myth' which he believes is the biggest marketing ploy

Dr David Dunn, the principal dentist at Sydney's Macquarie Street Centre, told The Herald Sun that there is no scientific evidence to back claims that fluoride-free toothpaste can improve the health of teeth.

'Using baking soda is very abrasive and can do a lot of other damage to your teeth, gums and mouth,' he told the publication.

Pete was also slammed by a critic after he advised a woman with osteoporosis to stop consuming dairy.

He told the woman during a Q & A session on his Facebook page: 'I would strongly suggest removing diary and eat the Paleo way as calcium from dairy can remove the calcium from your bones'.
His recent appearances on Top Gear have impressed fans, despite the programme battling falling ratings.

But Matt LeBlanc was forced to abandon the bright green Mercedes supercar he was trying out on the test track after suffering a blown tyre.

The 49-year-old was said to have spun the car on the track and was later seen inspecting the damage.

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Not to plan: Matt LeBlanc was forced to abandon the bright green Mercedes supercar he was trying out on the test track after suffering a blown tyre

Up in smoke: A cloud of smoke streamed from the left-side of the vehicle following the incident

Dramatic: Smoke could be seen trailing behind the vehicle as Matt drove it around the track

Footage shows a trail of smoke coming from the left-side of the supercar as the presenter spun the vehicle on the Top Gear test track at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey this week.

Photographs show a cloud of smoke shrouding the vehicle as the programme's cameramen filmed the incident.

Production crew members were quickly on the scene, with one handing Matt a blue puffer jacket as they waited by the side of the track.

Forced to abort: The Friends star was later driven away in a white SUV and taken back to the Top Gear base in London

Inspecting: A production crew member could be seen examining the tyre as Matt looked on

Downcast: Matt looked to be in deep conversation with one of the crew members, before he was driven back to base

Checking it out: He was earlier seen looking at the damage on the tyre himself

The Friends star was later driven away in a white SUV and taken back to the Top Gear base in London.

He appeared to be in a serious mood as he spoke to production crew members about the damage to the Mercedes supercar.

Top Gear has been battling with plummeting ratings since Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May left the show.

Not good: Matt spun the Mercedes supercar on the test track before suffering the flat tyre

Supercar: Smoke was seen pouring from the vehicle as the presenter did a spin

Shrouded: The production crew, including cameramen, were quickly on the scene

Matt took over as main host of the BBC 2 show after Chris Evans announced he was quitting the programme last June.

The debut of the new series, which is now presented by Matt, Chris Harris and Rory Reid, brought in 2.8million viewers.

In contrast, Chris' debut pulled in 4.4million viewers, but figures for the programme fell to an all-time low of just 2.4million viewers during the series.

Team: Members of the production crew gathered around Matt following the tyre blow-out

Getting assistance: Matt looked serious as he abandoned the Mercedes and was helped by crew members

Wrapping up: He was handed a blue puffer jacket by a crew member to keep him warm

Star host: Matt's recent appearances on Top Gear have impressed fans despite the programme battling falling ratings

What went wrong? A marshal was seen talking to the presenter about the damage on the car

Damage: Matt could be seen stopping the car after the left-rear tyre suffered damage

However, Matt has impressed viewers in recent episodes, particularly in a sketch in which he starred as James Bond.

Looking dashing in a tuxedo and bow tie, the actor drove the new Aston Martin DB11 against a stunning backdrop, before looking straight into the camera and declaring: 'Just call me LeBond...Matt LeBond'.

While Matt starred as 007 in the Bond-inspired sketch, his co-host Chris Harris played villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld as the pair raced up a mountain in Montenegro.

Having a look: Matt looked at the damage after being forced to abandon the test drive

Finished for the day: Matt was seen talking to crew members before being driven away from the test track
They are the MAFS couple who chose to stay together.

And it appears Sharon Marsh and Nick Furphy are enjoying their time together outside of the show on Sunday.

The couple spent the day at the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, at Melbourne's Albert Park alongside recently confirmed couple, her twin, Michelle and Jono Pitman.

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It's a double date! Sharon Marsh and Nick Furphy are enjoying their time together alongside recently confirmed couple, her twin, Michelle and Jono Pitman

Also at the race was Sharon's twin Michelle and her recently confirmed beau Jono Pitman for the second season the marriage experiment show.

The couple's event posed together for a photo with the race track as the back drop in the distance.

Nick debuted his new crew cut look in what appeared to be his weekend look, a chambray button down shirt and khaki pants, matched with a pair of aviator sunnies to keep the sun out of his eyes.

Sharon also flaunted her weekend style in a coral and pink, floral patterned jumpsuit, accessorised with a white clutch and cat-eye sunglasses.

An evening out: Michelle oozed dinner elegance in a slinky navy wrap dress, while Jono looked every bit the dapper date in his blue suit

Meanwhile Michelle and Jono appeared to dress as though they were on their way to an evening dinner date.

Michelle oozed dinner elegance in a slinky navy wrap dress that complimented her radiant blonde tresses and accessorised with a monochrome envelope clutch.

Jono looked every bit the dapper date in his blue suit, but kept it slightly casual with the top button undone.

He revealed to The Daily Telegraph that he and Michelle were getting along really well.

'Michelle and I got in contact with each other a little while ago as we both had similar situations on the show,' he said.

Double date: MAFS couple Sharon Marsh and Nick Furphy pictured at the F1 races with her twin Michelle and her recently confirmed beau Jono Pitman

Dressed to impress: On Saturday night, Sharon and Nick were dressed to the nines for the race car event, with Nick wearing an all black suit ensemble

Nick shared a snap from their catch up and captioned his post: 'F1 with the mafs crew #mafsfamily #shazandmishtwins #goodcompany #formula1 #sensisatausgp #f1.'

One fan commented on the post: 'Noooo nick !!! You got a haircut !!!'

Another wrote: 'Good to see Mish with the other bloke. But Jesse was really the top and humble bloke #teamjessealltheway'

While someone else said: 'I wish them all the very best....maybe they have found their happily ever after.'

Something to smile about? Married At First Sight's Sharon Marsh and Nick Furphy pack on the PDA at Grand Prix party amid pregnancy rumours

But it was only the night before, Nick and Sharon were spotted packing on the PDA during on the red carpet at the at the Grand Prix penthouse party, on Saturday night.

The scientifically-matched pair did little to dampen rumours they are expecting their first child with Nick appearing to glance at Sharon's stomach knowingly during photographs.

The flashy couple were dressed to the nines for the race car event, with Nick wearing an all black suit ensemble.

His lady love Sharon wore a stomach hugging blue pencil skirt, pairing it with a sheer lace crop top.

The 32-year-old twin wore her blonde locks out in waves, accessorising with lace up nude heels.

All dressed up: Sharon wore a stomach hugging blue pencil skirt, pairing it with a sheer lace crop top

Twinning! The sisters made sure to pose together at the party

The couple couldn't keep their hands off each other while posing for photographs, hugging each other close.

The reality TV stars made sure to lean in for a passionate kiss in front of the cameras.

The loved up appearance comes as speculation grows the couple is expecting a child together.

Cosy: The couple couldn't keep their hands off each other as the party continued into the night

Joking around: Nick's larrikin personality was also on full display during the media call, pulling his lady close in mock dance and throwing up a peach sign

This week, New Idea magazine published photos of Sharon shopping for baby wares in Perth.

Captured looking at baby bibs in what appears to be a supermarket, the blonde beauty is seen beaming at her redhead friend.

While neither have confirmed the news officially, Sharon cryptically gushed to OK! magazine that she was looking forward to settling down with Nick.

'I'm definitely at that stage in my life [where] I would like to start a family and have a legal marriage soon,' she said.
Ant and Dec were evacuated from the ITV studios amid a security alert on Saturday night.

The presenting double act were seen leaving the London-based filming location as a police van swooped in after a reported break-in.

Dec, 41, appeared in good spirits despite the drama as he was pictured leaving the studios.

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Unruffled: Ant and Dec were evacuated from the ITV studios amid a security alert on Saturday night

Three police officers were seen attending the scene, as a security officer stood guard outside.

And Scarlett Moffatt, who appeared on the show earlier, was seen being escorted out by a security guard.

An ITV spokesman said: 'A youth who attempted to gain access to the London Television Centre, as a prank, at 11pm last night was quickly apprehended by our security team when he triggered an alarm as he climbed an external wall.

Cautious: The presenting double act were seen leaving the London-based filming location as a police van swooped in after a reported break-in

After the show, which came off air at 8:30pm, Mark Owen was seen chatting happily following his performance.

Howard Donald was also seen in high spirits, following their Take That performance- which also included Gary Barlow, earlier in the evening.

And their appearance certainly sent Twitter users into a frenzy, with fans criticizing the reunited band's fashion sense.

Drama: Three police officers were seen attending the scene, as a security officer stood guard outside

In good spirits: Scarlett Moffatt, who appeared on the show earlier, was seen being escorted out by a security guard

'Love Take That, but why's Gary wearing a suit made out of Mary Poppins handbag?' one person quipped on Twitter.

'I mean, it looked like he was wearing his undies on the outside of his carpet suit...' came a second hilarious remark.

A third typed 'Presumably Gary Barlow is wearing his mums curtains as an outfit in aid of Mother's Day?' nodding to the upcoming annual Mothering Sunday holiday.

A fourth posted: 'WTF are #TakeThat wearing? They have millions but can't employ descent wardrobe people. Absolutely AWFUL guys!'

Success: After the show, which came off air at 8:30pm, Mark Owen was seen chatting happily following his performance
She is transformed into a cyborg in her new sci-fi film Ghost In The Shell.

But Scarlett Johansson was back to her effortlessly chic self as she stepped out in New York to promote the movie on Saturday.

The actress, 32, showed off her svelte figure in a black cropped blazer, which she teamed with tight-fitting black jeans.

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Stylish: Scarlett Johansson looked effortlessly chic in a cropped blazer teamed with tight-fitting black jeans as she promoted her new movie in New York on Saturday

Opting for a stylish yet professional look, Scarlett wore a navy blue blouse underneath, before boosting her height with a pair of black strappy heels.

Wearing her cropped blonde locks swept back off her face, she added a pop of colour with a bright red lipstick, accentuating her pout.

Showing off her glowing complexion, she finished off the flawless make-up look with a dash of blusher and a liberal coating of mascara.

Chic: She wore a navy blue blouse underneath, before boosting her height with a pair of black strappy heels

Her new film Ghost In The Shell is based the Japanese manga of the same name by Masamune Shirow, and previously became an animated film in Japan in 1995.

Scarlett plays cyber-enhanced soldier Major in the movie, which also stars Takeshi Kitano, Michael Pitt and Juliette Binoche.

Her casting in an Asian role initially received some backlash, however the film's producer Steven Paul was quick to defend the actress, describing it as a 'very international story'.

Cyborg: Scarlett plays cyber-enhanced soldier Major in new sci-fi film Ghost In The Shell

Controversy: Her casting in an Asian role initially received some backlash, however the film's producer Steven Paul was quick to defend the actress

Scarlett, who is the top-grossing actress in the world, has recently spoken about her reluctance to speak about the gender pay gap in Hollywood.

She told Marie Claire: 'Maybe I'm being presumptuous, but I assumed it was obvious that women in all positions struggle for equality.

'My experience with my close female friends and family is that the struggle is real for everybody. Everyone has been discriminated against or harassedsexism is real.'

Ghost In The Shell is out in cinemas on March 30.
He's the Instagram star known for his very confident attitude and sass.

And Kurt Coleman has received a tongue lashing from a lifeguard on Sydney's Bondi beach on Sunday.

The 20-year-old socialite was spotted enjoy the waves of the iconic shore when he was approached by a lifeguard.

'Is there a problem?' Kurt Coleman recieved a tongue lashing from a lifeguard on Sydney's Bondi beach

It's believed he was warned by a lifeguard in blue that he was in the wrong area of the beach and could have been taken out by a rip.

Kurt, who is originally from Gold Coast and an accomplished swimmer, reportedly felt confident to swim there anyway.

And earlier, a lifeguard in the yellow surf lifesaver uniform told him he could swim in the area.

I'm a confident swimmer! It's believed he was warned by a lifeguard in blue that he was in the wrong area of the beach and could have been taken out by a rip

Selfie prince: A lifeguard in the yellow surf lifesaver uniform told him he could swim in the area

Seemingly confused, Kurt questioned the blue uniformed life guard's authority.

He reportedly yelled the selfie prince that he was in the wrong area of the beach and could have been taken out by a rip.

But like water off a duck's back, Kurt reportedly said he wasn't even a 'proper' lifeguard and only worked weekends.

Then and now: The cosmetically enhanced social media sensation has not been shy about his transformation, shared a collage of nine different seflies of himself from 2010 until now

Kurt recently shared a collage of nine different seflies of himself from 2010 until now.

The cosmetically enhanced social media sensation has not been shy about his transformation.

He told his followers in 2015: 'Always gonna be honest with you all about what my beauty secrets are. I'm not a liar.'

'I hated my small chin (which made my nose look big and my face out of shape) and trust me it's the best thing I've ever done,' he said.
Dr Chris Brown went public with girlfriend Kendall Bora with a romantic wedding date over the weekend.

The 38-year-old vet has been reportedly dating the TV producer since last year, however the pair have been keeping their romance low key.

On Saturday, Melbourne socialite Lauren Phillips shared a snap of the couple attending a wedding in the Hunter Valley.

Out and about: Dr Chris Brown went public with girlfriend Kendall Bora with a romantic wedding date over the weekend

The loved up twosome were all smiles and looked very much a couple as they cuddled close for the intimate snap.

A commentator below the image referred to Kendall as the vet's 'girlfriend' and called her 'lovely'.

Kendall is a Channel Nine as a news producer and reportedly flew to the South African set of Tens Im A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! recently to spend time with her beau.

Chris was spotted showing the brunette around Cape Town with his father Graham and brother Tim.

Loved up: Kendall is a Channel Nine as a news producer and reportedly flew to the South African set of Tens Im A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! to spend time with her beau

On long? News of the pair's relationship first broke late last year, and at that time it was rumored that they had already been dating for eight months

News of the pair's relationship first broke late last year, and at that time it was rumored that they had already been dating for eight months.

However earlier this month, The Daily Telegraph reported the couple had got together around six months ago.

Earlier in the week, Kendall was seen leaving Chris' Bondi home, with the couple clearly keen to catch up and spend as much time together after the TV star's recent return to Australia.

Serene beauty: However earlier this month, The Daily Telegraph reported the couple had got together around six months ago

Chris only arrived back in the country last week, having been on location in South Africa filming I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

Chris spilt from Home And Away actress Kassandra Clementi in 2015.
Sean may have been left at the alter by his bride Susan on Sunday's episode of Married At First Sight but the cowboy has revealed he ultimately picked his kids over his bride.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Sean admitted he would not give up his farm for his wife because his children came first.

'I can't move because of my children. If it was as easy as that, moving over there, yeah, I probably could but with the custody of my children,' he said.

His choice? Sean may have been left at the alter by his bride Susan on Sunday's episode of Married At First Sight but the cowboy has revealed he actually picked his kids over his bride

However Sean, who lives on a farm in rural Queensland, says that if that wasn't the case, he could well have had a future with Susan.

'I just can't. But if it wasn't for the kids, there is every option possible,' he told the paper.

He added that Susan is 'the perfect girl and everything I asked for,' however, she ditched him at the final vow ceremony.

Susan revealed that she could not give up the comforts to which she was accustomed and move to the country.

No dice: 'I can't move because of my children. If it was as easy as that, moving over there, yeah, I probably could but with the custody of my children,' he said

And Sean wasn't the only one left heartbroken when Susan dumped him as scores of fans took to social media to share their distress over the outcome of the romance.

The show's viewers also recoiled in shock and despair as the lovable cowboy saw his relationship come crashing down at the final vow renewal ceremony.

Fans were quick to take to social media and dub the saga 'the year's worst breakup'.

A life on Sean's rural Queensland farm was just too much for Perth girl Susan, she revealed

One user Tweeted: 'Susan and Sean. The years worst breakup #MAFS #nooooo #justgiveitago.'

Another outraged viewer Tweeted their anger at Sean's soon to be ex wife, writing: 'SUSAN WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?! #MAFS.'

All over: The show's viewers also recoiled in shock and despair as the lovable cowboy saw his relationship come crashing down at the final vow renewal ceremony

Susan was also labeled a 'devil' for her decision to part ways with the man who seemed to be perfect for her.

After her decision not to relocate across the country to his farm, one user tweeted: 'When real life gets in the way of real love.'
She's the up for the Best Presenter gong at this year's Logie awards.

And Sarah Harris said she couldn't believed she's been nominated for co-hosting Studio 10.

Taken aback by the recognition she had thought the voting was rigged.

Rigged? Studio 10 host Sarah Harris said she couldn't believed she's been nominated her work on Studio 10 and Shark Tank

'I actually thought perhaps the voting had been hacked by the Russians,' the journalist joked in a report by The Daily Telegraph.

Sarah moderates the show alongside Ita Buttrose, Denise Drysdale, Jessica Rowe and Joe Hildebrand.

She has been hard at work hosting on the couch since the very beginning of the morning talk show in 2013, as well as reality competition television series Shark Tank.

Best Presenter gong: She joked, 'I actually thought perhaps the voting had been hacked by the Russians'

Recognition: Sarah said, 'I've just had my head down and have been working hard and didn't even think that I'd ever be considered alongside the people that I've been nominated with,'

'I've just had my head down and have been working hard and didn't even think that I'd ever be considered alongside the people that I've been nominated with,' she said.

In her category, the Queensland-born reporter will be up against fellow Network Ten Talents Amanda Keller, Carrie Bickmore, Waleed Aly and Grant Denyer.

'It is recognition that you are on the right path and that you are doing something right. I feel incredibly humbled and incredibly honoured to have been nominated,' Sarah added.

Getting ready! She will be up against fellow Network Ten Talents Amanda Keller, Carrie Bickmore, Waleed Aly and Grant Denyer

Her nomination comes after uproar following the Gold Logie nomination announcements where only one woman, actress Jessica Marais, received a nomination.

However, TV Week editor Emma Nolan has defended the controversial list, arguing nominees were based on 'what the viewers wanted' after public voting from fans.

'It's a celebration of Australian TV and the fact our readers have voted in record numbers shows they are excited about watching our shows, our dramas, our reality, our talent,' she told The Sunday Telegraph.
She recently revealed that her daughter is upset that she's the oldest mother at the school gates.

And now Kate Garraway has admitted that she has had to come to terms with not having another baby after waiting until her late 30s before having children.

The Good Morning Britain presenter, 49, says she 'would have loved more' children, before acknowledging that she was 'very lucky' that she became a mother with 'relative ease' at her age.

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Reality check: Kate Garraway has admitted that she has had to come to terms with not having another baby after waiting until her late 30s before having children

Kate, who has Darcey, 11, and Billy, seven, with husband Derek Draper, told The Sun's Fabulous magazine: 'I've hugely come to terms with not having another baby.

'I would hate Darcey and Billy to think that somehow they weren't enough. I'm nearly 50, so there has to be a reality check.

'I loved having children and started relatively late. I would have loved more, but I know that's extremely greedy.'

Proud mother: The Joy Of Big Knickers author is mum to Darcey, 11, and son Billy, seven, and admitted her eldest was scared she might die sooner than other children's parents

Kate added that she had no regrets about waiting until later in life before starting a family.

It comes as the presenter revealed earlier this week that daughter Darcey is upset that her mother is older than some of her classmates' parents at school.

Speaking on Lorraine on Wednesday, Kate explained: 'We were talking about my age and me being an older mum and she said for the first time "I wish you were younger because I'm worried you might die sooner."

Open and honest: The presenter said she 'would have loved more' children, but acknowledged that she was 'very lucky' that she became a mother with 'relative ease' at her age

She added: 'There's now more pressure to take my health seriously.

'You have a different focus sometimes, so maybe the issues I've been discussing she's been thinking about.'

The Joy Of Big Knickers author admitted that until she met her husband she had a warped view on relationships.

Happy couple: Kate is married to Derek Draper and admitted that until she met her husband she had a warped view on relationships

She explained: 'I've been finished with by everyone I've gone out with  apart from my husband  and I was always rather bewildered by this.

'But I used to approach dates like an interview process and If I didn't get a second one I'd think I failed a test instead of thinking we didn't match.

'The older we get it's a more challenging time to be out there.'

Candid: Revealing that she always did her best to 'please' other halves before she was dumped, she said that things are now different with Derek - her husband of 12 years

Revealing that she always did her best to 'please' other halves before she was dumped, she said that things are now different with her husband of 12 years.

Kate - who was previously married to Ian Rumsey for four years - said: 'With Derek there's no choice but to be honest but it's worked.

'You can end up like a half person if you're just pleasing people, there's no one really to love.'
BBC Arabic Film Festivals lineup witnessed a strong Egyptian and Syrian presence on its first day of screenings in London

On the first day of the BBC Arabic Film Festival, the radio theatre in central London was packed with an audience of over 300 people who signed up to experience stories unfolding in a world different from theirs.

The documentaries scheduled showcased stories from Egypt and Syria, and were followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers, and questions from the audience.

Five short films were screened in the morning, and two feature-length documentaries in the afternoon and evening. All films touched on very delicate subjects of dreams, whether personal or collective, and losses, displacement, hope, despair in a changing Arab world.

Tales from Egypt

The short films were mostly artistic and innovative in form. While none had narration; some had beautiful prose or poetry, or songs by the films protagonists.

Even though most of the films were first time productions for the filmmakers, both picture and sound were technically impressive.

The first short film was 'Aida, directed by an Egyptian Film Institute student, Maysoon El-Masry.

It captures the life of a very poor old woman who lives in Alexandria and trades flowers for smiles, cigarettes and some food in the Alexandrian traffic lights and main streets. She goes home to an empty house every day, but for her Siamese cat.

We follow her as she gets ready to leave home, puts on her floral shirt over her night dress, her two mismatched socks, and a colorful yellow headscarf. She almost slides her body down the stairs till she reaches her parked wheelchair at the entrance of the building, heading out every day.

This silent, observational film alludes to the myth of Sisyphus, condemned to ceaselessly roll a rock to the top of the hill only for it to fall back down again. Here we see Aida, the oldest flower vendor in Alexandria, peddling flowers from a used wheelchair as she has been doing for the past 50 years.

Aida is a familiar face to most Alexandrians, but her story remained a mystery. The short film leaves us with a feeling of admiration and love for the old lady, and compassion for aging and loneliness.

The second film, Jareedy, also came from Egypt, by experienced filmmaker Mohammed Hisham.

Jarredy is a magical-realist story that evokes the traditions of the lost land of gold, old Nubia. The allegory is told through Konnaf, a young wide-eyed boy who faces and overcomes his fear of water.

His goal is to reach a rock in the middle of the Nile by a jareedy, a small row-boat common to the river banks on which he lives. Throughout his journey to conquer his fear and realise his dream, he forms an extraordinary friendship with the old boat maker who tells us the story of Nubia and much more.

The film takes us on a visually rich and colourful journey through the River Nile, the village school, the streets of the picturesque Gharb Soheil village, built in imitation of the old Nubian villages that were flooded with the construction of the Aswan High Dam, and vibrant Nubian houses with colourful doors that open to endless dreams.

The movie is a treat to the eye and the ear, artistically crafted, with Nubian songs that evoke a dreamlike state.

Written, directed and produced by Hisham, it is the first film in Nubian, a 5,000 year-old language spoken in Nubia that has no written form. Unknown to most people, it carries the movie, subtitled in English and Arabic.

In the discussion after the screenings, an audience member asked Hisham why he chose the subject of Nubia, even though he was not from there.

"First I was intrigued by the small jareedy, the small boat in the strong current of the Nile and small children using it. I wondered at their skills maneuvering the boats with their little hands. I explored Nubia as a tourist and realised how unjust it was that there was not one film in the Nubian language, even though this authentic language is 5,000 years old," Hisham said.

Responding to a question on production challenges, Hisham explained how he tried to tackle the transcription and translation of the unwritten Nubian language.

I started transcribing in Arabic letters, and then tried writing in English letters, and failed.

In the end, the audio was divided in parts, the director would say the Arabic part and the young actor would say it in Nubian, but no one understood exactly what they were saying in Nubian.

Syrian stories

Another film screened that day was titled Fate, Wherever It Takes Us directed by Kadar Fayyad, a Syrian tutor on human rights issues.

'Kadar' means Fate. In this short, self-reflective film, Fayyad narrates her own experience of leaving her homeland Syria in 2010 to pursue a masters degree, only to realise she cant return home and was now a refugee who has to fight for a living and legal status.

Through poetic, bitter-sweet descriptions, she takes us through her journey from the mine-fields in Syria to asylum in Jordan and other unexpected places, shedding layers while giving a face to a contemporary history that is familiar by now.

This is Fayyad's debut film, experimentally shot with a mobile camera, in her own home in Amman, Jordan.

She told Ahram Online about the challenges she faced in telling her story at this difficult time.

"I didn't want to involve anyone from my family back home in Syria. My name was listed as wanted on the border as I was a former activist, my brother was arrested three times, my father was arrested twice and kidnapped once. Our house was raided and the whole Syrian situation was so tough and emotional for me.

"But now, two years after the film was made and shown in several Arab and European countries, I see it with a different eye. I feel empowered and want every woman to tell her story. It may not be the best film, but it's important to tell our stories to the world and to ourselves," said the determined filmmaker and activist.

Panelist and festival director Sheyma Buali asked Fayyad, "Fate is a very experimental non-linear film with poetry and singing. Why did you choose to tell the story this way?

Fayyad had no answer to that, but described her spontaneous process.

"I downloaded a phone application and started filming scene by scene. I remembered my home town, and the childhood songs specific to that region and started singing. I was testing the camera then, and made a mistake with the lyrics but thought to leave it because we are imperfect. I wanted to keep it that way, Fayyad said.

The fourth film was also about Syria. Searching for Abbas Kiarostami is directed by a non-traditional, playful and absurd performance duo, the Malas twins, Ahmed and Mohamed.

In this unusual film a man roams the cafes, parks and metro stations of Paris, seeking the renowned Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, while holding a large frame of the director's picture.

The man wants to speak to Kiarostami about Syria and reflect on the loss of artists there. He wants Kiarostami to tell his government to stop the bombing of Syria. This film is an earnest tribute to cinema and a eulogy to the Syrian filmmakers lost in recent years of war.

The fifth and last film, also about Syria, was very powerful, leaving the audience with feelings of anger and sadness.

Mare Nostrum is directed by filmmaking couple Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf who now live in Jordan after leaving Syria due to the conflict.

The film starts with a shocking scene where a father takes his eight-year-old daughter on a long jetty on a beach and throws her in the middle of the Mediterranean to watch her drown.

Someone rescues her and takes her to a small room with one shared small bed, and they share their little food, and meager covers, as the girl cries herself to sleep.

The father tries to drown her again, nearly drowning with her once. When they both cry, so does the audience.

There is nearly no dialogue until the last scene when we see news footage of a boat drowning with Syrian refugees trying to flee to Europe and reality is juxtaposed with fiction.

In response to an audience question, the couple explain how the idea for the film came to them as they watched on television another refugee boat sinking.

It was heartbreaking to hear the judgment of Why don't they just stay where they are? We wanted to see if people are going to judge the father who wants to drown his child. We wanted to change the perspective; you cannot hate him when you understand it's out of love that he did what he did.

They further explained how they could have easily been on the same ill-fated boat if it hadnt been for their French and American passports.

On why they cast their own daughter, and why a girl not a boy, Kazkaz said: We chose a girl, as the father-daughter relationship looked more vulnerable to us.

First we held auditions, and didn't want to cast our daughter. We chose a girl, but there was no chemistry between her and the actor Ziad. Then we invited him to our home one day, and there was a lot of chemistry between them, the director added.

The BBC Arabic Film Festival opened 24 March and runs until 30 March screening films from the Arab world.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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She's the daughter of a horse racing legend who married a former NRL star in 2012.

And Kate Waterhouse and Luke Ricketson have attended the SMURFS: The Lost Village Sydney Premiere, with their eldest daughter Sophia.

The family were all smiles as they posed for pictures along the media wall on Sunday night in Sydney holding hands with Smurfette.

Happy Family: Kate Waterhouse and Luke Ricketson have attended the SMURFS: The Lost Village Sydney Premiere, with their eldest daughter Sophia

Kate, who is a journalist and media personality, looked every bit the cool mum in a white halterneck dress, paired with a silver Gucci sneakers.

The brunette beauty kept her accessories look low key with a small wrist watch and her wedding ring.

Luke had a casual approach to his family movie night attire in a navy T-shirt and faded blue jeans, and paired the look with black slip-on dress shoes.

Loved up! Kate, the daughter of a horse racing legend Gai Waterhouse, married the former NRL star in 2012

Blue Carpet: The family were all smiles as they posed for pictures along the media wall on Sunday night in Sydney holding hands with Smurfette

The couple made sure their little lady looked angelic in her adorable white dress with a slight ruffle.

Sophia looked inquisitively as she held hands with Smurfette.

However, missing from the photo was the family's youngest member, Grace Gabriel who was likely to have stayed home with her grandmother, horse trainer Gai Waterhouse.

Cute in white! The couple made sure their little lady looked angelic in her adorable white dress with a slight ruffle

Kate has stepped out of her family's horse racing legacy to become a journalist and style blogger.

She does sit down interviews celebrities from all over the world and Australia for her column Date With Kate, presents for TV and radio.

But whenever it's racing season, Kate is never far from fashions on the fields.
She was seen soaking up the sun during a getaway in Egypt last week.

And Caroline Flack showed off her sun-kissed complexion as she attended the opening of the Mad Fox nightclub in Amsterdam with a host of other stars on Saturday night.

The 37-year-old turned heads in a striking black halterneck dress featuring a colourful botanical print for the launch event.

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Blooming lovely: Caroline Flack opted for a striking black halterneck dress featuring a colourful botanical print for the opening of the Mad Fox nightclub in Amsterdam

The presenter opted for a glamorous make-up look, accentuating her green eyes with lashings of mascara and a kohl liner.

Wearing her brunette locks down, she added a nude lipstick as a finishing touch.

Caroline posted a snap of herself in the same dress on Instagram earlier in the week, as she posed for the Save Holborn Studios campaign.

The former Strictly Come Dancing winner displayed her toned and tanned pins in the Spring-themed number, which featured daring thigh-high splits on both sides.

New favourite: The 27-year-old posted a snap of herself in the same dress on Instagram earlier in the week, as she posed for the Save Holborn Studios campaign

Dutch model Kim Feenstra also attended the Mad Fox launch party in a very revealing ensemble.

The 31-year-old showed off her cleavage and flat stomach in a chic white suit, wearing nothing but a dusky pink lace bra underneath.

Slicking her lengthy locks back off her face, she completed the sexy ensemble with a liberal coating of mascara and bright red lipstick.

Racy: Dutch model Kim Feenstra also attended the Mad Fox event in a very revealing ensemble

Beauty: Slicking her lengthy locks back off her face, she completed the sexy ensemble with a liberal coating of mascara and bright red lipstick

A host of celebrities partied at the Mad Fox nightclub, which is owned by The Entourage Group founder Yossi Eliyahoo.

Guests enjoyed champagne and vodka all night as they partied in the new club, which is located beneath the W Amsterdam hotel.

Game of Thrones hunk Richard Madden, McFly bassist Dougie Poynter and will.i.am all attended the launch weekend.

Hunk: Game of Thrones' Richard Madden looked to be in fine form as he turned out for the launch weekend in a suede jacket teamed with black trousers

All smiles: He was pictured with Mad Fox owner Yossi Eliyahoo and McFly bassist Dougie Poynter in the nightclub

Star-studded: will.i.am also attended the launch party, showing off his effortlessly cool style

Rocker: Dougie opted for a printed shirt for the party, teamed with a smart black coat

Happy guests: Scottish rugby player Max Evans was at the launch weekend with Edward Foy
Mary J. Blige hosted the Main Event of the 10th annual Tempted2Touch Black LGBT Pride Spring Break Getaway weekend on Saturday night.

The fete took place at the Rain Nightclub, which is situated in the four-star Palms Casino Resort off the Las Vegas Strip.

Mary swung by the event in a top that featured a neckline that fell to her midriff, exposing a good deal of her pink bra and her cleavage.

Woman of the hour: Mary J. Blige hosted the Main Event of the 10th annual Tempted2Touch Black LGBT Pride Spring Break Getaway weekend on Saturday night

Her figure-hugging top, which featured fishnet straps crisscrossing over the plunging neckline, was maroon, matching her knee-high stiletto boots.

The 46-year-old's eye-catching Chanel pendant joined a tangle of necklaces she'd clasped on, and she'd splashed in even more glitz by way of hoop earrings.

Not a hair was out of place in her impeccably coiffed blonde do, and her seemingly airtight jeans were cinched with an Hermes belt about her trim waistline.

Sizzling in Sin City: The bash took place at the Rain Nightclub, which is situated in the four-star Palms Casino Resort off the Las Vegas Strip

While at the event, she got in a bit of posing alongside the Ralph Lauren polo shirt-wearing businessman Mexico Joe, who'd founded Tempted2Touch.

Mary married her manager Martin 'Kendu' Isaacs in 2003, but filed for divorce last January that's become alarmingly rancorous as it's proceeded.

The DailyMail.com reported this week that he's demanding $110,000 a month in spousal support, having become used to a 'lavish' lifestyle during their marriage.

Top brass: While at the event, she got in a bit of posing alongside the Ralph Lauren polo shirt-wearing businessman Mexico Joe, who'd founded Tempted2Touch

Money for a housekeeper and meals out - as well as a $1,000 clothes shopping allowance - are reportedly on his wish list. His paperwork has claimed he's got 'no source of income' after Mary fired him as her manager.

On top of the $110,000 a month, he allegedly wants $95,000 toward his attorney's fees, $52,000 toward his forensic accounting fees, $5,000 a month to support his parents and $4,971 a month for his two children from a previous relationship.

He'd been angling for $130,000 in monthly spousal support in October, but has apparently shed up to $20,000 from that ask in the intervening time, partly by slashing requests that Mary help pay for his private chef and personal trainer.
The 13-year-old has been working incredibly hard this year.

And on Friday, Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown had to admit that it was all too much.

The apologetic teenager took to Instagram on Friday to post a video message to her 3.2 million followers telling them she was pulling out of Collective Con on Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida, because 'I have to rest.'

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So apologetic: Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, 13, shared an Instagram video Friday, saying, 'Ive had to cancel at Collective Con , I just think Ive worked too hard and I have to rest'

The British rose looked pale and wan in the video, which showed her sitting up against a pillow.

'Hey guys, Ive never had to do one of these videos before,' Millie said. ''But Ive had to cancel at Collective Con last minute, which is something Ive never done and Im planning on never doing again.

'I just think Ive worked too hard and I have to rest as Ive had a really long shoot and Im still filming Stranger Things,' she added, referring to the Netflix series

Millie plays Eleven in the sci-fi series that has rocketed her to instant fame since its debut last July.

'Im sorry to everyone whos going and I promise you guys Im going to get back to you. I love you guys all, thank you so much for your continued support and thank you.'

She recently signed with major modeling agency IMG and is the new face of Calvin Klein, sitting in the front row of the designer's show during New York's Fashion Week last month.

 A post shared by Millie Bobby Brown (@milliebobbybrown) on Mar 25, 2017 at 10:24am PDT

Lovely in leather: The teen recently signed with modeling agency IMG and is the new face of Calvin Klein, sitting in the front row of his show during New York's Fashion Week last month

And on March 4 she looked cute and carefree at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Washington wearing fun cat ears.

Meanwhile, Millie will head to the big screen in 2019s Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, due out March 22, 2019.

Netflix will release all nine episode of season two of Stranger Things in one binge-worthy chunk on October 31.
Spring has sprung for Dakota Johnson, who'd slid into a floral dress and flashed quite a bit of decolletage while out on the town Saturday night.

She'd been spotted emerging from the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood that evening, sporting a neckline that fell far enough to bare part of her midriff.

Pink, red, green, blue and purple flowery patterns were spattered across the black field of her dress, which draped about the 27-year-old's enviably svelte frame.

Stepping out: Spring has sprung for Dakota Johnson, who'd slid into a floral dress and flashed quite a bit of decolletage while out on the town Saturday night

She'd accessorized that evening with a small black clutch, as well as a pair of unobtrusive drop earrings that glinted from beneath her wavy dark brown hair.

Kate Young, stylist to the Fifty Shades trilogy star, dished to The Telegraph last month about working for her high-profile client.

'Dakota has a great body and she's confident, so it's always more about her than the dresses,' said Kate, having also explained that 'I tend to like things that are simple or way over-the-top. Things in the middle are a little boring to me.'

Emphasis: Pink, red, green, blue and purple flowery patterns were spattered across the black field of her dress, which draped about the 27-year-old's enviably svelte frame

She's also revealed that 'The Fifty Shades film doesnt influence our choices. The two of us have gotten to know each other better, but she's always kind of had the same style and she knows what works. The goal is to always have Dakota look like Dakota.'

The following day, Dakota still looked 'like Dakota,' in an entirely different look.

The star wore an off-duty leggings-and-t-shirt combo to walk her dog Zeppelin Johnson.

Sunday funday: The star wore an off-duty leggings-and-t-shirt combo to walk her dog Zeppelin Johnson

The scion of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith shot to global fame leading the 2015 film Fifty Shades Of Grey, based on the first part of E.J. James' 2011 bonkbuster trio.

She's returned as Anastasia Steele opposite Jamie Dornan's Christian Grey for Fifty Shades Darker, out last month, and will be back in Fifty Shades Free next February.

All the best places: She'd been spotted emerging from the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood that evening, sporting a neckline that fell far enough to bare part of her midriff

A touch of glitz: She'd accessorized that evening with a small black clutch, as well as a pair of unobtrusive drop earrings that glinted from beneath her wavy dark brown hair

She's also slated to star in an Amazon Studios co-produced remake - out sometime this year - of the 1977 Italian ballerina horror film Suspiria.

Directed by Dario Argento, the original film follows an American ballet student played by Jessica Harper whose training at a dance academy in Freiburg is interrupted by hideous murders and malevolent witchcraft.

Luca Guadagnino is directing the new version, which along with Dakota stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth and Jessica Harper herself, per IMDb.
Earlier this month, Vanderpump Rules' Scheana Marie admitted to finally being in a good place in her life.

And given her latest Instagram snaps over the weekend, it was easy to tell why.

The 31-year-old reality star shared some heartfelt moments on Saturday during her romantic getaway trip to Amsterdam with new beau Robert Valletta.

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Precious: Scheana Marie took a trip to Amsterdam with her new boyfriend Robert Valletta; she posted this snap to her Instagram on Saturday

The lovers both shared snaps to social media posing at the famous I Am Amsterdam sign and The Harbor Club for a night out.

One shot showed Robert embracing his brunette beau from behind with a big hug as they stood in front of the beautiful water view.

This comes a week after another trip the couple took together in Hawaii for Scheana's father's birthday.

Night out: The two also went for a night out on the town at The Harbour Club

Jokes: She captioned the pic at the I Am Amsterdam sign: 'I got all up in that d'

Feeling on top: Robert and the 31-year-old reality star have been going strong since February

Scheana, who made her red carpet debut with Robert at OK Magazine's pre-Oscar party earlier this year, recently gushed about him to US Weekly.

'Hes a really great guy,' the model said. 'We met 10 years ago  he was working the door at a club I used to go to all the time. He asked me out and I said no, and then eventually I said yes. Timing didnt work out, but we're giving it a shot. Well see. Were taking things very slow.'

She added: 'Im really good, Im in a very good place. Definitely better than I was last year, so, Im really happy.'

Official: Although the two started dating over the holidays, she didn't make the relationship Instagram official until last week at the Power Rangers movie premiere

Although Robert reached out to Scheana over the holidays, she didn't make the relationship Instagram official until last week when she posted a picture of them at the Power Rangers red carpet premiere.

This comes months after she split with ex-husband Mike Shay in November of last year who she accused of cheating and texting another girl.

Scheana came face-to-face with her estranged husband on camera for the first time in a three-part Vanderpump Rules special last week since announcing her divorce.

Mystery man: The two also traveled to Hawaii together for Scheana's father's birthday with the rest of her family; posted one week ago

It was first claimed Michael was missing and struggled with his sobriety.

Later, the 29-year-old took to Instagram to assure family, friends and fans he was not in a drug spiral and was not missing.

He's publicly battled with an addiction to prescription drugs, but had been sober since January.
Former Hollyoaks star Terri Dwyer has revealed she wants to test for the breast and ovarian cancer genes.

Speaking to the Sunday People, the 43-year-old addressed that losing her chest and womb would be 'horrendous' - but the risk that her children may lose her before they have grown up, is too devastating to bear.

The actress has already endured a battle with skin cancer in the past, following a love of tanning in her youth.

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Next step: Former Hollyoaks star Terri Dwyer has revealed she wants to test for the breast and ovarian cancer genes

Terri confessed that she had been spurred on to check her health after reaching the age her mother Doreen was when she died.

The presenter's mother had passed away from lung and ovarian cancer at age 44, when Terri was just 22 years old, before she lost her father Tony to stomach cancer in 2003.

Explaining that she did not want her two sons Caiden, 11, and Kylan, seven, to be without a mother, she said: 'I dont want my boys to go through the same loss. I want to be there to see them and my grandkids grow up.'

Precaution: The 43-year-old addressed that losing her chest and womb would be 'horrendous' - but the risk her children may lose her before they have grown up, is too devastating to bear

Terri has now decided to undergo a BRCA1 and BRCA2 test, to determine whether she has the cancer gene - and if she will need drastic surgery.

However, the former Loose Women star admitted that the prospect of facing another cancer battle and invasive surgery is truly terrifying.

She continued: 'I have already thought about what would happen if the test was positive  if it was I would have a hysterectomy and mastectomy,

Doting mother: Explaining her decision to undergo the BRCA1 and BRCA2 tests, she said: 'I want to be there to see them and my grandkids grow up'

'Nobody wants to have their womb and boobs removed. Its horrendous. But my boys never met my parents and I dont want to disappear from their lives.'

Yet, Terri is now preparing to launch a campaign for cheaper and more widely available BRCA testing - after being rejected for an assessment on the NHS as she had not been at a high enough risk for the illness, despite her family history.

It would not be the first time Terri had faced the terrible disease - having suffered at the hands of skin cancer in 2014.

Talking on Lorraine in August last year, the presenter revealed that a lifelong obsession with tanning has left her with huge regrets.

Tough time: It would not be the first time Terri had faced the terrible disease - having suffered at the hands of skin cancer in 2014

She said: 'In 2014, I went for a routine check-up and I'd already had some moles taken off, there was another that was causing concern.

'I was going to Italy and I asked if it could be done when I got back but the doctor said no, it needed to be done now.

'I didn't think it was cancer, but it turned out to be stage two. I found out when I got back but luckily, it hadn't spread.'

After having check-ups on what turned out to be several melanomas, the actress confessed the difficulty of her illness was heightened by the fact she had young children.

She explained: 'I always thought I would be much tougher, but I defy anyone who is a mother to not be a nervous wreck.

'My children are aged 10 and six and they need their mother. I needed mine at 22. I want to see them get married and have kids and that is my driving force.'

Terri welcomed her children with husband Sean Marley, who she married in Edinburgh back in 2004.
Rumors floated around recently that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are giving their marriage a second chance.

And while they remain only claims for now, the estranged couple appeared quite happy together on Sunday as they spent time with their three children.

The 44-year-old Hollywood A-listers looked like one big happy family as they were seen in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles partaking in their weekly trip to church.

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One big happy family: Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck looked taken with one another on Sunday in Brentwood, California as they took their three children to church

Jennifer - who recently returned to mommy duties after filming in Atlanta for her latest flick Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda - looked to be on cloud nine in the company of her family.

She wore a black, V-neck top, adorned with white lines along the hemming, that she paired with black slacks and low heel shoes as her brunette locks fell freely by her face.

The 13 Going On 30 Star walked alongside Ben as the two looked exchanged looks and laughs on their fun Sunday afternoon.

Affectionate: The 44-year-old A-listers were accompanied by their 11-year-old daughter Violet, Seraphina, eight and Samuel, five

Happy: The 13 Going On 30 Star looked giddy as she dressed in a black, V-neck top, adorned with white design, black slacks and low heeled shoes

Back together? This comes after sources told People Magazine earlier this month that Jennifer and Ben have decided to hold the divorce and give their marriage a second try

The Oscar-winning star dressed casual for the day in a blue tee, dark denim jeans and a bomber jacket as he helped care for their three children: Violet, 11, Seraphina eight and Samuel, five.

This comes after the Argo star penned a heartfelt note on his Facebook page on March 14 admitting to have gone to rehab for alcohol addiction.

He wrote: 'I want my kids to know there is no shame in getting help when you need it, and to be a source of strength for anyone out there who needs help but is afraid to take the first steps.

'I'm lucky to have the love of my family and friends, including my co-parent, Jen, who has supported me and cared for our kids as I've done the work I set out to do. This was the first of many steps being taken towards a positive recovery.'

Doting mommy: Jennifer has recently returned from shooting in Atlanta and is back on mommy duty, attending to her children

While she was away: The Oscar-winning actor was taking over parenting duties as he watched over their three kids

Coming out: Ben recently penned a heartfelt letter on Facebook where he spoke about going to rehab for his alcohol addiction

Earlier this month, sources told People that the mom-of-three has decided to call off the divorce, and 'wants to work things out with Ben. They are giving things another try.'

But a source close to the couple says it was a decision they both made: 'There is always a chance of reconciliation. They love each other. They also really, really love their kids, and those kids love their parents.'

They first announced they were divorcing in June 2015 after 10 years of marriage amid rumors Ben had cheated with a nanny.
It was meant to be the first official event Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough were attending as a couple.

But it appears Karl's new girlfriend may not be going to his brother Peter and his Today co-star Sylvia Jeffrey's wedding.

According to Woman's Day, Sylvia has BANNED the model and shoe designer from the upcoming nuptials.

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Has Sylvia Jeffreys BANNED Karl Stefanovic's new girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough from her wedding? Today show star 'doesn't want a media circus at her nuptials to his brother Pete'

'Media circus': The magazine claims Sylvia doesn't want a 'media circus' on her big day, and has decided to avoid it by not inviting her

The magazine claims Sylvia doesn't want to attract a 'media circus' on her big day, and has decided to avoid it by not inviting her.

And while Karl is reportedly 'disappointed', Jasmine 'understands' Sylvia's concerns, according to the publication.

'Jasmine was very excited to see them say "I do" and finally get to meet all of Karl's family,' a source allegedly said.

'But she also doesn't want to take anything away from Sylvia and Pete's big day. She completely understands.'

Party time: Meanwhile, Peter reportedly celebrated his last days of singledom with a bucks party thrown by his brother Karl, 42, and several close friends over the weekend

Meanwhile, Peter reportedly celebrated his last days of singledom with a bucks party thrown by brother Karl, 42, and several close friends, over the weekend.

The media personality reportedly partied alongside his Today host sibling and some mates including radio host Ben Fordham just outside of Sydney on Saturday, according toThe Sunday Telegraph.

Last year, Peter remained tight-lipped about details surrounding his bucks night when asked by Fitzy and Wippa where his bucks party would be.

'We just got to keep the people guessing!' he laughed.

Will she be on the guest list? It is unknown whether Karl's ex Cassandra Thorburn will be on the guest list

'Sporting Bet came out with the odds, Thailand is coming in at 2-1 3-1 to Las Vegas in 3 or 4-1.

He finished: 'Yes odds have come out!'

Weeks prior, Sylvia told the radio hosts that she had to put a stop to some of her future brother-in-law Karl's wild bachelor party plans for his brother Peter.

Sylvia explained: 'I think Karl is much more excited about the bucks which probably doesnt surprise you than he is about the wedding. He floated the idea of a week in Thailand for the bucks which I have already shut down.'

The radio duo laughed and Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli quipped back: 'My god, He wouldnt come home alive.'

Ryan 'Fitzy' Fitzgerald echoed the thoughts and exclaimed: 'A bucks week in Thailand!?'

Hearing their shocked responses Sylvia was quick to say: 'I can't tell you how glad I am that you think that's outrageous too.'

Bridal wear: Sources told Daily Mail Australia that 33-year-old Sylvia will wear a bridal gown by Australian designer Rebecca Vallance on her big day

The bucks news comes days after sources told Daily Mail Australia that 33-year-old Sylvia will wear a bridal gown by Australian designer Rebecca Vallance on her big day.

The TV presenter is a longtime fan of the dressmaker, whose flagship boutique is situated in the upscale suburb of Mosman.

The blonde TV personality was first seen wearing a gorgeous piece by the brand over two years ago for Melbourne Cup celebrations.
Her arrival in TOWIE has been nothing short of explosive.

And Amber Turner continues to cause shockwaves in the glamorous home county as she became embroiled in an explosive feud with co-star Georgia Kousoulou, who branded her a 'cocky little b***h' during Sunday night's episode of the ITVBe show.

The newcomer was joined by her pal Yazmin Oukhellou as they were approached by the blonde beauty at a Mother's Day cast party, during which they girls locked horns in an explosive row following 'two-faced' activity.

Georgia became the focus of newbie Yazmin and Amber's chagrin Wednesday's episode when she and her boyfriend Tommy Mallet refused to attend a group date alongside their respective beau's James Lock and Dan Edgar.

The group, joined by Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks, comprised of two of Georgia's best friend's exes, as James previously dated Danielle Armstrong, while Dan was in a long-term romance with Kate Wright - leading to an awkward scenario for Georgia.

She explained her reasoning for not attending although Amber and Yazmin went on to criticise her choice as they insisted she was two-faced for her behaviour.

Earlier in the episode Georgia enjoyed breakfast with her beau, where she said: 'I'm disappointed. I don't know why they don't understand, I don't wanna sit back with my friends exes and their new girlfriends.

Fuming: And Amber Turner continues to cause shockwaves in the glamorous home county as she became embroiled in an explosive feud with co-star Georgia Kousoulou, who branded her a 'cocky little b***h' during Sunday night's episode of the ITVBe show

Getting angry: The group, joined by Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks, comprised of two of Georgia's best friend's exes, as James previously dated Danielle Armstrong, while Dan was in a long-term romance with Kate Wright - leading to an awkward scenario for Georgia

Furious: She explained her reasoning for not attending although Amber and Yazmin went on to criticise her choice as they insisted she was two-faced for her behaviour

An incensed Tommy lashed out at Amber, stating: 'F**k her off man! Who does she think she is? Does she think she's queen or something?'

Georgia continued: 'I gave Amber advice because I'm a friendly person. I don't need to be best friends with everyone. If they wanna talk about me come then and we'll have it out.'

Following her outburst, she later spotted the girls at the Mother's Day bash, where she said: 'I hear you've got a problem with me? That meal I was supposed to go to... I didn't want to come.

'I was wondering if I'd be having cocktails or being slagged off by you. The vibe of what you were saying was bitchy. Yaz you said I'm fake and then you told me to look into my relationship.'

Anger: The newcomer was joined by her pal Yazmin Oukhellou as they were approached by the blonde beauty at a Mother's Day cast party, during which they girls locked horns in an explosive row following 'two-faced' activity

Agg: Yazmin teetered on being apologetic as she said to her co-star: 'I meant people should look into their relationship in general. If it come across b***hy, I didn't mean it like that'

Yazmin teetered on being apologetic as she said to her co-star: 'I meant people should look into their relationship in general. If it come across b***hy, I didn't mean it like that.'

Amber was clearly raging at the star as she referenced her current relationship with Dan, who she is said to have cheated on her boyfriend with: 'A few times I've spoken to you, you've said it's fine. Then you've said Amber's cheated on her boyfriend'.

She was met with further fury, as she Georgia uttered: 'No one cares about you. If you're gonna do something around the area, if you don't like it f**k off.

'I said it to your face. You're walking around like a cocky little b***h... If you think you're doing nothing wrong. Be careful when you're sitting there talking about people... Watch out because it doesn't look good.'

Rage: Georgia became the focus of newbie Yazmin and Amber's chagrin Wednesday's episode when she and her boyfriend Tommy Mallet refused to attend a group date alongside their respective beau's James Lock and Dan Edgar

Not very happy: Earlier in the episode Georgia enjoyed breakfast with her beau, where she said: 'I'm disappointed. I don't know why they don't understand, I don't wanna sit back with my friends exes and their new girlfriends'

As she walked away, Amber cruelly sniped: 'People bark like a fucking dog', before a giggling Amber stated: 'These hoes aint loyal!'

Elsewhere there was further strife, as Pete and Megan's relationship appeared to be coming to a spectacular close after a romantic weekend away to celebrate their one year anniversary, resulted in the duo seemingly parting ways.

As they discussed their relationship, which ground to a halt last year when he was caught sexting an ex-girlfriend, the duo admitted to their struggles.

Pete stated: 'Maybe you cant deal with me very well and I can't deal with you very well. I'd take six bad days for the one good day. Maybe its time to admit we've made it to a year and we might not make it any further. It's always someone else's fault.

As she broke down in tears, Megan shot back: 'The way you are with me. It's not normal the way you are. You're f**king miserable 24/7. I'm not miserable around my friends. I didn't wanna come here in the f**king first place.

Devastated: Elsewhere there was further strife, as Pete and Megan's relationship appeared to be coming to a spectacular close after a romantic weekend away to celebrate their one year anniversary, resulted in the duo seemingly parting ways

All alone: As they discussed their relationship, which ground to a halt last year when he was caught sexting an ex-girlfriend, the duo admitted to their struggles

Clearly not willing to take any more of the row, the tattooed hunk launched out of his chair while muttering: 'A waste of a year of my f**king life.'

Later on, he went to visit his best pal James as he explained: 'This is our anniversary and we should be celebrating. We went away and I popped open a bottle of champagne and it went down hill from there.

'I feel numb. It's a bit of a weird one. We don't get on about a lot of things. The conversation earlier on made me think she doesn't want to be with him.

A waste? Clearly not willing to take any more of the row, the tattooed hunk launched out of his chair while muttering: 'A waste of a year of my f**king life'

Pals: Later on, he went to visit his best pal James as he explained: 'This is our anniversary and we should be celebrating. We went away and I popped open a bottle of champagne and it went down hill from there'

'What happened ages ago still plays on my mind. What happened, happened and it was f**king awful but I can't pay for it for the rest of my life. There needs to be a solution and that's either love is enough for me and her or it aint.'

Megan then sought solace in her mum, as she said: 'When I talk to him about things I feel like he actually hates me. Sometimes I feel like he loves me. It's hard because what more can I do? I can't get over that s**t with the texting.

'I can't get over it and I feel like as much as I've forgiven him, I feel like if he loved me he wouldn't have done any of this. When we argue I think how dare you argue with me when I took you back.'

Oh no: 'What happened ages ago still plays on my mind. What happened, happened and it was f**king awful but I can't pay for it for the rest of my life. There needs to be a solution and that's either love is enough for me and her or it aint'

He's back! Aside from the dramas, delighted fans were pleased to see the return of Gemma Collins' former flame Charlie King, who is helping her shape up

Aside from the dramas, delighted fans were pleased to see the return of Gemma Collins' former flame Charlie King, who is helping her shape up.

The blonde beauty is planning to freeze her eggs so much get into shape and live a healthier lifestyle, yet Gemma's changing shape was not all that captivated fans.

Delighted viewers were treated to a glimpse of Charlie's incredibly muscular physique after he peeled off his shirt in sizzling scenes.

Wow! The blonde beauty is planning to freeze her eggs so much get into shape and live a healthier lifestyle, yet Gemma's changing shape was not all that captivated fans
Australian actress Melissa George has become embroiled in a war of words with a journalist who wrote a story claiming she preferred life overseas to that in her home country.

During a 2012 interview with Fairfax media's Christine Sams, Melissa reportedly said she'd 'rather be having a croissant and a little espresso in Paris or walking my French bulldog in New York City'.

But during a radio interview with KIIS FM's Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson on Monday, Melissa claimed she never said the words attributed to her.

However talking to Daily Mail Australia just hours after Melissa's interview aired, Ms Sams stood by the article and said she was 'baffled' by the actresses latest claims.

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'I never said that': Australian-born actress Melissa George has become embroiled in a war of wards after claiming she didn't say comments attributed to her by a journalist about preferring New York or Paris to her home country

Talking to the controversial Sydney radio duo about her bitter custody battle with ex-partner Jean David Blanc, Melissa also opened up about the controversial quotes.

'I never said that at all and I let it go and it was huge, but we were laughing and I never said anything negative about my country,' Melissa told the KIIS FM stars.

'It was all swapped around and put in the wrong context.

'You know I think it's obvious I'd rather be having a chardonnay in Perth or eating a Vegemite sandwich than having a croissant in Paris.'

Sticking strong: Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Monday, journalist Christine Sams insisted the actress had said the quotes and revealed she was 'baffled' as to why Melissa would claim otherwise

The comments attributed to the actress were printed in an article Ms Sams wrote for the Sun-Herald in November 2012.

And speaking to Daily Mail Australia in the wake of Melissa's claims, the experienced journalist stood firmly behind her article.

'Melissa George did make those exact comments during an interview with The Sun-Herald in November 2012,' Ms Sams said.

'I am sure she regrets making them, and I feel sorry for Melissa in her current situation, but I am baffled as to why she is now claiming she didn't say those words, because she did.

'I understand she is under a lot of stress at the moment and looking to firm up her relationship with Australia. That doesn't change the fact she said those exact words nearly five years ago and they were reported accurately.

Controversial: Melissa, who is locked in a custody battle with ex-partner Jean David Blanc (left) was quoted as saying she would 'rather be having a croissant in Paris or walking her French bulldog in New York' than live in Australia

Misquoted: 'I never said that at all and I let it go and it was huge, but we were laughing and I never said anything negative about my country,' Melissa told KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie 'O'

'So you just let it go?' Despite being repeatedly slammed for her comments, Melissa has never denied saying the words - leaving Kyle and Jackie 'O' amazed she hadn't spoken up sooner. The actress and her former partner are pictured with their children Raphael, three, and Solal, one

'Melissa herself has since tried to apologise repeatedly for them. I stand by my original story as the comments were reported accurately.'

Despite being slammed for her comments, Monday was the first time Melissa has denied saying the words attributed to her, leaving Kyle and Jackie 'O' amazed she hadn't spoken up sooner.

'So wait, you just let that go, so that wasn't a quote of yours, but something that sort of got away from you?' Jackie 'O' asked.

'Oh gosh yeah, absolutely. I know that that's the way it works,' Melissa replied.

Bitter battle: Melissa's ex-partner Jean firmly denies the allegations of violence. Both he and Melissa were convicted of assault over the incident last month, a decision both are appealing

'I've been doing it 20 years and I know that things get said and people can perceive what's written in the way they want to.

'(But) it doesn't matter, can I tell you it's just so not even important. There are more sad things going on in the world not just for me but for everybody.

'To pinpoint something from three or four years ago that really has no relevance to what's going on now when there's children at stake... I'm so like whatever.'

Melissa recently opened up about her traumatic relationship and failed attempts to flee France with her two children during an interview with Sunday Night.

Heartbreaking"Melissa recently opened up about her traumatic relationship and attempts to flee France with her two children during an interview with Channel Seven's Sunday Night

Revealing: During the interview, Melissa showed marks around her wrists, bruising on her back (right) and hip (left), a broken inner lip and a huge lump above her eye as a result of the alleged attack

During the interview horrific photographs showing her bruised face after allegedly being slammed head-first into a metal coat rack by her ex-partner were shown.

She also claimed Jean sent her text messages claiming she was 'destroying' their youngest son by breastfeeding him and had hired private detectives to 'disturb' her.

Jean firmly denies the allegations of violence. Last month, both he and Melissa were convicted of assault over the incident - a judgement both parties are appealing.

Melissa claimed Jean - the millionaire father of her boys Raphael, three, and Solal, one - was emotionally and physically abusive during their five-year romance, claims he denies.
It was her first Mother's Day with a child of her own, after she welcomed son Caben-Albi in January.

But Stephanie Davis was quick to honour her own mother instead on Sunday, as she shared a sweet tribute to her 'BFF' on social media.

However the 24-year-old's collage, shared to Instagram, came after her on/off boyfriend Jeremy McConnell posted an emoji of a mother and son on his Twitter - in a simple remembrance his late parent.

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'My BFF': Stephanie Davis honoured her own mother on Mothering Sunday, as she shared a sweet tribute to her 'BFF' on social media

Taking to her Instagram on Sunday night, the former Hollyoaks actress shared a selection of images of her incredibly youthful mother Pauline with fans.

Featuring two stunning selfies of her mum, Stephanie then included a number of the pair together - including one of them sipping beers, and another of the pair away during her pregnancy last year.

Calling Pauline her 'BFF' in the caption, the former Celebrity Big Brother star then took to Twitter to wish her fans a happy day, writing: 'Happy Mother's Day to all you Yummy Mummy's out there.'

Like mother like daughter: Often sharing selfies with her mum on social media (above), Stephanie referred to her in the collage's caption as her 'BFF'

She also posted an image of a stunning red rose bouquet to the photo-sharing app, perhaps as a gift in honour of her first Mother's Day with her son.

Keeping the sender of the gift a mystery, she captioned the shot with a simple rose emoji.

Stephanie was not the only one honouring her mother on social media however - as her ex Jeremy McConnell also took to Twitter to share a message with fans.

Gorgeous: She also posted an image of a stunning red rose bouquet to the photo-sharing app, perhaps as a gift in honour of her first Mother's Day with her son

Making his statement far more reserved, the Irish star simply penned an emoji of a mother and son, followed by a love heart.

The images could be in a touching tribute to his own mother, who sadly passed away in his youth, or to Stephanie - who gave birth to his first child Caben-Albi in January.

It was an undoubtedly difficult day for Jeremy, who has previously revealed that his mother, brother and sister died within months of each other when he was a teenager.

Difficult: Jeremy McConnell later took to Twitter to post an emoji of a mother and son - in tribute his own mother who passed away while he was a teen

Devoted dad: However Jeremy's sadness is no doubt eased by the arrival of his first child Caben-Albi (above) into the world with ex Stephanie back in January

He said: 'When I was 15 I was at my cousin's and my mum fell asleep. I got back about two hours later and she was gone  she had a brain haemorrhage.

'Shortly after that my brother broke his neck in a motorbike accident.

'After that, my sister had a heart attack  she suffered with epilepsy. All in the space of 15 months.

'Of course I miss them, I loved them dearly, but I think that's what levelled me out a bit  I express myself the way I want to. I just grew up really fast.'

Adding to his heartache, he then confirmed that his father too, had tragically died after a short battle with cancer earlier this month.

Happier times: Jeremy and Stephanie met on Celebrity Big Brother (above), but things have become highly fraught recently after Jeremy was arrested on alleged grounds of assault

However Jeremy's sadness is no doubt eased by the arrival of his first child into the world with ex Stephanie back in January.

Things have seemed highly turbulent between the pair in recent weeks - after Jeremy was arrested over accusations of assault.

One newspaper named the alleged victim as Stephanie, following pictures she posted of her bruised legs. Merseyside Police confirmed to MailOnline that were called to a property regarding an incident that happened on 9 March.

However Jeremy was later released, and the estranged couple are thought to be patching up their relationship.

Fans believed Stephanie was extending an olive branch to her ex after she liked an image of him cradling their son - however the like has since been retracted.
The Erez crossing is the only one between Gaza and Israel for people

Hamas shut the crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Sunday after blaming the Jewish state for the assassination of one of its officials in the Palestinian enclave.

The interior ministry in Gaza, run by Islamist movement Hamas, said it was shutting the Erez crossing for an indefinite period as it investigates Friday's murder.

It did not give details on the reason behind the closure, though there was speculation authorities may be seeking to prevent those responsible for the killing from leaving.

Hamas security forces were deployed along the Gazan borders and exits by sea were also banned, officials said.

Hamas officials have blamed the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and its "collaborators" for the killing of Mazen Faqha, 38, who was shot dead by unknown gunmen.

He was killed by four bullets from a pistol equipped with a silencer.

Israel has not commented on the shooting.

According to Israeli media, Faqha was responsible for cells of Hamas's military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

On Sunday, Faqha's wife, Nahed Assida, called on "Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to respond to this assassination."

"The price of my husband's blood is in your hands," she said during a women's conference in Gaza.

Faqha's funeral on Saturday drew thousands of Hamas supporters into the streets with chants of "revenge" and "death to Israel."

Ismail Haniya, until recently head of Hamas in Gaza, and Yahya Sinwar, who replaced him as leader, headed the procession.

According to Hamas, Faqha formed cells for the Islamist group's military wing in the West Bank cities of Tubas, also where he was born, and Jenin.

It said he played an important role in preparing two major attacks.

They included a suicide attack in the Israeli settlement neighbourhood of Gilo in east Jerusalem in 2002 that killed 19 people.

The second was a suicide bus attack later that year that killed nine people in the northern Israeli city of Safed.

They were part of a wave of suicide attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis during the second intifada, or uprising, between 2000 and 2005.

Israel sentenced him to nine life sentences plus 50 years, but he was released in 2011 along with more than 1,000 other Palestinians in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier Hamas had detained for five years, and transferred to Gaza.

Israel did not immediately comment in detail on Sunday's closure but said its side of the crossing remained open.

The Erez crossing is the only one between Gaza and Israel for people. Another crossing with Israel, Kerem Shalom, is used for goods and remained open on Sunday, Palestinian officials said.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade. Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israel have fought three wars since 2008.

Gaza's sole crossing with Egypt has also remained largely closed in recent years.
Yemeni supporters of the Huthi movement and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh at a rally to mark two years of the military intervention by the Saudi-led coalition, in the capital Sanaa on March 26, 2017

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Yemen's rebel-held capital Sunday in a show of support for the insurgents, two years after a Gulf coalition intervened against the rebels.

The Yemen conflict pits the Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies against government troops supported since March 2015 by a Saudi-led coalition.

The Iran-backed rebels staged a show of force over the weekend with the mass rally in Sanaa and a symbolic court ruling against Yemen's embattled president.

Crowds converged on the capital's Sabaeen Square on Sunday, chanting their vows to "resist to the end".

The protest came a day after a rebel court in Sanaa sentenced President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to death for high treason in absentia.

Yemeni supporters of the Huthi movement attend rally in Sanaa on March 26, 2017

The court found Hadi guilty of "usurping the title of president after the end of his term in office ... instigating attacks by Saudi Arabia and undermining the independence and integrity of the Republic of Yemen", the rebel-controlled Saba agency said.

Six members of the Hadi government were also sentenced to death.

Hadi, whose two-year term in office expired in February 2014, now lives in Saudi Arabia although he also visits his government's temporary capital of Aden.

- Iranian 'plot' -

The president was placed under house arrest after the Huthis overran the capital in September 2014, and later fled to the southern port city of Aden.

The coalition intervened with airstrikes on March 26, 2015, after Huthis advanced on other parts of the country including the port city.

A poster bearing a portrait of Saudi-backed Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi at a demonstration in his support in 2016

Hadi's forces have since gained ground in southern Yemen, but the Huthis still control the capital and strategic ports on the Red Sea coastline.

The government-run Saba news agency on Sunday ran an editorial slamming the "rise of the Huthi militia" as an Iranian "plot" targeting Yemen and neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

On Saturday, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a Huthi ally, slammed Saudi Arabia's role in the conflict.

"Free Yemenis will continue to choose resistance, as long as the coalition led by Saudi Arabia continues to choose war," Saba quoted Saleh as saying in a speech marking the two-year anniversary.

Rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi said the coalition had been "living under the illusion that they can take Yemen in a week or a month... but have sunk into the mud".

- Possible 'war crime' -

Home to one of Al-Qaeda's most dangerous branches, Yemen has a complex history of civil unrest.

The rebels had long complained of marginalisation and in 2011 mobilised protests demanding economic and political reform that led to Saleh's resignation the next year after decades in power.

But the Huthis and Saleh put their differences behind them in 2014, as the rebels took control of the capital with the support of troops still loyal to the former president.

More than 7,700 people have been killed and three million displaced in Yemen since March 2015, the United Nations says.

This month, 42 people, mainly Somali refugees, were killed when a boat transporting them out of Yemen came under an air attack off the main Red Sea port of Hodeida.

On Sunday, Human Rights Watch said there was evidence the attack may have come from the coalition and could amount to a war crime.

Saudi Arabia has denied involvement and called for the United Nations to take control of the Hodeida port, which is currently in the hands of the Huthis.

The United Nations has described Yemen as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today, with fighting leaving millions desperate for food and shelter.

It says the country this year also faces a serious risk of famine.
Ohio nightclub shooting

Gunfire erupted in a crowded Ohio nightclub early Sunday after a personal dispute boiled over, killing one person and wounding at least 15 as partygoers scattered into the night, authorities said.

The gunmen remained at large following the shooting at the Cameo nightclub in Cincinnati that Police Chief Eliot Isaac said was packed with revelers.

"Several local men got into some type of dispute inside the bar and it escalated into shots being fired from several individuals," Isaac told reporters.

"As a result, there were 16 people that sustained gunshot injuries, one of which is deceased," he said, adding that one victim was in "an extremely critical condition."

Isaac named the man killed at the scene as 27-year-old Obryan Spikes.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said there was "no evidence that this was a terrorist attack."

"However, to the victims, what difference does it make? They've been terrorized by gun violence, innocent victims," he said.

"It's important for everyone to understand that people were just going to have a good time and ended up getting shot. That is totally unacceptable."

Police began receiving calls about shots being fired at the club at about 1:30 am (0530 GMT), according to Isaac.

No arrests have yet been made, and Isaac could not confirm whether any of the injured were among the shooters.

"The investigation is in its very early stages," the police chief said.

Authorities in the Midwestern city called on anyone with information that could help the probe to come forward.

- 'Grown and sexy' -

According to its Facebook page, Cameo admits "grown and sexy" partygoers aged 21 and over on Saturday nights.

"It was a young crowd and we have had incidents in the past, but this is the worst by far," Captain Kimberly Williams, the district's police commander, told CNN.

She said there was "a lot of chaos when the shots went off."

Cameo was the site of two shooting investigations in 2015, local news station WLWT reported.

Someone was shot in the foot there on New Year's Day, and a shooting victim was found in the parking lot in September, WLWT said.

Ohio Governor John Kasich said his office was offering help to local authorities.

"You see things like this and you begin to wonder, where is it safe to go?" he said on CNN.

Although authorities said there was no evidence of terrorism, the attack inevitably raised memories of last year's rampage at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

That mass shooting -- which left 49 dead and 68 wounded -- was the deadliest terror attack in the United States since September 11, 2001.

The gunman, Omar Mateen, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State jihadist group in a call to police during the assault.

- American gun violence -

But shootings are a common feature of life in America, where the right to bear arms is protected by the US Constitution.

Cincinnati, a city of 300,000 people nestled along the northern banks of the Ohio River, had 66 homicides in 2016, all but nine of them as a result of firearms.

This year has seen a spike in gun violence, with 57 shooting victims in the city as of Thursday last week, compared to 31 during the same period last year.

Elsewhere in the United States, a gunman opened fire Saturday on a double-decker bus on the Las Vegas Strip, killing one person and wounding another. Police said the suspect appeared to have "mental issues."

More notorious gun crimes in recent years included the rampage carried out by 21-year-old white supremacist Dylann Roof, who shot to death nine people during a Bible study session at a historically African American church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015.

And a massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012 claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults. Gunman Adam Lanza, who had a history of mental illness, also killed his mother and went on to commit suicide.

The tragedy sparked calls for stricter gun control laws, but bills banning assault weapons and expanding background checks on gun purchases were defeated in the US Congress.
An Iraqi man in the rubble of destroyed houses in Mosul's al-Jadida area on March 26, 2017, after air strikes which reportedly killed civilians

Iraqi civil defence forces and volunteers removed bodies from the rubble of houses on Sunday in a west Mosul area where air strikes reportedly took a devastating toll on civilians.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians are still trapped, caught between advancing Iraqi forces and the Islamic State group jihadists that they are fighting to defeat.

The battle for Mosul

Iraqi officials and witnesses said air strikes killed civilians in the Mosul al-Jadida area in recent days, but the number of victims -- said by some to number in the hundreds -- could not be independently confirmed.

An AFP photographer saw civil defence personnel and volunteers digging through the remains of houses to recover the dead in Mosul al-Jadida, where at least six homes were completely destroyed.

The remains of 12 people -- among them women and children -- were placed in blue plastic body bags.

An Iraqi counter terrorism forces member in Mosul's al-Jadida area on March 26, 2017, following air strikes which reportedly killed civilians

A 45-year-old man who wept as he spoke said he was living with more than 20 relatives in one of the houses that was destroyed.

The man, who did not want to be identified, survived because he was away at the time, but said he was told that an air strike targeted the house where IS had positioned two snipers on the roof.

Several senior Iraqi military officers visited Mosul al-Jadida on Sunday and asked people what had happened, the AFP photographer said.

Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, the spokesman for the Joint Operations Command, said Iraq is investigating reports of civilian deaths in west Mosul.

- Coalition potentially responsible -

"The defence ministry opened an investigation into this issue," Rasool said.

The US-led coalition against IS has indicated that it may have been responsible for at least some of the civilian deaths, and said it is also conducting an investigation.

"An initial review of strike data... indicates that, at the request of the Iraqi security forces, the coalition struck (IS) fighters and equipment, March 17, in west Mosul at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties," it said in a statement on Saturday.

But that only addresses one day, while Iraqi officials referred to strikes carried out over several.

On Sunday, US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel called recent civilian deaths in Mosul a "terrible tragedy".

"We are investigating the incident to determine exactly what happened and will continue to take extraordinary measures to avoid harming civilians," he said in a statement.

Snipers from the Iraqi forces man their post at the frontline of the Old City of Mosul on March 25, 2017

At the beginning of this month the international alliance had said that "it is more likely than not, at least 220 civilians have been unintentionally killed by coalition strikes", and other incidents were still under investigation.

Two witnesses who have now fled the city said that a building with around 170 people inside was destroyed in Mosul al-Jadida.

Iraqi forces drive down a street on the frontline of the Old City of Mosul on March 25, 2017

One of them said that IS snipers had fired on Iraqi forces, after which an aircraft targeted them with a missile.

An Iraqi brigadier general said that 27 residential buildings had been damaged by multiple days of strikes in west Mosul, and some were completely destroyed.

- Jihadists using human shields -

Some officials from Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, have put the death toll from the strikes in the hundreds, but the number of victims is unclear.

Following the raids, the United Nations called for "everything possible" to be done to protect civilians in Mosul.

"International humanitarian law is clear. Parties to the conflict -- all parties -- are obliged to do everything possible to protect civilians. This means that combatants cannot use people as human shields and cannot imperil lives through indiscriminate use of fire-power," said Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Iraq.

Rasool, meanwhile, said Iraqi forces were seeking to target jihadists using civilians as human shields.

IS "began to use citizens as human shields, and we are trying to target them with... snipers to eliminate them," he said.

Iraqi forces are relying on "light and medium weapons, among them sniper (rifles), to hunt for Daesh members" located among civilians, Rasool said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

However, Iraqi forces have also frequently fired mortar rounds and unguided rockets during the battle for west Mosul -- weapons that pose a much greater risk to residents where fighting is taking place.

Rasool accused IS of gathering civilians together and blowing up vehicles nearby to make it look like "Iraqi forces... are targeting innocent civilians".

According to Iraqi authorities, more than 200,000 people have fled west Mosul since the operation to retake the area began on February 19.

However, the UN has said that around 600,000 are still inside the city.
Fighters patrol a citadel on the edge of Lake Assad, behind the Tabqa dam west of Raqa, northern Syria, in a screengrab captured on March 5, 2017 from an AFPTV video filmed on February 26, 2017

Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance, on Sunday seized a military airport from the Islamic State jihadist group in northern Syria, a spokesman said.

The capture of Tabqa airbase comes as the alliance prepares an attack on IS's de facto Syrian capital Raqa, seeking to effectively surround the city before launching its assault.

SDF forces are also battling for the nearby Tabqa dam, held by IS, which was forced out of service on Sunday after its power station was damaged, a technical source there told AFP.

"The Syrian Democratic Forces have full control of Tabqa military airport and operations to clear and demine are under way in order to secure the airport fully," spokesman Talal Sello told AFP.

SDF forces entered the airport earlier Sunday, backed by heavy artillery fire and air strikes by the US-led coalition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

IS seized the base from government troops in August 2014 and carried out one of its worst massacres there, killing up to 200 government soldiers.

With support from the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq, SDF fighters have inched closer to Raqa, taking territory to the north and east.

At their closest point, they are just eight kilometres (five miles) from the city, to the northeast.

But they are mostly further away, between 18 and 29 kilometres from Raqa.

Earlier this week, US forces airlifted SDF fighters behind IS lines to allow them to launch the Tabqa assault, and on Friday the alliance reached one of the dam's entrances.

- Tabqa dam faces danger -

But the fight for the dam, the biggest in Syria, forced it out of service on Sunday, risking dangerous rising water levels.

"Shelling on the area... that supplies that dam with electricity has put it out of service," the technical source said.

"The work needed to fix the problem is not possible because there is not sufficient staff available as a result of the intensive shelling in the area of the dam," he added.

"If the problem is not fixed, it will begin to pose a danger to the dam."

The SDF's Sello told AFP there was no imminent danger to the dam, adding it had not been hit in air strikes.

The dam remains under IS control, with SDF progress being hampered by the exposed nature of the terrain, which is also heavily mined, the Observatory said.

IS issued warnings through its propaganda agency Amaq that the dam "is threatened with collapse at any moment because of American strikes and a large rise in water levels".

But the source at the dam told AFP there had not yet been significant water level increases, though he acknowledged levels would rise if the facility remained out of service.

Earlier this year, the UN's humanitarian coordination agency OCHA said water levels in the Euphrates had risen 10 metres (33 feet) since late January, in part from heavy rainfall and snow.

But it warned that damage to the dam "could lead to massive scale flooding across Raqa and as far away as Deir Ezzor" province to the southeast.

Any further rises in the water level or damage to the Tabqa dam "would have catastrophic humanitarian implications in all areas downstream", the UN warned.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since its conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
Ethiopian Israelis hold up photographs of relatives in a protest outside the premier's office in Jerusalem on March 20, 2016

Thousands of Ethiopians with family members in Israel have again had attempts to join them delayed, this time by a paperwork logjam, Israeli officials said on Sunday.

Threatened by a revolt on the issue within the ruling Likud party, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government pledged in April that 1,300 Ethiopians would be admitted within 12 months out of a possible 9,000 set to arrive over five years.

But so far only 64 have entered the country, prompting MP Elie Elalouf to say last week that Israel had "abandoned the Jewish community of Ethiopia despite the promises".

A spokesman for the Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental institution that encourages diaspora communities to move to Israel, told AFP on Sunday that his organisation was waiting to receive the names of those eligible from the government.

"The Jewish Agency is ready to receive them and we will carry out the government instructions, but we have not received lists of candidates from the interior ministry," Yigal Palmor said.

Ethiopian-born Avraham Neguise, chairman of parliament's immigration committee and a Likud member, accused the ministry of "deliberately putting spokes in the wheels" of the attempts to reunite Israeli Ethiopians with their kin still in the African nation.

Ethiopian Israelis allege they are regularly discriminated against in Israel.

The country's Ethiopian community numbers around 135,000 people, of whom more than 50,000 were born in Israel.

The bulk of Ethiopia's Jewish community was brought to the country between 1984 and 1991 under the Law of Return guaranteeing Israeli citizenship to all Jews.

Those still trying to join them are members of a community known as Falash Mura, descendants of Ethiopian Jews who converted to Christianity, many under duress, in the 18th and 19th centuries.

They are not recognised as Jews by Israel's Orthodox rabbinical authorities but claim the right to immigrate under family reunification rules.

Government approval for about 9,000 claimants was given in November 2015 but then rescinded in March the following year, citing budgetary constraints.

Following mass protests and a parliamentary rebellion by Neguise and another Likud lawmaker, which placed passage of the state budget in jeopardy, the government relented and made its April 2016 pledge.

Netanyahu's coalition at the time held only a one-seat majority in parliament.
US President Donald Trump at the tomb of former president Andrew Jackson in Nashville, Tennessee on March 15, 2017

President Donald Trump's enthusiasm for his 19th century predecessor Andrew Jackson is stoking fears he may cancel plans to replace that controversial president on the $20 bill with abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

The Treasury Department announced a year ago that by 2020 it would remove slave-owner Jackson's likeness in favor of an image of Tubman, an African-American who escaped from slavery and helped others to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

Tubman, who also fought for women to be granted the right to vote, would be the first African-American as well as the first woman to appear on a US banknote.

With nine billion in circulation, the $20 bill is among the most widely used denomination along with $1 bills, which number 11.7 billion.

During the administration of president Barack Obama, the Treasury conducted a survey on who should be the first woman to appear on the currency, and selected Tubman.

Another survey by "Women on 20s," a group calling for a woman to appear on the $20 banknote, collected more than a half-million responses in an online poll in which Tubman was first out of four finalists, including civil rights icon Rosa Parks and stateswoman and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

But since Trump's election, Andrew Jackson's stock has risen strikingly in the White House, a development that worries Tubman supporters.

- Displayed in the Oval Office -

"We are keeping a very close eye as to any further signal and any delay or change in the progress towards having design and production ready for Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill by 2020," Women on 20s Founder Barbara Ortiz told AFP.

Trump "seems to be using every opportunity to extol the virtues of Jackson," she said, recalling was Jackson's a slave owner and his role in the "Trail of Tears."

Jackson oversaw the start of forcible expulsions of Native Americans from their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States to areas west of the Mississippi River, resulting in thousands of deaths from starvation, exposure and disease.

As a military officer, Jackson also led an invasion of Spanish Florida to destroy the "Negro Fort," where former slaves had settled.

Five days after his inauguration, Trump displayed Jackson's portrait prominently in the Oval Office, drawing inspiration from the former army commander, who was famed for his success in battle against the British and seen as a "man of the people."

Trump's advisor Stephen Bannon also praised Trump's inaugural address as "very Jacksonian."

Last week, Trump laid a wreath by Jackson's tomb at his former Tennessee plantation, marking the 250th anniversary of his birth. Trump praised the "very great" Jackson for taking on "an arrogant elite."

"Does that sound familiar to you?" Trump asked.

When Tubman's selection was announced during his campaign, Trump panned the choice as "purely politically correct," and said Tubman's picture would be better placed on the $2 bill, which is hardly used.

The Treasury Department declined to comment.

Before his departure, former Treasury secretary Jack Lew considered unveiling the new bill's design publicly to help make the change irreversible. But this was nixed to avoid encouraging counterfeiters.

Instead, in January and during Trump's inaugural ceremonies, the Treasury, which is located next to the White House, displayed portraits of the heroes emblazoned on banknotes, George Washington ($1 bill), Abraham Lincoln ($5 bill), Alexander Hamilton (the first Treasury secretary who appears on the $10 bill) and Harriet Tubman, slated to appear on the $20 bill.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday joked that Trump himself should appear on the $1,000 bill, which is no longer in circulation.
Exiled former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed says he plans to take control of parliament after hammering out a rare unity pact with his erstwhile enemies

The exiled former leader of the Maldives Sunday announced plans to take control of the national parliament after hammering out a rare unity pact with his politically influential erstwhile enemies.

Mohamed Nasheed said he entered into a pact with three other parties to wrest control of the 85-member national parliament currently held by President Abdulla Yameen's Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

Nasheed said former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a half brother of Yameen, signed an agreement at the weekend vowing to work together to secure, among other things, freedom for those convicted of politically motivated charges.

"We are going to prove our majority in parliament on Monday," Nasheed told AFP during a visit to Colombo.

"If we succeed, as we expect to, the president will be reduced to a lame duck and will have to carry out reforms and reverse the anti-democratic measures he has introduced."

He said the objective was to strengthen democratic institutions and ensure that 2018 elections are free and fair.

Last month, Nasheed said he would return to run for election as president of the troubled Indian Ocean nation, despite facing jail after a controversial conviction on terror-related charges.

He became the Maldives' first democratically elected president in 2008, but was narrowly defeated in 2013 elections by Yameen.

Nasheed was later jailed on terrorism charges he says were politically motivated. He has lived in exile for the past year after Maldives authorities gave him leave to travel to London for medical treatment.

The Maldives constitution bars Nasheed from being a candidate because of the controversial 2015 criminal conviction.

But the former leader expects the restriction to be lifted in response to international pressure. Nasheed's international legal team includes high profile human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.

A UN panel has ruled that Nasheed's imprisonment was illegal and ordered the regime to pay him compensation.

A crackdown on political dissent in the nation of 340,000 has dented its popular image as an idyllic island paradise in recent years.

Almost all key opposition leaders and a number of ruling party dissidents have either been jailed or fled into exile since Yameen took office in a controversial run-off election against Nasheed.

At the country's first multi-party elections in 2008, Nasheed beat long-time president Gayoom, who had ruled the island for three straight decades. Gayoom had jailed Nasheed several times, but the two men have made common cause against Yameen.
South Sudan's civil war has displaced about 2.5 million people and created a devastating humanitarian crisis

Six aid workers have been killed in an ambush in South Sudan, the UN said Sunday, in another blow to humanitarian efforts a country suffering from war-induced famine.

A humanitarian source told AFP the victims -- three Kenyans and three South Sudanese working for a local aid group -- were killed on Saturday as they travelled in convoy from the capital Juba to the eastern town of Pibor.

Unknown assailants stopped the car, forced them out and then they were "shot and killed," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Three years of civil war in South Sudan have seen warring parties deny access to aid, attack humanitarian workers and loot relief supplies.

It has also displaced about 2.5 million people and created a devastating humanitarian crisis, including a famine that has already affected 100,000 people and is threatening to reach up to a million.

"I am appalled and outraged by the heinous murder yesterday (Saturday) of six courageous humanitarians in South Sudan," said Eugene Owusu of the UN humanitarian agency OCHA in a statement.

"At a time when humanitarian needs have reached unprecedented levels, it is entirely unacceptable that those who are trying to help are being attacked and killed."

According to OCHA, it was the highest number of aid workers killed in a single incident since the conflict began in December 2013 in the world's youngest country.

David Shearer, the special representative of UN chief Antonio Guterres in South Sudan, said the killing took place in government-controlled territory and urged authorities to "investigate and apprehend the killers."

"This cold-blooded killing is utterly reprehensible, not least, because these aid workers were dedicated to alleviating the ongoing suffering of the people of South Sudan," he said in a statement.

- 79 aid workers killed -

The ambush follows two other attacks on aid workers this month.

On March 14, a health worker and a patient were killed in an attack on a humanitarian convoy responding to a cholera outbreak in the central town of Yirol.

And four days earlier, local staff of an international NGO were detained by armed rebels and released four days later during fighting in the northern area of Mayendit, OCHA said.

The agency said at least 79 aid workers have been killed in South Sudan since December 2013.

This year alone, 12 have died and at least eight humanitarian convoys have been attacked.

Observers have accused the government of using starvation as a battlefield tactic.

A leaked report by UN investigators said last week it was no coincidence that areas afflicted by famine are opposition areas, home to mostly ethnic Nuer and controlled for the most part by rebels.

Michele Sison, deputy US representative to the UN, on Thursday told a Security Council meeting that the government's obstacles to humanitarian work in the famine-struck areas "may amount to deliberate starvation tactics."

- 'Peace, not food aid' -

South Sudan's leaders fought for decades for independence, but once it was achieved in 2011, the fighting turned inward.

Famine in South Sudan

A long-standing power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar sparked fighting in Juba in December 2013 which quickly turned into a wider conflict between Kiir's Dinka supporters and Machar's Nuer community.

Since then the fighting has spread across the country and among ethnic groups jockeying for political and military advantage and to protect their communities.

On Thursday, UN chief Guterres denounced "a refusal by the leadership to even acknowledge the crisis or to fulfil its responsibilities to end it".

Regional peace efforts have borne no fruit and the UN has been unable to push through an arms embargo.

According to OCHA some 7.5 million people in South Sudan are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Angelique Kerber of Germany returns a shot against Shelby Rogers on March 26, 2017

World number one Angelique Kerber came back from being a break down in both sets to beat American Shelby Rogers 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday and move into the fourth round at the Miami Open.

With no sign of the rain that interrupted the past two days on Key Biscayne, Kerber was joined in the next round by Britains Johanna Konta and Russias Svetlana Kuznetsova who both had comfortable wins.

Although ranked 61st in the world Rogers has beaten Karolina Pliskova, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep and Daria Kasatkina in the last year and had her eye on beating the top seed.

An upset looked possible when the American won the first three games of the opening set but Kerber recovered to win six of the next seven games.

It was a similar story in the second set where Rogers, having saved a break point, hit some good winners to go 4-2 up only for the German to power back and secure a fourth round meeting with Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki who beat German Julia Georges 7-6(7/5), 6-3.

Seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, beaten finalist in Indian Wells, was broken early by confident America Taylor Townsend.

Townsend had beaten experienced Italian Roberta Vinci in the previous round but Kuznetsova wasnt about to be another victim and took four straight games to take the set and then never looked in danger.

Tenth seed Konta beat 57th ranked Pauline Parmentier of France, 6-4, 6-0 looking in better form than in her laboured opening, three-set, two hours 40 minute win against Belarussian Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

The contest turned in Kontas direction when she converted her third break point to take a 4-3 lead in the first set and the Australian-born Briton lost just five points in the second set.

Conditions were much improved on the gusty winds of her opening game but Konta said she was pleased with both victories.

"My first round was very good because I could get through a difficult situation. Today was a cleaner match, so in that sense, it was also a good performance," she said.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir gives a press conference in the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum, on March 2, 2017

President Omar al-Bashir will attend an Arab League summit in Amman this week, Sudan's foreign minister said Sunday, despite a top rights group urging Jordan to deny him entry.

Bashir is wanted by The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged genocide and war crimes related to the conflict in war-torn Darfur.

"President Omar al-Bashir will participate in the Arab summit in spite of his hectic schedule," Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour told the official SUNA news agency.

Ghandour said Bashir was attending the Arab League's annual summit as Jordan's King Abdullah II insisted that he come.

"President Bashir has never fled from ICC, and he will continue executing his responsibilities," Ghandour said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has called on Jordan, an ICC member, to deny entry to Bashir or arrest him if he comes for the summit, which begins on Wednesday near the Dead Sea.

"Jordan would be defying its international obligations as an ICC member if it allows Bashir to visit without arresting him," said Elise Keppler, associate international justice director at HRW in a statement.

"Welcoming an ICC fugitive would undermine the Jordanian governments recent efforts to strengthen the countrys rule of law."

The Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for Bashir in 2009 and 2010, but he has so far evaded arrest and steadfastly denies the charges related to conflict in Darfur.

The conflict in Darfur, a region the size of France, erupted in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Bashir's Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, accusing it of marginalising the region economically and politically.

At least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and another 2.5 million displaced since the conflict erupted, the United Nations says.

In 2015, South Africa refused to arrest Bashir when he attended an African Union summit there, claiming he had immunity as the head of an AU member state.

The ICC will hold a public hearing on April 7 to probe whether South Africa -- a signatory to the Rome Statute of the world war crimes court -- failed in its duty in refusing to do so.
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Somalia's parliament speaker is urging the new prime minister to review his proposed cabinet after 105 lawmakers presented a petition calling for changes.

The fragile central government is trying to assert itself in this long-chaotic country after the election of Somali-American President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed last month.

But Saturday's comments by parliament speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari are a warning that the cabinet lineup could be rejected if it isn't changed to allow more power-sharing by Somalia's powerful clans.

Jawari says the lineup goes against the power-sharing formula that clans agreed on previously.

The prime minister was expected to present his proposed cabinet to parliament for approval next week.

The international community has poured in hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years for Somalia's political and economic recovery.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Congress and the health overhaul (all times local):

7:35 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence has told a group at a small business in West Virginia that "we will end the Obamacare nightmare and give the American people the world-class health care that they deserve."

Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a visit to Foster Supply Inc. on Saturday, March 25, 2017, in Scott Depot, W.Va. Pence was in West Virginia to participate in a listening session with small business and job creators in the community. (Sholten Singer/The Herald-Dispatch via AP)

Pence's message on Saturday comes after the GOP effort to repeal Barack Obama's health care law failed to gather enough Republican support to come to a vote in the House.

Top congressional Republicans mostly concede the measure's demise means it's time to move onto other issues. Trump himself says "it won't be in the very distant future" before he tries again to repeal and replace the health care law.

On Saturday in the West Virginia community of Scott Depot, Pence said Congress just wasn't ready and that it's "back to the drawing board."

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11:30 a.m.

A Tennessee Republican says that "at some point" lawmakers have to address the costs and availability of health care and that he is willing to work with the Trump administration and both parties to do that.

Sen. Bob Corker says in a statement that he spoke Friday night with President Donald Trump.

The president has responded to the failure of the GOP effort to repeal and replace "Obamacare" by repeating his dire predictions for President Barack Obama's health care law. He more optimistic twist in a tweet issued Saturday, saying Obamacare would explode but that "we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry!"

But top congressional Republicans mostly concede the measure's demise means it's time to move onto other issues.

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11 a.m.

President Donald Trump is responding to the failure of the GOP effort to repeal and replace "Obamacare" by repeating his dire predictions for President Barack Obama's health care law.

Trump is also offering a more optimistic twist in a tweet issued Saturday, saying Obamacare would explode but that "we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry!"

While some parts of the Affordable Care Act have obvious problems, others are working well and have brought the country's rate of uninsured people to a record low.

With Trump serving alongside a Congress controlled by the GOP, the bill was the party's first genuine opportunity to repeal Obama's statute.

On Friday, House Speaker Paul Ryan shelved the measure amid defections from centrist Republicans who thought it went too far and conservatives who considered it too weak, plus solid Democratic opposition.

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3 a.m.

House Republicans passed roughly 60 bills over the past six years dismembering President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Other than minor tweaks, they knew the measures would go nowhere because the Democrat still lived in the White House.

With a bill that counted Friday, they choked. It was an epic, damaging, self-inflicted collapse that smothered the GOP effort.

House Speaker Paul Ryan abruptly yanked the legislation off the House floor to avert a certain defeat.

Ryan told reporters, "We're going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future."

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., announces that he is abruptly pulling the troubled Republican health care overhaul bill off the House floor, short of votes and eager to avoid a humiliating defeat for President Donald Trump and GOP leaders, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, March 24, 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., left, react at a joke from Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., center, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 24, 2017. Republican leaders have abruptly pulled their troubled health care overhaul bill off the House floor, short of votes and eager to avoid a humiliating defeat for President Donald Trump and GOP leaders.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2017, file photo photo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin listens at right as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on the Federal budget in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Trump wants to tackle tax reform, but the loss on health care deals a blow to that effort. The loss on health care deprives Republicans of $1 trillion in tax cuts, and the GOP is just as divided on what steps to take. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
PARIS (AP) - French voters just won't tolerate corruption in politics anymore - that appears to be the message from the swift downfall of the country's powerful security minister.

It's a notable shift from the past, when influence peddling seemed endemic and politicians untouchable, even when they were accused of shocking scandals.

The change is the result of an aggressive new financial prosecutor, an unprecedented anti-corruption drive by President Francois Hollande, and growing public frustration with a political establishment seen as intent on enriching itself even as ordinary people suffer.

Outgoing French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux arrives to welcome his successor Matthias Fekl, prior to a handover ceremony, in Paris, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. Le Roux resigned Tuesday a few hours after prosecutors opened an investigation into a report that he hired his two daughters for a series of temporary parliamentary jobs, starting when they were 15 and 16 years old. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Hollande on Thursday inaugurated the French anti-corruption agency, a public organization focusing on business activity - the latest move in government efforts to fight corruption.

Five years ago, Hollande campaigned on the promise to make the French Republic "exemplary." He probably didn't think he would have so much clean up to do in his own camp.

Former Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux on Tuesday became the fifth minister to quit the Socialist government over financial wrongdoing allegations. Prosecutors opened an investigation into a report that he hired his two daughters for some two dozen temporary parliamentary jobs, starting when they were 15 and 16 years old.

The case comes as France's electoral campaign is being affected by a string of corruption scandals ahead of the country's two-round presidential election on April 23 and May 7.

The conservative candidate Francois Fillon is the target an investigation into allegations that he gave his wife and two children government-funded jobs which they never did.

Fillon suggested Thursday that Hollande would intervene in legal cases to try to discredit political rivals. Hollande vigorously denounced those allegations as false and insisted he has never intervened in any judicial procedure.

Fillon, once considered the presidential front-runner, has sunk in polls following the press' first revelations about the jobs in January.

Since then, allegations have come out that Fillon was also given suits worth more than 48,000 euros ($52,000) over the past five years - including two suits worth 13,000 euros ($14,000) last month. Judges are also investigating whether Fillon and his wife committed fraud and forgery in a cover-up attempt.

His supporters insist the principle of presumption of innocence should protect their candidate.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and some members of her anti-EU, anti-immigrant National Front party are also targeted in several ongoing investigations.

Polls suggest that Le Pen and independent centrist Emmanuel Macron are the two top contenders in the election. The top two vote-getters on April 23 will compete in a presidential runoff on May 7.

For the first time in the country's history, the declarations of assets of all the presidential candidates were published this week on the High authority for the transparency of public life's website.

Hollande's term was tarnished from the start with scandals - the biggest one concerning former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac.

Cahuzac acknowledged owning illegal foreign bank accounts for two decades in March 2013, after denying and publicly lying for months. He was sentenced last year to three years in prison. He has appealed the decision.

Cahuzac's case prompted the creation of the new position of a national financial prosecutor three years ago to focus on complex cases of serious economic and financial crime.

The government also passed a law in 2013 to force ministers and parliamentarians to declare their assets and avoid any conflict of interest. The same year, another bill tightened France's legal arsenal to fight tax fraud and evasion.

In addition to Le Roux and Cahuzac, three lower-profile ministers were forced to quit Hollande's government in the same circumstances, including junior minister for foreign trade Thomas Thevenoud who resigned in 2014 because he was named in an inquiry into tax fraud. He goes on trial next month.

"French people want exemplary attitude from their political leaders," said French Socialist environment minister Segolene Royal, who also noted the consequences of corruption on France's image abroad. "(We are) the country of human rights, a country of law. We need to watch our behavior."

Hollande's strong stance on fighting corruption and financial wrongdoing is a marked contrast with his predecessors' attitudes.

Former conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy is facing legal troubles. An investigation is underway over allegations that he received millions of euros in illegal financing from the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's regime for his winning 2007 presidential campaign.

Prosecutors also want him and 13 others sent to trial for another campaign financing case involving his failed 2012 presidential bid. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Jacques Chirac, the French president from 1995-2007, was given in 2011 a two-year suspended sentence for embezzling public funds while he was mayor of Paris.

The hands of French president Francois Hollande, left, and French Finance Minister Michel Sapin during the inauguration of the French Anticorruption Agency, at Bercy Economy ministry in Paris, Thursday, March 23, 2017. The French Anticorruption Agency is a public organization focusing on business activity, the latest move in government efforts to fight corruption. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)
ATLANTA (AP) - Americans who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act are feeling some relief at the failure of Republican efforts to repeal it, but they face new anxieties with President Donald Trump tweeting that "ObamaCare will explode."

Premiums have risen and major insurers have backed out of the state markets where people can buy insurance online under Obama's signature health care law. But people who say it saved their lives or helped them start a business want lawmakers to fix these problems, not encourage them.

"It does need its fixes, I totally see that," said Inge Hafkemeyer, 57, who credits the law's subsidies for containing her costs as her home-based event-planning business took off in Mission, Kansas, a Kansas City suburb. "But if your roof leaks, you don't burn down the house to fix it."

In this photo provided by Clare Schexnyder, small business owner Clare Schexnyder, 49, poses with her daughter, Sofi, in their kitchen in Decatur, Ga., on Jan. 27, 2017. A breast cancer survivor, Schexnyder says she wouldn't be alive if not for the Obamacare that paid for her mammograms, and finds it "unforgiveable" that Republicans are sabotaging access to affordable health care. (Clare Schexnydervia AP)

Clare Schexnyder, 49, is convinced she's alive today because of it. As a small business owner in Decatur, Georgia, she couldn't afford health insurance until the rollout in 2013. She began getting mammograms, and her breast cancer was spotted in time. Her double mastectomy and reconstruction surgery was priced at $250,000, but she paid no more than her $6,200 annual deductible.

Then, her daughter spent a week in the hospital after her appendix burst, costing them another $6,200. They took out a second mortgage to pay the bills.

"An appendectomy shouldn't have to make me refinance my house," she said. "It's still not a perfect system by any means, but I'm glad we have it."

Schexnyder's insurer pulled out of the Affordable Care Act last year, leaving fewer alternatives in Georgia, one of the states that refused to set up insurance exchanges or participate in Medicaid expansion.

But she objects to tweets like this one Trump sent on Saturday: "ObamaCare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry."

"They're setting it up to fail, which is irresponsible and unforgiveable," Schexnyder said.

Shannon Henson, a 49-year-old unemployed conference planner in the Kansas City suburb of Independence, Missouri, said the Affordable Care Act has been a good starting point.

"It wasn't going to be perfect from the get-go," she said.

Republican promises to repeal and replace the law foundered on Friday when House Speaker Paul Ryan abruptly pulled the party's health care bill to avoid almost certain defeat.

"We're going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future," Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters.

The law has covered more than 20 million people who were previously uninsured through private insurance sold on the law's marketplaces and by expanding Medicaid, the health program designed to help poor Americans. It required insurers to cover "essential" services, including mammograms, and barred them from refusing policies to the very sick or others with pre-existing health conditions.

But premiums jumped by double digits this year as the cost of medical care and prescription drugs continues to soar, and the marketplaces created by the law are short on the healthy consumers who make insurance companies profitable. In about one-third of U.S. counties, consumers in the individual markets don't have a choice of plans.

Mina Viladas, 53, of Fairfield, Connecticut, said she was covered under the Affordable Care Act when she needed emergency surgery. But the self-employed fitness trainer said the insurance plans are getting more expensive.

"The Democrats need to work on improving it, with the Republicans, if possible," she said. "But I'm happy it's still where it is because it's saved me."

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Thanawala reported from San Mateo, Calif. Associated Press writers Pat Eaton-Robb in Bridgeport, Conn. and Jim Suhr in Kansas City contributed to this report.
JOLO, Philippines (AP) - At least four people were killed and 23 others wounded in a grenade attack in the southern Philippines that appears to be unrelated to terrorism, officials said Sunday.

Army Col. Cirilito Sobejana said the attacker was arrested following the late Saturday grenade blast in Busbus village near the domestic airport in Sulu province's Jolo town.

The motive for the attack wasn't immediately clear, but a military officer said the attacker, who was identified by police as Sedimar Rabbah, returned to the area to retaliate after being beaten by a group of men who accused him of stealing a cellphone. Police, however, were checking if he has links with Abu Sayyaf militants.

Aside from kidnappings for ransom, bombings and killings by Abu Sayyaf extremists, predominantly Muslim Sulu has long been troubled by a large number of illegal guns and other weapons, many in the hands of warlords and other armed groups.

Jungle-clad Sulu, about 950 kilometers (590 miles) south of Manila, is one of the country's poorest provinces, although it has rich resources and pristine beaches and islands.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran on Sunday sanctioned what it described as 15 American companies, alleging they support terrorism, repression and Israel's occupation of land Palestinians want for a future state, likely in retaliation for sanctions earlier announced by the U.S.

The wide-ranging list from an American real estate company to a major arms manufacturer appeared more symbolic than anything else as the firms weren't immediately known to be doing business anywhere in the Islamic Republic.

A Foreign Ministry statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency said the sanctions barred companies from any agreements with Iranian firms and that former and current directors would not be eligible for visas. It also said any of the company's assets in Iran could be seized.

"The sanctioned companies have, directly and/or indirectly, been involved in the brutal atrocities committed by the Zionist regime in the occupied Palestinian territories, or they have supported the regime's terrorist activities and Israel's development of Zionist settlements on the Palestinian soil," the IRNA report said.

The IRNA report referred to the sanctions as a "reciprocal act," without elaborating. Iran's new sanctions comes after the Trump administration in February sanctioned more than two dozen people and companies in retaliation for a recent ballistic missile test.

The companies named did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday. They included ITT Corp., missile-maker Raytheon Co. and United Technologies Corp. Denver's Re/Max Holdings Inc., a real estate company, also made the list.

Another firm on the list, truck maker Oshkosh, has worked closely with Israeli armored products maker Plasan, including on the Sand Cat armored vehicle that is used by several countries, including Israel. The Israeli Defense Ministry is reportedly seeking to buy some 200 tactical trucks from the Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based company.

Kahr Arms and Magnum Research, two sanctioned firms which share the same parent company, advertise .44-caliber Magnum and .50-caliber "Desert Eagle" pistols - a product line that previously has been made in Israel.

Meanwhile, a senior Iranian lawmaker said Iran would consider a bill branding the U.S. military and the CIA as terrorist groups if the U.S. Congress passes a bill designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

Allaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, was quoted by Iranian state television as saying the move to further sanction the Revolutionary Guard goes against the 2015 nuclear deal Iran reached with the United States and other world powers.

The nuclear deal saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some economic sanctions. In the time since, Chicago-based Boeing Co. has struck a $16.6 billion deal with Iran for passenger planes.

Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since 1979, when militant students stormed the U.S. Embassy and took 52 Americans hostages for 444 days. Tensions eased slightly with the nuclear deal struck by moderate President Hassan Rouhani's administration, though hard-liners have detained those with Western ties in the time since.

Sunday's sanctions announcement also comes ahead of a May presidential election in which Rouhani is expected to seek re-election.

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Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell and Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
BERLIN (AP) - A senior German official says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rhetoric in the standoff with European countries ahead of his country's April 16 referendum is causing damage that will take years to repair.

Erdogan has accused Germany, and Chancellor Angela Merkel, of "committing Nazi practices" after some local authorities blocked appearances by Turkish ministers hoping to campaign in Germany for a presidential system at home.

He has aimed similar accusations at the Netherlands. Both countries have large Turkish minorities.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters in Antalya, Turkey, Saturday, March 25, 2017. Erdogan on Friday has hit out at the head of Germany's intelligence service for comments suggesting that Berlin was not convinced over U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen's role in Turkey's failed coup. Erdogan accused the BND foreign intelligence chief Bruno Kahl of making the remarks on behalf of Germany's leaders, whom he said backed Gulen's movement.(Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Press Service, Pool Photo via AP)

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that "Erdogan's rhetoric leaves me speechless."

He was quoted Sunday as saying that Erdogan is "willfully destroying in a short time" years of progress on integration.

Schaeuble added that "repairing the damage that is being done now will take years."
OAK HARBOR, Ohio (AP) - Living in the shadows of the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant's cooling tower, which soars above Lake Erie in Ohio like an oversized lighthouse, brings with it some give-and-take.

On the plus side, it generates tax money that once paid for a high school swimming pool and auditorium. Then there are the stockpiles of radiation pills and emergency drills for students in case of a disaster.

For the small, mostly rural towns that are home to 61 U.S. nuclear plants that produce one-fifth of the nation's electricity, each one has been like the golden goose supplying high-paying jobs and money for roads, police and libraries.

In this March 20, 2017, photo, boats wrapped and stored for winter sit near the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station along Lake Erie in Oak Harbor, Ohio. FirstEnergy Corp. will decide by next year whether to close or sell its plant in Pennsylvania and two in Ohio, including Davis-Besse, unless the states change regulations to make them more competitive. (AP Photo/John Seewer)

But those same places and their residents are bracing for what may come next due to the soaring costs of running aging reactors that have speeded up the closings of a handful of sites and are threatening at least a dozen more. That's because once the power stops flowing, so does the money.

Towns that already have seen nuclear plants shuttered are now dealing with higher property taxes, cuts in services and less school funding - a new reality that may linger for decades.

In Wisconsin, the tiny town of Carlton saw the source of roughly 70 percent of its yearly budget disappear when the Kewaunee nuclear power plant closed four years ago. That resulted in the first town tax in its history.

"Financially, we benefited, but now we're going to pay the price for the next 40 years," said David Hardtke, the town chairman.

When operations ceased at the Crystal River Nuclear Plant along Florida's Gulf Coast, "it was like something going through and wiping out a third of your county," said Citrus County Administrator Randy Oliver.

To make up the difference, property tax rates went up by 31 percent and 100 county workers were let go - so many that Oliver worries there won't be enough to evacuate residents and clear roads if a major tropical storm hits.

While the nation's fleet of nuclear power plants wasn't designed to last forever, closures are happening earlier than expected because repair costs are astronomical and it's harder to compete with cheaper natural gas-fired plants and renewable energy sources.

The former head of the nuclear industry's trade group said last year that economic pressures have put 15 to 20 plants at risk of a premature shutdown.

FirstEnergy Corp. will decide by next year whether to close or sell its plant in Pennsylvania and two in Ohio, including Davis-Besse, unless the states change regulations to make them more competitive.

The uncertainty around Davis-Besse and a plan to lower its value caused the local school board to shelve plans to build a new elementary building for the district, which stands to lose $8 million a year without the plant.

New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., owner of the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan, announced plans late last year to close in 2018 even though it has a license to keep operating another 14 years.

How much the losses will add up to isn't clear yet, said Dennis Palgen, a township supervisor where the plant has operated since 1971.

"We're just in a state of limbo right now," he said, adding that plans to buy a new fire truck are on hold.

The plant and its 600 workers have been good neighbors, he said, buying backpacks for school children and emergency generators for the township. "The list goes on and on," Palgen said.

In some cases, utilities are paying communities and schools during the first few years to help ease the sudden loss of their largest employer and taxpayer.

But what makes recovering tough is that almost all nuclear plants are in out of the way places that have become heavily reliant on them. And they employ specialized workers who are quick to leave for still-operating locations.

To make matters worse, many closed sites can't be redeveloped for new uses because they're still storing radioactive waste.

Some hope the Trump administration's new budget proposal to revive the mothballed disposal site at Nevada's Yucca Mountain will eventually allow for new development at the former plants.

"We have become a de facto nuclear waste dump. It just sits there, and sits there forever," said Al Hill, the mayor in Zion, Illinois, where spent nuclear fuel remains stored on prime property along Lake Michigan even though the plant shut down 20 years ago.

On top of that, the closing took away half of the city's tax base and pushed property taxes to the highest in the state, making it difficult to lure new businesses, Hill said.

Left behind are empty storefronts and little foot traffic, said Chris Daisy, who runs a downtown bicycle shop.

"It's had a devastating effect on this town," he said. "It's terrible. Any town with a nuclear power plant in it or near it is in danger of suffering the same fate."

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Follow John Seewer at http://twitter.com/jseewerap

FILE - This June 14, 2011, file photo shows the reactor building at the Crystal River Nuclear Plant, which was shut down in 2009 before a troubled maintenance project and Duke Energy Corp. decided to decommission in 2013, during a tour for reporters in Crystal River, Fla. As costs of running aging nuclear reactors increase, some small, mostly rural towns that are home to the nation's nuclear plants are bracing for what's to come, as towns where nuclear plants were shuttered deal with higher property taxes, cuts in services and less school funding. (Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times via AP, Pool, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump on Sunday attacked conservative lawmakers for the failure of the Republican bill to replace former President Barack Obama's health care law, as aides signaled a greater willingness to work with moderate Democrats on upcoming legislative battles from the budget and tax cuts to health care.

On Twitter, Trump complained: "Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare!"

The Freedom Caucus is a hard-right group of more than 30 GOP House members who were largely responsible for blocking the bill to undo the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare." The bill was pulled from the House floor Friday in a humiliating political defeat for the president, having lacked support from either the conservative Republicans or Democrats.

FILE - In a March 23, 2017 file photo, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, right, departs after a Republican caucus meeting on Capitol Hill, in Washington. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," March 26, 2017, Priebus made clear that President Donald Trump would be seeking support from moderate Democrats for upcoming legislative battles. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

In additional fallout from Friday's jarring setback, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, said he was leaving the caucus. Poe tweeted Friday that some lawmakers "would've voted against the 10 Commandments."

"We must come together to find solutions to move this country forward," Poe said Sunday in a written statement. "Saying no is easy, leading is hard but that is what we were elected to do."

Trump initially focused his blame on Democrats for the failure and predicted a dire future for the current law.

But on Sunday, his aides made clear that Trump would be seeking support from moderate Democrats, leaving open the possibility he could still revisit health care legislation. White House chief of staff Reince Priebus scolded conservative Republicans, explaining that Trump had felt "disappointed" that a "number of people he thought were loyal to him that weren't."

"It's time for the party to start governing," Priebus said. "I think it's time for our folks to come together, and I also think it's time to potentially get a few moderate Democrats on board as well."

As he ponders his next steps, Trump faces decisions on whether to back administrative changes to fix Obamacare or undermine it as prices for insurance plans rise in many markets. Over the weekend, the president tweeted a promise of achieving a "great healthcare plan" because Obamacare will "explode."

On Sunday, Priebus did not answer directly regarding Trump's choice, saying that fixes to the health law will have to come legislatively and he wants to ensure "people don't get left behind."

"I don't think the president is closing the door on anything," he said.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats stood ready to work with Trump to fix Obamacare if he is willing to drop attempts to repeal the law and not undermine it. He warned that Trump is destined to "lose again" on other parts of his agenda if he remains beholden to conservative Republicans.

"If he changes, he could have a different presidency," Schumer said. "But he's going to have to tell the Freedom Caucus and the hard-right special wealthy interests who are dominating his presidency ... he can't work with them, and we'll certainly look at his proposals."

Their comments came after another day of finger-pointing among Republicans, both subtle and not-so subtle. On Saturday, Trump urged Americans in a tweet to watch Judge Jeanine Pirro's program on Fox that night. She led her show by calling for House Speaker Paul Ryan to resign, blaming him for defeat of the bill in the Republican-controlled chamber.

Priebus described the two events as "coincidental," insisting that Trump was helping out a friend by plugging her show and no "preplanning" occurred. "He doesn't blame Paul Ryan," Priebus said. "In fact, he thought Paul Ryan worked really hard. He enjoys his relationship with Paul Ryan, thinks that Paul Ryan is a great speaker of the House."

A spokeswoman for Ryan, AshLee Strong, said Ryan and Trump spoke for nearly an hour Saturday and again on Sunday about moving forward on the agenda, saying "their relationship is stronger than ever right now." In their Sunday conversation, Trump "was clear his tweet had nothing to do with the speaker," Strong said.

The White House faces a tall task in gaining support for its congressional agenda. Trump, for instance, now lacks the savings anticipated from the health care bill to help pay for tax cuts, while expected legislation to invest $1 trillion in roads and infrastructure and to cut down on illegal immigration will likely need support from Democrats.

Priebus said Trump was looking ahead for now at debate over the budget and a tax plan, which he said would include a border adjustment tax and middle-class tax cuts.

"It's more or less a warning shot that we are willing to talk to anyone, we always have been," he said. "I think more so now than ever, it's time for both parties to come together and get to real reforms in this country."

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chairman of the Freedom Caucus, acknowledged he was doing a lot of "self-critiquing" after the health care defeat. He insisted the GOP overhaul effort was not over and that he regretted not spending more time with moderate Republicans and Democrats "to find some consensus."

"It's incumbent upon those two groups, the conservatives and the moderates, to come together, hopefully in the coming days, to find consensus, to present something to the president that certainly not only gets him 216 votes, but hopefully 235 votes," he said.

Meadows also said he was open to a tax plan that is not fully "offset" so it is revenue neutral. That's a shift for a fiscal conservative concerned about deficits.

Priebus spoke on "Fox News Sunday," and Schumer and Meadows appeared on ABC's "This Week."

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Associated Press writer Catherine Lucey contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump has now laid out exactly what he wants in the "big, beautiful wall" that he's promised to build on the U.S.-Mexico border. But his effort to build a huge hurdle to those entering the U.S. illegally faces impediments of its own.

It's still not clear how Trump will pay for the wall that, as described in contracting notices, would be 30 feet (9 meters) high and easy on the eye for those looking at it from the north. The Trump administration will also have to contend with unfavorable geography and many legal battles.

A look at some of those obstacles:

FILE - This Jan. 25, 2017, file photo shows a truck driving near the Mexico-US border fence, on the Mexican side, separating the towns of Anapra, Mexico and Sunland Park, New Mexico. President Donald Trump will face many obstacles in building his "big, beautiful wall" on the U.S.-Mexico border, including how to pay for it and how to contend with unfavorable geography and the legal battles ahead. (AP Photo/Christian Torres, File)

MONEY

Trump promised that Mexico would pay for his wall, a demand Mexico has repeatedly rejected. Trump's first budget proposal to Congress, a preliminary draft that was light on details, asked lawmakers for a $2.6 billion down payment for the wall. An internal report prepared for Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly estimated that a wall along the entire border would cost about $21 billion. Congressional Republicans have estimated a more moderate price tag of $12 billion to $15 billion. Trump himself has suggested a cost of about $12 billion.

It's unclear how much money Congress will approve. Lawmakers have been balking at his plans to sharply cut other federal spending to pay for the wall and other boosts to border security, while increasing military spending. White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters this past week that the administration was still looking at how the wall would be funded, adding that it hasn't given up on Mexico footing the bill.

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GEOGRAPHY

Roughly half of the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) U.S.-Mexico border is in Texas and marked by the winding and twisting Rio Grande. A 1970 treaty with Mexico requires that anything built near that river not obstruct its flow. The same treaty applies to a stretch of border in Arizona, where the Colorado River marks the international boundary.

Some fencing that is already in place along the frontier is built well off the river, in some places nearly a mile (about a kilometer) away from the border.

Trump will have to navigate not only the treaty maintained by the International Boundary and Water Commission but also various environmental regulations that protect some stretches of border and restrict what kind of structures can be built and where. The contracting notices of March 17 say the Trump administration wants the wall dug at least 6 feet (almost 2 meters) into the ground. Along parts of the border in California, environmentally sensitive sand dunes required that a "floating fence" was built to allow the natural movement of the sand.

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LEGAL CHALLENGES

Nearly all of the land along the Texas border is privately held - much of it by people whose families have been in the region for generations - and buying their land won't be easy, as Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama discovered. Lawyers for both administrations fought in court with private landowners. Obama's efforts to buy privately held land in the Rio Grande Valley have carried over into Trump's term.

The Trump administration appears to be preparing for the legal fight and included a request for more lawyers to handle such cases in its budget proposal. Spicer said this past week the administration would "take the steps necessary" to fulfill Trump's promise to secure the southern border.

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Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap

FILE - This Nov. 13, 2016, file photo shows a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent passes along a section of border wall in Hidalgo, Texas. President Donald Trump will face many obstacles in building his "big, beautiful wall" on the U.S.-Mexico border, including how to pay for it and how to contend with unfavorable geography and the legal battles ahead. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

FILE - This Nov. 12, 2016, file photo shows Isaac Aguilar, left, and Isac Ramos, right, fishing on the banks of the Rio Grande in Los Ebanos, Texas. President Donald Trump will face many obstacles in building his "big, beautiful wall" on the U.S.-Mexico border, including how to pay for it and how to contend with unfavorable geography and the legal battles ahead. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - The Latest on Bulgaria's election Sunday: (all times local):

8:10 p.m.

A pair of exit polls from Bulgaria's parliamentary election shows the center-right GERB party of former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov taking the lead.

Bulgarian Socialists' Party leader Kornelia Ninova smiles as she casts her vote in Sofia on Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put the GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

The Alpha Research exit poll said GERB won 32.2 percent of the vote and the Socialists came in second with 28 percent.

A separate exit poll by Gallup International Balkan had GERB with 32.8 percent and the Socialists with 28.4 percent.

The Central Election Commission said voter turnout for Sunday's election stood at nearly 43 percent at 5 p.m., a larger showing than in previous elections.

Official results are expected Monday. If they confirm the exit polls, Borisov will be handed a mandate to form his third cabinet.

The GERB party was defeated by Socialist President Rumen Radev in the November 2016 presidential election. Borisov resigned after Radev's victory.

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3:10 p.m.

Bulgarians are headed to the polls for the third time in four years in an early vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member closer to Russia.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova, whose party wants EU sanctions lifted against Russia imposed after it annexed Crimea in 2014, says Sunday that she voted "for a change."

She also voted for "security at our borders and inside the country, for justice, and lastly not to give an opportunity to another country, no matter if it comes from East, West or South to interfere in our politics."

Bulgaria, located in southeast Europe, is both a member of the EU and NATO.

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11 a.m.

Bulgarians are headed to the polls for the third time in four years in an early vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member closer to Russia.

Some 6.8 million Bulgarians are eligible to vote Sunday in an election widely predicted to bring about a fragile government coalition and a fragmented legislature where nationalist and populist parties could become kingmakers.

The election campaign focused on the future of EU, the influence of Russia and Turkey on domestic politics, as well as problems associated with an increased number of migrants.

Surveys say former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov's center-right GERB party is running neck-and neck with the Socialist Party of ex-communists. Both parties have pledged to improve economic relations with Russia, appealing to voters who feel let down by the EU.

"I voted for a stable, predictable and united Bulgaria, because tomorrow our nation needs to be united," Borisov said after casting his ballot.

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8 a.m.

The Bulgarian election on Sunday has sparked protests at the Turkish border for the last two days by nationalists who are determined to keep Bulgarian citizens living permanently in Turkey from coming in to vote.

The border blockade reflects rising tensions between the two countries over Turkey's open backing for a group that represents Bulgaria's sizeable Turkish minority. Some 10 percent of the 7.2 million Bulgarians are of Turkish origin or are Muslims. More than 300,000 have settled permanently in neighboring Turkey, but still hold a Bulgarian passport and are eligible to vote.

The blockade by nationalists could affect some 50,000 voters from Turkey.

The protesters claim Turkish officials are forcing expatriate voters to support DOST, a pro-Ankara party running for the first time that nationalists fear is a threat to Bulgarian interests.

The tense relations have prompted a spat between the two nations' leaders.

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7 a.m.

Boiko Borisov, a 57-year-old political maverick who combined man-in-the-street rhetoric with a strict obedience to the EU when he was prime minister, is a key figure in Bulgaria's election on Sunday.

His center-right GERB party was defeated by Socialist President Rumen Radev, a former air force general, in the November 2016 presidential election.

Borisov resigned after Radev's victory, and his party's popularity faded because of the slow pace of reforms to eliminate graft and poverty and overhaul the judicial system. It is now pledging to fight corruption and to raise minimum wages and supports EU sanctions on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova wants EU sanctions against Russia lifted, a bigger role for the state in the economy, and has wooed voters with promises of higher salaries and pensions.

A populist party Volya (Will) is trying to enter Parliament. It's led by Veselin Mareshki, a wealthy businessman who combines patriotic rhetoric with promises of strict immigration controls and friendlier relations with Moscow.

Bulgarian ex-Premier Boiko Borisov, leader of the center-right GERB party, speaks to media after voting, in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put the center-right GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Lyutvi Mestan, leader of the DOST party, casts his ballot in Sofia, Bulgaria on Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put the GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

Bulgarian Socialists' Party leader Kornelia Ninova smiles before voting in Sofia, Bulgaria on Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put the GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

Bulgarian Socialists' Party leader Kornelia Ninova smiles after casting her vote in Sofia, Bulgaria on Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put the GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

Bulgarian ex-Premier Boiko Borisov, leader of the center-right GERB party, gets into the driver's seat of a vintage Mercedes as he leaves a voting station, in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put the center-right GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Bulgarian ex-Premier Boiko Borisov, leader of the center-right GERB party, drives a vintage Mercedes as he leaves a voting station, in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put the center-right GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Bulgarian former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, leader of the center-right GERB party, casts his vote at a polling station in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put the GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A Bulgarian man casts his vote in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put Bulgarian ex-Premier Boiko Borisov's center-right GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Bulgarian former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, leader of the center-right GERB party, exits a voting cabin in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put the GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Bulgarian former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, leader of the center-right GERB party, reaches for his national identification card upon arriving at a voting station in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put the GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Bulgarian former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, leader of the center-right GERB party, speaks to the media after casting his vote in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put the GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Bulgarian former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, leader of the center-right GERB party, exits a voting cabin in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sunday, March 26, 2017. Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia as surveys put the GERB party neck-and-neck with the Socialist Party. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Pablo Gomez Jr. was a University of California, Berkeley, senior majoring in Latino studies and a prominent campus activist when authorities say he stabbed to death a popular elementary-school teacher.

Soon, the crime that police described as "very brutal and unusual" in a city that reported just two homicides last year was sucked up into the debate over gender identity when it was reported that Gomez preferred to be called "they" rather than "he."

Even in famously liberal Berkeley, with its long history of protest, the uproar came as a surprise, overwhelming the online news site, www.berkeleyside.com, that first reported on Gomez's preference.

This Sept. 7, 2016 photo, Pablo Gomez, Jr. a 4th year student, leads a protest chant in the Boalt Hall at the Law School on the on the UC Berkeley campus in Berkeley, Calif. Authorities said Gomez stabbed to death a popular elementary school teacher. Soon, the crime that police described as "very brutal and unusual" was sucked up into the debate over gender identity when it was reported that Gomez preferred to be called "they" rather than "he." (Laura A. Oda/East Bay Times via AP)

"I didn't see it as something that would anger anyone," reporter Emilie Raguso said.

After Raguso's report, conservative commentator Ann Coulter ridiculed the pronoun change and mocked Gomez's activist background. Breitbart.com and other conservative political websites picked up the story.

On the university campus, where the debate over nontraditional pronouns has simmered, some students said Gomez's case is different.

"I think you give away your right to make a demand like that when you are arrested for killing somebody," said junior Jonothan Chow, a member of the College Republicans.

Representatives of UC Berkeley's Gender Equity Resource Center, where Gomez was a member, declined requests to comment on the controversy, as did other gay rights activist groups in Berkeley.

Victim Emile Inman, a 27-year-old native of France, was found in her home in January with a "We Stand with Standing Rock" sign in the front window she shared with other young roommates a few miles from campus.

Hours earlier on Jan. 6, police found Kiana Schmitt, 24, seriously injured outside an apartment just north of campus. Police have declined to say how Schmitt was connected to Gomez.

Gomez was arrested Jan. 7 at a Burbank hospital near the Southern California home of Gomez's parents. Gomez is being held in jail and is accused of killing Inman and assaulting Schmitt.

A young woman who answered the door this week at Inman's home declined to comment, and her family also has refused requests from The Associated Press and other media to comment on her death.

Gomez's attorney, George Arroyo, declined to comment and Gomez's parents did not respond to email requests for comment. Their telephone listing in Los Angeles appears disconnected.

The judge in the case ordered a mental health evaluation after Gomez was removed from a Feb. 1 court hearing to enter a plea to charges of murder, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and robbery.

Deputies led a kicking and screaming Gomez from the courtroom after a brief meeting with Arroyo.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The deal brokered by President Donald Trump to stem job losses at a Carrier Corp. factory in Indianapolis is unusual for the state of Indiana as it offers $7 million of incentives to a company still planning to cut about a third of its some 1,600 jobs.

A state economic development board is scheduled to vote Tuesday on endorsing the package nearly four months after Trump celebrated his role in the negotiations with a visit to the plant, which makes furnaces.

Most of the scant details that Indiana officials have released came on a one-page handout distributed by then-Gov. Mike Pence's staff when he and Trump traveled to the Carrier factory on Dec. 1. Trump, who during the presidential campaign had often criticized Carrier's plans to shutter the factory and shift production to Mexico, declared that the company's reversal would be the first of many such decisions with him as president.

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2016, file photo, President-elect Donald Trump greets workers during a visit to the Carrier Corp. factory in Indianapolis. The $7 million deal to save jobs at the Carrier factory in Indianapolis is poised for approval by state officials nearly four months after President Donald Trump celebrated his role in the negotiations with a post-election visit to the plant. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Many states offer tax breaks and training grants for companies to retain jobs, but that hasn't been the case in Indiana over the last 12 years, when Republicans have held the governor's office. During that time, the state has typically demanded companies receiving such economic development deals promise to create new jobs.

Carrier announced last February that it would close the Indianapolis factory and cut about 1,400 production jobs in a move expected to save $65 million annually. The deal with the state saves about 800 of those jobs, but about 550 of them are still being eliminated. Carrier also promises to keep 250 headquarters and engineering staff positions in Indianapolis that the company had said all along would stay in the state.

Indiana Secretary of Commerce Jim Schellinger said he wishes jobs weren't being eliminated at the factory, but is happy it is staying open.

"This was not a threat; they'd left," he said. "They were in the process of putting the finishing touches on a $52 million plant in Monterrey, Mexico."

Only 11 state incentive deals since 2005 have involved a fund for job retention, making up less than 0.5 percent of the 2,570 agreements during that time, according to Indiana Economic Development Corp. reports. Retention deals are smaller than many job creation packages, such as an $18 million offer last year to business software company Salesforce for adding up to 800 positions in Indianapolis.

The $7 million over a decade that Carrier will receive pales in comparison with the $57 billion in sales reported by parent company United Technologies for last year. Trump had leverage because United Technologies also owns Pratt & Whitney, which has billions in contracts to produce fighter jet engines for the U.S. military.

Schellinger acknowledged that more than state incentives were involved in Carrier's decision. The company previously had rebuffed negotiation attempts by Pence, who is now Trump's vice president.

"Then Donald Trump picks up the phone on Nov. 15 and makes a phone call and reminds the CEO of United Technologies that 10 percent of their revenues come from the federal government, which could all change on Jan. 21," Schellinger told The Associated Press. "Game, set, match."

Carrier, in a Nov. 30 statement, attributed its decision to the Trump administration's "commitment to support the business community and create an improved, more competitive U.S. business climate." The company said this past week that the state incentives were an important consideration, but didn't respond to questions about the possible loss of federal contracts.

Indiana University business professor Mohan Tatikonda, who has studied the Indianapolis Carrier plant, said United Technologies' priority is having a good relationship with the Trump administration as tax and regulation changes are considered.

"Potentially being at the table to influence trade policy and so forth - that is far more important than the $7 million that the state is offering," he said.

Job retention deals are common in many states and can be better investments than trying to replace lost businesses, said Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that tracks economic development incentives. He calls the Carrier plant deal a "very politicized, hyper-weird" situation.

"There's no policy takeaway here," LeRoy said. "This was a high-profile episode that Trump chanced upon while on the campaign trail and chose to revisit, as far as I can tell."
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump in the coming days will sign a new executive order that unravels his predecessor's sweeping plan to curb global warming, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Sunday.

EPA chief Scott Pruitt said the executive order to be signed Tuesday will undo the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan, an environmental regulation that restricts greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants. The 2015 rule has been on hold since last year while a federal appeals court considers a challenge by coal-friendly Republican-led states and more than 100 companies.

Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Pruitt said Trump's intention is to bring back coal-mining jobs and reduce the cost of electricity.

Supporters of former President Barack Obama's plan, including some Democratic-led states and environmental groups, argue it would spur thousands of clean-energy jobs and help the U.S. meet ambitious goals to reduce carbon pollution set by an international agreement reached in Paris in late 2015.

Pruitt on Sunday called the Paris climate accord a "bad deal" because he said it went too easy on China and India, who like the U.S. are among the world's leading producers of carbon dioxide.

"So we've penalized ourselves through lost jobs while China and India didn't take steps to address the issue internationally. So Paris was just a bad deal, in my estimation," he said.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - A city councilwoman is asking homeowners in an Oklahoma college town to rename a street honoring a prominent former university professor and Ku Klux Klan member.

Norman Councilwoman Breea Clark has posted an online petition asking residents to help change the name of DeBarr Avenue. If at least three-fourths of Norman homeowners agree, the city - home to the University of Oklahoma - would be among several cities nationwide renaming monuments and streets named after prominent KKK members.

"I'm not trying to hide from our past . but we don't have to honor that past with street names," Clark, who works at the university, told the Oklahoman newspaper (http://bit.ly/2nX2TGv ).

The block-long street honors Edwin DeBarr, one of the university's first professors and founder of its chemistry department. DeBarr became a grand dragon in the KKK while at the school, and regents forced him out in 1923 because of his Klan involvement.

Some homeowners who live along DeBarr Avenue support the name change, including 24-year-old student Lourya Winn.

"It does kind of tarnish it a little when you learn," said Winn, who is black.

Last year, University of Tulsa trustees voted to strip John Rogers' name from the law school building because of his ties to the Klan. Rogers helped found the law school in 1943, but also helped incorporate the KKK-affiliated Tulsa Benevolent Association.

In 2013, Tulsa city councilors voted to rename the city's glitzy arts district, which had been named after KKK member Wyatt Tate Brady. The street is still called Brady, but for the Civil War photographer Mathew Brady.

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Information from: The Oklahoman, http://www.newsok.com
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A man sitting at the back of a public bus on the Las Vegas Strip opened fire "for no apparent reason" as passengers got off at a stop in the heart of the tourism corridor, police said Sunday.

Gary Breitling, 57, of Sidney, Montana, was shot and killed Saturday before the gunman barricaded himself in the vehicle, shutting down the Strip for hours, the Clark County coroner's office said. He died at a hospital.

Rolando Cardenas, 55, has been accused in the shooting, and he surrendered peacefully after a standoff inside the double-decker bus that lasted more than four hours, police said.

Las Vegas police investigate the scene of a stand-off in a bus along Las Vegas Boulevard, Saturday, March 25, 2017, in Las Vegas. Las Vegas police said the gunman in a fatal shooting on the Strip who barricaded himself inside a public bus has surrendered peacefully after shutting down the busy tourism corridor for hours. (AP Photo/John Locher)

He was booked into jail on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, burglary and opening fire on the bus. An attorney for him could not immediately be found. Attempts to reach his family were unsuccessful.

The bus had stopped on the Strip near the Cosmopolitan hotel-casino and passengers were leaving when Cardenas stood up and fired several rounds from a handgun, police said. The man didn't fire all of his bullets, but he did shoot at police during the barricade. Police said they didn't fire any shots. Assistant Sheriff Tom Roberts also said that authorities believe Cardenas may have had "mental issues."

Another victim was shot in the stomach and was hospitalized but is expected to live. Both victims were seated in the back with Cardenas, police said.

It was not known how many people were on the bus at the time of the shooting, but the bystanders and the victims had fled. Police have started a hotline seeking to hear what those passengers witnessed.

Because authorities did not know if more victims were inside, crisis negotiators, robots and armored vehicles surrounded the bus. Officers swept into casinos to warn tourists to hunker down until further notice, leaving the normally bustling pedestrian areas and a road notorious for taxi-to-taxi traffic completely empty.

Visitors also hid out inside some of the other prominent hotel-casino properties nearby, including the Bellagio, Paris, Planet Hollywood and Bally's, which also hold restaurants, shops and attractions.

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Follow Sally Ho at twitter.com/_sallyho and https://apnews.com/search/Sally%20Ho .

A suspect is taken away after surrendering to SWAT officers after he barricaded himself inside a public bus after a fatal shooting in the vehicle earlier today shutting down the busy tourism corridor near the Cosmopolitan hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Saturday, March 25, 2017. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

A suspect surrenders to SWAT officers after being barricaded for many hours on a bus after a fatal shooting in the vehicle earlier today which down the busy tourism corridor near the Cosmopolitan hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Saturday, March 25, 2017. Las Vegas Police officer Larry Hadfield said just before 3:30 p.m. that the man had a handgun and surrendered without incident. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
DENVER (AP) - Two teenage girls were barred by a gate agent from boarding a United Airlines flight from Denver to Minneapolis on Sunday because they were wearing leggings, according to a spokesman for the airline.

The girls, whose ages were not specified, were not allowed onto the morning flight because they were traveling under an employee travel pass that includes a dress code, United spokesman Jonathan Guerin said.

The dress code bars pass travelers from wearing spandex or Lycra pants such as leggings. The teenagers agreed to change their clothing and take a later flight, Guerin said, but the airline's actions sparked a quick backlash on Twitter.

Activist Shannon Watts of Denver tweeted that she witnessed Sunday's events and questioned United's decision to police women's clothing.

Watts said the girl's father was allowed to board while wearing shorts and called the airline's policy sexist.

Regularly ticketed passengers are not subject to the same dress code and can wear leggings, Guerin said. But the airline was standing by its policy for pass travelers because they are essentially representing the company, he said.

"We would ask the same of pass riders who were wearing flip-flops or who were wearing clothing that revealed their undergarments or torn, tattered jeans," Guerin said.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull held a grand ceremony to welcome Premier Li and his wife to the Australian capital Canberra on March 23.

After 19 salutes, Premier Li inspected the guards of honor at the square to the national anthem of China.

Then the two prime ministers stepped on the reviewing stand before the national anthems of the two nations were played.
CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago's police union says its head will meet members of President Donald Trump's administration and that deadly violence in the nation's third largest city is expected to be on the agenda.

A Fraternal Order of Police statement doesn't say if Trump could participate in the Washington meeting. But it notes the Republican president, in the union's words, has referenced "bloodshed and shootings" that seem to have Chicago in a "death grip."

It didn't provide details on when Chicago police union leader Dean Angelo will meet White House officials.

The Department of Justice released a report in January that concluded civil rights abuses permeated Chicago's 12,000-officer force. The next step is an agreement on reforms. But the union endorsed Trump for president and activists worry Trump won't press for sweeping reforms.
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Authorities in central California say they have arrested a man who allegedly opened fire on his parents and family friends inside his home, killing his stepfather and injuring four others, including a baby.

Fresno County Sheriff's spokesman Tony Botti says 26-year-old Kyle Holaday also shot dead the family dog.

Botti says Holoday was arrested about a mile (1.5 kilometers) from the home after being hit by a pickup truck as he ran away from the crime scene Friday night.

He says deputies found Holoday's stepfather, 60-year-old James Willcoxson, dead. His mother, 58-year-old Kyle Holoday, two adult women and a 5-month-old girl were injured and taken to a hospital.

A motive in the shooting has not been determined.

Holoday, who remains at a hospital in stable condition, lived with his parents and is a former member of the military. He faces charges of murder, attempted murder and animal cruelty.
Ukips role in British politics is not over by a long shot despite the resignation of the partys only MP Douglas Carswell, Nigel Farage has claimed.

Mr Carswell quit the party on Saturday, insisting it was job done now that the UK has backed Brexit in last Junes referendum.

The resignation prompted Labour and the Liberal Democrats to declare that Ukip now has no purpose and no future.

(Joe Giddens/PA)

But Mr Farage said the point about Ukip is what terms we leave the European Union under and claimed it had already forced concessions on the Government.

He also pointed to reports that ministers are considering proposals to allow EU nationals resident in the UK when Theresa May triggers Article 50 on Wednesday to continue to receive child benefits for families back home as one example of something Ukip will oppose.

Winning a war is very, very important but also you have to win the peace, the peace is far from won, the former Ukip leader said.

Carswell has jumped before he was pushed. He was never UKIP and sought to undermine us. He should have gone some time ago.  Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) March 25, 2017

Already I can see with this Government concessions being made over fishing, the desire of the Prime Minister to stay part of the European Arrest Warrant. This is not over by a long shot.

With no MPs we forced a referendum in this country. In many ways, outside Parliament Ukips achievement has been astonishing.

Mr Carswell is resisting calls to trigger a by-election in his Clacton seat, insisting he does not need to as he has not rejoined the Tories or switched allegiances to another party.

But Mr Farages ally and Ukips biggest financial backer Arron Banks has said he must call a vote and has promised to stand against him.

Mr Farage revealed he plans to write to every resident in Clacton to ask them if they want a by-election, pointing out Mr Carswells previous support of plans to allow constituents to recall MPs and trigger by-elections.

Nigel Farage with Douglas Carswell

Mr Carswell told ITVs Peston On Sunday programme he joined Ukip to secure Brexit and now that had happened he believed it was a case of job done.

He also rejected the accusation he had jumped before being pushed.

Not at all, he said.

There were no formal disciplinary proceedings but its probably the case that the NEC was going to meet to have a grumble, but they have been doing that about me pretty consistently for the past couple of years so no change there.

Ukip leader Paul Nuttall said he was not surprised Mr Carswell chose to leave the party.

Mr Nuttall insisted the party is not irrelevant, telling the BBCs Sunday Politics programme that a recent opinion poll had the party on 12% while membership continues to rise.

He said: Yes, we have been through a difficult period but over the summer exciting things are going to be happening within the party.
Anthony Crolla is planning a well-earned break after a tough couple of years in and out of the ring but would be happy to move up a division to face Ricky Burns on his return.

Crolla was unable to regain the WBA lightweight title he lost to Jorge Linares at the Manchester Arena six months ago after being outclassed in their rematch at the same venue.

It was the Mancunians fifth successive world title fight, though, the first of which came months after he was left with a fractured skull and a broken ankle after confronting burglars in December 2014.

Anthony Crolla during the WBA, WBC Diamond & Ring Magazine Lightweight Championship bout with Jorge Linares at Manchester Arena (Peter Byrne/PA)

I'm going to have a little rest and spend some time with my family and friends. Recharge the batteries and then go again. #TeamCrolla   anthony crolla (@ant_crolla) March 26, 2017

That result against Darleys Perez ended in a controversial draw, but Crolla prevailed in a return bout and defended the belt against big-punching Ismael Barroso before his twin losses to Linares.

Despite those setbacks, the 30-year-old could next move up to light-welterweight to take on WBA titlist Burns. And while he would relish the prospect of an all-British showdown, his immediate priority is resting his body and mind.

Im going to have a little break with my family now, the 30-year-old said. I think Ive had a pretty tough two years fight-wise and all the stuff that comes with it.

I believe there will be plenty of options and plenty of fights out there for us and I still want to be involved in those big fights.

Huge thanks for all the nice msgs and well wishes from u all on here. Last night I honestly gave it everything I could but wasn't enough  anthony crolla (@ant_crolla) March 26, 2017

against @JorgeLinares. Massive respect to Jorge and his team there all class acts and wish him/them all the best. Honour to share the ring  anthony crolla (@ant_crolla) March 26, 2017

with him over 24 rounds. The reception I got walking out is something I will never forget. I'm sorry I couldn't repay u all with a win.  anthony crolla (@ant_crolla) March 26, 2017

Physically I feel strong. Light-welterweight  with the notice  Id certainly go into it thats for sure. Burns has come up from super-feather so thats certainly an option. I would grow into it.

Im 30 years old but I dont think Im an old 30. Even though Ive been in the hard fights, I live well and that certainly helps.

Any potential clash seems to rest on Burns coming through his world title unification contest against IBF champion Julius Indongo in Glasgow next month.

While Eddie Hearn was happy to discuss a fight between two fighters he promotes, he was more reticent about Crolla taking on his former schoolmate and WBO titlist at 135lbs, Terry Flanagan.

Gutted for @ant_crolla

I was desperate for him to win. I'm sure he'll be back. What a heart.

Linares is one heck of a fighter.  Michael Carrick (@carras16) March 26, 2017

(Flanagan) is a lovely guy but its not the same level of draw, Hearn said. He is a champion and were currently not the champion but there are other options as well.

Theres Ricky Burns unifying the division on April 15, I wouldnt rule out moving up to light-welterweight to fight the winner of that fight either.

A trilogy with Linares would almost certainly have been on the cards had Crolla triumphed on Saturday night, but the 31-year-old proved he is an elite fighter with a dazzling performance.

Crolla, who revealed he was troubled by a rib injury from the fourth round onwards, was repeatedly stung by the champions blurring hand speed which allowed him to land power combinations and counters almost at will.

Hats off to @ant_crolla Heart of a champion!  Joe Calzaghe (@RealJoeCalzaghe) March 25, 2017

Crolla showed tremendous courage to get to his feet after a peach of an uppercut dropped him to one knee in the seventh round and actually enjoyed his best moments in the eighth and ninth.

But it was Linares who landed the more eye-catching punches in the closing stages and deservedly walked away with his second unanimous points decision over Crolla.
Powersharing talks in Northern Ireland have broken down after Sinn Fein withdrew.

The republican party will not be nominating a deputy first minister to restore devolved government on Monday, leader at Stormont Michelle ONeill said, triggering another crisis at Stormont.

The current round of negotiations has run its course, she said.

DUP leader Arlene Foster said there was little to suggest her rivals actually wanted to reach an agreement.

Mrs ONeill said: Today we have come to the end of the road.

However the partys president Gerry Adams said he believed the conditions to go back into devolved government would be achieved in the future.

Monday is the deadline for nominating a first and deputy first minister at Stormont or else Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire is obliged to intervene.

Fresh elections or direct rule from Westminster could be imposed within a reasonable period.

Mrs ONeill added: The talks process has run its course and Sinn Fein will not be nominating for the position of speaker or for the executive office tomorrow.

Powersharing collapsed in January after a row over a botched green energy scheme predicted to cost the taxpayer up to half a billion pounds.

Sinn Fein has said it will not share power with the Democratic Unionists leader as first minister until a public inquiry into the renewable heat incentive (RHI) is concluded.

Arlene Foster

She was the minister in charge of establishing the massively overspent green energy scheme.

Mrs Foster said: Negotiations will only ever be successful when parties are prepared to be flexible in order to secure outcomes.

To date there was little to suggest that Sinn Fein want to secure agreement.

At every opportunity they have resisted involving the other parties and consequently no round table discussions were possible during this round of discussions.

Gerry Adams and Michelle Neill on talks https://t.co/X0p7wlVUif  Gerry Adams (@GerryAdamsSF) March 26, 2017

Republicans have been seeking movement on issues like an Irish language act giving the tongue official status in Northern Ireland, a hugely symbolic measure but deeply problematic for some unionists.

They also want to see progress on legacy funding for Northern Ireland conflict victims waiting up to 45 years for answers over how their loved ones died.

The DUP has said Sinn Fein cannot dictate who it will nominate as first minister and Mrs Foster has refused to forgo the key role.

The five main parties only had until 4pm on Monday to resolve their differences or face another snap election.

Gerry Adams

Mr Adams said thinking unionism was at a crossroads and the DUP needed to represent everyones interests.

We dont have the basis for doing that, we are not going back to the status quo, but will we be back, will we get the institutions in place? Yes.

A voting surge by Sinn Fein in the last Assembly election earlier this month saw the party come within one seat of becoming the biggest party at Stormont behind the DUP.

Public funding for services like health and education is in the balance without a deal to restore the administration.

Mr Brokenshire spoke to Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday afternoon and said creating a functioning ministerial executive was a priority.
American DA Points held off the challenge of double US Open winner Retief Goosen to claim his first PGA Tour title since 2013 with victory in the Puerto Rico Open.

Points carded nine birdies in a final round of 66 at Coco Beach to finish 20 under par, two ahead of South African Goosen and the American pair of Bryson DeChambeau and Bill Lunde.

Sam Saunders, the grandson of the late Arnold Palmer, was a shot further back in a tie for fifth with Peter Uihlein and Whee Kim, with Englands Andrew Johnston part of a seven-way tie for 10th on 15 under.

USA's Da Points (Stephen Pond/EMPICS)

Felicidades al Decimo Campeon del #PROpen17, D.A. Points!

Total: - 20

R1: 64

R2: 69

R3: 69

R4: 66 pic.twitter.com/UE14FHT1Ca  Puerto Rico Open  (@PuertoRicoOpen) March 26, 2017

Points made a stunning start to the final round with five straight birdies, only to bogey the sixth and eighth to fall a shot behind overnight leader Chris Stroud, who had birdied the second, fourth and sixth.

Another bogey on the 10th looked to have taken Points out of contention as Goosen surged through the field on his way to a flawless closing 64 to set the clubhouse target on 18 under.

However, the 40-year-old Points rallied brilliantly on the back nine with birdies on the 13th, 14th, 16th and 18th to claim a third PGA Tour victory and the first prize of 433,000.

Johnston began the final round two shots off the lead and remained in contention with three birdies on the front nine before picking up another shot on the 10th, but bogeyed the 13th and 17th.
PARIS, March 24 (Reuters) - French Environment Minister Segolene Royal said on Friday that she was running to lead the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), at a time when the U.N. could see an abrupt cut in crucial United States funding.

Royal, the former partner of Socialist President Francois Hollande and mother of his four children, has been a heavyweight in French politics for more than 30 years.

"It's a way of continuing to be useful for the planet in the future, but also to fight against poverty," she told France 24 television in an interview.

Royal was caught up in a controversy in December after eulogising Cuba's Fidel Castro at his funeral and ignoring his human rights record.

The current UNDP president Helen Clark, a former New Zealand prime minister, will stand down on April 19.

U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed a 28 percent budget cut for diplomacy and foreign aid, which includes an unspecified reduction in financial support for the United Nations and its agencies, as well as the enforcement of a 25 percent cap on U.S. funding for peacekeeping operations.

U.N. agencies such as the UNDP, the children's agency UNICEF, and the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), are funded by governments voluntarily.

In 2016, the United States was the top contributor to the UNDP's core budget, with an $83 million donation.

Royal is the second minister in France's outgoing government to aim for a top U.N. post. Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay is among nine candidates seeking the top job at Paris-based UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural agency. (Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry and John Irish; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and David Evans)
By Tsvetelia Tsolova

SOFIA, March 26 (Reuters) - Bulgarians vote on Sunday in a closely-fought election, with the centre-right GERB party challenged for power by Socialists who say they will improve ties with Russia even if it means upsetting the country's European Union partners.

Opinion polls put the GERB party of former prime minister Boiko Borisov, 57, only narrowly ahead of the Socialists, who have seen their popularity rise since the candidate they backed, Rumen Radev, won Bulgaria's presidency in November.

Borisov resigned in the wake of Radev's victory, triggering Bulgaria's third parliamentary election in just four years.

While Bulgaria historically has had strong ties with Moscow, Borisov's GERB party is strongly pro-EU and has supported the bloc's sanctions on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis.

The Socialists, led by 47-year-old Kornelia Ninova, have vowed to vote against continuing the sanctions, posing another potential headache for the EU as it grapples with Britains departure, the rise of right-wing populists and the future shape of the bloc.

Bulgaria takes over the EU's rotating six-month presidency in January 2018.

"The GERB party, to a much greater extent, will maintain Bulgaria's Euro-Atlantic orientation and integration," said Boriana Dimitrova, an analyst with pollster Alpha Research.

"If Bulgaria begins giving up on participation in a number of EU integration policies, underlining its specific interest and privileged relations with Russia, that wouldn't just put it on Europes periphery, it would move it into a different orbit."

RUSSIAN TIES

A decade after joining the EU, Bulgaria remains the bloc's poorest member and corruption is rife.

The Kremlin's most loyal satellite during the Cold War era, Bulgaria remains a popular holiday destination for Russians lured by its Black Sea beaches and cheap prices, and it is also almost entirely dependent on Russian energy supplies.

Many Bulgarians feel a strong cultural affinity for Russia, with which they share the Cyrillic script and Orthodox Christianity.

More than 6.8 million people are eligible to vote in the Balkan country of 7.2 million.

The latest opinion poll put the GERB party on 31.7 percent and the Socialists close behind on 29.1 percent.

If it retains power, the GERB party is expected to maintain a tight rein on public spending - key to Bulgaria's currency peg to the euro - in contrast to the Socialists who have pledged to raise wages and pensions and expand public spending.

Neither party, however, is likely to win enough votes to govern alone.

They will almost certainly have to court the United Patriots, an alliance of three nationalist parties polling third before the election thanks to widespread anger over the flow of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia trying to reach Western Europe via the Balkans.

On Friday, the nationalists blocked Bulgaria's border crossings with Turkey, saying they would stop Turks who hold Bulgarian passports from trying to vote to sway the election. (Editing by Matt Robinson and Gareth Jones)
WELLINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - South Africa were 258 for eight when heavy rain forced the players from the field shortly after lunch on the second day of the third test against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday.

Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock was 73 not out, while Kagiso Rabada was on four when umpires Rod Tucker and Bruce Oxenford took the players from the field about 15 minutes after play had resumed following the lunch break.

(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
WELLINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - South Africa were dismissed for 314 in their first innings of the third test against New Zealand after tea on the rain-affected second day at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday.

Kagiso Rabada was last man out for 34 while Morne Morkel was left nine not out as the hosts wrapped up the innings about 30 minutes after play resumed following an almost two-hour rain delay that washed out most of the middle session.

South Africa hold a 1-0 lead in the three-match series having won the second game in Wellington by eight wickets. (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
BEIRUT, March 26 (Reuters) - A Kurdish and Arab Syrian militia backed by the United States has captured the town of Karama as it prepares for an assault on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa that it expects to take place in early April, it said on Sunday.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has trapped Raqqa in a shrinking pocket of territory on the northern bank of the Euphrates and has advanced towards it in a multi-pronged offensive over several months.

Dejwar Khabat, a field commander with the SDF, said he expects the assault on Raqqa to begin in early April, affirming a timeline reported by Reuters earlier this month, after the U.S.-backed militia closes the gap on the city on more fronts.

He was answering Reuters questions in a press conference with local reporters in Karama, the last significant town to the east of Raqqa, which lies about 18km (11 miles) away along the Euphrates. Another thrust of the SDF advance has already reached a few kilometres from Raqqa in the northeast.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the SDF had almost completely captured Karama but that clashes between it and Islamic State were still going on.

To the west of Raqqa, the SDF is aiming to capture the town of Tabqa on the south bank of the Euphrates, along with a nearby dam and airbase after US helicopters helped the militia's fighters establish a bridgehead across the river last week.

Khabat said the SDF has besieged the airbase, but the Observatory said it was still several kilometres away. It was captured by Islamic State at the height of the group's expansion in August 2014 and the jihadists then killed at least 160 captive soldiers, the Observatory has said.

Islamic State has retreated with increasing pace over recent months in the face of three rival military campaigns against it in Syria. The SDF, backed by a US-led coalition, has pushed Islamic State from the north and northeast.

Syrian rebels fighting under the flag of the Free Syrian Army and backed by Turkey have taken a swathe of territory in the north along the Turkish frontier. And the Syrian army and its allies Russia, Iran and Shi'ite militias, are advancing east of Aleppo and east of Palmyra.

The Syrian army advance east of Aleppo has reached the Euphrates about 55km northwest of Tabqa, but Khabat said he did not think it had sufficient forces to enter the battle for the town.

He added that the SDF would not allow any other military force to enter Raqqa. (Reporting By Rodi Said and Angus McDowall; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq takes every allegation of civilian deaths seriously and Iraqi forces have been committed to protecting civilians in the advance on the militant stronghold of Mosul, a U.S. general said on Sunday.

U.S. Brigadier General Matthew Isler, Deputy Commanding General Operation Inherent Resolve, said he could not provide details of the military investigation into civilian deaths in western Mosul on March 17.

The U.S. military said on Saturday a U.S.-led coalition strike had hit an area where residents and officials say as many as 200 civilians may have been killed as result of an air raid.

Iraq's military said on Sunday that 61 bodies were recovered from a collapsed building that Islamic State had booby-trapped. (Reporting by Deborah Lutterbeck; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
ROME, March 26 (Reuters) - Humanitarian ships rescued almost 1,200 migrants who were crossing the Mediterranean Sea at the weekend on an array of small, tightly packed boats, Doctors Without Borders said on Sunday.

A young woman was found unconscious on one of the vessels and later died, the group said.

Some 412 people were crammed onto a single wooden boat, while the others were picked up from huge inflatable dinghies, which had set sail from the coast of Libya.

The weekend rescues mean that about 22,000 mainly African migrants have been picked up heading to Italy so far this year, while around 520 have died trying to make the crossing.

An Italian prosecutor said last week that humanitarian ships operating off Libya were undermining the fight against people smugglers and opening a corridor that is ultimately leading to more migrant deaths.

The chief prosecutor of the Sicilian port city of Catania, Carmelo Zuccaro, said he also suspected that there may be direct communication between Libya-based smugglers and members of charity-operated rescue vessels.

Non-governmental organisations deny any wrongdoing, saying they are simply looking to save lives, but they are facing criticism in Italy, which has taken in about half a million migrants since the start of 2014.

A parliamentarian with the right-wing Northern League party on Sunday accused the NGOs of acting as a "taxi service", bringing migrants straight to Italy rather than to closer nations, such as Tunisia and Malta.

"If the government does not decide to put a brake on these NGO boats, we will find ourselves overrun by tens of thousands of African immigrants by the end of the year," lawmaker Paolo Grimoldi said.

Migrants who have come this year have told of increasing violence and brutality in Libya, where rival factions battle for power and people smugglers operate with impunity since the 2011 overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by David Goodman)
By Tsvetelia Tsolova and Angel Krasimirov

SOFIA, March 26 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party narrowly won a parliamentary election on Sunday, giving it a chance to form another government after leader Boiko Borisov resigned as prime minister in November, triggering the snap poll.

The GERB party won 33 percent of the vote, the Balkan country's third in just 4 years, with the leftist Socialists trailing on 27.2 percent, partial official results with 26 percent of the ballots counted showed.

"The result of the vote shows that GERB is obliged to form a government," said Borisov.

The election had been seen as a test of Bulgaria's loyalties to the European Union, which it joined in 2007, and to Russia, with which it has historic political and cultural links.

The Socialists, who had pledged to improve ties with Russia even if it meant upsetting EU partners, doubled their share of the vote compared to the last election in 2014 but failed to overtake the strongly pro-EU GERB.

If Borisov, 57, succeeds in forming a new coalition, it is likely to maintain the tight fiscal policies that underpin the lev currency's peg to the euro.

GERB is expected to court the United Patriots nationalist alliance, which came third with 9.6 percent of the vote, followed by ethnic Turkish party MRF with 7 percent, according to partial official results. The Populist Will party will also enter the next parliament.

Political analysts are sceptical the results can lead to a government able to uproot widespread corruption in the EU's poorest member state.

"I am not optimistic that these results will lead to the formation of a stable majority that can pursue strong policies," said Ognyan Minchev, a political analyst with the Sofia-based Institute for Regional and International Studies.

"It is likely to be fragile and unstable," he said.

ANTI-MIGRANT SENTIMENT

The United Patriots has built its popularity on anger about the flow of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia trying to reach Western Europe via the Balkans.

On Friday, supporters of the alliance blocked Bulgaria's border crossings with Turkey in an effort to stop buses bringing Bulgarian ethnic Turks to vote in Sunday's election.

Ahead of the election, Borisov signalled he hoped to include the Reformist Bloc in a GERB-led coalition government, but exit polls suggested the right-wing group had failed to secure enough votes to make it into parliament. That will likely complicate coalition talks.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova, 48, conceded defeat in the election but said she would look at options for forming a government in case GERB cannot do so.

The Socialists had pledged during campaigning to raise wages and pensions as well as oppose continuing EU sanctions against former Soviet-era overlord Russia.

That would complicate relations with Bulgaria's EU peers -- already grappling with Britain's move to leave and the rise of anti-establishment parties across the bloc -- as it gets ready to take over the EU's six-month rotating presidency in January.

Borisov resigned after a GERB candidate lost a presidential election in November to Rumen Radev, a Russia-friendly ally of the Socialists, and Bulgaria is currently being run by a caretaker administration. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova and Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Catherine Evans and Andrew Hay)
There were more than 15,000 Tuberculosis patients in the country, Consultant Chest Physician at the Polonnaruwa Hospital Dr. Nandika Harischandra told a media briefing on Friday.

The World Tuberculosis Day was marked this year on Friday, March 24.

More than 10,000 persons are diagnosed with TB in the country every year and in addition there are about 5,000 patients at large and not receiving treatment, he said.

Dr. Harischandra said the patients who refrained from obtaining treatment endangered their life and crated a health hazard to others as well.

He told the media that AIDS and TB were communicable diseases that caused the largest number of deaths in the world and that a large number of people in the developing countries die of TB every year although it was curable if treatment was taken properly.

He said that the World Health Organisation considered Sri Lanka as a country where TB was not yet eradicated.

He also said prevention of the disease required public awareness.

Medical Officer In Charge of the Anti-Tuberculosis Campaign Dr. Jeewani Samaraweera and Head PHI of the Polonnaruwa Chest Clinic addressed the media conference that marked the World Tuberculosis Day. (K.G. Karunaratne)
Parties barring the BJP on Saturday welcomed the cancellation of super star Rajinikanths Sri Lankan trip to participate in a function to inaugurate 150 houses constructed by a private firm Lyca for island Tamils.

The three leaders mentioned in the statement of Rajinikanth-MDMK general secretary Vaiko, VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan and Thamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi leader T. Velmurugan- welcomed the cancellation, while state BJP state president Tamilisai Soundarrajan said the actor should not have cancelled the trip as his visit could have been a consolation to the Lankan Tamils.

Vaiko said he conveyed his objection to Rajinikanth through telephone as he did not want to politicize it. The actor had earlier planned to visit the island based on wrong information, he added. Welcoming the announcement, Thirumavalavan said Tamils all over the world felt that his visit could harm their interests, while Velmurugan thanked Rajini for his decision. AIADMK spokesperson Vaigaiselvan also thanked the actor for understanding the sentiments of Tamils, cancelling the visit.

Rajinikanth had cancelled the visit citing the opposition to it from political leaders. Although, he did not agree with their views, he accepted their affectionate requests.

He explained that he wanted to visit the Tamil areas where heroes lived and sacrificed their lives for their land and race. He also wanted to meet Tamil people and request Lankan president to find a solution to the attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen, the actor had said.(Deccan Chronicle)
n Thursday, March 23, Sri Lanka once again co-sponsored the US-sponsored UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) draft resolution titled Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka. And out of the goodness of its heart, the UNHRC granted the country two more years to fulfil the recommendations of the 2015 resolution, which include the setting up of hybrid courts and the involvement of foreign judges in trials of alleged war crimes.

Sri Lanka is not as fortunate as the state of Israel. When the Under-Secretary General of ESCWA published a report on March 22 this year, accusing the State of Israel of using apartheid-style practices against Palestinians in Israeli-occupied Palestine Territories, she was forced to resign.

But then, as always, Israel stood up for itself and fiercely rejected the findings in the report. In Sri Lankas case, sadly, no one stands up for the country. Our Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs even went to the extent of thanking 47 nations who sponsored the resolution (30/1) based on charges of human rights violations war crimes and crimes against humanity! Worse, in especially the conduct of international affairs at the highest level, the government seems to be meandering and in disarray.

We seem to have no definite direction or policy. During the Rajapaksa era, the sessions at the UNHRC resembled a battle-ground scenario, with the then government flaying any who charged it with civilian deaths especially during its closing stages of the war.



The new regime surprisingly co-sponsored the 2015 resolution on Sri Lanka. While the Prime Minister spoke of the involvement of Judges from Commonwealth nations in trying alleged war crimes, the President of the country vehemently opposed the idea. Subsequently the Prime Minister too added his voice against the involvement of Foreign Judges in what should basically be local judicial processes.



Surprisingly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs speaking on behalf of the Government at the recent UNHRC sessions accepted the concept of setting up special courts involving Foreign Judges to try war crimes. Begging only for an extension of a period of time to implement the recommendation.

In an even more shocking turn of events on the same day, the UNHRC extended the grace period given to the country, the Minister of Justice speaking in parliament, accused the international community of making unrealistic demands from Sri Lanka. He also claimed probing war crimes while pushing for reconciliation was not realistic. While war crimes cannot be tolerated, the million dollar question our country faces today is how justice is to be dispensed. Justice is not revenge. The policy of an eye-for-eye could only lead to national blindness.



Israels policy of seeking revenge (punishment) for the perpetrators of crimes committed during World War II and the constant repetition of the horrors they were the subject to, has not brought them peace. On the contrary, its search for vengeance has only led hardening of its collective conscience and made the Jewish State and people impervious to similar horrors they are unleashing on another set of innocent people - the Palestinians.



In a similar manner, punishing members of Sri Lankas armed forces, will not bring back the Tamils who fell victim to the killings, nor will it heal the injured who fell victim to the brutalities unleashed on the Tamils. Similarly punishing Tamils guilty of perpetrating violence on the Sinhala, Muslim and other victims will not give life to the dead. It will breed further hatred. What our people and country need is justice with mercy which can bring us together and restore community.

Sri Lanka needs Restorative Justice, that is justice that seeks to heal what is broken. What does a victim need to heal, to recover, and to regain a sense of safety? Victims may need to express anger towards persons who harmed them they need reparation.



As Alison Morris points out, offenders too need healing; they need release from the guilt. They need resolution of the causes behind problems which led to the crimes and to make reparation to their victims.



Offenders need to be held accountable not simply as persons who have committed grave crimes. They must face the people, understand how their actions have damaged others. They must explain their behaviour to the victims and the community. They must also take steps to repair the harm they have done. A restorative process works toward reconciliation of the victim and the offender and the reintegration of both into the community.

War crime tribunals, as the Minister has suggested, will not bring reconciliation; it will cause more divisions.
Us old folks are going to move on," said Throneburg to students, "and youre the ones who are going to inhabit and run this world."
Kannur VC Dr Gopinath Ravindran was the last to respond to Raj Bhavan shortly before the 5pm deadline.
Visitor from Texas applauds local hospital

While visiting in the area, I became increasingly ill and was taken to Novant UVa Culpeper Hospitals emergency room. There, I was diagnosed with pneumonia and sepsis.

Within a few hours I felt markedly better, but required treatment for five days until I was well enough to be discharged. During my hospitalization I was directly attended to by dozensincluding cleaning personnel, nurses, aides, food service staff and doctors.

Without exception, from admitting to discharge, I did not encounter a single person who I would have preferred not to have been assigned to my care.

Congratulations to the entire organization. And thanks for being there when I needed you.
Jamshedpur: Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej today hailed demonetisation and the proposed GST bill, stating that believers in India's strong future outstripped its doubters.

Demonetisation helped checking black money, ensuring mid- and long-term growth while the GST, which would be implemented from July, would help achieve positive economic growth of the country, Godrej said.

Right policy and decision of the government was shaping the reform in right direction and enhancing growth rate, said the industrialist while speaking at the 61st

Convocation of leading B-School XLRI School of Management. Godrej, who was bestowed with Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Social and Industrial Peace on the occasion, expressed confidence that the country would overtake US economy between 2030-40 and China by 2050 to emerge as economic super power of the world.

"I have always been and continued to be very optimistic about India's future especially with the election of a development-oriented government," Godrej said adding that now the number of believers in India's strong future outstripped that of doubters.

He said his confidence of bright future of India came from his belief in the country's demography, democracy and reform and growth-oriented mindset. India, which has retained top spot on global consumer confidence index with 133 points in 2016, have been able to mitigate some of the negative consequences of global financial turmoil due to its large consumer market, he said.
New Delhi: The Competition Commission has dismissed the allegations of abuse of dominant position against realty firm Lodha Group with regard to clauses in the sale agreement of a flat.

The complaint was made by one Pune-based Rajeev Nohwar, who had booked a flat with the firm. It was alleged that the terms and conditions in the sale agreement were one sided and that the company had abused its dominant position.

For the case, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) considered "market for the provision of services relating to development and sale of residential flats in Pune city" as the relevant one.

In a recent order, CCI said there are several other major as well as small realty players in the relevant market. The services offered by these developers "pose competitive constraints" upon Lodha Group in the relevant market, the regulator said.

Upon finding that Lodha Group is "not dominant in the relevant market", CCI said that "no case is made out against the Opposite Party (Lodha Group) for contravention of any of the provisions of Section 4. Section 4 of the Competition Act pertains to abuse of dominant position.
New Delhi: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) plans to audit the impact of note ban and the affect it has had on government tax revenues, said CAG Shashi Kant Sharma.

In an interview to PTI, he said the auditor is gearing up to audit tax revenues under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and has started capacity building and reorienting its audit methodology and procedures.

Among the special audits, CAG has already completed audit of agricultural crop insurance scheme and flood control and flood forecasting and is now engaged in several important audits like Right to Education, National Rural Health Mission, defence pensions and Ganga Rejuvenation, he said. "These reports should be ready by the end of the current year."

Sharma asserted that CAG has audit jurisdiction over any body or authority which has any relation to government revenues and expenditure and resistance by some like city development bodies, DISCOMs and metro corporations will wither away.

"We plan to audit certain issues related to fiscal impact of demonetisation, largely its impact on tax revenues," he said. The government had withdrawn old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes from circulation on November 8 last year, and announced a new tax amnesty scheme for those holding unaccounted junked currency.

CAG audit may look into expenditure on printing of notes, RBI dividend payout and banking transaction data. The auditor has also conveyed to the government its stand on the recent move of the GST Council to delete section 65 of the preliminary draft that authorised CAG to audit GST.

"Our mandate covers GST just like the earlier taxation regimes were covered. We have already started work on restructuring of our revenue audit arrangements to meet this likely challenge when GST is introduced.

"This exercise would include issues of capacity building, data access and analysis, reorientation of audit methodology and procedures and developing end-to-end IT solutions," he said.

Sharma said executive, legislature, judiciary and audit have clearly demarcated roles and responsibilities. "The framers of our Constitution were fully aware of the concept of checks and balances and hence you find the mention of Judiciary and CAG in the fifth part of the Constitution along with legislature and executive," he said.

"The CAG's DPC Act of 1971 provides the details of the mandate and scope of audit available to us." Stating that there are no lacunae in CAG's empowerment but with advent of time, the governance models have undergone changes.

The September 2014 judgement of the Supreme Court in the telecom case "reinforced an important principle that wherever public resources are being used by private companies for revenue generation, CAG will have a duty to examine as to whether the government is getting due share of such revenue," he said.

"So, I can say that the bodies and authorities which have any relation to government revenues and expenditure are under the audit jurisdiction of CAG," he said. City development bodies, electricity distribution companies and metro corporations "resist" CAG audit on the ground of being autonomous or on the ground of getting no support of the government although they perform the functions which were earlier being performed by the government departments, he said. "I believe the situation will settle down with passage of time and such resistance will wither away," he added.
Mumbai: Comedian Sunil Grover has announced his new gig with Kiku Sharda following his fall out with Kapil Sharma.

Grover took to Facebook to share the poster of his upcoming gig scheduled to happen in Delhi on April 1.

"Delhi see you on the 1st April. Yo!," he shared the poster of the show, which features him dressed as his popular character of Dr Mashoor Gulati from 'The Kapil Sharma Show'.

Following an in-flight tussle between him and Kapil, Grover posted a note on social media in which he asked the latter to "start respecting human beings also apart from animals."

Grover, who plays the popular characters of Dr Gulati and Rinku Bhabhi on Kapil's show, further wrote, "Thanks for making me realise it was your show and you have power to throw out anybody, anytime.

"You are the wittiest, and the best in your field. But don't act like a 'God'. Take good care of yourself. Wish you lot more success and fame."

Kapil had dismissed their feud as "an argument" in a Facebook post but Grover, has indicated that all is not well between them.

He also took to Twitter to apologise to Grover, saying, "Sorry if I hurt you unintentionally. You know very well how much I love you. I am also upset. Love and regards."
New Delhi: Seems like preparations for her role in upcoming Bollywood flick 'Padmavati' have commenced for gorgeous actress Deepika Padukone, as she was recently spotted carrying a copy of 'A History Of Rajasthan' by Rima Hooja at Mumbai airport.

The actress was travelling from Mumbai to Delhi for an event of a brand.

Deepika, who is in a midst of shooting for her upcoming titular role, 'Padmavati', seems to have been fascinated with the birthplace of queen Rani Padmini.

With flights proving to make for a peaceful reading ambience, the 31-year-old made the most of her time by gaining insights into history.

The actress is known to get into the skin of her onscreen character in order to do justice to the film's premise and with ' Padmavati' too, the actress is leaving no stone unturned in understanding the requisites of playing the role of the queen of Mewar.

Being a part of a historical film, the actress is tracing history to have a better understanding of the intricate details of the era.
Mumbai: Varun Dhawan has his hands full, with films and high praise for his latest release, Badrinath Ki dulhaniya. The actor is riding high on the success of the film and feels some people not liking or objecting to the alleged molestation scene does not count as mass opinion.

In one of the scenes Varun can be seen touching inappropriately sparking controversy and some have even labelled it as molesttaion. Varun, however, does not look at it that way. Out of 10, if two don't like something, that doesn't count as mass opinion. People who felt that way are entitled to their opinion, it's totally fine with me. It was supposed to be a funny scene and meant to portray how Badri's male ego is shattered. In 3 Idiots, there's a scene where a character confuses a Hindi word for `balatkar' (rape). People should have been offended by that as well. We didn't mean to hurt anyone's sentiments and if we did so unknowingly, we apologise, Varun reportedly said.

The actor, who is currently busy with the remake of 1997 blockbuster Judwaa by the same name, is elated to learn that the audience is liking his film. The character of Badri, Varun insists, is one of his most special characters.

People seem to have liked it. It feels good when a character becomes iconic. I have been getting letters from all over the country, be it UP or Rajasthan. The idea of doing a character like Badri is to make him memorable; it's one of my most special characters. Growing up, I would hear about the dowry menace and women not being treated as equals so it was exciting to get script where I could make some kind of a statement about such issues, added Varun.
A meme circulated by Rajini fans on social media extending support to the actor after he was criticised for scheduling a Lanka visit.

Chennai: Refuting Lyca Productions charges, VCK and Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) said their motive was not to oppose Rajinikanths visit to Sri Lanka, but only asked him to reconsider his trip since the atmosphere was not conducive.

Our motive is not to oppose Rajinikanth or Lyca or seek publicity. If Lyca thinks so, it is sheer imagination, VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan said, while appreciating the superstar for his maturity in understanding the issue in the right context.

Meanwhile, Union minister of state for road transport, highways and shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said the actor should have gone to Lanka to hand over the houses to the Tamils there.

I will appreciate whoever does good for the Tamils, he said. Radhakrishnan tweeted that he would appreciate anyone who does good for Tamils. Even during his interaction with mediapersons in Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district where he is presently touring, Radhakrishnan did not find any reason to find fault with purport of Rajinikanths visit.

The actor had on Saturday announced to cancel his visit in the wake of calls by political parties. BJP state president Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan speaking in similar vein had said that the superstar could have undertaken the visit to the island nation as it was meant to give away houses to the Lankan Tamils.

Earlier in the day, VCK leader Thirumavalavan In a statement said, It is laughable if one believes opposing Rajinikanths Sri Lanka visit or an anti-Lyca stand will endear people to them. In fact, the fears of Tamils in the Northern Province is that the Sinhala rulers are trying to derive political mileage out of the issue, he said in a statement.

TVK leader Velmurugan also denied he was raking up the issue for publicity.

Actually, we had requested Rajinikanth through a close friend, asking him to not to attend the event as it would be politicised by the Lankan government for its own advantage. We never had anything to do with Lyca, he said.
Taapsee Pannu, who has been MIA in Tamil films of late, was in the city to promote her upcoming spy thriller Naam Shabana, which is now dubbed in Tamil as Naanthan Shabana. The spunky actress says that she is thrilled to be part of the first spin-off film in India  and talks about how she prepared for the role of a spy, the Bollywood superstars supporting women-centric movies, on self defense for women and much more in a fun chat...

On the first spin-off film in India:

It happens in Hollywood films. Its the backstory of Shabana  the character I played in Baby. People loved it, and that is the reason Im doing this. It was the kind of amazing response that came in for the character that made the makers think about doing an entire film on her!

I think the hard work that I put in is bearing fruit, and it is a bonus for a good performance. (laughs)

You must have seen female spies in films where theres a hero  but Naanthan Shabana has a female spy at the center of the film! It has lot of action sequences  not the usual street fights  but specially-crafted martial art sequences.

Learning martial arts for various roles:

For Baby, I started training in Krav Maga. I also learnt Kudo, a Japanese martial art  Im actually a university level Kudo player in the film and you see me playing a proper tournament! Then I learnt MMA (mixed martial arts), which is a requirement to become an agent. I got severely hurt several times during training, but did my fights without a scratch.

Women-centric films are a collective effort:

The director has to give an idea, the producer has to put in money, the media has to promote it, and audiences have to spend money and watch it in theatres. Ive wanted to do these kinds of films from the beginning, but no one was there to approach me!

Superstars in bollywood supporting such efforts:

I dont think it was the scenario even three years back when I began my Bollywood career. Now, on average, at least one heroine-oriented movie starring an A-list actress releases ever so often. I am very happy that I have got this opportunity at an early stage.

I have done only six films and Naanthan Shabana came to me when I had completed only two! The best part is, big superstars are supporting these kind of films in a big way. Had Amitabh Bachchan sir not been there in Pink, we wouldnt have got a such wide reach.

This film, for instance, has Akshay Kumar  he has not just given a special appearance, but has also invested as a producer, who believed in the script and that a girl can be the centre of a film. He is going all out to promote the flick! There are others like Aamir Khan, who is producing, besides playing a cameo in Secret Superstar  which has a girl in the main lead  and SRK who did Dear Zindagi.

Women need to know self-defence:

The problem is not that we are physically weak. Our mind doesnt work at the right time. We lose our mind suddenly, panic and freeze if something happens  its only about the right move at the right place. You dont need to have muscles and neednt hold a black belt.

Even in my video with Akshay on the same topic  I ask viewers to just use their elbow; that can be very brutal if used at the right time. If you freeze, by the time you gather your senses, the damage is already done. Stop considering you are weak and realise your own potential. I wish there was a world in which we didnt need such skills... but the present scenario is not like that. The only thing we can do is, take charge of our safety in our own hands.

On films being targeted for several crimes:

People learn only bad things from the films and turn a blind eye when there is something good being said! For instance, when a film like Pink happened, they just say its a very nice film. We still had something like the Bengaluru incident happening. It is wrong to blame films for everything.

On preparing for her roles:

Naanthan Shabana is written and inspired from real-life spies  but a lot of secrecy is maintained about them. I am not allowed to talk about it! They (spies) are under national security, and there is no record of living or even former spies. But I did my research on the kind of missions women in the field used to participate in. I came to know that there were a lot of female spies during World War II like Noor Inayat Khan and Nancy Grace.

In fact, Mossad and CIA have given a statement that women actually make for better spies  they have a very good sixth sense and they can multi-task! I kept all this in mind while performing.

On her co-star Prithiviraj and others:

He is a powerful villain in the movie. I am almost scared to go to Kerala after this! All those out there, I want to tell you that I am a great fan of Prithiviraj! (laughs)

The others like Manoj Bajpayee and Anupam Kher are great actors and when you work with them, you are always conscious. I ask myself, am I doing enough?

On her absence from Tamil:

I am not getting offers at the right time  they always clash with other films dates. But I do wish to do one in Tamil and Telugu every year. In Tollywood though, I have signed a supernatural comedy directed by Mahi, who made the flick Paathshala.
Mumbai: Amy Schumer has exited the Barbie film, where she was supposed to play the character that inspired the iconic doll.

The 35-year-old actress-comic has dropped out of the Sony movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"Sadly, I'm no longer able to commit to Barbie due to scheduling conflicts. The film has so much promise, and Sony and Mattel have been great partners. I'm bummed, but look forward to seeing Barbie on the big screen," Schumer said.

A Sony spokesperson also said, "We respect and support Amy's decision. We look forward to bringing Barbie to the world and sharing updates on casting and filmmakers soon."

The project is currently without a director and the film's release has been pushed from May 12, 2017 to June 29 next year.
London: Benedict Cumberbatch has reportedly welcomed his second child, a baby boy, with wife Sophie Hunter.

The 'Sherlock' star's wife is said to have given birth earlier in March to a boy, who has been named after Shakespearean hero Hal.

Prince Hal was the nickname, the great writer gave to the young Henry V in his plays.

Cumberbatch also starred in "The Hollow Crown", a BBC series based on Shakespeare's work.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2015, is also parents to Christopher, who was born in June same year.
Srinagar: Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were on Sunday killed when they tried to ambush a police party that included three officers of the rank of superintendent of police in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.

One of the slain militants has been identified as Shahbaz Safi Wani alias Rayees Kachru, who was active in the area since June, 2016.

Wani was involved in an attack on a security picket outside a minority camp at Tumlahall in Pulwama district, besides snatching two self-loading rifles along with magazines, officials said.

The other one is a "recycled" militant, Farooq Ahmed Hurrah from Shopian, who had surrendered in 2010 and was out on parole.

The police have seized two weapons, including a looted SLR, Deputy Inspector General of Police (South Kashmir) S Pani told PTI in Srinagar.

The incident happened at Padgampora, on the Awantipora-Pulwama border, around 35 kms from here, when a cavalcade of senior superintendents of police of Pulwama and Awantipora Raees Ahmed and Zahid Malik was going along with the district's Additional Superintendent of Police Chandan Kohli.

The top police officers of the district were returning after a meeting with the chief election officer in connection with the forthcoming by-polls to two Lok Sabha seats of Anantnag and Srinagar.

The militants came in a car from behind and started firing at the last vehicle of the convoy carrying Kohli (32), officials said.

The police personnel quickly took cover and retaliated the fire in which two militants were killed, they said.

The driver of the car, in which the two militants were travelling, managed to flee, the officials said, adding that a hunt has been launched to nab him to ascertain whether he was kidnapped or a part of the overground network of the militant group.

The police have also seized a hand grenade and some ammunition, Pani said.

Pani, a seasoned police officer who has done credible work in controlling militancy in Shopian and Kulgam districts, lauded the role of the police personnel who swiftly neutralised the two terrorists.

On March 9, two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants were killed in an encounter at Padgampora. A civilian was also killed in the incident.

The Padgampora area has witnessed several encounters in the past and is believed to be infested with militants associated with banned outfits such as the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range, S J M Gillani said, "According to our officers at the spot, perhaps one militant managed to escape.
Osmanabad: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who allegedly assaulted a senior Air India official, on Sunday claimed that he was asked by a top party leader not to speak with the media over the issue.

Threatening legal action against the national carrier, the Parliamentarian said he has not gone into hiding and will be present in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

"A senior Sena leader ordered me not to speak with media till Wednesday (March 29) and so I am not coming before the media. I will come to Omerga on Tuesday and celebrate Marathi new year 'Gudi Padwa' with my family and Shiv Sainiks. I will then attend Lok Sabha session (in New Delhi) on Wednesday," Gaikwad told PTI over phone.

The 57-year-old MP, who represents Osmanabad, however did not disclose his present location.

"I am not hiding and will speak to all after Wednesday," he added.

Gaikwad had on Thursday abused and assaulted a 60-year-old duty manager of the national carrier with slippers over not being able to fly business class despite having boarded an all-economy Pune-New Delhi flight.

Following the incident, he was barred from flying by major domestic airlines.

"A senior Sena leader did not call me to 'Matoshree' (Thackeray residence in Mumbai) and hence I am not going there to meet senior party leaders," he added.

"Air India employees abused me. I will take legal action against Air India," Gaikwad said.

He demanded that an inquiry should be initiated into the video (about the incident), which has gone viral.

Meanwhile, local Sena workers today burnt an effigy of Air India employees at Turori village in Gaikwad's support.
Ahmedabad: Over 100 Indian fishermen were allegedly apprehended and around 18 of their boats seized by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) off Jakhau coast in Gujarat's Kutch district, a fishermen association official said today.

"We have learnt that more than 100 fishermen who were on board around 18 fishing boats were apprehended by PMSA near the international maritime boundary line off Jakhau coast yesterday," National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF) secretary Manish Lodhari said.

"The fishermen who escaped have informed us about this," he said.

The NFF is trying to establish contact with the Pakistani agencies to get the exact number of those abducted by PMSA, he said.

The PMSA had earlier this month also apprehended 115 fishermen and seized 19 boats.

"In March so far, the PMSA has separately held over 225 fishermen along with nearly three dozen boats," Lodhari said.

The development comes after the Indian Coast Guard captured nine Pakistani nationals along with a fishing boat off Jakhau coast in Kutch on Friday.

Last month, the BSF had apprehended four abandoned Pakistani fishing boats near Sir Creek in Kutch district during an extensive search operation in the area.
Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was banned by seven airlines after he assaulted a 60-year-old Air India staff while boarding the flight at Delhi Airport, has threatened to sue the national carrier and IndiGo for cancelling his tickets.

"I will take legal action against IndiGo and Air India for cancelling my confirmed tickets," Gaikwad, who was supposed to fly to Pune from Delhi, said on Sunday.

The national carrier had cancelled Gaikwads return ticket to Pune after he boastfully asserted he would board the flight. Private airline IndiGo followed suit. With no travel option available, he was forced to take a train back from Delhi.

Gaikwad, an MP from Osmanabad, had assaulted R. Sukumar after being unable to travel business class on an all-economy flight from Pune to New Delhi. Air India officials claim they had informed the MPs office, at the time of booking, that the plane was all-economy.

Speaking to media later that day, Gaikwad had admitted hitting Sukumar 25 times with slipper while justified his act, saying the staff had misbehaved with him and that he wont take abuses from anyone.

The Delhi Police had lodged an FIR against the lawmaker based on a complaint filed by Air India, which had also blacklisted Gaikwad. Later, IndiGo, SpiceJet GoAir, AirAsia India and Vistara also bared the MP from flying on their network.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had condemned the incident, saying, No political party will encourage physical assault. It should never have happened.

The Shiv Sena also criticised Gaikwad for his behaviour, but Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said party leaders would "raise their hand" wherever needed.
Asif Nizami and Nazim Nizami, the Sufi clerics who had gone missing. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The detention of two Sufi clerics from Delhis Nizamuddin dargah was probably the result of a botched operation by Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), a report has said.

The uncle-nephew duo of Asif Nizami and Nizam Nizami were detained by Pakistan intelligence operatives earlier this week on the suspicion that Nizam's frequent visits indicated an underhand agenda, said the report.

The detention was preceded by a report in a Pakistan publication raising doubts over the purpose of the Sufi clerics visit to Lahore. The publication had accused the clerics of being R&AW agents, and on their return to India, the clerics had blamed a Pakistani newspaper for their detention.

The detentions were possibly spurred by the suspicion that the frequent trips of Nizam Nizami to Pakistan had probably been "facilitated" by the Indian government, the report said.

As for Asif Nizami, he was a collateral victim, said the report, having travelled to Pakistan merely to meet his sister living there.

Thus, the Pakistani intelligence agencies could not wheedle any information out of the two Sufi clerics. The operation seems to have been conducted while keeping the Pakistani government in the dark, which also backfired on the ISI, the report said.

After diplomatic heat between India and Pakistan, the two clerics were released for want of evidence.

Pakistan had earlier denied knowledge of the clerics whereabouts, before admitting they were in the custody of its intelligence agencies and releasing them.

The report suggested that the clerics religious orientation  their affiliation with the Sufi sect of Islam, may also have raised hackles. Orthodox sections of Pakistani society do not see the Sufis as genuine Muslims, and Sufi shrines have been attacked and clerics killed by fundamentalists.
New Delhi: Asking the people to take the fight against black money and graft to the "next level", Prime Minister Narendra Modi today urged them to use less cash in their daily lives and continue to support the movement towards digital payments started after the note ban.

In his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' programme, he also spoke of building a 'New India', which he said can be achieved when 125 crore Indians take a pledge and unitedly work towards it.

"My dear countrymen, we must take our fight against black money and corruption to the next level. .... We should contribute towards ensuring reducing the use of cash, of currency notes," the Prime Minister said.

Asking the people to pay school fees, buy medicines or items from fair price shops or purchase air and train tickets digitally, he said "we can do this in our day to day lives.

You can't imagine how you can serve the country in this way and become a brave soldier in the fight against black money and corruption."

Observing that the Budget had announced that there would be 2500 crore digital transactions this year, he said if 125 crore countrymen can resolve, "they need not wait for a year; they can do it in six months."

Expressing gratitude to the people, Modi said over the last few months the country has witnessed an atmosphere in which people in large numbers have participated in the digital payment, 'Digidhan' movement.

"There has also been an increase in curiosity about cashless transactions. The poorest of the poor are making attempts to learn, and people are gradually moving towards doing business without cash. There has been a surge in various modes of digital payment after demonetisation," he said, adding that the BHIM App, launched about two and a half months ago, has already been downloaded by one and half crore people.

In his address, the Prime Minister also touched upon subjects ranging from building a "New India" to 'Swacch Bharat', besides greeting the people of Bangladesh on their Independence Day saying India will always stand with them in the struggle for peace, security and development in the region.

"I hope that Bangladesh marches ahead on the path of progress. I also assure the citizens of Bangladesh that India is a strong partner, and a good friend, and we will continue to work together shoulder to shoulder to contribute towards the peace, security and development of this entire region," the Prime Minister said.

He said it was a matter of pride that Rabindranath Tagore, who has authored the national anthem of Bangladesh and India, had given up his Knighthood in protest against the 1919 massacre of people in Jallianwala Bagh by the British.

This had also provided an "inspiration and a mission in life" to a young teenager, who until then had spent his days playing merrily in the fields. This youngster was none other than Bhagat Singh, then 12-years old, to evolve as a martyr.

Modi also referred to the Champaran Satyagraha launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917, saying "through his demeanour and deeds, he could inspire the poorest of the poor, the most illiterate, to unite and come together out into the open for the struggle against the British Rule.

"This was a manifestation of an incredible inner strength, through which we can experience the vastness of Mahatma Gandhi's great persona," the Prime Minister said.

He said the government of India has taken "a very important decision" to give working women maternity leave of 26 weeks, instead of the earlier 12 weeks, for their pregnancy and delivery.

"There are now only two or three countries in the world that are ahead of us in this matter. India has taken a very important decision for these working women sisters of ours.

The basic aim is to ensure proper care of the newborn, the future citizen of India, from the time of birth. The newborn should get the complete love and attention of the mother."

Talking about "New India", he said it is "not a government scheme or political party's programme. "In essence, every citizen must discharge his civic duties and responsibilities. This in itself would be a good beginning to the New India."

The Prime Minister said if 125 crore Indians take a pledge and work unitedly towards making a "New India", then it is possible to realise this dream of countrymen.

He also talked about his favourite "Swachch Bharat" drive and said people of the country are getting angry as far as dirt is concerned and this will lead to more efforts towards cleanliness.

Modi also talked about wastage of food saying it is unfortunate and an injustice to the poor.

He also spoke at length about depression and how it can be overcome by expressing one's feeling to the near and dear ones and urged the people to help those suffering from it to overcome it.

Talking about the importance of Yoga, he called upon Indians to make the 3rd International Day of Yoga memorable by involving more and more people.
Hyderabad: The TS government has taken a serious view of Bhupalapally collector A. Muralis remarks asking people to hunt wild boar and eat meat besides his casteist comments on meat eating.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao directed Chief Secretary S.P. Singh to inquire into the issue and submit a report. Another IAS officer G. Venkateshwar Rao, who was arrested in a murder case involving his son recently, has been suspended.

A report on this issue was submitted to CM on Saturday, who approved his suspension in accordance with existing rules wherein a public servant who is sent to custody for more than 24 hours should be suspended.

Mr Rao is working as joint director in agriculture department in city. However, Mr Muralis comments on meat eating habits came as a shock for the government.

This was because it was only a week ago that Mr Murali received appreciation from all quarters for promoting government hospitals in his district by ensuring his daughter gave birth to her first child at the government hospital in Bhupalapally.

Starting from health minister C. Laxma Reddy to IAS officials, all praised Mr Murali for setting an example to promote government hospitals. Following the CMs directions, the CS is learnt to have called the collector over phone on Saturday and sought a written explanation on his meat comments.

Sources said the collector informed the CS that it was a slip of the tongue and he had already tendered his unconditional apologies to all concerned. However, Mr Murali was asked to give his written reply on the issue to the government within a week.
Srinagar: Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) (Jail), Abdul Bhat's two sons were abducted by terrorists last night in Budgam's Chadoora in Jammu and Kashmir.

Bhat's vehicle was also set ablaze by the terrorists, who barged into his house, threatened his kin and later fled in a car after firing a few rounds.

The terrorists however released the DSP's sons later.

Meanwhile, last night two terrorists snatched a loaded AK-47 assault rifle of Private Security Official (PSO) of Maulana Syed Athar Dehlavi, a Delhi-based Muslim cleric and the chairman of Anjuman Minhaje Rasool.

According to reports, the terrorist attacked the officer Mohammed Hanief with chilli powder and fled with the weapon.

In the process, one policeman got injured. The officer was admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital. He had to receive 8 to 19 stitches on his head.

One of the two terrorists has been arrested and identified as Masood Ahmed Malik of Shopian, however, the other fled with the rifle.

The incident took place near Mandir Masjid Point near Jewel Chowk here.

In the view of the incidents, all nakas have been alerted and asked to check all outgoing vehicles.
Under PMGKY, people with unaccounted money can deposit it in cash, cheque, demand draft or through the electronic route in any bank accepting direct tax payments. (Photo: File)

Chennai: A businessman from Tiruchengode at Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu got into legal trouble after depositing Rs 246 crore cash at an Indian Overseas Bank branch, said reports.

IT officials were quoted as saying that the man (whose name has not been revealed) was being tracked for 15 days after he deposited the case in demonetised currency notes. Though he tried to hide, after a fortnight he agreed to join the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) and pay 45% of the total money as tax.

More than 200 individuals and companies have deposited around Rs 600 crore in unaccounted money in various bank accounts in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry after demonetisation.

Most of them have joined the PMGKY scheme, which comes to an end on March 31. We hope the total unaccounted money will go up to Rs. 1,000 crore before the month end. We are also warning people who are still not on board that the heat will increase from April 1, an IT official was quoted as saying.

Under PMGKY, people with unaccounted money can deposit it in cash, cheque, demand draft or through the electronic route in any bank accepting direct tax payments.

While 50 per cent of the money gets taxed, 25 per cent is kept as a non-interest four-year bond with the RBI. The rest can be used by the defaulter.

But any money obtained by laundering or through criminal activities cannot be accepted under PMGKY.
Mumbai: Shiv Sena member of Parliament (MP) Ravindra Gaikwad, who attained infamy for beating an Air India (AI) employee with his sandal 25 times, is yet to reach his home in Osmanabad after alighting from a Mumbai-bound train on Saturday. He is allegedly in Pune, at his relatives house and is not expected to go to his house soon, sources said. Meanwhile, his supporters claim that a bandh has been called for Monday in Osmanabad to protest against the decision by various airlines to not fly Gaikwad.

The Sena leader is expected to go back to Delhi, and hence apparently is not coming to Osamanabad, and will take a train again. While the contact numbers of Gaikwad and his wife are not available, a certain Mr Joshi, who claims to be Gaikwads personal assistant, answered a call made to his house in Osmanabad.

Asked about the whereabouts of Gaikwad, he said, Gaikwad is not in Osmanabad. He has not come here and there is no confirmation on when he will reach Osmanabad. He has to go back to Delhi and will go back via Pune or Mumbai.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena clarified that the party has not called for any bandh in Osmanabad. Threatening legal action against the national carrier, the Parliamentarian said he has not gone into hiding and will be present in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The state government and the owners of liquor shops and bars are in a fix as the March 31 deadline to implement the SC order on the highways is just four days away. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: The fate of nearly 1,400 liquor shops and bars in Telangana located within 500 metres from national and state highways is likely to be known on Monday when the Supreme Court takes up a series of petitions filed by the Centre, state governments and the owners of liquor shops and bars.

The apex court had in December 2016 ruled that all such bars and liquor shops should be closed by March 31. However, several petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking relaxations, which have been listed for a hearing on March 27.

The state government and the owners of liquor shops and bars are in a fix as the March 31 deadline to implement the SC order on the highways is just four days away.

They are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the petitions in the Supreme Court on Monday. Officials and shop owners are worried over the future course of action if the apex court postpones the case to a later date.

The excise department has already communicated that it would seal the shops and bars, which are functioning in contravention of the Supreme Court order from April 1.

While liquor shop owners are a worried lot, the excise department is playing safe by seeking undertakings from owners that they will find alternative locations from April 1 thereby ensuring that the government need not return licence fee to owners.

In its judgement, the Supreme Court held liquor shops near highways to be a prime reason for fatalities caused by drunken driving and ordered the states against renewing the licence after its expiry on March 31.

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, however, face a peculiar situation as the licence of liquor shops and bars is valid till September-end. So they contend that the order about the renewal of licences doesnt apply as the licence are valid for a period beyond March 31.

The owners will suffer losses for the balance six-month period if they fail to find alternate locations. This is totally unfair on the part of excise officials. They are stating that all our existing stocks would be seized and shops locked from April 1, if there are no extension orders from the Supreme Court. They have collected licence fee from us, but they are refusing to return it in case our shops are closed from April 1 by taking forcible undertakings. They are trying to put blame on us for not finding alternative locations since December last, when the SC gave highway liquor ban orders, said D. Venkateshwar Rao, president, TS wine shop dealers association.

In his advice to the Kerala government, meanwhile, attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi had reportedly said that the Supreme Courts order doesnt apply to bars and restaurants which served alcohol.

He had reportedly said that since bars, restaurants and pubs served liquor to customers there itself, these could not be equated with liquor shops, where people buy liquor and consume it on the highways, potentially causing mishaps.
Hyderabad: A man donated five organs of his father, Nalgonda resident Sheikh Niranjan alias Hussain, who had been declared brain dead, to the Jeevandan scheme of the government. Hussain became the first Muslim whose organs were donated in the state. The organs were harvested at the Osmania General Hospital.

Hussain, 55, from Nalgonda had suffered grievous head injuries in an accident. After he was declared brain-dead, his son Jahangeer gave he consent to donate his fathers kidneys, corneas and liver to the government scheme.

Mr Jahangeer told this newspaper, My father was a God-fearing person and had always helped everyone who came to his door. In death, he has given his organs and given new life to many others.

Jeevandan counsellors Bhanu Chander and Osmania General Hospital medical superintendent Dr G.V. Murthy convinced to donate his father's organs.

Arab clerics okay organ donation

There have been more than 300 organ donations since the inception of the programme in 2013, and Hussain became the first Muslim whose organs were donated on Sunday.

This is because Indian Muslim scholars state that organ donation is not permissible as the human body is formed by the wish of God and giving away its parts to others after death is not considered the right choice. Arab scholars allow for organ donation under certain terms and conditions.

The scheme also received six organs which were donated by the family of K. Madhavi, 27, who was declared brain dead from injuries she sustained after falling in her house. Madhavi had suffered a spell of giddiness, and bled internally after the fall.

After she was declared brain dead, her brother Sudhakar gave consent for the donation. Madhavi's heart, kidneys, corneas and liver were donated to the government-run scheme.
The managements of the aided and private degree colleges had requested the state government to hike the fee as their administrative expenditure had increased over the years.(Representational Image)

Hyderabad: The state government could be increasing the annual tuition fee in aided and private degree colleges that will be reimbursed to students from poorer sections from the forthcoming academic year, on the back of a committee recommending the hike.

Even after the increase, the amount reimbursed would be nominal since there is huge variation between the fees collected by colleges and the fee to be reimbursed by government.

While the colleges collect annual fee ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 per year, the students would get a reimbursement ranging from just Rs 950 to Rs 1,363 in aided college and Rs 1,901 to Rs 1,376 in private colleges, even after the latest increase.The students will have to pay the rest of the fee from their own pockets.

A committee headed by principal secretary, revenue, G. Somesh Kumar has finalised the fee structure and will be submitting it to the government.

According to sources the committee had decided to recommend an increase of 12 per cent in the fee in colleges in municipal corporations, 10 per cent in municipalities and 8 per cent in colleges located at the mandal level. The fee is to be revised every three years, but had not been done so in the previous cycle.

The managements of the aided and private degree colleges had requested the state government to hike the fee as their administrative expenditure had increased over the years.

The Somesh Kumar committee also recommended a hike in the admission fee in aided colleges from Rs 880 to Rs 970 and in private colleges from Rs 1,760 to Rs 1,940.

The committee has estimated that the additional financial burden in the form of fee reimbursement would be Rs 102.23 crore per year.The state government will take a final call after it receives the committees report, sources said.
New Delhi: Terrorism has thrown a big challenge to humanity and people should draw inspiration from ancient scriptures to take on the menace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.

Terrorism has gripped the entire world. It has thrown a challenge to humanity. If we try to analyse incidents mentioned in ancient scriptures and set those in the present context, I would say that Jatayu was the first to fight against terrorism. He gave the message of fearlessness, he said.

In epic Ramayana, Jatayu, a vulture, had valiantly tried to rescue Sita when she was being kidnapped by Ravana, sacrificing his life in the process.

The Prime Minister said Jatayu sacrificed his life taking on a strong man to defend the dignity of a woman. Jatayus fight gives us the inspiration to take on terrorism. It also gives the message to live for humanity, he said.

Mr Modi was addressing a gathering at the residence of Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu here to celebrate Ugadi, the Telugu and Kannada new year day.

Referring to different languages and cultures in the country, Mr Modi said various states should ensure cultural exchanges between people. Haryana and Telangana have already signed an agreement in this regard.

He said cultural exchanges and quiz competitions can be organised to spread culture and language of one state in the other. Mr Modi said diversity of India was both its identity and strength.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting a performer at an event organised at the residence of Union I&B minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on the occasion of Telugu New Year Ugadi in New Delhi on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon the people to take the fight against black money and graft to the next level by shunning cash and going digital.

Urging 125 crore Indians to become a part of the countrys transformation and realise the dream of New India, Mr Modi, in the 30th edition of Mann Ki Baat on Sunday, asked people to shift to digital mode of payment for all transactions  from paying school fee and buying medicine or items from fair price shops, to purchasing air and train tickets.

You cant imagine how you can serve the country in this way and become a brave soldier in the fight against black money and corruption, he said.

After invoking the sacrifice of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, and recalling Mahatma Gandhis Champaran Satyagraha, Mr Modi said that if Indians take a pledge and unite to work towards it, a bhavya (grand) and divya (brilliant) India will become a reality. March 23 was the death anniversary of the three martyrs, and 2017 marks the centenary of Champaran Satyagraha.

New India is neither a government programme, nor is it the manifesto of a political party, nor is it a project. New India is the essence of the emotions of the 125 crore Indians wanting to come together and create a magnificent India, he said.

Poorest going digital, says Narendra Modi

Observing that the Budget recently had announced that there would be 2,500 crore digital transactions this year, he said if 125 crore countrymen resolve, they need not wait for a year; they can do it within six months.

During his weekend broadcast, and while expressing gratitude to the people, Mr Modi said that over the past few months the country had witnessed an atmosphere in which people in large numbers had participated in the digital payment, Digidhan movement. He insisted that the all-digital payment schemes were being adopted by not just urban India but also by the poorest of the poor.

There has also been an increase in curiosity about cashless transactions. The poorest of the poor are making attempts to learn, and people are gradually moving towards conducting business without cash. There has been a surge in various modes of digital payment after demonetisation, he said, adding that the BHIM App, launched about two and a half months ago, had already been downloaded by one and a half crore people.

Mr Modi began his radio address, the first after the BJPs victories in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and forming a coalition governments in Goa and Manipur, by greeting Bangladesh on its Independence Day. He also touched upon wastage of food and fighting depression.
The BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha has proposed that one of the Pakistani tanks captured by Indian Forces in 1965 should be stationed at the war memorial.

Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha on Saturday demanded that South Court  informally referred to as Jinnah House  the Malabar Hill bungalow where Pakistans founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah resided prior to Partition should be demolished, terming it; a symbol of Partition.

A cultural centre should be built in its place, Mr Lodha suggested in the Assembly. Before Independence, a conspiracy was hatched to divide the country into three pieces in Jinnah House. As per the Enemy Property Act, it has become the governments property, he said.

There is no other option but to demolish it. The Jinnah House has been looked after by public works department and lakhs of rupees are spent every year for maintenance, Mr Lodha said.

Refusing to acknowledge the right of Jinnahs daughter Dina Wadia to the property, the MLA said, Jinnah divided India and his heir cannot claim any right to it. Instead, there should be a cultural centre showcasing Maharashtras glorious past. Jinnah House is situated in Mr Lodhas Malabar Hill constituency.
You know what they say Politics is one tenths perception and nine tenths reality.

In the case of S.M. Krishnas shock embrace of the BJP against the backdrop of the mind-boggling sweep of UP by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, perception is reality - the rats are jumping ship; abandoning the sinking Congress party for Narendra Modis upwardly mobile BJP, steered on the inside by the new kid on the block  the silver-tongued, fiery Yogi Adityanaths, Modi 2.0?

An SMK today. A Srinivasprasad, a Rita Bahuguna Joshi, a Sonowal, a Rane yesterday. A Yogeshwar tomorrow. SMK isnt alone in his quest to avenge slights, many real, some imagined. He joins all the others that the Congress has parked on the shelf, put out to pasture.

Team Rahul ignores the barbs, the dark mutterings about leadership change at its own peril. Although, in a Congress of the future, tied into what many say will be a grand anti-BJP opposition maha gathbandhan in the making - and largely irrelevant - will it matter whether its led by a Gandhi scion or a Gandhi appointee.

Narada, surely another lets throw some mud and see how much sticks attack on the much loved Didi? It worked beautifully against the UPA. Will it work against a UPA pitted against an incumbent BJP?

SMKs anger, long to come to the boil was sparked, when, despite a green signal from the top leadership that he was on course to becoming a Rajya Sabha member, the post went to a younger, little known candidate.

Mr Krishna wasnt told he was being iced, till the night before the filing of nominations. Enough reason to cut ties? Precedents exist. But there was no BJP in this wild wild West, kicking down every Congress door.

Surely, Team Rahul can see whats as plain as day in every state that has gone to the polls across the country thus far, without exception, a disgruntled former Congressman  or Congresswoman - has switched sides: his or her followers have followed their Pied Piper; Come the polls, the state is the BJPs, ripe for the picking.

How many more is Rahul going to slip out of his fingers? Not that he has many. And what is he doing about it?

Truth be told, even when there is no crossing over or betrayal, and the Congress wins it as they did in Goa, the partys ability to close the deal is singularly missing. Theres no bite. No hunger. Not even a growl. Just a whimper.

The tigress Indira would have mauled anyone who stood in her way. But that was another era. Under the benign Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi dispensation, everyone from the politician, the bureaucrat, the minister and his flunky, feathered his own nest rather than reinforce the party from the bottom-up. The corrupt did rule. Was the prime minister blind-sided or did he choose not to notice?

In Karnataka, the Congress under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is in similar danger of being steel flyovered. The BJP is building a new narrative that it stands for clean governance, trying to paper over the Lingayat icon B.S. Yeddyurappas less than clean record and the Bellary mine lords questionable methods, by widening its own voter base, beyond the sure-fire Lingayat viote bank and the Brahmins, to include the Vokkaligas of Mysore and Mandya in the south.

The buzz is that come April, the KPCC may have an all new face, a Vokkaliga to counter the BJPs re-invention of itself from a party of one forward caste to all Hindus, forward, backward, and otherwise.

The Congress cannot hold its own if its Vokkaliga base is cut from under it and the BJPs formula that consolidates the Hindu vote as well as the aspirational youth vote, eats into its caste formula of OBC-minorities-Dalits-Kurubas.

Does the Congress have it within it to dump its failing appeasement of minorities formula and talk up the language of the millennial  jobs, savings, a future?

After all, every move that the UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath makes, seen as cut from PM Modis fiery cloth, and talking development walking Hindutva, is being keenly watched. It must, it will have a knock-on effect if Hindutva tops development.

No vote catcher in the districts, SMKs draw could be the new millennial in Bengaluru, who trashes the citys descent into chaos and blames the Congress and Siddu for its rank mismanagement.

Except, SMK, who had to wait for three whole days before he even met the prime minister is, many say, now having to look beyond another slight - the instructions from Delhi that there would be no grand triumphal march into the city, that all BJP workers who had been tasked and primed to line the streets were asked to stand down, and that the homecoming would be a simple affair at the BJP headquarters.

With SMK, still unsure whether hes a nammalli or a nimmalli, the kingdom of the south has not been won yet.
As Donald Trump inches towards the proverbial first 100 days benchmark of his presidency, the scale of the disaster that has befallen America is becoming clear. He has the lowest popularity rating in modern US history of any of his predecessors and there are unpleasant surprises nearly every day. At the same time, Mr Trump is the most entertaining of Presidents fulminating against the media behind his addiction to Twitter. He is also promising to build a wall on the Mexican border, abandoning the post-World War II policy of helping Europe stand on its feet by encouraging the break-up of the European Union, barely acknowledging the North Atlanic Treaty Organisation, which he called obsolete, and emphasising the 1920s slogan of America First. Building a new wall has unfortunate connotations for much of the world because of the historic nature of demolishing the Berlin Wall. And here comes a US President promising to build a new wall and charging Mexicans for it. In metaphorical terms, it is an expression of Mr Trumps philosophy of America First, with its isolationist overtones and make-believe world abandoned long ago.

One promise he was able to fulfil was to end the major architecture of economic policy in Asia of the Obama administration, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But he has faced humiliation in signing executive orders on restricting the flow of migrants and visitors from seven, then six, Muslim-majority countries, both of them struck down by federal judges. His strong anti-Muslim rhetoric in the election campaign came to haunt him. President Trumps biggest humiliation was, of course, the withdrawal of a new healthcare bill to replace Obamacare by sections of his own Republican Party. Embarrassingly, he had made getting rid of Obamacare one of his main campaign promises. In its amended form, it would have left some 24 million Americans outside the health insurance net. Mr Trump has his own supporters among white blue-collar workers and other whites protesting against a self-serving elite, and the sum total of his rule thus far has created a heightened racist environment whiplashing Indians, among others.

Mr Trumps rise is due to a complex set of developments that have left less-educated and technology-deficient men and women on the wrong side of history. In the process, Mr Trump has lost his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, the man to hold the post for the shortest time in US history. And in his budget proposals, he has made big cuts to environment protection, the arts and foreign aid. While substantially cutting the US state department budget, he has hiked military spending. The new US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has thus far performed underwhelmingly. To cap Mr Trumps cup of woes, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has declared that it is investigating the Trump teams connections to Russians during the election campaign. It is Mr Flynns silence over his interactions with Russians that lost him his job. There has, in any case, been a widely-shared perception in political America that Russian hacks helped Mr Trump win through their revelations of Democratic Partys inner working during the campaign. Mr Trump, for his part, has uttered laudatory words for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a gesture that has been reciprocated.

At one stage, President Trump has been a canny operator gaining wide publicity for insulting the media, the supposed purveyors of fake news, while revelling in his addiction to Twitter, receiving guidance for the most part from the right-wing Fox News television channel and shooting from the hip on Twitter even while his officials are in the field for repairing relations with countries. It is no secret that President Trump is ambivalent over environment and climate change issues and has appointed equally sceptical men to take charge of these agencies. In fact, a writer in the New Yorker in a lead article has speculated on his possible impeachment for his inability to take sane decisions comparing it to the second term of Ronald Reagan who had his advisers worried about his ability to take rational decisions. Together with Mr Trump, the Republican Party is in a crisis. The inability to pass the new health bill was due to the opposition from sections of Republicans: the ideologues who said it did not go far enough in abolishing Obamacare and the moderates who were fearful of losing support from people who would fall outside the health insurance net. Ideologically, Americans look askance at government role is areas they believe should be left to private enterprise.

In America, a new industry has grown on analysing Mr Trumps make-up. There is his exaggerated mane of blond hair, his narcissism, his fondness for pretty women (his locker-room talk revealed during the campaign further proves the point), his impulsiveness and his self-belief that he is the best negotiator in the world on the strength of business deals he had been to strike in his days as a realty tycoon. Meanwhile, the world waits for the outcome of the Trump phenomenon with bated breath. There was a forlorn hope at one point that once he assumed office, he would behave differently. We had a brief glimpse of it during his address to the two Houses, but he reverted to form immediately afterwards in his familiar role of hurling insults and fretting over insignificant mattes. Imagine a President publicly taking issue with reports that his inauguration did not attract as big crowds as former President Obamas, despite proof to the contrary. Many Americans are finding solace in the democratic institutions they have built in the illustrious history of the United States of America, particularly after the Civil War. The federal judges who stayed President Trumps executive orders were upholding the equality of men and women before the law, irrespective of their religious beliefs. And in pushing ahead with a possible Russian role in, if not collusion with, the Trump teams interactions, the institution has disregarded the administrations frowns.
It could just be the absence of meaty stuff. No Panama, Fasaad already inducing yawns  the national circus needed some excitement. And theres nothing like a bit of civilian bashing to energise the system again. Maybe itll disappear once Panama returns or something new and unexpected happens  never say never in this land of ours. But already it has taken a turn for the nasty. History is being rewritten at will. On, then, to this Osama business. Worlds deadliest terrorist found in Pakistan. Not a great place to be, was always going to have repercussions, etc. It takes a special kind of distortion though for, six years later, a contrived dispute over visas to eclipse the real issue. But theres a reason for it.

From Raymond Davis to the Abbottabad raid to Mikes Haqqani Network is a Veritable Arm of the ISI to Memogate  2011 was an annus horribilis, for civ-mil and Pak-US. And, improbably, it was all connected. Years later, theres no real reason to disbelieve the core of the boys public claim.

Zardari and Co. probably did facilitate a surge in American intel types in Pakistan, and Zardari and Co. probably did make some kind of idiotic offer to the Americans in Memogate. But thats not really what angered the boys. What scared them was that a master dealmaker in Mr Zardari and a frustrated Pentagon and disillusioned White House on the other side might actually pull off something. Something that would loosen the boys iron grip. Rewind to 2010. Gen. Kayani was popular and had forced Mr Zardari into retreat. By year end, Gen. Kayani had grabbed an extension for himself and things were looking pretty bleak for the PPP in terms of policy. After the no-first-strike and ISI-to-Interior missteps early on, the PPP had been muscled out. The Mumbai attacks sealed the civilians irrelevance. But Mr Zardari, for all his love of money, wanted something more than mere figurehead status. Maybe it was the memory of BB and a desperation to be seen as her equal, but he wanted back in the policy game. And thats where the trouble began  again.

If you hate Mr Zardari, you believe hell do anything for money and is motivated by nothing else. If you can allow yourself a wee bit of generosity, you may be able to put your finger on the policy disagreement. Its not very hard to see what both sides may have been thinking. The civilian preference was straightforward though, equally obviously, fiendishly difficult to effect: shut down the jihad network at home, bolster the precarious Afghan State and open up to India. Rebuffed by the boys within months of arriving, and having complicated partners in Kabul and Delhi, Mr Zardari turned to the obvious power with the obvious interest and clout: the US. His recent publicly expressed disappointment with Mr Obama tells its own tale.

But back then Mr Zardari did what all civilians, desperate and uncertain but dogged in their own way, do: offered whatever the hell he thought may cause the Americans to show interest in him again. On the other side, the boys didnt  couldnt  really think that Mr Zardari would succeed. After all, 9/11 had only resulted in a shelving of the jihad project, not dismantling it. But allow a large-scale American intel presence inside Pakistan, and dangerous, funny, other things could start to happen. We all know how things turned out to be. Mr Husain was too conniving, Mr Zardari naive, Mr Obama already disengaged and the boys unduly paranoid. So, the boys won  as they mostly do. Pakistan? Thats another matter. But if theyre old wounds, why the fresh fake outrage? Because the civilians cant be allowed to forget whos boss, or what the boys can do to them.

By arrangement with Dawn
The government has stooped to upbraiding a recent editorial in a top-flight international newspaper which criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for installing a firebrand Hindu cleric, Adityanath Yogi, as the chief minister of UP. In doing so, the New York Times argued, Mr Modi revealed his cagey game of appeasing his partys hard-line Hindu base while promoting economic development. The spokesman of the ministry of external affairs projects Indias international position and responds to criticisms made by foreign governments or international bodies to which this country contributes. It is arguable whether the remit of the foreign office is to respond to newspaper writings abroad.

In attacking the NYT editorial, the government may have exposed itself to the charge of being too touchy about criticism. A vigilant media is crucial to the democratic dispensation. Indian media organisations, including this newspaper, routinely criticise the US government and its leaders, and other governments. Other than countries like China and Pakistan, it is hard to think of any major government using its instruments to seek to chastise such writings. The MEA spokesman noted that the NYT had criticised the democratic verdict in UP. This is incorrect. The paper was critical of the shocking rebuke to religious minorities that making Adityanath CM represents, a view shared by many in our own media.
To be or not to be, is the question. To live, or to extinguish life? William Shakespeares question posed in Hamlet in 1602 haunts policymakers across the world still: whether or not to award capital punishment. The terms capital is derived from the Latin capitalis, of the head, referring to execution by beheading. Beheading is barbaric. Although most nations (more than 100) have abolished capital punishment, many countries have retained it. Over sixty per cent of worlds population live in countries where execution takes place, such as in India, the United States, China, Indonesia etc.

Also Read: Process to speed up execution is need of the hour

Historically, execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societies both to punish crime and to suppress political dissent. Normally capital punishment is reserved for murder, terrorism, war crimes, reason, espionage etc. In some countries rape, adultery, incest carry death penalty. In many countries drug trafficking is also a capital offence. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are punished by death penalty still.

In India, recent terrifying rape-and-murders gave rise to calls for death to rapist-murderer. So, will Law Panels recommendation of death for terrorists give a leeway for a demand for the inclusion of rapists-murderers? Where do the demands stop? And are these demands justified?

Also Read: Emotions and word of law

Although several members of the Constituent Assembly were opposed to death penalty, yet founding fathers of Indias Constitution retained capital punishment. Parliament, through law, prescribed death penalty in many situations such as murder, mutiny by a member of armed forces, waging a war against the government etc. First fetter was imposed in 1973 when Section 354 (3) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1973 impelled the judiciary to give special reasons for capital punishment.

Then, on May 9, 1980, came the landmark verdict of a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab [1980 (2) SCC 684], in which the constitutional validity of death penalty for murder provided in Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and the sentencing procedure stipulated in Section 354 (3) was impugned. The Supreme Court by a split verdict of 3 to 2 rejected the challenge to the constitutionality of Section 302 of the IPC and Section 354 (3) of the CrPC (Justices Chandrachud, Gupta and Untwalia). The minority view (Justices Bhagwati and Sarkaria) struck down Section 302 of IPC as unconstitutional and void in so far as it provides for imposition of death penalty as an alternative to imprisonment for life.

Also Read: Why capital punishment must stay

The Bachan Singh judgement propounded rarest of rare doctrine. It is now well settled that life sentence is the rule and death sentence an exception. This is also buttressed from the fact that in several important judgments involving serious crimes, the Supreme Court declined to award death penalty to convicts. Judgements pertaining to Graham Staines, Jessica Lall, Priyadarshini Mattoo etc., bear testimony to this jurisprudential trend. But then Bachan Singh case also opened up a challenge to the judiciary: What constitutes rarest of rare? There is no statutory definition. It is entirely in the realm of judicial discretion without any legislative yardstick. Of course, who else, but only a Judge, can award a death sentence. An element of discretion/conscience is always ingrained in every judicial function. And, as American Chief Justice Earl Warren [1891-1974] said, in civilised life, the law floats in a sea of ethics.

Law Commission of India took note of above situation and, in its 262nd report recommended that death penalty be abolished for all crimes other than terrorist related offences and waging war against the Government of India. The Commission felt that time has come for India to move towards abolition of the death penalty. The Commission further hoped that the movement towards absolute abolition will be swift and irreversible. With respect, it is difficult to agree with Law Commissions majority opinion. The line of demarcation between terrorist related offences and other heinous offences is blurred. Criminals must face punishment. Greater the ferocity of offence, higher should be the penalty. India is a vast country with multi-faceted strife in every field. It is premature to abolish death penalty now or swiftly in future. Time is not ripe yet. Existence of death penalty acts as a deterrence, and awarding death sentence must continue to remain in the realm of judicial discretion/wisdom. Also, under Articles 72 and 161 of the Constitution, the President and Governors, respectively are powered to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence.

Although death sentence may be retained, but procedure to execute must improve. Beheading or hanging till death is barbaric, uncivilised and epitomises state cruelty. Penalty of death sentence can surely be executed in a more civilised manner; for example, extinguishing life by injecting painless medicine. Article 21 of Indias Constitution sanctifies extinguishing (depriving) life by procedure established law. Extant established procedure of hanging till death is most cruel. Indian civilisation in 21st century cannot afford to remain so insensitive. The State must invent a better procedure to extinguish life. Cruelties committed by criminals can, by no means, justify contra procedural cruelty committed by the State. Death penalty may thus be retained in rarest of rare cases, but the State may extinguish life in a civilised and less cruel manner.

The writer is Senior Advocate,Supreme Court of India and former Additional Solicitor General of India
A full bench of the Bombay High Court today directed Google India and YouTube to immediately remove video clips posted on websites recently which allegedly show judiciary in bad light and bring disrepute to the judges.

Complaints which defame judiciary should be brought to the notice of the High Court Registry which in turn would inform Google and YouTube about these objectionable video clips, said the full bench headed by chief justice Manjula Chellur.

The court was hearing a contempt petition filed by Bombay Bar Association (BBA) challenging a video clip on YouTube which purportedly showed proceedings in a courtroom of a high court and levelled allegations of corruption against the judge.

BBA counsel Srihari Aney informed the court that despite its earlier order such video clips were still being uploaded on websites and that it should be immediately stopped.

The bench then directed YouTube and Google to ensure that such video clips are removed immediately if brought to their notice by the high court registry.

The court had earlier issued notices to YouTube and search engine Google, seeking their response as to why action for contempt of court should not be initiated against them.

The petition sought contempt action against the persons who recorded and uploaded the video on YouTube levelling allegations of corruption against Justice S J Kathawala of the high court.

"The 38-minute video uploaded last week by 'Right Mirror' copies the format of a news channel and shows a person acting as anchor and taking interviews of several persons including lawyer Nilesh Ojha making scandalous remarks against judges of this high court," said the petition.

A division bench of the high court had last month also ordered YouTube and other respondents to remove this video clip immediately. "Considering the scandalous and contemptuous nature of the video, we are inclined to order the respondents to forthwith remove the offending video," the court had said.

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Germany last year warded off two cyberattacks by APT28, a top official said Friday, referring to a Russian hacking group also dubbed "Fancy Bear" that experts say successfully targeted Hillary Clinton's US election campaign.

The first, in May 2016, was an attempt to create an internet domain for chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in the Baltic region, said Arne Schoenbohm, president of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

The second attack, several months later, involved a spear-phishing scheme directed against German parties in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. Experts said that attack used a NATO domain name to try to inject malicious software into the networks of politicians.

The hacking of the Democratic National Committee in the United States and the leaking of confidential emails was part of what US intelligence agencies concluded was a campaign ordered by president Vladimir Putin to influence the US election in favour of Donald Trump.

The US agencies warned in January that Russia was likely to target other countries in the same way -- a concern for European governments in a year when France and Germany are holding major elections, with Merkel seeking a fourth term.

"Germany remains in danger in the cyber arena since we are highly digitised," Schoenbohm told Reuters in an interview. "The more we digitise, the more dependent we become on networks, the greater the risk of attack."

He said his agency was doing all it could to strengthen Germany's defences against such attacks by monitoring government networks and educating politicians and parties about how to protect their networks.

"We give them advice and help them with certain measures. But in the end, what each party does is its own responsibility," Schoenbohm said.

Germany was working closely with authorities in the United States, France and elsewhere to compare notes about cyberattacks they had experienced.

Diverse targets

APT28/Fancy Bear is the same Russian hacking group that officials say stole 16 gigabytes of data from the German parliament in 2015.

It also targeted the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in December, according to US and European security officials, and was responsible for leaking the medical records of top international athletes after Russia's track and field team was banned from last year's Olympics for doping.

In December, Germany's BfV domestic intelligence agency reported a striking increase in Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns it said were aimed at destabilising German society, as well as cyberattacks targeted against political parties. It gave no details at the time.

Schoenbohm said neither of the 2016 attacks targeting Germany - or a string of others he did not detail - was successful, but it was unclear to what extent political parties might have experienced security breaches.

BSI experts will host a workshop next week for politicians in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia ahead of May 12 elections there, and a similar one for Bundestag members in Berlin.

Schoenbohm welcomed work by Merkel's coalition on a law that would bolster security for a growing number of household appliances that linked to the Internet and therefore vulnerable to attack.

He said the law could include a BSI "seal of approval" to help consumers identify which gadgets were secure.

"The worst thing that could happen" would be that consumers withdrew from the so-called 'Internet of Things' for fear of being hacked, he said. "We want to have a successful digitisation."

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The phone has a 1020mAh battery which provides users with up to 22 hours of talktime and up to 25 days of standby time.

The Nokia 150 Dual SIM has hit the shelves in the Indian market. Priced at Rs 2059, the feature can be bought through e-commerce websites like Amazon India and Flipkart. Back in December, HMD Global announced its first Nokia-branded feature phones with the release of Nokia 150 and 150 Dual SIM.

Nokia 150 Dual SIM is a feature phone which has a 2.4-inch display that support 240 x 320 pixel resolution and will run on Nokia Series 30+ software. It also comes pre-loaded with games like the widely played Snake Xenzia, and the try and buy version of Nitro Racing by Gameloft.

The phone has a 1020mAh battery which provides users with up to 22 hours of talktime and up to 25 days of standby time. The device uses a standard USB 2.0 charger and has a LED torch. The Nokia 150 will have an MP3 player, Bluetooth 3.0 with SLAM and FM Radio. It even has a camera with an LED flash and expandable memory of up to 32GB via microSD. Nokia 150 features a hard wearing polycarbonate shell with scratch resistant colour.

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Members of the South Asian community and others attend a peace vigil for Srinivas Kuchibhotla, the 32-year-old Indian engineer killed at a bar Olathe, Kansas, in Bellevue, Washington on March 5, 2017.(Photo: AFP)

Washington DC: "We are here to stay", Indian- Americans have vowed while holding a series of meetings to express their concern over growing hate crime incidents against ethnic and religious minorities in the US.

"No matter what gunmen or the President (Donald Trump) say, this is our country, we are here to stay, and we will keep demanding our rightful and equal place in this quintessential nation of immigrants," said Suman Raghunathan from the South Asian Americans leading Together (SAALT) at a town hall discussion here yesterday.

Initiated by SAALT, South Asian groups are planning to organise a number of similar town halls across the country.

Prominent community leaders who addressed the town hall were Arjun Sethi of the Georgetown University Law Center, Dr Revathi Vikram of ASHA for Women, Shabab Ahmed Mirza of KhushDC, Darakshan Raja of Washington Peace Center and Kathy Doan of the Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition.

"This is a seminal moment for our communities to be united for action, to take stock of what our communities need, for our communities to know our rights as we come into contact with law enforcement, and for our communities to build power through deep solidarity," Raghunathan said.

Indian-Americans also joined Jewish and Muslims for a candle light vigil to express solidarity against the hate crimes that have hit them in recent weeks.

"This is about having peace throughout all communities and religions and races," Rochelle Berman was quoted as saying by local WJLA TV, an affiliate of ABC News.

"There should be no discrimination based on race, or gender or skin color," Shruti Vhatnagar told the news channel as the participants lit candles and stood in solidarity.

"Immigrant, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, Hindu and South Asian American communities continue to be targets of hate violence and xenophobic political rhetoric.

"It remains critical for elected officials to speak out early, loudly and often against hate violence and the policies that fan the flames of violence," New York Congresswoman Grace Meng said in a statement.

Appreciating the efforts of SAALT in supporting the South Asian community, she hoped that through collective efforts, they can reverse the "horrible trend" of heightened intolerance and violence.

At another round table discussion, Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, held Trump responsible for the current anti-immigrant atmosphere.

"It starts with the leadership. President Trump's comments as a candidate and a President is just the opposite of what you need," Cardin said.

A recent SAALT report documents over 200 instances of hate violence and xenophobic political rhetoric during last year's general election.

"There is an acute relationship between policies and rhetoric that criminalise Muslim, Arab, and South Asian American communities and the hate violence targeting these communities," said Lakshmi Sridaran.

"While the judiciary doggedly blocks the President's 'Muslim Bans', the damage continues to be done as each week uncovers a new inventory of victims of racially motivated attacks," she added.
Hobart (Australia): A man from Kerala was on Sunday morning assaulted by a group of teenagers in Australias Hobart, in yet another suspected race attack.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, Indian taxi driver Li Max, who hails from Kottayam in the coastal state, had to be admitted to the Royal Hobart Hospital with deep wounds on his face and chest.

Li told relatives that he was attacked without any provocation. He said that when he stopped his car near a McDonalds outlet, he saw three youths arguing with an employee, but they soon turned their attention to him.

Among the three a big boy in black T shirt yelled racial abuses and attacked me without any provocation. I was literally shocked. Soon two others also joined, raining blows on me. Before leaving they poured water on bleeding wounds, Li reportedly told a Malayalam news channel.

While hitting me they were using choicest racial abuses. Nobody intervened when I was attacked and later they sped away in their vehicle, he added.

Claiming that the racial mood in Australia was changing after US President Donald Trump came to power, Max said he had never before faced such hostility in 8 years in Australia.

He also claimed that another Indian taxi driver was humiliated in a similar fashion in Australia recently, but refused to file a police complaint.

This is the second incident of racial abuse in Australia in a week. Last Sunday, a priest from Kerala, Tomy Kalathoor, was stabbed inside a church in Melbourne while he was attending a Sunday mass. Australian police claimed the assailant, who shouted that Kalathoor had no right to conduct the mass, was mentally deranged. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had condemned the attack directed the Indian consulate to render all help to the priest.
London: Born as Adrian Elms, Westminster attacker Khalid Masood enjoyed debauchery and drugs, and was 'not a proper Muslim', his friends claimed.

On March 22, Masood died right after he charged into the Palace of Westminster and stabbed a police officer PC Keith Palmer to death.

According to a report in Daily Mail, his friends said that he was a frequent user of various drugs, including crack cocaine and acid.

According to The Sun, his former landlady evicted him after he spent excessively on prostitutes.

She said, "He wasnt a proper Muslim. He s*****d prostitutes, smoked copious amounts of crack and stuck knives in peoples faces."

A friend claimed, Masood could go through an assortment of drugs 'like a steam train'.

The 52-year-old stoked his drug habit and unruly lifestyle with the benefit that he received. The police have recently reported that they are investing cases that may prove Masood a serial cheat, for claiming hundreds a month on housing benefits and income support.

In the attack that Masood carried out on March 22, he used a rented Hyundai to mow down pedestrians on the Westminster Bridge before running the car into the Carriage Gates of Parliament. Four people, excluding the assailant, were killed in the attack.
The journey from a simple, young Ajay Singh Bisht in an obscure village of Pauri Garhwal (now in Uttarakhand) to the firebrand saffron clad Hindutva icon Yogi Adityanath has been quite a rollercoaster ride.



Anand Singh Bisht, a low-key Forest Department employee, was quite disillusioned when his son Ajay (one among the six siblings) lost the local degree college students union election in Kothdwar in 1990. Ajay was in the fray as Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) nominee and losing his first election in life had left him quite dejected.



Giving up his political ambitions, Ajay chose to move on a completely different path, that of his maternal uncle Mahant Avaidyanath  the virtual founder of Gorakhnath temple in Eastern Uttar Pradeshs politically volatile town of Gorakhpur. With his sheer dint of courage and conviction to the cause of Gorakhnath, Ajay did not take much time to win the confidence of his mama, the widely respected Mahant.



Perhaps the first Hindu Mahasabha leader in many decades to be elected to the Lok Sabha, Mahant Avaidyanath was looked upon as a Hindutva icon. But it was not overnight that he built his larger than life profile. Avaidyanath was elected MLA three times  1962, 1967, 1968 before reaching the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1970. Thereafter, he got re-elected to the Assembly twice, before entering the Lok Sabha as a BJP nominee in 1991 and 1996. And evidently, it was the BJP which roped him into the Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomi Temple Movement which got a big boost on account of his association. He even went to the extent of criticising most BJP leaders, including A B Vajpayee, for using the temple issue as a vote-catching device. Significantly, no top BJP leader cared to attend his last rites in Gorakhpur on September 12, 2014, barely four months after Narendra Modi took over as prime minister. All that Yogi Adityanath received from Modi and Rajnath Singh at that time of mourning were oral tributes.



Having been entrusted with the legacy of Mahant Avaidyanath during his lifetime, Yogi Adityanath made it a point to impress upon his mentor that he had made no mistake by making him the sole inheritor. Even as Avaidyanaths understudy, Adityanath made himself known as a rabble-rouser by whipping up Hindu passions at each of the gatherings addressed by him in different pockets of Eastern UP.



His inflammatory speeches, pointedly anti-Muslim and anti-Christian, continued to help him consolidate the Hindu vote bank. Once he saw the strategy working, he formed a militant private outfit under the banner of Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV). With young lumpen elements from the saffron ranks rallying behind him, this HYV gained so much currency that it could throw the gauntlet at the BJP by often fielding candidates in several elections. Significantly, there was precious little that the BJP leadership could ever do to cow him down.



The year 1998 was the turning point in Adityanaths life when he got elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time. Thereafter, there was no looking back. He won every election hands down  though of course that was more to do with the multimillion following of the Gorakhnath temple than his political persona.



Provocative utterances

Known for having made it big on his own steam, he rarely missed any opportunity to keep the BJP on tenterhooks, so much so that the top BJP leadership had to shrug themselves away from the provocative utterances made by him. The BJP spokespersons were often seen disowning his remarks like: Whenever a Hindu visits Kashi Vishwanath Temple, the Gyanvapi Masjid looks at him with ridicule; if I were to be given a chance, I would get idols of Gauri, Ganesh and Nandi installed in every mosque.



Even when he sought to blow up the Hindu exodus issue beyond all proportions just before the recently concluded Assembly elections, Adityanath said, We will not let Western UP turn into another Kashmir, so we will ensure that Hindus do not have to flee from their homes in Kairana. In fact, it was he who gave the cue to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise questions on the UP governments funding of kabristans (graveyards) and discriminating with shamshaans (cremation grounds).



What apparently sobered him down was his arrest under various criminal sections in February 2007 when the then chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav took the unprecedented step of bringing him to book under the law. Eleven days in jail seemed to have given Adityanath a new lesson, which manifested itself in the emotional speech he gave shortly thereafter in Parliament. For all and sundry who had known the militant side of Yogi, tears rolling down his eyes before a packed Lok Sabha was surely an unusual sight. No wonder his speeches in the later years were relatively less inflammatory. Those who have known him, see one positive quality  integrity  something UP has not seen in the ruling political class for decades. Local Muslims running commercial establishments surprisingly confess they have never faced any discrimination at his hands. In fact, we often go to him with our problems which he is always ready to sort out through, said a Muslim shopkeeper.



Adityanath is now out to project himself in a new mould. Beginning with his emphasis on no discrimination with anyone and his talk about inclusiveness, Adityanath ensured the induction of a Muslim in his council of ministers. Perhaps he is following the old dictum  discretion is the better part of valour.



(The writer is a senior journalist based in Lucknow)
The BJPs thumping victory in Uttar Pradesh and the subsequent appointment of Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister has made analysts talk of the partys pitch for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The impressive victory in Uttarakhand and the aggressiveness shown in forming governments in Goa and Manipur have virtual given the party a head start for the 2019 showdown. The Opposition parties still seem to be recovering from the stunning reversals and may take more time to regroup and firm up their strategy.



Barring few exceptions, the BJPs aggressive march of electoral victories since 2014 has shifted the dominant contours of political landscape informing the common-sensical assumptions of masses as well as the elites. In terms of social and geographic spread, the BJP is the ruling party in 17 out of the 29 states, and has the thick support base of upper castes as well as subalterns hailing from the OBC, Dalit and tribal identity.



While there have been many post-facto analysis of the reasons underlying the BJPs victory in one state after another, not much qualitative inferences having a bearing upon the prospective unfolding of Indian politics till 2019 have been attempted. This exercise demands attention as much would depend upon how the emergence of the BJP as the new dominant party of Indian politics would throw new challenges, not only to anti-BJP parties but also for the BJP to perpetuate its dominance.



This, then, leads us to deconstruct the interplay of strategy/principle-tactics/ pragmatic axis of the BJP, wherein the strategy/principle part signify the cultural politics of hindutva-informed governance and development as the new-normal that is pursued by shifting and flexible tactical/pragmatic means to help understand the trajectory that the dominant political players will follow till the 2019 general election.



In fact, the debate on the interplay of Hindutva, government and development in the wake of competitive invocation of caste and religious identity politics must take into account that the entire saffron outfit has a meticulous and well defined conception of both good governance and development which tends to be indispensable constitutive elements of their strategy/principle part wherein the matters of statecraft has to be mediated through the prism of Hindutva.



Their strategy/principle part as its constitutive element has two layers of long-term approach, namely the privileging of shifting societal common sense over the political, and correspondingly, the meticulous and systematic tapping into the emerging anxiety aspirations of the multitude of social constituencies who hail from across the caste spectrum.



This explains the BJPs willingness to not only accommodate the majority of lower OBCs and Dalits  who feel left out by the social justice-centric regional parties like the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal etc, which are seen catering to the interests of particular subaltern caste  but also to project them as its prominent face. The deepening politicisation of the societal constituencies has resulted in these subaltern groups nurturing a massive resentment, emerging from their anxiety of losing out to others and frustration over denial of opportunity in public sphere to cater to their aspirations.



In the post-2000 era, it was the triad of popular perception, namely the politics of Muslim appeasement, the indulgence of non-BJP parties into massive scams and their being weak and feeble in tackling the internal and external security of the country, that made the BJP under Narendra Modi launch a new offensive against its rivals wherein all the precariousness of the people, their sufferings, their anxieties and untapped aspirations were brilliantly blamed upon the Congress and other regional parties whose development and governance model was projected as catering to a specific religion.



The choice of deliberate urdu words in statements like Secularism Ka Burka or addressing Rahul Gandhi as Shahzada by Modi, who otherwise uses sanskritised Hindi words in his speeches, signified a shift in the politics of Hindutva wherein the existing developmental and governance model were dubbed as partisan and catering to Muslims.



In the new developmental and governance model, labelled as Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas, the word Sabka conveyed different meaning to different sections and many perceived it as the end of the era of pro-Muslim policy formulation. Thus, the other of Sabka was implicit in this new model and the same was reconfirmed in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh elections.



Tremendous faith

In this backdrop, the massive mandate the BJP got in UP, signifies that not only the subalterns  especially the lower OBCs and Dalits who are disenchanted from the secular politics of the Congress and regional parties  have invested tremendous faith in the BJP, but also they along with the upper castes are buying the new Hindutva mediated development and governance model of the BJP.



The selection of Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister of UP, who had been in the news for his aggressive Hindutva and anti-Muslim rants, seems a misfit to the recent trend of appointing low profile, organisation-centric leaders who generally hail from non-dominant castes in their respective states and lack a mass base, as has been the case in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.



Adityanath not only hails from the dominant Rajput caste, but also commands immense popularity and mass base in the state in general and Poorvanchal in particular. Yogi Adityanaths Hindutva is more spontaneous, rooted in mundane and petty issues of everyday, wherein everything under the sun becomes a part of communal question. Its a Hindutva that believes in instant and populist solutions.



Secondly, unlike the RSS, Adityanath as the chief of Gorakhnath Peeth  traditionally unorthodox religious institution headed by a Rajput besides being radically inclusive of the lower castes  and as patron of Hindu Yuva Vahini that has given prominent organisational position to lower castes, represents the face of Hindutva that is closer to other forms of Non-Brahmin Hindutva like that of the Shiv Sena under Bal Thackeray. This form of Hindutva could easily talk in inclusive Ambedakarite language while othering the Muslims.



With 2019 not far away and the Opposition parties having been marginalised, there is a strong possibility of a grand alliance with the Congress and various regional parties. The social base of this alliance would hail primarily from among the subaltern castes and they would try to build a new inclusive approach. In that scenario, the BJP needs a figure whose populism cuts across the caste spectrum, who is as appealing to subalterns as to the upper castes, who could bring development, restore law and order, and go for targeted welfare measures and yet keep the communal pot boiling.



But the fact that without fielding a single Muslim candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha election and the 2017 Assembly election in UP, despite the community constituting near 20% of the state population, the BJP could get not only a thumping majority of the subaltern caste but also convince masses of its development-governance model, signifies the arrival of Hindutva discourse as the new normal.



(The writer who travelled extensively in UP during the recent Assembly elections, is a Ph.D from Centre for Political Studies, JNU; he is associated with Peoples Pulse, Hyderabad)
Minister for Heavy and Medium Industries R V Deshpande said on Saturday that steel major Arcelor Mittal had been told to send a proposal for setting up an alternative industry in the district.



This is due to the Supreme Court direction that only companies already having steel plants could take part in the ore auction process.



He was speaking to reporters after the Ballari industry summit at Malpangudi in the taluk.

The minister said the company had planned to set up a solar power plant. The matter would be discussed at the meeting of the high-level clearance committee, he said. The company had been advised to set up an industry that has more employment opportunities, Deshpande said.



Arcelor Mittal had been sanctioned 4,800 acres near Ballari for a steel plant at the Global Investors Meet in 2010. Of this, the firm had been handed over 2,796 acres.


The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition by Ex-Servicemen and Economically Weaker Section Society against cancellation of residential plots allotted to it in Bengaluru in 1972-73.



A bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and U U Lalit concurred with Karnatakas Additional Advocate General Devadutt Kamat that the site in question was gomal (pasture) land, which was later notified as reserve forest.



Is it not statutorily prohibited to allot gomal land to a residential society? Normally gochar, gomal and pasture land cant be alienated, the bench told senior advocate Krishnan Venugopal, representing the society, who contended that the allotment, meant to build houses for the poor and ex-servicemen, was cancelled wrongfully.



Was any process fees paid by you for transfer of land? Was any payment made to the Revenue Department? If it was for housing purpose, the government must have taken some consideration, the bench asked the counsel.



Rejecting the societys contention, the bench told the counsel, We are not satisfied that the land was allotted to you. It also said a tahsildar, under the law, cannot allot land as the officer was not a competent authority for the purpose.



The society claimed that the government allowed its request made in 1972-73 and decided to allot sites in Kothanur village of KR Puram hobli. The Block Development Officer, Bengaluru South taluk, proposed formation of a layout consisting of 762 sites. The government, however, turned it down, saying the society was formed only in 1999.



The court also noted that there was no document on record to show the society had approached the government in 1972-73, seeking allotment of sites for ex-servicemen and the poor. The government contended that the land was included in the proposed green belt on June 17, 1986, and it was transferred to the Forest Department.


That the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is not flush with money is known. It had to pledge some plots of land to return the initial deposits of applicants who did not get sites in Kempegowda Layout Phase 1.



The BDA, however, is ready to spend some extra money to filter information to people under the Right to Information Act (RTI).



It has appointed a retired official of the Karnataka Government Secretariat Training Institute as its RTI consultant on a contract basis.



The post was created in August 2016 with the specific purpose of advising the agency in dealing with RTI applications. The BDA pays the consultant Rs 60,000 a month. RTI activists say that unlike in the past, the BDA has now been denying information swiftly without even going through the files.



The appointment of the consultant came to the fore when many people found that the BDA had rejected their RTI applications citing random orders of the Supreme Court and the high court on RTI queries.



The BDA has several sections and each section has a designated information officer as per the RTI Act rules. In some cases, the BDA commissioner is the appellate authority to file an appeal. When this is the case, it has emerged that RTI applications with queriers on certain sensitive matters are passed through this particular consultant. Based on the opinion given by this consultant, applications are accepted or rejected by the designated information officer, said Saidatta, an RTI activist.



It could be recalled that the BDA had denied information on the controversial steel bridge project, saying it was private and not in the public interest.



The RTI application had sought details of the tender notification for the project, the companies which took part in the tendering process and the price quoted by them to build the steel flyover.


The Supreme Court has refused blanket approval of the Comprehensive Environment Plan for the Mining Impact Zone (CEPMIZ) scheme, an ameliorative measure for the environmental damage wreaked by illegal mining in Ballari, Chitradurga and Tumakuru districts of Karnataka.



The entire CEPMIZ scheme need not be approved in one go and such approval may be considered and accorded in phases. The initial activity identified, namely, construction of conveyor belt system, railway sidings and railway sub-lines needs to be prioritised, a three-judge bench presided over by Justice Ranjan Gogoi said.



It is only after a decision is taken on constructing those infrastructure and a noticeable headway is made, that the other ameliorative and mitigative socio-economic measures can have any relevance, the bench, also comprising Justices Prafulla C Pant and A M Khanwilkar added.



The court was examining the CEPMIZ scheme, submitted by the Karnataka government as well as the Central Empowered Committee and considered the object behind the creation of the District Mineral Foundation.



The CEPMIZ scheme, to be implemented over 10 years at an estimated cost of Rs 15,742.35 crore is considered as a vision document with all concrete measures, steps and proposals.



In its plea, Federation of Indian Mining Industry, Southern Region, contended the preparation of the scheme should have been started in right earnest way back in the year 2012 after the apex court had on September 28, 2012 expressed that, the formation of the Special Purpose Vehicle and the drawing up of the CEPMIZ is perhaps the most essential part in the process of reclamation and rehabilitation of the area devastated by illegal mining.



The industry body, however, claimed the projects being undertaken by Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board and others were beyond the scope of the ameliorative and mitigative measures.



The bench said, We would not like to comment on the merits of the scheme except to say that so far as the socio-economic measures are concerned, very broadly and roughly speaking, the different heads under which restoration and reclamation work is proposed to be done, subject to final details being worked out later, appears to be sufficiently comprehensive.



The court also noted the funds available with the monitoring committee, set up by the state government, was more than adequate to meet the cost projected against the works for the repair and restoration of the environment.


Associations of Private CBSE and ICSE schools in the city are unhappy with the Cabinets decision to amend the Karnataka Education Act (KEA), 1983, to regulate them.



The government took the decision in the interest of the safety of children in these schools and to allow the government regulate fees. However, associations of CBSE and ICSE schools believe the move will cause unnecessary interference.



M Srinivasan, president of Managements of Independent CBSE Schools Association (MICSA), said, We are already following the rules and regulations when it comes to childrens safety. They already have the mechanism to implement these through Posco Act. I dont understand why they need to bring our schools under the KEA. He said the association would wait for more details on what the change would entail, before considering legal recourse.



On the governments intention to control fee fixation, Srinivas said, They have the right to regulate, which they already are doing, but not to fix the fees. They are based on many factors which the government officials will not know.



Mansoor Ali Khan, secretary of MICSA, said, With all these regulations, we will face harassment from different officials. We already have the CBSE to govern us.



He said the schools would prefer to talk to the government, but if that does not work, they may go for legal measures.



There may be a few rogue schools which charge arbitrary fees, but the government should not see all schools in the same light.



B Gayatri Devi, president of the Karnataka ICSE Schools Management Association, said, First, the government should make an attempt to understand the norms schools are required to follow before they obtain affiliation to the board.



Welcomed

Parents, on the other hand, welcome the move.



Every year, schools hike the fees without giving explanation. If this continues, education will become unaffordable. We hope the amendment is made and the fees are

regulated strictly, said a parent.


The labour department will conduct inspections to ensure that employers implement the state governments decision to enhance the retirement age of employees in the private sector from 58 to 60 years.



According to official sources in the labour department, the close vigil will continue for two years once the governments decision comes into effect.



The state Cabinet on Friday gave its approval to increase the retirement age of employees in the private sector to benefit around 21 lakh personnel.



The Cabinet decision will be applicable to all private establishments which have an employee strength of 50 and above, irrespective of whether employees are hired on contract or otherwise, the sources said.



It will come into effect from the day the labour department gazettes the final notification by bringing in an amendment to Schedule  1 of Karnataka Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Rules, 1961 which pertain to the retirement age. The draft notification was issued by the department on December 7, 2009. The government is yet to notify the rule. The sources said the new rule will not apply to information technology, information technology enabled services, startups, animation, gaming, computer graphics, telecom, BPO and other knowledge-based industries at least till January 25, 2019.



The reason given for raising the retirement age, according to the Cabinet note, is that there should be uniformity in rules for employees and also that the average lifespan of humans has increased over the years. It will also help industries and companies to gain from the experience of its employees.



Interestingly, before the Cabinet took up the proposal, the file was sent to the law department and also the commerce and industries department for their opinion.



While the law department gave its approval, the commerce and industries department did not give its opinion and it was deemed that it had no objection to the proposal, the sources added.


"I hope that Bangladesh marches ahead on the path of progress. I also assure the citizens of Bangladesh that India is a strong partner, and a good friend, and we will continue to work together shoulder to shoulder to contribute towards the peace, security and development of this entire region," the Prime Minister said.



He said it was a matter of pride that Rabindra Nath Tagore, who has authored the national anthem of Bangladesh and India, had given up his Knighthood in protest against the 1919 massacre of people in Jallianwala Bagh by the British.



This had also provided an "inspiration and a mission in life" to a young teenager, who until then had spent his days playing merrily in the fields. This youngster was none other than Bhagat Singh, then 12-years old, to evolve as a martyr.



Modi also referred to the Champaran Satyagraha launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917, saying "through his demeanour and deeds, he could inspire the poorest of the poor, the most illiterate, to unite and come together out into the open for the struggle against the British Rule.



"This was a manifestation of an incredible inner strength, through which we can experience the vastness of Mahatma Gandhi's great persona," the Prime Minister said. He said the government of India has taken "a very important decision" to give working women maternity leave of 26 weeks, instead of the earlier 12 weeks, for their pregnancy and delivery.



"There are now only two or three countries in the world that are ahead of us in this matter. India has taken a very important decision for these working women sisters of ours. The basic aim is to ensure proper care of the newborn, the future citizen of India, from the time of birth. The newborn should get the complete love and attention of the mother."



Talking about "New India", he said it is "not a government scheme or political party's programme. "In essence, every citizen must discharge his civic duties and esponsibilities. This in itself would be a good beginning to the New India."



The Prime Minister said if 125 crore Indians take a pledge and work unitedly towards making a "New India", then it is possible to realise this dream of countrymen.



He also talked about his favourite "Swachch Bharat" drive and said people of the country are getting angry as far as dirt is concerned and this will lead to more efforts towards cleanliness. Modi also talked about wastage of food saying it is unfortunate and an injustice to the poor.



He also spoke at length about depression and how it can be overcome by expressing one's feeling to the near and dear ones and urged the people to help those suffering from it to overcome it.



Talking about the importance of Yoga, he called upon Indians to make the 3rd International Day of Yoga memorable by involving more and more people.



Asking the people to take the fight against black money and graft to the "next level", Prime Minister Narendra Modi today urged them to use less cash in their daily lives and continue to support the movement towards digital payments started after the note ban.In his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' programme, he also spoke of building a 'New India', which he said can be achieved when 125 crore Indians take a pledge and unitedly work towards it."My dear countrymen, we must take our fight against black money and corruption to the next level. .... We should contribute towards ensuring reducing the use of cash, of currency notes," the Prime Minister said.Asking the people to pay school fees, buy medicines or items from fair price shops or purchase air and train tickets digitally, he said "we can do this in our day to day lives. You can't imagine how you can serve the country in this way and become a brave soldier in the fight against black money and corruption."Observing that the budget had announced that there would be 2500 crore digital transactions this year, he said if 125 crore countrymen can resolve, "they need not wait for a year; they can do it in six months."Expressing gratitude to the people, Modi said over the last few months the country has witnessed an atmosphere in which people in large numbers have participated in the digital payment, 'Digidhan' movement."There has also been an increase in curiosity about cashless transactions. The poorest of the poor are making attempts to learn, and people are gradually moving towards doing business without cash. There has been a surge in various modes of digital payment after demonetisation," he said, adding that the BHIM App, launched about two and a half months ago, has already been downloaded by one and half crore people.In his address, the Prime Minister also touched upon subjects ranging from building a "New India" to 'Swaccha Bharat', besides greeting the people of Bangladesh on their independence day saying India will always stand with them in the struggle for peace, security and development in the region.
Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were today killed when they tried to ambush a police party that included three officers of the rank of superintendent of police in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.





One of the slain militants has been identified as Shahbaz Safi Wani alias Rayees Kachru, who was active in the area since June, 2016. Wani was involved in an attack on a security picket outside a minority camp at Tumlahall in Pulwama district, besides snatching two self-loading rifles along with magazines, officials said.



The other one is a "recycled" militant, Farooq Ahmed Hurrah from Shopian, who had surrendered in 2010 and was out on parole. The police have seized two weapons, including a looted SLR, Deputy Inspector General of Police (South Kashmir) S Pani told PTI here.



The incident happened at Padgampora, on the Awantipora-Pulwama border, around 35 kms from here, when a cavalcade of senior superintendents of police of Pulwama and Awantipora Raees Ahmed and Zahid Malik was going along with the district's Additional Superintendent of Police Chandan Kohli.



The top police officers of the district were returning after a meeting with the chief election officer in connection with the forthcoming by-polls to two Lok Sabha seats of Anantnag and Srinagar.



The militants came in a car from behind and started firing at the last vehicle of the convoy carrying Kohli (32), officials said. The police personnel quickly took cover and retaliated the fire in which two militants were killed, they said.



The driver of the car, in which the two militants were travelling, managed to flee, the officials said, adding that a hunt has been launched to nab him to ascertain whether he was kidnapped or a part of the overground network of the militant group.



The police have also seized a hand grenade and some ammunition, Pani said. Pani, a seasoned police officer who has done credible work in controlling militancy in Shopian and Kulgam districts, lauded the role of the police personnel who swiftly neutralised the two terrorists.



On March 9, two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants were killed in an encounter at Padgampora. A civilian was also killed in the incident. The Padgampora area has witnessed several encounters in the past and is believed to be infested with militants associated with banned outfits such as the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba.



Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range, S J M Gillani said, "According to our officers at the spot, perhaps one militant managed to escape."
Terrorism has thrown a big challenge to humanity and people should draw inspiration from ancient scriptures to take on the menace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today.



"Terrorism has gripped the entire world. It has thrown a challenge to humanity. If we try to analyse incidents mentioned in ancient scriptures and set those in the present context, I would say that Jatayu was the first to fight against terrorism. He gave the message of fearlessness," he said.



In epic Ramayana, Jatayu, a vulture, had valiantly tried to rescue Sita when she was being kidnapped by Ravana, sacrificing his life in the process.



The Prime Minister said Jatayu sacrificed his life taking on a strong man to defend the dignity of a woman. "Jatayu's fight gives us the inspiration to take on terrorism. It also gives the message to live for humanity," he said.



Modi was addressing a gathering at the residence of Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu here to celebrate Ugadi, the Telugu and Kannada new year day.



Referring to different languages and cultures in the country, Modi said various states should ensure cultural exchanges between people. Haryana and Telangana have already signed an agreement in this regard.



He said cultural exchanges and quiz competitions can be organised to spread culture and language of one state in the other.



Modi said diversity of India was both its identity and strength. The Prime Minister, while greeting the nation on Ugadi, said the festivals are a reflection of changing facets of nature and are linked to culture and traditions.



Citing the 'Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat' initiative of his government, Modi said it would enable the coming generations to understand the cultural diversity of different states.



This would strengthen the feeling of oneness and unity amongst all Indians, Modi said, as he called upon states to collaborate with each other in promoting the uniqueness of their respective cultures and traditions.



Greeting people on the occasion, Naidu said the day heralds the beginning of the new year and good days will turn into even better days under Modi. He also said that unity of the country is in its diversity.



"Achche din have come and aur bhi achche din aane wale hain desh mein (good days have come and even better days will come) under Narendra Modi's leadership," he said.

Naidu said Ugadi would bring prosperity and growth to the country under the leadership of Modi.



The function was attended by lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal, Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad and a host of Union Ministers.



Artists from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh gave cultural performances.
Superstition claimed the life of a 10-month-old girl who was branded with an iron rod allegedly by her grandfather to "cure" her of a severe cough and cold.



The girl, Asha, from Gujjaro ke Kheda village in Bhilwara, breathed her last at a hospital in Ajmer where she was referred from Bhilwara district hospital on Saturday night, Raipur Bhilwara police said.



A case has been registered under various IPC sections and further investigation is on.

According to the police, the child was suffering from severe cough and fever from past several days. When her health did not improve even after medication, the victim's grandfather allegedly branded her with a hot iron rod, which left her unconscious.



"The victim's father Manohar Rawat rushed her to Bhilwara district hospital in critical condition from where she was referred to Ajmer.



"Post mortem was done today by a medical board in the matter. We are interrogating family members and the accused will be nabbed soon," SHO Raipur Bhilwara, Khivraj Gujjar told PTI.



He said that this is not the first case in Bhilwara where superstition has snuffed out the life of innocent children. Nearly a dozen cases of branding children have come to light in the last three months.
India does not believe in imposing its views on anyone, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today while underlining the country's rich tapestry of diversity. In an address to a convention of the spiritual organization Brahma Kumaris here via video conferencing, Modi also said the central theme of Indias tradition is that God is one.



He said in India, God is not different for the Hindus, Muslims and for Parsis. The truth is one, only different people may express it differently, he said. We are such a country which does not believe in imposing our views on anyone. We are such people who believe that knowledge has no limits, knowledge has no timing, knowledge is not bound by anything, knowledge does not need any passport, knowledge does not need a visa, the Prime Minister said.



He also talked about Indias tradition of preserving nature and referred to the initiatives of his government to reduce dependence on fossil fuel and increase the use of renewable energy sources like solar power. There is a great challenge of global warming. India has pledged that by the year 2030, which means 13 years from now, our total energy generation from non-fossil fuel sources will be 40 per cent, he said.



By the year 2020, when the country celebrates 75 years of Independence, we will generate 175 giga watts of energy from renewable sources, the Prime Minister said. He said the more energy India produces from renewable energy, the more the world will benefit. While talking about the initiatives in the renewable energy field, Modi said 22 crore energy efficient LED bulbs had been distributed under the governments UJALA programme and that it has saved Rs 11,000 crore for the country.



He said if dependence on fossil fuels like kerosene, petrol and diesel is reduced, the country will save crores of rupees which could be utilized for the welfare of the poor people. Referring to demonetization, the Prime Minister said the fight against corruption has become decisive.

He advocated maximum expansion of digital transactions and minimizing cash transactions. In this regard, he wanted Brahma Kumaris organization, which has lakhs of members, to spread awareness.



Modi also urged the organization to help in the governments 'Indradhanush' vaccination programme for new-born children as lakhs of them suffer from diseases or die for lack of it. While hailing the social and spiritual work done by the Brahma Kumaris organization, which is marking its 80th anniversary, he urged its volunteers to also spread awareness about proper nutrition.



Modi said his government has taken several steps for the empowerment of women, and in this context referred to increasing maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks (from 3 months to 6-and-a-half months), assistance of Rs 6000 to pregnant women and replacing firewood-based kitchen with LPG for two crore poor households. He also talked about the Swachh Bharat campaign as part of efforts to fulfil the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi by the year 2019, when the country would be celebrating 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation.
BJP president Amit Shah today said the key objective of his party is to build a strong India, which is "free from casteism, corruption, regionalism and the Congress". "The objective is to build a strong India which is free from casteism, corruption, regionalism as well as the Congress. The party workers will dedicatedly contribute towards achieving this target," he said.



Shah was addressing BJP workers on the concluding day of the three-day state-level 'Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shatabdi Karyakarta Vistar' workshop here. He said the BJP plans to expand its footprint in the birth centenary year of Jana Sangh ideologue Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay and is observing the birth centenary year of Upadhyay as the year of the party's national work expansion scheme.



"Therefore, the workers will have to shoulder the responsibility of expanding the party's base at the grassroots level," he was quoted as saying in a BJP release. The event was not open to the media. Shah said it was of paramount importance to the BJP and the scheme would succeed only with the utmost dedication of the party workers.



He also called upon party workers to take the policies and programmes of the BJP as well as the Haryana government to the grassroots-level. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said his government was following the 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas' mantra of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Of the 120 welfare schemes launched in the state, most have already been implemented while the remaining were in progress, he said.



The new enterprises promotion policy was framed to attract and promote businesses in the state, he added. Earlier, Khattar, state Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Finance Minister Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu, state BJP chief Subhash Barala, senior party leaders Suresh Bhatt and Anil Jain welcomed Shah. On his way back to Delhi, the BJP chief had brief stopovers at Karnal and Panipat, where he was greeted by the party workers.
Its been about two years since Stanislaw Bobela fell in love with Bengaluru. Hailing from Warsaw, Poland, a chance decision made him come to India when he couldnt find an internship back home.



He says, I was studying at a university in Denmark and when I couldnt find a job over the summer, I decided to venture out. Bengaluru showed up on the search list. I came here for a couple of months and fell for the place at first sight.



He returned later to complete his Masters thesis, found a job and has been working as a Community Manager at HackerEarth since September 2016.



I never wondered if I will be able to manage here. Many of my friends told me that it is not the best decision, I should get vaccinated and that many bad things could happen to me. But I didnt listen to any of that and I have never been happier, he vouches.



However, the first week was a bit tricky. Laughingly, he says, When a fresh western meat comes to India, you should expect to be scammed. It happened a few times to me but nothing too painful to whine about. I learnt my way around quickly, so it was fine.



Unlike many expatriates, Stanislaw prefers Indian food throughout the day.



I love the vegetarian meals at Nagarjuna, Andhra biryani and almost everything from Adyar Ananda Bhavan.



On weekends, he likes going to The Tao Terraces and The Humming Tree. His undying love for Indian cuisine has given him a hope that he will be able to make it by himself one day. I love going out to eat but I guess one day I should try cooking at home. I owe it to the country, he says with pride.



This love for everything Indian has made him pick up Hindi as well.



He says, The funny thing with languages is that you first learn all the words that put you in trouble. I guess its a very natural thing. But Im picking up a few of the useful words too. It helps in my debate with the auto-walas!



Though he doesnt get too much time away from work, he does travel whenever possible. So far, he has been to Kerala, Chikkamagaluru, Kudremukh, Coimbatore, Pune, Bihar, Patna and a few others.



My favourite trip has been to Kerala. I even own two lungis now. I love wearing them here even though I get weird stares from people, he laughs.



Recalling his hometown, he says that it is a peaceful place where honking means you are cursing at someone. His favourite activity to do there is to rent a yacht and sail with his friends for about a week.



But he adds, I feel a lot more at home here. Firstly, because people smile back and secondly, because of the masala dosa and biryani.



Comparing Bengaluru to Denmark, where he spent seven years, Stanislaw says, Denmark is a very well put together country; people are happy and their lives are easy. But at the end of the day, everything is boring and slow. Bengaluru, on the other hand, is similar in some ways but it is vibrant and makes me feel alive. Yes, there are irritating things around but being happy is what is important and thats not too hard to find here.


Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Aditya Nath Yogi today ordered strict action against the food grain and ration mafia, while directing the officials to submit reports of closed sugar mills in the state. "The poor people must be issued ration cards, while stringent action be initiated against the food grain and ration mafia. The superintendents of police and district magistrates must act tough against these mafia through sustained campaigns," he said while chairing a review meeting of officials of Gorakhpur and Basti divisions here.



He directed the officials concerned to submit a report in the next 15 days on the revival of closed sugar mills and repair of those mills which were not functioning properly. The Chief Minister asked the district magistrates to ensure that the benefits of the government schemes reach the needy. Aditya Nath also batted for tough action on mining, forest and cattle mafias. He directed the officials to settle the pending payments of sugarcane farmers in the next 15 days, and prepare a comprehensive strategy in the new sowing season.



The priest-turned-politician also drew the attention of the officials towards denotified tribes and asked them to conduct a survey to gauge whether the tribals have availed the state schemes. "After the survey, the villages dominated by Van Tangiaa and Musahar (both denotified) should be declared 'revenue villages' so that basic facilities of education, health, drinking water, road, housing, electricity and government ration shops could be provided in these region," he said.



On a stern note, the Chief Minister said contracts for construction work should not be given to any criminal elements. "If any pressure tactic is used by the criminal elements, it must be brought to the notice of the DMs and SPs immediately and FIRs be registered against these elements," he added. The Chief Minister also directed the officials to shift the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research in Lucknow to Pipraich so that the construction work of AIIMS could commence in the city.



He said the construction work of Gorakhpur Fertiliser Plant and Indian Bottling Plant Project must be completed by 2019. The saffron leader also asked officials to refrain from using disputed land as sites of any state project.


Resumes in hand, men and women in their 60s and 70s turned up in large numbers to participate in the job fair for senior citizens. The fair was organised by the non-profit Nightingale Medical Trust and Karnataka Vocational Training and Skill Development Corporation Limited.



The fair, organised at Nalapad Pavilion, Palace Grounds, was inaugurated by Minister for Women and Child Development Umashree and MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao. There was a rush at the counters for registration forms to apply to various companies at the fair. Security agencies, banks and finance companies participated in the fair. Peenya Industrial Association, Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association and Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) also sought applications from elders.



Savitha K N, who used to work as a supervisor in HMT Watches, was excited to be at the fair. With 33 years of work experience, Savitha hopes to get a clerical or technical job. You need to work to remain mentally fit. I have even applied to do a Masters in Arts by correspondence, said Savitha, who was once a national-level archer.



Seventy-year-old B S Sinha has just moved to the city from Delhi to be with his son and is looking for something to keep him engaged for a few hours a day. After retiring from the public sector, I used to work as a private consultant for power industries. I have applied for a few jobs here and the companies have said that they will call back. Let us see how it goes, he said.



According to the chairman of the skill development corporation, 7,600 senior citizens and 78 companies took part in the job fair and 3,726 job seekers were placed successfully. Most companies asked applicants to fill a form with their contact details and assured them that they would get in touch with them. A representative of VTU explained, We are taking details of their educational qualifications, work experience and preferred job location. Then we will contact the educational institutions in the applicant's area and ask if they have any requirement for a guest lecturer or consultant.



There was dissatisfaction among the job seekers as most of them were interested in indoor jobs, but the companies at the fair were looking for security guards and insurance agents. I am not satisfied with the kind of jobs being offered. The insurance companies and banks expect us to go door-to-door selling their products. I want an indoor job, preferably as a typist, said Shobha V. She retired as a senior typist from KSIC last year and she is looking for a job to save for her daughters wedding. That being said, Shobha did find the experience of attending a job fair interesting and she appreciated the organisers for the opportunity.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Sunday stressed on the use of social media, and said that it played a vital role for Narendra Modi to win elections and become the prime minister. He said that it was an important tool in bringing good governance and a good government.



He was speaking at the inauguration of the day-long conclave on Democracy, Good Governance and Social Media, organised by Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) in the City. He said that social media has brought a huge change among Indians and they have used it to their advantage.



The various platforms of social media helped Modi have a direct connect with various people which was the reason why he was able to win the elections. It has also created opportunities for many politicians to know what people want and build direct contact with them, he said.



Prabhu emphasised on good governance and said that a government is elected for governance. Governance is a software which drives the government. It is fundamental and we must focus on it. This has been Modis mantra and for all other ministers as well.



Sudhan, a law student, said that the government should come up with a social media application, like Facebook and Twitter to have a bigger reach among people.




With water level in KRS dam threatening to hit dead storage levels, the BWSSB is struggling to quench the thirst of people in the city. However, experts have been warning against depending on Cauvery while wasting rainwater. Though the officials have made rainwater harvesting (RWH) compulsory, it has not been enforced in the city. The BWSSB has not been able to do much except issuing warnings occasionally.



About 23 tmcft of rainwater is wasted every year in the city due to lack of RWH infrastructure. The excess water runs into drains which do not have the capacity to handle the huge quantity of water, leading to flooding in low-lying areas. Bengaluru receives about 1,000 mm rain every year. One can collect 2.06 lakh litres of water on 2,400 sqft, said A R Shivakumar, Principal Scientific Officer, Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology.



If a person uses 135 litres of water per day, a family of four uses about 2 lakh litres per year. A family of four living in a 2,400-sqft house is already getting the amount of water it needs from nature. We just need the will and commitment to harvest it, he said. There are 19 lakh buildings in the city. If all the buildings collect rain water efficiently, they do not have to depend on the BBMP. However, a BWSSB survey found that only 29,000 buildings in the city have installed RWH units. This despite the government making RWH mandatory eight years ago.



Accordingly, the BWSSB in 2009 stated that old houses of 2,400 sqft and new houses of 1,200 sqft and above must have RWH units installed. There are more than 55,000 houses that are 2,400 sqft or bigger, according to BWSSB. In its 2009 order, the water agency said all the houses should instal RWH units by December 2011. The deadline was later extended to May 2012.



In the next step, officials warned that BWSSB will not supply water to big houses which do not have RWH units. However, in the coming days, the BWSSB adopted a soft approach on the issue. The stance changed in 2016 when the law was amended to set yet another deadline. The BWSSB said houses that do not have RWH units by 2016 will be penalised. The deadline was extended to October. The agency has till now collected Rs 40 lakh as fine from house owners.



Houses without RWH are fined 25% of the water and drainage bill every month. This will go up to 50% after three months. The fine goes up to 50% of the bill for non-residential buildings, whose owners have to pay 100% of the bill as additional charges after three months. The BWSSB has set up Sir M Visvesvaraya Rainwater Harvesting Theme Park at a cost of Rs 5 crore. People visit the park to get details about RWH, said chief engineer of BWSSB Kemparamaiah.






The Karkala police on Sunday arrested seven Bajrang Dal activists on the charge of misbehaving with a woman by barging into her house at Tellar village near Karkala. Additional Superintendent of Police Vishnuvardhan told DH that the arrested forcefully entered into the house claiming it to be a slaughterhouse. However, local residents prevented them and called the police immediately. Meanwhile, a woman in the house lodged a complaint alleging that the activists misbehaved with her. Karkala Rural police have registered a case.



Student ends life

A student committed suicide coming under the wheels of a train at Kolya near Thokkottu on Sunday. Nishan Kumar (26) was a student of a private engineering college. He was missing since Saturday and his family members search till late night proved futile. The local residents, who saw his body on the railway track, informed the railway police of it on Sunday morning. Nishans death note, found in his pocket, said he was responsible for his own death.



4 held

The CCB sleuths have arrested four persons in connection with the attempt to murder a person reported in Surathkal police station jurisdiction in 2016. The arrested are Abdul Naufal alias Basheer (42) of Katipalla, Abdul Naseer (30) of Kunjathbail, Mohammed Shabeer (21) of Pudu and Mohammed Shabbeer (31) of Idya in Surathkal. The arrested had assaulted Prakash Poojary with lethal weapon, on February 21, 2016, when Prakash was riding his two-wheeler on Kalavaru road.



Auto on fire

A miscreant under the influence of alcohol set ablaze the auto rickshaw at the auto rickshaw stand near Abharan Motors at Rajiv Nagar in Nittur during the early hours of Saturday. The auto rickshaw belongs to Sukesh and the loss is estimated to be around Rs one lakh. Sukesh had also invested about Rs 50,000 to repair the auto rickshaw recently. The CCTV footage gave a blurred image of the miscreant; a case has been filed in town police station.


The Supreme Court has directed the Medical Council of India to form a committee of experts to examine the possibility of colour-blind people pursuing the MBBS course. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar said the committee will include experts from genetics, ophthalmology, psychiatry and medical education from AIIMS, New Delhi and PGIMER, Chandigarh.



It shall take note of prevalent practices and suggest changes in the medical course, keeping in view international practices. The committee, which will also have legal experts, has been directed to submit its report within three months. The court gave this direction while considering a plea by Pranay Kumar Podder and others, who were denied admission to the MBBS course at a Tripura college due to partial colour-blindness.



It noted there were no regulations framed by the MCI, except its resolution passed at a general body meeting in 2004, which stated that a candidate for the MBBS course should be able to identify the three primary colours. Though the court said it was not deciding the current controversy, it felt that a total exclusion of colour-blind people would tantamount to regressive thinking.



The court appointed senior advocate K V Viswanathan, who submitted that a complete ban on the admission of individuals suffering from colour vision deficiency (CVD) to the MBBS course would violate conferment of equal opportunities and fair treatment. He said it was obligatory on the part of the Medical Council of India to adopt progressive measures.



The counsel stressed the need for a relook at the nature and severity of colour-blindness and the disciplines those affected by it can practise as colour-blindness was not considered a disability under the law. Having considered the amicus curiae's suggestion, the court directed the committee to be formed within three weeks.


Rattled by the royal snub of being put on the no-fly list for beating up a ground staffer, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad plans to sue the airline companies. So far, 56-year-old Gaikwad, a two-time MLA and first-time MP from Osmanabad, has not got an audience from Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.



The Sena chief had refused to comment on the issue, however, senior Shiv Sena leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Dr Manohar Joshi said, We want to know what exactly has happened. I will take legal action against IndiGo and Air India for cancelling my confirmed tickets, Gaikwad was quoted as saying on Sunday. The move to cancel his tickets came after Air India and Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), comprising private airliners IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Go Air, put him on no-fly list.



Not hiding

Gaikwads supporters said that he would be present in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and that he was not hiding. Last week, after the incident, he had sought probe into the issue and had made requests to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Civil Aviation Minister P A Gajapathi Raju.



Gaikwad on Sunday claimed that he was asked by a top party leader not to speak with the media over the issue, PTI reports from Osmanabad. A senior Sena leader ordered me not to speak with media till Wednesday (March 29) and so I am not coming before the media. I will come to Omerga on Tuesday and celebrate the Marathi new year Gudi Padwa with my family and Shiv Sainiks. I will then attend the Lok Sabha Session on Wednesday, Gaikwad told PTI over phone.



A senior Sena leader did not call me to Matoshree (Thackeray residence in Mumbai) and hence I am not going there to meet senior party leaders, he added.






Amma canteens in Tamil Nadu, which are known for providing food at subsidised rates to the poor, are facing shortage in supply of essential commodities. Though the canteens across the state continue to maintain the quality of food, limited supply of commodities such as dal, rice and other ingredients has forced the authorities to cook less in several parts of the city.



The Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) supplies rice, urad dal, toor dal and edible oil to Amma canteens on a regular basis. However, due to a lack of stock, it has not been able to supply the required commodities regularly. Opposition DMK has even staged a one-day strike against the shortage of essential commodities at ration shops, controlled by the TNCSC.



We cook less these days due to the short supply of rice and other commodities, an Amma canteen staff member employed in Nungambakkam area here said. According to him, each canteen, on an average, feeds almost 500 people a day in three shifts. However, at present, most of the canteens cook about 10-20% less than the target. Amma canteens are open from 7 am to 10 am, 12 pm to 3 pm and 6 pm to 9 pm everday.



Though the canteen functions as usual, the food is sold out in a couple of hours, he said. I used to eat my lunch here at about 2 pm regularly. However, for the past few weeks, I have been forced to come by 12 pm since the food gets over soon, K Reddy, a customer, said. Reddy said the quality of the food served here is on par with big restaurants. A senior corporation official said there were some issues with the supply of essential commodities to the canteens a few weeks ago. However, the matter has been sorted out and the government has started supplying all the required items regularly, he said.



Change in authority

To add to the woes, the city corporation, which incurs a loss to the tune of about Rs 100 crore per year on maintaining these canteens, wants to handover the eateries to the Social Welfare Department. Amma canteens, the flagship scheme of the late chief minister Jayalalithaa, was launched in February 2013.



An idli at these canteens is sold at Re 1. Likewise, mixed rice is sold at Rs 5 and chapati at Rs 3. At present, there are about 550 canteens across the state. Many states, including Karnataka, have visited Amma canteens to study the modalities and implement them in their respective states. Official statistics say Amma canteens sold a record 40 crore idlis and over 20 crore chapatis in 2016.
As the government and opposition delegations began talks on March 23 to end Syrias six-year war, al-Qaedas latest manifestation, Tahrir al-Sham, launched attacks in Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo provinces with the aim of torpedoing the UN-mediated negotiations.



Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Organisation for the Liberation of Syria, is a coalition of six of the main jihadi groupings plus minor factions forged by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (ex-Jabhat al-Nusra) at the end of January.



The Jabhat has long sought to merge with other radical groups in order to assert command and control and secure funding and weapons. Qatar is currently the main source of money for al-Qaeda and other jihadi groups although Saudi Arabia continues to provide some finance and arms and Turkey logistical support.



The ultimate objective of the coalition, which may have as many as 31,000 fighters, is to transform Syria into a theocratic emirate governed by al-Qaeda. Syrians who live in areas it holds have nicknamed the Tahrir al-Sham Hetesh, on the basis of its Arabic acronym (HTS). The term is considered pejorative as is the case with Daesh, the acronym for Islamic State (DHS), the second child of al-Qaeda.



Few Syrians want to live under the rule of either of the terrible al-Qaeda twins. Men are compelled to grow beards, dress in Afghan style clothing, and attend mosque prayers five times a day. Women must cover from head to toe and remain at home, invisible.



Since the Islamic State has come under attack by Iraqi forces in Mosul in northern Iraq and Syrian Kurdish forces in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the Jabhat has become the most powerful jihadi organisation in Syria, boosting al-Qaedas relevance on the global scene. Islamic States star is fading in West Asia and the movement may be forced underground from where it will continue to mount deadly suicide bombings in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.



The Jabhat coalition is largely based in Syrias north-western Idlib province where its fighters have been battling other extremist factions as well as groups gathered under the banner of the Free Syrian Army. However, the Jabhat and its allies have also deployed fighters across the country and claim to have made detailed plans for the ongoing operations against the overstretched Syrian army, backed by Iranian ground troops and Russian air power.



The situation on the ground in Syria, in particular, is growing increasingly complicated due to the multiplicity of competing regional and international actors involved in the conflict. Rivals Ankara and Washington seek to liberate Raqqa, the Islamic State capital, with their surrogate forces.



Turkey is determined that the Free Syrian Army fighters should play a major role in this campaign, while the US has given the task to Kurdish-dominated Democratic Forces units. They are regarded by Turkey as terrorists due to their links with separatist Turkish Kurds. The US has deployed 1,000 of its special forces and set up two air bases in northern Syria under the pretext of pursuing the anti-Islamic State campaign.



The Syrian governments ally, Russia is also courting the Syrian Kurds, the most effective militia operating in the country, by providing training for their fighters and, reportedly, establishing a base in Kurdish held territory along the Turkish-Syrian border. Russia has an air base near Latakia and a small naval facility at Tartous, both on the Syrian coast.



Arms dumps



Meanwhile, Israel has repeatedly carried out air strikes on Syrian targets which Tel Aviv claims, are arms dumps for the Lebanese Hizbollah movement, the third key Syrian government ally. Israel has been making contingency plans for fresh wars on both Hizbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas movement in Gaza.



Determined to boost the offensive against Islamic State, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson convened a meeting of the 68-nation coalition on March 22-23, the first in two years. This outsized grouping provides the US with political cover for military intervention in Syria and Iraq. However, Washington remains too narrowly focused on Islamic State and has done little to counter the Jabhat, its eager successor which now poses a greater danger.



While conducting sporadic bombing raids against Jabhat targets in Idlib, the US has done little to halt the flow of funds and arms to the group by exerting pressure on Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, states favouring a theocratic regime in Syria, to end their support for the Jabhat.



Washington and its allies still believe they can use the Jabhat to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as they recruited Afghan mujahedin to drive the Russians from Afghanistan during the 1980s. The mujahedin morphed into the Taliban  to fight the US  and al-Qaeda, the parent of jihadi groups destabilising West Asia and terrorising countries across the world.



All al-Qaeda plants must be rooted out. The US and its partners have not learned the lesson that you cannot exploit radical religious movements without paying a high price. Unfortunately, the blood price is exacted from Syrians, Iraqis, and, since the US assault on their country in 2001, Afghans.


Two groups of Indian scientists, along with their collaborators from the US and Europe, have come out with two low-cost, low-water intensive toilets. The toilets received positive feedback during the demonstration of the projects.



With support from the department of biotechnology, the researchers now plan to popularise these toilets among sections of the population with poor access to sanitation. Created by the Kerala-based company Eram Scientific, along with the University of South Florida, the first of the two toilets reuses the waste water and treats the sludge to create bio-gas to generate energy. It is powered by solar panels placed atop the toilets.



The firm installed these toilets in two schools where more than 1,500 students are using it daily. The second toilet was made by scientists at the Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani (Goa campus) and Ghent University, Belgium. It uses electrochemical technology to remove toxic content from the waste water for reuse. They created one such toilet inside the campus that is used by 100 students daily.


India and Bangladesh are likely to sign an umbrella agreement on defence cooperation during Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasinas upcoming visit in early April. The umbrella agreement would pave way for India to enhance its military cooperation with the eastern neighbour, where China wields considerable influence.



The pact, defence ministry sources told DH, would not immediately result in bilateral projects or joint exercises. Rather it would lay the foundation on which such projects can be executed. It would also increase the interaction between the two militaries. Sheikh Hasina will visit India between April 7 and 10. She will hold official talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 8.



Her last visit to India was in January 2010; Modi had visited Bangladesh in June 2015. In the absence of any breakthrough on the Teesta water-sharing agreement between the two nations, the defence cooperation agreement could be one of the big outcomes of the visit.



In October 2016, the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar travelled to Dhaka to finalise the contours of the defence cooperation agreement. Since 2002, Bangladesh has had an umbrella agreement with China, which was inked during the regime of Begum Khaleda Zia.




Prime Minister Narendra Modis pet schemes to put agriculture in the high-growth trajectory are facing challenges from within. The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, which seeks to irrigate every farm in the country, has seen a reduction in budgetary allocations for two successive years, while the soil health card initiative is moving at a slow pace for lack of adequate facilities.



The Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, chaired by BJP leader Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav, has expressed concern that Modis ambitious farm irrigation scheme may be adversely affected for want of funds. The committee is displeased to note that budgetary support for the scheme was reduced at the revised estimate (RE) stage during the last two years, said a report presented in Parliament recently.



In 2015-16, the budget estimate (BE) of Rs 1,800 crore was reduced to Rs 1,550 crore at the RE stage. In the current financial year of 2016-17, the BE of Rs 2,340 crore has been reduced to Rs 1,990 crore at the RE stage, the committee said. The contrary was true in the case of the soil health card initiative. At the BE stage for 2016-17, the initiative was allocated Rs 360 crore, which was increased to Rs 418 crore at the RE stage. But the agriculture ministry could spend only Rs 198.08 crore.



The government informed the committee that 2.65 crore soil samples have been collected, on the basis of which 14 crore soil health cards were to be issued to farmers. So far, 5.50 crore soil health cards have been distributed, the report said, adding that the government had informed the committee that the remaining cards cannot be issued by the end of the month. The government has cited inadequate soil-testing facilities as the main reason for the slow progress in distribution of the cards.



Modi had extensively referred to the two schemes in his election speeches as a means to turnaround the agriculture sector, which was in the doldrums on account of two successive droughts.
Varanasi will host the G-20 leaders and representatives of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank this week to discuss the current global economic situation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents Varanasi in the Lok Sabha. The focus of the G-20 Framework Working Groups (FWG) two-day meeting, beginning Tuesday, will be to frame country-specific growth policies.



The 3rd G-20 FWG meeting under the G-20 German Presidency is being co-hosted by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Varanasi on 28th and 29th (March), a finance ministry statement said.The first two meetings under the G-20 German Presidency have already been held at Berlin in December and at Riyadh in February this year.



The G-20 FWG will discuss the current global economic situation as well as deliberate on the policy options that countries can pursue to counter important development challenges. One important focus of this meeting will be to deliberate on the inclusive growth agenda of G-20 and to formulate a framework that will enable countries to help frame country-specific inclusive growth policies, it read.



Since its inception in 2009, this is the fourth time that India is hosting the FWG meeting. Previously, India had hosted the meetings in Neemrana, Rajasthan, in 2012 under the Mexican Presidency. Thereafter, it was held in Goa in 2014 under the Australian Presidency. A meeting was conducted in Kerala in 2015 under the Turkish Presidency.



The G-20 is a group of 19 countries and the European Union. India along with Canada has been co-chairing this group. The G-20 FWG is one of the core working groups of G-20.


Private charter firms Deccan Charter and Air Odisha together are learnt to have bagged around 50 regional air routes to propel Udan  the governments ambitious regional connectivity scheme. The process of selection of the routes and operators is nearly complete, and the government is likely to make an announcement in this regard in a few days, sources told PTI.



Air Indias subsidiary Alliance Air, regional carrier TrueJets holding company Turbo Megha Airways and budget airline SpiceJet are among the other operators that have won the bids for the Udan (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagarik) flights. While the first RCS (regional connectivity scheme) flight is likely to be operated by Alliance Air to Bhatinda from Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport soon, full-scale operations are expected to commence from May, the sources said.



In all, 70 routes have been allocated to five operators for 43 airports, they said. The scheme seeks to connect unserved and under-served airports and make flying more affordable. The ticket price is capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights. The Airports Authority of India is the implementing agency for the scheme. It had received 43 initial proposals from 11 bidders for 43 airports, which would offer RCS flights. Of these, 31 are unserved airports and the remaining under-served.



According to sources, Air Odisha is likely to fly on at least 25 routes under the scheme, while Deccan Charter, owned by Captain G R Gopinath, the founder of Air Deccan, has bagged flights for not less than 21 routes.




While the much expected express train to Mangaluru did not get any timeline, officials made a snap announcement that Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has agreed to extend the Mysuru-Shravanabelagola train to Bengaluru.



Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Sridhar Murthy said the passenger train (number 56215/6) will run up to Yeshwantpur and return in the same direction.



However, no other details, including timings, were available on Sunday. The rail minister said the proposed express train to Mangaluru sanctioned by his predecessor D V Sadananda Gowda, will run within a few months.



Though the minister did not specify any date, he agreed to name the train as Gommateshwara Express following a request by Deve Gowda. Interestingly, the train has been called as Kudla Express ever since it was sanctioned in the budget.



At present, it takes 12 hours to reach Mangaluru from Bengaluru by train. The Gommateshwara Express, which will run on the new route via Kunigal, is expected to cut about three hours of travel time. Deve Gowda has proposed two names  Hasanamba Express and Hemavathi express  for the superfast train between Yeshwantpur and Hassan. Railway officials said they will take a call after further discussions.


The pre-university lecturers in the state have temporarily withdrawn their decision to boycott the evaluation of answer papers of the second-year PU examinations which will conclude on Monday.



Earlier, the Karnataka State PU Lecturers Association had said that its members would boycott evaluation since several of their demands, including increase in pay, had not been met. On Sunday, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait met with the members of the association at Legislators Home.



The minister gave a written promise to conduct another meeting with the members of the association between April 13 and 20, which convinced the lecturers to temporarily withdraw their protest. The evaluation is to begin on April 4.



Members of the association said that if their demands were not addressed in the next meeting, they would resume their boycott.



The lecturers have been protesting since December last, asking the state government to set right pay disparities. Tanveer Sait said that the state government would soon decide on making a recommendation to the seventh pay commission in order to address the differences in the salary of lecturers.



Ministers appeal



The minister said a decision in this regard will be taken in the Cabinet meeting. He requested the teaching staff not to boycott the valuation process which he said would amount to dereliction of duty.



In 2016 too, lecturers had protested for similar reasons and caused a delay in the evaluation process.


A 26-year-old man is suspected to have strangled his wife when she accused him of cheating on her. The incident occurred at Muniswamappa Layout in Yelahanka New Town, north Bengaluru, between 11.30 pm, Saturday, and 1 am, Sunday, police said. Nalini N (23) picked a fight with her husband, Prathap D, when he came home on Saturday night. He got offended, pounced on her and ended up strangling her. He then called his parents, informed them what had happened and fled.



Nalini was from Manniganahalli in Kuduru, Magadi taluk, Ramanagaram district, while Prathap hails from Nagamangala in Mandya district and is a cab driver with Uber. The couple had an inter-caste love marriage two years ago in the face of strong opposition from their families. The marriage faced problems soon afterwards. Things got worse nine months ago when Nalini delivered a child. She didnt like the fact that her husband often returned home late and in an inebriated condition. She suspected that he was having an extramarital affair and often quarrelled with him. She even brought the issue to her familys attention. Following a plaint by Nalinis father Narasimharaju, cops arrested Prathap and produced him before the magistrate who has remanded him in judicial custody.



Woman falls from train

A 25-year-old woman home guard died after accidentally falling from a running train at Railway Gollahalli on the outskirts of the city on Sunday evening. Anusuya, a security guard at Sampige Road Metro station, had boarded the Bengaluru City-Tumakuru passenger (train number 56225) at Railway Gollahalli to travel to Tumakuru when the incident happened around 2.30 pm, the railway police said. She was a resident of Arjuna Bettahalli. The railway police rushed to the spot and took the body to hospital for post-mortem. A case of unnatural death has been registered.


Smart Metering Systems shares were a 'buy' in the Sunday Times' Inside the City column. As part of a 11bn plan, the UK government aims for 53m smart meters - which are electronically linked to your electricity and gas supplier to allow you to monitor and control in near-real time how much energy you use - be fitted in every home and small businesses by December 2020. AIM-listed SMS, which has contracts to instal 2.5m of that total, is only listed company of the four that own and instal smart meters.

Broker Panmure Gordon calculate SMS could target a market of roughly 22m homes, with water meters another way of expanding its customer base. Risks for the company include the government delaying its 2020 deadline. Along with other 'internet of things' devices, smart meters have been seen as potentially vulnerable to hacking or errors such as households being 30,000-plus false readings. But while there may be bumps away, smart meters are here to stay.

Buy shares in Sirius Real Estate, said Midas in the Mail on Sunday, as it should be a beneficiary of Brexit. The property investor, which has a portfolio of 44 business park in Germany, has just moved up to the main market and attracted Neil Woodford as a new investor. The Sirius strategy is to buy sites where it can improve things - Germany is one of the most promising property markets in Europe but it has many old business parks in need of a scrub up - and therefore raise rents and enjoy capital gains on the property. Through its focus on Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin, any flow of companies to Germany from Britain due to Brexit should boost demand.

In the last four years, the value of Sirius' properties has doubled to 800m thanks to increases in valuations from renovation at sites, wider property market price growth and acquisitions. Rather than the REIT method of paying almost all income as dividends, Sirius pays out 65% and uses the rest to invest. This year's dividend is estimated to hit 2.47p, which gives a yield of just under 5%.

Sell Saga shares said Questor in the Sunday Telegraph, as since their 185p flotation in 2014 they have gained little ground. Results this week are accompanied by a capital markets day where chief executive Lance Batchelor will give more detail on his strategic plans to leverage the company's huge database of senior citizens as a broker of third-party services, which should require lower capital and so boost dividend returns.





Please note: Digital Look provides a round-up of news, tips and information that is impacting share prices and the market. Digital Look cannot take any responsibility for information provided by third parties. This is for your general information only and not intended to be relied upon by users in making an investment decision or any other decision. Please obtain a copy of the relevant publication and carry out your own research before considering acting on any of this information.




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This relates to the recent AP report that the new administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stated: the (agencys) new chief ... does not believe that carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming, a statement at odds with mainstream scientific consensus and his own agency.

I dont know of a single report appearing in a peer-reviewed scientific journal that rejects carbon dioxide as a primary contributor to global warming. Further, I am unaware of any nations academy of sciences that rejects the fact that climate change is happening and the burning of fossil fuels by humans is largely to blame.

Also, the U.S. National Academies of Sciences reported in Climate Change  Evidence, Impacts, and Choices that, In 1896, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius was the first to calculate the warming power of excess carbon dioxide (CO2). From his calculations, Arrhenius predicted that if human activities increased CO2 levels in the atmosphere, a warming trend would result.

If you would like to contact the EPA about this, you may have to send a letter or email, because the mailbox at 202-564-4700 is (at this writing) full and not accepting messages.

David Newton

Auburn
Sheila Power (nee McGahon) who died peacefully on Thursday 26th January 2017 in New York was a native of Dundalk but lived most of her adult life in the Big Apple.

She was daughter of Tom and May McGahon of McSwiney Street and was born on 12th September 1937.

At the age of 18 Sheila left her family and friends behind and headed to New York to work as an Au Pair. While there she met Michael Power from Dunlaoghaire and a few years later they married and started their family.

At the age of 29 her first baby was born and within four years she had four children, Anita, Doreen, Maureen and Michael Jnr.

Sheila and Michael snr decided to leave America and bring their family back to Ireland where they bought a house in Greenacres in her home town.

Five years passed and their fifth child Elaine was born and 14 months later their sixth Gavin followed to complete their family as they thought.

At the age of 46 Sheila felt unwell and attended the doctor thinking she had a kidney infection only to receive a surprise when told she was pregnant with her seventh child and in due course Kim arrived.

In June 1984 Sheila, Michael and the seven children said goodbye to their family and friends and moved back to America where they settled in Bayside, New York.

Sheila was a kind, caring, tender and loving Lady. She taught her children many life lessons and how to be parents to her 20 grandchildren and two step grandchildren.

She loved to knit and all the children would have beautiful handmade sweaters. She was a skilled dressmaker and a hairdresser. Sheila loved to dance and was a dancer in many pantomimes.

Her favourite time of the year was Christmas and every year the family would spend Yuletide together at Sheilas house. This Christmas past Sheila had 39 for Christmas dinner despite being very sick a few weeks prior to Christmas and was in hospital and only discharged two days before Christmas.

Over the last few years and especially in the last year she went through so much and fought so hard every day to stay with her family before passing off peacefully in hospital. She endured more than anyone would ever deserve but still smiled and enjoyed life as much as she could. She spent time with family laughing and enjoying her grandchildren. Her strength was unbelievable.

Sheila is survived by Michael snr, daughters , Anita, Doreen, Maureen, Elaine and Kim , her sons, Michael jnr and Gavin, their spouses, 20 grandchildren and two step grandchildren, her sister, Carmel Hanratty, Dundalk and brother, Hugh McGahon, Galway, nephew, nieces, cousins, relatives and wide circle of friends, both in America and Ireland.

She was predeceased by her parents Tom and May, brother, Jimmy, sisters, Patricia (Patsy) and Mairead.

Sheila will be missed by everyone every second of every day.

Funeral Mass took place on Monday 30th January 2017 at O.L.B.S. Church Bayside, New York, followed by burial in St. Charles Cemetery Farmingdale, New York.
"We must be ready to dare all for our country. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. We must acquire proficiency in defense and display stamina in purpose." - President Eisenhower, First Inaugural Address
(Photo:  Peter Kenny)Offices of the European Commission on June 12, 2013.

Address of Pope Francis to European Heads of State and Government 24 March 2017

Distinguished Guests,

I thank you for your presence here tonight, on the eve of the sixtieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaties instituting the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. I convey to each of you the affection of the Holy See for your respective countries and for Europe itself, to whose future it is, in God's providence, inseparably linked. I am particularly grateful to the Honourable Paolo Gentiloni, President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Italy, for his respectful words of greeting in your name and for the efforts that Italy has made in preparing for this meeting. I also thank the Honourable Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament, who has voiced the aspirations of the peoples of the Union on this anniversary.

Returning to Rome, sixty years later, must not simply be a remembrance of things past, but the expression of a desire to relive that event in order to appreciate its significance for the present. We need to immerse ourselves in the challenges of that time, so as to face those of today and tomorrow. The Bible, with its rich historical narratives, can teach us a basic lesson. We cannot understand our own times apart from the past, seen not as an assemblage of distant facts, but as the lymph that gives life to the present. Without such an awareness, reality loses its unity, history loses its logical thread, and humanity loses a sense of the meaning of its activity and its progress towards the future.

25 March 1957 was a day full of hope and expectation, enthusiasm and apprehension. Only an event of exceptional significance and historical consequences could make it unique in history. The memory of that day is linked to today's hopes and the expectations of the people of Europe, who call for discernment in the present, so that the journey that has begun can continue with renewed enthusiasm and confidence.

This was very clear to the founding fathers and the leaders who, by signing the two Treaties, gave life to that political, economic, cultural and primarily human reality which today we call the European Union. As P.H. Spaak, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs stated, it was a matter "indeed, of the material prosperity of our peoples, the expansion of our economies, social progress and completely new industrial and commercial possibilities, but above all... a particular conception of life that is humane, fraternal and just".[1]

After the dark years and the bloodshed of the Second World War, the leaders of the time had faith in the possibility of a better future. "They did not lack boldness, nor did they act too late. The memory of recent tragedies and failures seems to have inspired them and given them the courage needed to leave behind their old disputes and to think and act in a truly new way, in order to bring about the greatest transformation... of Europe".[2]

The founding fathers remind us that Europe is not a conglomeration of rules to obey, or a manual of protocols and procedures to follow. It is a way of life, a way of understanding man based on his transcendent and inalienable dignity, as something more than simply a sum of rights to defend or claims to advance. At the origin of the idea of Europe, we find "the nature and the responsibility of the human person, with his ferment of evangelical fraternity..., with his desire for truth and justice, honed by a thousand-year-old experience".[3] Rome, with its vocation to universality,[4] symbolizes that experience and was thus chosen as the place for the signing of the Treaties. For here  as the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, J. Luns, observed  "were laid the political, juridical and social foundations of our civilization".[5]

It was clear, then, from the outset, that the heart of the European political project could only be man himself. It was also clear that the Treaties could remain a dead letter; they needed to take on spirit and life. The first element of European vitality must be solidarity. As the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, J. Bech stated, "the European economic community will prove lasting and successful only if it remains constantly faithful to the spirit of European solidarity that created it, and if the common will of the Europe now being born proves more powerful than the will of individual nations".[6] That spirit remains as necessary as ever today, in the face of centrifugal impulses and the temptation to reduce the founding ideals of the Union to productive, economic and financial needs.

'SOLIDARITY GIVES RISE TO OPENESS'

Solidarity gives rise to openness towards others. "Our plans are not inspired by self-interest",[7] said the German Chancellor, K. Adenauer. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, C. Pineau, echoed this sentiment: "Surely the countries about to unite... do not have the intention of isolating themselves from the rest of the world and surrounding themselves with insurmountable barriers".[8] In a world that was all too familiar with the tragedy of walls and divisions, it was clearly important to work for a united and open Europe, and for the removal of the unnatural barrier that divided the continent from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic. What efforts were made to tear down that wall! Yet today the memory of those efforts has been lost. Forgotten too is the tragedy of separated families, poverty and destitution born of that division. Where generations longed to see the fall of those signs of forced hostility, these days we debate how to keep out the "dangers" of our time: beginning with the long file of women, men and children fleeing war and poverty, seeking only a future for themselves and their loved ones.

In today's lapse of memory, we often forget another great achievement of the solidarity ratified on 25 March 1957: the longest period of peace experienced in recent centuries. "Peoples who over time often found themselves in opposed camps, fighting with one another... now find themselves united and enriched by their distinctive national identities".[9] Peace is always the fruit of a free and conscious contribution by all. Nonetheless, "for many people today, peace appears as a blessing to be taken for granted",[10] one that can then easily come to be regarded as superfluous. On the contrary, peace is a precious and essential good, for without it, we cannot build a future for anyone, and we end up "living from day to day".

United Europe was born of a clear, well-defined and carefully pondered project, however embryonic at first. Every worthy project looks to the future, and the future are the young, who are called to realize its hopes and promises.[11] The founding fathers had a clear sense of being part of a common effort that not only crossed national borders, but also the borders of time, so as to bind generations among themselves, all sharing equally in the building of the common home.

Distinguished Guests,

I have devoted this first part of my talk to the founding fathers of Europe, so that we can be challenged by their words, the timeliness of their thinking, their impassioned pursuit of the common good, their certainty of sharing in a work greater than themselves, and the breadth of the ideals that inspired them. Their common denominator was the spirit of service, joined to passion for politics and the consciousness that "at the origin of European civilization there is Christianity",[12] without which the Western values of dignity, freedom and justice would prove largely incomprehensible. As Saint John Paul II affirmed: "Today too, the soul of Europe remains united, because, in addition to its common origins, those same Christian and human values are still alive. Respect for the dignity of the human person, a profound sense of justice, freedom, industriousness, the spirit of initiative, love of family, respect for life, tolerance, the desire for cooperation and peace: all these are its distinctive marks".[13] In our multicultural world, these values will continue to have their rightful place provided they maintain a vital connection to their deepest roots. The fruitfulness of that connection will make it possible to build authentically "lay" societies, free of ideological conflicts, with equal room for the native and the immigrant, for believers and nonbelievers.

The world has changed greatly in the last sixty years. If the founding fathers, after surviving a devastating conflict, were inspired by the hope of a better future and were determined to pursue it by avoiding the rise of new conflicts, our time is dominated more by the concept of crisis. There is the economic crisis that has marked the past decade; there is the crisis of the family and of established social models; there is a widespread "crisis of institutions" and the migration crisis. So many crises that engender fear and profound confusion in our contemporaries, who look for a new way of envisioning the future. Yet the term "crisis" is not necessarily negative. It does not simply indicate a painful moment to be endured. The word "crisis" has its origin in the Greek verb krino, which means to discern, to weigh, to assess. Ours is a time of discernment, one that invites us to determine what is essential and to build on it. It is a time of challenge and opportunity.

So what is the interpretative key for reading the difficulties of the present and finding answers for the future? Returning to the thinking of the founding Fathers would be fruitless unless it could help to point out a path and provide an incentive for facing the future and a source of hope. When a body loses its sense of direction and is no longer able to look ahead, it experiences a regression and, in the long run, risks dying. What, then, is the legacy of the founding fathers? What prospects do they indicate for surmounting the challenges that lie before us? What hope do they offer for the Europe of today and of tomorrow?

Their answers are to be found precisely in the pillars on which they determined to build the European economic community. I have already mentioned these: the centrality of man, effective solidarity, openness to the world, the pursuit of peace and development, openness to the future. Those who govern are charged with discerning the paths of hope, identifying specific ways forward to ensure that the significant steps taken thus far have not been wasted, but serve as the pledge of a long and fruitful journey.

'EUROPE FINDS NEWS HOPE'

Europe finds new hope when man is the centre and the heart of her institutions. I am convinced that this entails an attentive and trust-filled readiness to hear the expectations voiced by individuals, society and the peoples who make up the Union. Sadly, one frequently has the sense that there is a growing "split" between the citizenry and the European institutions, which are often perceived as distant and inattentive to the different sensibilities present in the Union. Affirming the centrality of man also means recovering the spirit of family, whereby each contributes freely to the common home in accordance with his or her own abilities and gifts. It helps to keep in mind that Europe is a family of peoples[14] and that  as in every good family  there are different sensitivities, yet all can grow to the extent that all are united. The European Union was born as a unity of differences and a unity in differences. What is distinctive should not be a reason for fear, nor should it be thought that unity is preserved by uniformity. Unity is instead harmony within a community. The founding fathers chose that very term as the hallmark of the agencies born of the Treaties and they stressed that the resources and talents of each were now being pooled. Today the European Union needs to recover the sense of being primarily a "community" of persons and peoples, to realize that "the whole is greater than the part, but it is also greater than the sum of its parts",[15] and that therefore "we constantly have to broaden our horizons and see the greater good which will benefit us all".[16] The founding fathers sought that harmony in which the whole is present in every one of the parts, and the parts are  each in its own unique way  present in the whole.

Europe finds new hope in solidarity, which is also the most effective antidote to modern forms of populism. Solidarity entails the awareness of being part of a single body, while at the same time involving a capacity on the part of each member to "sympathize" with others and with the whole. When one suffers, all suffer (cf. 1 Cor 12:26). Today, with the United Kingdom, we mourn the victims of the attack that took place in London two days ago. For solidarity is no mere ideal; it is expressed in concrete actions and steps that draw us closer to our neighbours, in whatever situation they find themselves. Forms of populism are instead the fruit of an egotism that hems people in and prevents them from overcoming and "looking beyond" their own narrow vision. There is a need to start thinking once again as Europeans, so as to avert the opposite dangers of a dreary uniformity or the triumph of particularisms. Politics needs this kind of leadership, which avoids appealing to emotions to gain consent, but instead, in a spirit of solidarity and subsidiarity, devises policies that can make the Union as a whole develop harmoniously. As a result, those who run faster can offer a hand to those who are slower, and those who find the going harder can aim at catching up to those at the head of the line.

Europe finds new hope when she refuses to yield to fear or close herself off in false forms of security. Quite the contrary, her history has been greatly determined by encounters with other peoples and cultures; hers "is, and always has been, a dynamic and multicultural identity".[17] The world looks to the European project with great interest. This was the case from the first day, when crowds gathered in Rome's Capitol Square and messages of congratulation poured in from other states. It is even more the case today, if we think of those countries that have asked to become part of the Union and those states that receive the aid so generously offered them for battling the effects of poverty, disease and war. Openness to the world implies the capacity for "dialogue as a form of encounter"[18] on all levels, beginning with dialogue between member states, between institutions and citizens, and with the numerous immigrants landing on the shores of the Union. It is not enough to handle the grave crisis of immigration of recent years as if it were a mere numerical or economic problem, or a question of security. The immigration issue poses a deeper question, one that is primarily cultural. What kind of culture does Europe propose today? The fearfulness that is becoming more and more evident has its root cause in the loss of ideals. Without an approach inspired by those ideals, we end up dominated by the fear that others will wrench us from our usual habits, deprive us of familiar comforts, and somehow call into question a lifestyle that all too often consists of material prosperity alone. Yet the richness of Europe has always been her spiritual openness and her capacity to raise basic questions about the meaning of life. Openness to the sense of the eternal has also gone hand in hand, albeit not without tensions and errors, with a positive openness to this world. Yet today's prosperity seems to have clipped the continent's wings and lowered its gaze. Europe has a patrimony of ideals and spiritual values unique in the world, one that deserves to be proposed once more with passion and renewed vigour, for it is the best antidote against the vacuum of values of our time, which provides a fertile terrain for every form of extremism. These are the ideals that shaped Europe, that "Peninsula of Asia" which stretches from the Urals to the Atlantic.

Europe finds new hope when she invests in development and in peace. Development is not the result of a combination of various systems of production. It has to do with the whole human being: the dignity of labour, decent living conditions, access to education and necessary medical care. "Development is the new name of peace",[19] said Pope Paul VI, for there is no true peace whenever people are cast aside or forced to live in dire poverty. There is no peace without employment and the prospect of earning a dignified wage. There is no peace in the peripheries of our cities, with their rampant drug abuse and violence.

Europe finds new hope when she is open to the future. When she is open to young people, offering them serious prospects for education and real possibilities for entering the work force. When she invests in the family, which is the first and fundamental cell of society. When she respects the consciences and the ideals of her citizens. When she makes it possible to have children without the fear of being unable to support them. When she defends life in all its sacredness.

Distinguished Guests,

Nowadays, with the general increase in people's life span, sixty is considered the age of full maturity, a critical time when we are once again called to self-examination. The European Union, too, is called today to examine itself, to care for the ailments that inevitably come with age, and to find new ways to steer its course. Yet unlike human beings, the European Union does not face an inevitable old age, but the possibility of a new youthfulness. Its success will depend on its readiness to work together once again, and by its willingness to wager on the future. As leaders, you are called to blaze the path of a "new European humanism"[20] made up of ideals and concrete actions. This will mean being unafraid to take practical decisions capable of meeting people's real problems and of standing the test of time.

For my part, I readily assure you of the closeness of the Holy See and the Church to Europe as a whole, to whose growth she has, and always will, continue to contribute. Invoking upon Europe the Lord's blessings, I ask him to protect her and grant her peace and progress. I make my own the words that Joseph Bech proclaimed on Rome's Capitoline Hill: Ceterum censeo Europam esse aedificandam  furthermore, I believe that Europe ought to be built.

Thank you.

[1] P.H. SPAAK, Address on the Signing of the Treaties of Rome, 25 March 1957.

[2] Ibid.

[3] A. DE GASPERI. La nostra patria Europa. Address to the European Parliamentary Conference, 21 April 1954, in Alcide De Gasperi e la politica internazionale, Cinque Lune, Rome, 1990, vol. III, 437-440.

[4] Cf. P.H. SPAAK, loc. cit.

[5] J. LUNS, Address on the Signing of the Treaties of Rome, 25 March 1957.

[6] J. BECH, Address on the Signing of the Treaties of Rome, 25 March 1957.

[7] K. ADENAUER, Address on the Signing of the Treaties of Rome, 25 March 1957.

[8] C. PINEAU, Address on the Signing of the Treaties of Rome, 25 March 1957.

[9] P.H. SPAAK, loc. cit.

[10] Address to Members of the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See, 9 January 2017.

[11] Cf. P.H. SPAAK, loc. cit.

[12] A. DE GASPERI, loc. cit.

[13] JOHN PAUL II, European Act, Santiago de Compostela, 9 November 1982: AAS 75/1 (1983), 329.

[14] Cf. Address to the European Parliament, Strasbourg, 25 November 2014: AAS 106 (2014), 1000.

[15] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 235.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Address at the Conferral of the Charlemagne Prize, 6 May 2016: L'Osservatore Romano, 6-7 May 2016, p. 4.

[18] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 239.

[19] PAUL VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 26 March 1967, 87: AAS 59 (1967), 299.

[20] Address at the Conferral of the Charlemagne Prize, loc. cit., p. 5.

(from Vatican Radio)
(Photo European Commission)European Commission members

Pope Francis has urged European Union leaders to imitate the "spirit of service" of the founders of the organization, recongnizing the dignity of emploment as the bloc faces the potential for breakup after Britain's decision to leave.

The Pope spoke to leaders representing 27 EU governments in Rome on March 24 to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome, which established the European Community, what is now the European Union, Crux Now reported

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was not present.

The treaty was signed on March 25, 1957, in an environment of hope and celebration.

The Second World War has finished just over a decade earlier, and the institutions brought together former enemies, providing mechanisms that kept most of Europe at peace for one of the longest sustained periods in its history.

"In a world that was all too familiar with the tragedy of walls and divisions, it was clearly important to work for a united and open Europe, and for the removal of the unnatural barrier that divided the continent from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic," Francis said.

"What efforts were made to tear down that wall! Yet today the memory of those efforts has been lost."

He noted, "Where generations longed to see the fall of those signs of forced hostility, these days we debate how to keep out the 'dangers' of our time: beginning with the long file of women, men and children fleeing war and poverty, seeking only a future for themselves and their loved ones."

The Pope said leaders need to realize the founders of the EU did not see Europe as "a manual of protocols and procedures to follow," but as "a way of understanding man based on his transcendent and inalienable dignity."

He said Europe has forgotten the "the tragedy of separated families, poverty and destitution" stemming from the immediate post-World War II era, and the Cold War which followed.

"These days we debate how to keep out the 'dangers' of our time: beginning with the long file of women, men and children fleeing war and poverty, seeking only a future for themselves and their loved ones," Francis said.

The pontiff said Europe can find hope in solidarity, calling it the most effective antidote to modern forms of populism.

"Politics needs this kind of leadership, which avoids appealing to emotions to gain consent, but instead, in a spirit of solidarity and subsidiarity, devises policies that can make the Union as a whole develop harmoniously," said Pope Francis.

'WHOLE HUMAN BEING'

The Pope called on the European leaders to invest in development which "has to do with the whole human being," providing jobs, decent living conditions, and access to education and health care.

Francis also said there can be no peace where people are being cast aside, or forced to live in dire poverty.

"There is no peace without employment and the prospect of earning a dignified wage," the pope said, "there is no peace in the peripheries of our cities, with their rampant drug abuse and violence."

He called on Europe to be "open to the future," offering young people serious prospects for education and jobs, and to invest in the family, which the pontiff called "the first and fundamental cell of society."

Statista.com says that youth unemployment in Greece, Spain and Italy as of December 2016 tops 40 percent and in France it is 26 percent. It is lowest in Germany at 6.5 percent.
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To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020.
Ben Affleck and wife Jennifer Garner are once again in the limelight not because of their impending divorce, but because of rumors that Garner is pregnant with their fourth baby. Garner of the "Alias" fame has reportedly called off the divorce because of her supposed pregnant. The rumor, however, is nothing new as it has already surfaced last year.

Affleck and Garner have been married for almost ten years, but the relationship turned sour. "The Batman" star's problem with alcohol seemed to have played a major factor in the couple's split-up last year. Just recently, Affleck admitted he has completed his rehabilitation from alcohol addiction. The former couple is said to be working on their divorce, although nothing formal has been announced yet, according to Mirror.

Friends are not, however, surprised by the pregnancy rumors considering that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner spent the holidays as a family. They were also seen together on various occasions and this has given rise to hopes that all is not lost between the power couple. Garner have also publicly gushed about Affleck being the love of her life. She has also intimated that she wanted another child with her husband.

Garner has remained silent about rumors that she was pregnant with Affleck's child. She was recently interviewed by reporters about her supposed pregnancy but she only smiled and said "How 'bout that?" The pregnancy rumors kept on resurfacing despite reports that Affleck and Garner have really separated.

Affleck and Garner already have three children namely 11-year-old Violet, eight-year-old Seraphina and five-year-old Samuel, according to Los Angeles Times. Both are very devoted parents to their children and do not want their separation to have a diverse effect on the children. Affleck seems to be on his way to recovery and thanks his wife Garner for the support.
It will be lights out for Sandton Central, Joburg's premier business, shopping and tourism centre this weekend when many of its buildings will power-down for an hour on Saturday (25 March) to help address climate change.

Earth Hour, a global WWF climate change initiative which calls upon individuals, businesses, governments and communities to switch off their lights for one hour on the last Saturday in March, where we will see the lights go out across the Sandton Central business district from 8:30pm to 9:30pm local time.

A symbolic gesture of unity to reflect on our impact on the planet, Earth Hour is a global citizen movement of positive change for the environment. It has been welcomed by the Sandton Central Management District, which is thrilled to be home to many participating businesses and individuals

Sandton Central-based participants include two of South Africas most prestigious shopping centres as well as several leading banks and corporates, joining more than a billion people across 178 countries in the fight to protect our environment.

"Both Sandton City and Nelson Mandela Square will show their commitment by switching off lights at the restaurants on the square. The Sandton City Dome (Protea Court) will be illuminated in green leading up to Earth Hour in a bid to raise awareness of the initiative," says Elaine Jack, CID manager for Sandton Central Management District.

Nelson Mandela Square and Sandton City will be joined by a number of businesses in the district, with the likes of RMB, Deutsche Securities, Discovery, SAB Miller, Webber Wentzel and Nedbank also taking part in Earth Hour 2017.

With its participation in Earth Hour, Sandton Central joins the City of Joburg, which has put its weight behind the campaign and challenged its property owners to switch off their lights for the hour. The metro will switch off its own iconic buildings across the city as well as its head-office, and is working closely with WWF and the GBCSA for this initiative.

"At Sandton Central, we are thrilled to be able to say that we are making a meaningful contribution to the cause, and wed like to encourage all South Africans to pledge their commitment on the Earth Hour website and to switch off their lights for just that one hour on the 25th of March, says Jack.

This is a great opportunity for the community of Sandton Central, and the entire city, to show its commitment to containing our impact on the planet. Sandton Central is the epicentre of green building in South Africa, and a hotbed of energy-efficiency innovations. I am confident that we can do even more to conserve our environment in the future, concludes Jack.
AUSTIN  Nursing homes that are stretched thin as they care for Medicaid residents are asking lawmakers to approve a fee on their facilities that would allow Texas to get hundreds of millions of matching federal dollars to boost their low reimbursements.

But the idea has generated a backlash from nursing homes that serve private-pay patients and object to paying the proposed assessment, which they call a granny tax. Their private-pay patients are outside Medicaid, and the homes arent confident of promises that theyll be otherwise repaid for their share of the fees that would trigger more Medicaid dollars.

I have no guarantee under this legislation that once I pay this tax that we will be reimbursed, said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Chip Utterback, president and CEO of the not-for-profit Blue Skies of Texas in San Antonio, whose residents are mainly military retirees and are private-pay. I spent my life flying airplanes and managing risk. To me, this is a risk thats unacceptable.

Those who support the legislation say the homes that serve private-pay patients will be repaid. They say its wrong to call the measure a granny tax because the legislation would prohibit homes from charging residents for the fee, either directly or indirectly.

The assessment is necessary, backers say, because Texas has one of the lowest Medicaid reimbursement rates in the country for nursing homes and lawmakers facing a tight revenue picture are unlikely to provide help from existing state dollars. Nursing homes need more resources, they say, to upgrade their buildings and technology and to retain a skilled staff, with a 90 percent turnover among nurses and 97 percent among aides statewide in 2015.

Raul Espinosa Jr., administrator of San Pedro Manor in San Antonio, said he would use additional funds for staff retention through such means as higher salaries. His facility has a turnover of about 50 to 60 percent among certified nurse aides, he said, calling them the backbone of care for his facilitys residents, 70 percent of whom are covered by Medicaid.

People that are here for long periods of time know the residents. They know what needs to happen. They understand the residents. So when something is wrong with the residents, they are able to tell the nurse, Hey, this resident is not acting right. Something is going on with this resident. Can you go check them out? Espinosa said, explaining the value of retaining staff.

The battle will get a public airing Monday, when the Senate Health and Human Services Committee has scheduled a hearing on Senate Bill 1130 by Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen. The idea has bipartisan support, with Rep. J.D. Sheffield, R-Gatesville, carrying the companion legislation, House Bill 2766.

The legislation would provide for the Health and Human Services Commission to impose a reinvestment allowance on licensed facilities based on the days they serve non-Medicare patients.

Under federal rules, such a fee cant be based on Medicaid patients alone, so private-pay residents also would be included in the calculation.

The fee would raise an estimated $360 million over two years, going a long way toward bridging a gap in funding. The Medicaid match would increase that to an estimated $800 million.

The legislation under federal rules cant directly provide for reimbursement to nursing homes for the fees that are based on private-pay patients.

But the plan  modeled on a Missouri program  is for the Texas Health Care Association and other providers to create the Nursing Facility Agent Corp., which would reimburse those homes with money given voluntarily by facilities that would benefit from the arrangement.

Thats where the trust breaks down.

The only thing in statute is a tax. The corporation that pays people back is entirely voluntary, said George Linial, president and CEO of LeadingAge Texas, a trade association representing not-for-profit aging services providers, including nursing homes.

Linial called the proposal bad public policy. We think that taxing one set of older adults to pay for another set of older, frail adults is not the right way to do it. The state has a certain responsibility. They need to step up and fund things.

Blue Skies Utterback said the assessment would amount to $4,000 per resident, or about $500,000, for his facility annually. He said the only alternative to passing the cost along to residents  which he wouldnt want to do and which he said he feared could price them out of paying for their own care  would be to cut back on the level of care.

This all sounds great in theory, Utterback said of the proposal, but in the end, there is no guarantee my residents, who pay for themselves, will not get hurt out of this. If we have to take a half-million dollars a year out of our nursing home support and cannot pass that on to the resident, the only way you do it is to reduce services. Thats simple business.

With a push at the federal level for changing the way Medicaid is distributed to a block-grant system that would give states a set amount of federal money for services, he added, there is additional concern about Texas coming to rely on funds from a new state assessment.

Kevin Warren, president of the Texas Health Care Association, which includes nonprofit and for-profit skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation centers and assisted living facilities and is backing the legislation, said the industry came up with this plan because the problem of inadequate Medicaid reimbursements is only getting worse.

This is something that simply cant wait, Warren said. In terms of the addressing long-term care funding, this can cant be kicked down the road any longer.

About 90 percent of the facilities in Texas take residents who accept Medicaid, and their daily reimbursement for each is about $20 a day less than the allowable cost per patient, Warren said. That affects their ability to properly fund items, including salaries.

I was driving on Sunday past the Rudys, and they were advertising for all positions at $12 an hour, which is almost $2 an hour more than what a certified nursing assistant is going to make, he said. These facilities who are caring for the frail and elderly are losing staff to not only other health care sectors, but they are losing to other industries entirely.

Hinojosa, vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said the goal of his legislation is to provide additional funding for quality services.

The industry, quite frankly, is in need of funding to take care of the elderly in the nursing homes.  But we usually underfund nursing homes, which of course lowers the quality of service they provide to the patients, Hinojosa said. And if we are not going to add additional funds, then we ought to allow them to be able to use whatever mechanism is available to draw down federal funds.

San Pedro Manors Espinosa agreed, saying the state is not increasing any funding whatsoever. We have asked for years and years. And this is an answer for everybody.

pfikac@express-news.net

Twitter: @pfikac
His Excellency President Konrote was accompanied to the Vatican by Fijis High Commissioner to London and Fijis non-resident Ambassador to the Holy See, Mr. Jitoko Tikolevu, Fijis Ambassador to Brussels Mr. Deo Saran, Official Secretary to the President Mr. Pene Baleinabuli and senior government and aide officials.



(Photo Credit - AP)

March 24, 2017: Vatican City, ROME  FIJIS Head of State, His Excellency the President Major General (Retd) Jioji Konusi Konrote on Friday met with His Holiness Pope Francis for the first time since his appointment, in a meeting the President describes as fruitful and inspiring for Fiji.In an unprecedented long encounter, His Excellency the President met personally with Pope Francis in the Palace of the Holy Office for thirty minutes, where cordial discussions with Pope Francis centred on the existing good relations between the Holy See and Fiji, the positive contribution of the Catholic Church in Fiji to nation building and Fijis upcoming global responsibilities on Oceans and climate change.His Excellency the President also discussed the issue of climate change and Fijis Presidency of COP23, and took the opportunity to request the support of Pope Francis to support Fijis leadership responsibilities.The Pope spoke about the ethical dimensions of climate change, which he said demanded solidarity with the most vulnerable social groups and countries, and with the new generations.The President said, Pope Francis possessed a very good sense of humour and we had a very positive discussions on the important international responsibilities Fiji was assuming.I also took the time to invite His Holiness to visit Fiji in the near future, to which Pope Francis was thankful and said he would consider.President Konrote presented Pope Francis with a lali (Fiji wooden gong) carved from a mahogany tree that once stood outside Fijis state-house that fell in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Winston.The wooden lali carving was symbolic to summon the world to take action on climate change, His Excellency the President impressed on Pope Francis.The Holy Father reciprocated by presenting a porcelain plate with a painting impressing humanities obligation to care for creation, a Jubilee Medal of Pope Franciss fourth anniversary to the Papacy, as well as copies of many of his writings including the Laudato Si- an encyclical on earth-keeping and the responsibility to care for the whole of creation.Following this special audience with Pope Francis, the President met with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States.Discussions took place in the Palace of the Holy Office (see map) and was cordial in nature. The good existing relations between the Holy See and the Republic of Fiji was affirmed at the meeting with Cardinal Parolin.H. E the President spoke of the real situation Fiji and the Pacific peoples were facing in with regards to climate change and rising sea levels. He also spoke of the robust economic performance of Fijis economy notwithstanding the impact of the recent cyclone and flooding.The President again used the opportunity to discuss themes of climate change and ecological justice with Cardinal Parolin.The conversation centred on an exchange of views on the moral and ethical dimension of climate change and the role the church will play to effect positive change.H.E. President Konrote, kindly requested for Pope Francis continuous support, advocacy and championing the cause and challenges posed by climate change.The meeting between the Holy Father and His Excellency the President of Fiji, comes on the back of a UN Food and Agriculture (FAO) international conference on the importance of soils in absorbing carbon-dioxide from the atmosphere, where the President was the guest of honour and keynote speaker. That UN meeting drew participation from 140 member states who are members of the FAO.
So the latest buzz in b-town is that Salman Khan is planning to lose 12 kgs for his next movie, Ali Abbas Zafar's Tiger Zinda Hai! It will be interesting to see the actor who is known for his strict fitness regime, in a leaner avatar. That's not all. Salman will also be doing a special song for David Dhawan's Judwaa 2. While the shooting is going to be in London, Salman's cameo song will be shot in Mumbai's Mehboob Studio.We sure can't wait for it.
Jennifer Winget Bags HT Most Stylish TV Personality Award (Female)

Jennifer took to social media, "Brought this one back home with me from the #htmoststylish awards last night. So I must be TV's Style Icon of the year. "

Jennifer Attributes The Award To Her Comeback Show Beyhadh

"This could well be attributed to my comeback as #Maya, the appreciation has been nothing short of heartwarming and encouraging; she's probably the only character on Indian television with so many shades of grey that audiences have grown to love."

Jennifer Writes...

"For outfit details, I chose to "slay" as they say, in this crisp and kickass ensemble by my talented @simmerouquai ."

Jennifer Thanks Beyhadh Team & Fans

"I am really beyond words of gratitude to my team @simmerouquai @rk945 @mukeshpatilmakeup @jadhavsharda @amrita_joshi ,the crew on the sets of Beyhadh and yes, my fans. I hope I amplify every bit of the hard work they put in and make it count. I hope I am enroute to being beyond stylish. Thank you is not enough, but for now... It's all I have."

Jennifer Says That She Is Lucky!

Jennifer said at the awards function, "I think, I've been all lucky to be with, what I call them style warriors, who come to our rescue whenever we need them every single day." (Image Source: Jennifer Winget Twitter)

Jennifer Added.

"...so for those days and many other days where we are lacking, may humility precede style. And this one, specially this one, I attribute this to my comeback as Maya."

Maya Is The Most Loved Grey Character On TV!

"I think she is the only grey character on Indian Television which has been loved so much and I am so grateful, just beyond words, to my team, to my crew on the sets of Beyhadh and of course my fans."

Siddharth Shukla Bags HT Most Stylish TV Personality Award (Male)

Siddharth thanked them for presenting him the award, and said, "It is wonderful evening and it is always great to win awards."

Manish Paul Bags HT Most Stylish TV Host

Manish shared a picture and wrote, "Here comes another one...thanks @htcafe for dis award #htmoststylish host!!! Thanks to all my fans who make it possible!!n thanks to my team for all d hard work they put in... #mp #host #happy #always #style #class #gratitude #ht #moststylish #mumbai."
Global procurement market intelligence firm, SpendEdge (a unit of Infiniti Research) is hosting a webinar titled 'Benchmarking of Integrated Facilities Management Best Practices' on April 5th and 6th. The 45-minute webinar will also include a Q&A session, allowing attendees to put questions to their panel of procurement experts.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170325005020/en/

SpendEdge has announced the dates for their upcoming webinar. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Having existed for a very long time, facilities management (FM) became a necessity since buildings were initially constructed to shelter human activities. Today, the demand for facilities management has grown tremendously because of the ever-increasing construction of multi-unit residential buildings. Procurement intelligence experts at SpendEdge underline that despite the presence of global firms operating in the integrated facilities management space, there is little or no adoption of single supplier across geographies, and even the most mature procurement organization are opting for bundling of services at the country level.

The objective of this webinar is to provide indirect procurement and sourcing professionals a complete understanding of the transforming procurement patterns, which can help them better manage their indirect procurement spend.

Main topics to be covered:

Roadblocks in consolidating services and centralizing the procurement process

Perceived risks while adopting an Integrated Facilities Management and risk mitigations strategies

Best practices for selecting and onboarding suppliers

Cost savings through service bundling

Impact of industry consolidation on category buyers

Speaker profiles:

Parikshit Ghoshal is a member of the Sourcing Advisory team in the Bangalore office of Infiniti Research. He has 9+ years of experience in working across sectors such as F&B, Automotive, Media, Telecom, IT, Life Sciences, and Heavy Industries, in areas of procurement advisory, strategic sourcing, competitive benchmarking and analysis, and quantitative market modeling.

Yatheesh Chandrasekaran works with the Sourcing team in the Bangalore office of Infiniti Research. He has 10+ years of cumulative experience in Finance, Strategic Sourcing, Procurement. He has worked with clients in Industrial Services, Media, Consumer Goods, Pharmaceuticals, and Life Sciences industries in the areas of procurement benchmarking, strategic sourcing, contract management, etc.

Follow our simple and free registration procedure to join the webinar:

For EMEA Audience Registration link https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/290059245473587970 Webinar ID 682-188-171 Date and Time Wed, Apr 5, 2017 11:00 AM 11:45 AM BST Duration 45 min

For NA Audience Registration link https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/643302644664168962 Webinar ID 601-182-491 Date and Time Thu, Apr 6, 2017 10:30 AM 11:15 AM CDT Duration 45 min

You can also get full access to the latest webinars from SpendEdge: Get in touch

About us

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are a preferred market intelligence partner for leading Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across industries. Our strength lies in delivering actionable insights that help sourcing and procurement professionals get the right information in the right format, without any unnecessary frills.

Our procurement market intelligence coverage extends across critical processes of sourcing strategy planning process and helps clients achieve more than mere monetary savings. Our procurement insights are well-defined to meet the information needs of the procurement organizations and are aimed at helping category managers extract hidden values out of sourcing teams, suppliers, contracts, and processes.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170325005020/en/

Contacts:

SpendEdge

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

https://www.spendedge.com/

jesse@technavio.com
DALLAS, TX -- (Marketwired) -- 04/11/17 -- Budcube Construction Services ("BCS"), a subsidiary of Cherubim Interests, Inc. (OTC PINK: CHIT) ("the Company"), an expansion-stage alternative construction and real estate development company, announces that it has executed a construction management agreement with Greenphoria Farms to perform industry-agnostic tenant finish out services.

Greenphoria Farms is a cannabis producer with twelve proprietary strains and over 30 years of cultivation expertise in the industry. The company currently has approximately 20,000 sq. feet under lease in Hillsboro, Oregon, and intends on introducing its proprietary strains to the industry as early as 3rd quarter 2017.

"We are excited to enter into the construction services niche for licensed cannabis farmers," said CHIT CEO Patrick Johnson. "We believe that Greenphoria Farms is the first of many opportunities in the Portland, Oregon area and we intend to capitalize on this momentum to attract additional cannabis producers not only in the Oregon market, but additional opportunities along the entire the West Coast."

BudCube Construction Services will begin mobilization plans immediately and will open its construction office in Hillsboro, Oregon within the next two weeks.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE: Cherubim Interests, Inc. (OTC PINK: CHIT) and BudCube Cultivation Systems USA is planning execution of its stated business objectives in accordance with current understanding of State and Local Laws and Federal Enforcement Policies and Priorities as it relates to Marijuana (as outlined in the Justice Department's Cole Memo dated August 29, 2013), and plan to proceed cautiously with respect to legal and compliance issues. Potential investors and shareholders are cautioned that the companies will obtain advice of counsel prior to actualizing any portion of their business plan. Advice of counsel with regard to specific activities of the companies, Federal, State or Local legal action or changes in Federal Government Policy and/or State and Local Laws may adversely affect business operations and shareholder value.

About BudCube Cultivation Systems

BudCube Cultivation Systems USA ("BCS") has developed a proprietary, fully portable and scalable, Controlled Environment Cultivation Technology that serves as a turnkey solution for cultivators of legal medical and recreational cannabis, as well as any other plant species. Coupled with a real estate development and property management business model, BudCube Cultivation Systems can position itself anywhere in the world where the cultivation of cannabis is legal.

BCS provides cultivation solutions for commercial application. It offers cultivators quick entry into a fast growing market at a price point that is very attractive when compared to the traditional construction and cultivation solution. BCS features a business model unparalleled in the industry and stands to benefit greatly as more and more market participants seek to gain entry into this sector.

For more information, visit www.budcube.com

About Cherubim Interests Inc.

Cherubim Interests specializes in alternative construction projects, as well as covering the entire spectrum of real estate development: due diligence, acquisition, planning, construction, renovation, and management; providing complete beginning-to-end development programs for mixed use, single, and multifamily projects and properties.

For more information, visit www.cherubiminterests.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E and/or 27E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are based upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including statements as to the future performance of the company and the risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in reports filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations or any of its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause results to differ include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to raise necessary financing, retention of key personnel, timely delivery of inventory from the company's suppliers, timely product development, product acceptance, and the impact of competitive services and products, in addition to general economic risks and uncertainties.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3128590



Cherubim Interests, Inc.

Patrick J. Johnson

Chief Executive Officer

(844) 842-8872

pjohnson@cherubiminterests.com




Koln (ots) - The Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel rejects the idea of threatening to cut EU subsidies to member states should they fail to comply with EU decisions or violate the principle of the rule of law. In an exclusive interview (WDR) for the ARD-Europamagazin (German Television/Das Erste, 26.03.2017, 12.45 Uhr) held at the sidelines of the Rome Summit, she literally said: "I do not aim to speak out threats in today's interview, but rather I would like to work towards the goal that the principle of the rule of law, as we understand it, is met all over Europe.



The rule of law and freedom would be values itself. When it comes to countries, that cause worries, she relies on the dialogue.



Furthermore, the Federal Chancellor refuses Sigmar Gabriel's proposition, that Germany should spend much more money to fill the gap caused by the exit of Great Britain from the European Union. Nevertheless, she thinks it is possible, that Germany and the other remaining member states will face higher burdens for certain projects. This includes the fight against the causes of migration, and border protection.



In light of the big wealth gap in the European Union, Angela Merkel refers to the German experiences: "We see by the success of the German reunification how long it takes and of course how much money has already been invested, in order to create equal living conditions for example in Germany."



She also sees a solution in reducing the bureaucracy specially to give younger member states more room and development. Therefore, she mentions to raise the thresholds for public investments, with the result that not everything (every project) must call for tender all over Europe.



You can find the complete interview on the webpage of the ARD - Europamagazin on the 25th of March 2017 at 15:00: http://www.daserste .de/information/politik-weltgeschehen/europamagazin/sendung/exklusivi nterview-angela-merkel-quo-vadis-eu-100.html



Originaltext: WDR Westdeutscher Rundfunk digital press kits: http://www.presseportal.de/nr/7899 press kits via RSS: http://www.presseportal.de/rss/pm_7899.rss2



Contact: WDR Presse und Information, E-Mail: wdrpressedesk@wdr.de

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PYONGYANG (dpa-AFX) - The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved legislation to impose fresh sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea.



The Russia, Iran, and North Korea sanctions bill was passed with 419 votes in favor and just 3 votes against.



The bill, which is likely to irk the Kremlin and complicate President Donald Trump's hopes of improving relations with Russia, needs to be passed through the Senate before it can be sent to the president's table for signing.



Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said it is incumbent upon the President to immediately sign this legislation into law, 'or risk endorsing Moscow's interference in future elections.'



'While the president supports tough sanctions on North Korea, Iran and Russia, the White House is reviewing the House legislation and awaits a final legislative package for the president's desk,' White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.



The strong bipartisan congressional support for increased sanctions on Russia is a punishment for meddling in the US presidential election and its military aggression in Ukraine and Syria. It also seeks to make Tehran pay a price for its continued support of terrorism.



The sanctions on Russia proposes to penalize firms that contribute to Russian energy development; shorten the duration of loans to Russian banks and Russian oil and gas companies; freeze assets of state-owned mining and railway companies; codify existing sanctions to make them more difficult to lift in the future; and prevent the President's power to singlehandedly ease the sanctions.



Warner said Washington must also make clear to Iran and North Korea that they will be held accountable for their actions, including North Korea's advancement of its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program, the detention and death of University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier, and the continued imprisonment of American citizens.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Indians who work in the Gulf countries are not only losing jobs due to the oil crisis but are losing out to Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, according to official reports.

Data from the eMigrate, the Indian governments official recruitment online channel, reveals that while in 2015, 7.8 lakh Indians migrated to 18 Emigration Clearance Required (ECR) countries, in 2016 the number came down to 5.2 lakh, a dip of around 34%.

And in the case of Saudi Arabia, while 3 lakh Indians migrated officially to the Kingdom in 2015, in 2016 the number was around 1.7 lakh, a dip of 47%.

Asif Nawaz, from Jamia Milia Islamia University, has prepared a paper detailing the change in preferences of Gulf countries in recruiting Indian workers. Nawaz says India is already looking at heavy losses in the overall remittance in the financial years of 2015-2016 and 2016-2017.

If we have lost 50% of two recent years probable employment from Saudi Arabia in particular, and 35% of two recent years probable employment from all Gulf nations alongside the steep slump in oil prices, it means we have already headed for heavy losses, Nawaz said.

Nawazs study, entitled Pakistan, Bangladeshs Surgical Strike on Indias GDP, which was conducted in India, confirms that emigration from Bangladesh and Pakistan is going up.

Official data from Pakistan and Bangladesh emigration offices reveals that until 2014  the year around which India introduced its official recruitment channel  Pakistan and Bangladesh were sending only around 3 lakh and 10,000 workers respectively into the Saudi workforce.

However, in 2015, 5.2 lakh Pakistanis migrated to Saudi Arabia, and 58,270 Bangladeshis migrated to Saudi Arabia. And in 2016, while the number of workers from Pakistan declined slightly to 4.6 lakh, the Bangladeshi numbers jumped almost three times, reaching 1.4 lakh.

All of a sudden in 2015-16, the number of Pakistani workers shot up to 500,000. The number of Bangladeshi workers jumped up to around 60,000 in 2015 and 140,000 in 2016. In other words, the share of Bangladeshi workers in the Saudi migrant workforce was constantly around 2% for many years till 2014. However in 2015 and 2016, it unexpectedly rose to 7% and 19% respectively, Nawaz said.

Pakistans share of migrant workers to the Kingdom was always lower than Indias share, but in 2015 and 2016 Pakistan's share eclipsed India and reached 60% from the previous average of 45% per year.

Data from the Saudis General Authority for Statistics (GAS) also reveals that there has been a 12.17% increase in the number of expatriates until the third quarter survey of 2016. The GAS survey further shows that the number of expatriates in the Kingdom reached 11.6 million by mid-2016. In 2015, there were only 10.2 million migrants in the Kingdom.

The report clearly indicates and confirms that the inflow of migrant workers into Saudi workforce was never interrupted, rather there was a 12.17% increase in the number of expatriates joining the Saudi workforce.

A migration expert in India said that lengthy official recruitment procedures and keeping a high minimum wage is forcing Saudi Arabia to look for migrant workers from Pakistan and Bangladesh, rather than from India. eMigrate system, the official recruitment channel initiated by India to ensure rights and protection for workers, and raising the monthly minimum salary has forced the Saudi employers to look for workers from Bangladesh and Pakistan, Bheem Reddy, president of Coalition of Overseas Telangana Assocaition, said.

An Indian working in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, said that it is not only minimum wage and lengthy procedures that is causing problems for Indian workers. The worker says that Saudi employers feel more comfortable with Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. They can get along with Pakistanis and Bangladeshis very well. It is evident here. Moreover, Indians aren't ready to do low-paid jobs, which Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are ready to do. Some may cite the dip in oil prices and the struggling Saudi economy. But I dont believe it, the Indian worker said on the condition of anonymity, citing security reasons.

Boban Nalinakshan, an Indian who returned to India after working in Saudi Arabia for 18 years, said surviving in the Kingdom was hard. Indians are often looked down upon, Also, companies are in trouble due to the dip in oil prices. Why should we Indians struggle there and always be at the receiving end? So, I came back. Now, I am an auto driver in Kerala. I have a small business too. Its fine. It's far better than being there, Boban added.

Loss in remittances

Job loss for Indians in the Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia, will lead to a dip of Rs 6,000 crore in remittances, say migration experts citing official data. The Indian governments official data reveals that in comparison to 2015, in 2016, the number of Indians migrating to six Gulf countries were short by 2.5 lakh.

Whatever be the work conditions, majority of the Indian migrant workers manage to send back home around Rs 20,000 per month from Gulf countries. Multiply this with all the jobs lost last year and it comes to over Rs 500 crore per month. Annually, loss in remittances touches the Rs 6,000 crore mark.

In 2015, the remittances to Indian were $69 billion (Rs 4.6 lakh crore). Now, the World Bank predicts a lesser amount for 2016 due to economic conditions in the Gulf led by oil price dip. Although India will still remain the worlds biggest recipient of such funds, the bank estimates there could be a 5% fall in the quantum of money sent back home, the World Bank report says.

Jose Chacko, a financial expert in Oman, predicted that the losses would only increase as Saudi Arabia is turning away Indians and for various reasons, prefers Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. Chacko said that Saudi Arabia changing its recruitment priorities is going to hit India hard.

Remittances to India will witness a dip due to oil price crisis and job loss in Gulf countries. World Bank statistics reveal that around 50% of remittances to India come from Gulf expatriates. Among Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia stands second with approximately a 30% sharethe United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 38% share is firstso when Indian numbers in Saudi Arabia go down, our remittances will be hit hard, Chacko said.

In 2016, thousands of migrant workers from Asian countries took to the roads in Saudi Arabia and set buses on fire, protesting a delay in payment of salaries as companies declared bankruptcy. Last Wednesday, replying to a written question, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh said as many as 4870 Indian workers who faced job-related difficulties are being brought back to India in cooperation with the Saudi authorities. "The process is nearing completion," he said in Parliament.

Hubertson Tomwilson, an advocate and migrants rights activist in India who focuses on Gulf Cooperation Council migrants issues, agrees that the change in preference of Saudi Arabia will hit Indians hard.

During the visit to the Kingdom, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen as euphoric, declaring that cooperation and people to people exchange would increase. But statistics reveal that has not happened. Unemployment rates are not good in India. Now, we are losing opportunities abroad too. Its a worrisome situation, Hubertson said.
In a country where sexual harassment is commonplace, horrendous incidents are very often spoken about in passing. Or worse, they are not addressed at all. Many of us do not even regard some forms of abuse as problematic, such as eve-teasing or cat-calling, and just brush them under the carpet. At such a time, two online platforms are making the process of talking about abuse and violence easier and accessible.

The Instagram account of KrantiKali, a startup advocating gender equity, features pictures of women narrating stories where they have been groped, eve-teased and almost been kidnapped. These pictures, where some women have revealed their identity, and in some where one can only see their feet or back, are part of the Liminal Lens series.

Founder Bhani Rachel Bali wants Liminal Lens to add to the gender discourse in the country and to derive an understanding into values, beliefs and customs that perpetuate gender-instrinsic behaviour. KrantiKali believes in photography with a purpose. Liminal refers to a space or a metaphorical realm where ideas and concepts, artistic, political, cultural social or otherwise are in constant states of contestation and negotiation, she explains. She wants to understand how the common Indian perceives gender. Were using personal stories of the everyday Indian citizen to reach the mainstream where these issues are often ignored. In my experience of working as a gender sensitisation trainer, Ive realized that most people for that matter who are not in the gender rights or feminist activist circle equate gender with womens issues only. It's high time this changes, Rachel asserts. How Revealing!, a website which welcomes people of all genders to submit stories of harassment, aims to act as a safe space where complex feelings associated with abuse can be legitimised. Here, you will find stories of both men and women across all ages who have been at the receiving end of abuse from relatives, strangers and also persons of authority, such as policemen.

The name is an effort to reclaim this exact phrase  How revealing!  of victim blaming and shaming. Urmila, the founder of this platform, says that she set up the website because she realised that a lot of her friends and relatives were blaming themselves for the trauma they had endured, and that very often they did not address incidents simply because of the frequency with which they occur. She wants How Revealing! to help people speak out, even about what they think are small incidents. The small and casual incidents of sexism we encounter regularly, when we are made to feel touchy for raising our voices  we want to record these experiences as well, because it is all part of and contributes to the same, larger problem, she explains. It is also a way for her to channel all the anger and despair she feels when a victim is blamed and to channel it into something positive. An unmissable feature of the stories on How Revealing! is that the place, time, clothes worn by the victim and their age are distinctly mentioned. When asked what the objective behind this was, Urmila says they are meant to turn common notions on their head. We want to show that this does not matter; one can get assaulted irrespective of whatever one is wearing, she explains. She adds that once she has accumulated a considerable number of stories, this data can also be used as research to draw conclusions from, about abuse and violence. How Revealing! allows everybody to submit stories, and Urmila does not pick and choose when it comes to publishing them. She only edits them for spelling mistakes and grammar, or to make the meaning of a particular sentence clearer. I also remove identifying details of the abuser or harasser, she adds. The process that Rachel follow for Liminal Lens is the opposite of this; she walks around cities to seek stories. Have people always been open to speaking about incidents from their past? Rachel says that it is difficult to approach women, and understandably so. But when I show them the Instagram feed and they read the comments, they realise its a safe medium, and that by sharing their stories they are furthering the discourse on the topic. Usually, they speak of situations where they thought it was a minor incident to report, she explains.

How Revealing! aims at helping people know that they are not alone, that there are others like them, as well as enabling people to seek help through the links on the support page. Additionally, it is working towards being an inclusive platform where anyone can post about experiences that they have undergone or been witness to. We also want to function as a repository that can fill the information vacuum as incidents of sexual violence are probably under-reported in India due to flaws in our justice systems and due to the stigma. With time and with enough stories, we hope to impact policy, explains Urmila.

One of the goals of both How Revealing! and Liminal Lens is taking the conversation about abuse beyond the community of feminists and people who are already aware of gender issues. We also want to empower women to start their own dialogue, to demand that people sit up and notice that womens safety goes beyond the moral policing, political jargon and reactionary policies, says Rachel. Both these projects also seeks to help people deal with the difficult emotions that result from traumatic experiences.

As a result of documenting these stories, the creators of these projects have been able to make certain observations about violence and abuse in India. Urmila says that the response from contributors has been positive and heartening, and that some of the stories she receives are frankly heart-breaking. Another point that stands out is that more than 50% of the stories are of child sexual abuse, she highlights. Rachel says that sexual harassment seems to be a commonplace occurrence in the lives of women, and that most of the cases she documented had gone unreported.

One striking observation that Rachel and Urmila shared is that their platforms seem to be the first place where many people have even opened up about a negative experience they have undergone. This is what makes the experience of speaking out so cathartic. We were told by many of our respondents that they found this therapeutic in some ways. Weve had women share incidents from over a decade ago which they hadnt with anybody until they shared it in the middle of the streets of Connaught Place in New Delhi, Rachel says.

Urmila and Rachel say that there is an urgent need for an accessible medium where people can talk about such experiences. It is very clear that there is a need for a dedicated portal to record stories of sexual assault and sexual harassment that functions as an outlet for the complex emotions associated with sexual violence, the former explains.

Because both these platforms are online and inherently interactive in nature, reader responses are of utmost importance to gauge how effective their work is. Rachel says, The responses have been encouraging; some viewers have reached out and expressed the need to share their stories. She adds that some comments lead to larger discussions about topics, and that a majority of comments are empathetic in nature. Urmila has received a lot of appreciation for starting her initiative. But there is also sadness and despair at the nature of stories we have been receiving, she says.

When it comes to confessions of this kind, anonymity plays an integral role, and it is a choice that both Liminal Lens and How Revealing! offer. There is a lot of stigma attached to speaking openly about sexual abuse and a lot of shame and fear, and this can prevent people from speaking about it openly. Therefore, allowing for anonymous posting helps people share and let it out without being afraid that there will be repercussions, Urmila asserts.

Rachel says that the reason why some of her subjects can choose not to show their faces is because the project wants to focus on the story being told rather than the physical looks of the person narrating it. That being said, people who tell their stories can also choose to mention their names. Most women who choose to show their faces do it out of choice because they feel that by hiding their faces, they are just proving the society right and further stigmatising the issue of sexual harassment, Rachel explains.

How deeply involved are they in the lives of those who speak to them? Both assert that first and foremost, their initiatives exist to serve as platforms. Urmila adds that she places a large value on psychological care for these victims. Disclosure of this nature can lead to a lot of buried or unknown feelings coming out and post that, psychologists recommend that people seek closure, she explains.

Liminal Lens also extends its involvement to encouraging effective action on the part of its participants. Apart from letting them know that they are not alone, Rachel finds that the project also empowered to take action the next time something happens to them or someone they know, because they end up narrating stories of incidents that they regrettably did not report. She also recommends that her subjects not hesitate to report any violation of their rights.

You can follow Liminal Lens here, and check out How Revealing! here.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), headed by Pahlaj Nihalani, has cancelled the scheduled broadcast of the Oscar-winning film The Danish Girl on Sony Le PLEX HD, a Sony Pictures Network channel.

The channel also tweeted out about its inability to telecast the television premiere of the internationally acclaimed film.

We know how much you wished to watch The Danish Girl this Sunday & regret the inconvenience caused. We thank you for your constant support. pic.twitter.com/eti2TAxBRV  Sony Le PLEX HD (@SonyLePLEXHD) March 24, 2017

The whole subject is controversial, and its unsuitable to be viewed by children. It talks about a man who wants a sex change and has a genital operation to become a woman. The subject is sensitive and how do you edit a subject like that? Mumbai Mirror quoted a CBFC board member as saying.

The board member added that the reason The Danish Girl (which got an 'A' certification) was released in theatres with zero cuts was "to retain the essence of the movie as it sensitively shows the dilemma of a person who doesnt identify with his gender".

A film which gets an 'A' certification has to reapply for certification for broadcasting on TV because the medium has a wider reach.
Among the memorials at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, there stands a monument to Judge Radhabinod Pal of India. Judge Radhabinod Pal, played by Irrfan Khan in a Netflix miniseries Tokyo Trial, tells us the story of the forgotten Indian judge who is almost revered by the Japanese because of his stance during the war crime trials after the World War II which are termed as the Tokyo Trials.

World War II was the first major conflict in history where the victors carried out trials of people in the defeated nations for 'crimes against peace' and 'crimes against humanity,' two new and broadly defined categories of international crime."

This ofcourse brings to mind the iconic Nuremberg trials. But the equally controversial and brutal trials at Tokyo set of trials occurred in Tokyo, under the watchful eye of Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur.

Occupation officer turned historian Richard B Finn notes how the Tokyo trials were a call for the trials of those who had brought the war to the people of Japan. This included thirty nine suspects  most of whom were members of Japanese Prime Minister General Tojo's war cabinet. The suspects were arrested and put to trial taking into account three major categories.

The Class A category charges alleged 'crimes against peace' were to be brought against Japan's top leaders who had planned and directed the war. Class B and Class C charges, which could be leveled at Japanese of any rank, covered 'conventional war crimes' and 'crimes against humanity,' respectively.

The Tokyo trials began on May 3, 1946, and lasted two and a half years. Eleven judges (from countries that included India) were selected from names submitted to him by the governments sitting on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMFTE). After setting up the bench, twenty-eight high-ranking political and military leaders were tried and indicted on 55 counts of 'crimes against peace, conventional war crimes, and crimes against humanity.' The trials have been criticised as another example of 'victors' justice.'

Historian Milinda Banerjee, who has done extensive archival research on the Tokyo trials tells us about how the Indian judge, Radhabinod Pal's presence changed the outcome of the trials. He says, "Out of the eleven judges, it was India's Radhabinod Pal who gave the most controversial judgment, which, in a certain sense, exculpated the Japanese top leadership (but did not excuse Japanese war crimes as such). Pal also made pointed criticisms of the American atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Pal thereby radically transformed the Tokyo Trial, by bringing to the fore questions of imperialism and colonial violence, in which the Allied Powers were also implicated."

So who was this dissenting judge? How did he get on the panel?

Banerjee tells us, "The initial plan was that India would send an Associate Prosecutor but not a judge. Only the nations which had been signatory to the surrender of Japan would send judges. But the Agent General for India in Washington DC, Girja Shankar Bajpai (he would later become independent India's first Secretary General in the Ministry of External Affairs), insisted on behalf of the Government of India that India should be allowed to send a judge too given its extensive involvement in WWII: Indians having been soldiers as well as war victims. The United States initially did not want this, though Britain and New Zealand decided to support India's candidature. Ultimately, after long debates involving Bajpai and the US Government, and especially the US Department of State, it was agreed that India could send a judge. Bajpai claimed for India (in his words) 'a footing of equality' with this."

The Japanese historian Nariaki Nakazato discovered that the initial British choices were for a judge in the Bombay High Court (who declined) and later a judge in the Allahabad High Court (who did not respond). When the government then contacted various High Courts, Radhabinod Pal was the first to respond, and thus got selected.

Banerjee lays emphasis on Pal's presence in the courtroom. He says, "With Radhabinod Pal on the panel, there was a huge difference. As generations of historians have emphasised, Pal insisted, from the very beginning, on carving out his own legal point of view about the trial. His dissenting judgment was a hugely controversial document. Pal was not the only dissenter of course; the French and the Dutch judges also gave dissenting opinions. But Pal's voice was certainly the most controversial. Historians who champion Pal's dissent argue that it was a pioneering anti-colonial judgment, in the sense that Pal condemned the project of the Allied Powers to proclaim themselves as righteous victors against the 'evil' Japanese, and thus to use the trial to legitimate their hegemony, including their imperial control over Asia, in the name of creating an order of international criminal justice."

"Detractors of Pal argue that in criticising the trial, Pal also ended up being something of an apologist for Japanese war criminals. Pal's argument that the Japanese top political-military leadership could not be accused of direct involvement in war crimes, certainly leaves itself open to a great deal of criticism (as he has faced from many proponents of international criminal and humanitarian law)," explains Banerjee.

Banerjee expands on Pal's legal stance in the trial. He says, "Pal was an exceptionally complex figure, whose views on international criminal justice need to be contextualised in terms of his broader legal philosophy, as well as the ambivalent role he was placed in, and especially his fear of Western control over East and Southeast Asia (not only Japan, but also Indonesia, Indochina, etc.) This fear of Western colonialism led him to take a legal-moral stand which would appear to us to be ethically problematic."

Inputs about Girja Shankar Bajpai and Radhabinod Pal are from Milinda Banerjee



Milinda Banerjee is an Assistant Professor at the Department of History, Presidency University, Kolkata, and Research Fellow at Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich. He specialises in the intersections of South Asian and global intellectual history, with a particular focus on concepts of sovereignty, law, and democratic politics.
You know you are having a grand time as a film buff when it is still the first quarter of the year and already your 'Best Indian films of 2017' list has begun writing itself in your head. Take a bow, Mollywood, for having the capacity to deliver an Angamaly Diaries and a Take Off within the same month.

And take a bow Indian cinema as a whole for having the capacity to deliver a Take Off from Mollywood and an Anaarkali of Aarah from Bollywood within the same week.

Sadly, language politics in the coverage of films by the so-called national media is such that most English platforms have either entirely ignored or given short shift to two of these three films because they are not in Hindi. Sad, because Take Off is an ode to the Indian spirit, not the Malayali spirit alone. There is that other little matter: it is brilliant.

Well-known film editor Mahesh Narayanan makes his directing debut with a story inspired by the real-life experiences of Indian nurses held captive in 2014 in Tikrit, caught between Iraqi government forces and ISIS. The nurses ordeal is recounted through the fictionalised life of one, Sameera played by Parvathy.

Take Off gives us time with Sameera, extensively covering her personal history before placing her in Tikrit, so that when tragedy ultimately strikes, we already deeply care for her.

We see Sameera through professional challenges, as a dutiful daughter asserting the right to provide for her parental home after marriage and fighting the conservatism of her marital home. Within minutes, as the power of Narayanans storytelling draws us in, her journey becomes ours. And so we follow her at work, through her romantic relationships, marriage, motherhood and ultimately to Iraq where she travels for a job. It is important that we do so, because by the time she comes face to face with ISIS, we are fore-armed with the knowledge that battle is a habit for her and courage is second nature.

At one point, before the jehadists take over her hospital, Sameera says: How long will I be afraid? Growing up I was afraid of my father, then my husband, and now my son.

It is a turning point in our understanding of her, because while fear itself may be a reflex reaction beyond human control, succumbing to that fear is a choice  a choice this woman does not make.

The escape of Indian nurses from Tikrit was widely covered by the media, so we already know this storys ending. It is a testament to Narayanan and his co-writer P.V. Shajikumars skills that despite this, in Take Offs final moments they spring a surprise on us drawn from the fictional elements of the script.

There has been talk that Take Off has shades of Airlift. This is an unthinking parallel, because apart from the fact that both are based on true stories set in Iraq involving Indians stuck in conflict zones, the two films are as different as a single apple and an orchard full of oranges. Airlift was entertaining, slickly produced and unusual in that commercial Hindi cinema usually steers clear of contemporary history, but it was also an intentionally dishonest film that painted real-life stars as villains in an effort to build up its protagonist played by Akshay Kumar.

Take Off has integrity. Of course Sameera is the central figure, but she is not artificially lionised by diminishing others in a bid to play to the gallery. The names of the characters in this real-life drama are not used in the film, but several are present: a fictionalised Indian ambassador to Iraq (played by Fahadh Faasil) who engineers the nurses escape, a foreign secretary played by Prakash Belawadi, in addition to Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and then Kerala CM Oommen Chandy, both of whom make an appearance as unnamed voices on the telephone.

Though the ambassador is the kingpin of the op, it is implied that all four are a cohesive team.

Central to the success of this film is Parvathys flawless performance as Sameera. She seems not to strain a single nerve or muscle to capture the spirit of our incredibly strong heroine. You would think that she is not acting, she is just being.

The supporting cast is as impeccable. Kunchacko Boban deserves a special mention for his endearing turn as the unconventional man behind this unconventional woman, even if his character provides perhaps the only episode of incongruity and indecisiveness in the film, the only episode in which the writers appear unjust and conservative in their view of a woman's right to make decisions regarding her life or prioritise herself over others.

Faasil holds himself back to just the right degree, to ensure that his characters heroism never acquires a filmic swagger. Asif Alis brief but impactful role momentarily erases thoughts of the godawful Honey Bee 2: Celebrations that is also currently in theatres.

Every tiny role  whether of Indians, Iraqis or others  has been cast with the sort of attention to detail that makes Take Off the work of genius that it is.

Narayanan has co-edited the film with Abhilash Balachandran. Their flair is particularly evident in the smoothness of the intercuts between multiple strands of Sameeras life in the first hour of Take Off  far from being confusing, the narrative structure serves to highlight the unrelenting nature of Sameeras struggles. How is this woman not exhausted?

No individual is caricatured here, though it must have been tempting to at least parody ISIS. What you do not show is sometimes as telling as what you do. By hinting at a flash of humanity from a bigot at one point and not clearly revealing the mans act of kindness (we can only guess at it), Narayanan snubs his nose at the you are either with us or against us attitude pervading our world. Life is not a college debating society where you must be for or against a motion, life usually plays out in confusing shades of grey of the sort Narayanan chooses to capture.

This is a thinking man  even the most minuscule element in the film points to that. The use of language, for one. Take Off did not have English subtitles in the NCR theatre where I watched it, but embedded in the film are Malayalam subs that suggest a stance on the countrys language debate. Narayanan clearly does not subscribe to the average north Indians vision of Hindi as a language all Indians ought to know or the false notion that it is a language every Indian does know. As characters in Take Off slip in and out of Malayalam, Arabic, Hindi, English and even a spot of Tamil, it is interesting that Malayalam subs come up on screen for the Arabic, English and Hindi dialogues but not Tamil, reflecting the reality of language as it is understood by Take Offs primary target audience who are Malayalam speakers.

One argument I have with the film is its fleeting lack of clarity on the matter of womens reproductive rights: without giving anything away, let me just say that under Indian law a woman does not need her husbands permission for an abortion, although many conservative doctors act as moral police in this matter. The fuzziness here seems deliberate, which is disappointing in a film that is crystal clear with every other point it makes, sans sermons or lectures.

Barring this passage, Narayanan speaks in an assured voice, complemented by world-class technical departments. Sanu John Vargheses cinematography, Shaan Rahman and Gopi Sundars music, the measured sound design (Vishnu Govind, Sree Sankar) and credible production design (Santosh Raman) all contribute towards making this a realistic, thoroughly nuanced, gritty and gripping film.

Take Off is not what might conventionally be described as issue-based, yet its every word, shot and line brims with meaning. The film is packed with commentary on gender, religion, terrorism, questionable decisions that are inevitable in diplomacy, mental wellness, Kerala society, poverty, unemployment, immigration, the enemy within Islam, the mindlessness of the many who adopt a path of violence without foreseeing consequences for themselves, and more.

In one potent scene, Sameera camouflages a pregnancy by voluntarily donning a burqa, a garment she had earlier pointedly avoided, thus earning her in-laws censure. Is she now succumbing to patriarchy? Or is she, as a member of a marginalised social group, cleverly using a tool of exploitation to her advantage, to beat the exploiter at their own game? Like the diplomats in the film who use their knowledge of forces of evil to overcome them?

Did I forget to mention that Sameera is pregnant through most of Take Off? That her resilience urges us to rethink our definition of strength? Or that the beautifully understated use of the national anthem in Take Off should serve as a lesson to those currently pandering to self-styled nationalists by foregrounding Jana Gana Mana in a contrived manner in their films?

No I did not, because there is just too much to say. Take Off is one of most intelligent thrillers I have seen in a long time. This is a riveting survival saga, made by a team gifted with acute political and social awareness. It is, in one word, stunning.
A British-Iranian woman convicted in 2014 for negligence resulting in the death of a child has been acquitted by an appeals court, according to media reports.

The New Indian Express reported that Narges Kalbasi Ashtari, who was found guilty in a case of negligence in 2014, leading to the death of a tribal child in Odisha's Rayagada district, was exonerated on appeal.

The 28-year-old ran an orphanage through her NGO Prishan Foundation in Mukundapur village of Rayagada district. In 2014, her foundation organised a picnic, during which six children were swept away while bathing in a river.

Five of the children were rescued, but Asim Jilakara, 5, was feared drowned. His body was never recovered.

BBC reported that Ashtari, who spent over a year in jail, claimed that the police accused her of throwing the boy into the river. She alleged that the cops entangled her in the case after she refused to pay bribes to a local official.

Ashtari was barred from leaving India during her appeal. She circulated an online petition which drew hundreds of thousands of signatures. "I have gone through the most horrific forms of abuse by a group of people with immense power, influence and protection," she wrote on the petition, BBC reported.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the court said the negligence charge against Asthari was "trumped up" and she could claim compensation from the state for the harassment she faced.

Rayagada additional district and sessions judge Debadatta Das Mohapatra ruled that the trial court erred when they placed the burden on Ashtari to prove her innocence and department from the settled norms of criminal jurisprudence, the report added.
Of the 15 "eye-catching" points in the 'Agenda of the Alliance' document, which binds the ideologically divergent Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir, save for one, even a discussion hasn't begun on the other promises.

It's been nearly a year since Mehbooba Mufti was sworn in as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir after the death of her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who had stitched an alliance with the BJP to become CM for the second time, on 1 March, 2015.

The AoA document was supposed to be a framework not just for economic development of the state but also to facilitate breaking the political deadlock.

And although it was a marvel of political compromises for both parties, two years later, the coalition's unfulfilled promises have just been piling up. But in public, PDP leaders still say that it's a historic document. Party spokesperson Mehboob Beg said, "Everyone in the state supports issues like handing over of power projects, and talking to all sections of society, including the alienated sections. Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti is relentlessly pursuing AoA's implementation at the highest level and we must strive towards building a peaceful and conducive environment for implementing its terms."

But the old guard, disgruntled leaders from PDP, term the document as just another "point of embarrassment" for the regional party. "Has even a discussion started on anything. BJP's agenda in the state is not to bridge the gap between Kashmir and Jammu, but to create more avenues for the Hindu vote bank," said Tariq Hamid Harra, former PDP MP from Srinagar, who recently joined the Congress.

On the ground, no one seems to have any clue about the implementation of the document, or even if there is anything that can be done to save face for both parties. For example, one of the promises in the AoA is regarding refugees from West Pakistan and providing economic succour to them. And the BJP has tried to address its political constituency by raising this issue. But apart from that, nothing has been done on the ground.

"They talked about meeting separatist representatives and addressing the economic problems of the state. They talked about creating a 'smart government', which will be transparent and accountable. But the question is whether anything has changed on the ground. Corruption has multiplied, not reduced." said industrialist Shakeel Ahmed Qalander. "There was a talk of overhauling the economic policy and aligning economic structure; has there been any restructuring at any level, or creating skills? Nothing."

Chief minister Mehbooba recently urged the Centre for revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from some parts of the Valley. Her statement at a counter-terrorism seminar in New Delhi signaled to a great extent also her frustration with New Delhi, that's not willing to even acknowledge the need for removing the controversial law, even from areas which have remained peaceful for almost a decade now.

"We should not shy away from the fact (that) we need to start revocation of AFSPA from some places and see what is the impact," Mehbooba said. "We have used guns, pellet guns, hand grenades, tear gas. We can't continue with that," she said, adding that her party had tied up with the BJP in the state only after agreeing on some agendas, including revocation of the controversial Act.

The AoA also clearly mentions that the government will examine the need for denotifying disturbed areas, which will as a consequence enable the central government to take a final view on the continuation of AFSPA in these areas.

Ironically, however, whenever there is a talk of revocation of AFSPA from some areas, someone from the BJP chips in with ill-informed statements, embarrassing the already cornered state government. Recently, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the government was ready to talk to stakeholders in Kashmir to normalise the situation. This was seen as yet another political gimmick, considering elections for two parliamentary constituencies are coming up.

"Following the principles of 'Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat and Jamhooriyat' of the earlier NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the state government will facilitate and help initiate a sustained and meaningful dialogue with all internal stakeholders and political groups irrespective of their ideological views and predilections. The dialogue will seek to build a broad-based consensus on resolution of all outstanding issues of the state," the AoA said.

Another important aspect of this document was Article 370. "The present position will be maintained on all constitutional provisions, including special status," it says.

But the reality is that there have been litigations in courts across the country, and it looks like the article could soon be done away with. This will have huge political implications, not just for the Centre, but also for the state government. Any government which is seen as failing to protect Article 370 which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will be seen as an "enemy" of the state.

The PDP-BJP alliance had also promised to secure a share in the profits of NHPC emanating from Jammu and Kashmir's waters to the state government by reversing all royalty agreements with NHPC, but the process is going nowhere.

However, while the alliance's credibility is getting eroded slowly and gradually, especially of the PDP in the Valley, state finance minister Haseeb Drabu, who is credited for cobbling up the coalition, is hopeful, "It is gradual process which will take time. The Centre will realise its (AoA) importance for the state government. A time will come when they will hand over the power projects back to the state government."

But when that time will come, no one has any clue, not even the parties themselves. The fact is that if the BJP and PDP are unable to deliver on the issues promised to the people, they will face huge challenges. If not today, then in the near future, when they go back to the people to ask for votes.
Srinagar/Jammu: Militants carried out two attacks on police forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday night, pushing the state to high-alert, days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit and the upcoming parliamentary by-elections there. The first incident was reported from Budgam district, which falls under Srinagar Parliamentary seat going to polls in the second week of April, where militants barged into the house of a sub-inspector last night and took his son and a nephew hostage, ransacked the house and set a car ablaze.

The militants drove away in the car with the two boys but let them off later, setting the vehicle on fire, police said. The incident came barely three weeks after militants had barged into the house of a senior police officer in Shopian in South Kashmir and ransacked his house, sending a shockwave among police officers fighting militancy for last 26 years.

The militants entered the house of Sub Inspector M Subhan Bhat and started ransacking his house in Chadoora area of the district in central Kashmir, official sources said, adding that they later took his son and a nephew as hostage and drove away in the car. According to the police, the militants said they wanted to kill the officer who is currently posted at the Baramulla district jail, where militant-turned separatist leader Masarat Alam is lodged.

Director General of Police S P Vaid said that stern action would be taken against those responsible for the incident. "It's the most unfortunate incident to have happened. The terrorists are feeling the heat and stooping so low. Our humane approach should not be seen as our weakness. I will ensure the welfare of every personnel in my force and such incidents will be dealt with an iron hand," he said.

Director General of Prisons S K Mishra said that he has called for a review meeting tomorrow to ascertain the safety of his personnel and their families guarding various jails in the state. In another incident, three boys, riding a motor-cycle, threw chilly powder into the eyes of a personal security officer of a cleric in Jammu, besides hitting him with blunt objects and fleeing with his AK-47 rifle. A high alert was immediately sounded in Jammu city and security was beefed up in view of the Prime Minister's visit there on 2 April for the inauguration of the Chenani-Nashri tunnel.

The incident took place last night when constable Mohd Hanief, PSO of Anjuman Minhaj-e-Rasool chairman Maulana Dehlavi, was walking down to the district police lines on Saturday night, police said. Police have arrested two of the suspects -- Masood and Shahid, and launched a manhunt to track down the third accused Asif who decamped with the AK-47 rifle. Masood hails from Shopian district. All the three have a police record of being stone-pelters and have been missing for some time.

The injured constable has been admitted to the Government Medical College in Jammu.
I wish in his 30th Mann Ki Baat address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had censured Member of Parliament Ravindra Gaikwad for encouraging inflight aggression.

We live in perilous times, where aircraft are a target for terrorists. And yet, we are so cavalier about our own safety. The man sat on a plane for 40 minutes and no one could get him off. He should have been carted off and locked up.

It is indeed sad that the conduct of this elected representative is just another passing news shower. Everyone seems happy that airlines have banned him from flying, a minor inconvenience that will melt away in a few days. In no way does it highlight the frequent high-handedness by VIPs in India where aviation is concerned  nobody said 'enough is enough now, put on your seatbelt and shut up!'

What's disheartening is that Gaikwad has practically gotten away with what would be deemed a hijacking or the unlawful occupation of an aircraft, not only under Indian caveats published on 19 January, 2012, but also under the Tokyo Convention (1969) and the Montreal Protocol (2014)  the latter updating the protection of aircraft, crew and passengers to give it more muscle.

While unruly conduct on an aircraft calls for punitive legal action, on the spot commandeering an aircraft for 40 minutes as Gaikwad did by making a 'sit in' protest, after pushing and shoving staff at the doorway to the plane is tantamount to a hijacking.

Indian laws are also very strict on this issue. They cover "acts of unlawful interference" which jeopardise the safety of civil aviation and air transport, including: Unlawful seizure of aircraft in flight; unlawful seizure of aircraft on the ground; hostage-taking on board aircraft or on aerodromes; forcible intrusion on board an aircraft, at an aerodrome or on the premises on an aeronautical facility.

Anywhere else in the world air marshals would have arrested the man and he would be facing fines that could be over $1 million and 10 years imprisonment for disrupting scheduled commercial airlines.

Gaikwad is self-confessedly guilty on all counts. In a nation where VIPs frequently delay flights, create a scene if they are not wrapped in kid gloves, where bureaucrats duck security and have three people carry their hand baggage and briefcase to the seat, where the upgrading of thousands of these men and women of VIP status causes Air India and Indian Airlines grievous losses, this was the perfect opportunity to send out a message.

Instead, we are the only progressive nation in the world that has a special counter for government servants and officials, as if their need to get out at 04:00 hours was more important because they were saving the country from the monster at the gate.

Weak unions, inflight and cabin crew who let it happen without interfering, third rate ground crew support, fifth rate cops who will bully some labourer coming in from the Gulf but failed to do their duty with Gaikwad, an attack on an individual all add up to the fact that the laws of the Ministry of Aviation were not upheld.

And we, the passengers, were shortchanged on a security and safety issue.
Ahmedabad: Over 100 Indian fishermen were allegedly apprehended and around 18 of their boats seized by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) off Jakhau coast in Gujarat's Kutch district, a fishermen association official said on Sunday.

"We have learnt that more than 100 fishermen who were on board around 18 fishing boats were apprehended by PMSA near the international maritime boundary line off Jakhau coast on Saturday," National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF) secretary Manish Lodhari said.

"The fishermen who escaped have informed us about this," he said. The NFF is trying to establish contact with the Pakistani agencies to get the exact number of those abducted by PMSA, he said. The PMSA had earlier this month also apprehended 115 fishermen and seized 19 boats. "In March so far, the PMSA has separately held over 225 fishermen along with nearly three dozen boats," Lodhari said.

The development comes after the Indian Coast Guard captured nine Pakistani nationals along with a fishing boat off Jakhau coast in Kutch on Friday. Last month, the BSF had apprehended four abandoned Pakistani fishing boats near Sir Creek in Kutch district during an extensive search operation in the area.
The world, and India, has come a long way in terms of accepting the idea of bold women. Feminism in the times of Emma Watson, Kangana Ranaut, Taapsee Pannu and Swara Bhaskar constantly reminds us that women wont just be silent receivers of societal judgment. The battle against sexism has evolved and it rages on, but we must say, its never looked as good as it has in the form of these Indian pin-ups!

Canadian visual artist Nimisha Bhanot has been challenging the way South Asian women are perceived through her Badass Indian pin-up series. Bhanot artfully juxtaposes traditional and cultural signifiers against sexually liberated composition to challenge patriarchal expectations of women. While her series is focused on Indian women, the artwork aims at striking a chord with people across the globe. All women worldwide, including trans individuals, femmes and non-gender conforming people, should not be judged or live in fear for living their lives on their terms and should not have to be held up to the impossible standards of a hetero-patriarchal society. She also wishes to open up the conversation about gender identity and make it more inclusive, There is no one right way to be Indian, Pakistani, Bengali, Canadian, man, woman, queer or transperson  we all experience life through different lenses so why should we be expected to follow the same rules? she asserts.

The birth of Bhanots bold artwork also came at a time when the dialogue about womens struggles was at its peak. It was around the time of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case that Bhanot knew that it was about time that her art challenge the male gaze. She recollects how deeply this atrocity had an impact on her, The gang rape of Jyoti Singh on 16 December, 2012 really shook me. She was my age, just coming back from watching a movie with a male friend and just as she should she assumed that she would be safe travelling at night in 2012. In 2012 I was in my final year at Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) University finishing my undergraduate thesis and I put in a lot of long hours at the studio. I was fortunate enough to have the support of my parents  I barely worked, I would stay until the studio closed at 1 am and I could safely cross the street, get into my car and go home. But what if I was living in India, what if that was me?

It was about this time that Bhanot had completed the first painting of her series, albeit with a lot of hesitation on how it would be received. Just a few days before hearing of her rape, I brought home a self-portrait I did that semester of myself as a Badass Bride, smoking a cigar in a white lengha and my parents were furious. I spent 3 years of my degree making safe living room art and it wasn't good enough for me so I experimented with the Badass Bride because I had wanted to paint it for so long but never had the courage to. The timing of my parents' reaction to the painting, and hearing about Jyoti's rape set off an alarm in my head - I absolutely had to change my thesis mid-year. I finally created something that made me feel good, where I knew I was standing up to the patriarchy that I witnessed my whole life and I did not want to go back, so I haven't!"

The victim blaming and warped narrative during this case is what drove Bhanot to pursue her series further, "It really frustrated me because patriarchy and this subservient, docile role are both part of the perception of the South Asian woman and I wanted to talk back to that. So I changed my thesis mid year so I could continue working on the female gaze. The gaze gives the subject a lot of power and that's what I think we need to see more of."

Advocating for womens rights through her art was one of the many hurdles that came in Bhanots way while expressing her opinion; the pin-up series was a matter of cultural identity too. Being Indo-Canadian, I struggled with trying to find a place between both identities, as many feel in the Indian diaspora and I often found myself feeling guilty for divulging in one aspect of my identity and denying the other, she admitted. I felt liberated wearing short shorts but it made me feel less Indian, because being sexy, feeling sexy makes you 'un-Indian'. But at the same time I felt uncomfortable going to the mall in a Punjabi suit after visiting the mandir because I didn't want to stand out. I had to teach myself that it's okay to live my life on my terms, to fluctuate between the two and that people's opinions don't matter.

At a time when the issues of immigration and national identity are being put to the test, Bhanot feels that the world must embrace multiculturalism. Too many people live in fear of violence, bullying, losing their jobs, not getting hired for jobs simply because they embrace both aspects of their dichotomous identity and that's tragic, it should never be that way.

Her reason for choosing the art style of pin-ups also revolves around this discourse, I always loved pinup art growing up but could never see myself in it because all the women were white. I wonder how I would have felt about wearing short-shorts if there was representation of sexually liberated, confident women of colour in the art that I so admired - so I decided to create it. For Bhanot, the pin-ups are also a way of transposing the idea of cultural appropriation, Growing up as a North American I saw motif, design, themes, materials, jewellery etc. from our culture being appropriated by white women that had no acknowledgement for the history of violence that was inflicted on our people. It was almost painful to watch them wear bindis and tikkas during music festivals and get away with it. So I decided to channel the pinup not only to challenge patriarchal expectations of the sexually liberated South Asian woman, to reflect common North American women of modern diaspora, but to talk back to the increasing fetisization of Indo-Chic in fashion today by showing real South Asian women owning both.

In terms of how the art is being received, especially online, Bhanot loves how social media is being used as a platform for activism and protest, When one person encounters an idea that makes them pause, it forces them to think. When people think about what they're looking at they will most likely share that idea with someone else and this is how you create change. I think the discourse has changed to become intersectional and thus more inclusive of all groups in feminism. An example of this would be Dr Tanya Rawal of Saree Not Sorry who modelled for my painting Bharti and The Cheeseburger. She is a professor at California State University Riverside and wears a saree to teach at the university every day. She created this project and started sharing it online and has now created a platform where women from all over the world can share their pride for South Asian fashion and incite discussion on issues surrounding identity and diaspora.

Bhanot is no stranger to negative feedback, but it doesnt bog her down. For her, its the evolution of the conversation that matters, I love juxtaposition and I enjoy the shock factor in my work because it makes people think, then gets them to talk and share. I believe that my art could change the world one day so I deliberately stage paintings that will get people talking. It doesn't matter if they're saying good things or bad things - they are thinking and sharing and that's all I ask for. Bhanot hopes that the conversations particularly scrutinises the traditional perspective of what it is to be an Indian woman, adding that, Sometimes I assess my ideas and think what aunties would say if they saw this? If it looks like trouble according to the heteropatriarchal South Asian lens I will work with it because perception changes everything and art is a language that anyone can understand.

Bhanot hopes to include the trans community in her art series as well. She recently worked with South Asian artists Vivek Shraya and Alok Vaid-Menon, who happen to be powerful voices in the trans community for people of colour. I think it's important to give them (the LGBTQ+ community) the same voice, the same representation, the same platform to be honoured, idolized and immortalized, Bhanot states about new series.

She also plans on a plus sized pinup and will be releasing them soon this year. The growing confidence and accessibility in feminist discourse is exactly what Bhanot looking forward to, and she cant wait to see how the conversation moves forward, I think our women are bolder, more outspoken and now we really have the tools to make a difference - I am very excited to be part of this movement and to live to watch it as it grows.

You can follow more of Nimisha Bhanot's work on Facebook, Instagram and her website.
One of the chicest husband and wife duo Murad and Nataly Osmann, co-creators of the Instagram phenomenon #FollowMeTo, are best known for their globe trotting ways and and Nataly's assortment of clothes and jewelry, sourced from small designers across the world. From their hometown Moscow to the streets of India, the couple has been everywhere. Here's a glimpse at how Murad Osman came about creating his account:

What do you and your wife do other than these beautiful Instagram shoots? Could you tell us more about your career graph?

Before the project began to gain followers, we worked with Natalayjust like all other people, five days a week and on weekends escaped in a short trip. I have my own production company the hype, I founded a long time, and this is my main job. Natasha was a journalist. But now it looks like this project has taken all of our time.

How did you come up with the idea of the #FollowMeTo series?

The story has started on our first trip together to Barcelona. We were very young, very much in love, and absolutely carefree. We were strolling along sunny narrow streets, chatting, laughing, and, of course, taking lots of photos. All of a sudden Natasha looked away and pulled me forward, and that was the moment when he caught that shot!

You and your wife travel the world together and have been to the most picturesque and beautiful locations. Is there any special place that holds memories or significance in your life?

Such a place exists and it is India! We've been there 4 times already, and each time is an unforgettable experience! It is a place of power and spirituality, which always want to come back.

The story that we tell as often as the story of our first picture is shot in the Taj Mahal for the first time. We woke up very early to take a picture on a blank area, and there was already full of tourists, its 4 o'clock in the morning! In order to get a really fabulous shot, our friends kept people behind the scenes, and we quickly snapped camera to get this precious frame.

Is the popularity of the Instagram account overwhelming? We have a very long time to do the project for themselves and loved ones. After the first shot took one and a half years prior to that moment as the press drew attention to us. Viral effects can be seen after publication at Reddit, in the Daily Mail and Buzzfeed. Everything happened really suddenly! Simply we have published on the front page, and after received a proposal from Google about the collaboration. We did not become world stars (laughs), but as soon as we receive a pose for a photo, people immediately begin to get to know us! So we are the heroes of our frame, nothing more! Which is the best parody account that you have come across? I like the picture with a cat and a dog that pulled his paw to their owners and of course with a fridge. The most memorable story was a Taiwanese couple, where the girl was dragging with a guy by the hair and nose was the cutest! Both of you keep coming to India. The place seems to hold a special significance for you? A special place is the city of Udaipur on the water, the blue city of Jodhpur and Varanasi, because there is a tremendous energy.

#followmeto Varanasi with @yourleo. It was the city we were most excited about visiting having seen so many photos and videos of it. Hindus believe that Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world. Big thanks to @bazaarbridein A post shared by Murad Osmann (@muradosmann) on Apr 3, 2015 at 9:03am PDT

Any particular location in India that you have been particularly attached to?

The Taj Mahal, which was the second symbol of our project, after Follow Me To. Picture three stints on the cover of the world's magazines: National Geographic and Harpers Bazaar, and also became the most viral in the history of the project. Recently, by the way, we tried to repeat it in a new light and from a different angle, to thereby obtain a flurry of comments and publications in various media. And now we can safely conclude that this is our place!

Any funny stories from your India trip that you would like to share?

Always remember the story how the Chand Baori security tried to catch us for trespassing. While our friends are distracted at the entrance, we crept inside, but we had just a few minutes to do everything. Just then we were seen running smoothly and I clicked the camera to catch. Repeating over and over, "Nataly, abstracts, and do not pay attention, we need a picture." That's how to get one of the best shots from India.

As a couple, does India hold a special place in yours and Ms. Nataly Osmann's heart because of its ability to inspire romance?

Yes, this story is very inspiring us! Here, for example, during our last trip, we had an Indian wedding in the traditional style.

What is next for you? Any future plans?

Now we are actively engaged in creating videos for various city routes. After the show on Russian television, we have decided to devote more attention to the video content. This year we will finish the tour guides for the home country. Already released draft Kamchatka, very soon will be presented to the St. Petersburg and Moscow. With this format, we can talk about all that's left overs #Followmeto, and to show the main sights. Video on Kamchatka is already available to view on our YouTube channel:
What exactly is the problem in the Congress? India's oldest party is in its worst position in history and seems unable to revive itself. Is it in terminal decline or is it awaiting renewal through a new leader? Let us examine the issue.

The first thing that seems visible is denial, meaning the belief that it is not in any permanent trouble. This is understandable for two reasons. One, that only 34 months ago, the Congress was ruling India with a plurality of seats. A Congress PM had ruled for 10 straight years, the first time this had happened since Indira Gandhi in the 1970s. When such a period ends it is only natural to assume that this is temporary and that in time the electorate will turn again to the party. The second reason is that in any family-controlled party, the courtiers or durbaris are not themselves popular figures. They have no incentive to tell the truth to their leadership, nor are they themselves aware of ground reality since they have no pressure to do any mobilisation.

The second problem is not really a missing leader but a lack of narrative. It is true that Narendra Modi is highly charismatic, a word which means leadership that inspires devotion in others. He is a very good communicator as we all know. However, his chief talent lies in reduction, meaning he takes India's complex problems and reduces them in an overly simple framework.

For example, he can say that terrorism happens because of weak and cowardly leadership and he will end it. The fact is he cannot as we have found out, but there is no counter narrative.

Modi can define the terms of the political debate so well that even a policy that affects every single Indian negatively, like notebandi, can be effectively marketed as a great triumph against black money, terrorism and counterfeiters.

The inability of Rahul Gandhi to produce a strong and compelling narrative is his biggest failure. His dullness at public speaking and his lack of energy are secondary. He does not have the ability to own Congress success and Modi reversals on NREGA and Aadhar.

The third problem is the absence of a cadre on the ground. The Bharatiya Janata Party has the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's foot soldiers available to do groundwork. There are lakhs of them, many of them, though not all, being dedicated and highly motivated. Till only a few years ago, we would often hear the term 'freedom fighter' used to describe individuals. These individuals were not physical fighters, they opposed the British through civil action coordinated by the Congress.

Someone born in the mid 1930s would have served Nehru and later Indira because of their continued association with the party of freedom, the Congress. By the 1980s this person, the 'Congress worker', had begun to disappear and now the category does not exist. The party has no ideology, like Hindutva or communism, and no particular dedicated social base, like Mayawati or Asaduddin Owaisi have with Dalits and Muslims. Few Indians have an incentive to mobilise for the Congress.

Because of this reality the local Congress leader must build their own supporter base, with their own money.

This brings us to the fourth problem, which is resource. Elections require cash, and lots of it. This cash comes to electoral politics in two ways. The party collects funding, whether through official donations, membership fees or corruption. Part of this is distributed to candidates and some sent to a general pool for national advertising, travel and rally costs and so on. The second is the personal investment made by candidates. I am revealing no secret when I say that it needs more than Rs 10 crore to fight an election in local assemblies and for parliament the figure is much more.

The Congress today rules only two large states, Karnataka (which it has a strong chance of losing next year) and Punjab. These two states cannot generate enough money to sustain the party nationally. And candidates given Congress tickets no longer spend large sums of their own because what fool would invest heavily in a losing cause?

This has led to terminal decline. Congress is losing nationally because it has lost states. Even in two-party states like Gujarat, where the Congress is in opposition, it cannot win elections. The last time Congress won an election in Gujarat whether Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha was three decades ago. When the current governments of Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh finish their term, Congress will have been out of power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh for 15 years. It seems to be permanently in opposition. In other states, like Odisha and West Bengal now and Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu from before, it has even lost the status of a meaningful opposition party.

Such parties cannot be revived by new leadership. They need a new message and a reason for existence. Congress in 2017 stands for nothing positive, not even secularism. Let us accept this. It applauds the father of a dead Muslim boy who disowns his son's body because he is afraid of our current angry nationalism. Even in death, the enmity and the hatred remains. Such parties, with no values and no credibility, have no chance of survival and die, as the Congress is finding out.
Kurukshetra: BJP president Amit Shah said the key objective of his party is to build a strong India, which is free from casteism, corruption, regionalism and the Congress.

"The objective is to build a strong India which is free from casteism, corruption, regionalism as well as the Congress. The party workers will dedicatedly contribute towards achieving this target," he said.

Shah was addressing BJP workers on the concluding day of the three-day state-level 'Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shatabdi Karyakarta Vistar' workshop. He said the BJP plans to expand its footprint in the birth centenary year of Jana Sangh ideologue Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay and is observing the birth centenary year of Upadhyay as the year of the party's national work expansion scheme.

"The workers will have to shoulder the responsibility of expanding the party's base at the grassroots level," he was quoted as saying in a BJP release. The event was not open to the media.

Shah said it was of paramount importance to the BJP and the scheme would succeed only with the utmost dedication of the party workers. He also called upon party workers to take the policies and programmes of the BJP as well as the Haryana government to the grassroots-level.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said his government was following the 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas' mantra of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Of the 120 welfare schemes launched in the state, most have already been implemented, while the remaining were in progress, he said.

The new enterprises promotion policy was framed to attract and promote businesses in the state, he added.

Earlier, Khattar, state education minister Ram Bilas Sharma, finance minister Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu, state BJP chief Subhash Barala, senior party leaders Suresh Bhatt and Anil Jain welcomed Shah.

On his way back to Delhi, the BJP chief had brief stopovers at Karnal and Panipat, where he was greeted by the party workers.
In another big embarrassment to the 10-month-old Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala, Transport Minister A K Saseendran resigned from its cabinet on Sunday after he was accused of seeking sexual favours from a woman who approached him for assistance.

The resignation came a few hours after a local television channel aired an audio clipping, in which he was purportedly heard speaking inappropriately with the woman. The audio clip, which isnt very clear, has a mans voice speaking in a lewd manner.

Saseendran, a five-time legislator from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar, is the second minister to resign since the LDF government came to power in May 2016. Earlier in October, Industries Minister E P Jayarajan resigned in the wake of a raging row over the appointment of his family members to the public sector undertaking under his ministry.

The Saseendran episode is highly damaging to the government led by Pinarayi Vijayan since it came to power with a promise to protect the dignity of women and children. Ironically, the allegation against the 71-year-old minister comes amidst an alarming rise in incidents of sexual abuse of children and women.

Saseendran, a five-time legislator, made a weak attempt to defend himself by saying that he never speaks ill to anybody. He claimed that he did not remember talking to the woman figuring in the audio clipping. The channel did not air the voice of the woman.

The minister, however, said that he was stepping down from the ministry to safeguard the integrity of his party and the LDF government, which is already under fire for serious lapses in investigating some of the recent sensational sexual abuse cases.

This is not the time to evaluate the right or wrong. I have a duty to protect the integrity of my party and the LDF. Neither the government nor the party will have to hang their head in shame because of me, the 71-year-old leader said.

He said that he had conveyed his decision to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who advised him to act according to his political wisdom. He said that the chief minister had not sought his resignation. He has urged Pinarayi to conduct an investigation by any agency to find the truth behind the allegation.

The chief minister termed the allegation very serious. He said that the government will thoroughly investigate the incident. Saseendrans party president Uzhavoor Vijayan has also described the allegation against his colleague very serious and added that he will take appropriate action after ascertaining the facts in the case. Supporters of the minister do not rule out a conspiracy behind the episode since the allegation was aired by the television on the day of its launch. The channel belonging to Mangalam group of publications was inaugurated by the chief minister on Sunday.

Channel CEO R Ajith Kumar denied any foul play in the audio clipping. He told Firstpost that the channel had got the clipping a week ago and had telecast after verifying its authenticity. He pointed out that the minister had not contested his voice in the audio clipping.

Leaders of opposition parties said that the NCP or the LDF could not escape by alleging conspiracy behind the incident since it was a reflection of its indifferent approach to the sexual atrocities against women and children. There has been a sharp rise in sexual crimes against women and children in the recent months.

According to Kerala State Crime Records Bureau, the state witnessed as many as 2,568 cases of rape in 2016 compared to 1,263 in 2015. Among the rape victims, 924 were children. A total of 16,960 cases of crime against women and children were reported in the state in the last one year.

Of the total crimes against women and children, 14,061 were against women and 2,899 against children, according to the Crime Records Bureau. The number of cases registered under Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) during the period was 2,093.

A series of incidents involving rape minor girls in different parts of the state had created outrage in the state. They include rape and impregnation of a 16-year-old girl by a Catholic priest in Kannur district, rape of seven minor girls between 13 and 14 years of age from an orphanage in Wayanad and alleged rape and murder of two sisters in Palakkad district.

Curiously, every LDF government in the last two decades had been witnessing ministers getting implicated in sexual crimes. The 1996-2001 government led by E K Nayanar saw the then Transport Minister Neelalohitadasan Nadar quitting after an IAS officer in his department lodged a sexual harassment case against him.

The turn in the 2006-11 LDF government led by V S Achuthanandan was that of Public Works Minister P J Joseph, who resigned after a woman accused him of misbehaving with her in an aircraft. Jose Thettayil, a legislator, also faced grave sexual abuse charge during this period.

Interestingly, the other NCP legislator Thomas Chandy who is eying the berth in the ministry in place of Saseendran is also not free from sexual allegations. His name had figured in connection with the Kiliroor sex scandal, in which a teenaged girl was sexually abused after being promises roles in TV serials.

The girl, who was taken to many places in and around the state and was sexually abused by "influential persons", died after she gave birth to a daughter. Achuthanandan had trained his gun against Chandy in the case.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said that the rise in sexual abuses cases in the last 10 ministers showed that the LDF promise to protect the dignity of woman was hollow. He wondered how the people could trust the government when senior leaders like Saseendran show scant respect to women.

The Saseendran episode shows that the women cannot freely take up their issues with even ministers. The transport minister has tried to exploit a woman who went to him with a complaint. This is a very sorry state of affair in a literate state like Kerala, he added.

State Mahila Congress president Bindhu Panickar said that mere resignation would not absolve Saseendran of the grave charge. She demanded criminal action against the senior leader for his sexual misdemeanours under the recent laws.

If the government fails to initiate criminal proceedings against him it will send a wrong message to those involved in sexual abuse cases. The cases were showing a steady rise because of the failure of the home ministry in dealing effectively with the cases, she added.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader J Padmakumar alleged that Saseendran had misused his position as a minister. He said that he had no moral right to continue as a public worker.
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Transport Minister AK Saseendran resigned on Sunday after an audio clip emerged, in which he is heard having a lewd telephone conversation with a woman who had approached him regarding certain favours.

According to The Hindu, the 72-year-old minister, a five-time legislator and the lone Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) representative in the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet, announced his resignation at a news conference in Kozhikode, barely hours after Mangalam TV, owned by the Mangalam group of publications, came out with the audio clippings, marking the launch of its TV broadcasts.

Saseendran, pleading innocence, sought an objective and impartial inquiry, but said he was quitting as it was not appropriate for him to remain in the Cabinet when a probe was underway into the entire affair.

Earlier, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the media that he had taken the report seriously and promised action. Saseendran had made his debut in the Kerala Assembly in 1980 and made a return to the House in 1982, 2006 and 2011. This is his debut as a member of the state Cabinet.

According to Hindustan Times, the clip has dealt a huge blow to the CPM-led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala. The report said the woman had allegedly approached the minister for some favour. Saseendran said he doesn't recall having the conversation. "I don't remember talking to anyone in such a manner. I will come out unscathed. I am resigning from the ministry to uphold the integrity of my party and coalition," the minister said.

The timing of the incident is particularly relevant, since the state of Kerala is debating growing atrocities against women and children. Last year, CPM strongman and industries minister EP Jayarajan had to quit on charges of nepotism.

With inputs from IANS
Ten months into its term, the Left government in Kerala has been served its biggest embarrassment on Sunday. Transport Minister AK Saseendran has been forced to quit over leaks of an alleged sex chat he has had with a woman over the phone. That Saseendran is the second minister to step down from the Pinarayi Vijayan government would certainly set the cat among the pigeons in the Left coalition in the state. EP Jayarajan was the first minister to step down in October last year over charges of nepotism.

The scandal has come at the worst time when the major partners of the coalition the CPI(M) and CPI have been bickering over various political issues. It was the first week of launch of yet another Malayalam news channel that took the minister out, in what is perceived by many as a major PR effort by the organisation. Mangalam TV, an extended television hand of the well-known daily Mangalam aired two audio clips of the alleged sex chat the minister has had to viewers across drawing rooms in Kerala on Sunday morning.

But in a state that is known for the tainted politicians reluctance to leave the chair, Saseendran surprised one and all as he hurriedly called for a press briefing at Calicut to announce his resignation. Please do not see my resignation as an endorsement of my guilt as I know I am completely innocent. I have requested the chief minister for a thorough investigation into the matter and since my continuing in power will be seen as an attempt to influence the course of the investigation, I have willingly stepped down, said Saseendran.

But when asked whether the voice in the clip was that of the minister, he was seen sulking from it. I have no reason to talk to any woman like that. So I dont know what it is, added the minister.

Meanwhile, as the news of the scandal spread, a visibly fuming Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who met mediapersons outside the CPI(M) headquarters in the state, put the blame on the news channel. He claimed the channel wanted to score brownie points in the first week of its launch. I had asked them when they called me for their inaugural function what bomb are they going to explode in the first few days. Now, we know what it is. Anyways I have ordered a thorough probe into this. Let us get the facts out first, added Vijayan.

Meanwhile, the opposition led by the Congress are not stopping at the resignation of the minister. Rather with the Malappuram Assembly by-election round the corner, the opposition is using it to score a few points. This does not end with the resignation of the minister. The incident raises the moral question on the cabinet and clouds the trust people will have in ministers. Hence, the chief minister has closely examined the issue and acted accordingly, said Ramesh Chennithala, the Leader of Opposition.

The incident comes at a juncture when the state government is taking huge flak for lowering its guard in protecting women and children from sexual crimes. That a cabinet member has been caught in a compromising situation only magnifies the ignominy the chief minister and his deputies will have to face in days to come. This government came to power promising better protection for women. If the ministers themselves are engaged in such activities what protection is this government going to give. This is so shameful, added MM Hassan, president of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

Conspiracy at play?

However, there is a number of reasons which point to conspiracy angle too. The version of the audio clip played out by the channel had the sound of the woman muffled.

Though the channel claims that it was done to protect her identity, there are atleast some who believe that the minister had become a victim of a honey trap laid down by political opponents inside his own party. There are many who raise the moral question whether a responsible news media could reveal part of the truth to serve its purpose and then shy away from giving the whole picture.

There is a political script to the whole story too. Saseendran is one among the two members of the state legislature representing the NCP. There had been a history of political rivalry and one-upmanship between Saseendran and the second MLA Thomas Chandy over who should adorn the ministers chair. According to sources inside the CPI(M), Saseendran was the first choice of Pinarayi Vijayan when the government assumed power.

But there had been a tacit understanding between the NCP and the CPI(M) that midway to the governments terms Thomas Chandy would be handed over the ministry. Now that hardly one year had passed and that the minister had to step down raises concerns of a conspiracy at play. But sources close to the chief minister are also adding that the coalition is in no hurry to find a replacement for the ousted minister.

Pinarayi feels the heat

The resignation of the minister and that too over a scandal with sexual overtones comes at a difficult time for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. That this had hit the media headlines on the sidelines of the partys all-important state committee meeting at Thiruvananthapuram, has certainly left Vijayan red-faced. The CPI(M) state secretariat which had met a few days ago to review the working of the state government had more demerits than merits to point out. The Home Department, which is again a portfolio under the chief minister, has been receiving some severe criticism as news of harassment and rape of women and children continue unabated in the state over the last few months.

The new scandal only adds to woes of the chief minister, who in the next few days, will have to unleash a major image makeover campaign. Otherwise, the one-year celebration of the Pinarayi Vijayan government, that has already seen two resignations, would be a damp squid.
Asking the people to take the fight against black money and graft to the "next level", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged them to use less cash in their daily lives and continue to support the movement towards digital payments started after the note ban. In his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' programme, he also spoke of building a 'New India', which he said can be achieved when 125 crore Indians take a pledge and unitedly work towards it.

"My dear countrymen, we must take our fight against black money and corruption to the next level. .... We should contribute towards reducing the use of cash, of currency notes," the prime minister said.

Asking the people to pay school fees, buy medicines or items from fair price shops or purchase air and train tickets digitally, he said "we can do this in our day to day lives. You can't imagine how you can serve the country in this way and become a brave soldier in the fight against black money and corruption."

Observing that the budget had announced that there would be 2,500 crore digital transactions this year, he said if 125 crore countrymen can resolve, "they need not wait for a year; they can do it in six months."

Expressing gratitude to the people, Modi said over the last few months the country has witnessed an atmosphere in which people in large numbers have participated in the digital payment, 'Digidhan' movement.

"There has also been an increase in curiosity about cashless transactions. The poorest of the poor are making attempts to learn, and people are gradually moving towards doing business without cash. There has been a surge in various modes of digital payment after demonetisation," he said, adding that the Bharat Interface for Money app or BHIM, launched about two and a half months ago, has already been downloaded by one-and-half crore people.

The prime minister greeted the people of Bangladesh on their independence day saying India will always stand with them in the struggle for peace, security and development in the region.

In his address, the first since the BJP's victories in the recently concluded Assembly elections in five states, Modi said small and steady steps by all Indians can lead to the realisation of a new and transformed India.

"We are in the 21st century and there is no Indian who doesn't want to transform India. New India is neither a government project nor a manifesto of a political party. It is the joint call and desire of 125 crore Indians to transform India," said Modi. "Everything is not linked to the budget or government funds. If every citizen pledges to be more responsible, performs his duties, then this dream of new and transformed India can be easily realised," he said.

"If we look at the society, there are many who are serving the society in their own ways. Some are serving patients in hospitals, others are voluntarily donating blood and some others feeding the poor. Service is the core of our values. If we obey traffic rules, pledge not to use petrol or diesel once a week, resolve to be more responsible, if we do things step by step, we can achieve a new India," Modi added.

"There are now only two or three countries in the world that are ahead of us in this matter. India has taken a very important decision for these working women sisters of ours. The basic aim is to ensure proper care of the newborn, the future citizen of India, from the time of birth. The newborn should get the complete love and attention of the mother."

"I hope that Bangladesh marches ahead on the path of progress. I also assure the citizens of Bangladesh that India is a strong partner, and a good friend, and we will continue to work together shoulder to shoulder to contribute towards the peace, security and development of this entire region," the prime minister said. He said it was a matter of pride that Rabindra Nath Tagore, who authored the national anthem for Bangladesh and India, had given up his knighthood in protest against the 1919 massacre of people in Jallianwala Bagh by the British.

This had also provided an "inspiration and a mission in life" to a young teenager, who until then had spent his days playing merrily in the fields. This youngster was none other than Bhagat Singh, then 12-years old, to evolve as a martyr.

Modi also referred to the Champaran Satyagraha launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917, saying "through his demeanour and deeds, he could inspire the poorest of the poor, the most illiterate, to unite and come together out into the open for the struggle against the British Rule.

"This was a manifestation of an incredible inner strength, through which we can experience the vastness of Mahatma Gandhi's great persona," the prime minister said. He said the government of India has taken "a very important decision" to give working women maternity leave of 26 weeks, instead of the earlier 12 weeks, for their pregnancy and delivery.

He also talked about his favourite "Swachch Bharat" drive and said people of the country are getting angry as far as dirt is concerned and this will lead to more efforts towards cleanliness. Modi also talked about wastage of food saying it is unfortunate and an injustice to the poor.

He also spoke at length about depression and how it can be overcome by expressing one's feeling to the near and dear ones and urged the people to help those suffering from it to overcome it. Talking about the importance of Yoga, he called upon Indians to make the 3rd International Day of Yoga memorable by involving more and more people.

With inputs from agencies
Gorakhpur: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath showered accolades on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and party workers for the party's massive victory in the state Assembly polls.

"The welfare schemes initiated by the prime minister, the brilliant poll strategy of BJP chief Amit Shah and the ground work done by party workers helped us to come to power after a gap of 15 years," he said while addressing public at the party's regional office on Sunday.

Out of 403 Assembly seats, BJP and its allies won 325 seats in the polls earlier this month. Boosting the confidence of his party workers, he said that virtually every worker of Goraksh Praant (Gorakhpur region) can work as a chief minister.

"When the UP Assembly elections were going on, at one point of time, we felt as if that our innings is trembling. I got a call from party chief Amit Shah. I went to Delhi to meet him. I was told by him that the party must bag 40 out of the 62 seats in the region. When the results were announced, we emerged victorious in 46 seats," Aditya Nath said.

The chief minister also said that the weak areas would be identified and necessary will be action taken accordingly. Emphasising on better co-ordination between the party and the state government he said, "There should be hundred percent attendance during the district level meetings. Later, the programmes would also be held at the divisional levels."

He also mentioned that in future, the party would hold at least one programme in the hamlets with majority of people from backward/most-backward classes. Similar programmes would also held in slums, he added.
BERLIN Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who accuses Chancellor Angela Merkel of using "Nazi methods" against Turks in Germany, is setting back their integration by years, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said.Berlin is growing increasingly frustrated about Erdogan repeatedly accusing it of applying "Nazi methods" by banning rallies aimed at drumming up support among Turks in Germany for a referendum that would strengthen the power of his presidency.Turks workers began moving to Germany in the 1960s and the country now has about 3 million people of Turkish background. Some are fully integrated while others live in ethnic communities with less contact with the majority population."Erdogan's rhetoric makes me stunned," Schaeuble, a veteran member of Merkel's Christian Democratic (CDU) party, told the Welt am Sonntag weekly newspaper.

"In a short time, it wilfully destroys the integration that has grown over years in Germany. The repair of the damage will take years," he said.Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul on Sunday: "You call the president of the Turkish Republic a dictator. When we call them fascists, they get annoyed. When we call them Nazis, they get annoyed."

"You are fascists, you are. Be annoyed as much as you want with Nazi practices. If you draw swastikas on the walls of our mosques and don't hold anyone accountable, you cannot take off this stain," Erdogan said.Turkish voters living in Germany begin on Monday casting their ballots in the constitutional referendum.

Last Tuesday, organisers said Turkish leaders would hold no further campaign rallies in Germany before the referendum - to be held on April 16 in Turkey - after a Merkel ally said they were not welcome.On Wednesday, Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier used his first speech as president to warn Erdogan that he risked destroying everything his country had achieved in recent years.Erdogan responded by saying that Europeans would not be able to walk safely on the streets if they kept up their current attitude towards Turkey, his latest salvo in the row over campaigning by Turkish politicians in Europe. (Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

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By James Pomfret and Venus Wu

| HONG KONG

HONG KONG A Beijing-backed civil servant, Carrie Lam, was chosen to be Hong Kong's next leader on Sunday amid accusations that Beijing is meddling and denying the financial hub a more populist leader perhaps better able to defuse political tension.The majority of the China-ruled city's 7.3 million people have no say in deciding their leader, who is chosen from among several candidates by a 1,200-person "election committee" stacked with pro-Beijing and pro-establishment loyalists.Lam, who will become Hong Kong's first female chief executive when she takes office on July 1, won 777 votes compared with 365 for her closest rival, former financial secretary John Tsang, who polls show is more popular.There were several invalid protest ballots including one that carried an obscenity."Hong Kong, our home, is suffering from quite a serious divisiveness," Lam said in a victory speech."My priority will be to heal the divide and to ease the frustration, and to unite our society to move forward."Lam also pledged to follow through on election promises including introducing a "two-tier" profits tax, reducing tax to spur research and development, tackling the high cost of housing by increasing land supply and boosting education spending.She also promised to defend the rule of law and freedom of expression as integral to underpinning prosperity. "Hong Kong needs new thinking," she said. TENSIONS

Some scuffles broke out outside the voting centre between protesters and police, who used metal barricades to keep the demonstrations well away. The activists denounced Beijing's "interference" amid widespread reports of lobbying of voters to back Lam, rather than Tsang.Some protesters chanted "I want universal suffrage" and unfurled yellow umbrellas, a symbol of the civil disobedience "umbrella movement", when the result was announced."Lies, coercion, whitewash," read one banner. A big yellow banner calling for full democracy was hung from the Lion Rock peak overlooking the city. "The central government has intervened again and again," said Carmen Tong, a 20-year-old student. "It's very unjust."Hundreds of Lam's supporters waved Chinese flags and cheered inside and outside the venue after her win.

Since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, Beijing has gradually increased control over it even though it promised wide-ranging freedoms and autonomy not allowed on the mainland under the formula of "one country, two systems", along with an undated promise of universal suffrage.Many, including opposition democrats, fear Lam will stick to the tough policies of staunchly pro-Beijing incumbent Leung Chun-ying, who ordered the firing of teargas on pro-democracy protesters in 2014 and who was not seen to be defending Hong Kong's autonomy and core values. "She doesn't have a strong foundation, nor will she have a honeymoon after she's elected," said political scientist Ivan Choy. "But whether she will further divide society we still have to wait and see what she does, whether she will continue the approach of Leung."All of Hong Kong's three other post-handover leaders have struggled to balance the demands of China's stability-obsessed Communist Party leaders, with the wish of many residents to preserve the global financial hub's liberal values and rule of law that have long underpinned its economic success.

In 2014, parts of the city were paralysed when tens of thousands of protesters blocked major roads for nearly three months to demand Beijing allow full democracy; demands that were ignored amid some violent clashes. China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office congratulated Lam, saying she should not disappoint the people and should seek to "comprehensively unite all sectors of society", strengthen development, and "work hard to forge a new situation", the official Xinhua news agency said.Some city residents see China's creeping interference in business, media, politics, academia and the judiciary as tarnishing the city's international business allure. The detention in 2015 of five Hong Kong booksellers who sold material critical of Beijing also dismayed many residents.The upheavals over the city's autonomy and democratic reforms have roiled a new generation and weighed on the city's economy, ranked 33rd globally by the World Bank in 2015. Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing, warned this week the city couldn't afford another five years of strife.Hong Kong had been presented with a reform package, offering the possibility of a direct vote for this leadership race, though only of candidates essentially pre-screened by Beijing. The blueprint was vetoed in 2015 by pro-democracy lawmakers as "fake" Chinese-style democracy.Political and social divisions have led to some legislative and policy-making paralysis and the stalling of major projects, including a cultural hub and high-speed rail link to China.While Hong Kong's proximity to China has been a boon, bringing investment and spending, businesses have also faced growing competition from mainland firms in sectors like services and property. Housing prices, now among the world's highest, are widely seen to have been pushed up by a wave of buying from rich Chinese, intensifying anti-mainland China sentiment. (Reporting by James Pomfret, Venus Wu and Katy Wong in Hong Kong; Dominique Patton in Beijing; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Melbourne: An Indian man was allegedly assaulted by a group of teenagers, who hurled racial abuses at him at a restaurant in Australia's Tasmania state, a week after a Catholic priest of Indian heritage was stabbed in the neck at a church in Melbourne.

Li Max Joy, who is pursuing a nursing course and working as a part time taxi driver in Australia, alleged that five people, including one girl, hurled racial abuses like "you bloody black Indians" at him and assaulted him up at the McDonald's restaurant at North Hobart.

Joy, 33, who hails from Puthuppally in Kerala's Kottayam district, told PTI that the incident took place when he went to the restaurant for a coffee after returning from a trip. He alleged that the five accused were arguing with a worker inside the store but soon turned their attention to him the moment they noticed him.

When others in the restaurant telephoned the police, the attackers left, but they returned later and assaulted him again.

Joy was admitted to Royal Hobart Hospital with bleeding wounds. He was later discharged from hospital and he reported the incident to police. "They were angry at the McDonald's staff but turned their anger on me in the car park and then inside the store," he said.

Joy, who has been living in Hobart for the last eight years, was quoted as saying by Australian media that "the racial mood is definitely changing. It is continuous now. Many other drivers have been abused but not everyone reports it to the police".

Joy has sought intervention of the external affairs ministry to ensure punishment to the accused. He alleged that there was no serious efforts from the authorities to bring the guilty to justice.

Meanwhile, Kottayam Lok Sabha MP Jose K Mani condemned the incident and said he will raise the issue with the ministry on Monday.

On 20 March, an Indian-origin Catholic priest was stabbed in the neck at a church in Melbourne by a man who called him unqualified to say mass as he was an Indian, prompting the Indian consulate to take up the matter with the police. A man armed with a knife approached Tomy Kalathoor Mathew, 48, in the church foyer moments before the Italian-language mass at St Matthew's Parish in Fawkner.
Tehran: Iran will impose sanctions on 15 US companies for their support for Israel and its "terrorist actions", State news agency IRNA said on Sunday.

The decision, which is largely symbolic because the firms do not do business with Iran, comes two days after the US announced new sanctions on a number of foreign firms accused of collaborating with Iran's weapons programme.

Iran's sanctions target US firms that provide arms and equipment to Israel "for use against the Palestinians", IRNA said. "All transactions with these firms are forbidden, their assets will be seized and their officials will not be able to obtain a visa," it added.

The firms include United Technologies, ITT Corporation, Magnum Research INC, Military Armament Corporation and Bushmaster Firearms International. The list also included Re/Max Real Estate, which Tehran accuses of "buying and selling homes in settlements located in occupied territories".

Tensions have mounted between Tehran and Washington since US President Donald Trump took office in January. On Friday, Washington announced sanctions against foreign firms and individuals over allegedly collaborating with the weapons programmes of Iran and North Korea.

Trump has repeatedly criticised a July 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that saw the Islamic republic curb its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Washington had imposed new sanctions on individuals and companies supporting Iran's ballistic missile programme and on its elite Revolutionary Guards.

US lawmakers are now seeking to further increase pressure, proposing a new law that would see Iran's Revolutionary Guards listed as a terrorist organisation.
By Maria Sheahan and Hakan Erdem

| BERLIN/SAARBRUECKEN, Germany

BERLIN/SAARBRUECKEN, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives strengthened their position as the largest party in the western state of Saarland in a regional vote on Sunday, bolstering her prospects of winning a fourth term in September's national election.The election was the first of three regional votes ahead of the Sept. 24 federal vote and as such offered an opportunity for the parties to build -- or lose -- momentum in their quest to prevail at the national level.Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) won 41 percent of the vote, up from 35.2 percent in the last election in Saarland in 2012, an exit poll for broadcaster ARD showed. The Social Democrats (SPD) won 29.5 percent, down from 30.6 percent."This is a of course a really great start to the election year of 2017," Michael Grosse-Broemer, one of Merkel's top deputies in parliament in Berlin, told ARD.

The dip in support for the SPD was a setback in its first electoral test under new leader Martin Schulz. He has re-energised the centre-left party with a promise to tackle inequality that is resonating with many voters nationally.Like federal Germany, Saarland has been governed by a 'grand coalition' of Merkel's conservatives and the SPD and that situation looked likely to continue as the result left the CDU short of sufficient support to rule alone in the state.

The SPD and the far-left Linke, which won 13 percent, also lacked enough votes to form a left-leaning coalition in the state assembly."Without the SPD there won't be a government in Saarland," Ralf Stegner, a Schulz ally and deputy SPD leader, told broadcaster ZDF, putting a brave face on the result.

Prior to the election, polls had indicated a left-leaning 'red-red-green' alliance of the SPD, the Linke and the environmentalist Greens -- or even a 'red-red' coalition if the Greens fail to win enough votes -- could emerge after the vote. The Greens did not meet the 5 percent threshold required to enter the state assembly.The SPD, Linke and Greens have discussed refraining from attacking each other during the national campaign. Schulz is trying to win over dissatisfied working class voters with a message of social justice. (Editing by Catherine Evans)

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By Paul Carrel and Hakan Erdem

| BERLIN/SAARBRUECKEN, Germany

BERLIN/SAARBRUECKEN, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives won a regional election in the western state of Saarland on Sunday, dealing a setback to their Social Democrat rivals and boosting her prospects of winning a fourth term in Germany's Sept. 24 national election.Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) strengthened their position as the largest party in the state despite expectations ahead of the vote that the Social Democrats (SPD) would be boosted by their new national leader, Martin Schulz.The CDU won 40.1 percent of the vote, up from 35.2 percent in the last election in Saarland in 2012, an exit poll for broadcaster ARD showed. The SPD slipped to 30.1 percent, down from 30.6 percent.Prior to the election, polls had indicated a left-leaning 'red-red-green' alliance of the SPD, the far-left Linke and the environmentalist Greens -- or even a 'red-red' coalition if the Greens failed to win enough votes -- could emerge after the vote.But the Greens did not meet the 5 percent threshold required to enter the state assembly, and the SPD and Linke, which won 13 percent, lacked enough votes to form a coalition on their own."The people decided on stability and reliability," CDU Secretary General Peter Tauber said. "This result is a clear rejection of red-red-green."

Saarland has only 800,000 eligible voters, but the election there was the first of three regional votes ahead of the Sept. 24 federal vote and as such offered an opportunity for the parties to build - or lose - momentum in their quest to prevail at the national level.Merkel, in power for 11 years, has been an anchor of stability in Europe, which she has guided through the euro zone and migrant crises, and offers experience at a time when many voters are unnerved by rising populism.The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which bruised Merkel in regional elections last year after her decision in 2015 to open Germany's doors to migrants from the Middle East, won 6.1 percent of the vote in Saarland.SCHULZ SETBACK

The dip in support for the SPD was a setback in its first electoral test under new leader Martin Schulz. He has re-energised the centre-left party with a promise to tackle inequality that is resonating with many voters nationally."This is a long-distance run, not a sprint," Schulz said with an eye on September's national election, but added the outcome of Sunday's vote should not be "sugar-coated".Schulz is trying to win over dissatisfied working class voters with a message of social justice.

A survey by pollster Emnid for weekly newspaper Bild am Sonntag earlier showed support for the SPD had risen slightly from a week ago and the centre-left party was now tied with Merkel's conservative bloc on 33 percent nationally.Like federal Germany, Saarland has been governed by a 'grand coalition' of Merkel's conservatives and the SPD and that situation looked likely to continue as the result left the CDU short of sufficient support to rule alone in the state. "Without the SPD there won't be a government in Saarland," Ralf Stegner, a Schulz ally and deputy SPD leader, told broadcaster ZDF, putting a brave face on the result. State premier Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer of the CDU, the conservative candidate who has been nicknamed "the Merkel from the Saar", wants to stay in power with a grand coalition.She had warned voters of the perils of an alliance involving the Linke, which already governs in a three-way leftist alliance in Berlin and the eastern region of Thuringia. (Additional reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Andrew Bolton)

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By Aaron Ross

| KINSHASA

KINSHASA Militia fighters decapitated about 40 police officers after an ambush in central Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials said on Saturday, the deadliest attack on security forces since an insurgency erupted in the region last year.The Kamuina Nsapu militants struck on Friday as the police convoy drove from the city of Tshikapa in Kasai province to Kananga, the capital of Kasai-Central province, said Francois Madila Kalamba, speaker of the Kasai provincial assembly."They were apprehended by the militia members and they decapitated about 40," Kalamba told Reuters. He added that witnesses said the fighters spared the lives of six police officers because they spoke the local Tshiluba language.The militia fighters, who are often armed with machetes but rarely carry firearms, made off with arms and vehicles during the raid, Kalamba added.

Corneil Mbombo, president of the Civil Society of Kasai, a provincial activist group, also said about 40 officers had been decapitated following the ambush. The provincial governor and national police spokesman could not be reached for comment.The insurgency, which has spread to five provinces, poses the most serious threat yet to the rule of President Joseph Kabila, whose failure to step down at the end of his constitutional mandate in December was followed by a wave of killings and lawlessness across the vast central African nation.Friday's attack follows government reports of a wave of surrenders by fighters in neighbouring Kasai-Central province in recent days. The Interior Ministry said on Saturday that 400 fighters had surrendered this week in the province.

But as the insurgency has spread, the fighters operating under the name Kamuina Nsapu appear to operate increasingly independently and without a clear leadership structure. Some recent violence appears to be ethnic score-settling.More than 400 people have been killed in the violence, according to the United Nations, and the government said on Tuesday that 67 police officers and many soldiers had died in the clashes.

Many of the dead have been dumped in mass graves. The United Nations said this week that it had identified 10 alleged mass grave sites and was investigating seven others.The military's top prosecutor announced last week that seven soldiers had been charged in connection with a video that appears to show soldiers massacring suspected militia members, including for murder and mutilation. Two U.N. officials, one U.S. citizen and the other of Swedish nationality, and four Congolese accompanying them were also kidnapped last week by unknown assailants in Kasai-Central. They have yet to be located. (Reporting by Aaron Ross; Editing by Tim Cocks and Helen Popper)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Police say 15 people were shot and one person was killed when gunfire erupted at a nightclub in Ohio's Cincinnati.

Medic units transporting while others are still coming in to pickup additional victims pic.twitter.com/FU7GgyvnDN  Cincinnati News (@CinciNews) March 26, 2017

According to a report in WLWT, an NBC-affiliated television station located in Cincinnati, the shooting occurred at 2 am Sunday at Cameo nightclub. Ambulances have been taking victims to the hospitals. The police are still at the crime scene even as the gunman is still reportedly on the loose.

No suspect is in custody, but there is no indication the shooting at the Cameo club was terrorism related, officials said. Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate said in a tweet that there was only one reported shooter but that police were investigating whether others were involved. Police had earlier said "at least a couple of shooters" were involved. Authorities believe a conflict began earlier in the day that led to the shooting, city manager Harry Black said in a news release. Authorities were interviewing witnesses and planned a news conference later in the morning.

Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate said that several of the victims have life-threatening injuries.

We are in the middle of a very horrific situation that occurred at the nightclub with multiple victims, Neudigate said. Its going to be a long night for our homicide units to investigate.

Neudigate added that hundreds of people were inside of the nightclub at the time of the shooting, and called it a chaotic crime scene.

Many of them fled, unfortunately. Many of the witnesses fled, but everyone that we can identify is being interviewed, he said.

Police have not said whether anyone is in custody, and the investigation is ongoing. It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the shooting. This is the second nightclub shooting in the United States in a year.

Several officers were working security at the club; some performed first aid and tried to revive the person who died, police said. A single body was removed by the coroner shortly after 6 am The federal of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was also at the scene.

Among the injured, eight were being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Kelly Martin said. One person there was in critical condition. She had no details on the types of injuries or the ages of the victims. Authorities asked anyone with information to come forward. Investigators were checking to see if surveillance cameras were working, Williams said.

The area is mostly industrial but also home to several nightclubs with a smattering of homes. A regional airport is nearby along the Ohio River. The area is fairly desolate at

night, with the exception of the nightlife scene and 24-hour gas stations. The road where the club sits was easily cordoned off by a single police cruiser and officer at either end. First responders had problems reaching the shooting victims because the parking lots were full, Sgt. Eric Franz told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

In June 2016, 29-year-old Omar Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in an attack on Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

With inputs from AP
A 31-year-old man in Virginia was arrested after he was spotted dressed up as the comic book supervillain The Joker.

Jeremy Putman was arrested in Winchester after police received reports about "a suspicious male dressed as 'The Joker'", reported The Washington Post.

The Associated Press also reported that Winchester Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hall said that the department had several 911 calls reporting a man dressed up as The Joker, wearing a cape and carrying a sword.

What is unusual is that even though dressing up as The Joker  especially the character played by the late Heath Ledger  is not illegal and actually quite a popular activity, Putman was charged with wearing a mask in public.

The police in Winchester referred to the Virginia Code 18.2-422 for the arrest and said that in Virginia, a person older than 16 would violate the law if he or she was wearing a mask "with the intent to conceal his identity."

ABC News reported that Putman is being held at the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Centre on a $2,000 secured bond. It is not clear whether he has an attorney.
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Kevin Brady said on Sunday his committee plans to move tax reform legislation this spring.

aThe odds are greater than ever this year to pass tax reform,a Brady, R-Texas, said on aSunday Morning Futuresa with Maria Bartiromo. aWeave never stopped working. Weave been running a parallel track on tax reform all throughout health care, as well.a

Republicansa inability to agree on a new health care plan to replace ObamaCare on Friday would be an impediment to the future of tax reform, House Speaker Paul Ryan said.

aYes, this does make tax reform more difficult,a Ryan, R-Wis., said. aBut it does not in any way make it impossible.a

Brady explained why the lack of a new health plan adds to the already complex matter of tax reform.

aItas more difficult because the ObamaCare taxesaa trillion dollars on small businesses, on families, on the economyastays in place, and it will. Those taxes will stay in place as long as ObamaCare stays in place.a

Additionally, Brady discussed whether a border-adjusted tax would be included in the GOPas plan. As of now, the White House still has not agreed to such a tax, which would allow government to slap fees on companies importing goods into the U.S.

aThe main reason for having that there is our competitors,a said Brady. aWe want to simplify the tax code, which is what border adjustment does. It also eliminates any tax incentive to move manufacturing jobs or headquarters overseas. And so taking that out would have severe consequences.a
Nia Longs past diva behavior on movie sets has come back to

bite her in the butt after reports surfaced that she was nasty and rude to the crew when she guest-starred on Empire, reports the New York Post.

Every dog has their day. She does a lot of wrong to people, and now its biting her in the butt, a source told the paper of Long, whose credits include Friday and Big Mommas House. She has a history of giving people a hard time, especially wardrobe and makeup.

Long was allegedly so rude to the Empire crew, co-star Taraji P. Henson had to step in.

TMZ reported that Henson told Long, What are you on . . . Your period? The shows hair and makeup staff reportedly lodged a workplace complaint against Long, the site said. Longs reps told TMZ they were not aware of any complaints.

But the Post says this isnt the first time Long has allegedly acted up on set. A source said she held up shooting on 2013s The Best Man Holiday because she insisted her character wear white when the director wanted everyone in black for a funeral scene.

She reportedly threw a huge fit and delayed production for nearly an hour because she refused to wear black.

Empire executive producer Ilene Chaiken exclusively told the

paper: Nia is a gifted actress, and were grateful for the incredible work she did on Empire in this pivotal role. Her character Giuliana is a nemesis for Cookie [Henson], and the stories in the press would appear to be conflating that fiction with reality. We cant wait for the fans to enjoy her spectacular turn on the show. Its pure Empire drama.

Longs rep dismissed any drama by saying, We find the timing of all of these stories to be very suspicious, since the new season on Empire debuted Wednesday.

Click here to read more in the New York Post.

Longs rep dismissed any drama by saying, We find the timing of all of these stories to be very suspicious, since the new season on Empire debuted Wednesday.
After ISIS took control of Mosul in mid-2014, the extremist militant group closed the citys 990 schools, altered the curriculum to support its ideology, and then reopened the schools to push dogma over academic learning.

Suddenly, education in Iraqs second-largest city had been devastated from kindergarten through college.

East Mosul was liberated from ISIS in December, and the battle to liberate West Mosul has just begun, by Iraqi forces backed by U.S. airpower.

Efforts to stabilize Mosul afterward will need to include a plan to rebuild education in addition to restoring the citys damaged infrastructure.

During my recent visit to Iraq, many officials expressed this view, including an Iraqi general leading the part of the battle to retake West Mosul who said he believes an education strategy is as important as economic, political and security strategies for bringing stability and peace back to the city.

Students need to make up years of missed K-12 and university education, and ISIS indoctrination needs to be undone.

During the 2 1/2-year reign of ISIS in Mosul, the ISIS curriculum removed history, geography, literature and art from the classroom. It introduced jihad education for children as young as age 6 and illustrated textbooks with pictures of children wielding weapons. Arithmetic word problems asked students to calculate the number of explosives a factory could produce or how many people a suicide bomb could kill.

Public schooling had been free, but ISIS started charging tuition$10 to $20 a month, depending on the grade level.

Thats a lot of money in Iraq.

Concerned about the costs and the lessons being imparted in the classroom, many parents stopped sending children to school.

Under ISIS, school attendance dropped precipitously. In Mosul and other areas once occupied by ISIS, a million Iraqi school children didnt go to school or were taught the ISIS curriculum.

On a recent visit to a camp that sheltered those who fled the battle to retake East Mosul, just 20 miles from the city, I interviewed several aid workers who spoke of children being traumatized, indoctrinated or both.

They described a child with recurring nightmares who had been forced by an ISIS fighter to witness a beheading and spoke of children wandering about the camps innocently singing pro-ISIS songs learned in school.

ISIS also indirectly damaged K-12 education in Iraq. When residents fled Mosul, tens of thousands were temporarily housed in school buildings in other parts of Iraq, which further disrupted education in those communities since it prevented classes from being held.

ISIS shut down Mosuls three universities, including Mosul University, known for its medical school and once considered one of the finest in the Middle East.

ISIS later reopened the universitys departments of medicine and engineering, but kept shuttered departments that might challenge its ideology, such as philosophy and history. Professors with alleged ties to the west were executed, while others fled.

Eventually, ISIS turned some of the universitys buildings into weapons factories and barracks for its fighters.

Coalition fighters have retaken Mosul University, in the eastern region of the city, from ISIS. But the campus has been destroyed by bombs during the battle and by ISIS fighters who torched its buildings, including the library that held many rare and important works. ISIS left behind calling cards in the form of booby traps.

A Mosul University engineering student who fled in 2014 told me she would never go back. She had been finishing up her degree at the universitys temporary campus that faculty set up in the nearby city of Erbil. Like many in the country, she said she fears for her safety and does not see a future for herself in Iraq. Her goal is to leave the country.

Yet there are signs of hope. After East Mosul was retaken last month, 30 schools reopened and another 40 were being checked for safety. Together, they can accommodate 40,000 children.

Winning the military battle in Mosul and other parts of Iraq is only the beginning. Reversing the damage to K-12 and university education will require significant investment and effort. Taking care of the remaining population and helping them recover will be criticaland an education strategy will be central to that.

Based on my recent fieldwork in Iraq and related studies on education in Iraq and education of refugees, rebuilding the educational system in Mosul will require a number of steps that go beyond reopening and staffing schools.

Classrooms will need to be set up specifically for children who have missed several years of school so that they can start where they left off and catch up.

Mosul will need policies to help its children move past the years under ISIS, requiring an undoing of the indoctrination efforts through courses that teach human rights and tolerance for Iraqs diversity. And teachers will need training in how to deal with traumatized students.

The U.S. has invested significant funding in the military operation against ISIS. But keeping the peace in the long-run will require creating conditions in which Iraqis can live normal lives. Investing in such an education plan should be a U.S. priority.

Public education can serve as a bridge to normalcy in Iraq. It also can help reduce sectarian tensions, provide children and youth the citizenship and professional skills needed for a fully functioning society, and help a generation manage the lingering trauma of war.
Mr. Trump, you are the first American president ever to use the phrase radical Islamic terrorism in your Inaugural Address.

Neither Presidents George W. Bush nor Barack Obama chose to use the term. Thus, even though we have been at war in the Middle East since 2001  and even though we continue to see horrific terrorist attacks by Islamic State loyalists from San Bernardino and Orlando to Paris and Brussels and now London just this week -- we have never had a Commander-in-Chief actually define for the American people the nature of our enemy.

We will unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth, you vowed in January.

Then, before a Joint Session of Congress last month, you built on the theme that you began during the campaign, declaring that your administration is committed to taking strong measures to protect our nation from radical Islamic terrorism.

Such language has been sharply criticized by former aides to President Barack Obama, who insisted on saying he was countering violent extremism.

What was accomplished by declaring war on radical Islamic terrorism? Ben Rhodes, the former National Security Council official, Tweeted during the Joint Session. Just alienating Muslim allies who we need, and emboldening terrorists.

Theres nothing magic about those three words, Tweeted Marie Harf, the former State Department spokeswoman. Theyre not a strategy, theyre a talking point.

Ignore such partisan sniping, Mr. President. You are absolutely right to shine a spotlight on the homicidal ideology that drives jihadists to wage war against us and our allies. But be careful. Dont assume everyone knows what you mean. The phrase, after all, is simply shorthand. Now that you have captured peoples attention by using the term, you must define it. As leader of the free world, you have an extraordinary platform to educate a national and global audience about the true nature and magnitude of the threat in more detail and with more precision. Seize it.

Here are three suggestions:

First, be clear and consistent that the vast majority of Muslims are not dangerous.

This may seem an obvious point, but there is genuine confusion among some. There are people  at home and abroad  who hear you use the phrase radical Islamic terrorism and think you mean that the entire Islamic religion is radical and thus all Muslims are prone to terrorism. Since youre actually using the word radical to define a subgroup that approves of violence against innocents, and not to cast aspersions on the broader Muslim faith, be forward-leaning in making the distinction crystal clear.

Since the Al Qaeda attacks of 9/11, the Pew Research Center, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Gallup and other organizations have conducted extensive polling throughout Islamic world on Muslim attitudes regarding a wide range of political and religious subjects.

An analysis of the data suggests that the vast majority of Muslims overseas  upwards of 90 percent  generally do not support violence against civilians to advance their beliefs. However, between 7 and 10 percent of Muslims worldwide can be characterized as having radical views in that they openly state that they support the extreme violence of the Islamic State or support the use of suicide bombings against innocent civilian targets to advance their political or religious objectives.

Study this 90/10 split. Immerse yourself and your national security team in the data. Direct the State Department to do more polling. And start explaining the 90/10 split to the public so they understand youre not speaking about most Muslims.

Second, define for the public the nature of this violent subset and the gravity of the threat they pose.

Saying that only 7 percent to 10 percent sympathize with jihadists is true and fair, but hardly comforting. In a world of 1.6 billion Muslims, this means upwards of 160 million people could be fairly characterized as sympathizing with radical Islam or, more precisely, militant Islamism, a violent political ideology that seeks to accomplish totalitarian objectives under the cloak of Islam.

Imagine if this subset established their own country. It could be the ninth largest country in the world. Larger than Russia. Half the population of the United States. Not all Muslims who hold extreme views will turn to violence, of course. But this is the pool from which Islamist terrorist organizations and states raise funds, recruit new members, and inspire lone wolf attacks. Explain this to people.

Explain the objectives of the jihadists. And point out sobering truths like the fact that in 2016 alone, 37 people were arrested in the U.S. for ISIS-plots. ISIS began as al Qaeda in Iraq. Now it has recruited terrorists from 120 countries, and have murdered more than 1,200 people in countries outside of Iraq and Syria. Most people dont know this.

Make it clear that this is precisely why we need to improve vetting procedures to prevent confirmed radicals from entering the U.S. This is why we need to protect our borders from jihadists trying to infiltrate, and why we need a comprehensive plan to defeat the Islamic State and a defense budget that will get the job done right.

Third, continue to strengthen ties to our Muslim allies, and seek their counsel not just on war-planning but on strategic messaging.

Your recent meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a strong message of unity in the face of terror, since Israel is on the frontlines of the fight against jihadism. But Im encouraged that you also recently met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince, and will soon meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Your meeting with Jordans King Abdullah II was also important, as he is Americas most faithful Sunni Arab ally, a direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad, and a courageous leader against the jihadists.

For those of us who are Muslim, this fight is very personal, the Jordanian King recently explained in an address to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. These criminals are khawarej; outlaws to our faith. People nowadays talk about Fake News; the khawarej produce Fake Islam. They selectively paste together the words of Islamic texts, to promote a false and perverted ideology. In reality, everything they are, everything they do, is a blatant violation of the teachings of my faith.

The King added, I have called on the Muslim world to fight back boldly. We, like other faith communities, have a vast silent majority and it is time for that majority to get loud and to be clear in their condemnation.

Amen. Avail yourself of the Kings wise counsel, Mr. President. Ask him and other moderate Muslim leaders how best to shape your message. Then speak to the American people.

I recently commissioned McLaughlin & Associates, a leading U.S. polling firm whose clients include your presidential campaign, to conduct a national survey to better understand how Americans view the war against ISIS. The results were sobering. A plurality believe we are losing the war, and most believe ISIS will launch catastrophic attacks inside the American homeland.

Some of the most interesting results came when we asked people how they want their leaders to talk about the enemy we face.

Fortunately, we found that only 10 percent believe our leaders should say we are waging a war against the religion of Islam.

Some 36 percent believe our leaders should not mention Islam at all, but simply say we are waging war against the forces of violent extremism.

But fully 45 percent believe our leaders should say we are waging war against the forces of radical Islam, but be careful to explain that most Muslims are not our enemy.

Good.

This is the right way to talk about the war, shining a spotlight on the forces of the radicals, while affirming that the vast majority of Muslims at home and abroad are not our enemy, and should be mobilized as our allies in this war. And most of that, 45 percent, are people who voted for you, so you have a strong base of support for this approach and can build from there.

Mr. Trump, in the aftermath of the savage London attacks, you have a unique and historic opportunity to deliver a major address to the American people to define our enemy and explain your vision for victory.

Carpe diem.
Leaders from 68 countries gathered in Washington for a meeting of the Global Coalition to Counter Daesh (ISIL) hosted by President Trumps administration this past week.

Saudi Arabia welcomes the new administrations attention to the Middle East and its support for Americas friends who are fighting back against transnational terrorists such as Daesh and pushing back against Iranian interference in countries such as Yemen.

As Americans would say, Youve got our back. And Americas support is indispensable as we stand together against a host of threats to regional stability.

While meeting with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman  an architect of our countrys economic, social, and governmental reforms  at the White House recently, President Trump enthusiastically endorsed the modernization drive that will make our country an even more valuable strategic partner. Similarly, our government welcomes the United States long-standing support of the Saudi defense forces.

The new administration is also toughminded about the Iranian threat to regional stability, which was magnified by the recent nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, including the United States.

Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA director Mike Pompeo each describe Iran as the worlds largest state sponsor of terrorism, while Vice President Mike Pence has called the nuclear agreement a terrible deal.

Saudi Arabia is prepared to work with the United States and its allies to restrain Iranian conduct, just as we have helped to stabilize the Arabian Gulf and its energy supplies since World War II. While the US-Saudi partnership is time-tested, reaffirming this relationship is a matter of strategy, not sentiment. Since the Global Coalitions founding three years ago, Saudi Arabia has been an active partner from Day One, including sending fighter jets to the Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey to join the US-led air campaign against Daesh in Syria.

On the financial front, Saudi Arabia works closely with the United States to cut off funding for Daesh and Al Qaeda. Through real-time information-sharing, we cooperate with the United States to shut down the flow of funds from western banks to Middle Eastern extremists.

To ensure that charitable contributions dont subsidize terrorism, we prohibit Saudi mosques and aid organizations from transferring money outside our country.

We have also taken strong steps to stop unauthorized shipments of military equipment from leaving Saudi Arabia and to prevent people from crossing our borders to join Daesh in Iraq or Syria.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is mobilizing the Muslim world against the extremist threat to our religion. Under Saudi leadership, the 41-nation Islamic Coalition is equipping our countries to fight violent extremists by training our security forces and sharing information and intelligence.

Last March, in the largest joint military exercise ever in the Middle East, some 350,000 soldiers, 20,000 tanks and 2,500 warplanes from 20 countries joined together in war games in the Saudi desert to jointly train our security forces for operations against non-state armed groups.

Turning from the battlefields to the battle of ideas, the Islamic Coalition is encouraging educators and scholars as well as religious and political leaders to raise their voices against those who preach violence. Moreover, Saudi Arabia has created a center which operates 24/7 to analyze social media to identify and track terrorist efforts to recruit and activate new followers.

But non-state armed groups and radical preachers arent the only threats. By conducting ballistic missile tests last month and meddling in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, the Sinai Peninsula and even the Gulf States, Iran is imperiling the stability of our region. Even more disturbingly, Iran is sharing ballistic missile technology with the extremist Houthi militia in Yemen and similar groups in other countries, thereby imperiling the security of the entire region.

In Yemen, which shares a 1,100-mile border with Saudi Arabia, Iran is supporting and arming the Houthi militia, modeled on the terrorist Hezbollah movement that has destabilized Lebanon. While making Yemen ungovernable, the Houthis are attacking Saudi Arabia, having fired more than 40,000 mortars, rockets and other projectiles at our towns, killing at least 375 civilians, closing more than 500 schools and displacing 24 villages and over 17,000 people.

In January, three Houthi suicide boats rammed a Saudi frigate off the western coast, killing two crew members and injuring three others.

Responding to this threat, Saudi Arabia leads a coalition of 12 countries fighting to reinstate Yemens legitimate, internationally recognized government and restore peace and security to the country.

To be sure, Saudi Arabia prefers to promote stability through peaceful means, as we do by providing much-needed diplomatic and economic support to strategic allies such as Egypt and Jordan. But aggression, active destabilization and acts of terrorism, including Irans infringements in Yemen, demand a military response.

From the Cold War through the War on Terror, the U.S. has helped Saudi Arabia strengthen our defenses through joint military training exercise and ballistic defensive weapons sales, making our country the largest customer of U.S. military equipment.

Today, were working with the United States and its allies to defeat Daesh, Al Qaeda and Iranian-sponsored extremism and expansionism.

We stand shoulder-to-shoulder for a secure and stable Middle East in a peaceful and prosperous world.
A scuffle broke out on a Southern California beach where President Donald Trump supporters were marching as counter-protesters doused organizers with pepper spray, authorities said Saturday.

The violence erupted when the march of about 2,000 people at Bolsa Chica State Beach reached a group of about 30 counter-protesters, some of whom began spraying the irritant, said Capt. Kevin Pearsall of the California State Parks Police.

Three people were arrested on suspicion of illegal use of pepper spray and a fourth person was arrested on suspicion of assault and battery, Pearsall said.

Pearsall added that two people had suffered minor injuries, not requiring medical attention.

One anti-Trump protester who allegedly used the eye irritant was kicked and punched in the sand by Trump supporters, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Before the march started the counter-protesters had said they intended to try and stop the marchs progress with the use of a human wall.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


House Freedom Caucus co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan tried Sunday to end the blame being cast upon his group and others for Republicans failed ObamaCare overhaul bill, saying, Lets get to work.

Instead of doing the blame game, lets get to work, Jordan, R-Ohio, said on Fox News Sunday. Lets do the responsible thing. Lets get back to work and do what we told the voters we were going to do.

Much of the blame has been directed at the conservative group and its roughly 35 members, after House Speaker Paul Ryan realized that he didnt have enough support for the bill in the GOP-led chamber and canceled the final vote Friday.

However, practically everybody in official Washington is being accused of being at fault -- from the caucus for its ideological purity, to Ryan for his inability to get the votes to President Trump for failing to deliver with his vaunted deal-making skills.

Ryan purportedly needed about 20 more votes, mostly from Freedom Caucus members and a handful of GOP House moderates.

The rift led Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, to resign Sunday from the caucus.

"To deliver on the conservative agenda we have promised the American people for eight years, we must come together to find solutions to move this country forward," Poe said through his congressional office.

"Saying no is easy, leading is hard, but that is what we were elected to do. Leaving this caucus will allow me to be a more effective member of Congress and advocate for the people of Texas. It is time to lead."

Poe intended to vote in favor of the bill and personally told Trump last week that he would support the measure.

None of the chambers 193 Democrats supported dismantling President Obamas signature 2010 health care law, which is struggling under increasing costs and fewer insurance policy choices for Americans.

Jordan argued Sunday that the bill lost on its shortcomings, not over ideology, with just 17 percent of Americans approving of the measure, crafted by Ryan, R-Wis., and his leadership team.

Maybe the fact that we opposed it did the country a favor because this bill didnt repeal ObamCare, he said. This bill didnt do what we told the American people we were going to do.

He argued fiscal conservatives want a bill that brings back affordable insurance for their voters and all Americans through a market-based, not government-run, approach.

Not some one-size-fits-all mandate from Washington, said Jordan, whose caucus backed a plan by South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Republicans. Thats what our plan would have accomplished.

He also made clear that conservatives will hold Trump and Ryan to the same standards moving forward on such issues of tax reform and building the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

Lets make sure we actually secure the border, build the wall, like we told the American people we were going to, he said. Thats what the Freedom Caucus was created to do -- fight for those simple principles.

Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on Sunday acknowledged that Democrats are not the culprits in Republicans failed ObamaCare overhaul bill, saying its time for the GOP to start governing.

Youre right, Priebus said to questions on Fox News Sunday about President Trump calling out Democrats after the bill died Friday in the GOP-controlled House amid insufficient GOP support.

At the end of the day, its time for the party to start governing, Priebus continued. I also think though, that Democrats can come to the table as well.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., canceled the vote on the bill upon realizing he was about 20 votes shy of the minimum 216, amid strong opposition from the roughly 35-member, conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Trump said afterward, We have no Democratic support. We have no votes from them. They werent going to give us a single vote.

On Saturday, Trump hinted that overhauling ObamaCare is still alive, perhaps through bringing Democrats into the process, with widespread bipartisan concern about the 2010 health care laws increasing costs and fewer insurance policy options for Americans.

ObamaCare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great health care plan for THE PEOPLE, Trump tweeted. Do not worry!

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, later Saturday seemed open to such discussions, acknowledging that ObamaCare indeed has problems, including too few tax credits for poor Americans to help them pay for the insurance.

ObamaCare is not perfect. We need to fix things, he said on Fox News Fox & Friends. This is all fixable if we sit down as reasonable people.

Priebus also told Fox News Sunday that Trump was 100 percent correct in a tweet earlier in the morning in which the president blamed the Freedom Caucus along with Washington conservative groups Club for Growth and the Heritage Foundation for nixing the overhaul bill, crafted by Ryan and his leadership team.

We can't be chasing the perfect all the time, Priebus said. Sometimes you have to take good and put it in your pocket and take the win.  I think it's time for our folks to come together. And I also think it's [time] to potentially get a few moderate Democrats on board.

Still, Priebus acknowledged that Trump has an ambitious policy agenda that includes tax reform and perhaps an infrastructure bill on which hell need support from conservatives.

Well give these guys another chance, he said.
Boris Epshteyn, a special assistant to President Donald Trump who was in charge of television surrogates for the White House, has been let go from his position, four senior administration officials told Fox News.

White House sources told Fox News that they are exploring other opportunities within the administration."

Epshteyn could potentially have a less visable position, but is expected to remain in the administration, Politico reported.

Epshteyn had been in charge of overseeing television appearances for White House officials, according to Politico.

Eric Trump and Epshteyn had developed a friendship during their time at Georgetown University.

Fox News' Serafin Gomez contributed to this story.
A South Carolina man who wrapped electrical tape around a dog's muzzle to stop her from barking has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Media outlets report William Dodson's sentence Friday represented the state's maximum for animal cruelty. However, it will run simultaneously with a 15-year sentence on a federal gun charge. Dodson's treatment of Caitlyn won't extend his prison time.

Judge Markley Dennis told the 43-year-old North Charleston man, "I wish I could give you more."

Charleston Animal Society director Aldwin Roman says the sentence still sends a message that animal cruelty won't be tolerated.

Caitlyn was found in critical condition. The tape cut off blood flow to her tongue.

The case sparked international outrage after photos of Caitlyn's tightly bound snout spread on social media.
Several unidentified shooters opened fire at a Cincinnati nightclub early Sunday, killing one person and wounding 15 others, officials said.

The shooters escaped the melee at club Cameo and they remained on the run Sunday.

"Several local men got into some type of dispute inside the bar and it escalated into shots being fired from several individuals," Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said during a Sunday news conference. "As a result there were 16 people that sustained gunshot injuries one of which is deceased. A total of 15 others that were injured, one in extremely critical condition."

The man who was killed was named as 27-year-old Obryan Spikes. His family had been notified, Isaac said.

Assistant Fire Chief Roy Winston said numerous other club-goers were injured fleeing the scene.

"I'm confident that while our hearts are broken, that our spirit is not," Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said.

The nightclub employed off-duty police officers to patrol the parking lot, Isaac said, and individuals entering the club were routinely patted down and wanded. Despite the precautions, Isaac said "Several firearms were able to be brought inside the bar."

The motive for the shooting remained unclear, but Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate said there was no indication the attack was terrorism related. The shooting occurred around 1:30 a.m., WLWT reported.

We are in the middle of a very horrific situation that occurred at the nightclub with multiple victims, Neudigate said. Its going to be a long night for our homicide units to investigate.

The victims were taken to four area hospitals. Some drove themselves and others were taken by ambulance. WLWT reported at least one of the wounded was in critical condition at a hospital.

Capt. Kim Williams said authorities were not sure what prompted the shooting.

"Saturday night, it is a very young crowd," Williams said. "We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst."

Several officers were working security detail at the club and performed first aid and tried to revive the person that died, Williams said.

"The biggest problem when you have a large crowd like this and the shots ring out, a lot of the witnesses disappear," Williams said.

Police are interviewing witnesses and asking anyone with information to come forward, however, authorities didn't immediately identify any suspects.

The area is mostly industrial but also home to several nightclubs with a smattering of private houses. A regional airport is nearby along the Ohio River. The area is fairly desolate at night, with the exception of the nightlife scene and 24-hour gas stations. The road where the club sits was easily cordoned off by a single police cruiser and officer at either end.

First responders had problems reaching the shooting victims because the parking lots were full, Sgt. Eric Franz said.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on Twitter that he was "saddened to learn about last night's shooting" and that he was offering the state's assistance.

Cameo's Facebook profile said it caters to college students on Friday nights, when anyone over 18 is allowed in, while Saturdays are "grown and sexy night" for ages 21 and over.

Click here for more from FOX19.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The El Paso County Sheriffs Office made four more arrests in the deaths of two teenagers. The announcement came as the family of one of the victims held his funeral Saturday.

There were five people under arrest in connection with the double homicide as of Saturday.

Natalie Partida, 16, and Derek Greer, 15 were found dead along a rural road in El Paso County March 12. The Colorado Springs teens attended Coronado High School.

Derek Greer's memorial service was held Saturday.

The announcement of the new arrests came in a press release from the sheriff's office.

Diego Chacon, 18, was booked on two charges of First Degree Murder, two charges of Second Degree Kidnapping, Aggravated Robbery and Child Abuse. He was also arrested by El Paso County prior to the homicide on drug and weapons charges.

Joseph Arthur Rodriquez, 18, was booked on two charges of First Degree Murder, two charges of Second Degree Kidnapping, Aggravated Robbery, Child Abuse and Accessory. He was also previously arrested on kidnapping charges.

Marco Antonio Garcia-Bravo, 20, was booked on two charges of First Degree Murder, two charges of Second Degree Kidnapping, Aggravated Robbery and Child Abuse.

Alexandra Marie Romero, 20, was booked on charges of Second Degree Kidnapping and Accessory.

Gustavo Marquez, 19, was arrested on Monday as a suspect in the case.

Greer and Partida were found dead along the shoulder of Old Pueblo Road just south of Hanover Road near Fountain.

Read more from FOX 31 Denver.
Investigators combing the country for a 50-year-old teacher who is believed to have run off with his 15-year-old former student say the pair had a romantic interest in each other.

Tad Cummins and Elizabeth Thomas -- who were once allegedly caught kissing in a classroom -- havent been seen since March 13. But as officials continue their hunt for the pair, new evidence is emerging to show a romantic relationship developed between them prior to the disappearance.

Cummins and Thomas wrote emails to each other and saved them as drafts in a folder of Cummins school email account, Maury County District Attorney Brent Cooper told WAAY on Friday.

They would write the message and let it save as a draft, Cooper said. The other person would log in, read the message and then delete it and then write another message that was saved as a draft.

He added: If you read them you would immediately recognize you are reading messages between two people who have a romantic interest in each other.

A string of romantic posts appeared on what was believed to be their Instagram accounts as well. One post from the teen's page read "Every Beauty needs her Beast to protect her from everything but him," credited to poet N.R. Hart.

One of the email drafts shared with WAAY begins with Cummins telling Thomas that he saw you standing next to you [sic] backpack this morning.

And [Cummins] makes a reference to a body part of hers and how nice that looked, Maury County Sheriffs Department spokesperson Marcus Alright said.

NEW PICTURE: Here's Tad Cummins and Elizabeth Thomas at school in January, days before his alleged inappropriate contact with her. pic.twitter.com/BzyIz8KPpY  TBI (@TBInvestigation) March 21, 2017

On Tuesday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tweeted a photo from January showing Cummins and Thomas gazing at each other days before his alleged inappropriate contact with her.
A sixth-grader in Massachusetts was served by police with no-trespass orders after neighbors grew wary of the girl cutting through their properties to get to and from her school bus stop.

The mother of 11-year-old Autumn Blanchard told the Cape Cod Times her daughter received three pink no-trespass notices from the Harwich Police Department on March 2.

Krystal Blanchard said she was unaware neighbors had an issue until the police arrived at her door and asked why she wasn't informed by the neighbors or school officials, who also knew about the problem.

"I am beyond distressed by this situation," she told the newspaper. "I can't imagine why it had to go to this level. Someone should have spoken to me."

According to the notices, Autumn could be arrested and fined up to $100, imprisoned up to 30 days or both, if she steps onto the properties listed in the no-trespass orders.

Blanchard said she wonders if the fact her family is new to the area and she and her daughter have brightly colored hair may be causing neighbors to discriminate against them. The mother has pink hair and piercings, while her daughter's hair has multiple colors.

"That's the only thing I can think of, which I think is ridiculous," said Blanchard, who contends Autumn is a "nice, polite kid."

Harwich Police Chief David Guillemette blamed a "breakdown in communication" for the situation in an interview with the newspaper. He said police should have met first with the mother to discuss her daughter's trespassing.

"I would have preferred it would have been handled with more tact," Guillemette said.

The 11-year-old girl said the cut-through shortened her walk to and from the bus stop, adding how she "just wanted to get home and be warm inside my house."

A neighbor told the paper she was previously sued because a girl fell in her yard, and became concerned when she saw Autumn climbing over debris from a fallen tree.

Read more from The Cape Cod Times.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Police in Monaco say robbers have carried out an armed heist at a luxurious Cartier jewelry shop in Monte Carlo and one of the suspects has been captured.

The Monegasque police authority said three individuals carrying at least one firearm targeted the shop Saturday afternoon near the famed casino square in the French principality. Police say the robbers fled and set fire to their getaway car.

One of the armed men was caught by police who closed the principality's borders but the two others managed to escape.

SUSPECT IN CUSTODY AFTER BURGLARY INSIDE BELLAGIO HOTEL

Police were unable to specify what the robbers had stolen or how valuable it was.

Police say no shots were fired, no injuries reported and no hostages were taken in the robbery but some Cartier shop assistants have been given psychological counseling.
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Bulgarians are heading to the polls for the third time in four years in a snap vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member country closer to Russia.

Polls on Sunday opened at 7 a.m. (0400GMT) and first results from exit polls are expected shortly after they close at 8 p.m. (1700GMT).

Some 6.8 million Bulgarians are eligible to vote in an election widely predicted to bring about a fragile government coalition and a fragmented legislature where nationalist and populist parties could become kingmakers.

Surveys say former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov's center-right GERB party is running neck-and neck with the Socialist Party of ex-communists. Both parties have pledged to improve economic relations with Russia, appealing to voters who feel let down by the EU.
The lawyer for a professor at an Australian university says the academic has been prevented by Chinese authorities from returning to Sydney because he's suspected of endangering national security.

Chen Jinxue, lawyer for Feng Chongyi, an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney, said Sunday that border officials at an airport in southern China refused to let Feng catch his flight home.

Feng had been wrapping up a three-week trip during which he was researching human rights lawyers.

Chen said state security officials met with Feng at his hotel in the city of Guangzhou and asked him during a two-hour conversation who he met with in China and in Australia.

China's Ministry of Public Security and authorities in Guangzhou did not respond to calls and faxed requests for comment.
Embattled French presidential candidate Francois Fillon was wiretapped by authorities investigating him for a misuse of public funds, a campaign aide said on Sunday.

The allegation  reminiscent of President Trumps accusation that former President Barack Obama had wiretapped him  comes amid Fillons claim earlier this week that French President Francois Hollande was leading a plot against him, Reuters reported.

Its extremely likely, Eric Ciotti  a lawmaker and campaign aide  told Europe 1 radio and CNEWS on Sunday. It wouldnt be illegal, but that would, once more, be a democratic scandal.

But other politicians have viewed Fillon and Ciottis assertions with skepticism.

I dont believe at all that there is an orchestrated operation there, centrist Francois Bayrou said. Conspiracy theorieskeep one from looking at ones own responsibilities.

Fillon, 63, has fallen to third place in recent polls, meaning he may be eliminated in the first round of presidential voting on April 23.
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French President Francois Hollande, on an official visit to Singapore, expressed a desire Sunday to strengthen France's partnership with the Southeast Asian city-state.

"France considers Singapore not only for an economic partner, but also as a friendly country," Hollande said at a state banquet, where he gave a toast in French.

"In this geopolitical environment of isolation, nationalism and protectionism, we have to lead by example and make our bilateral partnership not only strong and dynamic, but to show the way for opening confidence in international trade," added Hollande, making the first official visit by a French president to Singapore.

The two countries signed a Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership in 2012 to deepen cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, defense and space technology.

Singapore's president, Tony Tan, said that France was a "special friend," noting that it was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Singapore after its independence in 1965.

"At a time when the global political and economic environment is uncertain, many governments are facing pressures to turn inwards," Tan said. "Against this backdrop, being able to work with reliable friends is more important than ever. France is such a friend of Singapore." Some 15,000 French nationals and 1,800 French enterprises are based in the city-state.

Trade between the two countries is strong as well. Last year, their bilateral trade was valued at 16 billion Singapore dollars ($11.4 billion). France was Singapore's second-biggest trading partner in the European Union.

In 2015, French foreign direct investment in Singapore was about 14.8 billion Singapore dollars ($10.6 billion).

Hollande is set to meet with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and deliver a lecture on Monday. He leaves for Malaysia on Tuesday.
The Latest on Bulgaria's election Sunday: (all times local):

3:10 p.m.

Bulgarians are headed to the polls for the third time in four years in an early vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member closer to Russia.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova, whose party wants EU sanctions lifted against Russia imposed after it annexed Crimea in 2014, says Sunday that she voted "for a change."

She also voted for "security at our borders and inside the country, for justice, and lastly not to give an opportunity to another country, no matter if it comes from East, West or South to interfere in our politics."

Bulgaria, located in southeast Europe, is both a member of the EU and NATO.

___

11 a.m.

Bulgarians are headed to the polls for the third time in four years in an early vote that could tilt the European Union's poorest member closer to Russia.

Some 6.8 million Bulgarians are eligible to vote Sunday in an election widely predicted to bring about a fragile government coalition and a fragmented legislature where nationalist and populist parties could become kingmakers.

The election campaign focused on the future of EU, the influence of Russia and Turkey on domestic politics, as well as problems associated with an increased number of migrants.

Surveys say former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov's center-right GERB party is running neck-and neck with the Socialist Party of ex-communists. Both parties have pledged to improve economic relations with Russia, appealing to voters who feel let down by the EU.

"I voted for a stable, predictable and united Bulgaria, because tomorrow our nation needs to be united," Borisov said after casting his ballot.

___

8 a.m.

The Bulgarian election on Sunday has sparked protests at the Turkish border for the last two days by nationalists who are determined to keep Bulgarian citizens living permanently in Turkey from coming in to vote.

The border blockade reflects rising tensions between the two countries over Turkey's open backing for a group that represents Bulgaria's sizeable Turkish minority. Some 10 percent of the 7.2 million Bulgarians are of Turkish origin or are Muslims. More than 300,000 have settled permanently in neighboring Turkey, but still hold a Bulgarian passport and are eligible to vote.

The blockade by nationalists could affect some 50,000 voters from Turkey.

The protesters claim Turkish officials are forcing expatriate voters to support DOST, a pro-Ankara party running for the first time that nationalists fear is a threat to Bulgarian interests.

The tense relations have prompted a spat between the two nations' leaders.

___

7 a.m.

Boiko Borisov, a 57-year-old political maverick who combined man-in-the-street rhetoric with a strict obedience to the EU when he was prime minister, is a key figure in Bulgaria's election on Sunday.

His center-right GERB party was defeated by Socialist President Rumen Radev, a former air force general, in the November 2016 presidential election.

Borisov resigned after Radev's victory, and his party's popularity faded because of the slow pace of reforms to eliminate graft and poverty and overhaul the judicial system. It is now pledging to fight corruption and to raise minimum wages and supports EU sanctions on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova wants EU sanctions against Russia lifted, a bigger role for the state in the economy, and has wooed voters with promises of higher salaries and pensions.

A populist party Volya (Will) is trying to enter Parliament. It's led by Veselin Mareshki, a wealthy businessman who combines patriotic rhetoric with promises of strict immigration controls and friendlier relations with Moscow.
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French voters just won't tolerate corruption in politics anymore  that appears to be the message from the swift downfall of the country's powerful security minister.

It's a notable shift from the past, when influence peddling seemed endemic and politicians untouchable, even when they were accused of shocking scandals.

The change is the result of an aggressive new financial prosecutor, an unprecedented anti-corruption drive by President Francois Hollande, and growing public frustration with a political establishment seen as intent on enriching itself even as ordinary people suffer.

Hollande on Thursday inaugurated the French anti-corruption agency, a public organization focusing on business activity  the latest move in government efforts to fight corruption.

Five years ago, Hollande campaigned on the promise to make the French Republic "exemplary." He probably didn't think he would have so much clean up to do in his own camp.

Former Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux on Tuesday became the fifth minister to quit the Socialist government over financial wrongdoing allegations. Prosecutors opened an investigation into a report that he hired his two daughters for some two dozen temporary parliamentary jobs, starting when they were 15 and 16 years old.

The case comes as France's electoral campaign is being affected by a string of corruption scandals ahead of the country's two-round presidential election on April 23 and May 7.

The conservative candidate Francois Fillon is the target an investigation into allegations that he gave his wife and two children government-funded jobs which they never did.

Fillon suggested Thursday that Hollande would intervene in legal cases to try to discredit political rivals. Hollande vigorously denounced those allegations as false and insisted he has never intervened in any judicial procedure.

Fillon, once considered the presidential front-runner, has sunk in polls following the press' first revelations about the jobs in January.

Since then, allegations have come out that Fillon was also given suits worth more than 48,000 euros ($52,000) over the past five years  including two suits worth 13,000 euros ($14,000) last month. Judges are also investigating whether Fillon and his wife committed fraud and forgery in a cover-up attempt.

His supporters insist the principle of presumption of innocence should protect their candidate.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and some members of her anti-EU, anti-immigrant National Front party are also targeted in several ongoing investigations.

Polls suggest that Le Pen and independent centrist Emmanuel Macron are the two top contenders in the election. The top two vote-getters on April 23 will compete in a presidential runoff on May 7.

For the first time in the country's history, the declarations of assets of all the presidential candidates were published this week on the High authority for the transparency of public life's website.

Hollande's term was tarnished from the start with scandals  the biggest one concerning former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac.

Cahuzac acknowledged owning illegal foreign bank accounts for two decades in March 2013, after denying and publicly lying for months. He was sentenced last year to three years in prison. He has appealed the decision.

Cahuzac's case prompted the creation of the new position of a national financial prosecutor three years ago to focus on complex cases of serious economic and financial crime.

The government also passed a law in 2013 to force ministers and parliamentarians to declare their assets and avoid any conflict of interest. The same year, another bill tightened France's legal arsenal to fight tax fraud and evasion.

In addition to Le Roux and Cahuzac, three lower-profile ministers were forced to quit Hollande's government in the same circumstances, including junior minister for foreign trade Thomas Thevenoud who resigned in 2014 because he was named in an inquiry into tax fraud. He goes on trial next month.

"French people want exemplary attitude from their political leaders," said French Socialist environment minister Segolene Royal, who also noted the consequences of corruption on France's image abroad. "(We are) the country of human rights, a country of law. We need to watch our behavior."

Hollande's strong stance on fighting corruption and financial wrongdoing is a marked contrast with his predecessors' attitudes.

Former conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy is facing legal troubles. An investigation is underway over allegations that he received millions of euros in illegal financing from the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's regime for his winning 2007 presidential campaign.

Prosecutors also want him and 13 others sent to trial for another campaign financing case involving his failed 2012 presidential bid. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Jacques Chirac, the French president from 1995-2007, was given in 2011 a two-year suspended sentence for embezzling public funds while he was mayor of Paris.
Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, last week accused Russia not only of meddling in the U.S. elections, but also having a hand in Europes political contests.

From Bulgaria to France, there are allegations of Russian hacking and the relentless release of fake news items to shape a particular narrative, or help a certain candidate. Russia denies it all.

But what Russia cannot deny is its relationship-building with European political candidates of its choosing. Gone are the days of Moscow bonding with the left. New allies tend to be right wing, populist, nationalist and anti- EU.

French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen visited the Russian President yesterday in Moscow. She has said she would like to see France out of the European Union. Le Pen Friday called for better relations with Moscow, and an end to sanctions.

"It's the world of Vladimir Putin, it's the world of Donald Trump, in the United Sates; it's the world of Mr. Modi in India," Le Pen said, referencing men who might be grouped as nationalists.

Putin Friday said he was not endorsing the National Front candidate, nor did he want to interfere in the French election, but feels free, as other world leaders do, to meet with any candidates. In the past, when Le Pen's National Front needed cash, Russia loaned it. This time, both Le Pen and Putin's spokesmen were quick to state that money didn't come up.

Meanwhile, in Milan, the Northern League leader Matteo Salvini told me he is very fond of Vladimir Putin, and also recently traveled to Moscow. There, he signed an accord of understanding with Putin's party. He said he would rather hitch his wagon to Russia than to the European establishment.

"They don't have fear," Salvini told Fox News. "They were the first to go to Syria to fight ISIS. They are resisting economic sanctions, which don't make sense, and are not just damaging the Russian economy, but also the European one. Because they have clear ideas on the fight against terror, how to deal with illegal immigration, on the future of jobs, even for Europe, which makes me look more toward them than toward Merkel," he said.

Salvini's party is not expected to win more than 10 percent of votes in the next national election in Italy, but he, by many accounts, is a player in Italian politics. When I asked what he thought about U.S. concerns and allegations about Russian hacking, and attempts to influence the American election in November, he said, "Fortunately, people vote freely, according to their conscience, for Brexit, for Trump, for Le Pen, for Salvini, without Russian interference or funding, which doesn't exist."

Some suggest Russia, isolated from much of Europe, may just be seeking alliances where it can, and trying to insert the argument for lifting sanctions into the European debate. Others say Moscow is trying to destabilize a fragile EU, turn its focus inward, and keep it from having a unified external policy, particularly when it comes to the Kremlin.
My life may be crazy but its never dull.

A couple of weeks ago my son Tim and I were on a ferry from Ventura, Calif., to the Channel Islands. Its an hour and a half trip out to Santa Cruz, largest of the islands, and the sea was rolling.

For decades Ive read about these islands, now part of Channel Islands National Park. Our boat was scheduled for two stops, at Scorpion Ranch and Prisoners Harbor.

On the trip out, the ferry, with perhaps 75 people aboard, carried a few sea kayaks and I wondered about that.

You can read and look at photos of a place till the cows come home, but itll always be different when you see the real thing, up close.

And so it was. The vast majority of our sightseeing passengers debarked at Scorpion Ranch, near the east end of Santa Cruz, which proved to be vastly bigger and more mountainous than Id dreamed. From one end to the other, its nearly 22 miles of green, rugged mountains, dashing sea caves, sea lions and pelicans and nary a human in sight. And those hills! The highest was closer to the far end and nearly 2,500 feet above the sea swells.

I didnt know what to make of the Channel Islands. Here we were, not far from the second-largest city in the United States (Los Angeles), burbling up to the pier to offload people on some sort of fantasy island.

The place was beautiful! No wonder part of it was a national park and the other three-fourths belonged to The Nature Conservancy.

Mainland California was a dim gray line of mountains to the north, about where Santa Barbara would be. (The coast runs almost eastwest at that point.)

With a helping hand from above, I found myself walking down a long pier in warm afternoon sunshine with an unknown afternoon ahead. There werent but a few of us and Tim and I had a choice to make: follow a trail to the right with a guide onto the Conservancy side of the island, or take a left, following a dirt road up a mountain but be on our own.

Either would be good, but given that choice, Id always take the path of less restriction. Not that I blame the Conservancy, their task is to preserve, whereas the parks people must do that while allowing we the taxpayer/owners a look at our lands and their stewardshipthats the way democracy works.

Right away, we crossed a large creek, swollen by the heavy rains that had also painted most of California bright green this spring.

It looks like Ireland, remarked my son. Ireland without the sheep, I thought. But since these islands had been inhabitedand farmedfor thousands of years, I dont doubt sheep had been among their inhabitants at some point in the past.

Near the dock, we passed a sturdy old brick structure bearing the date 1887, mute testimony to the islands former residents.

The hike up the hill was simply stunning. A steady, unrelenting climb, it had us shedding jackets and finding photo-ops at every turn. Most obvious of these were the huge tree-like yellow flowers lining the roads, almost like an overdone movie set by an artist trying to be creative. No set this, but far more beautiful.

The yellow flowers were giant coreopsis, accented by fields of less showy but nonetheless colorful silver lupine.

As we climbed, the sea came into view below and the road turned away from it, heading upward and inland. A glance back revealed our ferry, already appearing like a childs boat, anchored in a tranquil lagoon.

Little wonder we made so little progress, there was almost too much to look at.

The Channel Islands are world famous, as we gathered from the languages overheard on the ferry. While most visitors are day-trippers, some had come to camp. There are at least two primitive campgrounds on Santa Cruz, linked by a network of trails. If you go online it isnt hard to get a good look at the possibilities for an overnight or multi-day stay.

The islands isolation and distance from the mainland has resulted in a number of flora and fauna species found nowhere else. One of these is the island scrub jay, a large member of the jay family found nowhere but here.

I hadnt really expected to see these birds, which closely resemble the western scrub jay of the mainland.

But we hadnt gone 20 minutes up that mountain road when, zowie: two birds perfectly matching the description of the substantially larger island scrub jay. Wow! That was easy.

While we were not lucky enough to see another notable island creature, the diminutive island gray fox, a woman whod gotten off at the Scorpion landing had taken photos of two of these foxes with her cellphone.

Further up the mountain, a couple in their twenties, toting heavy packs, stopped briefly to chat (and take a breath). They were from Pittsburgh and planned to camp at the Del Norte Campground, over the top of the first pass. We envied them and wished them a great four days on Santa Cruz.

A few days after getting home, I discovered a major attraction for paddlers to the Channel Islands. Far out toward the western end of the north side of Santa Cruz Island, there is a sea cave believed to be the largest of its kind in the world. This gradually narrowing tube is large enough to explore in a sea kayak, it seems, for about a quarter of a mile into the mountain.

If you go online, there are dozens of photos taken far back inside that massive cave. But a word to the wise: there are guided kayak tours available; go with a guide, and remember to check out the tides. You sure wouldnt want to get trapped in a giant sea cave on an incoming tide.

There was much more to Santa Cruz Island, but all too soon we had to turn around and head back down to the dock to reboard Island Packers ferry to begin the long trip home. The return trip was in much calmer waters and nobody got seasick.

Paul Sullivan of Spotsylvania County, a former reporter with The Free LanceStar, is a freelance writer. Email him at PBSullivan2@cs.com.
The old man slept as his daughter sat by his hospital bed. Suddenly, an aide walked in and announced that a move was imminent.

Your time here is up, Bonnie Miller Rubin remembers the aide explaining. Hes going to a nursing home.

It was 9 p.m. Rubins 91-year-old father had been asleep several hours. I said, Are you kidding me?  Rubin recalled.

I felt powerless, she said, remembering that cold night three years ago. What rights did I have?

you do have rights

In fact, Rubin could have filed a fast appeal of her fathers pending discharge with a Medicare Quality Improvement Organization. If shed made a phone call on the spot, her father would have stayed in the hospital until an independent physician reviewed his circumstances.

Every older adult admitted to a hospital as an inpatient has the right to challenge a discharge if he or she feels unprepared to leave. But few people understand the process.

Seniors and families are often caught by surprise by a hospital discharge.

People dont understand how fast-tracked things get, said Trish Colucci, a principle care manager in Flanders, N.J. Theres enormous pressure on discharge teams to get patients out.

After a lawsuit charging that Medicare was not giving beneficiaries adequate notice of the right to appeal pending discharges, the government issued new regulations on the process a decade ago. Heres how fast appeals are supposed to work:

Know your rights. Every older adult admitted to the hospital should get a written notice of their rightsincluding the right to appeal planned dischargeswithin two days. If you remain in the hospital for at least five days, you should receive a second notice before being discharged. This Important Message from Medicare will give you the name and a phone number for your Medicare Quality Improvement Organizationan entity charged with handling fast appeals as well as other matters, such as complaints about the quality of care.

QIOs serve older adults on traditional Medicare as well as seniors with managed care-style Medicare Advantage plans. Livanta is the QIO for seniors with Medicare who live in the Northeast and the West Coast. KEPRO covers the rest of the country.

Rubin doesnt remember receiving the notices from Evanston Hospital, near Chicago, where her father was being treated for respiratory distress. But Jim Anthony, a hospital spokesman, said the center distributes them as required. The medical center began planning the mans transition to a nursing home the day of admission, with the familys knowledge, he explained.

Bottom line: Read all documents youre handed in the hospital.

Initiating an appeal

If you dont feel ready to leave the hospital, call the QIO to say youre filing a fast appeal of a pending discharge. You can call day or night until just before midnight on the day the discharge was set to occur.

If someones not manning the phonesQIOs are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the work week and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends and holidaysleave a detailed message.

A family member or caregiver can initiate the process if a patient is unable to do so. But they may subsequently need to fill out a form clarifying that they can act as the patients representative.

Only seniors admitted to the hospital qualify for this appeals process. Patients on observation status have a separate appeals process. Clarify your status often.

Once a fast appeal is lodged, you cant be transferred until its resolution. Usually, that takes about two days. Nor can you be charged for extra time in the hospital, though coinsurance payments and deductibles will still apply.

The hospital will send a copy of your records to the QIO, to be examined by an independent medical reviewer. You have a right to see these documents. The QIO will contact you about discharge concerns.

If the QIO determines a discharge is appropriate, you can stay in the hospital until noon the next day, at no extra charge. If the QIO overrules the hospital, you can stay until another discharge is proposed. The standard? Hospital care must be deemed medically necessary by your physician.

If youve stabilized, without symptoms such as fever, difficulty breathing, or purulent wound, youll probably be considered ready for transfer, said Anne Sansevero, registered nurse and aging life care specialist in New York City.

Stay informed. Ask your doctor every day Any update on how long Im likely to be here? so you dont find yourself in a last minute situation, said Liz Barlowe, a Seminole, Fla., care manager. If the hospital hasnt adequately addressed your need for a safe discharge, you may have grounds to contest.

Barlowe described a client, 78, who broke a hip visiting relatives. Pre-surgery scans showed masses in her uterus and pelviscancer. After hip surgery, staff said they couldnt bring in a gynecologic oncologist to consult and recommended she be sent to a rehab center.

Barlowe immediately contacted KEPRO, which overturned the hospitals decision. The QIOs medical reviewer directed that the patient stay until a cancer specialist provided a consultation and helped devise a plan of care. QIO intervention bought the family 48 hours, during which time they were able to find a facility able to offer chemotherapy and rehabilitation for the hip.

And the patient was able to build up her strength.

Fast appeals similarly exist for hospice, home health, skilled nursing and rehabilitation services, but rules and time frames involved differ slightly.
Taylor Schafer and her date, Finn Blumenthal, will arrive at the Caroline High School prom right on the dot of 8.

Thats because Finn wont be able to stay for the whole evening. Hell need to get home for bedtime.

Unlike the average prom-goer, Finn just turned 2.

So we wont be staying all night and doing the worm on the floor and causing a ruckus, Finns mom, Kelly Blumenthal, laughed.

Its unusual for a toddler to attend prom, but Finn is not your average 2-year-old.

He was born with six different congenital heart defects and spent the first eight months of his life in the hospital. Hes had multiple surgeries and will undergo anothera full reconstruction of his heartbefore he turns 3.

Because of his compromised heart and low oxygen levels, any minor cold can result in a hospital stay.

Hes hospitalized a lot, Blumenthal said. Hes at the hospital more than hes at home.

She worries that Finns condition means he will miss out on many traditional rites of passage.

He might not ever be able to go to his own prom because he has such severe heart disease, Blumenthal said. In a parents mind, thats a milestone you look for.

Schafer, 17, understands Blumenthals fear. An amateur photographer, she met the Blumenthals when she was invited to take pictures of Finn and other infant survivors of heart surgery at a trip to the pumpkin patch, and shes kept in touch with them through social media.

She plans to become a registered nurse specifically to care for ill children like Finn.

So when Blumenthal responded to her Facebook post about needing a date for prom with the joking comment, Finns available and he already has a tux! she started considering it seriously.

When I really thought about it, I thought it would be really awesome to see him dancing with everybody and see him overcome the limits he was given before he was even born, Schafer said.

She sent Blumenthal a private message saying she wanted to take Finn to the prom.

She wanted to share that opportunity with him, Blumenthal said. It may seem silly to some people, but she understands the special meaning it has for us. And Finn loves Taylorshe has a special connection with him.

She said Finn is an extrovert who adores dancing.

All he does is dance to Katy Perrys Roar all day long, she said.

She takes him to participate in Jump Rope for Heart fundraising events at local schools and says he high-fives everyone he meets.

Its not normal at all, she said. I have another son who cant even be in a room with two people. So [prom] is right up Finns alley. We wouldnt put him in this position if we knew he wouldnt like it.

Blumenthal said that once she and Schafer decided to do this, they wanted to do it for real.

If this for real is happening, as a mom I want Finn to do things that would be traditional, Blumenthal said. If the guy takes the girl to dinner, I want Finn to take Taylor to dinner and pay for it. He needs to get her a limo, a corsage and a boutonniere. If this is my only chance, I want to be able to show him through photos that it all happened.

Schafer decided she wanted to ask her date out in a way that would be meaningful to him, so she arranged for the Chick-Fil-A on U.S. 17, which Finn loves, to write, Finn, will you go to prom with me? on its marquee.

She bought a black dress with gold detailing on the bodice from H&G Formal at Spotsylvania Towne Center and Blumenthal bought a matching, solid black cummerbund for Finns miniature tux.

Schafer has lived in Caroline her entire life and wanted to involve the community in her evening. She and Finn will pick out a corsage and boutonniere set from Flower Fashions in Bowling Green and will eschew a fancy restaurant in favor of a Caroline eatery prior to the dance.

Getting Finn to sit still for dinner is going to be the hardest part, Blumenthal laughed.

Richmond Limousine is donating a limo to chauffeur the pair to the prom, which will be held April 21 at the Hotel John Marshall in Richmond.

They said this is the first time theyve had to put a car seat in a limo, so that will be fun, Blumenthal said.

Schafer will have a friend or two along with her so shell have people to hang out with once her date goes home for pajama time.

Shell have the best of both worlds, Blumenthal said. She has her date and then she can stay with her friends.

And shes pretty sure Finn will have the time of his little life.

Hell be dancing and hell be spending time with Taylor, she said. Hes not going to care about anything else.
HCM City revives idea of banning private vehicles in downtown

The HCM City Department of Transport is carrying out a feasibility study to ban private vehicles on a 221ha zone in the citys downtown.

A traffic jam on a National Highway No 13 section in HCM City. The municipal Transport Department is carrying out a feasibility study on banning private vehicles in a 221ha zone in the citys downtown area.







The zone will include Le Duan, Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Pasteur, Hai Ba Trung, Mac Dinh Chi, Dong Khoi, Nguyen Hue, Nguyen Du, Ly Tu Trong, Le Loi and many small streets.



It has many historical, cultural and tourism spots like the city hall, the court, Reunification Palace, Ben Thanh market, Tao Dan Park, Music College, Opera House and zoo.



Several parking areas will be designated for private vehicles in the area around the zone, and transportation inside it will be by public electric buses or monorail.



In 2012 too the city had drawn up a similar plan. Then it was a 930ha area and included a tunnel on Ton Duc Thang Street in front of Bach Dang Park for vehicles while the roads were for pedestrians only.



The latest plan has tweaked the old one, and will initially focus on a part of the 930ha around Nguyen Hue Street, which has become a pedestrians-only street during weekends and public holidays.



In future the area will be linked with the metro.



This is the best time for the city to establish walking streets since it is taking back pavements for use by pedestrians, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted Tran Quang Lam, deputy director of the department, as saying.



At first the walking-only area will be on Saturday, Sunday and public holiday nights.



Do Hong Ngoc, the owner of a restaurant on Bui Vien Street, which will be part of the zone, said: The walking street will make it difficult for travelling but be good for business.



Chu Khac Hieu, a city resident, said: The city should have parking lots nearby as well as a convenient bus system.



Cao Hong Viet, deputy chairman of the Pham Ngu Lao Ward Peoples Committee, revealed that 95 per cent of residents on Bui Vien Street want to make it a walking-only street.



This is the place where foreign visitors live, and walking street would create a unique image for HCM City.



Parking spaces for people who would like to enter the walking zone and public transport system inside are two difficult requirements policy makers have to ensure before embarking on the project.



Bui Vien Street will be used as a test case, with the trial beginning before April 30. It has around 20 alleys with 1,000 people living there. It gets 500  1,200 foreign visitors every day.



During the trial period, it will be off-limits to vehicles from 7pm to 2am on Saturdays and Sundays. Security cameras will be set up and officers will be on patrol. People can do business on pavements. There will be free toilets and wifi for visitors as well as assistance.



Le Dieu Anh, an expert on urban and community development at NGO Cities Alliance, said: We should start with the question: what is the purpose of walking-only streets? If it is economic, local authorities must make a careful study.



Authorities must carefully discuss with local residents how to properly organise space and operate the streets.



Nguyen Ngoc Phuoc Dai of the HCM City Research and Development Institute said: Authorities can hand over the management and use of walking streets to a company, which can be in charge of everything on the streets and has to pay tax.

VNS
Because I enjoy the sound of my own voice more than I should, on several occasions recently Ive confessed to walking around with no cash in my wallet.

On two occasions recently, that situationwalking around with no walking-around moneyalmost came back to bite me.

The first was on a family trip where we parked in a garage. For some reason, it didnt hit me when I pulled in and saw the hourly rates posted on the wall that I should have that much cash in my wallet. I blithely went on without a thought, only facing the cold hard cash facts when I pulled up to the booth on our way out.

Handing the parking attendant my ticket, it still didnt hit me that this was a cash-only spot until she told me she needed $7.50, in real money.

You dont take cards? I asked in an honest, clueless fashion. I blanched when she responded No, ace! as she pointed to the cash only sign on the window of the booth.

Because I clearly wasnt the first moron to have this happen, she sweetly but pointedly told me that there was an ATM one floor up.

You can pull over there while you go up there, she noted, which is what I did, thankful to have a way to get out of this really bad situation.

For a while after that, I walked around with some just in case cash in my wallet.

But I didnt spend it right away, and took it for granted as I pulled out the cards I typically fund my life with. When the cash did eventually get spent, I didnt replace it.

Which brought me to cash-poor incident No. 2.

Once again, the problem involved an automobile. Instead of a parking garage, it was a stretch of toll road that nearly landed me in passenger purgatory.

Traveling again to see friends, I found myself following the directions of my phones GPS, which told me to take a stretch of I-895 in Henrico County, also known by some as Pocahontas Parkway.

Wow, thatll save me some time, I thought. Sure, sounds good, Ill take it.

But as I rolled up to another of these problem collection windows, it was more than a little surprising to see that I owed $4.15 for traveling about 8 miles. While that seemed a little high, what worried me most was whether I had that much on me.

Indeed, when I opened my wallet, there were only two $1 dollar bills in it.

So, feeling like a 16-year-old going through his first toll booth, I told the attendant I would be a moment finding the rest. I quickly proceeded to rifle my way through every compartment of the car, and under the seats, just barely managing to come up with $2.15 in change.

It once again made me think about my shift away from using cash, though Im not sure it will cause me to do much more than hide a small emergency stash of bills.

Im like many others these days, using plastic to pay for everything from movie popcorn to newspapers at a convenience store, not to mention a Mountain Dew or two. Its how I pay bills, order items online and pay for lunch most places.

I ran into another hitch recently when I went to a pizza place that was new to me, and found that they wouldnt take cards. Thankfully, they did take checks, which I had plenty of because I no longer use them to pay bills.

There are other downsides to plasticI worry about people stealing my card numbers and identity, but I also worried on the rare occasions when I walked around with considerable cash in my wallet.

The good news is that my bank, on several occasions, has prevented bad guys from trying to use my cards and accounts, most recently for a purchase in Denmark.

You didnt buy anything in Denmark lately, did you? the nice card protection worker asked me when she called to inform me of the problem.

Not this week at least, I answered.

With all that, Im still a fan of the cards over cash.

The best I can do is try to maintain my emergency cash stash. Though Ill probably spend it on my next trip to Carls, where cash is still king.
MGySgt. Glen F. Reimold USMC (Ret.), 84, of Bumpass, Va. passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family on Thursday, March 23, 2017.

Mr. Reimold was born and raised in Winterstown, Pennsylvania and after several moves during his days in the Marine Corps, settled into Bumpass, Virginia in 1997. Beloved husband, father and grandfather he will be missed and remembered for his kind heart and generosity.

Survivors include, his wife of 62 years, Frances M.Reimold; his four living children, Pam and husband Verlin Hardin, Kathy and her husband Kearney Rash, Donna Downin, Barbara Hughey, and Daughter-in-law Gloria, along with nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. Mr. Reimold was preceded in death by son Tim and daughter Denise.

The family will receive friends from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on March 27 at Mullins and Thompson Funeral Service, Fredericksburg Chapel.

Condolences may be sent at mullinsfredericksburg.com.
Americans deserve rights, freedom

People are people. Our country claims to be one of freedom and equal rights. But how equal are these rights, exactly?

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, passed by Congress on Jan. 31, 1865, and ratified by the states on Dec. 6, 1865, ended slavery. The 15th Amendment gave AfricanAmericans the right to vote in 1870. The 19th Amendment gave American woman the right to vote in 1920. But what about the LGBTQ community? When will their voices be heard? When will they have equal rights? When will they have the right to equal protection?

The AfricanAmericans, women and LGBTQ communities have been oppressed, stifled, buried and deemed unimportant. The Declaration of Independence states that in every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.

The society we live in today has been socially constructed. We have founded this country on slavery and built it on patriarchal, male-identified terms. Women, LGBTQ, African, white, black, Asian, Latino, Mexican or native American all deserve equal rights.

They do not deserve to be oppressed, stereotyped or disadvantaged. People are people no matter what race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. Those factors do not define a people.

Jessica McQuaid

Locust Grove
Gone are the days of President John F. Kennedy saying: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." When Kennedy encouraged Americans to support their country, Democrats were respectful, patriotic, willing to debate issues and generally civil in presenting their issues.

Not so today! Influenced by decades of cultural decay, grossly accelerated by President Obama, Democrats now support the philosophy that: "if it feels good, do it;" "no need to accept responsibility;" "the Constitution is meaningless." Theyre following the examples of George Soros, Saul Alinski, Bernadine Dohrn, Louis Farrakhan, et al. Dont debate issuesdemonize the individuals. They want one party rule, with them in charge.

Democrats nominated unqualified Hillary Clinton for president. She accomplished nothing during her 30 years of "service." She is dishonest, greedy, unlikable, secretive and a threat to national security. She lost the election to an honest, intelligent, accomplished businessman who loves America.

Theyre inspiring felons, student revolts, riots, insults, lies, subversion of government and personal attacks. Democrats are scrounging for anything they can think of to "overturn" the election, and busy building a fictitious case for impeachment of President Trump. Their conduct is shameful and embarrassing for our country.

TV cameras are filled with the images of such bitter obstructionists as Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and Rep. Maxine Waters.

I hope that the Democrats return to the civil, intelligent, patriotic individuals of yesteryear who will start to work for the American people.

F.C. Dugan

Hague
Trump presidency earns a poor grade so far

Years ago, then-Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan coined the phrase, defining deviancy down. He was referring to acceptance of criminal behavior, but lets consider Moynihans concept in light of the presidents behavior.

Should we accept the incremental steps that deviate down from normal standards, both public and private, that is the Donald J. Trump presidency?

The oft-repeated give him a chance isnt necessary. He is the president, and heres an early report card on his performance:

Start with his history of immoral personal behavior. Next, should we accept the indisputable, constant lying? Obama tapped my phones! His pattern of bullying businesses, and then claiming undeserved credit for their decisions? Does the possibility of Russian influence on his administration concern you? The unprecedented financial conflict of interests?

Do you accept: His refusal to furnish his tax returns? His we will build a wall and Mexico will pay for it? His poorly thought-out demands to re-negotiate existing trade agreements? Withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, thus ceding Asian/Pacific leadership to China? Uncouth comments to the Australian prime minister? Anti-Semitic, alt-right advisers? Daughter Ivanka with an office and security clearance in the White House? Take the oil, which is a war crime?

Trashing the judiciary as so-called? Firing Sally Yates for doing her job? The theatrical here is a sample of my very best handwriting displays? Vice President Pence praises NATO, and the same day Trump denigrates it. Calling our free press the enemy of the people? The delays in naming hundreds of presidential appointments?

Donald Trump is incompetent, inexperienced and dangerous. His tweets, unhinged press conferences and campaign rallies arent leadership. Good decisions have been few and far between. Id give him D- in my grading.

Frank Brodersen

Spotsylvania
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In the eyes of many, religion is seen as a vehicle for distortion. And it very well can be employed that way.

From my perspective, in every faith there have been and continue to be individuals and groups who use their tradition to build and sustain structures of falsehood and deception. I feel an obligation to consistently reaffirm my intention to utilize the rituals, texts, and practices of Jewish tradition for the sake of perceiving life as clearly as I can.

The most sacred name for God in Jewish tradition (often rendered as Yahweh in Christian scripture) emerges from the verb "to be." God in this sense can be imagined as Being: All that Is, Was, and Will Be. The Divine, according to this model, is not separate from the world. Rather, we are challenged to uncover holiness amidst this life, with all its struggles and imperfections. Yes, we can reach for higher and purer realms, but only from a place of first knowing and inhabiting the world in which we live.

In this vein, I view religious practice as a means not to prop up falsehood, but to upend it. Otherwise, holy names and sacred texts are at best illusory, and at worst destructive.

Last month I saw Ta-Nehisi Coates speak on campus, as I imagine many of you reading this did. He spoke about lies and deception  about the ways in which we call things something other than they are. For instance, so many understand American slavery as a bump in the road, when in his words it was the road itself:" a massive industry that was part and parcel of much of Americas formation. Likewise, the executive order to restrict immigration from several Muslim countries is being called by other names, when in fact it is just that: a Muslim ban. At this point, not a total ban on Muslim visitors to the U.S., and certainly not on Muslim citizens of the U.S. But that night Coates warned us, based on his experience, and his parents and ancestors experience, as well as upon close examination of history, to be watchful of how a distorted reality can become the presumed normal.

Just as the reality of African-Americans was shaped by generations of enslavement, followed by generations of systematic oppression and discrimination, so could this Muslim ban  God forbid  be part of entrenching us in seeing Muslims as lesser. We need to see clearly what is happening in order to prevent such distorted realities from taking shape.

In responding to these challenging moments, we must perceive our country, its present and its past, clearly. Yes, we are a nation whose shores have been open to millions of immigrants since our founding. Yet we are also a nation whose history includes generations of slavery and genocide. We must not hide from these truths. Rather than tainting our collective identity, accepting hard truths can actually empower us to meet these challenges with clarity and courage.

This is my intention as a religious practitioner. In prayer and meditation, in following the cycle of holy days and the rituals that accompany them, I work to refine the lens through which I perceive the world. It is amidst this world, with all its cracks and blemishes, that we must work to uncover holiness and blessing. Spiritual practice must challenge us. It demands us to encounter life as it is, not how we wish it were. From this awareness, we then can become partners in working for the world we wish to create.
Youve probably never met anyone quite like Courtney Nicholas. Then again, maybe you have.

Nicholas, who likes to be called Court, was named Jackson at birth and was raised as a boy. But at some point it became clear that designation didnt really fit.

I first realized I was not a male about a year and a half, two years ago, said Nicholas, an 18-year-old Corvallis resident.

For awhile, Nicholas tried presenting as female, but that didnt feel right either.

Then, last June, Nicholas realized there was another option. In a first-in-the-nation ruling, a Multnomah County judge had just granted a petition by Portland resident Jamie Shupe to legally change sex to non-binary, meaning neither male nor female. A Polk County judge granted a similar request in October. There have reportedly been others that were not publicly announced, making an accurate count hard to come by.

On March 8, Nicholas became at least the third person in Oregon  and the first in Benton County  to be granted non-binary status.

For Nicholas, it was a moment of validation: Once I was sure thats who I am, I wanted that to be legally me as well.

Friends and family have been accepting and supportive, Nicholas said, with the biggest challenge being deciding which pronouns to use (Nicholas prefers they, them and their).

Tall and thin, with a bi-level hairstyle that is short on the sides and back but long on top, Nicholas says there are a number of terms that describe their gender identity.

You can call me non-binary, you can call me genderqueer, you can call me agender or transgender or androgynous, they said. I just dont see gender as being a big part of my world, my personal identity.

Whats important, Nicholas said, is taking control of that identity.

The next step for me is going to be getting an updated birth certificate, and eventually a drivers license and passport, Nicholas said. Its going to make a big difference in being able to show my ID to someone and having it reflect myself.

Grappling with gender

Questions of gender identity have been bubbling to the surface of social consciousness for a number of years now, and not just in the United States.

Since 2003, Australians have had the option of indicating their gender on identity documents with an X rather than M or F. India, Pakistan, Nepal, New Zealand, Germany and Canada all grant some level of official recognition to non-binary or third gender individuals.

In 2014, the social networking service Facebook gave users 51 gender options to choose from in identifying themselves, including bigender (both male and female), cisgender (someone who presents as having the gender identity they were assigned at birth), intersex (having some biological characteristics of both male and female), neutrois (someone who does not identify with any part of the binary gender system), transsexual (someone who has undergone sex change surgery, hormone treatment or both) and two spirit (a Native American term describing a third gender).

And this spring, the Showtime television series Billions introduced Taylor Mason, a non-binary character played by non-binary actor Asia Kate Dillon.

The issue has also played out in the controversy over whether to allow transgender people to choose which public restroom to use. Lawmakers in a number of states have introduced legislation that would either allow transgender individuals to use the restroom they feel more comfortable with or require them to use public facilities that match the gender they were assigned at birth.

The Obama administration issued a set of guidelines that urged school districts to allow transgender restroom use, but they were withdrawn by President Donald Trump about a month after he took office in January.

Nothing new

The idea that some people dont conform to traditional gender roles is nothing new, said Lorena Reynolds, who represented Nicholas in Benton County Circuit Court.

Its not that these folks didnt exist before, she said. Theyve always been in our communities. Theyve always been in our families. We just havent allowed them legal recognition.

Oregon courts have been split over granting that recognition to non-binary individuals.

Section 33.460 of the Oregon Revised Statutes states that a court may order a legal change of sex  if the court determines that the individual has undergone surgical, hormonal or other treatment appropriate for that individual for the purpose of gender transition and that sexual reassignment has been completed. ORS 33.460 does not specifically allow a designation of non-binary, but it doesnt prohibit such a designation either.

Late last year a judge in Jackson County Circuit Court refused to grant a non-binary gender petition, saying state law doesnt allow it. But judges in Multnomah, Polk and now Benton County have chosen to interpret the law more broadly, to include an individuals choice not to identify as being on one side or another of the standard binary gender divide.

With that precedent established, Reynolds thinks the state will see more such petitions, though shes not expecting a huge number  more of a wave than a flood. But she also thinks pioneers such as Shupe and Nicholas are helping to make things better for those who come after them.

Nonbinary folks and trans folks are at high risk for hate crimes, Reynolds said. Every time they show their ID and that gender marker does not reflect their presentation, theyre subject to harassment. As we move toward a third option, hopefully that will alleviate a lot of that concern.

Why it matters

Advocates for the transgender community say the ability to obtain identity documents that reflect a persons chosen gender is far more than a symbolic gesture.

A 2015 survey conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality found numerous causes for concern. Among them:

 68 percent of respondents said none of their identity documents had the name or gender marker they preferred while just 11 percent said all of their IDs were accurate.

 32 percent of respondents said they had been verbally harassed, denied benefits or service, asked to leave or assaulted after showing an ID with a name or gender marker that did not match their gender presentation.

 54 percent of those who were out or perceived as transgender in grades K-12 reported being verbally harassed, 24 percent physically attacked and 13 percent physically assaulted at school.

 15 percent of respondents who had been employed in the past year said they had been harassed, physically attacked or sexually assaulted at work, while 27 percent said they had been fired, passed over for promotion or denied a job because of their gender identity.

Having a legal recognition of non-binary gender is something folks have wanted for a long time, said Arli Christian, the centers state policy counsel.

For most non-binary people in this country, such recognition remains elusive. But that may be starting to change.

In addition to a handful of cases in Oregon, Californias court system has begun to grant non-binary designations, and lawmakers in that state are considering a bill that would specifically recognize non-binary as a gender.

In the wake of the Shupe case, Oregon DMV officials are evaluating procedures for changing gender markers on a drivers license, and a measure moving through the Legislature  House Bill 2673  would create an administrative procedure for changing gender designation on a birth certificate, meaning people would no longer have to persuade a judge to sign off on the request.

I think theres been a creeping consciousness and public awareness around gender identity, and this has created opportunities for people to advocate for removing barriers, said Amy Herzfeld-Copple, co-executive director of Basic Rights Oregon.

Its now just a matter of assessing the implications and figuring out implementation.

On the national front, a case in U.S. District Court in Colorado is challenging binary gender markers on federal identity documents. The judge in that case, Zzymm v. Kerry, ruled that the State Department has failed to show any rational basis for requiring passport applicants to identify themselves as either male or female.

Meanwhile, the National Center for Transgender Equality and other advocacy groups are working to modify or eliminate gender markers on everything from Social Security and Medicare cards to W-9 employment eligibility forms.

The first question should always be, Is it relevant? Is it necessary to list gender markers on ID? Christian said. If we have a non-binary individual, the most appropriate and most accurate gender marker to identify that individual is not going to be an M or an F.

Next on the docket

While Court Nicholas may be Benton Countys first non-binary resident, they may not be the only one much longer.

Emory Colvin, a 32-year-old doctoral student in nuclear engineering at Oregon State University, filed papers last week in Circuit Court seeking non-binary recognition. Colvin, whose birth name was Emily, was brought up as a girl but didnt really identify as either male or female.

I never strongly felt one way or the other, they said. I was just in this kind of weird middle ground I had no context for.

Short and compact with serious glasses and short strawberry-blond hair, Colvin said their lightbulb moment came when a friend introduced them to a web series that featured a non-binary character.

Everything from there started doing the snowball thing, they said.

Primarily for medical reasons, Colvin was scheduled to have a hysterectomy last week and has started hormone replacement therapy with testosterone. Colvin is also pursuing chest reconstruction surgery but says they have no interest in full sex reassignment surgery.

That is being pursued as part of a gender transition but is not the driving thing behind it, Colvin said. Its just me getting comfortable with where I am.

Petitioning for legal non-binary status, Colvin said, is just another step toward constructing a public persona that matches the way they see themselves.

I dont feel like anything internal has changed, they said. All its done is change a little bit of the outside to reflect who Ive always been.

Changing attitudes

But if obtaining a legal designation of non-binary doesnt change a persons identity, why do it at all?

For Nicholas, its as much about changing other peoples attitudes as it is about adding a third check box on an ID card.

People look at your name and your gender marker and they make assumptions, they said.

Sometimes those assumptions dont matter, but sometimes they can have real consequences. As the National Center for Transgender Equality survey showed, its not uncommon for people to be assaulted for challenging traditional gender roles.

Its a legitimate fear, Nicholas said. In all reality, it probably would not be me that it would happen to. But this year there have been several people, several trans women, who have been killed. (And) I do have a friend who was beaten up in the bathroom for being transgender.

Nicholas sees legal recognition for non-binary individuals such as himself as a step toward social acceptance for people who dont conform to gender stereotypes.

First and foremost its about my personal identity, its about me, but the social and political aspects are part of the reason I wanted to do this, they said.

Were taking steps backward in equality, Nicholas added. We have people in office who want to take queer peoples rights away. So to me its important to push back, to say, Were not going to let this happen.
Bonn culture : Beethoven House Museum to be revamped

Bonn Swiss architects are to redesign the Bonn museums permanent exhibition in time for the 2020 celebrations for the 250th anniversary of Beethovens birth.

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The Bonn Beethoven House has cleared an important hurdle for the planned redesigning of its permanent exhibition with the close of a Europe-wide competition. The Beethoven House said on Friday that the contract for the redesign had been awarded to Holzer Kobler Architects, who are based in Zurich and Berlin. The Swiss architects count the permanent exhibition at the Buchenwald memorial and the exhibition at the new Grimm World on the Kassel Weinberg among their most recent projects.

The aim is to present and project Beethoven by 2020 at the latest in a contemporary way in an expanded museum, said Malte Boecker, Director of the Beethoven House in Fridays announcement. The contract is an exciting challenge for architect Barbara Holzer, who said: The life and work of a unique figure in the arts will be presented in the new permanent exhibition. Ludwig van Beethovens pioneering achievements remain unchangingly relevant to todays public.

The decision for Holzer Kobler was apparently unanimous

The Beethoven House itself has a special significance as an authentic site; cultural and musical history with an international dimension will come alive locally here. Holzer Kobler Architects design came out on top against 19 competing firms. The decision for Holzer Kobler was apparently unanimous. Jury member Philipp Teufel praised the compelling balance between a sensitive handling of the heritage-listed architecture and a forward-looking presentation of the historical items in the collection.

The project will apparently cost an estimated three million Euros. A large part will be financed by the federal government and North Rhine Westphalia. The remainder will be provided by the Beethoven House foundation. Boecker said: We are looking for donors, benefactors and sponsors to become involved with us in the contemporary presentation and projection of Beethoven in the museum. The Beethoven House is Bonns visiting card for culturally engaged people from all over the world.

The announcement said that besides the redesign of the permanent exhibition and a separate area for special exhibitions, the museum is to increase in size. Three levels of the building opposite at Bonngasse 21 are to be used. There will be a larger museum shop with a small cafe and additional seminar rooms.
The now-suspended police chief in the district of Yongsan has been booked for an investigation, along with the head of the Yongsan Ward office and two others, on charges of profess...
nametalkam at 26-03-2017 08:31 AM (5 years ago) (m)

Police outside of Tampa, Florida, are asking for help finding a lady whos on the run. Shes accused of stealing someones identity and then using fake credit cards to get Bosom implants and a butt lift.





Florida law enforcement reveal that Nyaira Thomas, aged 20, stole the identity of a woman in Illinois.



She allegedly had fake credit cards made up with the victims identity and went on a shopping spree for Bosom and butt implants.



According to police, Nyaira underwent Bosom implant surgery and liposuction treatment for her buttocks, using the fake credit card on February 20.



The cost for the procedures was $10,495.



Then, on February 27, Thomas went back to the clinic to get a Juvederm injection in her lips at a cost of $530.



Nyaira is charged with criminal use of personal ID, forgery and grand theft over $10,000.



Here are a pictures of what she looked like before getting the surgery done,



Florida law enforcement reveal that Nyaira Thomas, aged 20, stole the identity of a woman in Illinois.She allegedly had fake credit cards made up with the victims identity and went on a shopping spree for Bosom and butt implants.According to police, Nyaira underwent Bosom implant surgery and liposuction treatment for her buttocks, using the fake credit card on February 20.The cost for the procedures was $10,495.Then, on February 27, Thomas went back to the clinic to get a Juvederm injection in her lips at a cost of $530.Nyaira is charged with criminal use of personal ID, forgery and grand theft over $10,000.Here are a pictures of what she looked like before getting the surgery done,

Post Reply I specialize in investigative reportage across several subject matter and sectors but mainly focus on metro events and investigation. Do leave your thoughts and opinion on my reports to let me know what you think about them. Thank you Posted: at 26-03-2017 08:31 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero
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Weekly Roundup: New smartphones launched last week Features oi -Harish Kumar Smartphones launched last week.

The last week of March 2017 was indeed a period of new launches. The week was jam-packed with new smartphones launching across the price range giving Indian consumers a chance to experience the latest technology.

From veterans in the tech industry like LG to the new ambitious Chinese brand such as Xiaomi, Gionee, Nubia and OPPO, all introduced their latest handsets in the Indian market.

Best Samsung Smartphones to Buy Under Rs 25,000

Besides, we also saw Indian smartphone maker Lava challenging the likes of these offshore leaders with its latest Z series smartphones to be sold in offline market across the retail stores in India.

Let's have a detailed look at what kept us busy throughout the week.

Best Mobiles in India
Cancellation of Hearing on Russia Adds to Friction on House Intelligence Panel

By Jeff Seldin March 24, 2017

Key U.S. lawmakers appear locked into a war of words over halting progress in their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election campaign.

The latest skirmish was sparked by the abrupt cancellation Friday of an open hearing set to feature top former intelligence officials. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, a California Republican, argued that it was instead necessary to hear closed-door testimony from the directors of the FBI and the National Security Agency.

"The committee seeks additional information ... that can only be addressed in closed session," Nunes told reporters during a hastily arranged news conference.

Word of the change ignited criticism from congressional Democrats, who pointed out FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers had already testified on Monday.

During that hearing, Comey confirmed for the first time that officials were investigating possible connections between the President Donald Trump's campaign team and Russia.

'A dodge'

"I don't think anyone should have any question about what is really going on here," said Representative Adam Schiff of California, the top-ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee. He called the cancellation of the hearing with former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan "a dodge."

He also described Nunes' announcement that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort had agreed to speak with the intelligence committee as a ploy aimed at deflecting attention.

"There must have been a very strong pushback from the White House," Schiff said, referring to the initial hearing with the FBI and NSA directors. "It's hard for me to come to any other conclusion about why an agreed upon hearing would be suddenly canceled. ... What other explanation can there be?"

Russia has consistently denied U.S. intelligence community assertions that it tried to influence the outcome of the presidential election.

Trump has also pushed back against the allegations, arguing they have been driven by Democratic Party officials making excuses for why their candidate, Hillary Clinton, lost.

Tensions have been rising all week, first coming to a head Wednesday when Nunes charged the president and some associates had been swept up in "incidental collection" activities and took the evidence directly to the White House.

Briefing reporters following a meeting with Trump, Nunes alleged the president and members of the Trump transition team "were clearly put into intelligence reports," adding "some of it seems to be inappropriate."

'Valuable intelligence'

But Nunes, who himself was a member of Trump's transition team, seemed to back off the charges Friday.

"These reports that I've read are, for the most part, valuable intelligence," Nunes said. "It appears like this was all legal."

Still, Nunes maintained there were pieces of information in the reports "that I don't think belong there," and again questioned whether the identities of the president and some associates might have been unnecessarily unmasked.

"Maybe someone has a good reason for it, but not from what I've been able to read," Nunes said.

Democrats, led by Schiff, have expressed outrage, saying Nunes' conduct has raised "profound concerns" that the goal is to provide cover for Trump's allegations, made on Twitter, that he had been "wiretapped" by former President Barack Obama.

Schiff went one step further, charging that recent developments all pointed back to the current White House.

"In an effort to further justify the unjustifiable, he is now interfering in this investigation," Schiff said. "I think the fact that the chairman's press conference [Wednesday] was at the White House is not only symbolically important, it's important in terms of understanding what's really going on here."

Reports not shared

Democrats and Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have also voiced concern that Nunes has so far refused to let them see the documents and intelligence reports upon which he has based his allegations.

As a result, there has been growing speculation that the White House may have played a role in getting the documents to Nunes, something Nunes himself has refused to rule out.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Friday that it was a question he could not answer.

"I'm not aware of where he got the documents. I don't know," Spicer told reporters during a White House briefing.

Spicer also said the president still felt somewhat vindicated by Nunes' statements, despite the lawmaker's apparent backtracking.

"This discussion, it continues to show there was something there," Spicer said. "There's been an acknowledgment that there are documents out there showing that people were surveilled or monitored."

In his testimony Monday, FBI Director Comey rejected Trump's wiretapping claims outright.

"I have no information that supports those tweets. And we have looked carefully inside the FBI," he said.

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CONSTANT PHOENIX WC-135W

The CONSTANT PHOENIX WC-135W serves as an aerial collection platform for the detection and identification of debris from nuclear weapons detonations. It is controlled by the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) and operated by the 45th Reconnaissance Wing at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

By late March 2017 there were growing concerns North Korea could be about to conduct a sixth nuclear test in the coming days. Citing U.S. officials with knowledge of the most recent intelligence from North Korea, Fox News reported that the test could happen as early as the last days of March. The Fox report said the US had seen evidence Pyongyang had finished digging new tunnels around the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, but it would still have to bring more equipment into the area for a test. Those preparations, according to another US official, prompted Washington to send a special surveillance aircraft to a base in Japan. The WC-135 Constant Phoenix collects samples from the atmosphere to detect nuclear explosions, and would be used to patrol the area off the Korean peninsula in the coming days.

According to South Korean defense ministry officials, the plane was deployed from a U.S. base in Okinawa to verify rumors that North Korea was going to conduct its sixth nuclear test the same day, though the rumors didn't hold up in the end. Two of the planes had reportedly arrived at the U.S.-operated Kadena Air Base on April 7th. to prepare for this kind of situationand returned there after surveying the East Sea.

The surveillance craft had made their last appearance over the Korean peninsula in September of 2016, after North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test. As the nickname suggests, the "nuke-sniffer' is equipped with a special device that enables it to collect and identify chemical elements released into the atmosphere during a nuclear test. Although the planes returned empty-handed this time, many experts, including South Korea's own foreign ministry, have long believed there is a high possibility the regime could conduct its sixth nuclear test in April.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower commissioned the Constant Phoenix program on Sept. 16, 1947 when he charged the Army Air Forces with the overall responsibility for detecting atomic explosions anywhere in the world. In September 1949, a WB-29 flying between Alaska and Japan detected nuclear debris from Russia's first atomic test--an event thought not possible until mid-1950.

Beginning in August 1950, WB-50 aircraft were converted for the air-sampling mission over a two-year period. WC-135 aircraft began replacing the WB-50s in December 1965 and became the workhorse of the atmospheric collection program.

The WC-135 aircraft is a modified C-135B. The Constant Phoenix's modifications are primarily related to its on-board atmospheric collection suite, which allows the mission crew to detect radioactive "clouds" in real time. The aircraft is equipped with external flow-through devices to collect particulates on filter paper and a compressor system for whole air samples collected in holding spheres. The interior seats 33 people. The cockpit crew is from the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron at Offutt AFB, Neb., and special equipment operators are assigned to the Air Force Technical Applications Center at Patrick AFB, Fla.

Air sampling missions were routinely conducted over the Far East, Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, Mediterranean Sea, the Polar regions, and off the coasts of South America and Africa. The WC-135W played a major role in tracking radioactive debris from the Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. Currently the air-sampling mission supports the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, which prohibits any nation from above ground nuclear weapons testing.

For many years the ten WC-135B weather reconnaissance airplanes flew global missions in support of weather analysis, nuclear detection, and scientific research. A single WC-135W [61-2667] is currently assigned to the 45th RS, 55th Wg at Offutt AFB. This mission was previously conducted by WC-135W 61-2665, which was retired to AMARC in September 1996.

The WC-135W Constant Phoenix aircraft collects particulate and gaseous debris from the accessible regions of the atmosphere in support of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963. The AFTAC aircaft was used to monitor the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 and was deployued in 1986 to track radioactive debris after the meltdown of the Soviet nuclear reactor at Chernobyl as well as a Chinese nuclear test in the early 1990s. A WC-135W aircraft from the 45th Reconnaissance Wing at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, the only US airborne sampling platform, was deployed to south Asia after the Indian and Pakistani tests to determine the magnitude of the blasts.

Air Combat Command's 82nd Reconnaissance Squadron maintains aircraft; prepares combat-ready aircrews; and analyzes, processes, and disseminates intelligence data launch in support of RC-135V/W Rivet Joint, RC-135U Combat Sent and WC-135 Constant Phoenix missions flown in the Pacific Theater. Of special value to the Pacific Command and national command authorities, information obtained is used at all levels of the Department of Defense and within other government agencies. The squadron works closely with the 390th Intelligence Squadron.

In October 2002, the US WC135W plane flew to the Kadena US base in Okinawa. The plane was equipped with radioactivity detectors. The plane was sent to check for possible nuclear weapons tests by North Korea. As the Korean nuclear crisis escalated, US spy planes stepped up activities around the strategic Japanese island of Okinawa. The WC-135W plane, which helps collect and identify debris from nuclear weapons detonations, returned to Okinawa's Kadena airbase on 04 February 2003.

Equipped with special filters and samplers, the lone WC-135W serves primarily as an aerial detection platform. Among the many agencies that rely upon information collected by the WC-135W is the Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC), which is responsible for the detection and identification of atomic explosions or their aftermath.

As of late 2004 Offut AFB supported a single WC-135C [serial # 62-3582] which had flown 100 hours in 23 sorties during FY2004, and a single WC-135w which had flown 609 hours in 83 sorties during FY2004.

Future upgrades called for migrating to Advanced Atmospheric Research Equipment (AARE), which will be flown on RC-135 trainer aircraft. The Advanced Atmospheric Research Equipment (AARE) program completed its Preliminary Design Review in 2002. AARE will provide a suite of modernized, computer-controlled gas- and particulate-sampling subsystems to the Air Force with an Initial Operational Capability date of October 2003. AARE will provide a unique capability to do treaty monitoring and sampling against worldwide nuclear testing activities.

By 2003 Sandia was developing the Advanced Atmospheric Research Equipment (AARE) to provide the US Air Force with the ability to continue a 50-year-plus mission of monitoring foreign nuclear tests. AARE will provide a unique capability to do treaty monitoring and sampling against worldwide nuclear testing activities. The precursor to AARE, the Atmospheric Research Equipment (ARE), was the only Air Force airborne Nuclear Debris Collection and Analysis asset in service, and it was based on 30- to 40-year-old technology. AARE replaced this aging equipment with modularized systems that can be deployed on any of three designated Air Combat Command TC-135 training aircraft.

The Government issued a Firm Fixed Price contract in April 2004 for the acquisition of 500 each Vessel Identification Plugs, P/N: A61412-000 with sole source manufacturer Mechanical Solutions Inc.(MSI), 8300 Corona Loop NE, Albuquerque NM 87113. The Vessel Identification Plug is a unique identification tag that identfies specific sample containers for use in the Advanced Atmospheric Research Equipment. This identification tag is an electronic identification device that is used by Whole Air Collection System to control the sample collection for each vessel. Required delivery is 100 each within 16 weeks ARO, with remaining 400 each 32 weeks ARO.

In July 2006 the Cryptologic Systems Group (CPSG) announced plans to award on a sole source contract for 19 each, Valve, P/N 283-253005, to Marotta Controls, Inc, 78 Boonton Avenue, Montville NJ 07045. Marotta Controls maintains proprietary rights to this valve. This valve is a key component of the Advanced Atmospheric Research Equipment System. The proposed contract action was for supplies for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only source IAW 10 USC 2304(c) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, only one (1) responsible source. The Government intended to make an award by 14 Jul 06.

On 06 October 2006 Japan's Kyodo News agency reported that a US military aircraft, equiped to detect radiation from a nuclear test, took off from southern Japan. This was believed to be part of US efforts to prepare to monitor a North Korean nuclear test.

In February 2017 as AtlasObscura reported- the Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire (IRSN), a French agency tasked with investigating nuclear threats, issued a cryptic press release on its website that stated-A spike in iodine-131, an isotope that is a product of nuclear fission (like, for instance, after the explosion of a nuclear bomb), had been detected across Europe.

In response, the The Aviationist reported an American plane, the WC-135 Constant Phoenix, also known as a nuclear sniffer for its ability to detect and analyze fallout residue, had been deployed to Britain, possibly  officials didnt say  to aid in investigating the reported iodine-131 spike. Then, a few days after that report, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, or the CTBTO, an international organization established by the (still not ratified) Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, said, no, levels of iodine-131 were normal across Europe, or at least compared to what they have been historically.

The FY19 President's Budget includes funding to convert 3 KC-l35Rs to WC-135Rs to improve mission effectiveness and aircraft availability. These three aircraft will allow the retirement of the existing two WC-l35s.







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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: General Thomas D. Waldhauser March 24, 2017

Department of Defense Press Briefing on U.S. Africa Command by General Thomas D. Waldhauser, commander, U.S. Africa Command

GENERAL THOMAS D. WALDHAUSER: Good afternoon everybody it's -- it's Friday afternoon in -- and I'm impressed that there's so many here (inaudible) slow news day in D.C., I don't know. Well, listen, thank you very much for coming out this afternoon, I really appreciate it. It's a great opportunity for -- to speak on behalf of those who work every day in AFRICOM and -- I -- I -- I really do view this as a great opportunity.

I don't really have any significant open remarks. What I just want to mention to you is that, on April 18th through 20th, in Stuttgart, AFRICOM will sponsor, what I believe, to be the first ever chief of Defense conference for all of the chiefs of Defense on the continent. We've invited over 50 to come and the purpose is really to discuss among other things, the global violent extremist organizations and responses.

But moreover, we're very interested in listening to -- listening to our African partners, what some of their concerns are, what they would like from AFRICOM to see more of or less of and give them an opportunity to come together and share their thoughts and ideas, that we don't want them to come to Stuttgart just for us to talk to them. We want them to come to Stuttgart so we can hear their message and that's going to in late April. And we're very, very excited about that. Again, I think it's the first that's taken place.

And so I just wanted to mention that before we started, so with that I go ahead and take questions.

Lita, thank you.

Q: Thank you and General, thanks a lot for doing this, we really appreciate it.

I wanted to ask you about U.S. authorities for Somalia. The Pentagon in the U.S. has asked for greater authority to do more and more flexibility with airstrikes and with helping local forces in Somalia. I'm wondering if you could talk about why you think that's necessary. What will that give you? What will that allow you to -- why -- why that's important. And would that increase the likelihood of civilian casualties -- casualties, do you believe?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, thanks very much for that question. There's a couple of different aspects I like to explore, if you don't mind.

The first one is, and I think it's obvious, that really -- regardless of what combatant commander was sitting here this afternoon, I think they would all tell you that it's very important and very helpful for us to have little more flexibility, a little bit more timeliness, in terms of decision-making process and it'll allow us to give -- in fact, counter ISIS or in our case in Somalia, al- Shabaab.

It allows to prosecute targets in a more rapid fashion. So that's obviously is a -- is something that we advocate for and is -- it -- it will if we were given that opportunity, given out those permissions and authorities will be very helpful to us.

The second thing I want to mention on that is, with regards to, certainty -- a level of certainty, I think it's very, very important and if we're given that authority, that the level of certainty we have, when a bomb or missile leaves the -- leaves the rail of an airplane, that we know exactly who we are attacking underground.

It's very, very important that the level of certainty that we have demonstrated in AFRICOM, whether it be in Sirte, outside Libya, whether it's being in southern Libya, it's very, very important that we have a very, very high degree of certainty, in order to, you know, re-mitigate or in eliminating all total civilian casualties.

And by the way, I may have said this before, I mean -- the group of -- of our soldiers, sailors and airmen and Marines who actually, you know, do this -- the actual execution of some of these missions. I mean their professional maturity is something that I think is very, very positive. And I think we need to underscore that.

As an example, during the Sirte campaign, I really only had to make about four or five decisions at my level, with regards to -- to when or when not to strike a target. The majority of that is down at a very lower level and I think it's important to understand that when you're in a urban environment, like Sirte was, in order to prosecute these targets, you've got to -- you've got to power down the decision-making authority, in order to be responsive.

And I can give a handful of examples, when I was in the operations center, where I witnessed the operators either pull a missile off a target or just stop their mission completely, when someone or something came into the view of the camera that we weren't sure who or what it was.

So, it's very, very important. And obviously the cardinal rule in these types of engagements is to not make more enemies than you already have. And I think we go to great pains to do that.

The final thing I would say with regards to Somalia, which I think is unique to us is we've got some significant issues, with regards to the famine. And what that means in terms of large numbers of people moving around a combat zone or a battlefield and what that means to us. So, within AFRICOM, we've really kind of war-gamed this already.

We've detailed discussions, we've war-gamed our procedures, because with the various non-governmental organizations who must work in a famine-type environment must maintain their neutrally, must have freedom of action. It's very, very important that we have a common operating picture as to where they are. Because it's our responsibility to make sure that we don't have any catastrophes and we don't take out a group of people who is moving to find water or food.

So, we are very, very conscious of that. We take that into our planning, and I think this idea of large numbers of people moving to where the food might be or water might be is an aspect of whatever authorities -- even the authorities we have today -- we have to take that into account, and that's something we take very, very seriously, and we talked in great detail about.

So, in sum, those three things. I mean, more authorities, more responsiveness, we do -- go to great lengths to understand the level of certainty is something that we have. And then I think we have to be very cognizant of the fact of this -- the famine and the impact it has inside a battle zone inside Somalia.

Q: How has the threat changed, such that you think these greater authorities aren't necessary?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: I wouldn't say the threat, in this particular case, we'll just mention. The threat hasn't changed. The threat is still there. When I think -- it's fair to say that our ability to strike al-Shabaab targets in this particular instance will have an impact on their ability to continue what they're trying to do.

I mean, with the new government there, President Farmajo, we have an opportunity here to move forward. He's a dual-U.S. citizen. He worked in Buffalo, New York for 10 years or so. He's got his Master's Degree from the University of Buffalo. He was a former Prime Minister in Somalia. Obviously he's now the president. He understands how -- it's important to pay the military. He understands what corruption does and does not do for the federal government.

So, we have a great opportunity to work with him, and we look forward to continuing our counterterrorism part, because the strategy inside Somalia, our continuation of counter terrorism operations and specifically against al-Shabaab, was a big part of our strategy.

Please.

Q: (Inaudible) Fox News.

What can you tell us about ISIS in Libya? You dropped a lot of bombs on the group since August. Do they remain a threat? Can you provide us with an update?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, thanks Lucas. I think the first thing I would say is anywhere you have a weak or unstable or no government, that's a breeding ground for ISIS. And consequently, with the situation in Libya as it is, ISIS has not left. And so, the second point I would make is with all the different factions inside Libya, and whether it's the Government of National Accord or the House of Representatives, and that drama that continues.

One thing unities pretty much everybody, to include those two organizations, as well as the various Misrata militias and the like, one thing that unites them is the idea that no ISIS is wanted inside Libya. So we continue to develop intelligence, even after an assertive course and the 18 January strike they have not left. We continue to watch. We continue to observe, to develop intelligence, and if requested by, at this time, the Government of National Accord for assistance again we'll provide that.

Q: What can you tell us overall about the terrorist threat on the continent of Africa? Is it increasing, decreasing, staying the same?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well it's hard to characterize it whether it's increasing or decreasing. You know we have -- I would like to -- I'd characterize it this way, if you view ISIS in Iraq and Syria as core ISIS, I think a good way to characterize ISIS on the Africa continent is a global ISIS. You have groups that affiliate or want to affiliate with ISIS.

You have groups that have been provided funding and training and so forth from ISIS, the interesting thing though about ISIS on a continent is -- and this is what our job is, our job is to make sure that those organizations, whether they're ISIS affiliated, A-Q, al- Qaida affiliated, or various terrorist groups or insurgent groups, it's our job to make sure that those groups stay internal to those countries or internal to those regions. And that they don't grow beyond -- move into Europe, move into the homeland.

What are the things that we try to do right now, by within through our partners, to a large degree, by within through our partners, is to make sure that those violent extremist organizations and ISIS or Al- Qaeda or whatever the group is described as, want to make sure our pressure on the network keeps those problems tamped down.

Q: Finally, what can you tell us about the Russian presence in western Egypt or even Libya?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, I think its common knowledge certainly in the open press, the Russians and their desire to influence the activities inside Libya. We obviously know that Haftar visited Russians. We also know Haftar was on board the carrier, Russian carrier while it was in the Med here a month or so ago. And we also know that Sarraj visited Russia here recently as well.

And so it indicates -- the things I would say is that in the Russian's and Haftar I think that linkage is undeniable at this point in time. I think that Sarraj was looking -- when his visit with Russians, was looking for them to try to get those two together because we talk about a political solution inside Libya. We always have said that it's never going to be a military solution, but you have to define what that means. And if you're going to have a political solution right now inside Libya, the requirement for -- and not to personalize, it's nothing against -- I think we make a big mistake if we try to personalize this Haftar versus Sarraj.

We should talk in terms of House of Representatives, Libya National Army, and the Government of National Accord. That said, those two individuals though are going to have to get together and come to some kind of accommodation because the larger issue here I think at the moment is the fact that it's such a volatile environment right now inside Libya that one of the things, in my view, that we need to do is make sure this doesn't evolve into an all-out civil war. And you're going to have to have those two individuals who represent those entities come together to make this happen at this point.

Please. I'll come over here next, I guess.

Q: Thank you, General.

On your afternoon meeting there were African partners, but one of the things that we always hear from them is that they want more equipment and more training for their forces. So do you see AFRICOM possibly doing more of that? And does DOD have the resources currently to do more training and equipping of foreign partners? Thank you.

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Thank you. So first of all, I think it's important regardless of pretty much where we are, whether it's Somalia, where United Arab Emirates and Turkey provides training; whether it's in Mali, where the French are heavily involved as well as others; whether it's inside Libya at the moment and others who are doing the training there whether it be the European Union with the Coast Guard and so forth. I think it's important to underscore there are a lot of partners who are there who are conducting training. It's not just the United States.

It's a large country. There's plenty of work to be done and I think it's important that we underscore and acknowledge that we have a lot of global partners who participate as well. In my visits and my travels, everybody, every country, all senior officials, really would like to have the United States forces train, advise, and equip them. And I think we have to acknowledge that's a compliment to our forces.

They do a very good job at this and they set a very, very high standard. But we can't be everywhere. And so training is one of the things that we do. Excuse me. So I think it's a compliment when they ask us to do it. Equipment is another story and you have to kind of break it down almost by country in terms of what the asks are, what their ability to absorb is, and do they have the logistical -- for example, a logistical infrastructure to maintain what we give them?

So for example, you could take a country like Tunisia that -- and AFRICOM does not do this, by the way, I mean this comes from the defense security cooperation agency inside the Office of the Secretary of Defense, this weapon sales and that type of thing. We get asked, can they handle this, do you think they need this? And so forth. But the details and the ownership of those programs are really outside AFRICOM's purview.

I think it's important to understand, though, that whether you're selling a country jet fighters or tanks or simply mine resistant ambush protected vehicle, the country has to be able to absorb whatever capability you are giving them and I think that's a big thing that we have to watch. The second thing I would just say is -- and I think I said this in testimony last week, is that I would not -- certainly never advocate to change the rules and how we -- you know, how that system is set up.

But I think on the African continent, when you have, you know, the top 50 -- whatever the State Department's scale is, the top 50 poorest countries on the planet, I mean there's a huge number of African countries on there, I think we have 7 or 8 of the top 15 and 33 out of the top 50 are African countries on that list. If we are going to work by, with, and through and ask our partners to assist us in the VEO  violent extremist organizations operations, then we've got to find a way to provide support to them for -- first of all, to give them what they need.

And secondly, to demonstrate that our commitment to their effort is genuine. Because if we don't provide them the equipment they need to counter ISIS, if you were Chad, for example, and you needed something to counter ISIS in -- in the Lake Chad Basin region, we've got to find a way to give them what -- what they need, even though their ability to pay sometimes is difficult.

Q: (inaudible) possibly for writing equipment to African countries? Have you seen that?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, China -- I mean, the short answer is yes. I mean, their weapon sales, the Russians, the Chinese, I mean this is common knowledge, some different countries. But I would say that if the question is, has that been an obstacle or a problem for us at the moment, I would say no.

Please?

Q: I think -- I'm not sure I understood exactly about new authorities for crisis response. I apologize. I think you mentioned about the strikes in Somalia. Did you -- do you have now new authority to carry out those strikes or is it still something that is being discussed?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Libya's a unique place for AFRICOM in terms of authority.

Q: (off mic)

GEN. WALDHAUSER: So the question then is do we have new...

Q: ...Do you have -- you mentioned that you -- the project to have -- so is it a project or is it something that you have?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: I think I understand. So what we have today in Somalia is we have the ability for collective self-defense. So if we have armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance up over top and we are training, advising, assisting and accompanying one of our surrogate forces there and the situation gets into what we call collective self-defense, then we are authorized to use that. But that's not an offensive capability.

This is a defensive capability to be used judiciously when a situation on the ground arises where that particular force cannot take on the opposition with their own organic weapons. So it's kind of an extremist authority that we have. That's what we have today inside Somalia.

Q: I have a follow-up on ISIS presence in Libya. You said that they have not -- we know that they have not left Libya. Could you tell us, do you have an estimate about their numbers or force size? Are they holding any territory in Libya or not?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: So, you know, after the Sirte operation, I'm very hesitant to try to put a number on how many are there. I mean, I think if you go back to Sirte that started in August of last year and ended in December of last year, I'd say what we probably did at the outset was we probably underestimated the number of ISIS who were there and probably overestimated the number of civilians who were still left.

It's -- and it's a -- you know, it's an educated guess. I mean, these -- these analysts go through and they don't just make this up, they have ways to get to these numbers but they're just a number. I would say inside Libya today, if you take away the East, the Benghazi area where really Haftar and the Libyan National Army have been fighting and you concentrate on the West where we have had most of our effort -- I mean, if you wanted to throw a number on top of it and you said 100, 200, you know, that's fine.

I think the point is, and the trend line is, the numbers are down. And the point is, and the trend line is, that their ability to occupy or their desire to occupy real estate is probably not there. I mean, I think what -- if you had to characterize it, they're probably in small groups, they're staying -- they're staying off the communication lines, they don't want to surface and talk, they're just trying to maintain a presence because they don't want to leave and they're not -- they're not going to gather in large groups and make a -- an obvious target.

Q: Then just a follow-up. The flow of migrants from Libya to Europe and Turkey, today we also heard about a boat of refugees sank offshore Turkey. Could you -- could you tell us about the African efforts living with that problem of flow immigration migrants?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: So obviously the migrant problem is a huge issue. If you start at the -- you know, out in the -- out in the water, so to speak. You know, the European Union is training and working with the Libyan Coast Guard to bring a capacity and capability up there to combat it that way. But I think -- and I don't have a good answer but I think it's just important at least to understand the problem from the standpoint that these routes that the migrants and these traffickers use are -- have been in the African continent historically for many, many, many years.

And I think there's -- what we've looked at, at AFRICOM recently and just a very interesting phenomenon, I'm not sure how we're going to use this information yet, is the business aspect of migrants. And how if you take a country like Niger for example where the average salary is like $400 a year and you do the math with what we think the charges are along the way for migrants, if you will, coming out of Nigeria up in through Niger and moving up into Libya, everybody along the way is part of the business.

I mean, there are drivers, there are hotels to stay at, and eventually you get to a point where you're paying somebody maybe around $4,000 to put you on a boat to get you out in the water. And if you look at the numbers in the last week or so, you look at the numbers on an annual basis and you do some math with those dollar figures, you can see that this is millions and millions and maybe even billion-dollar industry.

So this is -- this is livelihood for a lot of the people along the way, to include government officials and the like. So this phenomena -- and it's hard to come up with a profile whether -- are these ISIS fighters, are these people looking for a job and so forth. But there's a lot -- a lot of data that we see indicates that people will take a risk, they'll collect some money, they'll have the money they have, they'll get themselves up in the air and if possible they can get a job, eventually provide remittances back to where they came from, and maybe eventually get their family into Europe.

But this is a huge business aspect of this. There's a huge dollar figure to this that has been there for many, many years. Now that doesn't solve the problem but I think it gets -- at least helps us, to a certain degree, try to understand what the problem is. Please, in the back.

Q: Can you go back onto the Russia-Libya question for a minute and a couple other things? On that, can you be any more specific about what you see the Russians doing on the ground? Are they crossing the border from that base in Egypt into Libya? What are they doing inside Libya? Are they delivering weapons? Are they conducting overhead surveillance?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: You know, it -- it's very difficult to answer that question from a classification standpoint. I would just say that they are on the ground, they are trying to influence the action, we watch what they do with -- with great concern. And you know, in addition to the military side of this, we've seen some recent activity in business ventures whether it's oil, whether it's weapon sales that perhaps were stopped when the Gaddafi regime took place.

There's several aspects here that are very important. I would say influence is the most significant. But at the same time, there's a -- there's some business activities that are ongoing and we just need to understand that.

Q: When you say "on the ground," when you said that, to be clear, you mean on the ground inside Libya, right?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: I would -- I would just say that there are Russians on the ground in the area.

Q: (inaudible) ...Somalia, if I may. When the administration announced several days ago the ban on taking electronic devices with batteries into passenger cabins, they cited al-Shabaab and the threat from al-Shabaab, in particular the attack that happened with the Somali aircraft as one of the factors in making that decision. So what can you tell us, possibly, about the capability of al-Shabaab to threaten airliners with these types of explosive devices?

Or do you -- I mean, do you see it as strictly al-Shabaab or have you now seen al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula migrate that capability to al-Shabaab or even ISIS? Why -- what can you tell us about that base threat coming out of Somalia?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, I think the best way to characterize would be -- would be this way; you know, with the election of a new president in Somalia and what that brings and opportunities that it also brings -- al-Shabaab needs -- has to -- needs to decide how they want to deal with that. Does al-Shabaab want to continue to try to attack, attack, attack? Does al-Shabaab want to try to figure out how they can perhaps reconcile with the new government?

And what are their capabilities vis a vis what the African Union mission in Somalia is trying to do as well as the forces from the Somali National Security Forces, how they're trying to combat that? I think that one of the things you're seeing right now is al-Shabaab continues to try to do -- I hate to use the word spectacular because I'm not sure that's a fair way to characterize it, but they continue to attack in the Mogadishu area, to demonstrate that the new federal government is weak and cannot, you know, mitigate or cannot break -- break their -- their cycle of violence, if you will.

So, I think that it's important that we stay after al-Shabaab; I think the CT part of it, as I described earlier, still will remain part of our strategy.

When I think that at this particular time, al-Shabaab -- and let me just step back to (inaudible). The famine is effecting their operations as well. I mean, there's reports that their -- their soldiers aren't being paid, they're not able to charge taxes to the villages because they're simply -- there's no money to made.

There's some reports where al-Shabaab, in terms of information operation campaign, is trying to demonstrate through social media that they are handing out food and water.

So, the famine has a very significant impact, not only on the Somalia people, but al-Shabaab and their ability to continue their -- their attacks.

Q: Respectfully, could I try the question one more time?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: You can but I'm probably not going to answer it either.

Q: Can you at least try because there will be a transcript of this. Can al-Shabaab make these types of explosive devices and do you see AQAP influence operatives or technology in Somalia with the al-Shabaab organization?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Look, I think -- I think al-Shabaab has demonstrated they could do this in the past. I think that, you know, they had demonstrated this capability capacity, so I think it's something that we just continue to watch and have to stay after.

Let's go back here, please.

Q: Thank you, General.

Last year on October, it was reported that U.S. was flying drones out of Tunisia. Is that still the case and I contacted the embassy back then and they said, well, it's just a training operation. Can you comment on drones (inaudible)?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Sure, I -- I -- I certainly can. And I would just start by saying that Tunisia, as far as our African partners are go, is really one of the bright spots.

I mean, I think that have -- are making great attempts to transform their military into a more of a counter terrorism force. We work very closely with them and they are a very, very good partner.

You know, flying intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drones out of Tunisia has been taking place for quite some time, and I forget the exact timeframe, I'd have to check this, but, you know, the -- the Washington Post story that said "Flying From the Secret Base in Tunisia," it's not a secret base.

And it's not our base, it's the Tunisians' base. And, you know, they're a fledgling democracy and they -- nobody ever expected that to just be a secret, but it was something that they had to deal within the press because there's some political revocations in some of these cases and Tunisia's being one of them.

And I think that, you know, we can -- we -- we fly there, it's not a secret, but we are very respectful to the Tunisians' desires in terms of, you know, how we support them and the fact that we have low profile, that type of thing.

It's -- and I think the key though, the bottom line of that whole Tunisia story is it's not our base, we have no intention of establishing a base there. We are there in conjunction with them and to a certain degree at their request, and we are working with them.

And I think that's the best way to characterize it.

Q: And I would like to -- different subject, picking up on a Senator's question, do you have any military or military relationships with China? Can you talk with any of their people at all?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, look, so as you well know, the base in Djibouti is roughly a several miles from our base and our commander down there, who we have a two star general who commands the -- the task force for East Africa, routinely has the Chinese on the base as an engagement piece.

He has met with them. So, the short answer is if that's a mil to mil engagement, we have it. I mean, I think without getting into great detail on the whole China-Djibouti piece at the moment, we're there, they're there.

They're a couple miles away; it's the first time that they've ventured into a base overseas and you know, there are certain -- we're both learning as that grows, but I think to -- to establish a relationship with them and try to work with them where we can is something -- is a positive we should try to keep doing.

Please, in the back.

Q: General, it's two questions on Somalia. First, on al- Shabaab. Do you assess that they have the intent to attack outside the region now and to attack the U.S., the homeland?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, I think -- I think a lot of these groups, al- Shabaab included, has the intention to do that, it's the question of whether they have the capacity or capability to do that. And al- Shabaab has not really demonstrated that -- by the canyon border is a different story, to a certain degree, but I think the intent is always there. It's a question of capacity and capability, more than it is intent.

Q: Back to Lita's original question about the authorities, I'm still a little unclear. So how does -- has the White House approved this new authority for AFRICOM? And if so, can you just give us a sense of exactly what it is that was approved?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: So first of all, the White House has not approved anything on this yet. And so, for me to kind of project what it may or may not say is probably, at this point in time, not the smart thing to do.

I would just tell you though, again, I think it's fair to say, to characterize it, if we get some type of approval, eventually, that gives us authorities, that'll give us more flexibility, it will give us -- you know, we'll have the ability to operate probably quicker and I think -- and with that though comes at the same time -- this is really the point I want to make.

We have a very, very strong requirement to make sure that we utilize that authority appropriately. We are not going to Somalia into a free fire zone. We have to make sure that the levels of certainty that have been there previously, those are not changed.

Q: ...in giving you flexibility and more -- not having inherent resources to AFRICOM, how does that impact? Do you think with these new authorities, assuming they're granted, that it will come some -- especially now, we now have all of this extra money that may be coming into the DOD budget, do you anticipate getting more resources that would be inherent to AFRICOM that you could use for this kind of fight?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: This might be heresy for a COCOM to say this but I would say in the case of Somalia right now, we have adequate resources that if we were given some type of new authority, unless something significantly changed on the ground with al-Shabaab, we have adequate resources to support this.

Please?

Q: (Inaudible) Magazine.

You mentioned the famine. Twenty-some years ago, when there was a famine, we went in to try to stop the gangsters from interrupting the relief supplies. What's your situation now? Is humanitarian relief organizations able to get any food to the people who are fleeing the famine area? And is there a need for additional security, like we did back then?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Thanks. That's a great question and if you don't mind, I'm going to kind of take this up here and then bring it down.

So, one of the most significant missions AFRICOM has is the whole idea of crisis response. I try to describe crisis response as a dual- sided coin. On one hand, there's the kinetic side. There's the strikes in Libya, there's the potential or strikes that we've done in Somalia, the kinetic type of crisis response. And that's something that for the military side everybody understands, and we do it well.

GEN. WALDHAUSER: The other side of that coin though is the crisis response. It has to do with humanitarian disasters, pandemics, the Ebola crisis, that type of thing. Because even though things have changed -- life has changed in the 10 years that AFRICOM has been in existence, that was one of the fundamental pillars when this command was stood up -- excuse me -- this ability to use soft power was a big part of what this command was supposed to do. And to a large decree that has not changed.

So, as a result of that, we have been very -- we have aggressive -- been very aggressive in our dialogues and discussions with USAID, non-governmental organizations, the Somalia government through our embassy. That's actually located in -- in Kenya but works out of Mogadishu.

We have been very aggressive in trying to determine what we can do to contribute, to assist in this famine. Because, if for no other reason -- obviously there's the -- the human suffering part of this and that's certainly a, you know, a big reason as to why we're interested and concerned.

But on the other hand, the brand new Somalian government -- national government needs to demonstrate that they can deal with their problem. Because if you think about it for a minute, if you're a 21- year old young girl in -- in Somalia, you have never experienced what a federal government can do. You don't know what it's supposed to do.

And so if you go through all this and you have elections and you have a federal government and they cannot contribute positively to this -- this catastrophe then -- then why do you have them? And their job will become that much more difficult.

So the second point I'm trying to make is that it's very important that this famine is taken care of -- obviously for the human suffering part. But for the ability for the federal national government of Somalia to move forward.

Now, interestingly, from the -- the side of the -- the mechanics of this; I mean there's -- a lot has been learned since the, you know, the post -- since the marines went a shore there many years ago. And of course there was a -- a famine there 2011. So what we -- and I am sure there will be problems as this goes on.

I mean, think about this for a minute, in that region; 22 million people, 6.2 million people inside Somalia itself. Those are large numbers that are affected by this. And so it's a significant, significant problem.

But I think the -- the government agencies, the non-government agencies and USAID have learned a lot of lessons over the years. And so there is -- I -- I don't want to use these words adequate. But let's just say there's a -- there's -- there's a good amount of food and water that are pre-staged and it's not like we haven't seen this movie before.

So there's been lessons learned. And I think, you know, one of the concerns always is distribution. I mean, you know, you see the pictures of food that's spoiling on the docks somewhere because the -- you can get a lot there but then the distribution becomes very difficult. Bad roads, not enough trucks, whatever.

All I will tell you is this, we have offered our assistance first of all with assets that we have. And at the moment people acknowledge that, groups acknowledge that, governmental agencies acknowledge that. But there's no requirement for us to do that.

Meanwhile, we've been communicating -- in fact, I just talked to the chairman, General Dunford about this yesterday. And in my reports to the secretary, we have highlighted this; so they're well aware of this.

Because we want to make sure that if it gets really bad and we have to -- and we're asked to do things which would require assets that we currently don't have with us, we want to make sure that -- that has already been told and we're not starting from ground zero there either.

So, in sum, it's a significant problem. The government of Somalia needs to demonstrate they can assist, the non-governmental organizations and our own State Department and the United States Agency for International Development are postured to -- to take this on. We've offered our help, but so far have not been asked to contribute.

Q: Another one here. Recent ship -- highjacking. The first time in -- you know, since we've -- you know...

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Since 2012, I think.

Q: Yes. You (inaudible) strong naval patrols international effort. Do we need to -- do they need to restore that international effort? Or is -- was this a one time thing? You don't think we're going to have another epidemic of highjacking.

GEN. WALDHAUSER: So with a terrorist organization, or in this case a Somali pirate organization, I would never say this is a one time thing. But we're not at a point yet where I think we need to kind of sound the alarm.

The European Union still does patrol those waters and you're right, there hasn't been a hijacking for -- I want to say 2012, but we can get that exact number for you. But let me just say this about this particular is incident. First of all, this was a very small ship that had oil that was moving from one place to -- I think it was going to Somalia -- I had a very low freeboard, not a lot of security, small vessel, so it's a -- a pretty -- let's just say a pretty intriguing target if you were a pirate.

The second thing I would say is, that there's issues with fishing and limits and, you know, outside agencies coming in on that part of Somalia there, the horn of Africa, the Puntland area up there, were the people's livelihood is fishing. And if these outside trawlers come in, drop their nets close to shoreline, you can understand what the problem is,

So there's a combination of those things and then whether or not this -- it was resolved, I mean the crew was let go and the -- the pirates left whether there was ransom paid or not, is something I don't have any idea. But I think there were several factors that I would -- that -- basically, what I just said, small ship, oil, close to -- close to the coast, fishing has been a problem there -- off- limits fishing.

And so, I think it's too early to say that now we have an epidemic, but it did catch our attention.

Please, Mr. Martin.

Q: Has the hunt for General Kony reached the point (inaudible) returns and if so, what do you intend to do about it?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, I think, as you well know, since 2011, we've had an ongoing effort to hunt for Joseph Kony and his -- and his bandits. Over those years, the -- the task force, which has members of the countries around there, Uganda, South Sudan, Democrat Republic Congo (inaudible) and our forces have contributed to that effort.

Over the last five or six years, we've taken really several hundred, maybe thousands of Kony's, you know, team off the battlefield. Some reports will tell you that we've gotten four of the five top lieutenant. He's down now for the last -- actually the last couple of years, if you go back and read the reports, AFRICOM has pretty much said the same thing for almost the last three years, down to about 100 people, survival mode, Kony's not an issue, he's irrelevant and so forth.

So we've been saying that now for several years, we've reached the point and -- and some of the figures that you see as low as $600 million, as high as almost close to $800 million spent on that overall operation. It's at a point now where, really, when we have that size unit, which is not very large, you know, in the size of Texas or California trying to find Kony, we've probably done -- not probably -- we have done a lot of damage to his organization.

And so, if you take a look at what you would suspect to be Kony's health and all that I've just described, kind of say, OK, where do we go from here? Now, we're obviously, you know, the first question is obviously is, well what about a (inaudible), if you guys stop now what happens, can he re-emerge himself, so forth. Obviously that's a concern to us.

And so what we want to concentrate on here, as we -- as we move into the perhaps the final stages of this, is that we have a steady- state transition plan, that number one, keeps our interest in the area, for example, through engagements, through the, you know, continuing the relationships that we built, providing intelligence as appropriate when required. You know, that's something that we want to cement.

So we've talked with our partners in that region, Uganda, for example, we've -- we've talked to them about where were going and how we're preceding, but the bottom line is, I think that, you know, this thing is coming -- is -- is coming to an -- it's coming to an end to be very frank and we made a lot of progress.

GEN. WALDHAUSER: We're concerned about a potential vacuum, you know, I don't see how you cannot have that thought, but we think that we have a plan in place for a steady state, sustainable transition that will, not only look out for Kony or any other groups that would emerge in that -- that part of the country.

The bottom line is, this operation, although not achieving the ability to get to Kony himself, has essentially taken that group up the battlefield. And -- and for the last several years, they've really been reduced to irrelevance.

Q: This steady state replacement that you're -- you're talking about, that would -- that would no longer be anything that could be characterized as a hunt for Kony. It would be simply a presence that was there to detect a resurgence of the -- the Lord's Resistance Army Is that correct?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, I think what I would say to that is I think it's -- it's important that we talk with our partners there. I mean it's up to -- they still wanna continue.

If the Ugandans, for example, still want to continue because they provide the bulk of the forces to this effort. If they still wanna continue that, and they wanna call it a hunt, that's up to them.

But I think from our perspective, the steady state would -- would -- you would not call it a hunt any more. It's -- it's to maintain let's just say the -- the level of -- of that type of group -- that type of activity in that area, maintain it where it is today.

Q: Thank you, General.

When we see ISIS losing territory in -- in Iraq and Syria, are you seeing combatants come into your region?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: You know, it's interesting. You know, that -- if you'd have asked that question like six or seven months ago, I mean that was the plan.

I mean that was the open source ideology, don't come to Iraq and Syria, go to Libya. Libya's where our backup plan is if Iraq and Syria fail. You don't see that any more.

And, you know, we don't see that report. I can't -- I wouldn't characterize this -- what -- what I would tell -- I would say this. There's a lot of movement of foreign fighters right now. And I think that the whole issue of reconciliation is something that's gonna come to the surface here in the next six months or so, whether that's -- whether that's out of the al-Shabaab arena, whether that's -- I --I wouldn't say ISIS, but in the al-Shabaab forest where really, you know, many of the soldiers, whether it's ISIS, West Africa, or

al- Shabaab, these are young guys from these countries who just need a livelihood and need a job.

Ideology is not the driver there. They want to reconcile. There's already been indications that through some of our efforts that they -- they -- they welcome the opportunity.

So, these countries are gonna need the -- be able to have to deal with that problem. So, reconciliation is on the -- the headline -- is on the radar screen.

I think it's something that'll happen in the future. But I -- you know, I -- there's a lot of movement.

I -- I would hate to characterize that ISIS is all coming to -- to Africa. We've got plenty there already.

Q: But are you seeing (it stem ?)?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, I think we always do. I mean, I think this -- the issue of -- if you take Somalia for example, al-Qaida, which is in the northern part up there, there's always movement back and forth between Yemen. Whether or not there's large numbers coming from the Middle East to Libya and places like that, I would just tell you today that large numbers are something that we haven't seen.

Please?

Q: Luis Martinez, ABC News.

During the siege of Sirte, there were American special forces that we assisting in the (Strata ?) Brigade that have been in prisons prior to that.

What -- what is the U.S. presence in that part of Libya today? What is their role? What future activities do you plan for them?

And just going back to the numbers that you cited earlier about ISIS strength, am I correct in hearing that you said that the estimate is now that there are between 100 and 200 ISIS left in Erbil

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Yeah, I mean I -- that's -- I think that's fair. I don't think that -- yeah, you probably -- that's probably a fair number.

Let me just make a couple statements about the people on the ground in Sirte. So, I think early on -- because that I -- I took over in July and about 10 days later this operation started. So, a lot of this is just kind of fresh in my mind. It just -- 'cause it's kind of the early days of -- of my tenure at AFRICOM. I think there -- at -- initially there was a lot of discussion about do we have people on the ground in -- in Libya, and that was kind of a story for a while because, you know, it was newsworthy.

But the point I want to make is that when you conduct precision airstrike, close-air support operation in an urban environment with the requirements to not have civilian casualties, with the requirements to be careful about infrastructure, destruction, and the like, I don't think -- you can't do an operation like that without somebody on the ground to interface, to work. So I mean, I think it's just important to understand that.

You have to have that contact, you have to have that face to face because if you think about it for a minute, you have let's just say aircraft drones coming from all over the planet, you've got people that are making decisions in various locations all over the planet. You need to have somebody on the ground talking to these people to make sure we can do it with this skill and the precision that's required. And these guys helped in that.

Now one of the things we said when -- before the operation was over, we came out in the fall -- I want to say November -- we came up in the building and said when Sirte ends this is what we are going to do. Calling it a strategy is probably a stretch but this our way forward in Libya. And one of things was that we said we're going to continue to keep people on the ground, and we're going to continue to develop the intelligence that's there.

So, you know, and that's what we've done among other -- we had five things we're going to do. But two big things, we're going to keep a presence on the ground because you have to have that there and we're going to develop intelligence and take out targets when they arise.

So that's what happened on 18 January. It took us roughly a month, we're in no hurry. But using the assets that we had, we developed the targets, we developed a level of certainty that we knew what we were striking and we did on the 18th because time really wasn't a big factor. It's a consideration but it wasn't the driving factor of what we did. But yes, I mean I think it's fair to say that we have some people on the ground and you couldn't do these things without that.

Q: (Inaudible) maintain them as a persistent force there for the near future?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, we're going to maintain a force that has the ability to develop intelligence, work with various groups as required or to us to be able to assist if required again with the Government of National Accord to take out ISIS targets.

We'll make this the last one, Andy.

Q: Thanks, General. Andy (inaudible), Military Times. There are 700 troops in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Are they your responsibility?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: They are not. I mean, interestingly as you probably knew that the 54 countries in Africa, that one belongs to CENTCOM. So it -- but we -- but that said, if you have to have a trans-regional approach and trans-regional mindset that this problem, we watched and we coordinate and we talk to CENTCOM all the time about activities in Egypt. Because the border with Libya's right there and there's a lot of activity going on in that area so we watch it closely.

Q: There's an effort in Congress right now to declare it a combat zone so that those troops can start to collect their hazardous duty pay tax free. I mean, would you say you support that?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: On the Sinai or Libya?

Q: Sinai

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, I can't address the Sinai but in Libya we have put that forward a while back and it's still in staffing because we dropped bombs for four and a half months; I don't know how you not call it a combat zone to be quite frank. So we have pushed that forward and that's process that just takes a while. And I couldn't tell you where it as the moment.

I'll take one more, (inaudible).

Q: (off mic) The German base in Niger, is that still under construction? And when's it expected to be completed?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: So this kind of gets back to the Tunisia question as well, and I wanted to start by saying that one of the -- because of the size of Africa, because of the time and space and the distances, when it comes to especially crisis response-type activities, we need access in various places on the continent, and so that's kind of the overarching theme here.

And the Nigerians are -- are -- have been good partners. We are not building a base there. We are -- it's common knowledge, it's in the media that we are at Agadez. We are working with them to provide an area and a location where we can operate from and it's just -- again, it gets back to this issues of -- of time and space and the ability to maximize the ISR assets that we have so we have more time over the target and less time flying back and forth to where they originated from so we get the most bang for our buck.

Q: There's not a separate U.S. drone base that's something that's operated with the government of Niger?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: It's not a separate -- these are not -- we only have one permanent installation on the continent, and that's Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. Places like -- in Tunisia and place like in Niger, these are not our bases. We build, we work, we -- we -- we enhance their capabilities, but these are -- these belong to the governments of those country. They're not ours and we have no intention of making them ours.

Q: (inaudible) from that base in (inaudible)?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: The bases she referred to, the answer's no. It's not complete yet.

Q: And just going back to the authorities in Somalia, did the last administration prevent some of these authorities from happening?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Look, I don't want to get into a discussion about the last administration did. I mean, all I can just tell you is with my experience with AFRICOM, when we had requirements, desires or intentions to strike targets, we always had what we needed, both assets wise and authority wise. It wasn't a -- it wasn't an issue.

Q: (inaudible) new authorities?

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Well, the authorities -- what these authorities might do, if they're approved and I don't know what the final product will be, I would say the process might be a little bit streamlined and the authorities are powered down to the COCOMs as opposed to coming back up here. I mean, that's the big significant thing.

I mean, the COCOMs have the ability to say, "Look, yes, no." And -- and that's really what I think, to a large degree, this is all about. This is -- this is not about -- again, this is -- I want to emphasize, we have a requirement for -- for certainty. This is not change, you know, tactics, it's not to change the face of how we do this. But I think -- I think the combatant commanders, myself included, are more than capable of making judgments and determinations on some of these targets and I'm well capable and we are all well capable of making those calls.

(CROSSTALK)

GEN. WALDHAUSER: Thank you very much.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1130131/

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U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes Against ISIS in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, March 25, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Coalition forces conducted eight strikes consisting of nine engagements against ISIS targets in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed an ISIS-held building.

-- Near Raqqa, four strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, damaged a supply route, and destroyed two fighting positions, two vehicles and a weapons storage facility.

-- Near Tabqah, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroyed a fighting position and damaged a supply route.

Strikes in Iraq

Coalition forces conducted six strikes consisting of 46 engagements against ISIS targets in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Mosul, fives strikes engaged five ISIS tactical units; destroyed six mortar systems, five fighting positions, a vehicle, a supply cache, a command and control node, a sniper position, and a vehicle bomb; damaged seven supply routes and three fighting positions; and suppressed three ISIS tactical units and an ISIS heavy machine gun team.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four weapons caches, two tunnels systems, two explosives storage facilities, an explosives cache, and a mortar system.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIS terrorist group and the threat it poses to Iraq, Syria, the region and the wider international community. The destruction of targets in Syria and Iraq further limits ISIS' ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.

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Yemeni court sentences in absentia Hadi, six aides to death

Iran Press TV

Sat Mar 25, 2017 5:35PM

A court in Yemen has sentenced Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, the Saudi-backed president who has resigned, and six of his close aides to death on charges of treason and misuse of power.

On Saturday, the Specialized Criminal Court passed the verdict against the 71-year-old Yemeni politician, former Foreign Minister Riyad Yassin as well as Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Civil Service and Insurance Abdulaziz Jabari, Arabic-language Yemen Press News agency reported.

Yemeni Ambassador to the United States Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak, former head of Yemen's national security agency Ali Hassan al-Ahmadi, Deputy Chairman of Yemeni Congregation for Reform (al-Islah) Abdul Wahab al-Ansi and a senior member of the Nasserist Unionist People's Organization were the other four convicts.

The report came as the Yemeni court had been pressing charges of threatening national security against the seven people over giving the green light to the deadly Saudi campaign against the impoverished country back in March 2015.

Yemen's Legal Center of Rights and Development announced on Saturday that the Saudi campaign has claimed the lives of over 12,040 Yemenis and left more than 20,000 others wounded.

The center added that there were a total of 2,568 children and 1,870 women among the fatalities, noting that the atrocious onslaught had also destroyed 757 schools and institutes, 111 university facilities, 271 factories besides 1,520 bridges and roads.

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US-led coalition carried out deadly Mosul airstrike: Pentagon

Iran Press TV

Sat Mar 25, 2017 5:6PM

The Pentagon has acknowledged that the US-led coalition carried out an airstrike in the Iraqi city of Mosul last week that left over 200 civilians dead.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Saturday it has opened an investigation into the Mosul airstrike.

"An initial review of strike data ... indicates that, at the request of the Iraqi security forces, the coalition struck (Daesh) fighters and equipment, March 17, in west Mosul at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties," the statement said.

An investigation has been opened "to determine the facts surrounding this strike and the validity of the allegation of civilian casualties," it added.

Earlier, the US-led coalition purportedly fighting the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group announced that it struck a location in west Mosul where at least 200 civilians were reportedly killed by aerial bombing.

On March 17, a large number of people were buried under rubble in Mosul after the US-led coalition's airstrike targeted a western neighborhood there.

Locals and officials had blamed the US-led coalition for the deadly raid in spite of initial refusal by the coalition.

Efforts are still underway to pull out bodies from under the rubble. The exact number of casualties is still unknown, but some reports put the death toll at 230.

Meanwhile, the United Nations on Friday expressed grave concerns over the tragedy and loss of innocent lives.

This is the latest in a series of such deadly raids believed to be carried by the US-led coalition under the pretext of saving civilians in some of the war-ravaged Middle Eastern countries.

Just last week, dozens of Syrians were killed after American warplanes bombarded a school sheltering displaced people near the Daesh-held city of Raqqah.

And another deadly attack by the US air force on a mosque near the city of Aleppo resulted in death of 52 people. Yemen is yet another country in the region that has fallen victim to American bombings.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon acknowledged pounding several Yemeni provinces with more than 20 drones. Over a dozen civilians were killed in the attacks.

The US-led coalition recently admitted to killing at least 220 civilians in airstrikes against Daesh in Syria and Iraq. However, international rights groups contradict the figure saying at least 2,700 civilians have been killed in US bombing campaigns since 2014.

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NATO Ministers Tentatively Plan Brussels Meeting With Tillerson

Rikard Jozwiak March 25, 2017

BRUSSELS -- NATO diplomats say a meeting of alliance foreign ministers originally scheduled for April 5-6 is now tentatively planned for March 31, when U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be in Brussels.

The U.S. State Department announced on March 24 that Tillerson would visit NATO headquarters in Brussels on March 31, the day after he meets in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

NATO diplomats on March 25 told RFE/RL that foreign ministers from other alliance countries were working to accommodate Tillerson's schedule after Washington announced he would not attend the April meeting because of a scheduling conflict.

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (Republican-Wisconsin) said during a visit to Brussels on March 25 that Tillerson and other NATO ministers "have worked out the dates."

But NATO diplomats in Brussels told RFE/RL on March 25 that "consultations on scheduling among allies are ongoing."

One NATO diplomat told RFE/RL that many foreign ministers already had previous commitments and would have to rearrange their schedules in order to attend a March 31 meeting.

Another NATO diplomat told AFP on March 25 that bringing all of the foreign ministers together on March 31 could be complicated by the agenda of British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who may not be able to visit Brussels that day.

NATO members have until March 27 to work out the details of their plans.

NATO sources told RFE/RL that the conflict in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed separatist fighters would be high on the agenda the next time NATO foreign ministers meet.

U.S. Senator John McCain, a Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said during a visit to Brussels on March 25 that the United States should start "supplying lethal defensive weapons" to Ukraine.

McCain said Russian President Vladimir Putin "has stepped up his aggression in Ukraine" and that "Ukrainians are dying" as a result.

"We need to give them weapons with which to defend themselves," McCain said.

He said the "first priority for Ukraine" should be to deliver weapons like man-portable Javelin antitank missiles, weapon-tracking radar that can detect artillery projectiles, and "other capabilities because right now they are outgunned" by the Russian weaponry of "so-called separatists."

Tillerson's decision to skip the April 5-6 meeting, his first opportunity to meet with foreign ministers from all 27 other NATO countries, raised concerns from some European officials about the U.S. administration's commitment to the alliance -- particularly since Tillerson plans to visit Moscow shortly after that.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to visit President Donald Trump in early April, and it has been suggested that Tillerson would remain in the United States to attend their talks.

But Tillerson's office has not confirmed that meeting.

With reporting by AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/us-nato-plans-meeting- tillerson-russia-ukraine/28390727.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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Heavy Equipment for French Troops of NATO Battalion Arrive in Estonia

Sputnik News

19:52 25.03.2017(updated 20:19 25.03.2017)

Headquarters of the Estonian Defense Forces said in a statement that heavy equipment of the French contingent of the international NATO battalion arrived in Estonia on Saturday.

TALLINN (Sputnik)  Heavy equipment of the French contingent of the international NATO battalion arrived in Estonia on Saturday, the Headquarters of the Estonian Defense Forces said in a statement.

"The first train with military equipment for the French contingent delivered more than 30 units [of heavy equipment], with the exception of tanks, to Tapa railway station. Four Leclerc tanks will be delivered on March 29. In total, the French unit will also have 13 VBCI infantry fighting vehicles as well as dozens of VAB armored personnel carriers and VBL armored all-terrain vehicles deployed," the statement read.

The deployment of the battalion in Tapa is planned to be finished in April. By that time some 800 UK and 300 French servicemen are expected to arrive in Estonia.

NATO decided to deploy additional troops to the Baltics during July's summit in Warsaw. Allies agreed to deploy four multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Over a dozen NATO states will contribute troops to the mission.

NATO has been boosting its military presence in Europe, particularly in Eastern European states, since the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis, citing Russia's alleged interference in that conflict as justification for the move.

 Sputnik

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US: Coalition Forces Launched Airstrike on Mosul

By VOA News March 25, 2017

The U.S.-led military coalition launched an airstrike that witnesses said killed more than 100 people during a battle to retake Mosul from Islamic State militants, U.S. officials acknowledged Saturday.

The U.S. announcement came after the Iraqi government said earlier Saturday that it would temporarily halt the battle to retake Mosul from IS jihadists after reports emerged of heavy civilian casualties.

The U.S.-led coalition fighting IS said in a statement that it had "opened a formal civilian casualty credibility assessment" into the allegation that recent coalition airstrikes killed more than 100 civilians in Mosul's Jidideh neighborhood.

"Our goal has always been for zero civilian casualties, but the coalition will not abandon our commitment to our Iraqi partners because of ISIS's inhuman tactics terrorizing civilians, using human shields and fighting from protected sites such as schools, hospitals, religious sites and civilian neighborhoods,'' a coalition statement said. ISIS is another acronym for the Islamic State group.

'All reasonable precautions'

The statement also said coalition planes "routinely strike" IS targets in the neighborhood, and that coalition forces "take all reasonable precautions during the planning and execution of airstrikes to reduce the risk of harm to civilians."

Before the U.S. announcement Saturday, Colonel John Thomas, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, told The New York Times the military was not sure whether the explosion in western Mosul had been caused by an American or other coalition airstrike, or an IS "bomb or booby trap."

But an Iraqi officer told the newspaper he knew exactly what had happened.

Major General Maan al-Saadi, a commander of the Iraqi special forces, told the Times that his men had called in a coalition airstrike to deal with snipers on the roofs of three houses in Jidideh. He said, however, his forces did not know the basements of the houses were filled with civilians.

Nawfal Hammadi, governor of the territory surrounding Mosul, told the French news agency AFP that IS jihadists had gathered civilians in the basement of the building to use them as "human shields."

"The Daesh [Islamic State] terrorist organization is seeking to stop the advance of the Iraqi forces in Mosul at any cost," he said, referring to IS by an Arabic acronym.

'Humanitarian catastrophe'

Iraq's parliament speaker, Salim al-Jabouri, mentioned the apparent civilian deaths on Twitter on Saturday. He encouraged coalition forces to "spare no effort to save civilians," but acknowledged the "huge responsibility the liberating forces shoulder."

Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi, who is from Mosul, described the incident as a "humanitarian catastrophe."

More than a half-million civilians are still believed to remain in IS-held areas of Mosul. Civilians, humanitarian aid groups and monitoring officials have warned about the possibility of increased civilian casualties because of a growing demand for airstrikes and artillery.

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Brexit Chills EU's 60th Anniversary Celebration in Rome

By VOA News March 25, 2017

The European Union celebrated 60 years since its creation with the signing of a new treaty in Rome Saturday, four days ahead of the start of Britain's formal exit from the bloc.

Twenty-seven countries met to sign a new declaration on Capitoline Hill - where six founding states signed the Treaty of Rome, creating the European Economic Community, in 1957.

"Prove today that you are the leaders of Europe, that you can care for this great legacy we inherited from the heroes of European integration 60 years ago," EU President Donald Tusk said.

Though EU leaders renewed their commitments to the bloc looking forward and declared that "Europe is our common future", the question of Europe's future without Britain was one of the many looming concerns.

Britain absent

British Prime Minister Theresa May was absent from the talks held Saturday, and anti-Brexit demonstrators were among the tens of thousands protesting, both for and against Europe, outside of the meetings in Rome.

Inside the meeting, a point of contention in the Rome Declaration was the introduction of and commitment to a "multi-speed" Europe, which would allow countries to adopt certain policies on different timelines.

"We will act together, at different paces and intensity where necessary, while moving in the same direction," the addition to EU policy reads in the treaty - a concept which has faced opposition from a number of Eastern European states that was introduced by France and Germany.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, who only recently confronted other leaders over the appointment of her predecessor, Tusk's appointment as EU president, only agreed to sign the treaty in the last minutes of the meeting, citing his opposition to the multi-speed addition.

Greece also held up approval of the document while pushing for a mention of social benefits.

Security in Rome and particularly in Palazzo dei Conservatori, where the meeting took place, was particularly tight in the wake of attacks in London earlier this week.

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Bulgaria - General Election - 26 Mar 2017

Bulgarian society seems to be hopelessly split, with the pro-EU GERB and Russia-friendly Socialists almost equal in their political strength. Bulgaria does not have any purely Eurosceptic party; the Bulgarian Socialists do not reject membership in the EU or NATO. But they do also talk about the need to mend relations with Russia.

According to the exit poll of the Alpha Research sociological agency, the new parliament will consist of six political forces. The party which ruled until recently  GERB - took 32.2% of the votes, while its major opponent  the Bulgarian Socialist Party - took 28.1%. The third political force in the next Bulgarian Parliament would be the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) with 9.7%. The fourth political force is the coalition of United Patriots with 9.5%. The newly registered party Volya of businessman Mareshki is fifth with 5.1% of the votes; sixth with 4% is the rightist coalition Reformist Bloc.

GERB would obtain 86-88 seats in Parliament, the BSP  75-77, the MRF  25-27. The United Patriots would have 25-27 MPs, Volya  13-15; the Reformist bloc would take 10-11 seats. Forming a coalition government from these results will prove challenging. GERB has ruled out a coalition with the Socialists under any circumstances. Any coalition that is created will likely to prove fragile and unworkable, meaning new elections may be just around the corner. GERB would have to choose between the United Patriots and the pro-Turkish DPS. The second option is more realistic, but Borisov would also have to consider the poor state of relations between Brussels and Ankara.

The Democrats for Unity, Solidarity and Tolerance (DOST), a DPS breakaway which caused an uproar in the Balkan country following revelations that Turkish officials were openly agitating for it, got about 2.8% of the vote, failing to make it into the new parliament.

Bulgarias new president Rosen Plevneliev on 24 January 2017 called an early national election for 26 March and appointed a former parliamentary speaker as caretaker prime minister until then. Ognyan Gerdzhikov, 70, currently a professor of law and head of an arbitration court, served as speaker of parliament in a centrist government from 2001 to 2005 and is now the Eastern European countrys interim prime minister. Radev had to call an early election after Bulgarias center-right government resigned in late 2016 following the defeat of its candidate in the presidential election. Radev will dissolve the parliament at the end of the week.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), successor to the Communist Party, said they will improve ties with Russia even if it meant upsetting the country's European Union partners. The Kremlin's most loyal satellite during the Cold War era, Bulgaria remained a popular holiday destination for Russians attracted by its Black Sea beaches and low prices.

A survey by independent pollster Alpha Research showed GERB winning 31.7 percent of the vote on Sunday and the Socialists 29.1 percent. The poll was conducted on 20-22 March 2017. This election might give Bulgaria the chance to form a stable government again. But Bulgaria will most likely have another fragile and diverse coalition government that will struggle to push ahead with reforms to spur growth and combat corruption. The last few years were not a good era in Bulgarian politics, with three resigned cabinets and three transitional governments in the last three years. This was some kind of unfortunate record in the Balkans.

The centrist Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MDL) represents mostly Bulgaria's 700,000-strong Turkish minority, a legacy of centuries of Ottoman rule. The party was expected to garner between 8 and 11 percent of the vote. It was critical of Turkey and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who they say had "abandoned" the values of Ataturk, modern Turkey's founder.

In 2016 a splinter more pro-Ankara group split off and formed a new party, Dost. Turkey has openly supported it, creating a rift with its neighbour. The Turkish ambassador in Sofia made an appearance during a campaign rally organized by one of the Turkish parties in Bulgaria (the DOST party), whose views are akin to those of the AKP and President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan. On that account, the ambassador was summoned - this was regarded as meddling with Bulgarian internal affairs.

A new nationalist grouping, the United Patriots, has jumped on this spat with Turkey to boost its support, while railing against migrants, Muslims, Roma and gay people. Opinion polls in the European Union's poorest country, where the average monthly salary is only 500 euros ($540) and corruption is rife, indicated a strong showing by the nationalist United Patriots, who were tipped to come third.

The parliamentary election, Bulgarias third since 2013, was unlikely to produce a strong majority government able to implement the judicial, economic and other reforms the country needs. None of the parties is expected to win an outright majority, which will result in a fragmented parliament and another fragile coalition government.

There was a stalemate situation between the two major parties, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and Boiko Borisov's GERB (a member of the European People's Party), which had run the country until recently. This was a challenge as both said they don't want to govern with each other. So the question is, how can a government be formed?

The main problems that the new Bulgarian government must tackle haven't changed. First on the list is the fight against corruption and organized crime, along with continuing the reform of the judicial system. Simultaneously, Bulgaria has to regain trust, and this applies to the economic sector as well. In 2016, foreign investment in Bulgaria plummeted by 60 percent, which indicated that there was a confidence gap on European markets when it came to Bulgaria. Moreover, this view was shared by Bulgarian business representatives as well. Therefore it would be very important to restore that confidence.







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British Police Release Six Of 10 Held In London Terror Attack

RFE/RL March 25, 2017

British police say they have released without charges six of the 10 people being held in the investigation of the deadly attack near Parliament and said the birth name of the assailant, Muslim convert Khalid Masood, was Adrian Russell Ajao.

Four other people remained in custody on March 24 as authorities work to learn how Masood became radicalized before he went on his rampage. He was shot and killed by police during the attack.

Authorities have said Masood, who had a history of violence, was thought to have carried out the Westminster attack on his own. But they have not ruled out the possibility that others may have been involved.

The six people released on March 24 -- two women and four men -- were arrested in the central English city of Birmingham, where Masood had lived. They had been arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.

"Clearly a main line in our investigation is what led him to be radicalized...was it through influences in our community, influences from overseas, or from online propaganda?" said Mark Rowley, Britain's top counterterrorism officer.

"We remain keen to hear from anyone who knew Khalid Masood well, understands who his associates were, and can provide us with information about places he has recently visited," he added.

Aside from Masood, four people died in the attack, including a 75-year-old British man from south London who died on March 23 when he was taken off life support at King's College Hospital.

Leslie Rhodes died of injuries suffered when the assailant drove a rental car through a crowd on Westminster Bridge, which leads to the British Parliament.

The other fatalities were police officer Keith Palmer, 48; Aysha Frade, a 43-year-old British woman; and Kurt Cochran, an American tourist from the state of Utah who was in his 50s.

Among the injured was a Romanian woman who fell into the Thames River when Masood's rented vehicle plowed into pedestrians during the attack.

Her country's embassy on March 24 said she remained in serious condition but was showing signs of improvement.

Romanian officials did not identify the woman, but her friends said she was Andreea Cristea of the Black Sea port of Constanta. Her boyfriend was injured but has been released from the hospital.

Two police officers at the scene of the attack also suffered significant injuries. Two other people also remain in critical condition, one with life-threatening injuries, counterterrorism officer Rowley said.

Masood, who was shot dead by police within the security perimeter of Parliament in the midst of the terrorist attack, also was known by several other aliases.

They said Masood had not been the subject of any current investigations by British authorities and there was "no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack."

British Prime Minister Theresa May told the House of Commons earlier on March 23 that the attacker was "a peripheral figure" known to security authorities and had been investigated.

Police said they were working on the assumption that Masood, who did not have any convictions on terrorism charges, was inspired by Islamist extremism. The Islamic State (IS) extremist group has claimed the assailant was one of its "soldiers."

Victims who were injured on Westminster Bridge came from 12 countries.

They included teenage schoolchildren from France and others who traveled from as far as China to explore London.

With reporting by Reuters, BBC, AFP, Sky News, Press Association, and AP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/uk-police-release-some- detained-westminster-attack/28390102.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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Riot Police Arrest Hundreds At Minsk Protest, Beating Many

RFE/RL's Belarus Service March 25, 2017

Riot police in Minsk have arrested hundreds of people, beating many of them, during a violent crackdown on a protest against Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's government.

Tatsyana Revyako, an activist from the Belarusian human rights group Vyasna (Spring), said more than 400 people were arrested on the streets of the Belarusian capital on March 25.

Revyako said that "many of the arrested were beaten and are in need of medical assistance."

The Belarusian Journalists' Association said 20 journalists who were covering the unauthorized demonstration were also detained by authorities.

RFE/RL correspondent Alyaksandra Dynko described the police violence as "brutal."

Dynko said elderly citizens, some disabled and as old as in their 80s, were roughed up by several police who violently shoved them into police vehicles.

She said police also used batons to beat young men and women, and even teenagers under the age of 18, if they passively resisted arrest by sitting on the ground in a gesture of nonviolent protest.

As many as five police would hold a person while another officer beat them with a baton on their torso and legs, Dynko said. She said those who questioned why they were being detained were also beaten with police batons.

Dynko saw one disabled woman in her 70s who was not participating in the demonstration, but was waiting at a bus stop near the protest, thrown so violently into a police van that she started suffering stress-induced heart problems -- requiring aid from a medical team.

"This is not the first time we have seen police violence against demonstrators in Belarus," Dynko said. "But it's very unusual to see police roughing up senior citizens like that. Clearly, the authorities are trying to intimidate everyone and discourage people from protesting in the future."

One protester, a man who gave his name as Alyaksandr, told RFE/RL he thought the police crackdown will lead to larger protests. "It's the other way around, so to say, it angers people," he said. "They are now even more angry with the action that the authorities have taken."

Even people who weren't demonstrators, but were just shopping and coming out of shops, were detained and thrown into police vans, he said.

BBC correspondent Syarhey Kozlovsky told the Associated Press that police "grabbed everybody indiscriminately, both young and old," and that he and demonstrators around him were "treated very harshly."

Amnesty International said in a statement that its monitors "witnessed the arrest of dozens of peaceful protesters" at the Minsk demonstration and saw "instances of excessive use of force by the police. They did not witness a single incident of violence on the part of demonstrators."

Denis Krivosheyev, deputy director for Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia program, said, "We have seen peaceful protesters viciously beaten on the streets of Minsk today and an elderly woman knocked to the ground by riot police."

"Rather than allow people to exercise their right to peacefully protest, the Belarusian authorities have once again resorted to authoritarian tactics: banning demonstrations, preventatively detaining human rights monitors, and arbitrarily arresting protesters," Krivosheyev said.

About 700 demonstrators had tried to march along a main avenue to the center of Minsk but were blocked by a cordon of riot police with clubs and shields.

Protesters chanted "Shame on you!" and "Fascists" during a standoff before police started arresting people.

Before the demonstration began, the Vyasna human rights group said police raided its Minsk office and detained 57 people, including foreign observers.

Vyasna has been tracking arrests and police violence at protest rallies across Belarus in recent weeks.

The U.S.-based Freedom House described the March 25 crackdown by police in Minsk as "indiscriminate."

Freedom House's Eurasia program director Marc Behrendt called on Belarus to "respect the right of all of its citizens to freely assemble," saying the authorities should "release without charges, searches, or any further harassment all of those detained."

Behrendt said Lukashenka's government "should live up to its promises to the international community to begin respecting fundamental freedoms."

The demonstrators on March 25 were trying to build on discontent that has been growing in Belarus since the government announced a law to impose a $250 tax against anyone who works less than six months a year but doesn't register with the state labor office.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Belarus during recent weeks in the country's largest antigovernment demonstrations in years.

Despite the postponement of implementing the unpopular tax law, the protests have broadened into general dissatisfaction against Lukashenka's 23-year rule, which critics have described as Europe's last dictatorship.

Lukashenka has claimed that foreign-supported agitators are behind the recent demonstrations and are trying to bring his government down.

About 300 opposition supporters and activists have been arrested across the country in recent days.

Vyasna said about 130 activists who have protested against the tax have been jailed for up to 15 days.

Opposition Leader Detained

Opposition leader and former presidential candidate Uladzimir Nyaklyaeu was detained late on March 24 in the western city of Brest, where he is currently being held in a detention facility.

Nyaklyeau was on his way to Minsk from Warsaw after talks with Polish government officials.

He was stopped at the border and taken off a train, his wife, Olga Nyaklyaeva, said.

Nyaklyaeu had been scheduled to appear in court on March 24 to face charges of participation in previous protests, but the trial was delayed when he failed to appear.

Nyaklyeau was planning to lead the Freedom Day rally in Minsk along with along with prominent opposition leader Mikalay Statkevich.

Statkevich, a former presidential candidate, said he still planned to attend the protest, but his whereabouts were unknown on March 25.

Statkevich's wife, Maryna Adamovich, told RFE/RL she was briefly detained at the March 25 Minsk demonstration and that she has not heard from her husband since March 23.

The United States and the European Union have sharply criticized Lukashenka's government for its response to the protests.

With reporting by AP and AFP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/belarus-opposition-parasite- tax-protest-nyaklyaeu/28389979.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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Belarus Police Arrest Hundreds Defying Protest Ban

By VOA News March 25, 2017

Riot police in Belarus launched a massive crackdown Saturday on protesters trying to hold a banned march in Minsk. Hundreds were reported arrested, and a human rights leader said many of the detainees had been beaten by police and needed medical attention.

An estimated 700 people were trying to march through a central part of the capital, part of a wave of anti-government protests against a new tax on workers. Truckloads of police intercepted the protesters and attacked them with clubs.

Witnesses said unarmed civilians also were assaulted, and a Reuters reporter said at least 10 journalists were arrested.

Earlier Saturday, officials from the opposition group Vesna-96 said police had raided their headquarters in the capital and detained about 60 activists. All were later released, and there was no official comment on the incident.

Earlier this week, Belarus' authoritarian president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, said dozens of militants planning an "armed provocation" had been arrested in Minsk and elsewhere in the former Soviet republic.

Lukashenko claims conspiracy

Lukashenko, who has been in power in Minsk since 1994, said the detained militants had undergone training in neighboring Ukraine and had been funded by Poland and Lithuania. Relations between Belarus and those two other neighboring, pro-Western states have been strained throughout Lukashenko's time in power.

Lukashenko offered no evidence to support his claim that protesters in his capital had been trained and funded by other nations, nor did he provide any details of the alleged plot.

Protesters in Belarus have been staging civil disobedience actions in reaction to a new labor law that forces citizens to pay the government the equivalent of $250 if they work less than six months in a year, or if they fail to register with state labor exchanges.

Belarus, a country of 9.4 million people, has been mired in recession since 2015. Many opponents of the unpopular tax say they are effectively being penalized by the same government that has failed to reduce unemployment.

Responding to mounting public pressure, Lukashenko suspended collection of the unemployment fee earlier this month, but protests have continued.

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North Korea could strike Alaska: US commander

Iran Press TV

Fri Mar 24, 2017 11:40PM

The US state of Alaska can be a possible target for North Korea's missiles, a senior US commander has warned, asking for the state's military budget to increase.

Speaking before Congress' Joint Armed Services Committee on Thursday, Lieutenant General Kenneth S. Wilsbach told lawmakers that military officials stationed in Alaska were concerned about North Korea's advancements in developing ballistic missiles.

"Certainly North Korea and the rhetoric that's coming from North Korea and the activity that we're seeing makes me as a military commander have concern that the threat is increased," he was quoted as saying.

The commander reminded the panel that Alaska was given $561 million to complete ongoing military projects across the state during the 2017 fiscal year.

The money was supposed to be used for upgrading a network of missile systems and prepare Eielson Air Force Base to host two squadrons of F-35 stealth fighter jets, totaling 54 aircraft, by 2020.

"Because of the strategic nature of Alaska we assume, which is why we defend this land, that there are facilities here that could be considered targets, so that's why we have forces that are capable of defending the nation from here," Wilsbach went on.

Within the US military circles, Alaska is commonly referred to as the last line of defense against a nuclear attack from adversaries such as North Korea.

The statements come amid high tensions between Washington and Pyongyang, which is angered by the annual joint war games currently being carried out by the US and South Korea on the restive peninsula.

The US has further infuriated the North by starting the installation of an advanced missile system at an air base in South Korea earlier this month. Washington also deploys nuclear-powered warships and aircraft in the region.

Pyongyang has been subjected to international pressure, including US sanctions and Security Council resolutions, to abandon its arms development and nuclear programs.

Yet, it says the programs are meant to protect the country from US hostility.

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Military spokesman: US should have more control on its warships in Persian Gulf

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, March 25, IRNA -- Spokesman of Armed Forces Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri underlined on Saturday that the US should have more control and supervision on its fleet's behavior in the Persian Gulf.

According to the Armed Forces Headquarters Media Department, General Jazayeri said the news disseminated by the US sources concerning unprofessional behavior of Iranian vessels is not true.

He said the news is either based upon false reports or has 'other intentions'.

He added, 'We underline that the Americans are guilty for any kind of unrest in the Persian Gulf, so we warn again that the US armed forces should change their behavior.'

According to the report of Sepah News, Commander of Navay's Zolfaqar Flotilla First Zone Admiral Mehdi Hashemi had reacted to an unprofessional act of a US warship in the Persian Gulf.

Responding to the incorrect news by an American official concerning USNS Invincible Warship, the IRGC Navy Commander said that on March 5, 2017 at 10:20 to 11:00 hours local time, a warship from American fleet passing Hormuz Straight zone, in an unprofessional move, exited from international route and changed its way toward IRGC Navy vessels present in the region and got as close as 550 meters to Iranian vessels with giving warnings.

1391**1771

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Iraqi military denies halting operation to free western Mosul

Iran Press TV

Sat Mar 25, 2017 1:15PM

The Iraqi military has denied that its forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization Units, have ceased their joint operations to flush Takfiri Daesh militants out of their last urban stronghold in the conflict-ridden country over the high rate of civilian casualties.

The military said on Saturday that the battle continues in Rajm al-Hadid area of western Mosul.

Earlier Reuters quoted an unnamed spokesman of the Iraqi federal police force as saying, "The recent high death toll among civilians inside the Old City forced us to halt operations to review our plans. It's a time for weighing new offensive plans and tactics. No combat operations are to go on," .

The spokesman added, "We need to make sure that taking out Daesh from the Old City will not cost unwanted high casualties among civilians. We need surgical accurate operations to target terrorists without causing collateral damage among residents."

The remarks came as an army statement published in the official al-Sabaah (The Morning) daily newspaper read that future operations in the embattled western Mosul would be launched by ground troops trained to fight street battles.

"Our heroic forces are committed to the rules of engagement, which ensure protection of civilians," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration says more than 200,000 people have fled their homes ever since Iraqi army troops and Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters launched the battle to recapture densely populated neighborhoods in western Mosul from Daesh extremists.

The ministry announced in a statement that 201,275 civilians had experienced forced displacement.

Aid agencies say as many as 600,000 civilians remain trapped in the western half of Mosul.

There are reports that terrified parents fleeing fighting between Iraqi forces and Daesh in the western side of Mosul drug their children with sedatives or tape their mouths to avoid discovery as they try to escape.

"Families often leave at night and in the early hours of the morning and have to walk with their children. The kids get tired and if they cry it's very difficult," Hala Jaber of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Thursday.

She added, "Families are sometimes putting duct tape on their children's mouths or even giving them Valium or tranquilizers just to keep them quiet so that they are not found out by Daesh and captured or shot."

Iraqi army soldiers and Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters launched their offensive to retake Mosul 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.

Daesh terrorists execute 36 Iraqi civilians in western Mosul

Separately, members of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group have reportedly executed more than 30 people in western Mosul as the militants continue to suffer losses in their battles against Iraqi army soldiers and allied forces.

The media bureau of Hashd al-Sha'abi said in a statement that Daesh extremists killed 36 people on Saturday after they slapped charges of "attempts to cross to the land of infidels" against the victims.

The executions took place while dozens of people were watching. Nobody could do anything to save them.

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UN deeply concerned over US-led airstrikes on Mosul

Iran Press TV

Sat Mar 25, 2017 10:17AM

The United Nations has expressed deep concerns over reports that more than 200 people lost their lives in two airstrikes by the US-led coalition purportedly fighting the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul earlier this week.

"The United Nations is profoundly concerned by the reports yesterday of a high number of civilian casualties in al-Jadida in Iraq, a densely populated neighborhood in Mosul. Initial reports indicate hundreds of casualties," Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary General, told a press conference on Friday.

Haq added that Lise Grande, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, is "stunned by the horrendous loss of life" in the aerial attacks.

Grande urged all parties to the operation in the embattled western Mosul, where Iraqi troops backed by pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units  commonly known by their Arabic name, Hashd al-Sha'abi  are pushing hard to flush out Daesh terrorists, to refrain from "indiscriminate use of firepower" and "do everything possible to protect civilians."

Iraq's Kurdish-language Rudaw television network reported late on Thursday that 237 people had been killed in US-led coalition airstrikes on a Daesh-held neighborhood in western Mosul.

The report said 137 people died when a bomb hit a single building in Mosul al-Jadida district of western Mosul. Another 100 were killed nearby.

"Some of the dead were taking shelter inside the homes," Hevidar Ahmed, a correspondent for Rudaw, said from the scene.

The video footage released in the aftermath of the airstrike shows scores of dead bodies being pulled up from a completely destroyed building.

The US-led coalition is said to have "opened a formal civilian casualty credibility assessment" on the report.

The latest US-led raids in Iraq have heightened concerns about an increase in civilian casualties since the administration of US President Donald Trump has already "sped up" the process of approving airstrikes.

Airwars, a Britain-based organization that monitors purported US-led strikes on Daesh positions, estimates that as many as 400 civilian deaths could be attributed to the aerial assaults in March alone.

Iraqi army soldiers and Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters launched their offensive to retake Mosul last October and since then they have made sweeping gains against Takfiri elements.

Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul back in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

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Pakistan Begins Fencing of Afghan Border

By Ayaz Gul March 25, 2017

Pakistan says it has started fencing off its long border with Afghanistan and areas vulnerable to cross-border militant attacks are being given priority.

Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa revealed the project during a visit Saturday to tribal districts, including Mohmand, near the Afghan border where "terrorists" assaulted outposts from across the other side and killed five Pakistani soldiers this month.

Bajwa identified Mohmand and neighboring Bajaur district as "high threat zones", saying fencing them is the military's high priority.

An army statement quoted him as saying that efforts are also underway to "evolve a border security mechanism" with Afghan authorities.

"A better managed, secure and peaceful border is in mutual interest of both brotherly countries who have given phenomenal sacrifices in war against terrorism," the general said.

Without elaborating, the Pakistan army chief said that "technical surveillance means" are also being deployed in addition to regular air surveillance to enhance the border security.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a nearly 2,600 kilometer, largely porous, border and both blame each other for encouraging terrorist infiltration to support deadly attacks on their respective soils.

Relations between the countries have nosedived in the last two years over mutual terrorism allegations.

Islamabad closed all border crossings with the landlocked country a month ago, saying terrorist attacks in Pakistan were being orchestrated by fugitive anti-state militants sheltering in Afghan border areas.

Pakistan reopened the crossings earlier this week to allow legal travelers and thousands of stranded Afghanistan-bound shipping containers to resume their journey.

Kabul rejects charges anti-Pakistan militants are using Afghan soil for cross-border attacks and instead demanded Islamabad close insurgent sanctuaries on its side of the border being used to fuel violence in Afghanistan, charges Pakistani authorities deny.

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Army troops kill large number of terrorists throughout Syria

Iran Press TV

Sat Mar 25, 2017 8:24PM

Syrian government forces have killed over 20 members of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group during operations in the country's southern province of Dara'a.

According to military sources on Saturday, the terrorists were killed during intensive army operations in which a command center and a large amount of the militant's equipment were also destroyed.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army also announced that it had restored security to the town of Kawkab in the central Hama province following operations in which a large number of terrorists were killed.

The army noted that the terrorists had infiltrated the town and had been engaging in acts of robbery and sabotage.

Elsewhere in the country's eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr, the air force launched airstrikes on Daesh-held positions and supply routes, killing a large number of Takfiri terrorists in the al-Rushdiyeh and al-Makabat neighborhoods.

Government troops liberate six Aleppo villages

Also on Saturday, Syrian forces purged the villages of Um al-Mari, Shreimeh, Jnat Salameh, Had Housh, al-Qseer, and Khraej Daham from the presence of terrorists.

During the operations which were carried out in the country's northern province of Aleppo, a large number of Daeshis were killed or injured.

The army was also able to establish several safe corridors to the villages, through which some 5,000 civilians were able to escape Daesh-held regions.

Syria has been fighting different foreign-sponsored militant and terrorist groups since March 2011. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated last August that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the crisis until then.

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Coalition Official Says Final Drive On IS In Raqqa Is Near

RFE/RL March 25, 2017

The French defense minister says the Western-backed coalition in Syria is ready to launch its final push to drive Islamic State (IS) militants from their de facto capital in Raqqa.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on March 24 said Raqqa was "surrounded" and that the "battle will begin in the coming days."

"This will be a very hard battle, but essential," he told French TV.

IS fighters are being pressed on two fronts -- in Raqqa and in Mosul, their last stronghold in Iraq, as U.S.-backed government troops battle to complete their liberation of the country's second-largest city.

The six-year civil war in Syria, which has killed an estimated 300,000 people and displaced millions more, has involved an array of global and regional players.

Russia and Iran back the government of President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey and the U.S.-led coalition support rebels fighting the government.

IS fighters are being opposed by both the Syrian government forces and the Turkish- and U.S.-led rebel troops.

The militants are clinging to their final strongholds after having seized large portions of northern Iraq and Syria in an offensive in 2014.

The group has been accused of numerous atrocities, and has claimed responsibility for major terrorist attacks in Europe and elsewhere.

A spokesman for the U.S.-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), was more cautious about setting a timetable for the final push on Raqqa.

The SDF is leading the move against the IS in Raqqa and has been attempting to encircle the city for months.

"The operation to besiege Raqqa will take several weeks, and that will then lead to the official launch of the operation," Talal Sello told AFP.

Another spokesman said the liberation of Raqqa could still take "several months."

An official said alliance forces had moved close to the strategically important Tabqa Dam near Raqqa and the adjacent town of Tabqa and its airport.

U.S. Apache helicopters have provided air support and helped airlift fighters in the battle for the dam, officials said.

Some 700 U.S. military advisers, Marines, and Rangers have entered Syria to support fighters battling IS militants.

With reporting by AFP and AP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/coalition -raqqa-syria-kurdish-arab-fighters- islamic-state/28390018.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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Syrian Army Liberates Part of Al-Manshiyya Neighborhood in Syria's Daraa

Sputnik News

17:23 25.03.2017

The Syrian army forces liberated from terrorists the part of al-Manshiyya neighborhood of the Syrian city of Daraa, according to a source.

DAMASCUS (Sputnik)  The Syrian army forces pushed out Jabhat Fatah al Sham (former Nusra Front, outlawed in Russia) terrorists from the part of al-Manshiyya neighborhood of the Syrian city of Daraa, a source at the scene told Sputnik Saturday.

The source said that the government forces were conducting an intense fighting in Daraa, primarily against Jabhat Fatah al Sham, adding that terrorists had been bearing extensive losses.

The southwestern city of Daraa, located south of Damascus near the border with Jordan, is controlled by the Syrian government forces. Terrorist groups, mainly belonging to Jabhat Fatah al Sham, control a number of settlements north and west of Daraa, including the border checkpoint.

In February, terrorists made several attempts to attack the Syrian army's positions in Daraa in attempt to force out the government forces. The Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) jihadist group, also prohibited in Russia, took advantage of the situation and attacked the villages between Darraa, the Golan Heights and the Jordanian border, captured by Jabhat Fatah al Sham.

 Sputnik

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Syrian Army Liberates Kokab in Hama Province From Nusra Militants

Sputnik News

12:57 25.03.2017(updated 18:02 25.03.2017)

According to a military source, Syrian army backed by militia pushed out Jabhat Fatah al Sham (former Nusra Front, outlawed in Russia) terrorists from the village of Kokab in the Syrian province of Hama.

DAMASCUS (Sputnik)  Syrian army backed by militia pushed out Jabhat Fatah al Sham (former Nusra Front, outlawed in Russia) terrorists from the village of Kokab in the Syrian province of Hama, a military source told Sputnik Saturday.

"[Government forces] are continuing the offensive on several fronts north of the city of Hama. The intensive battles with the militants from the Jabhat al-Nusra and allied groups are taking place there at the moment," the source said.

The source added that during the clashes Syrian army managed to kill many terrorists and destroy their command post, warehouses of weapons and ammunition, as well as four tanks, six armored personnel carriers and nine vehicles with machine guns mounted on them.

The nationwide Syrian ceasefire regime was introduced on December 30, 2016, with Russia and Turkey as its guarantors. The ceasefire excludes the Islamic State and Nusra Front terrorist groups (both outlawed in Russia), as well as other organizations considered terrorist by the UN Security Council.

 Sputnik

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UN envoy calls for urgent measures to protect ceasefire in Syria

25 March 2017  Voicing deep concern over recent escalation of fighting in Syria, the United Nations Special Envoy for the country has urged Iran, Russia and Turkey to undertake urgent efforts to uphold the ceasefire which has been in effect since late December last year.

"Growing violations in recent days are undermining the ceasefire regime addressed through the Astana meetings, with significant negative consequences for the safety of Syrian civilians, humanitarian access and the momentum of the political process," said UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura.

According to a note to correspondents issued today, Mr. de Mistura sent letters to the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran  as the three guarantor-States of the ceasefire  to undertake urgent efforts to uphold it.

These appeals were also brought to the attention of Russia and the United States as the Co-Chairs of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), the note added.

The ceasefire came into effect on 30 December last year, but recent fighting in capital Damascus, Hama and elsewhere in Syria have put it under strain.

Also in the note, Mr. de Mistura noted that joint efforts of Iran, Russia and Turkey to guarantee the ceasefire "are indispensable for improving the conditions on the ground and contributing to an environment conducive for a productive political progress".

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Syrian, Russian Warplanes Pound Rebel Targets; Scores Killed, Wounded

By VOA News March 25, 2017

Warplanes of the Syrian government and its Russian allies pounded rebel targets across the country Saturday, killing scores of people, including inmates at a rebel-held women's prison in the northwestern city of Idlib.

Details of the overnight prison strike remained sketchy Saturday. But monitors from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the prison dead included 16 prisoners and prison staff. The Observatory said some of the detainees had been killed by prison guards as they attempted to flee after the airstrikes.

Separately, monitors said government forces targeted rebel positions east of Damascus, where at least 16 people were killed and 50 others wounded in Hamoria.

The government offensive, described as some of the heaviest fighting in weeks, came days after rebels seeking to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad launched a surprise assault on Damascus by burrowing into the capital through tunnels.

Concurrent attacks in recent days to the north targeted Hama province, where insurgents have seized about a dozen towns and villages since Monday. The Observatory said rebels had advanced by Wednesday to within several kilometers of a government airbase outside the city.

But monitors reported Saturday that heavy government rocket fire had forced rebels to withdraw from some of their forward positions.

In a related development, authorities said the second phase of an evacuation of Syrian rebels from Homs province had been delayed by fighting to the north that erupted early this week in Hama province between government and rebel forces.

The evacuation, which began earlier this month, is part of a deal to relocate rebels to northwestern Syria, along with their families and other civilians who choose to leave. Monitors have said as many as 15,000 people were expected to depart in weekly batches.

Homs city officials, in an email to Reuters on Saturday, quoted provincial Governor Talal Barazi as saying the evacuation would continue Monday.

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Flynn discussed removing Gulen with Turkish officials: Ex-CIA chief

Iran Press TV

Sat Mar 25, 2017 6:12AM

President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn discussed with senior Turkish officials the possibility of removing Turkey's exiled opposition figure Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Ankara of masterminding a coup attempt last year, according to a report.

Former CIA Director James Woolsey told the Wall Street Journal that he attended a meeting in New York in September during which Flynn, who was then an adviser to Trump's presidential campaign, spoke with top Turkish government ministers about removing Muslim cleric Gulen from the United States and taking him to Turkey.

The former CIA chief said that he was shocked by the discussions and felt the move could be illegal.

The idea was "a covert step in the dead of night to whisk this guy away," Woolsey told the Journal. "You don't send out folks to haul somebody overseas."

Flynn disclosed the meeting to the Justice Department in a filing late last month, admitting that his consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, carried out research that "focused on" Gulen on behalf of the Netherlands-based company Inovo BV, which is owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin.

Recently, Flynn had to register as a foreign agent because of his work with Inovo.

Flynn's firm was paid more than $500,000 by the Dutch firm for public relations and research work, including looking into the Turkish opposition figure, who is residing in Pennsylvania.

Flynn, who was forced to resign last month over his contacts with Russian officials, was involved in a business that was potentially representing the interests of a country other than the US at the time he was advising Trump on foreign policy matters during the election.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for Gulen's extradition, a request that was rebuffed by the administration of former president Barack Obama.

Ankara hopes that the Trump administration would be more cooperative in this regard.

"We hope steps will be taken primarily to extradite [Gulen], the architect of the cowardly coup attempt," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said just hours before Trump's inauguration on January 20.

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Erdogan Says Turkey May Hold Referendum on EU Accession Talks

Sputnik News

21:02 25.03.2017(updated 21:42 25.03.2017)

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey could hold a referendum on whether to continue the accession talks with the European Union.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Turkey could hold a referendum on whether to continue the accession talks with the European Union, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

"After the referendum on April 16, we could hold a referendum on the continuation of talks on the accession to the European Union," Erdogan said speaking at the southern city of Antalya as aired on NTV.

The relations between Turkey and the European Union have deteriorated due to the refusal of several European governments, including the Netherlands and Germany, to allow Turkish ministers to hold campaign meetings with local expat communities ahead of the Turkish constitutional amendments referendum, aimed at expanding presidential powers.

Formal talks on Turkey's accession to the bloc started in 2005. In March 2016, its candidature received a boost as it signed a migration deal with the European Union.

However, the talks have been repeatedly suspended due to various obstacles, including the European Union's objections regarding the clampdown by the Turkish government on those suspected of ties to organizers of the failed coup in July 2016.

 Sputnik

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Trump Administration Reviewing What Role US Nuclear Weapons Should Play

By Steve Herman March 25, 2017

The United Nations begins negotiations Monday on a legally binding treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons.

This comes as the United States commences a review of what role its nuclear weapons should now play.

"Shortly after taking office, the president directed a new Nuclear Posture Review to ensure that the United States nuclear deterrent is modern, robust, flexible, resilient, ready, and appropriately tailored to deter 21st century threats and reassure our allies," White House senior assistant press secretary Michael Short told VOA Friday. "The review is underway and is being led by the secretary of defense."

Those around the world yearning for a planet free of nuclear weapons are likely to be disappointed with the outcomes both at the United Nations and the White House.

"I personally support a world without nuclear weapons," said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. "But I would also admit it would be very hard to get there."

NATO vote

The Obama administration last year strongly encouraged NATO allies to vote against the start of negotiations at the U.N., contending such a ban would hinder cooperation to respond to nuclear threats from adversaries.

The proposed U.N. treaty "aims to delegitimize the concept of nuclear deterrence upon which many U.S. allies and partners depend," according to a notice Washington sent to NATO on October 17.

Some in the Trump administration would like to see it abandon Obama's stated goal of a world without nuclear weapons and lift the moratorium on U.S nuclear weapons testing.

"We have not conducted an experiment in over 20 years. Since then we've made some changes to our nuclear warheads, and we don't fully understand how those changes might play out in operational scenarios," said Michaela Dodge, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation.

Examining whether global nuclear disarmament "is a realistic goal" is part of the Nuclear Posture Review, according to Christopher Ford, the National Security Council's senior director for weapons of mass destruction and counter-proliferation, who spoke at a conference in Washington last Tuesday.

The Trump administration "may come to a different conclusion than the Obama administration came to as to how realistic it is to make that a goal that drives your near and midterm policy approaches," Pifer, director of the Brookings Arms Control Initiative, said during a seminar the following day devoted to how U.S. and Russian leaders can avoid renewed nuclear tensions.

Number of weapons

Also on the table, according to National Security Council officials, are the number of U.S. weapons needed to counter other nuclear-armed countries and whether new devices should be added to its atomic arsenal.

"I think over time President Trump and his team at the Pentagon are going to recognize that we do need to continue to have verifiable arms limits with Russia," said Pifer, also a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. "We don't want a new arms race. We don't want to open the door to new types of nuclear weapons and nuclear testing, which would have grave ramifications for the global arms reduction and nonproliferation process."

That also appears to be the view in Moscow.

A former Russian arms control negotiator, who attended the Washington seminar told VOA the Kremlin desires resuming dialogue in this arena.

"For the Russian side, if United States is forthcoming and comes up with something interesting, it would be very difficult for Russia to say, 'Nyet, we're not interested.' No. No way," said Victor Mizin, deputy director of the Institute for International Studies at the Moscow State Institute of International Affairs.

The self-described former Cold Warrior terms the current situation as a "hybrid cold war," contending the rhetoric is worse than it was in the 1980s.

For the past several years, the United States has accused Russia of violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a landmark arms control agreement of the Cold War.

Ford, the only senior nuclear policy official yet appointed by Trump, said the administration is reviewing responses to Russia's deployment of nuclear-capable cruise missiles, which led to the U.S. accusations.

"What usually happens, as you well know, is the United States over-complies with agreements while permitting Russia to have more wiggle room in an effort to save the agreement itself," Dodge, at the Heritage Foundation, told VOA.

Arms control

Another influential Russian academic visiting Washington in recent days for conferences and seminars on arms control, Sergey Rogov, expressed concern about the Trump administration's apparent distaste for multilateral treaties, noting contradictory comments made by candidate Trump on nuclear issues.

"Apparently today there is no nuclear policy for the new administration," said Rogov, director of the Institute of U.S.-Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who added, however, "it's still early. But the problem is the Republican Party has almost no arms controllers left."

President Trump, on the campaign trail, did speak both of a desire to see the abolition of nuclear weapons and of giving an unrivaled arsenal to the United States, which he said had fallen behind in its nuclear capabilities.

The president also mentioned the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the Islamic State and publicly pondered whether countries such as Japan and South Korea, protected under the American nuclear umbrella, might be better off having their own such weapons.

The U.S. nuclear posture review is expected to take 12 to 18 months. The previous one was completed in 2010 during the first term of President Barack Obama.

U.S. nuclear policymakers will now also be keeping one eye on the activities at the United Nations where the negotiations threaten to upset the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. That treaty allowed the United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom and France, who are also the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, to retain their nuclear weapons for an unspecified time.

Anti-nuclear activists

Some anti-nuclear activists expressed disappointed with the Obama administration, despite its denuclearization rhetoric, because it requested large increases for nuclear weapons programs at the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. They are not expecting good news from the Trump administration.

"But throwing out even this rhetorical commitment, arguing that a world without nuclear weapons is unrealistic, and hinting at the resumption of explosive nuclear weapon testing means violating international law, including the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and a clear expression of support for nuclear weapons," said Ray Acheson, director of the disarmament program of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

Acheson told VOA her organization sees this as "posing enormous risks to the existing nonproliferation regime" and "will essentially be equivalent to throwing the last several decades of iterative work towards nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation into the dustbin of history."

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Dan River Region patients and health providers say the Affordable Care Act helped them expand services and pay for expensive medication, while repeal and replacement efforts would have cut services and left residents uninsured.

I am very happy the Affordable Care Act will stand, Piedmont Access to Health Services CEO Kay Crane told the Register & Bee on Friday night. While it is not perfect, it has made a difference in the health and lives of many people. It is my hope that Congress will work together to make it even better.

President Donald Trump has made repealing the Affordable Care Act a key promise of his administration. He gave his support to the American Health Care Act, a Republican plan debuted by House Speaker Paul Ryan earlier this month.

Trump and GOP leaders pulled their Obamacare repeal bill off the House floor Friday after it became clear the measure would fail badly, according to the Associated Press.

Republicans have spent seven years campaigning against former President Barack Obamas health care law, and cast dozens of votes to repeal it in full or in part. But when they finally got the chance to pass a repeal bill that actually had a chance to get signed, they couldnt pull it off.

It could potentially be devastating, not just for our patients, but for our organization, Crane said in an interview earlier this week about the proposed measure to alter the Affordable Care Act.

U.S. Rep. Tom Garrett, R-5th District, was against the GOP plan. I remain steadfast, he said in a statement via Twitter. The people have spoken and I agree. This plan is not the best way forward.

Democrats said Americans can breathe a sigh of relief. Trump said Obamas law was imploding and soon will explode.

According to analysis of the plan by the Congressional Budget office, 24 million Americans would have lost coverage under the GOP plan. Crane said the local impact of the legislation would have been significant.

Since the Affordable Care Act was implemented in 2010, Crane said the number of uninsured PATHS patients has fallen by almost half, from about 45 percent to 23 percent. As part of its mission, Crane said PATHS serves all patients regardless of insurance coverage.

***

Danville resident and Virginia Organizing member Theresa Carter was unable to afford health insurance before the Affordable Care Act. Now, she is able to afford all of her medications and doctor visits.

Ive been helped tremendously, Carter said. I didnt have any coverage. It was a very obvious effect going from having none to having some.

Carter said prices decreased on everything from diabetes medication to trips to the radiologist and the oncologist.

Centra Health Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Elliot said in a statement that law changes would never deter the health provider from offering care. However, parts of the law could have posed more challenges to providers.

The AHCAs proposed changes to federal Medicaid funding do not create equity among the states, which could lead to Virginia maintaining low levels of federal support, Elliot said in a statement. The Congressional Budget Offices estimated increase in the number of uninsured is also worrisome.

***

During the past several years, PATHS has expanded its operations in Pittsylvania County, Martinsville and Boydon and plans to open another location in South Boston. All that would have changed if a repeal effort cut Medicaid subsidies.

I would have some really tough choices to make, Crane said.

Carter said the proposed new legislation would end up hurting older Americans. Among the changes was a provision allowing insurance companies to change older adults up to five times more than younger people.

Older people have already paid into the system, Carter said.

The GOP bill also would have phased out the Medicaid expansion from the ACA by 2020. The expansion has been accepted by 31 states, but not by Virginia. However, the phase-out could affect community health centers everywhere, Virginia Community Healthcare Association Director of Government Affairs Rick Shinn said in a news release.

The loss of reimbursements for services will both limit health centers capacity and place a greater burden on federal grants designed to support operations and care for the uninsured, Shinn said.

The Arc nonprofit, which has a chapter in Blairs, also railed against the bills impact on disabled citizens.

This bill shows complete disregard for the health of people with disabilities, The Ark CEO Peter Berns said in a news release. Claims that this bill makes health insurance more affordable are simply untrue.
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F1 drivers say the cars of 2017 are living up to expectations.

Laptimes in qualifying were far from the predictions of 4-5 seconds per lap faster, but Max Verstappen said that kind of speed can be expected on circuits other than Melbourne.

So when asked if the 'new' F1 is on track, the Dutchman said: "In terms of driving, yes.

"The cars are faster, it's nice to drive them. The high speed corners are exciting."

But Verstappen warned that overtaking may be rare in 2017, with the excitement on Sunday in Australia perhaps limited to a fight for the first corner between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

"The races will be more boring," he said. "Tomorrow, whoever leads in the first corner will win for sure."

However, the cars are obviously and visibly faster and harder to drive.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, for instance, crashed in qualifying, and Romain Grosjean confirmed that the Australian was not alone in struggling to handle his car.

"We are going through the corners at an insane speed compared to the last seasons," said the Haas driver.

In fact, the Frenchman sensationally claimed that cornering speeds in Melbourne are getting close to 8G.

"Coping with this is not easy for the driver and the car," he said.

Even Fernando Alonso, who is otherwise frustrated with his situation at McLaren-Honda, is happy with the new F1.

"We can see that the veterans are out front and the rookies behind, because it's more difficult to drive," he said.

As for the risk of drivers losing control of their cars, Alonso joked: "Last year I think we had four seconds to recover -- you could have a coffee while you were doing it.

"These cars are in another category."

(GMM)
GREENSBORO  Some defense attorneys say time may have won their cases for them.

Every day in Guilford Countys DWI Cleanup Court, three or four defense attorneys whose clients have cases that are more than two years old ask for continuances rather than resolve them in court.

Why? They hope a case before the N.C. Supreme Court will conclude that theyve reached the statute of limitations  two years for misdemeanors.

Defense attorneys say they are waiting to see if the court upholds the ruling for Christopher Glenn Turner, whose 2012 charge of driving while impaired in Caldwell County was dismissed after two years because he had neither been served a warrant nor indicted.

Greensboro attorney Andrew Clifford said he feels it would be malpractice not to wait and see what the high court does. He has asked for and received a continuance for one of his own clients, who received a DWI citation in 2014.

Because of that period of time, Clifford and other attorneys say their clients are not being treated fairly.

He has a constitutional right to a speedy trial, Clifford said about his client.

As of March 14, that client was one of 458 defendants in Guilford County whose DWI cases were more than two years old.

In January the county began a six-month program to cut down its massive backlog of DWI cases  at that time about 4,200  by initiating this cleanup court, which was intended to focus on clearing out Guilfords oldest cases.

And thats what its doing for the most part. The backlog had been reduced to 3,836 on March 14.

DWIs are the most time-consuming cases that come out of traffic court, said Chief District Judge Tom Jarrell, who led the push for this new court.

Through either pleas or trials, the court resolved 131 cases in January and February.

A way to resolve

This special court pulls cases out of traffic court, but many remain there.

And there seem to be more defendants pleading to DWIs in traffic court since those who want to go to trial have moved to the new court, Jarrell said.

In DWI court, defense attorneys and prosecutors have time to hash out details of pleas  time they wouldnt have in traffic court, Greensboro attorney Chad Garrett said.

If its not in that (DWI) courtroom, Im surprised if I can get a case resolved, Garrett said. We wouldnt be able to sit down, determine the issues we have and resolve them.

In one day, Garrett resolved three of his cases  from 2012, 2014, and 2015. I commented in open court today that had this DWI court not existed, these cases would all have continued, he said.

The Turner case has attorneys taking different views on older cases.

A test case

The N.C. Court of Appeals decision on Dec. 6 in State v. Turner would render almost all 2-year-old DWI citations that havent been resolved as dismissed.

In that case, Turners attorney argued the statute of limitations had run out on the charge against him. On Aug. 7, 2012, he had been cited with DWI but never charged by indictment or warrant, which would be an unusual step in a DWI.

But an indictment or warrant, the defense argued, would ring the bell for the misdemeanors statute of limitations  meaning, it would put the statute on hold.

That never happened in Turners case, and after two years, his attorney argued in November 2014 that the statute of limitations for his case had expired.

The Caldwell County District Court agreed.

The state appealed, but a Superior Court judge agreed with that ruling. The case moved to the Court of Appeals, which agreed unanimously with the lower courts. On that same day, acting on a request from the attorney generals office, the N.C. Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on the decision, pending further proceedings.

Because the Court of Appeals decision was unanimous, the state does not have an automatic right to appeal, but the N.C. attorney generals office argued that the Supreme Court should hear the case. On March 17 it agreed to do so. The case has not been scheduled.

Courts have been told not to change how they treat people who are arrested without a warrant.

However, the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts sent a memo to court personnel in late December, advising them to prepare for changes to how law enforcement agencies and prosecutors would handle arrests for misdemeanors, which include DWIs.

Prosecutors might adjust their practices to pursue actual warrants for arrest in those cases, the AOC said in its memorandum. According to the memo, when someone is arrested without a warrant and brought before a judicial official, that official has only two options  to release the defendant for lack of probable cause or to issue a magistrates order.

There appears to be no statutory basis for the issue of a warrant for arrest to ratify a warrantless arrest after the fact, the AOC says.

Case load grows

Regardless of the outcome in Turners case, the DWI court continues to chip away at its backlog.

In two months, it has reduced the number by about 340.

Meanwhile, local law enforcement agencies continue to add about 200 DWIs or aiding-and-abetting-DWI cases to the courts load every month. Aiding and abetting  when a person knowingly helps or encourages someone to drive while impaired  carries similar penalties to DWI and is handled in the same court.

For Wednesday alone, 23 cases were on the courts docket. To keep things going, Judge Teresa Vincent took breaks during DWI trials to resolve cases. After clearing quicker cases, trials resumed.

When defendants plead guilty, most cases can be cleared in about 10 minutes.

I thought it was going to be one trial after another, after another, after another, Jarrell said. We dont really have that many trials.

Most defendants see the evidence against them and plead guilty, he said.

Only two defendants in court on March 15 had been cited with DWI in 2016. Two were first cited in 2013, 11 in 2014 and 8 in 2015.

Blood backlog

Crowded courtrooms and heavy caseloads contribute to DWI cases taking years to be resolved, but the primary factor in delays has been time spent waiting for blood tests to be completed.

Clifford still has not received bloodwork for his client who received a citation in 2014.

For the most part, its kind of an extraordinary situation, Clifford said. It all goes back to that period when the blood lab was so backed up.

In 2016, the state improved processes that sped up how long it took for some cases to receive results of bloodwork or toxicology tests, Greensboro attorney Don Vaughan said.

When a defendant in a traffic stop refuses to take a breath test, an officer can obtain a search warrant for his or her blood. The blood then is sent to a lab for testing, and cases are continued until results are in.

That process has been reduced to about three or four months, Vaughan said.

The countys DWI cases averaged about 19 months old in December when Mecklenburgs were about 13. This specialized court became possible late last year when the AOC agreed to send Guilford County an emergency judge to free up other judges to preside over the special court.

Early this month, the average age of Guilford Countys DWI cases had fallen to 15 months, according to Jarrell.

Waiting game

Before January, the cases were all heard in traffic court  Courtroom 1D  with all other motor-vehicle infractions. That courtroom can receive 300 to 600 traffic cases on any given day. It was a logjam.

A challenge this new court faces is scheduling, Jarrell said. Each day in the courtroom starts with the courts finding out which attorneys represent each defendant.

Every single (defense) lawyer that was named probably has several courtrooms to go to, he said.

So, even on days when all the moving parts are scheduled, there are periods when the court and defendants spend time waiting.

Stephanie Goldsborough, an attorney with Dummit Fradin, said Tuesday she was to appear in six courtrooms  for felonies that hadnt been indicted, traffic courts, waiver court (offenses for which first appearances may be waived), DWI court and criminal court.

Ive been able to handle a number of DWIs, Goldsborough said. Its like anything else  youre adjusting to having another court to go into.

She appeared in court Tuesday with a client whose case had been postponed 10 times.

Its nice to know youre going to have a resolution to your case, Goldsborough said. At least here she knows whats going to happen. When youve got a case pending for three years, youre in a kind of flux.

It may have taken more than a year, but most of the older DWI cases in Guilford County have received results of blood tests, Clifford said.

He hasnt received results for his client from 2014.

Thats what makes my case a little different, he said in a text message. Most other Turner cases at least have the blood back, even though it took a long time. Mine just never came back.

Its the hurry-up-and-wait game.
GREENSBORO Troy Lawson was 15 when he exited a Boston subway station and saw U.S. Sen. Edward Brooke on the street shaking hands.

Brooke, then campaigning for re-election, was a Republican and the first African-American elected to the Senate by popular vote. He was tall, confident and good-looking. Lawson, on his way home from an after-school job, decided to shake the senators hand.

And he said, I hope youre a Republican,  Lawson said. And I said, Whats a Republican? 

Brooke had already moved on to another voter, but he heard Lawsons question. He told one of his staff members to get the teenagers name and contact information. Two weeks later, a staffer called Lawsons house to invite him to one of the senators call centers. His mother, a liberal Democrat, answered the phone. She was appalled.

She kept saying, You want who? No, you must have a wrong number,  Lawson recalled. I was in the background saying it was for me, but she just hung up. My father came home later and she told him the story. I could hear them arguing, and then he said something that stuck with me. He said, We dont want him to go there and get into this, but maybe hell learn something. 

And so Lawson went. One day when he was there, Brooke stopped in for a visit  and remembered him. Their interaction that day, set into motion by the chance meeting on the streets of Boston, sparked a lifelong passion for conservative political activism, culminating in Lawsons election two weeks ago as the first African-American chairman of the Guilford County Republican Party.

Its a milestone for the party, but not one that Lawson prefers to revel in. His politics and his plans for the party have nothing to do with the color of his skin, he said.

Ive worked very hard doing this, and Ive worked for this party, and the people who voted for me saw that, he said. Theres more work to be done now, so thats what Im going to do.

Lawson, 55, moved to Guilford County from Maryland two years ago. His wife Stephanie grew up in the Greensboro area and had friends here, but Lawson didnt know anyone. So he did what he always does when hes in an unfamiliar place: He contacted the local Republican party.

Anywhere Ive traveled or worked, I could pick up the phone and always have friends. As long as theyre Republicans, Im at home, he said. Here I walked into the headquarters and introduced myself and said, How can I help? 

Ernie Wittenborn, the partys previous chairman, was impressed by Lawsons willingness to volunteer. He appointed Lawson as the partys executive director, a visible position that allowed him to help plan events and get to know Republicans throughout the county.

They all know him, Wittenborn said. Most of his campaigning for the chairman position was really just him doing so much work and being so active in the party in the last two years.

When Wittenborn decided not to run for chairman at the end of his two-year term  Im aging out, he explained  Lawson declared his candidacy. No one ran against him, and he was elected by acclamation at the partys convention on March 11.

GOP members were thrilled with the outcome, according to Guilford County Commissioner Jeff Phillips, who serves with Lawson on the board of Gate City Charter Academy.

Hes got the right combination of work ethic, creativity, communication skills and energy to give the Guilford County GOP the kind of shot in the arm it needs right now, Phillips said. Hes willing to go places and do things that not everybody is comfortable doing. And thats why hes gained the respect and support of everyone in the party.

Lawsons immediate plans include venturing into Guilford Countys traditionally Democratic strongholds to try and make connections with voters ahead of this falls municipal elections.

Theres no question that we need to start chipping away at finding issues that people in this county can relate to, like education, Lawson said.

The issue of education choice  allowing parents to send their children to private or charter schools instead of just public facilities  is key for Lawson, who grew up in Boston when the citys public schools were under a court order to desegregate. The first years of that process occurred when Lawson was in high school. He was bused to a new school across town.

It wasnt far, just a few miles, but back then Boston was very racially divided, he said. It had nothing to do with the distance  it was going into another neighborhood where you werent welcome.

People yelled and threw rocks at the buses, shattering windows and prompting the transportation company to provide riot helmets for its drivers.

Lawson never stopped feeling unwelcome, he said. The scariest part of the journey was always walking the 16 feet between the bus and the school doors, where there was no protection from angry protesters.

Growing up, I didnt understand what it was all about. It was forced on me, he said. As I looked back on it I realized that it was all about choice. Some people had a choice and some people didnt. And so Ive wanted to make sure that my kids, and other kids, did have a choice. That is a big deal to me.

Lawson is comfortable speaking about this and other issues to anyone, including left-leaning voters who may not be used to chatting with Republicans. He believes that being honest is the best way to find common ground.

Im a likable person. Im not this mean Republican that people talk about, he said. Im not different than most people. They want to be safe. They want to be secure. Its just that the way we approach that is different.

County GOP members are hopeful that Lawsons approach will make it possible for him to connect with voters, Phillips said.

Hes not going to ask you to do anything hes not willing to first do himself, and thats what true leadership looks like, he said. Who he is as a man, what he stands for, the values he holds dear, what hes willing to do  not just talk about, but do  on behalf of the Republican Party.

These are the things that make him the total package.
Updated 10:45 p.m.

HIGH POINT  A 2-year-old child was shot in the head and died.

About 4:30 p.m. today, police were called to 1301 Filbert Place for a reported shooting, according to a High Point police news release.

An adult was with the child at the time, but police did not say who fired the shot that injured the male toddler.

The child was taken to an area hospital, where he died hours later.

Police said they are not looking for any suspects and are continuing their investigation.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (336) 889-4000.

Posted 7:03 p.m.

HIGH POINT  Police tonight are investigating a shooting.

About 4:30 p.m., police were called to the area of Filbert Place and Pershing Street for a shooting, according to High Point police watch command.

Police did not give the age of the victim but according to WGHP/FOX 8, the victim was taken to Brenner Children's Hospital.
Jon Hardister

Juvenile justice has been the subject of much conversation as legislation was recently introduced in the House to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction in North Carolina from 16 to 18.

House Bill 280, the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act, has widespread and bipartisan support, boasting 68 sponsors, more than any other bill introduced this session.

HB 280 is a common-sense reform modeled on the recommendations made by a commission convened by Chief Justice Mark Martin. The commission met for more than a year to consider a wide array of evidence and stakeholder input on the subject. This collaborative process led to unprecedented support for the recommendation, including from the N.C. Sheriffs Association, the N.C. Association of Chiefs of Police, the N.C. Chamber Legal Institute, as well as organizations across the political spectrum, from the John Locke Foundation to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Youths charged with violent crimes such as murder will not be impacted by this reform as the bill specifically exempts A-E felonies and traffic offenses. In reality, tThe overwhelming majority of adolescent offenders commit minor crimes. In 2014, only 3.3 percent of juveniles were convicted of class A-E felonies, while 80.4 percent were convicted of misdemeanors. In fact, nearly half of the referrals to the juvenile justice system come from school-based complaints. Classroom misbehavior that might have previously resulted in a trip to the principals office is now referred to the court system and leads to a permanent adult record.

Raising the juvenile age will reduce crime and improve public safety in our state, as treating teens in the juvenile system greatly reduces recidivism. The juvenile system requires far more accountability than the adult system, offering programs aimed at rehabilitating wayward youth and preventing them from entering the adult system.

The societal and fiscal benefits of reducing the future costs of these kids graduating into the adult system are substantial. In 2011, the General Assembly received a report from the Youth Accountability Planning Task Force estimating that the net cost benefit will be $52.3 million. Additionally, by keeping teens in juvenile court, they will not be permanently limited by an adult criminal record, which would impact their ability to pursue higher education, serve in the military or find a job. It is in our states best interest to allow these teens the opportunity to support themselves and contribute to society.

Despite all evidence showing that our state taxpayers will see a net financial benefit from enacting this reform, the primary opposition to raising the age has been cost. As reflected by HB 280s title, this is an investment in our youth. Though there is an upfront cost to ensure that the program is properly implemented and therefore successful, every state that has recently implemented similar legislation has seen consistently positive results, both in cost reduction and drops in the number of new cases coming into juvenile courts.

We all want to hold our teens accountable for misdeeds, but saddling young people with adult criminal records for misdemeanors and low-level felonies committed in their youth limits their ability to be productive and successful adults. Young people who have paid their debt to society deserve an opportunity to be rehabilitated. HB 280 offers this chance, and I am proud to support this important and balanced reform.
Well, Mr. Blitzer, you are getting a dose of reality.

Craig Blitzer (as Rockingham County district attorney) essentially sentenced my sister to death for the same type of crime he is under investigation for. My sister did commit a crime of embezzlement, and full restitution was made to the entity from which she misappropriated funds.

Her family pleaded with both Blitzer and the judge to not send her to prison, because in the medical opinion of her doctor and myself, a nurse, we knew she would not survive. There were ways to impose punishment outside the bounds of the prison system.

While incarcerated, she was hospitalized four times due to her pre-existing heart and lung disease. Her 12-month sentence turned into 13 months. She died still incarcerated, in a Raleigh hospital ICU.

Mr. Blitzer, you were engaged in your activities at the same time you made sure my sister went to prison. Your possible misappropriation of funds may not be classified as embezzlement, and you may not be found guilty; however, your actions in sending my sister to prison contributed to her death. May this fact weigh heavy on your heart and conscience, as well as with those who supported you in your decision.

Helen Snead

Greensboro
NEWPORT NEWS, VA Annie Marie Walker, 77, died Tuesday, March 14, 2017. Annie was a native of Eden, NC and a former resident of Raleigh and Danville, VA. She graduated from George Washington High School, Danville, in 1958. Annie loved to travel, and her travels took her to Hawaii to live and work. She eventually moved back to Eden to take care of her aging parents. Annie retired from the North Carolina Department of Transportation in 2008. She also enjoyed reading, playing bridge, movies and taking walks. She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles "Charlie" and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Walker; and one brother Charles E. "Eddie" Walker, Jr. She is survived by one aunt, Myrtle Frances Walker of Newport News and several cousins. Services will be held at Emmanuel Baptist Church, 1151 Virginia St., Eden, NC on March 27, 2017, at 1:00 p.m. with Pastor Bob Trogdon officiating. Burial will follow in Highland Burial Park, Danville. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Association. Arrangements by W. J. Smith & Son Funeral Home, Newport News, VA.
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For the past 13 years, Fairfield County moviegoers have come to rely on Focus on French Cinema in Greenwich to supply the mix of star personalities and fresh new movies that make a film festival world class.

Last year, moviegoers had the chance to meet and talk film with one of the greatest actresses in French cinema, Nathalie Baye, who got a thrilling shout-out on opening night from her American peer, Meryl Streep.

Executive Director Renee Amory Ketcham and her staff have been working for the past year to live up to the high standard theyve established, and that means putting together and tearing up the schedule right down to the wire.

We negotiate to the last minute, Ketcham says in the middle of a particularly hectic 24 hours that saw her finally snag Its Only the End of the World, the latest film by the hot young writer-director Xavier Dolan, which won its star, Gaspard Ulliel, a Cesar Award  the French equivalent of the Oscar  on Feb. 24.

We pride ourselves on getting newly released films, which isnt always easy because our festival is in the same season as Rendezvous with French Cinema and New Directors, Ketcham says of the two New York City film festivals that happen just days before Focus on French Cinema, which runs March 27 to April 2.

Another coup is this years guest of honor, director Claude Lelouch, who will be screening the 50th anniversary restoration of A Man and a Woman, which caused a sensation in this country with its ravishing cinematography, charismatic stars Anouk Aimee and Jean-Louis Trintignant, and ultra-romantic score by Francis Lai.

Someone called it the most efficacious make-out movie of the 1960s, Ketcham says, laughing, of what was then the biggest foreign-language hit in U.S. history. The movie played at Manhattans Paris Theatre for more than a year, won Oscars for Best Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film, and the composer was hired to do the score for Love Story a few years later. It was very sexy, and you never forget that music.

A Man and a Woman was just the start of a career that has included nearly 50 films, with the 79-year-old director just completing Chacun Sa Vie, starring Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin.

As part of the Lelouch tribute, a 20-minute preview segment of a new documentary about the filmmaker will be shown two months before the full-length version has its world premiere at Cannes.

Its going be quite a dichotomy between Lelouch, who is almost 80 and so prolific, and Xavier Dolan, who I dont think is 30 yet, Ketcham says of the two directors featured in the festival.

Focus on French Cinema will be taking a deep look at the French-language film industry in Quebec, Canada, which has produced such U.S. art house hits as Jesus of Montreal and The Barbarian Invasions (the latter won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2004). The festival has formed a partnership with Cinemania, an annual event in Montreal that celebrates French-language cinema in Canada.

In addition to the Dolan film, the Quebecois slate will include a provocative biopic, Nelly, about Nelly Arcan, a literary star who died eight years ago at the age of 36, after finding notoriety as a call girl, a writer and media celebrity in France and Canada.

Films from Quebec tend to be a bit edgier, Ketcham says.

The executive director says there is no real secret to getting major French film personalities to commit to Focus on French Cinema.

Part of our mission statement is to get the best talent we can, Ketcham says. Nathalie Baye had a really good time (last year) because we made it a good time for her. We make sure everything goes smoothly and pay attention to details. We treated her as she should be treated.

jmeyers@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @joesview
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BETHELWith two magnifying glasses in hand, appraiser and collectibles expert Jay St. Mark carefully examined an antique lighter, a ladies pocket watch and silver tea canister.

Cindy Jugler of Brookfield sat on the other side of the table with her husband waiting for Marks verdict. She found the items while cleaning out her parents house, she said, and wanted to find out whether they were of any value.

Jugler was one of dozens of residents that brought their possessions to Stony Hill Firehouse Saturday to be appraised as part of The Bethel Historical Societys Antique and Collectibles Appraisal Day.

And while Juglers items ended up being worth just $50 to $100 each, Mark said he considers any antiques these days to be survivors of a dying industry.

Its not what it was, Mark said. In these times, antiques and collectibles have been very hard hit and their values are down.

He said the economy is mostly to blame, because people cant afford to spend money on luxury items when they are stressed financially. Lack of interest also drives prices down, Mark said; young people arent collecting as much as they used to.

Patricia Rist, president of the Bethel Historical Society, agreed that there isnt a high demand anymore for antiques. The society used to hold an appraisal event every year, but recently decided to cut back; Saturdays event was the first appraisal day since 2013.

Still, several residents discovered that possessions they brought in were either rare or worth a good deal.

One of the most valuable was a collection of Star Wars cards, brought in by Danbury resident Steve Randi, which Mark said could be worth thousands of dollars. Other highlights included a vintage music box more than 100 years old.

Mark said most people try to sell the items they bring in after learning their worth, but some choose to keep them. One New Fairfield woman said she would keep her great aunts rare painting she had appraised Saturday because of its sentimental value.

The source of the collectibles also vary, Mark said. Many people inherit items from relatives, but others actively create a collection.

Accurately appraising the items people bring in requires intution developed from 40 years of experience, Mark said.

To be in this field ,to be successful, as in other fields, you have to have intuitive powers, he said. You cant get it all from a book. You just have to kind of let your common sense guide you.

The first thing he looks at is the condition of the item, Mark said. Next, he tries to estimate its rarity based on its category. Paintings, for instance, are often rarer than factory-produced items like teacups because they are one of a kind, he said.

He warns against using the internet to estimate value. Prices for items posted online are often set by the user and dont necessarily mean it will sell for that much, Mark said.

He added that the safest bet to appraising an item is in person.

To me theres nothing like hands on and experience, Mark said. Ive been doing this since 1978, so I like to think I know what Im talking about.
NORWALK  To many, she was a struggling mother trying to do best by her son. To others, she was a thief caught stealing from Norwalk taxpayers.

Its been five years since Tanya McDowell, a once homeless mother from Bridgeport, was convicted of unlawfully enrolling her son in a Norwalk elementary school. Her story caught national attention, thrusting her into the national spotlight as a figurehead for the social inequities that exist in Americas public school system.

Now, as school districts across the country struggle to balance enforcement of non-residency enrollment with a mandate to provide a quality education to all children on increasingly strapped budgets, opinions on both sides of the issue  and the case of Tanya McDowell  remain strong as ever.

I get it, said Gwen Samuel, founder of the Connecticut Parents Union and an advocate for McDowell during the court proceedings. In light of fiscal cuts people are really going to be protecting their municipal resources. But every child deserves a quality public education. Period. I can imagine parents putting their kids in other districts when they feel their neighborhood school is failing them.

McDowell was the first high-profile Connecticut case in which a parent was arrested for unlawfully sending their child to an out-of-district school. Though she considered herself homeless, the state considered her last known address at the time to be in Bridgeport, therefore requiring her to enroll her son in that citys school system.

She was arrested in early 2011, and later pleaded guilty to first-degree larceny, as well as unrelated drug charges. McDowell was given a combined sentence of five years in prison with five years probation. She was released from prison two years ago, and has quietly been rebuilding her life with her son, now 11, in Meriden.

Since McDowells arrest, Connecticut has decriminalized the practice of placing a child in an out-of-district school, leaving it up to individual school districts to enforce residency issues on their own. The Norwalk Public School District is in the process of enforcing, for the first time, its new residency policy, put in place by the board at the beginning of the 2016-17 academic year.

You cannot arrest parents anymore, Samuel said. Its a civil issue. Parents must get due process. The state still has recourse, Im just going to be monitoring it to make sure we dont see a whole bunch of poor people, especially of color, now being sued because you cant arrest them.

Asked about the citys decision to arrest and prosecute McDowell, Mayor Harry Rilling, who at the time of her controversial arrest was serving as the citys chief of police, sidestepped the question, saying that his stance on the need for comprehensive, statewide education reform hasnt wavered in the years since the case made headlines.

From my perspective, every child should be able to get the best possible education, Rilling said. We need a comprehensive overhaul of the system, statewide. Until then, people will continue to try to attend out-of-district schools when they feel their children arent getting the education they deserve. However, that becomes a burden on the taxpayers and the city. My perspective on that has never really changed. Ive always felt that all children deserve the best education possible.

A complicated case

McDowells case was further complicated by her drug arrest in June 2011, less than a month after she was charged under a subsection of the first-degree larceny state statute applicable to defendants who obtain services or property by defrauding the public.

Then-Mayor Richard A. Moccia, who came under fire by national television pundits  including former Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren, who called Norwalk a national disgrace in one of her segments, said the entire situation got blown out of hand.

There was more emphasis on her getting arrested for having a child in the district when she didnt live in Norwalk, but ninety-nine and nine-tenths of her sentence was for selling drugs, Moccia said. We took a lot of heat. I hope for her sake and her kids sake she learned her lesson and will stay on the straight and narrow.

Moccia, who served as Norwalks mayor from 2005 until 2013, said critics tried to tie the handling of the case to the fact that his daughter, States Attorney Suzanne Vieux, was the prosecutor. He said the case was handled properly, adding that other out-of-district cases also were investigated.

I think the state was right at the time, Moccia said.

Jack Chiaramonte, the then-Republican chairman of the citys Board of Education, described the McDowell case as the biggest racist show Ive ever seen. He continues to blame McDowells attorney, Darnell D. Crosland, and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who delivered the keynote address during a rally on her behalf at Brookside Elementary School in June 2011, for turning Norwalk into a national spectacle.

Chiaramonte said Crosland owes the Norwalk Police Department, the Board of Education, Moccia and himself an apology over his past public statements that McDowells arrest was racially motivated.

As for McDowell  the person at the center of the court case five years ago  Chiaramonte said, She did her time, did what she had to do and hopefully she learned something from it, hopefully to be a better parent.

Samuel, who has continued to devote herself as an advocate for the educational rights of children, especially in out-of-district residency issues, said McDowell received 25,000 signatures of support before her case was muddied by the additional charges.

Of course she had other issues, but in terms of enrolling her son in Norwalk, the only crime she did, as far as Im concerned, is wanting the best for her child, Samuel said. Despite what people think about her, despite her circumstances, despite coping with poverty the best way she knew, despite all of that, there she got it right. And what did Connecticut say to her? You can do it right but you have to keep your kid in a failing school.
Hello and welcome to the Week 12 edition of our Sunday Q&A! This week we discuss our battery test once again, fingerprint sensors and why we don't have more scores on the site.

Webster: Hi, I like your site for comparing phones, but would it be possible for you guys to list an IR blaster as a feature? This is one of the major points I look at when choosing a phone.

Hi, Webster. We are, in fact listing IR ports in our specs database - if you look at a phone that has it like the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus, youll see a line for that. However, since its a rather niche feature we chose to omit the row entirely for phones that dont have it so as to keep the length of the table under control.

Wasym: I like the fact that your reviews are very detailed but when it comes to comparing real life performance of cameras of smartphones, the compare tool is not a very good option because it requires a lot of technical know-how for any person to actually be able to spot a difference in two cameras. Is it not a very good idea that you develop a rating system for cameras, rating cameras on a scale of 1-100, like DxOmark?

Thank you for your input, Wasym, its much appreciated. First to address the photo and video compare tools - we dont really think theres a certain level of proficiency required to use the tool. You dont need to be a pro photographer and be able to analyze all the technical aspects of every shot to take advantage of it - its meant to let everyone do their own comparisons.

If you dont see any major difference between certain phones thats perfectly fine and chances are youll be equally happy with their real life output as well. After all if you dont care about a minute amount of extra noise in the test setups, chances are they wont bother you when you get a phone and start shooting with it.

Now to move on to the oft-requested rating for cameras (or phones as a whole). The goal of this website is to help you, our readers, find the best phone for your specific use cases and budgets. Unfortunately, its never a one-size-fits-all kind of deal and having an auditorium of over 3 million people from all around the world each day its impossible to deliver a rating system that will work for everyone - heck, its impossible to find one that will work for even half the people.

Some want to see their photos colorful and detailed and dont mind some extra noise. Others want a more pro-subtle post-processing as the artifacts that come with boosting color saturation and applying excessive sharpening really bother them. Some only shoot photos of buildings and landscapes when traveling so they dont really care about the autofocus speed, but those snapping shots of their fast-moving children know its more important than anything else as even the best shot can be ruined if the focus is in the wrong place.

The list of priorities for a phone in general and its camera in particular is something strongly individual so each aspect of its performance carries different weight to different people. Thats why producing a final rating will only serve to start fan wars and wont be of real help to most people - in fact it will be misleading to them. And we really rather offer an incomplete service than a potentially harmful one.

Satyam: Can you do a comparison between chipsets like Snapdragon, Apple and Samsung Exynos?

Doing a comparison of the Apple chips and the likes of Qualcomm and Samsung is not a good idea (or at all possible) for two reasons. First, comparing benchmarks across platforms is bound to tilt the playing field as software runs different on iOS and Android.

Secondly, even if we did manage to find a way to put together a meaningful comparison of Apples chipsets against their Android rivals, it wouldnt be of use to anyone, but forum trolls. You see chipsets dont exist in isolation - you cant order a Galaxy smartphone with the Apple A10 chipset, nor can you get an iPhone with the latest Exynos.

So even if you did know which one is more powerful you wouldnt be able to do anything about it. So the only thing that can be of use is comparing the new Apple chips to their predecessors so you know how much extra oomph the latest iPhone is bringing and we are already doing that.

Things are different with Android devices as theres plenty of diversity there - both in terms of manufacturers and chipset makers. And as luck would have it, we just did a pretty detailed overview of the available options there - head this way to read it.

Abaid: I bought the Galaxy Note7 last year and we all know what happened. Now I am planning to get the Galaxy S8. I consider waiting for 3 months after the release, just to be on safe side, or going for the G6 as I heard it is using heat pipe to reduce battery temperature. Any suggestions from you guys? Did Samsung do anything with the Galaxy S8 to prevent a Note7-like issue?

First, the Note7 drama unfolded in about a month so waiting three months to see if it doesnt repeat itself seems a bit excessive. In the aftermath of the recall Samsung explained in detail all the measures it has taken to prevent it from happening again, including 8 additional quality tests. The companys battery division also committed to a $128M investment to boost the safety of its products - so a repeat fiasco is really unlikely.

That said, going for the LG G6 is also a viable option. Not because of its heat pipes, which are fairly common in modern flagships, or due to some inevitable Galaxy S8 implosion, but simply because it is a pretty good phone.

Ali: Hello! I am looking to buy a mid-range phone and there are some great options but, if leaks are to be believed, the snapdragon 660 and Helio X30 devices are on the horizon. Can you explain what will be the performance and efficiency difference between current crop of SoC and next generation 14nm and 10nm SoCs? Thank you!

If you are in the market for a new phone now, you probably shouldnt be concerned about Helio X30 and the Snapdragon 660. The new MediaTek X30 chipset is unlikely to be available in any device before July at the very earliest and even if it makes that optimistic goal it will not reach the mid-range for at least another few months.

As for the S660 - it isnt even official yet so we might not see anything with it this year. In fact we are only now getting the first Snapdragon 653 devices so it will take quite a long wait for those two.

Furthermore there are already plenty of 14nm mid-range chipsets - Snapdragon 625, Snapdragon 626 plus the Samsung Exynos 7870 and 7880. The MediaTek Helio P20 and P25 are built on 16nm and so are the Huawei Kirin 650, 655 and 658.

Minimization of the production process allows for proportionally higher power-efficiency as the elements are smaller and require less power to operate. Mind you, the better power-efficiency doesnt necessary yield better battery life - the manufacturer can instead choose to up the clock speed and transfer some or all of the gains to a higher clock speed, while maintaining the original power consumption.

The thing is the jump from 14nm to 10nm isnt nearly as big as the one from 28nm to 14nm so we arent looking at another huge jump, but merely a nice evolution step. So evaluating the potential reward versus the waiting required its probably not worth it and you might go for whatever is available right now.

Jaison007: Which is the best location for the fingerprint sensor on a phone? In the front or at the back? Where does GSMArena prefer it to be?

Hi Jaison, there are actually not two, but three different positions for the fingerprint sensor - Sony likes to put it on the side of its phones. And each of the locations has its pros and cons that well try and sum up here.

A fingerprint on the front means you can unlock the phone when it laying beside you on a table without picking it up. Its also easier to reach for some people depending on the size of the phone and the specific manner in which you hold it.

Placing the fingerprint on the back means its easier to hit when you take the phone out of your pocket - it normally falls just under your index finger. Removing it from the front also lets manufacturers remove the home button and trim the bottom bezel. Finally fingerprint swipe gestures (those are still relatively rare) are easier to perform.

The obvious downside on the rear-mounted sensor is that you cant use it when the phone is laying on a table or a desk. It can also contribute to thickness or make the design of the back a little too busy if the camera setup is more complex than usual (LG G5 says hi).

The fingerprint on the side is always easy to reach and always there no matter if the phone is in your pocket or laying beside you. However performing any gestures with it is bound to be super awkward and it could explain why Sony isnt doing those. More important downside is that the side placement means you need to have some extra bezel next to your screen for the module to fit. This doesnt really go great with the current consumer demands for larger screens in bodies as narrow as possible so they are still manageable.

Finally, an exciting new development could see the fingerprint sensor being placed underneath the display itself, which should take care of a few of the issues listed above at the same time. Rumor even had it that Samsung wanted to go that way with the Galaxy S8, but the technology wasnt ready in time and the company had to make a last minute change and go with a rear-mounted sensor (that should also explain its off-center positioning.

To answer your other question - theres no clear favorite position among our team. Yours truly would go with a rear-mounted sensor anytime, but many of my colleagues swear by the frontal location. The Sony side position also has a few fans, so its a pretty even split.

Anonymous: Can you please explain the differences between screen types used in smartphones? Many users always ask about it and we do not have a clear understanding of TN, TFT, IPS, LCD, LED, OLED, AMOLED & Super AMOLED. There are also confusing combination like IPS LCD, IPS-Neo, TFT LCD and so on. Sometimes I thought it is a typo on your behalf when reading the phone specs though I might be the ignorant one here.

Theres plenty written on the web on the differences between the different screen types, but by asking this question I assume you want a quick and simple explanation rather than a bunch of technical terms.

There are two main types of screens - LCD and OLED (AMOLED is an OLED sub-type and all OLED smartphones use AMOLD panels). LCD is the older technology and it relies on a backlight that gets filtered through a layer of colored crystals to produce different colors. To display black it just makes that layer as non-transparent as possible, but it cant completely switch off the backlight as it will just shut off the entire display.

With OLEDs on the other hand, each individual pixel lights up so when it needs to display black, the pixel just switches off.

As for those other listed abbreviations - all smartphone LCDs are TFT, but spelling it out every time is a bit redundant so you dont see TFT LCD every time. TN and IPS are two different types of arrangements for the crystal arrangements with IPS being a newer technology and allowing for improved contrast and wider viewing angles. The LED is another type of LCD, where the backlight is not a single bulb but a bunch of small diodes.

IPS-Neo on the other hand is merely a brand for a specific IPS LCD implementation. This means that the Neo doesnt identify a specific technology, but is merely a catchy name a maker has decided to use. Its much the same way with Super AMOLED - its the brand Samsung uses for its recent panels, but it doesnt mean anything by itself.

At the end of the day specific implementation of different display types vary quite a bit so the only way to be sure what works for you is to either get the phone and see for yourself or check out the display section of our reviews.

Jim H: What was the effect of standardizing of brightness for battery life tests? Did the numbers tend to decrease for the majority of phones tested? Which brands or phones were benefiting the most from a lower brightness at the previous test's percentage?

For the majority of phones the effect was minimal - a large percentage of those were close to 200 nits at their respective 50% settings, so it didnt really make much difference. And no there wasnt a decrease across the board - weve only done the test both ways on a few handsets and some did slightly better, some slightly worse. None saw a dramatic change though.

What it helped though is in seeding out the outliers - the ones who had their brightness south of 100nits and the ones that had over 300 nits at 50%. We hope that this move has made their battery test results more comparable to the other tested devices.

Some of the outliers in question include pre-Android Blackberries, which usually had significantly higher brightness level than 200nits - upwards of 300 nits. Most Huawei and Meizu phones had brightness bellow 150nits - often closer to 100nits and those might have scored differently under the old testing procedures.

Nokia Lumia phones were all over the place - some significantly lower than 200 nits, while other were much higher.Samsung's tablets had an average brightness of around 300nits.

But you have got to remember that we transitioned to the 200nit battery tests more than a full year ago (January 2016 to be precise), so the models tested the old way are already at the end of their life or on their way towards that.

If you have any questions for us - you can send them by using the form over here.
Yet another week is behind us and we look back at what phones gathered the most interest over the past seven days. And there were plenty of changes with two new entries occupying the first two spots.

The Xiaomi Redmi 4a went from zero to hero in just a few days taking the first spot just a few days after it finally escaped China and started breaking sales records. In India the initial batch of 250,000 thousand units went away in just four minutes, so it's no surprise that its popularity skyrocketed.

In second place we find the Oppo F3 Plus - the next generation selfie expert just went official and plenty of people were eager to check what it has to offer.

The Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime had to concede another position but it still maintained its place on the podium, outranking last week's number 1 - the Motorola Moto G5 Plus, which slid down to fifth. Between those two we find another Xiaomi handset - the Redmi Note 4.

Following closely are three Samsung devices - the yet-to-become official Galaxy S8 sit between the Galaxy A5 (2017) and the Galaxy S7 edge.

The final two spots are occupied by the OnePlus 3T, which just got a new Midnight Black edition, and the Oppo F1s.

The Galaxy C9 Pro took the last spot in the prestigious chart last week but has dropped off now. The other handset that stepped down was, surprisingly, the Nokia 6. The mid-ranger was flying high seven days ago, standing in sixth place.
By Vasia Orion | Published on 2017/03/25

The critically acclaimed and much beloved PD and writer duo of "Punch - Drama" is back for more twisted goodness in the legal thriller "Whisper". A straightforward story of revenge and justice on paper, "Whisper" sounds much more interesting when we look at the names attached.

Premise

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Detective Sin Yeong-joo (Lee Bo-young) wants revenge against the people who wronged her father. She enters a troubled partnership with judge Lee Dong-joon (Lee Sang-yoon), the man who convicted her father for murder. The pair seeks out the truth and becomes romantically involved in the process.

The Worrying

Dysfunctional Love Story

Given the twisted nature of Park Kyeong-soo's stories and the teasers shown so far suggesting at least betrayal and rape are involved, I am worried about the romance here. Aside from the moral implications here, I am worried about its function within the plot. I have yet to see how this creator duo handles a more romance-heavy work.

Getting the Good Stuff Right

My biggest complaint about "THE CHASER - Drama" and "Punch - Drama" was that some necessary characterization and development of pivotal characters was lacking. In the former, the villain never quite straddled that line between evil and formerly noble. In the latter, the love-hate relationship between the villains, protagonist and antagonist, was not explored enough to support its abrupt changes.

The Reassuring

Powerhouse Creators

Despite my issues with how a great thing could have become greater, Park Kyeong-soo and Lee Myeong-woo have clearly proven that they can handle the type of drama "Whisper" is shaping up to be quite well. The writer in particular has produced thrilling stories about grand concepts and intense drama. With a talented cast to carry this, there is little to worry about here save for lack of inspiration or pesky outsider requirements.

Established Premise

Aside from the fact that the creators and cast are trustworthy in delivering good material in this specific genre, the genre itself is a very common one in Korean drama. There is no need to reinvent the wheel here, the tropes around revenge, injustice, catharsis and the like are already there, refining them to make a quality work is all that a show needs.

Closing Thoughts

Surprise creative and schedule changes notwithstanding, I do not see how this can go wrong if I consider the writer and PD's previous work together. They seem good with creating great atmosphere and good enough flow with dark characters and gripping storytelling. I hope my third viewing experience with this writer will be a good one.

"Whisper" begins its run on March 27th and will air every Monday and Tuesday at 22:00, on SBS. It is directed by Lee Myeong-woo, written by Park Kyeong-soo and features Lee Bo-young, Lee Sang-yoon, Kwon Yul and Park Se-young.

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Written by: Orion from 'Orion's Ramblings'
By William Schwartz | Published on 2017/03/25

In-sook (played by Ryu Hyun-kyung) is an artist in her thirties who has returned to South Korea after a long stint in Denmark as "Gisele", a personality enamored with abstract compositions and also acting generally antisocial and unpleasant. No really, Gisele has this fantastic talent for sabotaging herself at every turn. First it's getting drunk and antagonizing the renowned art critic Joong-sik (played by Lee Soon-jae). Then it's getting drunk and belittling art dealer Jae-beom (played by Park Jung-min). You can perhaps see the pattern behind Gisele's failures in life.

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But "The Artist: Reborn", aside from the obvious literal interpretation, is a movie that prides itself on imagining what art is and what, for that matter, is the point of the weird little nicknames artists create for themselves. The answer to that question is a bit more base than you're probably expecting. They want recognition. In-sook created Giselle because she thought a cool-sounding foreign name would attract attention. It didn't really work.

What does work is actually having confidence in the power of her artwork to interest people. Anyone who sees Gisele's artwork is clearly very sincerely impressed. All right, admittedly Jae-beom isn't really a good enough appraiser of art to really say anything more than "it's good", but that's pretty much where I was too. Gisele's artwork is very symmetrical and is constructed with very clean shapes in mind. I find it pleasing to look at. And that's pretty much it.

For In-sook, though, art is not something that exists to impress other people. It it supposed to be an expression of her individuality, her personal experience. That's what really brings In-sook down on a day-by-day basis. Observe the normal job interview In-sook has early on. A later scene makes it explicitly clear that, ironic though it may seem, In-sook really did want that job. It wasn't because she cared about the money, or the conformity. In-sook just likes being recognized.

Bear in mind that the grander artistic sentiments of "The Artist: Reborn" may take a moment to really settle in, since the rather raunchy first act consists of Gisele acting outrageously with such choice dialog as "what happened to all the pubic hair". Then there's the second act, where Jae-beom comes up with a plan so elaborate that its inevitable failure should have come off as obvious far, far sooner than it did. It's only the third act where In-sook's mentality starts to be taken seriously, and we have to reconcile Gisele's unpleasantness with Jae-beom's and wonder, which is the worse character?

I actually liked Jae-beom for quite awhile, since unlike Gisele, it's possible to have a mostly civil conversation with him. So I was all the more impressed with how director Kim Kyeong-won managed to subtly transition the story in such a way that allowed In-sook to reclaim her personal dignity even as Jae-beom seems to lose all comprehension of the term. "The Artist: Reborn" is quite a bit of fun, and definitely worth watching and thinking about.

Review by William Schwartz

"The Artist: Reborn" is directed by Kim Kyeong-won and features Ryu Hyun-kyung and Park Jung-min.
Yes, Toto, Tourists Also Pay Real Property Tax

by Tom Yamachika, President, Tax Foundation Hawaii

On March 8, the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism released a study on Hawaii real property taxes.

It may be unusual for a State agency to do a study on a county tax. But this study appeared to be an outgrowth of a move by our teachers union during the 2016 legislative session, which we wrote about last year, to establish that our real property tax is too low. (Once that was established, the obvious strategy was to seek a surcharge on that tax to fund education, which we have written about in our last two weekly commentaries here and here.) The bill that we talked about then didnt pass, but its substance was incorporated into the state budget bill, obligating DBEDT to do the study.

One of the studys key findings: Nearly one third (32.3 percent) of the property taxes were contributed by property owners residing out-of-state.

To us, the fact that some of our real property tax is being exported is not news. Honolulus Residential A property classification, for example, was designed to squeeze more dollars out of land owners who had residential properties they didnt live in. The idea was that most of these absentee owners lived out of state and maybe out of the country, so they could help foot the bill for those of us who actually live here. In addition, residential property is not the only property in town; all counties have different, and more expensive, property classifications for commercial, hotel/resort, and perhaps timesharing uses. A good amount of tax in those classifications is paid by nonresidents.

Rather, the news is the extent to which the tax is exported  nearly a third. This number blows a large hole in the City & County of Honolulus principal argument in the rail debate. The City administration had been arguing forcefully that the best solution to fund rail is the GET surcharge, and so that the surcharge should be extended forever. Why was it the best solution? About a third of the GET is exported, they said, and if the surcharge is not extended the fiscal shortfall would need to be made up by other county funding sources, the largest of which by far is the real property tax. But the real property tax falls almost exclusively on our residents, the argument goes, so it would be hurting all of us a lot more. Mayor Caldwells State of the City address in February 2015, for example, included: Why would I as mayor want to give the visitors a break and make all of us pay everything? Lets make the visitors pay one third.

If a third of the GET is exported, as the City claims, and a third of the property tax is exported, as the DBEDT study indicates, then the argument doesnt hold water.

Moreover, the extent to which the GET is exported is a matter of debate. The Hawaii Free Press, using a City Auditor report, concluded that 14.1% of the GET is exported. The Foundation came up with its own estimates using calculations from Hawaii Tourism Authority and Department of Taxation data for 2011-2013, and found that the proportion of the surcharge attributable to visitor spending was 15%-20%. If those numbers are closer to the truth, then the City administration has it backwards, and we might be able to export more tax using the real property tax than by using the GET.

But then again, if we rely more heavily on the real property tax to fund transportation, then what is going to happen to the real property tax surcharge to fund education? Clearly, this debate may lead to some cascading effects. We do hope that our policy makers will take the time to consider these matters fully before deciding to amplify the burdens on an already beleaguered populace.

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WHEN it comes to birthdays, most children get very excited, especially about what presents they might receive... but not Emily Southgate.

This little girl raised money for charity at her eighth birthday party instead of asking for presents.

Emily celebrated with a toonie party, which are common in Canada where her father Christopher grew up.

Rather than buy a present, guests give a toonie, a two dollar coin, which goes towards a gift.

Guests at Emilys party at her home in Blandy Road, Henley, were invited to give 2 which she then donated to Families and Schools Together, an early intervention programme which supports childrens learning at home and is run by Save the Children UK.

Emily, who attends St Marys School in St Andrews Road, says: I was upset that other children were not able to go to school. Some of my friends wrote in the birthday cards what a good idea they thought it was. Im hoping the whole thing with the party will encourage other children to do the same and help others.

She raised a total of 96 as some parents of her friends gave more than 2. This was added to the 65 that she raised in December by drawing 12 pictures and then selling them to neighbours and friends with the help of her mother Alison and sister Daniella, six. Each person who bought one received a home-made cookie as a thank-you.

Mrs Southgate says: Everyone was really, really generous. We took all the change to the bank and put it into 20 stacks, then we came home and I showed Emily how we made the donation through the charitys website. We didnt want the money to disappear into the wider charity so Emily wrote a letter to say it was for FAST. We are hoping they will write back. She did very well.

FAST runs programmes to help parents, children, teachers and communities work together to support the need to fulfil their potential at school. For more information, visit www.savethechildren.org.uk
A WOMAN is planning to cycle 750 miles to raise money for lifesaving treatment for a friends son.

Yvette Kershaw, 38, of Rokeby Drive, Tokers Green, hopes to raise 10,000 by riding from the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford to John OGroats in Scotland in seven days.

The money will go towards the 250,000 needed to pay for treatment for three-year-old Reuben Virdee, who has neuroblastoma, a rare type of cancer that mostly affects children.

Mrs Kershaw knows Reubens parents Jessica and Kulwant, from Maidenhead, as she worked with his mother as teachers in the English department at Piggott School in Wargrave.

She said: My ride will be a maximum of seven days of punishing physical and mental pain but little Reuben and Jess and Kul are enduring a far, far longer and harder trial and theyre doing it with bravery and compassion and phenomenal strength. I can ride a few hundred miles to help them save their beautiful son.

Reuben was diagnosed in December and doctors found the cancer had spread from his abdomen to his bone marrow and bones.

He spent his third birthday in hospital and has undergone MRI scans, bone marrow and tumour biopsies, a blood and platelet transfusion and four rounds of chemotherapy.

The Virdees, who also have a five-month-old son called Hari, have so far raised 80,000 towards the cost of the treatment available in America once Reuben is in remission. More than 2,200 people and organisations have made donations. Mrs Kershaw said: I met Jessica when we worked together at Piggott and we became really good friends over 10 years. Weve been at the main events in each others lives  hen parties, weddings and births of children.

One of the children getting cancer is not something you expect to have to help each other through.

When I found out, I felt just shock and disbelief. There was no warning.

They were told the best option was to raise money for treatment in the US. As soon as I found out about that I knew I had to do something to help.

Mrs Kershaws ride will take place from May 27 to June 2 and she will be joined on the final part of her journey by her husband Dave and their two children Lexi, six, and Ellie Skye, three.

She has been training by riding up to 200 miles a week. I am fitting it around childcare, she said. It is knackering but I just keep thinking this is a short term and Ill be back to normal soon but for Reuben and his parents there is no end in sight. Their whole lives have been turned upside down.

I have to do 120 miles a day for seven days then it will be over and Ill go back to my normal life.

Her husband and children will fly up to Scotland on June 1 to meet her.

Mrs Kershaw said: Its a big team effort and there is a lot of other fund-raising going on. There is an online auction and there is a lot of really good items on there.

To view the auction lots, visit www.facebook.com/Reubensfight

auctions

To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/

rideforreuben
Election day forecast? Sunny skies and, perhaps, a good turnout

"I hope that means that more people will go out and vote," said Barry Jackson, deputy elections director in Washington County.
Its an undeclared state of war between tribals and police in Jamanda and Bhutia villages, under Tanda police station in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, where every other male member is a criminal according to the police.

Tagged as criminal villages, these men from are now being hunted by the police and shunned by other parts of the society. Most have fled the villages or have gone into hiding.

Situated some 340 km west of Bhopal, the villages came into focus when the police carried out a raid on January 25  the biggest in recent times  to nab the absconding criminals. Though no one was arrested, cops seized several motorcycles and goods suspecting them to be stolen.

Though raids are not new in these villages, this time the villagers accused cops of raping four women, a charge which the police have denied. But the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken cognisance and the police are also holding a separate inquiry.

Local politicians too jumped in with Congress taking up the tribals cause and BJP that of the police. To worsen an already volatile situation, the murder of a villager from Bhutia by villagers from nearby Indala last week led to violence in which 13 huts were burnt in Indala, allegedly by 18 men from Bhutia.

Stung by the rape allegations, the police have upped their ante and vigilance in the area has increased leading to something akin to a state of siege.

Local cops do not deny keeping tabs on villagers. We have to get information about all those who are absconding and also nab those responsible for the recent arson incident as all the 18 accused are absconding, says Tanda police station incharge SI Vijay Vaskele.

Chiniya Hemraj, a tribal farmer, said, The police are catching hold of any male from the villages, whether they have a criminal record or not and taking them to the police station for questioning. We are scared and we are now sending our womenfolk for purchasing necessities in the towns.

Bhutia sarpanch Bhur Singh Ajnare does not deny that some of the villagers have a criminal background. But why target everyone, he asks.

People from these villages have earned a bad name in the area and we keep our interaction to a minimum with them. We avoid going to these villages as it is dangerous going there, especially after dark, says Pappu Sharma, a local journalist.

The cops too have a similar line. I would say that at least 50% of adults in these villages have criminal background and this has been going on for decades. The villagers have cases against them in neighbouring states, says Dhar SP Birendra Singh. The population of these villages is around 500 each but at present there are 175 pending permanent warrants and 143 wanted criminals who have been charged ... he added.

Though the tag of a criminal villages hangs like an albatross, it appears crime has not paid as most of the tribal Bhils live in abject poverty and the organs of the state appear to have abandoned them.

There is no electricity and drinking water becomes scarce as hand pumps dry up in summer. There is very little irrigation and most villagers migrate to Gujarat for work.

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With this week marking the start of spring, its a good time to think about giving your health a boost by reinvigorating your exercise regime.

Weve rounded up a selection of the latest health and fitness book releases that will help motivate and inspire your workout and put a spring in your step this season.

Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get On the Mat, Love Your Body

By Jessamyn Stanley

Instagram star and yoga teacher Jessamyn Stanley is set to release her new book Every Body Yoga, in an effort to inspire people of all shapes and sizes to give yoga a go.

Suitable for beginners, or those already doing yoga who are looking for inspiration and advice, Stanley includes easy-to-follow instructions on 50 basic yoga poses and 10 sequences that everyone can practice at home.

Aiming to also encourage positive thinking and body confidence as well as just teach yoga, Stanley includes sequences such as I Need to Release Fear and I Want to Love Myself, and shares her own personal story on how yoga has changed her life.

Available to pre-order now.

Price: $16.95.

Two Turns from Zero: Pushing to Higher Fitness Goals  Converting Them to Life Strength

By Stacey Griffith

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After lying low for days, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat seems to have finally stirred himself to initiate steps in keeping with the BJPs anti-graft poll plank that helped it register a landslide win in the assembly polls.

On Saturday, Rawat recommended a CBI probe into a land fraud to the tune of  240 crore and initiated action against seven revenue department officials.

The government suspended three forest officials for failing to give adequate protection to a beat watcher before the mining mafia in Ramnagar mowed him down.

The CBI probe into the 240 crore land scam, pertained to the illegal transfer of farmland for widening of the national highway-74 in Udham Singh Nagar. The scam took place during the previous Congress regime.

Rawat suspended six of the seven officials of the rank of the sub-divisional magistrate for their alleged involvement in the land scam. A case will be registered against the seventh official involved in the fraud, who retired recently, he told media persons.

The CBI probe was recommended on the basis of an inquiry conducted by Kumaon commissioner Senthil Pandiyan, he said. The probe revealed that 25 times more compensation was paid after the officials illegally converted the use of farmland acquired for the national highway, Rawat said, adding that no genuine farmer whose land was acquired for the national highway project was paid the monetary compensation.

The chief minsters anti-corruption initiative came nine days after he and his cabinet were sworn-in on March 18.

Leave some of your queries for another day, Rawat said when reporters asked him when he would fulfill the BJPs pre-poll promise to appoint the Lokayukta (anti-graft ombudsman) if the party came to power.

The anti-corruption statements Rawat made targeting the previous Congress regime since coming to power, indicate that he might initiate some more anti-graft initiatives in the days to come.

At a reception hosted by the BJP in his honour at the party headquarters on Wednesday, he spoke of pursuing a zero tolerance policy against corruption.

The statement came hours before he ordered a CBI probe into the land scam.

At the function, he said he was also closely examining the files relating to the previous Congress regime.

Records clearly show that some people were hell-bent on turning the state hollow, Rawat said, indirectly taking potshots at the previous Congress government.

Admitting that the BJP returned to power riding on the poll-plank against corruption, he said his government would also launch a dharmayudh against corruption at all levels.

Analysts appreciated Rawats move to order a CBI probe into the land scam, saying that such an initiative was never taken under the Congress regime.

The anti-corruption initiative (CBI probe) taken by Rawat is worth appreciatingIt will, however, be too early to judge him on the basis of just one such initiative, said Prof MM Semwal of HNB Garhwal (Central) University.

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A group of Rohini residents have decided to approach the Delhi High Court against DDAs move to reallot flats that were returned by the allottees of the 2014 housing scheme to 1,000 residents of Kathputli Colony.

The decision was taken after the residents held a meeting on Sunday in which hundreds of people from Sector 34 and 35 of Rohini gathered to decide their next line of action.

We have filed RTIs so that we have a written proof of what DDA exactly wants to do. Once the reply comes, we will approach the high court, said Drashan Vatsa, vice-president of the Resident Welfare Association of Rohinis pocket 3, Sector 34.

The dispute started last week after a group of slum-dwellers accompanied by DDA officials visited Rohinis sectors 34 and 35 in a bus to see the flats that are being offered to them.

The slum dwellers were offered these flats by DDA as the number of beneficiaries of Kathputli Colony Redevelopment Scheme had gone up from 2,641 to nearly 4,000.

Around 3,000 flats in this area are lying vacant after the buyers had surrendered it.

The aggrieved residents said that in 2014, buyers had paid Rs 17 lakh for a low income group DDA flat.

The same flats, they said, were now being allotted under the EWS category to the slum dwellers.

The price of a flat under the EWS category in 2014 was Rs 7 lakh.

The residents now want that the Rs 10 lakh surplus that they paid to the land agency be returned to them.

DDA had sold EWS houses in 2014 for around Rs 7 lakh each. So, if they want to hand houses to them, they should return Rs 10 lakh to us, said Ashok Kumar, general secretary of the association.

A senior DDA official, however, refuted the claims and said that the flats being allotted to the slum dwellers were made under the EWS scheme in 2014 but later upgraded to the low income group category.

The flats that are being offered to them come under EWS only now as its value has depreciated in past three years, he added.

JP Aggarwal, principal commissioner (land disposal and housing), DDA said that DDA is trying to look into every aspects and they will take any decision only after reaching a consensus.

We will ensure that the new occupants are given flats in a way that they have a separate entry and exit and live in a different society, Aggarwal said.
For seven days, Vicky Bharats daily routine included observing traffic police personnel while they were on duty. He took note of their mannerisms, how they dealt with traffic offenders and ways in which they issued challans.

Over the next seven days, Bharat allegedly minted thousands of rupees fining traffic offenders by posing as a traffic policeman on Delhis roads.

Bharats luck, however, ran out on Saturday after a real traffic policeman detected abnormality in his mannerisms. A closer look revealed that no man under the name of Vicky Bharat was deployed with the local traffic circle. An immediate investigation showed the mans police identity card and badge also to be fake, said Jatin Narwal, DCP (North).

Bharat, who studied till only Class 12, was unemployed for long, police said. So, he made an elaborate plan to pose as a traffic policeman. He searched online to know the design and details of a police identity card as well as the badge worn by them.

How exactly he managed to get his fake identity card and badge is still being probed by the police. The cops, however, know that once he managed to get hold of a fake identity card and badge, Bharat went to a garments shop in Kingway Camp in north Delhi to purchase a traffic police officers uniform.

Our lower rank officers are provided uniforms. We also have shops earmarked for selling such uniforms to our staff. But there are many shops in the city that sell police and paramilitary uniforms, said a senior police officer on the issue of easy availability of police uniforms for the public.

Bharat allegedly told a shopkeeper that he was purchasing the uniform on behalf of a relative who he claimed was a Delhi Police constable. Even, as he went about making these arrangements, Bharat would devote a few hours daily to observe traffic police personnel stop vehicles for jumping red lights and fining them.

Once he felt confident about pulling off the impersonation, Bharat took position near a traffic signal in Chandni Chowk that rarely saw traffic police deployment.

He knew that it was easier to extract money from motorists jumping traffic signals as they feared losing their driving licenses for three months. Most of them would easily shell out Rs 300-400, said an investigator.

Bharat allegedly made anything between Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,000 everyday for a week before traffic assistant sub-inspector Rajeev Chaudhary spotted him while driving past the signal on Saturday evening.

I know my department well and I remember faces easily. So, when I saw this man posing as a traffic policeman, I was immediately suspicious. The way he stopped vehicles was not like what traffic policemen usually do, Chaudhary told HT.

When Chaudhary stopped and stared at Bharat, the fake policeman began looking sideways, confirming the traffic policemans suspicion. Bharat was not carrying a challan book either.

Chaudhary immediately checked Bharats credentials and simultaneously alerted the local police.

Bharat turned out to be a resident of north Delhis Mukundpur. The idea to extort money from motorists by posing as a traffic policeman had struck him months ago after he read news reports about criminals impersonating police officers to execute robberies.
Class 4 student Hema Tiwari and Delhis three municipal corporations had started out around the same time.

As she sat on a rug amid walls from which the paint was peeling in a municipal primary school in South Extension II in 2013, she only sought to learn, and eat a tasty midday meal.

The trifurcated corporations  a year into business  promised to give her all that and more.

As the next municipal election draws near and the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party, debutant Aam Aadmi Party and at least four other major parties slug it out to get hold of the corporations, Hema is still struggling to learn.

The rugs have, however, gone. There are tables and chairs in the classroom that is decorated in many colours. There are enough teachers and even the once barren playground has swings and slides.

But for her age, Hema is far behind her peers in private schools as she can hardly read a word in English. I can read and tell numbers in English but not the words. I can read Hindi though, said Hema.

In five years, the municipalities didnt do badly in delivering the brick and mortar. They have, in fact, 98%-100% success rate in providing toilets, drinking water, desks and chairs as per Elementary Education in India 2015-16 report from National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). The midday meals are also served systematically. However, the quality of education imparted is hardly talked about.

For 31% councillors elected to the three corporations, education was not worth discussing in the House meetings. The 45%, who did ask questions on the education sector, mostly focused on infrastructure, ignoring larger issues of falling enrolment, dropout rates and poor quality of education.

Having tracked the performance of Delhi councillors in the House, Praja Foundation, a civic rights group, concluded that municipal schools, which are responsible for providing education to citys poor children, have not been a priority issue for the politicians.

Learning levels remain poor

In another school in North Delhi, Mohammad Chand, a Class 5 student can hardly read a small paragraph on water. I can only read by breaking the words in Hindi. I cannot read English at all. I just know A B C D properly, he says.

Teachers blame the lack of suitable learning environment at home where parents are poor and mostly out to work as daily wagers. But clearly, the school isnt helping if Chand has to start from scratch when he moves to a government school in Class 6.

Delhi government conducted a baseline survey to assess the learning levels of their schools in July 2016. It showed that 74% of Class 6 students could not read a paragraph from their own Hindi textbook, 46% could not read a simple story of Class 2 level and 8% could not identify letters.

It is a clear indicator that the municipal corporations have not done anything to improve the quality of education. Most children coming to Class 6 in our schools are from the corporation schools. Even after this, we dont see them doing anything to bridge the gap, said Atishi Marlena, adviser to Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia.

The leaders in all three corporations are aware of the need to improve education quality but say their primary focus has been to improve the environment in schools. We have made smart classes, provided children with tablets. We take children for educational tours and these are important for providing quality education. We are slowly working towards it, but in terms of infrastructure, our schools can give competition to private schools, said Subhash Arya, leader of the house in South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

Teacher-student ratio improves

An official in the east corporation says unlike Delhi government schools, they have improved the teacher-student ratio. In most schools, it is at 1:40, below the Right to Education (RTE) standard set at 1:30, but not too far from the mark.

Improving the teacher-student ratio was the prime objective, as only after that, a teacher can focus on individual students, said Sujata Malik, deputy director, education, north corporation.

The number of permanent teachers in north increased from about 6,000 in 2012 to around 7,000 in 2016. East corporation recruited 500 teachers to take the number to 3,000 in five years. There are 5,500 permanent teachers in south corporation schools, up by 700 since 2012.

Though recruitments have happened, the north and east corporations have not been able to pay salary to 12,467 teachers due to a financial crunch. Teachers boycotted work over the delay in payments, even moved court. This hit normal classes and distribution of midday meals in 2016.

Closure of schools

Even though corporations have created better infrastructure by converting at least 90 schools into model schools, bringing desks into classrooms, constructing separate toilets for boys and girls and making potable water available, around 80 schools have folded up since 2012.

What merged schools after new buildings were built and the schools were expanded. We are trying to make sure that all schools run in a single general shift instead of double, said an education official in the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC).

Educationist Anita Rampal, however, says that by doing this, corporations in the city are following the trend first seen in Rajasthan and Mumbai. This is dangerous and there is a need to build pressure on the corporations to stop doing this. By calling it a merger, these school buildings in prime locations are being used by corporations to earn revenue, said Rampal, a professor at Delhi University.

Enrolment dips

One of the most worrying trends seen in the last five years is decreasing enrolment. Many in the corporations blame the need for merging schools to fewer children on the rolls. The number of students studying in these schools has gone down by 10-20% since 2012. Officials say its also because many children find seats in private schools thanks to the quota for the economically weaker sections.

All three corporations have seen an enrolment fall by 10-20% in the last five years. This decrease in enrolment is firstly because of 25% reservation in public schools and secondly because the Delhi government has started primary classes, said Ramniwas Solanki, general secretary, Municipal Corporation Teachers Association (MCTA).

According to data compiled by NUEPA, around 5.69% students in Class 5 dropped out of school in Delhi in 2015-16. In the transition period  when students in municipal schools move to a government school in Class 6  the dropout rate was 1.93%.

EDMC has the highest dropout rate at 16.3% in 2014-15 and 17.3% in 2015-16. For north corporation, dropout rate increased from 7.7% to 11.7%. It rose marginally from 8% to 8.3% in south corporation schools during the same period. It is important to note that in Delhi, the population is migratory, which explains this dropout rate, said Arya.

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With the Tamil Nadu farmers protest at Jantar Mantar entering its 14th day on Sunday, protesters embraced some innovative methods to draw the attention of policy makers. A farmer dressed up as a corpse, while the others, dressed in green loin cloth or green petticoats, mourned his death and blew conches.

The agricultural sector in India is dying a slow death, while people watch on. This is supposed to symbolise that, explained P Ayyakannu, the leader of the protesting farmers.

The plights of alive farmers have gone unnoticed so far. Maybe our dead bodies will be harder to ignore, added Prem Kumar, another farmer.

The farmers have been in the national capital for over two weeks, demanding that their loans from nationalised banks be forgiven, fair and just prices be set for their produce and to come up with realistic solutions to the water scarcity in the state.

The issue of drying up of the Tamil Nadu leg of the river Kaveri has also been raised, and the farmers have proposed the Smart Waterways Project, conceptualised by AC Kamaraj, as a viable solution.

Though the farmers have met seral politicians and members of the Tamil film fraternity, they are yet to receive any palpable relief. MDMK party general secretary Vaiyapuri Gopalsamy, also known as Vaiko, also visited the protest site on Sunday.

We had met Arun Jaitley on Tuesday with regard to the forgiving of loans, and he had asked for two days time to consult with the RBI. However, we have not heard back from him since. Similarly we had met Uma Bharti too. She has only given us verbal reassurances about the issue of water shortage, said Ayyakannu.

The farmers claim that their loans from cooperative banks were written off, under Jayalalithaas directives. However, loans from nationalised banks require the Central governments go-ahead.

The farmers have been reeling under the influences of what has been reportedly called the worst drought faced by the state in 140 years and the cyclone Vardah that hit the state in December last year.

Many have been crushed under the weight of mounting debt, with Ayyakannu claiming that over 400 farmers have committed suicide in the state in the last six months. According to the National Crime Records Bureaus latest numbers, 60 farmers have committed suicide in Tamil Nadu in 2015.

The farmers also allege that the drought relief packages offered by the Central government are much lower than the state governments estimates, and would not cover their losses.

We have no work. We do not even have water to drink, because of the drought. We have not had good rains in years. They have cut off water from river Kaveri too. Our wells have dried up. I initially had a golden thaali (the equivalent of a mangalsutra); I had to mortgage it to buy food, said Sellamma, while showing a tiny golden pendant on a yarn string; her makeshift thaali. She has a loan of Rs4 lakh rupees pending.

Others like Nachamma also had to mortgage their jewellery to repay Rs3 loan which has climbed to Rs7 lakh over the years. We had hoped that a farmers death would bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi out to meet us, but it is not to be so. He travels all around the world, but he has not found the time to meet the citizens of Tamil Nadu who have been protesting all this while. We do not care if we end up dying here, we will not leave unless our demands are met, she said.

The farmers have made headlines since coming to Delhi for their novel protest ideas. They carried skulls, which they claim are of other farmers who committed suicide due to drought, had worn loin cloths and even climbed the trees at Jantar Mantar, while threatening to commit suicide if their demands are not met. On Monday, the farmers are expected to protest wearing Mahatma Gandhis face masks.

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The Congress on Sunday declared property tax rebate and other incentives for domestic and commercial establishments, as part of its solid waste management roadmap which will aim to make Delhi the cleanest and most beautiful city in the world.

We will keep Delhi clean and disease free. The best of brains in the Congress party are helping us in making these roadmaps. With real solutions and incentives, not fake promises. It is easy to say that we will make things free. We wont do that, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Maken said taking a dig at Arvind Kejriwals promise of abolishing house tax.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday had announced abolishing residential house tax in the Capital if his party is voted to power in the April 23 civic polls. Kejriwal said the Aam Aadmi Party has worked out the mathematics and the money saved from corruption would be used to cover the shortfall after scrapping the house tax.

What Kejriwal has said is for residential units. We are talking about commercial ones, too. The (AAP) announcement is ridiculous and unrealistic. Over 70% area in Delhi doesnt have property tax anyway. The collection rate is 30%. We are offering solutions. We are saying toll tax, outdoor advertisement and parking we can earn more. If we licence rehriwallas, we can earn more revenue, Maken said.

According to the plan, group housing societies, hospitals and malls with zero waste discharge, will be given incentives and concessions in property tax.

Selective units, which are able to augment infrastructure, parking and public facilities will be given extra floor area ratio (FAR). Domestic units will also get incentives. Every ward will be divided in four sub zones, which will be scored by an independent agency on solid waste management. Based on this, tax rebate and incentives will be given, he said.

The civic bodies, according to the roadmap, will also identify spaces, allocate fund and help resident welfare associations and NGOs to set up and run local compost machines. Free garbage bins, one green and one blue, will be distributed across all homes to encourage and ensure segregation at source, which will help in making landfill free.

Municipal elections in Delhi are due on April 23 and the usually city-centric exercise is witnessing the first-ever six-party contest with bitter fights expected in each of the 272 wards. The BJP holds all three municipal corporations in the city.

According to Maken, the partys top priority after winning the MCD polls will be payment of dues, including Rs 1,563 crore arrear to sanitation workers, and regularisation of temporary staff.

Senior party leader and former Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh, who helped formulate the roadmap, said, This will remain a mere dream if the three municipal corporations do not become financially self-sufficient in two years.

The Swachh Bharat Mission by the Modi government is nothing but Nirmal Bharat scheme launched by the Congress-led UPA government in 2011 which aimed at making the country open defecation free. When the BJP came to power in 2014, three states, Sikkim, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh, were already set to become open defecation free in a matter of months. The Modi government claimed it to be a success of Swachh Bharat Mission, Ramesh said.

Taking jibes at both the BJP and the AAP, he said over 60,000 sanitation workers in Delhi were not paid salaries on time even as the ruling BJP at the Centre is promoting Swachh Bharat and Delhi is ruled by the AAP, the symbol of which is a broom.

After this, on March 29, the party plans to reveal its roadmap on primary education and health, which has been prepared along with senior leaders Shashi Tharoor and Salman Khurshid.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia reaffirmed on Sunday the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments promise to do away with residential property tax and arrears if his party wins the April 23 municipal corporation elections in the Capital.

The AAPs main rivals, the BJP which rules the three municipal corporations, and the Congress, criticized the tax waiver announcement that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal made on Saturday.

The move cannot be implemented without Parliament amending the Delhi municipal corporation act, the parties said.

Sisodia countered the criticism at a media briefing in his home, saying his government has done due diligence before making the announcement.

For abolishing house tax in Delhi we do not need to go to Parliament. It was before 1993 that amendments were made to the act. After that, amendments and even the last one in 2011 were made without going to Parliament, he said.

Several amendments to the 1957 act, which governs the municipal corporations of Delhi, were made after 1993without seeking the Parliaments approval, he asserted and asked people not to believe rumours spread to mislead them.

The tax sop in a city of more than 20 million people is viewed as the AAPs attempted masterstroke to dislodge the BJP, which has been ruling the corporations for the past decade, and keep the Congress at bay in the high-stakes civic polls.

The AAP rivals warned that the move to waive off property tax would put an additional burden on the cash-strapped corporations, which have been struggling to pay staff wages, triggering labour unrest and civic crisis.

Property tax accounted for a significant share of the Rs 8,351-crore total revenue the corporations collected in 2016. The three civic agencies earned Rs 1,371 crore  with the south corporation earning the most at Rs 775 crore, and the east getting the least at Rs 192 crore.

Sisodia said the AAP government will fulfill its promise, as it has done before for its pledges such as power and water subsidy to the people.

He called the BJP the Bharatiya Jumla Party, accusing it of going back on its promises. He alleged that the BJP is worried that the waiver would put an end to a property tax racket in the corporations.

They are troubled because abolishing house tax will end the middleman and corruption in the civic bodies. The tax has given rise to the inspector raj system, which will be finished if AAP comes to power, he said.
Results of the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2017 brought good cheer to Jaipurs Malviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) as one of its students, Harsh Gupta, got the all-India rank 1 in chemical engineering.

Harshs GATE score was 999 out of 1,000.

GATE 2017 was conducted by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee on February 4, 5, 11 and 12.

GATE is conducted by the Indian Institute of Science and IIT and its scores are used for admission to MTech and PhD programmes at IITs, IISc and various other institutes. GATE identifies a candidates aptitude and eligibility for higher studies. The test is conducted in 23 disciplines of engineering and science subjects.

Harsh, a final year BTech student at MNIT, has not yet decided what he wants to do with the GATE score.

I will consult my seniors and teachers to decide whether I go for Masters at an IIT or try for a job in a public sector undertaking (PSU), he said.

Son of a statistician, Harsh, 22, studied at Jaipuria Vidyalaya, a CBSE school on Jawaharlal Nehru Marg before he got admitted to an engineering course at MNIT in 2013.

I am very happy for my son, said Harshs father Santosh Kumar Gupta, who is an associate professor in the statistics department of University of Rajasthan in Jaipur.

His mother is a homemaker and elder brother works at IBMs Delhi office. The elder Gupta son studied computer engineering at the Jaipur campus of Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, Ranchi.

I may work at a PSU for a few years before going abroad for Masters, Harsh said, adding that he was confident of getting a good score but didnt expect the top rank.

RK Vyas, associate professor of chemical engineering at MNIT, said Harsh has done the institute proud because it was for the first time in its history that a student got the top rank in GATE.

Candidates can check their GATE results here.

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Residents and shop owners of Sector 31 said they will not let rehriwalas (cart vendors) operate within the sector. The residents wrote to Haryana urban development authority (Huda) administrator Yashpal Yadav in this regard and said it was about protecting the sectors roads, pavements and green belts.

The letter comes in the backdrop of an attempt by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to relocate a vending cart zone to an area close to Sector 31s markets  a move that shop owners and residents protested. The MCG has recently been thinking of relocating the citys street vendors.

MC Yadav, general secretary, Sector 31 market association, said, The rehris (carts) cannot be relocated in the green belt or close to the market, which has been around for years. The MCG destroyed the green belt to relocate cart vendors and we will not allow them in close proximity of the market. The MCG cannot allow a vending zone within 150-200 metres of the markets.

Residents have also joined shop owners against a move that they say will endanger the sectors green belt and the interests of the market.

Jitender Rustagi, general secretary, residents welfare association of Sector 31, said, We met Vivek Kalia, joint commissioner of MCG, on March 7 and he assured us that the points we raised would be considered. But just three days ago, we noticed a truck unloading carts to relocate them in the sectors green belt and we had a tough time removing them. Now, we have decided to meet the Huda administrator after MCG failed to fix the problem.

The MCG has to follow the Supreme Courts guidelines to relocate or resettle street vendors who operate in an unauthorised manner in and around populated areas, markets and roads.

MCG commissioner V Umashankar said, We will take lawful action, but no one has the right to throw street vendors out. We have to follow the Supreme Courts guidelines to relocate them.

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Members of Maruti Udyog Kamgar and other workers unions of Manesar, Rewari and Gurgaon donated around Rs9 lakh for the wedding of the sister of a worker who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the district court on March 18.

The workers and union members held a meeting on Sunday and donated the amount collected to the father of the jailed worker, Sandeep Dhillon, to arrange for the wedding on March 26.

The district court had convicted 31 of the 148 jailed workers in the 2012 Maruti violence in which Awanish Kumar Dev, general manager (human resources) of Maruti Suzuki, was burnt to death and several executives injured.

Of the 31, the court sentenced 13 workers to life imprisonment and four others to five year imprisonment. However, most of them have already served around four years in jail. The remaining accused were fined and released later.

Ramniwas, of Maruti Manesar provisional committee, said, We appealed to Bhondsi jail superintendent to allow Sandeep to attend his sisters wedding, but our request was turned down. We then decided to collect the money for the wedding.

Members of various unions attended the marriage at Sandeeps hometown in Jind district.

We tried our best but could not fulfil Sandeeps wish to attend his sisters wedding. We knew about his familys poor financial condition and went to Jind to attend the wedding, said Kuldeep Singh Jhangu, general secretary, Maruti Udyog Kamgaar Union.

He added that the union is thinking of moving a petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court against the conviction of the 31 workers.

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A 32-year-old man from Faridabad who had gone missing on Saturday was found dead at Ghata village in Gurgaon on Sunday, police said. Police handed over the body to the family after a post-mortem examination. There has been no arrest so far and the Faridabad police is investigating the matter.

The victim, identified as Rohtash Kumar of Keri Kalan, went missing while he was returning home in his car on Saturday night. Police said a missing complaint was filed at Surajkund police station in Faridabad.

The body was recovered by the Sector 56 police around 12 noon on Sunday. Initial reports suggest he was strangulated, said the police.

Kumar, who worked in a private firm, reportedly called his family on Saturday to inform them that his car broke down on Gurgaon-Faridabad road. Following this, his family members booked him an Ola cab, police said.

However, when the cab driver reached the destination to pick Kumar, there was no sign of him. The driver informed Kumars family about the incident, after which they filed a missing complaint at Surajkund police station and alleged that he was kidnapped.

We have given the case to Faridabad police for further investigation. We found his mobile phone with him and it helped us identify the victim, said inspector Arvind Dhaiya, station house officer, Sector 56.

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BJP MP Subramanian Swamy on Sunday urged Muslims to hand over their part of the land in Ayodhya to help the construction of a grand Ram temple there.

We will provide them land at another place for the construction of a mosque. It will strengthen the relationship between Hindus and Muslims, he said while addressing a Virat Hindu Sangam function in Patna.

Swamy insisted that a grand Ram temple would be constructed at Ayodhya, where a mob razed the 16th century Babri Masjid in December 1992.

He also claimed that both former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao wanted a Ram temple to come up at Ayodhya.

The construction of a Ram temple was a matter of faith for Hindus and the community had every right to build it without further delay, he added.

Rajiv Gandhi was the only true Hindu leader in the Congress and he wanted from the core of his heart that a Ram temple be built at Ayodhya.
Kursela village in Bihars Katihar district, at the confluence of Kosi, Gandak and Ganga river, would be developed as a tourist spot.

The village assumes significance because an urn containing Mahatma Gandhis ashes was immersed there after his death in 1948. This year, Bihar is celebrating the centenary year of Gandhis Champaran satyagrah.

State tourism minister Anita Devi made the assurance to include the village in the Gandhi circuit on the floor of the Bihar legislative assembly on Saturday.

Her assurance, however, came after Congress leader and legislator Sadanand Singh raised the issue of neglect of the historical site. Singh said, Sarvodaya leader Baidynath Choudhary had immersed Gandhis ashes there in February 1948, after the Mahatmas death on January 30,1948.

Interestingly, some controversy surrounds the immersion of Gandhis last remains. A few years back, Gandhis great grandson, Tusshar Gandhi, had immersed an urn carrying ashes of the father of the nation, which was retrieved from a vault of the State Bank of India in Cuttack, following a long drawn legal process.

Doubts have been raised over another set of Gandhis ashes having been distributed among Congress leaders following Gandhis cremation. One such collection is at the Aga Khan palace in Pune, where Gandhi spent a long time as a prisoner during the Indian freedom struggle.

In Bihar, the state government has drawn up plans to promote places associated with Mahatmas frequent visits to Bihar, including his first in 1917, when he went to Champaran on an invitation of freedom fighter Raj Kumar Shukla to mobilise indigo farmers against the British planters.

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Suspected militants barged into the house of a jail employee in Jammu and Kashmirs Budgam district on Saturday night, abducted his son and took away the car of a family relative, police said on Sunday.

While the son was released soon after, the car was found burnt on Sunday morning not far away from their home in Chadoora.

Inspector General of Police SJM Gilani said the employee was a deputy superintendent of Baramulla jail.

We are ascertaining the attackers identity and will take proper action against them, Gilani said, asserting that the attack in no way would affect the morale of the police force.

This is the second incident of its type since 10 gun-wielding militants ransacked the house of a police officer in Shopian in the first week of March and warned his family of serious consequences if he did not quit his job.

The incident had triggered a verbal face-off between the director general of police (DGP) and militants.

Jammu and Kashmir DGP Shesh Paul Vaid had warned of consequences for families of militants if relatives of policemen were attacked.

Militant commanders had earlier warned policemen not to harass families of local militants.

According to police, the latest incident took place on Saturday night when two suspected militants, one of them with a gun, barged into the home of the prison employee. Police refused to reveal his name.

Budgams superintendent of police Waseem Qadri said the prison employee was not at home during the incident.

He said the two men abducted his son in the car of the employees nephew.

They asked his son to drive the car and left him at a certain distance. The remains of the car were found charred in the morning, Qadri said.

The SP said police suspect that the attackers might have been known to the employee in the jail.

They might have been overground workers of militants or stone-pelters who have now become militants. We are looking into it, Qadri said.

According to a PTI report, the militants also took the nephew hostage. The militants drove away in the car with the two boys but later let them off. PTI identified the official as sub inspector M Subhan Bhat.

According to police sources, the militants said they wanted to kill the officer, who is currently posted at the Baramulla district jail where militant-turned separatist leader Masarat Alam is lodged.

The militants threatened the two boys and fired several rounds in air before setting the car ablaze, they said.
Hyderabad

The Hyderabad police have closed the case of Aradhana Samdariya for lack of evidence, almost five months after the 13-year old Jain girl died after 68 days of fasting that sparked national outrage.

We have done thorough investigation. We have called for the report from the authorities of the hospital where Aradhana was brought dead. We also sought a second opinion from a team of doctors from the Government Gandhi Hospital, Secunderabad on what could have led to her death. And we could not find any evidence to prove that her parents had forced her to do tapasya, Hyderabad North Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police B Sumathi told Hindustan Times.

The police told the child rights committee that if it had any objections on closure of the case, it could approach the court within a week. But the polices decision has left the child rights committee fuming.

This is atrocious. Instead of framing the charges against the parents under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC, the police had conspired with the Jain community and closed the case without proper investigation. We will continue the legal battle, child rights committee honorary president P Achyuta Rao said.

The Secunderabad Market police conveyed the decision in a communication to Andhra Pradesh child rights committee on Saturday night. According to the letter, a report was submitted to the 10th additional chief metropolitan magistrate court, Secunderabad, stating that the case filed by the association was false, non-cognizable, mistake of fact, undetected and lacked evidence. Hence, the action was dropped on February 28, the letter said.

The Secunderabad-based teen died in the early hours of October 3 last year, less than three days after ending her 68-day fast under the tapasya ritual practised by her community. She was declared brought dead at a private hospital and doctors said she had died of cardiac arrest, caused probably by an imbalance in salts.

On a complaint from the Child Rights Committee, the Secunderabad Market police registered an FIR on October 9 against Aradhanas parents Lakshmichand Samdariya and Manisha, under Section 304 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder), besides Section 75 Juvenile Justice Act after the child rights committee highlighted the case.

Lakshmichand and Manisha, who went into hiding for a few weeks immediately after Aradhanas death hit the national headlines, moved the Hyderabad high court on November 15 seeking anticipatory bail fearing arrest by the police. However, the court refused to grant them bail. But on November 15, acting on a quash petition by Jain Seva Sangh, the high court stayed the arrest of the girls parents while asking the cops to complete the investigation at the earliest.

CASE TIMELINE:

October 3, 2016: Aradhana Samdariya, 13, dies less than three days after a 68-day fast in the name of tapasya as per the Jain ritual, at her Pot Market residence, Secunderabad. Doctors say she was brought dead

October 7: AP Child Rights Committee files complaint with Hyderabad Police Commissioner alleging that Aradhana was forced to fast under pressure from parents to overcome losses in their jewellery business

October 9: Secunderabad Market police registered FIR against parents under Section 304 (2) of IPC and Section 75 of Juvenile Justice Act

October 10: Parents go into hiding and Jain elders raise a hue and cry and allege that its infringement on their religious rights

November 5: Parents file anticipatory bail in the Hyderabad high court which is refused

November 15: Jain elders file quash petition in the high court, which grants stay on the arrest of parents but allows the police to go ahead with investigation

December 8: Mandatory 90-day period for filing charge sheet ends

February 28, 2017: Secunderabad police closes the case

March 26, 2017: Petitioner informed that the action against parents has been dropped for lack of evidence

Aradhana Samdariya

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The Hyderabad police have closed the case of Aradhana Samdariya, a 13-year old Jain girl from Hyderabad, whose death after 68 days of fasting created nation-wide sensation, for want of evidence.

This was conveyed by the Secunderabad Market police in a communication handed over to Andhra Pradesh Child Rights Committee on Saturday night. According to the letter, a report was submitted to the X Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Secunderabad, stating that the case filed by the association was false, non-cognizable, mistake of fact, undetected and lacked evidence. Hence, the action was dropped on February 28, the letter said.

The Secunderabad-based teen died in the early hours of October 3 last year, less than three days after ending her 68-day fast under the tapasya ritual practised by her community. She was declared brought dead at a private hospital and doctors said she had died of cardiac arrest, caused probably by an imbalance in salts.

On a complaint from the Child Rights Committee, the Secunderabad Market police registered an FIR on October 9 against Aradhanas parents Lakshmichand Samdaria and Manisha, under Section 304 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder), besides Section 75 Juvenile Justice Act.

We have done thorough investigation in all the angles. We have called for the report from the authorities of the hospital where Aradhana was brought dead. We also sought a second opinion from a team of doctors from the Government Gandhi Hospital, Secunderabad on what could have led to her death. And we could not find any evidence to prove that her parents had forced her to do tapasya, Hyderabad North Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police B Sumathi told Hindustan Times.

The police told the child rights committee that if it had any objections on closure of the case, it could approach the court within a week. This is atrocious. Instead of framing the charges against the parents under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC, the police had conspired with the Jain community and closed the case without proper investigation. We will continue the legal battle, child rights committee honorary president P Achyuta Rao said.

Lakshmichand and Manisha, who went into hiding for a few weeks immediately after Aradhanas death hit the national headlines, moved the Hyderabad High Court on November 15 seeking anticipatory bail fearing arrest by the police. However, the court refused to grant them bail. However, on November 15, the same High Court, acting on a quash petition by Jain Seva Sangh, stayed the arrest of the girls parents while asking the cops to complete the investigation at the earliest.

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Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who assaulted a senior Air India official, on Sunday claimed that he was asked by a top party leader not to speak with the media about the issue.

Threatening legal action against the national carrier, the Parliamentarian said he has not gone into hiding and will be present in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

A senior Sena leader ordered me not to speak with media till Wednesday (March 29) and so I am not coming before the media. I will come to Omerga on Tuesday and celebrate Marathi new year Gudi Padwa with my family and Shiv Sainiks. I will then attend Lok Sabha session (in New Delhi) on Wednesday, Gaikwad told PTI.

The 57-year-old MP, who represents Osmanabad, however did not disclose his present location.

I am not hiding and will speak to all after Wednesday, he added.

Gaikwad had on Thursday abused and assaulted a 60-year-old duty manager of the national carrier with slippers over not being able to fly business class despite having boarded an all-economy Pune-New Delhi flight.

Following the incident, he was barred from flying by major domestic airlines.

A senior Sena leader did not call me to Matoshree (Thackeray residence in Mumbai) and hence I am not going there to meet senior party leaders, he added.

Air India employees abused me. I will take legal action against Air India, Gaikwad said.

He demanded that an inquiry should be initiated into the video (about the incident).

Meanwhile, local Sena workers on Sunday burnt an effigy of Air India employees at Turori village in Gaikwads support.
In a suspected case of racial attack an Indian taxi driver from Kerala was attacked by group of teenagers in Hobart in Australias Tasmania state early Sunday. Li Max, hailing from Kottayam, had to be admitted to the Royal Hobart Hospital with deep wounds on his face and chest.

Li told his relatives that he was attacked without any provocation. He said when he stopped his car near a McDonalds outlet he saw three youths were arguing with an employee but they soon turned their ire on Li.

Among the three a big boy in black T shirt yelled racial abuses and attacked me without any provocation. I was literally shocked. Soon two others also joined, raining blows on me. Before leaving they poured water on bleeding wounds, Li told a Malayalam news channel.

He said he had been was working in Hobart for eight years and never gone through such a bitter experience. While hitting me they were using choicest racial abuses. Nobody intervened when I was attacked and later they sped away in their vehicle, he said.

The racial mood is slowly changing in Australia also. Many attribute this to Trump effect but I dont know what exactly provoked them, he said adding recently another Indian driver was humiliated in a similar fashion but he refused to file a police compliant. Li was discharged later in the day.

This is the second such incident in a week. Last Sunday a priest from Kerala, Tomy Kalathoor, was stabbed inside a church in Melbourne while he was attending a Sunday mass. Australian police later said the assailant was a mentally deranged. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had condemned the attack directed the Indian consulate to render all help to the priest.

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Israel has offered to sell India its armed unmanned aerial vehicles Eitan or Heron TP in order to enhance its stand-off strike as well as long-range strategic strike capability. The offer is still on the table, with South Block interested in bringing the unmanned weapon through Make in India route.

With the security establishment convinced that long range stand-off weapons would take precedence over direct engagement in future conflicts, New Delhi has been interested in acquiring armed medium-high altitude, long-endurance UAVs with payload capability in the form of laser-guided bombs or air-to-ground missiles. In this context, Indian military has been looking towards the US and Israel for acquiring Predators or Heron TPs.

While the US is expected to allow sale of General Atomics-developed Guardian UAV as a first step towards either the Predator or Reaper Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) to India, Tel Aviv has already made a formal offer for the Heron TP to the defence ministry. Developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, the Heron TP can fly at a height of 35,000 feet, has a flight endurance of up to 52 hours and carries a weapon payload. India has Heron UAVs in service with the air force already, where they are being used for surveillance as well as in the target acquisition and reconnaissance role.

South Block sources said while New Delhi is interested in the Heron TP, it wants the vehicle to be manufactured in the country through a joint venture with IAI under Make in India with total transfer of technology. The decision on acquisition will be taken before the PM visits Tel Aviv in July on his return from the G-20 meeting in Hamburg, said an official.

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In a huge embarrassment to the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, transport minister AK Saseendran of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) resigned on Sunday after allegations of misconduct with a woman surfaced against him.

A new Malayalam news channel named Mangalam, which launched on Sunday dropped an audio bomb claiming that a clip it aired on the channel earlier in the day was a phone conversation between a woman and the minister in which the 71-year-old Saseendran is heard talking in a sexually explicit way.

The woman had reportedly approached the minister for some favour.

Ironically, the incident surfaced at a time when the state is debating growing atrocities against women and children.

Saseendran, however, insists he has done nothing wrong.

I dont remember talking to anyone in such a manner. I will come out unscathed. I am resigning from the ministry to uphold the integrity of my party and coalition, the minister said while announcing his resignation in Kozhikkode in north Kerala.

He said he has asked the chief minister to order a high-level probe into the incident.

As soon as the channel aired the audio clip, the opposition Congress and BJP sought the ministers resignation.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan also termed the incident a serious issue leaving little room for the beleaguered minister. However, the woman with whom the minister allegedly spoke has not filed any compliant against him.

The five-time legislator started his political career with the Congress, but later switched his loyalty to Sharad Pawars party.

The NCP, which is part of LDF in Kerala, has two legislators. He is the second minister to quit the 10-month-old Pinarayi ministry. Industries minister EP Jayaraan was forced to quit six months back after he employed his close relatives in key posts ignoring all norms.
Soaring mercury level has been blamed, prima facie, for series of explosions that sparked fire at the Ordnance Factory Khamaria (OFK) in Jabalpur on Saturday evening.

Senior officials of the factory claimed the scorching heat might have self detonated dumped old ammunition.

OFK general manager AK Agarwal told HT that possibly stockpile of over 20-year-old discarded ammunition of 106 mm recoilless guns (RCLs) got detonated itself due to the exorbitant heat as mercury touched 40 degree Celsius on the ill-fated day in Jabalpur, some 320km east of Bhopal.

But the exact reason will be known only after experts investigate the incident thoroughly, he added.

He said an inquiry has been ordered and experts would be coming from Pune on Monday to probe the incident.

There were at least 20 to 25 explosions at building 845, where the cache of ammunition, which could no longer be used, was kept.

Agarwal said the building was gutted in the raging fire sparked by the explosions.

There was no injury or any harm to anyone in the incident as the workers had left the factory around 5.30pm, around an hour before the first explosion at 6.24pm.

Indian Ordnance Factories, which functions under defence ministry, is a conglomerate of 41 factories, 9 training institutes, 3 regional marketing centres and 4 regional controller of safety.

OFK is one of the 41 ordnance factories.

Established in 1942, the OFK is the countrys premier ammunition manufacturing organisation. It manufactures ammunition components, hardware, shells, primer and cartridge cases for medium and high caliber ammunitions.

Explosive filling and assembling of medium and high caliber ammunitions and also small arms too are done at the OFK.
PATNA The RJD seems to be weighing the option of contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha poll on its own strength. It will consider doing so if the rift within Bihars ruling grand alliance (GA) widens and there is lack of consensus over the PM candidate of the proposed secular block to take on the BJP.

This new possibility - some would call it a gambit, arose amid speculation that the RJDs GA partner, the JD(U) was keen to push its national president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for the top post

The RJDs strategy to be lead player in the three party coalition in the run up to the 2019 poll, became evident on Sunday when deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav reportedly asking his party men, whether the party had the wherewithal to contest the 2019 poll alone.

The query ran contrary to RJD chief Lalu Prasads recent assertion that there was no rift within the GA and alliance would remain intact till after the 2019 poll.

Some RJD leaders, however, claimed Tejashwi had only talked of strengthening the RJD organizational base by 2019, so that the party could regain its pole position.

Tejashwi had earlier raised hackles of the GA partners, by claiming the three party coalition won the November 2015 Bihar assembly poll because of Lalu Prasads own vote base and his impeccable secular credentials. The JD (U) countered this, saying the GA won due to CM Kumars image as pro- development man with a secular image.

Nonetheless, there were clear indications that many among the RJDs top brass were in no mood to allow the JD (U) to take centrestage in uniting secular forces to fight BJP in the 2019 poll, by propping up Kumar as a best candidate for the PMs post.

There is also the realisation that the RJD had suffered a setback due to the SP-Congress alliance rout in the UP assembly poll and is under pressure to stay relevant a strong regional entity vis a vis CM Kumars bid to carve a pan India image as a potential PM candidate.

 We will talk to all secular parties, including TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, BSP chief Mayawati and SP veteran Mulayam Singh Yadav, to carve out a new secular bloc to fight the BJP in 2019 poll. We will decide on the PM candidate together, Prasad said on Sunday, indicating he was ready to be the rallying force of the secular block.

Prasad also slammed the BJP for appointing Yogi Adityanath as CM of UP despite the latters hardline image.. A wrong precedent is being set by waiving loans of farmers . Why isnt PM Narendra Modi waiving the loans of farmers across the country, he asked.

The proposal for conducting parliamentary polls along with assembly polls was a big conspiracy, he alleged. He wondered if Yogis move to get the CMs residence in Lucknow purified happened because Akhilesh and dalits had inhabited it.

On the BJPs Ram temple agenda, Prasad said the saffron party would never construct the temple as it was just a  Dudharu Gai ( milch cow) for the party to raise the bogey and garner political dividends in the name of religion.

The RJD meet saw senior party leader and former minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh once again going all guns blazing on various issues, including CMs Kumars prime ministerial ambitions and governance issues.

A PM candidate should be decided by all. Some people should shed their ego and form a united secular front to combat the BJPs divisive agenda, he said.

The opposition BJP was quick to react to the deputy CMs go alone option. The GA won because of RJD chief s mass base. Had Nitish Kumar enjoyed a mass vote base, he would not have joined hands with RJD after snapping ties with the BJP in 2013, said Union minister Giriraj Singh.

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BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday said the key objective of his party is to build a strong India, which is free from casteism, corruption, regionalism and the Congress.

The objective is to build a strong India which is free from casteism, corruption, regionalism as well as the Congress. The party workers will dedicatedly contribute towards achieving this target, he said.

Shah was addressing BJP workers on the concluding day of the three-day state-level Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shatabdi Karyakarta Vistar workshop in Kurukshetra.

He said the BJP plans to expand its footprint in the birth centenary year of Jana Sangh ideologue Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay and is observing the birth centenary year of Upadhyay as the year of the partys national work expansion scheme.

Therefore, the workers will have to shoulder the responsibility of expanding the partys base at the grassroots level, he was quoted as saying in a BJP release.

The event was not open to the media.

Shah said it was of paramount importance to the BJP and the scheme would succeed only with the utmost dedication of the party workers.

He also called upon party workers to take the policies and programmes of the BJP as well as the Haryana government to the grassroots-level.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said his government was following the Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas mantra of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Of the 120 welfare schemes launched in the state, most have already been implemented while the remaining were in progress, he said.

The new enterprises promotion policy was framed to attract and promote businesses in the state, he added.

Earlier, Khattar, state education minister Ram Bilas Sharma, finance minister Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu, state BJP chief Subhash Barala, senior party leaders Suresh Bhatt and Anil Jain welcomed Shah.

On his way back to Delhi, the BJP chief had brief stopovers at Karnal and Panipat, where he was greeted by the party workers.
One person was killed and 8 others were injured when a communal riot broke out in a Gujarat village on Saturday. Some 10 houses and 20 vehicles were also torched.

The police said the mayhem at Vadvali village in Mehsana, about 80 km from Ahmeadbad, took place after a clash between students belonging two different communities snowballed into a riot which left a 25-year-old man dead.

Police fired 10 rounds in air and used tear gas to disperse the two groups that were pelting stones on each other. Three platoons of the state reserve police (SRP) were also rushed from Gandhinagar to bring the situation under control. No one has been arrest yet for the violence.

Police said the groups of people arrived at Vadvali from nearby villages after the students had clashed. According to reports 10 houses in a ghetto were partially torched. The injured have been admitted to Mehsana Civil Hospital.

Five fire engines were rushed to the spot to bring the fire in control, said a policeman.

The police said the riot was contained and situation was brought under control.

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Over 100 Indian fishermen were allegedly apprehended and around 18 of their boats seized by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) off Jakhau coast in Gujarats Kutch district, a fishermen association official said on Sunday.

We have learnt that more than 100 fishermen who were on board around 18 fishing boats were apprehended by PMSA near the international maritime boundary line off Jakhau coast on Saturday, National Fishworkers Forum (NFF) secretary Manish Lodhari said.

The fishermen who escaped have informed us about this, he said.

The NFF is trying to establish contact with the Pakistani agencies to get the exact number of those abducted by PMSA, he said.

The PMSA had earlier this month also apprehended 115 fishermen and seized 19 boats.

In March so far, the PMSA has separately held over 225 fishermen along with nearly three dozen boats, Lodhari said.

The development comes after the Indian Coast Guard captured nine Pakistani nationals along with a fishing boat off Jakhau coast in Kutch on Friday.

Last month, the BSF had apprehended four abandoned Pakistani fishing boats near Sir Creek in Kutch district during an extensive search operation in the area.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday began the process of outlining his vision for a new India, by calling on people to demonstrate greater civic responsibility. But, he offered only sketchy details of how Indians could help achieve the goal he set on March 12, a day after his partys sweeping victories in state elections.

In his first Mann ki Baat radio address since the electoral triumph, Modi identified traffic rules and fuel consumption as areas where people could contribute to the new India.

If every citizen resolves to obey traffic rules, if every citizen resolves that he will discharge his duties honestly, if every citizen resolves that he will not use petrol or diesel one day in a week  these are not very big things but these will contribute to the realisation of the dream of this country, he said, dubbing the move as a clarion call to create a magnificent India and shift from swaraj to suraj (self rule to good governance) .

Calling discharge of civic duties as a good beginning to the new India, Modi said, All these things are not necessarily achieved through the budget, government projects, or government money.

The new India theme is expected to dominate the agenda of the government in its remaining two years, ahead of the 2019 election.

The Centre would need to be pro-active to build a new India, senior opposition leader Tathagat Satpathy said.

When citizens become conscious and aware of their responsibilities and rights, things will always improve. But for this, radio talk alone is not sufficient. Pro-active action on the part of the Narendra Damodardas Modi government has been invisible, the Biju Janata Dal leader said.

Another dominating theme of Modis talk was the fight against black money and cashless transactions.

We must take our fight against black money and corruption to the next level. Can 125 crore countrymen resolve to undertake 2500 crore digital transactions during this year? the PM said.

It is an ambitious target, as a large section of the population in rural areas does not have ATM or credit cards. To plug the gap, the government has introduced some phone apps that can help such people go cashless.

Modi said people had been writing to him, expressing concern over wastage of food. Have you ever thought about how much food we waste? Have you ever thought how many poor people can be fed if we dont thus waste our food?

Ahead of the World Health Day on April 7, Modi asked people to speak up and seek help for depression. Depression is not incurable... The first mantra is the expression of depression instead of its suppression, Modi said.

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Why was not the conversion of old currency notes allowed till March 31, 2017 for Indians as assured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech on November 8 announcing demonetisation?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has refused to answer the question under the Right to Information (RTI) Act claiming the query does not come under the definition of information as per the transparency law.

The Prime Minister in his speech on November 8, 2016, announcing demonetisation, had assured countrymen that they could convert the notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 till March 31.

Later, it was decided that the window till March 31 will be kept only for Non-Resident Indians who constitute a major support base for the ruling BJP.

The issue about the time limit for converting old currency notes is also being heard by the Supreme Court where attorney general Mukul Rohatgi has reportedly submitted that the law will prevail over the words of the Prime Minister.

In its response, the RBI refused to share file notings on the decision to limit currency conversion window till March 31 only for NRIs, saying it would be against the economic interests of the state.

The applicant had sought reasons, as recorded in the files of the RBI, behind the decision to not allow conversion of currency till March 31 for Indians as assured by the PM.

The question is in the nature of seeking reasons or justification from CPIO which is not defined as information as per Section 2(f) of the RTI Act, said the response form Suman Ray, central public information officer.

The Supreme Court has clarified the issue in one of its noted judgements saying if opinion or advice is available in the records of the public authority, it will come under the definition of the information under the RTI Act.

Former information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said that section 8(2) of the RTI Act allows disclosure of information, even if it is exempted, if it is in larger public interest.

The RTI Act defines information as any material in any form held by or under the control of a public authority.

The definition covers any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, emails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force.

The bankers bank has stonewalled almost every RTI query pertaining to demonetisation citing one or the other reason.

It had refused to respond if the views of finance minister Arun Jaitley or the chief economic adviser were taken before demonetisation was announced, it had also refused to disclose reasons behind the sudden move, among others.

It had also refused to allow access to minutes of the meetings held to decide on the issue of demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes.

After the deadline to exchange the scrapped notes expired on December 30, 2016, the government issued an ordinance saying only those who were abroad, the armed forces personnel posted in remote areas, or others who could give valid reasons for not being able to deposit the cancelled notes, can do so till March 31.
A life-size statue of Mahatma Gandhi and a 15-foot-long stupa painted red with hammer and sickle at the top symbolize the spirit of Gangadevipalli, a small village in Warangal district of Telangana.

Once dominated by Maoists, Gangadevipalli was like any other disturbed village in the state. Even now, almost the entire village is influenced by CPI(M) ideology. However, it attracted the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made a proud mention of it in his radio programme Mann ki Baat in the first week of March.

The reason: a couple of weeks before the radio programme, senior IAS officer Parameshwaran Iyer, who heads the Swachh Bharat Mission, accompanied by 40-odd IAS officers from across the country, visited the village only to learn that the Communist-dominated village had achieved the objectives of the mission almost 15 years ago by implementing the twin-pit technology for toilets.

To display how effectively the villagers were following the technology, he himself got down into a toilet pit and removed the dried-up faecal matter.

In the twin pit technology, each toilet consists of two holes that are dug up and cemented. Once the first pit is full, the villagers use the second pit. The first pit is closed and the faecal matter in it gets decomposed, dries up and turns into manure. After six months, the first pit is emptied and can be used again by the time the second pit gets filled up.

The board at the village gram panchayat office that speaks of the many achievements of Gangadevipalli village. (HT Photo)

Not just this, Gangadevipalli village on Narsampet Road, about 20 km from Warangal town, is a real smart village in all other aspects.

The village, which has 360 households with a total population of around 1,400, has many achievements to boast about, as indicated by a board at the village gram panchayat office -- 100 % prohibition, 100% house tax collection, 100% literacy, 100% school-going children, 100 % construction of toilets, 100% in small savings etc.

Right from the village entrance, all lanes and by-lanes have cement-concrete roads with well-laid sewerage lines on either side.

All streetlights are solar-powered with photo-voltaic systems. There are closed circuit cameras at strategic locations, which are monitored from the gram panchayat office round-the-clock.

All streetlights in Gangadevipalli are solar-powered with photo-voltaic systems. (HT Photo)

We have Any Time Water (ATM) machine, which dispenses 20 litres of drinking water for just Re 1. If anybody wants more, they have to pay an extra Rs 4 for another 20 litres. The machine dispenses water with the swiping of a smart card, Pendli Malla Reddy, president of water committee in the village, told Hindustan Times.

The village follows family planning norms with each family having a maximum of two children.

We have as many as 26 committees to look after developmental and welfare activities in the village such as for implementation of prohibition, solving of youth issues, womens issues, widow issues, artisans issues, recovery of loans, sanitation and even prevention of usage of plastic. Even for power supply monitoring and maintenance of dish antennas, we have separate committees, said Malla Reddy.

Dooda Saroja, who looks after the small savings committee, said all the women in the village are part of self-help groups and save their money, which is distributed as loan among themselves.

All of us have bank accounts and we mostly operate online, she said.

According Medida Sushila, who heads the widows committee, consumption of liquor is strictly prohibited in the village.

We dont have liquor outlets in the village nor do we entertain any booze parties here. Luckily, all the men in the village are cooperating in this aspect, she said.

Warangal (Rural) collector Prashant Jeevan Patil said Gangadevipalli has become a model village not just for Warangal, but the entire country in the implementation of twin-pit toilet technology.

Now, the model is being replicated all over Warangal district, he said.

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Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed when they attacked a car carrying senior police officers in Jammu and Kashmirs Pulwama district on Sunday.

The militants who were in a car ambushed the vehicle in which Awantipora and Pulwama superintendents of police and Awantipora ASP were returning after reviewing poll preparations with the chief electoral officer in Pulwama.

The militants came from one of the sides of the car and fired, Awantipora SP Mohammad Zaid said.

A brief gunfight followed in which two militants, who were locals, were killed.

The by-polls to Lok Sabha seats of Srinagar in central Kashmir and Anantnag in south are to be held on April 9 and 12.

After getting attacked, the police officers retaliated and we recovered bodies of two terrorists from a Maruti car. The third militant has probably managed to escape, Kashmir inspector general of Police SJM Gilani said at a media briefing in the evening.

There was confusion about the number of militants. The states top cop said both the militants involved in the ambush were killed.

Tweeting about the incident in the afternoon, director general of police Shesh Paul Vaid said, The daring officers retaliatory fire killed both the terrorists.

IG Gilani said they had no information about the movement of militants. He identified one of them as Shahbaz Ahmad Wani alias Rais Kachru, a resident of Pulwama.

He did not confirm the identity of the second militant, who was named as Farooq Ahmad Hurrah, a resident of Naizneenpora in south Kashmirs Shopian, by a police spokesperson.

Both belonged to the Kashmiri separatist group Hizbul Mujahideen, the spokesman said.

.

IPS officers while on their way to #Awantipur were ambushed by terrorists. The daring officers' retaliatory fire killed both the terrorists.  Shesh Paul Vaid (@spvaid) March 26, 2017

An AK-47 assault rifle and a self-loading rifle (SLR) were recovered from the two men. The SLR was snatched from a police picket in October, the officer said.

The Hizbul has warned people against participating in the polls. Srinagar seat fell vacant after Tariq Hameed Karra quit the Lok Sabha as well as the ruling Peoples Democratic Party of which he was one of the founder-members. Karra joined the Congress in February.

Anantnag election was necessitated after Mehbooba Mufti resigned from the Parliament to be the chief minister of the border state. She is now the Anantnag MLA.
The rechristening of Ranchi Universitys oldest college, Ranchi College to Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University, has led to a students uproar against alleged saffronisation of higher education in Jharkhand.

Mukherjee was the founder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a minister in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehrus cabinet. He had quit the Indian National Congress and founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which later became the BJP.

The higher and technical education department of BJP-ruled Jharkhand had recommended this name for Ranchi College to the governor, and got the Raj Bhawans assent recently, officials said.

Several protest marches and signature campaigns by student unions followed the recommendation made about a month ago.

Tanuj Khetri, an elected member of the Ranchi University PG student union and a Jharkhand Chatra Morcha (JCM) leader said naming the university after a right wing leader was a downright effort to saffronise higher education here. No doubt, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was a great man, but he did not do anything for Jharkhand. We will not let the government saffronise something as sacred as education, said Khetri.

Founded in 1926, Ranchi College received autonomous status from the University Grants Commission (UGC) on January 9, 2009.

The Jharkhand cabinet in October 2015 decided to accord university status to Ranchi College which currently imparts education to at least 4,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. It is the first college in Jharkhand to get state university status.

Jharkhand Chatra Morcha, the student wing of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), has recommended renaming the college Param Veer Albert Ekka University. Ekka, a son of the soil, was martyred in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The All India Students Federation (AISF) too has joined hands with the Jharkhand Chatra Morcha.

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Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) international working president Pravin Togadia on Sunday asked the Centre to pass two laws, one concerning the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya and the other to ensure population control across communities, in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Addressing a large crowd at the Virat Hindu Sammelan, Togadia also tried to address the issues arising from the Patidar quota stir by demanding free education for 10 crore Hindu school students. This should be done on the lines of similar benefits given to 95 lakh Muslim students, he said.

Togadia sought a Hindu-first policy on matters concerning welfare, development and prosperity, among other things.

The VHP convention, which had been discontinued in the years following the 2002 communal riots, was restarted amid speculations of early assembly elections in Gujarat. The polls, originally slated to be held by the end of this year, will occur in the backdrop of the agitation by Patidars  a crucial vote bank for the saffron party.

The firebrand leader alleged that the Muslim community was contributing to Indias rising population. Just like Hindu couples, who now dont opt for more than two children, Muslims should also be allowed to have just two kids. Violators should be barred from availing welfare schemes such as free education, healthcare and food rations. They could also be exempted from participating in the electoral process, he said.

Togadia, a qualified surgeon hailing from Gujarat, threatened to build the Ram temple at Ayodhya through karseva (volunteership) if the Modi-led government failed to enact a law in this regard. Just talking like Sardar (Vallabhai Patel) wont help, you will also need to act like him, he said, referring to the iconic statesmans role in rebuilding the Somnath temple.

The VHP also unveiled an array of welfare schemes for Hindus  including healthcare and security  at the event. It promised to create employment opportunities for over 50,000 Hindu youth through the provision of various training programmes in Ahmedabad by next month.

If any of you arent able to foot private hospital bills, simply dial the Hindu Healthcare Helpline number 18602333666. If you have general security concerns, dial 02066803300, said Togadia.

The event was also attended by VHP joint secretary Surendra Jain, Bajrang Dal president Manoj Sharma and a host of Hindu saints.

The VHP convention is being seen as an attempt to bring Hindutva to the fore at a time when the BJP has appointed hardliner Adityanath Yogi as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister. It will also help mobilise the VHP and Bajrang Dal cadre  who have been sulking over the arrest of their colleagues for the Gujarat riots and the subsequent cold-shouldering of the temple issue  ahead of the assembly elections.
The vigilance department is all set to confiscate Rs 30 crore-worth assets of a former Bihar weights and measures inspector after the Patna high court gave its nod for the same in a disproportionate assets case.

The court on Friday dismissed the now-suspended inspector, Om Prakash Singhs plea against a Muzaffarpur vigilance court order directing confiscation of the assets.

The vigilance investigation bureau (VIB) will seize two buildingsone a six-storey building housing 11 tenants in Lalji Tola area of Patnabesides 40 plots in and around Patna.

Singh, who has been waging a legal battle since the agency seized Rs 20 lakh cash and Rs 7.43 lakh investments in bonds in 2009, had started as a clerk in the agriculture department in 1975. Fifteen years later, he was promoted as a weights and measures inspector, a post considered lucrative.

Vigilance officials say they are simply stunned by the wealth amassed by an ordinary state government employee.

Vigilance court judge Kumar Prakash Sahay had on January 12, 2015 ordered confiscation of Singhs property, originally valued at Rs 1.19 crore. Singh challenged the order in the Patna high court, which rejected his plea last Friday.

The special vigilance courts have passed confiscation orders against 21 officials and seized assets worth Rs 11.30 crore since they were constituted in 2007.

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Tanushree Pareek, a resident of Rajasthans Bikaner who became the first woman combat officer to be commissioned by the Border Security Force (BSF) in its 51-year history, was on Sunday accorded a rousing welcome.

Hundreds of people in Bikaner thronged the streets to have a glimpse of Pareek, who was taken around the city in a procession on an open jeep from her alma matter Lady Elgin School as the crowds cheered her while residents stood in queque outside her house to congratulate her and felicitate her with garlands and bouquets.

Pareek graduated in Bachelor of Technology in electronics and communications from the Bikaner Government Engineering College, and her masters in rural development from IGNOU.

Pareek (25), who led the passing out parade of 67 trainee officers at Gwalior on Saturday that was reviewed by Union home minister Rajnath Singh at the BSF camp, said: I was informed just 15 days before the passing out parade that I was going to lead it.

I was so excited that I prepared myself for the parade with double zeal. I think now it is the time for girls to actively participate in tough tasks, she told Hindustan Times

The Union home minister himself put the rank stars on the shoulders of Pareek during the piping ceremony.

In 2013, the BSF allowed women to apply for operation duty and after a four-phase recruitment process, in July 2014, Pareek became the first woman assistant commandant in the border sentinel.

As the first women BSF officer in the entry rank of assistant commandant, Pareek will be posted to command a unit of the 105th Battalion along the Indo-Pak border in Firojpur in Punjab.

In the last three years, Pareek underwent 52-week training in battle craft, intelligence gathering and other border guarding tasks and received three awards for her outstanding achievements in drill, all round best trainee, and public speaking.
Motivated by Uttarakhand high court orders declaring rivers Ganga and Yamuna living entities, an environmentalist in Agra has asked the Agra police to register a case against those guilty of attempt to murder the Yamuna.

Brij Khandelwal, the activist, has blamed officials of various departments, including Agra district magistrate, Agra divisional commissioner and general manager of Agra Jal Sansthan, for attempting to kill the river by slow poison.

The unfiltered water of dirty drains, besides the sewer, continues to flow into Yamuna despite crores received for sewage treatment from state and central governments, Khandelwal said in his letter to Agra SSP.

Using this amount, the river could have been otherwise saved, but despite having a sewage treatment plant, such untreated water is added to the river, he said, urging the SSP to file an FIR in this regard.

The level of dissolved oxygen has drastically fallen and is an outcome of negligence of these officials... which has caused huge damage to river Yamuna resulting in loss of aquatic life, Khandelwal, who is also the founder of River Connect Campaign, said.

For years together, efforts are on for construction of Agra Barrage to save Yamuna but due to lack of efforts by these erring officials, the scheme could not be completed and the river thus lacks required water level, he said.

Khandelwal also drew attention to the rampant encroachment on the river banks, and blamed the Agra Development Authority for the negligence.

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A former minister in the Samajwadi Party (SP) government handed a pleasant surprise to a new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister, giving political circles in UP a new talking point.

Former UP jails minister Balwant Singh Ramoowalia performed (shuddhikaran) purification rituals at his ministerial bungalow and then handed over the keys of the premises to new parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna.

Ramoowalias gesture was a departure from usual as outgoing ministers dont easily vacate ministerial bungalows when their party loses power. The estate department often has to serve notices repeatedly. Ramoowalia, who occupied 10, Kalidas Marg bungalow chose to be prompt, though he did not expect the estate department to end his allotment so soon.

His move comes in the backdrop of the purification rituals performed by a team of priests at 5, Kalidas Marg, the official residence of the UP chief minister, after Akhilesh Yadav vacated the premises. The rituals were performed to ready the place for new CM Adityanath Yogi.

On Tuesday, I was told through a letter that my allotment term has ended and that now Suresh Khanna is supposed to move in. I chose to move out and handed over the keys to Khanna on Friday, said Ramoowalia.

Ramoowali shifted all his belongings from the house on Thursday. He got the house cleaned up on Friday and himself perfomed shuddhikaran.

Ramoowalia, a Sikh, said: I did aradas (prayers) before Guru Govind Singh to sanctify the house and the keys.

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Two sisters, aged 10 and 12 years, were raped and murdered in a village under Mohammadi Kotwali limit in Lakhimpur Kheri, police said.

Additional superintendent of police Dipendra Nath Chaudhary said the post-mortem revealed sexual assault. He said attempts were on to nab the suspects.

Their bodies, with deep injury marks around their necks, were recovered early in the morning from the fields on the outskirts of their village on Sunday.

They went missing on Saturday evening after they had gone to the field for some work. Superintendent of police Manoj Kumar Jha, Chaudhary and deputy SP LD Bharti rushed to the spot and inspected the scene of crime. Bharti told HT that a blood-stained razor was recovered from the scene of crime.

On the complaint of the father of the deceased girls, an FIR of murder has been lodged against one Quayyum and his two relatives Mahtab and Guddu, Bharti said.

He said investigation had been started as a team of forensic experts, besides sniffers dogs had been called in to gather evidence.

The two sisters had gone to the fields on Saturday afternoon to collect wheat from the harvested fields as village children often do. When the two sisters did not return home till late evening, their parents looked for them and intimated local police but to no avail. On Sunday morning, some villagers spotted the bodies of the two girls lying in a pool of blood in the fields, about one kilometre away from the village. They informed the parents and the police.
There is more to meat row than just your food menu.

Even as dozens of eateries serving non-vegetarian cuisine in Lucknow bylanes wait for the meat crisis to end, the concern in one such kanghi (comb) wali gali is deep rooted.

Engaged in making and selling traditional buffalo horn combs for generations, Mohammed Issaq Khan, the lone flag-bearers of the trade feels the crackdown on slaughter houses will act as a last nail in the coffin to their trade.

Ours is the only shop left in the lane that is famous for these buffalo horn combs. So far the business was good as I used to sell at least 15 to 20 combs a day. And each comb that includes both hair comb and head lice comb that are purely handmade comes at a cost of Rs 30 to 50 each, says Khan, who owns the lone comb shop left in kanghi wali gali in Old Citys Nakkhas area.

With slaughterhouse being shut, getting horns would be next to impossible, he says while revealing that already handmade combs are now outsourced from Moradabad.

Mohammed Issaq Khans comb shop in kanghi wali gali in Old Citys Nakkhas area. (HT Photo)

There was the time when Lucknow used to be the leader in the horn combs business so much so that this particular stretched was named as kanghi wali gali, says Khan whose family is into the business since the Nawabi era.

He says the combs are prepared after drying the buffalo horn in open and then cut into blocks by a fine saw.

Later it is heated and compressed using a special compressor generally used in loco engines. Once compressed, the teeth are made manually using superfine saw that is made by grinding regular saw. It leaves superfine teeth and then comes the buffing part that is done using coal and rug, says Khan whose family was famous for making finest horn combs.

So fine so that a full blow of air could give a quiver to the combs teeth. It used to be the only way to check the fine work on the comb, he says while claiming that these combs used to be the preferred choice of the royals, also because of some medicinal qualities inn it. They were known to make hair roots strong and more firm, he says.

Buffalo horn comb manufacturing business witness a decline in late 1950s after the advent of plastic products in India. Since plastic products were cheaper, the consumption of the buffalo horn combs witnessed a sudden decline so much so that it has reduced the number of shops to one and that is mine, he adds.

Read more| Lucknows Tunday Kababi open, but loses USP: Buffalo meat

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Meat sellers across Uttar Pradesh will go on an indefinite strike from Monday against the crackdown on illegal and mechanised slaughterhouses.

Fish vendors were also claimed to have resolved to join the stir which has seen non-vegetarian delicacies go off the menu in several parts of the state.

We have decided to intensify our strike from tomorrow. All shops will remain closed. Fish sellers too have joined us and are extending support to us, said Lucknow Bakra Gosht Vypar Mandal office bearer Mubeen Qureshi.

He said, in the wake of the crackdown, there was no question of the strike being called off anytime soon. It will go on indefinitely, he said.

Due to the strike, non-vegetarian food outlets, including the famous Tunday and Rahims have shifted to mutton and chicken dishes after buffalo meat became scarce.

The meat sellers are piqued over the crackdown on slaughter houses which has adversely hit the livelihood of lakhs of people, Qureshi said.

After coming to power, the Yogi Adityanath government has ordered closure of illegal slaughterhouses and strict enforcement of the ban on cow smuggling to fulfil a key electoral promise.

As the mouth-watering kebabs went off the platter, the owner of another famous eatery said the situation might force the hoteliers to get mutton from Delhi.

But there will be no compromise on the quality of the food, he said on condition of anonymity.

At the same time, he supported the closure of illegal and mechanised slaughter houses in the state, saying it was difficult for a common man to pass through a locality where the slaughter houses were operating almost openly.

He also alleged that the illegal abattoirs even indulged in slaughtering dogs.

To a question, he said, This is not a religious issue. In fact, it is directly linked to the health of people, who have the right to good quality of meat and fish.

Meanwhile, BJP national spokesman Sambit Patra said in Delhi that the government was only following a court order as illegal abattoirs were contributing to UPs ill health by getting ground water polluted.

He claimed those running meat outlets legally and in accordance with norms were not being victimised.

There has been a court order about illegal abattoirs which was not implemented by the previous government. The states chief secretary has constituted committees in each district headed by the collector and comprising 10 people each. The committee is visiting every slaughterhouse to see if they are being run legally and submitting a report every day, he said.

About loss of livelihood and lack of meat in the market, Patra said, If there is large-scale disruption, the state government will look at it and resolve the issue.

Senior UP Congress leader Akhilesh Pratap Singh said only small meat vendors were being targeted during the drive.

How is it that the small shops are getting closed and meat exports are going up. The government should have made people aware of the laws and rules before launching the drive, he said.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said abattoirs operating legally will not be touched but action will be taken against those run illegally.

The government will not touch those (abattoirs) which are operating as per the provisions of law and have a valid licence. But those that are violating the orders of the NGT and playing with the health of the public would not be spared..., he had said.
There is something about February. The weather is glorious and the days are now longer  and these two factors never fail to whet my appetite. When it is sunny and cold all at the same, I feel like digging my teeth into something meaty. And pork is always on top of my list of to-eats.

I did have some excellent pork belly last week. We had gone to a restaurant called Perch in Khan Market (they have an outlet in Basant Lok, too). Id heard about Perch but never eaten there. So one fine evening, I landed up there with a group of friends, thinking of pork and eagerly licking my chops.

Pork does that to me. The first dish that I cooked for friends and family, many eons ago, was chilli pork  in which I marinated small pork pieces with sauces, dusted them with flour, fried them, and then let them simmer in a thick sauce prepared with onions and green pepper. Another time, a friend and I cooked the most delicious pork chops ever by adding everything that we could lay our hands on  mango chutney, ketchup, some Bloody Mary and a bit of whiskey  to the chops. I dont remember much of the evening, but the chops, I do recall, were superb.

Well done grilled pork chop steak in black plate and vegetable salad on side. (Shutterstock)

The Belgian pork with apple jus at Perch was equally divine. It was soft, wonderfully moist and with just the right flavours. Apple is something that goes very well with pork, and the jus was thick, sweet and mildly tart.

Perch is a nice place, minimalistic, yet cheerful. We ate quite a bit and every dish -- from the chicken liver parfait with poached pears (see recipe below), black rice and mushroom risotto to the sous vide chili lime spring chicken with lemon thyme jus  was just right. The risotto had the fragrant flavours of truffle oil and the parfait was deliciously smooth and creamy. The chicken sous vide (a form of sealed cooking) was tender and juicy.

Among the appetisers, the dish that I enjoyed the most was the pork scotch egg, served with white wine mustard and grape emulsion. Scotch eggs are hard boiled eggs usually coated with minced lamb; here it had a minced pork casing, which added both flavour and taste to the dish.

I had a chat with the chef, a young man called Agnibh Mudi, later, and learnt that his stress is on fresh ingredients. We use a lot of seasonal vegetables  such as pui saag in winter  in our dishes, or local ingredients such as the Bengali kasundi mustard sauce, which is served with wilted greens and fish, he says.

The chef is now planning out his Spring Menu, focusing on salads with greens, artichokes, turnips and seasonal fruits. We will serve exotic vegetables such as Swiss chard, but also a host of other vegetables, he says.

I look forward to the new menu. I plan to try out the pork once again, sometime next month. There is, after all, something about March, too.

(Rahul Verma has been writing on food for over 25 years now. And, after all these years, he has come to the conclusion that the more he writes, the more there is left to be written)

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Another fire was reported by residents at the Charkop mangroves on Sunday, making it the third such incident this year and 11th since 2016.

Residents alleged that the fire was started around 5.30pm by unidentified persons at Sector-8, which is fenced by a wall, and soon gutted area measuring 50 metres. Fed up of recurring fires, the residents have set up a meeting with the suburban collector on Monday to raise their concerns.

On March 9, a fire engulfed half-a-kilometre stretch of mangroves in the same area. In the first week of February, a fire destroyed a number of mangrove trees and was doused two hours after numerous complaints were lodged.

After Charkop resident Harjinder Garai spotted the fire, locals rushed to with fire extinguishers to douse it. While we managed to stop the fire at one location, it picked up at another and we had to inform the fire brigade, said Mili Shetty, Charkop resident, adding that the fire brigade doused the fire within 30 minutes. Miscreants are destroying the mangroves to build illegal hutments in the area.

Fire brigade officials said there was garbage dumped at the site, which was causing fires incidents back-to-back . Fires in quick succession have damaged 1,000 sq ft patch of the mangroves behind the compound wall, said a fire brigade official.

Civic body officials were unaware about the issue and refused to comment.

READ MORE

In Mumbai: 500m of Charkop mangroves charred, second incident this year

Maha probing fire at Charkop mangroves

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Around 2.07 lakh anganwadi workers and helpers across the state have decided to go on a strike from April 1 to demand for an increase in the salaries.

Anganwadi workers and helpers are hired by the government to run the central governments Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) welfare programme that provides nutrition, pre-school education to children below six years of age.

They complained that their monthly salaries of Rs5000 for an anganwadi worker and Rs2,500 for the helper, hardly gets them through the month.

In spite of working for more than seven hours a day, many anganwadi workers are taking up additional jobs to survive. Some have started working as domestic helpers, said Shubha Shamim, secretary of Anganwadi Karmchari Sangathana.

Also, there is a major delay of at least three to four months in the payment of the present salaries, she added.

Meena Mohite, 45, an anganwadi worker at Pratiksha Nagar, Sion, has been selling coconuts in the evening to earn some extra money. In the last 25 years of working as an anganwadi worker, her pay has increased from Rs 250 to only Rs 5000.

Things have got so expensive. After I lost my husband in 2009, I have single-handedly tried to pay for my daughters Bachelors of Science course fees, which is around Rs 40,000 a year, she said.

Moreover, the 31% cut in the proposed ICDS budget for 2017-2018, will only add to their woes, said health activists. The allocated budget for 2017-2018 is Rs2,033 crores as compared to Rs 2,974 last year.

Vinod Shinde associated with Jan Arogya Abhiyan said that the state government has irrationally cut funds for ICDS. The anganwadi workers do not get paid on time. Their out-of-the pocket expenses on food and travel are so high, he said.

He added that with ICDS budgetary cuts, it is unlikely that there will be an increase in the money allocated for the food expenses of the children who come to the anganwadis. As per the budget, the food expenditure per child in a day is only Rs4.92. If the anganwadi worker has to manage the expenses within budget, wouldnt the quality of food suffer? he questioned.
Educators and child development specialists in Mumbai have demanded more concessions for disabled students taking the Senior Secondary Certificate (SSC) exams, in line with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). After the government notified The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act in December last year, the CBSE has revised its facilities for disabled students, recognising 21 disabilities during class 10, 12 exams.

The central board sent a notice to its schools asking them to accommodate specified disabilities as defined in the December 28 notification regarding the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act. Under the act, the types of disabilities have been increased from the existing seven to 21.

The newly added types include mental illness, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, chronic neurological conditions, specific learning disabilities, multiple sclerosis, speech and Language disability, thalassemia, hemophilia, sickle cell disease, multiple disabilities including deaf blindness, acid attack victims and Parkinsons disease.

According to the new CBSE circular, candidates with disabilities as defined in the Act, will have an option of studying one language instead of two. They can choose mathematics, home science, music, information technology, painting and other alternatives to second language.

Additionally, the cumulative grade point average (CGPA) will only be counted from five subjects even if the child has opted for a vocational sixth subject. CGPA is usually out of six subjects for regular students.

Other measures include permitting them to use scribes or compensatory time . These steps will bring flexibility in subjects and encourage students to study in mainstream schools.

It has been reiterated that it will be the schools responsibility to ensure that no child with disabilities is denied admission and to monitor their enrolment.

Similar steps need to be taken by the Maharashtra state board, said experts. Like the RTE Act, the new disabilities act is applicable to all states, but surprisingly, Maharashtra has remained silent on it, said Rekha Vijaykar, director of Abled Disabled All People Together (ADAPT), a non-government organisation working for the differently-abled.

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The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations (BMC) budget is likely to set only monthly targets for octroi, which will be discontinued once the goods and services tax (GST) comes into effect from July 1.

BMCs budget for the financial year 2017-18 will be revealed on March 29.

BMC sets a target of close to Rs7,000 crore every financial year. The daily earning of close to Rs15 crore from octroi is also used for the corporations routine work.

A senior civic official said, We cannot keep an annual target with the GST expected to come into effect from July 1. We might have monthly targets for the next three months.

The target is estimated to be around Rs500 crore a month.

Touted to be one of the biggest economic reforms in the past two decades, the GST is a form of indirect taxation, which will merge all existing taxes under a single system. The BMC will lose its octroi revenue of Rs7,000 crore per year with the introduction of the taxation.

BMC has also asked the Central government for compensation for the loss without routing it through the state government. Another civic official said, Octroi is liquid cash that helps us maintain buoyancy. Though the compensation is for five years from the base year, there will be difficulty in maintaining the buoyancy once octroi is out.

This year, despite demonetisation, which slumped octroi revenue in November and December, BMC had met all its targets, in fact surpassing them. By Saturday, it had collected Rs7,000 crore, surpassing its target of Rs6,700 crore. Last year, the BMC had managed to earn Rs 6,300 crore, against the target of Rs6,900 crore.

The civic official said, We were able to surpass the target because of an increase in the crude oil rates and increased vigilance at the nakas. A levy on crude oil itself has earned the BMC about Rs2,000 crores.

READ MORE

Maha budget: Liquor may cost more; no new taxes; no farm loan waiver

State assembly to hold special session on GST on August 29

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To streamline the vehicular movement in Noida-Greater Noida, the district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar has given directions to police and traffic police to act swiftly against the illegal parking and heavy vehicles plying in the city without permit and not following other traffic norms.

The directions were given by the district magistrate NP Singh on Saturday during a meeting with senior officers of police, traffic police, Noida authority and transport department. Singh was joined by newly-elected legislator from Noida assembly segment Pankaj Singh.

NP Singh directed the officers that traffic related problems should be resolved within a month so that people can heave a sigh of relief. He directed Noida authority to serve notices to those offices, which have shown parking places in their maps and still park vehicles on road.

Across Noida and Greater Noida, no vehicle should be allowed to park along the road, said Singh, adding that the Noida authority should look for an alternate place where trucks can be parked. He said that drivers park their trucks at various places as no specific place for them and matter be intervened within 15 days.

To minimize the problems of traffic snarls around metro construction area, officers were told to make plan and hold meeting with the residents welfare association of concerned area. The district magistrate said that the move will help them in regulating the traffic and deciding the diversions.

Over the congestion caused by autos outside metro stations, NP Singh said that traffic police should rope in the marshals of the metro stations to ensure autos are parked at designated parking.

Noida authority was also told to finish the widening of Harola road within months time. He apprised Pankaj Singh that a vending and non-vending area should be decided in Noida, so that vendors can have a place to run their business. Moreover, it will ensure smooth flow of traffic as some vendors do their business along the road.

Meanwhile, the transport department was also told to go tough against unauthorized vehicles and directed for their seizure.

Pankaj Singh was also informed that there is shortage of traffic police and additional deployment is needed. The legislator ensured that the matter will be taken with the state government and promised for speedy results. Pankaj Singh said that

Pankaj Singh said that Noida is nearest to Delhi, where people come from various states and countries. The city should be free from traffic jam and chaos. He extended all his support to officers to make it better.

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The Ghaziabad police on Sunday transferred 607 head constables and constables, including women constables, among the police stations in Ghaziabad. The move came after chief minister Yogi Adityanath decided to retain the portfolio of the home department in the state.

Officials said that the reshuffle was done in accordance with a 2010 government order, which allows for moving police personnel posted for three years or more at a police station in a particular district. To give way to the major shuffle, the district police chief roped in IPS officers and directed them to chalk out a list, in which 607 such personnel, nearly 18% of the district police force, were identified.

Officials said that the preparation of the list was also kept confidential.

The reshuffle has been done in a routine way as per government order. I joined last October and soon, the model code of conduct for the elections was in place. Then, only the sub-inspectors were shuffled. This exercise was pending and we did it now. It is quite possible that many of the transferred personnel could have been posted in the same police station for more than three years, maybe four to six years, Deepak Kumar, the senior superintendent of police, Ghaziabad, said.

Officials said that the move was also approved by the headquarters. A couple of days ago, the district police chief had suspended 44 personnel, constables and head constables, on charges of dereliction of duty. Before the move, IPS officers and local intelligence officials were asked to prepare a report, in which traces of corruption against the personnel were found.

A police source said, Those suspended mostly included personnel who assumed the purported tag of thekedaars at police stations and allegedly indulged in corrupt practices, even overshadowing station house officers and sub-inspectors.

During a previous attempt to remove the thekedaars, some of them had approached courts and obtained stays. However, this time, senior officials got the stay orders suspended in order to avoid being in the contempt of court, the source said.

Since then (the suspensions and shuffle), there have been various sifarish (undue recommendations in this case) coming in to restore the personnel. Such recommendations are coming from politicians and pressure groups but it is not going to work. The police stations must be clean, a senior police official said.

A former Uttar Pradesh police chief expressed surprise over the development and also asked why the exercise was left pending for so long.

I am surprised over the development. Rules and regulations in Uttar Pradesh were largely oriented to suit specific groups. Several officers also confided during conversations that they found it difficult to take action against particular persons. It may be that now the officers are feeling emboldened and trying to set the course right, Prakash Singh, former UP director general of police, said.

However, I would also say that some officers taking such actions could also be trying to project themselves (as favourable) to the higher-ups. This could also have been done previously during the normal course of duties. The number of those shuffled is large and this detailed exercise should be properly scrutinised as well. Corruption is pervasive and undisputed. It is also a fact that members of a particular group found it convenient to be posted in these districts as these are considered a gold mine, he said.

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Vibha Charanpaharis black and white picture drew quite a few eyeballs at the three-day Bihar Diwas at Gandhi Maidan.

Its the first one, right in your gaze, as you enter the exhibition of pictures. It depicts a woman holding a wine bottle in her hand and dancing her way to the stars at a New Year party, exactly a year ago.

Today, Vibha chuckles at the mention and points to a sea change in her personal life and among those around.

Abhishek Kumar (HT photo)

I am happy and thankful to the chief minister for imposing the ban. Now I am involved in spreading awareness and conducting workshops and seminar supporting the alcohol ban, she says over phone.

And why not? She has been to the exhibition and revelled in the exhibits entitled Then and Now, which juxtapose her life then and now. Arent they creating a positive impression of the change wrought in the minds of people of Bihar in the last one year? she asks coyly.

Women activists (left) demanding ban on liquor before April 2016 and police seize liquor during a post-prohibition raid in Patna.

Hindustan Times Groups photographer, Abhishek Kumar has more than turned heads at the ground, with his uncanny ability to contrast the mood pre-April 2016, and a year onwards. The theme of course is prohibition, the slides cutting through a slice of Bihar history in the year gone by.

Activists stage a dharna demanding ban on liquor and women celebrating post-prohibition.

The lensmans eye has caught the details as it captures the agitations, the support jousts, the public mind exercised over the issue of a booze ban and the restlessness of the time.

If there are pictures of pro-prohibition protest marches by women of Patna, the campaign is brought out in bold, with the subjects seemingly vocal and intent. The black and white pictures stand out amid a riot of colour frames, offering a shade and light combine, which rivets.

People who used to trade in liquor now see vegetables.

This is my third exhibition at the Bihar Diwas pavilion and the focus here is on depicting the positive impact of total prohibition as well as contrasts of pre-prohibition days with after ban days. They are all published photographs, rearranged in swap history form to bring out a sense of achievement that Bihar witnesses, said Abhishek.

Abhishek has had this ability to look for different and outstanding photographs, which he had proved through his exhibits on Bihar ki Betiyaan and Badhta Bihar themes. The difference, this time, shows that he has arrived.

I feel exhilarated. The response has been kind to endearing and overwhelming.. Many identified with the slides; some actually relived their old times with the bottle and spoke of the change. My objective has been realised, said Abhishek. The sentiments show in the two visitors book, now spilling over with comments.

The 13 slides portray elite and Mahadalit life in a series of contrasts - talk of wine shops and its environs littered with after drink waste - polyethylene pouches, plastic covers of mixtures and bones of a chicken devoured and cases of upmarket soft drink and mineral water bottles lying around.

An advisory (left) not to mix liquor with driving and (right) schoolchildren form a human chain to support prohibition.

Moni Devi and Archana Devi of Danapur, who are part of a womens group, which anchored the pro-prohibition drive -Mahila Brigade - said, After years of protests and being hauled into jails several times for barricading liquor shops, we are leading a much more peaceful time within homes and outside today. Chief minister Nitishji heeded our request. That has saved us enough money to dream of putting our two daughters through a quality Kendriya Vidyalaya, said Archana.

Another young woman, who visited the stall, recalled: We lived in a joint family in Chitkohra area and there were no moments free of quarrel. My father, grandfather, maternal grandfather, brothers, mother and grandmother, all used to take country liquor and pick fights with pedestrians and neighbours. Now we are happy, thanks to prohibition. She wished not to be identified.

Abhishek has captured such moods and the mystic is unravelled in the lost versus happy frames, which stand out with the message, Liquor could kill that laughter.

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Circumvention of rules, sheer disregard, or not following the law because you dont agree with it: Which one of these qualities would you like your child to possess? Dont answer that. No law stipulates that you answer that. Note: We must do nothing unless a law tells us to. Thats what many schools in Chandigarh believe, and theyre easy to blame for it.

These schools are accused of possessing any or all of the above-stated qualities. And your children probably study there already. It is now up to the kids to imbibe the virtues that the school demonstrates year after year. For instance, 19 private schools got show-cause notices two years ago for not admitting entry-level students under the land allotment scheme, but many continue to flout the norms. Its no surprise that while journalists, such as my colleague Ifrah Mufti, continue to underline this, the UT estate office and education department have only postponed the matter.

Under the scheme, the administration gave land at concessional rates to schools with the condition that they fill 15% seats on nominal fee for the poor. After the Right to Education (RTE) Act 2005, the law stipulates admission of 25% students from economically weaker sections at the entry level, for which the government reimburses schools at rates that were recently revised to Rs 1,300 per month per child. The administration argued in the past that since 15% were already covered under the nominal fee norm, no reimbursement is to be paid to schools for that bracket. Schools have to admit 10% more to meet the 25% stipulation, and will get reimbursement only for those 10%.

School authorities have not only disputed the definition of concessional and nominal under the land scheme, but have even argued that the per-child cost to an elite school is, say, between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 (per month), much higher than what is reimbursed to them under the RTE Act. They go to the extent of seeking repeal of the RTE, though there is no dearth of alibis. The RTEs poor quota does not apply to minority institutions, so the schools have been tagging themselves as such over the past few years.

The administration has been forming committees and carrying out deliberations and inspections to work something out of this mess. But such is the urgency that this column has flagged this issue twice before over the past four years. One of those times, a functionary of the Independent Schools Association of Chandigarh responded with a counter-article that reasoned: The role of private schools is to provide excellence in education, not universal education. Are restaurants, hotels, factories making cloth etc obliged to part with 25% of their production for free? Do the thousands of people living in their own houses set aside 25% of their homes to accommodate EWS families?

It added that the State had made laws to dump its responsibility into the laps of private schools and that minority schools were only seeking guarantees and protections provided by the Constitution.

The argument carries weight, hence the stalemate. But who is responsible for it? Dont answer that either. No law stipulates you to do that. Let me propound a simple theory instead. No stalemate should continue if there is indeed rule of law. And the much-vilified State is its custodian. The UT administration has been unable to address any of the concerns of the schools for years now. If it has tried to, and the schools have behaved like stubborn bullies, why has the education department not been able to take action beyond sending notices?

Is it because the officers kids go to the same schools? Dont answer that either. Heres what we need to know: Seats for the poor in the UTs private schools are coming down  from around 1,200 four years ago to 700 last year. As far back as November of 2013, I wrote rather sweepingly, It will get worse, and the poor will then systemically be squeezed out, reduced to the margins. Thats turning out to be true, hence I repeat. A school head had then told me that with minority status, its now up to my will and conscience whether to admit poor students or not.

But, should matters such as universal education as guaranteed by the law be left to will and conscience? Answer that.

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The Gurdaspur Central Jail authorities announced several rewards and sops for inmates as normalcy returned to the prison on Sunday.

The authorities got cracking on the task of introducing sweeping reforms in the prison, on the directions of Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday. The authorities arranged for a team of doctors to check on inmates in all the barracks. The team did not come across any incident of even minor injury.

In a sign of gratitude for protecting and saving the lives of four staff members during the rioting by about 150 inmates, the jail authorities have presented four barracks with TV sets, while giving a go-ahead for the establishment of a bakery unit for prisoners desirous of doing work.

In another gesture, more than 25 prisoners who had requested their transfer to other prisons for personal reasons have been shifted to the jails of their choice.

Further, nearly four dozen cases of leave, pending with the DC office, have been given the sanction as a reward to inmates who did not join the rioting mob of miscreants, said the spokesperson.

A helpline is being launched in the DC office for expediting parole requests, while arrangements are being made to provide the prisoners with special facilities to meet their relatives for the whole of next week.

The barrack in which the trouble started will be converted into an activity centre, with computer, English, yoga and music classes set to commence next week, the spokesperson said.

Further, a special IGNOU enrolment drive has started in the prison, with 31 inmates responding to the prison officials encouragement to join various courses (Matric, 10+2, BA, Basic, LLB).

Talking to HT, jail superintendent Dilbgah Singh Gill said, Normalcy has returned to the jail and we are in talks with the inmates. A few gangsters and hardcore criminals had created the ruckus. We have formed a peace committee comprising officials and prisoners to look into the issues.

On the reasons behind the violence, Gill said some inmates claim that warders were rude to them. But the basic reason is that we intensified checking and surveillance to check flow of drugs and use of mobile phones. Some hardcore criminals felt suffocated and resorted to violence out of frustration, Gill said.

Inmates had gone on rampage on Friday and the violence escalated through the night, during which warders were beaten up, furniture was burnt and a hole was carved out in the boundary wall of the jail by the prisoners in a bid to flee. The situation was brought under control by SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) commandos and other cops numbering around 3,000. Tear gas shells and gunshots were fired to thwart the jailbreak attempt.

Post-violence steps

 Inmates of four barracks get TV sets as a reward for not participating in violence.

 All inmates were medically examined.

 A special IGNOU enrolment drive has started in the prison. About 31 inmates have expressed desire to join courses.

 Barrack in which the trouble started will be converted into an activity centre, with computer, English, yoga and music classes set to commence next week.

 Helpline is being launched in the DC office for expediting parole requests.

 As many as 48 applications for leave by inmates, which were pending with the DC office, sanctioned.

 About 25 prisoners shifted to jails of their choice.
The Jharkhand government on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), for expansion of the Deoghar airstrip into a world class airport with all modern amenities.

The MoU was signed at the CM residence in Ranchi in presence of MoS civil aviation, Jayant Sinha and chief minister Raghubar Das.

The modernized and expanded airport, ministers claimed, would facilitate air travel for residents of tribal-dominated Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand, to all the major cities in the country and also abroad. The airport will also make it easier for devotees to visit Jyotirling Baba Baidyanath and the annual Sravani Mela in Deoghar, they said.

The most backward region of Jharkhand is also expected to witness industrial growth due to air travel and cargo facility at Deoghar airport.

The airport should be ready by December 2019. After 70 years of independence, Jharkhand will get its second airport. Its a historical step, said Das.

The current 53.41 acre airport will be expanded to a 654.10 acre full-fledged facility for air travel.

The Jharkhand government and AAI will contribute Rs.50 crore each for the project, while the DRDO will contribute Rs.200 crore, the chief ministers office said.

Excluding the existing 53.41 acre land, the remaining 600.69 acre land will be given to the AAI on lease of 30 years for Re. 1 per year. The Jharkhand government has already transferred 635.97 acre of the land to AAI.

The state acquired 437.70 acre land for the purpose and a sum of Rs.426.66 crore would be given as compensation to land owners.

The upgraded and expanded airport infrastructure would primarily include the main terminal, parking, cargo complex and airport personnel residential colony.

MoS civil aviation Jayant Sinha said that the airport will connect Santhal Pargana to the entire country, and this connectivity will speed up development of the region.

The main purpose of the expansion was non-military use of A-320 category aircraft, sources present at the MoU signing ceremony said.

For five years since the beginning of operations at the airport, Jharkhand government will provide free of cost electricity and water to the AAI. The land transferred to the AAI too would be tax-free for five years since the beginning of operations, a CMO communique said.

However, the expenditure of any further maintenance and expansion of the airport would be borne by the AAI.

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Comedian Kapil Sharmas ex-girlfriend, Preeti Simoes  the creative director of K9 Productions behind The Kapil Sharma Show  recently deactivated her Twitter account amid rumours that shes ending her association with the comedy show. In an exclusive interview to Hindustan Times, Preeti, whos currently vacationing in Goa, says she doesnt want to be a part of the controversy that ensued after Kapil reportedly misbehaved with co-star Sunil Grover on their return flight from Australia, last week.

Kapil, who was drunk at the time, is said to have hurled his shoe at Sunil and abused him in front of his shows cast and crew, including Preeti. Everyone is said to be upset with Kapils behaviour. Reports of co-actors Ali Asgar and Chandan Prabhakar boycotting the show have been doing the rounds.

Have a wonderful happy, healthy birthday and many more to come. Happy Birthday @preeti_simoes di

 pic.twitter.com/7FFK8eq5Ss  Preeti Simoes FC (@PreetiFC) July 31, 2016

Has Preeti also quit the show? I will take things as they come, once Im back from Goa, she says. I have always had a great working relationship with Kapil and the team. Right after Australia, I went on vacation. I had applied for this leave a year back. I have been in Goa for a week now, for my aunts birthday. Let me get back to Mumbai, and then well see, adds Preeti.

Not wishing to divulge details about the brawl on the flight, Preeti admits that she deactivated her Twitter account as she doesnt want to take sides. From the moment I knew what had happened, I didnt want to be part of it. If I retweet Sunils post then people will say I am on his side and if I dont, then people think I am on Kapils side, she says, adding, I didnt want to be part of the fiasco. If people are assuming things, then they can continue to do so. I dont open myself to opinions that dont matter. I dont have a public life. I am a worker and my job is to create content, not controversies.

Once the news of the tiff broke out earlier this week, Kapil took to Twitter to publicly apologise to Sunil. Sunil, in turn, wrote back that Kapil should start respecting human beings also apart from animals. Buzz is strong that Sunil has quit the The Kapil Sharma Show.

Preeti, who has been at the receiving end of accusations that she gave out information about the tiff, argues that there is no reason for her to do that. I was there [on the flight] because it is my job. But what is there to leak? Everyone from the show, who was on the flight has already spoken about it, so what am I going to leak? she says, adding, I dont know why I am being dragged into this? No one has called me to ask me anything. I dont know how I have become part of this? The suffering parties have already conveyed what they had to. I think enough has been said already. The incident is out in the open for all to see. I cant even think of pointing fingers at one person since it happened publicly on a flight with 200 plus people.

Meanwhile, last week, Kapil introduced his fiancee Ginni aka Bhavneet Chatrath to the world on social media, which many saw as a ploy to divert attention from the fight.
A committee dominated by pro-Beijing elites chose Hong Kongs next leader Sunday in the first vote since huge pro-democracy protests erupted over the election system in 2014.

Carrie Lam, the governments former No 2 official and Beijings favored candidate, received 777 votes and will become the first female leader for the city and its fourth since British colonial control ended.

Chinas communist leadership had lobbied for her so Lams victory came as no surprise. After the votes were counted, Lam bowed to the crowd and shook hands with second-place finisher, former finance secretary John Tsang, who received 365 votes.

Read: Hong Kong set to get new leader amid protests, accusations of China meddling

Some pro-democracy supporters in the official seating area yelled slogans and held up a yellow umbrella, the symbol of the 2014 protests, as the results were announced. The elite election committee was at the root of the protests as activists decried the lack of a direct choice by Hong Kong residents.

A woman shouts and holds a banner with the picture of candidate Carrie Lam as she joins others protesting during the election for Hong Kong's next chief executive in China on Sunday. (Reuters Photo)

Lam is an efficient and pragmatic administrator but unpopular with Hong Kongers because shes seen as a proxy for Beijing and out of touch with ordinary people.

Tsang, in contrast, is highly popular because of his easygoing persona and deft use of social media. He has been nicknamed Pringles or Uncle Chips in Cantonese for his signature mustache that draws comparisons to the snack food mascot and his followers call themselves small potatoes.

The third candidate, retired judge Woo Kwok-hing, had 21 votes.

Lam will take over from current leader Leung Chun-ying who is not seeking a second term, citing family reasons. Political analysts suspect Beijing asked Leung, a highly polarizing figure, to step aside for someone better liked.

Carrie Lam is congratulated after she wins the election for Hong Kong's chief executive. (Reuters Photo)

Members of the Hong Kongs election committee include tycoons like Li Ka-shing, Hong Kongs richest person. They represent industry and trade groups such as finance, accounting, real estate and textiles.

Hong Kong lawmakers, local councilors and delegates to Chinas parliament also have votes and some seats, mostly in the education, legal, health and social welfare sectors, are held by pro-democracy supporters.
A mainly pro-China committee began voting for a new leader of Hong Kong on Sunday to take the helm of the deeply divided city, which is fearful Beijing is curtailing its freedoms.

It is the first leadership vote since mass Umbrella Movement rallies calling for fully free elections in 2014 failed to win reform and comes after a turbulent term under current chief executive Leung Chun-ying.

Leung is seen by opponents as a Beijing puppet and will step down in July after five years in charge.

Hong Kong is semi-autonomous and has been governed under a one country, two systems deal since it was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.

But, 20 years on, there are serious concerns Beijing is disregarding the handover agreement designed to protect Hong Kongs way of life.

Activists call the vote a sham as around three quarters of committee members are from the pro-mainland camp.

Protesters attend a pro-democracy rally in Hong Kong. (AFP Photo)

Frustration at what they see as Chinas increasing influence and a lack of promised political reform has sparked calls for self-determination for Hong Kong, or even a complete split from China.

Sundays election is forecast to usher in another divisive leader -- Leungs former deputy Carrie Lam.

Lam is widely seen as Beijings favourite for the job and would become Hong Kongs first ever woman chief executive.

Read: Pro-Beijing Hong Kong chief not to seek re-election

She is intensely disliked by the pro-democracy camp after promoting the Beijing-backed reform package that sparked 2014s massive protests.

That plan said the public could choose the city leader in 2017, but insisted candidates must be vetted first.

It was eventually voted down in parliament by pro-democracy lawmakers and reforms have been shelved ever since.

Voting opened for members of the committee at the citys heavily guarded harbour-front convention centre at 9:00am local time as protesters gathered outside.

Pro-China supporters played marching music surrounded by national and city flags opposite a group of democracy campaigners who had camped out in the square near the convention centre overnight.

One protester said he did not believe any of the nominees would improve life in Hong Kong. The three candidates dont have the determination for reform, said Tommy Ho, 32.

Uphill struggle

Representatives of a broad number of sectors, from business to education, sit on the 1,194-strong committee that chooses the chief executive, but the vast majority of the citys 3.8 million electorate have no say in the vote.

Pro-democracy committee members say they will throw their weight behind Lams main rival, ex-finance secretary John Tsang, seen as a more moderate establishment figure.

But activists say he is still on the side of Beijing and reject the vote outright.

The new leader will face an uphill struggle to unite a city in which young people in particular have lost faith in the political system and their overall prospects.

With salaries too low to meet the cost of property in an overpriced market fuelled by mainland money, getting ahead in life is seen as increasingly difficult.

A pro-democracy protester displays a placard during a demonstration in Hong Kong to demand genuine universal suffrage. (AP Photo)

Lam says she will try to build consensus by focusing on social issues, including poverty and housing.

But critics say she is dodging the bigger political questions and will pave the way for Beijing to extend its influence.

That anxiety comes off the back of a number of incidents under Leung that rocked public confidence.

They include the disappearance in 2015 of five Hong Kong booksellers known for publishing salacious titles about Chinas political elite. The booksellers all resurfaced in detention on the mainland.

Last year, the disqualification from parliament of two publicly elected pro-independence lawmakers following a Beijing intervention also prompted accusations the citys legislature had been seriously compromised.
Indian Americans have presented Ian Grillot, who suffered multiple bullet wounds in the Kansas shooting, with a check of $100,000, calling him a genuine hero who risks his life for another, and takes a bullet for a complete stranger.

It is not every day that one meets a genuine hero  a person who risks his life for another, and takes a bullet for a complete stranger, said Jiten Agarwal, a leading Indian American, at an event in Houston, Texas, on Friday where the check was given to Grillot.

For he that sheds his blood for me today is my brother, he added, using a variation of Shakespeares For he today that sheds his blood with me, shall be my brother, according to a statement on Facebook posted by India House, a community centre run by Indian Americans.

Ian Grillot is a man who reminds us of the promise of America and its greatness, said Agarwal.

A very moved Grillot said after accepting the check, I dont know if I couldve lived with myself if I wouldnt have stopped or attempted to stop the shooter because that wouldve been completely devastating.

I do now have a very powerful message and if I can help empower people and spread hope and love, then why not?

The money, raised entirely by the Indian American community, is intended to help Grillot, 24, buy a house.

Grillot was shot in the arm and the chest when he tried to stop Adam Purinton who had opened fire on two Indian engineers at a bar in Olathe, Kansas in February, killing one of them, Srinivas Kuchibhotla.

The American was instantly hailed as a hero in India and in the US as a symbol of the larger and inclusive America that had seemed overrun by bigots, Islamophobes and immigrant-haters in the aftermath of the election of President Donald Trump.

A grateful India invited Grillot to visit, in a message from external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj conveyed to him by the Indian counsel-general in Houston, Anupam Ray.

And Indian Americans, a tiny but prosperous community of 3 million, raised money for him to help him buy a house, as an expression of their appreciation for what he had done, an initiative that was encouraged by the Indian counsel-general.
The Islamic State group ordered residents to evacuate the Syrian city of Raqqa on Sunday following reports that a dam contested by US-backed forces upstream on the Euphrates River could collapse, activists reported.

The militants said coalition airstrikes had weakened the Tabqa Dam, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Raqqa, and that the water level behind the dam was rising. The extremists captured the city from Syrian rebels in 2014 and it now serves as the capital of the groups self-styled Islamic caliphate.

The group also said in messages carried on its social media channels that the dams operations had been put out off service and that all flood gates were closed.

The dam is the largest in Syria.

Civilians began fleeing midday, according to the activist-run group, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces has been battling to capture the dam from Islamic State since Friday.

A Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said it had also learned from its own sources that the dam had stopped functioning but that Islamic State remained in control of its main operational buildings and turbines.

The dam is about 4 km long and the SDF has advanced a small distance along the dam from the northern bank but its progress is slow because Islamic State has heavily mined the area, the Observatory said.

The US-led coalition battling IS could not immediately be reached for comment.

The reports from Raqqa came as a leading Syrian opposition group called on the US-led coalition to stop targeting residential areas in and around the city.

The Syrian National Coalition said in a statement that it was increasingly concerned about civilian casualties in the campaign against the extremist group. The exiled opposition coalition is taking part in U.N.-mediated talks in Geneva.

The SNC said it believed coalition forces were behind an airstrike that killed at least 30 civilians sheltering in a school in the countryside outside Raqqa on March 21. The coalition has said it is investigating.

The US has provided substantial air and ground support to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who are closing in on Raqqa as well as the Tabqa Dam.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said coalition airstrikes have killed 89 civilians in the Raqqa province in the past week, including 35 in the Badya school, in the village of Mansoura.
A 24-year-old American, who took a bullet for an Indian, has been honoured as A True American Hero by the Indian-American community, at the 14th annual gala of India House Houston, which raised $100,000 to help him buy a house in his hometown Kansas.

Ian Grillot was injured when he tried to intervene in the shooting by a Navy veteran targetting Indians at a bar in Olathe, Kansas last month.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured in the shooting.

On behalf of the Indian-American community in Houston, India House recognised this selfless act beyond the call of duty and has extended the communitys gratitude to Ian Grillot by helping him to buy a house, said a statement posted on the India House Houston Facebook page.

India House raised the amount as part of an initiative supported by the Consul General of India in Houston Dr Anupam Rayn, it said.

Indias ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna handed over the cheque to Ian.

I dont know if I could have lived with myself if I wouldn not have stopped or attempted to stop the shooter because that would have been completely devastating. I do now have a very powerful message and if I can help empower people and spread hope and love, then why not? I am honored to be at India House that serves so many families from so many communities in the Houston area, Ian said.

India House is a community center built by Americans of Indian origin in the Greater Houston area.

It is not every day that one meets a genuine hero -- a person who risks his life for another, and takes a bullet for a complete stranger. Ian Grillot is a man who reminds us of the promise of America and its greatness, said Jiten Agarwal, a prominent Houstonian and Chair of the annual gala.
A large number of US colleges are reporting a decline in applications for admission from international students, including from India and China, because of concerns and anxieties about the Donald Trump administrations travel orders and a growing perception that the United States has become less welcoming of foreigners, according to a new survey.

Nearly 40% of US colleges are seeing declines in applications from international students, and international student recruitment professionals report a great deal of concern from students and their families about visas and perceptions of a less welcoming climate in the US, said the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) announcing preliminary findings of a survey of 250 colleges recently.

But 35% reported an increase, and 26% reported no change in applicant numbers.

The largest drop was reported by institutions for applicants from the Middle East, some of whose Muslim-majority nations have been targeted for travel bans by the new administration  no new visas for six countries  and others for flight restrictions on electronic devices.

But the Middle East accounted for only 10,000 international students enrolled in US colleges in 2015-2016, which is a little under 10% of the total cohort.

The largest drops were reported from India and China, who together made up 47% of the international students in 2016, totalling almost half a million, according to Open Door, a government-funded body that studies and tracks international students and scholars.

Of the colleges surveyed, 26% reported a decline in undergraduate applications from India and 25% reported a decline from China. And the drop in applications for graduate courses was 15% from India and 32% from China.

The study found that concerns about the current climate in the United States was the highest among applicants from the Middle East (79)%, Asia (36%) and Latin America (34%).

The concerns and worries were chiefly, the survey found, one, perceptions of a rise in student visa denials at US embassies and consulates in China, India and Nepal; two, perception that the climate in the US is now less welcoming to individuals from other countries; three, concerns that benefits and restrictions around visas could change, especially around the ability to travel, re-entry after travel, and employment opportunities; and fourth, and finally, concerns that the Executive Order travel ban might expand to include additional countries.

There has been a spike in anti-Muslim sentiments in the US in recent years starting with the San Bernardino terrorist attack in December 2015, that were tapped and stoked by the Trump campaign and now his administration. Trumps travel orders banning fresh visas to citizens of six Muslim-majority nations have only exacerbated this.

While the perception of a rise in visa denials in India could not be confirmed, the decline in the number of Indian applicants could have been fuelled more by a sense of insecurity in the aftermath of the Kansas killing of Srinivas Kuchibhotla and reports of subsequent attacks and abuse  Indians being told to go back to their own country, mistaken for Middle-Easterners in some instances.
The terror attack on the British parliament which killed four people ended within 82 seconds and was carried out by Khalid Masood who acted alone, Scotland Yard confirmed on Sunday conceding they might never understand the 52-year-old attackers motive.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Polices Counter Terrorism Command confirmed, after a detailed probe, that the attack started at 2:40:08 pm (local time) on Wednesday when the car that Masood was driving over Westminster Bridge first mounted the northbound pavement.

He continued towards Bridge Street along both the footpath and road before crashing into the perimeter fence of the Palace of Westminster. At 2:40:59 pm (local time), the first 999 call was made to the Met, reporting the incident, it said.

Masood left the vehicle and was shot by a police firearms officer inside the Palace of Westminster boundary at 2:41pm.

Our investigation continues at pace. I am grateful for the public support so far, but I am asking for more help. If you knew Khalid Masood and had spoken to him in the months, weeks or days leading up to this attack please come forward, said Met police Indian-origin deputy assistant commissioner Neil Basu, who is the senior national coordinator for UK Counter Terrorism Policing.

We still believe that Masood acted alone on the day and there is no information or intelligence to suggest there are further attacks planned, Basu said.

Tribute paid to the victims of the Westminster attack in Parliament Square, London. (AP Photo)

His remarks came after two of the 11 people arrested in connection with the attack were questioned by police to establish whether the attacker acted alone or had associates.

Whilst the attack lasted only 82 seconds it will remain in the memories of many forever. The thoughts of all those working on this investigation are with those so deeply affected, Basu said.

One person remains in custody in connection with the attack after 11 arrests in the aftermath of the attack, he said.

Born as Adrian Russell Ajao in Dartford before converting to Islam, Masood was known to UK police and intelligences services.

He was born to a white mother and black father and is said to have been affected by racism while growing up.

Even if he acted alone in the preparation we need to establish with absolute clarity why he did these unspeakable acts to bring reassurance to Londoners, and to provide answers and closure for the families of those killed and the victims and survivors of this atrocity, Basu said.

We must all accept that there is a possibility we will never understand why he did this. That understanding may have died with him. Nevertheless, we are determined to understand if Masood was a lone actor inspired by terrorist propaganda or if others have encouraged, supported or directed him. If the latter proves to be the case, they will face justice, he said.
A rebel court in Yemens insurgent-held capital Sanaa has sentenced in absentia President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to death for high treason, the rebel news agency said.

Yemen on Sunday marked the second anniversary of a Saudi-led coalition starting air strikes against the Huthi rebels in support of Hadis government, after the insurgents overran the capital Sanaa.

The court found Hadi guilty of usurping the title of president after the end of his term in office in February 2014, instigating attacks by Saudi Arabia and undermining the independence and integrity of the Republic of Yemen, the rebel-controlled Saba agency said late on Saturday.

Six members of Hadis government were also sentenced to death for treason, it said.

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of Huthi supporters flooded the streets of Sanaa for a mass rally against Saudi Arabias role in the war, an AFP reporter at the site said.

That came a day after former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is allied to the Huthis, slammed Riyadh in a speech marking two years since the coalitions military intervention.

Free Yemenis will continue to choose resistance, as long as the coalition led by Saudi Arabia continues to choose war, Saba quoted Saleh as saying.

Rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi said the Saudi-led coalition had been living under the illusion that they can take Yemen in a week or a month... but have sunk into the mud, it said.

Hadis forces have gained ground in southern Yemen since the coalitions intervention in March 2015, but the Huthis still control the capital and strategic ports on the Red Sea coastline.

More than 7,700 people have been killed and over 40,000 injured over the past two years, the United Nations says. Three million people have been displaced and the country faces a serious threat of famine, it says.
When overhearing the phrases, Ball so hard motherfuckas wanna fine me, or That shit cray, one almost instinctively thinks of Jay Z and Kanye Wests ferociously successful single Niggas In Paris from their collaborative album Watch The Throne. And while its valid to remember the rap masterminds who vehemently slay the track with their deafening tones and flows, it is just as important to remember one of the songs key producers, Chauncey Hollis, Jr., better known as Hit-Boy.The Fontana, California native has been a permanent fixture in the industry since 2010 and has worked with some of the biggest artists on some of the biggest projects over the course of the last several years.

He got his start in the industry in 2007 with the collective brand Surf Club, comprised of fellow producers and artists, Chase N.Cashe, BCarr, and Chili Chill. Soon the group would gain enough recognition to catch the eyes of legendary producer Polow Da Don, who messaged Hit-Boy on Myspace with a very simple call to action, Lets get this paper.

After that initial contact, Hit-Boy linked up Polow Da Dons Zone 4 record label, a division of Interscope Records, and began doing what he does best: making hits. From that point up until now, Hit-Boy has been unstoppable and has worked with everyone from Mary J. Blige and Selena Gomez to Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Beyonce and a whole lot more. Not to mention that his artist discography is nearly as impressive as his production credits, as he has developed a remarkable brand over the years with his solo music and record label Hits Since 87 imprint.

Check out our 10 Essential Hit-Boy Productions and follow the steep rise of the astoundingly talented artist and producer.

Hit-Boy

Niggas In Paris Jay Z & Kanye West

As mentioned in the introduction, Niggas In Paris is one of the most successful songs from the production side of Hit-Boys discography. The song went triple platinum and took home the Grammy for Best Rap Song in 2011. But the track represents more than just the beginning of a winning record for Hit-Boy. Its really his coming out party and the platform that catapulted him into an elite category that houses the industrys most innovative and elite producers. Not to mention that this track fittingly represents Hit-Boys time with G.O.O.D. Music. Because even though Christmas In Harlem was one of the first tracks to put the spotlight on Hit-Boy as a producer, its effect on his career doesnt compare to what Niggas In Paris did for him, nor is it as evocative of his affinity to create the most thunderous, and violently banging beats.

Check out the video for Niggas In Paris below.

Drop The World Lil Wayne Ft. Eminem

Though Drop The World came out before Niggas In Paris it wasnt as proper of an introduction to the industry for Hit-Boy as the Watch The Throne track was, but it is still very noteworthy. In 2010 Lil Wayne was arguably the biggest artist in the world. His classic album The Carter 3 turned the game upside down and Wayne was literally rewriting the rules of the game with every new release.

This track is significant because again, it was one of the biggest tracks of the year and was extremely successful. On top of that, this track once again proves how easily Hit-Boy can lace iconic artists with equally legendary beats to create hit after hit.

Clique Big Sean, Jay Z & Kanye West

Once again Hit-Boy delivers alongside a star-studded cast. The single Clique comes in at the height of the artist/producers time with G.O.O.D. Music. There isnt too much to say about this track, or Hit-boy for that matter, that hasnt already been said. It is simply just another wildly successful banger produced by Hit-Boy.

Goldie

Another huge track from Hit-Boys colossal run in 2012 is A$AP Rockys lead single from his Long Live ASAP album Goldie. This is another self-explanatory track that features an intense, ridiculously hype beat provided by Hit-Boy. By this point, this guy had carved out a rock-solid reputation as a hit-maker and Goldie is 100 percent proof why. Its also an interesting track for this list because it speaks volumes to Hit-Boys ability to highlight the talents of each and every artist he has every worked with. The beat, in combination with the pitch shifted vocals and flawless flow of A$AP Rocky on Goldie helped to propel the Harlem rapper to insanely hype heights just before the release of his debut album.

Check out the very wavy video below. R.I.P A$AP Yams.

Backseat Freestyle

This is the point of the list where we begin to see a very specific and important shift in Hit-Boys career. Around the time Kendrick Lamars seminal album Good Kid Maad City was released, Hit-Boy was nearing the end of his deal with G.O.O.D. Music and was continually securing high profile production credits. Among many other things, his career, style and influence was evolving and we get a small glimpse of it with Backseat Freestyle.

Trophies

At this point, its 2013, Hit-Boy just released his first solo project HITstory, he just got out of his deal with G.O.O.D. Music and announced his new deal with Interscope Records. Additionally, he founded his own record label imprint Hits Since 87 and had worked on several of the biggest albums of the year including Beyonces self-titled surprise album that changed the way that artists release albums forever. Its safe to say that Hit-Boy had the game in the palm of his hand right then and there, but he didnt get comfortable.

Trophies is the perfect track on the list for this moment in Hit-Boys career because, in a way, Drakes song personifies the multihyphenates career trajectory and accomplishments. Hit-Boy was finally in a position to take control of his musical legacy and build. The hook on Trophies is an insanely accurate depiction of this stage in the history Hit-Boys work.

Quotable Lyrics

Whats the move?

Can I tell truth? If I was doing this for you

Then I have nothing left to prove, nah

This for me, though

Im just tryna stay alive and take care of my people

And they dont have no award for that

Trophies

Trophies

And they dont have no award for that

Shit dont come with trophies, aint no envelopes to open

I just do it cause Im sposed to, nigga

Grindin My Whole Life Ft. nNo, B. Carr, Hit-Boy, Big Hit, Audio Push, Bmacthequeen & Kent M$ney

in 2014, Hit-Boy released the HS87 compilation album We The Plug and flooded the streets with bangers crafted by himself and his frequent collaborators and artists like Audio Push, in addition to giving a platform to new artists and his family members. The track is very significant because it really shows the potential Hit-Boy has to become an industry mogul as well as an elite rapper. Also, the song is like this guys life anthem because, lets face it, dude has been grinding his entire life.

The guest spot from his father, Big Hit is actually super dope too.

Feeling Myself Ft. Beyonce

If ever there was a track that proved Hit-Boy could do no wrong, it is definitely Feeling Myself. Just having Beyonce and Nicki Minaj on the same track together is enough fro it to be a hit, but the added minimalistic and for lack of a better term, fire-ass beat from Hit-Boy take it to another level. This song is virtually another feather in the cap of Hit-Boy and further confirms his dominance as a force in the industry.

2016 was also another big year in what seems to be an endless string of big years for Hit-Boy. Per usual, he has production credits on some of the biggest and most successful projects of the year including Beyonces visual album Lemonade, Travis Scotts Birds In The Trap Sing Mcknight and Rihannas Anti. But even though he was busy lacing the industry leaders with heat for their albums, he was also busy working on more music of his own. In late November Dom Kennedy and Hit-Boy teamed up to create the collective Half-a-Mil and dropped their eponymous mixtape.

These two California natives have a substantial amount of chemistry and it shows on this project, but even more so, though, this project really showcases Hit-Boys flourishing style as a rapper.

Way Back

Though we all know that Hit-Boy is as talented an artist as he is a producer, he is a producer first. And that is exactly why we wanted to end the list with a track that he is behind the boards for. Travis Scotts sophomore Birds In The Trap Sing Mcknight put to rest all the rumors that La Flame was a fluke and added on to his increasingly inspiring and drastically advanced sonic aesthetic. The second track on the album Way Back is the perfect representation of Travis Scotts futuristic sound and Hit-Boys astoundingly immaculate productions.

Honorable Mention: Woo Ft. Travis Scott

Honestly, this track should probably be on the list on its own, but then again, there are several other tracks that could live on this list as well. Really though, the main conflict is that Hit-Boy has so many notable production credits with so notable artists that it makes it hard to include them all, especially considering hes on pretty much every big album every year. Thus is the case with Rihannas album Anti and the Travis Scott assisted track Woo.

Again, all the pieces are here, the big-name mainstream artists, the impeccable production from Hit-Boy, but this track is different from the others because it truly proves that Hit-Boy is one of the most elite producers to grace the presence of the game in the last decade. Plus the beat is crazy dope.

Enjoy the track below and check out more of Hit-Boys new music here and here.
Reports released this past week by U.S. security officials and private cybersecurity researchers suggest hacking of energy facility computers is on the rise, and happens far more often than the public assumes.

The Department of Homeland Security said it received reports of 59 cyber incidents at energy facilities last year, up nearly a third from the year before.

The agency responsible for protecting the nation from cybercrime said it worked to mitigate 290 incidents last year across more than a dozen industries that rely on computer controls to run industrial sites, including manufacturing sites, power generation facilities, refineries, chemical plants and nuclear facilities.

It found more than a quarter of these intrusions originated from so-called spear phishing emails that hackers use to trick people into downloading infected attachments or clicking on virus-laden links. More than one in 10 came from network probing and scanning.

"Every year, adversaries develop increasingly sophisticated attacks against control system networks," Homeland Security's Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team said.

The increased number of intrusions into energy computer controls last year brings the number of such incidents in the industry to more than 400 since 2011, Homeland Security data show. Security specialists say that's likely a conservative number because energy companies aren't required to report cyberattacks to the U.S. government.

In another report, cybersecurity researchers believe computer controls at industrial facilities, including in the oil business, get infected by non-targeted malware at least 3,000 times a year.

Dragos Security, a cybersecurity firm in San Antonio, arrived at what it believes is a conservative estimate of worldwide industrial cyberattacks after studying 30,000 samples of infected control system files submitted over the past decade and a half to a publicly available database called VirusTotal, a web service owned by Google.

The findings show malware that isn't even tailored to industrial controls finds its way into critical technology far more often than the public assumes. Some of the malware can spread through these systems with ease, and some were designed many years ago.

"If you have really bad cyber hygiene and you're not paying attention to basic things, you're more likely to get impacted by a virus that was written nine years ago," said Ben Miller of Dragos.

For example, Miller found thousands of industrial files compromised by Sinowal, a Trojan horse first discovered in 2006. Even more common, though, were strains of malware that spread from computer to computer, created at least five years ago.

It's not clear how many of these industrial facilities were tied to the energy industry, because the VirusTotal data only provided the country of origin of the independently uploaded files. But it's yet another grim revelation for oil companies that rely on automated computer controls to run refineries, pipelines and offshore platforms.

Miller said these breaches could begin during the equipment upgrades that happen when power plants, refineries and other energy facilities are taken offline for repairs.

Crews of engineers, equipment contractors and information technology specialists flowing in and out of the facilities could, for example, fail to follow security protocols and accidentally plug in infected USB drives into facility systems. And they might only discover they've infected operational computers after they use the same thumb drives in corporate computers outfitted with antivirus alert systems, Miller said.
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Ballet careers are brutally short, usually no more than two decades, and an ambitious dancer can spend most of it working her way through the ranks.

Jessica Collado has always been an attention-getter - versatile but with a warm, earthy aura that makes her seem utterly approachable. She brings to mind one of Houston's most legendary ballerinas, Janie Parker.

Like Parker, Collado grew up in Georgia. She has progressed steadily since 2003, when she had a full scholarship to Houston Ballet Academy. After a year's apprenticeship, she spent four years in the corps de ballet, then two years as a demi-solist, two years as a soloist and four years as a first soloist.

But when Houston Ballet artistic director Stanton Welch told her a few years ago she was "a different kind of flower" who would have a more difficult path than some of the company's other ballerinas, Collado did not know what to think.

Realizing she would never be a "bunhead" dancer - the technically dazzling type typically chosen to perform leading roles in the big classical ballets that are the company's bread and butter, Collado pretty much wrote off the possibility of attaining the highest rank.

As a first soloist, she didn't feel held back. She still got to perform any role she wanted, so she was OK with it. At Houston Ballet, "if you're suited for something, it's yours," Collado said.

More Information Houston Ballet Director's Choice: Legends & Prodigy When: Final performance 2 p.m. Sunday Where: Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas Tickets: $25-$190; 713-227-2787, houstonballet.org See More Collapse

This season, however, Welch dangled a carrot. He cast Collado as the spunky lead for a few performances of his neoclassical "Cinderella."

Her luminous spirit shines even through a blurry video of the central pas de deux. During the curtain call made about an hour later, Welch had a huge floral arrangement placed at her feet, stepped onto the stage and announced Collado was the company's newest principal.

Later, he praised her complete devotion to the art form, her richly detailed character acting and her engaging personality, also acknowledging that guest stagers, teachers and choreographers love her.

"Rarely is a ballet created here that she is not a pivotal part of," Welch said.

She appears in all three dances of the current mixed-rep program by choreographers Hans van Manen, Jiri Kylian and Justin Peck. They're ensemble works, but Collado is prominently featured in solos and pas de deux.

She was still beaming one morning last week, when we met in one of the company's big, warm rehearsal studios.

It was a day like so many others of her career. After a personal warm-up in the conditioning studio, she took class for an hour and 15 minutes, then sweated through rehearsals for three Welch dances the company performs next month in Germany, plus the upcoming Miller Outdoor Theatre run of "Madame Butterfly" in May.

That meant eight hours of dancing, with a one-hour lunch break.

Collado's dance bag held five pairs of shoes, not counting the two on her feet: The toe shoes she'd worn during "Cinderella" were "pancaked" - coated with makeup so they would blend with her tights, to give the appearance of a longer, leaner line. A pair from Peck's "Year of the Rabbit" were still shiny; he prefers them that way, perhaps to add a glimmer to the speed of his dancers' feet. A new pair she wanted to break in were still stiff, wrapped in cellophane. She carried two pairs of flat slippers: one for class, the other dirtied from performing van Manen's "Grosse Fuge."

Her bag also held a wild assortment of stretchy thera-bands, a trio of small balls she uses to massage specific muscles, a back warmer, several pairs of leg warmers and extra sets of the toe pads she puts inside her pointe shoes.

Collado would finish the workday with her own 20-minute stretch-out, taking home a bag of ice to nurse whatever was aching most (this week, her neck) before she soaked her whole body in a bath with Epsom salts.

Still, she was jazzed, anticipating the last performances of the "Legends & Prodigy" program this weekend. Each dance demands something different, she said.

The groundedness of van Manen's '"Grosse Fuge" makes it hard on the legs and tires her right off the bat. She takes well to anything by Kylian, but most of his dances are done in soft slippers; this one, "Stepping Stones," requires sharp work en pointe. Peck's more classical, zippy ballet requires a total attitude shift, to youthful joy.

Collado dashes to her dressing room between each piece to change her costume, shoes and hair. "You kind of just go-go-go," she said. "By the time it's over, you're not sure what's happened, but it was fun."

When she's off the company clock, Collado often works with independent choreographers. (A few years ago in San Francisco, I was surprised to catch her onstage in a solo a California friend had created for her at the Yerba Buena Center.)

"Most everything that happens at Houston Ballet is mass production, with a lot of people in the room and formal rehearsals, and you know it's going to be performed on a big stage," she said. "Working with little companies on the side brings totally different experiences. It's intimate, and you're creating in the moment. That brings a new element to your dancing."

Collado will soon embrace another life experience: She's getting married next month. She met her fiance, energy-finance professional Dan Plate, in the bulk-foods aisle at Whole Foods. They already share a house and an English setter named Hobbs.

"We're super happy," she said. "It's nice to come home to a nondance person. He keeps my life in balance."
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Calculations scribbled in pencil on a strip of drywall at the Menil Drawing Institute recently were the work of construction managers, not artists. But they reminded me that drawing is an instinctive, essential and functional human endeavor. They also underscored the messages of the exhibition "The Beginning of Everything" in the Menil's main museum building. The show's title references both the excitement of the institute's new building, which will open October 7, and the primacy of drawing, which informs the diverse practices of so many modern and contemporary artists. The phrase originated with the late Ellsworth Kelly, who wrote, "When I see a piece of white paper, I feel like I've got to draw. And drawing, for me, is the beginning of everything." One of the first salvos in a 30th anniversary celebration that will energize the Menil's entire 30-acre campus during the next year and a half, "The Beginning of Everything" doesn't sensationalize.

The show features nearly 100 drawings from the promised gifts of trustees Louisa Stude Sarofim and Janie C. Lee and bequests from the late David Whitney. Those gifts form the bedrock of the collection that will be housed in the new building designed by the Los Angeles firm of Johnston Marklee around a contemplative landscape by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.

Though the drawing institute has been a program since 2008, the building will bring more attention to the largest and fastest-growing body of work in the Menil's holdings. It's been widely touted as the first freestanding facility designed for the exhibition, study, conservation and storage of modern and contemporary drawings.

Reflecting the institute's focus, the show contains works from the 19th and 20th centuries, when experimental-minded artists made drawing a more complex endeavor.

In classic Menil style, former chief curator David Breslin and curatorial assistant Kelly Montana have hung the works quietly and elegantly across the six themed rooms of the museum's big west gallery, setting up strategic sight lines so visitors can contemplate relationships among the pieces.

This kind of art rewards close inspection.

"An inch out any way, and it doesn't become a head anymore," Montana said as we looked at a spare Philip Guston drawing. Its empty center prompts your imagination to fill in the man who might be looking out at you from inside a single, thickish line of ink.

Guston, an Abstract Expressionist, generated "Head" in 1968, when he was beginning to veer back to figurative work, developing his later-period, signature cartoonish style.

More Information 'The Beginning of Everything: Drawings from the Janie C. Lee, Louisa Stude Sarofim, and David Whitney Collections' When: 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Mondays-Sundays, through June 18 Where: Menil Collection, 1533 Sul Ross Tickets: Free; 713-525-9400, menil.org See More Collapse

"He was just going where the ink took him," Montana said. "He didn't make studies, per se, but it was this moment of intensive drawing that prepared him for a seismic shift."

A pair of small academic studies by Impressionist masters Paul Cezanne and Edgar Degas flank Guston's drawing, quickly establishing an evolutionary perspective.

Robert Rauschenberg's small but busy "Preliminary Study Decor for Minutiae," from 1954, is nearby. Composed from gouache, tempera, graphite, fabric, paper, printed paper and tape on board, it's a study for a stage design and one of the artist's first "combine" pieces.

Montana is pretty sure the board underneath holds a small work by the older painter Roberto Matta. Rauschenberg was both cannibalizing and rejecting a predecessor, she said; something he did famously the previous year with "Erased de Kooning Drawing."

Though that work isn't in the show, Montana has set up a face-off between Rauschenberg and Willem de Kooning in the show's second room. They didn't approach drawing in the same way.

De Kooning often combined drawing and painting on his canvases. Rauschenberg constantly pushed boundaries with new methods and materials.

Four of Rauschenberg's "transfer" drawings have a haunting presence, with free-floating, barely-there images lifted from magazines and newspapers that he soaked with a chemical solvent so they could be rubbed onto paper. A smaller, untitled work looks yanked from a journal; it's covered with loosely applied rectangular scraps, mimicking a page of newsprint whose stories you might be able to peel off.

"He was just experimenting, not thinking about what a drawing was," Montana said.

Jasper Johns, a master experimenter with a deep Menil relationship, will be celebrated in greater depth later this year. His career survey "The Condition of Being Here: Drawings by Jasper Johns" will be the first show in the new Menil Drawing Institute building. Menil scholars have worked a decade on Johns' Catalogue Raisonne of Drawings, whose multiple volumes will document more than 800 works.

For now, Johns' ink-on-plastic "Souvenir for Janie," from 1977, illustrates his genius. The always precise Johns was trying to relinquish some control with this piece: Ink on plastic pools and spills, going where it wants to go until it's dry. Up close, all his blotting looks abstract; stand back, and you can discern his version of a 16th-century Hans Holbein portrait.

Richard Serra uses drawing to interpret his monumental Cor-ten sculptures after they're finished. He melts oil sticks into big bricks to create beefy lines that capture his apprehension as he tries to reclaim the shapes of his massive steel works through intense, physical action at his own, human scale. "T.W.U. #10" is a good example, made with his preferred material of oil sticks melted into big bricks: The vertical lines echo the length of his drawing arm, stretched to its limit.

Eva Hesse and Vija Celmins use drawing more as a meditative practice. Hesse often drew circles on commercially printed graph paper, but a calming 1966 drawing in this show places luminous circles of varying opacities within a hand-drawn grid.

Georgia O'Keeffe didn't make a lot of drawings, but "From a River Trip" (from 1962, when she was beginning to lose her eyesight) illuminates the texture of its paper with a dramatic, abstracted image of cliffs.

I could go on.

"The Beginning of Everything" offers much to ponder, also opening up intimate glimpses of ideas in the making by Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Cy Twombly, Arshile Gorky and Ellsworth Kelly.

Montana swooned in the room with Brice Marden drawings.

"I hardly know what to say about these," she said. "My heart stops every time I see this wall."

She loves the tangled, calligraphic lines that flow like nerve fibers to the edges of Marden's "Cold Mountain" and the way he whited out select lines to create breathing room.

"It's so visceral," she said.

More - and major - Marden is coming during the new building's ambitious first season.

"Think of Them as Spaces: Brice Marden's Drawings" opens in January. Then comes the two-part, six-month exhibition "Roni Horn: When I Breathe, I Draw."

The walls are in, the skylights have taken shape, and the paper-inspired canopies of the institute are being assembled.

"The Beginning of Everything" whets the appetite enticingly. I can't wait to see what's next.
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When Chris Manske brought his interior designer and architects into the 107-year-old building that he hoped to turn into new offices for his wealth management business, he hoped that they, too, could see the possibilities.

It was a challenge.

"The overall feel before was that it was very dark, had a lot of wood, low ceilings and cramped, small offices," said interior designer Pamela O'Brien of Pamela Hope Designs. "I compared it to a rabbit warren with all these little dark cubbies.

Called the Warrant Building, it was built in 1910 and originally housed the Star Bottling Works, which closed in 1962. It has had different owners and tenants since, most recently a law firm that had erected even more internal walls in the two-story structure. Paint colors changed with each new owner - until this renovation leaned toward an earthy '70s-era palette.

By the time the financial adviser, who launched Manske Wealth Management in 2012, bought the building on San Jacinto, it had become a strange mess in need of focus.

From the front door, the design team - Lori Arnold and Ashley LaBauve, architects from Prevot Design Services, and O'Brien - surveyed the scene: A glass-brick receptionist's desk, a gold wall with dark wainscoting, aging terrazzo tile and a doorway that began with iron bars fronting a wood-and-glass door topped with white mini-blinds.

They knew what to do with all of that, but when they looked up, they weren't quite sure what they had. An office had been added in an odd place, and what stretched beyond was anyone's guess. Once they eliminated that office, the new view was something akin to a bell tower: a mish-mash of wood planks, brickwork painted green or white or completely left alone, strips of corrugated metal on all sides and big I-beams, painted red.

"When we opened up that second floor - and what I call the bell tower - the beams were very attractive," O'Brien said. "That's a huge design trend. People are putting big steel I-beams in their houses."

An "after" image of the same spot shows a soaring space with pale gray walls topped with a 3-D I-beam structure in a Craftsman-style geometric pattern. From it hangs an impressive crystal chandelier in an eight-tier helix.

The new foyer makes a big, welcoming statement: Possibilities live here.

Big changes

Sitting happily in the warehouse district, Manske said he chose this site because it's exactly where he wants to be. Despite the city jail down the street and a smattering of bail-bondsmen shops, this part of town is definitely in transition.

There are artist studios, architecture firms and law offices. James Beard Award-winning chef Justin Yu also has restaurant space in the area (his Oxheart recently closed and is reopening as a new concept).

San Jacinto street is a busy artery into downtown, and an entrance to Interstate 10 is nearby. With talk of more roadwork, Manske sees signs of a prosperous future.

A West Point graduate who moved to Houston after falling in love with a Texan, he's been a financial adviser since 2000 and launched his own firm in 2012. He is the first to say that historic preservation wasn't his thing, but he's deep into it now.

Where once were lots of walls, you'll now find big open spaces. Much of the glass brick is gone. Wood flooring was refinished or replaced with planks of red oak. Gold tile is gone, and various colors of paint were covered in pale gray. Vacant spaces have art niches.

The stair rail that no longer met code has been replaced with a custom design by O'Brien -the business' monogram, MWM, is worked into the ironwork.

Surprises popped up throughout the process. Pulling up ugly green shag carpet revealed a rotting floor. Odd colors were everywhere: lime-sherbet sheetrock, purple and pink walls and those red I-beams.

Despite it all, Manske and his team always considered what this building could be.

LaBauve and Arnold saw good bones and had experience with historical building projects. O'Brien saw a new color palette and changes that were both functional and beautiful. Manske saw a concrete area that could serve as a courtyard where he and employees could eat breakfast or lunch in comfortable seating while a fountain trickles nearby.

Rotting windows were replaced with energy-efficient ones.

And Manske found something he needed in his life - risk.

"You only live once,"" he said. "My life is about lowering risk. I have four daughters, and I want a lower risk for them. I manage money, and I want a lower risk for my clients. In other parts of my life, though, I want to take risks."

City's oldest soda bottler

Historical photos show a hint of the evolution of Houston's oldest soda bottler, Star Bottling Works. An early photo ca. 1910 shows men with broad mustaches sitting in horse-drawn buggies on dirt roads, waiting for crates of bottled soda to deliver.

In another, the former owner in a dapper suit and horned-rim glasses holds a cigarette as he strikes a pose at the front door of the building. Yet another photo from the 1940s or '50s shows a young man loading bottles of Wyne Punch into crates on the factory floor.

The remains of this longtime bottling company are collectible bottles that once were filled with soda and the last building that housed Star Bottling Works, the Warrant Building.

The company's history goes back to druggist Robert Cotter and a partner, who in 1880 opened a business at the corner of Congress and Fannin. They made liver pills, chill cures and other elixirs. When they added soda to their lineup, they found a crowd thirsting for their ginger ale and sarsaparilla.

Others joined or bought the business in the decades that followed - W.D. Cleveland, August Baumbach, August Bonner, Henry H. Kuhlman, G. Geaccone and finally the Navarro family, first Roxie Joseph Navarro and then his son Joseph R. Navarro. The Navarros owned it for the longest stretch, from 1910 until its closure in 1962.

The company had several locations, too. Even in its early years, the soda-bottling industry was viable and competitive: Charles Alderton invented Dr Pepper in Waco in 1885, and John Pemberton first sold Coca-Cola in Atlanta in 1886.

A new logo for the building pairs its name - the Warrant Building - with a three-tiered tower, a nod to both its history and its architecture. Manske didn't create its name, but he appreciates its many interpretations.

"Warrant has a legal definition, an insurance definition and, in my world, there's a special kind of investment called a warrant," Manske said. "And the building warranted adaptive reuse."
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A silvery steer, wide-eyed and antsy, raised his head high as a young cowboy coaxed him into the spotlight.

Rapid-fire bidding started at $50,000, a paltry price for the grand champion Charolais standing in the middle of NRG Arena. Hand after hand shot into the air, driving the number ever higher until the auctioneer's bantering at last stopped at $345,000. Sold.

Jagger Horn raised a fist in victory, smiling in near disbelief. The 15-year-old from Anson got the steer as a young calf and raised it into a 1,283-pound powerhouse after more than a year of early mornings and late nights.

"I put a whole lot of time and care into him," he said.

Horn was one of hundreds of students who put prized steers up for sale Saturday at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's Junior Market auction, a deeply Texan tradition that supports and funds scholarships for young people dedicated to programs such as 4-H and FFA. The winning Charolais, named "Playa," went to a well-heeled group of eight buyers who have long placed some of the auction's top bids.

"The entire point of the program is to give back to the kids," said Ed Lester, who joined the group with his wife, Mary Alice.

The reserve grand champion steer, a stocky Other Cross with a blond-tufted tail, sparked another bidding frenzy as it lumbered on stage. Country music star Zac Brown joined the scrum, drawing cheers from the crowd as he raised his yellow placard again and again.

His group's bid was the last one standing when the price reached $330,000, ending the second most-anticipated auction of the day. He recalled his days in FFA as a youth as he took the stage to applaud Stock Martin, a 16-year-old from Hereford who spent more than a year preparing the 1,339-pound steer for the livestock big leagues.

"I know how important it is," Brown said. "It gives (kids) traits they'll be able to carry on for the rest of their lives."

Martin, whose life has long been dominated by livestock shows, had never placed so highly prior to Saturday. He posed backstage with the animal and its buyers before saying a final goodbye.

"Ever since I was born, we've been doing this," he said. "The older I get, the less attached I get."

The high school sophomore, a member of Oldham County 4-H program, will take home a $40,000 prize for the sale. He hopes to keep showing before attending Texas Tech University and becoming a grain trader.

Bryan Blonder, a well-dressed cowboy in a pitch-black hat, fit right in as he watched the parade of steers backstage. Onlookers would never know he once lived in Brooklyn before moving to Texas in 1998, loaded with medical school debt.

He warmed up to the rodeo as he paid off his student loans and eventually began volunteering. He and his wife now spend about $30,000 each year at the various junior auctions to support scholarships.

"I decided I would put my money toward education," he said.

Keith Powell, a longtime rodeo volunteer, pitched in to buy a $55,000 Maine-Anjou with a group of about 10 buyers. He began bidding at the auction several years ago when he saw how much work the kids put into preparing their animals for show.

"When I found out what was going on behind the scenes, I was all in," he said. "It draws you in deeply."

Jagger, a member of the Abilene school district's FFA chapter, was still smiling amid a swarm of cameras backstage. The high school freshman, who will earn at least $75,000 from the win, hopes to eventually attend Texas A&M University.

"It's a dream come true for me," he said.
Ed Gonzalez, Harris County's newly-elected sheriff, has ended a special enforcement partnership with federal immigration officials, but at least 18 other mostly rural and suburban Texas sheriffs have now proposed to help the Trump administration aggressively deport immigrants in the country illegally.

Gonzalez announced last month that he no longer would fund a team of 10 specially trained deputies at a cost of about $675,000 a year who worked at the Harris County Jail helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement identify detainees who might be subject to deportation. He said he will continue cooperating with federal immigration authorities and maintain an office and ICE computers for its continued use.

But even as he ended the contract program known as 287(g), sheriffs in Galveston, Brazoria, Tarrant, Waller and other counties have expressed interest in the same type of enforcement partnership named for section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act that Harris County had relinquished.

Under President Barack Obama, that ICE partnership program had shrunk from 70 participating agencies to 37 in 16 states. Harris County had been one of the last remaining urban sheriff's departments in that mix.

But other Texas sheriffs have responded enthusiastically to an executive order President Donald Trump signed five days after taking office aimed at revitalizing both 287(g) and the related Secure Communities initiatives and authorizing the hiring of an additional 10,000 immigration officers to "enhance public safety in the interior of the United States." That order promised to dramatically widen the net of people ICE would deport without exempting "classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement."

"All lawful means" would be employed to enforce U.S. immigration laws, the order says. Since then, ICE says more than 3,730 "convicted criminal aliens" have been removed.

Secure Communities began in 2008 as a way to build stronger alliances between police and immigration agencies away from the border. The goals were to identify "criminal aliens" through modernized information sharing, to prioritize enforcement actions and to transform the program to achieve lasting results, according to a report ICE presented to Congress in 2009.

Program revitalized

In law enforcement agencies with 287(g) contracts, a streamlined process exists for determining the immigration status of criminal defendants or others being held in jails. Once a trained deputy identifies inmates as potentially deportable, they can be held temporarily under what is known as an immigration detainer for up to an additional 48 hours beyond the time they would be released. The program has been controversial because of its cost and civil rights concerns. The American Civil Liberties Union, among other legal and advocacy organizations, have opposed it, arguing that holding people any time beyond their normal release date is unconstitutional.

The Obama administration ended Secure Communities in November 2014. But it continued ICE 287(g) partnerships and database searches of inmates with local jails under a policies outlines in the Priority Enforcement Program. Under PEP, agents were asked to use new forms designed to help ICE agents target "individuals convicted of significant criminal offenses or who otherwise pose a threat to public safety."

But in the wake of Trump's executive order revitalizing Secure Communities, an ICE spokesman confirmed that the 287(g) program is booming - thanks largely to interest from the Texas sheriffs. The agency reviewed six partners in February and could add 10 more by April. If all are approved, the number of Secure Communities partners will expand from 37 to 55.

ICE does not name departments that have applied for 287(g) contracts. The Chronicle compiled a list of 18 Texas departments that have applied or are in negotiations with ICE using a variety of sources, including Jackson County Sheriff A.J. "Andy" Louderback, a longtime member of the Sheriff's Association of Texas, media reports and the ACLU, which monitors applications.

Louderback's coastal prairie county has a total population of about 14,500, which is only slightly larger than Harris County Jail's capacity. In early March, Louderback had 64 inmates locked up in the Jackson County Jail. Four had been identified as potentially deportable.

But Louderback hopes the ICE partnership will help him make sure that no dangerous immigrant is ever released by mistake in the future. Lubbock County Sheriff's Office and Carrollton Police Department in suburban Dallas are the other two current Texas partners.

Nationwide, picking up detained immigrants within 48 hours of their scheduled release has been a logistical problem for ICE - especially in far-flung jails outside urban areas. On average, about 50 percent of potentially deportable immigrants were picked up from U.S. jails in fiscal years 2014 and 2015, according to data collected by the nonprofit Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. But the Obama administration had directed ICE agents to prioritize inmates based on their offense, which is now no longer the case under Trump.

Louderback said he's part of an alliance of a dozen sheriffs in Coastal Bend counties lining the U.S. Highway 59/Texas 71 corridor that connects Houston with the Eagle Ford shale play and the Mexican border beyond. All are working together to figure out how to contract with ICE to screen jail inmates to identify those who are deportable and try to facilitate pickups, he said.

In each county's case, that means coming up with money to send staff to ICE training to learn how to question people booked into jail about their immigration status and how to check ICE databases. ICE provides that training and computers so that jail inmates' fingerprints can be cross-checked with ICE databases, but each county must cover staff salaries and provide office space, as Harris County did.

By working together, Louderback said the group likely will generate enough potentially deportable jail inmates to support the creation of a regular ICE deportation bus route to serve their mostly rural jails.

Meanwhile, in the more populous Houston suburbs, Galveston County's sheriff and its commissioners also have voted to join up with ICE. Montgomery County, which already is home to a jail that operates as a privately run immigration detention center, is considering a contract but has not yet applied, a sheriff's spokesman said. Waller and Brazoria counties are in the pipeline too.

Abuses feared

Chris Rickerd, of the ACLU, which monitors applications and opposes the programs, said the group is concerned that a sudden influx of new jail partnerships could lead to widespread civil rights abuses. He said he believes that more immigrants will be deported even if they are jailed only for traffic tickets and the surge in deportations could keep law-abiding immigrants from reporting crimes or cooperating with police.

"The role of a 287(g) program in a jail environment is going to mean a very direct participation in Trump's deportation efforts by these sheriff's departments," said Rickerd, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney for the ACLU's National Political Advocacy Department.

In response to the recent increase in applicants, the ACLU in February sent a letter to ICE protesting six potential partners. "The proposed jurisdictions discussed in this letter have records clearly demonstrating that they are unable to assume this responsibility in a manner that would avoid constitutional and civil rights violations," wrote Ronald Newman, the ACLU's director of strategic initiatives.

The group cited alleged civil rights abuses, racial profiling and discrimination complaints about three Texas counties, including Waller, Victoria and Smith. Both the Waller County Sheriff's Office and its county jail were at the center of a civil rights firestorm last year when Sandra Bland, an African-American who'd moved back to Texas to start a new job, committed suicide in a cell after being unable to post bail set after a traffic stop. The ACLU urged ICE to reject Waller as an ICE partner, alleging that jail officials violated Bland's rights.

Sheriff R. Glenn Smith did not respond to a request for comment.

Rickerd said that while the ACLU considers Secure Communities and 287(g) detainers to be unconstitutional, it is advocating a more open application process so that community members can learn in advance if their sheriffs are considering applying for the program and discuss the costs - and any civil rights implications in advance. He said the ACLU received no response to its letter of objection to potential partners.

Under President Barack Obama, the Department of Justice ended partnerships with two counties because of "a pattern and practice" of racially profiling or unlawfully detaining and arresting Latinos. The Alamance County Sheriff's Office in North Carolina had set up checkpoints at entrances to Latino neighborhoods. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in the Phoenix metro area, under former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, had routinely conducted "sweeps" in Latino neighborhoods.

Nationwide, other departments have dropped the program because of cost or civil rights concerns raised by citizens in federal courts.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and several other agencies ended their contracts after a U.S. magistrate judge found in 2014 that Clackamas County Oregon officials had unlawfully used an immigration detainer against immigrant Maria Miranda-Olivares, who had been arrested in 2012 for allegedly violating a restraining order. Although her family was able to post $5,000 bail, she was held for two weeks because of her immigration status. The judge found that possible immigration law violations did not amount to "probable cause" and that county officials violated Miranda-Olivares' Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable detention.

42,000 detained

Together, Texas agencies supplied more deportees away from the border from October 2013 to 2015 than any state in recent years, according to ICE detainer data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. More than half of the 267,548 people identified as potentially deportable in that period came from Texas, according to TRAC data on ICE detainers.

The Harris County Jail has been one of ICE's top sources of Texas deportees.

Former Sheriff Adrian Garcia, Harris County's first Hispanic sheriff, who resigned to run for mayor in 2015, supported the ICE partnership for eight years. But Garcia said he demanded statistical updates and spotted what seemed like unfair punishments and inconsistencies. Some people who were arrested for only traffic offenses or fines were deported while others convicted of more serious offenses weren't always picked up in the 48-hour time limit, he found. Garcia said in some cases people charged with serious crimes were deported apparently in lieu of prosecution.

Of about 42,000 people detained under the program in Harris County Jail, most had done time or been arrested for a variety of crimes like marijuana or cocaine possession, larceny, assault and traffic offenses, according to TRAC data on ICE detainees that spans 2008-2016. The most common serious charge was driving while intoxicated. But more than 7,000 had no reported conviction, data collected by TRAC shows. The most common deportation destinations were Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala - followed by Nicaragua, Colombia, Nigeria and Vietnam, the same data shows.

It's unclear how Gonzalez's decision to end the ICE contract will impact inmate deportations in 2017 since Gonzalez has pledged to continue to work with immigration agents.

The percentages of detained immigrants picked up by ICE agents for deportation within 48 hours have generally been higher in Harris County than the U.S. average. ICE has a major regional office here and three large detention centers in Houston and Conroe. But there have been glitches.

In 2013, federal agents failed to show up in time to pick up a Harris County inmate, Alfonso "Poncho" Diaz Juarez, who had been tagged upon release for deportation to Mexico.

Diaz Juarez, a violent pimp, had served jail time that year on a domestic violence charge, having kidnapped a baby to threaten the mother. He was indicted in federal court only a few weeks after his release as a major player in a human trafficking ring.

He remains one of ICE's most wanted fugitives today.
In one of Houston's first confrontational town hall meetings hosted by a member of Congress this year, U.S. Rep. John Culberson weathered blistering blowback by constituents who packed a middle school auditorium on Saturday afternoon.

For most of the raucous 90-minute meeting, the congressman struggled to answer questions over shouting from many of the 700 attendees.

"You know what, folks? I'm either going to answer the question, or we're just going to spend the time yelling," Culberson told the crowd.

But there were lighter moments, such as when a bright-yellow stuffed Big Bird was raised into the air during a question about funding public television.

Initially organized as a tightly controlled meeting for people living in the district, identification was checked, signs and bullhorns were prohibited and attendees were told only written questions - randomly chosen - would be fielded by the congressman.

By the time all seats were filled, hundreds remained outside. An unofficial police count placed the number who didn't get in around 500.

The congressman, facing those he represents, suspended the rules and allowed people to interact with him.

The first question was about President Donald Trump's travel ban. Culberson invited Kendall Bousquet, a community engagement specialist for Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, to come to the front, take the microphone and read her submission, which inquired about the impact on refugees.

"We have to make sure that we know who's coming into the United States," he said, to boos and signs waved by people who brought them despite prohibitions.

Culberson remained affable, asking the crowd to be "courteous and polite" as people who opposed his answers - or him - barked back. Hundreds of red and green paper squares, some of which were confiscated by aides, made it into the hall as a way for attendees to silently signal agreement or disagreement.

Other Houston town halls have either happened without the member of Congress - namely events organized by voters last month seeking access to Sen. Ted Cruz or Rep. Kevin Brady of The Woodlands, both Republicans, during the congressional recess - or with a representative in ideological step with constituents, such as what turned into anti-Trumpcare rally two weeks ago hosted the Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat.

Culberson has represented the 7th Congressional District since 2001. The C-shaped jurisdiction covers a small portion of western Harris County and several high-income enclaves including Bellaire and the villages in west Houston.

Moments of consensus between the crowd at Spring Branch Middle School and Culberson turned on mutual support of flood-control funding for west Houston and continued federal money for scientific research.

The town hall came one day after a Trump-backed GOP health care bill was pulled from House consideration. Culberson said he would have voted in favor.

"This bill was designed to get us to first base," he said in an interview before the town hall. "This is the first step. We will regroup and hit it again.  One of my fundamental promises to my constituents was to repeal and replace Obamacare."

Other questioners included Claudia Macias, a descendant of Mexican immigrants, who asked what Culberson would do to protect children brought to the U.S. without documentation and their families - many of whom, she said, are not the "bad hombres" Trump said he would prioritize for deportation. The congressman responded that she "should not be concerned" because "dangerous criminals" were the main targets for removal.

"As you have heard from the crowd today, that is not what is happening," Macias, an early-childhood education consultant, replied to loud applause.

Some people who showed up weren't trying to get inside.

A vehicle demonstration emerged across the street from the school with mostly anti-Trump signs that adorned parallel-parked cars. The progressive Indivisible group, which organizes to oppose the president's agenda, employed banners, signs and bullhorns to blare their messages and chants.

"What makes Houston so beautiful is the diversity of the people here, and our voices aren't being heard," said protester Tara Johnson, 43.
To those who have really known her, from her high school days when she was the coolest kid in the class until her recent times as owner of a veterinary clinic loved by many of its customers, Valerie McDaniel was the sort of person who seemed incapable of inspiring an unkind word.

She had a way about her, people said. Not just confident and smart - a former valedictorian, in point of fact - but totally together. Back at Episcopal High School, one old chum remembered McDaniel as "the kind of girl you wish you were, totally cool." Reserved but never stand-offish, quiet but unaffected, a friend to punk rockers and cheerleaders alike. And little of that changed as she got older.

"When you were around her, you immediately liked her," said longtime friend Greg Holloway, who has known her since their days at Episcopal, where they were part of the first graduating class in 1987. "She had this aura about her. She didn't get worked up over anything. She was so friendly and compassionate, and she was that way toward everybody. This does not square."

In the time it takes for a news flash to go viral, 48-year-old Valerie Busick McDaniel was something else entirely. The sweetest person one might ever meet, what one longtime associate likened to an "angel on Earth," stood accused of paying someone to arrange the murder of her ex-husband. She was released from jail after posting a $50,000 bond last week.

As if to preempt any suggestions that the respected animal doctor had stumbled into a dark scheme unaware of the particulars, prosecutor Nathan Moss said McDaniel was no dupe. She had willingly gone over the gruesome details and forked over the cash to make them a reality, he said.

"She ... discussed with the officer exactly how she wanted her ex-husband killed," Moss said. "In no way is she a victim."

Image doesn't mesh

But in no way does that image - the cold-blooded patroness of assassination - mesh with the fundamentally caring person that so many testify to. One way or another, it doesn't add up. The matter of what McDaniel did or said should be resolved in the next year, but the mystery of how a person who is profoundly one thing and yet allegedly steps, however briefly, into the role of another, is a deeper question which friends want answered.

Until they get one, they choose - at least in their hearts - not to believe.

"Valerie? No absolutely not," said another longtime associate, who like most interviewed did not want his name used. "I have never seen her angry, certainly not to a point where this could cross her mind."

Suspicion, such as it is, turns to a man nine years younger who was purported to be her boyfriend. Leon Philip Jacob was arrested along with McDaniel and also charged in the bizarre arrangement in which his former girlfriend, along with McDaniel's ex-husband, was to be done in. The two had reportedly met through his mother. Jacob's parents lived next door to the McDaniels in West University Place, and she represented Valerie in her divorce.

Jacob has a checkered history, which includes numerous brushes with the law, unstable employment and personal bankruptcy. Claiming a medical degree from an offshore school in the Caribbean, he was dismissed from a residency program at Baylor College of Medicine after one year. He entered another program at a hospital in Ohio, but lasted only a year there as well when he was kicked out. In recent years Jacob apparently presented himself as a physician working out of his Houston home.

Jacob drew the attention of Houston police early this year when an ex-girlfriend complained that he was stalking, threatening and harassing her. In February, after she had made repeated complaints to police, he finally was charged with a felony count of stalking. That charge was pending at the time of his arrest on the murder-for-hire charge. He remains in jail with bond denied.

The nature of his relationship with McDaniel is unclear. Although they appeared to be romantically involved, he was pursuing his ex-girlfriend at the same time. On Feb. 2, according to court documents, he sent the woman an email stating that he was still in love with her. "I am making over $7,500 a week now after taxes," he wrote. "I told you I would get back on top. It's time all this craziness stops and we get back to a life together."

Run-ins with the law

Jacob also ran afoul of the law in Illinois, where he was charged with cyberstalking and harassing his estranged wife, an attorney for a pharmaceutical company. He received an 11-month sentence but was granted probation. Court records fail to show that the divorce was finalized and indicate an ongoing custody dispute involving the couple's two sons. In his bankruptcy filing, Jacob cited more than $100,000 owed to several lawyers and about $2,300 to his wife for child care expenses.

In Ohio, Jacob was charged in 2012 with burglarizing the home of the head of the residency program that had terminated him. The charge later was reduced to trespassing. In 2004, Jacob was charged with driving under the influence in Pittsburgh.

'A bad taste for men'

Shortly after McDaniel's arrest, her attorney, Matt Alford, suggested to reporters that Jacob was the architect of the murder-for-hire plot and that she was not a part of it until the last second.

"She clearly came into this situation after the fact," Alford said. "She was on no one's radar until the very end."

That she ever could have been on any police radar is stunning to those who know her. Her personal life may have had its wobbles - "A bad taste in men," one friend remarked - but by and large she had achieved what she had hoped when leaving Texas A&M with a veterinary medicine degree in 1997. Just three years later she bought the practice of a retiring Houston vet and slowly built her clinic into a Montrose staple, albeit one not shy to push the envelope when it came to prices.

She and her husband, Marion "Mack" McDaniel III, had a life most would envy, including a nice home in an upscale neighborhood and a Tiki Island getaway for weekends. They owned a boat and late-model luxury cars. Over the years there had been some apparent financial issues, including several tax suits and a foreclosure action on their home, but those days appeared to be over. To those who knew them casually, they appeared to be a happy, upwardly mobile couple.

But in 2014, after 17 years of marriage, came the news that she had filed for divorce. In her divorce petition, she accused her husband of adultery and of fraudulently depleting their assets and wasteful spending. In claiming that he was responsible for the failure of the marriage, she asked for a "disproportionate share" of the estate once it had been reconstituted to the value it had before his "fraudulent acts," which are not detailed.

Divorce finalized

In other court filings related to the divorce, Valerie McDaniel alleged that he had mismanaged the vet clinic and that police had been called to their home because of unspecified "incidents." She asked for primary custody of their daughter, claiming that he was not a strong presence in her life.

The divorce was finalized in August of last year. According to the decree, Valerie received full ownership of the veterinary clinic, another small residence adjacent to it, and her River Oaks condo. Her husband got the Tiki Island home and approximately $1.25 million to equalize the community property, which was valued at more than $4.5 million. Payment was to be made within four months, and the decree refers to a loan that Valerie may have needed to make it. The couple agreed to co-parent their daughter, who would alternate weeks living with each.

Protective order issued

If the payoff to her husband was a burden or the settlement not to her liking, one close associate said that she did not show it, appearing happy and relieved when her divorce was finalized.

"You could see it in her eyes," the associate said. "I cannot imagine that she would risk everything for this. She is the most loving person I have ever known. Her life is her daughter and the clinic she fought so hard for."

So far, the clinic is still open and busy. One employee said a few customers left following the publicity, but not many. McDaniel reportedly hopes to return to her practice while awaiting trial. Her license was suspended after the solicitation of murder charges were filed.

Neither Alford nor the attorney for Mack McDaniel, Kyle Sanders, would offer comment. Her ex-husband objected to her having been released while awaiting trial. Sanders said he feared for his safety because "she has little to lose at this point." A protective order was issued instructing her to avoid contact with him or their daughter.

'Facilitator' to arrange

Prosecutors say Jacob and McDaniel first approached a "facilitator" to arrange the killing and paid him $10,000. But that person instead went to police, who arranged a visit from a supposed hitman who was actually an undercover officer.

At a later meeting in a restaurant, the two were given photos from a staged crime scene that showed the apparently dead Mack McDaniel and the ex-girlfriend bound and gagged. A $20,000 cash payment was then pushed across the table, prosecutors said.

The idea of such a transaction, and the motive ostensibly behind it, have troubled those within Valerie McDaniel's universe. If this can happen, what next? In his mind's eye, one old friend still sees the "very quiet and sweet" person everybody liked. When he clicked on a link and read the details behind the allegation, the only word that popped into his head was crazy.

"I almost fell out of my chair," he said.
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BEIRUT - Airstrikes hit a women's prison and a clinic in rebel-held parts of Syria on Saturday, killing and wounding scores of people amid clashes on multiple fronts between government forces and insurgent groups in some of the country's worst violence in weeks, opposition activists said.

The airstrikes, of which some activists said included Russian air raids, concentrated on the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, the central province of Hama and suburbs of the capital Damascus that have come under attack by insurgent groups over the past week.

One of the airstrikes hit a main street in the Damascus suburb of Hamouriyeh killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 50, activists said. The airstrikes caused wide destruction in the area.

The U.N. Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said in a statement released in Geneva that he is deeply concerned by the recent escalation of violence in Syria, highlighting that it undermines a Dec. 30 cease-fire brokered by Turkey, Iran and Russia who back opposing parties in the conflict.

The statement said de Mistura had communicated with the foreign ministers of the three countries, appealing to them to exert urgent efforts to uphold the cease-fire.

'Killing machine'

Speaking after meeting on Saturday with the U.N. envoy in Geneva as part of a fresh round of Syrian peace talks, Nasr al-Hariri, the head of the main opposition delegation, lashed out at Assad's "killing machine" and both named, and showed photos of some of the victims - including some featuring graphic imagery.

"This is the fault of warplanes," he told reporters. "These are the ones who claim to fight terrorism who are responsible for this horrible massacre in Hamouna."

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes on Hamouriyeh killed 16, including eight women and children, and wounded more than 50. The Local Coordination said 18 were killed and dozens were wounded.

Both groups said some people are still missing, and that the death toll could rise.

"They have been hitting Hamouriyeh for days, but today they struck an area packed with civilians," said Awis al-Shami of The Civil Defense search-and-rescue group, also known as the White Helmets, via text message.

The airstrikes come as insurgent groups have been on the offensive in Damascus and the central province of Hama for the past days. Government forces and their allies launched a counteroffensive capturing some of the areas they lost in Damascus and Hama.

Opposition activists also reported airstrikes in Idlib province hitting several towns and villages as well as the provincial capital that carries the same name.

The Observatory said a Friday night attack struck a prison run by militants, killing at least 16 people including prisoners and prison staff in Idlib city. It added that women were among the dead as well.

Some killed by gunfire

The monitoring group, which has a network of activists around the country, said some people were killed by gunfire as prison guards chased detainees who tried to flee after the attack.

The Syrian National Coalition, one of the largest opposition groups, said the airstrikes on Idlib targeted among other things a women's prison, saying that dozens of people were killed or wounded.

The Observatory and the Syrian Civil Defense group, also known as the White Helmets, said an airstrike struck a clinic in the village of Kfar Nubul in Idlib province. They had no immediate word on casualties.

The Local Coordination Committees said five air raids struck the city of Idlib without giving further details.
JERUSALEM - Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, has deep business and personal ties to Israel that could raise questions about his ability to serve as an honest broker as he oversees the White House's Mideast peace efforts.

But some say these ties, which include a previously undisclosed real estate deal in New Jersey with a major Israeli insurer, may give Kushner a surprising advantage as he is expected to launch the first peace talks of the Trump era. Having the trust of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the thinking goes, could make Kushner well positioned to extract concessions from the hard-line Israeli leader.

These relationships, along with a personal friendship with Netanyahu and past links to the West Bank settler movement, could emerge as potential stumbling blocks by creating an appearance of bias.

"Financial investments in Israel would seem to only further complicate conflicts of interest issues," said Larry Noble, senior director of regulatory programs and general counsel at Campaign Legal Center, a group that advocates for strong enforcement of campaign finance laws.

Zalman Shoval, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and co-chairman of an Israeli real estate fund that counts Kushner's father, Charles, among its backers, said he doesn't know Jared Kushner personally but thinks his affiliations to Israel will be helpful in peace negotiations.

"There's trust. When there's trust on one side, there can also be a more conciliatory attitude on that side," Shoval said.

Prominent Palestinian politician Jibril Rajoub said Trump made clear to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a recent phone call that he was his "strategic partner" in making a "real and serious" peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

"There is very, very positive progress," Rajoub said.

Diplomacy role unclear

While Kushner's role in Mideast diplomacy remains unclear, Trump has said his son-in-law will work to "broker a Middle East peace deal."

Last week, Jason Greenblatt, a White House envoy who reports to Kushner, paid his first official visit to the region, holding a series of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials on what was billed as a listening tour to sound out the sides.

As the U.S. pushes forward, Kushner's family's business and personal ties have raised questions over his ability to mediate.

"Of course the Palestinians are not happy dealing with Jared Kushner  but they have no other options," said Palestinian political analyst Jehad Harb. "Kushner and the whole new American team assigned to handle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict  have very close ties with settlements (and) it's unlikely they are going to understand the Palestinian demand of dismantling most of the Jewish settlements, but the Palestinian Authority cannot say no at this stage."

Indeed, Palestinian officials appear very mindful about alienating the new U.S. administration with going public with grievances about a feared bias. And they seem genuinely relieved in recent weeks to be in contact with various U.S. envoys.

Deal with Israeli firm

The newly disclosed deal with Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd., one of Israel's biggest financial groups, was for a multifamily residential building in New Jersey with Kushner. Both companies continue to collect tenants' rent payments.

Harel said it has also partnered with Kushner on a much larger deal: A consortium of lenders that provided some $50 million to the Chetrit Group and JDS Development, two New York real estate firms that are trying to build a 73-story residential tower. The loan was repaid and "yielded a handsome profit," Harel said in a statement.

A Kushner Companies spokeswoman, Risa Heller, said the loan for the Brooklyn project was paid off, but she declined to say if Kushner has sold his interest in the New Jersey property.

Kushner joined the White House as a senior adviser in January. As a condition to taking the job, he agreed to file a financial disclosure report and divest holdings that could create a conflict of interest.

While Kushner has divested himself of some financial interests, the assets were put in a trust run by relatives, presenting the potential for a conflict of interest, said Noble, the campaign finance advocate.

The Kushner Companies also confirmed having a "longstanding relationship" with two Israeli banks, Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi. Both banks declined to comment.

The Trump administration has inherited a Justice Department investigation into allegations that Bank Hapoalim helped American clients evade taxes, and the bank could reach a settlement this year. Bank Leumi also allegedly helped U.S. customers evade U.S. taxes from 2002-2010, and reached a settlement with the Justice Department in 2014 to pay $400 million.

There is no evidence that Kushner Companies was connected to either investigation, and the Justice Department declined to comment.

Co-director of foundation

Trump's son-in-law was also co-director of a family foundation that donated tens of thousands of dollars to Jewish settlement groups in the West Bank, according to U.S. tax records. The family also donated at least $298,600 to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, an organization that runs educational and cultural programs for Israeli soldiers, between 2010 and 2012, according to the tax records.

Palestinians and most of the international community consider Jewish settlements to be obstacles to peace because they are built on territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war that Palestinians want for a future state. The Palestinians also revile the Israeli military after decades of bloodshed.

Kushner and his family also have longstanding personal ties to Netanyahu. At a White House news conference last month, Netanyahu joked that he has known Kushner since he was a boy.
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BAGHDAD - An airstrike targeting Islamic State militants in the Iraqi city of Mosul that witnesses say killed at least 100 people was in fact launched by the U.S. military, American officials said on Saturday.

U.S. officials did not confirm the reports of civilian casualties but opened an investigation. In the days following the March 17 airstrike, U.S. officials said they were unsure whether American forces were behind the attack.

Investigation starting

The statement issued by the U.S.-led coalition said the airstrike had been requested by Iraqi security forces to target ISIS fighters and equipment "at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties." U.S.-backed government troops were fighting ISIS forces in that area of western Mosul, the statement said.

The coalition said it takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously and a formal Civilian Casualty Credibility Assessment had been opened to determine the facts surrounding this strike and the validity of the allegation of civilian casualties.

"Our goal has always been for zero civilian casualties, but the coalition will not abandon our commitment to our Iraqi partners because of ISIS's inhuman tactics terrorizing civilians, using human shields, and fighting from protected sites such as schools, hospitals, religious sites and civilian neighborhoods," the coalition said.

Altaf Musani, representative of the World Health Organization in Iraq, said that the organization's priority was quick treatment for those wounded.

"It is our understanding that there was an incident, and we have worked with the local health actors, and they have confirmed more than 100 are dead," Musani said.

Musani said that since the operations in Mosul began in October, there have been at least 5,300 people referred to hospitals in and around the city.

"When you take a better look at what those numbers mean, what is worrying for the WHO and aid actors is that roughly 30 percent of the total numbers are women," he said. "Roughly 30 percent of that large number are children under 15, and that is deeply concerning because of the capacities needed to treat those wounded coming out of the front lines."

Iraqis concerned

President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to dramatically ramp up the assault on Islamic State militants and has vowed to eradicate them.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met in recent days with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Ababi and foreign ministers from the coalition partners at the State Department to explore new ideas to expand the fight against IS in Mosul.

Earlier Saturday, senior Sunni Muslim politicians expressed concern over reports that airstrikes allegedly killed the civilians. Residents reported two airstrikes hitting a residential area March 13 and 17. The Iraqi Defense Ministry has provided no comment.
What happens to a society that ignores its obligation to nurture and educate its children? A recent Brookings Institution study suggests that those same children run the risk of growing up to be a lost generation - a generation without skills, without hope, without a bright future. Conducted by Princeton professors Anne Case and Angus Deaton, the study found a shocking rise in the proportion of working-class white Americans dying in middle age. White men with less than a high school degree, with few skills and even fewer job opportunities, are succumbing to deaths by drugs, alcohol and suicide. The authors call this disturbing phenomenon "deaths of despair."

At first glance it may seem something of a stretch to link so-called deaths of despair to the choices Texas lawmakers are making as the legislative session approaches its home stretch, and yet the Lone Star State is home to a number of disturbing characteristics we ignore at our peril. For example, more impoverished children live in Texas than almost any other state. We're also home to a huge percentage of children for whom English is a second language. These two elements alone offer challenges we have to address if we're serious about building a bright and prosperous future.

As we suggested earlier this year, this legislative session could be labeled "the year of the child" given the number of issues lawmakers face that directly affect younger Texans. While Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, and other ideologues waste the Legislature's time and energy on bathroom bills, a number of their colleagues, most notably House Speaker Joe Straus, are trying to maintain focus on the real issues affecting this state. At the moment, they're still falling short on a number of issues, including school-finance reform and overhauling Child Protective Services, particularly its dangerously deficient foster-care system.

CPS is in crisis, and yet House and Senate budget writers, so far, have agreed only to pay for emergency pay raises and new hires. As Robert Garrett of the Dallas Morning News has pointed out, that's only about a quarter of the new money that the Department of Family and Protective Services - the CPS parent agency - has said it needs in the next budget cycle to protect vulnerable children from abuse, as well as to provide care to elderly Texans.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman John Zerwas, R-Richmond, assured the Morning News that "we're far from finished." Let's hope so, in light of the fact that Texas spends less than half the U.S. average on child protection and foster-care services.

In addition to school-finance reform, a challenge so complex it deserves a special session, lawmakers need to provide funding for Gov. Greg Abbott's signature pre-K program. Revising their budgets last week, both the Senate and the House eliminated money for the initiative. The state is currently spending $118 million for the program in the 2016-17 school year, an amount that the governor wants doubled for the two-year budget that starts Sept. 1. After the miffed governor visited with state Sen. Jane Nelson, the Senate's chief budget writer, her committee restored $65 million.

Child-related bills still pending include legislation sponsored by two Houston Republicans, state Sen. Joan Huffman and state Rep. Sarah Davis, that would increase access to maternal depression screening. State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, and state Rep. Rick Miller, R-Sugar Land, have introduced legislation designed to improve nutrition and active-play standards in child-care centers. In addition, Watson and state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, have introduced legislation strengthening peer-support services for families of children with mental health challenges. These are the nitty-gritty types of bills that don't get the attention of Patrick-empowered bathroom bills, but they are prime examples of lawmakers doing their jobs, of lawmakers representing their constituents.

Despite talk of tight budgets, we are not West Virginia or Kentucky or Mississippi. We are a state richly blessed with resources, including a rainy day fund that now contains $10 billion. The second largest such fund in the nation, its balance will grow to almost $12 billion by the end of the 2018-19 budget cycle. By using a small portion - as Straus has proposed - we can fix CPS, address mental health needs and pay for public education without reneging on other obligations.

Health. Hope. Skills. Education. Those objectives represent the backdrop of the work going on under the Capitol dome this session. For lawmakers willing to invest in the future, there's still much work to do.
ESA program

Regarding "Panel hears pros, cons of school choice bill" (Page A6, March 22), public education in Texas faces an immediate crisis. Booming enrollment has led to some increasingly overcrowded public schools. And countless students - mainly by virtue of their ZIP code alone - remain trapped in schools where their educational needs cannot be met.

That is why I testified before the Texas Senate Education Committee on March 21 in support of a bill that would address both of these problems. SB 3, introduced by Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, would expand education choice by making all public school students eligible for an Education Savings Account (ESA). It deserves the support of Texas lawmakers.

In an ESA program, parents gain control of their child's education through a savings account that is managed by the parents themselves. The state deposits funds into a debit card that parents can use on approved educational expenses. These funds allow parents to develop a K-12 plan tailored to their own child's needs and aspirations. Parents could use account funds to pay for homeschooling, tuition at private schools, community college, universities or any other qualified educational expense.

The Latino community stands to be among the greatest beneficiaries of expanding school choice policies, so it is no surprise they are strongly in support. Nearly 70 percent of Latinos support school choice in general, and more than half support ESAs in particular.

Expanding the range of educational opportunities open to our students will benefit families and public schools alike. I encourage our elected officials to support ESA programs and bring education choice to Texas.

Jorge A. Lima, executive director, LIBRE Initiative
A Bucyrus man was seriously injured Saturday afternoon in a motorcycle crash north of Dogs Bluff, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Larry M. Wade, 54, was operating a northbound 2011 Harley Davidson Roadglide that traveled off the right side of the roadway and overturned, ejecting him at about 3:40 p.m.

Wade was initially taken by ambulance to Texas County Memorial Hospital because an air ambulance was unavailable due to weather conditions. A chopper later landed at Houston Memorial Airport.

Sgt. Dale Pounds said the motorcycle was totaled in the accident about four miles northwest of Houston. Assisting at the scene were Cpl. Curtis Haden, Tpr. Jacob Sellars and Houston Rural Fire Association Rescue Squad.



Earlier: Emergency personnel were called just before 4 p.m. to a motorcycle crash north of Dogs Buff on Highway 17 west of Houston.

The accident also sent the Houston Rural Fire Association Rescue Squad to the scene to direct traffic.

A medical helicopter was sought, but none was able to fly due to weather conditions. One later landed at the Houston Memorial Airport.
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A notorious B.C. pedophile is the subject of a public warning by the province.

Christopher Neil, 42, has completed a recent sentence and plans to live in Vancouver. Because he's considered a high-risk sex offender, B.C. Corrections issued a public notification on Sunday about Neil's status.

A former English teacher from Maple Ridge, B.C., Neil had served five years in a Thai prison for sexually abusing boys, and then returned to Canada in 2012. He became known around the world as Mr. Swirl or Swirlface because of how he tried to mask his face on digital images that were used to identify him.

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In 2015, he pleaded guilty in a Canadian court to five child-sex crimes that took place in Cambodia, as well as Vancouver and Maple Ridge, B.C., spanning a 10-year period.

His criminal history includes abduction of a minor, sexual interference of a person under 14, indecent act committed on a minor, and accessing, possessing and viewing child pornography.

B.C. officials noted that Neil has a pattern of sexual offending behaviour against both pre- and early pubescent boys.

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Neil is described as 5'10" tall, 190 pounds, with balding brown hair and blue eyes.

He is subject to close monitoring by authorities and 18 court-ordered conditions including:

No contact directly or indirectly with any person under the age of 16

Not to engage in any activity that involves contact with persons under the age of 16 years including via a computer system

Not to be on the property of or loiter on the sidewalk immediately adjacent to any park, playground, school ground, swimming area, daycare, recreation/ community centre, arcade, library, residence or any place where persons under the age 16 years can reasonably be expected to be present

Not to possess or access any computers, cellular telephones or other device capable of accessing the Internet

Not to direct any person to possess, use or access any electronic device or computer system.

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Douglas Carswell would have us believe he is a rebel - a man who takes on the established order in order to bring about change.

He's not. He's just another hypocritical politician. Just another MP motivated by self-interest, who picks and chooses his principles to match whatever he has already decided to do.

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When Carswell defected to Ukip from the Tories in 2014, he made great play of triggering a by-election. For him, it was about honour, it was about making sure the people had the ultimate say when the person they elected made a huge decision such as which party they were aligned to.

"The only honourable thing to do is to say to the people of Clacton, who I represent in Westminster, it's their choice," said Carswell at the time.

And how thick he continued to lay it on. In a blog aimed at disaffected Labour MPs in 2015, Carswell preached how best to leave the party. Here is some of his advice:

"Insist on a by-election to confirm your move with the electorate. It's the only honourable way. Incidentally, there is no disgrace if they do say "No". What would be disgraceful would be to live life subservient to people you cannot respect."

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So with all this in mind, it is surely inconceivable that the great Douglas Carswell, the man who holds the views of the public above everything else, should renege on his own convention?

Well knock me down with a Vote Leave leaflet, he has done just that. Having quit Ukip, he will not trigger a by-election. Why? Because he has not joined another party. Apparently that technicality means he does not need to go back to the voters.

'But we in Clacton elected a Ukip MP and now we haven't got one!' I hear voters in the Essex seat cry.

Tough - Carswell has made his mind up, and before you start whinging that he's broken the rules, he hasn't, because, you see, he makes the rules.

Poor Clacton voters. If only they had elected someone who supported the recall of MPs if a sizeable number of constituents demanded a by-election. If only they had elected someone who five days ago wrote these words:

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"In the United States, representatives can be recalled by their electorate. If enough local people sign a petition, they trigger a by-election. Voters then decide whether or not to renew their representative's mandate at the ballot box.... The way to keep MPs in check isn't to empower a toothless regulator. It's to let their constituents hold them to account."

Wait a minute! They did. Yes, it was Carswell who wrote that on his own website.

Yet today when asked by Andrew Neil if he would call a by-election if 20% of his constituents demanded one, he said no.

By-elections when you quit the party? Yes - but now no.

Recall for MPs when constituents demand? Yes - but now no.

I'm waiting for him to change his mind about this whole Brexit malarkey to be honest.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Carswell does next, because surely now everything he stands for has been destroyed.

He can no longer play the 'I'm a great democrat' card - because he's not.

He can no longer argue that politics is a cartel dominated by people who don't want to give up power - because he is one of them.

He can no longer lambast his fellow politicians for breaking promises made to voters - because he has done the same.

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Douglas Carswell will now fade to grey, and join the mass ranks of those in the public consciousness that represent the self-serving, hypocritical, untrustworthy nature of politicians.

A rebel in his mind; a sell-out in everyone else's.
Hutchinson woman arrested for alleged sex with four juvenile males

Police have been investigating case since two victims came forward in September. Two others were identified since through the investigation.
On March 14, Maas presented a draft of a so-called network enforcement law (NetzDG), which imposes extensive surveillance and censorship responsibilities on commercial social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. If the draft becomes law, such sites will be required to react immediately to complaints and block obviously illegal content within 24 hours. Other illegal content must be erased within seven days.

The corporations will have to decide on their own what is illegal and, to this end, they will have to set up a contact office in Germany. The law would turn them into investigators, judges and executioners over free speech, as the platform Netzpolitik.org writes.

If they do not live up to their duty to delete content, they are threatened with draconian fines of up to 50 million. These fines are left to the discretion of the Federal Office of Justice and can be imposed even in the case of a single offense, regardless of whether it is intentional or the result of negligence.

The law would apply to social networks that have at least 2 million users registered in Germany. However, the definition of a social network is so broadly formulated that, in addition to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, other services such as Whatsapp and Skype, and even larger email providers and file hosting sites, could fall under its purview.

The providers would be required not only to delete content, but also all copies of it, and would have to prevent it from being uploaded once again. At the same time, the content would have to be saved, possibly indefinitely, for evidentiary purposes.

The provider would be required to inform the user about the deletion and would be required to justify the decision, but a multiple choice justification form would suffice. If the user does not agree with the deletion, he would have to spend months, or even years, on costly legal proceedings. During this time, the deletion would remain in force.

The draft legislation includes more than a dozen clauses whose violation would lead to deletion. In addition to open calls to commit crimes and related offenses, it lists libel, defamation, slander, disparagement of the German president, and insults to religious communities.

As the Berlin law professor Niko Harting remarked, the law is about unlawful and not punishable content. He insists that this is an important difference. Harting fears that the law will lead to a situation in which the scope of criminal prohibitions will be expanded considerably, and that the new law will make it much easier to forbid certain statements.

Whether a statement is insulting, disparaging or defamatory has often been the object of a lengthy process of legal dispute. Not infrequently, charges and court actions have been employed in an effort to criminalize and silence personal and political opponents. The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe has repeatedly, though not always consistently, come to decisions that emphasized the value of free speech.

A well-known example is a decision of the Federal Constitutional Court in 1995. It decided that the statement by the German-Jewish journalist, satirist and writer that soldiers are murderers does not constitute libel, and it authored a decision to this effect. The legal dispute over the poem by the satirist Jan Bohmermann about Turkish President Erdogan is ongoing.

The extremely short inspection period combined with the threat of draconian fines makes it likely that corporations like Facebook or Google will react to reports of supposedly criminal content by erring on the side of caution and deleting it. Every sharp, critical, polemic, ironic or satirical post on a social network would vanish in no time.

The internet and the social networks on which people publicly voice and exchange views independently of the official political institutions, parties and media, have long been a thorn in the side of the ruling elite, which views the right to freedom of speech as a threat.

The draft legislation addresses this quite openly. Hate criminalityaccording to this law almost everythingthat cannot be combatted and pursued effectively, threatens peaceful coexistence in a free, open and democratic society, it says. Then the American election is openly invoked as an example: After the experience in the US election, the combatting of punishable false reports (fake news) has also won high priority in Germany.

To this end, corporations valued in the billions will be tasked with suppressing disagreeable statements and opinions. A lengthy court process, in which a decision in favour of free speech might be reached once again, will be replaced with a short process: a report, followed by deletion and justification by multiple choice.

Several critical journalists have also noted that the real concern of the Justice Minister is the suppression of free speech and criticism. Harald Martenstein wrote an article for Tagesspiegel, Where the government decides what is truth and what is fake, we are in despotism. But precisely now, while we are still excited about Erdogan, Erdogan methods are being prepared here in this country. Justice Minister Heiko Maas has presented draft legislation that reads as though it came from the novel 1984. 

On the other hand, representatives of the two ruling parties, the SPD and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), welcomed the planned legislation. Moreover, in the view of the Green Party, which is an opposition party to the government, the law does not go far enough.

Green Party parliamentary representative, Renate Kunast, who is the president of the Parliamentary Committee for Law and Consumer Protection, told the German radio station Deutschlandfunk that it is a problem that the draft legislation only covers punishable content! She also wants to suppress free speech that is explicitly not punishable.

Kunast left no room for doubt that for her the point of the law is to silence oppositional voices in the population: With 30 million Facebook users in Germany, all of this vulgar behaviour, even when it is not punishable, has an impact on real and virtual life. It has an influence. Even mayors are resigning because they are being molested.

In addition, she advocated viewing social media providers like newspapers and radio stations, which are made directly responsible for the content they bring to the public. This would lead in effect to a comprehensive review of all content and self-censorship in advance of publication rather than afterwards.

The legislation proposed by Justice Minister Maas and the criticism of it by former Green Party Minister of the Environment Kunast are indicative of the attitude to basic democratic rights of a future red-red-green federal coalition government. Such a government would not have the slightest interest in defending democratic principles.

Source: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/03/24/inte-m24.html
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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Following the announcement Scarlett Johansson would play The Major in Hollywoods live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell, many fans of the series were outraged.

However, Mamoru Oshii - who director the original - has spoken out about the whitewashing, saying theres no real issue with the casting because the character is a cyborg.

"What issue could there possibly be with casting her?" Oshii told IGN. "The Major is a cyborg and her physical form is an entirely assumed one.

The name 'Motoko Kusanagi' and her current body are not her original name and body, so there is no basis for saying that an Asian actress must portray her. Even if her original body (presuming such a thing existed) were a Japanese one, that would still apply.

Oshii then pointed to numerous other actors who have played characters of differing ethnicity to their own, including John Wayne as Genghis Khan and Omar Sharif as Doctor Zhivago.

Hollywood whitewashing controversies Show all 11 1 /11 Hollywood whitewashing controversies Hollywood whitewashing controversies Scarlett Johansson cast as Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell Blonde, white US actress Scarlett Johansson was announced to be playing the clearly Japanese character Motoko Kusanagi in Hollywood's Ghost in the Shell remake, much to the dismay of Asian film fans Hollywood whitewashing controversies Tilda Swinton cast as The Ancient One in Doctor Strange Marvel sparked outrage when Anglo-Scottish actress Tilda Swinton was cast as Tibetan mystic The Ancient One alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange Hollywood whitewashing controversies Zoe Saldana was criticised for 'blacking up' to play the considerably darker-skinned soul singer Nina Simone in Nina AP Hollywood whitewashing controversies Jake Gyllenhaal stars in Prince of Persia The half Jewish, quarter Swedish actor was cast to play a Middle Eastern Prince in Disney's 2010 film Hollywood whitewashing controversies Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily in forthcoming film Pan Mara was been cast in the role of American Indian Tiger Lily, sparking an online protest from angry film fans Warner Bros Hollywood whitewashing controversies Christian Bale plays Moses in Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods and Kings Ridley Scott claimed he would never cast 'Mohammed so-and-so from such-and-such a country' in a lead role in his Biblical epic, and went on to cast an entirely white cast instead Hollywood whitewashing controversies Jim Caveziel plays Jesus in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ Catholic star Mel Gibson chose to cast a Caucasian American actor in the role of Jesus for his controversial film AP Hollywood whitewashing controversies Micky Rooney plays a Japanese neighbour in Breakfast at Tiffany's Who better to play Holly Golightly's Japanese neighbour IY Yunoishi than American actor Mick Rooney. At least Hollywood has come some way since 1961 YouTube Hollywood whitewashing controversies Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in Argo Ben Affleck became the subject of a few editorials in Latin American newspapers for casting himself (an American with English, Irish, Scottish and Swiss ancestry) as a Mexican CIA operative Hollywood whitewashing controversies Jennifer Connelly plays Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind Alicia Lopez-Harrison de Larde was a naturalised US citizen from El Salvador, but was played by an actress of Jewish, Irish and Norwegian descent YouTube Hollywood whitewashing controversies Chinese actresses cast in Memoirs of a Geisha What better way to alienate Japanese cinemagoers than to cast three Chinese actresses in the lead roles in a film about Japanese culture REUTERS

"If that's not allowed, he added, then Darth Vader probably shouldnt speak English, either. I believe having Scarlett play Motoko was the best possible casting for this movie. I can only sense a political motive from the people opposing it, and I believe artistic expression must be free from politics.

The director went on to explain how Rupert Sanders, who is helming the upcoming adaptation, should be allowed a certain level of creative freedom.

"If this is to be a remake of the anime, I don't think it's necessary to remain faithful to the way things were expressed in the anime. The director should exercise his directorial freedom as much as possible. If he doesn't do so, there would be no point in remaking it.

Speaking about the controversy, Johansson previously said: I certainly would never presume to play another race of a person. Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to feel like I was playing a character that was offensive.

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Ghost in the Shell made headlines last week after a viral campaign for the film backfired, leading to numerous images mocking Johanssons casting hitting the Internet.
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Foreign minister Boris Johnson has blasted disgusting internet companies such as Google for making money from extremist content.

Mr Johnson told the The Sunday Times that Google needs to stop just making money out of prurient violent material.

Im furious about it, he said, referring to firms slow reaction to take down terrorist propaganda and training manuals. Its disgusting.

Home secretary Amber Rudd also wrote in the Telegraph that tech firms must do more following the terrorist attack on Westminster Bridge and Parliament, which killed four people, including a police officer, and injured a dozen more.

Each attack confirms again the role that the internet is playing in serving as a conduit, inciting and inspiring violence, and spreading extremist ideology of all kinds, she said.

But we cant do it by ourselves. We need the help of social media companies, the Googles, the Twitters, the Facebooks of this world. And the smaller ones, too: platforms such as Telegram, Wordpress and Justpaste.it.

In pictures: Westminster attack Show all 9 1 /9 In pictures: Westminster attack In pictures: Westminster attack An air ambulance lands after gunfire sounds were heard close to the Palace of Westminster in London PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack MPs wait until the situation is under control in Westminster. 'The alleged assailant was shot by armed police,' David Lidington, leader of the House of Commons, told the house. BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Crowds gather in Westminster after shooting incident, which police are treating as terror attack BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Police were also called to an incident on Westminster Bridge nearby AP In pictures: Westminster attack Early reports indicate the car, which mounted the pavement on Westminster Bridge and mowed into around a dozen people, was the same vehicle which then rammed into the railings of the Palace of Westminster, just around the corner Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack Security sources described the suspected assailant as a middle-aged Asian man, who is understood to have left the car before attacking a police officer with a seven-to-eight inch knife PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack Police have asked people to avoid the immediate area to allow emergency services to deal with the ongoing incident AP In pictures: Westminster attack One woman has died and a number of others, including the police officer, have been hurt, according to a junior doctor at St Thomas' Hospital Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack At least three gun shots were heard by those inside Westminster, and proceedings in the House of Commons have been suspended AP

Both ministers have called for these companies to show more "social responsibility" when it comes to content which promote terrorism and extremism.

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have been accused of only reacting to issues when they are flagged by users, and also reacting too slowly when controversial content is brought to their attention.

They need to develop new systems and algorithms to detect this stuff and remove it. They are not acting when they are tipped off, said Mr Johnson.

The ministers comments come as the Google boycott gains traction, with several brands cutting their spending on YouTube.

Companies in the UK and the US, including Walmart, Starbucks, the Guardian newspaper, Verizon and Volkswagen, have pulled advertising after they discovered their ads were placed next to extremist content.

Ms Rudd said she would meet with the heads of Google, Facebook and Twitter next week to discuss action to tackle extremism.

 Boris Johnson leads the UN Security Council in a minute of silence

Google's European boss Matt Brittin apologised for the extremist content next to advertisers last week.

"I would like to apologise to our partners and advertisers who might have been affected by their ads appearing on controversial content. We take our responsibilities to these industry issues very seriously."
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Black holes are the big bullies of space. They're so massive that their gravity doesn't let any light escape. The biggest black holes, called supermassive, weigh as much as a billion suns. Looming at the centre of seemingly every galaxy, including the Milky Way, they control the formation of stars and can deform the fabric of space-time itself. It takes a lot to push a black hole around.

But eight billion light-years from Earth, in a galaxy called 3C 186, astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole that got kicked off its throne. Now it's rocketing through space at a speed of almost 5 million miles an hour.

There's one thing that could unseat a supermassive black hole in this manner, the researchers say: gravitational waves.

First predicted by Albert Einstein more than 100 years ago, gravitational waves are ripples in space-time caused by the universes most cataclysmic events  just as concentric circles form on the surface of a pond after you toss in a heavy rock. Last year, researchers at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) showed that this phenomenon exists when they detected gravitational waves produced by the merger of two black holes.

In a paper that will publish next week in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, Marco Chiaberge and his colleagues say that the weird behaviour of the black hole in galaxy 3C 186 is likely the result of gravitational waves from another pair of colliding black holes.

The roving black hole was detected in an image taken by Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope. The fuzzy splotch that was galaxy 3C 186 contained an incredibly bright spot, a quasar. This wasn't unusual: a quasar is the nucleus of a galaxy, and it's bright because of the disk of gas that surrounds the black hole at its centre.

What caught Chiaberge's eye was the quasar's location, 35,000 light-years from the centre of its galaxy.

I thought we were seeing something very peculiar, he said in a Nasa news release.

 NASA to announce 'discovery outside our solar system'

Mr Chiaberge, who works at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) and Johns Hopkins University, asked fellow astronomers for their observations from a range of other instruments, including the Chandra space observatory and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's telescope in New Mexico. The former measures X-rays, the latter specialises in detecting redshift, the stretching of light that is detected as something travels through space.

Their observations confirmed the Hubble finding. They also helped pin down the black hole's mass (equal to that of a billion suns) and the speed at which the gas around it was travelling (4.7 million mph).

Meanwhile, the Hubble image offered a clue about what dislodged the black hole from its galaxy's centre. The host galaxy bore faint, arc-shaped features called tidal tales, which are produced by the gravitational tug-of-war that takes place when two galaxies collide. This suggested that galaxy 3C 186 had recently merged with another system, and perhaps their black holes merged too.

What happened next, scientists can only theorise. Chiaberge and his colleagues suggest that as the galaxies collided, their black holes began to circle each other, flinging out gravity waves like water from a lawn sprinkler, as Nasa described it. If the black holes had unequal masses and spin rates, they might have sent more gravitational waves in one direction than the other. When the collision was complete, the newly merged black hole would have then recoiled from the strongest gravitational waves, shooting off in the opposite direction.

Nasa unveils space tourism posters Show all 6 1 /6 Nasa unveils space tourism posters Nasa unveils space tourism posters Nasa space tourism posters Nasa's canny decision to commission sumptuous vintage-inspired posters by Seattle design firm Invisible Creature has firmly placed space travel back where it belongs: in the imagination of travellers Nasa Nasa unveils space tourism posters Nasa space tourism posters It is particularly fitting that the Nasa commission went to Don and Ryan Clark, who have been running Invisible Creature since 2006, undertaking projects for the likes of Nike and Target Nasa Nasa unveils space tourism posters Nasa space tourism posters "We were ecstatic, just because our grandfather was an illustrator at Nasa for 30 years," says Clark Nasa Nasa unveils space tourism posters Nasa space tourism posters The artwork harks back to the Jet Age-era posters commissioned by Howard Hughes' Trans World Airlines and its rival United in the 1950s and 1960s, when the work of David Klein (for TWA) and Stan Galli (for United) glamorised and essentially branded this new age of air travel Nasa Nasa unveils space tourism posters Nasa space tourism posters It doesn't matter that Nasa has no plans for a "Grand Tour" of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus Nasa Nasa unveils space tourism posters Nasa space tourism posters If global travel is for daydreamers, going beyond the atmosphere is for true space cadets Nasa

This asymmetry depends on properties such as the mass and the relative orientation of the back holes' rotation axes before the merger, Colin Norman of STScI and Johns Hopkins University, a co-author on the paper, said in the Nasa news release. That's why these objects are so rare.

There is an alternative explanation for the roving black hole, the researchers noted. It's possible that the quasar only appears to be located in galaxy 3C 186, but is actually just behind it  explaining why galaxy's nucleus seems to be off-centre.

But if that's the case, the scientists say, researchers should have detected the quasar's actual host galaxy  and they haven't yet. If Chiaberges interpretation is correct, it can help astronomers understand what happens in a black hole merger.

Even without knowing the source of the behaviour, the scientists have drawn some pretty incredible conclusions about it. They estimate that the energy required to jettison a black hole like the one in 3C 186 would be equivalent to 100 million supernovas. Now the black hole is moving so fast it could cover the distance between the Earth and the Moon in a mere three minutes. In about 20 million years, the astronomers predict, it will escape its galaxy and roam alone through the universe forever.

Whatever is going on with this bizarre black hole, it's certainly had a wild ride.

 Washington Post
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A huge explosion has flattened at least one building on the Wirral, injuring dozens of people.

Emergency services rushed to the scene in New Ferry, where a building, believed to be a dance studio, was reduced to rubble at around 9.15pm.

It is not yet clear if anyone was inside the building at the time, but injured people were seen walking to ambulances, according to the Liverpool Echo, one with a "serious head bandage".

North West Ambulance service confirmed one serious casualty was taken to Aintree University Hospital and 23 others described as walking wounded were taken to Arrowe Park and the Countess of Chester hospital.

Most of the casualties are thought to have been customers at a nearby Chinese restaurant. The windows of a pub were also shattered by the blast.

One resident said he believed there were people buried under the rubble.

Lew Hopkins told the Echo: Some people were under the rubble. It was horrific."

He said people who live near the site were being evacuated because of fears there could be a second blast.

He said: They evacuated people on the street because they were scared it could happen again.

They were all forced to evacuate - it was horrible to see.

Wirral council said it had set up a refuge for people who have been displaced as part of the incident and is working with emergency services at the scene.

Merseyside Fire Service said a suspected gas explosion had caused a building to collapse.

A spokeswoman for the service confirmed they were dealing with a blast at two buildings covering an area of around 50 metres by 40 metres.

They have collapsed in a suspected explosion due to a gas leak, she said.

The news editor at Capital FM tweeted: Explosion in New Ferry understood to be at a furniture shop... building flattened with other buildings around it suffering damage

The Liverpool Echo reports that the building was dance studio called Complete Works. A petrol station may also have been damaged.

Nearby residents said they had felt the earth shake from the explosion, which left a huge plume of smoke rising into the sky.

Witnesses described the scene as 'like a war zone'.

Bino Shan, the owner of a convenience store on nearby Bebington Road, told the Telegraph: I saw one man injured, I think a few people were injured.

The building is gone, my door is damaged and broken. It's really scary, it was a big explosion but I didn't see any fire.

The police said the gas blew up.

Alison McGovern, the MP for Wirral South, tweeted that she was at the scene but urged others to stay away.

Lucy Lee, a woman who is believed to have worked at the dance studio, posted on Facebook that she was heartbroken by the accident.

"Lost for words.. I began complete works when it very first opened and to see it build how it did and go from 20 of us to hundreds of them was incredible," she said.

"Vic & Kim put their heart and souls into that dance school and within minutes it has gone. Hoping everyone is safe."
CINCINNATI (AP) -- A gunfight broke out inside a crowded Cincinnati nightclub early Sunday, leaving one man dead and 15 other people wounded after a dispute among several patrons escalated into a shootout, authorities said.

No suspects were in custody by Sunday night in the shooting at the Cameo club, which has a history of gun violence, and police said there was no indication of any terrorism link.

Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said one of the wounded was in "extremely critical condition," while a hospital spokeswoman said two victims were listed in critical condition.

Police began receiving calls at 1:30 a.m. about gunshots at the club near the Ohio River east of downtown Cincinnati. Isaac said some 200 people were inside the club, one of the few hip-hop venues in the city, for music and dancing.

Isaac identified the dead man as 27-year-old O'Bryan Spikes, but provided no other details. He said 15 others were injured, with some already treated and released from hospitals.

"What we know at this point in the investigation is that several local men got into some type of dispute inside the bar, and it escalated into shots being fired from several individuals," Isaac said. It wasn't clear how many people fired shots.

Club patron Mauricio Thompson described a chaotic scene in which as many as 20 shots were fired as people scrambled to get away. He said there was a fight and people were yelling for security to intervene before the gunfire began.

"Once I got outside, people coming out bloody, gunshot wounds on them, some of their friends carrying them to the car, rushing them to the hospital," Thompson told WCPO-TV. "It was just crazy."

Another patron told the television station that she dove to the ground outside the nightclub to dodge bullets and her boyfriend climbed on top of her to protect her.

"I thought I was going to die. At that point survival skills started kicking in," said Sherell, who preferred not to give her last name. "Once I heard the third shot  I didn't know whether it was coming from outside, someone was shooting at the club, or whether it was coming from inside."

Story continues

Police Sgt. Daniel Hils said the large crowd at the club was a factor in the number of people who suffered gunshot wounds.

"When you're talking about something tightly packed like that, I think intended targets aren't going to be the only thing that's hit," said Hils, who is president of the Fraternal Order of Police local. "When you starting throwing lead around, and there's a lot of other people standing around, then the other people are going to get hit."

Isaac said the club has its own security operation that uses detection wands and pat-downs, but that police believe several firearms got inside. Four officers were working security in the club's parking lot and some tried unsuccessfully to revive the man who died.

Cameo's Facebook profile said it caters to college students on Friday nights, when anyone over 18 is allowed in, while Saturdays are "grown and sexy night" for ages 21 and older. The page was taken down later Sunday.

The club has a history of gun violence, including a shooting inside the club on New Year's Day in 2015 and one in the parking lot in September of that year, City Manager Harry Black said.

Police Capt. Kim Williams said there was "just a lot of chaos, obviously, when shots were fired."

"Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst," she said.

Referring to initial speculation about possible terrorism, Mayor John Cranley said: "What difference does that make to the victims? Innocent people were shot."

He called the shootings "unacceptable" and said authorities would work to find ways to prevent such violence.

A single body was removed by the coroner shortly after 6 a.m. A federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives team was also at the scene.

Among the injured, five were treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and released, hospital spokeswoman Kelly Martin said. She said two people were in critical condition and another three were listed in stable condition by late afternoon. She had no details on the types of injuries or the ages of the victims. Other injured people were taken to or drove themselves to other hospitals.

Authorities asked anyone with information to come forward. Investigators were checking to see if surveillance cameras were working, Williams said.

The operator of the nightclub, Jay Rodgers, released a statement Sunday night calling the shooting that took place there, "senseless."

"We will do everything in our power to cooperate and make sure the monsters that did this are caught and brought to justice," Rodgers said.

He added that the club would remain closed until "both our management completes our own investigation and the Cincinnati Police Department completes their investigation."

The area is mostly industrial but also home to several nightclubs with a smattering of homes. A regional airport is nearby. The neighborhood is fairly desolate at night, with the exception of the nightlife scene and 24-hour gas stations. The road where the club is located was easily cordoned off by a single police cruiser and officer at either end.

First responders had problems reaching the shooting victims because the parking lots were full, Sgt. Eric Franz told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on Twitter that he was "saddened to learn about last night's shooting" and that he was offering the state's assistance.

___

Associated Press reporter Mike Householder in Cincinnati contributed to this report.
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Four teenagers carrying knives have been arrested after a car drove into pedestrians on a busy London road, injuring at least three people.

A woman and two men were rushed to hospital after a silver people carrier ploughed into crowds outside the Old Queens Head pub, on Essex Road in Islington, just before 11pm on Saturday night.

The occupants of the car fled on foot but were later tracked down by police, who said a knife was spotted lying in the street and another blade was found inside the car.

Recommended Gunman opens fire on crowd at Cincinnati nightclub

The Metropolitan Police later said four males, aged between 17 and 19, had been arrested on suspicion of offences including GBH with intent, and possession of points and blades. All remain in custody.

Shocked eyewitnesses took to Twitter to describe the carnage left by the car after it mounted the pavement.

Jade Barlow wrote: Its all kicking off on Essex Road, Islington... a handful of casualties and a very large knife... hmmm.

An abandoned knife and a handful of mowed down casualties.

Zora Suleman wrote: Several ppl injured after a car struck several people on Essex Rd in Islington, North London [sic].

Police, paramedics and the National Air Service were sent to the scene and the London Ambulance Service (LAS) confirmed it took three people to hospital.

Their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

Tensions are high in the capital, just days after an attack outside Parliament left four people dead and at least 50 injured.

In pictures: Westminster attack Show all 9 1 /9 In pictures: Westminster attack In pictures: Westminster attack An air ambulance lands after gunfire sounds were heard close to the Palace of Westminster in London PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack MPs wait until the situation is under control in Westminster. 'The alleged assailant was shot by armed police,' David Lidington, leader of the House of Commons, told the house. BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Crowds gather in Westminster after shooting incident, which police are treating as terror attack BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Police were also called to an incident on Westminster Bridge nearby AP In pictures: Westminster attack Early reports indicate the car, which mounted the pavement on Westminster Bridge and mowed into around a dozen people, was the same vehicle which then rammed into the railings of the Palace of Westminster, just around the corner Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack Security sources described the suspected assailant as a middle-aged Asian man, who is understood to have left the car before attacking a police officer with a seven-to-eight inch knife PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack Police have asked people to avoid the immediate area to allow emergency services to deal with the ongoing incident AP In pictures: Westminster attack One woman has died and a number of others, including the police officer, have been hurt, according to a junior doctor at St Thomas' Hospital Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack At least three gun shots were heard by those inside Westminster, and proceedings in the House of Commons have been suspended AP

Khalid Masood, aged 52, was shot dead after he drove into crowds on Westminster Bridge before attacking police officers with knives, fatally wounding PC Keith Palmer.

Police said Saturdays incident was not terror related.

They released a statement saying: Police were called at approximately 22:55hrs on Saturday, 25 March to reports of a car in collision with a number of people in Essex Road.

Three people  two males and one female  were taken to hospital for treatment to their injuries. At this stage their injuries are not being treated as life threatening.

The occupants decamped from the car and fled the scene on foot.

Four males, aged between 17 and 19, have since been arrested on suspicion of a variety of offences including GBH with intent and possession of points and blades. All four remain in custody.

Two knives were recovered at the scene; one inside the car and one found near to the car.

Enquiries into the circumstances continue.

An ambulance spokesman said: We sent a number of resources to the scene including three ambulance crews, an incident response officer and a paramedic in a car.

We treated three patients at the scene and took them as priority to hospital.

The scene was quickly sealed off by police who put a cordon in place, and some road closures remain in place.
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Muslim faith leaders have led a peace rally in Birmingham following the Westminster terror attack.

More than 200 people turned out in Victoria Square, holding banners that read Not in our name - Muslims oppose Isis, in an event organised by Birmingham Central Mosque.

Surrounded by civic and multi-faith religious leaders, Dr Waqar Azmi told the crowd: For too long, we've had terrorist and extremists in all communities, in Muslim and non-Muslim, who try to define us.

The figures of far-right extremists do not define the British values that we hold.

Those people who are Daesh and Isis do not define the values that Muslims would hold.

We refuse now to allow them to misrepresent us, and refuse now to allow them to define us.

Because we are defined by a shared value of love thy neighbour.

In pictures: Westminster attack Show all 9 1 /9 In pictures: Westminster attack In pictures: Westminster attack An air ambulance lands after gunfire sounds were heard close to the Palace of Westminster in London PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack MPs wait until the situation is under control in Westminster. 'The alleged assailant was shot by armed police,' David Lidington, leader of the House of Commons, told the house. BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Crowds gather in Westminster after shooting incident, which police are treating as terror attack BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Police were also called to an incident on Westminster Bridge nearby AP In pictures: Westminster attack Early reports indicate the car, which mounted the pavement on Westminster Bridge and mowed into around a dozen people, was the same vehicle which then rammed into the railings of the Palace of Westminster, just around the corner Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack Security sources described the suspected assailant as a middle-aged Asian man, who is understood to have left the car before attacking a police officer with a seven-to-eight inch knife PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack Police have asked people to avoid the immediate area to allow emergency services to deal with the ongoing incident AP In pictures: Westminster attack One woman has died and a number of others, including the police officer, have been hurt, according to a junior doctor at St Thomas' Hospital Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack At least three gun shots were heard by those inside Westminster, and proceedings in the House of Commons have been suspended AP

Henna Rai, founder of Women Against Radicalisation Network (WARN), said: Like so many others, I felt compelled to come to this important event in Victoria Square.

What happened in London was an appalling act, carried out by a pathetic individual. It was an indiscriminate attack on innocent people that sought to turn communities against one another.

By standing together with people of all faiths and none, to reject hatred in all its forms, will we show terrorists and extremists that they can never divide us, they can never break our communities, and they can never win.
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Power-sharing talks in Ireland have broken down after Sinn Fein took the decision to withdraw, claming the process had "run its course".

Another Stormont crisis was triggered as the republican party said it would not be nominating a deputy first minister on Monday, the deadline for Northern Ireland's five main parties to resolve their differences or face another snap election after power-sharing broke down in January.

However President Gerry Adams said he believed the conditions to go back into power-sharing would be achieved in time.

Ms O'Neill said: "Today we have come to the end of the road.

"The talks process has run its course and Sinn Fein will not be nominating for the position of speaker or for the executive office tomorrow."

Power-sharing collapsed following a row over a botched green energy scheme predicted to cost the taxpayer up to half a billion pounds.

Sinn Fein has said it will not share power with the Democratic Unionists' leader Arlene Foster as first minister until a public inquiry into the renewable heat incentive (RHI) is concluded.

In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Show all 18 1 /18 In Pictures: Martin McGuinness In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Northern Ireland's Former Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has died aged 66 Getty Images In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Martin McGuinness walking past a Bloody Sunday Mural in the Bogside in Londonderry PA wire In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Britain's Queen Elizabeth II shaking hands with Sinn Fein politician and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness at Hillsborough Castle, south of Belfast in Northern Ireland Getty Images In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness AP In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, shaking hands with British Prime Minister Tony Blair as First Minister Ian Paisley, looks on at Stormont Parliament Buildings in Belfast Getty Images In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness walks past the Houses of Parliament in London AP In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Sinn Fein Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness Reuters In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Republican party Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams standing with Sinn Fein politician and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness as he arrives to give a press conference at a hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland Getty Images In Pictures: Martin McGuinness First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness smiling after being sworn in as ministers of the Northern Ireland Assembly PA wire In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness celebrate at Kings Hall in Belfast with a supporter after hearing the result of the Irish referendum Reuters In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Sinn Fein member of parliament Martin McGuinness speaks to the media outside Holloway Prison, in London Reuters In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness embracing at Dublin Airport PA wire In Pictures: Martin McGuinness US. President Bill Clinton shakes the hand of Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness as Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams watches, following Clinton's speech at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast Reuters In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at the opening of Ireland's first IKEA store in Belfast PA wire In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Northern Ireland's former deputy first minister and ex-IRA commander Martin McGuinness PA wire In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness addressing Nationalists after the march in Londonderry outside the Guild Hall PA wire In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Michelle O'Neill, the new Sinn Fein leader in the north takes a selfie with Martin McGuinness on the steps of Stormont Getty Images In Pictures: Martin McGuinness Bernadette McGuinness carries the coffin of her late husband Martin McGuinness in Londonderry, Northern Ireland Getty Images

Republicans have also been seeking movement on issues like an Irish language act giving the tongue official status in Northern Ireland, a hugely symbolic measure but deeply problematic for some unionists.

They also want to see progress on legacy funding for Northern Ireland conflict victims waiting up to 45 years for answers over how their loved ones died.

Mr Brokenshire is chairing talks in Belfast and said they had a duty to victims to address past violence which left 3,637 dead and countless more injured.

Irish Foreign Secretary Charlie Flanagan said the imminent triggering of Article 50, which will commence Britain's Brexit negotiations with Europe, makes it "a critical time for Northern Ireland."

"Despite constructive engagement by all of the parties and important progress being made during these discussions, it has not yet been possible to make the necessary breakthroughs on a number of core issues," he said.

"This is a critical time for Northern Ireland. We are on the cusp of the triggering of Article 50 by the UK Government. It is the strong wish of the Irish Government to see power-sharing re-established so that the interests of the people in Northern Ireland are best protected and advanced. I therefore urge the parties to avail of the remaining time available to re-engage on the few outstanding issues that divide them."

Mr Adams said thinking unionism was at a crossroads.

"The DUP cannot be in there representing the DUP voters," he said.

"They have to work with us and any other party in there representing everyone.

"We don't have the basis for doing that, we are not going back to the status quo, but will we be back, will we get the institutions in place? Yes."

He said the terms did not exist now to nominate for a deputy first minister.

"That is today...we do believe that we will have the conditions in the time ahead because we want to be in the institutions."

He said unionists needed to help build a society that respected the rights of everyone.

"That is the big change that has come about and it is amplified in many ways by Martin McGuinness's term in office, you do it for everybody."

A voting surge by Sinn Fein in the last Assembly election earlier this month saw the party come within one seat of becoming the biggest party at Stormont behind the DUP.

Additional reporting by agencies
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The family of the police officer who was killed in the Westminster terror attack have thanked those who helped him in his final moments, saying: "There was nothing more you could have done."

PC Keith Palmers relatives said they were overwhelmed by the support they had received.

"We want to thank everyone who has reached out to us over the past few days for their kindness and generosity, they said in a statement released by Scotland Yard.

The police have been a constant, unwavering support at this very difficult time. It has made us realise what a caring, strong and supportive family Keith was part of during his career with the police, they said. We can't thank them enough.

They added: "We would also like to express our gratitude to the people who were with Keith in his last moments and who were working that day. There was nothing more you could have done.

"You did your best and we are just grateful he was not alone. We care about him being remembered for his selfless bravery and loving nature.

In pictures: Westminster attack Show all 9 1 /9 In pictures: Westminster attack In pictures: Westminster attack An air ambulance lands after gunfire sounds were heard close to the Palace of Westminster in London PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack MPs wait until the situation is under control in Westminster. 'The alleged assailant was shot by armed police,' David Lidington, leader of the House of Commons, told the house. BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Crowds gather in Westminster after shooting incident, which police are treating as terror attack BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Police were also called to an incident on Westminster Bridge nearby AP In pictures: Westminster attack Early reports indicate the car, which mounted the pavement on Westminster Bridge and mowed into around a dozen people, was the same vehicle which then rammed into the railings of the Palace of Westminster, just around the corner Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack Security sources described the suspected assailant as a middle-aged Asian man, who is understood to have left the car before attacking a police officer with a seven-to-eight inch knife PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack Police have asked people to avoid the immediate area to allow emergency services to deal with the ongoing incident AP In pictures: Westminster attack One woman has died and a number of others, including the police officer, have been hurt, according to a junior doctor at St Thomas' Hospital Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack At least three gun shots were heard by those inside Westminster, and proceedings in the House of Commons have been suspended AP

PC Palmer was stabbed to death by Khalid Masood, who ploughed a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before crashing his car into railings and then running into the grounds of Parliament, armed with a knife.

Police then shot the 52-year-old who was born as Adrian Elms in Kent.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command have now confirmed that the terrorist attack carried out over within 82 seconds.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, who is the Senior National Coordinator for UK Counter Terrorism Policing, said: "Our investigation continues at pace. I am grateful for the public support so far, but I am asking for more help.

 Westminster attack probe : Resident describes police seizing van and cars after Birmingham raid

"If you knew Khalid Masood and had spoken to him in the months, weeks or days leading up to this attack please come forward.

"We still believe that Masood acted alone on the day and there is no information or intelligence to suggest there are further attacks planned.

He added: "Even if he acted alone in the preparation we need to establish with absolute clarity why he did these unspeakable acts to bring reassurance to Londoners, and to provide answers and closure for the families of those killed and the victims and survivors of this atrocity.

"We must all accept that there is a possibility we will never understand why he did this. That understanding may have died with him.
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Westminster killer Khalid Masood likely acted alone and it is possible the reasons why he carried out his attack will never be known, police have said.

Detectives are calling for anyone who may have spoken to Masood in the months leading up to his 82-second massacre, which claimed four lives, to come forward.

Dozens were injured when he ploughed his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and outside the Houses of Parliament before being shot dead by police.

On Saturday the family of PC Keith Palmer, who intercepted Masood as he tried to storm Parliament, issued a statement thanking those who rushed to help the stricken officer in his final moments. You did your best, they said, and we are just grateful he was not alone.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, of the Metropolitan Police, said: We still believe that Masood acted alone on the day and there is no information or intelligence to suggest there are further attacks planned.

Even if he acted alone in the preparation we need to establish with absolute clarity why he did these unspeakable acts to bring reassurance to Londoners, and to provide answers and closure for the families of those killed and the victims and survivors of this atrocity.

We must all accept that there is a possibility we will never understand why he did this. That understanding may have died with him.

Nevertheless, we are determined to understand if Masood was a lone actor inspired by terrorist propaganda or if others have encouraged, supported or directed him. If the latter proves to be the case, they will face justice.

Whilst the attack lasted only 82 seconds it will remain in the memories of many forever. The thoughts of all those working on this investigation are with those so deeply affected.

There is no evidence that anyone else accompanied Masood during the rampage in which he murdered four people and injured 50 others. But the timing and sequence of the radicalisation of Masood, born Adrian Elms, will, law agencies believe, provide important pointers towards what unfolded.

In pictures: Westminster attack Show all 9 1 /9 In pictures: Westminster attack In pictures: Westminster attack An air ambulance lands after gunfire sounds were heard close to the Palace of Westminster in London PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack MPs wait until the situation is under control in Westminster. 'The alleged assailant was shot by armed police,' David Lidington, leader of the House of Commons, told the house. BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Crowds gather in Westminster after shooting incident, which police are treating as terror attack BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Police were also called to an incident on Westminster Bridge nearby AP In pictures: Westminster attack Early reports indicate the car, which mounted the pavement on Westminster Bridge and mowed into around a dozen people, was the same vehicle which then rammed into the railings of the Palace of Westminster, just around the corner Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack Security sources described the suspected assailant as a middle-aged Asian man, who is understood to have left the car before attacking a police officer with a seven-to-eight inch knife PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack Police have asked people to avoid the immediate area to allow emergency services to deal with the ongoing incident AP In pictures: Westminster attack One woman has died and a number of others, including the police officer, have been hurt, according to a junior doctor at St Thomas' Hospital Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack At least three gun shots were heard by those inside Westminster, and proceedings in the House of Commons have been suspended AP

Masood had come to the notice of MI5 and Scotland Yards Special Branch in the past for associating with known extremists, but, security officials insisted, had not been involved in plotting terrorist acts.

It has emerged that Masood converted to Islam in prison.

The 52-year-old served several sentences for offences ranging from grievous bodily harm, to assault and possession of an offensive weapon dating back to his teenage years.

Violent episodes peppered his life, with one friend recalling Masood admitting he had dreams about killing someone 16 years before he murdered four people outside the Houses of Parliament.
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Britain can slash Brussels regulations on clinical trials for new drugs and on building near protected wildlife habitats now that it is leaving the European Union, Michael Gove has said.

The Tory MP and former cabinet minister, who was a key figure in the Brexit campaign, said the pledge to take back control could allow Britain to scrap absurd rules such as the European Commissions Habitats Directive and Clinical Trials Directive.

If there are regulations which hold any business here back, we now have the potential to amend or even if necessary rescind them, Mr Gove told an audience in central London this week.

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Ill mention one in particular. I know that pharmaceuticals is a huge British success story and export, but pharmaceuticals are to an extent held back by the principles of the Clinical Trials Directive, which in some respect inhibits, for example, the development of treatments which could be trialled in a particular way which would both help some of the suffering an advance innovation.

The former Education Secretary said removing such regulations could help spur innovation in UK drugs companies and might produce new medicines to relieve pain and misery.

He also pointed the finger at EU rules about building new homes in environmentally sensitive areas  such as his own constituency  for holding back developments. Mr Gove suggested those too could be scrapped.

I am very, very keen  I may be odd in this respect as Conservative MP  on having more homes built in my constituency. Its a social and economic good. But homes built in my constituency are governed by the Habitats Directive, he said.

The Habitats Directive holds that if you build a home within five kilometres of a particular type of terrain, heathland, then you have to allocate, at the same time, something called suitable alternative natural green space to offset the environmental impact.

He derided the rationale for such rules and said that the directive massively increases the cost and the regulatory burden for housing development.

As a result my constituents, and perhaps your children find homes more expensive and mobility in this country impeded, he added.

Mr Gove is no longer a member of the Government. He served first as Education Secretary and then as Justice Secretary under David Cameron. He made his comments at an event hosted by Advertising Week Europe on Wednesday.

The Government plans to transfer all EU law into British law with the so-called Great Repeal Bill. Ministers are then expected to remove regulations they do not like on a case-by-case basis, meaning all EU laws would stay on the books until they were specifically repealed.

Last month the Government was accused of worrying complacency over the environmental damage that could come to Britain after it leaves the EU by campaign group Client Earth.

Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned  forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA  because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty

The impact of Brexit on the pharmaceutical industry is uncertain. Before Brexit the UK had expected to contain two key EU institutions: the European Medicines Agency and the pharmaceutical division of the EU Unified Patent Court.

Mr Gove's call to review the Clinical Trials Directive came just days after a widely reported failed clinical trial in the US left three women blinded with detached retinas and bleeding from their eyes.

Britains future relationship with the EU will be subject to negotiation after Theresa May triggers Article 50 on Wednesday next week.
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Labour will vote against any final Brexit deal unless it delivers the exact same benefits as the UK enjoys currently within the European Union, Jeremy Corbyn says.

Warning of a huge threat to jobs, the Labour leader toughened his partys stance if Theresa May returns from the Brussels negotiations with bad exit terms.

Asked if Labour would then vote against the deal  despite supporting the triggering of the Article 50 exit clause  Mr Corbyn indicated that it would.

Setting his key test, he said: We are very clear that there has to be unfettered access to the European market otherwise the threat to jobs in this country is absolutely huge.

Mr Corbyn pointed to the needs of the car industries and other manufacturers, adding: If we dont maintain this unfettered access to European markets than, quite clearly, those industries are very much at risk.

Tomorrow, Sir Keir Starmer, Labours Brexit spokesman, will set out six tests for Ms May to meet, including that any agreement delivers  as Brexit Secretary David Davis pledged  the exact same benefits.

 Jeremy Corbyn calls for greater accountability of Brexit process

But Mr Corbyn, speaking to ITVs Peston on Sunday, denied Labour was now committed to voting against Brexit.

No, we are not, he replied. We respect the result of the referendum, thats clear.

We are not in a position of knowing what the deal is yet, so this is pretty high level of speculation when we are two years away from that particular vote.

The tough stance comes just three days before the Prime Minister triggers Article 50  the formal process for starting exit talks and ending the UK's 44-year membership of the EU

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

EU leaders and officials have made clear that Britain will not be granted the same benefits if it insists on leaving the single market and the customs union.

Furthermore, most trade experts have ridiculed Ms Mays hopes of striking a new free trade agreement with the EU within just two years.

Sir Keirs six tests will also include a strong collaborative future arrangement with the EU, fair migration, a defence of workers rights and a deal for all regions and nations.

In his speech, he will demand that the Prime Minister abandons any suggestion that she might walk away without a deal, if the negotiations hit the rocks.

He will insist that the UK and EU agree transitional arrangements to prevent Britain having a cliff-edge fall out of the EU, falling back on high-tariff World Trade Organisation rules.

Speaking to the BBCs Andrew Marr Show, Sir Keir said he believed there was a Commons majority to prevent the hard Brexit of crashing out of the EU with no deal.

On Mr Daviss pledge to deliver the exact same benefits, he said: We are holding him to that test.

The Government cant turn around now and say this is unachievable because it was David Davis, whom the Prime Minister has appointed in the role, who said it.

On Wednesday, Ms May will send a letter  possibly eight or nine pages long  to Donald Tusk, the President the European Council, notifying him of the UK's intention to leave. She will also deliver a statement to the Commons.

The next day, the Government will publish a White Paper on its plans for a Great Repeal Bill, to incorporate the mass of EU law into UK law prior to parts of that law being junked.

Controversially, ministers will use Henry VIII powers to amend some EU laws that will not be retained through secondary legislation  without MPs voting on them.
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Brexit will deliver a 200m a year hit to charities unless the Government steps in to plug the gap, a parliamentary committee warns today.

Small charities will be punished hardest by the loss of vital grants, mostly from the European Social Fund (ESF), peers suggest.

Their report highlights fears that medical research charities  for conditions including cancer, heart disease, bone disease and obesity  will lose considerable research funding and opportunities for collaboration.

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And it calls on ministers to publish a full assessment of the likely financial blow by the end of this year.

This should include the impact of loss of funding as well as on research collaboration, the House of Lords Committee on Charities said.

The anticipated loss of funding when the UK leaves the European Union will impact on smaller charities the most, yet it is these that are already under the most significant funding pressures, it added.

However, the Government has given no guarantee that grants from the ESF and other EU investment programmes will be picked up by the British taxpayer after 2020.

Even before then, only schemes which ministers believe offer proper value for money will continue to receive funding after Brexit, the Treasury said.

In evidence to the committee, the Brain Tumour Charity told of its concern that the UK Government would not be able to guarantee the level of funding currently leveraged from the EU.

The Royal Mencap Society described the ESF as a major source of revenue to help raise living standards and provide job opportunities for young people and the long-term unemployed.

And the British Heart Foundation pointed out that the UK received the second highest sum of all EU states from Horizon 2020, the research and innovation programme.

When questioned by the peers, Rob Wilson, the civil society minister, gave no guarantee to charities but insisted he was listening to their concerns.

We recognise that charities will be affected by exiting the EU and there are a broad range of implications, he admitted. Projects showing strong value for money would still be funded.

Elsewhere, the committee also said it had grave concerns about the Charity Commissions proposal to charge charities an annual registration fee.

And it criticised the Government for causing unnecessary concern with an anti-advocacy clause in 2014 laws which threatened the vital advocacy role of charities.

Baroness Pitkeathley, the committees chairwoman, said: Charities are the lifeblood of society. They play a fundamental role in our civil life and do so despite facing a multitude of challenges.

Yet for them to continue to flourish, it is clear that they must be supported and promoted. We found that charities lead the way with innovation, but that this is at risk of being stifled by the contract culture.

And, while advocacy is a sign of a healthy democracy, and is a central part of charities role, this role has been threatened by Government.

Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, seized on the committees concerns over the Commissions plans to charge charities a fee.

But the Lords have been unambiguous in saying that they do not think the Charity Commission have properly considered their plans to levy fees on charities, he said.
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The European Parliaments chief Brexit negotiator has said the devastating terror attack at Westminster shows why it is so important that European nations remain united.

Writing exclusively for The Independent, Guy Verhofstadt said no single country could tackle the scourge of international terrorism on its own. He warned there were people in Europe and elsewhere that sought to exaggerate differences between us in order to divide us, but said both the EU and UK should be determined they did not prevail.

With Theresa May set to trigger the Article 50 Brexit process on Wednesday, the former Belgian Prime Minister accepted that the negotiations ahead would at times become challenging.

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But he said it would be an immediate priority to reach an agreement guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens already living in the UK before Brexit and British citizens in Europe  including those inside the UK who wish to retain "personal links" with Europe after Britain's breakaway from the union.

Mr Verhofstadt's intervention comes after the terror attack at Westminster last Wednesday claimed five lives, injured dozens more and left the country in shock.

But with the triggering of Brexit this week putting security, economic, family and cultural ties at stake, he wrote: Both the UK and the EU stand to lose from this process, which is why we must work to mitigate the effects of the decision that has been taken.

The horrific terrorist attacks in London this week, on the anniversary of the Brussels attacks last year, show how important it is that European nations remain united in the face of common challenges, which no one of our countries can tackle on our own.

 EU citizens in UK victims of 'political games', says Guy Verhofstadt

Mr Verhofstadt will work alongside the EUs chief negotiator Michel Barnier once Brexit talks begin. The Prime Minister, Theresa May, is writing to European Council President Donald Tusk this week notifying him of Britains intention to quit the EU.

In his article, Mr Verhofstadt said it was important not to let those attempting to sow disunity among European nations to succeed, adding: I am acutely aware that there are those, both within Europe and third countries, who will seek to exaggerate differences between us in order to divide us further, but they must not prevail.

That Brexit is happening is bad enough.

 Europe's chief negotiator Guy Verhofstadt: Britons should keep EU citizenship rights after Brexit

The comments follow a surge in anti-EU political parties across Europe, including Ukip and Nigel Farage in the UK.

After Ms Mays Brexit letter is received, Mr Tusk and other EU leaders will wait a month before finalising the negotiating mandate given to Mr Barnier at a meeting on 29 April. Leaders in the European Parliament will also meet to set out the institutions individual position, which will be voted on at a session in Strasbourg on 5 April.

While Mr Verhofstadt said he hoped Britain would remain a close strategic partner for the EU in the years to come, he said he had no doubt that negotiations could at times become challenging.

But he went on to underline his desire to secure a quick deal to guarantee the rights of people living in both the EU and UK after Brexit.

He said: I am confident the European Parliament's immediate priority will be to put in place a reciprocal agreement to safeguard the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU.

 Guy Verhofstadt says European Union is in existential moment

Regrettably, many people feel the Brexit decision has put their lives, relationships and future prospects on hold  we will seek to provide clarity as a matter of urgency.

He added: I believe it is also important that those in the UK who wish to maintain personal links with the European Union can do so.

Mr Verhofstadt has previously said British citizens should be able to choose to keep various benefits of EU citizenship, including potentially the freedom of movement, after Brexit.
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Before Ken Livingstone mentions Adolf Hitler  and his Labrador, Coco, stops barking at the presence of an intruder  he asks politely: Yorkshire or Redbush tea?

Placing a One Direction mug (he has two teenagers with his partner) down on the kitchen table of his home in Cricklewood, north London, its clear something is weighing heavy on Red Kens mind. In front of him are two binders of reports, sent by Labours national constitutional committee (NCC) regarding his suspension hearing later this week. Hes expecting to be expelled, he admits.

Livingstones Labour membership was suspended last summer for bringing the party into disrepute after he was accused of anti-Semitism and making offensive comments about Hitler supporting Zionism. He was labelled a disgusting Nazi apologist by Labour MP John Mann during an extraordinary confrontation outside the BBC studios and later locked himself into the disabled toilets on the ground floor of the building in an unsuccessful effort to evade inquisitive reporters.

But the 71-year-old maintains that he did not claim the Nazi dictator was a Zionist  despite dozens of reports. Being accused of anti-Semitism is an absolutely serious accusation  equivalent of being accused of corruption, something like that, he says.

He describes the NCC as similar to a dictatorship like North Korea with its secretive practices  the hearing will be in private and its 11 members identities are not publicised to avoid any outside influence. Its absolutely outrageous that such a serious smear is made and then the hearing is going to be in private, he says. I mean, its more like North Korea. Its literally the sort of hearing youd expect in some dictatorship  not in a modern democracy.

And its clear the former Mayor of London is not bowing out without a fight. Asked what he will do if hes ejected from the party at his hearing on Thursday, he replied: I assume that it is set up to do that because thats the composition of the report. I do expect that to happen.

But then you go for judicial review, he adds, defiantly. The advice Ive had legally is that they havent got a cat in hells chance of winning. They loathe and detest Jeremy [Corbyn]. They didnt suspend me because Im anti-Semitic; it was because I was defending Jeremy, which they consider a worse crime.

Later in the interview, he amplifies: When I left school I spent eight years as a cancer research technician. You were taught to find the truth. I couldnt shift my mental framework when I became a politician. Its my big weakness: I still tend to say what I believe to be the truth. Its certainly an understatement for the veteran politician, who often courts controversy. His biography, published in 2011, is also called You Cant Say That.

Livingstone remains a staunch defender of his old left-wing comrade Corbyn  despite having had little contact with him in recent months. He used to correspond with the Labour leaders team via his close ally and friend Simon Fletcher, who recently stood down as chief of staff to Corbyn and served in Livingstones mayoral team.

He last rubbed shoulders with the Labour leader at a mutual friends Christmas party, he adds: We had a brief chat  I dont blame Jeremy because he doesnt control the party machine.

Despite the party trailing in the opinion polls and the seeming inability of Corbyns movement to click with the electorate, Livingstone believes his comrade can win an election.

Once you hit a general election you have those televised debates and the Mail, the Telegraph and The Sun will be as mad as ever. But the bulk of people will see and hear having a serious debate between Jeremy and John McDonnell, up against the Chancellor and the Prime Minister, I think will be absolutely crucial.

Livingstone: Anything can happen in politics (AFP/Getty)

So, what happens to the left in British politics if Corbyn loses the 2020 general election? It depends what happens to the economy with Brexit, Livingstone replies. I dont spend any time thinking about what we should be doing if we lose the next election. All I focus on is winning the bloody thing.

Besides, Livingstone adds that he has bigger worries, specifically about the environment. At my age, you dont worry about whats going to happen after youre 75, he says. All over the world were seeing more violent weather than people anticipated. Im beginning to think theres a real prospect of human civilisation being wiped out by the end of the century  and the election of someone like Trump is no progress in America. Even governments that say the right things are pathetic in actually making the changes that we need.

Pressed further on his doomsday prophecy, Livingstone continues: By that I mean you end up with a few hundred thousand people surviving probably somewhere at the moment that is fairly cold. Worst scenario would be 90-95 per cent of the large species would be wiped out  weve had this before.

We have a supervolcano eruption every 70,000 years and thats devastating. And actually its 69,000 years since the last one. He pauses for a second, before asking: Do you ever find any politician talking about supervolcanoes? This is what is so appalling about politicians who just focus on the next bloody election, when theyve got bigger things to worry about.

But back in the minutiae of British politics, Red Ken, who has now provided himself with the new title of house-husband, is adamant Corbyn will remain leader as long as he sticks firm to his line of anti-austerity and a major programme of public sector investment. He derides some of media coverage  notably kneeling to the Queen as he was sworn into the Privy Council and the type of poppy he wears.

You just never see them reporting any of his speeches about economics, he adds.

Livingstone also appears sceptical of a transfer of power should Corbyn decide to go. Apart from John McDonnell, who? There isnt any other is there. Or do you skip a generation and go to the 2015 intake. I havent been in the House of Commons since 2001, I know a lot of the oldies who have been there forever but the intakes from 2010 and 2015 I have no contact with at all, so I cant choose for you my preferred candidate.

Despite a widely publicised falling out in the Eighties when McDonnell worked under Livingstone, who was then leader of the now-abolished Greater London Council, it appears any rift between the pair has healed. He would make a very good Chancellor and even a very good Prime Minister, says Livingstone, praising his former chair of finance for producing a balanced budget with no borrowing.

But does Livingstone believe there is any chance of McDonnell entering Downing Street as Prime Minister? He replies: I think theres a chance of whoever is leader of the Labour party in 2020 becoming Prime Minister. I wouldnt have voted for Jeremy if I didnt think he could win.

Anything can happen in politics. Two years before I became leader of the GLC no one would have believed it was possible.

He does want to see Jeremy as Prime Minister and he wants to be Chancellor  the second most important job in British politics. Its not like its disappointing or something.

He later adds: I dont think Jeremy will stand down and I wouldnt advise him to. If he did, what would we have? Wed have another wave of lies and smears about the new leader, whoever it is. At least by now weve got over that  most people have formed an opinion on that.

Before the interview finishes, however, Livingstone excuses himself for five minutes to attend to the needs of ITV London, who are on his doorstep. They are here to film a short clip on his opinions of George Osbornes unbelievable appointment as Editor of the London Evening Standard  the free daily newspaper that is handed out to hundreds of thousands of people in the capital each week. But Livingstone reappears looking slightly disheveled. He says he tripped on the way back into the house. Luckily the camera crew had stopped recording, he laughs. You look at the state of our roads, he adds. Bloody potholes.

Theres a story I remember reading that the only perfect roads were in David Camerons constituency, he chortles.

Livingstone (left) with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams (centre) and Jeremy Corbyn (second from right) walking on Westminster Bridge in the 1980s (Getty)

While Livingstone is supportive of Corbyns leadership, he doesnt believe his old left-wing comrade is following the right path when it comes to Brexit. I think it will gradually unravel, he says of the Governments position. The damning thing about Cameron is that he talked about the referendum without having done any work to see what the outcome would be. It was just a gimmick to get Ukip off his back. Even now we havent got the civil servants you need to negotiate it.

The EU is not going to allow us to stay in the single market unless we accept free movement. If I was an MP I would have voted against anything that doesnt say we stay in the single market.

Does that mean he would have defied Corbyn and voted against the three-line whip? Yep, he replies. With Jeremy, hes clearly focused on the fact the British people voted to leave and he respects that. I do think we need to keep emphasising what they were promised because thats not what theyre getting now. I got along well with David Davis [the Brexit Secretary] and I like him, but watching his performance at the parliamentary committee  you just think he hasnt got a bloody clue.

He believes the public should have another say, in a second referendum, once the terms of the deal become clear. Unless Theresa May comes back with a deal that allows us to stay in the single market, we should have a vote on accepting a deal or not.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters

Its a similar proposal floated by his nemesis the former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair. I know, I noticed that, he adds. Hes not wrong about everything, just most things.

After a short pause, Livingstone says: I hope this doesnt mean Im back on his Christmas card list.
Indications that Russia could intervene militarily in Libya's messy civil war are growing. If it does, the Trump White House will face a tangle of unpleasant choices with far-reaching consequences. Will the new U.S. administration acquiesce to Russia's strongman vision for the region, or push back against Russia's growing influence there?

For months, the Kremlin has sought to draw Libya's eastern potentate General Khalifa Hiftar into its orbit. Hiftar is currently the de facto leader of a bloc of eastern Libyan forces that oppose Libya's internationally recognized government in Tripoli, the so called Government of National Accord. Negotiations between the two sides are going nowhere and rumors of a potential Hiftar offensive against the Tripoli government have been swirling for months.

Hiftar has been to Moscow and paid a visit to the Russian aircraft carrier Kuznetsov in the Mediterranean, during which he held a video call with Russian Defense Minister Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Then, last week, Moscow reportedly deployed troops to a base on Egypt's northern coast just 60 miles from the border crossing with Libya.

There are a few ways to interpret their latest move: It could just be posturing, part of a Russian hybrid warfare strategy aimed at influencing ongoing negotiations over Libya's future. But there are plenty of reasons to believe it may be the early phase of a Russian intervention.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is eager to underscore the challenges that U.S. pro-democracy interventions in the Middle East have faced and offer up an alternative Russian strategy that relies on authoritarian leaders that look a lot like Putin himself. The 2011 NATO intervention in Libya has long been a target of Kremlin criticism and the chance to portray Russia as Libya's savior - as Russia has attempted to do in Syria - must be more than a little tempting for the Russian president.

Closer ties to Libya would also offer Russia the chance to extend its reach further along the Mediterranean's southern littoral - i.e. NATO's southern flank. Russia could, for example, seek to deploy advanced anti-access, area-denial systems along the Libyan coast, significantly enlarging the anti-access bubble that it has already established in the Eastern Mediterranean with similar deployments in Syria - a bubble that was already raising significant concern with top U.S. military commanders a year ago.

Story continues

Influence over Libya meanwhile offers Russia leverage over Europe when it comes to the challenge posed by the increasingly deadly central Mediterranean migration route, which begins in Libya.

Libya's high quality crude is yet another reason for Moscow to throw its weight behind Hiftar. The Kremlin is fixated on the coming global competition for natural resources and the Russian oil and gas company, Rosneft, just signed a new agreement with Libya's National Oil Corporation in February. Despite a few recent setbacks, Hiftar controls a significant amount of Libya's oil infrastructure in the east and has influence over some western fields as well.

A Russian move into Libya would put the Trump team in an extremely tough spot. The U.S. has invested time and energy in supporting the Tripoli government. Moreover, U.S. and allied special forces worked with Libyan militias aligned with Tripoli in a successful counter-terrorism operation that ousted the Islamic State from the town of Sirte last year. Russian dominance in Libya could lead Italy to scuttle the sanctions regime the United States and European Union imposed on Russia on account of its annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014. A deeper Russian anti-access area denial pocket would meanwhile be a challenge for U.S. Military operations in the region.

If Moscow backs a Hiftar move on Tripoli, would the U.S. step aside and let its Libyan partners get crushed by a Russian-backed force? Or would it try to take action - potentially even militarily - to slow Hiftar down and give these allies a fighting chance of avoiding calamity?

It's not an easy choice.

Supporting the government in Tripoli would require at least some U.S. boots on the ground. A large U.S. deployment might deter a Russian intervention, but would likely meet very strong resistance within the U.S. A small-scale intervention would be more feasible, but even if U.S. advisors operated far from the front lines they would still be at risk should Russian warplanes support a Hiftar advance - as they have for forces loyal to the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria.

Moreover, overt action against a Russian ally would kill the broader U.S.-Russian reset that the White House still seems to want. True, the Trump administration has sent conflicting signals about its views on Russia, with some senior officials evincing near sympathy for Putin, while others clearly harbor deep suspicion. Nevertheless, going toe-to-toe with Russia in Libya would clearly put an end to the Putin-Trump attempt at reconciliation.

The risk, then, is that the U.S. and its allies would end up largely on the sidelines as Russia installs another strongman in the region, and extends its power along NATO's southern flank. This would be a tragic outcome to the story that began with such high hopes in 2011 and another boost to Putin's prestige.

Christopher S. Chivvis is associate director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center and Amanda Kadlec is a policy analyst at the non-profit, non-partisan RAND Corporation.

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
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Nigel Farage has been forced to admit the Westminster terror attack was unrelated to immigration, following comments he made on Fox News that appeared to link the two.

Speaking to right-wing news anchor Sean Hannity, he said on Wednesday: An American audience seeing this horrendous thing happening in Westminster should start to say to itself that when Donald Trump tries to put in place vetting measures, he is doing it to protect your country.

Frankly, if you open your door to uncontrolled immigration from Middle Eastern countries, you are inviting in terrorism.

But the former Ukip leader was challenged on Sunday morning by Sky News presenter Sophy Ridge, who said the claim was not relevant to the Westminster attack, which was carried out by 52-year-old Kent native Khalid Masood, originally named Adrian Elms. Mr Farage is also 52, and from Kent.

Mr Farage said: Five of the eight people who committed that barbarity in Paris had come in across the Mediterranean posing as migrants.

The fact that its home-grown terrorism is even worse. This guy was radicalised inside a prison. Id like to know why people are being radicalised inside schools and prisons.

Ms Ridge said: Just admit you got it wrong.

Mr Farage said: Wrong? Goodness, gracious me. I was talking about terror attacks in Europe and I said we did not know what the cause of this attack was. I was absolutely clear and specific.

However, now that the deal with Turkey is clearly breaking down, very bad relations between the Netherlands and Turkey, Europe now faces perhaps an even bigger migrant tide this summer. It has no way of protecting itself against terrorists coming in.

Asked again to address the apparent mismatch between his comments and the home-grown nature of the attack, he said: I think your researchers have made a slight mistake. I was very specific when I talked about jihadism across the whole of Europe, and I repeat the point.

As we have a home-made problem already lets never add to it.

Ms Ridge said: So you admit, then, that immigration had nothing to do with this terror attack.

Not directly, no, but thats not the point, said Mr Farage.

Asked if he would apologise for appearing to suggest that there was a link between uncontrolled immigration and what happened in Westminster, he declined.
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The Governments counter-extremism strategy has been used to target the Muslim community and must be changed, Jeremy Corbyn has warned.

The Labour leader said the flagship Prevent programme had backfired because it had cast a kind of suspicion over the whole community.

I talk to people in the Muslim community, I talk to people in mosques, I talk to people in churches, I talk to people that go to synagogues, all kinds of different faiths and different groups, Mr Corbyn said.

I think what Prevent has often done is seen to target the Muslim community, not anybody else, looks to say there is a kind of suspicion over the whole community and it's actually often counter-productive.

Speaking on ITV's Peston On Sunday programme, in the wake of Wednesday's London terror attack, Mr Corbyn called for the strategy to focus on all communities

He said: Deal with the issue of far-right extremism within our society, deal with the issue of racism in our society, deal with the issues of discrimination within our society, deal with the issues of the perceptions of stop and search within our society.

Above all, be inclusive of people. What Prevent does, it says: Hang on, let's look at only the Muslim community."

Pressed to say exactly what he believed needed to change, Mr Corbyn replied: I'm saying broaden it into an agenda of inclusion. Focus it on all communities.

The Prevent strategy was set up after the 7/7 bombings in 2005, to tackle violent and non-violent extremism, but was extended by Theresa May when Home Secretary.

Local councils, schools, health services, prisons and the police are required to report anyone voicing extremist views or considered vulnerable to radicalisation. They can be referred for one-to-one mentoring.

But the strategy has been widely criticised as a threat to attempts to build closer community links and dialogue when it is targets innocent acts, especially by young people.

Last year, it was revealed that more than 350 children under the age of 10 had been reported for being at risk of extremism in just one year, through the strategy.

In total, 4,611 people were referred in the 12 months to June 2016  a 75 per cent increase on the previous year, when there were 2,632.

Of those 4,611, about half (2,311) were 18 or younger, the figures obtained under freedom of information rules showed.

Baroness Warsi, the former chairwoman of the Conservative Party, has also recently criticised Prevent for being bizarrely misguided in targeting young Muslims, when so many terrorists come from other backgrounds.

In his interview, Mr Corbyn also insisted that Labour is ready for an early general election should Ms May carry out a U-turn and call one.

He confirmed that Labour would not block a Government bid to repeal the Fixed-term Parliament Act, which would allow a poll to take place earlier than 2020.

We are developing our policies but clearly if an election is called we can bring all that forward and we are ready, yes, Mr Corbyn said.
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WhatsApp and similar services must hand over encrypted messages to the security services after terror attacks, the Home Secretary says.

Amber Rudd said it was completely unacceptable that terrorists had a place to hide, in the wake of the murders at Westminster last week.

The attacker, Khalid Masood, is believed to have sent messages using WhatsApp just two minutes before he launched his assault, killing four people.

Recommended Westminster terrorist used WhatsApp minutes before attack

The content of those messages  and to whom they were sent  is likely to be a vital clue in the hunt for any accomplices, but it is not clear that the intelligence services will be able to see it.

WhatsApp promises end-to-end encryption and Apple fought a battle with the US Justice Department to try to prevent it unlocking a terrorists iPhone after an attack in the US.

Ms Rudd said she hoped to reach a voluntary agreement with tech firms, but hinted she was ready to use legislation to force them to act if necessary.

It is completely unacceptable, there should be no place for terrorists to hide, she told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show.

We need to make sure that organisations like WhatsApp, and there are plenty of others like that, dont provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other.

Arguing tech firms had a responsibility to cooperate, the Home Secretary added: They cannot get away with saying they are in a different situation  they are not.

And, hinting at forcing them to act if necessary, Ms Rudd said: We have to have a situation where we can have our security services get into the terrorists communications. Thats absolutely the case.

Appealing directly to the owners of messaging services, she said: These people have families, have children as well  they should be on our side.

The comments set the scene for a potentially bruising meeting between tech firms and the Home Secretary this week.

The Facebook-owned WhatsApp, which has a billion users worldwide, has said protecting private communication is one of its core beliefs.

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats said they opposed new laws, Jeremy Corbyn arguing against tilting the balance against the right to privacy.

Ive been concerned about giving too much unaccountable power to anybody in our society, so could the security services go to court and make an application? I would have thought they probably could, the Labour leader said.

For the Lib Dems, home affairs spokesman Brian Paddick  a former Met police deputy assistant commissioner  said: These terrorists want to destroy our freedoms and undermine our democratic society.

By implementing draconian laws that limit our civil liberties, we would play into their hands. Having the power to read everyones text messages is neither a proportionate nor an effective response.

In her interview, Ms Rudd also insisted the likes of Google, which runs the social video sharing platform YouTube, must take more responsibility for taking down extreme material.

Each attack confirms again the role that the internet is playing in serving as a conduit, inciting and inspiring violence, and spreading extremist ideology of all kinds.

We need the help of social media companies, the Googles, the Twitters, the Facebooks of this world.

Ms Rudd also confirmed the polices strong belief that Masood  who ran down pedestrians and fatally a stabbed police officer at Parliament  acted alone.

What we are hearing from the police is that they believe it is a lone attacker, she said.

In pictures: Westminster attack Show all 9 1 /9 In pictures: Westminster attack In pictures: Westminster attack An air ambulance lands after gunfire sounds were heard close to the Palace of Westminster in London PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack MPs wait until the situation is under control in Westminster. 'The alleged assailant was shot by armed police,' David Lidington, leader of the House of Commons, told the house. BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Crowds gather in Westminster after shooting incident, which police are treating as terror attack BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Police were also called to an incident on Westminster Bridge nearby AP In pictures: Westminster attack Early reports indicate the car, which mounted the pavement on Westminster Bridge and mowed into around a dozen people, was the same vehicle which then rammed into the railings of the Palace of Westminster, just around the corner Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack Security sources described the suspected assailant as a middle-aged Asian man, who is understood to have left the car before attacking a police officer with a seven-to-eight inch knife PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack Police have asked people to avoid the immediate area to allow emergency services to deal with the ongoing incident AP In pictures: Westminster attack One woman has died and a number of others, including the police officer, have been hurt, according to a junior doctor at St Thomas' Hospital Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack At least three gun shots were heard by those inside Westminster, and proceedings in the House of Commons have been suspended AP

It comes after Ms Rudd said that while the spotlight was on tech firms, less well known companies also had a role to play  referring to secure messaging app Telegram and blog publishing website Wordpress.

We need the help of social media companies: the Googles, the Twitters, the Facebooks, of this world, she wrote in The Sunday Telegraph.

And the smaller ones, too  platforms like Telegram, Wordpress and Justpaste.it
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Donald Trump often encourages viewers to tune in to Fox News when he or an adviser is giving an interview, but this time a take-down of Paul Ryan was the main feature.

Watch @JudgeJeanine on @FoxNews tonight at 9:00 P.M, he tweeted on Saturday.

In the opening statement of the cable show, host Jeanine Pirro spent six minutes blasting the Speaker of the House for the Republicans proposed American Health Care Act, which was scrapped on Friday.

Recommended Trump now focussed on tax reform but that may turn out like healthcare

Paul Ryan needs to step down as Speaker of the House, she said.

The reason? He failed to deliver the votes on his healthcare bill. The one trumpeted to repeal and replace Obamacare  the one that he had seven years to work on.

The one he hid under lock and key in the basement of Congress. The one that had to be pulled to prevent the embarrassment of not having enough votes to pass.

The show was aired the day after the Republican Party was forced to pull its much-touted healthcare bill, which promised to open up competition between insurance providers and bring down premiums after seven years of Obamacare.

We were a 10-year opposition party, where being against things was easy to do, Mr Ryan said at a news conference on Friday, standing in the same room where two weeks earlier he had delivered a slide show presentation on the benefits of his new bill.

We will get there, he said, but we werent there today.

After months of simmering opposition, the hard-right have lasered their discontent onto Mr Ryan, calling for him to resign. Breitbart, formerly run by Mr Trump's chief strategist Stephen Bannon, displayed half a dozen negative headlines about the House Speaker on Friday. Fox News, the Presidents beloved cable network, ran a separate op-ed calling Mr Ryan the biggest threat to the GOP. Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report and Paul Nehlen of Infowars, both outlets that the President has taken note of, have run similar negative commentary.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer told Fox that Mr Ryans fate would be up to the members of the House.

Critics of the failed bill had worried that the millions of low-income Americans who had gained coverage under Obamacare would lose their insurance under the new administration.

Mr Ryan has spent months, even years, heavily campaigning for healthcare reform. He argued that premiums had become unaffordable and choice of provider had plummeted in many states.

His efforts were supported by the President  He worked very, very hard. I will tell you that. He worked very, very hard  but the two have had a contentious relationship for the past few years. Behind closed doors, Mr Trump was reportedly fuming on Friday after the bill was scrapped, and he repeatedly asked his aides who was to blame.

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

On the campaign trail, Mr Ryan only endorsed Mr Trump a few months before the election. After a 2005 leaked video showed Mr Trump bragging about how he had the right to grab womens genitals, Mr Ryan said he could no longer defend the business tycoon.

But Mr Trump reportedly does not want to axe Mr Ryan as he will need him to move forward other goals such as tax reform, and Mr Trumps chief of staff, Reince Priebus, remains his ally.

Mark Meadows, chairman of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, which opposed the failed Republican health care bill, said it was not seeking to oust Mr Ryan.

There are no conversations going on right now with regards to replacing the Speaker, Mr Meadows, who helped force out previous House Speaker John Boehner in 2015, told ABC.

The new healthcare proposal was kept at Capitol Hill, armed by security guards. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was prevented from accessing the bill, as he said he would do on Twitter, on behalf of the American people.

He called it Obamacare-lite, as did many of his conservative colleagues.

While the bill maintained several aspects of Obamacare, it instated a cap on Medicaid from 2020 and mandated that people still pay a penalty if they did not buy coverage  but this time the penalty would aid the provider, not the government.

Michigan Representative Justin Amash said he and his conservative colleagues wanted Obamacare to be fully repealed, rather than the watered down version offered by Mr Ryan.

From the beginning of the process, I think the way it was set up did not bring the disparate parts of the conference together, Mr Amash said.

Republicans are still determined to overhaul healthcare.

Obamacare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE, Mr Trump tweeted. Do not worry!
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The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee investigating alleged ties between Donald Trumps campaign and Russia has reportedly exhibited odd behaviour, participating in a peculiar midnight run to see secret documents and not being transparent with his colleagues.

Devin Nunes, a former Trump adviser, reportedly jumped out of an Uber ride on Tuesday night to see potentially critical documents relating to the investigation of Trump aides, without informing his fellow passenger, a senior Washington staffer on the committee.

His committees investigation has since stalled following a series of unusual events.

Recommended Trump transition members potentially under surveillance says Nunes

This comes shortly after a hearing where FBI director James Comey confirmed he was investigating possible collusion between Russian operatives and Trump aides, and the Committees senior Democrat Adam Schiff said he and Mr Nunes subsequently had a classified briefing which gave him more than circumstantial evidence of such collusion.

Mr Nunes has not shared the documents he obtained during his peculiar midnight run this week with his Democratic colleagues in the committee, said Mr Schiff.

He instead called an impromptu press conference to announce that he had seen dozens of intelligence reports which showed that Mr Trumps aides were subject to incidental data collection, that is caught in a foreign surveillance net cast by US spy agencies.

California Democrat Schiff and Mr Nunes put in a joint request to Mr Comey to share with their committee the information given to them in the classified briefing. But before an answer could be given, Mr Nunes cancelled a second scheduled hearing for 28 March, where intelligence chiefs were expected to speak.

Mr Nunes said he called off the meeting to have more time to confer with Mr Comey and the National Security Agency director Michael Rogers.

He did not say what exactly what was in the documents or who had shown them to him.

 Devin Nunes: We picked up 'incidental' intelligence on Trump

Instead, he briefed the President, who recently claimed he had been illegally wiretapped by his predecessor in collusion with the UK.

I had a duty and obligation to tell him because, as you know, hes taking a lot of heat in the news media, said Mr Nunes, who served on the Trump transition team.

 Trump's presidency could be finished by Russia investigations, former NSA analyst says

Mr Nunes behaviour and the cancelling of the hearing have raised questions over the credibility of the committees investigation.

The chairman has to make a decision over whether he is a surrogate for the President, as he was during the campaign and transition, or whether hes leading a bipartisan investigation, because he cant do both, Mr Schiff told the San Francisco Chronicle.

This week, unfortunately, he behaved like a surrogate and that is a real problem.

Mr Schiff said he was determined to soldier on with the committee, however, otherwise the investigation could completely collapse.

Mr Schiff and Mr Nunes are not presiding over the only investigation of Mr Trumps ties to Russia. A separate Senate hearing on the alleged links will take place on Thursday.
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White House officials and members of Donald Trumps transition team are reportedly purging their electronic devices to avoid being compromised by subpoenas, it has been claimed by MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell.

The accusation comes just weeks after government lawyers ordered the Presidents aides to preserve any materials that could be connected to Russian interference in the 2016 election.

One legal expert told MSNBC - the channel that first reported the allegations based on testimony from an inside source - there could be legal ramifications for staff who destroyed crucial evidence relating to ongoing investigations.

The Trump administration is currently under FBI investigation for possible collusion between Russian operatives and presidential aides.

The House Intelligence Committee is also investigating alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia based on a series of allegations that pre-date the election, including Mr Trump publicly urging Russia to hack Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's emails.

Mr Trumps former election campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was accused of once working to further the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is now a leading focus of the investigation by American intelligence.

Mr Manafort volunteered to testify as part of the investigation and he is expected to be interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee, the panels chairman has said.

It came as a former National Security Agency (NSA) analyst warned the President could be forced to leave office over the investigations.

John Schindler, a security expert and former counterintelligence officer, said that if the US President was to face an indictment over allegations his campaign team colluded with Russia to disrupt the presidential election, it could put an end to his presidency.

Speaking to CBC radio, Mr Schindler said: "If, not just people around him, but the president himself is facing possible indictment down the road, that could be a game changer. He could be removed from office for that, whether he wants to be or not."
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An alleged human-trafficker in the US is facing more than 200 years in prison after he was accused of holding eight women he referred to as his diamond kitties captive.

Kenndric Roberts, 33, lured the women online to a rented $1m (800,000) home in Atlanta, Georgia, with the promise of modelling work.

But police said that the alleged gang member instead made the women work at strip clubs while pocketing their earnings  and threatened to kill or mutilate them if they fled.

According to NBC News, police reported a claim by one woman that Kendrick had threatened her on numerous occasions including one instance where he stated he was going to pay someone to cut her chest open, take out the implants and cut her up.

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The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. 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Mike Maloof, for Mr Roberts, told a court his client was a poor mans Hugh Hefner and that the women had not been forced to stay, NBC reported.

He told reporters: If you felt threatened, why didnt you leave on such and such a day? One of the women went on vacation with her mother. He gave them $1,000 to fly out. Thats not somebody being held against their will.

On Thursday a judge dismissed a number of charges against Mr Roberts but a grand jury chose to indict him the following day.

He faces trafficking, false imprisonment and firearms charges, and a total of 205 years behind bars if convicted. Police said he called the women, aged from 19 to 22, his diamond kitties and made them get gang tattoos.

One of the women told a 911 emergency operator: Im in a really bad situation and I need to get out. I was planning on leaving today. Her boss threatened to kill her, the 20-year-old added.
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Ivanka Trump has sparked fury among her Washington neighbours for disturbing the area with heavy security.

Local residents in the affluent Washington DC neighbourhood of Kalorama expressed anger the first daughters family take up much of the parking space on an already overcrowded street and leave garbage bags on the side of the road for days.

Ms Trump, President Donald Trumps second child, and her husband Jared Kushner, a senior Trump aide, are said to require three vans of security staff just to make a trip to the playground.

Neighbours expressed anger the familys arrival has seen footpaths closed and public parking invaded by secret service agents.

It has been a three-ring circus from the day that theyve moved in, Marietta Robinson, who lives across the street, said.

Fellow residents claimed the security presence for the couple, who have three children, was oddly large and even aggressive. Ms Robinson said Ms Trump, who is said to the presidents favourite child, arrives and leaves the $5.5 million house in a four-vehicle motorcade.

There are more of them than I have ever seen, Ms Robinson wrote in a letter to Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser and other city officials. Frequently several of them are milling outside of the house at all hours having conversations and staring meanly at anyone in view.

Fellow residents in the upmarket area of lavish four-and five-storey townhouses, which is also home to Barack Obama, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, voiced their frustrations about the Trumps at a neighbourhood meeting. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace was among those who turned up to complain about parking problems.

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

Maybe some of the upset has to do with politics a little. I couldnt say for sure, but I know that people dont seem to be upset about Tillersons situation. Its much less intrusive, said Ellen Goldstein, an elected neighbourhood commissioner.

The city government said the Trump-Kushners have not applied for parking exemptions or pavement closures on the street since moving from New York just after Mr Trumps inauguration. Another neighbour Rhona Wolfe Friedman said their cars had been in the restricted areas for hours at a time.

Ms Trump, who has recently come under fire for receiving security clearance and a West Wing office, did not appear aware of the complaints or chose to ignore them in a statement. We love the neighbourhood and our family has received an incredibly gracious welcome from our neighbours, she said on Friday.

Their home in the Kalorama neighbourhood was bought by a company with ties to a Chilean billionaire in December. The company is renting it to the couple.

The exclusive neighbourhood, which is home to the embassies of nations such as China, Oman and Serbia, is well used to high-profile residents. The Obamas moved to the area after leaving the White House so their daughter, Sasha, could finish school, and live just a few hundred yards from the Trumps.

Ms Trump recently found herself at the centre of controversy, sparking outrage for the cost of her familys spring break ski holiday in Colorado.

The first daugher and Mr Kushner, a former property developer, their children and the Presidents other son Eric reportedly required 100 Secret Service agents to travel with the group for the trip last week. The US Secret Service, funded by the US taxpayer, is reported to have spent $12,208 on rental ski equipment and clothing at the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
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Joe Biden has expressed regret about deciding not to run for president and insisted he would have been able to beat Donald Trump if he had been the Democratic candidate.

The former Vice President to Barack Obama ruled out running for office in 2016 in a race that would have seen him pitted against Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. This was partly prompted by his sons brain cancer diagnosis and subsequent death.

I had planned on running for president and although it would have been a very difficult primary, I think I could have won, Biden said at a speech at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, late on Friday night.

I dont know, maybe not. But I thought I could have won. I had a lot of data and I was fairly confident that if I were the Democratic Partys nominee, I had a better than even chance of being president.

But Biden said he did not regret the time he was able to spend with his son before he died.

But do I regret not being president? Yes, he said. I was the best qualified.

The politician said his sons illness made him feel unable to run. Talking emotionally about his sons death, he said he had lost part of my soul when he passed away.

No one should ever seek the presidency unless they are able to devote their whole heart and soul and passion into just doing that, Biden told ABC News last year. Beau was my soul. I just wasnt ready to be able to do that. My one regret is my Beaus not here. I dont have any other regrets.

Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Show all 15 1 /15 Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden watch Barack Obama's farewell speech on 11 January. Obama called Biden his 'brother' Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years US President Barack Obama speaks alongside US Vice President Joe Biden about the Affordable Care Act AFP/Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama Getty Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years President Obama listens to Joe Biden speak of his work on defeating cancer on 18 October in the White House Reuters Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years U.S. President Barack Obama is applauded by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden while delivering his final State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in Washington Reuters Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years U.S. Vice President Joe Biden interjects as President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a reception for the 25th anniversary of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics at the White House in Washington REUTERS Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Obama and Vice President Joe Biden react after a heckler was removed for their extended interruption (Reuters) Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) as Vice President Joe Biden looks on Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Barack and Michelle Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden observing a moment of silence outside the White House to mark the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Barack Obama and Joe Biden putt on the White House putting green Getty Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years President Barack Obama and Joe Biden in April 2013 AFP/Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years January 1, 2013: U.S. President Barack Obama winks as he arrives with Vice President Joe Biden (L) in the briefing room Reuters Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and others receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House May 1, 2011 in Washington, DC Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Vice-President Joe Biden, right, confirmed that the US was looking at ways of taking legal action against Julian Assange - back in December 2010 GETTY IMAGES Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Joe Biden, left, and retired military officers watch President Barack Obama sign orders to close down the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2009 GETTY IMAGES

After his older son, who was a war veteran, died in May of 2015, he released a statement, saying: "Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known.

Beaus death is not the only tragedy to have hit the family. Beau was just two when his mother, Bidens wife Neilia Hunter, was killed in a car crash in 1972, which also took the life of the former Vice Presidents one-year-old daughter.

Last December, Biden, who has been jointly elected twice as the running mate of former President Obama, said he intended to run for president in 2020.

Asked if he would run for office, he said: Yeah, I am. I am going to run in 2020.

When asked which position he would run for, he replied: For president. And also, you know so, what the hell man, anyway.

Probed out whether he was joking, Biden said: Im not committing not to run. Im not committed to anything. I learned a long time ago, fate has a strange way of intervening.

Biden, the first Roman Catholic Vice President, previously pursued the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and in 2008 but dropped out of the race early on both occasions.
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A man who claims he shot his terminally ill dog to end her suffering before burying her at the beach is facing animal cruelty charges.

Michael Whalen, a 65-year-old chiropractor from Virginia, told local media his dog Allie was suffering from Cushings disease and had suddenly started fitting when he decided to put her out of her misery.

When his vet mentioned putting 15-year-old Hungarian Vizsla Allie down in February 2016, Mr Whalen said he did not feel the time was right.

Mr Whelan has pictures of Allie dating back several years all over his Facebook page

Allie was not ready. I was not ready. She was still having fun. She wasnt in ill health. I got her stable on her medication, he told 13NewsNow.

He said he kept her pain under control with medicines he bought online and the pair enjoyed another year together.

But he claimed Allie suddenly began seizing uncontrollably in January this year.

She was not coming out of this, Mr Whalen told the station, adding that it was distressing to witness.

Mr Whalen said he did not take Allie to one of the areas 24-hour animal hospitals because it could have been risky to drive the dog in the condition she was in.

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The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. 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The options were to sit here and let her do this until she expired, or to put her in the car, which [would mean] I couldnt control her and it would have been dangerous for me to drive trying to keep her airway open, he said, adding that he considered what would be the fastest way to end the animals suffering.

He said he put Allie in a wheelbarrow and took her to the beach before sunrise.

I had picked out a place for her, he said. She loved the ocean. She loved the beach.

He chose a clearing in the sand dunes and was crying while he dug the hole, he said.

Police began investigating when Allies body was found by a passer-by, partially buried in a sand dune with her paw peeking out on 3 February.

His lawyer, George Yates, told the news programme his client was acting as any loving owner would in the same situation.

We feel that he did what a pet owner is required to do, Mr Yates said. Take care of their animal and when their animal is suffering to properly euthanize the animal.

Mr Whalen, who has no children and is separated from his wife, said he and Allie were inseparable.

It was so emotionally disturbing. I cant tell you how many times Ive had to go through this in my mind and sometimes Ill just start crying.

We did everything together. She went everywhere with me. I even took her on a vacation trip one time on my motorcycle.

This was a very sad and painful story, and I did nothing but help my dog leave this world.

He has now been charged with one count of animal cruelty and one count of unlawful waste disposal. The penalty for a first offence in the state can be a fine of between $220-1,000 or a prison sentence of between 6 months and a year.

Mr Whalen said he was not aware it was illegal to bury a pet on the beach. The charge of animal cruelty refers to a section of state law on depriving an animal of emergency veterinary treatment, according to his lawyer.

A court hearing has been set for 26 June.
MarketWatch

To attract new customers, many banks are now offering lucrative cash bonuses  anywhere from $100 to $2,000  for simply moving money into their various savings and checking accounts. A recent Reddit thread highlighted dozens of first-hand accounts of people earning thousands of dollars by moving their money to various bank accounts to get the bonuses, and then moving on. Indeed, you may simply be better off with a high-interest savings account as many of those are paying more than they have in a decade (see some of the best savings account rates you can get now here).
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The chair of the investigation into links between Russia and the Trump team has said he has a duty and obligation to the President.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes made the comments just days after he was criticised for personally briefing Donald Trump on developments in the investigation before he told Democrats on the committee about new information.

Mr Nunes went to Mr Trump first to discuss evidence that members of the Presidents transition team were legally surveilled by US intelligence agencies.

It lead the second most senior member of the committee, Democrat Adam Schiff, to question whether Mr Nunes was working as a surrogate of the White House".

I felt I had a duty and obligation to tell him [Mr Trump] because as you know hes been taking a lot of heat in the news media, Mr Nunes told Fox News.

He added: I think to some degree there are some things that he should look at to see whether in fact he thinks the collection was proper or not.

Minority leader in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, expressed concern about Mr Nunes, who was a member of Mr Trumps transition, admitting to feeling a duty and obligation to someone he is supposed to be investigating.

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

I think he sent a signal that as a member of the Trump transition team himself, he probably should not be intricately involved in this investigation, Ms Pelosi said at a news conference on Thursday.

She added that he was either duped or a willing stooge of the White House and called on an independent committee to investigate Russian meddling into the election.

Although Mr Nunes has found Mr Trumps claims he was wire-tapped by the Obama administration to be complete baseless.

But Mr Trump has claimed Mr Nunes' briefings helped him feel vindicated.
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A woman has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting another passenger on a plane after drinking heavily.

An assault charge was filed against Heidi McKinney of Oregon after another woman claimed she had been groped during a flight from Las Vegas to Portland.

Ms McKinney was arrested on 8 May last year after the Alaska Airlines flight landed at Portland International Airport.

The victim told officials that she had been touched inappropriately and without consent by another female passenger.

Miss McKinney did so with the intent to humiliate and harass the victim, Assistant US Attorney Ravi Sinha said at US District Court in Portland.

[She] both made contact with victims body, including her inner thigh, and made a series of profane and lewd statements to the victim.

A federal grand jury originally charged the defendant with abusive sexual contact. She pleaded guilty to assault with the intent to commit a felony.

The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol Show all 10 1 /10 The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 10. Poland Results from an OECD report The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 9. Germany The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 8. Luxembourg Rex Features The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 7. France The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 6. Hungary Rex Features The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 5. Russia AFP/Getty Images The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 4. Czech Republic The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 3. Estonia Rex Features The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 2. Austria Getty Images The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 1. Lithuania AFP/Getty Images

The maximum penalty is 10 years behind bars and a $250,000 fine.

However, Mr Sinha and defence lawyer Lisa Ludwig will both recommend three years on probation.

The judge is not bound to accept the recommendation.

Court documents show Ms McKinney was twice convicted of driving under the influence, in 2008 and 2015.

She said she recently completed alcohol treatment at a facility near Portland.

Her fiance told officials at the jail where Ms McKinney was booked that her body does not metabolise alcohol like most people and this is what happens, records show.

She is now out of custody, on the condition that she does not use drugs or alcohol and that she obtains permission from a pretrial services officer before taking any other flights.

Sentencing is scheduled for 19 June.

Agencies contributed to this report.
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Donald Trump reportedly gave German Chancellor Angela Merkel a bill for 300bn when the pair met recently to cover contributions he believes are owed to Nato.

The US president made the demand during private talks when the pair met in Washington DC, the Sunday Times reported.

One German minister described the reported move by Mr Trump as "outrageous".

 Trump refuses to shake Angela Merkel's hand

Nato countries pledged in 2014 to spend two per cent of their GDP on defence, something only a handful of nations  including the UK, Greece, Poland and Estonia  currently do.

The sum being demanded by the US has been backdated to 2002, the year Mrs Merkels predecessor, Gerhard Schroder, pledged to spend more on defence, according to the report.

Mr Trump reportedly instructed aides to calculate how much German spending fell below two per cent over the past 12 years, then added interest.

The unnamed German minister added: The concept behind putting out such demands is to intimidate the other side, but the Chancellor took it calmly and will not respond to such provocations.

The reports follow a meeting between the pair earlier this month, in which Mr Trump appeared to refuse to shake Ms Merkel's hand.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

A day after the meeting, Mr Trump tweeted: Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with the Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Nevertheless, Germany owes ... vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!

White House press secretary has denied reports that Mr Trump gave Ms Merkel a bill during their meeting, telling Business Insider: "No, this is not true."

German defence minister Ursula Von der Leyen has rejected the notion the European nation owed the US or Nato.

She issued a statement following Mr Trump's tweets saying: There is no debt account at Nato.

Defence spending also goes into UN peacekeeping missions, into our European missions and into our contribution to the fight against [Isis] terrorism.

Her comments were backed by Ivo Daalder, permanent representative to Nato from 2009 to 2013 under the Obama administration, who queried the Presidents understanding of the organisation.

He tweeted: Sorry Mr President, thats not how Nato works. The US decides for itself how much it contributes to defending Nato.

This is not a financial transaction, where Nato countries pay the US to defend them. It is part of our treaty commitment.

Mr Trump has repeatedly voiced his criticism over member payments to Nato, throwing doubt on the future role of the US in the organisation.

He has singled out a number of Nato countries, including Germany, over their defence contributions claiming the US has been forced to bear the brunt and pick up the tab.
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President Donald Trump "didn't care or particularly know about health care" despite trying to push a major reform bill through Congress, a senior Republican aide has reportedly claimed.

Mr Trump and top House Republican Paul Ryan tasted defeat on Friday when they were forced to pull the bill, designed to replace Barack Obama's flagship Affordable Care Act, because they could not get enough votes within their own party to pass it.

The President blamed Democrats for failing to support the plan, but the self-professed dealmaker also said: "We learned a lot about loyalty, we learned a lot about the vote-getting process." He insisted "Obamacare will explode" eventually and that opposition politicians would see the light and work with him on a new plan.

Vice President Mike Pence and budget director Mick Mulvaney joined Mr Trump in aggressive lobbying for votes with members of the dissenting Republican Freedom Caucus faction, and the President had also tried to court moderates.

However, a Republican congressional aide told CNN: "He didn't care or particularly know about health care. If you are going to be a great negotiator, you have to know about the subject matter."

CNN also reported that during a meeting with moderate Republicans, when Pennsylvania congressman Charlie Dent said he did not support the repeal-and-replace bill, Mr Trump said: "Why am I even talking to you?"

In his meeting with the Freedom Caucus the President reportedly urged sceptical legislators to ignore the "little s***" of the policy detail and give him the support he needed.

Among the group's objections was the "essential health benefits" clause of the bill.

It said that requiring insurance companies to cover a list of itemsincluding, but not limited to, access to mental health services, substance abuse counselling, physical therapy, maternal care and paediatric care like vaccinationswould raise premiums.

In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London An image of President Donald Trump is seen on a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A view of the skywriting word reading 'Trump' as thousands rally in support of equal rights in Sydney, New South Wales EPA In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome People shout and hold signs during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A protester holds a placard during the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille A placard ready 'Pussy grabs back' is attached to the handle bar of a bike during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A young Thai girl holds a "women's rights are human rights" sign at Roadhouse BBQ restaurant where many of the Bangkok Womens March participants gathered in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok A Thai woman takes a photo of a "hate is not great" sign at the women's solidarity gathering in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Bangkok American expats and travellers gather with the international community in Bangkok at the Roadhouse BBQ restaurant to stand in solidarity in Bangkok, Thailand Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protetesters gather outside The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Women's March at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Marseille Protestors hold placards reading 'My body my choice, my vote my voice' during a 'Women's March' organized by Feminist and human rights groups in solidarity with women marching in Washington and around the world for their rights and against the reactionary politics of the newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, at the Old Port (Vieux Port) of Marseille, southern France Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Rome A person holds a sign during a rally against US newly sworn-in President Donald Trump in Rome Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activist Sarah Annay Williamson holds a placard and shouts slogan during the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Kolkata Activists participate in the Women's March rally in Kolkata, India AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A Women's March placards are rested on a bench outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London A women carries her placard ahead of the Women's March in London, England Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila Women protesters shout slogans while displaying placards during a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President Donald Trump, in suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Berlin Protesters attend a 'Berlin Women's March on Washington' demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Protesters take part in the Melbourne rally to protest against the Trump Inauguration in Melbourne, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters take part in the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Melbourne Womens march on Melbourne protestors marching during a rally where rights groups marched in solidarity with Americans to speak out against misogyny, bigotry and hatred Rex In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Macau Protesters hold placards as they take part at the Women's March rally in Macau, Macau. The Women's March originated in Washington DC but soon spread to be a global march calling on all concerned citizens to stand up for equality, diversity and inclusion and for women's rights to be recognised around the world as human rights Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Manila A mother carries her son as they join a rally in solidarity against the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines AP In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney An infant is held up at a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman attends a demonstration against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydney A woman expresses her Anti-Trump views in Sydney, Australia Getty Images In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump Sydeney Protesters demonstrate against new U.S. President Donald Trump in Sydney, Australia. The marches in Australia were organised to show solidarity with those marching on Washington DC and around the world in defense of women's rights and human rights Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters march from The US Embassy in Grosvenor Square towards Trafalgar Square during the Women's March in London, England Getty In pictures: Women of the world march against Trump London Protesters carrying banners take part in the Women's March on London, as they stand in Trafalgar Square, in central London Reuters

The American Health Care Act, Mr Trump and Mr Ryan's proposed plan, would have left 24 million people uninsured by 2026 according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The CBO also said that while it would have saved the government money, people's insurance premiums would have risen by between 15 and 20 per cent above the expected increase under Obamacare.
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Women are reportedly dropping domestic abuse cases for fear of being deported as part of Donald Trumps crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

Some victims are too frightened to appear in court in case they are seen by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), lawyer Kristin Bronson said.

We had pending cases that we were prosecuting on their behalf and since January 25, the date of the president's executive order [on immigration], those four women have let our office know they were not willing to proceed with the case for fear that they would be spotted in the courthouse and deported, she told NPR.

According to the lawyer, the fear stemmed from a video posted last month that showed immigration agents waiting to make an arrest outside a Denver courthouse.

Unfortunately [the video] has resulted in a high degree of fear and anxiety in our immigrant communities, and as a result, we have grave concerns here that they distrust the court system now and that we're not going to have continued cooperation of victims and witnesses, she said.

Ms Bronson has asked immigration agents to change tactics and recognise courthouses as sensitive areas, much like schools, churches or hospitals.

"Without victims willing to testify we've had to dismiss those charges and the violent offenders have seen no consequences for their violent acts," she said of the four women who dropped cases as a result of the US Presidents crackdown.

Mr Trumps vow to tackle illegal immigration was announced early in his tenure.

He promised to deport probably two million, even three million people within two years and during his campaign infamously said Mexican immigrants were bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists and some, I assume, are good people.
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He is a convicted Holocaust denier but also the patriarch of the party that could soon triumph in France's presidential election. These days, Jean-Marie Le Pen, now 88, struggles to walk. But his ideology is on the move: in a once unimaginable scenario, the National Front  the party he co-founded in 1972 and passed on to his daughter, Marine, in 2011  could win nearly 40 per cent of the vote in the French election this spring, possibly even more. Regardless of the outcome, he says, the battle is already won.

As populist fervour soars in Europe and the United States, politicians and analysts have struggled to explain what has been labelled a dramatic new challenge to the established order. But the National Front is anything but new, and the populist proposals that draw headlines today  returning to the nation-state, expelling immigrants and limiting globalisation  are things Le Pen has preached for decades. Now, people are listening.

After all, they can say, Le Pen was right, he said recently, reclining on a divan in Montretout, the 11-room mansion he owns in this leafy Paris suburb. Public opinion  the voters, the citizens  has realised that the ideas we defend are not 'extremist,' as our adversaries say, but that they conform to the truth.

But conforming to the truth has never quite been the mission of Jean-Marie Le Pen, and this, analysts say, is precisely the power of the revolution he started in the 1970s. He may be a godfather of Europe's radical and populist right, but for many, his principal contribution to political life has been the establishment of an alternate reality where facts are always fluid.

He is a precursor of post-truth, of alternative facts, of fake news, said Michel Wieviorka, an expert on the history of Le Pen's party and the author of The National Front: Between Extremism, Populism and Democracy.

That is his project.

For decades, Le Pen was dogged by allegations that he had tortured Arabs as a young lieutenant in France's 1954-1962 war against its breakaway colony Algeria. He still vigorously denies the accusations, despite testimony by several people who said they were his victims.

Candidate Marine Le Pen took over leadership of her fathers party in 2011 (AP)

Most notoriously, he has also been accused of what experts call soft-core denial of the Holocaust, the darkest chapter in the history of modern Europe. French authorities willingly collaborated in the Nazi genocide and assisted in deporting some 76,000 Jews to their deaths in concentration camps.

In 1987, Le Pen, speaking in an interview, referred to the gas chambers as a detail in the history of World War II. In 1996, he told a news conference in Germany: If you take a 1,000-page book on World War II, the concentration camps take up only two pages and the gas chambers 10 to 15 lines. This is what one calls a detail.

Since then, he has been convicted of Holocaust denial in French courts and fined tens of thousands of euros  penalties that have failed to discourage him from repeating the idea that the systematic extermination of 6 million Jews and others was somehow a trivial affair.

Such an insistence reflects more than simple ignorance of history, experts say.

He knows the full significance of what happened, said Deborah Lipstadt, a historian at Emory University and an expect on Holocaust denial. Its a way of saying, Those Jews are always complaining. Its a way of spreading hostility, animosity and prejudice. Thats why I call it anti-Semitism.

Unlike most of Europes current far-right leaders, Le Pen experienced World War II as a teenager. For decades after the war, French leaders played down or denied the extent of their countrys complicity with the Nazis. Eventually they apologised  but Le Pen never did. Before founding the National Front, he ran a record label that produced albums heralding Nazi war marches and celebrating the poetry of French intellectuals who had collaborated with the Germans.

These days, Le Pen makes no secret of his admiration of President Trump, although he says he has no contact with his administration.

If I were Marine Le Pen, he said, I would run exactly the same campaign as Trump, showing the rejection of the establishment, which I believe is majoritarian in France.

In the interview in his study at Montretout  which in French means showing all  Le Pen said he has never regretted calling the gas chambers a detail. He then proceeded to mock the outrage he has elicited over the years.

I regret the persecution of which I was the object, unjustly, he said.

When someone criticises, I say, how would you say it otherwise? What can we say? Is there a truth?

This line of defense, for Lipstadt, symbolizes the threat posed by deniers.

This is what Holocaust deniers are trying to do: They take a lie and dress it up as an opinion to be debated, she said. But there are objective facts. Not everything is open to debate.

When National Front voters go to the polls, they will vote for Marine Le Pen, not for Jean-Marie Le Pen. And the younger Le Pen, 48, has run a campaign that has largely sought to erase her father from the party's public image.

According to the narrative circulated by Marine Le Pen and her aides, she severed ties with her father after April 2015, when he gave an interview in Rivarol, an extreme right-wing journal, once again calling the gas chambers a minor detail in the history of World War II and defending Philippe Petain, the leader of Frances Vichy government, which collaborated with the Nazis between 1940 and 1942. Jean-Marie Le Pen suddenly found himself expelled from his own party.

Marine Le Pen could not be reached for comment.

But a National Front official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, insisted that Marine Le Pens party is not at all the party her father created and nurtured on the political fringe for decades. The National Front of Marine Le Pen is not a movement that rejects the Shoah or recycles Mr. Le Pen's ambiguity on the question, the official said, using an alternate term for the Holocaust.

In recent days, however, Benoit Loeuillet, a regional National Front official in the South of France, was exposed on camera, in a documentary on the party, denying the Holocaust in starker terms than those used publicly by Jean-Marie Le Pen.

I don't think there were that many deaths. There weren't 6 million, he was quoted as saying. There weren't mass murders as it's been said.

Loeuillet was summarily dismissed from the party, but critics pointed out that he was fired only when his words were made public.

Jewish groups have also accused Marine Le Pen's campaign of a subtle anti-Semitism, pointing to statements such as her insistence that French Jews should not be allowed to simultaneously hold Israeli citizenship and her condemnation of her principal political opponent, former investment banker Emmanuel Macron, as an emissary of the Rothschild bank and international finance  echoing anti-Semitic propaganda that has tied major financial groups to Jews.

For his part, Jean-Marie Le Pen does not see such a fundamental difference between his daughters vision and his own.

I think shes loyal first of all to herself, he said with a chuckle. But objectively, I believe she's more or less faithful to the line I defended and that I followed in all cases.

In recent years, Marine Le Pen has stopped at nothing to repudiate her father and his world.

Montretout, its not my story, she told reporters in January 2015 of the family estate in St. Cloud, where she spent nearly 30 years, from childhood through adulthood.

But the ageing warden of Montretout  a mansion in a gated community outside Paris, decorated with statues of Joan of Arc and a fireplace panel depicting the head of Jesus  is still paying many of her campaign expenses.

Despite the current candidates talk of an estrangement from her father, the political lending firm he controls, Cotelec, akin to a super PAC, lent her 6 million euros this year when a Russian bank withdrew on its pledge.

Speaking about his daughter's attempts to de-demonise their party  and thus hide his imprint  the patriarch laughed.

The biggest objection to this strategy was that she implicitly admitted that I was the devil, he said. When, in fact, I resemble an angel.

Washington Post
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Police arrested hundreds of protesters after thousands of Russians took to the streets across the country to demonstrate against corruption.

Officials also detained anti-corruption campaigner and opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, who hopes to challenge President Vladimir Putin in next years presidential election.

Police estimated 7,000 people crowded into the capitals Pushkin Square for an unsanctioned protest, thought to be the biggest since a wave of anti-Kremlin resistance in 2011 and 2012.

Mr Navalny called for the protests with his Foundation for Fighting Corruption organisation, with Russians in most of the countrys largest cities, including Vladivostok and St Petersburg, taking part.

Im happy that so many people came out [onto the streets] from the east [of the country] to Moscow, Mr Navalny said, moments before he was detained.

Demonstrators are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev after reports by Mr Navalnys foundation found he had amassed a collection of mansions, yachts and vineyards  far outstripping what his government salary alone could afford.

Law enforcement officers gather as they block opposition supporters in Moscow (REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)

People are unhappy with the fact that theres been no investigation of the corruption allegations, said Moscow protester Ivan Gronstein.

According to state media reports, police arrested the protestors for illegal provocation.

Violence broke out during the demonstrations on Sunday, with many protesters accusing the police of using excessive force.

A grey-haired man was seen being dragged along the pavement by police in Moscow and the main square was cleared in around three hours after protesters were herded down side streets.

Some demonstrators showed up with their faces painted green, a reference to a recent attack on Mr Navalny in which an assailant threw a green antiseptic liquid onto his face.

Mr Medvedevs spokeswoman called the allegations propagandistic attacks unworthy of detailed comment and said they amounted to pre-election posturing by Mr Navalny.

Elsewhere, at a rally in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, one media source reported seeing 30 people detained after unfurling banners reading The prime minister should answer.

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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. 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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. 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Opinion polls suggest Mr Navalnys opposition has little chance of fielding a candidate capable of unseating Putin, who enjoys high ratings. But Mr Navalny and his supporters hope to channel public discontent over official corruption to attract more support.
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Iran has imposed sanctions on 15 American companies over their alleged support for Israel, terrorism and repression in the region.

A Foreign Ministry statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency on Sunday said the companies are barred from any agreements with Iranian firms and that former and current directors will not be eligible for visas.

The move is seen as a response to US sanctions placed on dozens of Iranian entities in February following an Iranian missile test. Irans sanctions are unlikely to have much impact as none of the targeted US companies is known to do business in Iran.

The companies include Bent Tal, United Technologies Products, ITT Corporation, Raytheon, Re/Max Real Estate, Magnum Research Inc, Oshkosh Corporation, Kahr Arms and Elbit Systems.

It comes after Iran denied US accusations on Saturday that its fast-attack boats were harassing warships at the mouth of the Gulf, and said Washington would be responsible for any clashes in the key oil shipping route.

US Navy commanders earlier accused Iran of jeopardising international navigation by harassing warships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and said future incidents could result in miscalculation and lead to an armed clash.

They spoke after the US aircraft carrier George H W Bush confronted what one of the commanding officers described as two sets of Iranian Navy fast-attack boats that had approached a US-led, five-vessel flotilla as it entered the Strait on Tuesday on a journey from the Indian Ocean into the Gulf.

 Benjamin Netanyahu urges Theresa May to back fresh sanctions for Iran

It was the first time a US carrier had entered the narrow waterway, where up to 30 per cent of global oil exports pass, since President Donald Trump took office in January pledging a tougher US stance towards Iran.

In Tehran, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of Irans armed forces, said the US claims of the confrontation in the Gulf were based on false reports or ulterior motives, the state news agency IRNA reported.

We emphasise that the Americans would be responsible for any unrest in the Persian Gulf, and again warn that the US military must change its behaviour, Jazayeri said, without elaborating.

US commanders earlier said that Tuesdays incident, in which the George H W Bush sent helicopter gunships to hover over the Iranian speedboats as some came as close as 950 yards from the aircraft carrier, ended without a shot being fired.

But it underscored growing tension between the United States and Iran since the election of Trump, who has condemned the 2015 nuclear deal that his predecessor Barack Obama and leaders of five other world powers struck with Tehran and labelled the Islamic Republic the number one terrorist state.

Reporting by AP and Reuters
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Israel's ambassador to the United States has said there is "no daylight between our two governments" for the first time in years when it comes to Middle East policy.

Ron Dermer was speaking at a conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby group, which advocates pro-Israel policies in Congress. Other speakers included former UK Prime Minister and Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair.

Mr Dermer said there was "a meeting of the minds" when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington DC in February.

President Donald Trump made headlines during the visit for his seemingly indifferent stance on the widely-supported two-state solution, saying: "Im looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one that both parties like."

In a later interview he again stopped short of reasserting the US' traditional commitment to eventual Palestinian statehood, saying: "I like this two-state solution, but I am satisfied with whatever both parties agree with."

Speaking on Sunday, Mr Dermer said: "When it comes to the great challenges facing Israel and the United States, for the first time in many years, perhaps even many decades, there is no daylight between our two governments.

"Both our governments recognise that foremost among those challenges remains Iran. We both recognise that the nuclear deal does not block Iran's path to a bomb, and that Iran's appetite for aggression and terror has only grown since that deal was signed and since sanctions were removed.

"We also both recognise that the worst outcome that could emerge from the horrific carnage in Syria would be to effectively cede parts of Syria to Iran and Hezbollah.

"And we both appreciate that the rising tide of militant Islam which has engulfed the Middle East has also enabled a rare moment of opportunity to bring Israel and many in the Arab world closer together.

"In working together to thwart common dangers there is a real prospecta real prospectof building a genuine path towards reconciliation in the region.

"A path not based on empty hopes and dangerous illusions, but a path based on a clear-eyed understanding of shared threats as well as a common desire for a safer, more prosperous and more peaceful future.

"During the visit of Prime Minister Netanyahu to Washington last month it was clear that there was a meeting of the minds between our two governments on the great strategic challenges facing us, and that has made me even more confident that our alliance will get considerably stronger in the years ahead.

"You see the strength of that alliance every day. You see it when military assistance to Israel is fully funded at a time of great budget cuts. And you see it when America finally finds its moral voice, in defending Israel at the UN."

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

On Friday the UK said it had put the UN's Human Rights Council "on notice" over what it called its "disproportionate focus on Israel".

While it made clear its "serious concerns about the growth in illegal demolitions and settlement activity" and said the UK stood "shoulder to shoulder with the international community" in support of a two-state solution, it added the council's "unacceptable pattern of bias" would only make the goal harder to achieve.

According to UN documents, the United States was also "disappointed that the council continually singled out Israel for criticism without fully acknowledging the violent attacks directed against its people, nor the obligations and difficult steps required of both sides".

Briefing notes showed US representatives saw Israel's agenda item status as "among the largest threats to the credibility of this body".

Mr Trump has appointed as his ambassador to Israel the strident opponent of Palestinian statehood David Freidman, who also supports Jewish settlement building in disputed land. Mr Freidman was confirmed earlier this week.

He used his confirmation hearing to back down on some of his controversial past statements. Mr Friedman had called one liberal group, J Street, "worse than kapos"a reference to Jews who helped the Nazis imprison other Jews during the Holocaust. He also accused Barack Obama of "anti-Semitism."
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The airport which is the main target of the Governments ban on electronic devices has a security flaw that renders rigorous checks futile, The Independent can reveal.

After clearing six separate security hurdles at Istanbul airport, passengers bound for London Heathrow mingled in the gate area with newly arrived travellers who had faced no extra checks, The Independent has discovered.

Starting at the weekend, the Department for Transport made it mandatory for airlines flying from Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia to the UK to remove laptop computers, tablets and e-readers from passengers' cabin baggage. They must be transported in the hold.

 Simon Calder reports from Istanbul airport on new ban on electronic devices in hand luggage for specific UK-bound flights

Professor Anthony Glees, director of the centre for security and intelligence studies at the University of Buckingham, told The Independent the ban defies logic.

If security is lax in any airports - which we know it to be in some more than others - then the answer is not to let anybody take anything electronic, not simply to single out laptops, he said.

If you are going to keep your house safe you have got to lock it up, you cannot lock it up sometimes and sometimes not.

Terrorists will always go for the weakest link in the chain and this demonstrates a non existent link in Istanbul, which means that the idea that this policy makes sense is thrown into the wastepaper basket.

The ban is based on intelligence suggesting an al-Qaeda plot to bring down an aircraft with explosives concealed in consumer electronics.

The airport most affected by the British ban, in terms of passenger numbers, is Istanbul Ataturk. It is the hub for Turkish Airlines, which has up to six flights a day to Heathrow, as well as two daily departures to Manchester, 10 a week to Birmingham and five a week to Edinburgh.

British Airways also flies from Istanbul to Heathrow, while AtlasGlobal flies from the airport to Stansted.

In total, around 2,500 people fly from Istanbul to the UK in a typical day.

"If there is specific intelligence then the ban is justified - but in that case the airport should have been boycotted altogether. You cannot be half in and half out, half locked and half unlocked," Professor Glees said.

"Everybody has an interest in making airport security as good as it possibly can be and Turkish airports cannot be a weak link because we are all interconnected."

Istanbul airport already has heightened security following a terrorist attack in June 2016 in which more than 40 passengers and staff were killed by gunmen. Vehicles entering the airport area are searched, and all passengers face additional screening before they reach check in.

Passengers for the UK are now checked in at a separate area alongside flights to Israel. Besides the standard screening to go airside, three extra security hurdles have been added. The last, at the entrance to the departure gate, is a thorough hand search of cabin baggage. Any device bigger than a standard smartphone is confiscated and put in a special sealed case which is then opened on arrival at Heathrow.

Passengers on flight TK1983 on Saturday evening seemed resigned to increased security. Lesley Abdela from East Sussex said: Its just added to the stresses of travel. Travels not a pleasure any more.

Gary Mackay, who was in transit from the Seychelles via Istanbul on a journey home to London, said: Theyre doing a thorough job. Ive got no complaints whatsoever.

His wife, Anid, said they had learned about the new rules while on holiday, but said the restrictions could come as a shock to some travellers: If you were somewhere like the Seychelles and you werent checking the news on a regular basis, you would have missed it.

But as the heavily screened travellers were waiting to board the Heathrow flight at Gate 202, an entire planeload of arriving passengers wandered through what was supposed to be a security-sterile area.

It was an alarming example of a failure to look at the bigger security picture. I watched while security staff diligently discovered and removed PlayStations and Kindles from travellers heading for Heathrow  yet no one noticed that 100-plus passengers, who had not been screened for devices, were mingling in the gate lounge.

Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International magazine, said it was a fundamental flaw that made a mockery of the new rules. There is no value in restricting people carrying laptops through checkpoints if they can be given them, or other items, just prior to boarding, he said.

The Independent reported the breach to Turkish Airlines and the UK Department for Transport.

Many aviation figures have questioned the value of the UK ban, which is a variant of similar rules imposed earlier by the US. Anyone seeking to take large electronic devices in the aircraft cabin from Istanbul to Britain needs only fly to Amsterdam, Paris or any of dozens of other airports and change there for an onward flight to the UK.

Airlines affected by the ban are likely to suffer financially. Mr Mackay said: Well choose a different airline and a different route next time.

Business travellers choosing flights affected by the ban will be required to check in earlier than normal. They will be unable to work on their laptops on board. And if they are accustomed to travelling with cabin baggage only, they will need to wait for checked luggage to arrive on the baggage carousel on arrival.

The Department for Transport said in a statement: The additional security measures may cause some disruption for passengers and flights, and we understand the frustration that will cause, but our top priority will always be to maintain the safety of British nationals.
Californias government agency responsible for maintaining healthy air quality voted on Friday to adopt stricter emissions standards for automobiles, essentially daring President Donald Trump to confront the state in a legal battle over climate change.

The unanimous vote by the California Air Resources Board has the support of a number of top politicians in the state, including Gov. Jerry Brown and several mayors, all of whom have pledged to resist the Presidents potentially damaging environmental policies, the New York Times reports.

Trump has pledged to roll back former President Barack Obamas policies to protect the environment and combat climate change. He has said auto manufacturers would benefit from loosened emissions policies. In Michigan last week, Trump vowed to loosen those regulations, declaring, the assault on the American auto industry is over.

Despite the Presidents federal agenda, California - which has the largest automobile market in the country - can set its own standards thanks to a waiver in the Clean Air Act, which grants the state considerable influence over the auto industry, the Times reports.

California is not alone in this fight. Twelve other states, including New York and Pennsylvania, as well as Washington, D.C., have adopted Californias emission standards, setting up a face-off between more than 130 million residents - who own more than a third of the auto market - and the President.

This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com
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The ceremony in Rome to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding Treaty of the European Union is a sombre moment to reflect that the forces pulling the peoples of Europe together are stronger, in the long run, than those pulling us apart.

Sixty years ago, there were just six countries coming together. The UK, having made its lack of interest clear, was not invited. Today, 27 countries affirmed the unity of most of the continent and the UK was again unrepresented. For most of the intervening period, we were in, with varying degrees of commitment. Viewed in the long lens of history, who can doubt that Britain will be engaged in the decades to come, with varying degrees of commitment, with the European project?

Those passionate believers in the ideal of European unity who marched in London today should take heart from this longer view. The Independent sympathises with the view expressed by Tim Farron, Caroline Lucas, Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell that Britains departure from the EU can and should be stopped. However, that would require a sustained and significant shift in British public opinion in the next two years, which may be more likely than the Prime Minister thinks, but which is still not likely to happen.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters

While fighting to persuade people that Brexit is not in their interest, therefore, pro-Europeans should also prepare for the battles to come. Over the next two years, Theresa May will be negotiating the terms of our relationship with the EU, and The Independent will be making the case that it should be as close as possible.

In this venture, we have allies among the EU 27, and among their elected representatives. Guy Verhofstadt, the chief negotiator for the European Parliament, tells us today: Both the UK and the EU stand to lose from this process, which is why we must work to mitigate the effects of the decision that has been taken. This is a rather different tone from that adopted by Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission President, who this week said: Britain's example will make everyone realise that its not worth leaving.

Of course, we understand that our European partners cannot allow Britain to enjoy the benefits of EU membership without contributing to the common welfare, but Mr Juncker was unwise to use such language. Mr Verhofstadt is more in the spirit of European unity in emphasising the benefits to both sides of the closest possible relationship.

 Tens of thousands take to streets to demand Brexit be reversed

As Ms May prepares to sign and send the official letter of notification under Article 50 of the treaty that started off as the Treaty of Rome, that is the pressure that must be brought to bear on her  and on her opposite numbers. Mr Verhofstadt makes it plain that he sees a reciprocal agreement to safeguard the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU as the immediate priority of the negotiations. Again, this is different from other EU leaders who have suggested that Britains exit fee should be the first item on the agenda.

It will require heroic efforts to avoid the negotiations slipping into negativity and hostility, but there is goodwill (and a healthy dose of self-interest) on both sides and todays marchers for European unity need to encourage both sides. At the minimum, we must try to avoid leaving the EU without agreement, but Ms May should be more ambitious than this: the closer our relationship with the EU the better.

Maybe in 2057 a British  or possibly English  prime minister will be invited to the centenary celebration in Rome.
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Is the party finally over for Ukip after Douglas Carswell, its only MP, resigned from it? He will sit as an independent without fighting a by-election in his Clacton constituency, as he did when he defected from the Conservatives in 2014. Although Mr Carswell has no plans to rejoin the Tories, he does not rule out standing for the party at the next general election, when it seems his round trip may be completed.

It is easy for Ukips critics to enjoy the latest headlines about its civil war and suggestions it should now be renamed the UK Irrelevance Party. The internal strife long pre-dates its triumph in last years EU referendum. There is no doubt that the threat that Ukip could deprive the Tories of victory at the 2015 election persuaded David Cameron to promise his ill-advised referendum. In the event, Ukip won only Mr Carswells seat, and we will never know whether Mr Cameron overstated the threat or defused it. Whatever the truth, Ukip will earn a place in the history books, a rare achievement for such a small party.

Not surprisingly, a rebel force with one basic cause has struggled to find new one since last June. The party seems to have declared war on itself, with the bitter infighting and personality feuds reaching new heights. Nigel Farages latest departure as leader inevitably left a huge vacuum. Diane James came and went in 18 days. The party has also lost MEP Steven Woolfe, its major donor Arron Banks and now Mr Carswell. Its leader Paul Nuttall did poorly in the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election, when he should have at least run Labour close.

Theresa Mays actions since becoming Prime Minister have also contributed to Ukips problems. She pursued a hard Brexit when Ukips prospects would have been enhanced by foot-dragging or arguing that Britain should remain in the single market, even if it meant keeping the free movement of people. Ms May allowed Ukip no space on the domestic agenda, implementing its signature policy of grammar schools. So one of Ukips legacies  and it is not one we welcome  has been to push the centre of gravity of British politics to the right. Ms May might prosper in these circumstances while Labour offers no credible opposition, but she would be wise to live up to her own rhetoric about governing from the centre.

Despite Ukips existential crisis, it is too soon for its opponents to dance on its grave, as Labour and the Liberal Democrats are doing. The party still averages between 10 and 13 per cent in the opinion polls. Sadly, whatever changes to immigration rules emerge from Brexit, there will probably always be room for an anti-immigration party in British politics. With Mr Carswell gone, the Farage faction will be freer to push this option. Ukips nasty streak was again on show when it tried to exploit last weeks terrorist attack in Westminster. Mr Nuttall described radical Islam as a cancer in our society, while Mr Farage blamed multiculturalism and a fifth column living in European countries.

To ride the populist wave in the Trump era, Ukip may need to be reinvented or at least rebranded. Ukip might be subsumed or eclipsed by a Ukip 2.0 social movement, modelled on Italys Five Star, being launched by the millionaire Mr Banks, a close ally of Mr Farage. Campaigning on the fine print of the Brexit deal, as Mr Farage suggests, will not give Ukip a new purpose. After all, in two years, the UK will achieve its independence from the EU.
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When I am released, I want to be released in the day, so I can go and collect my daughter at the school gates. So everyone will see my daughter has a mother. These are the words of Mabel Gawanas, originally from Namibia, who has been in Yarls Wood Immigration Removal Centre for almost three years. Having already had to leave behind one daughter when she fled Namibia, she is also mother to a seven-year-old girl living in London with her father.

When I first met Mabel, back in December 2015, she joyfully told me she would be released any day and brandished a school photo of her youngest daughter, which she carries around with her inside the centre. Two Christmasses later Mabel was still locked up in the notorious detention centre in the middle of the Bedfordshire countryside, positioned incongruously as it is next to a Red Bull motor racing testing site and a pet crematorium.

I have been visiting women with the Yarls Wood Befrienders since October 2015, having been moved by their plight when I attended a demonstration outside the centre earlier that year.

As women reached out of the few inches their small windows would open, many of us could barely believe what our eyes were seeing. We may have read about Yarls Wood, about the ongoing scandals  including a Channel 4 undercover film that exposed Serco officers using racist and sexist language while discussing the women held there  but only on seeing those hands reaching out of the windows, behind the layers of fencing, out in the middle of nowhere, did the horror really dawn on me.

UK: Protesters swarm Yarl's Wood detention centre demanding closure

This is happening now, in the UK  a country which has long prided itself on its human rights record. Indeed, the UK has lectured other countries about their own approach to civil liberties. I resolved that day to campaign against immigration detention, but in the short term, to try to support the women trapped inside Yarls Wood.

So far I have visited 13 people: 12 women and one man. Yarls Wood has a family wing for couples and their adult children (the detention of those under 18 came to an end in 2011). Every single person I have visited has been through horrors, quite often because of their sexuality, and many have experienced gender-based violence. The trauma is then compounded further by being subject to indefinite detention.

By far the most upsetting thing I have seen volunteering as a befriender, however, is the sight of children visiting their mothers in detention. Last year I was waiting to go through to the visits hall alongside two tiny children, aged one and two, bundled up in red coats. The little girl clung to a social worker; the boy buried himself into the corner of the sofa he was sitting on, as though he wanted the piece of furniture to swallow him up. I didnt blame him; Yarls Wood is an intimidating place to visit. Despite the soft furnishings, the prison guardstyle uniforms and the levels of security one needs to go through in order to visit someone are off-putting for an adult, let alone a child.

I saw the two children again. They were visiting their young mother and father, who were in detention together. When the time came for the children to leave  they were allowed to stay an hour, no longer  the mother dissolved into tears. The social worker cautioned her not to cry in front of the children as it would upset them, but once the children were out of the room, her sobs became loud and uncontrolled, as she stood in the middle of the room, alone.

Recommended G4S are not fit for the job of looking after children in detention

Without thinking it through, I went to her and hugged her. There were no words that could really comfort her, but it just seemed the natural thing to do. I told her my name. She told me hers: Laura*.

A few weeks later, at the Christmas event held by the Befrienders inside the centre, I spotted Laura and her husband Victor*, among the crowds. Laura was staring straight ahead of herself, ignoring a paper plate in front of her on the table, onto which had been placed some festive food. Victor, meanwhile, sat at his wifes side and looked at her with great concern. I talked with them.

I just want to be with my children at Christmas time, Laura told me. She explained that Daniel* was two and Denise* was one, and they were living with a foster family as they had no other family in the UK. The couple were from Nigeria, though both children were born in the UK. Victor had been initiated into a secret fraternity in Nigeria and tortured. Having fled the group, he feared being sent back to his home country. I am not eating or taking my medication, Laura told me, as a protest at being separated from my children.

Over the next few of months, I visited the couple in Yarls Wood. Together with one of my fellow befrienders, I attended the Royal Courts of Justice when Lauras hearing took place.

Detention centre publicised safety award just 24 hours after man died in custody Show all 1 1 /1 Detention centre publicised safety award just 24 hours after man died in custody Detention centre publicised safety award just 24 hours after man died in custody 368137.bin PA

The barrister acting for the Home Office asked Laura, who appeared in the corner of the courtroom between two guards, whether she knew the name of her sons nursery teacher. Laura said quietly that no, she did not.

The point of this questioning was, of course, to persuade the judge that Laura was, as far as her children were concerned, superfluous to requirements, having been separated and effectively replaced by a foster mother. Fortunately the judge decided that Laura should remain the mother of her children, and a few weeks later, following a bail hearing, Laura and Victor were released from Yarls Wood.

The family remain split up, fighting for suitable accommodation while the children remain in care, but at least they are able to see the children more freely now.

Of being separated from her children, Laura says now: It is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. It was like my world had come to end. I was lonely, frustrated, hopeless and very anxious. Since her release, Laura has been diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorder.

Laura feels that the children have also suffered due to their parents detention. The childrens rights were violated, she tells me. They were forced to live with a person who they didnt know. I can still remember the transition process, it was a nightmare for them. Emotionally and psychologically they are severely affected.

Of course it is a good thing that children are no longer routinely detained in the UK  but we have to ask, at what price do we separate children from their parents for the purposes of immigration control?

Laura and Victor are the lucky ones. While they still have much fighting to do to reunite their family and establish their lives in the UK, for now, at least, they have their freedom.

Mabel Gawanas is not so fortunate. She faces another Mothers Day in Yarls Wood, separated from her daughter, with no idea when she will be released.

She remains hopeful, however, and her plans for the future are modest: I want to be a mother to my child. I want to have a normal life like everybody else. I dont ask for much.

Sarah Cope is acting communications executive for Women for Refugee Women and a Yarl's Wood befriender

*Some names have been changed to protect contributors anonymity
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My brother, who lives abroad, surprised me with a text message this week saying that everyone is asking him about Birmingham. Our great citys name has been spoiled, he typed. It wasnt just national press and television reporting about Birmingham, apparently, but the international media too.

I was born in Sparkbrook, the area highlighted in so many reports as a terrorist hotspot after the Westminster attack. The Daily Mail even called it the jihadi capital of Britain. Soon after the horrific events in London, I realised that as a Brummie Muslim, I was now saddled with a double burden. Its hard when someone stereotypes your home and your religion like that  but I still consider my identity to be a double privilege.

I am proud that Sparkbrook survived soaring unemployment during Margaret Thatchers years. In one of its areas, Balsall Heath, the violence of an infamous red light district was defeated by the local community. This city has a long tradition of surviving hardship: the Birmingham Blitz in the Second World War, damaging factory closures, sudden riots and disproportionately low funding from successive British governments. A few years ago, it was confirmed that London has multiple amounts spent on its infrastructure compared to the West Midlands, with only the North East receiving less. Apprenticeships for youngsters remain capital-centric despite Birmingham being the youngest city in Europe, with almost 45 per cent of its population under 25.

If we want to stop radicalisation, lets create apprenticeships and jobs, have a go at improving the quality of schools, beautify neighbourhoods to create a sense of ownership and pride, and reinvigorate a struggling but diverse arts scene which offers people alternatives in expression. That means stopping the recently promised cuts to the citys creative arts and the drastic city-wide cuts in school funding.

In pictures: Westminster attack Show all 9 1 /9 In pictures: Westminster attack In pictures: Westminster attack An air ambulance lands after gunfire sounds were heard close to the Palace of Westminster in London PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack MPs wait until the situation is under control in Westminster. 'The alleged assailant was shot by armed police,' David Lidington, leader of the House of Commons, told the house. BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Crowds gather in Westminster after shooting incident, which police are treating as terror attack BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Police were also called to an incident on Westminster Bridge nearby AP In pictures: Westminster attack Early reports indicate the car, which mounted the pavement on Westminster Bridge and mowed into around a dozen people, was the same vehicle which then rammed into the railings of the Palace of Westminster, just around the corner Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack Security sources described the suspected assailant as a middle-aged Asian man, who is understood to have left the car before attacking a police officer with a seven-to-eight inch knife PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack Police have asked people to avoid the immediate area to allow emergency services to deal with the ongoing incident AP In pictures: Westminster attack One woman has died and a number of others, including the police officer, have been hurt, according to a junior doctor at St Thomas' Hospital Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack At least three gun shots were heard by those inside Westminster, and proceedings in the House of Commons have been suspended AP

Reporters have been floating around certain areas in the last few days, conducting vox pops with perplexed locals who have nothing sensational to say. These locals have never met an extremist or anyone who would contemplate extremist actions. Ive seen journalists crowding outside a lovely family-run restaurant under a raided flat as though they believe that staring at a door might help them understand what transpired in Westminster.

Instead of pointing the finger at a religion or race, we should be noting that these areas are some of the most deprived in Birmingham. Its housing and jobs and youth centres that these residents want to talk about, rather than extremist ideas. The areas are diverse, full of churches, mosques and gurdwaras. Radicalisation doesnt happen inside any of these: it happens online and off the grid.

Reporters should have stuck with The Guardians one-liner choice from the recently aired Extremely British Muslims: The only extreme thing around here is the size of the rats, bro. If we want to report on these areas fairly, lets consider the impact of this Governments austerity agenda, and the poor management and distribution of funding by the citys current council.

 Peace vigil held in Birmingham to promote unity in wake of London terror attack

These latest news developments about Birmingham are something of a non-issue. I didnt feel any different when walking around the city since the raids, reports and journalists have come pouring in, because they have nothing to do with me or my community. The real issue is that we might be allowing one heinous crime to ostracise a community already facing low levels of employment and attainment, and compounding that by allowing them to feel victimised.

Despite all the pressures facing Birmingham, this is a beautiful city: not a terrorist hotspot but a tourist hotspot to which Londoners are flocking. So, dear media, unless you genuinely care about it, then please leave my city alone. The secret to radicalisation cannot be found on our beloved streets.
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After two years of fierce fighting, Yemens civil war, which pits northern Shia rebels and forces loyal to the countrys former President against a series of rival militias and military units backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has reached a political and military stalemate that has achieved little more than pushing millions of Yemenis to the brink of starvation. Now, the Arab Gulf states have a new plan to win the war. But we should be wary about what winning might look like.

Saudi Arabia launched its military campaign in Yemen in March of 2015 in the hope of dislodging the Houthi rebels from Sanaa, the countrys capital, which they seized in a September 2014 coup. The Saudis wanted to send a message to Iran, which they believe controls the Houthis, and restore the ousted Yemeni President and an ally of Riyadh, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, to the capital and to power. Two years on, the Houthis still control the capital and much of the countrys northwestern highlands, backed by military units loyal to Yemens former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Hadi, a weak and unpopular figure before the war, struggled to bring the many fighting forces who took on the Houthis on the ground under his control. He has also done little to restore basic governance in liberated areas, with residents of Aden  a southern port city from which the northern rebels were repelled in mid-2015  suffering from a lack of security, water and electricity. The Houthi-Saleh alliance has proven surprisingly resilient in the face of an often intense campaign of aerial bombardment and a de facto naval siege, meanwhile.

In this vacuum, hardline Salafist militias and the likeminded local al-Qaeda franchise  once seen by London and Westminster as one of most dangerous in the world  have gained increasing sway on the ground. So too have secessionists and tribal militias. These different forces  some backed directly by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who quickly tired of Hadis lack of leadership and looked for more effective partners on the ground  do not always see eye to eye. In recent weeks, fighting has taken place between pro-independence militias in the southern city of Aden and military units paid for by President Hadi.

The situation in Yemen Show all 14 1 /14 The situation in Yemen The situation in Yemen Houthi supporters trample on a US flag during a gathering mobilizing more fighters into several Yemeni battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen People carry the coffins of men, who were killed in the recent Saudi-led airstrikes during their funeral, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen AP The situation in Yemen Pro-government fighters give food to Yemeni children on the road leading to the southwestern port city of Mokha. Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by pro-government force Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni stands in front of a graffiti protesting US military operations in war-affected Yemen, in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen A Yemeni female fighter supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, takes part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen Yemeni female fighters supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, take part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A boy shouts slogans next to pro-Houthi fighters, who have been injured during recent fighting, during a rally held to honour those injured or maimed while fighting in Houthi ranks in Sanaa, Yemen Reuters The situation in Yemen Balls of fire and smoke rise from a Houthi-held military camp following alleged Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy looks on as Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy sits amidst the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa AFP/Getty The situation in Yemen Marine One with US President Donald Trump flies with a decoy and support helicopters to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, for the dignified transfer of Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens who was killed in Yemen Getty Images The situation in Yemen US President Donald Trump aboard the Marine One to greet the remains of a US military commando killed during a raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, US Reuters

The war has also tipped the country, already the poorest of the Arab states, into one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises, with the UN predicting a famine and some aid agencies saying that parts of Yemen are already starving to death. The war has put the UK and US, who have lent, to differing degrees, political and military support to the Saudi-led campaign, in a difficult position, with rights groups accusing them of helping facilitate breaches of international law by the Saudi air force and of not doing enough to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

The UN has struggled to find a deal that would end the fighting on the ground, not least because doing so means balancing the interests of the Houthis, Saleh and his loyalists, the technically legitimate Hadi government, the Saudis and Emiratis, against one another. Some foreign officials worry that even if a deal can be reached and it does not include many of the armed groups involved in the war including the southern separatists, it could spark another round of war not much further down the road.

It is clear that something needs to change. The problem is that the only big idea to emerge in recent months has been a military operation to seize Houthi-held Hodeidah, a port city on Yemens west coast. Taking the port, the Emiratis and Saudis reckon, would help stem the flow of arms from Iran that they believe is helping sustain the Houthis, and would give them more leverage in negotiations. Hodeidah is the main entry point for basic goods including food and fuel into Yemen, and taking it would leave the Houthi-Saleh alliance sealed off from the outside world.

But it is by no means certain that taking Hodeidah will be easy. The Houthi-Saleh alliance is well aware of the plan, and they are said to be spoiling for a fight. While the Saudi-led coalition claims that taking the port would help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the medium term, aid agencies fret that the short-term effect of cutting off access to a major port could be a killing blow to some of Yemens starving millions.

 2.1 million children are facing famine in Yemen

Nor is it clear that were the port to be taken, the Houthi-Saleh alliance would simply wilt away. Rather, it seems more likely that they and the population in areas under their control, facing further deprivation, will take a more hardline  and more radical  stance, perhaps supported by Iran, which to date has only had to invest a relatively small amount of resources to prop the Houthis up. This in turn will only serve to help Salafist leaders and, yes, al-Qaeda, sell a worrying, sectarian and anti-Western worldview. In the absence of a government able to impose itself on the ground or provide security and basic services like electricity and water, the discipline of radical groups becomes all too appealing.

Two years in, something must be done to shake up the Yemen war. But the last thing the world needs is another Middle Eastern country torn to pieces and racked by sectarian violence, and in which radical Islamist groups vie for control.

Peter Salisbury is a Senior Research Fellow for the Arabian Peninsula at Chatham Houses Middle East and North Africa Programme. A veteran journalist and analyst, he has worked on Yemen since 2008
Citadel, one of the world's largest hedge funds, has emerged as an investor in Irish packaging company Ardagh following its recent flotation.

In a statement, the firm said it has taken a 6.9pc passive stake in Ardagh Group.

It is understood that this relates to 6.9pc of A class shares, which suggests that Citadel has acquired 6.9pc of the 16.2m shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Around 7pc of the company was listed and a total of $319m (295m) was raised.

Ardagh listed earlier this month with shares surging by more than 21pc on its first day of trading before falling back slightly.

Ardagh is chaired by Paul Coulson, who owns around 33pc of the company following the share sale. His stake is worth around 1.5bn.

Underwriters of the listing included Irish broker Davy, as well as Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo.

Coulson had been planning a flotation of Ardagh since at least 2011, having taken the company private in 2003, a year after closing its original Ringsend bottle plant in Dublin.

In 2015, Ardagh pulled a planned share sale of its metal-containers unit, citing "challenging" market conditions for IPOs.

The company manufactures 84 billion packaging units every year, and its clients include Heineken, L'Oreal and John West.

Ardagh's revenue was 6.34bn last year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) were 1.16bn.

Last year, it paid 3.2bn to buy assets from rivals Ball Corporation and Rexam.

The deal transformed Ardagh adding 12 plants in Europe, eight plants in the US, two plants in Brazil and additional operations in Germany, the UK, Switzerland and the US.
I was both honoured and conflicted when I received an invitation from US President Donald Trump to attend the annual St Patrick's Day reception at the White House.

Invitations to the White House aren't easy to come by. But I was honoured mostly because of my enduring love for the United States which took hold like a fever in my student days at Trinity College when I first began travelling to America on a J1 visa.

It is a love affair that has persisted professionally and personally over the last 20 years and one I expect to last my lifetime. But like many fellow invitees I spoke to at the White House, I was in some senses uneasy about aspects of the shamrock ceremony, notwithstanding the beauty and history of that extraordinary building on Pennsylvania Avenue and the fact that the Office of the US Presidency is bigger than its custodians.

This is because the election campaign mounted by Donald Trump and so many of the policies espoused by his administration - not to mention the controversial figures shadow directing this White House - are anathema to everything I hold dear.

I'm not alone: there was huge opposition directed in some quarters towards Taoiseach Enda Kenny for attending the ceremony and for lauding US Vice President Mike Pence at a dinner in Washington DC the night before the White House reception.

Kenny went a long way towards answering his critics when he said during his White House speech that St Patrick was, in many ways, the patron saint of immigrants. The speech subsequently went viral, with more than 30m hits online. In the room, however, Kenny's remarks - whilst firm and pointed - were delivered in a style that was not designed to actually offend his hosts or jeopardise the annual ceremony.

The annual jamboree grates with many. But there is no disputing that the White House ceremony - which caps more than a week of bilateral trade, political and other meetings across the US - is an extraordinary feat of access for Ireland Inc to successive US administrations and corporate America.

And yet at what point, in the name of commercial necessity or realpolitik do we become complicit in enabling regimes that are at odds with our proclaimed values? Does pragmatism always trump principle?

What was most fascinating to observe during the ceremony was the obsequious fawning over President Trump by many Irish and Irish American business, civic and political personnel there.

Like lovestruck teenage fans at a One Direction concert, the men - it was mostly men - clamoured over each other to shake Trump and Pence's hands. Many had been avowed supporters of the Democrats generally and the Clintons in particular. But this new found awe for Trump seemed to pass over as easy as butter on hot toast. "That's politics," remarked one. "It's just business," said another. "We have to work him," they all said in unison.

That's true, up to a point. And business, like politics and diplomacy, is an art of compromise. But history is replete with leaders who sowed dangerous legacies because they were enabled by others who did not stop them.

At what point will Ireland Inc say enough is enough?
Michael Noonan does a good routine in folksiness. When the European Commission said Ireland had given Apple a sweetheart tax deal, Noonan said collecting the billions supposedly owed would be like "eating the seed potatoes".

It's an expression that's probably not familiar to many attendees at the World Economic Forum at Davos, the gathering for the world's rich and powerful. With Ireland's economic model so dependent on foreign direct investment, the Davos summit is a useful opportunity for Irish politicians to network with executives at big multinationals and make Ireland's pitch.

And so it was that Noonan found himself invited to Sheryl Sandberg's cocktail party at Davos. Attendees were to be treated to a showcase of some of Facebook's "breakthrough technologies in virtual reality and artificial intelligence", according to Noonan's invite. "Kindly be aware the evening is off the record," it added.

Noonan spoke to Sandberg that night but was limited to "a cordial greeting" at the "well-attended and busy event" a spokesman for the Department of Finance said. The invitation emerged among records released to the Sunday Independent under the Freedom of Information act, which provide fresh insight into the interactions between our lawmakers and bosses at some of the biggest companies in the world. What do the companies ask about, and what do our politicians tell them?

Some months before the cocktail party, Noonan was in San Francisco and met a different set of Facebook executives at their Menlo Park headquarters. The company's CFO Dave Wehner and vice-president of tax Jue Lin were among those present, according to a Finance Department summary of the November 16, 2016 meeting authored by Nicholas O'Brien, assistant secretary general with responsibility for the EU & International division.

His report on the meeting, which had been arranged by the IDA, reveals that Noonan "outlined developments" on the Apple tax case to Facebook.

It wasn't all they discussed. Among other issues Noonan noted Facebook's commitment to Ireland, including its under-construction data centre in Clonee, Co Meath.

The report says Wehner spoke of "a very strong relationship with Ireland and the positive investment climate which encourages the company to continue to invest".

However, the European Commission's State Aid ruling was brought up as it has been at other high level contacts with other multinationals.

To recap, the Commission found that Ireland had given "illegal tax benefits" worth 13bn to Apple since 1991.

"Member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies - this is illegal under EU state aid rules. The Commission's investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years," the EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.

She added: "This selective treatment allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of 1pc on its European profits in 2003 down to 0.005pc in 2014."

The decision was greeted with fury in Dublin, but also with fear. It was seen as an attack on Ireland's tax sovereignty - crucial to our FDI-heavy economic model and something that could scare off multinationals.

Facebook would not comment on the meeting with Noonan but a lengthy statement from the Finance Department indicates the Government's appetite for defending its position has not faded.

"The Government profoundly disagrees with the Commission's analysis and had no choice but to take an appeal to the European Courts to annul the whole Decision ... our position on all aspects of the case is very well known," it said.

"Ireland did not give favourable tax treatment to Apple. Ireland does not do deals with taxpayers." The statement said that in all cases where Noonan has discussed the state aid case with external parties, it has been limited to information that is already in the public domain.

"We regularly interact with companies who have substantial presence and employment in Ireland and who have a legitimate interest in the allegations made by the EU Commission and the potential implications for their businesses. They may have concerns stemming from the case. Such concerns might be understandable but would be unfounded," the statement said.

One company that had some questions at the very least is Google. In September last year, Taoiseach Enda Kenny met a delegation from the tech giant. Caroline Atkinson, the company's global head of public policy was present alongside then-Google Ireland boss Ronan Harris and others. Minutes of the meeting drawn up by one of Kenny's officials show that Atkinson asked the Taoiseach for a briefing on the Apple tax case.

The minutes say that Kenny spoke of "the Government's intention to appeal on the basis that there was no deal or special treatment".

"He [Kenny] recognised the importance of certainty for enterprise and investors, and the difficulty the case created in that respect."

A spokesman for the Taoiseach said the meeting - held in Government buildings - "took place at Google's request to facilitate engagement between the Taoiseach and one of their senior executives [Atkinson] - who was then visiting Europe and wished to brief the Taoiseach on Google's activities and plans".

"As the meeting took place shortly after the European Commission made its announcement in relation to the Apple case, Atkinson asked in general terms about the Government's proposed approach.

"The Taoiseach set out the position, as he had done the previous day in the Dail," the spokesman added.

Asked why Google had asked for the briefing and whether the Apple case would affect its presence here if the Government appeal fails, a Google spokeswoman said: "We meet regularly with politicians and policymakers on a wide range of issues so that we can better understand the Irish business environment, answer politicians' questions and explain the opportunity for businesses to grow online.

"Our engagements are recorded on the register of lobbying as required under Irish law," the spokeswoman added.

It's understood that the European Commission's state aid ruling against Ireland has no bearing on Facebook's position here, though the company would not comment when asked by the Sunday Independent. In its statement, Google didn't answer on whether it had concerns about the ruling. For its part Apple has previously strenuously denied wrongdoing in relation to its tax arrangements in Ireland. Its chief executive Tim Cook has dismissed the Commission's ruling as "political crap" and Apple is also appealing the decision in European courts.

The Finance Department noted notwithstanding the appeal, Ireland is required by law to recover the alleged state aid from the company.

"We are continuing to make progress of the recovery from Apple with the full co-operation of the company and the EU Commission", its statement adding that the Commission was "satisfied with the progress we are making".

Aside from the Apple tax ruling, Brexit and the cost and availability of housing are issues that are prompting questions from multinationals, according to an official's note on a visit by European Affairs Minister Dara Murphy to the US in January.

"Brexit was raised as an issue at every meeting, especially for companies that do not have their European base in Ireland. The uncertainty caused by the question of the UK's post-Brexit approach to data protection standards was raised at most meetings.

"Issues relating to availability/cost of housing were also regularly raised," the note reads. Kenny's spokesman said Google didn't raise the issues of housing or visas.

Brexit - and its possible implications on the EU's Digital Single Market (DSM) project - was also raised at a December 20, 2017 meeting between officials at the Taoiseach's office and Google representatives including Iarla Flynn, the Irishman who is the search engine's director of public policy and government affairs for Northern Europe. The minutes indicate a view on his part that Ireland - which the Government likes to represent as a utopia for tech - is not best placed to pick up the slack when the UK leaves the EU, and by extension the DSM project.

"On Brexit, smaller MS (member states) will struggle to the role [sic] of the UK in advancing DSM/SM files and providing thought leadership. IF [Iarla Flynn] wondered if Poland could step up to this role," the minutes read.

On this meeting the Taoiseach's spokesman said: "While acknowledging the loss of UK influence on single market issues, we continue to develop stronger alliances with a number of like-minded member states, including through key initiatives at political level ... the Minister for European Affairs continues to lead Irish engagement on DSM matters in line with the roadmap for his responsibilities in this area that was noted by the Government."

Correspondence released by the Jobs Department discuss arrangements for Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor's attendance at the June opening of Google's 150m data centre in west Dublin. A email sent by the firm had the subject line "Google good news event".

That event went ahead, with the Taoiseach also attending. However, Mitchell O'Connor's later plan to visit Google's city centre headquarters on August 31 had to be cancelled.

The reason? The government's emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the European ruling on Apple.

That pesky Commission really is getting in the way.
Documents show that Michael Noonan briefed a group of Facebook officials - including the company's chief financial officer Dave Wehner - on the case and other matters during a visit to the US (Stock picture)

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Finance Minister Michael Noonan have personally briefed Google and Facebook executives about the implications of the EU ruling on Apple's Irish tax arrangements.

Kenny was asked for a briefing on the case by Google's global head of public policy Caroline Atkinson, records released to the Sunday Independent under Freedom of Information reveal.

Kenny spoke of "the Government's intention to appeal on the basis that there was no deal or special treatment".

"He [Kenny] recognised the importance of certainty for enterprise and investors, and the difficulty the case created in that respect," the minutes add.

The EU Commission finding that Ireland had given "illegal tax benefits" worth 13bn to Apple since 1991 has been strongly rejected by the Government. The decision announced last August sparked fears of a negative impact on foreign direct investment.

A spokesman for the Taoiseach said the meeting - held in Government buildings - "took place at Google's request to facilitate engagement between the Taoiseach and one of their senior executives [Atkinson] - who was then visiting Europe and wished to brief the Taoiseach on Google's activities and plans".

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He said the meeting took place shortly after the announcement and Atkinson asked in general terms about the Government's plan.

Asked if a negative outcome on the Government's appeal would affect the company's presence here, Google said: "We meet regularly with politicians and policymakers on a wide range of issues so that we can better understand the Irish business environment, answer politicians' questions and explain the opportunity for businesses."

Google is currently embroiled in controversy, with Irish ad buyer Core Media among those pulling business with Google's YouTube over fears client ads are appearing beside extremist content.

The documents show that Noonan briefed a group of Facebook officials - including the company's chief financial officer Dave Wehner - on the case and other matters during a visit to the US.

A Finance Department spokesman said the discussion was limited to what the Government has been saying publicly about the case. Noonan also met Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, at a cocktail party at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year.
Ireland has grown a strong reputation as the global location of choice for US business investment but the factors that brought us success need to be constantly re-examined to ensure that this position is strongly maintained Picture: AFP/Getty Images

I'm a big believer in always understanding and knowing who your key business stakeholders are. How you build strong, deep partnerships and relationships ultimately influences the impact you can have as a business leader - among your customers, partners, colleagues, and broader network.

Last week, I had the opportunity to hear first-hand what is on the minds of US decision makers and business leaders, and to see how well the new US administration interacted with the Irish Government during the St Patrick's Day visit to the US.

I left Washington DC with clarity on three key points. The first is that the level of access Ireland is granted at US leadership level is as good - if not better - than any other country's representation. We need to protect it and build on it. Our various State office-holders and agencies; the Taoiseach, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, our embassy and consular officials do an outstanding job of building and nurturing relationships and leveraging them for the benefit of the Irish economy and society.

Secondly, there is an opportunity for Ireland to play a leadership role on behalf of the EU with the US. This role is not necessarily straightforward - the EU has a credibility problem among some segments of the new US administration. They need to be gently reminded that the EU is the US's biggest trading partner and one which directly supports four million jobs in America.

Thirdly, the ongoing rally in the stock markets points to a renewed sense of confidence now felt within the US domestic economy. Confidence in the trading environment is a positive for the hundreds of Irish companies that have invested there. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who has an intimate knowledge of Ireland through previous investments here, said he was "pro-trade but pro sensible trade". Because of the fair and sensible approach Ireland has consistently taken, our US business partners have responded by placing confidence in us - investing strongly in Ireland and positioning this country as their gateway to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

And it's not a one-way street. Irish companies are creating almost as many jobs in the United States as the United States is creating here. And Irish entrepreneurs such as Dr Pearse Lyons of Alltech and the Collison brothers, founders of Stripe, are creating amazing innovative companies in the US. On both sides of the Atlantic, companies are investing in R&D and creating high value employment. This is a powerful example of free and fair trade in action.

During our visit last week, US business leaders called out Ireland as an exemplar in how countries can attract and retain inward investment. Our leadership role at the EU table on key issues such as data was also noted. Many of these leaders emphasise how centrally important Ireland is to their global operations, and how the world-class talent in Ireland enables them to consistently serve their markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with efficiency, ease and amazing innovation. These markets could not be served with the same success from the US. Investing in Ireland has been good for US business, and for the US economy.

It is incredible to think how our contribution to America has transformed over the centuries. From being the principal source of manual labour for the great US infrastructure projects of the past, it is an Irish company that is the number one producer of asphalt, the second-largest producer of aggregates and the third-largest producer of ready-mixed concrete in North America today. In newer sectors, Irish companies are creating clusters of excellence in fields from nutrition to cyber-security to drug development services in the United States.

Ireland has grown a strong reputation as the global location of choice for US business investment but the factors that brought us success need to be constantly re-examined to ensure that this position is strongly maintained. There are a lot of international changes occurring - in the US, in the UK (with Brexit), and beyond. While last week clearly demonstrated the strength of the relationships between Ireland and the US, it was also very clear that we don't yet know the true impact of the new administration.

With these factors outside of our control, we can't take our strong position in attracting FDI for granted. We can't rest on our laurels and we must be more ambitious in raising our game. As well as our strong pro-business environment, we need an education system with sufficient choice of schools, and one which offers lifelong pathways to education and training. An education system that equips boys and girls equally to avail of the opportunities that will flow from the digital economy, which is growing at pace across all sectors. We need fit for purpose physical and digital infrastructure; including an extensive, advanced broadband network across Ireland. We need a globally competitive personal tax regime that rewards productivity. And we need access to quality accommodation to meet the needs of a changing population.

Last week, the political and business leaders of Washington rolled out the welcome mat for Ireland. While that is gratifying, we can't know what the future will bring. Instead we must stay sharply focused on consolidating our strong position as a global leader for US FDI.

James O'Connor is President of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland
RTE has just announced a reduction in staff numbers of 10- 15pc - the total staff is almost 2,000, so around 250 jobs will go. Management hope that retirements and voluntary severance will do the trick, without compulsory redundancies, and have embarked on consultation with unions.

According to the Irish Times, the State broadcaster lost 20m last year, on turnover of roughly 340m. These numbers are guesses, since accounts for 2016 will not be available for a few months yet. RTE lost about 3m the previous year, hardly a catastrophe for a company of its size. But losing 20m a year is not sustainable.

More than half of the company's revenue comes from the licence fee. There are plans to realise up to 75m from the sale of surplus lands at RTE's extensive Dublin 4 headquarters, which should fix the finances for a while.

Trouble is, you can only flog off surplus assets once, but operating losses can be forever. RTE is not the only State company in trouble - there are serious losses also at An Post and at Bus Eireann, where strike action has commenced in response to management plans to cut costs. In all three cases, the losses are not cyclical and will not reverse should the broader economy prosper. Postal volumes are in long-term decline, and the bus company has been unable to meet competition from private operators, the heavily subsidised railway and the willingness of a largely car-owning population to take to the motorways. RTE's losses are also here to stay unless action is taken.

The State broadcaster's problem is the weakness in both main revenue sources: advertising income and the licence fee. In line with all other traditional print and broadcast media, the squeeze from internet advertising is inexorable. Google, Facebook and others can offer targeted advertising - ads crafted to match the profile of each consumer - and the share going to the traditional 'dumb billboard' outlets is headed south. To make a bad job worse, the licence fee is becoming harder to collect. Once the van has appeared in a housing estate and the first innocent has opened the door, the remainder get rapid text messages and emails and the lights go down. The licence fee has been steady at 160 since 2008, the population (and household numbers) have risen, but RTE's licence-fee income has fallen by more than 10pc. The uncollected tax on TV sets exceeds RTE's annual losses.

The company's combined revenue from both sources, advertising and the licence fee, has dropped by 100m since 2008. Cost reductions have not been enough to offset the revenue decline, and neither of the revenue sources looks particularly promising. Newspapers are familiar with RTE's financial troubles. Circulation declines have been dramatic, and advertising revenue has weakened in step. Some of the main Irish titles are selling only about 60pc of the figures they achieved 15 years ago, when the population of the country was lower. Circulation per adult has almost halved.

Continuous cost-cutting in editorial budgets can only go so far without compromising product quality, risking a further leg in the downward spiral. Very few newspapers have managed to make money from digital editions and they complain about competition from free news websites provided by tax-financed public service broadcasters. Some of the UK broadsheets have elaborate websites (increasingly with partial paywalls) but none match the range and quality of what the BBC can offer for free.

There is a deeper and long-standing problem with Irish broadcasting policy. Private radio and TV stations in Ireland have access to a small portion of the licence-fee money, through a fund administered by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, but nearly all of it goes to RTE.

In the United Kingdom the BBC gets the licence fee money but does not carry advertisements. Its private-sector competitors can generate enough from advertising to be able to match the BBC's income, since they have the advertising pot to themselves. So there is some degree of competitive equality in the battle for viewers. In Ireland, RTE gets the lion's share of both licence fee money and advertising revenue - it is dual-funded, to use the jargon. Not surprisingly, it has managed to retain leading market shares in both radio and television. The total annual revenue of private Irish radio and TV stations is not a publicly available figure, but industry sources put it at around 100m, less than one-third of RTE's income.

When the decision was taken back in the 1980s to offer licences to private radio stations, RTE had been dual-funded for decades and the new entrants were expected to compete through reliance on advertising revenue alone. This put the licensed stations in a weaker position than their pirate predecessors, which had no public service obligations - they were illegal. But the new licensed stations, including the TV stations established subsequently, have public service obligations - they cannot play records all day as the pirates did, which is the cheapest form of broadcasting.

RTE has serious public service obligations too, including its subsidy to the Irish language channel TG4, and the expectation that it will broadcast numerous programmes with low audience appeal. The result is a very messy broadcasting market, a mixture of State and private ownership, State subvention through the licence fee and all sorts of cost-inducing obligations on broadcasters, both public and private. It is not easy to see what exactly is going on and the playing-field is not just uneven, it is shrouded in regulatory fog.

All domestic media companies, not only the broadcasters, face intense digital competition for eyeballs and advertising. UK television channels are able to offer so-called 'opt-out' advertising slots for the Irish market at bargain prices and private broadcasters allege that RTE sells advertising on both radio and television too cheaply. There is hardly a single media company in Ireland that can expect consistent profitability in the years ahead.

At the heart of the mess in the finances of broadcasting is the annual television-licence fee, fondly regarded by apologists as a subscription for RTE's channels. It is nothing of the kind. It is an annual tax on the ownership of a consumer durable, regardless of use, and makes as much economic sense as a tax on washing machines or cookers.

The advent of laptops and smartphones, equally capable of accessing television broadcasts, has finally brought it home to policymakers that this antiquated and cumbersome method of raising revenue has no place in a modern fiscal system.

RTE's director general suggested last week that the TV licence fee should be doubled. It would be better to have it abolished altogether and the revenue replaced through conventional taxes on consumption and income. The TV licence fee, aside from the collection problems, is akin to a poll tax and highly regressive in its incidence.

In its absence, government would have to face the difficult question of subvention to public service media. A functioning democracy needs serious radio and TV stations, and broadsheet newspapers, the pitch on which the political game is played.

RTE's financial crisis is an opportunity to revisit the issues ducked 30 years ago when the broadcasting monopoly was abandoned.
RTE has toyed with selling a chunk of its very valuable Dublin 4 site many times but as money has become increasingly tight, the pressure to cash-in has intensified. The broadcaster is to sell over eight acres of its site for more than 75m and as it tries to reshape the operation for a digital age, there will be no shortage of options for this sizeable windfall.

During the last recession, then director general Noel Curran was faced with a catastrophic crash in ad revenue as TV ads fell 40pc. After cutting costs, RTE ended years of losses by breaking even and delivering a small surplus in 2014.

Unfortunately, that financial health has faded all too quickly. RTE, like other media, had expected that once the recession had passed it could count on a steady return to growth in advertising.

Unfortunately, it has not worked out quite like that. Shortly before Dee Forbes took over as director general of RTE, the Brexit vote shocked advertisers and their clients, who retreated from planned budgets.

Many of the big UK brands manage TV advertising centrally from London and there was a swell of caution among the big advertisers, who put off new campaigns and even delayed product launches. Also, the weakness in sterling automatically reduced their Irish ad spend.

Instead of returning to Ireland from her post at the Discovery group of channels to head up a challenged RTE in a recovering economy, Forbes was faced with even more headwinds. As first reported in this newspaper, RTE is expected to report losses of up to 20m for 2016 and 2017 will be another difficult year.

In addition to Brexit woes, it has become apparent that advertisers are increasingly favouring online alternatives which is a longer term concern. At the same time, the willingness of government to strengthen the RTE licence fee is absent and while communications minister Denis Naughten is doing his best to improve RTE's lot with a pledge to clamp down on licence fee evasion, no one is promising a much longed-for overhaul of the way in which public service broadcasters are funded.

It is extremely fortuitous, therefore, that RTE still has one very precious jewel to sell off - its land. The last cash bonanza came in 1999 when RTE sold Cablelink, which later became NTL and then Virgin Media. But it is unlikely that RTE has many more chips to cash in.

Last week, Forbes was quick to point out that the sale proceeds would not be used to fillip RTE's losses. In a message to staff she said: "Funds raised will not be used to shore up operational deficits. That would be reckless. Nor does this represent a 'bonanza' or a 'windfall' for RTE. Rather, we are playing catch-up in an industry and market that is evolving rapidly." The question now is can RTE really catch-up with a rapidly changing global industry? Netflix looms large on the horizon as do a plethora of other technological developments.

Even with over 200 job cuts, RTE will remain a massive organisation with over 1,600 full-time staff. Will it have the revenues to support this?

While much of the focus on last week's announcement has been on redundancies at RTE, the broadcaster will also hire 80 people for its new integrated content strategy. "It has been a long time since this much new blood came into RTE," said one RTE insider.

Difficult decisions are being made that will be crucial to RTE's future. For example, it has opted to keep radio within the new integrated group structure which will be overseen by head of content, Jim Jennings, currently managing director of radio. Some other media groups have decided against bringing radio in with TV and digital but RTE sources said last week that management is confident this will work. There is no tried and tested blueprint, however, and the finer details have yet to be revealed.

The plan to sell the land pre-dates Forbes and was agreed by the board over a year ago. However, how well it is spent will very much lie with her.
Poor Google. In the last week a host of heavyweight advertisers paused their ad campaigns because the search giant has been unable to guarantee that ads won't appear alongside unsavoury content like racist or extremist videos. First was the UK branch of Havas, which suspended its campaigns last Friday.

They were quickly followed by a host of brands in the UK, including the BBC, Marks & Spencer, HSBC, McDonalds and the UK Government. AT&T was the first US brand to follow suit And in Ireland Core Media decided to pause all advertising with YouTube and the Google display network on Wednesday.

"It's clear that Google needs a bit more time to find a comprehensive solution," said Core Media's chief digital and data officer, Justin Cullen on Wednesday. "This is a big problem and it's a problem to be solved by technology.

"At the moment, certain parties are tampering with the metadata behind the videos that they're posting on their YouTube channel, which is getting around the algorithmic checks that Google has in place. Google is one of the most advanced technology and data science companies in the world. So if anyone can solve this particular problem, they can. We trust in them that they can do it. But for now, they need more time to find a solution."

To date the solution Google's proposing has amounted to giving advertisers greater control over where their ads appear. Advertisers will be able to exclude specific sites and channels from all their AdWords for Video and Google Display Network campaigns. And there's a new default setting for campaigns that automatically excludes websites and videos that are deemed potentially objectionable.

"We'll be hiring significant numbers of people and developing new tools powered by our latest advancements in AI and machine learning to increase our capacity to review questionable content for advertising," said Google's chief business officer, Philipp Schindler. "In cases where advertisers find their ads were served where they shouldn't have been, we plan to offer a new escalation path to make it easier for them to raise issues. In addition, we'll soon be able to resolve these cases in less than a few hours."

But to be fair to Google, it's not like it's been sitting on its hands up to this point. Last year the company claims to have removed nearly 1.7 billion bad ads, axed over 100,000 publishers from its AdSense programme and pulled ads from over 300 million YouTube videos.

It also recently provided its army of quality raters (yes, Google has thousands of contractors worldwide who evaluate search results) with updated guidelines on upsetting and offensive content. Upsetting-offensive content includes anything that promotes hate or violence, contains graphic violence, or (and how's this for a broad definition) "other types of content which users in your locale would find extremely upsetting or offensive".

But the problem really is broader than just Google. "There is a lot attention on YouTube in particular," says Cullen. "But the reality is, when you have an open source network -which is what the internet is - it highlights the need for controls to be put in place in terms of the dissemination of information. Traditional media owners are subjected to certain regulations and restrictions. Whereas technology companies they don't see themselves as media companies, and don't act in the same way to responsibly deliver content to consumers."

With all this turmoil there's a potential upside for traditional media outlets, which could be pitching themselves as safe and trusted platforms Channel 4 was quickest off the block. It has released research that claimed ads on broadcasters' video on demand (VoD) channels were cheaper and more engaging than video ads on YouTube and Facebook. The TV station subjected viewers to eye-tracking and skin conductance analysis in their homes, and also tested implicit responses with 1,000 people.

The results showed VoD ads garnered 3.5 times greater attention levels than ads on YouTube, and viewers typically watch these ads in a more attentive state. The research showed VoD ads are more likely to be watched from start to finish. Around 70pc of Facebook users were seen to actively scroll past video ads while 73pc of YouTube videos and ads were played in the background, while users did something else. So while brand safety may be the crux of the stand-off with advertisers, attention and visibility may be the real challenges the search giant needs to address.
It is understood that 58 residents' homes tested positive for pyrite, with Premier agreeing to cover the cost of remediation (Stock photo)

Developer Sean Mulryan's Ballymore Group is to pursue a High Court action against CRH, its subsidiary Roadstone, and two other concrete suppliers in relation to the alleged supply of pyrite-affected stone to a high-end housing scheme it developed in Portmarnock, Co Dublin.

The case which is listed for hearing on May 30 next centres on a claim by Ballymore that Roadstone and two other companies - Murphy Concrete Manufacturing and William Miley - delivered material responsible for the structural damage known as 'pyritic heave' which it is understood has been detected in over 90 of the 145 houses at the Drumnigh Wood estate.

Developed in three phases between 2002 and 2007, homes at the prestigious scheme extend in some cases to over 5,000sq ft and were sold for sums in excess of 2m.

Problems relating to the existence of pyrite began to surface in 2010.

At that point, it is understood the developer advised all homeowners to get their properties tested, and where necessary to avail of the structural guarantee provided by the Premier Guarantee Scheme (a policy similar to Homebond) they had automatically acquired as part of their home purchase.

It is understood that 58 residents' homes tested positive for pyrite, with Premier agreeing to cover the cost of remediation.

A further 15 houses were tested with no trace of pyrite being detected.

In the case of 35 other properties, the owners enlisted the services of Coleman Legal Partners in an effort to secure compensation for the losses suffered as result of the damage caused by the existence of pyrite.

In 2015, these residents lodged 20 civil actions against Ballymore Properties Ireland in the High Court, holding it responsible for the scandal.

It is understood 38 other homeowners at the Drumnigh Wood development are either satisfied their homes are unaffected by pyrite, or have decided to take no action to investigate its presence or otherwise in their properties.

A spokesman for the Ballymore Group declined to comment on the case now being pursued by three of its subsidiaries (Ballymore Contracting, Ballymore Residential and Crosswind Cottage) against the companies that supplied the stone for Drumnigh Wood.

The Sunday Independent understands however that lawyers for Ballymore will present the High Court with a technical report and documentation which the company believes establishes the source of the pyrite at the centre of the controversy.

The documents are to be given in support of a motion to allow Ballymore's technical experts access to the quarries of Roadstone, Murphy Concrete Manufacturing and William Miley.

It is understood the experts it has engaged wish to conduct an analysis of the stone within the specific areas of the quarries that supplied the material for Drumnigh Wood to establish if pyrite is present there.

A spokesman for Roadstone said: "Roadstone has a long and respected track record in the production and supply of building materials to the highest standard over many decades.

"The company operates robust quality control processes across all of its product lines and is satisfied that it has no liability in respect of the properties alleged to have been affected by pyritic heave in the action being taken by Ballymore."

"Roadstone will vigorously defend its good name and will take all appropriate steps necessary to defend its reputation in these proceedings."

Murphy Concrete Manufacturing managing director, Seamus Murphy declined to comment on the action being taken by Ballymore when contacted by the Sunday Independent.

Efforts to contact a representative from William Miley proved unsuccessful.
The Government is investigating the viability of a new model of community banking in Ireland. Also known as public banking, those in favour of the model believe it would be helpful to rural dwellers who have lost their local bank or post office.

Supporters also believe a public bank could fill the gap left by the demise of building societies and the closure of the agri-lending bank, ACC Bank.

A public bank would offer loans to both business and personal customers - and operate differently to a credit union, according to Seamus Boland of Irish Rural Link.

It would offer other traditional banking services too, such as savings and current accounts.

"It would be a regional and local bank where profits are made - and then circulated back into the region," said Boland.

As public banks would have a regional focus, they would be restricted to lending to the regional economy, according to Willie Penrose, Labour's spokesman on rural affairs.

A public bank could also be integrated with the credit union and An Post network - with credit unions and post offices selling public bank services across the counter in their branches, according to Penrose.

There are already examples of community banks abroad, including Kiwibank in New Zealand - a bank owned by the New Zealand Post Office which provides a range of financial services including personal loans, bank accounts, business banking, and credit cards..

Germany also has a model of public banks known as Sparkassen.

The Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs is working with the Department of Finance to evaluate the community banking concept. It launched a consultation on the issue earlier this month. The notion of public banking is at a very embryonic stage so it could be years before it is introduced - if it ever is.
British Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 on Wednesday which will begin the negotiations for the UK's exit from the EU. The negotiating game will be played out mainly in Brussels and London. The Irish Government has to ensure its voice is heard at the table.

We are told that Downing Street and many of the senior politicians in EU member states fully appreciate the importance of the special circumstances Ireland faces from Brexit in relation to the North and preserving the Good Friday Agreement.

Some wanted Enda Kenny to push in Brussels for a full exemption for Northern Ireland from the deal which would allow it to remain as part of the single European market even if the rest of the UK left it. This position never stood a chance because Theresa May has said "all of the UK" is leaving the EU, and the largest political party in the North, the DUP, isn't pushing for that exemption.

But what can the Irish Government push for at the talks and stand a reasonable or realistic chance of securing by way of exceptions or a special deal? Here are five suggestions.

1. Preserving the Common Travel Area. This should be possible as it is primarily a matter between the UK and Ireland. However, the legislation that protects it gives full rights to citizens of both countries in each other's territories. So after Brexit, Irish people should still be able to go to Britain, never mind the North, and work without having to secure visas, and also retain full social welfare entitlements. The UK seems happy for this to continue, but senior politicians in Poland, Hungary or Latvia for example, could feel it gives preferential treatment to Irish people over their citizens who are also EU citizens but may be shut out. The Irish Government must ensure it goes through in full.

2. Ireland must secure a deal that ensures people from South of the Border do not have to pay external increased fees to attend a university in the North, and vice versa. It would seem to follow that if the Common Travel Area were maintained in full, that Irish people could study in British universities after Brexit without incurring massive hikes in fees. Equally, securing the right for joint North/South applications for EU research funding particularly in education should be sought.

3. If trade tariffs went up between Ireland and the UK on energy, our energy costs would sky rocket. We import the vast majority of our energy needs from the UK, irrespective of its country of origin. This should be easy to secure as tariffs do not currently apply on Russian gas coming into EU countries like Germany. However, more specifically, Ireland must ensure the all-island single electricity market is preserved. Both electricity grids work as one and are managed by a single all-island entity.

4. Whatever about customs checks of vans and lorries holding up cross-border commuters, tourists, shoppers and families, we must ensure there aren't further delays checking cars. Personal travel allowances govern what value of goods you can bring from outside the EU into the EU for personal consumption. At around 430, the levels are pretty low.

After Brexit there will be an onus on customs authorities to do spot checks on people who may be breaking those limits by literally checking their cars. Negotiating an increase on those limits for the island of Ireland, could ensure fewer delays at the Border. Otherwise we would have an Irish solution of turning a blind eye or pretending it isn't happening.

5. Some industries in Ireland will be seriously challenged by the economic cost of Brexit. Our Government may need to provide some kind of financial or legislative supports for those businesses in the form of grants or tax breaks. We must ensure the EU doesn't seek to block those initiatives on the basis of competition or state aid rules. Exceptions should be sought here. There's even a case for getting the EU to co-fund some of the assistance that may be needed in key sectors. This will prove very tricky to secure.

Many a pension slip 'twixt cup and lip' for UCD/TCD

Nama is hiring new auditors. The C&AG will continue to audit the agency, but Nama is also seeking external auditors. Perhaps following the spat between Nama and the C&AG over the valuation of the Project Eagle portfolio, Nama might think it will get a highly commercial approach to its accounts and processes from external auditors.

Well, state bodies audited by both the C&AG and external auditors don't always end up taking the same view on accounting assumptions. Take Trinity College Dublin and UCD for example. Both are audited by KPMG, which has qualified both of their accounts for the last number of years on how they treat their pension liabilities.

Back in 2010 the state absorbed in law, any possible future pension liability shortfalls that might arise on a number of their defined liability pension schemes. But both TCD and UCD had other more recent pension schemes dating from 2005 which received approval from government departments at the time but were never formalised under statute.

As a result they were not included in the legislation in which the State guaranteed all future liabilities. The governing bodies of both universities believe that based on the practicalities of the situation, the liabilities of these schemes can be treated as guaranteed by the state in their accounts and have quoted the C&AG as agreeing with that view. But KPMG nevertheless sticks in a qualification on the accounts in the absence of legislation covering the liabilities.

The figures involved are huge. The current value of TCD's total future pension liability is 1.3bn. Of that, the liability on schemes not directly guaranteed in legislation is 459m - not exactly small change. The cost of servicing its pensions is 50m a year while Trinity spent 25m in 2015 on employer contributions to pensions. Members contributed 2.2m.

At UCD the current value of the total future pension liability is 1.8bn of which 619m of future liabilities have not been covered by statute. Employer pension costs are 28m per year while members chipped in 9.6m in 2015.

Based on tradition, past experiences and advice from civil servants, the universities should not be overly worried, but as they say there is 'many a slip twixt cup and lip.'

Capitol Hill vote will burst Wall Street's bubble

You know Wall Street stocks are over-valued when their performance hangs on a handful of Republican votes on reforming a health care bill. The value of several stocks had been depending on a package to slash the cost of providing health care to the lower paid. It had been seen as a bellwether for US president Donald Trump's ability to get other measures through.

As he tried to get an Obamacare reform package through Congress and the Senate, the stock market worried that if he failed, he would not achieve the $337bn in deficit savings to fund proposed Corporation Tax cuts.

The Bill was withdrawn on Friday evening. After some initial signs of deep losses, US stocks managed a mixed finish. Hospital stocks soared in response, while companies that stand to benefit from other Trump proposals faltered.

It is bizarre and deeply troubling when some Wall Street stocks are dependent on Republicans securing a health care reform package which would have ensured that 14m fewer Americans have health cover next year.

Clearly the corporation tax cuts have been priced into the stock market and they are there to be lost if Trump cannot deliver on tax reform, because he can't afford it.

Unfortunately, the White House's determination to cut corporation taxes means it will probably find the savings elsewhere. It has already said it wants to slash the Environmental Protection Agency's budget by 31pc, something else which might be blocked in Congress.

Trump is discovering there is more to governing than Tweets. It is only a matter of time until Wall Street realises the same.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Former CIA Director James Woolsey has accused the Trump administration's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, of participating in a discussion with Turkish officials about possibly subverting the U.S. extradition process to remove a Turkish cleric from the United States.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Woolsey's comments and posted a video interview with him late Friday . A Flynn spokesman said Friday that Woolsey's claims are "false" and that "no such discussion occurred."

In the Journal interview, Woolsey says he walked into the middle of a discussion between Turkish officials and members of Flynn's firm, Flynn Intel Group, late in the evening of Sept. 19 at Essex House hotel in New York City.

Woolsey said the discussion generally involved removing cleric Fethullah Gulen from the U.S. without going through the lengthy extradition process, though he said it stopped short of outlining a specific plan to sweep the cleric out of the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought Gulen's extradition from the U.S. after accusing the cleric of directing a failed coup last summer. The U.S. government has rebuffed that request, and Gulen, who has a green card and lives in Pennsylvania, has denied involvement.

Woolsey described the discussion as "brainstorming, but it was brainstorming about a very serious matter that would pretty clearly be a violation of law." Though, Woolsey noted that the discussion "did not rise to the level of being a specific plan to undertake a felonious act."

Flynn spokesman Price Floyd told The Associated Press that Flynn Intel Group's work never involved discussing removing Gulen from the United States by any means other than the extradition process. He confirmed that Woolsey attended the meeting but denied that it involved subverting the legal process.

"The claim made by Mr. Woolsey that General Flynn or anyone else in attendance discussed physical removal of Mr. Gulen from the United States during a meeting with Turkish officials in New York is false," Floyd said. "No such discussion occurred, nor did Mr. Woolsey ever inform General Flynn that he had any concerns whatsoever regarding the meeting, either before he chose to attend and afterward."

Story continues

The meeting was part of lobbying work Flynn's firm was conducting on behalf of a company, Inovo BV, which is owned by Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin.

Earlier this month, Flynn and his firm registered with the Justice Department as foreign agents for the work for Alptekin, saying that it could have benefited the Turkish government. Flynn's firm was paid $530,000 over the course of the contract, which ran from August through November while Flynn was a top Trump campaign adviser. Alptekin has told the AP that Flynn's firm registered as a foreign agent under pressure from the Justice Department.

As the AP reported earlier this month , Flynn's attorneys twice disclosed to advisers to President Donald Trump after the election that it was likely Flynn would need to register as a foreign agent for the work. The first discussion was with the Trump transition team while Flynn was being considered for the top national security post. After Flynn joined the Trump administration, his attorneys then informed the White House counsel's office that Flynn's foreign agent registration was imminent. The White House has confirmed both contacts.

In the video interview, Woolsey said he didn't know if he missed a caveat to the discussion because he arrived late to the September meeting. In addition to Woolsey and Flynn, others present included Alptekin, Flynn's business partner, Bijan Rafiekian, and two Turkish officials: Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, who is Erdogan's son-in-law. Alptekin has told the AP that he arranged the meeting.

Woolsey said he doesn't remember if Flynn actively participated in the discussion. "I don't recall who said what," Woolsey said in the Journal interview. Though in an interview with CNN, he said there "was at least some strong suggestion by one or more of the Americans present at the meeting to the Turks" that the U.S. would be able to get ahold of Gulen.

"It was suspicious. It was concerning, and I felt I needed to say something about it to someone, but was it a clear plot that they were going to seize him? No," Woolsey said during the CNN interview .

Woolsey has said he informed then-Vice President Joe Biden about the meeting through a mutual friend. Representatives for Biden declined to comment.

Woolsey, who served as CIA director under President Bill Clinton and briefly was a member of the Trump transition team, said he served on an advisory board for Flynn Intel Group but never did any work for the firm or received any payment from it.

Flynn, a former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, was fired by Trump last month after Trump said Flynn misled Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S.

Flynn's ties to Russia have been scrutinized by the FBI and are part of House and Senate committee investigations into contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russians.

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Associated Press writer Josh Lederman contributed to this report.

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Submit reporting tips to The Associated Press: https://www.ap.org/tips
Q: I've recently bought a new Lenovo Ideapad laptop to replace a six-year-old Lenovo that is still up and running but a little slow in its age. However, the prospect of transferring apps like Photoshop, plus all my photos, documents and music seems a little daunting. Is there an easy way to transfer all my stuff over to my new machine?

A There are a number of ways to do this. Moving photos and documents is relatively straightforward to do, especially if you're comfortable using a cloud service like OneDrive or Dropbox. While the basic versions of these (as little as 5GB) probably won't be enough for all the photos and files you have, you can temporarily upgrade to premium options for the purpose of transferring the files. For example, 1,000GB of space costs 7 per month on OneDrive and 8.25 on Dropbox. Simply upload your photos, videos and files from your old laptop, log in on your new laptop and download them to the new machine.

The same principle obviously applies if you have an external hard drive - just plug it into your old laptop, drag and drop as much as you can into it, and then plug it into the new laptop to get the files. However, the problem most people have is twofold. First, they have thousands of files, often spread out (or hidden) randomly with hundreds of folders and other digital nooks and crannies on their machine. So manually dragging and dropping things could take ages and some files might be overlooked in the process.

Secondly, dragging and dropping programs or applications (like Photoshop) often doesn't work. For obvious anti-piracy reasons, many applications are designed not to be simply duplicated and installed on new PCs. Sometimes, they need to be manually de-authorised and re-authorised, or product codes (which may be hard to find) need to be resubmitted.

This is where some specialist programs come in. There are apps you can download that do much of the heavy lifting for you, resulting in all your old files (and many of your programs or applications) being copied from one PC to another with the same user profile and locations without you having to manually oversee everything.

The obvious one is Laplink's PCMover (laplink.com/pcmover). The basic version (23.95) will move all your old files to your new computer. A more advanced version (31.95) will do the same and also move most or all of your applications.

The top consumer package (47.95) will complete those tasks and also make almost everything on your new laptop look and feel like your old laptop (within the confines of any change in operating systems, such as moving from Windows 7 to Windows 10). PCMover does all of this via a cloud link, so you'll need a reasonably good broadband connection.

However, in the case of Adobe Photoshop, you may still face additional hurdles of re-entering a product code or even manually installing the program again because of its heavily-guarded nature.

RECOMMENDATION: PCMover Home (31.95 from Laplink.com)

Email your questions to caomahony@independent.ie

Two to Try

Kodak PixPro 360 (460 from PC World)

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I recently had the chance to try one of these, a video camera that records footage in all directions at once. Or, rather, it does on top - to get complete 360 (including the sky, your feet and everything around you), you need to buy two of them and stitch the footage together. The quality of the video (4K) is decent and you can pull 8-megapixel still images from it. You can then upload to YouTube or Facebook or watch playback using a budget VR headset.

HumanCharger (180 from Amazon.co.uk)

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If you suffer from seasonal affective disorder, this gadget from Finnish company Valkee claims to help by beaming light into your inner ear canals (via earbuds). Apparently, this triggers photosensitive receptors on the surface of the brain which can detect such light. Serotonin and dopamine are then supposedly released to improve mood and energy levels.
Grand marshal of Dublin's St Patrick's Day parade, the Olympian sailing silver medallist Annalise Murphy - pictured here with her dad, Con - was in flying form when we lunched at the M&S rooftop restaurant, with its panoramic views overlooking Grafton Street.

Expand Close Linda Keating and Carmel Breheny at the St. Patrick's Day Festival VIP Breakfast sponsored by Marks &Spencer at the Rooftop Cafe / Facebook

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From laser dinghy in Rio to laser-sharp knives at Ballymaloe Cookery School, I got to hear all about Annalise's culinary adventures with the Allens, as we escaped the Paddy's Day rain and lunched as guests of M&S marketing boss Carmel Breheny, pictured (above, right) with Linda Keating.

Pulling on her foodie hat, Annalise told me how, over the last two months, she has become skilled at "cutting onions extremely fast". The double Olympian is now a week short of completing the prestigious 12-week cooking course in the famous East Cork school. Doing the course was as much for a bit of personal downtime as it was for acquiring cooking skills, but one thing is for sure: Annalise told me, "I won't be opening an restaurant."

She has been coming home to Dublin at weekends and, according to her mum, Cathy McAleavey - who competed in sailing in the 1988 Seoul Olympics - it's Annalise's quiche Lorraine with a salad of caramelised walnuts and pears that has won everyone's heart.

Interiors genius Philippe Starck is a legend of modern design - he transformed our morning OJ rituals with his leggy, chrome orange juicer. I'm a big fan of his Louis Ghost chairs for Kartell and it's always great to be able to introduce a whiff of modern luxury into your life at an affordable price. While a night at the Delano South Beach in Miami or the Felix bar he designed at The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong may out of the question, Philippe's chic new fragrances are not.

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The design guru was in Dublin on Monday to introduce his new fragrance collection, which is exclusive to Brown Thomas. Philippe travelled over with his wife and muse, Jasmine Abdellatif Starck, pictured above, for the exclusive launch of Starck Paris at the Grafton Street store. The range of three eaux de toilette (Peau de Soie is my favourite) was inspired by childhood memories of his mother's perfume shop in the 17th arrondissement.

GRAPEVINE

Big Mother's Day congratulations for FleishmanHillard PR Astrid Brennan and her husband, James. She just given birth to twins named Florence and Freddie Flanagan.

SPOTTED

The latest arrival on our burgeoning Afternoon Tea circuit comes from the InterContinental Dublin in Ballsbridge, which has introduced a 'G&Tea' - a deliciously soothing Tanqueray-infused Earl Grey tea with hints of pimento, peppercorn and lime peel. And kicking thin cucumber sandwiches into touch, they're offering a very modern slow-cooked pork belly finger sandwich with fig marmalade! I met (3) Darren Kennedy enjoying a pre-launch sneak peak of the unique G&Tea with the hotel's new GM, Nicky Logue. Darren told me how he bumped into Hugh Grant in the Huntsman store on London's Savile Row when he was getting ready to judge their tweed competition. Fans of Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman movie, starring Colin Firth, might recognise the famous tailoring house as the location for the hidden Secret Service HQ.
Aidan O'Mahoney and Valeria Milova performing during the semi final of RTE's Dancing with the Stars. Photo by Darren Kinsella

Aoibhin Garrihy with Kai Widdrington dancing a Foxtrot to Big bad handsome man by Imelda May,during the Switch up week in Dancing with the Stars.

Denise McCormack & Ryan McShane during show 10 of RTEs Dancing with the Stars

Denise McCormack, Aidan OMahony and Aoibhin Garrihy are in the final of DWTS

The State broadcaster has yet to recommission 'Dancing with the Stars' for a second series.

As the grand finale approaches tomorrow evening, production company Shinawil has admitted it's "RTE's call" on whether the show returns again next year.

Denise McCormack, Aoibhin Garrihy and Aidan O'Mahony are in the grand final on Sunday night.

"It's solely an RTE call - we would love to do another show," executive producer Larry Bass told the Irish Independent.

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"It was a big decision to take off a show like 'The Voice', which had a place in the hearts of the nation, and replace it with this.

"Our task was to make the first five minutes of the first show the very best that we could in order to catch the attention of the audience.

"We were on a hiding to nothing if we didn't get the first show right, but we did it and we haven't looked back," Mr Bass (pictured) said.

The viewing figures have dropped 100,000 to 545,000 over the course of the series, but despite this the show has been a success and has attracted the attention of advertisers.

Expand Close Aoibhin Garrihy with Kai Widdrington dancing a Foxtrot to Big bad handsome man by Imelda May,during the Switch up week in Dancing with the Stars. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Aoibhin Garrihy with Kai Widdrington dancing a Foxtrot to Big bad handsome man by Imelda May,during the Switch up week in Dancing with the Stars.

"A 30-second ad for a show with viewership figures like 'Dancing with the Stars' could cost close to 20,000," one industry expert revealed.

"When you think that there are 16 minutes of ads - that's bringing you half-a-million each week."

If the show does return, next year's contestants could be set to undertake a country-wide tour similar to the 'Strictly Come Dancing' tour.

"I think a tour would be a phenomenal success," Mr Bass admitted.

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"I absolutely believe that there is enough desire out there for one.

"If we had 2,500 seats out in Ardmore, we would have filled them, such has been the demand for tickets. If the show is coming back, and we wait to hear from RTE on that front, then we can look at it."

Mr Bass admitted that the reason there was no spin-off tour planned this year was down to logistics and the fact that they didn't know how successful the show would go on to be.

"Tours have to be planned well in advance," he said.

"You have to be set up and ready to go with venues and production and it wouldn't have been wise for us to rush into that."

For Mr Bass, the greatest success of the show comes with the places the contestants have gained in the hearts of the people of Ireland.

And he has no worries about casting for another series.

"If we were doing the show again, then I have no doubt that some people we asked, and who declined, would jump at the chance to do it," he said.

"You cannot buy the affection from the people of Ireland that this show has brought to the contestants.

"Look at Des Cahill, working with RTE for years, and Teresa Mannion and they now have a special place in people's hearts.

"We've found a brilliant presenting duo in Amanda Byram and Nicky Byrne.

"After years of advocating that we should have an Irish version of 'Dancing with the Stars', I'm pleasantly thankful for how it has worked out and how people have received it."

Mr Bass is also confident that stars of the show, including former boy band member Dayl Cronin, could go on to forge successful new careers after it.

The Hometown star was visibly upset after failing to make it through to the final, having been one of the favourites to win the show.

Cronin has admitted that he's hoping to find a career in musicals following his stint on the show and Mr Bass can certainly see that happening.

"Dayl was incredible and this is just the start of things for him," Mr Bass said.

"Last weekend he was very upset when he lost, but if he applies himself to anything the same way that he applied himself to this, he can do absolutely anything that he wants to.

"It's just the beginning of things for him and everybody knows who he is now."
On the night of Ireland's rugby victory against England last weekend, No Words Needed: Croke Park 2007 (RTE1) harked back to an even more stirring win against the auld enemy, but the film turned out to be a classic case of Hamlet without the prince.

Indeed, without the princes, because among the missing interviewees from this account of Ireland's 43-13 triumph against England in 2007 were not just captain Brian O'Driscoll but also such other key players as Paul O'Connell, Ronan O'Gara and Peter Stringer, while on the English side only Martin Corry was there to reminisce about the historic nature of the occasion.

Instead there was the usual guff from retired GAA commentator Micheal O Muircheartaigh about the hallowed nature of the venue and from go-to pundit Eamon Dunphy about this "transcendent moment of reconciliation", along with self-serving twaddle from Bertie Ahern about how President McAleese "embraced me, as we always did at these matches".

And room was also found for ubiquitous historian Diarmaid Ferriter, who provided his customary tuppence-worth on the significance of it all. Indeed, so much time was devoted to the momentous background that little room was left for the match itself, which went by in a flurry towards the very end.

But if O'Driscoll was the documentary's most notable absentee, whether for contractual or other reasons, he was very much at the centre of Apres Match of the Day (RTE2), which replayed the 2000 match against France in which he announced his arrival on the international scene by scoring a dazzling hat-trick of tries.

The footage was accompanied by cod match commentary in which Ryle Nugent had constant orgasms over BOD ("who went to Blackrock") and summed up the half-time score as "France 13, Blackrock 7". Back in the studio, though, Risteard Cooper's snarling George Hook was less impressed, declaring BOD to be merely "an average centre playing outside the best No 10 in world rugby".

Then came the second-half tries, with Ryle exulting that "this is the best moment of my life" and "an amazing day to be Irish, especially if you've gone to Blackrock", while Hook dismissed BOD as a "fly by night" and Brent Pope dismissed Hook as "a tool who talks out of his rear end".

These Apres Match piss-takes can be a bit limp at times, but I chortled a lot here, though maybe that's just because it was a wickedly irreverent take on my favourite sport.

There weren't a lot of laughs, though, in Crash and Burn (BBC1), which chronicled the rise and fall of Dundalk-born racing driver Tommy Byrne, who was once being touted as Ayrton Senna's greatest racetrack rival.

That was in the early 1980s, Byrne having become Formula Ford champion at the start of the decade, but a mixture of bad luck, bad judgments and an overweening sense of himself, not to mention lots of partying and womanising, led to his topple from the top.

It was a fascinating story about a sport of which I know little and about one man's decline and fall, though either through my own obtuseness or the film's lack of clarity I never quite understood the exact cause of his downfall from the pinnacle of his sport.

By contrast, Vera Lynn, who celebrated her hundredth birthday during the week, remained at the top of her game for most of her life and remains cherished by all those who grew up listening to 'We'll Meet Again', 'The White Cliffs of Dover' and other World War II favourites.

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Indeed, the most poignant section of Dame Vera Lynn: Happy Hundredth Birthday (BBC2) came from old soldiers, now nearly as aged as herself, to whom she sang in Burma in the mid-1940s. Some of them cried when they recalled her brave appearance among them, and among others paying fond tribute were Paul McCartney, Tim Rice and Barry Humphries. A touching programme.

The three-part American Justice made an arresting start on the same channel. Filmed in Jacksonville, which has been dubbed 'the murder capital of Florida', it focused on two cases, one of them concerning burglar Trey, who was being tried for the murder of his accomplice, even though the accomplice had been shot dead by a neighbour of the man they were purportedly robbing and Trey hadn't fired a shot.

His lawyer had suggested that he plead guilty as this would lessen his sentence by dispensing with the need for an expensive trial, but he took the stand anyway, and his own version of events, whether true or not, was accepted by the jury, who found him not guilty.

The film also focused on State Attorney Angela Corey, a controversially enthusiastic advocate of the death penalty, whose rival for the job argued that she'd been misusing her power.

Meanwhile, the second instalment of Big Little Lies (Sky Atlantic) had even more good one-liners than the first, as in a local's assessment of the busybody mom played by Reese Witherspoon: "Faeces are never far from Madeline's fan."

Proving the point, Madeline threatened a general boycott of a child's party being organised by Laura Dern's rich career woman, leading the latter to hiss at her "Do not f*** with my daughter's birthday" and for Madeline to respond "What a c**t. Why don't you get f***ed?"

We're a long way from Kansas, Toto, or even from Desperate Housewives, where such rude talk was never permitted, though these new housewives are just as desperate, with Nicole Kidman's Celeste trying to rationalise her husband's violent rages by declaring "Sometimes I think he likes to fight because it leads to sex," before adding: "Sometimes I think I like it, too."
'The Christian Brothers claimed ownership of the files after Wall donated them to the University of Limerick and threatened legal action' (stock photo)

The Christian Brothers dropped a threat to sue an abuse survivor over records he took from an industrial school in Limerick after his case was raised in the Dail.

Tom Wall, who survived a childhood of abuse at an industrial school in Glin, says he was asked by the Christian Brothers to burn the records when the school closed in 1973. But he retained many of the files, including his own.

The Christian Brothers claimed ownership of the files after Wall donated them to the University of Limerick and threatened legal action. The religious order backed down after Niall Collins, the Fianna Fail TD, raised Wall's case in the Dail last Wednesday. Deputy Collins called on the State to intervene to secure the records, which he said included "contracts for sale" that showed how children were effectively "sold into slavery".

The case has highlighted concerns about the records held by religious orders on the mothers and children who were incarcerated in their institutions. Survivors have complained about the difficulties accessing the records which the Minister for Children, Katherine Zappone, said was "disconcerting".

Collins yesterday called for a "central register" of the records held by all religious orders to provide ease of access for people who "shouldn't have to beg" for information about their childhoods.

While religious orders gave their files on children adopted from their homes to Tusla some years ago, many organisations still maintain their own archives. Tusla has no powers to seize records relating to children but the Government is pushing through legislation to centralise records with the Adoption Authority, which will have those powers.

Mr Wall's records include contracts that stipulate that wages earned by boys on apprenticeships be paid to the Christian Brothers, and that unopened letters that children wrote to their parents were confiscated by the Christian Brothers. "Once the children got to Glin, they were completely cut off from the outside world," he said.

Mr Wall said the records of all religious orders should be in one central archive. "It should have been done years ago. But by the time the religious orders hand over their archives, you will only get what the religious orders want you to see."

The Christian Brothers, which maintains its own archive of records in Dublin, wanted the original documents returned. Following Niall Collins's intervention, the Christian Brothers contacted him to say the order was now happy to accept copies. Once the legal details are finalised, Tom Wall will give the records to the University of Limerick.

The Minister for Children is expected to publish an interim report from the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby homes this week. The report is believed to recommend a redress scheme for the mothers and children who were abused in these homes which is expected to be discussed by government ministers next week.
An Irish Coast GuardHelicopter lifts off from Blacksod Pier next door to the house where family members of the missing crew are watching from as the search continues for Rescue 116 along Blacksod coastline in Co Mayo. Pic Steve Humphreys 25th March 2017

The Irish Coast Guard land at Blacksod Pier as the search continues for Rescue 116 along Blacksod coastline in Co Mayo Picture: Steve Humphreys

A member of the Irish Coast Guard looks out towards Blackrock Lighthouse Photo: Steve Humphreys

The Garda Sub Aqua Unit at Blacksod Pier as they continue in the search for Rescue 116 and its crew. Pic Steve Humphreys 25th March 2017

Members of the Irish Coast Guard at Blacksod Pier as the search continues for Rescue 116 along Blacksod coastline in Co Mayo. Pic Steve Humphreys 25th March 2017

The Garda Sub Aqua Unit leave Blacksod Pier to continue in the search for Rescue 116 and its crew. Pic Steve Humphreys 25th March 2017

The Garda Sub Aqua Unit leave Blacksod Co Mayo to continue in the search for Rescue 116 and its crew. Pic Steve Humphreys 25th March 2017

Keeping a vigil: A member of the Irish Coast Guard looks out towards a misty Achill as the search continues for Rescue 116 along the Blacksod coastline in Co Mayo Photo: Steve Humphreys

Members of the Irish Coast Guard at Blacksod Pier as the search continues for Rescue 116 along Blacksod coastline in Co Mayo. Pic Steve Humphreys 25th March 2017

Gardai have positively identified the recovered Rescue 116 crew member as Captain Mark Duffy.

Rescue workers recovered the crew member from within the wreckage of the Rescue 116 helicopter.

"The body that was recovered this morning has been positively identified as Capt Mark Duffy from Rescue 116," garda superintendent Tony Healy said.

"The body has now been removed to Mayo Hospital, a post-mortem will be conducted by the State Pathologist tomorrow.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Guard of honour for Captain Mark Duffy in Mayo (Picture: Keith Heneghan) Capt Mark Duffy Photo: Tom Conachy / Facebook

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"The next phase is the continuation of the underwater, land and air search. It's progressing very well and the garda divers are expected to carry out a dive this evening."

The Coast Guard on-scene Michael O'Toole has said the recovery of Capt Mark Duffy marked a poignant and challenging day for the community.

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"Today's a particularly poignant day for us in the Coast Guard. We've recovered our colleague Capt Mark Duffy, he said.

Our thoughts are with his family. Equally the Coast Guard family are very cognisant that we're still missing our two other colleagues and we maintain a focus on that and our thoughts are with them and Mark Duffy's family today.

Remains of #Rescue116 Irish Coast Guard member being brought to shore at Blacksod pier by Naval Service pic.twitter.com/Rd14Y7JAwB  Robin Schiller (@11SchillRob) March 26, 2017

It's extremely poignant and challenging day for the Coast Guard community and it even brings to mind Dara Fitzpatrick's family today and the wider CHC colleagues and communities.

From that perspective, today is a particularly poignant day for us in the Irish Coast Guard.

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Mr OToole also acknowledged the efforts of all of the agencies involved in the rescue operation.

The Irish Coast Guard are obviously coordinating but we would not be able to function without Garda Siochana, Naval Service Colleagues, Air Accident Investigation Unit, Civil Defence and the wider array of agencies that have supported us."

"It's difficult to prepare for these things but I think the Coast Guard community in Galway and Mayo and other volunteers who attended today have acquitted themselves quite well in the dignity which they showed out dearest colleague Capt Mark Duffy.

"The Shannon helicopter rescue 115 was conducting the search here in the vicinity so that air assets has been with us.

Expand Close An Irish Coast GuardHelicopter lifts off from Blacksod Pier next door to the house where family members of the missing crew are watching from as the search continues for Rescue 116 along Blacksod coastline in Co Mayo. Pic Steve Humphreys 25th March 2017 / Facebook

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Whatsapp An Irish Coast GuardHelicopter lifts off from Blacksod Pier next door to the house where family members of the missing crew are watching from as the search continues for Rescue 116 along Blacksod coastline in Co Mayo. Pic Steve Humphreys 25th March 2017

A second helicopter, the Sligo SAR helicopter rescue 118, was called into action in Co Donegal today and was diverted from the search.

It goes to show the evidence that the day job does persist and go on. [It is] quite a marked day for the crew of Rescue 115 who happened to be on the scene here for the recovery of Capt Mark Duffy, Mr OToole said.

Expand Close The Irish Coast Guard land at Blacksod Pier as the search continues for Rescue 116 along Blacksod coastline in Co Mayo Picture: Steve Humphreys / Facebook

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Whatsapp The Irish Coast Guard land at Blacksod Pier as the search continues for Rescue 116 along Blacksod coastline in Co Mayo Picture: Steve Humphreys

"We have been working very closely with the Garda family liaison officer who has been a magnificent support in all of this.

That has been our main access point to the families, we've provided them with any service and support they need and indeed our hearts and our thoughts with the family today.

There were poignant scenes today as the body was removed to Mayo Hospital.

Coastguard members and rescue workers formed a guard of honour and a lone piper led the cortege.

A Tricolour was draped over the coffin.

Nearby locals in the in the village of Aughleam lined the streets to pay their respects to the coast guard member.

A dive team from the Naval Service were deployed this morning while an underwater robot from the Marine Institute operated throughout the night.

The remains have been recovered by navy divers and will now be transferred into the shoreline.

The Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) used cutting equipment to improve access to the cockpit of the Sikorsky S-92 aircraft which is located at the seabed 12km off the Mayo coast.

Investigators said that they have still not been able to locate the remaining two crew members.

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The Commissioner of Irish Light's vessel, the Granuaile and the LE Samuel Beckett are currently based near the Blackrock island during this morning's search operations.

Irish Coast Guard incident manager Derek Flanagan said that weather and sea conditions were much better than yesterday, when there was a heavy Atlantic swell.

The ROV, named the Holland 1 has since been withdrawn to make the area safe for the dive teams.

Garda divers are also making a sweep of the location in the search for the two other airmen.
A 44-year-old man has died at Magilligan Prison.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service said the prisoner's next of kin have been informed.

The head of the Prison Service, Ronnie Armour said: "I would like to extend my sympathy and that of the Northern Ireland Prison Service to the family of the prisoner who has died in Magilligan. My thoughts are with them at this difficult time."

The PSNI, coroner and Prisoner Ombudsman have launched investigations into the death.
'At present eight of the 12 members of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board (JAAB) are either judges, solicitors or barristers and it is chaired by Chief Justice Susan Denham' Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto

A major division has emerged between solicitors and barristers over plans to reform how judges are selected.

The Law Society of Ireland, which represents and regulates the solicitors' profession, is now backing plans for a non-legal majority on a commission which will advise the Government on judicial appointments.

Until recently the society had shared concerns voiced by senior judges and the Council of The Bar of Ireland about radical plans expected to significantly weaken the influence the legal professions have in relation to the selection of candidates.

At present eight of the 12 members of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board (JAAB) are either judges, solicitors or barristers and it is chaired by Chief Justice Susan Denham.

The three groupings expressed concerns about proposals, insisted upon by Transport Minister Shane Ross, that there be a lay majority and a lay chair on a new commission that will replace the JAAB.

But in a surprise move the Law Society has now changed its position and is backing plans for a lay majority and a lay chairperson.

The Department of Justice was informed of the change of heart last Thursday when it received a submission from the society in relation to the scheme of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill.

It is understood the U-turn was motivated in part by a wish to promote more diversity on the bench, where the vast majority of appointees tend to be barristers rather than solicitors. But the move is unlikely to be well received by senior judges, a number of whom pressed for the commission to have a majority of people from a legal background when they met with Ross and Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald last November.

A similar stance was taken by the Bar Council in a submission to the Oireachtas Justice Committee in January.

The Law Society's submission is expected to be publicly released early next week.

The society's president Stuart Gilhooly declined to comment on its contents when contacted yesterday. However, in a speech at the society's charity Spring Gala dinner last Friday, he heavily hinted at the new approach being taken.

"The submission we sent, which you will all see next week, is fairly radical," he said.

"It is radical because we think the situation needs to be changed. Not because we don't have great judges, we do. We are very lucky to have them, excellent judges. But that doesn't mean the system can't be improved and it doesn't mean we can't get better judges.

"Better judges sometimes is us. It is the solicitors' profession. For some reason in the course of the last 15 years, since solicitors have been eligible to be appointed judges to the superior courts, we haven't had as many appointments as we should.

"There have been some very, very good appointments. But we haven't had enough."

Mr Gilhooly said this was partly down to solicitors not applying due to "an inferiority complex".

"We have a new system coming, I am pretty sure. That system will give us the belief to apply," he said.

As part of the planned reforms, the number of judges advising on appointments will be slashed from five to two.

The chair of the advisory commission will be picked by the Public Appointments Service from candidates drawn from victims' rights, human rights and minority groups.
Sinn Fein leader in the North Michelle ONeill at St Patricks Primary School before casting her vote. Photo: PA

Sinn Fein's leader at Stormont Michelle O'Neill, has said the talks process aimed at restoring devolution in Northern Ireland has run its course (Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire)

Sinn Fein has said the talks process aimed at restoring devolution in Northern Ireland have "run their course".

The republican party will not be nominating a deputy first minister on Monday, leader at Stormont Michelle O'Neill said, triggering another crisis at Stormont.

However President Gerry Adams said he believed the conditions to go back into power-sharing would be achieved in the time ahead.

Ms O'Neill said: "Today we have come to the end of the road."

Monday is the deadline for nominating a first and deputy first minister at Stormont or else Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire is obliged to intervene.

Fresh elections or direct rule from Westminster could be imposed within a reasonable period.

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Ms O'Neill added: "The talks process has run its course and Sinn Fein will not be nominating for the position of speaker or for the executive office tomorrow."

Power-sharing collapsed in January after a row over a botched green energy scheme predicted to cost the taxpayer up to half a billion pounds.

Sinn Fein has said it will not share power with the Democratic Unionists' leader Arlene Foster as first minister until a public inquiry into the renewable heat incentive (RHI) is concluded.

Republicans have also been seeking movement on issues like an Irish language act giving the tongue official status in Northern Ireland, a hugely symbolic measure but deeply problematic for some unionists.

They also want to see progress on legacy funding for Northern Ireland conflict victims waiting up to 45 years for answers over how their loved ones died.

Mr Brokenshire is chairing talks in Belfast and said they had a duty to victims to address past violence which left 3,637 dead and countless more injured.

The five main parties only had until 4pm on Monday to resolve their differences or face another snap election.

Sinn Fein have now called time on the current round of negotiations.

Mr Adams said thinking unionism was at a crossroads.

"The DUP cannot be in there representing the DUP voters.

"They have to work with us and any other party in there representing everyone.

"We don't have the basis for doing that, we are not going back to the status quo, but will we be back, will we get the institutions in place? Yes."

He said the terms did not exist now to nominate for a deputy first minister.

"That is today...we do believe that we will have the conditions in the time ahead because we want to be in the institutions."

He said unionists needed to help build a society that respected the rights of everyone.

"That is the big change that has come about and it is amplified in many ways by Martin McGuinness's term in office, you do it for everybody."

DUP leader Arlene Foster accused Sinn Fein of showing no signs of wanting to reach an agreement.

"While regrettable the reality is that sufficient progress was not achieved in the time available to form a new Executive. The DUP was ready to form a new administration without pre-conditions so as to allow us to have a budget and to deal with the many matters that currently face the people of Northern Ireland," she said.

"Negotiations will only ever be successful when parties are prepared to be flexible in order to secure outcomes. To date there was little to suggest that Sinn Fein want to secure agreement. At every opportunity they have resisted involving the other parties and consequently no round table discussions were possible during this round of discussions. Any future discussions will have to built on a more solid footing.

"Throughout the course of Saturday Sinn Fein behaved as if they were the only participants whose mandate mattered. This cannot and will not be the basis for a successful outcome.

"The DUP stands ready to continue to discuss how we can secure new arrangements for Northern Ireland," she added.

A voting surge by Sinn Fein in the last Assembly election earlier this month saw the party come within one seat of becoming the biggest party at Stormont behind the DUP.

Mr Brokenshire spoke to Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday afternoon and said creating a functioning ministerial executive was a priority.

"This is the necessary first step to addressing the issues of greatest public concern, health, education and other public services in Northern Ireland.

"Even at this stage I urge political parties to agree to work to form an Executive and provide people here with the strong and stable devolved government that they want."

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood called for space to be created for an agreement to be reached.

Following talks over the last number of days it is clear now that an agreement will not be reached in the time left. That is a bitter disappointment," he said.

The clear message from the public after this months election was an extreme frustration with the way government worked. After weeks of talks, the DUP clearly hasn't got that message.

This wasnt just about RHI, it was about the way people and communities were treated, it was about a respect deficit, it was about an absence of equality. Those who are responsible for creating that poisoned political atmosphere must address it in word and action," he said in a statement.

There was, and remains, a mandate for creative compromise to form a government. But those who came to the ballot box earlier this month will now be very angry and they are right to be. Their frustration at the failure here cannot be underestimated and it cannot be easily assuaged through more elections.

We have reached common ground over the last few weeks. But rigid opposition to compromise on key issues, particularly from the DUP, has made a comprehensive resolution more difficult to reach. Our common ground should not be scorched to serve the interests of one party.

In a statement the Ulster Unionist Party criticised the fact that there was no round-table discussion between all five parties.

MP Tom Elliot described the talks as "simply the worst".

"We have engaged in every set of recent negotiations from Haass O'Sullivan to today. This was simply the worst," he said.

Unless there is a massive u-turn in terms of attitude from the two largest parties, then Northern Ireland could be in for a period of prolonged drift.

I understand the Secretary of State took the attitude that the blockages to progress were devolved matters and therefore allowed the DUP and Sinn Fein to take the lead, with the Government offering support. It looks like HM Government will have to take the lead at 4pm tomorrow and that is a further indictment of the lead parties at Stormont."

Additional reporting by Press Association
Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan last night remained under serious pressure after Fianna Fail said it was "unable" to express confidence in her following a statement she issued yesterday to address the latest controversies to engulf the force.

In that statement, Ms O'Sullivan also warned it was "inevitable" that more examples of "bad practice" would be identified. She described as "totally unacceptable" the latest revelations related to collating statistics on breath testing and wrongful legal cases being taken against drivers.

In using those words, she met a requirement laid down by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny who, speaking in Rome yesterday, said the Government would like her to be "very clear" that the revelations were "not acceptable".

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In her statement, Ms O'Sullivan also referenced the Policing Authority. She said: "This is an issue - as the authority has pointed out - which is more than systemic. It's about ethics. It's about supervision. It's about measurement. Most of all, it's about trust."

She asked the authority to consider requesting the Garda Inspectorate to examine the processes and methodology utilised to identify the nature and extent of the problems; review the control measures put in place designed to address the issues and examine if the current processes regarding roadside breath testing are in line with best practice.

A Garda Commissioner may be removed from office by the Government, but only for stated reasons: failure to perform functions with due diligence and effectiveness; engaging in conduct that brings discredit on the office or that may prejudice the proper performance of functions; and, more broadly, "the removal of the person from office would, in the opinion of the Government, be in the best interests of the Garda Siochana". Since 2015, the Policing Authority may also recommend to the Government the removal of a Garda Commissioner if the reasons relate to policing services. The Government is obliged to consider any such recommendation.

Yesterday, Ms O'Sullivan said it was "important to state at this point" that when an organisation like An Garda Siochana was on a "journey of radical reform" it was "inevitable" that more examples of "bad practice" would be identified. In addition to correcting these issues, she said: "We must share that information, no matter how negative."

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Gardai have been criticised for releasing details of the latest controversies at a time of media focus on the death of former Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and a terrorist attack in London.

Last Friday, Fianna Fail Justice spokesman Jim O'Callaghan said he would not have confidence in the Garda Commissioner until he got answers on why almost 15,000 motorists were wrongly convicted.

He had said: "The Commissioner should take the lead to see that an acceptable explanation is given." He also said: "We need to know why something like this happened and who is at fault." He then added he was very concerned gardai had known for the last eight months about the latest events.

Last night, Mr O'Callaghan told the Sunday Independent: "On Friday, I called for an explanation for the gardai as to how 14,700 wrongful convictions occurred as a result of Garda error. I also asked for an explanation as to how 937,000 breath tests were falsely recorded on the PULSE system. Today's statement by the Commissioner does not provide the explanations sought. Instead it provides a description of the problem, and states that both issues will again be examined internally by the gardai. This is not a satisfactory response to the problems that the gardai have been aware of for some time. It is not enough for the Commissioner to express grave disappointment. Public confidence in the gardai must be restored and this will only happen when full explanations are provided."

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Asked whether he had confidence in the Garda Commissioner, he said Fianna Fail was "unable" to express confidence on the basis of her latest statement.

Ms O'Sullivan also said: "Every single member of the organisation must recognise that their individual actions, in all areas of policing, reflects on the organisation as a whole and impacts on the trust between ourselves and the communities we serve."
Victim number 2,299: Joanne Mathers, who was shot in 1981, with her son shane

In the eulogies to Martin McGuinness this week, there was little mention of the incendiary bomb in the La Mon hotel that killed 12 civilians, and propelled him to the top in the IRA.

The IRA planted a blast bomb attached to a can of petrol on a windowsill in the hotel near Belfast in February 1978.

After inadequate warnings, the bomb went off, showering the function room with a cascade of flaming petrol, and incinerating the hotel.

The victims, seven of whom were women, were all Protestants, and all were attending the annual dinner dance of the Irish Collie Club.

There is common agreement among historians of the Troubles that Gerry Adams was chief of staff of the IRA at the time of the La Mon attack - and McGuinness head of Northern command.

But the arrest of Adams in the wake of the attack on a charge of membership of the IRA led to his replacement as chief of staff by McGuinness (Adams was eventually released without charge).

At the age of 27, McGuinness had reached the pinnacle in the paramilitary group.

He was married with young children, and on the birth cert of one of them he put down his occupation as "sales assistant - furniture".

He had joined the Provisional IRA at the start of the decade in Derry, driven by a sense of grievance at decades of Unionist discrimination, and a blundering and overly aggressive response to Catholic unrest by trigger-happy British troops.

But incidents such as the La Mon bombing showed that by the second half of the decade, the IRA's armed campaign was descending into nihilistic barbarism.

The tough face presented by McGuinness during the 1970s was in stark contrast to that of the cuddly smiling elder statesman, chuckling with Ian Paisley, in later years. He seemed to dismiss casually concern about civilian casualties, telling an American journalist earlier in the decade: "We've always given ample warnings. Anybody hurt was hurt through their own fault: being too nosy, sticking around the place where the bomb was after they were told to get clear."

It is this ruthless insensitivity that makes his later transformation into a peacemaker all the more remarkable.

McGuinness is believed to have served as IRA chief of staff for four years from February 1978. During that period, the IRA killed over 300 people.

He had already streamlined the organisation as head of Northern Command, introducing a cellular structure to reduce risk of arrests, and reducing the number of volunteers on active service to 300.

Many of the victims of the IRA when he was chief of staff were British soldiers, RUC men or prison officers. But many civilians were also killed on his watch.

In the annals of the Northern Troubles, Joanne Mathers is listed as victim number 2,299. The 29-year-old mother, originally from Co Donegal, was shot through the neck by the IRA as she collected census forms on a housing estate in Derry on a spring day in 1981. The IRA, under the command of McGuinness, was boycotting the census.

With McGuinness at the helm, IRA violence spilled over into the South.

Most Sinn Fein members have probably never heard of Eamon Ryan, a young Dublin civil servant from the Department of Finance.

He was shot dead by the IRA in the AIB Bank in Tramore, Co Waterford, on August 7, 1979 - with his three-year-old son Peter next to him.

The 32-year-old father happened to be in the way as the gang robbed the bank in the seaside resort.

Mountbatten killing

As chief of staff, McGuinness is said to have sanctioned the most high-profile killing of the Troubles, the murder of Queen Elizabeth's cousin Lord Mountbatten at Mullaghmore, Co Sligo.

It was in the same month as Eamon Ryan's murder.

McGuinness is reported to have given his assent to the killing after the victory of Margaret Thatcher in that year's general election. The bomb planted on Mountbatten's boat near his home at Classiebawn Castle did not just kill Mountbatten. It also resulted in the deaths of his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas Knatchbull, 82-year-old Baroness Brabourne, and 15-year-old Paul Maxwell, a boy from Fermanagh, who was working on the boat.

The supremacy of McGuinness as a paramilitary commander was confirmed later in the day when the IRA killed 18 British troops at Warrenpoint.

Tommy McMahon served 19 years in prison for the murder of Mountbatten, and when he was released in October 1998, McGuinness applauded and cheered him at a party in a Louth hotel.

It was the killing of Mountbatten that made his meeting with Queen Elizabeth in 2014 especially poignant.

He said of their encounter: "She had many reasons not to meet me, and me her, but I think we've risen above that and seen the contribution that these big acts of reconciliation can have."

McGuinness is said to have been replaced as IRA chief of staff when he was elected to the Northern Assembly in 1982, but few doubt that he continued to have a leading military role right up to the Good Friday agreement and beyond.

A long path to peace

As Sinn Fein started to show more interest in party politics, McGuinness maintained a hardline public stance: "We don't believe that winning elections and winning any amount of votes will bring freedom. At the end of the day it will be the cutting edge of the IRA which will bring freedom."

McGuinness takes to his grave many secrets including his knowledge of the organisation of the Enniskillen bombing which killed 11 Protestants attending a Remembrance Day service in 1987.

There has been much speculation that McGuinness authorised the bombing. But he dismissed this as "securocrat fantasy".

The path to peace appears to have been a long one rather than a Road to Damascus conversion.

According to one account this week, he expressed doubts in the late 1980s to a Derry brigade commander about whether the campaign really was worth it.

By the early 1990s, it occurred to British top brass that they could not defeat the IRA militarily. And a similar thought seems to have occurred to McGuinness.

As he told the journalist Eamonn Mallie, the question also had to be asked whether the IRA could defeat the British.

He realised that it was time to go the negotiating table and seek peace rather than continue a conflict that could go on indefinitely.
The sole survivor of a tragic blaze which killed a pregnant woman and three children remains in a critical condition in hospital.

The heartbroken family of Biddy O'Brien are maintaining a vigil by her bedside as she fights for her life, more than two weeks after the Clondalkin fire.

More than a fortnight later she is still unaware that her two children, Jordan (4) and three-year-old Holly are dead.

Her cousin Anne Marie and her child Paris (3) also died in the blaze.

Expand Close Victims of Clondalkin fire. (From left clockwise) Holly (3), AnneMarie (27), Biddy (aged in her 30s), Jordan (4) and Paris (2) O'Brien / Facebook

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Whatsapp Victims of Clondalkin fire. (From left clockwise) Holly (3), AnneMarie (27), Biddy (aged in her 30s), Jordan (4) and Paris (2) O'Brien

"The family are taking things one day at a time. She is still very critical and still has a very long way to go," family friend Jim O'Brien told Independent.ie

"Her family and her partner Jamie are still there on a daily basis and they know that this is now something they have to get through," he added.

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Mr O'Brien, who works with the Bray Travellers Community Group, said he gets daily calls from strangers all across the country passing on well wishes to the family.

"We have complete strangers contacting us to say they are saying a silent prayer for the family," he revealed.

"We are all praying for the family and for her partner."

"The most important thing is that people are thinking about Biddy," he added.

Young mum Biddy suffered extensive burns and has been unconscious in St James's Hospital since the blaze which broke out on March 8.

Her own mother, Bridget, was also hospitalised last week with pneumonia but has since been released from hospital, which has brought some relief to the grieving family.

The fire, which is believed to have been started by a candle near a TV, broke out in a step-down facility for victims of domestic violence.

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Biddy and her two children were visiting her cousin AnneMarie when the fire occurred.

Her son Jordan was rushed to hospital where he died in the afternoon of March 8. Her daughter Holly and the two other victims were pronounced dead in Tallght hospital shortly after being rescued from the fire.

The blaze has devastated her family, who are also related to the victims of the Carrickmines halting site fire in 2015.
SundarPichai2016

On June 26, Google will force users of its Google Talk messaging service in Gmail to switch to Hangouts, another company messaging service.

It's the end of an era that started in 2005, and the culmination of a transition from Google Talk to Hangouts that started back in 2013.

But what does this mean for office workers who use Google Talk to chat with coworkers, family, and friends all day long?

Luckily, not much. Hangouts is a pretty solid replacement for Google Talk. Your chat contacts will transfer over, and you'll still be able to chat in Gmail  it'll just look a little different.

Here's a Google Talk chat window:

Google Talk

And here's what Hangouts in Gmail looks like:

Hangouts

Heavy users might notice that the chat sidebar built into Gmail looks different. The Google Talk Android app will also be phased out, and Android users should download Hangouts instead.

Ultimately, for most people, this transition won't be a major change.

Here's how Google described the transition in a blog post:

Fully transitioning Google Talk to Hangouts: Google Talk launched in 2005 as a simple chat experience between Gmail users. In 2013, we began replacing Google Talk with Hangouts, while still giving users the option to continue using Google Talk. Hangouts offers advanced improvements over Google Talk such as group video calling and integration with other Google products. With the introduction of Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat, which add further improvements in meetings and team collaboration, it is now time to say goodbye to Google Talk.

Talk users within Gmail will receive a prompt in the next few weeks, inviting them to switch to Hangouts. After June 26, users will be automatically transitioned to Hangouts, unless contractual commitments apply. For users that preferred the Google Talk look, there is a Dense Roster setting in Hangouts that provides a similar experience.

Google also outlined the differences between the two programs in a chart. In general, the company sees Hangouts as its business-focused chat, somewhat like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Hipchat.

Story continues

If the new Hangouts doesn't work for your messaging needs, Google has several other messaging programs, including Allo, Duo, Android Messages, and Google Voice.

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Mountain and cave rescue specialist John Kavanagh, who is a member of the Dublin and Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team, near the Scalp in Dublin Mountains. Photo: Frank Mc Grath

It is a tradition dating back more than a century. When bodies are lost at sea, coastal communities show their respect by leaving lighted candles on their windowsills.

For more than a week, they have been doing just that in the fishing villages around Blacksod in Mayo. It is a small gesture to show solidarity with those who risk their lives on the water and to acknowledge the devastating power of the Atlantic Ocean.

The deaths of four Coast Guard helicopter crew  Dara Fitzpatrick, Paul Ormsby, Mark Duffy and Ciaran Smith  have reverberated across the country, but especially in those places that hug the coast.

The distinctive orange and white Coast Guard choppers are a common and reassuring sight  and the loss of Rescue 116 is felt sharply.

This tragedy  and that last summer of Caitriona Lucas, a Coast Guard crew member based in Doolin, Co Clare  highlights the precarious situations search and rescue volunteers can find themselves in. Although every precaution is taken, these men and women risk their lives in order to save others.

Nobody thinks about them until you need them yourself, says Ray Doyle, a bus driver from Mallow, Co Cork. I owe my life to the RNLI. I was just minutes from drowning when they saved me.

The 44-year-old father-of-four had been kayaking alone in the sea near the beach at Youghal last month when his craft capsized. I had been momentarily distracted and a small ripple toppled the kayak over, he says. I didnt have enough upper body strength to get back into it and when I tried to swim to shore, I seemed to keep getting pushed out to sea. The panic set in then and I started to roar and shout but nobody seemed to hear me.

Luckily, his distress was spotted by a couple on the beach and the lifeboat was called. Just before they got to me, when I had no idea they were on the way, I had resigned myself to the thought that I was about to die. It was a strange feeling of calm, but the rescuers told me that that was a sign that my body had started to shut down.

Expand Close (Clockwise from top left): Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, Captain Mark Duffy, Ciaran Smith and Paul Ormsby / Facebook

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Such a rescue mission was about as simple as it gets for the RNLI  the Royal National Lifeboat Institute  but often such volunteers face very dangerous conditions  whether its on land or sea.

Id be lying if I told you Ive never felt fear, says one lifeboat volunteer, based on the south coast.

There have been times where weve been out in really bad conditions and youre in a small boat looking out at enormous waves. You know youve been very well trained, and you know youve got great colleagues and the best equipment, but every now and again theres that feeling of what am I doing out here?

Its a conversation Ive had with others and they feel it too, especially those who have young children.

Its a bit like someone whos used to flying and has no fear of it but gets the jitters when theyre caught up in bad turbulence. But the feeling evaporates when you have a successful mission and you know that youll be out there again the next time.

RTEs south-east correspondent Damien Tiernan has long been fascinated by those who work the sea and the brave volunteers who help keep them  and us  safe. His book, Souls of the Sea, written about a series of fishing tragedies that hit the Dunmore East community in January 2007, honoured both.

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Often, youll find that people who volunteer for lifeboats are either fishermen and women themselves or those who come from a fishing family. They have a deep connection to the sea  and a huge respect for the water  and they want to give something back, even if theyve no interest in fishing themselves.

Theres a wonderful community of rescuers, too. Theyll come from inland waterways to help on the coastline if they can and the Coast Guard helicopter is held in huge regard  its like a safety net. And its not just coastal areas that rely on it, but mountainous regions too. Sometimes its the only safe way to get an injured person safely down.

The RNLIs lifesaving manager, Gareth Morrison, says those who give their time and expertise to search-and-rescue missions are a special breed. Theyre people who feel compelled to help others and who are willing to take calculated risks in order to save somebody elses life, he says. We get all kinds of people. But inside the lifeboat, everyone is equal and they work as a team. And thats the thing about rescue work  its never an individual pursuit; its always about the strength of a team.

When the RNLI was founded  way back in 1824  its service was almost exclusively needed by fishermen and those whose profession revolved around the sea. Today, this charity  and others like it  are in high demand due to the huge increase in the recreational use of water.

And, yet, 50pc of the people we rescue had no intention of getting wet, Morrison says. By that I mean they could have been standing on a pier or walking the dog along the banks of a river and they fell in. Tragedy can happen so easily and unexpectedly.

Its a sentiment echoed by those who provide rescue services on land. No hillwalker sets off with the intention of getting injured and being unable to make contact with others, but it happens  a lot.

Read more: It can be a scary environment... the weather changes so quickly

The Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue service, to name but one of many that operate throughout the country, was called upon 66 times last year. Different challenges face those rescuers than their sea-going counterparts, but dangers are present too, particularly when visibility becomes poor as is often the case when mist descends, particularly on the west coast.

This week, volunteers were continuing to search for the bodies of Rescue 116, and Damien Tiernan has seen at first-hand how heartbreaking it can be for families not to have a body to bury.

It can be really devastating, he says, and unfortunately some families who lose people to sea never get to have that closure.

Even 20 years on, you hear of people standing on the shoreline and looking out across the water and wondering where their loved ones are.

It's not just the rescuer making a commitment, our families do, too

John Kavanagh (37), IT consultant and mountain rescuer, Dublin/Wicklow

The allure of the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains were ever-present for John Kavanagh when he was growing up in Tallaght. Joining the Scouts at age seven introduced him to a world of nature far removed from the endless housing estates of west Dublin.

"As corny as it might sound," he says, "being in the Scouts didn't just give me a love of the great outdoors, it instilled the idea of being socially responsible, of helping other people."

Joining a caving club at college proved to be the gateway to his work with Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue and his membership of the Irish Cave Rescue Organisation. "It's very gratifying because you know you're involved in something that could save somebody's life," he says.

Already this year he estimates he has been involved in a dozen search missions. "You're on call all the time, even Christmas Day, and if you're in a position to go out and help, you do that."

He admits there is an element of danger, particularly when on the side of a mountain in inclement conditions, but he and his crew do everything they can to ensure their own safety. "We don't put ourselves into situations where we are at risk of becoming another casualty. That wouldn't help anybody."

Usually, there's a happy ending to mountain rescue missions, and a hillwalker, for instance, is safely located, uninjured. But sometimes, rescuers are confronted by death. "You do see traumatic incidents," he says, "and we have policies in place to help anyone traumatised. You look out for each other as you would in any team."

John Kavanagh believes a support network is crucial. "It's not just us rescuers who make a commitment, but spouses, children, other family members, work colleagues who allow us the time to go away to do this and step into the breach.

"We couldn't do it without them."

Read more: My life was saved by rescuers and now I try to do my bit, too
Seven people have died in the last three days after incidents on Irish roads.

On Sunday a cyclist (50) became the latest person killed on the roads after he was hit by a camper-van in Co Clare.

The man was rushed to University Hospital Limerick after the collision which occurred on the N18 at junction seven, where he was pronounced dead.

The crash occurred at around 11.45am this morning.

Expand Close Gary Kelly (19) and Delia Keary (18) / Facebook

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No one else was injured in the incident.

The stretch of road is closed to facilitate a Garda Forensic Collision Examination.

Overnight gardai in Cork and Mayo attended two fatal crashes, where two young men died.

A teenage couple also died after the car they were travelling in collided with a truck.

Gary Kelly (19) and Delia Keary (18) died a day apart. Gary was pronounced dead at the scene, while his girlfriend died in hospital on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a young man also died in hospital on Friday after he was hit by a car on Wednesday.

The man named locally as Kyle Walsh (20) died just days shy of his 21st birthday which falls tomorrow.

Meanwhile, a cyclist was killed in an early morning crash on Friday in Dublin City Centre.

Solicitor Paul Hannon died in hospital after being struck by a taxi.

Separately, a 91-year-old woman is also fighting for her life in hospital after being struck by a car in Dublin on Saturday.

Gardai at Blackrock Co Dublin are appealing for witnesses following the incident.

It is understood the women has serious head injuries as a result of the collision which occurred on the Old Dublin Road, Stillorgan Co Dublin at approximately 4.12pm yesterday afternoon.

The woman was struck by beige coloured Saab outside the Asian Market. Gardai confirmed she remains in a serious condition at St. Vincents University Hospital.

Investigating Gardai are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information to contact them.

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A further investigation is also underway after a serious crash on the N3 near Belturbet at approximately 6pm on Saturday.

A car collided with a van at the scene.

The driver of the van was taken to hospital with serious injuries and was later transferred to a Dublin hospital.

The occupants of the car were taken to Cavan General Hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
Genna McAuliffe's beautiful little boy, Harry, is the image of her: all fair hair and rosy cheeks. The pair beam at each other with mirrored wide smiles. But if you look closely at the shape of Harry's mouth, you can see the pout of his little lips isn't quite the same as his mum's.

Genna has a baby photo of Harry's dad so she knows that, physically, that's something he's inherited from him. But she doesn't know where her toddler's father works, how he takes his coffee or even the sound of his voice. What she does know is the age Harry's dad's grandparents lived to; she knows his blood type and she knows he doesn't carry the cystic fibrosis gene. She doesn't, and will never, know his name, only that he lives 800 miles away in Denmark, decided to become a sperm donor, and gave her the most wonderful gift in the world: Harry.

Conceiving a baby using a sperm donor wasn't the route Genna (37) imagined taking to motherhood. The sales-support executive from Ballinspittle, Co Cork, studied childcare in college and always dreamed of having a family. "In my head was always 'the man and the baby'," she says. "But the man side didn't happen."

In her mid-20s, a serious relationship ended at a time when many of her friends and family were settling down and having children. "It felt almost like jealousy, a physical pang," she explains. "I had a longing for someone to run up, throw their arms around me and call me 'Mammy'."

Expand Close Genna McAuliffe with her son Harry (2) at their home in Ballinspittle, Co Cork. Photo: Fran Veale / Facebook

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Whatsapp Genna McAuliffe with her son Harry (2) at their home in Ballinspittle, Co Cork. Photo: Fran Veale

"It's very hard to put into words," she continues. "But being a mum just felt like the most natural thing in the world for me to become. I always wanted to have two or three kids; those maternal feelings were always there." She gives a self-deprecating laugh. "Always wanted to be a mum but never lucky in love."

At 32, she decided to stop relying on Mr Right coming along to fulfil her dreams of motherhood and go it alone. "The biological clock was ticking so I decided to go down the route of a donor," she says. "It was the best thing I've ever done."

Genna is one of a rising number of single women deciding to take charge of their reproductive future and use fertility treatments to have a child without a man by their side. A sperm donor is selected from a website - Cryos International in Denmark is the most popular; there are no sperm banks in Ireland - then fertility clinics can use Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), where sperm is injected into the uterus at the time of ovulation, or In Vitro Fertilisation (where fertilisation happens outside the body) in the hopes of conceiving. Additional medical interventions - medication, egg-reserve screening, embryo chromosome screening - can all help maximise a positive result.

"IUI is simpler and cheaper and, if there are no concerns about fertility, it seems best to go through a few cycles of IUI first before moving on to IVF," explains Dr John Waterstone, medical director at Cork Fertility Centre. In recent years, he's seen a rise in the number of single women accessing fertility treatments with donor sperm at his clinic. "Nothing dramatic, but a slow increase," he reveals.

It's a similar story at other Irish fertility clinics. "The proportion of single women asking for fertility advice at my clinic is 5-10pc and rising," says Dr Bartlomiej Kuczera, a consultant with Beacon CARE Fertility. He feels that growth in the demographic is being driven by social change, including the greater financial independence of women and an appreciation that the traditional two-parent family is not the only way to go. "The single-parent family is gaining popularity and, whether we like it or not, the mother-only model will be more common in the near future, both in Ireland and abroad," says Dr Kuczera.

"Fertility issues are finally stepping out of the shadows," agrees Caitriona McPartlin, general manager at ReproMed Ireland. She's seen a year-on-year increase of approximately 20pc in the numbers of single women seeking fertility treatment and believes the change in social attitudes towards assisted reproduction is being fuelled by increased education and awareness. "It's no longer considered taboo to raise a child as a single parent," she says. "Thankfully, technology is there to allow us to facilitate this choice."

Expand Close 'Harry will have all the love he needs, right here' - Genna with her son Harry. Photo: Fran Veale / Facebook

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To some people, 32 might sound very young to give up on meeting someone and having children by the traditional route. "Some people might say, 'You've plenty of time,' but I know the fertility clinic would prefer to see women in between 30 and 37 than the other side," says Genna, who attended Cork Fertility Clinic. As it turned out, it took her two years, four failed IUIs and an abandoned cycle of IVF before conceiving Harry, who will be three in May, on her second cycle of IVF. "When your biological clock is ticking, there's not always plenty of time," she says grimly.

Jenny* was 36 years old when she started fertility treatment with ReproMed and 41 when she gave birth to her daughter last year: one of the first women in Ireland to do so via egg freezing.

In September and October 2015, she had a total of six eggs collected and frozen, then an additional collection in November saw a further seven eggs retrieved. "The eggs from September and October were defrosted to give me 13 in total," explains Jenny. "This was done to give me a bigger number of eggs, a better chance of the eggs surviving the IVF process and a better chance of getting pregnant." Out of the 13 eggs, no others survived bar the two which were implanted, and out of those two, one was successful.

The process might sound simple but when Jenny started egg freezing and IVF, she was told she had less than a 20pc chance of success. She'd also already gone through four failed IUIs. She's still ecstatic that treatment eventually bore results.

Expand Close Maternal bond: Genna with her son Harry in Cork. Photo: Fran Veale / Facebook

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"I'm happy beyond belief that it worked," says Jenny. "I'd given up hope of becoming a mum and this was my last option." Financially, achieving her dream set her back just under 20,000. "But look at what I have now, which I can't place a value on."

There are several narratives that get bandied around in the media when it comes to women using donors to have a baby. Phrases like 'leaving it too late' and 'career women tuning out their biological clock' are common, or there are cries of outrage at men being 'replaced' or 'made redundant' by 'selfish' single women. But none of that rings true when you talk to women who have actually been through solo IVF. The explanation is often quite simply that life didn't work out the way they thought it would and, rather than give up, they decided to look at other options.

"Growing up, I, like many others, took for granted that life is somewhat of a Disney movie," says Anna*. "The girl meets her prince, falls in love, gets married, buys a house and has the perfect family. But unfortunately that doesn't happen for everyone; it certainly didn't happen for me." After years of gynaecological problems, Anna was scheduled for surgery in 2015 and advised, as a precaution, to have her fertility level checked. The results came back showing she'd just a 30pc chance of conceiving and it was a case of 'now or never'. Single at the time, Anna opted to start fertility treatment using donor sperm at Beacon CARE clinic. "I was devastated," she says. "At 32, my simplistic life was turned upside down. But at the same time, I also felt extremely lucky to find out because it meant I was able to do something about it."

Her first cycle of IVF resulted in a miscarriage but, after a short break, she had a second embryo implanted in April last year and nine months later gave birth to a baby girl. "I would have loved the Disney movie, but everything happens for a reason," says Anna. "I may not have the conventional family I thought I would but today I have a beautiful princess who brightens my every day. She's already the most amazing little person, with her own personality, who has made this journey incredible."

Incredible, fulfilling, unregrettable, yes, but no woman would say the donor route is easy or without challenges. "Some people think, 'Oh, single women can just walk in and the clinic says, "Okay, here you go,"' but it's not like that at all," says Genna. "There are a huge amount of tests and mandatory counselling to go through before you even get the go-ahead to start treatment. It can be very emotionally draining, physically draining and it is expensive."

In total Genna spent around 23,000 including 2,500 on donor sperm. She considers herself fortunate that she could afford to pursue solo IVF but advises anyone else considering the same road to be aware of the financial pressures. "It is expensive," she repeats. "And it can be a long road so, if you're in it for the long haul, you have to look at the financial side first. I had saved up and I was lucky enough that I could afford to pay out of my salary for the IVF."

Genna's father died suddenly over 11 years ago and for the past eight years she has lived with her mother in their family home, where she has responsibility for all outgoings. "I work five days a week. I provide completely for my child and I also look after my mother."

One area she dug into her savings for was the sperm donor, because "the more you pay, the more information you get". Out of some 500-600 profiles on the website, only around 12 were non-anonymous -meaning that when baby turns 18, and the father is still willing and at their last known address, there's the possibility of access. Genna went for this option. "I treated it as if I was going to date the person," she says. "I read their profiles, going for characteristics I'd like in someone. Looks-wise, I went for a donor close to my and my family's characteristics. On the medical side, there's a history of heart problems on my father's side so if there was anything like that on the donor's side, then that was a 'no'."

But after two failed IUIs (something to do with sperm motility), Genna had to switch to a different donor. She laughs wryly at the fact that she got her money back for donor number one. "Sure you'd barely get that if you returned something to a shop after wearing it twice!" she chuckles. However, there were no other non-anonymous profiles that appealed, meaning she had to make the difficult decision to continue with an anonymous donor.

"I spoke to a nurse at CFC and she said, 'The way to look at it is: a lot of donors are young - 22 to 28 years old - and in 18 years' time, they will more than likely be married with their own families and not at the address they are now, so the chances of tracking them down are slim,'" explains Genna. "So I chose anonymous. I've taken the decision away from Harry and that's something I will have to live with. If things go belly-up and he decides to throw all this in my face one day, then I'll deal with that. I'd rather go anonymous than have him get to 18 and go to meet someone and either that person not want to meet him or that person not being found. At the end of the day, Harry will know his daddy was very special and he was a donor. Harry's going to have all the love he needs right here."

She says she couldn't have done it without the support of her family, in particular her 'fantastic' mum and sisters. She also feels immense gratitude to the staff at Cork Fertility Clinic. "I never felt I was treated any less because I was a single woman or part of a conveyor belt," she says. "Everyone was so supportive and I knew they were always on the end of the phone."

Reassuringly, she's never experienced any negativity since Harry's birth. "I don't know if it's because they're standing in front of me, but I've never had anyone give me the vibe that they're thinking, 'Oh, you silly wagon,' or 'What the hell did you do that for?' or 'The poor child.'"

Genna doesn't want to hide Harry's story from him and, even now if you were to ask him who he is, he would say, "Mammy's very special little boy". "I'm very comfortable with it - I've no problem with people knowing, and Harry is going to know," says Genna. "He's going to know he was made out of love. I think you should tell the child because you shouldn't make them think that Daddy doesn't want them. If you treat it like a dirty little secret, then that's the way it will appear to a child; it will have a stigma when there's no reason why it should. Harry will know that Mammy really wanted him and this was the only way she could do it and Daddy helped."

When Genna first started considering using a sperm donor to father her child, some of her friends questioned whether she wouldn't be better off having a one-night stand. "That's probably the cheapest and easiest way of doing it," she concedes. "But the other side is that I couldn't trap someone into something they didn't want to be part of. Using a donor was the most logical and safest step."

However, this option soon might not be open to women like Genna, or the many same-sex and heterosexual couples who wish to use an anonymous donor. A small subsection of the recently passed Children and Family Relationships Bill bans the use of anonymous donors in Ireland. The argument for the bill is that it is in the best interests of a child - that an anonymous donor denies a child their right to identity and genetic heritage. But some of those working in the fertility industry aren't convinced by what the new legislation could mean.

"It hasn't been implemented yet but in [the bill] it states that all sperm donors should be identifiable and - more than that - it's proposing that if you don't tell the child where they came from, then, if that child goes to get their birth certificate at 18, the State will inform the child," explains Dr Waterstone of Cork Fertility Centre. "Personally, I think that it is overstepping the mark into the private reproductive lives of people and contravenes the Constitution regarding the individual's right to privacy and autonomy."

Cryos is already stringently regulated, governed by the Health Products Regulatory Authority, and sets its own quotas for how often a donor can be used. Fertility clinics across Ireland share information on when a donor results in a live birth, ensuring the same donor can't be used by multiple women. Dr Waterstone fears that eliminating the option of anonymity will reduce the number of donors and the spectrum of donors, limiting options for those seeking to use a sperm donor and driving up prices.

The legislative change will bring additional challenges to a process that can already be extremely gruelling. A failed relationship at 37 forced Miriam* to reassess what she wanted her future to look like. "I realised that I could meet my partner whenever, but I only had a few years left to have a child," she explains. After four unsuccessful attempts at IUI, preparations for IVF revealed abnormalities in her uterus. But when the first cycle of IVF went ahead, a scan at seven weeks revealed she was expecting triplets.

"It all felt amazing," says Miriam. "I was super-anxious about raising triplets as a single mother but very excited, and friends and family were very supportive. The pregnancy seemed to be going well; I was tried and ravenous but felt good. The day of my 12-week scan, I was so excited and relieved to be out of the big danger zone for miscarriages. But when I went in, they discovered that all three babies had died. I was completely devastated, bereaved and heartbroken."

Despite her grief, Miriam knew she wanted to try again. Two more embryos were implanted, resulting in a very early miscarriage. A third attempt yielded no success. This summer she hopes to use an egg donor and see if that improves her chances. "The chances with egg donors seem to be about three or four times higher than using your own eggs for older women with no other complications," explains Miriam, now 44. She reckons she'll give it one more year, at the end of which she expects to have spent 53,000-63,000.

In seven years of trying, each stage of treatment involved more money, drugs and emotional investment. Sums started in the hundreds for IUIs, then the same for medication, before moving through the thousands for every cycle of IVF. An egg-donor plan will cost Miriam upwards of 8,000. She's managed to afford it through "a combination of savings, borrowing and moving jobs". "I mainly gave up indulgences - travel, pampering and clothes. I'm lucky in that it hasn't put me on the breadline and I'm not heavily in debt, but it has impacted a lot on my social life, as my disposable income has taken, and is taking, a hammering. Most of my leave has been taken up either doing treatments, grieving or recovering."

She's found that some places are only too willing to trade on the desperation of would-be mums. "One foreign clinic has a 'guaranteed pregnancy' programme and gives 80pc of the money back if you don't get to 12 weeks pregnant after three rounds with an egg donor," she reveals. "But of course success is never guaranteed. It is an industry of hope."

It's also an industry that doesn't always have clear, consistent guidelines on when it is time to say, "Stop." Typically, in Ireland, 43 is the cut-off age for IVF using your own eggs. Repro- Med will work with women up to 50 using egg donors. Dr Waterstone at Cork Fertility Clinic says it's incumbent on the clinic to provide "reliable, honest advice when the chance of success is very poor". "It depends on the quality of the embryos," he explains. "If the quality is not high enough, then we would advise them to stop. If the success rate is only 1-2pc, then is it worth it?"

Which is, of course, easy to say, but unless you've been in that position - longing to be a mother - who can say what percentage or financial cost would be weighed up as too great? "How do you put a price on it when what I've got at the end is priceless?" says Genna. "I'd have paid double. I did a lot of soul-searching before I started this journey and I realised that marriage I could take or leave: if I never met someone, I could live with that. But I couldn't live without trying for a baby, to never hear, 'Mammy, I love you.'"

The cost and the low outcomes mean most solo mums will never get the chance to go through the process for a second time to give their child a sibling. "I've a 10pc chance of having another through IVF," says Genna. "And I'd want to use the same donor, which might not be possible." She would consider adoption, but single women often find themselves far down the list.

Nor is being a single parent the easy option; the absence of a partner can be keenly felt. "It would be nice to have had a 'Daddy' to share the journey with us," reveals Jenny. "It's 24/7 being on my own, with no one to share responsibility, and all decisions lie with me. But seeing my daughter develop daily and knowing she's a happy, healthy baby outweighs everything else."

"Of course, it's tough at times - it is for every parent - but on the other hand I totally and utterly parent Harry," agrees Genna. "What I say goes." She hasn't ruled out meeting someone down the line but admits she's not sure how she'd feel about having to share her special bond with Harry with someone else. "I briefly went on Tinder, but it's not for me," she laughs. "I'm not looking to meet someone: I'm very happy with my life. If it happens, great, but if it doesn't, then I'm fine with that."

This Mother's Day, Genna, her mum and Harry are going out for dinner. She doesn't feel the lack of a hastily bought bunch of flowers by Dad, or a day off from parenting. When you've already got your dream gift of a miracle baby, every day is Mother's Day.

It must be a wonderful industry to work in, I say to Dr Waterstone later, after talking to Genna, who has been singing his praises. He replies wryly, "When it works, it is." *Names have been changed

Photography by Fran Veale
Whenever I travel to other European cities, like Amsterdam or Paris, I inevitably find myself exclaiming repeatedly over the light in homes and cafes, and even Airbnb apartments. On coming home to Dublin, I'm on a perpetual hunt to create that light and airy feel in my own home, which always seems a little more dull and dark than its European counterparts.

If taking a sledgehammer to the outer wall in your semi-D to hack out holes for new windows is not an option, there is a plethora of little ways to make the most of what light does shine through Irish windows.

Most Irish homes just weren't built to capitalise on natural light, and can instead feel more like concrete bunkers. After years of trying to help maximise the natural light in my Irish home, I've come up with a bunch of creative ways to bring in a little extra light and bounce around what does make it through. From installing mirrors and opting for shiny, light-reflecting hardware to investing in skylights or sheer curtains, bringing more light into your home is something people on any budget can accomplish.

1 Window to your world

If your budget for maximising light in your home is on the larger side, creating new windows or installing skylights is an obvious option, depending on the layout of your home.

For five years, I lived with my husband in a tiny granny flat converted from a garage during the boom. It had two teensy-tiny bathrooms with showers that were barely big enough to turn around in. But what the apartment lacked in space, it made up for in light. Four skylights made us forget the apartment was built like the galley of a boat.

If you have the budget, installing more windows will be your best bet.

2 Lights on

I once read that a room should have no fewer than six sources of light. Crazy, right? That seems like a whole lot of lights for one small room, but consider this combination: an overhead light, one or two lamps on either side of the couch or bed, task lighting on a dresser or bookshelf for reading, and a standing lamp or two in a corner. Frankly, if you're looking to maximise light in your home, sometimes that means just bringing in more sources of it. A single room might benefit from a pendant light as well as dimmable recessed lighting. And if you're really looking to increase natural light in the daytime, choose a glass pendant that will allow light to stream through it when it's not in use.

Buy it: Lute pendant lamp, 379, Amara, amara.com

3 Wash up

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Talk about an extremely unglamorous option, but washing your windows can have an enormous impact on how much light streams through them. And you'd be surprised how a little dirt can obscure light in a major way. Mix up equal parts water and white vinegar, and use a stack of newspapers to wipe the streaks away. Upstairs windows get even less love than downstairs ones, so you might want to hire a handyman with a ladder to get the job done.

If you have shrubs or trees blocking the light coming in, break out the clippers. Keep a close eye on the direction light could come into your home and trim trees sparingly to maximise light.

4 Add gloss

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Another sneaky way to use paint to brighten up your home is to go for high-gloss paint for furniture or finishes. If you're choosing a finish, opt for something with a little shine that will bounce light around the room. If you have a DIY streak, you can repaint furniture with high-gloss or semi-gloss paint, but the key to a shiny surface is going over the whole piece with fine sandpaper between each coat. High-gloss paint is a great way to add in colours that would otherwise seem too dark.

Buy it: Alexia high-gloss drawer chest, 182, Littlewoods Ireland, littlewoodsireland.ie

5 Sheer chic

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Curtains are an essential decor tool, but they can also be doing more damage than you realise if they're too heavy or dark. Curtains are great for highlighting windows and making your home feel warm but if the fabric you choose is thick, you might be blocking light from entering. Instead, choose sheer curtains that will let in more light. Sheer curtains leave you with few options for colours or patterns. If they don't suit your style, consider layering two sets of curtains. Choose sheer curtains for the actual window and, for providing privacy when necessary, and another set of curtains to layer over them. The second set can be darker or heavier, but make sure they don't obscure any of the window when open.

6 Raise 'em up

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When you're choosing furniture, keep in mind that natural light will be able to bounce around a room that's filled with pieces which have light bases or glass tops. For coffee or side tables, or even dining tables, choose pieces that have glass or mirrored tops. With all furniture, keep in mind that the less blocky the base, the more light your room will seem. Choose a couch that has legs instead of a base that runs to the floor. Find tables and chairs with thin legs rather than heavy bases. And the downside of having to dust more often will be far outweighed by the extra light in your home.

Buy it: Conran Farley coffee table, 309, Marks & Spencer, marksandspencer.ie

7 Mirror, mirror

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Mirrors are the single fastest and most effective way to bring light into your home. A mirror hung opposite a window will instantly reflect light around the room, while making the space feel larger. If you don't have a window to hang a mirror opposite, consider what the mirror will be reflecting: make sure it's something you'd like to see in double. There are a few spots in your home that can really benefit from mirrors. First, at the end of a hallway to make it seem longer and brighter. Second, in a small living room to brighten the space. And you almost can't go wrong with a very large mirror. They can get expensive, but keep an eye out at second-hand shops for frames that you can have reflective glass put into for a much cheaper option. Mirrors have their limitations, though, and large mirrors should be avoided in the bedroom. Mirrors in the kitchen need constant cleaning.

Buy it: Brookfield wall mirror, 95, Littlewoods Ireland, littlewoodsireland.ie

8 Whitewash it

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One sure-fire, simple way to make your home seem brighter is to use light or white paint. That doesn't mean you have to stay away from colour altogether, but if your home feels cramped, examine the wall colour and get out your paintbrushes. We lived for years in a home that was painted with builder-standard magnolia paint and it felt dingy and dull, in part because of the warm tone of the paint. One weekend, I spent every waking hour repainting the walls a cool shade of white. The change was incredible. We broke up the white with colour in the areas that were already high on natural light, and even added interest by painting the lower half of a hallway charcoal to contrast with the white (see page 22).

9 Get brassy

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As with the use of mirrors and high-gloss paint, changing standard fixtures and drawer pulls for brass or metal will lend a lot of shine to a dull room. In fact, swapping standard drawer pulls or knobs with metal can change the style of a room as well. You can find great options for different fixtures on eBay (ebay.ie) or at Ikea (ikea.com./ie) but make sure you measure the distance between existing holes so that you can choose new fixtures that fit. Metal can also be a good choice for light fixtures, allowing in natural light. Update tables to those with metal legs - you'll have even more sparkle in your room.

Buy it: Broste Copenhagen Freja nesting tables, 399, Amara, amara.com

10 Frosted delight

Most people don't have the budget or freedom to start poking holes in their roof or walls to maximise light, but don't fret. There are options that don't involve major construction. First up, swapping solid exterior or interior doors for doors with window panes. You'd be surprised at how much light can enter a home just by replacing a solid front door with a frosted glass door. Likewise, swapping out solid interior doors can make a house seem brighter.

Look for antique doors with glass panels that you can cover with pretty opaque paper.

Buy it: Primed glazed Warwick door, 279, from Carroll Door Depot, Dublin and Galway, doordepot.ie
Simphiwe and his mother Girlie, who both have HIV, in their tiny home on the outskirts of the city of Manzini. Photo: Clare Keogh

Mother of two Hlengiwe (who has cerebral palsy and HIV) with her four-year-old daughter Bagcinile in a township in Swaziland. Photo: Clare Keogh

One young head pops around the corner, then another and another. They're giggling in unison. Sitting in his 'office', an old table surrounded by a few chairs on the veranda of a bungalow, Fr Martin McCormack springs to his feet and disappears indoors before returning with lollipops for the mischievous trio - who by now have grown in courage and have hands outstretched.

Since he first came here in 1976, Martin has worked with the children of Swaziland helping to feed and educate thousands. Focussing on empowerment, he aims "to create leaders". He's worked elsewhere but the road always seems to lead him back to this stunning mountainous kingdom.

"We feed 3,000 children twice a day at our schools here," explains Martin, who comes from Ballydesmond on the Cork/Kerry border, adding "and we give food to the orphans to bring home for their families."

With the highest HIV rate in the world, Swaziland is a country choked by the virus.

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Almost 30pc of the adult population is HIV positive; a quarter of the country's people are categorised as 'orphans'.

Even when compared with other nations in sub-Saharan Africa the level of HIV prevalence in Swaziland, with a population of 1.2 million, is startling.

Between 2012 and 2015 Ireland provided 223,000 in funding for specific projects in Swaziland - but nothing last year.

Africa's last absolute monarchy

The small land-locked nation is bordered on three sides by South Africa, and Mozambique to the East. It's the last absolute monarchy in Africa. In front of walled palaces vendors sell their meagre goods and life goes on - two different worlds separated by high iron gates.

King Mswati III has complete rule. Dissidents are dealt with harshly. He controls government and all opposition parties are banned, there are no dissenting voices in the media and people are afraid to publicly criticise the king - who has 13 wives and lives a lavish lifestyle complete with private jet.

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At the same time, two-thirds of his people earn around 1.50, or less, a day.

Swaziland is a nation on the brink, poor and with limited resources. Without foreign aid and assistance, it would a crumble. Yet tens of millions of euro are allocated by the Swazi government to cater for the King's living expenses each year.

But there's an air of acceptance in Swaziland that this is just the way it is - imperfect as it is. The challenge to live seems to outweigh the challenge to be truly free.

In many of the humble homes we visit, portraits of the king hang on the wall. They stand out like shiny gemstones amongst grey pebbles on the beach. Incongruous to their surroundings.

At the St John Bosco High School, young men queue for rice and beans.

Fr McCormack, a Salesian cleric, is manager of this school and works alongside Frs Sean Murphy from Laois and Corkonian Michael Whelton.

"I manage seven schools in all, five primary and two secondary," he explains. "That involves training teachers, developing infrastructure and operating feeding programmes. A huge part of my weekly work is hustling for food."

For him, the hope comes in the young people he works with.

"We run an empowerment course for young girls, teaching them that their voice is equal to a man's. A young teacher was murdered here on the playing fields of the St Anne's School by her former partner - we organised protests against gender violence which attracted crowds of thousands in a country where public rallies don't happen.

"I'm an optimist, hope is essential. Of course funding is always an issue for us. While the state contributes a little to the running of our schools, the majority of our funding comes from donations. Many of my past students in Pallaskenry in Limerick sponsor a child through their education, and my community at home in Ireland has never let me down.

"In 1997 we set up Swaziland's first HIV-dedicated hospice called Hope House. Through money raised at events in Kerry, Cork and Limerick, we were able to build a village-type hospice of 25 units where people could die in peace and dignity. Now we treat people to recovery too so the death rate is considerably less."

In 2012, at the time of the London Olympics, Martin brought three Swazi athletes, whom he'd helped train, to Ireland to visit the area that had given his mission so much assistance.

During their visit to Ireland, they spent time with the Irish physiotherapist and Salesian past pupil of Pallaskenry, Gerard Hartmann. He hosted them in his home and took them to the high-performance centre in University of Limerick.

Living with an epidemic

In one class here, 15 of the boys have HIV.

One of those is 17-year-old Simphiwe Groening. The eldest of five children, he is a wannabe businessman, a chess shark - and a father figure, despite his tender years. His father is dead and he is the man of the house.

In a building measuring 10ft by 8ft live Simphiwe, his mother Girlie, 12-year-old brother Quinton, and sisters Valencia (15), Promise (13) and Lando (5).

It's a stretch to call this hovel a house, but it is a home. Simphiwe's mother has HIV also. While he was born with the virus, his siblings were not.

"I have to look after my family. At night, two of the kids sleep in bed with my mother and the rest of us sleep on the ground. It's difficult to buy food as we have very little money. It costs 650 Swazi Lilangeni (50) in rent each month for this place. Trying to pay rent is very hard and often we go hungry," says Simphiwe.

In a mud hut in the south of the country, I meet 25-year-old Beghi, who has both HIV and TB. This area was hit by a two-year drought recently. Some locals told us people were so desperate they resorted to eating cow dung mixed with water to survive.

We're with a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) outreach team in the region of Shiselweni where the humanitarian NGO has worked to decentralise care and deliver treatment to the patients rather than requiring them to visit a hospital.

There's no road to this collection of huts, just tracks of stones along a carpet of red dust with drought-caused cracks in the earth. In the scorched growth, snakes linger, and access to clean water is limited. It's hard to think of a harsher place to live on the planet - harsher still a place to be so ill.

Battling the 'healers'

MSF do amazing work in this region and over the last decade have initiated community liaison plans where 'expert patients', who themselves have HIV, ensure those suffering with the virus locally are taking their anti-retroviral medication.

They let MSF know if any of the sufferers have visited alternative medicine men or traditional 'healers' in a bid to rid themselves of the disease.

In the town of Nhlangano, a laboratory, co-run by MSF and the Ministry for Health, collects blood samples from remote clinics and tests for HIV and viral load - effectively the amount of HIV in the blood. They also run various other tests including for TB, which is the biggest killer in Swaziland today.

HIV is the gateway disease - 80pc of TB sufferers in Swaziland are also HIV positive.

Sex work is common, making the containment of the virus more difficult.

But huge strides have been made in reducing the number of babies born with HIV, and around 67pc of the adult population now has access to anti-retroviral medication; the biggest problem, however, is getting men to test.

"In 2004 I was very sick and I lost a baby at seven months," explains community worker Nonhlanhla. "At the hospital, I was tested. I was HIV positive. My husband wouldn't get tested until it was far too late. In 2010, he died. Altogether I've lost three children. Of my two remaining children one, a daughter who is 21, has HIV - but we're determined to survive."

Public health campaigns target men with the slogan 'Real Men Test' and MSF is hoping to introduce self-test kits.

In this complex corner of the world, reality and appearance are not always one.

Pineapple fields sway in the afternoon sun but locals can't afford to buy the fruit; tourists frolic in the many stunning safari parks complete with the big five, but they are off limits to your average Swazi; and local women proudly wrap themselves in the flag of a nation which has largely failed them. Still, one student, Britany Mkhonta, tells me: "I'm going to be the first female prime minister of Swaziland - why not?"

And I hope she succeeds. But change happens very slowly here - and change is the enemy of the state.

In the meantime life goes on. Martin McCormack feeds and educates, the gentle people of Swaziland persevere and the likes of Simphiwe and his family wonder where the next meal and rent cheque will possibly come from.

This project was supported by the Simon Cumbers Media Fund

Swaziland: world hotspot for HIV

1.2m

Population of Swaziland

220,000

Number of those who are HIV positive

28.8%

Adult HIV prevalence

31%

Percentage of women with HIV

11,000

Number of new infections each year

3,800

Number of AIDS-related deaths in 2015

57

Life expectancy of men

61

Life expectancy of women

1 in 3

The number of women experiencing some form of sexual abuse by the time they reach the age of 18

74%

Percentage of women living with HIV receiving anti-retroviral treatment. The figure for men is 56%

3%

Mother to baby transmission now stands at this figure, down from 12%

Source UNAIDS Gap Report 2016
Climbing the world's tallest mountain is not for everyone. Hiking to Everest Base Camp is another story, says Brendan Daly.

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This is as close to the top of the world as I'll ever get.

Standing on a rock-strewn glacier that carves its way through a desolate moonscape, I see a mound of granite rocks covered in knotted, multicoloured prayer flags. In front of them, the words 'Everest Base Camp' are daubed in charcoal.

I'm halfway through a 13-day wonderland trek among the world's highest mountains. Encircling me are soaring, snow-dolloped Himalayan peaks that, in the distance, seem to radiate a blue sheen. Jutting against the tip of the glacier is a towering frozen waterfall. My 120km hike, following the famous trail from Lukla in northeast Nepal to the foot of Mount Everest and back again, is a story of mesmerising valleys and peaks.

Starting at an altitude of 2,840 metres and climaxing at 5,364 metres, this definitive Himalayan trek is a bucket-list trip and it's easy to see why. The adventure began with a 40-minute flight from Kathmandu to Lukla. As monkeys scampered over the frantic terminal in the Nepalese capital, I took my place in a 16-seater plane destined for one of the world's most daunting airstrips.

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Shortly after my first glimpse of the majestic mountaintops, the plane began its nerve-racking descent onto what looked like a tongue of tarmac - a 500m runway culminating in a blank mountain wall. Welcome to Tenzing-Hillary Airport!

On the trail, the first thing that strikes me isn't the dramatic scenery or the pure air: it's the crowds. About 35,000 visitors trek in the Everest region every year, including more than 10,000 in the peak month of October.

Queueing behind trekkers, it can - especially near the start of the trail - feel like walking down a busy street. Despite the volumes, however, I see virtually no rubbish. Recycle bins, housed in stone shelters, fleck the trail.

The opening days of this lodge-to-lodge trek assume a gentle rhythm as the trail snakes through villages and pine forests, past Buddhist shrines and stone panels carved with prayers, and across swaying suspension bridges. The dominant sound is the clamouring of the thunderous turquoise rivers that cut through the vertiginous gorges.

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Surprises come thick and fast. A few days in, for example, I turn a corner of the trail and suddenly four magnificent peaks - all above 6,000 metres - constellate in front of me. Ironically, Mount Everest is probably the least commanding of the mountain views along the trail. From this angle, the entrancing Ama Dablam ("Mother's necklace"), with two long ridges on either side of its peak resembling a mother's arms protecting her child, looks higher than Everest. It becomes a glorious constant in the skyline for the early parts of the trek.

Excusing the Himalayan mountaintops, Dingboche carries strange echoes of Connemara: it's a village with thick stone walls and small fields of planted potatoes. Although I felt slight symptoms of altitude sickness earlier on the trail, it is from Dingboche, standing at 4,410 metres, that they become more pronounced.

I'm travelling with an organised tour and most of us experience some symptoms. For me, it's a mixture of headaches, sleep disturbance and breathlessness that means walking slower than normal.

Every few hundred metres, the trail seems to weave its way through a Sherpa village and I'm curious as to whether the locals resent this parade of trekkers and their crews. But Psang, our head guide, insists that the jobs tourism generates offer villagers a welcome alternative to primitive farm work. Either way, virtually every village building along the trail is a shop, restaurant, or lodge aimed at trekkers.

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As we approach Base Camp, I see stone memorials honouring those who have died on the mountain - offering a poignant reminder of its dangers. In 2015, a massive earthquake triggered an avalanche at Base Camp that killed 18.

This trek isn't for mountaineers - it's for anyone with an average fitness level. We walk for four to six hours (roughly 10km) a day and, apart from the altitude symptoms, it's relatively easy.

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We stop for lunch in restaurants and stay in lodges each night. Typically family-run, the lodges are simple stone houses that sell snacks and WiFi. They become more austere - sub-zero bedrooms, no running water - around Base Camp. These are where we take evening meals (usually featuring rice, noodles or chips) and, to stay warm at night, congregate with fellow hikers around the lodges' prized possessions: yak-dung stoves. The altitude and lack of light pollution make the trail ideal for stargazing, too - stepping outside my lodge at night, I can see the brilliance of the Milky Way, shooting stars and even the red glow of Mars with the naked eye.

After reaching Base Camp, on day eight of 13, I expect that the return trek will be an anticlimax. I'm wrong. In contrast to the barrenness of Base Camp, the return feels like the classic Himalayan experience: with searing mountain peaks as a backdrop and golden eagles gliding through cloudless blue skies, we walk on a rocky switchback trail that skirts steep V-shaped valleys, passes brightly painted Buddhist monasteries and takes me through effervescent rhododendron forests flaunting their autumnal colours.

Everest is far from the only show in town.

Three Must-Do's

Take a Breather

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After getting your first view of Everest and a stinging 90-minute ascent, you reach Namche Bazaar (3,400m)  the capital of the Sherpa world. With a population of about 1,500 and shops selling outdoor gear, cafes serving Himalayan Java coffee, and, of course, an Irish pub, its ideal for a rest day.

Take High Tea

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Sitting at 3,880m, the Hotel Everest View is one of the highest in the world. From the luxurious hotels terrace (open to anyone, not just guests), sip a lemon tea as you gaze on three of the worlds highest mountains: Nuptse, Lhotse, and, of course, Everest. See hoteleverestview.com.

Divine Inspiration

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Tengboche Monastery is the largest in the region. After trekking to 3,860 metres, its soothing to observe the monks prayer rituals and ceremonies as they chant the scriptures. The monastery hosts Mani Rimdu (usually held in October or November), the most important Sherpa festival.

What to pack

Bring hiking boots, base layer shirts, a warm fleece, a waterproof shell and a 40-litre daypack. As no toilets provide toilet paper, carry it in your daypack. Take a book for long evenings and consider bringing Diamox, a prescription medication that reduces the symptoms of altitude sickness.

Where to stay

Lodges are provided along the trail on escorted tours. In Kathmandu, the Hotel Yak & Yeti (yakandyeti.com; doubles from 280) is a relaxing shelter from the city-centre chaos, set on the grounds of a former palace. The spacious rooms and huge buffet breakfast are the perfect antidote to stark trekking lodges.

Getting there

Brendan travelled to the Himalayas with KE Adventure Travel (keadventure.com) on the Everest Basecamp Trek tour. It costs 2,060pps, includes all internal transport and is full board (flights are extra but the tour operator can arrange these).

For more, see welcomenepal.com.

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Havana isn't the only city to see in Cuba, says Yvonne Gordon, who maps out a perfect day in Trinidad.

10am: Take to the streets

Wander long, cobbled streets of pastel-coloured houses with red roofs to really soak up Trinidad's colonial atmosphere - there's nearly always a backdrop of music and lively birds tweeting. Palm trees, 1950s cars and baroque church towers add to the atmosphere. A visit to the Museo Historico Municipal gives you a glimpse inside the Cantero Palace, with splendid views from the tower.

How: Simon Bolivar 123; weekdays 9am-5pm (museum)

2pm: Watch artists at work

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Photo: Yvonne Gordon

It's not uncommon to see an artist at work through an open door or window in Trinidad. Drop into Lazaro Niebla's studio and gallery to see his intricate carvings of old people's faces on rescued pieces of wood. At Galeria de Arte, artist Yami Martinez designs colourful papier mache coffee pots which represent the poses of women. Drop into Los Conspiradores Restaurant directly upstairs for lunch.

How: Lazaro Niebla, Calle Real 11, and Galeria de Arte/Los Conspiradores, Calle Cristo 38 (beside Plaza Mayor)

5pm: Dine in style at La Redaccion

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Tuck into pumpkin soup, slow-roasted pork belly or pan-fried lobster at one of Trinidad's most beautiful dining spaces, set in a restored 1800s colonial house with a typical inner courtyard and original features and furnishings. Food is Cuban with a European twist, there's a great cocktail menu (mojitos are $3) and a nice touch is that co-owner Edel Kavanagh is Irish.

How: Calle Gutierrez (Maceo) 463, laredaccioncuba.com

8pm: Dance the night away

You'll find yourself drawn to Cuba's music and beats, with live bands and salsa dancing at Casa de la Musica - it seems like everyone in the entire town, both locals and visitors, congregates at the steps beside the cathedral in Plaza Mayor nightly to listen to a live salsa band.

How: Nightly from 9pm at Plaza Mayor, entrance $1. See cubatravel.tur.cu/en for more information on Trinidad; cubatravel.ie has doubles at the five-star Iberostar Grand Hotel from 255 per night including breakfast.

Do it

Air France (airfrance.ie) flies Dublin to Havana via Paris. Bus transfers to Trinidad from US$25 with Viazul (viazul.com) or taxis 240.

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Radio review: If you want to be annoyed in a good way (and who doesnt?) theres always Liveline

It is now clearly understood in social media and the traditional kind, that theres much to be gained by annoying people. An angry listener or viewer or reader is the one you want, as their rage can drive engagement, and all that stuff. What is less clearly understood, is this may not necessarily be a bad thing  it can be a good thing.
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Eoghan Harris Opinion Misery media fails to give due credit to the Taoiseach

Taoiseach Micheal Martin must drive his advisers mad. Unlike Leo Varadkar or Donald Trump, he never bigs up success stories such as the effect of Level 3 Plus on Covid or his visionary Shared Island project. Last Friday, Tony Holohan and RTE cheerleaders seemed to imply Level 5 was responsible for the improved Covid situation. Not so.
By James Pomfret and Venus Wu HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Beijing-backed civil servant, Carrie Lam, was chosen to be Hong Kong's next leader on Sunday amid accusations that Beijing is meddling and denying the financial hub a more populist leader perhaps better able to defuse political tension. The majority of the China-ruled city's 7.3 million people have no say in deciding their leader, who is chosen from among several candidates by a 1,200-person "election committee" stacked with pro-Beijing and pro-establishment loyalists. Lam, who will become Hong Kong's first female chief executive when she takes office on July 1, won 777 votes compared with 365 for her closest rival, former financial secretary John Tsang, who polls show is more popular. There were several invalid protest ballots including one that carried an obscenity. "Hong Kong, our home, is suffering from quite a serious divisiveness," Lam said in a victory speech. "My priority will be to heal the divide and to ease the frustration, and to unite our society to move forward." Lam also pledged to follow through on election promises including introducing a "two-tier" profits tax, reducing tax to spur research and development, tackling the high cost of housing by increasing land supply and boosting education spending. She also promised to defend the rule of law and freedom of expression as integral to underpinning prosperity. "Hong Kong needs new thinking," she said. TENSIONS Some scuffles broke out outside the voting centre between protesters and police, who used metal barricades to keep the demonstrations well away. The activists denounced Beijing's "interference" amid widespread reports of lobbying of voters to back Lam, rather than Tsang. Some protesters chanted "I want universal suffrage" and unfurled yellow umbrellas, a symbol of the civil disobedience "umbrella movement", when the result was announced. "Lies, coercion, whitewash," read one banner. A big yellow banner calling for full democracy was hung from the Lion Rock peak overlooking the city. "The central government has intervened again and again," said Carmen Tong, a 20-year-old student. "It's very unjust." Hundreds of Lam's supporters waved Chinese flags and cheered inside and outside the venue after her win. Since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, Beijing has gradually increased control over it even though it promised wide-ranging freedoms and autonomy not allowed on the mainland under the formula of "one country, two systems", along with an undated promise of universal suffrage. Many, including opposition democrats, fear Lam will stick to the tough policies of staunchly pro-Beijing incumbent Leung Chun-ying, who ordered the firing of teargas on pro-democracy protesters in 2014 and who was not seen to be defending Hong Kong's autonomy and core values. "She doesn't have a strong foundation, nor will she have a honeymoon after she's elected," said political scientist Ivan Choy. "But whether she will further divide society we still have to wait and see what she does, whether she will continue the approach of Leung." All of Hong Kong's three other post-handover leaders have struggled to balance the demands of China's stability-obsessed Communist Party leaders, with the wish of many residents to preserve the global financial hub's liberal values and rule of law that have long underpinned its economic success. In 2014, parts of the city were paralysed when tens of thousands of protesters blocked major roads for nearly three months to demand Beijing allow full democracy; demands that were ignored amid some violent clashes. China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office congratulated Lam, saying she should not disappoint the people and should seek to "comprehensively unite all sectors of society", strengthen development, and "work hard to forge a new situation", the official Xinhua news agency said. Some city residents see China's creeping interference in business, media, politics, academia and the judiciary as tarnishing the city's international business allure. The detention in 2015 of five Hong Kong booksellers who sold material critical of Beijing also dismayed many residents. The upheavals over the city's autonomy and democratic reforms have roiled a new generation and weighed on the city's economy, ranked 33rd globally by the World Bank in 2015. Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing, warned this week the city couldn't afford another five years of strife. Hong Kong had been presented with a reform package, offering the possibility of a direct vote for this leadership race, though only of candidates essentially pre-screened by Beijing. The blueprint was vetoed in 2015 by pro-democracy lawmakers as "fake" Chinese-style democracy. Political and social divisions have led to some legislative and policy-making paralysis and the stalling of major projects, including a cultural hub and high-speed rail link to China. While Hong Kong's proximity to China has been a boon, bringing investment and spending, businesses have also faced growing competition from mainland firms in sectors like services and property. Housing prices, now among the world's highest, are widely seen to have been pushed up by a wave of buying from rich Chinese, intensifying anti-mainland China sentiment. (Reporting by James Pomfret, Venus Wu and Katy Wong in Hong Kong; Dominique Patton in Beijing; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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Gene Kerrigan Opinion Fr Sean Sheehy is the voice of Irelands dead and unmourned past

At first, it seemed a bit mad. A bishop and a priest squaring up for a bout of ecclesiastical fisticuffs. A turbulent priest in Listowel, Co Kerry, took to the altar and spouted out of him about gays, contraception, abortion and transgender matters. He left us in no doubt that he alone has the courage to denounce this sinful carry-on.
Not for nothing was Barbara Bush known as 'The Enforcer'

Barbara Bush, tougher than her husband and known to her family as 'The Enforcer', is probably the most popular of all ex-US first ladies of recent times. Jackie Kennedy is remembered across the globe for elegance and tragedy, but she was not loved. Rosalynn Carter worked hard and was a noted campaigner on issues of mental health, but she has suffered in retrospect because of her bitterness at his defeat by Ronald Reagan, who is widely perceived to have been as great a success as Carter was a failure. The brittle Nancy Reagan was an essential support to her husband, but was thought to care little for anyone else. Hillary Clinton was loathed by those who thought her a careerist. The likeable Laura Bush did a lot of useful work but lacked her mother-in-law's commanding personality. And although Michelle Obama had rock-star status, that has diminished as she and her husband embrace luxury and celebrity. Betty Ford is probably the closest rival, having been far more effective and formidable than her husband Gerald, the 38th president, and still having a posthumous reputation for her prowess as a campaigner on addiction, not least because so many of the famous troop to the Betty Ford Clinic.
You may know someone with this condition  heres how you can help them and others.

While in the UK mosts thoughts this March 26 are on Mothers Day, internationally, the day marks Purple Day each year.

Purple Day asks people to wear purple to raise awareness and support for those living with epilepsy. According to charity Young Epilepsy, around 50 million people across the world have the neurological disorder  which causes seizures in sufferers.

The video from the Epilepsy Society below explains more about the condition  and some of the myths it dispels makes it a must-watch.

So epilepsy is a complicated, not uncommon and perhaps misunderstood condition. Flashing lights are not the key issue many think it is and seizures are broadly diverse from person to person.

Purple Day is all about making sure people understand this  and doing so could be the first step to you helping someone in need.

So, what should you be aware of to make sure youre able to help if someone you know has epilepsy or someone near you has a seizure? Heres the important questions answered.

What can cause a seizure?

According to Epilepsy Action, common seizure triggers for those suffering with the condition include:

- Alcohol

- Stress.

- Tiredness.

- Menstruation.

- Missing meals.

- Not taking prescribed epilepsy medicine.

If you have a friend who has epilepsy, it is worth asking them to find out what commonly triggers their seizures. By doing so, your awareness is raised of when they are at risk and you may be able to help advise them at a later date.

How do you spot a seizure?

Seizures come in various guises and vary in severity.

Sometimes the person can stay conscious but they become dizzy, twitch or their senses are affected  whilst at the other end of the spectrum unconsciousness, collapse and a stiffening or shaking of the body can be caused  with the more serious coming with a risk of death.

Signs of a seizure can vary then. According to Healthline, they can include:

- Staring blankly.

- Confusion.

- Unresponsiveness.

- Repetitive movements, twitching or jerks, including lip smacking and blinking.

- Muscle stiffness.

- Collapse.

Again you should be aware of how your friends epilepsy manifests itself so you can know the symptoms to look out for and what your response should be.

What if someone is having a seizure?

Response to a seizure can of course vary depending on the seizure they are having. However, you can adapt these suggestions from the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (Ninds) depending on whether someone has collapsed or if they are still standing:

- Roll the person on his or her side to prevent choking on any fluids or vomit.

- Cushion the persons head.

- Loosen any tight clothing around their neck, such as a tie or shirt.

- Dont restrict them form moving or wandering unless they are in danger.

- Dont put anything in the persons mouth as this may cause a choking hazard. Contrary to popular belief, people having seizures do not swallow their tongues.

- Remove any dangerous objects the person may walk into or hit.

- Note how long the seizure lasts so you can tell doctors later if necessary.

- Stay with the person until the seizure ends.

When should an ambulance be called?

According to the US institute, you should call for an ambulance under these circumstances:

- If the seizures lasts longer than five minutes.

- The seizure happened in water.

- The person is pregnant or has diabetes.

- The person doesnt regain consciousness or breathe normally after the seizure.

- The person injures themselves during the seizure.

Emergency services should also be called if this is the first seizure theyve had. If you dont know the person they may be wearing jewellery or carrying a card which explains they have the condition.

If you do know the person having the seizure you should make sure youre aware they have epilepsy  and its this awareness which Purple Day is all about.
A committee dominated by pro-Beijing elites has picked China favourite Carrie Lam to lead the former British territory in the first such poll since huge pro-democracy protests erupted in 2014.

The election committee's 1,194 members voted at a exhibition centre, with Ms Lam, the city's former second most senior official, widely expected to win after backing from China's communist leaders.

Pro-Beijing and pro-democracy groups held competing rallies outside the election venue, kept apart by hundreds of police officers.

The pro-democracy crowd chanted "I want genuine democracy" - the usual slogan for opponents of the current system.

Pro-democracy activists have criticised the system as a "fake" election and it was at the root of huge protests in 2014.

Ms Lam garnered 777 votes while her closest rival, former financial secretary John Tsang, trailed with 365. Retired judge Woo Kwok-hing had 21 votes.

Mr Tsang was much more popular locally, but neither he nor Mr Woo had Beijing's backing.

Ms Lam will be the first woman leader for the city and its fourth since British colonial control ended.

She is an efficient and pragmatic administrator but unpopular with Hong Kong people because she is seen as a proxy for Beijing and out of touch with ordinary people.

Her victory was no surprise because China's communist leadership had lobbied the committee to support her.

Her main rival was former finance chief John Tsang, highly popular because of his easy-going persona and deft use of social media to connect with residents, but he did not have Beijing's support.

Ms Lam takes over from current leader Leung Chun-ying, who was not seeking a second term, citing family reasons.

Political analysts suspect Beijing asked Mr Leung, a highly polarising figure, to step aside so someone more popular can take over.

Members of the Hong Kong's election committee included tycoons like Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong's richest citizen.

They represented industry and trade groups such as finance, accounting, property and textiles, with most supporting China's communist leaders and are expected to vote according to their wishes.

Hong Kong politicians, councillors and delegates to China's parliament also have votes and some 326 seats, mostly in the education, legal, health and social welfare sectors, are held by pro-democracy supporters.

AP

Ms Lam said: "My priority will be to heal the divide and to ease the frustrations and to unite our society to move forward."

She will take office on July 1.

AP
Luck played a part: Extremist Khalid Masood is thought to have been shot by a member of the close protection team of UK defence secretary Michael Fallon, whose car only happened to have been parked in New Palace Yard because a vote was taking place at the time

At the Preston Park Hotel in Brighton on Wednesday morning, Adrian Ajao was chatting with hotel staff about his plans for the day as he checked out at reception.

"I'm off to London today," he told them as he handed over his credit card, before adding: "It isn't like it used to be."

The 52-year-old had spent the night in room 228 at the budget hotel, eating a takeaway kebab as he made his final plans for what would be the UK's most murderous terrorist attack since the July 7 suicide bombings in London in 2005.

He had checked in at 11.30am on Tuesday, and tried to negotiate a cheaper rate than the 59 he ended up paying, but the staff found him so pleasant that they wrote "nice man" in the notes on his computer booking.

During his brief stay he chatted to staff about his parents, who live in Wales, saying he was worried about his father, who has cancer, and his mother, who was struggling to cope.

He was "nice, polite and calm" according to one hotel worker, and raised no suspicions among staff.

The hotel's manager, Sabeur Toumi, said he was "laughing and joking, telling us stories about where he lived".

The only oddity about his stay was that after he had checked out and put his two bags into his Hyundai hire car, a cleaner found him back in his room in just his underwear. The reason for this remains a mystery.

Sixty miles away, London was its usual bustling mix of workers and tourists.

In Westminster, parliament was sitting, with a morning of debates preceding Prime Minister's Questions.

Among those looking forward to PMQs was 19-year-old politics student Travis Frain, who was on an "ideal" day out touring the Palace of Westminster with university friends.

Across the river, Spanish teacher Aysha Frade was in the middle of lessons at DLD College near Waterloo Station. Westminster Bridge was bustling with tourists, taking pictures of each other with Big Ben behind them.

For Ajao, the bridge and parliament itself - or rather the people using them - amounted to only one thing: targets.

Despite his personable demeanour, Ajao, who was born Adrian Elms to a white mother and black father before his mother married and changed his name to Adrian Ajao, had a history of criminal convictions for violence and had twice been jailed.

He converted to Islam and changed his name to Khalid Masood, coming to the attention of MI5 when he started mixing with known extremists. Far older than the average jihadi, he had slipped off the radar and was assumed not to present a danger to the public.

As Ajao drove towards London, PC Keith Palmer was beginning his shift guarding Carriage Gates, the vehicle entrance to Parliament, where at 2pm he posed for a picture with American tourist Staci Martin.

By 2.35pm Aysha Frade had left work at DLD College to walk across Westminster Bridge on her way to pick up her two daughters from school.

Meanwhile at 2.37pm, Ajao was pausing to send a final message to someone via the mobile messaging service WhatsApp. Whom he was messaging, and the content of the message, has not yet been released by the police, but it is likely to be a vital clue in the hunt for accomplices.

However, police are expected to have difficulty accessing the contents, which were encrypted, and cybersecurity experts say they will have to employ their own hackers.

It was just after 2.40pm that Ajao, in the grey Hyundai Tucson 4x4, appeared on the eastern approach to the bridge, two large kitchen knives by his side. He mounted the pavement, reaching more than 40mph, and would take 30 seconds to cross the 250-yard span of the bridge.

More than 40 people would be killed or injured in those few seconds, mown down as they walked across one of the capital's busiest river crossings.

Americans Kurt and Melissa Cochran, on the last day of a holiday in London to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, were just about to cross the bridge. Musician Mr Cochran, 54, was hit by the car and thrown on to a walkway 15ft below which led to the river bank, becoming the first fatality.

As he lay on his side, one leg clearly broken and with blood seeping on to the paving stones, passers-by ran to his aid, the first of the day's many heroes.

Melissa Cochran (46) had also been hit by Ajao's car and suffered injuries including a broken leg and rib. She appeared to have been thrown to one side, hitting a postcard stand on the corner of the bridge and the riverbank.

A photo of her lying on the pavement, bloodied postcards scattered around her as she stared, terrified, into a camera lens while a woman in a long grey coat knelt and held her head, would become one of the most haunting images of the day.

Ajao was only just beginning two minutes of carnage. Pressing the accelerator hard down and staying on the pavement, he drove at murderous speed, as CCTV footage later showed.

As well as Britons, the pedestrians skittled by his car included four South Koreans, three French children, two Romanians, two Greeks and one each from Ireland, Germany, Poland, Italy, China and America. Three of them were police officers on their way back from a bravery award ceremony.

PC Kris Aves, 35, who had been honoured for his "exceptional" work as a family liaison officer, suffered "life-changing injuries" that later required eight hours of surgery.

Speaking from his bedside, PC Aves's family said he had been "full of pride". His colleague PC Roger Smith, aged in his early 50s, also suffered leg injuries that required surgery, while Pc Bradley Bryant escaped with minor injuries.

A group of French schoolchildren from Lycee Saint-Joseph de Concarneau in Brittany were on a school trip to London when Ajao's car bore down on them.

One of them, called Thomas, suffered a head injury and fractured legs. The children, aged 15 to 16, were all later taken to hospital. Thomas's mother said: "My husband and I thought he was dead. After an hour we were told he was injured. It felt like an extremely long time."

Travis Frain, fresh from watching Prime Minister's Questions, was walking across Westminster Bridge when he was hit and went over the bonnet of the Hyundai. Despite suffering a fractured leg, fractured left arm, two broken fingers and flesh wounds, he still managed to call his mother Angela as he lay in pain to say: "Mum I'm safe."

Francisco Lopes, 26, from Portugal, suffered leg and hand injuries when he was hit by the car. He said: "He started to move towards the pavement and started to just take out the people that were in front of the car, so, when I realised this, the car was literally just about one metre away, so I had no time to get out of the way."

Further along the bridge, Mrs Frade was about to become the second person to lose their life. She was hit by Ajao's car and thrown under the wheels of a bus, dying at the scene.

Around 100m further along the bridge, Ajao's speeding car closed in on Romanian architect Andreea Cristea and her fiance Andrei Burnaz. They were in London to celebrate Mr Burnaz's 33rd birthday and to buy a wedding dress. Mr Burnaz's foot was crushed by the car and his 29-year-old girlfriend was badly injured as the vehicle forced her over the side of the bridge into the River Thames 30ft below.

Mr Burnaz screamed down to boats below for someone to save her, and as Miss Cristea bobbed to the surface, face down and apparently unconscious, the captain of a pleasure boat tried to pull her onboard with a boat hook after she passed under the bridge.

The crew of the City Cruises boat were unable to get her out of the water, but stopped the boat and held her fast to the side to stop her being swept downstream until a nearby fire service boat which was on an exercise pulled up alongside and rescued her.

Next to be hit was a group of South Korean tourists, four of whom are still in hospital, then a man dressed in a business suit who was pictured lying on the pavement with one shoe off, blood pooling around his ankle.

Elsewhere on the bridge, pest controller Keith Chapman (61) was on his way to carry out some work at St Thomas's Hospital when he was thrown up in the air and his leg "smashed to pieces".

Another of those hit was retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes (75) from Streatham, south London, described as a "lovely man who would do anything for anybody" by neighbours. For many years he cleaned the windows at Chartwell, Winston Churchill's former home in Kent. Mr Rhodes suffered catastrophic injuries and died in hospital the following day when life support was withdrawn.

On the bridge, Ajao jerked the steering wheel to the right to avoid hitting a concrete barrier at the western end of the pavement built to protect pedestrians. He appeared to lose control of the car, veering to the left, back on to the pavement on the other side of the concrete barrier, hitting two more pedestrians before crashing into railings around the perimeter of parliament.

Rick Longley was walking towards Westminster Underground station, opposite the scene of the crash, when he heard a loud bang just before 2.41pm, followed by a scream.

Ajao had got out of the car with his two knives, and ran around the corner into Parliament Square. Around a dozen people, running for their lives in front of him, made for the sanctuary of Parliament's New Palace Yard, getting in through an open vehicle gate manned by two unarmed officers.

One of them was PC Palmer (48). Mr Longley said: "A guy came past my right shoulder with a big knife and just started plunging it into the policeman.''

As PC Palmer staggered away, Ajao headed towards the door of the ancient Westminster Hall. Sitting in a ministerial car a few yards away, the Defence Secretary Michael Fallon's police protection officer had seen the stabbing and was quickest to react. Striding towards Ajao, he waited until he was 6ft away from the terrorist, raised his pistol and shot him three times in the chest.

Among those who witnessed the attack on PC Palmer was Tobias Ellwood, the Foreign Office minister and former soldier. He tried to staunch the blood, and when he could find no pulse he tried to keep the officer alive with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and chest compressions.

A few yards away, policemen tried to save the life of Ajao while simultaneously stripping him to check he was not wearing a suicide bomb or concealing another device. The terrorist's bare legs kicked in agony before he became still and unconscious.

Inside the House of Commons, there was further drama. Prime minister Theresa May and other MPs were in the voting lobbies, voting on new pension legislation, when armed police burst in, guns raised, splintering the wooden doors. Over their walkie talkies, colleagues were shouting "there's been a bomb, there's been a bomb!".

At 2.45 the sitting in the House of Commons was suspended. MPs were locked in the chamber and told to stay there, but Mrs May was whisked away by her protection officers to her silver Jaguar parked outside in Speaker's Yard.

Mobile phone footage showed the prime minister briefly running the wrong way before being ushered to the car as an officer shouts: "Get in the car!"

Another member of her security detail shouted for his car keys, the tension of the moment abundantly clear.

Mrs May had to be driven along a service road that runs the length of Parliament, emerging at the opposite end to New Palace Yard before being taken through back streets to Number 10.

An air ambulance landed in Parliament Square and its paramedics ran to take over the life-saving efforts.

Moments later, two ambulances drove in through the gates. One of them took Ajao to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The other waited to take PC Palmer to an operating theatre - but he never made it as far as the ambulance.

As Tobias Ellwood stood slumped with exhaustion, PC Palmer's blood smeared on his face, hands and cuffs, PC Palmer was pronounced dead at the spot where he lay.

The police officer will be remembered permanently at the National Memorial Arboretum, UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd said yesterday.

Police confirmed that the attack lasted 82 seconds. Deputy assistant commissioner Neil Basu, the senior national coordinator for UK counter terrorism policing, said: "We still believe that Masood acted alone on the day and there is no information or intelligence to suggest there are further attacks planned.

"We must all accept that there is a possibility we will never understand why he did this.

''That understanding may have died with him."

Telegraph
A clubber has been killed and 15 others injured when gunfire erupted in a crowded Cincinnati nightclub after a dispute among several men.

The victim who died in the incident, which is not believed to be terrorism-related, was 27-year-old O'Bryan Spikes.

Police said four officers were working security in the club's parking lot and some tried unsuccessfully to revive the man who died.

The coroner removed a body shortly after 6am.

On scene Cameo Night Club 4601 Kellogg. 14 victims shot, one victim decreased. pic.twitter.com/yMMlTf5Bcl  Cincinnati Police (@CincyPD) March 26, 2017

Update: Cameo Night Club 15 gun shot victims, 1 deceased. Homicide unit and all available resources are being utilized. Next update after 11  Cincinnati Police (@CincyPD) March 26, 2017

Authorities asked anyone with information to come forward and investigators were checking to see if surveillance cameras were working.

Cincinnati police chief Eliot Isaac said one of the wounded was in an "extremely critical condition."

All victims have been transported from the scene, more victims are arriving at local hospitals and fire stations, unknown total number pic.twitter.com/p66nOzalHs  Cincinnati News (@CinciNews) March 26, 2017

Two victims were listed as being in a critical condition following the incident at the downtown club where some 200 people were at the time.

Several local men got into a dispute inside the bar which escalated into shots from several individuals, said Mr Isaac, adding that several firearms were got inside despite security.

Five of the injured were treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Centre and released, said hospital spokeswoman Kelly Martin.

She said two people were in critical condition and another two were listed in a stable condition. The other people injured at the club were taken or drove themselves to other hospitals.

First responders had problems reaching the shooting victims because the parking lots were full.

Police captain Kim Williams said there was "just a lot of chaos, obviously, when shots were fired."

"Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst."

Mayor John Cranley called the shootings "unacceptable" and said authorities would work to find ways to prevent such violence.

Cameo's Facebook profile said it caters to college students on Friday nights, when anyone over 18 is allowed in, while Saturdays are "grown and sexy night" for ages 21 and older.

The club has a history of gun violence, including a shooting inside the club on New Year's Day in 2015 and one in the parking lot that September, said city manager Harry Black.

The area is mostly industrial but also home to several nightclubs with a smattering of homes. A regional airport is nearby.

The neighbourhood is fairly empty at night, except for the nightlife scene and 24-hour garages.

The road where the club sits was easily cordoned off by a single police cruiser and officer at either end.

15 people confirmed shot one dead at Cameo nightclub cincinnati @CincyPD Police on the scene questioning witnesses @Local12 pic.twitter.com/ZR6nRoOeKl  TR Gormley (@McGingeryBeard) March 26, 2017

Police believe there maybe more than one shooter. Police have found multiple victims in cars around the area @Local12 pic.twitter.com/rRSAKHYbTh  TR Gormley (@McGingeryBeard) March 26, 2017

Ohio governor John Kasich said on Twitter he was "saddened to learn about last night's shooting" and that he was offering the state's assistance.

Hours after the shooting, the suspect was still at large, and police did not have a good description, in part because witnesses were reluctant to cooperate, Williams told WCPO.
Heidi McKinney (27) pleaded guilty to assault charges for the incident which occurred in May 2016

A woman has admitted to sexually assaulting a female passenger on a plane last year.

Oregon native Heidi McKinney (27) has pleaded guilty to assault charges for the incident which occurred in May 2016.

Prosecutors claimed McKinney "grabbed the woman's breasts and groin", according to the New York Daily News.

Assistant US Attorney Ravi Sinha said at federal court in Portland. "(She) both made contact with victims body, including her inner thigh, and made a series of profane and lewd statements to the victim.

"Ms. McKinney did so with the intent to humiliate and harass the victim."

She was arrested after the Alaska Airlines flight from Las Vegas landed in Portland last May.

Her fiance told police she doesn't "metablise alcohol like the majority of people" and "this is what happens" as a result.

McKinney could face up to 10 years for the crime, but her attorney is reportedly planning to recommend probation.

She was released on Friday until her sentencing on June 19 and is banned from using alcohol or drugs in the meantime.
Police operate at a crime scene outside the Cameo Nightclub after a reported fatal shooting (AP)

A clubber has been killed and 15 others injured when gunfire erupted in a crowded Cincinnati nightclub after a dispute among several men.

The victim who died in the incident, which is not believed to be terrorism-related, was 27-year-old O'Bryan Spikes.

Police said four officers were working security in the club's parking lot and some tried unsuccessfully to revive the man who died.

The coroner removed a body shortly after 6am.

Authorities asked anyone with information to come forward and investigators were checking to see if surveillance cameras were working.

Cincinnati police chief Eliot Isaac said one of the wounded was in an "extremely critical condition."

Two victims were listed as being in a critical condition following the incident at the downtown club where some 200 people were at the time.

Several local men got into a dispute inside the bar which escalated into shots from several individuals, said Mr Isaac, adding that several firearms were got inside despite security.

Five of the injured were treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Centre and released, said hospital spokeswoman Kelly Martin.

She said two people were in critical condition and another two were listed in a stable condition. The other people injured at the club were taken or drove themselves to other hospitals.

First responders had problems reaching the shooting victims because the parking lots were full.

Police captain Kim Williams said there was "just a lot of chaos, obviously, when shots were fired."

"Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst."

Mayor John Cranley called the shootings "unacceptable" and said authorities would work to find ways to prevent such violence.

Cameo's Facebook profile said it caters to college students on Friday nights, when anyone over 18 is allowed in, while Saturdays are "grown and sexy night" for ages 21 and older.

The club has a history of gun violence, including a shooting inside the club on New Year's Day in 2015 and one in the parking lot that September, said city manager Harry Black.

The area is mostly industrial but also home to several nightclubs with a smattering of homes. A regional airport is nearby.

The neighbourhood is fairly empty at night, except for the nightlife scene and 24-hour garages.

The road where the club sits was easily cordoned off by a single police cruiser and officer at either end.

Ohio governor John Kasich said on Twitter he was "saddened to learn about last night's shooting" and that he was offering the state's assistance.

AP
Kathmandu, Mar 26 (IBNS): Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari will visit India next month, media reports said.

She will visit the neighbouring nation on Apr 17, media reports said.

"The Presidents Office confirmed her India visit, which will be her first foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015," The Kathmandu Post reported.

The Nepali leader will visit India at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.

Image: Wikimedia Commons
New York, Mar 26 (Just Earth News): Voicing deep concern over recent escalation of fighting in Syria, the United Nations Special Envoy for the country has urged Iran, Russia and Turkey to undertake urgent efforts to uphold the ceasefire which has been in effect since late December last year.

Growing violations in recent days are undermining the ceasefire regime addressed through the Astana meetings, with significant negative consequences for the safety of Syrian civilians, humanitarian access and the momentum of the political process, said UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura.

According to a note to correspondents issued today, de Mistura sent letters to the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran  as the three guarantor-States of the ceasefire  to undertake urgent efforts to uphold it.

These appeals were also brought to the attention of Russia and the United States as the Co-Chairs of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), the note added.

The ceasefire came into effect on 30 December last year, but recent fighting in capital Damascus, Hama and elsewhere in Syria have put it under strain.

Also in the note, de Mistura noted that joint efforts of Iran, Russia and Turkey to guarantee the ceasefire are indispensable for improving the conditions on the ground and contributing to an environment conducive for a productive political progress.

UN Photo/Violaine Martin

Source: www.justearthnews.com
Source: Sony/Columbia Pictures. 'Life' is the latest movie to use an A-list cast to advance a narrative that's heavy on science.

In real life, the future of the International Space Station was debated just this week in Congress. NASA is gradually transitioning away from shouldering the project's annual budget of more than $3 billion, to a new role of helping to facilitate commercial space travel .



On the screen, however, the ISS has become the scene of a frightening new life formand Hollywood's latest example of giving a movie meticulous treatment that's worthy of the best scientific minds on the planet.

"Life," which opened on Friday and stars A-list actors Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal, centers on the groundbreaking discovery that's long been the holy grail of space geeks everywhereevidence of biological life on Mars. As is often the case with aliens on the big screen, the crew's elation over the microscopic organism quickly devolves into fear and a struggle for survival.

If all that sounds familiar...it is: The formula's been tried before in countless sci-fi/horror forerunners. Yet this time around, much of "Life's" plot revolves around science, making it part of a wave of recent Hollywood productions like "The Martian," "Arrival," and "Passengers" that don't rely as heavily on the traditional extravaganza of big-budget special effects.

Both chilling and cerebral, "Life" has its fair share of CGI-enhanced moments. Yet the narrative is infused with hefty doses of humanityeven as it lovingly embraces science in ways a microbiologist or astrophysicist can fully appreciateand still grounded enough for non-scientific lay people.

At a time when "the search for life in space is pretty feverishI think this is something that doesn't take a huge leap of imagination," screenwriter Rhett Reese told CNBC recently.

Rather than in a galaxy far, far awayor hundreds of years in the futurethe narrative for "Life" is set in the present day, which Reese explained was a deliberate attempt to connect the plot to the modern-day push to explore the galaxy , and eventually touch down on the Red Planet itself.

Story continues

The question of finding extraterrestrials, if they even exist, is "pretty amoralit can lead to great things and terrifying things," Reese added. "In general, the quest for knowledge is a good one, and even [physicist] Steven Hawking talked about if we contact an alien being, is that a good thing?"



Bets on a journey to Mars are increasing, as wealthy entrepreneurs chart a path to the Red Planet. The ambition is being fueled in part by commercial considerations of space travel, but also by scientific curiosity that some scientists argue could help ensure the eventual survival of humanity itself .

"We can be smarter than [an alien], and be hostile to it and use it for nefarious ends," Reese said, suggesting that "Life" illustrates the dangers associated with a human race that's obsessively focused on finding life outside of Earthand whether its really prepared to have that wish granted.

A 'very human story'

Reese and his writing partner Paul Wernick also penned "Deadpool," one of 2016's sleeper hits. In "Life", the duo create a movie that's equal parts "Alien", "Predator" and "2001: A Space Odyssey," in keeping with what the writers explained to CNBC was an effort to imbue "Life's" plot with a "science fact" ethos.



Indeed, the film's writers and producers consulted with a battalion of scientists and medical doctors to replicate the zero-gravity nothingness of space, while remaining true to the thrills of a horror movieone that's complete with a 'just-when-you-think-it's-over-it's-not' ending.



Reynolds and Gyllenhaal notwithstanding, the real star of the movie is "Calvin", the Martian lab specimen that rapidly evolves into a sentient predatorwith devastating effects for the six member ISS's crew.

"This movie has a very human story," Wernick told CNBC. The movie explores how "a terrifying creature come to life, and how do humans deal with thatwhile stuck in a claustrophobic, haunted house kind of environment."

In some regards, the movie's central motif makes it more terrifying for audiencesnamely that it takes place so close to Earth (and within modern times), rather than in a faraway planet or future. Wernick and Reese said that is likely to be a big part of the movie's appeal.

"We delve into the human story and, setting aside the alien coming to life [explore] how do humans react and interact amongst themselves that happens within their walls," Wernick added.







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By Vladimir Soldatkin and Rania El Gamal KUWAIT (Reuters) - A joint committee of ministers from OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers has agreed to review whether a global pact to limit supplies should be extended by six months, it said in a statement on Sunday. An earlier draft of the statement had said the committee "reports high level of conformity and recommends six-month extension". But the final version said only that the committee had requested a technical group and for the OPEC Secretariat to "review the oil market conditions and revert ... in April, 2017 regarding the extension of the voluntary production adjustments". Oil sector analysts said the lack of an immediate extension could drag on crude prices. "The dropping of the recommendation to extend cuts in favor of technical review committee is likely to lead to a lot of disappointment and potential further liquidation of long positions by money managers that will put downward pressure on oil prices," said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodities strategy at BNP Paribas in London. It was not immediately clear why the wording had been changed, although a senior industry source said the committee lacked the legal mandate to recommend an extension. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and rival oil-producing nations were meeting in Kuwait to review progress with their global pact to cut supplies. OPEC and 11 other leading producers including Russia agreed in December to cut their combined output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of the year. The original deal was to last six months, with the possibility of a six-month extension. "Any country has the freedom to say whether they do or they don't support (an extension). Unless we have conformity with everybody, we cannot go ahead with the extension of the deal," Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq said, adding that he hoped a decision would come by the end of April. The oil ministerial committee "expressed its satisfaction with the progress made towards full conformity with the voluntary production adjustments and encouraged all participating countries to press on towards 100 percent conformity," the statement said. The December accord, aimed at supporting the oil market, has lifted crude to more than $50 a barrel. But the price gain has encouraged U.S. shale oil producers, which are not part of the pact, to boost output. The committee said it took note that certain factors, such as low seasonal demand, refinery maintenance and rising non-OPEC supply had led to an increase in crude oil stocks. It also observed the liquidation of positions by financial players. "However, the end of the refinery maintenance season and noticeable slowdown in U.S. stock build as well as the reduction in floating storage will support the positive efforts undertaken to achieve stability in the market," it said. It asked the OPEC Secretariat to review oil market conditions and come back with recommendations in April regarding an extension of the agreement. "This reaffirms the commitment of OPEC and participating non-OPEC countries to continue to cooperate," the statement said. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said it was too early to say whether there would be an extension, although the agreement was working well and all countries were committed to 100 percent compliance. Olivier Jakob, of oil consultancy Petromatrix, said that with the revision of the ministerial committee's statement, it was becoming more difficult to know who was responsible for what in OPEC. "That is not the best option to provide clarity to the oil markets," Jakob said. Ellen Wald, a consultant on the global energy industry, said: "I think the market will react negatively to the lack of a clear direction on a rollover for the deal." 'ENCOURAGING ELEMENTS' Before the meeting, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi told reporters there were some encouraging elements that suggested the oil market was improving, and that if all OPEC members agreed measures to help price stability, Iraq would support such steps. "Any decisions taken unanimously by members of OPEC ... Iraq will be part of the decision and will not be deviating from this," Luaibi said. Iraq's oil production is running at 4.312 million bpd this month, Luaibi said, adding that his country had cut its oil exports by 187,000 bpd so far and would reach 210,000 bpd in a few days. Compliance with the supply-cut deal was 94 percent in February among OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers combined, Russia's Novak said. Russia is committed to cuts of 300,000 bpd by the end of April, Novak said. Novak said he expects global oil stockpiles to decrease in the second quarter of this year. "The dynamics are positive here, I believe," Novak said, adding that inventories in the United States and other industrialized countries had risen by less than in the past. Kuwait's oil minister said the market may return to balance by the third quarter of this year if producers comply fully with their production targets. "More has to be done. We need to see conformity across the board. We assured ourselves and the world that we would reach our adjustment to 100 percent conformity," Marzouq said. (Reporting by Rania El Gamal, Vladimir Soldatkin, Ahmed Hagagy; Additional reporting by Christopher Johnson in London; Editing by Dale Hudson and Catherine Evans)
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In a move that would encourage Indias claim on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), the British Parliament has passed a motion condemning Pakistans recent announcement of declaring Gilgit-Baltistan as its fifth province saying the region is a legal and constitutional part of Jammu and Kashmir and is an integral part of India, illegally occupied by Pakistan since 1947.

Gilgit-Baltistan is a legal and constitutional part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India, which is illegally occupied by Pakistan since 1947, and where people are denied their fundamental rights including the right of freedom of expression, the motion read. The motion was tabled and sponsored on March by Conservative Party leader Bob Blackman who stated that Pakistan by making such an announcement is attempting to annexe the already disputed area.

The motion further criticised the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and noted that its an attempt to change the demography of the region which is the violation of the State Subject Ordinance.

The Gilgit-Baltistan area is Pakistans northernmost administrative territory that borders the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Recently, Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharifs Foreign Affair advisor Sartaz Aziz had recommended Gilgit-Baltistan to give a provincial status.

Pakistan has four provinces in form of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Over the years, New Delhi has fervently maintained that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, which includes areas currently under Pakistan occupation, is an integral part of the Union of India.
In order to prevent terrorists from entering the country, Pakistan army has started fencing the border with Afghanistan, the Pakistan Army Chief, Javed Qamar Bajwa said on Saturday. The move has come after the long pending complaint from the security officials that Pakistani militants who fled the country due to several operations launched by the army to quell terror activities on Pakistani soil are now operating from across the border in Afghanistan.

Reuters

Pakistan shares a 2600 km long border with Afghanistan which is mostly porous, and Pakistani official believe that bombers could enter Pakistan due to weak border manning. Army chief Bajwa recently visited the border areas in Orakzai and Mohmand where he told troops that fencing has started in Bajaur and Mohmand agencies as their areas are high threat zones.

Both Bajaur and Mohmand border Afghanistan and had once been under the influence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

AFP

"Additional technical surveillance means are also being deployed along the border besides regular air surveillance," Bajwa was quoted in a story by IANS, adding the Pakistan Army shall employ all resources required for defence of the country and security of peace-loving Pakistani tribes.

The army chief said that efforts are in hand to evolve a bilateral border security mechanism with the Afghan authorities, according to an army statement.

"A better managed, secure and peaceful border is in mutual interest of both brotherly countries who have given phenomenal sacrifices in the war against terrorism," he said.
Not only Modi remembered Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajgurus on their death anniversary which was on 23rd March but he also spoke on a wide range of issues from Bangladesh Independence Day to the freedom struggle, while thanking the nation for cooperating and embracing digital transactions in combating the menace of black money. Read more

1) US Confirms It Launched Air Strikes That Killed At Least 200 Innocent Civilians In Mosul

The United States army has acknowledged that its warplanes had hit Islamic State-occupied West Mosul in which 200 civilians may have reportedly lost their lives. The loss of civilian lives has forced Iraqi security forces to halt their operations against ISIS. Read more

2) Delhi High Court Puts Pilot On Trial For Sexually Abusing Air Hostess And Threatening To Kill Her

The Delhi High Court has ordered a trial on a pilot with a private airline for allegedly forcing unnatural sex on a former air hostess of the carrier, absolving him of the charge of rape. Read more

3) Indian-Americans Raise $100,000 To Help The Man Who Tried To Save Indian Killed In Kansas





A 24-year-old American, who tried to save an Indian, who was killed in the US recently has been honoured as 'A True American Hero' by the Indian-American community in Houston. Read more

4) Government Slams New York Times' Editorial For Criticising Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath

The Indian government has reacted sharply to The New York Times' editorial criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's choice of Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The government has also said that the paper's wisdom to write such a piece was "questionable". Read more

5) Shashi Tharoor Shared A Petition Seeking An Apology From The British For Atrocities Under Colonial Rule




The Delhi High Court has ordered a trial on a pilot with a private airline for allegedly forcing unnatural sex on a former air hostess of the carrier, absolving him of the charge of rape.

Justice S P Garg said the trial court "fell into grave error" by observing that the pilot used his authority to force the 29-year-old woman, a Delhi resident, to have physical relations with him.

The court noted that as per the woman's version, the accused had approached her only in October 2013 nearly 10 months after she had quit the airline. At that time, she was not in any manner under his supervision or dominance, it said.

Representational Image

"There was no occasion for the petitioner (pilot) to establish a physical relation with the prosecutrix (a female prosecutor) using his position or authority as a pilot," it said.

It, however, said that the accused has to face trial for the charge of unnatural sex as "truthfulness and falsity of allegations cannot be gone through at this stage".

The court observed that the allegation pertaining to the unnatural offence cannot be brushed aside or ignored.

The man is on bail since September 2014 and had claimed that "no incriminating material" was produced against him by the woman to prove the charges.

Representational Image

As per the prosecution, the woman had joined the airline in August 2009 as an air hostess and had quit the job in January 2013. The prosecution had contended in the high court that the petitioner had on February 2, 2014 gone to her house and had offered to drop her for her flight that day. Finding her alone, the man had committed the offence, it had said.

Subsequently, an FIR was filed against the man in June 2014.

Relying on the prosecution version, the court observed that "similarly, there are allegations whereby the prosecutrix was threatened that she would be defamed by showing her obscene pictures if she tried to reveal the incident to anyone.

"She was also threatened that she would be killed if the situation so demanded... The petitioner shall face trial for commission of offences punishable under Sections 377/506 (unnatural sex and criminal intimidation) IPC.
The Indian government has reacted sharply to The New York Times' editorial criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's choice of Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. The government has also said that the paper's wisdom to write such a piece was "questionable"

BCCL

"All editorials or opinions are subjective. This case is particularly so. The wisdom in doubting the verdicts of genuine democratic exercises, at home or abroad, is questionable," said External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay.

PTI

The New York Times in the highly critical editorial, titled 'Modi's Perilous Embrace of Hindu Extremists', said since he was elected in 2014, Modi has played a "cagey game, appeasing his party's hard-line Hindu base while promoting secular goals of development and economic growth".

The move by Prime Minister Modi's party to name "firebrand Hindu cleric" Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh's chief minister is a "shocking rebuke" to religious minorities, the editorial asserted.
A 24-year-old American, who tried to save an Indian, who was killed in the US recently has been honoured as 'A True American Hero' by the Indian-American community in Houston.

Ian Grillot took a bullet in a bid to save Kansas racial attack victim., The NRI community has raised $100,000 to help him buy a house in his hometown.

AP

ALSO READ: After The Murder Of Indian Techie, Kansas Marks March 16 As Indian-American Appreciation Day

He intervened in the shooting by a Navy veteran targeting Indians at a bar in Olathe, Kansas last month, was honoured as 'A True American Hero' at the 14th annual gala of India House Houston here.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured in the shooting.

"On behalf of the Indian-American community in Houston, India House recognised this selfless act beyond the call of duty and has extended the community's gratitude to Ian Grillot by helping him to buy a house," said a statement posted on the India House Houston Facebook page.

AP

India House raised $100,000 as part of an initiative supported by the Consul General of India in Houston Dr Anupam Ray to help Ian buy a house in his hometown, it said.

India's Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna handed over a cheque of $100,000 to Ian.

"I don't know if I could've lived with myself if I wouldn't have stopped or attempted to stop the shooter because that would've been completely devastating. I do now have a very powerful message and if I can help empower people and spread hope and love, then why not? I am honoured to be at India House that serves so many families from so many communities in the Houston area," Ian said.

ALSO READ: Kansas City Shooter Thought He Was Killing Iranians Not Indians. Still It Doesn't Make Sense

CNN

India House is a community centre built by Americans of Indian origin in the Greater Houston area.

"It is not every day that one meets a genuine hero - a person who risks his life for another and takes a bullet for a complete stranger. Ian Grillot is a man who reminds us of the promise of America and its greatness," said Jiten Agarwal, a prominent Houstonian and Chair of the annual gala.

ALSO READ: Kansas Governor Writes to PM Modi, Expresses His Grief Over Hate Crime Against Indians
Worrying new satellite images show that North Koreas Kim Jong-un is preparing for more nuclear missile tests. Pictures from space of Punggye-ri nuclear test site reveal the presence of four-five vehicles at the entrance to the North Portal, the site for North Koreas nuclear tests.

PLEIDES CNES

It is feared that these vehicles could be related to test preparations and may be involved in the installation of new nuclear devices, The Sun quotes the 38 North.

REUTERS

It was also reported that North Korea is planning to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile, capable of travelling 10,000km and could strike the US.
Several prominent poets, artists, writers have failed miserably in their attempts at describing the beauty of mountains.

Those cliffs, that are almost always trying to kiss the sky, people who maintain precocious talent for camaraderie, scrumptious cuisine, divine view and everything else is simply just a blend of serenity.

And so, if the idea of visiting a mountain has got you all thirsty for its beauty, then go no further than these Instagram accounts that are run by some villagers in Uttarakhand.

@Voicesofmunsiari could easily be the countrys first community-run Instagram channel that posts drop dead gorgeous images from the area. From animals to mountains,

Animals, birds, mountains, people, culture - this account entail bits and pieces of this village in Uttrakhand. Young people from the village of Munsiari block of Pithoragarh district upload photos and share stories with the world.

Alka Rautela, one of the masterminds behind this account says she was quite concerned whether she'd be able to put good pictures or not, but so far, it has been a good ride.

The account is the brainchild of itinerant traveller Shivya Nath, who quit her job to travel the world. Last year in May, when Shivya visited the villages, she influenced people to start an Instagram account and share their journey.

The account now shares experiences from the joy of snow-laden winters to farming of potato and rajma, the stories are many and varied.

Locals, trekkers, tourist guides, and students from the region have pitched in support for this account's management.

"Whenever I go for treks, I take photographs of mountains, birds, flowers and butterflies. I like to capture the joys and struggles of living in such a remote place. I also upload photos of our local cuisine and the fruits found here," says Trilok Singh Rana, 30, who works as a tourist guide, as reported by The Times Of India.

Let's just hope that this first of its kind Instagram page inspires other villages in the hilly region of India!

*fingers crossed*
It seems that the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is in no meed to tolerate any filth around. After giving a clear warning to government employees against chewing tobacco in the official premises, it looks, the offenders will be dealt with strongly. To begin with, an UP police inspector was suspended for chewing tobacco and not sweeping the floor despite the oath of cleanliness and for not wearing a proper uniform in Madiaon police station on Saturday.

PTI

ALSO READ: Just Three Days Into Office, UP CM Yogi Adityanath Puts A Ban On Gutka, Pan Masala And Plastic In Govt Offices Only

The action was taken after visuals went viral of station house officer of Madiaon, Nagesh Mishra reading the cleanliness pledge with tobacco in his mouth and wearing slippers at the function instead of shoes. Senior officials said when he was asked to take the oath he had refused, saying, "I did not become an inspector to wipe floors."

SSP Lucknow, Manzil Saini told TOI that the Inspector was suspended for showing police in a poor light. It is not expected from the level of rank of an inspector to chew tobacco while taking oath, she added.

ANI

"Madiaon police station is filthy and instead of making an effort to clean it, Mishra made an irresponsible remark," said the SSP.
A group British Muslims has started crowdfunding for the victims of the British Parliament attack that took place on Wednesday. According to Al Jazeera, $33,500 were collected by this group of over a 1,000 people.

Reuters

"I was there and I was shocked," Muddassar Ahmed told Al Jazeera. "Because I saw what happened, I felt that had to do something for the victims ... I wanted to raise money quickly so I launched the campaign late that night." Ahmad was barricaded in the nearby office building in Westminster at the time of the attack that killed five people injured 40 people.

Reuters

Ahmad and other British Muslims decided to collect the money for the victims of the attack.

It was primarily to help families of the victims ... it was something that could be done to offer support and empathise with the families." Two British Muslim MPs - Naz Shah and Yasmin Qureshi - have since voiced their support for the Muslims United for London initiative.

On the crowdfunding page, Ahmed wrote that he was shocked to witness "The injuries and loss of life outside my window".

"I reflected on what it means to be a born-and-bred Londoner and found myself proud of how security and medical services responded," he said.

Reuters

According to the reports, the suspect by the attack was identified as Khalid Masood, 52-year-old who was neutralised by the police after he stabbed a policeman to death. Out of the 40 people who got injured in the attack, 7 are in critical condition in hospital.

"Rather than just condemning the attacks, being proactive and actually doing something is part of the solution," said Ahmed.

Reuters

While acknowledging that the campaign might help to show Muslims in a positive light, that was not his "primary goal".
Students of Pakistan's Sindh University who celebrated Holi on March 8 were told to submit apologies in affidavits for celebrating the Hindu festival on campus, reported The Express Tribune newspaper.

Reuters/Representational Image

The chair of the university's mass communication department, Badar Soomro, was the one who asked for the apology. And perturbed university administration officials are now inquiring into whether what happened was a disciplinary issue or a discriminatory one.

If religious discrimination is established, action will be taken against the concerned official, the university's vice-chancellor (VC) Fateh Muhammad Burfat said. He added that of 10 students who had to apologise, four are Hindu and six are Muslim.

"Sindh University has the highest number of Hindu community staff and students compared to any other university. They all work and study together with Muslims with utmost harmony," he said.

AFP/Representational Image

The incident came to light when one of the students' affidavits became public. Student Raja Deepak's affidavit "spread like wildfire on social media", wrote the Tribune.

"...Those were the days of Holi and friends threw colours of Holi at each other as is the tradition. But this was wrong according to the university's law and because of which our department's ID cards were taken away," reads the affidavit, according to the newspaper.

Soomro, who has been a member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan for decades, was taken aback by the insinuation of religious bias.

He told the VC that he took action to maintain administrative discipline and not to deny religious freedom. He added the students had not taken permission for the campus celebration. For any religious or cultural activity, the students are supposed to write to the VC or the registrar for permission.

Reuters/Representational Image

Some students told the Tribune that such rules are only now being followed to the letter. They implied it was religious discrimination.

"When we were new in the university, we saw our seniors celebrating Holi and other religious or cultural activities with complete freedom," a student claimed.

"The inquiry committee headed by Dean of the Faculty of Law, advocate Jhamat Mal Jethanand, has been given a one-point agenda - to ascertain whether any discrimination took place," said vice chancellor Fateh Muhammad Burfat at a press conference yesterday.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Laughter, music and the tapping of dancing shoes reverberated throughout a public memorial to Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, which loved ones say is just how the actresses would have wanted it.

There were few tears throughout the two-hour ceremony Saturday, which honored the mother-daughter duo's impact on film, culture and those who knew them with a mix of photos, videos, and anecdotes that kept the audience laughing and applauding.

Todd Fisher led the ceremony, which he said was intended to bring fans an intimate view of his mother and sister. He called it a show, saying his mother hated to attend memorials.

Hundreds of fans  some wearing "Star Wars" attire  attended the public ceremony that featured numerous family photos and Reynolds' final interview reflecting on her life and philanthropy, and one of Fisher's high school friends sharing some her off-color emails to him.

A troupe from Reynolds' dance studio performed an homage to "Singin' in the Rain," the film that catapulted Reynolds to stardom at age 19. After an opening film that was an ode to Fisher's "Star Wars" role, a working R2D2 unit came on stage, mournfully beeped and parked next to a director's chair with Fisher's name on it. Across the stage, near a piano, sat an empty chair with Reynolds' name on it.

Fisher, 60, an actress and writer who starred as Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, died Dec. 27 after suffering a medical emergency days earlier aboard a flight from London. Reynolds, an Oscar-nominated actress for her role in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," died the following day at age 84.

Todd Fisher recounted his mother's final moments and her remark that she wanted to be with her daughter.

"It was a very peaceful exit that only my mother could have orchestrated," he said to booming laughter. "She was trained in Hollywood where they teach you to make a great entrance, and exit."

Story continues

Fisher and Reynolds had a complex relationship, with some years of estrangement before they reunited and became close confidantes.

Actor Dan Aykroyd described Fisher, his one-time fiancee, as a chatterbox who never let him speak. He described using the Heimlich maneuver on her once, and joked that if he had been on the plane where Fisher fell ill in December, he "might have been able to save her again."

He echoed a sentiment expressed by many early in his remarks. "We really shouldn't be here this soon," he said.

The ceremony was attended by several stars, including Rene Russo, Beverly D'Angelo, "Dallas" actress Morgan Brittany, actor-director Fisher Stevens, "Brady Bunch" actress Susan Olsen and actor Griffin Dunne.

Dunne recounted living with Fisher in New York when they were both young actors, and her initial reactions to working on "Star Wars." He recounted Fisher's assessment of the film: "It's stupid and it's terrible."

After the first screening, they both knew she had been wrong. "We knew movies would never be the same, and you just knew Carrie's life would never be the same."

When speakers weren't delivering one-liners  some that had been uttered or penned by Fisher and Reynolds  music and dance took over the stage. The ceremony featured a new song James Blunt wrote after Fisher's death, and the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles performed a somber rendition of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" that celebrated Fisher's status as a feminist icon.

Actress Ruta Lee celebrated Reynolds' philanthropy in her eulogy, which included her singing to troops during the Korean War and her later efforts raising millions to help those suffering from mental illness. Carrie Fisher battled mental illness and addiction, exploring her struggles in the book "Postcards from the Edge."

Fisher discussed her mother's charitable work in a video clip, joking: "She sort of started what this town was going to need quite a bit of, which was treatment for the mentally ill."

Lee said it was OK to feel sadness at the deaths of Reynolds and Fisher, but not to dwell on it. "Debbie the unsinkable and her beautiful daughter would never want us to mourn," she said.

Author Gavin de Becker, who attended high school with Fisher and recounted how his infatuation with her turned into a lifelong friendship, said his friend "zoomed through time" and made so many people's lives better. He recounted how Fisher took him on international trips and "gave me so many firsts."

"The first time I had sex was at Carrie's house," de Becker said. "It wasn't with Carrie, but she arranged it."

It was one of many tales about the actresses that drew boisterous laughter.

After the service, fans were invited to see the actresses' final resting place at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills, a storied cemetery where numerous celebrities, including Bette Davis and Liberace, are buried or interred.

Many also paused to snap photos with some of the actresses' memorabilia that was displayed outside the theater, including two dresses Fisher wore while filming "Star Wars" and "When Harry Met Sally," and two of Reynolds' costumes from "Singin' in the Rain" and "Unsinkable Molly Brown."

___

Associated Press producer Nicole Evatt contributed to this report

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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
The entire world observed Earth Hour last night, by switching off the unnecessary lights, according to their respective timings. It is an important reminder for all of us that we have to conserve energy. The Earth Hour is organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to encourage individuals, communities, households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. towards the end of March. Let us see how these world city honoured their commitment towards this cause.

1. Mumbai, India
The United States army has acknowledged that its war planes had hit Islamic State-occupied West Mosul in which 200 civilians may have reportedly lost their lives. The loss of civilian lives has forced Iraqi security forces to halt their operations against ISIS.

Reuters

Amid the fight between the coalition forces and ISIS getting intensed over West Mosul, the reportedly last bastion of the Islamic State, the fate of half a million civilians living the occupied areas has become quite uncertain and the US recent air raid further puts a question mark on their lives. Since October last year, Iraq forces have seized Mosul to remove IS footprint from the map of Iraq and till now majority of the Mosul has been freed from the menace of the IS. West Mosul is said to be the last front of war with IS.

But this last seize of West Mosul has turned into a nightmare for both the civilians as well as the forces as IS terrorists are hiding among the civilians population which had made it difficult for forces to identify and neutralise the terrorists while keeping civilians safe.

AP

The US military is investigating the truth by the civilian deaths during the US air raid on March 17 in Moul-al Jadida. According to some residents, the coalition air strike hit an explosive-filled truck, detonating a blast that collapsed buildings packed with families.

Mosul municipality chief, Abdul Sattar al-Habbo, who is supervising the rescue, said 240 bodies had been pulled from the rubble of collapsed buildings. Previous estimates from local officials had said around 130 people had died.
The civilians caught up between the ISIS and the coalition forces are once again facing the brunt of the fight to retake the city from the Jihadists.

AFP

The US led coalition has in the recent days stepped up air raids in Mosul, the de facto capital of the Islamic State's caliphate.

But it has taken a toll on the civilians. According to local reports over 200 civilians have been killed in Mosul in the air strike.

AFP

Rudaw, a Kurdish news agency reported that 137 people  most believed to be civilians  died when a bomb hit a single building in al-Jadida, in the western side of the city on Thursday. Another 100 were killed nearby.

The Mosul Eye, an activist group from the city monitoring the conflict, reported that an airstrike from an unidentified plane set off the explosives that had been laid by ISIS.

Reuters

Iraqi Civil Defence claimed they pulled 136 bodies from the rubble in the New Mosul district of the city.

The US has acknowledged the civilian deaths and the military is conducting its own probe of the incident.

Reuters

The United Nations estimate that some 600,000 people remain in the parts of western Mosul held by ISIL, including 400,000 who are "trapped" in the Old City under siege-like conditions.

As the number of people fleeing the conflict increase UN has warned that civilians are at risk whether they choose to flee the city or remain in their homes.
At least 130 underage Nigerian girls trafficked to Mali and Burkina Faso are still trapped in the two countries, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.

According to the Federal Government, 90 of the girls are in Burkina Faso while the remaining 40 are in Mali.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who disclosed the situation to Saturday PUNCH, described it as requiring urgent attention.

She, however, said the Nigerian embassies in the two countries were currently working to see how to rescue the underage girls.

Dabiri-Erewa also reiterated her warning to Nigerians to avoid Libya following a death penalty awaiting illegal migrants in that country.

The presidential aide had recently said her office would be working with the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons to sensitise Nigerians on the need to avoid some countries.

171 Nigerians were recently repatriated to the country from Libya. The returnees, who were received at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, were brought back through a joint effort of the International Organisation of Migration and the National Emergency Management Agency, in collaboration with the officials of the NCRMID.

The returnees comprised 83 female adults, 10 female children and two female infants; 73 male adults, two male children and one male infant.

Source: Punch
Nigeria leaders both in the past and president have been involved in one scandal about their certificate or the institution they attended so here is a list of those leaders that have been involved in the scandal.

Ill never resign! his gentle voice echoed through his expansive office, as his body shook like a man being led inevitably to the gallows as he addressed journalists in a press conference.

The grandeur of his office as the Speaker, House of Representatives, was unmistakable with his retinue of security details and aides.

There were five rooms adjoining and leading to his expansive official personal office: the security details, receptionists, private secretaries, aides, chief of staff and aid-de-camp.

As the Number Four citizen of Nigeria, he could wield enormous power and would do anything to remain in power  as he had already lied his way to become the fourth most powerful person in the most populous black nation on earth.

The Ahmadu Bello University connection

Erstwhile Speaker of the House of Representatives, Salisu Buharis way to the lower chamber of the National Assembly was fraught with forgeries. To become a federal lawmaker, he claimed he was 36 years old as of 1999, though he was born in 1970.

The minimum required age to be a lawmaker in the House, according to the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, is 30.

He also claimed to have attended University of Toronto in Canada and graduated with a degree in Business Administration, but the university denied he was ever a student of the institution.

And for falsifying his credentials to gain admission into Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, he was kicked out and never had the opportunity to participate in the one-year National Youth Service Corps exercise.

In 2000, the lid was fully blown open and the defiant Buhari broke down in tears of confession before the nation, owning up to allegations of forgery and perjury.

I apologise to you. I apologise to the nation. I apologise to my family and friends for all the distress I have caused them. I was misled in error by my zeal to serve the nation. I hope the nation will forgive me and give me the opportunity to serve again, he begged.

Dino Melaye

To date, Salisu Buhari has remained the poster boy of certificate scandal in the countrys political space, with the latest accusation levelled against a one-time anti-corruption activist and now senator, Dino Melaye.

Forty-three-year-old Melaye, bald-headed with a well-tended moustache to boot, was accused by an online news medium, SaharaReporters of not graduating from the same ABU. One of his colleagues, Senator Ali Ndume, called for the upper legislative chamber to probe him for forgery and perjury.

SaharaReporters, please sue me and ABU if it is true that I did not graduate from Zaria. Tell (the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) Magu (Ibrahim) to arrest and prosecute me. Im presently a student of ABU pursuing my seventh degree, Melaye retorted.

However, Harvard University and the London School of Economics and Political Science, which Melaye had reportedly claimed to have graduated from, told SaharaReporters that Melaye did not study degree courses with them, and hence, couldnt have graduated.

As it is customary, the Senate has referred Melayes case to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions. The committees report is expected to come in towards the end of April.

Just a fortnight ago, the firebrand politician was breathing fire and brimstone, hankering that Magus confirmation should be dismissed because he did not pass the Senates integrity test.

But the spokesman for northern delegates in the last National Conference, Anthony Sani, does not think it is a problem peculiar to politically exposed persons.

Certificate scandal is not an exclusive preserve of politicians but manifestations of corrupt practices that have distorted our sense of what is right and what is evil in the polity. Consider the prevalence of exam malpractices, among our youths in order to have realistic appreciation of the unsavoury situation, he told SUNDAY PUNCH.

A scandal that rocks even presidents

In an animated manner, Sani dismissed an allegation that President Muhammadu Buhari did not have a certificate to show that he finished his secondary school education. He had told SUNDAY PUNCH in 2015 that it was an insult to say the man  a general  that would soon be the nations president did not have such a certificate.

Even though the respected former Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. Alani Akinrinade (retd.), in defence of President Buhari, had expressed disdain for those who accused the President of not having the Cambridge West African School Certificate Ordinary Level in 1961 as he claimed, the allegation left much a chink in the armour of Buhari than any other issue as the 73-year-old has yet to present the certificate.

Few months to the 2015 presidential poll, Buhari defended himself, saying that he attended the Provincial Secondary School, Katsina, with many prominent Nigerians, including the late General Shehu YarAdua.

Certain of not forging his certificate, Buhari said he sat for the University of Cambridge/WASSCE Examination in 1961, with the examination number 8280002, which he reportedly passed in the Second Division.

He also submitted an affidavit to the Independent National Electoral Commission that all his academic credentials were with the Military Board. However, the army issued a curious disclaimer that it did not have the original, certified true copy or statement of results of the retired general.

In the ensuing claim and counterclaim, one Nnamdi Nwokocha-Ahaaiwe instituted a lawsuit asking the court to disqualify Buhari from running for president because he did not have the minimum qualification required to contest for the presidential election.

There was raucous noise across the nation as opponents and supporters awaited the courts pronouncement but before the case could be decided, the former head of state won the election and was sworn in as a democratically elected president.

On June 16, 2016, a Federal High Court in Abuja adjourned the suit indefinitely seemingly putting an end to a nail-biting controversy that may be forever associated with a president who built his claim to the presidency on the platform of integrity.

Goodluck Jonathan

But before Buhari was subjected to this scrutiny, former President Goodluck Jonathan had also been caught momentarily in the web of a certificate scandal.

Like a salvo, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo hauled a bombshell that must have unsettled and rattled the leadership of the PDP and others who revered Jonathan and never ceased to laud him as the first doctoral degree holder to lead Nigeria.

Obasanjo had said, Even Jonathan did not finish his PhD course but when it was presented, we stated that it does not matter but many people did not know because it was a PDP thing.

Coming from arguably Nigerias most respected leader and global statesman, the accusation was weighty and left the sitting presidents integrity and image in a precarious state.

Jonathan reportedly holds a BSc in Zoology with second class honours; an MSc in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology; and a PhD in Zoology, all from the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

His supporters felt Obasanjo was making desperate efforts to discredit the then president ahead of the 2015 presidential poll to ensure he would not win the election.

In a response to an inquiry by The PUNCH, the university had dismissed such accusation as having neither legs nor grounds to stand on.

The institution, through its Deputy Registrar, William Wodi, had said concerning information on Jonathans qualifications, We have absolutely nothing to hide as an institution that has a statutory mandate to advance the frontiers of knowledge.

Yet, when civil society organisation, Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, requested for Jonathans academic records through the Freedom of Information law, the university replied, The Management of the university has carefully considered your request vis-a-vis the FOI Act.

It is my instruction to inform you that your request does not come within the relevant provisions of the FOI Act for its practicability or for the university to provide such details as requested. Details of the PhD Degree of President Goodluck Jonathan in the University of Port Harcourt cannot therefore be made available to you.

That put paid to Obasanjos accusation.

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu

Since 1999, only few men have bestridden Nigerias political landscape like a colossus as the current National Leader of the All Progressives Congress. As the ultimate kingmaker, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has anointed governors and frustrated the ambitions of those who would not kowtow to his political vision.

A formidable political fighter and strategist, loved by many and hated by as much, the allegation that he forged a certificate may always dog the APC leader.

In 1999, one Dr. Waliu Balogun had written a petition against Tinubu that he did not attend Chicago State University as indicated in his INEC form 001 filled when he contested the Lagos State governorship poll and that he also lied in the affidavit he attached to the INEC form, in which he declared that he lost his university degree certificate while he was in exile between 1994 and 1998.

Baloguns litany of complaints included accusations that Tinubus claim of attending Government College, Ibadan, was false; and that he lied in the INEC form about his age  that he was born in 1952 as against the 1954 he filled in the documents at the Chicago university. Tinubu was also accused of not participating in the compulsory one-year NYSC exercise.

Generating a lot of furore, Tinubu was forced to present the original copy of his certificate while he dismissed the allegations as baseless, wicked and unfortunate.

Notwithstanding, that year, a firebrand lawyer and human rights activist, Gani Fawehinmi, went to court to compel the Inspector General of Police to investigate Tinubu. Fawehinmi did not live long enough to finish the lawsuit.

In 2013, however, one Dr. Dominic Adegbola filed an unsuccessful application seeking to reopen the suit.

Ayodele Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, means many things to many people. Some hail him as a courageous politician daring the APCled Federal Government. Others see him as an impostor using populism to take advantage of the Ekiti people  this is partly based on a 2013 certificate scandal that he was embroiled in.

Flamboyant Fayose had claimed that he attended The Polytechnic, Ibadan and bagged a Higher National Diploma certificate but he was left in a state of disbelief when the institution issued a disclaimer that he was never a student of the polytechnic and that the certificate he claimed as his actually belonged to a different person.

Not a few people asked for his prosecution just as Fayose prepared for the governorship election.

In an intriguing volte-face, the state polytechnic ate their words, admitting that Fayose was a graduate of the school and he eventually won the election in October 2014 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Gabriel Suswam

With chubby cheeks and usually wearing a smile, former two-time Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam was accused of forging his West African School Certificate which he used to gain admission to the University of Lagos to study Law.

Ahead of the 2007 governorship poll in Benue, Suswam submitted the certificate to INEC as prerequisite to contest in the election.

No sooner had he done that than it was alleged that his original certificate showed that he passed five subjects, excluding Mathematics and English, which are mandatory for admission into a Nigerian university.

His accusers also accused Suswam of writing to WAEC in 2005 claiming that his certificate was missing, attaching photocopies of the missing certificate, a police report and an affidavit of loss of certificate to the letter.

A PDP aspirant and opponent of Suswam, Terver Kakih, took the matter to court claiming that WAEC issued the accused a new certificate that indicated he passed English and Mathematics, raising suspicions it might have been forged.

The case literally dragged from that point until Suswam completed his tenure as governor with the examination body standing by the certificate it issued Suswam.

The lawsuit moved from the High Court to the Supreme Court and in 2014, the apex court cleared Suswam of any wrongdoing.

Adams Oshiomhole

For many a Nigerian governor, unease lies the head that wears the crown. Like his colleagues mentioned earlier, former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, also walked the often tight rope of a forgery scandal in 2012 when Major General Charles Airhiavbere (retd.) challenged the authenticity of his academic records.

Airhiavbere, who was contesting governorship on the platform of PDP, had said Oshiomholes primary and school certificates were forged.

In a case that went before elections tribunal, Airhiavbere argued that all certificates presented to INEC by Oshiomhole were not authentic.

According to him, Oshiomhole attended Iyamoh Primary School, Iyamoh, from 1957 to 1962, with Edo State Ministry of Educations record indicating that the school was founded in 1963, a year after the then governor said he graduated from it; and that his name was not listed among graduands of Blessed Martins Secondary Modern School, which Oshiomhole was said to have graduated from in 1965, among other issues.

Though Airhiavbere lost his case at the tribunal, he got a reprieve at the Court of Appeal, as the court ordered that a new tribunal should be convened to revisit the petition he had earlier filed.

As time fled past, what used to be a legal tussle between Oshiomhole and the retired general turned into a case of camaraderie because in 2015 during the formers seventh anniversary as governor, Airhiavbere praised him, saying, The platform created by Oshiomhole is strong and tenable and one upon which the APC as a party should allow all aspirants to contest to fly the partys flag in the 2016 governorship election. The governors crowd of supporters and the relevance of the party in the state have been deep-rooted even in opposition, before that election.

Godwin Obaseki

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, succeeded Oshiomhole in running the affairs of the state. He is also like his predecessor in another sense.

Obasekis profile indicates that he attended the Columbia University and Pace University in New York, US and has an MBA in Finance and International Business.

Like his forerunner, Obaseki was accused of using a doctored certificate to seek admission into the university.

Chairman of the PDP in Edo, Dan Orbih, had said about him, He claimed he entered university the year he left secondary school. How could he have gained admission with such result? The result was not even good enough for any form of preliminary studies.

This can only mean that Godwin Obaseki forged certificates to gain admission to the university. It is obvious that the man has no academic qualifications as he had only three credits.

In response, Obaseki produced an affidavit from an Abuja High Court which stated that all of his educational certificates, including his NYSC discharge certificate were missing and in their stead he produced photocopies of the original documents.

The claim was dismissed as flimsy and unconvincing by the PDP.

Staunchly defending himself, Obaseki said, The truth is that I have not had any reason to look for them in the last 25 years. I know that I kept them somewhere in a safe box and I had photocopies. When I needed them for the exercise, I could not find them. So, I swore to an affidavit that I cannot find the originals.

So when the whole controversy started raging, my cousin called me from New York and said, But your originals are here. I said, Please, send them to me now.

For Obaseki, all is well that ends well.

Evan(s) Enwerem

Evan(s) Enwerem was the Senate President on June 3, 1999 but he did not hold the position for long as he was embroiled in a scandal involving forgery and perjury.

He was accused by colleagues in the Senate, said to be led by Senator Chuba Okadigbo (who eventually replaced him and was also booted out in a similar fashion), of using a fake name and falsifying academic records.

The allegation against Enwerem was that he falsified his name and a debate ensued as to whether Enwerems real name was Evan or Evans.

Eventually, he was removed as the senate president on November 18, 1999 but remained as a senator until 2003 and was never prosecuted. He died in 2007.

Stella Oduah

Aged 55, according to Senator Stella Oduahs profile on the National Assemblys page, she reportedly went to St. Johns Primary School and graduated in 1974 with a First School Leaving Certificate; Zixton Secondary School and graduated in 1978 with West African School Certificate; and St. Paul College and finished in 1982 with no certificate received indicated.

A former Minister of Aviation, Oduah is not one to be frightened in times of scandals  she was accused of being among the privileged few women who influenced the decisions of ex-president Jonathan and that she allegedly bought bulletproof automobiles for personal use with government money.

According to information gleaned from online sources, Oduah claimed she attended St. Pauls College, Lawrenceville in Virginia, US, from 1978 to 1982, obtaining a first degree in Accounting and a masters degree in 1983. But St. Pauls College did not seem to have run a masters programme.

On Wikipedia, the senator was also credited with having received an honorary doctoral degree in Business Administration from Pacific Christian University based in Glendale.

That claim too said was said to be preposterous. SaharaReporters had, through a story it published, accused Oduah of falsely claiming to attend the academic institutions.

According to the online publication, the then President of St. Pauls, Dr. Claud Flythe, refused to deny or confirm the senators claim when contacted.

It added that efforts to verify Oduahs academic claim was fruitless as the institutions Office of Alumni Affairs said the college had been closed since June 2013 due to loss of its accreditation.

In spite of these weighty allegations, the delectable senator has kept mum. The citation of the degree has however been yanked off from her Wikipedia page.

Andy Uba

According to his photo-less profile on the National Assemblys official website, Andy Uba is 59 years old; he went to St James Primary School, Uga Aguata, Anambra State and Union Secondary School, Enugu State. SUNDAY PUNCH observed that the space for dates he attended those schools was vacant. He also claimed in the profile that he went to California State University, Los Angeles in 2013 with qualifications that read, Ba, p.hd, dpa award. His profile like many other federal lawmakers did not say much.

In 2006, there were claims that Andy Uba did not have a first degree in Geology which he said he obtained from Concordia University, Canada, in 1984.

His masters degree from California State University was also said to be doubtful; so was his claim to have acquired a doctoral degree from Buxton University in the United Kingdom, as the institution was said to run unaccredited online degrees with an address in Portugal, which was not recognised by the United Kingdom.

Ikechukwu Obiorah had made these allegations in a bid to overturn Ubas election as the senator representing Anambra South Senatorial District in 2011, asking the election tribunal to invalidate his election and order a rerun poll.

While the legal battle continues in the court, the senator relishes his privilege as one of the nations federal lawmakers.

Domingo Obende

The senator representing Edo North senatorial district of Edo State, Domingo Obende, of the APC was one of the nations lawmakers with a moral burden to prove that the documents presented for election into public offices were not forged.

A PDP candidate, Yisa Braimoh, had accused Obende of forging his primary school certificate for the 2011 National Assembly election.

A lawsuit Braimoh filed against Obende was dismissed in 2012. He appealed the judgment but the ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal.

For the senator, that was not just an electoral victory, it was a vindication of his integrity.

Maurice Iwu

Professor Maurice Iwu was INECs Chairman between 2005 and 2010. Last year, the National Human Rights Commission recommended his prosecution for conducting what international observers perceived as one of the most bizarre elections ever held in the world.

The outcome inaugurated the strange staggering of governorship elections now in vogue in the country and affecting Bayelsa, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and Kogi states, where election tribunals upturned the fraud-tainted results.

He bears more burden than that; even his personal integrity was under question as SaharaReporters questioned whether Iwu was actually a pharmacist and if he had a first degree from a university in Cameroon.

The online publication claimed that Iwu attended Biafra Holy Rosary School of Pharmacy, Ummuna Orlu from 1968-1969 where he dropped out in Class 4, coinciding with the same period he indicated to the University of Bradford to have graduated from a university in Cameroon.

Following his stint at the school of pharmacy, the ex-INEC boss was said to have undertaken a course, Dispensing Pharmacy Technician in Compounding, in Cote dIvoire, under the Biafran-Ivory Coast training scholarships for Biafrans. The course was for two months. Following the end of the Biafran war, he landed a job as a dispensing chemist (though he was alleged to have paraded himself as a medical doctor to many of his patients) in Enugu at 35 Zik Avenue, Uwani, opposite Leventis stores, Enugu. He held this job between 1970 and 1973.

Iwu has neither refuted or confirmed these allegations and INEC, too, has remained silent on the matter.

Following the role he allegedly played in connection with the N23.29bn bribery of INEC officials, the EFCC is said to be on his trail.

A LinkedIn profile of Iwu indicated that he went to Lagos University between 1972 and 1977. But another record, according to SaharaReporters showed that the ex-INEC boss obtained his undergraduate, masters and PhD degrees from University of Bradford between 1972 and 1978.

Ndi Okereke-Onyuike

In 2011, according to an online medium, Nigerianvillagesquare.com, the US Securities and Exchange Commission had sent a request to the City University of New Yorks Graduate School asking to know if a former Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Okereke-Onyiuke, had a PhD. The response of the schools Director of Student Services and Senior Registrar of CUNYs Graduate School, Vincent De Luca, was startling.

The statement of the school obtained by our correspondent from the website quoted De Luca as saying, On January 18, 2011, I caused a search to be conducted of our student records (including graduation records) at The Graduate Center, at the request of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, to determine if Ms. Ndi OkerekeOnyiuke was ever enrolled in the PhD programme in Business and if she received a PhD in Business at The Graduate Centre.

A thorough search of our electronic and paper files for the names, Ndi Leche Okereke, Ndi Okereke, Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke and Ndi Lechi OkerekeOnyiuke was conducted. No record was found that Ms. Ndi OkerekeOnyiuke ever enrolled in the PhD programme in Business or received a PhD in Business at The Graduate Centre.

That the former NSE boss earned a first class honours degree in Business Administration, Computer Science and Economics, from Baruch College of the City College of the City, University of New York in 1975, is also said to be contestable  as the institution was said to be non-existent at least in the US, according to SaharaReporters.

The Amazon of the NSE still has all the academic records glowingly displayed on Bloombergs Executive Profile for big guns. She has also yet to counter the rebuttal of the CUNYs Graduate School; and no law enforcement agency in Nigeria is known to have looked into her issue.

Christian Abah

This month, the Supreme Court ended the dreams of Christian Abah of enjoying the privilege of making laws for the country.

Abah, a member of the House of Representatives representing Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadigbo Federal Constituency of Benue State, was kicked out of the legislative chamber.

He was earlier given the boot by a Federal High Court in Abuja in 2016 for submitting a forged certificate of academic qualification to INEC.

The court had ordered INEC to issue fresh certificate of return to Abahs first runner-up in the PDPs primary held in 2014, Hassan Saleh.

The apex court affirmed that he had forged the Ordinary National Diploma certificate purportedly issued to him in 1985 by the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, Adamawa State.

It is a must, to take the lead, righting the wrong in our society if and when the opportunity presents itself as in this appeal. Allowing criminality and certificate forgery to continue to percolate into the streams, waters and oceans of our national polity will only mean that our waters are and will remain dangerously contaminated.

The purification efforts must start now and be sustained as we seek, as a nation, to now change from our old culture of reckless impunity. The Nigerian Constitution is supreme. It desires that no one who has ever presented a forged certificate to INEC should contest election into the Nigerian National Assembly. This is clear and sacrosanct, the court had said while delivering its judgment.

Abah was said to have, in addition to tendering a forged certificate for the 2015 election, falsely claimed in the INECs Form CF001 ahead of the 2015 general elections that he had never submitted a forged certificate to INEC, contrary to an earlier judgment of an election petition tribunal in 2011, declaring that the certificate submitted by him was forged.

The Executive Chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the Nigerian socio-economic and political system is set up to encourage fraud.

Adeniran, expressing his disdain for the governments inability to provide access to free education to Nigerians and blaming such for forging educational certificates, said, This is not to say that it is correct to forge certificates for the purpose of getting into elective offices or any other purpose. No; this is because the act itself is not just criminal, it is morally wrong and depicts a low sense of self-respect and esteem about the forger. It shows lack of self-confidence in ones inherent abilities and the false need to parade oneself as what one is not. It is moral bankruptcy. An honest person would not lie about educational qualifications no matter what.

What the laws say

Concerning perjury, Section 118 of the Criminal Code says, Any person who commits perjury is liable to imprisonment for 14 years. If the offender commits the offence in order to procure the conviction of another person for an offence punishable with death or with imprisonment for life, he is liable to imprisonment for life.

On forgery, Section 465, of the Criminal Code Act, says, A person who makes a false document or writing knowing it to be false, and with intent that it may in any way be used or acted upon as genuine, whether in the state or elsewhere, to the prejudice of any person or with intent that any person may, in the belief that it is genuine, be induced to do or refrain from doing any act, whether in the state or elsewhere is said to forge the document or writing.

But Nigerias wheel of justice may grind too slowly to exact punishment on culprits of perjury and forgery, especially among politically exposed individuals.

One needs not to be told t hat anyone capable of forging a certificate to get into office is extremely likely to perpetrate corruption if elected into office. This is one of what is responsible for the rampant corrupt and sharp practices we witness in public and elected offices on daily basis, the CACOL boss pointed out.

Source : ( Punch Newspaper )
Fadimatu Umar, daughter of the district head of Umar Ardo in Yola, Adamawa State, has claimed that her father bribed the Police Commissioner in charge of Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID) in Abuja to cover up a case of an attempt to kill her.

She alleged that her father planned to use her corpse for a ritual. Ms. Umar claimed that her siblings  Murtala, Aisha, Abubakar and Aliyu  were hired by her father to carry out the murder.

Her siblings, she told SaharaReporters, attacked her in front of the National Identity Card Management Office in Yola, leaving her with a badly damaged arm, which may have to be amputated, according to doctors treating her.

Fadimatu Umar alleges that her father, a traditional ruler, tried to have her killed. The victim, 28, disclosed that less than a year ago, her stepmother, Bintu, died under mysterious circumstances, which she alleged was the handiwork of her father. The womans death, Ms. Umar added, convinced her that she would be the next target.

After hearing noises coming from the front gate of her home, Ms. Umar jumped through her window in fear of her life. She alleged that she was pursued by her siblings, who were armed until they caught up with her in front of the National Identity Card Management Office.

Ms. Umar said she reported the attack to the police, who subsequently arrested Aisha and Abubakar. But Aliyu Umar Ardo, an Air Force officer, and Muitala, who works with Intels Services, escaped arrest by fleeing.

The Air Force officer, she said, later emerged from hiding and wanted to shoot her with a pistol, a fate she escaped through the intervention of family friends. She maintained that Aliyu and Murtala have continued with their plot to kill her in an effort to end the case of attempted ritual killing she reported to the police.Fadimatu Umar alleges that her father, a traditional ruler, tried to have her killed.

Ms. Umar then fled Yola and petitioned the FCID in Abuja. The petition led to the arrest of Murtala in Calabar.

Their father, along with influential people in Adamawa State, used their connections to free Murtala, who proceeded to bribe Mr. Jonah Mava, Police Commissioner in charge of the FCID, to dump the case.

They asked us to come back the next day by 10:00 a.m. But when I got there at 10:00 a.m., they didnt allow me to go inside to see the Commissioner. But when I saw the Investigative Police Officer (IPO) in charge of the matter, he told me that Murtala had been around and that I should go in to see the commissioner, she said.

Having received encouragement from the IPO, Ms. Umar barged into the Commissioners office, where she saw Murtala handing an envelope to the Commissioner of Police.

The Police Commissioner quickly stuffed it in his drawer and said we should come back at noon, she said.

Ms. Umar said she suspected that the envelope contained a bribe from her father. Her suspicion became stronger when, a few days later, the Police Commissioner told her to forget the matter because it was a family affair.

My mind is not at peace because they are still after my life and I cannot step into Adamawa State, she told SaharaReporters.

She also disclosed that her case with the family would be brought to court in Adamawa State on April 6, but she has been warned not to appear in court because she would be abducted.

I have been given privileged information that my father has also paid some men of the Directorate of State Security and the Police to look out for me and arrest me either at the airport or anywhere near the court, Ms. Umar revealed.

Source: SaharaReporters




reince priebus

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace pressed White House chief of staff Reince Priebus on Sunday over President Donald Trump's baseless claim that President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign.

In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Wallace asked Priebus whether Trump accepted the conclusion from law enforcement and intelligence officials that there was no evidence to support Trump's accusation.

"Is he ready to apologize?" Wallace asked of Trump.

"No. And I don't accept it," Priebus replied.

Priebus echoed the administration's recent position on Trump's claims, which somewhat modified the president's original tweet.

Holding up an enlarged print-out of a New York Times headline, the chief of staff argued that law enforcement or intelligence officials may have collected information on members of the president's transition team.

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

"The fact is reports have come out for many, many months now that people on the Trump campaign transition team were surveillanced by, potentially, some intelligence group," Priebus said. "Whether they were intentionally swept up, whether their names were unmasked  Chris, you don't know the answer to that question, and I don't either."

He added: "But if people on the Trump transition were unknowingly surveillanced ... I think it's a big problem, and I think ultimately President Trump is going to be proven correct."

When Wallace asked if Trump believed there was a "concerted effort" by the previous White House to leak intelligence information damaging the new administration, the chief of staff answered that the "leaks are apparent."

"There are leaks out there that are injuring the president," Priebus said. "It's wrong and people should be prosecuted."

He added: "There's potentially something very wrong here, but I'm not going to go any further than that."

Story continues

The Fox News anchor also confronted Priebus about House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes' decision to brief Trumps' team about evidence  unsupported publicly by law enforcement and intelligence officials  that Trump transition officials may have been surveilled.

"Does Chairman Nunes coming to the White House and briefing the president before he briefed his own committee  does that undercut his credibility, and does that open the door for an independent investigation?" Wallace asked.

Priebus refused to endorse or condemn Nunes' brief, saying that the White House doesn't "calculate the decisions that they make and whether they brief someone or not."

"I think we let the House committee do its job and see what they come up with," Priebus said. "And by the way: They're not going to come up with anything."

A chaotic week

Priebus' interview capped a chaotic week in the investigation of Russia's involvement in the 2016 election, which has been confounded by intelligence leaks and Trump's ill-supported accusation of wiretapping.

James Comey

Testifying before the House Intelligence Committee on Monday, FBI Director James Comey announced that the agency was investigating Trump campaign officials' relationship with Russia, and said that the FBI found no evidence supporting the president's wiretap allegations.

After Nunes briefed the White House on Tuesday about potential surveillance of Trump officials, Democrats and some Republicans blasted the chairman for informing Trump's team before alerting his own committee, leading some to call for Nunes to resign and convene an independent investigation into Russia's involvement in the election.

The chairman further enraged Democrats when he canceled an open intelligence committee hearing on Russia with former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former acting Attorney General Sally Yates.

Former Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and Carter Page have agreed to testify before Congress about their contacts with Russia during the campaign.

NOW WATCH: A reporter asked Spicer if hes confident that no one in the White House is a foreign agent





More From Business Insider
We are far from the end as it concerns Dino Melaye certificate saga involving the senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, as his name was mimmfound on the Ahmadu Bello University alumni website,

Melayes trouble began on Monday, March 20, when an online news medium, SaharaReporters, reported that the senator did not graduate from ABU for his first degree.

The senator had claimed that he obtained B.A in Geography from the institution.

Melaye had boasted that he was currently a student in ABU pursuing his seventh degree, adding, Go round all the UNIS (universities) I attended in digging more.

A day after the news broke, Melaye, while speaking on the floor of the Senate, also addressed himself as an authentic graduate of ABU.

On Saturday, an exhaustive online search conducted by our correspondents  from the 1998/1999 alumni set to 2007  for Melayes name on the website of ABU Alumni Association did not give any result that shows that the embattled lawmaker is a graduate of the school.

His name, Daniel Jonah Melaye, as it appeared on a statement of result by the university, when searched, returned with zero result.

When his name was searched for Daniel, Jonah and Melaye separately, different names came up.

A search for Melaye brought up only one result: Melaye Sunday Ola (Biology Education), who graduated in 1980.

Another search for Jonah came up with four different names: Bawa Jonah Seth Besanhi (BSc Geography; graduated in 1973); Birga Jonah (BSc Geography; graduated in 2007); Kaigama Jonah Ishaku (BSc Geography; graduated in 2011); and Ndasala Jonah (BSc Geography; graduate in 1987).

There were 10 results when Daniel was searched: Abin Daniel John (BSc Geography; graduated in 1978); Adamu Kantsan Daniel (Institute Of Education Geography; graduated in 1992); Aniro Daniel Rabo (BSc Geography; no graduation date indicated); Atenji Daniel E. (BSc Geography; graduated in 1986); Beshiru Daniel (BSc Geography; graduated in 1980); Dada Daniel Adefila (BSc Geography; graduated in 1979); Awubra Daniel Akinkwe (Geography; graduated in 2002/2003); Daniel Bosede Biddy (BSc Geography graduated in 1983); Daniel Dogara Garba (BSc Geography; graduated in 2010); and Daniel Ezra Jatau (BSc Geography; graduated in 2011).

When our correspondent called the ABU Public Relations Officer, Mr. Adamu Mohammed, about 8pm on Saturday to find out why the senators name was not on the alumni website, his line rang out. On the second trial, the line was switched off.

A text message also sent to his mobile line on the matter had yet to be replied to as of press time.

When the President, ABU Alumni Association, Prof. Ahmed Tijanni-Mora, he said only the university could confirm if Melaye graduated from the institution.

He said, The registrars of universities are in the best position to provide information about who attended their universities or not.

Last week, ABUs spokesman, Mohammed, when contacted by he promised that the institution would come out with its position on Wednesday, which it failed to do as of the time of filing this report.

However there was a document which revealed that the senator got a statement of result with the logo of ABU.

The statement of result read, This is to certify that Daniel Jonah Melaye having completed an approved course of study and passed the prescribed examinations as, under the authority of the Senate been awarded the Bachelor of Arts (Geography) with Third Class honours.

The statement, issued by the Office of the Registrar, Academic Office, was dated February 3, 2000, and signed by B.B. Mshelthlila.

It was, however, observed that while the statement of result had the name Daniel Jonah MELAYE, the senators National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate, which was issued on July 8, 2001, read Melaye Daniel; his diploma certificate issued by the University of Jos on August 3, 2006 read Daniel Dino Melaye, and his Senior School Certificate in 1992 read Melaiye Daniel Jonah O with Melaye being wrongly spelt.

Similarly, the University of Abuja, which Melaye claimed he had also attended, refused to comment on whether the senator obtained a masters degree from the institution.

The Vice Chancellor of UNIABUJA, Prof. Michael Adikwu, responding to an inquiry by one of our correspondents on Saturday, said, Issues of certificates should be directed to the registry. I heard that (allegation against Dino Melaye) also, but I will find out later.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper)
The Federal government has proposed to through the Minister of State for Education, Professor Anthony Onwuka, yesterday a new policy that will enable Vice Chancellors of various institutions to expel students with as low as 0.5 CGPA.



He disclosed this at the 31st convocation ceremony of the University of Port Harcourt, said students with as low as 0.5 CGPA have no business in the University and should no longer be accommodated.

He said, We must stop to continue housing adventurers, who have no business remaining in the universities beyond the time specified for their studies in the universities. In that wise, it is being proposed that at the end of this academic year, any student with less than 0.5 CGPA should cease to be a student of the university and should be shown the way out. The universities must continue to have people who are serious in what they have come to do. If you have less than 0.5 in your CGPA, you are out. You are out for good so that the space will be left for those who have come to do serious business.

Source: ( Linda Ikeji )
The cruelty of the Fulani herdsmen has continued as a 50-year-old staff of the Delta State University, DELSU, Abraka, Mr. Sunday Idama, at his cassava farmland in Ovre-Abraka community, Ethiope East Local Government Area, Delta State was murdered by a suspected Fulani herdsmen.

Mr. Idama, a father of 14 children, married to three wives had gone to his farm, last Friday, to mount surveillance after discovering that herdsmen were allegedly constantly uprooting his cassava and feeding their cows with them. It was gathered that Idama, who went to the farm with his motorcycle encountered the herdsmen same night and challenged them.

They pounced on him with machetes, cutting him on the hand, leg, face and everywhere until he gave up the ghost.

The Police in the state have confirmed the killing, according to the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, confirmed the killing of Idama.

He said that the police evacuated the remains to Ufuoma Clinic in the area for autopsy and investigations were on by homicide detectives to unmask the killers, no matter their status.

Source: ( Vanguard Newspaper )
The Presidency has announced that the Kaduna Airport recorded not less than 43,000 passengers in its first 11 days of operations as the alternative to the Abuja Airport.

It also said about 10,000 passengers took advantage of its free Bus Shuttle between the Abuja and Kaduna Airports.

A presidential source who pleaded for anonymity said this was contained in the latest data submitted to the Presidency by the Federal Government Coordinating Committee overseeing the management of the Airport repair, closure and relocation.

The Abuja Airport runway was closed for operations on Wednesday March 8, to enable the reconstruction of the entire runway, the Minister of State (Aviation) Hadi Sirika has said.

The airport originally constructed in 1982 has not had the runway repaired despite the fact that it was built to last no more than 25 years.



The reconstruction now in the third week is being handled by Julius Berger Nigeria Limited. The repairs is for six weeks.



According to the source, this number of passengers recorded in the first 11 days was more compared to 41,000 passengers it recorded in the entire first quarter of 2015, and the 21,000 it recorded in the first quarter of 2016.



Quoting the report submitted to the presidency, the source said the free Bus Shuttle conveys passengers between Abuja and Kaduna Airports, starting at the Abuja Airport at 6 oclock in the morning, and at the Kaduna Airport from 8 a.m. The Shuttle takes three hours from Airport to Airport, and runs every 30 minutes, until the arrival of the last daily flight in Kaduna.

The Shuttle is in addition to the Federal Governments free Train Service between Abuja and Kaduna. The two-and-half-hour Train Service departs Abujas Idu Station for Kaduna at 6 a.m., 11.55 a.m. and 5.45 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays; and departs Kadunas Rigasa Station for Abuja at 9 a.m., 2.50 p.m. and 8.40 p.m.

According to the report, the Federal Governments Coordinating Committee, comprising senior officials of the Ministry of Aviation, its parastatals (FAAN, NCAA, NAMA, AIB), and security and emergency agencies (Police, FRSC, DSS, NEMA), chaired by Sirika, meet weekly to review operations, collate statistics, and implement internal and external feedback.

The report also stated that a total of 173 Police Patrol Vehicles, and 2,400 police personnel  drawn from the Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Unit, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, and others were deployed along the Abuja-Kaduna Highway and the Abuja-Kaduna Rail Line.

Equally deployed are 30 Police Motorcycles along the rail tracks, 2 Patrol Helicopters along the rail and road routes, and 10 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) at strategic points on the routes, including the Airports and Train Stations.

According to the source, the April 19th date for reopening remains sacrosanct.

According to the source, after the Abuja Airport reopens for operations on April 19, upgrade works on the runway will continue for another 18 weeks. This second phase of upgrade works on the runway will be carried out at night, with no disruption to flight schedules, the Presidency official further disclosed.l

The source added that a media tour to allow reporters observe and assess the progress on the Abuja Airport runway repair will hold this week, as the repair is about its mid-point on Weenesday.

The FGs Coordinating Committee has launched a series of Customer Engagement initiatives to enable passengers and travellers affected by the closure get up-to-date information and updates. These include a Call Center (open 7am to 10pm Mondays to Fridays and 10am to 4pm Saturdays and Sundays), a website (AbujaAirportClosure.info).

Source: TheSun
Hakeem Balogun, the Charge daffaires of the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, says different reasons are responsible for the extreme vetting Nigerians face during entry into the US.

Mr. Balogun, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Washington, added that the President Donald Trumps travel ban did not affect Nigerians.

The executive ban on immigration does not affect Nigerians. Whatever must have taken place regarding visa issuance, vetting at the airports, its all normal.

All these things have been on even before President Trump. Lets get one thing well. That you are issued visa is not a guarantee that you will end up wherever youre going.

Its a global thing; its not just United States. Even with us in Nigeria, we issue a visa to you here in the Nigerian Embassy.

There is no guarantee that you will get in when you get to Murtala Muhammed Airport or when you get to Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport.

The final authority is the man at the point of entry  immigration officers there. For instance, you can come to the Embassy here, we ask for all the things you need to get the visa.

How much do you have that we feel will be enough for you to stay in Nigeria for the period youre going.

May be as at that time, you were able to show us evidence that you have a thousand dollars which we feel will be enough for you to stay in Nigeria.

By the time you get to Murtala Muhammed Airport, the man at that end there asked you, all you have to show to him is 100 dollars, definitely, he might turn you back, and thats normal.

Mr. Balogun also said Nigerians are restricted from entering the U.S. because they failed to meet other required procedures.

Then there are other things. What manner of visa did you collect to come to the United States?

For instance, a pregnant woman who comes to the United States on visiting visa will probably be turned back at the point of entry because she does not have a medical visa.

You are coming in on a visiting visa and the immigration man sees you pregnant. Naturally, he will turn you back.

Even if you have the medical visa, they want to know if you have medical insurance; do you have your medical documents for you to be able to come and use their medical facilities here.

So these are issues. Nigeria is not being singled out. We are not one of those countries that have been mentioned. We are definitely not one of them.

Source: NAN
Former Governor of Kaduna State and the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has said debunked the rumour that he has accepted Ali Modu Sheriff as the authentic chairman of the party despite the peace pact that happened on Friday between both men.

Makarfi, who spoke to reporters on with on Friday, also said the peace pact had nothing to do with the case involving both factions at the Supreme Court.

The peace pact was the outcome of the meeting between the two groups which was brokered by the partys Reconciliation Committee headed by Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, last week.

Markafi said his faction would pursue the case to a logical conclusion at the apex court.

He, however, said he would not obstruct any move for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

He said, The peace pact does not mean that we have withdrawn our appeal at the Supreme Court. Also, the agreement does not mean that a political solution has been agreed on yet.

It was just an agreement to desist from negative media exchanges of words and nothing more. We cannot be a problem to a meaningful and peaceful resolution. Once it is meaningful and comprehensive, we cant hinder that.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
The Indigenous People of Biafra has described as falsehood a statement credited to the governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha that Nnamdi Kanu at a stage in his struggle was insulting Igbo leaders.

The group said what was perceived as insult by some people about Kanu, was that he was telling them the bitter truth, they did not want to hear.

In a statement made available to our correspondent in Awka, Anambra state, by the Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Emma Powerful, the group said the reason people like the IMO State governor were propagating lies against Kanu was because IPOB had said that the All Progressives Congress under President Muhammadu Buhari had a mission to islamise Nigeria.

Their press statement read in part It is well known to everyone in Nigeria, both the government, that they dont like to hear simple truth and other things that is eating deep into the contraption called Nigeria.

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu propagates the truth to the whole world which people with good conscience around the globe understood and nicknamed him the prophet of our time because almost his teachings and prophecies on Radio Biafra have come to pass.

He prophesied that the APC party led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari was coming to Islamise the country through their brothers in the

guise of cattle rearers/herdsmen and that they would be getting support from their people in the Nigerian security agencies especially the soldiers who will protect them.

Today the islamisation agenda is ongoing in the country without any hindrance.

Since the killing in Agatu Benue state, Uzouwani Enugu State, Southern Kaduna and the killing of unarmed peaceful members of IPOB, there was no official pronouncements against the killings from Nigeria government and APC.

These murderous agents in the guise of cattle rearers in every part of the country killing people, raping women and girls and destroying farmland

everyday without any arrest proves Mazi Nnamdi kanu rights and also proves that they are being supported by the government in power.

That was what IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu preached against not what some politicians understood.

Kanu also said that you may think they are coming to in prove the economy, but they are coming to position their people in all the security agencies for total Islamisation of the country.

The group described as unfortunate that politicians, like Okorocha, could not see beyond their eyeglasses the hidden agenda in the contraption called Nigeria.

The group maintained that the best thing that could happen Nigeria now was to allow those desirous to have their own sovereignties to go their ways.

Source: Punch
Deputy governor of Ondo State, Alhaji Ali Olanusi on Sunday said he had forgiven his former boss, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko and and the state lawmakers who he alleged to have masterminded his impeachment then.

Olanusi who spoke with journalists in Akure, the state capital on the appeal court judgment on Friday, Olanusi said his vindication by the appellate court was not by his cleverness, but an act of God.

He said, There is no cause for revenge, if God did not want all these to happen, it would not have turned out this way.

The injustice has been exposed to the people of Ondo State and may God reward all accordingly.

Olanusi was impeached by the state House of Assembly in 2015 for alleged gross misconduct but had his impeachment nullified by the Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, the state capital on Friday.

He had earlier challenged his impeachment at the Federal High Court, Lagos claiming that the lawmakers did not follow due process before taking the action against him but the court dismissed the suit for lack of jurisdiction.

The former deputy governor defected to the All Progressives Congress from the Peoples Democratic Party shortly before the presidential election in 2015.

He was few weeks after impeached by the state Assembly and replaced by Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo who completed the second term of the Mimikos administration.

Source; ( Punch Newspaper )
The court could only stop the movie from being premiere, but there was no halting of Okafors Law cocktail after party by Omoni Oboli.

The premiere of the much anticipated film was billed to hold Friday 24 March, in a 3 part event  Cocktail, Movie Screening and an After Party. The cocktail was ongoing when a court injunction was served that the movie could not be screened.

Many had thought that would be the end of the beautiful night. But it was not to be. Though Omoni Oboli and Film House who are parties in the injunction were initially shaken, but they soon gathered themselves for the other segments.

According to BB Media, the cocktail held and the beautiful night culminated a beautiful and energy tapping after party.

Omoni Obolis Okafors Law was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2016, and was billed to begin showing in cinemas across Nigeria this month.

A Canada-based writer, Jude Idada had accused Omoni Oboli of stealing his story and idea. Omoni has insisted she wrote the script.

According to sources, Jude filed the complaint as Raconteur Productions and in the court document, it is stated that actress/producer Omoni would have been guilty of contempt of court if she went ahead with a premiere screening or release.

See more photos below:
It was another horrific scene in Imo State as the men of the Police force allegedly shot a young man to death according to two out of the three young men who survived the bullets shot at them by a Police Sergeant.

One of the survivors said he saw the Police officer shoot 16-year-old Obinna Iwuoha to death on Thursday evening at Okohia community in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State.

Chukwuebuka Donatus, 24; and Tochukwu Uzoukwu, 25, who spoke to reporters on Friday on their hospital beds in Orodo, Mbaitoli Local Government Area of the state shortly after waking up from coma, said the trigger-happy policeman shot the teenager at a close range, killing him instantly.

Uzoukwu, a fresh graduate of Imo State university, Owerri, who spoke with pain, lamented that the killing of the senior secondary one boy was the most gruesome incident he had ever witnessed.

He said, I saw with my two eyes as the Police officer released the bullet that killed the young boy instantly. He shot directly at a close range, which terminated his life.

Uzoukwu, who said he had gone to the farm to drive his ailing mother home before stopping to witness the altercation between the Police officers who were at the place for a road duty and a group of youths, mostly teenagers, said the Police officer who killed the lad and also shot three others, including himself, was not the one who had the heated arguments with the teenagers who were on a church procession that Thursday evening.

He said, The Police officer who shot us was not at the scene of the argument. He was not in the picture at all. He was at the other side of the road and only crossed the tarred road to shoot Obinna dead before injuring three of us with the careless bullets he shot ceaselessly at the teenagers and those of us at the other side of the road.

Uzoukwu, who writhed in pain as he spoke, asserted that the Sergeant, together with his colleagues, abandoned him and the other victims to die and made off with Obinnas corpse.

On how he found himself in the hospital, Uzoukwu, who cried uncontrollably as he spoke, said the injury he sustained from the shooting could stop him from participating in the National Youth Service Corps next batch.

Another survivor, Donatus, whose father is currently in the mortuary, disclosed that he was called by the teenagers to bring money for them to repair a flat tyre, but he and the commercial motorcyclist who took him there became victims of the shooting spree.

While he was shot on his two legs, Donatus said the motorcyclist who was still in a coma in an undisclosed hospital as of the time of filing this report, was shot in the stomach.

The doctor who is handling the victims bone fractures told our correspondent that it would take a minimum of three months for the survivors to start walking.

When our correspondent visited the family home of the late teenager, the mother, Catherine Iwuoha, a widow, accused the Police officers of deliberately killing her son.

Flanked by her other children and sympathisers, the widow, who was inconsolable, said her son went to the church rally from school on her approval.

When contacted, the Police spokesperson in the state, Andrew Enwerem, said the Sergeant was already in their custody and did not run away as speculated.

Enwerem said Ufere would be tried and if found guilty would be dismissed from the Force before being tried in the court of law for murder.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
Popular Nigerian comedian, Oluwaseyitan Alatile, a.k.a Seyi Law who got married to Stacy Ebe on March 27, 2011 to and welcomed their first child last year has taken to Instagram to shower accolades on his wife in a Mothers day message.

He wrote:

My Amiable Stacy,

I wish I have the right words to pay you a glowing tribute on this day. I will try with the little English I can spare. To the woman that has held my hands in strength and weakness. The mother of my adorable daughter. The rarest of all precious gems.

The heart so pure it makes gold lose all purity.

A mother to many before her own.

The testimony of your kindness is on so many lips.

I count it all joy, both our travails and happiness, because in you and of you, God has blessed me.

Thank you for every every, you know na.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO YOU and All Good Mothers out there.

I love You.

Seyilaw.

See photo:
Governor of Taraba State,Darius Ishaku has put a ban on any form of protests and demonstrations in the state. This was announced on Saturday in the state capital, Jalingo

The announcement was made by the Deputy Chief Press Secretary, Mr Illiya Bekyu on behalf of the governor.

But, the Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Taraba Chapter, Peter Gambo has swiftly responded by describing the governors directive as a mere threat.

Gambo said workers in the state would not be intimidated by the governors statement.

He said because workers have the right to protest, the governors directive would not be obeyed by the union members.

To avert any form of protest in the state, the government must endeavour to settle all salary arrears meant for public servants.

This is the only way the organised labour can desist from embarking on peaceful demonstrations, he said.

Governor Ishaku said any group or individuals that wanted to protest must seek government approval before embarking on such exercise.

The ban comes four days after primary school teachers in the state protested the non-payment of their salaries, now running into eight months.

The teachers were joined in the protest by their pupils.

I want to state here that individuals or groups wanting to embark on any form of demonstration in the state without government approval are warned to desist forthwith or face the full wrath of the law, he said.

He warned parents and guardians against allowing their children to take to the streets for protest on behalf of their teachers.

The state government is particularly warning parents and some individuals who want to use little children as shield during demonstrations in pressing for whatever demands to refrain from such act or be prosecuted, he noted.

He warned that any attempt by individuals or groups to undermine the credibility of the government would not be tolerated and anyone caught in such act would be treated as a saboteur.

Source: ( PM News )
The European Commissioner for the Environment Karmenu Vella has exhibited doubts that a proposal for waste water fines will comply with EU law.

The proposal to impose fines on people wasting water will be presented at the Dail this Tuesday.

RTE's The Week in Politics have seen a letter where Mr Vella expressed his doubts to Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes.

The letter can be viewed here.

RTE reports that Mr Hayes called on the European Commission to set out its legal view on water charges to the Oireachtas Committee.

"I put the question to Commissioner Vella about whether Fianna Fails submission to the Oireachtas Committee on Water proposing fines for 'wilful abuse of water' would ensure compliance with the EU Water Framework Directive," said Mr Hayes.

On the basis of this letter from Commissioner Vella, it is my view that we need to have some form of water charges that applies the polluter pays principle but also provides a reliable revenue stream. There has been way too much politicking around water. We need to do what is right for the consumer and what is right for our water supply system."

Sinn Fein spokesperson on water Eoin O Broin has described the contents the letter as extremely revealing.

Yet again Fine Gael and the European Commission are trying to influence the work of the Oireachtas Water Committee. Despite the fact that Minister Coveney set the Committee up to take the heat out of the water debate, his party and their allies in the Commission are seeking to apply inappropriate pressure to shape the outcome of the Committees work," he said.
Latest: Speaking from Stormont Castle after the breakdown of talks aimed at reestablishing the Northern executive, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan said: "Despite constructive engagement by all of the parties and important progress being made during these discussions, it has not yet been possible to make the necessary breakthroughs on a small number of core issues.

"...It is the strong wish of the Irish Government to see power-sharing re-established so that the interests of the people in Northern Ireland are best protected and advanced. I therefore urge the parties to avail of the remaining time available to re-engage on the few outstanding issues that divide them."

The DUP leader Arlene Foster issued a statement saying Sinn Fein behaved as if they were the only participants whose mandate mattered and "this cannot and will not be the basis for a successful outcome".

Earlier:

Talks aimed at restoring the North's power-sharing executive have broken down.

Earlier, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said there had been no real progress in the talks, and now Sinn Fein's leader in the assembly Michelle O'Neill (pictured) suggested they had run their course.

The party announced that it would not be nominating anyone for the positions of assembly speaker or deputy first minister tomorrow.

Speaking in Belfast today, Michelle ONeill said: "This talks process has run its course. Sinn Fein will not be supporting nominations for Speaker or the Executive tomorrow.

"When the extent of the (green energy scandal known as 'ash for cash') became apparent and the First Minister (Arlene Foster) refused to step aside, Martin McGuinness acted and made clear there could be no return to the status quo.

"The decision by Martin McGuinness to resign was endorsed in the election.

"The election result has transformed the political landscape. The approach of the unionist parties and the governments must reflect this change.

We entered talks to implement what had already been agreed, to rebuild public confidence in an Executive and Assembly, operating on the basis of equality and respect and rights for all in society. This was an entirely reasonable approach.

Sinn Fein in the talks sought the full implementation of the outstanding issues of equality and rights. The governments and the DUP have failed to step up to the plate.

The British Government has refused to honour its responsibilities. Their objective has not been truth and healing but continued cover-up of their actions in Ireland.

They have also set aside the democratic wishes of the people and are intent on imposing Brexit and continued austerity.

Sinn Fein is still intent on honouring our mandate and agreements made. We want to see the institutions restored but when we said there will be no return to the status quo we meant it.

The parties have until 4pm tomorrow to nominate first and deputy first ministers. If they do not, another snap election looks likely.
An 18-year-old woman seriously injured in a crash on Friday, has died in hospital.

The two-vehicle crash occurred on the N21 at Wards Cross on the Limerick side of Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick at about 7.40pm on Friday.
By Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - Carlyle Group has bought Royal Dutch Shell's onshore assets in Gabon for $587 million as the world's largest private equity fund expands in the global oil and gas sector. For Shell, the deal marks a further step in a $30 billion asset disposal programme to help cut debt after its $54 billion acquisition of BG Group last year. The Anglo-Dutch oil company has sold assets for more than $15 billion since 2016. Shell's Gabon assets will be incorporated into Carlyle-backed Assala Energy, which is led by former Tullow Oil executive David Roux and will focus on energy opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa, Carlyle said in a statement on Friday. The assets operated by Shell produce approximately 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, of which 40,000 boed go to the company. Under the deal, which is expected to close in the summer, Assala Energy will assume a debt of $285 million. For Shell, the transaction will result in an impairment charge of $53 million after tax which will be taken in the first quarter of 2017, it said in a separate statement. About 430 local Shell employees will become part of Assala Energy. The capital for the investment will come from Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP), a $2.5 billion fund that invests in global oil and gas exploration and production, and the $698 million Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund (SSA). Private equity funds have increased their presence in oil exploration and production companies outside the United States since the collapse in oil prices in 2014, snapping up assets from oil companies seeking to reduce debt and narrow operations. CIEP has invested $500 million in Mazarine Energy to make bolt-on acquisitions in southern Europe and North Africa. It also set up, together with private equity fund CVC Partners, North Sea investment vehicle Neptune, headed by former Centrica boss Sam Laidlaw, which is expected to make an investment in the near future. (Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by Alexander Smith)
westworld thandie newton maeve

Ask Zhenan Bao why she went from designing batteries to creating synthetic, human-like skin and she'll give you a simple answer.

"I decided it was time to start helping people," Bao, a chemical engineering professor at Stanford, tells Business Insider.

Bao's 17-member Stanford team is developing is flexible, stretchable skin that can sense touch and temperature. In those ways, it's a lot like the stuff that sheathes the robotic bodies of Westworld characters.

But this skin isn't for robots. It's for people.

Many (though not all) of the roughly 2 million Americans currently living with limb loss use prostheses, or what some call artificial limbs. The prosthetic landscape varies widely when it comes to fit, size, range of motion, and removability, and cost.

But most currently available prostheses  even the advanced ones  lack a sense of touch.

Sensor skin bao flexible prosthetic synthetic stanford

Some, like the brain-linked prosthetic hand developed by DARPA in 2015, allow users to "feel" physical sensations, but that prosthesis isn't flexible, and can't bend or stretch.

The ones that can bend don't have sensors, so "patients have to rely on visual control to grab an object," Bao says. In other words, you could only tell if you'd successfully picked something up based on what you see.

To build the new synthetic skin, Bao's team faced three major challenges: 1) get the material to flex and stretch, 2) give the material a sense of touch, including the ability to detect pressure and temperature, and 3) figure out how to send the rich information the skin picks up about its environment to the brain.

That third challenge was the most important, Bao says, because "if the skin can sense but the brain can't understand it, then theres no sense of touch."

As far as the first and second challenges go, Bao and her team had to build all their materials from the ground up  starting with the very molecules they're made of.

Story continues

Zhennen Bao Stanford flexible skin robotics prostheses

"Our skin can move and adapt to different surfaces, so our electronic materials needed to have similar properties," Bao says. "But current electric materials are rigid and solid, so we had to design new materials from a molecular level."

Bao's work recently earned her a 2017 L'Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science award, which honors innovative women researchers with a 100,000 (about $108,000) prize.

To give the synthetic skin the ability to sense touch and temperature, Bao's team designed tiny, pyramid-like structures that are 100 times smaller than the width of a human hair, along with material that changes its electrical conductivity depending on how hot or cold it is. Push on the microscopic pyramids, and they change shape. Heat up the material, and it expands.

Finally, Bao's team had to engineer a way for that information to get translated and transmitted to the brain.

"We have to design circuits that can collect all of that sensory information and convert it into electrical pulses that our brain can understand," she says. "And we've demonstrated the initial concept of this."

So far, the design is only a proof-of-concept, meaning the team has shown that the skin can be produced, just not yet on the scale needed to cover a full-fledged prosthetic limb.

Bao says the technology has a long way to go before it can be used on everyday prostheses. Nevertheless, she remains hopeful about the future of prosthetic technology.

"It's really the thought of being able to do something that can really change people's lives, that's what excites us," she says. "The ultimate goal is to change the future of electronics by designing materials that mimic human skin."

NOW WATCH: Kids designed their own prosthetic arm attachments that give them super powers





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Donald Trump

President Donald Trump will head into the final third of his first 100 days in office attempting to recover from perhaps the most tumultuous week of his still-nascent presidency, one that has forced him to grapple with the limitations of a system he vowed to overhaul.

The week began with FBI Director James Comey making the extraordinary public announcement that the bureau was investigating potential collusion between Trumpworld and the Russian government to swing the election in the billionaire's favor.

It ended with the American Health Care Act, the Republican bill to replace the Affordable Care Act, being pulled from the House floor after it became clear it would not have enough votes to pass. It virtually guaranteed that Trump will not have a single major legislative achievement in his crucial first 100 days in office.

"You got played," New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote following the healthcare failure.

It took President George W. Bush "years to smash everything," she added. "You're way ahead of schedule."

'This story is FAKE NEWS'

The week kicked off with Monday's much anticipated hearing before the House Intelligence Committee on Russian meddling in the 2016 election. It featured Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers.

Hours ahead of the testimony, Trump sought to preemptively delegitimize the Russia-related cloud hanging over his administration that was almost certain to be advanced with the testimony of the two directors.

"James Clapper and others stated that there is no evidence Potus colluded with Russia," Trump tweeted. "This story is FAKE NEWS and everyone knows it!"

The story was undoubtedly furthered in the hearing.

James Comey

From the get-go, Comey dropped a pair of bombshells. First, he revealed that, since late July, the FBI's been investigating potential connections between the Trump campaign and the Russian government officials who worked to manipulate the election.

Story continues

The FBI director, who prefaced his announcement by reminding the panel that it's bureau practice not to "confirm the existence of ongoing investigations," particularly those that involve classified information, said this was an "unusual circumstance" in which it was in the public interest to do so.

"I've been authorized by the Department of Justice to confirm that the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 elections, and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government," Comey said, "and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts. As with any counterintelligence investigation, this will also include an assessment of whether any crimes were committed."

Comey also asserted that the entirety of the DOJ was unable to find any evidence to back up Trump's explosive allegations that President Barack Obama illegally wiretapped him ahead of the November election.

Also last week, a days-long drama followed House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes' decision to brief the president on intelligence he claimed showed that information on members of Trump's transition team was "incidentally collected" by the intelligence community during the transition period on "numerous occasions." The intelligence showed, in his mind, that Trump was "monitored."

He said the collection was not related to the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in last year's presidential election  which, he said, made it fair to share with the president. Nunes, a member of Trump's transition team, also said he believed the information was obtained legally under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

It sparked a rift on the committee just two days after Comey delivered his bombshell testimony to the body. The ranking Democrat on the committee, Adam Schiff, slammed the decision to brief Trump on the information, which had not been presented to the rest of the committee. Schiff went so far as saying the investigation was now compromised.

Asked by reporters at the White House after he was briefed by Nunes, Trump said he felt "somewhat" vindicated by the news, which came after his wiretapping claim  a charge many on the right and left later asserted was not true, including Nunes. Trump has backed away from the claim to an extent, saying his wiretapping reference meant more broad surveillance.

Devin Nunes

A former top lawyer for the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the Department of Defense told Business Insider Thursday that the revelation was "far from a vindication."

"In some ways it's almost the reverse," said Robert Deitz, who held those posts in the administrations of President Bill Clinton and of President George W. Bush. "That is, if, and let's assume for a moment that someone getting [intelligence] collection from overseas [and] is getting a Trump person on the other line. It can be totally innocent. On the other hand, it could completely validate the notion that Trump people are talking to Russians."

"So I don't get the partial vindication argument at all," he continued. "To me, it raises more questions than it resolves. ... And so why it's somehow 'good news' for Mr. Trump that some of his people have been captured in collection  I don't see how that is ever good news."

Supreme Court uncertainty and Obamacare stays

Wednesday brought another bit of bad news for Trump: His approval rating hit a new low. According to a Quinnipiac University national poll, the president's performance rating dipped to 37%. It had dropped among Republicans, men, and white voters, three key elements of the coalition that led him to victory last November.

And on Thursday, it became virtually assured that Trump's nominee to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat, 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch, will face a Democratic filibuster. It will create a showdown wherein Republicans will look to one of two options: peel off eight Senate Democrats or independents, or invoke the "nuclear" option, rewriting the Senate rules to end the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court picks.

It seemed to have about as much to do with Trump, if not more, than it was to do with Gorsuch, who was grilled by senators on Capitol Hill this week as a part of a more than 20-hour questioning during his Senate confirmation hearing.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested it would be "unseemly to be moving forward so fast on confirming a Supreme Court justice with a lifetime appointment" due to the FBI investigation that Comey had revealed Monday.

"You can bet that if the shoe was on the other foot  and a Democratic president was under investigation by the FBI  that Republicans would be howling at the moon about filling a Supreme Court seat in such circumstances," Schumer said. "After all, they stopped a president who wasnt under investigation from filling a seat with nearly a year left in his presidency."

neil gorsuch confirmation hearing

But the week's biggest debacle came on healthcare. Congressional Republicans had promised for the better part of seven years that they would repeal and replace Obamacare. Now with majorities in both branches of Congress, as well as a president to sign the bill, they could not pass their alternative.

The reason: infighting among the same various factions of the party that has long prevented a united front for the GOP.

On Thursday, with it becoming clear that the American Health Care Act did not yet have enough votes to pass, the House vote was postponed. Given a second attempt on Friday, the votes still were not there. After an ultimatum the night before, Trump told House Speaker Paul Ryan on Friday to pull the bill.

In the grand total of just 18 days from when Republicans first introduced the legislation, it had gone down in flames after facing a groundswell of grassroots opposition and staggeringly low popularity. And both Trump and congressional leaders were on the hook for failing to deliver on one of their biggest promises.

Trump, in a crucial meeting with conservative House leaders earlier in the week, had implored the Republican holdouts to "forget about the little s---" in the bill, according to Politico.

"Let's focus on the big picture here," he said.

But the members of the House Freedom Caucus did not, focusing in on the policy details over the political ramifications of potentially derailing the Trump agenda with the bill's defeat.

Donald Trump

As news of the bill's withdrawal echoed around Washington, Democrats were quick to pile on. Schumer, in a statement that followed shortly after, said, "So much for the 'Art of the Deal,'" a jab at the president's best-selling book.

Speaking to the media from the Oval Office late Friday afternoon, Trump blamed Democrats for the failure, and said "the best thing we can do is let Obamacare explode."

But in doing so, he seemed to signal that he doesn't believe he will be able to implement his agenda without cooperation from the Democrats, who hold the minority in both the House and Senate.

"We had no Democrat support," Trump said, later adding, "With no Democratic support we couldn't quite get there."

Of the bill's failure, he said, "I'm disappointed."

"I'm a little surprised to be honest with you," he said. "We really had it, it was pretty much there within grasp."

Trump, as a candidate and as president, had a number of weeks that did not go his way. During the campaign, he always seemed to find a way to recover. And he did so enough times that he scored a stunning upset to become the 45th president. But it remains to be seen if President Trump  not candidate Trump  with a series of shortcomings and setbacks piling up, will be able to dig himself out of his latest hole.

NOW WATCH: This is how impeachment works  and what a president would have to do to be impeached





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Elected officials and business leaders emphasize their strong commitment to a more prosperous and growing economy for all North Carolina. They further state they are committed to, and will support, quality education for all students, including those living in rural communities. Most informed leaders understand that there is a direct relationship between quality education and good jobs.

It is now time for action.

It is time to increase support for quality public schools in rural communities.

North Carolinas urban and suburban communities are growing economically and continue to show potential growth for 2017. The North Carolina Department of Commerce 2017 County Tier Designation shows a completely different economic outlook for many of our rural communities. While the economy is improving in urban and suburban communities, it is not the case in many of the 80 rural counties.

Low-wealth rural communities lack community resources to attract and retain high quality teachers, with most of the highest teacher turnover rates occurring in rural districts. In fact, students in rural schools have half as many AP course offerings as students in urban areas. As digital learning increase at every level of education, students without access to the internet in their classroom and at home find themselves at a huge disadvantage. Failure to address the needs of rural school districts will be North Carolinas economic loss.

While North Carolina has the second-largest rural population in the nation, the unique needs of rural school districts are often forgotten or lost in education discussions. We cant afford to forget rural education, especially since 80 percent of North Carolinas traditional public school districts are rural; including 47 percent of the schools and 39 percent of students in rural traditional public schools. If rural communities in our state are to have economic prosperity, rural public schools must rank high among our investment priorities.

Quality education should not be a partisan issue; we should be united in our efforts to provide quality education for all students. This is perhaps idealistic, given the current political climate, but we can hope. During political campaigns, candidates regardless of party affiliation support quality education for all our states students, regardless of where they live or their socio-economic status. The question is this: What action will they undertake to fulfill this commitment? As a start, we want to strongly advocate for increased funding for teachers, teacher recruitment and high-quality school leaders; and to expand access to digital learning both in schools and in homes.

Rural citizens will join policymakers, educators, business leaders, education organizations, civil rights leaders and parents for thoughtful bipartisan discussions during the Advocacy Day for Rural Schools from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Wednesday at the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, 301 N. Wilmington St., Raleigh.

We, the citizens of rural North Carolina, must hold our elected officials accountable and we must be accountable ourselves by being engaged at the state and local level, advocating and supporting quality schools for our rural communities. Rural citizens, elected official, school officials and business leaders must advocate and tell our positive stories and explain our needs. Why do this? Because we care about the students of rural North Carolina and know that their current and future opportunities depend upon a good education. Another strong motivation is the reality of the lack of economic opportunities in these rural counties and the belief that quality education is a strong and effective tool for economic development.

In my view, if North Carolina permits one half of the states public school students to continue to receive a mediocre or substandard education, not only does it impact the immediate and long-term growth of our rural communities, but it will severely undermine the years of progress in our states economy.

We should not be satisfied until every student in North Carolina has the same opportunity for a quality education that we want for our own children and grandchildren  to equip them today for tomorrows economy  our states future depends on it.
RALEIGH  My father was Darth Vader.

No, that doesnt make me a Jedi Knight. My father was also Boss Hogg and a range of other bad guys. During his nearly two decades as principal of North Carolinas largest elementary school, located in the Mecklenburg County community of Matthews, Harold Hood made it an annual tradition to ride in the towns parade dressed as a popular villain of the day. Bad guys were more fun to portray, he explained, particularly for the kids in the crowd.

When I was one of those kids, I just thought my dad was being his usual funny self. He liked to tell jokes, frequently corny, and stories of his life, frequently silly and self-deprecating. But as I got older, became a supervisor and then a leader of an organization myself, I came to understand that school principal Harold Hood had been using humor as a management tool.

He used it to build rapport with his staff, from custodians and support staff to veteran teachers. He used it to cut the tension in stressful situations with students or parents, to nudge teachers genially rather than command them gruffly and to help people draw the right conclusions for themselves rather than simply telling them the answer.

When my dad retired from Matthews School in 1992, The Charlotte Observer published a profile that made it clearer what hed been up to all along. Hes sort of a happy-go-lucky man that everyone really likes, said one parent, a local politician. He always knows whats going on and is among the most observant people I know, said one of his teachers. He had a wonderful sense of humor, said another teacher, but hes a no-nonsense person. A secretary said he handles everything so calmly, its beautiful to watch him work.

While my father got his administrative training in the 1960s, when research about school leadership was still in its infancy, his instincts and practices track well with what scholars now know about principal effectiveness. Top performers create a compelling and unifying vision for their school, gather and consume information ravenously and build strong personal relationships with the people they lead.

North Carolina is at the early stages of a fundamental reinvention of principal preparation. Rather than rely on an opt-in model, in which campuses accept pretty much any teacher looking to move up to administration, the five training programs associated with the new North Carolina Alliance for School Leadership Development (NCASLD) actively recruit prospects for principal preparation.

One of them is North Carolina State Universitys Northeast Leadership Academy. The nonprofit news service Education NC recently reported on one way this leadership academy screens for the most-promising trainees. When prospects are brought to tour a school, the academy makes sure there are custodians or other support staff in the hallways. Do the prospective principals think to say hello to them or ask them questions? Observers note that. My dad would have passed this test with flying colors  and immediately grasped its purpose.

Over the past two years, the state legislature has directed $5 million into the NCASLD-facilitated training programs. More than 100 of the trainees will be eligible to work in North Carolina schools within the next two years. BEST NC, an alliance of business leaders and other advocates of education reform, is championing the program and advocating that lawmakers continue to fund and nurture it.

By some estimates, about a quarter of the entire effect of schooling on student learning is attributable to school leadership, directly or indirectly. Effective principals hire, develop, and retain the best instructional talent. High-performing teachers are unlikely to stay long where there is dismal leadership, particularly in high-poverty schools or those in desperate need of a turnaround.

My father, Harold Hood, passed away last December, just before Christmas. Although he enjoyed playing the villain in the annual parade, he worked hard the rest of the year at the heroic task of inspiring teachers and students to excel. Leadership matters. Lets cultivate it.
Nobody should have had to live like that. And now, thanks to a new company and some financial help from the city of Winston-Salem, the residents of Rolling Hills finally have good living conditions.

A nightmare has surrendered to something good. But lets not forget the many in our city who still live in deplorable housing.

For years, the Rolling Hills apartments, Section 8 housing in eastern Winston-Salem, had a reputation for shoddy conditions. Residents suffered from their units leaky plumbing and malfunctioning appliances and air conditioners, as well as defective light switches, missing smoke detectors, faulty toilets, floor and carpet problems and broken windows, doors and kitchen cabinets, the Journal reported. On top of that, the owner at the time, a New Jersey company, seemed indifferent to residents complaints, only tackling them slowly.

The Journal reported the residents complaints. We pushed on this page for improvement.

And in November, a new company, Steele Properties LLC, bought the complex for almost $5 million, backed by several million dollars in housing revenue bonds approved by the Winston-Salem City Council, which are to be paid back to the bond holders by apartment revenues. Steele is investing $4.3 million more to bring the housing up to code, spending more than $40,000 per unit on the upgrade, the Journals Wesley Young reported.

It looks like its all coming together.

Work crews have been busy since February, tearing out the old and replacing with the new. Renovated units have new hot water heaters and air conditioning and heating systems, the Journal reported. Brand-new appliances are in place and the plumbing and electrical wiring is all up to code.

It makes you want to buy new stuff and not take it out until they renovate, Tasha Arroyo, a resident who will soon move into one of the renovated units, said.

Theres still work to be done. A security gate will be added, as well as a childrens playground and new shrubbery and landscaping.

The renovation is only part of the story. On-site manager Mary Owens is interested in helping residents learn life skills that will help them find gainful employment.

Ive been approached to offer classes in housekeeping, resume preparation and cooking, Owens told the Journal.

And Bill McClain, the executive director of the Guiding Institute for Developmental Education, a nonprofit group, plans to expand an after-school program at Rolling Hills to include families.

We are going to do some assessments of the families to find out what their needs are and what their assets are, McClain told the Journal. Some of them have skills they have not used in a while. Some have some college training and some are near graduating high school and could do so with a little help.

We hope this good will continue. And as it does, lets not forget that others amongst us still live in deplorable housing. Lets brainstorm on ways to improve that scenario.
Correspondent of the week

CATHY ALLINDER, Crumpler

Protect wildlife

Congress has passed a cruel piece of legislation that would allow some of the cruelest, most unsporting practices and environmentally harmful hunting practices to take place on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska: Shooting hibernating bears with their cubs; slaughtering wolves and their pups in dens; aerial hunting to scout, land and shoot grizzly bears; and baiting and trapping black and grizzly bears with steel-jawed leg-hold traps and wire-neck snares. Isnt the whole purpose of wildlife refuges to provide refuge for wildlife?

I have traveled to Alaska several times to photograph the wildlife and it is an experience I will never forget.

I met many people doing the same thing and will never forget the excitement upon seeing these magnificent animals in their environment.

In Alaska, wildlife watchers number 640,000, compared to 125,000 hunters, and spend five times more ($2 billion) than hunters ($425 million) for wildlife recreational opportunities. Short-term trophy-hunting revenue will never outweigh the long-term benefits of measured wildlife management  which preserves environmental and economic health.

Our wildlife refuges belong to the people, not the special-interest groups pushing for this resolution.

President Trump must veto this resolution.

ELIZABETH C. KISER, Winston-Salem

Take back our power

As nearly everyone is questioning every move that President Trump makes, I feel the need to address one particular criticism. In order to not add to our budget deficit, Trump has presented a budget that cuts out many programs that many in our community depend on. Example: Meals on Wheels. President Trump ran on and is trying to implement a promise to limit big governments involvement in our lives and return the power to the states (and, by a logical follow-up, individual communities). Thus, we, the people, will have the power to decide what is or is not needed in our communities.

Meals on Wheels is a necessity for many in our community and as such, many companies and individuals in our area are committed to supporting it. If this organization or others facing cuts is important to your readers, they can take back the power Trump is giving them. They can donate to these organizations to keep them running. Most are 501(3) organizations and donations are tax-deductable.

I urge all to donate to the organizations that may lose funding. Our community rises to fill needs when we are made aware of them  we always have and we always will! These organizations may actually see more money than what the government is giving and we will have taken back the power Trump is trying to give us.

Give our president a chance! If you believe these organizations are vital to our community, donate to them. Take back our power!

******

AUBREY ALBERT, Winston-Salem

Two months later

I really appreciate the March 19 letter Trumps first two months, noting some of the accomplishments of our new president. Its nice to think that Americans actually had a few good reasons for voting for Trump. Otherwise theyd all just seem crazy or stupid.

I do wonder, though, how many voted for Trump because he said hed build a border wall and make Mexico pay for it, a claim that has largely been abandoned. I wonder how many voted for him because he said hed come up with a health-care plan that would cover everyone, at a lower price, another claim hes abandoned.

And I wonder how many voted for him because he said hed keep Muslims out of the country, a claim that was unconstitutional when he made it and poisoned the well when he tried to implement it.

I wonder how many are now dismayed by his ridiculous and clearly delusional tweets, or his clumsiness and crudeness in dealing with foreign leaders (apparently we no longer care whether the rest of the world respects our president) or the possibilities of corruption involving Russian President Vladimir Putin (the only man on earth Trump refuses to criticize). Is anybody experiencing buyers remorse yet?

It would be surprising if they werent.

When You Write

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If you would like a photo of yourself included with your letter, send it to us as a .jpg file.

For more guidelines and advice on writing letters, go to journalnow.com/opinion/submit_a_letter.

The Journal welcomes original submissions for guest columns on local, regional and statewide topics. Essay length should not exceed 750 words. The writer should have some authority for writing about his or her subject. Our email address is: Letters@wsjournal.com. Essays may also be mailed to: The Readers Forum, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. Please include your name and address and a daytime telephone number.
The Affordable Care Act was put on hold Friday, as the Republican controlled House could not agree amongst themselves to bring it to a vote. So the bill was pulled for another day. Bravo!

I felt all along that Trumps reflation agenda should have kicked off with an overhaul of the tax code, cutting taxes for corporations and individuals, along with regulatory relief followed by the trillion-dollar infrastructure program and fair trade. All of these items are in Trumps wheelhouse. He understands the problems, knows what to do and how to get it done. Repealing and replacing Obamacare was a difficult, complex, controversial and an overly politicized endeavor, which might have dragged into 2018, postponing the real reflation agenda to Make America Great Again. Not now!

President Trump stated Friday night that tax relief would be first and foremost out of the box now. I can assure you that Trump and his team learned a lot about the process of government and wont make the same mistakes again. By the way, Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush and Obama each had rough starts that were clearly huge learning experiences, which helped them throughout their terms. Being President and trying to bring together different factions within your own party and then sell it to the opposing party is a daunting task for anyone, even a great negotiator.

The first question to ask is why did the Affordable Care Act fail. I felt that Trump did not fully understand the ins and outs of the bill and therefore could not sell it and that House Speaker Ryan rushed the process and failed to bring all factions of the Republican Party into the process from the get go. Whether it is a good bill or not is really difficult to know. If the aim was to provide better coverage with more choice for less for the same number of people already covered than it failed. If the aim was to reduce future deficits then it succeeded. Neither the right nor the left of the Republican Party really liked this bill. Both the Democrats and Republicans know what really needs to be done, but there is so much animosity between the parties that it is hard for them to work together for the good of the country. Do we really need Obamacare to implode before both sides come together? I hope not! But for now repeal and replace Obamacare is off the table, so on to areas that both parties have some agreement-taxes and infrastructure. Unfortunately the Republicans will not have repealed the higher taxes of Obamacare, which was to be part of their grand plan to lower taxes while balancing the budget. Reduced regulations and trade are issues more for the Republicans than for the Democrats.

Trump and his team will work more closely with all factions of the Republican Party to coalesce his agenda such that it does not meet with the same resistance, as did his Affordable Care Act. While I never expected that Trump would be able to lower the tax rate for businesses to 15% from an effective tax rate of 28% today, I still see a new effective tax rate moving down to 20% while closing loopholes, reducing deductions, and giving big incentives for capital spending, job hiring and research tax credits. In addition, repatriation of foreign retained earnings will be part of the plan with only a small penalty close to 6%, which will add to the federal coffers and give corporations the added fire power to make additional capital investments, raise dividends, increase buybacks and/or reduce debt. Taxes for individuals will be simplified and reduced too with the overwhelming benefits going to the middle and lower classes. The wealthy will most likely get little or no net benefit here. The new tax legislation will maintain preferential tax rates for long-term capital investment over short-term gains and removes the benefits of carried interests. If there is a border tax, it will be far less punitive on imports than now perceived and will not hurt the consumer who remains the driving engine of our economy.

It is clear that both sides of Congress will soon begin work on and support a trillion dollar infrastructure program, which is a necessity to Make America Great Again. The major issue tied to it will be reducing the red tape such that Shovel Ready projects are really that unlike what occurred during the Obama administration. Trumps background and team really have the knowledge and ability to make this work in a timely fashion and with a financing package that wont hurt the federal budget.

Trump and his team have already started work on reducing regulations including parts of Dodd-Frank that have hurt the ability of financial institutions to lend which is a necessity to provide the fuel for economic growth. Also, Wilbur Ross has begun negotiation to reach bilateral deals with our largest trade partners that will be mutually beneficial promoting fair trade. Every day another foreign corporation is announcing its intent to build facilities in the U.S. to satisfy demand rather than importing. Give Trump some credit here.

Trumps administration formally approved the Keystone XL pipeline Friday, which is part of his program to make America energy independent, which includes reducing regulations to boost drilling, increase refining, expand pipelines and exploration.

The bottom line is that Trumps reflation agenda is now front and center rather than behind healthcare reform. I fully expect completion of tax reform and the infrastructure program by the fall of this year. Corporations can finally begin incorporating these changes in their future plans and be ready to hit the road running when passed by Congress and our economy will accelerate as the year progresses into 2018 and beyond.

Dont forget that reflation is now a global phenomenon. The Eurozone PMI just hit a 7-year high; growth in Chinas first quarter accelerated from the 4th quarter, and growth in India and Japan as well as in the Emerging Markets is accelerating too. Interestingly many foreign market gains to date have exceeded gains here.

Stay the course and continue looking through the windshield. The global reflationary trends are your friend and expect Trumps real reflationary agenda to take center stage and pass by the fall of 2017 with huge investment implications for the next several years. Trump will certainly revisit healthcare again but not until the rest of his agenda is passed into law. Trumps team learned a valuable lesson, which will help them moving forward achieving victory from the apparent jaws of defeat on his healthcare bill.

Remember to review all the facts; pause, reflect and consider mindset shifts; reconsider your asset allocation and risk controls; do independent firsthand research on each idea and

Invest Accordingly!

Bill Ehrman

Paix et Prosperite LLC
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus Executive Committee at the White House in Washington, DC, U.S., March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (Reuters)

By Anthony Esposito, Dan Freed and Noe Torres

ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's push to force U.S. industry to bring jobs home is opening investment avenues for Chinese companies in Mexico, an executive with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest lender, said on Friday.

Fears of a hit to foreign investment ran high when Ford Motor Co <F.N> canceled a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico's central state of San Luis Potosi in January.

Trump, who had railed against U.S. manufacturers investing in Mexico, hailed the decision as a major victory, but Ford put it down to declining demand for small cars.

Yaogang Chen, head of ICBC's <601398.SS><1398.HK> Mexico unit, said U.S. industry's loss could be China's gain.

"If some U.S. investment projects don't (happen), there has to be somebody to invest. ... If Chinese companies think it is profitable, they will invest," he said in an interview on the sidelines of a banking conference in the resort of Acapulco.

In February, China's Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co Ltd (JAC Motor) <600418.SS> and Mexico's Giant Motors, along with distributor Chori Co Ltd <8014.T>, said they would invest over $210 million in an existing plant to build SUVs in the central state of Hidalgo.

Prior to Trump's campaign against U.S. manufacturers shipping jobs overseas, Chinese companies were making tentative inroads into Mexico.

China's BAIC Motor Corp Ltd <1958.HK> in June 2016 started selling in Mexico its own cars imported from China and has said that it will look into building an industrial plant in Mexico to produce cars and electric vehicles.

BAIC is already a client of ICBC's in Mexico.

ICBC, one of the world's top banks by market capitalization and assets, received its banking license in Mexico in 2014 and started operations there in mid-2016.

"JAC, we think, will be a client of ours in Mexico too," Chen said.

Story continues

Still, Chinese foreign direct investment in Mexico is a tiny fraction of what U.S. firms have plowed in over the years.

State-controlled ICBC expects to grow its assets and loan portfolio in Mexico tenfold over the next three years to some 10 billion pesos ($533 million), Chen said.

The executive said ICBC aims to offer a service to allow clients to convert Mexican pesos to Chinese renminbi and vice versa, and make cross-border transactions cheaper.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito, Dan Freed and Noe Torres; Editing by Richard Chang)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, meets with National Guard chief Viktor Zolotov, right, and other senior officers of the National Guard in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 27, 2017. Putin hailed the recently formed National Guard. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Pool Photo via AP)
The publisher of the online news portal, Sahara Reporters (SR) Omoyele

Sowore has reacted to the jail comment made by embattled Nigerian

senator Dino Melaye.



You recall Senator Dino Melaye had vowed that Omoyele Sowore, would go

to jail for an alleged crime of cyber-stalling against his person.

Dino stated this on his Twitter handle (@dino_melaye) while sharing a

copy of a petition he wrote to the Inspector General of Police (IGP),

Ibrahim Kpotum Idris, calling for an investigation into the alleged

crime of cyber-stalling.

Mr Sowore had in the past few days been digging deep into Melayes education background where he

alleged that Dino did not graduate from Ahmadu Bello University, a prestigious university based in Kaduna, Nigeria.

Sowore has reacted saying hes not going to be intimidated even if it takes his life. read his Facebook statement below:

Folks: It was brought to my attention earlier that Nigerian Senator Dino

Melaye promised to send me to jail over the recent unraveling of his

questionable educational background.

While some are worried, appalled, alarmed and concerned and even scared about this declaration, it had me thinking differently.

I am a Nigerian citizen who had been through torture, humiliations, and

incarceration by dictators in uniform between 1992-1999 before I

eventually left Nigeria. I have never doubted the power of justice over

legalities.

That a Nigerian Senator in a democratic era could make this proclamation

is indeed a sign that our democratic transition was a farce, particular

when youve now noticed that Mr. Melaye was sitting at the feet of one

of Nigerias worst military dictators, Ibrahim Babangida just a week

ago.

One of Babangidas worst crimes against humanity was the assassination

of notable investigative journalists of our time, Dele Giwa, by way of a

parcel bomb.

Another thing Melaye shares in common with Babangida and his killer

squad was using libel lawsuits to silence inquisitions. In the 80s Gani

Fawehimi was found liable of libeling the killers of Dele Giwa and

asked to pay damages to Halilu Akilu.

Here is how I am different and also not different, I am not going to run

away from criminals running the Nigerian political space until they are

defeated, and their ideologies of greed, bloodiness, and avarice are

entirely abandoned and discredited forever (Apology to Bob Marley).

If it takes my life, so be it.

If it means another unjust ruling asking for damages for thieves. So be it.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushners new neighbors in Washington, D.C. are not happy with the couples presence.

After an initially welcoming reception, residents of D.C.s Kalorama neighborhood have taken to writing emails to city officials protesting the installation of several No Parking signs that have extended past Trump and Kushners house to the fronts of their own homes to accommodate Secret Service vehicles, according to the Washington Post.

I started screaming, next-door neighbor Rhona Friedman told the Post. "If you happen to miss that moment before the spaces get filled, you're dead. We were a nice, quiet residential community and we've become a neighborhood where people take pictures."

In addition to the No Parking signs, metal barricades now line the block and Secret Service agents can be spotted in clusters talking in loud voices and occasionally changing shirts in public view, the Post reports.

"We're just a little story in a cosmic, bigger story, which is the whole Trump phenomenon and how they push their way around," Toby Moffett, a former Democratic Congressman from Connecticut who lives in the neighborhood, told the Post. "You have people coming and going. You have three or four, sometimes five, SUVs that are very big and that aren't from the neighborhood."

A Secret Service spokesperson wrote in an email to the Post that the agency "makes every effort to collaborate with businesses and residents to minimize disruptions, while simultaneously maintaining the highest level of security for the individuals we are mandated to protect."

See original article on Fortune.com

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When Louisiana resident Andrea Mongler wrote to her senator, Bill Cassidy, in support of the Affordable Care Act, she wasnt surprised to get an email back detailing the laws faults. Cassidy, a Republican who is also a physician, has been a vocal critic.

Obamacare he wrote in January, does not lower costs or improve quality, but rather it raises taxes and allows a presidentially handpicked Health Landing Pages Choices Commissioner to determine what coverage and treatments are available to you.

Theres one problem with Cassidys ominous-sounding assertion: Its false.

The Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, includes no Health Choices Commissioner. Another bill introduced in Congress in 2009 did include such a position, but the bill died  and besides, the job as outlined in that legislation didnt have the powers Cassidy ascribed to it.

As the debate to repeal the law heats up in Congress, constituents are flooding their representatives with notes of support or concern, and the lawmakers are responding. We decided to take a closer look at these communications after finding misleading statements in an email Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) sent to his constituents and asked readers to send us communications they had received.

The resulting review of more than 200 such letters by ProPublica and its partners at Kaiser Health News, Stat and Vox found dozens of errors and mischaracterizations about the ACA and its proposed replacement. The legislators have cited wrong statistics, conflated health care terms and made statements that dont stand up to verification.

Its not clear if this is intentional, or if the lawmakers and their staffs dont understand the current law or the proposals to alter it. Either way, the issue of what is wrong  and right  about the current system has become critical as the House prepares to vote on the GOPs replacement bill Thursday.

If you get something like that in writing from your U.S. senator, you should be able to just believe that, said Mongler, 34, a freelance writer and editor who is pursuing a masters degree in public health. I hate that people are being fed falsehoods, and a lot of people are buying it and not questioning it. Its far beyond politics as usual.

Cassidys staff did not respond to questions about Monglers letter.

Political debates about complex policy issues are prone to hyperbole and health care is no exception. And to be sure, many of the assertions in the lawmakers letters are at least partially based in fact.

Democrats, for instance, have been emphasizing to their constituents that millions of previously uninsured people now have medical coverage thanks to the law. They say insurance companies can no longer discriminate against patients with pre-existing conditions. And they credit the law with allowing adults under age 26 to stay on their parents health plans. All true.

For their part, Republicans criticize the law for not living up to its promises. They say former President Barack Obama pledged that people could keep their health plans and doctors, and premiums would go down. Neither has happened. They also say that insurers are dropping out of the market and that monthly premiums and deductibles (the amount people must pay before their coverage kicks in) have gone up. All true.

But elected officials in both parties have distorted evidence and left out important context. Some statements were simply disingenuous. Others were whoppers. And while more Republicans fudged than Democrats, both had their moments.

Do most people pay that much attention to what their congressman says? Probably not, said Sherry Glied, dean of New York Universitys Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, who served as an assistant Health and Human Services secretary from 2010 to 2012. But I think misinformation or inaccurate information is a bad thing, and not knowing what youre voting on is a really bad thing.

We reviewed the emails and letters sent by 51 senators and 134 members of the House within the past few months. Here are some of the most-glaring errors and omissions:

Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, incorrectly cited the number of Ohio counties that had only one insurer on the Affordable Care Act insurance exchange.

What he wrote: In Ohio, almost one third of counties will have only one insurer participating in the exchange.

Whats misleading: In fact, only 23 percent (less than one quarter) had only one option, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

His response: A Tiberi spokesperson defended the statement. The letter says almost because only 9 more counties in Ohio need to start offering only 1 plan on the exchanges to be one third.

Why his response is misleading: Ohio has 88 counties. A 10 percent difference is not almost.

Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., said that the quality of health care in the country has declined because of the ACA, offering no proof.

What he wrote: Quality of care has decreased as doctors have been burdened with increased regulations on their profession.

Why its misleading: Some data show that health care has improved since the passage of the ACA. Patients are less likely to be readmitted to a hospital within 30 days after they have been discharged, for instance. Also, payments have been increasingly linked to patients outcomes rather than just the quantity of services delivered. A 2016 report by the Commonwealth Fund, a health care nonprofit think tank, found that the quality care has improved in many communities following the ACA.

His response: None.

Tell us what youve been told by members of Congress regarding the health law as we collect and analyze letters and emails from elected officials to constituents on the ACA. Share Your Stories

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., misstated the percentage of Medicaid spending that covers the cost of long-term care, such as nursing home stays.

What she wrote: Its important to note that 60 percent of Medicaid goes to long-term care and with the evisceration of it in the bill, this critical coverage is severely compromised.

Whats misleading: Medicaid does not spend 60 percent of its budget on long-term care. The figure is closer to a quarter, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank. Medicaid does, however, cover more than 60 percent of all nursing home residents.

Her response: Eshoos office said the statistic was based on a subset of enrollees who are dually enrolled in Medicaid and Medicare. For this smaller group, 62 percent of Medicaid expenditures were for long-term support services, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Whats misleading about the response: Eshoos letter makes no reference to this population, but instead refers to the 75 million Americans on Medicaid.

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., pointed to the number of uninsured Americans as a failure of the ACA, without noting that the law had dramatically reduced the number of uninsured.

What he wrote: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately thirty-three million Americans are still living without health care coverage and many more have coverage that does not adequately meet their health care needs.

Why its misleading: The actual number of uninsured in 2015 was about 29 million, a drop of 4 million from the prior year, the Census Bureau reported in September. Fleischmanns number was from the previous year.

Beyond that, reducing the number of uninsured by more than 12 million people from 2013 to 2015 has been seen as a success of Obamacare. And the Republican repeal-and-replace bill is projected to increase the number of uninsured.

His response: None.

Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III, D-Mass., overstated the number of young adults who were able to stay on their parents health plan as a result of the law.

What he wrote: The ACA allowed 6.1 million young adults to remain covered by their parents insurance plans.

Whats misleading: A 2016 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, released during the Obama administration, however, pegged the number at 2.3 million.

Kennedy may have gotten to 6.1 million by including 3.8 million young adults who gained health insurance coverage through insurance marketplaces from October 2013 through early 2016.

His response: A spokeswoman for Kennedy said the office had indeed added those two numbers together and would fix future letters.

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., said that 75 percent of health insurance marketplaces run by states have failed. They have not.

What he said: Nearly 75 percent of state-run exchanges have already collapsed, forcing more than 800,000 Americans to find new coverage.

Whats misleading: When the ACA first launched, 16 states and the District of Columbia opted to set up their own exchanges for residents to purchase insurance, instead of using the federal marketplace, known as Healthcare.gov.

Of the 16, four state exchanges, in Oregon, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Nevada, failed, and Kentucky plans to close its exchange this year, according to a report by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. While the report casts doubt on the viability of other state exchanges, it is clear that three-quarters have not failed.

His response: None.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., overstated that the ACA distorted labor markets, prompting employers to shift workers from full-time jobs to part-time jobs.

What he said: It has also, through the requirement that employees that work thirty hours or more be considered full time and thus be offered health insurance by their employer, distorted the labor market.

Whats misleading: A number of studies have found little to back up that assertion. A 2016 study published by the journal Health Affairs examined data on hours worked, reason for working part time, age, education and health insurance status. We found only limited evidence to support this speculation that the law led to an increase in part-time employment, the authors wrote. Another study found much the same.

In addition, PolitiFact labeled as false a statement last June by Donald Trump in which he said, Because of Obamacare, you have so many part-time jobs.

His response: Rohrabacher spokesman Ken Grubbs said the congressmans statement was based on an article that said, Are Republicans right that employers are capping workers hours to avoid offering health insurance? The evidence suggests the answer is yes, although the number of workers affected is fairly small.

We pointed out that fairly small was hardly akin to distorting the labor market. To which Grubbs replied, The congressmans letter is well within the range of respected interpretations. That employers would react to Obamacares impact in such way is so obvious, so nearly axiomatic, that it is pointless to get lost in the weeds, Grubbs said.

Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Mich., appears to have cited a speculative 2013 report by a GOP-led House committee as evidence of current and future premium increases under the ACA.

What he wrote: Health insurance premiums are slated to increase significantly. Existing customers can expect an average increase of 73 percent, while the average change due to Obamacare for those purchasing a new plan will be a 96 percent increase in premiums. The average cost for a new customer in the individual market is expected to rise $1,812 per year.

Whats misleading: The figures seem to have come from a report issued before the Obamacare insurance marketplaces launched and before 2014 premiums had been announced. The letter implies these figures are current. In fact, premium increases by and large have been moderate under Obamacare. The average monthly premium for a benchmark plan, upon which federal subsidies are calculated, increased about 2 percent from 2014 to 2015; 7 percent from 2015 to 2016; and 25 percent this year, for states that take part in the federal insurance marketplace.

His response: None

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., misstated the reasons why Medicaid costs per person were higher than expected in 2015.

What he wrote: A Medicaid actuarial report from August 2016 found that the average cost per enrollee was 49 percent higher than estimated just a year prior  in large part due to beneficiaries seeking care at more expensive hospital emergency rooms due to difficulty finding a doctor and long waits for appointments.

Whats misleading: The report did not blame the higher costs on the difficulty patients had finding doctors. Among the reasons the report did cite: patients who were sicker than anticipated and required a raft of services after being previously uninsured. The report also noted that costs are expected to decrease in the future.

His response: None

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wrongly stated that family premiums are declining under Obamacare.

What he wrote: Families are seeing lower premiums on their insurance, seniors are saving money on prescription drug costs, and hospital readmission rates are dropping.

Whats misleading: Durbins second and third points are true. The first, however, is misleading. Family insurance premiums have increased in recent years, although with government subsidies, some low- and middle-income families may be paying less for their health coverage than they once did.

His response: Durbins office said it based its statement on an analysis published in the journal Health Affairs that said that individual health insurance premiums dropped between 2013 and 2014, the year that Obamacare insurance marketplaces began. It also pointed to a Washington Post opinion piece that said that premiums under the law are lower than they would have been without the law.

Why his response is misleading: The Post piece his office cites states clearly, Yes, insurance premiums are going up, both in the health-care exchanges and in the employer-based insurance market.

Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Ind., told constituents that premiums nationwide were slated to jump from 2016 to 2017, but failed to mention that premiums for some plans in her home state actually decreased.

What she wrote: Since the enactment of the ACA, deductibles are up, on average, 63 percent. To make matters worse, monthly premiums for the bronze plan rose 21 percent from 2016 to 2017.  Families and individuals covered through their employer are forced to make the difficult choice: pay their premium each month or pay their bills.

Whats misleading: Brooks accurately cited national data from the website HealthPocket, but her statement is misleading. Indiana was one of two states in which the premium for a benchmark health plan  the plan used to calculate federal subsidies  actually went down between 2016 and 2017. Moreover, more than 80 percent of marketplace consumers in Indiana receive subsidies that lowered their premium costs. The HealthPocket figures refer to people who do not qualify for those subsidies.

Her response: Brooks office referred to a press release from Indianas Department of Insurance, which took issue with an Indianapolis Star story about premiums going down. The release, from October, when Vice President Mike Pence was Indianas governor, said that the average premiums would go up more than 18 percent over 2016 rates based on enrollment at that time. In addition, the release noted, 68,000 Indiana residents lost their health plans when their insurers withdrew from the market.

Why her response is misleading: For Indiana consumers who shopped around, which many did, there was an opportunity to find a cheaper plan.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., incorrectly said that the Republican bill to repeal Obamacare would cut funding for seniors in nursing homes.

What he wrote: Its terrible for seniors. Trumpcare forces older Americans to pay 5 times the amount younger Americans will  an age tax  and slashes Medicaid benefits for nursing home care that two out of three Americans in nursing homes rely on.

Whats misleading: Wyden is correct that the GOP bill, known as the American Health Care Act, would allow insurance companies to charge older adults five times higher premiums than younger ones, compared to three times higher premiums under the existing law. However, it does not directly slash Medicaid benefits for nursing home residents. It proposes cutting Medicaid funding and giving states a greater say in setting their own priorities. States may, as a result, end up cutting services, jeopardizing nursing home care for poor seniors, advocates say, because it is one of the most-expensive parts of the program.

His response: Taylor Harvey, a spokesman for Wyden, defended the statement, noting that the GOP health bill cuts Medicaid funding by $880 billion over 10 years and places a cap on spending. Cuts to Medicaid would force states to nickel and dime nursing homes, restricting access to care for older Americans and making it a benefit in name only, he wrote.

Why his response is misleading: The GOP bill does not spell out how states make such cuts.

Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., misleadingly said premiums would rise under the Obamacare replacement bill now being considered by the House.

What he wrote: Its about the 24 million Americans expected to lose their insurance under the Trumpcare plan and for every person who will see their insurance premiums rise  on average 10-15 percent.

Why its misleading: First, the Congressional Budget Office did estimate that the GOP legislation would cover 24 million fewer Americans by 2026. But not all of those people would lose their insurance. Some would choose to drop coverage because the bill would no longer make it mandatory to have health insurance, as is the case now.

Second, the budget office did say that in 2018 and 2019, premiums under the GOP bill would be 15 to 20 percent higher than they would have been under Obamacare because the share of unhealthy patients would increase as some of those who are healthy drop out. But it noted that after that, premiums would be lower than under the ACA.

His response: None.

Have you corresponded with a member of Congress or senator about the Affordable Care Act? Wed love to see the response you received. Please fill out our short form.

Charles Ornstein is a senior reporter, ProPublica. This article originally appeared in Kaiser Health News.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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Transparency  including price, quality, and effectiveness of medical services is a vital component to lowering costs and improving outcomes. However, it is imperative transparency go hand-in-hand with financial incentives for patients and consumers; otherwise, the quest will be in vain. The single best way of reducing costs while not worsening health outcomes is to redistribute resources from less cost-effective health services to more cost-effective ones. Americans are extremely uncomfortable with the idea of making decisions based on cost, but we must become fluent in the language of cost and more comfortable making decisions based on price information for health care expenditures to stabilize.

Legislators in more than 30 states have proposed legislation to promote price transparency, with most efforts focused around publishing average or median prices for hospital services. Some states already have price transparency policies in place. California requires hospitals to give patients cost estimates for the 25 most common outpatient procedures. Texas requires providers to disclose price information to patients upon request. Ohio passed price transparency legislation last year; however a lawsuit filed by the Ohio Hospital Association has delayed implementation. The cost of a knee replacement is $15,500 at the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, whereas the national average is $49,500.

Trends suggest in the future Americans will be more price-sensitive when seeking care as high-deductible insurance plans become commonplace coupled with greater cost-sharing. For consumers, paying less out-of-pocket costs could be a powerful motivator. According to an article in Health Affairs, price transparency has helped reduce costs in the long run. Another study found consumer-driven health plans led to lower use of name-brand medications, less inpatient care, and lower use of specialists.

Comprehensive transparency is only relevant if packaged in a reliable comparative context. Information regarding cost, value, and effectiveness should be readily accessible to patients enabling them to make meaningful comparisons across providers and specialists. However, choices must be incentivized properly, so they are not only empowered but also motivated to use the information to make informed choices.

A benign, viral skin infection known as molluscum contagiosum provides a simple case for transparency because there are a vast number of ways to successfully treat these wart-like bumps (called mollusca). They can occur extensively on the face and genitalia, are contagious, and may cause itching or tenderness, yet are not harmful. Looking at four different treatment modalities can illustrate where transparency, for cost, value, and efficacy might make a difference. It illustrates perfectly how health insurance can incentivize incorrectly resulting in higher expenditures with no difference in outcome. Molluscum can be treated by application of topical cantharidin or liquid nitrogen, oral cimetidine, surgical curettage, or no medical intervention. The efficacy of each is roughly equivalent in that the benign lesions eventually resolve. Lesions can last two weeks to four years  the average being two years without treatment.

On average, children have about 15 to 30 lesions by the time a family seeks treatment. Liquid nitrogen costs $50 per patient for supplies; Cantharidin, an extraction from blister beetles, is a topical vesicant that costs about $100. There are two CPT codes for lesion destruction in the physicians office: 17110 ($113.75) and 17111 ($134.69). A follow-up treatment is usually necessary one time after 3-6 weeks at which point lesions resolve. Total expenditure is approximately $500. Most insurance plans do not cover this procedure, so cost is borne by the patient out-of-pocket.

Oral cimetidine is a controversial treatment, because efficacy is somewhat lower compared to topical or surgical methods, but has held up well enough in studies to remain a viable, painless treatment option. Time to cure is 2 to 3 months. Including the physician visit of 9921X x 3 plus the prescription for three months ($16 per month), we are looking at a total cost to resolution of approximately $300 to $450, with a 20 to 25 percent failure rate. Insurance covers cost of office visit and medication except for applicable co-payments, so out-of-pocket could be as little as $100. There may be medication side effects, and parents must remember to give their children medication twice per day for three months, increasing the nuisance factor (lowering value for some).

Some physicians incise and drain each bump individually as the core contains infected cells and if they are surgically removed, the body can do the rest to fight the infection. Lesions often reappear six weeks later (as with topical methods) because they represent areas already infected at the first visit but too small to be seen, so a second round of treatment is necessary. Cost estimates are in the ballpark of $1,000 to 2,000 per treatment, as cost information was difficult to find. Total cost to cure is $2,000 to $4,000. Surgical intervention is partly covered by insurance with out-of-pocket costs in the $500 range, though this is an educated guess.

Finally, no medical intervention is safe, low in cost, and efficacious. However, watchful waiting can be challenging for parents when there are multiple children at home with one contagious infected child during the two year time period until the lesions completely resolve. Cost of one physician visit for diagnosis: $125. Cost for Google to diagnose: $0.

As an insurance company executive, I would incentivize topical therapy for treatment of molluscum resulting in lower expenditures and less need for specialty care. Most private insurance companies do not cover codes 17110 or 17111, instead kicking the entire balance to the patient. Unfortunately, they incentivize the less efficacious oral medication or partially subsidize surgical curettage. In plain, straightforward language: this is utterly stupid. If patients are not financially incentivized to choose the lowest cost, most effective option then efforts toward transparency are a waste of time as health care expenditures will not decline.

Not every condition can be easily evaluated as I have done above (though many can). Redistributing resources from less cost-effective health services to those that are more cost-effective is a winning strategy for patients, physicians, and insurance. Individual physicians and hospitals should post prices for general well and sick visits (including applicable facility fees), basic procedures, and other services offered whenever feasible, because it is the right move to empower patients to make informed decisions. Finally, insurance companies should financially incentivize patients to choose the lower cost, equally efficacious treatment methods if they want transparency of cost, quality, and efficacy to have a large impact on driving down expenditures.

Niran S. Al-Agba is a pediatrician who blogs at MommyDoc. This article originally appeared in the Health Care Blog.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Water safety was top of the agenda at a recent event at The Watershed attended by over one hundred, local primary school children.

The youngsters from St. Patricks De La Salle Boys School; St. John of God Girls Primary School; Kilkenny School Project N.S and St. Johns Senior N.S. all attended a Health and Safety Authority Keep Safe event in the Watershed at the Bohernatounish Road last week.

Nine state agencies and regional organisations with a safety remit came together to deliver an interactive programme directed at fifth and sixth class pupils.

Keep Safe aims to promote safety and community awareness through involving the children in a series of interactive scenarios with a common safety theme.

Speaking at the event, Mark Cullen, Senior Inspector with the Health and Safety Authority said tha the Keep Safe programme is designed for school children.

It aims to be an enjoyable and common sense way for them to learn about issues like water safety, electricity, road safety, fire safety and more.

The Health and Safety Authority brings together a number of regional and national agencies on the same day, who have a common interest in educating children around essential safety messages.

The children are so engaged and interested. It is great to see the discussion carrying on back in their homes, schools and communities.

Aims

The aims of the one day Keep Safe event are to help children to become aware of personal and home safety, learn how to react to dangerous situations, foster good citizenship, learn how to recognise hazards and manage risks, learn how to stay safe within the context of, for example, road safety, water safety, fire safety and site safety.
white middle class church praying rustbelt

It's only getting worse.

"Deaths of despair"  deaths related to suicide, drugs, and alcohol  continue to increase among middle-aged white working-class Americans without a high-school degree, according to research by Princeton economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton. Their deaths are now outpacing those of minorities of the same class by a stunning margin.

Titled "Mortality and Morbidity in the 21st Century" and published by the Brookings Institution on Thursday, the findings are an update of Case and Deaton's 2015 work on death and illness among different demographic groups.

Based on Case and Deaton's work, we know that what started as a scourge in the Southwest in the early 2000s has spread to communities across the country. Geography isn't a dominant factor  this isn't a rural or urban problem exclusively. Instead, the problem is a class thing. It's an identity thing.

And this isn't the first time that social change has caused self-destructiveness on a mass scale. Indeed, 19th-century French sociologist Emile Durkheim wrote about similar problems in his time, and might refer to the plague of white middle-class mortality we see today as "a state of upheaval."

Of course, the lesson of the 2016 presidential election was that working- and middle-class whites are suffering. What Durkheim offers, though, is the argument for why the newly elected government in Washington  voted in by this very constituency  is getting the solution all wrong. The way to fix this problem is not through less government  but through more.

Durkheim's seminal work, the 1897 book "Suicide," remains one of the most in-depth examinations of why these situations occur in society, and it is as relevant as ever. Its lessons are an indication that as a country, we are moving swiftly, carelessly in the wrong direction.

Story continues

Strange

The Americans we are talking about are white and middle class. They are aged 45-55. They are losing the battle against heart disease and cancer, and they are succumbing to drugs, alcohol and suicide at rates unseen in modern history or in other developed countries.

"The combined effect means that mortality rates of whites with no more than a high school degree, which were around 30 percent lower than mortality rates of blacks in 1999, grew to be 30 percent higher than blacks by 2015," Case and Deaton wrote.

case deaton by race

The easy thing to say is that these people are suffering from economic and social anxiety and leave it at that. What's harder to pinpoint is what exactly that means and how to fix it. Economic conditions for minorities in the same social class and in the same communities are as hard, if not harder, than they are for middle class whites. But death rates aren't increasing for them.

This is where Durkheim comes in. He wrote his work in the midst of another state of upheaval, as industrialization was taking over the world and old economic patterns were falling away. This was the beginning of modern life as we now know it. And it was killing people.

No one remembers your name

Durkheim found that the degree to which a person is integrated in society is inversely correlated to their likelihood to engage in life-threatening behaviors and suicide.

In his work, he identified three kids of suicide: altruistic, anomic, and egoistic.

Of the three, the most complicated is anomic suicide. Anomie essentially means the breakdown of social values and norms, and Durkheim closely associated anomic suicide with economic catastrophe.

Case and Deaton associate trends in modern American mortality with the "measurable deterioration in economic and social wellbeing" of white middle-class workers as manufacturing jobs have disappeared from the workforce since the 1970s.

One of the big factors, then, in the increase in substance abuse and suicide among the white middle class could be a decline in the social framework as a result of the rapid economic changes seen over the last few decades.

It is not a surprise, then, that Donald Trump won the presidency on promising to bring these jobs back. The appeal of a high-paying honest job that commands respect from one's peers is strong. As Durkheim wrote: The workman is not in harmony with his social position if he his not convinced that he has his deserts."

That last word, deserts, is important. Anomic suicide is associated with one's expectations for oneself in modern society. This could explain why white middle-class Americans are taking the decline in their economic fortunes harder than their minority cohorts: In the old economic order, it was more or less understood that members of the white working class could, through hard work, attain a good life with a stable, high-paying job.

You know, the American Dream.

It's obvious that white middle-class Americans have had their dream shattered. All the while, the market, and the rest of the country, has moved on with the normal "feverish impatience of men's lives," as Durkheim wrote.

Deaths of despair for white non-Hispanics, 2000 and 2014

Faces look ugly when you're alone

The other of Durkheim's three forms of suicide, egoistic suicide comes from a state of heightened individualism in which a person is untethered from society. This can happen at times of person or collective stress. It is an evaporation of feelings of community support or common identity. It is an intense feeling of loneliness.

It might occur when someone loses their job, abandons their church, their institutions, their family  things that make them feel like a part of something larger. These are all characteristics of (but certainly not limited to) individuals going through economic hardship, and so along with the broader breakdown of society we considered above, self-destructive behavior and suicide could be driven by more personal catastrophes resulting from the changes of our era.

"Excessive individualism not only results in favoring the action of suicidogenic causes, but it itself is such a cause. It not only frees man's inclination to do away with himself from a protective obstacle but creates this inclination out of whole cloth and thus gives birth to a special suicide that bears its mark," he wrote.

Fortunately, it's possible for a broader functional community to circumvent this disastrous form of suicide. This feeling of loneliness is a cruel end that government, a pillar of American identity, can step in and help prevent when individuals are hurting. And it should, because when individuals are hurting they're destructive to themselves and their communities.

This is what government is for, in large part, protecting the collective from the violence (physical or social) perpetrated by some individuals.

But what our current government is offering is the opposite. Donald Trump ran on leaving entitlements like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid alone, but that's not happening, as can be seen in cuts to the latter program in the Republicans' proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Poll after poll showed that Trump voters wanted more investment in education, but that's not happening either. They want their communities built up, but instead they're having their resources taken away  they're being broken apart.

Listen to Mick Mulvaney, Trump's budget director, talk about school lunches not having any impact on performance, and you might forget that a school is not just a school  it's a community.

Listen to House Speaker Paul Ryan talk about Medicaid, and you may forget that its expansion is helping to fight the opioid epidemic ravaging the very communities we're discussing. This is nothing but cruelty.

Durkheim did some work on that kind of callousness among the rich and powerful too. We are a wealthy country  the wealthiest, actually  and that wealth can lead to folly.

He wrote, "Wealth ... by the power it bestows deceives us into believing that we depend on ourselves only. Reducing the resistance we encounter from objects, it suggests the possibility of unlimited success against them."

But success is never unlimited. The reality of life in America is that objects  in the form of social structures or physical disabilities  can defeat human beings.

Based on the way we talk about government we've clearly forgotten that. The people of Durkheim's time did too. Modern political structures, he wrote in "Suicide,' all work to "reduce government to the role of a more or less passive intermediary among the various social functions."

That role fails to acknowledge that objects  in this case the invisible forces of economic change and class structure  are in front of all of us, some of us more and some of us less. We are not born onto a level playing field of equal opportunity, and that field will not simply appear because we're American. We have to invest in it.

Opening up avenues of opportunity takes a powerful, concerted effort from the government, and when we fail to see that, we allow people in our society to be defeated. Trump, Ryan, and their ilk might tell you that the market can offer those opportunities naturally, but the market has never pretended to care for any of us, and the idea that a person can face it alone is beyond laughable.

You see, we're playing ourselves.

We are living in a delusion of our own power, and in the process  by undermining the utility of government for public good  casting aside the power of the collective. We are untethering ourselves from the very things that bind us together as a society.

As we stand, our "deaths of despair" rate is not getting better, and it's not going to. We are choosing to make it worse.

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BOAO, China, March 26 (Reuters) - Great vigilance must be paid to global reflation, the People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Sunday, though he added that it is too early to tell if there is a trend of global reflation. Speaking during the Boao Forum for Asia, Zhou said that there was already abundant liquidity in the world.

(Reporting by Elias Glenn; Writing by Dominique Patton)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
HONG KONG, March 26 (Reuters) - Guotai Junan Securities , China's third-largest brokerage by assets, is set to raise $2.1 billion in a rare fixed-price share offering in Hong Kong, IFR reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the plans.

The Shanghai-listed company plans to sell 1.04 billion shares at a fixed price of HK$15.84 each, putting the total deal at HK$16.5 billion ($2.12 billion), IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication, reported. That would make it the largest stock sale in the city since the $7.63 billion initial public offering of Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) in September 2016.

Guotai Junan did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment after business hours on Sunday.

The deal will be launched on Monday, with pricing slated for Friday, IFR said.

The price represents a discount of about 25 percent to Guotai Junan's closing price of 18.79 yuan in Shanghai on Friday. A fixed-price share offering is unusual, with most deals setting an indicative range before deciding on the final pricing, depending on demand.

Guotai Junan secured about $600 million in commitments from cornerstone investors for the deal, IFR reported. The company ranks behind CITIC Securities and Haitong Securities in terms of assets, revenue and profits, according to the offering prospectus.

Guotai Junan hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank International and Guotai Junan's Hong Kong investment-banking arm - Guotai Junan International - as joint sponsors for the deal.

($1 = 7.7665 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Fiona Lau of IFR; Writing by Elzio Barreto; editing by Susan Thomas)
March 26 (Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Sunday:

TAX REFORM

Fresh off a defeat on U.S. healthcare legislation, the White House warns rebellious conservative lawmakers that they should get behind Trump's agenda or he may bypass them on future legislative fights, including tax reform. HEALTHCARE

Republicans may have failed to overthrow Obamacare last week, but there are plenty of ways they can chip away at it. RUSSIA PROBE

Roger Stone, a longtime ally of Trump, says he has offered to testify before a congressional committee investigating possible Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and ties to the Trump campaign. (Compiled by Peter Cooney; Editing by Andrew Hay)
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

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Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 39F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph.
World looks to China for growth but it has its own problems at home

BOAO, China  China sought to expand its influence and clout over a four-day conference this week as it promised world and business leaders that it will keep its doors open even as the world's second-largest economy undertakes its own market and financial reform.

"China's door to the world is always open and will become increasingly open with progress," Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli said at the opening of the Boao Forum on Saturday.

He also stated China's commitment to opening up access to foreign investment and various industries while remaining a force for peace and stability in the world.

People's Bank of China's Governor Zhou Xiaochuan meanwhile said globalization is a reality and not a choice for nations.

Zhang and Zhou's comments come amid concerns about increasing protectionist sentiments among some nations after the U.K.'s Brexit vote and the election of U.S. President Donald Trump.

With China still championing globalization and free trade, leaders around the world are looking toward the East Asian giant for direction, clarity and support, underscoring a shift in global trade and power relations.

This is reflected through its aggressive push in Asia through Europe with its One Belt, One Road project which is presenting new opportunities for countries which may have previously struggled to attract investors and funding.

The landlocked Central Asian country of Kazakhstan is one.

"When the Soviet Union was dissolved in the early 90s, everyone (said) that Kazakhstan would struggle because it does not have access to the ocean, but it turned out that we didn't need to have an ocean because China was going to be the ocean of Kazakhstan," said Eurasian Resources Group CEO Benedikt Sobotka on Thursday.

Other developing nations' leaders from Pakistan to Madagascar also paid homage to China at the event.

Indeed, China made clear its intention to push its influence beyond its familiar sphere.

At the forum's opening, leaders from countries that are usually under-represented on the world stage such as Madagascar, Micronesia and Nepal addressed the floor, championing globalization and partnership.

Story continues

While hopeful nations are eyeing the investment and growth that China is bringing to the table, concerns over its domestic economy dominated panels and discussion, underscoring the many challenges that the major but still emerging economy face.

Key issues include high debt levels and financial regulation, as officials took pains to reassure markets about the country's economy, affirm its commitment to economic and market reforms, while explaining some difficulties it was facing.

On Friday, Vice Finance Minister Liu Wei said China's debt risks are "very much under control" and that the issue is of "great importance" to the authorities.

At a separate panel, former vice president of the China Academy of Social Sciences Li Yang sought to explain the long-drawn process in restructuring debt-laden state-owned enterprises, which also has social responsibility to tens of millions of employees.

Indeed, Chairman of Boston Consulting Group Hans-Paul Burkner told CNBC China's economic reform efforts could lead to hardship and so they require delicate maneuvering.

Despite concerns, there was a consensus at the forum that international exchanges can only continue to flow in an increasingly open world, although those negatively affected by globalization need to be supported.

"In 20, 30, 40 or 50 years, will we (still) see free exchange of ideas, people and goods? I think the answer is yes. But I suspect we will find ways to address the real discontent and dislocation that some trade activities and technologies cause," said Peter Tufano, dean of the Said Business School at the University of Oxford.

 CNBC's Geoff Cutmore and Sophia Yan contributed to this report.

Correction: This article has been altered to accurately reflect what Hans-Paul Burkner, chairman of Boston Consulting Group, told CNBC.
Kyle Dean Massey, playing the titular role in Frank Wildhorn musical "Jekyll and Hyde" in Seoul, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at Bookpark in Blue Square on March 22. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



By Kwon Mee-yoo

Broadway actor Kyle Dean Massey wears two faces every night in Seoul, portraying the gentle doctor Jekyll and the aggressive Hyde in the musical "Jekyll and Hyde" staged at Blue Square in Seoul.

The musical, with the music of Frank Wildhorn, is enjoying unprecedented popularity in Korea and the producer Shin Chun-soo aims to re-export the Korean production to the world. As a first step, Shin revamped the Korean production with an upgraded set and costumes capturing the sophisticated yet dark atmosphere of the Victorian era.

The icing on the cake of the production is Massey, who is known for playing Fiyero in "Wicked," Gabe in "Next to Normal" and Pippin in "Pippin" on Broadway. His boyish charm suited those characters, but the 35-year-old actor wanted to challenge himself.

When approached by the production to play the titular dual role, Massey did think about the offer for a while.

"This was very different from what I did before. But that's actually what ended up making me want to do the role. Because it was so different," the actor said. "Also as I'm getting a little older, this role is a bit more mature than the roles I played before. And I'm interested in moving toward that direction, away from those boyish roles."

Massey arrived in Korea in early February and rehearsed with the current cast who were already playing in other Korean cities before its Seoul run started on March 8. "I rehearsed for a week in Gyeongju, a week in Gwangju and about a week and half here in Seoul," he said, mentioning three and a half week is a luxurious amount.

As he went into a show that was already playing as he has done throughout his career, Massey said he has a specific method to rehearse.

"I like to learn and memorize as quickly as I can, because until you do that it is very difficult to make creative choices. And luckily when it's only you and the director in the rehearsal room, you are able to go at whatever speed you want. I think I learned the show pretty quickly and then was able to refine things from there when I joined the cast."












By Yoon Sung-won



Most Korean companies have worried about U.S. protectionist measures after the inauguration of President Donald Trump. But a few expect benefits from his administration that plans to increase investments in infrastructure.



LS Cable & System said Sunday it will start producing 10.3 kilometers of submarine cables next month to provide for the New York Power Authority (NYPA).



The company said it also plans to expand its investment in the U.S. market to keep up with the potential growing demand in tandem with the U.S. government's expansionary policies.



"We expect that the Trump administration's policy to expand investment in infrastructure will boost power cable demand in the United States to replace obsolete ones," an LS Cable official said. "Accordingly, we are considering more investments in the U.S. market."



According to the company, its submarine cables will replace old cables laid at the bottom of Lake Champlain, which is between New York State and Vermont. The old cables were deployed in 1958 and 1970.



LS Cable reached the deal with the NYPA to join the $47 million project in January 2016. The new cables will be installed between September and December this year.



LS Cable in 2006 became the first Korean company providing extra-high-voltage cables for the U.S. market.



During Trump's presidential election campaign, he pledged to pour $1 trillion into reinforcing national infrastructure such as highways, bridges and tunnels.



Doosan Group, which has suffered liquidity problems in recent years, would be happy with this news.



Doosan Bobcat is expected to be one of the biggest beneficiaries as the world's leading small-sized construction equipment maker is already generating about 70 percent of its sales in the North American market. Market expectations are that the policy, once realized, will generate extra demand worth more than $17 billion for Doosan Bobcat.



In addition, Trump has promised to drop the federal corporate tax rate to 15 percent, down from 35 percent as it is now. Doosan Bobcat and its parent company Doosan Infracore will benefit further if his election pledge comes true.



Besides its global headquarters in Korea, Doosan Bobcat operates its main manufacturing base in North Dakota in the U.S. It was acquired by Doosan Infracore in 2007, helping Doosan expand its manufacturing and sales channels to North America, China and Europe. Doosan Bobcat posted 4.4 trillion won ($39.2 billion) in sales and 385.6 billion won in operating profit last year.



Doosan, however, remained cautious about the rosy expectations as it is uncertain if the Trump administration will keep all its pledges.



Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is also expected to benefit from Trump in its bid to provide its T-50A trainer jet for the U.S. Air Force, thanks to its partnership with Lockheed Martin.



The U.S. firm has been friendly with Republicans. It is known to have paid $1.88 million in political support for Trump during his presidential election campaign.



The U.S. Air Force is pushing for an advanced pilot training project, investing more than $15 billion to replace its 350 T-38 trainer aircraft. The Lockheed Martin-KAI consortium is competing with the Boeing-Saab alliance in this bidding.




By Nam Hyun-woo



The government's plan to rescue liquidity-strapped Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) is facing complicated problems, raising questions over the viability of the shipbuilder's bailout.



According to industry sources on Sunday, DSME's main creditors  the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Export-Import Bank Korea (Eximbank)  will meet officials today from commercial banks that have extended loans to the shipyard. Their meeting will be about rescheduling their 700 billion won ($623.6 million) of unsecured loans to DSME  one of the prerequisites for the company to avoid court receivership.



The government last week announced a bailout plan for DSME, under which the KDB and Eximbank provide 2.9 trillion won of loans on condition the company's creditors and bondholders agree to a 2.9 trillion won debt-to-equity swap and a 900 billion won debt rescheduling.



If the creditors fail to agree on the rescue, the government said DSME will be placed under a "pre-packaged plan," a mixture of court receivership and a debt workout plan.



Commercial banks were also asked to agree to a debt-to-equity swap on 80 percent, or 560 billion won, of the unsecured loans and payment rescheduling of the remaining 20 percent.



According to the government, it has received "verbal agreement" from commercial banks for the plan. Banks sources also said that Monday's meeting will be about pinning down the agreement.



However, the sources said banks are "reluctantly" agreeing because they have to secure up to 640 billion won in provisions additionally.



Banks have shared the burden in restructuring Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), a shipping company that underwent a government-led restructuring scheme last year. They then agreed to a debt-equity swap on 60 percent of their unsecured loans to HMM.



Unlike HMM, however, DSME's shares have been suspended from trading since July, meaning banks cannot liquidate DSME shares unless the Korea Exchange, the domestic bourse operator, lifts the suspension.



"The debt-equity swap to HMM had more advantages compared to that of DSME because shareholders could liquidate their HMM shares immediately to get back money immediately, even if the amount was not that big," Shinhan Investment Corp. analyst Kim Sang-hoon said.



The financial authority said it is seeking the resumption of DSME trading in the second half of this year, but market observers expect a plunge in the company's share price would be inevitable.



Another difficulty in the bailout plan is how to get agreement from private creditors. From April 17, DSME will hold private creditors' meetings to ask them to agree on a debt-equity swap and rescheduling of five corporate bonds they hold worth 1.35 trillion won. If creditors of any of those bonds disagree to the plan, DSME will be placed under the pre-packaged plan.



The National Pension Service (NPS) holds the key with DSME corporate bonds worth 390 billion won, but there is no easy choice for the pension operator.



The NPS has been under fire for its agreement to a merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in 2015. Criticism arose that the NPS succumbed to political pressure and incurred losses for subscribers. An agreement to salvage DSME may bring a similar backlash for the NPS, because uncertainties are lingering over the normalization of DSME. However, a disagreement will send the company under court receivership, which also incurs losses.




With 8 million surveillance cameras operating everywhere from train stations to streets, Korea is now one of the most-watched nations in the world. / Yonhap



Surveillance is more intense than ever  at the cost of privacy

By Jung Min-ho

Anyone who walks around almost any city in Korea is recorded on video. With 8 million surveillance cameras operating everywhere from subway stations to streets, Korea is now one of the most-watched nations in the world.

As surveillance cameras have become increasingly common as a crime prevention method and forensic evidence in court, concerns have also been raised about people's privacy and liberty.

The National Information Society Agency estimated in 2015 that there were about 8 million closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed across the country, though it is difficult to know the exact number.

For police officers, this is welcome news. CCTV cameras help them not only track down criminal suspects but also provide evidence to prove their guilt in court. Police and prosecutors have increasingly relied on video footage in doing their work in recent years.

"Securing CCTV footage near the crime scene is one of the first things investigators do these days," Professor Kwak Dae-kyung at the police administration department of Dongguk University told The Korea Times. "When there were no CCTV cameras, police had to rely on the memory of witnesses, who may lie or remember things incorrectly. But CCTV footage is consistent and objective, so its value as evidence is very high."

CCTV footage certainly can't be a perfect solution for all criminal cases. However, it is widely and increasingly used in courts alongside other evidence, such as witnesses' testimonies and documents, lawyer Kim Yong-min said.

Most police officers have taken advantage of the new technology. A journal published by the National Police Agency in 2015 shows that 80 percent of police officers said they have collected CCTV footage for their work.

"I have no doubt that police can do their work more effectively with CCTV cameras," Kwak said. "Their presence also deters crimes in the first place as a warning to potential criminals nearby."

Experts say the trend of more CCTV cameras and their increasing use in investigations will continue. One of the reasons is growing demand. The city of Yeoju in Gyeonggi Province recently installed 144 additional CCTV cameras across the city. Many, especially those who live in less developed areas, demand more cameras in their neighborhoods for safety.

CCTV cameras are no longer for places such as airports and banks, where security is a critical issue. Today, they are a part of everyday life. According to the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, every school in the province now has at least two CCTV cameras.

Privacy concerns

With CCTV cameras becoming smaller, better and ubiquitous, privacy in public places may soon be a thing of the past.

The estimated 8 million CCTV cameras across Korea may be an underrepresentation of how much people are actually watched, given that the number doesn't include cameras attached to vehicles and mobile phones.

Under the laws, people can install CCTV cameras on their property. Neither registration nor permission is needed. The only thing required is to let people know where the cameras are located, and regulators barely check this requirement.

Many are rightly concerned about the invasion of privacy. As people move around in public, they are naturally expected to be photographed and recorded and there is little they can do about it.

Perhaps the biggest problem is that few people even realize how frequently they are on camera. "CCTV footage showing the actions of random people is owned and, to a certain extent, used by strangers. This may be the most dangerous part," Kim said.

CCTV cameras have been increasingly used for various crimes from stealing credit card PIN numbers to posting revenge porn to shame an ex.

Some experts question the efficacy of CCTV cameras, saying its effect on crime prevention and reduction is limited and much lesser than believed.

According to Kim, police sometimes deliberately don't collect CCTV footage that could work in favor of the suspect. "As a result, judges can see only part of the truth," he noted.

Pessimists say CCTV cameras, which were meant to protect people's freedom by creating a safer environment, actually hurt it. They also argue criminal defendants are as keen on using them in their favor as police are.

Despite all the concerns, however, change is inevitable. More streets will be filled with more CCTV cameras, and they will record everyone near them  just in case.
By Lee Kyung-min

Kwangdong Pharmaceutical's Kyungokko medicine

Kwangdong Pharmaceutical obtained a patent from the Japan Patent Office for a drug ingredient in its Kyungokko medicine that helps treat male infertility, the company said Sunday. The patent expires on Feb. 27, 2035.

The soft extract made of rehmannia glutinosa, poria cocos, ginseng and honey, is used to treat fatigue in patients who underwent surgery or those who suffer from chronic exhaustion in general, according to the company.

The patent was based on a firm-commissioned study conducted by Kyung Hee University for one year starting in December 2011.

According to the comparative lab rat tests, the control group rats injected with the extract showed an increase in the weight of their testicles, sperm motility and sperm count.

"We hope our product will treat male infertility, potentially allowing previously infertile men to conceive naturally," a company official said.

Kyungokko was first exported to Japan in 1981 and its popularity there led to the formation of a group of pharmacists studying the Korean product, the firm added.
British news outlet The Stack admitted it had wrong information in a map on its website and changed "Sea of Japan" to "East Sea." The person behind the correction was a student at Busan International High School in Korea. / Courtesy of Choi Hyun-jung



By Eom Da-sol





Choi Hyun-jung

A Busan International High School student has convinced a British online news agency to replace "Sea of Japan" with "East Sea" on a map posted on its site.

Choi Hyun-jung, 17, sent several requests to the head editor of The Stack to change the name on the East Asia map.

"I found numerous websites on Google that used an East Asian map with false information on geographic names," Choi told The Korea Times.

"Seeing maps indicating Korea's East Sea' as Sea of Japan,' even on many news outlets, I felt the urge to change the map posted on The Stack at least."

Japan has been arguing that the eastern sea of Korea historically belonged to Japan and labeled the controversial area as "Sea of Japan" on its national maps.

Choi explained in her email to the British company, "the name Sea of Japan' is a destructing legacy of the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945)." She also gave other examples of international organizations and map publishers supporting the idea of stating East Sea. Her argument was based on historical evidence that shows Korea has occupied the sea for centuries.

After Choi sent five requests, The Stack apologized for the mistake and fixed the map on Mar. 23.

"It was not hard to write emails in English because I have been studying the language for years," said Choi, who wants to become a diplomat specializing in public affairs and Korean culture.

"I think this shows that you can do anything that your heart desires, only if you do not give up."
A U.S. Forces Korea vehicle waits in an inter-Korean border region in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Mar. 23. / Yonhap



By Ko Dong-hwan

South Korea and the U.S. have conducted an exercise on destroying North Korean chemical weapons, according to American military forces in Korea Sunday.

The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said troops participated in an exercise to remove the lethal nerve agent sarin at a shooting range in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday and Wednesday. The drill was part of the annual joint Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises.

During the exercise, the forces raided a mock North Korean chemical weapons factory and destroyed its products.

The American troops arrived in CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.












Eight T-50Bs of the Black Eagles aerobatic flight team draw a big arrow during an air show at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition in Malaysia from March 21 to 25. / Courtesy of the Korean Air Force



By Jun Ji-hye

The Air Force's aerobatic flight team, the Black Eagles, demonstrated various advanced maneuvers at a Malaysian air show last week, winning praise for the excellence of the pilots' skills and their T-50 supersonic trainer jets, the Air Force said Sunday.

The Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) 2017, one of the largest air shows in the Asia-Pacific region, ended Saturday.

During the five-day event that brought 500 defense companies from 36 countries and 200,000 visitors together, the eight T-50Bs of the Black Eagles conducted eight flights, demonstrating various maneuvers, including their trademark show of drawing a huge heart and the Taegeuk symbol from the Korean flag with white smoke.

"The Black Eagles received huge attention from visitors and media during the event," the Air Force said. "Hishamuddin Hussein, Malaysia's defense minister, also praised the team, calling it one of the world's first-class aerobatic flight teams."

The Air Force said the team's participation was another chance to promote the nation's advanced trainer jets in the global defense industry, which will help exports.

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) developed the T-50 in 2001 with technical help from U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. The Korean company, based in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, has also made aerobatic and combat variants, namely the T-50B, the TA-50 and the FA-50, as well as the Surion utility helicopter.

The Black Eagles' performances at air shows in the United Kingdom and Singapore have also contributed considerably to export sales of the jets, the Air Force said.

The jets were exported to Indonesia, Iraq and the Philippines.

"Three Malaysian pilots experienced flying the T-50s for an hour during the event," the Air Force said.
A U.S. Air Force F-35B stealth fighter takes off from its base in Japan, Thursday, to participate in a joint drill between South Korea and the U.S., in this handout photo made available Saturday by U.S. Forces Korea. / Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye

The U.S. armed forces appear to have been sending their strategic weapons to South Korea in greater secrecy, a move that would maximize fear for North Korea.

A military official said on condition of anonymity, Sunday, that increasing the dispatch of weapons in secret reflects the Donald Trump administration's shifting toward offensive measures in dealing with the North's evolving threats as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson vowed to explore all options including military action.

"Surprise dispatch of strategic weapons is effective in maximizing fear in the North as it sends a message that such weapons can be mobilized any time in case of a contingency," the official said.

In the latest series of mobilizations, it was belatedly known that Washington had sent several F-35B stealth fighters, deployed to the U.S. Forces Japan, to the Korean Peninsula last week.

During its sortie in support of joint training between South Korean and U.S. marines as part of the allies' annual Foal Eagle exercises, the fifth-generation fighter jets conducted a simulation-based bombing drill on a shooting range in Gangwon Province, a source said, adding that the drill was aimed at striking virtual targets in North Korea.

The visit was reportedly made from March 20 to 23, but it was known to the media only on Saturday when U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Vincent K. Brooks said the sortie reflects Washington's commitment to a robust alliance with Seoul.

"The deployment of the most advanced aircraft the U.S. Marine Corps has in its inventory to Korea is yet another example of how dedicated the United States is to supporting the ROK-U.S. Alliance," he said in a statement. "The training within the Korea Marine Exercise Program helps ensure our readiness and is critical for our alliance as we maintain security and stability on the Korean Peninsula."

It was also belatedly known that the U.S. Navy's USS Columbus, a fast-attack, nuclear-powered submarine, was participating in the joint drill that began March 19 in the nearby sea of South Korea.

Earlier, the U.S. also secretly sent two B-1B strategic bombers, deployed to Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, to the vicinity of South Korea, March 15.

Washington gave no advance notice to the South Korean media. The dispatch was known the following day after North Korea claimed, through its Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), that the B-1B Lancer bombers flew over a firing range of South Korea for about an hour on a drill aimed at making preemptive strikes at major targets of the North. It was believed that Pyongyang detected the flight of the bombers using its radars and accumulating information.

At the time, the USFK did not confirm the sortie, only saying, "We do not discuss operational matters."

In response to the allies' recent drills, North Korea threatened a preemptive strike.

The North Korean People's Army issued a statement, Sunday, saying that it is ready to fend off any attempts by enemy commandos to attack its leader, citing that U.S. commandos, including Navy SEAL Team Six and Delta Force, took part in the annual drills with South Korea.

Meanwhile, 38 North, the U.S.-based North Korea monitoring website, said that another indication that Pyongyang may be preparing for its sixth nuclear test has been detected, citing satellite imagery showing several vehicles or trailers at the entrance to the Punggye-ri nuclear test site.

"If these vehicles are related to test preparations, they could be involved in the installation of instrumentation or even a nuclear device," Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. and Jack Liu said in an article posted on the website.

However, the evidence is not definitive, therefore, they may be there for other purposes as well, they said.
The mother, left, of a Danwon High School student lost in the Sewol ferry disaster weeps while looking at the fully emerged ferry off the island of Jindo in South Jeolla Province, Sunday, after it was successfully salvaged. / Yonhap



By Kim Bo-eun

The successful salvaging of the Sewol ferry is drawing attention over whether the remains of nine missing passengers will be retrieved either from within the ferry or from the seabed where the ship had laid for almost three years.

Nine of the 304 passengers who died in the April 2014 ferry disaster in remain unaccounted for. They include the bodies of four students and two teachers of Danwon High School, who were on a school trip to Jeju Island, and three other passengers.

Search operations will be conducted on the ferry after it is drained of water and oil and taken to Mokpo Port this week.

The maritime ministry and Mokpo city government have formed a team of 105 government officials and police to assist in the search.

Searches will first require sediment and floating matter inside to be removed, to clear a way into the ferry. The ministry will then disinfect and wash the ferry and take out the objects found inside. Any objects left by the victims will be handed over to the bereaved family members.

In the meantime, there is a dispute over how to conduct the search. The ministry is reviewing cutting out the passenger cabins from the ferry and putting them upright before initiating the search.

However, bereaved family members are claiming separating the cabins may make it difficult to investigate the cause of the sinking.

Lee Cheol-jo, a senior official at the ministry, said, "This method is reasonable, considering efficiency in making the searches  even if we do cut out the cabins we will conduct inspections of the ferry at the same time."

He added, "We will conduct a pre-examination of the parts that may be damaged in the process of cutting out the cabins so it does not affect the inspections."

The ministry will first search the cabins on the third and fourth decks of the ferry, where the bodies are most likely to be located, based on testimonies from survivors.

It has leased the port for the search until July 20. The ministry put up a fence 200 meters wide, 160 meters long and 3 meters high around the seabed where the Sewol sank, in order to prevent anything that could possibly have drifted out of the ferry during the salvaging from being swept away.

The Chinese consortium led by state-run Shanghai Salvage, which was in charge of recovering the sunken Sewol, will also conduct the seabed search.

The fenced area will be divided into 40 sections, and divers will search one square meter at a time. The search is expected to be tough as currents are strong at the site of the sinking. After the divers make their search, sonar will scan the area.

There is the possibility that the remains may have drifted out of the ferry, as it has been submerged for almost three years. However, considering most of the 295 recovered bodies were retrieved from within the ferry, it is likely that the unaccounted bodies will be trapped inside as well.
Gov't urged to get ratification before pushing for THAAD deployment



By Kim Jae-kyoung

South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyung speaks during an interview at Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore on March 20. / Courtesy of National Assembly

SINGAPORE  South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun has called for reopening dialogue with North Korea to stop its provocations.

Chung said it is important to acknowledge North Korean leader Kim Jung-un as a negotiation partner.

"Given his experience and other aspects, it is difficult to consider him a dialogue partner. But we don't get to pick our partners," he said during a recent interview here.

He was visiting Singapore to meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien-loong over expansion of bilateral cooperation on economic and security issues.

"North Korea must be criticized and sanctioned for its nuclear and missile tests," he said. "However, to change them, we should first bring them back to the negotiation table and make more efforts to listen to them."

Chung's comments came amid escalating tensions on the peninsula as the U.S. and South Korea seek harsher sanctions against North Korea following the reclusive country's series of missile and nuclear tests.

He said sanctions alone can neither solve the nuclear issue nor make the situation any better.

"Tensions are mounting on the Korean Peninsula as the conflict between two great powers is deepening in Northeast Asia (over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system). Korea will be hit hardest if this situation continues," he said.

"We have to work harder to persuade our neighbors and adopt a more creative approach by combining sanctions with dialogue or engagement policies."

The six-term lawmaker urged the Korean government to get a parliamentary ratification for the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on Korean soil.












By Stephen Costello





"Let me be perfectly clear," said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Seoul last week, echoing the signal President Barack Obama had used to conceal the policy confusion and political timidity that has defined US diplomacy toward East Asia since 2001. "The policy of strategic patience has failed." But he wasn't being clear about the Trump administration's views. He was stating a fact that has been obvious to all in the region for 8 years. Tillerson would have been more clear if he had offered a reason WHY strategic patience failed. Or if he had admitted that only the Bush and Obama policies failed, and that the US and South Korea were pursuing successful policies toward North Korea 17 years ago.



20 years or 16 years of US policy failure?



His previous statement from Beijing that "20 years of US policy have failed" reveals that he has either been told or has personally embraced myths like this, which deny or whitewash the period 1993-2000 when US policy succeeded. In the words of Robert Carlin, the best US analyst of North Korea, "What did not fail, however, was the diplomacy from 1993-2000. That period is barely understood by those who simply consign it to the same trash heap as the failures of the Bush and Obama administrations. That is a fatal mistake; it haunts us today and will haunt us even more tomorrow. To so misread the accomplishments of diplomacy of those years is to slam the door on probably the only course that will lead us away from the disaster we are facing now." Mr. Carlin's short article, "The Ultimate Failure in Korea" at www.38north.org is worth reading. It is the best on this subject in years, and it is under 900 words long.



Strategic patience was a clever substitute for paralysis from 2009 to 2017, but what about the years 2001-2009? More to the point, what was US policy from 1993 to 2000? That was only 16 years ago. Not one journalist has asked Secretary Tillerson or any other US official this question, but it is central to understanding the issues today. And why is recognition of the principles and national interests of those years the one policy option that has so terrified the US administrations of Bush, Obama and now Trump, that it cannot even be remembered, much less considered? The answer may be that the fact at the center of all this is impossible for US leaders to admit: North Korea did not walk away from the US-DPRK agreements; the US did. Books by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and others confirm it. With that correction the key rationale for US policy since 2001 evaporates.



ROK  US policy coordination was key to success



Closely linked to this record of the radical shift in US policy are the parallel policies of the South Korean government. For five years during the 1990s the Clinton administration pursued a smart and complex engagement with North Korea without substantial help from the Kim Young Sam government. President KimYS betrayed far more than his domestic democratic allies when he climbed into bed with the authoritarian/chaebol/anticommunist forces of the ruling party in 1992. He also abandoned the approach to the DPRK that was the natural outgrowth of democratization: some kind of practical engagement.



Clinton fought both KimYS and the majority anti-diplomacy Republicans in the US Congress in order to cap the nuclear programs in the North. Therefore the new, progressive Kim Dae Jung government in 1998 was a huge relief to those efforts, because he finally had a full partner in Seoul. This is why the most successful period for either the US or ROK diplomacy toward North Korea was 1998 to 2001. Unsurprisingly, this was the high point for the alliance.



Neither China nor the US can lead with North Korea



Today the Trump administration faces multiple obstacles to any return to long-term and strategic deal-making surrounding Korea. It is probably incapable of the kind of long-game strategizing necessary to implement any new diplomacy. The requisite experts and both government and non-government expertise are not welcome in the White House. The diplomatic capability and personnel needed may never be created. Internal policy-making seems broken. By now we have seen the limitations of the President. He is allied with the most extreme Republicans, who are even less supportive than their predecessors of diplomatic solutions. The very best that can be expected is a return to the short-term and tactical deals of the Bush years, but we cannot even count on that.



In this environment the role of the next Korean president becomes more important than ever. He will need to appreciate that the domestic economy, the THAAD deployment, relations with China, Japan and Russia are all related to the North Korea issue. And that issue is unfortunately central to the US-Korea alliance. For him, it will not be enough to respond symbolically to the candlelight protests and Park Geun-hye fatigue. The public has been quite clear: they want a return to working and accountable democratic institutions. And they want real, instead of fake and ideology-based, security.



Trump administration must be guided to support Seoul



If he is organized and gathers a broad and capable team, and if he has a process to take in the best advice from every corner, the new president can lead effective new strategies that pay attention to alliances, partners and neighbors. The only way he is likely to enlist the critical help of the US Trump administration is by guiding them toward a supportive position in the region. He can only do that if he accepts that neither the US nor China can take the lead. Both should be happy to have South Korea out in front when a new initiative is launched. Their endless bickering about their own efforts with North Korea shows why. Logically this makes sense, because it's long been clear that the South has far more at stake than any other player except the North.




By Kwon Bong- woon





The society in which we live is now reaching a crisis amid an acute split in public opinion over pending questions.

I am anxious because South Korea is becoming one nation with two peoples. We are up against an unprecedented national crisis, and yet there is no leadership attempting to patch up our differences. There were opportunities for breakthroughs and settlements, but politicians would not compromise. Rival parties need to find an excellent skill for integration. However, politicians attempt to ride the popular movement and sway opinions for their own interests. But the people are wiser than they think. There can be pros and cons on any issue under the constitutional freedom of expression. We all must accept the Constitutional Court's decision, even though it is different from what might want. In order to integrate public opinion, we have to acknowledge another's view. Meanwhile, a lot of people are now suffering from deepening ideological division over Park Geun-hye's impeachment.

The next president will inherit rage and division. He must show humility and engagement, and should present a way of harmony, sacrifice and compromise. The people are eager for a leader who has the ability to reconcile and a strong and wise inclusive leadership in times of national crisis.

Under the circumstances, inclusive leadership emerges as a new way to achieve nation unity, which eases the ideological dispute, and heals the deep despair of the ordinary people. Integration is a far reaching challenge, it is in aid of a worthwhile cause. Above all things, the country extremely needs to stop the political strife to heal the rift and boost integration.

We feel keenly the necessity of inclusive leadership which can disentagle complicated matters, such as the deep-rooted antagonism and feud between conservatives and progressives. Genuinely inclusive leadership comes from forgiveness, tolerance for counterforces, national cohesion, extensive communication and more. Inclusive leadership meets the demand of our time because our political leaders must find and practice the best ways to improve governance by finding settlements through compromise.

The eradication of corruption is extremely necessary for a happier future for the country.

As part of the ways to cope with reforming chaebol, we need to end the corruption and collusion between politicians and business, to help ensure we have an incorruptible country. The next president will face many challenges, the biggest of which is how to integrate public opinion sharply divided into one.

The spirit of the times of the next presidential election is about how to bring reconciliation and integration to the nation and soothe people's hurt caused by political turmoil.

A competent leader looking at a problem from a rational perspective can find a better way of solving a problem. The national consensus as well as people's voluntary cooperation and participation are pivotal to resolving ideological disputes and conflicts as this is frosting on the cake. The future of our society depends on whether we succeed in parting with corruption and go beyond ideology, creating a brighter, healthier society which is more transparent and accountable. In addition, we need to create a good corporate culture in which corruption has no place in any sector of our society.

I sincerely wish to see inclusive leadership which strives for national unity and reconciliation.





The writer lives in Seoul. Write to kbw8234664@ naver.com.
America's commander for its military role in the North African state of Libya calls it a "powder keg." What he doesn't and probably couldn't explain is why the fate of Libya matters to the United States.



Libya has borders on Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and the Mediterranean Sea. The only one of these that really matters to the world, although not particularly to the U.S., is the Mediterranean, which permits migrants from the rest of Africa to launch from Libya in rickety boats toward Europe. The only habitable part of Libya is the coastal strip. The rest is almost entirely desert, although Libya does have oil.



The United States joined with France, Italy, Britain and some Arab states in 2011 in displacing the government of Libya's then-leader, Moammar Gadhafi, in power for 42 years since he led the overthrow of King Idris in 1969. Gadhafi was caught and killed. Since then, instead of attaining coherent, democratic government, Libya has ended up in a state of chaos, with three different regimes now claiming legitimacy. Many different militias operate, some independent, some intermittently supporting one of the three governments.



In the meantime people-smuggling continues unabated in the absence of government, and Libya's oil production, normally its only meal ticket, drops, with even its oil ports changing hands periodically. Exxon Mobil, whose ex-chief Rex Tillerson is now secretary of state, keeps a close eye on Libyan oil production.



The Obama administration found it impossible to cleanse America of involvement in Libya, and the Trump administration appears to be following course. There is no good reason for it, except oil, if we needed it, and the fact that various small components of al-Qaida and the Islamic State have been able to maintain their places in the shelter of Libyan governmental incoherence.



Why the United States feels any need to involve itself in the affairs of Libya, particularly with military force, including recently with B-52 bombers, is impossible to explain to the American public. It seems to be entirely supply-driven, part of the Pentagon's endless appetite for money and arms, in spite of America's needs at home.





This editorial appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.




By Chyung Eun-ju





The Constitutional Court officially removed Park Geun-hye from power. The nation is sharply divided just as it was in Brazil after the removal of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in 2015-16.

Three similar factors stood out in the process for presidential removal: an outrageous corruption scandal that implicated many power figures, sustained popular protests, and a well-ordered constitutional process.

Both presidents also did not acknowledge their faults right after the impeachment ruling, despite the fact that 60 percent of the people supported the impeachment in Brazil, and 86 percent of the people in Korea were in favor. Dilma called it a coup and until now still calls herself "Brazilian President-elect" on her Twitter account. Former President Park indicated that she would not accept the court ruling as she said in her statement, "Although it may take time, I believe the truth will eventually be revealed." Their stances on their impeachment rulings encourage their hard-line supporters to keep things stirred up instead of helping the nation unite to build a better future.

The parallels of the political crisis do not stop there.

Looking into Brazil, a country that is ahead of Korea in terms of post-impeachment days, the situation has not improved. For Brazil, it's in the worst economic shape in its history. The unemployment rate is at an all-time high of 12.6 percent, people are belt-tightening, the country is even more divided, and people are crying out for the ousting of Temer, Rouseff's successor.

The next president of Korea already has many tasks. People are asking for economic reform to help boost sagging economic growth and the containment of the size of household debt, and create more jobs. In addition to fixing the economy, the diplomatic situation concerning the controversial issues such as THAAD is at hand.

Temer stated that Brazil's economy would improve as many presidential hopefuls in Korea are promising, but until now, the gap between the poor and the rich seems to grow in Brazil. This problem has to be grappled with in Korea as well. Temer's government resists calls to raise taxes on the haves (economists describe as one of the most generous tax systems for the rich among major economies) while a state legislator, Pedro Fernanades suggested the poor should take meals "every other day."

The volatile political landscape and the weak economy still prevail in Brazil, afflicting many Brazilians with hopelessness more than ever.

In Korea, the U.S. rate hike, China's retaliation over the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery may negatively affect Korea. Can Korea survive this vulnerable state?

Protesters and media sources in Brazil say that Temer could face impeachment. Temer has been banned from running for office for a period of eight years due to electoral fraud charges. However, Rousseff was never accused of financial impropriety or personal enrichment. Korea can't afford to have two impeached presidents in a row. Can it take a different course than Brazil's fate?





The writer lived in Brazil for 18 years and studied at Graded School. She currently studies at Seoul National University and works at Arirang TV. Her email address is: elainechyung@gmail.com.
Time to create new rally, public debate site



No question, the million people protesting in downtown Seoul for weeks drove corrupt leader Park Geun-hye from power.



Ironically, the counterprotests by Park's supporters showed the vibrancy of the nation's participatory democracy and proved the maturity of its basic tenet _ tolerance.



It's no small wonder that the two opposing sides had rallied side by side without clashes, denigrating the past protest culture that was tainted by violence.



Now is the time to take this newly established rally culture to the next level by looking at and addressing side effects such as the complete traffic gridlock throughout the inner city.



On Saturday, Park's supporters staged mass rallies in central Seoul ahead of the prosecutors' decision on whether to arrest the former president or not. Now after months of dealing with these types of protests, police cordoned off streets along the route of the protesters' march for hours. Of course, even greater traffic congestion occurred during the candlelit protests that were bigger in scale.



Among those sealed off was a two-way six-lane road in front of Lotte Hotel near City Hall that feeds into three key directions _ toward Gwanghwamun, Seodaemun and Namdaemun. One woman stood in the middle of the empty road with a flag in hand and had the whole road to herself.



In contrast, vehicular traffic on Jongno Boulevard, a key artery that heads downtown from the western parts of the city, turned into one big giant parking lot with thousands of cars stuck in endless lines. Detours by secondary or tertiary access roads overflowed with cars as well.



This meant a large number of late arrivals, delayed or canceled appointments, accidents, fights, constant honking of horns, countless hours of idling, and related delays.



The key is to eliminate this waste without dampening the spirit of responsible citizenship.



A look at how others deal with this task can be helpful. The Occupy Wall Street movement that kindled the current global wave of disfranchisement with elites started at Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan. The park was used as staging grounds for the "99 Percent" protests in other areas. New York authorities allowed the freedom of assembly as long as it didn't hurt the city's law and order. Over 700 protesters were arrested while trying to block the Brooklyn Bridge and the protesters were evicted from the park later.



Britain's protest and public debate culture, well captured by soapbox speeches, is limited to the northern part of Hyde Park. Agora, an ancient Greek example, didn't occupy the center of Athens.



Therefore, we need to create a permanent place for public debate and protests in areas, say a park or square, outside the city center, and help people vent their frustration and exchange new ideas. There, the government may take the pulse of the public's sentiments and reflect them in governance before a blowout.




By Tong Kim





U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's tough talk on March 17 of possible military action against North Korea's nuclear threats raised concerns about the prospect of a second Korean War. He said Washington is not going to engage the North at this point. But neither is the U.S. going to take a military strike before it tries several other steps first.

Recounting Tillerson's main points should be useful in figuring out what decisions the Trump administration will make on North Korea at the end of its policy review. It is likely that a new policy will allow room for mid-course readjustment as events unfold. The U.S. secretary said in Seoul:

"We are exploring a new range of diplomatic, security and economic measures. All of the options are on the table  we do not want things to get to a military conflict. If they elevate the threat of their weapons program to a level that we believe requires action, that option is on the table. But we are hopeful that, by taking these steps  and we have many, many steps we can take before we get to that point  we hope that that will persuade North Korea to take a different course of action."

In Beijing, Tillerson said the next day, " things have reached a rather dangerous level. And we (he and the Chinese foreign minister) committed ourselves to do everything we can to prevent any type of conflict from breaking out, and we view there are a number of steps that we can take that are in front of us."

The range of options Tillerson mentioned was widely reported by the American press. Of them all, the option of a preventive strike is the worst and the most dangerous. If carried out, it will likely start a war that nobody would want to see happen.

While a preemptive strike aims to destroy enemy missiles before they are launched  based on credible information that they are about to attack  a preventive strike is to eliminate the North Korean nuclear arsenal, including the weapons and their manufacturing facilities and storages.

The Obama administration in its late period considered a preventive surgical strike but dropped it after an assessment of the consequences: North Korean retaliation, horrible casualty tolls and devastating damage to the Korean economy.

Obama also ordered a cyber attack, known as a "left of launch" malware technique that disrupts and disables missile launches. However, there is no evidence to ascribe a high rate of the North's missile failures in recent months to the U.S. cyber attack. In cyber warfare, North Korea, China and Russia will try to do the same against the U.S. and its allies. A cyber attack should be subject to a ban by an international convention, as is the case with chemical weapons.

A recent simulation study estimated about 5 million people would die in a renewed conflict in Korea. The next Korean president, who will be in office in early May, will certainly oppose such a dangerous first strike. Instead, he is expected to seek a peaceful resolution of the North Korean issue, as did his two liberal predecessors.

A preventive strike may be able to take out the known nuclear facilities at Yongbyon and destroy the known missile launch sites, but there are many unidentified underground targets. Siegfried Hecker, a nuclear scientist at Stanford University, advocates dialogue and engagement to avoid "a nuclear catastrophe" in Korea. Several other respected U.S. experts share Hecker's view.

Thae Young-ho, a former DPRK deputy ambassador to Britain, who defected to the South, is convinced that "Kim Jong-un would retaliate any preemptive strike with everything he has, including nuclear weapons, like a maniac." His warning should be no surprise to anyone who understands North Korea.

Other options under consideration include: redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea, nuclear weapons development by South Korea and Japan, a "left of launch" cyber attack", enhancement of deterrent (including the THAAD deployment that has started), tougher sanctions against secondary targets doing business with the North, a decapitation operation of the North Korean leadership, regime change by information programs or by force, more pressure on China, and more international pressure against Pyongyang's provocations and its abysmal human rights record.

Most of these options are not new. Some other options are controversial or ineffective. Engagement is also on the table. In support of the highest value of life, I encourage engagement for peace and oppose a preventive strike against North Korea. What's your take?
This US Navy handout photo obtained March 17, 2017 shows the guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) moored near the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in Busan, Republic of Korea on March 16, 2017. / AFP-Yonhap



By Oh Young-jin





Bruce Benett is a senior researcher at the Rand Corporation.

The spooky-sounding Rand dates back to the height of the Cold War, helping prepare the United States for war or other contingencies. Dr. Bennett is a Korea expert and we should feel better off with some of his plans kept in the pigeonhole.

So I was surprised to know he was speaking to a general audience, Tuesday.

Without the extensive network of Park In-kook, the former ambassador to the United Nations, now leading the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies, which sponsored Bennett's lecture, the Rand man might have preferred to keep his 106th trip here low profile.

I talked to him for about 20 minutes in a pre-lecture session.

I told him that we had met 20-plus years ago. Then, I staked out Bennett to catch him on one of his trips to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a quote on a tip about a ROK-U.S. chemical warfare plan.

"Do you remember Coral Reef'?" I asked him, referring to the codename for the operation. He remembered it.

One thing led to another. Now, he talked about VX, the nerve agent that North Korea used to kill Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of its ruler Kim Jong-un.

Bennett's revelation was that the North most likely conducted human trials to know that the agent was 25 times more lethal when applied to the face than on the hands. I told him that they had no problem of supply  the nation being one big gulag. We agreed that it should be another reason for Kim to stand trial on crimes against humanity.

But what caught my attention was something he said twice in passing.

"If the United States leaves, it won't come back" was his prediction, in the event that the U.S. and North Korea sign a peace treaty.

I didn't have a chance to press on it with Bennett. But it is not hard to fathom his logic.

It is related to China or more accurately the importance the Trump administration is placing on it to resolve the North's nuclear and missile challenges.

At present, the Korean Peninsula is technically at war as the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. Then, the North and China on the one side, and the U.S. and U.N. forces on the other, signed up to it, while the Syngman Rhee government from the South wanted to unify the nation but when it didn't get its way, stayed away in protest.

The North has long pushed for direct dialogue with the U.S. on a permanent peace, knowing that it would be the best security guarantee it can get from its "main enemy."

But this is only half of its strategy. The first and conjunctive part of the Bennett statement  "If the United States leaves"  captures the other half  its strategy of reunification.

The peace treaty would leave the United States with little reason to keep its forces in the South. Once the U.S. is out, the North could invade and conquer the South.

There are two precedents for the U.S. withdrawal. Washington declared the Acheson parameter setting its line of defense in Asia excluding South Korea. Less than six months later, on June 25, 1950, the North, backed by Chinese and Soviet forces, invaded the South.

In Vietnam, also a flashpoint in the Cold War, the U.S.-backed South Vietnam was invaded and absorbed by the Communist North, soon after the U.S. withdrew after a peace treaty.

So the question is how relevant these precedents are for the future.

U.S. President Donald Trump is a key factor. Originally, he showed a strong disinclination to meddle in global affairs and wanted to disengage, although this tendency has relented lately.

If his isolation streak comes back, one could never say "never."

Another scenario is the possibility of a tradeoff  the North's promise to put a moratorium on or reduce its nuclear and missile development  in exchange for a peace treaty.

Then, what is the validity of the second and conclusive part of Bennett's statement  "it won't come back"?

After the start of the North's 1950 invasion, the U.S. did come back with 15 other countries to the South's rescue. However, it didn't go back to rescue Saigon.

The key difference was U.S. domestic politics  a strong anti-communist sentiment at the start of the Cold War, which preceded the Korean War, and an isolation bug escaped by a protracted war in Indochina.

By this standard, now seems to be closer to the second case as the U.S. is fighting the longest war in its history in Afghanistan, one of the fronts opened by President Bush's war on terrorism, 16 years after the 9/11 attacks. Now the tired U.S. is facing a young rival in China and a resurgent foe in Russia.

We can imagine what would happen, if Bennett's curse becomes a reality.

It is time for us  presidential candidates included  to decide whether we want to find out about it.

Bennett is a Cold-War warrior so his line of thought may be a bit confrontational by post-Cold War standards. But considering the confrontational rather than the conciliatory aspects of human nature, betting on the best intentions of the other party sounds dangerously naive.

Lastly, I want to make clear Bennett didn't in any way show any spite to put Korea under a bad spell as the word "curse" in the title indicates. Rather, it is my interpretation of his remarks, knowing that if realized, it could spell disaster.

Oh Young-jin is The Korea Times' chief editorial writer. Contact foolsdie5@ktimes.com and foolsdie@gmail.com.
POSCO CEO Kwon Oh-joon speaks during a shareholder's meeting of the steelmaker at its head office in Seoul on March 10. Kwon said POSCO will take the U.S. to the World Trade Organization if the country slaps heavy tariffs on its cut-to-length steel plates. / Courtesy of POSCO



By Jhoo Dong-chan

POSCO is nervously waiting for a decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) on anti-subsidy tariffs on the Korean steelmaker's cut-to-length (CTL) plates, March 30.

Last September, the DOC calculated a preliminary subsidy rate of merely 0.62 percent for POSCO plates. But the rate may skyrocket in a final determination, which was the case twice for hot-rolled and cold-rolled products from POSCO.

Early last year, the DOC initially levied negligible countervailing duties on POSCO cold-rolled and hot-rolled steel products, but the eventual figures surged to 58.4 percent and 57.04 percent respectively in separate cases. The duties are used when an exporter gets unfair government support.

On a more negative note, the POSCO case will mark the first major trade-related judgment of the Donald Trump administration, which is feared to tilt toward protectionism. Originally, the DOC was scheduled to make the determination during the waning days of former President Barack Obama's term in mid-January but was delayed to this month for unknown reasons.

This time around, POSCO has vowed not to sit idly -- its chief said that POSCO will bring the case to the World Trade Organization if the DOC imposes heavy countervailing duties once again.

"Last year, the U.S. government decided to levy countervailing duties of nearly 60 percent on both our cold- and hot-rolled steel products in its final determination. The decision is practically an embargo on importing POSCO products into the country," POSCO CEO Kwon Oh-joon said during a press conference after the general shareholders' meeting, March 10.

"If the DOC decides to levy similar duties in its final determination on our CTL plates as high as it did with our cold- and hot-rolled steel products, we will take the case to the WTO."

CTL plates are used for many purposes, including structural and construction applications, pressure vessels and marine engineering. Korea's steelmakers annually export about 300,000 metric tons of CTL plates to the U.S, which is worth around $210 million. Of them, POSCO produces around 270,000 tons, or 90 percent.

The DOC attributed the differences between preliminary and final determinations to a lack of cooperation from POSCO, claiming that the Korean steelmaker "did not act to the best of its ability to comply with requests for information."

Observers point out that the atmosphere is not so good since U.S. National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro has recently made a request with the DOC to increase the margin by at least 36 percent on steel oil pipe products imported from Korea.

A series of the U.S. government's duties imposed on Korean steel products is adding concern that Korean firms may fall victim to the Trump administration's trade protectionism.

POSCO expects that the Pohang-based company will not face something like 60-percent tariffs this time.

"We provided all the information in line with the requests of the DOC. Hence, we hope that the DOC's final determinations will reflect that," said a POSCO official. "POSCO has done its utmost in reviewing related risks over the final determinations."

The Korean government said it is monitoring the case closely and will settle the issue through dialogue.

"In the past, the U.S. government's preliminary and final decisions on steel products were almost the same. Hence, our companies might be somewhat complacent in answering the questions of the DOC, which we understand led to the high tariffs on POSCO products in the previous two cases," said a senior official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

"As far as I know, POSCO sincerely cooperated with the DOC for the investigation of CTL plates. Accordingly, we expect that the results would be more favorable for POSCO this month."
HiteJinro's premium-quality Chamisul Soju is on display alongside world-famous liquors at DFS Duty Free at Singapore Changi Airport. / Courtesy of HiteJinro



HiteJinro's premium-quality soju brands  Chamisul and Otsu  are now available at DFS Duty Free in Singapore Changi Airport, the company said Sunday.

The airport, visited by 52 million people a year, is the world's third-largest player in terms of duty free shop sales, following Incheon and Dubai international airports.

Promoting Korea's representative alcohol to visitors at one of Asia's hub airports, the two soju brands are on display at Changi's 16 duty free shops along with other world-famous liquors representing each country, such as whisky, sake and vodka.

HiteJinro said it trained sales clerks at the duty free shops there about its products last month to get favorable responses from them.

According to the Seoul-based company, the premium-quality Chamisul Soju has a fresh taste and fewer people feel hung over after they've had too much to drink because bamboo charcoal is used to purify the alcohol. At 22 percent alcohol by volume, the soju in 700ml bottles is priced at 26 Singapore dollars ($18.50).

Otsu, another premium-quality distilled soju, is made with undiluted liquid aged for seven years in oak barrels. The 25 percent liquor in 750ml bottles is available for 50 Singapore dollars ($35.70).

HiteJinro plans to hold a promotional event, giving customers soju shot glasses.

Expanding its presence over the world, the major distiller in Korea is supplying its products to airport duty free shops in five countries, including Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Bali in Indonesia and Yangon in Myanmar.

Its soju products have also hit the shelves of several duty free shops in Laos, Singapore and Thailand.

"Supplying our soju to duty free shops in Changi Airport, we expect the world will come to know the excellence of Korean liquor," HiteJinro managing director Hwang Jeong-ho said. "We will seek to supply our products to Asia's major airports and duty free shops in Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam."



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Whether you rank health care, housing or disposable income the highest, we've crunched the data so you don't have to



By Tim Pile





Leaving home for a posting in a foreign land is certainly exhilarating, but rarely straightforward. It's easier if you're young, free and single but something of a challenge with a family in tow. Perhaps your partner has landed a plum position in the reassuring environment of a multinational office, leaving you to sink or swim in the cultural deep end, haggling for groceries and negotiating rental leases with barely a word of the local lingo.

It's tempting to envy sunbathing, souvenir-shopping tourists. Not for them the lottery of international school places, the search for affordable accommodation and the decision about which doctor to register with. Fortunately, a number of companies offer advice for anyone thinking about living and working overseas. Many also produce "Best Countries for Expats" lists based on a number of variables, although, as we'll see, if they agree on anything, it's that they don't agree on much at all.



1. InterNations





Bugibba, Malta. The tiny European island scores well in the "making new friends" category.



A 2016 survey by InterNations ranked Taiwan as the best expat destination in the world. The online network and guide highlighted affordable health care, job security and an enviable work-life balance, praising locals for their kindness, hospitality and willingness to help foreigners. Malta came second in the poll, which was based on data collected from 14,000 respondents representing 174 countries. The tiny European island scored highly in the "settling in", "getting used to the local culture" and "making new friends" categories. Mind you, breaking the ice comes easily when you produce as many distilled liqueurs as Malta does.



2. Huffington Post





Valencia is described as having great food and glorious beaches.



The Huffington Post gets around potential controversy by sidestepping the word "expat" and the delicate Taiwan-as-a-country dilemma by counting down 11 of the Greatest Cities for Living Abroad. Taipei is fourth, trailing quirky Antwerp, diverse Toronto and top pick, Valencia, which is described as having great food and glorious beaches. On that basis, Hong Kong should receive a mention, although the sunny Spanish port city also boasts reasonably priced rentals, so maybe not.



3. HSBC Expat Explorer

Singapore, spotless, safe and multicultural.



The Huffington Post crunches data from three studies, including HSBC'S Expat Explorer Survey, which places spotless, safe and multicultural Singapore in pole position. High salaries are a clincher, although the bank warns that health care is expensive for those without insurance. HSBC defines an expat as any adult currently living away from their country of origin and judges uncrowded, green and peaceful New Zealand as runner up. It might be a long way from home but the cheerful Kiwis put out the welcome mat, the air is clean enough to make a Hongkonger weep and, with its relaxed outdoor lifestyle, it comes as no surprise that the Pacific nation has been voted best place in the world to raise a family.



4. Thrillist












A pink phone, suspected of belonging to the Moritomo Kindergarten president's wife Kagoike Aki, received a text message that says "I want to believe you," sent from Akie Abe on Feb. 25. / Screen captured from Akie-leaks



By Eom Da-sol





Abe Akie

A mysterious Japanese website has disclosed text messages allegedly exchanged between the Japanese Prime Minister's wife Akie Abe and the Moritomo Kindergarten president's wife Aki Kagoike, key players in a political scandal sweeping Japan.

The website, "Akie-leaks," posted 73 photos of a pink mobile device showing text messages. It alleged that Kagoike owns the device. The post was named "Part of text messages exchanged between Mrs. Abe and Mrs. Kagoike by time."

Some of the messages were the same as those the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan disclosed hours before the post, adding credibility to the website.

Akie Abe has been at the center of a political scandal since last month for retaining her relationship with the kindergarten in Osaka.

It was suggested that the kindergarten, where Akie Abe was an honorary principal until she resigned last month, bought land from the government last year at a reduced price and received reimbursement from the government unlawfully.

Last month, Shinzo Abe strongly denied the scandal and said: "I will resign as prime minister and as a member of parliament if my wife and I have done anything wrong."

Some Japanese internet users questioned Akie-leaks, suggesting "the photos might have been fabricated" and "the source of photos is unknown."

Akie-leaks was published as a domain on Mar. 24 but the owner's name was not registered, according to domain information lookup website Whois.
SHINee is currently in their North American leg of "SHINee World Concert V". SHINee members were captured in videos trying to speak English for their fans.

According to Koreaboo, SHINee was currently in Canada for their "SHINee World Concert V" tour. The group was in the country for two nights in Vancouver and Toronto.

During the shows, SHINee members were captured in fan videos doing their best to communicate to their Canadian fans in English. In their Vancouver concert, videos show member Jonghyun and Taemin praising Minho's English speaking skills.

Member Minho returned the praise but Jonghyun joked at SHINee's Taemin saying that his English was just "so-so". Member Key then noticed the holes in Taemin's clothes.

Taemin simply answered "No money". The fans at the concert laughed as he explained that the concert hall was hot.

In another video, SHINee's Minhoo and Jonghyun were conversing in English when suddenly Minho imitates Jonghyun's phrase "you too baby," but with overemphasis. Member Key was seen behind them just laughing profusely.

In the last video, SHINee members can be seen teasing member Taemin as he was keeping to himself during the talking segments because of his shyness in speaking English. Taemin was then forced by the group to introduce the next songs in English for the fans' sake.

In the videos, fans can be seen having fun despite the language barrier between them and SHINee. Nevertheless, the boy group did their best in bridging the said gap.

According to Korea Herald, "SHINee World Concert V" lasted for two and a half hours and performed their hit songs "Sherlock", "Everybody", "Aside", and "Ring Ding Dong". They also performed their latest songs "1 of 1" and "Ready or Not".

SHINee's next concert leg will be on Friday, March 31 in Dallas, Texas. They better brush up on their English speaking skills then!
Kris Wu showed off his personal style as a brand ambassador for BVLGARI! BVLGARI is an Italian designer brand that specializes in jewelry, watches, accessories, and fragrances. Kris made an appearance at this year's Baselworld, a convention just for exclusive watches and jewelry. Kris has a keen sense of high fashion and he never disappoints with his outfits.

Take a look at the promotional videos and photos from BVLGARI.

It is great to see Kris branching out to other projects and collaborations in multiple industries. Aside from being a brand ambassador, Kris recently had a role in the film 'xXx: Return of Xander Cage' with actor Vin Diesel. He also provided a song, titled 'Juice', to the movie soundtrack.
An awful lot of Brahms has been performed around town lately for no particular reason, and Christoph Eschenbach  fresh off a local appearance last month with the touring Bamberg Symphony  arrived at Walt Disney Concert Hall with more. The three-concert run ending Sunday didnt offer the usual Brahms, however, and it came with a back story rooted here in Los Angeles.

Lets whisk back to 1937, when recently arrived emigre Arnold Schoenberg was urged by the Los Angeles Philharmonics then-music director, Otto Klemperer, to transcribe music for an all-Brahms program. Schoenberg wrote a lavish orchestration of Brahmss Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25, for a large ensemble, and Klemperer and the Phil gave the world premiere in the old Philharmonic Auditorium in May 1938.

A bootleg-quality recording of the performance still exists. The sound is awful, and there are a few gaps in the performance due to problems with the transcription discs. But you can just make out the outlines of the performance. You would be hard-pressed to connect the driven, knockabout Klemperer on these discs with the legendarily monolithic defender of the German classics in his old age. And after hearing the L.A. Phils brilliantly played live performance under Eschenbach on Friday night, its clear how far along the orchestra has come in the world since.

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It has taken awhile for the orchestrated Piano Quartet to catch on over the objections of Brahms purists, but its no longer a rare novelty; Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic brought it here in 2009. Its not Brahms Fifth Symphony, as Schoenberg once joked; it is blown-up chamber music with fewer working parts than one would find in, say, a real symphony.

But Schoenbergs orchestration is always a blast to hear  particularly the Rondo alla Zingarese finale, where indeed he puts a lot of zing into the zingarese with clattering xylophone, col legno effects (the wood of the bows beating on the strings) and other flamboyant ideas. Eschenbach, who conducted the piece from memory, relished the raucous elements and realized the humor with help from the orchestras brasses. He also could be richly expressive, making the most of what dynamic contrasts there were. The musicians looked like they were having a grand time.

Earlier in the program, there was something of a premonition of the Brahms-Schoenberg energy to come when Eschenbach ripped into Dvoraks Carnival Overture. The middle section could not have been more peaceful, and it ended on an even higher level of combustion.

The wide contrasts between wildness and contemplation continued with Christian Tetzlaffs performance of the Dvorak Violin Concerto, which isnt heard nearly as often as the composers Cello Concerto. After a tempestuous first movement, Teztlaff occasionally drifted over the line into sentimentality in the second movement, and his tone quality turned raw in the multiple stops in the finale, though he maintained good intonation throughout the piece. A Romantically inclined, even sly rendition of the Gavotte en Rondeau from J.S. Bachs Partita No. 3 was Tetzlaffs encore.

Follow The Times arts team @culturemonster.

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When he saw the hummingbirds, Todd Fisher knew this was the place. Sure, there were plenty of legends resting at Forest Lawn Memorial Park: Bette Davis, Liberace, Lucille Ball. But it was the hummingbirds that convinced him that his mother, Debbie Reynolds, and sister, Carrie Fisher, should be buried together here.

They both loved hummingbirds, Fisher said, recalling his first tour of the grounds with a cemetery director. I thought, Damn, this guy is a genius salesman. I havent seen [the birds] since, but thats my point. I think he rented them.

In the months following the death of his girls  Reynolds, 84, died just a day after her 60-year-old daughter in December  Fisher has devoted most of his time to organizing a public memorial for the Hollywood icons. A private ceremony, held in January, was attended by dozens of celebrities, including Meryl Streep, Gwyneth Paltrow, George Lucas and Jamie Lee Curtis.

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The memorial on Saturday was decidedly less star-studded, and those who came largely bypassed camera crews. Hiding behind sunglasses, Rene Russo and Fisher Stevens rushed past a makeshift press line as they made their way into the Hall of Liberty. Almost the only ones who spoke to the media were Fisher, as the memorials organizer, and his wife, actress Catherine Hickland.

This certainly is our send-off, Fisher told a clutch of reporters. Theres no words that are unspoken between any of us. We had a very strong love. There are no goodbyes. We shall all meet again.

Todd Fisher hugs R2-D2, the beloved droid from Star Wars. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

I love that Todd has been so open. ... That makes us feel like its appropriate for us to grieve.  Hillary Thorn, 30

Inside, Fisher emceed the show  he avoided calling it a memorial because he said Reynolds hated them. A constant presence stage right with a headset and walkie-talkie, Fisher told the crowd of roughly 1,200 he was hopeful the event would have an intimate feel, as if the audience were sitting in the familys living room, leafing through old photos and watching home videos. Reynolds dog, Dwight, was even seated in the front row on a towel. Gary, Fishers oft-recognized French bulldog, was not in attendance.

Reynolds, in particular, always had immense respect for her fans. When he and his sister were young, Fisher said, their mother took them shopping at a toy store in Beverly Hills. But they got held up when a gaggle of fans asked to talk to the Singin in the Rain star.

Carrie and I were like, Come on, man. We want to get some stuff at the toy store. We were kind of annoyed by this whole thing, Fisher told the room. And my mother grabbed us both and said, Oh, no. These are my people just like you are my people. She took the time her whole life to do that with everybody. Not one fan I ever saw her turn away.

Katie Walker, 35, of Joshua Tree, has a Princess Leia tattoo on her back. She was one of many visitors to the gravesite of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher after the March 25 memorial for the mother and daughter at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

It was a level of devotion that touched many of the hundreds of fans stretched out across the parks grounds early Saturday.

Sisters Hillary and Kyleigh Thorn traveled from Wisconsin for the weekend to pay homage to Reynolds. They were outfitted in colorful vintage dresses, which they felt were more Debbie than traditional black funeral wear.

As millennials, they said, many of their friends often were perplexed by the siblings affinity for the Old Hollywood star.

We had to bring up Halloweentown because they knew that, said Kyleigh, 26, referring to the 1998 Disney Channel movie in which Reynolds had a role. And theyd say, Why would you like the grandma? We were like, Shes awesome! 

Maybe this will give us a little closure, said Hillary, 30, who works at a nursing home. I love that Todd has been so open in talking about it. That makes us feel like its appropriate for us to grieve.

I once saved her life applying the Heimlich to dislodge a Brussels sprout. And if Id been with our beloved showboat, I might have been able to save her again.  Dan Aykroyd

Emotion flowed openly once the memorial got underway, particularly when the Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles rose from seats in the audience and began singing Cyndi Laupers True Colors en masse. Troupes of dancers from the Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio  she founded the North Hollywood venue in 1979  performed with umbrellas and yellow raincoats to honor the star. And a new song from James Blunt  who composed his hit Youre Beautiful in Fishers bathroom  was played for the crowd.

The Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles sings True Colors during the memorial. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

You broke more than my heart when you left without saying goodbye, the lyrics went. Im here to let you know, Im here to let you go.

Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz spoke of Reynolds passion for Old Hollywood, saying how she understood that classic films represented a meaningful, deeply held connection to our past, to our parents, to our grandparents.

Actor Griffin Dunne, who roomed with Carrie Fisher in New York City, recalled how she called him from the set of Star Wars to complain about the stupid movie she was working on.

Dan Aykroyd, who co-starred with Fisher in The Blues Brothers and briefly was engaged to her, acknowledged that he felt partially responsible for her death because, you see, I once saved her life applying the Heimlich to dislodge a Brussels sprout. And if Id been with our beloved showboat, I might have been able to save her again.

But it was Gavin de Becker  whose security firm has protected the Hollywood elite for decades  who gave the most wrenching speech of the afternoon. He and Fisher went to high school together, where he got her class schedule just so he could greet her after math or English.

Carrie, I feel I am still now waiting for you outside a classroom, and the door opens and I see you now among the other kids, with your steely eyes and your radioactive intellect, he said, his voice trembling. Standing outside this classroom I feel the same anticipation that I felt the first time I saw you. Everything is ahead of you now, Carrie. Things are coming that we would never imagine, just like the first time. You are still radiating that sense that youll take us all along with you on this ride. Seeing you there reminds me that by knowing you, we all hit the jackpot.

De Becker, of course, got to spend decades with the real Princess Leia. But she had a lasting impact on those she met only a few times too, including Grace Farenbaugh. The Burbank loan officer arrived at Forest Lawn at 5:30 a.m. Saturday to make sure she was first in line for the memorial, her neck wrapped in a starry infinity scarf given to her by Fisher. She befriended the actress at an event years ago and the two stayed in touch, with Fisher offering the novice writer advice on her first memoir.

She told me, Grace, you have diarrhea of the commas,  recalled Farenbaugh, who said Fisher encouraged her to call the book Almost Drowning Can Be OK instead of the original boring title, Chapter. She thought I could do something with it, and Im just sorry shes not here to see it finished. It would mean a lot for her to be able to say, Grace, you wrote a great book. 

After the memorial, Phyllis Lavoie, 66, of Santa Monica, touches the final resting place of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

amy.kaufman@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter @AmyKinLA

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Debbie Reynolds, who sang and danced to fame in Singin in the Rain, dies at 84
In trying to capture the momentous influence of Chuck Berry, who died March 18 at age 90, numerous obituaries and appreciations written in recent days have theorized that a number of rock n roll groups may never have formed were it not for his pioneering work.

But its no wild assumption to say that the Rolling Stones might never have existed had it not been for the Berry connection.

Guitarist Keith Richards famously introduced himself to Mick Jagger when they were teenagers who randomly found themselves on the same train in London.

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We happened to get in the same railway carriage together, and Mick was holding two Chess records, Richards told The Times on Friday, taking time out from a early spring vacation to the Caribbean to discuss the incalculable impact Berrys music had on him. One of those records in Jaggers possession was a Berry album, the other was from Chicago blues great Muddy Waters.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

In those days in England, a carriage held about six people, and for some bizarre reason, I had this one to myself, Richards said. Suddenly, the door opened, in popped Mick and immediately, I spied what hes got under his arm.

That moment launched a friendship and artistic collaboration thats lasted 55 years and counting. One of Berrys most fervent musical disciples, Richards spoke to The Times about his lifelong love affair with Berrys music and what it has meant not only to him but also to countless musicians who have followed in his wake.

How did Chuck Berrys music first come onto your radar screen?

Im sort of wondering if it was Johnny B. Goode or Sweet Little Sixteen. It was probably pretty much as soon as he recorded them, although it sometimes took a little while for American records to get to England.

Do you recall, as a teenage music fan, what it was that first grabbed you about his music: his guitar work, the groove, his voice or the lyric?

Yes, yes, yes and yes. (He laughs.)

I guess it was the combination of all of those things. To me, it had sort of a crystal clear clarity of what I wanted to hear, and what I was aiming for. In retrospect, it was Chess Records. That studio  it was amazing. [Bassist, songwriter and producer] Willie Dixon was in the band with [pianist] Johnnie Johnson, it was an amazing collection of musicians. And they were having fun  that was the underlying aspect of it all. There was an exuberance and they were not too serious. What was serious was what was going down  they werent serious about it (laughs again).

At the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, 2012. pic.twitter.com/frn6DRiw36  Keith Richards (@officialKeef) March 22, 2017

What was the first Chuck Berry song you learned to play?

The first was probably Sweet Little Sixteen, since I was about 16, or 15, at the time. Theres that lazy beat and a sweet little melody. After that the one that taught me was Back in the USA. The Beatles also learned it (laughs).

Was it Chuck Berry who first made you aware of Chess?

Thats a good question. At my age, in my stage of development at that time, yeah, I wanted to know where records were made, where the guy that made em came from. I was into all of that. To me, it was all important to find these sources of sound. That was my mission at the time. My real awareness of Chess Records was from Chuck Berry, but I was also listening to Muddy Waters, and I realized that these guys were working in the same room.... At the time, information was sparse but every little piece was treasured.

Obviously, that made a huge impression on the band, because on your first trip to the U.S. in 1964, you made sure to visit Chess, and record there as well.

We were amazed that that came together, and certainly that that room was available to be used. At the time, it felt like, wow, you think youve passed on and gone to heaven.

Is there one Stones song you consider most thoroughly inspired by Chucks music?

Oh God, off the top of my head, I would say no, because we deliberately tried not to do a Chuck Berry, so to speak. But on every one, Chucks influence is there, for sure. And I love the fact that he could vary his music. When you listen to [You] Never Can Tell, he had a handle, he was very interested in various kinds of music. He used country music....[and] he was a great admirer of Hank Williams. We used to sit around talking about country writers.

Some cynics have suggested that Chuck wrote only one song and that he just rewrote it over and over again.

They obviously aint listening, pal. There are shallow listeners, you know.

But there are some superficial similarities  talk about some of the nuances that differentiate those signature introductions for Johnny B. Goode, Carol and Little Queenie?

I look upon that as sort of a clarion call, his way of saying, Im here. Thats why those famous intros for Johnny B. Goode, Carol and Little Queenie are sort of the same. It was almost his own personal monogram on the damn thing before he would start.

People try and pick out things that are similar. Like Jimmy Reed  you want to talk about a guy who played the same song [repeatedly] and beautifully! Its not that  its the variations on the theme that count. Also the effortless ease of that rhythm he could produce, which everybody else pumps away at. People dont realize Chuck used his whole body to play that riff, he doesnt just use his wrists. Im still working on it.

If you ever saw him in concert, or look at old film footage, you really see how much body language there was in his performances.

Everything was syncopated and synchronized to his body movements. We all know the duck walk  thats the famous one, and its a good one too. But if you look at old footage of him, playing in those times, those early movies, Jazz on a Summers Day, you see a sort of almost demonic power going on in that rhythm and his delivery of it. It always fascinated me.

Youve often said its the roll in rock n roll that is the key thing for you. I was listening to his version of Route 66 again and noticing how the guitar and piano play a pretty straight rhythm while the bass and drums really swing the beat. The way those things rub up against each other on that record strikes me as a great example of the roll.

This is the thing that fascinated us. It was that eight [beats]-to-the-bar against the four-to-the-bar swing feel. It could be produced if you had an upright bass.

When the electric bass came along, what happened is that basically everybody became a guitar player, and usually in the old days, it was the worst guitar player who got the bass. [He chuckles.] Also, [the bassist] automatically played the eight-to-the-bar like a guitar player would. That shifts the whole thing and that also shifts the drummer, because now on the high hat, hes got different work to do. Then the beat stiffened and it became rock. Before that, the upright bass would swing it and it was basically four to the bar. That was the roll in rock [n roll].

Micks statement after Chuck passed had a very interesting line in it that said, His lyrics shone above others and threw a strange light on the American dream. What was your awareness of racial tensions in the U.S. before you first came here  did you catch glimpses of it through the records you were hearing?

Only very slightly. Chuck was by then mainly aiming at a white audience, and he didnt want to rub nobody the wrong way. Id have to search to find the chip on the shoulder here and there, which he definitely had himself, especially after the jail [time he served on a conviction of transporting a minor across state lines for immoral purposes]. He came out another man after that, and I dont blame him. It took me a while to get past the chip, but we managed.

Speaking of the chip on his shoulder, just about every story on Chucks life has mentioned that scene in Taylor Hackfords 1987 documentary Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock n Roll where he reams you about not getting a guitar lick right in one of the songs youre rehearsing. How do you look back on that exchange now?

At the time, I said, Im running this band, Im going to let Chuck [mess] with me, and Im going to show the rest of the guys in the band that I dont give a [damn]. Because he was just playing with me. Hed give me a different riff every time I played it. I could have said, Actually, I prefer to play it this way. But I just thought Id let him wear himself out on me.

When was the last time you got together with him?

The last time I saw Chuck was in Boston [in 2012], he got the [PEN New Englands Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence] award. Apparently, it was the first time they sort of acknowledged that songwriting could possibly be called literature. [He laughs.] Chuck was the first recipient, and I was there for him for that, and that was the last time I saw him. But we passed a few notes since.

Wasnt that the ceremony where they also honored Leonard Cohen, and Cohen said, All of us are footnotes to the words of Chuck Berry?

Yeah, that was it.

Bob Dylan once said, People dont always realize how powerful the innovators are. Take someone like Chuck Berry. When his records came out, they were dangerous. There was nothing like them on the radio, they were like a stampede. Now all these bands just play it louder and faster and dont really add anything to it. And so Chuck Berry, the creator, sounds quaint and old-fashioned. [Those records] are important pieces of art, and art isnt looked at as something old or new, its looked at as something that moves ya.

Would you agree?

This is true. I guess this is why you have to get beyond imitation. There is a certain part of me that still has my Chuck Berry niche, especially on the rhythm end, more than anything. Ive learned more and more from him over the years of how to sling the hash. (He laughs.)

randy.lewis@latimes.com

Follow @RandyLewis2 on Twitter.com

For Classic Rock coverage, join us on Facebook

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Its nearly 7 p.m. Wednesday night and Full Frontal With Samantha Bee is running late. Between hearings for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, the raging healthcare debate, the presidents proposed budget, fallout from FBI director James Comeys congressional testimony and the terror attack in London, its an unusually busy news day  even by the dizzying standards of the Trump administration.

Despite the delay, no one in the crowd seems to mind all that much. It helps that crew members are handing out Easter chocolate to ease the pain of waiting. But theres also a sense of shared purpose and excitement among the fans, many of them in Bee-style blazers and nasty woman T-shirts, patiently waiting in the audience at CBS Studios.

Full Frontal correspondent Allana Harkin comes out to rev up the crowd by asking how theyve been contributing to the resistance, the self-styled movement against Trump.

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The vibrant response, and the overall kinetic mood is reflective of the weekly live audience for Full Frontal, which, like other politically flavored comedy shows such as Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, is enjoying a boost in viewership thanks to the relentless shifting controversies surrounding the new administration.

But even in a fertile era for liberal-leaning late-night comedy, the TBS show stands out for its activist streak, like a small-scale womens march each week (even if the studio audience is split almost evenly between men and women).

And a show dominated by women in front of and behind the camera, Full Frontal is a rarity in the boys club of late night.

We just hang tampons from the ceiling everywhere, and the men self-deport, executive producer and showrunner Jo Miller jokes in a phone interview.

Following the warmup, Bee takes to the stage at nearly 7:30 p.m. and launches into a blistering segment on Trumps hard power budget that features a wonky discussion of energy-efficiency ratings.

Next up is a piece on Sebastian Gorka, a counterterrorism advisor to the president and one of the many eccentric figures in the Trump administration.

Finally, the show wraps with a field piece about the importance of supporting local newspapers.

As fans trickle out of the studio after the taping, an audience coordinator urged them, Call about Gorsuch. Call about healthcare. Keep fighting the good fight.

Miller says later that the studio audience is characteristically spirited.

I have a friend who comes to the show sometimes and calls it feminist church,  she says.

A former academic who worked with Bee at The Daily Show, Miller is comfortable with the shows vibe of advocacy, evident in a recent segment that encouraged viewers to call their representatives about a bill that would loosen hunting restrictions on national preserve lands in Alaska.

We are comedians. Were also citizens. We feel the responsibility of the pulpit were lucky to have, she says. Also, Sam and I are old, and we dont give a  .

Nor should they, if ratings are any indication. Like The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Full Frontal appears to have received a Trump bump, now averaging 3.4 million viewers a week across all platforms.

But with a surfeit of news to cover in just a half-hour each week  barely 20 minutes once you take out the commercials  the biggest challenge can be making everything fit.

We tighten and tighten at the word level, and we shave every word we can out of the montages, Miller says.

Bee, Miller and their writing team tend to avoid the low-hanging fruit, focusing instead on stories just below the radar (Gorka) or zeroing in on overlooked details in the bigger stories (government-regulated energy-efficiency ratings).

There also is more focus on issues directly relevant to women, including rape kit backlogs and reproductive care at Catholic hospitals.

Ill get printed letters in the mail and emails from friends of friends saying how much the show means to them as women, Miller said. Someone told me the other day she didnt think that hearing a feminist perspective reflected back at her so strongly was even possible on TV.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

Full Frontal With Samantha Bee

Where: TBS

When: 10:30 p.m. Wednesday

Rating: TV-MA-L (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17 with an advisory for coarse language)

meredith.blake@latimes.com

Follow me @MeredithBlake
Part I: When Marty met Linda

In December 2013, a couple of neighbors from an upscale residential development on the Central Coast attended a community meeting at a middle school in Arroyo Grande. They had gone to learn about a new project proposed by oil giant Phillips 66 for its Santa Maria refinery, which sits near the ocean below the Nipomo Mesa, where they live.

What the neighbors, mostly retired professionals who had moved here from places such as Irvine and New Jersey, loved most about the area was its bucolic splendor, lower cost of living, and slower pace. Phillips 66 had always shipped oil to and from the Santa Maria refinery by pipeline. Now it was proposing a new way to deliver the crude: by train. And it would have to build a new rail spur at its refinery to accommodate mile-long oil trains, coming in on Union Pacifics main line, at the rate of three a week, each carrying 2.2 million gallons of crude.

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This did not sound entirely delightful to the neighbors. A 1.3-mile-long rail spur within sight of their homes would mean light pollution from nighttime operations, and plenty of noise. Also, diesel locomotives spew particulates, and the Nipomo area already has an air quality problem with wind-blown dust off nearby sand dunes.

And of course, oil trains can explode.

So I am leaving that meeting, and I hear this female voice behind me, said Martin Akel, 69, a publishing consultant for media companies. And she says, You know, we need to do something about this. I keep walking, because I work full time, and we are about to hit a curb, and I grab her arm because I think shes going to fall over, and she grabs my arm and repeats, Weve got to do something about this. I said, I dont really have time for this stuff.

Famous last words.

This was how Akel met his neighbor Linda Reynolds, a retired real estate agent from Irvine, who founded the Mesa Refinery Watch Group. Eventually, the group had a core membership of 12, and one burning mission: to keep oil trains out of their backyard.

::

Part II: Zebra stripes, candy and the Law of Attraction

On Thursday, I sat in the dining room of Akels spacious home in the Trilogy at Monarch Dunes residential development, where most of his fellow activists live.

We were joined by two other members of the Mesa Refinery Watch Group, Laurance Shinderman, 75, a retired computer sales executive and part-time Uber driver, and Gary McKible, 62, a retired negligence attorney. (Reynolds, sadly, was out of town.)

Phillips 66 used to come to Trilogy every year and ply residents with shrimp and booze, said Akel.

Around Christmas, said McKible. It was a goodwill thing.

They havent been for two years, said Akel. Maybe it was something we said.

At public hearings, the oil train opponents delivered lots of grim news about the dangers of crude oil trains, which they called bomb trains, but overall they were upbeat. Wearing referee shirts, they would set up tables adorned with bowls of candy. Wed say, Stop by the zebra table and we will orient you, said Akel. If they spoke, we would give them candy. I spent a lot of money on candy, and I didnt put in for reimbursement.

For more than two years, Akel has emailed a professional-caliber, monthly newsletter to about 2,000 supporters, 1,000 government officials and several hundred members of the media.

And that is where the Law of Attraction comes in. You attract all the resources, material and contacts that you need to fulfill your mission, explained McKible.

For instance, out of the blue, Stanfords Environmental Law Clinic got in touch to help the activists understand railroad law, which can be complicated. An anonymous philanthropist sent a check large enough to cover bus rentals and other costs.

We were positive, said McKible, and stuff came to us.

::

Part III: The emperor had no clothes

Looking back, said Akel, the groups campaign against the Phillips 66 oil train reminded him of the famous Hans Christian Andersen story about the emperors new clothes.

More columns 

Each time Phillips 66 or its proponents claimed that oil trains were safe, that the kind of oil it wanted to transport was safe, or that Union Pacific tracks are safe, the Mesa Refinery Watch Group was able to point and laugh.

They researched every oil train derailment and explosion, the type of oil transported, the type of tankers used, and track conditions.

They said we arent going to bring in any oil thats dangerous, Akel said, and we stood up at a meeting and said, Are you bringing in Bakken crude from North Dakota? And they said, We may. We went crazy on that. Bakken crude killed 47 people in Lac-Megantic [Quebec].

Obliterated a whole town, said Shinderman.

When Phillips said it would transport crude oil in the absolute safest tankers that exist, said Akel, the group did its homework. There are no fail-safe tankers. Guess what? When they fall over, they rupture and everything goes boom.

Also, poorly maintained tracks have been implicated in recent derailments as well, including one last year in Mosier, Ore.

The emperor tells us its going to be safe, and we do the research, and say Oh, no, you aint got clothes on anymore, said Akel.

Last October, after many long hearings, the San Luis Obispo Planning Commission turned down the project. It was the first big victory for the Mesa Refinery Watch Group.

Phillips appealed to the county Board of Supervisors. And on March 14, a second major victory came when the supes voted 3 to 1 to reject the Phillips appeal. Like the planning commissioners, the supes concluded the project could endanger Californians who live near Union Pacific tracks in what oil train opponents refer to as the blast zone.

They found that it would generate virtually no new jobs. Nor did they believe Phillips 66s veiled threats that if the rail spur was not approved, the refinery might close.

For more on politics 

Phillips can appeal to the California Coastal Commission, whose staff has already gone on record objecting to the rail spur. Or the company could probably go to court if it wants to keep fighting. It has not said what it plans to do, and did not respond to a request for comment.

But eight counties and 51 cities representing more than 15 million Californians up and down the coast have opposed the project. (Seriously, who wants potentially explosive, mile-long crude oil trains barreling through their towns?)

More than a year ago, after I met with the Mesa Refinery Watch Group for the first time, I was impressed by their savvy, commitment, honestly and dedication.

I predicted they would win this fight.

And so they have.

robin.abcarian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AbcarianLAT

ALSO

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Will San Luis Obispo follow the lead of Benicia and ban oil trains, or capitulate to Phillips 66?

More from Robin Abcarian
The four people killed last week in a quiet Northern California neighborhood include a woman and her two children, authorities said Sunday.

The victims are Angelique Vasquez, 45; her daughter, Mia Vasquez, 14; her son, Alvin Vasquez, 11; and Ashley Coleman, 21, according to the Sacramento County coroners office.

Detectives did not immediately know what relationship Coleman had to the Vasquez family, Sacramento Officer Matthew McPhail said.

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Police found the victims Thursday when they broke into a single-story home in Sacramento after a relative reported that something might be wrong. Investigators still were processing the scene and treating the entire house as evidence, McPhail said.

Authorities arrested Salvador Vasquez-Oliva, 56, on suspicion of homicide after finding him in San Francisco, about 90 miles away from the killings. They have not named a motive or said what relationship he has to those who were killed. Police have not said when or how the victims died.

Sgt. Bryce Heinlein said Thursday that the killings dont appear to be random.

It was not immediately known whether Vasquez-Oliva has an attorney. He was being held in the Sacramento County Jail, Heinlein said.

Police said Vasquez-Oliva is from Sacramento, but records show he also is associated with an apartment near the University of San Francisco, six blocks from where police found him.

There was no answer at the apartment door Friday, though a light was on inside.
With Britain poised to start divorce proceedings, the 27 remaining European Union nations put pen to paper Saturday in Rome to renew their vows for continued unity in the face of crises that are increasingly testing the bonds between members.

Meanwhile, Turkeys president said Saturday that the country might pursue a Brexit-like referendum on whether to seek European Union membership.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan brought up the proposal at a Turkish-U.K. forum in the southern city of Antalya, referring to the British departure from the EU and saying Turkey might hold a similar referendum after the April 16 vote to expand the powers of the Turkish presidency.

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The negotiation process for Turkeys EU membership began in 2005, but has been at a standstill for years.

The EU nations marked the 60th anniversary of their founding treaty as a turning point in their history. British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to officially trigger divorce proceedings from the bloc next week  a fact that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called a tragedy.

Determined to show that unity is the only way ahead in a globalized world, the EU leaders were able to walk away from a summit without acrimony, which was already sort of a victory.

We didnt have a major clash or conflict, contrary to what many thought, Juncker said.

European Council President Donald Tusk said that sustained unity was the only way for the EU to survive.

Europe as a political entity will either be united, or will not be at all, he told EU leaders at a solemn session in the same ornate hall on the ancient Capitoline Hill where the Treaty of Rome, which helped found the EU, was signed on March 25, 1957.

To move ahead though, the EU leaders recognized that full unity on all things will be unworkable. Pushed by several Western European nations, they enshrined a pledge to give member nations more freedom to form partial alliances and set policy when unanimity is out of reach.

We will act together, at different paces and intensity where necessary, while moving in the same direction, said the Rome Declaration signed by the 27 nations.

The EU has often used a multi-speed approach in the past, with only 19 nations using the shared euro currency and not all members participating in the Schengen borderless travel zone. The approach has already been extended to social legislation among EU nationals.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to assuage fears that it would lead to a further unraveling of unity.

The Europe of different speeds does not in any way mean that it is not a common Europe, Merkel said after the ceremony. We are saying here very clearly that we want to go in a common direction. And there are things that are not negotiable  the EU freedom of movement, goods, people and services.

With Britain leaving, the mantle of recalcitrant member seems to have been taken over by Poland. Still, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo was more subdued than at the last EU summit two weeks ago, when she refused to adopt conclusions that need unanimity. Poland also balked at signing the new treaty until the eve of the ceremony.

The Rome declaration is the first step toward renewing the unity of the EU, Szydlo told reporters.
President Trump has called our military a disaster, and he wants to remake it with a $54-billion increase in defense spending. He imagines the cash infusion will go toward big ships, aircraft carriers and fighter jets.

Most experts believe that the worlds largest expeditionary force is actually in good shape. But if a partial overhaul is inevitable, the new administration would be wise to limit flashy, big-ticket items and consider stocking up on mules and ropes for specially trained mountain troops.

Remember how Osama bin Laden, then Americas Public Enemy No. 1, hid out in the mountains of Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks? Remember how we failed to capture him in the Battle of Tora Bora?

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Many of our current adversaries still lurk in mountainous regions  thats where rogues and militants often go. All the groups that our government has attempted to suppress with drones and special forces and military advisers  Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Islamic State, Boko Haram and the bad hombres of Mexico among them  take to the hills when other sanctuaries fail. We can expect drug cartels and jihadists to continue to dig into mountain redoubts.

Although U.S. fighters in World War II were well-prepared for mountain battles in Europe, they since have lost that edge.

Looking beyond counter-insurgency efforts, tough talk about North Korea raises the specter of fighting in that bumpy peninsula. And then theres the Norwegian High North, where 330 American troops recently were deployed to bolster NATOs Arctic front against an increasingly aggressive Russia.

At the moment, the U.S. military churns out one-size-fits-all generalists who can fight in cities or deserts. Theres some logic to that approach, of course, and yet it ignores the fact that high-altitude combat is fundamentally different. At over 14,000 feet, most of us  soldier or civilian  cant function. The majority of American soldiers have never climbed that high, and gradual acclimatization is needed to adapt to even 10,000 feet. Its not just the human body, besides, that fails in the mountains. Tanks and helicopters often cant operate in rugged and extreme heights. Manned airplanes cant land.

Because advanced technology may disappoint or is simply not useful at harsh elevations, troops need to know how to rappel and shoot guns on skis, how to pack an animal or use a hauling line to evacuate casualties.

Although U.S. fighters in World War II were well-prepared for mountain battles in Europe, they since have lost that edge.

Consider Operation Anaconda, the United States first major battle in Afghanistan and its highest ever. In the Shahikot Valley near the border with Pakistan in 2002, military brass didnt take into account the effect of a rapid rise from 5,000 to 10,000 feet, and their soldiers collapsed from altitude sickness. Throughout the troop-intensive portion of that ongoing war, our commanders didnt always know what mountain gear was available in warehouses, or soldiers didnt know how to use it properly or their superiors didnt let them access it.

Since that time, the military has tried to improve the situation. To enhance mobility, soldiers pack water-purifying tablets instead of heavy water canisters. The Army replaced boot models that fell apart quickly on rock and issued layerable clothing, the kind available in civilian camping stores that can wick moisture and adapt to rapidly shifting climates. But we remain the only major power that lacks a dedicated mountain force.

Many of our NATO allies have expert mountain units that train for months, as do India, Israel, Switzerland, Pakistan, Colombia, Russia and China. The latter two have been expanding their mountain preparedness in recent years. By contrast, only a few hundred infantrymen each year attend the U.S. Armys mountain warfare training center in Jericho, Ver., for just two weeks. Our Army spends approximately $800,000 annually on the school, which is not even a rounding error in a defense budget that tops $600 billion. The Marines Corps, likewise, lacks dedicated mountain career units ready for deployment at any moment.

Mountain warfare preparation is not routinely part of the training a U.S. battalion or brigade undergoes before deployment, says Lester Grau, a retired lieutenant colonel who is one of our countrys leading scholars on such combat. In his many articles and books, Grau asserts that most American soldiers and Marines lack the proper equipment or skills to move around mountain terrain.

Throughout history, mountain dwellers have resisted better-armed conventional forces not only because they hold the literal high ground but because they knew how to navigate the topography and brutal weather conditions.

Mountains have daunted generals since Hannibal lost half his men crossing the Alps in 218 B.C. For all his grand theories, Mao Tse-tung could not dominate the 16,000-foot ranges during his long march in 1934-35, and he was carried part of the way while his men died of diarrhea and exhaustion. The 1915 Battle of Sarikamish, in which Turkey launched a winter invasion of Russia in the mountains, provides another cautionary tale about conventional forces unschooled in mountain warfare.

In the near future, our troops could well be deployed to high terrain in the Middle East, Central Asia and beyond. They need to know how to fight in these environments  so that, quite simply, they dont get killed. We sent troops into Iraq under-equipped. You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld remarked in 2004. It doesnt have to be that way.

Judith Matloff teaches conflict reporting at Columbias Graduate School of Journalism. Her latest book is No Friends but the Mountains  Dispatches from the Worlds Violent Highlands.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
President Trump on Sunday took hard-line congressional Republicans to task over last weeks failed attempt to push through a healthcare overhaul measure, but the principal target of his Twitter broadside declined to engage in any sparring with the White House, instead emphasizing the need to move forward.

The episode, however, could prove a harbinger of more attempts by Trump to scapegoat others around him for the debacle that resulted when the president threw his weight for the first time behind a major legislative initiative and it failed.

The measure was aimed at fulfilling a pledge to repeal the Affordable Care Act by Trump, who boasted repeatedly on the campaign trail of his deal-making prowess.

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The president had already cast blame for the measures failure on Democrats, who noted again Sunday that the White House had made no effort to reach out to them as the legislation was being crafted.

In his Sunday morning tweet, the president laid the primary culpability for the failure to push the measure forward on the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, led by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.).

Trump said the bloc of lawmakers, aided by conservative advocacy organizations Heritage Action and the Club for Growth, had saved the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and Planned Parenthood, whose funding would have been cut by the measure.

Democrats are smiling, the president declared. The criticism contrasted starkly with his Oval Office comments Friday, when he was careful not to blame his fellow Republicans for the defeat.

Although Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan have said the measure would not be revived any time soon, Meadows predicted that a new GOP-backed healthcare plan would eventually be put forth, with Trump playing a leadership role.

At the end of the day, the most valuable player will be President Trump, Meadows said on ABCs This Week.

Meadows also insisted there had been no conversation about any attempt to force out Ryan, the bills principal backer. The speaker has publicly acknowledged that his own efforts to muster sufficient votes had fallen short.

Trump has refrained from any direct public criticism of the speaker, but on Saturday  again on Twitter  he urged followers to watch a Fox News segment on Saturday night that featured commentator Jeanine Pirro excoriating Ryan and calling for his ouster over his role.

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus insisted that Ryan maintained the presidents favor, although Trump had been disappointed by perceived disloyalty on the part of other House Republicans, including members of the Freedom Caucus and some GOP moderates.

He doesnt blame Paul Ryan, Priebus said on Fox News Sunday.

Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said the relationship between the president and the speaker remained strong. The pair spoke Saturday about moving forward on new agenda items, and during another call Sunday, the president told Ryan that his tweet had nothing to do with the speaker, Strong said.

The planned floor vote on the bill was hastily scrapped Friday when it became apparent that Trump and Ryan did not have the votes to win even in the Republican-controlled House.

The GOP-authored measure was intended as a high-profile repudiation of one of former President Obamas signature achievements.

But as written, the replacement bill drew fire from both moderate Republicans who said it would deal too heavy a blow to working-class Americans -- millions of whom would have faced loss of health insurance, according to the Congressional Budget Office -- and ultra-conservatives who said it included too many nanny-state elements of the ACA.

One early critic of the House measure, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), repeated his view that the bill had been crafted too hastily, but said there was no reason not to try again. Like other Trump supporters, Cotton insisted that the Affordable Care Act was doomed to failure.

The president is simply stating a fact, that the entire healthcare system is groaning under the weight of Obamacare, Cotton said. We dont have a choice to revisit it or not revisit it. We have to revisit it.

Senior Democrats, meanwhile, denounced Trumps stated intention to let the Affordable Care Act explode rather than joining in efforts to help improve it. They acknowledge that the law would benefit from changes in certain areas, but say it has succeeded in bringing down the nations uninsured rate to a record low.

For the president to say that hell destroy it, or undermine it, thats not presidential  thats petulance, the Senates top Democrat, Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, said on ABC.

Its not going to work, he said. Its going to backfire.

Other strong opponents of the GOP bill reached out to the White House, saying a new approach might be in order.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who had sought the Democratic presidential nomination, said on CNNs State of the Union that he planned to introduce a single-payer healthcare plan  a quixotic gesture, perhaps, but one for which Sanders said he would seek bipartisan support.

President Trump, come on board, Sanders said. Lets work together.

Staff writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this story.

laura.king@latimes.com

@laurakingLAT
State lawmakers have unveiled an ambitious plan to reform how counties in California set bail for defendants while they wait for their cases to be resolved or go to trial.

New language added Friday to bills by Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) and Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) would prevent criminal defendants from having to post money as a condition of release from jail and would shift some power from judges to pretrial services agencies to assess the risks they would pose if allowed out in the community.

Under the legislation, each county would have to establish its own pretrial services agency to track inmates, remind them of court dates and develop risk-assessment tools to determine whether a defendant should be released. The programs, in use in other states, allow court and pretrial staff to use data and other evidence to determine whether a person is a risk to the public or likely to flee their charges.

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The bottom line is we are trying to get to the point that the determining factor for pretrial release is not the size of your wallet, but the nature of your risk, Hertzberg said. Are you a risk to society? Are you a public safety risk?

Bonta and Hertzberg said they have assembled a broad coalition of organizations and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to push the bail reform forward. Debate over the issue has raged nationwide and has often been waged in court, with cities and counties across the country facing lawsuits over policies that some legal experts say have turned jails into modern-day debtors prisons.

In California, where at least two federal lawsuits over bail practices are pending, 2015 data from the Public Policy Institute of California found more than 60% of people in county jails were awaiting either trial or sentencing.

When a person is arrested, judges set bail according to a county fee schedule based on the gravity of the alleged crime. Defendants must post the amount upfront or pay a 10% fee to a bond company before they are let go.

Those who cant afford to do so can remain incarcerated up to an additional 48 hours before they are formally charged and arraigned. A judge then sets the conditions for release before trial, weighing such factors as whether a defendant is a threat to his or her community.

California lawmakers want to reform a bail system they say punishes the poor for being poor 

Under the proposed legislation, Bonta and Hertzberg said the money bail system would not be completely eliminated, and judges would still have final discretion to use it in compelling cases.

Defendants charged with violent crimes or certain misdemeanors, including some domestic violence offenses, would continue to be held in jail until their arraignment before a judge. Defendants who commit a crime while they are released when their case is pending would be subject to a hearing.

But the legislation would require that bail be set based on a persons income.

We didnt want to have unbridled judicial discretion, Bonta said. We wanted to provide policy guidance to help determine where that discretion is exercised and how.

The bills are likely to face tough opposition at the Capitol, where legislation requiring counties to use risk-assessment tools when preparing pretrial reports for inmates has failed in the past.

Significant questions remain, such as the cost of the proposed pretrial services to provide inmates with support and monitoring, including the use of GPS devices. And bail bonds companies point to the potential cost to taxpayers. Other opponents argue money bail works, protecting the community while allowing defendants to fight their cases.

Wendy Zamutt, who owns a bail bond business in San Diego, said she is trained to screen her clients and provides support to every one. But the laws must be strict on criminals, she said.

They are not people who forgot to bring their library books back on time, she said. We cant allow these people to return on a promise. It doesnt work. It has never worked.

Criminal justice advocates counter the proposed laws could lead to long-term savings from keeping fewer defendants in jail. Incarceration expenses vary widely across the state, but counties spend an average of more than $100 per day to jail each defendant, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

Mica Doctoroff, a legislative advocate with the American Civil Liberties Union of Californias Center for Advocacy and Policy, said the money bail system is not cost-effective and fuels poverty and racial disparities in the system. It is not working for California, she said.

Then there is the human toll, Bonta said. Time in jail can cost someone their car, their jobs, their kids.

Many will take pleas when they shouldnt have been detained in jail in the first place, he said.

jazmine.ulloa@latimes.com

Twitter: @jazmineulloa

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Updates on California politics
Everyone loves paying less in taxes. And politicians certainly enjoy making their constituents happy, which means that proposals for creating new tax breaks are a perennial favorite in Sacramento.

Theres just one hitch: Tax breaks cost money, in the form of lower government revenue.

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That trade-off really gets revealed only when tax time rolls around. Once the states billions of dollars in tax revenue are counted, its up to Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers to divvy up the cash for Californias many needs, including schools, law enforcement and environmental protection.

But there would be a lot more money if not for the states hundreds of small and large tax breaks. How much more? A 2015 report by the independent Legislative Analysts Office concluded the total value of those breaks is around $55 billion, almost half the size of the states general fund.

That number could rise next year, if lawmakers have their way. A review of bills now pending in the Legislature shows a variety of new tax breaks being proposed. One eye-catching proposal, Senate Bill 807, would offer tax credits for anyone who earns teaching credentials. For those who go on to become teachers, it would exempt their entire salary from income taxes. The bill is slated to be heard in committee next month, and legislative staffers still are analyzing the fiscal impact.

Other ideas are smaller but include the kinds of tax breaks that add up over time. One legislative plan would increase the size of an existing tax credit for renters. Another bill would offer a credit of up to $2,000 for veterinary expenses. A third would reduce taxes on farmers who flood their rice fields in the winter.

Political Road Map: Heres why there might be more bills in Sacramento this year than any time in decades 

The most obvious challenge is to determine whether these are good ideas or whether they take too much tax revenue off the table. The winnowing of bills begins at the state Capitol in the next several weeks, with major decisions to be made this summer.

The most popular tax breaks are also the most costly. Top of the list in the most recent annual review by the California Department of Finance was the tax-free status of employer health benefits. The report concludes that alone is worth $5.8 billion. Other popular but costly laws exempt home mortgage interest and Social Security benefits from taxation.

No one is talking about canceling those breaks. But theyre also not talking about any of the hundreds of others that are on the books. The problem is that theres often very little data on which tax credits are effective and which are not.

The 2015 analysts report concluded that its hard to assess whether most tax breaks are effective and cost-efficient in achieving their objectives.

Perhaps the biggest reason, though, that California tax incentives never get scrapped is because of what could best be called a case of legislative asymmetry. Simply put, tax incentives can be approved in the Legislature by a simple majority  41 votes in the Assembly, 21 votes in the Senate.

But scrapping a tax break? Well, thats considered a tax increase. Under the provisions of the landmark 1978 initiative, Proposition 13, a tax increase requires a supermajority vote in each house.

In the end, very few tax credits are ever rescinded. Their value and effectiveness are often trumped by politics. The perception of raising a tax, even back to its original level, is simply too high for many legislators.

john.myers@latimes.com

Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast

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Marchers and counterprotesters clashed Saturday at a Make America Great Again gathering in Huntington Beach after an anti-President Trump protester doused marchers with pepper spray.

The anti-Trump protester, dressed in all black and wearing a mask, attacked an organizer of the event, Jennifer Sterling, and other members of the march with the irritant, causing a group of marchers to tackle the masked man, punching and kicking him.

The use of pepper spray was confirmed by California State Parks Capt. Kevin Pearsall.

The masked man was able to regain his footing and backpedaled as a group of flag-bearing marchers trailed him. He fled by jumping over the fence that separates the lot from Pacific Coast Highway but was quickly detained by California Highway Patrol officers.

(Warning: Graphic language)

Man in black mask chased onto PCH, marchers said he pepper sprayed them #MAGAMARCH in #HuntingtonBeach pic.twitter.com/ZPNWJaVYol  Ben Brazil (@benbrazilpilot) March 25, 2017

Pearsall said the masked man had been arrested along with two other male counterprotesters on suspicion of illegal use of pepper spray. Pearsall said a female counterprotester also was arrested on suspicion of assault and battery.

Travis Guenther, whose wife was also pepper-sprayed, said he was among those who chased the masked man. He hit him with a flag that read Trump, Make America Great Again.

I hit him five times with the flag over his head, said Guenther, who yelled at the man as the man was detained by law enforcement officials.

Were not xenophobic, Guenther said. Were not racist. Were just proud Americans.

Ray Evans, 55, of Westminster said he was trying to wrest a stick from a counterprotester who was using it as a weapon when he was pepper-sprayed by a woman.

State Parks officers gave Evans water to clear the spray from his eyes, which he struggled to keep open.

(Warning: Graphic language)

Violence erupts Trump rally when pro and anti Trump protestors collide. #MAGAMARCH in HBhttps://t.co/4OXrkdVwyO pic.twitter.com/AkYkCrpx6Z  Cindy Carcamo (@theCindyCarcamo) March 25, 2017

Sterling said after the march that the violence hurt but that the good outweighed the bad.

Sterling said she made a point of telling marchers to not engage with the counterprotesters.

Pearsall said about 2,000 marchers and 30 counterprotesters showed up to the noontime march, held at Bolsa Chica State Beach.

The counterprotesters lined up on the beach trail and were hoping to stop the marchers from progressing, said Byron Lopez, 20, of Santa Ana.

But when marchers approached the area, the counterprotesters parted and people were able to pass through until the violence erupted.

Lopez said he was there as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and did not participate in the violence. He said the masked men were part of Antifa, an anti-fascist movement.

Huntington Beach and parks officials said they had been prepared for any violence Saturday.

Meanwhile, Indivisible OC 48, which bills itself as nonpartisan, announced earlier that it would be meeting on rally day at the Edison Community Center to discuss the next steps to ensure that decision-makers address the concerns of their constituents.

Indivisible OC 48 will not be engaging in any form of counterprotest to the MAGA march at Bolsa Chica State Beach, the statement read.

Natalie Curtis, 49, of Malibu said she was at the march to support the president and first responders. Curtis was carrying a flag that read Latina for Trump.

Curtis said she felt that Trump was doing his best to keep his campaign promises and she wants to support him.

Many of the marchers carried American and Dont Tread on Me flags, a symbol of the tea party movement. Some carried signs saying Build that Wall and Blue Lives Matter.

U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) attended the march and spoke at the rally before people started marching.

This is a turning point. I was about ready to give up, Rohrabacher said. But you know what, youre here and Donald Trump is in the White House.

His speech was met with rousing applause.

Support for the military was a large component of the march.

Sterling had people bring clothes and other accouterments to be donated to veterans.

Members of the U.S. Marines set up a tent where people could test their physical skills on a pull-up bar.

Shipley Marmion, 49, of Huntington Beach said shes from a military family and wanted to march to support the military and Trump. She supports strong borders but said there were people from all countries at the march.

The march was originally going to be held near the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, but fairgrounds officials announced earlier in the month that they would close the property on Saturday and Sunday in anticipation of the event because of public safety concerns.

A Trump rally held April 28 outside the Pacific Amphitheatre  where the then-candidate had been speaking  resulted in violence that spilled onto the streets. People could be seen jumping on the hood of a police car. The amphitheater is on the fairgrounds.

Pearsall said Friday that the department was planning for conflict based on monitoring social media exchanges. He said three dozen officers would be on scene at the march.

Huntington Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Marlatt said Friday officers would be available to provide support if needed

Toward the end of the march, a small group of counterprotesters and marchers verbally clashed again near the roundabout close to the parking lot entrance at Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.

Obscenities laced the air but the groups didnt delve into violence. One of the counterprotesters was wearing a bandana over his face and marchers chanted, Show your face.

Los Angeles Times reporter Cindy Carcamo contributed to this article.

benjamin.brazil@latimes.com

Twitter: @benbrazilpilot
Want to explore Asia but struggling to decide where to go or what to do? This website/app offers ideas at bargain prices.

Name: Klook Activities & Attractions

What it does: The Klook website and app introduce you to attractions and shows, tours and sightseeing, activities and experiences, food and wellness, and transportation and Wi-Fi at prices up to 60% off. Booking is easy, with destinations in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea and Oceania. There also are a few metro hubs in Europe as well as New York and Dubai.

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Available: In the App Store, requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Android 4.0.3 and up.

Cost: Free. Rates vary for activities.

Whats hot: The app and website are a fantastic visual primer for someone who hasnt traveled to Asia and knows little about activities for tourists. Explore destinations by city, then scroll through things to do by topic or by designations including whats trending, most popular, new activities and more. Each destination has categories specific to the area. Some of my favorite finds included: a sunrise breakfast atop the volcano Mt. Batur in Lovers Paradise in Bali ($319 marked down to $225), a Robot Restaurant show in Uniquely Tokyo ($70 marked down to $53) and the Trick Eye Museum in Kids at Heart in Hong Kong ($20 marked down to $10). Bookmark this site; new funding indicates increased growth and expansion in Australia, Europe and North America.

Whats not: Take the itinerary planning with a grain of salt. When I clicked on 48 hours in Bangkok, I was expecting written content about top activities that could be seen in just a few days. Instead, it was a stream of suggestions for activities to buy that are similar to what you see when you just click on the city.
After two decades of development, NASA scientists are on the verge of exploring Jupiter's ocean moon Europa for signs of alien life. The scientists hope Europa is our best shot of finding biological life in the solar system.

According to BBC, this week NASA discussed the probes at the 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston. The first mission is a ''flyby' called Europa Clipper that will launch in 2022. The next is a Lander mission, which will follow Clipper a few years later.

The immense gravity of Jupiter's helps generate tidal forces that repeatedly stretch and relax the moon. The stresses that created Europa's smashed up terrain are best explained by the ice shell floating on an ocean of liquid water.

Daily Mail has reported that Europa has a water ocean underneath its icy surface-one of the key components for life. The moon's orbital path takes it deep into Jupiter's magnetic field which rapidly speeds up particles and traps them on the moon's surface and also chemicals are known as oxidants on the surface. These oxidants react with compounds known as reductions to form the energy that needed for life.

The Clipper probe will house nine different instruments for measuring the distant moon's surface and ocean. These high-tech gadgets include a camera to take detailed images of Europa's surface and spectrometers to measure its composition.

NASA scientists have stated that an ice-penetrating radar will take analyze all three of the moon's surface and a magnetometer to research the ocean beneath. Europa orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days and is tidally locked. Like Earth's Moon, the same side of Europa faces Jupiter at all time.

Researchers thought like Earth Europa have an iron core, a rocky mantle and a surface ocean of salty water. The ocean is deep enough to cover the whole surface of Europa, and being far from the sun, the ocean surface is globally frozen over.

However, experts believe that the hidden ocean warmed by powerful tidal forces by Jupiter' that may have the conditions favorable for life. Scientists are hoping to find life on the others planet.


HTC has teased its avid fans with a message stating that it would deliver a surprise this Spring. The said revelation for the patrons is reportedly the HTC Sapphire U Ultra limited edition that is already accessible through pre-orders in Taiwan.

According to The Verge, it was last week when HTC's Taiwan Facebook page has posted a mysterious teaser image with a message stating that "HTC will give you an unexpected surprise." With this post, many have speculated that HTC might be doings some sort marketing promotion for the successor of its former flagship, the HTC 10.

Moreover, it turned out that the "unexpected surprise" that HTC will deliver its fans is a limited edition variant on the Sapphire U Ultra featuring a sapphire glass screen and an enormous 128 GB of storage. The company already revealed this handset during CES which was held earlier this year which makes it less unanticipated surprise.

In a separate news, Droid Report has learned that HTC already put the limited edition version of Sapphire U Ultra for pre-order in Taiwan at NT$ 28,000 which is translates to estimated $946. It is notable that the price of the Sapphire U Ultra is near $200 more than the cost of the standard version of the handset.

Nevertheless, it appears that it is worth the price as the Sapphire U Ultra boasts a screen that is attractive and uncommon on a smartphone. The limited Edition Sapphire U Ultra model is now obtainable for the customers and they could place a pre-order of this exclusive piece of technology in four varieties of colors.

For the HTC patrons who will place a pre-order of the Sapphire U Ultra with 128 GB internal storage, they will also obtain a $100 bundle. This deal contains a leather flip case, a fast charge 3.0 power bank, and a key ring. Even though the Taiwanese tech giant didn't divulge additional information about the release for the rest of the world, the limited edition Sapphire U Ultra is particularly offered for the Taiwanese market.
Mar 26, 2017, 2:01pm ET

High on pot, two employees shut down BMW assembly line

It cost the company $1 million

Don't get high before your shift at the BMW factory. That's the message missed by two employees at the company's Munich plant, resulting in a brief shutdown of the line on March 3.

As reported by The Drive, the duo smoked marijuana on company property before starting work at the exhaust assembly line. Though German newspaper The Bild did not disclose the names of the workers in its original report, it did say one had alcohol in their system while the other had amphetamines.

The workers collapsed during their shift, prompting a 40-minute shut down. As a result, 1 million of BMW's dollars evaporated in a puff of smoke, so to speak.

According to The Bild, one of the stoned staffers was sacked and the other, surprisingly, was simply moved to another position. One of them was also taken to the hospital but it's not clear which.

Even if continued employment isn't your primary concern, it's probably not a good idea to get baked when working in an environment with lots of heavy machinery in motion. And if the exhaust falls off of your next 3-Series, you know who to blame.
Mar 26, 2017, 5:07am ET

Musk: Tesla Model Y 'a few years away'

The Model X will remain Tesla\'s only crossover for now.

Tesla's ambitious expansion plan calls for the launch of a compact, entry-level crossover named Model Y. Buyers looking for a more affordable set of falcon doors will need to be patient, however.

The Model Y is "a few years away" from arriving in showrooms, according to company boss and co-founder Elon Musk. Tesla remains a relatively small automaker, and it's currently allocating the bulk of its resources to successfully starting production of the Model 3 so it can deliver the first examples this summer.

The Model Y will be to the Model X what the 3 is to the S, but official information is still few and far between. At this point, all we know is that it will ride on an evolution of the platform that underpins the 3, and it will use the same hardware and software. Its wheelbase will likely be too short to fit a 100-kWh battery, though upcoming advances in lithium-ion technology might mean it's no longer necessary to use such a large pack to achieve acceptable range.

Tesla admitted the aforementioned falcon doors delayed the Model X's launch several times. The Y will offer the same setup, but they will be cheaper and more straight-forward to build.

When the Y finally arrives, Tesla's lineup will include models S, 3, X, and Y. Clearly, Musk has a sense of humor.
An Allentown man is charged with homicide and related crimes in connection with a Saturday morning shooting that killed an Easton man and injured two others at an Allentown shopping center.

Joshua Colon, 25, was charged Saturday evening with homicide and two counts of attempted homicide in connection with the shootings at American Plaza Shopping Center.

Colon was being treated for a gunshot wound to the leg and will be sent to Lehigh County Jail without bail, Interim Police Chief Glen Dorney said.

Police did not elaborate on the circumstances of Colon's arrest.

They earlier said the gunman had fled after firing on several pedestrians and being shot at by an Allentown police officer investigating a disturbance. At the time police said they weren't sure if the gunman was hit.

Allentown police officers were working an extra-duty assignment at Club Dubai in American Parkway Shopping Plaza, when they went to investigate a disturbance on the eastern side of the plaza's parking lot, authorities said.

That's when police saw a gunman shooting at people before they said he got into a car and took off.

Paul Prieto, of Easton, was shot and was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township, where he was pronounced dead.

Two other shooting victims were taken to local hospitals for treatment; police have not released their identities.

Prieto died of a gunshot wound to the body and his death was ruled a homicide by the Lehigh County coroner's office.

The gunfire sparked a large response and search. Colon was arraigned before District Judge Robert Halal.

Police said they are continuing to investigate and ask anyone who has information to call the detective bureau at 610-437-7721.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Northampton Community College students will soon be able to train for a career in adventure.

Zip lining at Hunter Mountain in the Catskills.

This fall, NCC will become the first community college in Pennsylvania to offer an adventure tourism degree.

Students on the Monroe County campus will be able to pursue a 30-credit specialized diploma or an associate's degree in the major through NCC's hospitality program.

Adventure tourism is a hot, fast-growing $263 billion industry, according to the college.

Graduates of the program will get to spend their action-packed work days in the wilderness or exotic spots guiding guests on hikes, river-rafting tours, ziplines and ropes courses.

Conversations with major players in the Poconos tourism industry inspired the college to convene a focus group and then develop the program, said David Schweiger, director of Northampton's hospitality management program.

Companies are telling NCC they need grads trained in tourism and outdoor recreation specialties, he said.

"The Pocono Mountain region continues to grow as a destination for outdoor adventure tourism," said Gina Bertucci, spokesperson for Bushkill Group Inc., which operates Pocono TreeVentures outdoor aerial adventure ropes courses. "With that success, the need for qualified employees has also grown tenfold."

Pocono TreeVenture customers get a chance to navigate platforms built at various levels in the trees that are connected by obstacle bridges. The park also has a 1,000-foot dual-racing zip line and children's adventure courses, zip lines and tree-based climbing walls.

But Pocono TreeVentures isn't the only regional player in the ropes course market, Bertucci said. Camelback and Kalahari's Gorilla Grove both offer ropes courses and zip lines. Kittatiny Canoes has zip lines, Great Wolf Lodge operates a ropes adventure, and both Skytop Lodge and Blue Mountain Ski Area offer adventure courses as well, she said.

"Each of the properties needs managers certified in ropes course training, employees with ropes certification, and ropes course maintenance personnel," Bertucci said. "It is difficult to find students with the necessary training to work and manage these courses."

Students can earn a specialized diploma in adventure course management, qualifying them to work on ropes or zip line courses and others like it. NCC hopes to partner with a certification organization, Schweiger said, noting the course details are still being hammered out.

"It is innovative for Northampton Community College to introduce a program that will train these students with the necessary skills to pursue a career in the outdoor tourism specialty," Bertucci said.

The associate's degree is still in the works but there will be a strong focus on sustainable tourism, he said.

Students will complete two, 250-hour internships so they can get on-the-job training.

"We are really trying to focus this on experiential education, so it is not just classroom learning," Schweiger said.

The adventure tourism program will fit nicely into the existing hospitality management program, Schweiger said. Currently, students can earn an associate's degree in hotel, restaurant or meeting and event planning management.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Portion of Route 33 are expected to be shut down this week as crews work on the Route 33/Freemansburg Avenue bridge.

Work is expected to begin at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday in the southbound left lane of Route 33. That area will be closed between William Penn Highway and Freemansburg Avenue, Bethlehem Township police said.

By 10 p.m., traffic will be diverted off the Route 33 south ramp to Freemansburg Avenue, and then back onto the southbound ramp, crossing Freemansburg Avenue, according to police.

The detour will be removed by 5 a.m. each morning.

The northbound left lane of Route 33 will be closed at 7 p.m., starting Wednesday and lasting until Thursday between Interstate 78 and Freemansburg Avenue.

By 10 p.m., all traffic will be diverted off the the highway onto Freemansburg Avenue, west to Emrick Boulevard, north on Emrick Boulevard, east on William Penn Highway and then back onto Route 33 north, police said.

Those detours also will be removed by 5 a.m. each morning and the single left lane closure on Route 33 north will be removed by 6 a.m., according to police.

Police said it's possible Friday also could have some closures along Route 33 north with the same time-frames and detours. Motorists are urged to lookout

for construction vehicles and workers.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Martin Bowe - Rathdowney

The death took place on Saturday, March 25 of Martin Bowe of Moore Street, Rathdowney.

Peacefully at his home. Deeply regretted by his nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends.

Reposing at his home (Moore Street) on Sunday evening from 5pm with rosary at 9pm. Funeral Mass on Monday at 1pm in the Church of The Holy Trinity, Rathdowney, followed by burial in Rathdowney local cemetery.

Bridie O'Brien - Clonaslee

The death took place on Friday, March 24 of Bridie O'Brien (nee Delaney) of Ballinahown, Clonaslee.

Peacefully at her residence. Pre-deceased by her husband Tom. Deeply regretted and will be sadly missed by her sons Thomas, Martin, Kevin and Brendan, sisters, Sr. Dolores, Josie, Kathleen and Mary, brothers, Tom and Mick, Grandchildren, daughters-in-law, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours, and friends.

Reposing at her residence all day Saturday. Removal from her residence on Saturday evening at 7.20pm arriving to St. Manman's Church Clonaslee for 8pm Mass. Funeral Mass on Sunday at 12 noon, followed by burial in St. Manman's Cemetery Clonaslee.



Hugh Conroy - Rosenallis

The death took place on Friday, March 24 of Hugh Conroy of Drummond, Rosenallis.

Hugh (also known as Marey) died unexpectedly at Tallaght Hospital. Predeceased by his daughter Edel.

Deeply regretted by his partner Olivia and family Hughie, Alan, Martina, Lorraine and Rebecca and his wife Betty, brothers Ollie and Joe, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandchildren, neighbours, relatives and many friends.

Reposing in his home from 7pm on Saturday. Reposing in his home on Sunday from 5pm. Recital of The Rosary at 8pm. Funeral arriving for 12 noon Requiem Mass on Monday in St. Brigid's Church. Burial afterwards in St. Brigid's Cemetery.

Charlie O'Neill - Portlaoise

The death took place on Thursday, March 23 of Charlie O'Neill of Old Knockmay Road, Portlaoise.

Peacefully surrounded by his family. Charlie, late of CIE, beloved husband of Bernie and and dearly loved father to Bridget, Charlie, Robert, Janet, Larry, John, and Tina. Deeply regretted by his family, brother Larry, brother-in-law, sisters-in-law, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.

Reposing at Keegan's Funeral Home on Saturday evening from 6pm with Rosary at 8pm. Removal on Sunday morning to SS Peter and Pauls Church for 12.30pm Requiem Mass. Interment afterwards in SS Peter and Pauls Cemetery, Portlaoise.

Joe Carroll - Wexford and Mountrath

The death took place on Thursday, March 23 of Joe Carroll of Halseyrath, Duncormick, Wexford and formerly Killanure, Mountrath.

Beloved husband of Teresa, father of Sean and Sinead and brother of Mariah (Lawlor). Deeply regretted by his family, son-in-law Liam, grandson Brogan, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.

Reposing at his residence on Saturday from 4pm-6pm. Removal on Sunday to St Peter's Church Ballymitty for funeral Mass at 1pm. Burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.

Joseph (Nixon) Shaw - Portarlington

The death took place on Thursday, March 23 of Joseph (Nixon) Shaw of 14 New Mill Court, Canal Road, Portarlington.

At the Regional Hospital Portlaoise after a short illness surrounded by his family. Deeply regretted by his daughter Ruth, son Garry, granddaughter Grace, grandson Ashley, siblings Tom, Dympna, Eileen, Ann, Jim, David and Aidan, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law ,nieces, nephews and large circle of friends.

Reposing at Maher's Chapel of Rest Portarlington on Friday from 7pm with Rosary at 9pm. Removal on Saturday at 10.20am arriving St Michael's Church Portarlington for Requiem Mass at 11am. Funeral afterwards to St Michael's Cemetery.

Patrick Mahon - Vicarstown

The death took place on Wednesday, March 22 of Patrick Mahon of Laurel Lodge, Vicarstown and formerly Logmore, Geashill.

Loving son of the late Patrick and Brigid Mahon and dear brother of the late Mary. Deeply regretted by his brothers Frank and Seamus, sisters Rose and Christina, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

Requiem Mass in St Joseph's Church, Ballinagar on Saturday at 11am. Funeral afterwards to St Mary's Cemetery, Daingean.

Frank Manning - Portlarlington

The death took place on Tuesday, March 21 of Frank Manning of Knightsbridge Nursing Home, Trim, Meath and formerly of Portarlington, and Firhouse, Dublin 24.

Peacefully. Beloved husband of the late Una, father of Tony, Frank and Dave, a devoted grandfather of Andrew, Mark and Eve and great-grandfather of Robyn; Sadly missed by his loving sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, great-granddaughter, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

Reposing at Cunninghams Funeral Home, Clonsilla Village on Thursday evening from 5pm to 7pm. Removal to St. Mochtas Church, Porterstown on Friday morning arriving for Requiem Mass at 10am followed by burial in Mulhuddart Cemetery.

Thomas Byrne - Rathdowney

The death took place on Wednesday, March 22 of Thomas (Tommy) Byrne of Ballybuggy, Rathdowney.

Peacefully at home. Predeceased by his daughter Marcella. Deeply regretted by his wife Lizzy and his family Marie, James, Demelza, Martina, Millissa and Keith, daughter-in-law, sons-in-law, grandchildren, his sister Kathleen and his brothers Sean and Billy, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.

Reposing at O' Sullivan's Funeral Home, Rathdowney on Thursday evening from 5pm with rosary at 9pm. Funeral Mass on Friday in The Church of The Holy Trinity, Rathdowney at 12 noon followed by burial in Bealady Cemetery.

Mary Fennelly - Portlaoise

The death took place on Tuesday, March 21 of Mary Fennelly (nee Ging) of Eyne, Portlaoise.

Peacefully with her family, in the care of the Management and staff of Oghill Nursing Home, Monasterevin. Predeceased by her husband Dennis. Deeply regretted by her brothers, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, grandnephews, grandnieces, neighbours, relatives, and a large circle of friends.

Reposing at Keegan's Funeral Home from 7pm on Thursday with rosary at 8pm. Removal on Friday morning to SS Peter and Paul's Church for 10am Requiem Mass. Interment afterwards in St Fintan's Cemetery, Mountrath.

Martin Dooley - Attanagh

The death took place on Monday, March 20 of Martin Dooley of The Glebe, Attanagh.

In his 87th year peacefully in the care of the Doctors, Nurses and the staff of St Fintan's Hospital Porlaoise surrounded by his nephews and nieces.

Pre-deceased by his brother Paddy, sisters Mary, Lizzie Purcell, Sheila Mooney and recently deceased Breda McKelvey.

Deeply regretted by his nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, cousins, relatives and friends, Rest in Peace.

His remains are repsoing at his nephew Donal McKelvey's residence, The Glebe, Donaghmore. Removal this Tuesday evening at 6.30pm to the Church of the Assumption Ballyouskill arriving at 7.30pm. Requiem Mass Wednesday at 11am burial immediately afterwards in St Bridgets Cementary Ballinakill.
Gerry Herbert, a member of Kildare towns writers group Wordsmith, will launch his first book in Kildare library on Wednesday, March 29, at 7pm.

Gerry, who is a retired teacher, said it took him two and a half years to write his book, which is called A Little Bit of Nothing to Help You Unthink.

Im glad it is finished and a little apprensive about it too, said Gerry, who lives in Carbury and taught at Maynooth Post Primary School before his retirement.

It is about my own efforts to become more human at a time when we have struggles in this world.

A work of fiction, it is inspired by the late Nelson Mandela, Jesus of Nazaraus, William Shakespeare and Buddha.

These were people who advanced things, paved the way for a more civilised world and lead us into the light and whom we are still trying to catch up with, he added.

The book is dedicated to all those pupils I taught, who are now out in a world that is kicking them around.

I do address the bulk of the book to the students that I taught because you need to learn a few things about how your intrinsic self survives in this world, not your egoic self.

The launch will take place at 7pm and there will be cake and music by Mary Mills to launch the book onto the shelves. I am a member of the Kildare town Wordsmiths writers group and I go there every week, said Gerry. I hope the launch is a nice evening for everybody and there will be cake and a little music and all are welcome.

The Wordsmith writers group meet every week in the library and new members are always welcome.
Martin Walsh of Broghies Ireland, based in Kildare Business Park, which is the recent winner of the Kildare Enterprise Awards organised by the Local Enterprise Office, is expanding the business into the former Black & Decker offices.

Martin, who hails from Kildare town and runs NA Meats, said the broghie business, a healthy alternative to bread, is going from strength to strength.

We will be staying here in the business park but we are also expanding into Black & Decker as we are after 8,000 square feet. We employ nine people now and we are hoping to increase that to 15 by the end of the month. This is a real local success story.

Martin who grew up in Maryville housing estate, said they will soon be exporting to France and Germany.

We have the rig hts for the European market,he said.

The story began only eight months ago when Martin saw an opportunity with the product and emailed the parent company, Garavogues in Canada.

I sent an email to the company in Canada and told them that the Irish would love broghies as we enjoy healthy eating. It's used in snacks and we tell people to put on broghies what you would put on bread. It has replaced the prawn cracker in curries and it is low in calories.

Martin, who lives in Beechgrove with his wife Susanne, added that the biggest kick is seeing people employed locally. My production manager is a 66-year-old who thought his employment days were over.
Fianna Fail TD for Sligo-Leitrim Marc Mac Sharry has accused the Government of embarking on a mission to isolate the North West region. He says the fact that State jobs are being relocated out of Sligo is evidence that the Government has no interest in investing in or developing the area.

Deputy Mac Sharry commented, The North West region appears to be the target of many of the job transfers and service reductions that are being implemented by this Government. In December it was announced that 32 jobs attached to the information section of the Department of Social Protection based in Sligo are to be moved to Dublin. Now its emerged that a number of positions within the PAYE section of Revenue are to be transferred to Dundalk. This recentralisation programme is typical of the Dublin centric administration, which is only concerned with the capital and surrounding commuter counties.

The North West region has been completely disregarded by Fine Gael. Despite a series of promises on rural Ireland, along with commitments in the Programme for Government, the reality of the situation is that jobs are being lost, services are being cut and the threat of Brexit looms large.

Not only are we seeing State positions being redirected to Leinster, the regional veterinary lab is facing the threat of closure and there are concerns about job losses at Protek Medical. On top of that, Post Office closures are on the cards, and only today Ulster Bank announced that its to shut branches in Sligo, Donegal and Cavan.

The Government is preoccupied with the hard border, which may come about as a result of Brexit, but it is completely ignoring the virtual border that runs west of the Shannon. The North West region has been starved of investment over the past five years and unfortunately this looks set to continue. Fine Gael needs to wake up to the seriousness of the situation in the North West and come up with a strategy that it will fully implement to protect and increase employment and investment in the region.
The team at Kilronan Castle Estate and Spa are beaming with pride right now after a successful night at The Irish Hotel Awards, hosted by NI Media which was held in the Sheraton Hotel in Athlone last Tuesday evening.

Kilronan Castle Estate and Spa, Ballyfarnon, County Roscommon were thrilled to have been shortlisted for the following categories, Castle Hotel of the year, Fine Dining Hotel of the year, Spa Hotel of the year and Wedding Hotel of the year they were even more delighted to have been awarded 7 prestigious awards on the night.

Our Executive Head Chef David Porter won Regional Chef of the year Connaught and also Chef of the year Award for the whole of Ireland, which he is immensely proud of,  I feel very humbled and honoured to have won this award, The Irish Hotel Awards is such a prestigious event and I couldnt be happier to have this presented to, not just me but the whole Team at Kilronan Castle Estate and Spa because without them what we do and the amazing product we have just wouldnt be possible said David. Our Pastry Chef Marcin Brewlyski was also delighted to have been nominated and shortlisted for the Star Chef Award.

Ciara Maxwell represented the hotel on the night also and was overwhelmed with the awards presented,  I just couldnt believe that we won the three awards in the wedding categories, to have won Regional Wedding Hotel of the Year Connaught and Overall Wedding Venue was just brilliant, then to top it off I received  Regional Wedding Planner of the Year for Connaught. Ive worked in Kilronan Castle Estate & Spa for the past 6 years and I am so passionate about the Hotel, its a fantastic venue, hotel and facility to have in County Roscommon, we had a great night, I just cant stop smiling!

It didnt stop there either, Katie Gill then brought home Best Spa in Connaught Award, The Spa at Kilronan Castle Estate and Spa boasts amazing Thermal Suite Facilities which include: Sauna, Light Therapy Aroma Steam Room, Tropical Showers Hot & Cold Infinity Pools ,Hydrotherapy Shower, Ice Feature and Relaxation Suite, a world of escapism is at your fingertips.

The Icing on the cake was then to receive the Castle Hotel of the Year Award, General Manager Michelle Coghlan said It was an amazing evening, I am extremely proud of the Team at Kilronan Castle Estate & Spa and look forward to many more awards and accolades in the future, well done to all of the Team!

Nicci Smith of NI Media and director of the event said 'NI Media would like to congratulate all our award winners in this the inaugural year of the Irish Hotel Awards. This programme was set up to celebrate the amazing work being done in hotels across the island.

The hospitality industry in Ireland consistently goes the extra mile to provide top quality experiences for visitors from all over the world. This wouldn't be possible without the 'Stars' of the industry - those people day in day out who work behind the scenes to deliver consistently high standards. The Irish Hotel Awards is a celebration of these people and the hotels they work in. NI Media would also like to thank our sponsors; Rational, Britvic, Spabreaks.com and CLASSICdrinks for their support
Courtesy Photo The bluegrass band The Road West plays traditional American music for students at Niwot Elementary and, through a Skype connection, at Mwebaza School in Uganda. (From left) Katy Buckbee, Steve Remmert, special guest Niwot Elementary fourth grader Archer Buckbee, and Dave Goldhammer.

Third, fourth and fifth graders at Niwot Elementary felt a mixture of curiosity, excitement and pride as they filed into the gym for the Skype assembly with their sister school Mwebaza Infant Primary School in Kyengera, Uganda. It was Mwebaza Day on March 14, an annual celebration of the schools partnership with Mwebaza.

Im excited about seeing our pen pals, said third grader Payton Johnson, who has enjoyed trading letters across continents. We actually helped build a school for those kids with all of our fundraising, classmate Savanna Heasley explained proudly. Im glad we get to see them and interact with them, Jaeger Lupberger added.

The Mwebaza Day tradition began five years ago when Niwot Elementary celebrated a visit from Headmistress Namatovu of Mwebaza School. The following year, parents and teachers decided to make the event a tradition by hosting a Skype cultural exchange between the two schools.

Our kids will sing and dance for them and their kids will sing and dance for us, said Dale Peterson, first grade teacher and founder of the Mwebaza Foundation, a non-profit group which manages the school partnership. This year were having an American group called The Road West. They play bluegrass. We thought it would be fun for them to hear more traditional American music.

In addition to the assembly, teachers plan activities on the themes of compassion and friendship, and Peterson and the foundations executive manager, Devaki Douillard, visit each class for a special toast. Traditionally in Uganda they celebrate with obutunda, a passion fruit juice, Douillard explained. We give each class a small serving and we have a toast acknowledging the partnership.

Douillard experienced Mwebaza Day from the Ugandan perspective when she visited Africa in 2015. The kids in Uganda return to school because its evening for them. You have almost every student return in the evening. Its a huge community event. There are parents watching on the sidelines, Douillard said.

Its harder on their end than it is on our end because they have to make sure the kids get home in the dark, Peterson said, explaining that the 9-hour time difference means the celebration in Uganda starts at 6 pm.

Niwots friendship with Mwebaza School began as a first-grade pen pal project in 2007, but when Petersons students received photographs of their new friends, they were inspired to take action. I literally had a line of parents in my classroom the next morning saying, My kids are so shocked by the poverty they wanted to do something,  Peterson said. We kept raising money and we thought we were going to build a concrete floor for them, but we ended up building a whole school.

Inspired by the successful fundraising efforts, Peterson expanded the pen-pal project to the entire Niwot Elementary School and in 2008 launched the Mwebaza Foundation, which today manages the relationship between four front range schools and their African partner schools. The foundation has funded several construction projects for their partners, including a new middle school for the graduates of Mwebaza School, which is scheduled to open in 2018.

Niwot Elementary principal Nancy Pitz is grateful for Peterson and what his Mwebaza Foundation has done for her students. The greatest impact is the global perspective that our students are able to learn and grow from, Pitz said. The highlight of this years, and every years, assembly is being able to celebrate our special friendship with our sister school in Uganda. Its a wonderful day to embrace, appreciate, and learn about each others unique cultures.

To learn more about the Mwebaza Foundation, visit http://www.mwebaza.org.
Last night there were three principal council by-elections. One of them produced an interesting null and void declaration while in West Somerset there was an outstanding Liberal Democrat gain from the Conservatives in an election for the district council.

First to Blackburn UA. Higher Croft ward saw a by-election in December 2016, had one yesterday and is now set for a third in usual circumstances. Last night the Labour candidate won but the result was immediately declared null and void because he was employed by an external organisation on which Blackburn UA had places on the governing board of trustees.

The situation which occurred here is a classic nomination mistake and emphases the importance of checking work restrictions. Whether a teacher in an academy or someone working in a local museum can stand comes down to whether a local authority has any involvement in running the organisation and/or a role in making appointments. If you are in doubt talk to ALDC and ask the prospective candidate to check with their employers HR department.

Over to West Somerset District Council where, until last night, there were no Liberal Democrat councillors. We hadnt stood in the lovely Exmoor town of Dunster last time but a great campaign was fought by the local team and newbie Peter Pilkington was elected.

West Somerset DC, Dunster and Timberscombe

Liberal Democrats 174 [49.7%, +49.7%]

Con 115 [32.9%, -26.7%]

Green 38 [10.9%, -26.9%]

Lab 23 [6.6%, +6.6%]

The final principal council election was held in Herefordshire UAs Leominster South ward. Leominster constituency was once a top Liberal target seat and the area should be good Lib Dem territory but in recent years the Greens have made the running. They had won in 2014 in a previous incarnation of the ward (rather different to the current boundaries).

Herefordshire UA, Leominster South

Green 318 [40.8%, +10.1%]

Its Our County 143 [18.3%, +18.3%]

Conservative 139 [17.8%, -8.6%]

No Description 116 [14.9%]

Liberal Democrat 64 [8.2%, + 8.2 %]

We had a candidate, unlike last time, which was a great step forward but here it was the Greens who fought the winning campaign. Thank you to Clive Thomas for flying the flag.

There is an interesting contrast between the Green vote in the two wards.

On the town, parish and community council front we had another gain, winning from Labour in Merseyside. Congratulations to Ian Smith for a thumping win.

Prescot Town Council, Prescot North Ward

Lib Dem 396

Labour 164

Conservative 26

This article was written by Richard Cole from ALDC with statistical analysis by John Swarbrick

* ALDC is the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners
The Home Secretary Amber Rudd has demanded that security services be given access to users encrypted messages on services like WhatsApp. Its kind of good that we have someone who actually knows what they are talking about, because they have been an Assistant Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police, to assess these plans. Brian Paddick is not impressed. He said:

These terrorists want to destroy our freedoms and undermine our democratic society.

By implementing draconian laws that limit our civil liberties, we would playing into their hands.

My understanding is there are ways security services could view the content of suspected terrorists encrypted messages and establish who they are communicating with.

Having the power to read everyones text messages is neither a proportionate nor an effective response.

The real question is, could lives have been saved in London last week if end-to-end encryption had been banned? All the evidence suggests that the answer is no.
LIMERICK councils arts office has been criticised after it emerged it was planning to give arts groups just two weeks to prepare applications for events funding.

At last weeks metropolitan district meeting, arts officer Sheila Deegan disclosed that any group wishing to bid for a chunk of 238,000 to develop events would only have until April 2.

The news prompted anger among councillors, who flatly rejected the plan presented to them, with Fianna Fails James Collins saying the deadline was farcical and the scheme is set up to fail.

Metropolitan councillors have set aside almost a quarter of a million euro from their general municipal allocation  a fund to be used exclusively on city activities  for special events and festivals at times when Limerick is not hosting anything.

Separately, it has also been revealed that Galway  which beat Limerick to the title of European Capital of Culture 2020  receives 390,000 for 21 festivals, compared to the Treaty City, which gets just 19,000 for five.

Referring to the deadline, Cllr Collins said: I feel this is insulting to the arts and cultural community. Most people who would be developing these festivals, or would be expected to fill out the paperwork are volunteers.

He said it would be more appropriate if a few months were given to allow applications to be prepared properly.

The whole scheme was drafted without the input of councillors, never mind the inclusion of anyone from the arts and cultural community. This is a criticism which has been levelled at the arts office for some time, Cllr Collins aded.

His party colleague, Cllr Vivienne Crowley added: Grant applications are complicated. To have them done within two weeks is impossible.

And Sinn Feins councillor Malachy McCreesh added: We are being presented with this as a fait accompli. We need to sit back and be reasonable here.

Referring to the fact Galway is receiving more than 20 times in Failte Ireland funding, the former Shannon Development executive Cllr Marian Hurley said: Id hazard a guess this is because Galway has a bigger arts team. Failte Ireland also has a very influential wing in Galway.

In terms of festivals, councillors said that Limerick needs to do more around the Christmas and Halloween holidays.

A food festival was mooted by Sinn Feins councillor John Costelloe, similar to the 1997 World Food Festival.

Limerick is famous for its bacon, and the way its cured. Its unique to this part of the world. Im getting hungry just thinking about it, he laughed.
Mar 25, 2017, 11 PM

Canada Post issued two very similar stamps in 2016 picturing actor Leonard Nimoy in his Star Trek role as Spock.

By Michael Baadke

Actor and director Leonard Nimoy was just four days younger than his friend and Star Trek co-star, William Shatner.

Leonard Simon Nimoy was born March 26, 1931, in Boston, Mass. His interest in acting grew while he was still in school, and he studied drama at Boston College.

After moving to Los Angeles, Nimoy landed occasional film and television roles, and in the 1960s he began appearing more frequently in TV guest spots, acting in episodes of Bonanza, Rawhide, The Virginian, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and other popular series.

He was hired to play science officer Spock when the original Star Trek television series debuted in 1966. He continued in the role throughout the three-year run of the landmark science fiction series and in several feature films, beginning with Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979, and including Star Trek in 2009, and Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013, where he and actor Zachary Quinto each portrayed a version of Spock from a different timeline.

After the initial Star Trek series ended in 1968, Nimoy accepted a lead role in the series Mission: Impossible, which he played for two seasons, and he also continued to appear in films, in television guest appearances, and on stage.

He directed two of the more highly regarded films featuring the original Star Trek cast  Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home  as well as other successful feature films.

Nimoy died Feb. 27, 2015, at age 83.

In his role as Spock, Nimoy appeared on stamps from several different countries. Canada honored the actor in 2016 on two nearly identical stamps in its Star Trek commemorative set: a $2.50 stamp (Scott 2912e) and a nondenominated (85) permanent-rate stamp (2920). Nimoy is also pictured as Spock on a pair of $2 stamps from the same set showing scenes from the Star Trek television series (2922).
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On Mar. 14, the US Treasury Department announced its decision to impose sanctions on Kuwaiti national Muhammad Hadi al-Anizi, saying he is a terrorist facilitator and financier based in Kuwait. Treasury stated that in mid- to late-2014, al-Anizi was appointed as al Qaedas representative in Syria by AQ senior leadership. As FDDs Long War Journal noted, al-Anizis appointment came shortly after the Feb. 2014 assassination of Abu Khalid al Suri, whom Treasury had also described as al Qaedas representative in Syria.

The Treasury Department stated that al-Anizi (pictured on the right*) has supported al Qaeda since at least 2007. But his ties to the international jihadist organization may go back even further.

Al-Anizi was taken prisoner in the Tora Bora Mountains of Afghanistan in late 2001. He was just 15 years old at the time. He was repatriated as a result of intensive efforts by the Kuwaiti government and, years later, joined al Qaedas branch in Syria.

Traveled through Iran to Afghanistan

Exactly one month after al Qaedas 9/11 attacks, al-Anizi departed for Afghanistan via Iran with his father Hadi, who had retired at the age of forty as a lieutenant colonel in the Kuwaiti security forces. Hadi, who had previously fought alongside American troops during the First Gulf War, supposedly told his wife that he and his son were just going to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage. According to the London-based Arabic news site Elaph, sources closely linked to Muhammad said that Hadi had also considered bringing his other sons to Afghanistan, but was dissuaded from doing so by prominent local Islamists.

Muhammads older brother Abdallah was sanctioned by the US government in 2016 on charges of working to fund al Qaeda in Syria and Pakistan. According to Treasury, Muhammad provided financial support to his brother Abdallah prior to 2014, which the latter used to fund terrorist operations.

According to Al Jazeera, Muhammad was the first Arab prisoner freed from Afghanistan after the 2001 American invasion. In an interview with Al Jazeera just after his 2002 repatriation, Muhammad credited several Kuwaiti officials with helping to secure his release, first thanking Sabah al Ahmed Al Sabah, who was Kuwaits foreign minister (FM) in 2001 and is now the countrys ruling amir.

On Dec. 23, 2001, Agence France-Presse (AFP) cited reports in a local paper saying a deputy to the foreign minister told Muhammads family that he had been moved to an American military base in Afghanistan. Two days later, FM Al Sabah said the government was cooperating with the US Embassy in Kuwait in an effort to bring Muhammad home, according to Kuwaits state news wire. Upon Muhammads Feb. 2002 return to his native country, he reportedly expressed his thanks to FM Al Sabah, as well as to the countrys then-ruler and crown prince, according to Elaph.

It seems quite clear that the Muhammad Hadi al-Anizi who was designated by Treasury this month is the same Muhammad Hadi al-Anizi who was captured in Afghanistan and repatriated to Kuwait. Both men were known to have a brother roughly two years older named Abdallah. Articles by Elaph in 2001 and 2002 listed his date of birth as May 27, 1986, only one day later than the birth date listed for him by the Treasury Department in 2017. Lastly, a recent article by the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai stated that the Kuwaiti individual designated by Treasury this month was previously held prisoner in Afghanistan by US and Afghan forces at the age of 15 before being repatriated to Kuwait.

What was Muhammad al-Anizi doing in Tora Bora?

Muhammad told Al Jazeera that he was captured in Tora Bora, a mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden made his headquarters. Muhammad added that he was injured and his father killed by an American helicopter strike during the US-backed assault on the area by Northern Alliance forces, who took him prisoner.

Muhammads explanation for how he ended up in Tora Bora was somewhat puzzling. He claimed to Al Jazeera that he and his father traveled to Kabul to provide relief and assistance, but when the city fell they departed for Jalalabad because somebody told them that was where all the other Arabs and Taliban members were going. He stated that after Jalalabad fell to the Northern Alliance, the two of them fled to Tora Bora, since there was no place for us to go and they hoped to cross the border into Pakistan.

Others attribute a more violent motive to Muhammad and his fathers activities in Afghanistan. Kuwaits state news wire reported in late 2001 and early 2002 that Hadi died in the American strikes against al Qaeda positions and that Muhammad was arrested after fighting side-by-side with al Qaeda fighters. Yaroslav Trofimov of the Wall Street Journal, who interviewed Muhammads uncles and brother Abdallah, wrote in Dec. 2001 that the assertions they went to Afghanistan to provide relief instead of joining Osama bin Laden were highly unlikely considering the circumstances of Muhammads capture in Tora Bora.

That same month, Elaph reported that sources closely linked to Muhammad said his father had escorted him there to fight in the ranks of al Qaeda. AFP also cited a local paper that said sources claimed Hadi and his son had gone to Afghanistan to join jihad (holy war) against the United States.

Trofimov also noted that relatives of Muhammad had placed a quarter-page ad on the back of a local newspaper to declare that family members joyfully announce to the Islamic nation the news about the martyrdom of their mujahed, hero Hadi al Enezi, who died in the holy month of Ramadan while supporting the weak and in defense of the faith and Islam in Afghanistan.

Regardless, in early 2002, a spokesperson for Afghanistans foreign ministry announced that Muhammad, a minor, would be released due to humanitarian considerations and his lack of involvement in any terrorist acts. He was flown home in Feb. 2002 on a Kuwaiti military aircraft, according to the Associated Press. After interviewing Muhammad in his home country, AFP reported that he did not think he would be prosecuted in Kuwait, although he would spend the next two days being debriefed by authorities.

An early member of al Qaedas arm in Syria

Several weeks after al Qaedas Nusra Front announced its formation in Jan. 2012, the Egyptian newspaper al-Masry al-Youm cited jihadist message boards as saying that an Abu Hudhayfa al-Kuwaiti was among the first foreign jihadists to reach Syria since the start of that countrys civil war. According to the Treasury Department, Abu Hudhayfa al-Kuwaiti is one of Muhammad al-Anizis aliases.

Treasury also reports that in late 2015 Muhammad sought assistance from AQ financier and US and UN-designated terrorist Sad al-Kabi to facilitate the travel of AQ-associated individuals. The timing of this reported activity would be somewhat unsettling, since Qatar had supposedly shut down al-Kabis activities the previous year. There is no indication that Qatar ever arrested al-Kabi or charged him with a crime related to terror finance, despite the international sanctions against him.

It remains to be seen whether Kuwaiti authorities will take effective and visible action against Muhammad al-Anizi since the Treasury Departments declaration that he funded al Qaeda and was appointed as al Qaedas representative in Syria by its senior leadership. The Kuwaiti paper al-Rai reported that sources close to Muhammad emphasized he would take legal measures to refute his designation by Washington, which they called unfounded.

Kuwait was described in 2014 as the epicenter of fundraising for terrorist groups in Syria and a permissive jurisdiction for terror finance by Treasurys then-Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen. Just last month, Treasurys former Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Daniel Glaser revealed that designated terror financiers are still operating openly and notoriously in both Qatar and Kuwait.

*This photo of Muhammad al-Anizi from 2002 was published by Al Jazeera in 2005.

Note: Mr. Weinberg is the author of a recent monograph on Qatars negligence toward funders of al Qaedas powerful branch in Syria.

David Andrew Weinberg is the Anti-Defamation Leagues Washington Director for International Affairs.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
The US military confirmed that it killed Qari Yasin, the al Qaeda commander who was targeted in an airstrike in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on March 19. Yasin had decades of experience with jihadist factions operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the US military said he was responsible for the deaths of two US Marines in the Sept. 2008 suicide assault on the Islamabad Marriott Hotel.

Yasins death was first reported on March 21. The Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan announced the martyrdom of Yasin one day later, and described him as a close assistant and a trainer of Mujahideen. [For a profile of Yasin, see FDDs Long War Journal Journal report, Al Qaeda commander believed to be killed in US airstrike.]

The US military described Yasin as a well-known al Qaeda terrorist leader responsible for the deaths of dozens of innocent victims, including two American service members who had ties to Tehrik-e Taliban [Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan] and had plotted multiple al Qaeda terror attacks 

The US military also confirmed that Yasin was killed on March 19 in a counter-terrorism airstrike in Paktika province. According to reports from the region, Yasin was killed in the district of Barmal, which is a known safe haven for al Qaeda and a host of jihadist groups in the region.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
Lifestyle / Travel

An incredibly diverse country, Chile is a bucket-list worthy destination. Home to the driest desert and the most beautiful beaches, this country is a must to visit

Mar 26, 2017 | By AFP Relaxnews

Chile is a fast rising travel destination, with visitors to Chile up from 26% in 2016 to 5.64 million. European travelers, in particular  with Italians leading the way (+24%)  are boosting tourism to the country. From the various volcanoes scattered across this South American country  which stretches more than 2,600 miles (4,000km) from north to south  to the arid Atacama desert and its salty scenery, Chile promises stunning natural scenery and unforgettable travel experiences.

Mysterious Easter Island

More than 2,000 miles (3,000km) off the Chilean coast, one of the worlds most remote inhabited islands intrigues travellers with its mysterious stone statues. Whether arriving on Easter Island by plane from Santiago or by boat, visitors are curious to find out how these monumental statues, known as moai, ended up on this isolated island. With a total area of just 63.2 square miles (163 square kilometers) the island can be easily explored by scooter, for example. It has a selection of hotels, most of which require a comfortable budget, but lower-cost campsites are also available.

Sunset at the Salar dAtacama

Starting from San Pedro de Atacama, adventurers can enjoy a day filled with amazing sights as they head off to discover one of Chiles most iconic natural attractions. This salt flat, which is one of the worlds largest sources of lithium, is at its most stunning at sunset. The landscape seems unreal and otherworldly, with salty deposits that look almost like snow. Pink flamingoes are the star attraction, often seen strolling around the lagoon.

Climbing the Villarrica volcano

Look out for organised hiking and trekking trips to the summit of one of Chiles most active volcanoes, rising to an altitude of 2,847 meters (9,341 feet). Accompanied by a professional guide, travellers can get an up-close look at the volcanic crater. The summit is reached by ski lift or on cross-country skis. In winter, its possible to descend by snowboard or sledge. Once at the summit, visitors are rewarded with incredible views, looking out over the regions lakes and volcanoes.

Chilean wine tasting in the Colchagua Valley

The Colchagua Valley is a great place to combine wine tasting with a scenic excursion. Chilean wine is recognised for its quality all around the world, and the Colchagua Valley  a two-hour drive from the capital, Santiago  is a perfect place to sample the countys delights. Day trips take visitors around the regions cellars, sampling its renowned cabernet sauvignon.

Experience the El Tatio geyser field

San Pedro de Atacama, which shares its name with the famous Chilean desert, is also the starting point for excursions to another of Chiles sensational natural sights: its geysers. In general, tourists arrive before sunrise to admire the columns of steam rising from the geysers in the cool morning air. The steam plumes then disappear as the air warms up. Visitors can even take a dip in a thermal pool of hot geyser water.
The great Gold Rush Music Festival returns to the township of Waihi, with the first nuggets of gold dropping for the highly anticipated return of the 2023 festival.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2017 > Remembering that Dalit Scholar........

by Binoy Viswam

When I met Muthukrishnans father, he was sitting on a concrete bench in front of the mortuary at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). His eyes were manifesting the mental agony which he was going through. That is natural for a father who has lost his son at an unexpected moment. His name is Jeevanantham. Notwithstanding his immense sorrow he told me about his son and his three sisters. With his small earnings from the work as a watchman in a private establishment, he was keen to educate all his children. He knew the importance of being educated, as he himself was denied that opportunity because of his social backwardness. As a proud father he told me: All my children were good at studies and Muthukrishnan was the best among them.

For Muthukrishnan, the JNU was a dream. Thats why after completing his studies from the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) he pursued his passion for the JNU. He was a close friend of Rohith Vemula while studying in the HCU and he was actively involved in the movement of Dalit students against the suspension of Rohith. He got his admission after repeatedly appearing in entrance tests for five times. This shows what the JNU was for Muthukrishnan! In the JNU also he continued his political activities as part of the Justice for Vemula movement. In his dream campus, the JNU, nobody knows exactly what happened to him. On the day of Holi in the evening he was found hanging in a friends house at Munirka, near the campus. A close friend of him who was with him during the breakfast told me that he was normal and visibly happy at that time. Muthukrishnan even imitated Rajnikanth, the Tamil film hero, and uttered some of his dialogues in a lighter mood. He was an ardent admirer of Rajnikanth and liked to be referred as Rajini krish in his blog and face book. It is after that he went to his friend, who happens to be a Korean national, for lunch.

What led to the sad demise of Muthukrishnan is not known to anybody. The cause of death can be revealed only through a fool-proof, comprehensive and impartial investigation. His father has filed a complaint with the police and has demanded a CBI enquiry. The activists of BAPSA, the students organisation which he was closely associated with, AISF, SFI, AISA and the JNUSU office-bearers whom I met all support this demand. The students and teachers, who stood in scattered groups in front of the mortuary, reflected the face of present-day JNU. The mystery around the missing student, Najeeb, still continues. The campus is going on asking: Where is Najeeb? The administration and the government have no answer.

The JNU, the prestigious centre of learning in the country, had been witness to turbulent times in February 2016. The Sangh Parivars designs to strangle and isolate the JNU in the name of nationalism imposed inexplicable hardships for the students and teachers of the JNU. Kanhaiya Kumar, the then JNUSU President and leader of the AISF, was continuously hounded by the Parivar. In pursuit of their pseudo-nationalism the RSS unleashed a severe attack on the inquisitive nature of the JNU. They redefined patriotism to suit their fascist ideology, and freedom of speech and expression were shackled in the campus. The presence of Left-minded students and teachers, according to the RSS, was a danger to be dealt with. The RSS and ABVP are always reluctant to cope up with the changed times which opened the way for SC/ST and OBC students to the campus.

The tone of the Sangh ideology is to treat the students from socially backward sections as aliens. When this contradiction aggravated in the Hyderabad Central University, Rohith Vemula was forced to end his life. It is the ABVP along with two Central Ministers that caused the suspension of Rohith Vemula from the campus. Tortured by such humiliating experiences, Vemula committed suicide. It was legitimately called an institutional murder.

Vemulas tragic experience speaks about the plight of the students from the backward sections in high places of education. From those lessons the democratic student movement of the country shaped their demand for the Rohith Vemula Act. Such an Act is being envisaged for guaranteeing a decent and humane atmosphere for the socially backward students to continue their studies with dignity in campuses.

The truth behind the death of Muthukrishnan is yet to come. Democratic forces all over the country would naturally urge the CBI enquiry to be impartial and effective. The academic community, in and outside the campus, expects the cause of the young scholars death to be unveiled at the earliest. Jeevanantham and his family have lost their son who was their hope for the future. Radhika Vemula, the mother of Rohith Vemula, also faced a similar situation. These children who came through the life of deprivation had nurtured great dreams to become scientists, historians and intellectuals of excellence. But in the places of wisdom and learning which our universities are supposed to be, their serene dreams were met with hurdles and suppression. Why is it so?

The influence of social relations entangled with caste-based conflicts is baring the fangs in our campuses too. This challenge has to be addressed seriously. The recent modification enforced by the authorities for M.Phil, Ph.D enrolment has been widely criticised by the student community. Students from socially oppressed sections feel that this is a move to keep them away from research and higher studies. Hence they look at it with anguish and apprehension. The sad end of Muthukrishnans life underlines the necessity for having a relook into this aspect of the problem.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in recent days never spared an opportunity to talk about equal rights of the oppressed and the poor. During the election campaign in UP in his own rhetorical style Modi repeated his commitment to the Dalit, Shoshith, Vanchith and Peedith samaj. Now, once the elections are over he is sure to forget that commitment. Muthukrishnan, the enthusiastic Dalit scholar who wanted to embrace a decent life with equality and freedom, couldnt realise his dreams. The social reality and the caste-class relations are structured in such a way that the hard and fast rules deny equality of opportunity for those in the lowest strata of society. Without restructuring the rules and regulations, the dreams of the poor like Muthukrishnan can never be realised. The progressive democratic forces are well aware of this fact.

The Left movement in the country looks upon the Dalit awakening as a positive and promising development of our times. With an open mind the Left looks forward to a meaningful dialogue with the newly emerging movements among the Dalits and other deprived sections. The Left parties consider themselves to be the natural allies and real comrades-in-arms of the Dalit, Shoshit, Vanchit and Peedith.

The author, a former Minister of Forests and Housing in the erstwhile LDF Government in Kerala, is a member of the National Executive of the CPI.
New Delhi: In a new petition to the Supreme Court, former state police chief T.P Senkumar said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had once referred to him as a political enemy in the Legislative Assembly.

His new petition came after the state maintained to the court that Senkumar is not a political enemy and that there is no political vendetta against him.

Senkumar added that he was removed from the top post on May 27 last year citing the publics loss of faith in the police force. He also said there was no lapse of duty in the Jisha and Puttingal cases as this government has claimed. The SC will hear the case again on Monday.
Chennai: Tamil superstar Rajnikanth cancelled his scheduled Sri Lanka trip to inaugurate a housing scheme for the Tamils in Jaffna following protests by several Tamil organisations.

Laika Productions, the producers of his current film 2.0, had invited him for the event on Apr 9. But organisations like Viduthalai Chiruthalai Kachi and Thamizhaka Vazhvirumai Kachi protested his going and the actor cancelled the trip.
Thiruvananthapuram: The police high-tech cell has directed all Facebook troll groups not to release trolls on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The high-tech cell has also warned that if their order is not heeded, the trollers would be booked under the IT Act.

Last day, government employees were banned from expressing their opinions on social media about the government policies and actions.

The social media has reacted to this police order and new trolls have been released challenging the police and the CM to take action against them.




WhatsApp must not be 'place for terrorists to hide'

26 March 2017BBC NewsThere must be "no place for terrorists to hide" and intelligence services must have access to encrypted messaging services, the Home Secretary has said.It comes after it emerged that Khalid Masood was reportedly on the messaging app WhatsApp two minutes before an attack in Westminster in which he killed four people.Police are unable to read his messages.But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said there was a balance between the "right to know" and "the right to privacy".Amber Rudd said she would be asking tech firms to "work with us" when she meets with them this week.Speaking to BBC One's Andrew Marr programme this morning, Ms Rudd said: "We need to make sure our intelligence services have the ability to get into situations like encrypted WhatsApp."Encryption is a way of scrambling computer data so it can only be read by the people you want to see it.All messages sent on WhatsApp have end-to-end encryption This means messages are unreadable if they are intercepted by anyone, including law enforcement.The Facebook-owned company, which has a billion users worldwide, has said protecting private communication was one of its "core beliefs".Asked if there was an issue about giving the security services more powers to hack in to messaging services like WhatsApp, Mr Corbyn told ITV's Peston on Sunday they already had "huge powers" of investigation.But writing in The Sunday Telegraph , the Home Secretary said she was asking companies like Google, Twitter and Facebook to be more "proactive" in tackling extremism. In The Sunday Times , Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also called for internet companies to develop technology to detect and remove extreme material.The calls come after Wednesday's terror attack when attacker Masood ran down pedestrians and fatally a stabbed police officer who was guarding the Houses of Parliament.In total five people died - including the attacker who was shot by police - and 50 others were injured, two seriously.On Saturday the Metropolitan Police said they believed Masood acted alone. But they added they were also "determined" to find out whether he had been inspired by terrorist propaganda.Ms Rudd said: "Each attack confirms again the role that the internet is playing in serving as a conduit, inciting and inspiring violence, and spreading extremist ideology of all kinds."We need the help of social media companies, the Googles, the Twitters, the Facebooks of this world."And the smaller ones, too: platforms such as Telegram, Wordpress and Justpaste.it."We need them to take a more proactive and leading role in tackling the terrorist abuse of their platforms."We need them to develop further technology solutions."Mr Johnson attacked internet giants for their "disgusting" failure to remove extremist material.He said: "They are not acting when they are tipped off."Evil flourishes when good men do nothing - and that's what's happening here."They are putting up adverts next to it."Earlier this month, Google's European boss apologised after adverts from major firms and government agencies appeared next to extremist content on its YouTube site.Matthew Brittin promised to review the firm's policies and strengthen enforcement.Marks and Spencer and Audi were among the companies that pulled their online adverts over the issue.
Anybody traveling in the vicinity of 16th and Broad streets has likely noticed some fairly substantial changes.

While the northbound traffic pole and lights are fully intact, where the southbound pole and traffic lights used to reside now sits empty.

Following a traffic accident more than two weeks ago on the stretch of road that turns into U.S. Highway 77 north and south, the southbound light pole and mast arm were damaged beyond repair, said Public Works Director Dave Goedeken.

Structurally, it (the accident) broke the pole and the base of that pole, Goedeken said during a Friday phone interview with the Tribune. So now if you are traveling southbound, you notice that the pole and the mast arm that would have controlled that southbound traffic is gone.

Following the accident, the Fremont Streets Department and the Department of Utilities joined Nebraska state maintenance workers with assessing the damage. Several tests were conducted to see if the integrity of the pole was still intact, and it ultimately was determined that it was unsafe to remain at the intersection of 16th and Broad streets.

Goedeken said that following the removal of the pole, northbound traffic on Broad street now has a flashing yellow light and east and westbound traffic have a blinking red light. In addition, stop signs were erected at the east and west intersections of 16th and Broad streets and a yellow sign was installed below the stop signs reading cross traffic does not stop.

Sometimes people pull up to a stop sign and they think all directions are stopping, so we have those signs telling people that north and southbound traffic doesnt have to stop, Goedeken said.

Goedeken said that his office and other city offices have fielded phone calls inquiring about what is happening with the intersection. Currently, Goedeken said that a contractor has been awarded the bid, and soon, a temporary, fully-functioning light system will be installed.

There will be a power pole on either side of the road and then they will string cable from one side of the road to the other and hang the signal heads from that cable, he said.

Replacing the actual light pole and mast arm take time  theres a high demand for them, it takes time to get the right size arm and pole and many orders are in front of Fremonts, Goedeken said.

And while the temporary solution isnt perfect, its a step in the right direction.

This way we at least have the signal functioning, Goedeken said.
AVON One person was killed and at least five others were injured in a multiple car crash on Harrison Blvd. in Avon just after 10 p.m. Saturday night.

Avon police told the Boston Globe that four or five cars were involved and five people were transported. One person was ejected from his or her car and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police were working at the crash scene on Harrison Blvd. between West Main and Pond streets, and have yet to determine how the crash happened. They say the investigation is on-going.
A 20-year-old Brookline man died Sunday morning after a vehicle went airborne on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Boston and struck the tunnel ceiling underneath Back Bay.

Troopers from the Massachusetts State Police Tunnels barracks were called to a single-vehicle crash on the Massachusetts Turnpike on Exit 22. The driver died at the scene.

A preliminary investigation by Trooper Eric Papkee indicates a 2013 Audi A8 was heading eastbound when the Audi went airborne and struck the tunnel ceiling. Wires and cables were ripped down during the accident.

State Police said a female passenger inside the Audi was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
ENFIELD, CONN. - Blitzkrieg! Pro Wrestling brought non-stop action and fans to Enrico Fermi High School for the Ruby Soho-Elimination Rules show in Enfield on Saturday evening.

The main event was headlined by former WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes, who is now known as The American Nightmare- Cody. Rhodes comes from a legendary wrestling family. His father was The American Dream Dusty Rhodes and his brother is longtime WWE superstar Golddust.

He was himself with the WWE for a decade before asking for and being granted his release by the company last year. Rhodes was reportedly unhappy with the creative development of his character in the WWE.

He now wrestles primarily in independent venues around the world, and also gained some renown as an actor with a recurring role on the WB show "Arrow."

The evening started with a meet-and-greet where fans could mingle with their favorite wrestling stars.

In the main event, The American Nightmare-Cody took on Donovan Dijak. After being thrown through a table and hit by chairs, Cody was defeated by Dijak.

Other matches included:

Former WWE Superstar Tony Atlas defeated Juan Francisco De Coronado.

The Breakfast Club defeated Batiri, The Throwbacks, and the East Coast Bastard Crew.

Isaiah Rex defeated his brother Cecil.

Sklya defeated Penelope Ford in the only female match of the evening.

The Blitzkreig Bedlam Championship Triple threat match featured current champion Flex Rumblecrunch vs Sasha Jenkins vs Hammer Tunis. Jenkins emerged the victor.

Chris Dickinson defeated Missile Assault Man.

The 19th Hole was victorious in the 8man tag team match.

Founded in the summer of 2015, Blitzkrieg! Pro, (formerly known as Us Versus Them Wrestling) is an independent professional wrestling company based out Enfield Connecticut.

For more information about Blitzkrieg! Pro wrestling, visit their

or official

.

Below, check out photos from Blitzkrieg! Pro Wresting's January show in Enfield.

Staff writer Patrick Johnson contributed to this report.
Nightclub Shooting Cincinnati

A coroner's unit pulls away as police operate at a crime scene outside the Cameo club after a fatal shooting, Sunday, March 26, 2017, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

(AP Photo | John Minchillo)

The Sunday morning shooting inside a Cincinnati, Ohio nightclub started when two groups of men got into a dispute and gunfire then erupted.

The shooting inside the Cameo Night Club left a 27-year-old man dead and 15 others injured. Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said during a Sunday press conference that one person is in "extremely critical condition" and there are several other victims with serious injuries.

"We believe that there were more than one shooter," the chief said.

The man who was killed has been identified as Obryan Spikes.

Some of the victims received minor injuries and were released or were expected to be released, the chief said. The shooter or shooters involved in the incident have not been caught as of Sunday morning.

Calls for shots inside the crowded club came in around 1:30 a.m. Eliot said shots were fired from different shooters as the dispute escalated. The club has a history of gun violence including a shooting inside the club on New Year's Day in 2015 and a shooting in the parking lot in September 2015, according to officials in Cincinnati.

"We recognize the horrific nature of this incident. I have full confidence in our police professionals who are devoting all the necessary resources toward working this case," Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black said in a statement. "I want to recognize all of our first responders who answered the call last night and handled a very difficult situation extremely well. As our assessment and investigation continues we will continue to share information as soon as we are able."

Black said in his statement that the dispute is believed to have started between the groups earlier in the day, but Isaac said police officials could not confirm the information.

The club hires off-duty police to check the parking lot area, but the club handles security inside, police said. The club uses wands and pat-downs to check patrons for firearms, but people were able to bring the weapons inside the bar, Isaac said.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said the mass shooting was not a terrorist act, but victims were still terrorized by gun violence. People were going to the club to have a good time and ended up being shot, he said.

"This is totally unacceptable," the mayor said.
Historically there hasnt been much seed stage venture capital here  in fact, for decades there wasnt any. As a state, we had to build our own. And thats what we did.

by Scott Meacham

Full Story: http://newsok.com/oklahomas-model-for-developing-venture-capital-is-working/article/5542379
No laws were broken when Rep. Rob Nosse failed to mention his employer is the main backer of a bill he shepherded through the state House this month, according to the Legislatures top lawyer.

That lawmakers can keep silent about their employers ties to legislation or financial windfalls they or their families might reap and still be in the clear has some good government advocates questioning if state law does enough to safeguard against abuses of power.

By Gordon R. Friedman

[email protected]

Full Story: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/03/lax_conflicts_of_interest_rule.html
We all know him as an actor, producer, politician and the ultimate muscle man of his time. His physique has given wet dreams to many women and despite which year you were born in, The Terminator or Commando are few of those movies that everyone still identifies with. In fact, people also know him for his stint as host on NBCs hit reality show The Apprentice. While, he has donned several hats and played many roles in his life, there is one role which is comparatively lesser known  as a philanthropist. In fact, he has been involved with the Special Olympics for several years now.

 Twitter

Arnolds social media presence is no joke and people who follow him closely would know that most of his posts primarily take a dig at President Donald Trump. However, this time he took a break from his feud with Trump, to shut down a hate-mongering internet troll who insulted the sportspersons of Special Olympics. Arnold recently posted a video on Facebook with the winners at the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games, held in Austria.

Now while everyone was commending Arnold and the players, there was one distasteful-attention-seeking comment by a random troll which turned the post sour. He called the sportspersons retards. While he must be having a great time posting such ridiculous comments, Arnie made sure that he teaches the troll a lesson he will never forget in his life.

 Facebook

We are sure now that person will know that Arnold isnt just the Muscle Man, he is a man of words who cant stand anyone get insulted. Take notes guys; Arnies epic reply might just turn out to be your ultimate resource material for shutting down the haters, like a true boss. Although, we are in awe of Arnold and his fitting reply, we would have taken our hats off in respect had he ended the post with  Hasta la Vista, Baby!
The Expedia group has released 2016 full-year data revealing the trends in hotel demand from international visitors to Thailand last year. Expedia revealed top 10 international markets for Thailand and top 5 destinations in Thailand.

Understanding the travel patterns of these visitors will assist Thai hoteliers to better target and capture incremental demand throughout the year by leveraging on the groups international reach.

2016 proved to be a solid year for Expedia hotel partners in Thailand with all top ten international markets gaining double digit growth. This, coupled with the current initiatives from the Tourism Authority of Thailand to boost Thailand as a preferred destination [1], 2017 looks to be another promising year for Thai hotels.

Top 5 destinations most popular with travelers who booked via Expedia group sites (2016) 1 Bangkok +30% year-on year growth 2 Phuket +20% year-on year growth 3 Pattaya +40% year-on year growth 4 Koh Samui +10% year-on year growth 5 Chiang Mai +20% year-on year growth

Expedia is first and foremost a technology company operating in the travel sector. It analyses vast amounts of data from a diverse range of travellers from more than 75 countries in 35 languages, with more than 600 million site visits per month. It shares deep insights about traveller behaviour that can help our Thai hotel partners to optimise revenue by knowing when and where to target the right travellers at the right time with the right offer to help boost incremental demand, said Pimpawee Nopakitgumjorn, director of market management at Expedia group.

Key traveller insights from the groups top five international markets:

United States

US travel was consistently high throughout the entire year, providing a steady flow of valuable demand to hoteliers. Demand did spike slightly in November and December and this can be partly attributed to an array of public holidays  such as Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas  which provided Americans the ability to take advantage of calendar holidays to maximise their annual leave.

Although US visitors have the shortest booking window amongst the top five markets, they generate the highest Average Daily Rate in that 30 days booking window.

About 75% of room night stays by US travelers are for 3-4 star properties in Thailand.

While most Americans visited Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai, destinations such as Mae Hong Son (+180%), Koh Lipe (+170%) and Rayong (+90%) are gaining popularity with significant growth in year-on-year demand.

Hong Kong

Amongst the top 10 international markets, Thailand saw the highest growth from Hong Kong travellers, up by 1.5 times.

Hong Kong proved to be the most valuable market, generating the highest Average Daily Rate amongst all international travellers.

Visitors from Hong Kong peaked from June  September, which coincided with their summer break.

While top destinations included expected cities like Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya, Hong Kong travellers are showing increasing interest in Krabi with a year-on-year growth of over 35%.

Bolstered by the frequency of low cost carriers in the region, Hong Kong showed the largest year-on-year rise in package bookings at 80% growth (as compared to the top ten international markets into Thailand). Expedias dynamic packages are created by combining multiple products together like air, car and hotel, allowing travellers to save money. For Expedias hotel partners in Thailand, package bookings bring significant value. On average, Thai package bookings generate:

1.5 times longer length of stay

A booking window 1.7 times longer

More than 5% increase in Average Daily Rate and

Results in 30% lower hotel cancellations when compared with standalone hotel bookings generated by the group.

Japan

Hotel partners will be pleased to hear that Average Daily Rates paid by Japanese travellers was up last year.

More Japanese travellers tend to visit Thailand during their summer break in the months of July  August as well as December.

Similar to Hong Kong, the top three destinations loved by Japanese travellers were Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya.

UK and Australia

British travel to the Land of Smiles starts high in November and December. January  March were also peak months for them as they visit Thailand in search of warmer weather.

For the Australians, a large majority of them visit Thailand during the school holidays in December and January. March, July and October were also favourite months for them to visit.

Australia and UK travellers demonstrate similar traits when it comes to booking and staying at hotels in Thailand.

They like to be organised and secure their rooms well in advance, evident by their relatively longer booking window of over 1.5 months (about 50 days) as compared to other nationalities.

For standalone hotel bookings, a large majority of them (80%) book 3-4 star hotels.

Interestingly, when they make package bookings for Thailand on Expedia group sites, they are more likely to upgrade to 4-5 star hotels.

While the top three destinations gaining popularity with Australians are Trat (80% year-on year), Hua Hin (60%) and Pattaya (50%), the British travellers are showing rising interest in visiting Koh Lipe (140% year-on year), Rayong (100%), Kanchanaburi (90%).

Pimpawees advice to hoteliers, Dont just fill your hotel  fill it with the most valuable travellers. International visitors stay longer, book further in advance and are less likely to cancel. Today, they are more price sensitive than ever before. Diversifying your distribution strategy might give you a bigger slice of the international pie, better base inventory and higher Average Daily Rate.

In addition, Pimpawee offers the following tips for hotels to get the most from international travelers:
Reflections FROM MOTUS: THE MIRROR OF THE UNITED STATES
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With a due date fast approaching and having already postponed their maternity photo shoot a couple of times because of rain, Texas couple Jon and Brittany Barton knew they couldn't wait to take their photos any longer  good thing because the baby was born nine days after the session.

Their photographer, Elaine Baca of Lane B Photography knew they wanted an outdoor session but the recent rain had made everything a muddy, boggy mess. Barton suggested an indoor shoot, but Baca knew she wouldn't really love the photos.

"She asked me what I thought about indoor locations, but they are outdoorsy people so I knew that wasn't really what she wanted," said Baca. "Then I suggested something a little unconventional."

YOU NAMED YOUR BABY WHAT? These are the most recent trends in celebrity baby names

Instead of running from the weather, Baca suggested they embrace it.

"They have a huge backyard which backs up to a field and I knew it had lots of muddy puddles, so I asked her what she thought about playing in the rain and ending with a mud fight," Baca said. "I don't think she even hesitated, she said she trusted my vision and wanted to go for it!"

The spirit and joy Baca captured in the photos were far better than any posed indoor shoot could have been, and even though they were all covered in mud from head to toe by the end of the session, the family now has a fun memory to look back on (and great photos to match).

Take a look through the gallery above to see photos from the Barton's endearing and fun maternity shoot.
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...
DETROIT -- A second backlog of more than 500 untested Detroit rape kits accumulated in the years after the stunning discovery of over 11,000 unprocessed evidence packages in 2009, according to prosecutors.

At least one sexual assault in 2011 might have been prevented, had Detroit police straightened out the process of testing rape kits within the first few years after the first backlog came to light.

But the problem persisted, and a suspected serial rapist whose DNA was collected in a 2010 rape kit wasn't arrested until January, nearly seven years later, and after he'd allegedly attacked another victim in 2011.

The accumulation of the second batch of untested kits was never publicly announced.

Even after a public outcry and outside intervention when 11,341 untested rape kits were discovered in a Detroit police warehouse in 2009, the second backlog of hundreds more kits sat untested for years, according to prosecutors.

Based on new data obtained by MLive from the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, at least 555 rape kits collected by Detroit police after 2009 continued to linger for unknown reasons before being sent to an out-of-state DNA lab for testing in 2015.

Out-of-state labs have been contracted in the years since the 2009 discovery to test the backlogged kits, but fresh kits are supposed to be sent to a Michigan State Police crime lab under the current procedure.

And a state law enacted in 2014 requires that police send rape kits for testing within 14 days of receiving them.

Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Maria Miller said out-of-state laboratory workers, while testing pre-2009 kits, found 555 rape more packages that were collected by Detroit police in 2010 and 2011, and sent for testing in 2015.

Anthony Thornton

The issue of rape kits continuing to go untested after 2009 wasn't announced by the Detroit Police Department, but was exposed -- possibly by accident -- by the Fair Michigan Justice Project, a partnership between the nonprofit LGBTQ advocacy group Fair Michigan and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy's office.

On Jan. 25, the Fair Michigan Justice Project issued a press release announcing the arrest of 46-year-old Anthony Thornton, a suspected serial rapist accused of participating in the gang rape of a homeless, lesbian woman in April 2010; and the kidnapping and rape of another Detroit woman on March 8, 2011.

Thornton is scheduled to stand trial May 15.

It's unknown whether there were more victims, but Thornton's DNA has been on file in the national Combined DNA Index System database, which is accessible to prosecutors and law enforcement, since 2006.

Had the rape kit submitted to Detroit police by the 2010 victim been tested in a timely manner, authorities might have been led to Thornton before the second rape occurred.

"How that happened or why that happened, you would have to ask the Detroit Police Department," Worthy told MLive.

Detroit Police Media Relations Director Michael Woody said that under current testing procedures, rape kits are "immediately sent to the (Michigan State Police lab) for testing."

The 555 post-2009 kits that inexplicably sat for years weren't sent directly to a Michigan crime lab, but instead, directly to out-of-state labs specifically handling the 2009 backlog.

"No," Woody said when asked if anyone has been or would be punished over the post-2009 backlog.

"The fact they were not being tested was a result of many different factors. It was not a matter of officers not willing or intentionally neglecting their duty."

Woody did not elaborate on the factors that led to the backlog and didn't respond to several requests for further comment.

The new backlog

Of the 555 rape kits sent for testing in 2015, 135 yielded DNA profiles that matched samples already on file in the national database, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

Another 420 kits had "negative test results," according to the prosecutor's office, meaning there wasn't adequate evidence to create a DNA profile.

Of the 135 cases with DNA profiles:

While Detroit police failed to immediately test rape kits for decades, it's unlikely it will happen again, said Kimberly Hurst, the executive director of Wayne County SAFE.

Wayne County SAFE is a nonprofit that administers all of the rape kits, also called sexual assault evidence kits, throughout the county before turning them over to law enforcement agencies for investigation.

Under a Michigan law passed in 2014, once a rape kit collection is conducted, police have 14 days to collect it and another 14 days to send it to the proper lab for analysis.

Hurst said Detroit police for the last two years have been part of a pilot program with UPS that allows her organization to track every rape kit requiring forensic testing and ensure the department is in compliance.

She said the group was "surprised and frustrated" when the 2009 backlog was discovered, and that procedures now in place and the culture among police in regard to handling rape cases "is much better."

A 551-page report commissioned by National Institute of Justice and released by Michigan State University in April 2015 looking at the 2009 Detroit rape kit debacle found that staff cuts and budget restraints led to investigators "cutting corners" and exerting "minimal effort" to solve sex crimes.

Often, that meant closing cases and shelving rape kits.

Police "expressed negative, victim-blaming beliefs about sexual assault victims," the report found. "Rape survivors were often assumed to be prostitutes and therefore what had happened to them was considered their own fault.

Full report

"Adolescents were assumed to be lying, trying to avoid getting into trouble by concocting a false story about being raped. Police said those who had been assaulted by friends and acquaintances "got what they got" because they chose to associate with the perpetrator."

The report found that "case after case" was dubbed "a deal gone bad" or "not really a rape" and closed.

It's not clear whether some of the same factors contributed to the 550-plus kit backlog discovered in 2015.

So far, nearly $17 million has been raised through government grants and private donations to test and investigate the pre-2009 rape kits, as well as to create a national testing protocol.

There are currently fewer than 1,000 remaining 2009 backlog kits to test, according to Margaret Tallet, chief community engagement officer for Enough SAID, the organization coordinating the effort.

Worthy said earlier this month that testing of the pre-2009 kits resulted in 78 convictions and the identification of 784 suspected serial rapists. Over 50 of the 784 are believed to have committed sex assaults 10 to 15 times each.

Worthy said the backlog problem isn't isolated to the Detroit Police Department and is "certainly a national issue." She estimates a national backlog near 400,000.

The Detroit police rape kit issue prompted other agencies across the state and nation to address backlog problems of their own.

Attorney Bill Schuette in January 2016 revealed 1,819 untested kits were located in police departments across Michigan's 82 counties, including 261 at the Flint Police Department; 261 at the Battle Creek Police Department; and 239 at the Grand Rapids Police Department.

This article has been corrected. The number of serial rapists believed to have committed 10 or more offenses was initially reported incorrectly.
FLINT, MI -- A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit over the potential of at-home water delivery in Flint.

But leaders at a special city council meeting weren't offering any details on what the settlement will ultimately mean for residents.

City council members voted 8-0 March 23 to accept a settlement after U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson in December 2016 appointed Paul Monicatti a "settlement master" at the request of an attorney for Gov. Rick Snyder.

Kerry Nelson, Flint City Council president, declined comment on the settlement details but said a court hearing is expected to take place soon after the Receivership Transition Advisory Board meets to vote on the settlement.

Councilman Scott Kincaid pointed out "this resolution has no financial impact to the city of Flint. The mediated agreement costs the taxpayers of the city of Flint nothing."

Councilwoman Jackie Poplar was absent for the vote.

Eugene Driker, Snyder's attorney, wrote to Lawson in December after the lawsuit was filed by several parties, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Concerned Pastors For Social Action, Natural Resources Defense Council and city residents.

"We believe that could well be a fruitful path to resolving the important and complex issues in this case," Driker's letter to Lawson says. "A representative from the executive office of the governor fully familiar with the Flint situation would participate in such a process in a good-faith effort to bring this case to a just and equitable conclusion."

The lawsuit has already resulted in an injunction that requires door-to-door delivery of bottled water in Flint, but attorneys for the state have said Michigan doesn't have the resources to begin door-to-door water delivery here.

Monicatti was given the authority to schedule settlement discussions, to decide who participates and choose where and how the discussions occur.

"The governor believes that mediation is the best way forward in this case and looks forward to quick resolution," said Anna Heaton, press secretary for Snyder, in a previous email to MLive-The Flint Journal.

Heaton has said all parties involved in the lawsuit have been prohibited by Lawson from discussing the subjects of mediation.

Resources were available from the state to begin mailing Flint residents clear and current information about the lead contamination of their water supply starting in early January 2017.

Local, state and federal officials have said the city's water is showing lower levels of lead, but they continue to advise against drinking it unfiltered.

The state agreed in February to provide water filters and replacement cartridges for three more years as lead-tainted pipes are replaced with millions of dollars in state and federal fund, but water credits for residents were discontinued.
OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- Two people were hospitalized after a vehicle mistakenly crossed their path and crashed both cars into a ditch Saturday night.

Wyoming resident Jana Zoogt, 35, was driving a Ford Taurus north on 32nd Avenue when she stopped at an intersection with Gooding Street in Chester Township. According to a release from the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office, Zoogt, accompanied by Chadwick Peterson, 30, proceeded through the intersection and into the path of another vehicle with two occupants.

Grand Rapids resident Mark Lindsey, 53, was unable to avoid the collision, striking Zoogt's vehicle on the passenger's side door. The impact sent the Taurus and Lindsey's vehicle, also containing 53-year-old Ronda Lindsey, into a ditch off the side of the roadway.

Zoogt later told police she thought the intersection was a four-way stop, however there is no stop sign for motorists traveling through the intersection on Gooding Street. She was cited for failure to yield.

Mark and Ronda Lindsey were hospitalized for injuries sustained in the crash. Police said as of Saturday evening, Mark remained in stable condition while Ronda's condition is unknown.

Police said neither had life-threatening injuries. The crash occured at 7:40 p.m. on March 25.

Peterson complained of pain at the scene but refused treatment. Zoogt was uninjured.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - For the ever-growing number of new craft brewers in Michigan, competition is fierce to land their bottle or can on a store shelf.

"It's becoming increasingly more competitive as we have grown the number of breweries in the state," said Rich O'Keefe, senior beer buyer at Meijer. "Today it's nearly impossible to bring in all craft brewers to every store in our locations."

In Michigan's "Beer City USA" -- Grand Rapids - the number of craft breweries has tripled since 2011. Not all of them distribute in stores, but many do.

"There are significantly more Michigan craft brewers, items by brewers and national craft brewers than other areas of the store - and all are vying for valuable positions," said Larry Pierce, executive vice president of merchandising and marketing for SpartanNash, about why the beer section is crowded.

SpartanNash's corporate-owned stores in Michigan include D&W, Family Fare, Forest Hills Foods, VG's and Valu Land.

That means buyers have to be extremely discerning when picking up new beers.

Now more than ever, buyers like O'Keefe are looking for an established demand for a new beer before putting it into a store. Meijer has 177 craft beers in its stores, 53 of which are from Michigan breweries.

"Especially in Michigan, we are seeing new breweries pop up all the time, and in an already competitive market, it's all about the demand from our store guests," Pierce said.

SpartanNash uses its craft beer experts to evaluate new brewers - and makes sure the brewery has the capacity to brew enough to distribute. Social media buzz is also important.

"We look at how well the brewer is doing in their existing neighborhood, and we listen for any buzz that is being generated by our customers in our stores and through social media," Pierce said. "We also look at scores from the beer rating entities like Untappd and Next Glass."

O'Keefe said he asks breweries to tell him what they're bringing to the table.

"One of the first questions I ask is, 'Why does a retailer need you in their store?'" O'Keefe said. "'What are you adding?'"

Meijer and SpartanNash both say they tailor the beer section at their stores to the local market - which leaves some room for a small local brewer to get into a store in their town. But the hyper-localization of beer is hard to manage, O'Keefe said.

"We have really focused on building a local orientation with our craft brewers and we continue to do that today - it's just become a point of saturation," O'Keefe said. "And it's a question of, what is the right brewer for our locations?"

But the beer-friendly culture in Michigan and the Midwest has outsiders looking to tap in - from national brands like Ballast Point Brewing Co., Kona Brewing Co., Alaskan Brewing Co. and Stone Brewing Co. to European beers too.

"I have received in the last two months more calls from European beer companies than in the last several years," O'Keefe said. "They want to get into the Midwest market."

Sales of Michigan craft beer make up about 34 percent of Meijer's beer business, O'Keefe said. At SpartanNash stores, that figure is about 20 percent, Pierce said.

To confront limited space, SpartanNash is planning to add cold beer space to 12 of its Michigan stores this year to expand its craft selection, Pierce said.

"It's important that the craft brewers of today and tomorrow have a strong plan on what their growth plan is for their brewery and in the state," O'Keefe said. "You can no longer expect that just because you're a local craft brewer that you're going to get into the store. You need to develop a plan to how to develop your brand in the market so the retailer sees the need."
ZEELAND, MI -- Herman Miller is signaling a commitment to grow its consumer market by speeding up the expansion of the company's chain of Design Within Reach Studios.

In the last quarter, Herman Miller unveiled locations in Portland, Oregon and Westport Connecticut. A 15,000-square-foot storefront will soon open in Atlanta. There are now 34 locations in the North America that sell high-end modern furnishings.

Herman Miller is open "opening new studios at a faster rate than in previous years," CEO Brian Walker told analysts March 23 during a call to discuss third quarter results.

The Zeeland furniture-maker reported profits fell 19 percent to $22.5 million, and revenue slipped 2 percent to $524.9 million.

As Herman Miller adds more stores, the company is creating more products to sell in them. In this fiscal year, the manufacturer launched over 100 new proprietary products designed to be sold through DWR and Herman Miller dealers.

"The expansion of our Design Within Reach real estate footprint continues to be a growth driver for the consumer business as well," Walker said.

He added that the company is making investments aimed at positioning the consumer business for long-term profitable growth.

The consumer business division reported sales in the quarter of $73 million, up 4 percent over last year, while new orders rose 13 percent.

DWR revenues for the quarter were up about 3 percent.

Also in the third quarter, Herman Miller reconfigured its executive team. Accompanying those changes were layoffs that will cost $2.7 million in severance and outplacement expenses, the company reported.

The realigned structure increases the company's agility by placing more decision-making autonomy into the business units, Walker said.
AJIT NAMBIAR Chairman and MD BPL Group at Dynamic House, Bangalore on 21st Feb 2017.

Forbes India

LifePhone+, a health and fitness monitoring device manufactured by BPL Medical Technologies, is just about the size and weight of a smartphone. Its uses range from monitoring cardiovascular health to recording blood sugar levels. A companion smartphone app, also built by the company, stores the medical records on the cloud, enabling a panel of doctors to keep round-the-clock watch on patients and arrange for medical aid if required.

The instrument is one of a carefully chosen, tightly integrated set of medical devices that Ajit Nambiar, chairman and managing director of BPL Ltd, is betting on to resurrect the glory of his family business, started by father TP Gopalan Nambiar, or TPG as he is popularly known.

Those old enough to have memories of life in the 1990s can quickly recall the brand name BPL. Most middle-class homes had at least one BPL consumer devicea television set, a stereo or a refrigeratorthat the company built in partnership with Japans Sanyo Electric.

Once among Indias largest consumer electronics players, BPL started life as a small supplier of precision panels to the armed forces in 1963 from Keralas Palakkad district. Over the next few decades, the group diversified into medical devices, consumer electronics and eventually telecom.

At its peak, in the late 90s, TPG presided over a group that garnered annual revenues of Rs 4,300 crore, owned 25 factories in India and abroad, and was selling over a million colour television sets every year, and even exporting to Europe.

In 1999, TPG passed on the baton to Ajit Nambiar, who took over as chairman and managing director of BPL Limited.

The deluge began in 2004 when an earthquake destroyed Sanyos semiconductor plant in Japan, severely crippling its business. The financial tremors were felt in India too, and the companys joint venture with BPL was wound up in 2007.

Read more stories from Forbes India.

Without its technology partner, BPL was left to fend for itself amid the onslaught of South Korean giants Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which had found their feet in India in its decade-and-a-half of economic liberalisation. Rapidly losing market share to foreign rivals, BPL was forced to sell off many of its factories.

My darkest hour was when dealers were asking for BPL products because there was still a demand for them, and we couldnt supply, says Nambiar.

But despite the troubles, some of the units within the business kept going, including an electronics components business, and a printed circuit board operation that remained modestly profitable.

Adding to these external shocks, a discord was brewing within the Nambiar household: A legal dispute between patriarch TPG and son-in-law Rajeev Chandrasekhar over the ownership of BPL Communications arose. The telecom unit was the brainchild of Chandrasekhar, who was widely seen as the force that built the BPL Mobile brand.

The matter was eventually settled out of court in 2005, with Chandrasekhar buying out TPGs stake (roughly 8 percent, according to media reports) in the telecom business. He sold the business to the Essar Group the same year for about $1.1 billion, and started the investment firm Jupiter Capital. (Chandrasekhar is currently also a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka.)

The BPL group is today a mere shadow of its former self: For FY2016, it posted a loss of Rs 8.44 crore on a standalone basis. For the quarter ended December 31, the company had a modest profit of Rs 20.25 lakh.

Nambiar is now trying to raise the flag of his family business once again, with the medical technology unit leading the charge. (Although Goldman Sachs owns a majority share in BPL Medical Technologies, it remains part of the BPL group.)

He is also shepherding a strategy that, he hopes, will see BPLs consumer goodswashing machines, refrigerators and TVsreturn to Indian homes. Thousands of BPLs new line of LED televisions were sold during ecommerce major Flipkarts annual Big Billion Day sale last October.

For this interview, the 53-year-old Nambiar seats himself in the companys modest conference room at Dynamic House in Bengaluru. The property serves as an office for the family members; BPLs corporate office, a swanky 80,000 square feet facility, is a 30-minute drive away.

Man at the helm: Sunil Khurana, CEO and managing director at BPL Medical Technologies

Image: Selvaprakash Lakshmanan for Forbes India

At Dynamic House, Nambiar is flanked by Sunil Khurana, CEO and managing director of BPL Medical Technologies, and Manmohan Ganesh, a BPL veteran who has worn many a hat at the company through thick and thin, and is currently CEO of PRO FX, BPLs high-end audio equipment unitone that is close to Nambiars heart. (The company also has units that manufacture lighting equipment, landline phones, devices for home surveillance and automation.)

Entering the conference room, you could almost miss a small assortment of photographs that capture some of the milestones in the companys history. In one of them, TPG is seen signing an agreement with one of the original owners of British Physical Laboratories, a British family by the name of Sheridan.

Born and raised in an agricultural village in Kerala, young TPG sailed to Britain, where he did odd jobs and managed to study in the 1950s. Armed with a specialisation in air conditioning and compressor technology, he went on to land a job with American Standard. The company sent him back to India to sell their large systems used in centralised air conditioning, and the first unit he sold was to Oberoi hotel in Delhi, Nambiar recalls about his father.

It wasnt long before TPG, now 88 and no longer involved in the day-to-day business, found the entrepreneurial opportunity he was always seeking. He started to manufacture panel meters for British Physical Laboratories and ended up acquiring their company. Thus was born BPL.

Like his father, Ajit Nambiar too studied abroad. After studying engineering at Boston University, he joined the family business in 1984. I was trying to do an MBA, but my dad said Id get a better education if I work at BPL he was probably worried Id settle in the US, Nambiar quips. He was initially sent to Japan for training at Sanyo so that he could bring their technology to BPL.

Meanwhile, TPG roped in his brother-in-law KPR Nambiar to lead the manufacturing part of the business from the Palakkad plant, while he oversaw the overall business from Bengaluru. KPR Nambiars two sons also had stints at BPLone as director of R&D and another in operationsbut they are no longer with BPL.

With a penchant for Japanese tie-ups, the Nambiars brought in technology from Fukuda Electric to start making ECG machines in 1967, and from Nihon Kohden to start making patient-monitoring systems in 1972, beginning the diversification into the medical equipment business.

The move towards consumer electronics came in 1982, when the Asian Games was hosted in Delhi, spurring a demand for television sets. This inspired TPG to venture into the manufacture of colour televisions, riding on the close partnership that BPL had fostered with Sanyo.

Consumer electronics was the companys milch cow till the turn of the century. But in the years leading up to 2007, when the Sanyo JV collapsed, competition from foreign players Samsung and LG intensified, and BPL started ceding market share.

Manufacturing electronics in India has always been a challenge, partly because of policy and tariff-related problems, says Rishikesha T Krishnan, director of Indian Institute of Management, Indore, and a professor of corporate strategy. Despite our large domestic market, we have not been able to create strong local brands that can hold their own against Korean big weights like LG or Samsung. Indian companies havent been able to take advantage of economic liberalisation to the extent they ought to have.

He points out that had things turned out differently, BPL could have been a major player even internationally.

Making new music: Manmohan Ganesh, CEO, PRO FX

Image: Selvaprakash Lakshmanan for Forbes India

Ironically, the technology that was once BPLs nemesis is now its best bet. Korean technologyfrom the special paper needed for printing ECG readings, to sophisticated imaging systemsis being used extensively in BPL Medical Technologies devices.

In 2013, Goldman Sachs, for about Rs 110 crore, acquired a 49 percent stake in BPL Medical Technologies, which was spun off into a separate entity within the group around 2012. Goldman Sachs currently owns close to two-thirds of the business. Khurana, 55, with close to three decades of experience in the field, mostly with GE Healthcare, was named CEO of the medical business around the same time, and in the last three years the unit has grown to a point where it is leading BPLs revival.

In September 2015, BPL Medical Technologies acquired Penlon, a maker of anaesthesia machines in Britain, getting access to products and an extensive network of potential overseas customers for BPLs future products, such as the LifePhone+. In India, the acquisition has made BPL a leader in anaesthesia machines.

Khurana has also led the companys partnerships with other technology specialists, such as Ambu in Denmark to make and sell video laryngoscopes, as well as consumables such as mannequins used in medical colleges. South Koreas Alpinion Medical Systems supplies the technology for the imaging systems.

Three years ago, the medical business did about Rs 70 crore in annual sales. In the current fiscal, it has crossed Rs 300 crore, says Khurana, projecting sales to rise to Rs 1,000 crore by 2021. He aspires to make the business the largest Indian medical equipment company, which will need an additional Rs 1,500 crore in sales.

An important part of the strategy to get there is a new consumer medical division taking shape, which will tap the large existing market for devices and consumables in hospitals. BPL wont go after all of those, but will selectively look to build market share in products that tie in with it the technology its building.

In addition to the sale of hi-tech medical devices like the LifePhone+, there is the cloud-based subscription revenue that it brings in, for which it has partnered with IT services provider Tech Mahindra.

There is a lot of innovation in it, and its made in Bengaluru, says Nambiar. Khurana adds: I think this [LifePhone+] is a product that is at least three to four years ahead of its time. He also points out: We are now visible everywhere, and visibility has its benefits. We showcase all our new technologies and products. People are looking at this cutting-edge technology coming into BPL. Showcasing the ability to manufacture and sell these products has a rub-off effect on the brand, and the overall corporate image of BPL.

With the medical technology business finding its groove, Nambiar has turned his attention to reviving the consumer electronics unit that currently sells only through Flipkart. If he is hoping the unit gets to do something similar to BPL Medical, he is strictly keeping those aspirations to himself. Nambiar is clear that the initial success of the companys very small range of televisions on Flipkart is just the beginning. However, he is planning to release smart televisions as well.

Our best sellers are still the 32-inch and 40-inch sets, but the smart technologies will be released soon, he says, not revealing any specifics. We have something up our sleeve that will make the smart smarter and the television experience better. The excitement, however well-contained, is palpable, and he cant resist adding: Its software related, and partly to do with enhancing the sound experience. There is a lot of engineering going on there, it should be coming out by the end of the year.

The business is still small. Its early days and its a crowded market, says PVG Menon, founder and CEO of Vann Consulting, a consultancy in the area of electronics and related government policy.

The customers who know the BPL brand are the wrong demographyhow many people who have already set up a home will buy any new products? And the younger lot does not know what BPL stands for. The challenge is going to be building the brand, says Menon, who has also served as president of the India Electronics & Semiconductor Association, an industry lobby. BPL doesnt have an issue with system design. The issue is going to be with building the brand.

And until the brand image is resurrected, sales wont climb. Among the categories of products that BPL sells on Flipkart, we are at 10 percent of their [television] business, says Nambiar. However, he is aware that although Flipkart has about a 55 percent share of the online retail segment, the total ecommerce sector in Indiadefined as products and services ordered via the internet, but excluding travel and event ticketingis only about 2.5 percent of the countrys total retail. That means, BPLs televisions have merely begun to get customer attention, compared with the 21 percent market it had in its heydays.

That said, Were catching up very fast. Weve gone from zero to where we are today very fast. And the plan is to double it and triple it, says Nambiar. Starting with one 32-inch television, BPL now has three more larger models that will soon be introduced. Washing machines are being made as well.

Through all the turmoil following the collapse of the Sanyo JV, right up to a couple of years ago when peopleespecially old-timers who had moved to other companiesstarted getting wind of a quiet revival, there has been one thing that has made an important difference, Nambiar says. We never stopped activity, we kept innovating; we never stopped.

A lot of financial re-engineering and re-grouping had to be endured. My team, or I, never stopped thinking of products and technology. We kept developing things hoping that one day  [they would hit the market]. Ganesh adds: We may have had to sell factories and so on, but we never got rid of R&D.

And then, there is tremendous loyalty from many old-timers, Ganesh adds. Last year, we had a get together people were coming on stage and saying, Im working somewhere else, but Ill come help you during weekends.

Maybe it is the same sense of belonging that keeps Nambiars sister Anju Chandrasekhar (49) still tied to the company. She remains a director on the board of BPL and continues to advise and support her brother, long after her fathers fall-out with her husband. Her children are not involved in BPL, neither is Nambiars daughter Shreya (23), who works for Ujjivan Financial Services.

Nambiar may have once fantasised about a longer stay in the US, but theres no mistaking the desire to do something with BPL that his father will be proud of: Even today, if you talk to my dad, hell say do something that people need in this country, he says. This natural inclination to serve is perhaps what keeps BPL going despite all the trials.

This article was originally published on Forbes India
India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gestures while giving his closing remarks during the "Advancing Asia: Investing for the Future" conference in New Delhi, India, March 13, 2016. REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee - RTX28WPP

Stating that an erroneous commercial decision of a public servant cannot always be seen as corrupt, Finance minister Arun Jaitley today said the amendments to the anti-graft law would protect the honest bureaucrats.

He said the current Prevention of Corruption Act was drafted in 1988 during the pre-liberalisation era in line with the erstwhile needs of the system.

But the minister said the fundamentals of the anti-graft law in the liberalisation era have to be changed, where public servants, bankers and politicians are involved in taking commercial decisions now.

"What subsequently appears to be an erroneous decision in the hindsight, is not necessarily a corrupt decision. That distinction between an erroneous decision and a corrupt decision is very thin in the 1988 law and therefore it needs to be restructured," Jaitley said at a Business Standard award function here this evening.

He said the amendments to the anti-graft law have been brought to Parliament and the select committee has suggested some marginal changes in its report.

"Once those amendments are brought in, even in accordance with the recommendation of the select committee, the public servants and those taking commercial decisions, including the bankers, would be sufficiently empowered without the fear of consequences in taking honest commercial decisions," he said.

Talking about the current state of banks, which are reeling under NPA pressure, Jaitley said the government and the RBI are working on a speedy resolution. NPAs have crossed 9.3 per cent or around Rs 9 trillion as of the December quarter.

"We have had a series of meetings. The government has taken some initiatives, Parliament has framed the laws, RBI has issued circulars (for NPA resolution).

"We believe some people are quite satisfied in exploiting the inability of the system and keep on defaulting. And, I think, this needs to end. Hopefully over the next few days you will be hearing from us a series of steps to negate that," the minister said.

Talking about the GST, he expressed confidence that the the biggest tax reform would be rolled out from July 1.
Bowing to pressure from pro-Tamil outfits, superstar Rajinikanth today cancelled his visit to Sri Lanka where he was scheduled to hand over to displaced ethnic Tamils the houses built by a foundation producing his movie.

The pro-Tamil outfits had cautioned the superstar from getting "involved" in the emotive ethnic issue.

The 66-year-old "Enthiran" actor said he took the decision after founders of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Vaiko and Thol Thirumavalavan respectively, and Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) leader T Velmurugan asked him to consider withdrawing from the programme.

In a statement, the actor said Vaiko had spoken to him over the phone on the issue, while Thirumavalavan had made a plea through the media and Velmurugan had sent across a message through a friend. "They placed before me various political reasons and kindly asked me not to participate in the programme. Although I could not wholeheartedly accept what they said, I avoid attending the function heeding their request," he said.

Rajinikanth was scheduled to hand over the homes built by Lyca Group's Gnanam Foundation for displaced Tamils in northern Jaffna on April 9-10. Lyca Productions, owned by Subashkaran Allirajah, is producing the actor's latest sci-fi movie "2.0", a sequel to his earlier "Enthiran".

In 2014 various Tamil outfits, including VCK and TVK, had opposed Lyca Productions' Tamil movie "Kaththi", alleging that Allirajah had close business ties with then Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is often criticised in Tamil Nadu for the death of civilian Tamils during the final battle against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009. Explaining the reason behind his earlier decision to take part in the programme, Rajinikanth said it was his long-time desire to "salute that brave soil."

"There was a long-time desire in me to set foot on that brave soil where lakhs of (Tamil) people gave their lives for the cause of their race. After fulfilling that, I was also eagerly waiting to meet the people and have an open talk with them," he said.

Further, he had planned to meet Sri Lankan President Maithiripala Sirisena to take up the emotive fishermen issue, the actor said. Apparently pained at the opposition to his Lanka visit, the actor said he was "not a politician, but an artiste" whose duty was to entertain people. He said if there were any future visits by him to the neighbouring country, it should not be politicised.

"If I get the privilege of witnessing that divine soil in the future by visiting there and entertaining the people, kindly do not politicise that visit," he said. Rajinikanth said he should not be stopped during such future visits, adding, he was "making the plea humbly and it was his right."

The actor said he was scheduled to hand over the keys of houses to beneficiaries along with British MP James Berry, Chief Minister of the Northern Province, CV Vigneswaran and others on April 9.

There was also a plan to give away 'Research Building Fund' for the Jaffna University, he said. The next day, he was supposed to participate in a sapling planting event, Rajinikanth said, adding, both events were scheduled at Vavuniya in Sri Lanka.

The popular actor said Allirajah had constructed 150 houses in memory of his mother Gnanambika. While Thirumavalavan had asked the actor not to "get involved" in the emotive ethnic issue, TVK leader Velmurugan had alleged that the programme was an effort to paint a rosy picture of the relations between Sinhalese and Tamils. PTI SA BN SRY .
BLUE BELL  Eleven months ago, Ryan Oakes was an executive officer and second-in-command to a United States Marine Corps Rifle Company of over 200 Marines. He spent his days at sea, sailing around the world to places like Japan, Jordan, and Djibouti, Africa. Before that, he was repairing fighter jets. This Veterans Day, though, []
Ex-choir director in Bucks County pleads no contest to molesting two students, secretly filming another
Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity
March 26, 2017

Gas From Israel And The Flynn Wiretapping - Behind The Deep-State Infighting Over The Trump Election

What is really behind the deep-state infighting over the U.S. elections and the "wire tapping" of the Trump campaign? Why was the CIA-Neocon axis vehemently lobbying against Trump? What foreign interests and what money is involved in this? Answers to these questions are now emerging.

The former director of the CIA under Clinton, James Woolsey, went to the Wall Street Journal and offered some information (likely some true and some false) on the retired General Flynn and the lobbying businesses he was involved in. Woolsey is an arch-neoconservative. He had worked on the transition team of Trump but got fired over "growing tensions over Trumps vision for intelligence agencies." Flynn is the former National Security Advisor of Trump who later also got fired. Woolsey was a board member of Flynn's former lobbying company FIG.

Woolsey claims: In September 2016 he took part in a meeting between Flynn and high level Turkish officials, including the Turkish foreign minister and the energy minister who is the son-in-law of the Turkish president Erdogan. During the meeting, Woolsey claims, a brainstorming took place over how the Turkish cult leader Fethullah Gulen could -probably by illegal means- be removed from the U.S. and handed over to Turkey.

Gulen is accused by the Erdogan mafia of initiating a coup attempt against it. The U.S. claims officially that there is no evidence for such an accusation and that Gulen can therefore not be rendered to Turkey. Gulen is an old CIA asset that helped the U.S. deep state to control Turkey. Erdogan divorced from the Gulen organization after it became useless for his neo-Ottoman project.

Here is the WSJ report on the Woolsey claims and a video clip with parts of his WSJ interview. Woolsey also went on CNN where he repeated his WSJ story.

Flynn was accused by the anti-Trump campaign to have worked for Russia. He had taken several $10,000 for speeches he gave in Moscow. He also, at times, had argued for better U.S. relations with Russia. But Flynn's pro-Russia stand was probably honest. (Or the bribes involved were just smaller than the ones paid by others.) The money he got on the speaker circus was rather small for a man in his position.

Flynn's real corruption was on another issue. After having been fired from the Trump administration, Flynn retroactively filed under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). His lobbying firm had a contract over $530,000 to work for a company near to the Turkish president Erdogan:

In its filing, Mr. Flynns firm said its work from August to November could be construed to have principally benefited the Republic of Turkey. The filing said his firms fee, $530,000, wasnt paid by the government but by Inovo BV, a Dutch firm owned by a Turkish businessman, Ekim Alptekin.

This lobbying, not the alleged Flynn-Putin relation, is the real scandal and part of the Trump/CIA/Clinton deep-state in-fighting.

The meeting Woolsey described was under the "Turkish" Flynn contract. The Turkish business man, and owner of Inovo, Ekim Alptekin is a member of the Erdogan gang. But hidden at the very end of the WSJ story is the real key to understand the shady network:

Inovo hired Mr. Flynn on behalf of an Israeli company seeking to export natural gas to Turkey, the filing said, and Mr. Alptekin wanted information on the U.S.-Turkey political climate to advise the gas company about its Turkish investments.

It was the Israeli gas company, not the Alptekin outlet, that drove the issue.

The Leviatan (and Tamar) gas fields in the Mediterranean along the Israeli coast are a huge energy and profit resource IF the gas from them can be exported to Europe. Several companies are involved in the exploration and all are looking for ways to connect the fields to the European gas network. There are (likely true) rumors that huge bribes have been payed in Israel, Jordan and elsewhere to win exploration contracts and to sell the gas. Negotiations between Israel and Turkey over the pipeline have been on and off. They depend on a positive climate towards Israel in the Turkish government which again depends on the often changing political position of the Erdogan gang.

The picture evolving here (lots of sleuthing and sources) is this:

An Israeli company (or whoever is behind it) wants a gas pipeline to Turkey. It hires Flynn and Alptekin to arrange a positive climate for the Leviathan pipeline within the Turkish government. It offers Flynn more than half a million for a little (4-month long) influence work. His job is to create a "friendly atmosphere" for the deal by using his influence in the U.S. to accommodate Erdogan. A major point that is expected from Flynn is to arrange the handover of Gulen, by whatever means, from the U.S. to Erdogan.

After accepting the (lobbying) bribe Flynn-the-whore suddenly changes his former anti-Turkish, pro-Russian, pro-Kurdish political position into a pro-Turkish, neutral-Russian and anti-Kurdish one. (His lobbying firm also makes some smaller payments related to the Clinton email-server scandal. This may be related to links between the Clinton family and the Gulen school empire.) He has a meeting with the Turkish government/Erdogan officials part of which is a discussion of a removal of Gulen to Turkey. He pens a pro Erdogan anti-Gulen op-ed which is published on the day of the election and he denigrates the Pentagon plan to work with the Kurds in Syria.

The NSA, CIA and the FBI are listening to Flynn's conversations with Turkish and Israeli interests. (For the old and long history of such "wiretapping" of Turkish and Israeli connections and various dirty and criminal deals they revealed read and ask Sibel Edmonds.)

The projects which Flynn is involved in, especially removing Gulen, are against the long term interests of the (neoconservative-driven) CIA. Selected tapes of his talks are transcribed and distributed within the anti-Trump campaign. This is the origin of the "wiretapping" of the Trump Tower the U.S. president lamented about. The stuff the CIA dug up about Flynn's dealing was and is used against Trump.

Woolsey is caught up in this as he also worked for Flynn's lobbying firm. (His neocon-pro-Zionist history suggests that he is the senior Israeli watchdog over Flynn in all this.) He is now engaged in damage control and is "coming clean" and selectively leaking his anti-Flynn stuff to exculpate himself. (There is probably also some new, better deal involved that will pay off from him.)

The Israeli-Turkish pipeline and the related deep-state fight are not the only issue involved in the campaign against Trump. There are also British interests and British intelligence involvement especially with the accusations against Russia of "hacking" of the DNC. If and how these fit in with above has not yet been revealed.

Posted by b on March 26, 2017 at 11:06 UTC | Permalink

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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.
They would be our caller of the year if our bosses could let us play it!
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Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.
The Lone Star State has once again prevailed in Site Selection Magazines Governors Cup competition. The Governors Cup goes to the state with the most major corporate location and expansion projects. To be counted, a project has to either involve a capital investment of at least $1 million, 20 or more new jobs, or 20,000 square feet of new construction.

Texas had 642 major projects in 2016, down slightly from the 702 in 2015. Ohio came in second with 515, followed by Illinois (434), North Carolina (289), and Georgia (271). The top four ranked the same this year as last, and this is the fifth year in a row Texas topped the list. The Lone Star State won in 2004, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, and was a close second in several of the years between.

Whats really impressive is that the win comes as the energy sector has been struggling. To generate more than 200,000 jobs and 642 major projects with the leading export industry bottoming out speaks to the resilience of the state economy. In January, the state added 51,300 net new jobs (as measured by seasonally adjusted nonagricultural wage and salary employment), and the unemployment rate now stands at 4.8 percent. Not bad!

The largest projects by size of capital investment include several petroleum refineries and chemicals facilities. Clearly, the states resource base and port access is a primary consideration in these location decisions. However, there were also major investments in electronic appliances, financial services, food processing, data processing, pharmaceuticals, and others. Many of these industry groups have been purposefully encouraged, supported, and otherwise targeted by economic development strategy. Another Governors Cup win is a very tangible sign that these efforts are paying off, generating desirable corporate locations and expansions and job opportunities.

In addition to strategic economic development policy, Texas also compares fairly well in terms of the business climate. There are other states with abundant natural resources and a large workforce that are not seeing this level of new activity. California, for example, had only 250 major projects last year.

The Texas business climate is arguably among the best in the nation, offering advantages in the areas of workforce, cost structure, location, natural resources, and available land, in addition to notable incentives programs. Also, the state compares fairly well by most tax measures, particularly from the perspective of individuals since there is no state income tax. For industries which rely on large numbers of knowledge workers, this can be a significant advantage.

This is not to say that we can become complacent and assume good things will continue to happen. Site Selection also does a per-capita ranking, and once again Texas is not in the top 10. The per-capita list is not all small states either; Ohio is number three. Clearly there is still room (and a need) for strong programs and further progress.

Looking to the future, we are likely to see significant investment in the Gulf Coast region for petrochemicals (such as refining, liquefied natural gas, and chemicals) for several years. In addition, Texas continues to emerge in a number of aspects of technology, and several of these advanced industries are expected to take on increased importance. The research ongoing at the states universities will generate additional startups. The convergence of technology, biosciences, and health care also has the potential to lead to future growth.

It is crucial that we continue to improve the states workforce through enhancing education at all levels. Infrastructure and the regulatory environment are also critical. Furthermore, it is essential to support strong economic development programs. Risks to future growth include policies that could curtail future expansion, tax imbalances which place a heavy burden on capital-intensive industries, and national decisions such as damaging the United States relationship with Mexico and other major trading partners.

Although there are certainly areas which could be improved, by most measures Texas is ahead of the curve. Lets keep it that way!

Dr. M. Ray Perryman is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Perryman Group (www.perrymangroup.com). He also serves as Institute Distinguished Professor of Economic Theory and Method at the International Institute for Advanced Studies.






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When Juluis Brooks opened the doors to his restaurant on a recent Friday morning at 11, two tables were immediately claimed. This is normal for Brooks and his wife Wanda. With almost 40 years of doing business, regular customers have become part of the fabric of the place.

This Friday, however, Brooks will cook his last signature Fatburger and close the doors of what has become an institution in Midlands restaurant landscape.

We have been blessed all these years, Brooks said. Its just the right time for us now.

Since he opened the restaurant in 1979 on Texas Avenue, the Brooks family has had a roller coaster ride both personally and professionally as restaurateurs -- but they probably wouldnt have it any other way.

Weve had our good days and weve had some not-so-good days, but we really cant express enough how Midland took us in as their own, he said.

Juluis and Wanda, who married in 1960, came to Midland from East Texas in August 1966 to be closer to his parents who lived in Andrews.

Having worked previously as a salesman in furniture and department stores, Juluis gathered enough savvy and knowledge of operating a business. He knew he always wanted to be an entrepreneur.

One day, I decided to open my own restaurant. Being in the restaurant business is even a shocker to me, he said. I put $5,000 of my own money and put it into this place.

That was 1979. He opened Brooks Bar-B-Que on Texas Street on the edge of downtown. Wanda Brooks, who worked for MISD, quit her job to help her husband. Together, the two thrived in that location.

Wanda said she felt sorry for her husband and thought he might not succeed in this endeavor.

We just tried our hand and business would continue to pick up, he said. We started out with barbecue and then we had fish fry Fridays.

They would thrive enough to open two more locations -- one on Andrews Highway in the shopping center behind Albertsons in 1985 and a third location during the mid-90s in Mission Square Plaza.

The signature of Brooks Bar-B-Que ironically is not barbecue. He started with a simple menu of brisket, potato salad and beans. Then, Brooks, created the Fatburger, a wide patty that overhangs the bun too small for the meat.

Everyone wants to know about that. When we had the privilege of going to California, we had a fat burger but it was really small, he said. So when I came back, I made mine really big. And now, Midland is the home of the Fatburger.

While the Fatburger may be the restaurants signature item, Wandas homemade pies are famous all on their own. With a mere selection of coconut, lemon meringue, chocolate and pecan, Wandas culinary contribution has become the stuff of legend.

Ive been making them for years everyday, she said. They were trial and error until I liked how it tasted.

Wanda is ready to retire, but shes taken orders for pies already for Thanksgiving. Her pies are beautifully constructed yet she is not a fan of chocolate pie. She says she works too much, but during her bout with cancer, she didnt stop baking.

She would get her treatment, then come home and rest for about 30 minutes and be in the kitchen making pies, Juluis said. She has been dedicated to the business. That showed me love.

With home-cooked food and a simple atmosphere, Brooks thrived as a neighborhood joint. But really, Brooks is a family business. The Brooks children, and even grandchildren, worked at the restaurant. Brooks Bar-B-Que isnt just about the restaurant, its about a family.

Son Rowland has worked at the restaurant more than 30 years. He managed one of the other locations but has remained steadfast with the restaurant.

Daughter Natasha also started with the restaurant at a young age and spent much of her early years at the restaurant.

Customers got to know not only the owners, but the family and vice versa.

In short, Brooks Bar-B-Que is a place of love.

We feel just as invested in the restaurant because we grew up in this business, Natasha Brooks said. We really appreciate Midland and all that its done for our family. Weve met some great people and established some relationships. The customers are like family.

Brooks jokes that she went to school to escape time working in the restaurant. Today, she is the senior assistant city attorney with the city of Odessa.

I always said if things didnt work out for me, I know one thing -- the restaurant business, she said.

In his journey as proprietor, Juluis Brooks found himself in politics. He served as a Midland city councilman for almost 10 years. In that time, he recounted some of his successes.

I was instrumental in getting the Martin Luther King Jr. Center here and the Midland holiday, he said. When I got elected I was proud of the things I got accomplished.

He was the first African-American mayor pro tem for Midland. But he opted to forgo politics after his terms.

In 2009, an arsonist set fire to the building. Every penny he and his wife invested in the restaurant was gone.

Brooks decided to rebuild.

Wanda would ask me why I wanted to put money it again and that was a good question, he said. But I told her that if we didnt, they would have had that satisfaction.

He reopened in 2010.

The arson, a broken pelvis from an automobile accident that led to the closing of his Andrews Highway location, a recent stroke and Wandas treatment for cancer -- none of that stopped the two from pushing forward to provide for their family.

Instead, the Juluis and Wanda have chosen to live life on their terms and not by what life has dictated to them.

And even with the closing of the restaurant, they all have something to look forward to.

Both Natasha and Rowland expressed their gladness that their parents will now have time to rest and enjoy life. Natasha said she looks forward to having lunch with them now.

In a way, its sad but now maybe they will be able to do some things they want to now. For the sake of our health, this will be good for our family to get some quality time, Rowland said.

Like any big family matriarch, Wanda knows she wont be still for long.

The first week, Im looking forward to resting and the second week, I want to clean the front garage which will take about four weeks, Wanda said.

As for Juluis Brooks, he and Wanda will leave behind a legacy that is more than just barbecue and burgers. They will have left an impression on their customers who have become their friends and family. But once closing time comes for Brooks Bar-B-Que on Friday, he knows what will happen next.

Im looking forward to just being able to sit down and breathe, he said.
For Kara Murrow, the most rewarding moments as a teacher come when students learn about animals in the classroom. So its difficult for the Bonham Elementary fifth-grade science and social studies teacher to be away from school while she prepares for surgery.

I enjoy it, and I know my kids enjoy the class and enjoy science because of it, Murrow said. With the science club I do after school once a week, the kids get upset when it gets canceled because of meetings. Not having it now is upsetting, too.

Murrow was diagnosed this month with Cushings disease, a condition that develops when a tumor on the pituitary gland causes it to secrete too much adrenocorticotropic hormone. Murrow, who moved to West Texas from Arizona three years ago, said she has received support from Midland ISD employees and others in the local community.

Murrows mother, Louise Gonzalez, also appreciates Midlanders concerns for her daughter.

People in Midland have been wonderful, considering how new we are to the area, Gonzalez said. The school district sent out the GoFundMe page and theres been an outpouring of support for that. People at my church always ask me.

Murrows family is collecting donations from the website GoFundMe to cover the costs of medical and travel expenses. Murrow and her husband, Kai, recently spent money on hospital stays connected to their 4-year-old sons food sensitivities.

Theyve been paying off those bills and doing OK until this came, Gonzalez said. Plus, shes been going to the doctor about this. Because Cushings is so rare, doctors dont recognize it.

Murrow was diagnosed with the disease after medical professionals discovered a tumor on her pituitary gland. For six years, she experienced symptoms  including weight gain, dizziness and headaches  but said doctors couldnt determine the cause. Murrow was thankful when she received an answer.

It was a huge relief to finally have a diagnosis and know that I wasnt crazy or making things up, Murrow said. Its weird to be excited about a brain tumor. Its a relief to know what was happening and that I have a solution.

Murrow traveled this week to Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, where shes scheduled to undergo surgery to remove the tumor. Though Murrow said recovery lasts several months, she hopes to return to the classroom next school year.

Jaime White, fourth-grade language arts and social studies teacher at Bonham, said both staff and students miss her presence. She said Murrow expresses concern for her students during her time away.

Shes worried about how kids will do on the STAAR [State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness], White said. She doesnt want them to think she abandoned them. The disease has to take center stage.

At school, White said she noticed her colleagues dedication toward helping her students understand science.

Shes hands-on, White said. When it comes to science, shes always making sure the kids are doing some sort of experiment. She wants to make sure the kids grasp it.

Murrow teaches students about animals through dissections and presentations. Before she became a teacher nine years ago, she coordinated outreach programs at an Arizona zoo.

When she came to MISD, Murrow saw an opportunity to generate enthusiasm about science. She launched an invite-only science club for fifth-graders who show interest in the subject.

I started it because there wasnt really anything, Murrow said. They have tutorials for reading and math. Theres not a lot kids can do with science after school. They get science in the younger grades, but the focus is on reading and math. Science is something kids really enjoy.

Though Murrow is disappointed about not being able to facilitate the club, she recognizes the importance of her upcoming surgery. Shes happy her mother, husband and two children will be in Phoenix for support.

I hope that it will bring about a sense of relief to all the symptoms Ive been dealing with and provide a chance for myself and my family to continue along with a full life, Murrow said.
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LAJITAS -- Not even Donald Trump can build a wall as beautiful as what God has built here, says the GOP chairman for Presidio County, in the heart of the Big Bend, the vast, remote nook of West Texas.

The terrain here is stark and inhospitable, and bigger than any wall envisioned by the Trump administration: In Santa Elena Canyon, thousand-foot walls drop off into the Rio Grande, and farther away from the river, on both sides of the Big Bend, treeless mountains offer no succor for the would-be traveler. Gov. Greg Abbott has said he is against a wall here, as has U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, who represents the area.

But hoping to make good on his campaign promise, the president may leave his own kind of mark in this part of Texas, dominated by just the sort of public land -- Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Departments Black Gap Wildlife Management Area -- that might make for the easiest terrain, logistically speaking, for the federal government to build a wall.

Much of the rest of the land bordering the Rio Grande in Texas is privately owned. Building a wall on private land requires the expensive and often lengthy process of condemnation.

At first blush, the construction of a wall through Big Bend would seem unlikely: Illegal crossings in sparsely populated, unforgiving Brewster and Presidio counties are a fraction of what they are in more populated areas, such as the Lower Rio Grande Valley; wall construction in this undeveloped area would be expensive and key Texas politicians have suggested Big Bend should be off limits.

Todd Beckett, Republican Party chairman for Presidio County, says flatly, there is not going to be a wall in Big Bend.

Weve got a big, beautiful barrier, bigger than anything even Trump could build, he said. Its called the Chinati Mountains -- one of the ranges that presents a massive barrier for any traveler, on foot, horseback or jeep. Its a deadly, rocky, sun-bleached wasteland, and then -- he cackles -- you get up to the artists colony of Marfa.

Its not necessary, he said. We already have a barrier. God built it.

And yet, an internal Department of Homeland Security report calls for a second phase of construction of 151 miles to include Big Bend, among other places; a third phase seals off the entire border. The wall could be as high as 30 feet.

While it may seem like building walls in Big Bend would be completely insane, that could be said about many of the walls that already exist, such as the section that cuts through Californias Otay Mountain Wilderness Area, said Scott Nicol, a McAllen-based coordinator of Sierra Clubs borderlands initiative. And the biggest challenge to Trumps timeline is going to be the fact that Texas, where there are currently 110 miles of wall on our 1,200 mile border, is almost entirely private property. Land condemnation suits will take years, but Big Bend National Park and some remaining tracts of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge down here are federally owned.

The wrong way to think about the wall is whether its tactical or rational, he said. Its entirely about politics and money: Politicians want a mile count. They dont care if it works -- and contractors just want the money.

Environmental concerns

Man-made structures are not absent from the Big Bend: There are roads, of course, and utility poles and ranching fences, as well as small communities outside the national and state parks.

But fencing through Big Bend could have profound environmental and eco-tourism consequences, according to experts.

A border wall could harm rare and threatened species whose habitat straddles geo-political boundaries, said Louis Harveson, director of the Borderlands Research Institute at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, with a population of 6,000, the largest city in the Big Bend region.

As a certified wildlife biologist, I can tell you a wall is ill-conceived, he said.

To get a sense of the consequences, consider the black bear, which was nearly extinct in Texas before making a comeback over recent decades.

They all came from Mexico, Harveson said. If theres a wall, West Texas would be out of the bear business.

If a wall were built to stop human travel, a wall would logically stop animal travel as well, Jennette Jurado, a ranger at Big Bend National Park, told the American-Statesman late last year -- before the Trump administration set new restrictions on communications between officials and the media. We may have 30 or so bears in the park at this time, but cutting off the flow of new genes to the population could lead to inbreeding and other issues.

The story is similar for mule deer and mountain lions.

Elsewhere in the Texas borderlands, environmental groups and the federal government have worked to cobble together land as wildlife corridors amid farms and asphalt to allow animals like rare ocelots to migrate.

Other mammals that range across the Rio Grande in the Big Bend include mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, pronghorn antelope, javelinas, and gray fox. Especially rare species are the kit fox, white-nosed coatimundi, and desert bighorn sheep -- which were long ago extirpated from Big Bend and have been reintroduced for hunting and ecological purposes, slowly expanding into the park and need large territories to survive.

Of the 78 sheep one of Harvesons graduate students radio-collared between late 2010 and early 2014, about 40 percent crossed the Rio Grande at least once.

All large and medium sized mammals would have their territories restricted and their gene pools compromised by a wall, says Lynne Weber, who, with her husband, is the author of the new Texas A&M University Press book, Nature Watch Big Bend: A Seasonal Guide.

Needless to say, wildlife pays no attention to international boundaries, and the Rio Grande is a life source for many animals that need to reach it on a regular basis, Weber said.

The Mexican company Cemex has bought massive land holdings on both sides of the river as a nature preserve, precisely because animals pass across the river.

I really dont think its going to happen in this area, said Bonnie McKinney, who runs the preserve. Its too cost--prohibitive. Over my 35 years here, lots of things have been suggested, but its a big country, a harsh country.

The wall forecloses any possibility of a binational park, long discussed by officials on either side of the border, as part of a hope to reintroduce the grizzly bear and American bison, once native in these parts.

The construction of a wall would disrupt the very fragile desert ecosystem, one that is still recovering from ranching and overgrazing almost 100 years ago, Weber said. This construction would no doubt disturb and possibly eliminate many rare plants, (amphibians and reptiles) and small animals.

The best view in Texas

A wall also would have a scenic impact. Weber calls the vista from the south rim of the Chisos Mountains, a sweeping scene that makes you feel like youre on the surface of a far-away planet, the best view in Texas mainly because you can see no human impact whatsoever, as you gaze across the desert expanse toward the Mesa de Anguilla far into Mexico.

The remoteness of Big Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park has long been a key to its draw; Austinites, the most common visitors to Big Bend, might be less likely to make the eight-hour drive to the region if the best views are intersected by a wall running adjacent to a dusty Border Patrol road.

We feel that the border needs to be kept secure via technology and manpower, not a wall, Weber said.

In a statement about how it will implement the presidents border security order, the Department of Homeland Security said it is leveraging years of U.S. Border Patrols institutional operational knowledge and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers border infrastructure construction subject matter expertise to construct a physical wall or similarly contiguous and impassable physical barrier in the vicinity of the U.S. border with Mexico.

Border Patrol is currently directly soliciting industry input for conceptual wall design(s) with the intent to construct multiple prototype(s), the statement said.

In 2016, the U.S. Border Patrol stopped 6,366 people suspected of crossing into the country illegally in the Big Bend Sector -- the least of any sector along the Texas border-- and seized nearly 42,000 pounds of marijuana and 16 pounds of cocaine, leading to 2,392 prosecutions; Border Patrol also rescued 42 people and two people died. Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley, by comparison, cover about three-fifths the river frontage of the Big Bend Sector, but they apprehended 186,830 people.

Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson, a Democrat, said he opposes the wall because of the construction cost and because of the river Ill be kept from fishing in.

There are natural walls here already, he said, adding that if a wall gets built, the government will have to pay personnel to guard it.

In theory, border wall construction would trigger the mother of all federal environmental impact statements, a requirement of federal law for any major federal project.

An impact statement would require the government to describe the environmental impacts of the wall -- and an analysis of alternative courses of action, including no action at all.

But in 2008, citing his authority under federal immigration law, then-U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff waived environmental protection laws as he ordered construction of border wall segments. The George W. Bush administration found that a border fence would not significantly increase impediments to wildlife movement and migration.

The ecosystems are not defined in this way, said Nicol, the Sierra Club activist. Theres not a U.S. ecosystem and a Mexico ecosystem. Species are meant to move back and forth: You cut off that river, you disrupt the whole ecosystem.

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Distributed by Tribune Content Agency










Texas House Speaker Joe Straus on Friday gave perhaps his harshest condemnation yet of the controversial bathroom bill championed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Straus said the bill, which has drawn the ire of Texas businesses and been criticized as discriminatory against transgender people, felt manufactured and unnecessary.

If weve gotten to the point in our civilization, in our society, that our politicians have to pass bills about bathroom stuff ... I mean, weve gotten really out of control, he said.

For it to get this much attention in a legislative session is astounding to me, he added.

The proposal would regulate bathroom use in public schools and government buildings on the basis of biological sex, prohibiting most transgender people from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity. The legislation would also nix local anti-discrimination laws meant to allow transgender residents to use public bathrooms that match their gender identity.

I oppose it, Straus said. ... I dont feel a great deal of fervor to promote that bill in the House.

In a wide-ranging interview with Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project and a Texas Tribune pollster, Straus downplayed tensions between the House and the Senate and distanced himself from recent comments made by Gov. Greg Abbott about city and county policies.

Asked about Abbotts Tuesday remark that he wants the Legislature to pass a broad-based law that pre-empts local regulations, Straus said he didnt know exactly what the governor had said but that Straus preferred a step-by-step approach to issues of local control.

I dont think a blanket policy on exerting power from Austin over locals is a particularly attractive idea, and I dont think itll happen, Straus said.

On sanctuary cities, one flashpoint issue of local control this legislative session, Straus predicted the lower chamber would pass a bill of some sort that would target cities with local policies discouraging cooperation with federal immigration officials seeking to deport unauthorized immigrants. Still, he suggested there were significant differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill that were yet to be worked out.

Local control has been a point of contention at the Capitol since Abbott took office criticizing what he called a patchwork of local regulations. After the 2015 legislative session, Abbott signed a bill that pre-empted local efforts to regulate drilling-related activity, a response to the now-repealed Denton fracturing ban. This session, state lawmakers are looking for ways to bring back ride-hailing services such as Uber after the company left some Texas cities in protest of local regulations.

While Straus said it was normal for disagreements to surface between himself, Patrick and Abbott during a tight-fisted budget year, he needled the Senate on some of its priority bills, including a private school voucher program, and the upper chambers approach to budget-writing.

He said the Senates aversion to using the states savings account, known as the Rainy Day Fund, to avoid cuts to public programs in a year of penny-pinching was because of contrivances that dictate when you can and cant use it. He suggested the arguments fiscal hawks have raised against using the fund had come from some big donors think tank or something.

Among state programs that were likely to face budget cuts, Straus singled out public universities, though he has stressed that the House seeks to set aside more higher education funding than the Senate has proposed.

Straus said he opposed regulating the amount of tuition public universities are allowed to charge students. Texas higher education is a pretty good bargain, and the supply and demand out there seems to be working, he said.

Im not downplaying the burdens of the cost of higher education on our young people and their families, Straus said, but he opposed tuition regulation particularly in years when were also cutting [universities] funding.

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texastribune.com
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
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A new space exploration and rocket design company plans to use the Space Coast in the future.

Vector plans to build, launch rockets on Space Coast

Company says it rockets are smaller and cheaper to make

Vector hopes to bring jobs and boost tourism



Vector, a company based in Tucson, Ariz., shared a behind-the-scenes look at its newest projectone it believes will bring more launches and tourism.

Its new design for a rocket is expected to help make that happen.

The Vector-R rocket is one of the smallest of the satellite launch vehicles currently available.



"We're going to build a lot of them and launch a lot of them typically most rocket companies build and fly five to 10 a year, but we are going to be building and flying hundreds a year, said Vector CEO Jim Cantrell.



Vector can do this because of the rockets are small and affordable to build.

The company said it can sell a single Vector-R rocket for around $1.5 million. In comparison, Cantrell says many other rockets and rocket companies could charge upwards of tens of millions of dollars.

The Vector Rocket featured in the pictures is actually a replica. The original rocket is still in Tucson, but soon people will be able to see it at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex.



The replica will be moved Monday and officials hope to have it available to visitors by Tuesday.



Cantrell said he hopes the companys passion for launching from the space coast will bring in more tourism and jobs for the area.



"We think this will actually create another interesting tourism angle because one of the thing when you come to see rockets you have to be here on the lucky day but if we are launching 50 to 100 times a year your lucky days get a lot easier to see, he said.



Vector says it has several test launches with the Vector R rocket planned this year before it can try for an official launch sometime early in 2018.


This story was last updated on: 10:07 p.m., Saturday, March 25, 2017.

NAACP leaders announced Saturday that they will march at the state capitol on Thursday, calling on Governor Rick Scott to rescind his order removing State Attorney Aramis Ayala from arguably the most high-profile cases in Orlando right now  those surrounding accused cop killer, Markeith Loyd.

NAACP announces support for State Attorney Aramis Ayala

Leaders call on Gov. Rick Scott to put Ayala back on Markeith Loyd case



PREVIOUS: NAACP to hold news conference on death penalty stance



"We want him to know we do not support his decision. We're asking him to reverse his decision," said NAACP president Adora Obi Nweze, after a meeting with their members.



Scott used his executive power to remove Ayala just hours after she announced she would not seek the death penalty against Loyd, or any other defendants, during her time in office unless significant changes were made to the process.



That announcement sparked outrage in the law enforcement community.



But NAACP leaders support Ayala's views on the death penalty.



"The death penalty, killing people, is not the way to end crime in this state," said NAACP chairman Leon Rusell.



Loyd is accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, Sade Dixon, her unborn child and Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton.



Governor Scott replaced Ayala with the Ocala-based state attorney Brad King, a proponent of the death penalty.



NAACP leaders say they will now step up their campaign to get Scott to rescind that order through letter-writing efforts, visiting legislators and even using the judicial system, if needed.



"We certainly have accessible to us any means legally, through our justice system," said Nweze.



So far, Governor Scott has not backed down from his decision to remove Ayala.
Permian Road Safety Coalition holds safety sessions

The Permian Road Safety Coalition presents its spring safety sessions and demonstrations March 30 in the Education Building at the Midland Horseshoe. The free event begins with lunch at 11;30 a.m. and the eight sessions will get underway at 12:15 p.m.

Topics will include in-vehicle monitoring, the business case for creating a safe driving culter, commercial vehicle inspections and rail safety. There will also be a demonstration of the Texas Department of Transportations texting/DUI simulator.

Register to attend at www.permianroadsafety.org//news-and-events/calendar-of-events.

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Ameredev II closed $400 million equity commitment

HOUSTON and AUSTIN  Ameredev II, LLC has closed an equity commitment of $400 million from EnCap Investments, L.P. and members of Ameredev management.

Ameredev is an Austin-based exploration and production company focused on the acquisition and development of oil and gas resources in the United States. The company is led by a multi-disciplined management team with a track record of value creation through commercial and operational excellence  most recently demonstrated by its $633 million sale of core Southern Delaware Basin assets to Callon Petroleum Company.

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Railroad Commission fines company for not cleaning up oil, wastewater spills

By Ryan Handy

Houston Chronicle

The Railroad Commission of Texas fined a Dallas-based oil and gas company more than $100,000 after inspectors found that several spills of oil and toxic water had not been cleaned up after nearly two years.

Inspectors for the commission, which regulates oil and gas in Texas, found several spills during an inspection of Chestnut Exploration and Productions Willacy County property in 2015 and 2016. Two spills, one of 10 barrels of oil and another of 285 barrels of wastewater, were discovered in January 2016 and were not reported to the commission, as required by state regulations.

Willacy County is in South Texas. Chestnuts lease, known as the Sauz Ranch Mulatos pasture property, is in the same area as the El Sauz Ranch, a game hunting ranch.

The company had also not renewed its license to operate in Texas, but was continuing to operate, according to commission documents.

In a letter to the commission sent in mid February, Chestnut claimed it lost an employee as a result of the oil downturn and fell behind on its paperwork. Chesnut also said it hired a company to clean up the 2015 spills and that the property no longer posed any environmental hazards.

But another inspection report, filed just days before Chestnut sent the letter, found that no clean up had been done on the site.

Mark Plummer, Chestnuts CEO, said that the spills had been cleaned up and added that he didnt understand the commissions claim that the property remained polluted.

A couple of things fell through the cracks, he said. Well correct them and go on.

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Gulf lease sale draws $275 million in winning bids

By James Osborne

Houston Chronicle

A federal offshore lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico drew $275 million in high bids, exceeding last years totals as higher oil and gas prices continue to hopes of a rebound.

Todays strong sale reflects continued industry optimism and interest in the Gulfs Outer Continental Shelf, a keystone of the Nations offshore oil and gas resources and a vital part of President Trumps plan to make the United States energy independent, U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement.

The sale was the first since President Donald Trump took office in January and made available all open leases in the Gulf of Mexico.

Across three separate auctions last year, Gulf lease sales drew less than $175 million in high bids.

Still, the tally was a long ways from the boom times of 2014 when crude was trading for more than $100 a barrel. That year federal offshore auctions generated more than $960 million in winning bids.






Every morning she taught at Seabrook Intermediate School, Martha Bowles used to take the walkway that connected the main campus building to her portable classroom and unlock the door to the small, metal-sided structure at around 7:45 a.m.

Things went OK except when maintenance workers used weed trimmers during morning social studies lessons.

"It was a little distracting," Bowles said. "You couldn't really hear because the acoustics were not that great. It kind of set the tone for class."

A classroom is a classroom, but portables, while solid, functional and safe structures, are never meant to be permanent.

"It always felt temporary," said Bowles, who spent three of her 25 years teaching at Clear Creek ISD in that portable building.

"Teachers in CCISD do everything they can to overcome those issues, but nevertheless, they are issues," the former teacher said.

District enrollment was at nearly 42,000 last year, and at least an additional 500 students are expected by 2017. The district stretches across 110 square miles, 13 cities and two counties.

If a bond proposal is approved on May 6, district officials say they will be better prepared to accommodate those numbers.

The $487 million proposal includes projects which would address enrollment growth, aging campuses, technological needs and safety improvements. It includes the construction of a new elementary school and expansions and additions or renovations to a significant portion of the district's 44 campuses. Approval could mean a property tax rate increase of approximately 3.5 cents to bring the rate to $1.435 per $100 of valuation.

That would equate to a $5.47 per month increase for owners of a home at the median value of $223,635.

The possibility of a tax increase has given pause to one group, the executive committee of the Galveston County Republican Party, which had opposed a bond approved by district voters in 2013. The group recently approved a resolution requesting that Clear Ceek postpone any vote on the proposal until November to give voters more time to review it.

While the district did not directly address any opposition to the proposal, Clear Creek's facility services director, Paul Miller, said the bond would address such issues as portable buildings and the problems they create. Teachers in portables must escort students outside and into the main school building for restroom breaks, and the 30-year-old metal buildings present challenges for temperature control.

"Since they're temporary, they're not adequately heated or cooled, and it can really costly because they are these little independent buildings," Bowles said.

Ten schools in the district are at or over enrollment capacity. Among the projects listed in the bond proposal are building the district's 27th elementary school, which would be off Texas 96. That school is intended to relieve crowding at three elementary campuses.

The bond proposal would fund major expansions at Stewart Elementary and Creekside and Clear Lake intermediate schools.

"Portables are an adequate stop-gap measure for enrollment growth," Miller said. "They were never intended to be a permanent educational facility."

At Clear Lake Intermediate, the first portables were installed in 1986.

"Our enrollment projections did not show Clear Lake Intermediate reducing (in enrollment); so we need to get rid of those portables so the students can be contained within the same building as the rest of the students," Miller said.

At Hall Elementary, the entire fifth grade is housed in its 17 portable classrooms, and the planned elementary is proposed to relieve that crowding.

While they are fenced in, in many cases, portables in the district are close to roadways.

"There's a safety issue because we would have these lockdown practices (for emergencies)," Bowles said. "When you're separated from the main building, you are vulnerable and that's the bottom line."

"Rather than spending the $100,000-per portable to replace the portable, the best decision in terms of the long-term health of the student and the district as a whole is to put a permanent addition if the enrollment projections for that area support the bigger facility," Miller said.

The distance factor has an emotional component, Bowles said.

"In the portables we're apart from everybody else, it can be isolating," she said.

"Portables are never preferable to a classroom in the main building."

Enrollment projections for Clear Lake City Elementary, League City Elementary and Ross Elementary indicate that they will need space, Miller said.

"Rather than leave old portables there, the correct decision in that situation is to add the additional school," Miller said.

The projects listed in the bond would eliminate most of the 38 portables in use, according to Miller.

"Portables will always be necessary part of our classroom management because of the growth that we've experienced," he said. "We just can't build fast enough."

"We do know that staff do regularly complain about the condition of the portables the older they get," Miller said.

"They're not really built to last 50 years like our main facilities, so that means that over a short period of time they become less than desirable because of condition."

Bowles reflected on her experience and dealing with portables.

"We did the best we could for our students to give them the best education possible," she said. "You still want the perfect environment for your students. It's like a mom with her children and you want the perfect environment for them."

For details, visit http://bit.ly/2lQgkDu
WESTPORT  A Bridgewater consultant is facing cybercrime charges after being accused of stealing confidential documents from the company, police said.

In November 2016, Westport police began investigating the theft of confidential Bridgewater IT configuration documents from Bridgewater Associates. The company suspected 24-year-old Sankaranarayan Subramanian, a Hamden man who was working onsite for an outside consulting firm, of stealing the documents.
WESTPORT  A New York woman is facing identity theft charges after creating fake companies to scam people out of their money, police said.

In November 2014, a resident came to Westport police to file a report of fraudulent activity on his credit card. Officers learned that $13,000 was charged to the victims credit card from a fraudulent company.
Rusk Elementary School Principal Leslie Goodrum has been named the principal of the campus that will be at the site of the current Crockett Elementary, according to a press release from Midland ISD.

The new school will be for students from the State Highway 349 corridor attendance area in north Midland.

MISD trustees voted at Mondays board meeting to close Crockett at the end of the school year and use the campus to alleviate Fasken overcrowding. The new campus will have a new name, administrators and teachers.

We are pleased that Leslie has accepted the challenge to lead this new school. We want this new school to be special, and Leslie has the initiative and innovative spirit to make it happen, Rod Schroder, interim superintendent, said in the release. She is a proven campus principal, and her vision for the new campus will be critical to establishing a strong instructional culture at the campus.

Patrick Jones, chief academic officer for the district, said Goodrum has a proven record of success and is a dynamic and innovative instructional leader.

Goodrum is a Texas Tech graduate and holds a masters degree in education administration from the University of North Texas. She has 31 years of experience in education, and 15 years with Midland ISD. While at MISD she has been an elementary classroom teacher, administrative intern, assistant principal and campus administrator at Rusk Elementary for the last four years. She has seven total years of administrative experience

Before coming to MISD, Goodrum worked in Frenship ISD, Lubbock ISD, Carrolton-Farmers Branch ISD and Tahoka ISD. She is a member of First United Methodist Church.

Goodrum will start the transition process immediately and will begin her new assignment officially in August, according to the release.
The San Antonio Express-News was first to report the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia while he was at a Texas resort ranch in February 2016. On Saturday, the newspaper was awarded the Star Breaking News Report of the Year for its coverage of the national event.

The Texas Associated Press Managing Editors awards, handed out annually, honor outstanding journalism by Texas daily newspapers.

A big story that breaks on a quiet Saturday afternoon is a litmus test for a high-quality news staff, said Mike Leary, editor and senior vice president of the Express-News. When Justice Antonin Scalia died on a remote West Texas ranch last year, the Express-News scored an A+ with a world exclusive that was accurate and thorough.

Judges for the awards said the Express-News easily couldve been beat in their own backyard by national media outlets. But the news organization was too well-sourced for that to happen, adding that this is journalism that should win awards, recounted Jamie Stockwell, Express-News managing editor.

Besides the papers first-on-the-scene reporting of Scalias death, two Express-News page designers were honored with Adrian Alvarez winning Star Designer of the Year. Emilio Rabago was awarded first place in News Design, while Alvarez also received second place.

Adrian Alvarezs Star Designer award and the first-place award for news design won by Emilio Rabago affirm what our readers already know: The Express-News delivers quality news in an impressive package, Leary added.

More Information Express-News honored Star Breaking News Report of the Year: San Antonio Express-News staff, 1st Place Star Designer of the Year: Adrian Alvarez, 1st place Star Reporter of the Year: Martin Kuz, 2nd place Star Photojournalist of the Year: Lisa Krantz, honorable mention Star Opinion Writer of the Year: Josh Brodesky, 2nd place 1st Place Business Reporting: Katherine Blunt 1st Place News Design: Emilio Rabago 2nd Place Deadline Writing: Martin Kuz and Andrea Zielinski (shared with Houston Chronicle) 2nd Place Breaking Sports News: Jeff McDonald 2nd Place, Specialty Reporting: Jason Buch 2nd Place, Sports Photography: Tom Reel 2nd Place, Photojournalism: Bob Owen 2nd Place, News Design: Adrian Alvarez 3rd Place, General News Photography: Lisa Krantz 3rd Place, Sports Features: John Whisler 3rd Place, General Column: Josh Brodesky 3rd Place, Editorial Writing: Ricardo Pimentel Honorable Mention, Specialty Reporting: Martin Kuz Honorable Mention, Short Features: Bruce Selcraig Honorable Mention, Sports Features: Jeff McDonald Honorable Mention, Photojournalism: Lisa Krantz See More Collapse

Katherine Blunt, a Hearst Fellow now with the Houston Chronicle, rounded out the papers first-place showings by taking first place in Business Reporting for her in-depth story about problems with the Texas 130 toll road from Seguin to Austin.

Express-News staff also received several second and third place awards and honorable mentions.

Today, TAPME will name winners in the Freedom of Information, Community Service, Team Effort, Newspaper of the Year and Star of Stars categories.

jgerlach@express-news.net
A man was shot in the foot after an argument escalated outside a residence on the East Side San Antonio police said.

Police responded to the 100 block of Magendie Street around 11:30 Saturday, where they found a man with a gunshot wound.
AUSTIN -- The Big Show will be the Senate budget debate.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said last week that the Senate's $106.3 billion spending blueprint is likely to come up for debate and approval on Tuesday, when senators who oppose some of its details will have to decide whether to argue and vote against it, when its approval is inevitable, or let it go through and hope the House fixes its kinks.

Patrick and most Senate leaders like it, though some are uncomfortable with the Senate for using an accounting maneuver to allow their budget to be balanced by delaying a $2.5 billion of transportation money for a month in 2018.

House Speaker Joe Straus suggested last week, within hours after the Senate made its budget public, that the trick was more like Enron than state government -- a reference to the Houston-based energy giant that collapsed in 2001 amid a massive accounting fraud scandal.

Senate leaders were fuming over that dig, so look for them to paint a happy face on their budget that takes no money out of the state's savings account -- the so-called Rainy Day Fund. But look for that issue to perhaps get ugly, along with complaints that the Senate budget is pushing school-funding costs off on local districts and cutting too many programs.

The House should have its final budget version ready to go, as the political unpleasantness between the two chambers heats up. If you like a good debate, watch the Senate budget debate here -- much more interesting than the dry speeches on C-Span.

Homosexual conduct

On Monday, the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee will get a prod from Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, to "repeal the offense of homosexual conduct" in Texas.

House Bill 1848 would remove the phrase in the state's Health and Safety Code that states "that homosexual conduct is not an acceptable lifestyle and is a criminal offense" under a separate Texas law forbidding same-sex sex.

That law was declared unconstitutional years ago, but is still on the books.

In conservative Republican Texas, don't expect the same Legislature that has left that unconstitutional law in statutes to all of a sudden agree with Coleman to rip up the homosexual ban. But the 2 p.m. hearing -- watch it here -- could be interesting, in a Jerry Springer Show-sort of way.

Powdered drinks, anyone?

House and Senate committees will weigh in twice on that issue this week.

House Bill 47 is up in the House Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee at 2 p.m. Monday, and Senate Bill 896 is up in the Senate Business & Commerce Committee first thing Tuesday morning.

Some 34 states have banned powdered alcoholic drinks, even though those products were not yet on the market, after word spread that a company was developing a product that could turn water into mojitos.

The powder was designed as a lightweight substance hikers and outdoor folks could carry with them on outings. Mix the powder with water and shake for at least a minute, and voila, an alcoholic beverage appears.

Texas lawmakers thought about banning the substance in 2015, but Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, backed off after meeting with the owner of a Galveston-based company that was developing its own recipe.

Parent groups are opposed to allowing Texas stores to sell powered alcohol because they are afraid underage drinkers could get their hands on the product and easily conceal it.

Both bills would add powered alcohol to the state definition of alcoholic beverage, which would make it a substance regulated by the Alcoholic Beverage Commission and pave the way for its sale in the state.

Packing heat

In a year when gun issues have been uncharacteristically quiet at the State Capitol, the House Homeland Security & Public Safety Committee on Tuesday will host Gun Day to hear firearms bills, including one that would allow Texans to pack heat without a license.

House Bill 375 by Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, would allow Texans to carry handguns without a license under the idea that they are allowed to do so under the Second Amendment.

House Bill 1911 by Rep. James White, R-Hillister, would allow Texans to use their handgun license in lieu of their driver's license as a valid form of ID.

Secret stuff, indicted AG

On Wednesday, indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton will be back in court in Collin County to decide on a curious motion filed by his attorneys that has been sealed.

Supposition is that Paxton is again arguing that the charges against him should be dismissed, for some issue concerning the grand jury that indicted him. They argue that because grand jury proceedings in Texas are secret, their legal filings on that should be confidential, as well, even though most court proceedings are open to the public.

The latest court issue comes at a time when three Houston-area special prosecutors are asking for a delay in the trial from May 1 to September. They say they are owed more than $205,000 and haven't been paid in more than a year, and want that issue resolved before they proceed.
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An anti-Donald Trump billboard is attention getting, to say the least.

On the sign, Trump is flanked by dollar signs altered to look like Nazi swastikas and mushroom clouds exploding behind him.

A Russian flag lapel pin has also been added to Trump's picture - a reference to Russian hacking in the election and Trump's friendly language toward the long-time adversary of the United States.

TRUMP RALLY: Supporters, protesters clash outside Houston City Hall

The billboard, the work of California-based artist Karen Fiorito, has drawn attention - and now an online petition calling for the banner to be taken down.

The petition says, "We the People, For the People, By the People of the United States Of America Who Are Legal Birth Citizens Demand The City Of Phoenix Arizona Remove An Offensive Billboard Depicting President of the United States Donald J Trump to Be a Nazi and Russian."

The billboard has drawn some protests, more than a few stares and even a call from Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio to have it taken down.

TOWN HALL: Hundreds pack Texas congressman's district meeting with public

There are First Amendment and free speech concerns at play here about whether Fiorito should be allowed to use symbols some people find offensive.

But, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton told KSAZ-TV in Phoenix that the billboard is on private property and beyond the reach of the city's regulatory powers.

So, for now, at least, the Trump-as-Russian-and-Nazi billboard will stand, even if it isn't particularly popular.

>>>Scroll through the gallery to see some of the most colorful, opinionated protest signs about Donald Trump
Mick Mulvaney from the Office of Management and Budget recently claimed there is no evidence that after-school programs are effective. He said this to justify a budget that eliminates funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which supports before and after-school programs for 1.6 million children across the country.

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers program allows schools, nonprofits and community-based organizations to fund essential services for children and youth. The money pays for academic support and enrichment for students, particularly those attending high-poverty, low-performing schools.

But his critique of after-school programs is simply not true. There is an abundance of evidence that high-quality out-of-school-time programs change lives.

Within San Antonio, most after-school programs now voluntarily study their outcomes to better understand these impacts. Through these studies, we know that after-school programs boost students attendance, on-time grade completion, and STAAR scores. By helping students learn outside of the classroom, great after-school programs reinforce the work of the school day by not only bolstering academic performance, but also helping young people to grow socially and emotionally. National researchers have found similar findings all across the country.

The most precarious time for young students is between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. If after-school programs are shuttered, countless children will go home to an empty house or apartment during the peak hours of juvenile crime and victimization. Working parents need reliable and affordable programs that not only keep their children safe, but also support academic success and provide access to opportunities beyond academics.

The strength of our future depends on the strength of the investments we make in our young people. If we invest wisely, giving children and youth the resources they need to thrive, they will become employees who excel in the workplace, good citizens, responsible parents and the leaders our world needs.

In contrast, if we fail to prepare them, if we stand idly by and allow them to flounder, tomorrows challenges may prove too much for them to handle. No matter who is in office, thats a basic truth that we cant ignore.

Now is a crucial time to deepen our investments in young people, not cut them.

Most parents work their hearts out to nurture their children, as do most school professionals. In the after-school programs that our agencies run, our staffs give everything they can to support the efforts of working parents and teachers.

Young people learn robotics and technology, they get help with their studies, they take on new creative challenges and they get time to build positive relationships with their peers.

According to the Afterschool Alliance, 45 percent of children in after-school programs are from low-income households. Decreasing funding for after-school programs penalizes youth who might not otherwise have access to these enriching programs and opportunities. And it does so at a cost to all of us.

To learn more about the impact of our programs, visit beyondthebellsa.org.

Nancy Hard is the president and CEO at Family Service Association. Angie Mock is the CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio. Both agencies provide out-of-school-time programs for children. They are both active leaders within Excel Beyond the Bell San Antonio, a network of 43 youth development agencies.
Gov. Greg Abbott said he favors a broad-based law over multiple rifle-shot approaches at overriding local regulations.

That legislative rifle Abbott refers to is taking aim this session on local decisions on whether cities and counties should become soul mates with immigration authorities; whether they can handle their own property taxation; can set up their own rules for ride-sharing companies; and whether they can prohibit discrimination against transgender Texans when it comes to bathroom choices.

If these are enacted (they shouldnt be), the rifle shots will do damage enough to the concept of local control. But what Abbott seems to be proposing is replacing that rifle with a bomb.

The governor was not entirely clear on the contours of such a broad-based law, but his answer  in a Q&A session hosted by the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute  was in response to a question about current legislation that would prohibit any local ordinance from exceeding the standard set by the state. The Texas Tribune reported on the event in Corpus Christi.

So, would this broad-based law only kick in when the state has already set a standard? But state law already preempts local law if they conflict. Or will it have some other broader standard to curtail local control?

Will municipalities still be able to act when the state has failed to? For instance, the Legislature is considering a ban on texting while driving. But the absence of a state law has resulted in a patchwork of ordinances in cities. If the state is derelict in its duties, should cities and counties also be?

Here is Abbotts full quote: As opposed to the state having to take multiple rifle-shot approaches at overriding local regulations, I think a broad-based law by the state of Texas that says across the board, the state is going to preempt local regulations, is a superior approach. He added that such an approach, makes it more simple, more elegant, but more importantly, provides greater advance notice to businesses and to individuals that youre going to have the certainty to run your lives.

Its a fact of political life in Texas: statewide it is more red than blue, but key cities are more blue than red. What Abbotts broad-based approach seems to portend is the state telling its bigger cities to forget their own political leanings  their own voters choices.

We await details of this broad-based approach, but at first blush it sounds quite the opposite of elegant.
Looking back on it all, many voters may regret backing Steve Stockman. They should. Ballots will occasionally include wild cards like Stockman, but people should not be misled by them.

The former area congressman was embroiled in yet another controversy last week when he was arrested by the FBI in Houston as he tried to board a flight to the Mideast. He is charged with two counts of conspiracy to bilk conservative foundations out of at least $775,000 in donations meant for charitable purposes.

A jury will determine his guilt or innocence. Regardless of his trial's outcome, voters can learn from his legacy.

Stockman may have slipped by Southeast Texans in the 1994 landslide that ousted dozens of Democratic congressmen, including the venerable Jack Brooks. But Stockman never grew in office, and he was quickly replaced by Nick Lampson two years later.

When Stockman sought election to a different House district in 2012, his past shenanigans should have kept him in the back of the pack. After all, that race included several qualified GOP candidates. But the district had been heavily gerrymandered, and Stockman staked out the far right. In a splintered field, he emerged on top again, aided by some nasty campaign tactics against his fellow conservative Republicans.

Frankly, he did East Texans a favor in 2014 with his bizarre attempt to unseat Sen. John Cornyn. Had he stayed in his new House district, he might still be roaming Capitol Hill. Instead he faces a prison term of up to 20 years for each of his two charges if convicted.

This is something that shouldn't have happened, and ordinary voters could have prevented it.

They must look beyond labels. If they elect characters, they don't get statesmen. If they choose the most liberal Democrat or most conservative Republican in a primary, they will often be left with someone who can't function in Austin or Washington, where underperformers are quickly exposed. If they ignore smaller ethical problems on the front end, they could see larger ones later on.

Stockman is the clearest example of this phenomenon in a long time. Let's hope he's the last for a long time.

-----------------------------------

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By Michael Hudson, a research professor of Economics at University of Missouri, Kansas City, and a research associate at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. His latest book is J is For Junk Economics

Nobody yet can tell whether Donald Trump is an agent of change with a specific policy in mind, or merely a catalyst heralding an as yet undetermined turning point. His first month in the White House saw him melting into the Republican melange of corporate lobbyists. Having promised to create jobs, his America First policy looks more like Wall Street First. His cabinet of billionaires promoting corporate tax cuts, deregulation and dismantling Dodd-Frank bank reform repeats the Junk Economics promise that giving more tax breaks to the richest One Percent may lead them to use their windfall to invest in creating more jobs. What they usually do, of course, is simply buy more property and assets already in place.

One of the first reactions to Trumps election victory was for stocks of the most crooked financial institutions to soar, hoping for a deregulatory scythe taken to the public sector. Navient, the Department of Educations knee-breaker on student loan collections accused by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) of massive fraud and overcharging, rose from $13 to $18 now that it seemed likely that the incoming Republicans would disable the CFPB and shine a green light for financial fraud.

Foreclosure king Stephen Mnuchin of IndyMac/OneWest (and formerly of Goldman Sachs for 17 years; later a George Soros partner) is now Treasury Secretary  and Trump is pledged to abolish the CFPB, on the specious logic that letting fraudsters manage pension savings and other investments will give consumers and savers broader choice, e.g., for the financial equivalent of junk food. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos hopes to privatize public education into for-profit (and de-unionized) charter schools, breaking the teachers unions. This may position Trump to become the Transformational President that neoliberals have been waiting for.

But not the neocons. His election rhetoric promised to reverse traditional U.S. interventionist policy abroad. Making an anti-war left run around the Democrats, he promised to stop backing ISIS/Al Nusra (President Obamas moderate terrorists supplied with the arms and money that Hillary looted from Libya), and to reverse the Obama-Clinton administrations New Cold War with Russia. But the neocon coterie at the CIA and State Department are undercutting his proposed rapprochement with Russia by forcing out General Flynn for starters. It seems doubtful that Trump will clean them out.

Trump has called NATO obsolete, but insists that its members up their spending to the stipulated 2% of GDP  producing a windfall worth tens of billions of dollars for U.S. arms exporters. That is to be the price Europe must pay if it wants to endorse Germanys and the Baltics confrontation with Russia.

Trump is sufficiently intuitive to proclaim the euro a disaster, and he recommends that Greece leave it. He supports the rising nationalist parties in Britain, France, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands, all of which urge withdrawal from the eurozone  and reconciliation with Russia instead of sanctions. In place of the ill-fated TPP and TTIP, Trump advocates country-by-country trade deals favoring the United States. Toward this end, his designated ambassador to the European Union, Ted Malloch, urges the EUs breakup. The EU is refusing to accept him as ambassador.

Will Trumps Victory Break Up the Democratic Party?

At the time this volume is going to press, there is no way of knowing how successful these international reversals will be. What is more clear is what Trumps political impact will have at home. His victory  or more accurately, Hillarys resounding loss and the way she lost  has encouraged enormous pressure for a realignment of both parties. Regardless of what President Trump may achieve vis-a-vis Europe, his actions as celebrity chaos agent may break up U.S. politics across the political spectrum.

The Democratic Party has lost its ability to pose as the party of labor and the middle class. Firmly controlled by Wall Street and California billionaires, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) strategy of identity politics encourages any identity except that of wage earners. The candidates backed by the Donor Class have been Blue Dogs pledged to promote Wall Street and neocons urging a New Cold War with Russia.

They preferred to lose with Hillary than to win behind Bernie Sanders. So Trumps electoral victory is their legacy as well as Obamas. Instead of Trumps victory dispelling that strategy, the Democrats are doubling down. It is as if identity politics is all they have.

Trying to ride on Barack Obamas coattails didnt work. Promising hope and change, he won by posing as a transformational president, leading the Democrats to control of the White House, Senate and Congress in 2008. Swept into office by a national reaction against the George Bushs Oil War in Iraq and the junk-mortgage crisis that left the economy debt-ridden, they had free rein to pass whatever new laws they chose  even a Public Option in health care if they had wanted, or make Wall Street banks absorb the losses from their bad and often fraudulent loans.

But it turned out that Obamas role was to prevent the changes that voters hoped to see, and indeed that the economy needed to recover: financial reform, debt writedowns to bring junk mortgages in line with fair market prices, and throwing crooked bankers in jail. Obama rescued the banks, not the economy, and turned over the Justice Department and regulatory agencies to his Wall Street campaign contributors. He did not even pull back from war in the Near East, but extended it to Libya and Syria, blundering into the Ukrainian coup as well.

Having dashed the hopes of his followers, Obama then praised his chosen successor Hillary Clinton as his Third Term. Enjoying this kiss of death, Hillary promised to keep up Obamas policies.

The straw that pushed voters over the edge was when she asked voters, Arent you better off today than you were eight years ago? Who were they going to believe: their eyes, or Hillary? National income statistics showed that only the top 5 percent of the population were better off. All the growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during Obamas tenure went to them  the Donor Class that had gained control of the Democratic Party leadership. Real incomes have fallen for the remaining 95 percent, whose household budgets have been further eroded by soaring charges for health insurance. (The Democratic leadership in Congress fought tooth and nail to block Dennis Kucinich from introducing his Single Payer proposal.)

No wonder most of the geographic United States voted for change  except for where the top 5 percent, is concentrated: in New York (Wall Street) and California (Silicon Valley and the military-industrial complex). Making fun of the Obama Administrations slogan of hope and change, Trump characterized Hillarys policy of continuing the economys shrinkage for the 95% as no hope and no change.

Identity Politics as Anti-Labor Politics

A new term was introduced to the English language: Identity Politics. Its aim is for voters to think of themselves as separatist minorities  women, LGBTQ, Blacks and Hispanics. The Democrats thought they could beat Trump by organizing Women for Wall Street (and a New Cold War), LGBTQ for Wall Street (and a New Cold War), and Blacks and Hispanics for Wall Street (and a New Cold War). Each identity cohort was headed by a billionaire or hedge fund donor.

The identity that is conspicuously excluded is the working class. Identity politics strips away thinking of ones interest in terms of having to work for a living. It excludes voter protests against having their monthly paycheck stripped to pay more for health insurance, housing and mortgage charges or education, or better working conditions or consumer protection  not to speak of protecting debtors.

Identity politics used to be about three major categories: workers and unionization, anti-war protests and civil rights marches against racist Jim Crow laws. These were the three objectives of the many nationwide demonstrations. That ended when these movements got co-opted into the Democratic Party. Their reappearance in Bernie Sanders campaign in fact threatens to tear the Democratic coalition apart. As soon as the primaries were over (duly stacked against Sanders), his followers were made to feel unwelcome. Hillary sought Republican support by denouncing Sanders as being as radical as Putins Republican leadership.

In contrast to Sanders attempt to convince diverse groups that they had a common denominator in needing jobs with decent pay  and, to achieve that, in opposing Wall Streets replacing the government as central planner  the Democrats depict every identity constituency as being victimized by every other, setting themselves at each others heels. Clinton strategist John Podesta, for instance, encouraged Blacks to accuse Sanders supporters of distracting attention from racism. Pushing a common economic interest between whites, Blacks, Hispanics and LGBTQ always has been the neoliberals nightmare. No wonder they tried so hard to stop Bernie Sanders, and are maneuvering to keep his supporters from gaining influence in their party.

When Trump was inaugurated on Friday, January 20, there was no pro-jobs or anti-war demonstration. That presumably would have attracted pro-Trump supporters in an ecumenical show of force. Instead, the Womens March on Saturday led even the pro-Democrat New York Times to write a front-page article reporting that white women were complaining that they did not feel welcome in the demonstration. The message to anti-war advocates, students and Bernie supporters was that their economic cause was a distraction.

The march was typically Democratic in that its ideology did not threaten the Donor Class. As Yves Smith wrote on Naked Capitalism: the track record of non-issue-oriented marches, no matter how large scale, is poor, and the status of this march as officially sanctioned (blanket media coverage when other marches of hundreds of thousands of people have been minimized, police not tricked out in their usual riot gear) also indicates that the officialdom does not see it as a threat to the status quo.[1]

Hillarys loss was not blamed on her neoliberal support for TPP or her pro-war neocon stance, but on the revelations of the e-mails by her operative Podesta discussing his dirty tricks against Bernie Sanders (claimed to be given to Wikileaks by Russian hackers, not a domestic DNC leaker as Wikileaks claimed) and the FBI investigation of her e-mail abuses at the State Department. Backing her supporters attempt to brazen it out, the Democratic Party has doubled down on its identity politics, despite the fact that an estimated 52 percent of white women voted for Trump. After all, women do work for wages. And that also is what Blacks and Hispanics want  in addition to banking that serves their needs, not those of Wall Street, and health care that serves their needs, not those of the health-insurance and pharmaceuticals monopolies.

Bernie did not choose to run on a third-party ticket. Evidently he feared being accused of throwing the election to Trump. The question is now whether he can remake the Democratic Party as a democratic socialist party, or create a new party if the Donor Class retains its neoliberal control. It seems that he will not make a break until he concludes that a Socialist Party can leave the Democrats as far back in the dust as the Republicans left the Whigs after 1854. He may have underestimated his chance in 2016.

Trumps Effect on U.S. Political Party Realignment

During Trumps rise to the 2016 Republican nomination it seemed that he was more likely to break up the Republican Party. Its leading candidates and gurus warned that his populist victory in the primaries would tear the party apart. The polls in May and June showed him defeating Hillary Clinton easily (but losing to Bernie Sanders). But Republican leaders worried that he would not support what they believed in: namely, whatever corporate lobbyists put in their hands to enact and privatize.

The May/June polls showed Trump and Clinton were the countrys two most unpopular presidential candidates. But whereas the Democrats maneuvered Bernie out of the way, the Republican Clown Car was unable to do the same to Trump. In the end they chose to win behind him, expecting to control him. As for the DNC, its Wall Street donors preferred to lose with Hillary than to win with Bernie. They wanted to keep control of their party and continue the bargain they had made with the Republicans: The latter would move further and further to the right, leaving room for Democratic neoliberals and neocons to follow them closely, yet still pose as the lesser evil. That centrism is the essence of the Clintons triangulation strategy. It actually has been going on for a half-century. As Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere quipped in the 1960s, when he was accused by the US of running a one-party state, The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them.[2]

By 2017, voters had caught on to this two-step game. But Hillarys team paid pollsters over $1 billion to tell her (Mirror, mirror on the wall ) that she was the most popular of all. It was hubris to imagine that she could convince the 95 Percent of the people who were worse off under Obama to love her as much as her East-West Coast donors did. It was politically unrealistic  and a reflection of her cynicism  to imagine that raising enough money to buy television ads would convince working-class Republicans to vote for her, succumbing to a Stockholm Syndrome by thinking of themselves as part of the 5 Percent who had benefited from Obamas pro-Wall Street policies.

Hillarys election strategy was to make a right-wing run around Trump. While characterizing the working class as white racist deplorables, allegedly intolerant of LBGTQ or assertive women, she resurrected the ghost of Joe McCarthy and accused Trump of being Putins poodle for proposing peace with Russia. Among the most liberal Democrats, Paul Krugman still leads a biweekly charge at The New York Times that President Trump is following Moscows orders. Saturday Night Live, Bill Maher and MSNBC produce weekly skits that Trump and General Flynn are Russian puppets. A large proportion of Democrats have bought into the fairy tale that Trump didnt really win the election, but that Russian hackers manipulated the voting machines. No wonder George Orwells 1984 soared to the top of Americas best-seller lists in February 2017 as Donald Trump was taking his oath of office.

This propaganda paid off on February 13, when neocon public relations succeeded in forcing the resignation of General Flynn, whom Trump had appointed to clean out the neocons at the NSA and CIA. His foreign policy initiative based on rapprochement with Russia and hopes to create a common front against ISIS/Al Nusra seemed to be collapsing.

Tabula Rasa Celebrity Politics

U.S. presidential elections no longer are much about policy. Like Obama before him, Trump campaigned as a tabula rasa, a vehicle for everyone to project their hopes and fancies. What has all but disappeared is the past centurys idea of politics as a struggle between labor and capital, democracy vs. oligarchy.

Who would have expected even half a century ago that American politics would become so post-modern that the idea of class conflict has all but disappeared. Classical economic discourse has been drowned out by their junk economics.

There is a covert economic program, to be sure, and it is bipartisan. It is to make elections about just which celebrities will introduce neoliberal economic policies with the most convincing patter talk. That is the essence of tabula rasa politics.

Can the Democrats Lose Again in 2020?

Trumps November victory showed that voters found him to be the Lesser Evil, but all that voters really could express was throw out the bums and get a new set of lobbyists for the FIRE sector and corporate monopolists. Both candidates represented Goldman Sachs and Wall Street. No wonder voter turnout has continued to plunge.

Although the Democrats Lesser Evil argument lost to the Republicans in 2016, the neoliberals in control of the DNC found the absence of a progressive economic program to less threatening to their interests than the critique of Wall Street and neocon interventionism coming from the Sanders camp. So the Democrat will continue to pose as the Lesser Evil party not really in terms of policy, but simply ad hominem. They will merely repeat Hillarys campaign stance: They are not Trump. Their parades and street demonstrations since his inauguration have not come out for any economic policy.

On Friday, February 10, the partys Democratic Policy group held a retreat for its members in Baltimore. Third Way centrists (Republicans running as Democrats) dominated, with Hillary operatives in charge. The conclusion was that no party policy was needed at all. President Trump is a better recruitment tool for us than a central campaign issue, said Washington Rep. Denny Heck, who is leading recruitment for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).[3]

But what does their party leadership have to offer women, Blacks and Hispanics in the way of employment, more affordable health care, housing or education and better pay? Where are the New Deal pro-labor, pro-regulatory roots of bygone days? The party leadership is unwilling to admit that Trumps message about protecting jobs and opposing the TPP played a role in his election. Hillary was suspected of supporting it as the gold standard of trade deals, and Obama had made the Trans-Pacific Partnership the centerpiece of his presidency  the free-trade TPP and TTIP that would have taken economic regulatory policy out of the hands of government and given it to corporations.

Instead of accepting even Sanders centrist-left stance, the Democrats strategy was to tar Trump as pro-Russian, insist that his aides had committed impeachable offenses, and mount one parade after another. Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio told reporters she was wary of focusing solely on an economic message aimed at voters whom Trump won over in 2016, because, in her view, Trump did not win on an economic message. What Donald Trump did was address them at a very different level  an emotional level, a racial level, a fear level, she said. If all we talk about is the economic message, were not going to win.[4] This stance led Sanders supporters to walk out of a meeting organized by the centrist Third Way think tank on Wednesday, February 8.

By now this is an old story. Fifty years ago, socialists such as Michael Harrington asked why union members and progressives still imagined that they had to work through the Democratic Party. It has taken the rest of the country half a century to see that Democrats are not the party of the working class, unions, middle class, farmers or debtors. They are the party of Wall Street privatizers, bank deregulators, neocons and the military-industrial complex. Obama showed his hand  and that of his party  in his passionate attempt to ram through the corporatist TPP treaty that would have enabled corporations to sue governments for any costs imposed by public consumer protection, environmental protection or other protection of the population against financialized corporate monopolies.

Against this backdrop, Trumps promises and indeed his worldview seem quixotic. The picture of Americas future he has painted seems unattainable within the foreseeable future. It is too late to bring manufacturing back to the United States, because corporations already have shifted their supply nodes abroad, and too much U.S. infrastructure has been dismantled.

There cant be a high-speed railroad, because it would take more than four years to get the right-of-way and create a route without crossing gates or sharp curves. In any case, the role of railroads and other transportation has been to increase real estate prices along the routes. But in this case, real estate would be torn down  and having a high-speed rail does not increase land values.

The stock market has soared to new heights, anticipating lower taxes on corporate profits and a deregulation of consumer, labor and environmental protection. Trump may end up as Americas Boris Yeltsin, protecting U.S. oligarchs (not that Hillary would have been different, merely cloaked in a more colorful identity rainbow). The U.S. economy is in for Shock Therapy. Voters should look to Greece to get a taste of the future in this scenario.

Without a coherent response to neoliberalism, Trumps billionaire cabinet may do to the United States what neoliberals in the Clinton administration did to Russia after 1991: tear out all the checks and balances, and turn public wealth over to insiders and oligarchs. So Trumps his best chance to be transformative is simply to be Americas Yeltsin for his partys oligarchic backers, putting the class war back in business.

What a Truly Transformative President Would Do/Would Have Done

No administration can create a sound U.S. recovery without dealing with the problem that caused the 2008 crisis in the first place: over-indebtedness. The only one way to restore growth, raise living standards and make the economy competitive again is a debt writedown. But that is not yet on the political horizon. Obamas doublecross of his voters in 2009 prevented the needed policy from occurring. Having missed this chance in the last financial crisis, a progressive policy must await yet another crisis. But so far, no political party is preparing a program to juxtapose to Republican-Democratic austerity and scale-back of Social Security, Medicare and social spending programs in general.

Also no longer on the horizon is a more progressive income tax, or a public option for health care  or for banking, or consumer protection against financial fraud, or for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, or for a revived protection of labors right to unionize, or environmental regulations.

It seems that only a new party can achieve these aims. At the time these essays are going to press, Sanders has committed himself to working within the Democratic Party. But that stance is based on his assumption that somehow he can recruit enough activists to take over the party from Its Donor Class.

I suspect he will fail. In any case, it is easier to begin afresh than to try to re-design a party (or any institution) dominated by resistance to change, and whose idea of economic growth is a pastiche of tax cuts and deregulation. Both U.S. parties are committed to this neoliberal program  and seek to blame foreign enemies for the fact that its effect is to continue squeezing living standards and bloating the financial sector.

If this slow but inexorable crash does lead to a political crisis, it looks like the Republicans may succeed in convening a new Constitutional Convention (many states already have approved this) to lock the United States into a corporatist neoliberal world. Its slogan will be that of Margaret Thatcher: TINA  There Is No Alternative.

And who is to disagree? As Trotsky said, fascism is the result of the failure of the left to provide an alternative.

______

[1] Yves Smith, Women Skeptical of the Womens March, Naked Capitalism, February 10, 2017.

[2] Radhika Desai, Decoding Trump, Counterpunch, February 10, 2017.

[3] Pelosi denies Democrats are divided on strategy for 2018, Yahoo News, February 10, 2018. https://www.yahoo.com/news/pelosi-denies-democrats-are-divided-on-strategy-for-2018-194337876.html

[4] Ibid.
(Natural News) Wright Electric, a new American start-up expressed plans of introducing commercial, electric flights from London to Paris in the next 10 years. The plane, they said, would be able to accommodate up to 150 people on flights of less than 300 miles. However the plane is yet to go into development. According to the start-up, the commercialization of electric flights may drastically cut travel costs because the need for jet fuel will be eliminated.

The companys ambitious project, dubbed the Wright One, aims for all its electric flights to use battery-powered components for short-haul flights within the next two decades. The company also plans to develop aircraft batteries that can be detached and charged separately. This would mean that flights will no longer have to wait on the runway to refuel. The plan would encompass around 30 percent of all flights around the world, according to a company presentation. The electric flights will have zero emissions, making it an ideal option to combat air pollution. Electric flights will also promote greener and cheaper air travel, and would make for quieter air travel than conventional airplanes.

Depending on how its designed, you can have an electric plane thats substantially less loud than a fuel plane. The way weve designed our plane is to have modular battery packs for quick swap using the same cargo container thats in a regular airplane. We want it to be as fast as possible, so airlines can keep their planes in the air as long as possible and cover their costs, said Jeff Engler, Wright Electrics co-founder.

Last year, Boom introduced a prototype for a new Concorde-like supersonic jet that aims to cover a flight from London to New York in just three hours and 15 minutes. Boom was backed by Sir Richard Branson. (RELATED: Follow more news about green living at GreenLivingNews.com.)

Start-up draws support, skepticism over electric flights

Easy Jet, a British airline company, has expressed interest in the start-ups proposition. Easyjet has had discussions with Wright Electric and is actively providing an airline operators perspective on the development of this exciting technology, the airline stated.

On the other hand, Wright Electric has admitted that breakthroughs in battery technology should continue at their current rate to be able to generate enough power to give the plane the range it requires. If innovations in battery technology fall short, the company plans to switch to an alternative hybrid system that uses both jet fuel and electricity. The company currently works with American inventor Chip Yates. Yates is credited for developing the Long-ESA, the worlds fastest electric plane in the world. The start-up has also received support from Y Combinator, a Silicon Valley-based program that invests in and helps establish start-up companies.

However, skeptics were quick to dismiss the idea, stating that developing a battery that could support a passenger jet over a long distance would be a different proposition. The lack of infrastructure to charge the batteries also proved to be a major set back. Graham Warwick of Washington-based Aviation Weekly expressed the same concern, saying that the technology is currently unavailable and that developing it would be a long way to go.

However, Dr Paul Robertson, senior technology lecturer in electrical engineering at Cambridge University said that the companys plan would be feasible.

Dr. Robinson said the project may possibly materialize if the company is able to develop an aircraft that is more aerodynamic than modern airlines. Ten years is not a long time if youre starting from a blank piece of paper and trying to make an aircraft of this size. At some point in the future all planes will be powered by electricity, Dr. Robinson added.

Explore more news about technology innovation and discoveries at Discoveries.news.

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

BBC.com

Standard.co.uk
Sunday, March 26, 2017 by: Earl Garcia Tags: autism , vitamin D , vitamin D deficiency This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) High vitamin D intake during pregnancy may result in a lower likelihood of autism spectrum disorder in children, according to a recent Australian study. Researchers at the University of Queensland utilized a widely acceptable autism model in mice. The mice showed adverse symptoms such as abnormal behavior and basic learning and social interaction deficits, the researchers noted

Research data revealed that pregnant mice on vitamin D treatment gave birth to offspring that did not show behaviors associated with autism. The results of the animal study, which received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, demonstrate that vitamin D level is a key contributor in brain development, lead researcher Professor Darryl Eyles stated.

Recent funding will now allow us to determine how much cholecalciferol  the supplement form that is safe for pregnant women  is needed to achieve the same levels of active hormonal vitamin D in the bloodstream. This new information will allow us to further investigate the ideal dose and timing of vitamin D supplementation for pregnant women, said researcher Dr. Wei Luan.

The findings appear in the journal Molecular Autism.

Vitamin D, ASD link more pronounced in human studies

A vast number of human studies have already proven a correlation between vitamin D levels and autism onset in children.

Autism researchers at Chinas First Hospital of Jilin University found that daily oral intake and monthly injection of vitamin D3 resulted in marked behavioral improvements in a 32 month-old toddler with autism. Researchers said, the toddler was more responsive, stopped banging his head, and running in circles at two months following the vitamin D treatment. However, data from the single case study cannot be taken as a general representation for all patients with autism prectrum disorder, researchers said. The findings were published in Pediatrics. Two other human studies have shown that low levels of vitamin D may exacerbate the risk of developing autism.

A previous study found that low vitamin D levels during pregnancy may increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder in children. Data on 4,200 blood samples from pregnant women and children showed that those who had low vitamin D levels during the 20th week of pregnancy had increased odds of giving birth to children who will exhibit autism-related behavior by the age of six. Researchers said the results demonstrate that vitamin D deficiency maybe linked to the onset of neurological diseases. The increased availability of safe and less expensive vitamin D supplements may help reduce the prevalence of known risk factors associated with autism, the experts added.

Another study reveled that children with autism spectrum disorder exhibited significantly lower vitamin D levels at birth compared with their siblings. The small Swedish study examined 58 pairs of siblings and showed that the average vitamin D level was only 24 nanomoles per liter in children with autism, compared with 31.9 nM in their healthier siblings.

Children born during winter also had lower vitamin D levels compared with those born during summer, according to the researchers. Low vitamin D level was also more pronounced in children of African and Middle Eastern descent, researchers added.

These new results suggest that vitamin D may be another nutritional factor important in the development of autism spectrum disorder during pregnancy and early life. The researchers found a wide range of vitamin D levels among the children with autism and an overlap in vitamin D levels between those who developed the disorder and those who did not. So theres still much we dont understand, said Dr. Paul Wang, a developmental pediatrician and head of medical research at Autism Speaks.

Follow more news about the disease prevention effects of targeted nutrients at Nutrients.news.

Sources:

ScienceDaily.com

AutismSpeaks.org

TheGuardian.com
(Natural News) If you are a salmon lover, you may have to cut back on how much of this vitamin D and omega-3 rich food you eat. If their number keeps declining, eating salmon will become a luxury for which we will have to reach deep into our wallet.

You may have heard that at some point in its life, every salmon returns to its natal stream to spawn and die. This natural process has been happening since long before we consumed our first fish. Today, however, salmon are disappearing at an alarming rate. Somewhere between the North Pacific Ocean and their spawning place, hundreds of millions of Pacific salmon are vanishing into thin air. Though it is still uncertain whats causing the disappearance, experts believe they are starving to death because the once flourishing plankton pastures have turned into lifeless deserts.

As the salmon are dying by the millions, the government issued an emergency order along the western U.S. coast to cancel the spring king, or Chinook, salmon fishing activities. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, salmon runs have dropped to record levels. Experts predict that the return of spawning Chinook salmon to the Klamath River will hit its lowest point ever this fall. It will be a huge challenge and difficult year for ocean salmon fishermen, especially in Oregon and California, reported the Council Chair Herb Pollard.

Weve been in a period of low productivity, not just on the Taku, but on several rivers up and down the coast, said Juneau Area Management Biologist Daniel Teske, who expects a second-straight year of record-low salmon returning to their birthplace. Teske added that he is almost certain that the increased die-off must be happening in the ocean since all four rivers are being affected by low returns of the Southeast king salmon. (RELATED: Find more environmental news at Environ.news.)

The oceans are dying. How to solve the issues?

The West Coast fishermen are not the only ones struggling. According to Russ George, a salmon savior who has more than 40 years of hands-on work to restore trees and seas, Japanese salmon fisheries are also in a historic collapse. The Japanese have seen the salmon population decline at a rapid pace. For several years in a row, they reported smaller fish and a meager catch. According to Minato-Tsukiji, chum salmon landings are the worst in 24 years.

Whats more, it is not only salmon in the Pacific that are dying or disappearing at an alarming rate; all marine life is struggling. In one single year, more deceased great whales have washed up on our beaches than in the past decade. Just as tens of thousands of dead seabirds and baby sea lions found along our beaches, these whales starved to death.

But there is hope. In 2012, Georges company, Ocean Pastures, completed a pilot project designed to restore and replenish salmon pastures in the North East Pacific Ocean. They were overwhelmed by the effect the revived ocean pastures had on the salmon population. According to the reports, hundreds of millions of additional salmon, coming from these underwater fields, swam back home to their ancestral waters to produce offspring in 2013. That year, fishers reported the largest catch of salmon in the history of Alaska.

The fish came back, and it is now more important than ever to head back out to sea to save them again, George said on his website.

Follow more news about the collapsing food supply at FoodSupply.news.

Sources:

EneNews.com

UnderCurrentNews.com

RussGeorge.net

RussGeorge.net
Sunday, March 26, 2017 by: Ethan Huff Tags: CDC , monkey tissue , vaccines This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) Now that its been proven that vaccine manufacturers harvest kidney cells from African Green Monkeys to produce vaccines that are injected into children, many are now wondering just how many of these monkey are captured, euthanized, and processed into vaccine ingredients each year to make these FDA-approved poison jabs?

As you may recall, Natural News was falsely accused of spreading fake news after breaking the story on African Green Monkey kidney cells, and other horrific ingredients, being used in the manufacture of vaccines. For merely publishing the ingredients listed on the vaccine package inserts that manufacturers are required to provide with their vaccines, Natural News faced an unrelenting barrage of fact-less criticism.

Not long after, though, it was realized that Natural News was telling the truth: these ingredients are, indeed, being used in childhood vaccines, and many parents arent aware of this fact because their doctors and pediatricians arent showing them the vaccine package inserts. Now the outrage is going in the other direction, as it should, because people are realizing that theyve been lied to by their government. (RELATED: You can stay informed on important vaccine issues by visiting Vaccines.news.)

As Natural News correctly reported, one of the many animal-derived ingredients used in vaccines and openly admitted by the CDC is African Green Monkey kidney cells, writes Mike Adams, the Health Ranger. Apparently, this realization was just too much for the scientifically illiterate media (and wholly dishonest vaccine pushers) who insisted it couldnt possibly be true.

You can see the list of ingredients yourself, published by the CDC, at this Natural News article link.

Parents: are you aware of all the horrible things being injected into your children?

Knowing that millions of vaccine are produced and administered every single year for injection into children, it boggles the mind to consider just how many of these African Green Monkeys are being subjected to death in order to manufacture them. The number has to be at least into the thousands, though no official number has been released by the CDC.

Many of these same vaccines also contain cells from aborted human fetal tissue, which sheds a whole new light on Planned Parenthoods illegal baby harvesting scheme that involved selling aborted baby body parts to biotechnology companies for use in manufacturing medicines. It is now abundantly obvious that Planned Parenthood was trafficking those baby body parts for potential use in vaccine manufacture.

This is in addition to all the viruses, heavy metals, chemical preservatives, food colorings, and other toxic ingredients used in making vaccines. Children today are being injected with some of the most disturbing and poisonous substances known to mankind, and very few people seem at all concerned with whats going on.

Its probably because so many people dont even know whats going on, thanks to the mainstream medias dereliction of duty in reporting on this important subject. Every parent should be required to peruse a vaccine package insert before injecting his or her child with a vaccine, and yet this is rarely the case.

Most doctors fail to inform parents about the presence of both human and animal tissue in their childrens medicine, for instance. They rarely mention the use of toxic mercury (thimerosal) in vaccines, or other noxious ingredients like aluminum, genetically-modified (GM) byproducts, cow blood, chemical solvents, and more. These additives are certifiably NOT safe, and they serve no beneficial purpose for those into whom theyre being injected.

Several vaccines currently available in the United States were developed using the Vero cell line, started from African green monkey kidney cells, explains The History of Vaccines.

These include:

 Rotavirus vaccines (Rotarix by GlaxoSmithKline and RotaTeq by Merck & Co.)

 Polio vaccine (IPOL by Sanofi Pasteur)

 Smallpox vaccine (ACAM2000 by Sanofi Pasteur)

 Japanese encephalitis vaccine (Ixiaro by Intercell)

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

HistoryOfVaccines.org
(Natural News) In an attempt to downplay the GOPs failure to advance an Obamacare repeal and replace measure on Friday, President Donald J. Trump used Twitter to instill in Americans that it will eventually get done.

Obamacare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry! he tweeted.

It was a reassuring note after House Speaker Paul Ryan canceled the scheduled vote on the American Health Care Act. It had become apparent that there would not be enough votes in the House to pass it.

Were going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future, Ryan said after pulling the legislation, indicating that for the time being, neither he nor the president would be reintroducing a new bill.

ObamaCare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2017

Earlier, reports noted that the president may now shift to tax reform  another major campaign pledge  while allowing Obamacare to implode, which he has long stated is an eventuality.

While Trumps tweet suggested a bipartisan approach to getting Obamacare repealed at some future point, he and others in his administration laid blame for the laws failure and the inability to get a reform measure through on Democrats. (RELATED: Read The One Element That Should Be In ANY Obamacare Repeal Is Freedom.)

Ive been saying for the last year and a half that the best thing we can do, politically speaking, is let Obamacare explode. It is exploding right now. Many states have big problems  almost all states have big problems, Trump said Friday after Ryan pulled the bill.

So Obamacare is exploding. With no Democrat support we couldnt quite get there, he said. So what would be really good, with no Democrat support, is if the Democrats, when it explodes  which it will soon  if they got together with us and got a real healthcare bill. I would be totally up to do it. And I think thats going to happen. I think the losers are Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, because now they own Obamacare. They own it  100 percent own it.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer echoed the presidents view that Democrats, once again, must shoulder the responsibility for Obamacares broken promises, including higher monthly premiums, higher deductibles, fewer insurer choices and collapsing Obamacare exchanges.

The message today that is sent is: Democrats own ObamaCare, Spicer said. Its a failing system  skyrocketing premiums and deductibles, and fewer choices. But its now squarely in the hands of Democrats. They own this, he told Fox News Martha McCallum.

Ultimately, I think his view on health care is that this is going to collapse on its own, Spicer said, noting that the president was a bit disappointed not to have gotten anything through. Democrats and some of these other members are going to come crawling back at some point.

Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but whats clear is that Obamacare, in general, remains very unpopular as is.

But its Washington, and Trump is dealing with politicians, not businessmen and women. The deal he seeks is with people who are not thinking about profits and who are not worried about their own fates. He is dealing with folks who are far more concerned with polling data, media reports and special interest groups.

Still, given the fact that Trump and Republican leaders ran on (and in large part won on) a promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, its a near certainty that it gets done at some point, with or without Democratic help, though the latter is the most likely of scenarios. (RELATED: Read Now is not the time for conservatives and Trump supporters to panic over Obamacare repeal and replace.)

So, Americans have every right to expect the GOP and the president to go back to the drawing board, come up with something that most factions of Republican lawmakers and the White House can agree on, and start providing relief to the vast majority of Americans negatively affected by Obamacare.

Trump and his team are right though, in reminding the country that the imposition of Obamacare came compliments of the Democratic Party in the first place. They do indeed own the law, which means they also own the damage it has caused and will continue to cause to the health care industry.

One of the bitter ironies of all this is that Democrats claim to want to provide health care for all Americans, but a significant number of insured people still skip care because they cant afford their high deductibles. Keep up with the latest developments in the healthcare standoff at Conservative.news.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

NPR.org

TheNationalSentinelcom

RasmussenReports.com
A Korean War soldier from Massachusetts is finally getting a proper farewell 67 years after he was reported missing in action.

The remains of Cpl. Jules Hauterman are scheduled to return to Holyoke on Wednesday.

Hauterman was a medic attached to the 31st Regimental Combat Team who went missing in December 1950 during fierce fighting against Chinese forces at the Chosin Reservoir.

His remains were discovered in 1954 but were not positively identified until last year.

Because Hauterman has so few living relatives, Holyoke's veterans service department is asking residents to turn out to show their respects.

Calling hours at the Barry J. Farrell Funeral Home are Thursday. A funeral Mass will be held Friday at Blessed Sacrament Church, followed by burial at St. Jerome's Cemetery.
Three people were killed and at least 29 others have been wounded in shootings across Chicago since Friday afternoon.

The most recent fatal shooting happened about 1:40 p.m. Sunday in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side. Tanisha Jackson, 30, was killed and two people were injured when they got in an argument with another group of people in the 900 block of West 76th Street, and two males pulled out guns and fired shots, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiners office. Jackson, who lived in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, was shot multiple times and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she was pronounced dead at 6:15 a.m. A 29-year-old man was shot in the back and taken in critical condition to Christ Medical Center, and a 28-year-old woman was grazed in the chest and refused medical attention.

A 14-year-old boy was gunned down shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side. Laquan Allen was on the sidewalk in the 4900 block of West Hubbard when someone fired shots from a passing vehicle, authorities said. Allen suffered a gunshot wound to the buttocks and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:34 p.m. He lived in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Another person was killed just before 5 p.m. Friday in the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side. Tomorry Hill, 20, was walking in the 6600 block of South Laflin when a vehicle pulled up and someone inside shot him repeatedly, authorities said. Hill, who lived in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, died at 5:39 p.m. at Stroger Hospital.

The most recent nonfatal shooting happened about 9:45 p.m. Sunday in Austin. A 35-year-old man was standing on the sidewalk in the 1700 block of North Cicero when someone walked up and fired shots, police said. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the right leg and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

At least 26 other people have been wounded in Chicago shootings since 2:30 p.m. Friday.

Eighteen people were shot in the city last weekend, leaving two dead. More than 680 people have been shot in Chicago so far this year, 121 fatally.
A toddler was rushed to the hospital after being struck by a car on Ledge Road in the Dayville section of Killingly Saturday, according to emergency dispatchers.

Quinebaug Valley Emergency Communications confirmed crews responded to a home on Ledge Road for a report of a 2-year-old child who was struck by a car.

State police said that the child was taken to Hasbro Hospital in Rhode Island for treatment. The extent of the childs injuries are unknown at this time, dispatchers said.

Lifestar confirmed they were requested but were unable to fly due to weather.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
As I write this column, many schools in our area are either wrapping up a week of spring break or just starting their week.

My kids fall into the first group and are just finishing their spring break. Its pretty customary now for most schools to have a week-long spring break.

This is my daughters first year of being in school all day every day and weve already discovered that having a week to recharge and spend time together as a family was a great opportunity. One we definitely tried to make the most of.

Back when I was in school, we didnt get a week off for spring break. Instead, we just had the Friday and Monday off around Easter. But if we had too many snow days prior, one or both of those days would turn into a makeup school day. Oh, the devastation that caused!

This year in preparation of my childrens spring break, I came up with a list ahead of time of things we might want to do. I didnt plan every day but I did want ideas for activities as 10 days (including weekends and a bonus day for conferences) is a long stretch of time and could bring on cabin fever if cooped up at home for the duration.

It turned out to be a great week. We visited some local points of interest, like swimming at the CRC in Osage, something we had never done before.

Another day, we went to a movie, which is always a treat. We took a little getaway to Minneapolis for a two night stay at a hotel and packed our days with a lot of fun new experiences. We jumped on trampolines at Sky Zone, got creative at the Crayola Experience and ate at Chuck E Cheeses, which seems to be every childs wonderland. And of course, we spent a lot of time at the hotel pool. We laughed a lot and came home a little sore thanks to the trampolines.

But my kids also loved simply spending time at home playing with their toys, watching movies, enjoying a more relaxed bedtime and just being together. There were a couple days they stayed in their pajamas all day, something they love but rarely get to do.

Since my daughter started kindergarten, she doesnt have as much time to really play at home. But during spring break she had days to play. It was so nice to see her use her imagination and really enjoy her toys with no time limits.

I feel like we packed a lot into our week but also had a lot of time at home to just play and relax.

From talking with other parents and seeing what was shared on social media, it seems most families really took advantage of their childrens spring break. Some went on fantastic week-long vacations. Others took day trips to Des Moines, Wisconsin Dells, Minneapolis, etc., or enjoyed local experiences like making pottery and roller skating.

Many enjoyed time at home baking, doing art projects and playing games. For many, the week included time with grandparents, cousins and other relatives. It was just wonderful to see so many families enjoying their time together.

Perhaps having a solid week off prompts families to be more intentional about how they spend their time. Whereas if you have a Friday and/or Monday break, its more of a long weekend and a chance to catch up on chores around the house and the time kind of slips away. But a week break is a significant amount of time. Time our family is grateful for.

School will soon be back in session and it will be okay to return to our normal routine. My daughter is excited to go back to school and see her teacher and friends. But it was nice to have a break for our family to refresh. I asked my kids separately what their favorite thing we did on spring break was. They both answered, Staying in a hotel! I cant say I was surprised. I mean, to a kid, a hotel with a pool is as good as it gets.

Coming off of a great spring break does make me start to look ahead to summer and brainstorm how to spend our time. It will include many unscheduled leisurely days at home. But hopefully, there will also be more getaways long or short, local adventures and fun projects, games and playtime at home. And of course, lots of laughter.
Rescuers continue to search for a missing Plainville man in the wooded areas off North Mountain Road in New Britain after he did not return home Saturday.

Authorities believe 64-year-old Arthur Williams went hiking Saturday. They said he was last seen wearing jeans and a camouflage Army-style jacket. He had a black backpack and was holding ski poles or walking sticks. He does not have a cell phone.

He was seen walking west on North Mountain Road in New Britain in the area of Pinnacle Mountain near the Metacomet Trail around noon Saturday.

Williams' family told authorities he has been known to hike in the area, but has not gone this long without coming back before.

A Connecticut State Police helicopter was called in to assist Plainville police with the search Sunday afternoon.

Police suspended the search when it became too dark to search Sunday, but rescue crews are out again and they are dealing with rain and some fog.

"It's going to make the situation slippery. Visibility is low and we're not able to utilize Trooper One (helicopter) again on a second day because of the conditions," Lt. Eric Peterson, of the Plainville Police Department, said.

Peterson said Williams knows the area and the trails well.

"He grew up in the area and hiked up there since he was a kid, so he knows the whole terrain really well," Peterson said.

Williams' son said authorities are keeping family members out of the search area for now so K9s can conduct a search, but he is determined to find his father and is hoping to go into the woods today.

Anyone with information about Williams' whereabouts should call the Plainville Police Department at 860-747-1616.
Coast Guard personnel helped rescue eight people after one pleasure boat hit another near some jetties in South Texas.

A Coast Guard helicopter transported one man for treatment of a hip injury following Saturday's accident near the Port Aransas jetties. Coast Guard officials believe a rogue wave capsized one boat, which was struck by a second boat.

Lt. Karl Alejandre on Sunday had no further details on the victim.

Police in Port Aransas, about 200 miles southwest of Houston, received reports of people in the water after a two boats collided. Alejandre says four people from the second boat were able to right their vessel and help three people who were in the water. The other boat sank.

Texas Parks & Wildlife personnel also assisted.
A Texas family received the gift of a lifetime on Saturday, a new house from the non-profit Building Homes for Heroes.

But it all came as a big surprise to them.

Kody Wilson, his wife Laura and their three children were invited to attend the announcement at the last minute.

This was a very big surprise, he said.

Building Homes for Heroes provides mortgage-free homes for wounded military veterans.

Wilson lost his leg when an improvised explosive device detonated during a convoy in Iraq. He said his family has bounced around since he was discharged from the Army in 2011 and that the new home will bring them stability.

This is going to be the first time that I feel like Im planting roots and now I have a family to support. Its going to relieve a lot of stress, he said.

The Wilsons future home will be in the community of Harvest in Argyle. Its the same neighborhood wounded veteran Randy Nantz received a mortgage-free home that should be completed in May.

Its hard to put into words when someone gives you a home. People get fishing trips and bikes and all that other stuff and thats all fine and good but an actual home, that's a big deal, Nantz said.

The Wilsons currently live in Marble Falls, but expect to move into their new home in August.
United Airlines is facing backlash from customers after two girls wearing leggings were denied entry onto a flight because a gate agent deemed their attire improper, NBC News reported.

Shannon Watts said she was waiting to board a plane to Mexico for vacation when she overheard a female gate agent deny entry to a young girl wearing gray leggings and saying, "I don't make the rules, I just enforce them."

The girl, who Watts said was about 10 or 11 years old, had a dress in her backpack to put over leggings and was eventually allowed onto the flight. Two other female passengers who did not have a change of clothes were also denied entry, she said.

Defending the decision on Twitter, United Airlines initially cited a rule in the company's contract of carriage, which states the company can refuse transport to "passengers who are barefoot or not properly clothed," adding that the girls were flying as "pass travelers," meaning they were relatives or friends of an United Airlines employee.
A new bill might allow students at California's public universities and colleges to receive medical abortion pills at student health centers, NBC4's media partner KPCC reports.

The bill  currently in the California legislature  would require all public universities and community colleges in the state to provide the pregnancy-ending pills.

A medical abortion ends pregnancy in the early stages and requires taking two pills: mifepristone and misoprostol. The first pill stops the pregnancy from developing and the second causes bleeding that empties the uterus. Both drugs are included on the World Health Organization's Model List of Essential Medicines.

The bill introduced by Sen. Connie Leyva (D- Chino) would require the 10 University of California campuses, 23 Cal State University schools and around 70 community colleges that have student health centers to provide the pills. Leyva said increasing accessibility to the medication is an important step.

"If you have to travel off campus in order to receive this medication its going to be too costly, sometimes its too far to go, and its already a stressful situation," she told KPCC.

Read more at KPCC
Thousands of people gathered in Huntington Beach Saturday for a "Make America Great Again" march and rally, and half a dozen people were arrested during the event, police said.

Attendees said they came out to support not only President Donald Trump, but veterans, law enforcement and first responders as well.

About 2,000 people came out for the Orange County event, according to Capt. Kevin Pearsall of California State Park police. About 30 or 40 counter-protesters attended.

Pearsall said there was a "disagreement of beliefs" that resulted in six arrests, some of which were for the "illegal use of pepper spray."

The march along Pacific Coast Highway at Bolsa Chica State Beach was one of dozens planned across the country. The Orange County rally was originally planned to take place at the OC Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa, but officials there decided to close down for the weekend, fearing a potential clash between participants and anti-Trump protesters.

Such clashes have marred past Trump rallies, including one last year at the Pacific Amphitheatre that resulted in more than a dozen arrests.

Thanks you for all of the Trump Rallies today. Amazing support. We will all MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/qSD1tYUhmP  President Trump (@POTUS) March 25, 2017

At a smaller event held in Los Angeles near Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, three were arrested: one for battery, one for criminal threats and one for possession of brass knuckles, police said.

A Philadelphia "MAGA" March was met in the streets by a group of anti-Trump protesters, who had been using the hashtag #DisruptMAGA to organize on social media. The planned march was stopped short of its intended destination by police, who wanted to avoid a clash between the two groups. Two people, a man and a teen boy, were cited for disorderly conduct, NBC Philadelphia reported.

Video taken Saturday appeared to show a police officer swinging a bike at someone during a Philadelphia event. It was not clear to which group the person belonged, or what occurred before.

Philadelphia police public information officer Sgt. Eric Gripp told NBC Philadelphia that police are aware of the video and are looking into it.

A Jersey Shore event drew around 2,000 Trump supporters Saturday. Trump backers there carried homemade signs and American flags. There were also chants of "Lock her up," a reference to Trump's Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton that became a popular refrain during his presidential campaign events.

The Jersey rally was mostly peaceful, but there was a minor scuffle early on when some anti-Trump protesters tried to make their way through the crowd. Undercover police officers quickly surrounded the anti-Trump group and escorted them out of the crowd without further incident, NBC New York reported.

Trump fans also gathered in Boston, some eager to show their support to the President after his decision this week to pull the American Health Care Act, the bill designed to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

I would rather someone say, 'You know what, its not going to work, its not what they want.' Hes working with the people, supporter Kelly McHuth said.

Anti-Trump ralliers turned out in Boston as well, but despite tensions between the groups, the event there ended without violence.

According to organizers, the Make America Great Again events were designed to show "we love our country and we want to show gratitude to the men and women who put their own lives on the line every day."
A special citizenship ceremony just for young people was held Saturday morning in Hialeah.

The pledge of allegiance was proudly proclaimed from the pint-sized crowd. Children were waving their American flags as they were welcomed as America's newest citizens on Saturday.

"Today is a great day," said Ana Santiago, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson. "As you can see they came all dressed up and we have these children here today from various ages and for many it's a dream come true for their parents."

The group of about 100 children applicants--ranged from one to 18 years old--and hailed from a wide array of countries like Costa Rica, Haiti, Mexico, Russia and Cuba just to name a few.

"I feel really good actually," David Jover Pozo said. "Finally got my citizenship which I've been waiting for quite a while does my parents actually got it last year"

New U.S. citizen Maria Guerrero said she's very grateful and has long been awaiting this moment.

"I came here at a young age at six years old and 10 years, 11 years later I'm becoming a citizen a bit late but at least I did it and I'm very proud," she said.

It was a long process but the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Hialeah was filled to the brim with these new patriots in this symbolic ceremony.

"Voting and being able to actually decide things in this country and being part of the country and feeling like a whole, it's nice," Pozo said.

This major American dream with plenty of opportunities is now fulfilled for these new young citizens.

"Now when they grow up they'll be able to fully participate in America is democracy," Santiago said.
Gunfire erupted inside a crowded nightclub in Cincinnati early Sunday, killing one person and wounding more than a dozen others.

Just after 1 a.m., officers responded to calls of shots fired at Cameo NightLife, located in the 4600 block of Kellogg Avenue, according to police.

Sixteen people were shot, one fatally, officials said at a news conference Sunday morning.

Authorities identified the victim who died as 27-year-old Obryan Spikes. The other 15 victims were taken by ambulance or drove themselves to area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to serious, police said.

One victim remained in "extremely critical condition," according to Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac.

Cincinnati Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate initially tweeted at 5:21 a.m. that only one shooter had been reported, though authorities later said they believed multiple people opened fire in what started as an argument.

Several local men got into a dispute inside the bar and it escalated into shots being fired, Isaac explained, adding that the club does wand individuals and pat them down, however, what we know at this point, several firearms were able to be brought inside the bar.

The conflict is believed to have begun between specific groups of individuals earlier in the day, escalating to the nightclub tragedy, the City of Cincinnatis official account tweeted.

No one was in custody as authorities continued to investigate.

Police said there was no indication that the shooting was terrorism related, though Mayor John Cranley said that did not make the incident any less devastating.

"There is no evidence that this was a terrorist attack," Cranley said, "However, to the victims, what difference does it make?"

"This is a country where you should be able to go out and have a good time and not be in fear of getting shot," he added. "This is a tragedy that has struck other cities and now has hit Cincinnati."

Hundreds of people were in the nightclub when the shooting occurred, authorities said, many of whom fled the scene, making it difficult for investigators to identify witnesses.

"The biggest problem when you have a large crowd like this and the shots ring out, a lot of the witnesses disappear," Capt. Kim Williams said, adding that the scene became "just a lot of chaos, obviously, when shots were fired.

"Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst," she said.

Cameo's Facebook page says it caters to college students on Friday nights, when anyone over 18 is allowed in, while Saturdays are "grown and sexy night" for ages 21 and older.

Full parking lots added to the mayhem, Sgt. Eric Franz told the Cincinnati Enquirer, as first responders had problems initially reaching the victims.

Several off-duty officers were working security at the club; some performed first aid and tried to revive the person who died, police said.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on Twitter that he was "saddened to learn about last night's shooting" and offered assistance from the state.

Authorities asked anyone with information on the incident to contact police, while Cincinnati restaurateur Jeff Ruby offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the person responsible.

We need to identify the shooter or shooters in this case, Cranley said. We must bring the shooters to justice.
Thousands of people gathered in Huntington Beach Saturday for a "Make America Great Again" march and rally, and half a dozen people were arrested during the event, police said.

Attendees said they came out to support not only President Donald Trump, but veterans, law enforcement and first responders as well.

About 2,000 people came out for the Orange County event, according to Capt. Kevin Pearsall of California State Park police. About 30 or 40 counter-protesters attended.

Pearsall said there was a "disagreement of beliefs" that resulted in six arrests, some of which were for the "illegal use of pepper spray."

The march along Pacific Coast Highway at Bolsa Chica State Beach was one of dozens planned across the country. The Orange County rally was originally planned to take place at the OC Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa, but officials there decided to close down for the weekend, fearing a potential clash between participants and anti-Trump protesters.

Such clashes have marred past Trump rallies, including one last year at the Pacific Amphitheatre that resulted in more than a dozen arrests.

At a smaller event held in Los Angeles near Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, three were arrested: one for battery, one for criminal threats and one for possession of brass knuckles, police said.

A Philadelphia "MAGA" March was met in the streets by a group of anti-Trump protesters, who had been using the hashtag #DisruptMAGA to organize on social media. The planned march was stopped short of its intended destination by police, who wanted to avoid a clash between the two groups. Two people, a man and a teen boy, were cited for disorderly conduct, NBC Philadelphia reported.

Video taken Saturday appeared to show a police officer swinging a bike at someone during a Philadelphia event. It was not clear to which group the person belonged, or what occurred before.

Philadelphia police public information officer Sgt. Eric Gripp told NBC Philadelphia that police are aware of the video and are looking into it.

A Jersey Shore event drew around 2,000 Trump supporters Saturday. Trump backers there carried homemade signs and American flags. There were also chants of "Lock her up," a reference to Trump's Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton that became a popular refrain during his presidential campaign events.

The Jersey rally was mostly peaceful, but there was a minor scuffle early on when some anti-Trump protesters tried to make their way through the crowd. Undercover police officers quickly surrounded the anti-Trump group and escorted them out of the crowd without further incident, NBC New York reported.

Trump fans also gathered in Boston, some eager to show their support to the President after his decision this week to pull the American Health Care Act, the bill designed to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

I would rather someone say, 'You know what, its not going to work, its not what they want.' Hes working with the people, supporter Kelly McHuth said.

Anti-Trump ralliers turned out in Boston as well, but despite tensions between the groups, the event there ended without violence.

According to organizers, the Make America Great Again events were designed to show "we love our country and we want to show gratitude to the men and women who put their own lives on the line every day."
A man was arrested for allegedly fondling himself in front of women at three stores in Delaware.

Police say Marvin Wiggins, 56, of Colonia, New Jersey approached women inside Target, TJMaxx and Kohls stores in the Dover, Delaware area Thursday and Friday.

During each incident, Wiggins asked the women for advice on Baby Shower or House warming gifts, police said. He then allegedly fondled himself through his clothing while asking the women to look at his genitals through his sweatpants.

Wiggins was arrested and charged with criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, lewdness and harassment.






Firefighters battled a large fire at a building in downtown Wilmington, Delaware.

The two-alarm fire started at a sneaker store on 405 North Market Street at 2:10 p.m. Sunday. Around 60 firefighters and EMS workers from several companies responded to the scene as thick, heavy black smoke blanketed the area.

"It seemed surreal when I came out," said George Jones, the owner of the nearby D&H Restaurant. "End of days type scenario. It was crazy. It was crazy."

Firefighters battled a 2-alarm blaze in downtown Wilmington, Delaware Sunday. NBC10s Drew Smith speaks to a witness and a nearby business owner.

Firefighters first tried to battle the blaze inside the building but realized they had to take the fight outdoors instead.

"Fire conditions were overwhelming," said Wilmington Fire Chief Michael Donohue. "All members were evacuated and we went with basically a defensive exterior attack."

Firefighters were able to place the blaze under control at 5:32 p.m. The sneaker store is a total loss and the fire also damaged several other businesses and apartment units. While no injuries were reported the Red Cross is assisting five adults.

"As soon as the cop was banging on the door he wouldn't even let us grab extra stuff," said Stacy O'Dell who was forced to evacuate her apartment due to the fire. "He was just like, 'Come on! Let's go! You guys gotta go!'"

The area along 400 North Market Street is currently closed off to traffic and officials are asking residents to avoid the area, even during Monday's morning commute. They continue to investigate the cause of the fire.

Firefighters are battling a fire that spread through businesses in Wilmington, Delaware Sunday afternoon.
A federal judge has ruled against three former detectives who claimed that the Delaware attorney general's office refused to pay them overtime.

Robert Durnan, Gerald Christian and Mark Forbes also alleged in their 2014 lawsuit that they were subjected to retaliatory reassignments or duty restrictions after their attorney sought payment for overtime accrued since November 2010.

But the judge on Friday granted summary judgment to the state Department of Justice and former deputy attorney general Tim Mullaney.

The lawsuit claimed the men's duties, primarily returning fugitives to Delaware, were taken over by other employees who lacked the proper training, including the late Attorney General Beau Biden's former chauffeur.

Court records also indicate that Durnan was eventually terminated after officials found several pornographic and crude emails on his state email account.
A New York City man is in custody after Pennsylvania state police thwarted his plan to meet and rape an 11-year-old girl for the third time in Lehigh Valley, according to investigators.

Sandro Zhinin was arrested in Hanover Township Saturday. Police say they received a tip that the 33-year-old was traveling to Pennsylvania Saturday to meet the child before taking her to a hotel. Investigators then set up surveillance at the playground and Zhinin was taken into custody once he arrived, police said.

According to police, Zhinin had executed this plan twice before.

Police say that after Zhinin connected with the girl online, he met her at a playground on March 4, drove her to a hotel and sexually assaulted her. He then sexually assaulted her again one week later on March 11, police said.

Zhinin is being held on $500,000 bond. He will be charged with rape of a child, statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of a minor, and criminal use of a cellphone, according to state police.
One person was killed and three others injured, one critically, in a pair of unrelated shootings near the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus in which two suspects were arrested, authorities said.

Police in the borough of Indiana said two men were walking together shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday when a group of three men approached. During a confrontation that ensued one of the two men fired five rounds, hitting the man he was with in the forearm and a man from the other group in the leg and foot. Thomas Stanko, 21, of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangering.

Within an hour, a man and a woman were shot in the torso several blocks away by a man who believed the male victim had stolen from him earlier, police said. Carlos Recaldecampos, 21, was pronounced dead shortly after 6 a.m. Saturday at UPMC Presbyterian, the Allegheny County medical examiner's office said. The 20-year-old woman, described as a bystander, was listed in critical condition at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center.

Matthew McNevin, 20, of Indiana, was charged with criminal homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, reckless endangering and other counts involving the gun, which authorities said was stolen. He and Stanko were both scheduled for April 10 preliminary hearings; court documents don't list attorneys who could respond to the charges and listed phone numbers for the defendants couldn't be found Saturday.

The shootings occurred during "IUPatty's Day,'' an unsanctioned-- and often raucous-- student celebration of St. Patrick's Day.

"We have a large influx of people into our community this weekend and now we've seen what happens with guns,'' District Attorney Patrick Dougherty said. "At some point we as a community need to say enough is enough and we aren't going to tolerate gun violence in our communities. The loss of young people's lives must stop.''
The U.S. Department of Justice is officially investigating Congressman Duncan Hunter to see if he violated campaign finance rules.

Last week the DOJ asked the House Ethics Committee to suspend its investigation and let them take over.

Shawn Van Diver of the Truman National Security Project believes that move by the DOJ could signal bad news for Hunter.

They wouldn't be doing this if there was nothing to investigate right? This doesn't just happen, he explains to NBC 7.

The Department is investigating the legality of about $60,000 of Congressman Hunter's campaign committee that went toward personal expenses.

Hunter spent the money over a nearly two-year period on hotels overseas, jewelry, airfare and even dental services among other expenses.

By Van Divers count, the Justice Department has done this five times since 2010.

Other times we've seen that happen are in cases like Jesse Jackson Jr. and Aaron Shock and Michael Grimm, he says.

Grimm, a former New York Congressman, was sentenced to eight months for tax fraud in 2015.

Shock was a former Illinois congressman indicted on 24 counts for misuse of campaign funds.

Two of them have gone to jail, one of them is on trial right now, one that's about to go to trial they're at the grand jury and the other is Duncan Hunter, Van Diver says ominously.

Duncans people cited sloppy records and bookkeeping, and his lawyers issued a statement saying that he "maintains that, to the extent any mistakes were made, they were strictly inadvertent and unintentional."
The British man who killed four people during a London rampage had made three trips to Saudi Arabia: He taught English there twice on a work visa and returned on a visa usually granted to those going on a religious pilgrimage.

More details about attacker Khalid Masood's travels, confirmed by the Saudi Arabian embassy in Britain, emerged Saturday amid a massive British police effort to discover how a homegrown ex-con with a violent streak became radicalized and why he launched a deadly attack Wednesday on Westminster Bridge.

The embassy said he taught English in Saudi Arabia from November 2005 to November 2006 and again from April 2008 to April 2009, with a legitimate work visa both times. He then returned for six days in March 2015 on a trip booked through an approved travel agent and made on an "Umra" visa, usually granted to those on a religious pilgrimage to the country's Islamic holy sites.

The embassy said Saudi security services didn't track Masood and he didn't have a criminal record there.

Before taking the name Masood, he was called Adrian Elms. He was known for having a violent temper in England and had been convicted at least twice for violent crimes.

Masood drove his rented SUV across London's crowded Westminster Bridge on Wednesday, striking pedestrians. Then he jumped out and stabbed to death police officer Keith Palmer, who was guarding Parliament, before being shot dead by police.

In all, he killed four people and left more than two dozen hospitalized, including some with what have been described as catastrophic injuries. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack, calling him a "soldier" who responded to its demands that followers attack countries in the coalition fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

British officials said security at Parliament will be reviewed after new footage emerged that showed the large gates to the complex were left open after Masood rushed onto the grounds. There are concerns that accomplices could have followed him in and killed even more people. The footage from that day shows pedestrians walking by the open gates and even a courier entering the grounds.

Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Ian Blair told the BBC that changes to the "outer soft ring" of Parliament's security plan are likely in the aftermath of Masood's attack.

The new footage follows earlier video that showed slight delays and confusion during the evacuation of Prime Minister Theresa May from Parliament as the attack unfolded.

Masood, who at 52 is considerably older than most extremists who carry out bloodshed in the West, had an arrest record in Britain dating to 1983. In 2000, he slashed a man across the face in a pub parking lot in a racially charged argument after drinking four pints, according to a newspaper account. Masood's last conviction, in 2003, also involved a knife attack.

The British press quoted people who had contact with Masood over the years describing him as a man who seemed to lose control at a moment's notice. One victim, Danny Smith, told The Sun newspaper that Masood had stabbed him in the face with a kitchen knife after an argument just three days after they met.

Hundreds of British police have been working to determine his motives and if he had any possible accomplices. Two men, aged 27 and 58, remain in custody for questioning after being arrested in the central English city of Birmingham, where Masood was living. Authorities haven't charged or identified the men.

Seven others who had been arrested in connection with the investigation have been set free. A 32-year-old woman arrested in Manchester and a 39-year-old woman arrested in east London have been released on bail.

Police are scouring Masood's communications systems, including his possible use of the encrypted WhatsApp device, to help determine if he had any accomplices in the attack.

Details about how he became radicalized aren't clear, although he may have become exposed to radical views while an inmate in Britain or while working in conservative Saudi Arabia. It's also not clear when he took the name Masood, suggesting a conversion to Islam.
California air regulators voted Friday to keep the state's tough vehicle emissions standards through 2025.

The state Air Resources Board voted unanimously at a meeting in Riverside to continue with the standards for 2022 to 2025 after reaching a conclusion similar to one by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration.

More recently, however, President Donald Trump said he wants to re-examine the rules governing gas mileage and set a uniform fuel mileage requirement for automakers in the U.S.

Trump's move prompted environmental and consumer advocates to call on California to affirm its commitment to keeping the tougher standards.

"The program is delivering cleaner cars that save consumers money and are fun to drive. That's how we do it in California," board chair Mary D. Nichols said.

The standards  followed by a dozen mostly Northeastern states, including New York and Massachusetts  require new cars and trucks to average 36 miles per gallon in real-world driving conditions by 2025.

Also on Friday, the board voted to pursue policies to support having more than 4 million zero-emission vehicles in California by 2030 and further reduce vehicle greenhouse gas emissions from 2025 to 2030, the agency said.

Environmental groups predict Trump will weaken the standards that were affirmed in the waning days of the Obama administration to control greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

The auto industry is concerned the standards will be tough to meet because people are buying more trucks and SUVs instead of fuel-efficient cars.

California started setting its stricter pollution standards more than four decades ago to clean up its smoggy skies.

Today, California and federal standards are mostly the same. However, if Trump relaxes the standards, California and the other states likely would keep the 36 mpg rule in place, potentially creating two standards.

Since about 40 percent of the nation's vehicles are in states that follow California rules, automakers might conform to them rather than build two different vehicles for the U.S. market.

Environmental advocates say they worry the administration might try to revoke California's ability to create its own standard.
President Donald Trump may have approved a federal permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, but the fight is far from over in Nebraska, the one state in its path that has yet to approve the project.

The pipeline's fate once again rests with the Nebraska Public Service Commission, an independently elected group of four Republicans and one Democrat. Organized opposition in Nebraska has hindered pipeline developer TransCanada, but leading opponents acknowledge they'll face more of an uphill struggle this time.

Some key things to know about the situation:

WHY NEBRASKA?

Opponents in Nebraska mobilized amid concerns about the Sandhills, an ecologically fragile region of grass-covered sand dunes, and the Ogallala Aquifer, a massive groundwater supply that underlies nearly the entire state. The project's tangled history includes lawsuits, dozens of state and federal hearings, and threats of protests in Nebraska that could resemble the Dakota Access Pipeline showdown in North Dakota.

Nebraska activists say the pipeline could leak and pollute their water supply, and argue that construction would disrupt the state's natural habitat. Company officials have said the project will be among the safest in the nation and point to an existing Keystone pipeline that already runs through eastern Nebraska.

Although TransCanada has secured agreements with roughly 90 percent of the Nebraska landowners along the route, those who oppose it say the Canadian company shouldn't be allowed to use eminent domain to gain access to their property.

The $8 billion pipeline would move oil from Alberta, Canada, across Montana and South Dakota to Nebraska, where it would connect with existing pipelines that feed Texas Gulf Coast refineries. South Dakota regulators have approved the project but opponents are asking a judge to reverse the decision.

TransCanada CEO Russ Girling said the company will consult with stakeholders in Nebraska, Montana and South Dakota as Nebraska works its way through the decision process.

___

NEBRASKA'S REVIEW OF THE PROPOSAL

The Nebraska Public Service Commission is expected to review the proposal in a process that takes an average of seven months, although commissioners can postpone a decision for up to a year. If the commission approves the route, TransCanada could then initiate legal proceedings to gain access to the land owned by holdout property owners.

Although the commission is partisan, Nebraska's constitution requires members to serve in a role akin to judges, and they don't take public positions on specific projects before a case is heard. Commissioners must determine whether a project serves the public interest.

Even so, activists will try to pressure members into rejecting the pipeline. Pipeline fighters are considering a campaign challenge against one commission member who represents a left-leaning district, said Jane Kleeb, executive director of the Bold Alliance, a group that opposes the Keystone XL.

___

A STATE DIVIDED

Despite loud opposition in Nebraska, most of the state's top elected officials support the pipeline. Earlier this month, 33 of the Legislature's 49 members  almost all Republicans  signed a letter endorsing the project. Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts said the Keystone XL will generate an estimated $11.8 million in property tax revenue in one year for the counties the pipeline would traverse.

"The presidential permit for the Keystone XL is a welcome step forward to securing improved energy infrastructure in Nebraska and nationally, while also creating jobs and ensuring our energy independence," Ricketts said in a statement Friday.

Ricketts said he's confident the Public Service Commission "will conduct a thorough and fair review" of TransCanada's application.

Nebraska Democrats are less enthusiastic. Some support the project for the union jobs it will provide, but many have voiced concerns about its environmental impact.

___

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The main opposition coalition includes landowners, environmental advocates and Native Americans who see the pipeline as harmful to their homeland. Opponents say they plan to focus first on the Nebraska Public Service Commission, but may resort to protests if necessary.

"Someone needs to stand up for Mother Earth, and the tribes will do that if no one else will," said Frank LaMere, a longtime activist and member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. "I think we have many allies, Native and non-Native, who will come together for this struggle."

Larry Wright, the chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, said opponents may draw from experiences protesting at North Dakota's Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

"We'll continue to stand together ... and show the country why this is bad, particularly for us here in Nebraska," he said.
A man wanted in connection with a series of bank robberies in the Boston area was arrested at a Washington, D.C.-area airport as he was reportedly trying to leave the country, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Albert Taderera, 36, of Brighton, Massachusetts, was charged with robbery in connection to an October 2016 heist at a bank in Wayland, Massachusetts. He was arrested on Saturday, March 25 prior to boarding a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, leaving from Dulles International Airport.

The U.S. Attorneys Office said between February 2015 and March 2017, a robber, dubbed the "Incognito Bandit," was responsible for 16 bank robberies in the Metro-West and Greater Boston area. In most of the robberies, the robber was disguised in a dark hooded sweatshirt, dark face mask/sunglasses covering his face, dark gloves and dark clothing.

The FBI discovered Taderea booked a flight from Dulles to Addis Ababe, Ethiopia, scheduled to leave on Friday, March 24. It was later determined he rebooked his flight and planned to head to Johannesburg.

Taderera is scheduled to appear in the U.S. District Court for the District of Eastern Virginia on Monday, March 27, for his initial appearance.
FOREST CITY | The Area Christian Connection invites women and men to meet April 3 in the Fellowship Room of First Baptist Church, Forest City (east entrance).

"We're Like Sheep!?" is the theme for the meeting, which will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Marilyn Woldowski, Baraboo, Wisconsin, will talk about overcoming circumstances involving MS and a broken marriage.

Lanette Branstad, Forest City, is the music guest. Tim Kleveland, Fertile, will share his experiences in raising sheep.

The meeting is sponsored by Stonecroft Ministries and is non-denominational.

Dinner is $8. Call 641-585-3203 by noon on March 31 to make a dinner reservation.
I opened the Gearhead Toolbox to see what I hadnt covered and, wow, theres a lot in here so, today, lets pick out a few Raspberry Pi-oriented goodies 

Tonido Personal Cloud Server: Create a Pi cloud

Tonido Server is one of those gems thats been around for a long time but doesn't seems to have got the love it deserves. Using this feature rich system you can build your own personal cloud service running on various Linux distributions including Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and OpenSUSE, as well as macOS, iOS, Android, Windows, and Windows Phone, and on multiple architectures including x86, PowerPC, MIPS, and, for your Raspberry Pi pleasure, ARM.

Published by CodeLathe, Tonido Server is proprietary, closed source software but its also free! You install it on whichever machine is to be the center of your cloud and you get, again for free, a public link such as http://gearhead.tonido.com so that you can access your content via Web browser. Next, on the clients, you can install Sync Clients (available for Windows, macOS, and Linux) and Mobile Clients (available for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, and Blackberry Playbook.

The Tonido Server for Raspberry Pi runs on either Raspbian and Raspbmc and installation is simple. Theres a lot of potential for this software to be used in IoT and mobile applications.

RPi License Plate Reader: Halt, who DRIVES there?

The uses for ALPR, Automatic License Plate Recognition, cover a wide range from monitoring traffic and locating stolen vehicles, to controlling gates and parking access. Using a Raspberry Pi for this is a great opportunity to create a low-cost, easily deployed system and OpenALPR is one of the leading ALPR packages you can choose.

OpenALPR is a free, open source library (the publishers also offer a range of charged-for alternative solutions) written in C++ with bindings in C#, Java, Node.js, Go, and Python, and published under the Affero GPLv3 license. Either static images or video streams can be used and the output, in either text or JSON format, is the text from the regions of the image or frame where something like a license plate is detected along with an estimated probability of each result. Heres an example of the command line versions text output using the image above:

user@linux:~/openalpr$ alpr ./samplecar.png plate0: top 10 results -- Processing Time = 58.1879ms. - PE3R2X confidence: 88.9371 - PE32X confidence: 78.1385 - PE3R2 confidence: 77.5444 - PE3R2Y confidence: 76.1448 - P63R2X confidence: 72.9016 - FE3R2X confidence: 72.1147 - PE32 confidence: 66.7458 - PE32Y confidence: 65.3462 - P632X confidence: 62.1031 - P63R2 confidence: 61.5089

OpenALPR can decode plates from all U.S. states as well as generic European, British, Australian, Singaporean, and Korean plates. See OPENALPR INSTALL FOR RPI AND UDOO AND TRE AND YUN for detailed instructions on Raspberry Pi installation.

ExaGear Desktop RPi VM: Running x86 on ARM!

Okay, this is an awesome concept: ExaGear Desktop published by Eltechs is a virtual machine that will let you run x86 code on a Raspberry Pi with runs an ARM processor! Let me underline that: A virtual machine that works across processor architectures not just across operating systems. Where this has real value is in being able to port over x86 Linux apps that you either cant or dont want to recompile for the ARM architecture. This means you can run closed sources apps such as Skype and LibreOffice quite successfully as well as those x86 games you cant stand not having on your RPi.

Several reviewers have managed to get Windows x86 apps running on top of Wine, the x86 Windows API compatibility layer, but report that the performance hit will be significant for processor-bound (versus keyboard-bound) applications. This performance hit will also be noticeable but less so with Linux x86 processor-bound games.

Perpetual licenses for ExaGear Desktop are priced at $16.45 for the Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero W, $27.45 for the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B and 3 Model B, and $16.45 for all version of the Raspberry Pi 1. Which host and guest images are supported depend on the board type and, as of writing, only 32-bit applications are currently supported on Raspberry Pi 3 Model B boards.

Ill be publishing a review of the ExaGear Desktop for Raspberry Pi in the future; if youve tested this product yourself, please let me know what you think of it.

If youve missed previous Gearhead Toolbox posts, here you go:

Comments? Thoughts? Drop me a line then follow me on Twitter and Facebook. And sign up for my new newsletter!
Docs.com, Microsofts site that is described as showcase and discover Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Sway and PDF document for free, came under fire over the weekend as Twitter users started complaining that users of the site had inadvertently shared private and sensitive information with the world.

The site had a search functionality that would allow anyone to search through millions of files. When some users uploaded private information, they did not change the permissions from the default setting to share content publicly. Yet after people started tweeting screenshots of sensitive information, Microsoft quietly removed the search functionality on Saturday.

When Microsoft announced the relaunch of Docs.com in 2015, the service was said to be very search-engine friendly. That feature meant that even after Microsoft removed the search functionality from Docs.com, the files could still be found because they had been cached by Bing and Google.

Microsoft previously said, Docs.com is typically used to share information publicly and make it easily discoverable by search engines. But in November 2016, the company tried to make sure that Office 365 customers are fully aware of the benefits and risks of using the service.

It was Microsofts attempt to ensure organizations security and privacy via the addition of an organization visibility feature. Users would see the share content publicly permission at least twice before manually confirming that content would appear on the internet and in search engines.

Before work and school account users could share information publicly, their Office 365 Tenant Administrator of record had to opt-in on behalf of the school or work organization. Opting in meant that any user will be able to sign-in into Docs.com with their work or school account and use it to share content with people using one of the following categories: Organization: Sharing only with signed in users from the same organization; Limited: Sharing a link that is not exposed to search engines by Docs.com but can be viewed by anyone who knows the link URL; Public: Sharing openly including with search engines.

Docs.com default upload setting is public

The options were not the same for regular users who were not part of an organization. For example, Twitter user @TinkerSec said Docs.com was leaking personally identifiable information such as divorce settlement agreements, loan applications, custody agreements, birth certificates and social security numbers. Others claimed they found password lists, credit card statements, driver's license numbers and more. Even though Microsoft said users could choose who views their files, its doubtful any user would purposely set out to make such things publicly accessible.

ZDNet reported, All of the documents would have been uploaded by the owner, but may not have realized that each document could be made public, which is Docs.coms default uploading setting, say compared to files created or edited with Word and Excel Online, which are private until set otherwise.

Microsoft told ZDNet it was taking steps to help those who may have inadvertently published documents with sensitive information' and advised users to review and update their settings by logging into their account.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: The BBMP Budget, presented on Saturday, turned out to be a replica of Siddaramaiahs state budget as it ticked the right boxes: offer sops for the urban poor, regain Bengalurus green cover and address its parking and garbage problems. With assembly elections next year, predictably no new taxes were announced in the 9,214-crore budget. On the infrastructure front, proposals were a mere rehash of all that already spelt out in the state budget.



With an eye on the urban poor vote bank, the Budget presented by Taxation and Finance Committee president M K Gunashekar announced affordable treatment and social welfare schemes like free medicines and stents and setting up of new super specialty hospitals and dialysis centres.



As part of its green push, at least 15 per cent of the budget allocation, Rs 1,397 crore, has been set aside to improve and develop urban forestry. While 10 lakh new saplings and 210 parks will add to the green cover, he has also proposed public participation in increasing green cover of the city via mobile app. Citizens can request saplings to be planted in their locality and also monitor them.

For a garbage-free Bengaluru, at least 10 per cent of the total allocation, or Rs 898 crore, has been earmarked to handle solid waste, up from `633 crore the previous year. Restrooms for pourakarmikas and compost-making lessons for citizens are on the agenda. Compost purchases too will be popularised.



Parking woes got some attention with tax rebates proposed for those building public parking lots.

Pouravahinis, who will keep tabs on the budget implementations periodically, are a new creation. This Budget also pitched for a separate legislation to govern Bengaluru.

BENGALURU: The BBMP Budget, presented on Saturday, turned out to be a replica of Siddaramaiahs state budget as it ticked the right boxes: offer sops for the urban poor, regain Bengalurus green cover and address its parking and garbage problems. With assembly elections next year, predictably no new taxes were announced in the 9,214-crore budget. On the infrastructure front, proposals were a mere rehash of all that already spelt out in the state budget. With an eye on the urban poor vote bank, the Budget presented by Taxation and Finance Committee president M K Gunashekar announced affordable treatment and social welfare schemes like free medicines and stents and setting up of new super specialty hospitals and dialysis centres. As part of its green push, at least 15 per cent of the budget allocation, Rs 1,397 crore, has been set aside to improve and develop urban forestry. While 10 lakh new saplings and 210 parks will add to the green cover, he has also proposed public participation in increasing green cover of the city via mobile app. Citizens can request saplings to be planted in their locality and also monitor them. For a garbage-free Bengaluru, at least 10 per cent of the total allocation, or Rs 898 crore, has been earmarked to handle solid waste, up from `633 crore the previous year. Restrooms for pourakarmikas and compost-making lessons for citizens are on the agenda. Compost purchases too will be popularised. Parking woes got some attention with tax rebates proposed for those building public parking lots. Pouravahinis, who will keep tabs on the budget implementations periodically, are a new creation. This Budget also pitched for a separate legislation to govern Bengaluru.
By PTI

MUZAFFARNAGAR: A cleric has been arrested in Chawla village here on charges of raping a woman and blackmailing her with a video of the act, police said today.

According to a complaint by the victim, the cleric Hafiz Aslam had sexual relations with her in 2013 and made an obscene video of her, circle officer Arun Kumar Singh said.

The woman later got married to another man but the accused threatened to send the video to her husband to pressurise her for sex, Singh said.

The cleric then sent the video to the husband three days back following which he was arrested by police yesterday.

A case has been lodged under relevant sections of the IPC.

MUZAFFARNAGAR: A cleric has been arrested in Chawla village here on charges of raping a woman and blackmailing her with a video of the act, police said today. According to a complaint by the victim, the cleric Hafiz Aslam had sexual relations with her in 2013 and made an obscene video of her, circle officer Arun Kumar Singh said. The woman later got married to another man but the accused threatened to send the video to her husband to pressurise her for sex, Singh said. The cleric then sent the video to the husband three days back following which he was arrested by police yesterday. A case has been lodged under relevant sections of the IPC.
By ANI

SRINAGAR: Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) (Jail), Abdul Bhats two sons were abducted by terrorists last night in Budgam's Chadoora in Jammu and Kashmir, however, were released later.



Bhats vehicle was also set ablaze by the terrorists, who threatened his kin and later fled in a car after firing a few rounds.



Meanwhile, last night two terrorist snatched loaded AK-47 assault rifle of Private Security Official (PSO) of Maulana Syed Athar Dehlavi, a Delhi-based Muslim cleric and the chairman of Anjuman Minhaje Rasool.



According to reports, the terrorist attacked the officer Mohammed Hanief with chilli powder and fled with the weapon.



This is being seen as the first such case in the last two decades.



In the process, one policeman got injured. The officer was admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital. He had to receive 8 to 19 stitches on his head.



One amongst the two terrorist has been arrested and identified as Masood Ahmed Malik of Shopian, however, the other fled with rifle.



The incident took place near Mandir Masjid Point near Jewel Chowk here.



In the view of the incident all Nakkas have been alerted and asked to check all outgoing vehicles.

SRINAGAR: Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) (Jail), Abdul Bhats two sons were abducted by terrorists last night in Budgam's Chadoora in Jammu and Kashmir, however, were released later. Bhats vehicle was also set ablaze by the terrorists, who threatened his kin and later fled in a car after firing a few rounds. Meanwhile, last night two terrorist snatched loaded AK-47 assault rifle of Private Security Official (PSO) of Maulana Syed Athar Dehlavi, a Delhi-based Muslim cleric and the chairman of Anjuman Minhaje Rasool. According to reports, the terrorist attacked the officer Mohammed Hanief with chilli powder and fled with the weapon. This is being seen as the first such case in the last two decades. In the process, one policeman got injured. The officer was admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital. He had to receive 8 to 19 stitches on his head. One amongst the two terrorist has been arrested and identified as Masood Ahmed Malik of Shopian, however, the other fled with rifle. The incident took place near Mandir Masjid Point near Jewel Chowk here. In the view of the incident all Nakkas have been alerted and asked to check all outgoing vehicles.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Urging people to depend less on cash for their daily lives, Prime minister Narendra Modi has sought peoples support to take his fight against black money to the next level.

Sharing his vision of New India, in his monthly radio talk show Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi said that it can be achieved when 125 crore Indians take a pledge and unitedly work towards it. The thought of New India was recently a theme in the Prime Minister's speeches, including his address to the BJP workers after jubilating poll results for his party in the five states on early this month. In fact, on Narendra Modi app, the Prime Minister had asked the people to take a pledge and join him in building a New India by 2022 - the year when the country completes 75 years of Independence.

"My dear countrymen, we must take our fight against black money and corruption to the next level. .... We should contribute towards ensuring reducing the use of cash, of currency notes," the Prime Minister said on Sunday in his radio show.

Pursuing people to adopt digital mode of payment in their daily needs like paying school fees, buy medicines or items from fair price shops or purchase air and train tickets, he said "we can do this in our day to day lives. You can't imagine how you can serve the country in this way and become a brave soldier in the fight against black money and corruption."

Observing that the budget had announced that there would be 2500 crore digital transactions this year, he said if 125 crore countrymen can resolve, "they need not wait for a year; they can do it in six months."

While touching upon his favourite "Swachch Bharat" drive, PM Modi said people of the country are getting angry as far as dirt is concerned and this will lead to more efforts towards cleanliness. In fact, Prime minister talked about wastage of food saying it is unfortunate and an injustice to the poor.

While speaking at length about a common urban issue of depression and how it can be overcome by expressing one's feeling to the near and dear ones, PM Modi urged the people to help those suffering from it to overcome it. He also said about the importance of Yoga in everyones life while dealing the issue of depression.

Expressing gratitude to the people, Modi said over the last few months the country has witnessed an atmosphere in which people in large numbers have participated in the digital payment, 'Digidhan' movement, PM said that it is a brave act against corruption and black money.

"There has also been an increase in curiosity about cashless transactions. The poorest of the poor are making attempts to learn, and people are gradually moving towards doing business without cash. There has been a surge in various modes of digital payment after demonetisation," he said. He added that BHIM App, which was launched only two and half month ago has already been downloaded by one and half crore people.

While greeting people of Bangladesh on their independence day, PM said India will always stand with them in the struggle for peace, security and development in the region.

"I hope that Bangladesh marches ahead on the path of progress. I also assure the citizens of Bangladesh that India is a strong partner, and a good friend, and we will continue to work together shoulder to shoulder to contribute towards the peace, security and development of this entire region," the Prime Minister said.

He said it was a matter of pride that Rabindra Nath Tagore, who has authored the national anthem of Bangladesh and India, had given up his Knighthood in protest against the 1919 massacre of people in Jallianwala Bagh by the British. This had also provided an "inspiration and a mission in life" to a young teenager, who until then had spent his days playing merrily in the fields. This youngster was none other than Bhagat Singh, then 12-years old, to evolve as a martyr. Modi also referred to the Champaran Satyagraha launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917, saying "through his demeanour and deeds, he could inspire the poorest of the poor, the most illiterate, to unite and come together out into the open for the struggle against the British Rule.

"This was a manifestation of an incredible inner strength, through which we can experience the vastness of Mahatma Gandhi's great persona," the Prime Minister said.

He said the government of India has taken "a very important decision" to give working women maternity leave of 26 weeks, instead of the earlier 12 weeks, for their pregnancy and delivery, a practice only two or three countries in the world that are ahead of India in this matter.

The basic aim is to ensure proper care of the newborn, the future citizen of India, from the time of birth. The newborn should get the complete love and attention of the mother."

NEW DELHI: Urging people to depend less on cash for their daily lives, Prime minister Narendra Modi has sought peoples support to take his fight against black money to the next level. Sharing his vision of New India, in his monthly radio talk show Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi said that it can be achieved when 125 crore Indians take a pledge and unitedly work towards it. The thought of New India was recently a theme in the Prime Minister's speeches, including his address to the BJP workers after jubilating poll results for his party in the five states on early this month. In fact, on Narendra Modi app, the Prime Minister had asked the people to take a pledge and join him in building a New India by 2022 - the year when the country completes 75 years of Independence. "My dear countrymen, we must take our fight against black money and corruption to the next level. .... We should contribute towards ensuring reducing the use of cash, of currency notes," the Prime Minister said on Sunday in his radio show. Pursuing people to adopt digital mode of payment in their daily needs like paying school fees, buy medicines or items from fair price shops or purchase air and train tickets, he said "we can do this in our day to day lives. You can't imagine how you can serve the country in this way and become a brave soldier in the fight against black money and corruption." Observing that the budget had announced that there would be 2500 crore digital transactions this year, he said if 125 crore countrymen can resolve, "they need not wait for a year; they can do it in six months." While touching upon his favourite "Swachch Bharat" drive, PM Modi said people of the country are getting angry as far as dirt is concerned and this will lead to more efforts towards cleanliness. In fact, Prime minister talked about wastage of food saying it is unfortunate and an injustice to the poor. While speaking at length about a common urban issue of depression and how it can be overcome by expressing one's feeling to the near and dear ones, PM Modi urged the people to help those suffering from it to overcome it. He also said about the importance of Yoga in everyones life while dealing the issue of depression. Expressing gratitude to the people, Modi said over the last few months the country has witnessed an atmosphere in which people in large numbers have participated in the digital payment, 'Digidhan' movement, PM said that it is a brave act against corruption and black money. "There has also been an increase in curiosity about cashless transactions. The poorest of the poor are making attempts to learn, and people are gradually moving towards doing business without cash. There has been a surge in various modes of digital payment after demonetisation," he said. He added that BHIM App, which was launched only two and half month ago has already been downloaded by one and half crore people. While greeting people of Bangladesh on their independence day, PM said India will always stand with them in the struggle for peace, security and development in the region. "I hope that Bangladesh marches ahead on the path of progress. I also assure the citizens of Bangladesh that India is a strong partner, and a good friend, and we will continue to work together shoulder to shoulder to contribute towards the peace, security and development of this entire region," the Prime Minister said. He said it was a matter of pride that Rabindra Nath Tagore, who has authored the national anthem of Bangladesh and India, had given up his Knighthood in protest against the 1919 massacre of people in Jallianwala Bagh by the British. This had also provided an "inspiration and a mission in life" to a young teenager, who until then had spent his days playing merrily in the fields. This youngster was none other than Bhagat Singh, then 12-years old, to evolve as a martyr. Modi also referred to the Champaran Satyagraha launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917, saying "through his demeanour and deeds, he could inspire the poorest of the poor, the most illiterate, to unite and come together out into the open for the struggle against the British Rule. "This was a manifestation of an incredible inner strength, through which we can experience the vastness of Mahatma Gandhi's great persona," the Prime Minister said. He said the government of India has taken "a very important decision" to give working women maternity leave of 26 weeks, instead of the earlier 12 weeks, for their pregnancy and delivery, a practice only two or three countries in the world that are ahead of India in this matter. The basic aim is to ensure proper care of the newborn, the future citizen of India, from the time of birth. The newborn should get the complete love and attention of the mother."
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: Two militants of Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in an encounter with security forces in Awantipora area of South Kashmir while a police officers residence was attacked and his son and nephew briefly abducted by militants in Central Kashmir of Jammu and Kashmir.

J&K Director General of Police (DGP), S P Valid told Express that a police party including SP, ASP and others was fired upon by militants travelling in a car at Padgampora village in Awantipora in South Kashmirs Pulwama district this afternoon.

He said the police men swiftly returned the fire and in the brief exchange of fire, two militants were killed while another escaped. Bodies of two militants were recovered from the maruti car bearing registration number JK13A-0764 .

Vaid said it seems that the militants had prior information about movement of the police officers.

Another police officer said the police officers were returned after a meeting with Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) during which preparedness by April 12 bypolls to Anantnag Lok Sabha seat were reviewed.

He said an AK-47 and an SLR rifle and other ammunition was recovered from the slain militants.

The SLR recovered was snatched by militants from a police picket set up for security of Kashmiri Pandit in Pulwama on October 8, last year

The slain militants were identified as Farooq Hurra and Shahbaz Ahmad Wani alias Rayees Kachroo, both residents of South Kashmir. Hurra hailed from Shopian district and Kachroo from Pulwama district.

Police sources said both had joined militancy last year.

Meanwhile, a group of militants forced their entry into residence of jail superintendent of Baramulla jail, Abdul Samad at Hafru village in central Kashmirs Budgam district.

Police sources said the militants were looking for Samad, who, however, was not present at the house. The militants told the family members that they had come to kill him because he was not showing any leniency to the detainees at his jail in Baramulla.

After finding that the jailer was not present at his home, the militants ransacked the house. They took away his son Ashiq and nephew Bilal alongwith them and drove away in the police officers private vehicle, they said.

The militants, they said, released the duo after travelling some distance. The militants drove away with the police officers vehicle and later set it on fire.

It was the second such incident this month.

Earlier, militants had barged into the residence of a DySP in South Kashmirs Kulgam district and warned his family members to make him quit or be prepared for severe consequences.

DGP S P Vaid said police have started investigations into militant attack on police officers residence.

He said police have got some clues and they are following that. Some arrests are likely to take place.

Vaid said stern action would be taken against those involved in the incident.

Asked whether attacks on residences of police officers will hit police morale, DGP said, Police morale is high. Such attacks wont impact police morale.

SRINAGAR: Two militants of Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in an encounter with security forces in Awantipora area of South Kashmir while a police officers residence was attacked and his son and nephew briefly abducted by militants in Central Kashmir of Jammu and Kashmir. J&K Director General of Police (DGP), S P Valid told Express that a police party including SP, ASP and others was fired upon by militants travelling in a car at Padgampora village in Awantipora in South Kashmirs Pulwama district this afternoon. He said the police men swiftly returned the fire and in the brief exchange of fire, two militants were killed while another escaped. Bodies of two militants were recovered from the maruti car bearing registration number JK13A-0764 . Vaid said it seems that the militants had prior information about movement of the police officers. Another police officer said the police officers were returned after a meeting with Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) during which preparedness by April 12 bypolls to Anantnag Lok Sabha seat were reviewed. He said an AK-47 and an SLR rifle and other ammunition was recovered from the slain militants. The SLR recovered was snatched by militants from a police picket set up for security of Kashmiri Pandit in Pulwama on October 8, last year The slain militants were identified as Farooq Hurra and Shahbaz Ahmad Wani alias Rayees Kachroo, both residents of South Kashmir. Hurra hailed from Shopian district and Kachroo from Pulwama district. Police sources said both had joined militancy last year. Meanwhile, a group of militants forced their entry into residence of jail superintendent of Baramulla jail, Abdul Samad at Hafru village in central Kashmirs Budgam district. Police sources said the militants were looking for Samad, who, however, was not present at the house. The militants told the family members that they had come to kill him because he was not showing any leniency to the detainees at his jail in Baramulla. After finding that the jailer was not present at his home, the militants ransacked the house. They took away his son Ashiq and nephew Bilal alongwith them and drove away in the police officers private vehicle, they said. The militants, they said, released the duo after travelling some distance. The militants drove away with the police officers vehicle and later set it on fire. It was the second such incident this month. Earlier, militants had barged into the residence of a DySP in South Kashmirs Kulgam district and warned his family members to make him quit or be prepared for severe consequences. DGP S P Vaid said police have started investigations into militant attack on police officers residence. He said police have got some clues and they are following that. Some arrests are likely to take place. Vaid said stern action would be taken against those involved in the incident. Asked whether attacks on residences of police officers will hit police morale, DGP said, Police morale is high. Such attacks wont impact police morale.
MASON CITY | The inmate who died while in custody of the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Department has been identified by the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

Taras Devlin Roan, 54, of Mason City, was found unresponsive in a detox cell on Thursday, March 23. Roan was arrested on the evening of March 22 by the Mason City Police Department for assault and public urination. Roan was the lone occupant in the detox cell, which is video monitored.

According to a statement from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, an autopsy was performed Saturday, March 25, by Dr. Francis Garrity of the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner.

The cause of death has been determined to be heart attack related to atherosclerosis disease. There were no signs of trauma found at autopsy, according to the statement.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation determined there was no foul play involved in Roans death.
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath completed a week in office on Sunday. He might not have convened his first cabinet meeting so far but his actions have already set the agenda for all in the dispensation. In a reiteration of his working style, the CM vowed to slog for 18-20 hours a day with a positive frame of mind in order to convert Uttar Pradesh into a dream State where everyone would get an equal opportunity to grow and prosper.



At a BJP workers meet in Gorakhpur on Sunday, Yogi sent across a terse message for the State bureaucracy cautioning the babus about the days of heavy workload ahead. Those who are ready to toil with me in my endeavour are welcome, others will have to chart their own course, said the CM while interacting with party workers.



I may be the Chief Minister, but it is a responsibility than a fortune for me, said Yogi. He added that power always brought accountability. Foreseeing a repeat of 2014 for BJP in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections in UP, Yogi said he had his task cut out for him.



We have to rid the state of potholes (on roads), corruption, lawlessness, and hooliganism. We have to mitigate the darkness too, he avowed referring to supply of power to all without any discrimination. It was a rhetoric of PM Modi during the election campaign which had kicked up a lot of dust.



The bigger the victory, higher is the responsibility. We have to work tirelessly in all conditions, he stated. The CM assured the people of Uttar Pradesh that he was just a message away from them in case they came across any wrong. Just SMS me and see how the action is taken, said Yogi.



Officers were asked to monitor development works and keep peoples representative duly informed. He dared plunderers and mafia to leave the State or be prepared to go to jail. Yogi also committed himself and his government to the welfare of the poor and deprived by reaffirming that he wont let a single person sleep hungry in the State during the BJP rule.



In two months time, we will show how governance is done, Yogi said, reminding people that his government would take care of all sections of society, be it the marriage of poor girls or cent per cent purchase of wheat from farmers.



He urged BJP workers to commit themselves for the peoples cause and fulfill their aspirations and expectations from the new government. He warned party men and peoples representatives against getting involved in any government contract or interfering in government tenders.



To ensure transparency, he asked them to restrict themselves to monitoring and send a report of the ministers concerned, with a copy to him.

LUCKNOW: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath completed a week in office on Sunday. He might not have convened his first cabinet meeting so far but his actions have already set the agenda for all in the dispensation. In a reiteration of his working style, the CM vowed to slog for 18-20 hours a day with a positive frame of mind in order to convert Uttar Pradesh into a dream State where everyone would get an equal opportunity to grow and prosper. At a BJP workers meet in Gorakhpur on Sunday, Yogi sent across a terse message for the State bureaucracy cautioning the babus about the days of heavy workload ahead. Those who are ready to toil with me in my endeavour are welcome, others will have to chart their own course, said the CM while interacting with party workers. I may be the Chief Minister, but it is a responsibility than a fortune for me, said Yogi. He added that power always brought accountability. Foreseeing a repeat of 2014 for BJP in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections in UP, Yogi said he had his task cut out for him. We have to rid the state of potholes (on roads), corruption, lawlessness, and hooliganism. We have to mitigate the darkness too, he avowed referring to supply of power to all without any discrimination. It was a rhetoric of PM Modi during the election campaign which had kicked up a lot of dust. The bigger the victory, higher is the responsibility. We have to work tirelessly in all conditions, he stated. The CM assured the people of Uttar Pradesh that he was just a message away from them in case they came across any wrong. Just SMS me and see how the action is taken, said Yogi. Officers were asked to monitor development works and keep peoples representative duly informed. He dared plunderers and mafia to leave the State or be prepared to go to jail. Yogi also committed himself and his government to the welfare of the poor and deprived by reaffirming that he wont let a single person sleep hungry in the State during the BJP rule. In two months time, we will show how governance is done, Yogi said, reminding people that his government would take care of all sections of society, be it the marriage of poor girls or cent per cent purchase of wheat from farmers. He urged BJP workers to commit themselves for the peoples cause and fulfill their aspirations and expectations from the new government. He warned party men and peoples representatives against getting involved in any government contract or interfering in government tenders. To ensure transparency, he asked them to restrict themselves to monitoring and send a report of the ministers concerned, with a copy to him.
NEW DELHI: After guarding the Indian Ocean region for the last 29 years, the Navys iconic long-range maritime patrol aircraft Tupolev-142M, used for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), is all set to bid goodbye to the fleet.

According to a naval official, the Tupolev-142M aircraft, known as one of the most formidable airborne reconnaissance platforms around the world, was part of all major naval exercises and operations of the Navy since its induction in 1988. The Tupolev would be decommissioned in a ceremony at INS Rajali in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday in the presence of Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, a Navy official said.

The Tupolev-142M Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft was inducted in the Navy at Dabolim, Goa, from the erstwhile USSR, in 1988.

The aircraft subsequently shifted base permanently to INS Rajali in 1992 and became the most formidable LRMR ASW aircraft of the Navy. A total of eight Tupolev-142Ms were inducted into the Navy though currently only three of them are in operation. The Navy official said the aircraft has done the Navy proud by participating in all major naval exercises and operations with distinction.

It saw action during Operation Cactus in Maldives and participated in operational missions off Sri Lanka to provide airborne surveillance.

With its four powerful engines, slender fuselage and swept wings, the Tupolev is the fastest turboprop aircraft in the world and reportedly even fighters find it difficult to intercept it.

TU-142M aircraft have had a distinguished service with over 30,000 hours of accident-free flying. During its service life, the aircraft underwent several modifications and retro fitments to keep up with evolving technology and changing requirements of the Navy, the official added.

The official further said, As a result, the aircraft throughout its service life has been participating in and has been a major factor during all naval operations. Despite being in its twilight years, the aircraft performed exceptionally well during the recent Naval Exercise TROPEX in March 2017.

The Navy will also celebrate the silver jubilee of INS Rajali, the naval air station synonymous with the Tupolev and its home for nearly three decades. The heritage display of TU-142M would also be inaugurated as part of the ceremony, the Navy said in a statement.

The Soviet-era Tupolev will be replaced by a fleet of 12 Boeing P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft equipped with harpoon anti-ship missiles, lightweight torpedoes, rockets and new generation sensors and radars.

NEW DELHI: After guarding the Indian Ocean region for the last 29 years, the Navys iconic long-range maritime patrol aircraft Tupolev-142M, used for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), is all set to bid goodbye to the fleet. According to a naval official, the Tupolev-142M aircraft, known as one of the most formidable airborne reconnaissance platforms around the world, was part of all major naval exercises and operations of the Navy since its induction in 1988. The Tupolev would be decommissioned in a ceremony at INS Rajali in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday in the presence of Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, a Navy official said. The Tupolev-142M Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft was inducted in the Navy at Dabolim, Goa, from the erstwhile USSR, in 1988. The aircraft subsequently shifted base permanently to INS Rajali in 1992 and became the most formidable LRMR ASW aircraft of the Navy. A total of eight Tupolev-142Ms were inducted into the Navy though currently only three of them are in operation. The Navy official said the aircraft has done the Navy proud by participating in all major naval exercises and operations with distinction. It saw action during Operation Cactus in Maldives and participated in operational missions off Sri Lanka to provide airborne surveillance. With its four powerful engines, slender fuselage and swept wings, the Tupolev is the fastest turboprop aircraft in the world and reportedly even fighters find it difficult to intercept it. TU-142M aircraft have had a distinguished service with over 30,000 hours of accident-free flying. During its service life, the aircraft underwent several modifications and retro fitments to keep up with evolving technology and changing requirements of the Navy, the official added. The official further said, As a result, the aircraft throughout its service life has been participating in and has been a major factor during all naval operations. Despite being in its twilight years, the aircraft performed exceptionally well during the recent Naval Exercise TROPEX in March 2017. The Navy will also celebrate the silver jubilee of INS Rajali, the naval air station synonymous with the Tupolev and its home for nearly three decades. The heritage display of TU-142M would also be inaugurated as part of the ceremony, the Navy said in a statement. The Soviet-era Tupolev will be replaced by a fleet of 12 Boeing P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft equipped with harpoon anti-ship missiles, lightweight torpedoes, rockets and new generation sensors and radars.
Addiction is bad, be it to drugs, alcohol, tobacco or sex. But what if your crutch is something you dont even consider an addiction? Like entitlement? What if youre compulsively attached to the belief that you are first among unequals and owed special treatment by the world? What happens when you buy into the myth that you are untouchable and misuse of power is second nature to you?



The dictionary defines entitle as give (someone) a legal right or a just claim to receive or do something. In a perfect world, that right would be given only to those who had earned it, and knew how to respect it.

Thats what youd like to believe about the special privileges awarded to our parliamentarians. But what happens when a lawmaker is of the moral timbre of Ravindra Gaikwad, who was caught three years ago forcibly stuffing a roti down the throat of a fasting railway staffer, to protest against the quality of the food?



By now, pretty much all of urban adult India has watched/read/ heard about the Shiv Sena thug-MPs latest misdeed. In case youve been in outer space and missed the action, let me introduce you to the man of privilege, whoriled by having to travel economy in an all-economy plane (imagine!)refused to deplane when he reached his destination, to indicate his displeasure with the airline.



When an airline staffer tried to reason with him, the parliamentarian tore the mans shirt, broke his spectacles and tried to push him down the disembarkation ladder when, fortunately, others intervened, and saved the 60-year-old official. After delaying the next flight by nearly an hour, the Honble Member of Parliament finally got off the plane and went to watch Badrinath ki Dulhaniya to de-stress.

But not before proudly telling reporters that he had hit the official 25 times under the ear, with a sandal. Not a shoe, not a slipper, it was a sandal that he had used, he took pains to clarify. Asked if he would apologise to the official, certainly not, he said; it was he who deserved an apology from a man who was old enough to know better.



While Gaikwads barbarianism crosses all limits, blatant displays of entitlement are not new to us in India. Which one of us has not seen high-ranking members of the privilege hierarchy misbehaving with people they perceive as inferior to them?

I remember taking a flight from Mumbai to Delhi years ago, where a politicianalready angered by having got the middle seat in a packed planeabused the stewardess who asked him to pass his empty meal tray to her.

The plucky girl, a regular on the sector, was startled by the language but stood her ground. She smiled grimly and just repeated her request. This went on for a while till the man, almost apoplexic by now, started shouting. Fearing for the girl, I reached over from my aisle seat and handed his tray over. That scene ended there but the next week, travelling in the same sector, I asked about the girl and was told she was gone.



The Gaikwad story promises to end differently, with all Indian airlines banding together against the misbehaved MP. But, for the long-term, is there a way to send all entitlement addicts into a cold turkey detox?

Addiction is bad, be it to drugs, alcohol, tobacco or sex. But what if your crutch is something you dont even consider an addiction? Like entitlement? What if youre compulsively attached to the belief that you are first among unequals and owed special treatment by the world? What happens when you buy into the myth that you are untouchable and misuse of power is second nature to you? The dictionary defines entitle as give (someone) a legal right or a just claim to receive or do something. In a perfect world, that right would be given only to those who had earned it, and knew how to respect it. Thats what youd like to believe about the special privileges awarded to our parliamentarians. But what happens when a lawmaker is of the moral timbre of Ravindra Gaikwad, who was caught three years ago forcibly stuffing a roti down the throat of a fasting railway staffer, to protest against the quality of the food? By now, pretty much all of urban adult India has watched/read/ heard about the Shiv Sena thug-MPs latest misdeed. In case youve been in outer space and missed the action, let me introduce you to the man of privilege, whoriled by having to travel economy in an all-economy plane (imagine!)refused to deplane when he reached his destination, to indicate his displeasure with the airline. When an airline staffer tried to reason with him, the parliamentarian tore the mans shirt, broke his spectacles and tried to push him down the disembarkation ladder when, fortunately, others intervened, and saved the 60-year-old official. After delaying the next flight by nearly an hour, the Honble Member of Parliament finally got off the plane and went to watch Badrinath ki Dulhaniya to de-stress. But not before proudly telling reporters that he had hit the official 25 times under the ear, with a sandal. Not a shoe, not a slipper, it was a sandal that he had used, he took pains to clarify. Asked if he would apologise to the official, certainly not, he said; it was he who deserved an apology from a man who was old enough to know better. While Gaikwads barbarianism crosses all limits, blatant displays of entitlement are not new to us in India. Which one of us has not seen high-ranking members of the privilege hierarchy misbehaving with people they perceive as inferior to them? I remember taking a flight from Mumbai to Delhi years ago, where a politicianalready angered by having got the middle seat in a packed planeabused the stewardess who asked him to pass his empty meal tray to her. The plucky girl, a regular on the sector, was startled by the language but stood her ground. She smiled grimly and just repeated her request. This went on for a while till the man, almost apoplexic by now, started shouting. Fearing for the girl, I reached over from my aisle seat and handed his tray over. That scene ended there but the next week, travelling in the same sector, I asked about the girl and was told she was gone. The Gaikwad story promises to end differently, with all Indian airlines banding together against the misbehaved MP. But, for the long-term, is there a way to send all entitlement addicts into a cold turkey detox?
Prabhu Chawla By

The success of a great leader lies in cloning more leaders and not just adding to an unending list of followers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most followed leader in the world in the social media, voting booths across India and even the far-flung outposts of Bharat.

He doesnt need to increment his popularity with handouts. Once the godhuli settled over the electionscape of Uttar Pradesh, Indias unconventional Prime Minister sprang a surprise on parrot-proud, partial political pundits by choosing an unexpected chief minister.

With Yogi Adityanaths ordination, Modi added to his GenNext Power List yet another young leader with a long-term stake in his mission, and the power to turbocharge Hindutva politics.

The selection of the diminutive but decisive monk from Gorakhpur earned him a few enemies and fewer friends. Predictably, the illiberal brigade and the urban elite proved Pavlov right by going after the Prime Minister. They spewed abusive adjectives at him, as if he had imposed on Indias largest state a saffron gunslinger who targets minorities and bovine buffs.

They are habituated to acknowledging the legitimacy of a democratic verdict only if the victor generically looks and acts like them. All others are dubbed looters of democratic mandates.



But Modi owes them nothing for his mandate. He created electoral history in spite of the derisive double dealers and has continued his triumphant progress, ignoring and disparaging them. Yogis ascension to the throne of Lucknow appears to be part of Modis grand strategy to project leaders who disrupt not just caste equations but also class equilibrium.

It is no coincidence that the vocal and vicious opposition to Yogi has come from the same set, which refuses to accept the idea of Modi as the Prime Minister. During the past few months, their tone has been less venomous because they realise he is here to stay. Confronting him head-on will not only endanger their connections with the establishment but will also choke their sources of income at home and ground their foreign junkets.

Though they abhor Modi, they adore some of his ministers, who fertilise their legitimacy and relevance in the Lutyens eco-system. Yogi wasnt paradropped on the roof of the UP chief ministers official residence on Kalidas Marg. He was elected to the Lok Sabha five times with huge margins. To retain his chief ministership, he has to become an MLA or MLC within the next six months. But even before he has signed on his first official file or held a formal cabinet meeting, the sanguine sanyasi has been declared a champion of murderers, rapists and anti-minority marauders.



The Cassandras of calumny against the saffron savant have failed to fathom Modis larger agenda of a Congress-mukt Bharat. Ever since he assumed charge of national politics, his mantra is to choose young leaders to helm the party and governments in the states. Yogi is currently the countrys second youngest Chief Minister. During his farewell speech in Parliament last week, he had caustically observed that he defeated Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi because he fell between them in terms of age by an yearAkhilesh, younger and Rahul, older.

Modi had anticipated that any poll battle in Uttar Pradesh, which significantly has 80 Lok Sabha seats, will be fought against a young Akhilesh who represents OBCs and Muslims. In the end, the mantle of power fell on Yogi because of his youth, uncompromising Hindutva ideology and aggressive caste stance. The BJP doesnt see a conflict between his public posture and Modis development agenda.

In the past three years, Modi, who hasnt diluted his nationalist persona a whit, is still seen as a Prime Minister who knows his economics, sociology and politics well. To his core constituency of hardcore Hindus, he has added a large chunk of young aspirational India. Yogi is expected to be a mirror image of Modi and an extension of Modi Sarkar. In fact, Modis return to power with a clear majority in 2019 is tenuously linked to retaining the 73 seats, which the BJP won in 2014. Any loss in its tally could affect the balance in other cow-belt states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra where the party is in possession of maximum seats.



Before choosing Yogi, Modi has defied and demolished caste and community calculations by picking leaders who have been ignored by the BJPs cautious caucus. The youngest-ever Brahmin CM Devendra Fadnavis was made the Chief Minister in Maratha-dominated Maharashtra. A Punjabi, Manohar Lal Khattar, was elevated to the top chair in Jat-controlled Haryana. Vijay Rupani, a Jain, was appointed Chief Minister of Gujarat, which was till now ruled by a Patel or a backward caste leader.



Modis emphasis is on Maximum Governance through Minimum Age. At the moment, the BJP is in direct control of 13 states and is in power in two with the help of allies. The Congress has six states under its belt. The remaining 10, including a Union Territory, are controlled by non-BJP and non-Congress parties.

BJP chief ministers have the advantage of youth over their opponents. Of its 13 CMs, five are aged between 50 and 60 and three are under 50the youngest being 37-year-old Pema Khandu of Arunachal Pradesh. The average age of BJP Chief Ministers is the lowest in the country at 54 compared to 70 of the Congress and 64 of the non-BJP and non-Congress CMs. In the ranks of Modi fighters, three Congress Chief MinistersRaja Virbhadra Singh (82), Captain Amarinder Singh (75) and Pu Lalthanhawla (74)are the oldest, while Akhilesh and Arvind Kejriwal are the youngest.



The Prime Minister is fully aware that he can win a second term only if the original qualities of Brand Modi remain unalloyed. With barely two years left for the General Elections, he is deploying only commanders and soldiers who are both young and aligned with his style of politics and social engineering. Modi can see the fatigue and failure in the eyes of his opponents. He continues to pitch himself as the leader who deals not just in hope but in aspirations, too. Yogi Adityanaths investiture is the beginning of a mammoth dealership network being established to expand Narendra Modis political net worth.

The success of a great leader lies in cloning more leaders and not just adding to an unending list of followers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most followed leader in the world in the social media, voting booths across India and even the far-flung outposts of Bharat. He doesnt need to increment his popularity with handouts. Once the godhuli settled over the electionscape of Uttar Pradesh, Indias unconventional Prime Minister sprang a surprise on parrot-proud, partial political pundits by choosing an unexpected chief minister. With Yogi Adityanaths ordination, Modi added to his GenNext Power List yet another young leader with a long-term stake in his mission, and the power to turbocharge Hindutva politics. The selection of the diminutive but decisive monk from Gorakhpur earned him a few enemies and fewer friends. Predictably, the illiberal brigade and the urban elite proved Pavlov right by going after the Prime Minister. They spewed abusive adjectives at him, as if he had imposed on Indias largest state a saffron gunslinger who targets minorities and bovine buffs. They are habituated to acknowledging the legitimacy of a democratic verdict only if the victor generically looks and acts like them. All others are dubbed looters of democratic mandates. But Modi owes them nothing for his mandate. He created electoral history in spite of the derisive double dealers and has continued his triumphant progress, ignoring and disparaging them. Yogis ascension to the throne of Lucknow appears to be part of Modis grand strategy to project leaders who disrupt not just caste equations but also class equilibrium. It is no coincidence that the vocal and vicious opposition to Yogi has come from the same set, which refuses to accept the idea of Modi as the Prime Minister. During the past few months, their tone has been less venomous because they realise he is here to stay. Confronting him head-on will not only endanger their connections with the establishment but will also choke their sources of income at home and ground their foreign junkets. Though they abhor Modi, they adore some of his ministers, who fertilise their legitimacy and relevance in the Lutyens eco-system. Yogi wasnt paradropped on the roof of the UP chief ministers official residence on Kalidas Marg. He was elected to the Lok Sabha five times with huge margins. To retain his chief ministership, he has to become an MLA or MLC within the next six months. But even before he has signed on his first official file or held a formal cabinet meeting, the sanguine sanyasi has been declared a champion of murderers, rapists and anti-minority marauders. The Cassandras of calumny against the saffron savant have failed to fathom Modis larger agenda of a Congress-mukt Bharat. Ever since he assumed charge of national politics, his mantra is to choose young leaders to helm the party and governments in the states. Yogi is currently the countrys second youngest Chief Minister. During his farewell speech in Parliament last week, he had caustically observed that he defeated Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi because he fell between them in terms of age by an yearAkhilesh, younger and Rahul, older. Modi had anticipated that any poll battle in Uttar Pradesh, which significantly has 80 Lok Sabha seats, will be fought against a young Akhilesh who represents OBCs and Muslims. In the end, the mantle of power fell on Yogi because of his youth, uncompromising Hindutva ideology and aggressive caste stance. The BJP doesnt see a conflict between his public posture and Modis development agenda. In the past three years, Modi, who hasnt diluted his nationalist persona a whit, is still seen as a Prime Minister who knows his economics, sociology and politics well. To his core constituency of hardcore Hindus, he has added a large chunk of young aspirational India. Yogi is expected to be a mirror image of Modi and an extension of Modi Sarkar. In fact, Modis return to power with a clear majority in 2019 is tenuously linked to retaining the 73 seats, which the BJP won in 2014. Any loss in its tally could affect the balance in other cow-belt states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra where the party is in possession of maximum seats. Before choosing Yogi, Modi has defied and demolished caste and community calculations by picking leaders who have been ignored by the BJPs cautious caucus. The youngest-ever Brahmin CM Devendra Fadnavis was made the Chief Minister in Maratha-dominated Maharashtra. A Punjabi, Manohar Lal Khattar, was elevated to the top chair in Jat-controlled Haryana. Vijay Rupani, a Jain, was appointed Chief Minister of Gujarat, which was till now ruled by a Patel or a backward caste leader. Modis emphasis is on Maximum Governance through Minimum Age. At the moment, the BJP is in direct control of 13 states and is in power in two with the help of allies. The Congress has six states under its belt. The remaining 10, including a Union Territory, are controlled by non-BJP and non-Congress parties. BJP chief ministers have the advantage of youth over their opponents. Of its 13 CMs, five are aged between 50 and 60 and three are under 50the youngest being 37-year-old Pema Khandu of Arunachal Pradesh. The average age of BJP Chief Ministers is the lowest in the country at 54 compared to 70 of the Congress and 64 of the non-BJP and non-Congress CMs. In the ranks of Modi fighters, three Congress Chief MinistersRaja Virbhadra Singh (82), Captain Amarinder Singh (75) and Pu Lalthanhawla (74)are the oldest, while Akhilesh and Arvind Kejriwal are the youngest. The Prime Minister is fully aware that he can win a second term only if the original qualities of Brand Modi remain unalloyed. With barely two years left for the General Elections, he is deploying only commanders and soldiers who are both young and aligned with his style of politics and social engineering. Modi can see the fatigue and failure in the eyes of his opponents. He continues to pitch himself as the leader who deals not just in hope but in aspirations, too. Yogi Adityanaths investiture is the beginning of a mammoth dealership network being established to expand Narendra Modis political net worth.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Several CBSE schools have expressed opposition to the proposed amendment by the state government to the Karnataka Education Act 1983 to regulate fee fixation at private schools affiliated to Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE).



The Cabinet on Friday cleared the proposal to amend the Karnataka Education Act 1983, where it has sought to improve safety of children. The amendment includes provisions to regulate fee at private schools including those affiliated to CBSE. The amended bill is expected to be placed before the Assembly on Monday.



The managements of CBSE schools have opposed the proposal to regulate fee. Though they have no issues with the amendment, they are not ready to accept any fee regulation if it is unscientific.



Mansoor Ali Khan, Board member of Delhi Public School, who also represents the association of CBSE schools in state said, The state government has the rights to bring amendments. But, as this amendment is about regulation of fees, we will not accept if it applies to all schools.



The managements of CBSE schools say the fee fixation or regulation should be fair. They have demanded the government to discuss the issue with the CBSE schools association before regulating fee.

We will wait for them to table the amended bill, and see how they will regulate fee. If it is not scientific, we will not accept it, said a CBSE school management representative.

BENGALURU: Several CBSE schools have expressed opposition to the proposed amendment by the state government to the Karnataka Education Act 1983 to regulate fee fixation at private schools affiliated to Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE). The Cabinet on Friday cleared the proposal to amend the Karnataka Education Act 1983, where it has sought to improve safety of children. The amendment includes provisions to regulate fee at private schools including those affiliated to CBSE. The amended bill is expected to be placed before the Assembly on Monday. The managements of CBSE schools have opposed the proposal to regulate fee. Though they have no issues with the amendment, they are not ready to accept any fee regulation if it is unscientific. Mansoor Ali Khan, Board member of Delhi Public School, who also represents the association of CBSE schools in state said, The state government has the rights to bring amendments. But, as this amendment is about regulation of fees, we will not accept if it applies to all schools. The managements of CBSE schools say the fee fixation or regulation should be fair. They have demanded the government to discuss the issue with the CBSE schools association before regulating fee. We will wait for them to table the amended bill, and see how they will regulate fee. If it is not scientific, we will not accept it, said a CBSE school management representative.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the first anniversary of the Puttingal temple fireworks tragedy is approaching, authorities of another temple in the district violated the District Collectors directive not to conduct fireworks.

The authorities of the Poruvazhy Peruveruthy Malanada temple, claimed to be the lone Duryodhana temple in South India, flouted the Collectors directive and conducted fireworks on Friday night. Though the police as well as the temple committee maintained that no persons were injured in the fireworks, local people said three persons suffered minor burns. The police have arrested 21 persons for conducting the fireworks flouting ban orders.

As of now, 21 persons have been arrested in connection with the incident. They were charged under various Sections of the Explosives Act. It was not a competitive fireworks.

The temple authorities said they conducted the fireworks as it was part of the temple tradition. Chinese crackers were used for the fireworks. We have seized 13 empty cylinders of the same. No persons were injured in the incident, said Joseph Leon, Sub Inspector, Sooranad police station. Meanwhile, a temple committee member told Express the reports of competitive fireworks and injuries to three persons were baseless.

According to him, the firework was conducted as part of temple tradition and it lasted only for less than half an hour. However, he admitted that the District Collector had denied permission to conduct the firework. Earlier in 1990, 26 persons had lost their lives in the Malanada fireworks, after the crackers kept in the storehouse caught fire.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the first anniversary of the Puttingal temple fireworks tragedy is approaching, authorities of another temple in the district violated the District Collectors directive not to conduct fireworks. The authorities of the Poruvazhy Peruveruthy Malanada temple, claimed to be the lone Duryodhana temple in South India, flouted the Collectors directive and conducted fireworks on Friday night. Though the police as well as the temple committee maintained that no persons were injured in the fireworks, local people said three persons suffered minor burns. The police have arrested 21 persons for conducting the fireworks flouting ban orders. As of now, 21 persons have been arrested in connection with the incident. They were charged under various Sections of the Explosives Act. It was not a competitive fireworks. The temple authorities said they conducted the fireworks as it was part of the temple tradition. Chinese crackers were used for the fireworks. We have seized 13 empty cylinders of the same. No persons were injured in the incident, said Joseph Leon, Sub Inspector, Sooranad police station. Meanwhile, a temple committee member told Express the reports of competitive fireworks and injuries to three persons were baseless. According to him, the firework was conducted as part of temple tradition and it lasted only for less than half an hour. However, he admitted that the District Collector had denied permission to conduct the firework. Earlier in 1990, 26 persons had lost their lives in the Malanada fireworks, after the crackers kept in the storehouse caught fire.
By Express News Service

JAIPUR: AN abandoned newborn girl, who was found buried alive in a field, was rescued by villagers in Shyamsundarpur, a hamlet in Anjira village of Jajpur district, on Saturday. She was admitted to Dharmasala government hospital and later shifted to District Headquarters Hospital for treatment. Her condition is stable now.



A minor school girl first spotted the feet of the newborn moving and body buried in a vegetable field while she was going to Shyamasundarpur Primary School. She then informed some villagers nearby, who dug out the girl. She was breathing and the villagers immediately handed her over to an ASHA worker.

The girl was admitted to Dharmasala Community Health Centre and later shifted to Dharmasala government hospital as her condition was critical. The ASHA worker, Draupadi Rout, said the baby was probably born four to six hours back. It is suspected that she was abandoned by her parents, she said.



Dharmasala CHC Medical Officer Chintamani Mishra said the girls condition was stable and she has been shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital for further treatment. He added that the girls umbilical cord was not cut which suggested that she was dumped just after birth.



The newborn will be handed over to District Child Protection Officer after she recovers. Although no complaint has been filed, Jenapur police are investigating into the case.

JAIPUR: AN abandoned newborn girl, who was found buried alive in a field, was rescued by villagers in Shyamsundarpur, a hamlet in Anjira village of Jajpur district, on Saturday. She was admitted to Dharmasala government hospital and later shifted to District Headquarters Hospital for treatment. Her condition is stable now. A minor school girl first spotted the feet of the newborn moving and body buried in a vegetable field while she was going to Shyamasundarpur Primary School. She then informed some villagers nearby, who dug out the girl. She was breathing and the villagers immediately handed her over to an ASHA worker. The girl was admitted to Dharmasala Community Health Centre and later shifted to Dharmasala government hospital as her condition was critical. The ASHA worker, Draupadi Rout, said the baby was probably born four to six hours back. It is suspected that she was abandoned by her parents, she said. Dharmasala CHC Medical Officer Chintamani Mishra said the girls condition was stable and she has been shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital for further treatment. He added that the girls umbilical cord was not cut which suggested that she was dumped just after birth. The newborn will be handed over to District Child Protection Officer after she recovers. Although no complaint has been filed, Jenapur police are investigating into the case.
Baibhav Mishra By

Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: The Commissionerate of Police have arrested a key member of a gang which was involved in at least six ATM thefts by hacking into the software of the machines. The accused Ajay Chaudhury, is a native of Rudrapur in Uttarakhand and was involved in two similar cases of Hi-Tech ATM thefts in Bengaluru and Lucknow in 2014 and 2016 respectively.

In the spate of thefts in Odisha, in which over Rs 40 lakh was looted from ATMs in four districts, Chaudhury and one of his accomplices were stationed at the site of the crime, while two others operated from a remote location. Three members of the gang are still absconding.

The Twin City police have seized six bank accounts with deposits of Rs 8 lakh, a bank locker, a high-end laptop, a hard drive and three mobile phones from Ajay Chaudhury.

Accused Ajay Chaudhury of Rudrapur involved in a spate of Hi-Tech ATM thefts of Rs 40 lakh #CyberCrime @bbsrctcpolice @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/RGhpVsX65b  Baibhav Mishra (@baibhav_TNIE) March 26, 2017

The ATMs were targeted at midnight when the security guard was napping. Two members entered the counter and pulled down the shutters. While one kept a watch, the other used a master key to open the kiosks panel.

A malware was uploaded to the machine, which allowed the system to go into the command of the remote user who was an accomplice and helped override the currency withdrawal limit of the ATM. The person who was physically present at

the counter could then operate the ATM kiosk and dispense high denomination currency notes present in the cash repository.

They used a Chinese malware which had an ability to switch into self destruction mode within 15 minutes after the entire operation was executed, Police Commissioner Yogesh Bahadur Khurania said. They also took utmost care not to use mobile phones. An application, YCap was used by the members to communicate among themselves, Khurania added.

There are 6,125 ATMs in Odisha, of which 1,200 machines use Windows XP whose security is not robust enough to withstand hacking. The gang took advantage of the vulnerabiltiy of the Windows XP operating system, Police DG KB Singh said.

The State police have circulated an advisory to all private and Nationalised banks to upgrade the operating system of ATM softwares to Windows 10, Singh added.

BHUBANESWAR: The Commissionerate of Police have arrested a key member of a gang which was involved in at least six ATM thefts by hacking into the software of the machines. The accused Ajay Chaudhury, is a native of Rudrapur in Uttarakhand and was involved in two similar cases of Hi-Tech ATM thefts in Bengaluru and Lucknow in 2014 and 2016 respectively. In the spate of thefts in Odisha, in which over Rs 40 lakh was looted from ATMs in four districts, Chaudhury and one of his accomplices were stationed at the site of the crime, while two others operated from a remote location. Three members of the gang are still absconding. The Twin City police have seized six bank accounts with deposits of Rs 8 lakh, a bank locker, a high-end laptop, a hard drive and three mobile phones from Ajay Chaudhury. Accused Ajay Chaudhury of Rudrapur involved in a spate of Hi-Tech ATM thefts of Rs 40 lakh #CyberCrime @bbsrctcpolice @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/RGhpVsX65b  Baibhav Mishra (@baibhav_TNIE) March 26, 2017 The ATMs were targeted at midnight when the security guard was napping. Two members entered the counter and pulled down the shutters. While one kept a watch, the other used a master key to open the kiosks panel. A malware was uploaded to the machine, which allowed the system to go into the command of the remote user who was an accomplice and helped override the currency withdrawal limit of the ATM. The person who was physically present at the counter could then operate the ATM kiosk and dispense high denomination currency notes present in the cash repository. They used a Chinese malware which had an ability to switch into self destruction mode within 15 minutes after the entire operation was executed, Police Commissioner Yogesh Bahadur Khurania said. They also took utmost care not to use mobile phones. An application, YCap was used by the members to communicate among themselves, Khurania added. There are 6,125 ATMs in Odisha, of which 1,200 machines use Windows XP whose security is not robust enough to withstand hacking. The gang took advantage of the vulnerabiltiy of the Windows XP operating system, Police DG KB Singh said. The State police have circulated an advisory to all private and Nationalised banks to upgrade the operating system of ATM softwares to Windows 10, Singh added.
By PTI

RAMESHWARAM (TAMIL NADU): Twelve fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on the charge of fishing in the territorial waters of the island nation.

The fishermen, who had put to out to sea from Jegadapattinam in Pudukottai district, were arrested near Neduntheevu late last night, a Fisheries official said today. The fishermen along with their two mechanised boats had been taken to Kankesanthurai Port in northern Sri Lanka, Assistant Director of Fisheries Alexander said.

Besides, around 2,000 fishermen from Rameswaram who were fishing near Neduntheevu in 500 boats were chased away by the Lankan Naval personnel and they returned to the shores here last night, officials here said.

The latest incident of arrest is the fifth such detention of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy this month. While Sri Lanka released 77 fishermen on March 14, as many as 38 fishermen, including those arrested today, are in the custody of the neighbouring nation.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami had on March 23 written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to ensure the release of the fishermen and 131 boats in the custody of Sri Lanka. Voicing concern over the recurring detentions of fishermen, he had appealed to the Prime Minister to direct the External Affairs Ministry to take up matter with Sri Lankan authorities in a "concrete and decisive manner".

Fishermen in the state have also staged protests, including over the recent killing of a colleague allegedly by Sri Lankan Naval personnel, and demanded steps to resolve the issue of fishing rights in the Palk Straits and ensure that their livelihood was protected.

RAMESHWARAM (TAMIL NADU): Twelve fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on the charge of fishing in the territorial waters of the island nation. The fishermen, who had put to out to sea from Jegadapattinam in Pudukottai district, were arrested near Neduntheevu late last night, a Fisheries official said today. The fishermen along with their two mechanised boats had been taken to Kankesanthurai Port in northern Sri Lanka, Assistant Director of Fisheries Alexander said. Besides, around 2,000 fishermen from Rameswaram who were fishing near Neduntheevu in 500 boats were chased away by the Lankan Naval personnel and they returned to the shores here last night, officials here said. The latest incident of arrest is the fifth such detention of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy this month. While Sri Lanka released 77 fishermen on March 14, as many as 38 fishermen, including those arrested today, are in the custody of the neighbouring nation. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami had on March 23 written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to ensure the release of the fishermen and 131 boats in the custody of Sri Lanka. Voicing concern over the recurring detentions of fishermen, he had appealed to the Prime Minister to direct the External Affairs Ministry to take up matter with Sri Lankan authorities in a "concrete and decisive manner". Fishermen in the state have also staged protests, including over the recent killing of a colleague allegedly by Sri Lankan Naval personnel, and demanded steps to resolve the issue of fishing rights in the Palk Straits and ensure that their livelihood was protected.
Sushmitha Ramakrishnan By

Express News Service

The Madras High Court, based on the documents submitted before it, recently ruled that the Thamirabharani river basin has an excess of water in an average year and hence there was nothing wrong in giving water to the soft drink companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi.



It was 24 days before water finally flowed through the corporation pipeline in January. We still get it only once a week for a few hours at odd timings, says Kokila R, who lives in Keezhur Village in Thoothukudi district. For many residents of the Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli districts, the conclusion arrived by the high court seemed like a distant reality. They feel water is becoming more and more scarce every year.



People in these two districts along the Thamaraibharani, said to be the only perennial river in the State, over the years have become increasingly dependent on bottled water  usually in 20 litre cans  for drinking purposes.



Since the High Court order on March 2, perhaps the crowd in the social media might have become silent over the issue, but the Tirunelveli town alone has witnessed over 20 protests opposing the verdict and demanding that water be stopped for the multinational giants Pepsi and Coca-Cola. They were clearly not ready to believe the records submitted in the court that the river actually holds water in excess. At the outset, the protest seemed to bear an anti-foreign-brands manifesto alone. But a closer look reveals the protesters were targeting only these two companies, when a host of others were taking water from the river.

A water treatment plant at South Indian Bottling Company | M Balamurugan

Water as a raw material

Why target only these two companies? Other companies use water as a part of their manufacturing process, but these two companies use water as a raw material, says D A Prabakar, one of the petitioner in the case that was dismissed. Other companies sell products that use water for manufacturing, but these companies sell us back the same water, he says.



The concept of packaged drinking water is not new. But the difference is most mineral water manufacturers pump ground water through borewells for production. What runs in Thamirabharani is sweet water. It does not need much processing and it is very profitable to use river water, says S Janagarajan, an economist and a professor at the Madras Institute of Developmental Studies.



Documents say Prathista Business Solutions, which runs the manufacturing unit for Pepsi at Gangaikondan in Tirunelveli, buys the river water for a price of Rs 56.25 per thousand litres. The South India Bottling Company, which is Coca-Colas franchisee, buys it at Rs 37.50. With the average market price of a litre of packaged water being Rs 20, the protesters are angry that their river water is sold in turn to them for a price 350-500 times higher than the price the government sells the water to these firms.



The multinational giants, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, drew over 4 lakh litres of water a day in 2015-16 fiscal, according to documents obtained by the RTI Act by Ramiah Ariya, an activist from Arappor Iyakkam, an anti-corruption NGO.



However, the supply of water from Thamirabharani was stopped after the Madras High Court had passed the interim stay November 21, 2016. But another RTI petition filed by social activist S P Muthuraman reveals that SIPCOT, the state-run industries promotion body, had supplied water to Coca-Cola from open wells situated within the campus at Gangaikondan, during the period of injunction.

The Pepsi unit at SIPCOT at Gangaikondan in

Tirunelveli district | M Balamurugan

When Express visited SIPCOT in Gangaikondan, three wells with cemented shed and a roof were spotted. Tanker lorries come wait for water to be pumped from the wells and take them to the compound of Coca-Cola. Outside the cement shed of each well, two security guards stand watch. One with a blue shirt and the other with an orange-brown. The ones who are wearing blue shirt are from SIPCOT and the ones wearing the brown are from Coca-Cola, said one of the security guards who did not want to be named.

SIPCOTs managing director and IAS officer Vasuki R said, We supplied water only for domestic use by these companies. This water was not used as a raw material by the bottling companies. We have an obligation to supply water and we were asked not to supply water from Thamirabharani alone.

The RTI also reveals that water was supplied to South India Bottling Company (Coca-Colas franchisee) from December 9, 2016, when the interim stay was in force. However, during this period, the SIPCOT had on average supplied 70,600 litres per day in December and 1,24,700 litres a day in January. Since the court prohibited supplying the river water, the SIPCOT has pumped the well water for supplying to the South India Bottling Company.

SIPCOT had supplied this water at a cost of `18.75 per 1,000 litres. Although SIPCOT claims that the water was supplied only for domestic purpose, activists and locals fail to the believe it. A company would need a few thousand litres of water for domestic purpose at the most, not over a lakh litre a day, said S P Muthuraman. The cost of building the shed around the wells was not borne by SIPCOT, he said suggesting that a private entity had built the closed shed. The RTI affirms the same.

Muthuraman adds that the company does not have ground water clearance to distribute it to private companies.

When asked if the wells had proper certification, Vasuki replied that the wells were built long ago and she was not aware if it had necessary certificates. Howeve, SIPCOT had sold the water to South India Bottling Company (Coca-Colas franchaisee) from the same wells, reveals the RTI reply.

State vice-president of Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturing Association Bala Subramaniam said the manufacturers cannot use water from open wells to produce packaged water. We can take water only from borewells and we have get clearance from the Ground Water Board before taking water and have to also renew the certificate each year, he said. Usually water is not allotted to be taken from open wells as it can easily be poisoned or contaminated. To prevent this, companies used to build sheds around the wells, in olden days, he added.

Barathi Murugan, a social activist from Thamirabharani Nadhineer Pathugaapu Peravai, says the State does not comply with the national water policy.

Right now 250 cusecs of water is being released into the river, of which 116 reaches Thoothukudi, says Thoothukudi Collector M Ravi Kumar IAS. According to our calculations, the storage in the dams will supply drinking water till May 10. A rain of 30 mm may extent the supply to about 2 weeks, he said, adding that Thoothukudi requires 24 Million Litres per Day (5.2 MGD) and more is sent to other neighbouring districts.

According to him all industries in his district have been denied permission to draw river water. Industries can buy water or use desalination plants along the coast, but they cant take my peoples drinking water, he says. Despite the move by the collector, several habitations receive water only once in nine days, he admits. But Tirunelveli collector M Karunakaran denies that the scarcity is as exaggerated as people portray it. Water is supplied in 2,500 out of 2,506 villages every day. In other villages, water is supplied at least once in every three days, he says.

The affidavit quoted in the judgment states, Thamirabharani river basin is surplus by 305.83 Mcum in 2014. The studies show there is no scarcity of water in the subsequent years and no other massive development that alters the water balance. While the study points to data from 2014, rainfall data from Public Works Department shows that 2016 saw the least rainfall since 1986.

Nainar Kulasekaran, a 96-year-old activist who founded the Thamirabharani Nadhineer Pathugaapu Peravai, says, I have fought to save the river for seven decades. It is disappointing that the government believes there is a surplus on one side and gives funds for scarcity on the other.



(Inputs from M Abdul Rabi, C Aruvel Raj)

The Madras High Court, based on the documents submitted before it, recently ruled that the Thamirabharani river basin has an excess of water in an average year and hence there was nothing wrong in giving water to the soft drink companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi. It was 24 days before water finally flowed through the corporation pipeline in January. We still get it only once a week for a few hours at odd timings, says Kokila R, who lives in Keezhur Village in Thoothukudi district. For many residents of the Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli districts, the conclusion arrived by the high court seemed like a distant reality. They feel water is becoming more and more scarce every year. People in these two districts along the Thamaraibharani, said to be the only perennial river in the State, over the years have become increasingly dependent on bottled water  usually in 20 litre cans  for drinking purposes. Since the High Court order on March 2, perhaps the crowd in the social media might have become silent over the issue, but the Tirunelveli town alone has witnessed over 20 protests opposing the verdict and demanding that water be stopped for the multinational giants Pepsi and Coca-Cola. They were clearly not ready to believe the records submitted in the court that the river actually holds water in excess. At the outset, the protest seemed to bear an anti-foreign-brands manifesto alone. But a closer look reveals the protesters were targeting only these two companies, when a host of others were taking water from the river. A water treatment plant at South Indian Bottling Company | M Balamurugan Water as a raw material Why target only these two companies? Other companies use water as a part of their manufacturing process, but these two companies use water as a raw material, says D A Prabakar, one of the petitioner in the case that was dismissed. Other companies sell products that use water for manufacturing, but these companies sell us back the same water, he says. The concept of packaged drinking water is not new. But the difference is most mineral water manufacturers pump ground water through borewells for production. What runs in Thamirabharani is sweet water. It does not need much processing and it is very profitable to use river water, says S Janagarajan, an economist and a professor at the Madras Institute of Developmental Studies. Documents say Prathista Business Solutions, which runs the manufacturing unit for Pepsi at Gangaikondan in Tirunelveli, buys the river water for a price of Rs 56.25 per thousand litres. The South India Bottling Company, which is Coca-Colas franchisee, buys it at Rs 37.50. With the average market price of a litre of packaged water being Rs 20, the protesters are angry that their river water is sold in turn to them for a price 350-500 times higher than the price the government sells the water to these firms. The multinational giants, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, drew over 4 lakh litres of water a day in 2015-16 fiscal, according to documents obtained by the RTI Act by Ramiah Ariya, an activist from Arappor Iyakkam, an anti-corruption NGO. However, the supply of water from Thamirabharani was stopped after the Madras High Court had passed the interim stay November 21, 2016. But another RTI petition filed by social activist S P Muthuraman reveals that SIPCOT, the state-run industries promotion body, had supplied water to Coca-Cola from open wells situated within the campus at Gangaikondan, during the period of injunction. The Pepsi unit at SIPCOT at Gangaikondan in Tirunelveli district | M Balamurugan When Express visited SIPCOT in Gangaikondan, three wells with cemented shed and a roof were spotted. Tanker lorries come wait for water to be pumped from the wells and take them to the compound of Coca-Cola. Outside the cement shed of each well, two security guards stand watch. One with a blue shirt and the other with an orange-brown. The ones who are wearing blue shirt are from SIPCOT and the ones wearing the brown are from Coca-Cola, said one of the security guards who did not want to be named. SIPCOTs managing director and IAS officer Vasuki R said, We supplied water only for domestic use by these companies. This water was not used as a raw material by the bottling companies. We have an obligation to supply water and we were asked not to supply water from Thamirabharani alone. The RTI also reveals that water was supplied to South India Bottling Company (Coca-Colas franchisee) from December 9, 2016, when the interim stay was in force. However, during this period, the SIPCOT had on average supplied 70,600 litres per day in December and 1,24,700 litres a day in January. Since the court prohibited supplying the river water, the SIPCOT has pumped the well water for supplying to the South India Bottling Company. SIPCOT had supplied this water at a cost of `18.75 per 1,000 litres. Although SIPCOT claims that the water was supplied only for domestic purpose, activists and locals fail to the believe it. A company would need a few thousand litres of water for domestic purpose at the most, not over a lakh litre a day, said S P Muthuraman. The cost of building the shed around the wells was not borne by SIPCOT, he said suggesting that a private entity had built the closed shed. The RTI affirms the same. Muthuraman adds that the company does not have ground water clearance to distribute it to private companies. When asked if the wells had proper certification, Vasuki replied that the wells were built long ago and she was not aware if it had necessary certificates. Howeve, SIPCOT had sold the water to South India Bottling Company (Coca-Colas franchaisee) from the same wells, reveals the RTI reply. State vice-president of Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturing Association Bala Subramaniam said the manufacturers cannot use water from open wells to produce packaged water. We can take water only from borewells and we have get clearance from the Ground Water Board before taking water and have to also renew the certificate each year, he said. Usually water is not allotted to be taken from open wells as it can easily be poisoned or contaminated. To prevent this, companies used to build sheds around the wells, in olden days, he added. Barathi Murugan, a social activist from Thamirabharani Nadhineer Pathugaapu Peravai, says the State does not comply with the national water policy. Right now 250 cusecs of water is being released into the river, of which 116 reaches Thoothukudi, says Thoothukudi Collector M Ravi Kumar IAS. According to our calculations, the storage in the dams will supply drinking water till May 10. A rain of 30 mm may extent the supply to about 2 weeks, he said, adding that Thoothukudi requires 24 Million Litres per Day (5.2 MGD) and more is sent to other neighbouring districts. According to him all industries in his district have been denied permission to draw river water. Industries can buy water or use desalination plants along the coast, but they cant take my peoples drinking water, he says. Despite the move by the collector, several habitations receive water only once in nine days, he admits. But Tirunelveli collector M Karunakaran denies that the scarcity is as exaggerated as people portray it. Water is supplied in 2,500 out of 2,506 villages every day. In other villages, water is supplied at least once in every three days, he says. The affidavit quoted in the judgment states, Thamirabharani river basin is surplus by 305.83 Mcum in 2014. The studies show there is no scarcity of water in the subsequent years and no other massive development that alters the water balance. While the study points to data from 2014, rainfall data from Public Works Department shows that 2016 saw the least rainfall since 1986. Nainar Kulasekaran, a 96-year-old activist who founded the Thamirabharani Nadhineer Pathugaapu Peravai, says, I have fought to save the river for seven decades. It is disappointing that the government believes there is a surplus on one side and gives funds for scarcity on the other.(Inputs from M Abdul Rabi, C Aruvel Raj)
Their hands finally forced, we learned this past week where Iowas Congressional Republicans stood on their partys plan to dismantle the Democrats health care reforms.

Even if they never got to cast their vote.

Iowas three Republican U.S. House members never went officially on the House record because GOP legislation to repeal much of the health care reform implemented by Democrats under former President Barack Obama was pulled by leaders Friday just minutes before a planned vote.

But the Iowa delegation had stated their intentions earlier in the week.

Rod Blum, from the eastern Iowa 1st District, and David Young, from the central Iowa 3rd District, said they planned to vote against the proposal, placing them among the roughly two dozen House Republicans to make such a pledge.

Steve King, from the western Iowa 4th District, said he planned to vote in support of the legislation on the promise of alterations to be made in the Senate.

Each vote is interesting in its own right, and worth exploring.

Blum had been noncommittal regarding his vote until Tuesday, just days before Friday's debate in the U.S. House. Blum said he opposed the GOP plan because it did not sufficiently drive down health care costs.

Blum is in his second term representing a district that has roughly 20,000 more Democratic voters than Republicans. Perhaps his vote was motivated by surviving re-election in such a district.

However, Blum also is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, which consists of some of the Houses most conservative members. Many members of that group had said they were opposed to the GOP health care bill.

Young also kept his vote close to the vest until revealing his feelings on Wednesday.

Young represents a district that has roughly 10,000 more Republican voters than Democrats. In a statement, Young called the GOP bill a very good start but said the bill does not yet get it right.

Youngs statement seemed to indicate a willingness to support an updated bill when he added, This conversation is not over.

King announced in a live video posted on Facebook that he would support the bill after receiving assurances that, eventually, it will strip mandated benefits for insurance coverage.

King represents Iowas most conservative district. Iowa's 4th Congressional has roughly 40,000 more Republican voters than Democrats.

It was an interesting week for congressional Republicans as they inched closer to taking significant action on health care reform but ultimately bailed. After spending much of the past eight years and two national elections promising to repeal Obamas health care law, Republicans in Washington have been dealing with the reality of the significant effort it will take to make that happen without upsetting their constituents.

Republican leaders at the very top  President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan  spent the week encouraging Republicans to support the legislation. National media reports said Trump threatened to help promote primary election candidates against Republicans who declined to support the GOP health care bill.

But as Republican efforts to demolish Obamas health care law intensified, the law grew increasingly popular in public opinion polls. The law  properly known as the Affordable Care Act and more commonly known as Obamacare  started March with its best-ever average on Real Clear Politics at plus-5.3.

So Republicans are left to deal with their conservative base that still wants the law ripped off the books, but also growing support from others  including some Republicans  who want it preserved.

All of this helped to make this weeks House GOP vote-wrangling so interesting.

And it never even made it to the Senate.
Yatish Yadav By

NEW DELHI: In a stern message to the Narendra Modi government, Rashtrapati Bhawan has directed the ministries not to involve the office of President Pranab Mukherjee for opposing Private Members Bills. Democracy is built on honesty and President is a revered figure as head of state and commander-in-chief of the country with authority to protect the Constitution and its rule of law. However, his office recently noticed that some ministries are forwarding the Private Members Bills to the President for recommendation with ulterior motives, and quoting improper rules of the Constitution for introduction and consideration of the bills.



Omita Paul, Secretary to the President, has written to Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs that recommendations of the President contemplated under the Constitution fall within the ambit of the provisions of the article under which such recommendations are solicited and they cannot relate to matters that are not relevant to such article. However, it has been noticed that some ministries forward Private Members Bills soliciting recommendation of the President beyond what has been contemplated under Article 117 (1) and (3).

The Presidents Office has said, As per the rules envisaged in the Constitution, a Bill which, if converted into a law and involves expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India, cannot be passed by Parliament unless the President of India has recommended for its consideration.

Omita Paul, secretary to the President, said, In particular, ministries have requested recommendations to oppose the Bill on the floor of the House. Ministries have also requested recommendations without submitting required documents like draft Bill, Statement of Objects and Reasons and Financial Memorandum.

President Pranab Mukherjee



Requests have also been received by the President Office seeking recommendation for Bills with typographical errors in their title. Ministries have also requested recommendations by quoting erroneous articles of the Constitution for introduction and consideration of the Bill and giving very short notice; for instance, after a Bill has been listed in the list of business of the House.

The letter said requests have to be returned for correction and rectification entailing unnecessary delay. Ministries should not involve the Office of the President for opposing the Bill, a decision which has to be taken by the ministry, the letter said.



According to sources, the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry took up the matter at the highest level, and in the second week of March, Union ministries were told to take utmost care while submitting Bills for soliciting recommendation of the President under Article 117 (1) and (93) of the Constitution.



President Mukherjee in April last year had recommended consideration of a Private Members Billthe Farmers of Arid and Desert Areas (Welfare and Other Special Provisions) introduced by Congress leader Ahmed Patel to provide for protective measures and special facilities for farmers of arid, desert and drought-prone areas, who are affected by natural calamities causing loss of crops, livestock, etc., making them vulnerable to debt, diseases and physical infirmities, exploitation by moneylenders and others.



Private Members Bills are received in the Presidents Secretariat from ministries. They are sent with a self-contained note from the minister concerned, seeking recommendation of the President for the introduction and consideration of Private Members Bill under Articles 117 (1) and 117 (3) of the Constitution of India respectively.

NEW DELHI: In a stern message to the Narendra Modi government, Rashtrapati Bhawan has directed the ministries not to involve the office of President Pranab Mukherjee for opposing Private Members Bills. Democracy is built on honesty and President is a revered figure as head of state and commander-in-chief of the country with authority to protect the Constitution and its rule of law. However, his office recently noticed that some ministries are forwarding the Private Members Bills to the President for recommendation with ulterior motives, and quoting improper rules of the Constitution for introduction and consideration of the bills. Omita Paul, Secretary to the President, has written to Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs that recommendations of the President contemplated under the Constitution fall within the ambit of the provisions of the article under which such recommendations are solicited and they cannot relate to matters that are not relevant to such article. However, it has been noticed that some ministries forward Private Members Bills soliciting recommendation of the President beyond what has been contemplated under Article 117 (1) and (3). The Presidents Office has said, As per the rules envisaged in the Constitution, a Bill which, if converted into a law and involves expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India, cannot be passed by Parliament unless the President of India has recommended for its consideration. Omita Paul, secretary to the President, said, In particular, ministries have requested recommendations to oppose the Bill on the floor of the House. Ministries have also requested recommendations without submitting required documents like draft Bill, Statement of Objects and Reasons and Financial Memorandum. President Pranab Mukherjee Requests have also been received by the President Office seeking recommendation for Bills with typographical errors in their title. Ministries have also requested recommendations by quoting erroneous articles of the Constitution for introduction and consideration of the Bill and giving very short notice; for instance, after a Bill has been listed in the list of business of the House. The letter said requests have to be returned for correction and rectification entailing unnecessary delay. Ministries should not involve the Office of the President for opposing the Bill, a decision which has to be taken by the ministry, the letter said. According to sources, the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry took up the matter at the highest level, and in the second week of March, Union ministries were told to take utmost care while submitting Bills for soliciting recommendation of the President under Article 117 (1) and (93) of the Constitution. President Mukherjee in April last year had recommended consideration of a Private Members Billthe Farmers of Arid and Desert Areas (Welfare and Other Special Provisions) introduced by Congress leader Ahmed Patel to provide for protective measures and special facilities for farmers of arid, desert and drought-prone areas, who are affected by natural calamities causing loss of crops, livestock, etc., making them vulnerable to debt, diseases and physical infirmities, exploitation by moneylenders and others. Private Members Bills are received in the Presidents Secretariat from ministries. They are sent with a self-contained note from the minister concerned, seeking recommendation of the President for the introduction and consideration of Private Members Bill under Articles 117 (1) and 117 (3) of the Constitution of India respectively.
Ritu Sharma By

NEW DELHI: Indias efforts to reclaim its Buddhist legacy by developing Buddhist circuits have been mired by delays owing to inter-state rivalries. The government was left red-faced as the Thai Ambassador, who went to tour these sites, offered that his country will develop one of the roads.



Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Southeast Asian countries have been keen on reaffirming their Buddhist ties with India; Vietnam has been trying to establish that Buddhism spread to the country from India via sea route.



It displays apathy towards our heritage. We have not been able to develop anything there, no infrastructure; the condition of roads is bad, an official told The Sunday Standard on condition of anonymity, adding that in the second half of 2016 then Thai Ambassador Chalit Manityakul undertook the journey to various Buddhist sites, including Bodh Gaya, where under the Bodhi Tree Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment.

Thai Ambassador Chalit Manityakul (encircled)



Thailand even offered to build a road as a symbolic gesture of the historic links between the two countries, the official added.



An official tried to downplay the lack of coordination between the Union Ministry of Tourism and the governments of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, among others, on the development of Buddhist circuits and said development schemes were in the planning stage.



The Union government will be identifying places where airports or rail links can be revamped, and the state governments will be providing the land for these projects and hotels and other infrastructures. These things take time, an MEA official added. We have only been able to provide for the double entry visa, that will allow pilgrims coming to visit the Buddhist sites to go to Nepal to visit other places and re-enter India.



In 2014, the Ministry of Tourism had identified places such as Bodh Gaya, Vaishali, Rajgir and Kushinagar in Bihar, and Sarnath and Shravasti in Uttar Pradesh as the places on the Buddhist map of India.



Under the Swadesh Darshaan scheme, it had released `100 crore to develop world-class amenities such as hotels, roads and rail links, but in vain. The government had identified three circuits. First is the Sacred Circuit, including visits to Gaya (Bodhgaya), Varanasi (Sarnath), Kushinagar, Piparva (Kapilvastu) with a day trip to Lumbini in Nepal.

The second one is Extended Sacred Circuit retracing Buddhas footsteps and will include visits to Bodhgaya (Nalanda, Rajgir, Barabar caves, Pragbodhi Hill, Gaya), Patna (Vaishali, Lauriya Nandangarh, Lauriya Areraj, Kesariya, Patna Museum), Varanasi (Sarnath), Kushinagar, Piparva (Kapilvastu, Shravasti, Sankisa) with a day trip to Lumbini in Nepal. The third is a Buddhist Heritage Trails with visits to other states.

NEW DELHI: Indias efforts to reclaim its Buddhist legacy by developing Buddhist circuits have been mired by delays owing to inter-state rivalries. The government was left red-faced as the Thai Ambassador, who went to tour these sites, offered that his country will develop one of the roads. Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Southeast Asian countries have been keen on reaffirming their Buddhist ties with India; Vietnam has been trying to establish that Buddhism spread to the country from India via sea route. It displays apathy towards our heritage. We have not been able to develop anything there, no infrastructure; the condition of roads is bad, an official told The Sunday Standard on condition of anonymity, adding that in the second half of 2016 then Thai Ambassador Chalit Manityakul undertook the journey to various Buddhist sites, including Bodh Gaya, where under the Bodhi Tree Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment. Thai Ambassador Chalit Manityakul (encircled) Thailand even offered to build a road as a symbolic gesture of the historic links between the two countries, the official added. An official tried to downplay the lack of coordination between the Union Ministry of Tourism and the governments of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, among others, on the development of Buddhist circuits and said development schemes were in the planning stage. The Union government will be identifying places where airports or rail links can be revamped, and the state governments will be providing the land for these projects and hotels and other infrastructures. These things take time, an MEA official added. We have only been able to provide for the double entry visa, that will allow pilgrims coming to visit the Buddhist sites to go to Nepal to visit other places and re-enter India. In 2014, the Ministry of Tourism had identified places such as Bodh Gaya, Vaishali, Rajgir and Kushinagar in Bihar, and Sarnath and Shravasti in Uttar Pradesh as the places on the Buddhist map of India. Under the Swadesh Darshaan scheme, it had released `100 crore to develop world-class amenities such as hotels, roads and rail links, but in vain. The government had identified three circuits. First is the Sacred Circuit, including visits to Gaya (Bodhgaya), Varanasi (Sarnath), Kushinagar, Piparva (Kapilvastu) with a day trip to Lumbini in Nepal. The second one is Extended Sacred Circuit retracing Buddhas footsteps and will include visits to Bodhgaya (Nalanda, Rajgir, Barabar caves, Pragbodhi Hill, Gaya), Patna (Vaishali, Lauriya Nandangarh, Lauriya Areraj, Kesariya, Patna Museum), Varanasi (Sarnath), Kushinagar, Piparva (Kapilvastu, Shravasti, Sankisa) with a day trip to Lumbini in Nepal. The third is a Buddhist Heritage Trails with visits to other states.
By AFP

COLOMBO: The exiled former leader of the Maldives today announced plans to take control of the national parliament after hammering out a rare unity pact with his politically influential erstwhile enemies.

Mohamed Nasheed said he entered into a pact with three other parties to wrest control of the 85-member national parliament currently held by President Abdulla Yameen's Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

Nasheed said former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a half brother of Yameen, signed an agreement at the weekend vowing to work together to secure, among other things, freedom for those convicted of politically motivated charges.

"We are going to prove our majority in parliament on Monday," Nasheed told AFP during a visit to Colombo.

"If we succeed, as we expect to, the president will be reduced to a lame duck and will have to carry out reforms and reverse the anti-democratic measures he has introduced."

He said the objective was to strengthen democratic institutions and ensure that 2018 elections are free and fair.

Last month, Nasheed said he would return to run for election as president of the troubled Indian Ocean nation, despite facing jail after a controversial conviction on terror-related charges.

He became the Maldives' first democratically elected president in 2008, but was narrowly defeated in 2013 elections by Yameen.

Nasheed was later jailed on terrorism charges he says were politically motivated. He has lived in exile for the past year after Maldives authorities gave him leave to travel to London for medical treatment.

The Maldives constitution bars Nasheed from being a candidate because of the controversial 2015 criminal

conviction.

But the former leader expects the restriction to be lifted in response to international pressure. Nasheed's international legal team includes high profile human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.

A UN panel has ruled that Nasheed's imprisonment was illegal and ordered the regime to pay him compensation.

A crackdown on political dissent in the nation of 340,000 has dented its popular image as an idyllic island paradise in recent years.

Almost all key opposition leaders and a number of ruling party dissidents have either been jailed or fled into exile since Yameen took office in a controversial run-off election against Nasheed.

At the country's first multi-party elections in 2008, Nasheed beat long-time president Gayoom, who had ruled the island for three straight decades. Gayoom had jailed Nasheed several times, but the two men have made common cause against Yameen

COLOMBO: The exiled former leader of the Maldives today announced plans to take control of the national parliament after hammering out a rare unity pact with his politically influential erstwhile enemies. Mohamed Nasheed said he entered into a pact with three other parties to wrest control of the 85-member national parliament currently held by President Abdulla Yameen's Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). Nasheed said former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a half brother of Yameen, signed an agreement at the weekend vowing to work together to secure, among other things, freedom for those convicted of politically motivated charges. "We are going to prove our majority in parliament on Monday," Nasheed told AFP during a visit to Colombo. "If we succeed, as we expect to, the president will be reduced to a lame duck and will have to carry out reforms and reverse the anti-democratic measures he has introduced." He said the objective was to strengthen democratic institutions and ensure that 2018 elections are free and fair. Last month, Nasheed said he would return to run for election as president of the troubled Indian Ocean nation, despite facing jail after a controversial conviction on terror-related charges. He became the Maldives' first democratically elected president in 2008, but was narrowly defeated in 2013 elections by Yameen. Nasheed was later jailed on terrorism charges he says were politically motivated. He has lived in exile for the past year after Maldives authorities gave him leave to travel to London for medical treatment. The Maldives constitution bars Nasheed from being a candidate because of the controversial 2015 criminal conviction. But the former leader expects the restriction to be lifted in response to international pressure. Nasheed's international legal team includes high profile human rights lawyer Amal Clooney. A UN panel has ruled that Nasheed's imprisonment was illegal and ordered the regime to pay him compensation. A crackdown on political dissent in the nation of 340,000 has dented its popular image as an idyllic island paradise in recent years. Almost all key opposition leaders and a number of ruling party dissidents have either been jailed or fled into exile since Yameen took office in a controversial run-off election against Nasheed. At the country's first multi-party elections in 2008, Nasheed beat long-time president Gayoom, who had ruled the island for three straight decades. Gayoom had jailed Nasheed several times, but the two men have made common cause against Yameen
By PTI

LONDON: Tens of thousands of pro-EU protesters took to London's streets today, in defiance of the terror threat, to mark the bloc's 60th anniversary just days before Brexit begins.

Organisers said around 80,000 people joined the march calling for Britain to stay in the European Union, even as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to start the withdrawal process on Wednesday.

A sea of blue EU flags stretched down Piccadilly and past Trafalgar Square, interspersed by signs saying "I am European" and "I'm 15 - I want my future back!"

The crowd fell silent as it filed into Parliament Square, the scene of terror this week when a homegrown killer drove a car through crowds of people before crashing into a fence and stabbing a policeman. "Terrorism won't divide us - Brexit will," said one banner, while another said: "Stop sleepwalking, stop this madness."

Police said that "an appropriate policing plan is in place" but an AFP reporter said security was discreet.

The anniversary of the EU's founding treaty was marked by a special summit in Rome, where at least 10,000 people also marched in support of the bloc.

"I was a girl during the war and this grand European movement has become my political ideal," Catherine Chastenet, 74, a marcher from Paris, told AFP in Rome.

Around 4,000 people also gathered in Berlin, organisers said, holding up banners saying "More Europe" and the "EU is not dead" - reflecting fears that Brexit may cause irreparable harm to the 27-nation bloc.

"2016 was a terrible year for Europe and the world, we are going to make 2017 a year of hope, the year that people stand up and say 'This is our Europe'," cried out one organiser as DJs played loud techno music.

Rallies were also held across Poland, one of the EU's newest and most enthusiastic members, where supporters sang the "Ode to Joy" European anthem as they waved Polish and EU flags.

LONDON: Tens of thousands of pro-EU protesters took to London's streets today, in defiance of the terror threat, to mark the bloc's 60th anniversary just days before Brexit begins. Organisers said around 80,000 people joined the march calling for Britain to stay in the European Union, even as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to start the withdrawal process on Wednesday. A sea of blue EU flags stretched down Piccadilly and past Trafalgar Square, interspersed by signs saying "I am European" and "I'm 15 - I want my future back!" The crowd fell silent as it filed into Parliament Square, the scene of terror this week when a homegrown killer drove a car through crowds of people before crashing into a fence and stabbing a policeman. "Terrorism won't divide us - Brexit will," said one banner, while another said: "Stop sleepwalking, stop this madness." Police said that "an appropriate policing plan is in place" but an AFP reporter said security was discreet. The anniversary of the EU's founding treaty was marked by a special summit in Rome, where at least 10,000 people also marched in support of the bloc. "I was a girl during the war and this grand European movement has become my political ideal," Catherine Chastenet, 74, a marcher from Paris, told AFP in Rome. Around 4,000 people also gathered in Berlin, organisers said, holding up banners saying "More Europe" and the "EU is not dead" - reflecting fears that Brexit may cause irreparable harm to the 27-nation bloc. "2016 was a terrible year for Europe and the world, we are going to make 2017 a year of hope, the year that people stand up and say 'This is our Europe'," cried out one organiser as DJs played loud techno music. Rallies were also held across Poland, one of the EU's newest and most enthusiastic members, where supporters sang the "Ode to Joy" European anthem as they waved Polish and EU flags.
By IANS

NEW YORK: A 15-year-old girl whose gangrape was streamed live on Facebook, and her family have been relocated to a "safe space", a media report said.

After the video of the attack was published, the authorities offered relocation services to the victim and her family as they started receiving threats and were being harassed, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Saturday.

On Monday, five to six men allegedly gangraped a teenager and streamed the assault live on Facebook. What was more horrifying was that the 40 people who watched the video did nothing -- not even call the police.

The incident came to the police's attention on Monday night, when the girl's mother approached the head of Chicago Police and registered a "missing" report. She said the girl disappeared on Sunday from the Lawndale neighbourhood.

The woman also showed to the Chicago Police head the screen shots of the video of the assault.

On Tuesday, the girl was found and reunited with her mother. Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the girl was found by Ogden District police officers.

The police said the victim was later taken to Comer Children's Hospital.

NEW YORK: A 15-year-old girl whose gangrape was streamed live on Facebook, and her family have been relocated to a "safe space", a media report said. After the video of the attack was published, the authorities offered relocation services to the victim and her family as they started receiving threats and were being harassed, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on Saturday. On Monday, five to six men allegedly gangraped a teenager and streamed the assault live on Facebook. What was more horrifying was that the 40 people who watched the video did nothing -- not even call the police. The incident came to the police's attention on Monday night, when the girl's mother approached the head of Chicago Police and registered a "missing" report. She said the girl disappeared on Sunday from the Lawndale neighbourhood. The woman also showed to the Chicago Police head the screen shots of the video of the assault. On Tuesday, the girl was found and reunited with her mother. Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the girl was found by Ogden District police officers. The police said the victim was later taken to Comer Children's Hospital.
By Associated Press

JERUSALEM: The number of Israeli settlers living in the West Bank has soared by nearly one-quarter over the past five years to over 420,000 people, a prominent settler leader said Sunday, presenting new population figures that he said put to rest the internationally backed idea of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

Yaakov Katz issued his report as the Israeli government is locked in negotiations with the Trump administration over understandings that are expected to include some curbs on settlement construction.

"We are talking about a situation that is unchangeable," he said Sunday. "It's very important to know the numbers, and the numbers are growing."

According to Katz, the settler population hit 420,899 on Jan. 1, up 3.6 percent from 406,332 people a year earlier and a 23-percent increase from 342,414 at the beginning of 2012.

Katz said the numbers were based on data from the Interior Ministry that have not yet been made public. The ministry, which oversees the country's population registry, had no comment. But Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group, said the numbers appeared reasonable.

The figures are being published on a newwebsite sponsored by Bet El Institutions, a settler organization that counts members of President Donald Trump's inner circle among its supporters.

Katz's figures did not include settlement construction in east Jerusalem, where more than 200,000 Israelis now live. Altogether, he said the population growth  which is nearly double the 2-percent nationwide rate of annual population growth  means the settlements are "irreversible," he said.

"Whatever Angela Merkel or Trump or anybody else is thinking about, it belongs to the past, not to the future," he said.

Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future independent state.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, leading to the takeover of the territory by the Islamic militant group Hamas two years later. Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade over Gaza since then. Israel says the policy is needed to prevent Hamas from building up its arsenal of weapons. Critics condemn it as collective punishment.

For the past two decades, the international community has overwhelmingly backed the idea of a two-state solution as the best way of reaching peace in the region and rejected Israeli settlements as obstacles to peace.

Without an independent Palestinian state, the thinking goes, Israel will remain in control over millions of Palestinians who do not have equal rights, forcing it to choose between its Jewish and democratic character.

Just weeks before Trump took office, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution declaring settlements illegal.

Ahmad Majdalani, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Palestinian independence is the only way to peace and remains a possibility, despite settler efforts to derail it.

"The two-state solution was possible yesterday and today and at any time. The two-state solution is not the problem," he said. "Settlements are."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is dominated by pro-settler hard-liners who oppose Palestinian statehood on either security or religious grounds.

After years of clashes with President Barack Obama, Israeli hardliners have welcomed the election of Trump, who they perceive as being far more sympathetic to their cause.

Trump's platform made no mention of a Palestinian state. And during the campaign, he vowed to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a stance welcomed by Israel and opposed by the Palestinians, and signaled that he would be more tolerant of settlement construction.

But since taking office, he appears to have backpedaled. He seems to be in no rush to move the embassy, and during a White House meeting with Netanyahu last month, he urged restraint on Israeli settlement construction. He also has left the door open to a two-state solution.

A Trump envoy, Jason Greenblatt, visited the region earlier this month for introductory talks with Israelis and Palestinians. He has been working with the Israelis on a series of understandings that would limit at least some settlement construction in hopes of restarting peace talks.

Speaking to his Cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu said there was still no agreement. "I will not go into details," he said. "Our talks with the White House are continuing. I hope they will conclude quickly."

Katz, widely known by his nickname "Ketzeleh," is one of the founders and most prominent figures in the West Bank settler movement. He is a former member of parliament and led a hard-line nationalist party.

Bet El is a religious settlement north of Jerusalem. Katz's organization sponsors a well-known Jewish seminary and "Arutz Sheva," a pro-settler news agency.

Official U.S. records show that its donors have included the family foundation of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and confidant; David Friedman, his new ambassador to Israel; and Trump himself.

Friedman, a former fund-raiser for the Bet El Institutions, was narrowly confirmed last week as ambassador after a tough battle that included fierce opposition from dovish Jewish American groups.

Katz expressed faith that Trump would remain supportive and described the new ambassador as a "great American patriot."

"The American people will be very proud of him," he said.

JERUSALEM: The number of Israeli settlers living in the West Bank has soared by nearly one-quarter over the past five years to over 420,000 people, a prominent settler leader said Sunday, presenting new population figures that he said put to rest the internationally backed idea of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. Yaakov Katz issued his report as the Israeli government is locked in negotiations with the Trump administration over understandings that are expected to include some curbs on settlement construction. "We are talking about a situation that is unchangeable," he said Sunday. "It's very important to know the numbers, and the numbers are growing." According to Katz, the settler population hit 420,899 on Jan. 1, up 3.6 percent from 406,332 people a year earlier and a 23-percent increase from 342,414 at the beginning of 2012. Katz said the numbers were based on data from the Interior Ministry that have not yet been made public. The ministry, which oversees the country's population registry, had no comment. But Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group, said the numbers appeared reasonable. The figures are being published on a newwebsite sponsored by Bet El Institutions, a settler organization that counts members of President Donald Trump's inner circle among its supporters. Katz's figures did not include settlement construction in east Jerusalem, where more than 200,000 Israelis now live. Altogether, he said the population growth  which is nearly double the 2-percent nationwide rate of annual population growth  means the settlements are "irreversible," he said. "Whatever Angela Merkel or Trump or anybody else is thinking about, it belongs to the past, not to the future," he said. Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future independent state. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, leading to the takeover of the territory by the Islamic militant group Hamas two years later. Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade over Gaza since then. Israel says the policy is needed to prevent Hamas from building up its arsenal of weapons. Critics condemn it as collective punishment. For the past two decades, the international community has overwhelmingly backed the idea of a two-state solution as the best way of reaching peace in the region and rejected Israeli settlements as obstacles to peace. Without an independent Palestinian state, the thinking goes, Israel will remain in control over millions of Palestinians who do not have equal rights, forcing it to choose between its Jewish and democratic character. Just weeks before Trump took office, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution declaring settlements illegal. Ahmad Majdalani, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Palestinian independence is the only way to peace and remains a possibility, despite settler efforts to derail it. "The two-state solution was possible yesterday and today and at any time. The two-state solution is not the problem," he said. "Settlements are." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is dominated by pro-settler hard-liners who oppose Palestinian statehood on either security or religious grounds. After years of clashes with President Barack Obama, Israeli hardliners have welcomed the election of Trump, who they perceive as being far more sympathetic to their cause. Trump's platform made no mention of a Palestinian state. And during the campaign, he vowed to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a stance welcomed by Israel and opposed by the Palestinians, and signaled that he would be more tolerant of settlement construction. But since taking office, he appears to have backpedaled. He seems to be in no rush to move the embassy, and during a White House meeting with Netanyahu last month, he urged restraint on Israeli settlement construction. He also has left the door open to a two-state solution. A Trump envoy, Jason Greenblatt, visited the region earlier this month for introductory talks with Israelis and Palestinians. He has been working with the Israelis on a series of understandings that would limit at least some settlement construction in hopes of restarting peace talks. Speaking to his Cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu said there was still no agreement. "I will not go into details," he said. "Our talks with the White House are continuing. I hope they will conclude quickly." Katz, widely known by his nickname "Ketzeleh," is one of the founders and most prominent figures in the West Bank settler movement. He is a former member of parliament and led a hard-line nationalist party. Bet El is a religious settlement north of Jerusalem. Katz's organization sponsors a well-known Jewish seminary and "Arutz Sheva," a pro-settler news agency. Official U.S. records show that its donors have included the family foundation of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and confidant; David Friedman, his new ambassador to Israel; and Trump himself. Friedman, a former fund-raiser for the Bet El Institutions, was narrowly confirmed last week as ambassador after a tough battle that included fierce opposition from dovish Jewish American groups. Katz expressed faith that Trump would remain supportive and described the new ambassador as a "great American patriot." "The American people will be very proud of him," he said.
By AFP

BEIRUT: A US-backed alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters took full control Sunday of the Tabqa military airport in the country's north from the Islamic State group, a spokesman said.

The advance comes as the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance prepares for an assault on the jihadist group's de facto Syrian capital Raqa, some 55 kilometres (35 miles) east of Tabqa.

The SDF is seeking to effectively encircle Raqa city before attacking the stronghold.

"The Syrian Democratic Forces have full control of Tabqa military airport and operations to clear and demine are under way in order to secure the airport fully," spokesman Talal Sello told AFP.

The SDF entered the airport earlier Sunday, with Sello saying the alliance's forces were engaged in fierce clashes with IS.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, which also confirmed the airport's capture, said the SDF fighters were backed by US-led coalition strikes.

US forces airlifted SDF fighters behind IS lines around Tabqa earlier this week in advance of the assault, which is also targeting the town of Tabqa and the nearby Tabqa dam, Syria's largest.

BEIRUT: A US-backed alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters took full control Sunday of the Tabqa military airport in the country's north from the Islamic State group, a spokesman said. The advance comes as the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance prepares for an assault on the jihadist group's de facto Syrian capital Raqa, some 55 kilometres (35 miles) east of Tabqa. The SDF is seeking to effectively encircle Raqa city before attacking the stronghold. "The Syrian Democratic Forces have full control of Tabqa military airport and operations to clear and demine are under way in order to secure the airport fully," spokesman Talal Sello told AFP. The SDF entered the airport earlier Sunday, with Sello saying the alliance's forces were engaged in fierce clashes with IS. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, which also confirmed the airport's capture, said the SDF fighters were backed by US-led coalition strikes. US forces airlifted SDF fighters behind IS lines around Tabqa earlier this week in advance of the assault, which is also targeting the town of Tabqa and the nearby Tabqa dam, Syria's largest.
CLEAR LAKE | Clarice Lenor Borrill, 91, formerly of Clear Lake, IA, died Wednesday, March 22, 2017, at the I.O.O.F. Home in Mason City, IA.

A memorial service will be held 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 31, 2017, at Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, 101 N. Fourth St., Clear Lake, with the Rev. Dave Byrd officiating.

Visitation will be held from 1-1:30 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home. Burial will be in the Clear Lake Cemetery at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, March 31, 2017, prior to the service.
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Kolkata: PATH Welfare Society,ITC Mission SunehraKal host Children's Meet

Kolkata, Mar 25 : PATH Welfare Society with support from ITC Mission SunehraKal is organizing a Children's Meet- a gathering of over 400 children and Child Cabinet members from 24 government schools in Kolkata.





(Posted on 25 March 2017, 1667865954 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/west-bengal-news.php  (Posted on 25 March 2017, 1667865954 173O212O198O32)

The event aims at providing these children a platform to show case their learnings and share their experiences in terms of promoting health hygiene in their schools how they ensured operation maintenance of water sanitation facilities that have been provided to their schools by ITC MSK.The newly elected child cabinet Shri SaraswatiVidyalaya will take their oath during this event along with the inauguration of the new Water, Sanitation Solar Panels that have been provided to this school by ITC MSK, implemented by PATH Welfare Society.This event will be attended by:JanaabFirhad HakimKC Manna, Chairman SSM (SarvaShiksha Mission) KolkataAnwar Khan, Councillor, Ward 80RamPyare Ram, Councillor Ward 79SudeepSarkar DC Port, Kolkata PoliceSuvra Bhattacharya, DPO (District Project Officer) SSM KolkataSundarBandhpadhya, Pedagogy Consultant, SSM Kolkata
Need to defend the universities as free spaces: Vice President

New Delhi, Mar 25 : Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari on Saturday said that there is an imperative need to defend the universities as free spaces, as independent, critical repositories of knowledge, and as sources of renewal of liberal values that provide avenues of social mobility and equality to people.





(Posted on 25 March 2017, 1667865955 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/more-news.php  (Posted on 25 March 2017, 1667865955 173O212O198O32)

He was delivering the 66th Convocational Address at the Panjab University, in Chandigarh on Saturday.The Governor of Haryana, Prof. Kaptan Singh Solanki, the Vice Chancellor of Panjab University, Prof. A.K. Grover and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.Sharing his thoughts on the importance of universities in our society the Vice President talked about the idea of a university and how it distinguishes itself from other institutions where instructions are imparted focused on catering to requirements of daily life; the need for them to teach its members to think, to go beyond the obvious in learning for examination purposes, and to acquire the capacity and habit to question; the necessity for them to focus on research, to produce new knowledge that may be beneficial to society and the economy; the need to undertake social research, given the diversity and complexity of all societies in a fast changing world; and the imperative need for academic freedom so that the thought process and its expression is untrammelled by official or societal constraints.The Vice President said that a University has to be more than a mere polytechnic. Even in disciplines with obvious professional connections, the university should first aim to build a profound understanding of the discipline, he added.The Vice President said that a University has the twin responsibility of providing instruction on matters of intellectual importance and conducting research on those very matters.He also underlined the important role of social research in questioning and deconstructing social and cultural mythologies that circulate and proliferate in any society, especially during phases of change and uncertainty.The Vice President said that the recent events in our own country have shown that there is much confusion about what a university should or should not be.The freedom of our universities has been challenged by narrow considerations of what is perceived to be public good, he added.The Vice President said that the right of dissent and agitation are ingrained in the fundamental rights under our Constitution, which sets out a plural framework and refuses any scope to define the country in narrow sectarian, ideological or religious terms. A University must foster an environment that prizes intellectual freedom, he added.Following is the Text of Vice Presidents address:It has been my privilege to be the Chancellor of this university, famous for its work and alumni, for almost a decade. I confess I have followed the dictum that a Chancellor should be seen infrequently and heard rarely.This is one of those rare occasions, of convocation, when I get the opportunity to congratulate the Vice Chancellor, faculty, staff and students for the good work that is being done here.I am very happy that the University has decided to celebrate the singular achievements and services of some individuals by award of honoris causa degrees and the Rattan honours. I congratulate Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi for the D. Litt, Justice Khehar for the Doctorate of Law, Dr. N.S. Kapny and Prof. G.S. Khush for the Doctorates of Science. I also congratulate Shri Anupam Kher for the Kala Rattan, Dr. Dalip Kaur Tiwana for the Sahitya Rattan and Dr. P.D. Gupta for the Vigyan Rattan Awards.Convocations are calling together of a university community to celebrate academic achievements and excellence; it is customary to use the occasion to cogitate in public in the expectation that the audience would do likewise.I take this opportunity to share with you some thoughts on the importance of universities in our society and the requirements for the universities to play that role. Specifically I want to talk about:The idea of a university and how it distinguishes itself from other institutions where instructions are imparted focused on catering to requirements of daily life;The need for them to teach its members to think, to go beyond the obvious in learning for examination purposes, and to acquire the capacity and habit to question;The necessity for them to focus on research, to produce new knowledge that may be beneficial to society and the economy;The need for universities to undertake social research, given the diversity and complexity of all societies in a fast changing world; andThe imperative need for academic freedom so that the thought process and its expression is untrammeled by official or societal constraints.Allow me to begin with a blasphemous preposition: Do we still need Universities?A professor of business psychology in a university somewhere has argued that higher education is at best incoherent and at worst suicidal since students enroll to enhance their career potential but end up as unemployed or unemployable as they were in their pre-college lives. He goes on to argue that the only way to fix universities is to align demand (what students want and employers need) with supply (what universities offer).This trend of thinking, essentially utilitarian in a narrow sense, is not uncommon in our times. And yet, to reduce all human activity to its utilitarian dimensions is to negate the ventures of the human mind and spirit that has characterized human progress down the ages.Civilizations in different times have brought forth universities. Platos Academia and Aristotles Lyceum in Athens in 4th century BC, Nalanda in India in 5th century AD, Al Azhar in Egypt in 952 and Bologna in Italy in 1088 were in different senses precursors of modern universities.Cardinal Newman in 1852 described a university as a seat of wisdom, a light to the world, a minister of the faith, an Alma Mater of the rising generation. It is this and a great deal more.A university training, he added, aims at raising the intellectual tone of society, at cultivating the public mind, at purifying the national taste, at supplying true principles to popular enthusiasm and fixed aims to popular aspirations, at giving enlargement and sobriety to the ideas of the age, at facilitating the exercise of political powers and refining the intercourse of private life.In our times, the University has become not only a catalyst of scientific and economic change, but also vehicle of equalization of chances and democratization of society by making possible equal opportunities for people contributing not only to economic growth, but to social equality or, at least, lesser inequality. This was summed up a few years back by the President of the Copenhagen Business School, Per Holten-Andersen who identified four classical and one modern function of a university:To act as repositories of the knowledge of humanity;To generate new Knowledge by research;Transfer knowledge to the next generation by education;Transfer knowledge to Society, by dissemination; andGenerating development and economic growth.The last, admittedly, has acquired enhanced importance today but its efficacy is intrinsically linked to, and dependent upon, the institutions that produce new knowledge.There is much clamor and urgency today for university research to be translated into products and services. While there is no argument against applied research; and the need to commercialize such research, we must also accept that many of our present challenges require paradigm-shifts and disruptive convergent innovation. After all, necessity is the mother of invention only in the very short term. Over the long haul, invention is the mother of necessity changing not only what is possible, but what we regard as essential. We need to recognize that risk, waste and failure are all essential parts of the process. Good science, like good art, is a creative enterprise.Todays preoccupations are often myopic or ephemeral, giving little thought for tomorrow. History is at its most illuminating when written with the full consciousness of what people wrongly expected to happen. Even in the domain of technology, future developments only a few years away have been shrouded from contemporary eyes. Many, possibly most, have arisen unexpectedly from research with other objectives, and assessments of technological potential have invariably missed the mark. One of the roles of the university, thus, is to prepare the knowledge that an unpredictable future may need.A University has to be more than a mere polytechnic. University education and intellectual enrichment must not be construed solely or even primarily as a path to employment. Even in disciplines with obvious professional connections, the university should first aim to build a profound understanding of the discipline. A university law program, for example, should aim primarily to produce graduates with a deep understanding of law, rather than lawyers, per se.A University has the twin responsibility of providing instruction on matters of intellectual importance and conducting research on those very matters. These two functions should reinforce one another. In recent times, there is a pre-occupation with technological research as against research in pure and social sciences. Often, questions are raised about the importance, and benefits of social research to present requirements.Situating the relevance of contemporary social enquiry is complex and multifaceted. It is of paramount importance, especially for societies like ours that are in a transition process. It can help address challenges and identify possible solutions in areas essential to a transitional societys political stability and socio-economic development, including existential issues like inter-ethnic relations, protection of minorities, nation-building and good governance.Social research examining the dynamics and direction of political, economic and social change improves our understanding of such processes, and can help identify pockets of malcontent and resentment, allowing these to be addressed before they become impediments to social harmony.The other important role of social research is in questioning and deconstructing social and cultural mythologies that circulate and proliferate in any society, especially during phases of change and uncertainty. The period of rapid transition in India, particularly, in the last 25 years, offers a particularly fertile climate for such mythologies- which are often harmful for liberal values and the exercise of democracy. Here, the social sciences, with their robust basis in rational criteria, their critical view of societal phenomena, and the sophisticated analytical methods they employ, can be an apt antidote.An important aim of higher education is to learn to ask questions and to develop the capacity for reasoned arguments. This is what Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore alluded to when he sang;Where the mind is without fear....Where knowledge is free..Where words come out from the depth of truthThe right of dissent and agitation are ingrained in the fundamental rights under our Constitution, which sets out a plural framework and refuses any scope to define the country in narrow sectarian, ideological or religious terms. The national interest in this scheme is constitutional rule. This is what Dr. Ambedkar had in mind when he said that,It is only constitutional morality that must guide the government, not any whimsical invocation of narrow-minded, parochial figureheads and mythical characters.This approximates what Cardinal Newman envisaged as the role of the University, some 100 years before Ambedkar, that the idea of a university is to be determined without recourse to any authority and should be based on human wisdom. It should be a place for the diffusion and extension of knowledge.Intellectual dissent has the power to clarify differences and elucidate competing assumptions. It enables each of us to recognize the strengths and weaknesses in our thinking. Strong intellectual work can only be done in an atmosphere where scholars feel free to take risks, challenge conventions, and change their minds. A University must foster an environment that prizes intellectual freedom. Except in cases of illegal conduct or violence, a University should never seek to silence or influence faculty members or students to adopt or renounce any particular position. Indeed, universities should take all legal action necessary to defend their academic integrity and freedom.Academic freedom is the foundation of the Universitys mission to discover, improve, and disseminate knowledge. This is to be done by examining different ideas in an environment that encourages free and scrupulous debate. The ideas, no matter how uncomfortable or disturbing to the accepted status quo, can and must be challenged, modified and even discarded- on their merit, but may never be muted or suppressed.The University, in discharge of its duties, has the responsibility of speaking out without the fear of intimidation; and to give offense, even at the cost of inviting protests. Not doing so would be to deviate from the path of rational enquiry and undermine our curiosity about the world by embracing ill-defined orthodoxies, which would impoverish our pursuit of knowledge.Academic freedom requires a robust tolerance for disagreement and criticism, a willingness to have ones assumptions questioned, and openness to new ideas that may prove offensive. This tolerance always has the potential to conflict with other virtues and causes, so it needs to be defended repeatedly and vigilantly.We need to revisit these commitments today because we are again in a climate that questions the value and scope of academic freedom. Recent events in our own country have shown that there is much confusion about what a university should or should not be. The freedom of our universities has been challenged by narrow considerations of what is perceived to be public good.In a period of rampant distrust of matters intellectual there is an imperative need to defend the universities as free spaces, as independent, critical repositories of knowledge, and as sources of renewal of liberal values that provide avenues of social mobility and equality to people. We need to remind ourselves of the democratic aspirations of pragmatic liberal education while recalling that our finest universities help fulfill the dreams of our best selves as a people.In November 2005 an eminent scientist cautioned the world about the dangerous times that lie ahead in the realities of the external world and warned against retreat from complexity and difficulty by embracing the darkness of fundamentalist unreason (instead of) free, open, un-prejudiced, unhindered questioning and enquiry that are under serious threat from resurgent fundamentalism, West and East.This proposition has universal validity.As one of the premier institutions of the country, the Panjab University has to play its role of a neutral assembler of talent; that of an unmatched idea factory where the passion, creativity and idealism of young minds can be applied to meeting the transitional needs of our society, polity and economy.As the Chancellor of the University, I urge you to proceed purposefully in this direction.Jai Hind.
BJP dubs Rajinikant 'coward' while Congress backs him

New Delhi , Mar.25 : Hitting out at Rajinikanth, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday dubbed the former as a 'coward' for cancelling his proposed visit to Sri Lanka while Congress backed the actor.





(Posted on 25 March 2017, 1667865955 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/tamil-nadu-news.php  (Posted on 25 March 2017, 1667865955 173O212O198O32)

"It's typical of the cinema stars they have no bones. All their courage is in cinema but in outside world they are cowards," BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy told ANI.He further said that cancelling the visit shows utter cowardness of the Tamil superstar."This is Rajnikanth in real life. His fans should know that they idealise the one whom they see in reel life," he added.Swamy further said that Sri Lanka is a friendly country in India and the government has spent a lot of money building houses there.Meanwhile, Congress leader P.C. Chako stated that it Rajinikanth's personal decision of cancelling his trip to Sri Lanka which has no relevance with political affair.
Rajinikanth cancels his trip to Sri Lanka

Chennai, Mar 25 : Southern superstar Rajinikanth cancelled his trip to Sri Lanka where he was about to give away some homes for Tamils who were displaced, subjected to the requests of various Tamil parties, on Saturday, according to media reports.





(Posted on 26 March 2017, 1667865956 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/tamil-cinema-news.php  (Posted on 26 March 2017, 1667865956 173O212O198O32)

Regarding his cancellation, the actor said that he was requested by several political party leaders citing the political reasons.Rajinikanth was scheduled to hand over several homes to displaced Tamils, built by the Lyca Groups Gnanam Foundation which is incidentally producing his next film 2.0.
UN envoy calls for urgent measures to protect ceasefire in Syria

New York, Mar 26 : Voicing deep concern over recent escalation of fighting in Syria, the United Nations Special Envoy for the country has urged Iran, Russia and Turkey to undertake urgent efforts to uphold the ceasefire which has been in effect since late December last year.





(Posted on 26 March 2017, 1667865957 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/middle-east-news.php  (Posted on 26 March 2017, 1667865957 173O212O198O32)

Growing violations in recent days are undermining the ceasefire regime addressed through the Astana meetings, with significant negative consequences for the safety of Syrian civilians, humanitarian access and the momentum of the political process, said UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura.According to a note to correspondents issued today, de Mistura sent letters to the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran as the three guarantor-States of the ceasefire to undertake urgent efforts to uphold it.These appeals were also brought to the attention of Russia and the United States as the Co-Chairs of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), the note added.The ceasefire came into effect on 30 December last year, but recent fighting in capital Damascus, Hama and elsewhere in Syria have put it under strain.Also in the note, de Mistura noted that joint efforts of Iran, Russia and Turkey to guarantee the ceasefire are indispensable for improving the conditions on the ground and contributing to an environment conducive for a productive political progress.UN Photo/Violaine MartinSource: www.justearthnews.com
NH-74 scam: Uttarakhand CM demands CBI probe, suspends six SDM level officials

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) , Mar. 26 : Newly-elected Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Friday wrote to the Centre demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry in the NH-74 scam.





(Posted on 26 March 2017, 1667865957 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/india-news.php  (Posted on 26 March 2017, 1667865957 173O212O198O32)

The Chief Minister also suspended six Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) level officials with immediate effect.Irregularities worth Rs. 240 crore were detected in the acquisition of farmland for the purpose of the proposed NH-74 between 2011-2016. As per reports, most of the land in question is located in Jaspur, Kashipur, Bajpur and Sitarganj areas.
Canada celebrates Earth Hour today

Toronto, Mar 25 : The Earth Hour was celebrated all over the world for last 10 years with the intention of drawing attention to climate change and showing everybody's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, media reports said.





(Posted on 26 March 2017, 1667865958 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/world-news.php  (Posted on 26 March 2017, 1667865958 173O212O198O32)

This weekend, people around the world will be turning off their lights and powering down all electronic gadgets as part of the annual Earth Hour initiative. Toronto would be observing Earth Hour today from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia back in 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) more to raise awareness about the earths environment rather than try to reduce power usage.Earth Hour is a global event and participants range from over 170 countries in two dozen time zones.Following are tweets by WWFWWF-Trkiye @WWF_TURKIYE, NOW! Its #EarthHour time in Turkey! @wwf @earthhourTonight global landmarks will join the #EarthHour movement! Will you join them? http://wwf.to/1SCBx0UTurn up the volume on #EarthHour! Go live for #EarthHourLive at 8:30 p.m. your local time. Learn more: http://wwf.to/2lMCk4Z .Hong Kong is now celebrating #EarthHour! Join the movement at 8:30 p.m. your local time.#EarthHour has just started in Sydney and Melbourne!Were kicking off #EarthHour in Samoa! Join the global movement and turn up the dark at 8:30 p.m. local time: http://wwf.to/1SCBx0U .Tweet from WWF_Australia @WWF_Australia, Well done NSW VIC! Your turn QLD, SA, NT WA! #EH17 #EarthHour #EarthHour2017 #SydneyHarbourBridge #jointhefuture.Check out some of the artists who are using their music to support #EarthHour: http://wwf.to/2nvW7Gr #EarthHourLive.Several tweets from the Earth Hour are as follows:Join millions of people tonight for #EarthHour! Show your for our shared home with a new profile pic. Try it! http://Facebook.com/earthhour.Here in Poland we are signing a petition to help #changeclimatechange towards a better future for our ! #EarthHour #earthhour2017.#EarthHour happens tonight at 8:30pm wherever you are. RT to spread the word! How will YOU be celebrating the hour? #ChangeClimateChange.Lights out over here at Fiji! Join us to #changeclimatechange this #EarthHour ;)Kicking off the celebrations for #EarthHour 2017 over here in French Polynesia! Stay tuned for more action ;) #changeclimatechange.Other tweets from different sources pledging their solidarity to the noble cause of Earth Hour are given below:Earth Hour India @EarthHourIndia, #IndiaGate switches off for #EarthHour again - such a brilliant symbol of Indias support! Use ur power even after! http://earthhour.inNelsonMandela@NelsonMandela tweeted, Let us stand together to make of our world a sustainable source for our future as humanity on this planet #EarthHour #EarthHour2017.The Straits Times @STcom tweeted, Cities and monuments to dim lights for #EarthHour http://str.sg/47Fz.Wired UK @WiredUK tweeted, Prepare for darkness, #EarthHour happens tonight http://wired.uk/fVpJwu.Tweet from President of Russia @KremlinRussia, The Moscow Kremlin will participate in #EarthHour. Facade lighting will be turned off for one hour on March 25.United Nations @UN tweeted, Take climate action turn off your lights for #EarthHour this Sat., 8:30-9:30p local time. http://earthhour.org.Ellie Goulding @elliegoulding With the remarkable Dr @emilyshuckburgh last night tweeted, #EarthHour #MakeClimateMatter #ProtectWhatYouLoveTweet from UN Women @UN_Women, Join me in turning off your lights on 25 March at 8:30 PM local time, @UN SG @antonioguterres. Join #EarthHour! http://EarthHour.org.Amazon.in @amazonIN tweeted, Lets pledge to turn our lights off for 1 hour and contribute in the making of a better planet. Join us in the #EarthHour movement today.The cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Toronto and Guelph will also be participating in the event.Still other tweets from a few cities of Ontario are:Waterloo North Hydro @wnhydro tweeted, Go beyond an hour this year and make #earthhour, energy efficiency, and conservation an everyday thing not just a 1-hour thing pic.twitter.com/Ktn2FGnnEzWaterloo North Hydro @wnhydro tweeted, Moving out of #Waterloo. Well miss you, but dont forget to close your account with us: ow.ly/yNNT304Xdcq pic.twitter.com/5jOryZOyexGuelph Hydro @GuelphHydro tweeted, Will you be turning your lights out for #EarthHour this Saturday from 8:30-9:30 p.m. #Guelph ?Reminder to @tdsb schools offices: Lights out on Friday, March 24th from 2-3pm as we observe #EarthHour http://bit.ly/1nzrDziTDSB is shining a light on climate action with Earth Hour. Where possible, schools + offices will go electricity-free for 1 hour at 2 pm.Several Earth Hour walks have been planned throughout the city to mark the occasion.The University of Torontos AstroTours would be celebrating special stargazing event. The evening includes a look at the cosmos via telescopes, planetarium shows, interactive demonstrations and a special talk from the universitys own Prof. Suresh Sivanandam, Mac head, gear head, and astrophysicist.The event starts at 6 p.m., and although admission is free, online registration is required. More details are on the AstroTours website.The InterContinental Toronto Centre hotel would be hosting a special event for Earth Hour by switching off its lights for an intimate candlelight dinner at its Azure Restaurant and Bar. Part of their profits will be donated to local non-profit environmental group Evergreen.Dancing in the Dark with 17 songs to celebrate Earth Hour has become popular worldwide.The WWF says this years events include a choir performing by candlelight in Montreal, skating under the stars in Vancouver and candlelight walk and yoga in Toronto.(Reporting by Asha Bajaj,Image Credits: NASA/NOAA)
Rajini cancels Lanka visit: True nature of 'Tamil Nadu' politicians revealed, says Namal Rajapaksa

New Delhi , Mar. 26 : After superstar Rajinikanth called off his proposed visit to Sri Lanka after facing opposition from Tamil fringe groups, Lankan politician Namal Rajapaksa, who happens to be the son of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, has expressed his displeasure towards the entire development.

True nature of Tamil Nadu politicians is revealed again. They won't allow anyone, even @superstarrajini, to help #SriLanka's Tamil people.  Namal Rajapaksa (@RajapaksaNamal) March 25, 2017





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The superstar's decision came after he met with opposition from pro-Tamil outfits in his state."VCK chief Thirumavalavan and MDMK chief Vaiko urged me not to visit Sri Lanka. I accepted their request because of cordial relationship," he said.He was scheduled to formally present keys to 150 homes built by Gnanam Foundation for the internally displaced Tamils in the island nation.However, the visit was opposed by the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Marumarlarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMDK). Gnanam Foundation has been focusing on re-building infrastructure in the key areas of Sri Lanka which were badly affected in the civil war that took place around three decades ago.
Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi remembers Mahatma Gandhi, hails freedom fighters

New Delhi Mar. 26 : Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi while addressing the 30th edition of his monthly radio broadcast 'Mann Ki Baat', on Sunday hailed Mahatma Gandhi and recalled the bravery of the freedom fighters.





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"The Champaran Satyagraha showed us how special Mahatma Gandhi was and how unique his personality was," said Prime Minsiter Modi.He further said that India is marking 100 years of Champaran Satyagraha and this was one of the first Gandhian movements in India."When Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hung on March 23, their faces displayed satisfaction that they are serving their Motherland. They were not scared of death. They lived and died for the nation," he said.He added that Mahatma Gandhi returned to India and in two years he went to Bihar and what he did inspired the whole nation."No words can do justice to the sacrifices of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. They continue to inspire us," Prime Minister Modi said.The 30th edition is Prime Minister Modi's first radio programme after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received a thumping majority in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and managed to form coalition governments in Goa and Manipur.
NEC, Netcracker contribute to NTT's Network Slice Trial

Tokyo [Japan], Marc. 26 : NEC Corporation and Netcracker Technology have announced their participation in a trial with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) to realize the NetroSphere Concept for developing future communication networks.





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The NetroSphere Concept is the construction of a flexible, cost-effective network that can respond to the needs of both customers and service providers.This trial, held by NTT, verified the "network slicing technology" that will be necessary for the implementation of the NetroSphere Concept. This technology will allow service providers to efficiently utilize network resources only during the time those resources are needed, enabling the realization of various services at a low cost.This trial coordinated traffic distribution to the most appropriate network according to the traffic status of each device.NEC and Netcracker contributed to the trial by providing a virtualized Customer Premises Equipment (vCPE) solution, which distributes the traffic sent from each device to the most adequate network, and an "IoT Service Enabler," which dynamically changes distribution rules based on the status of traffic."We are honored that these trials will contribute to the realization of NTT's NetroSphere Concept," said Atsuo Kawamura, Senior Vice President, NEC Corporation."NEC/Netcracker's vCPE and the IoT Service Enabler are essential support components of network slicing technology and these results will help NTT achieve the network it is aiming for," he added.NEC/Netcracker's vCPE solution enables CPE functions to be provided through Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) as part of creating a more sophisticated network.NEC's IoT Service Enabler also cooperates with the vCPE solution as well as other network equipment compatible with 3GPP, enabling such functions as the accurate assessment of a network's status and the control of network bandwidth. As a result, these product and solution can contribute to the realization of advanced networks for both fixed and mobile communications.In the future, NEC aims to implement Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies within this service to further strengthen both monitoring and analytics of network data traffic.NEC Corporation is a Japanese multinational provider of information technology (IT) services and products, headquartered in Tokyo.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.
Third meeting of G-20 framework working group to be held at Varanasi

New Delhi, Mar 26 : The 3rd G-20 Framework Working Group (FWG) Meeting under the G-20 German Presidency is being co-hosted by Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Varanasi on 28th and 29th of March.





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The first two G 20 FWG meetings under the G-20 German Presidency have already been held at Berlin in Dec 16 and at Riyadh in Feb 17.Since the inception of the FWG in 2009, this is the fourth occasion that India is hosting this meeting. Previously, India had hosted the G-20 FWG Meetings in Neemrana, Rajasthan (2012 under Mexican Presidency), in Goa (in 2014 under G-20 Australian Presidency) and in Kerala (2015 under G-20 Turkish Presidency).In the forthcoming meeting in Varanasi, the G-20 FWG will discuss the current global economic situation as well as deliberate on the policy options that countries can pursue to counter the important development challenges.One important focus of this meeting will be to deliberate on the inclusive growth agenda of G-20 and to formulate a framework that will enable countries to help frame country specific inclusive growth policies.The G-20 is the group of 19 countries and European Union (EU) deliberating on global economic issues and other important development challenges. G-20 Framework Working Group (FWG) is one of the core working groups of G-20.The mandate of FWG is to deliberate on the challenges facing the global economy and the policy options that countries can use to address these challenges. India along with Canada has been co-chairing this group.
Nepal President to visit India next month

Kathmandu, Mar 26 : Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari will visit India next month, media reports said.





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She will visit the neighbouring nation on Apr 17, media reports said.The Presidents Office confirmed her India visit, which will be her first foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015, The Kathmandu Post reported.The Nepali leader will visit India at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.Image: Wikimedia Commons
Prime Minister attends Ugadi celebrations

New Delhi, Mar 26 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday joined in the Ugadi Milan celebrations in the capital and emphasized that diversity of India is its identity as well as its strength.





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The event was hosted by Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Urban Development and Housing Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu at his residence.Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister while greeting the nation for the New Year, said that the festivals are a reflection of the changing facets of Nature and linked to our culture and traditions. Citing the Ek Bharat Shresht Bharat initiative of the Government, Modi said that this would enable the coming generations to understand the diversity of different states and their cultures. This would strengthen the feeling of oneness and unity amongst all Indians.He called upon the States collaborate with each other thereby promoting uniqueness of their respective cultures and traditions in different regions.Regarding the Ek Bharat Shresht Bharat initiative, the Prime Minister gave the example of the MoU signed between Haryana and Telangana, which provided an opportunity for the two states to collaborate in the areas of Film festivals, Language, Cuisines, and Exchange between sportspersons, policy makers and legislators.While appreciating the cultural performance of Jatayu Moksham, the Prime Minister said that the struggle of Jatayu was an inspiration for all of us to fight terrorism courageously which currently posed a huge challenge to the entire humanity today.Welcoming the guests on the occasion, Naidu said that Ugadi was the beginning of New Year as per Indian calendar. It is celebrated all across India on different days in the month.He said Ugadi Pachhadi, a combination of six different tastes (shat ruchi) consisting of sweet, sour, spicy or pungent, salty, astringent and bitter symbolized various emotions of happiness, disgust, anger, fear, surprise and sadness.He said that Indian Culture was unique and most civilized as there was science in every festival and every tradition.Naidu mentioned that the onset of the New Year would bring prosperity and Growth to the country under the leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.Ugadi which heralds the arrival of spring and warmer weather signifies the start of a new year in many parts of South India. The joyous festival signifies growth and prosperity and as with all new year festivals, it provides an opportunity to start new ventures.
Russia 'disappointed' over new U.S. sanctions against eight more companies: Foreign Ministry

Moscow [Russia], Mar. 26 : The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed disappointment over the U.S. authorities' decision to introduce sanctions against eight more Russian companies.





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"The US administration's decision to introduce restrictions against a number of Russian organizations, including those linked to aircraft construction and training aviation specialists, raises eyebrows and arouses disappointment," TASS news agency quoted the ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying on her Facebook page.She said that the sanction have been placed without providing proper explanation."This new portion of sanctions does not pose any serious problems for us, of course, however, the Americans did not even name the reasons but just referred to their legislation prohibiting themselves to cooperate with Iran and Syria," she added.Russia's Foreign Ministry notes that this step "is not in line with Washington's statements on priority of fight against terrorism, including its nest on the Syrian territory."On Saturday, the US Administration imposed sanctions on eight more Russian companies accusing them of violating U.S. non-proliferation law concerning Iran, North Korea and Syria since 2009. Traditionally, the U.S. does not specify its claims to the Russian companies.The current sanctions, due to remain in force for the coming two years, ban US departments and agencies from buying any goods or services from blacklisted companies, from selling arms and military hardware to them. Also, the sanctioned companies can neither obtain licenses for buying goods listed in the export control nor get assistance.Among the sanctioned companies are Russia's main weapons exporter Rosobornexport, the 150th aircraft repair plant, the Aviaexport foreign economic trade company, the Bazalt Scientific and Research Corporation, the Scientific and Production Corporation 'Engineering Design Bureau (weapons manufacturing companies), the Ulyanovsk Higher Civil Aviation School, the Urals Civil Aviation Training Center, and the Zhukovsky - Gagarin Air Force Academy.
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla., March 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bartell Chiropractic Life Center today announced that they have added a Google 360 virtual tour of their office to their website. This tour lets people see inside the office as if they were standing right there. Since patients like to know what they're walking into, the clinic believes that this will do much to reduce pre-appointment anxiety and motivate new patients to go ahead and sign up.



Technology and websites naturally go together, so it's no wonder that upgrades in capabilities quickly make it across the internet. Google's 360 virtual tour is a particularly stunning example of such an upgrade. It brings the search giant's Street View technology to the indoors, allowing visitors to click through a business' premises the same way they click their way down the streets of Street View. Of course, visitors may also look around in any direction while "standing still."

"High-quality images are seamlessly integrated so it really feels like you're standing right there in the office. Unlike older 'tour' technology, the view is not distorted with a fish-eye effect, but instead looks the way it should. Tour visitors can also stop and look in any direction or proceed by clicking the arrows. It's just like Google Street View only inside," Dr. Michael Bartell, owner of Bartell Chiropractic Life Center, said enthusiastically.

Recently, it became possible for outside companies to use the technology to create tours inside businesses. The tours are then made available both on the business' sites and in their Google search listings. Viewers can now explore the entire office of Bartell Chiropractic Life Center, even the areas behind the front counter. These include exam and exercise rooms, their pediatric exam room, the financial consultation office, and the reception and waiting area, along with the entire layout of the office.

"Many people feel apprehensive when they're deciding on a new doctor. One source of this apprehension is the feeling that they'll be walking into a totally unknown space. They wonder if the office looks good, has what its site says it does, and how modern it is. By offering Google 360 tours, we allow them to eliminate this sort of anxiety just by going to our site and virtually walking through it," Dr. Bartell said.

About Bartell Chiropractic Life Center

This clinic provides care for injuries sustained during auto accidents, chiropractic services, nutritional services, and more. The practice is owned by Dr. Michael Bartell and serves the Deerfield Beach and eastern Boca Raton, Florida areas. Additional information is available by visiting their website at http://bartellchiro.com/.
A new restaurant has plans to move into the former Carmella's Pizzeria
Reporter/Columnist

Julie Wurth is a reporter covering the University of Illinois at The News-Gazette. Her email is jwurth@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@jawurth).
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
Insilico Medicine, a Baltimore-based Big Data analytics company applying deep learning techniques to drug discovery, biomarker development and human longevity research will present and chair a panel at the BioDataWorld West, San Francisco, April 26-27. The CEO of Insilico Medicine, Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD will present new research applying generative adversarial networks (GANs) to developing new molecular structures for leads in oncology and other diseases.

"Our team publishes high-profile and sometimes seminal research publications in the field of drug discovery and biomarker development. This year we will be presenting at over 20 forums and conferences and co-organizing the Artificial Intelligence Forum in Basel as part of the EMBO/Basel Life. However, the number and the caliber of speakers at the BioDataWorld West eclipses everything we have seen to date. The organizers conducted interviews with almost every speaker to ensure the highest standards and fit. All the big players and some of the very promising startups will be there. I highly recommend attending this conference. We were fortunate to assist the organizers with the artificial intelligence track of the conference and will be presenting and chairing the panel", said Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, CEO of Insilico Medicine, Inc.

The Artificial Intelligence Track was tailored according to the specifications from the senior leadership of Merck. The conference organizers agreed to offer a 15% discount to delegates attending the AI Track courtesy of Insilico Medicine. To get more information about BioData World West and access a discount only for InSilico Medicine partners, download the brochure here: https:/ / goo. gl/ YeBhed

Drug Discovery eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

"BioDataWorld West Congress features over 100 speakers from across the globe. As of an international series designed to drive big data into the development of personalized medicines in the fastest way possible. We are bringing together the greatest innovators in Artificial Intelligence applied to healthcare, aging and drug development such as Google's Jeff Dean and Insilico Medicine's Alex Zhavoronkov. It is truly humbling to be working alongside these world-renowned figures. The work is inspiring, astonishing and thought provoking in equal measures", said Edward Glanville, founder and director of the BioDataWorld West Congress, part of Terrapinn conference portfolio.

Through its focus on aging research and drug discovery, Insilico Medicine is bringing the knowledge gap between the consumer and pharmaceutical industries and collaborates with some of the largest pharmaceutical, cosmetics and nutrition companies and academic institutions. In 2016 Insilico Medicine published several seminal proofs of concept papers demonstrating the applications of deep learning to drug discovery, biomarker development, and aging research. A study published in

Insilico Medicine was the first company to apply deep generative adversarial networks (GANs) to generating anti-cancer drugs with given parameters and published a seminal paper in Oncotarget. The paper published in

In March 2017 the company launched its first geroprotector with its exclusive partner, Life Extension: http://www. geroprotector. com .

Source: InSilico Medicine, Inc.
New antibiotics are becoming available for the first time but without accurate diagnostics, clear treatment guidelines, and improved control efforts, their effectiveness could be rapidly lost

The rise of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) threatens to derail decades of progress in controlling the disease, according to a new report in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine published on World TB day (24th March).

Although a small number of repurposed and new drugs have recently become available to treat drug-resistant TB (including bedaquiline, delamanid, and linezolid), the authors warn that without accurate diagnostic tests to deliver individually targeted treatments, clear prescription guidelines on appropriate use and improved control efforts to prevent transmission, optimal dosing and administration, and well-functioning health care systems, the effectiveness of the drugs could be rapidly lost.

TB kills more people each year than any other infectious disease, including HIV/AIDS. In 2015, TB was estimated to have killed 1.8 million people. Six countries account for 60% of the total number of cases of TB worldwide -- India, Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa.

Approximately 1 in 5 cases of TB are now resistant to at least one major anti-TB drug and approximately 5% of all cases of TB are classed as MDR (resistant to two essential first-line TB drugs, isoniazid and rifampicin) or XDR (also resistant to fluoroquinolones and second-line injectable drugs). Globally in 2015, there were an estimated 480000 cases of MDR-TB, with approximately half of these cases being in India, China, and Russia. But, migration and travel mean that highly drug-resistant TB strains have emerged in almost every part of the world.

MDR and XDR-TB are associated with high mortality, are a threat to health-care workers, prohibitively expensive to treat, and are therefore a serious public health problem. The mortality rate is extremely high at around 40% for patients with MDR-TB, and 60% for patients with XDR-TB. Of the US$6.3 billion available in 2014 to respond to the global TB epidemic, about a third ($1.8 billion) was for MDR-TB (despite drug resistant TB forming only 5% of the total caseload).

TB is caused by a bacterial species called Mycobacterium tuberculosis and is treated with a combination of antibiotics. The treatment of TB was revolutionised in the 1950s with the introduction of three antibiotics: streptomycin, isoniazid, and para-aminosalicylic acid. The extensive overuse and abuse of antibiotics worldwide has led to a rise in bacteria that are drug resistant. Drug-resistant genetic mutations in the bacteria can occur as a result of inadequate treatment or can be passed on from one bacteria to another. Bacteria can acquire multiple drug resistance traits over time, making them resistant to several different types of antibiotics.

Until recently, it was thought that drug-resistant strains of TB were less transmissible, and that MDR- and XDR-TB was mainly acquired by individuals as a result of poor compliance to treatment. However, recent molecular and epidemiological studies, outlined in the Commission, have challenged this belief. In most regions of the world, drug-resistant TB is now predominantly caused by transmission, with an estimated 95.9% of new cases infected with MDR-TB strains due to the drug resistant bacteria spreading from one person to the next.

Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

"Resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs is a global problem that threatens to derail efforts to eradicate the disease. Even when the drugs work, TB is difficult to cure and requires months of treatment with a cocktail of drugs. When resistance occurs the treatment can take years and the drugs used have unpleasant and sometimes serious side effects. Cure rates for drug resistant TB are poor and people can remain infectious and at risk of spreading the disease. Improved diagnostic tests are on the horizon, but we need huge efforts to increase their accuracy, use them for active case finding in the community, and eventually make them available in low income countries so as to inform treatment decisions and preserve the efficacy of any new antibiotic drugs for TB," says lead author of the Commission Professor Keertan Dheda, University of Cape Town.

The Commission sets out key priority actions for the next two, five and ten years for the research and policy communities, and outlines key treatment recommendations and procedures for doctors treating patients with MDR- or XDR-TB.

The report is being launched at a conference at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, co-funded by the South African Medical Research Council and the South African Thoracic Society.

Dr Zarir Udwadia, co-author of the Commission from Hinduja Hospital & Research Center, Mumbai, India says: "TB exists on an epic scale in India, and cases of multidrug resistant TB are an increasing concern. Access to drugs to treat TB, including drug resistant TB is a major concern. Despite some small scale programmes for compassionate use of new life-saving drugs such as bedaquiline and delamanid, there is no widespread access in India meaning these drugs remain unavailable to patients who need them most. Many patients at risk of transmission, or who need palliative care, live in the community because hospitals are full. In addition to new drugs, we need to ensure that patients with incurable disease are treated with dignity and afforded the care they need."

Writing in a linked Comment, Dr David W Dowdy, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA, concludes: "Ultimately, Dheda and colleagues are describing an epidemic that is at a crossroads. Every year, strains of drug-resistant tuberculosis will emerge that are more transmissible, more difficult to treat, and more widespread in the community. Yet we also have more tools at our disposal than ever before. And unlike for most other drug-resistant pathogens, we have evidence that, with a comprehensive response, drug-resistant tuberculosis epidemics can be rapidly reversed. Over the next decade, it is quite possible that we will see a drug-resistant tuberculosis epidemic of unprecedented global scale. But it is also possible that the next decade could witness an unprecedented reversal of the global drug-resistant tuberculosis burden. The difference between these two outcomes lies less with the pathogen and more with us as a global tuberculosis control community and whether we have the political will to prioritise a specific response to the disease. Drug-resistant tuberculosis is not standing still; neither can we."
Transmission of the mosquito-borne dengue virus appears to be largely driven by infections centered in and around the home, with the majority of cases related to one another occurring in people who live less than 200 meters apart, new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Florida suggests.

The findings, published in the March 24 issue of Science, offer new insights into the spread of diseases like dengue - which infects more than 300 million people each year - and how governments and individuals might put in place more targeted and more effective mosquito control programs.

"What is exciting about this is that we are using new scientific tools to allow us to look inside the black box of disease transmission that we haven't before been able to penetrate on this scale," says one of the study's authors, Justin Lessler, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Bloomberg School. "Understanding the patterns of how infections are spread might help us start to appreciate why certain interventions aren't working, how some could work better and what we can do to protect more people from what can be a devastating illness."

Interventions such as mosquito control near the houses of cases and targeted vaccination could potentially be better utilized based on an improved understanding of these patterns.

Forty percent of the world's population live in areas where they are at risk of the virus, which is most common in Southeast Asia and the western Pacific islands and has been rapidly increasing in Latin America and the Caribbean. While most of the 300 million people who get dengue annually survive with few or no symptoms, more than two million annually develop what can be a dangerous dengue hemorrhagic fever, which kills more than 25,000 people each year - mostly children.

Dengue is carried by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, the same species that carries Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever.

For their study, the researchers genetically sequenced the viruses of 640 dengue infections that occurred between 1994 and 2010 in both densely-populated Bangkok, Thailand and less densely populated regions outside the capital, then overlaid this information on a map showing where the people infected with the virus lived.

Their results show that in people living fewer than 200 meters apart (typically in houses in the same neighborhood), 60 percent of dengue cases come from the same transmission chain, meaning they were infected by a virus that was only recently introduced into the area. In people who were separated by one to five kilometers, just three percent of cases came from the same transmission chain.

The researchers also characterized the diversity of dengue viruses across Bangkok. They estimate that 160 separate chains of transmission co-circulate in Bangkok within a season.

Looking across the city, they found that larger populations of humans support a larger diversity of dengue viruses. However, in the areas of Bangkok with the highest population density, they found less diversity than expected.

"Our findings suggest that large urban centers provide a source of dengue diversity that could possibly be dispersed to other areas of the country and the world," says senior author of the study, Derek A.T. Cummings, a professor of biology at the University of Florida's Emerging Pathogens Institute and an adjunct professor at the Bloomberg School. "But the fact that diversity saturates at the large population densities also suggests that these areas might be areas where intense competition is occurring between dengue viruses."

While the related dengue viruses stay close to home in a single dengue season - which in Thailand is typically the fall - the viruses eventually mix across the country by the next season. Despite the eventual cross-country mixing, the researchers say that the virus strains stayed mostly within the borders of the country, though they say they aren't entirely sure why.

"We often think that pathogens don't respect borders," says study leader Henrik Salje, PhD, from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France and an adjunct assistant professor at the Bloomberg School. "While clearly there is a lot of human mobility between the countries in the region, it does not appear to be enough to connect their dengue epidemics."
For mothers of new infants, going back to work may pose a number of obstacles to continued breastfeeding. Workplace policies affecting the ability to breastfeedand the role of nurse practitioners (NPs) in helping to overcome those obstaclesare the topic of a special article in The Nurse Practitioner, published by Wolters Kluwer.

"Breastfeeding yields many important benefits to both mother and infants, yet workplace barriers contribute to low rates of breastfeeding," according to the article by Rhonda Winegar, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, CPN, CCRN, and Alisha Johnson, MSN, RN. "Nurse practitioners often serve as the initial point of education for new mothers and may impact decisions to breastfeed."

Workplace Policies May Make It Harder for Women to Continue Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is widely recommended as the best nutrition for infants, providing health benefits for babies and mothers alike. As such, measures to encourage breastfeeding have the potential to lower healthcare costs. "Society in general benefits from mothers and infants who are healthier," according to the authors.

But while 75 percent of women choose breastfeeding after delivery, only 40 percent will continue breastfeeding after they return to work. "In the United States, breastfeeding is considered a personal choice, and legislation in support of breastfeeding in the workplace is more limited than in most other countries," Rhonda Winegar and Alisha Johnson write.

Employer policies can have a major impact on women's ability to continue breastfeeding after returning to work. One study found that women who work at companies with policies to support breastfeeding are more likely to continue breastfeeding for at least six months, as recommended by current guidelines.

The article identifies key elements of a successful workplace breastfeeding policy include providing appropriate breaks and a suitable area for women to pump breast milk, as well as a storage facility for the expressed milk (such as a refrigerator), if requested. The costs of such policies are relatively lowand are likely to be offset by the potential savings from fewer employee absences, lower healthcare costs, and less employee turnover.

And yet, employers may be unlikely to adopt breastfeeding promotion programs unless there are regulations to support them. The 'Break Time for Nursing Mothers' provision of the Affordable Care Act includes protections covering some employees and workplaces. In addition, 28 states (along with Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia) have laws in place regarding breastfeeding in the workplace. "Nurse practitioners should stay current on current legislation and community resources that are available to support breastfeeding once these patients return to work," the authors write.

Other steps to promote continued breastfeeding range from prescribing an electric breast pump or arranging for a lactation consultant, to dealing with common concerns such as milk leakage on work clothes. Rhonda Winegar and Alisha Johnson conclude, "NPs can positively influence the incidence of breastfeeding and ultimately improve the health of society in general."
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Bhagat Singh as an icon is ubiquitous  on the bumpers of cars, as wall graffiti, on Facebook profile pictures even as what he stood for, what he espoused, has mostly disappeared.



Singhs life and times have to be understood in the context of the independence struggle in an undivided Punjab. While his legacy has sought to be appropriated by the Left and the Right in India, it is even more complicated across the border in Pakistan.



Ajoka theatre, a leading theatre group based out of Lahore, has played an active role in promoting Singh's legacy in Pakistan. Considering that Singh was born in Lyallpur, now known as Faisalabad, studied in Lahore and was executed in Lahore, it is a legacy to be proud of.



Ajokas play Mera Rang de Basanti Chola is about the life and times of Bhagat Singh and the theatre group is currently touring India staging the play under the Theatre for Peace project, that aims to promote peace between the two countries through the arts. Ajokas Madeeha Gauhar spoke to News18's Tushar Dhara.



Q: What is Bhagat Singhs legacy in Pakistan?



A Theres not much of a legacy which has been recognized, because Pakistan has dropped most non-Muslim figures of the independence movement from its history. The narrative of independence has been one-sided rather than focus on the anti-colonial legacy. That is why we did this play in order to explore the facets of Bhagat Singh  he was executed in Lahore, he studied in Lahore  but also to try and correct the distortion of history. We have also tried to do something similar for other historical figures like Dara Shikoh, Bulleh Shah, and Manto. Its part of a series of plays that explores the history of figures who have been sidelined from the official narrative of Pakistan.



Q: How are Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru remembered in Pakistan?



A: Let me tell you an incident: My son played the part of Bhagat Singh and he was 22 years old at that time. He studied at the National College of Arts in Lahore, which is the premier arts institution in Pakistan. My son was doing his graduation in film making. As part of his dissertation he did a play on Bhagat Singh and he made a documentary called Becoming Bhagat Singh. When he interviewed rich students and asked them who was Bhagat Singh? most of them didnt know. Some of the answers were that he was someone who was against Muslims, he was a character from the Aamir Khan film Rang de Basanti. That was extremely telling about what the younger generation thought of Bhagat Singh. Of course, the older generation knows more about him. Its very sad, but thats the reality.



But after we performed the play about Bhagat Singh awareness has risen about him in Pakistan, and even civil society is demanding that the place where he was executed [Shadaman chowk] be renamed as Bhagat Singh chowk. But the Jamat-ud-Dawa has threatened and accosted people who were demonstrating at Shadaman chowk.



Q: How does Bhagat Singhs legacy connect to the wider ideological conflicts in Pakistan?



A: Its interesting, because the way I see him portrayed in Indian Punjab, hes portrayed as a Sikh rather than an anti-colonial figure. In photographs and theatre hes always portrayed with a turban, which he discarded much earlier on and he became an atheist, which he also wrote about in a powerful essay. That aspect has been totally ignored and he has become a Sikh icon. A person who was totally secular and atheist has now basically become an icon for the Sikhs.



Pakistanis like us who are secular and liberal, look up to India. Our famous poet Fahmida Riaz said aap bilkul humare jaise nikle [you have turned out exactly like us]. Bhagat Singhs legacy is no longer there in both countries. In India hes been taken over by the right wing. Its quite intriguing. The man who was so strong about his convictionsit was his vision that inspired many people. That legacy has been distorted. In the rest of India, Northern India particularly, has been taken over by the right. Distortions of Bhagat Singhs legacy in both Pakistan and India are converging, which again is very alarming.



Q: How is Bhagat Singh commemorated in the arts in Pakistan?



A: In Pakistan a very small group of people gather every year on his martyrdom anniversary at Shadaman chowk, which was earlier the site of Lahore central jail, a small group of people gather there every year. About 2-3 years ago activists of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa gathered and attacked the people gathered there. The police intervened and asked us to leave because those people were armed and we were not. Incidentally, his martyrdom day [March 23] also happens to be Pakistan day, which encapsulates the ideological conflicts that Pakistan faces.
Famous for its non-vegetarian delicacies, the Aminabad area in Lucknow looks deserted with most of the restaurants shut, following the crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses, coupled with the meat shop strike.

Tunday Kababi owner Abu Bakr says, "We have voted for the government. PM said 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas', our business is severely hit. We request the govt to save our businesses."

Another hotel in Aminabad has a unique alternative to its regular Mutton Shami Kebab. It now offers Soybean and lentils kebab.

A second-year graduate student, Sheetal says, "While the intention of the Chief Minister is to ensure women's safety, the situation is exactly the opposite. Policemen and unauthorised volunteers are harassing young couples. They even ask for a bribe."

: Amidst much drama, the newly-appointed UP chief minister Aditya Nath Yogi has set the tone - his government means business. The surprise visit at Hazratganj Police Station, the strong stance on illegal slaughterhouses, the swift condolences for an acid attack survivor, and much talked-about anti-Romeo Squad, UP CM has kept everybody on their toes.However, a heavy crackdown on illegal slaughterhouse has triggered an unprecedented reaction, too. Three slaughterhouses were set ablaze by unidentified men in Hathras on Tuesday. Unauthorised men can be seen "warning" allegedly illegal meat shop owners in the city.A BJP volunteer, who has been doing the rounds of "allegedly" illegal meat vendors, says, "We think it's our responsibility to ensure all illegal meat shops are shut. Once the Chief Minister has issued the directive, what's stopping us?"An acute shortage of buffalo meat has left the local vendors and restaurants devoid of business. On Saturday, all meat shops, across Lucknow, were shut. The meat vendors association has gone on a strike against the "pressure" they allege, they face from inspection authorities.The iconic Tudany Kababi, which is synonymous with Lucknow's Awadhi cuisine, has also shut shop. It's not just about buffalo meat, they tell CNN-News18, "we don't even have a supply of chicken and mutton here".Among the few restaurants that are open, hotel Madina has now adopted a vegetarian menu, selling Soybean Kebab. Madina hotel owner tells CNN-News18 that this is the first time when his restaurant has "daal on the menu". "How will we survive if no one buys vegetarian food. The government should have thought through," he laments.At SRS mall in Gomti Nagar, youngsters complain about the anti-Romeo squads. While the UP CM has reiterated only troublemakers will be taken to the task, the ground reality is "disturbing".In his first address as UP CM, Aditya Nath Yogi on Saturday tried assuaging the apprehensions of the minority community. Assuring that he will follow PM Modi's "Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas" mantra and "nobody will be discriminated against on the caste, views or religious grounds" under his rule.Many Muslims at the historical Bada Imambara -- a shrine always deluged with tourists from across the country -- are optimistic about the new BJP-led government in the state. Fifty-five-year-old Ehsan Rizvi says, "Lucknow wants to give the new Chief Minister a chance to bring a positive change. He has shown a different attitude. He might bring law and order in place."
Meerut: Almost 15 years ago, in April 2002, right after the devastating Godhra riots in Gujarat, the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath Yogi created a right-wing Hindu force with a handful of youth, which he named Hindu Yuva Vahini.



His private army, with its own constitution, gradually grew into several thousand, even edged out the Sangh from East UP, and established its primacy, and the supremacy of Adityanath, over every other Hindu outfit and leader.



Over last 15 years, with successive electoral victories, the attraction for Adityanath and his fringe outfit kept increasing.



So it is only natural that with its chief patron now having taken oath as the chief minister of the state, the fringe outfit, which may possibly be the biggest non-Sangh Hindu group in the state, has now been mainstreamed.



In Meerut alone, as News18 found out after spending time with HUVs district president and his new recruits, the cadre has grown from a few hundred to thousands in just one week. At this rate, we would have enlisted at least 4000 members by the end of this month from just Meerut alone, says Sachin Mittal.



Sachin Mittals house in Meeruts Mangal Pandey Nagar doubles up as the official district headquarters of the Hindu Yuva Vahini. Mittal has been holding the flag of the Vahini in Western UP for a while now.



At the office, a huge poster of a smiling Yogi Adityanath greets you. Inside the office sits Mittal surrounded by a large group of 20-somethings. Over him hangs the poster of Bharat Mata. They have come from far-off districts to join Yogis outfit.



Mittal explains to them, We have to be very careful. With Yogi Ji in power, we are being watched very carefully by the opposition and the media. We must not give them cause to attack us. Please, dont do anything to embarrass the chief minister, a 25-year-old from Shamli nods attentively.



A 17-year-old interjects him and says, Bhaiya, Hapur se 50 ladke judna chahte hain. Yahan bula loon unko? (50 boys from Hapur want to join the outfit. Should I call them here?) Yogi Adityanaths appointment has brought a massive change in Mittals life too. Earlier, he would spend hours on his farm in Abdullahpur village.



But lately, he has had to spend most of his day flooded with phone calls and drop-in requests from those who want to join. Based on the enthusiasm hes witnessed in just his district, and the information hes obtained from his colleagues spread across the state, Mittal claims that lakhs of youth would have joined their organisation from across the state by the end of the month.



Though Mittal says the RSS is their parent outfit, the growth of the Hindu Yuva Vahini will have even some Sangh Parivar outfits worried.



Yogis personal popularity, says Mittal, has driven membership up. I have been with Yogi Ji for seven years. In the old days, whenever I used to take people to meet him in Delhi, only a few people would come. Now, people come to me every day and ask me if I can set up a meeting. People have recognized that he is a man of action. That is why they want to join him, he says.



Adityanaths ascent to the top was on the back of his hardline Hindutva stances. From the purification drive to re-convert Christians to Hinduism to the Love Jihad bogey in 2014 to the polarising statements after the lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri in 2015  where Adityanath went, Hindu Yuva Vahini followed.



In 2007, during the Gorakhpur riots, the outfit was accused of setting fire to a local mazaar and inciting communal hatred. But what role will they play now that their leader is the CM? The newly-made anti-Romeo Squads in UP have officials worried about the rise of vigilante groups. Ashish Kapoor, a Hindu Yuva Vahini worker, assures us that it will not be the case.



Sachin Bhaiyya has given us strict instructions that we are not to take the law into our own hands. We had to go out on the streets earlier because the government did nothing. Now, we have a hardworking CM. There is no need for us to interfere with the administrations work, he says.



However, says Mittal, our job will be to become watchdogs. The police have been doing a stellar job for the last few days but sometimes, they may miss something. It will be our job to tell them if something wrong is going on.



Apart from the anti-Romeo drive and cow protection, we will also use our network to find out about illegal activities taking place anywhere. For example, we all know that Sotiganj in Meerut is infamous for stolen bikes and cars being cut into pieces and sold for scrap. We will ensure that any such activity is brought to the notice of the police.



Sotiganj, incidentally, is a predominantly Muslim area. Mittal himself has met Adityanath on several occasions. Yogi Ji has come to Meerut several times. In 2011, 2013 and 2015, during his visit here, he made it a point to stop at my house for lunch. He met me, an ordinary worker, before he even met the local MP, he says proudly.



During lunch, Mittal boasts about how the Gorakhnath Math in Gorakhpur has a Dalit head cook and Muslim servants. He then sets out in his car to take a round of the city. He stops at a local shop and is greeted with a cheery Jai Yogi! (Hail Yogi!) by the shopkeeper. Mittal smiles and says, People have been saying this to me for the last seven years. But now the enthusiasm is different.



As he heads back into his office, another group of young boys await him, ready to be absorbed into the outfit. Ab sangathan badhega (now the outfit will grow), he says.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's high-profile Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi will this week hold a two-day G-20 working group meeting where participants will weigh in on evolving global economic scenarios, with inclusive growth on top of the agenda.



The Framework Working Group (FWG) is one of the core groups of the G-20, which is a group of 19 nations and the European Union that deliberates on global economic issues and other key developmental challenges.



"In the forthcoming meeting in Varanasi, the G-20 FWG will discuss the current global economic situation as well as deliberate on the policy options that countries can pursue to counter the important development challenges," the finance ministry said in a statement.



One important focus, it said, will be the inclusive growth agenda and formulating a framework that will enable countries to frame country-specific policies.



The third meeting under the G-20 German presidency is being co-hosted by the Department of Economic Affairs, Finance Ministry, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Varanasi on March 28-29.



The first two under the German presidency were held in Berlin in December 2016 and Riyadh in February 2017.



The mandate is to deliberate on the challenges facing the global economy and the policy options that countries can use to address the same. India, along with Canada, has been co-chairing this group.



Since the inception of the FWG in 2009, this is the fourth occasion India is hosting this meeting.



Previously, India had hosted the G-20 FWG meetings in Neemrana, Rajasthan (2012 with Mexico at the helm), Goa (in 2014 under Australian presidency) and Kerala (2015 under Turkish leadership).
New Delhi: India has become the third largest aviation market in terms of domestic passenger traffic, beating Japan, an industry report has said.



India's domestic air passenger traffic stood at 100 million in 2016 and was behind only the US (719 million) and China (436 million), Sydney-based aviation think-tank Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said in its latest report.



India acquired the third spot globally by unseating Japan, which flew 97 million domestic passengers in 2016, CAPA said.



Domestic air traffic has shown a consistent growth of 20 -25 per cent throughout 2015 and 2016, peaking in January this year at 25.13 per cent.



However, the domestic travel demand rose 16 per cent in February this year, ending the long streak of over 20 per cent.



According to CAPA, India which enjoyed the fourth position in terms of overall air passenger traffic (both domestic and international) along with the UK, has also inched closer to becoming the third largest one by March next year.



"India will become the third largest market 2-3 years ahead of what was projected. This is because the growth has been much higher," Kapil Kaul, head of CAPA India, said.



Japan, which flew 141 million passengers in 2016, was ahead of India whose total air passenger traffic was 131 million in the previous year, as per CAPA.



United States with 815 million passengers in 2016 enjoyed the top position, followed by China with 490 million, according to the report.



"While we will reach the third spot for both domestic and international air travel ahead of the projected period, we will remain at that position for a very long time because it will not be easy to surpass China and the US," Kaul said.
"Rajiv (Gandhi) allowed telecast of the mythological soap Ramayana on Doordarshan, the national television network, despite fierce opposition from Congress leaders," he said.

: Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Sunday praised former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as the only good human being in the (Nehru-Gandhi) family and said he had contributed to awakening of the Hindus."Rajiv Gandhi was the only good human being in the (Nehru-Gandhi) family and had contributed to awakening of the Hindus," he told reporters in Patna.Swamy, a Rajya Sabha MP, recalled that the former Prime Minister had allowed telecast of popular mythological serial Ramayana on Doordarshan and later got the locks of Ram temple at Ayodhya opened for prayers.Swamy exuded optimism about resolution of the vexed Ayodhya dispute in the wake of the Supreme Court's prodding to the contending parties to work out an off-the-court settlement.The senior BJP leader took a dig at the Congress over its electoral reverses, saying, "The Congress appears to be in a mood to commit suicide... we are there to carry out its funeral."Swamy was here to deliver a lecture on the Ayodhya issue.
Lucknow: A retired government servant allegedly shot a dog dead for barking at him in Uttar Pradeshs Moradabad.



The incident reportedly happened on Saturday evening when the accused was on a walk.



He has booked under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and remanded by the police.



According to witnesses, the accused shot the dog three times after it barked at him once.







Reacting to the news, Nikunj Sharma, an animal right activist associated with PETA, said, This man is a threat to society. You dont whip out a gun at the slightest irritant. It is like a road rage incident."



The problem is that the law is weak. He will escape with a fine. He might do it again. In other countries there are databases of people who perpetrate such acts on animals. But nothing like this exists in India, he said.


: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who allegedly assaulted a senior Air India official, on Sunday claimed that he was asked by a top party leader not to speak with the media over the issue.Threatening legal action against the national carrier, the Parliamentarian said he has not gone into hiding and will be present in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday."A senior Sena leader ordered me not to speak with media till Wednesday (March 29) and so I am not coming before the media. I will come to Omerga on Tuesday and celebrate Marathi new year 'Gudi Padwa' with my family and Shiv Sainiks. I will then attend Lok Sabha session (in New Delhi) on Wednesday," Gaikwad said over phone.The 57-year-old MP, who represents Osmanabad, however did not disclose his present location."I am not hiding and will speak to all after Wednesday," he added.Gaikwad had on Thursday abused and assaulted a 60-year-old duty manager of the national carrier with slippers over not being able to fly business class despite having boarded an all-economy Pune-New Delhi flight.Following the incident, he was barred from flying by major domestic airlines."A senior Sena leader did not call me to 'Matoshree' (Thackeray residence in Mumbai) and hence I am not going there to meet senior party leaders," he added."Air India employees abused me. I will take legal action against Air India," Gaikwad said.He demanded that an inquiry should be initiated into the video (about the incident), which has gone viral. Meanwhile, local Sena workers on Sunday burnt an effigy of Air India employees at Turori village in Gaikwad's support.
The election results were done and dissected, the rivals pulverised to the margins. The BJP then nominated observers to oversee the election of the leader of its legislature party in Lucknow.



But the suspense over who would be the chosen one, the next chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, was to stretch for over one hundred hours.



"So is the legislature party meet on the 16th?" journalists asked BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, who was one of the two nominees of the central leadership to oversee installation of a new government in Lucknow.



"The date hasn't been fixed yet," Yadav replied tersely at the gates of Parliament House.



Yadav was quite frank and honest in his response. There, in fact, was no decision yet on the date of the legislature party meeting. Because, it was yet to be decided who would be heading the legislature party.



In the first round of talks between the RSS and the BJP on the assessment of poll results, there was absolutely no second opinion about who would be leading the party in Uttarakhand. Former pracharak and Doiwala MLA Trivendra Rawat was the unanimous choice.



In fact, Trivendra was called and informed well in advance to make preparations for swearing-in but was instructed to keep the information to himself. The next day, Trivendra spent an entire day at an acquaintance's residence in south Delhi before taking the evening flight to Dehradun.



Such was the secrecy maintained that even the two central observers for Uttarakhand, Narendra Singh Tomar and Saroj Pandey, were informed of the high command's decision when the two reached the venue of legislature party meet.



In UP, however, both the suspense and speculations continued well after Uttarakhand had been settled and most of the senior RSS functionaries had left for the Sangh's annual general body meeting - Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha or ABPS - in Coimbatore.



In shortlisting their choice for the UP CM, it now emerges, both BJP and RSS relied on three sets of assessments made at three different points in time.



The first was before the polls while debating on the CM candidate which BJP finally did not announce. The second, just after the polls and before the counting. And last, and perhaps most important one, after the mammoth mandate.



It now emerges that till the very last there indeed were three contenders for the CM's post in UP whose claims were weighed by both the party and the RSS.



"Rajnath Singh's name was a creation of the Delhi media with a particular intent. He was never in the race," says a senior RSS functionary involved in the deliberations.



That narrowed the race down to three: Aditya Nath Yogi, Keshav Maurya and Manoj Sinha.



In pre-poll surveys, says an RSS functionary, Yogi had registered high popularity among the cadre and voters. But the party did not go ahead and declare the head of the Gorakhnath Peeth as the CM, as it was felt his candidature might polarise minorities, especially in western UP.



But in flash surveys, conducted both after the last phase of polling and results, Yogi was seen to be way ahead of other contenders. He was followed by Keshav Maurya.



"While Yogi was seen to be registering over 40 percent popularity, Sinha was in single digits," another RSS leader told CNN-News18.



But there was a problem. In the current dispensation, there is a pattern in BJP's choice of CM candidates. Manohar Lal Khattar, Raghuvar Dan, Devendra Fadnavis and Vijay Rupani - all of the above leaders come from numerically less dominant communities in their states. Manoj Sinha, the Bhumihar MP from Ghazipur, fitted the bill perfectly.



But Sinha's candidature faced reservations from other quarters. His association with the RSS at best is tenuous. A senior RSS leader who has worked in UP says, "Sinha's links with people is limited and confined to a select few in the parivar. Secondly, he comes from a community which is a minority among the upper castes and confined to a few districts in Poorvanchal."



The argument against Yogi, on the other hand, was of a different kind. Firstly, it was to be decided if BJP would install two Thakur CMs in adjoining states, as Trivendra had already been nominated to lead Uttarakhand. Then it was felt by some - especially in discussions in the interim between the last phase of polling and results- that Aditya Nath's candidature would go not go down well with Delhi media. And lastly, there were concerns about Yogi's association with fringe organisations like Hindu Yuva Vahini and his predilection for taking his own line independent of the BJP.



But Yogi's ratings in the surveys, especially the ones after the results, decisively tilted the scales in his favour. "This is though he appeared to have lost out in the deliberations conducted after last phase of polling but before the results," says a leader.



And finally, it was also felt that Yogi also carried the authority to implement some of the promises made in the party manifesto which would require a strong leadership at the helm. But before finalising his candidature, the future of Hindu Yuva Vahini and Yogi's association with the party was discussed threadbare.



"It was a question of respecting the mandate. Most felt the Delhi media would have reacted adversely to Yogi's appointment. But the same media was predicting our defeat in UP. Then how does it really matter what they say," says an RSS leader.



And lastly, in UPs caste quagmire, Aditya Nath in ochre-coloured robe was best suited to carry one and all if SP and BSP attempt to disrupt BJP's caste calculus in 2019 general polls.



As they say in UP, "Jaat na poocho sadhu ki (Dont ask the caste of a sadhu)."
New Delhi: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday gave thumbs up to the Modi government's slogan of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas', but said its real test would be when the poorest of the poor get its benefits.



He also stressed on the need to ensure that development and environment go hand in hand. In an apparent message to the government, the RSS Sarsanghchalak said development of one section should not come at the cost of neglecting the other as "vikas" has to be a broad-based phenomenon.



Delivering the 7th Nanaji Deshmukh memorial lecture here on indigenous model of development, Bhagwat said while India never attacks anyone, it is capable of defending itself.



Referring to the 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' slogan, he said it is a "religious" slogan, but religion in this case should not be confused with its "modern connotations" which make it a very tricky issue.



He said religion is something which prompts a person to do his or her duty. He also said religion helps strike a balance so that everyone goes along together.



He said the true test for the slogan would be when the fruits of development reach the last man in queue. He said Sangh visionary Deen Dayal Upadhyay, and Mahatma Gandhi talked of 'antodaya' or the development of the last person.



The RSS head also stressed on the need to have development and environment on the same page like "friends". His remarks on environment assume significance as the government has often stressed that environmental concerns and development projects have to go together.



Some activists have alleged that environment and ecology are being compromised for development.



Bhagwat said, to get the fruits of development people have to put in hard work. Similarly, to win elections politicians have to work hard so that they have an impressive report card.



He said people do not "press button" (of EVM) to vote without going through the work of politicians in the past five years.



The Sangh chief was also critical of developed nations, which according to him, had forced their model of development on the rest of the world.



He said while Indian model of development based on its ethos and culture has been worth emulating, it has to be remastered after every few years based on circumstances.






Sanjay Leela Bhansali was at the receiving end of the wrath of the Rajput Karni Sena. The slapping, hair pulling and the vandalism of the sets is all around protecting the legend of the Raani of Chittor. Such stories and legends are in every pore of Rajasthan.There are more reasons to visit Rajasthan, the land of the upturned pointy mustaches and the bright laheria turbans, the dancers that move to the old tunes and the wise looking camels on the dunes. Read on.The legend of Rani Padmavati, which is now at the centre of a controversy, is not the only tale Rajasthan has to offer.In Chittorgarh stands the impregnable fort that witnessed the saga of love, lust, war and death. The legend goes as this: Alauddin Khilji set his sights on Rani Padmini or Padmavati when he heard of her mesmerising beauty. He wanted to meet her. The Rajput queen devised a way whereby Khilji could see her, but not in person. Mirrors were angled in a way so they could capture the reflection of the queen who could be sitting far away at the steps of her janana mahal.This captivating story is what Sanjay Leela Bhansali is hoping to bring to the big screen in his film Rani Padmavati.Also reverberating in the corridors of Mewar is the story of the great sacrifice of Panna Dhai. Legend has it that the nanny let her own son die just to save the heir of Mewar, Raja Uday Singh. Many such tales are recounted and celebrated in the light and sound shows that happen each evening at the Udaipur City Palace.The forts of Rajasthan have stood the test of time and have emerged glorious testimony of the many empires that ruled and the kings who sat the throne. Hundreds of years ago there were just these forts around which cities developed. As you trudge on towards these grand structures you can't help but be amazed by the skill and architecture.But that aside, the palaces of Rajasthan are perfect for a taking picture. Heads up, swag on-for those who like to be in front of the camera or behind it. These textured walls, the countless pillared galleries, the jharokas will give you ample inspiration to pose or to click.Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur is one of my favourites. The big cannons on the fort front and the delightful views of the blue city are the highlights for me.Another fort palace with a spectacular facade is Udaipur's City palace. Over looking the lake, the palace, to my eyes, is delicate and pristine. It's tinted glass windows, the intricately ornate walls and courtyards with inlay glass work are masterpieces- each in itself.From the mirrored bangles, to the beautiful mojaris...from the ornate handmade paper diaries to the elephant print harem pants, from bright embroidered bags to leather chappals, well you get the gist- everything that you could possibly think of is right here.Although you will find jutti shops across Rajasthan, the best place to shop for Mojaris, or juttis is Jodhpur. In my experience, these last the longest, are most comfortable and are the best colour and design.Pushkar is great to shop for too. The whole road leading to the only Bhrahma temple in the world is lined with all kind of shops. So you will find an interesting massage parlor right next to a cart selling heaps of colour. Look out for very interesting earrings and anklet shops that are selling stuff dirt cheap. From the fashionable drop crotch pants to asymmetric zipper jackets, you will find a lot of foreign fashion on the streets of Pushkar.Go to Chittorgarh even if it is just for the beautiful Chandan Silk Sarees. Yes, not many people know of these amazing saaris. Made of Bamboo threads, these saaris once washed with alum water (phitkiri) smell of sandal forever. They are lovely colours, often playing with bright contrast, and very reasonably priced. I challenge you to return with just one.No narration for Rajasthan can be over without talking about the delicious food that is available to devour so abundantly here. It is an ecstasy trip for the foodie. People are unapologetic about eating here, unembarrassed about hangout in huge numbers around the eateries. Be that Daal-Bati Churma or Mirchi Pakoda, the Kadhi-Kachodi breakfast or Gatte ki sabzi with Bajre ki Roti- try and hold yourself from not drooling when in Rajasthan.Most old hotels in Rajasthan are heritage and the new ones are built to look like one. And that is the best part about a hotel stay in Rajasthan. You are made to believe that you are royalty. In those few days and nights spent under the high arches and between walls painted with elephants and horses you forget that city dwelling you call home and become an emperor of your very own albeit small kingdom.
Dubai's Emirates airline on Thursday announced it will provide a free packing-and-handling service for passengers on flights hit by a US ban on electronic devices larger than a standard smartphone.



Emirates will allow passengers to hold on to their laptops and tablets after checking in until boarding time, when security staff at the gates will themselves pack the devices into boxes and load them onto the flight.



"Our new complimentary service enables passengers, particularly those flying for business, to have the flexibility to use their devices until the last possible moment," said Tim Clark, president of Emirates.



The devices will be returned to their owners upon arrival in the United States free of charge.



The service from Emirates, which prides itself as an airline of choice for business travellers, is also available for passengers transiting through Dubai International Airport.



The US ban on laptops and tablets applies to flights from 10 airports in the region, including direct flights to the United States from Dubai International Airport and Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.



US airlines do not operate direct flights out of the airports included in the ban.



A similar British ban covers all airports in Turkey, Jordan and four other countries, but not the United Arab Emirates.



Both countries have cited credible threats to civil aviation from Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group as the reason for the ban, which has come under criticism for targeting majority-Muslim countries.



The bans officially go into effect this Saturday.
Television actress Shilpa Shinde, popular for her role as Angoori Bhabhi in Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain?, has accused her former producer Sanjay Kohli, of sexual harassment and has also filed a FIR against him.

The actress has alleged that Kohli often tried to take advantage of her and touched her inappropriately once to which she had firmly objected. The actress also revealed that he threatened to throw her out of the show if she wouldn't get into a physical relationship with him.

In an interview given to a leading daily, Shilpa was quoted saying, "Once Sanjay ji told me that for the promotion of show, we will have to go out.and that we will have a nice time. Also, in the make-up room, he came close to me and photo lete huye and apna haath rakha mujheI could feel that touch was not right(sic.)"

According to Shilpa she brought the instance up with her co-star on the show Saumya Tondon, but Soumya never paid heed to it. " spoke to Saumya also about this, but she was like  Humari industry mein koi rape nai karta Shilpa. But I told her that I was feeling very uncomfortable," she said.

Shilpa had left the popular comedy show later last year for having disputes with her show's producers over her contract.

Sanjay Kohli is the producer of the show along with his wife Benaifer Kohli. After the accusation surfaced on media channels, Benaifer defended her husband and claimed all accusations as false. She was quoted saying, "These are obviously false allegations. All I can say is that the matter is subjudice. I have faith in the legal system. I dont want to give her (Shilpa) unnecessary attention."

Later, the show's production team released a statement that reads- All we can say is that matter is subjudice, we have full faith in the judiciary. We will see her in court. We don't want to give her unnecessary importance for her obvious false allegations

Shilpa and the BJGPH team are already involved in a legal battle. The producers have sued the actress for the losses they had to bear with during her absence last year.
Dubai: Iran has imposed sanctions on 15 U.S. companies for alleged human rights violations and cooperating with Israel, the state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.



The agency quoted Iran's foreign ministry as saying the companies had "flagrantly violated human rights" and cooperated with Israel against the Palestinians.



It was not immediately clear if any of the companies, which included defence technology firm Raytheon, had any dealings with Iran or whether they would be affected in any way by Tehran's action, which IRNA said would include seizure of their assets and a ban on contacts with them.



The Iranian move came two days after the United States imposed sanctions on 30 foreign companies or individuals for transferring sensitive technology to Iran for its missile programme, or for violating export controls on Iran, North Korea and Syria.
Prior to a last-minute decision by GOP leaders Friday to pull legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare, several health care institutions in the Lynchburg area had cast a wary eye on the proposed plan.

In particular, Centra Health and the Free Clinic of Central Virginia pointed to concerns over the local impact of 14 million additional Americans nationwide who would be without health care insurance in 2018, citing Congressional Budget Office estimates based on the proposed plan. That number was projected to grow to 21 million by 2020.

Local health care providers also had reservations over shifting funding formulas for Medicaid in the plan.

After hearing the proposal was pulled from a House vote Friday afternoon, Centra Health Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Elliott said in an emailed statement Centra is hopeful for additional dialogue with legislators to ensure a positive future for healthcare.

While it is clear the Affordable Care Act is in need of reform, reform efforts must ensure long-term stability, the statement said.

About 70 percent of Centras gross revenue comes from government payors such as Medicare and Medicaid. About a quarter of its revenue comes from commercial health insurance providers and 5 percent from self-pay patients, such as those who lack insurance.

Speaking earlier in the week, Elliott said the GOP legislation would have needed continued and significant review and work to have this make sense for Centra and for the patients we care for.

Speaking Friday morning, Elliott said: This bill has to be voted down. This is bad for Virginians.

Centra was concerned an increase in the number of uninsured would bring more people to hospital emergency departments.

People without insurance are less likely to receive preventative care, and may show up in the emergency department with medical conditions that could have been taken care of proactively, Elliott said, adding that its more expensive to receive care in the emergency room compared to a primary care office.

When you dont have insurance, and you have an acute issue and you dont have the means to pay, thats about as bad a combination as you can get, Elliott said.

For qualifying low-income patients, Centra provides charity care or financial assistance by which the costs care is discounted or even written off based on a patients income and assets.

As a safety net provider, the Free Clinic of Central Virginia was worried about absorbing the demands of a swelling population of uninsured under the American Health Care Act, as the GOP legislation is called.

There are 17,000 low-income uninsured adults in Region 2000, said Christina Delzingaro, the Free Clinics chief executive officer, citing The Virginia Atlas of Community Health.

There were fundamental flaws in the bill, and millions of Americans would have lost health insurance under the proposal, Delzingaro said in email Friday.

The Free Clinic is very pleased that the [AHCA] has been pulled, she said.

Staffed by an army of volunteer medical personnel  including physicians, dentists, nurses and pharmacists  the Free Clinic provides primary and specialty medical care and pharmacy and dental services to the uninsured and underinsured from its facility on Main Street.

In 2015, the Free Clinic served roughly 3,500 patients. In fiscal year 2016, its operating budget was $1.2 million with an additional $3.9 million in donated services and supplies. The Free Clinic receives no federal funding; 60 percent of its budget is comprised of private donations, with 18 percent coming from the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics and foundation grants.

The Free Clinic is part of a safety net, but a really fragile safety net, Delzingaro said.

Since 2015, the Free Clinic, with Centra Health and Johnson Health Center, have partnered in a consortium called the Community Access Network, of which Delzingaro serves as CEO.

CAN is working to meet growing demand with the construction of the Fifth Street Community Health Center, which will allow the Free Clinic to serve 3,000 additional patients when it opens on the corner of Fifth and Federal streets, a project targeted for completion in December.

According to Delzingaro, the expansion will begin to address the need of the current number of uninsured people in the area, but it would not have been able to handle an increased uninsured population that may have arisen under the rejected health care law.

The Fifth Street Community Health Center will offer primary and urgent care in addition to wrap-around services through partnerships with nonprofits and social service agencies to address issues affecting patients health, such as inadequate housing and transportation.

Those partnerships come amid concerns over sweeping cuts to social service networks suggested in the federal budget blueprint released by the Trump administration earlier this month. Reductions could have an indirect affect on the Free Clinics mission. Although the Free Clinic doesnt receive federal money, the proposed budget cuts may deeply impact patients that rely upon service programs that receive funding from the federal government such as legal aid and housing services, Delzingaro said.

Myriad concerns, such as inconsistent electrical service for a person who is diabetic and needs to store insulin, inadequate housing, being unemployed or family instabilityall of that impacts your health, Delzingaro said.

Delzingaro recognized benefits of the rejected health plan, such as allowing dependents to be on their parents plans until the age of 26 and the presence of some form of tax creditsprovisions that currently are included under the Affordable Care Act.

The ACA can be improved, Delzingaro said in an email Friday, especially in the areas of cost-sharing and out-of-pocket limits.

Congress now has the opportunity to repair the ACA by strengthening the insurance network, with a goal of reducing deductibles and premiums to improve affordability for low-income families, Delzingaro said. We all want a healthcare-funding system that provides the highest quality care at an affordable price, accessible to all, regardless of income or state of residency. Pulling the [AHCA] offers a chance for our elected officials to make that happen.

The Lynchburg area has two federally qualified community health centers that serve uninsured and underinsured and receive federal money as part of their operating budgets; both have expanded services in recent years with ACA funding.

Johnson Health Center, which recently expanded its footprint into Bedford and Amherst with funding from the Affordable Care Act, served more than 17,000 patients in 2016.

Its apparent legislators are taking repeal and replace seriously and want to ensure the coverage and access afforded by the ACA remain, if not improve, Chelsey Tomlin, associate director of Patient Engagement & Outreach of Johnson Health Center, said in email Friday. Health coverage and access are critical to all families and we hope any future proposal will focus on affordable comprehensive coverage regardless of where insurance is obtained from: Marketplace, Medicaid, Medicare.

While an increase in the uninsured population would have had an impact, were set up to handle that population, Tomlin said in an interview last week, noting Johnson Health Center receives federal grant money to help offset the costs associated with the uninsured.

As a Federally Qualified Health Center, Johnson receives federal money for between 12 and 15 percent of its operating budget, funding that will be up for renewal in September as part of community health center federal funding nationwide. The rest of the budget is largely comprised of Medicaid reimbursement, Tomlin said in an email.

We always ask our legislators to vote for that funding, but as far as knowing which way they want to go we just dont know, she said.

Johnson Health Center also had certified application counselors, who provided free assistance in health insurance enrollment and counseling. Tomlin said Friday that Johnson Health will continue to have people available to provide ACA and Medicaid information and enrollment to the community at large.

Similarly, the Blue Ridge Medical Center in Nelson County draws about 20 percent of its operating budget from a federal grant. It serves about 8,500 patients each year from Amherst and Nelson counties; additional grant money, totaling about $300,000 from the ACA allowed it to expand behavioral health and dental services in 2015 and 2016.

Following the passage of the ACA, we didnt see an increase in patient volume, but the percentage of our patients who were insured increased, said Peggy Whitehead, CEO of Blue Ridge Medical Center.

In light of the decision to shelve the American Health Care Act, The reaction from BRMC is that we will continue to do all we can to provide affordable services for our patients regardless of their circumstances or insurance status, Whitehead said in an email Friday.

Our concerns are centered around whether Congress will continue to fund those services at the level needed to carry out our ongoing mission, Whitehead said. We will continue to stay in touch with our legislators to educate them about what we do and solicit their support for Federally Qualified Health Centers locally and across the nation.
Federal lawmakers have begun efforts to replace acting leadership in the U.S. attorneys office for the Western District of Virginia with a presidential nominee.

Four attorneys, two in private practice and two working prosecutors, are on a short list submitted to the White House by Republican members of the congressional delegation from the western part of the state.

Tom Scott, a Grundy criminal defense attorney, said hes on the list compiled by U.S. Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County; Morgan Griffith, R-Salem; Barbara Comstock, R-Fairfax; and Tom Garrett, R-Buckingham.

Robert Tracci, Albemarle Countys commonwealths attorney, said in a statement reported by NBC 29 in Charlottesville that he was humbled to receive a letter of support for his candidacy by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.

A source with knowledge of the congressional delegations selection process said the two others are Thomas Cullen, an attorney at Woods Rogers, and Craig Jake Jacobsen, an assistant U.S. attorney. Both declined to comment.

In a separate vetting process, Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine will interview applicants as well, a protocol that has in the past led to a name or names being submitted to the White House. The window to apply to the senators closed Monday.

Scott said he applied to Kaine and Warner. Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, said he believes the other candidates on the Republican list would do so as well.

There are reasons for a candidate to want to be on both lists. U.S. attorneys are nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The congressional delegation that recommended Scott, Tracci, Cullen and Jacobsen belong to the same party as the president. However, Kaine and Warner, who are Democrats, arent without influence.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has in the past granted home state senators of nominees a say-so on whether to begin their confirmation hearings, Tobias said.

Another difference between the Republican- and Democratic-led tracks is the level of transparency. The last time the U.S. attorneys post was vacant, Kaine and Warner made public their recommendation to the Obama White House: John Fishwick, who got the job. Acting U.S. attorney Rick Mountcastle has run the office since Fishwick resigned in early January.

Asked for a copy of any short list sent to the Trump White House, Goodlattes office said he had recommended to the White House various people qualified for federal government service but did not mention the U.S. attorney post. Goodlatte spokeswoman Beth Breeding said by email, I do not have any additional information on this matter.

Tobias said a cloaked short list may benefit candidates who prefer their interest in the job remain private, for personal or professional reasons. You potentially get a better pool, he said.

A transparent process, which Tobias said he favors, engages the public.

Ive seen it done both ways, he said.

The Trump administration, which fired all remaining Obama-era U.S. attorneys earlier this month, has not publicly stated when it might name new U.S. attorneys. More than 90 U.S. attorney offices prosecute criminal and civil cases across the country.
Independent probe of Russia ties needed

The ongoing revelations about connections between Russian officials and the Trump campaign are profoundly disturbing. Russian intrusion into our election, and the apparent ongoing Russian influence on our foreign policy, are violations of our countrys sovereignty. And the intelligence community tells us to expect similar interference in 2018 and 2020.

We need to understand what happened so that we can stop the attack on our democracy. This should not be a partisan issue.

It is more evident with each passing day, that the House Intelligence Committee investigation of these matters lacks credibility. On Monday, committee Republicans spent little time questioning FBI Director James Comey about potential treason, choosing instead to target leaks about potential treason. On Wednesday, Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes shared information on the investigation with the person who is being investigated  President Trump  rather than the Intelligence Committee members.

The United States needs an independent commission, much like the 9/11 Commission, to investigate connections and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. It must be truly independent and bipartisan, with wide subpoena and investigatory powers. We cannot allow this existential threat to our democratic institutions to be whitewashed by a surface-level investigation.

Rep. Tom Garrett of the Fifth District has not yet called for an independent commission to investigate ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. He must put country over party and call for such a commission immediately.

LAUREN M. CARTER

Lovingston

Health care train wreck

It is not surprising to me that after eight years of opposing Democratic health care plans (24 years if you go back to the beginning of the Clinton administration) that we find out that Republicans really have no viable alternative to the current system where everyone is expected to have insurance, those least able to afford it get subsidies and those unwilling to get it suffer a tax penalty.

Thats because if you go back to 1993 and Newt Gingrich, this was the Republican plan. Sad to say they have jettisoned their best plan and now have no real Plan B beyond something that reads like Good luck! You are on your own!

It is worth noting that even the health insurance mandate comes in second to simply implementing a national health service if you look at the World Health Organizations rankings of countries by delivery of health care. The United States ranks first by far in cost of health care but 37th in overall performance and 72nd in performance relative to our health. Most countries that provide better health care than the U.S. have a national health service, including France, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and Germany. I have increasingly seen cases where people fly to places like Singapore to get necessary health care because it is cheaper overall than just driving to their nearest hospital.

Sadly, conservatives are so busy ranting how a national system is socialist and therefore evil that they completely overlook how badly our own system is doing. Regardless how the current legislative debacle plays out, we are headed to a situation where when you do get really sick, odds are you die penniless. I also believe that all our lawmakers see this train wreck coming but are utterly unable to do anything to stop it.

KENNETH NAUGLE

Forest
The Good Shepherd

Im not the type to speak much, although I will if I am called upon to do so, he says of his ministry. I prefer that people see how I handle different situations in life, whether it be family, work, social or in the church. At just 31, Hypolite holds the lofty title of shepherd in the church, a position he has held for over 15 years.

This is a leadership role, he told Sunday Newsday during an interview on Wednesday.

We are responsible for a host of activities within the church, including conducting services, making and implementing recommendations to improve the church and faith, and ensuring that we are constantly learning about the faith from all angles, be it theological or spiritual. Emphasising he does not take his title lightly, Hypolite said the role of shepherd spans the entire ministry.

Hypolite said apart from teaching and assisting members when required, he also defends the churchs flock against dangers, threats and negative trends.

There was no specific attire for a shepherd, he said. There are many other spiritual factors that go into the clothes that we wear.

What I would wear or use as a shepherd might be totally different to another individual. A third-generation leader of the church, the young minister has followed in the footsteps of his parents, Bishop Earl Hypolite and Episcopal Reverend Mother Geraldine Hypolite, both respected members of the faith.

He said his late maternal grandparents, Bishop St Hill Hypolite and the Reverend Joyce Hypolite, also had a powerful influence in his development as an individual.

His grandparents, Hypolite said, had founded the church many years ago in Belmont, but it was destroyed in a fire. They later held services in the garage of the familys home in Chaguanas, eventually moving to the churchs current location at 36 Longdenville Old Road.

My grandparents were the leaders of the church and my parents took over after them, Hypolite said with pride. My three brothers and three sisters are also active members in the church, along with many extended family members. He said the church, though relatively small in membership, has made quite a name for itself in the archdiocese over the years. It has become known for its vibrant ministry, people- centred sermons and sizeable youth congregation.

The ministry is very active, having service at least once a week, with other activities and supporting other churches regularly. We have at least 80 members in attendance on any given Sunday, and as our new facility is being completed, we hope to greatly increase this number. But Hypolite said that figure is likely to grow when the church completes its refurbishment work in 2018.

He estimated that at least 60 per cent of the churchs membership were young people.

We have one of the strongest youth followings in the faith, he claimed. It has become known among the churches that we visit and they are always excited to see not only the youth but the little children as well. You dont usually see so many little children in a Baptist church. Hypolite said, too, that the Mt Zion Spiritual Baptist Cathedral does not take its youth congregation for granted.

Even though we have a strong youth following, we understand the importance of youth in any movement, just as much as the elders, he said.

At present the churchs focus is on getting the facility completed to offer additional activities for the youth, including an internet caf? and recreation rooms.

We will also have more time on our hands to have more youth-oriented events and programmes.

The former Tranquillity Government Secondary student said he cannot recall any incident or experience which was particularly inspiring to him in the faith.

There isnt just one but the experience of being a Baptist is enough to draw me into the faith. There is so much potential.

Its a wonderful experience to be a part of what we are trying to accomplish. Specifically, though, he enjoys the manner in which Baptists are allowed to worship.

We can dance, sing and shout freely, Hypolite said, adding he was also moved by the extensive knowledge to be gained in the faith.

It is amazing how many things you can learn in the faith, not just about church or religion but about life in general. As a young Baptist leader, Hypolite said he was deeply concerned about the superficialities in parenting.

He told Sunday Newsday: I see too many people doing things to make their children happy in the short term but it is detrimental to them in the long term. I always appreciated the fact that my parents always guided and corrected me when necessary even though I may not have understood or thought it was excessive at the time. Many young people, he observed, also do not apply themselves as they should but expect to be rewarded for it.

I think this leads to a feeling of false sense of entitlement, which can only be harmful to society. As the high point of the Baptists centenary celebration approaches on Thursday, Hypolite lamented that members of the faith have been subsumed by disunity for too long.

He believes Baptists need a strong leader with the power to draw its flock not by words but actions, displaying love and fairness. We do not need to form one organisation but if everybody follows the example of love and fairness, unity will naturally follow, Hypolite said.

It is his hope that the Baptists will execute successfully its first unified Liberation Day celebrations at the Maloney lands.

He said although leaders have been clamouring a secondary school and university for its followers over the years, Baptists also needed their own credit unions and real estate and investment firms Other denominations and segments of society have achieved it and so can we. Hypolite said there also must be greater education among Baptists about how different events in the faiths history continue to affect its followers.

We need to break out of a certain mentality that our previous oppression has been ingrained in us. This can only be done by education and uplifting ourselves. No one can do this for us. An engineer and IT architect at the National ICT Co Ltd, Hypolite regarded the view that Baptists were poor and duncee, as perhaps the greatest misconception about the faith.

Our church is doing a great deal in correcting these misconceptions, he said.

There are many intelligent and educated individuals in the Baptist faith. In our church alone we have doctors, optometrists, engineers, architects and business majors (at university).

We have individuals in medical school, dentists in training and many others who are at or near the top of their classes in school and many more. We also preach prosperity; the Bible clearly lays out certain laws about prosperity which we have been practising and seeing the results of. Asked if he dreamt of perhaps leading the church some day, Hypolite said calmly: I dont look at positions and say I want to see myself in this one or the other. The way I was taught and the way I practice is to serve God and do his will with the goal being to inherit the kingdom of God and see how many people I can help to achieve the same goal.
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.
No funding, no answer from PM for Baptist holiday

Speaking to Sunday Newsday, Gray-Burke said: They have not given us any money to celebrate. Last year, Gray-Burke said the Council of Elders of the Spiritual Shouter Baptists had received some $40,000 from Government towards the occasion.

However, she could not say if any money would be forthcoming.

I am not complaining. I am going ahead and doing meh business. The former UNC senator said she had invited Spiritual Shouter Baptist contingents from throughout the Caribbean and North-America to participate in the observances on Thursday.

I have people coming from Barbados and as far as Maryland and Pakistan, she said.

Gray-Burke said she had already contracted nine buses to shuttle her guests to and from the Spiritual Shouter Baptist Empowerment Hall in Maloney at a projected cost of some $29,000.

The Baptist leader said her group also has invited Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to the celebration for which he is yet to reply. We sent him two letters to him. But we not bothering, she said.

Held annually on March 30, this years Liberation Day observances will commemorate the centenary of the 1917 Shouter Baptist Prohibition Ordinance, which had prohibited the activities of members of the faith. The Ordinance was repealed in 1951.

The Spiritual Baptist Shouter Prohibition Ordinance Centenary Commemoration Committee, meanwhile, will also host a celebration at Baptist Boulevard, Maloney, on Thursday. It includes a tribute to the leaders of the faith.

Committee member Reverend Hazel-Ann Gibbs-De Peza said centenary celebrations began last November with a media launch and Sankey Service at City Hall, Port-of-Spain and a Eucharistic service at Holy Mount Zion Spiritual Baptist Cathedral, Longdenville.

She said later this year, on November 18, the committee will host a Freedom March through the streets of Port-of-Spain, and this will be followed by the opening of a spiritual park on November 28 at Baptist Lands, Maloney.

Gibbs-De Peza said prior to the lifting of the Prohibition Ordinance, Baptists had faced untold hardship. The faith suffered persecution and prosecution on a scale never before or since perpetrated on other citizens of this nation, said Gibbs-De Peza, a lecturer at the University of Trinidad and Tobago.
Tom Brady Just Became

First NFL Player to Do This
Spanish film star Antonio Banderas says he has recovered from a heart attack that he had in January. The 56-year-old Banderas tells Spanish media that "I suffered a heart attack on Jan. 26, but it wasn't serious and hasn't caused any damage," reports the AP. Banderas says he underwent a procedure to introduce three stents in his arteries, adding that "it hasn't been as dramatic as some have written." Banderas says 37 years of being a "workaholic" didn't help, notes Sky News.

Banderas' visit to a Swiss clinic had led to speculation about the health of the star known for roles in such films as The Mask of Zorro, Desperado, Philadelphia, and the animated Puss in Boots. Banderas spoke Saturday at a film festival in his hometown of Malaga in southern Spain, where he received a lifetime achievement award for his career as an actor, director, and producer. (Banderas has managed to injure himself on set.)
I understand why the public is fixated on the possibility of a North Korean ICBM. A nuclear-armed ICBM is North Koreas ultimate goal and would be its final deterrent. It would be the last card that Kim would play. But it is equally, if not more, important to think through how such a war might start.

It is important to understand whether the military forces and plans both sides are pursuing make war less likely or more. The launch on Monday might not have been an ICBM, but  in light of Foal Eagle  it was a warning all the same. Not of how a war on the Korean peninsula might end, but of how one might begin.
Sixteen inmates are still at large after breaking out of a prison in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas, CNN reports. The inmates dug a 5-yard-deep, 40-yard-long tunnel to escape from the Ciudad Victoria prison, the AP reports; 29 inmates in total escaped Thursday, but 13 have since been recaptured. The tunnel was hidden in an illegal hut in an area of the prison essentially controlled by inmates; following the escape, security officials destroyed other such illegal shelters at the prison, leading to riots in which three inmates were stabbed to death Friday night. (Read more Mexico stories.)
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It's a fact of modern life that people walk down the street looking at their phones. Whether it's because you need to fire off that good tweet (which is probably bad anyway), you're one of those lousy millennials sending a text because you'd rather die than actually talk on the phone, or you really think that playing enough Game Of War means you get to meet Kate Upton, everyone loves their dang phones. A town in the Netherlands, which has decided that this is a problem, is trying to fix it by installing traffic lights in the sidewalk to catch people's eyes. Good idea here or nah? Nah, right?

According to Quartz, the Dutch town of Bodegraven has begun a pilot program of putting L.E.D. lights on the sidewalk of intersections in order to deal with the apparent massive problem of people looking at their phones while they walk. The sidewalk traffic light project has been installed at a single intersection in Bodegraven at the moment, but at least one local politician there is into the idea.

"The attraction of social media, games, WhatsApp and music is great and at the expense of attention to traffic. As a government, we probably can not easily reverse this trend, but we want to anticipate it in there," Kees Oskam, a local councilor, said about the lights according to Quartz. The site also endorsed seemed to endorse the idea, decrying "zombie-like" pedestrians who look at their phones while they walk, seemingly unaware that their habit could make them more prone to getting hit by a car, according to a Wall Street Journal article from last year.

Should/could this addition to the traffic system be brought to New York City and other places? Eh, I don't think so. This is, I hope anyway, a mild take, but at the moment, drivers behind the wheel of cars and trucks are responsible for way more traffic deaths and injuries than pedestrians. Rather than being a bold, exciting, disruptive way to keep pedestrians from being killed, the sidewalk L.E.D. lights bring to mind David Letterman's "We've got to put diapers on horses" example of people searching for a solution to a small problem.

The lights fit more into the narrative of attempting to criminalize pedestrians for daring to be distracted while they walk, one that has come to New York before, only to fail. As we pointed out when state Senator Carl Kruger proposed fining pedestrians for using electronics in intersections, there are many ways to define who's "distracted":

People are definitely distracted when they are plugged into their iPods or messaging on their cells, but what about the drivers who are just as distracted? Maybe they shouldn't be listening to the radio or music. How about we ban parents from pushing their kids in strollers? Couples walking together (they might get into fights)? Tourists who take pictures as they walk? Dog walkers? The law has infinite possibilities!

And besides, even that WSJ article on how distracted walkers are landing in the hospital more than ever has some problems. There's nothing in the data pegged to the Journal article about whether pedestrians looking at their phones who were hit by cars had the right of way, or were on the sidewalk or were otherwise not on fault. And the same critique of the article points out that while people who text while walking move more slowly than people who don't, the same can be said about the elderly, the injured and disabled and the very young. It all adds up, at least in my opinion, to just another way to shift the responsibility from the people in control of two-ton death machines onto people who aren't in charge of them. Far be it from me to stand in the way of Dutch traffic engineering firm HIG Traffic Systems getting some of that sweet, sweet government project scratch, but let's please solve the problems of drivers injuring and killing people before we move on to allegedly saving pedestrians from themselves.
110 demonstrators marched in front of and across the street from state Senator Marisol Alcantara's office Friday afternoon, the latest in a series of demonstrations targeting Democrats who are aligned with the Independent Democratic Conference.

Chanting slogans such as "Marisol has sold her soul" and "No fake Democrats, take the New York Senate back," and holding signs that read "Sen. Alcantara We Need You" and "Alcantara Complicite", the crowd of protesters handed out flyers to passersby and marched in a small circle outside of Alcantara's district office in Inwood. The group was large enough that some of them had to move across the street, in front of Isham Park, in order to provide room for other people using the sidewalk.

David Ochoa, a 71-year-old who lives in Alcantara's district, told Gothamist that he was there to tell Alcantara he regretted voting for her. Ochoa said that "I wasn't hip to what she was about" and hadn't realized she was a member of the GOP-aligned conference of Democrats when he voted for her in November. "It's shocking that someone from a minority community would do that. I don't think the Republicans do anything for minorities," Ochoa said.

Activist Maria Bautista, 32, was there with the Alliance for Quality Education, which helped put the rally together with Rise and Resist. She said she was there because she felt the IDC was standing in the way of getting Albany to pay school districts across the state as a result of a judge's decision in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity. There's not one word" about fully funding schools in the IDC's budget, Bautista said, which she found particularly galling because "Marisol represents a high-needs district. There's high poverty, English language learners and special needs children." So, Bautista said that she was there to "remind [Alcantara] that she doesn't represent Scarsdale, she represents Washington Heights and Marble Hill." While she didn't live in Alcantara's district, she did live in fellow IDC member Jose Peralta's district.

The demonstrators eventually all met up across the street from the office, and marched from Broadway and 214th Street down to the 207th Avenue stop on the A train. Harris Doran, who lives in Alcantara's district and is an organizer with the group Rise and Resist, told Gothamist that there was "absolutely" an effort by his group and other liberal groups to find primary challengers for the IDC members in the state Senate. Rise and Resist, he said, was involved in putting together outside of the offices of a different IDC member every two weeks. There's also going to be a protest outside Republican caucusing Democrat Simcha Felder's office at in the future, because "there's no Simcha Felder or the IDC separately," Duran said. He continued, "there's just both of them together. The nine of them together hand over the Democratic majority, period."

This particular demonstration was held in the wake of a blow-up between Alcantara and a mainline Democrat, Deputy Minority Leader Michael Gianaris, on the state Senate floor in which she accused him of using white privilege after he said that the IDC agrees with "Trump Republicans." And while the timing was just coincidental according to Duran, he helped credit it with increasing the turnout. "People saw what she did on the Senate floor, and they're not okay with that," he told Gothamist.

Lisa Dellaquila, 40, told Gothamist that she had started getting involved in anti-IDC work before the election, after realizing that Alcantara had taken money from the group. First working with a few friends in her home neighborhood of Inwood, she joined up with the group True Blue New York to keep pushing against the IDC. For Dellaquila, whether Alcantara joins up with mainline Democrats or gets primaried isn't much of a concern to her. "Whatever it takes to get the Democrats back the Senate," she said. Her reasoning was that "we need a strong Democratic majority in the state protecting us from the Trump agenda." While talking with us, Dellaquila was stopped by an employee of a pizza restaurant who asked what the group was marching about. When she explained what the IDC was, and that they have a power sharing agreement with Republicans in the state Senate, the man said "Ohhh, so she changed."

Dellaquila was also put off by the fight Alcantara had with Gianris last week. "I am not unmindful of the serious challenges that women of color face in politics. but the truth is that the IDC has helped prevent Andrea Stewart-Cousins from becoming majority leader and instead we've got two white guys running the Senate. When she's wielding racism as a weapon, she's also enabling it by having Jeff Klein and John Flanagan in charge."

Alcantara sent the following statement to Gothamist when asked about her reaction to the protest:

I fully support the rights of New Yorkers to make their voices heard. In January, I joined hundreds of New Yorkers protesting Donald Trump's inauguration, even getting arrested in the process. Standing up to Donald Trump's hateful policies and making sure that New York resists his harmful agenda, while getting results for New York's working- and middle-class families motivates me every day in office.

I am a union organizer. I am an immigrant, and the daughter of an immigrant. And I am a lifelong progressive Democrat. The reality is that even without the Independent Democratic Conference, Republicans would hold a legislative majority in Albany. As a member of the Independent Democratic Conference and our governing coalition, I am making my voice and the voice of all of my constituents heard. The stakes are too high for me to sit on the sidelines. I will work with all parties and all conferences to ensure positive and progressive outcomes for the people of my district.

Beyond the fight that Alcantara had with Gianris last week, the protest also coincided with a couple of other developments regarding the state Senate and the IDC. In Queens, activists in Jackson Heights are lobbying the Democratic Organization of Queens County to kick Jose Peralta out of the Democratic Party, although that action would have to be approved by a state judge. And upstate, state Senator Robert Ortt was indicted for violating state election law. If Ortt was convicted and had to step down, there would be 31 Democrats and 31 Republicans in the state Senate before a special election could be held to replace Ortt.
The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574.
New Delhi:

Deepika Padukone, who is gearing up for 'Padmavati', has criticized the recent attack on the sets of the movie in Kolhapur.

The diva stated that these attacks on 'Padmavati' sets are childish and people should give Sanjay Leela Bhansali a chance to tell the story.

Her statement came in wake of the attack on 'Padmavati' on the set location where the set was vandalized and burnt.

Also Read: Shahid Kapoor speaks on 'Padmavati'; movie will not hurt peoples' sentiment

Talking about the same, Deepika stated Sanjay Leela Bhansali is someone who lives for cinema and I've never met anyone more passionate. I know for a fact that he will take everything in a positive way and pour it back into the movie. He's here to tell a story through his film and glorify PadmavatiThese complaints are attacks are childish and based on some tabloid news. Media should be mindful of these things. It's gossipy for them but look at the end result! People could've died.

Also Read | 'Padmavati': Deepika Padukone reveals the reason for doing Bhansali's period drama

Interestingly, this was the second attack on 'Padmavati' sets.

Earlier, Rajput Karni Sena has assaulted Bhansali on the sets in Jaipur, over the alleged misinterpretation of facts in 'Padmavati'.

Talking about the movie, it happens to be based on Rajput princess 'Padmavati', wherein Deepika will be seen playing the titular role opposite Shahid Kapoor who will essay the role of Raja Rawal Ratan.

The movie will also star Ranveer Singh as antagonist Allauddin Khilji. 'Padmavati' is expected to release on Novemeber 17 this year.

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New Delhi:

Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Phillauri did decent business on second day of its release compared to its first day. The film collected Rs 4.02 crore on Friday, it did a business of Rs 5.20 crore on Saturday which is more than the second day collection of her first production 'NH10'. The film, therefore, made a total collection of Rs 9.22 cr.

Trade Analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted the latest collection of the film. Taran also shared the collection of the film in UAE.

#Phillauri is STRONG in North, the key contributor... Biz saw growth on Sat... Sun crucial... Fri 4.02 cr, Sat 5.20 cr. Total: a 9.22 cr.  taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 26, 2017

#Phillauri opens well in UAE-GCC. Collects $ 260,000 [a 1.70 cr] on Thu + Fri [witnessed 40% growth].  taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 25, 2017

Trade pundits are expecting the film to show growth over the weekend.

North India has contributed 52 percent of the total Phillauri collections. Punjab collections are as high as, for how big A-list Bollywood stars collect in this state, which is outstanding, a statement released by Fox Studios India said.

Meanwhile, Phillauri director Anshai Lal says that having a big star in the film helps to reach a bigger audience. In a recent interview, he says As Anushka is part of the film, I am in a way confident about the fate of the film. When you have an A-list actor things become easier in terms of reach. Its a blessing to be working with these talented actors. When you are sure about the script, actors respect it and then things just flow. They have the experience to elevate the material to another level. It is easier to communicate when you have a fresh casting as it doesnt have the baggage of an actor doing certain kind of roles, you dont have to break stereotypes.

Also Read : Anushka says she won't be able to handle stardom like Salman and SRK do

"It is a fun, family entertainer and a perfect weekend watch for audiences across all age-groups," Producers Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios and Karnesh Sharma of Clean Slate Films said in a statement.

'Phillauri' was made on a budget of Rs 21 crore and has recovered Rs 12 crore from satellite and music rights. According to estimates, from its theatrical run, Phillauri only needs Rs 9 crore to break even.





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London:

Disney who is all set and is preparing sequels to Star Wars: Episode IX as Disney CEO Bob Iger says there is a future for Star Wars beyond 2019, reported Contactmusic.

It has teased that the franchise will go on for 15 more years.

Were starting to talk about what could happen after Episode IX. Weve got a creative team actually thinking about what could be another decade and a half of Star Wars stories. Its kind of mind-blowing spending an afternoon with a creative team thinking about that, he says.

Also Read: Pop sensation Selena Gomez reveals her tough experiences of Disney days

Iger adds that the Skywalkers will still feature heavily in The Last Jedi, despite the fact that General Leia actress Carrie Fisher tragically died last December.

Ive seen (The Last Jedi). Its quite good. It picks up where VII left off. Were really excited about it. I cant disclose much about it because thats not what we do right now- until were ready, he says.

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New Delhi:

Children will not be deprived of mid-day meals if they do not have Aadhaar card, government said on Friday. The issue was raised by Congress leader Motilal Vohra during the Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha, saying the government has made Aadhaar mandatory under the mid-day meal scheme.

It seems the government has decided to take away the free food scheme from school children, he said, adding that about 12 crore children are enrolled under the scheme.



HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar refuted the suggestion saying all beneficiaries will get mid-day meal and the government will ensure that all the beneficiaries get the 12-digit unique identification number also.



I want to tell this House that no one will be deprived of mid-day meals. Everybody will get mid-day meal and they will get Aadhaar card as well, the Minister said.



He said a large number of beneficiaries already have the Aadhaar and facilites will be made to enroll the remaining students as well.



Javadekar said in cases where facilities for Aadhaar cannot be created, the state governments will provide the unique numbers to the students.

ALSO READ | PAN card not linked with Aadhar card may be invalid after December 31



He said that since the linking of Aadhaar with mid-day meal scheme has been started, leakages have come down.



In her Zero Hour mention, Kahkashan Perween (JD-U) drew the attention of the House towards rampant female foeticide across the country.



Referring to the arrest of a gang involved in sex determination test from Delhi, she said female foeticide was prevalent even in the national captial.

ALSO READ | Government makes Aadhaar card mandatory for availing crop insurance policies



To further her point, she said there were 3,456 new births in a particular nursing home in Delhi, of which only about 300 were girls and rest boys.



Congress member Narendra Budania expressed concern over almost negligible representation of OBC community in all fields, inlcuding executive, legislative and judicary.



He made a case of removal of creamy layer criteria in OBC reservation.

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New Delhi:

Delhi High Court on Sunday absolved a private airline pilot of the charge of rape but he will face trial for allegedly having unnatural sex with a former air hostess of the carrier.

Justice S P Garg said the trial court fell into grave error by observing that the pilot used his authority to force the 29-year-old woman, a Delhi resident, to have physical relations with him.

The court noted that as per the womans version, the accused had approached her only in October 2013 nearly 10 months after she had quit the airline. At that time she was not in any manner under his supervision or dominance, it said.

Also Read | FM Channel Radio 1: Delhi HC asks govt to check recordings

There was no occasion for the petitioner (pilot) to establish a physical relation with the prosecutrix (woman) using his position or authority as pilot, it said.

It, however, said that the accused has to face trial for the charge of unnatural sex as truthfulness and falsity of allegations cannot be gone through at this stage.

The court also said the allegation pertaining to the unnatural offence cannot be brushed aside or ignored.

The order came on the accused plea challenging the trial courts May 2016 order framing charges against him.

The man, who is on bail since September 2014, however, has claimed that no incriminating material was produced against him by the woman to prove the charges.

As per the prosecution, the woman had joined the airline in August 2009 as an air hostess and had quit the job in January 2013.

Also Read: Delhi HC pulls up Indian Air Force for discriminatory rule that denied study leave to airman

The prosecution had contended in the high court that the petitioner had on February 2, 2014 gone to her house and had offered to drop her for her flight that day. Finding her alone, the man had committed the offence, it had said.

Subsequently, an FIR was filed against the man in June 2014.

Relying on the prosecution version, the court observed that similarly, there are allegations whereby the prosecutrix was threatened that she would be defamed by showing her obscene pictures if she tried to reveal the incident to anyone.

She was also threatened that she would be killed if situation so demanded... The petitioner shall face trial for commission of offences punishable under Sections 377/506 (unnatural sex and criminal intimidation) IPC.

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New Delhi:

Militants on Sunday night attacked the sentry guard post of a minister of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Dooru Farooq Andrabi in Anantnag district of south Kashmir.

Sources said that the attack took place at the guard post of Minister of State for Hajj and Auqaf and MLA Dooru Farooq Andrabi in Shestragam village at around 10:15 pm.

As per sources, 5 rifles have been snatched in Anantnag attack.

Reportedly, Farooq Andrabi doesnt put up in the house. However, his parents stay there.

More details are awaited on this.

Also read: J-K: 2 militants killed while trying ambush on police party in Pulwama

Also read: Terror attacks, ceasefire violations reduced after surgical strike on Pak

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New Delhi:

Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) on Saturday captured over 100 Indian fishermen allegedly off Jakhau coast in Gujarats Kutch district, said a fishermen association official.

We have learnt that more than 100 fishermen who were on board around 18 fishing boats were apprehended by PMSA near the international maritime boundary line off Jakhau coast on Saturday, National Fishworkers Forum secretary Manish Lodhari said.

The fishermen who escaped have informed us about this, he said.

The NFF is trying to make contact with the Pakistani agencies to know the exact number of those abducted by PMSA, he said.

Earlier this month, PMSA had also apprehended 115 fishermen and seized 19 boats.

In March so far, the PMSA has separately held over 225 fishermen along with nearly three dozen boats, Lodhari said.

Also Read: Pakistan authorities send 85 Indian fishermen to prison

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New Delhi:

The newly-appointed Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath is on a two-day trip to Gorakhpur. Adityanath on Sunday congratulated party workers for win in election at the BJP office in Gorakhpur.

Adityanath told party workers to start preparing for upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2019. He told party workers that there is a scope for even better performance in next Lok Sabha polls. In the last Lok Sabha polls Bhartiya Janata Party had won 73 seats out of 80 seats in the region.

UP CM said that with formation of BJP govt in the state, there will be an end to hooliganism. Adityanath said that all the criminals should better leave the state now. He also said that there will be proper law and order in the state.

Also read: No caste, religion based discrimination, promises UP CM Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhpur

Yogi Adityanath also urged the people to message him when confronted with wrong doings in the state. He asserted to the party workers that they need to work 18-20 hours in a day. He appealed that irrespective of the conditions, they all need to work very hard.

Adityanath said that with the overwhelming majority by people of Uttar Pradesh, their responsibilities have also increased.

Also read: Yogi Adityanath returns to Gorakhpur as CM, receives grand welcome

No office bearer of the party or any public representative should undertake any contractual work (thekedaari). They should rather monitor them. And, if they find any discrepancy, they can inform me, so that action could be taken immediately against the guilty, he said.

Addressing people at the BJPs regional office on the second day of his Gorakhpur visit, he said, After victory, a number of important works have to be accomplished. The people of the state have reposed their faith in us, and the onus is on us to meet their expectations, while ensuring accountability of our actions.

Aditya Nath also laid stress on sense of responsibility and accountibility among his ministerial colleagues.

I am the CM. (Surya Pratap) Shahi ji is Cabinet minister. But the post of CM or Cabinet Minister is not meant for flaunting. In fact, it is an indicator of ones responsibility and accountability towards the public, which elected you with an overwhelming majority, he said, pointing towards some ministers present there.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, who is still the local MP, urged the party to gear up for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In the next two years, you have to work tirelessly, irrespective of the fact that there is sunshine, rain or biting cold. Efforts should be made to ensure that the welfare schemes of the Centre percolate to the last strata of the society, and needy people are able to avail its benefits, he said, amidst a thunderous applause from the audience.

(With PTI inputs)

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Gorakhpur:

The residents of Uttar Pradesh were delighted as their favourite Yogi Adityanath arrived in the town for the first time after assuming office of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. The UP CM received a grand welcome by the people of his constituency.

People shouting slogans eulogising Yogi and the continuous sound of conch shells only made the atmosphere more vibrant. And as Yogi arrived at the Maharana Pratap Inter College, the crowds excitement assumed exponential proportions.

The Chief Minister was greeted with slogans of Jai Shri Ram, Vande Mataram and Bharatiya Janata Party Zindabad as he waved to the crowd which was anxiously waiting for a glimpse of him.

After his public meeting, Yogi headed straight to the Gorakhnath Temple, where he offered special prayers. Even as Yogi was offering his prayers at the temple, the public which had gathered outside the temple was heard shouting Yogi-Yogi, and people were seen virtually jostling with each other to get a vantage position from where could catch a glimpse of the Chief Minister.

Revered as a hardcore Hindutva icon by his supporters and considered to be a face of hardline Hindutva, the saffron-clad Yogi started his speech raising the slogan of Bharat Mata ki Jai and Vande Mataram thrice, and ended his speech with Jai Shri Ram.

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Dhaka:

Bangladesh was shaken up by two powerful blasts killing six people and injuring nearly 40 others, including a top intelligence officer. The blast took place outside a building occupied by the Islamist militants as commandos prepared for a final assault to flush them out in Sylhet city, police said today.

The first blast happened around 7:00 p.m. yesterday about 400 metres off the five-storey building where the militants were holed up. It targeted the huge crowd witnessing the operation code named 'Twilight' and policemen deployed there.

Another blast took place in front of the hideout an hour later.

Six people including two police officers were killed in the attack. The dead included two police inspectors and four onlookers, two of them being college students.

Hours later the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack through its propaganda news agency 'Amaq'.

The target of the attack was security forces, it said. This was the third attack in Bangladesh in eight days for which the ISIS claimed credit.

Read more: Top news of March 25 | Bangladesh bomb blast kills one, scores injured

Elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Intelligence Wingchief Lt Col Abul Kalam was seriously wounded in blasts and flown to Dhaka for treatment.

Citing one of the injured people, bdnews24.com said that the second blast took place when RAB and police personnel went to the spot after the first blast.

"A ban has been enforced barring entry of ordinary people within the vicinity of the building as final preparations were underway to flush the militants out from their den", a policeofficer told reporters.

Sylhet-based 17 Infantry Division's Major General Anwarul Momen is leading the operation, which was assisted by police's SWAT and counter-terrorism units. The elite Rapid Action Battalion is also involved.

Police had raided the building early morning Friday and cordoned off the area.

Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) chief Monirul Islam said they got information that JMB chief Musa along with some other JMB militants were in Sylhet, but it was not clear if they were the ones hiding in the building.

The neo-JMB, said to be inclined to the Islamic State, was behind the July 1 terror attack on a Dhaka cafe in which 22 people, including 17 foreigners, were killed.

TV channels were barred from broadcasting the operation "live" but their reports showed commandos taking positions around the building.

Eyewitnesses said sounds of intermittent gunshots and explosions were heard, indicating militants response to the security siege that continued for the last three days.

Read more: India to seal International Border with Pakistan, Bangladesh: Rajnath Singh

The Operation Twilight was launched after a suicide bomber on Friday night blew himself up at the international airport in Dhaka in an attack claimed by the ISIS. It came a week after an identical attack on a RAB camp in Dhaka.

Police had tracked down the Sylhet hideout less than a week after they busted two militant dens on the outskirts of the southeastern port city Chittagong.

Bangladesh has been witnessing a spate of attacks on secular activists, foreigners and religious minorities since 2013. The country launched a massive crackdown on militants specially after the Dhaka cafe attack.

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London:

Scotland Yard confirms on Sunday, The brazen terror attack on British parliament has been carried out by Khalid Masood only. The attack ended up resulting the death of four people within 82 seconds only. We may "never understand" the 52-year-old attacker's motive, they further stated.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Polices Counter Terrorism Command confirmed after a detailed probe that the attack started at 14:40:08 (local time) on Wednesday when the car that Masood was driving over Westminster Bridge first mounted the northbound pavement.

He continued towards Bridge Street along both the footpath and road until 14:40:38 before crashing into the perimeter fence of the Palace of Westminster. At 14:40:59, the first 999 call was made to the Met, reporting the incident, it said.

Masood left the vehicle and was shot by a police firearms officer inside the Palace of Westminster boundary at 14:41:30.

"Our investigation continues at pace. I am grateful for the public support so far, but I am asking for more help. If you knew Khalid Masood and had spoken to him in the months, weeks or days leading up to this attack please come forward," said Met police Indian-origin Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, who is the Senior National Coordinator for UK Counter Terrorism Policing.

"We still believe that Masood acted alone on the day and there is no information or intelligence to suggest there are further attacks planned," Basu said.

His remarks came after two of the 11 people arrested in connection with the attack were questioned by police to establish whether the attacker acted alone or had associates.

"Whilst the attack lasted only 82 seconds it will remain in the memories of many forever. The thoughts of all those working on this investigation are with those so deeply affected," Basu said.

"One person remains in custody in connection with the attack after 11 arrests in the aftermath of the attack," he said.

Also Read: US acknowledges its forces were behind airstrike on Mosul that killed at least 100 people

Born as Adrian Russell Ajao in Dartford before converting to Islam, Masood was known to UK police and intelligence services.

He was born to a white mother and black father and is said to have been affected by racism while growing up.

"Even if he acted alone in the preparation we need to establish with absolute clarity why he did these unspeakable acts to bring reassurance to Londoners, and to provide answers and closure for the families of those killed and the victims and survivors of this atrocity," Basu said.

"We must all accept that there is a possibility we will never understand why he did this. That understanding may have died with him.

"Nevertheless, we are determined to understand if Masood was a lone actor inspired by terrorist propaganda or if others have encouraged, supported or directed him. If the latter proves to be the case, they will face justice," he stated.

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Cincinnati:

One person was killed and at least 15 others have been injured in a shooting at a nightclub in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Gunfire erupted inside a crowded nightclub early today. Police said there is no indication the shooting at the Cameo club was terrorism related.

Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate said in a tweet that the motive is still unclear, however. Authorities also didn't immediately have any suspects in the 1:30 am shooting on a busy weekend night.

Neudigate tweeted that there was only one reported shooter but that police were investigating whether others were involved. Police earlier said that "at least a couple of shooters" were involved.

Capt. Kim Williams said there was "just a lot of chaos, obviously, when shots were fired."

"Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst," she said.

Several officers were working security detail at the club and performed first aid and tried to revive the person who died, Williams said.

A single body was removed by the coroner shortly after 6 am. Fifteen people were shot, police said. Some of them drove themselves to area hospitals and others were taken by ambulance.

Authorities asked anyone with information to come forward. Investigators are checking to see if surveillance cameras were working, Williams said.

WLWT reported that at least one person was in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

The area is mostly industrial but also home to several nightclubs with a smattering of homes. The area is fairly desolate at night, with the exception of the nightlife scene and 24-hour gas stations. The road where the club sits was easily cordoned off by a single police cruiser and officer at either end.

Authorities are interviewing several witnesses, but Williams said a lot of the clubgoers had left.

"The biggest problem when you have a large crowd like this and the shots ring out, a lot of the witnesses disappear," she said.

Cameo's Facebook profile says it caters to college students on Friday nights, when anyone over 18 is allowed in, while Saturdays are "grown and sexy night" for ages 21 and over.

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Houston:

The Indian-American community honoured 24-year-old American, who took a bullet for an Indian, has as A True American Hero and the community raised USD 100,000 to help him buy a house in his hometown Kansas.

Ian Grillot, who was injured when he tried to intervene in the shooting by a Navy veteran targetting Indians at a bar in Olathe, Kansas last month, was honoured as A True American Hero at the 14th annual gala of India House Houston.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured in the shooting.

On behalf of the Indian-American community in Houston, India House recognised this selfless act beyond the call of duty and has extended the community?s gratitude to Ian Grillot by helping him to buy a house, said a statement posted on the India House Houston Facebook page.

India House raised USD 100,000 as part of an initiative supported by the Consul General of India in Houston Dr. Anupam Ray to help Ian buy a house in his hometown, it said.

Ian Grillot, who was injured while trying to intervene in Kansas shooting felicitated by Indian-Americans community with $100,000 in Houston pic.twitter.com/1oCmAwmymF  ANI (@ANI_news) March 26, 2017

Indias Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna handed over a cheque of USD 100,000 to Ian.

I dont know if I couldve lived with myself if I wouldn?t have stopped or attempted to stop the shooter because that would?ve been completely devastating.

I do now have a very powerful message and if I can help empower people and spread hope and love, then why not? I am honored to be at India House that serves so many families from so many communities in the Houston area, Ian said.

India House is a community center built by Americans of Indian origin in the Greater Houston area.

It is not every day that one meets a genuine hero, a person who risks his life for another, and takes a bullet for a complete stranger. Ian Grillot is a man who reminds us of the promise of America and its greatness, said Jiten Agarwal, a prominent Houstonian and Chair of the annual gala.

Also Read: Kansas bar shooting: Survivor Ian Grillot released from hospital

Also Read: Kansas shooting: Sushma Swaraj hails victim Ian Grillot, wishes him speedy recovery

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New Delhi :

For playing the festival of Holi in the college campus, students of Sindh University in Pakistan have been asked to submit written apologies in affidavits, according to a Pakistani newspapers report.

The Express Tribune newspaper reported that the mass communication department of the university has asked for the apology. Further, the university administration officials are now inquiring that weather it was a discriminatory issue or a disciplinary one.

Also read: Nawaz Sharif wishes 'Happy Holi' to Hindus in Pakistan

Universitys Vice Chancellor Fateh Muhammed Burfat said that if any there is any religious angle is attached to it, strict action would be taken against the concerned official. Reportedly a person named, Badar Soomro from the mass communication department had asked for the apology.

The VC further added that out of 10 students who were asked to submit an apology, 4 of them are Hindu and other 6 are Muslim.

Burfat further said, Sindh University has the highest number of Hindu community staff and students compared to any other university. They all work and study together with Muslims with utmost harmony.

Also read: Iran to impose sanctions on 15 US companies to support ties with Israel

The news of demanding an apology came into light when an affidavit of one of the students became public on social media.

According to the newspaper, the affidavit read, ...Those were the days of Holi and friends threw colours of Holi at each other as is the tradition. But this was wrong according to the universitys law and because of which our departments ID cards were taken away.

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OTTAWA, March 23, 2017 /CNW/ - For this year's Earth Hour (Saturday, March 25), Bullfrog Power, Canada's leading green energy provider, and Bayshore Shopping Centre are teaming up to provide enough renewable energy to bullfrogpower every home in Ottawa for one hour. Through the agreement, Bayshore will purchase 470 MWh of green electricity from Bullfrog Powerequivalent to what 498,640 homes in Ottawa would use in one hour.1 Bayshore is one of seven Ivanhoe Cambridge shopping centres participating in Earth Hour events with Bullfrog Power. Together, they are bullfrogpowering the equivalent of more than 1.9 million households across Canada for one hour.

"Bayshore is proud to partner with Bullfrog Power for Earth Hour. This year, by bullfrogpowering every home in Ottawa for one hour, we're reducing the environmental impact of our entire community to mark the tenth anniversary of this global event," said Dennis Pelletier, General Manager, Bayshore Shopping Centre.

Bayshore also bullfrogpowers its common areas with green electricity. That means that Bullfrog Power's generators put clean, pollution-free electricity onto the grid to match the amount of conventional power used by Bayshore's common areas. Across Canada, Bullfrog Power's green electricity comes from a blend of wind and low-impact hydro power sourced from new Canadian renewable energy facilities.

"Bayshore's Earth Hour initiative demonstrates what can be achieved when businesses act as a force for good in their communities. By taking action on climate change, Bayshore is raising awareness and making an important commitment to a renewable energy future," said Anthony Santilli, VP Sales and Marketing, Bullfrog Power.

Earth Hour is WWF's global environmental movement. Born in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has grown to become the world's largest grassroots movement for the environment, inspiring individuals, communities, businesses and organizations in more than 170 countries and territories to take tangible climate action for over a decade. The movement recognizes the role of individuals in changing climate change and harnesses the collective power of its millions of supporters to shine a light on climate action.

"Earth Hour is meant to spark meaningful changes to tackle climate change, including in our own homes," says David Miller, President and CEO, WWF-Canada. "It's an opportunity to focus on solutions and making the transition to renewable energy is something we must and can do."

About Bullfrog Power

Bullfrog Power, Canada's leading green energy provider, offers renewable energy solutions that enable individuals and businesses to reduce their environmental impact, support the development of green energy projects in Canada and help create a cleaner, healthier world. As a Certified B Corporation, Bullfrog Power meets higher standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Thousands of individuals and businesses in Canada are doing their part to address climate change and air pollution by choosing green energy with Bullfrog Power. Sign up easily, quickly and affordably at bullfrogpower.com.

Join the bullfrogpowered community online on Facebook (facebook.com/BullfrogPower), Instagram (@bullfrogpower) and Twitter (@bullfrogpower).

About Bayshore Shopping Centre

Bayshore Shopping Centre is the National Capital Region's premier shopping destination, with a strong tenant mix and ideal geographic location. Situated in the western portion of the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area, Bayshore is home to 190 retailers. Solidifying its position as the city's fashion leader, Bayshore embarked on a $200-million redevelopment project in 2012. The project boosted the centre's retail area by 340,000 sq. ft., introduced a new food court, 30 new stores, a restyled interior and over 3,800 complimentary parking spaces. Bayshore attracts over 7.2 million shoppers per year. For more information, visit www.bayshoreshoppingcentre.com

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1 Estimates are based on Statistics Canada's census data.

SOURCE Bullfrog Power

For further information: Contact Bullfrog Power: Jon McKay, Corporate Communications Manager, 416.360.3464 ext. 239, [email protected]; Contact Bayshore Shopping Centre: Denis Pelletier, General Manager, 613.829.7491, [email protected]

Related Links

www.bullfrogpower.com


Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have demonstrated efficient solar energy storage in a chemical liquid. The stored energy can be transported and then released as heat whenever needed. The research is now presented on the cover of the scientific journal Energy and Environmental Science.

Many consider the sun the energy source of the future. But one challenge is that it is difficult to store solar energy and deliver the energy on demand.

A research team from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, has shown that it is possible to convert the solar energy directly into energy stored in the bonds of a chemical fluid  a so-called molecular solar thermal system. The liquid chemical makes it possible to store and transport the stored solar energy and release it on demand, with full recovery of the storage medium. The process is based on the organic compound norbornadiene that upon exposure to light converts into quadricyclane.

Journal Energy and Environmental Science  Exploring the potential of a hybrid device combining solar water heating and molecular solar thermal energy storage

The technique means that that we can store the solar energy in chemical bonds and release the energy as heat whenever we need it. says Professor Kasper Moth-Poulsen, who is leading the research team. Combining the chemical energy storage with water heating solar panels enables a conversion of more than 80 percent of the incoming sunlight.

The research project was initiated at Chalmers more than six years ago and the research team contributed in 2013 to a first conceptual demonstration. At the time, the solar energy conversion efficiency was 0.01 percent and the expensive element ruthenium played a major role in the compound. Now, four years later, the system stores 1.1 percent of the incoming sunlight as latent chemical energy  an improvement of a factor of 100. Also, ruthenium has been replaced by much cheaper carbon-based elements.

We saw an opportunity to develop molecules that make the process much more efficient, says Moth-Poulsen. At the same time, we are demonstrating a robust system that can sustain more than 140 energy storage and release cycles with negligible degradation.

Abstract

A hybrid solar energy system consisting of a molecular solar thermal energy storage system (MOST) combined with a solar water heating system (SWH) is presented. The MOST chemical energy storage system is based on norbornadienequadricyclane derivatives allowing for conversion of solar energy into stored chemical energy at up to 103 kJ mol1 (396 kJ kg1). It is demonstrated that 1.1% of incoming solar energy can be stored in the chemical system without significantly compromising the efficiency of the solar water heating system, leading to efficiencies of combined solar water heating and solar energy storage of up to 80%. Moreover, prospects for future improvement and possible applications are discussed.
Russia will start building multi-purpose nuclear-powered submarines of the fifth generation in 2020. Companies of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) are ready to start the work in 2020, when 885 Yasen project is completed. The Russian Husky submarine will be the follow up to the Yasen submarine.

The new submarines will be smaller and cheaper than their Soviet-designed predecessors. Indeed, there are indications that Moscow will be extensively leveraging automation technologies developed for the Project 705 Lira-class attack submarinebetter known in the West as the Alfa-classfor the new boats.

Russian analysts estimate that the next-generation submarines will displace no more than about 6,000-tons. Which means that another Soviet innovation might make a comebackliquid metal cooled reactors.

Russia will also incorporate composite structures in its next-generation follow-on to the Project 855M Yasen-class in the 2020s. The next-generation Russian nuclear submarines may use composite structures in an attempt to drastically reduce their acoustical signatures.

The new composite materials are still in testing, but Russia will test its first composite propeller design in 2018. This is one of our institutes most promising projects, Polovinkin said. This trend reduces vibration in the blades and increases the efficiency of the screw. These various effects will help improve the ships acoustic signature.

For the time being, engineers are designing the look of future submarines. The performance of the subs remains a secret. According to developers, performance characteristics will depend on requirements from the navy.

It is worthy of note that Project 885 Yasen stipulates for the construction of seven multi-purpose nuclear submarines. The main submarine of the project  Severodvinsk  has already been passed into service.

Earlier, Pravda.Ru reported that Russia was planning to launch Zircon hypersonic missiles in the spring of 2017 from a sea-based carrier. The launches are said to be conducted for the implementation of the concept of global non-nuclear deterrence. Zircon hypersonic missiles will be installed on board Yasen-M submarines, Husky submarines, as well as a number of surface ships.
Algeria Joins Call to Roll Over Oil-Output Cuts Beyond June

Algerias energy minister supports extending global oil production cuts beyond June as he thinks the strategy is succeeding in reducing global inventories. Russia is moving ahead with its own reductions to curb a global glut.We are making progress in balancing the market, Algerias Noureddine Boutarfa told reporters as ministers are meeting in Kuwait City to discuss compliance with the reductions. Stocks in Europe and Asia are diminishing, we will see them diminishing in the U.S. as well and that will reassure the market. Iraq has made good efforts, even if independent analysts disagree, he said in a Bloomberg Television interview. Boutarfa asked for cuts to be extended for three or four months.A clear impact of the deal, including on U.S. stockpiles, will be visible in the next few weeks, he said in a video Saturday on the ministrys Facebook page.Ministers meeting in Kuwait on Sunday will discuss the possibility of an extension of the cuts beyond June, even if thats not the monitoring committees role, Boutarfa said. With U.S. crude stockpiles swelling to record levels and prices sinking below $50 a barrel, OPEC and its partners have little choice but to keep going, according to all 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.Kuwait this month became the first nation to call for extending the production cuts, with Oil Minister Issam Almarzooq saying inventories had grown more than expected. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 other major producers including Russia agreed last year to slash production, spurring a 20 percent increase in Brent crude prices during the last five weeks of 2016. The rally stalled this year as U.S. output and supplies continued to grow. OPEC ministers will meet May 25 in Vienna to decide whether to extend the deal.Brent crude futures closed on Friday at $50.80 a barrel in London, down 96 cents, or 1.9 percent, for the week. The benchmark grade has dropped 11 percent this year.Iraq and Angola, two other OPEC members, have signaled a willingness to back the decreases in output beyond the first half of this year. Khalid Al-Falih, the energy minister of the groups biggest producer, Saudi Arabia, signaled in a Bloomberg Television interview on March 17 that the kingdom has grown more willing to extend the curbs. The deal will be maintained if oil stockpiles are still above their five-year average, he said, shifting from his previous position that six months of cuts would be enough.OPEC data is showing 106 percent compliance with the cuts in February while that of non-OPEC nations, including Russia, is 64 percent, Kuwait Oil Minister Almarzooq said Saturday.Russia has reduced production by 185,000 barrels a day from the October level, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters in Kuwait City. The countrys target cut is 300,000 barrels a day. That means Russias production would be lowered to 10.947 million barrels a day  accomplished by the end of April  from 11.247 million barrels a day in October, according to Russias Energy Ministry.OPECs compliance with the promised reductions is at levels we have never seen, Algerias Boutarfa said in the Bloomberg interview. In the past it was 60 to 65 percent. For non-OPEC, its the scenario we expected. It will be gradual rather than instant.Algeria seeks to be exemplary in implementing the output-cut accord and has itself reduced production by an extra 7,000 barrels a day in February compared with January, the minister said. Production cuts in Algeria have also translated into decreased exports, he said.
The World Bank has approved $200 million loan to Nigeria to support the governments effort to boost small and mid-scale farmers.

on Friday said the funds will help tackle low yields, lack of seed capital to set up agro-factories, low-level adoption of technology and limited access to markets.

A statement issued by World banksaid the funds will help tackle low yields, lack of seed capital to set up agro-factories, low-level adoption of technology and limited access to markets.

'Priority value chains will include products with potential for immediate improvement of food security, products with a potential for export and foreign currency earnings,' the bank said in the statement.

According to the Bank, about 60,000 individuals will benefit directly from the funding, of which 35 percent are women. About 300,000 farming households will be affected indirectly.

However, Nigeria is aiming to achieve self-sufficiency in rice by 2018 and in wheat by 2019 or 2020. By the latter date, it also hopes to be a net exporter of rice, cashew nuts, groundnuts, cassava, vegetable oil and many others with the World Bank loan.
Fresh investigations conducted by NigerianEye.com has shown that the certificate scandal involving the senator representing Kogi West Sen...
The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has urged Nigerians to resist Presidency officials, who he said, are bent on destroying the na...

The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has urged Nigerians to resist Presidency officials, who he said, are bent on destroying the nations hard-earned democracy and emasculating the National Assembly.Citing the face-off between the senate and the Comptroller General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali (retd.) as an example, he said there was a subtle plot by the present administration to hand-cuff the National Assembly and foist full-blown dictatorship on Nigerians.Fayose in a press release in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, urged Nigerians to rise in defense of democracy, saying the major difference between democracy and dictatorship is the presence of the legislature in democracy and its absence in a dictatorship.The governor lamented that the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu was still in office despite his nomination being twice rejected by the Senate.He stated that it was an open secret today that many judges were being blackmailed to do the bidding of the presidency and the ruling party.It is even more dangerous that the courts have been dragged into this obvious plot to destroy the legislature just as we recently witnessed a similar plot against the Judiciary itself.He added, This democracy cost us a lot in blood and sweat. The labour and sacrifice of the heroes and heroines of our democracy must not be allowed to go in vain.It is a shame when the Constitution of the country is violated by Federal appointees and the Presidency keeps silent.It confirms that the Presidency is the one behind it. In the uniform saga involving the Comptroller-General of Customs, it is safe to say that the Presidency is in support of Hammed Ali against the National Assembly.
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday gave vice chancellors a marching order to expel students with less than 0.5 Cumulative Grade Point ...

Such students, he said, are unserious elements that should not be accommodated any longer in higher institutions.The President also cautioned governing councils and managements universities against muzzle-flexing and ego-tripping, which he said had thrown affected universities into avoidable crises.Buhari spoke at the 31st convocation of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).He further assured his administration was committed to the 2009 agreement entered into with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).This, he noted, led to the recent setting up of a committee to renegotiate the contentious agreement.Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Onwuka, told vice-chancellors and their managements to practise transparency, accountability, fairness and ensure discipline.He said: We must stop to continue housing adventurers, who have no business remaining in the universities beyond the time specified for their studies in the universities.In that wise, it is being proposed that at the end of this academic year, any student with less than 0.5 CGPA should cease to be a student of the university and should be shown the way out.The universities must continue to have people who are serious in what they have come to do.If you have less than 0.5 in your CGPA, you are out. You are out for good so that the space will be left for those who have come to do serious business.On governing council, he charged them to avoid unnecessary muzzle-flexing and ego-tripping that throw affected universities into avoidable crises.They must look after the welfare of staff and students and ensure proper development of their universities.On the contentious 2009 agreement with ASUU, Buhari pleaded with the lecturers to give peace a chance, by coming to the negotiation table in the best interest of higher education.He reassured ASUU and other unions that government was committed to quality education in the universities and other layers of the education sector, including the welfare of staff in the system.
The duel between Nigerian senator, Dino Melaye and online publication, Sahara Reporters is getting heated by the day.

Folks: It was brought to my attention earlier that Nigerian Senator Dino Melaye promised to 'send me to jail' over the recent unraveling of his questionable educational background. While some are worried, appalled, alarmed and concerned and even scared about this declaration, it had me thinking differently. I am a Nigerian citizen who had been through torture, humiliations, and incarceration by dictators in uniform between 1992-1999 before I eventually left Nigeria.



I have never doubted the power of justice over legalities. That a Nigerian Senator in a democratic era could make this proclamation is indeed a sign that our democratic transition was a farce, particular when you've now noticed that Mr. Melaye was sitting at the feet of one of Nigeria's worst military dictators, Ibrahim Babangida just a week ago.



One of Babangida's worst crimes against humanity was the assassination of notable investigative journalists of our time, Dele Giwa, by way of a parcel bomb. Another thing Melaye shares in common with Babangida and his killer squad was using libel lawsuits to silence inquisitions.



In the 80's Gani Fawehimi was found liable of libeling the killers of Dele Giwa and asked to pay damages to Halilu Akilu.



Here is how I am different and also not different, I am not going to run away from criminals running the Nigerian political space until they are defeated, and their ideologies of greed, bloodiness, and avarice are entirely abandoned and discredited forever (Apology to Bob Marley).



If it takes my life, so be it. If it means another unjust ruling asking for damages for thieves. So be it. We must take our space back from the 10 percenters, drug dealers, certificate forgers, money launderers, political manipulators, and assassins.



Thank you,

Omoyele Sowere

On Sunday, the publisher of Sahara Reports shared a purported screenshot of an email from London School of Economics and Political Science saying they have no evidence of Dino Melaye passing through the school.recalls that Senator Dino Melaye had made threats that he will send Omoyele Sowore to jail over the allegation by Sahara Reporters that Melayes name was not in the graduating set of 1998/99 ABU session.Sowore then went on to share a bold article on his Facebook page saying, 'If it takes my life, so be it. If it means another unjust ruling asking for damages for thieves.
The Senate will this week invite the authorities of Ahmadu Bello University to clear the controversy about alleged certificate scandal i...

A source said, The Senate is inviting the authorities of the Universities Dino Melaye said he attended. Specifically, the Senate is inviting Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) to clear the controversy.The truth will be cleared by ABU this week. All the allegations are rubbish, ABU will not offer anybody admission with three credits.
An Ado Ekiti oil dealer and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Remi Oguntuase, has described the demolition of hi...

An Ado Ekiti oil dealer and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Remi Oguntuase, has described the demolition of his filling station as politically motivated, malicious and act of vendetta on the part of Governor Ayo Fayose. Oguntuase, popularly known as REMOG, said he has valid papers and received clearance from all regulatory agencies before he started the construction.I have documents for the work being done here and it was inspected and certified fit by agencies like DPR, Fire Service, Town Planning Authority, Surveyor Generals office and other relevant agencies of government and I paid the required fees and have the receipts. After the January 8 fire incident at Strive Energy Petrol Station, he (Fayose) ordered that we stopped work and I complied and dialogue has been going on. The Ewi of Ado Ekiti and Commissioner of Police called us on Tuesday.I was at the Ewis palace after the king had ordered us to call off our strike with the Commissioner of Police and other stakeholders in attendance. Between 3.30 and 4.00 pm, the governor was here in shorts giving orders to pay loader from the Ministry of Works to demolish my structure.I dont think the governor is doing this in public interest as he wants the public to believe. The action was politically motivated; he is doing this because I am an APC leader, a foundation member since the days of Alliance for Democracy (AD), he said.
Amb. Hakeem Balogun, the Charge daffaires of the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, says different reasons are responsible for the extrem...

Amb. Hakeem Balogun, the Charge daffaires of the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, says different reasons are responsible for the extreme vetting Nigerians face during entry into the US.Balogun, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Washington, added that the President Donald Trumps travel ban did not affect Nigerians.The executive ban on immigration does not affect Nigerians. Whatever must have taken place regarding visa issuance, vetting at the airports, its all normal.All these things have been on even before President Trump. Lets get one thing well. That you are issued visa is not a guarantee that you will end up wherever youre going.Its a global thing; its not just United States. Even with us in Nigeria, we issue a visa to you here in the Nigerian Embassy.There is no guarantee that you will get in when you get to Murtala Muhammed Airport or when you get to Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport.The final authority is the man at the point of entry  immigration officers there. For instance, you can come to the Embassy here, we ask for all the things you need to get the visa.How much do you have that we feel will be enough for you to stay in Nigeria for the period youre going.May be as at that time, you were able to show us evidence that you have a thousand dollars which we feel will be enough for you to stay in Nigeria.By the time you get to Murtala Muhammed Airport, the man at that end there asked you, all you have to show to him is 100 dollars, definitely, he might turn you back, and thats normal.Balogun also said Nigerians are restricted from entering the US because they failed to meet other required procedures.Then there are other things. What manner of visa did you collect to come to the United States?For instance, a pregnant woman who comes to the United States on visiting visa will probably be turned back at the point of entry because she does not have a medical visa.You are coming in on a visiting visa and the immigration man sees you pregnant. Naturally, he will turn you back.Even if you have the medical visa, they want to know if you have medical insurance; do you have you medical documents for you to be able to come and use their medical facilities here.So these are issues. Nigeria is not being singled out. We are not one of those countries that have been mentioned. We are definitely not one of them. (NAN)
FAIRVIEW -- A woman from Manhattan was recently reunited with her wedding ring at a trash facility in New Jersey after accidentally throwing it away, ABC7 reported.

Shannon Lombardo, reportedly desperate to find her wedding ring, called 311 and coordinated with NYC Sanitation to track down the ring.

Her search led her to Fairview, N.J. where garbage is taken before it heads to the landfills, ABC7 reported.

She and her husband, Jim, found trash with their address on it and dug with sanitation workers in the trash in that area for about an hour until they found her ring, according to the report.

"When it's a ring, you start to think wow that's a small item, but we've done it before, we're trained how to find it," Gabriel Moreno, sanitation supervisor, reportedly told ABC7.

Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.
MAPLE SHADE -- Authorities continued to search this weekend for the person who stabbed a mother and her young son to death in their South Jersey apartment last week.

A spokesman for the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office said Saturday afternoon that no one had been arrested yet in the case.

Sasikala Narra, 38, and her 6-year-old son, Anish Narra, were found stabbed to death at the Fox Meadow Apartments on Thursday evening

Sasikala Narra's husband discovered his wife and son dead when he returned home from work, authorities said.

Anish Narra was a student at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Maple Shade.

On the school's website is a message noting the tragic loss:

"We learned with great sadness on March 24 about the deaths of our student, Anish Narra, and his mother. We ask all those in the Our Lady of Perpetual Help School community and the public at large to join in praying for Anish and Sasi, and we offer our deepest condolences to all those who mourn them during this time of great loss. May they rest in peace."

On Friday, the prosecutor's office said the killings were not being investigated as a hate crime. The Narras are of Indian descent.

Funeral arrangements for the mother and son have yet to be announced.

Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Bill Gallo Jr. on Twitter @bgallojr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
BRIDGETON -- A Cumberland County grand jury indicted a Bridgeton man for allegedly setting fire to a former bowling alley, according to the prosecutor's office.

Todd Lloyd (file photo)

New Jersey State Police arrested Todd Lloyd, 26, of East Commerce Street, after a three-week investigation in November for the fire. Police also arrested Lloyd and three other Cumberland County residents for allegedly burglarizing 31 cars.

Authorities credited the public in helping the fire investigation after New Jersey State Police posted about it on its official Facebook page.

The vacant bowling alley, located on East Commerce Street in Fairfield Township, caught fire around 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. A witness saw a car leaving the scene after the fire was set and police determined that the fire was set intentionally.

Lloyd was indicted on March 22 on charges of aggravated arson and burglary. He remains in the Cumberland County Jail.

Don E. Woods may be reached at dwoods@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @donewoods1. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
BUTTE  One Montana company is hoping to harness the power of big data to become more competitive on the national stage.

Months after announcing its intention to compete against Panera by adding more bakeries to its franchised locations, Dillon-based Great Harvest Bread Co. has tapped analytics firm Buxton to study the growth potential of its new bakery model.

Mike Ferretti  company chairman and chief executive officer  told Montana Lee Newspapers Wednesday that Great Harvest launched the initiative with the Texas-based firm to zero in on areas where adding new locations makes the most sense.

And Great Harvest could use the knowledge that Buxton says it can deliver.

The Dillon-based company, which boasts more than 220 locations nationwide including Helena, plans to expand in the Northeast, which Ferretti said represents just 5 percent of the Great Harvest footprint.

To find out which areas have the most potential for growth, Buxton will study what makes a Great Harvest great.

According to Buxton Senior Vice President Stephen Polanski, a study from the Texas-based firm involves more than just conjecture. Instead it involves looking at massive amounts of consumer data the company acquires from debit- and credit-card companies and companies that collect information on web-browsing habits, among other providers.

Like it or not, your cellphone may know more about you than you do.

Consumers leave a data trail on a daily basis, Polanski explained, noting that consumer data can come from everything from browsing the web to making a purchase at your local grocery store.

Polanski described the amount of data available today as through the roof, and noted that Buxton is the largest aggregator of data in the country.

But data isnt worth much unless you know what to do with it, and thats where the analytics comes in.

Its basically a big data model, Polanski said, explaining that Buxton uses the data to look for correlations between successful business locations and thousands of variables, ranging from psychographic data  which includes things like the age, lifestyle and gender of nearby consumers  to the impact of nearby businesses.

The company zeros in on the most statistically significant variables for each client and generates a custom model that their clients can access on a data-visualization platform called SCOUT. Polanski added that the model is dynamic and can accommodate variables that change over time, such as consumer behavior.

As for Great Harvest, company leaders will be able to view a SCOUT map that displays areas of the greatest growth potential, in addition to other kinds of information. Polanski said the tool will allow the Dillon-based company to better understand who the Great Harvest customer is and zero in on places where look-alike costumers reside. Franchise owners will also be given an LSMx tool  a new marketing platform from Buxton  to execute marketing campaigns and drive traffic to stores based on analytics.

With consumer analytics in hand and the launching of the companys new bakery cafe concept, Great Harvest hopes it can expand in a knowledgeable way.

But having a cafe in your local Great Harvest may not sound like a groundbreaking concept to most Montanans.

Ferretti said most Big Sky locations already have cafes, including the Butte location, which he said was the first Great Harvest to have seating and offer sandwiches.

Its as much a restaurant as it is a bakery, said Ferretti.

But now, he said, the company plans to take the cafe concept to a more formal level.

As Great Harvest expands into the Northeast, Ferretti said, the company will be branching out in to areas that tend to have more expensive real estate, requiring the company to get more bang for its buck with each new location.

The more we go into bigger cities  the more efficient we have to be with our layout, Ferretti explained. We have to be able to get more sales dollars per square foot than weve been able to get in the past.

In other words, locations can draw more dollars per square foot if they have cafes in them.

Great Harvest has been known as a company that encourages franchisees to personalize their business and cater to local tastes. The Montana Standard asked if this culture would continue and, more importantly, whether the Butte location will still have povitica during the holidays.

We still want individual locations to be able to reflect the look and feel of their individual owners, said Ferretti.

(But) what were trying to do is do that in a way thats efficient and profitable, he continued, noting that the company will take much tighter control over the production side of the business.

And yes, Ferretti said, the Butte location will still offer povitica during the holidays.

Although the Buxton study isnt underway yet, Ferretti gave a sneak preview of what he believes makes a successful Great Harvest.

Ferretti said having quality product is key, but what is perhaps just as important is the ability of business owners to connect with the community.

Its a matter of how you present yourself, how you market yourself, said Ferretti. What further differentiates (locations) is a fun, happy atmosphere  its service and advertising.

Polanski, meanwhile, advocated for a more nuanced perspective of location, location, location.

In the past its always been spoken about as number one, said Polanski, explaining that its more important to find the right type of customers and seek them out than focusing just on location.

Where they live, where they work, where they play, he said.

As for Ferretti, he said that his advice for business owners is to understand their strengths and weaknesses and to use this knowledge to concentrate on what they do well and to hire individuals to fill in the gaps.

He added that people should expect to see more Great Harvest locations in the Northeast starting in 2018.
DSC_8488_AW.JPG

Thunder Snow, left, ridden by Christophe Soumillon) wins the UAE Derby Sponsored by The Saeed & Mohammed Al Naboodah Group at the DWC at Meydan on March 25, 2017. (Photo by Dubai Racing Club | Andrew Watkins)

( )

The Road to the Kentucky Derby stretched from Florence, Ky. halfway around the world to Dubai, United Arab Emirates on March 25.

The Dubai version produced another sure qualifier for the May 6 Derby and showcased a horse that, although already assured of a start in the big race, promoted himself as one of the contenders for Kentucky wagers.

Fourteen 3-year-old colts and two South American bred 4-year-olds went postward in the Dubai Derby at 1-3/16 miles.

Thunder Snow, making only his second start on dirt after six races on the turf in England, stayed close to the pace setter in the short run to the first turn while having trouble getting into a running rhythm.

Jockey Christophe Soumillon kept him in third and fourth place through the backstretch while Japan's Epicharis set all the pace.

In the lane, the Irish-bred Thunder Snow came running. With Soumillon asking his horse for everything and Christophe Lemaire astride Epicharis riding to hang on to the lead, the two hit the line together.

In a matter of seconds, the placing judges put Thunder Snow's number up. The slow-mo replay showed the margin to be, literally, a nostril for Thunder Snow over Epicharis.

The win earned Thunder Snow 100 Kentucky Derby points and assured owner Godolphin and trainer Saeed Ibn Suroor a stall in this year's Derby.

Epichicharis, in suffering his first defeat in five lifetime starts, collected another 40 points. He was an automatic for the Derby, if his owner elects to travel to Louisville and run, based on his finish in Japan's three qualifying races.

Epicharis' domination of the Japan qualifiers, coupled with his very close finish in the Dubai Derby, is sure to get him plenty of betting support in this year's Run for the Roses.

After the race, the winning jockey reported, "I was very confident before the race. He had good gate speed and jumped well, but he was startled by the lines on the ground or something and changed leads, shifting out for a few strides. I was able to get him focused again and thought I still had time to come back."

Master Plan, racing for New York-based mega trainer Todd Pletcher, collected 20 points for his third place finish with Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez aboard.

Thunder Snow stopped the timer in 1:57.76 over a track that turned muddy after rain returned to Meydan during the card.

Fast and Accurate goes from claimer to contender

Fast and Accurate, a colt that could have been claimed for $30,000 in December, is a fairly sure bet to have claimed one of the 20 stalls in the May 6 running of the $2 million Kentucky Derby.

The Pennsylvania-bred son of Hansen from the Green Dancer mare Heidi's Dance captured Turfway Park's $500,000, Grade 3 Jack Cincinniti Casino Spiral Stakes to earn 50 Derby points and spot in the Derby. (Last year, Mo Tom was the 20th quantifier with 32 points.)

Racing in the colors of Kendall E. Hansen for trainer Michael Maker, Fast and Accurate beat 11 rivals in the mile and a furlong race over Turfway's all-weather surface getting the distance in 1:50.96.

Tyler Gaffalione was aboard for the ride that increased the colt's record to three wins from six starts. His owner signed the sales ticket at the Ocala Spring 2-Year-Old Sale for $85,000.

The Turfway Park check for $300,000 boosted his earnings to $355,362.

The filly version of the Spiral, the $100,000, Grade 3 Bourbonette; went to Purely a Dream, a Pure Prize filly racing for the syndicate known as Living the Dream Racing.

The Ken McPeek trainee bested 11 rivals and collected 50 qualifying points for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks to be run on May 5.

(Last year, Taxable qualified for one of the 14 Oaks starting points with 40 points.)

Purely a Dream and veteran rider Robby Alvarado took the lead after the first six furlongs of the mile race over the all-weather track.

She crossed the line two lengths ahead of Awesome Boss. The teletimer read 1:37.40.

The win was the filly's third from five starts that included a maiden score at Keeneland in October. The winner's check raised her purse earnings to $153,612.

For more equestrian news see Horse News

Horse News covers everything equestrian in the mid-Atlantic area and can be reached at horsenews@hcdemocrat.com

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For more racing and steeplechasing news see http://connect.nj.com/user/aorrjr/posts.html
Eight fighter jets flew over the Hudson River Saturday afternoon, leaving behind a trail of red, white and blue smoke.

The event was staged to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the United States entering into World War I, the Associated Press reported.

Saturday was the first time in more than 30 years the French Air Force fighter jets have flown over North American, according to the report. Additional shows are planned in the coming weeks.

Hudson County, too, will be commemorating the 100th anniversary at an event in Hoboken on April 6. The service will begin at the memorial in Pier A Park at noon.

Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
CLINTON TWP. - Lauren Medina saw the missed call from a Pittsburgh area code on her cell phone last Monday, but she didn't dare to dream. She had auditioned for the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University Musical Theater Program and had heard that applicants were being called.

Lauren Medina (Courtesy of Medina family)

Medina listened to the voice-mail message and was overwhelmed. It was from Carnegie Mellon telling her that she had been accepted into the program, which has a .006 annual acceptance rate, and is considered the top program in the country.

Each year, out of more than 3,000 applicants from across the nation six girls and six boys are accepted into the program. Carnegie Mellon's overall acceptance rate for its School of Drama is just three percent, and it's even most difficult to get into the musical theater program.

"I was freaking out," said Medina on Thursday. "It was insane. My mom took the phone from me. I was crying. It was a life-changing moment. Carnegie Mellon is the oldest and most prestigious program in the country. It's the closest thing you can get to a golden ticket. It's a dream come true."

Medina, an 18-year-old senior at North Hunterdon High School, started singing in the fourth grade at Round Valley Elementary School and was voted second in the state among members of the New Jersey State Honor Choir that year. She began taking voice lessons while at Clinton Township Middle School.

"That's when I got bit by the theater bug," she said with a chuckle.

Shortly thereafter, Medina began taking dancing and acting lessons.

"It feels great to know that all my hard work is paying off," said Medina. "My parents have been so supportive. To get into Carnegie Mellon. No one ever expects that."

Angela Medina, Lauren's mother, said she used to fight with her daughter over her commitment to theater because she knew how competitive it was and she didn't want her daughter's spirit crushed if she wasn't successful.

"I would always ask her, 'Are you sure you want to do this?'" said Angela Medina, fighting back tears. "But she was determined. I'm super proud of her. She's super talented, super hard-working and super humble. I'm more proud of her as a human being than her being a professional artist."

Lauren Medina has signed with New York-based Prestige Management and has had several small roles in commercials. She has performed at the Paper Mill Playhouse Summer Music Conservatory in Millburn for the past two summers, an experience that has confirmed her passion for theater.

"She has an amazing voice," said Leesa Csolak, owner of the Star Maker School in Clinton who also introduces kids to talent agents. "Not only that, she has that spark that you can't teach. It's what helps set her apart."

Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
MIDDLETOWN -- A person was struck by an NJ Transit train Saturday night in Middletown, an agency spokeswoman said.

The pedestrian, identified only as a female, was taken to Jersey Shore Medical Center after being struck at the Church Road crossing around 8:20 p.m., according to the NJ Transit spokeswoman. Her condition was not immediately available.

There were no injuries to anyone on the train, which was headed to New York from Long Branch.

NJ Transit said service was suspended on the North Jersey Coast Line between Red Bank and Hazlet as of about 9:20 p.m. Saturday.
By Clifford Kulwin

At South by Southwest a few days ago, Sen. Cory Booker reprised his 2016 Democratic convention call that Americans learn not just to "tolerate" one another, but to "love" one another. "I tolerate a cold," he said. "That's not what we were called to do, to tolerate each other. We are called to love each other."

His remarks came to mind a few days ago when my mail included an envelope from Trinity Covenant Church, catty-corner from us across the intersection of Northfield Road and East Cedar Street.

Pastor Susan Gillespie is treasurer of our Livingston Clergy Association, so I assumed she had sent a dues notice or similar piece of correspondence. I was wrong.

The letter was brief:

"We of Trinity Covenant Church send to you and your membership our love and care, and to grieve with you the outrageous threats and actions that have taken place in our country against Jewish Community Centers, synagogues, graveyards and other institutions, and against the peace of all Jews. Such behavior is evil and we hate it, and we will not tolerate it anywhere we encounter it. We're small in number and can't offer you much by way of warriors, but we pray for you all to our Lord, whose might and faithfulness dwarf those who want you to be afraid. Please accept his letter as a sign of our common life in Livingston, and common desire for peace and kindness."

The letter was signed by Gillespie and couple of dozen congregants.

Sue is a local colleague whom I like and respect, but not someone with whom I am especially close. We occasionally use the church parking lot for the Jewish High Holy Days, and would certainly reciprocate for a similar need, but institutionally, we are not especially connected. So why the letter?

The Jewish community, nationally and locally, has received threats and been the subject of vandalism in recent weeks. None have turned into acts of violence, but as anyone involved in Jewish life can tell you, it is on all of our minds. The members of Trinity Covenant Church realized that.

They wanted us to know, that they knew.

I shared the letter with colleagues and congregants. We recognized this was something special. I posted it on the Temple's Facebook page and my personal page and the Likes and Comments began immediately. It has been shared hundreds of time and reached tens of thousands of individuals. The letter touched people deeply.

Why? Not because there was anything to be gained. Beyond the neighborliness we extend one another, there's not much we can do for the church, or the church for us.

Rather, the simple purpose of the letter was, to use Booker's words, to make sure we knew that the members of Trinity Covenant Church do not merely tolerate the members of Temple B'nai Abraham. They love us. And if we were in pain, they were in pain.

The letter unabashedly told us that what our community faced was evil and unacceptable. That the members of the church would brook no quarter in opposing that which threatens us. That to the best of their ability they would follow Ezekiel's charge that none shall make us afraid. They proved their love with a guarantee of action.

Life continues. Recent anti-Semitic incidents still make us edgy. But now, they make me a little less edgy. I know I am not alone.

On behalf of my own congregation, I offer Pastor Gillespie and the members of Trinity Covenant Church our gratitude. You were enough in the world around to know that we were in pain. You made certain we knew of your love. You remind us, one faith community to another, that our job is not only to take care of our own, nor even to be at the ready when someone calls, but to get out in the world and see, listen and be aware, so that when someone needs our love, they will know they have it.

As you write, we share a "common life." I hope our contribution toward that common life always reaches the high bar you have set.

Clifford M. Kulwin is rabbi of Temple B'nai Abraham in Livingston.

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President Trump, wounded after his humiliating defeat on health care, now faces a choice.

He can swallow his pride and work to improve Obamacare. Or he can use his executive powers to sabotage it, and then blame Democrats.

Which sounds more like Trump?

"Obamacare unfortunately will explode," he said after the vote. "It's going to have a very bad year and I think the losers are Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer because now they own Obamacare. They 100 percent own it. This is not Republican health care. This is not anything but Democratic health care.

"The best we can do now politically speaking is let Obamacare explode. It is exploding now."

Uh-oh.

I would love to pause and relish this moment for a few days.

After watching the no-compromise fanatics in the Freedom Caucus torture President Obama for years, it was delicious to see them torture Trump. As always, these strategic geniuses of the hard-right emerged empty-handed.

But this fight is not over. Trump's story line was repeated by all the GOP big shots, from Speaker Paul Ryan to Tom Price, the embattled secretary of Health and Human Services.

"The worst is yet to come with Obamacare," Ryan said. "Do we try to prop it up? It is so fundamentally flawed, I don't know if that is possible."

This is pure bunk, which should come as no surprise after watching this show for just two months. Sad.

Obamacare is not perfect, granted. But the answer is to make tweaks, not blow it up.

When Congress passed Social Security in 1935, it didn't provide benefits for the disabled, or for widows and orphans. It didn't cover 65 percent of African-Americans because agricultural and domestic workers were excluded.

It was fixed, not blown up.

Obamacare brought coverage to more than 20 million people, no small thing. Some markets, mostly in rural areas, are being abandoned by insurers, but the talk of a "death spiral" is a political invention. The Congressional Budget Office -- which is run by a Republican appointed by Ryan - is the latest independent voice to refute it.

Premiums in the Obamacare markets spiked by 22 percent this year, but that followed two years of tiny increases, and it hit only 3 percent of consumers anyway. Most Americans get coverage elsewhere, and almost everyone in the markets is protected by subsidies that rise with their burden. Obamacare needs tweaks, nothing more.

Trump, though, is not a man to roll up his policy sleeves, flip up the hood and fiddle with the carburator. He made it clear he has no clue how the motor runs when he offered this gem as the GOP plan was under construction: "Nobody knew health care could be so complicated."

No one knew. Except anyone who has paid the slightest bit of attention to public policy over the last decade or two, and has an attention span of more than 140 characters.

Trump doesn't care about policy. He just wants to win the next round.

So, can he really sabotage Obamacare with executive powers alone?

Sadly, the answer is probably yes. Here are some of his options:

-Wreck Medicaid. Republicans have long sought to give states more power to force recipients pay premiums and share costs, or to impose work requirements or lifetime limits on benefits. Price wrote governors recently encouraging them to apply for waivers to experiment, a signal that he wants to open the floodgates.

"We intend for this to be the beginning of the discussion on how we can revamp the federal and state Medicaid partnership," he wrote.

States can also skimp on payments to doctors. Already, about one-third of doctors in America refuse new Medicaid patients, a problem that could grow far worse in Trump's America.

-Wreck the marketplaces. Trump tried to kill the requirement that everyone buy insurance, and lost. But he could grant more hardship exemptions, and reduce some of the subsidies insurers receive, move that could drive more insurers from the exchanges.

Also, a pending lawsuit from House Republicans challenges some of the subsidies offered to consumers on the exchanges. Obama fought that suit, but Trump could decide to surrender. Lower subsidies could drive more insurers from the exchanges as well.

Smaller darts: Trump stopped advertising the exchanges earlier this year, and has moved to make it more difficult to sign up mid-year. Revealing.

So would Trump and Ryan really pull this trigger? They just tried to take insurance away from 24 million people, so they are certainly bloodthirsty enough.

But it's risky. What if people blame them?

This is where Trump's lies could come back to bite him. A fresh Quinnipiac poll put his approval rating at 37 percent, with 60 percent saying they don't trust him.

Does he really want to press his luck by deliberately wrecking a good chunk of the health care system?

In normal times, I'd say no. But with Trump in charge, let's all watch carefully.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or call (973) 836-4909. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
After moving all Helena operations into a newer building at 2222 Washington Street, the Independent Record closed its downtown office this week.

We invite the community come see us in our newly renovated building, editor Jesse Chaney said. We will miss being in the center of town, but the new location is much more practical and attractive.

The downtown office at 317 Cruse Ave. was completed in May 1958, and the IR opened its Washington Street building in November 2002 to house its printing presses and distribution operations.

The second floor of the Washington Street building originally housed the offices for Montana Magazine and Farcountry Press. Most of that office space has been vacant since Lee Enterprises sold Farcountry Press in March 2011 and moved the Montana Magazine headquarters to Missoula, which created an opportunity for the IR to house its entire Helena staff in the same building.

Management chose to keep the Washington Street building open because all of the newspaper's printing and distribution operations already take place there.

The Independent Record can be reached by phone at 447-4000 and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
After buying land in Helena for a new grocery store, WinCo Foods is delaying plans to apply for a permit.

WinCo directed us to complete our design drawings but not submit for permit. We are on hold right now and we do not have a definite date for submittal," Priya Raman, senior project manager with the Boise firm hired by WinCo to draft design drawings, said in a March 16 email to the city of Helena's chief building official Jon Pallister.

The email from B.Hills Architecture did not say why WinCo wasnt moving forward, and the store did not return multiple requests for comment.

WinCo foods is an employee-owned company with 113 stores in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Texas.

The company already owns 10 acres west of Interstate 15 and south of Custer Avenue in Helena. WinCo initially planned to build a 84,975-square-foot store with 496 parking spaces. The location is close to Super 1 Foods, Albertsons, Natural Grocers and Costco Wholesale.

In October, a spokesperson said Helena was attractive due to its stable job market and ability to draw shoppers from all over the region.

WinCo first announced it would open a store in Helena in October as its first Montana location, but the store didnt provide a timetable for completion.

The grocery store also announced plans to open a location in Bozeman, but canceled those plans in November, according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. The city planners asked WinCo to make design changes to better match Bozemans unique urban design character  as opposed to standardized franchise architecture, the planners wrote. WinCo was uncomfortable with the request and canceled its plans, the Chronicle reported.

The company said it's able to keep costs low by only accepting cash and debit cards, not bagging groceries and dealing with providers instead of distributors.
In this file photo from May 13, 2002, heat and haze combine to make for a messy scene of Chalmette Refinery along the Mississippi River. (CHRIS GRANGER)
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all.
Welcome to non league daily news now - your number one spot for all things relating to the National League System. Our dedicated reporters have come straight from the sidelines to bring you news fresh from the dugout - but not before theyve stopped off at the burger van first!

We know that non league football fans are full of heart, passion, and belief. You trust the manager, you believe in the team, and, for some strange reason, you trust those rickety stands, too! Here at Non League Daily, we hope we can become your trusted non league news resource - a platform thats just as passionate about non league daily news now as you.

Come rain or shine, well be out reporting on the latest non league fixtures. Well also be scouring the news, refreshing social media, and sourcing information from team websites in the hopes of finding the latest breaking non league daily news for our readers.

As youll soon see, weve got exclusive match reports on the Vanarama National League, weve got transfer speculation thatll affect the National League South, weve found great stories thatll spice up the National League North, and weve even got news on the latest giant killers of the FA Cup.

We may not be able to agree on who is going up this year, but we can all agree that any news on the NLS worth knowing will be published here, at Non League Daily.
The Council Bluffs City Council will likely discuss the Iowa West Foundation boards decision to pause its funding of phases two through five of the West Broadway renovation master plan. Councilwoman Melissa Head said she expects the body will discuss the matter as it looks for a path forward.

The Iowa West board unanimously approved continued funding of phase one, which was not materially changed by an amendment to remove medians from the plan that the City Council approved on March 13. The foundation board said it was unable at the present time to reach a decision on whether or not to make a funding commitment on phases two through five.

The board had approved funding after the City Council approved the master plan in October of 2016. That plan included median cover on 20 percent of West Broadway.

Ive been concerned thatd be the case, Mayor Matt Walsh said on Thursday about the Iowa West boards vote. They were about a 25 percent partner on a $36 million project. The letter they gave the city clearly specified that if the master plan was approved theyd be in, and if it changed theyd reconsider.

Sandau pointed out that there is no legally-binding agreement between the city and Iowa West on the renovation plans. He said supporters of the boards move had incorrectly claimed a legal contract was broken. He noted that no contract was broken by the City Council.

At Mondays meeting, the Council is set to vote on the issuance of $7.5 million in bonds in the first step toward paying for the new police headquarters.

In May of 2016 voters approved a $20 million bond for the new police station, which will be located off Woodbury Avenue. At its March 13 meeting the City Council approved a budget that will, for the first time in more than a decade, increase the citys property tax levy. The increase is necessary to cover the $7.5 million, according to Mayor Matt Walsh.

Close to 4,000 residents voted the bond referendum, with 62.69 percent of voters approving the building a new station. A supermajority of 60 percent was required to pass the referendum.

The City Council will vote on issuing general obligation bonds and a corresponding levy for use toward payment for the police headquarters.

At the meeting the City Council will also vote on the issuance of $700,000 in general obligation bonds toward repayment of the debt in the debt levy.
Capital High Schools Karey Conn never pictured herself in her current job as marketing business teacher and DECA adviser.

And, little did she know she would someday be named to the prestigious Montana DECA Hall of Fame.

She admits she was stunned to hear her name being called for the award at the February State DECA Conference.

She had no idea who the award was going to, she said, until she saw her husband step on stage -- as the supportive man behind a great woman.

Conn is just the 11th inductee to Montana DECAs Hall of Fame in the state organizations 66-year history, which is an association of marketing students.

It is the highest honor a DECA member can receive.

There are a lot of people who can speak to why Conn deserves the honor.

You can start in her classroom and watch her business and marketing students at work.

Thursday morning, her classroom was humming with quiet conversations as small teams of students worked together on business case studies.

The business owner challenge that morning was dealing with their hypothetical companys recall of a blu-ray DVD player and the economic consequences.

The assignment is just one of the many ways Conn prepares her students for the real world.

Conn is passionate about a number of things that her students should learn -- from financial literacy and personal finance, to how to step into the work world, to doing community service.

And thats probably where many Helenans may have seen Conns students.

For the past 17 years, as DECA adviser, Conns worked with her students to promote and run the popular annual Night to Shine talent show, a project done in cooperation with Helena High Schools DECA students.

CHS DECA students have also stepped up to help with such community events as the annual Montana NAMI Walk.

We really do work on community service, Conn said. Her students participate in the walk, but also find ways to boost involvement.

CHS School Counselor Jamie Bawden, a NAMI Walk volunteer, said Conns students do everything from setting up tables and kids activities to running CHS homeroom challenges to get more participants and pledges for the Walk.

Bawden is particularly grateful for DECA students helping with the Bruin Food Pantry that provides supplemental food for evenings and weekends for students who need it.

Its been phenomenal, said Bawden. Were serving twice as many students -- 32 kids.

DECA students do food drives, stock the food pantry once or twice a week and also did a survey of those using the pantry, changing the way food is distributed.

The program morphed from ready-made bags for kids into letting them take what they want and need, said Bawden.

I think her enrollment numbers speak for themselves, she said of Conns classes.

DECA club has 70 members. And they are excelling -- with 42 competing statewide at the recent DECA conference, and 32 of them going on to nationals in Anaheim, California.

Ive never had this many qualify, said Conn.

Conns students are adept at taking the knowledge they learn and applying it, said CHS Principal Brett Zanto. Theyre using their skills out in the world.

Conn estimates that about 30 percent of her DECA students go on to careers in marketing or business.

What I enjoy, said Zanto, is DECA gets more students involved in school, adding that the more theyre involved -- the more likely they are to graduate.

Twenty-one years ago, Conn started teaching at CHS in typing and accounting, she said. Then, one day, she was drafted to take over teaching marketing.

It was a whole different world, admitted Conn, but she took to it.

Its a lot of interaction with the kids, she said. Ive created hundreds of relationships outside of high school. ...Thats probably been the most rewarding part.

This year Conn announced that she will be stepping down as DECA adviser, but will continue to teach business and marketing.

Zanto is on the lookout for a replacement, but admits Conns leaving behind some big shoes to fill.

But perhaps the most important praise for Conn is from her students.

She definitely wants to teach you everything she can, said senior Belle Burk, whos taken three years of business classes with Conn and is going to national DECA competitions for the third year.

She wants you to take chances, said Burk, having students look at career ideas from different points of view. She wants you to pursue your dream.

For Burk, that dream is to be an accountant, and Conn guided her in how to select the college with the best program for her.

Shes very kind-hearted, said Burk. Shes definitely there for you, and shes always willing to talk to you.
Out of almost 300 applicants, only five young people were chosen to represent Iowa in this years national 4-H conference in Washington, D.C.

One of them is Zachary Mass of Mills County.

Im excited to be chosen as one of five to represent Iowa, Mass said by phone on Friday on his way to the conference. Im looking forward to a great week.

Mass, 18, is the son of Nathan and Sandra Mass, and is a student at Treynor High School. He is a nine-year 4-H member and has participated in beef, STEM, food and nutrition, citizenship and leadership projects.

Cattle that he and his family raise on their farm have won awards at the Iowa State Fair, according to Stephanie Bowden, Mills County youth coordinator for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Mass is the current president of the Mills County Youth Committee and has served on the state 4-H council.

His interests include robotics and computers, and cooking homemade marshmallows and specialty cupcakes.

Zach is a wonderful individual, dedicated to 4-H and mankind, Bowden said.

Early on at the conference, Mass will participate on an agriculture committee to seek ideas for addressing issues currently facing agriculture nationwide.

The committee will then speak before the House Agriculture Committee, offering their ideas to the lawmakers, Mass said. He and the other state representatives also plan to meet with Iowas Congressional members.

This conference, which runs through Thursday, is an educational opportunity for Iowa 4-Hers, added Bonnie Dalager, a program coordinator for youth development with the Mills County Extension.

Youth delegates engage in supporting and advocating for the 4-H Youth Development program in their communities and while on the trip with representatives and senators on Capitol Hill, Dalager said. At this national event, they will work with teams of youth from around the country to identify and share solutions to current issues affecting young people today. Their solutions are presented to groups of government officials, members of national associations and with stakeholders.

The long-term goal is that these young people will continue to share the knowledge and skills theyve gained with their peers and with leaders in their own communities when they return home, Dalager said.

The other Iowa representatives are Joy Westercamp from Van Buren County; Scott Magnuson from Worth County; Jessica Bigelow from Polk County; and Landra Reece from Boone County.
Proposed federal cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency will likely have little impact on major cleanup of East Helena and the former Asarco smelter site, but questions remain about the future of grant programs and other funding.

President Donald Trumps administration rolled out its proposed budget last week, which focused on bolstering spending for defense and border security. Among the cuts to pay for those priorities are significant reductions for the State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as sizable cuts to the departments of the Interior, Agriculture and others.

The presidents budget has yet to face Congress and will likely see changes before adoption.

Reducing EPAs budget by 31 percent as proposed would see the agencys $8.1 billion budget shrink to $5.7 billion and 20 percent reduction in workforce.

Cuts come in part through discontinuation of funding for the Obama-era Clean Power Plan aimed at reducing the effects of climate change by regulating carbon emissions, but criticized in some circles as job stifling and overreaching, according to national media. Reductions would also come through elimination of various grants and programs and cuts to the Office of Research and Development.

Further proposed cuts include reduction in funding for industrial waste cleanup, including the well-known Superfund program. Montana has 17 federal Superfund sites including East Helena listed in 1984.

Based on my understanding of the budget proposed by the Trump administration, the cuts in the Superfund program should not affect work in East Helena, said Cindy Brooks, Montana Environmental Trust Group East Helena Director of Cleanup & Redevelopment.

In 1998, contamination from Asarcos lead smelter resulted in a multi-million dollar settlement with the EPA for violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Clean Water Act. The smelter closed in 2001, and after later declaring bankruptcy, Asarco placed about $95 million in a trust managed by the trust for related cleanup costs to land and water.

Work called interim measures is ongoing as a final smelter site cleanup plan has yet to be released.

The Superfund cleanup of East Helena coincides with cleanup of the old Asarco site. Much of the work under Superfund, which largely consisted of removing and replacing contaminated soil, has already been completed.

The trust holds title to Asarco lands and holds funds specifically earmarked for cleanup of the site, Brooks said.

It is our hope and expectation that the impact of the proposed budget cuts will not affect the work, she said. Our assumption is well continue to have someone from EPA reviewing and approving budgets and reviewing and approving cleanup plans.

Work directly involving the EPA includes the hiring of contractors and along with the state, analyzing any land transactions, Brooks says.

Questions posed to the EPA were not returned in time for this story.

East Helena Mayor Jamie Schell still has concerns about continued EPA funding beyond the smelter site, but says he has not heard specifics. He does feel confident about the security of cleanup funding held under the trust.

I do have some questions and concerns and Im waiting for more information on how the cuts could affect institutional controls, which to me are the soil regulations and rural water, he said. Obviously EPA money comes in many forms and colors.

The settlement-funded and county-run Lead Education and Assistance Program (LEAP) provides a variety of services for residents in the area, including lead screening for children, environmental testing and education. The program also administers regulations for disposing and moving soil to prevent recontamination.

Funding for those programs appear to be secure under the settlement, Jan Williams with LEAP said.

Funding for multiple remediation and training grant programs such as Brownfields, which Montana typically sees about $600,000 annually, and remediation of pollution from underground storage tanks, are part of the Presidents proposed budget cuts.

State Sen. Jill Cohenour, D-East Helena, agreed with the security of the primary cleanup funding but echoed concerns about larger implications for federal cuts. While East Helenans and particularly those who worked at the smelter initially viewed the EPA with skepticism, the community recognizes the benefits of investment in the community, she said.

We realize that if we want to have a future and move forward as a community we need to have a clean place to do that, Cohenour said. The investment in the community has been great and part of that with these grants has given us the ability to get funding for things that need to be fixed in order to tell businesses that East Helena is a place to come.

I see these kinds of cuts as pulling the rug out from under a lot of efforts in small communities to respond to our history of Superfund and what has taken them to that.

Particularly in lean budget years, the state of Montana will have a difficult time stepping in to make up the difference created in the proposed budget or even lesser cuts, she said.

One of the hardest things I see is that we cant even find monies to deliver meals to seniors in their homes yet alone for something to rehabilitate Superfund sites, Cohenour said.

Brooks pointed to the Flat Creek Iron Mountain Mine, another site under the trust, located in and around Superior as one example where limited funds have been secured for cleanup. Plans call for the state to remove contamination but then EPA to step in to perform additional actions under Superfund, she said.

If those funds are not available to complete the cleanup of Flat Creek, the assumption would be that costs would be borne by the taxpayers of Montana, she said.

EPA estimates its cost in the cleanup of Flat Creek at about $1.5 million.
If Montana lawmakers truly care about our states heritage and the financial investments that have been made to preserve it, they need to make the proposed renovation and expansion of Montana Historical Society a priority.

Plans for the project call for the renovation of the historical societys 67,000-square-foot museum and the construction of a new 45,000-square-foot wing, which collectively would be called the Montana Heritage Center. The Helena project would be funded through a combination of bonding and private donations.

We know its hard to commit state funding to the museum during a time when legislators are considering slashing millions from services such as senior and long-term care. But because the cost of the project grows every year it is delayed, lawmakers would effectively save money that could be used on other essential services by funding the project now rather than later.

The Montana Historical Society has been asking the Legislature to help pay for the project since the 2005 legislative session. The total cost has grown from $37.5 million to $44 million since then, and it will only continue to rise.

The longer we kick it down the road, the less reward were going to reap from it and the more expensive it gets, said Bruce Whittenberg, executive director of MHS, adding that the price of the project grows by 3.5 percent every year.

Delaying the project also threatens the immense value of the artwork and artifacts themselves, many of which are currently stored in inadequate conditions in the basement of the 65-year-old museum. If the project is completed, the art and artifacts would be moved into a new facility built to keep them safe.

We are one bad day away from a real catastrophe in that building, Whittenberg said, adding that the basement is prone to leaks and flooding.   Five feet of water in the basement would be a really bad day, and that could happen.

Whittenberg also noted that the temperature in the museums art vault reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit over the summer after the climate control system failed, which for a Charles M. Russell wax sculpture is not a good idea.

In addition, the extra storage space would help ensure that MHS does not have to turn down any items of historical value because of a lack of space. Montanans will continue to create history until the end of time, and officials have said they expect the museums collection to grow at a rate of roughly 500 to 1,000 new artifacts per year.

We ran out of space long ago, Whittenberg said.

While MHS undoubtedly contributes a lot to Helenas local economy and quality of life, we want to emphasize how important it is to all Montanans. This project would protect not only art and artifacts, but also the extensive collection of vital government records included in the official state archives currently stored in the museums basement.

The proposal to renovate and expand is beyond timely, Whittenberg said. Its critical.

Montana lawmakers have recently come up with several different ideas for how to fund this project -- some better than others -- and we encourage them to continue to put their heads together to figure out how to make it work sooner rather than later.

Our identity as a state depends on it.
I really enjoy fly fishing and getting other anglers involved with the sport. Speak of fly fishing, and most people in this part of the country conjure up images of mountain streams and trout in their minds. That may be the classic mental image of fly fishing, but trout are not the only species you go after with a fly rod.

Actually, any species of fish and any kind of water is capable of being fished with fly fishing gear. I have spent far more hours fishing for warm water species like bluegill or bass and actually started my fly fishing career in saltwater marches amd on shallow saltwater flats.

I was talking with a local angler recently, and this very topic came up. Tom Schroeder of North Platte has just been getting back into fishing the last three or four years and enjoying it. He told me he had fished more in the last few years that he has in his previous 55 years. He and his wife enjoy fishing, and they had started making trips to Canada.

He was an avid fisherman when he was younger, but college, starting a family, an engineering career and life pushed fishing to the back burner for a while  about 20 years. As Schroeder and I talked, I asked him if he ever did any fly fishing. His eyes lit up.

Im just getting started with that and I like it, Schroeder said. I had never thought much about fly fishing until I watched my nieces husband, Arron Barber, at a family gathering a couple of years ago.

We were on some family property up in South Dakota fishing a farm pond, Schroeder said. I watched Arron catch lots of bluegill and bass and it looked like a lot of fun. He is from Florida and fishes the Intercoastal Canal and all kinds of saltwater backwaters and catches all kinds of fish.

After the day of fishing was done, Schroeder sat down and talked with Barber and talked about fly fishing and what hed need to get started in the sport. A smart decision and Barber got him all lined out.

I think fly fishing enthusiasts purposely speak in almost a foreign language or code when they talk about their sport. I think this code was developed because fly anglers knew they were on to a good thing and didnt want anyone else intruding upon their fun.

Schroeder took notes when he and Barber had talked, and then he did a lot of research. He bought all his gear by watching sales. Ultimately, he put together a very nice Reddinton rod and reel outfit. He felt pretty good about it when Barber told him he had assembled a very good outfit to get started in fly fishing.

I suggested to Schroeder that we try a little fly fishing expedition. On the appointed day, we traveled to a local Interstate lake known as Crystal Lake. I like this lake, because it has hundreds of hungry panfish. They dont care if your fly casting is perfect. They just hit the flies, and that is what we wanted.

I showed Schroeder the area I wanted to fish. It was not the best day for fly fishing, cool and quite windy. At least we didnt have to make all our casts into the wind.

Schroeder and I walked back to our pickups and got geared up for some fly fishing. We assembled our rods and each selected a lure that we thought might work. When the preliminaries done, we walked out into Crystal Lake.

Schroeder have only made about five casts when he got the first hit of the trip. It wasnt a trophy bluegill by any means, but it was a fish. Schroeder was all smiles.

You know, this is only the second fish Ive ever caught on this rod, Schroeder said. I have only fished with this pole about four times.

I think I may have a willing fishing partner in the making. As we were pealing off our gear at the end of the evening, I asked Schroeder what he likes about fly fishing.

I like being able to see the fish nail the lure on the surface, Schroeder offered immediately. Watching that is exciting. I also like the casting  fly casting is an art.

As I put the last of my gear in my pickup I asked Schroeder if hed like to go out again sometime.

Oh, yeah! he said and rubbed his hands together. I think I can predict another fly fishing safari in the near future.

Spring turkey season

Nebraskas spring archery turkey season opened Thursday. I dont have any reports yet from the field, but there are a lot of turkeys in the region. A special Youth Only shotgun season will open April 8 and the regular shotgun season starts April 15. All these hunting seasons end May 31.

PF Banquet

Just in case you missed my Regional Report on Friday, the Medicine Creek Pheasants Forever Chapter will be hosting its 28th annual banquet on April 1 at the Stockville Fairgrounds. Doors will 5:30 p.m. A prime rib dinner will be served at 7 p.m. There will be multiple gun raffles, live and silent auctions, games for kids and adults, youth raffles and much more. Tickets cost $55 for an annual membership and a meal, $20 for a spouse/date meal and $20 for an annual youth membership and meal. Contact Eli Nutt at 308-367-7190 or Ryan Pate at 308-362-7088 for more information.

Enjoy your time in the outdoors this weekend.
NORTH PLATTE  Two groundbreaking journalists will be inducted into the Marian Andersen Nebraska Women Journalists Hall of Fame on April 29 in North Platte.

Eileen Wirth and Willa Cather will be recognized during Nebraska Press Womens 2017 spring convention noon luncheon.

Wirth, a rural Nebraska City native, is professor emerita of journalism at Creighton University, as well as a journalist, author, public relations professional and advocacy volunteer.

Cather (1873-1947) grew up in Red Cloud and was a journalist for 20 years, writing more than 500 reviews and columns before authoring 12 novels.

Armed with degrees in journalism and political science, Wirth broke down barriers to women as an Omaha World-Herald reporter, in Union Pacific Railroad public relations and in higher education. Wirths 25-year tenure at Creighton University (1991-2016) included chairing the Journalism, Media and Computing department she created through mergers. Her ethics-based, history-laden approach to teaching provided grounding and perspective for thousands of students.

Wirths books include the celebrated From Society Page to Front Page: Nebraska Women in Journalism (2013) and the history of the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, to be published this spring. After decades of serving groups such as the Omaha libraries, Omaha Press Club and multiple schools, Wirths tireless volunteering continues. Now on the board of the Nebraska State Historical Society, she also works with the Lutheran Family Services refugee program. Wirths endorsement of NPW helped make the Marian Andersen Nebraska Women Journalists Hall of Fame a reality.

Much has been written about Willa Cathers fiction, though her career was forged as a Nebraska journalist. Born in Virginia, Cather moved to rural Nebraska in 1883 at age 9. The beautiful country and courageous people so inspired her that, when she could not find books on the subjects, she later wrote novels about them.

At the University of Nebraska (1890-1895), Cather edited the student newspaper and as a student helped teach journalism. She wrote for the Lincoln Courier and Nebraska State Journal, filling three large volumes of her works as a drama critic and columnist, even after she moved. Cathers career took her to Pittsburgh and New York City, where she worked at magazines and authored such books as My Antonia (1918) and the Pulitzer Prize-winning One of Ours (1923). Her journalistic works are being catalogued through the Willa Cather Archive/Cather Journalism Project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Induction ceremonies, which are open to the public, will take place during the Nebraska Press Women luncheon at MidPlains Community College North Campus on Saturday, April 29. Luncheon reservations of $20 may be sent to Lori Potter/NPW, P.O. Box 1988, Kearney, NE 68848. The full conference registration is $50. Details are at nebraskapresswomen.org.

With Eileen Wirth and Willa Cather, the Marian Andersen Nebraska Women Journalists Hall of Fame has 20 members. The Hall of Fame is located on the second floor of UNLs Andersen Hall. It also can be seen online at the Hall of Fame section of nebraskapresswomen.org. Other honorees are Mary Ann Koch Blackledge, Sharron Hollen, Joan Rossiter Burney, Beverly Deepe Keever, Leta Powell Drake, Gwen Lindberg, Elia Wilkinson Peattie, Maxine Moul, Clara Bewick Colby, Mary McGrath, Mildred Brown, Harriet Dakin MacMurphy, Bess Furman Armstrong, Marj Marlette, Wilma Crumley, Beverly Pollack, Lynne Grasz and Deanna Sands.

The Hall of Fame was established in 2011 by NPW, with funding support by Harold and Marian Andersen, to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the organization as an affiliate of the National Federation of Press Women. These women journalists are recognized for their talent, initiative, intelligence and stamina, and for making a difference for the profession, for their communities and for those who follow in their footsteps. Nominees are sought from the general public and honorees are chosen by the NPW Board of Directors.

A nonprofit professional organization of women and men in communication, Nebraska Press Women provides professional development opportunities for Nebraskas communicators.
Nebraska LEAD recruits producers, businesspeople

The Nebraska Leadership Education/Action Development program has reached over 1,000 participants since its inception 35 years ago.

Terry Hejny, LEAD program director, is traveling across the state to bring awareness to the next opportunity coming with Group 37.

Up to 30 motivated men and women with demonstrated leadership potential will be selected from five geographic districts across our state, Hejny said.

The program recruits men and women who are involved in production agriculture or agribusiness. LEAD Fellows will participate in 12 monthly three-day seminars across Nebraska, a 10-day national study and travel seminar, and a 14- to 16-day international study and travel seminar. The goal of the program is to develop problem solvers, decision makers and spokespersons for agriculture and Nebraska.

The Nebraska LEAD Program is operated by the nonprofit Nebraska Agricultural Leadership Council in cooperation with the University of Nebraska-Lincolns Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and 12 other institutions of higher education throughout Nebraska.

Hejny said applications are now open for the new group that will begin next year. Applications are due no later than June 15 and are available via email from the Nebraska LEAD program office at sgerdes2@unl.edu. Applications may also be requested by writing to the Nebraska LEAD Program, 104 ACB, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0940 or by calling 402-472-6810. Information on the selection process is available on the LEAD program website at lead.unl.edu.

Area residents currently involved in Nebraska LEAD Group 36 are: Ty Walker of Arthur; Nate Bell and Shane Terrell, Broken Bow; Joseph Dorshorst, Hay Springs; Chris McQuillan, Holdrege; David Rowe, Johnson Lake; Adam Smith, Lexington; Kyle Shepherd, North Platte; Robert Hecox, Stapleton; and Shelly Kelly, Sutherland.
The good news is that Lincoln County population dropped just 2 percent from 2010 to 2016 while losing a state-high 738 people, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

Nebraska as a whole has gained more than 80,000 people since the 2010 census. Overall, the data do not show any falloff for rural areas, a researcher said.

In fact there are a few data points that indicate some strength, said David Drozd, research coordinator at the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. No. 1, these estimates, which supersede previously released data, show that 31 Nebraska counties gained population from 2011 to 2012. That has steadily increased to 35 counties from 2012-13, then 42 from 2013-14, 43 from 2014-15, and it is 44 counties gaining population in the most recent year from 2015-16.

He said those additional counties growing recently would tend to be more rural, since most of the highly populated counties grow every year.

The situation isnt as positive in Lincoln County, however. Like most of the micropolitan counties, Lincoln County has more births than deaths, but a net outmigration is hurting it, Drodz said. All the micros besides Kearney are having net outmigration. Micropolitan counties have less than 50,000 population but have a core city of at least 10,000.

Lincoln Countys net migration since 2010 is a negative 1,189, ranking it third worst among all Nebraska counties  Dakota and Dawson counties are the worst.

That led to Lincoln County losing a larger number of people than any other county in the state, Drodz said. As a percentage change, thats only a negative 2 percent, ranking it in the middle of the pack among Nebraska counties at 44th best.

The estimates show Lincoln County has lost population in five of the six years so far this decade.

Gary Person, CEO and president of the North Platte Area Chamber and Development Corporation, said the statistics bear out his analysis of what needs to happen in Lincoln County.

It validates weve got some work to do, Person said. Theres probably a lot of contributing factors, but certainly a down economy would impact that for sure.

The counties that remain steady are those such as Lancaster County, which is aided by stable jobs, according to Drodz.

It goes back to the point that youve got to have a consistent delivery of workforce recruitment, business and industry recruitment, and housing development, Person said. As someone coming from the outside in, it seems theres been an atmosphere created that has targeted incentive programs like tax increment financing as something thats bad.

Person said the statistics prove the need for an aggressive approach to recruiting in all aspects of the community.

If youre not trying to go out there and do everything you can from a development standpoint and use every economic development tool thats available, these kinds of things are going to happen, Person said. So, you have to work very hard just to maintain in todays world because families are smaller, workforce issues are a lot more complicated, you have online shopping thats hurting your brick-and-mortar folks.

Drodz pointed out some factors that lend to a shifting of the negative trend, especially in rural counties.

There has been concern that rural counties would see worse population trends given the fall-off in commodity prices, Drodz said. Population factors did improve in rural territory from 2008-10 as commodity prices and farm profits increased. Perhaps that was tied to general relative strength when Nebraska was riding out the recession better than most other parts of the country as well.

Person said it will take more than just one segment of the community to reverse the trend.

Its going to take all of us working together to get this cycle turned around, Person said. I think we can do that, but I think people are going to have to embrace the fact that we have to be creative and we have to be aggressive to get it resolved.
Born three months premature, Bryce Harvey has struggled with cerebral palsy his whole life  though the diagnosis didnt come until he was a young boy.

Can't see the video? Click here.

On Saturday, Harvey, along with the North Platte Jaycees and United Cerebral Palsy of Nebraska, hosted the first Walk in Our Shoes Cerebral Palsy Awareness event in North Platte. At the Lincoln County Fairgrounds, about 75 people toured booths to learn about cerebral palsy and try hands-on activities that showed what having the disability may be like. They could also participate in a quarter-mile walk/run outside.

People at the event tried to write their names on a white board with their arms tightened by elastic and walk down a staircase with a tightened leg. Harvey, 16, knows some of the struggles on a daily basis. Activities like going up or down staircases and getting out of the car after a long trip are tough and cause fatigue, said Harveys mother, Heather.

Even when he was little, he would take 3-hour naps, Heather said.

Harveys premature birth caused chronic lung disease and a brain bleed, which led to spastic paraparesis, a mild form of cerebral palsy. Heather said cerebral palsy is an umbrella term for multiple physical conditions with differing levels of severity. Harveys father, Chris, elaborated that the kind and severity of cerebral palsy depends on where in the brain injury occurred. Often, traumatic brain injuries or seizures cause cerebral palsy in children, he said.

For the Harvey family, the diagnosis came after years of wondering what Bryce had and a number of other diagnoses. Bryce, who doctors once predicted would never eat independently, now holds a job at Pro Printing, volunteers at church and participates in photography and web design. Last year, he raised nearly $900 selling T-shirts for cerebral palsy awareness. United Cerebral Palsy of Nebraska helped with Saturdays event details.

Jennifer Driskell, a Jaycees member, said she heard many attendees comment that they never realized what their friends or family with cerebral palsy experienced.

Harvey plans to give funds from Saturdays event to a family that has a member with cerebral palsy.

It was a good chunk of people, he said of the event, but I was just so thankful they all turned out. Itd be awesome if you had this 16 years ago.
In what was a mix of support for President Donald Trump and his administration and speaking out for first responders and the military, Montanans gathered in Helena on Saturday for an event in concert with Make America Great Again Marches happening across the country.

Memorial Park played to about 50 attendees for a potluck and discussion inspired by the national marches. National organizers pushed events in at least one city in every state and in Washington D.C., saying on the website www.magamarch.org It is about time we stand up for America.

Organizers of the Montana gathering decided against marching, choosing instead to converse about the political topics of the day and offer a few short speeches. The election, the media, treatment of veterans and first responders and immigration all sparked discussions.

Jim Buterbaugh, who has been outspoken on immigration issues and against refugee resettlement in Montana, helped organize Saturdays event, although said it was not a protest.

The main idea is to try to get people together, to have them talking to each other to try work toward solving problems instead of battling all the time, he said. You can disagree with them without getting in a fight  I hope well remember this going forward.

Buterbaugh said he was most interested in raising money and collecting goods for veterans, although he hoped a few more people would attend. In a previous interview he acknowledged some issues with Trump, but did vote for him given the choice of Hillary Clinton.

Others attended in clear support of the President and his policies, many feeling they had found someone who understood them and was on their side.

We finally do have someone who appears to be our man, one speaker said, adding that the discord in the country risked blood in the streets under a history of suppressive government.

Joe Davinson delivered the fieriest speech of the afternoon, pacing across the Memorial Park amphitheater recounting the battle inspiring the writing of the Star Spangled Banner before the crowd joined him in singing the national anthem.

Susan and Nathan Shields attended the event with their family.

Susan offered a monetary donation to the Montana Veterans Foundation, saying I wanted show support for our veterans and support for the organizations that help them. She recounted her immigration from Canada, which she says took about three years, and agrees with Trumps efforts to bolster immigration scrutiny and border security.

Nathan took issue with some characterizations of Trump supporters as racist or homophobic, saying those are not beliefs he shares.

We support our veterans and people who are truly in need, and we support Trump and Pence, and we really want to see the violence stop, Nathan said. We want to see people come together for a common goal and thats the biggest reason me and my family came.

Frustration with the treatment of veterans and first responders brought some passionate words.

Our veterans are being shunned, one woman told the crowd. I dont think thats fair. Our veterans should have everything they need.

Davinson offered a more positive perspective on veteran issues, noting that the Senate unanimously voted for the confirmation of David Shulkin as the secretary of Veterans Affairs.

This country is turning around, it really is folks, he said.
ROCHESTER, Ind.  It sounds like a giant bumblebee, the 2-foot-square drone whirring to life. Its four props lift it off the ground outside Bruce Bowsher's house and once it's about 4 feet in the air, they lift up to give a camera an unobstructed 360-degree view.

Bowsher controls his drone from an iPad attached to a remote control with two joysticks on it. A tug on one and a push on the other, and his practiced hands can maneuver the drone in a smooth figure eight.

The camera gives him a drone's-eye view and a map on the iPad screen shows where the drone is headed.

"I could just sit right here in my living room ... and fly it downtown," Bowsher said later, if his pilot's sense didn't keep him from being so foolish.

Bowsher, owner of Eagle's View Aerial Photography, is among a growing number of drone pilots certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to operate commercially. As regulations permit more and more drone businesses to start up, he's begun forays into agriculture-related aerial photography, where recent technological advances are allowing drones to be used to gauge crop health as well as record photos and video.

A new world opens

New rules issued last summer by the FAA allow anyone at least 16 years old to earn a "remote pilot certificate" to fly drones for commercial use. The process involves passing a test on aeronautical safety and a background check.

That's a far cry from the process Bowsher went through as one of the nation's first 1,000 commercial drone operators nearly two years ago. At that time, commercial operators had to be certified pilots  Bowsher maintains his private pilot's license for the business  and had to apply for an exemption to rules that limited drones to hobby use only.

Both remote pilot certificate holders and pilots who received a commercial drone exemption must abide by FAA rules like those that require drones to stay within the pilot's line of sight and to get no farther than 400 feet from the ground or the top of a building.

Drones also can't fly over anyone who isn't involved with the drone's activities, according to a summary of regulations posted to the FAA's website.

Bowsher, who got his student pilot's license before he even had a driver's license, started his drone photography business after becoming restless in retirement.

"I was just staring at the wall, going nuts," he recalled. One day, a TV news broadcast used a photo provided by a drone operator.

"I was like, drone? The bells went off," he said. With his background in home sales, he decided to look into drone photography with an eye toward marketing the service to real estate firms. He's since branched out into working with other trades and recently recorded agriculture-related footage several times in the Cass County region.

Flying farmhands

Bowsher said drone footage can be used to generate a report detailing the field's crop health and how much fertilizer ought to be used in different areas, among other things.

"I have the ability to give you what the canopy cover is, possibly even what the field will yield," Bowsher said. That's done by programming the drone to take photographs of a farm field in a pattern much like what a piece of farm machinery travels  going in strips down the length of the field, and tagging the photos with GPS information.

The photos are uploaded to mapping and analysis tool which generates a report Bowsher can hand the farmer a few days later. He's most familiar with Datamapper, a subscription-based tool developed by agricultural tech firm Precision Hawk, but there are others on the market as well.

"Datamapper will give you pages and pages about what's going on there," Bowsher said.

Preserving memories

But drone footage doesn't have to be utilitarian. One of Bowsher's recent projects involved creating a video and photo montage of harvest time on the Reese family farm near Rochester.

"I wanted something while my dad was still able to be hands-on with the day-to-day functions," Alan Reese said. "I wanted something to remember him in that capability."

The corn and soybean farm has been in the family since the early 1960s, Reese said. His grandfather, Gene Reese, bought the original acreage for the family farm, and the descendants have since expanded it to about 400 acres.

"The one thing that my grandpa and my dad has taught me, and now they're teaching my children, is to be good stewards of the land," Alan said. "That's what God would want us to do. And so we try to maintain the ground and our equipment, and treat our neighbors right."

Alan's father, Larry, is in his mid-sixties and still drives the combine for corn harvest. He lets his grandchildren, Alan's sons Tyler and Grant, ride with him on the buddy seat.

At 10 and 7 years old, "they're not old enough, of course, to actually operate equipment." But they "thoroughly enjoy" riding along with Grandpa, Alan said.

And while he's proud of the farm equipment they've acquired and maintained over the years, Alan says there's little that's high-tech about it. One device they use in spring uses GPS technology to eliminate missed patches when the family sprays weedkiller, but that's about the only "electronic gadgetry" they have, he said.

"We do just fine with not being quite as electronic as we could," he said.

But even the small family farm found use for drone technology.

"Whether it's machinery or family walking around, it just gave a whole different spectrum than still photography could," Alan said of video recorded by the flying camera.

Larry and his wife, Ruth, spend winters in Florida, where they've brought a copy of the photo-video montage. "That gives them a grand opportunity to actually show the people they're talking to, whether they're guests in their house, what they actually do during the summer months," Alan said.

Bowsher, who also grew up on a farm, understood well how appealing such a video would be down the road.

"I'd give my eyeteeth to have something like that when my dad and I were doing it," he said.

This is an Indiana Exchange story shared by the (Logansport) Pharos-Tribune.
April cattle futures exploded this week to the highest level in over a year, nearing $1.23 per pound. The price rally is a welcome relief for ranchers who have seen prices rise over 25 percent from bankruptcy-inducing levels under $1 per pound last fall.

Buying was prompted by reports that Brazilian police recently busted two of that countrys largest meat producers in a probe dubbed Weak Flesh. The companies are accused of bribing health inspectors and politicians, selling rotten beef, and mixing impurities like cardboard and soybeans into meat to stretch it and boost profits. These allegations have prompted buyers around the world to restrict Brazilian meat imports.

Brazil is the second-largest beef producer in the world after the United States; with the loss of Brazilian exports, foreign buyers may become more dependent on U.S. meat.

However, this rally may be short-lived if the scandal is contained to the 21 Brazilian meat processing plants currently implicated. Furthermore, many nations may not reduce imports for long, opting to increase inspections on imports, which would prevent a sharp increase in demand for U.S. beef. Worse yet, news of the scandal may cause a drop in beef demand, ultimately sending prices lower, which means that U.S. beef producers may need to act fast to capture the current high prices.

Oil flows lower on XL Pipeline approval

On Friday, President Trump approved the Keystone XL pipeline, paving the way for more Canadian crude oil to flow to U.S. refineries. This move was widely expected, but would increase oil supplies by 800,000 barrels per day, exacerbating a domestic oil glut.

Oil markets fell near a four-month low, trading Friday under $48 per barrel, taking gasoline and diesel fuel prices lower by about two cents per gallon as well.

Perdue heads toward USDA position

Sonny Perdue, the nominee for Secretary of Agriculture, received a warm welcome this week in the Senate at his confirmation hearing. Perdue, the former governor of Georgia, addressed bipartisan concerns about budget cuts, immigration curbs, and limits on free trade.

If confirmed by the Senate, Perdue would oversee the USDA, an agency with nearly 100,000 employees that focuses on agriculture, forestry, rural development, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.
BILLINGS  Ambrin Masood, a faculty member at Montana State University-Billings originally from Pakistan, said she and her family have felt a welcome in Montana that they didnt experience a decade ago in her previous home  Auburn, Alabama, where she earned her Ph.D.

That is a good, hospitable state, she told a crowd of about 55 people Wednesday on campus to hear her talk, Understanding the Worldview of Our Fellow Muslims. But during his preschool years, her son was never invited to a birthday party, never given a birthday card. He was never invited to a sleepover, and my play date offers were never accepted. We came here, and on his third day of kindergarten, he got a play date.

To answer the call to prayer every day at Elysian School, her son is allowed to spend recess alone in the schools music room.

I love Montana, she said, and I seriously love the people of Montana. Part of my resilience is my colleagues, and the love I get from Montanans.

Masoods talk, sponsored by Humanities Montana with help from the campus women's center and philosophy club, focused on the resilience that Masood derives from her Muslim faith.

Her life so far, she said, can be divided into two stages  Pakistan and the United States, where she became a citizen three years ago.

Pakistan gave me my childhood and my husband, she said, and America gave me my Ph.D. and my kids.

Her three children grinned broadly nearly throughout their mothers 90-minute presentation.

As a child, her father  a member of Pakistans air force  was stationed for a time in Saudi Arabia. That made one of the five pillars of Islam  the Hajj, or pilgrimage  doable.

And, at least once, memorable.

During one pilgrimage, her then-8-year-old brother had this prayer: the then-president of Pakistan had decreed that Pakistani students studying abroad must take classes  even math classes  in their native Urdu, not the English her brother preferred. Please, please God, her brother prayed at Kaba, the holiest place in Mecca, change math class back to English.

Muslims, she said, believe that fervent prayers offered at Kaba are immediately answered. When he returned to school, her brother found that, indeed, classes would once again be offered in English.

We still talk about that one, she said.

Masood drew parallels with her faith and those of Christians and Jews, all of them people of the book, she said.

Once you read the Quran  actually read it  itll impress you, she said. The whole world right now hates Islam, and that is the reason for my presentation. The Quran doesnt teach you to hate. It gives you the choice, and it repeats a lot of whats in the Bible and the Torah.

People who have read it tell me, Its not that threatening, she said. It teaches how to live peacefully and stress-free.

Theres also no mention of Jihad, defined as struggle or effort and much more than a holy war, she said, offering this example:

Say Masood saved her money to purchase just the right pair of boots. On the first day wearing them, she sees someone walking barefoot in the cold.

I can afford another pair of boots, she said. If I give them to that person, that sacrifice is Jihad.

Islam, of course, diverges from Christianity, and Masood listed some of the ways. Muslims dont believe that God had a son. They claim Jesus, whom Muslims "revere," she said, didnt suffer on the cross. Rather, God plucked Jesus out of his body so he wouldnt feel the pain of the crucifixion.

What about Muslim women? Masood asked with a smile.

My students ask if I feel oppressed, and I tell them I feel respected, she said, telling another illustrative story: During her second trip to the United States, Masood couldnt get an airport worker to help her with a heavy suitcase. Thats not my job, the man told her.

In Pakistan, I would never have that problem, she said. In Pakistan, India and elsewhere, families take pride in their women.

She said shes grateful for the opportunity to speak, and for attendees kind words during and after her presentation.

Fear is a huge stressor, and it kills resiliency, she said. The best way not to feel stressed (about Islam) is to learn more about it.
HAMMOND  The state's new economic development chief made her first visit to Lake County Thursday and extolled its lakefront, South Shore commuter train, and jabbed back at a Chicago alderman's putdown of the Hoosier state.

"It's a very impressive place up here and I know it has been changing quite a bit over the last decade from what people tell me," Indiana Economic Development Corp. President Elaine Bedel told about 150 business people at the Indiana Welcome Center.

Appointed to her post by Gov. Eric Holcomb in January, Bedel was given a tour of Whiting and other locales in the morning and spoke at the annual economic recap presented by the Lake County Indiana Economic Alliance in the evening at the Welcome Center. She spoke again Friday at a similar event at the Northwest Indiana Forum in Portage.

On Thursday, Bedel also delivered the glad tidings that the 182,000-square-foot speculative building planned by Becknell Industrial at Northwind Crossings in Hobart is a go. Becknell plans to break ground on the $12 million building soon and have it up before the end of the year, following on its successful completion and leasing of a slightly smaller speculative building there last year.

"This building really meets the requirements of a lot of companies that want to come to Northwest Indiana," Bedel said.

She also touted the South Shore Double Track NWI project, an undertaking of much larger proportions that has won support from Gov. Holcomb. The project to speed South Shore commuter rail trips into Chicago has an estimated $290 million price tag.

"I can tell you if we can get the double tracking accomplished with the South Shore, this place will just burst," Bedel said.

Bedel also took a moment to jab back at 45th Ward Chicago Alderman John Arena, who, according to Chicago City Wire, told constituents recently in a Facebook post: "Go ahead ... Move to Indiana and live in a Third-World economy with (expletive) schools and low wages."

She said Arena's insult  without quoting it  was quite a remarkable putdown from someone who represents constituents in a city that is loosing about 19,000 people a year as compared to Indiana, which gains about 12,000 residents per year.

Prior to taking up her post with the state, Bedel was president and CEO at Bedel Financial Consulting Inc., a company she founded in 1989. She also is author of a personal finance book and a nationally-recognized speaker on finance. Previously, she served as the director of personal finance planning at Coopers and Lybrand.

She is a graduate of Hanover College and earned an MBA from Butler University.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. was formed 12 years ago under then-Gov. Mitch Daniels. It is the State of Indiana's lead economic development agency. It replaced the Indiana Department of Commerce in that role.
Workforce training programs are in the midst of a transformation that is increasingly tightening the links among employers, schools and job training agencies.

"It is really being driven by jobs that are in demand and will be in the future, and by the specific skill sets required," said Linda Woloshansky, president of the Center of Workforce Innovations.

High schools and colleges are tuning their curriculum to the needs of employers. Academic programs are becoming "more outcome oriented," Woloshansky said.

The days of woodshop and auto shop in high school have been replaced by job-focused coursework like River Forest High School's program in industrial maintenance, Hobart's emergency medical technician program and the energy academy in Michigan City.

The River Forest program is part of a Center of Workforce Innovations initiative called Ready NWI, which has the goal of at least 60 percent of the labor force having "a college degree or high-value post-high school credential aligned with employers' specific needs."

"There are more and more programs of this nature," Woloshansky said. Twenty-eight school districts and eight colleges and universities participate in Ready NWI.

Colleges are also making modifications, both in the focus of their degree programs and in helping people sequence their education and career in "manageable chunks," Woloshansky said.

With the high cost of higher education, more students are going back-and-forth from school to work in a manner that progresses their careers in steps. Students are acquiring "portable and stackable credentials," Woloshansky said, "so you keep building your skill sets."

Better collection of labor market data helps in the effort to align training and jobs. Government and academic efforts in that area are shared with schools.

"They're asking for it," Woloshansky said of schools' desire for data.

State assistance urged

"The investment here in Indiana has been very modest, but is getting a little better," Woloshansky said of the state's role in workforce development.

The state's investments include the Skill Up Indiana! program started last year. It awarded a $427,571 grant to the 22-member Northwest Indiana Manufacturing Consortium to fund classes and training programs.

The grant helped pay for programs in manufacturing and industrial skills, including a certified production technician program, and training in skills like machining and welding through Ivy Tech Community College.

"It's really exciting to see the buy-in of employers and job-seekers," Woloshansky said.

But employer groups hope for more help.

Among them is the Indiana Manufacturers Association, which called the state's workforce development system "unwieldy" in a statement its president and CEO issued early in the current session of the Indiana General Assembly.

"Specifically," Brian Burton wrote, "the state should implement an employer training tax credit whereby employers receive credit for training expenses associated with partnering with Indiana public higher education institutions, high schools, career centers, or other state training providers."

The tax credit could be offset by elimination of other, "inefficient or ineffective," programs, he wrote.

But a workforce development bill considered in the General Assembly this year went to the full House of Representatives without such a credit, instead allocating money to study the issue.

"The time for study of this issue has passed," Burton wrote in a statement after the House Ways and Means Committee eliminated a credit from House Bill 1008. "This is especially true when you consider that Indiana manufacturers, which represent 30 percent of the state's economy, may not be able to fill 60 percent of their open positions in the next decade."

The state is also pushing for more workers to gain occupational certifications in business, health care and other sectors.

"We understand that a two- or four-year degree is not the best fit for everyone, and that many Hoosiers need a shorter-term credential to get ahead," said Teresa Lubbers, commissioner of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

The commission recently reported that issuance of certificates has increased 32 percent since 2012. About 70 percent are awarded by Indiana colleges.

They're among the "stackable" credentials Woloshansky talked about. Credits earned in certificate programs can be applied to associate degree programs. A financial aid package called a Workforce Ready Grant is up for consideration at the General Assembly this year.
KOUTS  Communication is the key to Kevin Salyer's job at Timber Tech Engineering and also to him reaching his goals.

Salyer is drafter/project manager at Pennsylvania-based Timber Tech Engineerings Kouts office. He is also a volunteer firefighter, a member of the Kouts Town Council and part-time custodian at his church, St. Paul Lutheran of Kouts. Salyer, father of two, relies on organization, enthusiasm and an understanding primary employer to make it all work perfectly.

When I first started I was a draftsman, said Salyer, who has worked for Timber Tech since 2002. A draftsman, he explains, puts drawings into a computer format for any number of projects. A few years ago, he also assumed the title of project manager, which suited him. I prefer the project management, (but) I definitely dont want to forget my roots as a drafter. But project management was my goal.

Timber Tech is a structural engineering firm specializing in post frame building design, according to its website. Salyer mans the Kouts office, the Indiana satellite to the companys Pennsylvania headquarters.

When Salyer gets to the office at 7 a.m., he has to keep in mind that hes dealing with companies and projects across the country and even in different time zones. His first order of business each morning is checking emails and voicemails as Indianas point man for the company. There might be drawing markups to deal with or changes that might be requested by the customer. Salyer also has to put his draftsmen hat back on much of the time. He frequently works on projects for Country Lake Woodworking in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a company which produces gazebos, pergolas, cabanas and pavilions. Theres a lot of back and forth; its really hard to put a number on it.

(Every day) is different; every customer has unique circumstances, he said. Salyer cites the companys slogan: Timber Tech is a creative engineering firm providing solutions and building relationships."

I think that speaks magnitudes in how to run a business, Salyer said. We deal with a lot of contractors. Its not 'one and done.' We build relationships.

Salyer has also built a strong relationship with the town of Kouts, in which he has been a lifelong resident. His seat on the Kouts Town Council means he attends evening meetings two to three times a month. As a member of the Fire Department, he is on call daily. Salyer also serves St. Paul Lutheran, where he works as needed seven days a week. His duties entail everything from shoveling snow to handling repairs in the building.

Work comes first, he said. But (Timber Tech) has been very gracious in letting me go serve the town and its residents.

How he got the job

I was actually called by the office manager (at Timber Tech), he said. The company was looking for local candidates for its Kouts office, called up Kouts High School, from which Salyer had graduated and the Porter County Career Center and got Salyers name from both sources. My name was on both lists before I even knew the place existed. Salyer, a 2001 Kouts High School graduate, was studying architectural technology at Purdue North Central at the time he was interviewed. He earned his associate degree in 2003, the year after he was hired.

Employment outlook

In 2015, the job outlook for architectural and civil drafters in Indiana was expected to expand by 8.3 percent, with an annual mean wage of $49,300. Job opportunities for engineers in all categories was pegged to rise 9.3 percent. The annual mean wage for engineers in Indiana was $78,400.
When it comes to alternative energy sources, one Region-based company has made a name optimizing the use of a resource that surrounds us all: air.

Next to water, electric and gas, compressed air is the fourth utility, David Andrews, director of marketing and communications of Sullair said.

"You can use it to run tools, move conveyor belts. A candy manufacturer, for example, could use it to move sugar from one area to another for production," Andrews said. "It's the most common utility, because with air, you don't have to worry about it being volatile and reacting with sparks or chemicals. It's a much safer energy source."

For more than 50 years, Sullair has developed and manufactured compressed air solutions, serving industries like manufacturing, machinery, construction, automotive repair and production, power plants, refineries and more.

"It's easier to list industries we don't service," Andrews said. "Any given manufacturing business has multiple air compressors. The opportunities to sell are endless."

Sullair was founded in 1965 in Michigan City and has since grown into an international network that distributes all across the world, in six continents and 75 countries. Sullair has offices in Chicago and facilities in Michigan City, China and India, as well as a customer service base in Australia. Training centers in all three continents offer hands-on compressor training. Its parent company, Accudyne Industries, headquartered in Dallas, is a global provider of flow control systems and industrial compressors.

In 1968, Sullair was one of the first manufacturers to introduce stationary rotary screw compressors to the industrial trade, also using the technology to produce vacuum systems and air tools.

In 2003, Sullair presented the first 500 psi portable compressor, and in 2008, unveiled its trademarked ShopTek compressors.

Improving on its air output cleanliness, Sullair developed air treatment systems for its compressors and also developed a line of compressor lubricants and treatments.

Just like with a car, if you don't maintain an air compressor it won't last as long and run at optimum efficiency, Andrews said. To maintain their machines, Sullair partnered with Dow Chemical to create a long-lasting compressor fluid and develop lubricants, including the 10,000-hour "Sullube."

Andrews said portable air compressors tend to be used for construction, and are big sellers for rental companies that buy and then lease them to individuals and businesses. The larger ones, typically used by industrial businesses, can weigh up to 40,000 pounds.

As he walked through the manufacturing area, the whirring of machinery and shrill echo of power tools picked up.

"It's good to hear all of those sounds," Andrews said. "That bustling means we are doing business and we have orders coming in."

However, the assembly line isn't the traditional automated conveyor belt, but sections of machines with employees.

"We've got a lot of hands on deck," Andrews said. "A lot of these are local people who are skilled with their hands."

Most of the company's employees are based in its 430,000-square-foot plant in Michigan City, in addition to the warehouse and training center located near Interstate 94. The main center in Michigan City also houses the global engineering department.

"Sullair is one of the largest employers in Northwest Indiana, with nearly 450 employees based in Michigan City," said Stephanie Roberts, marketing communications manager. "We are proud of our heritage, and we continue to heavily invest in the community. Recent examples include a multimillion-dollar investment in upgrades to our rotor shop in the Michigan City facility, as well as a new, state-of-the-art training center, also in Michigan City."

Roberts said the company also has a strong philanthropic drive, with recent donations to the American Heart Association and Barker Middle School. She said LaPorte County Animal Shelter, Michigan City Food Pantry, Stepping Stone Shelter, Boys & Girls Club and Habitat for Humanity are all organizations Sullair will be supporting this year.

"Sullair is heavily involved in giving back to the community," Roberts said. "Not just Michigan City but the entire Northwest Indiana Region. Sullair has a Community Involvement Committee that helps engage employees to give back to the community, either monetarily and/or by volunteering time."

As for the future, Andrews said Sullair will debut its latest model, 1600H, at the Construction Expo this year. He said the machine is compact and streamlined as possible with high fuel efficiency and is the first portable model with a user-friendly touch screen.

Andrews said the company has customers all over North America and Africa, plus Peru, Chile, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Germany and more. He said he has seen Sullair's air compressors on History Channel's reality show "Curse of Oak Island," where they are used for excavation on a quest for buried treasure. In 2010, Sullair air compressors were used to power the elevators needed to rescue the trapped miners in the Chilean mining disaster.
Northwest Indiana is known for making things: steel, gasoline, soap, turbine castings, lift trucks, robotic welding machines, car parts, cardboard boxes, lunch meat, you name it.

But the Region has been getting as brainy as it is brawny.

Long known as a center of heavy manufacturing, the Calumet Region is increasingly becoming an exporter of high-end knowledge. Advanced manufacturers such as Monosol, Fronius, Urschel Labs, Task Force Tips and Tri-State Industries focus more on innovation and intellectual property than just cranking out ton after ton of basic commodities.

The ArcelorMittal Global R&D laboratory in East Chicago is an international leader in metals research, while Purdue University Northwests Center for Visualization and Simulation is spearheading a national consortium aimed at bringing the steel industry into the 21st century.

Driving global steel innovation

Over the last several years, ArcelorMittal Global R&D in East Chicago has labored to create new markets for the steel industry that built Northwest Indiana into what it is today.

"We combine our resources here in East Chicago with those at our centers throughout the world to develop new steel products and solutions for our customers," General Manager Pinakin Chaubal said.

"Generally, all of the practical experience gained globally is then applied to the region where the innovation will originally launch. The first requirement of the global marketplace is steadily increasing in the United States. So, East Chicago not only plays an important role in initial research and development of those new products, but also on the trials and implementation before it is cascaded to other regions."

For example, changing consumer preferences and federal emissions mandates have led to a race to make motor vehicles lighter. By 2025, they have to be about twice as fuel-efficient as they are today. Automakers have looked at a number of ways to reduce weight, such as by incorporating more lighter metals like aluminum. The best-selling Ford F-150 for instance switched to an aluminum frame, making it about 700 pounds lighter.

ArcelorMittal and other steelmakers have sought to preserve their market share in the face of such challenges. The auto industry makes up a huge chunk of their overall business, more than 27 percent according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Researchers at the R&D center in East Chicago have been developing new grades of advanced high-strength steel, so structural crash protection can be provided but with less weight. They helped design a new high-strength steel door ring for the Honda Acura MDX that helps shave 123 pounds off the vehicles weight.

"There is global collaboration in the development of third-generation advanced high-strength steels for the automotive industry," Chaubal said.

"But the first commercial launch of these new products will take place in the United States, so the East Chicago R&D facility plays a critical role in the testing and trials that take place both in the lab and at our U.S. facilities where they will be produced. Those learnings are then shared with Europe and other regions for implementation outside of North America."

About 200 scientists and technicians in East Chicago test the durability, formability and other properties of new grades of steel. Buoyed by ArcelorMittals $227 million in annual spending on R&D, the researchers on the sprawling campus near Cline Avenue and Columbus Drive have come up with a steel bridge that wont corrode in 125 years, pipeline steels designed to prevent explosions, railroad oil tank cars that dont puncture, and highway safety barriers that would replace concrete with steel in densely populated areas.

"Another example is the development of advanced steel grades for the energy market, for which there have been contributions made from our labs all over the globe," Chaubal said.

"However, the implementation is here, so the work is now being led by East Chicago. While product is what everyone is most enthusiastic about, there is important work being done in the East Chicago lab to improve the reliability and efficiency of our processes."

Simulating tomorrow's technology

ArcelorMittal is a huge global company, in fact the worlds largest steelmaker by volume. But the Luxembourg-based steel and mining giant, which made 92.5 million tons of steel in 2015, doesnt operate the only research facility for the steel industry in Northwest Indiana.

The Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation at Purdue University Northwests Hammond campus is leading a national steel consortium that seeks to devise manufacturing solutions for steelmakers across the country. A $480,000 federal grant seeded the initiative that seeks to make domestic steelmakers more efficient and thus more competitive in an increasingly cutthroat global marketplace.

ArcelorMittal USA, U.S. Steel, Nucor, Steel Dynamics, Praxair, NIPSCO, Cliffs Natural Resources and other steel companies are backing the consortium. Researchers, who work in teams of three at PNWs Hammond campus, are tackling problems like how to get blast furnaces to be more energy-efficient. They work on general solutions for an industry that foresees sweeping changes such as more continuous operating in finishing lines and replacing coke with cleaner-burning natural gas in steelmaking.

Initially, CIVS researchers have been studying ways to make improvements to blast furnaces, electric arc furnaces, reheating furnaces, ladles, casting and the primary coating process, Director Chenn Zhou said.

Were looking at processes that will have an effect on the bottom line, productivity and quality, she said. The consortium should have a big impact for its members.

Steelmakers recently gathered at the Hammond campus for an annual steel consortium meeting, so they could get an update. The goal is to get old-fashioned businesses to modernize, such as by using virtual employee training programs and simulations that could lead to a more efficient use of the raw materials used to forge iron.

Its about innovative solutions, Zhou said. Were looking to transform the industry with more technology and data-driven intelligence. Technology is needed to ensure competitiveness for U.S. steel manufacturing in the world.

Individual steelmakers could go it alone, but a unified approach will help tackle some of their biggest problems at a lower R&D cost.

There are global challenges, Zhou said.

If the industry works together on blast furnace performance, that will not only have application in Northwest Indiana but mean more productivity, more energy efficiency and fewer emissions everywhere. It will affect the bottom line, and save money.
Deborah Robinson has joined Centier as senior vice president, community relations and business development. She leads a team coordinating the banks philanthropy, community outreach, financial wellness, and Community Investment Act initiatives. Additionally, she is responsible for market expansion strategies to build the bank's brand. Prior to joining Centier, Robinson was employed by First Merchants Banks as chief banking officer.

Reminger Co., LPA has welcomed attorney Erica M. Maar to the law firm's Crown Point office. Prior to joining Reminger, she served as a federal judicial extern with the Honorable Judge Christopher Nuechterlein. She graduated magna cum laude from Valparaiso University School of Law and previously worked at a financial services firm.

Methodist Hospitals has welcomed Perry Zack, D.O., to the Methodist Physician Group. He is Board Certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians and has served Northwest Indiana families for more than twenty years. His focus is on preventive care and promoting a healthy lifestyle. His practice is located at 751 E. 81st Place, in Merrillville.

Methodist Hospitals has appointed Jacqueline Hoekema and Constance Adams as co-directors of the Methodist Hospitals Heart & Vascular Institute. Hoekema is the new director over business operations and Adams is the new director over clinical and quality.
GARY  Immortality comes with a catch. Something may be taken without your say. Even your loved ones wont learn about it until decades later.

So it was for the family of Henrietta Lacks, a poor black tobacco farmer. But theyre making up now.

In 1951, doctors removed cells from Lacks cancer-stricken body without her knowledge or permission. Generations later, those cells continue to be valuable tools in biomedical research.

Bad things happen to good people, so great things can be done, said Veronica Robinson, Lacks great-granddaughter. You can be part of science and see its not all that bad.

Robinson and Shirley Lacks, Henrietta Lacks daughter-in-law, addressed this collision of medicine, ethics, and race Wednesday at Indiana University Northwest. The Lacks family legacy, Robinson said, is not about what happened, but how we overcame it.

With recognition for Henrietta Lacks now coming nationally, Shirley Lacks noted, Henrietta has helped all mankind. Theres not one person who hasnt been touched or doesnt know someone touched by the HeLa cell.

Henrietta Lacks, who died in 1951 at age 31, was the unwitting donor of cells from a cancerous tumor biopsied during treatment for cervical cancer at Baltimores Johns Hopkins Hospital. Of the two samples removed from Lacks cervix, one was healthy tissue, but the other sample was cancerous. Dr. George Otto Gey, a cancer researcher at Johns Hopkins, cultured the cancerous sample into what became known as the HeLa immortal cell line.

HeLa has since been used in the polio vaccine, gene mapping, and in vitro fertilization  research benefiting countless numbers of patients.

Although family members did not learn of their matriarchs contribution until 1975, today they are sharing Henrietta Lacks story, which has also been chronicled in the best-selling book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. An HBO movie about Lacks starring Oprah Winfrey will air April 22.

Robinson said the Lacks family today has a cordial relationship with Johns Hopkins Hospital, which has not financially compensated the family. Although she feels the family should receive something for Henrietta Lacks, she also believes the world got her best part.

When asked about race, Robinson is convinced that race was a factor in the 1951 medical procedure, while Shirley Lacks believes the issue is not about race per se, but rather about a doctor searching for a cancer cure.

The biggest impact of the Henrietta Lacks story, Robinson noted, has to do with medical ethics and humanity. These people (patients) are somebody who matters, she said. You need to treat them like you want to be treated. You need to tell them exactly what youre doing to them.  Give them the right to understand.

The March 22 program concluded this years One Book  One Campus  One Community reading initiative at IUN. Attending were nursing students, including sophomore Amanda Pogue, who focused on ethics in the Skloot book.

Pogue, from Portage, said, Looking back 50 years ago, people are asking, 'How could they ethically do that?' Looking ahead, what will future generations say about what we do?
It's a ritual fraught with excitement and usually some uncertainty: As high school graduation nears, parents and their children are looking to college and facing a big question: How will the student fare once on campus? That question goes beyond just grades.

Three Region high schools are among those with programs designed to send grads off with tools for successfully navigating the challenges they'll face at college. Each program is different, but all share the essential aspect they say every parent and child needs to know: leadership.

Marian Catholic High School

At Marian Catholic High School, the Next Generation Leadership program evolved out of researching one of its own programs and what universities across the country are doing, then creating a program uniquely geared toward Marian's students. The Chicago Heights, Illinois, school began strategic planning in 2005 to discern what skills graduates will need going into college and business.

"Everyone agreed the education skills were essential, but also agreed soft skills are integral to being successful: Can you work with a group, identify its strengths and weaknesses, and move it toward the task? That's not generally being taught in high school, but it's vital," said Marian High School's Cecily Fultz, director of marketing and communication.

The school's nationally renowned band program has featured a one-of-a-kind student leader structure for 30 years, competing with professional guidance but also relying heavily on student leadership. Every instrument section has a senior who runs that section, and all the sophomores are assigned to mentor a freshman. "We said, right here is a fantastic example of student leadership," Fultz said. Now Next Generation Leadership, funded by a capital campaign, is the nations only four-year leadership program.

The benefits for college-bound students range beyond looking good on a resume. "The real benefits include learning how to find their own gifts and how to work in a group. They benefit in the classroom, in extracurricular activities, and as a citizen," Fultz said.

Kyndal Fletcher, a Marian graduate, explains in a video how her college experience was successful and rewarding, crediting the leadership program.

"Freshman year (at college) I ran for freshman class secretary, and I won; and it was really cool to me because I got to be a part of a community that was really there to uplift me and  be there for me in all my endeavors."

All Marian students go through the leadership program, with leadership incorporated into every element of student life, including school faith life, led by a student team that leads prayer daily and at major gatherings.

"We think it's a great way to show the other kids they too can step up and be leaders," Fultz said.

Mentoring is a key component of the program.

 Freshmen learn to lead themselves, identifying God-given strengths and weaknesses.

 Sophomores study great leaders in history, politics and sports.

 Juniors work with a group: how to set a vision, identify others' strengths and weaknesses, how to problem solve, how to get the group to mesh.

 Seniors teach the freshman program twice a week, organizing lessons and leading discussions.

"Those are all abilities, strengths, and attitudes that colleges are looking for," Fultz said.

A set number of service hours is not required, yet 98 percent of students involved in service volunteer locally, nationally, and in other countries. At the end of February, the sophomore class provided 1,000 sandwiches for Lake County's Public Action to Deliver Shelter.

Fletcher said, "Marian has helped prepare me because I learned that being a leader wasn't just being a voice, it wasn't just being the first one to speak up, it wasn't always just about being someone people look to. It's about being the one that gets to serve others ... who gets to listen to other people and share their perspective and experience ... because they can help shape my perspective and my outlook on life."

Fultz said visiting graduates are asked, How well prepared were you for college?

They always say they're successful in setting goals and time management, even as they see other students floundering."

Merrillville High School

At Merrillville High School, Family Career and Community Leaders of America is focused on community service, leadership development and state and national competition. The student-led organization, affiliated at the district, state and national levels, began in 1947 under the then-named FHA program.

Students are officers of FCCLA.

"We try to instill in them the leadership roles in community services activities so they know how to plan, organize and carry out," important skills for managing college requirements, said Carol Von Behren, head of the high school's Family Consumer Sciences Department. "Officers mentor new members, training them so they're ready to take over as officers. Once students are in the university setting, a common characteristic of people who succeed in college is having experience in giving back to the community."

Community service includes an Inclusion Dance for special needs students from area high schools, a project requiring lots of student planning, including for a live DJ, gift bags, a photo package and door prizes. Other student groups volunteer as well. Every year FCCLA also sponsors two blood drives.

FCCLA is for any student in Family and Consumer Sciences education in public and private school through grade 12. Family is a central focus, addressing such youth concerns as career exploration, family relationships, substance abuse, peer pressure, environment, nutrition and more.

Prospective college students learn to be leaders by developing skills including goal setting, problem solving, decision making, and developing understanding between youth and adults.

Student membership dues for the nonprofit FCCLA are the primary source of financial support, with other funds raised from individuals, corporations and foundations.

"We see our FCCLA students become more confident. They can look back and say, 'Look what we did,'" contributing to confidence and success at college, Von Behren said.

Valparaiso High School

Valparaiso High School's Team LEAD Mentor Program began about 15 years ago when Denise Koebcke, VCS K-12 Student Leadership/Climate coordinator, saw that students in her classroom were so focused on squabbling and personal problems that they were unable to concentrate. She assessed the needs for an environment and qualities conducive for learning. Writing that assessment has been a blueprint guiding the Team LEAD program, a districtwide, pro-social framework of student discussion forums, leadership workshops, peer mentoring, adult facilitators and altruistic service.

The program's contribution to later success in college? "Our kids learn to step outside their comfort zones over and over again, during sessions with their mentors or as a mentor learning to speak in front of others and present to large crowds," Koebcke said. That confidence translates to the college classroom and involvement in other college-sponsored activities.

The Team LEAD application is open to all, but mentors must maintain passing grades and behavioral expectations as noted in their contracts. The program trains and coordinates pro-social relationship and leadership trainings for the upperclassmen at each level, in each building, K-12. Those trained student leaders then meet regularly for additional leadership and pro-social skills training. Adult facilitators, volunteers and coordinators also act as mentors to the mentors, "Thus embedding a culture of service and mentorship throughout the system from top to bottom," Koebcke said.

"Our LEAD mentors are exceptionally poised and confident compared to other grads, helping them both get into and be successful in college. We often hear this from our grads."
LAPORTE  In the ongoing battle to curb heroin addiction, the state legislature is taking a look at the former LaPorte County home as part of a mission to provide Hoosiers with more treatment options.

State Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores and State Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, recently toured the 56-room building constructed in the 1880s along Ind. 2 across from the LaPorte County Fairgrounds.

Bohacek said there's an ongoing effort by lawmakers to find funding to create inpatient treatment facilities for opioid abusers statewide in buildings currently not being used.

Whether the two-story building is a viable option for such a facility or as a home for veterans was the purpose of last week's visit.

"We're just in the preliminary stages," Bohacek said.

He was not sure if any decisions will be made before the 2017 legislative session ends at the end of April.

Previous estimates have placed renovating the county home at upwards of $10 million dollars. In September, USDA toured the home to determine the feasibility of using it as a place for heroin users to live and receive treatment under a new effort to provide more treatment options in rural areas.

LaPorte County Commission president Rich Mrozinski said grant applications later submitted to USDA were rejected both times.

Mrozinski, a Vietnam War veteran and liaison for veterans at both the state and federal levels, recently had a representative from U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Walorski's office take a look at the building. He's hoping that visit will lead to some type of veterans' use for the structure.

The still solid stately looking structure was a county home from the very beginning until abandoned in May of 2016 because of state funding dried up for such facilities and the facility needing a major upgrade.

Mrozinski said the big concern is the condition of the building if it's still empty a year from now because of how quickly empty structures kept unheated can deteriorate.

"Winters are tough on old buildings. It's going to take enough money to rehab it as it is," said Mrozinski.
INDIANAPOLIS  State Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, is working on what he described as a "significant amendment" to his first-of-its-kind plan for coordinated transit-oriented development near stations along the current and future routes of the South Shore Line.

The three-term lawmaker is not saying specifically what revisions he's looking to make, only that he's heard a number of concerns from Region residents and he believes his proposed changes will clarify their uncertainties.

He also anticipates creating a path for LaPorte and St. Joseph counties to participate alongside Lake and Porter counties in the transit development districts set to be managed by the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.

"The amendment does not fundamentally change anything, but fills a lot of cracks," Slager said.

Slager is scheduled to present House Bill 1144, along with his recommended adjustments, to the Senate Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy on Tuesday.

It will be a busy day for the panel which also is due to debate the House Republican road funding plan that raises fuel taxes by 10 cents a gallon, increases vehicle registration fees, opens the door to statewide highway tolling and indirectly boosts the cigarette tax by $1 per pack.

The committee chairman, state Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Buck Creek, said Friday that he's generally supportive of Slager's proposal and interested to see his revisions.

"I just need to delve into the details to determine whether there are any changes that need to be made," Hershman said. "I haven't reached a conclusion yet."

Altogether, four of the 14 committee members are co-sponsors of the transit development measure, including Hershman, state Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, and state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes.

Bipartisan support suggests legislation likely to advance

Such bipartisan backing suggests the legislation is likely to advance for a vote by the full Senate in early April.

"From what I can tell, I've got quite a bit of support in the Senate," Slager said.

The plan passed the 100-member House in February with only eight representatives voting no.

It authorizes the RDA to use increment financing to develop areas within a mile of train stations in an effort to maximize the economic benefits of double-tracking the South Shore Line between Gary and Michigan City and extending the commuter rail line from Hammond to Dyer.

Growth in local property and income tax revenues within each transit development district would be used to repay money borrowed by the RDA to speed construction of each TDD's property improvements, which still would be subject to municipal planning and zoning ordinances.

The RDA's planning consultant, Indianapolis-based Policy Analytics Inc., estimates the local tax revenue growth available for development spending in just Lake and Porter counties will total $456.2 million over a 20-year period.

Slager said ancillary development in Northwest Indiana spurred by TDD projects and rail improvements that better connect Region workers to high-paying Chicago jobs will generate more than $3 billion in the next two decades.

That opportunity seemingly does not appeal to the Gary City Council.

Last week, it approved a resolution condemning Slager's proposal on the grounds that it would take control over development out of the city's hands and negatively impact the city's finances.

Slager said those claims make "absolutely no sense," especially coming from Gary.

"For a community that probably doesn't have the bonding capacity to do a project on their own, this is a wonderful solution for them," Slager said. "How else are they going to do those kinds of developments? We're trying to offer help."

Similarly, Munster officials have questioned the impact of TDDs on school funding, which Slager said already is addressed in current law relating to tax increment financing districts  a point he intends to make more explicit.

"Hopefully, they will be a little more comfortable with the amended language," Slager said.
MAXVILLE  It still feels raw to Brenitta Brady and her husband, Bob Schneider.

At this time last year they were preparing to fly to Thailand to visit Bradys niece, leaving their rural home, chickens, two cats and an extremely exceptional Rottweiler named Roxy in the care of an acquaintance from Philipsburg.

They left on April 1 and were back on April 18, having picked up treats for Roxy on their way home from the Helena airport. What they found stunned them.

Roxy, their 72-pound friend who was going on 3 years old, was missing, having disappeared over the hill a few days earlier, the caretaker told them.

A frantic search ensued. Posters were plastered up and down the valley, from Philipsburg to Drummond and even in Deer Lodge.

Id be out at 3 in the morning, stuffing them in mailboxes, Schneider said.

For 17 days he asked anybody and everybody if theyd spotted the small, friendly Rottweiler. Then, on May 5, came the call.

It was a voice message from a fisherman whod seen a poster of Roxy in Philipsburg. He said hed stumbled on the partially decomposed remains of a dog in a plastic bag on a bend of Flint Creek just south of milemarker 45 on Highway 1.

It was dark when Brady and Schneider got to the scene, four miles from their home and another seven to Philipsburg. The back half of a dog had spilled from the 42-gallon bag when it was rolled down the bank and up against a fence post. A flashlight confirmed their worst fears.

Roxys head was not recognizable; maggots had stripped the flesh.

Her bum had distinct brown hair on it, said Schneider. That's how we identified her. We hiked with her all the time so wed see that little brown piece on her tail.

They called Scott Dunkerson, the Granite County sheriff, who met Schneider at the scene the next day and helped him load Roxys remains into the truck to bring back home.

A veterinary autopsy revealed Roxys skull had been fractured but no other bones were broken. That seemed to rule out a dog-vs.-vehicle collision. Someone, it seems, had intentionally killed her, a thought that Brady or Schneider still can't come to grips with all these months later.

Roxy had entered their lives as a pup, when a friends son in Sula moved into an apartment that didnt take pets.

He loved her, Schneider said. I mean, everybody did. She made a hell of an impression on everybody.

The thought that shed run away, even with her masters gone, never made sense.

When we had two dogs she had gone with the other dog on a little field trip one day, Brady said. That was about the only time she really left the house.

A friends orphaned lamb needed care, and Brady and Schneider took it in to bottle feed it. Roxy adopted the lamb as her own, cuddling to keep it warm.

Schneider, a native Pennsylvanian, and Brady, from the farm country in Illinois, met in Antarctica. Schneider is a plumber and he was helping build a new station at the South Pole. Brady taught computers and later ran the radio and television stations at McMurdo Station.

We always tell everybody we had to go to the ends of the earth to find each other, Brady quipped.

They moved to the Philipsburg area 10 years ago after friends told Schneider the Flint Creek Valley was short of plumbers.

Roxy was their constant companion on work calls.

Shed roam the halls of Drummond School when they worked there, to the delight of the students. They would leave the truck door open while they worked at other jobs, Brady said.

Shed go investigate and walk around and check everything out, and then shed get back in the truck. Wed go out every 15 minutes or so and check on her and half the time shed be back in the truck, like, OK, this is boring.

The couple suspected the caretaker, who isn't being identified for this story because no charges have been filed in the case.

Theyd met him through a friend and knew him casually. When he offered to watch the place, they saw no reason to turn him down.

Everyone has their quirks, Schneider said, and this man was no different.

But he was always friends with (Roxy), petting her, giving her dog treats, said Brady. There was nothing you would suspect of a violent nature. Odd, definitely. Violent, no. We didnt think there would be any issues.

Two days after Roxys body was discovered, Schneider angrily confronted the man at his rented home in Philipsburg. He was booted off the property by the owner.

***

The story took a twist in the next few months when a friend convinced Brady and Schneider to consult a psychic to see if they could learn more about their dogs murder.

Sonia Fitzpatrick is a famous animal communicator in Texas who formerly had a television show on Animal Planet called The Pet Psychic. Her weekly animal advice and call-in show is on Channel 102 on SIRIUS satellite radio.

I dont usually put a lot of faith in psychics and that type of thing, Brady said.

But over the phone Fitzpatrick, with only a picture of Roxy, relayed information she said the dog was transmitting to her. There was a favorite blue blanket, which Brady narrowed down to the towel used for the dogs bed when she was a pup.

She described what the vet had said in the autopsy, that Roxy had been bludgeoned to death. She said she left her body very quickly, said Brady.

When Fitzpatrick asked where the water was, we didnt know what she was referring to, Brady said. Weve got an irrigation ditch right (by the house), and Roxy would always play in it, so I thought thats what she was talking about. But she said no, that wasnt it. She didnt know Roxy had been dumped right by Flint Creek.

It was incredible, said Schneider. You know, people might not believe in that stuff. Thats OK. But it was amazing.

***

In October, five months to the day after Roxy was found, Schneider made a startling discovery. It made his blood boil.

In the front office of the shop outside their Maxville home were what looked like bloodstains. On a shelf above them was a hatchet that had been left elsewhere so the caretaker could chop kindling. But no fire was ever started in the fireplace while they were gone. And in a corner nearby was the box of the same kind of black contractor bags in which Roxy had been found.

Dunkerson was called, and the sheriff photographed the scene and swabbed the splatters that appeared to be blood in hopes of determining if it was Roxys. That, said the sheriff, would provide at least circumstantial evidence that she was killed there.

But when the state crime lab in Missoula told him it couldnt run the test, I kind of put it on hold until I got word that the Humane Society lab at UC Davis would test it, Dunkerson said.

That happened last month, when Brady and Schneider contacted the Humane Society of the United States for help identifying and prosecuting Roxy's killer.

Last Monday, the organization announced it was offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Roxys death.

Thats double the standard cruelty award, thanks to a $2,500 donation from an unidentified Humane Society board member.

On Friday, Schneider, Brady and Dunkerson were still waiting for the lab results. A positive test wont be the smoking gun he needs to press charges, Dunkerson said, but its at least a step forward.

The owners of the dog are obviously animal lovers and theyre very nice people whove been devastated by the loss of the dog. I really feel for them, said the sheriff. Were trying to locate more of what we need for prosecutors to prosecute the case.

The caretaker has been interviewed once and denies everything, just as he did when Brady confronted him at church one Sunday last fall in Philipsburg.

Our thing is, some of the rednecks think its all about us, but its not, Schneider said. Its about a beautiful friend that was killed on our property and a psychopath thats out loose.

In its reward announcement, the Humane Society said a correlation is well-documented between animal cruelty and all manner of other crimes from narcotics and firearms violations to battery and sexual assault.

There is no excuse for killing a defenseless animal, said Wendy Hergenrader, Montanas state director for the national organization.We hope our reward will help find the perpetrator of this horrible crime and bring some peace to Roxys family.

His department has its share of human cases to deal with, Dunkerson allowed, but he admires the dogged determination of Schneider and Brady.

The thing that keeps driving me on the case is their compassion and feelings for the dog. They really cared about this dog, no question. Id love to see them have some closure.
ST. JOHN  The dual credit program, which annually provides hundreds of Lake Central students with thousands of hours of college credits, could be in jeopardy under a rule adopted by the states Higher Learning Commission, Lake Central Superintendent Lawrence Veracco said.

Veracco told the School Board the commission decided in 2015 to require those teaching dual credit courses to have a masters degree or higher. The deadline for doing this was recently pushed back to the fall of 2022. In addition, Purdue Northwest recently set its own deadline of the fall of 2019 for the masters requirement.

Veracco said the commissions deadline will be tough enough, but the Purdue Northwest requirement will be impossible to meet except by teachers already close to obtaining a masters. Many of those who might be able to complete the masters study also are close to retirement, he said. The HLC accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions.

Indiana is one of 19 states governed by the HLC meaning once the new credentialing is effective, Indianas colleges and universities will not grant credit to students unless the teacher is certified, he said.

Dual credit attraction growing

School districts are required by state law to offer at least two dual credit courses, which allow the student to receive both high school and college credit. Lake Central began offering courses in 2008-9 and issued 200 dual credits that first year. It has grown to 4,623 credit hours during the 2015-16 school year involving 1,077 students. Of those credit hours, 1,482 were used by students attending Purdue Northwest.

According to the state Department of Education, only about a quarter of Indianas teachers have a masters while another 12.6 percent are anywhere from one to nine credits short of 18 credit hours needed to qualify. While students pay $25 per credit hour to take the dual credit courses, Veracco said there is no incentive for teachers to seek the additional education needed to meet the new requirement.

Veracco said the school district could help pay for the tuition, but theres no guarantee a teacher would stay after getting the degree. The other alternative is to add a stipend to the teachers pay for teaching the courses, but the district would need additional funding support from the state.

Other solutions Veracco mentioned include allowing school districts to share dual credit teachers or allowing students to take distance learning courses with a qualified dual credit teacher. So far there is no legislation before the Indiana General Assembly to address these problems.

Veracco said he doesnt understand why the HLC allows a college to offer a course taught by a teaching assistant while Lake Central and other districts cant do the same with a teacher with 20 years experience. He said one of the reasons the HLC increased the teaching requirements lies with the colleges and universities being unhappy about not being able to retain students longer.

It used to be the institutions were willing to accept a higher attrition rate among students, but, as the need for funds increased, they try to help students continue for the whole four or five years to graduation.

Many students finish in less than four years

With the dual credits, many students can finish in less than four years. The group Ready NWI has met with state legislators and will meet in April with a former legislator, who is now a member of the HLC, to try to find solutions to the problem. Ready NWI is a nonprofit initiative that embraces a commitment to regional thinking to ensure prosperity by meeting the skill and education needs of employers.

The General Assembly at one point in time made it mandatory for every school to offer dual credit in order to expose high school students to rigorous coursework, Veracco said. Now that the ability to offer these courses is in jeopardy, we hope our representatives will focus their attention on how to address the dual credit teacher certification issue."

If nothing is done, Veracco said, Things will be sort of OK until 2022, when they are going off a cliff.
HOBART  Two separate preschools have the City Council's approval to open in Hobart.

Variances unanimously approved by the council allow Shannon Burney to operate a preschool at the Barrington Ridge Baptist Church, 97 Bracken Parkway, and Melissa Webber to move the Bright Minds Preschool to the New Hope Baptist Church, 3528 St. Joseph Place.

Both requests received favorable recommendations from the Board of Zoning Appeals before they went to the council for final approval.

The preschool at Barrington Ridge is a separate entity from the church, and several church officials made it clear they're behind the preschool.

We're really excited about the opportunity we have to partner with the school, said JJ Hairston, pastor at Barrington Ridge Baptist Church.

During the BZA meeting, there were some residents who live near the Barrington Ridge Baptist Church who expressed concerns they have about a preschool opening at that location. The potential for increased traffic on Bracken Parkway, noise created from children playing outside and the liability of a pond owned by a homeowner's association were among them.

Burney and several supporters of the school said safety is a top priority, and the focus of the establishment is education, not outside playtime.

We are not a daycare, Burney said.

Burney said she has nearly a decade of experience working at a preschool and has co-owned one in a different location in Hobart.

She said there will be two classes each day, and class sizes won't exceed 20 students. Outdoor activities rarely will occur.

City Engineer Phil Gralik said classes start at off-peak traffic hours, and he believes the preschool won't cause serious traffic issues.

Like Burney, Webber is offering two daily classes with a maximum of 20 children in each class. Her request received no remonstrances during the BZA meeting.
MICHIGAN CITY  David Hahn has been a trainmaster for only six months, but he loves what he does. His many other jobs led to this one.

As a trainmaster, Hahn is a supervisor for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, or South Shore Line.

"I also do operational testing in the field and monitor the trains," Hahn said. "You have to make sure everyone is following the rules because this is a rules-conscious environment."

How he got the job

Hahn applied at NICTD and got the job as train service collector.

"Basically, we are on board, and we collect the tickets from the passengers and make sure the people are behaving," Hahn said.

As a collector, he is in charge of giving the count to the conductor. After being a service collector, he went to a five-month training program to be an engineer.

"I ran trains for six years," he said. "I'm basically the person up front running the train. Yes, you are the person who runs the train and blows the whistles."

In 2016 Hahn was promoted to trainmaster, his current position. In the fall of 2015 there were openings, so he applied for the job.

"I am a supervisor now," he said. "We are involved with new hires, in terms of training, recertification, and you have to take refresher courses because your license is only good for three years."

Hahn also does operational testing in the field and monitors the trains. He's been with the company for 11 years. Before that he was a financial adviser.

As a trainmaster, Hahn has an office in Michigan City, but he does get out of his office and rides the train as a quality control measure at least once a year.

"We ride so that we can check on the engineer and see how they are doing," he said. "We have about 80 to 90 employees."

Hahn enjoys his job as trainmaster, but he also enjoyed running trains.

"There's something autonomous about it because you are on your own," he said. "You take care of business, and the job takes care of itself."

Job skills

"For trainmaster you really have to have good people skills and good organizational skills," Hahn said. "You are a supervisor, and you are dealing with people. The hardest thing about my job is supervising the people I've worked with for nine years."

But Hahn does enjoy getting out of the office and going out into the field.

Chad Parkhouse, of LaPorte, is also a trainmaster with NICTD and got his position the same time Hahn did.

"This is a very good job," he said. "It's very fulfilling, and being a trainmaster is just a different aspect of this job.

Parkhouse agreed with Hahn that good people skills are needed as well as a knowledge of trains.

"We are like the airlines in that we are a transportation for people and there are rules and regulations we have to follow," Parkhouse said.

Both agreed that more people are taking the trains, but ridership also varies according to the time of year and when the price of gas fluctuates.

Expected job growth

Employment of railroad workers is projected to decline 3 percent from now to 2024. Although demand for rail transportation may grow, an increase in productivity may hold back employment growth in rail occupations.
VALPARAISO  The Valparaiso police officers will once again wait tables at Kelseys Steak House on April 6 to raise money for the Gang Resistant Education and Training program.

The GREAT program is taught to all seventh graders yearly in all Valparaiso schools. The program is taught by School Resource Officer Terry Cox and designed to teach life skills.

Topics taught include the dangers of drugs, gangs and violence, the importance of setting goals in life, how bullying affects students, anger management tools and how to be a good citizen in our community.

This year officers will again be waiting tables to raise money. All proceeds raised will go directly to the GREAT program. Officers will wait tables from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on April 6 at the Kelseys Steak House on U.S. 30.
The Times Business & Industry Hall of Fame is 10 years old this year, and our luncheon again will be a signature event in the Region.

We will welcome Mitch Daniels, president of Purdue University and former governor of Indiana, as keynote speaker on May 16 at Avalon Manor in Merrillville.

Daniels received our Partner in Progress award in 2008 and spoke at the Hall of the Fame event. Its fitting that he returns in this big year for Purdue Northwest and the Region.

An outstanding group of Hall of Fame inductees will be honored, including a Region native who has made his mark in the wider world through both the reach of his business and the reach of his giving.

Munster native Joseph Mansueto is the founder of Morningstar Inc., which revolutionized the way people buy mutual funds with its straightforward star rating system. The company has grown into a leading provider of investment research on four continents, with Mansueto today serving as executive chairman.

His giving has been both global and local, including $25 million given by Mansueto and his wife, Rita, to help fund a new University of Chicago library and $1 million for merit awards for teachers at Munster schools.

This years Partner in Progress award, by contrast, goes to someone who could have the title Mr. Region.

Don Babcock works a day job as director of economic development for NIPSCO, and evenings find him contributing time and talent to any number of economic development organizations. He has been a true partner in progress, having a big hand in bringing companies like Alcoa Howmet, Hoist Liftruck and Pratt Industries to the Region.

Raymundo Garcia and Karen Maravilla are being inducted into the Hall of Fame as a team, a natural for a couple known for their promotion of downtown Hammond, both through their business interests and their non-stop activities on its behalf.

Through the years, they have worked tirelessly to serve everyone regardless of ethnic, political or economic status, carrying on the legacy of the Taco Real Restaurant started by Raymundo's parents 45 years ago.

Craig Dwight will join the Hall of Fame class for keeping his banking and his giving local. As president and CEO of Michigan City-based Horizon Bank, he has significantly expanded the bank's footprint and services while continuing to offer customers a full-service alternative to big national and international banks.

He has been campaign chairperson for major fundraisers with United Way, Boys & Girls Clubs and the Martin Luther King Center and participated in any other number of charitable endeavors.

High-tech often is touted as the future of the Region, but for Hall of Fame inductee Robert Johnson III the future already is here. He founded and helms Merrillville-based computer security provider CIMCOR, keeping clients' systems safe around the world with its proprietary CimTrak anti-hacking software.

He has served on a broad array of educational boards, including those of the Purdue Technology Center of Northwest Indiana and Purdue Alumni Calumet.

This year's Hall of Fame Enterprise of the Year is a business where things never seem to stop moving, whether it's the 600,000 tourists visiting it each year or the addition of new and innovative displays and attractions.

Fair Oaks Farms, an agri-tourism attraction and fully working farm in Jasper County, added a crop adventure in 2016 and laid the groundwork for $230 million in future projects, including a cheese factory and hotel.

In addition, it has partnered with Coca-Cola to distribute and market products, such as Fair Life ultra-filtered milk, nationwide.

Congratulations to all of the Hall of Fame inductees, who will be featured in an upcoming issue of IN Business magazine.

The 10th annual Business & Industry induction luncheon promises to be a great event at Avalon Manor on May 16. Tickets are $50, and corporate tables are available.

You can reserve your seats at www.nwi.com/halloffame or by contacting Debbie Reilly at (219) 933-3329 or debbie.reilly@nwi.com.

Farewell to a leader

Keith Benman started at The Times 15 years ago as a business reporter, and is in his third year of serving as business editor.

Hes done a fantastic job and has been here for the start of The Times Business & Industry Hall of Fame, our annual 20 under 40 event and IN Business magazine.

Weve been a voice for the business community, he said. Weve kept readers informed of trends in business, of consumer and pocketbook issues.

Benman will leave The Times next Friday as he and his family return to Upstate New York and begin a new chapter.

He leaves Northwest Indiana at a time of great potential after years of covering some issues that never went forward.

The biggest change I have seen is in the Regions ability to pull together on big projects, he said, mentioning the Gary/Chicago International Airport and the South Shore rail expansion. Its been a huge change. The RDA (Regional Development Authority) model facilitated a lot of it.

Benman has been a leader in increasing readership of our business news through a growing email newsletter and our popular nwi.com app with a distinct business channel. We invite you to sign up for the Business Briefing newsletter and others at nwi.com/email and to download our free app.

Please join me in wishing him well. He can be reached at keith.benman@nwi.com until Friday.

Thanks for reading us. Please contact me with any questions about The Times or our many publications.
It elicited a perfect union of otherwise conflicting emotions.

With a green barber cloth aproning his body, 4-year-old Landon Wagner giggled at the site of 7-year-old friend Logan Brkovic's head being reduced to baldness by salon stylist Julie Compton.

Landon's little laugh spread contagiously to Logan, who chuckled from behind a pair of rock-star-yellow sunglasses and then on to Compton as she drew hair clippers across Logan's scalp.

Yet through the laughter, which also affected a number of spectators watching the boys, it was hard to fight back tears in this moment of levity.

You see, Logan was having his head shaved in solidarity with Landon, who earlier in his young life didn't have much to laugh about.

Landon is a kidney cancer survivor, having been through a life-threatening disease and crippling treatments at an age when most of us rest and play with little or none of life's burdens.

On this particular Sunday earlier this month, Landon and Logan sat side by side in a Merrillville union hall as Compton and another hairdresser shaved their heads in the culmination of fundraising efforts for St. Baldrick's Foundation childhood cancer research.

They struck a most meaningful portrait of childhood cancer survival.

The boys were part of a St. Baldrick's head-shaving team that raised $5,271 at the annual event, sponsored by the NICK Foundation.

Their friendship, laughter and purpose should touch all of our hearts, but they certainly weren't alone in "braving the shave."

Dozens of Region residents raised funds this year and then submitted to head shearings at 12 St. Baldrick's events sponsored by organizations throughout Northwest Indiana.

As of Friday afternoon, those events collectively garnered $172,868 in proceeds that will be converted into research grants for fighting childhood cancer, one of the Region and nation's leading causes of child death.

They're collective efforts are an incredible example of accomplishment based on sacrifice, common purpose and an infusion of humorous fun.

I've written extensively about childhood cancers over the years, often focusing on Region families who lost sons and daughters to various strains of this horrible disease.

On March 12, I had the honor of having my head shaved, side-by-side with fathers, mothers, concerned citizens and childhood cancer survivors like Landon.

Generous Times readers, family and friends helped me raise $5,580 for the cause, likely making it one of the most expensive haircuts in recorded history. A special thank-you list attached to this column recognizes all of the donors to my specific effort.

Beyond the real hilarity of watching adults and children go bald for a cause was the realization that for every child cancer death I've chronicled, there are many more, just like Landon, who survived.

They did so on the steam of ever-improving cancer treatment, often funded with grant money of the sort St. Baldrick's provides.

Our Region can be proud of the earnest way in which so many Northwest Indiana residents volunteer, raise funds and go bald so more Landons of the world can survive to sit on a St. Baldrick's barber stool and giggle as a buddy rocks the bald.

Thanks to everyone who contributed a figurative brush to the effort of painting such a portrait.
An 11-year-old Upper West Side girl is safe after going missing over the weekend.

Police say Zoey Corez is in good health after returning home on Sunday afternoon.

Prior to her return, she was last seen leaving her home on Columbus Avenue shortly before 7:30 Friday morning.

Authorities said she had no mental health conditions, and that this was the first time she had gone missing.
State Sen. Tom Whatley is prepared to go to war over his bill to allow Opelika to expand its internet service.

The Auburn Republican has filed three bills in the Alabama Legislature that would allow Opelika Power Services (OPS), which is owned by the city, to operate its telecommunications service outside of Opelikas city limits.

This is a go-to-war bill to me, Whatley said.

Whatley said hes essentially focused on the one bill that limits OPS to Lee County. The other two bills would have allowed OPS to operate in the other counties that border Lee County.

A lot of people are against that bill, Whatley said. AT&T has hired 26 lobbyists to work against me on that bill. It really aggravates me because I have boiled one bill down to where it only allows Opelika to go into Lee County. It cuts out the other counties.

State Rep. Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn, has filed a similar bill in the Alabama House of Representatives.

I've figured if they've hired that many people to work against it, it must be a great bill, Lovvorn said at a town hall event Thursday in Smiths Station.

Lovvorn said he doesnt believe in big government, but citizens in Lee County are not being served.

If it doesn't make sense for a large corporation to go there, that's OK that's their choice, he said. But they don't have the right to tell, in my opinion with my bill, the city of Opelika they can't serve them either.

National attention

On top of lobbyists in Montgomery, the proposal has drawn attention from a national group, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.

The group, which says its a non-profit, non-partisan, has spoken out against municipal broadband along with other issues, such as ending congressional earmarks, postal reform, reducing government spending and having the U.S. withdraw from the Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits private actors from mining or settling celestial bodies like the Moon.

David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, said municipal broadband hasnt been able to compete with private industry and taxpayers end up with the bill for it.

It's costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars  billions when you add them all up  but they're not learning from their mistakes, Williams said. This isn't a core government function and let the private sector do it.

In Opelikas case, Williams said, the city hasnt used any taxpayer money but OPS customers are the citizens of Opelika.

If a private sector company fails, who cares, he said. It's their money, but if Opelika fails, then these electricity rate payers are on the hook for it.

Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller said he expects OPS to break even on the project in the next year.

It's a really tough education process because people go, 'Well a gig service is really cool. I want that, Williams said. But at what cost? As they drive down the road and hit the potholes they realize that government should be filling potholes and fixing the roads rather than in the cable television business or broadband business for that matter.

Fuller said Opelika began offering cable and internet services as a side benefit of upgrading its electric system to smart-grid technology, which is saving the system on electricity cost.

There is no competition if a person's not being served, Lovvorn said.

A local bill

For Whatley, the bill is a local bill.

In the Legislature, local bills are sent through a different process than normal bills and generally approved without debate if the local delegation from the affected area have approved.

I can't introduce it as a local bill because there's a general law that prohibits municipalities from going outside municipal limits, Whatley said. You have to do a general bill, which in this case has local applications.

If one senator objects to local bills, it could cause a slow-down in the Senate.

I'm going to have to take a lot harder look at all the local bills that are out there if this is deemed to not be a local bill, and I think that's only fair, Whatley said. I've heard other arguments, but I haven't found that made sense to me to where I wouldn't go to war on this bill.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan have introduced legislation to reform civil asset forfeiture, a practice by which law enforcement agencies seize the property and assets of individuals with minimal due process.

The practice has encouraged policing for profit, distorting the mission of police agencies toward revenue generation to the detriment of the property rights of Americans. Pauls and Walbergs bill should unite those concerned with upholding constitutional rights and justice more broadly.

The FAIR (Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration) Act, previously introduced by Paul in 2014, seeks to shore up the rights of Americans facing civil asset forfeiture proceedings and curb the perverse profit incentives which underline the practice.

The federal government has made it far too easy for government agencies to take and profit from the property of those who have not been convicted of a crime, said Paul. The FAIR Act will protect Americans Fifth Amendment rights from being infringed upon by ensuring that government agencies no longer profit from taking the property of U.S. citizens without due process.

Under current practices, federal agencies, often in partnership with state and local police departments, may seize a persons cash, home or vehicle simply upon the suspicion that such assets were connected to criminal activity. One need not even be charged or convicted of a crime to have personal assets permanently seized.

All the government needs to do is meet the relatively low standard of a preponderance of the evidence to prevail in court  while innocent owners have the burden of trying to prove their innocence and bearing the costs of legally opposing government authorities.

This has created a situation where the federal government has seized billions of dollars in assets under questionable circumstances. According to the Institute for Justice, from 2001 to 2014, the forfeiture funds of the Department of Justice and Treasury Department took in nearly $29 billion. This provides financial incentive to both federal agencies and state and local partners, who get a cut of the money through equitable sharing, to increasingly focus on cases with revenue-generating potential.

To ameliorate the litany of problems associated with civil asset forfeiture, the FAIR Act does a number of important things consistent with the values this nation was founded upon. Among other things, the FAIR Act removes the profit incentives involved by directing proceeds of federal civil asset forfeiture to the Treasurys General Fund to be used at the discretion of Congress, rather than federal agencies. Doing this also ends the practice of equitable sharing, thereby reducing the incentives of state and local law enforcement agencies to prioritize revenue-generation.

The current system disadvantages the innocent, who often lack the resources to take on the federal government. The FAIR Act seeks to restore the rights of innocent property owners, by requiring clear and convincing evidence of a persons guilt, rather than a mere preponderance of the evidence. The FAIR Act also provides indigent property owners counsel if they need it, no small issue considering the federal government has more than enough money and lawyers on hand to intimidate most Americans.

Civil asset forfeiture defies the very notion of limited, constitutionally restrained government. We encourage a bipartisan effort to rein in the abuses of civil asset forfeiture by working to pass the FAIR Act.
One of the least uplifting aspects of modern American politics is how the out-of-power party essentially roots for the country to flounder.

Sometimes, this subversion is expected, such as when a presidential nominee trying to unseat a White House incumbent describes conditions in the country as much worse than they are, while hoping in quiet desperation for bad economic news. Its a bipartisan impulse: to one degree or another Walter Mondale, Bob Dole, John Kerry, Mitt Romney  two Democrats, two Republicans  were guilty of indulging in it.

Less subtle is when partisans simply blurt it out: They want the newly installed president to fail. Rush Limbaugh expressed this sentiment about President Obama in 2009. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said early in Barack Obamas tenure that he aimed to help make him a one-term president.

Regarding Donald J. Trump, the Democratic Partys leadership and much of the liberal punditariat have made it clear they want him to be a no-term president. They wont confer on Trump the legitimacy of his Electoral College win. The cost of such hyper-partisanship is on full display with the Democrats disjointed opposition to Trumps Supreme Court nominee.

Who knew Trump could tap someone as impressive as Neil Gorsuch? Yes, Judge Gorsuchs name was on a roster of Trump-approved Supreme Court picks he released last year, but most liberals didnt think Trump could win. But he did win, and here we are, with Senate Democrats essentially saying that the advice and consent language in the Constitution allows them to deny Trump the ability to fill a Supreme Court vacancy.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the fiery Massachusetts populist, has described Gorsuch to liberal groups as corporate Americas flunky. Emulating Donald Trumps preferred method of communication, Warren cites a novel reason for opposing Gorsuchs confirmation. The FBI Director testified @realDonaldTrumps campaign is under investigation for collusion w/ Russia, she tweeted. Lifetime court appointments can wait.

Would this reasoning pass muster in an introductory class on logic? Consider: (a) Democrats emails are hacked, causing a fuss in the 2016 election; (b) Democrats blame Russians for the hacking, while denouncing Vladimir Putin; (c) Trump declines to disparage Putin; (d) after unexpectedly losing the election, Democrats call for investigation; (e) FBI confirms that it is looking for any links between TrumpWorld and Ruskies; (f) Democrats say, the FBI is investigating, so Trumps presidency should be put on hold.

Warren found a taker for this dubious rationale in the form of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. Theres a cloud now hanging over the head of the president, he said Tuesday. And while thats happening  to have a lifetime appointment made by this president seems very unseemly and there ought to be a delay.

This struck Republicans as disingenuous, considering that Democrats put that cloud of suspicion over Trumps head. Its like the old yarn of the young man convicted of killing his parents who begs the judge for mercy on the grounds hes an orphan.

Schumer also declared it the height of irony that Republicans held the Supreme Court vacancy open for nearly a year  blocking consideration of President Obamas nominee, Merrick Garland  while now pushing for a timely vote on Gorsuch. By Thursday, Schumer was promising a filibuster.

Schumer is a bright guy  high school valedictorian, Harvard undergraduate, Harvard Law School  but hes confused about the meaning of the word irony. Theres nothing ironic about what Senate Republicans have done with the Supreme Court vacancy caused by the sudden death of conservative icon Antonin Scalia. Cynical, maybe. Hardball politics, certainly. Maybe a very bad long-term precedent that will only worsen Washington gridlock and polarization in the country. But not ironic.

Perhaps the word Schumer was searching for was hypocrisy. The height of hypocrisy would be better applied to his side though. Last October, when he was Hillary Clintons running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine spoke confidently about how a Democratic-controlled Senate in 2017 would do away with the chambers 60-vote majority rule if thats what it took to get a ninth Supreme Court justice. Oops. Kaine is not vice president, and the Senate did not go Democratic. The so-called nuclear option that Kaine spoke about is now what Mitch McConnell is planning to use to shut down the Schumer filibuster and get Gorsuch confirmed.

In the meantime, Schumer and other Democrats have been openly disparaging Gorsuchs testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He helped us by being poor with his hearings, snarked Schumer. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, claimed to be troubled that Gorsuch wouldnt discuss legal issues that might come before the court, and Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii told Gorsuch that his confirmation hearings werent illuminating.

This wasnt the impression Republicans or nonpartisan journalists had after three days of hearings. They saw a poised, empathetic  and wicked smart  jurist on display. He was even handsome. Gorsuch displayed judicial temperament just by keeping his cool in the face of relentlessly hostile questioning. When a Democratic political aide-turned-law-student wrote the committee with an obviously garbled account of Gorsuchs remarks in a University of Colorado Law School ethics class, Sen. Dick Durbin sandbagged him with it anyway. Blumenthal kept trying to get Gorsuch to criticize Trump, the man who appointed him.

Although the Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats didnt lay a glove on him, the U.S. Supreme Court did. In a fortuitously timed (for Democrats) decision, the high court unanimously overturned Gorsuch in a case in which the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled against the family of an autistic student seeking reimbursement for private school education.

Gorsuchs response? After saying that as a judge he was bound by a previous ruling, he told the committee: If anyone is suggesting that I like a result where an autistic child happens to lose, thats a heartbreaking accusation to me. Heartbreaking. I was wrong because I was bound by circuit precedent, and Im sorry.

In the end, Gorsuchs impressive showing didnt sway anyone. This nomination hinges on two factors. The first is the polarization that drives our politics today. Left-wing activists guiding the Democratic Party today want his nomination defeated and Democratic senators cross the liberal base at their peril  just as Republicans in Congress fear grassroots right-wingers. The second factor is Merrick Garland. Running out the clock on his nomination sticks in Democrats craws, as it should. If you put these senators under sodium pentothal and made them tell you the truth, theyd admit it. This, they believe, is the GOPs original sin  and conservatives shouldnt be rewarded for it by getting their man on the high court.

If Republicans were being honest, theyd admit that Democrats have a right to be angry. Yet, theyd also say that their institutional memories go back further, to when Ted Kennedy attacked Ronald Reagan-era nominee Robert Bork viciously, killing his nomination. Alan Simpson, a Republican senator who liked Kennedy personally, warned Democrats it would come to this after Bork. Such scorched earth tactics would set the tone for future nomination battles, Simpson said. A precedent had been set that would jade us and gall us for years to come.

Carl M. Cannon is executive editor and Washington Bureau chief of RealClearPolitics.
When hackers associated with North Korea tried to break into Polish banks late last year, they left a trail of information about their apparent intentions to steal money from more than 100 organizations around the world, according to security researchers.

A list of Internet Protocol addresses, which was supplied by the security researchers and analyzed by The New York Times, showed that the hacking targets included institutions like the World Bank, the European Central Bank and big U.S. companies including Bank of America.

While some of the Polish banks took the hackers bait, the scheme was detected fairly quickly, and there is no evidence that any money was stolen from the intended targets. Yet security researchers said the hit list, found embedded in the code of the attack on more than 20 Polish banks, underlines how sophisticated the capabilities of North Korean hackers have become as their goals have turned financial, in addition to efforts to spread propaganda, heist data and disrupt government and news websites in countries considered enemies.

The list of targets, which has not been previously reported, is part of a growing body of evidence showing how North Korea, a country that is cut off from much of the global economy, is increasingly trying to use its cyberattack abilities to bring in cash  and making progressively bolder attempts to do so.

North Koreas hacking network is immense, encompassing a group of 1,700 hackers aided by more than 5,000 trainers, supervisors and others in supporting roles, South Korean officials estimate. Because of the countrys poor infrastructure, the hackers typically work abroad, in places like China, Southeast Asia and Europe. Like other North Koreans allowed to work abroad, the hackers are constantly monitored by minders for possible breaches in allegiance to the government.

The security firm Symantec said it believed that the hackers behind the Poland attack were also behind two other major breaches: the theft of $81 million from the central bank of Bangladesh and a 2014 attack on Sony Pictures, which rocked the film industry.

We found multiple links, which gave us reasonable confidence that its the same group behind Bangladesh as the Polish attacks, said Eric Chien, a researcher at Symantec, which studied both attacks.

The firm has not traced the attacks to a specific countrys government, but U.S. officials have blamed North Korea for the Sony attack, partly based on intelligence that came from U.S. breaches of North Koreas computer systems.

The list of targets uncovered in the Polish attack  including big U.S. financial institutions like State Street Bank and Trust and the Bank of New York Mellon  is illuminating for its ambition, Chien added. Its one thing to go after Bangladesh, he said, but its a whole other thing to take on the U.S.

U.S. prosecutors are investigating North Koreas possible role in the Bangladesh heist, according to a person briefed on the inquiry, who asked to remain anonymous because the details are confidential. And on Tuesday, Richard Ledgett, a deputy director of the National Security Agency, said that research linked the Sony Pictures attack to the Bangladesh heist. He also affirmed that he believed nation states were now robbing banks.

All of this represents a troubling new front in cyberwarfare, Ledgett said at an event sponsored by the Aspen Institute. That is a big deal, he said.

North Korea has denied involvement in the attacks on Sony and others, instead accusing South Korea of disrupting its websites. North Koreas population is cut off from the internet except for a handful of state-run sites filled with propaganda.

The Polish episode provides a case study of how North Korean cyberattack goals have escalated.

The attack began around October when the hackers planted a virus on the website of the Polish financial regulator  then waited for banks to inadvertently download it when they visited the site.

The perpetrators used what is called a watering-hole attack  named after the way predators ambush prey by lazing around a high-traffic spot  to go after the banks; in this case, the watering hole was the financial regulators website. When the visitors on the list landed on the page, they would be redirected to software that would attempt to download malware. The list of targets extended beyond Poland, investigators said, because the group intended to carry out similar attacks elsewhere.

This was a global list, but they hadnt gotten around to making a watering hole for all these country banks, Chien said, adding that the hackers appeared to have created watering hole sites in Mexico and Uruguay, too. Symantec said it had blocked 14 attacks against computers in Mexico and 11 in Uruguay.

The fact that the hackers were able to attack a specific site showed that their capabilities had improved, Chien said. The group also used its own modifications of code and exploits more broadly shared by cybercriminals, whereas before it had mostly built its own tools  another indication of evolution.

While Polish banks were the most numerous targets, the second-largest number was in the United States, including the U.S. arm of Deutsche Bank. CoBank, which lends to agriculture and rural projects, was targeted, too. The central banks of Russia, Venezuela, Mexico, Chile and the Czech Republic were on the list. The only target associated with China: branches of the Bank of China in Hong Kong and the United States.

North Korea has been carefully cultivating its cyberattack capabilities since the early 1990s, according to South Korean officials. Generally, the country selects young computer prodigies and trains them as hackers, according to people who have attended the South Korean governments discussions of the Norths hacking operations. South Korean cybersecurity officials began detecting attacks attributed to North Korean hackers around 2009.

Working overseas is a huge incentive for young hackers, since many North Koreans have little chance to leave their impoverished, isolated country. As long as the hackers meet their government-set targets, they are allowed to live abroad and often get the added perk of running illegal gambling sites online, generating profits they can share with supervisors.

While North Korea lags developed countries in hacking capabilities, it has occasionally startled observers in South Korea. In 2011, investigators found that a South Korean bank had been hit by malware when an infected computer used by a maintenance-company employee was briefly hooked into the banks server network.

South Korean hackers who forensically analyzed the attack were impressed not so much by the malware, but by the fact that North Korean hackers had been so constantly on alert, apparently for hours or days on end, waiting for the short window during which the infected computer was connected to the banks servers so that they could activate the virus.

While the Pentagon has recently warned that North Koreas hacking abilities could be a cost-effective way of conducting military operations, the attacks on banks show the countrys more prosaic goal of getting money.

In the past, North Korean hackers usually attacked government websites with the goal of destroying systems and triggering social confusion, said Kim Seung-Joo, a professor at the Graduate School of Information Security at Korea University in Seoul, who is an adviser for the South Korean governments cybersecurity division.

Now they have shifted to making money, attacking banks and private companies, apparently because the Norths other means of raising foreign currency are increasingly blocked under United Nations sanctions, Kim said.

North Korean hackers have also begun using ransomware  viruses that encrypt all data in an infected computer or smartphone  to make money. The hackers demand a ransom, usually in bitcoin, in return for providing victims with a decryption code.

In July, South Korean police said North Koreas main intelligence agency had stolen the personal data of more than 10 million customers of Interpark, an online shopping mall in South Korea. Interpark did not learn about the breach until it received an anonymous message threatening to publicize the leak of personal data unless it paid the equivalent of $2.7 million in bitcoin.

South Korea attributed the attack to hackers belonging to North Koreas Reconnaissance General Bureau, its main spy agency.

In the end, no bitcoin changed hands. Instead of paying the ransom, Interpark reported the attack to police.
The more they delay, the more we all pay

Re: State needs transportation reform and better priorities, not tax increases, to fix infrastructure, [Opinion, March 12]: The Registers editorial made the excellent point that California motorists pay a fortune driving on roads in desperate disrepair. It also highlighted that this problem cant  and wont  be fixed without major reforms to hold the state accountable for managing transportation funds.

Orange County Business Council, along with a 200-member coalition comprised of other business groups, local governments and transportation advocates, couldnt agree more. The mismanagement of Californias precious and scarce transportation resources cannot be ignored, and reforms to the spending process are absolutely necessary.

Thats why our coalition supports legislation which would enact strong accountability measures to ensure that our dollars are spent efficiently, while also providing long-term funding for transportation through a combination of moderate fees and gas taxes of a few dollars a month. In the end, moderate increases will reduce costs for motorists in California who pay almost $800 annually in repairs to their vehicles from driving on bad roads, which pencils out to over $60 per month.

No matter what party, everyone agrees that the rain check on repairing Californias roads has been cashed, literally. Bad roads became even worse with the recent winter storms. Cracks turned into potholes, sinkholes swallowed cars, roads washed out, and a fire truck even fell over the side of a failing bridge in San Bernardino County. And these roads arent just a massive inconvenience for drivers or a safety issue, which should be reasons enough to fix our roads. Ignoring the problem is also costing us a lot of money. In addition to vehicle repairs, it also costs eight times more money to replace a road than to perform routine maintenance.

Unfortunately, Californias infrastructure situation is too dire for the problem to be fixed with accountability reforms alone, as the administration estimates that there is $57 billion worth of deferred maintenance transportation needs. The time has come for the Legislature to step up and urgently pass a transportation funding package before it recesses on April 6 to address the billions in backlogged maintenance and the more than $600 million in damage due to winter storms.

The new revenues will help make road safety improvements, fill potholes and repair local streets, highways, bridges and overpasses, raising at least $6 billion, when fully phased in, which is exactly what is needed to make a dent in the maintenance backlog.

We support a bill that would give more independence to the California Transportation Commission and establish oversight audits to improve efficiency and increase transparency, coupled with strong accountability provisions that cut bureaucratic redundancies and ensure transportation funds are spent efficiently and for transportation projects only.

Legislators must act quickly to pass a transportation funding package to prevent further deterioration of our network  and further deterioration of our cars from driving on pothole-filled roads.

We all pay the more they delay.

 Bryan Starr, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, Orange County Business Council

Free assembly?

Re: Pro-Trump march in Huntington Beach expected to draw thousands [News, March 24]: So Bryan Lopez wants to create a human wall to prevent the pro-Trump rally. Is that because he does not understand that we have a Constitution that guarantees the right to assemble and speak?

Thanks for the warning but we have had enough community organizers.

 John Ziebarth, Fountain Valley

Bad move, OCC

Re: OCC honors anti-Trump instructor, but she passes [News, March 23]: OCC has made an egregious error in honoring Ms. Cox. Her vitriolic classroom attack on President Trump, and those who agree with many of his positions, is well known. To honor her could open the door to any other excellent instructor at OCC to spew vitriol and intimidation in their classroom against any person or group they feel strongly against without fear of condemnation. But would they be honored if they did the same for former President Obama and his supporters?

If Ms. Cox had acknowledged that her outburst was in error, this issue would have been forgotten by now, since we all have done many things that we regret. Unfortunately, she has not, and even more unfortunately, neither has her employer.

 Tom Wright, Fountain Valley

Pot meet kettle

Re: Police review board needed in Santa Ana [Opinion, March 24]: The Register has been at the forefront of demanding an easing of criminal standards by turning felonies into misdemeanors, releasing hardened criminals from prison early and a plethora of other ways, all of which reduce public saftety.

Now the Register is getting a taste of its own medicine in regard to the Officer Sontag case in Santa Ana. The call for a review board would make no difference in this case, since a judges ruling would overturn a review board termination just as quickly as it did Santa Anas proper firing of an officer that violated his oath to serve and protect his community.

It seems the Register has been hoisted on its own petard.

 Harald G. Martin, Anaheim

Gun control fraud

Re: Attack strikes at heart of London [News, March 23]: How ironic that your article, written by the New York Times, included the gratuitous political statement, Political violence is relatively rare in Britain, where gun ownership is severely restricted. Did your editors realize that this London attack was with a car and a knife? Did you report that the murdered policeman had no gun and was unable to defend himself? The murderous rampage only stopped when a good guy with a gun put an end to it.

Gun control is a fraud because it only affects law-abiding people who want to defend themselves. Whats next? Knife control? Car control?

 Samuel Maxwell,

Fullerton

Nation of laws

Re: Diocese of Orange warns parishes: Be ready for ICE [News, March 24]: It is well documented that we have sanctuary cities in the United States, with California leading the nation in having the most. The 14th Amendment lays out the point when it talks about All persons born or naturalized in the United States, but then continues on, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law. Are we speaking of the rights of citizens as previously stated, or does the meaning include people who have crossed our borders illegally and made their residence here?

Do churches or any religious organizations have the right to promote a doctrine of open arms to all, including those here illegally, by offering a list of tips, as the Roman Catholic Church has done, on how to prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from entering church grounds and having lawyers at the ready to forestall the arrest of those the church feels it needs to protect? In its list of information on ICE, it specifies what to do and how to defy agents if they come knocking on your door.

We are a nation of laws designed for the citizens of the country. We try to be fair and impartial in dealing with the freedoms that our Constitution provides, but how far do we go when religious entities defy those laws? We can all understand the need for religion, and for the openness of the church in welcoming all to hear His words and be in the presence of God, but to what extent do such institutions have the right to obviate those laws they feel are in opposition to their all-encompassing, welcoming nature?

 Barry Wasserman, Huntington Beach

Take care of North Korea

Re: U.S., South Korea say North Koreas latest missile test fails [News, March 23]: North Koreas people are starving and Kim Jong Un is building and shooting off missiles. His officers are jumping with glee because they are afraid of having their heads cut off. What a life! Something has to be done before one of these missiles hits us!

 Martha McCarthy, Lake Forest
DENVER  Colorado is considering an unusual strategy to protect its nascent marijuana industry from a potential federal crackdown, even at the expense of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax collections.

A bill pending in the Legislature would allow pot growers and retailers to reclassify their recreational pot as medical pot if a change in federal law or enforcement occurs.

Its the boldest attempt yet by a U.S. marijuana state to avoid federal intervention in its weed market.

The bill would allow Colorados 500 or so licensed recreational pot growers to instantly reclassify their weed. A switch would cost the state more than $100 million a year because Colorado taxes medical pot much more lightly than recreational weed  2.9 percent versus 17.9 percent.

The measure says licensed growers could immediately become medical licensees based on a business need due to a change in local, state or federal law or enforcement policy. The change wouldnt take recreational marijuana off the books, but it wouldnt entirely safeguard it either. What it could do is help growers protect their inventory in case federal authorities start seizing recreational pot.

The provision is getting a lot of attention in the marijuana industry following recent comments from members of President Donald Trumps administration. White House spokesman Sean Spicer has said theres a big difference between medical and recreational pot.

Sponsors of the bill call it a possible exit strategy for the new pot industry. Its hard to say how many businesses would be affected, or if medical pot would flood the market, because some businesses hold licenses to both grow and sell marijuana in Colorado.

The state had about 827,000 marijuana plants growing in the retail system in June, the latest available data. More than half were for the recreational market.

If there is a change in federal law, then I think all of our businesses want to stay in business somehow. Theyve made major investments, said Sen. Tim Neville, a suburban Denver Republican who sponsored the bill.

If federal authorities start seizing recreational pot, Colorados recreational marijuana entrepreneurs need to be able to convert that product into the medical side so they can sell it, Neville said.

His bill passed a committee in the Republican Senate 4-1 last week.

But its unclear whether the measure could pass the full Colorado Senate or the Democratic House. Skeptics of the proposal doubt the classification change would do much more than cost Colorado tax money.

Its a big deal for our taxation system because this money has been coming in and has been set aside for this, that and the other, said Sen. Lois Court, a Denver Democrat who voted against the bill.

Schools would be the first casualty of a tax change. Colorado sends $40 million a year to a school-construction fund from excise taxes on recreational pot. Its a tax that doesnt exist for medical pot.

Other items funded by recreational pot in Colorado include training for police in identifying stoned drivers, a public-education campaign aimed at reducing teen marijuana use, and an array of medical studies on marijuanas effectiveness treating ailments such as seizures or post-traumatic stress disorder.

The proposal comes amid mixed signals from the federal government on how the Trump administration plans to treat states that arent enforcing federal drug law.

Spicer said the president understands the pain and suffering many people, especially those with terminal diseases, endure and the comfort that some of these drugs, including medical marijuana, can bring to them.

But Attorney General Jeff Sessions has voiced doubts about pots medical value.

Medical marijuana has been hyped, maybe too much, Sessions said in a speech to law enforcement agencies in Richmond, Virginia.

Marijuana activists say giving the industry an option to keep their inventory legal is a valuable idea for recreational pot states. They point out that a change in federal policy wouldnt make the drug magically disappear from the eight states that allow recreational use, along with Washington, D.C.

It would be very harmful to the state if it reverts back entirely to an underground market, said Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization activist group.

If the bill becomes law, Colorado would be the first pot state to take action to protect producers from a federal drug crackdown, marijuana analysts said.

A bill pending in the Oregon Legislature aims to shield the names and other personal information of pot buyers by making it illegal for shops to keep an internal log of customers personal data, a practice that is already banned or discouraged in Colorado, Alaska and Washington state.

Other states such as California are considering proposals that would bar local and state law enforcement from cooperating with federal authorities on investigations into cannabis operations that are legal in their jurisdictions.

Meanwhile, members of Congress from some pot states have talked about trying to block federal intervention in marijuana states. Congress could reclassify marijuana so medical use is allowed, or it could try to block federal enforcement of marijuana prohibition through the federal budget.

But the proposed Colorado change may be a longshot effort.

Medical and recreational pot are the same product. The only difference between them is how they are used, and the U.S. Controlled Substances Act says marijuana has no valid medical use. Federal health regulators have rejected repeated attempts to carve out a legal place for marijuana use by sick people.

Sponsors concede there are no promises that reclassifying all that pot as medicine would stop a federal crackdown.

But they say Colorado shouldnt sit idly by and wait to see if the Trump administration starts enforcing federal drug law by attacking businesses that are legal under state law.

This bill allows the industry to know there is something after tomorrow, whatever tomorrow may bring, Neville said.
There is now a wealth of evidence that public charter schools, private schools and other school choice policies tend to improve educational outcomes, but a new study shows that they can have economic and community revitalization benefits as well.

The study from EdChoice, a nonprofit school choice organization, examined family relocation decisions for those with children who have attended the Orange County School of the Arts, a public charter school in Santa Ana with a strong extracurricular emphasis in a variety of artistic fields, including music, theater, dance, visual arts, creative writing, digital media, film and television, and culinary arts. The school has an enrollment of more than 2,100 students in grades 7-12.

The researchers found that students families were substantially more likely to move closer to the school, and that those who already lived close by were reluctant to move away. The effect was very similar to that of employees who move to be closer to workplaces, they noted. In addition, since student enrollment in public charters and private schools is not bound by strict geographic boundaries, they are probably more like colleges in the way they impact their surrounding communities, the study concluded.

When families are buying a home, one of the first questions they always ask is how are the schools? The perceived quality of public education in a neighborhood has historically been a huge factor in relocation. Good schools drive up property values, making it harder for lower-income families to access them, EdChoice President and CEO Robert Enlow said in a statement.

This case study shows that a quality choice school  one where students can attend from anywhere  actually attracted new families to a once-blighted community and helped spur urban renewal. Whats happened in Santa Ana could be a roadmap for other cities looking to revitalize neighborhoods and drive economic development, Enlow added.

This is particularly true for OCSA because its numerous after-school arts performances and events bring friends and family into the vicinity, where they dine and shop, but other charters could have a similar stimulative effect. Since quality schools are such a magnet, this is all the more reason to encourage school choice.
DECATUR -- While nonprofit hospitals in Illinois didnt get a conclusion to their fight to remain property tax exempt, Thursdays Illinois Supreme Court ruling did allow facilities such as Decatur Memorial Hospital and HSHS St. Marys to avoid being taxed, for now.

The Illinois Supreme Court vacated an appellate courts ruling that had found a state law allowing nonprofit hospitals to avoid paying property taxes in certain cases was unconstitutional.

HSHS St. Marys Hospital marketing specialist Andrew Dilbeck said St. Marys had no comment, deferring to the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHHA), which was pleased with the ruling.

We obviously disagree with the appellate courts opinion that it was unconstitutional, Illinois Health and Hospital Association General Counsel Mark Deaton said. Taxing charitable hospitals isnt in the best interest of the communities and patients they serve. It would divert scarce resources away from those who need it.

DMH was similarly pleased with the ruling.

"DMH is pleased with the recent Supreme Court decision regarding tax-exempt status of not-for-profit hospitals. DMH provides a significant amount of charity care, and the loss of its tax-exempt status would severely limit its ability to continue to do that," said Katie Anderson, DMH vice president of legal affairs and corporate compliance.

"Allowing qualifying not-for-profit hospitals to have tax-exempt status enables them to provide the level of service that patients have come to expect from community hospitals, and better serve their communities," she added.

The case that ended up in the Supreme Court started in 2012, when Carle took the city of Urbana and other local taxing districts to court seeking relief from taxes from 2004 to 2011.

Carle initiated this legal action to preserve its ability to meet the health care needs of the community on behalf of our patients in the region and those served by all not-for-profit hospitals in the state, Carle spokeswoman Laura Mabry said in a statement.

The lower court sided with the hospital, but the appeals court reversed that decision, saying the Illinois Constitution allows lawmakers to exempt only property used exclusively for charitable purposes.

The current law allows nonprofit hospitals to avoid property taxes if the value of their charitable services matches or exceeds their estimated tax liability. Mabry said in 2015 34,000 people received free medically necessary care at Carle that totaled $30.6 million at cost.

These community benefits far outweigh the estimated property tax amounts, Mabry said.

In the Supreme Court ruling, the justices agreed the Illinois 4th District Appellate Court lacked jurisdiction. The case was remanded to the trial court it started in for reconsideration.

The Supreme Court didnt rule on whether the tax-exempt status was constitutional. The IHHA and Carle would like to see the Supreme Court eventually weigh in on the subject. Another case -- the Oswald Case in Cook County -- was decided by the lower court in favor of the hospitals and is on its way to appellate court and possibly the Supreme Court.

While Carle, along with all Illinois hospitals, would like this important issue resolved, we respect the courts decision to rule on a procedural matter and to not issue an opinion on the constitutionality of the 2012 law at this time, Mabry said. It is critical that the standards for property tax exemptions and charity care are defined for all Illinois hospitals. There has been a great deal of confusion both for hospitals providing charity care and for municipalities attempting to collect property taxes from not-for-profit hospitals.

After the appellate court ruling in 2016, Macon County Supervisor of Assessments Josh Tanner noted the hospitals have been traditionally exempt, so there is no way to know how much tax revenue Decaturs two hospitals might incur.

In 2016, Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing said the city had lost 11 percent of its assessed tax value since 2012 when Carle was relieved of paying $6.5 million a year in property taxes, the vast majority of which went to Urbana and its school district. It was the largest taxpayer in the city.
For more than 20 years, volunteers across Nebraska have been working behind the scenes to create a new kind of community pride and belief in the future of our hometowns. Working through Nebraska Community Foundation, people from all walks of life are investing in the good life in greater Nebraska.

Nebraska Community Foundation is pleased to provide support for this series of columns celebrating Nebraskas intriguing places and fascinating foods. These stories, written by Omaha World-Herald journalists Matthew Hansen and Sarah Baker Hansen, encourage us to experience more of what makes Nebraska unique.

Here at Nebraska Community Foundation, we have discovered unique qualities and often hidden assets that have enriched quality of life in more than 250 hometowns. Every hometown in Nebraska has local assets. They may be obvious  like our great schools.

They also may be obscure or surprising. The local grocer is an accomplished artist. The kid who acted out as a teenager is now stepping up to serve on the village board. A bachelor farmer from Verdigre, who never wore a suit in his life (or in death!) and didnt believe in charity, leaves millions to two communities because theyre serious about growing and thriving. Nebraska has an abundance of surprising possibilities and homegrown assets. Nebraska Community Foundation works with groups of committed citizens to identify and build on their assets, whether they represent financial capital or human capital.

It is true that Nebraska Community Foundation is in the business of helping volunteers raise local charitable dollars and build permanent endowments to sustain community vitality. It is true that we help generous donors give back during their lifetimes and make significant gifts through their legacy.

Our real business, however, is more about people than money. The underlying motive for all our work is to help community leaders discover what is already in place that holds value for young families today, and what they can do to make their community even more attractive to a growing number of people who, in the 21st century, can choose to live wherever they want.

Today, the economic development question is not one of jobs. The better question is: Why here? Why do I want to live, work and raise my family in this community? People attraction is now the community economic development priority for building a prosperous future for Nebraska.

Working in partnership with volunteer leaders of more than 220 affiliated funds located throughout the state, Nebraska Community Foundation has reinvested more than $264 million and has unleashed the talent and resources in our people and our places. We are firm in our belief that everything we need is right where we are.

In Red Cloud, our focus is on heritage tourism industry (thanks to American novelist Willa Cathers deep connection to the community) and early childhood development  two driving forces behind people attraction and economic development.

In Ord, philanthropic support for the arts, entrepreneurship and leadership development is creating a vibrant culture.

In Hebron, farmers and ranchers are helping the school provide locally sourced meat, fruits and vegetables.

In the tiny town of Shickley, there are more than 40 active businesses and over 65% of households in the school district have made a gift to their communitys unrestricted endowment.

In Albion, volunteers of our affiliated fund are leading the way in a public-private partnership for high-quality after-school opportunities.

In Ogallala, workforce endeavors, fueled by philanthropy, are helping to recruit skilled workers to Keith County.

In the coming weeks and months, we look forward to sharing stories that will shine a light on what it means to be living in our hometowns. Its no secret these stories of success and generosity deserve to be told.

For more on the Nebraska Community Foundation, visit nebcommfound.org.
LINCOLN  Some front-line workers in Nebraska prisons blame soft treatment of unruly inmates and persistent staff turnover for recent disturbances at the Tecumseh State Prison and an increase in staff assaults.

Interviews with six corrections officers showed mounting frustrations over new disciplinary rules and what they see as inadequate attempts to address staff shortages, excessive overtime and pay issues.

In recent months the department has changed its policies on sending inmates to solitary confinement, or the hole, when they misbehave or lash out.

One form of solitary, called disciplinary segregation, was discontinued in July. Alternatives are now used, such as revoking television privileges or taking away good time reductions in a sentence.

But some staffers complained the changes were rushed and poorly implemented and are perceived as reducing consequences for bad behavior.

The officers interviewed said that recent salary improvements were not substantial enough and that staff remain vulnerable to injury because of worker shortages and frequent demands to work overtime hours.

Four inmates have died in two uprisings over the past two years at the Tecumseh prison, and officers expressed worry about their fellow employees.

Someone (on staff) at Tecumseh is going to get killed, said Bob McAlevy, a sergeant at the womens prison in York, who served on a union bargaining team at Tecumseh. The department has always said money wont solve the problem, but if youre not paying enough (to keep employees), you need to spend the money.

Corrections Director Scott Frakes, in an email response Friday, disputed a softening of discipline, though hes aware staff are dissatisfied with the changes in solitary confinement rules.

Research has shown that, in addition to being more costly, solitary confinement can result in emotional damage to inmates and can make them more dangerous upon their release within the institution or back into the community.

Frakes said the state launched reforms last year because of research showing that locking away inmates for up to 23 hours a day does not produce positive changes to behavior, or reduce violence.

About the same number of inmates remain in solitary confinement today, Frakes said, and now the inmates get rehabilitation programming.

High-risk inmates are still placed in a restrictive housing setting to ensure the safety of staff, inmates and visitors, and the security of the facility, he said.

The new solitary confinement rules generally restrict and reduce the amount of time an inmate can be placed there, and make it a punishment of last resort. The focus of restrictive housing has shifted to addressing security threats and to confining inmates who pose a threat to themselves or others.

The reforms are part of a national movement to reduce the use of segregation. In Nebraska they were prompted in large part by the case of Nikko Jenkins, a mentally troubled inmate who spent years in solitary confinement and who, shortly after his 2013 release, killed four people in Omaha. The Nebraska Legislature passed a bill in 2015 to further the reforms.

While most of the corrections officers interview by The World-Herald said that reform of solitary confinement was needed, they said the changes were undertaken too quickly and without adequate staff and alternative punishments in place.

Those interviewed spoke on the condition they not be named, for fear of losing their jobs. Only state union officials agreed to be identified.

One veteran officer at Tecumseh said inmates used to spend up to two weeks in segregation for swearing at or threatening staff. Now they often get an admonition and are sent back to their cells. Assaulting a staff member used to result in several months in solitary, the officer said, but now an inmate can be out in two or three weeks.

Inmates know there are no consequences, said the veteran officer, who works at the Lincoln Correctional Center. 2016  thats the year they lost control of the prisons.

The State Legislatures new watchdog on prisons, Inspector General Doug Koebernick, said the changes in use of solitary confinement were poorly communicated to employees, on top of putting more strain on a staff already stretched thin.

Inmates still get punished, and using solitary for minor offenses has rightly ended, he said, but a new tier of punishments was not in place when the changes took effect.

Our guys feel that inmates are being babied quite often, said Mike Marvin, the head of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees, the union that represents corrections officers.

Frakes said that now when an inmate breaks the rules the agency takes away good time reductions in sentences and privileges such as the use of a television.

Evidence has shown that the swiftness and certainty of sanctions have more of an impact than the severity of the sanctions, he said.

But another corrections officer from the Lincoln Correctional Center said one alternative punishment  confining an inmate to his cell  isnt much of a penalty because inmates can watch television and eat snacks in their cells.

He and others said that some officers have stopped writing up minor offenses by inmates, such as hanging blankets or sticking posters on the walls of their cells.

The Tecumseh officer said inmates are now more willing to act out or punch an officer because they sense there are fewer consequences.

Were rewarding bad behavior. Youre seeing it every day in the news, he said. If an inmate wants to attack us, theyre going to.

Assaults on corrections staff nearly tripled from 2013 to 2016, to 224 last year.

Nine corrections employees were injured and sent to the hospital after an August disturbance at the Lincoln Correctional Center. That came two months after two inmates escaped from the center by hiding in laundry carts.

At the Tecumseh prison, staff were injured and trapped, two housing units were vandalized and burned, and two inmates were found dead following a Mothers Day 2015 riot.

Earlier this month 40 inmates at the Tecumseh prison refused orders to return to their cells, then started fires after staff retreated for their safety. Two inmates were killed.

Less than two weeks later, four staffers at Tecumseh were injured in a confrontation with inmates in the same housing unit.

Gov. Pete Ricketts, who hired Frakes two years ago, has stood by his director and his management decisions, saying he is the right man with the right plan.

The governor has said the Department of Correctional Services was neglected for a decade and it will take time to turn that around. While other state agencies are cutting back because of a state budget crunch, the corrections department has been prioritized for funding. Ricketts is seeking a $20 million funding increase to finance an additional 165 full-time staff positions and add programs for inmates.

Weve got sufficient money to hire more people  but cant fill the jobs, the governor said in a recent interview. Part of the challenge is being able to change the system so we can retain those people.

Though many of the corrections officers interviewed agreed about the long-term neglect of the agency, they almost universally said they havent seen significant improvements in the past two years.

There was hope when Frakes was hired that wages would be increased so state prisons could provide salaries similar to those offered by the Lancaster and Douglas County Jails, but that hasnt happened, they said.

McAlevy, who was on the union negotiating team at Tecumseh, said the union asked for a $2- to $3-an-hour across-the-board increase at that facility, but the offer was rejected. Other states, he said, have provided higher wages at remote, rural prisons like Tecumseh to address staffing problems.

The state is advertising starting pay for corrections officers of $16.58 per hour, compared with $17.35 per hour for employees at the Douglas County Correctional Center and $18.30 per hour at Lancaster Countys correctional facility.

The department recently launched a new strategy: hiring new corrections officers at the higher rank of corporal, which provides a higher starting salary, $17.98 per hour.

But two of the corrections officers interviewed criticized the move, saying it gave higher rank, and pay, to greenhorns who dont yet have the experience to handle often difficult inmates.

A better strategy, they said, would be to pay officers a higher salary, and then reward employees with raises based on years of service or performance.

Frakes said that the department did make headway on salaries last year and that employee engagement is the key to retaining staff.

Front-line prison security staff received midyear salary hikes of between 4.5 percent and 6 percent and $500 bonuses.

Frakes said several retention-improvement strategies also have been launched, including better training, wellness centers and a leadership academy.

Turnover among protective services staff has dropped by 15 percent over the past five months compared with a similar period in 2016, Frakes said.

Overall, turnover at corrections has dropped from 32 percent to 26 percent in recent months, and 54 new employees entered the departments training academy on Monday.

Retention is one of our greatest challenges, he said. We have much more work to do, but we are on the right path.

State Sen. Kate Bolz of Lincoln has been working with several corrections officers on legislative remedies.

One of her proposals, Legislative Bill 245, would limit overtime for protective service workers to 32 hours in a two-week period.

Under LB 243, also introduced by Bolz, administrators of state institutions would be required to inform staff members who have been assaulted of any disciplinary action taken against the assailant. The administrator would be required to alert a county attorney, who would be required to report his or her decision on whether to file charges.

That bill also includes an amendment to require quarterly reports on the numbers of assaults on corrections staff.

Neither bill has been prioritized, and only LB 243 has advanced to debate by the full Legislature. But Bolz said she hopes that bill could be passed this year.

Bolz said she has fielded complaints about the changes in inmate discipline, but one complaint she hears from every corrections employee is the shortage of staff, especially the loss of experienced officers.

Were relying on employees who are working extraordinary hours, the senator said. That can have an impact on the safety of the employees and the institution as a whole.

World-Herald staff writers Joe Duggan and Emily Nohr contributed to this report.
What has eight legs, climbs trees and helps Omaha kids spot fake news?

The amazing Pacific Northwest tree octopus, of course.

Pam Rasmussen, librarian at St. Geralds School, teaches a lesson on the rare cephalopod. A website describes how the unusually intelligent creature inhabits the rainy forests of the Olympic Peninsula.

Truth be told, however, the creatures closest relatives are fairies and mermaids.

The website is pure fiction.

Its quite a site, Rasmussen said.

The lessons goal is simple: Just because somethings written down doesnt mean its true.

With fake news grabbing real headlines these days, educators are feeling greater urgency to teach what they call media literacy: the ability of students to gather, analyze, evaluate and produce media messages.

Fake news became a household term after the presidential election, when some Hillary Clinton supporters said that false stories on social media tipped voters against her. President Donald Trump has fanned the flames by accusing the New York Times, CNN and other major news outlets of spreading fake news for publishing stories he considers false and biased.

I think its a challenging time for young people to enter the political arena, for sure, said Heidi Reinhart, chair of the history department at Omahas Duchesne Academy. And I think were looking at teaching these skills more explicitly and making sure that they are going across the curriculum, whether its science classes, theology classes, history classes. ... We really want to create critical thinkers.

People assume that because young people are fluent in the mechanics of social media they are equally savvy about content.

Researchers with the Stanford History Education Group found the opposite. When it comes to evaluating information that flows through social media channels, young people are easily duped, according to a Nov. 22 report on their findings.

The group tested the Internet savvy of students in middle school, high school and college in 12 states.

We were surprised at how poorly kids did, said Joel Breakstone, who directs the group, a program of the graduate school of education at Stanford University.

Middle school students had trouble distinguishing between real news stories and an ad that looked like a news story on an online magazine site.

High school students were presented with a photograph on Imgur, a photo-sharing website. The photo purported to be misshapen daisy flowers, the result of nuclear birth defects from growing near Japans Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Nearly 40 percent of students argued that the photo provided strong evidence about conditions near the power plant, but fewer than 20 percent questioned its source.

College students were shown a tweet about gun owner support for background checks. Fewer than a third of students explained how the veracity of the tweet might be influenced by the source, which was the liberal advocacy group Center for American Progress.

In a blunt conclusion in their report  Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning  researchers wrote that democracy is threatened by the ease at which disinformation about civic issues is allowed to spread and flourish.

Fake news is not new. But today, information  real and fake  spreads quickly on social media.

According to various website estimates, Facebook has between 150 million and 191 million U.S. users. Thats about one in two Americans.

The Pew Research Center published a report last year that found two-thirds of millennials reported getting their news on Facebook. Their second news choice was CNN.

There have been moves from Facebook and Google to flag fraudulent content and control its spread. But, Breakstone said, no algorithm is a one-shot fix.

Short of clamping down on the purveyors of false and misleading information, which treads on free speech, school officials have been trying to educate kids to be wise media consumers.

Christina Gilmore and Simone Davis, students at Omaha Central High School, said they believe they do a pretty good job spotting the fake stuff.

Davis, a junior, said shes definitely seen news and information she thought was fake.

On Twitter theres some outrageous headlines or click bait, she said. Youre sure that its fake. Some of its disguised so youre not completely sure.

Gilmore, a sophomore, said she doesnt use Facebook but gets news on Twitter. She said outrageous news is easy to spot.

I feel there probably are news stories out there that look pretty accurate but turn out to not be true, just different political rumors and things like that you see on Twitter, she said. I dont know if we always catch if theyre real or fake.

Both girls said theyve received instruction in school on checking sources reliability. They said they get suspicious when a news outlet theyve never heard of reports a big story.

I think I just try to go with the bigger names in news and things that you know are credible, Gilmore said.

Some educators believe media literacy is so essential to democracy that schools should give it the same emphasis as math, reading and science.

Stefanie Wager, director of social studies for the Iowa Department of Education, said social studies classes are where students learn to research a documents source: who wrote it, when and who published it.

When were getting kids to look at primary sources, we ask them to source them first, she said. That would be no different in discerning fake news from real news.

In recent decades schools sometimes cut back on social studies in order to put more emphasis on reading, math and science because those subjects were tested for accountability.

An Iowa Department of Education study found elementary school teachers were teaching social studies less than 5 percent of the week, Wager said.

Evan Freemyer teaches sophomore English and Advanced Placement literature in Council Bluffs Community Schools. Freemyer teaches kids to use the CRAP test: Is it current? Reliable? Authoritative? Whats the point of view or purpose?

The line that I feed the kids is, Is this source trustworthy, or is it CRAP?  he said.

He shows obviously faked photos, such as a 12-headed cobra. He also takes them to the Onion, a satirical website.

The Onion ran a story declaring Kim Jong Un 2012s sexiest man alive, noting his impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle and, of course, that famous smile. Chinas Peoples Daily reprinted the satirical piece.

It was a great object lesson to say If youre not sourcing your material, fact-checking it, then you might make the mistake that Chinas No. 1 newspaper made,  Freemyer said.

Jerred Zegelis co-teaches journalism with Tim Kaldahl at Westside High School.

Some of my students, they gauge the validity of an article or a source by how many people shared it, Zegelis said.

He encourages students to pause and ask whether it is true.

No. 1, if its too bad or too good to be true, stop yourself. Think about that.

It doesnt help, Zegelis said, that electronic media make it easy for someone to encounter only news that matches his or her world view.

Kaldahl said he tells students to be careful what news they consume.

Its like being an athlete, he said. You are what you eat.

Bryce Lambley teaches history and sociology at Fremont High School. He said kids today have a platform on social media to express extremely political things.

In class, he said, he examines all sides of an issue. He said he pokes equally at Democrats and Republicans, exposing spin.

Lambley said he wants kids to be interested in social studies, but hes sad theyre so political.

Are they coming in partisan or better informed? I would say both. For certain, partisan, he said. And also better informed  or, at least, they think they are.

*****

What state standards say:

Nebraska

 The terms media literacy and fake news dont appear in Nebraskas academic standards for K-12 schools, which were written several years ago.

 The standards do call for teaching kids about accuracy, credibility and bias, but those topics dont receive much emphasis.

 The social studies standards say 12th-graders should be able to critique various media sources for accuracy and perspective.

 The Nebraska language arts standards say students in eighth, 10th and 12th grades should be able to analyze the purpose of information in diverse media and formats, evaluate its motives (e.g., social, commercial, political), and determine its credibility. Even kindergartners should, with teachers help, discuss the purpose and credibility of information.

Iowa

 The Iowa Core standards contain similar language.

 In Iowa, students are supposed to know how to analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.

 The standards say that Iowa students in 11th and 12th grades should be able to pull information together from various sources to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.

California

 In California, lawmakers this year introduced a bill to add media literacy to the states social sciences curriculum. Another California bill would add civic online reasoning to state standards, defined as the ability to judge the credibility and quality of information found on Internet websites, including social media.
Dozens of jobs and millions of dollars could ride on the recommendations of University of Nebraska panels that will submit their findings Monday to a committee.

NU President Hank Bounds early this year assigned 10 working groups made up of 86 people to look for efficiencies, cost reductions and better ways to do business.

They could alter payroll processes and methods of marketing, computer systems and online education. Their suggestions could centralize how things are done or decentralize them, change travel and building upkeep in the NU system, privatize or deprivatize.

NU and all of public higher education in Nebraska are strategizing for inevitable budget challenges this year because of financial shortfalls at the state level. The size of the state allocation, coupled with the amount of cuts made by institutions, will determine how much tuition will rise the next couple of years.

Bounds assembled a budget response team made up of the 10 groups and a 10-person steering committee. Each of NUs campuses is represented on the committees. Some from outside the university also are on the team.

State Sen. John Stinner of Gering, chairman of the Nebraska Legislatures Appropriations Committee, commended Bounds and the NU Board of Regents for the process.

This is how you prudently go about trying to find the savings that you need to have, Stinner said last week. Still, he said, the Appropriations Committee has its own hard calls to make, and NUs process wont play a role in those.

Im not sure it will have much of an impact on our decision, he said.

The state colleges  Wayne, Peru and Chadron  are seeking cuts through a more campus-based, less centralized process.

Nebraskas six community colleges also are addressing the situation on a campus-by-campus basis.

The NU system faces $50 million or more in cuts over the next two years, Bounds has said, unless the Legislature allocates more money to NU than is currently expected.

Bounds has said tuition could go up 5 percent or more over each of the next two years, depending on state appropriations.

Public higher education suffered midyear budget cuts in 2016-17. NU faced a 2.3 percent reduction; the state colleges and community colleges, 4 percent.

The Appropriations Committee made preliminary recommendations for a slight cut in 2017-18 to NU and flat allocations for the state colleges and two-year colleges. The Appropriations Committee will make a firm recommendation to the Legislature about a month from now.

NU spokeswoman Melissa Lee, who is on one of the 10 panels, said the groups submissions Monday to the steering committee will not be made public.

This is merely one step, and no decisions have been made, Lee said. She called it premature to divulge any recommendations.

The steering committee then is expected to make its recommendations to Bounds on April 10. Bounds will make the ultimate call.

Jon Watts, vice chancellor for business and finance at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, said the working groups are considering such things as whether an expert in boiler operations or heating and air conditioning on one campus might serve all campuses for those functions.

That way, certain campuses wouldnt have to hire contractors for such work.

And they are considering creating a centralized procurement office for equipment purchases and acquisitions of other items instead of leaving each campus to handle those matters.

Those are two examples among many.

Theyre pretty much looking at everything, said Watts, who is on one of the committees. At Bounds encouragement, there is no limit on what may be suggested, Watts said.

The 10 panels have groups looking at travel, public relations, digital education, payroll and human relations, finances, energy, facilities, printing, info technology and procurement.

People are less terrified about layoffs, Watts said, than they are encouraged that solutions can be found.

Theres a trust in the administration and President Bounds, for sure, Watts said. Employees are aware of whats at stake, but I dont think theyre overwhelmed, he said.

Watts said the financial operations committee meets by videoconference once a week for about three hours.

UNK administrators also meet once every two weeks with UNKs approximately dozen committee members to provide support, data and information, he said.

Bounds has made it clear that the consequences of budget cuts may be harsh because of inevitable raises, health insurance increases, utility hikes and other costs.

Bounds has said about 80 percent of NUs general-fund budget is for personnel, and making cuts generally means cutting people.

I do know that these cuts are going to be painful and that they are going to impact real people and real services across our campuses and the state, Bounds told the Appropriations Committee late last month.

Regents Chairman Bob Whitehouse of Papillion said last week in an interview that if NU has to cut considerable sums, employees obviously will be affected.

You can only turn out so many lights, Whitehouse said.

David Woodman, head of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Faculty Senate, said he wants alternatives to layoffs if possible. Woodman is on the steering committee.

My hope is that most of our budget issues in terms of personnel will be taken care of by things like attrition and hiring freezes, Woodman said.

No specific dollar goal has been given to the panels and steering committee.

The president has challenged them (the panels) to look at everything and do their best, Whitehouse said. All of us are challenged with making the pieces of the puzzle fit.

Whitehouse said these are tough times, and Bounds will face hard decisions.
The student union is an important place at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, but its layout is odd, and its ventilation system is old.

UNK leaders will ask the NU Board of Regents on Friday to approve a $6 million remodeling project at the facility, called the Nebraskan Student Union.

The regents will meet at 10 a.m. Friday at Varner Hall, 3835 Holdrege St. in Lincoln.

Because at least two additions have been built onto the 55-year-old facility, some areas are incongruous or disconnected.

The renovation would give the Nebraskan Student Union a more airy feel, and would modernize air handling and media displays, sound systems and other technology. It also would give new paint and flooring to some areas.

Some barriers will be removed, and glass walls would replace the partitions around certain rooms. A UNK spokesman, Todd Gottula, said contracts are pending with Starbucks and Chick-fil-A to open stores in the union.

Jon Watts, UNKs vice chancellor for business and finance, said the union is a central spot. The main campus dining hall is there, too, so students in the residence halls frequent the place.

It is one of the most-used buildings on our campus, Watts said. Theres just a lot of traffic.

The project would be paid with $5 million in revenue-bond money and $1 million from Chartwells, the dining service contractor at UNK.

Construction would start in October and conclude in August 2018.

The Nebraskan Student Union was built in 1962 as the Food Service Building. It houses the UNK College Bookstore, student government offices, multicultural affairs offices, meeting spaces, study areas, a food court and other services and activities.

An upgrade is very much needed, said Drew Thompson, a junior from Aurora, Nebraska. I think its long overdue.

Thompson, a premed student, said the union feels condensed, or cramped, when it should feel vibrant.

I think it needs to be opened up a little and not necessarily have all these small, square rooms, he said.

Further, he referred to a problem noted in documents provided to the regents. There are times when a sewage smell pervades the union. Better ventilation is needed.

When recruiting high school students, a sour smell in the union is a powerful disincentive.

An updated, improved student union would serve as a unique recruitment tool in rural Nebraska, according to documents provided to the regents. The project would provide a more comfortable, inviting and organized facility that demonstrates UNKs commitment to student and community spaces.

The project wont add space to the union, which includes three levels. Most of the work would be done on the first level, Watts said, with a little remodeling on the second.

Portions of the union are open 24 hours a day. This vital spot on campus, UNK leaders say, needs to be inviting.
DECATUR  Every couple of years, about 25 percent of voters decide the fate of 100 percent of the electorate.

If that doesn't sound very much like democracy, election observers share the concern.

Turnout numbers are pathetic for local elections, said John Jackson, an emeritus professor of political science at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Its always been the case, and if anything, it has been getting worse.

As the April 4 consolidated election draws closer, voters seemed to have pushed the local issues farther away. Just 807 early ballots have been cast in Macon County since early voting began Feb. 23, with 247 absentee ballots requested. That represents a little over 1 percent of eligible voters.

If history is any indicator, hotly contested races for mayor, city council and school board in Decatur likely won't do much to motivate residents to get to the polls. Many other races in the county feature too few or not enough candidates, tamping down on interest in those areas.

This is the election that most affects residents; these are the elective bodies that set property taxes and shape local policies, Macon County Clerk Steve Bean said.

By comparison, 14,000 early votes in Macon County were cast in November's general election featuring presidential and congressional races fought across the nation.

Low turnout in consolidated local elections is not merely an issue of perception, as it can have real impact on the policies approved at the local level. When fewer people turn out, it gives more strength to special interest groups and those who are able to mobilize over a single issue, Jackson said.

People like to complain about what decisions are made locally, he said. But 85 to 90 percent of them havent bothered to participate. Yet, theyre unhappy with what they get.

Consolidated election turnout has historically been lower in the county compared to the presidential and midterm elections in even-numbered years. But over the past decade, turnout has moved disturbingly lower.

After nearly 37 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the 1995 consolidated election, the number of people who have cast ballots has never been higher than 30 percent.

Turnout bottomed out in 2011, when only 10,742 ballots were cast, or about 14.5 percent of eligible voters. Turnout was better 2015, with 15,959 ballots cast. Even with more than 5,000 additional ballots cast, turnout was still only 21.1 percent.

Part of that apathy can be traced to the lack of competitive races. Of the 174 races in Macon County, 120 can be considered no contest, with another 23 having too few candidates for the available positions.

The 31 contested races include more highly publicized campaigns for Decatur mayor, city council and school board.

Amber Lusvardi, a political science lecturer at Millikin University, said it is not just a Macon County issue.

Turnout numbers in Macon County mirrors what happens nationally where were seeing about 20 percent of eligible voters casting ballots, she said. Whereas national election hover around 50 to 60 percent, and midterm elections are around 40 percent.

A report by Portland State University that studied local election turnout in 30 major cities showed that less than 15 percent of registered voters cast ballots in their most recent local elections. Of those voters, the median age was 57.

Its an issue Jackson, the SIU professor, said people in the political science field have been studying for more than half a century. Residents struggle to see the relevance of local elections, compared to higher-profile presidential or midterm elections.

Jackson said the millions of dollars flowing into national and state elections makes it easier for candidates to reach voters, through advertising, direct mailers and campaigns that cross states and the nation. Local candidates many times have a few thousand dollars to get their name in the public eye, which can lead to residents being unsure of who is running for office and the issues before them.

Voters have to work a lot harder to find information on their local candidates, Lusvardi said. You get to local elections, and people dont know who is running.

Kathryn McAlpine, 34, is a registered voter and Richland Community College student. She was not aware of the upcoming election or any of the candidates.

If the people running put themselves out there more and were more vocal, I might be more interested, McAlpine said. I don't know what issues the school board is having or the mayor's office. Should I be worried about it? When it comes to news, we can get national news for free."

Polarized national politics have poisoned the well of democracy for some younger residents such as Trey Verkuilen.

"After (Donald) Trump and Hillary (Clinton), it was such a throw off, I decided not to vote," said Verkuilen, a 19-year-old Richland student.

Daniel McCauley, 18, expressed a similar view, though he added that he and other younger voters do not typically pay much attention to local races.

"I need to be a lot more informed," the Richland student said. "Young people being more aware would affect voter turnout. We need more media coverage; we focus on national politics."

Moving local elections to even-numbered years to coincide with presidential and midterm elections is among suggestions for improving consolidated election turnout.

Better informing voters about candidates and duties and issues of local government is important, experts agree. Ideas to address that include candidates doing more community outreach or using informational mailers sent to residents similar to those sent whenever a change to the Illinois Constitution is proposed that explain the issue in detail.

If things stay as they are now, Lusvardi said it is likely that interest and turnout will remain low.

Its here we elect the people that pick up your garbage, determine speed limits on a road or whether theyre potholes in those roads, she said. People just arent aware how important it is.
Proponents of a modern streetcar in Omaha are going to have a steep hill to travel when they go to sell the public on the proposal.

Omahans are questioning the $150 million price tag for the project and asking why the city cant use its share of that money to instead fix more streets, according to a World-Herald review of emails to City Hall.

City Council members say theyre also hearing a steady stream of questions from constituents, mostly from those who oppose the streetcar proposal or want more information.

Council members say people are asking about the cost and feasibility of the latest proposal for a streetcar, which would run between downtown and midtown. And Omahans who live and work outside the route are asking why their tax dollars should go toward the project.

On the development side, everybody thinks its a great idea, said Councilman Garry Gernandt, who represents South Omaha. From the taxpayer side, not so much.

City leaders have been discussing the possibility of a streetcar line for decades. But the latest iteration  which has gained the backing of Mayor Jean Stothert and several prominent business leaders  has a proposed route, a cost and potential funding mechanisms.

Stothert said city leaders will be prepared to make the case for the project.

Part of the process is to make sure before we would ever move forward that the citizens would have all the information they need to make an informed decision on whether they support it or not, Stothert said. I dont think we have gotten there yet.

Stothert said she does have answers for the two main questions she hears.

One is: Why should the taxpayers pay $150 million for a streetcar?

That one is easy to answer, because the taxpayers are not going to be paying $150 million for a streetcar, Stothert said.

The latest proposal calls for the citys obligation to fall at about $10 million to $30 million, according to a $181,000 financial assessment done for the city that was paid for with federal and local funds. Those who would benefit the most from the project  likely those who own property near the line  would pay for more of the project. Stothert has said she wouldnt support the project if it would mean an increase in property tax rates.

The other question is: Why dont you use that money to fix potholes?

Said Stothert: Its not one or the other. Were going to continue to fill potholes and resurface our streets.

Also, a capital improvement project such as the construction of a streetcar line would not come from the same funding source as regular street maintenance.

Stothert said 20 people have emailed City Hall about the streetcar; 18 were opposed.

Instead of making assessments for streetcars, I feel we should begin assessments for street maintenance and other City-wide needs, wrote Paul Springsted.

And Dennis Schafer wrote, The huge investment in fixed plant seems to far outweigh potential advantages over the flexibility of buses.

For sure, the concept of a streetcar has supporters.

Its going to improve the city, said 35-year-old Shaun Ilahi, a lawyer who works at a nonprofit. Weve got to progress, weve got to move forward if were going to keep up with other towns.

Supporters say a streetcar would spur development.

We cant look at it as a tourist attraction, Stothert said. We have to look at it as a spark for economic development and jobs.

Pushing for a streetcar is one of the goals of Midtown 2050, a new nonprofit that aims to speed up the growth of midtown Omaha. That group is backed by Mutual of Omaha, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Nebraska Medicine, Kiewit Corp., Creighton University and the philanthropic nonprofit Heritage Services.

Steve Jensen, the citys planning consultant who has been involved in work on the streetcar proposal, said the line would benefit even those Omahans who wouldnt use it regularly.

He said a streetcar line would mean the city has to build fewer parking spaces, which would mean more room for shops, apartments or other developments that provide tax revenue for the city.

If we have the opportunity for people to see the whole picture, I think theyll start to understand that in the long run they probably end up spending less and getting more, Jensen said. Thats the real key takeaway.

Still, constituents have questions  and so do council members.

If I had to summarize (reaction), I would say that Im hearing a lot of skepticism from constituents, said Councilman Chris Jerram, who represents downtown and midtown. Based upon 20 years of studies that they bring up, (theyre) questioning whether this is really an initiative that will go forward or not.

Councilman Pete Festersen, whose district includes Dundee and Benson, said his constituents are generally supportive of the concept, but there are definitely those that are concerned about the status of our streets, too, and how do you fulfill all those priorities?

Festersen said he supports the concept of the streetcar, though he wants to make sure a large portion of the funding comes from the area that benefits the most. And he said the city needs to continue to put more money into street maintenance and resurfacing at the same time.

Council President Ben Gray, who represents north Omaha, said he hasnt heard much about the streetcar, but those who have brought it up to him have said theyre concerned about the cost.

Im a little skeptical that its going to happen, Gray said.

In western Omaha, including Elkhorn, Councilman Franklin Thompson said his district isnt that enamored with the idea.

In southwestern Omaha, Councilman Rich Pahls said, Im not hearing Yes, were for it or No, were against it. Theyre just questioning Are we ready for it? Have we checked into what other cities have done? 

In northwestern Omaha, Councilwoman Aimee Melton has heard from only one supporter of the streetcar. Other than that, she said, her constituents are not sold on the idea. They want roads fixed first, she said. People are not convinced that its right for Omaha or that our city is big enough.

Melton said she wants to dig into the numbers once a more concrete proposal is introduced. She said shes most concerned about the projected $7.5 million annual operating costs.

I need a lot more information, and I need a lot more concrete numbers, she said.

The public will have many opportunities to weigh in, Stothert said, including public hearings this summer. If the project moves forward, it would require a series of votes from the council, including on the route, the funding and governance.

The next step, according to Stothert, is to appoint a committee to turn those potential funding mechanisms into a specific plan for paying for the streetcar.

Derek Miller, the citys transportation planner, said the council could vote on the streetcar as early as this fall, though members of the public will have a chance to get their questions answered first.

Were Omaha, Miller said. We take our time. Were not going to make any quick decisions  knee-jerk reactions  to a project like this.
What makes March 16 Public Pulse writer John Salzmann (Convention of States may be our last hope) believe that a future Congress would pay any more attention to any future amendment to the Constitution than it does the existing ones it already swore to uphold?

Congress is given the exclusive power to declare war, yet we had wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan  and now our troops are in Syria  at a cost of trillions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives, without a formal declaration of war.

The Constitution says no state shall make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts. When was the last time anyone used gold and silver coins in a transaction?

Also, the only entity in the Constitution that is given the specific power to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions are the militia of the states.

A balanced budget amendment is a goal of the Convention of the States. But the only thing it would do is add a national sales tax and a value-added tax to the existing income tax.

How are they to come up with an additional $600 billion in revenue to balance the budget without making cuts? We cant even get rid of Big Bird.

Klaus P. Lindner, La Vista
BJP MLA Vikram Saini promises to break limbs for those who kill cows

India

oi-Madhuri

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Vikram Saini for Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar while addressing a gathering said that he will break limbs of those who disrespect cows and engage in cow slaughter.

#WATCH Muzaffarnagar(UP): BJP MLA Vikram Saini says 'I promised to break limbs of ppl who disrespect and kill cows' (25.3.17) pic.twitter.com/C8tXd2V2Kf  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 26, 2017

Vikram Saini said, "I promised to break limbs of people who disrespect and kill cows." Saini further said he will not spare even those who do not believe in cows being a 'mata' or those who refuse to say 'Vande Mataram' in India.

Vikram Saini is an accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots. He has been jailed for making inflammatory speeches during the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots that killed more than 60 people.

Addressing crowd he said, "You understand law because I am not well-read." To the controversial comments made by Vikram Saini, BJP leader Suresh Rana said that Saini didn't mean to say that what has been interpreted. Rana said that all he meant was now that Yogi Adityanath's government is in power, no body will engage in crimes.

Since Adityanath took over roughly a week ago, a number of slaughterhouses have been shut and meat shops set on fire. The chief minister had made it clear that abattoirs operating legally will not be touched.

OneIndia News (With inputs from agencies)

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 26, 2017, 12:47 [IST]
BSF put on high alert post twin blasts in Bangladesh

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Shillong, March 26: The Border Security Force has been put on high alert along the India-Bangladesh border following twin blasts in Bangladesh's Sylhet city, an official said on Sunday.

"Our troopers are on high alert along the India-Bangladesh after a series of blasts in Bangladesh," BSF Inspector General, Meghalaya frontier P.K. Dubey told IANS.

BSF officials have shared intelligence inputs with Meghalaya Police following the explosions, he added.

"We are not taking any chances with such activities and all necessary measures have been taken to prevent perpetrators from entering our side of the border," Dubey said.

The six dead in the two blasts on Saturday near a militant hideout in Sylhet includes two Bangladesh police officials. The blasts came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint near the Dhaka airport in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

A Meghalaya Police official also said that they had also taken necessary measures.

"We have instructed our personnel posted close to the border to remain and to keep strict vigil in close coordination with the BSF," the official said.

India has a 1,880 km border with Bangladesh along four states -- Tripura (856 km), Assam (263 km), Meghalaya (443 km), and Mizoram (318 km).

IANS
Instant karma! Woman falls while trying to kick bike rider, video goes viral

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CM promises to protect territorial integrity of Manipur

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Imphal, March 26: Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said on Sunday the state's territorial integrity will be protected.

"It is dearer than my life," he said shortly before emplaning for Delhi.

Regarding the protest against the appointment of legislator Asabuddin as the Parliamentary Secretary, Biren said: "People have elected him and there is nothing I could do since he is a bona fide Indian citizen."

Biren said that he was going to Delhi to seek a whopping amount as developmental fund from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Despite assurances in public meetings by Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the framework agreement the central government had signed with the Naga group NSCN-IM on August 3, 2016, the outfit's leader Thuingaleng Muivah claimed on March 21 that the agreement envisages the "Naga integrity".

Unification of the Naga-inhabited areas of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh with Nagaland is a major demand of the outfit, which was founded in 1988 by the late Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah.

Biren said: "As the Home Ministry has clarified the matter, there is no need for apprehension. Muivah merely claimed and it was clarified by the government."

He said that the territorial integrity of Manipur shall be protected and there is no doubt about it.

On Sunday, normal life was disrupted as a result of the 17-hour general strike called by the Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur protesting the appointment of Asabuddin as the Parliamentary Secretary.

Biren said: "He is an Indian citizen who has been duly elected by the people under the constitution. He was elected pradhan two times before becoming an MLA."

The All Manipur Muslim Welfare Organisation had planned an 18-hour general strike. But it gave it up the plan after a meeting with the Chief Minister.

The general strike has affected normal life in other parts of the state, including Jiribam, the home constituency of Asabuddin.

IANS
How this officer pretended to be a Syrian handler to bust UP IS module

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

He pretended to be a handler and drew them into a conversation. This senior police officer from Telangana told a group of men that he was contacting them from Syria and wanted the module of the Islamic State to thrive in India. It was the specific inputs that were provided by the Telangana police that led to the busting of a module from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

The officer got specific intelligence that a set of youth were planning terror attacks. He wanted to know more about their operation. He spoke to them pretending to be a handler from Syria. He earned their trust over a period of time and the module members ended up spilling the beans.

While the official was unable to prevent the blast that took place on the Ujjain bound train on March 7, he ensured that all the members of the module were arrested. In fact it was the inputs that were provided by this officer which led the UP police to the residence of Saifullah who was killed in an encounter that lasted 7 hours.

The officer who was undercover managed to source information regarding the procurement of weapons. He also found out through them about their future plans. The module an IS inspired one had planned on carrying out several more attacks in UP and other parts of the country.

OneIndia News
In CBI net, Sisodia, TMC leaders brace for rigid investigations

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Central Bureau of Investigation will be on overdrive mode when it probes allegations against members of the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Admi Party. Simultaneous probes would be launched in connection with the Narada sting operation case and the corruption allegations against Delhi's deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.

Recently the Supreme Court refused to stay the CBI probe into the Narada sting operation. In this sting operation, several TMC leaders were seen accepting bribes to favour a fictitious company. CBI sources tell OneIndia that the FIR will be filed and these leaders caught on tape would be called in for questioning.

In the Sisodia case, the CBI is in the process of gathering more evidence. The case relates to alleged irregularities committed while awarding social media campaigns to a private firm during the Talk to AK programme.

OneIndia News
BJP accuses AAP of siphoning off money meant for welfare of construction workers

JD-U: Non-BJP parties should accept Nitish Kumar as leader

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Patna, March 26: Bihar's ruling JD-U on Sunday urged all non-BJP parties, including the Congress, to accept the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to challenge the party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Janata Dal-United state president Vashisht Narain Singh told media here that the time has come that all non-Bharatiya Janata Party parties should come together at a platform and declare Nitish Kumar as their leader.

"In the changed situation in the country, Nitish Kumar is the only alternative to Modi," he said. Nitish Kumar is the president of JD-U.

Last year and this year as well, JD-U leaders and workers publicly tried to project Nitish Kumar as the prime ministerial candidate in the 2019 general election against Modi.

According to senior JD-U leaders here, Nitish is keen to be projected as prime ministerial candidate of the combined opposition to counter Modi.

IANS
DECATUR  Stan Taylor was perfectly happy working as a letter carrier in Decatur, after graduating in 1965 from MacArthur High School.

When he received his draft notice to report for Army duty, his stepfather, a Korean War veteran and former prisoner-of-war, recommended that he join the Air Force instead, which would provide better training for his future.

His stepfather warned him that he would be shipped to Vietnam and serve in the infantry, but Taylor was convinced he would instead be an Army clerk or work in a mail room.

Taylor, the keynote speaker at the Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day program at Decatur Civic Center on Saturday, told the audience that packed the main arena that he did everything he could to avoid serving in the military, but appreciated the brotherhood he gained while undergoing the horrors of war.

Chance brought us together, brotherhood kept us alive, said Taylor, who has written two books about his experiences in Vietnam. Some of us were prepared to be wounded. Some of us were prepared to die. But none of us were prepared to be forgotten.

A highlight of the fifth annual Vietnam Veterans event, Taylor's moving and often hilarious speech included stories of being cruelly mistreated by his stepfather and rejected by almost the entire female student body of his schools, due to his diminutive stature.

Mark Barthelemy, a member of the event's organizing committee, introduced Taylor as someone he had been trying to persuade to speak at the event since its inception. He said Taylor, who was awarded a Bronze Star and numerous other decorations for his service, was an outstanding author, whose book Beneath the Bamboo told his life story.

I read the book four times, Barthelemy said.

When Taylor stepped to the podium, he looked out at the crowd and said, I thought there would be 20 to 30 people.

He repeatedly asserted that he was not a public speaker, then delivered an enormously compelling speech, in which he told how a 5-foot, 2-inch young man who was talked into joining the high school wrestling team while he weighed 85 pounds was transformed into a ruthless tunnel rat who faced death that was just one trigger click away.

A short time after he landed in Vietnam, Taylor was terrified to find himself on his first helicopter ride, sitting in the middle, flying over the stunning countryside. When a cloud of purple smoke rose from the ground, the chopper landed.

When the soldiers on the ground saw him, they said, We got us a rat.

I had no idea what they were talking about, Taylor said. I never snitched on anybody in my life.

He later found out what they meant, as he was called on to enter the Viet Cong tunnels on dangerous missions.

Taylor acknowledged that during one confrontation with the enemy in a tunnel, a Viet Cong soldier outmaneuvered him. He had cultivated an attitude, in which he told himself that he had an advantage, because he was looking for them, while they were not expecting American soldiers to be there.

I saw a light, I hurried to this light, he recalled. There was nobody there. I turned around. He had an AK-47 right at my forehead.

Taylor heard the click of the trigger. The gun failed to fire.

Then he was mine, Taylor said. He won that battle, but still pays a price for taking a life. I see that face every day. I should have been dead. God was on my side.

Among more than 58,000 American service members who lost their lives in Vietnam were members of a unit with whom Taylor served on May 12, 1968.

We lost a lot of men, Taylor said. There were 210 to 240 soldiers who went out. Forty-seven came back.

Jim Nuernberger, a Decatur resident who served in the Army in Vietnam in 1967 and '68, said this was his first time at a Vietnam Veterans recognition event. He said he was reluctant to attend, but his wife and friends convinced him to give it a chance.

It was a good time, said Nuernberger, who grew up in Belleville and moved to Decatur in 1991, when he worked for Illinois Power. I was surprised at the turn out. You feel a lot of camaraderie out of this. There's a lot of good guys here. It's nice to be recognized.

After Nuernberger returned from Vietnam, he went to college. He decided to put his Army life behind him.

It was a pretty unpopular war, he recalled. A lot of people didn't even know I was in the military.

George Frank, who was drafted in 1969 and served in the Army in Vietnam in 1970, was one of the organizers of the event. His daughter, Leilani Muhr, and granddaughter, Kaylie Muhr, helped out with the event in various ways, including taking photographs, which were made available for the public.

Frank said the event has been growing steadily, from about 250 attendees the first year to more than twice that number on Saturday. He credited numerous sponsors and the civic center for defraying all the costs, including a free meal for the attendees.

He said that when he returned from Vietnam, he received a cold shoulder from the public. He wore his uniform because he had no other clothes.

I came back to Decatur on New Year's weekend, Frank said. He left Fort Lewis, Wash., then caught flights to San Francisco, Dallas, St. Louis and Decatur. The whole thing took 24 hours, and nobody in the airports spoke to me. I was an outcast.

But there was one bright spot, which he remembers as if it happened just yesterday.

I took a cab to my house from Decatur Airport, Frank said. The cab driver got out, went to the door and shook my mother's hand. He thanked my mother for my service. Of course my mom was crying.
Mann Ki Baat: Chandigarh airport to be renamed after Bhagat Singh, says PM Modi

Two words to raise your josh, 130 crore Indians elated: Full text of PM Modis 93rd Mann Ki Baat

Mann Ki Baat: Chhath festival is example of Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat, says PM Modi

Mann Ki Baat: Working women to be given maternity leave of 26 weeks

India

oi-Madhuri

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday wished neighbouring Bangladesh on its Independence Day on March 26. Modi in his national radio address 'Mann Ki Baat' wished prosperity for the neighbouring country, recalling the common memories of Rabindra Nath Tagore shared by both India and Bangladesh.

"We all are proud that both the nations share the memories of Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore who wrote the national anthem of both India and Bangladesh," the Prime Minister said.

Modi said both Bangladesh and India will continue being partners in future for mutual benefit and progress.

Modi further lauded Gandhi enterprise as a young revolutionary. On the centennial year of Champaran and Kheda agitations helmed by Mahatma Gandhi, Modi reminded the countrymen of the great leader's arrival in public life at a time which was a "turning point".

He implored people to imagine the hard work and immense enterprise that Gandhi must have put to use when he marshalled these agitations in Champaran and Kheda, having only been in India for two years.

Expressing his gratitude to people for taking to digital payments, Modi said that with a firm resolution India can see 2.5 crore digital transactions within next six months rather than waiting for a year.

Modi also said that 'New India' was a joint call and desire of 125 crore Indians and called upon the people to perform their duties as responsible citizens.

Prime Minister called on people to change the society's mindset about the menace of depression and to encourage its victims to speak up. He said that depression was not an incurable ailment, one can get rid of it if a right psychological environment is built for him/her.

Modi also mentioned about the government's decision to increase the number of weeks from 12 weeks to 26 weeks as maternity leave for working women.

Here are the highlights:

11:31 am: We will celebrate auspicious day of Ram Navami on 5th April, Mahavir Jayanti on 9th April, 14th of April is birth Anniversary of Baba Saheb

11:30 am: The basic aim is to ensure proper care of the newborn, the future citizen of India, from the time of birth.

11:29 am: Working women will now be given maternity leave of 26 weeks, instead of the earlier 12 weeks, for their pregnancy and delivery.

11:28 am: Working-class women in our country - their numbers are increasing day by day, their participation is increasing and this is a welcome trend.

11:27 am: 21st June is the International Day of Yoga. This will be the third year of its observance. Yoga too is a good means for mental wellbeing. Yoga helps in relieving tension and stress, and leads one towards a happy state of mind.

11:26 am: Devote yourself with all your heart into helping others and sharing their joys and sorrows.

11:25 am: Depression can be overcome. We all can play a role in helping those suffering from depression overcome it. Always good to share your feelings with others, if feeling depressed

11:24 am: United Nations has focused on Depression, which is the theme this year

11:23 am: 7th April is World Healt hDay. UN has resolved to provide universal health coverage for all by 2030.

11:22 am: Wastage of food is unfortunate. I know of several youngsters who are using technology & helping prevent wastage of food

11:22 am: Those who are health conscious always say that, there should always be some space left both in the stomach and on the plate.

11:21 am: People have expressed concern about food wastage. Mothers always tell their children to take only as much food they can eat. It is an injustice to the poor.

11:20 am: There is always an emphasis on the topic of cleanliness. There has been an awareness ever since launch of Cleanliness Movement.

11:19 am: Whenever I ask for ideas and suggestions for Mann Ki Baat, one theme on which I keep getting suggestions is Swachhata

11:18 am: The Digimela will be brought to a culmination on the 14th of April, the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb Ambedkar. On the completion of a hundred days, a grand closing ceremony will be held.

11:17 am: The birth anniversary of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar is on the 14th of April.

11:17 am: India has extended support to the movement towards digital transactions. People of India have rejected corruption & black money

11:16 am: BHIM-App has already been downloaded by approximately one and half crore people.

11:15 am: There are lakhs of people, who besides their own personal responsibilities are working selflessly, for society. Every citizen must discharge his civic duties and responsibilities. This in itself would be a good beginning to the New India.

11:14 am: 125 crore Indians nurture a hope, a zeal, a resolve, a desire

11:13 am: Fulfilling the dreams and aspirations of the people of India

11:12 am: New India manifests the strength and skills of 125 crore Indians, who will create a Bhavya and Divya Bharat.

11:10 am: On 10th of April, 1917, Mahatma Gandhi launched the Champaran Satyagraha.This year marks the centenary of the Champaran Satyagraha.

11:09 am: The Champaran Satyagraha showed us how special Mahatma Gandhi was and how unique his personality was.

11:08 am: He returned to India and in two years he went to Bihar and what he did inspired the whole nation: PM on Gandhi Ji

11:07 am: We are marking 100 years of Champaran Satyagraha. And this was one of the earliest Gandhian mass movements in India

11:06 am: Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were not scared of death. They lived and died for our nation. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru continue to inspire the nation.

11:05 am: The massacre in Amritsar in 1919 left a deep impact on Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

11:04 am: The National Anthem of Bangladesh has been composed by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore

11:02 am: It is a matter of great pride for all of us that RabindranathTagore and his memories are a shared heritage

11:01 am: PM greets Bangladesh on its Independence Day.

In his 29th Mann ki Baat address, the Prime Minister lauded ISRO for its cost effective and efficient space programs. Modi also expressed happiness at rise in digital transactions and said that the 'BHIM' app has been very successful even in villages and small towns.

OneIndia News
RBI to issue new Greenish Yellow Rs 20 note soon: Things to know

No plans to introduce new denomination notes: RBI

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Kumbakonam, March 26: The Reserve Bank of India currently has no plans of introducing new denomination currencies, a senior RBI official said on Sunday.

"Presently RBI has no idea to introduce currencies of new denominations. The central banking institution wants to encourage cashless transactions, which are helpful to the people", RBI Deputy Governor N.S. Vishwanathan said while speaking at a lecture here on "Credit culture and the financial system".

In this connection, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal had told Parliament on Friday that the government is not planning to print Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 currency notes.

Referring to banks' non-performing assets, or bad loans, Vishwanathan said here that these are affecting the income and profit of banks.

"Banks cannot escape from the responsibility of controlling NPAs in their balance sheets," he said.

Banks are expected to base their lending decisions on a careful and prudent assessment of the financial position and repaying capacity of the borrower, while credit should be given to only the right people, he added.

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.

IANS
RBI refuses to answer RTI query on why note conversion not allowed till Mar 31?

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 26: Why was not the conversion of old currency notes allowed till March 31, 2017 for Indians as assured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech on November 8 announcing demonetisation? The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has refused to answer the question under the Right to Information (RTI) Act claiming the query does not come under the definition of "information" as per the transparency law.

The Prime Minister in his speech on November 8, 2016, announcing demonetisation, had assured countrymen that they could convert the notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 till March 31. Later, it was decided that the window till March 31 will be kept only for Non-Resident Indians who constitute a major support base for the ruling BJP.

The issue about the time limit for converting old currency notes is also being heard by the Supreme Court where Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has reportedly submitted that the law will prevail over the words of the Prime Minister. In its response, the RBI refused to share file notings on the decision to limit currency conversion window till March 31 only for NRIs saying it would be against the economic interests of the state.

The applicant had sought reasons, as "recorded" in the files of the RBI, behind the decision to not allow conversion of currency till March 31 for Indians as assured by the PM. "The question is in the nature of seeking reasons or justification from CPIO which is not defined as information as per Section 2(f) of the RTI Act," the response form Suman Ray, Central Public Information Officer, said. The Supreme Court has clarified the issue in one of its noted judgements saying if opinion or advice is available in the records of the public authority, it will come under the definition of the "information" under the RTI Act.

Former Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said that section 8(2) of the RTI Act allows disclosure of information, even if it is exempted, if it is in larger public interest. The RTI Act defines "information" as "any material in any form" held by or under the control of a public authority. The definition covers "any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, emails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force".

The bankers' bank has stonewalled almost every RTI query pertaining to demonetisation citing one or the other reason. It had refused to respond if the views of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley or Chief Economic Advisor were taken before demonetisation was announced, it had also refused to disclose reasons behind the sudden move, among others. It had also refused to allow access to minutes of the meetings held to decide on the issue of demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes.

After the deadline to exchange the scrapped notes expired on December 30, 2016, the government issued an ordinance saying only those who were abroad, the armed forces personnel posted in remote areas, or others who could give valid reasons for not being able to deposit the cancelled notes, can do so till March 31.

PTI
Subramanian Swamy says Rajiv Gandhi only good human being in family

India

pti-PTI

Patna, March 26: Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Sunday praised former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as the only good human being in the (Nehru-Gandhi) family and said he had contributed to awakening of the Hindus.

"Rajiv Gandhi was the only good human being in the (Nehru-Gandhi) family and had contributed to awakening of the Hindus," he told reporters here.

Swamy, a Rajya Sabha MP, recalled that the former Prime Minister had allowed telecast of popular mythological serial Ramayana on Doordarshan and later got the locks of Ram temple at Ayodhya opened for prayers.

"Rajiv (Gandhi) allowed telecast of the mythological soap Ramayana on Doordarshan, the national television network, despite fierce opposition from Congress leaders," he said.

Swamy exuded optimism about resolution of the vexed Ayodhya dispute in the wake of the Supreme Court's prodding to the contending parties to work out an off-the-court settlement.

The senior BJP leader took a dig at the Congress over its electoral reverses, saying, "The Congress appears to be in a mood to commit suicide... we are there to carry out its funeral." Swamy was here to deliver a lecture on the Ayodhya issue.

PTI
Terrorists snatch AK-47 from cop in Jammu

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Two terrorists snatched an AK-47 rifle from a policeman in Jamnu. While one fled with the rifle the other has been arrested.

The policeman who was injured in the scuffle has been shifted to hospital. The incident occured in the wee hours of Sunday. The police have launched a manhunt to nab the terrorist. The other terrorist in the custody of the police is being questioned for further leads. It is however unclear which group these terrorists belong to.

Incidents of gun snatching have been on the rise in Jammu and Kashmir in the past year. At least 6 such incidents have been reported in 2016 alone. Weapon snatching is part of a Hizbul Mujahideen plan. The outfit had directed its operatives to snatch weapons from police personnel and use them in terror attacks.

OneIndia News
Two killed, 10 injured in communal violence in Gujarat

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Patan, March 26: Two persons were killed and 10 others injured in a communal clash in Gujarat. The incident occurred in Patan district after a mob ransacked and set ablaze 50 houses.

Patan Superintendent of Police Ashwin Chauhan said a minor altercation between two students over some dispute while going for the high school examinations in Vadavali village soon assumed communal overtones and flared up into a major clash involving people from at least three surrounding villages.

The mob first ransacked and then set ablaze 50 houses. Several vehicles parked in front the houses were also burnt down.

Police from Patan and Mehsana rushed to the spot but with the situation threatening to spiral out of control, in-charge Director General of Police P.P. Pandey despatched Inspector General of Police, Gandhinagar to the riot-torn village to oversee matters. It also took more than 10 fire engines from Mehsana, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar to douse the fire in the houses and vehicles set ablaze.

Police carried out a baton-charge and used teargas shells to disperse the mob but the violence continued, forcing them to open fire in which one youth was killed. At least 10 people sustained injuries in stone throwing between the two groups.

OneIndia News
American who tried saving Indians in Kansas firing presented $100,000

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Washington, March 26: The Indian American community in Houston has presented $100,000 to Ian Grillot, a 24-year-old American who was shot while trying to save Indian techies Srinivas Kuchibotla and Alok Madasani during a shooting in Kansas.

The Indian Ambassador to the US, Navtej Sarna, presented the cheque to Grillot at the annual India House gala in Houston on Saturday evening, The American Bazaar news portal reported.

Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed when Adam W. Purinton, a white man, shot the Indians at the Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe on February 22. Madasani and Grillot, who tried to stop the killer, survived with injuries.

A statement posed on the official page of India House Houston said: "On behalf of the Indian-American community in Houston, India House recognised this selfless act beyond the call of duty and has extended the community's gratitude to Ian Grillot by helping him to buy a house."

Speaking at the event, Grillot said: "I don't know if I could've lived with myself if I wouldn't t have stopped or attempted to stop the shooter because that would've been completely devastating.

"I do now have a very powerful message and if I can help empower people and spread hope and love, then why not?

"I am honoured to be at India House that serves so many families from so many communities in the Houston area," The American Bazaar quoted Grillot as saying.

Jiten Agarwal, a prominent Indian American in Houston and chair of the annual gala, said: "It is not every day that one meets a genuine hero, a person who risks his life for another, and takes a bullet for a complete stranger.

"Ian Grillot is a man who reminds us of the promise of America and its greatness."

Agarwal, with the help of its trustees, mobilized the community to come together to honour Grillot and raise funds.

--IANS

ksk/mr
My party-BJP have different ideologies but common aim of uplifting poor: Nepal ex-PM Prachanda

Former Nepal PM says removed from office for including Kalapani

Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari to visit India

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Kathmandu, March 26: Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari will begin a state visit to India on April 17, a media report said on Sunday.

The Nepal President's Office confirmed her India visit, which will be her first foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015, the Kathmandu Post reported.

The President will be meeting her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, leaders from the ruling and opposition parties and top Indian officials on April 18 in New Delhi, said Madan Kumar Bhattarai, Foreign Relations Adviser to Bhandari.

The itinerary of the visit is yet to be finalised, he added. Some minor agreements as a gesture of friendly relations between Nepal and India will likely be sealed during her visit.

The President was preparing to visit India in May last year but it was cancelled due to the lack of preparations on the government's part.

After completing her engagements in Delhi, she will be attending a function at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

IANS
12-year-old Indian in Guinness World Record for identifying most aeroplane tails in UAE

Indian security forces get non-lethal weapons inspired by traditional weapons to tackle Chinese army

After attack in DR Congo, India calls for UNSC meet

Watch: Four Indian women racially abused in Texas in most horrific manner

8 month old among 4 Indian origin people abducted in California

Pakistan detains 100 Indian fishermen

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Islamabad, March 26: Pakistani authorities detained 100 Indian fishermen on Sunday for allegedly violating the country's maritime boundary, police officials said.

The Maritime Security Agency said 19 boats were also seized, Xinhua news agency reported.

The MSA officials handed over the Indian fishermen to the police for legal proceedings. They will be produced in a court on Monday, police said.

India and Pakistan routinely arrest fishermen on charges of entering each other's waters.

Pakistani officials said the Indian fishermen continued to intrude into the country's marine-rich Indus delta region on which the livelihood of local fishermen depends.

IANS
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NORMAL  Previewing a talk about global climate change, former Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Thursday that improving the climate doesn't have to be done at the expense of economic growth. Both are possible, he said, but it will take changes in several areas.

In the Twin Cities as part of the Adlai Stevenson Memorial Lecture Series, the president of Mexico from 2006 to 2012 also said the United States needs to take a more pragmatic and viable approach to immigration reform and the Trump administration needs to recognize the importance of a strong relationship with Mexico.

Calderon spoke to a group of about 65 students at Illinois State University's Bone Student Center in advance of an evening speech at Illinois Wesleyan University titled, Better Growth or Better Climate: Do We Need to Choose?"

Highlighting themes from his evening lecture, Calderon said government and businesses have been reluctant to take action on climate change because they think it will harm economic growth.

But, Calderon said, it is possible to have better growth and a better climate at the same time.

However, it will take changes in three big systems, according to Calderon, chairman of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate and president of the Sustainable Human Development Foundation.

Those systems are urbanization, land-use practices and energy.

First, the planet must move away from having sprawling cities like Chicago or Mexico City and move toward more densely compact cities with coordinated mass transportation systems, Calderon said.

He pointed to Barcelona, Spain, and Atlanta, Ga., for comparisons. Both have roughly the same population but Barcelona covers less than 200 square miles while Atlanta covers nearly 2,500 square miles, he noted. The result? Atlanta's carbon emissions per capita are 10 times higher than those of Barcelona, said Calderon.

Second, he said, land-use practices must be changed by using new technology to produce more food on less land area and ending deforestation and degradation of soil.

Third, the planet must move away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, he said.

Innovation in energy not only will improve the climate and public health, it will create jobs, Calderon argued.

Innovation has been a crucial factor for economic growth since the invention of the wheel, he said.

Speaking with reporters after his talk, Calderon said U.S.-Mexico relations are at a very difficult moment, and the Trump administration needs to recognize how important Mexico is for the United States.

Mexico is the second-largest importer of U.S. products, noted Calderon.

When President Trump says, 'Buy American,' we, the Mexicans, buy American a lot, said Calderon, noting that Mexico is one of the main importers of corn from the United States, but if relations sour, Mexico could turn to other countries, such as Argentina.

That will hurt the American people, not the Mexican people, Calderon said.

As for immigration, Calderon said the number of Mexicans leaving the United States is equal to or higher than the number entering the country and it has been that way since about 2010.

He said a lot of those entering the country work in difficult jobs, and about 60 percent of agricultural workers are immigrants. Many are more interested in a smoother system to enter the country for temporary work than in becoming citizens, according to Calderon.
Dear Abby: I took an assignment with my company that posted me to Hong Kong for two years. My adult children, ages 21, 26 and 29, were supportive, although my youngest was not especially happy about it. We video chat with our kids, trying to stay involved as much as possible. We have also visited multiple times. It's not always ideal, but we try. We have also offered to pay for them to visit us as often as they would like.

My company has asked me to stay one more year because I haven't completely finished what I was sent here to do. I'm inclined to do it. My youngest child, however, is so angry at me for even considering it that she won't talk to me. She refuses to come and visit, and is punishing me for needing to stay an additional year. Am I choosing my job over my children?

-- Professional Woman from Michigan

Dear Professional Woman: Yes, you are, but there's a practical reason for it. Also, your adult "children" aren't children anymore, even though your youngest is acting like one. As a career woman, if you feel you should stay in Hong Kong to complete your assignment, that is what you need to do.

Pay first, then eat

Dear Abby: I am responding to the letter from "Unsure in the West" (Oct. 9). You advised that you "see nothing wrong with what she did" in opening a box in a grocery store and eating some of the contents before paying at the checkout. You should know that legally, eating or using the contents of an unpaid item in the aisle is considered "shoplifting." The perpetrator can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

I am a certified protection professional. While the intent may not be to "steal," retailers -- whose industry loses billions of dollars to theft each year -- require that items in their stores be paid for before they can be used or eaten.

An employee of mine was assigned to work in a major grocery chain. He took a bottle of eye drops and used them while he was in the aisle. He had taken the exact change from his pocket and was holding it in his hand as he walked to the checkout. Before he could get there, he was arrested by store security. As a courtesy to me, the chain agreed to reinstate him if he passed a lie-detector test determining his "intent to steal." (He passed the test.) I strongly recommend that the practice of using or eating items before paying for them never be condoned.

-- Allan in Yonkers

Dear Allan: I apologize for saying otherwise and thank you for your letter. Other readers also responded to that column citing firsthand experiences working in the retail field.

Several of them mentioned that it is impossible to correctly charge for food that is sold by weight if someone has eaten some, such as fruit. Others said that customers sometimes get to the register to pay and realize they have left their wallet at home, or their credit card is rejected.

A reader also suggested that if someone wants to pay for food after consuming it, that's what restaurants are for. In restaurants, if the customer can't pay, there are dishes to be washed.

* * *

What teens need to know about sex, drugs, AIDS and getting along with peers and parents is in "What Every Teen Should Know." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 to: Dear Abby, Teen Booklet, Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)
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A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph.
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Dermatology Devices Market: Global Markets & Advanced Technologies

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Global Dermatology Devices Market: OverviewThe global dermatology devices market is expected to grow at a significant pace in the coming years. The key motivating factor, which is leading to a growth of the market is the growing prevalence of skin problems such as scars and acne. Some of the other factors driving the global dermatology devices market are high demand for at-home devices, growing number of obese people, and significant increase in the non-invasive liposuction procedures.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:Dermatology devices comprise RF devices, lasers, microdermabrasion devices, and other related accessories. These devices are installed at dermatology clinics and hospitals to assist physicians in the treatment of skin diseases and also help with the diagnosis of skin cancer. The report gives a brief overview on the industry and focuses on key drivers and restraints impacting the growth of the dermatology devices market. It segments the market on the basis of geography, product, end user, and application.Global Dermatology Devices Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe global dermatology devices market is anticipated to experience a significant growth in the coming years due to the growing aesthetic awareness and consciousness about appearance. The demand for non-invasive cosmetic correction procedures is also increasing and this will also fuel the growth of the dermatology devices market. The growing healthcare expenditure, rising disposable income, and growing geriatric population are collectively boosting the demand for dermatology devices. On the other hand, the high cost of dermatological treatments is expected to restrain patients from getting a procedure. In addition to this, there are various side effects of dermatological treatments and this is posing a grave challenge for players in the market.On the basis of product, the market is segmented into lasers, electrosurgical equipment, liposuction devices, cryotherapy devices, microdermabrasion, LED light therapy devices, lasers. The laser segment is further sub-segmented into fractional, infrared, diode, alexandrite laser, potassium titanyl, Nd:YAG, phosphate (KTP), and pulsed. The LED light therapy devices segment is expected to lead in the market in the coming years. On the basis of application, the dermatology devices market is segmented into vascular lesions, psoriasis, hair removal, acne removal wrinkle removal, tattoo removal, skin resurfacing, skin rejuvenation, and scar removal. Of these, the vascular lesions segment not only led in the past but is expected to continue to do so even in the coming years. On the basis of end user, the global dermatology devices market is segmented into hospitals, private clinics, and specialty dermatology clinics.Global Dermatology Devices Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global dermatology devices market is segmented on the basis of geography into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and the Rest of the World. The dermatology devices market is expected to lead in North America owing to a high number of skin disorders, skin cancer among people. The increasing preference for cosmetic surgeries will also help the dermatology devices market to grow in North America.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :Key Players Mentioned in the ReportSome of the vendors operating in the global dermatology devices market are Agilent Technologies Inc., Amd Global Telemedicine Inc., Ambicare Health Ltd., Applisonix Ltd., Biolitec Ag, Cynosure Inc., Bruker Corp., Ellipse A/S, Genesis Biosystems, Ge Healthcare, Lucid Inc., Nikon Corp., Michelson Diagnostics Ltd., Olympus Corp., Palomar Medical Technologies Inc., Toshiba Medical Systems, Syneron Medical Ltd., and Alma Lasers 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.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:
Prenatal Diagnostics Market: Opportunities and Forecasts, 2016 - 2024

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Global Prenatal Diagnostics Market: OverviewPrenatal diagnostics is a procedure for testing the fetus before birth to determine certain hereditary disorders such as Downs syndrome, genetic diseases, chromosome abnormalities, neural tube defects, and other conditions. In case of high risk related to the birth of a child, it can assist by conducting numerous procedures of genetic testing common testing, and screening.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:The global prenatal diagnostics market is segmented on the basis of tests into Harmony PrenaTest, BambniTest, NIFTY (Non-invasive fetal trisomy test), Verifi, informaSeq, informaSeq Panorama, MaterniT21 PLUS, and VisibiliT.In the report, Transparency Market Report (TMR) presents a comprehensive analysis of drivers and restrictions in the global prenatal diagnostics market. It also provides insight into the major segments and regions of the market.Global Prenatal Diagnostics Market: Trends and ProspectsThe global prenatal diagnostics market is driven by numerous factors such as growing demand for non-invasive prenatal diagnostics, rise in detection rates of Downs syndrome, technology advancements, and the crucial one being increasing age of mothers which develops the possibility and risk of chromosomal abnormalities. However, strict regulatory framework and traditional ethical outlook towards prenatal testing can limit the growth of the prenatal diagnostics. In addition, non-invasive prenatal tests and alternative screening and testing methods can also create hurdles for the market growth.On basis of tests, MaterniT21 plus segment will largely contribute to the market share, and is expected to lead the market during the forecast period. It is preferred over the other tests in the category as it is the first of its kind diagnostic system. Due to higher accuracy and safety panorama and verifi tests are also high in demand and is projected to register a strong CAGR during the forecast period. Moreover, increased market penetration and aggressive marketing strategies by companies are further propelling the growth of these tests.Global Prenatal Diagnostics Market: Regional AnalysisThe global prenatal diagnostics market is segmented on the basis of geography into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Among the mentioned regions, North America is expected to lead the regional segment. The factors leading to the growth of this region can be attributed to growing efforts of coalitions between companies and hospitals and increasing penetration of the testing procedures. In addition, due to increase in the rate of high risk pregnancies and rising average age for child bearing leading to development of chromosomal disorders, the market is said to propel over the forecast period. With increased penetration of companies and rising approvals by the European commission organizations, the European market is anticipated to thrive in terms of revenue.The Middle East and Asia Pacific are untapped territories for many established market players. With better marketing strategies and positioning, major companies are planning to venture in this region, thereby increasing the market growth. Moreover, supportive government research initiatives, rising disposable income, increasing paranoia of to-be mothers for the health of their child are some of the factors supplementing the market growth of non-invasive prenatal diagnostics.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :Companies Mentioned in the ReportSome of the leading players in the global prenatal diagnostics market are Hologic Inc., Sequenom, Inc., PerkinElmer, Inc., Ravgen, Inc., Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine, LLC, Abbott Molecular, Angle Plc., and TrovaGene, Inc.The Global Prenatal Diagnostics Market is segmented as follows:Global Prenatal Diagnostics Market, by TypeBambniTestHarmonyinformaSeqMaterniT21 PLUSNIFTYPanoramaPrenaTestverifiVisibiliTOthersGlobal Prenatal Diagnostics Market, by GeographyEuropeNorth AmericaAsia PacificRest of the WorldThis report gives you access to decisive data such as:Market growth driversFactors limiting market growthCurrent market trendsMarket structureMarket projections for the coming yearsKey highlights of this reportOverview of key market forces propelling and restraining market growthUp-to-date analyses of market trends and technological improvementsPin-point analyses of market competition dynamics to offer you a competitive edgeAn analysis of strategies of major competitorsAn array of graphics and SWOT analysis of major industry segmentsDetailed analyses of industry trendsA well-defined technological growth map with an impact-analysisAbout 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:
Brain Monitoring Devices Market:Technological Advancements, Evolving Industry Trends and Insights 2016 - 2024

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Global Brain Monitoring Devices Market: OverviewThe National Institute of Mental Health in the US states that every 1 in 4 adults suffers from a brain disorder every year. It further asserts that at least 6% suffer from serious disabilities due to severe brain damage. This alarming statistic goes to show the dire need for brain monitoring devices in the global healthcare industry today. Research shows that brain monitoring devices will be in significant demand in critical care units due to a high incidence of accidents pertaining to brain trauma and injuries in recent past. The market offers a wide range of devices to treat the abnormal brain activities and restore its functioning, depending on the case.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:The global brain monitoring market has been analyzed by researchers at Transparency Market Research using foolproof research methodologies. The document has been collaborated using information from various journals, interviews, whitepapers, conferences, and magazines. The report also includes an assessment of the competitive landscape present in the global brain monitoring devices market. It offers a thorough understanding of the overall market dynamics and maps a plausible trajectory for the market.Global Brain Monitoring Devices Market: Drivers and TrendsThe high incidence of neurological disorders in recent years due to changing lifestyles, rising stress levels, and radical changes in the social environments have cumulatively augmented the demand for brain monitoring devices market. Today, these devices are used for understanding the conditions of patients suffering from Alzheimers disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and brain tumors amongst others. Thus, the increasing number of patients suffering from these conditions are expected to serve as a strong market driver for the global brain monitoring devices market.The various brain monitoring devices available in the global market are intracranial pressure monitors, magnetoencephalography, electroencephalograph, cerebral oximeters, and transcranial doppler. These devices track brain function such as the velocity of blood flow in the veins and arteries in case of epilepsy, pressure surrounding the brain, electrical and neural activity, brain death, and traumatic brain injury. The market is also growing due to the rising number of post-surgical cerebrovascular accidents. These incidences have led to an augmented demand for automated brain monitoring devices in clinics and hospitals to understand the impact of anesthesia and sedatives.Analysts note that the improvement in functionality of these devices, their user-friendliness, and affordability along with technological advancements will encourage the growth of the global market in the coming years.Global Brain Monitoring Devices Market: Geographical OutlookOn the basis of region, the global brain monitoring devices market is segmented into Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. Analysts predict that North America is expected to lead the global market as the region has a strong healthcare infrastructure. The high adoption of technology and high penetration of mobile device have given this market an edge over other regions. The brain monitoring devices market in North America is also being encouraged by the supportive regulatory framework and affordable healthcare plans. The significant rise in the geriatric population has also made its contribution to the rise of the brain monitoring devices market in North America. Research indicates that rising patient awareness about benefits of brain monitoring devices to treat disorders such as sleep apnea, Alzheimers disease, and epilepsy amongst others will also propel the regional market.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :Key Players Mentioned in the ReportSome of the leading players operating in the global brain monitoring devices market are Advanced Brain Monitoring, Inc., Covidien PLC, Natus Medical, Inc., and Nihon Kohden Corporation.Major geographies analyzed under this research report are:North AmericaEuropeAsia PacificRest of the World (RoW)This report gives you access to decisive data such as:Market growth driversFactors limiting market growthCurrent market trendsMarket structureMarket projections for the coming yearsKey highlights of this report:Overview of key market forces propelling and restraining market growthUp-to-date analyses of market trends and technological improvementsPin-point analyses of market competition dynamics to offer you a competitive edgeAn analysis of strategies of major competitorsAn array of graphics and SWOT analysis of major industry segmentsDetailed analyses of industry trendsA well-defined technological growth map with an impact-analysisOffers a clear understanding of the competitive landscape and key product segmentsAbout 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:
Hemostasis Diagnostics Market:Competitive Dynamics & Global Outlook 2024

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Hemostasis, the bodys normal physiological response to stop bleeding after a vascular injury, is a key procedure in the first line of action attempted post an injury, by the body itself or by medical respondents. Preventing significant loss of blood is vital for the survival of a patient, making hemostasis the focus of widespread research and study. Owing to the critical nature of the procedure, the hemostasis products market has gained a prominent position in the field of medicine and health care.Rising global prevalence of hemophilia A and B, the most common inherited bleeding disorders, significant surge in a variety of surgeries and trauma patients, and increasing use of recombinant products are the factors likely to drive the hemostasis diagnostics market in the near future. The rapid rate of introduction of cost effective and biodegradable products in the global market is also aiding the growth of the market. Growth across cost-sensitive emerging markets is essentially due to easy availability of cost-effective products. However, saturation of the global hemostasis market and high cost structures of advanced hemostasis products are hampering the growth of the market.Browse Global Strategic Business Report:The hemostasis diagnostics market has been segmented based on product type, end-user, and region. Based on product type, the hemostasis diagnostics market has been segmented into analyzers, reagents, and consumables. Analyzers can be further segmented into fully automated analyzers and semi-automated analyzers. Accuracy of hematology analyzers has been enhanced by automation of systems and use of cell surface marker labels. Automated analyzers function by sampling the blood and classifying cell populations by quantification and description. This may be carried out using both electrical and optical techniques. Sophisticated hematology blood cell analyzers are enabling precise disease diagnosis at an early stage. Fully-automated systems compact in size, easy to use, providing networking solutions, and efficient data management have increased adoption of hematology analyzers. In terms of end-user, the hemostasis diagnostics market has been segmented into hospitals, clinical testing laboratories, research & academic institutes, and others.Hematology instruments and reagents continue to maintain strong position in the health care industry. Market players are making significant investment in product development to offer user-friendly, more sophisticated, efficient, and accurate analyzers to meet the demands of hospitals and clinics. Automated systems play a crucial role in transfusion medicines and facilitate screening of blood donors as well as quality control of blood products.Geographically, the hemostasis diagnostics market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is likely to dominate the global hemostasis diagnostics market owing to the rising installed instrument base leading to higher sales of reagents and support services in the U.S. Beckman Coulter is the market leader in hematology analyzers in the U.S.; however, it faces continuous competition from Sysmex products. The hemostasis diagnostics market in Europe is expected to be driven by steady rise in geriatric population which would boost demand for hemostasis. The vast and continuously rising set of under-served population suffering from bleeding disorders such as hemophilia, especially across developing economies such as India, is expected to boost the adoption of hemostasis products in Asia Pacific. Emerging markets such as India, China, and Brazil are registering significant growth due to increasing population, rise in health care expenditure and higher affordability, economic development, and improving technical capabilities by these countries.Major players operating in the hemostasis diagnostics market include Abbott Laboratories, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Grifols, S.A, Alere, Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Siemens Healthineers, and Beckman Coulter, Inc.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.Download Exclusive Brochure of This Report :A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Highlights of the report:A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent marketImportant changes in market dynamicsMarket segmentation up to the second or third levelHistorical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volumeReporting and evaluation of recent industry developmentsMarket shares and strategies of key playersEmerging niche segments and regional marketsAn objective assessment of the trajectory of the marketRecommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketNote: Although care has been taken to maintain the highest levels of accuracy in TMRs reports, recent market/vendor-specific changes may take time to reflect in the analysis.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 Market forl Motor Drive High Pressure Washers

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This Global Motor Drive High Pressure Washers report studies sales (consumption) of Motor Drive High Pressure Washers in Global market, especially in United States, China, Europe and Japan, focuses on top players in these regions/countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these regions, coveringKarcherNilfiskStihlBriggs & StrattonBOSCHTTIGeneracMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Motor Drive High Pressure Washers in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSplit by product Types, with sales, revenue, price and gross margin, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IISplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Motor Drive High Pressure Washers in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2For Sample Report Request:Table Of Content:Global Motor Drive High Pressure Washers Sales Market Report 20171 Motor Drive High Pressure Washers Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Motor Drive High Pressure Washers1.2 Classification of Motor Drive High Pressure Washers1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.3 Application of Motor Drive High Pressure Washers1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.4 Motor Drive High Pressure Washers Market by Regions1.4.1 United States Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Motor Drive High Pressure Washers (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Motor Drive High Pressure Washers Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Motor Drive High Pressure Washers Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Motor Drive High Pressure Washers Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Global Motor Drive High Pressure Washers Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Motor Drive High Pressure Washers Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Motor Drive High Pressure Washers Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Motor Drive High Pressure Washers (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Motor Drive High Pressure Washers Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)About Us:We are a leading repository of market research reports and solutions from the top publishers and market research companies across globe, catering to various industries. This large collection of reports assists organizations in decision-making on aspects such as market entry strategies, market sizing, market share analysis, competitive analysis, product portfolio analysis andopportunity analysis among others. We also assist in determining the best suited and targeted report from our large repository of global reports, company-specific reports and country-level reports.Our custom research services help clients to meet specific market research requirements by coordinating with our esteemed research partners. Our experienced analysts are always available to cater to your queries pre- and post-purchase. We believe in providing best-in-class after-sales service to our clients and wish to build a long-term and a mutually fruitful relationship.Contact Us:Pune, Maharashtra - 411 014IndiaEmail: sales@reporthive.comCall: +1-312-604-7084
Global Waterproof Geomembrane Srutinized in New report

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Waterproof Geomembrane Report by Material, Application, and Geography  Global Forecast to 2021 is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and the main countries (United States, Germany, united Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China).The report firstly introduced the Waterproof Geomembrane basics: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast 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 Waterproof Geomembrane Market;3.) the North American Waterproof Geomembrane Market;4.) the European Waterproof Geomembrane Market;5.) market entry and investment feasibility;6.) the report conclusion.For Sample Report Request:Table Of Content:Chapter One Waterproof Geomembrane Industry Overview1.1 Waterproof Geomembrane Definition1.2 Waterproof Geomembrane Classification Analysis1.2.1 Waterproof Geomembrane Main Classification Analysis1.2.2 Waterproof Geomembrane Main Classification Share Analysis1.3 Waterproof Geomembrane Application Analysis1.3.1 Waterproof Geomembrane Main Application Analysis1.3.2 Waterproof Geomembrane Main Application Share Analysis1.4 Waterproof Geomembrane Industry Chain Structure Analysis1.5 Waterproof Geomembrane Industry Development Overview1.5.1 Waterproof Geomembrane Product History Development Overview1.5.1 Waterproof Geomembrane Product Market Development Overview1.6 Waterproof Geomembrane Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.1 Waterproof Geomembrane Global Import Market Analysis1.6.2 Waterproof Geomembrane Global Export Market Analysis1.6.3 Waterproof Geomembrane Global Main Region Market Analysis1.6.4 Waterproof Geomembrane Global Market Comparison Analysis1.6.5 Waterproof Geomembrane Global Market Development Trend AnalysisChapter Two Waterproof Geomembrane 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 AnalysisAbout Us:We are a leading repository of market research reports and solutions from the top publishers and market research companies across globe, catering to various industries. This large collection of reports assists organizations in decision-making on aspects such as market entry strategies, market sizing, market share analysis, competitive analysis, product portfolio analysis andopportunity analysis among others. We also assist in determining the best suited and targeted report from our large repository of global reports, company-specific reports and country-level reports.Our custom research services help clients to meet specific market research requirements by coordinating with our esteemed research partners. Our experienced analysts are always available to cater to your queries pre- and post-purchase. We believe in providing best-in-class after-sales service to our clients and wish to build a long-term and a mutually fruitful relationship.Contact Us:Pune, Maharashtra - 411 014IndiaEmail: sales@reporthive.comCall: +1-312-604-7084
Cerebral Oximeters Market : Technological breakthroughs, Value chain and stakeholder analysis by 2024

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The cerebral oximeter setup includes an oximeter probe which is attached to a cable that is then connected to the cerebral oximeter monitor. Most cerebral oximeters are able to support 2 to 4 oximeter probes with their respective monitor cables. Probes are attached to the scalp of a patient using adhesive pads, where the frontal lobe is the chosen part of the scalp. Probes are composed of fiber optic light source along with light detectors. Light is released by the source in the infrared range either by light-emitting diodes (LED) or through stimulated emission of the radiation.The emitted light which is in the infrared range is able to reach the underlying cerebral tissue by easily penetrating through the skull. The light which is emitted is either redirected, absorbed, reflected, or scattered. A change is observed in the light spectrum when infrared light comes in contact with hemoglobin. The change depends upon the hemoglobin molecules oxygenation status. The light detectors present in the oximeter probes detect the reflected light once it returns toward the surface.The fundamental aim of the anesthetic process is maintenance of sufficient amount of oxygen to organs and tissues, especially the brain. Though the dangers to the brain of reduced oxygen delivery and prolonged hypoxia are well documented, the brain is still the least monitored organ in the course of anesthesia. Cerebral oximeters are used to obtain cerebral oxygenation values using continuous, noninvasive near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technology or near-infrared spectroscopy technology.Browse full report on Cerebral Oximeters Market-The growth of the global cerebral oximeters market is due to factors such as growth in the older population, increase in prevalence and incidence of neurological disorders, and gradual rise in the awareness levels about neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, the market growth is driven by increase in prevalence of traumatic brain injuries and sustained efforts by manufacturers to bring in technological advancements in the equipment. The demand for these devices can grow as there is a huge untreated population with neurological conditions as well as rise in demand for minimally invasive and non-invasive devices. Greater focus of the manufacturers on digitalized devices, their extended therapeutic applications, and increase in use of these devices in clinical trials are some of the opportunities that could drive the growth of the market. However, the market growth could be impeded due to high cost of the equipment. As the devices are complex, the costs associated with them are very high. Furthermore, factors such as shortage of highly trained professionals, concerns about the accuracy of the diagnostic devices, and unfavorable reimbursement policies may hinder the growth of the market during the forecast period.The global cerebral oximeters market is segmented based on product type, therapeutic application, end-user, and geography. The market in terms of product type is divided into portable oximeters and finger oximeters. Based on therapeutic application, the market is classified into traumatic brain injuries, stroke, and other therapeutic applications. In terms of end-user, the market is divided into hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centers, and others.Geographically, the global cerebral oximeters market is divided into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to have the prime share of the market. Factors such as rise in prevalence of various neurodegenerative disorders, government initiatives and support for technological advancements, well-established sales & distribution network of major neurodiagnostic companies, and ease of reimbursement for brain monitoring techniques. North America is followed by Europe in terms of market size. The market is expected to grow in Asia Pacific due to improvement in health care infrastructure, rise in disposable incomes, and increase in incidence of neurodegenerative disorders as well as health care reforms initiated by governments.The prominent players operating in the global cerebral oximeters market are GE Healthcare, Medtronic, Masimo, Natus Medical Incorporated, Omron Healthcare, Nonin Medical, Boston Scientific, Edwards Lifesciences, and Spacelabs Healthcare.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)Request for brochure of this report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
The idea seemed perfect, especially as it was born in the very communities where help was needed: The Portland Housing Bureau would provide East Portland landlords forgivable loans of up to $15,000 to cover repairs of outstanding code violations in their apartments. In exchange, landlords had to promise to keep their affordable rates for the following 10 years.

Editorial Agenda 2017

Boost student success

Get Oregon's financial house in order

Help our homeless

Honor our diverse values

Make Portland a city that works

Expand access to public records

________________________

But as The Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Brad Schmidt discovered, the only problem was that the city had no idea how many apartments actually qualified for the program. They didn't let that stop them.

Instead, they guessed. And guessed and guessed again, with their estimates of how many apartment units east of 82nd Avenue needed assistance jumping from 400 to 1,200 and then, in February 2016, 2,000. But even now, after the city council handed over $500,000 to the bureau to carry out its plan, housing officials still don't know how many units need their help.

Schmidt's analysis found it was 817 apartments.

The story is troubling on many fronts. First, the money could have paid for homeless shelter beds or helped nearly 100 families avoid eviction instead of sitting in city coffers as the new program was built.

Oregonian editorials

Editorials reflect the collective opinion of The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom.

Members of the editorial board are Laura Gunderson, John Maher, Helen Jung, Mark Katches and Len Reed.

To respond to this editorial:

Post your comment below, submit

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If you have questions about the opinion section, contact Laura Gunderson, editorial and commentary editor, at 503-221-8378 or lgunderson@oregonian.com.

Second, is the need for accurate, rigorous data. Without it, agencies lose credibility, both in the eyes of politicians, budget writers and the public. Portlanders can't afford that from this bureau that's in a key position to help the city's minority, low-income, immigrant and refugee residents who live in East Portland and are facing ever-increasing rents.

In response, bureau officials have allowed that while the program has been slow to launch, the need is there. They've made a series of tweaks, including expanding the type of rentals affected and increasing the amount of the loans, and are now asking for $1.5 million in the coming budget cycle for the program.

Kurt Creager, director of the housing bureau, defended the numbers provided by his staff. He told The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board that Portland's current complaint-driven system, which should provide more accurate figures, isn't working.

"Only the most egregious health and safety problems are likely to be reported and then, often after a landlord has given the tenant a no cause eviction," Creager wrote in an email, explaining why a lack of complaints makes it tough for his bureau to find reliable data.

Renters understandably may be fearful of retaliation by landlords if they report code violations that landlords haven't fixed, such as rotting carpets, black-mold covered bathrooms, bug infestations and other unsafe living conditions. That's especially true when renters know they face a market in which real estate and rental inventories are low and turning at top dollar.

Creager argues that Portland should consider mandatory rental registration and property inspections of all rental properties, programs used in many cities larger than Portland including Seattle and Los Angeles. They're in use in smaller cities, too -- Gresham uses such a program. Perhaps that's where Creager should focus his attention, sooner rather than later.

Join the conversation

Mayor Ted Wheeler

Portland Housing Bureau

The city also should consider providing Portland renters with an anonymous hotline to alert city inspectors with potential code violations. The cities of Seattle and San Francisco allow renters to file complaints anonymously.

Yet Portland's current system, laid out by the city's Bureau of Development Services, requires renters to provide their names and other personal information. Bureau personnel tell callers that the information will remain confidential. Yet the bureau website warns renters that if they lodge a complaint and the city ends up taking the landlord to court, the tenant's information could become public.

Portland is in the midst of a housing crisis that will likely take years to address and that language is awfully chilling.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
Malheursnowcollapse.jpg

Gov. Kate Brown visited Malheur County this past winter to learn how multiple, heavy snow storms damaged buildings in the area.

(Malheur County Fair and Rodeo)

Les Zaitz

Gov. Kate Brown sat in the cold metal folding chair inside a fire hall, listening to a briefing about winter's destructive effect on Malheur County. Her visit was anticipated with suspicion by some residents.

"This person is a quack," wrote one Facebook commentator. "Her loyalty is in the valley." Another wrote: "I'm telling you, she's going to use this as political stunt."

Those aren't stray remarks. They reveal the deep antipathy some rural Oregonians have towards the political masters anchored in the state's metro areas. They have their counterparts in the metro area. Some urban dwellers suspect ranchers and farmers and hunters are just ruining the countryside.

This encapsulates the urban-rural divide in Oregon, a political and economic chasm seemingly separating the "haves" from the "have nots."

Brown worked to bridge that chasm. She spent a day looking at buildings crushed by snow. She heard school administrators explain they drained budgets to hire snow shovelers. She heard business owners say they're thinking of rebuilding across the border in Idaho.

Back in Salem, Brown made good on her promise to help. Within days, she summoned the state's political leadership and heads of key state agencies to her conference room to answer: What can you do to help Malheur County? State employees were dispatched back to Ontario to solve insurance, construction and environmental riddles. She rummaged around the state's change drawer and managed to find $1 million in cash to send to Malheur County.

The photo op appears to have turned into a sustained effort by Salem-based agencies to help a county literally in another time zone.

And then, weeks later, House Speaker Tina Kotek made a head-turning announcement. She was teaming up with the county's legislator, state Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, to propose special funding and special rules for Malheur County.

Last summer, Kotek toured Malheur County at Bentz's invitation. She listened to onion farmers, producer packers and economic development leaders. She drove around back roads and sat in the local coffee shop, jawing with locals. She learned that one of Oregon's most impoverished counties wants to do better - on its own, but with a helping hand from its westside cousins.

"I left thinking: 'What could we do? What would be helpful?'" Kotek told me in a recent interview.

And in the midst of deep state budget troubles, Kotek laid a $10 million marker on the table to help build Malheur County's economy. That legislation, House Bill 2012, also hands local county commissioners the job of nominating those to serve on a new state board to serve the area. She confronted head first one of rural Oregon's primary complaints: Lack of local control.

Brown and Kotek acted only after listening and learning. They didn't ride into Malheur County with a satchel full of state directives. They came with notebooks and an earnest ear. More urban-based politicians and business leaders need to slip out of their dress shoes, pull on some boots and trudge through remote corners of Oregon. As Brown and Kotek did, they will go home with a deeper sense of the people who chose rural life.

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Submit your essay of 500 words or less to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.

At the same time, rural residents have to remember there are west-bound lanes on Interstate 84, too. Rural Oregonians who feel aggrieved by urban attitudes also need to listen and to learn. They need to better understand the perspective of those in Hillsboro or Gresham or Tigard. Urban voters have reasons they embrace certain policies, and sometimes they do so unaware of rural implications. That doesn't mean they are out to get rural Oregon.

Such efforts will lower suspicions on both sides of the mountains, and allow Oregonians to spend more time pursuing shared visions and less arguing over differences.

Les Zaitz is editor and publisher of the Malheur Enterprise and former senior investigative reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive. He lives outside of John Day.
Presidents Day Protests Oregon

Many anti-Trump protests have broken out since the president's election in November. (file photo)

(Dave Killen/Staff)

Updated at 10:30 p.m.

One person was arrested Saturday morning as demonstrators clashed at two opposing rallies in Salem, Oregon State Police said.

Matthew Curtis Heagy, a 31-year-old from Terrebonne, was arrested for illegally possessing a firearm when a crowd of about 200 to 300 people gathered in Salem both in support of and opposition to President Donald Trump, Oregon State Police spokesman Kyle Hove said.

An "Oregon Make America Great Again March" was scheduled to convene in Salem at 10 a.m. on Saturday, while a counter-protest called "Salem Stands for Love" was scheduled for 9 a.m., according to Facebook events. Both were scheduled to last until 2 p.m.

The two opposing groups were involved in a "disturbance" at about 11 a.m., Hove said.

Heagy used pepper spray, which hit a state trooper, Hove said. Troopers then detained Heagy. They found he was a convicted felon and had a gun, Hove said.

Court records show Heagy was convicted of coercion and fourth degree assault in May 2013 and first degree theft and computer crimes in February 2015. He was also charged with first degree theft in May 2016. He pled not guilty. A trial is scheduled for September 2017.

Heagy was arrested and charged for illegally possessing a firearm.

Hove did not know which group Heagy was part of or whether he sprayed the pepper spray at another demonstrator.

KOIN reported anarchists were pepper-sprayed.

A Facebook profile for Matt Heagy has a "Three Percenters" symbol as a cover photo. The Three Percenters is a patriot movement started after the election of President Barack Obama and pledges to resist the federal government. A Three Percenters group from Idaho supported the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January 2016.

Hove said earlier Saturday that troopers used "crowd control measures" during the demonstration. He clarified Saturday night that the troopers separated the two opposing groups, but did not know exactly what measures were used.

Hove said he did not have any more detail on Saturday night.

This report will be updated with more information as it becomes available.

-- Samantha Matsumoto

503-294-4001; @SMatsumoto55
I've written before about tax-related scams, as criminals have been successful in stealing millions of dollars from unsuspecting taxpayers over the phone and through the internet. Unfortunately, this is the time of year where scams tend to heat up. In fact, the IRS is warning taxpayers of some sophisticated last-minute tax scams to watch out for.

What is a phishing scam?

Phishing scams generally refer to scams via email, although they can take other forms such as text messages. And these have become a big problem -- the IRS saw a 400% surge in phishing and malware incidents during the 2016 tax season alone. So, it's fair to assume they'll continue to be a major issue in 2017.

These scams take many different forms, but the general goal is to trick people into clicking on a malware-infected link or attachment, revealing personal and identifying information about themselves, or simply to steal the victim's money.

For example, one popular phishing scam involves an official-looking email that appears to be from the IRS, which takes you to a phony IRS website (that looks real), where you're instructed to update your IRS file right away. Once you do, a thief will have information such as your Social Security number, bank account information, or credit card number.

Last-minute scams to watch out for

The IRS and other law enforcement agencies have gotten much better at safeguarding against identity theft and combating tax scammers. However, the scams continue to evolve and become more sophisticated in order to trick people into revealing sensitive information, or to get them to unknowingly send money to criminals.

A common scam this time of year is an email that is supposedly from a tax software provider (such as TurboTax or TaxACT) that asks the taxpayer to update their information, with the intention of stealing potentially lucrative identifying information such as Social Security and bank account numbers. Similar fraudulent emails posing as being sent by banks, credit card companies, or even the IRS are quite common attempts to obtain this type of information.

Know what to look for, and you'll be fine

The good news is that phishing scams like the ones discussed here are 100% avoidable by taking extra steps to confirm the authenticity of any communications you receive.

For example, if you receive an email or other communication that supposedly comes from the IRS itself, it's relatively easy to spot a scam. By knowing what the IRS won't do, you can easily identify when something isn't right. For example, the IRS will never initiate contact by email, and will never expect you to give your credit card or bank account information over the phone.

On the other hand, if you receive a tax-related communication from another organization, such as from your bank or tax software provider, it's a good idea to call them to verify the authenticity, even if you're nearly certain that it's real. For example, if I get an email message from my bank -- say, to confirm certain information about my tax refund -- I'm going to call the bank's actual customer service number (from their website, not the email) to confirm that the email actually originated from the bank.

Finally, never open an email attachment or click on a link within the email unless you are 100% certain of the source of the email. Doing so can easily infect your computer with malware, which can also steal your information.

The bottom line is that while it may seem like an inconvenience to take extra steps to verify the authenticity of tax-related correspondence, it's certainly better than falling victim to a tax scam.

The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook

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It was at age 5, as everyone else was mulling kindergarten and ditching the training wheels on their bikes, that Brryan Jackson's mother, Jennifer Jackson, and the many Central Illinois relatives around her began noticing strange things going on with Brryan's body.

Cuts didn't want to heal.

Mosquito bites not only itched, they got bigger.

He battled severe bouts of asthma and a fungus began growing under his fingernails and toenails.

His grandparents in Lexington and Gridley, an aunt in Pontiac, his mother's family, who owned a successful ATV business in an outstretch of McLean County, all watched as Brryan mysteriously was mired with an ailment no one could seem to diagnose.

"I was in his hospital room," says cousin Lisa Craver-Whear, of Fairbury, "and I remember the doctors coming in to say they didn't think he was going to make it."

That was in 1996.

You have, no doubt, heard those stories about bad beginnings, nasty twists and less-than-desirable childhoods.

Brryan Jackson qualifies.

Near death, after months of doctors not being able to diagnose just what was going on with his body, an answer:

Brryan had AIDS.

The even-yet-worst part: It was his father, not wanting to pay child support, who  as an investigation and then criminal prosecution would unravel  visited Brryan 11 months after his birth, at a hospital near St. Louis where his mother was living at the time and, while no one else was in the room, injected Brryan with HIV-tainted blood.

Today, Brian T. Stewart, Brryan's father, is serving a life sentence in a Missouri prison. At his sentencing hearing in 1998, the judge said, "When God finally calls you, you are going to burn in hell from here to eternity."

And Brryan today?

Miraculously, he turned 26 on Friday.

Perhaps more amazingly  "blessed," he says, "by God's grace"  he is AIDS-free, too.

"I've gone from taking 23 medications a day for AIDS and being sent home to die ... to only one pill, and no AIDS, and a hope-filled life," says Brryan, who purposely spells his name with a Y and two R's to distance himself from his dad's first name.

For a while, it was difficult for Brryan to distance himself even from his own story.

When detectives in 1996 launched an investigation that ultimately uncovered the horrendous way Brryan got AIDS, the story got international coverage.

It was a lead story on all the nightly news programs.

It was headline news on CNN worldwide.

Brryan "starred" on "20/20."

His father, meanwhile, was a trained phlebotomist (one who draws blood) and in 1992, was just back as a medic from a military stint in Saudi Arabia as part of "Operation Desert Storm." That's when, says Brryan, "he came back a different man."

First he denied to Jennifer that he was Brryan's father and then, after a DNA test proved he was, connived his way, as a blood-specialist at a St. Louis area hospital, to ultimately "poison" Brryan.

Because of his subsequent HIV-positive diagnosis, for Brryan thereafter, school was where everyone else avoided him, he says  teachers, students, parents. A teen with a good wrestling framework, he was denied a shot on the team at a suburban St. Louis high school. No one wanted to wrestle him. He got the nickname, "AIDS boy, gay boy."

"Back in the '90s," says Brryan, "people were still thinking you could get AIDS from a toilet seat."

Thus, by age 13, Brryan figured one way around it all.

He tried suicide.

By then, his life story had wafted from the headlines.

But the reality is, that's when Brryan's story also begins, in another way.

"After the suicide try, I was sent to counseling. That's also when I discovered God ... and developed a faith and eventually came to realize that hope, courage and forgiveness ... were my only way out," he says.

By his early 20s, horrified by his story but amazed by his attitude, friends encouraged him to go out and speak about it.

Thus today, Brryan is a motivational speaker (www.brryanjackson.com) and goes to churches, high schools, colleges and youth organizations across America, to tell his story and, he says, how to grow from life's adversities.

He has testified at Congressional hearings.

He's made People's "Heroes Among Us" and been featured as Diane Sawyer's "Person of the Week."

Not long ago, he was even back in Central Illinois, among all of his mother's roots, giving a talk at a church that he says was not only motivational, but infused with large doses of humor.

"People get confused. They think my sense of humor is a coping strategy. But it's not really," he says. "I believe if you have the ability to laugh at tragedy and the bad things that can happen in life, you're not only coping ... you've got power."

Brryan Jackson?

He was maliciously sentenced to death, inoculated with AIDS. But now, 25 years later, he only wants to offer hope, courage, light and life ... as an aide to others.
CHICAGO  At least once a day, Dr. Lee Ann Lindquist gets an urgent phone call.

"Mom fell and is in the hospital," a concerned middle-aged son might report.

"Dad got lost with the car, and we need to stop him from driving," a distraught middle-aged daughter may explain.

"We don't know what to do."

Lindquist, chief of geriatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, wondered if people could become better prepared for such emergencies, and so she designed a research project to find out.

The result is a unique website, www.planyourlifespan.org, which helps older adults plan for predictable problems during what Lindquist calls the "last quarter of life"  roughly, from age 75 on.

"Many people plan for retirement," the energetic physician explained in her office close to Lake Michigan. "They complete a will, assign powers of attorney, pick out a funeral home, and they think they're done."

What doesn't get addressed is how older adults will continue living at home if health-related concerns compromise their independence.

"People don't want to think about the last 10 or 15 years of their life, and how they're going to manage," Lindquist said.

This isn't end-of-life planning; it's planning for the period before the end, when health problems become more common.

Lindquist and collaborators began their research by convening focus groups of 68 seniors  mostly women with an average age of 74. Nearly $2 million in funding came from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, created under the Affordable Care Act.

Investigators wanted to know which events might make it difficult for people to remain at home. Seniors named five: being hospitalized, falling, developing dementia, having a spouse fall ill or die, and not being able to keep up their homes.

Yet most participants hadn't planned for these kinds of events. Investigators asked why.

Among the reasons seniors offered: I don't know what to do, I'm uncomfortable asking for help, I'm not at immediate risk of something bad happening, my children will take care of whatever I need, and I'm worried I won't have enough money, according to a research report published last year.

Developing the website came next. Lindquist and her team decided to focus on three issues the focus groups had raised _ hospitalizations, falling and developing dementia _ and to include sections on communicating with family members and managing finances.

A group of senior advisers rejected the first version: the typeface was too small; the design, too cluttered; and the content, too complex. They didn't want to be overwhelmed with information; they wanted the material on the site to be practical and concrete.

The final version "forces people to sit down and think about their future in a very helpful and non-threatening way," said Phyllis Mitzen, 74, who worked on the project and is president of Skyline Village in downtown Chicago, a community organization with about 100 older adult members.

An individual going through the material is asked to consider a series of questions after examining explanatory information and watching short videos of seniors illustrating the issues being discussed. For instance, which rehabilitation facility would you like to go to if you need intensive therapy after a hospitalization?

Who will take care of your pets, mow your lawn or shovel the snow from your sidewalk while you're away? Who can collect your mail, check on bills to be paid and get medications for you when you return home?

If you begin having memory problems, who can help you manage your bills and finances? Are you willing to wear a medical alert bracelet if you start getting lost? Would you be willing to have a friend or relative check on your driving or have a formal driving evaluation?

If you require more assistance, are you open to having someone come in to help at home? Would you prefer to live with somebody _ if so, whom? Would you be willing to move into a senior community?

The goal is to jump-start conversations about these issues, Lindquist said, just as seniors are encouraged to have conversations about end-of-life preferences.

Those looking for deep dives into topics highlighted on the site will have to look elsewhere. Resources listed are spare and some of the material presented  for instance, how Medicare might cover various services  is overly simplified, noted Carol Levine, director of the United Hospital Fund's Families and Health Care Project in New York City.

Her project has prepared a much more detailed, comprehensive set of guides for family caregivers about issues such as home care, doctors' visits, emergency room care, rehabilitation and what to expect during and after a hospitalization. Those materials are full of useful advice and can flesh out issues raised on the Northwestern website.

Those wanting to know more about falls can consult materials prepared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

For dementia, the Alzheimer's Association and the NIH are good places to start.

As for next steps, Lindquist contemplates disseminating PlanYourLifespan more widely, translating it into Spanish if funding can be secured and possibly expanding it to include more topics.
There are few quicker ways to ruin a vacation than for your luggage to end up in a different city from where you are.

And while nearly every traveler has a story of waiting around a terminal while employees hunt for his or her misplaced bag, the truth is U.S. airlines are doing better than ever at taking care of passengers' luggage.

Through a combination of new technologies that allow bags to be tracked in nearly real-time and a renewed focus on the basics of handling luggage, airlines last year reported the lowest rate of mishandled bags  those lost, damaged or delayed  since the Department of Transportation began keeping track in 1987.

"Providing a safe, on-time, reliable experience  that includes great hospitality, that includes if they check a bag that it arrives with them on time, it includes the service on board the airplane. It's an all-in experience," said Steve Goldberg, senior vice president of ground operations and provisioning at Southwest Airlines, which has cut its rate of mishandled bags 25 percent over the last two years. "It's not just someone's bag, it's someone's belongings."

Industrywide, U.S. airlines mishandled 2.7 bags per 1,000 customers last year, beating the previous record of 3.09 from 2012. Compared to a decade ago, U.S. airlines are mishandling 60 percent fewer bags while serving slightly more passengers.

The improvements come at a time when airlines are investing record profits back into their operations. In a consolidated industry where four carriers control 80 percent of domestic traffic, it's no longer enough for airlines to compete on price and schedule alone, shifting focus to things like on-time performance and bag handling.

The rise of baggage fees also has led passengers to check fewer bags or stick to a single carry-on, leaving fewer bags for airlines to mishandle on a per-passenger basis.

Among major carriers, Delta Air Lines leads the way, with a mishandled bag rate of 1.81 per 1,000 passengers, trailing only smaller carriers like Virgin America, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines.

The Atlanta-based airline made headlines last year when it was the first U.S. carrier to roll out radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology for bag tracking at airports around the country.

The small chips, which are used in myriad ways across many industries, are embedded in luggage tags, allowing them to be automatically scanned as they pass behind check-in, through the bowels of the airport and out to the aircraft.

In addition to saving on the time-consuming manual scanning of bags, the technology provides Delta with reams of data to better optimize its operation, said Bill Lentsch, Delta's senior vice president of airport customer service and airline operations.

"With barcode scanning, you only capture nine out of every 10 scans there is some unreliability," said Lentsch, who added that the company's $50 million investment in the technology has reduced its mishandled-bag rate by about 10 percent.

It's those real-time updates that have proved to be one of the biggest crowd pleasers from the latest technology push around baggage handling. Anxious travelers on many airlines can now check their smartphones to see that their luggage made it to the same plane they're on. Also, push alerts can guide them to the appropriate luggage carousel without having to crowd around a terminal display board.

The increased visibility of bags throughout their journey also helps airlines when something goes wrong, allowing them to reroute luggage more quickly when a flight is canceled or a passenger misses a connection.

"When you have one of those typical Texas thunderstorms that shuts down operations at the airport, we end up with a lot of bags and a lot of customers going in a lot of different directions," said Mark Matthews, American Airlines' director of customer planning operations. "Having that data available allows us to have a better idea of where that bag was last touched."

American finds itself last among the major carriers for rate of mishandled bags, at 3.38 per 1,000 passengers. That's still half of its rate from a decade ago, and is at least partly explained by the company's ongoing integration with US Airways after the 2013 merger.
The four-story, 82,000-square-foot proposal would be at the southeast intersection of Wylie Drive and Valley View Drive and would be accessible via both roads.
SPRINGFIELD  A new Illinois law gives a break to ex-offenders who finish high school and other courses while incarcerated by allowing them to apply to have their criminal records sealed without waiting years to begin the process.

The law, effective in January, lets eligible offenders request that their records be sealed without a mandatory wait after their sentence, including parole, is completed. The law rewards those who complete GED, college degrees, vocational training and career certificates while in jail or prison.

The program is an incentive that puts recently released inmates on a faster track to regain their footing in the community and avoid a return to prison, said Madeline Neighly, senior policy adviser on corrections and re-entry with the Council of State Governments Justice Center.

We know that jobs and housing are very important to helping reduce recidivism, said Neighly, who is leading development of the Clean Slate Clearinghouse, a resource for advocates with no legal expertise, policymakers, lawyers and legislators.

The project, scheduled for an August debut, will be a state-by-state guide to the complex rules governing the sealing and expungement of criminal records.

Advocates and decision makers will be able to compare how their state stacks up against others on re-entry issues and the impact their policies have on a persons ability to start over, said Neighly.

Were seeing an increase in understanding that, intentional or not, the barriers that have been put in place are going against the goals of reducing prison populations, said Neighly.

The number of legal restrictions on ex-offenders living in the U.S. numbers more than 48,000, including more than 1,400 in Illinois, according to the Council of State Governments.

Bloomington defense lawyer Robert Carter said the negative consequences are not limited to felony convictions. Certain misdemeanors such as shoplifting and battery also can limit a persons job options. Before a client signs off on a plea agreement, Carter talks to them about the limitations of their decision.

"We discuss the potential consequences of any type of plea deal  not just the sentence, but its collateral consequences," said Carter.

A felony conviction can affect a person's right to vote, own a firearm, secure a loan, a home and a job. Illinois has six levels of felonies that can send a person to prison from one year to life. With the ever-expanding list of criminal offenses comes an equally expanding population of people with limited opportunities.

The result, said Carter, is "a society full of unproductive citizens who can no longer contribute to society in a meaningful way."
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In many corners of Illinois, being seen by a doctor for a shattered arm or chest pains probably means the nearest option is a small hospital that often is the primary mental and physical health provider for many miles, offering preventive and emergency care from cradle to grave.

Its hard to rebuff the significance of these facilities to a large swath of our state  a message that Washington needs to hear. In discussing the labyrinth that is dismantling former President Obamas health care law, lawmakers must realize the incredible importance these health institutions are to our less populated communities.

Health care is crucial for our rural communities, too. We cant have that carelessly lost in the conversation. We need a sensible solution for maintaining these critical lifelines.

The Illinois Health and Hospital Association estimates Medicare and Medicaid are the primary funding sources for 72 percent of patients admitted to small and rural hospitals. And 43 percent of those patients are over 65.

By the organizations measure, Illinois has 87 such centers, including hospitals in Clinton, Gibson City, Lincoln, Hopedale, Eureka and Pontiac in Central Illinois.

Often, small community hospitals are the biggest employer in town. But they also operate on remarkably slim margins, an issue that becomes even more worrisome because many health providers across the U.S. took a big gamble as the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2010. The deal included agreeing to cuts in federal assistance to care for uninsured people in exchange for getting newly insured customers through the program.

The idea was the gains would offset the losses, but thats now up in the air as lawmakers examine scuttling the health care law, after facilities spent months instituting changes to meet the new standard. The impact could be bewildering. The American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals estimate hospitals are poised to lose $166 billion in Medicaid payments in the next decade if the law is annulled.

That will be especially felt among rural health facilities that often have fewer customers with fewer insurance options. The question is whether Congress will restore the many billions of dollars that helped some hospitals stay operating before Obamacare started. About 900,000 residents gained insurance under the law across Illinois, which also extended Medicaid to almost all poor adults.

The risk is that smaller hospitals wont be able to withstand the funding shift and will have to make up losses by charging privately insured patients more. Some might close, putting more pressure on local-level social service programs.

Its a tricky situation and there isnt a good solution. We support efforts to scrutinize the Affordable Care Act, which has flaws. But lawmakers and the Trump administration have to look beyond the Beltway to rural communities.

Thats the responsible approach, regardless of political position. We just cant neglect those who live in less-populated areas.

Because when it comes to health care in small-town Illinois, it doesnt matter if youre Democrat or Republican when your only health care option closes. When that happens, the whole community loses.
Poland as an equal member state is free to comment on EU, at the same time striving for compromise, Polish President Andrzej Duda told public tv late Saturday. On Sunday President and the First Lady start an official visit to Slovenia.



President Duda emphasised that the Rome Declaration "explicitly" referred to the unity, which was not to everybody's taste.

"Opinions varied, thus there was a need to find a compromise. It is good all member states decided to sign the document after all as it provides a point of reference in case some centrifugal tendencies emerge in the future", said Duda, adding that he considered multi-speed EU concepts as indeed those centrifugal tendencies.

President noted that enlarging EU with new member states "doubtless reinforced EU's potential, most importantly as a vast common market, thus a massive economic organism".

"Small Union is a far cry from a large one, it is a completely different purchasing potential, a totally different output and work force one, other demographic level (...) should multi-speed Union come true, namely the exclusive inner clubs for certain countries be created, I can tell you it does not bode well, quite contrary, it would be a very negative direction for the EU and some member states", assessed Andrzej Duda.

Asked about remarks on Poland conflictig itself with Brussels by not assenting to all EU's proposals and opposing Donald Tusk candidature for the post of the European Council head, the President replied that he had indeed heard Grzegorz Schetyna (Civic Platform leader - PAP) suggesting (...) the Rome Declaration should be signed in toto (by Poland - PAP) notwithstanding any apprehensions".

"Suffice to say, politics of this kind will work against Polish interests", concluded President Duda.

On Sunday, President Andrzej Duda and Poland's First Lady arrived in Slovenia on Sunday. The Polish head of state will meet Slovenian President Borut Pahor and PM Miro Cerar. The two presidents will issue a joint statement on the future of the EU.

A meeting with Slovenian President Borut Pahor and Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanic at the Strmol Castle will lead off the Polish president's visit.

Polish presidential Minister Krzysztof Szczerski told PAP that among the visit's key political aspects would be the concept of cooperation under the Three Seas format planned at bringing countries located between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic seas closer together. President Duda seeks to strengthen regional relations in this format, noted Szczerski adding that Slovenia was an important Adriatic partner in this triangle. (PAP)

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A 10-month-old baby with his twin in his stomach will undergo a complicated surgery to remove the abnormality. Doctors who examined the boy from Indonesia said his condition is called fetus in fetu, which occurs in one in 500,000 pregnancies.

Muhammad Abdalul Zikri Hakim's parents, Asmani and Rusman, thought the growth in their son's stomach was a tumor. They took him to the West Nusa Tenggara General Hospital where doctors examined and tested the baby extensively, according to ABC Australia.

The hospital already rounded up a team of nine doctors and specialists for Hakim's surgery. Doctors said it will be a complicated procedure as only less than a hundred cases of fetus in fetu have gone on record and they have little basis to compare and take points from. Hakim's case could be further complicated if vital organs are involved.

It's still unclear, however, when the surgery will take place since Hakim suffers from malnourishment as a result of his condition. "The malnourishment is caused by the existence of tissues, a foreign object inside the body, that foreign object is a parasite, it eats off its source or parent," Dr. Lalu Hamzi Fikri said.

The condition fetus in fetu, which was discovered by german anatomist Johann Friedrich Meckel in the 18th century, occurs when the twins fail to separate in the mom's womb during the first phase of pregnancy, as in the case of parasitic twins or conjoined twins. In a fetus in fetu case, however, one fetus becomes trapped in the other fetus, according to The Embryo Project Encyclopedia.

Some cases spanned for years and the fetus in fetu lived as a parasite in its twin's body. Such was the case of a Londoner who learned of her unborn twin inside her body when she was 45-years-old, as per Medical Daily.

Jenny Kavanagh even had two normal pregnancies, unaware her unborn twin continued to live in her body. "I felt shocked, very scared, horrified, and it felt like an alien was inside me," she said. She also underwent surgery for her fetus in fetu.
Kate Middleton and Prince William made a decision to send Prince George to Thomas's Battersea in London when they'll move to the city in the fall. The choice surprised royal watchers who assumed the 3-year-old prince would attend Wetherby, his father's alma mater, for his formal education.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ditched an all-boys school like Wetherby for a co-ed community like Thomas's Battersea for one important reason. They want his sister, Princess Charlotte, to attend the same school in the following year as well, as per Vanity Fair.

Prince George currently attends Norfolk's Westacre Montessori a hundred miles off London. The Cambridges, however, are set to move to Kensington Palace when both the Duke and the Duchess attend to their full-time duties as royals after the summer.

"Their Royal Highnesses are delighted to have found a school where they are confident George will have a happy and successful start to his education," the palace confirmed the news with an official statement, as per Telegraph. Thomas's Battersea headmaster Ben Thomas also sent an email to the other parents regarding the Cambridges.

"Like so many parents, the Duke and Duchess have put a great deal of thought into the choice of their eldest child's first 'big school," Thomas wrote, as per News Corp. Australia. He cited there will be changes to communication and security measures around the school when the prince begins his term.

Thomas's Battersea is one of London's top private schools. Some 540 students between four to 13-years-old attend the institution for $5,620 (4,500) a term. The school specializes in sports, art, music, drama and ballet.

"We place a greater emphasis on a set of core values, which include kindness, courtesy, confidence, humility and learning to be givers, not takers," the headmaster said. Students of Thomas's Battersea are also encouraged inclusivity and discouraged from picking out a best friend.
A new study aimed at learning the circumstances of mortality in people with autism revealed alarming findings. Experts from Columbia University learned that individuals on the autism spectrum have a higher risk of dying from preventable injuries or drowning.

Researchers conducted the study on people with autism for a period of 15 years. They noted the average mortality age among their subjects was at 36-years-old compared to the general population's life expectancy at 72-year-old. Experts published their findings in the American Journal of Public Health.

Researchers looked into records of 39 million deaths and screened those diagnosed with autism. They found 1,367 individuals and learned 28 percent died from injuries. Most of the deaths happened at home or in a care facility.

At least 80 percent of the deaths involved suffocation or asphyxiation. Among children and teens with autism, however, drowning was the fatal injury. Experts said the risk of drowning in children with autism occur between age 5 to 7. Kids at this age love exploring and those with autism are often attracted to water.

Given what they've learned, senior study author Dr. Guohua Li suggested parents consider swimming lessons for children with autism as it could improve their survival skills. "The first concrete step parents and caregivers could take to reduce the exceptionally high risk of accidental drowning is to enroll these children in swimming classes," the expert said, CNN reported.

Michael Rosanoff of Autism Speaks expressed no surprise for the study's findings. In fact, Autism Speaks has a long-existing water safety program for families with kids with autism, as well as a resource center for parents and caregivers on how to prevent children with autism from wandering off.

Rosanoff, however, acknowledged the significance of the large-scale research. "Autism is often a co-occurring medical and psychiatric condition that is likely to play a role in this premature mortality finding," he said.
It's widely known that children who do not exercise regularly increase their obesity risk. A new study cites, however, there's also another reason why doing physical activities is important. Experts say teenagers who have a couch potato lifestyle could have weak bones for life.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) conducted the study involving 309 teenagers. Experts kept track of the kids for four years until they turned 16 and studied their physical development using HR-pQCT tools and x-rays.

They compared the differences among the participants who averagely got an hour of moderate to vigorous physical activities daily versus participants who spent less than 30 minutes in exercising. The findings were published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

"We found that teens who are less active had weaker bones, and bone strength is critical for preventing fractures," lead study author Leigh Gabel said, as per Eurekalert. Only 25 percent of the participants were engaged in physical activity and the findings were grimmer for girls. Only nine percent had healthy bones.

Experts emphasize the ages from 10 to 14 in girls and 12 to 16 in boys as crucial. It is when teenagers develop the strength of their bones by as much as 36 percent. Bone strength covers bone density, bone size and its microarchitecture. Weak bones put a person at risk for osteoporosis.

Experts reminded parents and teachers to encourage kids to exercise. The physical movements don't have to be rigid as if the kids need to train as athletes.

"The skeleton is different than the cardiovascular system that it really likes sharp short bursts of exercise," co-study author Heather McKay said, as per Metro Canada. A walk in the park, dancing or simple aerobic activities will do.

Parents, do you have experiences with teenage couch potatoes at home? What measures have you done to encourage fitness? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
In late December Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple files a major Antitrust Case against Acacia Research Corporation Pointing to a Conspiracy with Nokia Corporation." That in turn put Nokia into high gear to launch a lawsuit against Apple alleging 32 counts of patent infringement. Days later Nokia struck out against with two additional lawsuits (one and two). To add insult to injury, Nokia sought a cease and desist order against Apple from the U.S. Trade Commission in late January 2017. Today we learn that Nokia is now seeking documents and deposition testimony from Samsung Electronics in their case against Apple. Below you'll find Nokia's formal request to the Court.

EXPEDITED MOTION OF PETITIONER NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A LETTER OF REQUEST FOR INTERNATIONAL JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE

"Petitioner Nokia Technologies Oy ("Nokia"), the Complainant in Certain Electronic Devices, Including Mobile Phones, Tablet Computers, and Components Thereof, Inv. No. 337- TA-1038 ("the Investigation") before the U.S. International Trade Commission ("ITC"), hereby moves the Court to issue, under its seal and signature, the attached Letter of Request to the Central Authority of the Republic of Korea. The Letter seeks documents and deposition testimony from Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., based in the Republic of Korea. The evidence sought by Nokia is highly relevant to the Investigation and unobtainable by other means.

Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles E. Bullock, who presides over the Investigation, has issued findings that the Letter of Request seeks evidence relevant to the Investigation, is reasonably limited, and is timely to the Investigation. Based on these findings, Chief Administrative Law Judge Bullock recommends that the Court issue the Letter of Request. Additionally, due to statutory time limitations on ITC investigations, these requests are often granted expedited treatment and Nokia respectfully requests that the Court expedite the issuance of the Letter.

For these reasons, as explained in more detail in the accompanying memorandum, Nokia respectfully requests that the Court assign a Judge to this matter and issue the attached Letter of Request as soon as the Court deems appropriate."

Nokia's request for judicial assistance was filed in the District of Columbia District Court, Washington, DC Office. The Presiding Judge in this case is noted as being Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. .





Notice: Patently Apple presents only a brief summary of certain legal cases/ lawsuits which are part of the public record for journalistic news purposes. Readers are cautioned that Patently Apple does not offer an opinion on the merit of the case and strictly presents the allegations made in said legal cases / lawsuits. A lawyer should be consulted for any further details or analysis. About Making Comments on this Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.
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Bishop Gerald R. Barnes arrived in the Inland area more than two decades ago with no real knowledge of the region or experience overseeing a diocese.

He was 46, and had just wrapped up 17 years as a priest in San Antonio, Texas.

Learning, he said, was the biggest challenge back then.

And two decades later  as he shepherds a diocese thats grown to more than one million members  it still is.

You continue to discover or uncover needs of the people, said Barnes, 71.

The bishop is celebrating his 25th year of leadership in the Diocese of San Bernardino, which includes Riverside and San Bernardino counties. No current Roman Catholic bishop in the United States has led a diocese longer than Barnes, diocese officials said.

He was ordained a bishop on March 18, 1992, and served as the institutions first auxiliary bishop. He was promoted four years later, becoming the second bishop of the Diocese of San Bernardino.

I came into a place I did not know. I had to learn everything, said Barnes, who was raised in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles. Im at a place that I know the area, and I know a lot of people, and I know the job, but still, How can I do it to reach more people, do it better? So the challenge is still learning.

In two decades, Barnes has led through tragedies and milestones, ranging from a clergy sex abuse scandal to the increased diversity of Inland Catholics.

He has focused on those in the periphery of society and their own families. This has been the calling of Pope Francis, and something that Barnes said he has always identified with.

COMFORTING IMMIGRANTS

Throughout the years, Barnes has pushed the church to embrace immigration reform. The way he sees it, the church has been a champion of immigrants since the very beginning. It has been there for the Italians, the Irish, Japanese, and Chinese.

The question of how to comfort immigrants has been a constant issue, including now, as many fear deportation under Donald Trumps presidency.

This is a question that Ive had to live throughout my life, Barnes said.

Its not new, but its the time that were living  It breaks my heart. What breaks my heart is that some of us, some people seem to have no compassion for what the other is going through, he said.

Barnes worries that some people may not care when families are deported and separated. The Inland area is home to about 250,000 undocumented immigrants, yet the diocese has not decided whether it should official declare itself a sanctuary institution.

Barnes said hes looking into it, as diocese officials research what becoming a sanctuary diocese would mean for the clergy.

For now, Barnes said the diocese is hosting forums to teach immigrants about their constitutional rights. Through what he called a ministry of accompaniment, church members are comforting immigrants and praying with them. Also, the diocese hosts other forums to address, through church teaching, the humanity of the issue.

DIFFERENT BUT INCLUSIVE

To Barnes, engaging in dialogue, especially with those who may have differing views, is one of the popes most urgent calls. Its a way to navigate through the complexities of family life, he said.

Were diverse in different ways, in many ways, but were one, said Barnes. The pope is calling us to put aside those kind of things that separate us because of our judgment.

Barnes said he aims to send that message.

For example, although the church condemns birth control as sinful, Barnes recognizes that some people due to certain issues, like the health of a woman, may choose to use contraception.

As a church, we dont condemn that person, he said. We continue our teaching. We hold that person welcome, although we may not fully understand why that person is doing that.

Barnes has long supported the gay community through the ministries of diocese. Although, he has rejected same-sex marriage.

He noted a commission that aims to support church members who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). The commission has been around for nearly two decades, he said, and it provides support for family members and for LGBT people.

The committee is to help us understand how to be more inclusive, how to reach out, he said. It isnt meant for carrying any kind of agenda. Other than, we are family. We are one.

MOST PAINFUL

Barnes led the diocese during the clergy sex-abuse scandal that hit the U.S. Roman Catholic Church in 2002. Church leaders were discovered to have sheltered sexually abusive priests and transferred molesters between dioceses without warning the new parishes.

At the epicenter of the crisis was the Rev. Paul Shanley, a onetime San Bernardino priest dogged by decades of sexual misconduct complaints. He was moved in 1990 from Massachusetts to St. Anne Catholic Church in San Bernardino.

Barnes gave authorities previously unreleased complaints of sexual abuse made in a time span of five decades against.

He ordered all of his dioceses priests, workers and volunteers to be fingerprinted. He established a hotline for reporting abuse by clergy and assigned a nun to aid sexual abuse victims by directing them to counseling and other social services.

That was the most painful time and still remains painful because of the scars that are there, Barnes recalled.

TRANSCENDING TOKENISM

The Diocese of San Bernardino has earned a nationwide reputation for being especially welcoming of diversity.

Barnes, who speaks Spanish, is of mostly Mexican ancestry and has headed national church committees and subcommittees on multicultural outreach, immigration and Hispanic issues.

Mass in the Inland area is celebrated in more than 10 languages, including English, Spanish, Tongan, Korean, Igbo and Indonesian. Priests have been white, Asian and Pacific Islander, Latino, and black.

Barnes said the dioceses embrace of diversity goes beyond, what he described as tokenism, meaning that it goes further than just making a symbolic effort toward promoting diversity.

When he took leadership here, Barnes noticed there werent many Asians making decisions.

So I began to approach different people to be on there, Barnes said. So that we could hear their point of view (and) so that others could recognize that these other groups of people are also part of our church.

And he referenced the Mass held earlier this month to celebrate his 25th year as proof.

The Mass was to reflect the multicultural profile of the Catholic church in the Inland area, which included liturgical dancing and scriptural readings in different languages.

Someone from the outside would say it was a multicultural celebration  It wasnt. It was a church celebration, he said.
A Yucaipa boy was rescued by helicopter from a trail in the Crafton Hills area of Yucaipa on Saturday afternoon, March 25, fire and sheriffs officials say. He and his brother were hospitalized for treatment of undisclosed injuries.

About 3:14 p.m. Saturday, a 15-year-old boy stopped someone near Chapman Heights Road and 13th Street and said his 12-year-old brother was on a trail in the nearby foothills and needed help, according to a San Bernardino County sheriffs new release.

Deputies and Cal Fire firefighter/paramedics arrived at the scene soon after and coordinated a helicopter rescue of the younger boy.

Both juveniles were transported by ambulance to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment of their injuries, the sheriffs news release states.
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President Akufo-Addo has conceded that the integrity of the judicial service has been hurt by an expose of corruption within the service by investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.



According to him, the resultant effect of lack of confidence in the judicial system does not help promote democracy and economic growth.



Speaking at the 10th anniversary of the home call of the late Chief Justice, George Kingsley Acquah, Nana AKufo-Addo said, members of the judicial service must jealously guard the integrity of the service to guarantee public trust.



There is a consolable concern within the Ghanaian public about the integrity of our judicial system.



It was badly damaged a couple of years ago by a video expose put together by investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, he said. He added that, Confidence, in the judicial system of any country, is necessary for a thriving democracy and economic growth, and as such, all of us, including members of the bar and the bench, have a duty to guard the integrity of the judicial process jealously.



President Akufo-Addo suggested that the judiciary must adopt modern technology to carrying out their mandate. He argued that the use of technology will promote efficiency.



He said, our judicial system must catch up with modern technology. The question has been asked: is the court a service or a place where parties meet to settle their differences.



I believe that it is time for us to accept that justice delivery is a service and just like any other service, the customer must be satisfied with the entire process of the service, in this case, justice.



The President added that when we have an efficient delivery of justice through our courts, investors, domestic and foreign, will be encouraged to invest their resources in Ghana because they can be assured of an efficient and business-friendly judicial system.



In September 2015, Anas Aremeyaw Anas premiered his undercover film, titled Ghana In The Eyes Of God that exposed deep-rooted corruption within the countrys judiciary system.



The film exposed dozens of judges and other staff of the judicial services receiving bribes to pervert justice.



The expose, which shocked the country is the biggest corruption scandal to have hit the countrys judiciary.



An investigation by the service resulted in the suspension of some judges and dismissal of others.

Source: Citifmonline.com









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Prophet Kwabena Tawiah has launched an extraordinary attack on former president John Dramani Mahama, accusing him of perverting the path of God by joining an occult group.



The founder and leader of Church of Rabbi alleged that the ex-president spent whopping sums of money to transport gods from India to aide him win last years general elections.



President Mahama is a demon. He belongs to an occult group so he brought deities all the way from India to solidify his grounds so that he could win the election, but it didnt happen, he retorted.



Prophet Kwabena Tawiah made these startling revelations when asempanews.com cornered him at his church premises in Accra on Saturday.



He said it was his fervent fasting and prayers that averted Mr Mahamas mysterious and creepy agenda of retaining the mantle of leadership at all cost.



The NDC is full of occults who are always interested in spilling blood. They are killers and demons parading as politicians. They have evil intentions against this country and Ghanaians must fight against that.



The plan of the NDC and Mahama was to rule Ghana for at least 25 years, but we prayed against that evil agenda, the prophet added.



To Prophet Kwabena Tawiah, until the NDC eschew their devilish mentality they would forever remain in opposition, as Gods hand is upon the nation.







Source: asempanews









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Anyone who has ever had the fortune to be at a local council meeting or hearing anywhere in the world knows that they are a meeting place for people with big dreams and absolutely no means by which to make them a reality.

Case in point: the best video you will see today. Two extremely grody blokes showed up to a council meeting in San Clemente, California  which is in Orange County, if you couldnt work that out in two seconds  to request something to inspire the community in dark, dark times: a twelve foot Paul Walker statue on the local pier.

Look, its clearly a troll. You can tell from the fact that the guy introduces himself as Chad Kroeger and is wearing a beanie that says bacon on it (red flag #1) and also the fact he opens his monologue with We live in gnarly times (red flag #2).

Slide on over to 30 minutes for the goods.

The council members simple no, bro in reply to the request, after confirming that it actually wasnt Paul Walker that went to a local high school but actually his cousin, is perfect.

Just goes to show: in gnarly times, we truly do need a shining headlight in the darkness.

Source: San Clemente City Council.

Photo: YouTube.
Content note: this is extremely weird and pretty upsetting.

People do some crazy things in the name of their causes  like boarding Japanese whaling ships, going on hunger strikes in detention centres and throwing themselves under the Kings horse.

And, apparently, killing a lamb in the nude at the site of one of historys most horrifying genocides: the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.

On Friday, seven men and four women, all aged between 20 and 27, protested at the Arbeit macht frei (Work makes you free) gate to the Auschwitz death camp, where they killed a lamb and hung a banner reading love on the gate itself. They then stripped naked and chained themselves together.

All 11, who were from Poland, Belarus and Germany, were arrested and charged with desecrating a monument.

They told arresting police that the bizarre series of acts was supposed to be a performance, a demonstration, for world peace.

Why anyone would think that getting naked at the gate to Auschwitz is the right way to go about demonstrating for world peace is absolutely beyond me, but this is the world in 2017, apparently.

Polands chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich has expressed his shock at the protest. He told AFP:

Any use of Auschwitz for political statements, even using Auschwitz for moral statements, is not how Auschwitz should be remembered. The Germans used Auschwitz to try to eliminate the Jewish people. Any happenings are a desecration of the memory of all those killed at Auschwitz, Jews, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, Roma and others.

More than a million people died at Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945.

Source: 9NEWS.

Image: Wotjek Laski / Getty.
Neil Gorsuch

Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 20, 2017, during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

By Charlie Gerow

Senate confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominations are always great theater.

Republican strategist Charlie Gerow (PennLive file)

The hearings for Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas are epic, but all are memorable. A lot rides on the outcome of these hearings, with lifetime appointments to the high court and the enormous power they carry hanging in the balance.

As the confirmation hearings for U.S.Judge Neil Gorsuch to be an associate justice took place last week, it was clear that the Democrats had done exhaustive research trying to come up with something--anything--scandalous or untoward in Gorsuch's background that would embarrass if not disqualify him.

It was quickly evident that they had nothing.

In their understandable frustration the Senate Democrats then took pages from their usual, and totally predictable, playbook.

They accused Gorsuch of "favoring big corporations over the little guy." Of course when the few cases they cited as evidence of his alleged bias were more closely examined it turned out that many of them had been unanimous opinions.

When that didn't work they tried another tack.

They tried to get the judge to declare how he'd rule in a series of hypothetical questions they posed to him. He didn't take the bait. He did the right thing and what every Supreme Court nominee has routinely done.

That left the Democrats with only one option--to criticize Gorsuch not for what he's said and done over his many years as a federal appellate judge, but for what he wouldn't say during his confirmation hearings.

Gorsuch wasn't touched by their desperate attempts to get a piece of him. Of all the nominees in recent memory, he was not only the most unflappable, but the most prepared.

His mastery of constitutional law and history was unequaled.

Those watching saw a brilliant lawyer, a fair and impartial judge, and a man exceptionally comfortable in his own skin.

Gorsuch was unpretentious and introspective, consistently evidencing a compassionate soul and an ability to laugh at himself. He was the embodiment of judicial temperament.

One of the interesting side notes of his hearing was a little dust-upon with U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. who was the textbook definition of "snarky" in his questioning.

He had "corrected" the judge, claiming that Gorsuch had failed to recall from memory the exact year the Federal Arbitration Act was passed (as if it mattered).

Franken later asked for 30 seconds to correct the record, acknowledging in one of his rare moments of graciousness, that Gorsuch's memory had been correct while his own notes had been wrong.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wryly observed, "That doesn't happen very often around here."

Gorsuch's tour de force performance should not have come as a surprise. He was, after all, confirmed by a voice vote, meaning that his was a non-controversial nomination to the court of appeals a decade ago.

Included in those voices were those of Senate Minority Leader. Chuck Schumer, of New York, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the Judiciary Committee's ranking Democratic member.

Schumer and his Democratic allies are in a tight box--one of their own making. They've positioned themselves in ways that clearly demonstrate that the far-left elements in their party are driving their strategic thinking.

"Resistance" to anything the Trump administration or Republican Congress want to do is the by-word of the far-left progressives.

When President Donald Trump nominated Gorsuch it took less than a minute for Schumer to release a statement opposing him.

That meant that he had similar statements prepared for ANY Trump nominee to the high court.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who left his moderate moorings years ago and has steadily drifted leftward, announced last week that he will vote against Gorsuch.

His ostensible reason was that he has "serious concerns about [his] rigid judicial philosophy."

Gorsuch's unflinching dedication to the Constitution was on full display all week. So was his firm denial of attempts to get him to wonder into lawmaking from the bench.

Gorsuch is a "textualist" and an "originalist," much like the man whose seat he will fill, the late Justice Antonin Scalia. That means that he will interpret the Constitution as it was written.

Throughout the week Gorsuch reminded the Senators that he believes the law is no respecter of persons. He consistently set forth the fact that his role as a judge is to interpret the law not to write it.

Many times he reminded senators that they could change the law but that it wasn't his job, or any other judge's to do.

The underlying truth of this debate is that Gorsuch will be confirmed.

It's still possible, although difficult, to get eight Democrats to break ranks with Schumer and forestall his threatened filibuster.

If that doesn't happen, Senate Republicans are prepared to do what Harry Reid did for all other federal judge confirmations and change the rules to require only a majority vote.

The real battle is over the next vacancy on the Court, most likely the seat of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

Schumer and company will have to come up with much more than they've hurled at Gorsuch if they want to prevail in that battle.
Members of the Saint Thomas Baptist Church congregation are emotional while holding hands during a healing service being held at the North Preston Community Centre in Halifax on Sunday, March 26, 2017 after a fire damaged their church earlier in the week. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
An airplane flies underneath dark clouds illuminated by some sun rays above Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, March 2, 2017. An airline safety expert says plane crews may be unwittingly compromising flight safety by leaving seatbelt signs on too long. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa via AP
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., announces that he is abruptly pulling the troubled Republican health care overhaul bill off the House floor, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, March 24, 2017. Just a few months ago, Republicans were cheering their good fortune, an all-Republican monopoly in Washington and the opportunity to push a conservative agenda to remake the federal government. After the health care vote, itAos clear winning canAot overcome the deep divisions in their ranks. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - In this June 15, 2016 file photo, a Pakistani army soldier stands guard in Pakistani tribal area of Khyber, near Torkham border post between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan started building a fence along the Afghan border in areas where it says militants have launched cross-border attacks on its security posts in recent weeks, a move analysts Sunday, March 26, 2017, said will help restraining cross border terrorism and will prove to be a stabilizing factor for regional peace. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad, File)
Here, there, everywhere  why car washes seem to be on every corner
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The humiliations never stop with Donald Trump as president. The German government is confirming that Trump tried to intimidate the US ally by giving Chancellor Angela Merkel an invoice for hundreds of billions of dollars that he claims the German people owe NATO.

The Sunday Times reported, Donald Trump handed the German Chancellor Angela Merkel a bill  thought to be for more than 300bn  for money her country owed Nato for defending it when they met last weekend, German government sources have revealed. The bill  handed over during private talks in Washington  was described as outrageous by one German minister.

The story confirms that Trump is clueless about how treaties work. As former US Ambassador NATO Ambassador Ivo Daalder recently tried to explain to Trump, NATO is not a financial transaction. NATO is not a US-owned private club like Mar-a-Lago. It is not Trumps job to collect dues from member countries.

Daalder tweeted to Trump:

1/ Sorry, Mr. President, thats not how NATO works. The US decides for itself how much it contributes to defending NATO. pic.twitter.com/8svkzRBEQb  Ivo Daalder (@IvoHDaalder) March 18, 2017

2/ This is not a financial transaction, where NATO countries pay the US to defend them. It is part of our treaty commitment.  Ivo Daalder (@IvoHDaalder) March 18, 2017

3/ All NATO countries, including Germany, have committed to spend 2% of GDP on defense by 2024. So far 5 of 28 NATO countries do.  Ivo Daalder (@IvoHDaalder) March 18, 2017

Anytime Trump has pulled his Art Of The Deal nonsense as president; he has failed miserably. Trump tried to force House Republicans into voting on health care but had to withdraw the bill at the last second after he was facing certain defeat, and Germany has made it clear that they are going to shrug off and ignore Trumps amateur tactics.

Donald Trump has no idea what he is doing, and his incompetence is embarrassing the United States of America.
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The following post, written by The Rev. Robert A. Franek, is a part of Politicus Policy Discussion, in which writers draw connections between real lives and public policy.

In our system of government, the courts are the final check and balance on executive and legislative power. It is the courts that uphold or strike down executive and legislative actions for the protection of the rights of the people as guaranteed by the Constitution. It is the courts that finally assure that our public policies protect the fundamental rights and liberties of the people set forth in the Constitution. And as times change and new challenges emerge, it is the courts that must do the hard interpretive work of applying fundamental principles and ideas to ever new realities.

This work is nowhere more critical for the life and well-being of the citizenry of this country than the United States Supreme Court. Its rulings affect the real lives of real people every day. And for this reason, the lifetime appointment nominees must be vetted with great care. A generation or more of legal precedent is entrusted to their diligent work and prudent rulings.

Filling the most recent vacancy on the high court, created by the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February of 2016 continues to be fraught with challenge. This challenge centers on the interpretative work of the court and Republican efforts to seat a justice friendly to their extreme agenda.

The unprecedented obstruction of President Barack Obamas nominee Judge Merrick Garland, a centrist and consensus candidate by all accounts, will forever shape the filling of this seat. It was not Judge Garland who was the problem. It was President Barack Obama and despite having nearly 25 percent of his term in office left, Republicans led by Senator Mitch McConnell cried that this was an election issue and must wait until after the new president is inaugurated. Once again, they could not be troubled to actually do their jobs.

With Donald Trump now sitting in the Oval Office, a new nominee quickly emerged in Judge Neil Gorsuch, and Republicans pounced crying for hearings and a vote to get him on the bench as quickly as possible after hindering the work of the high court for a year. It is clear their interests are not in the functioning of the court but in having a friendly justice on the bench.

After four days of hearings last week, Judge Gorsuch offered little in the way of his judicial philosophy to the dismay of Democrats in the Senate whose vote is essential to his confirmation. However, Donald Trump made clear the kind of justice he would nominate, hand-picked by the Heritage Foundation and endorsed by The Federalist, and Judge Gorsuch did little to counter these assumptions beyond saying repeatedly that he would consider all the evidence carefully. Right. Carefully. Sure.

Judge Gorsuch also repeatedly said to look to his whole record for deciding about his judicial philosophy. So that would be the record that continually puts the interests of corporations ahead of the people. No wonder Senate Republicans are so eager to seat him on the bench.

Critical cases are on the line and the civil rights of people hang in the balance for the present and long-term future of our country. Judge Gorsuch did little to show that he is willing to be a protector of the rights and liberties of the people as guaranteed by the Constitution. He played a nice friendly guy hoping to slide through the hearings on likability alone. Though it is clear what is judicial philosophy is.

Herein lies the challenge for filling the vacancy on the high court. And this is to say nothing of the Trump Russia scandal for which it is imperative that the confirmation process be put on hold until the FBI investigation has concluded as Senator Elizabeth Warren has called for. And given this threat to our national security Sarah Jones persuasively argues that Democrats must block the nomination of Judge Gorsuch.

Still if not Judge Neil Gorsuch, and even if the Trump Russia scandal eventually gets our president impeached, convicted, and removed from office, it will be a Republican left to make the next nomination. And given their track record it is not likely they will do the honorable thing like President Barack Obama did in selecting a bipartisan consensus moderate with an impeccable record of judicial service to and for the people of the country. No, the Republicans are likely to go back to the list of judges approved by the Heritage Foundation who will be friendly to their extreme agenda of stripping people especially women and minorities of their rights and emboldening the power of corporations while continuing to destroy the environment.

It is hard to see a way forward that reconciles and resolves the scandal of this stolen seat on the high court apart from Republicans putting forth a nominee on par with Judge Merrick Garland. But even then, the damage has been done and it is irreversible. We can only move forward from where we are at now. History cannot be undone, but neither is it yet fully written in the filling of this unprecedented vacancy on the high court.

Moving forward one thing is sure: the forever stolen seat on the Supreme Court of the United States does not belong to nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch.
Holmens fire chief was arrested earlier this year for his second drunken driving offense, according to court records.

Paul Menches, 60, was driving with a 0.11 percent preliminary alcohol level about 10:45 p.m. Jan. 31 when he lost control on a snow-covered Hwy. 53 just south of the Hwy. MH exit and another vehicle struck his drivers side door, according to the complaint filed in La Crosse County Circuit Court.

Menches encouraged the other driver to contact police to file a report.

Menches admitted drinking four beers earlier that evening. His prior drunken driving conviction was in 2013.

The fire chief informed the Holmen Area Fire District Association Board and his agency of the arrest immediately, board chairman Rolly Bogert said.

La Crosse County prosecutors on Feb. 23 charged Menches, of Holmen, with second-offense operating while intoxicated and with a prohibited alcohol concentration.

No disciplinary action has been taken pending the outcome of the case, Bogert said.

Hes still working full-time, Bogert said. Hes there every day, even on Saturdays.

The board in July selected Menches, a former Onalaska fire chief, to lead the agency. He took over in September.

Menches also previously served as the Milwaukee County fire chief, and as deputy chief and the chief for Wisconsins Department of Military Affairs. He was recognized as fire chief of the year in 2006 by the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin. He served 20 years in the military, becoming the fire chief for the U.S. Air Force.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Some clouds. Low around 65F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low around 65F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.
Michael Anthony Pressley II told deputies during an interview that he followed the victim to his residence and shot him "following a road rage incident," according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Road rage shootings in 2021 in the U.S. resulted in 131 deaths, according to an analysis by Everytown for Gun Safety. Read more'Road rage' led to fatal shooting in King's Grant, new records show
Prosecutors Friday charged a rural Coon Valley man with forcing a 9-year-old girl to perform oral sex in exchange for gummy bears.

Anthony Creasy, 33, also threatened the child that she would be homeless if she reported the assault, according to the complaint filed in La Crosse County Circuit Court.

The victim said Creasy forced her to view child pornography. Prosecutors charged him with first-degree sexual assault of a child younger than 12 and causing a child to view sexual activity for conduct between Sept. 1 and Jan. 1.

A second girl, now 14, reported to Illinois authorities earlier this month that Creasy molested and raped her from the time she was in elementary school until middle school, twice capturing the assaults on video, according to the complaint. In exchange, he cleaned the victims room and bought her a dog.

Charges in that case are pending in Illinois, prosecutors said in court. Creasy also is jailed on a $500,000 warrant from Illinois and a $10,000 cash bond.

Creasy denies assaulting both girls.
Republicans want to take over Congress, and come Tuesday they might get their wish. If they win both the House and the Senate, they will face enormous challenges: a country still heading into a recession, inflation still high and rising, government deficits and debt as far as the eye can see Read moreCommentary: Incoming Republicans need to fight inflation, not Democrats
England has been shaken by the terrorist attack on Westminster Bridge and Parliament that was carried out last Wednesday by Khalid Masood, whose real name was Adrian Elms or Adrian Ajao. As more information has come out about the terrorist, a number of observations can be made.

1) Masood/Elms/Ajao was an unusual terrorist in some ways, and typical in others. Like nearly all Islamic terrorists, he had a middle-class upbringing and at one point lived in a million dollar house in East Sussex. Drugs apparently precipitated his descent, and he had a criminal history that landed him in prison. Masood was not religious until his incarcerationhis parents are Christiansbut, like many others, he converted to Islam while in prison. After his release, he persuaded one of his daughters to adopt Islam, change her name and wear a hijab. At 52, he was quite a bit older than most terrorists.

2) Masood used the current weapons of choice, an automobile and two knives. Westminster Bridge is generally crowded with pedestrians, and he simply drove his car into a crowd of them, killing five and injuring as many as 50, some critically. This type of attack is very hard to stopfor practical purposes, impossible.

Following the attack, giant yellow bollards were placed in the area around Buckingham Palace to prevent attackers from driving vehicles into the crowds that always congregate there:

I dont blame the Brits for doing this; the area around the White House is blocked off in a similar way, if I am not mistaken. But obviously, protecting a few high-profile areas does nothing to stop an Islamic terrorist (or anyone else) from driving a vehicle into a crowd anywhere, in any city.

When mass murders occur, liberals tend to focus on the weapons used by the murderer. Terrorist attacks carried out with cars and knives illustrate the futility of this approach. The only solutionif there is oneis to identify and stop the terrorist before he acts. Also, to take any feasible steps that will reduce the number of potential terrorists in the population.

3) Like many other terrorists, Masood was known to the British authorities. But they didnt consider him a serious threat:

At some point he was investigated by MI5 over links to violent extremism but was considered too minor to monitor, and did not feature on a 3,000-strong list of suspects feared to be capable of mounting an attack.

Not surprisingly, it is very difficult to predict which radical Muslims will actually launch attacks.

4) Masood reportedly spent several years in Saudi Arabia, where he was immersed in Wahabbism. That is a pretty good predictor of radical belief and behavior.

5) One of those murdered by Masood was a policeman named Keith Palmer, whom Masood stabbed to death after crashing through a gate to the Parliament building. Palmer likely would have been even more of a hero if he hadnt been unarmed. Disarming ones own police force is insane.

6) Here in the U.S., there has been much talk of vetting. While checking out visitors and, especially, immigrants to the U.S. is certainly appropriate, to the limited extent it is possible, vetting is wholly inadequate as a security measure. Many terrorists are second generation immigrants, and others, like Masood, are Islamic converts.

7) The problem is Islam. Not all or even most Muslims, of course, but rather Islam as a political ideology. Andy McCarthy makes the point well at National Review. You should read the whole thing, which is a good primer on the subject. Here are some excerpts:

There is diversity in Islam, including millions of Muslims who adhere only to its spiritual elements or see themselves as more culturally than doctrinally Islamic. But when we speak of Islam, as opposed to Muslims, we are not speaking about a mere religious belief system. We are talking about a competing civilization  that is very much how Islam self-identifies. It has its own history, principles, values, mores, and legal system. Islam, thus understood, is not non-Western. It is anti-Western. Like the conversion of Masood, the conversion of Birmingham has been a function of this defining Islamic attribute. Individual Muslims may assimilate, but Islam doesnt do assimilation. Islam does not melt into your melting pot. Islam, as Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna proclaimed, is content with nothing less than political, cultural, and civilizational dominance. As Soeren Kern relates in a comprehensive Gatestone Institute report on Islam in Britain, the metamorphosis of Birmingham, along with several other U.K. population centers, signifies this resistance. When the Islamic presence in a Western community reaches a critical mass, Islams hostility to Western mores and demands for sharia governance result in non-Muslim flight. Marriages between Muslims resident in the Western community and Muslims overseas tend to result in childbirth rates and household growth that dwarfs that of the indigenous population. Arranged, intra-familial, and polygamous marriages, endorsed by Islamic mores, drastically alter the fabric of communities in short order. Birmingham, in particular, has been ground zero of Operation Trojan Horse, a sharia-supremacist scheme to Islamize the public schools.

***

[T]he remorseless fact is that before ISIS and al-Qaeda and the Khomeini revolution and Hezbollah and the Blind Sheikh and the Brotherhood and Khalid Masood, there was the single thing that unites them all. There was Islam. Western political and opinion elites remain willfully blind to this. They cannot help but project onto Islamic beliefs and practices their own progressive pieties  which take seriously neither religion nor the notion that there is any civilization but their own.

America is committed to the assumption that Islam, in all of its varieties and manifestations, is merely a religion. This entitles Islam not only to the full protection of the First Amendment, but also to the presumption that it is a benign if obsolete force, like other religions. Which explains why journalists puzzle over what could possibly have motivated the terrorist who shouts Allahu akbar to kill infidels.
Members of Nigerias police special forces on deployment in Southern Kaduna have accused police authorities of neglecting them, and failing to provide needed equipment as they confront skirmishes that have killed hundreds in the area.

Members of the unit, trained in Belarus, were drafted to check the persistent clashes between herdsmen and residents of Southern Kaduna communities.

But many told PREMIUM TIMES exclusively that their operational condition had become so unbearable that they now rely on extorting motorists in the area to survive.

Before we eat now, we need to be tapping vehicles for N50 and N100, one of them said. Imagine, we special forces that are not supposed to be seen anyhow.

Asides the poor living conditions they are subjected to, the officers, who spoke on the condition of strict anonymity, also alleged being poorly equipped to bring the situation in the restive Southern Kaduna under control.

Police denied the claims. Its spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, said all personnel deployed to the area received their salaries and allowances regularly.

Even more logistics were provided for them, Mr. Moshood told PREMIUM TIMES Saturday.

The special forces are part of 96 police personnel sent to Belarus in 2014 to receive training as snipers, rocket-propelled grenade experts, rangers, bomb disposal technicians, amongst others.

Upon their return to the country, they were temporarily deployed to Maiduguri to support their counterparts in the Nigerian Army, Navy and the Air Force in the war against Boko Haram.

In February, the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, ordered the deployment of 71 of them to Southern Kaduna to help quell the incessant clashes between herdsmen and residents there.

Over 200 people have been killed in the area in the last one year, and thousands more have been displaced in the latest violence between Fulani herdsmen and southern Kaduna residents, according to official estimates.

But the forces said they were not given enough weapons in line with the trainings they received, and that they lacked even uniforms differentiating them from other regular policemen.

How do we go into the bush to chase herdsmen without weapons? one personnel asked.

They also said all the 71 of them are currently putting up at places of worship inside the police area command headquarters in Kafanchan.

Were just sleeping on the floor inside the church and mosque attached to the area command, an officer said.

Abandoned in Abuja

The officers said they were told ahead of their deployment that the Kaduna police commissioner, Agyole Abeh, and Governor Nasir el-Rufai would handle their allowances and welfare.

Days after the personnel were deployed, the Kaduna police commissioner, Mr. Abeh, visited them in Kafanchan, but the meeting nearly turned bloody after assembled troops complained of neglect.

The officers threatened to down tools until their demands for weapons, uniform and welfare were met, but the commissioner quickly drove away after suspecting the meeting could turn violent.

Towards the end of February, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of operations visited the disgruntled officers, and promised better living and working conditions.

But since he left, we have not seen anything, the officers said.

The officers said 15 of them were recently taken to Abuja to receive new weapons training.

But more than a week since they took them to Abuja, they just abandoned them there and no one is even talking to them about what they invited them for, an officer said.

The officers also countered a recent announcement by the police that Special Forces have been deployed to Benue.

We just heard news recently that IG has deployed Special Forces to Benue State, yet we the special forces are here in Kafanchan.

Who are the special forces they deployed to Benue when all of us are here?

They called on Nigerians to prevail on the police leadership to immediately address their situation.

Not only because Southern Kaduna is a very serious matter for the country but also to prevent some of us who have received special training from dumping the police profession for negative activities, the officers said.

Food and water discipline

Mr. Moshood, a chief superintendent of police, said the officers were duly and regularly remunerated.

Their allowances are being paid, only this month has not been cleared, but the month has not ended, he said. I know authoritatively theyve been paid.

But the officers said they were being owed backlogs in allowances, although they admitted the specific amount was unclear.

We were only paid N20, 000 cash on March 16, the officers said. We dont know how much theyre supposed to be paying us as our allowances, but we know that it can never be N20, 000 since we have been deployed here weeks ago.

Mr. Moshood said the officers have enough equipment and denied claims that a commotion occurred during the visit by the commissioner.

Theres nothing like that, I have asked the commissioner.

If something like that happened, I would have been informed during management meeting as the spokesman for the force, he said

He described the situation of the 15 officers allegedly abandoned in Abuja after being told to come for weapons as in-depth operational issues that should not have been disclosed to the media based for the national interest.

On the allegations that the IG did not deploy Special Forces to Benue, Mr. Moshood said the forces were actually deployed and on ground, although some of them might be operating as undercover agents.

Theyve been deployed in compliance with the IG directive and theyre on the ground there.

Some of them forces are working as undercover operatives so it might be difficult for people to know theyre special forces, he said.

Mr. Moshood said the police leadership deeply appreciate the service of the officers, but added that their perseverance was not enough.

Theyre doing their best and we deeply appreciate that, but part of their training is endurance, he said. Its just like someone fighting a war.

Theres something we call food and water discipline during training.

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Chris Rickert | Wisconsin State Journal Urban affairs, investigations, consumer help ("SOS") Follow Chris Rickert | Wisconsin State Journal Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

The 63 million people who elected a Muslim-banning, border-wall-building president are a pretty clear sign that lots of Americans fear and dislike people from other countries, especially when those people arent white and Christian.

But I always figured that whatever the half-baked reasons we come up with to vilify immigrants in general, few of us fail to empathize with the plights of immigrants in particular  especially when the immigrant has fled his country to save his life and now wants to bring his wife and child here to save them from a six-year civil war thats killed some 400,000 people.

Boy, was I naive.

About a week ago, I got an email from a reader about the Syrian man living in Dane County who sued last month to block Trumps travel ban from applying to his wife and daughter. The man has been taking steps to get his family out of Syria since he arrived here in 2014, according to his lawyers.

I consider this man a coward for leaving his family in the first place, the reader told me. He claims he would be killed by either side of the conflict, so why would his family be left alone? ... My opinion is that he should be sent back to protect his family as best as he can.

It frankly never occurred to me to question the Syrian mans character; it sounds like hes had a hard enough time as it is. And since I dont consider my moral compass to be any more sensitive than anyone elses, I figured the readers sentiments were an outlier.

Then I started poking around the online comment sections of news stories about the man and discovered that the American propensity for immigrant vilification is a lot broader than I thought.

Kind of wondering if he was admitted in under legitimate refugee status under Obama administration, mused one wag. Why wasnt his family at the same time? Something not right here. Guess he already learned the American way of finding riches in our court system and the lawyer who probably seeked (sic) him out gets his cut also.

Maybe he should move back to Syria and reunite instead of suing his new home country. Just proves he doesnt care about our laws, said another.

I would suggest that if he wants to immigrate to this country he drop his lawsuit. If he wants to sue the country he has immigrated to he can do so from Aleppo, said yet another.

(This newspaper does not allow readers to post online comments on certain kinds of stories, including ones about the Syrian  which in retrospect is probably a good thing.)

Its unwise to take online forums too seriously, as they are frequently the favorite playground of racists, nationalists, morons and kooks of both political extremes.

But the target in this case is a guy who has been granted asylum by the United States because U.S. officials have looked into this case and determined he would be in danger if sent home  a guy whose 3-year-old son was killed in the conflict in his home country and is trying to save his wife and young daughter from a similar fate.

If you cant sympathize with that, what can you sympathize with?

Because the basic details of the Syrian mans story are apparently not sympathetic enough for some, I got in touch with his New York and Madison attorneys  both of whom are working free of charge  in search of a little more of his back story.

The man  whose name a judge has agreed should be withheld for his familys protection  managed a small business in Syria, according to the New York attorney, Andrei Vrabie.

According to the mans complaint against the Trump administration, an anti-government militia targeted him because it mistakenly thought he was sympathetic to a pro-government militia, and the pro-government militia targeted him because of his Sunni faith and because he traveled to territory controlled by the anti-government militia.

Vrabie said the man had traveled to the United States before and had a tourist visa that allowed him to return in 2014. His family didnt have visas that would allow them to travel anywhere outside Syria, he said, and getting them would be extremely difficult.

The United States government has been suspicious about giving tourist visas to Syrian families, for fear that they will overstay them or through some other means, stay in the United States, said the mans Madison attorney, Lester Pines.

Thus, for my client to have had any chance of getting here, he needed to travel alone, arrive on American soil and seek asylum, he said. Then, once he had asylum, he could bring his family here to rejoin him. Thats how the process works and thats the choice the family had to make in order to have any chance of all of them getting out of harms way.

In effect, if the man wanted to leave Syria with his family, their only option was to do it as refugees, and given that thousands of the 5 million Syrian refugees have died trying to get to Turkey, Greece and other countries in the region, the refugee route could well have put his family in more danger than his cowardly decision to leave them and try to unite later.

Lucky for the vast majority of Americans, thats the kind of choice theyll never have to make.
Ontario Oil & Gas Limited, which was convicted for subsidy fraud, is yet to make a formal commitment to settle all its outstanding debts under a crude oil swap contract that existed between 2012 and 2014, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, said on Sunday.

The spokesperson of the NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, disclosed this in a statement to clarify earlier information on Friday that the company had offered to pay $10 million as part of a total $184 million that three crude oil trading companies agreed to pay the NNPC after the reconciliation of transaction records.

Contrary to information we provided earlier, which we got from our team that negotiated with the companies, Ontario Oil & Gas Limited offered nothing. In fact, the company is virtually broke, Mr. Ughamadu said in a telephone chat with PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday.

They said we (NNPC) should take its tank farm at Oghara in Delta State. But, when it was valued, it was far below what they are owing. We are still negotiating with them.

On Friday, Mr. Ughamadu had said that Ontario had offered to pay $17 million, while Telaveras agreed to pay $10 million.

However, in his latest clarification, he said the team had corrected the figures to show that rather than Ontario, it was Telaveras, which actually agreed to make an initial tranche payment of $17.2 million within the next two weeks and $10 million in subsequent tranche payments.

Mr. Ughamadu said AITEO Energy also made a commitment to pay its debt, although no detail was given as to how much the company offered.

He said the NNPC management was committed to sanitise the record books through a painstaking reconciliation of the transactions executed during the defunct crude for product swap regime.

We will provide the public, through the media, up-to-date information on the ongoing effort by the Corporation to recover all debts owed the company, he said.

The spokesperson said in line with the ongoing reforms in the industry, the NNPC management was committed to the full recovery of the outstanding $184 million crude-swap product under-deliveries.

Besides, he said, the corporation would ensure that the full value of stock of its missing petrol in Capital Oil depot which currently stands at 82 million litres amounting to over N11 billion was recovered.

The NNPC commended the two companies involved in the reconciliation exercise  AITEO Energy Resources and Televaras Group of Companies  which have registered their commitment to settle all outstanding obligations.

THE FRAUDULENT ONTARIO

While the NNPC seeks to recover millions of dollars from Ontario, the company and its owners were in January convicted for fraud.

Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos High Court convicted Ontario Oil and Gas, and its promoters, Walter Wagbatsoma and Adaoha Ugo-Nnadi, on an eight-count charge of fuel subsidy fraud.

The judge said the prosecution had accused Mr. Wagbatsoma, Mrs. Ugo-Nnadi, and Ontario Oil and Gas of collecting N942 million as subsidy payment instead of N602 million.

Mr. Wagbatsoma is the chairman of the company while Mrs. Ugo-Nnadi is the managing director.

The judge also said the prosecution gave evidence that the convicts discharged a much lesser quantity of petrol in their transaction with the government and presented a forged shore tank certificate.

The fourth defendant defrauded the federal government of N340 million, she said.

A prosecution witness gave evidence that, in the first transaction, Ontario Oil paid N37 million for 12 million litres of fuel in a throughput agreement with Integrated oil and Gas, but later collected subsidy for 19 million litres.

In the second transaction, the company collected subsidy for 19 million litres while they paid a throughput agreement with Obat Oil worth N28 million for 10 million litres of fuel.

Both the first and second defendants signed the cheque for the throughput agreement, the judge quoted the witness as saying.

Another prosecution witness, Obinna Ukonu, a store officer at Integrated Oil and Gas, gave evidence that Ontario brought in 12 million litres of fuel via a mother vessel, MT Pacific, and then a daughter vessel, MT Union Brave. The same quantity was trucked out by the company.

I find that there is credible, concrete evidence that the quantity of petrol discharged was 12 million litres, said the judge.

Evidence by the prosecution is that the product was discharged into one tank which cannot contain more than 16.5 million litres because of an inbuilt floating roof that takes about two million litres.

An exhibit that the judge described as very damaging to the defendants case was Exhibit D1, a calibrated report which showed that the tank in question cannot contain more than 18 million litres of fuel.

CONVICTED IN ABSENTIA

In 2012, when the convicts were first arraigned, Mr. Wagbatsoma was absent.

Rotimi Jacobs, the EFCC counsel, told the then judge, Habeeb Abiru, that he had fled to the U.S. to avoid trial.

When he eventually returned to face trial, the judge imposed a N450 million bail on him.

In July last year, despite the court holding his international passport and other travel documents, Mr. Wagbatsoma was arrested in Germany and extradited to the UK to face money laundering charges.

He is currently under house arrest in the UK.

The judge said Mr. Wagbatsoma during his testimony tried to distance himself from the running of Ontario Oil and Gas.

The first defendant while testifying laboured to convince the court that he was not involved in the day to day running of the fourth defendant, but he signs the cheques, Mrs. Okunnu said.

He is of sound, literate mind. Over and over again, he informed the court he sits on the board of 27 companies. He knew what he was doing when he signed those cheques, and there is evidence that he used the money from the subsidy payment.

For Mrs. Ugo-Nnadi, the judge described her as the operating mind and the alter ego of the company.

She had full knowledge of the entire exercise.

The judge also said she had no doubt that the company forged shore tank certificate, used for the subsidy payment.

I find the first, second, and fourth defendants guilty of forgery. All three of them conspired as there was a meeting of minds, she said.

The case against Mr. Fakuade, who was discharged and acquitted, was that he signed and embossed the PPPRA stamp on a forged document, the judge said.

There is nothing that shows that he was aware of the real document that showed the actual amount of fuel discharged. It was simply gross negligence on his part.

BEG FOR MERCY

Before she began reading the sentencing for the crimes, the defence lawyers said they would make a plea allocotus  to beg the judge to temper justice with mercy.

The lawyer said Mrs. Ugo-Nnadi had been having very serious health challenges but has managed to be attending all the trial proceedings.

It is our humble plea that a custodial sentence will do serious damage to her health as a result of the crowding in the prison and three or four doctors to hundreds of inmates, the lawyer said.

He said his client is a mother of very young children and a prison stay would deprive her children of her mother and father roles.

He also said the embarrassment and loss of businesses the second defendant had suffered is enough restitution for her crime.

The second defendant throughout the trial has suffered psychologically. She has been the butt of publications online, written press, television. She has suffered so much.

But Mr. Jacobs said anything short of sending the convict to prison would make a mockery of the fight against corruption.

It will send a wrong signal that custodial sentence is the preserve of the poor and the rich cannot go to jail, said Mr. Jacobs, a senior advocate of Nigeria.

The purpose of our criminal law is to ensure that those who contravene the law do not escape the consequences of the law.

The judge subsequently sentenced both Mr. Wagbatsoma and Mrs. Ugo-Nnadi to 10 years in prison.

She also ordered restitution for Ontario Oil and Gas, and asked the company to refund N754 million being the amount it defrauded the Nigerian government.

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The global oil giant, Shell, is concealing data showing thousands of Nigerians are exposed to health hazards from a stalled clean-up of the worst oil spills in the nations history, a German Geologist contracted by the multinational has said.

In a letter to the Bodo Mediation Initiative, BMI, Kay Holtzmann, a geologist hired by the Dutch-British multinational, disclosed that an environmental study found astonishingly high pollution levels with soil literally soaked with hydrocarbons in the Bodo community.

Mr. Holtzmann also disclosed that Shell fiercely opposed environmental testing.

The people of Bodo in the oil-producing Niger Delta region should get urgent medical tests, the Geologist wrote in the letter dated January 26, obtained by The Associated Press, AP.

Bodo is part of Ogoniland, where the failure to clean up oil spills was called an environmental scandal in 2011 by the U.N. Environment Program.

The clean-up was part of a British out-of-bounds settlement in which Shell paid $83.5 million to 15,600 fishermen and farmers for damages from two oil spills caused by old pipelines in 2008 and 2009 that devastated thousands of hectares of mangroves and creeks.

Lawyers alleged 500,000 barrels of oil spilled, but Shell said it was only 1,640 barrels and initially offered the community $50,000 in compensation.

The agreement was reached through British law firm, Leigh Day, which said on Friday it has received no response to a January 30 letter to Shell asking for the data from Mr. Holtzmann, who was hired by Shell to manage the clean-up.

Leigh Day has been pushing for the cleanup of Bodo, health screening of the population and testing of the water supply since 2011  all to no avail, the firm said.

This letter shows that even those who were employed by Shell are deeply concerned by their behaviour and their lack of transparency.

Mr. Holtzmanns letter warns that children bathing in creeks are in danger of harm from toxic substances, as are people who drink from hand-dug wells.

Amnesty International had said the multinational was deeply irresponsible.

Shell has a responsibility to share this information with the community to ensure they can take steps to protect themselves and their children, a statement from the rights group said.

Clean-up efforts overseen by the Dutch government began in June 2015 but were halted within months by community disputes and problems with contractors.

Mr. Holtzmanns letter urges Bodo Mediation Initiative, BMI, co-chair, Inemo Samiama, to publish the data, noting that the initiatives committee had insisted on the tests against fierce opposition from Shell Petroleum Development Co., SPDC.

The environmental tests were carried out in August 2015 with support from Shells headquarters in The Hague, the letter said.

Mr. Holtzmann said his intent to publish the findings in a scientific magazine last year was quashed by Shell, which said his contract did not permit publication.

A Shell spokesperson on Sunday declined comments on Mr. Holtzmans revelations.

But a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, which was signed by Mr. Samiama said Mr. Holtzmanns six months contract was not extended because the geologist performed poorly.

In view of Mr Kay Holtzmans poor performance, the BMI technical team recommended that a more competent project director should be sourced for, the BMI chair said in the statement.

Commenting further, Mr. Samiama said the Shoreline Clean-up Assessment Technique, SCAT, results confirmed areas of pollution and the need for clean-up, but the results did not raise new concerns because they were not different from existing observations from earlier reports.

He also noted that at a meeting with members of the Bodo Community, the BMI chair had suggested that the only way to mitigate against continued exposure to the negative consequences of the polluted environment was to immediately commence the clean- up and remediation exercise.

The SCAT results were worrisome but not surprising, Mr. Samiama said.

They confirmed that the degree of oil contamination in the Bodo Creek was high. This, however, did not warrant immediate emergency measures  the extent of the pollution was known, people were already aware they had to stay out of polluted areas  but rather emphasized the need for clean-up, he added.

The BMI chair also alleged that the clean-up process was shut down by Bodo community members two weeks after the report was released, because they wanted to receive money rather than have their community cleaned-up.

The SCAT report was shared with relevant BMI stakeholders and its contents were used to inform the Boko community, he said.

Earlier in a telephone interview with AP, Mr. Samiama had said that residents health will be better served by getting on with the clean-up.

After a challenging four-year process, we are on the verge of getting contractors back to the site, he said.

The Bodo community, according to reports, recorded contamination levels so high it could take 30 years to renew the land.

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has furnished President Muhammadu Buhari with details of how the President of the Nigerian Senate, Bukola Saraki, and his aides allegedly laundered up to N3.5 billion from the Paris Club loan refund, PREMIUM TIMES can report.

The report, compiled by detectives in the anti-graft agency, followed months of investigation, and was submitted to the president on March 10, 2017, days before the senate rejected his nomination a second time, insiders at the presidency told this medium.

In the report, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, the EFCC narrated how Mr. Saraki, using his deputy chief of staff and other aides, laundered N3.5 billion that he allegedly received from the Paris Club loan refund to state governors.

The manner the Paris Club loan refund was spent by public officials has been a subject of nationwide controversy for several weeks, with EFCC hinting at some point that an investigation was underway.

But the governors pushed back against the allegations, describing the EFCCs probe of the fund as unwarranted attack on the Nigeria Governors Forum, its officials and associated entities.

But in its report to the president, the EFCC detailed how Mr. Saraki, in 2016, introduced Gbenga Makanjuola, a former lawmaker who now serves as his deputy chief of staff, to Kathleen Erhimu, an Access Bank staff.

The EFCC identified Ms. Erhimu as Mr. Sarakis relationship manager at Access Bank.

Mr. Makanjuola would later work with Robert Mbonu, a former managing director of Heritage Bank, whose firm, Melrose General Services Limited, was said to have served as consultant to the Nigerian Governors Forum.

In its March 10 correspondence, our sources said, the EFCC informed President Buhari that Mr. Mbonu received N3.5 billion in mid-December 2016, part of which was later transferred to accounts and persons linked to the senate president.

A prima facie case of conspiracy to retain the proceeds of unlawful activities and money laundering contrary to Sections 15(3) and 18(9) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2004 can be established against the aforementioned suspects, the EFCC told Mr. Buhari in the report.

Additionally, investigation into their personal accounts is ongoing.

The report could further complicate things for Mr. Saraki, who is already standing trial on separate charges of false declaration of assets since 2015.

Yusuf Olaniyonu, a spokesperson for Mr. Saraki, in his response said the allegations were false and were Mr. Magus way of fighting back after he was denied confirmation by the Senate. But the report was forwarded to the president on March 10, while the Senate rejected Mr. Magus nomination on March 15.

Mr. Makanjuola, did not respond to requests for comments.

The EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, did not respond to requests for comments either.

Read excerpts of the EFCC damning findings below; and Mr. Sarakis response below that.

Mr. Robert Mbonu is alleged to have received the sum of N3.5billion into his companys account(Melrose General Services Limited) from the NGF through Account 0005892453 domiciled in Access Bank.

Investigation revealed that one Kathleen Erhimu is the Relationship Manager to Dr. Bukola Sarakis account with Access Bank.

That Saraki at a meeting introduced one Joseph Oladapo Idowu and Gbenga Peter Makanjuola to her and Hon. Makanjuola thereafter introduced Mr. Robert Mbonu to Ms Kathleen Erhimu.

That Mbonu operates an account, Melrose General Services with Access Bank Plc 0005892453 and 0005653500 which was up till 13th December a business account.

That Halima Kyari, the Head of Private Banking Group stated in a letter dated 13th December 2016, Mr. Robert Mbonu requested a transfer of Melrose General Services Company account from Business Account to a Private Banking Group Platform as he was expecting huge funds into the account.

Subsequently, on the 14th December, the sum of N3.5 billion was lodged into Melrose General Services Company account number 0005892453 domiciled in Access Bank from the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).

That thereafter Mr. Obiora Amobi and Hon. Gbenga Makanjuola were introduced to Access Bank as representatives of Melrose General Services Limited by Robert Mbonu to enable them cash withdrawals from the account.

That Mr. Obiora Amobi and Gbenga Makanjuola made cash withdrawals of various tranches of N5million and N10million.

That one Oluyemi Braithwaite, the MD/ CEO of Reinex Bureau de Change, Caddington Capital Limited and Westgate Limited also manages a BDC stated to have known Mbonu as a client and he requested for dollars in exchange for the Naira equivalent which were to be handed over to one Mr. Gbenga in Abuja.

That Ms Oluyemi Braithwaite contacted one Hassan Dantani Abubakar, the owner of Hamma Procurement Limited, Ashrab Nigeria Limited and Insoire Solar Application to make available the dollars based on the Naira equivalent as transferred from Robert Mbonu who she had introduced via phone to Hassan Dantani.

That on 16th December 2016, Melrose General Services transferred the sum of N246million to Hamma Procurement First Bank Accouny No. 2030756168 in exchange for the sum of $500,000 which was handed to one Mr. Gbenga in Abuja who acknowledged receipt of the same amount.

That on the 21st Dec 2016, Ms Oluyemi Braithwaite contacted Hassan Dantani Abubakar requesting for another transaction of $370,000. Melrose General Services Company transferred the sum of N181m to Inspire Solar Application. The $370,000 was handed over to one Mr. Dapo in Abuja

That on the 4th of January 2017, Mbonu through Melrose General Services Company transferred the sum of N248, 500,000 to Caddington Capital Limited belonging to Ms Oluyemi Braithwaite who transferred same to Hassan Dantani Abubakars FCMB account, Ashrab Nigeria Limited for the sum of $500,000. The dollar equivalent was handed over to Mr. Kolawole Shittu in Abuja

That on the 10th of January 2017, Mr. Robert Mbonu through Melrose General Services Company transferred the sum of N99,820,000 to Caddington Capital Limited belonging to Ms. Oluyemi Braithwaite who transferred same to Hassan Dantani Abubakars FCMB Ashrab Nigeria Limited for the sum of $200,000. The dollar equivalent was handed over to one Mr. Peter in Abuja.

That on the 19th December, there was a cash withdrawal of the sum of N50 million from Melrose General Services account via cheque by Hon. Gbenga Peter Makanjuola.

Also, the sum of $1,570,000 was received by the trio of Mr. Gbenga Peter Makanjuola, Mr. Kolawole Shittu and Mr. Oladapo Joseph Idowu at various times and locations at Abuja FCT.

That on the 29th December, 2016, Mr. Robert Mbonu called Mrs. Kathleen Erhimu of Access Bank requesting her to source for a customer that would have the sum of $500,000 in exchange for the Naira equivalent. She introduced Mr. Robert Mbonu to Acarast Commercial Limited and Capital Field Investment to help him source for dollars.

That on the 21st December 2016, GCA Energy Limited paid the sum of $25,000 to Asterio Energy Services Limited which subsequently transferred the sum of $23,200 to Cactus Communication Limited account with Access Bank.

The MD of Sought-After International Synergy Limited, Julius Okedele stated that Mr. Kelechi Edomobi of Acarast Commercial Enterprises contacted him and requested to purchase dollars after the transfer of N73,950,000 to Sought-After International Synergy Limited. Mr. Edomobi gave him the account number of Cactus Communication Limited Access Bank as the nominated account to receive the dollar equivalent of the sum of $149,000.

Investigation further confirmed that Cactus Communication Limited is owned and operated by Joseph Oladapo Idowu, an aide to Bukola Saraki.

That Mr. Kelechi Edomobi also transferred the sum of N1m on the 15th of January 2017 to Joseph Oladapo Idowus personal account number 0001679877 with Access Bank Plc.

That Asterio Energy Services Limited on 21st and 22nd December 2016 transferred $100,000 and $85,000 to Bhaskar Devji Jewellers LLC in Dubai respectively the same company that Dr. Bukola Saraki repeatedly made transfer to from his Black Card Account.

That Cactus Communication Limited on 30th December 2016 paid the sum of $59,,660.67 to Bhaskar Devji Jewellers LLC in Dubai .

That Asterio Energy Services Limited on 20/1/2917, 30/1/2017 and 31/1/2017 transferred $46,000, $39,000 and $37,620 respectively to Cactus Communication Limited

Based on the foregoing findings, it is clear that Robert Mbonu, the Managing Director of Melrose General Services Company and his company were used to help divert proceeds of unlawful activities under the guise of payment for contractual obligations with the Nigerian Governors Forum ( NGF).

Suffice to apprise that all payments received by Melrose General Services Company from the NGF have hitherto been diverted directly via cash withdrawals and indirectly through transfers by Hon. Gbenga Peter Makanjuola, Kolawole Shittu and Oladapo Joseph Idowu who are principal aides of the Senate President.

Furthermore, other payments from Melrose General Services Company has also been linked to companies that Dr. Bukola Saraki has interest in and carry out transactions with.

This includes the sum of $183,000 which was transferred to Bhaska Devji Jewellers, Dubai, a company Dr. Bukola Saraki had repeatedly made payments to.

Also, the sum of N200million was transferred to Wasp Networks Limited that subsequently transferred the sum of N170million to Xtract Energy Services Limited, a company that routinely made deposits into Dr. Bukola s Access Bank United States Domicilliary Account.

Mr. Bosun Ottun, the Managing Director of Xtract Energy Services, a company that deals in forex trading confirmed that Wasp Networks Limited transferred N170,000,00 on January 16, 2017, to Xtract Energy Services Ltd.s FCMB account for the purchase of $350,000 which he later transferred into Wasp Networks Stanbic IBTC Bank United States Dollar domiciliary account.

That Wasp Networks has returned to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission recovered funds the sum of N200,000,000 paid to the company by Mr. Robert Mbonu.

That Mr. Robert Mbonu through Melrose General Services Company paid N20,000,000 to Thebe Wellness Services.

That Dr. Richardson A. Ajayi, the Managing Director of Thebe Wellness Services confirmed that N20,000,000 from Melrose General Services was a loan from Mr. Robert Mbonu which was to be used as an investment in the Thebe Wellness Services.

That Thebe Wellness Services has returned to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission recovered funds the sum of N20,000,000 paid to the company by Mr. Robert Mbonu.

Investigation also revealed that Acarast Commercial Enterprises was operated and owned by one Mr. Kelechi Edmobi who equally owned the following companies: Edmonton Commercial Services, Arcadian Energy Services Limited, Asterio Energy Services Limited.

That Kelechi Edmobi uses the companies listed in xxxi above for foreign exchange transactions and bureau de change services.

That Acarast Commercial received the sum of N92, 685, 000 from Melrose General Services on December 20, 2016 and paid the sum of N12, 000,000 to GCA Energy Limited, the sum of N73, 950,000 to Sought-After International Synergy Ltd. and N9, 500,000 to Vertice Solution Limited.

$1, 570, 000 was also received from various Bureau de Change operators by the trio of Gbenga Peter Makanjuola, Mr. Kolawole Shittu, Mr. Oladapo Joseph at various locations at Abuja, FCT.

That on December 29, 2016, Mr. Robert Mbonu called Mrs. Kathleen Erhimu of Access Bank requesting her to source for a customer that could have the sum of $500,000 USD in exchange for the naira equivalent. She introduced Mr. Robert Mbonu to Acarast Commercial Limited and Capital Field Investment Limited to help him source for the dollars.

That Melrose General Services Company Limited through their Access Bank account transferred the sum of N248, 750,000 to Capital Field Investment Limited in exchange for a $500,000 USD which was later transferred by Capital Field Investment Limited to Mr. Michael Prest of Petrodel Resources Nevis Limited United States dollars domiciliary account in Lloyds Bank, United Kingdom.

That Mr. Robert Mbonu stated that he transferred the funds to Mr. Michael Prest for him to bid for products which would be refunded if he was successful in the bid of crude oil product and there was no contractual agreement entered into by both parties. However, Mr. Michael Prest is a close friend to Dr. Bukola Saraki.

That Mr. Robert Mbonu through Melrose General Services Company Limited Access Bank Account transferred N92, 685,000 to Acarast Communication Limited in exchange for a $183,000 USD which was later transferred to Bhaskar Devji Jewellers in Dubai for purchase of jewelleries.

However, investigation revealed that Dr. Bukola Saraki from his United States dollars domiciliary black card account number: 0058931185 with Access Bank transferred the sum of $19,649.44 USD, $2, 817.86 USD and $19,725.02 USD on 23/09/13. 16/12/14 and 16/12/14, respectively, to Bhaskar Devji Jewellers in Dubai.

That Mr. Robert Mbonu has not taken delivery of the jewelleries and couldnt provide a date when the jewelleries he paid for would be delivered.

That Mr. Robert Mbonu through Melrose General Services Company Limited Access Bank account transferred the sum of N200,000,000 to Wasp Networks Limiteds Stanbic IBTC Bank on January 11, 2017 for a purported investment in the company.

That Wasp Networks Limited transferred the sum of N170,000,000 on January 16, 2017 to Xtract Energy Services Ltd.s FCMB account.

Investigations further revealed that prior to this transaction in xxii above, Xtract Energy Services Ltd. routinely made deposits into Dr. Bukola Saraki Access Bank United States dollar domiciliary account number: 0059429296 as follows: September 17, 2013, the sum of $80, 235.00, September 12, 2014, the sum of $96,930.00, November 18, 2014, the sum of $99,918.50 and December 19, 2014, the sum of $49,965, respectively.

That Bosun Ottun further stated deposits into Dr. Bukola Saraki Access Bank United States Domiciliary Account Number: 0059429296 as follows: September 17, 2013, the sum of $80, 235.00, September 12, 2014, the sum of $96,930.00, November 18, 2014, the sum of $99,918.50 and December 19, 2014, the sum of $49,965 were brought to his company by Mr. Tunde Morakinyo who claimed that the funds were payments into Dr. Bukola Sarakis card account.

That as the above mentioned lodgments in xxiv are made from Xtract Energy Services into Dr. Bukola Sarakis Access Bank United States dollar domiciliary account number: 0059429296, the proceeds were subsequently transferred to Dr. Bukola Sarakis black card account number: 0058931185 for his bill settlement.

A prima facie case of conspiracy to retain the proceeds of unlawful activities and money laundering contrary to Sections 15(3) and 18(9) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2004 can be established against the aforementioned suspects.

Additionally, investigation into their personal accounts is ongoing.

It is Mere Mudslinging Campaign, Says Sarakis Aide

Our attention has been drawn to the circulation of a report I the media said to have been leaked by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu to some journalists where he made several allegations against Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, as it concerns the payment of the Paris Club Fund refund to the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).

Let us first state that these allegations are not new. The EFCC had from the onset of its investigation into the Paris Club refund made attempts to drag in the name of Dr. Saraki and we have promptly denied any such involvement of the Senate President. In fact, the EFCC itself came out to deny the report as it then said it had nothing to indict the Senate President. The anti-graft agency said the investigation was still on-going then. Yet, as at that time it had all these information it is now dishing out.

It is obvious that at this point when Mr. Magu believes the Senate President should be blamed for his failure to secure confirmation as Chairman of EFCC by the Senate, he would want to fight back by cooking up reports and masterminding its leakage. We maintain our stand that Dr. Saraki has no direct or indirect link to the distribution of the NGF money. No money from the Paris Club refund was paid to Dr. Saraki.

In addressing the specifics of the allegation in the reports as we gathered from the press, EFCC believe that since the Senate President has worked in the same organisation with Mr. Robert Mbonu before, whatever transaction he is involved in should be linked to the Senate President in this era of mud-slinging and much-raking. We would like to say that Mr. Mbonu is not representing Mr. Saraki in any transaction he does with the NGF and no money from his company, Melrose, in his dealing with Nigeria Governors Forum came to Dr. Saraki either directly or indirectly. And if the EFCC has any information to the contrary, we challenge them to make it public.

We state categorically that no aide of the Senate President acted on Sarakis behalf in whatever they do with Mr. Mbonu.

Again, If Melrose paid any money to a jeweller or any shop, that has nothing to do with the Senate President. We believe Melrose must have the necessary documentation in support of their transaction and we are sure the EFCC is aware of all these.

In the same vein, if Melrose chose to invest in another company, that decision has nothing to do with the Senate President and the act of drawing a link between Mbonu and Saraki can at best be only pure mischief.

At this point, it should be noted that Xtract Energy Services Limited is a well known foreign exchange dealer with almost 15 years of existence in the market and the company is widely known to do business with many organisations in the country. The last time the Senate President patronised the company was on December 19, 2014 and we challenge Mr. Magu and the EFCC to prove that the Senate President transacted any form of business with the foreign exchange dealer in the period of the payment of the Paris Club refund.

We call on members of the public to view this concocted and leaked report as Mr. Magus form of fighting back. The report has no truth in it. It should be noted that the Senate President was not behind Magus failure to get confirmation from the Senate. That was democracy in action. Dr. Saraki is merely a presiding officer and first among equals. Dr. Saraki did not in any way interfere with the confirmation process.

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World Tuberculosis Day: Nigeria outlines plans to improve identification, treatment

The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, unveiled a Gene-Xpert Laboratory at the Kunchingoro Primary Healthcare Model Centre, to commemorate the World Tuberculosis (TB) Day and bring TB screening closer to the community.

The Gene-Xpert MTB/RIF technology will be used as the primary diagnostic tool for TB among all presumptive TB cases in the country, including People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).

The Federal Ministry of Health and international partners took this step to accelerate TB case findings in Nigeria as the ministry said it targets having one machine per LGA across the country.

In the same vein, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, called on state governments to create stronger collaboration between their programmes for the treatment of TB and HIV.

The Director General of NACA, Sani Aliyu, said TB and HIV pose serious challenges to the Nigerian health sector and global efforts to fight TB and HIV require improved collaboration between programmes to ensure a holistic approach in dealing with the dual epidemic.

He said Nigeria needs to urgently upscale efforts in preventing, diagnosing and treating TB because TB remains the commonest infection suffered by people living with HIV.

French firm takes over Swipha

Biogaran, a French pharmaceutical company specialised in generic and biosimilar medicines, and a subsidiary of Servier, has taken over all the activities of Swipha, a Nigerian pharmaceutical manufacturing and distributing company known for drug quality.

Swipha produces medicines to meet local health needs and focuses on three families of products: anti-anxiety and tranquillizers, antimalarial drugs, and antibiotics.

Swipha was the first Nigerian pharmaceutical company to obtain ISO 9001 certification in 2007. It was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014, employs 300 people locally and generated record sales of four billion naira (approximately  20 million) in 2012.

Government employs Midwives for PHCs



The Federal Government deployed more than 1,473 newly graduated basic midwives to Primary Health Care Centres, PHCs, in rural areas throughout the 36 states and FCT in 2016.

The recruitment and deployment was undertaken through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA. The deployment of the midwives was aimed at improving maternal, new-born and child health outcomes and consolidation on the gains of the Midwives Services Scheme (MSS) of the Federal Government.

Kidney theft: Patient surviving on life support machine

The Adamawa State Government has confirmed that a victim of kidney theft, Isa Hamman, 23, is still surviving on life support machine at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, nine months after a doctor at a private clinic in Jimeta allegedly conducted a surgery on him in 2016 removing his kidney in the process.

Fatima Atiku, the state Commissioner for Health, said the patient is stable, but will still have to survive on a machine due to the lack of suitable kidney for his body.

Premium Times Centre launches Health Tracker

The Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, PTCIJ, has launched a Primary Health Care tracker as part of its strategic vision of employing civic technology solution to address health care provision in Nigeria.

The tracker, named PHC Tracker, seeks to bring service delivery in the health sector within the purview of the people in a way to give substance to accountability of citizens over government policies in the sector. It will enable citizens and journalists track and report on healthcare service delivery and project implementation in the country.

Yobe govt receives hospital equipment worth N70 million

The Department for International Development, DFID, and Maternal and Neonatal Child Health 2 (MNCH2) have delivered hospital equipment worth N70 million to Yobe State government with the aim of improving health care delivery sat primary level across the state.

The Yobe State Commissioner of Health, Mohammed Kawuwa, who received the equipment, said it will complement the state governments efforts in strengthening health care services. He added that the equipment will be shared across hospitals in the electoral wards of the state.

Senate investigates NHIS Director for alleged N960 million procurement scam

The Nigerian Senate has constituted a five-member ad-hoc committee to investigate allegations of financial and administrative abuses against the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Usman Yusuf.

President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Mr. Yusuf head of NHIS in July 2016.

Mr. Yusuf had been accused of spending above his threshold expenditure totalling N960 million, without the approval and supervision of the Ministry of Health headed by Isaac Adewole.

UNICEFs restates commitment to maternal and child health

The Deputy Executive Director, Programme, UNICEF, Omar Abdi, restated the agencys commitment to improving maternal and child health, strengthening immunisation and revitalisation of primary healthcare system in Nigeria.

Marie Pierre Poirier, from the agencys West and Central Africa Regional Office, Dakar, Senegal, said UNICEF considered Nigeria a very important country in West and Central African region and sharing ideas between the Minister of Health and UNICEF may offer solutions to some of the numerous challenges confronting the Nigerian health sector.

World Oral Health Day: Low Awareness of Dental Services Affecting Oral Hygiene in Nigeria

The National Dental Association, NDA, has said poor public awareness on oral hygiene and available dental services is affecting dental care in Nigeria

Speaking on this years theme for World Oral Health Live Mouth Smart, Vice President of NDA, Funmi Ashiwaju, said the mouth should be kept healthy with no dirt, plaque, calculus, illness or ailment whatsoever and people should see their dentists every six months whether they have pain or not and also brush their teeth twice every day; morning and last thing at night.

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As iconic landmarks around the world switched off their lights Saturday evening to mark the Earth Hour, many Nigerians lamented the perennial power failure bedeviling the nation.

The Earth Hour initiative, put in place to draw global attention to climate change, began in Australia in 2007 as a grassroots gesture by the World Wildlife Fund, WWF, Australia, against man-made carbon dioxide emissions linked to a warming planet.

On Saturday in Europe, the Coliseum in Rome and the Eiffel Tower were in the dark for an hour.

Similarly, in Australia, the lights went out along the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Earth Hour, according to the organisers, is also intended to raise awareness of the importance of saving electricity.

But many Nigerians used the opportunity to lament the perennial power failure bedevilling the nation.

A cross section of Nigerians took to the social media to bare their minds, noting that they could not be part of the global initiative because they had no electricity.

Others called on the government to urgently look into the power problem.

Abdulhakeem Agboola, reacting to the development in the comment section of PREMIUM TIMES Facebook page, said, Our own (lights) are already switched off, we will just wait for the others to join us at 8.30pm.

For Olaide Omideyi, another contributor on the page, Nigerians have been marking the Earth Hour for decades, as they have always been in darkness.

The country has been in darkness for so long, the earth itself is commiserating with us, he wrote.

Abubakar Mohammed, in his submission on the page, noted that the initiative was commendable, as it was targeted at saving the earth and its creatures.

Its a commendable initiative by those who are conscious of the life threatening challenges confronting humanity. May God recognise their individuals and collective efforts to save

living creatures.

An apparently furious commentator, Akuchie Lambert, said, This one does not concern Nigerians because we are inured with the situation of having no light for months and weeks. Hence, this news of light going off for one hour is not a news to us at all.

Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES correspondent, Abdulganiy Otuoze, a graduate of Telecommunication Science from the University of Ilorin, said, Were observing the lights off by default. Were already in darkness. Ours will even be more than an hour.

He, however, called on government to fix the power problem.

Organisers of the Earth Hour initiative said they do not audit results of the energy saving initiative, but the

group has commissioned research indicating up to one in four Australians gets involved in the initiative.

The Earth Hour initiative can take credit for various environmental projects, like the 2013 declaration of a 3.4 million hectare marine park in the waters off Argentina, the planting of a forest in Uganda and a ban on soft

plastics in the Galapagos Island, the organisers said.

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Money released for capital projects to federal ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, from the 2016 budget, have surpassed a record N1 trillion, the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has disclosed.

Mrs. Adeosun described the achievement as the highest ever budgetary release in Nigerias annual funding for capital projects.

So far, N1trillion has been released on capital allocations. This is the highest so far in the history of this country, the minister said.

With the current stability in (crude) oil prices and the return of normalcy in Niger Delta, I am sure we will do more this year (2017), she said.

The Minister disclosed the figures in an interactive exchange with members of the House of Representatives Tactical Committee on Recession in her office in Abuja.

She said the amount was released for various projects proposed in the 2016 budget, including the commencement of the construction of a dual standard railway line that would link Lagos and Kano, rehabilitation of roads, expanding irrigation facilities to boost agriculture and the upgrading of aviation infrastructure throughout the country.

Details of the releases, the minister explained, include aggregate releases to the MDAs of N870.1billion as at the end of February 2017 and additional releases of N65.4 billion.

Other releases included manual authority to incur expenditure (AIEs) in February 2017 (N11.18 billion) and an additional manual AIEs worth N45.8billion as at March 13, 2017.

Mrs. Adeosun noted that the overall capital releases totalling N992.4 billion had significantly impacted the countrys economy, by creating jobs, stimulating economic activities in communities and upgrading infrastructure, thereby improving the wellbeing of Nigerians.

She said contractors returning to project sites around the country have employed workers, contributed to economic growth and improved the wellbeing of Nigerians in line with the strategic objectives of the present administration.

We are determined to transform the economy. This is why we are focused on capital expenditure. If we have our rails, road and power, then we will be able to generate jobs and prosperity, she said.

The release of the capital vote in the budget is in line with governments drive to devote more resources for the execution of capital projects, especially the upgrade of the countrys infrastructure to provide the enabling environment for investment in the economy.

The Executive Council of the Federation in its meeting on March 22, 2017 had approved the reconstruction of 12 more major highways across the country for N80 billion as part of efforts to boost transportation in the country.

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Hakeem Balogun, the Charge daffaires of the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, says different reasons are responsible for the extreme vetting Nigerians face during entry into the US.

Mr. Balogun, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Washington, added that the President Donald Trumps travel ban did not affect Nigerians.

The executive ban on immigration does not affect Nigerians. Whatever must have taken place regarding visa issuance, vetting at the airports, its all normal.

All these things have been on even before President Trump. Lets get one thing well. That you are issued visa is not a guarantee that you will end up wherever youre going.

Its a global thing; its not just United States. Even with us in Nigeria, we issue a visa to you here in the Nigerian Embassy.

There is no guarantee that you will get in when you get to Murtala Muhammed Airport or when you get to Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport.

The final authority is the man at the point of entry  immigration officers there. For instance, you can come to the Embassy here, we ask for all the things you need to get the visa.

How much do you have that we feel will be enough for you to stay in Nigeria for the period youre going.

May be as at that time, you were able to show us evidence that you have a thousand dollars which we feel will be enough for you to stay in Nigeria.

By the time you get to Murtala Muhammed Airport, the man at that end there asked you, all you have to show to him is 100 dollars, definitely, he might turn you back, and thats normal.

Mr. Balogun also said Nigerians are restricted from entering the U.S. because they failed to meet other required procedures.

Then there are other things. What manner of visa did you collect to come to the United States?

For instance, a pregnant woman who comes to the United States on visiting visa will probably be turned back at the point of entry because she does not have a medical visa.

You are coming in on a visiting visa and the immigration man sees you pregnant. Naturally, he will turn you back.

Even if you have the medical visa, they want to know if you have medical insurance; do you have your medical documents for you to be able to come and use their medical facilities here.

So these are issues. Nigeria is not being singled out. We are not one of those countries that have been mentioned. We are definitely not one of them.

(NAN)

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After the initial six weeks, the Abuja airport runway will still require another 18 weeks of upgrade, an official said on Sunday.

According to a statement circulated to select journalists by the presidency, the 18 weeks upgrade would however, be carried out at night, meaning normal flight operations will continue during the day.

The source also said the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has been working diligently to minimise the inconvenience caused by the closure.

After the Abuja airport reopens for operations on April 19, upgrade works on the runway would continue for another 18 weeks, he said.

This second phase of upgrade works on the runway will be carried out at night, with no disruption to flight schedules, the Presidency official further disclosed.

The source added that a media tour to allow reporters observe and assess the progress of work on the Abuja airport runway repairs would hold this week.

He added that the repair is about its mid-point on Wednesday.

The committee had launched series of customer engagement initiatives to enable passengers and travellers affected by the closure of the Abuja airport get up-to-date information and updates.

These include a Call Centre (open 7a.m to 10 p.m. Mondays to Fridays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays), a website (AbujaAirportClosure.info), and a Twitter handle (@ABVClosure).

The closure of the Abuja airport and subsequent use of the Kaduna airport has faced heavy criticism even as most foreign airlines stayed away rather than use the Kaduna airport.

Last week, the House of Representativescondemned the arrangements made at the Kaduna airport saying the airport was unsafe and insecure,

On Sunday, the presidency source also said the Federal Government Coordinating Committee overseeing the repairs of Abuja airport said over 43,000 passengers have passed through the Kaduna airport.

The committee which also oversees the closure and relocation of passengers to Kaduna airport, the alternative to the Abuja airport, said that the figure was in respect of the first 11 days of operations in the exercise.

The committee disclosed this in its latest data submitted to the presidency on the Abuja airports repair, closure and relocation.

The presidential aide, who preferred not to be named, said the figure was more than the 41,000 passengers the Kaduna airport recorded in the entire first quarter of 2015, and the 21,000 in the first quarter of 2016.

The source also disclosed that, during this period, about 10,000 passengers took advantage of the free bus shuttle, organised by the federal government to transport passengers between the Abuja and Kaduna airports.

The free bus shuttle conveyed passengers between Abuja and Kaduna airports, starting at the Abuja airport at 6 oclock in the morning, and at the Kaduna Airport from 8 a.m.

The shuttle takes 3 hours from airport to airport, and runs every 30 minutes, until the arrival of the last daily flight in Kaduna.

The Shuttle is in addition to the federal governments free train service between Abuja and Kaduna.

The two-and-half-hour Train Service departs Abujas Idu Station for Kaduna at 6 a.m., 11.55 a.m. and 5.45 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays; and departs Kadunas Rigasa Station for Abuja at 9 a.m., 2.50 p.m. and 8.40 p.m., the source said.

According to the source, the reconstruction at the Abuja airport is going according to schedule. He expressed optimism that the airport will reopen after six weeks as planned.

The official is also involved in the presidential supervision of the airport closure and oversight.

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Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state has confirmed the authenticity of a memo he wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari last September recently published by online medium Sahara Reporters.

Mr. El-Rufai had said in his memo that many Nigerians were not happy with the APC administration of Mr. Buhari. He said it was partly because the president had surrounded himself with clueless and inexperience persons, such as his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal.

The Kaduna governor, in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust newspaper, however, denied leaking the 30-page memo to the press, saying those who did so had the 2019 election in mind.

He also said he had written several memos to Mr. Buhari in the past.

In the Memo, Mr. El-Rufai told Mr. Buhari that the APC administration has not only failed to manage expectations of a populace that expected overnight change but has failed to deliver even mundane matters of governance outside of our successes in fighting Boko Haram insurgency and corruption.

He said the overall feeling even among the governing partys supporters was that the APC government was not doing well.

In the interview published on Sunday, Mr. El-Rufai said, I have written several memos to the president. This is the first one that has leaked. I can state categorically that I did not leak it. If I did I would say so.

I wrote the memo, its my own, I could make it public if I chose to, but I did not. It was a private communication and I cant understand the motives of those that leaked it. I dont know who leaked it. But who knows? In these days of Wikileaks, even if it is in your computer it can be hacked and taken out. I dont want to speculate on who leaked it or whatever, what I am surprised at is those that are attributing motives to the memo without even reading it.

Mr. El-Rufai insisted that he had no bad motive in writing the memo and also denied saying the government had failed

Theres nowhere in the memo that I said the government has failed. Its our government; if it fails then I have failed too. But theres a lot going on. We are on the political terrain and I am the target of many people for reasons I may come to know later.

But anyone that reads that memo will see that I did not intend it to be anything other than a private memo to the president.

Secondly, my advice or analysis or opinions were based on what I believe to be the truth and what I think will advance the cause of the president. There is nothing in that memo that is advancing the interest of Nasir El-Rufai or even Kaduna State. Its about Nigeria, the presidents success and our party, he said.

The Senator representing Kaduna Central in the Senate, Shehu Sani, had called on the leadership of the APC to punish Mr. El-Rufai for writing the memo and then leaking it to the media.

Mr. El-Rufai said he knew that he would be misunderstood after writing it based on his past experience.

As I said, I have been with the president since 2010, and anytime I write anything and he discusses it with his inner circle, they always say I am very ambitious.

I have always been accused of having presidential ambition since 2007. I have suffered from these accusations. The late President Umaru Musa YarAdua exiled me because of it; former President Goodluck Jonathan tried to imprison me because everyone around him told him to keep me busy or I would contest against you in 2015, he said.

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The National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ali Sheriff, and a factional leader of the party, Ahmed Makarfi, are engaged in a war of words again, just few days after they reached an understanding to bury their differences.

What has triggered the latest public spat began with Mr. Sheriffs threat to sue anyone, including media houses, who referred to the Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee, as a faction of the party. Allied to this was Sheriffs declaration of job vacancies in the party secretariat.

In a statement by his deputy, Cairo Ojoughoh, Mr. Sheriff said the job vacancies declared were preparatory to filling positions in the partys National Secretariat as the old staff decided to abandon their work even when he appealed to them.

But the Makarfi group said it smelled a rat and asked the old staff to ignore Mr. Sheriffs threat and his seven-day ultimatum to return party properties.

His threat against our hard working staff should therefore be ignored and treated with utmost contempt coming from a lawless impostor, said Dayo Adeyeye, the publicity secretary, who responded on behalf of the Makarfi group.

Messrs. Sheriff and Makarfi had on Thursday signed an undertaking with the PDP National Reconciliation Committee, led by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa to cease fire.

They both pledged to work together with the reconciliation committee for the restoration of genuine peace to the party.

Mr. Sheriff, who described the Makarfi-led committee as an illegal group, said that by the pronouncement of the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, on February 17, such a group was not supposed to be in existence.

He cautioned media houses not to refer to the Makarfi group as a faction, saying an appeal is not a stay of execution, insisting that the group was illegal.

Mr. Sheriff also warned Mr. Makarfi and his group to stop interfering in the affairs of the party.

Makarfi should behave himself. He should not interfere in our business, because we are not interested in his private business.

Any further careless statement from him will force us to reconsider our earlier peace agreement.

We have already employed staff who are running the bureaucracy efficiently. If Makarfi so desires, he should keep the old staff, just as he is doing now.

We have had enough and enough is enough of this, Mr. Sheriff said.

He added that his leadership was preparing to complete state congresses where necessary and working hard on planned national convention.

We will not be distracted by inconsequential issues from our set objective to return the party to the grassroots.

We must prevent anybody with the agenda of killing the party, especially those, who were brought to the party by those, who have already decamped to other parties.

Mr. Sheriff warned the old PDP staff, who still have the partys property in their possession to return them immediately.

They should return them within the seven days grace or we will be left with no other option than to hand them over to the police, Mr. Sheriff said.

The Makarfi group fired back and urged the staff and party stakeholders to ignore Mr. Sheriff, saying that his threats were those of a lawless impostor.

We went out of our way few days ago to reach accommodation with them even when some of our top leaders had serious misgivings about any type of talk with them given their unreliability, Mr. Makarfi said.

He said that his committee showed its goodwill, while Sheriff-led National Working Committee (NWC) demonstrated their bad faith.

We have always known that Sheriff and his co-travellers especially, Cairo Ojougboh, were never men of honour with whom one can reach any agreement.

But we tagged along to avoid being accused of unnecessary intransigence.

Since the leopard cannot change its spot, it is now very clear that no agreement or political solution can be reached with these bunch of people with huge integrity deficit.

He described Mr. Ojougboh as an impostor and a rabble rouser in a non-existent NWC, saying Mr. Sheriff has no men to constitute an NWC with the required constitutional quorum.

His threat against our hard working staff should therefore be ignored and treated with utmost contempt coming from a lawless impostor.

For the education of Sheriff and his cohorts, our Appeal at the Supreme Court is already on.

To that extent, the position and status of the National Caretaker Committee remains completely unaltered.

Since they cannot comprehend even very simple matters, we will use a simple analogy.

If a Governor loses at the election petitions tribunal and at the Court of Appeal, does he cease to be a Governor even when his appeal is pending before the Supreme Court?

Would the civil servants then refuse to serve him? Mr. Makarfi asked.

He explained that the position of the law was that he would remain the governor.

He added that all party employees would continue to serve Mr. Makarfi until otherwise determined by the Supreme Court.

Mr. Makarfi added that his committee members have tried strenuously to reach Mr. Dickson to report the Sheriff group, but they were not able to get through to him.

(NAN)

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The fourth time proved to be the charm for Madison seventh-grader Martius Bautista.

Bautista, 12, a student at Edgewood Campus School, outspelled 45 competitors from around Wisconsin to win the first-place prize at the Badger State Spelling Bee on Saturday after correctly spelling rhizograph, a device that traces the movement of roots in the soil.

As other students stumbled over words more popular a few decades ago  such as kahuna (an important person), nosh (snack) and gestapo (a reference to the Nazi secret police), Bautista soldiered on, mastering esoteric words such as jacamar, a type of tropical bird; serdab, an ancient Egyptian tomb; and benzoin, a balsamic resin.

In the 25th round at Madison Area Technical Colleges Mitby Theater, only Bautista and Hanna Ghouse, a Kenosha seventh-grader, remained on stage. Ghouse tripped on the word apteryx, a flightless kiwi bird. Bautista spelled it correctly and took on the next word, rhizograph, to win the top award.

Kieran McKinney, a sixth-grader from West Salem, placed third in the state competition, which is sponsored by the Wisconsin State Journal.

All three will get a free trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May in National Harbor, Maryland, where they will represent Wisconsin.

Bautista, who lives in Janesville but attends school in Madison, said he was shocked he won.

I feel pretty good, he said. Im proud for the other spellers, too. Its their first time (in the state spelling bee).

This was Bautistas fourth year in the state spelling contest; last year, he took third place.

Bautista said he brushes up on spelling by reading a lot of books, and credits his parents for helping with his training and his friends for pushing him to do well. My friends motivate me because they want me to win, he said.

McKinney said finishing in third place feels awesome. Im only in sixth grade. There are a lot of eighth-graders and seventh-graders who Im better than.

He said this was the first year his small school, Coulee Christian, participated in the spelling bee.

I dont really like spelling, McKinney said. I never really got good grades in it. But when my school joined, I wanted to try my hardest.

Kierans mother, Jennifer McKinney, said Kieran got long-distance assistance from Jeff Kirsch, a popular spelling coach for students in Wisconsin and other states.

This was also the first state spelling bee for Sharv Jani, a fourth-grader from Hudson. Jani, 9, admitted he was kind of nervous about facing off against all these sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders towering over me.

Knocked out in round seven by herpetology, a branch of zoology that deals with reptiles and amphibians, Jani said its been his dream for many years to be in the Scripps National Spelling Bee and be famous and ... on TV.

Sharvs brother, Shloke, a sixth-grader, also competed in the Badger State Bee and lost in the sixth round.

Facing challenges is important, said their father, Arpan Jani. They can see if you work hard, you can accomplish something.

Last years Badger State Spelling Bee winner, Veronica Goveas, Menomonee Falls, fell in round 15 on the word grokked, which means to understand profoundly.

About 250 people attended the Badger State Spelling Bee at Madison Area Technical Colleges Mitby Theater, and not all were friends and relatives of the competitors.

East Siders Dorothy and Joshua Cotillier came to cheer on the spellers. The couple said they have enjoyed watching the finals of the national contest in the past, on ESPN.

Joshua, a risk manager at Madison College, said he won a spelling contest when he was a student at Emerson Elementary School, in second grade. And that was the end of my spelling career, he said, with a smile.

The Badger State Spelling Bee was first held in 1949.
A year after the death of James Ocholi, the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to appoint a replacement from Kogi as stated in the constitution.

Consequently, lawyers from Kogi State, where Mr. Ocholi represented in the federal cabinet, have dragged the president to court, accusing him of violating the constitution and short-changing the people of the state.

Mr. Ocholi was killed in a car accident on March 6, 2016, alongside his wife and son.

The lawyers are Felix Okolo, Femi Motojesi, Samuel Ogala, Dickson Enema, David Adegbe and Titilope Akerejola.

In suit number: FHC/LKJ/CE/08/2017, filed at Lokoja Division of the Federal High Court, the plaintiffs urged the court to prevail on Mr. Buhari to appoint a new minister from Kogi State without further delay.

They want the court to determine the following:

Whether the current composition of the federal executive council of the federation without a substantive minister representing Kogi State in the Federal Executive Council for over 10 months is not a breach of Section 143 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended;

Whether the failure of the first defendant to appoint a substantive minister from Kogi State into the Federal Executive Council is not a flagrant and violent breach of the principle of equality and justice upon which the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, is founded; and

Whether by virtue of the provision of Sections 147 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, the first defendant has a mandatory duty to appoint an indigene of Kogi State as minister of the federation into the Federal Executive Council.

The suit, filed March 6, came about six months after another legal practitioner in Lokoja filed a similar suit seeking the court to compel Mr. Buhari to name a replacement for Mr. Ocholi.

Daniel Makolo said in his September 22, 2016 suit that the delay was an attempt to and has denied the people of Kogi State representation at the statutory mandatory regular meetings held by the president with his vice and ministers.

Presidential media adviser, Femi Adesina, declined PREMIUM TIMES requests for comments Sunday afternoon.

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Pobierz zdjecie Przeczytaj o zasadach pobierania zdjec President Duda emphasised that the Rome Declaration "explicitly" referred to the unity, which was not to everybody's taste. (1)

Poland as an equal member state is free to comment on EU, at the same time striving for compromise, Polish President Andrzej Duda told public tv late Saturday.

President Duda emphasised that the Rome Declaration "explicitly" referred to the unity, which was not to everybody's taste.

"Opinions varied, thus there was a need to find a compromise. It is good all member states decided to sign the document after all as it provides a point of reference in case some centrifugal tendencies emerge in the future", said Andrzej Duda, adding that he considered multi-speed EU concepts as indeed those centrifugal tendencies.

President noted that enlarging EU with new member states "doubtless reinforced EU's potential, most importantly as a vast common market, thus a massive economic organism".

"Small Union is a far cry from a large one, it is a completely different purchasing potential, a totally different output and work force one, other demographic level (...) should multi-speed Union come true, namely the exclusive inner clubs for certain countries be created, I can tell you it does not bode well, quite contrary, it would be a very negative direction for the EU and some member states", assessed President Andrzej Duda.

Asked about remarks on Poland conflictig itself with Brussels by not assenting to all EU's proposals and opposing Donald Tusk candidature for the post of the European Council head, the President replied that he had indeed heard Grzegorz Schetyna (Civic Platform leader) suggesting (...) the Rome Declaration should be signed in toto (by Poland) notwithstanding any apprehensions".

"Suffice to say, politics of this kind will work against Polish interests", concluded President Duda.

Asked if he endorsed PM Beata Szydlo and the government in the decision not to support Donald Tusk for the second term as the head of the European Council, President Duda said it had been "a very difficult situation and a hard case".

"I believe had other European leaders approached this case cool-headedly, they would have basically had to accept the Polish government's argument (...) It is hard to support a candidate that so overtly interfere with the internal affairs of our country", argued President Duda.

He added that what surely did not clear the air was the very fact of Angela Merkel announcing Donald Tusk for the second term few days prior to the vote. "It is a done deal (...) European Council head Donald Tusk was elected by majority vote of European countries which, frankly speaking, was blown out of proportion mostly in our country", estimated President Andrzej Duda.

"I don't remember anybody rending garments when Jean-Claude Juncker had not been elected unanimously", concluded Polish president.

No problem with vacancies in Polish Army

"A problem of filling-in Polish Army posts is non-existent; there are no vacancies as any vacated post is immediately filled", President Duda said.

"As army generals dismiss themselves under a personal plea, it would be more advisable to ask them personally why they have left", added Andrzej Duda.

President emphasized that his last week's correspondence with MoD concerned important and unfixed state issues.

"If I happen to discern that certain matters of high significance have not been dealt with, the formal way to address it at the highest state level is by sending an official writ", clarified President, adding that one of such issues was a "Poland's candidate for military attache office in US, for which post a newly appointed Polish Air Force head has been designated."

"Obviously the MoD has suddenly changed his mind and put forward a new candidate. I must admit I am surprised and I am not the only one as PM Beata Szydlo seem so as well", stressed President Duda. (PAP)


Pobierz zdjecie Przeczytaj o zasadach pobierania zdjec "I have been concerned and disappointed with the behaviour towards the arrested Polish woman", PresidentAndrzej Duda stressed. (1)

"I have been strongly disappointed with the way the Belarusian authorities, President Lukashenko, treat the opposition", Polish President Andrzej Duda said in Slovenia.

The president also said he was disappointed with the treatment of an arrested Polish woman.

Belarus authorities detained hundreds of people in Minsk on Saturday. Police earlier also raided the offices of Vesna-96, an opposition group. The protest demonstration in Minsk on Saturday was organised to mark the Day of Freedom falling on March 25 and against an unpopular tax on the unemployed.

"I have been concerned and disappointed with the behaviour towards the arrested Polish woman", the president stressed.

"I do not conceal that this is for me a cause of concern and a source of disappointment since I hoped that President Lukashenko will change his policy, especially in the situation in which he was giving such signals - or maybe an impression - for over a year", President Duda went on.

"There was some hope that Belarus and Mr president will be willing to come closer to the EU standards regulating relations between the authorities and the opposition. Unfortunately, this is the other way round", President Andrzej Duda stressed.

The Polish head of state has also announced that Poland will be monitoring the situation in Belarus and stressed that his assessment is absolutely negative. (PAP)
A Stoughton native and UW-Madison alumnus working as a journalist in Russia was among hundreds of people arrested during an opposition rally in Moscow on Sunday.

Alec Luhn, who graduated from UW-Madison in 2010 and also worked as a Wisconsin State Journal intern, said Russian police arrested him for taking photos of other arrests at the protest, which drew thousands of people and was one of several rallies held across the country by opponents of President Vladimir Putin.

Police searched (Luhn), confiscated his phone and put him in a police bus, where he was held for two hours before being driven to a police station on the outskirts of Moscow with 16 other detainees, according to the Guardian. He was told he would be charged with participating in an unsanctioned protest, despite repeatedly telling police he was a journalist and showing Russian foreign ministry accreditation.

Russian state media estimated 500 people were arrested at the same Moscow protest, while an organization that monitors political repression said the number of arrests was over 800.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Lauren Puryear literally took her quest to feed the hungry to the extreme.

The thousands of coupons she has clipped, along with others donated to her cause, are paying off, primarily in urban centers in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Coupons have helped the 29-year-old Virginia resident and New Jersey native from Union County put together 26,000 meals since September, at an estimated cost of $500. An additional 5,000 meals were served with the help of money and food donations.

We were paying out of our own pockets, and (food and money) donations werent enough, Puryear said of her organization, For the Love of Others. Then I was introduced to couponing.

Poverty rates for Baltimore and the nations capital are 24 percent and 18 percent, respectively, according to the Census Bureau.

Atlantic Citys poverty rate is higher  about 33 percent in 2015. The rate is much higher for families with children younger than 18  about 45 percent.

Richard Uniacke, executive director of the Community Food Bank of New Jerseys southern branch, said he wants to talk with Puryear about how couponing efforts could help feed Atlantic Citys hungry.

The need to provide food to the hungry in the resort is increasing.

The Rev. William Williams III of Asbury United Methodist Church said his Touch Feeding Ministry started out feeding lunch to 50 to 75 people on Saturdays more than four years ago. The operation now feeds between 350 and 400 people a week.

Last summer, the Vision 2000 organization based in Second Baptist Church took over the U.S. Department of Agricultures summer food program for children when the city didnt have the money to run the operation.

At least 900 children were fed breakfast and lunch, said the Rev. Collins A. Days Sr., the churchs pastor.

At Sister Jeans Kitchen in Atlantic City, the resorts declining economic climate is changing the demographics of who stops by for lunch. Much is linked to the recent closings of casinos.

Were starting to get whole families now. Not just our homeless, said chef Frank McKay.

Sister Jeans generally cooks up 250 to 300 meals a day. The number can sometimes climb to about 500, McKay said.

Puryear said she started believing in extreme couponing when, during a supermarket visit, she bought about 500 cans of vegetables for about a penny apiece.

Her effort moved to spaghetti, meatballs, fresh vegetables, meats, tomato sauce, canned chicken and other food.

Its all helped her organization reach the goal set in September of serving 30,000 meals by September 2017.

Puryear searches supermarket circulars for sales. For some sales, shell ask the supermarket operator to order more of that product. That once included 1,000 extra jars of tomato sauce.

Puryear said her organization is starting to devote more time to feeding children. That includes providing more foods like granola bars and fruit cups that would appeal to them.

Staff Writer Vincent Jackson contributed to this report.
Four hours and more than 150 breweries can be intimidating, bathroom lines will be long and your body is going to need water.

Thats why weve created an ultimate guide to next weekends Atlantic City Beer and Music Fest.

More than 26,000 people are expected to attend the event, according to festival producers, and about 700 runners will trail through the city Saturday morning for the Hops Trot 5K.

To survive, youre going to need some string, pretzels, water and maybe a costume.

Cheers!

Whats new this year?

 The Hops Trot 5K will start at the Convention Center so runners have somewhere to leave their things during the race.

 Atlantic City Police advise motorists of "significant delays" during the race along Michigan Avenue cross streets from the Boardwalk to the Convention Center. Police officers will be on site to assist the runners and traffic.

 Cooking demos from chefs like "Hells Kitchen" contestant Amanda Palomino and others

 Beer-infused cocktail seminars presented by mixologists from The Iron Room restaurant

 More beer stops during the Hops Trot

What is returning this year?

 Acts will be performing during all three sessions. Session 1 (8 p.m.midnight Friday) will be Flogging Molly, Session 2 (noon-4 p.m. Saturday) will be the Front Bottoms and Session 3 (6-10 p.m. Saturday) will be Streetlight Manifesto.

 Food vendors such as Vagabond Kitchen and Tap House, Chickies and Pete's, and Harrys Oyster Bar and Seafood

By the numbers:

3 four-hour sessions between Friday and Saturday

150+ participating breweries.

45 breweries from New Jersey

700 Hops Trot 5K runners expected

26,000 to 27,000 attendees expected throughout the weekend

30+ participating vendors

8 different eateries to choose from

Advice from a pro: Go make some new friends and revisit old ones.

Jon Henderson is the founder of Good Time Tricycle Productions, which spearheads the Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival each year.

Hes seen the best and worst of festivalgoers, and hes learned what does and doesnt work for the average attendee.

His first piece of advice: Know your body.

If youre coming to this beer festival, youve experienced craft beer, said Henderson, 42, of Atlantic City.

That said, he encourages beer lovers to go make some new friends and revisit old ones (meaning the beer, of course).

Henderson recommends pretzel necklaces to soak up the suds. He insists people hit the bathroom early and often, as the lines get long.

At some point its gotta come out, so make some room.

And above all else, stay hydrated. Water is the key to a fun four hours at each session. Henderson says the festival doesnt mind attendees bringing water. In fact, it's encouraged.

Henderson is happy with the success of the event and what it can do for the city during the weekend. Ballys Atlantic City and Ducktown Tavern each will host parties after the Saturday night session, and The Iron Room will offer a Sunday brunch.

It all means almost 30,000 people will be walking around Atlantic City throughout the weekend, which Henderson knows is good.

Theyre spending the weekend here, eating at our restaurants, checking out the other bars, all on top of just coming to the city to drink, Henderson said.

Its not a sprint, its a trot:

In 2016, the Hops Trot 5K portion of the festival started on the Boardwalk outside Steel Pier.

This year, the festival has decided to start and end the race at the Atlantic City Convention Center so people can park at the festival and leave belongings on site during the run.

About 700 participants are expected to run, according to Henderson.

The 5K (3.1 miles) heads down from the convention center toward the Boardwalk, with six stops to take swigs of a couple ounces of beer. Some of the stops include Ruths Chris Steak House, Ducktown Tavern and Harrys Oyster Bar.

Henderson recommends the same advice for the 5K as he does for the rest of the festival: Just have fun.

Personal records are nice, but runners will be dressed as superheroes and taking shots of beer throughout the run. Its a laid-back 5K (if such a thing exists).

Have personality and have a blast, he said.
ATLANTIC CITY  As a proud member of the Atlantic County 4-H Robotics Club, 12-year-old Ashley Ponzetti knows how to make one of the clubs robots move around a room, pick up a yoga ball, spit out a smaller plastic ball and do other complicated tasks.

She also knows how to draw a crowd of curious kids, and the easiest way is to make that robot do some of those tricks.

That kid-magnet worked Saturday at the Atlantic City Free Public Library, which was celebrating an event called New Jersey Makers Day.

The idea behind Makers Day, which was founded in 2015, is to get kids involved in maker culture, including entrepreneurship, innovation and hands-on learning experiences, its website says.

Atlantic Citys library was far from the only place kids could be part of the event.

About 15 local libraries in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties held their own versions of Makers Day, which has spread out now to two days, Friday and Saturday.

Kids came from all over Atlantic County, at least in part because of the 4-H clubs involvement.

Stephen Foster, one of the leaders of the Robotic Club, said the leaders picked there to show off their robots because of a long relationship with the library.

But the robots werent the only attention-grabbers in the room.

Reggie Hathaway, an Atlantic City High School student, was using the librarys 3-D printer to crank out everything from a plastic outline of New Jersey to shark-shaped chip clips to little signs for the librarys Teen Zone.

Thats the type of stuff Im into, the high-tech stuff, said Hathaway, who explained those Teen Zone signs were some of the most difficult things to design and make.

The robot crew also used a 3-D printer extensively in its project: Anything thats not metal or wood was made on a 3-D printer, said Foster, one of two leaders of a club whose nickname is Mechanized Bacon, because that name brings together 4-Hs agricultural roots with these robotic offshoots, the adviser said.

And when a robot-rookie adult stepped back quickly as the kid-made, battery-powered machine suddenly whipped his way, robot-master Ashley tried to calm him down.

Youre good, she promised, with complete confidence. Im not going to hit you.

Ramsha Malik, a veteran student worker at the Atlantic City library, figured about 100 kids came through Saturday.

A lot more people have gotten interested over the three years since it started, she said.
Its likely few people have written more about summer flounder than Mark Terceiro.

Terceiro has published a 44-page journal article about the science, politics and litigation surrounding the species from 1975 to 2000. A 32-page follow-up covered the period from 2001 to 2010, and another article regarding developments in recent years is in the works.

But its Terceiros summer flounder stock assessment update, released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in December, that has him in the crosshairs of New Jersey politicians and recreational fishing leaders.

Thats because his report led federal regulatory agencies to reduce this years summer flounder catch by 30 percent.

Some say the move will cripple recreational flounder fishing, a multimillion-dollar industry in New Jersey that supports bait-and-tackle shops, boat dealerships and other businesses that cater to fishermen.

It is based on a questionable, out-of-date stock assessment and a flawed modeling, Bob Martin, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, wrote in a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross last month.

But federal fisheries experts, including Terceiro, say they have confidence in the measurements, which show the flounder population has been experiencing overfishing since 2008.

A stock assessment is one of our best ways to estimate the population and status of a resource we manage, said Kirby Rootes-Murdy, senior fishery management plan coordinator for summer flounder at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, one of the agencies that regulate the species.

Terceiro, a research fishery biologist at NOAAs Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said a lot of information goes into a stock assessment.

Summer flounder has one of the more complex fisheries, he said.

The catch is, from both commercial and recreational, very important  that it be accurate, Terceiro added. We try  the government, the states  (to) go to great lengths to make sure the catch reports are as accurate as they can get.

Those lengths include a mandatory reporting system for commercial fluke landings, observers who go out on about 5 percent of all commercial flounder trips, field surveys of recreational anglers, a self-reporting system for recreational fishermen, academic and state surveys, and random trawl samples from up and down the coast, Terceiro said.

Two of the most important statistics he and other experts look at are spawning-stock biomass and fishing mortality rate, and neither is trending upward for the summer flounder stock.

Spawning-stock biomass, or the total weight of fish mature enough to reproduce, is at 58 percent of the goal set by regulators and scientists, according to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

If the spawning-stock biomass drops 16 percent, the flounder population will be considered overfished. This is different from experiencing overfishing and would, by law, set in motion a rebuilding plan for the species likely to be even more restrictive, Rootes-Murdy said.

The other vital statistic is the fishing mortality rate, which measures the rate at which a species dies from fishing. For summer flounder, the rate has been increasing since 2007 and exceeded the overfishing threshold by 26 percent in 2015, according to the ASMFC.

For most of the history of the (summer flounder) fishery, it seems like weve had a higher fishing mortality rate than where we want to be, Rootes-Murdy said.

The council is trying to limit the catch enough to bring the fishing mortality rate below the overfishing rate, Terceiro said.

Those actions to limit the catch have angered many fishermen in New Jersey and prompted state leaders to appeal to President Trumps administration.

Last month, the ASMFC voted to approve a measure that will very likely limit recreational flounder fishermen in New Jersey to three keepers at 19 inches in the Atlantic Ocean and three at 18 inches in the Delaware Bay for a 128-day season, according to example measures presented in the approved document.

Its a significant cut from the 2016 regulations, which allowed fishermen to keep five fish at 18 inches in the ocean and four at 17 inches in the bay.

The move will decimate the recreational fishing industry in New Jersey, opponents of the measure claim. Its a business that is worth $1.5 billion and directly supports 20,000 jobs, Martin said.

Just when our fishing industry was recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, unelected bureaucrats in Washington use questionable methodologies and outdated science to cut us off at the knees, U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd, said in a statement after the vote.

Martin, LoBiondo and state lawmakers have called on Ross to halt the restrictions and order a new benchmark stock assessment for summer flounder. The last such benchmark assessment was in 2013.

Part of the problem for federal experts, in addition to a higher fishing mortality rate and declining biomass, is below-average recruitment, or the number of young flounder in the population. Lower recruitment doesnt bode well for the future of the population.

Environmental factors could be to blame for fewer young flounder, but scientists just dont know the reason for lower recruitment, Terceiro said.

As for the benchmark stock assessment, Terceiro doesnt think it will happen this year. A benchmark stock assessment constitutes a full review of the process for measuring a fishery and is conducted every three to five years, while a stock assessment update plugs new data into the previous benchmark assessments model.

They dont want to do a benchmark this year. They want to wait until next year when the new catch comes in, he said. So I think the plan is to do it in 2018, but that has not been officially announced yet.

When it is announced, Terceiro and others will go back to the drawing board, analyzing current models and examining new ones.

And perhaps this saga will make it into his next paper on the science and politics of flounder.
The Legislature is expediting a bill that would give state police and fire unions the power to reward themselves and their members at the expense of municipalities and taxpayers. Such fast-tracking of a law without public comment is an almost infallible sign state Senate and Assembly members know theyre serving their own interests and not those of their constituents.

The bill would remove management of the state Police and Firemens Retirement System from the Treasury Departments Division of Investment and the State Investment Council, and give it to a new union-controlled board. That board would not only decide where to invest the systems $26 billion in assets, it would be able to increase benefits to retirees. But if the return on investments was poor or the board handed out too much in benefits, the unions controlling it wouldnt be responsible -- the shortfalls would be made up by taxpayers and towns.

As the N.J. State League of Municipalities puts it, The bill will allow public safety union members and retirees to enhance their own benefits, while forcing their public employers and New Jersey taxpayers to assume the risk.

Why would the elected representatives of citizens and taxpayers hand such a blank check to these unions? Simple. This is an election year for state government, and the police and fire unions are the second most powerful political force in the state (after another public union, for teachers, that also partners with politicians in self-serving agreements). The public unions will shower candidates who do what they want with campaign funding and manpower, and politicians would rather sell out citizens and taxpayers than disobey.

The new board would be made up of seven labor representatives and five management representatives. That is exactly backward. The contributions to the pension fund overwhelmingly (70 percent) come from the managers, the municipalities and their taxpayers. The union members contribute just 30 percent of the funding, the league says.

The League of Municipalities proposes the board be changed to an equal number of labor and management representatives, with one independent member. We dont think that goes nearly far enough, leaving the system too easily influenced by obviously susceptible politicians.

We like the leagues other alternative -- changing the pension system from one based on defined benefits to one based on defined contributions. That way, the public unions would be free to manage or mismanage their investments and benefits as they saw fit. The contributions by taxpayers and towns would remain the same.

Frankly, its hard to imagine legislators who already have completely capitulated to their public union masters would make such a change. Therefore we urge Gov. Chris Christie to make a switch to defined contributions part of a conditional veto of the bill, or just veto the legislation outright.

Sure, the co-opted legislators might override the veto anyway, but at least it would give taxpayers and voters more time to see who doesnt care about them.
Dan Boardman of Rhinelander is this weeks You Toon winner.

Congrats, Dan! His caption about busted NCAA tournament brackets beat out more than 80 entries.

Boardman wins publication of his line with todays finished cartoon. He also will receive a signed print by artist Phil Hands. Runners-up and their suggested captions include:

Don Pierce of Mauston: He must be a former member of the NCAA tournament selection committee.

Dave Bouche of Dane: Sorry, but its the Wisconsin way.

David Bier of Janesville: The same thing happened to his Republican primary bracket.

Randy Primozic of Madison: Looks like that Villanova pick went super nova on you.

Thanks to all participants.
MONONA  The American Dream is something we all want to achieve. Work really hard, get a good job, raise a family and retire with dignity.

Unfortunately, many of us will achieve only a few of these things in our lifetimes. America is facing a major retirement crisis and it will ultimately affect Wisconsin in many ways  economic instability in our local communities, workers staying in the workforce longer and tying up the job market, more senior citizens living in poverty, more state spending on food, housing, energy and health care assistance.

Though our nation is politically divided, both Republicans and Democrats agree we have a problem. According to a new survey by the National Institute on Retirement Security, 88 percent of all Americans believe the United States has a retirement crisis.

This is not a partisan issue either  92 percent of Democrats and 88 percent of Republicans believe the same thing. Additionally, 76 percent of all Americans are concerned about their ability to achieve a secure retirement.

Saving for retirement can be a tough venture. Whether its being sidelined by other obligations such as student loans, mortgage payments or other necessary family needs, families arent saving enough to retire with dignity.

Lawmakers in many states, including Wisconsin, have proposed or are studying legislation that creates workplace savings programs. These programs are simple: If employers do not already sponsor a workplace retirement plan, then they must either establish a plan or automatically enroll their employees in a state-sponsored plan.

The AARP has reported that workers are 15 times more likely to save for retirement if they have retirement savings opportunities through their employer, yet 42 percent of Wisconsins workers still do not have access to retirement savings plans at work. Wisconsin legislators are considering ways to address this issue at the state level.

States are realizing that people who retire in poverty are much more likely to require state-sponsored food, energy, health care and housing assistance. State-sponsored retirement savings plans represent a significant potential future savings for forward-looking states.

So why is it that Congress is trying to block Americans from gaining access to these retirement savings plans?

The U.S. House of Representatives has already used the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to review, modify and even eliminate regulations, to undo Obama-era regulations that made it easier for states to offer these plans to employers and employees.

The U.S. Senate is our last chance to keep retirement security on the table for hard-working Americans.

Under the Trump Administration, there has been a frenzy to repeal many regulations across the spectrum. From environmental to financial rules, many regulations are being repealed by the administration and Congress. In their crosshairs now are the Obama-era rules governing these state-sponsored plans.

By eliminating these rules, these state-sponsored retirement savings plans and the retirement security of millions of working families are being threatened. In mid-February, the House voted along party lines to eliminate these rules, and now its in the Senate.

Senators are being inundated by special interests telling them this is the wrong choice for Americans and a more private-sector solution should be offered. This is wrong. Without action, our generation and generations to come will undoubtedly face economic instability when we retire.

With a retirement crisis on our hands in Wisconsin and across the country, the U.S. Senate is poised to take up Joint Resolutions 66 and 67. Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, have the opportunity to address this crisis and make it easier for Wisconsinites to save for retirement by voting no on both resolutions. No votes will allow states, the laboratories of democracy, to continue finding innovative solutions to the retirement crisis.

As the NIRS survey shows, Americans  Democrats and Republicans alike  need and want retirement security, and these types of state-sponsored plans will help achieve that. For the sake of retirement security, let our senators know we want access to these types of retirement savings plans and to vote no on Joint Resolutions 66 and 67.
BEIJING, March 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation ("Sinopec Corp." or the "Company") (HKEX: 386; SSE: 600028; NYSE: SNP) today announced its annual results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2016.

Financial Highlights

In accordance with IFRS, the Company's total turnover and other operating revenue was RMB 1.93 trillion . Its operating profit was RMB 77.2 billion , representing an increase of 35.9% from the previous year. Profit attributable to shareholders of the Company was RMB 46.7 billion , up by 43.6% year-on-year. Basic earnings per share were RMB 0.385 .

. Its operating profit was , representing an increase of 35.9% from the previous year. Profit attributable to shareholders of the Company was , up by 43.6% year-on-year. Basic earnings per share were . In accordance with ASBE, the Company's operating profit was RMB 78.9 billion , representing a 51.0% increase as compared with 2015. Profit attributable to shareholders of the Company was RMB 46.4 billion , up 43.8% year-on-year. Basic earnings per share were RMB 0.383 .

, representing a 51.0% increase as compared with 2015. Profit attributable to shareholders of the Company was , up 43.8% year-on-year. Basic earnings per share were . In the face of the challenges from low oil prices, the Company's fully utilized its integrated business model and achieved strong profit growth of downstream operations. Robust growth in refining profit and steady growth in the profit of marketing and chemicals segments enabled the Company to withstand the impacts of low oil prices. Operating profit of the refining segment surged by 168.5% year-on-year to the record high of RMB 56.3 billion . This segment became a key driver of the Company's profit growth.

. This segment became a key driver of the Company's profit growth. In accordance with IFRS, the Company's liability-to-asset ratio as at the end of 2016 was 44.5%, which represented a decrease of 0.9 percentage points compared with the end of the previous year and was the lowest annual figure since its listing. Meanwhile, the Company maintained a sound financial position. It possessed abundant cash flow, with its cash and cash equivalents amounted to RMB124.5 billion as at 31 December 2016 .

as at . The Board of Directors proposed a final dividend of RMB 0.17 per share. Together with the interim dividend of RMB 0.079 per share, the total annual cash dividend for 2016 is RMB 0.249 per share. Its dividend payout ratio trended upwards and increased to 64.6% in 2016. Total cash dividend to be paid for the full year was RMB 30.1 billion , the highest since its listing.

per share. Together with the interim dividend of per share, the total annual cash dividend for 2016 is per share. Its dividend payout ratio trended upwards and increased to 64.6% in 2016. Total cash dividend to be paid for the full year was , the highest since its listing. Based on preliminary calculations by the financial department of the Company and in accordance with the ASBE, it is estimated that the net profit attributable to shareholders of the Company for the first quarter of 2017 will increase by approximately 150% year-on-year. The main reasons for the increase in estimated results include: the price of international crude oil increased significantly, which helped the upstream segment to reduce its losses as compared with the corresponding period last year; market demand for middle and downstream products remained stable, and profitability increased as compared with the corresponding period of last year.

Business Highlights

In 2016, global economic recovery remained weak. Meanwhile, China's economy maintained stable growth, with its gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.7%. As international oil prices hovered at low levels and trended upwards, domestic oil products supply remained abundant, leading to fierce competition in the market. Demand for chemicals grew steadily while China's environmental regulations became more stringent. The Company proactively addressed the changing market by focusing on improving its product quality, operating efficiency and business upgrade. It accelerated the business restructuring and pressed ahead with measures to address market development, optimisation, cost reduction and risk control, coordinating all aspects of its work. As a result, the Company delivered o better-than-expected operating results.

Exploration and Production segment: In the face of low oil prices and harsh conditions in the upstream sector, the Company stepped up efforts to rein in costs and address its weaknesses. At the same time, it gave priority to high-efficiency exploration activities and sustained exploration efforts. As to resources development, it adopted a profit-oriented approach and adjusted the development structure. While enhancing cost discipline, it cut low-efficiency oil production and high-cost EOR operations. The Company carried out the development of the Phase Two of Fuling Shale Gas project to increase its natural gas production.

Refining segment: The Company further upgraded oil products quality as scheduled. Through superior feedstock optimization by its international trading business, it further cut crude procurement costs and achieved moderate increase in product exports. It brought centralized marketing advantages into full play to further improve the margins for LPG, asphalt and other products.

Marketing and Distribution segment: The Company leveraged its advantages of integrated business model and distribution network to achieve solid operating results. It made timely adjustments to its marketing strategies, improved its marketing network and promoted effective supply. Its non-fuel business maintained rapid growth with scale increased and margins strengthened.

Chemicals segment: The Company strengthened the operations of its manufacturing facilities, fine-tuned chemical feedstock mix to lower costs, maximised production of high value-added products customized to meet market demands, and enhanced its research and development, production, marketing and sales of high value-added new products. As a result, satisfactory results were made.

Mr. Wang Yupu, Chairman of Sinopec Corp. said, "Over the past year, we focused on the transformation of our growth mode and structural adjustments, which enabled us to improve the quality and efficiency of our assets as well as to upgrade our operations. Under the management's leadership, the entire staff worked together to advance these goals. We achieved significant improvement in our operating results through relentless joint efforts to explore new markets, optimise our operations, reduce costs and improve risk management. All these achievements marked a good start to our 13th Five-Year Plan. In our efforts to implement supply-side structural reform, the Company benefited from an integrated value chain, which allowed our businesses to complement each other. As we increased the effective supply of petroleum and petrochemical products and related services to the community, we reaped economic benefits and improved our asset utilisation. Looking ahead into 2017, the Company will adhere to the development strategies of value-oriented growth, innovation-driven development, integrated resource allocation, openness to cooperation, and green low-carbon development. In accordance with our objective of progressing at a steady pace, we will drive upgrades in our businesses and drive new breakthroughs."

Business Review

Exploration and Production

In 2016, confronting low oil prices environment and harsh conditions in the upstream sector, the Company strengthened measures to rein in costs and address its weaknesses. At the same time, it gave priority to high-efficiency exploration activities, sustained exploration efforts and made a number of important new discoveries in the Xinjiang Tahe Basin, the Beibu Gulf in Guangxi and the Yin-E Basin in Neimongol respectively, along with new shale gas findings in the Yongchuan block in Sichuan. As to resources development, the Company adopted a profit-oriented approach, adjusted the development structure, enhanced cost discipline, and cut low-efficiency oil production and high-cost EOR operations. It implemented Phase Two of Fuling Shale Gas development project to increase natural gas production. It also completed the mixed ownership reform of Sichuan-to-East China Pipeline Co., leading to the improvement in its asset utilisation. The Company's oil and gas production declined by 8.6% year-on-year to 431.29 million barrels of oil equivalent. Its domestic crude production dropped by 13.2% from the previous year, while natural gas production went up by 4.3% from a year ago.

In 2016, the operating revenue of this segment was RMB 115.9 billion, representing a decrease of 16.4% over 2015. The decrease was mainly attributable to the decline of realised price of crude oil and natural gas as well as the decrease in sales volume of crude oil. Despite a loss of approximately RMB 36.6 billion was made, this segment still generated positive free cash flow.

In 2016, the Company proactively controlled its expenses. The oil and gas lifting cost was USD 16.65 per tonne, representing a decrease of 5.5% from the previous year amid a 13.2% decrease in crude oil price.

Exploration and Production: Summary of Operations

Twelve-month periods ended 31

December Changes 2016 2015 % Oil and gas production (mmboe) 431.29 471.91 (8.6) Crude oil production (mmbbls) 303.51 349.47 (13.2) China 253.15 296.34 (14.6) Overseas 50.36 53.13 (5.2) Natural gas production (bcf) 766.12 734.79 4.3

Refining

In 2016, the Company completed the upgrading of vehicle gasoline and diesel to National V standards before the schedule and actively promoted the upgrading of oil products to Beijing VI standards. It advanced the adjustment of its product structure and increased output of gasoline (especially premium gasoline) and kerosene, with the diesel-to-gasoline ratio further declining to 1.19. Moreover, the Company actively responded to the challenges of abundant market supply, and succeeded in maintaining the utilisation rate at a high level. Meanwhile, through superior feedstock optimization by its international trading business, the Company further cut crude procurement costs and achieved moderate increase in product exports. It brought its centralized marketing advantages into full play to further improve the margins for LPG, asphalt and other products. In 2016, the Company processed 236 million tonnes of crude and produced 149 million tonnes of refined oil products, up by 0.53% from the previous year. Gasoline production and kerosene production increased by 4.4% and 4.6% respectively.

In 2016, the operating revenues of this segment were RMB 855.8 billion, representing a decrease of 7.6% from 2015. This was mainly attributable to the decrease in refined oil products prices. In 2016, this segment seized the favorable opportunities arising from the bottoming out of crude oil prices to reinforce management in crude oil procurement, adjusted product mix based on market needs, increased export volume, and made great efforts to improve the profitability of self-distributed products. As a result, the operating performance of this segment significantly improved. In 2016, the operating profit of this segment totaled RMB 56.3 billion, representing an increase of RMB 35.3 billion as compared with 2015.

In 2016, refining gross margin was RMB 471.9 per tonne, representing an increase of RMB 153.8 per tonne as compared with 2015. The unit refining cash operating cost was RMB 165.7 per tonne, representing a decrease of RMB 1.9 per tonne when compared with 2015. The decrease was mainly because the Company enforced strict cost control, improved operating efficiency, as well as decreased operational costs in fuel, power and other auxiliaries facilities.

Refining: Summary of Operations

For the twelve months

ended 31 December Changes 2016 2015 (%) Refinery throughput (million tonnes) 235.53 236.49 (0.4) Gasoline, diesel and kerosene production (million tonnes) 149.17 148.38 0.5 Gasoline (million tonnes) 56.36 53.98 4.4 Diesel (million tonnes) 67.34 70.05 (3.9) Kerosene (million tonnes) 25.47 24.35 4.6 Light chemical feedstock production (million tonnes) 38.54 38.81 (0.7) Light yield (%) 76.33 76.50 (0.17) percentage

points Refining yield (%) 94.70 94.75 (0.05) percentage

points Note: Includes 100% of production of joint ventures.

Marketing and Distribution

In 2016, the Company actively responded to changes in the market environment. It made the advantages of its integrated business model and distribution network into full play and achieved solid operating results. It optimised internal and external resources and achieved growth both in total sales volume and retail scale. It made timely adjustments to its marketing strategies, promoted effective supply and further expanded the retail volume of premium gasoline. It also improved its marketing network by accelerating the planning and construction of service stations and refined oil product pipelines. The Company increased the focus on vehicle-used natural gas business and expedited the construction and operation of CNG/LNG stations, achieving 25% growth in sales volume of vehicle-used natural gas. In 2016, the total sales volume of oil products was 195 million tonnes, of which domestic sales accounted for 173 million tonnes. Its non-fuel business maintained rapid growth with business scale increased and margins strengthened. The non-fuel business transaction volume reached RMB 35.1 billion, up by 41.4% from the previous year.

In 2016, the operating profit of this segment was RMB 32.2 billion, representing an increase of 11.4% when compared with 2015. The increase was mainly because the segment made full use of the advantages of end user marketing network, actively expanded the gasoline market, increased the sales volume of high octane number gasoline, made efforts to improve total sales volume, coordinate internal and external resources, increased the spread between sales and procurement prices as compared with 2015, and achieved better performance.

Marketing and Distribution: Summary of Operations

For twelve months

ended 31 December Changes 2016 2015 % Total sales volume of refined oil products (million tonnes) 194.84 189.33 2.9 Total domestic sales volume of refined oil products (million tonnes) 172.70 171.37 0.8 Retail (million tonnes) 120.14 119.03 0.9 Direct sales and Wholesale

(million tonnes) 52.56 52.34 0.4 Annualised average throughput per station (tonne/station) 3,926 3,896 0.8









As of 31

December

2016 As of 31

December

2015 Changes

from the end

of previous

year% Total number of Sinopec-branded service stations 30,603 30,560 0.1 Company-operated 30,597 30,547 0.2

Chemicals

In 2016, the Company accelerated the development of basic and high-end chemicals to promote effective supply, and strengthened the operations of its manufacturing facilities by adjusting production slate and utilisation rates to achieve solid profit margins. It fine-tuned its chemical feedstock mix to lower costs, maximised production of high value-added products customized to meet market demands, and intensified its efforts to enhance research and development, production, marketing and sales of high value added new products, achieving good results. Ethylene output was 11.059 million tonnes, with the differential ratio of synthetic fiber reaching 86.5% and the specialty and new products as a percentage of synthetic resins reaching 61.4%. By implementing low-inventory and differentiated marketing strategies, its full-year chemical sales volume increased by 11.3% from the previous year to 69.96 million tonnes, with all produced chemicals sold.

In 2016, the operating revenue of the chemicals segment was RMB 335.1 billion, representing an increase of 1.9% as compared with that of 2015. This was mainly due to the increase in sales volume of chemical products as compared with 2015. In 2016, the operating profit of this segment was RMB 20.6 billion, representing an increase of RMB 1.1 billion as compared with 2015.

In 2016, this segment seized the favorable opportunities of the low price of feedstocks, further adjusted feedstock and product mix, integrated production with sales, strictly controlled costs and expenses. As a result, the chemical all-in costs further declined and the segment maintained robust profit margins.

Major Chemical Products: Summary of Operations Unit of production: 1,000 tonne

For twelve months

ended 31 December Changes 2016 2015 (%) Ethylene 11,059 11,118 (0.5) Synthetic resin 15,201 15,065 0.9 Synthetic fiber monomer and polymer 857 843 1.7 Synthetic fiber 9,275 8,994 3.1 Synthetic rubber 1,242 1,282 (3.1) Note: Includes 100% of production of joint ventures.

R&D

In 2016, the Company pushed ahead with innovation-driven strategy, continuing to advance R&D activities with notable results. In upstream business, its development in shale gas exploration technologies enabled it to make breakthroughs in shale gas exploration in Yongchuan, Chongqing. The breakthroughs in Ordovician oil and gas reservoir formation theory and exploration technologies led us to the discovery of the Shunbei field. In refining segment, the Company applied technologies such as those for production of high-octane gasoline from FCC diesel. In chemicals segment, the Company commercialised the production of ethylene glycol from syngas, adopted butadiene tail-gas selective hydrogenation technologies, employed technologies to produce light olefins from coal as well as olefin catalytic cracking technologies, and developed new products including environmentally friendly polypropylene resin with high stiffness and tenacity, and a specialty resin used in high performance medical spun-bond nonwoven fabrics. In 2016, the Company filed 5,612 patent applications at home and abroad, of which 3,942 were granted. The Company also won four second prizes in the National Technology and Innovation Awards and one golden award and nine excellent patent awards in China's Patent Award competition.

Capital Expenditures

In 2016, the Company focused on investment quality and efficiency, and continuously optimised its investment portfolio. Total capital expenditures for the year were RMB 76.456 billion. Capital expenditures for the exploration and production segment were RMB 32.187 billion, mainly for Fuling shale gas and Yuanba gas field development projects and the LNG terminal projects in Guangxi and Tianjin, as well as overseas projects. Capital expenditures for the refining segment were RMB 14.347 billion, mainly for gasoline and diesel quality upgrading projects, adjustments in the product mix and refinery revamping projects. Capital expenditures for the marketing and distribution segment were RMB 18.493 billion, mainly for constructing and renovating service stations and building refined oil product pipelines, depots and storage facilities, as well as for rectification of safety hazards. Capital expenditures for the chemicals segment were RMB 8.849 billion, mainly for adjustment of the feedstock and product structure, the Ningdong coal chemical project and the Zhongtianhechuang coal-to-chemical project. Capital expenditures for the corporate and others segment were RMB 2.58 billion, mainly for R&D facilities and information technology application projects.

Health, Safety and the Environment

The Company fully implemented its work safe production and accountability scheme, strengthened the identification and control of risks, completed the reduction of potential hazards from oil and gas pipelines, further pushed forward management on potential hazards from oil storage tanks, reinforced onsite supervision and management, and achieved overall safe production and operations. It standardised measures to enhance worker protection and improved occupational health safeguards for our employees. The Company advanced its green low-carbon strategy, established a more stringent environmental protection management system, completed the "Clear Water, Blue Sky" environmental protection project, and met emission reduction targets for major pollutants. Compared with the previous year, energy intensity was down by 1.59%, industrial water consumption was down by 1.1%, COD in discharged water was down by 3.86%, sulfur dioxide emissions were down by 4.84%, and all hazardous chemicals, discharged water, gas and solid wastes were properly treated.

B usiness Prospects

Looking ahead into 2017, the Company expects increasing uncertainties in the global economy. Meanwhile, China's economy is expected to maintain steady growth. International oil prices are expected to fluctuate at low levels, with domestic demand for refined oil products continuing to grow as the consumption structure undergoes further adjustments. Domestic demand for petrochemical products will increase steadily as the consumption structure gradually shifts towards the high end. In 2017, the Company will focus mainly on structural reforms on the supply side. It will advance quality and efficiency of its assets, lower costs, expand markets, make structural adjustments, deepen reforms, and consolidate the basis for further growth. The Company will undertake the following work during the year:

Exploration and Production: The Company will sustain its exploration activities, optimising its plans to achieve high efficiency exploration. It will step up efforts to look for low-cost discoveries and expand large-scale reserves to increase its resources. In oil development, the Company will fine-tune plans based on oil price trends and promote oilfield development by increasing the volume and profitability of both incremental and existing reserves. In gas development, it will advance key projects for capacity construction, refine the management of developed gas fields and optimise gas production and marketing plans. In 2017, the Company plans to produce 294 million barrels of crude oil, of which overseas production will account for 46 million barrels. It plans to produce 879.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

Refining: The Company will further promote the market-oriented, profitability driven strategy to optimise crude oil outsourcing and resources allocation and to lower purchasing costs. It will comprehensively adjust its production plans to ensure safe and reliable operations. Besides, it will enhance product structure by increasing the production of jet fuel and gasoline (especially premium gasoline) and further lowering the diesel-to-gasoline ratio. It will accelerate the quality upgrades and supply of Beijing VI vehicle-used gasoline and diesel and National V standards regular diesel. In 2017, the Company plans to process 240 million tonnes of crude and produce 150 million tonnes of oil products.

Marketing and Distribution: The Company will intensify marketing strategy of balancing profits and volume, with the priority on profits. It will undertake measures to fully explore markets, expand its retail volume and increase its market share. It will further improve the layout of end market network to reinforce its strengths in the development of network. It will accelerate construction of gas stations to strengthen its presence in the CNG/LNG market. Moreover, it will step up the promotion of key merchandise and proprietary brands and boost the growth of its non-fuel business. The Company will explore to build a new type of customer service center, employ techniques of Big Data analysis to conduct precision marketing and further its transformation into a modern integrated services provider. In 2017, the Company plans to sell 175 million tonnes of oil products in domestic market.

Chemicals: The Company will continue to adjust our feedstock mix to lower costs, fine tune its product slate to deliver more popular, profitable and high-value-added products, optimise its facility utilization rate, shut down facilities that contribute little to margins. It will deepen the adjustment on sector structure, through advancing the development of fine chemicals and biochemicals, and improving operations of our coal-chemical projects. Meanwhile, it will enhance the strategies of product differentiation and precision marketing, and provide customers with integrated solutions and value-added services. In 2017, the Company plans to produce 11.66 million tonnes of ethylene.

Research and Development: The Company will continue to implement the development strategy driven by innovation, improving mechanisms for technological innovation and fast-tracking key technical breakthroughs. In exploration and production, it will focus on increasing reserves and production volume and pushing ahead with breakthroughs in enhanced oil recovery technologies and development of difficult-to-tap reserves. In refining segment, R&D initiatives will address processing of heavy crude oil, quality upgrades of its oil products and adjustments in its product slate. In chemicals segment, the Company will focus on adjustments in product mix along with further progress in R&D for basic chemicals, synthetic materials, coal-chemicals, fine chemicals and bio-chemicals. The Company also expects to make progress in safety, environmental and energy-conserving technologies as well as prospective basic research to enhance its capabilities for innovation and to achieve new R&D breakthroughs.

Capital Expenditures: In 2017, the Company will devote attention to the quality and efficiency of investments, and optimize its investment projects. Capital expenditures for the year are budgeted at RMB 110.2 billion. The exploration and production segment will account for expenditures of RMB 50.5 billion, mainly for Phase Two of Fuling shale gas development project, Tianjin LNG and gas storage project, and overseas oil and gas projects development. The refining segment will account for RMB 22.8 billion, mainly for the building of refining bases, structural adjustments in the refining business, and revamping of refineries as well as the upgrading of oil products to National VI standards. The marketing and distribution segment will account for RMB 18 billion, mainly for revamping service stations, improving pipeline network, building oil tank farms and removing safety hazards. The chemicals segment will account for RMB 15.1 billion, mainly for the integrated refining and chemical project in Zhanjiang of Guangdong Province, the integrated refining and chemical project in Gulei of Fujian Province and the high-efficiency and environmentally friendly aromatics project in Hainan refinery. The corporate and others segment will account for RMB 3.8 billion, mainly for R&D and information technology projects.

Appendix: K ey financial data and indicators

FINANCIAL DATA AND INDICATORS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH ASBE

Principal accounting data Items For twelve months

ended 31 December Changes over the same

period of the

preceding year

(%) 2016

(RMB million) 2015

(RMB million) Operating income 1,930,911 2,020,375 (4.4) Net profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company 46,416 32,281 43.8 Net profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company after deducting extraordinary gain/loss items 29,713 28,901 2.8 Net cash flows from operating activities 214,543 165,740 29.4

At 31 December 2016 (RMB million) At 31 December 2015 (RMB million) Change from the

end of last year

(%) Total equity attributable to equity shareholders of the Company 712,232 677,538 5.1 Total assets 1,498,609 1,447,268 3.5

Principal financial indicators Items For twelve months

ended 31 December Changes over the same

period of the

preceding year

(%) 2016 (RMB) 2015 (RMB) Basic earnings per share 0.383 0.267 43.4 Diluted earnings per share 0.383 0.267 43.4 Basic earnings per share after deducting extraordinary gain/loss items 0.245 0.239 2.5 Weighted average return on net assets (%) 6.68 5.07 1.61 percentage

points Weighted average return on net assets after deducting extraordinary gain/loss items (%) 4.33 4.52 (0.19) percentage

points Net cash flow from operating activities per share 1.772 1.371 29.2

FINANCIAL DATA AND INDICATORS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH IFRS

Principal accounting data Items For twelve months

ended 31 December Changes over the same

period of the

preceding year

(%) 2016 (RMB million) 2015 (RMB million) Operating Profit 77,193 56,822 35.9 Net profit attributable to owners of the Company 46,672 32,512 43.6 Net cash generated from operating activities 1.772 1.371 29.2

At 31 December 2016 (RMB million) At 31 December 2015 (RMB million) Change from the

end of last year

(%) Equity attributable to owners of the Company 710,994 676,197 5.1 Total assets 1,498,609 1,447,268 3.5

Principal financial indicators Items For twelve months

ended 31 December Changes over the same

period of the

preceding year

(%) 2016 (RMB) 2015 (RMB) Basic earnings per share 0.385 0.268 43.7 Diluted earnings per share 0.385 0.268 43.7 Return on capital employed (%) 7.30 5.23 2.07 percentage

points

The following table sets forth the operating revenues, operating expenses and operating profit / (loss) by each segment before elimination of the inter-segment transactions for the periods indicated, and the percentage changes between 2016 and 2015.



For twelve months

ended 31 December Changes 2016 2015 (RMB million) (%) Exploration and Production Segment





Operating revenues 115,939 138,653 (16.4) Operating expenses 152,580 156,071 (2.2) Operating (loss)/profit (36,641) (17,418) - Refining Segment





Operating revenues 855,786 926,616 (7.6) Operating expenses 799,521 905,657 (11.7) Operating (loss)/profit 56,265 20,959 168.5 Marketing and Distribution Segment





Operating revenues 1,052,857 1,106,666 (4.9) Operating expenses 1,020,704 1,077,811 (5.3) Operating (loss)/profit 32,153 28,855 11.4 Chemicals Segment





Operating revenues 335,114 328,871 1.9 Operating expenses 314,491 309,395 1.6 Operating (loss)/profit 20,623 19,476 5.9 Corporate and others





Operating revenues 739,947 783,874 (5.6) Operating expenses 736,735 783,490 (6.0) Operating (loss)/profit 3,212 384 736.5 Elimination of inter-segment profit/(loss) 1,581 4,566 -

About Sinopec Corp.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest integrated energy and chemical companies in China. Its principal operations include the exploration and production, pipeline transportation and sale of petroleum and natural gas; the sale, storage and transportation of petroleum products, petrochemical products, coal chemical products, synthetic fibre, fertiliser and other chemical products; the import and export, including an import and export agency business, of petroleum, natural gas, petroleum products, petrochemical and chemical products, and other commodities and technologies; and research, development and application of technologies and information.

Sinopec sets 'fueling beautiful life' as its corporate mission, puts 'people, responsibility, integrity, precision, innovation and win-win' as its corporate core values, pursues strategies of value-orientation, innovation-driven development, integrated resource allocation, open cooperation, and green and low-carbon growth, and strives to achieve its corporate vision of building a world leading energy and chemical company.

Disclaimer

This press release includes "forward-looking statements". All statements, other than statements of historical facts that address activities, events or developments that Sinopec Corp. expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including but not limited to projections, targets, reserve volume, other estimates and business plans) are forward-looking statements. Sinopec Corp.'s actual results or developments may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and uncertainties, including but not limited to the price fluctuation, possible changes in actual demand, foreign exchange rate, results of oil exploration, estimates of oil and gas reserves, market shares, competition, environmental risks, possible changes to laws, finance and regulations, conditions of the global economy and financial markets, political risks, possible delay of projects, government approval of projects, cost estimates and other factors beyond Sinopec Corp.'s control. In addition, Sinopec Corp. makes the forward-looking statements referred to herein as of today and undertakes no obligation to update these statements.

Investor Inquiries Media Inquiries Beijing

Tel(86 10) 5996 0028 Tel(86 10) 5996 0028 Fax(86 10) 5996 0386 Fax(8610) 5996 0386 Email[email protected] Email[email protected]



Hong Kong

Tel(852) 2824 2638 Tel(852) 2522 1838 Fax(852) 2824 3669 Fax(852) 2521 9955 Email[email protected] Email[email protected]

SOURCE China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation
BEIJING, March 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 2017 Tujia Open World Summit was held in Beijing on March 23. This is an annual strategy-releasing conference that was held after Tujia finished a spectrum of strategic adjustments in 2016, which attracted attention from around the world. At the Summit, Justin Luo, Co-founder and CEO of Tujia delivered a keynote speech, elaborating on the company's "3+1" development strategy for 2017. He further explained the specific strategic actions from four perspectives, namely, consumers, hosts, property buyers as well as regionalization. Those actions include the upgrade of products and services based on user experience, the establishment of one-click management of multiplatforms and Tujia housekeeping service for hosts, the implementation of two solutions for operating real estate properties, and the regional cooperation within various tourism areas, most of which were disclosed for the first time.

After the strategies were released, Yang Changle, Chief Operation Officer of Tujia Platform Operation Company and Ding Xiaoliang, President of Tujia Offline Operation Company, in their first public appearance, delivered the 2017 product launches one after another, and illustrated the specific planning of several businesses and key products both online and offline in more detail.

In addition, Tujia also launched strategic cooperation with Zhima Credit and Scenario Lab, and held a signing ceremony with Tuyuan Beautiful Book House. Also, Tujia had three special sessions on resource consolidation and discussion, mainly focusing on the online platform, offline platform and regional cooperation.

Focusing on user experience, and upgrading three key products

Products and services are the core competitiveness to gain users-this was the primary concept emphasized at the 2017 Summit.

The consumption upgrade has triggered the same effect on the travel experience. Tujia will target the user profile more precisely, with features like "multiple people, extended period of stay and personalized lodging experience", to meet the demands for more scenarios such as business travel, family gatherings, and transitional accommodation. Therefore, Tujia will upgrade three main products in order to provide more services for travelers.

The first upgrade is respecting user habits and sharing industrial resources. This means Tujia will select more resources and provide richer houses to consumers through the eight platforms, such as Tujia, mayi.com, Ctrip, Elong, Qunar.com and other platforms, in order to achieve more convenient booking and better experiences based on keeping original habits.

The second upgrade is focused on optimizing three-dimensional services, i.e before, during and after the accommodation for consumers. In this aspect, Tujia provides related product upgrading and iteration to the specific needs of safety, cleaning, searching and payment, which are main concerns of consumers for apartments and homestay.

The last one is upgrading user service guarantee, which is the largest concern for travelers. Tujia has implemented a "Concern-Free Living" strategy by upgrading the credits. Tujia has combined the house examination, Tujia premium hosts, two-way evaluation, Ctrip Credit, Zhima Credit and compensation in order to guarantee satisfaction in every booking as well as every check-in.

To Make Property Sharing Easy

As a homestay sharing platform, the strategic development of Tujia is also related to the upgrading and integration of the supply side. Our mission is to make property sharing easy for our hosts, no matter where they are, what their skill levels are at and how much time and resources they have.

During the summit, Justin Luo Focused in introducing four innovative measures to achieve this target, namely, gathering traffic, unifying standards, improving efficiency, and integrating fragmented resources, to help the hosts to operate their business.

Tujia has consolidated all 8 platforms including Tujia.com, Mayi.com, Ctrip.com, Elong.com, Qunar.com and 58.com, WeChat hotel booking and Zhima Credit in to a 'One Click' solution. Via the Tujia App, Tujia's host side management App, host can control price, availability as well as accept bookings and even communicate with customers through all the channels above. Tujia has also piloted a program in 10 cities to provide room cleaning, towel and bed sheet laundry as well as smart lock service to help more hosts share out their properties.

Furthermore, Tujia will also provide other services like operational training, security consulting, income management and other service support to help the hosts become more professional. With the help of income management, skilled hosts can improve their income by 10%.

In addition, Tujia also makes use of self-managed Sweetome flagship stores, Tujia housekeeping service centers and branded franchise stores, to integrate fragmented resources for more distributed individual houses, to make operation possible for all houses.

Better operative properties and cooperation with regional communities in place

On the supply side, Tujia has been working with property developers and cooperation with regional communities since the foundation, and this is also a key part of the "3 +1" development strategy.

In the aspect of cooperation with property developers, Tujia has continued the TuLifang Solution that combines Housekeeping and property management service, in order to make the properties into practical operation since the house buying stage, and to add value to property buyers, and to promote the sales and de-stocking of property inventory.

The Tuyuan Mode commenced by Tujia in 2016 would still be the upgrading real estate solution for this year's conference. After a year's exploration, Tuyuan has received fruitful results in several regions with the combination of different products, and the cooperation projects has spread into more than ten provinces in China. The strategy released on the 23rd would combine Tuyuan with Tuli, to fulfill the "Country yard dreams" of the Chinese middle class with the combining scheme of countryside styles and customs.

In the aspect of cooperation with regional communities, Tujia's goal is to 'Vitalize of Regional Development', seek deeper cooperation with regional governments and partners, With the guidance of 'whole country tourism', Tujia is putting in effort to push forward regional standard tourism operation, integrated homestay services and poverty relief in the country side.

Online connection: three strategic signing and three sessions on resources connection and introduction

In order to ensure the implementation of strategies, Tujia held three strategic signing ceremonies at the conference. The first one was to establish "Homestay New Species Lab" with Scenario Lab that is founded by Wu Sheng, in order to explore the innovative evolution of homestay products and build all new homestay IP together with new species examples and bases.

The second signing ceremony was focused on the upgrading of service chain. Tujia will continue deep cooperation with Zhima Credit of Ant Fortune, Tujia's existing partner, and work together to provide more standardized services for users.

The third singing ceremony witnessed the project operation of Tujia and Tuyuan on public benefit practice, i.e. the Beautiful Book House. This is a special countryside culture innovation homestay oriented for the public reading service of countryside children, which is also a carrier of the public benefit activity of "China 10000-Village Countryside Children Reading Project" that Tuyuan co-founded with China Charities Aid Foundation for Children.

In addition to the three signing ceremonies, Tujia also organized three resource connection and discussion special sessions for online platform, offline platform and regional cooperation, in order to promote the operation of 2017 strategies in a more specific cooperation demands and deep perspective. This is the everlasting style of Tujia, a pioneering company that fully understands the sharing economy in the Chinese market.

SOURCE Tujia
CHICAGO  Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are all over Americas public schools.

Not physically, of course, but they are ever-present in the minds of millions of students who are either in the country without legal status or have parents who are.

It comes out in countless ways  fidgetiness belying anxiety, depression manifesting itself as anger, and sometimes as just the plain old listlessness of a student who is sleepy in class because he or she was awake in the night wondering if parents, uncles or grandparents will be taken away soon.

Even teachers arent immune to such fears. Though educators are never informed by the school about the legal status of students or their families  not only are school personnel prohibited from inquiring about the immigration status of students, by federal law the schools themselves are not allowed to ask families or students about their citizenship  teachers worry. Sometimes students or their parents openly discuss their immigration problems with teachers they trust. Other times teachers just infer things from conversations with families at open houses or conferences. But in most cases we dont really know.

Early last week, a Hispanic student was called out of my class by the office for a parent pick-up. The girl looked at me and another teacher in the room quizzically and said, No, Im not supposed to go home early.

We called the office and confirmed that this student was being taken out of school in the middle of the day and, ultimately, she was asked to pack up and go.

At the time, I had the fleeting thought: Oh no, I hope this isnt some sort of terrible immigration emergency and this is the last time Im ever going to see this kid. The next day, she didnt come to school and I willed away negative thoughts about her family being on the run or otherwise in crisis. As of this writing, she still hasnt been back to school. Its probably nothing, but I wont know until I see her again.

Realistically, these teacherly moments of stress are nothing compared to what the students themselves are contending with. According to the National Immigration Law Center, about 2.5 million undocumented youth live in the U.S. and another 4.1 million children are U.S.-born but live in mixed-status households with at least one parent or family member who is unlawfully present. They all have the constitutional right to attend public schools.

And its safe to say that whether any of these students have ever laid eyes on an ICE agent or not, the fear of having their family come into contact with one is nothing short of a daily source of trauma.

Some school systems, like the Chicago Public Schools, have told principals not to let federal immigration authorities inside district buildings unless they have a criminal warrant. They said in a statement, To be very clear, CPS does not provide assistance to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the enforcement of federal civil immigration law.Schools in California, Utah, Colorado, Pennsylvania and other states are conspicuously putting similar measures into place to ensure that immigration officials do not come onto school grounds without warrants.

Others, in communities with large Latino populations, are going so far as providing teachers with handouts about what they can do in the event that an ICE officer comes to their classroom.

Ask to see the enforcement agents credentials and warrants, Ask the enforcement agent why this matter could not be dealt with at the students home, and Encourage enforcement agents to interview students outside of school hours and off school grounds, reads one fact sheet.

If this sounds like public schools are having to spend scarce resources and time preparing their administrators and teaching staff to stand up to armed federal agents  that about sums it up.

And these new duties are in addition to having to deal with instances of students making racial slurs and chanting taunts like Build that wall! in school halls.

For schools in communities with large populations of unlawfully present immigrants, the specter of having ICE agents show up during class is revolting. Though there is a policy stating ICE officers and immigration agents should refrain from enforcement actions at K-12 schools, there is no statute or law guaranteeing it.

There ought to be.
New Delhi, March 23 : Vardhaman Mahavir Medical College (VMMC) and Safdarjung Hospital will host a two-day advanced spine course, witnessing the participation of over 500 spine surgeons from various parts of India to discuss corrections in various types of spine deformities.

The event, starting from March 25, will be the first in the national capital.

"The two-day advanced spine course is being organised by the Spine Unit of Central Institute of Orthopaedics, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital. The course will deal with specialised and delicate field in spine surgery that is correction of spinal deformities," said Ramesh Kumar, Director-Professor of Central Institute of Orthopedics in VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, in a statement.

He added that the event will also showcase live surgeries on kyphosis, that is hunchback correction, by stalwarts in spine surgery.

According to Kumar, Kyphosis or hunchback can be due to congenital, developmental, post- tubercular, post-traumatic causes and due to ankylosing spondylitis.

"If allowed to progress, it (hunchback) can be disabling, as the patient can't walk and see straight. It can also decrease patient lung functional capacity and slowly damage the spinal cord. This will be followed by Cadaveric Workshop in Department of Anatomy on March 26," said Kumar.

Stating that the delegates will be given hands-on training on spine deformity correction, Kumar said: "The course is being conducted under the aegis of Delhi Orthopaedic Association and is first of its kind which deals with specialised spine surgeries."
Dhaka, March 25 : The Islamic State has taken responsibility for a blast in front of a police box at the entrance to Dhaka's Shahjalal International Airport, describing it as a "suicide attack".

Terrorism monitoring group SITE Intelligence tweeted that the militant group's mouthpiece Amaq news agency reported the "suicide bombing" in the Bangladesh capital near the airport on Friday night, in which the bomber was killed.

"For the 2nd time in one week, #ISIS claimed a suicide bombing in the #Bangladesh capital #Dhaka, the latest targeting a police checkpoint," SITE said in another Twitter message.

An airport police officer had initially said it was a "suicide attack", but Dhaka Metropolitan Police later ruled it out as an attack of that nature, Bdnews24 reported.

DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said that it is suspected that the man was carrying a bomb in the bag.

He declined to comment on whether militants were involved in the blast, which occurred a week after what the law-enforcing agencies said was a suicide attack on a RAB camp in nearby Ashkona.

Meanwhile, the security forces on Saturday launched a final assault on a suspected militant hideout in Sylhet city, after a 30-hour siege, that began in the early hours of Friday. Over 50 persons were evacuated from a building on the outskirts of the city.

Commandos launched the assault "Operation Twilight" at a complex housing two buildings in Shibbarhi area. The area was cordoned off by the security forces.

Police said the militants were holed up in a flat on the ground floor of one of the buildings. They said that at least two militants -- a male and a female -- were believed to be in the flat.

According to the report, gunfire was heard twice in the area. No other details were available.

Heavily armed members of the law-enforcing agencies surrounded the complex.

An Army officer said that the soldiers were leading the assault and "the SWAT was only helping them".

A police official said a search operation in Sylhet was carried out after getting information that militants have taken shelter in the district.

After finding the hideout at Shibbarhi on Thursday, police locked the flat from outside and cordoned off the complex early on Friday.

Police came under attack later in the morning. The suspects shouted "Allahu Akbar" while hurling grenades at the law enforcers. Police officials retaliated by opening fire, and the cordon was extended to the entire area, Sylhet Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner Rokan Uddin said.

Reports said 17 families from one of the buildings at the complex were evacuated on Friday. They were kept in a school in the area throughout the day. The families stranded in the flats of another building were told to keep their doors and windows shut.
Agartala, March 25 : A candle light march and seminar were part of programmes held on Saturday in Tripura to mark Bangladesh's observance of "Genocide Day" - in remembrance of the atrocities committed by the Pakistani Army on this day in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, 46 years ago.

The programmes were organised by the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission here as part of the observance of the Day for the first time in the 46 year history of post-independence Bangladesh.

Following a recent decision taken by the Bangladesh cabinet headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the country is observing March 25 as "Genocide Day" all across the world, Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh Mohammad Shakhawat Hossain told IANS.

In Agartala, a seminar was held highlighting the importance of the day. Hossain and noted Bangladesh theatre and film director Nasiruddin Yousuff were among the participants.

Bangladesh Assistant High Commission officials, other staff and their families took part in the candle light march in the city in memory of those who lost their lives, following a brutal crackdown ordered by the then Pakistani military rulers on protesters in Dhaka on March 25, 1971, after refusing to hand over power to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose party Awami League won the 1970 general election.

The "Genocide Day" was observed a day before the Bangladesh Independence Day and National Day to be celebrated on Sunday.

Hossain said a series of day-long functions have been lined up in Agartala on Sunday on the occasion. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar will be among the dignitaries at the programmes.

A few days after the Pakistani forces had unleashed massive attacks across that country, Bangladeshi leaders vowed to win their independence on March 26, 1971, when Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman launched a massive guerilla fight against the then Pakistani rulers.

The Liberation War later turned into a full-scale India-Pakistan War, leading to the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani soldiers in Dhaka on December 16, 1971.

India was the first country to recognise Bangladesh as a sovereign nation.

According to Bangladeshi freedom fighters and experts, Pakistani forces during the nine months of Liberation War (March 26 to December 16, 1971) massacred over three million Bengali-speaking people, including children, and gang-raped over six lakh women.

Over one crore families were uprooted from their ancestral homes and lands during that period.
Rome, March 26 : The European Union (EU) on Saturday celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome here amid concerns over challenges.

The Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957, creating the European Economic Community, a predecessor to the modern EU, Xinhua news agency reported.

Sixty years later, leaders from 27 nations met in the same room to sign the Rome Declaration, stressing their commitment to Europe's "common future."

The document called the bloc a "unique union with common institutions and strong values, a community of peace, freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law."

The Rome Declaration comes as the EU faces some of the most intense challenges in its history.

After the Brexit vote last year, Britain is set to be the first country to leave the bloc.

"It's significant that leaders renewed their pledge for unity, cooperation, and a common future at such a trying point in the European Union's history," Andrea Milanese, a political affairs analyst with ABS Securities in Milan, said in an interview.
Rabat, March 26 : Morocco's Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani said here on Saturday that he had agreed to form a coalition government with five other parties.

El Othmani told the press that the new coalition will consist of six parties, namely his Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), the liberal National Rally of Independents (RNI), the nationalist Popular Movement (MP), the Constitutional Union Party (UC), the leftists parties of Socialist Union of Popular Forces Party (USFP) and the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS), Xinhua news agency reported.
Chennai, March 27 : Ram Gopal Varma knows how to grab headlines and this time too he has started a new controversy and earned the wrath of actor Pawan Kalyan's fans after the filmmaker went on to criticize the star's latest Telugu outing "Katamarayudu", while also targeting his personal life and family.

In a series of late-night tweets on Saturday, Varma spewed venom on Pawan Kalyan.

Varma said Pawan Kalyan made profits by selling his film at an exorbitant price to distributors.

"Making film in Rs 30 crore, selling at Rs 100 crore and pocketing Rs 70 crore and enjoying daughters' birthday is no less than Nero playing Fidel when Rome was burning," Varma tweeted.

On the day of release of "Katamarayudu", Pawan Kalyan's daughter Aadhya turned seven. He spent the whole day with her and his ex-wife Renu Desai.

Varma went on to blame the actor's fans for "distracting him from real strength".

He also said that Pawan Kalyan doesn't bear losses of a film unlike superstar Rajinikanth.

"Rajinikanth cares about exhibitors losing and returns money to them because he failed to deliver," he said.

Varma wrote: "A 50+ man (referring to himself) with married daughter watching porn is more powerfully honest than delivering a powerless film and celebrating birthdays of two daughters with two wives."

Varma's tweets resulted in a war of words with staunch fans of Pawan Kalyan.

-- With inputs from IANS
Thiruvananthapuram, March 26 : Kerala Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran resigned on Sunday after an audio emerged in which he is heard having a lewd conversation with a woman on phone.

A five-time legislator from the Nationalist Congress Party, the minister announced the resignation at Kozhikode. The audio was released by Mangalam TV.

Earlier, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the media that he had taken the report seriously and promised action.

Last year, CPI-M strongman and Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan quit on charges of nepotism.
Washington, March 26 : The Indian American community in Houston has presented $100,000 to Ian Grillot, a 24-year-old American who was shot while trying to save Indian techies Srinivas Kuchibotla and Alok Madasani during a shooting in Kansas.

The Indian Ambassador to the US, Navtej Sarna, presented the cheque to Grillot at the annual India House gala in Houston on Saturday evening, The American Bazaar news portal reported.

Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed when Adam W. Purinton, a white man, shot the Indians at the Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe on February 22. Madasani and Grillot, who tried to stop the killer, survived with injuries.

A statement posed on the official page of India House Houston said: "On behalf of the Indian-American community in Houston, India House recognised this selfless act beyond the call of duty and has extended the community's gratitude to Ian Grillot by helping him to buy a house."

Speaking at the event, Grillot said: "I don't know if I could've lived with myself if I wouldn't t have stopped or attempted to stop the shooter because that would've been completely devastating.

"I do now have a very powerful message and if I can help empower people and spread hope and love, then why not?

"I am honoured to be at India House that serves so many families from so many communities in the Houston area," The American Bazaar quoted Grillot as saying.

Jiten Agarwal, a prominent Indian American in Houston and chair of the annual gala, said: "It is not every day that one meets a genuine hero, a person who risks his life for another, and takes a bullet for a complete stranger.

"Ian Grillot is a man who reminds us of the promise of America and its greatness."

Agarwal, with the help of its trustees, mobilized the community to come together to honour Grillot and raise funds.
Seoul, March 26 : North Korea on Sunday warned South Korea and the US against any attempt to stage a "special operation" to hit the Pyongyang leadership and military installations, including the nuclear arms base.

A North Korean military statement said it was ready to "mercilessly smash the enemy's moves... now that the sinister aim of the US imperialists and the South Korean War maniacs' 'special operation' to hurt the dignity of the DPRK's (Noth Korea) supreme leadership has become clear, and they disclosed even the dangerous attempt at 'preemptive attack'".

The military accused the US and South Korea of being "busy staging madcap joint military drills for aggression involving more than 300,000 troops, US nuclear carrier Carl Vinson and B-1B and other nuclear strategic assets", Yonhap news agency reported.

"The situation has reached an extreme phase which should not be overlooked," the statement said.

It urged Washington and Seoul to think twice about the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by their outrageous military actions.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff in a response warned North Korea of consequences of its provocation.

"If the North provokes, our military will sternly retaliate as we have prepared and ensure such an action leads to self-destruction," Army Gen. Lee Sun-jin said in a statement.

On March 13, combined forces of South Korea and the US kicked off the annual command post exercise, following the launch on March 1 of the joint field training drill with the code-name of Foal Eagle.

North Korea has denounced the joint military exercises as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.

The US-South Korea commands will exercise Operation Plan 5015 during the Key Resolve drill. The operation plan includes preemptive strikes against Pyongyang's nuclear and missile facilities when signs of attack are detected The military defended Foal Eagle as a defensive training to enhance the alliance's preparedness to defend the South in case of armed conflict. The North has criticised the exercise as preparation for invasion.
Kathmandu, March 26 : Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari will begin a state visit to India on April 17, a media report said on Sunday.

The Nepal President's Office confirmed her India visit, which will be her first foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015, the Kathmandu Post reported.

The President will be meeting her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, leaders from the ruling and opposition parties and top Indian officials on April 18 in New Delhi, said Madan Kumar Bhattarai, Foreign Relations Adviser to Bhandari.

The itinerary of the visit is yet to be finalised, he added. Some minor agreements as a gesture of friendly relations between Nepal and India will likely be sealed during her visit.

The President was preparing to visit India in May last year but it was cancelled due to the lack of preparations on the government's part.

After completing her engagements in Delhi, she will be attending a function at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
Srinagar, March 26 : Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed on Sunday after a brief gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said.

"The militants, travelling in a vehicle, were challenged at a 'naka' (checkpost) set up by security forces in Padgampora area of Pulwama, but instead of giving themselves up, started firing at the security personnel triggering a brief gunfight in which both were killed," a police officer said here.

"The exact identify of the slain militants is being established although both seem to be locals," the official added.
New Delhi, March 26 : A two-day G-20 working group meeting, with inclusive global growth on top of the agenda, will get underway in Varanasi this week from March 28, an Indian official said on Sunday.

"In the forthcoming meeting in Varanasi, the G-20 Framework Working Group (FWG) will discuss the current global economic situation as well as deliberate on the policy options that countries can pursue to counter the important development challenges," said a Finance Ministry statement here.

"One important focus of this meeting will be to deliberate on the inclusive growth agenda of G-20 and to formulate a framework that will enable countries to help frame country specific inclusive growth policies," it said.

The Framework Working Group is one of the core groups of the G-20 - the group of 19 nations and the European Union that deliberates on global economic issues and other key developmental challenges.

The third meeting under the G-20 German presidency is being co-hosted by the Department of Economic Affairs and the Reserve Bank of India in Varanasi on March 28-29, the statement added.

The earlier two meetings under the German presidency were held in Berlin in December 2016 and Riyadh in February 2017.

India, along with Canada, has been co-chairing this group, and since the inception of the FWG in 2009, this is the fourth occasion India is hosting this meeting.

"The mandate of FWG is to deliberate on the challenges facing the global economy and the policy options that countries can use to address these challenges," the statement said.

Previously, India had hosted the G-20 FWG meetings at Neemrana in 2012, in Goa in 2014, and in Kerala in 2015.
Shillong, March 26 : The Border Security Force (BSF) has been put on high alert along the India-Bangladesh border following twin blasts in Bangladesh's Sylhet city, an official said on Sunday.

"Our troopers are on high alert along the India-Bangladesh after a series of blasts in Bangladesh," BSF Inspector General, Meghalaya frontier P.K. Dubey told IANS.

BSF officials have shared intelligence inputs with Meghalaya Police following the explosions, he added.

"We are not taking any chances with such activities and all necessary measures have been taken to prevent perpetrators from entering our side of the border," Dubey said.

The six dead in the two blasts on Saturday near a militant hideout in Sylhet includes two Bangladesh police officials. The blasts came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint near the Dhaka airport in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

A Meghalaya Police official also said that they had also taken necessary measures.

"We have instructed our personnel posted close to the border to remain and to keep strict vigil in close coordination with the BSF," the official said.

India has a 1,880 km border with Bangladesh along four states -- Tripura (856 km), Assam (263 km), Meghalaya (443 km), and Mizoram (318 km).
Mumbai, March 26 : Actress Juhi Babbar says theatre is the most powerful medium for influencing children towards better communication and expression.

Juhi's mother Nadira Zaheer Babbar founded Ekjute theatre group in 1981 and has been conducting various activities for children. In 2008, Juhi took over the reins and renamed it the Ekjute's Young Talent Group and Ekjute's Young Talent Workshop.

Juhi will be holding a 10-day theatre workshop for children from April 22.

She said in a statement: "I believe that theatre is the most powerful medium for influencing children towards better communication and expression.

"It is an amazing feeling when I meet these participants, especially when they come across and meet up with me and thank me stating that I have been a great contribution to their confidence, speech, clarity, my thoughts, imagination and that they're doing well in theatre, college etc."

A mother herself, Juhi strongly believes that inclusion is very important for children.

"Basically, art is for everyone and that is a reason why we are so passionate about our workshops and taking art to the children and youth, because we sincerely believe that people related to art or connected to art or who appreciate art, are definitely more sensitive people," she added.

The workshop will include young talent in the age group of 5 to 15 years and covers Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

Juhi says she was on a break for three years since her son Imman was born.

"Now that Imman is 4.5 years old, I'm slowly returning to work," said Juhi, who is married to actor Anup Soni.

"My husband is also contributing to the workshop as we believe parenting is a shared responsibility. There will be a session that will focus on child-parent bonding through theatre," she added.
Bhubaneswar, March 26 : Odisha Police on Sunday claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of ATM looters, with the arrest of a main accused from Uttarakhand.

The Commissionerate Police arrested gang leader Ajay Choudhury, a resident of Uttarakhand, for looting around Rs 50 lakh from five ATM machines in Puri, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, Director General of Police (DGP) K.B. Singh told media persons.

The DGP said police were undertaking raids in different parts of the country to arrest the other members of the ATM looters' gang.

The police have seized one Apple laptop, a hard disk and three mobile phones from Choudhury's possession. Besides, six bank accounts having Rs 8 lakh in deposits and one bank locker were also frozen by the Commissionerate Police.

Singh said the robbers didn't use mobile phones while committing the crime.

"The thieves, in this case, didn't use mobile phones as they were communicating through an app. The culprits were using a Chinese malware for the purpose. They first install it into the system through the USB port and then they reboot it," the DGP added.

Notably, Choudhury was jailed in 2014 in an ATM skimming case. Besides, he was allegedly involved in a similar kind of offence in Lucknow last year.
London, March 27 : A 30-year-old man was arrested on Sunday in connection with the terror attack near the British Parliament here on Wednesday, police said.

Police said they detained the man at an address in Birmingham city on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts. The suspect currently remains in police custody, Xinhua news agency reported.

By far, police officers have carried out a total of 15 searches at various addresses, and 12 people have been arrested as part of the investigation. Nine have been released with no further action, according to the Metropolitan Police.

On Wednesday, Khalid Masood, 52, drove a car through crowds of pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing three: Aysha Frade, a 43-year-old British national of Spanish origin, Kurt Cochran, an American tourist whose wife was injured in the attack, and Leslie Rhodes.

A police officer was also fatally stabbed by Masood, who was later shot dead by police.
Bindomatic's new Accel Ultra processes documents twice as fast as the previous generation of binders and will debut at the distributors conference.

Bindomatic AB, the Binding Efficiency Experts  parent company of Coverbind Corporation  today announced its Global Distributors Conference will be held at the Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach in Dubai, UAE. Beginning April 2, the conference will introduce Bindomatics ground-breaking new line of thermal binding machines  the Accel Series to distributors and reinforce strong, working partnerships.

I am very proud and excited to personally introduce our newest technology as well as innovative distributor-focused programs to help ensure the future success of our partners in the binding industry, said Goran Tolf, Bindomatic's CEO.

Distributors will enjoy hands-on exploration of the new Accel Series machines: Accel Cube, Accel Ultra, and Accel Ultra+. The machines boast speeds that are twice as fast as the previous generation with the same great binding strength and quality. During the conference, these incredible machines will be offered only to attendees at special pricing before their official release date.

Bindomatics Global Distributors Conference will give distributors access to engage with key Bindomatic leaders including:



Goran Tolf, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer

John Davis, Chief Sales Officer/ Chief Marketing Officer

Lars Lundstrom, Export Director

Erin French, Vice President - Customer Logistics

The luxurious Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach will host the three day conference. After daily meetings, guests will unwind surrounded by the turquoise waters of Jumeirah Beach, relax in stylish accommodations, and indulge in award winning dining.

About Bindomatic and Coverbind

Bindomatic AB is a Swedish corporation and technology-leading manufacturer of best-in-class document binding solutions, doing business on a global scale for over 40 years through a vast distributor network as well as wholly owned subsidiaries. The U.S. headquarters are located in Wilmington, N.C. under the trademark Coverbind Corporation. The group is dedicated to providing top-quality business solutions for professional document finishing. They continue to strive to be the world leaders in off-line finishing by supplying best-in-class binding machines as well as unmatched quality with a variety of covers and supplies. Visit http://www.coverbind.com for more.
News Release

For more information contact

Rob Haight, Instructor

Kalamazoo Valley Community College

rhaight(at)kvcc(dot)edu or 269.488.4452

Visiting Writers Series Presents Jim Daniels on March 29-30

The Visiting Writers series at Kalamazoo Valley Community College hosts author Jim Daniels on March 29 and 30 in the Student Commons Theater, Room 4240 at the Texas Township Campus. He will read from his work from 10 to 10:45 a.m. both days and his craft talks will run from 2:15 to 3 p.m.

Daniels has taught creative writing at Carnegie Mellon since 1981. Poetry, fiction, and screenwriting are his primary research and teaching interests. Recent books include Rowing Inland (2017), Birth Marks (2013), and Having a Little Talk with Capital P Poetry (2011), poetry; Eight Mile High (2014), and Trigger Man, short fiction 2011). He has written four produced screenplays, including, most recently, The End of Blessings. Street, a book of his poems accompanying the photographs of Charlee Brodsky, won the Tillie Olsen Prize from the Working-Class Studies Association.

In addition, he has edited or co-edited four anthologies, including Letters to America: Contemporary American Poetry on Race, and American Poetry: The Next Generation. His poems have been featured on Garrison Keillors Writers Almanac, in Billy Collins Poetry 180 anthologies, and Ted Koosers American Life in Poetry series.

Daniels received the Brittingham Prize for Poetry, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and two from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. His poems have appeared in the Pushcart Prize and Best American Poetry anthologies.

At Carnegie Mellon, he received the Ryan Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Mark Gelfand Service Award for Educational Outreach, the Elliott Dunlap Smith Award for Teaching and Educational Service, and a Faculty Service Award from the Carnegie Mellon Alumni Association.

Kalamazoo Valleys About Writing series is organized by instructor Rob Haight and offers students the opportunity to talk with professional writers and listen to their work. For more information, call Rob Haight at 269.488.4452, email rhaight@kvcc.edu or go to https://www.kvcc.edu/campuslife/visitingwriters/.
Pinot & Chocolate will be in the Barrel Room at Eola Hills Winery.Seating is limited, for tickets http://eolahillswinery.com/event/pinot-chocolate-barrel-room/ Fermentation education and standards drawn from the expertise of the Pacific Northwests pioneer vintners and brewers needs to be formalized.

Eola Hills, is making a commitment to our regions economic and fermentation future in the Pacific Northwest by supporting the anticipated experimental vineyard to Clark College at Boschma Farms in Ridgefield, Washington.

Pinot Noir and Chocolate will be hosted in the Barrel Room of Eola Hills Wine Cellars from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 22nd. Tickets are $85. The event will feature six pairings of Pinot Noir with chocolates prepared by Fleur Chocolate and select appetizers. A colorful presentation on Clark College at Boschma Farms will be presented at 6 p.m.

Eola Hills founder Tom Huggins realizes that the wines and breweries of the Pacific Northwest, a sustainable and environmentally friendly economic boon, needs to put down more than roots. Fermentation education and standards drawn from the expertise of the Pacific Northwests pioneer vintners and brewers needs to be formalized. To do so takes more than education, it requires land combined with resources for curriculum development, equipment and laboratories.

Huggins also believes this event will initiate an on-going coalition of support that includes funding from wine clubs, citizens committed to a sustainable economy, and other vintners and brewers in Oregon and Washington. His dream is that the Pacific Northwest will evolve into the winery and brewery center of the United States.

Mike Sherlock of Fleur Chocolatte of Vancouver, Washington, along with Eola Hills vintner Steve Anderson will be on-hand to talk about each pairing. The Clark County Food & Wine Society will be pouring at the event and will explain to guests how they may contribute to the future of this experimental winery. Reservations are required, tickets (and group discounts) are available: 503-623-2405, 1-800-291-6730, eolahillswinery.com.

Seating is limited, for tickets http://eolahillswinery.com/event/pinot-chocolate-barrel-room/

About Eola Hills Wine Cellars

Three decades ago, Eola Hills founder Tom Huggins never imaged his dream of Eola Hills Wine Cellars would reach international attention. That dream is now a worldwide distributed label and Eola Hills is made up of six vineyards, over 300 planted acres, and an annual production of 93,000 cases of pinot noir and other varietals that have won international awards including Best Buy ratings year after year on their Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. Eola Hills Wine Cellars prides itself on producing a wine of great quality and consistency. For more information: http://www.eolahillswinery.com.
The Last, the Lost and the Least was published this month. It is not a 12-step program, as Pastor 7 says, It is one step, and that step is Christ.

In a collaboration of minds and hearts, Pastor Danny Wells, fondly called Pastor 7 at his ministry headquarters, and author Lawrence Allen, have announced the publication of a novella, The Last, The Lost and The Least. This roughly 120-page book details many events in Wells life which molded his life into one of servitude to Christ, including more than two decades in prison.

When I met Christ, my whole life changed. Thats why I changed my name from Danny Wells to Pastor 7. Danny Wells no longer exists. I am a new creature in Christ, Wells explained. His ministry, 7 Bridges to Recovery, provides food, shelter and a way to escape from the life of drugs and crime. To the homeless, he provides more than 5000 meals each month. His team goes into the streets and under the bridges to bring the message of the Gospel to the last, the lost and the least. At any given time, he has 25 men in a full-time recovery program and 60 women with children in a separate program and housing facility.

When author Lawrence Allen heard of Pastor 7s ministry, he decided the message was clear, Christ is the answer. He knew this compelling story needed to be told. He traveled to Atlanta from Texas, and met Pastor 7 and witnessed the transforming power that the ministry has on the homeless community. There are more than 30,000 people living on the streets in Atlanta, Allen said. But it is not just in Atlanta, homelessness is a plague across the United States. What are we doing about it?

His ministry has impacted so many people around the globe that every summer between 10,000 and 15,000 kids come to Atlanta for summer camps to work with him, packing lunches and distributing them to the homeless. Its an incredible thing that the Lord doesto Him be the glory! said Pastor 7.

The purpose of the publication of the book is three-fold. First to tell anyone who is living on the streets, under a bridge, in a homeless community or who is so deep in drugs and crime that they can see no way out, is that there is a way. It is not a 12-step program, as Pastor 7 says, It is one step, and that step is Christ. The second purpose of the book is to share the message with churches and organizations around the country who are interested in starting a similar ministry in their own town. And lastly, it is a way for other believers to support the ministry, 7 Bridges to Recovery, with the purchase of the book. 100% of the book sales goes directly into the funding and growth of the organization.

While some editorial privilege was taken in the writing of the book, the basis is all true. Being homeless at the age of 10 and living on the streets alone, changed Wells forever. His years in the prison system also had a significant impact on him. But it was what he did with those experiences that makes his story great. He chose to use it for good. The power of Christ transformed his life, and he is a walking testimony of that power.

To read more about Pastor 7 and 7 Bridges to Recover, visit their web site at http://www.7bridgestorecovery.org His book is available on line through Amazon, Kindle ebook, or by contacting the ministry at 7bridgestorecover(at)gmail(dot)com

For more information contact:

Pastor 7

7 Bridges to Recovery

7bridgestorecover(at)gmail(dot)com

404-644-6976
Haven't seen the story you submitted in Creature Feature yet? Keep looking! Submissions are being used in the order they have been received.



If you travel to Oatman, Ariz., and come across these four-legged creatures wandering around the streets in town, enjoy the view because they are special visitors from the hills. They come into town to check things out, perhaps a dozen at a time.



There are many wild burros with different herds roaming the hills. These burros are as free as a bird. They are direct descendants from those the gold miners used as pack animals. When World War II began, the gold mines of Oatman and Gold Roads, Ariz., were closed, and the burros were set free to roam the hills, which became their home.



These burros made a big impact in the opening of the Western United States. I wonder if there are any Mr. Eds in the family? You know, the talking kind.



These burros are as cute as can be, and the hills are alive with their being. As for the gold mines, maybe these creatures know more than they are saying. After all, they had a burro's-eye view of it all. Maybe they have some gold nuggets of their own hidden in those hills.



The only thing they want to pack now is a full belly, so let's hope they find all they need to eat. Visitors are discouraged from feeding them, according to some reports, citing the safety and health of the animals and visitors.



The town of Oatman was named after Olive Oatman, a young girl kidnapped by the Apache Tribe when she and her parents were on a westward journey. (She, by the way, was from Illinois.) She later was sold to the Majave Indians, then rescued in a trade in 1857 near the current site of the town. (The stories vary.)



The Oatman Hotel, built in 1902, has housed many miners, movie stars, politicians and other scoundrels. Clark Gable and Carol Lombard spent their honeymoon at the Oatman Hotel in 1939. Gable went back now and then to play poker with the local miners, and maybe he also wanted to see the burros strolling around the area. Who knows  maybe they had their own little game now and then.



Several movies also were filmed in the town. No doubt some of the burros may have shown up in a movie or two, paid in carrots.



At the present time, these burros know when to get the heck out of dodge, I mean Oatman, and head for the hills.



Thanks to Bob at the Moline Public Library and Deborah for their help with information. I just think these sweet little burros deserve to get a little of their story into creature feature. If no one is looking, maybe they can have a carrot or two for their story.
Id like to address the elephant in the room. That elephant being the Republican Party and their refusal to represent the majority of their constituents. Lets begin with stricter gun control (something that would help lessen the fears parents have when sending their children off to school), 53% of Americans favor this (Pew Research) yet the elephant in the room refuses to consider any such thing. Over 70% of Americans want stricter background checks yet again; the elephant in the room refuses to represent them. 61% of Americans say abortion should be legal. Again, the elephant in the room pushes laws that do the opposite. 74% of Americans do not want social security reduced in any way. But the elephant in the room pushes to do just the opposite, cut social security. 63% of Americans now prefer Medicare for all, but the elephant in the room fights it with all its might. 67% of Americans feel more needs to be done to reduce climate change, but not the elephant in the room. The elephant sides with the fossil fuel industry claiming its not a big concern. Given these few statistics (there are more like them) its obvious that the Republican Party is the party of minority rule, quite the opposite of what our founding fathers envisioned. The Republican Party has become a power cult, not a party that represents the majority of Americans. Remember this while you mark your ballot in this midterm election. Save Democracy! Vote Democratic!
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A man in Rajasthans Bikaner has alleged that his minor daughter was raped by eight teachers of a private school who also made a video of the act.

The alleged incident occurred in April 2015 and the first information report was registered on Friday after the girls father gave a complaint to the Superintendent of Police, police said.

The FIR lodged under Section 376-D (gang rape) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Nokha police station SHO Darjaram said.

The father of the 13-year-old girl alleged that the teachers were sexually assaulting his daughter for last one year and also threatened her of dire consequences if she informs anyone about it.

She was also forced to consume abortion pills by the perpetrators.

As the case sparked outrage on social media, it has also come to light that the 13-year-old victim was suffering from cancer.

The victim's mother said that the girl sustained injuries on her private parts because of the sexual assault which led to cancer.

The minor girl is currently undergoing treatment at a Bikaner's medical hospital in cancer research centre.

Earlier, one of the teachers had filed a case against four persons, including two cousins of the girl on March 20, for thrashing him.

Both the matters are being investigated, the SHO added.

Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria, however, has raised questions over the delay on part of the family in reporting the alleged rape.

On Sunday, police visited the private school and recorded the statements of some locals. However, no arrest has been made so far.

Taking cognisance of the alleged rape case, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Sunday decided to write to the superintendent of police and district magistrate seeking details of the matter.

Kataria on Saturday told reporters the rape case was lodged by the father of the girl as a counter to a case and the examination by the medical board will only verify the allegations.

I cannot understand if eight people rape a girl and she does not inform the (family) the same day. However, the allegations are serious and we have formed the medical board and only after the medical examination, it will become clear, the minister told reporters.

Manan Chaturvedi, the chairperson of the state commission for protection of child rights, said the matter should be thoroughly and impartially investigated as to why the father did not approach the police to file a case earlier.

The allegations are very serious and the victim should be treated well and must be delivered justice but at the same time, the case has become complicated due to its timing. This should be probed as to why the father did not report the incident when the alleged incident took place, she said.

I have spoken to the range IG and district SP. I came to know that the victims and the accused are relatives. There may have been some dispute between them earlier so this becomes a complicated case and it needed an impartial and detailed probe, she said.

Chaturvedi said that she will form a committee on Monday to probe the incident so that the facts come to light.

With inputs from ANI
A 24-year-old American, who took a bullet for an Indian, has been honoured as A True American Hero by the Indian-American community in Houston which raised $1,00,000 (Rs 65 lakh) to help him buy a house in his hometown Kansas.

Ian Grillot, who was injured when he tried to intervene in the shooting by a Navy veteran targeting Indians at a bar in Olathe, Kansas, last month, was honoured as A True American Hero at the 14th annual gala of India House, Houston.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured in the shooting.

On behalf of the Indian-American community in Houston, India House recognised this selfless act beyond the call of duty and has extended the communitys gratitude to Ian Grillot by helping him to buy a house, said a statement posted on the India House Houston Facebook page.

India House raised $1,00,000 as part of an initiative supported by the Consul General of India in Houston, Dr Anupam Ray to help Ian buy a house in his hometown, it said.

India House is a community centre built by Americans of Indian origin in the Greater Houston area.

Speaking on the occasion, Ian said, I dont know if I couldve lived with myself if I wouldnt have stopped or attempted to stop the shooter because that wouldve been completely devastating.

I do now have a very powerful message and if I can help empower people and spread hope and love, then why not? I am honoured to be at India House that serves so many families from so many communities in the Houston area, he said.

India's Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna handed over the cheque of $1,00,000 to Ian.

I was keen to come here today because I was told that Ian Grillot will be honoured. It was a great privilege to meet him and his parents. He is a young man who has shown exceptional courage, strength of very fundamental human values. No amount of honour that India or the Indian-Americans bestow on him will be enough for that moment of exceptional fortitude and character, Sarna said.

It is a privilege to be representing India in the US at this point in time. We are all representatives of India. When we look at India, even at this distance, we can continue to be proud of what we have achieved in 70 years and continue to be optimistic, he said.

At the event, Ray said, The vibrant Indian diaspora in America has always contributed towards the society and economy of the US. They are the ambassadors of Indian culture. They are playing a vital role in strengthening the ties between the two nations and cultures.

Popular Indian chef Vikas Khanna was another guest of honour at the event and talked about his immigrant experience, struggles that immigrants go through.

When they give up everything familiar behind and come to a new land, like an alien, you come as a no person here, you have so much faith in this country that you give everything to it, but still you get bullied. But then there are people like Ian Grillot, who built up for you and give you hope and courage to follow your dream, Khanna said.

It is not every day that one meets a genuine hero -- a person who risks his life for another, and takes a bullet for a complete stranger. Ian Grillot is a man who reminds us of the promise of America and its greatness, said Jiten Agarwal, a prominent Houstonian and Chair of the annual gala.

I have had the very distinct honour of serving in the Obama administration as the assistant secretary of state -- particularly wonderful experience as someone who was born in India and emigrated to US at the age of 5. I am living American dream, said Nisha D Biswal, former assistant secretary of state for South/Central Asia.

India House also gave lifetime achievement award to renowned cardiologist Dr Virendra Mathur, who has completed 60 years of his professional career.

IMAGE: Ian Grillot, centre, with Indias ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna and others at India House in Houston. Photograph: ANI
In a major embarrassment to the 10-month-old Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, Transport Minister A K Saseendran on Sunday resigned over an allegation of sexual misconduct after the leakage of his purported phone talks with a woman.

Saseendran, 72, is the second minister of the Kerala government to quit after Industries Minister E P Jayarajan, who resigned over charges of nepotism triggered by the appointment of his two close relatives to top posts in the state public sector units.

The resignation comes at a time when the ruling party and the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front are busy campaigning for the April 12 Malappuram bypoll, necessitated following the death of Indian Union Muslim League leader E Ahamed.

Mangalam channel, which launched its operations on Sunday, dropped a bombshell this morning by releasing an audio clipping, purportedly a telephone conversation of Saseendran speaking in sexual undertones to a woman.

The minister, who was in Kozhikode, immediately cancelled all his public programmes, called a press meet at around 3 PM and announced his resignation.

Saseendran said his resignation should not be seen as an acceptance of guilt.

I am sure that I have not done anything wrong. At the same time the pride of the party and the government has to be protected. My resignation is to uphold the political morality, he told reporters at Kozhikode.

Maintaining that he harboured no complaints against anyone, Saseendran said, I do not thing I have wronged anyone. There is need to find out the rights and wrongs. Let the chief minister order a probe by any agency.. a proper probe will prove my innocence.

This is an unceremonious exit for the five-time MLA and a senior leader of the Nationalist Congress Party, who became a minister for the first time and held the portfolios of Road Transport, Motor Vehicles and Water Transport.

Elected from Elathur in the 2016 assembly polls, he was also an MLA in 1980, 1982, 2006 and 2011.

Reacting to the development, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the allegations were serious and a decision would be taken after examining all facts.

Opposition leader in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala said it is shameful that a minister had to resign on such grounds from the government, which rode to the power promising protection to women and children.

The truth needs to come out. The report has shocked everyone, Chennithala told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

Bharatiya Janata Party state President Kummanam Rajasekharan hit out at the minister, saying all Keralites need to hang their heads in shame over the allegations.
At least one person has been killed and several others injured after a gunman opened fire at Cameo Night Club in Cincinnati, Ohio, local United States media reported.

The injured have been taken to hospital and police is investigating the incident.

Cameo Night Club 15 gun shot victims, 1 deceased. Homicide unit and all available resources are being utilized (sic), Cincinnati Police tweeted.

We are in the middle of a very horrific situation that occurred at the nightclub with multiple victims, assistant police chief Paul Neudigate was quoted as saying by WLWT5 News.

He said hundreds were in the Cameo nightclub when shots broke out, causing many to flee the scene in panic.

Nobody has been taken into custody, Sergeant Eric Franz told ABC News, describing the aftermath as a large and complicated homicide scene.

He said police were interviewing multiple witnesses to the shooting, which occurred at around 1 am.

IMAGE: Police vehicles at the spot. Photograph: @cincyPD/Twitter
The sudden discovery of Rs 96,500 cash in demonetised notes left by their late mother has created a difficult situation for an orphan brother-sister duo in Kota, Rajasthan.

The brother, 16 and sister, 12, finding no avenues to change these notes, have now turned to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought his intervention as the deadline to exchange the banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes has passed.

The cash was found in a box earlier this month during a police survey at one of their locked paternal houses in Sarawada village.

After the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) denied the exchange of the old banknotes, the children, today (Sunday), wrote to the PM requesting him to arrange for the exchange. The Rs 96,500 was their mother's life-long saving, Child Welfare Committee, Kota, chairman Harish Gurubaxani said.

The brother wants to invest the amount as fixed deposit in his sister's name, he said.

The hand-written letter has been dispatched to the Prime Ministers Office, Gurubaxani said.

He said that their mother, Pooja Banjara, who was a daily wager, was allegedly murdered in 2013 and their father, Raju Banjara, died earlier.

After their mothers death, the children were staying at a shelter home. During a counselling session, they said that they had houses in R K Puram area and Sarawada village, he said.

Earlier this month, the police conducted a survey at the locked house in Sarawada on the directions of the CWC. The Rs 96,500, in denominations of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, was found in a box along with the some jewellery, he said.

Gurubaxani said, The CWC had written to the RBI on March 17 to facilitate exchange of the notes. However, the RBI, through an e-mail on March 22, informed the CWC about its inability to exchange the old currency notes.

He said that the amount is in 171 notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. The Union government on November 8 last year had demonetised high-value Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, and asked citizens to get them exchanged at the RBI by March 31, 2017.

Representative image.
IMAGE: Security personnel at the spot where terrorists attempted to ambush a police party at Padgampora in Pulwama district of South Kashmir on Sunday. Photographs: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com



Two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were on Sunday killed when they tried to ambush a police party that included three officers of the rank of superintendent of police in south Kashmirs Pulwama district.

One of the slain terrorists has been identified as Shahbaz Safi Wani alias Rayees Kachru, who was active in the area since June, 2016.

Wani was involved in an attack on a security picket outside a minority camp at Tumlahall in Pulwama district, besides snatching two self-loading rifles along with magazines, officials said.

The other one is a recycled terrorist, Farooq Ahmed Hurrah from Shopian, who had surrendered in 2010 and was out on parole.

The police have seized two weapons, including one looted SLR, Deputy Inspector General of Police (South Kashmir) S Pani said.

The incident happened at Padgampora, on the Awantipora-Pulwama border, around 35 km from Srinagar, when a cavalcade of senior superintendents of police of Pulwama and Awantipora Raees Ahmed and Zahid Malik was going along with the districts Additional Superintendent of Police Chandan Kohli.

IMAGE: The terrorists, who were travelling in a car, came from behind and started firing at the police vehicle.

The top police officers of the district were returning after a meeting with the chief election officer in connection with the forthcoming by-polls to two Lok Sabha seats of Anantnag and Srinagar.

The terrorists came in a car from behind and started firing at the last vehicle of the convoy carrying Kohli, 32, officials said.

The police personnel quickly took cover and retaliated to the fire in which two terrorists were killed, they said.

The driver of the car, in which the two terrorists were travelling, managed to flee, the officials said, adding that a hunt has been launched to nab him to ascertain whether he was kidnapped or a part of the over-ground network of the terrorist group.

The police have also seized a hand grenade and some ammunition, Pani said.

Pani, a seasoned police officer who has done credible work in controlling militancy in Shopian and Kulgam districts, lauded the role of the police personnel who swiftly neutralised the two terrorists.

On March 9, two Lashkar-e-Tayyaba terrorists were killed in an encounter at Padgampora. A civilian was also killed in the incident.

The Padgampora area has witnessed several encounters in the past and is believed to be infested with terrorists associated with banned outfits such as the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range, S J M Gillani said, According to our officers at the spot, perhaps one militant managed to escape.

*****

Terrorists carry out two attacks against policemen

Terrorists carried out two attacks on police forces in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday night, pushing the state to a high alert, days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit and the upcoming parliamentary by-elections there.

The first incident was reported from Budgam district, which falls under Srinagar Parliamentary seat going to polls in the second week of April, where terrorists barged into the house of a sub-inspector last night and took his son and a nephew hostage, ransacked the house and set a car ablaze.

The terrorists drove away in the car with the two boys but let them off later, setting the vehicle on fire, police said.

IMAGE: Security personnel conduct a search operation in Jammu on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo



The incident came barely three weeks after terrorists had barged into the house of a senior police officer in Shopian in South Kashmir and ransacked his house, sending a shockwave among police officers fighting militancy for last 26 years.

The terrorists entered the house of Sub Inspector M Subhan Bhat and started ransacking his house in Chadoora area of the district in central Kashmir, official sources said, adding that they later took his son and a nephew as hostage and drove away in the car.

According to the police, the militants said they wanted to kill the officer who is currently posted at the Baramulla district jail, where militant-turned separatist leader Masarat Alam is lodged.

Director General of Police S P Vaid said that stern action would be taken against those responsible for the incident.

Its the most unfortunate incident to have happened. The terrorists are feeling the heat and stooping so low. Our humane approach should not be seen as our weakness. I will ensure welfare of every personnel in my force and such incidents will be dealt with an iron hand, he said.

Director General of Prisons S K Mishra said that he has called for a review meeting on Monday to ascertain the safety of his personnel and their families guarding various jails in the state.

In another incident, three boys, riding a motor-cycle, threw chilly powder into the eyes of a personal security officer of a cleric in Jammu, besides hitting him with blunt objects and fleeing with his AK-47 rifle.

A high alert was immediately sounded in Jammu city and security was beefed up in view of the prime ministers visit there on April 2 for the inauguration of the Chenani-Nashri tunnel.

The incident took place last night when constable Mohammed Hanief, PSO of Anjuman Minhaj-e-Rasool chairman Maulana Dehlavi, was walking down to the district police lines on Saturday night, police said.

Police have arrested two of the suspects -- Masood and Shahid, and launched a manhunt to track down the third accused Asif who decamped with the AK-47 rifle. Masood hails from Shopian district.

All the three have a police record of being stone-pelters and have been missing for some time. The injured constable has been admitted to the Government Medical College in Jammu.
Elite commandos on Sunday battled to neutralise Islamist terrorists holed up in a building rocked by fresh explosions, hours after six people were killed and over 50 others injured in blasts claimed by the Islamic State outside the complex in Bangladeshs northeastern Sylhet city.

"A ban has been enforced barring entry of ordinary people within the vicinity of the building as final preparations were underway to flush the militants out from their den, a police officer told reporters on the scene.

At least three blasts were heard from inside the five-storey Atia Mahal since 9.57 am (local time). A huge blast near the building tilted it towards one side, the Daily Star reported, citing its photojournalist who was on the spot.

Several gunshots were also heard. But it is unclear who were firing the shots as army prepared for a final assault.

Sylhet-based 17 Infantry Division's Major General Anwarul Momen is leading the operation codenamed Twilight, which was assisted by police's SWAT and counter terrorism units. The elite Rapid Action Battalion is also involved.

It was not immediately clear whether the blasts were bomb attacks carried out in support of the terrorists holed up in the building.

Eyewitnesses said sounds of intermittent gunshots and explosions were heard, indicating terrorists response to the security siege that continued for the last three days.

The officials said they were not sure about the number of terrorists inside the building but hinted that a top terrorist leader was inside the complex.

Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime chief Monirul Islam on Saturday said they got information that JMB chief Musa along with some other JMB militants were in Sylhet.

The neo-JMB, said to be inclined to the Islamic State, was behind the July 1 terror attack on a Dhaka cafe in which 22 people, including 17 foreigners, were killed.

On Saturday, the first blast happened around 7 pm about 400 metres off the building where the terrorists were holed up. It targeted the onlookers and policemen.

The Dhaka Tribune quoted Sylhet Metropolitan Police ADC Jedan Al Musa as saying the blast was a suicide attack.

Another blast took place in front of the hideout an hour later.

Six people including two police officers were killed in twin blasts. The dead included two police inspectors and four onlookers, two of them being college students.

Hours later the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack through its propaganda news agency Amaq.

The target of the attack was security forces, it said.

This was the third attack in Bangladesh in eight days for which the IS claimed credit.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, however, rejected the claim of IS, saying that there was no presence of any foreign terrorist group in the country.

He said a top militant leader was inside the building as the crackdown was underway but quickly added we cannot say anything before the end of the operation.

Elite Rapid Action Battalion Intelligence Wing chief Lt Col Abul Kalam was seriously wounded in blasts and flown to Dhaka for treatment. Doctors said over 50 people were treated at a major state-run hospital in Sylhet alone.

Citing one of the injured people, bdnews24.com said that the second blast took place when RAB and police personnel went to the spot after the first blast.

CTTC Assistant Commissioner Rohmot Ullah Chowdhury says that there are multiple live bombs still hidden throughout the hideout.

"We have enforced today the Section 144 strictly barring peoples entry within the vicinity for security following the casualties, a police officer told newsmen.

Police had raided the building early morning Friday and cordoned off the area. TV channels were barred from broadcasting the operation live.

The Operation Twilight was launched after a suicide bomber on Friday night blew himself up at the international airport in Dhaka in an attack claimed by the IS. It came a week after an identical attack on a RAB camp in Dhaka.

Police had tracked down the Sylhet hideout less than a week after they busted two militant dens on the outskirts of the south-eastern port city Chittagong.

Bangladesh has been witnessing a spate of attacks on secular activists, foreigners and religious minorities since 2013. The country launched a massive crackdown on terrorists, especially after the Dhaka cafe attack.

Image for representation only. Photograph: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters
Has anyone heard that one million individual calculators supplied to banks had been tampered by the manufacturer to siphon off funds? Asks Pallava Bagla.

All of a sudden this month the nifty Indian invention, the unique electronic voting machines that were hailed to be the harbingers of free and fair elections in India, are being made out to be the villains of the piece.

So have the machines suddenly become fallible and has anybody ever hacked into them? The machines are the same and nobody has ever hacked them, the problem could lie elsewhere in depleting political values.

The independent Election Commission of India says it completely reaffirms its faith in the infallibility of the EVMs these are fully tamper-proof as ever.

It adds baseless, speculative and wild allegations are being made which deserve to be rejected.

There is an old saying the winner takes it all and the loser cries foul! The stunning results in the last round of assembly elections has made many of the losers of the polls cry foul that it is the technology that failed them and not that their poll promises were rejected by the people.

According to the ECI, till date, 107 elections to states and three parliamentary polls have been smoothly conducted using the EVMs. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, a million units of these special electronic devices that are really foolproof machines were used and all hailed the verdict as being fair.

What makes EVMs foolproof No one really knows which machine would go to what location and hence pre-programming can be ruled out as a way of tampering. Individual machines are not connected to networks this ensures that hackers dont take control of machines. In several open public demonstrations at the office of the ECI, no one has been able to hack the EVMs.

Not many countries can boast of electronic voting, even the worlds oldest democracy the United States still often resorts to paper ballots. Recall the fracas that was created in 2000 when vice-president Al Gore lost his presidential challenge to George W Bush all thanks to what was called the hanging chads as the US had used paper ballots.

The Indian electronic voting machine is a stand-alone battery powered robust white coloured device very similar in performance to a very basic calculator.

The size of standard key board but a little thicker, they come in three variants, the generation 1 machines are all but discarded and today, mostly generation 2 and generation 3 machines are being used.

The latter two generations employ sophisticated encryption technology to handle the data.

Only a handful of countries are using electronic voting.

According data from the non-profit National Democratic Institute, Washington DC, about a dozen countries have used remote Internet voting for binding political elections or referenda that includes Canada, Estonia, France and Switzerland.

Some countries that have dabbled with electronic voting include Brazil, Norway, Germany, Venezuela, India, Canada, Belgium, Romania, Australia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland, European Union and France.

It is these networked machines which are failing and are prone to hacking.

Uniquely, the Indian voting machine is not networked or linked to the Internet and is considered one of the finest innovations in modern India. Hacking is much easier if machines are networked and when data is being sent across distances using the Internet.

Has anyone heard that one million individual calculators supplied to banks had been tampered by the manufacturer to siphon off funds?

In 2014, a whopping 1.4 million individual electronic voting machines were used in 930,000 polling stations spread across the country. The entire lot of the EVMs are manufactured by two public sector companies the Bharat Electronic Limited, Bangalore and the Electronic Corporation of India Limited, Hyderabad.

The voting data is recorded on a simple imported chip which has a small and simple software that is burnt directly onto the chip itself and each vote as it is cast is recorded directly on the chip.

The machines are so robust that unless the chips themselves get destroyed the data can be recovered even if the batteries die out or even if the power is accidentally cut off.

Another feature called a voter verifiable paper audit trail is slowly being added to machines to make the process even more transparent.

According to Rajat Moona, former Director General Center for the Development of Advanced Computing, Pune and currently Director of Indian Institute of Technology, Bhilai who is part of the Technical Expert Committee of the ECI that critically evaluates the EVMs says the secure micro controllers or chips are purchased from large commercial manufacturers like Motorola, Renaissance and NXP who also supply chips to missile manufacturers and all kinds of secure computing device manufacturers.

The chip fabricator has no idea where the chip will be ultimately used from Gandhinagar to Guwahati. Moona says the Indian EVM has been designed for Indian conditions and it is at least one hundred times more secure than any commercially available machine that is being used in other countries.

The machine itself consists of a control unit and a balloting unit connected using a long cable. The balloting unit is kept secluded so that the secrecy of the ballot is maintained.

Several layers of seals ensure that the machines are not tampered with in any manner.

There is a double randomisation process which makes it impossible for any person to know which machine will be used in what constituency, this is done to safeguard that machines are not pre-programmed to cast ballots in favour of a particular candidate.

Even the final placement of the list of candidates on the balloting unit is not known till the last day of withdrawal of nomination before elections, so tampering with machines is virtually an impossible task.

The candidate names are placed in an alphabetical order giving it even more variability.

Election Commission of India explains, EVMs are randomised by computer software twice. Once for allocation of machines to assembly constituencies and second to polling stations in the presence of candidates, this means no one really knows which machine would go to what location and hence pre-programming can be ruled out as a way of tampering.

An electronics engineer from the US once suggested that he could tamper with the machines using a specially designed bluetooth enabled display unit, but in several open public demonstrations at the office of the ECI, no one has been able to hack the EVMs.

Even the Supreme Court of India heard a bunch of petitions challenging the robustness of machines but it finally ruled that the EVMs were reliable and secure.

On counting day the machines are removed from the strong room where they are kept under twenty four hour armed guard and the votes polled are displayed sequentially in the presence of the observers of candidates.

A new unit called a totaliser was proposed to keep the anonymity and secrecy of votes intact.

The counting is rapid and within hours the fate of who wins the elections is known, whereas in times when a paper ballot was used it would takes days and weeks for the election results to be finally declared.

The first EVMs were used in the southern Indian state of Kerala in 1982 and since then the general elections of 2004, 2009 and 2014 have witnessed one hundred percent electronic voting.

According to the ECI, the EVMs reduce the time in both casting a vote and declaring the results compared to the old paper ballot system. Bogus voting & booth capturing can greatly reduce to almost nil illiterate people find EVMs easier to use.

Transporting and storing these machines is also much easier. Violence on polling days has become a distant reality thanks to electronic voting.

Individual machines are not connected to networks this ensures that hackers dont take control of machines since if a nefarious mind were to tamper then each unit of the over one million machines will have to be individually fixed, a Herculean task indeed!

The last time paper ballot was used in a parliamentary election it required some 7-8,000 tons of paper just to print the ballots which is the equivalent of cutting down some 120,000 full grown trees so in a way the EVMs are greener and can be used repeatedly.

Indian machines are tamper proof and no one has been able to actually demonstrate that the EVMs could be manipulated, asserts Nasim Zaidi, Chief Election Commissioner of India.

Photograph: Utpal Baruah/Reuters
Voting on Tuesday? Check here to get the information you need
Carrie Lam speaks to the media after her selection as the next chief executive of Hong Kong, March 26, 2017

Beijing's preferred candidate Carrie Lam was voted in as the next chief executive of Hong Kong on Sunday by a 1,200-strong election committee packed with supporters of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, as pro-democracy demonstrators turned out once more with yellow umbrellas, and a banner calling for fully democratic elections hung from the city's iconic Lion Rock.

Lam polled 777 votes, soundly beating nearest rival John Tsang, who despite leading in most public opinion polls, won just 365 votes. Also-ran Woo Kwok-hing won 21.

"Hong Kong, our home, is suffering from quite a serious divisiveness and has accumulated a lot of frustration, Lam told reporters after her victory. "My priority will be to heal the divide and to ease the frustration -- and to unite our society to move forward."

Above the city, a banner familiar from the 79-day Umbrella movement hung from the 'ear' of a massive rock overlooking Kowloon. "I want real universal suffrage!" it said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters demonstrated for full democracy, including members of Demosisto, a political party formed by former student leaders of the movement, including Joshua Wong.

"This result is a nightmare for Hong Kong people," Demosisto said in a statement on its Facebook page on Sunday. "But it is our hope that those who have previously fought, and continue to fight, for fair political representation in Hong Kong will not lose momentum."

One protest, organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, was billed as an act of civil disobedience after it deliberately ignored police warnings to apply for permission to march beforehand.

Marchers carried banners that read "Against the Chinese Communist Party's soft-touch leader!" and "The people won't give up!"

Meaningless poll?

Meanwhile, in an embarrassing moment at the election center, a photo of a defaced ballot paper bearing the scribbled character for a Cantonese expletive was briefly projected onto a screen and broadcast on live television.

"In an expression of anger at the closed-circle election, someone had written the character 'fuck' alongside the slogan 'I want real universal suffrage, people should resist without fear!'," the Sing Pao Daily News reported on its website.

Several pan-democratic members of the election committee had previously told reporters that they couldn't bring themselves to vote for any of the candidates, as Lam was widely seen as having Beijing's backing right from the start, rendering the poll meaningless.

The mustachioed Tsang had fought a highly visible campaign, deploying a Taiwan-style "battle bus", and drawing crowds of thousands to a rally on the eve of the poll. But none of his supporters had the opportunity to vote for him. He conceded defeat on Sunday, calling on Hong Kong to "rally behind" Lam.

Another banner suspended briefly from a pedestrian walkway near the polling station in the convention and exhibition center read, according to video posted to Twitter: "We oppose Beijing's appointment. We want to choose our own government."

It was rapidly taken down by police, who were out in force in the area, social media posts showed.

Lam's vote tally is 88 votes higher than that of incumbent Leung Chun-ying, who faced repeated ridicule from Occupy Central protesters for the number, amid calls for his resignation.

But "777", also rich with possibilities for unflattering puns and political jokes in numbers-obsessed Hong Kong, has already taken hold as Lam's new nickname on social media, recent posts to Facebook showed.

"777 minus 689 = 88," one post read. "Say 88 (bye-bye) to Hong Kong!"

Short honeymoon

Hong Kong's eligible voters could have cast their ballots on Sunday under arrangements proposed by Beijing on Aug. 31, 2014. But China's insistence that it be allowed to pre-approve candidates rendered the reform meaningless to many, and sparked the Occupy Central movement for "real universal suffrage." The reforms were later defeated in the Legislative Council.

Former student leader-turned-lawmaker Nathan Law said none of the candidates represented the desire of Hong Kong people for full democracy as expressed during the Occupy Central movement.

"Lam's honeymoon period will be very short, and there will be very loud voices speaking against her," Law predicted.

"This election showed that Beijing already has full control over all of the pro-establishment nominations and votes, and that all the reports that some of the pro-establishment votes might switch camps [to support John Tsang] turned out to be wrong," Law told reporters.

"But I would like to tell everyone in the fight for democracy that it's not over yet."

Civic Party lawmaker Dennis Kwok said Carrie Lams victory was regrettable.

"The election result is directly contrary to the majority public opinion of the Hong Kong people," Kwok told journalists. "It is regrettable that they have decided to exercise their vote that way."

"It will simply make governing Hong Kong much more difficult in the next five years, and [is] not good for one country, two systems," he warned.

China's parliamentary chief has already warned Hong Kong that Beijing has the right to reject any leader chosen by the city in forthcoming elections, as democracy activists in the city accused Beijing of interfering in the city's internal politics by making their support for Lam known.

The pro-China Ta Kung Pao newspaper ran a headline on Sunday that read simply: "Vote for Lam."

Under the terms of the 1997 handover, the former British colony was promised a "high degree of autonomy" and the maintenance of its existing freedoms, including an independent judiciary, and freedom of press, publication and association.

But press freedom groups have said editorial independence in the city is now a thing of the past, while U.S. and British officials have expressed concerns over the cross-border detentions of five Hong Kong booksellers for selling "banned" political books to customers across the internal border in mainland China.

Reported by Lam Kwok-lap for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Wang Siwei for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Belarusian riot police arrested dozens in the capital Minsk on March 26 as people tried to gather to protest against the arrests of antigovernment demonstrators from the previous day. RFE/RL's Belarus Service has filmed people being arrested and put in police vans at Minsk's downtown Kastrychnitskaya Square. (RFE/RL's Belarus Service)
As Russian police arrested anticorruption activist and opposition leader Aleksei Navalny on March 26, protesters used private cars to block the road in front of the police bus Navalny was being transported in, according to witnesses. The police dispersed the crowd and pushed cars off the road to make way for the bus. (RFE/RL's Russian Service)
Ukraine's Defense Ministry said a military helicopter has crashed in the eastern Donbas region, killing five people aboard.

The ministry said the crash happened March 26 near Kramatorsk, the headquarters of the military operation against Russia-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country.

Two crew members and three passengers died when the Mi-2 copter crashed after apparently flying into some power lines, the ministry said.

Ukrainian government forces have battled separatists in the east for nearly three years, in a war that has killed more than 9,900 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
Over the past five years, Iranian officials and state media have touted the "indigenous" ingenuity in the Islamic republic's mass-produced Mohajer-6 combat drone, which Russia has deployed in its war against Ukraine.

But a new investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, has found that electronic components underpinning Tehran's production of the Mohajer-6 are far from homegrown.



The Mohajer-6 drones contain components produced by companies from the United States and the European Union, both of which have sanctions restricting the export to Iran of such technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes  dual-use technology.

The presence of these components in the Mohajer-6 does not mean their producers are in violation of U.S. or EU sanctions, and RFE/RL does not have evidence that this is the case.

The investigation also found Mohajer-6 components produced in China, including a real-time mini-camera made by a Hong Kong firm that said it was "very sorry" that its products were being used in war.

At least one major foreign-produced component of the Mohajer-6 has previously been identified by reporters in a Mohajer-6 recovered from the battlefield by the Ukrainian military: an engine made by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, a subsidiary of the Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products.

But Ukrainian intelligence assesses that the Iranian combat drone contains components from nearly three dozen different technology companies based in North America, the EU, Japan, and Taiwan, the Schemes investigation has found. A majority of these companies are based in the United States.



A Schemes reporter who personally inspected the foreign-made drone parts identified components produced by at least 15 of these manufacturers.

These include parts made by the U.S. technology firm Texas Instruments, which said in a statement that it does not sell into Russia or Iran and complies with applicable laws and regulations.

To identify these components, Schemes reporters examined parts of the Mohajer-6 drone that the Ukrainian military shot down over the Black Sea near the Mykolayiv region coastal town of Ochakiv. They also reviewed Ukrainian intelligence records on the sources of these components.

The drone also contains a microchip bearing the logo of a California technology company and a thermal-imaging camera that Ukrainian intelligence says may have been produced by a firm based in Oregon or China.

Both Western officials and experts on illicit technology transfers say Iran has built a broad, global procurement network using front companies and other proxies in third countries to obtain dual-use technology from the United States and the EU.

"Exporters will look at the request coming from the [United Arab Emirates] or another third country, and they'll think that they're selling to an end user based there, when really the end user is in Iran," Daniel Salisbury, a senior research fellow with the Department of War Studies at King's College London, told RFE/RL.

In September, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions specifically targeting Iranian companies that Washington links to the production and transfer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia for deployment in its war on Ukraine. Fighting rages with no sign of an end more than eight months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked invasion on February 24.

"Non-Iranian, non-Russian entities should also exercise great caution to avoid supporting either the development of Iranian UAVs or their transfer, or sale of any military equipment to Russia for use against Ukraine," U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement announcing the sanctions.

Chinese Cameras, California Chips

Development of the Mohajer-6, the latest model in a series of drones Tehran has used since the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, began in 2017, while mass production began the following year. During a ceremony commemorating the Islamic Revolution, then-Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said that the new tactical drone could perform surveillance, reconnaissance, as well as help destroy targets.

Hatami extolled what he described as the drones domestic design, a portrayal echoed in later reports by Iranian media.

"The homegrown drone was made through cooperation among the army, Defense Ministry, and Quds Aviation Industries," the English-language Tehran Times quoted an Iranian military official as saying in July 2019.

The dismantling of the Mohajer-6 drone recovered by the Ukrainian military shows that the UAV is packed with foreign components.

One of these parts is a bright-orange real-time mini-camera produced by the Hong Kong-based company RunCam Technology. Documents seen by Schemes show that Ukrainian intelligence has also identified RunCam as the producer of the camera, which likely assists in remote guidance of the drone.

Founded in 2013, RunCam is involved in the development and production of so-called "first-person-view" real-time cameras. "Our users are our friends," the company's website states. The site says that RunCam has two authorized Iranian dealers.

Reached by Schemes for comment about the use of its camera in the Iranian drone deployed by Russia in its war on Ukraine, RunCam said in an e-mailed response: "We are very sorry to know that RunCam's products were used in warfare. RunCam is specialized in producing products for model aircraft hobby. We never contact any customer related to military."

The provenance of the Mohajer-6 drone-s thermal-imaging camera is more difficult to determine. A Ukrainian intelligence assessment reviewed by Schemes indicates it could be the Ventus Hot model produced by Sierra-Olympic Technologies, based in the U.S. state of Oregon, but that it also resembles a cheaper analog available for sale by the Chinese company Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology.

Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology said in an e-mailed statement that the company did not "have any business with Iran," because "it will affect our business." The company said it specializes in marine services and is not involved in manufacturing. It also said that it did not have a single successful order for its online advertisement of the thermal-imaging camera resembling the one recovered from the Iranian drone.

Sierra-Olympic Technologies did not respond to a request for comment on the possible use of its thermal-imaging cameras in Iranian combat drones in time for publication.

Microchips recovered from the drone also featured the logos of the California-based company Linear Technology Corporation and its parent company, the Massachusetts-based semiconductor company Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). ADI did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment on the possible use of its technology in the Iranian combat drone.

Schemes reporters also observed among the components of the Iranian drone a voltage step-down converter produced by Texas Instruments. The company said in an e-mailed statement that it "does not sell into Russia, Belarus, or Iran."

"TI complies with applicable laws and regulations in the countries where we operate, and does not support or condone the use of our products in applications they weren't designed for," Texas Instruments said.

Schemes reporters also saw several components produced by the California-based technology manufacturer Xilinx, whose parent company is the multinational semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), also based in California.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, one of these Xilinx components was integrated into a video data-link module located in the wing of the Mohajer-6 that helped carry out attack missions.

"This module transmits information from the board to the missile head. That is, guidance for the missile. With the help of this module, it was possible to guide the missile to the target," a Ukrainian military intelligence representative told Schemes.

AMD did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

'No Authorization'

Previous media reports about the components of the Mohajer-6 drone, including by CNN, have shown evidence that its engine was produced by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, whose parent company is the Quebec-based Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP).

The Canadian company responded to the reports on October 21, saying in a statement that it "has not authorized and has not given any authorization to its distributors to supply military UAV manufacturers in Iran or Russia."

"As soon as we were made aware of this situation, we started an investigation to determine the source of the engines," BRP said. .

But Schemes reporters found that the authorized Rotax distributor listed on the Austrian manufacturer's website advertised itself as a Rotax aircraft engines distributor for Iran as recently as December 2020.

The distributor, the Italian company Luciano Sorlini S.p.a., has posted multiple magazine advertisements on its websites in which it describes itself as a Rotax distributor for numerous countries. Prior to January 2021, Iran was listed among these countries.

The Rotax website also lists a Tehran-based company -- MahtaWing -- as an official service center for its engines. The company, known in Persian as Mahtabal, conducts repairs of Rotax engines, including the Rotax 912 iS, the engine that was found in the Mohajer-6 combat drone recovered in Ukraine.

BRP said in an e-mailed statement on November 4 that while Luciano Sorlini S.p.a. is the appointed distributor of Rotax aircraft engines in Iran, "since 2019, no Rotax engines have been sold in Iran, and we will not sell any engines to Iran moving forward."

The Canadian company said it had "internal controls" that "significantly" restrict the sale of its products for military purposes.

"For example, the sale of any BRP product to operators with any military activity in Iran, Turkey, and Russia is strictly prohibited," BRP said. "We conduct our business in compliance with all EU, Canadian, and U.S. applicable regulations."

BRP described the Iranian company MahtaWing as a "local service center" that "offers maintenance services for previously sold aircraft engines."

Shahriar Siami of RFE/RL's Radio Farda contributed to this report.
Police in Kyrgyzstan have used stun grenades to disperse hundreds of protesters at a rally against the detention of a former parliamentary deputy who plans to run for the presidency.

Dozens of demonstrators were detained in the March 25 confrontation, which underscored growing political tensions ahead of a November presidential election in the Central Asian country.

About 500 demonstrators started to gather outside the security service headquarters in Bishkek after authorities detained Sadyr Japarov on March 25 upon his return to Kyrgyzstan from three years of self-imposed exile.

He faces charges of taking a government official hostage in 2013.

A Reuters photographer said some protesters started scuffling with police and throwing bottles at authorities a few hours into the protest.

Kyrgyzstans Interior Ministry says it detained 68 people.

Zhaparov had been a senior member of the government and an adviser to former President Kurmanbek Bakiev.

After Bakiev was ousted in 2010, Zhaparov became a member of parliament.

But in 2013, Zhaparov was sentenced to 18 months in prison on charges of attempting to violently seize power after he and other lawmakers tried to force their way into the presidential palace during a protest.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and Interfax
Police in the Romanian capital of Bucharest said 2,000 people, including Orthodox priests, took to the streets in an antiabortion rally.

Organizers on March 25 said rallies also took place in some 300 cities and towns in Romania and neighboring Moldova.

Members of antiabortion groups, marching from a park in southern Bucharest, shouted slogans such as "Life!" and carried banners reading Women deserve better than abortion."

Abortion was banned in Romania during the communist regime of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who was killed in 1989 after a popular rebellion.

Abortion was legalized in 1990, with as many as 992,000 registered that year -- three times the number of births recorded.

Romania still has one of the highest abortion rates within Europe.

The ProVita Humanitarian Foundation estimates that about 210 abortions are carried out every day in Romania.

Abortions in Romania are legal through the first 14 weeks of a pregnancy.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP
MOSCOW  Police detained anticorruption activist Aleksei Navalny as hundreds were arrested and thousands rallied in cities across Russia in the largest public demonstrations the country has seen in years.

Navalny, a gadfly crusader whose fight against graft has resonated with many Russians, was detained as he emerged with supporters from a subway station March 26 in central Moscow.

On Twitter, Roman Rubanov, the director of Navalny's nongovernmental foundation, posted videos of a crowd of supporters trying to prevent the van carrying Navalny from moving amid a heavy riot police presence.

Thousands of protesters crowded into the square, some of them chanting "shame!" and "defenders of thieves!" One protester mounted the base of a famous statue of poet Aleksandr Pushkin and raised a placard with "Putin 666." He was swiftly detained.

Several other protesters were detained as the riot police cleared the way for the van to pass through. Dozens of others were arrested at another square, not far away, amid a similarly heavy police presence and a helicopter circling over the crowd.

Navalny, who challenged Moscows mayor in 2013 elections and has announced his intention to run for the presidency in 2018, called on supporters to continue their protest without him.

More than 800 people were believed to be detained in Moscow alone, according to the the nongovernmental organization OVD-Info. City police did not immediately release any figures, but the state news agency TASS, citing an unnamed Moscow police source, said more than 500 people were arrested.

Yury Kostyuk, 28, who works for a telecommunications company in a regional city, said he attended the rally because the horrific amount of corruption and theft.

As they say, the fish rots from the head down. We're here to remove the head," Kostyuk told RFE/RL.

Yevgeny, an unemployed 51-year-old who declined to give his surname, said he turned out because he felt the laws applied only to the powerful.

"The problem is there are no laws and there is no justice. Even when there is the law, it doesn't apply to everyone. The slogan of the rally should be: the law applies to all," he told RFE/RL.

Combined with similar rallies in several cities across Russia, the demonstrations were among the largest since 2011 and 2012, when thousands rallied to criticize elections that were won by Russias ruling party and President Vladimir Putin.

The size of the March 26 protests was remarkable as well because they were unauthorized. Recent laws have tightened criminal punishment for protests not sanctioned by the city authorities.

Leonid Volkov, who heads Navalnys foundation, said police officers were searching the foundations Moscow offices March 26, and had detained a number of foundation employees.

The rallies followed a report released by Navalny's foundation on March 2 accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of using charities and NGOs to collect donations from tycoons and state banks and using the funds to buy expensive assets.

Navalny said on his website that protests would be held in 99 Russian cities, but local authorities refused to give official permission in 72 of them. Still, the demonstrations attracted crowds of hundreds or thousands in most large cities across the country, according to local media.

In the port city of Vladivostok, home to the Russian Pacific Fleet, police detained at least 30 people. Local Russian media outlets reported around 1,000 people came out to the rally, which was not authorized by the city administration.

Some 2,000 people gathered in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, where the protest was authorized by the authorities. Protesters held signs that said No to corruption, and images of yellow rubber ducks, after reports that Medvedev had a special house for a duck on one of his properties.

According to local media around 1,500 people came out in the Siberian cities of Krasnoyarsk and Omsk. In Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, at least five were detained at the rally and nine others afterward. Six people were detained in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

In what may be an indication of the depth of Russians' unhappiness with rampant corruption, rallies were also held in smaller provincial cities, such as Komsomolsk-on-Amur, home to fighter jet manufacturer Sukhoi. Six people were detained there.

And in Makhachkala, the capital of the North Caucasus region of Daghestan -- a region not known for antigovernment protests -- more than a dozen people were detained after police told organizers the rally was unsanctioned.

Navalny announced in December that he would run for president next March when Putin is widely expected to seek a new six-year term.

Russian authorities have said Navalny will be barred from the ballot if a conviction on charges of financial crimes is upheld on appeal. But he has pushed ahead with his campaign.

Navalny has said the two previous convictions in two separate cases were politically motivated punishment for his opposition to Putin.

With reporting by RFE/RLs Russian Service, Current Time TV, Interfax, and AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow on March 27 with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, with both men lauding the close relations between the two countries.

Noting that Serbia is conducting a presidential election campaign, Putin said Russia is "wishing success to the incumbent authorities."

Vucic is the favorite in the April 2 vote after President Tomislav Nikolic decided not to seek a second term.

Earlier in the day, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said "there can be no talk that the Kremlin interfered in any electoral processes."

Vucic also confirmed that Russia will provide "as a gift" six MiG-29 fighter jets, which will arrive in Serbia "within several days or several weeks."

Vucic said the planes would enter military service by the end of the year following refurbishing.

Russia will also provide 30 T-72 tanks and 30 BRDM-2 patrol combat vehicles to Serbia for free.

Vucic, a former nationalist, has remade himself as a pro-European Union reformer while seeking to maintain good relations with traditional ally Russia as well.

Based on reporting by TASS, AP, and dpa


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
Identity thieves are working overtime this tax season, impersonating taxpayers and filing fake tax returns.

As they become more cunning at gaining access to personal information, more returns are being stopped for review  and delaying legitimate refunds for weeks, if not months.

The Virginia Department of Taxation  to combat rising tax refund fraud  has mailed about 104,000 letters to taxpayers to date this year asking for additional information to verify their identities.

In 2016, of 4.2 million returns filed with the state, the agency sent 140,000 letters for the filing season  and denied or reduced refunds on about 35,000 returns.

Our efforts are working, Department of Taxation spokeswoman Paige Tucker said.

More than $60 million in fraudulent and erroneous refunds were stopped from being issued in 2015 and 2016, she said. We did that by verifying information on tax returns before issuing refunds.

In 2013 and 2014, more than $40 million in fraudulent and erroneous refunds were prevented from being issued.

Were taking these extra steps to verify information to be sure refunds go to the right person, Tucker said.

While it may take a bit longer for some taxpayers to get their refunds, we believe its worth the time to protect taxpayers and the state from costly tax refund fraud schemes.

Tax agencies and the IRS also are asking taxpayers to provide drivers license numbers on their returns as another way to verify identities and reduce theft.

***

Despite stepped-up efforts to stop fraud, fake refunds are slipping through the system.

It is unclear how much money has been stolen.

We know it does happen, Tucker said. However, we dont know how many (fake refunds) are issued in a given year.

The scam is often discovered when a taxpayer tries to file a return only to get it kicked back because an impostor filed under their name, address and Social Security number.

The filing of a bogus tax return does not prevent the actual taxpayer from receiving a valid refund, Tucker said. The taxpayer needs to alert the Taxation Department to the theft and submit documentation to prove their claims and identity.

Once we know that a fraudulent return has been filed, the affected taxpayers account is flagged, she said. If the fraudster filed electronically, the taxpayer is required to file a return on paper for the current tax year.

Only one electronic submission is allowed for each tax year, so the paper return is manually reviewed and processed. If the taxpayer is owed a refund and we receive all requested verification documents, it may take up to four weeks for their refund to be issued.

Taxpayers who are victims of fraud receive unique personal identification numbers each year after the scheme is identified. The PIN process enables taxpayers to file electronically and reduces the risk of ongoing issues, Tucker said.

The refund review program has been in effect for more than 10 years. But its constantly adjusted to respond to greater threats.

Like all state revenue agencies and the Internal Revenue Service, were responding to increased incidents of refund fraud as a result of identity theft, Tucker said.

Criminals keep finding new ways to cheat and steal, said Cathy Mueller, a tax preparer with Peoples Income Tax Inc. in Henrico County. People who arent breaking the rules are being inconvenienced.

For returns that pass the review process, the state is usually pretty fast with refunds  about one week to 10 days, Mueller said. The IRS is slower this year in issuing refunds. Most federal tax refunds are taking 10 to 14 days for direct deposits, although the IRS says it could take up to 21 days.

***

Every Virginia tax return passes through analytical models that review information provided by the taxpayer and compares that to data the state agency has on the taxpayer and to data provided by other agencies, Tucker said.

We cant discuss specific taxpayer information or what criteria are used to select returns for review, Tucker said.

However, tax returns are not selected randomly for additional review, she said.

If the state stops a refund for review, it can take up to 10 weeks for taxpayers to receive refunds, and thats after additional documentation is submitted.

We received a 2016 tax return filed with your name and/or Social Security number, the letter states. We have stopped this return for additional review because we are taking extra precautions to verify tax return information and to be sure that refunds go to the right person.

The taxpayer must check one of three boxes. The boxes say:

I did not file a 2016 Virginia income tax return. By checking this box, the taxpayer needs to alert the agency, since an impostor most likely has filed a return in their name.

I did file a 2016 Virginia income tax return, and I have already received my refund. If this is the case, disregard the letter.

I did file a 2016 Virginia income tax return, but I have not yet received my refund. In this instance, the taxpayer will need to submit additional documents such as copies of a W-2 form  a wage and tax statement, a 1099 form  miscellaneous income or a VK-1 form  an owners share of income.

The state agency also requires one of the following: a copy of a current Virginia drivers license or Virginia identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles; a copy of the last pay stub received in 2016 with year-end information; a copy of a 2016 bank statement to show at least one deposit from each payer from which a withholding is claimed; or information from a previous Virginia income tax return.

Taxpayers are given a deadline to submit information. If they do not respond by the deadline, the agency closes the case and does not issue the refund, Tucker said. If a taxpayer provides the requested information later, we will review the provided documentation and determine if the refund should be issued.

***

The tax agency has become more cautious and constantly adjusts its models based on analyses of current filing data and information received from other states and the IRS on patterns and issues they are experiencing, Tucker said.

We have multiple methods to stop, reverse or recover fraudulent refunds before they are received by the fraudster, she said. This year, we have extended the length of time that a refund is processed through the bank to reduce the likelihood of fraudulent refunds being issued. We have successfully recovered refunds that may have been lost in previous years.

During calendar year 2014, the state tax agency reviewed about 42,000 returns  and refunds were denied or reduced on 13,000 returns. The number rose in calendar year 2015 to about 67,000 returns that were scrutinized  and refunds were denied or reduced on more than 18,000 returns.

Edward Blair, owner of Blair & Associates CPAs PLC in Henrico whose firm employs 10 tax experts focused mostly on preparing individual returns, said five or six clients have received the agency letter in the past week.

The letter is printed with the state seal and Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Taxation with this title: Did you file a Virginia income tax return?

Some clients wonder if the letter itself is a scam, Blair said.
Two people were displaced Sunday after a fire swept through a home in the Fulton Hill area of Richmond.

Flames were coming from the home in the 5500 block of Campbell Avenue when crews arrived shortly before 11 a.m., fire officials said.

The residents, a man and a woman, escaped the home safely. The blaze was brought under control in about 15 minutes.

Investigators were working to determine the cause of the fire, which did extensive damage to the home.

The Red Cross is assisting the displaced residents.
The Richmond Police Department is pausing its ongoing push to equip all of its officers with body cameras in favor of a gunfire detection system the department hopes to install in one of three high-crime neighborhoods.

Police Chief Alfred Durham said he has high hopes for the system, called ShotSpotter, which uses microphones to detect and pinpoint the location of gunfire and relay that information to police in near real time.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced plans to dedicate $235,000 of a projected year-end budget surplus toward the system earlier this month when he introduced his spending plan for the coming year.

Durham told the City Council last week that he had also hoped to include $400,000 in his proposed budget for the coming fiscal year for 200 more body cameras, adding to 200 that the department already has in hand and 200 it has ordered but which have not yet been delivered. The amount would cover not only the cost of the cameras but also storage space to hold the footage they record.

But given a choice between more body cameras and a gunfire alert system, Durham said the gunshot alerts struck him as more important.

This ShotSpotter technology  thats a matter of life or death. As you know, we have a number of shootings in the city, we have gunshots go off, he said. I have to make decisions that are in the interest of public safety. Ive got to weigh what technology is going to benefit the department.

A gun was used in about 90 percent of the citys 61 homicides last year  its deadliest in a decade. More than 200 people survived being shot in 2016.

Even when residents report gunfire, responding officers typically only get a general idea of where shots were fired and in most cases can only drive through a neighborhood, Durham said. By the time officers arrive, everyone is long gone unless someone was seriously injured or killed.

ShotSpotter can tell officers within 10 to 15 feet where the shots were fired, and can be tied to security cameras to gather video, Durham said.

He hopes to install the system either in an area in the East End encompassing Mosby Court, around Gilpin Court north of downtown or in the vicinity of the Midlothian Village Apartments on Midlothian Turnpike in South Richmond.

He said the department selected the areas based on an analysis of where shootings have been reported in the city.

***

Richmond is pursuing ShotSpotter at a time when departments around the country have adopted mixed views about the technology. Some are actively expanding their systems, and others are dropping their contracts with the company to pay for body cameras, among other things.

The system is active in about 90 cities across the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and South Africa. Richmond would be the first city in Virginia to use the technology. Washington, D.C., was one of its earliest adopters in 2006, and where Durham spent most of his career.

Its actual effect on gun violence, though, is uncertain, and most of the positive results trumpeted by the Silicon Valley-based company, SST, are anecdotal.

On the companys website, former San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr said gun violence has decreased 50 percent, which he credits to nearly a decade of ShotSpotter participation.

Part of the premise of the technology is to pinpoint the location of gunfire within feet and seconds of the trigger pull, allowing police officers to report to scenes in time to collect physical evidence such as shell casings or find the person who fired the shots. But a recent study by Forbes found that while the system works as advertised, resulting in more alerts of gunfire, it has produced few tangible results.

Of the thousands of ShotSpotter alerts in these cities, police were unable to find evidence of gunshots between 30 and 70 percent of the time, the November article said.

Jennifer L. Doleac, an assistant professor of public policy and economics at the University of Virginia, researches gun violence. She said the technology produces a wealth of data that could shed more light on gun violence in the country, but the company keeps its data private hoping to sell it.

Its so difficult to study gun violence in this country. Researchers have to rely on homicides as an outcome, Doleac said. And while any homicide is terrible, its still a really rare event when comparing it to the totality of gunshots fired.

Doleac said the data could also prove the systems effectiveness, but SST has resisted any comprehensive study because departments continue to adopt the technology without it.

If it increases the possibility that a person who fired the gun gets caught, its worth it, she said. There is no real evidence that this is actually the case.

Ralph A. Clark, president and CEO of SST, said thats missing the point of the technology.

Burglar alarms dont allow police to catch burglars, Clark said. You cant measure what youve prevented. You shouldnt expect that this technology would catch a bad guy.

What a community should expect, he said, is that when gunfire happens, police show up. In most communities where this acoustic surveillance system is used, gunfire is not reported 80 to 90 percent of the time, Clark said.

Youre going to see more gunfire than you ever were before, Clark said. And for me, thats OK. Because these incidents are happening and when it does happen, and no one shows up, something is broken.

The technology alone is not going to close a case, Clark said, but he hopes it will help the department build stronger ties in these underserved communities and increase their participation as witnesses.

ShotSpotter can tell you precisely where the shot was fired, but not who. Only the community can do that, he said.

Doleac recommended that any department considering ShotSpotter should insist on owning the data produced by the system in its city, and a one-year control study to determine its effectiveness.

If Richmond decides to try ShotSpotter, and doesnt incorporate a formal evaluation into the first year of its implementation, then in one year well be having the same conversation were having now about whether the tool is worth the money, and no new information to help decide whether to renew the contract, she said. An evaluation might seem like a hassle, but its much better to make a plan up front for how well measure ShotSpotters benefits.

Durham supported the idea of a study. Any technology that we purchase for the police department, we are always assessing it, he said. Giving the example of the body camera program, Durham said it has lowered use-of-force complaints from residents. I think theres a correlation.

Doleac said the comparison to body cameras is apt, because many departments have implemented them in a control group  where some officers have them and others dont  to measure their effectiveness. The same steps have not been taken with ShotSpotter, she said.

Clark said he encourages local use of the data and invites departments to share it with their community. Its really eye-opening, he said. But when it comes to outside researchers, Clark said they should have to pay for the data just as the cities and their taxpayers do.

In addition to questions about data ownership, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia raised concerns about the possibility that the microphones ShotSpotter would deploy around Richmond can be used to listen to and record conversations  an issue that has also been raised in other localities where the technology has been adopted.

The communities and neighborhoods where this technology is to be deployed deserve assurance that the technology and the policies for its use keep the focus on the unobjectionable goal of listening for and locating gunshots, said the ACLUs executive director, Claire Guthrie Gastanaga. We would encourage the City Council to refuse to approve the budget for this technology before a public hearing can be held on the capabilities of the technology and the policies that will guide its deployment and the use of the recordings made.

The sensors are placed on the top of buildings and poles, well above street level, SST said, and are designed to only record or activate at loud noises. ShotSpotter tends to be capable only of detecting outdoor gunfire, not shots fired indoors.

Police departments across the country, which are also trying to grapple with increasing crime and tightening budgets, are having to assess whether ShotSpotter, which costs between $65,000 and $90,000 a square mile, is worth the price tag.

Charlotte, N.C., ended its contract with the company last year in favor of crime cameras and body cameras. ShotSpotter was implemented in the North Carolina city ahead of the 2012 Democratic National Convention and was paid for by federal grant money to increase security.

A memo from the City Council and city manager there said the police department felt the return on investment was not high enough to justify a renewal, the Charlotte Observer reported. The department opted instead to spend the $160,000 to buy street-level crime cameras and body cameras.

Charlotte said theyve never caught a shooter red-handed, so it wasnt worth it, Doleac said. But ShotSpotter pointed out that that cant be the only metric, that it might be deterring crime.

Other cities, however, are expanding the system. Pittsburgh is currently looking to expand ShotSpotter into more neighborhoods, and San Francisco has expanded three times.

***

Richmond began testing its body camera program in February 2016 with the rollout of 40 cameras.

Since then it has implemented 200 more with another 200 on the way, all purchased as part of a $2.36 million contract with Taser International, the Scottsdale, Ariz., maker of body cameras and stun guns.

Since taking over the department in 2015, Durham has spoken of the importance of body camera technology, which has been embraced by police forces across the country.

But Durham said other budget items took priority this time, among them ShotSpotter and finding money to fill enough vacancies to bring staffing back up to the departments authorized force of 750 officers.

Currently, the department has only 654 officers available for active duty.

If I dont have the personnel to put a body-worn camera on, its all for naught, Durham said. While I would love to have that technology  its good for the community and police officers  but my priority right now is to find money to hire officers and retain officers.

He said the department will continue to apply for grants in hopes of finding outside funding for more cameras.

Like Richmond, every other department in the region is either pursuing body cameras or has begun equipping at least some of their officers with them.

In Henrico County, body cameras are issued to all officers assigned to patrol operations, said Lt. Chris L. Garrett. He said the department currently has 414 cameras deployed among its 612 sworn officers.

The Hanover County Sheriffs Office has ordered 155 body cameras for its 156 uniformed patrol officers, according to investigator Chris Stem. Stem said the first officers will begin wearing them Saturday with the goal of having all of the officers wearing them by July 1.

The Ashland Police Department has used body cameras since 2014, according to officer Chip Watts. All 18 of Ashlands uniformed officers are issued body cameras, Watts said.

Chesterfield County Chief of Police Col. Thierry G. Dupuis said Chesterfield began looking into body cameras in 2013, then implemented a pilot program in 2015. But it will not be until the end of this year that the countys officers will be fully equipped with the technology ordered from Taser International. Sheriff Karl Leonard said the Sheriffs Office is also looking to outfit 80 deputies with the cameras and start implementation in the next budget year that begins July 1 with 20 cameras a year.

Dupuis said he believed in 2013 that the technology was going to evolve and get cheaper, and he felt that he turned out to be right and saved the county money.

A lot of people jumped on the bandwagon, he said. I didnt need to be first out of the gate because I have a duty to be responsible for the community. There wasnt an urgency here, so to speak. But at the same time, there was an urgency because no agency is immune from having an incident.
On the evening of March 13, business leaders, two lobbyists and a powerful lawmaker dined in a meeting room of a Shockoe Slip hotel.

Their choices at The Berkeley included filet or pan-roasted Atlantic salmon with chefs selection of seasonal butter.

But they chewed on more than steak. This group had gathered to discuss the guidelines and schedule of a fledgling program called GO Virginia that will provide grants for economic development ideas that promote collaboration.

The GO Virginia executive committees use of a hotel conference room was an unconventional one for a government meeting. And while the meeting was properly advertised to the public on the states website, the $1,624.75 tab for a two-hour gathering caught some officials by surprise.

The cost, I will say to you, does sound high, said Dubby Wynne, chairman of the 24-member GO Virginia board, which was created in 2016 by the General Assembly and Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

The bill  paid for by taxpayers  included $390 for 13 dinners, $984.75 for use of the conference room and $250 for a conference planning fee, according to an invoice.

The $35.5 million Go Virginia program, which is expected to be trimmed in its early stages, will eventually give grants to ideas that promote regional collaboration on economic development. Proposals are expected to start arriving by September, coming from nine new regional councils across the state and then vetted by the board headed by Wynne, a retired media executive from Virginia Beach.

GO Virginia is housed in the state Department of Housing and Community Development. Joining state officials at the dinner meeting were GO Virginia executive committee members from the business community and House Majority Leader M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights.

The two lobbyists who joined in the meal are not part of the executive committee or GO Virginia board. They are expected to reimburse the state for the cost of their dinners, said William C. Shelton, director of the Department of Housing and Community Development. They were Frank Atkinson and William Wampler of the consulting wing of McGuireWoods, which lobbied lawmakers to create GO Virginia and has been intimately involved in the planning and marketing of it.

McGuireWoods Consulting maintains a website and social media for GO Virginia paid for by business interests, separate from the programs state government website.

This week, Shelton said, Wynne notified the state that the business members of the executive committee also would pay the cost of their meals.

Shelton said the meeting was arranged at the hotel to accommodate the schedule of some committee members who traveled to Richmond. The full board met on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 14, but the separate committee meeting on the evening prior to that made sense for members schedules, Shelton said.

The meeting needed to be held in a place accessible to the public, and state offices are not open in the evening, he said. So a vendor booked the hotel conference room.

That will not be the norm, Shelton said Friday when asked about the bill and the use of a hotel conference room for a government board meeting.
In Virginia Democratic politics, there are two definitions of climate change.

The first definition is scientific: that weather patterns are shifting on a regional and global scale because mankinds continuing reliance on fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, is causing the Earths atmosphere to heat up, contributing to hotter summers, colder winters and more destructive storms year-round.

The second definition is political: that Ralph Northams ambition to succeed fellow Democrat Terry McAuliffe as governor demands he finesse his environmental credentials rather than risk appearing disloyal to McAuliffe, whose economic development agenda includes giant natural gas pipelines opposed by the partys influential and deep-pocketed greens.

Refusing to indicate whether he is for or against the pipelines, Northam  a serene pediatric neurologist attempting to accommodate a restless McAuliffe and a restive party  says only that in deciding whether to approve their construction, the government should use sound science.

But Northam is not alone in tailoring his positions on the actual environment to the electoral environment  one increasingly shaped by issues and individuals beyond Virginias borders: health care, immigration rights and the bellowing presence that looms over all, President Donald Trump.

Northams rival for the nomination, Tom Perriello, who opposes the pipelines as a threat to air and water and property rights, describes himself as a skeptic on offshore drilling, but in his one term in Congress, he was a co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation opening the Virginia coast to exploration for oil and gas. It is an idea Northam has long resisted, though an online hit ad, via a suspicious Twitter account, notes that was not always the case. Perriellos spokesman said the candidate had nothing to do with the ad.

Largely because of his late, surprise entry about three months ago, Perriello  to overtake a primary opponent who has been running for governor since he was elected lieutenant governor in 2013  has no choice but to play the disrupter. Perriello aims to accomplish with dramatic flourish what Northam hopes to achieve with stoop work.

The current atmosphere demands as much from Perriello.

Virginia, the only state in the Old Confederacy carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016, remains  particularly in its vote-rich cities and suburbs  stoutly hostile to Trump. That fueled Perriellos launch in January and remains the central theme of his candidacy, whether soliciting votes, endorsements or donations.

The gubernatorial election in Virginia was always going to be viewed through a national lens. Because it is one of only two held in the year following the presidential election  the other is in New Jersey, another Clinton state  the contest is increasingly seen as a mini-referendum on the direction of national politics; an early indicator of a possible correction.

Ergo, Virginia, a state that also tipped twice to Barack Obama, is represented by Perriello as a crucible of progressivism; its election for governor a test of that spirit  never mind, Republicans remain a powerful presence because of legislative gerrymandering and a quirky schedule of off-year elections that magnifies the strength of their shrinking, heavily white base.

That struggle apparently was a factor in the decision of 30 former Obama aides to support Perriello. Perriello also has been backed by John Podesta, chairman of the Clinton campaign. A smattering of Bernie Sanders allies have endorsed Perriello, whose campaign high command is drawn from the Sanders apparatus.

That few of these people may live in Virginia is of no moment. With these endorsements, Perriello, who won and lost his U.S. House seat because of his loyalty to Obama, is attempting to graft to his candidacy a measure of national glitter that in short order might generate the attention that Northam attracted over two terms in the Virginia Senate and nearly four years as lieutenant governor.

For Perriello, this thinking also is guiding fundraising. Anticipating that Northam will maintain the upper hand  in part, because McAuliffe can squeeze donors in Northams behalf and suppress others who might consider giving to Perriello  Perriello has visited the Democratic cash pots of New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

It recalls McAuliffes first failed campaign for governor in 2009.

Facing two established figures in the Democratic primary, McAuliffe gambled that he could run as an outsider, wooing enough newcomers to overcome opponents, who  because they were legislators and party notables  had a significant advantage among the rank-and-file activists who bother to cast ballots on a Tuesday in early June.

McAuliffe finished a distant second, having raised $7.5 million and spent an average of $90 per vote. About 310,000 Virginians voted in the primary, roughly 6 percent of the electorate. This years primary  concurrent with a Republican contest  is a two-candidate affair, perhaps dampening Democratic turnout. But it could get a lift from primaries for House of Delegates seats.

Northam, much like the little engine that could, has steadily chugged across the state, assisting local, legislative and state candidates and officials in return for their endorsements. By his campaigns reckoning, these Democrats have generated in recent general elections at least 6.6 million votes, some of which overlap.

It is from that trove that Northam hopes to harvest votes. Thats not including those Northam accumulated himself in 2013, running for the lieutenant governor nomination in the June primary, and then, in the November election.

In contrast, Perriello, tweaked nonstop by Northam as squishy on abortion rights and gun control, starts from his former congressional district, where he was elected with 158,000 votes in 2008, a presidential year, and was defeated in 2010 because he could summon only 110,000. For his fealty to Obama, Perriello, who predicted his support of the Affordable Care Act might cost him his seat, became something of a poster boy for progressives and was appointed as an Africa envoy.

But resumes and records notwithstanding, Northam and Perriello are still largely unknown to huge swaths of the electorate. One measure of that: a recent focus group in Alexandria by the Perriello campaign of Northern Virginia Democratic voters that suggested an outline is emerging of Northam as a social justice candidate and of Perriello as an economic populist.

Participants were clear on Donald Trump, though: They want Democrats to take the fight to him.

That climate isnt changing.
CHARLOTTESVILLE  Students at the University of Virginia School of Law have been granted a new opportunity for hands-on experience in the world of civil rights litigation.

The Jesse Ball DuPont Fund recently awarded an $80,000 grant to the Civil Rights Litigation Pro Bono Clinic, the latest clinic to sprout from a partnership between U.Va.s law school and the Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center.

The cadre of students  each giving their time without being paid or given course credit  will be performing research, writing memos and diving deep into a variety of cases that involve civil rights, from the criminalization of poverty to housing discrimination, according to Angela Ciolfi of the justice center.

The goal of the clinic really is to achieve good outcomes for our clients, but also to teach the students about the role of race and poverty in American life, Ciolfi said.

Ciolfi is leading the clinic alongside Adeola Ogunkeyede, who recently was hired to lead the centers Civil Rights and Racial Justice Program.

According to Ogunkeyede, who previously worked for the Bronx Defenders in New York, the new clinic will take on cases that challenge policies and practices with widespread negative impacts.

This clinic is different from some of the other clinics we offer in that we are really looking to bring cases that will have an impact beyond the individual clients, Ciolfi said.

Already, the clinic is looking at two cases of local significance. One is the case of Stinnie v. Holcomb, a class-action lawsuit filed in Charlottesvilles federal court that took aim at the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles policy of automatically suspending the drivers licenses of individuals who are unable to pay their court costs.

Although the case was recently dropped from federal court for jurisdictional reasons, it may be filed again in the states appellate court, the ruling judge wrote.

Students also are looking into another class-action case filed on behalf of inmates at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women.

Filed in 2012, that lawsuit contended that the inmates were being provided constitutionally inadequate medical care. A settlement, reached in 2014, required ongoing evaluations and quarterly reports by an expert monitor, Ciolfi said.

Students and attorneys in the clinic are actively monitoring the delivery of health care services to inmates and still have grave concerns that the health of the women living there continues to be placed in jeopardy.

In each case, the participating students work alongside practicing attorneys, giving them a practical understanding of litigation thats harder to replicate inside a classroom.

Many of the LAJCs attorneys are graduates of U.Va., said Kimberly Emery, assistant dean for pro bono and public interest programs at the law school.
By James Broughel

Earlier this year, Richmond appeared to be following the lead of Washington, D.C., and several other states by putting outdated regulations in the crosshairs.

The General Assembly put forward House Bill 1564  dubbed the Red Tape Reduction Act  seeking to reduce regulation in the commonwealth by an ambitious 35 percent. The effort was deemed too expensive, but there are some ways to tackle the problem that wont cost Virginia taxpayers.

In 2016, the Virginia Administrative Code contained over 8.8 million words and more than 133,000 restrictive words (such as shall, must and may not). When combined with the more than 1 million restrictive words in the federal code, its hard to imagine all this complexity not having a chilling effect on Virginia businesses, and more importantly, on growth and innovation.

Perhaps not coincidentally, growth in the state seems to be lagging the rest of the nation. From 2005 to 2015, per capita personal incomes grew by 2.6 percent annually, while the national average was 3.0 percent. Economic growth averaged 0.9 percent per year in Virginia during this period, while the corresponding rate for the nation was 1.3 percent. Seemingly minor differences like these lead to big differences in outcomes for citizens over time.

***

The stalled bill would have established a new Red Tape Reduction Commission to review the states regulatory requirements and charged a new Division of Regulatory Management with measuring the states initial level of regulation. Five new state employees would have been required  at a cost of $700,000 annually, which was apparently too much for the state budget.

While $700,000 is not a trivial expense, eliminating regulatory burdens has the potential to save the state economy millions. Since budget concerns should be taken seriously, how can regulatory reforms be implemented without adding many  or even any  additional budget outlays?

First, look to an existing regulatory body to oversee the effort. Virginia has an Economic and Regulatory Analysis Division within the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget. These types of agencies already have considerable experience with the states regulatory process, so they can hit the ground running.

Another option is for state agencies to do much of the heavy lifting themselves. After all, regulators have some sense of which rules are working and which are not. The problem with this approach is that agency employees may feel personally attacked when reformers seek to eliminate the very rules regulators spent years writing and enforcing. Reform efforts often meet heavy resistance for this reason.

***

This is why changing the incentives of the agencies is critical. Its not enough to just tell them to reduce burdens and hope for the best. A well-known, charismatic leader for the effort can generate public support and buy-in from agencies by explaining in clear terms the benefits of regulatory reform, such as improving economic growth and making government more efficient.

A more formal way to change agency incentives is by imposing a regulatory budget, which places a cap on overall regulatory burdens. In other places where this has been done, such as the Canadian province of British Columbia, agency rule-writers became rule managers who tracked the progress of rules over time and modified or eliminated ineffective ones along the way.

A regulatory budget also gives the agencies some political cover to eliminate rules without having to publicly acknowledge failure. And it gives them the authority to use their expertise to say which rules stay and which ones go.

Perhaps the simplest regulatory budget would phase out two, three, or four requirements for each new one introduced. President Trump recently put in place something similar in the federal government.

There are good reasons to believe reforms like these could greatly benefit Virginias economy, and each can be implemented at little-to-no cost. Slow growth was a key motivation behind the Red Tape Reduction Act, but for the moment it looks like the effort is on hold. It will be important to watch what happens in the months and years ahead.
The 30-degree low on Friday morning will go down as the last freeze in the Richmond area for the foreseeable future, but its too early to say if it was the final freeze.

We have a mild forecast for the rest of March and the early part of April, but a late April chill is never out of the question at this point.

While were enjoying the balmy weekend temperatures, its hard not to shake the thought of the cold snaps over the past few weeks.

The temperature outlook is reasonably high-confidence for the next two weeks.

There are strong signals that temperatures will be at or above normal  meaning mostly highs in the 60s and 70s, and lows generally in the 40s and 50s.

Even with a healthy margin of error, our temperatures probably wouldnt fluctuate any colder than lower 40s, or any warmer than lower 80s over the next 10 days.

That window takes us right up to the time of Richmonds average last freeze date  April 6. Most of the time, the last freeze occurs between March 25 and April 19 when historical variation is taken into account.

Farther north and west into the Piedmont, that date can be a week or two later.

If we can make it to mid-April and the mild pattern is persistent, we can have good confidence that well remain freeze-free until fall from both a statistical and meteorological point of view.

Right now, there are no details about how late April is looking, which is typically the time when a freeze would be very concerning. So another cold snap is entirely possible. As we saw in January, a warmer-than-average month can yield a short but harsh exception to the prevailing pattern. But this time wed be worried about lower 30s, not lower single digits.

Over the past decade, the last freeze has usually been near or earlier than the long-term average.

The latest date in spring for a freeze was May 11, 1966.

The last time the last freeze was significantly later than usual for Richmond was May 4, 1986.

Freezing lows arent the only measure of chilly weather.

April and May are occasionally prone to socking us with cloudy, damp maritime air and highs trapped in the 50s. The heavy winter coats and hats can safely go into storage now, but the next month could very well bring us a day or two where youll want a jacket all day long.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Students at the University of Virginia School of Law have been granted a new opportunity for hands-on experience in the world of civil rights litigation.

The Jesse Ball DuPont Fund recently awarded an $80,000 grant to the Civil Rights Litigation Pro Bono Clinic, the latest entity to sprout from a partnership between UVas law school and the Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center.

The cadre of students  each donating time without payment or course credit  will be performing research, writing memos and diving into cases that involve civil rights, from the criminalization of poverty to housing discrimination, according to Angela Ciolfi of the LAJC.

The goal of the clinic really is to achieve good outcomes for our clients, but also to teach the students about the role of race and poverty in American life, Ciolfi said.

Ciolfi is leading the clinic with Adeola Ogunkeyede, who recently was hired to lead the centers Civil Rights and Racial Justice Program. According to Ogunkeyede, who previously worked for the Bronx Defenders in New York, the new clinic will take on cases that challenge policies and practices with widespread negative impacts.

The LAJC is unique in terms of its focus on systemic work in Virginia, she said. The organization has used that in connecting to the law school to then have students think broadly about impact and work that can benefit a large swath of communities and populations.

This clinic is different from some of the other clinics we offer in that we are really looking to bring cases that will have an impact beyond the individual clients, Ciolfi said.

Class diving into local legal cases

Already, the clinic is examining two cases of local significance. One is the case of Stinnie v. Holcomb, a class-action lawsuit filed in Charlottesvilles federal court that took aim at the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles policy of automatically suspending the drivers licenses of individuals who are unable to pay their court costs. While the case was recently dropped from federal court for jurisdictional reasons, it may be filed again in the states appellate court, the ruling judge wrote.

While that case involves an indigent Charlottesville man and potentially could affect more than 900,000 other Virginians, students also are looking into another class-action case filed on behalf of inmates at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women.

Filed in 2012, that lawsuit contended that the inmates were being provided constitutionally inadequate medical care. A settlement, reached in 2014, required ongoing evaluations and quarterly reports by an expert monitor, Ciolfi said.

Students and attorneys in the clinic are actively monitoring the delivery of health care services to inmates and still have grave concerns that the health of the women living there continues to be placed in jeopardy.

In each case, the participating students work with practicing attorneys, allowing a practical understanding of litigation thats harder to replicate inside a classroom. Many of the LAJCs world-class attorneys are graduates of UVas law school, so their willingness to guide fledgling litigators is understandable, said Kimberly Emery, assistant dean for pro bono and public interest programs at the law school.

Not all lawyers love to have students. Students bring a lot to the table, but they also require a lot of upkeep and maintenance and teaching, Emery said. But I think here, the goal is to really nurture that next generation of lawyers for justice, which is a huge advantage to our students.

Still in its early stages, the clinic does not yet provide law course credit , although that could come later, Ciolfi said. For now, the 11 students enrolled in the clinic are volunteering their time because they are passionate about the work, she said.

Those students were asked to commit five to eight hours per week to their clinical work but are invited to participate as their schedule and interest permits, Ogunkeyede said.

Experience sparks new endeavors

Unsurprisingly, that flexibility has led some students to exceed eight hours of service, especially if their casework sparks a deeper-seated passion for civil justice.

Thats been the case for second-year law student Emily Mordecai, who currently is working on the Fluvanna womens prison case. In her final year as a UVa undergrad, Mordecai participated in a UVa course called Books Behind Bars, which connects students with inmates at a juvenile correctional facility in a community learning environment to discuss and analyze literature.

Being inside that setting and meeting with the residents of that facility every week made me really interested in prison work and making sure prisoners have the full rights afforded to them, Mordecai said. Ive gotten a taste of that here.

Mordecai said her short time with the clinic already has afforded an opportunity to apply her working knowledge of class action and complex litigation into practice, with real-world consequences.

Ive found so far that the attorneys are great and really open to handing us a lot of substantive work, she said. Ive written research memos for things that attorneys will be looking at and then putting in their different filings or motions or things like that. Its been a lot of cool, hands-on work.
Across the commonwealth, families are feeling squeezed by stagnant wages and rising costs. Too many Virginians are working part-time instead of full-time; too many college graduates are working in jobs that dont require a four-year degree.

Virginias anemic economic growth rates have trailed the national average for five straight years. We even fell to the bottom ten states for economic growth in 2014. More people are moving out of Virginia than moving in. Our tax climate ranking fell to 33rd in 2017. Weve dropped out of the top 10 on the CNBC list of Best States for Business, after being number one just five years ago.

Nothing is going to change unless we change it. Thats why Im running for governor.

I recently laid out the Cutting Taxes for ALL Virginians Plan, the centerpiece of a sweeping and substantive agenda to get Virginia growing again. This plan is based on a vision in which our economy is fueled by natural, organic economic growth instead of a top-down government approach that picks winners and losers with taxpayer dollars.

Our plan will cut individual income tax rates by 10 percent across-the-board, the first income tax rate cut since the current system was established in 1972  45 years ago!

This policy will help all Virginians, putting nearly $1,300 per year back into the pocket of the average family, and strengthen our economy. According to an economic analysis, this plan will create more than 53,000 new full-time private-sector jobs.

Cutting tax rates is the right step, but has to be done responsibly. Thats why our plan is phased in over three years, protecting core government services.

State revenues are projected to grow by $3.4 billion over the next five years. Our plan would take $1.3 billion of existing growth to provide tax relief while preserving $2 billion for new spending. We can cut taxes and keep our commitments to education, public safety, and other core government services.

Cutting income tax rates is only part of the equation. To truly spark economic growth, Virginia needs to reform its antiquated system of local business taxes. The Business, Professional, and Occupational License Tax, the Machinery & Tools Tax, and the Merchants Capital Tax are vestiges of a prior era when Virginias economy was healthy.

Local governments, through no fault of their own, now rely on these growth-stunting taxes. We need to work together to replace them with pro-growth alternatives. Our plan sunsets the BPOL, M&T, and Merchants Capital taxes within a three-year period and requires localities to choose to re-enact them or to use alternative revenue streams from a menu of options that will be collaboratively developed.

Unlike previous plans that mandated the elimination of these taxes with no alternatives, our approach gives localities options and a seat at the table to discuss the best way to take this action.

Cutting individual income tax rates and reforming our local business taxes will jumpstart our economy. Weve talked for decades about the need to diversify our economy so we are less affected by federal spending and policies. That time is now.

Its also time to change our mindset about economic development. For too long weve been focused on rifle-shot incentives and grants, where government throws our tax dollars at big corporations hoping they move to Virginia.

Every once in awhile we land a whale, but not often enough. The Cutting Taxes for ALL Virginians Plan will strengthen our economy over the long term through a more patient approach. Our plan will help start-ups and scale-ups, entrepreneurs and existing small businesses. We will make Virginia more competitive and attractive to businesses, retirees and veterans. This is the best path to sustainable, long-term job creation.

Economists and tax experts are praising this plan. Top budget writers and local leaders from around the state are also endorsing it. And I know my fellow Virginians will embrace it as well.

Cutting taxes and reforming Virginias antiquated tax code will not be easy. We have to overcome special interests and decades of entrenched thinking. But I will work with the General Assembly, a duly-elected, co-equal branch of government, to get it done.

I believe the November election to determine who is going to be Virginias next governor should be a big election about ideas, policies and the future of our Commonwealth. This is the first piece of a sweeping, substantive plan I will campaign on to strengthen our economy, create jobs, and make life better for ALL Virginians.
Kenny Klinge moved from Northern Virginia to the northern Shenandoah Valley; in the process, following the Republican vote from the suburbs to the countryside.

A curmudgeonly Republican operative and state Capitol lobbyist who now lives in Basye, in Shenandoah County, Klinge remembers when his party, as a matter of course, carried Fairfax County, the states biggest vote trove. That hasnt happened for nearly a decade. Now the Republican Partys bulwark is almost entirely rural, providing reliable votes  just not many of them.

In 2016, Shenandoah County  with about 20,000 votes  went better than 2 to 1 for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. Fairfax County  with about 551,000 votes  went better than 2 to 1 for Clinton over Trump, ensuring the state tipped blue for president for the third consecutive time.

Its another sign perhaps that Democrats, anchored in the populous suburbs and cities of Virginias eastern crescent, neednt solicit rural voters. Theyve proven they dont have to, said Klinge.

But pushback to the Trump presidency  in full boil over health care in the heavily rural, Henrico County-anchored 7th Congressional District of Republican Dave Brat  may be generating opportunities for Democrats across the countryside, which began its sharp swing to the GOP in 1993. Thats when the Democratic nominee for governor, Mary Sue Terry, all but handed Republican George Allen her rural base by urging an expansion of gun control.

This is not to suggest that Democrats can anytime soon flip rural counties that have become reflexively Republican. It does mean  and some Democrats are surprised by this  that their party has a chance to begin a conversation, if only tentatively, with rural voters too often reduced to caricature, just as urban-suburban voters are.

They love their country, theyre very patriotic and they love the Lord, Susan Swecker, the state Democratic chairwoman, said of rural Virginians  of which she is one, coming from sparsely populated Highland County, about 90 miles southwest over mountain roads from Klinges home.

Republicans are divided on post-Trump, rural prospects for Democrats, who will choose for governor between two candidates with ties to the countryside: Ralph Northam is an Eastern Shore native. Tom Perriello represented the 5th Congressional District, which included part of the Southside tobacco belt. In the primary, however, they are battling on the left, mindful the nomination could be decided in population centers where there are more  and more attentive and more liberal  partisans.

Its going to depend on what happens over the next six months, said Klinge. My guess is that on Election Day, (Trump) is still going to be upside down in the polls. The question is what kind of upside down. ... You wont be able to make a reasoned judgment until Labor Day.

Del. Todd Gilbert of Shenandoah County, Republicans pick as their next majority leader in the House of Delegates, said he believes that Democrats  nationally and statewide  remain uninterested in the rural vote and that their overtures in response to Trump will ring hollow.

Its going to be difficult for them to shift and recapture voters theyve so written off for so long, said Gilbert. And despite the presidents proposed spending reductions that would sharply hit rural programs, Gilbert said, The Trump voters very much feel theyre getting what they voted for.

Still, little things are happening in the countryside that could have big consequences for Democrats, who managed only to earn the contempt of rural voters by emphasizing big government, by romancing big business, and by practicing big-data politics that became a big excuse for concentrating on metropolitan areas.

In Westmoreland and Richmond counties  on the Northern Neck whose Republican congressman, Rob Wittman, is opposing Trumpcare  once-defunct Democratic committees are newly active. In Southwest Virginia, where the slow death of coal is contributing to the regions opioid crisis, party committees in Washington and Scott counties have signed 60 and 30 new members, respectively.

The staff of the state Democratic Party has, in March alone, conducted 35 training sessions for local committees, emphasizing such nuts and bolts as a legal requirement that the governors party hold the majority of seats on electoral boards that oversee balloting. The party had to update its telephone conference-call service because there has been a spike in participation since Trumps victory.

Chad Murphy, a professor at the University of Mary Washington whose specialties include political messaging, said there is little risk in Democrats reaching for rural votes  especially in a gubernatorial year, when turnout falls. That magnifies the strength of the Republicans diminishing vote, making for a more competitive election.

Even if you get three out of 10 voters, ... that can make for a huge shift if the margins are so small on a state level, said Murphy.

One of the few rural Democrats in the legislature, Sen. Creigh Deeds of Bath County, said he is seeing bursts of new activity across his district, but is uncertain it can be sustained. Further, winning back rural voters will likely be a generation-long struggle for Democrats, Deeds said, that could recall efforts to re-enlist white voters across the South after the party won civil rights advances in the mid-1960s.

Until that happens, said Deeds, whose unsuccessful candidacies for attorney general in 2005 and governor four years later were envisioned as a bridge between rural and suburban voters, its still God, guns and gays. Those issues are the old standby for Republicans to divide voters, to cut them out from where their interests might be better served.

That includes the economy, long lagging in the countryside. The textile and furniture industries of Southside that relied on captive  and low-paid  labor pools have been ravaged by trade agreements that sent jobs abroad. Cheap natural gas, narrowing, difficult-to-reach seams of coal and federal anti-pollution regulations have punished the mining industry.

Rural disdain for Democrats should not come as a surprise if one pairs economic despair with a sense that big-city swells think they know whats best for the little guy. State Democrats want to address these cultural challenges. A first step: They are reviving a conference on recruiting rural voters. It will be held in Roanoke March 31 and April 1.

But Democrats being Democrats, even the conference is generating controversy in the ranks.

Among the announced speakers was Dave Mudcat Saunders, a wise-cracking operative from deep-red Roanoke County whos become a celebrity urging Democrats to appeal to the countryside. His invitation was revoked because activists are still steamed that Saunders, a withering critic of Bill and Hillary Clinton, had said that he would vote for Trump.

Apparently that was a bridge too far, even for a party whose early favorite for governor, Ralph Northam, voted for George W. Bush  twice.

When we stop listening to dissenting opinions within our party, said Saunders, a Northam supporter, our party cant grow.
The premise of Robert Boyds argument is false (Israel: It's about more than the occupation, March 9 commentary). Israel has invested in peace over the last 50 years. As recently as January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called again for bilateral negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

In 2005, Israel unilaterally pulled all of its citizens and soldiers out of the Gaza Strip. In 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered a series of concessions- including Israeli withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip and 95 percent on the West Bank; the subsequent creation of an independent Palestinian state in those areas, and Palestinian rule over East Jerusalem and most of the Old City  In exchange for an end to the conflict and a prohibition of future claims on Israeli land. Yasser Arafat rejected the proposal. In 1994, the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty formalized all relations between those two nations. In 1978 Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Accords.

Criticism of government policies is an integral part of democracy; Israelis criticize their governments policies all the time. What is illegitimate is the increasing call to demonize Israel and isolate her among the community of nations in an attempt to ultimately destroy her.

The accusation that Israel is an apartheid state is factually and morally incorrect. Those making this claim seek only to isolate and demonize Israel worldwide and undermine the right of the Jewish people, like all other peoples, to have national independence in their homeland.

The situation in the West Bank must be viewed within the context of the ongoing conflict. In response to a history of Palestinian terrorist attacks, checkpoints, security roads, identification cards and security barriers are necessary to separate Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza from Israelis, providing physical security. A balance is required to ensure security for Israelis while working to ease pressure on Palestinians. This issue is constantly debated in Israel, and the High Court has heard many Palestinian submissions. Rather than misusing the concept of apartheid, critics should look for means to work with people of goodwill on both sides to advance toward a negotiated two-state solution.

STEVEN YELLIN

PRESIDENT OF OHEV ZION SYNAGOGUE

MARTINSVILLE
CARMELLA GWARE | Loop PNG

THE recent felling of trees along the Malaguna Road in Rabaul, East New Britain, has angered many of the provinces long term residents.

It is believed that the historical shade trees were chopped down to make way for power lines.

Among those who have raised their voices against the outrageous exercise was Rabaul Historical Society secretary, Susan McGrade.

A frustrated Ms McGrade told Loop PNG that the shade trees had survived many, many eruptions.

There was absolutely no reason to remove the trees altogether, she said.
Japan will on Monday release February figures for producer prices, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Producer prices were up 0.5 percent on year in January.

China will see February numbers for industrial profits; in January, profits advanced 2.3 percent on year.

Hong Kong will provide February data for imports, exports and trade balance. In January, imports were worth 308.64 billion HKD, while exports were at 296.29 billion HKD for a trade deficit of 12.34 billion HKD.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
The Rolling Stones will release a home video of their 2016 Latin America concert tour. The film Ole Ole Ole! A Trip Across Latin America is scheduled for release on May 26.

The film was shown in theatres for one night in December of 2016. The press release stated that the film "combines electrifying live performances from across the tour and from their historic tour finale as the first-ever rock band to perform to an audience of 1.2 million in Havana, with an intimate insight into the world of the Rolling Stones."

The home video will be released on DVD and Blu-ray. It will contain 50 minutes of bonus footage with seven additional songs that were not featured in the theatrical release. In addition the film has footage from the ten Latin American concerts as well as interviews with band members, tour promoters, and production managers.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Entertainment News
By SA Commercial Prop News

Nicholas Hayes, Senior Associate at Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes



Recently certain parts of the Electrical Machinery Regulations (issued in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act) became operational. Of relevance to the property industry are the provisions that require the issuing of a Certificate of Compliance in respect of electric fencing.

Nicholas Hayes, Senior Associate at Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes said that the wording of the regulation is complicated, but in essence it requires that any user or lessor of an electric fence system must be in possession of an Electric Fence System Certificate.



The good news is that:

 it is not required for installations effected before 1 October 2012, unless the installation was changed in the meantime, or if there was a change in ownership after this date;

 the Department granted a reprieve and now require compliance with these provisions only by 1 December 2012; and

 the certificate is transferable; so once obtained, it can be transferred from one owner to a next.

The Department of Labour advised that there are still teething problems with the implementation of these provisions and it appears likely that further amendments to the requirements may still be forthcoming. We will keep you updated.



In the meantime, provision should be made for an appropriate clause in a sale agreement either to obtain such certificate if none is in existence, or to transfer the existing certificate to the purchaser.
The total workforce of the country's largest lender -- State Bank of India (SBI) -- will see a reduction over the next two years, after the merger with six entities, owing to attrition, reduced hiring and digitisation, a top official said.

"Manpower will go down with the period of time. Around 10 per cent reduction in two years may be a possibility," Rajnish Kumar, SBI Managing Director, told in an interview.



The public lender currently has around 207,000 workforce and the merger of six entities -- SBBJ (State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur), SBM (State Bank of Mysore), SBT (State Bank of Travancore), SBP (State Bank of Patiala) and SBH (State Bank of Hyderabad), Bharatiya Mahila Bank -- from April 1 will add approximately 70,000 employees.



"Post-merger we will be at 2,77,000 people in SBI. This may come down to 2,60,000 by March 2019. So it may be less than 10 per cent. Let us first merge and see the impact of the key process changes," Kumar said.



He said there would be some actual reduction in headcount along with re-assignment of the roles, but lay-offs are not an option.



"We have offered voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), there would be natural attritions and every year we may not replace head by head (replacement recruitment). Manpower will also reduce as a result of digital initiatives. There will be a combined effect," he added.



Ruling out layoffs, he said the question does not arise.



"Two years down the line, these efficiencies will start showing. Reduction in manpower will depend on efficiency of the merger and branch networks. Lot of duplication happening will be removed and we will have more feet on the street (customer outreach programmes)," Kumar said.



Hiring in SBI may not be halted, but will reduce by 50 per cent in a year, he said. In 2016-17, SBI hired 19,000 people.



"It will come down from the previous average of hiring. It could be reduced by 50 per cent. We will return to usual 5,000-6,000 recruitment every year," he said.



"We cannot stop new hiring because it creates a lot of gap in the middle management down the line. But full replacement may not be required. If 13,000 people retire in a year, we may recruit 7,000-8,000 in a year," he added.



Kumar said the bank will continue with its policy of branch expansion, and the associate bank branches will be merged.





"There is a policy of branch expansion, we are governed by that. We keep on opening new branches depending on the business potential, that will not stop. We are working on the plan as to how many branches we will open in next two years," he said.



SBI MD said there would be ample benefits from the merger in terms of cost-efficiency and rationalisation.



"Treasury integration, risk management optimisation will happen. It will result in efficiency gains for the bank. Continuously supporting them with capital will not be required. Initially, the costs may go up, but in the next two years... the rationalisation efficiencies will surface," he said.
Two of the three persons involved in a rifle snatching incident in Jammu have been arrested, the police said on Sunday.

"We have arrested two persons belonging to the Kashmir Valley in yesterday's (Saturday) rifle snatching incident," Jammu Zone Inspector General of Police S.D. Singh Jamwal told IANS here.



"The third person is still at large with the stolen weapon, but will be arrested soon," Jamwal said.



The official did not mention whether the incident was connected with militancy in the valley.





Three persons on Saturday snatched an AK-47 rifle from policeman Muhammad Hanief near the Tawi Bridge here.



Hanief was deployed as the personal security guard (PSO) of Maulana Dehlavi, Chairman of Anjuman-e-Minhaj-e-Rasool, a religious organisation.



The Islamic cleric is visiting Jammu. The policeman was returning to the district police lines after dropping Dehlavi at the state guest house here when he was attacked and his AK-47 was snatched.
Kerala Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran resigned on Sunday after an audio emerged in which he is heard having a lewd conversation with a woman on phone.

A five-time Nationalist Congress Party legislator, the minister announced the resignation at a hurriedly-called press conference here. The audio was released by Mangalam TV.



But the politician maintained he had done no wrong. "I always behave with everyone very politely," Saseendran said.



"The need of the hour in the wake of this particular news report is not to look into the merits of the case but uphold the morality of my party, government and myself. Hence, I am stepping down.



"I am ready to face any probe by any agency and I have no complaints against anyone."





Asked if he smelt a conspiracy, Saseendran said this has to be established in an investigation.



"I did not want to cling on to this post on technical grounds because then the complaint would have come that a fair probe can't happen. I don't wish to hear that and hence decided to quit," he added.



Earlier, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the media that he had taken the TV report seriously and promised action.



Saseendran is the second minister to resign since the Left Democratic Front (LDF) took power in Kerala last year.



Last year, CPI-M strongman and Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan quit on charges of nepotism.
BJP MP Subramanian Swamy on Sunday urged Muslims to hand over their part of the land in Ayodhya to help the construction of a grand Ram temple there.

"We will provide them land at another place for the construction of a mosque. It will strengthen the relationship between Hindus and Muslims," he said at an event here.



Swamy insisted that a grand Ram temple would be constructed at Ayodhya, where a mob razed the 16th century Babri Masjid in December 1992.



He also claimed that both former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and P.V. Narasimha Rao wanted a Ram temple to come up at Ayodhya.



The construction of a Ram temple was a matter of faith for Hindus and the community had every right to build it without further delay, he added.





"Rajiv Gandhi was the only true Hindu leader in the Congress and he wanted from the core of his heart that a Ram temple be built at Ayodhya."



Swamy was addressing a Virat Hindu Sangam function.



He said Narasimha Rao too wanted a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Truckers on Sunday threatened to remain off the road across India indefinitely from April 1 in protest against the sharp increase in third party insurance premium and government charges.

The strike has been called by the All India Confederation of Goods Vehicles Owners' Association, its executive member Subhas Chandra Bose told media over phone.



Bose said the insurers have raised the third party insurance premium for trucks by over 50 per cent, while the Central government has jacked up various fees including that for permits.





"These two rate hikes have made goods vehicles financial unviable," said Bose, also the General Secretary of Federation of West Bengal Truck Operators' Association.



The strikers have sent letters to all governments departments and ministers.



Milk supply and some other emergency services have been kept outside the ambit of the strike.
Leaders and activists of the Left parties, the Telangana Joint Action Committee and other people's organisations were arrested here Sunday during a protest against shifting of 'dharna chowk', a long-time popular spot for staging protests.

TJAC chairman M. Kodandaram, well-known cultural activist Vimalakka and activists of the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and other organisations were among those held while participating in 2K Run to protest shifting of the 'chowk' from near Indira Park in the heart of the city to the city outskirts.



Police stopped the participants as there was no permission for the 2K Run.



Tension prevailed at Indira Park as policemen were deployed in large numbers to foil the protest.



Kodandaram alleged that the TRS Government was suppressing the democratic right of dissent by shifting 'dharna chowk' to the city outskirts.





Last week, opposition parties had submitted a joint representation to Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, terming the Telangana Rashtra Samithi government's move as undemocratic.



Leaders of main opposition Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the CPI, the CPI-M, Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi and other organisations had met the Governor over the issue.



'Dharna chowk' has been the venue of thousands of protests by political parties, people's organisations, employees' unions, students' groups and others for over two decades.
Few people will believe that the former External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna's exit from the Congress and entrance to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be a great loss for the former and a considerable gain for the latter

Like the similar floor-crossing of Rita Bahuguna Joshi in Uttar Pradesh, who has now become a minister in Yogi Adityanath's government, Krishna's perambulations in Karnataka will be no more than a footnote in recent political history.



The only recent transition from the Congress to the BJP which has been of some importance is that of Himanta Biswa Sarma in Assam -- if only because the 48-year-old MLA is seen as an influential political figure in the state unlike the two others, who are no longer at the peak of their careers.



But what these exploratory treks from the formerly Grand Old Party, which is surrendering its earlier prominent position to the BJP, show is that the Congress' members at various levels no longer deem it worthwhile to remain loyal to it because they see the party to be on a downhill slide.



It may be unfair to compare these deserters as the denizens of a sinking ship because politics, after all, is not a charitable business and those involved in the profession of "serving the people" are justified in seeing it as a means of advancing their own prospects even as an octogenarian like Krishna.



But the Congress has reasons to be concerned that it is no longer recognised as an attractive home or destination. In recent weeks, only Navjot Singh Sidhu has joined it, but not before he first tried his luck with the Aam Admi Party after quitting the BJP.



A Congress spokesman, Rajeev Gowda, has said that Krishna could have waited for the Karnataka assembly election results next year before leaving because, according to Gowda, the party may fare as well in Karnataka as it has done in Punjab. He has also said that a process of restructuring and strengthening is on in the Congress.



If so, Krishna, a former Chief Minister, who is an insider, did not see it. Instead, what he saw was that the party was being led by a part-timer, as he said. It is criticism of Rahul Gandhi, which has been made by Rita Bahuguna-Joshi as well, who said that the crown prince is "unwilling to listen to people in the party".



Sarma, too, famously said that Rahul Gandhi was playing with his dog when he took his complaints about the condition of the Congress in Assam to him.



Although it is now widely believed, at least outside the party, that the Congress' problems lie at the top, and the BJP openly says that Rahul is its best "asset", the Congress is unwilling to concede the point.



What is more, as a recent article by former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid argued, the Congress' successes in Punjab, Goa and Manipur -- it became the first party in the last two states -- show that there is nothing basically wrong with the party; its reverses are due to the BJP's superior electoral strategy.



The former minister is also unwilling to accept that India is changing in the sense that a more aspirational generation is demanding faster economic growth. According to him, the so-called attitudinal change is not reflected in Punjab, Goa and Manipur.



The implication of such an outlook is that the Congress intends to continue on its present path with the Nehru-Gandhi family at the top and a preference for welfare programmes since it apparently believes that Narendra Modi's emphasis on development is essentially flawed.



Considering that this is also the view of economists like Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze -- focus first on health and education and then on economic growth -- and of the Left-leaning members of the currently dissolved National Advisory Council which was led by Sonia Gandhi, it can be concluded that the Congress will remain committed to the populism of Nehruvian socialism.



It does not seem to recognise the fact that none of the Manmohan Singh government's extravaganzas like the rural employment scheme and "right to food" was of much help for the Congress in the last general election.





On the other hand, it is evidently interpreting its successes in Punjab, Goa and Manipur not as a result of the anti-incumbency factor undermining the former ruling parties, but as a vindication of the dynasty and of "socialism".



From this standpoint, favourable outcomes of this nature can become a millstone round the party's neck, preventing it from recognising that the paternalistic concept of a "mai-baap ki sarkar" has outlived its utility at a time when the common man wants opportunities rather than doles.



Notwithstanding the Congress's moribund organisational structure and flawed economic policies, it still manages to draw some sustenance from its history of consolidating democracy and adherence to pluralism. But it is a diminishing legacy largely because of the part-timers in leadership roles and a concerted attempt by the resurgent right-wing forces to take the country in a majoritarian direction.



Unless the Congress realises that politics is serious business, as Krishna has said, and that socialism has had its day, its future looks bleak.
A massive fire broke out in an ordnance factory here on Saturday evening after a series of explosions of bombs made there, an official said. No casualties have been reported in the incident.

"The fire broke out in the F-3 section of the factory at Khamaria after a series of explosions caused by bombs manufactured there.

The fire has been brought under control. No one was injured," District Magistrate M.C. Chaudhary told IANS.

The officer said a probe has been initiated. Defence Ministry officials said the fire has been controlled to a large extent.
A two-day G-20 working group meeting, with inclusive global growth on top of the agenda, will get underway in Varanasi this week from March 28, an Indian official said on Sunday.

"In the forthcoming meeting in Varanasi, the G-20 Framework Working Group (FWG) will discuss the current global economic situation as well as deliberate on the policy options that countries can pursue to counter the important development challenges," said a Finance Ministry statement here.



"One important focus of this meeting will be to deliberate on the inclusive growth agenda of G-20 and to formulate a framework that will enable countries to help frame country specific inclusive growth policies," it said.



The Framework Working Group is one of the core groups of the G-20 - the group of 19 nations and the European Union that deliberates on global economic issues and other key developmental challenges.



The third meeting under the G-20 German presidency is being co-hosted by the Department of Economic Affairs and the Reserve Bank of India in Varanasi on March 28-29, the statement added.





The earlier two meetings under the German presidency were held in Berlin in December 2016 and Riyadh in February 2017.



India, along with Canada, has been co-chairing this group, and since the inception of the FWG in 2009, this is the fourth occasion India is hosting this meeting.



"The mandate of FWG is to deliberate on the challenges facing the global economy and the policy options that countries can use to address these challenges," the statement said.



Previously, India had hosted the G-20 FWG meetings at Neemrana in 2012, in Goa in 2014, and in Kerala in 2015.
US President Donald Trump promised on Saturday to promote a new healthcare plan once former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act "explodes", a day after the Republican bill to replace that plan was withdrawn before it could be put to the vote by the US House of Representatives.

"ObamaCare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry!" EFE news quoted Trump as saying in a tweet on his personal Twitter account, in a reference to the law Obama enacted in 2010.

The tweet reflected the comments he made on Friday after the Republican plan was withdrawn once it became clear that it lacked the necessary support among his own party to be passed by the House.

"Perhaps the best thing that could happen is exactly what happened today, because we'll end up with a truly great healthcare bill in the future after this mess known as Obamacare explodes," Trump said on Friday in a statement to reporters at the Oval Office.



When the President predicted that Obamacare will "explode", he meant the cost of insurance premiums will soar out of control this year under that law, and trusted that the Democratic opposition would therefore work with him to change the healthcare system.

"We were very close, it was a very tight margin. We had no Democrat support, no votes from the Democrats," Trump said, and calculated that with "10 to 15" more Republican votes, the bill would have been passed by the lower house.

The first vote on the measure was scheduled for last Thursday, but Republicans were forced to postpone it for lack of support among their own party, after which Trump gave them an ultimatum to either hold the vote this Friday or he would leave the current healthcare system in place.

Finally, just before the time to vote rolled around, Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan jumped in to withdraw the bill and avoid it being shot down.

Obamacare, a law designed to improve the quality of healthcare services and make them affordable for low-income citizens, has provided medical coverage for more than 20 million people who were previously uninsured.

The Republican plan dismantled the basic benefits of Obamacare, including subsidies to help people get medical insurance and the expansion of Medicaid, a programme of access to healthcare for low-income families.

Meanwhile, the conservative plan would have put an end to the mandate to buy coverage, which forces those without any kind of insurance to purchase a policy or pay a fine.
At least six persons, including two police officials, were killed and over 40 were injured in two explosions on Saturday near a militant hideout in Sylhet city, some 240 km from capital Dhaka.

Sylhet Metropolitan Police Additional Deputy Commissioner Zedan Al Musa confirmed the death toll to early on Sunday.

The explosions came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint near the country's main airport in Dhaka in an attack claimed by Islamic State.



Of those seriously wounded include Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Intelligence chief who has been airlifted to Dhaka for better treatment.



One of the injured persons, Gulzar Ahmed, told that some onlookers stopped a person carrying a black polythene bag.



"The blast occurred just after he said that there was red spinach in the bag. Five to six people were injured in the explosion," he said.



"Another large explosion occurred when police and RAB rushed to the scene. Around 25 people were injured in the second blast," he added.





Witnesses earlier said two people riding a motorcycle 'carried out an explosion' at one end of the street where the militant hideout is located.



The blasts came within an hour of a media briefing on a raid at the militant hideout in which an army spokesperson said the commandos were storming a complex housing two buildings -- one five-storey and the other four-storey.



Mediapersons and onlookers in the area were asked to move at least a kilometre away when troops from the Para-Commando Battalion began the assault on Saturday morning to round off a 30-hour siege to the complex.



Police said the militants rented a flat some months ago. The 30 families residing in as many other units of the buildings were trapped during the raid.
Nepal will promote its pashmina products via Belt and Road International Trade and Investment Platform in China.

It is a mutual exchange platform of global purchasers and suppliers which was formed with a joint initiative of chambers of commerce and associations from countries and regions along the Belt and Road routes, Xinhua news agency reported.



The initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.



A local chapter of the platform, launched in November, said a team of the international platform had come to Nepal recently to take part in the Nepal Investment Summit on March 2-3.



Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar, chairman of the local chapter, said an understanding has been reached between the two sides on selling Nepali pashmina in China, one of the largest markets in the world through the platform.





"Nepal has got a huge opportunity to increase exports of Nepali pashmina to China," he said.



According to Shanker Prasad Pandeya, Pashmina Industries ' title=' president of Nepal Pashmina Industries '>president of Nepal Pashmina Industries Association, the platform will market Nepali pashmina in China after entrepreneurs provide information about the products.



"Agreement has not been signed on the matter, but understanding has been reached," he said.



As of first seven months of the current fiscal year starting in mid-July 2016, Nepali pashmina worth $201,149 was exported to China, according to the statistics of Nepal Rastra Bank, central bank of the country.



Western countries including European countries and the US have been the key markets for pashmina products so far. But Nepali entrepreneurs said China had been emerging as an important market for Nepali pashmina.



Pandeya said: "It is a growing market and we can take benefit of Chinese market with the help of Belt and Road investment platform."
US President Donald Trump's counter-terrorism adviser compared Islamic State militants fleeing the Middle East to "cockroaches", vowing to "obliterate" the extremist group, the media reported.

"We're going to obliterate IS. We're going to wipe them off the face of the Earth," White House deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka told Fox News on Saturday.



"But before we get all of them, what's going to happen? Some of them, like the cockroaches, when you switch the light on they're going to scurry. We want to stop them coming here."



Trump's executive order barring citizens of six Muslim-majority countries from entering the US is geared toward blocking militants travelling from the Middle East to America, Gorka said.

"So it's not the person flying from Los Angeles to New York that's the threat," he said.



"It's the IS recruit, who's travelling out of Mosul (Iraq), out of the Middle East, out of Syria."



Gorka's comments came after a terrorist attack in London on Wednesday committed by a 52-year-old UK-born man, The Hill magazine reported.



IS claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed five people and left at least 50 people injured.
North Korea on Sunday warned South Korea and the US against any attempt to stage a "special operation" to hit the Pyongyang leadership and military installations, including the nuclear arms base.

A North Korean military statement said it was ready to "mercilessly smash the enemy's moves... now that the sinister aim of the US imperialists and the South Korean War maniacs' 'special operation' to hurt the dignity of the DPRK's (Noth Korea) supreme leadership has become clear, and they disclosed even the dangerous attempt at 'preemptive attack'".



The military accused the US and South Korea of being "busy staging madcap joint military drills for aggression involving more than 300,000 troops, US nuclear carrier Carl Vinson and B-1B and other nuclear strategic assets", Yonhap news agency reported.



"The situation has reached an extreme phase which should not be overlooked," the statement said.



It urged Washington and Seoul to think twice about the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by their outrageous military actions.



South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff in a response warned North Korea of consequences of its provocation.

"If the North provokes, our military will sternly retaliate as we have prepared and ensure such an action leads to self-destruction," Army Gen. Lee Sun-jin said in a statement.



On March 13, combined forces of South Korea and the US kicked off the annual command post exercise, following the launch on March 1 of the joint field training drill with the code-name of Foal Eagle.



North Korea has denounced the joint military exercises as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.



The US-South Korea commands will exercise Operation Plan 5015 during the Key Resolve drill. The operation plan includes preemptive strikes against Pyongyang's nuclear and missile facilities when signs of attack are detected



The military defended Foal Eagle as a defensive training to enhance the alliance's preparedness to defend the South in case of armed conflict. The North has criticised the exercise as preparation for invasion.
How to watch KU basketball's season-opener against Omaha

The defending national champions open their season Monday. Here's how you can watch Kansas' game against Omaha.
With potential federal budget cuts looming, scores of wig-wearing walkers and runners turned out Saturday morning for an annual 5K fundraiser for Meals on Wheels.

The nonprofit, which delivers low-cost meals to housebound or isolated seniors, jumped to the forefront earlier this month after the White House released President Donald Trumps budget blueprint. During a press conference, Meals on Wheels came up as an example of an organization that could see funding cuts.

The work of Meals on Wheels  and its funding  were on the minds of some of the 220 or so people who made their way from Crown Point around Mission Bay for the 5th annual Wiggin Out for Seniors event.

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It would be criminal to cut funding of Meals on Wheels, said walker Pat Clark, who called herself a super supporter of the organization.

Trumps draft budget calls for significant spending increases for the military and immigration enforcement, while making deep cuts elsewhere, including eliminating Community Development Block Grants. Those grants provide $3 billion a year to subsidize a variety of programs, including some branches of Meals on Wheels.

For the local branch, those federal grants accounted for a small amount  roughly 1.5 percent of its $4.4 million budget last year.

The blueprint also calls for cuts to the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services, which provides a much larger chunk of funding for Meals on Wheels under the Older Americans Act than the federal grants. The presidents plan is short on detail, and it is unclear whether the proposed cuts could hit the Older Americans Act.

Locally, some 70 percent of the funding for Meals on Wheels comes from private sources, not government.

But the news reports have unnerved some of the organizations clients, so Meals on Wheels sent out notes with meals this week, to reassure seniors that they would not lose their service.

Still, the thought of cutting any funding to nonprofits such as Meals on Wheels irked event participants such as Liz Claus, who walked the route with her 12-year-old son, Parker.

It kills me how much money we are spending to keep his (Trumps) wife and kid in New York City, and for Mar-a-Lago (the presidents estate in Florida), Claus said. Its amazing to me  he wants to cut this?

That, she said, made it that much more important to take part in the annual walk, to raise funds for and awareness of the group.

The San Diego County branch of Meals on Wheels serves nearly 1,500 seniors in the region each month, providing them two healthy meals each day at a charge of $7.

Over the last 12 months, the local organization delivered more than 451,000 meals  thanks in part to the efforts of more than 150 volunteers each day to deliver them.

Group officials said the program is about more than meals, it also provides a daily check on the safety and well-being of the seniors it serves. The average age of its clients is 82 years old; more than 40 percent are at least 85 years old.

And the local Meals on Wheels also takes care of a few pets through a partnership with the Helen Woodward Animal Center. Last year the groups provided AniMeals for more than 220 dogs and cats.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
Heres a list of some of San Diegos bigger spring book events.

Neil Gaiman

His writing across genres (fantasy, horror, childrens literature) and platforms (books, comics, television, blogs) keeps Neil Gaiman fiendishly busy and wildly popular. The Minnesotan has 2.5 million Twitter followers, including some who get tattoos of his words. Norse Mythology, his new retelling of the adventures of Thor, Loki and Odin, debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. 8 p.m. March 29, San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave. $25-$75. (619) 570-1100 or sandiegotheatres.org.

Patricia Benke

Appellate judge by day, writer by night, San Diegan Patricia Benke wrote legal thrillers before shifting gears for Qudeen the Magnificent, 12 short stories about the immigrant experience of Syrian girls. Both sets of Benkes grandparents settled as Syrian immigrants in Pennsylvanias coal country in the early 20th century.Noon, April 8, Bookstar, 3150 Rosecrans Place, Point Loma. Free. (619) 225-0465 or stores.barnesandnoble.com.

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Lisa See

The Los Angeles-based author of a string of best-sellers  On Gold Mountain, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, China Dolls  comes to town for a tea-tasting event at the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum. Her new book is The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane. 7 p.m., April 18, 404 Third Ave. Ticketed event through Adventures by the Book. $45-$50, includes book. (619) 300-2532 or adventuresbythebook.com.

Elizabeth Cobbs

This spring marks the 100th anniversary of U.S. involvement in World War I, and San Diego historian Elizabeth Cobbs recounts a little-known part of that conflict with The Hello Girls: Americas First Women Soldiers. They ran the telephone switchboard, some of them in war zones, risking their lives. Then they came home to a new fight, for womens rights. 7:30 p.m. April 18, Warwicks, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Free; reserved seating available. (858) 454-0347 or warwicks.com.

John Scalzi

After he got his start writing professionally in San Diego as an intern for the Tribune, science fiction author John Scalzi went on to bigger things: a Hugo Award and a 13-book, $3.4 million publishing deal. The Ohio writers newest, The Collapsing Empire, is about how faster-than-light travel via something called the Flow has allowed humanity to spread to distant worlds. 7 p.m. April 20, Mysterious Galaxy, 5943 Balboa Ave., Suite 100, Clairemont. This is a numbered event. (858) 268-4747 or mystgalaxy.com.

John Farrell

Few came so far, so fast, and so alone, journalist John Farrell writes in Richard Nixon: The Life, his new 750-page biography of Americas 37th president. Farrell won critical acclaim for earlier biographies of Clarence Darrow and Tip ONeill, and this time the Washington, D.C.-based author unearths nuggets about Nixons dark side, including the scuttling of Vietnam peace efforts in 1968. 6:30 p.m. April 24, Athens Market, 109 West F St., San Diego. $45 for City Club of San Diego members, $50 for non-members (price includes dinner and the book). (619) 235-4041 or cityclubofsandiego.com.

Katherine Nichols

Growing up in Coronado, Katherine Nichols heard stories about the 1970s drug cartel there run by a former high school teacher. Known as the Coronado Company, the cartel brought in tons of marijuana and made millions of dollars before drug agents took it down, sending 20 people to prison. Nichols, who now lives in Boston, tells the story in Deep Water, a nonfiction book aimed at teens. 6 p.m. May 2, the Coronado Library, 640 Orange Ave. Free. (619) 435-0070 or baybookscoronado.com.

Elizabeth Strout

She won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for Olive Kitteridge, a collection of linked stories, and Elizabeth Strout follows a similar structure with Anything Is Possible, due out April 25. This time the connecting thread is the title character of her previous book, My Name Is Lucy Barton. We meet people from various stages of her life, who flesh out familiar Strout themes of family and reconciliation. 7 p.m. May 12, Warwicks, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. In conversation with UC San Diego professor Seth Lerer. Free; reserved seating available. (858) 454-0347 or warwicks.com.

Andrew Roe

Before his 2015 debut novel, The Miracle Girl, came out and became a finalist for a Los Angeles Times Book Award, Oceanside writer Andrew Roe had short stories published in Tin House, Glimmer Train and other literary magazines. Now some of those stories are being collected in book form, Where You Live. Its fictional Californians are wrestling with lives compromised by circumstance and the choices theyve made. 7:30 p.m., May 18, Warwicks, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Free; reserved seating available. (858) 454-0347 or warwicks.com.

Jason Hough

Former San Diegan Jason Hough emerged as a bestselling new voice in science fiction in 2013 with the release of Darwins Elevator, the first in a trilogy about a plague that has decimated the planet. The hero of that series, Skyler Luiken, is back in Injection Burn, which finds his ragtag band of scavengers and scientists trying to rescue a group of benevolent aliens on a distant planet. Hough, who lives now near Seattle, colors his work with details from his previous life designing video games and working in machine learning. 7:30 p.m., May 30, Mysterious Galaxy, 5943 Balboa Ave., suite 100, Clairemont. This is a numbered event. (858) 268-4747 or mystgalaxy.com

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com
Spring brings a major crop of musicals to San Diegos stages  including a high-profile world premiere that showcases the songs of Jimmy Buffett. But there are some plays worth watching for, too.

Into the Beautiful North

The world-premiere comedy by Karen Zacarias, as adapted from a novel by Luis Alberto Urrea, centers on a young woman whos attempting to smuggle Mexican men back to her hometown south of the border. (The play has a climactic scene at San Diegos own Bahia Hotel.) March 30 to April 23. San Diego Reps Lyceum Theatre, 79 Horton Plaza, downtown. (619) 544-1000, sdrep.org.

First Date

San Diego Musical Theatre serves up the San Diego regional premiere of this musical comedy about two people beset by a host of very animated inner critics during a blind date. The show is the companys first in its new second space of the Horton Grand. March 31 to May 2. San Diego Musical Theatre at the Horton Grand Theatre, 444 Fourth Ave., downtown. (858) 560-5740, sdmt.org.

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Ballast

Executive artistic director Matt M. Morrow directs the world premiere of Georgette Kellys play, which weaves together the stories of two relationships, each involving a person in gender transition. May 4 to June 4. Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Blvd., University Heights. (619) 220-0097, diversionary.org.

Escape to Margaritaville

Parrotheads, rejoice! La Jolla Playhouses latest Broadway-bound musical, which is already getting plenty of national attention, is built on the music of that Margaritaville maestro Jimmy Buffett. (The show also will feature new music by the longtime pop phenomenon, who has been closely involved in its development.) May 9 to June 15. La Jolla Playhouses Mandell Weiss Theatre, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, Playhouse/UC San Diego Theatre District. (858) 550-1010, lajollaplayhouse.org.

The Old Man and The Old Moon

The Globe stages the West Coast premiere of PigPen Theatre Co.s inventive, family-minded show, a music-filled fable that unfolds with puppetry and shadow play. May 13 to June 18. Old Globe Theatres Shiley Stage, Balboa Park. (619) 234-5623, theoldglobe.org.

Shockheaded Peter

This in-your-face musical, driven by Victorian steam-punk imagery, was once described by David Bowie as both vile and repulsive and absolute bliss. Rob Lutfy directs the shows regional premiere. May 18 to June 18. Cygnet Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St., Old Town. (619) 337-1525, cygnettheatre.com.

The Revolutionists

The women-centered Moxie delves into Lauren Gundersons comedy about four historical figures  playwright Olympe de Gouges, assassin Charlotte Corday, activist Marianne Angelle and former queen Marie Antoinette  tossed together with a healthy dose of irreverence. May 25 to June 18. Moxie Theatre, 6663 El Cajon Blvd., Rolando District. (858) 598-7620, moxietheatre.com.

The Spitfire Grill

North Coast Rep revives the 2001 movie-based musical about a woman trying to reboot her life in rural Wisconsin after her release from prison. Jeffrey Moss directs. May 31 to June 25. North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach. (858) 481-1055 or northcoastrep.org

Big Fish

Deborah Gilmour Smyth directs a more intimate version of the movie-based musical about a dad with a fondness for tall tales, and the son who grudgingly learns there may be more than fiction to his fathers story-spinning. June 9 to July 30. Lambs Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado. (619) 437-6000, lambsplayers.org.

The Bodyguard

Deborah Cox and Judson Mills star in the touring musical version of the movie that made viewers swoon over its central romance (the film starred Kevin Costner and the late Whitney Houston), and made a massive hit of I Will Always Love You. June 13-18. Broadway/San Diego at the San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., downtown. (619) 570-1100, broadwaysd.com.

Twitter: @jimhebert

jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com
A gunfight broke out inside a crowded Cincinnati nightclub early Sunday, leaving one man dead and 15 others wounded after a dispute among several patrons escalated, authorities said.

No suspects were in custody by late afternoon in the shooting at the Cameo club, which has a history of gun violence, and police said there was no indication of any terrorism link.

Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said one of the wounded was in extremely critical condition, while a hospital spokeswoman said two victims were listed in critical condition.

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Police began receiving calls at 1:30 a.m. about gunshots at the club near the Ohio River east of downtown Cincinnati. Isaac said about 200 people were inside the club, one of the few hip-hop venues in the city.

Isaac identified the dead man as 27-year-old OBryan Spikes, but provided no other details. He said 15 others were injured, with some already treated and released from hospitals.

What we know at this point in the investigation is that several local men got into some type of dispute inside the bar, and it escalated into shots being fired from several individuals, Isaac said. It wasnt clear how many people fired shots.

Club patron Mauricio Thompson described a chaotic scene in which as many as 20 shots were fired as people scrambled to get away. He said there was a fight and people were yelling for security to intervene before the gunfire began.

Once I got outside, people coming out bloody, gunshot wounds on them, some of their friends carrying them to the car, rushing them to the hospital, Thompson told WCPO-TV. It was just crazy.

Police Sgt. Daniel Hils said the large crowd at the club was a factor in the number of people who suffered gunshot wounds.

When youre talking about something tightly packed like that, I think intended targets arent going to be the only thing thats hit, said Hils, who is president of the local Fraternal Order of Police. When you start throwing lead around, and theres a lot of other people standing around, then the other people are going to get hit.

Isaac said the club had its own security operation that used detection wands and pat-downs, but that police believed several firearms got inside. Four officers were working security in the clubs parking lot and some tried unsuccessfully to revive the man who died.

Cameos Facebook profile says it caters to college students on Friday nights, when anyone over 18 is allowed in, while Saturdays are grown and sexy night for ages 21 and older.

The club has a history of gun violence, including a shooting on New Years Day in 2015 and one in the parking lot in September of that year, City Manager Harry Black said.

Police Capt. Kim Williams said there was just a lot of chaos, obviously, when shots were fired.

Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst, she said.

Referring to initial speculation about possible terrorism, Mayor John Cranley said: What difference does that make to the victims? Innocent people were shot.

He called the shootings unacceptable and said authorities would work to find ways to prevent such violence.

A single body was removed by the coroner shortly after 6 a.m. A federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives team was also at the scene.

Among the injured, five were treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and released, hospital spokeswoman Kelly Martin said. She said two people were in critical condition and another three were listed in stable condition by late afternoon. She had no details on the types of injuries or the ages of the victims. Other injured people were taken to or drove themselves to other hospitals.

Authorities asked anyone with information to come forward. Investigators were checking to see if surveillance cameras were working, Williams said.

An Associated Press phone call to the club Sunday went unanswered.

The area is mostly industrial but also home to several nightclubs with a smattering of homes. A regional airport is nearby. The neighborhood is fairly desolate at night, with the exception of the nightlife scene and 24-hour gas stations. The road where the club is located was easily cordoned off by a single police cruiser and officer at either end.

First responders had problems reaching the shooting victims because the parking lots were full, Sgt. Eric Franz told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on Twitter that he was saddened to learn about last nights shooting and that he was offering the states assistance.

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UPDATES:

5 p.m.: Updates with latest figures on injured and other details.

7:45 a.m.: The story was updated with details on the injured, background on the club and a theory on the conflict that led to the shooting.

5:20 a.m.: The story was updated with police saying there was only one shooter.

4:10 a.m.: The story was updated with police saying theres no indication of terrorism.

3 a.m.: The story was updated with police saying there was more than one shooter and quotes from Capt. Williams.

The story was originally published at 1:40 a.m.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Amateur psychoanalysts have put Donald Trump on the couch, calling him a sociopath, unhinged, a narcissist. Amid all this psych-talk, there is one group of people who arent talking as much: the professionals. Or at least theyre not supposed to.

Professional ethics dictate that psychiatrists and psychologists avoid publicly analyzing or diagnosing someone theyve never examined, but there is new and unusually vocal dissension against this long-held gag rule because of what some of them think they hear and see in Trump. Because these professionals tend to be more liberal the result is a juggling act of propriety, politics and ethics.

Armchair psychology has exploded into social media and op-ed columns over the past week, most recently with Trumps comment Tuesday calling on gun-rights supporters to stop Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. His political opponents have grabbed hold, with President Barack Obama calling the Republican presidential nominee unfit and a Democratic congresswoman starting a petition to force Trump to undergo a mental health evaluation.

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Members of the American Psychiatric Association are bound by a 43-year-old ethics rule, called the Goldwater rule because it stems from mistaken public concerns about the mental health of the 1964 Republican presidential nominee, Sen. Barry Goldwater. Psychiatrists have been reprimanded and can be booted out of the organization if they violate that rule.

But some are now chafing at the restriction, saying they feel obligated to speak out with their worries about Trump. Others see those analyses of the candidate as dangerous and jumping to false conclusions. The Associated Press spoke to 11 psychiatrists and psychologists for this story and they were split about whether they should talk publicly about candidates mental health.

Analysis and diagnosis without meeting a patient, and without medical records, are so likely to be wrong, so likely to be harmful to that person and so likely to discourage people from seeking psychiatric treatment that psychiatrists should not engage in that behavior, said Columbia Universitys Dr. Paul Appelbaum, a past president of the American Psychiatric Association.

This month the psychiatric association even posted a warning on its website, reminding professionals to stay mum: The unique atmosphere of this years election cycle may lead some to want to psychoanalyze the candidates, but to do so would not only be unethical, it would be irresponsible.

But a few experts do discuss Trump publicly, dancing the fine line between diagnosis and merely describing what they see in his public appearances and pronouncements. The University of Minnesotas Dr. Jerome Kroll is one of them. He co-wrote an academic journal commentary calling for the end of the Goldwater rule.

I am a citizen, he said. If I have something to say, what I say might be stupid. What I say may embarrass psychiatry, but its certainly not medically unethical.

I think he (Trump) comes as close to the narcissistic description as one would find, Kroll said. I think that would disqualify him. I am breaking the Goldwater rule as we speak.

The Trump campaign did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Trump and his supporters have leveled their own accusations at Clinton. She is unhinged, Trump said last week, shes truly unhinged, and she is unbalanced, totally unbalanced. Polls show that voters lack trust in Clinton and her marriage has for years been the subject of amateur analysis centered around why she stays with a philandering husband. None of the psychologists or psychiatrists interviewed raised mental health issues about Clinton.

Katherine Nordal, the American Psychological Association executive director for professional practice and interim ethics chief, considers it inappropriate behavior for psychologists to diagnose people they havent examined.

To be throwing around diagnoses willy-nilly, Nordal said, is just kind of a dangerous thing to do.

A group of mental health professionals warned about the dangers of Trumps ideology in a petition signed by more than 2,000 therapists. They dont suggest a diagnosis, instead concentrating on what he says and does. They say his rhetoric normalizes what isnt normal: the tendency to blame others in our lives for our personal fears and insecurities.

Experts say narcissistic personality disorder, which involves an inflated sense of self-worth, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others, is actually a behavior rather than a mental illness that can be diagnosed, like schizophrenia.

He talks about himself all the time, said Northwestern University psychology professor Dan McAdams, who wrote an Atlantic magazine article on Trumps personality. Even at his fathers funeral he talked about himself. He cant quit talking about himself.

For some professionals, speaking out is a matter of warning the public of impending danger.

We recognize certain patterns of behavior to be potentially dangerous and if a mental health professional feels compelled to warn they should be able to do it, said Philadelphia psychiatrist Dr. Claire Pouncey, president of the Association for the Advancement of Philosophy and Psychiatry and co-author of the anti-Goldwater rule commentary with Kroll.

I think he is dangerous and erratic, but it doesnt take a psychiatrist to point that out, she said, noting that she isnt diagnosing his mental condition, just commenting on what Trump says and does.

Goldwater was an ultra-conservative candidate, and a now-defunct magazine sent out a survey to thousands of members of the psychiatry association and asked them what they thought of Goldwater. More than 1,000 psychiatrists responded and some gave intricate diagnoses such as paranoid and dangerous lunatic and counterfeit figure of a masculine man. Goldwater sued the magazine and won.

In 1973, the psychiatry association adopted the Goldwater rule. Dr. Alan Stone, a professor of psychiatry and the law at Harvard, was the lone board member to vote against it.

I believe in free speech, Stone said. If psychiatrists want to make fools of themselves, they have that right.

Stone later met Goldwater. He was an extremely well-balanced person, he said. We (psychiatrists) were thinking politics. We were against Goldwater.

___

Online:

American Psychiatric Association: https://www.psychiatry.org/

American Psychological Association: https://www.apa.org

___

Follow Seth Borenstein at https://twitter.com/borenbears and his work can be found at https://bigstory.ap.org/content/seth-borenstein
Hyderabad: Osmania University, which will be celebrating its centenary in April, is the only university to have observatories. The Nizamia and Rangapur observatories have catalogued nearly three lakh stars, besides charting a large segment of sky. While the Nizamia observatory, which contributed to astronomical research for decades, is not in use now, the one at Rangapur is being used for outreach activities with negligible research work.

The research work that is being done is limited to collection of data obtained from a few observatories from research institutes in other states.

The Nizams had the foresight to establish an observatory for astronomy- related studies back in 1908 when it was considered a rarity. Its founder was the England-educated Nawab Zafar Yar Jung Bahadur, youngest son of Sir Khursheed Jah Bahadur, then the defence minister.

Until the end of the 19th Century, British India had only two observatories; one at what was Ootacamund and the other at Nainital. In 1908, Nawab Zafar Jung returned to Hyderabad along with two telescopes (a Grubb refracting 15-inch diameter telescope and an eight-inch Cooke astrographic camera) and pursued the Nizam government for the observatory, which initially was set up at Philasbanda but later moved to Begumpet.

In 1919, Nizamia Observ-atorys control was given over to Osmania Univer-sity. In 1923, the equatorial telescope by G. Rubb was erected and a seismograph was installed for the study of earthquakes.

The observatory participated in an international program called the Carte-Du-Ciel or Astrographic Sky Survey. The aim of the programme was to map the entire sky photographically by assigning various Celestial Zones to 18 different observatories around the world. The zone covering from 17 to 23 degrees South and 36 to 39 degrees North was assigned to Nizamia Observatory.

Positions of stars were measured and published in 12 volumes of the Astrographic Catalogue. These measurements are being used by astronomers all over the world to estimate the proper movement of various types of stars. The Nizamia observatory also maintained records of earthquakes and rainfall in the Nizams state.

Astronomy department head at Osmania, Dr Shanti Priya said the Nizamia contributed a lot towards cataloguing of stars. From 1909 to 1928, the observatory catalogued a total of 1,260 photograph plates and over 3 lakh stars. It also helped in preparing government calendars in both Urdu and English, she said.

Meanwhile, Prof. Najam Hussain, who worked in the astronomy department at OU for nearly two decades before shifting to the Maulana Urdu University, said even Nasa took data from Nizamia for research activities.

With the expansion of Hyderabad and new colo-nies emerging, stargazing, which can be troubled by light pollution, had become difficult in Begu-mpet and thats when Os-mania started scouting for new locations far away from the city. That is how the Japal-Rangapur Obser-vatory came up (10 km from Ibrahimpatnam and 50 km from the OU campus). Dr.K.D.Abhayankar, the then-Director of Nizamia Observatory, was credited with selection of the site. Although the project was proposed in the mid 1950s, it came into operation fully in 1968-69. A 48-inch telescope was installed at Rangapur and it was used for photo-electric observations of binary stars, peculiar stars, pulsating stars, star clusters and also for the spectroscopic study of binary stars and peculiar stars.

The telescope was used for obtaining scientific information on comets, planetary atmospheres and near-Earth Asteroids. The department obtained two 12-inch telescopes later.

In addition, a 10 feet radio telescope operating at 10GHZ was installed at Japal-Rangapur Observatory. Dr Shanti Priya said national and international collaborations would took place at JRO - including the successful monitoring of the Total Solar Eclipse on February 16, 1980; the International Comet Halley Watch between 1984 and 86 and observing Comet Shoemaker-Levys impact in the July of 1994. Almost 122 research publications were released using JRO data alone, she said.

However, hardcore research work came to a grinding halt at the JRO from 2004 because it could upgrade its technology. Currently, only outreach activities are carried out. PG students from OU visit the JRO for practicals and sometimes, on holidays. High school, plus-two students and amateur astronomers too visit the observatory for some stargazing. These observatories are a shadow of their former selves and are keenly looking for government support to regain their lost glory.
The President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, performed the christening ceremonies of all four vessels on 6 February 2017.

Coinciding with the vessel handover, a deal was also signed a second contract with Damen for an additional batch of four Interceptors. Both contracts include a comprehensive after-sales package that consists of training, spare parts and maintenance.

Talking about the inaugural contract with SENAN, Damen sales manager Americas Pieter Becker states: We are happy and very proud to welcome SENAN as a new client. This is a very professional organisation with whom we are looking forward to building a strong relationship.

SENAN will mobilise the four new vessels from its Fort Sherman Naval Base located at the Caribbean end of the Panama Canal. The vessels primary function will be to combat illegal drug-trafficking activities in the surrounding area.

To this end, the Damen Interceptor 1102 is an extremely suitable choice of boat. Its low weight construction from fibre reinforced polymer composite materials combined with twin Volvo D6 engines deliver outstanding results.

This is an ultra-fast vessel, said Becker. It can reach speeds of more than 55 knots.

Contributing to such high speeds is the vessel design: the single chine hull reduces the amount of impact in heavier seas and improves high speed manoeuvrability.
Press Release

March 25, 2017 Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Handwritten Notes

Dispatch from Crame No. 39 & 40 Dispatch from Crame No. 39 3 / 24 / 17 8:40 p.m. A small group of elderly women came to visit me this afternoon. These are total strangers. Decent-looking and well-mannered, they claim to be parishioners from a church near Crame. To my amazement, they came across well-versed on the goings on in our country. With unsophisticated candor, they talked about Duterte's rudeness. His cursing, his dark psychology and obsession with drugs, while neglecting other urgent concerns such as the economy, jobs and traffic. These women were also aghast about Duterte's handling of the Benham Rice issue and sell-out to China. They expressed disdain towards Duterte's men - Alvarez, Aguirre, Calida & Panelo - their arrogance and propensity to lie. Voters were clearly duped, so they concluded. I told myself as I feel it in my gut that there must be a multitude of like-minded citizens out there, sharing exactly the same sentiments. There must be a silent majority now. And so there is HOPE... LEILA DE LIMA ****** Dispatch from Crame No. 40 3 / 24 / 17 9:10 p.m. As I become stronger each day, this is what I honestly think-- I am their problem. I am their curse. Those evil elements who orchestrated this grand travesty of justice foisted upon me must now be shaking on their knees. Amidst their continued vilification of my person and honor, they don't really know how to handle me. They know that they cannot persist in their lies and machinations. With the whole world watching, and more and more people gaining discernment about this regime's capacity for evil, my tormentors must realize that locking me up in jail and stripping me of my rights is a huge mistake. They must tremble where they stand.... LEILA DE LIMA
Amelia Gutierrezs parents have one rule at the dinner table of their Discovery Bay home: Dont talk politics.

Too many wisecracks about Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carsons sleepy persona and how Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is unqualified can result in the 15-year-old losing her phone privileges.

As the daughter of a man who emigrated from Mexico, she said, its tough to keep quiet about a president she considers a bully. Her father, however, is different from the majority of Latino voters in at least one respect  hes a steadfast supporter of President Trump.

Marco Gutierrez said a vote for Trump was the surest way to preserve the American dream he and his wife worked so hard to realize and make a better life for his daughter and her five siblings.

Amelia is the second oldest of the Gutierrez children, though her father said that his oldest son at 23 hasnt expressed his political beliefs as strongly as his eldest daughter, who he hopes will someday see things his way.

Hes fought opposition with fortitude, Marco Gutierrez, 43, said of Trump. Hes not afraid what people might say about him. He stays true to his message and himself.

National exit polls have estimated that Trump won 28 percent of the Latino vote in November, after a campaign in which he promised to build a great wall along the Mexican border and said a U.S.-born Latino judge who was hearing a lawsuit against his company should be disqualified because he was Mexican.

For the Gutierrez family, the partisan divide between those who believe the new president will make America great again and those who consider themselves the resistance has become intimate and personal.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

I love my father so much. Ill always love him  hes my dad, said Amelia Gutierrez, a ninth-grade student at Heritage High School in Brentwood. But his views are very ignorant, and I cant really have a conversation (with him) because he sort of just knocks my ideas down.

Marco Gutierrezs wife, Jennifer  whom he met in algebra class at Antioch High School  was born in the United States and has some Mexican heritage. She, too, voted for Trump.

She said she is trying to teach her daughter to respect the political process.

We need to trust in our system, even if we dont agree with all of his policies, Jennifer Gutierrez said.

She added that there isnt a single stance Trump has taken with which she disagrees.

Marco Gutierrez said his daughter, like many other children from immigrant families, doesnt understand what their parents had to overcome to make it in the United States.

I went through hell to become American, said Marco Gutierrez, who emigrated from Hidalgo, Mexico, at the age of 17 with his siblings as legal residents.

His parents were already living in the United States and working as farm laborers when he moved with his three brothers and two sisters in 1991. Marco Gutierrez became a citizen in 2003 and said the process took a toll on him  having to live in a different country than his parents as a child and waiting 12 years before becoming a citizen.

Last year, he co-founded Latinos for Trump, an organization with nine board members that promotes the president and his policies on social media and through speaking engagements. He came under fire from some other Latinos in September when he said in an MSNBC interview that without strict immigration, youre going to have taco trucks on every corner.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

After that, he said, two of his co-founders distanced themselves from Latinos for Trump. Even his daughter said she was embarrassed when her father would pick her up from school because her classmates would point and stare at the taco truck guy.

Marco Gutierrez used to be a real estate agent, but he lost his business in 2008 amid the housing-market collapse and his failure to meet certain federal regulations, resulting in him having to surrender his real estate license. Now hes a real estate investor and consultant, and says he and his wife face financial hardships.

He said Trumps business success is an example to immigrants to keep their eye on what should be their main goal: to make a better life for their children.

The American dream is achievable in the United States, he said. You can be everything you want to be here. Once you achieve that, how to sustain it? Thats what Donald Trump is kind of like telling us: Hey, we need to defend our American dream because we are losing it.

Regardless of being an immigrant or first-generation American, Latinos have favored the Democratic Party in every election since at least the 1980s, according to the Pew Research Center.

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Marco Gutierrez said that before the election, he didnt realize how different he and his daughter were in their political leanings. Now, he said he finds her opinions naive.

While Amelia Gutierrez is outspoken at home with her father, who clearly disagrees with her, she doesnt always feel the need to share her beliefs outside of her home.

She said she tries to keep the Trump talk to a minimum with her classmates because their conversations generally focus on girl stuff. But she cant help chiming in when she sees posts on Facebook and Instagram about the presidents latest executive order, Cabinet pick or tweet.

Trump supporters and conservatives dont need evidence, she said. Ive compared them to vampires and then the sunlight is the facts. But not like cool vampires or the sexy vampires  theyre just like the old ones.

Of course, Amelia Gutierrezs life isnt just politics.

Shes an Audrey Hepburn fan who dreams of one day becoming an actress. She spends her days mimicking dance moves she sees in music videos and listens to Beyonce, Adele and Miley Cyrus on repeat.

But since the election, shes become more sensitive to the realities that Trumps policy decisions might have on her future with DeVos in a position to affect her education and the threat of funding being cut to Planned Parenthood.

And the next four years are likely to be a battle  not just nationally, but in the Gutierrez household. In the next presidential election, Amelia will be old enough to vote.

My father says many times, Im still working on her, or, Shes not there yet, Amelia Gutierrez said. And that really hurts me personally, because I am not a project. Im a human being, and I have different opinions and different values.

Sara Ravani and Trisha Thadani are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com, tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani, @TrishaThadani
A Forestville man has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of his younger brother, Sonoma County Sheriffs officials said Saturday.

The mother of the two men called for help at about 7:15 p.m. Friday, saying her son, 36-year-old Shamus Gallon, had been shot with a rifle at their home on the 9800 block of River Road, officials said.

She also reported her elder son, 38-year-old Shaun Gallon, had left the house with the rifle and driven away in his car, a white Ford Aerostar minivan.

Deputies responded to the home and attempted to revive Shamus Gallon, but he was pronounced dead on the scene.

One deputys car collided with another while pursuing the suspect vehicle but both deputies are unharmed, officials reported.

The collision occurred when deputies caught sight of the suspect vehicle. One braked abruptly in order to make a U-turn and pursue Gallon, but a deputy following just behind failed to brake in time and hit the first car.

The cars were inoperable after the crash, but a third deputy found Gallons minivan parked at the MD Gas Station in Guerneville and was able to make an arrest.

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.

Both men lived with their mother, and the motive for the slaying is unclear, with deputies unaware of any significant conflict that may have led to the shooting, officials said.

Shaun Gallon was charged with murder and booked into the Sonoma County Jail, where he is being held without bail.

Filipa A. Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi
A suspicious death on the street in San Jose has launched a police investigation, officials said Saturday.

Officers were dispatched to the 900 block of Bard Street, near Toyon Elementary School, at 10:17 a.m. Saturday, after callers reported seeing a wounded person on the ground and not breathing.

Upon arrival, officers discovered an adult man with serious injuries, according to Officer Albert Morales a spokesman for the San Jose Police Department.

Medical personnel pronounced the man dead at the scene shortly after officers arrived. His name is not yet being released, pending notification of his next of kin.

No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.

The San Jose Police Department asks anyone with information on this case to contact the homicide unit at 408-277-5283.

Filipa A. Ioannou is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: fioannou@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @obioannoukenobi
Nearly five months after San Francisco voters approved the anti-tent-camp Proposition Q, hoping it would trigger a tsunami of sweeps clearing the streets of homeless encampments, heres how many times the new ordinance has been used:

Zero.

Prop. Q gives city officials the authority to clear a tent cluster if they give its campers 24 hours warning and an offer of shelter. But the trouble is the same one that existed when voters approved the hotly fought measure by 52 to 48 percent in November.

With just 1,539 individual and family-shelter beds available  and 3,500 people living on the streets without any form of shelter, according to the most recent city count  theres no way to give everyone the offer that Prop. Q requires.

The result is that since November, city officials have been moving on parallel tracks concerning tent camps.

The city agency that oversees homelessness issues continues to engage in a methodical process it has followed since last summer, in which street counselors gradually try to persuade camp residents to leave. It can take weeks to clear a single sprawl  since the election, just three encampments have been removed.

On the other track is the citys Public Works agency, which sends in street cleaners to do trash pickups that, for the most part, leave the camp residents where they are.

Prop. Q never enters the equation for either effort. Within City Hall, there is little push to enforce it  and a widespread sense that it was largely a symbolic measure.

I think Prop. Q was passed really to give the general public a sense that there is some direction of helping to get people more off the street, said Mayor Ed Lee. I think there are going to be a lot of symbolic things that the public asks for that reassure them that we are headed in the (right) direction.

Lee said Prop. Q is one of a whole host of tools at the citys disposal, but that the most important goal is identifying long-term permanent housing with supportive services.

Lees point person on homelessness, Jeff Kositsky, echoes his boss careful phrasing.

Its a tool that is available to use in the event that we might need it, said Kositsky, director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. But at the end of the day, Im more concerned about getting people into shelter and ending their homelessness. If you treat people with respect and dignity, that happens more efficiently  and we havent had to use Proposition Q so far.

The city supervisor who wrote Prop. Q, Mark Farrell, says it is more than symbolic. He said the city is still working on how to implement the measure, which from the beginning was all about getting our city departments another tool in the toolshed to deal with tent encampments on our sidewalk.

We always want things to move faster, Farrell said. But the reality is we have to follow certain rules and procedures inside our city government, and I look forward to it taking effect as soon as possible.

Kositsky took no position on Prop. Q during the campaign, and as a department head appointed by Lee, he avoids getting involved in City Halls public fights over homeless policy. His agencys staffers concentrate on the one-camp-at-a-time model but have weekly meetings with Public Works trash crews to fine-tune coordination.

Privately, however, there is grumbling among some street counselors that when Public Works steps up its trash clearance on its own initiative  as it did with a weeklong push earlier this month to clear unusually large piles of garbage  it hurts efforts to get camp residents off the streets.

When they roust a camp after we tell them, Dont worry, you wont be bothered while we work with you on getting inside, it pisses people off and theyre less willing to believe you next time, said one worker in Kositskys department, who like others did not want to be named because they werent authorized to speak on such matters for the agency.

Thats an unfortunate consequence, said Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, but the more important consideration is keeping San Franciscos streets sanitary. So he pushes hard.

There is frustration on our part that we are going around in circles and cleaning and dealing with very unsanitary situations and filth, Nuru said. The city needs to treat this as an emergency.

For the past year, Public Works has had three Hot Spots teams patrolling the citys 75 to 100 homeless camps  defined as two or more tents. Theyre hauling away 4 to 6 tons a day of garbage that often includes heroin and methamphetamine needles, the agency says.

As has been the case for years, camp residents often move right back to the same spot after the cleaning is done, in what one worker called the street version of maid service. Public Works spokeswoman Rachel Gordon said the department targeted the 10 worst spots during one week in early March and cleared out 53,100 pounds of trash that included human feces, rats and 3,295 needles.

We couldnt in good conscience leave them like that, Gordon said. No one should have to live like that, and no one should have to live around something like that. It was a matter of public safety and sanitation.

Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, said the Public Works crews are at times too aggressive and haul off peoples belongings in addition to the garbage. But that goes on with or without Prop. Q, she said.

Even though her organization campaigned hard against Prop. Q, Friedenbach acknowledged that it was largely a battle over symbols, not a real policy measure.

We couldnt sit idly by while there was a campaign demonizing homeless people and putting out false information and making voters think people would get housing when their tents are confiscated, she said.

Kositiskys crews began their more methodical effort to clear camps in August with the creation of the city Encampment Resolution Team. Its half-dozen counselors conduct a campaign of regular visits to a camp to offer the people living there everything from drug rehabilitation and shelter beds to permanent housing or bus rides back to their families. After three weeks, whoever is left has to move along with their belongings. Public Works crews, with police standing by, then sweep away everything thats left.

Out of the 301 homeless people at eight big camps handled by the team since August, 235 have been put in housing of some sort, according to team figures. For some, that meant a bus ride back to family or a spot in a rehabilitation center. For others, it amounted only to a 30-day spot in a Navigation Center, the shelters that allow people to bring in partners and pets. But even a short shelter stay is an improvement over street life, said team leader Jason Albertson.

We have a lot of people swimming in the ocean of homelessness, and sometimes all we can do is pull them into a lifeboat for a while before they go back out again, Albertson said as he oversaw his teams clearance operation last week of a 40-person camp at Carolina and 16th streets on the northern border of the Potrero neighborhood. But at least theyve gotten some rest ... and maybe that helps move them closer to a better situation.

As he spoke, the property manager at the warehouse across the street was assuring workers there that the tent encampment they have been complaining about would soon be gone. A couple of students strolling to the nearby California College of the Arts waved to the camp dwellers  they smile, we smile, and thats all, said one, 24-year-old Zhiyu Xue  and several waved back.

A sense that the entire scene was changing hung thick in the air. The deadline for the camp to be cleared is Tuesday.

I would love nothing better than to have a place to live  you think we actually like it out here? said one camp resident, who would give only her street name, Cat Astrophic. What these guys are doing, trying to help us out, is great. But Proposition Q? All it did was scare me.

She added, Its bad enough that there are thousands of us out here on the street, but to have some law saying they have to kick us around all the time with a one-day notice and nowhere to go? The only good thing about Proposition Q is that it hasnt made one iota of difference.

Kevin Fagan and Emily Green are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com, egreen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KevinChron, @emilytgreen
President Trumps decision to go for broke on the repeal and replacement of Obamacare was not a smart move, tactically or politically.

You never force a vote until you know the vote will go your way. Pushing the House to schedule a Friday vote, regardless of whether the support was there, was the dumbest move Trump could have made. Pulling the plug at the last minute didnt make things any better.

It was the culminating act in an epic farce. Trump should have led off his presidency with a nice big, nationwide infrastructure spending plan. Something that would have forced Democrats and Republicans to work, and vote, together.

Everyone involved could have looked like winners, and for Trump, the momentum would have been set up for round two, tax reform.

Instead, he led off with an issue guaranteed to divide not just Democrats and Republicans, but various Republican factions.

What the Republicans should have done all along was to repeal Obamacare but not have that repeal take effect for five years. That would have given the party time to draft a coherent replacement and gotten all those nervous Republicans off the health care hook until after the midterm elections.

Minimum risk for your exposed members, and minimum opportunity for Democrats to beat you up.

One thing this shoddy episode has made clear: Trump, for all his last-minute wrangling, was happy to have the public see this as House Speaker Paul Ryans deal. The president appears to have put zero thought into the original bill, and many of the frantic, on-the-fly revisions came out of the GOP leadership, not the White House.

Trump may look bad, but Ryan looks worse, and dont think the president doesnt see it that way. He couldnt care less about the fate of Ryan and the rest of the congressional Republicans, and for their sake, theyd better be smart enough not to care about his.

Hooray for the Democrats. Their grilling of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch revealed that he is philosophically to the right of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, giving them a legitimate reason to filibuster his confirmation vote.

It should be quite a show, starring not only Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer, but also our own Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein. There is still hope.

The Smuin Ballet fundraiser at the San Francisco Design Center the other night netted $500,000 for the freewheeling dance troupe. Board of Supervisors President London Breed stole the show when she performed the opening rap to Hamilton en route to selling three pairs of tickets to the musical for $15,000 total.

Fund drive chairman John Konstin and his wife, Athena, made one mistake. They made the event black tie optional.

The women came dressed spectacularly. Some of the men, however, looked better suited to digging post holes on the back 40.

Movie time: The Last Word. Shirley MacLaine really does get the last word in this story about a young obituary writer assigned to get the real story on a still living and overly controlling businesswoman. Great supporting cast, and worth every penny spent and tear cried.

Thanks to everyone who showed up at my birthday party to help with raising money to light up the Conservatory of Flowers. The party at the Devils Acre in North Beach was a real San Francisco event, right down to the rainy skies and the traffic that made getting there a chore.

Mayor Ed Lee was present, as were Supervisors Jeff Sheehy, Aaron Peskin, Malia Cohen and London Breed. But the real stars were the hundreds of people who showed up with $20 and $30 contributions. These are sincere people.

And because I didnt take their names and addresses, Id like to thank you all.

Id also like to thank the three waiters and chef from Original Joes who showed up unannounced to cater the event.

One of my on-the-street friends said to me: Willie Brown, you know what the motto should be for the Trump administration?

No.

Elect a clown, and you get a circus.

Want to sound off? Email: wbrown@sfchronicle.com
SACRAMENTO  The four people killed last week in a quiet neighborhood include a woman and her two children, authorities said Sunday.

The victims are Angelique Vasquez, 45; her daughter, Mia Vasquez, 14; her son, Alvin Vasquez, 11; and Ashley Coleman, 21, according to the Sacramento County coroners office.

Detectives did not immediately know what relationship Coleman, who was from San Francisco, had to the Vasquez family, Sacramento Officer Matthew McPhail said.

Police found the victims Thursday when they broke into a single-story home in Sacramento after a relative reported that something might be wrong. Investigators treated the entire house as evidence, McPhail said.

Authorities arrested Salvador Vasquez-Oliva, 56, on suspicion of homicide after finding him in San Francisco, about 90 miles away from the killings. They have not named a motive or said what relationship he has to the dead. Police have not said when or how the victims were killed.

Police said Vasquez-Oliva is from Sacramento, but records show he also is associated with an apartment near the University of San Francisco, six blocks from where police found him.

There was no answer at the door Friday, though a light was on inside.

A former co-worker described Angelique Vasquez as a devoted mother.

I loved her free spirit and the way she spoke about her children. She loved them so much, said Sheila Stewart, who met Vasquez seven years ago in the human resources department of Californias Employment Development Department.

Vasquez had split with her husband in the past, Stewart said.

She didnt really talk about him, at least not to me, she said Friday. I know they had problems like any relationship but never heard any stories of physical abuse.

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Vasquez-Oliva also worked for the Employment Development Department, which administers the states unemployment checks. Agency officials said Vasquez-Oliva had worked as an office technician since 2014.

Sgt. Bryce Heinlein said Thursday that the killings dont appear to be random.

It was not immediately known if Vasquez-Oliva has an attorney. He was being held in the Sacramento County Jail, Heinlein said.

Christopher Weber and Amanda Lee Myers are Associated Press writers.
In navigating the offerings of the SFFilm Festival, its important to remember that there are movies for almost every taste, whether you like the bizarre, the straightforward, the serious, the not-so-serious or all of them rolled into one.

Here are some of the films that The Chronicle can recommend, with the caveat, of course, that beauty is in the eye of the filmgoer:

Ma Rosa

Without a frame of melodrama, this powerful film follows a Filipino family caught up in crystal-meth charges and police corruption. The police raid on the family is gritty, realistic filmmaking at its best, and Jaclyn Rose, as the mother, won the best actress award at Cannes, no doubt in large part to her quietly devastating final scene. 6 p.m. April 8, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; 5:30 p.m. April 16, Roxie.

To see a trailer: www.tinyurl.com/h8ks6jd

Half-Life in Fukushima

Except for the cleanup crews, there are few people left in Fukushima, the Chernobyl of Japan, since a tsunami created a nuclear disaster there. But that hasnt stopped farmer Naoto Matsumura from trying to restore his old life, and this documentary follows him as he ambles through radioactive zones. The experience is haunting and sad. 6:30 p.m. April 13, Yerba Buena; 3:30 p.m. April 17 and 2 p.m. April 19, Roxie.

To see a trailer: www.tinyurl.com/gvtm7hl

The House of Tomorrow

In a welcome story twist, a sheltered American teen named Sebastian, from a liberal, futurist household, befriends a rebellious, aspiring punk rocker from an evangelical household. Ellen Burstyn, as Sebastians grandmother, heads a charming ensemble cast. 3:45 p.m. April 8, SFMOMA; 4:15 p.m. April 9, Dolby; 6:45 p.m. April 13, SFMOMA.

Score: A Film Music Documentary

Slightly geeky and infectiously entertaining, this informative movie sheds light on a little-understood but incredibly important art form: film music. Many of the best composers in the business appear onscreen to discuss their craft, and of course, the music soars. 1 p.m. April 9, Dolby; 3 p.m. April 11, SFMOMA; 8:30 p.m. April 17, Victoria.

To see a trailer: www.tinyurl.com/z3kgeqe

Marjorie Prime

This intelligent science fiction drama concerns a woman who uses a computer-generated version of her late husband to help preserve her fading memories. Its a very well-acted film, thanks to Jon Hamm, Lois Smith, Tim Robbins and Geena Davis, who after all these years away from the big screen still looks amazing. 8:45 p.m. April 6, Castro; 6 p.m. April 9, Yerba Buena.

To see a trailer: www.tinyurl.com/hq77xou

Gods Own Country

In this gritty, timely and wonderfully moving romantic drama, an emotionally challenged Yorkshire farmer falls for a Romanian migrant, who teaches the young man how to connect with animals  and humans. Its an homage to Brokeback Mountain, only with undercurrents of immigrant tensions and rural malaise  and a much more optimistic outlook. Dont miss it. 5 p.m. April 15, Roxie; 8:30 p.m. April 17, Alamo.

To see a trailer: www.tinyurl.com/ms5jpvd

The Ornithologist

Bizarre, surreal, erotic and ultimately satisfying, this mind-bender from Portugal follows an ornithologist who cant seem to stay out trouble when he ventures out into the woods for a bird-watching expedition. This is one strange mix of birds, sex and religious imagery, but its hard not be hypnotized by it all. 8:30 p.m. April 15, BAMPFA; 5 p.m. April 16, SFMOMA.

To see a trailer: www.tinyurl.com/ze56p83

Park

Sometimes unsettling and despairing, this Greek film about disaffected kids derives much of its power from the setting: the ruins of the 2004 Athens Olympics. The cast is made up of mostly amateur actors, but they are up to the Olympian task of making these youths feel real. 8:30 p.m. April 14, Roxie; 3 p.m. April 19, Alamo.

To see a trailer: www.tinyurl.com/h8fjvg5

Family Life

In this dryly amusing Chilean feature, a house-sitter named Martin takes his job way too literally  making himself truly at home  and things get out of hand in a hurry. This is simple, elegant storytelling, with more complicated than meets the eye. 8:45 p.m. April 12, BAMPFA; 6 p.m. April 13, Roxie; 1:15 p.m. April 15, Alamo.

Heal the Living

Dazzlingly shot, this emotionally rich French film tells the stories of an injured surfer, a mother with heart problems, and a dedicated group of doctors. The flashbacks of first love will stay with you. 9 p.m. April 10, Victoria; 6 p.m. April 19, Alamo.

David Lewis is a Bay Area freelance writer.
The University of California spent almost $1 million for a private law firm to investigate the alleged wrongdoing by former UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi that led to her resignation in August.

The investigation was conducted by the San Francisco law firm Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe  and was headed by Melinda Haag, former U.S. attorney in San Francisco.

After taking into account the discounted hourly billing rates and other fee accommodations that the firm agreed to, the final cost to UC will be $988,142.75 for Orricks fees and expenses, UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein said via email.

The funds used to pay for the investigation come from the presidential endowment, which does not include any state or tuition dollars, Klein said.

Katehi resigned from her $420,000-a-year position after questions were raised about her serving on outside boards and about her efforts to scrub the Internet of stories relating to the embarrassing pepper spraying of protesters at a peaceful demonstration at UC Davis in 2011.

UC President Janet Napolitano asked Katehi to step aside. When she refused, Napolitano ordered the Haag investigation  which, she later told the Board of Regents, found numerous instances in which Katehi was not candid either with me, the press or the public.

After the report was released, Katehi resigned and returned to her teaching position at Davis.

All of this could have been avoided had Katehi resigned as chancellor of UC Davis as President Napolitano had asked, Klein said.

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
Less is, if not more, at least freshly emphatic in the economical version of A Dolls House retitled Nora and seen Friday, March 24, at Shotgun Players Ashby Stage.

Ingmar Bergman has stripped away all the minor characters of Henrik Ibsens classic, and pared away so much exposition that the three-act drama almost flies by in an hour and 40 minutes without intermission. Bergmans Nora paints a stark portrait of a marriage as a series of transactions, with no need for all the times Torvald calls his wife a squirrel to make its point.

Bergmans adaptation gives fresh emphasis to the original plays shrewdest point: In a society built on inequality, relationships lose their humanity. If, as a wife, you must always bargain with your husband, whose dominant role in the marriage is enforced by your community, you are condemned to live not in a marriage, but in enslavement.

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Directed by Beth Wilmurt, Nora refreshes the 1879 proto-feminist classic in still other ways. Even if youve seen A Dolls House before, youll likely find yourself convinced characters will choose differently this time.

Wilmurt makes a familiar world bewitchingly strange. You might feel that instead of experiencing one of the foundational stories of modern drama, one that helped lead theater out of melodrama and into realism, youre watching something new and experimental. How else to explain the way each character seems desperate to divulge a shameful secret; lay bare a forbidden desire or childish fantasy; enumerate, with disarming candor, each of his or her social and financial privileges  exactly the sort of thing society schools one to conceal?

In the case of Nora (Jessma Evans), it isnt even a trusted confidante she tells all to, but a school friend she hasnt seen in about a decade. Christine Linde is played so gravely by Erin Mei-Ling Stuart that each plea about a pitiable lot in life registers with battalion force. This newcomer goes from darkening Noras door (except theres no front door in Maya Linkes smart, open set, leaving Nora to labor at her delusions sans protection, in full view of many judges) to hearing all the sordid details of Noras wheelings and dealings, her selfless but nonetheless shady attempts to secure the health, fortune and reputation of her husband Torvald (Kevin Kemp).

So often, productions of Ibsen get mired in their ponderous exposition, but under Wilmurts direction, characters utter each thought, no matter how seemingly banal, no matter how in service to back story, as if it might be their last. In a breakout performance, Evans limns each line reading with so much earnest yearning to maintain a false front, yet so much deathly fear of the cracks in her facade, that exchanges about wills and contracts take on the very weight of the universe. From breath to breath, she seems to at once persevere mightily, with a generous if tearful smile ready for whomever should next cross her porous threshold, yet also to buckle, to yield before others more sure in their own personhood.

Contemporary productions and adaptations of A Dolls House often fail to make Torvald more than an easy villain, a chauvinist his audience is all to ready to denounce. Shotguns Nora doesnt solve that problem  partly because the cuts dont give us time to fully register the plays emotional peaks and troughs, partly because of Kemps magisterial, even mechanical, delivery. That means Noras climactic decision doesnt reverberate with society-rending force. But in Evans rendering, it still chills.

Lily Janiak is The San Francisco Chronicles theater critic. Email: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak

Nora: Written by Ingmar Bergman. Translated and adapted by Frederick J. Marker and Lise-Lone Marker from Henrik Ibsen. Directed by Beth Wilmurt. Through April 23. $25-$40. Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. One hour 40 minutes. (510) 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org

To see a trailer: https://vimeo.com/209458944
Even before the Republican health care bill died Friday, President Trump badly needed a legislative win after two months of self-inflicted wounds, stumbles and legal setbacks.

And while the factors that have been in Trumps favor will still be there in the near future  he remains popular with his base of supporters, hes got a GOP majority in Congress, and his Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, is expected to be confirmed  he needs to start putting political points on the board soon or the 44-seat House majority he enjoys is likely to shrink during next years midterm elections, analysts said.

He off to a slower start than the last three presidents, said John Frendreis, a professor of political science at Loyola University who has researched the first 100 days of presidents going back to Franklin Roosevelt.

The last time we saw someone who came into the White House who was truly an outsider was Jimmy Carter, and he struggled for a number of months to get things straight. And I think were seeing that in Trump, Frendreis said.

Trump seemed to concede a bit of that inexperience after the health care bill was withdrawn Friday, saying We learned a lot about loyalty, and we learned a lot about the vote-getting process.

And then he blamed the Democrats for the bills failure, without mentioning that he did nothing to woo their support.

Trump is learning on the job, said James Thurber, founder of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University and author of Rivals for Power: Presidential-Congressional Relations.

The president doesnt know the legislative process, Thurber said. Its obvious by his statements. He hasnt thought through separation of power. They have gotten nothing done so far in Congress.

While his approval ratings are the lowest for any president this early in his first term, his core supporters such as Saulo Londono, Republican Party chairman in Butte County, are sticking by Trump for a simple reason: Londono feels that the president is trying to fulfill his campaign promises.

Theres something fresh about that  that somebody is going to do what they said they were going to do, said Londono, who lives in Chico. Whether you agree with him or not, he said hes going to build the wall, or get rid of Obamacare, and thats what hes trying to do. He tried on health care. I, and a lot of his supporters here in Butte, are willing to give him some space to do what he said hes going to do.

But voters may not be as forgiving next year. Typically, Frendreis said, midterm voters cast ballots on two factors: How the economy is doing and what they think of the president.

While the media and the public often measure early presidencies using the mythical yardstick of what is accomplished in the first 100 days, the reality is that few chief executives since FDR have accomplished much during that period, said Jon Schaff, a professor of politics at Northern State University in South Dakota, who has researched the first 100 days of presidencies.

The keys to relative success during that period are strong majorities in Congress  Frendreis calls Trumps four-vote Senate margin relatively weak  and a crisis, which Trump has yet to encounter.

President Barack Obama not only was backed by 59 votes in the Senate and 255 Democrats in the House through much of his first term, but the country also was in the worst financial crisis since the Depression when he took office.

Things tend to get done when theres a crisis happening, Frendreis said. Obama was able to get the stimulus passed because the financial markets were melting down and Congress wanted to do something.

And while critics say Trump doesnt have a well-defined legislative agenda, as a candidate, he clearly outlined what he wanted to accomplish in his first 100 days during an October speech in Gettysburg, Pa.

Some of those first day promises that sounded powerful and attractive on the campaign trail  to label China a currency manipulator, to end foreign trading abuses, to cancel billions of climate change funds for the United Nations  havent happened. Others, like canceling all federal funding to sanctuary cities, are tied up in the courts.

What was supposed to be the administrations easiest political lift  a sweeping tax cut package  is up next, say Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. But it has its challenges, especially for Republicans who oppose new taxes of any kind.

It relies on a 20 percent border-adjustment tax that levies taxes on imports but not exports. The intention of the tax is to encourage companies with offshore operations to bring them back to the U.S. and hire more American workers.

But major retailers, including Walmart, Kohls and Target, oppose it because they say it will force them to raise prices. That price increase will hit many of the blue-collar former Obama voters who backed Trump in November. Republicans in Congress who didnt want to be seen as stripping health care from millions of Americans, and so stayed away from the now-dead American Health Care Act, may also be reluctant to be seen as reducing the buying power of their constituents.

So, even though he promised a flurry of action in the early days of his administration, Trump hasnt signed one significant piece of legislation so far  Sunday is day 66 of the administration  something his predecessors Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama had already accomplished or were on their way to at the same juncture.

The result: The presidents personal approval rating is in a slump  only 43 of Americans surveyed approve of his job performance so far, according to a synthesis of major polls by RealClearPolitics.com. Obamas lowest RealClear approval rating was 40 percent, but that was midway through his second term.

Still, analysts say it is still too early to put much stock in the administrations early stumbles. Clintons first few months were plagued by such a scattershot approach that his budget director, Leon Panetta, said at the time that the president must do a better job of picking and choosing the battles he wants to go through.

We tend to exaggerate the importance of the first 100 days. What happens is not indicative of what happens over a term, politics professor Schaff said. But it is fair to say hes had an unusually low legislative output. Theres not anything that he can say, Heres a success.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli

Snapshots of the first 100 days of recent presidents

Barack Obama

Legislative win: With strong majorities in Congress  and the economy melting down  wins passage of the $831 billion stimulus package in February.

Unexpected crisis: Somali pirates hijack a U.S. cargo ship. Obama has to decide within minutes whether to order Seal Team sharpshooters to kill the pirates. He sends the team.

Stumble: Four Cabinet nominees  former Ambassador Charles Freeman (for National Intelligence director), former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (Commerce), former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle (Health and Human Services), and former New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg (Commerce)  withdraw their nominations for various problems.

George W. Bush

Legislative wins: Working with a Democratic Senate, makrd progress on a $1.6 trillion tax cut that would be signed in June, and the bipartisan No Child Left Behind education measure, which would pass both chambers by June.

Unexpected crisis: U.S. spy plane collides with a Chinese fighter plane off the Chinese coast, raising tensions between the international rivals.

Stumble: Pulls out of the Kyoto climate change accords without checking with major U.S. allies first.

Bill Clinton

Legislative win: In February 1993, signs the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allowed workers to take up to 12 weeks unpaid leave to care for sick family member or new child

Unexpected crisis: Car bomb explodes at the World Trade Center, killing six and injuring more than 1,000 people. Kuwaiti religious leader takes responsibility for attack.

Stumble: Proposal to let gays to serve openly in the military is blasted by Defense Department and both parties, distracting attention from agenda.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  An Arkansas lawmaker wants to expand the states indecent exposure law in a move that opponents say could criminalize transgender peoples use of bathrooms.

Republican Rep. Bob Ballingers proposal would make it a crime for people to knowingly expose their sex organs to someone of the opposite sex in a public place under circumstances likely to cause alarm. Ballinger said the measure was needed to protect children in situations such as when a father takes his daughter into the mens restroom. The bill would make it a crime for the men to deliberately expose themselves to the child.

But American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas legal director Holly Dickson says laws already are in place to address people acting with criminal intent in public restrooms. Dickson says Ballingers bill is just a way to make it a crime for transgender people to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

This bill is intimidating. It can lead to increased harassment. It will chill transgender peoples participation in public life, Dickson said.

She noted the impact statement attached to the proposed measure, which says there were only seven convictions for violations of Arkansas current indecent exposure law from 2013 to 2015. It is creating problems where there are no problems, Dickson said.

The Human Rights Campaign said the measure exposes Arkansas to tremendous risk of the kind of financial, legal, and political blowback that has beset North Carolina since the passage of HB2.

National Center for Transgender Equality executive director Mara Keisling said the Arkansas bill is clearly aimed at the transgender community and could have an impact on the states economy.

But Ballinger said he saw a gap in the indecent exposure law and that he doesnt believe his proposal will affect the transgender community.

It doesnt seem like thered be a problem, Ballinger said.

The House has already passed the bill. It now goes to a Senate committee for review.

Tafi Mukunyadzi is an Associated Press writer.
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NEW YORK  Should the Fearless Girl stand up to Wall Streets charging bull forever?

Thats the question New York City officials are facing after a statue of a ponytailed girl in a windblown dress went up in front of the bronze bull early this month and immediately became a tourist draw and internet sensation.

What was intended as a temporary display to encourage corporations to put more women on their boards is now getting a second look in light of its popularity, which has spawned an online petition seeking to keep it.

But does keeping the girl past her scheduled April 2 deadline forever alter the meaning of the bull? After all, the 11-foot-tall, 7,100-pound bull has been hugely popular in its own right; it was placed in a lower Manhattan traffic median in the wake of the 1987 stock market crash as a symbol of Americans financial resilience and can-do spirit.

Some fans of the bronze girl already see the bull much differently.

The bull represents men and power, says Cristina Pogorevici, 18, a student from Bucharest, Romania, who recently visited the statues. So she is a message of womens power and things that are changing in the world right now.

Holli Sargeant, 20, a visitor from Queensland, Australia, says the 4-foot-tall, 250-pound bronze girl is standing up against something and we see her as powerful image. She represents all the young women in the world that want to make a difference.

Such shifting perceptions of the bull  from American hero to villain of sorts  outrage bull sculptor Arturo Di Modica, who wants the girl gone.

He dismissed Kristen Visbals statue as nothing more than an an advertising trick, noting the bronze was a marketing effort on the eve of the March 8 International Womens Day by Bostons State Street Global Advisors and its New York advertising firm, McCann.

As for his bull, I put it there for art, the Italian-born sculptor told MarketWatch, which first reported his anger. My bull is a symbol for America. My bull is a symbol of prosperity and for strength.

The girls sculptor has no hostile feelings toward the bull.

I love Charging Bull! Visbal said Sunday, speaking from her home in Rehoboth Beach, Del. But women are here, and were here to stay.

She was commissioned to create a 36-inch-tall girl with hands on hips and chin up. Then we thought, this is a really big bull and we should increase the height to 50 inches, she said. But I made sure to keep her features soft. Shes not defiant; shes brave, proud and strong, not belligerent.

The sculptor based her work on two Delaware children  a friends daughter she said had great style and a great stance, and I told her to pretend she was facing a bull. The second was a beautiful Latina girl, so everyone could relate to the Fearless Girl.

Visbal, who was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, while her American father was in the foreign service, is to be honored Monday along with State Street on the steps of New Yorks City Hall by a group of prominent women who are asking that the statue be made permanent.

A spokesman for New York City, which controls public art in the area, did not say when a decision would be made. Mayor Bill de Blasio has said only that he would try to prolong the girls presence.

Verena Dobnik is an Associated Press writer.
1 Pump prices: The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline dipped about a penny nationally during the past two weeks, to $2.34, industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday. Among the cities surveyed, San Francisco had the highest average price for regular at $3.00, while the lowest was in Tulsa, Okla., at $2.01.

2 Vegas Strip shooting: The man accused of opening fire at the back of a public bus on the Las Vegas Strip, killing one person and injuring another, was identified Sunday as Rolando Cardenas, 55. Police said he opened fire for no apparent reason Saturday as passengers got off at a stop in the heart of the tourism corridor. Gary Breitling, 57, of Sidney, Mont., was killed. Cardenas surrendered after a standoff inside the bus that lasted more than four hours, police said. He was booked on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, burglary and opening fire on the bus. The other victim was hospitalized but is expected to survive.
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SEBASTOPOL (BCN)

An old school bus with livestock inside as a makeshift mobile petting zoo in Sebastopol led to an altercation between the bus owner and a woman who allegedly assaulted her last weekend, police said.

Police wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday about the incident, which began last weekend when the department received multiple calls from concerned residents about the bus parked on Morris Street with two cows, a goat and three dogs inside.

Officers responded and contacted the bus owner, who police said had intended to use it as "an educational petting zoo on wheels" despite city laws banning such a venture.

The animals appeared to be well taken care of and were not in distress and the woman agreed to move the bus to the Chevron gas station on state Highway 12, according to police.

While police were trying to figure out what to do about the animals, a female suspect allegedly assaulted the owner and sent her to a hospital with minor injuries.

The suspect and another person were arrested for the assault. Their names were not immediately released by police.

A pasture near Cloverdale was offered up for the animals by a member of the local agricultural community and the bus owner, after being released from the hospital, agreed to let the animals roam there while authorities determine what to do with them, police said.

Police said in the Facebook post that the bus owner "meant the animals no harm and treated them well" and that the department is "thankful the owner's injuries from the assault were minor and the animals have been moved to greener pastures."
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Courtesy Kape Barako Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Daniel R Jones/Getty Images Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Once a familiar sight on streets all over the United Kingdom and its territories, the crown-topped red British telephone boxes are being reborn  as comically improbable coffee shops, offices and stores. While some local boxes already have been converted  a tiny library, a gallery for local artists and even a medical station with a cardiac defibrillator  a number of entrepreneurs now are buying or renting the defunct telephone boxes and turning them into eye-catching (albeit pint-sized) businesses.

Kape Barako in Hampstead, a tony suburb of North London, is a wildly popular coffee shop, while another box on Brighton Palace pier in East Sussex sells sun hats to optimistic beach goers. Smartphone addicts can squeeze in too: for a $31 monthly fee, Pod Works members get free Internet access, a 25-inch screen, scanning and printing via Wi-Fi and free national calls in their pods across the United Kingdom. (They arent like the Tardis police call box in Doctor Who, however  theres no space for a meeting.)
SOFIA, Bulgaria  The center-right GERB party of former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov took the lead in Bulgarias parliamentary election on Sunday, a pair of exit polls showed, a result that if confirmed by official returns indicates support for the country keeping its European identity.

The Alpha Research exit poll said GERB won 32.2 percent of the vote, with the Socialist Party coming in second with 28 percent, while a separate exit poll by Gallup International Balkan had GERB with 32.8 percent and the Socialists with 28.4 percent.

The leader of the Socialists Party later conceded defeat and said the party would not take part in a coalition government with GERB, whose initials translate to coat of arms in Bulgarian.

Official results are expected Monday. If they confirm the exit polls, Borisov, a political maverick who combines man-in-the-street rhetoric with a pro-European Union disposition, will be handed a mandate to form his third cabinet.

GERB did not win enough votes to govern alone, and will probably form a coalition government with the United Patriots, an alliance of three nationalist parties that the exit polls showed placing third.

Borisov, 57, resigned as prime minister after his party lost the November 2016 presidential election. Parliament was dissolved in January, and the president appointed a caretaker government that will stay until a new government is formed.

Support for the nationalist alliance reflected widespread anger over an influx of migrants to this southeastern European nation that borders Greece, Turkey and Romania, and over Turkeys open support for a party representing Bulgarias sizeable Muslim minority. Some 10 percent of Bulgarians are of Turkish origin or Muslim.

Along with immigration, the election campaign focused on the future of the European Union, which Bulgaria joined in 2007, and the influence of Russia and Turkey on domestic politics.

Socialist Party leader Kornelia Ninova, who campaigned on forging closer relations with Russia, conceded defeat Sunday evening. Ninova congratulated GERB as the elections winner, and ruled out any option of serving in a coalition government with the center-right party.

The Socialists, a party made up mostly of ex-communists, want EU sanctions against Russia lifted and tried to woo voters with promises of higher salaries and pensions.

If GERB fails to form a government, we will try to do so, Ninova said.

The GERB partys popularity faded during Borisovs previous term as prime minister because of the slow pace of reforms to eliminate graft and poverty and to overhaul the judicial system. Bulgaria is the EUs poorest member.

It is now pledging to fight corruption and to raise minimum wages, and supports EU sanctions on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis.

The Central Election Commission said voter turnout for the election stood at nearly 43 percent, a larger showing than in previous elections.

Veselin Toshkov is an Associated Press writer.
BEIRUT  U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces captured a strategically important air base from Islamic State militants in north Syria on Sunday in the first major victory for the group since the U.S. airlifted the forces behind enemy lines four days ago.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced they had captured the Tabqa air base, 28 miles west of Raqqa, the Islamic State groups de facto capital in Syria.

The U.S., which has provided substantial air and ground support to the SDF, ferried hundreds of SDF forces, as well as U.S. military advisers and U.S. artillery, behind Islamic State lines last week.

The airlift was a major development to the SDFs multi-front campaign to bear down on Raqqa, as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces simultaneously press their assault to seize Mosul from the militants, in neighboring Iraq. SDF forces are within 6 miles of Raqqa from the north.

Tabqa air base was captured by Islamic State militants from the Syrian government in August 2014. Shortly later, the group announced it had killed about 200 government soldiers at the base, in a mass killing recorded and distributed on video over social media.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group also reported the SDF advance.

Meanwhile, there were conflicting reports over whether civilians had begun evacuating Raqqa due to concerns over the stability of Tabqa Dam.

The militants said U.S.-led coalition air strikes had locked up the dams gates, causing the water level behind it to rise. The activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently reported that militants had ordered Raqqa residents to evacuate. Tabqa Dam is 25 miles upstream of Raqqa on the Euphrates River.

However, coalition forces said the dam was structurally sound. U.S.-backed forces were in control of a spillway north of the dam which can be used to alleviate pressure on the dam if need be, the coalition said in a letter to the Associated Press.

The coalition says the dam has not been structurally damaged, to its knowledge, and says it has not targeted the dam.

The Observatory said there were no evacuations happening from Raqqa, as did the activist-run Raqqa 24 media center. Raqqa 24 said engineers employed by the militants had restored power to the dams gates and the structure was functioning normally.

Philip Issa is an Associated Press writer.
There's no such thing as a free lunch.

 Robert Heilein

Well here's a bit of odd news in case you may have missed it, folks. Auburn High School is in a bit of a bind as to where to have the graduation ceremony this year because Holland Stadium is soon to be renovated and won't be ready in time for the kids to don their caps and gowns. So, the idea has been put forth that the school have its graduation at Emerson Park which, if we're being totally honest, is a much nicer venue. The students and parents would have the glistening lake to view as a backdrop instead of what there is now  a McDonald's.

For a group devoted to higher learning this seems a no-brainer, and I'm kind of shocked that they haven't been doing this for years. But with any agent of change there comes some sort of resistance. For this round the argument is circling the topic of parking and park rental fees. In order to rent Deauville Island, the Auburn school district needs to write two checks of $750. On top of that the parking fee for the day would be $2 a car, which doesn't seem like that big of a price to pay but when you look at the numbers of parents that would like to see their spawn graduate, it could easily turn into some real scratch. Now I'm no economic wizard but it seems to me that $1,500 is a bit much to pay for having some chairs on the shoreline. Plus, you'd think that since this is the city's graduating class, there wouldn't even be a toll to pay ... but you'd be wrong.

Like all things financial if there's a buck to be made then someone, somewhere will be willing to fight for every possible penny. Keep in mind that we're not talking about a private wedding or family reunion. I can understand the need for having a surcharge for an exclusive event because that pavilion won't pay for itself. Plus, if there wasn't some sort of charge then people would just show up at random hours and expect to have a party, which doesn't seem too bad until one group starts to do the chicken dance while the other is feeling in the mood for the Electric Slide. It'd be a two-step catastrophe!

But even though the county parks commission wants to make money off the event, there's still a game of pass-the-buck going on as it were. Jeff Pirozzolo (the school superintendent) has asked Keith Batman (the county chairman, but no relations to the caped crusader) to waive the fees but instead of making the call, the decision is now sailing downstream to the county legislators to make the determination.

We call our graduates one of our greatest assets. It must be true because now we're trying to get some type of return on the investment known as education.
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The North Shore waterfront plans will complement the Bay Street Corridor rezoning and cultural plans. (Staten Island Advance/ Jan Somma-Hammel)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Those hoping to expand and develop the North Shore waterfront will host a community forum sharing neighborhood ideas and projects on Tuesday, March 28.

Community members will show their designs, plans and policy recommendations which will be presented and discussed for public feedback at the forum. The waterfront includes the St. George, Tompkinsville and Stapleton neighborhoods.

The forum will be held at ArtSpace at Staten Island Arts in Stapleton located at 23 Navy Pier Court. It will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

The community forum is an initial milestone to create a shared purpose within the arts community, developers and business owners and public agencies about the North Shore waterfront.

Some recommendations include creative strategies to connect waterfront to local neighborhoods, provide sustainable working and living spaces for artists and develop pilots to test those ideas to invigorate the North Shore.

The forum will give input regarding a core community working group's developed project named "Future Culture: Connecting Staten Island's Waterfront."

The group's final recommendations will be released in fall 2017 and will complement the NYC government's Bay Street Corridor rezoning and citywide cultural plan.

Those attending the event include: Christine Johnson, Chief of Staff, Council Member Debi Rose's Office; Elizabeth Bennett, Executive Director, Staten Island Arts; Susan Chin, FAIA, Hon. ASLA, Executive Director, Design Trust for Public Space; and North Shore community working group members- residents, artist, cultural practitioners and business owners.

Team members who have collaborated with the community working group on initial recommendations who will be at the forum are: Staten Island artist Lisa Dahl, policy expert Ben Margolis, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award winning landscape designers Margie Ruddick and wayfinding designer John Schettino.

There will be representatives from NYC agencies including Department of City Planning (DCP), Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and Department of Small Business Services (SBS).

"Future Culture" is a project of the Design Trust for Public Space in partnership with Staten Island Arts. The project has the participation and support of NYC Economic Development Corporation and developers including BFC Partners, Ironstate, New York Wheel and Triangle Equities.
NWS PS62

Staten Island leads in solar generation in both the number of customer projects and amount of power produced. In this photo, PS 62 in Rossville is featured as the first "green school" in New York City. (Staten Island Advance/Anthony DePrimo)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- More residents and businesses are choosing the power of the sun to generate their clean energy in New York City, specifically on Staten Island, Con Edison said.

New York City passed the century mark for solar generation when they generated more than 100 megawatts. In all five boroughs, there are 9,714 total projects producing 101.2 megawatts which is enough to power more than 15,000 homes, according to the utility.

Staten Island leads the city in both the number of customer projects and the amount of power those projects produced. The borough, Con Edison said, has 4,459 projects producing 39.011 megawatts.

In 2014, solar panel installations quadrupled on Staten Island from the year before. Residents said they no longer had high electricity bills after installing the panels.

Aside from saving money on your bills, you can also earn tax credits when switching over to solar generation or other clean-energy upgrades to your home.

"Congress is always tinkering with the tax code in order to encourage different types of positive economic and social behavior," states TaxAct. "You can earn tax credits, for example, by making energy-efficient upgrades to your home or buying a hybrid vehicle."

Con Edison, Sustainable CUNY (at the City University of New York), government agencies and other parties have encouraged both residents and businesses to consider using solar energy to reduce energy bills and protect the environment.

"One of the most striking trends within the transformation of the energy industry is the move of customers to renewables," said Matthew Ketschke, Con Edison's vice president, Distributed Resource Integration.

"We want clean energy, including solar, to be available for customers of all income levels and regardless of whether they live in a house or an apartment," Ketschke said. "We also advocate policies that ensure funding for the kind of robust grid that makes solar energy possible."

In April 2016, the city began installing solar energy panels at 101 public schools, including Staten Island schools, to save on energy costs and serve as a lesson for students.

In 2015, PS 62 in Rossville became NYC's first "green school" that is solar energy-dependent. The school has 2,000 solar panels, a wind turbine and heating and cooling systems powered by underground geothermal wells and other clean-energy features.

For more information about Con Edison's installation process, energy efficiency information or customer service information, you can visit their website, conEd.com.
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The U.N. Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said in a statement released in Geneva that he is deeply concerned by the recent escalation of violence in Syria, highlighting that it undermines a Dec. 30 cease-fire brokered by Turkey, Iran and Russia who back opposing parties in the civil war. The statement said de Mistura had communicated with the foreign ministers of the three countries, appealing to them to exert urgent efforts to uphold the cease-fire.
A man robbing a Domino's pizza shop threatened staff with a knife before police pursued his getaway car on Sunday morning.

A staff member handed over cash during the robbery at Lanyon Marketplace on Sidney Nolan Street, Conder, and a man wearing black clothes and a face covering left the store and entered the passenger side of a blue Mazda 323 Astina.

Domino's growth is slowing down closing at at $41.50 on Tuesday. Credit:Wayne Taylor

The vehicle, which had no registration plates, left from Box Hill Avenue, Conder and headed towards Gordon.

Police found the car travelling on Lanyon Drive, and when the driver didn't stop when signalled, they began a brief pursuit.
Once upon a time when greedy publicans had to obey the law, a schooner of beer measured 450 mls (15 oz) now a 375 ml can will fill what they are selling as "schooners". Please, Column 8, is this legal? asks Joe Payne of Coogee. [C8: we don't know but a C8er will].

Yellow line marking (C8 driving lessons) was first replaced with white lines in the late '80s on Old Port Road, Port Kembla, writes Dr Graham Brisbane of Cordeaux Heights (RTA engineer in charge of line marking in Wollongong at the time). "Use of white paint was an economic decision, the estimated saving in paint cost at the time was in the order of $300,000. Research did not indicate any difference in road safety outcomes. PS: This question has previously been raised in Column 8 about 10 years ago where I provided the same response."

"Andrew should take his son for a long drive to the Snowy Mountains. The yellow lines are still used in NSW above the snow line. Would also help to get his driving hours up." From Bart Fielden of Lindfield.

In the days when it was PC my mother received a gun as a Mother's Day gift (C8), writes Narissa Phelps, Goonellabah. "She lived on a property and had previously brought a snake inside happily coiled up in the washing basket. Dad thought the gun a great idea. Needless to say it was one of those unused gifts and surrendered in the gun amnesty."

More. "My father gave my mother an incinerator for Mother's Day many years ago. They have both passed on now but the incinerator is still working well." Robyn Lewis of Raglan.
When Jacqui Lambie spoke in the Senate last week on the government's plans to cut welfare, she spoke from the heart. The senator from Tasmania has known what it is like to try to make ends meet on the miserable sums our governments dole out to those in need. The memory of that desperation shook her voice, brought out her tears, and doubled or trebled the effectiveness of the argument she laid out against the government's off-handed callousness. Australia has few conviction politicians, but here was one. Why do we not have more?

Why do so many of our politicians sound not sincere like Jacqui Lambie, but fake and empty?

The answer may lie in their background. As Tom McIlroy reports today, more than half our MPs have little experience of work outside politics.

Building support for party preselection has always taken time  but today it has become a full-time job. And since it is unpaid, would-be politicians know it is best to work where canvassing can be done as part of their paid employment. Labor aspirants often work in a union, where they can climb up within Labor's organised factional framework. Another route is through a senior politician's office as an adviser.

Almost half of Liberal MPs have also taken this route into politics. These roles are undoubtedly busy, but their effect is largely uniform. The experience gained is mostly in the narrow skill of deal-making, in which process dominates other considerations. Winning, for such people, is everything. The means become more important than the ends. For those trained this way, politics shrinks into a game of managing numbers, massaging and manipulating opinions and manoeuvring between interest groups to gain and hold power. Ideas are less important  let alone ideals.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton is right to demand that the Prime Minister stand firm in his promise of a plebiscite on same-sex marriage.Twenty Australian CEOs signing a grievance letter, perfectly encapsulates the sheer absurdity of the business world joining in the trendy chorus of rainbow rhetoric, by seeking to undermine a necessary national vote on the framework of our most significant social pillar.On a purely legal level, it is extraordinary that so many prominent national companies would be essentially antagonistic towards the current law of the land in regard to the institution of wedlock, for the sake of appeasing a small percentage tof all registered couples who identify as gay. This is the price we pay for wanting to capitulate to every lifestyle demand of a minority, foolishly upholding the latest inner-elite social cause as paramount, rather than what has been tried and tested and found faithful throughout the centuries.

Peter Waterhouse Craigieburn

Haggling on health

Surely the health system is seriously broken when ill people must haggle with their referred specialist for the price of their care. ("Question worth asking: patients urged to bargain with doctors", March 19). After a recent serious fall, my aged mother was left incapacitated with multiple injuries and issues. Treatment was swift when discovered, but communication within the hospitals was confused and confusing for the family. The information gathering procedures were difficult. The immediacy of action was commendable but the ability to "bargain" over price or even ask questions about treatment options and resultant expectations were negligible and "haggling" over costs would seem even petty at the time of crisis.

Janice Creenaune Austinmer
A large number of civilians have been killed or injured. Chris Woods, director of independent civilian casualties monitoring agency Airwars, says that since the assault began hundreds have been reported killed by coalition airstrikes. "We're seeing worse numbers now in Mosul than we did during Aleppo," he says. "There was a report in the British Daily Telegraph [March 12] saying 300 civilians died in just two neighbourhoods of Mosul in a 24-hour period as a result of airstrikes." The Russian and Syrian campaign to take Aleppo was extensively covered by western media with Moscow and Damascus usually blamed for the death and injury of civilians.

Few if any mainstream western media representatives blamed the al-Qaeda backed rebels for the carnage or called on them to surrender as a way of ending the siege. Woods rightly points out that the international media is not covering the civilian casualties in Mosul in the same way as they covered the Aleppo conflict. Certainly the Australian television networks are not. Children are being killed and injured and pulled from bombed buildings but if it's "our" side doing the bombing it seems it's not to be screened. But the killing is not going un-noticed. It's being raised in US State Department briefings, not least by Russian journalists. On March 15, one journalist referred to Iraqi politician Khamis Khanjar's statement that at least 3500 civilians had been killed in Mosul within the past month. Khanjar said the mounting casualties came mainly from airstrikes and indiscriminate shelling of heavily crowded neighbourhoods.

In response State Department official Mark Toner, who was briefing the media before the presidential election and still holds his position, abandoned Kerry's Aleppo line that no civilians should be killed or forced to leave a city when it is being liberated. He maintained that US forces made every effort to avoid civilian casualties when carrying out airstrikes. He said he didn't have any sense of whether Khanjar's numbers were credible. If there were credible allegations of civilian casualties as a result of the coalition's actions or Iraqi Security Forces' actions, they should be investigated. US authorities are co-operating with Airwars to assess allegations of civilian casualties. But Chris Woods told the ABC's 7.30 Report that his organisation could not engage with Australia because Australian authorities would not say where they bombed, when they bombed and what they bombed. He said this had been going on for 30 months.

Questioned about this a Defence Department spokesperson told The Canberra Times that the ADF operated under strict rules of engagement that were designed to protect Australian forces, minimise the risk of injury to civilians and strictly comply with Australia's obligations under domestic and international law. He said the Australian Defence Force provided regular public updates on its operations, including in Iraq and Syria, and aimed to balance the protection of operational security with its obligation to be transparent and accountable to the Australian public. The spokesperson said statistical data about air operations was available on the Defence website. But the Air Task Group (ATG) statistics only show the number of operations flown each month. They do not reveal where Australian aircraft bombed, when they bombed and what they bombed. The spokesperson said the ADF thoroughly reviewed every ATG strike following the return of the aircraft to ensure the strike accorded with pre-strike approvals.

"The ADF takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously. If an allegation is raised following an ATG strike, the matter is investigated and the findings are reported." The ATG strike data was aggregated with coalition data and released in the daily coalition media release, he said. But this clearly does not satisfy Airwars, which contrasts Australia's procedures with those of the United States and Britain. In its transparency audit released in December Airwars said Australia was one of the least transparent members of the international coalition fighting ISIS. "Canberra has consistently refused to disclose almost any information relating to an estimated 405 airstrikes to October 2016  with one notable exception," the report states.
Australia runs the risk of becoming the new Japan, "crippled by pension spending" unless it winds back the entitlements of a swelling aged population.

Business figure Tony Shepherd, who chaired the Commission of Audit for the incoming Abbott government, raises the prospect in the first of three studies intended to update the commission's work for the Liberal Party-aligned Menzies Research Centre.

Business figure Tony Shepherd has issued a stark warning on welfare spending. Credit:Brook Mitchell

The study says Australia's age dependency ratio is set to climb to the same level as Japan's by the middle of the century, when there will be only 2.7 people working to support each aged Australian compared with 4.5 people today.

On current settings 80 per cent of those retirees will be entitled to a full or part age pension, about the same proportion as today, after half a century of compulsory superannuation.
Cuts to Sunday penalty rates for low-paid workers could blow a $650 million hole in the federal government's budget bottom line.

That's the most conservative estimate of Richard Denniss, chief economist at the Australia Institute think tank, who says the cuts will lead to lost personal income tax revenue and higher welfare costs for the government.

The potential impact of the cut on pay-as-you-earn tax revenue and welfare payments was not assessed by the Fair Work Commission, and the government has released no modelling to show the likely impact on the budget.

"This omission is surprising given the government's stated focus on budget repair and the effort it has put into legislative efforts to secure reductions in welfare payments and other savings," Dr Denniss says in a report.
When Malcolm Turnbull invoked the sacred scripture of Aussie nation building a couple of weeks ago, it was supposed to be politically a sure thing.

By announcing that the government would build an extension of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, he was doing more than helping to fix the national energy supply

The Snowy for a new generation  dubbed Snowy 2.0  would surely stir the imagination of a listless electorate.

"So this is a game-changing announcement," said Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg. He even resorted to the "i" word. It was "iconic", he said, and "I think it should be welcomed by all Australians".
Three men have been arrested in Sydney and two in China after police thwarted an alleged plot to import more than $100 million worth of ice from China.

The five have been charged over the alleged seizure of 101 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine in China's Guangdong province recently.

The drugs were intercepted at Yantian Port in Shenzhen after police received a tip-off that they were concealed in the floor of a shipping container bound for Sydney.

Authorities removed the drugs before sending the container, carrying a consignment of two tonnes of steel, on its way.
They might face traffic gridlock and soaring housing costs but Sydney's job seekers have far better employment prospects than those in the rest of the state.

There was an average of 3.6 job seekers for every advertised job vacancy in Sydney in March compared with 6.7 nationally and eight in regional NSW, a report by job search engine Adzuna has found.

Sydney had 95 per cent of the state's finance sector job advertisements, 82 per cent of trade and construction job advertisements, 80 per cent of hospitality industry job advertisements and 78 per cent of teaching job advertisements.

"Just hours out of Sydney in areas like the Illawarra, Newcastle and Riverina, job vacancies are scarce and competition for roles is fierce," said Adzuna's chief executive, Raife Watson.
Australians are less generous than tourists in giving money to buskers, and are becoming more stingy because of technology.

"Nobody carries cash," said Hemlock Mejarne, an acrobat and advocate for the rights of street performers.

"You don't payWave buskers. Nobody's got cash even if they love the show."

Three-quarters of people express satisfaction with busking in Pitt Street Mall, according to a survey commissioned by the City of Sydney.
Queensland Government experts will on Monday morning inspect the Queensland Urban Utilities pump station at Eagle Farm that leaked tens of millions of litres of untreated raw sewage into the Brisbane River on Friday night.

The raw sewage poured out at Coronation Drive at Toowong, Lytton Road at East Brisbane and at Eagle Farm for two hours.

Inspections of Queensland Urban Utilities main pump plant will begin Monday morning. Credit:Queensland Urban Utilities

A source told Fairfax Media the raw sewage poured out a rate of 5000 litres per second. But Queensland Urban Utilities disputed that figure on Monday, saying it was about 1.3 megalitres over a two-hour period and the sewage was "heavily diluted" as a result of recent rain.

Queensland Urban Utilities could be fined by the Environment Department if inspectors are not satisfied with their explanation why the raw sewage poured into the Brisbane River for two hours.
All caravans left the Harbour Lights caravan park early on Sunday. Credit:Rachel Clun "The highway north can flood, and the same between here and Proserpine," he said. Two nursing homes are in the evacuation zones, and Cr Willcox said the council was working with the Queensland state disaster centre to evacuate all the nursing home residents from the region. Harbour Lights park owner Jenny Townsend said she was going to stay in the area during the cyclone. Credit:Rachel Clun The town's beachfront caravan parks were also evacuated but Harbour Lights park owner Jenny Townsend was staying put.

"We can't do anything about it (the cyclone)," she said. Bowen SES controller David Thicker said they had about 20 volunteers and many police assisting with the evacuation. Credit:Rachel Clun In the Burdekin Shire suburb of Alva Beach, about 100 kilometres drive south-east of Townsville, some residents refused to leave. They were told a forced evacuation of the low-lying area had been enacted, but some, including Jan Bridges, would not budge.

"I'm staying," she told them. Even after being warned of an expected four-metre surge of water, Janelle Eade said she had dogs to care for and wouldn't leave her home, instead signing a disclaimer. SES regional manager Daryl Camp said even police could not force people to leave but they should get out when they could. He had concerns for about 5500 homes in the Burdekin  about two-thirds of the housing stock  which was built before 1980 and likely to be missing key cyclone-proofing measures. "If those old houses haven't had any work done on them at all, they're the houses you would normally expect to see some wind damage occurring," he said.

"If it's still nails that hold the roof down, if the roof trusses aren't fixed to a cyclone standard, that's where you get a bit of issue." While some residents were not too worried about the cyclone, Mr Thicker warned many homes in Bowen could be in similar trouble. "Even a later category 3, early category 4 is going to do a lot of damage, because of the older buildings," he said. However the mayor said it was difficult to tell how much damage would be done.

"It depends on whether we get directly hit," Cr Willcox said. For now, he said residents should continue to make perpetrations for the cyclone. "Make sure you've got enough water, enough medications, listen to the radio, watch the television, make sure everything stays charged so you know what is going on," he said. The latest predictions on Sunday evening had Cyclone Debbie smacking the coast as a category 4 about 10am Tuesday, bringing destructive winds more than 225km/h at the core. The warning zone stretched all the way from Ingham to St Lawrence, with the sugarcane-growing Burdekin region predicted to cop the brunt of the "most significant" weather event since Cyclone Yasi.

Burdekin Home Hardware manager John McEniery did four days of business in four hours in Ayr on Sunday as locals called in to pick up tape, batteries and torches, along with ply wood, rope, chain anchors, "anything that'll secure or strengthen a building or a yard". "It's been crazy," he said. "...People are mostly calm but I think this is the most prepared I've ever seen these communities. "It really looks like it's coming our way and in the past where it's been further north, people haven't done the preparation that they're doing this time but we think we're in for it now. "Mate, I'm making window covers and I've been here 20 years and I've never had to do it before."

The Bureau of Meteorology consistently warned predicting cyclones was difficult and the cell could change direction quickly. The longer it spent over the ocean, gathering power from the warm seas, the more likely it was to strengthen further. Townsville mayor Jenny Hill also directed residents in the Cape Cleveland area  including Cungulla and Cleveland Palms  to evacuate. "People need to make arrangements to leave the area as soon as possible. Police will be in the area from 6am tomorrow (Monday) to ensure everyone relocates," Ms Hill said in Queensland Police Service media release issued on Sunday night. "An ongoing police presence will continue in the area throughout this weather event."
14-year-old US inventor Maxwell Loughan appeared at the Brisbane Science Festival. Credit:'World Science Festival Brisbane

From dark matter over breakfast to gravitational waves at lunch, the streets of Southbank were packed to the brim with a platter of mind boggling science for the Brisbane Science Festival, where 14-year-old inventor Maxwell Loughan pushed for a future he could be proud of.

"To be honest our world is dying," the young American said.

The inventor was a panelist at a discussion on the future of science, hosted by Australian Nobel laureate Professor Brian Schmidt, earlier this week and said science needed to inspire people to become part of a better society.

"Humans have damaged the planet so much that our climate is becoming irreversible to the point where it could cause the destruction of mankind," he said.

"I think if we can inspire as many people as possible to take initiative to try and help our planet we can invent and become a part of a better society."

The festival, its second year in the Sunshine state, hosted numberous international movers and shakers in the realm of science and kicked off on World Water Day, as the festival's theme dived deep into our oceans and reached far into the future.

A water talk series flowed across the five days looking for solutions to the United Nations Global Sustainability Goal for clean, accessible and sustainably managed water by 2030.

A panel of experts discussed the possibility of water beyond our planet and questioned why 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water and why we continue to litter our oceans with plastic bottles.

Astrophysicist Dr Alan Duffy, who elaborated on the theory that life hitched a ride to earth on an asteroid, said he expected the next scientific breakthrough would lie in the very glue that holds our universe together, dark matter.

"My hope is that in the next 10 years we will actually find out what this [dark matter] is, we'll identify it and that will advance our understanding of the basic building blocks of the universe in the same way that splitting the atom did in the '30s," he said.

Physicist Barry Barish and Australia's Chief Scientist Alan Finkel were among the distinguished scientific leaders who discussed the challenges of pledging millions of dollars to expensive and long-term scientific research that can't guarantee potential benefits to society.

Environmental scientist Associate Professor Kerrie Wilson said the biggest advancement over the next decade would be making sure government decisions were all evidence based.

"Let's use the data we have already, better, and let's use the decision making process and work together. That's the challenge." She said.

Associate Professor Kerrie Wilson, who wrapped the festival's final event, urged women with an interest in science to get involved.

"If young women have an interest in science they should peruse it and not look back, there's a huge momentum behind improving access to science to females and it's never been a better time," she said.

The Queensland Women in STEM awards were presented on Sunday afternoon at the festival to UQ's Dr Nasim Amiralian for her research into improving latex using Australian native grass and UQ PhD student Jordan DeBono for her research into snake venom and how it could improve blood medication for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
"We imagined having some bike parts in and using that to fund our own interest in riding mountain bikes," he says.

The keen mountain bike rider started Dirt Works with his friend Wayne Chapman in 1994.

Richard Powell describes his wholesale and retail bicycle parts business as "a hobby that went wrong".

The pair now employ six staff and turn over more than $1 million a year but Powell and Chapman nearly lost the lot in the wake of the financial crisis.

Richard Powell owns Dirt Works and has struggled with late payments.

"We have been a much bigger business than we are today," Powell says.

"At one point we thought getting bigger and bigger was the only way to go but we had a change of heart after the global financial crisis which left us with a lot of product in a difficult market and a lot of loans and leases."

Powell says a big drop in consumer spending meant a lot of the bike shops Dirt Works supplied found themselves in very difficult positions.
A hospital is being investigated for breaching the privacy of dozens of patients after medical records revealing a "swollen penis" and mental illnesses among other things, were found in a Coburg street.

The Australian Information and Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim is investigating how the records of 31 patients were removed from the John Fawkner Private Hospital in Melbourne's north last month.

John Fawkner Private Hospital Credit:Chris Hopkins

The documents included queries about whether a patient should be resuscitated if they have a cardiac arrest, and notes about a "swollen penis", depression, weight loss surgery, breast reduction surgery, dementia and incontinence.

The five pages of hand-over notes included the patients' names, ages, diagnoses, treatment plans, medications, how many days they'd been in hospital and whether they lived alone.
It was a tragic weekend on Victoria's roads - six men died from car crashes between Friday and Saturday, reports Emily Woods.

Early Friday morning, about 3.30am, a 27-year-old Warranwood man driving a Holden Commodore in Berwick, when he lost control of the car and it hit a tree. He later died in hospital.

Then on Friday at 8am a 39-year-old South Australian man died after his car struck a tree in Casterton.

Half an hour later, a ute collided with a truck in Beaufort, killing the 27-year-old male driver and injuring his 24-year-old male passenger.

At 4.30pm on Friday a 66-year-old cyclist was killed when he was hit by a car in Devenish.

Then about 2am Saturday a male passenger, aged in his 20s, died when the ute he was in hit a tree in Bacchus Marsh. The driver was taken to hospital.

Lastly, two hours later, about 4.15am in Newhaven, a man aged in his 20s died after he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tree.
Pauline Hanson's One Nation has secured three seats in Western Australia's upper house, meeting the party's expectations despite failing to secure a single seat in the lower house.

State leader Colin Tincknell secured a South West seat on election night and a fortnight later, Robin David Scott won a seat in the Mining and Pastoral region while Charles Smith grabbed an East Metropolitan seat.

Pauline Hanson and WA One Nation leader Colin Tincknell. Credit:Trevor Collens

Mr Smith's win was a surprise as some analysts were expecting the seat to go to Liberal MLC Alyssa Hayden.

He was among several One Nation candidates to speak out against the party's preference deal with the Liberals, which both sides have said damaged them at the polls.
Beijing's preferred candidate, Carrie Lam, was selected by an elite group of voters to become the fourth chief executive of Hong Kong on Sunday.

Only 1194 members of the Election Committee cast ballots, under Hong Kong's Basic Law.

Hong Kong's new chief executive and former chief secretary Carrie Lam outside a polling station for the chief executive election on Sunday.` Credit:Getty Images

They had a choice of just three candidates: Ms Lam, the former chief secretary of Hong Kong, its former financial secretary John Tsang and retired judge Woo Kowk-hing. All had been pre-vetted by Beijing.

Ms Lam, 59, the first woman to take the top job, had said she would try to heal divisions within Hong Kong society.
Italy's justice minister has requested an investigation into whether a judge rightfully acquitted a man of a sexual assault charge because the woman did not scream.

Italian news agency ANSA reported on Thursday that Justice Minister Andrea Orlando, a member of the Democratic Party, wants to revisit the case in which a 46-year-old Red Cross employee was accused of sexually assaulting a female colleague.

Alessandra Mussolini called the ruling 'abhorrent'. Credit:LUCA BRUNO

A judge in Turin in northern Italy tossed the case last month, deciding that the woman's reaction was too weak to justify a sexual assault charge, ANSA reported. The woman only said, "Stop it" and "Enough" without crying out or calling for help.

The names of the defendant and his accuser were not made public.
Irbid, Jordan: One afternoon in the middle of 2012, Abu Eyad made the hardest decision of his life.

A year into the Syrian war - now entering its seventh year - he left his job with the Syrian Ministry of Water and did not return.

Ibrahim and his family moved from Zaatari to another refugee camp on the outskirts of the northern Jordanian town of Irbid. It once housed Palestinians. Credit:Darrian Traynor

That night Abu Eyad, his wife and three of their children packed as many of their belongings as they could into suitcases and left Yarmouk, just outside Damascus, heading south towards the Jordanian border.

While siege and starvation lay ahead for the residents of Yarmouk, fleeing a job at any Syrian government ministry essentially meant defection and a death sentence should Abu Eyad remain inside the country.
Neurosurgeon John Ruge examines Dominique before her surgery at Advocate Children's Hospital in Chicago. Credit:Advocate Children's Hospital On February 5, a host family in Chicago was waiting to care for her during her stay. "Dominique flew halfway across the world with just a small bag that contained a few pairs of pyjamas, diapers, a bottle and powder formula called Nursie, a sippy cup, a rosary, and a piece of beautiful fabric that her mother wore around her shoulders for a photo at the Abidjan airport before she bid farewell to her beloved baby for two long months," Nancy Swabb, from Chicago, wrote on Facebook. "Dominique was jet-lagged and tired that first evening. The next morning, however, Dominique's bubbly personality was on full, joyful display!" Swabb had seen Dominique's picture in a Facebook Post from Children's Medical Mission West. The photo, which showed Dominique apparently sitting on her mother's lap, read: "Needing a home in Chicago area for a baby girl coming February 5th. She will be in the states for 2 months. Let me know if you are interested or know someone willing to host this baby."

"It really spoke to me," said Swabb, who has two adopted daughters with her husband, Tim. "We just wanted to open our hearts and our home to a baby." Swabb took Dominique to her doctor's appointments, where she met her surgical team and underwent extensive tests, including an MRI, an MRA, a CAT scan, X-rays and a CT pyelogramto help doctors construct a 3D model of her unusual anatomy. She carried her twin's pelvis and bladder, legs, feet and toes (and toenails), and spine  which was intertwined with her own, her doctors said. "This provided a challenge with regard to the disconnection," Ruge, the neurosurgeon, said about the infant's two spines. "It turns out the parasitic twin's pelvis was attached to the spine and providing some structural stability for Dominique's spine. So it was important to understand how the structural stability of her spine was so that we did not destabilise her when we removed the parasitic twin." For weeks, the medical team pored over Dominique's case, discussing possible concerns and solutions. They practiced the surgery using the 3D model. Then early in the morning of March 8, Swabb took the child to Advocate Children's Hospital, where more than 50 surgeons, nurses and clinicians were waiting.

"The highest risk to Dominique was paralysis," Ruge said. "The reason is that the legs were functional from the parasitic twin, so they had nerve innervation from Dominique's spinal cord and if there were any traction or pressure put on Dominique's spinal cord, that would cause her to be paralysed. The cervical portion of Dominique's spinal cord had no bony protection. Everything was planned to avoid this problem." The surgeons disconnected the pelvis, nerves and blood vessels, then removed Dominique's parasitic twin. They were left with a gaping hole that they covered with soft tissue and muscle from the extra appendages. From the outside, Dominique now looks like most other infants, aside from a bump on her neck that doctors say will go down over time. Inside, her neurosurgeon said, she still has some "peculiarities." She kept a piece of abnormal bone that is stabilising her spinal column, and one kidney' is located in the upper portion of her chest.

But, Ruge said, "everything is functioning normally, and I expect Dominique to have a normal life." Five days after her surgery, Dominique was discharged from Advocate Children's Hospital and returned to her host mother's care. "She's just back to normal," Swabb said. Dominique's father is a primary schoolteacher and her mother is a stay-at-home mom who cares for Dominique and her three older sisters, according to a statement from Advocate Children's Hospital. "Her family could not financially afford to accompany her, but is receiving ongoing updates," the statement read. "Dominique will be escorted home in a few weeks and will find her family waiting at the airport in Abidjan, the largest city in Ivory Coast."
MARIGOT:--- Today Sunday, March 26th, 2017 voters on the French side of the island will be heading to the 19 polling stations to cast their votes in the second round of the Territorial Election.

Contesting this round are three political parties. Team GIBBS 2017, headed by Daniel Gibbs, MVP headed by Alain Richardson, and Alliance for Hope, Justice, and Prosperity headed by Louis Mussington.

The latter formed an Alliance with HOPE party headed by Jules Charville, who came in fourth in the first round last week.

Already low voters turnout can be predicted based on the turn out the largest voting bureaus by 10:30am. However, the day is still young and voters may well head to the polls later in the day. A total of 2721 votes, were cast, which is 13,4%.

SMN News will begin live streaming from the Collectivity of St. Martin this evening. Stay right here for the preliminary results as they come in all day until it's over.

Click here to view the rate of participation for the 2nd Round of the Territorial Council Election.
Toronto  15 March 2017. The keynote event of Israeli Apartheid Week 2017 focused on articulating connections between ongoing struggles against settler colonial violence and dispossession across Turtle Island (North  Watch video 

Toronto  15 March 2017.

The keynote event of Israeli Apartheid Week 2017 focused on articulating connections between ongoing struggles against settler colonial violence and dispossession across Turtle Island (North America) and in historic Palestine. The panelists reflected on the history and current state of these anti-colonial struggles.

Erica Violet Lee is a Nehiyaw (Cree) writer, student, feminist, and community organizer from misaskwatominihk (Saskatoon) and Thunderchild First Nation, on Treaty 6 Territory and Metis Homeland. Erica is an organizer with Idle No More, a YWCA Women of Distinction award recipient, an Iris Marion Young scholar, and she was part of the 2015 Canadian Youth Delegation to the United Nations Climate Conference. She has a blog named Moontime Warrior: Fearless Philosophizing, Embodied Resistance, where she writes on environmental racism, colonial borders, and the love, knowledge, and beauty found in the wastelands.
Susan and Ervin set a wedding date

After losing their first loves, Susan and Ervin have found each other and have found love again. They are planning on a Dec. 30 wedding.
We don't know what the black hole at the center of the Milky Way will look like.

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Black holes are regions of space inside which the pull of gravity is so strong that nothing  not even light  can escape. Their existence was predicted mathematically by Karl Schwarzchild in 1915, as a solution to equations posed in Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.

Astronomers have had circumstantial evidence for many decades that supermassive black holes  a million to a billion times more massive than our sun  lie at the hearts of massive galaxies. That's because they can see the gravitational pull they have on stars orbiting around the galactic centre. When overfed with material from the surrounding galactic environment, they also eject detectable plumes or jets of plasma to speeds close to that of light. Last year, the LIGO experiment provided even more proof by famously detecting ripples in space-time caused by two medium-mass black holes that merged millions of years ago.

But while we now know that black holes exist, questions regarding their origin, evolution and influence in the universe remain at the forefront of modern astronomy.

Catching a tiny spot on the sky

On April 5-14 2017, the team behind the Event Horizon Telescope hopes to test the fundamental theories of black-hole physics by attempting to take the first ever image of a black hole's event horizon (the point at which theory predicts nothing can escape). By connecting a global array of radio telescopes together to form the equivalent of a giant Earth-sized telescope  using a technique known as Very Long Baseline Interferometry and Earth-aperture synthesis  scientists will peer into the heart of our Milky Way galaxy where a black hole that is 4m times more massive than our sun  Sagittarius A*  lurks.

Sagittarius A*. This image was taken with NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Ellipses indicate light echoes. (Image credit: NASA)

Astronomers know there is a disk of dust and gas orbiting around the black hole. The path the light from this material takes will be distorted in the gravitational field of the black hole. Its brightness and colour are also expected to be altered in predictable ways. The tell-tale signature astronomers hope to see with the Event Horizon Telescope is a bright crescent shape rather than a disk. And they may even see the shadow of the black hole's event horizon against the backdrop of this brightly shining swirling material.

The array connects nine stations spanning the globe  some individual telescopes, others collections of telescopes  in Antarctica, Chile, Hawaii, Spain, Mexico and Arizona. The "virtual telescope" has been in development for many years and the technology has been tested. However, these tests initially revealed a limited sensitivity and an angular resolution that was insufficient to probe down to the scales needed to reach the black hole. But the addition of sensitive new arrays of telescopes  including the Atacama Large Millimeter Array in Chile and the South Pole Telescope  will give the network a much-needed boost in power. It's rather like putting on spectacles and suddenly being able to see both headlights from an oncoming car rather than a single blur of light.

The Atacama Large Millimeter submillimeter Array ALMA by night under the Magellanic Clouds. (Image credit: ESO/C. Malin/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

The black hole is a compact source on the sky  its view at optical wavelengths (light that we can see) is completely blocked by large quantities of dust and gas. However, telescopes with sufficient resolution and operating at longer, radio millimetre wavelengths can peer through this cosmic fog.

The resolution of any kind of telescope  the finest detail that can be discerned and measured  is usually quoted as a small angle corresponding to the ratio of an object's size to its distance. The angular size of the moon as seen from the Earth is about half a degree, or 1800 arc seconds. For any telescope, the bigger its aperture, the smaller the detail that can be resolved.

The resolution of a single radio telescope (typically with an aperture of 100 metres) is roughly about 60 arc seconds. This is comparable to the resolution of the unaided human eye and about a sixtieth of the apparent diameter of the full moon. But by connecting many telescopes, the Event Horizon Telescope will be about to achieve a resolution of 15-20 microarcsecond (0,000015 arcseconds), corresponding to being able to spy a grape at the distance of the moon.

What's at stake?

Although the practice of connecting many telescopes in this way is well known, particular challenges lie ahead for the Event Horizon Telescope. The data recorded at each station in the network will be shipped to a central processing facility where a supercomputer will carefully combine all the data. Different weather, atmospheric and telescope conditions at each site will require meticulous calibration of the data so that scientists can be sure any features they find in the final images are not artefacts.

If it works, imaging the material inside the black hole region with angular resolutions comparable to that of its event horizon will open a new era of black hole studies and solve a number of big questions: do event horizons even exist? Does Einstein's theory work in this region of extreme strong gravity or do we need a new theory to describe gravity this close to a black hole? Also, how are black holes fed and how is material ejected?

It may even even be possible to image the black holes at the centre of nearby galaxies, such as the giant elliptical galaxy that lies at the heart of our local cluster of galaxies.

Ultimately, the combination of mathematical theory and deep physical insight, global international scientific collaborations and remarkable, tenacious long-term advances in cutting edge experimental physics and engineering look set to make revealing the nature of spacetime a defining feature of early 21st century science.

Carole Mundell, Head of Physics, University of Bath

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates  and become part of the discussion  on Facebook, Twitter and Google +. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This version of the article was originally published on Space.com.
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Brussels, 26 March 2017 (SPS) - Algeria's ambassador in Brussels, Amar Belani, welcomed the "firm and enlightened" position of the European Parliament's Fisheries Commission after that of European Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete, who said a few weeks ago that the EU will now take into account the "separate and distinct" status of the territory of Western Sahara in its exchanges with Morocco on renewable energy.

"This firm and enlightened position of the rapporteur, which I welcome, confirms that the Fisheries Commission should take into consideration the judgment of the Court of Justice of 21 December which concluded, in particular, that Morocco's sovereignty is not exercised and cannot be exercised in any way in the non-autonomous, separate and distinct territory of the Western Sahara," he told the APS.

Mr. Belani pointed out in this connection that the agreement between the EU and the Kingdom of Morocco on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products, processed agricultural products, fish and Fishery products "clearly states in Article 2 that its scope is strictly confined to the territory of the contracting parties, that is to the internationally recognized territory of Morocco."

"After the statement of the Commissioner Canete and the position taken by the Rapporteur of the Commission on fisheries, it is clear that the overall trend is the observation of the requirements of the Court of justice," he welcomed, regretting that "some EU member states as well as some MEPs, pro-Moroccan lobbyists in the European Parliament, are showing overwhelming activism to amend any legislative text that would be considered to be damaging to the interests of Morocco ".

"The declaration (on the exchange of renewable electricity) will be implemented with due regard for the separate and distinct status of the territory of Western Sahara under international law," affirmed, at the beginning of February, the European Commissioner in charge of Action on Climate and Energy, Miguel Arias Canete, in his reply on behalf of the European Commission to MEPs Florent Marcellesi, Josep Maria Terricabras and Jill Evans, who urged him to exclude energy produced in Western Sahara of these exchanges.

The draft opinion of the Commission on Fisheries for the Commission on International Trade has been drafted in relation to the proposal of the European Council decision on the conclusion of the agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between The EU and Morocco on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products, processed agricultural products, fish and fishery products and amending the Euro-Mediterranean agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their member states, on the one part, and Morocco, on the other part.

The agreement, annexed to this exchange of letters, forms an integral part of the EU-Morocco association agreement, as Protocol No 6, underlines the fact that the Annexes to the Protocol contain 24 geographical indications on fishery products in Germany, France, Greece, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland and Sweden. (SPS)

062/090/TRA




On TVs The Big Bang Theory, Dr. Sheldon Cooper is often lampooned as irony-impaired. Its an epidemic these days, on both the Right and the Left.

In February, one of the guests on Real Time, Bill Mahers political talk show, was Breitbart editor and Trump enthusiast Milo Yiannopoulos. Maher, a liberal/libertarian with a keen sense of irony, booked Milo for three reasons: (1) he values free speech, (2) he likes having reviled conservatives appear before his predominately liberal audience, and (3) both he and Milo have had speaking engagements canceled at the University of California, Berkeley, because of protests from radical leftists.

In 1964, Berkeley was ground zero for the Free Speech Movement, which helped spawn the campus unrest of the 60s. In 2017, just the prospect of Milo being permitted to speak freely there ignited riots. And, in the worst possible outcome, violent protesters bullied the university into censorship. Nowadays, its Berkeley thats irony-impaired.

Maher became a pariah at Berkeley after a Real Time altercation with actor Ben Affleck. Notoriously anti-religious, Maher contends liberals shouldnt criticize Christian bigotry, unless theyre willing to hold Islam accountable for its far-more-odious tenets and practices. For pointing out left-wing hypocrisy in this area, hes been labeled a dangerous racist, as if Islam were a race, and pilloried as an Islamophobe, as if Muslims deserve to be exempt from criticism.

Meanwhile, liberal journalist Jeremy Scahill, a frequent guest on Real Time, backed out of Mahers show when he realized Milo would be on. What was he afraid of? If Milo is so vile, then why not confront him? Did he think his boycott would teach him a lesson?

In fact, Milos appearance on Real Time was anticlimactic, because, contrary to expectations, he wasnt very threatening in person. He seemed like a more likable version of The Donald, if Trump suddenly developed a sense of humor, dialed down the lying and name calling by about 75 percent, and showed a modicum of humility ... OK, so maybe not all that much like the president.

Nonetheless, Milo is the sort of right-winger that liberals should be happy to see on the air. Breitbarts embarrassing brand of toxic conservatism needs to be exposed, not censored, so reasonable people can see it for what it is. (Granted, deplorables will be unfazed, but theyre probably unredeemable anyway.)

In 1977, the ACLU defended the right of Nazis to march in Skokie, Ill., which has a large Jewish population. They werent promoting Hitler; they were defending the idea that the First Amendment guarantees more than just the freedom to express palatable and popular beliefs. Besides, if more people are subjected to what Nazis (or Breitbart conservatives, such as Milo and Steve Bannon) espouse, they might realize just how un-American these wingnuts really are.

Ironically, Breitbart has now dumped Milo. During the next Real Time show, writer Fran Lebowitz asked rhetorically, What do you have to do to get fired by Breitbart? Misogyny, anti-Semitism and racism clearly arent enough, but Milos seemingly benign attitude toward pedophilia apparently crossed the line. (Were still waiting to see if theres anything Trump could do to alienate the deplorables  mocking and defaming women, veterans, the FBI, the disabled, civil rights leaders, the military, former presidents and our closest allies clearly isnt sufficient.)

Those who value political correctness over truth always have a special distrust of comedy. Because you cant keep yourself from laughing at something thats funny, comedy always contains an element of truth. A growing chorus of comics  from the controversial (Chris Rock) to the apolitical (Jerry Seinfeld)  are complaining that political correctness has turned colleges into poor venues for humor.

We already have a humorless president, whos unable to laugh at himself and considers a free press that has the temerity to question his decisions not just his enemy, but the enemy of the American people. Spokesman Stephen Miller has ominously stated, The powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial, and will not be questioned. U.S. Sen. John McCain has been a lone voice crying out in a GOP wilderness when he said, We need a free press, and (Suppressing it) is how dictators get started.

Bill Clinton once pithily contrasted the two parties attitudes toward their icons: Democrats want to fall in love; Republicans just fall in line. The Right has now fallen in line (and maybe also in love) with a president who barely even pretends to respect the First Amendment. Ironically, too many liberals are using political correctness to emulate conservatisms authoritarian values.

On March 2, right-wing social scientist Dr. Charles Murray was run off the stage of Vermonts Middlebury College by leftist students who objected to his scholarly brand of white supremacy. If liberals want to oppose his message, they should debate his theories, not shout them down or use violence to silence what they perceive to be bigotry.

Its ironic that some of the same sorts of liberals who began the Free Speech Movement have discarded their principles to behave like fascists. Abandoning the spirit of the First Amendment is a conservative trend, and we could very well end up with a liberalism thats as dark and empty as The Donalds soul and as cold as Paul Ryans heart.

Greenwich native Mark Drought (markdrought4@gmail.com) is an editor at a Stamford IT firm and was an adjunct English professor at the University of Connecticut-Stamford.
Editorials about Prohibition from a century ago make for addictive reading.

In some cases, indignant outrage is expressed about the violation of civil liberties. Other editorials implore good citizens to follow the law.

That Roaring Twenties have been a source of nostalgia almost since the Prohibition ended in 1933. That era is being summoned again as proponents of legalizing recreational marijuana point to the folly of the days when drinking alcohol took place in speakeasies.

A Judiciary Committee hearing in Hartford Thursday delivered opinions about legalizing recreational marijuana that echoed the polarization over the Prohibition.

Some 150 people signed up to testify. Opponents presented predictable rhetoric about marijuana as a gateway drug and as a contributor to mental conditions such as schizophrenia. Matt Walton, head of the Kent-based High Watch Recovery Center, warned that modern strains of cannabis have turned it into a destination drug. It is, after all, not the pot of grandmas youth.

Its the rhetoric of the champions of legal marijuana that we find persuasive  against their cause.

Lobbyists admit they are targeting Connecticut as a state that can join seven others that have legalized recreational marijuana. That is not only disturbing, its repulsive.

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney underscored the lure of the almighty coin to be gained by selling pot. By his estimation, a 30-percent tax on retail sales could bring in more than $18 million in the first six months, and he predicted a potential income of $135 million by year three.

Its hard to ignore such potential profits when we live in a state facing billion-dollar deficits. But Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has summoned the right expression to characterize such a solution: Blood money.

The right time may come for Connecticut to legalize marijuana, but now is not that time. We need to learn from the experiences of other states, which include Maine, Massachusetts and California.

We supported the legalization of medical marijuana and encourage lawmakers to pursue long-overdue legislation to decriminalize possession. Racism is at the roots of those archaic measures.

But while there are reasonable arguments to legalize weed, its benefits remain hazy.

Arguing that it is not as destructive as heroin or meth is no argument at all.

Putting it in the same classification as alcohol and tobacco doesnt carry much weight either. There has been profound social progress in recent generations regarding a reduction in smoking. For that matter, social policies have been moving in the direction of banishing the Big Gulp of sodas.

Lawmakers  most of whom are petrified of having their photo appear with an alcoholic beverage in their hands  tend to lean on regulations as a cure-all. Yet regulations have done little to quell temptations to drive while toying with cell phones.

Legalizing recreational marijuana would redefine the social nature of Connecticut. Our lawmakers need to consider all of the potential consequences before surrendering to their current addiction to new revenue streams.
C ounter-terror officers have raided a house in Birmingham belonging to friends of Westminster terrorist Khalid Masood.

Specialist police teams turned up at the address in Hockley  just yards from where Masood had previously lived - on Saturday lunchtime.

Masood, 52, from Birmingham, had until the end of 2016 lived in Quayside, less than 200 yards away.

Shocked neighbours told reporters that friends of the attacker lived at the maisonette and revealed Masood would often visit to take their children to a local mosque.

Attacker: Khalid Masood previously lived in Birmingham / Metropolitan Police

Speaking with her mother alongside her, a girl living next door to the house said she had met Masood and said he had "seemed kind, normal".

She said Masood's two children had gone to her school, nearby Brookfields Primary School.

The neighbour added: "A couple live there with their four children, they are a nice family.

Westminster attack probe : Resident describes police seizing van and cars after Birmingham raid

"I saw the man from London visiting here. My little sister was in his son's class. They left last year, to go to London - before the holidays.

"His children used to visit next door and he (Masood) used to pick them up, sometimes. Sometimes he used to come here and pick up their two girls to take them to mosque."

The neighbours said they had not seen Masood or his children since his family left before Christmas.

Westminster floral tributes 1 /9 Westminster floral tributes Floral tributes were left by well-wishers in Westminster REUTERS Floral tributes were left by well-wishers in Westminster REUTERS Floral tributes were left by well-wishers in Westminster REUTERS Floral tributes were left by well-wishers in Westminster REUTERS Floral tributes were left by well-wishers in Westminster REUTERS Floral tributes were left by well-wishers in Westminster REUTERS Floral tributes were left by well-wishers in Westminster REUTERS

On Sunday, specialist police search teams were still at Bredon Croft removing bags of evidence, while an unmarked van and a West Midlands Police van were parked close by.

A woman, thought to be a plain clothes police officer, answered the door to reporters and said: "This is a scene."

Meanwhile, a 58-year-old arrested in Birmingham remains in custody after a hunt for accomplices saw 11 people held after raids across the country.

Timeline of Wednesday's attack / Met police

One of the mothers at the primary school said her daughter was best friends with Masood's, but added "I always got the chills from him".

Sabrina Hussain described how she changed her mind about taking her child, nine-year-old Skye, to his daughter's birthday party just before Christmas.

Ms Hussain, 28, said: "I thought I was being a bit over-protective, but then I just thought 'no I can't let her go' and we turned the car around and I made up an excuse saying the party had been cancelled.

Attacker: Khalid Masood, in the back row, in his days as a schoolboy when he used the name Adrian Ajao

"I just didn't want her to go. There was just something about him that wasn't right."

Ms Hussain, from Hockley, added: "He would never meet me eye-to-eye, even though mine and his daughter were best friends.

"He would speak to the other Muslim dads at the school, but not the women. I always got the chills from him to be honest - I never felt comfortable around him.

Westminster terror attack claims fourth innocent victim

"Then, one day my daughter came home crying and told me her best friend was moving away to London because her nan was sick."

She only saw Masood's children's mother "once or twice", describing "a black woman who wore full Islamic dress".

Masood killed three people when he drove into crowds of pedestrians on Westminster Bridge on Wednesday.

He then launched a knife attack on Pc Palmer - a serving officer standing guard at the Palace gates.

Masood was then shot down by armed police. He later died.

Metropolitan Police officers revealed on Saturday that Masood is believed to have acted alone in his attack, which lasted just 82 seconds.
T hree people have been taken to hospital after a car allegedly ploughed into revellers queuing for a pub in a terrifying smash in Islington.

Two knives were seized by police and four people were arrested after the dramatic incident outside the Old Queen's Head pub in Essex Road.

Witnesses said a car came careering around a corner before crashing into people queuing for the pub in the busy north London street.

Two men and one woman were injured in the crash, after which a driver and passenger are said to have abandoned the Peugeot Partner car and fled the scene on foot. None of the injuries are thought to be life-threatening.

Police confirmed the incident - which happened days after a car mounted a pavement in the deadly terror attack on Westminster - was not being treated as terror-related.

Several people were injured after a car allegedly ploughed into pedestrians in Essex Road, Islington / Shulem Stern/Twitter

One witness wrote on Twitter: Its all kicking off on Essex road, Islington A handful of casualties and a very large knife.

Another witness told the Mail how she was queuing for the pub when the driver careered off the road and knocked people over like dominoes.

She said: There were about twenty people in the queue and I was at the back with my friends.

The car came screeching round the corner at about 50mph and was coming straight for me.

I pushed over the barriers and fell to the floor as the car smashed into three people in front of me. They were knocked over like dominoes.

Police have said four men were held on suspicion of GBH with intent and possession of points and blades following the incident / Shulem Stern/Twitter

Another wrote: I just heard and saw this where I am. Saw them [the police] chase someone down.

Looked like reckless driving to me not terror.

Scotland Yard said four men were held on suspicion of GBH with intent and possession of points and blades.

The road remained closed on Sunday morning.

Anyone with information can contact Islington Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
W itnesses have told of the horrifying moment a car allegedly ploughed into revellers outside a pub in a terrifying smash in Islington.

A car came careering around a corner before crashing into people gathered outside the Old Queens Head pub in Essex Road, witnesses say.

According to the pubs owner, the vehicle narrowly avoided a large queue of people waiting to get into the venue shortly before 11pm on Saturday night.

People were reportedly fleeing in panic from the scene as the Peugeot Partner crashed into pedestrians.

Several people were injured after a car ploughed into pedestrians in Essex Road, Islington / Shulem Stern/Twitter

Old Queens Head owner Steve Ball arrived at the pub only minutes after the dramatic crash, and said he viewed the CCTV images of the moment it happened.

He said: The whole thing was over in a flash. The car was obviously, I think, going at speed when it hit the pavement.

I got there very quickly after the incident. The police were already there so they must have got there in seconds.

My first thought, my first question, was: Was it a terrorist?. But an officer I spoke to categorically said it wasnt."

Two men and one woman were injured in the crash, after which a driver and passenger are said to have abandoned the car and fled the scene on foot.

None of the injuries are thought to be life-threatening.

Police confirmed the incident - which happened days after a car mounted a pavement in the deadly terror attack on Westminster - was not being treated as terror-related.

Police have said four men were held on suspicion of GBH with intent and possession of points and blades following the incident / Shulem Stern/Twitter

Mr Ball added: Fortunately, [the car] narrowly missed a large queue of people waiting to get in to the pub.

It was 11pm on a Saturday, which is the busiest time for us. It could have been much, much worse.

Steph Rundle, 30, who was in another pub just a two minute walk from the scene, described how people ran in horror from what they thought was another terror attack.

She said: All I saw was the aftermath of it all. I was in a pub down the road on the same street, and lots of people were running towards us.

There was panic on everybodys faces, and with what happened on Wednesday I think that only added to how worried everyone was.

MP for Islington South Emily Thornberry tweeted: "My thoughts with those injured & terrified by incident in Essex Rd last night.

Today we must remain calm, it's crime not a terrorist attack."

Scotland Yard said four men were held on suspicion of GBH with intent and possession of points and blades.

The road remained closed on Sunday morning but has since been reopened.

Anyone with information can contact Islington Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A nti-terror police have arrested a 30-year-old man in connection with the terror attack in Westminster that killed four innocent people.

The man was arrested on Sunday at an address in Birmingham on suspicion of the preparation of terrorist acts.

He remains in police custody.

Police said another 58-year-old man, arrested on Thursday, also remains in police custody.

Attack at Parliament, March 22, 2017 1 /48 Attack at Parliament, March 22, 2017 A policeman points a gun at a man on the floor as emergency services attend the scene outside the Palace of Westminster, London Stefan Rousseau/PA Emergency services at the scene outside the Palace of Westminste PA The scene of the incident @Lukesteele4 The scene at Westminster bridge this morning, the day after a terrorist attack Jeremy Selwyn The scene at Westminster bridge this morning, the day after a terrorist attack Jeremy Selwyn The scene at Westminster bridge this morning, the day after a terrorist attack Jeremy Selwyn The flag above the Houses of Parliament in London flies at half mast the day after a terrorist attack Jeremy Selwyn A forensics tent on Westminster Bridge seen from Victoria Embankment in London the day after a terrorist attack Jonathan Brady/PA Police officers walk accross Westminster Bridge the morning after an attack by a man driving a car and weilding a knife Darren Staples/Reuters Emergency services at the scene outside the Palace of Westminster Stefan Rousseau/PA A knife on the cobbles at the scene outside the Palace of Westminster, London Stefan Rousseau/PA Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood (centre) helps emergency services attend to a police officer outside the Palace of Westminster, London Stefan Rousseau/PA A man lies injured after a shooting incident on Westminster Bridge in London Toby Melville/Reuters Injured people are assisted after an incident on Westminster Bridge Toby Melville/Reuters Police secure the area on the south side of Westminster Bridge close to the Houses of Parliament in London Matt Dunham/AP An armed police officer runs accross the road during an incident on Westminster Bridge in London Toby Melville/Reuters A member of the public is treated by emergency services near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament Carl Court/Getty Images A member of the public is treated by emergency services near Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament Carl Court/Getty Images The scene outside the Houses of Parliament The area around Westminster was put on immediate lockdown BBC Police outside the Palace of Westminster, London Victoria Jones/PA Westminster Bridge Theresa May during Prime Minister's Questions before the incident PA A police officer stops traffic as the Jagaur car of British Prime Minister Theresa May is driven away Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images A image of armed police inside Parliament @BarryGardiner Emergency services close to the Palace of Westminster, London Yui Mok/PA Police close to the Palace of Westminster, London Victoria Jones/PA Wire Police close to the Palace of Westminster, London Yui Mok/PA An Air Ambulance outside the Palace of Westminster Victoria Jones/PA Emergency personnel close to the Palace of Westminster Yui Mok/PA Police forensic officers on Westminster Bridge, close to the Palace of Westminster Dominic Lipinski/PA People remain in pods on the London Eye after it was stopped Jonathan Brady/PA Mark Rowley, Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations in the Metropolitan Police, speaking outside Scotland Yard in London Victoria Jones/PA Westminster Bridge BBC Emergency services make their way down the river Jack Taylor/Getty Images Members of the public wait at locked doors outside St Thomas' hospital Carl Court/Getty Images

A 32-year-old woman was arrested on 24 March on suspicion of terror-related offences and has been released on bail.

Officers have arrested a total of 12 people following a huge investigation into Wednesdays attack.

Westminster attack probe : Resident describes police seizing van and cars after Birmingham raid

Nine have been released with no further action.

This latest arrest comes after Scotland Yard released a statement saying it believed Masood had acted alone during his murderous rampage through central London.

Killer: Khalid Masood / Metropolitan Police

In an attack lasting just 82 seconds, Masood killed four people and injured more than 50 before being shot dead by police.

Deputy assistant commissioner Neil Basu said on Saturday: "We still believe that Masood acted alone on the day and there is no information or intelligence to suggest there are further attacks planned.

Timeline of the attack / Met police

"Even if he acted alone in the preparation we need to establish with absolute clarity why he did these unspeakable acts to bring reassurance to Londoners, and to provide answers and closure for the families of those killed and the victims and survivors of this atrocity.

"We must all accept that there is a possibility we will never understand why he did this. That understanding may have died with him."

Raids: Police van in Bredon Croft, Hockley, where friends of Westminster terror attacker Khalid Masood lived / PA Wire/PA Images

Pictures emerged on Sunday of police raiding a home in Birmingham believed to be the resident of Masoods friends.

Specialist police teams turned up at the address in Hockley  just yards from where Masood had previously lived - on Saturday lunchtime.

Westminster attack: Final picture of Pc Keith Palmer emerges

Masood, 52, from Birmingham, had until the end of 2016 lived in Quayside, less than 200 yards away.

Shocked neighbours told reporters that friends of the attacker lived at the maisonette and revealed Masood would often visit to take their children to a local mosque.

The neighbours said they had not seen Masood or his children since his family left before Christmas.

Masood killed three pedestrians in his rampage, during which he mowed through people walking across on Westminster Bridge.

He then launched a knife attack on serving Met officer Pc Palmer, who later died at the scene.

Masood was then shot down and killed by armed police.

Westminster terror attack claims fourth innocent victim

Masood's victims on the bridge included US tourist Kurt Cochran and his wife Melissa, from Utah, who were on the last day of a trip celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. Mr Cochran was killed and Mrs Cochran was badly injured.

Aysha Frade, who worked in administration at independent sixth-form school DLD College London, in Westminster, also died. She is believed to be a 43 year-old married mother of two.

Leslie Rhodes, a retired window cleaner from Clapham, south London, died from injuries sustained in the attack. He was described by neighbours as a "lovely man".


S cotland Yard has revealed that terrorist Khalid Masood acted alone during his murderous rampage through central London.

In just 82 seconds, Masood killed four people and injured more than 50 before being shot dead by police on Wednesday.

Detectives have now revealed they fear it is possible "we will never understand why he did this".

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: "We still believe that Masood acted alone on the day and there is no information or intelligence to suggest there are further attacks planned.

Killer: Khalid Masood / Metropolitan Police

"Even if he acted alone in the preparation we need to establish with absolute clarity why he did these unspeakable acts to bring reassurance to Londoners, and to provide answers and closure for the families of those killed and the victims and survivors of this atrocity.

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"We must all accept that there is a possibility we will never understand why he did this. That understanding may have died with him."

The development came as heroic MP Tobias Ellwood, who battled to save the life of PC Keith Palmer who was stabbed to death outside Parliament by Masood, spoke of his heartbreak that his efforts proved futile.

Desperate battle: MP Tobias Ellwood on the scene / Stefan Rousseau/PA

Mr Ellwood said in a statement: "I am heartbroken that I could not do more for Pc Keith Palmer who gave his life in holding the line against terrorism and defending democracy.

I shall be writing to the family of Pc Palmer to offer my sincere condolences.

Tributes for Westminster & Parliament Attack 1 /26 Tributes for Westminster & Parliament Attack A police officer places flowers and a photo of Pc Keith Palmer on Whitehall near the Houses of Parliament in London Dominic Lipinski/PA A floral tribute to the victims of yesterday's terror attack is left at the security cordon near Westminster Abbey in central London Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images Metropolitan Police in a minute's silence at New Scotland Yard Sky News A minute's silence is observed outside New Scotland Yard in London to pay respect to the victims of yesterday's terror attack in Westminster Jonathan Brady/PA MP's in a minute's silence at the House of Commons BBC Conservative MP James Cleverly pays an emotional tribute to his friend Pc Keith Palmer, telling the Commons he was a "strong, professional public servant". PA The flag above the Houses of Parliament in London flies at half mast the day after a terrorist attack Jeremy Selwyn People leave flowers at the scene after an attack on Westminster Bridge in London Hannah McKay/Reuters Flowers outside the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London Gareth Fuller/PA Flowers at the Police Memorial after yesterday's terror attack on the Houses of Parliament in Westminste Alex Lentati Cressida Dick in a minute silence today at New Scotland Yard for Westminster terror victims Jeremy Selwyn A bunch of roses is layed at the Metropolitan Police headquarters at New Scotland Yard in central London Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images Flowers arrive in Westminster the day after the attack Jeremy Selwyn The Union Flag on Portcullis House flies at half mast following yesterday's attack Carl Court/Getty Images Flowers are laid at the scene after an attack on Westminster Bridge in London Hannah McKay/Reuters Terror attack: Flowers placed below a police cordon on Westminster Bridge Hannah McKay/Reuters Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement in Downing Street, London Richard Pohle/The Times/PA Flowers are laid at the scene after an attack on Westminster Bridge in London Hannah McKay/Reuters Two policemen stand guard at a cordoned off area on the way to the Houses of Parliament in central London Matt Dunham/AP The royal standard at full mast above Buckingham Palace in London the day after a terrorist attack Jonathan Brady/PA

"It is right that despite the terrible events on Wednesday, Parliamentary business continued the next day as usual, the democratic machine was not interrupted and our way of life did not stop.

"I'm deeply humbled and overwhelmed by the messages of support, especially from the policing fraternity, which I now realise is as close knit as the military's in supporting its own.

Forensic officers after the attack / PA

"I played only a small part that day, doing what I was taught to do, and am honoured to have been invited to join the Privy Council afterwards.

How the attack unfolded / Met police

"It is right that we concentrate our thoughts on the victims as we stand side by side to protect all that we hold dear, including our precious values and way of life which will always prevail."

Masood killed three others in his rampage, during which he mowed through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.

Westminster attack: Final picture of Pc Keith Palmer emerges

After launching a knife attack on Pc Palmer, Masood was shot down by armed police. He later died.

Masood's victims on the bridge included US tourist Kurt Cochran and his wife Melissa, from Utah, who were on the last day of a trip celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. Mr Cochran was killed and Mrs Cochran was badly injured.

Aysha Frade was among people killed on Westminster Bridge in the attack

Aysha Frade, who worked in administration at independent sixth-form school DLD College London, in Westminster, also died. She is believed to be a 43 year-old married mother of two.

Leslie Rhodes, a retired window cleaner from Clapham, south London, died from injuries sustained in the attack. He was described by neighbours as a "lovely man".
T he family of murdered police officer Keith Palmer have thanked those who were with him in his last moments, saying: "There was nothing more you could have done."

In an emotional statement, they said they had been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love for Pc Palmer who was stabbed to death by terrorist Khalid Masood.

The statement reads: We have been overwhelmed by the love and support for our family and most especially the outpouring of love and respect for our Keith.

We want to thank everyone who has reached out to us over the past few days for their kindness and generosity.

'Last picture': Poignant picture of Keith Palmer thought to be last taken before he was killed

The police have been a constant, unwavering support and this very difficult time.

It has made us realise what a caring, strong and supporting family Keith was part of during his career with the police. WE cant thank them enough.

We would also like to express our gratitude to the people who were with Keith in his last moments and who were working that day. There was nothing more you could have done.

You did your best and we are just grateful he was not alone. We care about him being remembered for his selfless bravery and loving nature.

We miss him so much, but we are also incredibly proud of Keith.
T he hero" MP who fought to save the officer stabbed by terrorist Khalid Masood has said he is "heartbroken" that his efforts failed.

Tobias Ellwood ran towards gunfire to help Pc Keith Palmer, who was stabbed in Wednesday's attack outside Parliament.

Mr Ellwood was pictured with blood on his face and clothes as he frantically tried to give Pc Palmer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and stem the blood amid the carnage in New Palace Yard.

But the officer tragically died from his injuries.

Praised: Mr Ellwood was commended by colleagues for his actions / PA

The former soldier said he was just doing what he was trained to do as he praised the "humbling" and "overwhelming" messages of support from the policing fraternity.

He intends to write to Pc Palmer's family to offer his condolences and said he was "honoured" to be appointed to the Privy Council, alongside security minister Ben Wallace, in recognition of their roles in responding to the atrocity.

'Last picture': Poignant picture of Keith Palmer thought to be last taken before he was killed emerges

Mr Ellwood, who has been branded a hero for his actions, said in a statement: "I am heartbroken that I could not do more for Pc Keith Palmer who gave his life in holding the line against terrorism and defending democracy.

I shall be writing to the family of Pc Palmer to offer my sincere condolences.

Tragic: The photo shows PC Keith Palmer stationed in front of the Houses of Parliament with tourists / Will Robins/Tyler Chatterley-Russell

"It is right that despite the terrible events on Wednesday, Parliamentary business continued the next day as usual, the democratic machine was not interrupted and our way of life did not stop.

"I'm deeply humbled and overwhelmed by the messages of support, especially from the policing fraternity, which I now realise is as close knit as the military's in supporting its own.

James Cleverly MP pays tearful tribute to friend PC Keith Palmer

"I played only a small part that day, doing what I was taught to do, and am honoured to have been invited to join the Privy Council afterwards.

"It is right that we concentrate our thoughts on the victims as we stand side by side to protect all that we hold dear, including our precious values and way of life which will always prevail."

Masood killed three others in his rampage, during which he mowed through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.

After launching a knife attack on Pc Palmer, Masood was shot down by armed police. He later died.

Mr Ellwoods emotional statement comes as anti-terror police reveal Masoods shocking attack was over within 82 seconds.

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A statement released by the Metropolitan Police said: The Met can confirm the attack started at 14:40:08 on Wednesday, 22 March, when the car that Masood was driving over Westminster Bridge first mounted the northbound pavement.

He continued towards Bridge Street along both the footpath and road until 14:40:38 before crashing into the perimeter fence of the Palace of Westminster.

Masood left the vehicle and was shot by a police firearms officer inside the Palace of Westminster boundary at 14:41:30.

A timeline of the attack / Met police

Deputy assistant commissioner Neil Basu, said his team is grateful for the level of public support but is still appealing for people to come forward with information.

"If you knew Khalid Masood and had spoken to him in the months, weeks or days leading up to this attack please come forward.

"We still believe that Masood acted alone on the day and there is no information or intelligence to suggest there are further attacks planned.

Candlelit vigil for Westminster attack victims held in Trafalgar Square

"We must all accept that there is a possibility we will never understand why he did this. That understanding may have died with him.

"Nevertheless, we are determined to understand if Masood was a lone actor inspired by terrorist propaganda or if others have encouraged, supported or directed him.

"Whilst the attack lasted only 82 seconds it will remain in the memories of many forever. The thoughts of all those working on this investigation are with those so deeply affected.

Westminster attack probe : Resident describes police seizing van and cars after Birmingham raid

"The response has been outstanding. The way that communities in London, and throughout the UK, have come together in the wake of this attack shows that we will not give into those who seek to breed discord and fear.

"Terrorists have tried to tear this City apart before and they have never succeeded. A very small minority of people have tried to use this as an opportunity to stir up hate, but once again we stand together in calm defiance. We will not allow them to divide us."
H undreds of emergency service workers were fed for free yards from the Westminster terror attacks as part of a generous offering from a nearby restaurateur.

Restaurant owner Ibrahim Dogus told how, in the face of Wednesdays chaos, he refused to shut his restaurant and instead kept it open to help out.

Terrorist Khalid Masood mowed down several pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before stabbing a police officer to death at the gates of Parliament in a bloody assault in which four innocent people lost their lives.

Despite being told to leave the building in the aftermath of the attacks, Mr Dogus said he wanted to keep the place open to support emergency services on the scene.

The restaurateur said any Londoner would have done what he did for the emergency services / @ConstableXL/Twitter

Police officers, paramedics and firefighters all were given free food and drinks in his eatery Troia, which is just yards away from the bridge, as part of the generous offering from the restaurateur.

Tributes for Westminster & Parliament Attack 1 /26 Tributes for Westminster & Parliament Attack A police officer places flowers and a photo of Pc Keith Palmer on Whitehall near the Houses of Parliament in London Dominic Lipinski/PA A floral tribute to the victims of yesterday's terror attack is left at the security cordon near Westminster Abbey in central London Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images Metropolitan Police in a minute's silence at New Scotland Yard Sky News A minute's silence is observed outside New Scotland Yard in London to pay respect to the victims of yesterday's terror attack in Westminster Jonathan Brady/PA MP's in a minute's silence at the House of Commons BBC Conservative MP James Cleverly pays an emotional tribute to his friend Pc Keith Palmer, telling the Commons he was a "strong, professional public servant". PA The flag above the Houses of Parliament in London flies at half mast the day after a terrorist attack Jeremy Selwyn People leave flowers at the scene after an attack on Westminster Bridge in London Hannah McKay/Reuters Flowers outside the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London Gareth Fuller/PA Flowers at the Police Memorial after yesterday's terror attack on the Houses of Parliament in Westminste Alex Lentati Cressida Dick in a minute silence today at New Scotland Yard for Westminster terror victims Jeremy Selwyn A bunch of roses is layed at the Metropolitan Police headquarters at New Scotland Yard in central London Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images Flowers arrive in Westminster the day after the attack Jeremy Selwyn The Union Flag on Portcullis House flies at half mast following yesterday's attack Carl Court/Getty Images Flowers are laid at the scene after an attack on Westminster Bridge in London Hannah McKay/Reuters Terror attack: Flowers placed below a police cordon on Westminster Bridge Hannah McKay/Reuters Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement in Downing Street, London Richard Pohle/The Times/PA Flowers are laid at the scene after an attack on Westminster Bridge in London Hannah McKay/Reuters Two policemen stand guard at a cordoned off area on the way to the Houses of Parliament in central London Matt Dunham/AP The royal standard at full mast above Buckingham Palace in London the day after a terrorist attack Jonathan Brady/PA

The father-of-two told the Standard: As I prepared to close the restaurant, which was really busy at the time, I asked one of the officers if they had somewhere to use as a place to warm up and use facilities.

When he told me they didnt, I said they could use here and I ended up keeping the place open late serving all the emergency staff I could.

Its the very least I could do and I think its what any Londoner would do if they were in the same situation as me. These people fight to keep us save and alive.

I couldnt take money from them. Some of them offered, but they are amazing people and there is no way I was going to charge them.

Mr Dogus, the founder of the British Kebab Awards, kept the restaurant open until 11.30pm.

He estimates that about 300 emergency service workers were served throughout the evening in his restaurant, adding: I didnt want any of them to miss out.

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Mr Dogus owns three Kurdish restaurants - Troia, Cucina and Westminster Kitchen  inside an exclusion zone cordoned off by officers in the wake of the horrifying attacks.

On the terror that struck the heart of London just yards away from his Troia restaurant, the 35-year-old said: Being born into a Kurdish refugee family, I know what its like to suffer from terrorist attacks.

I feel very strongly about being a Londoner. We came together so quickly, and we dont and wont ever give in to these lunatics.

Everybody got up the next day and life went back to normal.

Victim: PC Keith Palmer

Police officer PC Keith Palmer was stabbed to death outside Parliament during the attack.

Masood's victims on the bridge included US tourist Kurt Cochran and his wife Melissa, from Utah, who were on the last day of a trip celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. Mr Cochran was killed and Mrs Cochran was badly injured.

Aysha Frade, who worked in administration at independent sixth-form school DLD College London, in Westminster, also died. She is believed to be a 43 year-old married mother of two.

Leslie Rhodes, a retired window cleaner from Clapham, south London, died from injuries sustained in the attack. He was described by neighbours as a "lovely man".
T he Government's Prevent strategy should be broadened and focus on all communities to stop Muslims feeling singled out, Jeremy Corbyn has suggested.

The Labour leader said the counter-terrorism strategy is "often counter-productive" and casts "suspicion" over the whole Muslim community in the UK.

Speaking to ITV's Peston On Sunday programme in the wake of Wednesday's London terror attack, Mr Corbyn suggested the Government's deradicalisation programme needed to be reformed.

He said: "I talk to people in the Muslim community, I talk to people in mosques, I talk to people in churches, I talk to people that go to synagogues, all kinds of different faiths and different groups.

"I think what Prevent has often done is seen to target the Muslim community, not anybody else, looks to say there is a kind of suspicion over the whole community and it's actually often counter-productive."

He continued: "Deal with the issue of far right extremism within our society, deal with the issue of racism in our society, deal with the issues of discrimination within our society, deal with the issues of the perceptions of stop and search within our society, above all be inclusive of people and what Prevent does, it says 'hang on, let's look at only the Muslim community'."

When pushed on exactly what he believed needed to change, he said: "I'm saying broaden it into an agenda of inclusion."

"Focus it on all communities," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Corbyn insisted that Labour is ready for an early general election should Prime Minister Theresa May decide to pursue one.

On the possibility of an early general election being called, Mr Corbyn said Labour is ready and would not block a Government bid to repeal the Fixed-term Parliament Act which would allow a poll to take place before 2020.

He said: "We are developing our policies but clearly if an election is called we can bring all that forward and we are ready, yes."

He added: "It wouldn't be just us actually because it (repealing the Fixed-term Parliament Act) requires two thirds of all MPs to vote for it.

"We would not block it, of course not, because if that's what is on offer, I don't know if that's in her mind or not.

"She certainly hasn't discussed it with me."

Mr Corbyn was also grilled on whether he would back a second referendum on Scottish independence.

He said he does not believe a second referendum is a good idea but that if the Scottish Parliament calls for one Westminster should not block it.

He said: "If that is what the Scottish Parliament wants then I think that it would be wrong for Westminster to say to Scotland 'well we gave you this devolution but sorry, this is where it stops'."

When asked if that meant he would back another referendum on independence, he said: "The principle of having it, yes, of course. One has to discuss the questions of timing and the date of it."
E ncryption of messages on services such as WhatsApp is completely unacceptable in the fight against terror, Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said.

Intelligence agencies most have access to the messages and social media sites must do more to police extremist material, she said.

The call comes amid reports that Westminster terrorist Khalid Masood used WhatsApp seconds before launching Wednesday's attack, but agencies are unable to see what was communicated.

Ms Rudd also insisted the likes of Google, which runs the social video sharing platform YouTube, and other smaller sites such as WordPress must realise that they are now publishing - rather than technology - companies and take more responsibility for taking down extreme material.

Amber Rudd WhatsApp explainer

The Home Secretary left the door open to changing the law if necessary.

But she said she would rather see an industry-wide board doing it independently, as the best people to take action are those who understand the technology and the "necessary hashtags".

On encrypted messaging services, she told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "It is completely unacceptable, there should be no place for terrorists to hide.

"We need to make sure that organisations like WhatsApp, and there are plenty of others like that, don't provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other.

"It used to be that people would steam-open envelopes or just listen in on phones when they wanted to find out what people were doing, legally, through warrantry.

"But on this situation we need to make sure that our intelligence services have the ability to get into situations like encrypted WhatsApp."

Khalid Masood is said to have used WhatsApp before the attack / Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Ms Rudd said she was calling in a "fairly long list" of relevant organisations for a meeting on the issue this week, including social media platforms.

"What these companies have to realise is that they are now publishing companies, they are not technology companies, they are platforms and we need to make sure that that (hosting extremist material) stops," she said.

"You are right, we will not resile from taking action if we need to do so."

But she went on: "I would rather get a situation where we get all these people around the table agreeing to do it.

"I know it sounds a bit like we're stepping away from legislation but we're not.

"What I'm saying is the best people who understand the technology, who understand the necessary hashtags to stop this stuff even being put up, not just taking it down, but stopping it being put up in the first place, are going to be them."

As well as murdered police officer Keith Palmer, Khalid Masood's victims in the attack included US tourist Kurt Cochran and his wife Melissa, from Utah, who were on the last day of a trip celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. Mr Cochran was killed and Mrs Cochran was badly injured.

Aysha Frade, who worked in administration at independent sixth-form school DLD College London, in Westminster, also died. She is believed to be a 43 year-old married mother of two.

Leslie Rhodes, a retired window cleaner from Clapham, south London, died from injuries sustained in the attack. He was described by neighbours as a "lovely man".
A global Muslim leader told followers that the Westminster terror attack was a violation of everything Islam stands for.

His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Caliph of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC), said that terrorist acts carried out in the name of Islam were against its true teachings.

He was speaking at the National Peace Symposium being held at the Bait-Ul-Futuh Mosque in Morden, south London.

The caliph said: "First of all, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to all those affected by Wednesday's terror attack at Westminster.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of London at this tragic time.

"On behalf of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community I wish to make it categorically clear that we condemn all such acts of terrorism and offer our heartfelt sympathies to the victims of this atrocity."

He added: "No matter what terrorists may claim, under no circumstances are indiscriminate acts, or killings ever justified."

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Referring to Islamist terrorists, he continued: "Their barbaric acts are a violation of everything that Islam stands for."

The AMC is a peaceful Islamic movement that has denounced all forms of extremism and promotes peace.

It has been in the UK for more than a century, and has around 35,000 UK members.

Across the world it has tens of millions of members spread across 206 countries.

The theme for this year's conference was Global Conflicts and the Need for Justice and saw Hiroshima survivor and campaigner, Setsuko Thurlow, awarded with the international Advancement of Peace prize in recognition of her lifelong struggle for nuclear disarmament.

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Prime Minister Theresa May sent her best wishes for the event.

In a message to the conference, she said: "The symposium is an annual reminder of your community's commitment to promoting peace around the world."

Mrs May added that she appreciated the work of the AMC in promoting justice and tolerance throughout society.

As well as murdered police officer Keith Palmer, Khalid Masood's victims in the attack included US tourist Kurt Cochran and his wife Melissa, from Utah, who were on the last day of a trip celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. Mr Cochran was killed and Mrs Cochran was badly injured.

Aysha Frade, who worked in administration at independent sixth-form school DLD College London, in Westminster, also died. She is believed to be a 43 year-old married mother of two.

Leslie Rhodes, a retired window cleaner from Clapham, south London, died from injuries sustained in the attack. He was described by neighbours as a "lovely man".
As of this writing, I am weary of the winter snow, weary of being indoors, and anxious for sunlight and of following the news concerning consolidation of all governments in Onondaga County.

Our local papers are full of the opinions and posturing of local politicians, state politicians and newspaper editorial boards. Everybody has a different take on the objective, some good and some very selfish. Seems like everyone has a sacred cow to protect or a personal agenda. We seem to forget the objective is to modernize, streamline and improve a governing system which was designed in the era of horse-drawn mechanization and handwritten documents/communication.

The real world has passed Cayuga and Onondaga counties many years ago. We are living with the mistakes that come from poor management, lack of good planning and inefficient use of government funds. One example that comes to mind is infrastructure management and planning. All the weak politicians, long ago, should have been strong enough to levy taxes, including a fixed amount every year added to a maintenance fund for water systems, buildings, streets, roads and other access utilities. We all know that unpleasant actions in the tax levy do not get you re-elected, and thus we find ourselves looking at an accumulated deficit in infrastructure maintenance, which will be paid with a bond issue, and further burden our children and grandchildren with debt. And they dont have a thing to say about it.

While we are talking about debt, we really cannot depend on the federal government for funding infrastructure because federal politicians have already printed enough money to get us into a federal debt in the multi-trillion-dollar range. Someone has to tell them to stop printing money. And, probably, to go home and let a more capable individual do a better job. (Term limits?)

So where is this short treatise going? Its obvious that the entire governing system is faulty and needs to be aired out, modernized and forced to utilize our rapidly advancing technology. And the way we qualify, choose and limit our political leaders has got to come into the 21st century. The current daily flushing of angst from Washington, D.C., and the hysteria of the national news media, is a symptom of the effort to fix the system from the top down. To really be effective in upgrading the management of the entire country, I believe we need a dedicated group of local politicians, nationwide, with close communication and rapport, working from the bottom up, to correct a very fixable problem. Semper fi!
A t least one person has been killed and 14 others injured after at least two gunmen opened fire at a US nightclub.

Police have launched an investigation after the mass shooting at the Cameo Club in Cincinnati, Ohio.

It is not yet known how severely injured the other victims are.

Officials said the shooting is not being treated as terror-related.

The shooting took place around 1 a.m. when hundreds of people were reported to be at the Cameo Nightlife club, which the Cincinnati Police Department said has had "multiple problems" in the past.

"At this point it's unclear exactly what instigated the shooting," Captain Kimberly Williams said at a televised briefing. "We believe that there were at least a couple of shooters involved."

"Just a lot of chaos when the shots went off," Williams added.

The suspects were at large and police do not have good descriptions of them, in part because witnesses were reluctant to cooperate, Williams told WCPO.

The shooting comes less than a year after a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. It was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

The University of Cincinnati Medical Center has reportedly received eight patients from the shooting.

Four were stable, three were seriously injured and one other was said to be fighting for life.

Cameo Nightlife's Facebook page says it features "College Friday's" for students 18 and older and "Saturday's 21+ grown and sexy night."

The club, a large single-story structure, is a 7-mile (11 km) drive from downtown Cincinnati near the southeast corner of the city, the heart of the second largest metropolitan area in Ohio with more than 2 million residents.
A Brazilian teacher came up with a unique way to help a school girl who was being bullied at school because of her hairstyle.

Ana Barabara Ferreira, from Sao Paulo, said her student was sad as she was being ridiculed by a boy in her class who had said her hair was ugly.

"At that moment, the only thing I could tell her was that she was wonderful and shouldn't care about what he was saying," she wrote in a Facebook post that went viral.

But the following morning the bullied girls teacher decided to do something that has warmed the hearts of the tens of thousands of people who share her post.

Much to the girls surprise, she decided to come into school wearing the same hairstyle as her pupil.

Ms Ferreira told of how the girl came running over to hug her once she realised they were wearing their hair in the same way.

She said: When she saw me, she came running to hug me and say that I was beautiful.

"I told her: 'Today I'm beautiful like you!'"

The heartwarming act, and a picture of the two of them wearing huge smiles of their faces, has been shared on social media more than 30,000 times.
U bers driverless car pilot has been halted after one of its vehicles smashed into another car before rolling over in Arizona.

No serious injuries were caused in the latest crash involving one of the cab-hailing companys futuristic self-driving cars, police say.

But the company said it would be halting its pilot programme while an investigation into the incident is carried out.

The local police department said the driver of the other car was at fault for the crash, adding: The vehicles collided, causing the autonomous vehicle to roll onto its side.

No passengers were in the driverless car when the two vehicles collided on Friday evening but two safety drivers were in seated in front, an Uber spokeswoman said.

Ubers car was in self-driving mode when the collision happened and the company are looking into the incident, the taxi apps spokeswoman also confirmed.

This is not the first time self-driving cars, which are being piloted across America by various companies, have been involved in a crash.

A driver of a Tesla Motors Inc Model S car operating in autopilot mode was killed in a collision with a truck in Williston, Florida in 2016.

And a self-driving vehicle operated by Google was involved in a crash last year in Mountain View, California,

It struck a bus while attempting to navigate around an obstacle.
A woman could face 10 years in prison after admitting groping another female passenger on board a flight.

Heidi McKinney, 27, intended to humiliate and harass her victim during the ordeal on board an Alaska Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Portland, it is claimed.

Her victim complained to authorities that she had been touch on the breast and genitals without consent during the incident in May last year.

"Miss McKinney did so with the intent to humiliate and harass the victim," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Sinha said at U.S. District Court in Portland. "(She) both made contact with victim's body, including her inner thigh, and made a series of profane and lewd statements to the victim."

McKinney originally faced a charge of abusive sexual contact, but ultimately pleaded guilty to assault with the intent to commit a felony.

The maximum penalty is 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. However, Sinha and defence attorney Lisa Ludwig plan to jointly recommend a sentence of three years on probation. The judge does not have to accept the recommendation.

Court documents show McKinney, of Oregon, was convicted of drunken driving in 2008 and 2015. Her fiance told jail officers after the plane incident that McKinney does not metabolise alcohol like most people and "this is what happens," records show.

U.S. District Judge Michael Simon scheduled sentencing for June 19. In the meantime, McKinney remains out of custody under a set of pretrial conditions, including that she not use drugs or alcohol.
H undreds of fans have gathered for a public memorial honouring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds in Hollywood.

The famous mother and daughter, who died just a day apart in December, are being remembered at Forest Lawn Cemetery, where they were buried together earlier this year.

The service inside a 1,200-seat auditorium is also being shown on big screens at the cemetery and live-streamed on the internet.

Grace Farenbaugh from Burbank, California, was the first fan to arrive outside the Hall of Liberty at 5.30am.

Tribute: Guests attend Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher Memorial at Forest Lawn Cemetery / Getty Images

"I'm a huge fan of both of them," she told the Press Association.

"I feel they are part of my family. I knew Carrie for a short while. She was helping me with a book. She was as funny and genuine as anyone can imagine."

Liza Rios-Proprofsky from Orange County, California, said she was a huge fan of Star Wars actress Fisher and she wanted to honour her with "like-minded people".

Memorial: R2-DT attended the event / Getty Images

"Star Wars has been a part of our child narrative," she said. "When Carrie Fisher passed, it actually like a member of the family had left us.

"When I was a little girl, here was this strong woman who was a princess who could take charge.

"We knew that if we came here we would be with people who are like minded, that would understand how we felt."

Carrie Fisher - In pictures 1 /29 Carrie Fisher - In pictures Carrie Fisher poses for cameras as she arrives at the European Premiere of Star Wars, The Force Awakens in Leicester Square, London in December 2016 Paul Hackett/Reuters Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) Princess Leia and Han Solo (Carrie Fisher & Harrison Ford) kiss in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Hans Solo (Harrison Ford) in Star Wars: A New Hope Lucasfilm Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds hold their baby daughter, Carrie Frances Fisher in 1957 AP Actress Carrie Fisher in 1977 Getty Images Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) Lucasfilm Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) Lucasfilm Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi (1983) Lucasfilm Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi (1983) Carrie Fisher and singer Paul Simon stand together at their apartment in New York during their wedding reception on 16 August 1983 Mario Suriani/AP Legendary actress Debbie Reynolds poses with her daughter Carrie Fisher after Reynolds star in the live theatre and stage category was unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during ceremonies in 1997 Reuters Debbie Reynolds and daughter Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars movie, joining a Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper character as they arrive for the premiere of 'Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith' in Washington on 12 May 2005 Mike Theiler/EPA Actress Carrie Fisher and director George Lucas pose at the 33rd AFI Life Achievement Award after party at the Highlands on 9 June 2005 in Hollywood, California Vince Bucci/Getty Images Carrie Fisher and Daisy Ridley during the filming of the Graham Norton Show at The London Studios in 2015 So TV/PA John Boyega and Carrie Fisher embrace as they arrive at the premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Hollywood, California on 14 December 2015 Mario Anzuoni/Reuters Carrie Fisher attending the World premiere of Absolutely Fabulous The Movie held at Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square in 2016 Ian West/PA Carrie Fisher returned to the role in 2015 for The Force Awakens Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher attend the Midnight Mission's 100 year anniversary Golden Heart Gala held at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on 30 September 2014 in Beverly Hills, California Araya Diaz/Getty Images Carrie Fisher at 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' film premiere David Fisher/Rex Carrie Fisher and dog Gary attends the European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Leicester Square on 16 December 2015 in London Dave Benett

Fisher, who shot to fame as Princess Leia in Star Wars, died aged 60 on December 27 after suffering a heart attack on a flight from London to Los Angeles.

A day later her mother, Singin' In The Rain star Reynolds, 84, died after a suspected stroke.

The memorial will feature a tribute song from Fisher's close friend James Blunt, which will be unveiled during a photo montage.

Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds buried together after LA memorial service

Her daughter Billie Lourd will attend but is not expected to make a speech, while Fisher's beloved dog Gary will also feature, TMZ said.

The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles will perform along with dancers from the Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio.

Costumes and memorabilia from the careers of Reynolds and Fisher will also be on display.

Debbie Reynolds - In pictures 1 /34 Debbie Reynolds - In pictures Debbie Reynolds poses for a portrait in Beverly Hills in 2013 Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Debbie Reynolds poses backstage with her Lifetime Achievement award with her granddaughter Billie Catherine (right) and daughter actress Carrie Fisher (left) at the 21st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California on 25 January 2015 Mike Blake/Reuters Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Selden, Donald O'connor as Cosmo Brown and Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood in 'Singin' In The Rain' (1952) MGM Actress Debbie Reynolds poses atop her newly unveiled star in the live theatre and stage category on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 17 January 1997 Reuters Carrie Fisher, right, presents her mother Debbie Reynolds with the Screen Actors Guild life achievement award at the 21st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Vince Bucci/Invision/AP Debbie Reynolds in London celebrating her 78th birthday in 2010 Stefan Rousseau/PA Debbie Reynolds arrives at The Greenbrier for the gala opening of the Casino Club in White Sulphur Springs in 2010 Jeff Gentner/AP Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley MacLaine and Joan Collins sar in 'These Old Broads' in 2000. The two-hour comedy is written by Carrie Fisher ABC via Getty Images Debbie Reynolds returns for a curtain call after a performance of 'Woman of the Year' at New York's Palace Theatre on 8 March 1983 AP Debbie Reynolds at the Bob Hope gala rehearsal in 1985 Mike Hollist/Associated Newspapers Debbie Reynolds poses on a grand piano at a New York restaurant, as she promotes the revival of the hit musical 'The Unsinkable Molly Brown' on 8 September 1982 Marty Lederhandler/AP Debbie Reynolds performing on the opening night of her run at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on 09 April 1974 Las Vegas News BureauEPA US musical artist Liberace (R) holding a candelabra as Welsh singer Tom Jones (C) blows out the candles at his birthday party as (L-R) Joan Rivers, Sonny Bono, Dionne Warwick and Debbie Reynolds look on at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 05 June 1974 Las Vegas News Bureau/EPA Debbie Reynolds in her dressing room at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on 09 March 1971 Las Vegas News Bureau/EPA Debbie Reynolds joking around with Chuck Norris at the Stardust in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on 29 March 1967 Las Vegas News Bureau/EPA Debbie Reynolds with her children Carrie and Todd on the set of 'Say One For Me' in 1959 AP Debbie Reynolkds and Glenn Ford in 'It Started with a Kiss' (1959) MGM Eddie Fisher and first wife Debbie Reynolds in 1957 PUBLICITY PICTURE Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds hold their baby daughter, Carrie Frances Fisher, as the pose for a photo in the Hollywood on 2 January 1957 AP Debbie Reynolds entertains at 8th Army headquarters in Seoul, South Korea on 22 May 1955 AP Singer Eddie Fisher and actress Debbie Reynolds are pictured during their wedding at the Catskill Mountain Resort in Grossinger, New York in 1955 AP Eddie Fisher gets a final once-over from his fiancee Debbie Reynolds, before making his first performance at the London Palladium in 1955 Associated Newspapers ctress Debbie Reynolds signs autographs on her way into the ice show in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles on 7 May 1951 Frank Filan/AP Debbie Reynolds and daughter Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars movie, joining a Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper character as they arrive for the premiere of 'Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith' in Washington, DC, USA on 12 May 2005 Mike Theiler/EPA Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher arrive at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on 10 September 2011 Chris Pizzello/AP Debbie Reynolds in London celebrating her 78th birthday on 01 April 2010 Stefan Rousseau/PA

The two actresses were laid to rest at a funeral on January 6, where the ashes of Fisher were carried in an urn shaped like a Prozac pill.

Fisher had spoken publicly about her battle with bipolar disorder and drug problems during her life.

Additional reporting from Press Association.
H arry Styles teased his eagerly-awaited debut solo material during an advert break in The Voice semi-finals.

The One Direction star shocked fans and viewers by breaking his recent silence to promo his forthcoming single on Saturday night.

The cryptic clip simply showed the back of a man walking through a dark doorway, only for it to be revealed as Styles when his tattoos became visible.

Putting all Directions out of their misery, the pop star revealed the date of his new single as April 7, which flashed up on screen at the end of the clip.

Nothing like sitting casually watching the Voice when @Harry_Styles just pops up! April 7th can't come soon enough! one fan wrote on Twitter.

Another wrote: Just screamed so loud at that Harry Styles clip on itv during the voice break omg! I screamed when I recognised his tattoo!

One very excited viewer posted: PLEASE TELL ME OTHER PEOPLE JUST SAW THAT HARRY STYLES CLIP DURING THE VOICE BREAK!

Styles has stayed tight-lipped about his solo material,despite signing to major label Colombia last year.

The Voice 2017 Launch - In pictures 1 /13 The Voice 2017 Launch - In pictures will.i.am Ian West/PA Emma Willis Ian West/PA Sir Tom Jones Ian West/PA Jennifer Hudson Ian West/PA Gavin Rossdale Ian West/PA will.i.am Ian West/PA Emma Willis Ian West/PA Sir Tom Jones Ian West/PA Jennifer Hudson Ian West/PA Gavin Rossdale Ian West/PA

Music industry site HITS Daily Double recently described Styles new music as being a cross between David Bowie and Queen.

In marked contrast to One Directions production by committee, Styles has crafted a set that recalls the regal high-water mark of 70s British rock, Bowie and Queen in particular, a report read.

The lead single, which could come out as soon as late April or early May, sounds like it would be a smash in any decade.
Toronto, Mar 25 (IBNS): The Earth Hour was celebrated all over the world for last 10 years with the intention of drawing attention to climate change and showing everybodyas efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, media reports said.

This weekend, people around the world will be turning off their lights and powering down all electronic gadgets as part of the annual Earth Hour initiative. Toronto would be observing Earth Hour today from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia back in 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) more to raise awareness about the earths environment rather than try to reduce power usage.

Earth Hour is a global event and participants range from over 170 countries in two dozen time zones.

Following are tweets by WWF

WWF-Turkiye @WWF_TURKIYE, NOW! It's #EarthHour time in Turkey! @wwf @earthhour

Tonight global landmarks will join the #EarthHour movement! Will you join them? http://wwf.to/1SCBx0U

Turn up the volume on #EarthHour! Go live for #EarthHourLive at 8:30 p.m. your local time. Learn more: http://wwf.to/2lMCk4Z .

Hong Kong is now celebrating #EarthHour! Join the movement at 8:30 p.m. your local time.

#EarthHour has just started in Sydney and Melbourne!

Were kicking off #EarthHour in Samoa! Join the global movement and turn up the dark at 8:30 p.m. local time: http://wwf.to/1SCBx0U .

Tweet from WWF_Australia @WWF_Australia, Well done NSW & VIC! Your turn QLD, SA, NT & WA! #EH17 #EarthHour #EarthHour2017 #SydneyHarbourBridge #jointhefuture.

Check out some of the artists who are using their music to support #EarthHour: http://wwf.to/2nvW7Gr #EarthHourLive.

Several tweets from the Earth Hour are as follows:

Join millions of people tonight for #EarthHour! Show your for our shared home with a new profile pic. Try it! http://Facebook.com/earthhour.

Here in Poland we are signing a petition to help #changeclimatechange towards a better future for our ! #EarthHour #earthhour2017.

#EarthHour happens tonight at 8:30pm wherever you are. RT to spread the word! How will YOU be celebrating the hour? #ChangeClimateChange.

Lights out over here at Fiji! Join us to #changeclimatechange this #EarthHour ;)

Kicking off the celebrations for #EarthHour 2017 over here in French Polynesia! Stay tuned for more action ;) #changeclimatechange.

Other tweets from different sources pledging their solidarity to the noble cause of Earth Hour are given below:

Earth Hour India @EarthHourIndia, #IndiaGate switches off for #EarthHour again - such a brilliant symbol of India's support! Use ur power even after! http://earthhour.in 

NelsonMandela@NelsonMandela tweeted, "Let us stand together to make of our world a sustainable source for our future as humanity on this planet" #EarthHour #EarthHour2017.

The Straits Times @STcom tweeted, Cities and monuments to dim lights for #EarthHour http://str.sg/47Fz.

Wired UK @WiredUK tweeted, Prepare for darkness, #EarthHour happens tonight http://wired.uk/fVpJwu.

Tweet from President of Russia @KremlinRussia, The Moscow Kremlin will participate in #EarthHour. Facade lighting will be turned off for one hour on March 25.

United Nations @UN tweeted, Take climate action & turn off your lights for #EarthHour this Sat., 8:30-9:30p local time. http://earthhour.org.

Ellie Goulding @elliegoulding With the remarkable Dr @emilyshuckburgh last night tweeted, #EarthHour #MakeClimateMatter #ProtectWhatYouLove

Tweet from UN Women @UN_Women, "Join me in turning off your lights on 25 March at 8:30 PM local time," @UN SG @antonioguterres. Join #EarthHour! http://EarthHour.org.

Amazon.in @amazonIN tweeted, Let's pledge to turn our lights off for 1 hour and contribute in the making of a better planet. Join us in the #EarthHour movement today.

The cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Toronto and Guelph will also be participating in the event.

Still other tweets from a few cities of Ontario are:

Waterloo North Hydro @wnhydro tweeted, Go beyond an hour this year and make #earthhour, energy efficiency, and conservation an everyday thing not just a 1-hour thing pic.twitter.com/Ktn2FGnnEz

Waterloo North Hydro @wnhydro tweeted, Moving out of #Waterloo. We'll miss you, but dont forget to close your account with us: ow.ly/yNNT304Xdcq pic.twitter.com/5jOryZOyex

Guelph Hydro @GuelphHydro tweeted, Will you be turning your lights out for #EarthHour this Saturday from 8:30-9:30 p.m. #Guelph ?

Reminder to @tdsb schools & offices: Lights out on Friday, March 24th from 2-3pm as we observe #EarthHour http://bit.ly/1nzrDzi

TDSB is shining a light on climate action with Earth Hour. Where possible, schools + offices will go electricity-free for 1 hour at 2 pm.

Several Earth Hour walks have been planned throughout the city to mark the occasion.

The University of Torontos AstroTours would be celebrating special stargazing event. The evening includes a look at the cosmos via telescopes, planetarium shows, interactive demonstrations and a special talk from the universitys own Prof. Suresh Sivanandam, Mac head, gear head, and astrophysicist.

The event starts at 6 p.m., and although admission is free, online registration is required. More details are on the AstroTours website.

The InterContinental Toronto Centre hotel would be hosting a special event for Earth Hour by switching off its lights for an intimate candlelight dinner at its Azure Restaurant and Bar. Part of their profits will be donated to local non-profit environmental group Evergreen.

Dancing in the Dark with 17 songs to celebrate Earth Hour has become popular worldwide.

The WWF says this year's events include a choir performing by candlelight in Montreal, skating under the stars in Vancouver and candlelight walk and yoga in Toronto.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj,Image Credits: NASA/NOAA)


LINCOLN  The Nebraska Department of Agricultures (NDA) weeklong celebration of National Ag Week continues with the release of the fifth edition of the popular magazine, Nebraska Agriculture and You. The magazine, available in print and online, highlights agriculture as our states number one industry and strives to help consumers better understand the extensive role agriculture plays in their day-to-day lives.

This magazine is a great place to share information about how diverse and expansive the agriculture industry is in Nebraska, said NDA Director Greg Ibach. Weve included stories about Nebraska families who operate and maintain some of the more than 48,700 farms in the state. Farm families work hard to provide us all with nutritious, affordable and safe food.

The magazine will be distributed to several locations throughout the state including office waiting rooms, banks, libraries, county extension offices, chambers of commerce, etc. It is also available online at nda.nebraska.gov by clicking on the magazine cover on the right side of the page.

Nebraskas agriculture industry goes far beyond the farm gate, and this magazine helps highlight the numerous contributions agriculture makes to our state, Ibach said. Its a great communications tool to tell the true story of Nebraska agriculture.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Agricultural Research Division has registered a new chickpea cultivar, New Hope, with disease resistance that provides new hope for a revival of chickpea acreage in western Nebraska dry bean fields.

New Hope has the potential to revive the chickpea industry in western Nebraska, Carlos Urrea, dry edible bean breeding specialist at the UNL Panhandle Research and Extension Center in Scottsbluff, wrote in an article published in February in the Journal of Plant Registrations.

The next step is to apply for cultivar protection under the U.S. Plant Variety Protection Act. A small quantity of breeder seed is being maintained by UNLs Husker Genetics Foundation Seed program. The seed could be available to the public by 2019, according to Urrea

Chickpea acreage was on the rise in western Nebraska 10 to15 years ago, but that trend was dashed by Ascochyta blight, a fungal disease that causes reduced yields and crop quality. New Hope has enhanced resistance to Ascochyta blight, the most limiting factor affecting chickpea production, according to Urrea.

New Hope is a large, cream-colored kabuli chickpea. Its registration follows years of work to identify sources of resistance to Ascochyta blight from various breeding populations such as the Western Regional Chickpea Trial.

Chickpea, also called garbanzo bean, is not as widely grown in Nebraska as some other market classes of dry edible bean, such as pinto, great northern and light red kidney beans. But it is the third most important food legume in the world, according to the journal article authored by Urrea; Bob Harveson, plant pathologist at the Panhandle Center; and Fred J. Muehlbauer of Washington State University. The top chickpea producing countries are India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Myanmar.

Historically, chickpea has been used in the United States in salad bars, but in the past several decades has become very popular here as a main ingredient of hummus.

According to Urrea, chickpea has potential as an alternative crop in western Nebraska because it fits well with growers existing equipment, dry bean processors, and regional infrastructure. Chickpea acreage in western Nebraska grew rapidly from 2000 to 2006, but since then it has declined and virtually disappeared because of damage from Ascochyta blight.

Ascochyta blight is transmitted by seed or infected crop debris. Its development and spread are favored by cool, moist and windy conditions. Damage can be minimized by planting moderately resistant cultivars and strategic use of agronomic practices, such as disease-free seed, seed treatment, crop rotation, tillage, and fungicides.

New Hope comes from a chickpea nursery established at the Panhandle Center at Scottsbluff in 2006, from a nursery from the USDA Agricultural Research Service at Washington State University. Urrea and his staff began selecting plants based on Ascochyta blight resistance that year. The New Hope line was bulked beginning in 2010, given its name in 2012, and was tested in yield trials from 2012-15 against several commercial brands.

New Hope exhibits an upright indeterminate growth habit, Urrea said. It is suitable for direct harvest. Plants averaged 43 cm in height during 2015 and had excellent lodging resistance.

Support to develop New Hope came from the Nebraska Dry Bean Commission, which provided funding from 2006-10, and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Initiative from 2011-13, and the Hatch Project.
LINCOLN  The Nebraska Brand Committee has announced five types of payment methods that will be available when the new technology program rolls out in July.

With the introduction of the new technology program this July, producers are going to have more options than they have ever had to process payments, said John Widdowson, vice chair of the Nebraska Brand Committee and chair of NBCs Technology Working Group.

Currently the Nebraska Brand Committee accepts cash and check. With the transition from paper to electronic, the Committee will accept cash, check, ACH, credit/debit card on file, and credit/debit card swiped at time of inspection.

Our priority is to increase the efficiency of inspections for our producers, Widdowson said. By offering these additional options we are hoping to increase the value of the service we are providing.

All payment options will be available for producers July 2017 until July 2018.

We will offer the five different payments method until July 2018, after that date, we will not accept cash as a payment method, said Bill Bunce, NBC executive director. Producers will have over a year to determine what other payment method(s) fits their operation, and what their preference is, but cash will no longer be an option starting July of 2018.

Producer security will be of the utmost importance, and Nebraska Interactive currently works with over one hundred partners in state and local government in the state of Nebraska, Widdowson said, referring to the technology company that is developing and hosting the electronic program for NBC. They have the utmost security procedures and expertise in place which we will be utilizing with the program.

The Nebraska Brand Committee was created by the Legislature in 1941 to inspect cattle and investigate missing and/or stolen cattle. It is a self-supporting cash fund agency. Its operating fund comes solely from fees collected for brand recording, brand inspections, and registered feedyards.
New Delhi, Mar 26 (IBNS): Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said Indians consider nature as 'mother' and cannot exist without it.

"The crisis facing the humanity today has forced us to review the whole gamut of ManNature relationship, more precisely in the light of the developments of the last five decades and accordingly chalk out the future course of development," Singh said.

"The people of India have always believed in the umbilical relationship with Nature and we regard her as Mother Nature. We can't exist without Nature," he said.

Singh said Nature should not be exploited but nurtured for the wellbeing of the human kind.

He said: "When Nature is in equilibrium, our lives and the world we live in will be in balance."

Speaking on the issue of climate change, he said :"Pollution and Climate change are adversely influencing our present and they are also going to have a serious impact on our future. It has been observed that if current consumption and production patterns remain the same and population reaches 9.6 billion by 2050, then, we will need three planets to sustain our ways of living and consumption."

He said climate change has been recognised as a major global challenge.

"We are deeply concerned about the rising oceans as our planet is melting at both the ends. Arctic and Antarctica have hit record low ice extents this year and melting poles are threat to our coastlines. We in India are also worried about the retreat of glaciers in Himalayas that feed our rivers and nurture our civilisation," he said.

Singh made the remarks as he attended the World Environment Conference, organized by the National Green Tribunal here.
Agriculture is the heart and soul of what we do here in Nebraska, Gov. Pete Ricketts said Wednesday, March 22, during a stop at the Western Nebraska Regional Airport.

Ricketts and Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach made 11 stops during a three-day tour to highlight agribusinesses across the state for National Agriculture week.

Ag makes up about 20 percent of Nebraskas economy, and makes up about one in four jobs.

By 2050, there will be about 2 billion more people in the world, Ricketts said. Because of rising standards of living in places like China, well have to produce 100 percent more food  70 percent of that will have to come from productivity and innovation, and we have some of the most productive and innovative farmers right here in Nebraska.

Ag friendly policies, trade and property tax reform were among the subjects Ricketts touted during the stop in Scottsbluff.

In 2015, we exported about $10.6 billion in goods and services, and of that, agriculture made up almost $6.6 billion, Ricketts said. We want to expand those opportunities and open up markets through trade missions to build those relationships.

Ricketts gave an example that the Chinese beef market has grown from $139 million in 2010 to $2.5 billion in 2015. Under the certified Nebraska Beef program, the Department of Agriculture has taken Nebraskas share of beef exported to the European Union from 5 percent in 2005 to 50 percent in 2015  half of all the beef going to the EU. Nebraska has gone from about 6 percent of total U.S. beef exports to about 18 percent during that same time frame.

However, among the current U.S. trade partners, Canada and Mexico continue to be Nebraskas top markets. Ricketts said he has kept in regular contact with Nebraskas federal delegation to ensure that President Donald Trump understands how important those relationships are to Nebraska producers.

Also among the topics of Ricketts visit was the Ag Land Valuation Fairness Act (LB 338), which would switch to an income-based method for valuing agricultural land, and cap valuation increases at 3.5 percent annually.

Ricketts said the analysis showed that the bill would have made a significant difference in ag land valuations during the last decade.

Instead of increasing by 252 percent since 2007, valuations would have grown by 36 percent over that period. Total ag land valuations would be $61 billion less over that period.

Ricketts said it would have similar effects to his proposal last year that would have capped annual valuation hikes without changing the valuation method.

State Sen. Lydia Brasch of Bancroft, the Agriculture Committee chairwoman, introduced LB 338 on the governors behalf, and Ricketts said the Revenue Committee is looking at including the bill in a package of income and property tax changes.

We have, by my count about 18 senators who represent what well call rural Nebraska districts,  its not 25, which is not enough votes to get a bill passed, Ricketts said. And with a bill like this thats controversial, wed need 33 votes to be a filibusterer. We cant get this passed with just rural senators.

But the urban senators who want income tax relief dont have enough votes either. By having both income and property tax relief together, we have the opportunity to build a coalition of both urban and rural senators, we can get those 33 votes and get both passed this year.
CHEYENNE, Wyo.  Wyoming Livestock Board and USDA APHIS veterinarians are investigating and testing cattle that were potentially exposed to Tuberculosis in South Dakota.

Wyoming State Veterinarian Jim Logan was notified March 13 that South Dakotas Animal Industry Board and USDA APHIS are investigating a beef herd with TB located in Harding County, S.D. This herd was identified in late February after routine slaughter surveillance discovered three cull cows with lesions. During the epidemiologic investigation, South Dakota found there were 86 heifers purchased from the TB-affected herd and imported into Wyoming prior to the discovery of the infection. The animals were imported legally into Wyoming.

WLSB state veterinarians immediately began an epidemiologic investigation to determine where any exposed heifers from the affected South Dakota herd are currently. Many of those animals still belong to the Wyoming producer who originally purchased them. The veterinarians are also working with a couple of other Wyoming producers who purchased animals from the original importer/producer. Logan noted all producers involved have been very cooperative.

In order to protect the Wyoming cattle industry from TB, we are taking every precaution to assure that, if it happened to come into Wyoming in these purchased cattle, we will get it found and eliminated before there is disease spread, Logan said. This involves herd testing and removal of all of the heifers that came from the South Dakota herd direct to slaughter with regulatory veterinarian examination at slaughter.

TB surveillance testing involves an injection of Tuberculin in the caudal fold of the tail followed three days later by a palpation of the injection site for a response.

Testing to date has found no evidence of infection in Wyoming.

Additionally, WLSB veterinary staff is working with the state veterinarians of Montana, Nebraska and Colorado, where small numbers of the original 86 heifers imported into Wyoming were subsequently sold prior to anyone being aware that TB was in the South Dakota herd.

Tuberculosis is a contagious disease of both animals and humans. It is caused by three specific types of bacteria that are part of the Mycobacterium (M.) group: M. bovis, M. avium and M. tuberculosis. Bovine TB, caused by M. bovis, can be transmitted from livestock to humans and other animals.

For more information regarding Tuberculosis, contact the Wyoming Livestock Board Field Office at 307-857-4140.
They live in the shadows.

Approximately 11.2 million undocumented individuals currently reside in this country, and they are forced to live and work in the shadows.

Migration is a condition of mankind. It is not new, and its not going away. So how do we deal with it?

That was the message of Most Rev. William Dendinger, who served as bishop of the Grand Island diocese for 10 years before retiring in 2015.

Dendinger gave a talk, Immigration Possibilities in America Today, Thursday, March 23 at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Scottsbluff. Prior to serving as bishop, Dendinger was a brigadier general and chief of chaplains in the Air Force.

The immigration of people is nothing new, it has existed since Adam and Eve, Dendinger said. It is a real hot button issue, especially in the United States, but it has been around for the history of mankind.

Its an issue that the (Catholic) Church is very interested in, he said. Its an issue that the government is interested in and obviously, the police and the immigration courts and judges are interested in these 11.2 million individuals as well.

Dendinger said that over the last eight years, about 2.5 million individuals were deported. The reasons range from overstaying Visas, to crimes, to minor infractions.

If they went to renew their Visas, and they pull up the police data, and if youve had two speeding tickets, youd have to leave, he said.

The majority of the 1 1/2 hour discussion centered on the stances of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and how they feel the country ought to deal with immigration.

U.S. Catholic Bishops oppose enforcement only immigration policies and supports comprehensive immigration reform. They have outlined six major points of their proposal for comprehensive immigration reform.

Dendinger said Pope Francis, the present pope, immigrated to Argentina from Italy.

Earned Legalization

Dendinger said that the immigration system is broken and cannot handle the 11.2 million individuals. Current backlogs in immigration courts can take up to two years before an immigration case is heard.

He said that an earned legalization program, while controversial, provides an option for those individuals.

The program would allow foreign nationals of good moral character who are living in the United States to apply and obtain lawful permanent residence  a path that would eventually lead to citizenship.

The conditions of the program would require background checks, which an estimated 8-10 percent whove committed major crimes would not pass. The overwhelming majority, or about 90 percent, however, have clean records.

Another condition of the program would be a fine.

Why pay a fine? Well, If youve come into the country illegally, you broke a law. And if you break a law, you pay a fine, Dendinger said. It would be no different than the fines you pay for writing a bad check.

The program would stabilize the workforce.

If we removed the 11.2 million undocumented people, the hotels would have to close down, Dendinger said. The hotel industry has said that if they took these people away, they would not be able to function.

Other industries, such as roofing, landscaping and other forms of domestic help would be adversely impacted.

Those individuals are forced to work in the shadows, Dendinger said. They are paid in cash because they cannot have records of where they are.

Promoting family unity is a significant portion of the program, because of families who have young children are disrupted by deportation.

We have a lot of families where one is documented and one is not, Dendinger said. The undocumented family member has to be very careful.

And this is in our community, Rev. Jonathan Sorensen, the priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe, said. Its not just a problem someplace else.

Dendinger said the pressures of reelection have made the program unsavory with lawmakers  the blame is not solely on the shoulders of politicians, but also falls upon voters.

Thats why its high-centered, Dendinger said. There needs to be a change in the public perception.

Future Worker Program

Residents of the valley may remember the Bracero Program, a series of laws and diplomatic agreements, the United States had with Mexico.

Under the program, Braceros were invited to the United States to provide manual labor in the sugar beet fields.

That program ended in 1981, and theres no worker program thats replaced it, Dendinger said.

Dendinger said the United States should study what industries are in need, similar to the information technology industries in the southwest that bring permitted workers from India to meet the needs for skilled labor.

Family-based immigration reform

The breakdown of families is due to deportations, and in some cases, leads to further illegal immigration from individuals who are desperate to be reunited with their families.

Dendinger said that an increase in the number of family visas and a reduction to the wait times for family reunifications need to be made.

Restoration of Due Process Rights

In 1996, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which stripped the rights of individuals in the U.S. illegally to have their day in court.

Because they are not given that right to due process, theyre bared from reentering the United States for 3 to 10 years.

You can imagine the havoc a 10-year-bar on reentry would wreak on a family with young children, Dendinger said.

Addressing the Root Causes

Dendinger said individuals from Germany or Australia are not coming to the United States because they perceive they are living a good life.

Theyre coming from places where they cant get a job, or where they seek freedom, Dendinger said.

The antidote, to the root cause of illegal immigration, Dendinger said, would be to create a sustainable economic development in underdeveloped countries.

As long as there is inequality  lack of jobs, lack of clean water, lack of food  theyre going to risk their lives and cross deserts to get here, he said.

DACA

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) allows individuals who entered the country illegally as minors to receive a renewable two-year period deferment for deportation.

There are about 80,000 people who qualify for DACA in this country, but if they are deported  say, back to Mexico  that creates problems, Dendinger said. They dont know Spanish, they dont know the culture in Mexico, because theyve lived here their whole life.

Enforcement

Everybody believes you have to have enforcement, Dendinger said. The freedom, the jobs, and the just orderly life appeals to many migrants who come from lawless countries.

A nation without borders is not a nation, because you dont have any sense of security or freedom, he said. Nobody is advocating candy for everybody, or leaving the doors unlocked, but we need to find out how to do it and do it in a human way.

Increasing the lawful means for individuals to enter, live and work in the United States would free up resources for law enforcement to focus on the real threats to security  drug and human traffickers, smugglers and would-be terrorists.

Sanctuaries

The issue of sanctuaries in the United States has also been a concern for the church, Dendinger said.

Legally, (Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE) can come into a church and arrest someone, Dendinger said. But some churches ask that they provide a court order before theyre let into a church.

However, Dendinger said there are still rights that individuals have if ICE were to knock at their door.

First, they dont have to open the door for ICE without a court order. In Nebraska, theyre only required to give ICE their name. They do not have to sign anything. They can hire an attorney, and if detained, they may be eligible for bail.

Letting individuals know that they have rights  if they are here illegally or are friends or family of someone who is here illegally  helps them relieve some of that tremendous fear when someone shows up at their door, Dendinger said. ICE people know this, but they arent going to follow it if they think they can get some evidence on a person.

Sorensen said about 200 to 300 families in western Nebraska have mixed citizenships, but that nationally, the immigration numbers and countries of origin are skewed.

There is a larger number of undocumented Canadians in the U.S. illegally  more so than Hispanics, Sorensen said.
According to an arrest affidavit, a 14-year-old girl told police on March 20 that she had been sexually assaulted by Christen on March 18. In an interview, the girl alleged that she had been at a friends house and went with Christen on a walk in an Alliance park. The girl said that Christen had attempted to put his hands down her pants. When she walked away, attempting to avoid him, the girl said that he pushed her to the ground, holding her wrists and raped her.
Students in DECA programs across the state brought their best to the Nebraska State Career Development Conference in Lincoln March 15-17. Students learned how to perform under pressure and figured out how to solve problems in a number of different role play scenarios.

The Scottsbluff High School DECA chapter had one of the largest groups that were able to qualify for the International level. Thirty-five students were able to qualify for the International Conference which will be in Anaheim, California in April. Students qualify by placing in the top three in their event.

Students will be competing in 19 different events at the International Conference.

It was just an outstanding year and that is just a tribute to the kids, Derek Deaver said, sponsor of the program and marketing instructor at SHS.

Senior Jake Anderson said in DECA students learn about smart buying choices and how to assess their finances.

I want to go into business and I think DECA is the most applicable and realistic kind of class that prepares you for business, Anderson said.

Anderson received first place in one role play event and was part of a first place team project.

Its an awesome experience its something that I didnt necessarily expected going in, Anderson said, I fell a couple of points short last year from qualifying for nationals so it was kind of chance do better than last year.

In a creative marketing project which Anderson was part of the students were able to create a healthy snack program called Snack-and-Go. There are plans in the future to implement it in the school store.

Anderson did the project with Zac Meier, senior, and Isaac Nuland- Bowman, junior.

His role play event was an individual event in restaurant and food management category. He was asked to create a design for a family-friendly restaurant. In this event students have 10 minutes to present their idea and 10 minutes to prepare for the presentation.

I just did a typical American style burger restaurant like burgers and fries- that kind of deal. You had to choose like American style restaurant or more fancy style and then present why you choose one, Anderson said.

For the project students have a 30-page paper to do and a 15-minute presentation that is judged by a panel. The panel critiques the paper and how well the group presents.

Anderson said they used posters as visuals so that it was easier to understand.

DECA got me interested in the business world so in college I am planning to study either public relations or marketing, Emily Ostdiek said, president of DECA who competed at the state DECA conference.

Ostdiek said as the president of the chapter its been great and shown her other side of putting together events.

Ostdiek competed in a public relations project and in a role play event in human resource management. In her individual event she placed third.

Its really good to get people to think on their toes. Because you get a situation and you have 10 minutes to figure out what you are going to do about a problem, Ostdiek said.

Ostdiek said with most of the problems she was a director of human resources at a company who was trying to solve a problem at the company among the employees or a problem with employee performance.

She said her project was fun as the group paired up with Leadership Scottsbluff.

We designed and implemented a promotional plan for them, Ostdiek said.

The students made a video and were able to show it to the judges. The students were also able to set up activities that Leadership Scottsbluff could do to increase community awareness and they also created social media sites.

Anderson planned to implement his program in March at the school store but his group now plans to work on opening it in April.

Cheese sticks, apple, yogurts, nuts, bananas, Anderson said about the different items that will be at the school store.

Anderson said the next step is to work out some of the kinks with order sizes, making sure foods dont expire, and seeing what students would like to see in addition to what they will offer.

There are around 100 students in the DECA program at Scottsbluff High School. Seventy-two students from the Scottsbluff DEA chapter qualified to attend the conference.

Deaver said some of the best projects didnt win that should have too. He said there are talented juniors who will be coming up in the program next year too.

The kids had a great year. They performed well and won a lot of the awards, Deaver said, its one of the hardest working group of students Ive ever had.
Northfield Elementary School fifth and sixth graders had the opportunity to learn about school in Southeast Asia on Thursday as students from 10 countries visited their classrooms.

The students are part of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) program, an intensive, short-term academic program that provides participants with civic engagement, leadership and collaboration skills. The group represents all 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In Naomi Morales fifth grade classroom, YSEALI students spent time mingling with students before helping them with a math game where students were divided into teams to compete for the top score.

While in the classrooms, they watched and helped sixth graders on their English worksheets and played math games with fifth graders.

Puthy Pann, of Cambodia, was impressed with Shaylah Stephens classroom and how welcoming it was for students and how much teachers work to make their classrooms a place where children want to be.

I love how the classroom is decorated, Pann said. It makes it feel like home.

Several YSEALI participants were enthralled by Devin Camachos Mohawk haircut, something many of them would never have been allowed to have in elementary school. Pann said it was nice to see students could dress in whatever outfit they wanted for school. In Cambodia, she was required to wear a uniform to school and students were not allowed to color their hair.

Students in Cambodia also cannot make noise in the classroom. Teacher stand only at the front. Pann noticed a difference in desks as well. The desks in Stephens classroom are arrange in two U shapes. The desks in classrooms Pann grew up in were straight rows.

Pann was also a fan of the types of rewards students received, such as pencils, for good behavior and hard work.

The prizes are a good motivation, she said.

Several YSEALI students commented on how clean Nebraska is compared to where they come from. They enjoyed the fresh, clean air and being in a place with less pollution.

Hanz Villahermosa, of the Philippines, was grateful for the time he was spending in Nebraska and the different perspective of American life he has been learning about.

When you think of America, you think of places like New York City, Villahermosa said. The difference here is the open space and well-managed traffic.

Villahermosa said in the Philippines, traffic is difficult to navigate.

In our country, parents are afraid to let their kids drive, Villahermosa said.

The students spent time visiting classrooms at Northfield Elementary School in Gering before traveling to Gering High School, Lied Scottsbluff Public Library and square dancing to end their day. They will travel to Mt. Rushmore on Saturday before returning to Omaha to complete the program.

The students, aged 18-25, in the program are identified as potential leaders of their countries and spend five weeks in the U.S. to cultivate an understanding of American culture and values.
It was standing room only at the Western Nebraska Family Research Center in Scottsbluff on Saturday as area residents came to learn more about Nebraskas History.

Nebraska is celebrating its 150 birthday this year, and its history leading up to its birth is an interesting one.

Brian Croft, English and History instructor at Western Nebraska Community College said Nebraska becoming a state was a fascinating period.

Nebraska was a huge part of the Oregon Trail, he said. It was a place you had to get through.

In the span of 13 years, changing from territory to state was mindboggling fast, he said.

During the late 1700s, Nebraska was part of a vast region included in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.The Louisiana Purchase, negotiated by Thomas Jefferson, was seen as a huge blunder. It was viewed as land that no one would ever use, a burden to the country and too costly.

Stephen Long branded Nebraska the great American desert, a name that would haunt the area for the next 30 years. Long traveled down the Platte River south of Omaha in 1820 in an unusually dry summer.

He thought, no way its habitable, Croft said.

Native American tribes wouldnt settle there and it was seen as unfit for agriculture.

Hes really not that wrong, he said. How different would it (Nebraska) be if we didnt have irrigation.

By the late 1840s, people were traveling along the trails, some to a new life, some seeking gold in California and other gold and silver in Colorado.

It became a territory in 1854, but it wasnt easy. Becoming a territory was first proposed in December 1844 by Secretary of War William Wilkins, who wanted to protect Americans traveling through the area. Within a week, Stephen Douglas proposed a bill. Douglas, who was from Illinois, had an ulterior motive. He wanted the Pacific Railroad to be in Chicago. He also didnt want Native Americans in Nebraska

It would take 10 years before Nebraska became a territory. Bills were introduced in 1844, 1848, 1853, 1853 and 1854. The fifth version was a modification of the last 1853 bill. It took so long because of the arguments between the northern states, who didnt want slavery and the southern states, who did. The thinking at the time was, if the railroad came out of Chicago, people moving there would likely be northern and take their anti-slavery ideas with them as they moved west.

Most people think Douglas knew Nebraska would never be a slave holding area because that kind of labor was not needed in the state. Douglas also knew hed be vilified by saying people should decide whether their state was a slave state or not.

The idea of popular sovereignty sounds great, but from a moral standpoint, its not the best decision, Croft said. Thats what happened and northerners were furious. Many saw it as a way for slavery to expand.

Newspaper articles and broadsides were printed with anti-Nebraska (against slavery) viewpoints. The Republican party rose out of this controversy. Abraham Lincoln was hated, in part, because many saw him approving of attempts to eliminate slavery.

To quell the arguments, Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, put out five railroad surveys of proposed routes. Four went through the south. The lone northern route went far north. The argument was the southern routes were shorter, didnt have to deal with snow and the grades would be easier.

The surveys are gorgeous, but dont do much in the way of topography, Croft said. They didnt help decide the route that much.

In the end, the Civil War began and the southerners left Congress. Soon after, there were large acts passed, including the Homestead Act and Railroad Act.

This is why theres such rapid change, he said.

The territorial legislature proposed statehood in 1859. Everyone said no. It was proposed to the people in 1860. They said no because it would make their taxes higher. Legislators said no because they were in the territory for a quick buck in land and railroad speculation.

The majority of people who ran to Nebraska in 1854 were speculators from the east, he said.

These speculators got their land by buying it or getting it from veterans who sold their script.

The vast majority who fought in the conflict (Civil War) werent going to pull up and go to Nebraska, he said. They sold their warrants to speculators.

Nebraska was not born of farmers.

No one was thinking of farming, he said. They wanted to develop the area.

In 1864, the voters werent thrilled to be a state, but voted for statehood anyway. Congress said Nebraska had to form a government and a constitution.

Legislators met in Omaha, but adjourned the same day, accomplishing nothing. In 1865, Governor Saunders suggested the legislators work to become a state. In 1866, things rapidly change.The Territorial legislature and a state legislature meets. A constitution was formed by an unknown group of individuals in secret.

The good news is what they put together was the structure for government, but no real moral laws, he said. It was a short document with a barebones structure for a state.

The constitution was eventually voted in by 100 votes, but required vote suffrage for only white males.

Congress did not like the idea and told Nebraska their constitution was unacceptable. But the constitution went nowhere. President Johnson used a pocket veto, whereby he did nothing to let the passing of Nebraskas constitution die. Nebraska modified their Constitution, taking the vote suffrage out. Johnson then vetoed it, stating Nebraska didnt have the population to be a state.

The real argument was he didnt want equality in this area, he said.

Congress overrode the veto, making Nebraska the only state to join the union with an overridden veto.
Businesses and individuals are encouraged to participate in Severe Weather Awareness activities, including drills, March 27-31.

Nebraska Severe Awareness Week is designed to remind residents that severe weather season is beginning and residents all need to take steps to be ready, by making a safety plan and reviewing proper safety precautions for protecting their lives.

A statewide tornado drill is scheduled as part of the week on March 29. A Mock tornado warning will be issued at approximately 9:30 a.m.

In Scottsbluff, all alert systems will be tested. It is a time that most schools, health care facilities and businesses can test their tornado procedures. It is also recommended that families also practice their family shelter plan at this time as well.

The Chadron Police Department will be participating in the test tornado drill on Wednesday, March 29, at 9:30 a.m. The drill will begin with a tornado watch to be issued at 9 a.m. A tornado warning will then be issued by the National Weather Service at 9:30 a.m..

At that time the Chadron 911 Center will activate warning sirens in the communities of Chadron, Crawford and Harrison. The sirens will sound a three- inute steady tone.

The National Weather Service Office in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in cooperation with Region 22 Emergency Management is observing the Severe Weather Awareness Week, and will be distributing safety messages on different aspects of severe weather throughout the week. They will provide Severe Weather Spotter Training on Tuesday, March 28 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Attendees are asked to come early to register. The course is free and all attendees will receive a certificate. The training will be held at the Western Nebraska Community College  Harms Advanced Technology Center, 2620 College Park, Scottsbluff. Someone will also be on hand to assist citizens wishing to register for the Panhandle Alert system.
Image: twitter.com/narendramodi

New Delhi, Mar 26 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday addressed the first 'Mann Ki Baat' after the historic win of his party in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections, and said that the dream of 125 crore citizens for a new India are being fulfilled now.

Speaking during the monthly radio address, PM Modi said: "New India is not a government scheme of a matter of politics. New India is the dream of 125 crore Indians, which they can make happen before our eyes."

He said the "desire of 125 crore Indians to transform India" forms the foundation of New India.

The PM said the New India would be driven by innovation, hard work and creativity.

He the new development would be characterised by peace, unity and brotherhood.

The country would be free from corruption, terrorism, black money and dirt, said the PM.

Besides, he also spoke about a wide range of topics including corruption, economy, farmers' rights and drug addiction.


Victor Schaaf died February 17, 2017 in Estes Park, Colorado. He was born Sep. 10, 1931. His interment was held at Ft. Logan National Cemetery.

The family requests in lieu of flowers a donation be made to either the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews or the Estes Park Pet Lodge, in care of Allnutt Funeral Service 1302 Graves Ave. Estes Park, CO 80517. Visit www.allnutt.com to leave a message for the family.
Srinagar, Mar 26 (IBNS): In a brief exchange of firing between terrorists and security forces, two militants were killed in an ambush in Awantipora area of south Kashmiras Pulwama district on Sunday afternoon.

According to reports , joint party of police and army laid an ambush in Padgampora village of Pulwama district after inputs that two militants were travelling in a car.

As soon as the car reached near the area where army and police have already put wire and other material , militants opened fire, which was retaliated. In the ensuing gunfight, two militants were killed, said the official.

Speaking on the issue, director general of police SP Vaid tweeted: "IPS officers while on their way to #Awantipur were ambushed by terrorists. The daring officers' retaliatory fire killed both the terrorists."

(Reporting by Saleem Qadri)


DETROIT  Curled up on a bunk in his broken-down truck, waiting three hours for help in sub-zero temperatures, Detroiter Alphonse Maddin feared death was near.

He had zero feeling in his feet. His torso was going numb. And a burning feeling took over as he started to fade in the 14-below meat truck.

Maddin said he could have died that night but one man didnt care: U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, a federal judge who ruled against Maddin in a legal case that has landed the Detroit man at the vortex of a debate about whether Gorsuch is a man of the people or big business as he is poised to be appointed to the nations highest court.

Maddin, an avid trumpet player and skilled artist who grew up on the citys west side and once designed products for the Detroit Three automakers, said Gorsuch is out of touch with working-class people and shouldnt sit on the high court after ruling against him last year. Gorsuch sided with the employer who fired Maddin for abandoning his trailer so that he could get to safety.

The trucking company has long argued that it did nothing wrong, disputing claims that the trucks heater didnt work and noting that Maddin filed an initial complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, but that the agency ruled against him.

Yet out of seven judges who had heard the case over the years, Gorsuch was the only judge to rule in favor of the trucking company.

And how he did it was numbing, said Maddin.

He referred to me simply as a trucker, Maddin said. Im a human being who has a name  but he followed the companys argument to get the world to ignore the magnitude of the circumstances, to forget that a man was about to freeze to death.

And that man, he stressed, is a lot more than a trucker. Maddin, 48, is a proud Detroiter who overcame the hurdle of growing up without a father, who was shot to death when Maddin was 5. Maddins refuge became music, art and drawing. He took up the trumpet in third grade and earned a scholarship to study jazz at Langston University in Oklahoma. He would go on to earn two college degrees and make a living designing products for the automotive industry until the 2008 recession hit, landing him in the truck driving business.

But Gorsuch couldnt identify with a man like him, Maddin said. To the judge, he said, he was only a trucker.

The general sentiment thats out there right now  that he has a propensity to favor the corporate world versus the people  I think its valid, Maddin said.

It has been eight years since Maddin was fired from his truck driving job, though he didnt get closure until last year.

After years of administrative hearings and legal feuding, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals last year ruled 2-1 in his favor and ordered the trucking company to rehire Maddin, who instead took back pay.

The judge who ruled against him was Gorsuch, though Maddin wouldnt read his dissent until months later, when President Donald Trump announced his nominee to the Supreme Court, and before long, the case about the Michigan truck driver who almost froze to death made national news.

Maddin discovered all the buzz while Googling his name. He was applying for a job one day and decided to search his name on the Internet. Articles popped up linking his name to Trump, Gorsuch and the U.S. Supreme Court. He opened up the stories and discovered all the controversy: Gorsuch was getting drilled for ruling against him.

So he decided to read the full dissent for himself.

I was like, Whoa!  Wait a minute, he said all this stuff? recalled Maddin.

In writing his opinion, Gorsuch stressed that he had to determine whether the employers decision to fire Maddin was legal, not wise or kind.

Maddin had sued under a law known as the Surface Transportation Assistance Act, which prohibits companies from firing a driver who refuses to operate an unsafe truck.

Gorsuch concluded that the law didnt apply to Maddin because  he reasoned  he didnt refuse to operate the truck, but rather drove off in it.

A trucker was stranded on the side of the road, late at night, in cold weather, and his trailer brakes were stuck, Gorsuch wrote in his dissent. He called his company for help and someone there gave him two options. He could drag the trailer carrying the companys goods to its destination (an illegal and maybe sarcastically offered option). Or he could sit and wait for help to arrive (a legal if unpleasant option). The trucker chose None of the Above, deciding instead to unhook the trailer and drive his truck to a gas station. In response, his employer, TransAm, fired him for disobeying orders and abandoning its trailer and goods.

The dissent has since dogged Gorsuch, who has maintained that he followed the law.

My job is to apply the law as written, Gorsuch said during Senate confirmation hearings, while being grilled by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. The law said he would be protected if he refused to operate. By any plain understanding, he operated the vehicle. And if Congress wishes to revise the law  I wrote this: I said it was an unkind decision, it might have been a wrong decision, a bad decision, but my job isnt to write the law  its to apply the law.

In a March 22 editorial, The Chicago Tribune supported Gorsuch.

Some of Gorsuchs critics think judges should be creative and expansive depending on the political climate  to treat laws differently on a cold night than a warm one. Those critics suggest that they fear Gorsuch wont follow the law, but the opposite is more true: They fear he will. Gorsuch should be confirmed.

Attorney Robert Fetter, who represented Maddin in his lawsuit, said Gorsuchs folksy and pleasant demeanor in the confirmation hearings contrast sharply to the judge he saw on the bench.

I did not detect any of this pleasant disposition or folksiness. He was hostile. As a matter of fact, he was quite hostile, said Fetter, claiming Gorsuch went out of his way to cherry-pick the law to uphold firing Maddin.

He went quite a length, in my opinion, to find a way to rule against him, Fetter said. It shows something about his judicial philosophy or perhaps his bias being pro business or pro corporation. Its just bias.

Maddin agrees, though he still cant fathom why or how a judge could rule against him given what he went through. Here, according to his account, is what happened:

Maddin was hauling a truck of meat across the country when he noticed he was running low on fuel, so he pulled over on a toll road in Illinois to call his company and ask what station he should fill up at, as was protocol. When he pulled over, his brakes froze up, so he called roadside service for help. While stranded, he decided to lay down in a bunk and wait. He presumed help would arrive within an hour.

Three hours later, his cellphone rang and woke him up. It was a relative checking on him.

Maddin could barely talk. His feet and torso were numb. He struggled to breathe. The temperature gauge read minus 14.

I felt myself fading, and at a rapid pace.Thats when I realized I could possibly die, Maddin said. I thought about me arriving back home in a casket, and I was thinking, thats not going to happen without me fighting for my life. 

Maddin called the companys roadside service again. They told him to wait, just try to hang in there,  he recalled.

Instead, Maddin put on his boots and climbed out of the truck to unhitch the trailer. It was the only thing keeping him from getting to safety.

I remember thinking that if I fell, that would probably be it. I wouldnt have the strength to stand back up, he recalled.

But he managed. He unhitched the 50-foot-long trailer, drove to a station and warmed up and fueled up. Eventually, he drove back to the trailer, which got repaired, hooked it back up and made his meat deliveries, as required.

When he returned to the companys headquarters in Kansas, three people were sitting in a room waiting for him.

They fired me, he recalled.

And then they blackballed him, he said, claiming his employer notified the trucking industry through a reporting system that Maddin had broken a cardinal sin: he abandoned a truck on the side of the road,even though staying meant he could die. He would later discover that the truck was not rated to produce heat in the frigid temps that he was in.

Today, Maddin is unemployed, living with family and friends until he can land on his feet. Hes somewhat optimistic. While his case played out in the courts, he took the initiative to go back to school, earning a bachelors of applied science from the University of Michigan in Dearborn and then a masters degree in 2016. He walked across the stage in April.

Four months later came the favorable court ruling. He had finally won his case with the trucking company.

It was an emotional win for Maddin, especially because of where he came from. When he first went to trucking school, he said, he felt stigmatized because he was from Detroit, noting he heard snide remarks about Detroiters during training. That weighed heavily on his mind, he said, especially when he got fired.

I felt like I wasnt only standing up for myself, but I felt like I was standing up for my city, Maddin said. I was hell-bent on winning.
The word bills used to be synonymous with fixed expenses. But theres nothing fixed about many of the bills a typical household pays today.

Some bills have introductory rates that expire, shooting monthly costs skyward. Others offer secret discounts or upgrades to those in the know. Providers constantly tweak their plans and pricing, which means long-term customers can overpay by hundreds of dollars a year.

Its like airline seating pricing, says Steven McKean, founder and CEO of BillShark, a bill negotiating service based in Boston. I wouldnt say (people) are overcharged, but I would just say that the pricing is very opaque.

BillShark calculates Americans could save $50 billion a year by haggling over their bills for cellphone service, home security, internet and pay television. The company, like its competitors BillFixers of Nashville, Tenn., and BillCutterz of Corpus Christi, Texas, offers to negotiate for consumers in exchange for 40 percent to 50 percent of the savings.

The savings can total hundreds or even thousands of dollars. McKean said his negotiators cut bills by an average of $320 each, with annual savings ranging from $250 for home security to $300 for TV, phone and internet bundles to $360 for cellphone bills.

Some of the biggest savings right now can be found in cellphone plans as a price war roils the industry, says BillFixers founder Ben Kurland. A lot of the cellphone providers have introduced multiple plans just this year, he says. If you have a cell plan thats more than 6 months old, you may not be on the most efficient plan for you anymore.

In addition to cellphone plans, bill negotiators say the following services often have plenty of room for negotiation: pay television (cable or satellite), landline phones, internet, alarm systems, storage units, satellite radio, bottled water delivery and gym memberships.

What these bills have in common is competition: In most areas, theres another provider that you can hire.

You also can opt out, at least theoretically. Its typically much harder to tell your electric company that you can do without lights.

Most BillShark customers would rather stick with the service they have than deal with the sometimes considerable hassles of changing providers, McKean says.

They dont want to rip out their DVR, and they dont want new equipment, and they dont want to sit around (waiting to) set up all this stuff, he says. They just want a lower price.

Sometimes a competitors deals are so much better that its worth the switch, he says. Thats particularly true for cellphone providers, who are paying customers early termination fees and offering other bounties to switch.

Theyre all desperate to steal each others clients, Kurland says. Switching providers a lot of times just comes with an instant payoff, and then over the long term, as long as you switch smart, youll find that you can save money month after month.

Knowing you have that kind of leverage can help you negotiate better deals. Here are the steps:

Gather competitors offers

These may be touted on the providers websites, or you may have to call and ask what the best deals are for new customers. Make sure you nail down the details, such as the speed of the internet service and which television channels are included, for example.

Call your provider

Let the telephone representative know, right away, that youre thinking of switching to a competitor or canceling the service if you cant get a better deal. That typically means a transfer to the customer retention department, which often has more leeway to adjust your bill. Keep an open mind as you talk; there are many ways to cut the cost of cable, for example, not just negotiating the price.

Tell them what you know

Companies have caught on to empty threats to cancel, Kurland says. But if you call up and you say, Hey, this is the other provider on my street, and this is the new price that theyre offering. I know that your new customer pricing is even lower than that. Why dont we strike a deal? Kurland says. Then youre talking their language.

Dont accept the first offer

If Cant you do any better than that? doesnt produce a deeper discount, tell them youll sleep on it. That may produce another price break, or you may get a different agent the next day whos more eager to deal.

Get clear on expiration dates

Any discounts you negotiate may expire in a few months. To help you keep getting the best deals, enter the expiration dates on your calendar with a reminder to restart negotiations before your bill jumps up again.

Think bigger

Monthly bills such as mortgages and car insurance arent negotiable in the same way, but you can and should revisit those rates at least annually. The savings could be bigger than all your smaller bills put together.

Liz Weston is a certified financial planner and columnist at NerdWallet.
Second in a five-part series about how all three branches of Missouri government helped prop up the Sheriffs Retirement Fund by charging a court fee that many judges and legal scholars find unconstitutional. It was a typical early-session appropriations hearing in a first-floor hearing room in the Missouri Capitol.

The date was Feb. 14, 2013. Greg Linhares, the head of the Office of State Courts Administrator, or OSCA, was there to outline the proposed budget for the Missouri court system.

He walked through some numbers. Senators asked a few questions.

One of them, though, had a different agenda. Call it the Valentines Day Surprise.

Youre familiar with the Sheriffs Retirement Fund? asked Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar.

The question had nothing to do with the matter at hand. The states court budget doesnt affect sheriffs or their pensions. But Linhares knew where Parson was headed.

Parson, a former sheriff, was one of several lawmakers backing proposals in the Legislature that year to change the state statute that established a $3 court fee in all civil actions filed in the courts of this state  so that it would more clearly apply to municipal courts.

The original statute to create the revenue source for the sheriffs passed in 1983 and had been amended several times, at one point specifically excluding municipal courts.

The most recent version of the law, passed in 1996, had never been interpreted by the Missouri Supreme Court nor OSCA, its administrative body, to apply to municipal courts.

Lawmakers wanted to change that, but their bills werent gaining any traction.

Twice in the past three years, at the urging of the Missouri Sheriffs Retirement System, state Rep. Kenny Jones, R-California, had asked then-Attorney General Chris Koster to issue an opinion that municipal courts had to collect the fee. If all municipal courts in the state charged the $3 for each case before them, it could raise about $3 million a year.

Jones is a well-respected, almost iconic former sheriff of Moniteau County, whose wife was killed along with another sheriff and two deputies in a 1991 killing spree that drew national media attention. He is currently the chairman of the Missouri Sheriffs Retirement System and was recently appointed by Gov. Eric Greitens as chairman of the states Board of Probation and Parole.

Jones son, Caleb, would later replace him in the Legislature. The younger Jones, now a deputy chief of staff to Greitens, was one of the sponsors of the 2013 bills seeking to apply the sheriffs surcharge to municipal courts.

Like Parson, Kenny Jones was close to Koster, a Democrat who made a political habit of backing sheriffs issues, including advocating for higher pay for them.

Kosters office issued one opinion in June 2010, and less than a year later issued a similar opinion on the same issue. Neither opinion addressed the constitutionality of charging the $3 fee on municipal courts  which have no connection to sheriffs. Both said the statute should be interpreted to apply to municipal courts, though the second opinion called the question a very close one.

Neither opinion caused OSCA, which advises the Supreme Court on issuing orders outlining court fees throughout the state, to change its position.

After the second opinion was issued, Linhares wrote the attorney for the sheriffs fund to explain why the state would not ask municipal courts to start collecting the fee.

The modification of the Attorney Generals opinion has not pointed out any new case law or new statutory change, Linhares wrote. Therefore, we do not believe it would be proper to provide courts guidance advising them to assess this surcharge in municipal cases.

It was the crux of this letter that Parson wanted to discuss with Linhares on Valentines Day two years later.

Ive supported the courts when theyve wanted raises, but yet you guys will not collect from the municipalities that fee, Parson said. The attorney general has given two opinions on that already saying that it should be being collected. And yet we dont collect that and the courts have done nothing to help with that. It becomes a little frustrating to me as I keep supporting your agenda to a certain degree that we dont do that. That is going to be an issue to me and a burden to me if we dont change what were doing on that. All Im asking is to collect what should be collected, what I believe the statute says.

Linhares stood his ground.

As much as I respect the attorney general, he said. An attorney generals opinion is not law.

But soon, things would change.

On April 15, 2013, state Sen. Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, requested an unprecedented third opinion from the attorney general on the sheriffs retirement fund surcharge. Two days later, Kosters office issued for the third time guidance that the charge should be applied to municipal courts.

I dont remember that ever happening, where there were three opinions issued in such short order, said former solicitor general James Layton, who wrote all three opinions and is now a lawyer in private practice in St. Louis.

Parsons threat to withhold support for the courts budget unless it made a change on the sheriffs retirement surcharge had its desired effect.

Bill Thompson had been the attorney for the Supreme Court during the time the previous attorney generals opinions had been issued on the retirement fund. Now he was the courts clerk, having replaced Tom Simon, who had died. Thompson said Parsons question spurred action.

In light of the discussion, I felt an obligation to determine what the statute required, said Thompson, who retired from the court earlier this year. It was clear from the legislative history that at one time the municipalities were not required to collect the fee, but under the current statute the law did require them to collect the fee.

Thompson said he felt no pressure from Parson or any other lawmaker.

Parson declined comment for this series.

In August 2013, the Missouri Supreme Court issued its order that outlines fees each court in the state must collect. The $3 surcharge for the Sheriffs Retirement Fund was included for municipal courts.

The real battle was just beginning.

Thursday  More than sheriffs' pensions at stake.
Updated at 12:45 p.m.

WASHINGTON  Fresh off a defeat on U.S. health care legislation, the White House warned rebellious conservative lawmakers that they should get behind President Donald Trump's agenda or he may bypass them on future legislative fights, including tax reform.

The threat by White House chief of staff Reince Priebus to build a broad coalition on tax reform that could include moderate Democrats came as the Republican head of the tax-writing committee in the House of Representatives said he hoped to move a tax bill through his panel this spring.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady said his committee had been working on tax reform in parallel with the failed healthcare reform push.

"We've never stopped working," Brady told Fox News's "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.

"We will continue to make improvements. We are planning to move this in the Ways and Means committee in spring ... and have this ready for the Senate to go as well," Brady said.

Both Trump and Priebus have scolded hardline conservatives who rejected legislation backed by the White House to overhaul Obamacare.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Priebus held out the possibility of working with moderate Democrats as well as Republicans to pass other aspects of Trump's agenda, such as his proposed budget, the revamp of the tax code and a renewed effort at health care reform.

"If we can come up with a bill that accomplishes the goals of the president with Republicans alone, we'll take it and we'll move forward with it," Priebus said.

But he added: "I think it's more or less a warning shot that we're willing to talk to anyone. We always have been and I think more so now than ever."

In an embarrassment for Trump, who had campaigned for the White House on what he said were his skills as a dealmaker, the health care bill was pulled on Friday from the floor of the House of Representatives because it failed to draw enough support from within Trump's own Republican Party.

Objections from members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and from moderate Republicans left leaders short of the votes needed for passage, with Democrats unified in opposition.

Trump failed to win over the Freedom Caucus lawmakers despite courting them intensively. Outside conservative groups such as the Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America that are closely aligned with the Freedom Caucus had strongly opposed the Republican healthcare bill and urged lawmakers to vote against it.

In a tweet on Sunday morning, Trump lashed out at both the Freedom Caucus and the conservative groups, saying their actions had left "Democrats smiling in D.C."

Priebus said it was a "real shame" that conservative lawmakers decided not to get behind the health care bill.

"And I think the president is disappointed in the number of people he thought were loyal to him that weren't," he said.

Trump has put tax reform at the top of his legislative agenda now that the healthcare bill has failed.

Priebus said Trump was not backing off his view that the tax reform bill needed a border tax. He also said that the measure would include a middle class tax cut that he said might help to attract votes from moderate Democrats.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer criticized Trump over his handling of the healthcare bill and said Republicans would face the same conservative revolt on other issues.

"They're going to repeat the same mistake they made on Trumpcare with tax reform," Schumer told ABC.

He urged Trump to go a different path: reject the Freedom Caucus and work with Democrats.

"If he changes, he could have a different presidency," Schumer said. "He's going to have to tell them he can't work with them and we'll certainly look at his proposals. But it's going to be guided on our values."

Republican Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said on Sunday he was optimistic on tax reform.

"I fully expect that what we're going to see is not only real tax reform, but other measures that come along," he told ABC.

Meadows, a fiscal conservative, also said his group could support a tax plan that is not revenue neutral.

"So, tax reform and lowering taxes, you know, will create and generate more income," Meadows said. "And so we're looking at those, where the fine balance is. But does it have to be fully offset? My personal response is no."
Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 26 (IBNS): Creating troubles for the CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government in Kerala as its Transport Minister AK Saseendran resigned after his allegations of misconduct with a woman was exposed by a TV news channel, media reports said.

Malayalam news channel named Mangalam revealed the audio clipping.

The clipping aired by the channel revealed an alleged phone conversation between the former minister and a woman.

According to reports, in the clip, AK Saseendran is heard talking in a sexually explicit way with the woman.

Pleading innocence, AK Saseendran sought an impartial inquiry into the matter.
Guwahati, Mar 26 (IBNS): Security has been tightened along the Indo-Bangladesh border following terror attack in Bangladeshas Sylhet district.

A top official of Border Security Force (BSF) said that, security has been tightened in the bordering areas of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and West Bengal with Bangladesh following Intelligence Bureau (IB) input about several terrorists of Neo-JMB, Huji and jihadis had taken shelter along the international bordering areas to enter India.



IB warned that at least five groups of Bangladeshi terrorist are trying to enter India to cross the Indo-Bangladesh border, the top BSF official said.



Following the IB warning, a high level meeting was held in Assams Dhubri district in presence of top BSF officials.



Meanwhile, Union Home Ministry has also sounded high alert along the border with Bangladesh following the terror attack in the neighbouring country.

Earlier, the intelligence wing of BSF reported to Union Home Ministry that, over 3400 terrorists of JMB and Huji had entered India through Assam, Tripura and West Bengal in past three years.



A top official of the BSF intelligence wing said that, in 2014, around 800 JMB and Huji militants had entered India.



Among them, 300 militants had set up bases in Assam, while others set up their bases in different locations of Tripura and West Bengal. In 2015, 359 militants going to Tripura and 300 others entered in Assam and West Bengal, the top official said.



The BSF intelligence wing also claimed that, the JMB and Huji infiltrators into India have been rising in 2016, with 2120 militants entered into India through the three bordering states.



Among them, 600 militants entered in Assam, while 720 to West Bengal and 600 to Tripura, the BSF official said.



Recently, the Bangladesh government warned the Union Home Ministry that, over 2000 JMB and Huji militants infiltrated India through Assam, Tripura and West Bengal.



Following the warning input received from Dhaka, the Union Home Ministry has sent warning messages to the home department of these three states and other states of North East India to take adequate measures and ordered the security agencies to launch massive operations in all suspicious locations.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)




A high-ranking member of the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, has strongly condemned the assassination of military commander Mazen Fuqahaa in the southern part of Gaza City, stating that there seems to be a strong possibility of a new military confrontation with the Tel Aviv regime.

The Israeli enemy operates a number of spies and mercenaries in the Gaza Strip, whom we will hopefully get rid of. A major operation must get underway in order to identify all those responsible for the recent criminal act, Mahmoud al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas, said as thousands of people attended Fuqahaas funeral on Saturday and called for revenge.

He said Hamas enjoys a vast array of means and mechanisms to give Israel a befitting response over the targeted killing of Fuqahaa, stressing that the resistance movement will not take a knee-jerk decision.

There is no ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, meaning that the two sides are technically at war. The flames of a confrontation could ignite anytime, Zahar said.

Israel has launched several wars on the Palestinian sliver, the last of which began in early July 2014. The Israeli military aggression, which ended on August 26 the same year, killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians. Over 11,100 others were also wounded in the war.

Ismail Haniyeh, a senior leader of Hamas, also vowed that the Palestinians will continue the spirited resistance against the Israeli regime.

Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, denounced Fuqahaas assassination in a statement, holding Israeli authorities fully responsible for the 38-year-olds death.

Read more: Israeli forces martyred Palestinian teenage boy in occupied West Bank

The Israeli regime is the architect of the latest criminal act. The Israeli enemy seeks to impose its equation of terror through targeted killing of our brave resistance fighters. We will abort such attempts though. The occupier regime of al-Quds will eventually regret its conduct. They should know that if you play with fire, you get burned, the statement read.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, promised retaliation for Fuqahaas assassination.

If the enemy thinks that this assassination will change the power balance, then it should know the minds of Qassam will be able to retaliate in kind, he said.

Unknown assailants opened fire at Fuqahaa at the entrance to a residence in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City on Friday night. They shot four bullets into the mans head before they fled the area.

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, said the assassination was carried out with a gun equipped with a silencer.
Iran has announced retaliatory sanctions on 15 American companies over their support for Israeli crimes and terrorism two days after Washington imposed bans on nearly a dozen foreign companies or individuals for aiding the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that these companies have directly and/or indirectly collaborated with the Israeli regime in committing its savage crimes in occupied Palestine, thrown their weight behind the regimes terrorist acts or contributed to the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories in flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2334.

Therefore, any transactions with these companies and businesses shall be prohibited, their assets shall be subject to freezing, and no visas shall be issued for individuals holding positions in or associated with these corporations, the statement further noted.

The ministry also said Washingtons unilateral bans were imposed on Tehran under fabricated pretexts, censuring the restrictive measures as a violation of international law as well as the spirit and text of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

On Friday, the US State Department said Washington had sanctioned 30 foreign companies or individuals for transferring sensitive technology to Iran for its missile program or violating export controls on Iran, North Korea and Syria.

The statement further emphasized Irans resolve to develop its peaceful missile power as part of the nations inalienable right to enhance its deterrence and defense might in the face of threats.

The US sanctions targeted 11 companies or individuals from China, North Korea or the United Arab Emirates for transferring technology to Iran that it claimed could boost the countrys ballistic missile program.

Here is the list of the sanctioned US corporations:

-Beni Tal security company has collaborated with the Israeli military in the suppression of Palestinian people.

-United Technologies has sold Black Hawk military helicopters to the Israeli regime which have been used to bomb occupied territories and Palestinian refugee camps.

-Raytheon has supplied Israel with technologically advanced military weapons that have been used against Palestinian people during the Gaza war.

-ITT Corporation has provided the Israeli military with equipment it has used to stage nightly raids in Palestinian villages and refugee camps.

-Re/Max has been involved in illegal real estate transactions in Israeli settlements across occupied Palestinian territories.

-Oshkosh Corporation has been supplying the Israeli military with parts for armored vehicles used to restrain the Palestinian population.

-Magnum Research Inc. has collaborated with Israeli military industries in the manufacturing of firearms and military equipment.

- Kahr Arms has provided spare parts and developed light weapons used by the Israeli army in cooperation with the regimes military industry.

- M7 Aerospace LP, purchased by US subsidiary of the Israeli military contractor Elbit Systems, has been active in the production and development of Israeli radar and missile systems.

- Military Armament Corporation has provided services and equipment linked to the weapons used by Israeli police.

- Lewis Machine and Tool Company has provided weapons spare parts and services to the Israeli militarys arms industry.

- Daniel Defense has provided the Israeli militarys arms industry with spare parts and services for weapons manufacturing.

- Bushmaster Firearms International has provided the Israeli militarys arms industry with spare parts and services for weapons manufacturing.

-O.F. Mossberg & Sons has supplied Israel with weapons, which are used by the regimes military and police forces in the crackdown on Palestinian civilians.

-H-S Precision, Inc. has provided the Israeli regime with weapons manufacturing technology.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that the list could expand to include more entities.
North Korea has condemned a joint military drill between South Korea and the United States and threatened a preemptive strike.

South Korean and US troops began large-scale war games on March 1 conducted annually with the participation of American warships and reconnaissance aircraft.

Earlier this month, USS Carl Vinson joined the drill. South Korean officials say US special troops are also set to take part in the joint exercises.

"As long as the US and South Korea's troops and means  remain in and around South Korea, they should keep in mind that our military will carry out annihilating attack at anytime without any prior warning," a statement read on North Korean broadcaster KCTV said on Sunday.

The war games called Foal Eagle will be continued until the end of April. Last year, it involved about 17,000 American troops and more than 300,000 South Koreans.

North Korea said in a letter to the UN Security Council earlier this month that the US was using nuclear-propelled aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, nuclear strategic bombers and stealth fighters in the exercises.

North Korea has protested against the drills, calling them a rehearsal for war, and responded with a series of missile tests which the West and the UN have used as a ground to impose fresh sanctions on the country.

The United Nations said earlier this week that sanctions against North Korea were taking a serious toll on humanitarian aid activities in the country, where millions of women and children are reliant on donations.

Tapan Mishra, the UNs senior resident official in Pyongyang, said North Korea was in the midst of a protracted, entrenched humanitarian situation largely forgotten or overlooked by the rest of the world.

North Korea has been the target of a broad array of tough sanctions by the US and the UN Security Council over its nuclear and missile tests.

Pyongyang says its missile and nuclear program is part of its self-defense measures aimed at protecting the Norths sovereignty and safety in the face of threats by the US and South Korea.

On Friday, the US said it had imposed sanctions on 30 foreign companies or individuals for allegedly violating export controls on Iran, North Korea and Syria.
Kolkata, Mar 26 (IBNS): At least 14 persons were killed and several others were seriously hurt in five separate road accidents since Saturday in West Bengal, reports said.

According to reports, three of these five mishaps took place in Burdwan district, killing 12 persons, whereas two other accidents were reported from South 24 Parganas and Howrah districts of West Bengal.

Earlier on Saturday afternoon, a private sedan car collided head on with a public bus on Burdwan-Katwa state highway at Saonta area under Mongalkote Police Station limits in Burdwan district.

Three passengers of the car, including its driver, were killed on spot and car's another passenger, Shibani Das, and at least 3 passengers of the bus were seriously injured in the crash.

"Deceased have been identified as car's owner Dilip Singha (64), his wife Gargi Singha (55) and driver of the car- Swapan Kumar Samadder. They all were the residents of Asansol and were going to Katwa," a senior official of Burdwan district police told IBNS.

Eight passengers of a Maruti van car were killed on the wee hours of Sunday when the car crashed into a truck at Dhobru area under Kanksa Police Station limits in Burdwan district.

Another passenger of the private car was injured in the mishap and is being treated in a Durgapur hospital, according to reports.

Later on Sunday morning, a middle-aged biker, who has been identified as Siddheshwar Malik (33), was mowed down by a speeding truck on Burdwan-Suri Road.

Meanwhile, one aged woman died when an over-speeding autorickshaw lost its control and fell into a roadside canal on Shyampur Road under Uluberia Police Station limits in Howrah district of West Bengal on Sunday, reports said.

Later in noon, an autorickshaw reportedly hit another auto of same route at Canning in South 24 Parganas district, killing a middle-aged woman and leaving another passenger injured.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
Chinese elbow out other contractors in Central expressway deals By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s):

While Japanese funding has been offered for part three of the Central Expressway and with that the Government is 0bliged to hire Japanese contractors, there are allegations that a powerful Chinese firm is behind the soon-to-be awarded Japanese bidder.

Taisei Corporation, with which the government is having negotiations, is backed by China Harbour and Engineering Company (CHEC), the Business Times reliably learns. CHEC is also handling the Colombo Port City construction and was responsible for the Southern Expressway.

With its complex terrain and land acquisition requirements, the 32.5 km Central Expressway Project Section 3 from Pothuhera to Galagedara is believed to be one of the most expensive road developments undertaken in recent times.

Although Fujita Corporation was the lowest bidder for this project with a price difference of almost Rs. 12 billion, the Cabinet Appointed Negotiation Committee invited Taisei for negotiations. Taiseis bid price was Rs. 159 billion while Fujita quoted lower at Rs. 147 billion. The project is based on a yen loan equivalent of US$ 1 billion from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation for the tender exclusively for Japanese / Sri Lankan Companies (Prime/Sub Contractors).

The tender closing date was November 23, 2016. The funding for the project is exclusively being arranged by Japanese government. Japans involvement was intended to rebuild strong bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Japan and also to rebalance geopolitical influence in the region which is presently seen as Chinese dominance in the island, a senior Road Development Authority (RDA) official said.

In accordance with a decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM), the Japanese Embassy here shortlisted three strong Japanese companies six months ago and requested the RDA to select the commercially most competitive firm. Apart from Taisei the other two companies were Penta Ocean Construction Co. Ltd and Wakachiku Construction Co. Ltd.

However all three failed to present their bids despite more than four extensions being offered.

The Japanese Embassy and the Sri Lankan Prime Ministers office then intervened and cancelled this tender, he added.

Following a CCEM directive, the Highways Ministry requested the Japanese Embassy to submit fresh bids of preselected companies within two weeks, complete with bid bonds.

Fujita and Taisei then submitted proposals. There has been no official communication to Fujita as of now, a company official said adding that even though the Japanese government has given its backing to Fujita and also wanted a very transparent tender process.

Taisei, it is alleged, has an agreement with CHEC to subcontract major portions of the work.
Chinese Minister visits BMICH View(s):

The Chinese Communist Partys International Department Minister Hon Song Tao paid a visit to the BMICH during his recent visit to Sri Lanka.

He toured and viewed all the facilities of the BMICH and was very impressed with the high standard of maintenance and upkeep of the premises. He regarded the BMICH as a symbol of the strong bond and cordiality between Sri Lanka and China.
Experts suggest telecommuting for Sri Lankas productivity improvement By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s):

With present technology advances not only the computer or Internet but the ability to do everything virtually from mobile phone, it is easier to be working from home.

Telecommuting is an option that Sri Lanka should consider in the face of losing valuable man hours owing to heavy traffic congestion in Colombo and suburbs, several leading telecom and IT experts suggested.

Without technology, telecommunicating would be impossible, they said, adding that a company has to provide the employee with the correct software and programmes to ensure the employee will not run into any problems while working from home.

They noted that the idea is the employee should be able to do everything from home that he/she would be able to at the office.

Sri Lanka has overlooked the potential of telecommuting that could not only help tackle traffic congestion but also serve many other dire unmet needs, hostile to good governance, in particular those of the judicial sector, a senior telecom expert said.

Some direct benefits of telecommuting are its ability of easing road traffic congestion, saving commuting time and expenses by working from home or at locations nearby, he said adding that its larger benefits are to the economy, environment and also good governance  by servicing essential needs, afflicting national productivity.

Meanwhile a retired expert network management and operations and Area Representative ITU Regional Office Asia and Pacific Bangkok, has noted that telecommutings direct and indirect economic benefits are averting conventional peak load servicing in entirety by augmenting inadequate sector capacity.

Servicing peak loads by conventional means, contrary to peak load mitigation by telecommuting, involves significant lead time that involves delays, is capital and fuel consumption intensive, he pointed out.

Indirect benefits of telecommuting are numerous. A few of these are reduction of vehicle and road wear and tear, ease of needy parking space, enhancing commute-less job opportunities to the rural sector, mitigation of several harmful afflictions  such as environmental pollution; injury/ fatality from accidents, hazards from urbanisation etc, he disclosed.

The current backlog of court cases is reported to have been exceeded 800,000. Typically each backlog case is called up around three times annually. Thus, on any working day, the litigant populations daily commuting to courts is over 70,000 times and increasing  most just to be informed of the next calling date, he revealed.

Litigants could minimise commuting to courts if e-court services such as those implemented in Europe and some Asian countries using Telecommuting Constructs are available, he said noting that E-court service enables, on line partaking in court proceedings, legal filings, accessing court records, without commuting to courts.

However he noted that currently even the basic email services are not provided at courts let alone e-court services.

Madu Ratnayake, executive vice president, Chief Information Officer and head of business process excellence, of VirtusaPolaris, told the Business Times that as we embrace the gig economy and enter an era of global war for talent, the concept of going to work is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

People will work from anywhere in the world for more than one company at the same time. Ability to marshal global teams for global work is going to be a core competence most companies will have to develop to be future ready, he added.

Telecommuting is becoming increasingly popular due to increasing bandwidths of telecommunication networks and Internet based software for communication. As we all know travelling in any major city is a nightmare these days due to high traffic, Sushena Ranatunga, Managing Director/CEO of Cambio Software Engineering and Four Corners Lanka (Pvt) Ltd pointed out.

Some organisations do not need all their employees to be in office all the time. They only need work to get completed no matter the location they attend to it, he said adding that IT is one profession that we can use telecommuting to a great extent with minimum resources. A computer and a good Internet connection is sufficient to fulfil most of the day to day tasks.

In most of the developed countries software engineers and related professionals work from home and go to their work place only a day or two for meetings, he disclosed.

Telecommuting gives the flexibility for people to work from any environment they like, no matter whether it is a holiday home near a beach or a peaceful tea estate in the hill country, he said pointing out that telecommuting can heavily reduce infrastructure needs.

Training and learning is a major area where telecommuting can play a part. I dont understand why students go to tuition classes these days or attend mass classes when there so many e-learning platforms available to conduct training and get lessons, he said.

Teachers can do better training online and students can learn from a peaceful home environment. Quality online material also can be provided. By doing this you can save many resources, he added.
France wants investment stability, eyes leisure sector By Sunimalee Dias View(s): View(s):

Sri Lanka needs to have investment stability with a quiet and stable legal environment, French Ambassador Jean Marin Schuh said.

Sri Lanka is on (the) right path of politics and constitutional reforms and commitments regarding human rights, but legal stability remains to be addressed, he told the Business Times on the sidelines of a meeting held by the Sri Lanka  France Business Council on Thursday.

One of the main constraints by French Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) investments was that resident visas are provided only for one year and a request has been made to extend this to five years which will enable a number of people to enter the restaurant and cafe business in Sri Lanka.

France was keen on investing in the tourism sector with guest houses and restaurants, Mr. Schuh explained.

Moreover, he noted that there were no positive signs on safety and security in terms of money adding that When people are putting money they must know they will not be a victim of scams.
AUBURN  As ABC Cayuga revealed its nearly completed Play Space to donors Tuesday, children dashing past their knees to the next toy station, there was indeed some play.

One excitedly spun the captain's wheel on an almost life-sized fishing boat surfacing from the ocean-blue carpet. Another marveled at a miniature shopping cart overflowing with fake groceries.

And those were just the adults.

Their eyes wide and their grins fixed, Play Space board member Katie MacIntyre and Director Elizabeth Stilwell couldn't help taking in the realization of their work with childlike wonder.

"It's exactly what we imagined," MacIntyre said. "I'm so glad we're here."

Though the Play Space is still more than a month away from its May 5 grand opening, it has already begun welcoming children through the Early Head Start program. A soft opening will take place sometime in April. Then, the space will officially open the first Friday in May with a ribbon-cutting and the proclamation of a Day of Play from the city.

In the four months since ABC Cayuga revealed its plans for the Play Space in The Citizen, it has nailed down a few details in addition to all the colorful fixtures. An educational activity space for children ages birth to 6 and a social space for their parents, it will admit families of up to five for $5 and additional members for $1 each. Children must be accompanied by a parent or caregiver.

Stilwell said the 5,000-square-foot space's overall capacity will be about 40 people. Helping families there will be four play facilitators, who were led through their first training Thursday by Stilwell, a former director of the Early Childhood Center at Cornell University. There will always be two facilitators on hand at the Play Space, she said.

The facilitators come from diverse backgrounds  one ran her own child care business for 30 years, another has a degree in speech pathology  but enthusiasm for helping families binds them all.

"This is about really, really loving messy little toddlers running around," Stilwell said. "We're trying to create a culture where families feel welcome and supported."

For instance, she continued, Play Space facilitators may see a child building towers and suggest bridging them, or see a child running around and suggest they sit and try playing at a station.

Whichever way children use it, Stilwell said, the Play Space has been built by Roto Design, of Ohio, to support it. From the baskets of plastic zucchini and peppers on its farmers market counters to the wooden-looking couch cushions scattered across the floor, everything in the space is meant to support play  and, ABC Cayuga believes, the development that follows.

"This is not a place where we want to say 'no,'" Stilwell said. "So there's not a lot you can do wrong."

Roto's services were secured even before ABC Cayuga found a site for the Play Space in 63 Genesee St. Supported by the Allyn Foundation, the nonprofit has pursued the project for more than two years altogether. It is funding the Play Space's construction through a $430,000 capital campaign.

The titular part of the Play Space occupies the main floor of the building, where Marine Midland and then HSBC bank customers once made deposits and withdrawals within the concrete structure. The rest of ABC Cayuga's space includes arts and crafts stations, a kitchen with a refrigerator and dishwasher, an island counter with specialized seating for children and parents, and a coat room.

Building owner KyleCroft Development has also created a conference room where families can host birthday parties. Tuesday, it was set up for training for Child Care Solutions, which will also have an office alongside one shared by Stilwell and ABC Cayuga Executive Director Nancy Tehan.

Child Care Solutions' executive director, Lori Schakow, also sits on the board of ABC Cayuga. Offering families help finding child care, as well as training and other support for caregivers, the agency's presence at the Play Space will make it even more of a central hub for Cayuga County families, Tehan said.

"We're happy to have our little guys and girls in the center of the city," she said.

If you go

WHAT: ABC Cayuga's Play Space

WHEN: Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays beginning sometime in April; grand opening will be held Friday, May 5

WHERE: 63 Genesee St., Auburn; parking available in rear lot at corner of Loop Road and North Street

COST: In April, first visits are free with registration. Admission after that is $5 per family of up to five people, with $1 per additional family member. Family memberships are $75 per year for unlimited visits for a family of up to five people. Sponsoring memberships are $100 per year for unlimited visits, and include a donation that will help support the cost of participation for families with limited resources. Play Space rental, birthday party reservations and special programming fees will be announced soon.

INFO: Call (315) 252-5541 or visit playspaceabc.com or facebook.com/abccayuga
Mumbai, Mar 26 (IBNS): Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who is facing a flight ban imposed on him by the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), on Sunday said he will now seek legal action against Indigo and Air India for cancelling his confirmed tickets.

Following the flight ban, Gaikwad boarded a train to reach Mumbai.

All Airlines which are under FIA would not allow Gaikwad to board their planes.

Though Sena MP was confident to board the flight on Friday evening, the Air India had cancelled his ticket and refunded the money.

Speaking to media, Gaikwad said: "I will take legal action against Indigo and Air India for cancelling my confirmed tickets."

This comes after a video footage had showed that the MP was slapping an officer with slippers and other people present were trying to control the situation.

According to Airlines, the incident was an assault of the entire organisation and they asked for no apology from the MP since they do not want him to board the flight.

However Gaikwad had refused to apologise for the entire incident.
Fund allocation for EXIM Bank creates controversy By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s):

The setting up of an Export Import Bank (EXIM Bank) in Sri Lanka, initially due in 2016, has run into fresh controversy after two separate allocations were made for its proposed operation, economic analysts said.

The proposal to set up the EXIM Bank was first made in the 2016 budget with a Rs. 50 million allocation. But because it was implemented, it was repeated in the 2017 budget with an allocation of Rs. 10 billion.

However earlier this month, the government presented a supplementary estimate in parliament allocating another Rs.10 billion for the yet-to-be-set-up bank, triggering confusion in the Treasury. A supplementary estimate is presented only to meet new or increased costs in an already completed project, which in this case is not.

It unclear as to why the government presented this supplementary estimate when the money has been already been allocated it from two previous budgets and passed in parliament, an economic analyst said.
Government very slow in approving viable solar power projects By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s):

As government looks to boost solar power units to meet the growing power demand in the country, investors are not too keen to invest in mega solar power plants anymore. Why? Because of a lethargic attitude and delays in decision-making by the Government in approving projects.

Currently, the government seems to focus more on LNG and coal based power plants although it has launched a battle for solar energy that aims to add 220 megawatts of clean power to the countrys energy grid by 2020, or about 10 percent of the countrys current daily electricity demand, several investors said.

By 2025, the country hopes to boost its solar power output to 1,000 megawatts to meet fast-growing power needs.

Solar power has the potential to meet 32 per cent of Sri Lankas annual power demand of around 10,500 gigawatts  but so far just 0.01 per cent of that potential has been developed, according to the Sri Lanka energy sector development plan for 2015-2025.

One of the projects delayed is by Energeia Asset Management (EAM), a company based in Norway, which has made a proposal to the government to establish EAM Solar SL Plc investing between US$ 400 million and $1.2 billion in solar energy-generating infrastructure, bringing several benefits.

Their plan aims at delivering long-term electricity at a price cheaper than coal, reducing the cost of generating electricity in Sri Lanka by more than 8 per cent, reduce future CO2 emission with more than 2 million tonnes annually and achieve an accumulated reduction in the cost of imported fossil fuel by between $ 2 billion and 6 billion over the next 20 years.

The only requirement EAM has in order to execute the investment is that the government enters into a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) at commercially viable terms like a long-term real purchase price between Rs 10 and 14 per kWh electricity delivered into the electricity grid (subject to negotiations), they revealed.

In this context a feasibility study was made by EAM in conjunction with a possible establishment of an investment company that will invest in utility scale solar PV power plants in Sri Lanka, effectively establishing a large solar PV utility company to the long-term benefit of Sri Lanka and all stakeholders in the company.

Furthermore, Energeia Asset Managements intention is to make the ownership of such a utility a publicly available investment opportunity, open to anyone to invest and participate in creating sustainable, clean and renewable energy production, with good returns on invested capital, by making the shares of the company freely tradable and list the companys shares in London and Colombo, officials of the company disclosed.

The feasibility study was conducted from April 2012 until November 2013 and it was based on public available information and meetings conducted with representatives of the Government and key stakeholders relevant for establishment of such an enterprise.

A sum of around $300,000 was spent for the feasibility study and a comprehensive report was submitted to the then Government and it was also forwarded to the present government authorities as well.

But there was no indication whatsoever from the Power and Renewable Energy Ministry although the EAM is ready to go ahead with the project proposal at any time, Christian Hagemann, Chief Operating Officer of EAM told the Business Times in a conference call from Oslo on Wednesday night.

He noted that EAM is just one entity among many in the international community that currently looks forward to an open and transparent process when it comes to such timely, forward thinking and progressive large scale projects which will benefit Sri Lanka and all her citizens whilst progressively driving the country forward.

No international investor will consider investing unless the risk and a bankability structure are well and truly in place for such investment. By not facilitating such investors, the price of capital will remain high for Sri Lanka, he emphasised.

Solar will provide the lowest cost energy for Sri Lanka for the next 100 years, he revealed.

Darshan Maralanda, Director, Compass Synergies Pvt Ltd, local associate of the Norwegian company, told the Business Times that Sri Lanka could be an exporter of electricity reversing the flow on foreign currency balance.

He said in fact EAM had a plan to transmit excess solar power to India generating foreign exchange revenue for the country.

The PV solar system cost has reduced the needed long-term Power Purchase Agreement price with approximately 30 per cent to a range of Rs. 7 to 10 per kWh.
Tourism promotion to kick-start in May Digital campaign followed by mega promotion in 2017 View(s): View(s):

Sri Lankas tourism sector can heave a sigh of relief. After nearly seven years, Sri Lanka Tourism in May will launch a comprehensive destination campaign initially through digital platforms and thereafter through all media.

The aggressive digital marketing promotion campaign will focus on boosting markets like Germany, Western Europe, Middle East, China and India, said Sutheash Balasubramaniam, Managing Director of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB).

Thereafter by end 2017-early 2018, SLTPB will launch a more comprehensive, 3-year global campaign running to 2020 touching all media platforms and across the world, he told the Business Times adding that this focus will also be more through what he describes as earned media.

Since the conflict ended in May 2009, Sri Lanka has had only one destination marketing campaign in late 2009-2010 and after that bits-and-pieces promotional activities focusing mostly on roadshows and participation at trade fairs. A destination marketing campaign has been in the works for several years but stalled by budgets and bureaucratic delays.

The SLTPB is banking on a heavy social media presence and customer previews on travel and hotel platforms. Today the advertorial market is beginning to pay less and less. Todays travelers decide on a destination or hotel by looking at TripAdvisor. They dont look at the website of the hotel but check online reviews and see what others guests are saying. This is not paid or owned media but earned media because a destination earns fame through its visitors, he said adding that the return on investment of those commercial ads is declining.

While India and China may be scoring by the numbers, it is Western Europe (the UK, Germany and France) that is and has been Sri Lankas most mature and sophisticated source markets.

Western Europe is the largest source market, region-wide. Germany is one market that has stayed with us through the thick and thin (during the troubled years of the conflict 1983-2009), said Mr. Balasubramaniam. Unlike Asians, Europeans stay longer, spend more and frequent top end hotels. Last year, national carrier SriLankan Airlines pulled out of Europe, barring the UK, to cut losses on uneconomic routes. It ran the only direct flights to Colombo from Paris, Rome and Frankfurt. KLM and Austrian Airlines began flights to Colombo last year.

Mr. Balasubramanian acknowledges that the loss in direct connectivity is always an issue. Direct air connectivity has grown in importance and is an added factor in going to certain destinations as against having a couple of transfers. But the fact is that these are robust markets in Sri Lanka and despite a near 30-years of instability in the country, these markets have continued to patronize us, he said.

Right now SriLankan Airlines is going through a restructuring process. Once that is finalized, we would be in a better position to decide how to bring in direct connectivity. At some point we hope to resume flights, he added. - (Feizal)
Ports Ministry outlines negative features of Hambantota project The conclusion of a deal with a Chinese company to develop the Hambantota Port began in May last year after a visit to Beijing by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, according to the detailed Cabinet memorandum prepared by the Ministry of Ports and Shipping.The memorandum is backed by several documents as annexures. They include minutes of meetings, other cabinet documentation, reports and related issues.The first move came in May last year. Premier Wickremesinghe told a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Matters (CCEM) that many Chinese investors were interested in the Hambantota Port and industrial parks. In the same month, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) submitted details of debts and obligation. The loan (obtained by the Rajapaksa administration) was being paid by the SLPA and not the Treasury. CCEM, however, decided that the Chinese Government should undertake a study of the port on a public-private partnership basis and submit a proposal.In July, the Chinese Ambassador Yi Xianliang appeared before a meeting of the CCEM. Responding to a Government request, he declared that under the existing Chinese law it was not possible to convert debt directly into equity and it needs to be executed through discussions with investors on commercial terms. In August 2016 the CCEM gave instructions to R. Paskaralingam, Advisor to Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs (which is under Premier Wickremesinghe) to submit a paper on the strategy on which Chinese debt to equity could be transferred. In September last year, the CCEM was told that the Chinese Ambassador had recommended two companies  China Merchants Ports Holding Ltd. and China Harbours Engineering Company Ltd. A Committee of Ministry Secretaries examined the matter. Later, Paskaralingam was asked to assist the Cabinet Appointed Negotiation Committee (CANC) and give them relevant guidelines. Thus, there were no invitations for other bidders or requests for proposals made. The China Merchants Ports Holding Ltd. was selected. The SLPA said it was not consulted about the decision. The Ports and Shipping Ministry charged that the Board of Directors of the SLPA was surprised that the Committee has considered only the upfront money and all other aspects of the project have been ignored. At a meeting of the CCEM in November last year, the SLPA had proposed a share allocation for 65% (for the Chinese company) and 35% for the SLPA. However, negotiations had been based on share allocation of 80% for the Chinese firm and 20% for the SLPA. It had been approved by the CCEM and endorsed by the Cabinet of Ministers. It was explained at the same meeting that the Chinese side has agreed to accept a transaction sum not exceeding US$ 1.4 billion and to ascertain the transaction value, pursuant to financial and due diligence. Only the transaction value has been considered and the total value of the facility has been disregarded, which is much higher. The SLPA had already paid US$ 220 million approximately as loan repayment and this has been ignored when calculating the transaction. In October last year, the Minister of Ports and Shipping told the cabinet that construction costs of major projects of Hambantota Port alone exceeded US$ 1.4 billion and this cost had to be borne by SLPA through loans and their own funds. The SLPA had also floated Request for Proposals (RFP) for various ventures at the Hambantota Port including bunkering facility. The RFP process was kept on hold as per decision taken at the CCEM meeting in July last year. In December last year a joint Cabinet Paper on Development of Hambantota Port was submitted by Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade, Minister of Special Assignments and the Minister of Ports and Shipping. However, the Ports and Shipping Ministry was not aware of the submission until the Cabinet paper was submitted. The Framework Agreement was signed between the China Merchants Ports Holdings Ltd, a Chinese project proponent and a committee comprising Ministry Secretaries. At a CCEM meeting in December last year, approval was granted by them for the Framework Agreement. Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers endorsed the decision. Dealing with the Concession Agreement, sequence of events the cabinet memorandum notes that a second draft was to be scrutinised by the Attorney General. It notes, On reviewing this document, it was observed that the latter document contains more unfavourable conditions than that of the first document  e.g. including the condition that that the public-private partnership operator or any of their nominees shall be permitted to exclusively carry out Port/terminal development activity within 50 kilometres from the centre of the Hambantota Port during the entire lease period. Further, at the CCEM meeting on March 1, 2017, approval was given to authorise the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance to establish a Special Purpose Company within the Treasury for the development and operation of the Hambantota Port holding 100 % shares and acting as the custodian for the Port Operations Company and to give authority to manage and facilitate all required Government approvals as a National Priority and on a fast track basis. The Ports and Shipping Ministry has noted that that the investment value of the share equity of the Chinese company does not include upfront payment of the lease rental for the land area of the Port property. Anyhow the Port Property and the Lease Area definition stated in the Concession Agreement need to be changed defining the same clearly. Therefore, the entire land identified in the Port property shall be considered as Lease Area and the public-private partnership operator shall pay fixed lease rental for same throughout the term. It is to be noted that the investment value proposed by the Chinese company is to be treated as consideration only for cost of development and granting of operational rights.
Terrorism strikes, innocents die View(s):

T errorism came to the heart of the British capital last Wednesday. Not for the first time though. What drove a single man with a car and a knife to engage in what would seem to most like a senseless act is not known. It will be discussed, debated and dozens of theories bisected and trisected by talking heads on TV and the print media and elsewhere.

Whether the country will really know the motive must remain, for the moment at least, a matter for conjecture. Police questioning of the some of the arrested as far away from the scene of the attack as Birmingham might eventually elicit some cause for this dastardly attack but hardly a rationale.

Among Sri Lankans who have for over 25 years suffered and endured terrorist attacks at home until the worst of them committed by the LTTE have at last ended with its military defeat, there would be some who would see this as retribution for the British authorities long indulgence of terrorist groups such as the LTTE on their soil.

While there is certainly some truth in this, it would be extremely unfair by those innocents who died and suffered as a result of the shortsighted policies of successive governments in Westminster and the neo-colonialist revival by those leaders who preached peace but engaged in imperial wars. The results of those outdated policies are now coming home to roost but at the expense of civilian lives though the Westminster attack might still be the act of a crazed individual with a criminal history.

The prime minister and other politicians have described the act as an attack on Britains political system, the Palace of Westminster being seen as the fount of parliamentary democracy. It is understandable that since it happened so near the Commons and the policeman killed was one on duty outside parliament and died trying to stop the assailant entering parliament that the attack was quickly interpreted as an attack on British democracy.

On sober reflection it might be considered somewhat overstated. Those who have lived for years under the cloud of terrorism and experienced the threat of terrorism almost daily might be inclined to conclude that one man with a knife was hardly likely to drive democracy to death. On the other hand even such a solitary attempt would doubtless gain worldwide publicity which is what terrorist and extremist organisations desire and thrive on.

Rather it would seem the intention was more to cause panic, to drive fear into people going about their daily business and not to drive a weapon into the very heart of a free democracy. It is creating panic and fear among the local populace and visitors that seemed to be the intention.

It might be recalled that nearly 13 years ago a number of well-coordinated explosions in tube stations and buses across London that killed more than 50 persons virtually shut down the capital as police searched for others responsible for the terrorist plot.

But within days London was back to normal. A people who had survived Hitlers daily bombings of the British capital to break the morale of its people and was not able to do so, withstood the effects of that attack on July 7. Admittedly the circumstances were different then.

What is interesting is how the modus operandi of the spate of recent attacks has changed and made it more difficult for the security forces to apprehend the terrorists. On the same day that a single man armed with only a knife thought he could shut down the British parliament after driving recklessly along Westminster Bridge and mowing down pedestrians, a fast moving vehicle along an Antwerp street was found by police to contain weapons including knives and guns.

It might be recalled that not too long ago a truck was consciously driven into crowds in Nice killing nearly a hundred people. Last December a truck was driven into a market place in Berlin close to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, an iconic landmark in the once-divided city which still remains a major tourist attraction.

So are we seeing a change in tactics by terrorists as security forces acquire more sophisticated weapons and surveillance equipment to track down those plotting to kill and be killed and cow people into abject fear with acts of indiscriminate terror? Is the everyday vehicle and the kitchen knife the new weapons of the terrorist as they are more difficult to detect without subjecting the citizenry to daily operations of stop and search.

Of course the use of cars and trucks as weaponised vehicles is nothing new. In the heyday of Palestinian resistance there were occasions when bomb-laden trucks were driven into the US embassy in Beirut and other US installations.

Sri Lanka will remember the use of car and truck bombs by the LTTE against police stations in the north and the much publicised attack on the Central Bank, now in the news for different reasons.

While working in Sri Lanka for the local and international media I had covered at least a dozen instances of major LTTE terrorist attacks and saw the resulting carnage. Witnessing the hundreds of mangled and blown up bodies and the blood splattered scenes leaves one physically and mentally drained, sometimes for several days.

I visited the scenes of the attack on the Sri Maha Bodhi, the shooting down of Buddhist monks old and young in a bus in Arantalawa, the senseless killings of villagers in isolated hamlets in the NCP, the Pettah bus station bombing, the train bombing at Wellawatte station, the CTO bombing one morning that rattled the windows and shattered a couple in my office room at Lake House and many more. These are memories that will never go away.

The news must be reported. But one often wonders whether too much publicity really is an aid to the terrorist cause. Terrorists depend on the publicity they can get to spread fear among a people. Consider what happened last week. It is true that people were killed and others injured. But as an attack the damage was minimal. There was no real threat to democracy.

Yet the rolling television news and the repetitiveness of the news and other programmes could only have brought jubilation to those who sought worldwide publicity and for the so-called Islamic State that claimed it was one of its soldiers who was responsible.

In his book Terrorism: How to Respond, academic Richard English said the threat to so-called democracy lies not in the bloodshed and damage caused. It is the more real danger of provoking ill-judged, extravagant and counterproductive state responses.

It is a clear enough warning to governments, especially leaders inclined towards authoritarian practices, not to mention the right-wing media in particular, not to rush into extremes however it might seem the right thing to do at a given moment.

Some readers might remember that the present British Prime Minister Theresa May, who as Home Secretary during the David Cameron government, promoted what came to be called the snoopers charter after the terrorist acts in Paris and Belgium. Bill Binney who served on Americas National Security Agency described it as the most severe intrusion into personal privacy anywhere in the western world, to use the words of the Guardians Simon Jenkins.

Many would argue that it was the British Governments tolerance shown to terrorist groups  to which they later included the LTTE, allowing them to operate openly and permitting government MPs too to participate in LTTE and pro-LTTE activities  that created the impression among emerging extremists and nascent extremists groups that Britains so-called concern for freedom of speech and association and human rights would allow them to prosper along their chosen path of political extremism.

Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar warned western government including Britain, early enough of the dangers that such tolerance would one day ricochet on their own peoples. Kadirgamars warnings went unheeded at first. Eventually though the LTTE was banned along with some other groups, British law enforcement agencies looked the other way while the LTTE made hay.

The tolerance shown to the LTTE and some other groups only encouraged those who preached extremism to find early recruits to their causes. This tendency to ignore breaches of the law because they were seen as no threat to Britain was compounded by foreign policy follies such as the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and the later involvement in Libya and the Syrian crisis. Such adventurism only helped breed domestic jihadists who bombed and killed the very people they lived among.

Since June last year the intelligence services and police have foiled 13 terrorist plots. Some 500 individuals have travelled to Syria to join jihadi groups or even to fight alongside those determined to oust Syrian leader Assad.

It is for the British leaders to find out even now how and where they erred and why people born and bred here have turned against the very country that gave sanctuary and help to their forefathers and allowed their progeny what some saw as a place in the sun.
Trumps grace grants reprieve for Lanka View(s):

E xactly four days after Prabhakarans body was found floating among the mangroves by the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon on May 19, 2009, the then Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon arrived in Lanka to search amongst the Tiger debris of defeat, possible clues to determine whether triumphant Lanka had played the war game according to the Queensberry Rules.

After Ban Ki-moon had met the then President Rajapaksa, a joint statement by the Lankan Government and the United Nations was issued which stated, amongst others, that The Secretary-General underlined the importance of an accountability process for addressing violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. The Government will take measures to address those grievances.

A year later, the UN Chief announced the appointment of a Panel of Experts to advise him on the implementation of the joint commitment included in the statement issued by the President of Sri Lanka and the Secretary-General at the conclusion of the Secretary-Generals visit to Sri Lanka on March 23, 2009. The Lankan government reacted against it saying, it was an unwarranted and unnecessary interference with a sovereign nation

The UN panels Darusman Report which ensued was highly critical of Lankas armed forces and held that they had found credible allegations which, if proven, indicated that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE. The conclusion of the panel was the conduct of the war represented a grave assault on the entire regime of international law designed to prevent individual dignity during both peace and war. The panel also held that they had found that as many as 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the last months of the war.

Thus began the conflict between Lanka and the international community. The failure of Rajapaksa to keep his promise to implement the 13th Amendment fully and his growing intransigence stiffened world resolve against him and moved the American Government to publicly declare it wanted a regime change in Lanka.

The resolutions passed by the UNs Human Right Councils threatening sanctions were on course to reach its climax in 2015. It may have been one of the reasons which prompted Rajapaksa to call for elections in January of that year, two years before his term expired, in the belief that fortified with a fresh mandate from the people he would be better armed to face the UNs challenge. It is of course highly unlikely that such a gambit would have worked at the UN body.

Thankfully for Lanka and her people, Rajapaksa was booted out of office and the red carpet was rolled for Sirisena to walk to power as the nations new president. And what a welcome breeze attended his advent in Lanka and found its way to Alpine peaks to peep into the UNs Human Rights Commissioners office in Geneva; and to blow away the long settled dust on Lankas tarnished image and present her scented with lavender to the world in a fresh new redeeming light.

In March that year, not only did the UN body grant more time for the new government to keep the previous governments international pledges, but in October, America made Lanka a co sponsor of the resolution on Lanka. In that resolution, among others, the Government undertook to appoint a war tribunal comprising foreign and local judges to mete out punishment to those who had committed war excesses. But the rainbow faded and the worlds face darkened when President Sirisena began to shake a leg to a new beat that the reality band of local politics began to play.

At a Panadura meeting held in July last year, he declared: As long as I am the President of this country, I will not allow for any international courts, international judges and international organisations to interfere with the internal affairs of Sri Lanka and the judiciary.

His statement came in the wake of UNHRC Chief Zeids report presented at the 32nd session of the Human Rights Council held on June 28 which stated: The High Commissioner remains convinced that international participation in the accountability mechanisms would be a necessary guarantee for the independence and impartiality of the process in the eyes of victims, as Sri Lankas judicial institutions currently lack the credibility needed to gain their trust.

Sirisenas bold reaction to Zeids demand seemed he was reneging on the promises made in the October resolution which the country had co-sponsored together with the United States and Lanka was in danger of slipping back into the bad books of the UN again, even as it had done when the former President had reneged on his.

Shortly after 10pm, Lankan time this Wednesday, the debate on Sri Lanka began at the 34th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Earlier in the day, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid al-Hussein, had told the 34th regular session of the Human Rights Council that they continue to underscore the concept of hybrid court to Sri Lanka to utilise an accountability mechanism. In that theatre of human rights, the scene was set for battle between the Lankan Presidents adamant refusal to entertain any foreign judges and UN Zeids insistence upon their presence on the bench of a hybrid court. And since then, for the last six months and more, the vexed issue has been a bone of contention.

The British Government had also issued a statement and had praised the Lankan Government, for taking the necessary steps to improve the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, in particular the restoration of important democratic checks and balances, improvements in respect for freedoms of expression and movement, the return of some military-held land, the passing of legislation to establish an Office for Missing Persons, the ratification of the Convention on Enforced Disappearances and the initiation of a process of constitutional reform. We commend these measures.

But the British statement, after the bonhomie pat on the back, also warned the Lankan Government that much remained to be done and had urged the Government of Sri Lanka to provide the determined leadership required to deliver fully on the commitments it made when co-sponsoring resolution 30/01 and to develop a comprehensive and time bound implementation strategy. The statement also referred to the need to establish credible transitional justice mechanisms. The key word was credible. The issue of foreign judges was set to become a stumbling block.

But miracles happen overnight and America moves in mysterious ways at the United Nations. After Trumps triumph in January, the US Government had served notice on the UN that if the UNHRC is not restructured in Trumps image within six months, the US Government will withdraw its financial support to the Human Rights body.

With such a threat from the Almighty nation looming over the UNHRCs head, its chief Zeid who the day before had underscored his demand for a hybrid court comprising foreign judges as well to hear war crimes allegation in Lanka, sought a compromise. Instead of the lion that roared the previous day, he became the pussycat that purred the following day.

The UN Human Rights Council adopted on Thursday a resolution, without a vote, granting two years to fulfil the resolution which Lanka had co-sponsored in Oct 2015. Lanka had been granted a two-year reprieve thanks to Trumps saving grace. What it means is that the Sirisena Government can conduct its normal course of business without having to dread the coming of March or the onset of Autumn when the Geneva sessions take place annually for the next two years. Maithripala has been blessed with a Geneva miracle and has been gifted with a two-year summer to sort things out on the ethnic issue, including the controversial foreign judges matter.

But let no one think that its the governments diplomacy that had earned Lanka a stay of execution. Nor think that Trumps proclamation, before he became President that he was not concerned about human rights violations anywhere in the world, has blessed the Lankan Government and acquitted it of its responsibilities to meet its international obligations. The answer may well lie in the new American Governments fixation of granting supremacy to Israels concerns and granting them a free hand to do as they wished on Palestinian territory.

Trumps move to abandon the two-state concept in solving the long drawn Israel-Palestine conflict which had been for long the cornerstone of US policy; his suggestion to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a very sensitive issue, the blind eye cast towards Israel building houses on Palestinian territory and settling Jews upon its soil have great human rights ramifications which the US government will find hard and embarrassing to defend as a high profile member of the UNs Human Rights Council. And while the great land of liberty is busy promoting Israel as the dominant power in that godforsaken region of conflict, the US government may well have thought it prudent to soft pedal on human rights issues committed elsewhere in the world by small nations of no great significance in its blinkered eyes.

The fallout from that policy is the windfall the Lankan Government reaped this Thursday. It has nothing to do with the governments shabby performance in granting justice to all who were denied it during the war years. The Lankan government was only the beneficiary of the worlds sole superpowers new policy and received its reprieve in the manner hundreds of criminals serving time in the countrys prisons receive presidential amnesty and are freed on Vesak day. Not because they are deemed innocent and deserve to be freed on account of good behavior but because a higher noble Buddhist motive to show compassion on that thrice blessed day, moves the President to show clemency.

Much remains to be done to build a lasting peace. The Government should utilise the time granted to make a genuine attempt to revive the reconciliation process even if it means having to dump the chauvinistic stance, political pressure from nationalistic bigoted joint opposition forces have forced it to adopt. It cannot wait for another Vesak.

Wimals hunger show within remand wallsSunday Punch 2 Four walls do not a prison make for a drama queen to flaunt showman skills. Or to attempt a Houdini act to break free from remand bondage.

And for Wimal Weerawansa, the manicured, pedicured, goatee sporting former JVP member-turned-founder of his own party of four in the House, the Welikada Prison Gates may well confine his liberty, but it cannot contain his dramatics within its remand walls from breaking free. Nor deny the public the free invite to burst into hysterics over his latest act, even though its a repeat performance.

On Wednesday morning, the Prison Warden was told by his officials that remand prisoner Weerawansa, the Honourable Member of Parliament who was presently sojourning there on charges of corruption, had refused to partake of the prison porridge. Given the state of Welikada meals, it would have hardly raised his brow if some other guest at the government inn had skipped his breakfast.

But news of Weerawansa  being not the run-of-the-mill sort ever known to have refused anything served free but has shown an admirable propensity to generously distribute it amongst his kith and kin as well  turning his thumb down on the morning repast served gratis, would probably have made the Prison Guv to raise both brows in alarm and to prick both ears in consternation at the explosive report his officials served him as his breakfast. Soon the Prison Wardens worst fears were confirmed.

The National Freedom Front said its leader MP Weerawansa had commenced a hunger strike against the political revenge of the government. He has taken this step as a personal decision. He has also informed Speaker Karu Jayasuriya about his decision. At present, he is on a hunger strike at the prison cell. Perhaps, he would continue it.

Perhaps, he would continue it?

Even the party minions are not sure, how long his hunger strike will last. Is it to be a Ramadan fast from sun up to sun down as Muslims do? A Skanda Shakthi fast, perhaps, for six days as some Hindu devotees do every year in September? Or is it a Lent event as Catholics keep in March in the run up to Good Friday to break in feast on Easter Sunday? Or is it a political fast to end in death if some injustice was not rectified?

The kind of death fast Irish terrorist Bobby Sands who, after being convicted for possessing a revolver was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment, went on a hunger strike unto death in Crumlin Road Prison on March 1st 1981? His demand was to be classified as a political prisoner and not as a criminal. He lasted 66 days and on 5th May 1981, he died. The coroner recorded his death as starvation, self imposed.

Or is it the kind of fast unto to death LTTE terrorist Thileepan staged in public for all to see on September 15, 1987 on a specially erected dais in front of the Nallur Kovil in Jaffna. His demand was that the Indian Peace Keeping Force withdraw from Lankan soil forthwith. He died on September 26 after having refused food or water. How long do you think Wimal will last?

Bobby Sands fasted to make IRA prisoners be recognised as political prisoners and not as common crooks. The Irish Republican Army was, after all, fighting to reunite Ireland and he had been jailed for being an active member and demanded due recognition for himself and all the other IRA cadres who were engaged in a battle to gain liberation from the British. LTTE Thileepan fasted unto death because he wanted the Indian Army which had occupied the Northern Province to leave since it posed a major threat to the LTTE which was fighting for a separate state.

But what is Wimal Weerawansa fasting for? What great injustice is he seeking to set right?

Why is this former construction minister under the Rajapaksa government, who came to town on a push cycle just a few years ago and ended up in the Rajapaksa lap of luxury, and is now charged with abusing state property by distributing state vehicles like confetti amongst his family and cronies, causing a loss to the state to the tune of Rs. 91,600,000 and remanded by a magisterial court since February 15 and who had his appeal to the High Court for bail also rejected this Monday and has been further remanded till April 5, indulging in self-imposed starvation presumably unto the death?

What is the reason behind his death wish? He claims, like most other Joint Opposition members of the Rajapaksa Regime who have been similarly charged with corruption and remanded by the courts, that its all due to political vengeance. But does he and those of the same ilk who vehemently raise the patriotic flag and express their vehement protest against foreign judges on any UN war crime tribunal and declare complete faith in the self same local judiciary to deliver justice to the victims of the Eelam war, hold that the same local judges, whose independence and impartiality remain unquestioned, will willingly act as instruments to deliver Government vengeance to Weerawansas Hokandara mansion?

But no fuss. And dont fret. Wimal has his own guardian angel, his own personal ishata deviyo, who will miraculously appear in the nick of time to save him from deaths door with his glass of holy water.

Like it happened the last time when this Rasputin of Lankas politics went on a hunger strike before the United Nations Office at Bauddhaloka Mawatha protesting the appointment of a panel to probe Sri Lankas war crime allegations by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

For three days before the glare of television cameras he went without food, until his guarding deity appeared incarnate in human form to pour down his parched throat holy water and resurrect him to life. This time around, alas, the publicity that kept him alive then will not be there since he is locked up in Welikada behind bars on charges of corruption. But the spectre of Rajapaksa coming to his aid at the eleventh hour will no doubt keep his spirits up. And act as a spoilsport to Wimals prison bid for martyrdom.

The flag follows trade on Chinas Silk Route

Sunday Punch 3 For the first time in the recent history of Sino-Lanka relations, the Chinese Defence Minister arrived on Monday in Lanka to shake hands with President Sirisena and to give him the assurance that China will support Lanka every step of the way to the ends of the world. During the last few years, there have been many trade delegations, trade and investment officials from China visiting Lanka, even a state visit by the Chinese President Xi to commission the Chinese built Norocholai coal plant in 2014. But no sudden drop in for a cup of green tea and a chat whatsoever from the defence establishment, especially not from one as high ranking as the Defense Minister. Thus the arrival of Chinas Defence Minister General Chang Wanquan on Monday was indeed significant. But his declaration of unconditional support to Sri Lanka was no surprise and his pledges to provide military hardware, training and technical knowledge to the Sri Lankan armed forces and to further strengthen it were only to be expected. After all the Chinese Government has a lot to protect in Lanka, notably its port city in Colombo which it owns for the next 99 years on lease, not to forget, of course, the Hambantota Port, it will soon come to own and control. China has billions of dollars strategically invested in Lanka to safeguard, even by her military might should it come to that, so much so that the Lankan government is looking more and more a caretaker of Chinese property in this 25,000 square miles of land rather than the landlord of all he surveys. In the early 17th century the British East India Company, a joint stock company owned by wealthy merchants and members from Britains aristocracy began trading with the Indian subcontinent and the Orient. After years of doing business, trade wars with other foreign powers in the region compelled the British Government to send its naval fleet to protect its countrymens investments and pecuniary power. It ultimately led to the creation of the British Empire which held India as the Kohinoor diamond in its Empires crown. Its the classic example where the flag soon followed trade. And this week, with the arrival of Chinas Defence Minister to the island, wonder whether its another classic case of history repeating itself? That the Chinese flag is following Chinese trade on the silk route to regional domination? And whether the once proud pearl of the Indian Ocean, is now just another captive bead, dangling helpless in the wily Chinamans necklace?
Three pronged struggle View(s):

This article is part of a continuing series on Sri Lankan history

The king who wanted to march against the Dutch from the Seven Korales, had to pass through Portuguese territory. He obtained permission for this. But he made the Dutch believe that the Portuguese on their own, granted permission to go through their territory.

He further informed the Dutch, that the Portuguese, on their own will, broke the truce made with the Dutch and allowed the king to march with an army. On account of these reasons, there started a three-pronged struggle  involving all three parties,

the Portuguese, the Dutch and the King.

The Portuguese stationed armies in different places to protect themselves both from King Rajasinghe and the Dutch. Army contingents were stationed in Menikkadawara, Kanantota, Sabaragamuwa, Alawwa and Malwana to protect themselves from the King. Army contingents were stationed in places like Aluthgama and Kalutara to protect themselves from the Dutch.

In 1650 AD, Jacob van Kittensteyn was appointed governor, in place of Maetsuycker. He decided not to anger the king but to hold on, to whatever power he had over the Sinhala administration. It was so arranged that the king had no power to appoint even a GA.

In short, Kittensteyn wanted to keep the king under his advice and direction. In trying to accomplish this, he appointed a person named Rampo as the Government Agent of Matara. The king on his part, chased away the Dutch soldiers, who had been stationed in Kirama and Katuwana.

By Halaliye Karunathilake

Edited and translated by Kamala Silva

Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila
Faulty Towers-The Dining Experience returns to MLH View(s):

Faulty Towers- the Dining Experience will be in action again at the Mount Lavinia Hotel from 29th March to 2nd April 2017. Presented by Interactive Theatre International, this globetrotting show is truly quite legendary, selling out in places like Sydney Opera House, Raffles Singapore and Londons West End. In this, its 20th birthday year of touring, it returns to Mount Lavinia Hotel. Faulty Towers- the Dining Experience will be in action again at the Mount Lavinia Hotel from 29th March to 2nd April 2017. Presented by Interactive Theatre International, this globetrotting show is truly quite legendary, selling out in places like Sydney Opera House, Raffles Singapore and Londons West End. In this, its 20th birthday year of touring, it returns to Mount Lavinia Hotel.

Chaos greets audiences as soon as they walk through the door. In this fully immersive experience, the audience become diners in the infamous Faulty restaurant served a 3-course meal by Basil, Sybil and Manuel. Expect lashings of laughter, bowls full of spontaneity and as much audience participation as individual audience members want. And with 70% of the show improvised, no two performances are ever the same.

Born in Brisbane in April 1997, Faulty Towers-The Dining Experience is a worldwide hit, appearing in around 20 countries. Highlights of 2017 include a string of return visits to Fringe Festivals in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Edinburgh, and tours in Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, Australia and the Caribbean. With an ongoing residency, too, in the heart of Londons theatre land, its clear that Faulty Towers,The Dining Experience is the most successful interactive comedy show of its kind.

Ten teams of cast now tour the world virtually non-stop. The cast for Mount Lavinia features Karen Hamilton (Sybil), Rob Langston (Basil) and Geoffrey Reczek (Manuel).

Faulty Towers -The Dining Experience will be held at the Maitland State Room of Mount Lavinia Hotel from 29th March -2nd April 2017.

For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1175837

269181738/ or www.mountlaviniahotel.com
Katcha Music : Bridging diversity By SoundGimmicks View(s): View(s):

Its not everyday that we hear of two people being drawn together because of music. And the best part of it is when they form a band together and live life doing what they love the most. Kathryn Ferguson and Chaminda Samaraweera were playing in different bands until the band Chaminda was playing suggested he sing.

Wanting to sound his best he took on some professional vocal lessons and it had to be Kathryn who was teaching at the time at the local music shop and thereafter Katcha came into being. The name Katcha is derived from both Kathryn and Chamindas names. The duo are based in in Sydney, Australia.

The bands current line-up includes Kat on lead vocals and Rhythm Guitar and keyboards, Chaminda on lead vocals, drums, keyboards and percussion, Bob Gale on Saxophone and backing vocals, Chris Mearns on Bass Guitar and Backing Vocals and Ray Saba on Lead Guitar.

The band does not stick to one genre. They perform on average between 80 to 200 shows a year with sounds of Rock, Pop, Jazz, Latin, Reggae and Dance music. They also like to write songs no matter where they are in the world.

We get inspired by reading books, watching movies, walking in the park, going to the beach, talking to different people who have different careers, going out, watching other bands local and international etc. The many artists who are current, those who are still current & have been doing so for many years & not forgetting to all who came before may they rest in peace, said Chaminda via email during an interview.

Music is decorating silence, giving people the pleasure of listening to a song, enjoying the lyrics and the music, making them feeling good, making them dance and move emotionally. We are blessed to be able to connect through our performances andthrough our songs, adds Chaminda.

New music for Katcha is currently being produced. Our original music has been well received worldwide via social media. iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and Youtube etc. Weve also done video clips for our singles which gives a visual for people.

Their favorites range from Elvis to the Eagles to Fleetwood Mac, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson to Melissa Etheridge & not forgetting the current artists today The Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars & Pink. Our list is long so many to mention. If you open your eyes you can forever learn and we thank all artists past & present for inspiring us to do what we love and love what we do music, said Chaminda.

Being full time musicians in Sydney Australia is an achievement itself, says Chaminda.

Apart from their band life they teach music and it is all they have. We cant see ourselves working in other industries. We just love this industry and want to improve everyday said Chaminda.

They emphasized on their band moto. If you reach one its better than none. No egos just enjoy creating and doing what we love. We dont practice as we do not like to tell each musician what to do, or where they should or shouldnt play in a song. We all feel when we perform and allow the music to take the song wherever it goes.

To learn more about Katchas music log onto Katchamusic.com
Remembering Chuck Berry View(s):

Chuck Berry the father of Rock And Roll music died on 18th March at his home in St. Louis, Missouri in the US. He was a legend, an Icon of the industry who on his 90th birthday, 18th October last year announced plans to release an album called Chuck this year. It was to contain several new songs written by the icon and was to be dedicated to his wife Themetta. It was to be his first new album in 38 years. the father of Rock And Roll music died on 18March at his home in St. Louis, Missouri in the US. He was a legend, an Icon of the industry who on his 90birthday, 18October last year announced plans to release an album called Chuck this year. It was to contain several new songs written by the icon and was to be dedicated to his wife Themetta. It was to be his first new album in 38 years.

Berry blended and improvised Country music with the Blues into what is called Rock And Roll. He inspired many new groups and artists in the late 50s and 60s such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, Sir Cliff Richard and Eric Clapton, who have become legends or icons in their own right. His first hit song was Maybellene in 1955, followed by Roll Over Beethoven 1956, Rock And Roll Music 1957, Johnny B.Goode and Sweet Little Sixteen 1958. The Beatles globalised his music with their interpretation in the 60s. While Chucks appeal was wide, he achieved just one No: 1 song with My Dig  A  Ling in 1972 in the US, Canada and the UK. Berrys guitar licks would work up audiences along with his trademark duck walk on stage. Berry released 18 albums, and 45 singles.

In recent years Berry seemed to be performing with difficulty as with advancing years.

He was recipient of many awards and honours among them the Polar Music Award -2014, PEN Literary Award -2012, BMI Icon Award  2002 and the Kennedy Centre Honour  2000.

The man still very much in control of the top rung of the UK singles chart is Ed Sheeran. His song Shape Of You clocked up another week taking a total of 10 weeks at the No: 1 spot with combined sales of 106,000 copies. At the No: 3 spot is his song Galway Girl which is now officially the third release from his new album. The song as the title suggests has a very Irish feel and features the Irish group Beoga and parts of their song Minute 5 on Galway Girl. Once again Sheeran dominates the top 10 with nine of the 10 songs. His album  is also top of the UK album chart for a second week. Critics have meanwhile lamented that Sheeran has killed the chart.

Zayn Malik is making a new album according to reports from the UK. The former One Direction member has confirmed work is in progress which will be a follow up to his debut album Mind Of Mine which spawned the chart topping song Pillowtalk. His current hit is I Dont Wanna Live Forever, a duet with Taylor Swift from the film soundtrack Fifty Shades Darker

A pop star of yesteryear Dame Vera Lynn celebrated her 100 birthday on 20th March. She was known as the Soldiers Sweet Heart for Allied troops during World War II. Two of her famous songs were White Cliffs Of Dover, and Well Meet Again. Her album Vera Lynn 100 was released on March 17.

UK TOP 10 TW LW 1 1 Shape Of You  Ed Sheeran

2 2 Galway Girl  Ed Sheeran

3 3 Castle On The Hill  Ed Sheeran

4 7 Something Just Like This  Chainsmokers & Coldplay

5 4 Perfect  Ed Sheeran

6 5 New Man  Ed Sheeran

7 6 Happier  Ed Sheeran

8 9 Supermarket Flowers  E d Sheeran

9 10 What Do I Know  Ed Sheeran

10 8 Dive  Ed Sheeran
London, Mar 26 (IBNS): The police has said the attacker in London acted alone and there is no information to suggest further attacks are planned.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command confirmed that the terrorist attack carried out by Khalid Masood was over within 82 seconds.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, who is the Senior National Coordinator for UK Counter Terrorism Policing, said: "We still believe that Masood acted alone on the day and there is no information or intelligence to suggest there are further attacks planned."

"Even if he acted alone in the preparation we need to establish with absolute clarity why he did these unspeakable acts to bring reassurance to Londoners, and to provide answers and closure for the families of those killed and the victims and survivors of this atrocity," Basu said.

"We must all accept that there is a possibility we will never understand why he did this. That understanding may have died with him," he said.

"Nevertheless, we are determined to understand if Masood was a lone actor inspired by terrorist propaganda or if others have encouraged, supported or directed him. If the latter proves to be the case, they will face justice," he said.

The London attack was condemned by global leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.


Sensational true story in cinema According to MatThew release on April 7 View(s): View(s):

Much awaited Chandran Rutnams English film According to Mattthew based on the true story of Fr. Matthew will be released in CEL circuit cinemas around the country.

The true story of a socially popular and powerful Protestant priest of St Pauls Church in Colombo, Father Matthew was also a well respected and sought after exorcist, who in the late 1970s, conspired with his mistress, to murder his wife and the mistresss husband, by poisoning the victims with gradual overdoses of insulin. He evaded detection owing to his standing in the community and continued fearlessly with nefarious activities.

His connection with the murders was discovered by two doctors who inadvertently disclosed the routine administration of medicine to patients.

The evidence to arrest and prosecute the influential, popular and highly respected priest was under way. The police were able to correct the evidence and bring the suspects to court, where they were both found guilty for the conspiracy and the murder of their respective spouses, and condemned to death by hanging.

The Australian singer (now turned actor) the

Sri Lanka born Alston Koch is in the lead as Father Mathew Peiris while the Sri Lankan beauty queen and Miss Sri Lanka who became a Bollywood superstar Jacqueline Fernandez plays the role of Delrene Ingram.

While the original movie in English will be released at Majestic cinemplex, Empire Arcade, City Cinema Mount Lavinia and Savoy 3D the Sinhala version tittled Anuragini will be released at Regal and Lido cinemas in Colombo and Amity Lite in Maharagama and Himali Kiribathgoda and other CEL circuit cinemas.
Vibes that make a difference By Joshua Surendraraj In an interview with the Mirror Magazine, musician Apache Indian elaborates on his latest album and what it takes to make music that lasts View(s): View(s):

Sometimes in a world where many differences can create a divide be it religious or racial it is often through music, that one makes a connection, its the melody that brings people together.

Twenty five years in the international music industry, this is just what renowned musician Apache Indian(aka Steven Kapur), believes in, and its what makes his music relevant, we find out.

We met up with Apache, while he was in the country to promote his album IN JA. But first, we ask him, to take us through a day in his life, back in the United Kingdom (UK).

Apache runs a music academy, which he started three years ago as a charity. When people talk about giving back, I thought what can I do? he recalls. This pushed him to set up a youth club, called Apache Indian Music (AIM) at the Handsworth campus, (South and City College Birmingham), for kids off the street.

Three years on, the academy comprises 250 young people between the ages 16 and 24, all of whom are employed. A few of them are into music and are guided by Apache. Free recording facilities are also provided. Aside from this, the academy also provides life skills training and free meals.

I spend a lot of time doing that when Im in the UK. So thats a day in my life. Its go to the academy, look after my kids, share knowledge, experiences and learn from them as well, because theyre young people, he explains.

Back when his family, first moved to the UK, from India, they had to make their way in the country, he recalls. One had to make sense of the culture, the religions, the schools etc. Apache made sense of it, through music. This drives him to help the young people, find their voices, find their way and try to break down racism in the process.

Let them enjoy music, let them contribute to the community that were in. Im very passionate about that and weve written songs about it over the years, he tells us.

As our photographer fumbles with his camera, we observe the beautiful sunset in the distance. Staring out at the Galle face beach, Apache, recalls it was his first trip to India, back in 1993, which inspired him.

The poverty stricken city of Bombay and the homeless children, he had never seen something like that before. When Apache left India, his life changed completely.

I wanted to write about it, I got inspired by it. My academy was inspired by those days. I believe in making a difference and it came from those images that I saw in India, he tells us.

We talk about his musical journey. This began when his vibrant sounds of Dancehall, Reggae and Raga, fusedwith his distinctive vocal style, got him a quarter million pound, record deal with Island records. He was 22 at the time.

Sooner his songs, Chok There, Arranged Marriage, Don Raja, Boom Shack-A-Lak, Raggamuffin Girl and Make way for the Indian saw its way to the music charts.

I like to keep things simple, Apache explains. His long dreadlocks hang about him, while he adds he didnt write any songs to please anybody. Doing my own thing, being proud of my roots and my culture, thats how I started. It became like a movement. To tell people who we are and where were from. It was recognising a change in the British culture, he recalls.

Growing up and constantly hearing people telling him, he was not British, its all these things that he tried to capture, through the music.

So I had lots of things to say and it wasnt easy, but it was real and honest.

Following his success, Apache realized that he was in a position to make a change. He decided to use his name to help his community.

He lives in Hamsworth, where just last week someone got stabbed on a bus, he recalls. Lots of kids get into drugs at a young age, they have gangs fighting, shootings etc. But Apache believes in making a difference in his community, through music. This is just what AIM academy strives to achieve.

You can have ten people in the room and there could be fighting, but they can play music together even if they dont speak the same language, he explains. That way when theyre in the community, they know each other, theres communication. Otherwise theyre walking past each other every day as strangers and that leads to tension, and that leads to racism. We grew up with all of that I dont want to see it again.

Our conversation leads to Sri Lanka. Apache first visited in November, last year. Here he shot two videos, for IN JA.

Apache shares that his experience in the country was fresh and lovely. He explains the dancers and the crew, in those videos, were all Sri Lankan and the teams main objective was to showcase Sri Lankan talent to the world.

IN JA (or `In Jamaica) Produced by Jim Beanzand Charlie Hype is a fun album, with strong lyrical content. It takes you on a journey back to Jamaica and celebrates Apaches deep love of Reggae music. However, as he tells us, its not just a mere album.

Twenty five years on and Apache is still trying to make a difference with his new music. According to him, unity is strength and thats why music is powerful.

People dont care anymore; they do their own thing, so whos caring for the young people? Whos making a change?, he asks. According to Apache, with music you can have 10,000 people in front of you, but you have to make sure, you use that stage to say and do the right things.

Our conversation comes to a close with Apache encouraging local musicians, to make their music meaningful.

Make it something that will change someones life. People dont want to keep hearing about the bling and the girls etc. Write songs that could still be played 25 years on and mean something.
BASL in hands off policy over High Court Judge R. Kannans removal View(s):

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) this week decided not to get involved in recommending the removal of High Court (HC) Judge R. Kannan, whose appointment was opposed by the Judicial Services Association (JSA), saying, the removal of the judge now needs to be done only on the basis of disciplinary action recommended by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) to the President.

This decision was taken consequent to a recent meeting of Senior Silks and Past Presidents of the BASL, to advise on the response to a request from the JSA.

One of the key recommendations also made was that, in the appointment of HC judges, to adopt transparent criteria including the consideration of the number of judgments written, and the quality of judgments i.e., if the Appellate courts have sustained those judgments etc.,

The meeting was attended by Ikram Mohamed P.C., Ajantha Athukorala, Upul Jayasuriya and Geoffrey Alagaratnam P.C. Views sent by K. Kanag-Isvaran P.C., Faiz Mustapha P.C. and Nihal Jayamanna P.C. were tabled at the meeting. Members considered the opinions expressed by the three P.C.s and unanimously accepted their views. They agreed that the BASL should not get involved in recommending the removal of an HC Judge who has been now appointed. This can only be done in terms of Article 111(2) of the Constitution, subject to the Disciplinary Control of His Excellency the President, on the recommendation of the JSC, the BASL members had observed.

Several other recommendations were also made by the members. Firstly, it was noted that the BASL has a duty and a right to look after the interests of the members of the Bar and to ensure quality justice, and in that, the BASL is entitled to make recommendations to the President, of eminent members of the Bar for judicial appointments.

Members of the Bar who have joined the Judiciary by way of direct appointments, have proved to be successful and eminent judicial officers and to, therefore, request the President to consider recommendations made by the BASL, from time to time, for appointments to the Judiciary.

It was further recommended to constitute an Advisory Committee comprising Senior P.C.s and Past Presidents to advise the BASL President in matters of importance.
Conservation forest declared near Wilpattu View(s):

Nearly 100,000 acres of land adjoining Wilpattu National Park have been declared a conservation forest with immediate effect to prevent further encroachment by people, Forest Conservator General Anura Sathurusinghe told the Sunday Times.

He explained that the President urgently signed the gazette during his visit to Russia thereby stopping people with political backing clearing more areas in the forest.

The gazette notification gives wider powers to the Forest Departments five forest reserves  Mavillu, Wepal, Karadikkuli/Marichchakatti, Wilaththikulam and Periyamurippu that have now been gazetted as Mavillu Conservation forests and have the highest protection available under the act, he said.

Mr. Sathurusinghe said that in view of the gazette notification presidential and parliamentary approval will be needed to acquire or clear any land.

He said that entry will be restricted and entrance would only allowed for educational or research purposes.

He said that in future they have plans to gazette Conservation Forests to increase the forest cover to 32 percent of land in the country.

Sri Lankas forest cover is currently around 26 per cent.
Garbage collection dysfunctional, council handicapped, say officials By Anushiya Sathisraja View(s): View(s):

Despite lingering concerns over public health issues such as the uncontained spread of dengue and a dysfunctional waste management system in Colombo, officials say they are handicapped  no staff, not enough waste trucks, decades old fleet, no investment, no technical knowledge, and ageing, unproductive workers, and worse  more than 1,000 metric tons of garbage is not collected.

There has always been long-standing concerns about waste management and public health in the capital, since there is a strong link between disease and urban refuse, the Chief Medical Officer of the Colombo Municipal Council, Dr Ruwan Wijeyamuni said.

There are 47 wards in the city limits and it is the public health inspectors who check for dengue breeding sites. We need 75 PHIs, but we only have 46. We need six medical officers of health, but have only four. It is the same with other staff as well, he said.

Population expansion coupled with rapid urbanisation has created major waste disposal challenges for the region.

The Western Province generates 3,500 metric tons of solid waste a day of which only 2,400 MT is collected. Of this, 15 per cent is turned into compost, 10 per cent recycled and 75 per cent thrown into open dumps.

There is insufficient capital investment to implement an effective waste management strategy, the director of Waste Management in the Western Province, Nalin Manaperuma said.

He also points to the reluctance to create and implement laws and the lack of political commitment at all levels of government.

There is no accountability in service delivery, while technical know-how is weak.

The CMC at present has only 50 trucks and these are more than 17 to 20 years old. Vehicle break downs are high.

When a vehicle breaks down, it is difficult to complete the garbage collection on time. Most of our garbage collectors in the CMC zones are ageing and their productivity is low, he said.

The aim is to reduce 85 per cent of the waste discarded in open dumps to 25 per cent by 2020, Manaperuma said. The plan is to recycle 12 per cent, turn seven per cent into compost and incinerate 47 per cent.

Although composting will be profitable, the Western Province has constraints on available land. Currently, eight per cent of rubbish is made into compost, seven per cent recycled and 1 per cent incinerated.
No investigative officers to probe disciplinary inquiries against Postal Dept. workers By Sandun Jayawardana Trade unions charge exams to recruit investigation officers not held for 4 years View(s): View(s):

Nearly 2,500 files relating to disciplinary inquiries against Postal Department employees are gathering dust, primarily due to a shortage of investigative officers to probe these cases, the Sunday Times learns.

Postal Department trade unions claim that the problem has been exacerbated because the department failed to hold the competitive examination to recruit investigation officers for four years now.

According to a 2013 Service Minute approved by the Public Service Commission, a single competitive examination must be held to promote officers from within the department to three key designations. They are Assistant Superintendent of Posts (Investigations), Assistant Superintendent of Posts (Internal Audit) and Assistant Superintendent of Posts (Chief Post Master). The exam is yet to be held.

According to Champika Perera, General Secretary of the Postal Service Staff Officers Union (PSSOU), this has created a strain on the activities of the department. The approved cadre for Assistant Superintendent of Posts (Investigations) is 51 but there are only 27 officers at present. The approved cadre for Assistant Superintendent of Posts (Internal Audit) is 40, but the department currently has just 12 officers. Meanwhile, 53 officers should be serving as Assistant Superintendent of Posts (Chief Post Master) but there are only four. As such, 101 vacancies exist in these key officer posts.

Mr. Perera said these positions play an important role to minimise corruption within the Postal Department. The investigation officers may be the ones directly probing the cases. But those in internal audit also contribute towards investigations. The post of Assistant Superintendent of Posts (Chief Post Master) is also vital as their role is to keep post offices functioning efficiently, while closing off avenues of corruption.

According to the trade union leader, about 800 officers within the Postal Department were qualified to sit for the examination to fill these vacancies. Its a mystery as to why the department continues to delay holding the exam.

The delay in concluding the disciplinary inquiries was also unfair to those who are the subject of the such inquiries, he pointed out. Some officials havent even been served charge sheets, while others, who have retired from service, continue to be denied their pensions on the grounds that there are ongoing disciplinary inquiries against them.

Additional Secretary (Development) at the Ministry of Posts, Postal Services and Acting Postmaster General S.H.A.N.D. Abeyrathne acknowledged that the shortage of investigation officers had significantly impacted on the progress of disciplinary inquiries. She however, said there were other issues.

For example, in some cases, there are ongoing court cases and items deemed as evidence are in the possession of the courts. The inquiries cannot proceed without them. In other cases, we simply cant find the people against whom the inquiries have been initiated. They may not even be in the country.

Mrs. Abeyrathne further revealed that the delay in completing the disciplinary inquiries had recently been taken up by Parliaments Committee on Public Accounts. The Ministry has appointed a three-member committee to categorise these cases and identify the reasons for the delay in completing them, she added. The Public Accounts Committee has given us till September to finish this process and report back on the progress.

In the meantime, she said the Postal Department was discussing with Department of Examinations and the Public Service Commission on holding the competitive examination to fill these key vacancies.
Pressure from Tamil Nadu politicos: Rajinikanth not coming View(s):

South Indian Superstar Rajinikanth has cancelled his visit to Sri Lanka following agitation by Tamil Nadu politicians who insisted he should not visit Sri Lanka because they believe that Tamil concerns are yet to be addressed.

Issuing a statement, the actor said he decided to cancel his trip after requests made by Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) chief Vaiko. They have urged him not to visit Sri Lanka. I accepted their request because of their cordial relationship with me,Mr. Rajinikanth said.

He was scheduled to visit Vavuniya on April 9 to hand over to displaced people 150 houses built by the Gnanam Foundation. He was also to take part in a Jaffna event to raise funds for the Jaffna Universitys research unit.

I am not a politician but an artiste. My job is to entertain people, as leader Thirumavalavan said. I am looking forward to meet the Sri Lankan Tamil people in the future and want to witness the places where the last phases of the war happened. I request that this should not be made a political issue in the future, the actor said in a statement issued in Chennai.

Tamil Nadu politicians claimed that the Gnanam Foundation, a charity organisation of Lyca Productions, that is currently producing Rajanikanths upcoming film also has business ties with the Sri Lankan Government.
Airbus contracts end up in London court By Namini Wijedasa SriLankan Airlines' board calls for ministerial inquiry against management; CEO justifies transactions View(s): View(s):

An international company through which SriLankan Airlines extended leases on three A330-200 aircraft has filed action in London after the national carrier attempted to overturn the contracts saying they were not legally binding.

This transpires against the backdrop of a major clash within SriLankans board of directors, with a faction saying CEO Suren Ratwatte signed the contracts without approvala charge that he vehemently denies.

A case was lodged in the commercial arm of the High Court of Justice earlier this month. The claimantSASOF II Aviation Ireland Ltdis seeking a declaration that SriLankan Airlines is contractually bound by the relevant extension agreements. It is also seeking an order that all rental payments falling under the extended leases are paid in accordance with the contracts; and costs. The Sunday Times has copy of the SASOF claim.

The aircraft in question are three older A330-200s first leased by SriLankan in 2010. The original agreements were due to expire in January and February 2017. But Mr Ratwatte extended the leases last year despite a SriLankan board decision to do so only if three other planes (new A330-300s) were given on dry lease to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

The PIA deal did not turn out as anticipated. The Pakistani carrier took only one aircraft on wet lease for several months before returning it to SriLankan. It did not lease the other two. SriLankan is yet to collect US$2 million plus interest from PIA whose own CEO is being investigated over the deal.

At the boards intervention, therefore, SriLankan wrote to SASOF giving notice that it will return the three A330-200s at the end of the original leases, ignoring the extension agreements. The carrier said the approval of its board to the extensions had been conditional upon dry lease agreements with PIA.

Your purported notice is rejected and your intended action is a breach of contract, SASOF replied in writing to SriLankan. The conditionality attached to PIA leases was never discussed with SASOF. Nor was it agreed to by the company and forms no part of the extension agreements or any other binding contractual document, it said, before taking the matter to court.

A legal battle, if it comes to that, will be costly. But detractors of the extension agreements say keeping the three long haul A330-200s will also impose a substantial financial burden on the cash-strapped airline. The monthly rental is about US$ 225,000 or Rs 34,146,000 for each aircraft. This amounts to more than Rs 1,229,256,000 for all three aircraft per year. (The rates are in the SASOF claim).

For his part, Mr Ratwatte insists the leases on the older aircraft were decided as part of a restructuring plan which saw the urgent need for a reduction in aircraft lease costs. If these aircraft were not extended, they would have had to be grounded beginning August 2016 for lease return checks, he told the Sunday Times. In order to forestall this (which is a very expensive exercise with no return on investment) and ensure the schedule could be flown, the decision was made to extend the leases on very favourable terms.

He said the monthly lease cost was reduced by fifty percent (the original was more than US$ 460,000 per aircraft per month) and the return conditions were reduced to a minimal sum, allowing the aircraft to be flown back to an airport designated by the lessor. This resulted in immediate cash saving of US$ 43.8 million, which was the anticipated return cost, he said.

But Mr Ratwatte is up against at least half of the SriLankan board that maintains they did not approve the lease extensions. Last month, Directors Chanaka de Silva, Rajan Brito, Rakitha Jayawardena and Harendra K Balapatabendi wrote to Chairman Ajith Dias demanding an investigation into how the CEO had signed the contracts in excess of his mandate. They want an inquiry by the Ministry, Attorney Generals Department or an independent panel. The chairman has not complied.

Separately, the Ministry of Public Enterprise Development has requested the SriLankan board for a report on whether the CEO had exceeded his mandate in entering into the lease extension agreements which are binding on SriLankan. The four directors say their own inquiries have caused them to collectively conclude that the management appear to have clearly exceeded the Board Mandate and unnecessarily risked placing the Company to legal claims.

In other documents received by the Sunday Times, it is claimed that the CEO at meetings in 2017 did not inform the board that he had already signed the extension agreements in September last year. The extended agreements were never tabled at a board meeting and/or intimated to the board. And the board only ever ratified the extension of one aircraft for a month and the termination of the leases of the other two.

Mr Ratwatte admits that management was instructed to attempt a short extension. But he also argues that the extensions of all three aircraft were approved by the board as can be shown in company documentation. Such evidence has been presented before and accepted by a ministerial committee appointed to arbitrate on this matter.

These disputes and legal claims cannot come at a worse time for SriLankan. Just this weekend, a team arrived from Texas Pacific Group (TPG) which is shortlisted by the Government to take over the companys management. The global private investment firm has hired a third party to carry out a due diligencean appraisal of the business with a view to determining its assets and liabilities and evaluating its commercial potential.

The SriLankan board is scheduled to meet on Wednesday. The airline now has 13 wide-body and 10 narrow-body aircraft in its fleet. It will experience a surplus of aircraft in the summer season, a condition Mr Ratwatte says the company is trying to address.
Lankas first ECMO baby wins battle between life and death By Kumudini Hettiarachchi View(s): View(s):

Sehandu Suhasvin  it was just this Wednesday that Tharindu Dhanushka and Nayomi Ishanka named their firstborn son.

Sudu sanda (white moon) and mana usas bava (sublime) is what the babys name means, the couple says smilingly, but what is left unsaid for a moment is more poignant.

Yes, the family did check the auspicious letters with which his names should begin according to the time of his birth on the night of February 26, but there was hesitancy, for his nekatha indicated that he was facing a bad period which would end on March 3.

What the nekatha did not tell them was that the major battle between life and death that their baby was compelled to face as soon as he saw the light of day and the newborn being sent to the right place at the right time would save his life.

Tiny Sehandu sleeping peacefully in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital or being held close by his Ammi bringing forth a yawn and then a smile even though his eyes are shut in slumber, is the harbinger of good tidings for numerous at-risk newborns.

His little heart beats normally and his little lungs are functioning as they should because of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), a first in Sri Lanka.

This is the first successful mechanical cardiopulmonary support in neonatal critical care, explains Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Dr. Tolusha Harischandra, pointing out that ECMO is a form of temporary support of the lungs and/or heart, for severe respiratory and/or cardiac failure not amenable to conventional forms of treatment.

It is thereafter that Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Kapilani Withanaarachchi in charge of the NICU details their tale of triumph.

Earlier, however, for Sehandus 28-year-old parents, life was content. Having been childhood sweethearts, they married in May last year. While Tharindu is attached to the Traffic Branch of the Dickwella Police, Nayomi is working at the District Secretariat. Their joy knew no bounds when they found out that they were expecting their first baby.

Everything was fine, says Nayomi, cuddling her son who is clad in light blue pyjamas, shirt and bonnet sporting cats and hearts in green and yellow.

But the last 25 days, after which we met them, have been traumatic. When the labour pains gripped her at 39 weeks, Nayomi as planned went for her confinement to the Tangalle Base Hospital. It was a full-term baby boy weighing 3.5kg that she gave birth to, through a forceps delivery that Sunday night of February 26.

Nayomi heard his wail, but her son was not handed over to her to hold close, but rushed to the Baby Room. Babata husma geneeme apahasu thavayak thibba, she says, adding that the baby was having breathing problems. Next morning, Tharindu watched in dismay through the glass of the Baby Room, his sons laborious breathing, while tubes snaked out from his incubator-cot.

The little boy was rushed by ambulance from the Tangalle Hospital, says Dr. Withanaarachchi who is in charge of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Karapitiya Hospital. He had developed respiratory distress or severe breathing issues due to a condition called Meconium Aspiration Syndrome in the wake of which came Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension.

This usually happens when thick meconium (stools) is passed by the baby, in Sehandus case in-utero (in the womb itself), which gets mixed with the amniotic fluid and is swallowed and breathed into the airway of the unborn baby. As the newborn breathes, meconium particles enter the airway and get aspirated (inhaled) deep into the lungs.

He was transferred while on nasal oxygen to us, says Dr. Withanaarachchi, pointing out that his oxygen levels were not adequate.

Fortunately for Sehandu, not only does the Karapitiya Hospital have the biggest NICU in the Southern Province, but it is also the proud owner of facilities for high-end, high-tech ECMO, for cardiac and respiratory support not in use anywhere else in the state sector. Immediately, both the medical and nursing teams of the NICU got into action.

Before they took up ECMO as the last resort, they also tried out a special ventilator, the High-Frequency Oscillator Ventilator (HFOV), providing artificial or conventional ventilation to support breathing. But the babys condition didnt improve and thats when we decided, along with the Cardiothoracic Team, to step-up his management to ECMO, says Dr. Withanaarachchi.

For five long days they battled to improve Sehandus breathing, but it was only slight improvement and they were also unable to wean or take him off the artificial ventilation.

Explaining that Karapitiya Hospital has the Goal ECMO Life-Support Organization (GELSO) with the NICU and Cardiothoracic Unit staff as members, as well as the other relevant specialties and also a well-known British Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. Richard Firmin who supports life-saving procedures at this hospital, Dr. Withanaarachchi says a decision had then been taken to give Sehandu a fighting chance in his short life, with ECMO.

According to Dr. Harischandra the ECMO technology is similar in many ways to the cardiopulmonary bypass (heart-lung machine) used routinely in heart surgery. One main difference is its prolonged use. It is used for long-term support of the heart and lungs in the intensive care setting, rather than short-term support in the operating theatre.

The medical and nursing teams drawn from both the Cardiothoracic Unit including vital Perfusionist Amila Buddhika and the NICU set up the ECMO machine in the NICU, after which its circuit was primed under sterile conditions. The baby was sedated and paralyzed to enable cannulation which was done by the cardiothoracic surgical team at the bedside.

Skill came into play as a transverse neck incision just above the right clavicle was made in the baby and the right common carotid artery and right internal jugular vein were isolated. The baby was administered medications to prevent blood-clotting and a cannula inserted into the right common carotid artery to lie at the level of the brachiocephalic artery and secured. Another cannula was inserted into the right internal jugular vein and passed into the hearts right atrium. Thereafter, the cannulae were connected to the primed circuit and venoarterial (VA) ECMO was instituted. The skin was closed and the cannulae secured.

Then began the all-important hourly monitoring of vital signs, blood gases, activated clotting time et al, while platelet transfusions were given to maintain the platelet counts and physiotherapy performed.

The parents, meanwhile, had rented out a house close by, and as the Nayomi was too distraught, it was Tharindu who would bring the expressed milk to their son to be fed through the nasogastric tube.

Fifty-seven hours after initiating ECMO, even though there were a few challenges, as the respiratory and cardiac functions had recovered, weaning from the ECMO machine was carried out successfully, says Dr. Harischandra.

And we see the success, on Wednesday, as the parents make ready to take their firstborn home, now being breast-fed by Nayomi, most probably next week and the smiling medical and nursing teams celebrate a milestone in the history of cardiothoracic surgery, paediatrics and critical care in Sri Lanka.

New era of mechanical heart and lung supportSehandu proves that ECMO, supporting the heart and lungs to allow time or therapeutic intervention for healing, works, says Dr. Tolusha Harischandra. She adds that ECMO uses a pump (the artificial heart) to send deoxygenated blood through an oxygenator (the artificial lung) back to the body. This preserves the vital organs, not only preventing death from respiratory/cardiac failure, but also preventing hypoxic brain damage and its dreaded consequence, cerebral palsy. It was in 1974 that Dr. Robert Bartlett, who was developing an oxygenator in far off California, United States of America, offered this new form of mechanical heart/lung support to a critically-ill neonate with meconium aspiration and severe respiratory failure. The treatment was a success and the nurses named her Esperanza (hope in Spanish). With Esperanza emerged the new era of mechanical heart and lung support and it is recorded that as of January this year, 86,287 patients have undergone ECMO, of which 29,942 are neonatal respiratory patients. Pointing out that meconium aspiration is a common condition that can cause severe respiratory failure in newborns, Dr. Harischandra reiterates that ECMO is one of the most successful forms of treatment for neonates not responding to conventional support. ECMO breaks the vicious circle that perpetuates pulmonary hypertension. Captions Seated (from left) are NICU Medical Officer (MO), Dr. Disna Priyanthi; Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Kapilani Withanaarachchi; Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Dr. Tolusha Harischandra; Cardiothoracic Units Resident House Officer Dr. Madhuranga Liyanage; and NICU MO Dr. Sandareka Abeysekara. Standing (from left) are NICU Nursing Officers Indu, Kumudu & Nayani; Cardiothoracic Unit Resident House Officer Dr. Milinda Kumara; Cardiothoracic Units Perfusionist, Amila Buddhika; Cardiothoracic Units Resident House Officer Dr. Malaka Uluwitiya; and NICU Nursing Officers Amara, Priyangika & Lakshmi.
Something to dance about By Shakya Wickramanayake As part of the celebrations to commemorate World Theatre Day, a production Why we kill ourselves aims at preserving the arts as well as helping students View(s): View(s):

On World Theatre Day, which falls on March 27, 38 students will explore the prevalence of suicide among Sri Lankan youth in a production titled Why we kill ourselves. Through the ancient and traditional dance, music and drama forms found in our island, the production will take us through the life of these troubled young adults, from birth to their tragically early death. The production consists of a combination of classical and folk Sinhalese and Tamil songs and dances, seamlessly fused to one another.

Directed and scripted by Dharmajith Punarjeeva and arranged by musical director Ranjith Balasuriya, this production is the culmination of a six-month programme that was initiated with the help of Chairman of the Metropolis project, Ajith de Costa and his wife, the dancer Khema De Silva. The programme targeted students who had passed their Advanced Level Examinations, but had unfortunately missed out on entering the state universities by a few marks. Over 300 students, from various ethnic backgrounds, and from all over the island auditioned and 50 were selected.

Each year, thousands of youths leave their homes and venture into the big cities and towns in pursuit of higher education or employment. But away from home and with no support system, the pain of broken affairs and mental breakdowns can lead these youths to take drastic steps explains Dharmajith Punarjeeva. In 2016 over 30 young persons committed suicide by jumping in front of the trains, he tells us. These statistics left him questioning.

Under the programme students are taught music, dance, and drama by the gurus five days a week. Taken through an interdisciplinary course, they were taught all art forms culturally Sinhalese or Tamil, regardless of their own ethnicity. The objective of the project was three-pronged  to uplift students who may have been disheartened by not gaining entry into state universities; to give those interested in the crafts the necessary skills to pursue it professionally; and finally to foster reconciliation between communities.

But it hasnt exactly been a smooth run. Initially envisioned as a government backed project the programme commenced at the Ape Gama theatre in Battaramulla, but, as the project did not fall within the purview of the Education Ministry, the facility was withdrawn. Undeterred by this, Ajith De Costa and Khema De Silva rented out the hall of St. Mathews Church in Battaramulla, paid for through personal funds, and continued the programme. The couple also sponsor a monthly allowance for each student for their food, lodging and transport needs. Despite this, several students, coming from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, have been compelled to leave and seek employment in order to finance their families back home.

Initially the students were also hampered by the language barrier. But bonded by their desire to learn and their passion for the arts, the students who would have otherwise never met each other, have managed to communicate, understand, and cooperate with other which has culminated in this inclusive and inspiring production.

Dharmajith Punarjeeva and Ranjith Balasuriya tell us that they are satisfied with how it has turned out, but hope that they will receive assistance from the government and donors to carry out similar programmes to both preserve the arts and help students.

The production will take place on March 27 at the Ape Gama Theatre in Battaramulla from 6 p.m. and is open to the public free of charge. As part of the celebrations to commemorate World Theatre Day, the day will also feature productions in the classical drama forms of Nadagama and  Nurthi , as well as a Tamil language based play. A book on the Performing Arts in Sri Lanka by Dharmajith Punarjeeva will be released at the event.
Sylhet, Mar 26 (IBNS): At least six people were killed as two separate blasts rocked Bangladesh city Sylhet on Friday, media reports said.

The death toll touched six after injured Monirul Islam, inspector (investigation) of Jalalabad Police Station, passed away on Sunday.

Monirul Islam, inspector (investigation) of Jalalabad Police Station, who suffered injuries with some other law enforcers in one of the blasts last night, dies early today, Basu Dev Banik, deputy commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star.

Two separate blasts occurred at separate places close to militant den in Shibbari area of Sylhet on Saturday.

The incident occurred at a time when joint forces were raiding the hideout of suspected militants in the area.
Would you choose to live forever? Age-reversing pill that Nasa wants to give to astronauts on Mars will begin human trials within six months View(s): View(s):

Scientists have made a discovery that could lead to a revolutionary drug that actually reverses ageing.

The drug could help damaged DNA to miraculously repair and even protect Nasa astronauts on Mars by protecting them from solar radiation.

A team of researchers developed the drug after discovering a key signalling process in DNA repair and cell ageing.

During trials on mice, the team found that the drug directly repaired DNA damage caused by radiation exposure or old age.

The cells of the old mice were indistinguishable from the young mice after just one week of treatment, said lead author Professor David Sinclair.

Human trials of the pill will begin within six months.

This is the closest we are to a safe and effective ani-ageing drug thats perhaps only three to five years away from being on the market if the trials go well, said Professor Sinclair.

The work has drawn the attention of Nasa, which is considering the challenge of keeping its astronauts healthy during a four-year mission to Mars.

Even on short missions, astronauts experience accelerated ageing from cosmic radiation, suffering from muscle weakness, memory loss and other symptoms when they return.

On a trip to Mars, the situation would be far worse: Five per cent of the astronauts cells would die and their chances of cancer would approach 100 per cent.

Professor Sinclair and his colleague Dr Lindsay Wu were winners in NASAs iTech competition in December last year.

We came in with a solution for a biological problem and it won the competition out of 300 entries, Dr Wu said.

Cosmic radiation is not only an issue for astronauts. Were all exposed to it aboard aircraft, with a London-Singapore-Melbourne flight roughly equivalent in radiation to a chest x-ray.

In theory, the anti-ageing pill could mitigate any effects of DNA damage for frequent flyers.

The other group that could benefit from this work is survivors of childhood cancers.

Dr. Wu says 96 percent of childhood cancer survivors suffer a chronic illness by age 45, including cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, Alzheimers disease, and cancers unrelated to the original cancer.

All of this adds up to the fact they have accelerated ageing, which is devastating, he said.

It would be great to do something about that, and we believe we can with this molecule. The experiments in mice, from a team at the University of New South Wales, suggest a treatment for these issues is possible through a new drug.

While our cells can naturally repair DNA damage  such as damage caused by the sun  this ability declines with age.

The scientists identified that the call signalling molecule NAD+, which is naturally present in every cell in the body, has a key role in protein interactions that control DNA repair.

Treating mice with an NAD+ booster called NMN improved their cells ability to repair DNA damage caused by radiation exposure or ageing

The human trials will begin this year at Brigham and Womens Hospital, in Boston.

 Daily Mail, London
The fishermen would be presented in a court today from where the judicial magistrate would send them to jail as per the procedure.

By Press Trust of India: More than 100 Indian fishermen were arrested and 19 of their boats seized on Sunday by Pakistan for allegedly fishing in their territorial waters off the Gujarat coast, Pakistani officials and a fishermen association in India said.

Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) arrested the fishermen and seized the boats off Jakhau coast in Kutch district.

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A PMSA spokesman confirmed the fishermen and the boats had been handed over to the local police for further action. The fishermen would be presented in a court today and from there the judicial magistrate would send them to jail as per the procedure, according to a police official.

"We have become used to this routine now as these Indian fishermen get arrested illegally fishing in our waters every month or so," the official said.

Earlier on Sunday, India's National Fishworkers Forum secretary Manish Lodhari said, "We learnt that more than 100 fishermen who were on board around 18 fishing boats were apprehended by PMSA near the international maritime boundary line off Jakhau coast."

"The fishermen who escaped (the arrest) have informed us about it," he said.

115 FISHERMEN APPREHENDED IN MARCH

The PMSA had earlier this month also apprehended 115 fishermen and seized 19 boats.

This development came after the Indian Coast Guard captured nine Pakistani nationals along with a fishing boat in the same area off Jakhau coast on Friday.

In March, the PMSA has in separate incidents arrested nearly 225 fishermen along with three dozen boats, according to Lodhari.

BSF APPREHENDED 4 ABANDONED PAK BOATS IN FEBRUARY

Last month, the BSF had apprehended four abandoned Pakistani fishing boats near Sir Creek in Kutch district, while on January 27, the Pakistani maritime agency had arrested 60 Indian fishermen and seized 10 boats.

Fishermen from both countries are arrested frequently for inadvertently trespassing into each others waters.

However, at times India and Pakistan have released them as a goodwill gesture to the other country. On January 5, around 219 Indian fishermen were released by Pakistan after 220 of them were released on December 25, 2016.

ALSO READ | Sri Lankan Navy arrests 12 Tamil Nadu fishermen, seizes two trawler boats

Watch the video here

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Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi is partnering with University of Hawaii  Winward Community College to bring 28 students and staff to Whakatane next week as part of their studies in rituals of encounter.

Winward, in Kaneohe, Oahu, is a campus of University of Hawaii. The college looked to its longstanding relationship with Awanuiarangi to develop its first Study Abroad programme for students after establishing an on-campus Study Abroad centre earlier this year.

Hawaiian Studies faculty member Makanani Sala says Winward consistently has one of the highest percentages of native Hawaiian student enrolments in the University of Hawaii system.

The opportunity for the college to partner across Polynesia and bring students to Aotearoa is the realisation of a dream over 15 years in the making, she says.

This will be the first trip abroad for the majority of students and serves to create an opportunity to expand their worldview and increase global awareness, while facilitating introspection and critical thinking.

The group of 21 students, whose majors include Liberal Arts, Hawaiian Studies, Education and Business, will be hosted in Whakatane from Sunday March 26 until Wednesday March 29.

The group will also include Chancellor Doug Dykstra; Vice-Chancellor of Academic Affairs, Ardis Eschenberg; Hawaiian Studies faculty, Makanani and Aaron Sala; Counsellor Kaahu Alo; and administrative staff Dorene Niibu and Kahea Tani.

The students are studying rituals of encounter from around Polynesia. Their study experience will include participating in, and observing, the rituals associated with Maori protocol.

A special lecture series has been organised by Awanuiarangi as part of the students time on campus in Whakatane, and the group will also visit local sites, including Mataatua wharenui and White Island.
Secrecy and ensuring the well-being of the institution were the two points of concern that rose above all others as supporters of the Smyth-Bland Regional Library contemplated the news that Bland and Smyth county officials are studying the dissolution of the regional library.

The Smyth County Board of Supervisors apparent closed-door discussions on the matter have prompted the Friends of the Smyth-Bland Regional Library to take legal action.

Marion attorney Paul Morrison confirmed that he anticipates filing a complaint on behalf of the Friends against the supervisors next week. The complaint, he said, will allege that the supervisors violated the Virginia Freedom of Information Act by discussing the possible dissolution behind closed doors and without citizen input.

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a state law that gives citizens the right to obtain government information and requires governing bodies meetings to be open to the public. The act does provide a limited number of exceptions for which governing bodies may enter closed sessions to discuss only that matter. Some of those exceptions are personnel matters, the acquisition of real property, and consultation with legal counsel and staff regarding probable or actual litigation.

It is the exception for litigation that some people contend is the justification supervisors are using to discuss the dissolution of the regional library.

During a Friends meeting Wednesday evening, Patton Graham, one of the attorneys representing three former trustees of the library in a lawsuit against the supervisors, said that its his belief that the supervisors are pursuing the regional librarys dissolution because it could make the lawsuit mute.

On Thursday, the News & Messenger contacted the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council for its perspective but had not received a response by press time.

The lack of discussion in open public meetings left some people reeling when the news was made public in a News & Messenger article earlier this week.

Were shocked and surprised that local elected officials would consider pushing through a change to the status of the library, said Marvin Leslie to a Friends gathering Wednesday evening. He said citizens deserve the courtesy, if not the legal right, to have their say about this radical maneuver.

This is a terrific library. We dont want to see it diminished, Leslie said.

Jeff Richardson also said at the meeting that the supervisors actions werent in keeping with the democratic process. It is a public library. It belongs to the public. I believe every citizen has the right to have input.

Supervisors Rick Blevins and Blake Frazier attended the Friends meeting. When the supervisors removed the library boards Smyth County trustees last October and appointed themselves to fill the empty seats, Blevins and Frazier accepted the roles of chairman and vice chairman, respectively.

Blevins pointed toward the lawsuit by some of the trustees who were removed as cause for the closed-door sessions.

Leslie responded that the dissolution of the regional system was an entirely separate matter.

The Friends lauded a suggestion by Brian Thompson, who said the supervisors should table the dissolution discussion until the lawsuit is resolved and then hold open discussions. Whats the overarching concern to do it now? he asked.

Richardson said he echoed that call. He added that decisions made in a hasty manner dont turn out to be wise decisions.

About 30 Friends and library staff members attended the supervisors Thursday night meeting. Per its rules and procedures, the board allowed the citizens 15 minutes to speak divided among those who wanted to address the board.

Leslie led the speakers, reiterating his concerns about the process the supervisors have used to reach this point and the possible impacts to the library from the loss of a portion of state aid to the library. He urged the supervisors, Please listen to the citizens of the county. And, asked, Why fix it if it is not broken?

Frances Detweiler urged the supervisors: Reconsider what youre about to do.

Morrison, the Friends attorney, repeated the question: What is the hurry to push the vote through?

Wednesday, Blevins had told the Friends that hed had zero complaints about the library in the six months its been more directly under the supervisors management. Morrison reminded Blevins of that statement and asked, if thats the case, what is the motivation to dissolve the regional library?

Based on his FOIA requests of the library and state library, Morrison said he believed the dissolution would cost the local library about $100,000 a year. So theres no financial motivation, he concluded. In an earlier interview, he said, Theres no financial incentive. There is only a financial detriment if they maintain the same level of services.

Wednesday evening, an employee of the library asked Blevins if he would guarantee that the level of service would remain as it is now. Would you give me your word? she asked.

Blevins responded, I will say that.

He noted that at the next library trustees meeting, which will take place in April, the trustees plan to consider reopening the Marion branch on Fridays. The Friday hours had been eliminated to save money. The cost of reopening the branch for about half a day has been estimated at $15,000.

Thursday, to the supervisors, Morrison said, I dont understand the secrecy. I dont understand the motivation.

The attorney pointed to an email between Bland County and Smyth County officials and the Library of Virginia that said, Both localities have/will have taken the necessary steps to obtain, adopt and provide the requested information prior to the April 15th date.

A March 7 email says, Collectively, we both have a five-year plan, a resolution drafted to allow for the dissolution of the current regional system, the list of Trustees will be the board of supervisors of each of our respective localities, we have some of the policies that will be in place in draft form as well.

That takes some time, said Morrison, who said it confirmed to him that someones got a political agenda and someones going out of his way to get power.

He told the supervisors that they could still slow down. Its not too late to do the right thing.

The supervisors have scheduled a special called meeting to discuss the regional library Tuesday at 5 p.m. The Bland County Board of Supervisors also meets that evening and its agenda, under the county administrators items, includes Request Board to Adopt Joint Resolution: Disbandment of the Smyth-Bland Regional Library System. Earlier several members of the Friends of the Smyth-Bland Regional Library are scheduled to speak.
The militants surprised a police party in Pulwama and started firing indiscriminately. They were however killed in retaliatory fire.

By Press Trust of India: Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were today killed when they tried to ambush a police party that included three officers of the rank of superintendent of police in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.

The incident took place at Padgampura, a place located on the border of Awantipura and Pulwama districts in south Kashmir, 35 kms from here, when militants came from behind and started firing indiscriminately at the convoy of the officers, the police said.

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The last vehicle was that of 32-year-old Chandan Kholi, posted as additional superintendent of police in militancy-hit Pulwama district, which bore the brunt of the attack.

Kholi, along with his guards, who were swiftly supported by senior superintendents of police of Awantipora and Pulwama Zahid Malik and Rayees Mohammed Bhat respectively, neutralised the two militants, they said.

DRIVER ESCAPES

The driver of the car, in which the two militants were travelling, escaped after the encounter broke out, the police said, adding a hunt has been launched to nab him to ascertain whether he was kidnapped or was part of an overground network of the militant group.

The top police officers of the district were returning after a meeting with the chief election officer in connection with the forthcoming by-polls to two Lok Sabha seats of Anantnag and Srinagar.

The police have seized two weapons, including a looted self-loading rifle (SLR), besides a hand grenade and some ammunition, Deputy Inspector General of Police (South Kashmir) S Pani told PTI.

The Padgampora area has witnessed several encounters in the past and is believed to be infested by militants associated with banned outfits such as the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Pani, a seasoned police officer who has done credible work in controlling militancy in Shopian and Kulgam districts, lauded the role of the police personnel who quickly neutralised the two terrorists.

One of the slain militants has been identified as Shahbaz Safi Wani alias Rayees Kachru, who was active in the area since June, 2016.

Wani was involved in an attack on a security picket outside a minority camp at Tumlahall in Pulwama district, besides snatching two SLRs along with magazines, officials said.

The other one is a "recycled" militant, Farooq Ahmed Hurrah from Shopian, who had surrendered in 2010 and was out on parole.

On March 9, two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants were killed in an encounter at Padgampora. A civilian was also killed in the incident.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range, S J M Gillani said, "According to our officers at the spot, perhaps one militant managed to escape."

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ALSO READ | Militants challenge another senior cop at his residence in Kashmir

WATCH | Kashmir: Security forces shoot dead 2 militants, including top Hizbul commander

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By Press Trust of India: In a swift action, two militants were today killed when they tried to ambush a police party that included three officers of the rank of superintendent of police in south Kashmir.

The incident happened at Padgampora when a cavalcade of senior superintendents of police of Pulwama and Awantipora Raees Ahmed and Zahid Malik was going along with the districts Additional Superintendent of Police Chandan Kohli.

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The militants, who were travelling in a car, came from behind and started firing at the vehicle carrying Kohli in the area on the border of Awantipora and Pulwama, officials said.

All the police personnel quickly took cover and retaliated the fire in which two militants were killed, they said.

The police have seized two weapons and the identity of the militants is being ascertained, Deputy Inspector General of Police (South Kashmir) S Pani said.

He lauded the role of the police force which swiftly neutralised the two terrorists.

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Dell's 32-inch 8K UP3218K display now for sale: Check your wallet Back at CES in January, Dell announced the next step in personal screen resolution advancements. The recent rise of '4K' (or more accurately, Ultra-HD at 3840x2160) monitors has shown that there is a demand for high resolution interfaces beyond a smartphone. Back when UHD monitors in a 16:9 format launched en masse, prices were high ($3500-5000+) and stocks were limited - I remember back in 2013 testing the Sharp 32-inch 4K display at a vendor in Taiwan several years ago in one of the first pieces to test 4K/UHD gaming. AnandTech

Japanese company develops a solar cell with record-breaking 26%+ efficiency Solar panels are cheaper than ever these days, but installation costs can still be considerable for homeowners. More efficient solar panels can recapture the cost of their installation more quickly, so making panels that are better at converting sunlight into electricity is a key focus of solar research and development. The silicon-based cells that make up a solar panel have a theoretical efficiency limit of 29 percent, but so far that number has proven elusive. Ars Technica (also, Interactive: Record-breaking PV cells)

The holiday is over: Amazon will collect sales taxes nationwide on April 1 Amazon, the online merchandise juggernaut, will collect sales taxes from all states with a sales tax starting April 1. Tax-free shopping will be over as of next month in Hawaii, Idaho, Maine and New Mexico, the four remaining holdouts. Since the beginning of this year, Amazon has added a number of states to its roster of jurisdictions where it collects sales taxes. CNBC (also, Amazon.com wins $1.5 billion tax dispute over IRS)

eBay asks users to downgrade security Last week, KrebsOnSecurity received an email from eBay. The company wanted me to switch from using a hardware key fob when logging into eBay to receiving a one-time code sent via text message. I found it remarkable that eBay, which at one time was well ahead of most e-commerce companies in providing more robust online authentication options, is now essentially trying to downgrade my login experience to a less-secure option. KrebsOnSecurity

A Lithuanian phisher tricked two big US tech companies into wiring him $100 million The Department of Justice today unsealed an indictment against a Lithuanian scammer who managed to trick two American tech companies into wiring him $100 million. The scammer, 48-year-old Evaldas Rimasauskas, did so by masquerading as a prominent Asian hardware manufacturer, according to court documents, and tricking employees into depositing tens of millions of dollars into bank accounts... The Verge

AMD Ryzen with 12 cores and 24 threads Another day, another Ryzen leak. Today we share the details of yet unannounced Ryzen CPU with 12 cores, which is most likely being prepared for AMD's HEDT X390 platform. I will start by saying that the machine detected with this CPU is Alienware Area-51 R3. The R2 (which looks like this) ships with Broadwell i7-6800/6850K processors. VideoCardz.com (also, AMD preps BIOS update to fix FMA3 freezes for Ryzen)

The hard way of cassette tape auto-reverse The audio cassette is an audio format that presented a variety of engineering challenges during its tenure. One of the biggest at the time was that listeners had to physically remove the cassette and flip it over to listen to the full recording. Over the years, manufacturers developed a variety of "auto-reverse" systems that allowed a cassette deck to play a full tape without user intervention. This video covers how Akai did it - the hard way. Hackaday

The art and joy of video game photography Did you know that in 2015 more people died while taking selfies than were killed in deadly shark attacks? I don't know how many people typically die in deadly shark attacks each year, and I've wasted enough of Google's time this week to bother finding out, but it makes for a snippy tabloid headline, or barstool factoid -- providing nobody asks too many follow-ups. Like a furious and lonely baby boomer in a Daily Mail comments section, I'd be tempted to judge the unfortunates behind the statistic were it not for the fact that, earlier this week I fell out of a tree while trying to photograph bird eggs. Eurogamer

The end of smartphone innovation This autumn Apple will release a new iPhone design, and the fact that it postponed a new design and kept the 6 design for three years instead of two suggests it has something that will attract attention. However, it will really still 'just' be another iPhone. Meanwhile, we have some indications that Apple is working on AR glasses (of which more later) and certainly was working on a car project - but neither of these is likely to see a mass-market consumer release for a year or two at the least (cars perhaps longer). Ben Evans

LastPass: Security done wrong Disclaimer: I am the author of Easy Passwords which is also a password manager and could be considered LastPass competitor in the widest sense. Six month ago I wrote a detailed analysis of LastPass security architecture. In particular, I wrote: So much for the general architecture, it has its weak spots but all in all it is pretty solid and your passwords are unlikely to be compromised at this level. However, as described in my blog post the browser integration turned out to be a massive weakness. Palant.de

Roam free: A history of open-world gaming Open-world video games bear the impossible promise---offering compelling, enjoyable open-endedness and freedom within the constraints of what is, by necessity of the medium, an extremely limited set of possible actions. These games provide a list of (predominantly violent) verbs that's minuscule in comparison to the options you would face in identical real-life situations. Yet, we can't get enough of them. Ars Technica

Why you should care about the Supreme Court case on toner cartridges A corporate squabble over printer toner cartridges doesn't sound particularly glamorous, and the phrase "patent exhaustion" is probably already causing your eyes to glaze over. However, these otherwise boring topics are the crux of a Supreme Court case that will answer a question with far-reaching impact for all consumers: Can a company that sold you something use its patent on that product to control how you choose to use after you buy it? The Consumerist

Congress yet again ponders new 'dig once' fiber law For years we've noted how the government has considered "dig once" laws to improve broadband connectivity nationwide. Basically, these proposals usually include requirements that new fiber conduit banks be installed automatically as part of any Federal highway projects moving forward, gutting much of the cumbersome regulatory barriers in the process. It's something that gets proposed every few years, but never seems to move forward... DSL Reports

VGA in memoriam The reports of the death of the VGA connector are greatly exaggerated. Rumors of the demise of the VGA connector has been going around for a decade now, but VGA has been remarkably resiliant in the face of its impending doom; this post was written on a nine-month old laptop connected to an external monitor through the very familiar thick cable with two blue ends. VGA is a port that can still be found on the back of millions of TVs and monitors that will be shipped this year. Hackaday

Update on HTML5 video for Netflix About four years ago, we shared our plans for playing premium video in HTML5, replacing Silverlight and eliminating the extra step of installing and updating browser plug-ins. Since then, we have launched HTML5 video on Chrome OS, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, Firefox, and Edge on all supported operating systems. And though we do not officially support Linux, Chrome playback has worked on that platform since late 2014. Netflix

Senate puts ISP profits over your privacy The Senate just voted to roll back your online privacy protections. Speak up now to keep the House from doing the same thing. ISPs have been lobbying for weeks to get lawmakers to repeal the FCC's rules that stand between them and using even creepier ways to track and profit off of your every move online. EFF

Text editor performance comparison This started out as a check on some performance problems which were fixed for the latest version of JOE (version 4.3), but is interesting in its own right as a comparison between some text editors. Github
New York City is home to many interesting people and things, such as the first Pokemon GO player in the United States who already caught them all, the parking meters that can be paid via a smartphone application, and the veterinarian who was unfortunate enough to catch a rare type of bird flu from a cat.

The city that never sleeps is also home to some of the world's richest people, and this leads developers to try and outdo each other when constructing luxury condominiums and homes that are limited by the city's zoning laws. However, one studio came up with a creative solution that could change the face of the New York City skyline: a U-shaped building.

Greek-born architect Ioannis Oikonomou, founder of OIIO Studio, unveiled the designs on the company's website and posed the idea that focusing on building longer structures instead of taller would not only make the infrastructure stand out, it would still follow NYC's unique zoning laws.

The Big Bend

OIIO Studio stated that NYC developers have been equating prestige with the height of the city's skyscrapers, allowing properties to become more expensive per square meter. The studio then challenged the preconceived idea by proposing a new unique design for a prestigious building.

"If we manage to bend our structure instead of bending the zoning rules of New York we would be able to create one of the most prestigious buildings in Manhattan. The longest building in the world," the studio writes.

Dubbed as "The Big Bend," OIIO's proposed building is an inverted-U structure that is 4,000 feet long from one base to the other. The building may not be the tallest since it is bent, but it will definitely be undefeated if one considers its length as the height when it is stretched out like the other structures.

Take a look at the image below for a height comparison of NYC's tallest structures.

Is It A Structure Or A Symbol?

Despite being an amazing concept, "The Big Bend" does not seem to be a real proposition for Manhattan.

Some believe that the concept design is OIIO Studio's creative way of commenting on the state of architectural inequality in NYC, while others think it serves to highlight the competition for building height in Manhattan.

Both could be considered partially correct since OIIO Studio also included the following cartoonish images along with the design.

The studio, however, seems to be tackling a different issue: that of the growing number of homeless people and lack of affordable housing, as detailed in its post titled "Behind the Big Bend: The multi-faceted NY urban life."

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The first charter flight that flew close to the Antarctic Circle from New Zealand returned on Friday with excited passengers having a close look at the Aurora Australis phenomenon in green hues, also known as Southern Lights.

Buoyed by the good response, the organizer is looking to plan more fights in the future.

The initiative was taken by Ian Griffin, an Otago museum director and astronomer himself. Having flown in a NASA observatory plane as a guest, he was keen to revisit the Southern Lights and share the excitement with others.

"We've traveled two-thirds of the way to the south pole, seen an incredible display of the southern lights, got lovely pictures and were home in time for breakfast," Griffin said.

He said beautiful auroral streamers and green-colored hues moving swiftly created a feeling that they were watching a green river.

To ensure good darkness, the journey was fixed on a day proximate to the equinox. The plane traveled more than 60 degrees latitude south with a viewing time of almost five hours.

Tickets of the chartered Boeing 767 for 134 seats were sold out in five days flat. Only window seats and the adjacent ones were sold for optimum viewing with the aircraft's middle part kept empty.

Priced at NZ$4,000 or $2,800 for the economy and NZ$8,000 or $5,600 for business class.

Aurora Australis and its northern counterpart Aurora Borealis occur when the Earth's magnetic field interacts with electrically charged particles emitted by the sun.

Southern Lights Excites Plane Passengers

Peering through the aircraft's window, the passengers enjoyed an extraordinarily grand view of the aurora lights.

Many star-struck passengers shared their exciting experience.

"Our lives are forever altered by this incredible experience and we are eternally grateful to have been a part of this remarkable event", said passenger Roz Charlton on Facebook.

Rafael, from Spain, responded immediately to the online advertisement and decided to take "this adventure."

Passengers like Nick Wong were also inspired by the idea from social media.

"I didn't think we would actually see such a spectacular display, even by the naked eye," he said and added that Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights is his next target.

Commenting on the excitement showed by most passengers while watching the southern lights, Mark Hathaway, a TV journalist said they were like kids at Christmas.

Conditions For Best View Of Southern Lights

Aurora Australis is one of the natural wonders that is associated with New Zealand.

The Southern Lights, compared to Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights are relatively less known. However, right conditions can offer an unforgettable night as a play of colors worth remembering all the time.

The optimal viewing of Southern Lights depends on a combination of best time, weather conditions, and the right place.

In New Zealand, the aurora activity in green and pink hues is often supplemented with green veils that light up the sky.

Solar winds are highly energized electrically charged particles coming from solar winds that enter the Earth's atmosphere and react with gasses in the Earth's atmosphere.

The magnetosphere guards the Earth against solar winds. However, some of the charged particles penetrate the magnetosphere at the north and south poles and interact with the atmospheric gasses. The resultant transfer of energy between the gasses and solar wind electrons show up as pretty lights of the aurora.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Orcas or killer whales breathe out good bacteria, salmonella, and fungi, a new study has found.

Data that may shed light on the role of infectious diseases in the endangered Puget Sound orca population also suggested that human waste could be contaminating its marine environment and causing the "bad breath."

Breathing Out A Range Of Bacteria

In their analysis over a four-year period, researchers followed whales swimming in Washington state waters, waiting for them to surface and then exhale. While on boats, they would swing a 25-foot-long pole with different petri dishes above the whales blowholes, capturing droplets spraying out.

What the breath samples revealed: both good and disease-causing microbes, some of which were antibiotic-resistant and likely come from human waste entering the ecosystem. Worrisome bacteria, including salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus, were seen in both the whales breath samples and seawater samples collected for comparison.

"They're recruiting the bacteria in their habitats," warned lead author and veterinary pathologist Stephen Raverty in a statement.

The marine animals swim through urban waterways as well as encounter a range of human-related stressors such as agricultural runoff and even objects flushed down toilets.

Potential Effects On Orcas

Orcas with weak immunity can, therefore, be more vulnerable to the said bacteria, leading to respiratory conditions. As it is, they already subjected to various stressors that can compromise their immune system.

It remains unclear how harmful the microbes could be to these creatures. Certain bacterias presence in the environment could be something normal or could provide a way to make an orca sick once it becomes immune-suppressed, explained Raverty.

Respiratory disease emerged as a factor in the death of whales. Around 40 percent of them had been found to have an infected lung, which was potent enough to lead to death in some cases.

The findings were discussed in the journal Scientific Reports.

Orca Population

Orcas have returned to Puget Sound just in time for the beginning of spring.

Orcas in Puget Sound  located along the northwestern coast of Washington and parts of the Pacific Ocean and the Salish Sea  have fluctuated in numbers in recent times. Facing a lineup of threats including pollution, lack of prey, and noise disturbance from sea vessels, they entered the endangered species list in 2005 and are 78 today.

Scientists are trying to create a personal health record for each endangered whale, tracking and photographing them intensely. The orcas in the area, each with individual names and numbers, are identifiable via black and white markings as well as differences in fin shapes.

Recently, the oldest known orca called J2 Granny was missing and presumed dead. She was estimated to be between the ages of 80 and 105 years. In the last few months, the whale that swam in the seas near Washington State possibly passed away as she had not been seen with the J group.

Just last January, more than 80 false killer whales, which resemble orcas but lack the distinct white oval encircling the eye of their larger relative, were found lifeless after a mass stranding along the Southwest Floridas remote coast. It was the biggest recorded stranding of such whales in the state was originally believed to be about 100.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A doctor claims to have stumbled upon a potentially effective treatment for sepsis, a deadly condition marked by the body's overwhelming and life-threatening response to severe infection

Sepsis

Patients who develop sepsis face longer treatments and higher healthcare costs. They also have a higher likelihood of suffering from complications. Those who become septic tend to suffer from low blood pressure that can lead to multiple organ failures. The condition is highly fatal killing more people in the hospital than any other disease.

Vitamin C As Cure For Sepsis

Now, a doctor from Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia, claims he has discovered a potential cure for the disease and the treatment's primary ingredient is Vitamin C.

Paul Marik said he already treated about 150 patients with sepsis using an infusion of vitamin C, thiamine, and low dose of steroids.

The treatment has high success rate. Of those he treated, only one died of sepsis, which is remarkable given that 300,000 of 1 million cases of sepsis in the United States per year are fatal.

Healthcare Workers Urged Not To Use Marik's Treatment

Despite the promising results of Marik's treatment, other experts warned healthcare workers not to use or replicate the treatment just yet because the results could be different when the treatment is tried in a larger study.

Emory University School of Medicine surgery professor Craig Coopersmith, a top sepsis researcher, cautioned that Marik's treatment needs to be treated as a preliminary deal that needs to be validated. He said that further tests are necessary before any conclusions can be drawn about the new treatment's efficacy.

Coopersmith's skepticism is not without good reason. Hundreds of promising results from sepsis studies have failed in follow-up research. Coopersmith said that a result may seem very exciting when it is done in a group in one hospital with one group of clinicians but it may turn out otherwise when it involves a larger group of patients in multiple centers.

"Thus far we've been unsuccessful with anything," Coopersmith said.

Ron Daniels, from UK Sepsis Trust, said that Markin's treatment has only been used in a small number of patients and it isn't clear if the vitamin C or the steroid is responsible for the results.

Daniels said that the results are almost too good to be true and these need to be tested properly in controlled trials.

"It's an unorthodox way of doing research," Daniels said.

He said that if the treatment is proven effective in further research, it could potentially pave way for future hospital therapies since the ingredients are relatively cheap and accessible.

In their study describing the treatment which was published in a study published in the journal Chest on Dec. 6, Marik and colleagues acknowledged that additional studies are needed to confirm their preliminary findings.

"Our results suggest that the early use of intravenous vitamin C, together with corticosteroids and thiamine may prove to be effective in preventing progressive organ dysfunction." Marik and colleagues wrote. "Additional studies are required to confirm these preliminary findings."

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
In an attempt to protect its burgeoning business with marijuana, lawmakers from Colorado are cooking up a new bill in preparation for a possible federal ban on marijuana by the Trump administration.

From Recreational Weed To Medical Marijuana

Colorado is one of the few U.S. states where the use of marijuana for both recreational and medical purposes is allowed. In 2016, medical marijuana became legal in half of the country's 50 states. These include Alaska, California, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Washington D.C.

If it gets through, the alleged bill would allow at least 500 of Colorado's licensed pot growers and retailers to immediately rebrand their recreational weed as medical marijuana, otherwise known as cannabis, to adapt to any potential revisions in federal regulations in the future.

"If there is a change in federal law, then I think all of our businesses want to stay in business somehow. They've made major investments," said Sen. Tim Neville, a suburban Denver Republican who sponsored the bill.

The Catch

Clever? Here's the catch: the reclassification from medical marijuana to recreational marijuana would cost the state over $100 million dollars' worth of taxes per year, as Colorado taxes recreational weed higher than medical marijuana  2.9 percent versus 17.9 percent.

And not everyone from Colorado is happy about it.

"It's a big deal for our taxation system because this money has been coming in and has been set aside for this, that and the other," said Sen. Lois Court, a Denver Democrat who voted against the bill.

As of latest reports, the state of Colorado has as much as 827,000 marijuana plants in the market in June of 2016, with more than 50 percent sold for recreational use.

Unusual Marijuana Disease In Colorado

In 2015, a study found that emergency room cases of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), a medical condition typically seen in heavy and chronic marijuana users, doubled in Colorado hospitals since 2009.

"The science behind it is not clear, The most likely cause is that people using marijuana frequently and in high doses have changes in the receptors in their body, and those receptors become dysregulated in some way, and it starts causing pain," Dr. Kennon Heard, one of the authors of the study and an emergency physician at the University of Colorado Hospital, said.

People suffering from CHS are usually compulsive bathers, too. Experts believe the frequent showers relieve the patients of CHS symptoms, which are usually severe bouts of nausea and vomiting.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
By Press Trust of India: From Aditi Khanna

London, Mar 26 (PTI) At least three persons, including a woman, were injured after a high-speed car mowed them down in north London.

Scotland Yard said four teenagers armed with knives have been arrested in connection with the incident, which is not being treated as "terrorist related".

"Police were called to reports of a car in collision with a number of people. Officers and London Ambulance Service attended the scene. Three people - two males and one female - were taken to hospital for treatment to their injuries, Metropolitan Police said.

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"The occupants decamped from the car and fled the scene on foot. Four males, aged between 17 and 19, have since been arrested on suspicion of a variety of offences including GBH [grievous bodily harm] with intent and possession of points and blades. All four remain in custody," it said.

Two knives were recovered at the scene; one inside the car and one found near the car.

"This is not being treated as terrorist related," the Metropolitan Police Service statement added.

Eyewitnesses took to Twitter to describe the carnage left by the car after it mounted the pavement.

Jade Barlow wrote: "Its all kicking off on Essex road, Islington... a handful of casualties and a very large knife... hmmm. An abandoned knife and a handful of mowed down casualties."

The incident comes just days after terror suspect Khalid Masood had on Wednesday driven a car at high speed down Westminster Bridge in London before attempting an attack on the Parliament, killing four people and injuring 50. PTI AK KJ PMS KJ

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The French president mentioned to Nicolas Maduro his interest in starting a bilateral work useful for Venezuela and the region. | Read More
By Press Trust of India: From Aditi Khanna

London, Mar 26 (PTI) At least 34 people were injured, including two critically, after a massive gas explosion flattened several buildings, in Merseyside area of north-west England last night.

A Chinese restaurant, which had about 15 people inside, and a dance studio for children, which was unoccupied at the time of explosion, were among the buildings destroyed in the blast at Bebbington town.

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Merseyside fire and rescue service said the explosion was a major incident.

"Its what we would describe as a total collapse, or the explosion has blown the walls out, which has caused the roof to collapse. Its a very significant debris field and (there is) lots of structural damage to the surrounding buildings," said Dan Stephens, chief officer at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.

There was a huge police and ambulance response with at least 10 ambulances seen at the scene.

Chief Inspector David Westby of Merseyside Police said an investigation was under way to establish the exact reasons behind the explosion.

He said: "Weve got officers at all the hospitals. Detectives are gathering the relevant information in relation to victims and we will commence the investigation from this point on."

An eyewitness who lives close to the site said the explosion sounded like an "earthquake".

"Our whole house shook. It sounded like the windows were about to smash in," she said.

Wirral South MP Alison McGovern went to the scene and described it as a "very serious" situation.

"Theres very, very little we can say at this point. I would just ask people to stay away if they can, keep clear of the area and just let the police and the emergency services do their job," she said.

Amessage posted on the Complete Works dance studio Facebook page said: "We are absolutely devastated that our lovely dance studios were impacted by tonights events but first and foremost we are so very grateful that no one was in them at the time and now we hope there are no serious injuries and that everyone local is safe."

More than 600 pounds has already been donated to help the dance school recover from the loss of its building. PTI AK PMS

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By Press Trust of India: From Youssra El-Sharkawy

Cairo, Mar 26 (PTI) At least five terrorists were killed and 16 others arrested during army raids in Egypts restive North Sinai, the military said today.

The takfiri terrorists included one of the leaders of the Sinai-based terrorist group Ansar Biet el-Maqdes, Egypts military spokesperson Colonel Tamer el-Refae said in a statement.

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Sixteen suspected terrorists were also arrested during the raids, he said.

Egypts North Sinai has witnessed many terror attacks since the January 2011 revolution that toppled the former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The attacks, mainly targeting police and military, increased after the ouster of Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 by military following massive protests against his rule.

The military has launched security campaigns in the North Sinai area, in which some terrorists are based.

The security forces have arrested suspects and demolished houses that belonged to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip. PTI YES KJ PMS KJ

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The government is putting in place a system to make Aadhaar mandatory for new driving license applications and renewals.

By India Today Web Desk: The government seems to be really pushing to make Aadhaar a crucial national document. After PAN cards and mobile phone numbers, the 2 digit number will now be needed for driving licenses, the Time of India reported.

The ToI report says the government aims to make Aadhaar mandatory for all driving license applications and renewals. The plans will be put in effect by October this year, ToI reported, quoting sources.

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The move is purportedly to counter the issuance of multiple licences under different Regional Transport Offices to the same person. The current method involves manual cross-checking of an applicant's details, and Aadhaar's biometrics are expected to make the verification process easier.

If the application does not have Aadhaar, he/she would have to submit a number of other documents, the report adds. It, however, does not mention whether existing driving licenses that are not up for renewal would need to be linked to Aadhaar. This development follows reports that it will become mandatory to link Aadhaar with PAN cards and mobile phone numbers.

The controversial Finance Bill 2017, passed by the Lok Sabha last week, makes Aadhaar compulsory for filing Income Tax returns. The bill also has a provision that would make PAN cards invalid if they are not linked to the holder's respective Aadhaar number.

For mobile phone numbers, the Department of Telecommunications has ordered telecom operators to verify all postpaid and prepaid SIM users in India with their respective Aadhaars.

The verification, which was ordered by the Supreme Court (it did not, however, specify that Aadhaar must be used), must be completed by February 6, 2018. Any numbers not linked to Aadhaar will be illegal post that date.

Interestingly, the Supreme Court has, in two separate orders, told the government that it cannot make Aadhaar mandatory for citizens to avail any services or benefits.

ALSO READ:

University students must have Aadhaar number to get degrees: UGC

Finance Bill, 2017: All you need to know about the controversial bill

Aadhaar card may become mandatory for online train ticket booking

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The good news is that flood recovery money has become available for Louisiana. The bad news is that, thanks to Democratic Gov. John Bel Edward
Auburn Enlarged City School District officials hope to hear from the community on whether the 2017-2018 tax levy increase should go as high as the 3.98 percent allowed under the state's cap.

"We're just trying to get input from the community on where to set the tax (levy) at," Superintendent Jeff Pirozzolo said last week.

A budget forum will be held at Auburn High School at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, before the regular 7 p.m. school board meeting.

Business manager Lisa Green presented details on the district's tentative 2017-2018 budget at a March 21 school board meeting. The district is weighing options to close a roughly $3.6 million budget deficit, including more than 30 full-time equivalent job cuts or adding to the tax levy increase, which currently stands at 1.98 percent.

In an interview Friday, school board president Mike McCole said that in addition to hearing from the public on the tax levy, there would also be explanations on the budget's current overall progress, how the tax cap works and the state's foundation aid.

At the March 21 meeting, members of the board debated the merits taking the tax levy all the way up to the cap, with some arguing there would be little benefit in it while others said it is necessary in order to retain jobs.

The proposed budget includes position eliminations of 31.5 full-time equivalents at this point.

Green said the district is anticipating harnessing a little under $1.6 million from various reserve accounts to help bridge the budget gap down to over $2 million. Options for closing the rest of the deficit include the job cuts, taking money from the district's unappropriated fund balance and raising taxes more than the 1.98 percent.

McCole said at March 21's meeting that he was against the idea of a 3.98 levy, saying the larger problem lies with the state's foundation aid formula not being fixed.

"The issue we have in this district is the state's continuing refusal to fund their own foundation aid formula, and the impact it has on this district," McCole.

In addition, Green said via email that the state this year is using a 2003 designation that classifies Auburn as an average-needs district instead of its 2008 status as a high-needs district.

"This is causing us to lose about $1 million in foundation aid under the (governor's) 2017-18 proposed budget," Green said.

McCole said he believed bringing taxes up to the gap could serve to alienate the community.

"I personally do not believe we can fix this problem by putting the burden on the taxpayer," McCole said.

He added he didn't believe the increase would help with the deficit.

"It's not enough money to fix the problem. It's a Band-Aid on a gushing artery wound, and I don't see it as a long-term solution," McCole said.

Vice president Kathleen Rhodes and member Karol Soules also expressed hesitation in backing a tax levy that goes all the way up to the cap.

But board members William Andre and Eli Hernandez indicated they were open to setting the levy at a 3.98-percent increase. Andre said he was concerned with keeping positions.

"No matter what way we spin it, we need every (position) on that list," Andre said.

Like McCole, Andre and Hernandez are urging the public to provide feedback.

"We should be told, 'Hey, this is what I support as a taxpayer,'" Hernandez said.

In an interview Thursday, Green said about $600,000 in revenue could be raised by going from the current tax levy increase of 1.98 to the 3.98 increase cap, she said.

"Every percent increase in our tax levy is about $300,000 in our tax revenue," Green said.

Green said that $600,000 figure could save nine jobs, but she noted that money might not necessarily be used for position retention.

Pirozzolo said the complete breakdown of cut positions  whether they are support staff positions, teacher jobs or administrative duties  hasn't been totally determined yet, though he expects those will be be announced at an upcoming school board meeting. He plans to speak with staff before any eliminations would be announced, he said.

The superintendent acknowledged people's livelihoods are in the balance.

"The last thing we want is to lay people off," Pirozzolo said.

Pirozzolo emphasized the importance of the students, citing a New York State Education Department 2015-20126 fiscal supplement which said Auburn spent $17,539 per student, while the state average was $22,556. It also noted the average for a district group similar to Auburn was $21,153.

"At Auburn, we don't overspend on our students," Pirozzolo said.

The board is expected to adopt its final budget proposal on April 11, with a public budget hearing on May 9 and the final taxpayer vote taking place May 16.
Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that his party will abolish the residential house tax and waive off arrears if voted to power in the capital's civic bodies.

By Mail Today Bureau: Seemingly unnerved by BJP's win and its big losses in UP, Punjab and Goa recently, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is now re-focusing on its original kingdom - Delhi.

On Saturday, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that his party will abolish the residential house tax and waive off arrears if voted to power in the capital's civic bodies, seeking to aggressively woo voters ahead of the April 23 polls.

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He also cancelled his visit to Gujarat, where was scheduled to address party volunteers in Gandhinagar on Sunday. AAP workers from across the 182 Assembly segments in the state will gather at Chhavni Maidan in the city to discuss strategies for the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections and plan its door-to-door campaign.

But Kejriwal "will not be there to guide them as he is busy with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls," said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Saurashtra zone convener Kanu Kalsaria.

The booth level volunteers meeting will now be addressed by senior AAP leader and Delhi's Labour Minister Gopal Rai.

In Delhi, holding a press conference on Saturday, the CM said, "We will abolish the residential house tax and waive off tax arrears of MCD if AAP comes to power...the party is preparing its detailed manifesto which will be released soon."

Kejriwal contended that the house tax has become a major source of corruption and promised that his party, which is making its civic polls debut, will end it.

KEJRIWAL VOWS TO TRANSFORM THREE CIVIC CORPORATIONS

The Delhi CM vowed to transform the three civic corporations in the national capital into profit-making bodies.

Two of the bodies - the New Delhi Municipal Council and East Delhi Municipal Corporation - are currently grappling with financial losses.

To a question about allegations by political rivals that the AAP always announces freebies ahead of the polls, Kejriwal said, "Before Assembly polls, we had promised to halve power tariff besides making water free. We fulfilled all these promises. We are not lying. We are saving from `100 crore to `200 crore in construction of every flyover and spending them on public-welfare schemes. What is wrong in it?"

Taking a dig at the BJP which is currently in power in the municipal bodies, the chief minister said its councillors "could be seen travelling on scooters before the previous MCD elections, but are now zooming around in expensive cars".

Kejriwal also promised that within a year of coming to power in the MCDs, the AAP administration would turn around the finances of the loss-making municipal bodies and ensure that their employees get their salaries on or before the seventh of every month.

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COMMERCIAL TAX

Kejriwal added that the commercial house tax will continue to be in place. "We are making this promise with full responsibility and after thorough study and planning," he said.

The residential house tax is an important source of revenue for civic bodies. Delhi's property tax payers owe a whopping `2700 crore to the three corporations, some individual property owner owe `20 crore.

The three municipal corporations -SDMC, NDMC and EDMC - go to polls on April 23, while votes will be counted on April 26.

ALSO READ | MCD polls: BJP, Congress turned Delhi into garbage house, says Kejriwal in video message

Arvind Kejriwal to face trial in Jaitley defamation case as court frames charges

ALSO WATCH | Delhi civic polls likely in April, parties raise concern over EVMs

--- ENDS ---
Gov. John Bel Edwards' sudden embrace of a plan to replace the state's corporate income tax with a corporate tax on sales is surprising on two levels.

For one thing, this was not one of the recommendations from a major state task force, or from any of the other major players who've been studying ways to stabilize Louisiana's perpetually desperate financial picture. Nobody of note outside the governor's office suggested it, and nobody seems to be pushing for it. Edwards himself, who has long targeted the upcoming legislative session as his best chance to pursue structural budget reform, has not been going around the state making a case for the idea, at least not until very recently.

Even more unexpected is that Edwards would advocate for something so ambitious.

In general, the governor tends to approach policy more cautiously. Until now, he's deferred to the experts and leaned on the good-government idea of following best practices. That's his nature, but it's also a recognition that he's not in a position to muscle his ideas through a Legislature dominated by Republicans, including a partisan House faction that doesn't want to give the Democratic governor a big win.

So where did this all come from?

Probably a place of sheer desperation.

Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson told The Advocate's Tyler Bridges last week that the governor's team watched voters reject last year's constitutional amendment to eliminate a major corporate tax break in exchange for reducing corporate income tax rates, and concluded that they'd have trouble getting support for a similar swap of individual income tax exemptions for a lower overall rate. That seriously limits the administration's range of choices, and apparently sent officials off in search of another idea. They found it in Ohio, which places a gross receipts tax of 0.26 percent on all sales.

But whether the proposal, which Edwards plans to flesh out on Monday, will fly here is not at all guaranteed.

On first glance, it seems to solve one intractable problem: By getting rid of the corporate income tax, the state would also eliminate some of the lucrative tax breaks that have drained the treasury in recent years.

But the concept of a gross receipts tax itself has many critics.

Nationally, both the conservative Tax Foundation and the progressive Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy find it wanting. Locally, most major players are waiting for Edwards' full proposal, but the few who've weighed in hint at the challenges ahead.

Speaking to the Jefferson Chamber this week, GNO, Inc. President Michael Hecht conceded that there's a certain appeal in the idea's "conceptual simplicity"  "just tax everybody on everything" at a superficially low rate, as he put it. But overall, he argued that it's "bad policy" and rattled off five reasons why.

Hecht said that gross receipts taxes wind up being higher on low-margin businesses, such as grocery stores, than on high-margin companies; that products are taxed multiple times throughout the production process, with the compounded burden passed on to consumers; that the true total tax isn't transparent; that certain types of companies are "double taxed" under these systems on both income and gross receipts; and that the tax would make Louisiana less appealing to start-ups that are unlikely to show profit in their formative years.

That's at least one perspective from the business side, but gross receipts taxes aren't necessarily popular in other corners either, including among Edwards' natural allies. Jan Moller, who heads the left-leaning Louisiana Budget Project, said he wants to see the governor's plan, but has general concerns that this form of taxation, like individual sales taxes, disproportionately impacts lower income people.

The question, of course, is compared to what? Edwards hopes to end a temporary one-cent increase in state sales tax, which lawmakers instituted last year as an emergency measure, but keeping it may be more acceptable to some Republicans than the alternatives. There are other tax measures in the mix too, but none that have widespread appeal.

So while Edwards' sudden push for a gross receipts tax seems uncharacteristically bold, maybe the explanation is that he's run out of other ideas. This is the sort of thing that even a level-headed leader might propose once he realizes he has no good options.
One of four breast surgery patients who testified in March against Uptown plastic surgeon Dr. Alireza Sadeghi, only to see him acquitted on vi
Defying the president of the United States can be a risky business for a New Orleans mayor, but not this time.

Mitch Landrieu did not need to screw up his courage when he told Donald Trump to shove his executive order that sanctuary cities shall not be eligible to receive federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes.

Trump, notwithstanding the usual bluster, can exact no reprisal from cities such as New Orleans that refuse to play ball with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Trump gives the distinct impression that if he could send in stormtroopers to deal with pockets of resistance, he would do so. That was pretty much how he responded to dissenters at rallies on the campaign trail, but since he became president, federal judges and some members of Congress may have disabused him of any notion that he was elected dictator.

The constraints of office are about to become even more frustrating for Trump. If he is capable of feeling humbled, it will happen when he is forced to abandon the attempt to bully New Orleans and other sanctuary cities. He invited humiliation by issuing a threat so manifestly empty that Landrieu was able to dismiss it out of hand.

As part of his ballyhooed crackdown on alien criminals, Trump ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to publish a weekly list of cities and counties that refuse to join the round-up. The first list, released last week, includes New Orleans and 117 other jurisdictions. Hundreds more may be eligible to make the list in future weeks. It will be up to the attorney general to cut off the money supply for any entity with a statute, policy or practice that prevents or hinders the enforcement of a federal law.

So here we have a president plumbing historic depths in the opinion polls who proposes that one of his appointees instruct another to confiscate untold millions of the taxpayer's own money. That would be a tough sell in pursuit of a sound, constitutional government policy, but this executive order serves no purpose beyond bolstering the xenophobic credentials that helped Trump get elected.

It is supposed to make the streets safer, but will have the opposite effect. If NOPD and the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office were, as Landrieu puts it, to join Trump's deportation force, the city could be liable to lawsuits. It would evidently also violate the federal consent decree under which NOPD operates.

New Orleans made the first of the weekly name and shame lists because the Sheriffs' Office declined a request to keep a Mexican citizen in jail until ICE could get round to kicking him out of the country. Instead, the Sheriff's Office released the man when he completed his term for a battery conviction, since there was no court order or criminal warrant to justify continued incarceration.

The jurisprudence says that state officials cannot be compelled to enforce federal regulations. Several courts, moreover, have been held that so-called ICE detainers violate the Fourth Amendment. The Sheriff's Office evidently reasoned it would rather see New Orleans damned as a sanctuary city than assume the risks of complying with the executive order.

One premise of the executive order is that sanctuary cities are more dangerous, although crime stats say otherwise. Another is that if law enforcement officers in such cities as New Orleans would check immigrants' documents, and keep the feds informed, bad hombres could be removed.

Landrieu, and, indeed, anyone with a grasp of criminal law enforcement, knows this if poppycock. Police investigators need co-operation to build cases, and they're not going to get it if, the minute they enter an immigrant neighborhood, everyone goes into hiding for fear of deportation.

An undermanned NOPD is, in any case, too busy chasing criminals to enforce civil immigration laws. The executive order seeking to penalize New Orleans for not doing ICE's job will likely be laughed out of court. It was an invitation for hizzoner to cock a snook at POTUS.

Email James Gill at jgill@theadvocate.com
A parliamentary inquiry into an ACT corruption commission is considering how wide its powers should go, and whether it should be able to compel witnesses, search properties, conduct covert surveillance and impose penalties.

The inquiry, chaired by the Greens' Shane Rattenbury, releases an options paper on Monday and has called for public submissions until May 19.

Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury. Credit:Paul Furness

The ACT is the only jurisdiction without a corruption commission except the Northern Territory, which will introduce legislation this year. The paper details corruption bodies in other states, which Mr Rattenbury said shared common features, including the power to compel.

But there were differences, such as whether the commission should hold public hearings. One option was to hold meetings in private until a certain threshold of proof had been reached, since "the sheer act of being investigated by an ICAC can leave a lasting impression on someone's reputation", Mr Rattenbury said.
The candle-lit rooms were packed with antique ornaments and freaky dolls. I didn't have the physical reactions Mr Ryan claimed people experience, such as dizziness, nauseousness or difficulty breathing.

Mrs Ryan said she could communicate with the spirits, which were apparently releasing different energies in each room. Some were angry, others were sad. She then pointed to a fiercely flickering candle surrounded by still ones, and said it was a spirit passing through. There were no windows open, but I was still cynical. However, at one point thought I saw a white light move across a mirror, when Jamila was not photographing, and I started to feel a bit uncomfortable.

After the tour, we went up to our accommodation room, which was connected to the ghost-tour section. Mr Ryan pointed out the escape route, noting he left the lights on because visitors often fled in the middle of the night. I figured they'd be pretty frightening spirits for someone to throw away the $195 it cost for the tour, bed and breakfast.

Attempting to sleep in an old, creaky, empty house would not be an enjoyable experience for anyone, even sceptics. But after hours of staring at the ceiling, desperately hoping not to hear an imaginary baby cry from the creepy cot in the corner, we fell asleep.

I'd been snoozing for less than 30 minutes when I woke up and thought I felt a gush of air on my feet. Thinking my frightened mind was playing tricks on me, I drifted back off to a happier place. But that didn't last.
Holder residents furious at a planned public housing development on their community green space have formed an action group opposing the move.

The ACT government will submit a development application for 30 two-bedroom apartments and townhouses, up to two storeys, in Stapylton Street.

Holder residents including Bill Salter and Jodie Beitzel have formed the Holder Community Action Group in opposition to a public housing development in the suburb. Credit:Karleen Minney

Holder Community Action Group was formed by about 20 residents concerned that the community's only open space and park will be snatched up for the residential development, and that they had received little consultation about the proposal.

A brochure received in the mail on March 16 was the first residents heard of the development application the government will lodge on in April, group spokeswoman Jodie Beitzel said.
Investors including Gina Rinehart are expected to cast a ruler over the AgCAP Sustainable Agriculture Fund, which comprises 17 farms across the country, valued at between $180 million to $200 million.

AgCAP, which manages SAF on behalf of superannuation funds and capital investors, including the Australian Catholic Super, AMP Capital, the former AUSCOAL Super now Mine Wealth & Wellbeing, the University of Melbourne, Christian Super and retiring AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick, is being sold as it has reached its seven-year closure.

Hancock Prospecting chairwoman Gina Rinehart may be a potential buyer.

Comprising more than 24,000 hectares of productive agricultural land located along the Eastern seaboard, from King Island, with 5500 dairy cows, to cotton and grain land in Moree, the SAF portfolio includes five aggregations.

CBRE's Danny Thomas, who is advising on the sale, said he expects interest in the land and farms to extend to neighbouring farms through to large-scale rural investors, both domestic and international.
German discount supermarket Aldi is preparing to give its logo a major freshen for the first time since it launched in Australia in 2001.

The change is global and the supermarket giant's most significant alteration to its banner in about 25 years.

The new logo has already been used for Aldi's new Chinese website. It is expected to be phased in country by country  including the US and Britain  from the middle of the year.

"The principle of simplicity is reflected in the new logo. Despite an updated apearance, it still contains the typical ALDI colours," an ALDI Australia spokesperson said.
The ABVP members stormed the event calling Faizul Hasan an anti-national, following which there was a scuffle between them and the organisers.

By Ilma Hasan: Yet another college event was disrupted after ABVP activists stormed into an event hosting lawyer Prashant Bhushan and Aligarh Muslim University president Faizul Hasan in Aligarh.

The event was taking place at the Dharam Samaj Degree College and the panelists were meant to have a talk on corruption. The ABVP members stormed the event calling Hasan an anti-national, following which there was a scuffle between them and the organisers.

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Following the event Hasan said, "I had come to speak about corruption. I had also come to spread the message of peace between Hindus and Muslims. It needs to be spoken of in the present environment."

ABVP attacked Hasan for supporting Kanhaiya

The ABVP attacked Hasan for supporting Kanhaiya Kumar in the protests that happened last year in JNU. Calling him an anti-national, ABVP members got into a physical altercation to ensure that the event stops. ABVP leader Amit Goswami said, "Anti-nationals like him can't be given a platform to voice their opinions."

Caught in the crossfire was Swaraj Abhiyan's Prashant Bhushan.

Bhushan launched a sharp attack at the government saying, "This is what is prevalent in the country now, and the government is not just promoting corruption, but even attacking those who are trying to fight it. The government supports acts like this one done by the ABVP."

Second event to be disrupted by BJP's youth wing

In less than a month, this is the second event that was disrupted by the BJP's youth wing.

In February, ABVP and AISA had witnessed large scale violence outside Delhi University's Ramjas College. The reason for the clash was an invite to JNU's Umar Khalid, despite the invitation being withdrawn by the organisers. Students, teachers and journalists were attacked outside Ramjas as tensions continued to simmer for the coming weeks in DU's North Campus.

Following the violence, DUSU president and member of ABVP, Amit Tanwar had said, "We didn't start the violence, it was them. And let me make one thing clear, Umar Khalid will not be allowed to enter DU."

The clashes had led to other colleges postponing their events, like SGTB Khalsa College's street play event, after the ABVP said they can't assure safety in campus. The ABVP has come under sharp criticism for causing ruckus on campuses and disrupting events. By bullying colleges into not inviting students from JNU, they have also been accused of taking law into their own hands from not just DU professors, but politicians of the Opposition as well.

Also read:

ABVP seeks action against AMU prof for anti-Modi remarks

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Ramjas row: ABVP takes out Tiranga March in Delhi University

Unrest in Delhi's Ramjas College, classes suspended but protests on a day after clashes

--- ENDS ---
The once high-profile PR agency whose management played a part in former prime minister Kevin Rudd's "Kevin07" federal election campaign, failed to pay its staff superannuation, a federal inquiry has been told.

The Cayman Islands registered firm Kreab Gavin Anderson went into voluntary administration on December 23, owing several former staff about $1.8 million wages, super and leave entitlements.

One of Kreab Gavin Anderson's former office managers Nicole Miller has still not been paid her superannuation entitlements. Credit:Arsineh Houspian

Administrator PKF has been appointed to deal with the case.

One of the former agency's office managers Nicole Miller told Fairfax Media they staff still have not been paid their superannuation entitlements. She says she is owed more than $6000 in superannuation.
Women that do break through that glass ceiling often face the insinuation that they are the "token woman"  there as a gesture, not on merit. Let me disavow you of that belief today. It's simple statistics. Imagine a society split evenly by gender and run by a committee of six people. Imagine, too, it is possible to know the talent level of every member of that society and that talent is equally distributed between men and women. Let's use IQ points as a crude indicator of talent, although real talent may be averaged across many traits.

Let's also assume the chosen measure of talent is, in fact, the best indicator of an individual's likelihood of making optimal decisions to maximise the wellbeing of that society. How should we select the committee to best run this society? The first step would be to line up all the individuals in society and rank them by talent. Because talent is evenly distributed among sexes, the top qualified man and top woman would each have the same IQ, let's say 160. The second top man and woman would also have the same IQ, let's say 150. The third top man and woman would have an IQ of 140, and so forth, in similarly spaced descending IQ points. It's easy to see that, under these conditions, the most talented committee possible would comprise the top three men (with IQs of 160, 150 and 140) and the top three women (IQs 160, 150, 140), giving an average IQ of 150  the highest possible of any potential combination. Imagine another committee composed of the top five men (IQs 160, 150, 140, 130, 120) and the top woman (IQ 160). This committee  which so resembles many committees today  would have a much lower average IQ of 143.

Clearly the decisions made by this second committee would be inferior to the decisions made by the first, negatively affecting society's total wellbeing. But how should we view the woman in the second scenario? Is she a token? Far from it. Aside from one other man, who is her equal, the lone woman is the smartest person in the room. Indeed, her male colleagues have, on average, an inferior IQ of 140, compared to her 160. Maybe you don't trust that the selection process is rigorous enough, and the woman is picked not on merit, but by gender. But why would you have any more confidence that such a faulty selection would be better at identifying talented men? Maybe the pool of talented women is small. But it will always be possible to pick the top woman of the bunch.

Maybe your criteria for talent is not an abstract measure like IQ, but a personality trait which helps with a particular business, like aggression to seal a deal or big muscles to lift heavy things. That may be true for some physical jobs, but when it comes to the intellectual pursuits of business and politics, mental agility is key. And much of those skills are learnt on the job. Clearly, the unequal distribution of men and women in key decision-making roles in our society is sub-optimal. The Reserve Bank's first female chief economist, Luci Ellis, launched a new Women in Economics Network last week, which is seeking to highlight the severe lack of women in this most influential profession. Of economics professors in Australia's leading eight universities, just one in 10 is female. "Nobody can seriously believe that 90 per cent of the talent in economics is male, no one can seriously believe that 90 or 80 per cent of brainy people in the world are male," Dr Ellis said.

"No one would agree with that stated blindly, so how did we end up with these patterns?" It all comes back to that social conditioning, of course, and the unconscious and negative biases women face as a result. Studies have found that in experiments where a woman speaks about a third of the time, and men two thirds, such conversations are deemed by observers  both men and women  to be equally balanced. If the woman speaks 50 per cent of the time, she is seen to dominate the conversation. And she is seen this way by both men AND women. If we want optimal decision-making for all members of our society, we're going to have to  both men and women  work hard to fight against our internal biases. If anything, when we see a lone female on a board, or on a panel, we need to retrain our brains not to dismiss her, but marvel at her abilities and even preference her opinions.
It is not the first stone that crushes the body, nor the last. It is not the boulder, nor the pebble, nor the grain of dust. It is the accumulated effect of all the stones. And so it is with aspersions. It is not the first that crushes the soul. To those claiming free speech each slight is a mere grain of dust blown away in the breeze. But it is the constant drip that wears away the stone; the last straw that breaks the camel's back. Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 is designed to protect those whose only sin is to be different.

As Mama Cass sang: "Different is hard, different is lonely, different is trouble for you only, different is heartache, different is pain." Unfortunately there are many amongst us who claim to be affronted by those who are different. They want everyone to be the same as they; small-minded and lacking in respect. Be brave. "Rather be different than be the same." Retain 18C. Peter Snowdon, Aranda

Snowy solution melts It is not helpful when Denis Woodham's otherwise informative letter (March 22) includes a statement about "400MW of energy". MW is a measure of power not energy. Australia's electrical energy consumption in 2014-15 was 252million MWh. Snowy Hydro's hydro contribution was2 per cent of this total and Hydro Tasmania contributed 3per cent. Their importance lies in that they can operate at times of peak demand for energy. Professor Andrew Blakers, an acknowledged renewable energy enthusiast, has written that it would take nine Snowy Hydro2.0 projects to reach a renewable energy panacea ("Electricity plan chance to create fully renewable power grid" March 21, p4).

The article failed to mention the required investment in new renewable energy plant. Both Snowy Hydro and Hydro Tasmania are under threat of climate change reducing the amount of snow/water available and this threat would apply to any other hydro site in south eastern Australia. This is a very serious complication for Blaker's proposal because the relevant rainfall fluctuations occur in at least year-long cycles. With Snowy Hydro's overriding commitment to irrigators and the river environments, it is likely to have only a minor role insolving the renewable energy enigma. John L Smith, Farrer

Tasmania leak lures Tasmania has a peak power generation capacity of 2314MW. It has a peak demand of 1700MW. That is, it has capacity to spare. The Bass Link electricity cable has a capacity of 500MW and is already a low-cost option for energy security for both Tasmania and the mainland. Tasmanian hydro stations are of two types: run of the river and storage. Fifty per cent are run of the river or the equivalent of intermittent renewables as they only run when there is water in the rivers. The other half comes from large dam storage. A cheap, quick option to secure continuity of supply is to increase the peak output from dams and to use the dams as a battery for renewables.

Using Tasmanian storage does not require pumping water, but it does require transmission of power across Bass Strait. As Victoria, NSW and the federal government own Snowy Hydro, and as they tried to sell it last year, it may be a good idea for the ACT and South Australia to get together to secure Tasmanian storage by funding one or more BassLink cables and doing a deal with the Tasmanians. Kevin Cox, Ngunnawal No fool like old fuel The PM's pumped storage Snowy scheme will consume more energy than it generates. If 70 per cent of the summit storage potential energy is converted into electricity and 70 per cent of off-peak electricity is converted into potential energy the scheme will use twice the electricity it generates.

The scheme could be economically viable if the price of peak demand electricity is (guess) five times the price of off-peak electricity. The scheme would improve the reliability of an electrical system using significant amounts of solar and wind generated power. To the extent that the off-peak power is generated using fossil fuels the scheme will increase greenhouse gas emissions. B. Gibbs, Page SHOUT's budget cut goes beyond shame; it's completely despicable

Ex-chief minister Jon Stanhope's informative, emotional appeal (for aid for SHOUT) says it all. Andrew Barr, Rachel Stephen-Smith and Megan Fitzharris, how do you sleep at night with your government's withdrawal of a measly $110,000 from the SHOUT organisation? God forbid you ever have the hardship and heartbreak of a loved one with breast cancer, down syndrome, motor neurone or a brain-injured child to name a few organisations affected. These people are doing it bloody tough and you sit in your "ivory tower" unable to find a measly $110,000 from the ACT's $5 billion budget. Jon Stanhope it's not a shame, it's completely despicable and soulless.

Denise Page, Canberra Patience is the key In answer to Mr Catanzariti's letter (March 21) criticising Mr Reynolds' letter welcoming the traffic lights at the bottleneck corner of Hindmarsh and Eggleston Cres. Mr Reynolds is right. Since the opening of the Tuggeranong freeway, traffic from all more southern suburbs wishing to access the freeway have either come through Chifley to Eggleston or turned left at the Melrose/ Hindmarsh lights and exacerbated the bottleneck. Making egress from Chifley during peak hours almost impossible.

Mr Catanzariti's comments had a suggestion of impatience, which has been the cause of a few accidents at the corner. Leave earlier, have patience and stop whingeing. Edith Jensen, Chifley My normal way of going to Weston in heavy hours is drive to the traffic lights at Melrose Dr and Eggleston and turn left at Melrose and Hindmarsh and then down Hindmarsh Drive to Weston. The new lights will save me time as I will be able to turn left at Eggleston to Hindmarsh more safely.

So I did have the initiative years ago. So Michael Catanzariti can rest in peace. I have been in Chifley since 1972. Ian Reynolds, Chifley A worrying absence I read Christopher Ryan's letter "Restore constable on the beat" (Letters, March 22), with fear, dismay and indignation.

If, and I have no reason to doubt it, there are major central areas of Canberra that are unsafe due to lack of police presence, this is something to be ashamed of. I would prefer to believe that this is not a choice made by the AFP simply because they do not care but is an action forced upon them by lack of funding from the ACT government. Paul O'Connor, Hawker Fuel for the AFP There have been several letters in this newspaper recently regarding ActewAGL's failure to read meters but rather to charge for gas and electricity based on their "best estimate" of our usage.

This has resulted in overcharging. I must confess that I, too, was one of ActewAGL's creditors. Bruce Paine (Letters, March 24) now tells us that Mick Gentleman's office states there is no Minister in charge. To me ActewAGL's action may be tantamount to fraud. If our politicians have no interest in the matter, surely it should be reported to the AFP? Meanwhile I suggest we only pay for our "best estimate" of our usage.

C.J.Johnston, Duffy A path to disaster A tragedy is likely in the competition between bikes and walkers, each of whom believe their group has the right of way on the lake's edge. Riders, in the main, do not ring their bells and ignore the boundary. Death or serious injury is never far away. The law prescribes bells must be rung and walkers should remain within the lines. Howard Crozier, Deakin Association on move

It is less than a week since Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris launched the Public Transport Association of Canberra. My request for information about its constitution has gone unanswered. Does it still exist? Leon Arundell, Downer Saving Scandinavia The publication of the World Happiness Report, with Norway rated more highly than Australia as the world's happiest country, comes hot on the heels of news that the Norwegian Future Fund has reached the point where it contains 1million Krone for every Norwegian. That is because Norway planned to use its finite reserves of oil to preserve prosperity into the future for all of its citizens. In contrast, Australia squanders its resources by practically giving those resources away to multinationals and then lives through perpetual cycles of boom and bust.

We have even managed to give away so much natural gas that we can no longer guarantee supply for our own power industry. Nobody is happy all the time and we all have tough times, but perhaps Norwegians stay happy by consoling themselves in their tough times by thinking that things could be worse  they could be Australian. Tony Judge, Woolgoolga, NSW What's in a name? Many women follow the English tradition of sharing their husband's surname upon marriage; many choose to retain their own (typically patriarchal) surname; while others adopt other approaches, such as double-barrelled surnames, using different surnames in different contexts, and traditions from non-Anglo cultures.

The appearance of children compels further choices. Joan Webster (Letters, March 22) asserts that those who take the first option "indicate ownership" by their husband. The word "own" has two meanings. The first is her cynical treatment as a chattel. The other is the opposite of "disown"; in this respect I have heard "I give you my name" used in vows by a groom. She then cites the uncertainty that can arise from a woman changing her surname as a practical argument. However, the other married-name options create their own uncertainties for others. Each makes their own choice, balancing the various considerations.

Why jump to judgments about the reason for those choices? Ian Douglas, Jerrabomberra TO THE POINT SECTION SELECTION I wonder how many of the people posturing on 18C know that 18D protects freedom of speech and ensures that artistic works, scientific debate and fair comment on matters of public interest are exempt from section 18C, providing they are said or done reasonably and in good faith.

Peter Campbell, Cook Barnaby Joyce's advice to the party room re 18C is 'It will cost us votes'. It seems votes transcend any harm as a result of the abuse, insults and humiliation that may be hurled at people. Is this the standard we want our children to adopt in the land of the fair go? Ray Armstrong, Tweed Heads South, NSW Why is 18D so rarely part of the discussion about s18C? Without it, it is like viewing a picture with half of it obscured. Sue Schreiner, Red Hill

NOT QUITE THE TICKET If Susan Ley only breached one of her travel entitlements; then one has to ask questions about the integrity of Parliamentary Travel Entitlements Scheme. Bring on a Federal ICAC. Jeff Bradley, Isaacs MOTHER OF SEMANTICS I would respectfully like to remind our Prime Minister that the Palace of Westminster is not the "mother of parliaments". The phrase (John Bright, January 18, 1865) refers to England itself.

Gail Tregear, Civic IN THIS TOGETHER When Malcolm Turnbull's wealthy mates return from the Caymans, will he ask them to contribute to reducing the budget bottom line, as he has already forced pensioners, Centrelink clients and young families to do? John Davenport, Farrer WARNING BLUE LIGHTS

My Bupa ambulance insurance is rising. Going from $74.65 with a rebate of $27.35 to $78.20 and rebate of $27.40 per year. There is something wrong with this yet our government with politicians who are quite well off won't do anything to help. V.Harris, Yass CLOSE TO THE MARK Howard Carew is nearly right with his letter of March 23: "The (ACT) government has its priorities hopelessly out of order." It would be more accurate to say: "The government is just hopeless." Mark Urquhart, Palmerston
Australia has taken a lone stand as the only country in its neighbourhood to boycott negotiations for a new global treaty to ban nuclear weapons.

Talks expected to include up to 120 nations are to get underway in New York on Monday, yet the Turnbull government has decided Australia will not participate in drafting the new treaty.

Labor has described the government's position as "astonishing" and will on Monday push for a Senate motion to urge Australia to join the negotiations.

The decision to boycott the talks comes despite growing regional concern about North Korea's drive to equip missiles with a nuclear warhead, raising fears the existing nuclear safeguards under international law are fraying.
The Victorian government has rejected a proposal by Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce that would see the federal government open up protected forests for logging, to save the Gippsland-based Heyfield timber mill.

Mr Joyce had also suggested the endangered status of the Leadbeater's possum, which is currently listed as critically endangered and is native to the logging-affected area, could be reviewed to save the mill.

The mill, slated for closure in September 2018, is owned by Australian Sustainable Hardwoods. It employs 250 people in the area, with downstream jobs estimated at up to 7000.

The Nationals leader said the future of the mill - the largest in Australia - and the livelihoods of staff and the wider Victorian forest industry, deserved greater consideration by the Victorian government.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is threatening to hold the government's $50 billion corporate tax cut plan to ransom, saying her party will withhold their crucial Senate crossbench votes until the Queensland sugar dispute is resolved.

The challenge in the final sitting week before the budget follows Monday's Fairfax-Ipsos poll showing 44 per cent support for the tax cuts, a 10-year plan to reduce the big business tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent by 2026-27.

The plan was a centrepiece of Coalition's 2016 budget and re-election campaign.

Senator Hanson restated her threat on Monday to not vote for any legislation before Parliament until the government resolved a three-year crisis over sugarcane supply contracts in Queensland's Burdekin region, south of Townsville.
Time for me to wrap up. What happened?

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced an inquiry into power prices ;

announced an ; it will be conducted by the consumer watchdog , the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission;

, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; but the opposition wanted to talk about penalty rates ;

wanted to talk about ; every question it asked in question time was on that topic; and

was on that topic; and One Nation's new senator, Peter Georgiou, has been sworn in.

My thanks to Andrew Meares and Alex Ellinghausen for their beautiful work and to you for reading and commenting.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Alex, Andrew and I will be back in the morning. Until then, enjoy your evening.
Despite accolades, including opening Mercedes-Benz Australia Fashion Week's first ever resortwear showings and winning best new designer at L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, he is refreshingly grounded, which has helped his survival in the industry. "It's easy to get overwhelmed and nasty," Toni says. "It's easy to become complacent. It's easy to be swayed by opinions and easy to believe the hype. I take all these things with a large pinch of salt. I remember to smile, and remember that kindness is more powerful than being an asshole." TONI ON: Australian style  I have so many international clients, and buyers say that Australians are so glamorous. They love to dress up and they present themselves in the best way possible. If that's Australian style then I back it! I think if anything there is a relaxed sense of glamour  an ease and seductive comfort. Favourite shopping  I love online shopping. It's private and I can spend as much or as little time as I want. Favourite designers  I do love Juun J. But I buy pieces based on the style, not necessarily the brand.

Favourite wardrobe item  A jacket I made for myself a few years back. I love putting it on, I feel long and tall  sinister and yet approachable. It's a long, dark-ink coat with splits up the side and back, with zipper arm details and bands that hang and are almost harnessed around me. Personal style  I am drawn to darker colours more than I used to be  navy/ink/black/charcoal. In the past you would see me in all white/cream/pink/camel. Ultimate style icon  They're all dead now. No one does anything without a contract these days. I prefer my customer. THE DESIGNER/ CREATIVE

Pip Edwards, the founder of P.E Nation. Credit:Georgie Gavaghan It's hard to believe that Pip Edwards, P.E Nation co-founder and Australian style icon, began in risk management and corporate restructuring. Denim loving Pip, the master of street cool, working in a conservative environment doesn't add up. Luckily for the fashion world, Pip couldn't ignore her true calling. "While working corporately, I always had one foot in the fashion industry," she says. "All my friends were budding designers and I was around them all the time. I would attend all their shows." Pip worked in retail throughout university, and became the muse for Baby Doll, the diffusion line from the late Mark Keighery, founder of Marcs. She started to learn the practicalities of fit and fabrication during this time, which put her in good stead for stints at Ksubi, sass & bide and General Pants, where she worked in design and PR.

In 2015, Pip created the athleisure label P.E Nation. "I just knew the time was right for me to carry out my own vision," she says. "Timing is everything, and I was confident I had learnt enough along the way to roll out something of my own with confidence." Partnering with designer Claire Tregoning, Pip set about building her label, which came with its demands. She emphasises that business nous, particularly getting on top of things such as structure and cash flow, are paramount to any start-up. "The months of negotiations and learning about business set-up was challenging. But learning to trust your gut and what you know from experience are key." P.E Nation's graphic prints and slogan tees are inspired by Pip's style, which she says is very Australian. "I see it as laid-back, casually cool, casually street, and all about the beach lifestyle. We do the high/low dressing really well." Pip has also worked as a stylist with many of Australia's top labels and lists Dion Lee, Romance Was Born, Di$count Universe and Ellery as some of her favourites. "Just being herself" is ingrained in everything Pip does. "I believe that if you do what you love, love what you do, you will always do it well," she says. "The key is to be authentic and make sure there is always integrity underlying everything you do. Your audience will naturally resonate with that." PIP ON:

The future of Australian fashion  We really are on the global radar and have incredible brands and concepts taking flight on the global fashion scene. The power of social media  My accounts speak volumes about what I do and who I am. It's not about doing things that will gain the most followers, it's about being real. Top style tip  I prefer to dress down rather than up. What fashion means  Fashion is about how it makes you feel and how you can discover yourself. If I can leave my mark and impact people through my work in fashion, then I've succeeded. THE MODEL/BLOGGER

Candice Lake is a triple threat. Credit:Candice Lake Triple-threat Candice Lake is certainly no slouch. The former law student has featured in Ralph Lauren and Versace campaigns, been photographed by industry icons Steven Meisel and Bruce Weber, and walked the runway for Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Chanel. She is a global ambassador for TRESemme, has her own label, Candidate, and has got behind the lens to photograph editorials for Vogue and Glamour. She worked with designer Alberta Ferretti to create her dreamy wedding dress and is the contributing style editor at Vogue Australia. And did we mention she is also mum to young son Arden? Like we said, no slouch. Candice, an ethereal, 183cm-tall beauty with flawless alabaster skin and a megawatt smile, was discovered at 19 while studying law. She relocated to New York soon after, where she worked on a campaign with Steven Meisel. Little did she know that this job would lead to a passion for photography. "I remember calling my agent, distraught, telling him I'd been dropped from the shoot because Steven only shot five frames of me. A few months later, I saw this amazing image of myself on a billboard. That's when I began to understand the genius of the people behind the industry and decided I wanted to study photography." While she still models, Candice's skills behind the camera have seen her work with brands including Jimmy Choo, Tiffany & Co and Louis Vuitton. She has also become one of the world's top street-style photographers, travelling the world capturing fashion-week looks for big-hitting publications

This gives her great insight into how Australian style measures up against some of the most fashionable cities in the world. "Everyone is so polished and cool in New York. They effortlessly pull out bold colours and bang-on-trend looks. London is where I shoot all my favourite girls  a lot of the cool, experimental girls are in London. "In Paris, my favourites are dressing in a feminine versus masculine aesthetic and everyone is impossibly chic! And Australian girls are amazing at mixing luxury fashion and high street, and putting it together with a sense of ease that nowhere else can match." CANDICE ON: Tips for success  Listen to your gut instinct, take risks, don't take no for an answer and work your ass off doing something you love. Style icons  Charlotte Rampling, Lauren Bacall and Catherine Deneuve are some of my old-world influences.
Young teachers are entering classrooms with inadequate computer skills, with the NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes calling for improvements in teaching courses at NSW universities.

Mr Stokes said graduate teachers should be entering classrooms with a level of "digital literacy" beyond an understanding of email, Google and Facebook.

"Parents need to be assured that teachers entering the classroom for the first time are up to the challenge of equipping 21st century students with the technological skills to succeed in an increasingly digital world," he said. "Skills like coding are increasingly sought after across professions and industries."

The Digital Literacy Skills and Learning Report, released on Monday, made a number of recommendations to improve the standard of digital literacy  using technology to find information, solve problems and complete tasks  among new teachers, and said: "The digitalisation of the workplace, society and communications cannot be argued."
The number of Australians eligible for vaccination under the National Immunisation Program, by age group and vaccination status, each year. Credit:MJA "It was quite traumatic seeing my father so badly affected. It was a bit of a shock when I was diagnosed with it," Mr Condon said. Even his mild case of shingles left him weak, very unwell and bedridden for a week with a rash across half his body. When he was 18 Kevin Condon saw his father battle severe shingles. Credit:Kate Geraghty Last June he contracted pneumonia. The severe lung infection kept him off work for five weeks, two of which he spent in bed.

"In the morning I would wake up and cough for a good 15 minutes. I coughed so loudly my neighbours would shut their windows," he said. The grandfather has become highly vigilant about getting his recommended vaccinations, including whooping cough, before he met his new granddaughter. He knows it could mean the difference between staying well and going to hospital, where older people are susceptible to infection. His father died of the antibiotic-resistant bug MRSA after he was hospitalised for observation following a slip in the bath. "It's so important for older people to know it's not just about the disease the shot prevents, but keeping you out of hospital," Mr Condon said. The well-intentioned but near-sighted focus on anti-vaxxers

The myopic and intense scrutiny on "soft target" anti-vaxxers and vaccine-hesitant parents will do little to boost national vaccination rates when most undervaccinated Australians are adults, said lead author of the MJA paper Robert Menzies. "People love talking about vaccine-hesitant parents. The media and politicians love targeting them, but at the end of the day the numbers are not going to make much difference," said Dr Menzies, a communicable disease expert at UNSW's School of Public Health and Community Medicine. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's call to all state and territory governments to ban unvaccinated children from childcare was the latest example of policymakers focusing too heavily on vaccine refusers, Dr Menzies said. Evidence-based strategies to improve childhood vaccination rates were admirable, "but the main game has to be adults", Dr Menzies said. "Australia has high childhood immunisation rates by international standards," Dr Menzies said, with more than 90 per cent coverage for all recommended vaccinations by the age milestones of one, two and five years.

Immunisation was just as important for teenagers, older people, people with chronic conditions, pregnant women and other high-risk groups as it is for children, he and his colleagues said. GPs needed to raise the issue of vaccinations with their older patients, just as they did with the parents of young children, Dr Menzies said. Among those 65 and over, 75 per cent have had an influenza vaccination and 30 per cent have been vaccinated against pneumococcal pneumonia. For shingles, just 30 per cent of people 70 and over (eligible for the free vaccination) have been immunised. Free vaccines for influenza and pneumonia are available for peopel aged 65 and over aspart of the Immunise Australia Program, and the shingles vaccine is available for 70 year-olds. A catch-up dose of shingles for 71-79 year olds is also funded until 31 October 2021. The paper's release coincided with the launch of the University of NSW's Vaccine Infection Research Lab, a national research centre aimed at improving vaccination rates in infants and adults.

Head of the lab, Professor Raina MacIntyre said people 65 years and older, who made up most of those missing out on vaccinations, had an equal right to be protected against life-threatening illness. "Poor uptake of adult vaccination comes down to perception, and includes not placing older Australians on par with children as a disease-vulnerable group," Professor MacIntyre said. Australia spends tens of millions of dollars on vaccine-preventable hospitalisations every year. Influenza is responsible for more than 3000 deaths and 13,500 hospitalisations in Australia annually in people over 50, Department of Health figures show. Loading
By Press Trust of India: Aligarh (UP), Mar 26 (PTI) Lawyer Prashant Bhushan had to be escorted out of a college auditorium here by police during a seminar after ABVP activists allegedly barged into the premises and disrupted the programme.

The incident took place yesterday when Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists protested against Bhushan at the Dharam Samaj Degree College for allegedly trying to level false corruption charges against the Modi government, according to the organisers.

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ABVP is the student wing of the BJP.

The activists also objected to the presence of the AMU students union president Faizul Hasan at the seminar.

Sensing that the situation could go out of control, Hasan decided to leave the auditorium.

Both the organisers and the ABVP have filed a complaint at the Gandhi Park Police Station.

SP (city) Atul Srivastava told PTI that a case would be registered after due investigation.

The seminar was organised by the Uttar Pradesh Swaraj Abhiyan on "Peace and corruption free India".

ABVP leader Amit Goswami told media persons that they had opposed the presence of Hasan at the college because he had supported the "anti-national stand of JNU student leader Kanhiya Kumar".

He said people like Bhushan, who have taken "anti-national stand" on vital issues, are also not welcome.

Later talking to news persons, Hasan said that he had attended the seminar because "national dialogue is the need of the hour and if we dont reach out to each other how can the nation grow strong".

Hasan said he had some apprehensions about visiting the college, which is a ABVP stronghold, but the organisers were confident that the seminar would proceed peacefully.He decided to leave the hall to avoid an ugly situation.

In his brief address, Bhushan had said that he was determined to bring out the truth behind the Sahara and Birla group diaries which were seized by the Income tax authorities. PTI CORR ABN DV

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Police have uncovered a highly sophisticated, Sydney-based international crime syndicate believed to be involved in money laundering and drug production.

Police seized significant amounts of cocaine and ice, a number of guns, and a bulletproof vest in a number of property searches across the city this week. At one property, the bomb squad was called to inspect three booby traps, which were found in a gun safe.

A gun seized by police during property raids this week. Credit:NSW Police Force

Three men were arrested this week as a result of the ongoing investigation into internationally-based money laundering syndicates operating in Sydney

On Wednesday night, police stopped a truck towing a Hyundai iLoad van at Marulan in the Southern Tablelands. Inside they found 8kg of cocaine, 6kg of methylamphetamine, commonly known as "ice", and a Glock pistol.
Two leading female scientists have taken out the Queensland Women in STEM award for their work in improving latex and research into snake venom.

University of Queensland's Dr Nasim Amiralian took out the Judge's Choice award for her discovery of unique and high-quality fibres (cellulose nanofibers) taken from Australian spinifex grass.

Dr Nasim Amiralian, left, and Jordan DeBono, right, with Minister for Science Leeanne Enoch Credit:Jordan DeBono/Facebook

The discovery was a game-changer in the world of nanocellulose-based manufacturing and is set to create jobs across the industry with innovations such as ultra-thin and strong latex membranes for condoms and gloves.

University of Queensland PhD student Jordan DeBono took out the People's Choice award for her research into snake venom toxins.
San Francisco: As Uber grapples with accusations of sexism, Lyft is making more moves to position itself as the feel-good ride hailing company to consumers who may not be familiar with the smaller rival.

Lyft announced Sunday that it would soon be rolling out Round Up & Donate, an opt-in app feature that allows riders to automatically route rounded-up ride charges to charity.

Lyft currently operates in 300 US cities, compared with Uber that is in 600 cities. Credit:Bloomberg

"We'll be launching with one charity, then on-boarding more with a focus on being unique in each of our communities," Lyft vice-president of marketing Melissa Waters told USA TODAY. She declined to name the debut charity.

Lyft currently operates in 300 US cities. Uber is in nearly 600 cities and more than 80 counties. Lyft's value is pegged at US$7 billion while Uber's is ten times that.
UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Facebook's WhatsApp messaging system should open its encryption to security services and urged online companies to be more aggressive in shutting down sites exploited by terrorists.

After newspapers disclosed that Khalid Masood, who killed four people in London last week, had used WhatsApp shortly before he began his attack, Rudd identified the company as needing to do more to help fight terrorism.

Governments and security agencies are facing an uphill struggle to keep up with new technology. Credit:Bloomberg

"It's completely unacceptable" that messages can't be opened, Rudd told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday. "We need to make sure that our intelligence services have the ability to get into encrypted services like WhatsApp."

Since the attack, government ministers have berated online companies for taking inadequate steps to stop the spread of hate messages. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Rudd said the internet is "serving as a conduit, inciting and inspiring violence, and spreading extremist ideology." Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told the Sunday Times that "They need to stop just making money out of prurient violent material."
A battle is looming for a plum Labor seat in Victoria's upper house, with minister Jacinta Allan's chief of staff in the mix.

Former minister Steve Herbert announced last Thursday he was quitting state politics after 15 years in Parliament, opening up a casual vacancy in the Northern Region. The announcement came four months after he quit cabinet following revelations he had used his government car to chauffeur his pet dogs.

Under party rules, 40 per cent of positions must be for women. Credit:Andrew Meares

Mark Gepp, a veteran unionist and former senior emergency services adviser to ex-minister Jane Garrett, was quickly put forward as a major contender for the seat.

But that plan has hit a snag as Labor's women's advocacy group, Emily's List, has said the spot must go to a woman under the party's affirmative action rules.
One of Victoria's most popular state schools is set to open a new campus and potentially expand its coveted enrolment zone.

The Andrews government is in talks with landowners of a large industrial estate in East Bentleigh about securing a site for a new McKinnon Secondary College campus.

Public schools in the 'right' suburbs, like McKinnon Secondary, have seen a swelling in cachet.

The changes could boost property values, and will trigger interest in apartments proposed for the Virginia Park site.

Bentleigh MP Nick Staikos said the new campus would address "huge" enrolment demand in the area.
A man became trapped under his car after it rolled on top of him near a fishing spot in Melbourne's west this morning.

Victoria Police spokeswoman Belinda Batty said the man, aged in his 20s, was trying to park his car near the Melton Reservoir in Brookfield when it began sliding down a muddy embankment about 9.20am.

Credit:Paul Rovere

The man jumped out of his car and attempted to stop its descent, but the vehicle rolled on top of him.
The death of a young man after his car hit a tree on Friday is the latest in a horror weekend on Victoria's roads, taking the toll to six.

Police say the 27-year-old Warranwood man was travelling along Parkhill Drive in Berwick on Friday when he lost control of his vehicle, which struck a tree about 3.30am.

Credit:Paul Rovere

An Ambulance Victoria spokesman said when paramedics arrived the man was in cardiac arrest. He was revived and driven to The Alfred hospital in a critical condition, where he later died.

His death brings the state's road toll to 56 and comes just a day after five people, including two in their 20s, died on Victorian roads in the space of just 24 hours.
Moscow: The Russian police arrested hundreds of people in nationwide anti-corruption protests on Sunday, including the opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, where thousands gathered for the biggest demonstration in five years against President Vladimir Putin.

The protest in the capital took the form of a synchronised walk along a major shopping street to avoid a ban on unsanctioned stationary gatherings. It was one of 99 similar rallies in cities and towns across the country -- from Vladivostok in the far east to Kaliningrad in the west -- according to the organiser, Navalny's anti-corruption foundation.

Police detained more than 700 protesters in Moscow, including Navalny, 40, who was stopped shortly after arriving on Tverskaya Street in the capital's downtown, his spokeswoman said. He was ordered held overnight pending arraignment, she said later.

All but 17 of these, the foundation said, had been declared illegal by the authorities.
Cincinnati: One person was killed and 14 were wounded after gunfire erupted on Sunday morning inside a Cincinnati nightclub, authorities said.

The shooting occurred around 1am inside the Cameo nightclub, according to media reports. The motive remains unknown, although investigators have ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack, Lieutenant Paul Neudigate, assistant police chief with the Cincinnati Police Department, tweeted.

A body is removed from the Cameo club as police investigate the scene. Credit:John Minchillo

Police believe there was only one gunman, although they are still investigating whether others may have been involved, Neudigate said. That person's identity remains unknown.

Neudigate told NBC affiliate WLWT that hundreds of people were inside the nightclub when shots were fired.
Adityanath Yogi today said the protection of cows was "very important" for both his government and the BJP administration at the Centre.

By India Today Web Desk: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath Yogi today said the protection of cows was "very important" for both his government and the BJP administration at the Centre, days after he ordered a crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses in his state.

Adityanath said the rural economy was centred around cows, and that his government would take several steps to encourage cow protection.

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He spent over an hour at gau shalas in Gorakhpur this morning.

CM Yogi Adityanath feeds cows at a Gaushala in Gorakhpur pic.twitter.com/FsSPvJjK2P- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 26, 2017

These remarks come a day after Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Javeed Ahmed said only the "police and administration officials would act against illegal slaughterhouses" and not "any self-proclaimed person from the society."

Adityanath, who's the head of the Gorakhnath Math in Gorakhpur, is in the town for the first time since he was appointed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

(With inputs from PTI)

WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: Cow protection massive on Yogi Adityanath's agenda

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Skoda Design: Clear and Emotive Design Language Inspired by Czech Crystal Glass Art

 The brand-typical design language is constantly developing and evolving

 Precision and clarity are the fundamental principles of car design at SKODA

 An emotive design, full of character and with features inspired by crystal glass art

LONDON - March 26, 2017: SKODA DESIGN is emphasizing its commitment to a distinct design identity with continuous development of its design language. Harmonious proportions, clean-cut lines, bold contours and crystalline features are combined to create a design that places a focus on precision and clarity. One of the sources of inspiration for SKODAs designers is Czech crystal glass art, which is characterised by outstanding craftsmanship. This yields an expressive, emotionally charged design which harmoniously combines aesthetics and functionality.

Within just a few years, SKODAs new design language has already yielded a number of sensational design studies which point towards the future of our brand, said Karl Neuhold, Head of Exterior Design at SKODA. Our objectives are clearly defined and we are now ready to present the next step.

With harmonious proportions, clear contours, precise lines and clean-cut edges in both the exterior and interior, the SKODA DESIGN DNA demonstrates a strikingly clear and particularly distinct style. This DNA is an expression of the timeless elegance and modern functionality that is typical for SKODA cars. Equally characteristic are the powerful contours, which set the stage for a sensational interplay between light and shade that conveys dynamism and emotiveness. Crystalline structures can also be seen in headlights, tail lights and other features. Their crystalline, three-dimensional design gives them a high-quality character defined by modern technology and particular finesse.

Czech crystal glass art is internationally renowned and steeped in tradition. It combines classic manufacturing processes with modern aesthetics. Thus SKODA DESIGN pays respect to the cultural heritage of the brands homeland and pays tribute to the artists who create sculptures of timeless beauty through precision craftsmanship and attention to detail. To a large extent, their ability to produce high-quality, emotive works of art from simple, clear shapes chimes with the fundamental values of the Czech car brand, whose vehicles harmoniously combine aesthetics and functionality.

With this awareness of tradition and heritage, SKODA has developed a design language that distinguishes the brand and has already been applied to numerous concept studies. Charting its progress from the SKODA VISION D design study in 2011 through to the SKODA VISION C (2014) and SKODA VISION S (2016) concepts reveals a continuous development that is also reflected in the appearance of the brands most recent models and which will also decisively shape design at SKODA in future. In the near future, another concept study will enable SKODA to underline the constant evolution of the SKODA DESIGN.
DENSO Using Plant-derived Plastics in Its Products

- Developing environmentally friendly and highly functional materials -

KARIYA, JAPAN, Mar, 22 2017 - DENSO Corporation today announced that it is using bio-polycarbonate (PC) made from starch and urethane resin extracted from castor oil in some of its products. DENSO has been conducting research and development on plant-derived plastic materials, which are based on plant molecular structures, in order to reduce impacts on the environment.

Starch-derived bio-PCs have higher surface hardness, better optical characteristics, and superior hydrolytic stability than conventional petroleum-derived PCs. Moreover, they refract less light, exhibit better color-forming properties, and thus do not need to be painted before being used. DENSO's starch-derived bio-PC, which provides high hardness, yet can be shaped into complex designs, is being used to make plastic bezels for Toyota Motor Corporation's genuine car navigation systems.

Castor oil, a vegetable oil extracted from castor beans, is used as a material in paints, waxes, and other products. DENSO has developed a highly heat-resistant urethane resin based on the molecular structure of castor oil and used it as a protector for connectors in automotive exhaust gas sensors.

Automotive exhaust gas sensors, which measure the concentration of specific gases present in vehicle exhaust gases, must have high heat resistance. Therefore, the resins used in sensor control units have traditionally been expensive silicone-type resins. DENSO's newly developed urethane resin costs less than silicone resins and can withstand up to 150 degC, while significantly reducing the amount of gases produced when being melted and formed into shapes. This is the first such resin of its kind in the world.

Non-fossil plant-derived plastics are gaining increasing attention because they are inexhaustible resources and do not increase the total amount of CO2 in the atmosphere when thermally recycled. Therefore, DENSO has been working on their development for some time. In 2009, DENSO and DuPont jointly developed and commercialized a radiator tank made from a material extracted from castor oil and have been increasing the number of vehicle models that use the product.

In 2016, DENSO established DENSO ECO VISION 2025, an action plan to help build a sustainable community and society toward 2050. DENSO will continue to develop plant-derived plastics and increase the number of products made from these materials, and thus reduce the use of limited oil resources while decreasing CO2 emissions at all stages of the life cycle of products and curbing global warming.

About Denso

DENSO Corporation, headquartered in Kariya, Aichi prefecture, Japan, is a leading global automotive supplier of advanced technology, systems and components in the areas of thermal, powertrain control, electronics and information and safety. Its customers include all the world's major carmakers. Worldwide, the company has more than 200 subsidiaries and affiliates in 38 countries and regions and employs nearly 140,000 people. Consolidated global sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, totaled US$39.8 billion. Last fiscal year, DENSO spent 9 percent of its global consolidated sales on research and development. DENSO common stock is traded on the Tokyo and Nagoya stock exchanges.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
To those of us who care about details and facts (there, I said the f word), these past few months have been troubling times. We are told by the highest office in the country that facts dont matter, that those who think they have facts are corrupt, and that alternative facts is a thing (it isnt). All of these various euphemisms weve been hearing, such as alt.truth and fake news, are just obscuring the reality that we are neck deep in lies. My job as a neuroscientist is to help understand how people come to hold the beliefs they do (its even in my job description).

Why do we find so much emotional resonance in lies? There are four reasons that derive from our evolutionary history. We are a social species with relationships built on trust. But there have always been people who would take advantage of us and abuse our trust. No one wants to be a chump. These two instinctsto trust others but to be suspicious of cheatersguide much of our behavior today, and they hang in an uneasy balance. If a (trusted) friend tells us that another person is cheating us, we take it seriously. Cheaters get ahead at our expenseon the savannah, in the board room or in the bedroom. These are emotional issues, not logical ones. And emotional issues have priority over our brains attention.

The second reason is that our brains are wired to err on the side of caution. If that rustling in the grass is a snake Im better off jumping away than staying put. The cost of doing so is minimal, but the cost of being wrong could be deadly. On encountering information that could tip one way or another, we put our guard up; we become skeptical of the status quo. We try to find facts that line up behind the story.

And this dovetails with the third reason we tend to find lies attractive: we are a pattern-detecting species. This serves us well much of the time, but not all of the time. The problem is that we detect patterns where they dont exist. Were told that Capricorns are stubborn. We know some Capricorns and agree that theyre stubborn. But wait! This is not an unbiased, logical way to collect information. To know whether there really is a pattern or not, wed need to look at all the stubborn people we know and see what their signs are. If you look at the big picture in this way, youll find that all traits are equally distributed across all astrological signstheres no pattern in the aggregate, its just that a few vivid examples deceive us into thinking there might be one.

Pattern detection also fools us when we get to thinking that correlation and causation are the same thing. Just because two things co-occur, or one follows the other, doesnt mean that first one caused the second one. We dont vaccinate children until they reach a certain age because thats when their bodies can handle immunization. And we cant diagnose autism until a certain age because, by definition, autism is a delay in normal developmentwe need to wait long enough to detect it. And so it happens that a child diagnosed with autism will have received a vaccination before the diagnosis. Of the millions of children who get the MMR vaccine, only a small percentage become diagnosed with autism. And the same proportion of children who dont get the MMR vaccine are also diagnosed with autism. But our pattern detectors are not equipped to make such reasoned judgments. We need what Daniel Kahneman calls our slow system for that, and that takes deliberate training and practice.

The fourth factor is that we tend to have source amnesia for information we acquirewe remember the fact (or pseudo-fact) but forget where we heard it. It can take weeks for information to become firmly encoded in long-term memory, and during that encoding process, the information is labile, and repetition can cause it to become stronger. If the source is later discredited, it is very difficult for us to correct the neural record.

So heres the good news: there are simple things all of us can do to become more rational decision makers, and to avoid being taken in by liars and con-artists who prey on ignorance.

First is education. Education works. And the great thing about it is that it works across all ages and backgrounds. A study from North Carolina State University, led by Dr. Alicia McGill found that explicitly teaching critical thinking skills during a semester significantly reduced students belief in pseudoscientific, nonsense claims, compared to a control group. Also relevant is the work of Keith Stanovich, of the University of Toronto. He has developed the rationality quotient or RQ, a measure separate from the IQ (intelligence quotient). And it turns out that you can be very high in RQ and low in IQ, or vice-versa. We need to teach students to build up their RQ. We need to teach evidence-based thinking in K-12 schools and in colleges. And we all need to practice them every day. Fortunately, the current news cycle is giving us much to practice with.

The second thing we can do is to seek out good models for evidence-based thinking. William F. Buckleys Firing Line was an excellent example of modellingwhether you agreed with Buckleys conservative positions or not, the program showed all of us what civilized debate and critical evaluation of the facts look like. We have few if any analogues of that today. Television networks and other content providers wont make them if theres no demand for themwe need to ask for them, for the benefit of all.

The third thing is to pay attention to sources as we encounter new information, and work deliberately to encode them. Ask yourself: is this a reliable source, is the information current, is the person who is posing as an expert actually an expert? Before clicking the thumbs up button on forwarding a social network post, we should each try to figure out if its true or not first. We can overcome source memory if we think more like a journalist, scientist or lawyer: who told you that? How do they know?

Finally, it is important that all of us participate in our own information literacy and take an active role in inquiry. As President Obama noted in his exit speech, democracy is neither free nor easy. It demands our participation. We need to think for ourselves  systematically, rationallyand we need to support those institutions who help us to do so: an independent judiciary and an independent press. And we should not be complacent in accepting nonsense. Dissent is not disloyalty. We dont want to be driven by fear into an age of unreason.
Adolf Hitler took power on January 30, 1933, and within no time at all he had:

let loose the police against Jews and Communists to a degree never seen before;

won emergency powers to govern by decree following the incredibly well-timed February 27 arson against the Reichstag, Germanys parliament building;

begun the shutdown of dissent and diversity in German publishing and culture through a policy of Gleichschaltung, or forcing everybody onto the same page.

The German establishment was taken aback. The well-meaning conservatives who in 1933 levered Hitler into office thought they could build fences of moderation around him once they got him under the tent. After all, the new cabinet would contain a majority of non-Nazis.

Within two months, well have Hitler in a corner so tight that he will squeak, said vice-chancellor Franz von Papen, who brokered the deal.

But Hitler surprised everyone by doing exactly what he had been preaching for more than a decade: turning Germany into an ethnically pure, nationalistically-driven economic machine for making Germany great again. And he thought he could do it fast.For that, Hitler had Hermann Goring and Joseph Goebbels. In 1933, they were not yet the monsters of history that they later became. But they were ambitious political operatives with a radical agenda and a charismatic leader. They acted with speed and force.

Gorings power lay in the sly way Hitler had negotiated for control of the Prussian state police apparatus as part of his deal with Papen to become chancellor. Goring quickly fired the moderates in the security apparatus and suspended civil liberties of targeted groupsJews, Communists, and even Social Democrats. Goring operated under the pretext of defending Germany against imminent Marxist revolution, imported from the Soviet Union and mounted by Germanys own Communist party.

The government in Moscow had indeed hoped for years to foment revolution in Germany, and the local Communists were often inclined to violencejust like the Nazis. But the KPDthe German Communist Partynever came close to seizing power. In the 14 years of the Weimar Republic, the party only once polled more than 15 percent. The Nazis, meanwhile, had hit 37 percent in 1932, making them Germanys largest party even before the takeover in 1933.

Still, Communists served as Hitlers proximate bugaboo, justifying all kinds of excesses. He waved the bloody shirt of 30 million killed by the revolutionary regime in Russia to invoke a Jewish-Bolshevist threat in Germany. The only thing that stood between God-fearing Germans and a Communist dictatorship, he implied, was a dictatorship of the Nazis.

Hitler also built on an early version of fake news. His starting point was the invented calumny The Protocols of the Elders of Ziona 1903 document alleging a Jewish world conspiracy. Even after Hitler learned the text was a forgery, he continued using it as real because it contained the inner truth about Jewry, he said.

In 1932, with Hitler looming ever larger in German politics, Kurt Schumacher, a Social Democratic leader, noted that one thing we admire about the National Socialists is that they have succeeded  for the first time in German politics, in the complete mobilization of human stupidity.

Schumachers biting irony and trenchant warning made no difference. Desperate to build a political firewall against the perceived Communist and Social Democratic threat, the German establishment led by Papen and President von Hindenburg in 1933 invited Hitler to head a government of national concentrationa supposed compromise between Hitlers radicals and establishment conservatives.

Within months, it was the conservatives, not Hitler, who were in a corner. After little more than a year, most were marginalized and oneformer chancellor Kurt von Schleicherwas dead, assassinated in Hitlers Night of the Long Knives. Once under the tent, Hitler had been able to seize the whole show and, for Nazi Germany, there was no turning back, only the long, fateful march to self-destruction.

--------Peter Ross Range is author of 1924: The Year That Made Hitler. He is working on a new book about Hitlers rise to power.
One of the most influential and widely read English-language Quranic translations in the world is written by three American women. They converted to Islam in the 1980s and now live and work in Saudi Arabia.

But what makes the Saheeh International translation of the Quran so different from other womens translations is that despite its origins, its not a feminist reclamation of some of the Qurans most contested verses. Instead, the Saheeh International Quran enjoys widespread popularity, including with some of Islams most conservative adherents. And most recently, the decades-old translation has become the main version used in English-language propaganda put out by ISIS.

Its creators, however, remain virtually unknownlargely of their own volition. This is the story of how three white ladies from America became some of the most influential Quranic publishers.

***

While her peers were busy getting high in bellbottoms, Emily Assami spent the 1970s studying Arabic in Damascus, Syria, where the California-born woman had moved with her Arab husband. Shed arrived there as an atheist. But before long, she found meaning in the Quran and pursued language studies at Damascus University, eventually converting to Islam and moving to Saudi Arabia. These days, shes better known as Umm Muhammad to followers, or by her chosen name, Aminah.

She was always seeking after Truth but her father did not believe in God, a biography of Assami in Why Women Are Accepting Islam states. She wished she had God who could talk to her and guide her like the Prophets had.

According to that biography, Assami grew up in a family of atheists. (Her father, a scientist, did not believe in God.) But she first grew interested in Islam after a biased comparative religion presentation by a history teacher.

She wanted to study about Prophet Muhammad and what he said about god and her opinion was if she could find it irrational, as she expected, she would abandon this subject once and for all, the book states.

Assami then asked her father to help her find a book on the Prophet Muhammad. But he told her that, to his chagrin, nothing in the library on that topic was written by Muslims.

Yet when Assami eventually got her hands on the Quran, something clicked. She was drawn by the similarities to the holy books she recognized.

I started to read the translation of the Quran from the very beginning. I found there were many things, I didnt understand, but others impressed me, she wrote. So I decided to continue my reading since I was unable to sleep anyway, in order to keep from thinking too much I began reading although my heart was not really in it, and suddenly before me were these words: And give glad tidings to the patient, who say when misfortune strikes: To God do we belong, and to Him is our return...

And I felt better than, somehow, she wrote.

Her colleagues, two decades younger than Assami, followed soon after.

Mary Kennedy, the Orlando-born English major who serves as an editor for the publishing house, grew up in a Christian family in Florida. She told Arab News that she was inquisitive, but many things never clicked. That changed when she began reading Islamic texts.

Her brothers conversion paved the way for her own. And her family as supportive, Kennedy said.

It wasnt a trauma to see anyone taking up another route for them, she told Arab News. They got calmed with time when they saw me serious about Islam and settling down well with Islamic rules and a Muslim family.

Like Assami, Amatullah Bantleys journey to Saudi Arabia started early. As a child, she found the Catholicism she was raised in unsatisfying: Every time she went to confession, no matter what the sin, her penitence was the same.

Say ten Hail Marys and promise not to do it again, she recalled to The Daily Beast.

She sought liberation from her familys Catholicism by in a lack of faith, yet she continued to yearn for a higher powerone she believed created the universe. In my mind, I held more to the idea of Mother Earth, she said. Then in college, she met international students who were Muslim, if not overtly practicing, and captivated her attention. They eventually discussed religion, though Bantley was hesitant.

I remember saying, I would never live like that, she recalled. I obviously bought into the common misconception that women have fewer rights in Islam.

But Bantley remained curious. She learned more about Islam and concluded that if women were mistreated in Muslim countries, it was because of culture and human influencenot religion.

I saw the beauty of the religion and became convinced it was from God Himself, she said. I embraced Islam in 1986 and moved to Saudi the following year.

In 1989, she stumbled upon Dar Abul-Qasim when a widowed friend asked her to ferry her husbands manuscript to a publisher. Bantley asked if she could read it before handing it over, and returned with suggestions for the widow.

Then Bantley pulled in Kennedy to serve as an extra set of eyes on the English-language copy, and Assamiwho by then was fluent in Arabicto help go back to Arabic texts whose translations were unclear in the book.

To make a long story short, we cleaned up and reorganized the text and prepared it for printing, Bantley said. The publisher liked our improvements and so the three of us continued to edit other author's works, and then later started writing our own titles as well.

Since then, the three women have continued to work as a team on a variety of texts, adopting the moniker Saheeh Internationalthe former word meaning authentic. Eventually, people began to suggest that they tackle a bigger project: The Quran.

***

The women of Saheeh International are not the only ones to have taken on the task of translating the Quran. At least two other women have completed full, solo translations into English. Many more have been part of larger, co-ed teams devoted to the project, including the much-lauded Study Quran, published in 2015.

But the other female translators, Laleh Bakhtiar and Taheereh Saffarzadeh, approached the translation project differently. Saffarzadeh was praised after her death for translating the holy book into poetic English. And for Bakhtiar, perhaps the most well-known of the female translators, goals included a better understanding of Surah an-Nisa, verse 34the infamous verse about men beating their wives.

Men have authority over women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband's] absence what Allah would have them guard, it reads in one common translation. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand.

Bakhtiarwhose translation, The Sublime Quran, came out in 2007grew up Catholic in the U.S. but then studied under Seyyed Hossein Nasr (one of the translators of The Study Quran) when she moved to Iran. She converted eventually converted to her fathers faith. Then Bakhtiar studied Arabic and took on the task of translation andas the origin story goesreally had to grapple with verse 4:34 for the first time.

"I decided it either has to have a different meaning, or I can't keep translating," Bakhtiar told the New York Times. "I couldn't believe that God would sanction harming another human being except in war."

She then spent months on the contested Arabic verb, daraba, before stumbling upon a definition that meant to go away.

"I said to myself, 'Oh, God, that is what the prophet meant,'" Bakhtiar told the Times. "When the prophet had difficulty with his wives, what did he do? He didn't beat anybody, so why would any Muslim do what the prophet did not?"

In Bakhtiars translation, the final part of the verse is translated to read, Those (f) whose resistance [nushuz] you fear, then admonish them (f) and abandon them (f) in their sleeping place, then, go away from them (f).

Another woman, Camille Helminski, also translated substantial parts of the Quran into English, according to a dissertation by Rim Hassen. On her website, Helminski claims to be the first woman translator into English.

In fact, Saheeh International preceded them all. Their Quran came out in 1997.

What complicates the matter more is that the whole project of translation, in Islam, is fraught with tension. The Quran is the revealed word of Godit is not a bookand was for generations transmitted only orally. Even the act of writing it down, in the original Arabic, is an alteration. To this day, memorization of the Quran is a mark of mastery and prestige.

For the longest time in the Muslim world, the Arabic text was only sacrosanct because it was the revealed word of God, Bruce Lawrence, a scholar of Islam at Duke University, told The Daily Beast. "The spellbinding beauty of a really good recitation of the quran, there's a sense of the majesty, the rhythm, the sensorium of the Quran that is only through the human voice, it can't come through the human eye."

So to translate it from Arabic to any other language is to take the words of God and put them through a human filter. For this reason, many Muslims wont refer to translations as The Quran but rather imbue the title with language that signifies that this is a modified product. Often, the Arabic original will appear side-by-side.

To this day if you went to Al Azhar [the preeminent center of Islamic learning in Egypt], they would say, there are English efforts to interpret the Quran... but there can be no English version of the Qur'an, Lawrence said.

Saheeh International, follows in the same tradition with its publication: The Quran: English Meanings & Notes.

A feminist reclamation, then, would understandably draw ire. At stake is not merely a quibble over text, but a claim that millions of Muslims have incorrectly understood the word of God.

The 2007 New York Times interview said Bakhtiar thought women need to know that there is an alternative to the wife-beating verse.

Men in the Muslim world, she said, will also oppose the idea of an American, especially a woman, reinterpreting the prevailing translation, the article said.

But Bantley said the women of Saheeh had no such fears. Then again, they werent re-interpreting.

***

It took this reporter a year of trying to finally get an interview with the women of Saheeh International. The first approaches were rebuffedthey were busy, and had been burned by the media before. A last-ditch effort panned out. Bantley responded.

Bantley said that Assami, who she refers to as Umm Muhammad, teaches at an Islamic center for women in their city. In fact, shed taught, Bantley, too.

As her student, I recognized her ability to clarify the Arabic expressions into English was unlike any teacher I'd had before, she said. This was especially true in her translation of verses from the Quran.

After Bantley told the previous owner of Dar Abul-Qasim about Assamis gift, he spent years encouraging her to take on the project. [W]hen he began to suggest a better and easier translation of the Qurans meanings than those available, I firmly refusedI was not qualifiedthere was no way I could even consider it, Assami told Arab News.

She finally agreed. Kennedy and Bantley helped with editing and suggesting footnotes, and the first edition came out in 1997.

(In 2007, the owner of Dar Abul-Qasim retired. Bantley bought the store and publishing house.)

The self-assured niqab-clad American women, as the Arab News described the trio during a 2010 visit to their Jeddah bookstore, had previously put out pamphlets and booklets on Islam in English. But taking on a translation of the meaning of the Holy Quran was a wholly other task.

It differed from other projects because of the amount of research it took to accurately reflect accepted meanings of the Quran while being limited to the confines of English grammar, Bantley said. Some Quranic passages hold more than one meaning, while in translation, you can usually only reflect one of the intended meanings.

Assami had begun her study of Arabic three decades earlier. People couldnt really answer the questions I had so I realized that I would have to learn how to read Arabic to know what Muslim scholars were saying, she later recalled to the Arab News.

But shes not an Islamic scholar and therefore faced some limitations on what she could take on. The women take pains to note that they started from scratch but didnt re-invent the wheel: Assamis translation draws its strength from the authoritative scholars she relied on and synthesized.

It turns out the few who've tried to discredit us have been people with, albeit good intentions to protect the meanings of the Quran, concerns about some of the wording, Bantley said. In each case that we know of, it turned out the person's native tongue was Arabic, and so they misunderstood the English terminology.

Assami corresponded with some of those people to clarify her meanings and language, Bantley added. It has helped us to simplify the language and add useful footnotes in later editions.

Now online, the Saheeh International translation is often recommended for English speakers. It is frequently the default translation on religious websites, though it is not as well known, or widely used in academic circles. Lawrence, the professor, said it is part of a recent effort to get a first-rate English version of the Quran, though he finds it lacks some of the qualities of his preferred translations.

"Jibreel talked in verse if he didn't talk in poetry, he said, referring to the angel that relayed the Quran to Muhammad. Saheeh International, on the other hand, "hammers the language, it doesnt make it sing."

Its translators prioritized orthodox accuracy over aesthetics. Occasionally those curious about it will ask on message boards whether it is to be trusted, and responses are generally positive. Infrequently, commenters mention, as a sidenote, that the translators are women. Other times, Shia Muslims attack Saheehs overtly Sunni interpretations.

I have used the Sahih International both as a Sunni and a Shia. As a Sunni I couldnt see anything wrong with it, but as a Shia it has all the flaws that other Sunni translations bring, one ex-Sunni, now Shia commenter wrote online. Currently I try to stay away from the Sahih International, because it is the most biased Sunni translation I have come across.

Sunni and Shia readers may disagree on how some Quranic verses are interpreted into English. In the same way the Shia commenter disapproved of Saheehs message, when Samy El-Goarany, a 24-year-old from upstate New York, wrote his brother a goodbye note in case he was killed fighting for ISIS, he left one key instruction.

Keep reading, he told Tarek, according to messages revealed in court. And read the Sahih International Quran, its the best translation.

Indeed, this reporter first stumbled upon the Saheeh International translation when looking to see which translation was used in official ISIS propaganda, like the magazine Dabiq. Like El-Goaranys recommendation, Dabiq and other forms of ISIS propaganda also relied on the Saheeh translationsuggesting that there is a coordinated preference for it.

Its somewhat surprising to see that an organization that so limits the roles of women would then turn to a woman-made translation for its theological underpinnings. But then, part of whats remarkable about Saheeh International is how very unremarkable the translation istheir effort was to make orthodox sources accessible rather than to innovate.

Take verse 4:34, the one Bakhtiar tried to reclaim for feminists.

But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand, the Saheeh International translation reads.

This translation by women keeps the word that caused feminists so much trouble.

Thats why Saheeh has the imprimatur of the Saudi government, as do all religious publications printed in the Kingdom. I know the translation was once considered to be the official English translation of the Kingdom as well, but I was not involved in that process, Bantley said. The previous owner of Dar Abul-Qasim, who possessed the copyright of our translation at that time, made mention of that fact.

Before that owner died, he sold the rights to the Al-Muntada Al-Islami Trust, based in London, which controls printing and distribution, she added. "It has been so promoted by the Saudis as a kind of updated, women's version of the Qur'an, Lawrence said. "The Saudis wanted to have both a standard version by a man, and that was Yusuf Ali, which they modified heavily [...] and then they did this Umm Muhammad and Saheeh International."

Saheeh International works and reach have earned them a following among certain segments of Muslim women. Some of those have claimed the group as Salafi feminists, referring to the ultra-conservative brand of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia.

But in exchanges with The Daily Beast, Bantley rejected attempts to claim the women under that label.

We do not agree with that at all, she wrote. We oppose labels namely because words such as salafi and feminist mean different things to different people. To some, they are positive terms; to others, quite the opposite.

If we had to adapt a term, it would be simply Muslim women, she wrote.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday cautioned his successor, Adityanath Yogi, to keep a distance from his lions.

By Rajat Rai: In his first ever interaction with the media after losing the chair to Adityanath Yogi, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday cautioned Yogi to keep a distance from his lions.

"My lions (Gujarat Babbar Sher) are hungry...I would like to caution you not to go near them as they can harm you," Akhilesh said in a press conference at the Samajwadi Party's office.

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The statement was an indirect assault on the newly formed government's crackdown on the slaughterhouses as was promised in the manifesto of the BJP.

It is to be mentioned that Akhilesh has "imported" Gujarat lions for his dream project Etawan Lion Safari and as per the records of the state government, nearly Rs 1 lakh is spent every month on food and upbringing of each pair of animals. Due to shortage of red meat, the lions are at present fed with chicken meat and arrangements are being made to import red meat from neighbouring states.

TAKE CARE OF MY PEACOCKS, AKHILESH ASKS

Akhilesh also requested the CM to take care of his peacocks. "When I used to live there, three peacocks came there (5 Kalidas Marg, the official residence of the CM) and were living with us like family members. I have come to know that Yogiji will be opening a gaushala (cow shed) there. It is my humble request to him to also take care of my peacocks," he said.

Taking a jibe at the recent Shudhikaran of the CM's house, Akhilesh said he will take more effective steps for the same.

"When we will return to power in 2022, I will ensure that the entire residence is washed with Gangajal. Fire tenders will be pressed into service for the same," he said.

AKHILESH TAUNTS OFFICIALS

Akhilesh also expressed surprise on the "skills" of government officials. "If I had the idea about the brooming skills of these officials, I could have utilised them effectively," he said while taunting the officials who were seen cleaning their offices after taking cleanliness oath.

Taking a jibe at the media Akhilesh said, "I am waiting for the days when you (media) will publish Yogi's picture along with incident of rapes and murder as you used to do with me."

Akhilesh also informed that his party has reviewed the reason behind the land slide defeat in the elections. "The review is still going on and we are introspecting our weaknesses," he added.

ALSO READ | Mulayam, Shivpal skip Akhilesh-led Samajwadi Party's national executive

Yogi Adityanath has a backer in Akhilesh Yadav aide Ram Gopal: Give him at least 6 months

ALSO WATCH | Yogi Adityanath to ban slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh; butchers worried

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--- ENDS ---
Thirty-four years ago, on five consecutive episodes of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, two feuding sects representing Russia and the United States began stockpiling parts for bombsat one point stripping the neighborhoods arts funding to bankroll the build-up.

This might sound like some particularly dark, on-the-nose fan fiction about a Mister Rogers episode written in 2017, but these episodes really did air in November of 1983and only then. The episodes were pulled from syndication and future releases. While production stills reappeared over the years, and a poor-quality, five-minute clip wound up on YouTube recently, the individual episodes themselves were never surfaced again.

That was until this week. Two of them were anonymously posted to YouTube on Monday.

Now, the question isnt, Where are the tapes? The question is, Who did this?

Or maybe more importantly, Why now?

Two weeks ago, Donald Trump released a budget that would entirely eliminate federal funding from public broadcasting. The budget also calls for $54 billion in military spending .

Just four days later, Mister Rogers Neighborhoods conflict series, lost for 33 years and focused primarily on the dangers of stripping public funding of art and education to stockpile arms, suddenly appeared without notice on Youtube.

Longtime Mister Rogers fans knew of the lost episodes for decades, but modern viewers have likely never heard of them, let alone seen them.

Its surreal, honestly, said Jorge Flores.

Flores runs a YouTube channel called BlameItOnJorge that mostly deals with lost media and conspiracies. He told his followers on Twitter he was working on an update of some of the spookiest lost media that were still unsolved. Then he got a tweet from a fan.

First two Mr Rogers Conflict parts were found, the tweet reads .

Two days prior, an anonymous YouTube user named TROG SLEEP NOW uploaded relatively pristine copies of two of the five episodes in Mister Rogers Talks About Conflict in full. The user hasnt posted anything else. No other videos, no comments, and not even a profile picture.

Events in American politics make the sudden release of these episodes this week particularly fishy. The series initially aired during the height of the Cold War as a way to better explain the conflict to children than a heavily promoted miniseries on ABC called The Day After, which aired the same week. That miniseries, a gruesome look at the fallout of a potential nuclear war with Russia, was sent to President Ronald Reagan before it aired. He said the film  left me greatly depressed .

Rogers series deals more with the events leading up to a potential war, and how the persistent talk and fear of instant annihilation from the leader of a country can be particularly draining for children.

The premise of the series revolves around the Neighborhood of Make-Believes King Friday and his lingering worries that the neighboring town might be building a bomb, after he saw a strange package shipped to a local factory owner named Corny. Over time, without any evidence, King Friday becomes increasingly convinced Corny is gearing up for war, and directs all of the residents of the Neighborhood of Make Believe to start creating bomb parts. He wants 1 million bomb parts, and he also encourages his own residents to arm themselves.

Children were forced to put on gas masks and participate in air raid drills. Yes, in an episode of Mister Rogers.

When Handyman Negri goes door to door to deliver the news, the real-life, present-day political significance becomes abundantly clear.

Im on the committee to decide what well use the kings money for. He wanted to give something to school. Im all for good music for the children, Lady Elaine, a puppet, says to Handyman Negri, who is played by actor Joe Negri.

Well, so am I, but Im afraid that theres not gonna be any money for anything like this, said Handyman Negri. Everythings changed, Lady Elaine. King Friday has just ordered 1 million parts from Corny, and thats going to take all of the countrys money.

Mr. Rogers, outside of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, famously lobbied the U.S. Senate in 1969 to keep funding public broadcasting. His testimony was widely seen to have single-handedly preserved funding for public TV and radio.

At the end, of course, it turns out Corny was ordering parts for a bridge, not a bomb.

Flores isnt sure theres a connection. He says people look through cabinets and put [tapes] on YouTube and not know theyre this rare all the time.

I think that was just happenstance that someone found it and then released it now, he said. But I think it was a little political at the time, and I think it was certainly taken off the air for political reasons.

But when told about the timing of Trumps budget, plus Rogers history of lobbying for the future of public broadcasting, Flores had some second thoughts.

Woah, I didn't even notice that, he said. There may be some reference after all.

The rest of the ending is only known through descriptions of Mister Rogers episodes from superfans, whose transcriptions of the first episodes were miraculously faithful on the first two releases.

No longer living in fear of perpetual war, the Neighborhood of Make-Believe has a Celebration of Peace. A carpenter sings What Do You Do With the Mad That You Feel, the very same poem the real-life Fred Rogers delivered to the Senate in 1969.

Rogers then concludes: Rules are very, very important. Not just for games but for all things. Even big things like countries. Countries have to have rules to protect people, too. And someday you'll be helping to make the rules for your country. I trust that you'll make the best kind you know how."

Flores has a quick word for whoever dropped those first two episodes.

To that guy, thank you for doing it, he said. And those last three, put em up.

At the very end of the last episode of Mister Rogers conflict series, King Friday takes all of the bomb parts and turn them into a record player for the school.

The episode then ends with a title card that shows a Bible verse .

And they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

And their spears into pruning forks;

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

Neither shall they learn war any more."
Humans are strange creatures. We sleepwalk, pick our noses, and name our cars. Some of us like black licorice and some of us are afraid of cotton balls. Of all our idiosyncratic tendencies, our attachment to thingsblankets, stuffed animals, toys, vehicles, smartphonesis particularly common and sheds light on how humans feel about robots, and why.

In the movie Her, Theodore Twombly falls in love with Samantha, an artificially intelligent operating system. In Ex Machina, Caleb falls in love with the sentient robot Ada. Both Samantha and Ada are consciouslike humans, they experience the world objectively and subjectively, and both express emotions, genuine or not, toward the human characters. Its easy to understand why these lonely men fall for them, especially given Adas sexualized appearance and Samanthas husky ScarJo voice.

But these are just movies. In the real world, robots arent conscious (and the jurys out on whether they ever will be). They cant feel anything. No matter how advanced or humanlike, robots are comprised of circuits, cameras, and algorithms. Theyre machines, or as Isaac Asimov often argues, theyre tools, not beings. But if thats the case, what explains our feelings for them?

The more humanlike a robot seems in both appearance and ability, the easier it is for us to project human thoughts and feelings onto them (this effect is even more pronounced in Japan, where followers of Shinto or animism believe that objects can have souls). Anthropomorphizing is a natural human tendency, as our understanding of the world and everything in it is based on our own experiences. We personify all kinds of objectswe refer to a trusty vehicle as old girl, feel nagged when our alarm clocks scream at us to wake up, and experience irritation or sympathy as our dated computer limps along, struggling to obey our commands.

We do this with robots, too. MIT researcher Kate Darling conducts experiments in which people play with Pleos, small mechanized dinosaurs, and are then asked to torture them. Participants often cant bear to do it and cant watch when others do, even though they know Pleos cant feel anything. The exercise really isnt about the Pleo at allits about the human participants and their feelings. It doesnt matter that their attachment only goes in one direction. The more affection someone feels for an object or a robot, the stronger the tendency to anthropomorphize becomes. Think back to your favorite childhood toyperhaps a stuffed animal or a blanket. How would you feel if someone ripped it apart? Youd experience some degree of anguish even though you know your stuffed animal cant feel pain and doesnt know whats happening.

This is exactly what happens when humans interact with social or interactive robots that narrow the gap between machines and people by making sounds (Pleos whimpers contribute to peoples horror at their mistreatment), mimicking facial expressions, or reacting physically to their surroundings. And if you think only the bleeding hearts among us are susceptible to anthropomorphizing, think again.

Robots such as the TALON 3B find and defuse land mines in war zones. Often, this results in the robot blowing itself up, losing limbs and other parts. This is the purpose of such robotsbetter a machine lose an arm or a life than a human. But the officers and cadets working with the robots dont necessarily feel this way. An Army colonel put an end to a military exercise in which a persistent TALON robot lost all but one leg because it was inhumane. Soldiers award robots with Purple Hearts and sometimes refuse to leave them behind. Military personnel develop close bonds when they depend on one another for survival; the same goes for the robots that help them.

When it comes to our emotional responses to robots, something in the human brain overrides reason. It doesnt matter that the robot cant feel or think. A group of German researchers conducted a study in which they showed subjects two sets of videosone of an anonymous person interacting affectionately with a Pleo and another of that person interacting violently with it. The 40 subjects had an observable negative response to the negative videos, measured primarily via increased perspiration. The researchers repeated the experiment with three sets of videos: one of human-Pleo interaction, another of positive and negative interactions between two humans, and the last of a human interacting with a cardboard box. This time, they measured 14 subjects responses with an fMRI scanner. The results revealed the subjects positive feelings upon watching the humans friendly interaction with the Pleo. While the subjects responded most negatively to the video of human on human violence, they also responded negatively to the Pleo-directed violence. Most interestingly, their frontal lobe and limbic systems responded similarly when they watched the negative treatment of Pleo and a human. In other words, humans respond with more empathy to other humans, but they also respond with observable empathy toward robots.

Another recent study conducted by Japan researchers confirms these findings by measuring humans responses to photos of intact human and robot hands and photos in which their hands are being cut with scissors or a knife. Researchers measured the participants responses with EEG scans, which indicated that the subjects experienced similar visceral responses to images of human and robot hands in painful situations.

Human empathy toward robots is perhaps the most compelling argument for robot rights or protectionsa topic for a future column.

Such studies also help explain the existence of real-life Theodore Twomblys. People have already begun to develop deep feelings for robots, AI, love dolls, and video game or anime characters. This also means that robots and/or their human creators can leverage human empathy through emotional mimicry and bonding. Researchers from Munich conducted a study demonstrating that when robots mirror human emotions by smiling back at them or matching their level of enthusiasm, humans are more disposed to help them complete a task.

Human emotion is a tricky beast. Some see it as a weakness, given that emotions can cause humans to act impulsively and irrationally. Others see it as a strength, as emotions such as fear have long played a crucial role in human survival. The ability to feel emotion is currently a crucial difference between humans and robots, yet that gap is shifting, if not closing, now that robots have become objects of our affection.
MOSUL, Iraq  The dark clouds had opened up once again,drenching Youssef Abut and Tarek Abbas as they waited at a bus terminal outsideMosul with hot food for weary travelers.

Rain had long since turned the ground into a muddy quagmire, a further obstacle for the terrified civilians fleeing this embattled city in droves. It has become a war zone where neighborhoods may be destroyed in order to save them, after a fashion, from the occupiers of the so-called Islamic State.

On March 17, according to multiple reports, coalition airstrikes on Mosuls al-Jadidah district led to buildings collapsing on top of scores of people.

Such are the risks in the dense urban landscape on thewestern side of the Tigris River that hundreds of families leave Mosul everyday, walking for miles before they are picked up by army trucks and driven tothe terminal at a crossing near the village of Athbah.

When a truck pulls up, Youssef and Tarek remove the lids from two huge vats filled with bean stew and steaming rice. While the families dismount, the two men ready ladles and polystyrene lunch boxes, and open plastic bags filled with flatbread.

As the disheveled Moslawis file past, a rushed distribution ensues. Boxes arefilled and thrust into the hands of women in black abayas, given to bearded men,and distributed to exhausted children lugging heavy bags. The rain continues topour down, diluting the stew and soaking the bread.

Soldiers soon guide the families to buses that drive them to displacement camps, allowing Youssef and Tarek to catch their breath. They are elderly men with leathery faces, white beards and scarves wrapped around their heads. They are dressed in stained beige combat fatigues. But while their attire points to long stints in warzones, they are not fighters.

They are members of the Diwaniyah Civil Committee, a volunteer organizationthat has come to Mosul to help its civilians.

Located 150 kilometers south of Baghdad, Diwaniyah is deepin the largely Shia south of the country, and men of the civil committee makeno secret of their religious affiliation. Instead, they point to the words ofGrand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, the spiritual leader of Iraq's Shia and themost senior cleric in Shia Islam, as inspiration for their charitable work.

"Sistani told us that we have to help the Sunni people, so we followed his call," says Youssef.

Relying on donations collected in their home town, 22volunteers have come to provide food and water to civilians and soldiers alike intwo shifts. To the soundtrack of religious songs blasting out of powerfulspeakers, they work tirelessly to prepare the food distributed at the edge ofthe Baghdad-Mosul highway.

Occasionally, when the stream of civilians pouring out ofMosul is interrupted, they break into dance.

These efforts by Shiite volunteers run counter to the common narrative of thewar, which is framed by Iraq's sectarian divide.

When ISIS stormed across the Syrian border in 2014, it benefitted from Sunniresentment caused by the discriminatory policies of then-Prime Minister Nourial Maliki. Drawing its recruits from Sunnis in Iraq and abroad, the groupmanifested is sectarian hatred with the barbaric murder of 1,700 Shia army recruitsat the Camp Speicher military base. In response, Shia militia groups deployedto fight ISIS have killed, tortured and abducted Sunni civilians throughout theconflict.

Youssef and Tarek have suffered not only from the post-2003 years of bloody sectarian civil war, but also from the marginalization of Iraq's Shia majority in Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated dictatorship.

But in Mosul, where the Iraqi military and the U.S. backedcoalition are engaged in a lethal contest with its cornered and fanaticaladversary, Shia charitable organizations are some of the few organizationsdelivering aid deep into the contested western half of city. Their trucks aresome of the only civilian vehicles seen in the liberated areas of the west,bringing food to the troops and the civilians that have remained in theirhomes.

* * *

The Shia organizations are not a new phenomenon in Iraq. "Wehave been doing this everywhere, Beiji, Ramadi, Fallujah...." saysYoussef, reeling off the key battles fought against ISIS in his homeland.

He is now serving food to the needy as the battle for Mosulreaches its final stages. The Iraqis completed the eastern half of the city inJanuary. They reached the outskirts of west Mosul, which is separated from theeast by the Tigris river, on February 23. They have advanced steadily towardsthe city's core, and now stand at the edge of the historic old town, whichremains in ISIS hands alongside Mosul's northwest.

The work of the volunteers is important. Supplies have not been able to reachwest Mosul since the city was surrounded soon after the campaign to retake itwas launched in October last year, and foodstuff have dwindled. With little tofall back on, residents who chose to remain in the liberated parts of the westbank rely on what is brought in.

The Iraqi governments civilian personnel and internationalaid agencies are nowhere to be seen inside the city, and it falls to volunteersand soldiers to provide a lifeline.

Apart from the committees and Muslim Aid, a charity that delivers somesupplies, it is the military that does what it can to help. Soldiers habituallyhand over as many of their rations as they can, and the military's supplyvehicles never leave the city with as much as a piece of bread.

* * *

In a small but well-kept flat in the Tayaran neighbourhoodnear Mosul airport, Mohammed Kassem and his wife Nour are struggling to makeends meet. Mohammed had just opened a women's fashion shop when ISIS took overMosul in June 2014. His business venture did not comply with the jihadistsprudish misogyny, and he was forced to close the shop.

He turned to driving a taxi to provide for his wife and two young children. Butwhen the Iraq troops advanced into west Mosul, ISIS fighters took his taxi toblock the road, and the vehicle was destroyed. Without cash reserves he wasunable to amass provisions before the siege, and the family relies on themilitary for survival.

"The Federal Police give us food and water. If the police left for two days we would starve," says Mohammed.

The Federal Police is a paramilitary outfit that fights alongside Iraqi Special Forces known as the Golden Division in west Mosul. More so than the Golden Division, the police and their special weapons and tactics units are drawn from Iraq's Shia population.

Aid agencies are critical of the Federal Police and its elite Emergency Response Division, who are accused of calling in artillery fire and air strikes far more frequently than during the battle for the east bank, resulting in a far higher rate of civilian casualties.

But once an area has been taken, they lend a helping hand to those who have not left the city for a camp.

"We are providing the civilians with food and all other kinds of assistance," says Federal Police Sergeant Hussain Abdulkhader, whose platoon is manning a mortar battery set up at the entrance of Mohammed's street. Seven families remain in the street, says the sergeant, who estimates that about a quarter of the population has stayed in Tayaran.

With conditions in west Mosul dire, most civilians flee assoon as soon as they can. Over 100,000 people have fled the battle so far,according to the International Rescue Committee.

On the eve of the battle beginning in October, the United Nations warned that up to a million people could flee the fighting, overwhelming the humanitarian sector's ability to accommodate them in displacement camps.

That worst-case scenario was avoided during the fighting onthe east bank, where around 160,000 fled the city in total. But the exodus inthe west is fast filling up camps, and failure to provide aid for civiliansinside the city will add to the strain on capacity outside.

Food is not the only shortage making life difficult in west Mosul. Other than military field hospitals that are supported by a handful of small NGOs, whose staff are often volunteers, there is little help for civilians in need of medical attention.

* * *

At an ERD field hospital in an affluent part of Tayaran, an old man is lying on a stretcher while a female nurse inserts the needle of a drip into his veins. His wife watches intently as the liquid slowly flows into his system, rejuvenating his creaking body.

"They are hungry, dehydrated and stressed. There is no aid coming into the area. We even give them our food, but we don't have enough," says Sulsa, the nurse, who has volunteered to help at the field hospital.

Those who make it out of Mosul are fed not only by the gregarious men from Diwaniyah, but also by local tribes. Standing on the tarmac of the road to avoid sinking into the mud, Sheikh Hassan Agub al Mrir observes his tribesmen handing out water, sugary drinks, and food to the families dismounting from the trucks at Athbah.

The sheikh is the head of the Laheb, a small tribe near the town of Qayyarah, which was under ISIS control until last August. The Laheb are still reeling from two years of jihadi occupation, but they come to Athbah as often as they can, whenever they raise enough funds among the tribe to pack a few trucks with aid.

"Everyone gives according to their ability," says the sheikh. Other local tribes, such as the more influential Jubour tribe, also come to the aid of the city folk in their hour of need, according to al Mrir.

"We have a nomad tradition, and we are proud to help," says the sheikh.
MOSCOW  A wave of protests against corrupt Kremlin leaders rolled all across Russian cities, from Moscow and Saint Petersburg to Siberia and Far East on Sunday.

Authorities did not permit the rallies and warned that participants would be punished, but tens of thousands came out to demonstrate their anger with the countrys leaders overwhelming corruption.

In Moscow protesters were chanting: Putin the thief, go away! Thousands of people gathered on the Palace Square of Saint Petersburg in front of the Hermitage and shouted: Down with the Tsar! The scene was reminiscent of the famous images captured 100 years ago on the same square during Bolshevik revolution.

According to Echo of Moscow radio station, 60,000 people took part in anti-Kremlin rallies in 82 Russian cities.

Earlier this month, opposition leader Aleksey Navanys Anti-Corruption Foundation revealed details of Prime Minister Medvedevs multiple luxurious real estates around the country; according to the report Medvedev received profit from various companies both in Russia and abroad. Medvedev did not deny Navalnys claim.

Navalnys investigation went viral on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, as well as on Russian social networks. The account of outrageous wealth of Putins closest ally and long-time friend made thousands of Russians furious; it was a turning point that woke up the biggest anti-Kremlin movement since the opposition rallies against Putins return to the Kremlin in 2011-2012.

Most people are not here for Navalny, they are here because their own anger boiled over, because of their personal issues, one of Irkutsk protesters told independent Rain TV.

Russia is against corruption! was one of the most popular slogans chanted in dozens of cities, where Russians said they were sick of the Tsar of Putins geopolitics and wanted to see domestic politics, fair elections and non-corrupt politicians.

We do not want Syria, we want roads in Irkutsk, a young protester told reporters.

Navalny! Navalny! people chanted in Barnaul, a city 1,822 miles away from Moscow.

Every day for 17 years they have been giving us false promises that our life is close to getting better, an opposition leader addressed the crowd in Tomsk, another Siberian city situated 1,788 miles away from Moscow. Thousands of teenagers joined the protests in Siberian towns saying they hated to see the thieves at the rule of their country.

The most striking news of this revolutionary movement was the overwhelming number of teenagers joining. Hundreds of school kids participated in the walk on Tverskaya in Moscow.

While you were stealing money, we were growing! a group of 14-15-year-old boys and girls chanted, addressing Medvedev and President Vladimir Putin.

Today all the grandpas in the Kremlin suddenly faced the new awakening reality: thousands of teens hit the streets, they chose to be against the Kremlin and demonstrated the most classical peaceful protest, deputy chief editor of Echo of Moscow radio station Olga Bychkova told The Daily Beast.

The youth were not violent. The young protesters said they were disgusted by corruption and wanted to exercise their constitutional rights of expression, the rights they were aware of. The Russian interior ministry reported that 7,000 to 8,000 people participated in the demo on Moscows Tverskaya avenue. Ambulances took several people with head injuries to intensive care units in Moscow, however, including one policeman from National Guards.

This Internet generation did not leave a day neither in USSR, nor in Yeltsyns Russia; they were too little to hear Putin helped us raise off our knees in early 2000s, and now they despise the television propaganda and believe in the opposition, Bychkova said.

Since authorities banned the political rally, Navalny called for Russians to come out on a peaceful anti-corruption walk on Sunday. In Moscow the political promenade began at 2 p.m. and proceed counterclockwise along the Moscow central Tverskaya avenue, from Belorussky railway station to the Kremlin. Hundreds of black helmets of the police special forces were shining in the sun around Moscow courtyards and side streets, ready to attack the peaceful demonstrators. Police detained more than 500 in Moscow in the following two hours.

At 2:15 police grabbed the protests leader, Navalny, and forced the 40-year-old politician into a police bus. Some of Navalnys supporters rocked the bus, the others drove their vehicles and blocked the road but police units still managed to take Navalny away.

Pedestrian walks quickly flooded with people on both sides of Tverskaya Avenue; the closer people came to Pushkin Square, a traditional place for anti-Putin protests, the more difficult it was to move in thick crowd: the square was filled up with thousands of people. At some point police blocked the access to Pushkin Square from Tverskaya avenue, so people in the thick crowd were trapped between rows of police and Rossia movie theater. That was dozens of policemen rushed to club and grab people, to use the usual threatening method of suppressing the movement.

Tow teen boys climbed up a light poll.

Do not climb down! Do not climb down! the crowd chanted to them, as the poll was surrounded with policemen. A few dozen people ran away from riot policemen, up the Rossia theaters staircase. But the officials chased even older protesters with silver hair and dragged them down, towards the police busses, that were already filling up with dozens of people.

I realized that the only way not to get detained or clubbed was to run to the side street, Zina, one of the protesters told The Daily Beast.

The group of young artists that Zina came with to the protest walked towards the Kremlin, Big Zamoskvoretsky Bridge.

Police arrested people everywhere, even by the memorial for the assassinated opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, she told The Daily Beast at the rally.

Meantime in Irkutsk, a Siberian city 2,611 miles away from Moscow, hundreds of people joined the anti-corruption rally.

Hello Irutsk, my name is Dmitry but I am not Dimon! one of the demonstrators said in a loud speaker. Many in the crowd were laughing. Dimon was an ironic nickname for Russias PM and chairman of the ruling United Russia party, Dmitry Medvedev.

The Russian interior ministry reported that 7,000 to 8,000 people participated in the demo on Moscows Tverskaya avenue. Several protesters told The Daily Beast that they were impressed to see that so many people shared their opposition views, that Russia was finally awakening.
When people talk about the appearance of Jesus, the controversy is almost always about his skin tone and eye color. A whole tradition of Western artwork and moviemaking erroneously depicts the Galilean rabbi with light-colored eyes and skin, when archaeological evidence and, shucks, common sense maintain that he had much darker features. But what about the rest of his body? In particular, what about those body parts that mark him as male, which are so central to our understanding of who Jesus was?

Newly published scientific investigations into the Turin Shroud have identified the outline of the scrotum and right hand thumb of the man outlined on the cloth. If the Shroud is authentic, this would seem to supply clear evidence that Jesus was, in fact, male. But a recent book by Giulio Fanti and Pierandrea Malfi aside, the majority of scholars believe that the Shroud is almost certainly a medieval forgery.

Which brings us back to the question: how do we know Jesus had male genitalia? To be sure, his behavior in the Gospels and the way that he is described by early Christian sources presuppose that he was male, but this does not necessarily tell us as much about his gender as we might think.
Its that time of year again, when a new cohort of graduating high-school seniors finalize decisions on which college they will attend come fall. As colleges sell their worth and endless rankings are released in a dizzying array of information leading to the May deadlines to deposit, the hype makes it increasingly difficult for families to pierce the noise and understand what is truly at stake.

There are so many colleges in so many categories and at such different price categories that many families dont know what to ask, or how to value what they find. But, first, lets be clear about a central point and ask who we are really talking about. The reality is that the average college student is not someone right out of high school attending a four-year college and living on campus in dorms.

In fact, the average student is closer to 26 and more likely to attend a community college or a regional state institution while they live at home and work part time. They are also more likely to take six years to graduate not four  that is if they graduate. They are much more dependent on federal and state financial aid, scholarships and auto-dealer-style discounts to list prices than previous generations of students. For many, college will be the most expensive investment they make.

So offering college advice only to a select few, who almost by definition dont really need it, is dangerous. That said, there are some things all college-going students and their families should be considering.

Education economists W. Norton Grubb and Marvin Lazerson coined the term the education gospel to analyze the widely marketed and held belief that education is salvation, the means and end to a successful life rolled into one. College is where many place all their hopes and dreams in the belief that it is worth every and all sacrifices.

College in fact is worth many sacrifices to many people, but the key is to consider the cost and value of each one. A recent study by Georgetown Universitys Center on Education and the Workforce showed that someone with a BA or BS earns on average 84% more than someone without one  which comes to about a million dollars over a persons life. The stakes are indeed high, and the critical questions to ask before placing your bet are which college and what major, and how much debt those are worth.

First, not all colleges are the same, but the difference has as much to do with who they attract as what they offer those students. The graduation rate at the 500 most selective colleges and universities is 82%, compared to 49% at community colleges and four-year open access institutions. This doesnt mean what were often told it does, that if you go to one of those select colleges you will be better situated. You might be. But, what it really shows is that the students who were the most prepared and scored the highest on college entrance exams (and hence get into these selective colleges) graduate at higher rates and on time compared to other students who were less well prepared.

An interesting point is that the students who matched the profile of these top-tier college students but who didnt attend top-tier colleges also graduated at very high rates. It would seem then that preparation matters more than which college you attend. The takeaway is that if you are a student who graduated near the top of your class and scored high on your SAT/ACT you are likely to do well wherever you go, and the question you should ask about more expensive, selective colleges is what added value theyre offering you. If the answer isnt clear, it may not be the right choice.

But what about the majority of students who are not as well prepared, the majority? Evidence shows that they need more guidance and a more personalized educational experience  i.e. handholding. So, colleges that can offer these services are likely good fits. But, one has to balance that need with the financial realities. Here student faculty-ratios matter, but so do support systems such as advising centers, tutoring services and career counseling. These things exist at most every college. So do a tour and ask to see these spaces to see how over-crowded they are. That will indicate how usable they will be when you need them.

Most students might have to borrow to attend college, but loans are not necessary a bad thing. You need to ask if it is worth it. If you think of it as an investment and it is necessary for you to graduate, or maintain progress towards degree, then it makes sense. The problem is that too many students end up owing loans for a college from which they never graduate. Look up how much debt students at particular colleges have on their webpage. Look up that states average and compare to see how that school stacks up. Its truly telling.

What about what you major in? It matters, but less than you think. While it can be easy to denigrate anthropology, philosophy or art history, the reality is that the top 25% of those majors will out earn the bottom 25% of engineering majors over a lifetime. The key is to study something you can excel in, and that makes you excited. That really means do what you love. If you love it, you will do well. If you are an okay accounting major, but a superstar English major, you might have a better economic future going with English in the long run, not to mention a better experience as a student. Dont underestimate the career potential of a humanities major such as philosophy as they outearn many more business or professionally-focused majors over the course of a lifetime,

So, if you are a well prepared student, were you go matters, but not as much as you think. If you are underprepared, then go to a school that has the resources needed at a tuition that is affordable. Dont borrow too heavily as you might not finish and will have to carry the student loan debt with you.

College should lead to a meaningful career and employment, no doubt. But college should also be more than job training. What college does well is provide the means to achieve your first job, but more importantly, the ability to propel you beyond that first job. Look at the available data on how well college graduates do ten years out to give you a more meaningful way to consider the range of likely outcomes.

As you listen to all the advice and make your decision, remember what you need to do is find the college and major that is the right fit for you. Once you do that, the rest might just fall into place.
Bangladesh Army Spokesman Brig General Fakhrul Ahsan said, "Commandos fired gunshots seeing terrorists on the ground floors (of the five-storey building) when they fell down."

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: At least two militants have been killed in a military assault on their hideout in Sylhet which was underway for the second consecutive day.

Bangladesh Army Spokesman Brig General Fakhrul Ahsan said, "Commandos fired gunshots seeing terrorists on the ground floors (of the five-storey building) when they fell down."

Ahsan added one of the two extremists detonated his suicide vest confirming their instant deaths as the military-led assault was underway, but "we assume more militants are there inside equipped with small arms, explosives and grenades".

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"The entire area has become risky. Considering the overall situation, it will take more time for the operation to complete," he added.

The development came hours after the commandos launched their final assault as death toll in overnight operation rose to six.

The army spokesman said commandos entered from the top of the building to avoid "booby traps" laid out on the ground floor and then "we used tear gas and they (militants) started running around".

Senior Journalist of Shylet Akash Chowdhury, covering the developments, reported sounds of intermittent gunshots and explosions at the scene indicating militants' response to the security siege that virtually continued for the last three days.

Doctors at Osmani Medical College Hospital said they alone treated over 50 people after the subsequent blasts which also injured two military officers serving in the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

Until midnight yesterday, four people were killed as the militants launched retaliation, also injuring nearly 40 onlookers and security personnel as an army assault was underway at a nearby building occupied presumably by operatives of Neo-Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB).

The dead included two police inspectors and four onlookers, two of them being college students.

A crowd of over 500 people was standing on a regional highway keeping a distance of over 400 yards from the terrorist occupied building when the militants exploded a powerful device.

The second blast came in less than an hour as security personnel turned away the onlookers and took position at the site where the RAB explosive experts were examining the evidence.

--- ENDS ---
Love old or unusual movies but never know when they're on? Here are several I recommend:

King Solomon's Mines (1950): Here's one of those old chestnuts that I recommend you check out just as a curiosity, not because it's the greatest movie ever. Based on L. Rider Haggard's popular 1885 novel, it's one of at least five film versions of that book. As usual, the novel is changed so that it can have a female lead, this time Deborah Kerr, who persuades Great White Hunter Stewart Granger to help her find her lost brother in the heart of Darkest Africa. It's clunky and dumb, but it does have wonderful authentic African locations and the only music is tribal chanting and drums. It's a curiosity worth checking out.

Turner Classic Movies, 3 a.m. Wednesday

The Last Of Mrs. Cheyney (1937): This star-studded romp features Joan Crawford as a tricky thief posing as a society dame in a scheme to soak the rich folks she's drawing into her web. These include Frank Morgan and Robert Montgomery. Also featuring the great William Powell, this caper comedy has elegance, charm and late 1930s sophistication.

Turner Classic Movies, 8:45 a.m. Friday

Mr. Holmes (2015): Oh, how I love this movie. Ian McKellen plays a feeble old Sherlock Holmes in 1947. Dementia is creeping up on him as he cares for bees in secluded retirement. His housekeeper (Laura Linney) has an energetic young son (Milo Parker, in a performance of enormous presence and charisma) who idolizes Holmes. The great detective begins having memories of a decades-old case that won't let him alone. Is his memory playing tricks on him? Are there unresolved issues he needs to face? McKellen is magnificent playing Holmes at a variety of ages in this underrated, gorgeous movie.

Now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988): This remarkable movie deposits you in a world of 1940s Hollywood in which cartoon characters are actually real. Bob Hoskins stars as a detective investigating a murder that cartoon character Roger is mistakenly accused of committing. To say the special effects in the movie are amazing is an understatement. Even more delightful than the effects, however, is the juxtaposition of so many different characters from different cartoon "universes." In other words, there's a scene with Bugs Bunny AND Mickey Mouse ... and one with Donald AND Daffy Duck. For an old cartoon lover like me, it's kind of mind-blowing.

Now streaming on Netflix.

Trivia Question #677: What actress did the singing for Roger's wife Jessica in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Answer to Trivia Question #676: Sally Field starred in The Girl With Something Extra, an ESP-themed sitcom that lasted 22 episodes in 1973.

Bryan native Ray Ivey is a writer and movie fan in Hollywood, Calif. He would love to hear from you at rayivey@ca.rr.com. You can also visit his blog at www.starkravingray.com.
Some books you read and enjoy, then move on to the next one. Others you might like to savor for a while. And then there are a few that you cherish and go back to time and again.

Walt McDonald: Selected Poems (TCU Press, $18.95 hardcover) is one that I will cherish.

The 10th book in the TCU Texas Poet Laureate Series honors the 2001 Texas Poet Laureate, 2002 A.C. Greene Award winner, former Air Force pilot, and longtime Texas Tech professor, who is now retired.

Introducing the collection, guest editor and 2010 Texas Poet Laureate karla k. morton (no capitals) notes that McDonald has had more than 2,300 poems published in journals and 20 poetry collections.

"McDonald's poems," she writes, "seem to rise up from the soil and all the earthly waters, ripe with wisdom, connecting one generation to the next: the sweet meat of a fictional history handed down to the rest of the world with the splendor of the grand storytellers of the past."

The 80 poems selected for this slim volume speak to the range of McDonald's subjects and the rhythm of his lyrics.

He writes about war and family and love, about sandstorms and ranching and fishing, about ordinary folks, old age and death.

I have to admit that most collections of poetry leave me saying "huh?" more often than "wow!" Not this one.

One minute I'm laughing out loud reading "Baptizing the Dog at Nine" and "Aunt Linda and the Pink Bikini." Then I'm savoring his sweet tributes to his wife Carol, "Nights on the Porch Swing" and "Rock Softly in My Arms." And then I'm wiping away tears reading "Bargaining with God," a poem inspired by his granddaughter, who died in 2004.

An excerpt from that one: "I beg Take me/ instead of my darlings. Take the ranch/ and bank account, the mountain cabin,/ but save our granddaughter now./ Let me be Job in rags, Jeremiah/ in tears, but heal this little child now."

Limited edition: Four-O Publishing has teamed up with the Tom Lea Institute to produce a limited edition fine printing of The Notebook of Nancy Lea 1932-1936.

Nancy Lea, an aspiring young writer and artist, died in 1936 at the age of 29. Her grieving husband -- artist Tom Lea -- and noted book designer Carl Hertzog published her notebook and distributed the 25 or so copies to friends as a lasting memorial to her.

The new limited edition includes the notebook as first published plus a foreword by Houston businessman and collector J.P. Bryan; an introduction by Jamie Christy, director of the Bryan Museum in Galveston; an afterword by Adair Margo, founder and president of the Tom Lea Institute in El Paso; and a 24-page color plate section of artwork, photographs and a reproduction of the first page from her hand-written notebook.

The 250 numbered copies are $100 apiece and may be purchased by contacting Randy Armstrong at rarmstrg@hsutx.edu or (325) 670-1436.

Glenn Dromgoole writes about Texas books and authors. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.
The 13-year-old girl, allegedly gang-raped by eight of her school teachers, has been discharged from the PBM hospital in Bikaner.

By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: The 13-year-old girl, allegedly gang-raped by eight of her school teachers, has been discharged from the PBM hospital in Bikaner. She was undergoing treatment there for blood cancer. Earlier, the medical test of the girl was conducted. Its report is expected to come in by later today or tomorrow morning.

The minor girl's father had alleged that his daughter was gang-raped by eight of her school teachers in 2015. Allegedly, a video was also made which was later used to threaten the girl into submission. The police has registered an FIR against the accused teachers and is probing the case. Following the filing of FIR, the accused teachers went missing.

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However, earlier, another case was registered by a teacher against the girl's family members for assaulting him. The police has been investigating both the cases.

Rajasthan home minister raises doubts over allegation

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria has raised doubts over the allegation of gangrape of a minor girl by her school teachers.

Kataria, a senior leader in the state BJP, wondered why the girl did not make the gangrape allegation the same day.

Kataria stated, "On the 20th, case was filed by the organization against her father, other people that they indulged in manhandling. After that, on the 23rd, the girl's father levelled accusation against the organization's teachers, that two years back, in 2015, she was gangraped. Generally, even I am not able to understand if eight men raped and the girl does not come and inform the same day. Because I have experience of so many years, I can say, if even one man rapes a minor girl, she will get to know... even then , no issue. They have filed a case, we have formed a medical board. Medical board is currently investigating. After investigation, it will be known what kind of connection this case has with 2015 and whoever is at fault in that, will be acted against."

Also read:

Rajasthan: 2 years after gangrape of minor, 8 teachers booked

40 people do nothing but watch 15-yr-old's gangrape, live on Facebook: Welcome to 2017

WATCH THE VIDEO:

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Texans like to know how their tax dollars are being spent, whether in Washington, D.C., Austin or here at home. We not only want to know, we need to know.

We are the watchdogs of the government we own and we pay for.

It is hard to keep watch when some of the information our government maintains is kept secret. That why the freedom on information laws on open records and open government developed over the past half century in Texas are so critical.

Those laws say, that with a very few exceptions, all records maintained by the government are public and all meetings conducted by the government are open to everyone.

It is the natural tendency of government -- any government -- to want to do everything in secret. It is so much easier to conduct government business when our elected and appointed officials don't have to explain themselves to the people of Texas. Every legislative session sees this governmental body or that one try to carve out special exceptions to the release of information they control or to close meetings they conduct.

Fortunately, most of these efforts are blocked.

Sometimes, though, it isn't the Legislature being asked to restrict public access. Two years ago, our Supreme Court of Texas issued two baffling rulings -- the so-called Boeing and Greater Houston Partnership cases -- that closed off information that for decades had been available to the public. What is so odd is that the Supreme Court considers itself a champion for open government, often ruling in favor of the public. But not in these two instances.

In the "Boeing" case, the high court shut off pubic access to bid information on business -- public business -- between government and private companies once the deals are signed. The court said such bid information is proprietary to the private business, even though government -- taxpayer -- money was spent on whatever project the bid was for.

The case involved the airplane giant's contract with the Port of San Antonio is the heart of the ruling, but its effect covers a multitude of similar instances, including:

 How much the city of McAllen paid Enrique Iglesias to sing at a city-sponsored holiday concert. The city claimed under the Boeing ruling would hamper the city's ability to negotiate with entertainers in the future.

 In Denton, the city-owned municipal district has declined to allow the public to see details of bids and contracts for a $265 million power plant, the largest capital project in the city's history.

 The ruling stopped the city of Houston from releasing the number of driver permits issued to Uber.

 Also, the ruling keeps the details of the Kaufman County school district's food service contracts.

 And, thanks to the ruling, the Texas Department of Insurance contract for interpretive services is secret.

The other case, "Greater Houston Partnership," says the public has no right to know how nonprofit groups spent the money they receive from government contracts.

In both cases, Texans are being asked to assume their tax dollars are being spent wisely. By our government? Are they kidding?

State Sen. Kirk Watson of Austin has introduced two bills that would restore the public's right to know in both cases.

SB 407 and its state House companion, HB 793 by state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, Republican of Southlake, would restore the right to know details of government-private business contracts that existed for more than 30 years prior to the 2015 Supreme Court ruling.

SB 408 and its state House companion, HB 793, also by state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, would restore the right to know in government contracts with nonprofit groups.

In 1988, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the NCAA was, in effect, a governmental body because it was supported, in part, by public funds. It is this standard SB 408 and HB 793 would restore.

The 2015 Texas Supreme Court ruling said the private entity must be "sustained" by public funds, a much higher standard, to be considered a governmental body.

No matter how much a nonprofit receives from the government, the public has a right to know how that money is spent.

State Sen. Charles Schwertner of Georgetown, who represents Brazos County, is a cosponsor of both bills, as are state Sens. Dawn Buckingham of Lakeway, Konni Burton of Fort Worth, Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa of McAllen, Don Huffines of Dallas, Jane Nelson of Flower Mound and Van Taylor of Plano.

These senators all deserve our thanks. Even more, they deserve our support.

The Senate is slated to consisder both bills on Monday, so time is of the essence.

Please call one or all of these state senators and express your strong support of SB 407 and SB 408:

 State Sen. Charles Schwertner, District 5 -- Austin, 512-463-0105; Bryan, 979-776-0222.

 State Sen. Van Taylor, District 8 -- 512-463-0108.

 State Sen. Konni Burton, District 10 -- 512-463-0110.

 State Sen. Jane Nelson, District 12 -- 512-463-0112.

 State Sen. Kirk Watson -- 512-463-0114.

 State Sen. Don Huffines, District 16 -- 512-463-0116.

 State Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, District 20 -- 512-463-0120.

 State Sen. Dawn Buckingham, District 24 -- 512-463-0124.

If you state senator isn't listed, go online to www.senate.state.tx.us to find out how to call him or her.

Please call your state senator to say you support your right to know how your tax dollars are being spent.

This is important as Texans continue the ongoing fight to keep public information public -- for all of us.
Have a solution in energy, transportation, agriculture, water or infrastructure resilience? The VERGE Accelerate Showcase is a fast-pitch competition on the main stage of VERGE Hawaii, giving selected finalists the opportunity to pitch to a live audience of ~1,000 business leaders, government officials, investors, and a global online audience.





THE PERKS



Targeted exposure: Selected finalists will be joined on stage by hand-selected industry experts, giving you exposure to investors, corporates and decision makers who have deep experience working with entrepreneurs.

Global exposure: The VERGE Accelerate Showcase will take place on the main stage of VERGE Hawaii, amplifying you and your solution to a captive audience of ~1,000 attendees and many more tuned into globally online.

Free Startup Showcase Exposure: In addition to one all-access pass, selected finalists will be given a complimentary booth space on the VERGE Interconnect floor (usually reserved for paid exhibitors) and the opportunity to interact with potential partners and investors throughout the week.

Ongoing exposure: Beyond the live event, finalists will benefit from broad amplification via GreenBiz.com editorial coverage, the GreenBiz 350 podcast and published videos of the pitches.

SUBMITTING YOUR NOMINATION



Qualifying nominations must include a 60 second video naming the market opportunity your company addresses and why you want to pitch at VERGE. These should feature the team member being nominated to deliver the pitch.

GreenBiz is excited to be partnering with F6S to streamline the process: If you already have a profile, the F6S platform will automatically pull your information! If you dont have one yet, you can easily create one to join the fastest growing, global hub for startups.

TIMELINE

March 13  April 10: Entrepreneurs submit 60-second video nominations

April 14  28: Community votes to help decide the finalists

May 3: Finalists announced!

June 20 and 22: The two Accelerate pitch sessions take place at VERGE Hawaii in Honolulu, HI







ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA



Participating entrepreneurs:

Are developing technology solutions (commercially applicable products or services) related to at least one of the following: distributed or renewable energy, transportation, agriculture, water or infrastructure resilience;

Are incorporated and have a product ready for testing or deployment;

have less than $5M in combined investment and current revenue

 VERGE Accelerate got us in front of the potential customers, investors and partners we were dying to connect with. We really appreciated the exposure to key decision makers in our industry. 

Tristan de Frondeville

CEO

SkyCentrics Inc., VERGE Hawaii Accelerate Finalist (2016)

 VERGE Hawaii Accelerate was a great experience for myself and our company. It gave us direct access to major industry executives, enabling us to sit at the table and build relationships in a way thats often challenging for start-ups. I had meaningful discussions with potential partners and customers like MGM, Maui Electric Company, Trane and many others. 

Phillip Kopp

CEO

Conectric Networks, LLC, VERGE Hawaii Accelerate Finalist (2016)

Click here to apply.
The explosions came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint near the country's main airport in Dhaka.

By Indo-Asian News Service: At least six persons, including two police officials, were killed and over 40 were injured in two explosions on Saturday near a militant hideout in Sylhet city, some 240 km from capital Dhaka, local police said.

Sylhet Metropolitan Police Additional Deputy Commissioner Zedan Al Musa confirmed the death toll to bdnews24.com early on Sunday.

The explosions came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint near the country's main airport in Dhaka in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

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Of those seriously wounded include Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Intelligence chief who has been airlifted to Dhaka for better treatment.

One of the injured persons, Gulzar Ahmed, told bdnews24.com at the hospital that some onlookers stopped a person carrying a black polythene bag.

"The blast occurred just after he said that there was red spinach in the bag. Five to six people were injured in the explosion," he said.

"Another large explosion occurred when police and RAB rushed to the scene. Around 25 people were injured in the second blast," he added.

Witnesses earlier said two people riding a motorcycle 'carried out an explosion' at one end of the street where the militant hideout is located.

The blasts came within an hour of a media briefing on a raid at the militant hideout in which an army spokesperson said the commandos were storming a complex housing two buildings -- one five-storey and the other four-storey.

Mediapersons and onlookers in the area were asked to move at least a kilometre away when troops from the Para-Commando Battalion began the assault on Saturday morning to round off a 30-hour siege to the complex.

Police said the militants rented a flat some months ago. The 30 families residing in as many other units of the buildings were trapped during the raid.

The commandos have rescued 78 people from the building, which the army spokesperson said was their priority.

Also Read:

Bangladesh: 4 killed, around 30 injured in suicide attack near Sylhet militant hideout

Suicide attack outside Dhaka international airport; ISIS claims responsibility

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What issue do Iowa voters most often say is critical? You might be surprised
Sporting colourful bikinis atop her slender, graceful figure, Bruna is surely raising the temperatures in the room and how.

By India Today Web Desk: Bruna Abdullah raised quite a storm with her million dollar looks in films like Desi Boyz, Grand Masti and Mastizaade.

But you have never seen her being this hot... Bruna Abdullah is presently vacationing by the beach-side in Brazil and her recent pictures from the same which she has uploaded on Instagram are going viral!

Sporting colourful bikinis atop her slender, graceful figure, Bruna is surely raising the temperatures in the room and how!

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Grab a look at the pictures here:

Because he won't wait for me to pose!!! ?????????? #instagramhusband @alfromscotland #praiadajoaquina A post shared by Bruna Abdullah (@brunaabdullah) on Mar 24, 2017 at 8:57am PDT

Rosa ????????????????? #summerholiday #praiadorosa A post shared by Bruna Abdullah (@brunaabdullah) on Mar 4, 2017 at 1:07pm PST

Mar lindo.. @charmedamole ???? #praiamole A post shared by Bruna Abdullah (@brunaabdullah) on Mar 23, 2017 at 8:44am PDT

?? @alfromscotland #praiadaferrugem A post shared by Bruna Abdullah (@brunaabdullah) on Mar 5, 2017 at 5:29pm PST

Oh coisa boaaaaaa #praia #sol e #mar !!!?? @alfromscotland @debmarquessantos @thiagoapetri A post shared by Bruna Abdullah (@brunaabdullah) on Feb 28, 2017 at 9:18am PST

On the work front, Bruna Abdullah has acted in the film Udanchoo alongside Rajneesh Duggal. The film was scheduled to release in 2016 but did not due to certain difficulties on the producers' side.

ALSO READ: I am nerdy in real life, says Mastizaade star Sunny Leone

ALSO SEE: Housefull 3's Pyaar Ki Maa Ki to Great Grand Masti title track, the worst songs of 2016

WATCH: Sunny Leone's sexy moves

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HARTFORD  A bill that would give towns and cities a say in where cell phone companies can place antennas is moving to the state Senate for a vote.

Sponsored by state Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, the bill would establish a process to approve placement of the antennas, including considering town and local resident input. Although a statewide process to regulate cell phone towers is already in place, smaller antennas are routinely placed atop telephone poles and other structures without a specific review.
NORWALK  Fred Wirth had been visiting the Norwalk YMCA since he was a child in the 1950s and 60s. It was the place his mom sent him and his brothers when she needed a break. It was the place he learned to swim.

So when the Norwalk YMCA sold its building on West Avenue in 2012, Wirth, who currently serves as the vice chairman of the Board of Directors for the Riverbrook Regional YMCA, said it impacted him even more than he expected.

Moving away from a physical location, Ive been going there since I was a kid, so it was really heartbreaking to be honest, Wirth said. Like so many businesses, times have changed, maintaining big infrastructure when everyone is competing for every nickle and dime, it just became unsustainable ... Our mission right now is to continue to serve the Norwalk community in those areas that we find a need. Were doing extremely well right now. Were providing a lot of services, and looking to expand.

In 2012, the Norwalk YMCA closed its physical branch and sold the building it had occupied on West Avenue for 84 years, later merging with the Wilton Family Y to create the Riverbrook Regional YMCA in 2015. The closing and subsequent merger, while a financially rewarding move, created a new set of challenges for the Norwalk YMCA, as many believed the organization was gone from the community.

In reality, the Norwalk YMCA is stronger than ever, according to Wirth. Eliminating the physical building allowed the Norwalk YMCA to expand its services and partnerships throughout the city of Norwalk.

Were actively seeking to help in areas of the community where it makes sense, where we think we can do a good job, where we can bring services, where we can bring volunteerism to those parts of the community, Wirth said.

While the organization is constantly battling the perception that its gone from the community, the YMCAs presence in Norwalk is perhaps made most evident by the children in the after school program who instantly recognize the organizations senior-most employees. First- and- second-graders shout, Hi Big Bob! as CEO Robert McDowell passes through on a recent afternoon.

When you talk about the Y, people think about our old building, McDowell said. But we never closed. We never stopped serving the community. The heart of what were doing is focused on South Norwalk because thats where the highest needs are.

A branch without walls

McDowell said the Norwalk YMCA serves more than 1,200 people annually in Norwalk, between its after-school, summer, family and partnership programming.

The Norwalk YMCA currently serves about 100 South Norwalk children every day between its two after-school programs at Columbus Magnet School and Fox Run Elementary School. The YMCA summer program at Silvermine serves hundreds of students, and a partnership with the George Washington Carver Center allows nearly 500 South Norwalk children to learn how to swim every summer. Roughly 20 percent of the children in the after-school programs receive financial assistance while closer to 50 percent of attendees receive financial assistance for the summer programs.

Through partnerships with the Norwalk Health Department, Norwalk Hospital, Family and Childrens Agency, the Carver Center and more, the Norwalk YMCA also provides family services like diabetes prevention, blood pressure management, nutrition, fitness programming and more.

Desiree Edwards, after-school and day camp director for the Norwalk branch of the Riverbrook Regional YMCA, worked for the Norwalk Y for several years before the merger with Wilton. She said the closing of the West Avenue building has actually made it easier for families, who are now receiving services directly in their community instead of having to travel to a physical location.

Obviously some people still think of the gym and swim type of YMCA, Edwards said. But were really a branch without walls. We never left Norwalk. The most important thing for us is to make sure we serve children and families and the entire community.

Edwards said the move has also allowed the YMCA to add new programs, including academic help for high school students studying for SAT and ACT exams, college prep courses and a job exposition for high school students.

Were trying to meet the needs of the community by listening and learning, so we can truly provide services cradle to career, McDowell said.

Closing the physical building has also meant expanding partnerships with other organizations in the community, allowing both the YMCA and its partners to serve more people than ever before. The summer swim program, for example, was born out of a partnership between the Carver Center and the Norwalk YMCA in which they pooled their resources.

Executive Director Novelette Peterkin said the Carver Center had a long-standing tradition of renting pool space for its summer programs, but was never able to provide actual instruction until they partnered with the Norwalk YMCA three years ago.

We had swimming because we would rent a pool and have a lifeguard, but this program is different, Peterkin said. This is teaching young people to swim. Its something we would never be able to afford to do. We pool our resources together and were able to provide this. If you think about it, we both are able to meet our mission, and accomplish the goal that we set out to accomplish. Without their resources we would not be able to have every kid learn how to swim. We would never be able to teach them all how to swim. They could go to a pool and have a little fun, but this is actually providing them the skills to swim, and their familys peace of mind when their children learn safety around water.

Bringing back the building?

The Norwalk YMCA sold the brick building on West Avenue to the Norwalk Hospital Association in 2012 and moved into a new facility on the Wilton border that now houses the Riverbrook Regional YMCA.

The new model of a branch without walls has been successful for the Norwalk YMCA thus far, but McDowell and Firth agreed a new physical space in Norwalk isnt entirely out of the question.

Our eyes and ears are always open, but its got to work for us as an organization, McDowell said. We never want to open something only to have to close. Its about creating sustainable models that serve the community in an effective way.

While Wirth may feel the nostalgia attached to a physical YMCA more than most, he agreed with McDowell.

Were looking for specific opportunities, a specific facility, Wirth said. We dont mind walls, but were not going to invest in walls just to say we have a facility.

In the meantime, not having to maintain the infrastructure of a physical space has allowed the Norwalk YMCA to be more creative with its resources and serve more people than ever before, even while combatting the perception that the YMCA is gone from Norwalk.

Were not gone, and were not going anywhere, McDowell said. The Y is about programs, people, having an impact, Not just a physical building.

kkrasselt@scni.com; 203-354-1021; @kaitlynkrasselt
Switzerland has said it can suspend automatic exchange of information about suspected black money hoarders, if confidentiality isn't maintained.

By Press Trust of India: As India and other countries await an automatic exchange of information from next year about suspected black money hoarders in Swiss banks, Switzerland has said it can suspend such sharing of details at any time if confidentiality is not maintained.

As part of an international commitment to fight the black money menace, Switzerland has effected the automatic exchange of information standard since January 1, 2017. The sharing of details under this framework will begin from next year with the first batch of countries, including India.

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"Domestic financial institutions are collecting this data for the first time this year, and the Swiss tax authorities will exchange it with their counterparts in partner states in 2018," said the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF).

The Swiss agency is mandated to defend the interests of Switzerland on international financial and tax matters and participates in international negotiations. It said in its latest quarterly newsletter that necessary steps will be in place to ensure the exchanged data do not fall into the wrong hands or get misused.

"Switzerland is prepared in principle to introduce the automatic exchange of information with all states and territories which meet the relevant requirements. In this sense, the confidentiality and security of the data are important elements of this international standard," it said.

"Switzerland implements the automatic reciprocal exchange of information only with countries which can guarantee confidentiality and data protection. Before any exchanges occur, the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes carries out a thorough examination as to whether or not the partner states which have undertaken to introduce the automatic exchange of information comply with the requirements."

"In some important cases, Switzerland additionally gets an on-the-spot impression of the situation in the partner states. Given that Switzerland does not belong to the group of countries which implemented the standard early on (so-called early adopters), it is also benefiting from the experience of other countries," the SIF said.

"Before the first exchange occurs, it will be able to examine if all significant elements of the standard have been met. Should it subsequently transpire that a country has not fulfilled its obligations, Switzerland can at any time suspend the automatic exchange of information with the country concerned," it added.

SYSTEM IN PLACE 'RELATIVELY SIMPLE'

The Swiss agency further said the system in place so far has been "relatively simple", wherein whenever a foreign tax authority was interested in obtaining information located in Switzerland, it had to make a request for administrative assistance. "However, the rapid international developments in recent years have provided Switzerland with two new forms of exchange of information in the area of taxes: spontaneous and automatic exchange of information (AEOI)," it added.

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In the case of the AEOI, countries mutually exchange information automatically on financial accounts and the details in this case are determined as the standards drawn up by the OECD.

The information in spontaneous exchange needs to be exchanged if the transmitting country suspects that the information available might be of interest to another country.

While spontaneous exchange has nothing to do with voluntary in this context -- it only means that no preliminary request has been submitted -- this framework was being handled very differently from country to country up to now, the SIF said.

"Within the scope of the OECD and G20 project to combat base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), the spontaneous exchange of information was specified for the first time in the area of advance tax rulings, where there is a risk of base erosion or profit shifting."

"The Federal Council adopted the current international standard in this area in the context of a revision of the Tax Administrative Assistance Ordinance. Switzerland will spontaneously exchange information on advance tax rulings for the first time next year," it added.

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'NUMBER OF DOMESTIC SWISS BANK BRANCHES HAS HALVED'

The agency further said that over the past 30 years, the number of domestic bank branches in Switzerland has almost halved.

"A reduction in the number of banking institutions and their branches can be the result of mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies.

A number of policy measures have been put in place by Swiss authorities in recent years to address concerns of its banks providing high secrecy walls around their global clients. New rules make it much easier for several foreign jurisdictions, including India, to get details from Switzerland about people suspected to be involved in tax evasion and other financial crimes.

Switzerland has also been issuing notices to several resident Indians and even Indians settled abroad after the receipt of request from India for "administrative assistance", including information about their Swiss bank account details.

As per the local law, Switzerland gives an opportunity to the entity concerned to challenge the sharing of information, before providing the assistance to the requesting nation.

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While India and Switzerland late last year signed a new pact for automatic exchange of information about account details 2018 onwards, the pending requests have been made under their existing bilateral tax treaty.

The pace of seeking such details seems to have quickened in recent months, going by the sudden spurt in the number of Indian names figuring in such notifications.

ALSO READ | Switzerland to share info on Indians holding Swiss bank accounts

5 ways in which Switzerland will help PM Modi bring back black

ALSO WATCH | Paying more than Rs 2 lakh in cash may be illegal soon

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ROCKVILLE  A Rockville couple started Centura Public Schools Backpack Program five years ago to address the communitys need, and they dont plan on stopping.

The program currently serves about 30 students  a number that has grown since the beginning of the program. Through grants and donated dollars, many from community members, businesses and churches, children dont have to worry about eating when theyre not at school.

The program provides a pack of kid-friendly foods that are easy for children to prepare themselves.

It all started when Marcia McDonald found herself with lots of time.

I had a year off of work because I had breast cancer, Marcia said.

During that time, she heard about a program her daughters church was doing in Lincoln. Marcia wondered if she could use her time to help fill a need in her community.

She spoke with Centuras elementary school principal, Cory Bohling, about whether the school had a need for a program like that.

I said, Do you know what it is? He said, Yeah. I said, Do you think theres a need? He said, Definitely, Marcia said.

Each week, she and her husband, Bill, go to Sams Club to get items in bulk.

The pair buys trail mix, Chef Boyardee, pudding, peanut butter, tuna, popcorn, fruit snacks and other kid-friendly foods.

The small jars of peanut butter are ordered by the grocery store in Boleus, as large quantities of small jars arent available at Sams. Marcia said the Boelus grocery store has been very helpful in that way. They also ordered Spaghettios with pull tabs because she couldnt get them elsewhere.

Marcia said one time they went to Sams and got a few boxes of Chef Boyardee cans. She said the checkout girl said, Oh, you like Chef Boyardee? Marcia grinned about the instance.

She and Bill put the individually packaged items in a gallon Ziploc bag. Bill then puts three of the packaged gallon bags in a plastic grocery bag to transport to the school. On Wednesday, the couple assembled 32 bags of food.

Bill said he goes to a grocery store, such as Hy-Vee, and gets plastic sacks.

Its so amazing once you start asking people, he said about the stores willingness to donate a few sacks.

Marcia and Bill said theyre happy to help with the program, which the community and school staff help with. Once the McDonalds drop off the food at Centura, staff distribute the packs to the appropriate students. Teachers help identify students who could benefit from the program.

Once the awareness is out there, it just blows peoples minds that there are kids out there that dont eat during the week, Marcia said. A lot of times, the kids go home on the weekend and they wonder what theyre gonna eat.

She said one teacher noticed a significant difference in one of her students after they started receiving the food backpacks.

Now that we started, we cant stop it, Bill said, mentioning how simple it is for them to do. Its fun to give away stuff.

For each weeks worth of food, it costs about $400. For a year and during summer programs, the program costs can total about $8,000. Of course, as the need grows, the cost grows.

Im very thankful, Marcia said of the people who donate to the program and the grants she has received.

It breaks your heart to know theres a problem, but its really rewarding if you know that you can make a difference, she said.
Regent Anna Jensen-Goodman opened the March 14 meeting of Catholic Daughters Court Queen of Peace No. 2227 at Blessed Sacrament.

Secretary Mary Phelan read correspondence from Spirit Radio and Cross Catholic asking for donations. The requests were tabled until a later date. Gayle Spary reported on membership and Beverly Brewer read the financial report.

Lou Rosno reported on sending in the delegates and alternates information for the up-coming State Convention scheduled for April 22 and 23 at the Holiday Inn in Kearney. Sunday noon table decorations have been made and will be used as door prizes after the noon luncheon.

Members were reminded that Right to Life will be saying the rosary Monday, April 17, in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Also new members installation will be held in May not April.

The next meeting will begin at 7 p.m. April 11.
President Kari Sawyer presided over the March 18 meeting of Gamma Chapter, Rho State, of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International at the Grand Island Public Library.

Celine Swan gave the members a tour of the library, showing the new and remodeled areas of the building.

Rebecca Hoobler has been named a candidate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Woman of the Year 2017.

Members were reminded of the Rho State Convention scheduled for April 21-23 at the Grand Hotel in Grand Island. Each chapter was asked to furnish a basket to be used in a silent auction. Cathy Morgan volunteered to supply one for Gamma Chapter.

Judi Nelson led a necrology service for Bonnie Owens, who died Feb. 20, 2017. Owens had been a Gamma member since 1956.

Cathy Morgan, Stephanie Wolf, Crystal Petit and Donna Dill served as hostesses.

Sawyer reminded the group of its next meeting Saturday, May 20, at the First National Bank in Grand Island.
Eleven members of the Grand Island Womans Club met March 14 for their monthly meeting.

President Donna Deaton-Tompkins gave devotions. Carolyn Luebbe and Deaton-Tompkins served as hostesses. Door prize winner was Donna OBrien.

The Arts, Crafts and Photography Show conducted at Hargis Mansion was a success. All first- and second-place winning entries were sent to the state for judging.

For March, Joyce Ryan reported that members of the Hargis Book Club will be reading The End of Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe.

Primrose Retirement asked members to help with bingo on Wednesday evenings and Saturday. They also asked Womans Club members to be the models for their style show on May 11. Anyone interested can contact Primrose for details.

Mary Stoltenberg asked for volunteers to help with Special Olympics scheduled for April 22. Anyone interested can call her at (308) 384-5078.

The member in charge of house rentals resigned her position. Ryan at (308) 382-3026 or OBrien at (308) 381-8863 have filled that position. Contact either one of these members if interested in renting the house for your activity.

Dori Bush presented the program, Womens Recognition Month. She told of women who have impacted her life and then had each member tell of someone in their life.

The next meeting is set for 1:30 p.m. April 11. Deaton-Tompkins and Marsha Truell will present the program, What Doctors, Druggists and Hospitals Dont Tell You.
The Prairie Pioneer Quilt Guild met March 9 at St. Leos Catholic Church, with 79 regular member and two guests present.

Catherine Erickson from South Dakota presented a trunk show on the Judy Niemeyer applique technique. Members were also able to attend a workshop Niemeyer conducted March 10 at Quality Sew and Vac.

Due to Holy Week, the next meeting has been scheduled for April 20 . Quilt school will be from 6 to 6:30 p.m. where Jan Sittler will talk about getting your quilt ready for the State Fair. The regular meeting begins at 7 p.m. Guest speaker Lisa DeBord from the Quilt Rack in North Platte will present lots of ideas for wool.

Lorie Bendixien is running the mystery quilt challenge. She handed out the third clue. Members are all anxious to see what its going to look like.

Upcoming events are:

April 1  Missy Lemons will present a Judy Neimeyer invisible applique class at Quality Sew and Vac.

April 29  9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Quilters Day Out at Calico Cottage, 743 W. Second St., in Hastings. This event is sponsored by the Nebraska State Quilt Guild. Featured speaker Diane Harris will present, Make Extraordinary Scrap Quilts.

Prairie Pioneer Quilt Guild donated five more quilts to CASA for community projects.

Mary Lothrop encouraged people to bring their scraps so she can make dog pillows for the shelters.

Anyone wishing to join the group or needing information can call Peggy Helms (308) 390-5912 or go on web site www.giquilters.com.
President Jacki Pollock welcomed 19 members of Trinity Lutheran Womens Missionary League and two guests to the March 10.

Marlene Behm offered the opening prayer.

Christie Kelley of Majestic Treasures presented the program. She shared the trials of the beginning of her store and how she opened it.

Betty Green gave the mites devotion on an update of the hope and healing of the Navajo people of New Mexico, which the groups mite offerings help support.

Lois Niemoth reported on the Altar Guild. Behm reported that 40 visits were made by members to shut-ins.

An LWML spring workshop was conducted March 25.

Loise Fischer, Elaine Fuss and Dawn Harries served as hostesses.

The next meeting of Trinity LWML will be at 1:30 p.m. The missionary project will be items for the food pantry.
Local, area students win in NDA poster contest

As part of National Ag Day, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) announced the winners of the departments annual youth poster contest. The contest, open to first- through sixth-grade students in Nebraska, featured the theme Good Life, Great Roots. and received over 1,850 entries.

Locally, in the fifth- and sixth-grade division, first place went to Daisy Villatoro of Knickrehm Elementary in Grand Island and Bryana Vargas-Paiz, also a Knickrehm Elementary student, placed second. Both are fifth-graders.

In the third- and fourth-grade division, the Governors Choice honor went to Braelynn Renz, a fourth-grader at Heartland Community Schools in Henderson.

The winning posters and the names of the schools submitting entries are on NDAs website at www.nda.nebraska.gov/kids.

Record U.S. biomass-based diesel imports in 2016

The U.S. Energy Information (EIA) Administration recently reported that American imports of biomass-based diesel, which include biodiesel and renewable diesel, increased by 65 percent in 2016 to reach a record level of 916 million gallons.

Increasing Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) targets and the recently expired biodiesel blenders tax credit were strong drivers of biomass-based diesel demand in 2016, incentivizing increased levels of imports of both biodiesel and renewable diesel, EIA reported. The biodiesel blenders tax credit has expired several times in the past, most recently at the end of 2014, only to be retroactively reinstated.

EIA says biodiesel and renewable diesel are valuable because they qualify for the two major renewable fuel programs in the United States: the nationwide RFS and Californias Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). Biomass-based diesel fuels have additional advantages over other renewable fuels such as fuel ethanol because of their relatively high energy content and low carbon intensity, which allow them to qualify for higher credit values in both renewable fuel programs.

Both biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels are produced from refining vegetable oils or animal fats. Biodiesel is blended with petroleum diesel up to 5 or 20 percent by volume (referred to as B5 and B20, respectively). Renewable diesel is a drop-in fuel  meaning that it meets specifications for use in existing infrastructure and diesel engines  and is not subject to any blending limitations.

U.S. imports of biodiesel, which totaled 353 million gallons in 2015, nearly doubled in 2016 to reach a record-high 693 million gallons. More than half of U.S. biodiesel imports of originated from Argentina (64 percent). Roughly half (53 percent) of biodiesel imports arrived along the Atlantic Coast because of the favorable economics of importing seaborne cargoes to that region relative to the movement of domestically produced product by rail from the Midwest.

Imports of renewable diesel increased 9 percent from 2015 levels to reach 223 million gallons in 2016. Similar to 2015, Singapore was the only source of imported renewable diesel, which was primarily destined for the West Coast, most likely for compliance with Californias LCFS program.

EIAs most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook projects biomass-based diesel imports to remain largely flat in 2017 because of the expiration of the blenders tax credit, before increasing in 2018 as a result of increasing RFS targets. Net imports of biomass-based diesel (imports minus exports) are expected to remain largely unchanged at roughly 800 million gallons in 2017, accounting for about one-third of total U.S. biomass-based diesel consumption in 2007, before increasing to around 900 million gallons in 2018.

NFU urges administration to keep COOL as priority

The Trump administration last week released a list of 24 trade practices, including Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL), that trade negotiators should prioritize in future negotiations. National Farmers Union (NFU) is urging the administration to keep COOL on the list and ensure a reinstatement of COOL would be allowable under any renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

For 30 years, NFU has championed Country-of-Origin Labeling, and we strongly believe the issue is important to American producers and consumers alike, said NFU President Roger Johnson. American producers raise the best beef and pork in the world, and they believe consumers should be able to know where the meat at the grocery store came from.

Mandatory COOL, first passed in 2002 and then again in 2008, required that muscle cuts of meat and some vegetables, nuts and fruits sold at retail must contain a label informing consumers about the country where the product was sourced. A May 2013 opinion poll showed more than 90 percent of consumers supported the law.

COOL provided consumers with information they care about, and it allowed American family farmers and ranchers to differentiate their product, Johnson said.

The COOL law was repealed by Congress in December 2015 after a lengthy World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute with Canada and Mexico and pressure from multinational meatpackers. Faced with either making the law compliant by switching it to a voluntary system, paying more than $1 billion in retaliatory tariffs, or repealing the law, Congress chose to repeal the law. When doing so, they also removed COOL labels from meats like ground beef and ground pork that were never at issue with the WTO.

The U.S. Congress kowtowed to threats from an international tribunal and foreign governments, even as one of those foreign governments maintained a country-of-origin labeling system in their own country, said Johnson. The current administration has an opportunity to right an important consumer right to know and serious sovereignty issue here, and that is the ability of foreign governments or institutions to dictate the laws of our land.

The administrations priority list came just days after Brazils largest food-processing giants JBS and BRF were raided by government authorities for allowing rotten meat to be distributed in Brazil and exported to Europe.

Without country-of-origin labeling, cases such as this Brazilian rotten meat scandal can affect consumer confidence in the entire beef industry, harming American producers bottom line, Johnson said.

Nebraska honey production down 19 percent

Honey production in 2016 from Nebraska producers with five or more colonies totaled 2.21 million pounds, down 19 percent from 2015, according to the USDAs National Agricultural Statistics Service.

There were 48 thousand honey-producing colonies in Nebraska during 2016, a 16 percent decline from 2015.

The average yield was 46 pounds per colony, down from 48 pounds from 2015. Producer stocks were 640 thousand pounds on Dec. 15, 2016 down from 1.45 million pounds a year earlier.

Prices for the 2016 crop averaged $1.88 per pound, down from $2.04 in 2015. Prices were based on retail sales by producers and sales to private processors and cooperatives. The total value of Nebraska honey produced in 2016 was $4.15 million, down 26 percent from 2015.
Since their early beginnings, local companies have played a major role in literally constructing Grand Island and Central Nebraska.

The Diamond Engineering Co., whose current office is at 1521 W. Anna, is the construction company thats been in business the longest in Grand Island. Rob Gartner, Diamonds president, said the business started in 1920 and is still going strong nearly a century later.

For people that are doing subdivisions, we will give them pricing for sewer, water and paving, Gartner said of the companys operations. We build bridges, too.

Some notable construction projects Diamond Engineering has been involved in over the years, Gartner said, include:

-- The municipal swimming pool at Pier Park in 1938.

-- The Sycamore Street underpass in the 1950s.

-- The paving of Highway 34 in 1931.

-- A portion of the grandstand at Fonner Park.

Diamond Engineering is currently working on the Copper Creek Subdivision on Old Potash Highway, and was the lowest bidder on the installation of a new lift station for the City of Grand Island at the corner of Husker Highway and Highway 281.

Gartner said the thing that has evolved the most over the years is communications.

Weve evolved from radios and pickups to where everybody has a cell phone now, Gartner said. It used to be hard to get ahold of somebody on a crew and know where they were at. Now there are trackers in all of our pickups so I can tell where my crews are at.

In his office, Gartner has a map projected on a screen on the wall that shows where his workers are at at a given time.

Gartner said he started working in Diamond Engineerings telephone part, installing telephone cable.

When I was a kid, all we had to put a telephone cable through was a pipe pusher, Gartner said. That would statically push that pipe, jack it underneath a street, and you hoped you could get a hole on the other side. Now they have directional drills that have electronics in the head of the pipe that you locate and tell right where its going. Its got a wedge at the front so you can turn that wedge whichever direction you want to do.

Gartner said he hopes to expand in the future, but a challenge is hiring capable help.

Its (difficult) finding the help that wants to do construction work and stick around, and build crews that have men that want to do the work, he said. We could take more work. Theres not a shortage of what we call iron  or equipment. There is a shortage of competent help.

Diamond Engineering currently employs between 70 and 85 employees at its Grand Island location, Gartner said. He said many men have worked for the company for more than 30 years.

The walls of Diamond Engineerings office are covered with pictures of longtime employees and Gartner said he has about 16 more of them to put up for display.

Lacy Construction

Jerry Huismann, president of Lacy Construction Co., said his company has been in business since 1946 as a home builder, and eventually evolved into Lacy Building and Supply. In 1997 it became Lacy Construction Co.

We feel it better tells what we do, but we kept the Lacy name because it had been Lacys for so long that it felt like it was good name recognition, Huismann said.

He said Lacy used to be an aw-shucks industry that was more project-driven than it is today. Today, he added, projects are more process-driven.

The owners want to see what your processes are and how you do what you do, Huismann said. The superintendent is still integral in the project, but there are so many more tools and associations that he uses to help him. A schedule was always second nature. Now it is a tool that helps build a project because there are so many more parts and pieces that go into buildings.

Some notable projects Lacy has been involved with include:

-- The original post office building.

-- Grand Island City Hall.

-- Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church.

-- The original St. Leos Catholic Church.

Current projects include the construction of Starr Elementary School and Barr Middle School.

Huismann said Lacy typically has between seven and 10 projects going on at one time. He added that Lacy currently has about 50 employees.

The people that we have are really good, Huismann said. We love doing what we do. We have a passion for doing construction and doing construction right.

Another Grand Island construction company, Chief Industries, has been in business since 1954.

Chief Construction

Beth Frerichs, sales and marketing associate with Chief Construction, said the business was founded as a construction company. It has evolved into Chief Industries, with a number of different entities  subsidiaries and divisions. Chief Construction is one entity under Chief Industries.

We started from one man and (evolved to) operating out of a garage, Frerichs said. It is still that family-operated business that really respects our employees. Its really important for those relationships and to respect the employees to make sure were giving the best customer service.

Frerichs said Chief Construction expanded by moving from its former 5,000-square-foot facility to its new 12,500-square-foot facility at 3935 Westgate Road in August.

Frerichs said notable projects in Grand Island have included:

-- The Nebraska Law Enforcement Center.

-- Northwest Commons.

-- The former K-Mart building.

-- Nova-Tech.

-- Tom Dinsdales auto complex.

-- First National Bank on South Locust Street.

The company also will be building the Xpanxion at Tech oNE Crossing in Kearney.

Something that is really important to us, too, is how we are contributing to our community, not just by building new buildings, but also taking those structures that we have, repurposing them and bringing them up to a standard that really showcases our community, she said.

Roger Bullington, vice president of construction and development, and Mark Moravec, business development manager, said Chief Construction has an average of 25 to 30 projects going on at one time.

Frerichs said Chief Industries and Chief Construction have also evolved into technology and services, and expanded their talent pool of employees.

The reason for hiring a lot of those additional individuals who come from those larger companies was so that we could move into the construction management side of business, Frerichs said. Going from maybe a $5 million build, we can now go up to a $60 million build.

Added Moravec:

One of the guys who actually built St. Francis towers now works for us as the manager of our outside field operations. This (Grand Island and Chief Construction) is closer to his roots, so we were able to hire him. By hiring those kind of key people, we gain experience on how to build those type of higher-end structures. Whereas, six years ago, we couldnt do something like that.
Hornady Manufacturing Co. in Grand Island has been named the 2016 Manufacturing Business of the Year by the Nebraska Business Development Center.

The award was presented during a luncheon March 17 at the Capitol in Lincoln attended by 21 senators from the Unicameral, including Sen. Curt Friesen representing District 34.

The NBDC Advisory Board selected the winners for exemplifying the contribution small businesses make to Nebraskas economy, said Catherine Lang, NBDC state director.

NBDC awards the Manufacturing Business of the Year to a Nebraska business that demonstrates leadership in employee involvement, continual process improvement, customer and supplier relations, innovation and new product development, sales growth and sustainability.

Hornady Manufacturing is a leader in bullet, ammunition, re-loading and accessory design. Founded in 1949 by Joyce Hornady, the company began making bullets in a rented garage in downtown Grand Island. The business remains family-owned today and employs a workforce of more than 300. Hornady has been an NBDC client since 2004, continuing to expand its facilities, operations and markets.

Raising Canes collecting unwanted cell phones to help local military

Raising Canes Chicken Fingers is collecting unwanted cell phones at its Grand Island and Lincoln restaurants.

The phones will be recycled and turned in for calling cards. The calling cards will be given to Nebraska soldiers who are away on active duty. Through April 30, individuals will receive a free meal with purchase offer when a phone is donated in support of the cause.

Additional support can also be given by adding any dollar amount to a ticket when ordering. The money raised will help support a fund for veterans and their families to assist with medical or other bills, groceries and gas.

This is the second year of the program in Grand Island. Since 2009, the Lincoln and Grand Island restaurants have raised more than 646,000 minutes for Nebraska troops and nearly $54,000 to support the needs of returning Nebraska veterans and their families.

Albion entrepreneur brings cutting-edge technology to rural areas

Applied Connective is now bringing state-of-the-art technology to area businesses, schools and municipalities from three locations.

Small-town Nebraska native Ed Knott co-founded Applied Connective in Albion in 2004 as a two-person operation offering commercial phone systems and IT services to local businesses. The company has flourished into a full-service technology group with 19 employees and additional locations in Fullerton and Columbus.

Applied Connective now provides virtually all of the technological necessities required for business function, including Internet, managed IT services, phone systems, access control, surveillance and professional audio/video.

The company has experienced a surge of growth in recent years, and though it serves a wide range of clients in various industries throughout Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and South Dakota, it remains devoted to focusing on smaller markets outside of the Omaha and Lincoln areas.

Larger service providers often disregard and overlook Nebraska businesses and establishments to zero in on more heavily populated areas, said Knott. But businesses striving to remain competitive in smaller cities have the same needs as businesses in larger cities.

Were excited to get more involved with communities that are thriving but underserved and introduce them to technologies that will benefit their businesses and allow them to operate more efficiently. 
The concrete building at 63 Genesee St. in downtown Auburn will remain, at least in part, a bank.

Lyons National Bank is one of two new tenants announced for the building by owner KyleCroft Development. The other is Joseph Calarco, an agent for supplemental insurer Aflac.

Grant Kyle, of KyleCroft, said the second-floor Aflac office will receive its certificate of occupancy Monday, as will ABC Cayuga's Play Space, which is located on the former bank's main floor.

Lyons, meanwhile, is looking at opening sometime in April, Kyle said. KyleCroft is installing new teller stations, an ATM and a dropbox for the bank, which will also be opening a branch at 311 Grant Ave. Road in Sennett. Though that branch has been approved by the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the downtown one's application is still pending.

Thomas Kime, president of the Wayne County-based Lyons, told The Citizen in February that "Auburn had been on our radar screen for quite a few years. ... We'd like to be part of the downtown business community, but we also want ease of access, which the Sennett location would allow."

Kyle said Lyons will occupy about 2,200 square feet of the building's bottom floor. That floor, he continued, also includes a 1,200-square-foot vault and a 1,500-square-foot conference room that KyleCroft is still figuring out how to fill. The latter could be an hourly rental space, Kyle said, or a permanent lease depending on demand. The former will require code studies to determine legal uses.

"It won't be coming out, it's so large and heavy," he said of the vault. "It's pretty impressive."

KyleCroft bought the former Marine Midland and HSBC banks in September from First Niagara Bank, which acquired the building when it acquired HSBC in 2012. The sale price was $240,000, according to Cayuga County property records. The bank was assessed at $1,094,000 in 2016.

Kyle said redeveloping and filling the building has gone "a lot quicker" than he anticipated, and believes that's due to its central downtown location and accompanying parking lot.

"It's good news for the health of downtown," he said. "So many people are interested in staying or growing downtown."

That demand pushed back work on the adjacent Nolan Block at 41-53 Genesee St., which KyleCroft purchased earlier in 2016. Kyle said the block's $2.87 million development into 14 apartments and five storefronts should begin in the spring.

Kyle put a similar timetable on exterior work to 63 Genesee St.: whenever the snow melts. At that time, he said, KyleCroft will fill the building's light boxes, complete landscaping work and, Kyle hopes, "dramatically" light it. Those improvements, he said, could turn Auburnians around on the angular concrete structure, which many have called unsightly.

"We'll continue to try to make it as attractive as we can to downtown," he said.
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Mar 24 (PTI) China today dismissed as "unnecessary" the concerns of Pakistani businesses over the possibility of local markets getting flooded with cheap Chinese goods due to tax exemption under the CPEC project, marginalising local industries.

"As for the specifics, I am not aware of them, but I think your concerns are unnecessary," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

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Pakistani companies have expressed concerns over Chinese suppliers, who will get heavy tax exemptions, may flood local markets with cheap Chinese goods when the trade route under the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor opens.

Playing down such concerns, Hua said the CPEC, part of Beijings Silk Road project, is a new cooperation framework set by China and Pakistan in the interest of long-term development.

She said, "it is an important project under the Belt and Road", the official name for Silk Road initiative.

CPEC, an ambitious project for the development of China and Pakistan, contributes to regional connectivity and common development and prosperity of regional countries, Hua said.

"China adheres to the principle of planning, building and benefiting together in pushing forward the Belt and Road initiative so in the same spirit China and Pakistan will push for progress of the CPEC. As for the benefits and dividends of the CPEC, they will reach the Chinese and the Pakistani people and the people in the region at large.

"It is important for China and Pakistan and is also of positive significance for the development and prosperity of the countries in the region," she said.

Last year Pakistan approved sweeping tax concessions for Chinese operators at the deep-sea Gwadar port and businesses that will operate in the Gwadar Free Zone for up to 40 years.

The government also approved a complete income tax holiday for 23 years to businesses that will be established in the Gwadar Free Zone.

Gwadar connects the CPEC with Chinas Xinjiang with highways, pipelines and rail links covering distance of about 3,000 kms though the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

While China proposes to use the corridor mainly to gain access to the Arabian Sea to import oil as well as to export its goods to middle east and beyond, Pakistan hopes to get benefited by large-scale Chinese investments specially to generate much-needed electricity.

At the same time, Pakistan media highlighted growing concerns of the local businesses over tax and other largesse to Chinese firms without reciprocal safeguards.

Citing China-Pakistan free trade treaty (FTA) which gives an edge to Beijing and promotes more imports than exports from Pakistan, the Pakistan industry and business bodies expressed apprehension that same thing may happen under the CPEC.

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"CPEC can only be beneficial if Pakistans exports are ramped up with facilitation for the local industry," Atif Iqbal, Executive Director of the Organisation for Advancement and Safeguard of Industrial Sector was quoted as saying in Pakistan media. PTI KJV CPS

--- ENDS ---
Amy Schneider, who has been the band director at Grand Island Senior High for five years, is honoring her older brother, the late Tony Rischling, by becoming the new band director at Westridge Middle School, where Rischling taught prior to his death from cancer last summer.

Rischlings and Schneiders family includes several members who chose music education as their careers and have worked as band directors throughout Nebraska.

Following Tonys death, Grand Island educators praised Rischling for how well he did his job.

Westridge Principal Brad Wolfe said he had a passion for teaching band and had patience with kids just learning to play.

He had a way of connecting with kids who loved band, to get them to perform at a high level, Wolfe said.

By the time they were out of middle school, they were pretty accomplished and definitely ready for high school and more.

Fellow middle school band instructor John Schultz also praised Rischling.

He had a craft for teaching. He was great at it. Kids were drawn to him. He was a great teacher. He ran a great classroom. Everybody learned a lot from him, said Schultz, who also learned from Rischling as a band instructor.

Schneider said that, in changing jobs, she wants to continue her older brothers legacy.

As I tell the kids and I tell everybody Ive become really attached to, the past five years have been a really nice job. I love everything about the job, and I always planned on being here for as long as they would keep me around, she said. But for me, things have changed.

I wanted to be in this community and work side by side with my brother. Hes been my inspiration and my role model forever, she said.

Schneider said Rischling began by teaching fifth-grade band until school finances forced that program to be cut.

But after the cuts happened, luckily, Tony didnt lose his fifth-grade band job. He simply moved to Westridge and started teaching there, Schneider said. So, for the past six or so years, hes been the band director at Westridge. Hes been doing such an amazing job there.

After her brother died from cancer last summer, she said, she recalled that he always told her, Amy, you should come work at the middle school. I always said I love working at the high school.

But it was always something in the back of my mind, because he was always so wise, so smart, so good at what he did, Schneider said. I want to be just like him.

She praised Terry Speed for coming out of retirement as Westridge band teacher to lead that program this year.

For me, that was just really awesome for him to do for Tony and for the program, Schneider said.

However, she knew that was a one-year commitment.

As I sat down and pondered it, I had to follow my heart, and I want to step into Tonys shoes, just to continue the great things he has done at Westridge, Schneider said. Every year Ive been here at the high school, I have to credit the three middle school band teachers for all the success these kids have.

She said that group includes her brother, as well as Speed, Lew Cole and John Schultz. She described them as the best teachers you could find.

Ive always been so grateful for their hard work with the kids because they feed my program. The kids come right up to high school, and theyre ready to go, Schneider said. It brings me great honor to take that very important role into my own hands now and to help this program in the way those guys have helped it.

I know that going to Westridge is going to be a good experience, she said, but shell miss a lot about the high school. Ill miss the kids the most. It will be tough to not be their full-time teacher up here at the high school.

Although she said the announcement of the new high school band director has to come from official sources, Schneider said, Its going to be a great person. Im excited for the kids to be able to learn from somebody new. Thats what I told the kids  change is never the easiest, but I assured them that change is not always a bad thing.

She said learning from multiple sources will make the students better musicians.

I wanted the kids to know first that my motive for leaving is not because I dont love my job. Its because I love Tony, and I want to honor him, and thats the best way I think I could do it, is to keep living his love and what he loved to do and to be able to show that to the kids there, Schneider said.

High school junior Chuol Lual, who played tuba in All-State Band and was also chosen for All-State Choir, said he was surprised and sad when Schneider announced she would be teaching at Westridge next year.

Shes really one of the best teachers here. She has an influence on all of us, a great one, he said. Shes my favorite teacher. She pushes me to be a better musician.

However, Lual said he also understands that Schneider is changing positions for her brother.

With Schneider at the middle school, he said, she can teach students to be better musicians before they arrive at GISH, which will help keep the high school band tradition alive.

Going to Westridge wont be the first time Schneider has followed in her brothers first steps.

Rischling was a 16-year member of the 43rd Army Band in the U.S. Army National Guard, where he attained the rank of sergeant.

Schneider, who plays French horn, said her brother convinced her to join the 43rd Army Band when she was a high school junior and use her National Guard service to help pay for college.

He helped me get ready to go to basic training, she said. I was pretty nervous as a 17-year-old to go.

She said joining the National Guard would never have been on her radar screen if Tony had not already been in the unit. She called him the selling point for joining the National Guard.

Schneider said her brother was first and foremost a wonderful euphonium player and also an excellent tuba player. However, he played trombone for the Hastings Symphony Orchestra.

She once again followed her brother by joining the symphony after she became a teacher at Sutton her first year out of college.
The Ultimate Indoor Sale proved to be the ultimate indoor escape from the cold, gloomy weather for those attending the event Saturday.

Approximately 1,400 adults attended the second annual Ultimate Indoor Sale in the Swine Barn at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds Saturday. The event was sponsored by The Grand Island Independent and featured more than 60 vendors who set up booths across the barn.

Ann Blunt, sales and ad director for The Independent, said the newspaper has always advertised garage sales in the newspaper and it just made sense to hold a sale indoors.

A lot of times, people will run garage sale ads and then worry about the weather, Blunt said. You dont have to worry about it here. But its not just garage sales. Its also independent distributors and other types of vendors. I think it just made sense for us to offer it in addition to what we offer in the printed pages for their sales.

She added she heard a number of comments from attendees praising the fact that the Ultimate Indoor Sale was indoors on a cool day. The event had steady traffic all day and was well-received by vendors.

The feedback I have gotten from the vendors is that they were happy with the amount of traffic that has been through thus far, Blunt said. It will get a little quiet for just a couple minutes and then it will get busy again.

The Independent charged an admission fee of $2 for adults. She said the funds raised from admission would go directly toward the cost of putting on the event, renting the venue and setting up the booths for the vendors.

SandraLee Yager said she set up a booth to sell Younique mineral-based natural makeup products after being offered the opportunity by her friend Erin Martinez, digital director for The Independent.

Yager added this was the first time she has had a booth at an event since she began selling Younique two months ago.

There have been a lot of people that have swung by that were very interested in the products, she said. It is safe for all skin types. I have sensitive skin. I actually have an auto-immune disease, so I have to be very careful about what I put on my skin and being able to cover up my blemishes caused by this disease. Younique is a product that I fell in love with and love to share.

Yager added that the profits from her sales at the Ultimate Indoor Sale would go to Teresa, dedicated to helping a Cairo woman in her fight against breast cancer.

Morses Aguerl of Kearney said he attended Saturdays event to sell tamales on behalf of Light of the World Church in Kearney.

We have green and red tamales, Aguerl said. Basically, the green ones are spicier than the red ones. They are all really good.

The tamales were sold for $16 a dozen and were filled with either pork or chicken. They came wrapped in aluminum foil and were stored in a cooler at the booth during the event.

Aguerl said Light of the World Church sells tamales in Kearney and Grand Islanders will often drive there to purchase them, so the Ultimate Indoor Sale was an opportunity to bring the tamales to Grand Island.

The funds raised from the tamale sales at Saturdays event benefited a bigger temple for the church in Omaha, he said.

Those attending the Ultimate Indoor Sale said they attended the event due to it being something to do on a cold, gloomy day.

It just sounded interesting and we wanted to check it out, Shanie Bockmann of Grand Island said. Its a gloomy day and we were looking for something indoors.

Bockmann said some of the items she was able to find for purchase included lotion and popcorn. She said the items were inexpensive.

Barb Stoddard of St. Paul said she heard about the event from advertisements in The Independent.

Were just looking around, Stoddard said. We like antiques and collectibles, so were looking for that. We did find a little bit, but nothing that were really collecting. We just found some other things that we thought were cool.
A listening session regarding the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services draft redesign plan for long-term care in Nebraska will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the CHI Health St. Francis lobby floor meeting room.

It will be one of eight sessions in communities across the state to receive feedback on the draft plan from Medicaid members, providers, advocates and other stakeholders.

The plan, released earlier this month, is based on national research and feedback received from a listening tour in the fall. The draft redesign plan follows and builds on the key principles outlined in a concept paper released by the department last year.

It includes recommendations to improve home and community-based care services for seniors and individuals with disabilities in Nebraska by enhancing opportunities for community-based living; strengthening access to and navigation of the system; ensuring fairness in the assessment process; reducing duplication; supporting consumer direction; phasing in Medicaid managed long-term care; improving quality and accountability; and advancing the use of technology and other innovations.
WASHINGTON  So, you are an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump. And you are thinking of applying for one of the hundreds of available positions the president is supposed to fill.

Because these are jobs with hefty salaries and responsibility, we are here to help.

Start by knowing the No. 1 qualification is not your skillset or even your impeccable Republican credentials. The key attribute is loyalty to Donald Trump. If you werent on board on the lovely June day in 2015 when he announced his quest for the White House and called Mexicans rapists and murderers, sorry, you are not eligible.

But if you were, good news! A post in the Trump administration may be in your future. Think Omarosa Manigault, who has been a Trump loyalist since she was fired from his reality show, The Apprentice. Now she has a lucrative White House job as a liaison with African-Americans.

In the spirit of patriotism, here are the suggested White House responses for questions you might get from jealous others as you pursue your new career.

Q: What do I say when Im asked why so many Trump campaign officials took money from Russia or Russians? Isnt this collusion with a sworn enemy of the United States?

A: Absolutely not. Those officials, even paid Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort and former White House National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, werent part of the real Trump team. That would be his family.

Q: Why wont Trump disavow Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, who has made billions of dollars in office, annexes other countries, has his enemies murdered and interfered in the U.S. presidential election?

A: The president thinks Putin likes and admires him. If you are good to the Donald, the Donald is good to you.

Q: If Trump is such a good negotiator, why is the administration talking of a pre-emptive strike against North Korea, even though this would risk retaliation that could cost thousands if not millions of South Korean lives?

A: North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un must be taught who is the boss of the world. Sometimes the end justifies the means.

Q: Isnt it awkward that FBI director James Comey testified former President Barack Obama did not order any wiretapping of Trump, despite Trumps tweets to the contrary? Shouldnt Trump apologize for falsely accusing his predecessor of a felony?

A: Of course not. As president, Trump is never required to say hes sorry. That would be showing weakness. The president is not weak.

Q: Having promised to drain the swamp, shouldnt Trump release his tax returns to prove he is not going to use the White House to increase his familys wealth?

A: Nope. Trumps aides must not have conflicts of interest, but it is legal for the president to make money while president. Really. Look it up!

Q: But the law says Trump cant rent federal property, and he is renting the Old Post Office between the White House and the Capitol for his hotel. Isnt that illegal?

A: Would you rather have such prime real estate disintegrate, full of rats, bats and vagrants?

Q: Trump promised he would not take the $400,000 presidential salary, so why is the U.S. Treasury sending him checks?

A: He certainly doesnt need the money, but he is taking it so that possibly, at the end of the year, he may donate some of it to charity. He is generous.

Q: The media has been essential for Trumps rise, giving him billions of dollars in free publicity. Trump even cites news media reports to try to prove he is not lying and not breaking his promises. Clearly, he loves media attention. So why does he keep disparaging the media, calling it fake news?

A: Oh come on. Its getting harder to blame everything on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The media is the perfect foil! Everybody has some beef with the media.

Q: Trump mocked Obama for vacationing in Hawaii, but Trump has spent millions more in two months flying at taxpayer expense to his Florida resort than Obama spent in a year. How do we explain that?

A: We dont have to explain anything. This president is working so hard he needs a break every four days or so.
A change at the elementary level was recently announced by the administrators of the Grand Island Public Schools (GIPS). This decision will prove to have significant detrimental educational effects upon all elementary students. The change came about to equalize planning time for elementary teachers with that of middle and senior high teachers.

Middle school and senior high teachers usually teach one or two classes and repeat that class to various students throughout the day. Elementary teachers, on the other hand, have many preparations for the day. Elementary teachers are responsible for teaching reading, social studies, science, math, writing, art, spelling, etc. on a daily basis.

The decision was made to increase elementary plan time by having physical education, music, technology and counseling teachers meet with students one time per week for a length of 50 minutes.

Music and physical education teachers have been meeting with their students five times in a two-week period on alternating days for 30 minutes. This equates to 90 minutes of music or physical education one week and 60 minutes the next.

As a former elementary classroom teacher, as well as a former elementary physical educator in the GIPS, I feel I have knowledge of the educational needs of elementary students. As I am now retired, I no longer have a dog in the fight, but I still want the best education possible for Grand Island elementary students.

I had the opportunity to attend a conference session presented by a physical educator from a South Carolina school district. In his district reading and math scores were significantly lower than other schools. His district chose not to increase class time for reading and math as the Grand Island schools have chosen to do. Instead, the plan that was implemented was to provide daily music, physical education and art. Reading and math scores improved tremendously. Could it be that active, healthy, more fit students are better learners? Could it be that elementary students participating in these creative activities do better in core subjects? Maybe what GIPS should be doing is adding additional time for these areas and not reducing time. If elementary students were given daily music, physical education and art, the elementary teachers would receive additional planning time to prepare for core subjects.

If this change goes into effect, I am going to propose some challenges:

1. I challenge all administrators of GIPS to make decisions for the best educational opportunities for elementary students.

2. I challenge all administrators at the GIPS administration building to get to an elementary school and teach music, physical education, technology, or conduct a counseling session to a kindergarten class for a 50-minute period.

3. I challenge parents of elementary students to really be aware of this scheduling change and to watch and see if it is benefitting your children educationally.
The Platte River Whooping Crane Trust is a valuable asset for Central Nebraska in many ways.

It has helped preserve and create habitat and farm land along the Platte River. This land provides feeding areas for the hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes that migrate. And just as importantly, the area is vital to the migration of endangered whooping cranes that also may be migrating through the area. That helps fulfill the Crane Trusts mission.

Also fulfilling that mission is the scientific research the Crane Trust does. The Platte River flowing through Central Nebraska is an important ecosystem for wildlife, farmers and providing drinking water for many communities.

With the whooping crane population only at about 300 birds, the trusts work is critical to the birds continued existence in the wild. Research has shown that young cranes are most at risk during the migration between their winter home in Texas and their breeding grounds in Canada.

In addition, the Crane Trust provides a big boost to the Central Nebraska economy this time of year as it facilitates the thousands of visitors who come to the area each spring to view the cranes.

The trust provides tours and also runs the Crane Trust Nature and Visitors Center at the Alda exit off of I-80. Since acquiring the center in 2012, the trust has provided valuable stability and direction to the center and has made it a focal point for visitors.

Even with all of the value of the Crane Trust and its work, the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission (TERC) made the right decision in denying a request from the trust to have six parcels of land it owns exempted from property taxes. Hall County had denied the request and the state board sided with the county.

The trusts nature center and research facility are already exempt. The trust, however, has sought to extend the exemption to all of its land.

A lot of this land is leased out to farmers, who have agreed to farm it in ways that benefit the cranes. The county has rightly denied the request for the exemption because the trust is receiving income off of the land. In its recent decision, the state tax commission agreed with the county.

It appears that the crane trust was overreaching in this request. Certainly, it is doing great work in the area, but the exemption request would illogically shrink the tax base and is unfair to farmers who pay property taxes on their land and are growing the same crops on their land.

While the trust may appeal the TERC decision in court, the decision was good for Hall County and taxpayers.

The Crane Trusts work and its efforts to increase tourism are to be praised, but its also hoped that the trust will see the benefits of paying property taxes on the land from which it receives income and how that builds goodwill with other property owners in the area. These property owners are paying plenty in property taxes that support schools, roads, law enforcement, fire departments, the airport and other important services  services that also are important to the Crane Trust.
A case has been lodged against the cleric Hafiz Aslam under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

By Press Trust of India: A cleric has been arrested in Chawla village in Muzaffarnagar on charges of raping a woman.

The cleric has also been accused of blackmailing the woman with a video of the act, police said today.

According to a complaint by the victim, the cleric Hafiz Aslam had sexual relations with her in 2013.

He also made an obscene video of her, circle officer Arun Kumar Singh said.

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The woman later got married to another man but the accused threatened to send the video to her husband to pressurise her for sex, Singh said.

The cleric then sent the video to the husband three days back following which he was arrested by police yesterday.

A case has been lodged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

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At 150 years of age, the state of Nebraska is only a couple decades older than CHI Health St. Francis.

The Grand Island hospital can trace its beginnings in Grand Island back to 1887, when the Sisters of St. Francis opened St. Francis Hospital on Adams Street.

That means the hospital is celebrating its 130th anniversary in Grand Island.

The Women Religious who founded St. Francis 130 years ago were committed to caring for everyone in the community and they blazed new trails, said Michael Schnieders, interim president for CHI Health St. Francis and president of CHI Health Good Samaritan Kearney. We work every day to embrace those ideals. People should have access to high-quality, affordable health care, so that means looking at how we can deliver it differently.

Not long after its birth, St. Francis began its expansion. A new wing was constructed in 1891, three more additions were added to the original hospital, and the front entrance moved to Charles Street before 1920, according to a history posted on the CHI Health St. Francis website. The St. Francis Nursing School trained nurses until 1980.

A major expansion occurred in 1924, when six new operating rooms and an obstetrics department were added.

In 1975 nearly 27 acres of land was purchased for a new hospital on Faidley Avenue, its current site. Following construction, St. Francis Medical Center was dedicated on Dec. 3, 1978.

St. Francis then bought and merged with Grand Island Memorial Hospital (previously Lutheran Memorial Hospital), located just a few blocks to the east on Faidley Avenue, on April 1, 1987. St. Francis initially renamed that facility as St. Francis Memorial Health Center. The building is now known as St. Francis Medical Plaza.

New additions

In 1992 the St. Francis Cancer Treatment Center opened, and in 1996 a new birthing center was unveiled.

In 1987 the Sisters of St. Francis, who had founded St. Francis Hospital more than a century earlier, transferred sponsorship to the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. The Sisters of Charity Healthcare Operations became a founding member of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) in 1996.

In its most recent major expansion, in 2005 St. Francis broke ground on a nine-story addition. The new 159-bed patient tower was dedicated on Sept. 14, 2007, by The Most Rev. William Dendinger, bishop of the Diocese of Grand Island; Michael Rowan, chief operating officer of CHI; and community leaders from Central Nebraska.

In addition to improving facilities and services, St. Francis has embraced programs outside hospital walls in an effort to create healthier communities. In 1994, St. Francis began training parish nurses to provide holistic healthcare to local faith communities. The Student Wellness Center opened in 1997 at Grand Island Senior High to offer healthcare services to students.

On July 1, 2009, St. Francis and three other CHI hospitals in Nebraska formed a statewide health system. Partner physicians, who were once employed by the individual hospitals, joined a single, physician-led enterprise called the The Physician Network. The system grew in 2011 with the addition of Nebraska Heart Hospital and the Nebraska Heart Institute (the hospitals physician network).

In 2014, following the purchase of Alegent Creighton Health by CHI, the CHI hospitals in Nebraska joined hands as CHI Health, now the largest health care system in the Nebraska-Iowa region. The system, stretches from Kearney to Corning, Iowa, and includes 15 acute care hospitals, two psychiatric care facilities and two physician-practice groups within a single, integrated network.

Affordability

Schnieders said the focus going forward will be on affordable health care.

As an industry, health care is changing and a big part of the reason why its that were too expensive, he said. Weve created a product that people cant afford. Whether its an individual paying their co-pays, an employer purchasing insurance for their employees, every piece of it has gotten very expensive. So what were really focused on is how we can be a great value for our communities. How can we provide the highest quality of care and make that care more affordable for the people who count on us?

Schnieders said CHI Health St. Francis is seeking better alternatives to health care, which has become a nationwide issue and concern.

How can we give patients better access to the health care early on in the process, so they dont end up in the emergency room or in the hospital? How can we make sure that theyre getting to their primary care physician for their check-ups or preventative care or monitoring of a chronic illness, so that theyre able to avoid hospitalization, which is the most expensive way to receive care? he said.

Schnieders said greater convenience is another new focus.

As a system, CHI Health has provided various options such as walk-in Quick Care clinics that are open weekdays, evenings and weekends and located within Hy-Vee supermarkets, he said. We also offer virtual care, where individuals receive a virtual house call from a physician using their telephone, smart phone or computer for the cost of $10.

St. Francis has excellent stroke care, heart care, a Level III trauma center, and last year we opened the Womens Imaging Center, Schnieders added. Our Cancer Treatment Center continues to provide some of the most innovative treatment that is on par with anything that can be found in the United States and were now offering low-dose CT as an early screening for lung cancer.

Schnieders said CHI Health St. Francis is looking to have a new president in place sometime this spring.

Having new leadership provides fresh eyes and new ideas, so that means new opportunities for St. Francis and Grand Island, he said.

St. Francis chronology

1883  Sisters of St. Francis begin fundraising efforts.

1887  St. Francis Hospital opens on Adams Street.

1920  New additions completed at hospital and entrance is moved to Charles Street.

1924  West wing opens with six operating rooms, two large laboratories and expanded X-ray and obstetrics department.

1951  St. Francis Hospital Auxiliary founded.

1967  Home-Health Care program initiated.

1975  Hospital purchases 26.6 acres on West Faidley Avenue.

Dec. 3, 1978  New facility dedicated as St. Francis Medical Center.

1980  St. Francis Medical Center Foundation established.

April 1, 1987  St. Francis purchases Grand Island Memorial Hospital and renames it St. Francis Memorial Health Center (now known as St. Francis Medical Plaza).

1992  Cancer Treatment Center opens.

1996  New birthing center opens.

Sept. 14, 2007  New, 9-story, 159-bed patient tower dedicated.
Election Day 2022: The stakes are high with all eyes on Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania voters on Election Day will make decisions that could reshape the future of both the commonwealth and nation.
Much before the BJP made cow slaughter its poll cry, a Congress chief minister outlawed cow slaughter in Uttar Pradesh, going against even then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's wishes.

Yogi Adityanath has vowed to crack down on illegal cow slaughter, which was outlawed by a Congress CM (Reuters photo)

By Prabhash K Dutta, India Today Web Desk: Slaughterhouses in Uttar Pradesh are in panic after Yogi Adityanath took oath as the Chief Minister and declared that his government would take strict action against illegal abattoirs.

Lucknow's famous Tunday Kabab was shut down briefly. Meat sellers went on strike today in Uttar Pradesh.

And, Uttar Pradesh chief secretary issued instructions to senior officials of all the 75 districts to ensure total ban on cow slaughter, asking them to take action against illegal slaughterhouses.

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Yogi Adityanath has been associated with the save the cow campaign for years. But, much before the BJP made cow slaughter its poll cry, a Congress chief minister outlawed cow slaughter in Uttar Pradesh.

He was Dr Sarvsri Sampurnanad.

WHO WAS SAMPURNAND?

Dr Sampurnand holds the distinction of being the longest serving Congress chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, where he headed the government for almost six years between 1954 and 1960, over two terms.

Sarvsri Sampurnanand originally hailed from Varanasi, the present parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Christophe Jaffrelot writes in his book on cow slaughter titled, The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the 1990s, that Sampurnanand was 'a veteran of the school of (Madan Mohan) Malaviya and (Purushottam Das) Tandon'. Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also invokes Malaviya whenever he visits Varanasi.

Jeffrelot credits Sampurnanand with the 'renewal of the Hindu Mahasabha in 1922 before being seduced by socialism'.

Sampurnanand was a Sanskrit scholar with a penchant for Vedic philosophy and teaching - much like the present UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Nehru had chosen him to replace Govind Ballabh Pant as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.

COW SLAUGHTER BAN

Sampurnanand was the Chief Minister who brought a law to ban cow slaughter in Uttar Pradesh in 1955 much against the wishes of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Sampurnanand implemented the recommendation of two committees - the UP Committee in 1948 and the Nanda Committee in 1954.

Rejecting Pt Nehru's objection, the Sampunanand "government announced before a jubilant Vidhan Sabha the outlawing of cow slaughter, as it was authorised to do under the Constitution," writes Jeffrelot.

In 1955, the UP Assembly enacted the UP Cow Slaughter Prohibition Act.

Pandit Nehru described the decision as a 'wrong step'.

SAMPURNANAND VS NEHRU

Nehru's opposition to a ban on cow slaughter was known to all Congress leaders including Sampurnanand.

Nehru had already had a tussle with the then President Dr Rajendra Prasad on the issue.

When President Prasad wanted to push Nehru to bring a Bill in Parliament for banning cow slaughter across the country, much in accordance with the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi, he had refused to oblige.

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In Nehru's view, the issue of cow slaughter was 'unimportant and reactionary'.

Just before the UP Assembly passed the law, Nehru had threatened to quit as the Prime Minister if the Bill banning cow slaughter was passed by Parliament.

Still, Sampurnanand went ahead and brought a law declaring cow slaughter illegal in Uttar Pradesh, the state which sent Nehru to the Lok Sabha.

THE COW SLAUGHTER LAW

However, the original law made an exception to allow stocking and sale of beef in closed cans at airports and railway stations to be served to foreigners.

The present law prohibits slaughter of cows including heifers and calves. Sale of beef is also banned in Uttar Pradesh. The Law defines beef as meat of cow, bull or bullock whose slaughter is prohibited.

Buffaloes can be killed in Uttar Pradesh. Cow slaughter is punishable with a seven-year jail term or a fine of Rs 10,00 or both.

ALSO READ | Cow protection very important for us, says Uttar Pradesh CM Adityanath Yogi

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ALSO WATCH | Yogi Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh CM : BJP's gamble or masterstroke?

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Linkedin EDITORIAL (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 26, 2017

With Jakartas landed house prices being beyond average peoples reach, many who arrived here in the 1980s to pursue their dream career chose to live on the outskirts, such as in Bekasi, Tangerang and Bogor. Millions of others who came later followed the pattern, but had to settle for housing complexes located as far as Serang in the west or Karawang in the east.

Unsurprisingly, landed houses in Jakarta are elusive for todays millennials, who are setting out on their careers at a time when the price of decent property has exceeded Rp 2 billion (US$150,000), which they cannot afford. Of course there are exceptions, but they are limited to the children of wealthy people and the new rich on the block.

Skyrocketing house prices is a common phenomenon in capitals anywhere in the world, given the high demand and limited supply. Millennials are just unfortunate to have set foot on Jakarta soil, which was already occupied by those preceding them. First come, first buy is the rule when it comes to the search for a place called home.

For Jakarta city policymakers, however, the trend is a strategic issue that they need to address, simply because millions of people who commute from Jakartas satellite cities every day contribute to the citys gross domestic product and even determine the life or death of the capital.

It is therefore the responsibility of the Jakarta administration and the central government to ensure smooth passage of commuters to the city, which is why the Transjakarta busway transportation network has been expanded to the borders between the capital and its buffer cities. State railway operator PT KAI also keeps increasing the capacity of its commuter trains. More outer ring roads are also being built to facilitate human movement from Jakartas outskirts to the capital.

But transportation infrastructure alone is not fair enough payback for the sacrifice of the commuters, who spend most of their time in Jakarta and on the streets. The easiest option the city government has is to build more apartments, either using the city budget or offering them to investors, to allow the commuters to move to Jakarta or to enable a new generation of paid employees who cannot afford to buy a landed house in which to settle down.

But living in Jakarta does not necessarily mean saving time, unless ones place of work is within walking distance of ones apartment. Jakarta traffic is becoming more hectic as the growth in vehicle numbers far eclipses that of the citys roads.

Advancement of information and communication technology actually offers a way out. Working from remote distances from the office can be a solution that the city administration could promote, given that many service sectors are now digital.

The Jakarta government can incentivize employers who encourage their staff to work from home or at least reduce their presence in the office.

Such a work mechanism suits millennials the most and perhaps will help them boost productivity. Living outside Jakarta but enjoying facilities of metropolitan standard would be much better than enduring a stressful life in the capital.
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Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Mon, March 27, 2017 00:00 2052 a291276806121264c0bd211cde668ee1 4 Inforial Free

Bandung Mayor M. Ridwan Kamil says that his grandfather, the late cleric K.H. Muhyiddin, had a lot of wisdom, particularly relating to kindness and human relations, that is worth spreading among people.

Muhyiddin was the man who established the Pagelaran Islamic boarding school (pesantren), whose branches are scattered across the province of West Java.

The boarding school itself was established in the Subang regency by Muhyiddin around the year 1880. In line with the socio-political atmosphere of that time, the boarding school was also set up in Sumedang and other parts of the West Java province.

The boarding school contributed significantly to Indonesias struggle for independence from the colonialists. The Pagelaran boarding school in Subang, for instance, was once the base camp of the Hizbullah movement fighting the incipient nations colonial masters.

We have to remember the fighting spirit of the boarding house, carrying it to the present, where the boarding school has to remain active in contributing to nation building, Ridwan said.

Furthermore, he also said that his grandfathers wisdom and exemplary behavior should be emulated by the public.

I also hope that his exemplary behavior can inspire the generations to come. He believed that human beings could be more useful [for their fellow humans] if they engaged in creative activities in their lives, Ridwan said during the third congress of the Pagelaran Islamic boarding school management coordination institution in Bandung, West Java.

According to Ridwan, he has witnessed concrete examples demonstrating that his grandfathers beliefs really ring true in our day-to-day lives.

-(Photo courtesy of Bandung city administration/-)

Our generosity in sharing knowledge and maintaining our connections with other human beings will only lead us to experience more kindness, which is infinite in nature, he said.

By spreading kindness to other human beings, we actually leave footprints that will be remembered by other people, even long after we have passed away.

In order to sustain the legacy of his grandfathers exemplary behaviors, the mayor said he dreamt of setting up a Pagelaran boarding school in Bandung, as an institution that will preserve great values among young people.

We have so many land plots in Bandung that we can make use of. As a mayor, I have facilitated the activities of various mass organizations, religious and non-religious. If we are able to manage these activities positively, many people will respond to this initiative in an enthusiastic manner, he said.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 26, 2017 13:23 2052 a291276806121264c0bd211cde6608f3 4 Lifestyle karl-lagerfeld,swarovski,fashion,luxury,#fashion,#LuxuryGoods,designer Free

Fashion enthusiasts can finally preview the collaboration between world-renowned designer Karl Lagerfeld and Austrian crystal manufacturer Swarovski at Baselworld 2017, a fair that runs in Switzerland until Mar. 30.

Womens Wear Daily reported that the collection is comprised of three categories: The rock-influenced Ikonic line that features asymmetrical pendants and ear jacket, The Klassic Karl that features a signature Lagerfeld design, as well as an Essential line that features designs such as crystalized chains. The collaboration takes the form of a multiyear licensing contract.

Products of the collaboration will be on sale starting from September at Swarovski Crystal Worlds retails, Karl Lagerfelds offline and online stores, as well as chosen retailers.

Read also: Apple adds new watchbands from Hermes and Nike

@karllagerfeld preview for Swarovski  A post shared by Luma Grothe (@thelumagrothe) on Mar 21, 2017 at 12:43pm PDT

The accessories are expected to be priced in the range of  50-250 (US$ 54-270).

Pier Paolo Righi, CEO of Karl Lagerfeld calls the collaboration a next natural step for us to expand our product range with a fashion jewelry collection. Markus Langes-Swarovski, a member of Swarovskis executive board said that the crystal manufacturer is looking forward to maximizing the partnership with Karl Lagerfeld.

The collaboration is reportedly one of Swarovskis ways to expand its market. In the next few years, the brand is set to focus on large cities in the United States. (mas/asw)
Entering the third year of the Road Development Master Plan 2015-2019, the government is continuing to seek investors from the private sector to help accelerate the completion of various road projects.

Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said recently that more funding for the projects was needed because the government was only able to fulfill 37 percent, or some Rp 268 trillion (US$20.11 billion), out of the total Rp 733 trillion required.

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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Makassar  Sun, March 26, 2017 20:55 2052 a291276806121264c0bd211cde668f20 1 Business Accor-Hotels,hotel-expansion Free

Global hotel management chain AccorHotels is seeking to operate a total of 200 hotels in Indonesia by 2020 on the back of the countrys rapid development.



At the end of 2016, the company was managing 106 hotels, an increase of 11 units compared to 2015.

We aim to have 200 hotels in Indonesia by 2020, AccorHotels Malaysia-Indonesia-Singapore chief operating officer Garth Simmons said in Makassar on Saturday after launching its latest addition, Ibis Styles Makassar Sam Ratulangi.



In 2017 alone, it plans to open between 15 and 20 new hotels, five of which will be located in the eastern part of Indonesia, mostly on Sulawesi.



The chain is planning to make Sulawesi its eastern hub to help expand operations to the other parts of the country, especially Papua.



Frankly, we really want to expand to Papua, but we have to strengthen the distribution network first, Simmons said.



In 2016, the group had a 70 percent average occupancy rate, with Bali and Jakarta as its strongest bases, where the rate reached 90 percent.



The Sumatra region has a 70 percent occupancy rate, while eastern Indonesia had around a 55 percent occupancy rate. (tas)
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Linkedin Devina Heriyanto (The Jakarta Post) Cikarang, Bekasi  Sun, March 26, 2017 17:51 2052 a291276806121264c0bd211cde667b8f 1 City Cikarang,religious-freedom,HKBP-karangbahagia Free

Dozens of protesters gathered in front of HKBP Karang Bahagia Church since Sunday morning did not dampen the spirit of worshipers attending their weekly service.

The protesters oppose the presence of the church in that location, arguing that it has no legal grounds.

We are not seeking to limit religious freedom. We only oppose the presence of illegal places of worship, said rally leader Idam Kholid.

The protesters were being monitored by several officers from Sukaraya village and policemen.

HKBP Karang Bahagia Church opened on Oct. 16, 2016, after collecting 149 signatures from its neighbors to obtain a permit to hold services in a house the church bought from a local resident.

There have been meetings between the protesters and members of the church.

HKBP Karang Bahagia Church spokesman Jonri Sitio told The Jakarta Post that representatives of the church had previously agreed to temporarily stop holding services following a meeting between the church representatives and protesters. However, since the agreement took place under duress, the congregation has decided to perform the service anyway.

HKBP Karang Bahagia church leader Edward Pandjaitan said worship at the church would continue.

Freedom of religion is not limited in this country. We surrender to God, but worship will continue, he said.

Aside from HKBP Karang Bahagia church, Jl. Ki Hadjar Dewantara is also home to two other churches and one Buddhist temple. (dmr)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Depok, West Java  Sun, March 26, 2017 15:53 2052 a291276806121264c0bd211cde665924 4 City Depok,land Free

Depok administration in West Java has submitted a request to the National Land Agency (BPN) to certify 500 city-owned land plots, an official has said.



Depok Finance Agency head Nina Suzana said that the land has yet to be certified and may pose a problem in the future as it would be prone to dispute among other parties.

Depok has a problem with its assets list particularly in inventorying social and public facilities in housing and apartment areas, Nina was quoted by tempo.co.

She said that the plots were in the form of government offices, schools, public health centers and other public facilities.

She added that the government had certified 25 land plots since last year and targeted to add other 100 plots each year.

The main focus is to certify land plots for schools. Since we separated from Bogor, we have certified 258 land plots in total, she said.

City councilor Quirta Wijaya has urged the administration to expedite the land inventory of the citys assets to avoid land disputes. (fac)

Topics : Depok land
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 26, 2017 17:47 2052 a291276806121264c0bd211cde6674c4 1 National agrarian-reform,land-certification,land-acquisition,Jokowi-administration,Joko-Widodo Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodo said on Saturday that the government was preparing measures to accelerate land distribution to ensure the success of its agrarian reform agenda.

During his visit to Mandailing Natal, North Sumatra, Jokowi said the government was targeting to distribute 5 million hectares this year and 7 million ha next year.

Our target for this year is certification of 5 million hectares across Indonesia, Jokowi said, adding that the government usually only issues certification for 500,000 to 700,000 ha per year.

(Read also: Who will benefit from Jokowi's land reform?)

He added that the lack of surveyors was the main obstacle hampering the distribution of land certificates, which he said should be resolved through outsourcing.

The government has been pushing to increase land distribution, which has become a priority component of the agrarian reform program that aims to close income inequality in the country.

Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil explained that the basic problem in land certification lies in the inability of citizens to pay the building and land acquisition tax (BPTHB).

He said several regions had freed citizens from paying the tax or given a tax cut of up to 70 percent to solve the problem. (rdi/wit)
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Linkedin News Desk (Associated Press) Gaza City  Sun, March 26, 2017

Gaza's Hamas rulers shut down the territory's main border crossing with Israel Sunday in a rare measure following the mysterious killing of a senior militant.

Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Iyad al-Bozum said the Erez crossing point will be "fully closed in both directions" until further notice.

The unusual measure came after a senior Hamas militant, Mazen Faqha, was found shot dead at the entrance of his Gaza City home late Friday. Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, said Faqha was shot four times in the head with a silenced gun and blamed Israel for "assassinating" him, without providing evidence.

Suspecting that local collaborators with Israel were involved, Hamas has since deployed dozens of checkpoints across the Gaza Strip, where drivers are asked to turn on their interior lights and hand over IDs for inspection. The closing of Erez also applies to journalists, aid workers and patients needing medical help in Israel.

Faqha, who was given nine life sentences for directing suicide bombing attacks against Israelis, was freed in 2011 along with more than 1,000 others as part of an exchange for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. Faqha was among dozens of West Bank residents Israel deported to Gaza or elsewhere because of the severity of their crimes.

His funeral Saturday drew thousands of supporters, including the movement's top leaders in Gaza, who vowed to avenge the killing.

Israel has not commented on the killing.
By Indo-Asian News Service: Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone was on Saturday officially announced as the newly appointed global ambassador of beauty brand L'Oreal Paris, joining the likes of Jane Fonda, Blake Lively, Julianne Moore, Susan Sarandon and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

"I've always believed that feeling beautiful begins with feeling confident about yourself and L'Oreal Paris with its powerful message 'Because we're worth it', has always encouraged women to do that," Deepika said in a statement, adding that she finds it a privilege to represent the brand.

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Deepika's Hindi film journey began with Om Shanti Om in 2007, and she has been on a roll ever since, showcasing her versatility as an actor suitable for content-driven movies like Piku, Finding Fanny, Tamasha as well as for mainstream entertainers like Bajirao Mastani and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. She even made her Hollywood debut with the Vin Diesel starrer, xXx: Return of Xander Cage.

Alongside her acting career, Deepika is vocal about issues close to her heart and has founded The Live, Love, Laugh Foundation, to create awareness about mental-health issues in India.

Deepika's "beauty, confidence and grace" coupled with how she is "intelligent, sensitive and self-made", have been described as reasons why she has been roped in as an ambassador for the brand, L'Oreal Paris officials said.

At an event here on Friday night, Deepika was asked if she will walk the red carpet of Cannes Film Festival as a representative of the brand. She said "no", and added that all her energies are currently focussed on her new project, Padmavati.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 26, 2017 19:14 2052 a291276806121264c0bd211cde667cdd 1 National prison-island,NusakambanganPrisonIsland,prison-overcapacity,Cilacap Free

As an effort to resolve overcrowding issues in penitentiaries across Indonesia, 100 convicts from the Cipinang penitentiary were moved to Nusakambangan prison island in Cilacap, Central Java, on Saturday.

Abdul Aris, the Nusakambangan prison warden, said that most of the convicts from Cipinang that were transferred were in prison for drug-related crimes.

Cipinang is overcrowded. The penitentiary is supposed to house only 1,000 convicts, but right now it is accommodating 3,000 convicts, Abdul said on Saturday, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Nusakambangan, which is also known as the place where the government carries out executions of death row inmates, is among the few options that the government has to relocate the convicts.

(Read also: A look at Nusakambangan, Indonesia's 'execution island')

Right now Nusakambangan is accommodating 1,300 convicts while it can house a total of 3,000 inmates.

Aris said Nusakambangan will also receive 350 more convicts from other penitentiaries.

Besides Nusakambangan, Purwokerto and Pekalongan penitentiaries are also receiving inmates from the overcrowded penitentiary. (hol/wit)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 26, 2017 15:43 2052 a291276806121264c0bd211cde664c35 4 City Idul-Fitri,idul-fitri-exodus,travel Free

PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) has started selling train tickets for the Idul Fitri holiday, which will fall in June.

Train passengers can buy the tickets from travel agents, convenience stores, PT KAI ticket booths at train stations and travel agency websites.

The reservation service, which has been open since Friday, provided 695,420 tickets of which 228,000 were sold by Sunday morning, causing many passengers to protest not getting tickets for their expected dates.

PT KAI attributed the sold tickets to the high demand.

PT KAI Commercial and IT director Kuncoro Wibowo said that the quick sales were caused by a high number of online purchases, instead of a sales monopoly from purchasing agents.

"Agents cannot book a lot of tickets. We treat agents and individuals equally," he said as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com on Sunday. (agn/dmr)
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Linkedin Cinar Kiper (Associated Press) Istanbul  Sun, March 26, 2017

Turkey's president said Saturday the country might pursue a Brexit-like referendum on whether to pursue European Union membership and also lashed out at a critical protest in Switzerland.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan brought up the proposal at a Turkish-UK forum in the southern city of Antalya, referring to the British departure from the EU and saying Turkey "might" hold a similar referendum after the April 16 vote to expand the powers of the Turkish presidency.

The negotiation process for Turkey's EU membership began in 2005, but has been at a standstill for years.

Tensions between Ankara and several European capitals have been escalating ahead of the contentious April 16 referendum.

Turkish opposition members and Western allies have criticized the constitutional referendum, saying it would grant Erdogan unprecedented authority with limited checks and balances.

Earlier this month, Dutch and German authorities restricted Turkish officials from campaigning for diaspora votes, resulting in harsh criticism from Ankara.

At a rally earlier Saturday, Erdogan lashed out at the critics who claimed Turkey would not be allowed into the EU if the referendum passed, saying it would "make our job easier" if Europe made that call and adding "Turkey is no one's whipping boy."

Erdogan also criticized a demonstration in Switzerland on Saturday where protesters hung a giant banner depicting the Turkish president with a gun to his head.

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned Swiss charge d'affaires to condemn the incident and that the minister had called his Swiss counterpart to voice his displeasure.

The statement also claimed the demonstrators belonged to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, adding that it would be "closely monitoring the legal and administrative actions to be taken by Swiss authorities regarding this crime."
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Linkedin Edith M. Lederer (Associated Press) United Nations  Sun, March 26, 2017

Israel took no steps to comply with a Security Council call to stop all settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and instead authorized "a high rate" of settlement expansions in violation of international law, the United Nations said Friday.

UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov told the council the large number of settlement announcements and legislation action by Israel indicate "a clear intent to continue expanding the settlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territory.

He was delivering the first report to the council on implementation of the resolution it adopted in December condemning Israeli settlements as a "flagrant violation" of international law. The resolution was a striking rupture with past practice by President Barack Obama who had the US abstain rather than veto the measure as president-elect Donald Trump demanded.

The resolution didn't impose sanctions on Israel, so the council isn't called on to take any action. But it does enshrine the world's disapproval of the settlements.

Mladenov, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, reiterated that the United Nations "considers all settlement activities to be illegal under international law and one of the main obstacles to peace.

He called "the January spike" in illegal settlement announcements by Israel "deeply concerning." During that month, he said, two major announcements were made for a total of 5,500 housing units in Area C, the 60 percent of the West Bank exclusively controlled by Israel.

"Overall, the last three months have seen a high rate of settlement-related activity, especially when compared to 2016, which saw tenders for only 42 [housing] units issued and some 3,000 units advanced over 12 months in Area C," Mladenov said.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon responded in a statement, saying "there is no moral equivalency between the building of homes and murderous terrorism.

"The only impediment to peace is Palestinian violence and incitement," he added "This obsessive focus on Israel must end."

Palestinian leaders hope east Jerusalem will become the capital of a Palestinian state that will also encompass the West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in 1967.

Mladenov said "many advancements in settlements in the past three months will further sever the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state and accelerate the fragmentation of the West Bank.

He said these actions in Kfar Adumim, Shiloh, Kokhav Yakov and Shavei Shomron "are in breach of international law and they must stop.

"Settlement expansion undermines the very essence of the two-state solution," Mladenov said, and the resolution states that the international community will not recognize any changes to the 1967 lines other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations.
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Linkedin Haeril Halim, N. Adri, and Andi Hajramurni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Balikpapan/Makassar  Mon, March 27 2017

The protracted dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia concerning the Sipadan and Ligitan islands in Sulawesi Waters made headlines in 2002 when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded the islands to Malaysia.

Protecting the archipelagic nations more than 17,000 islands from foreign claims is a daunting task but off-shore territorial disputes actually also occur locally.

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Linkedin Curtis S. Chin (The Jakarta Post) Hong Kong  Mon, March 27 2017

When they go low, we go high. So declared former United States First Lady Michelle Obama at the 2016 Democratic Party convention in the storied American city of Philadelphia.

From here in Hong Kong, that memorable turn of phrase reminds me today less of the ugliness of past political campaigns, and more of the beauty of this citys striking skyline. In Asia, the march of ever-higher skyscrapers goes on as developers from Indonesia to China in particular embrace that American dream to build high.

Indeed, those same words from the former First Lady have relevance  in a different, economic context in both the US and Asia  as a new Administration in Washington focuses on rebuilding America.

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Linkedin Fachrul Sidiq (The Jakarta Post) Bekasi, West Java  Mon, March 27 2017

Police personnel have been called in to protect the construction site of the Santa Clara Church in North Bekasi, West Java, following continued protests from local hard-line groups that oppose the project.

Santa Clara parish pastor Rev. Raymundus Sianipar said that several of police personnel were now guarding the construction site, and that management of the congregation would stay in touch with the authorities to monitor the situation.

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Linkedin Andreas Nathaniel Marbun (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 27 2017

Indonesia has been regulating criminal liability for corporate entities since the implementation of Emergency Act No. 7/ 1955 on Economic Criminal Offenses, although the very first technical statutory provision in this legal area was only enacted at the end of last December by the Supreme Court.

So it is no wonder that during this time, innumerable criminal cases involving corporate entities have rarely seemed to penalize the corporation itself.

First of all, a big thanks to the Supreme Court for their remarkable initiative so that law enforcers will have a clearer understanding of how to investigate, prosecute and execute sentences imposed on companies that have committed crimes.

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Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, March 27 2017

Indonesias human rights groups are bringing the countrys controversial capital punishment into the global spotlight after demands to abolish it back home had fallen on deaf ears.

Several civil society organizations are set to present the problems revolving around the practice of the death penalty in the country when Indonesias human rights records are reviewed during the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Councils (UNHCR) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva in May.

UPR is the UNs quadrennial assembly, which aims to examine the performance of all members in protecting and upholding human rights in their respective countries. The UNHRC will gather governments and rights groups of all member countries in order to collect comprehensive information for review. The upcoming meeting is the third cycle of meetings, which will result in recommendations to each country.

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Deepika Padukone and Neetu Kapoor were recently spotted sharing a light moment at an event. Was it Ranbir Kapoor they were discussing about?

By India Today Web Desk: Recently, Deepika Padukone and Neetu Kapoor, i.e the mother of his ex Ranbir Kapoor, caught up at an event and boy did they bond!

The picture showing Deepika Padukone and Neetu Kapoor casually sitting alongside each other and sharing a moment with a glow on their faces shed light on a, perhaps, unique relationship the two share that nobody else knows about.

#NeetuSinghKapoor @neetu54 in a #Sabyasachi #Kurta At the HT Most Stylish Awards Last Night. #HTMostStylish2017 #HandCraftedInIndia #TheWorldOfSabyasachi A post shared by Sabyasachi Mukherjee (@sabyasachiofficial) on Mar 24, 2017 at 7:21pm PDT

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Ever since the photo hit the internet, it has gone viral. More so, because back when Deepika Padukone was dating Ranbir Kapoor, the actor and Neetu shared a rather cold equation. In fact, Neetu has often been blamed for the separation between Ranbir and Deepika, as suggested by media reports of the time.

Interestingly, even though Katrina Kaif finds it difficult to get along with Ranbir Kapoor after their break-up, such is not the case between Deepika and Ranbir. They shared a great chemistry in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani followed by Tamasha where both actors were acclaimed for their performances.

Now, the question is was it Ranbir Kapoor that Deepika and Neetu were discussing about? Perhaps, we will never know.

ALSO READ: Deepika Padukone and Vin Diesel have a relationship now. Without babies

ALSO SEE: Deepika Padukone parties with friends, ditches boyfriend Ranveer Singh

WATCH: Why Deepika Padukone is at the top of her game

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A Gurgaon-based corporate professional was shocked to learn that a woman he'd met on a matrimonial site had slapped rape charges against him.

By Sneha Agrawal: After going through a painful divorce, 34-year-old Amit Kumar (name changed) decided to give marriage a second chance.

The Gurgaon-based corporate professional logged in a matrimonial site and met a woman, who was "going through divorce" as well and was a mother of an eightyear-old daughter.

Little he knew, that this woman could become his nightmare. Amit Kumar was shocked to know that the women slapped rape charges against him, when he had been meeting other women.

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She had alleged that Kumar raped her on the false promise of marriage and even threatened to harm her daughter if he reveals the incident.

However, it did not take long for Amit to realise, that the woman was a habitual complainant and had accused her second husband on the same lines.

He moved the Delhi High Court to quash the FIR against him. While he has succeeded in doing so, Amit is still struggling to come to terms with the incident. He was sent in police custody for a day and had to live in Tihar for another day.

AMIT KUMAR'S COUNSEL SPEAKS TO MAIL TODAY

Speaking to MAIL TODAY, Kumar's counsel Parth Goswami said, "Ten months before filing the FIR against my client, this woman had filed an FIR against her husband named Naveen.

"She had met him through a matrimonial site and slapped rape charges on the false promise of marriage. She filed for divorce just after six days of marriage. She took `3 lakh as a settlement amount.

While we have got the FIR quashed against Amit, the incident has scarred him for life." Amit told the court that the woman had lodged a similar FIR against other persons and this was her modusoperandi, with an intention to extort money.

"The woman married twice with a subsisting marriage. The allegations that sexual acts with the petitioner were on a false promise of marriage are belied on the face of it," the court was told.

RAMPANT USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES TO TRAP MEN, EXPERTS SAY

Legal experts and men rights' activist say there has been a rampant use of social networking sites to trap men and slap them with false charges to extort money.

Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj, social activist and filmmaker told MAIL TODAY, "There are many men who have reached out to me with cases filed on them barely few days after the marriage. A man has been fighting cases for the last three years.

His wife left him within one month of their marriage, saying she couldn't live with his mother. While pursuing cases against the man, she made profiles on several matrimonial websites claiming herself to be unmarried, to trap other men. "In-depth investigation of people's backgrounds is important before finalising alliance through online portals.

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There are many frauds on these sites. Ministries are only concerned about duped women, but there are actually many men who have been cheated and slapped with fake cases and allegations."

ALSO READ | 40 people do nothing but watch 15-yr-old's gangrape, live on Facebook: Welcome to 2017

28-year-old mother-of-two gangraped by 5, accused say they brought her home for paid sex

ALSO WATCH | Delhi shocker: Nepalese woman jumps off building after gang rape

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The Oliviers, one of the UKs most prestigious and exciting award ceremonies, is coming to Londons Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 9th April to celebrate aspects of theatre including opera, staging and acting.

As always, one of the most contested awards is for Best Actress in a Musical - and here are the nominees:

Glenn Close - Sunset Boulevard

Glenn Close returned to the role that won her a Tony this year, and its pleasing to see that shes still got it.



Playing Norma Desmond, a faded silent movie star, Close uses her famed emotion to bring the role to life over 20 years since she starred in the show on Broadway. Her spine-tingling performance of As If We Never Said Goodbye can rarely be be beaten, and for that reason alone Close has a shot at winning the Olivier award.

A post shared by Jack Ferver (@jackferver) on Mar 16, 2017 at 7:50pm PDT

The Girls (Debbie Chazen, Sophie-Louise Dann, Michele Dotrice, Claire Machin, Claire Moore and Joanna Riding) - The Girls

The Girls, a new musical detailing the story of Yorkshires calendar girls, is the surprise success of the year. Hailed by critics for its acting and careful mix of hilarious quotes and soft, upsetting moments, the ensemble of the girls might be the surprise shocking winner at this years Oliviers.

Songs including Sunflower and Dare truly demonstrate why the girls have received a nomination with their thought provoking production.

Joanna Ridings performance of Scarborough is a personal favourite due to her simplistic yet upsetting delivery that revels in making normal life seem so endearing.

Also nominated for Best Actor in A Supporting Role and Best New Musical, The Girls is one of the best new shows to enter the West End this year - and those nominated are the main reason why.

A post shared by The Girls Musical (@thegirlsmusical) on Feb 20, 2017 at 2:22pm PST

Amber Riley - Dreamgirls

Dreamgirls began its debut run on the West End this year to critical acclaim, but the one individual who stood out was Amber Riley.

Known primarily for her role in US television show Glee, nobody knew how perfect Riley would be in the role of Effie, with The Guardian describing her as a notch above them all. Even if Riley wasnt the main star in the show, her talent is the one youd be talking about while leaving.

The show is also nominated in four other categories, including Best New Musical and Outstanding Achievement in Music.

It wouldnt be surprising if Riley won this category, with her large, belting voice and obvious talent at delivering emotion through song.

Sheridan Smith - Funny Girl

Sheridan Smiths ride as the lead character Fanny Price hasnt been an easy one, but her reputation as the comeback girl has earnt her yet another award nomination.

Leaving the stage in May 2016 for a matter of months due to exhaustion and stress, Smith returned last July to a standing ovation and a return that The Telegraph called triumphant.

Its easy to see why she deserves to win: her comic timing is on cue, her facial expressions are enough to make anyone laugh out loud, and her ability to inhibit the character is something not many stars can do.

So much so, the show has also received a nomination for Best Musical Revival this year.
With March halfway gone already (when did that happen?) its time to start planning those quick summer breaks, inspirational escapes and indulging vacations. I bet most of your friends have already started talking, if not even booked, some of the most popular destinations in Europe - Ibiza, Venice, Tenerife, Salzburg, Amsterdam the list goes on and on.

Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning  type? A place yet not-so-explored, an alternative holiday where you can step off the beaten track, try suspicious food and make your friends wander whether youre just coming up with fictional names about all those sites you visited? A country where travelling from the mountain resorts to the sea riviera only takes less than five hours? But what if youre looking for a destination from theSecond star to the right and straight on 'til morning type? A place yet not-so-explored, an alternative holiday where you can step off the beaten track, try suspicious food and make your friends wander whether youre just coming up with fictional names about all those sites you visited? A country where travelling from the mountain resorts to the sea riviera only takes less than five hours?

Well, seek no more, because one such place might be hiding closer than you think, and you dont even need to leave Europe in search for it. Cosily hidden between Greece and Montenegro, a small Balkan country is famous for its hospitality, breath-taking views and affordable lifestyle: Albania.

Where to go

It goes without saying that the start of every journey to a new land is most convenient with its capital. For Albania, this is Tirana. The beating heart of this small Balkan country has clubs, cafes and restaurants to suit any taste, and the food is usually made with freshly sourced local products.

Berat. The city started its life as a Illyrian settlement, then turned into a castle city that thrived and expanded with the time. Inside the castle there were churches and even a calligraphy school. Unique for todays times, people still live inside the castle walls. Once finished with Tirana, make your way to the UNESCO protected city ofThe city started its life as a Illyrian settlement, then turned into a castle city that thrived and expanded with the time. Inside the castle there were churches and even a calligraphy school. Unique for todays times, people still live inside the castle walls.

And while we are still talking about UNESCO protected cities - Albania has more than one!

Gjirokastra: the city of stone, with houses made of cut stones and paved streets. And if you think all roads lead to Rome, well not in Albania. In Gjirokastra all streets lead to Bazaar, one of its oldest neighbourhoods. The city is home to the Museum of Weapons, located in what is the biggest castle of Albania. The National Folk Festival also takes place here each year. : the city of stone, with houses made of cut stones and paved streets. And if you think all roads lead to Rome, well not in Albania. In Gjirokastra all streets lead to Bazaar, one of its oldest neighbourhoods. The city is home to the Museum of Weapons, located in what is the biggest castle of Albania. The National Folk Festival also takes place here each year.

Once youre done with the history tourism it is time for some leisure time and napping under the sun. And you have a good chance of that, with Albania enjoying 300 days of sun each year - second only to Spain!

Albanian Riviera. With beaches to rival those of its famous French and Italian sisters, Albania is like the shy youngest sibling - give it a chance and youll see it might be the coolest of them all. Let the sun kiss your skin and draw swimsuit patterns on your skin at theWith beaches to rival those of its famous French and Italian sisters, Albania is like the shy youngest sibling - give it a chance and youll see it might be the coolest of them all.

What to do

Uncover the history of the nations capital

Skanderbeg Statue, Tirana

small but simply beautiful, or the 35m high Kulla e Sahatit (the Clock Tower), built in 1822. From there locals advise to try and get a good view and maybe a picture of the Skanderbeg Statue, as the Skanderbeg Square is currently under reconstruction until the summer of 2017. During the day visit Tiranas most famous landmarks - the EtHem Bey Mosque (built between 1798 and 1812), which is described by locals assmall but simply beautiful, or the 35m high Kulla e Sahatit (the Clock Tower), built in 1822. From there locals advise to try and get a good view and maybe a picture of the Skanderbeg Statue, as the Skanderbeg Square is currently under reconstruction until the summer of 2017.

Also dont forget to ask about the history and symbolism of the statue. Its not just a simple statue of a local hero. As we hear there are a lot of hidden meanings to be discovered about the pose and the direction Skanderbeg is facing.

Just across the street is the National History Museum, where one can learn about Albanias troublesome history under Ottoman slavery and then the 50-year Communist oppression. It is a worthy introduction before visiting my personal favourite - The Peace Bell.

It was made from the castings of bullets and its ring symbolically calls for peace. Although the park and the area where the monument is located might seem a bit abandoned it is definitely worth a visit.

In the end of the day dont forget to end your walk around Tirana with a slice of Shendetli - this honey-walnut cake soaked overnight in sugar-and-cloves syrup is a traditional option that you simply must try.

Delve deeper into Albanian history in Berat

The old city of Berat comprises three major neighbourhoods - Gorica, Kala and Mangalemi. Head down to Mangalemi to enjoy the famous view of the City of the Floating Windows- with the facades of houses, whose windows seemingly stand above each other. Then cross the arched bridge of Gorica, connecting the two neighbourhoods just at sunset - and look above to the sunlight reflected by thousands of pieces of glass.

Oh, and while still in Mangalemi, dont forget to visit the praised Mangalemi restaurant and try Byrek Mangalemi - a savoury pie special which is a mixture of pumpkin, potato, cottage cheese and a hint of lemon.

Kayak Berats Osum River

Osum River is a must, according to locals. The river canyon stretches for as much as 17 kilometres. You can do that while visiting Berat, as the river flows through the city. Feeling adventurous? Kayaking onis a must, according to locals. The river canyon stretches for as much as 17 kilometres. You can do that while visiting Berat, as the river flows through the city.

Soak up some sun on the Albanian Riviera

Ksamil beach

Dhermi, which is a nightlife destination for the Albanian youth with its wooden villa complexes and modern beach clubs. Or Porto Palermo Beach, the most panoramic beach of the Riviera. There is a castle of the same name and a submarine base nearby Choose from beaches such as, which is a nightlife destination for the Albanian youth with its wooden villa complexes and modern beach clubs. Or, the most panoramic beach of the Riviera. There is a castle of the same name and a submarine base nearby

Kampingu Jal is the oldest camp site in Albania, if you fancy a night or two of campfires and local beer. Jal village, actually four beaches, is connected to make this touristy area.is the oldest camp site in Albania, if you fancy a night or two of campfires and local beer.

Ksamil beach is an extremely affordable and quiet area with crystal water and homemade wine. Not the most famous destination, but youll get the Instagram pictures your friends will be jelly of. is an extremely affordable and quiet area withcrystal water and homemade wine. Not the most famous destination, but youll get the Instagram pictures your friends will be jelly of.

Take advantage of the local music scene

Albanian South Vibes. Or dance the night off at Folie Marine, which is one of the trendiest beach clubs in the Riviera. Make sure you listen to Era Istrefi on the way there. The rising Albanian star is said to enjoy extreme popularity around the local clubs and people will be pleasantly surprised if you recognise her hits. There is also the yearly Reggae Festival,. Or dance the night off at, which is one of the trendiest beach clubs in the Riviera. Make sure you listen to Era Istrefi on the way there. The rising Albanian star is said to enjoy extreme popularity around the local clubs and people will be pleasantly surprised if you recognise her hits.

Climb, paraglide and cave in the Alps... yes, you read that right

Albanian Alps. If youre not a beach person but youd rather hike and trek and enjoy nature at its truest form, dont worry. Albania has you covered - as we said, there is the Albanian Riviera but there is also the

Mount Korab, which towers 2,751 m above sea level. The cliffs of Llogara, which divide the Adriatic from the Ionian Coast, are a famous place for paragliding. Take a day to climb Albaias highest peak, which towers 2,751 m above sea level. The cliffs of Llogara, which divide the Adriatic from the Ionian Coast, are a famous place for paragliding.

Shkodra. A suitable for a newbie spelunkers cave is Pellumbas Cave near Tirana, and its also Albanias second largest. For the cave explorers there is no shortage of hidden passages and underground wonders. there are at least 35 caves near. A suitable for a newbie spelunkers cave isnear Tirana, and its also Albanias second largest.

in no time. To keep exploring the Albanian Alps, ask around for local tours and book for the next day. If youre lucky enough you might even find yourself taken for a hike by a local - they are famous for their hospitality and youll be off to the racesin no time.

Eat with locals in the Valbona River Valley

The Valbona River Valley, a National park where the Valbona River creates a stunning canyon, surrounded by small villages, where you can explore traditional food and culture. The best advice is to try and stay with locals and definitely try specialties such as mazja, flija (a many layered pancake-like dish cooked outdoors over open coals and steamed, often served with honey), and pitja. Dont miss the, a National park where the Valbona River creates a stunning canyon, surrounded by small villages, where you can explore traditional food and culture. The best advice is to try and stay with locals and definitely try specialties such as mazja, flija (a many layered pancake-like dish cooked outdoors over open coals and steamed, often served with honey), and pitja.

Rrogam, a remote village, where you can find marble trout, a rare fish found in the waters of the Valbona, which is said to have a unique flavour. Visit, a remote village, where you can find marble trout, a rare fish found in the waters of the Valbona, which is said to have a unique flavour.

Take stock on your return to Tirana

Once youve taken your dose of forgotten history, virgin views and potential sunburn, return to Tirana and have a coffee, while watching the people pass by in the streets around the main square.

Dont forget to say falenderoj (thank you) and lamtumire (goodbye) and promise to bring your friends with you next time you visit. Albanias growing tourism industry is one of the major sources of income for the locals.

Feeling inspired? Check out more of our Top 20 Destinations for 2017 HERE.
BJP chief Amit Shah on Saturday alleged that corruption has flourished under the Kejriwal government, and asked party workers to ensure BJP's victory in the Delhi civic polls.

By Mail Today Bureau: Eyeing a hat-trick in city civic polls, BJP chief Amit Shah on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the AAP alleging that corruption has flourished under the Kejriwal government and people must teach it a lesson.

Addressing BJP workers ahead of the MCD polls, he referred to party's victories in the recent Assembly polls, saying a win in the civic elections will help catapult the party to power in the Capital.

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Pointing to an India map near the dais, Shah said while the country is being painted in saffron, Delhi continues to remain a white spot and asked the party workers to ensure BJP's victory in the civic polls.

'AAP HAS INDULGED IN CORRUPTION LIKE NO OTHER PARTY IN SUCH A SHORT TIME'

"After 2014, BJP has won nearly everywhere, except Delhi and Bihar. Today, BJP workers will go back with a resolve to plug the gaps, so that the BJP's victory flag is unfurled in the national Capital," he said.

Targeting the Delhi government, Shah accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of getting into fights with the Centre for political reasons.

"AAP has indulged in corruption like no other party in such a short time. His principal secretary was arrested by CBI. There was graft in procuring onions, in appointments in DCW, in procuring water tankers, street lights. A minister is involved in hawala. There was scam in Waqf board. And most importantly, AAP used Delhi exchequer's money in Gujarat, Kolkata and other states for putting out ads," Shah said.

Shah also said many of AAP legislators and ministers were arrested over charges of corruption and rape.

SHAH DARES KEJRIWAL TO TAKE ACTION

He also dared the CM to take action against the legislators and ministers facing various allegations and order a judicial probe into the charges.

"This is not just an MCD election, but it is an opportunity to uproot the AAP government in next polls," he said.

Union ministers Venkaiah Naidu, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jitendra Singh, Harsh Vardhan and Vijay Goel as well as Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari were present at the event.

ALSO READ | MCD polls: BJP, Congress turned Delhi into garbage house, says Kejriwal in video message

Arvind Kejriwal to face trial in Jaitley defamation case as court frames charges

ALSO WATCH | Delhi civic polls likely in April, parties raise concern over EVMs

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Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the World Wide Fund for Nature that urges households and businesses across the world to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness on the need to take action on climate change.

Lights go off at India Gate during Earth Hour on Saturday. Photo: ANI

By Indo-Asian News Service: Switching off lights and electrical appliances during the Earth Hour initiative this year, Delhi saved around 290 MW of power, the capital's distribution companies (discoms) announced on Sunday.

The global Earth Hour initiative aimed at energy conservation was observed between 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm on Saturday.

"This is more than last year when Delhi had saved around 230 MW," a spokesperson of power major BSES said here. The discom said its twin arms BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL), which cater to large parts of Delhi, saved around 113 MW and 95 MW of electricity, respectively, making for a total of 208 MW saving in BSES areas.

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BRPL and BYPL had also switched off all non-essential lights at their over 400 offices, spread across an area of around 950 sq km, during the appointed hour.

With its 40 lakh consumers, BSES areas in the capital last year had saved around 207 MW during this annual event.

Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd saved 82 MW of power during Earth Hour 2017, the company said in a statement. It had managed to save around 55 MW during the event last year.

AWARENESS ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Tata Power, which distributes in North and North-West Delhi, said it "also organised several candlelight marches during the Earth Hour in association with consumers and residents' welfare associations in its distribution area," towards sensitising on energy conservation.

Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) that urges households and businesses across the world to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour at the appointed time to raise awareness on the need to take action on climate change.

On Saturday, Delhiites joined over a billion people in Mumbai, Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Rome, Manila, Singapore, Dubai and in over 7,000 cities across the six continents across the globe to observe the Earth Hour.

Also read: Earth Hour: Everything you need to know about why lights go off for 1 hour

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By Mail Today: Bismillah Khan Sahab addressed my father as Chacha Sahab (uncle). He was friends with my eldest brother, Mubarak Ali Khan; they were the same age. He was always kind and affectionate towards me. I had been receiving invitations to music festivals from the age of twelve, and had the privilege of meeting all the great musicians of the time, including Bismillah Khan Sahab.

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Once, I was asked to perform at a music festival in Varanasi organised by Pandit Ravi Shankar. That day I was concluding the session. The first performance was by Birju Maharaj and Zakir Hussain, followed by Bhimsen Joshi. To be the concluding act after so many brilliant performances by musicians and dancers was an honour for me, but, at the same time, immensely challenging, taxing and risky. At 3 a.m., accompanied by Pandit Samta Prasad alias Gudai Maharaj on the tabla, I went on the stage. I could see several great musicians in the audience, including Bismillah Khan Sahab, and as a mark of respect, took ijaazat (formal permission) from all of them.

I began the concert with my own composition, Raga Lalita Dhwani. The concert ended at 7 a.m. Many years later, in 1989, when we honoured Bismillah Khan Sahab in Chennai with the Haafiz Ali Khan Award, Khan Sahab lavishly praised my Varanasi concert in his acceptance speech. During my concert, he said, he had wanted to go out for his morning namaaz but he was deeply moved by some portions of my concert and felt a strong connection with God. 'Sangeet bhi toh ibadat hai,' he had told himself and stayed back.

Performance On several occasions, Raviji (Ravi Shankar) and I performed in the same music festivals. A particularly memorable incident took place at a festival in 1964 in Calcutta. It was the last day of the weeklong Sarba Bhartiya Music Conference at Shyam Park. I was scheduled to play and the concluding item was a duet between Ali Akbar Khan Sahab and Ravi Shankar. Bhimsen Joshi was to perform in between. In the middle of the night, I received a phone call from the festival secretary Dhiren Mukherjee saying that Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan wanted to play before my concert and I should take a taxi and come quickly.

I was a bit startled as I was unable to understand the reason for this. (They told the presenter that they had to catch a flight.) They were big stars at that time and my playing after them was unthinkable. Dhiren Mukherjee was my wellwisher; he wanted me to sit on the stage before the sarod and sitar maestros came. When I reached the pandal, there were about 7000 or 8000 people in the audience. Child artist and actor Daisy Irani was giving a Kathak performance.

The moment she finished, Dhiren Babu pushed me on to the stage. Legendary tabla maestro Samta Prasad was accompanying me. When the curtain opened, I was still tuning, and I could see Raviji with his sitar on one side and, on the other side, Ali Akbar Khan Sahab with his sarod, standing in the wings and trying to catch my attention. I was a bit overwhelmed but I closed my eyes and started my performance.

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When I finished, both the musicians came on the stage soon after and immediately began playing a duet sitarsarod recital. That concert was a turning point of my life. Memorable Our family was close to Bhimsen Joshi.

Once, my wife Subhalakshmi requested Bhimsenji to sing on my forty-ninth birthday at our residence. It was a memorable concert. He remained alert till his last days, watching TV, and having newspapers read out to him. His fans and other artists would visit him now and then. His face always lit up when he conversed with fellow artists and old friends. The recordings of maestros were his constant companions in his last years.

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He is the author of the fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history  The Shiva Trilogy  and his last book, Scion of Ikshvaku, was the biggest literary blockbuster of 2015, all of which have together sold over 3.5 million copies.

Now, banker-turned-writer Amish Tripathi's upcoming book narrates the story of Hindu goddess Sita, but the author's interpretation is contrary to her depiction in popular culture.

Sita, the wife of Lord Ram, is generally seen as a symbol of the Adarsh Bhartiya Nari  the Ideal Indian Woman  and from daily soaps to mythological books, she stands as an obedient and devoted wife. But is she just the sum total of her wifely submissions?

Tripathi, whose second book from the Ram Chandra series is titled Sita  Warrior of Mithila, said that there is some sort of amnesia among people about the character of Sita.

"Sita was not just an obedient and humble wife; she was a warrior. I was surprised to know that many people do not even know that she was the adopted daughter of King Janak. The feeling that I have got after interacting with so many people is that although people seem aware of the Ramayana, there is very little knowledge about the story of Sita," Tripathi told IANS in a candid chat over breakfast here on Thursday.

"Sita  Warrior of Mithila", which is expected to release by end of May or early June, comes after roughly two years since "Scion of Ikshvaku".

With a slice of french toast and masala omelette waiting to be relished, Tripathi went on to reveal that the second book of the Ram Chandra series is not exactly a sequel to "Scion of Ikshvaku", as it will take the readers back to the beginning.

"Readers will get to see Sita maa as a feminist icon and, even more importantly, they will get to see her as a warrior, not just her physical strength but also her mental ability," he said.

The writer has applied the multi-linear narrative technique in the Ram Chandra series and, therefore, the first book, "The Scion of Ikshvaku", is from the birth of Ram to the kidnapping of Sita; the second book will be from the birth of Sita to the kidnapping of Ram; the third, from the birth of Ravana to the kidnapping of Sita; and from there on, the story converges into a common narrative in the fourth and the fifth parts.

"I can't claim to have invented this style, it's been around for some time. The basic idea is that multiple truths can exist. All of us are in the same room, but one month later, each one of us will have a slightly different recollection of this day. Do we know well enough the backstory of all the characters of Ramayana? So I thought it would be interesting to have the backstories of the main characters, which converges into a common narrative," added the author with gross retail sales of over Rs.100 crore.

He said that the idea of a multi-linear narrative was clear-cut in his mind right from the beginning, which is why he announced it as a five-book series. While Lord Ram remains the overall protagonist of the Ram Chandra series, Sita will take centrestage in the second part and Ravana in the third.

"One point to be noted is that it is not Ramayana from Sita's perspective; that has been done several times. It is, instead, the story of Sita, where Ram comes as a character in the last part of the book," he reminded.

Mythological fiction raises one question, though. Are the depictions of the characters in the book or even the plot of the novel true?

Tripathi said that Indian civilisation believes in multiple truths and that is the strength of the Indian way of life. Our scriptures basically tell us, he said, that your truth is right from your perspective and my truth is right from my perspective.

"The purpose is to catch up on the lessons and inspirations from their lives rather than worrying about a singular truth," quipped the 43-year-old writer.

So what is the biggest lesson that one can derive from the life of Lord Ram?

"That he was a Maryada-Purushotam, the follower of laws. The main lesson from his life is that an able administrator needs to believe in rule of law. When there is a leader who believes in the rule of law, it is very good for the society  but very challenging for the family. He represents an ideal follower of laws," contended Tripathi.

"Sita  Warrior of Mithila", is published by Westland, recently acquired by Amazon. One-third of the book was penned in the national capital, at Tripathi's brother's residence here, while the rest was written in Mumbai and Cambodia.

Tripathi worked for 14 years in the financial services industry and quit it only after, in his own words, his royalty check became greater than his salary.
The government is likely to table supplementary goods and services tax legislations in Parliament today.

By Press Trust of India: The government is likely to table supplementary goods and services tax legislations in Parliament today.

Sources said C-GST, I-GST, UT-GST and the compensation law are likely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha today and could be taken up for discussion as early as March 28.

As well, amendments to the excise and Customs Act to abolish various cess as well as furnishing Bills for exports and imports under the new GST regime will be placed before the House.

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The Business Advisory Committee of the Lok Sabha is likely to meet today to decide on the duration of discussion on the Bills, the sources added.

According to the sources, the government is looking at passage of the GST Bills in the Lower House by March 29 or latest by March 30.

Then, these will move to the Rajya Sabha and this gives the government enough time to bring back any amendment adopted by the Upper House to the Lok Sabha.

The amendments can either be rejected or incorporated by the Lok Sabha. The current session of Parliament ends on April 12.

Although the legislations will be introduced as Money Bills, the government wants discussion in both the Houses, the sources said.

JULY 1 TARGET FOR GST ROLLOUT

The government has set a target of July 1 for rollout of GST, which will subsume excise, service tax, VAT and and other local levies.

Once these Bills are cleared by Parliament, the states will then take the state GST (S-GST) Bill to their respective assemblies. S-GST has been prepared as a model of the central GST (C-GST), with each state incorporating state-specific exemptions.

The integrated GST (I-GST) deals in taxation of inter-state movement of goods and services while the Union Territory GST (UT-GST) Bill covers taxation in UTs.

The compensation law has been prepared to give a legislative backing to the Centre's promise to compensate the states for 5 years for any revenue loss arising out of GST implementation.

Watch the video

ALSO READ | GST: Modi govt can't levy taxes if Parliament doesn't pass 4 Bills till Sept 15

ALSO WATCH | Budget session: PM Modi hopeful of breakthrough on GST, Opposition to raise Lucknow encounter

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Haryana education minister Ram Bilas Sharma on Saturday took a jibe at the Congress government's bid of ending the VIP culture in Punjab, saying that banning use of beacons is futile if the ministers in neighboring state still travel with a number security guards.

Sharma told The Statesman that merely advertising something is not enough as people believe in performance. "Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal today reached the Chandigarh Airport to greet Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari.

The minister was escorted by a number of security personnel. Accompanied by so many guards, the aim of ending VIP culture cannot be accomplished," he said.

Sharma is a senior BJP leader in Haryana having charge of education, tourism and parliamentary affairs.

His statement on the issue came after even his own party's newly elected Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath has announced to end the VIP culture by banning red beacons in his own state.

However, the minister kept mum when he was asked about banning the use of red beacons by the Chief Minister, ministers and other VIPs on the pattern of the neighboring states.

Immediately after coming to power in Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh led Congress, with a view to end the VIP culture in the state, put a ban on use beacons on government vehicles, foreign travel of ministers for two years and organising of banquets on state expense.

Punjab's move has even been welcomed in other states with Bihar Education Minister Ashok Choudhary also advocated the ban on the use of beacons on VIP vehicles.

After the Punjab government's move, a Chandigarh based RTI activist also approached the Haryana government to ban the use of red beacons culture in the state too.

RTI activist R K Garg in his representation to Haryana Chief Secretary D S Dhesi has requested the latter for reviewing and restricting the use of red beacons in Haryana immediately on the pattern of other states where the use of beacons on vehicles a symbol of VIP culture were restricted irrespective of their political ideology.

Garg even cited examples of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh where governments have announced to end VIP culture.
Kerala Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran resigned on Sunday after an audio emerged in which he is heard having a lewd conversation with a woman on phone.

A five-time legislator from the Nationalist Congress Party, the minister announced the resignation at Kozhikode. The audio was released by Mangalam TV.

Earlier, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the media that he had taken the report seriously and promised action.

Last year, CPI-M strongman and Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan quit on charges of nepotism.


Two of the three persons involved in a rifle snatching incident in Jammu have been arrested, the police said on Sunday.

"We have arrested two persons belonging to the Kashmir Valley in yesterday's (Saturday) rifle snatching incident," Jammu Zone Inspector General of Police S.D. Singh Jamwal told IANS here.

"The third person is still at large with the stolen weapon, but will be arrested soon," Jamwal said.

The official did not mention whether the incident was connected with militancy in the valley.

Three persons on Saturday snatched an AK-47 rifle from policeman Muhammad Hanief near the Tawi Bridge here.

Hanief was deployed as the personal security guard (PSO) of Maulana Dehlavi, Chairman of Anjuman-e-Minhaj-e-Rasool, a religious organisation.

The Islamic cleric is visiting Jammu. The policeman was returning to the district police lines after dropping Dehlavi at the state guest house here when he was attacked and his AK-47 was snatched.


Adopting a zero tolerance against corruption, the Trivendra Rawat government in Uttarakhand has recommended a CBI probe into the Rs 170 Crore National Highway (NH) land scam. Taking action against the government servants who are involved in the scandal, the Rawat government suspended six officers- including four SDMs on Saturday.

The scam was executed jointly by politicians, farmers, state government staff and NH staff- in which high compensation was provided to selected individual by showing their agriculture land as commercial land. Initial finding indicates a scam of Rs 170 Crore but the amount could go high as many other cases are yet to be examined.

Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat said, NH 74 is a serious issue, we will fight against corruption like a holy fight. Will not spare any accused.

Kumoan Commissioner D. Senthil Pandiyan conducted an initial inquiry in the scam. Acting on the report submitted by the Kumoan Commissioner the Uttarakhand government has decided to recommend a CBI inquiry and stop the ongoing Special Investigation Team probe of the state police in the high profile scam.

The primary inquiry report found 18 suspicious cases, in which the state government suffered a loss of about Rs 170 Crore. But, many other cases are likely to surface and the scandal is all set to cross over Rs 300 crore mark.

Acting on the Kumoan Commissioner report, the state government suspended D.P Singh, A.P Shukla, S.S Jangpangi, B.S Phonia, N.S Napchiyal and H.S Martola- who are presently serving in different position in Udham Singh Nagar district.

Besides, National Highway staff, state government staff, and farmers, politics too made big money by getting high compensation for agriculture land. Many beneficiaries provided donation to the Congress party as election fund. Which hints that some influential politicians in Harish Rawat government backed the guilty.

Many farmers from Jaspur, Kashipur, Bajpur and Sitarganj- who were politically connected- received high compensation for their agriculture land. A total sum of Rs 5 Crore was deposited in a bank account of Congress in Dehradun during the election time. The donation was received from builders and farmers from Udham Singh Nagar.

The land scam was organized with active involvement of the National Highway and state government staff. The decision of the Rawat government to seek CBI inquiry has made many political leaders lose their sleep and mental peace.
Parliament last week cleared much of its vital Budget Session agenda when the Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill, 2017, along with two Appropriation Bills, and approved Demands for Grants of Central Ministries. The two Appropriation Bills, which take care of the supplementary demands for 2016-17 and fresh demands for 2017-18, were later returned by the Rajya Sabha, which is slated to take up the Finance Bill, 2017, next week. The debates on the financial business showed the government had gained confidence, and its stand on demonetisation, and efforts for unanimity on Goods and Services Tax laws, were receiving due attention. The Finance Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday along with 29 government amendments, providing for insertion of 38 new clauses and two new schedules in the Bill.

Several members protested the tagging of non-tax Bills along with the Finance Bill, with RSPs N K Premachandran saying its a backdoor legislation, and that it was never heard in the history of Indian legislative mechanism. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan overruled the objections saying rules do permit non-taxation proposals in the Finance Bill.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley quoted former Speaker G V Mavalankar and said when a Bill substantially deals with imposition, abolition of tax, etc., the other provisions necessary for the achievement of the Bills objectives cannot take away from it the category of Money Bills.

Premachandran argued while the Finance Bill related to financial proposals for a year, the amendments to 40 existing Acts would have permanent impact. Saugata Roy of Trinamul Congress said let the Finance Bill consist of taxation proposals only. The amendments linked Aadhaar with the filing of income tax returns. Jaitley said people used several PAN cards to avoid tax; the Aadhaar linkage would prevent that. Cap on cash transactions has been reduced from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 2 lakh. Biju Janata Dal members staged a walk-out on the Aadhaar issue while the Congress left the House as the Government gave no assurance on waiving farm loans.

Dwelling on the benefits of demonetisation, the Finance Minister told the Lok Sabha that cash deposits after the high currency ban had exposed people with incomes disproportionate to their deposits and they were being sent notices. He told the Rajya Sabha that the demonetisation was a shock necessary for the economy and that the shadow economy had received a big jolt by the step. Alluding to the BJPs rich dividends in the recent UP and Uttarakhand polls, the Minister said the decision had proved politically correct also. The Government objective was that cash must not remain a facilitator for crime. Jaitley was heard with silence when he said the tax collections had already exceeded the targets. Replying to the debate on the General Budget and the Appropriation Bills, Jaitley told Elders that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council was Indias first federal decision-making body. All its decisions were taken unanimously, and the main Act and its connected laws would usher in a rule-based system of indirect taxation. The GST roll-out was planned from 1 July, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the Lok Sabha at the passage of the Finance Bill, and in the Rajya Sabha at the passage of the two Appropriation Bills.

The Upper House had a lively debate on electoral reforms where the

main target was the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs). Although Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was hard put to explain why the government failed to respond to the Election Commissions demand for paper trail machines for attachment to the EVMs, the Minister silenced the House on the EVMs reliability saying Do you mean to say the EVMs are OK if the BJP loses, and wrong when the party wins.
In view of the country's huge resources and potential to woo not only foreign investors but also tourists to all parts, particularly to the Northeast region, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju has called for new measures to boost tourism in the region.

The number of foreign tourists has increased significantly in the past few years, India still lags behind other countries and the figures are not encouraging enough, the minister said while addressing the first Arunachal Pradesh Tourism Conclave. The event was held in the national capital on 24 March by the Arunachal government with the aim to boost tourism in the state.

Although India has large number of international in-bound visitors, it still stands low in comparison to other countries, Rijiju said, adding, We have so many international terminals besides the shipping yards and also opportunities, yet we are unable to reach the nine million mark. The number of visitors are increasing but not encouraging enough".

The minister, who has travelled 154 countries, emphasised on building more tourist attractions in the country.

Meanwhile, Rijiju's home state Arunachal Pradesh, a dream destination in the Northeast, received over 3.5 lakh tourists in 2016, according to a release. The state tourism department is now on a roll to boost domestic and international tourists inflow to the state and promote and assist trade partners.

"Arunachal Pradesh is investing to become an exotic tourist hub in India. We have been organising theme-based events like the Tawang festival, Ziro Festival of Music, Arunachal Spring Carnival, adventure at Mechuka and the Kameng river festival," said Joram Beda, state Tourism Secretary, who graced the event.

The Ziro Festival of Music, which showcases great musicians, draws music lovers from across India and other countries to the state every year.

"The role of tourism partners in building awareness and encouraging the unique attractions the state offers is paramount," Beda added.

The conclave witnessed a good gathering of stakeholders from across the travel and tourism industry, and while MoU with private companies are signed, the state tourism targets a yearly growth of 20 per cent in the next three years.

Currently, this pristine state has great scope for development of cultural tourism, adventure tourism, historical tourism, wildlife tourism, nature-based tourism and eco-tourism.
In a swift action, two militants were on Sunday killed when they tried to ambush a police party that included three officers of the rank of superintendent of police in south Kashmir.

The incident happened at Padgampora when a cavalcade of senior superintendents of police of Pulwama and Awantipora Raees Ahmed and Zahid Malik was going along with the district's Additional Superintendent of Police Chandan Kohli.

The militants, who were travelling in a car, came from behind and started firing at the vehicle carrying Kohli in the area on the border of Awantipora and Pulwama, officials said.

All the police personnel quickly took cover and retaliated the fire in which two militants were killed, they said.

The police have seized two weapons and the identity of the militants is being ascertained, Deputy Inspector General of Police (South Kashmir) S Pani told PTI here.

He lauded the role of the police force which swiftly neutralised the two terrorists.
Donald Trump is arguably a chastened President in the wake of last weeks congressional hearing on the Russian connection in the US Election 2016. There may be hope yet for empirical assessments ~ concordant with a libertarian democracy ~ with the FBI Directors resounding presentation, specifically asserting that there is no basis for Trumps orchestrated claim to have been wiretapped by Barack Obama. In effect, James Comey has challenged the Presidents spurious defence of an ugly truth. Indeed, there were two firsts at the threshold of the hearing. One, the person at the helm of the national investigation agency has, for the first time, confirmed that the FBI is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow to influence the outcome of the presidential election. It is pretty much obvious that Comey has reversed gears, having initially refused to comment on the existence of any such investigation. The other striking feature was Comeys appearance in itself, and in the company of the NSA director, Admiral Michael Rogers ~ described as a remarkable and unprecedented point in US political history. There is little doubt that Trumps team is under investigation for possibly conniving with a foreign power to make sure that he ~ and not Hillary Clinton ~ would be the next occupant of the White House. Comey repeatedly stressed the unusual nature of the electoral involvement of the Kremlin, so unusual indeed that he felt compelled to deviate from the FBIs tradition of never commenting on ongoing investigations. The credibility of Trumps tweets on the issue are now open to question; neither the White House nor the Kremlin will readily be able to challenge the revelations of the FBI head. Chiefly that the counter-intelligence investigation into the Trump-Moscow links began in July 2016 and is still ongoing; more than one person associated with the Trump campaign is under investigation for links to the Russian government; and that there is no information to support Trumps claims that he had been wiretapped by the Obama administration. The beans have been spilled no less forcefully by the NSA chief, who has trashed claims that the Obama administration had spied on Trump Tower. Furthermore, the Russian intervention in the election was unusually loud, as if Moscow did not care about being caught.

The presence of the directors of both the FBI and NSA and their revelations have made this Congressional hearing an extraordinary event viewed through the executive/legislative prism or judged by the parameters of foreign policy. With tongue firmly in cheek, the FBI director has been bold enough to rebut President Trumps claim that he was a victim of McCarthyism ~ I try very hard not to engage in any-isms of any kind, including McCarthyism. As the investigation gets under way, suffice it to register that the FBI director sounds more credible and, therefore, convincing than the 45th President of the US.
The new theme song of development and its benefits percolating to all people in UP irrespective of their caste, creed and community identities being sung by the BJP leadership after the partys historic success in the just concluded Assembly polls is baffling. For the communal overtone of the poll campaign, spearheaded by party mascot Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that actually clinched the results, was too loud to be mistaken or denied as the BJP leadership is now doing.

But after decimating all the regional parties in the Hindi heartland, forming government in three more states ~ Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur ~ and virtually sending the Congress into coma, the BJP can now afford to speak loudly about development to bring the entire country under its hegemony. Its not a sudden shift of agenda, but part of a well thought out tactic that no other party in the country could even dare to formulate. Its too risky a formula ~ a heady cocktail of communal sentiments and delivery mechanisms to get entrenched in power.

At long last the defining moment for the saffron brigade has come. For the first time during its decades of struggle to capture power by playing on the communal sentiments of a large number of the countrys majority population, the BJP has succeeded in virtually wiping out its opponents in the Hindi heartland and spreading its influence in a maximum number of states from north to south and east to west.

This has become possible for two reasons ~ ideological and leadership quality. Never before since Independence has the country seen such a bankruptcy of ideology and dearth of leaders of stature in the parties opposed to the BJP. The BJP is using to the hilt this ideological and leadership vacuum.

The Congress came to power after independence on the strength of its image as being instrumental in freeing India from British rule. That brought the whole country under its sway for the first three decades after freedom. But, its claim of being the party to overthrow the yoke of foreign rule became blunted over the years as it became a fountainhead of corruption. The series of scams during the Congress-led UPA government surpassed all previous records of loot and thuggery. The partys ideology has now degenerated into slavish worship of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

What is galling to the people of the country is that the Congress has become so spineless that takes orders from a relative political infant named Rahul Gandhi. The party has forgotten that even the gungi gudia, the name given to Indira Gandhi during her early years in power when she couldnt speak well, served as a junior minister after her father died. She learnt the ropes the hard way and became an astute politician over the years.

When the Congress was using its contribution to the countrys independence as its main ideological tool, the Left ~ which at one stage became the second largest bloc in Parliament ~ was sharpening its Marxist-Leninist ideology to first capture the hearts of people and then power. Using ideology imported first from the USSR and then from China, they could strike a chord in the hearts of people effectively only in three states ~ Bengal, Kerala and Tripura ~, while they had pockets of influence in a few other states. But once in power, the Leftists indulged in corruption and control of the state machinery to further the interests of party leaders and functionaries. As a result, it is almost a spent force in Bengal with virtually no credibility, while it manages to cling to power every alternate term in Kerala and continues to stay in power in tiny Tripura. Among the other strong regional parties opposed to the BJP, the SP and BSP are in tatters because of their ideological bankruptcy, corruption and sickening personality cult. The AIADMK and the Trinamul are too individual-centric with hardly any ideology worth their name and revolving round the personality of one leader ~ Amma and Didi respectively. Both parties have now their backs against the wall battling corruption charges.

By contrast the BJP has both an ideological weapon and an organisation ~ the RSS ~ that has over the years been throwing up one leader after another, the latest being Mr Modi. The ideology is what is called Hindutva or an unabashed manipulation of the majority Hindu psyche warped by antipathy to the Muslims for historical, political and geographical reasons. This has become far too deeply ingrained in the outlook of the dominant group. The policy of appeasement to Muslims for garnering votes needed for capturing power followed by almost all non-BJP parties over the years has only accentuated the communal divide.

The BJP used it so well that its confidence level is now at its peak. This explains the decision to make Yogi Adityanath the UP chief minister because he with his saffron attire is the most eloquent statement of the BJPs or the Sangh Parivars political credo. His talk of development and measures to pamper majority Hindu sentiments constitute the magic formula that the BJP can flaunt as the only national party that makes appeasement to none a euphemism for minority-bashing ~ the cornerstone of its political creed.

(The writer is Coordinating Editor, The Statesman, Kolkata.)
America First embodied the framework of Donald Trumps development roadmap for the US economy, polity and narrative. The contours of walking the talk are now emerging from the strategic pointers in the recently released 2018 budget outline, the blueprint to make America Great Again. Measures for the supposed course-correction in US policy include sharp cuts in sovereign aid (from the Department of State and the US Agency for International Development), bilateral aid allocations, UN contributions, climate change financing, multilateral development banks, funds for health, funds for humanitarian assistance and international food aid ~ all in all, reflective of Trumps electoral promise of ensuring that the global funding burden would be shared more fairly among members.

The essence of development for the new US regime is rooted in the re-prioritisation of security issues over the more internationalist commitments and welfare funding ~ hence the savings from the proposed cuts are envisaged to boost military spending and finance the border wall with Mexico. The form and dimensions of the America First plan are slowly but surely taking shape, even though sane voices are suggesting increasing unrest and instability, should the US persist with the development strategy of Trump.

In India, a parallel sentiment was expressed in the successful pitching of the promise of Acche Din by the incumbent government. The initial roadmap included some administrative reforms like doing away with the culture of GoMs (Group of Ministers) and EGoMs (Empowered Group of Ministers) to address policy paralysis, federalising the Centre-State equation by doing away with the cosmos of the Planning Commission, to empowering the entrepreneurial spirit of India by invoking themes like Make in India, Skill India, etc. Now, three years into the governments tenure, irrespective of the verdict and perceptions of the efficacy of the Central governments initiatives, the centrality of development as the most definitive attribute of political one-upmanship and electoral posturing has been firmly established in the country. Competitive development politics by various political parties have replaced the traditional sloganeering appeal that was typically rooted in the rote permutations of social-economic-regional-religious domains, as the fundamental raison detre of most of the political parties. However, the dimensions of development vary and are unique to the country, state and political parties in question, and are usually reflective of the pressing socio-economic challenge facing the geographical expanse.

In Punjab, the first cabinet meeting of the new government and the key decisions taken were reflective of the development imperatives besetting Punjab, including a major crackdown on the drug industry, espousing the Punjab perspective on the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal, agricultural sops like loan waivers and some civic-administrative decisions aimed at expediting and improving civic governance abilities. Similarly, the principal constraint on development of Manipur was sought to be addressed by the new government in Imphal with the lifting of the nearly four-month-long, crippling economic blockade, after the successful agreement between the United Naga Council, Manipur Government and the Centre. For once, economic development issues are taking precedence over the traditionally emotive and regressive issues that appeal to the basic instincts of diverse denominations in local society, but have virtually no role in the real and sustainable development of the area.

Yet, the national challenge is in the seamless integration of individual state development agendas into the composite, force-multiplying and nationally-centripetal impact that could ensure the overall development of India. Multiplicity of political agendas of the various ruling parties, contradictory state interests (e.g. SYL canal issue between Punjab and Haryana) and the conflicting ideological considerations of the prevailing political thoughts, often confabulate against the free flow of development initiatives.

Thus, the spirit of the Central Governments sabka saath, sabka vikas (literally, collective efforts, inclusive growth) gets mired in the accompanying optics of the choice of the supporting leadership e.g. in Uttar Pradesh. Questions on the ability to deliver inclusive and all-pervasive development abound due to certain historical statements made, to the contrary. In an emotionally surcharged environment, polarised society and with the historical backdrop of unhealed civilisational wounds, even the otherwise linear and reasonable logic inherent in lines like, Government has only one religion ~ India first!, Government has only one book ~ the Constitution and The Government must be immersed in only one Bhakti ~ Bharat Bhakti!, loses its innocence and acquires loaded dimensions, angularities and embedded perceptions.

Democracy is forever churning and auto-correcting as it facilitates topical platforms for the various sections of deprived groups. The societal inequities have given birth to many regional, religious, castiest and even occupation-centric pressure groups which subsequently morph into political entities, vying for their rightful share of the development pie. Often, the yeomans service offered by these regional parties is under-appreciated for their ability to mainstream, highlight and address the much-needed corrections in the national outlook and governance systems. The phenomenon of AAP has its core appeal in its ability to espouse the invisible, latent and often-ignored socio-economic frustrations in the underbelly of the urbanised clusters ~ the silent and systemically-disabled majority that has been denied its share of opportunities. However, the ability to sustain its political future for a movement-based party like AAP depends on its ability to widen, mature and nuance its administrative outlook, leadership and organisational structure to be able to deliver beyond its initial appeal of disruptive positivity.

Politics of development in a democratic framework is naturally a slow-burn that necessitates a fine balance between pandering to the electoral appeal of populistic measures, and the equally important, though often-unpalatable, dosage of good economics. The correlation of literacy and the appeal of development politics are inter-linked. Hence, states with lower levels of literacy and socio-economic parameters suffer at the altar of abject populism-politics that invariably bleed the coffers dry, besides worsening the future of the state. Therefore, along with increased literacy, a vibrant media, pro-active and effective opposition and an enabled culture of intellectual debate is needed to counter-check any regressive moves by the powers that be. Efforts to stifle a contrarian view must be avoided to ensure that only the most progressive, inclusive and sustainable policies are afforded on the people and the state. Most political parties disagree on the various elements and delivery mechanisms of development, and often weave in unnecessarily emotional, polarising and non-economic dimensions to dilute the efficacy and purity of development politics. However, there has been an undeniable trend towards the competitive appropriation of the development agenda and credentials of the various political parties. Increasingly, the conversations are laden with development at the heart of political pitches and that can only augur well for India.

(THE WRITER IS LT GEN PVSM, AVSM (RETD), FORMER LT GOVERNOR OF ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS & PUDUCHERRY)
By Press Trust of India: Chandigarh, Mar 26 (PTI) Health checkup of over 11,000 ASHA workers and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives has been conducted across Punjab to make women aware about health issues.

As many as 11,178 Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) were screened for diseases like anaemia, hypertension, diabetes and cancer under free annual preventive health checkup (FAPHC) programme, state Health minister Brahm Mohindra said today.

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The objective of this initiative was to educate women in reducing the risk of lifestyle diseases and lay emphasis on the importance of preventive health checkups, the minister was quoted as saying in an official release.

He said the health department envisages that these female health workers (ANM and ASHA) would motivate people, especially women, to avail the preventive health checkup facility under FAPHC.

The minister said of the total ANM and ASHA workers screened, 1,663 were found to be anaemic, 516 obese, 1,396 suffering form hypertension and 642 were found diabetic.

Apart from this, 10 health workers were suspected to be suffering from liver ailments, two from breast cancer and 7 from cervical cancer, Mohindra said.

He said under the FAPHC programme, basic tests for blood pressure, hemoglobin, blood sugar, kidney and liver function tests and consultation by doctors are done for all people of Punjab above 30 years at all community health centres of the state.

Additional Chief Secretary (Health), Vini Mahajan, said the motive behind the medical screening of female health workers was to make women aware about their health issues.

As the awareness about preventive health checkup increases, more women without any pre-diagnosed diseases are likely to come forward for routine preventive health checkups, Mahajan said. PTI CHS NSD

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Scientists have identified a record breaking brown dwarf with the 'purest' composition that is about 90 times as massive as Jupiter, located 750 light years away in the outermost reaches of our galaxy.

Brown dwarfs are intermediate between planets and fully-fledged stars. Their mass is too small for full nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium (with a consequent release of energy) to take place, but they are usually significantly more massive than planets.

The object, known as SDSS J0104+1535, is located 750 light years away in the constellation of Pisces, SDSS J0104+1535 is made of gas that is around 250 times purer than the Sun, so consists of more than 99.99 per cent hydrogen and helium.

Estimated to have formed about 10 billion years ago, measurements also suggest it has a mass equivalent to 90 times that of Jupiter, making it the most massive brown dwarf found to date.

It was previously not known if brown dwarfs could form from such primordial gas, and the discovery points the way to a larger undiscovered population of extremely pure brown dwarfs from our Galaxy's ancient past.

"We really didn't expect to see brown dwarfs that are this pure," said ZengHua Zhang of the Institute of Astrophysics in the Canary Islands.

"Having found one though often suggests a much larger hitherto undiscovered population, I'd be very surprised if there aren't many more similar objects out there waiting to be found," said Zhang.

SDSS J0104+1535 has been classified as an L type ultra-subdwarf using its optical and near-infrared spectrum, measured using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT).

The findings were published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
NASA said its Juno spacecraft will make its fifth flyby over Jupiter's mysterious cloud tops on March 27.

At the time of closest approach, Juno will be about 4,400 km above the planet's cloud tops, moving at a speed of about 57.8 km per second relative to the gas-giant planet.

All of Juno's eight science instruments will be on and collecting data during the flyby.

"This will be our fourth science pass  the fifth close flyby of Jupiter of the mission  and we are excited to see what new discoveries Juno will reveal," said Scott Bolton, Principal Investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, US.

"Every time we get near Jupiter's cloud tops, we learn new insights that help us understand this amazing giant planet," Bolton said in a statement.

Launched on August 5, 2011, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Juno arrived in orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016.

During its mission of exploration, Juno soars low over the planet's cloud tops.

During these flybys, Juno probes beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and studying its auroras to learn more about the planet's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

The Juno science team continues to analyse returns from previous flybys. Scientists have discovered that Jupiter's magnetic fields are more complicated than originally thought, and that the belts and zones that give the planet's cloud tops their distinctive look extend deep into the its interior.

Observations of the energetic particles that create the incandescent auroras suggest a complicated current system involving charged material lofted from volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io.

Peer-reviewed papers with more in-depth science results from Juno's first flybys are expected to be published within the next few months, NASA said.
Although Snap's stock price was a bit down this week, Snapchat is the top searched app on the iOS App Store, a media report said.

According to a report in Forbes magazine, Snapchat led all competitors in App Store search volume and as a result, Snapchat was also the app people were looking for most frequently.

Snap Inc, the parent company of picture messaging app Snapchat, went public earlier this month. The young company, founded in 2012, posted a $515 million loss last year.

According to Snapchat, 158 million people use the service each day and create 2.5 billion "snaps" between them.

Facebook-owned photo-sharing app Instagram was placed on the second spot, while social media giant Facebook's mobile app took the third rank.

Google's video platform YouTube is on the fourth spot. Teen-focused messaging startup Kik is fifth, and micro-blogging website Twitter is sixth on the list, the report said.


The Indian American community in Houston has presented $100,000 to Ian Grillot, a 24-year-old American who was shot while trying to save Indian techies Srinivas Kuchibotla and Alok Madasani during a shooting in Kansas.

The Indian Ambassador to the US, Navtej Sarna, presented the cheque to Grillot at the annual India House gala in Houston on Saturday evening, The American Bazaar news portal reported.

Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed when Adam W. Purinton, a white man, shot the Indians at the Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe on February 22. Madasani and Grillot, who tried to stop the killer, survived with injuries.

A statement posed on the official page of India House Houston said: "On behalf of the Indian-American community in Houston, India House recognised this selfless act beyond the call of duty and has extended the community's gratitude to Ian Grillot by helping him to buy a house."

Speaking at the event, Grillot said: "I don't know if I could've lived with myself if I wouldn't t have stopped or attempted to stop the shooter because that would've been completely devastating.

"I do now have a very powerful message and if I can help empower people and spread hope and love, then why not?

"I am honoured to be at India House that serves so many families from so many communities in the Houston area," The American Bazaar quoted Grillot as saying.

Jiten Agarwal, a prominent Indian American in Houston and chair of the annual gala, said: "It is not every day that one meets a genuine hero, a person who risks his life for another, and takes a bullet for a complete stranger.

"Ian Grillot is a man who reminds us of the promise of America and its greatness."

Agarwal, with the help of its trustees, mobilized the community to come together to honour Grillot and raise funds.
At least six persons, including two police officers, were killed in two explosions in Bangladesh's Sylhet city, police said on Sunday.

More than 40 others were injured in the blasts on Saturday near a militant hideout in the city, some 240 km from capital Dhaka.

Sylhet Metropolitan Police Additional Deputy Commissioner Zedan Al Musa said the explosions came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up near the country's main airport in Dhaka.

That attack has been claimed by Islamic State.

The seriously wounded include Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Intelligence chief who has been flown to Dhaka for better treatment.

One of the injured, Gulzar Ahmed, told bdnews24.com that some onlookers stopped a person carrying a black polythene bag.

"The blast occurred just after he said that there was red spinach in the bag. Five to six people were injured in the explosion," he said.

"Another large explosion occurred when police and RAB rushed to the scene. Around 25 people were injured in the second blast," he added.

Witnesses earlier blamed two people riding a motorcycle for the explosion at one end of the street where the militant hideout is located.

The blasts came within an hour of a media briefing on a raid at the hideout housing two buildings  one five-storey and the other four-storey.

Police said the militants rented a flat some months ago.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday condemned the twin blasts. "Strongly condemn the suicide attack in Sylhet. My solidarity with the brothers and sisters in Bangladesh," Banerjee tweeted.
China's premier has arrived in New Zealand for high-level talks at a time that both countries are pushing to expand free trade.

Premier Li Keqiang arrived at Wellington Airport on Sunday, where he was greeted at the military terminal by New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English.

The premier stepped off his plane, gave a quick wave toward media and then stepped into a waiting car. His motorcade left for Premier House where he was attending a dinner.

As the motorcade left the airport, the premier was greeted by Chinese well-wishers wearing red shirts and holding banners and the flags of both China and New Zealand. Unlike on some previous visits by Chinese leaders, there weren't any visible protesters.

Li plans to be in the country until March 29. As well as a bilateral meeting with English, the premier is planning to visit a factory and a view a photography exhibition.

The premier traveled to New Zealand after visiting Australia, where he warned against protectionism and said China wanted to expand its trading relationship.

New Zealand has also been pushing to expand free trade. Last week English announced a goal to have free trade agreements cover 90 percent of exports by 2030, up from just over 50 percent at the moment.

As part of that plan, New Zealand will spend tens of millions of dollars opening a new embassy in Ireland, a new high commission in Sri Lanka, and targeting barriers it considers are holding back trade.

The approach from China and New Zealand stands in contrast to that of the US, where President Donald Trump has pulled out of a planned Pacific free-trade agreement and has expressed skepticism about other such agreements.

China and Australia represent New Zealand's largest export markets. China buys huge quantities of milk powder from New Zealand, which is used in high-end infant formula.

China and New Zealand signed a free-trade agreement in 2008. English said recently the agreement is working well but needs some fine-tuning.
Not very spring-like, but still beautiful on L'Ile Perrot and across southern Quebec early Saturday morning. This was the result of a surprise, record-setting 10-15cm snowfall on Friday.
"If we come to know that a lower caste guy is in love with a girl of our community girl, we'll bring them down here and advise them to forget their love. If they don't obey, we will not hesitate to murder them," caste radicalist Surya Moorthy said.

By Pramod Madhav: A video of a caste radicalist praising honor killing at a public event in Erode Tamil Nadu has gone viral on the Internet. The man has been identified Surya Moorthy, the Deputy Secretary of Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi.

"I've heard that some are calling our men to be loud mouths. Koundan (caste names) men are those who give livelihood to 10 families. We come from a rich caste and of course we'll speak worse about these beggars (refers to low caste people)," he began his speech.

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Surya Moorthy was also seen giving to lower caste men that if they want to come up in life they should work and earn money instead of taking a short cut and marrying a koundan woman.

He added an advisory for the Intelligence Service that Koundan clan is ready to be imprisoned for their ideologies.

"If we see that a lower caste man marries an upper caste Hindu woman we'll kill him and so his mother", shockingly yelled the radical leader speaking more like a mobster.

Surya Moorthy again boasted of having 1,500 Koundan youths ready in 12 districts for honor killing.

"If we come to know that a lower caste guy is in love with a girl of our community girl, we'll bring them down here and advise them to forget their love. If they don't obey, we will not hesitate to murder them," he said.

Moorthy went ahead to give details about a case study on how he kept a girl against her will and advised her to not love a lower caste guy.

"Even after our advise, she said that she doesn't need her family and will live with him only. I had no other choice but to tell her that if she ever wants her lover to be alive she needs to forget him or else I'll slice and throw him over a a bridge and with that I ended that love story," he said.

The Kongu belt in Tamil Nadu is known for cases of honor killing. So far no complaints have been filed against Moorthy for his hate speech.

Also Read

Notice to Pak TV channel for airing hate speech against PM Why do Indian politicians indulge in hate speeches?

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Iran denied on Saturday US accusations that its fast-attack boats were "harassing" warships at the mouth of the Gulf, and said Washington would be responsible for any clashes in the key oil shipping route.

US Navy commanders earlier accused Iran of jeopardising international navigation by "harassing" warships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and said future incidents could result in miscalculation and lead to an armed clash.

They spoke after the US aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush confronted what one of the commanding officers described as two sets of Iranian Navy fast-attack boats that had approached a US-led, five-vessel flotilla as it entered the Strait on Tuesday on a journey from the Indian Ocean into the Gulf.

It was the first time a US carrier entered the narrow waterway, where up to 30 per cent of global oil exports pass, since President Donald Trump took office in January pledging a tougher US stance towards Iran.

In Tehran, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, said the US claims of the confrontation in the Gulf were based on "false reports or ulterior motives", the state news agency IRNA reported.

"We emphasise that the Americans would be responsible for any unrest in the Persian Gulf, and again warn that the US military must change its behavior," Jazayeri said, without elaborating.

US commanders earlier said Tuesday's incident, in which the George H.W. Bush sent helicopter gunships to hover over the Iranian speedboats as some came as close as 950 yards from the aircraft carrier, ended without a shot being fired.

But it underscored growing tension between the United States and Iran since the election of Trump, who has condemned the 2015 nuclear deal that his predecessor Barack Obama and leaders of five other world powers struck with Tehran and labeled the Islamic Republic "the number one terrorist state".

The encounter with Iranian Navy boats occurred as the USS George H.W. Bush was en route to the northern part of the Gulf to participate in US-led air strikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

Earlier in March, Iran disputed the US account of another confrontation in the Strait of Hormuz between its speedboats and a US Navy vessel.
At least one person has reportedly been killed and several others injured after a gunman opened fire at Cameo Night Club in Cincinnati, Ohio, local U.S. media reported.

The injured have been taken to hospital and police is investigating the incident.

On scene Cameo Night Club 4601 Kellogg. 14 victims shot, one victim decreased, Cincinnati Police tweeted
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) Hindustan Zinc today said its 15 MW solar projects in Rajasthan will get commissioned this month, and it is also planning to invest Rs 425 crore for 85 MW power plants by next year.

"We are in the process of putting up 15 MW (rooftop solar power plants) which will get commissioned before March 31. We would be using 15 MW for captive use," Hindustan Zinc (HZL) CEO Sunil Duggal told PTI in an interview.

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The Vedanta Group firm has already invested 75 crore in 15 MW solar power projects, Duggal said, adding that the company is planning to pump in Rs 425 crore for 85 MW power plants.

"It is not possible for me to give you exact timeline at this point of time. We will put up (85 MW solar plants). We will put in next one year," Duggal said.

The company is yet to zero-in on the locations where the 85 MW power plants would be set up, the CEO said, adding that he is of view that the projects should be either set up at its own location or in the vicinity, so that HZL can utilise the power generated from the plants for its own consumption.

"Our team is evaluating (the locations). The plants should be either at our location or at the vicinity of our location," Duggal said.

The companys board had earlier approved setting up 100 MW solar power projects.

HZL is not looking at expansion in the wind power space.

"Wind power we are not looking today because now the emerging trend is that we may go for solar," he said.

The company led by billionaire Anil Agarwal already produces 474 MW of thermal power and 274 MW of wind energy. PTI SID SBT BAL SBT MR

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Israeli man Mordechai Frankel launched a fundraising campaign this week with one simple message: Please help me.

Just six days before his wedding, Mr. Frankels state of extreme poverty has prevented him from making the arrangements necessary to begin married life.

However the context behind particular story includes yet another tragedy, which made headlines just one year ago. Mr. Frankel had been onboard the 402 Egged bus to Bnei Brak which endured a horrific crash in February of last year. His wife at the time was among those killed.

Now, Mordechai tells of new hope: He is engaged to be married once again in under a week. However, due to his extreme state of poverty, he must beg for the mercy of strangers. Mr. Frankels campaign included the statement below:

Hello,

My name is Mordechai, and I desperately need your help.

Im getting married in only 6 days and my kallah & I have nothing. Please, we are begging you, help us to start our home with the basics.

Last year, my first wife and I were in the 402 Bnei Brak bus accident. I lived, but she did not. When I attended her funeral in a wheelchair, with television cameras looking on, I did not know how I could ever move on.

But now, Baruch Hashem, I am engaged, and have a chance to start a new life and iyH new family with hope & happiness.

The truth is that we are painfully poor.

I am so grateful to Kupat HaIr and the gedolei yisroel for supporting our campaign. We pray that their influence will help to open peoples hearts to give.

We are begging you. Less than a week before our wedding and we are up at night worrying for the future. We are truly depending on your help and the help of Hashem to get us through this.

This is our chance to heal from the pain of the past, and start this new chapter with hope.

Please help us.

Thank you so much,

Mordechai

Those familiar with the story have been moved to see both the simcha of this widower moving forward, and the pity of knowing that in addition to his previous suffering, he and his kallah must now endure poverty. The couple are to be married in just a few days, and are reportedly in dire need of assistance. Mordechai & his kallah hope donors will see their humanity, and help them to start a new life.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL CAMPAIGN
The British man who killed four people during a London rampage had made three trips to Saudi Arabia: He taught English there twice on a work visa and returned on a visa usually granted to those going on a religious pilgrimage.

More details about attacker Khalid Masoods travels, confirmed by the Saudi Arabian embassy in Britain, emerged Saturday amid a massive British police effort to discover how a homegrown ex-con with a violent streak became radicalized and why he launched a deadly attack Wednesday on Westminster Bridge.

The embassy said he taught English in Saudi Arabia from November 2005 to November 2006 and again from April 2008 to April 2009, with legitimate work visas both times. He then returned to Saudi Arabia for six days in March 2015 on a trip booked through an approved travel agent and made on an Umra visa, usually granted to those on a religious pilgrimage to the countrys Islamic holy sites.

The embassy said Saudi security services didnt track Masood and he didnt have a criminal record there.

Before taking the name Masood, he was called Adrian Elms. He was known for having a violent temper in England and had been convicted at least twice for violent crimes.

Masood drove his rented SUV across Londons crowded Westminster Bridge on Wednesday, striking pedestrians. Then he jumped out and stabbed to death police officer Keith Palmer, who was guarding Parliament, before being shot dead by police.

In all, he killed four people and left more than two dozen hospitalized, including some with catastrophic injuries. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack, calling him a solider who responded to its demands that followers attack countries in the coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq.

British officials said security at Parliament will be reviewed after new footage emerged that showed the large gates to the complex were left open after Masood rushed onto the grounds. There are concerns that accomplices could have followed him in and killed even more people. The footage from that day shows pedestrians walking by the open gates and even a courier entering Parliament grounds.

Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Ian Blair told the BBC that changes to the outer soft ring of Parliaments security plan are likely in the aftermath of Masoods attack.

The new footage follows earlier video that showed slight delays and confusion during the evacuation of Prime Minister Theresa May from Parliament as the attack unfolded.

Masood, who at 52 is considerably older than most extremists who carry out bloodshed in the West, had an arrest record in Britain dating to 1983. In 2000, he slashed a man across the face in a pub parking lot in a racially charged argument after drinking, according to a newspaper account. Masoods last conviction, in 2003, also involved a knife attack.

One victim, Danny Smith, told The Sun newspaper that Masood had stabbed him in the face with a kitchen knife after an argument just three days after they met.

Hundreds of British police have been working to determine his motives and are scouring Masoods communications systems, including his possible use of the encrypted WhatsApp device, to help determine if he had any accomplices.

Still, police have released many of those they took in for questioning in the case.

One 58-year-old man remains in custody for questioning after being arrested Thursday in the central English city of Birmingham, where Masood was living. Authorities havent charged or identified him.

A 32-year-old woman arrested in Manchester has been released on bail and faces further inquiries.

Police said Saturday that a 27-year-old man arrested Thursday in Birmingham has been released.

Eight others arrested in connection with the investigation had been set free earlier, including a 39-year-old woman who had initially been freed on bail but now faces no further police action, police said Saturday.

Details about how Masood became radicalized arent clear, although he may have become exposed to radical views while an inmate in Britain or while working in conservative Saudi Arabia. Its also not clear when he took the name Masood, suggesting a conversion to Islam.

(AP)
Jared Kushner, President Donald Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser, has deep business and personal ties to Israel that could raise questions about his ability to serve as an honest broker as he oversees the White Houses Mideast peace efforts.

But some say these ties, which include a previously undisclosed real estate deal in New Jersey with a major Israeli insurer, may give Kushner a surprising advantage as he is expected to launch the first peace talks of the Trump era. Having the trust of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the thinking goes, could make Kushner well positioned to extract concessions from the hard-line Israeli leader.

Kushners family real estate company has longstanding and ongoing deals with major Israeli financial institutions. These relationships, along with a personal friendship with Netanyahu and past links to the West Bank settler movement, could emerge as potential stumbling blocks by creating an appearance of bias.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. confirmed that it shares ownership and profits on a New Jersey apartment building with the Kushner Companies. Harel informed The Associated Press of the joint investment and said it had not previously announced it publicly. In addition, the Kushner Companies confirmed longstanding relationships with two major Israeli banks that have been investigated by U.S. authorities for allegedly helping wealthy clients evade U.S. taxes.

Financial investments in Israel would seem to only further complicate conflicts of interest issues, said Larry Noble, senior director of regulatory programs and general counsel at Campaign Legal Center, a group that advocates for strong enforcement of campaign finance laws.

Jared Kushner headed the billion-dollar family firm before joining the White House as a senior adviser in January. As a condition to taking the job, Kushner has agreed to file a financial disclosure report and divest some holdings that could create a conflict of interest.

The Trump administration has faced repeated conflict of interest accusations since taking office. Although the billionaire real estate magnate says hes no longer managing his global financial interests, critics say these businesses still stand to profit from the prestige or policy decisions of the presidency. In addition, they note that Trumps children continue to manage many of these ventures, opening the door for the president to continue to wield his clout behind the scenes.

While Kushners role in Mideast diplomacy remains unclear, Trump has said his son-in-law will work to broker a Middle East peace deal.

Last week, Jason Greenblatt, a White House envoy who reports to Kushner, paid his first official visit to the region, holding a series of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials on what was billed as a listening tour to sound out the sides.

As the U.S. pushes forward, Kushners familys business and personal ties to Israel have raised questions over his ability to mediate.

Of course the Palestinians are not happy dealing with Jared Kushner  but they have no other options, said Palestinian political analyst Jehad Harb. Kushner and the whole new American team assigned to handle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict  have very close ties with settlements (and) its unlikely they are going to understand the Palestinian demand of dismantling most of the Jewish settlements, but the Palestinian Authority cannot say no at this stage.

Indeed, Palestinian officials appear very mindful?about alienating the new U.S. administration with going public with grievances about a feared bias. And they seem genuinely relieved in recent weeks to be in contact with various U.S. envoys and at signs the administration is moving away from early positions that pleased Israeli nationalists, such as the notion of moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The newly disclosed deal with Harel, one of Israels biggest financial groups, was for a multifamily residential building in New Jersey with Kushner, the Israeli insurer said, adding that both companies continue to collect tenants rent payments.

Harel would not say when the property was purchased, how much it cost or even give its address, though it said it was a relatively small investment. The company, which trades on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, managed some $50 billion in assets as of the end of 2015, according to its website.

Harel said it has also partnered with Kushner on a much larger deal: A consortium of lenders that provided some $50 million to the Chetrit Group and JDS Development, two New York real estate firms that are trying to build a 73-story residential tower that aims to be Brooklyns tallest. The loan was repaid and yielded a handsome profit, Harel said in a statement.

As is known, Kushner (Companies) are experienced and knowledgeable with proven ability in deals in the rental property sector in general and in New Jersey specifically, Harel said.

A Kushner Companies spokeswoman, Risa Heller, said the loan for the Brooklyn project was paid off, but she declined to say if Jared Kushner has sold his interest in the New Jersey property. Jamie Gorelick, an attorney who has advised Kushner on conflict of interest matters, referred questions to Heller.

The Kushner Companies also confirmed having a longstanding relationship with two major Israeli banks, Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi, but wouldnt elaborate. Both banks declined to comment.

The Trump administration has inherited a Justice Department investigation into allegations that Bank Hapoalim helped American clients evade taxes, and the bank could reach a settlement in the case as early as this year. Bank Leumi also allegedly helped U.S. customers evade U.S. taxes from 2002-2010, and reached a settlement with the Justice Department in 2014 to pay $400 million to the U.S. government.

There is no evidence that Kushner Companies was connected to either investigation, and the Justice Department declined to comment.

White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks did not answer specific questions about Jared Kushners ties to Israeli business partners. Mr. Kushner will comply with financial disclosure and ethics requirements, including the obligation to recuse from particular matters involving specific parties if a reasonable person would question his impartiality, she said in an email statement.

Kushner is covered by government conflict of interest laws, so he is required to divest himself of any financial interests that may present a conflict and must not participate in any matter that has a direct effect on his financial holdings.

While Kushner has divested himself of some financial interests, the assets were put in a trust run by relatives, presenting the potential for a conflict of interest, said Noble, the campaign finance advocate.

He said the Justice Department investigation into Bank Hapoalim is especially problematic if Kushner or the White House in any way influence the inquiry.

Kushners business ties are just one of the potential pitfalls to his diplomatic career.

Trumps son-in-law was also co-director of a family foundation that donated tens of thousands of dollars to Jewish settlement groups in the West Bank, according to U.S. tax records. The family also donated at least $298,600 to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, an organization that runs educational and cultural programs for Israeli soldiers, between 2010 and 2012, according to the tax records.

Kushner and his family also have longstanding personal ties to Netanyahu. At a White House news conference last month, Netanyahu joked that he has known Kushner since he was a boy.

Zalman Shoval, a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. and co-chairman of an Israeli real estate fund that counts Kushners father, Charles, among its backers, said he doesnt know Jared Kushner personally but thinks his affiliations to Israel will be helpful in peace negotiations.

Theres trust. When theres trust on one side, there can also be a more conciliatory attitude on that side, Shoval said.

Prominent Palestinian politician Jibril Rajoub told foreign reporters that Trump made clear to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a recent phone call that he was his strategic partner in making a real and serious peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

There is very, very positive progress, Rajoub said.

(AP)
The Armed Forces Tribunal has taken a strict stand against the Army for allowing retired officers, including a former chief, to write service records of active personnel.

By Ajit Kumar Dubey: Taking a strict stand against the Army for allowing retired officers, including a former chief, to write service records of active personnel, the Armed Forces Tribunal has recently said this was against the command and control of the force and may open a "gallery of corrupt practices".

The remarks were made by the AFT while hearing the case of one Major General G V S Rana for denial of promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General in which it was found that former Army chief Gen Bikram Singh had written his appraisal after retirement.

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In the court, the Army was rebuked by the bench headed by Justice D P Singh and Air Marshal Anil Chopra on the matter even as the force said denial to make Annual Confidential Report entry after retirement is contrary to Army jurisprudence.

"We feel that conferring power to the retired Army officers to make entry in the service record of serving officers shall be anti-thesis to the command and control of the Army, and further, it may open a gallery for corrupt practice," the bench stated in its verdict.

ARMY'S PLEA

The Army had filed a plea to seek permission from the tribunal against its previous verdict where it had denied such powers to retired chiefs in the same case.

"It is a well-settled law that once the relationship of master and servant breaks then all rights to discharge duties come to an end," said the tribunal.

The tribunal had already declared the entry made by Gen Singh in the officer's ACR as "illegal, invalid and void" in its judgment.

"In the present case, Gen Bikram Singh shall cease to discharge duty after retirement, conferred on him under law. He retired on July 31, 2014 but recorded ACR entry as senior reviewing officer on September 1, 2014 without jurisdiction? The CR recorded by Gen Bikram Singh, Chief of the Army Staff as SRO, after retirement is without jurisdiction and the same cannot be taken into account for the purposes of service benefits," said the court.

The tribunal also asked the Army to consider Maj Gen Rana for promotion to the next rank by holding a special selection board. The tribunal verdict is now likely to be contested by the Army in the Supreme Court.

ALSO READ | 52 years after Indo-Pak war, Army veteran seeks benefits, gallantry recorded

Petty theft lands IAF officer in trouble, gets court-martialled for stealing wallet worth Rs 531

ALSO WATCH | Another jawan posts video on social media, slams Army's sahayak system

--- ENDS ---
House Republicans failure to repeal Barack Obamas health care law deals a serious blow to another big part of President Donald Trumps agenda: tax reform.

Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., say they will soon turn their attention to the first major re-write of the tax code in more than 30 years. But they will have to do it without the momentum of victory on health care.

Just as important, the loss on health care will deprive Republicans of $1 trillion in tax cuts.

The GOP health plan would have repealed nearly $1 trillion in taxes enacted under Obamas Affordable Care Act. The bill coupled the tax cuts with spending cuts for Medicaid, so it wouldnt add to the budget deficit.

Without the spending cuts, it will be much harder for Republicans to cut taxes without adding to the federal governments red ink.

Yes this does make tax reform more difficult, said Ryan. But it does not in any way make it impossible.

That just means the Obamacare taxes stay with Obamacare. Were going to go fix the rest of the tax code, he added.

House Republicans couldnt round up enough votes Friday to repeal and replace a law they despise, raising questions about their ability to tackle other tough issues.

Doing big things is hard, Ryan conceded as he vowed to press on.

Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, acknowledged that Fridays turn of events made him doubtful about the Republicans ability to tackle major legislation.

This was my first big vote and our first big initiative in the line of things to come like tax reform, said the freshman. I think this would have given us tremendous momentum and I think this hurts that momentum.

Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., said, You always build on your last accomplishment.

Nevertheless, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday the administration plans to turn quickly to tax reform with the goal of getting an overhaul approved by Congress by August.

Health care is a very complicated issue, Mnuchin said. In a way, tax reform is a lot simpler.

Dont tell that to House Republicans who have been struggling with the issue for years.

The general goal for Republicans is to lower income tax rates for individuals and corporations, and make up the lost revenue by reducing exemptions, deductions and credits.

Overhauling the tax code is hard because every tax break has a constituency. And the biggest tax breaks are among the most popular.

For example, nearly 34 million families claimed the mortgage interest deduction in 2016, reducing their tax bills by $65 billion.

Also, more than 43 million families deducted their state and local income, sales and personal property taxes from their federal taxable income last year. The deduction reduced their federal tax bills by nearly $70 billion.

Mnuchin said he had been overseeing work on the administrations tax bill for the past two months. He said it would be introduced soon.

Mnuchin said the White House plan would cut individual and corporate tax rates, though he didnt offer specifics.

House Republicans have released a blueprint that outlines their goals for a tax overhaul. It would lower the top individual income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 33 percent, and reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to three.

The House plan retains the mortgage interest deduction but repeals the deduction for state and local taxes.

On the corporate side, the plan would repeal the 35 percent corporate income tax and replace it with a 20 percent tax on profits from selling imports and domestically produced goods and services consumed in the U.S.

Exports would be exempt from the new tax, called a border adjustment tax.

The new tax has drawn opposition from Republicans in the Senate. Mnuchin would not reveal whether the administration will include the border adjustment tax in the White House proposal. He was speaking at a public interview event with the news site Axios.

Republicans often complained that they couldnt do a tax overhaul when Obama was president. Now, Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House, and they see a great opportunity.

They plan to use a complicated Senate rule that would prevent Democrats from blocking the bill. But theres a catch: Under the rule, the package cannot add to long-term budget deficits.

That means every tax cut has to be offset by a similar tax increase or a spending cut. Thats why the loss on health care was so damaging to the effort to overhaul taxes.

Ryan made this case to fellow House Republicans in his failed effort to gain support for the health plan.

That was part of the calculation of why we had to take care of health care first, said Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y.

(AP)
Shortly after the U.S. Senate voted to confirm renowned Orthodox Jewish attorney David Friedman as U.S. Ambassador to Israel, the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce, which lobbied extensively on behalf of his confirmation, issued a statement of congratulations:

We are pleased that the U.S. Senate made the wise decision of entrusting our dear friend David Friedman with representing our nation to our stalwart ally, Israel. David is brilliant, capable and, most of all, a sincere mentch, who will do an excellent job in this delicate role. Peace loving Americans, Israelis, Palestinians and others around the world have great reason to celebrate. We look forward to working together with the new Ambassador on a wide variety of pertinent issues.

In particular, we would like to laud Democratic Senators Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Joe Manchin of West Virginia for their courageous vote to confirm Mr. Friedmandespite the vicious smear campaign against him that was led by left wing special interests. The Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce worked tirelessly to ensure that Senators of both parties see past the propaganda, and get to know the real David Friedman, as we know him. Thankfully, the truth ultimately prevailed.
Senior Hamas military commander Mazen Fuqaha was assassinated in Gaza on Friday night as four shots were fired at him from close range. Hamas and Hizbullah points the finger of blame for the assassination at Israel. Israel has not commented on the reported assassination.

The Izzadin el-Kassam military wing has already announced it will be responding at Israel, which it blames for the assassination of the high-ranking official.

The IDF has fortified its presence along the southern border with Gaza in preparation for a possible Hamas attack.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
In an unusual move, the Hamas regime in Gaza announced it was closing the crossing to southern Israel following the assassination of military commander Mazen Fuqaha on Friday night. The closure also prohibits Gaza fisherman from heading out to sea. The Rafiach Crossing to Egypt is also shut. Hence, the only crossing that remained operational on Sunday morning as Kerem Shalom, which is for goods and not people.

The closure is viewed as a move intended to prevent the assassins from making an escape from Gaza. Hamas blames Israel for the assassination of the senior commander, who was shot numerous times at close range.

Hamas leaders are also suspicious of the Salafi group for possibly having perpetrated the assassination and in fact, there are also fear the assassin came from within the Hamas infrastructure. Hamas during recent months has arrested hundreds of Salafi members, who are affiliated with ISIS. Hamas also arrested and blamed Salafi fighters for rocket fire into Israel and the assassination may be a retaliatory move by the Salafi.

In the reverse, in order to pass from Israel back to Gaza, one passes the Erez Crossing controlled by Israel following by the 55 Crossing controlled by the Gaza Crossings Authority and finally, the 44 Crossing manned and controlled Hamas troops.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Iran said Sunday it has imposed sanctions on 15 American companies over their alleged support for Israel, terrorism and repression in the region.

A Foreign Ministry statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency said the companies are barred from any agreements with Iranian firms and that former and current directors will not be eligible for visas.

The move is seen as a response to U.S. sanctions placed on dozens of Iranian entities in February following an Iranian missile test. Irans sanctions are unlikely to have much impact as none of the targeted U.S. companies are known to do business in Iran.

The companies include Bent Tal, United Technologies Products. ITT Corporation, Raytheon, Re/Max Real Estate, Magnum Research Inc., Oshkosh Corporation, Kahr Arms and Elbit Systems.

A senior Iranian lawmaker meanwhile said Iran would consider a bill branding the U.S. military and the CIA as terrorist groups if the U.S. Congress passes a bill designating Irans Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

Such moves could heighten tensions in Iraq and Syria, where Iranian-backed forces and a U.S.-led coalition are battling the Islamic State group.

Allaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of parliaments national security and foreign policy committee, was quoted by state TV as saying the move to further sanction the Revolutionary Guard goes against the 2015 nuclear deal Iran reached with the United States and other world powers.

Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since 1979, when militant students stormed the U.S. Embassy and took 52 Americans hostages for 444 days.

(AP)
While Kulanu party leader Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon insists he will not compromise on the IBA matter, willing to go to early elections, the chareidi parties do not share his position.

Kahlon has been going head to head with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, with the latter wishing to dissolve the Israel Broadcast Authority (IBA) to create a new entity, the Israel Public Broadcasting Authority (IPBA) in its place. Both senior cabinet officials state they are unwilling to compromise and are willing to call for early elections if need be.

Coalition leader MK (Likud) David Bitan told the media that Kahlons Kulanu party has ten seats and Naftali Bennets Bayit Yehudi party has eight seats and they must learn that the coalition is led by Likud and not them. This, insists Bitan is at the core of the crisis and not the IBA matter. Bitan explains PM Netanyahu is unwilling to continue in the coalition with partners who feel that can lead Likud instead of being led by the ruling party, which has thirty seats.

Shas leader Aryeh Deri and Yahadut Hatorahs Moshe Gafne are working to solve the crisis. Deri announced he was meeting with Kahlon on Sunday morning 28 Adar, seeking to reach agreement to end the crisis. Deri is adamant that the coalition is a good one and elections would be a major error. Gafne concurs, explaining the coalition is solid and there is no need for early elections, calling for a solution to the crisis.

All recent polls indicate elections would result in a significant gain for the Yesh Atid party while both Shas and Yahadut Hatorah would remain within a seat of their current status. Bayit Yehudi would gain a number of seats.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Itamar Ben-Ezer, who heads the unit responsible for chareidi education, is not permitting chareidi girls high schools to accept ninth graders from outside their area, meaning girls from outside of Jerusalem. His actions were met with a harsh letter from MK Moshe Gafne.

In his letter, Gafne points out he met with the outgoing Director-General of the Education Minister, Mrs. Michal Cohen, and they reached an agreement that girls from areas close to the capital that live in areas without similar schools, would be permitted to register in the capital. Gafne insists the arrangements were made to accommodate these girls yet he, Ben-Ezer, is acting contrary to the agreement, leaving these girls without a school.

Councilman Tzvika Cohen, who hold the chareidi education portfolio, overruled Ben-Ezer, explaining that since there was no discussion or decision regarding his letter, the policy remains as it was prior to his letting being sent out.

Ben-Ezer is yet to respond.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)


This is the same individual who two weeks ago walked into a store near Meah Shearim and demanded that the owner turnoff the Goyish music, and pointed to the woman behind the counter and told her to dress more Tzniyus. He also called women Shiksas, spit a few times and yelled about i-Phones.
The Indian Army plans to employ 10,000 civilians to be provided as sahayaks for officers and JCOs posted in peace areas.

By Ajit Kumar Dubey: Against the backdrop of controversies over using combat soldiers as buddies, the Indian Army is now planning to employ 10,000 civilians to be provided as sahayaks for officers and JCOs posted in peace areas for helping them in their official work.

The move being undertaken by the Army headquarters - in consultations with the defence ministry - will help in freeing an equal number of combat soldiers from performing tasks of sahayaks, which have been under the scanner after a few jawans made videos against the system and made them viral on social media.

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"We are going to employ around 10,000 civilians who would be helping officers and JCOs in pace stations by performing the roles of sahayaks," Army sources told MAIL TODAY. At the moment, the Army uses around 40,000 combat soldiers who perform sahayak duties in their respective units and regiments.

In the peace stations also, the civilians would be provided to officers from static formations such as the Army headquarters in New Delhi or the seven command headquarters in different locations in the country who don't have to move out in field areas during their posting there, they said.

Units which are deployed in places like Delhi but are part of a fighting formation like the infantry battalions here would continue to use combat soldiers as sahayaks as they have to move into field areas for months during exercises in Rajasthan and Punjab at regular intervals, they said.

'BUDDY SYSTEM IMPORTANT FOR ARMY'S FUNCTIONING IN TIMES OF WAR'

Soon after he took over, Army chief General Bipin Rawat had said the Army Headquarters had submitted a proposal to the government that "sahayaks" could be done away with in peace locations, but had said the buddy system is important for functioning of the Army in times of wars and for deployment of forces in field areas.

Buddy system is a colonial system where combat soldiers are used as orderlies or sahayaks to polish boots and maintain the uniform of the officers and junior commissioned officers.

However, there have been several complaints of misuse in the recent times. After controversies over misuse of sahayaks, Army formations have asked officers to ensure that dignity of jawans is maintained and they are not used for looking after pets and children of officers and washing private cars.

"Please refer to social media outburst by serving soldier and media statement issued by the Chief of Army Staff thereto. All formations and unit are requested to ensure that dignity of serving soldier be maintained and employment of buddies should be restricted to entitled duties only," an instruction letter from a formation in Eastern Command had said.

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ALSO READ | Exclusive: Indian Army considering reducing strength of its 40,000 sahayaks by 25 per cent

ALSO WATCH | Jammu-Kashmir: Army readies strategy to deal with stone-pelters

--- ENDS ---
The boss of education publisher Pearson could lose out on hundreds of thousands of pounds in potential bonuses amid a growing backlash over executive pay.

John Fallon, 54, sparked fury last week when it emerged he pocketed a 20 per cent pay rise last year despite his company posting a record loss and a fifth profit warning.

But Pearson now plans to cut the performance-related shares it awards Fallon, meaning his bonus could fall by up to 25 per cent. His pay is also being frozen.

CEO John Fallon, 54, sparked anger when he pocketed a 20% pay rise

The publisher is among several companies facing criticism for awarding bonuses despite shaky performance. Last Thursday, shareholders in British housebuilder Crest Nicholson voted down the directors pay report.

A Pearson spokesman said: Given Pearsons lower long-term profits guidance, the board is freezing the chief executives base pay and will also reduce the economic value of the long-term performance related shares.

Married father-of-two Fallon took home 1.5m in 2016, up from 1.3m the year before. That was despite shares in Pearson falling 29 per cent, or more than 2bn, on a single day in January after its fifth profit warning in two years.

Pearson also announced 4,000 job cuts at the start of 2016.

Struggling: Pearson has struggled as students turn to renting rather than buying text books

The company has struggled against a collapse in the US market as students turn to renting rather than buying text books.

It comes as bank Standard Chartered is risking investors ire by potentially making it easier for boss Bill Winters, 54, to get his bonus by lowering one of the key profitability targets to which his reward is partly pegged.

Mothercares remuneration committee is also reportedly considering setting lower targets for bosses long-term share awards as the company struggles in a tough High Street market.

Chief executive Mark Newton-Jones, 48, took home 814,000 last year, while the companys share price has fallen 30 per cent over the past year. A spokesman said: We will consult fully with shareholders before making any award.

Stefan Stern, director of the High Pay Centre, which campaigns for equal pay, said yesterday: Remuneration committees need to be able to just say, its been a terrible year and we are not giving out a bonus.
Li Max Joy, who is pursuing a nursing course and working as a part time taxi driver in Australia, alleged that five people including a girl hurled racial abuses like "you bloody black Indians" at him and assaulted him.

By Press Trust of India: An Indian man from Kerala was allegedly assaulted by a group of teenagers who hurled racial abuses at him at a restaurant in Australia's Hobart.

Li Max Joy, who is pursuing a nursing course and working as a part time taxi driver in Australia, alleged that five people including a girl hurled racial abuses like "you bloody black Indians" at him and assaulted him up at the McDonald's restaurant at North Hobart, he told PTI.

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33-year-old Joy, who hails from Puthuppally in Kottayam district said the incident took place when he went to the restaurant for a coffee after returning from a trip.

He alleged that the five accused were arguing with a worker inside the store but soon turned their attention to him the moment they noticed him.

When others in the restaurant telephoned police, the attacker left, but they return later and assaulted him again.

Joy was admitted to Royal Hobart Hospital with bleeding wounds and a CAT scan and X-rays were carried out to see if he had suffered any internal injuries.

Joy was later discharged from hospital and he reported the incident to the police.

"They were angry at the McDonald's staff but turned their anger on me in the car park and then inside the store," he said.

RISING ATTACKS

Joy, who has been living in Hobart for last eight years, was quoted as saying by Australian media that "the racial mood is definitely changing. It is continuous now. Many other drivers have been abused but not everyone reports it to the police."

Joy has sought intervention of External Affairs Ministry to ensure punishment to the accused.

He alleged that there was no serious efforts from the authorities to bring the accused before justice.

Meanwhile, Kottayam Lok Sabha MP Jose K Mani condemned the incident and said he will raise the issue with the External Affairs Ministry tomorrow.

Watch the video here

Also read: Australia: Indian priest stabbed, asked about nationality before attack

Also read: Opposition rakes up US racial attacks in Parliament, government calls incidents unfortunate

--- ENDS ---
Lancashire's textile industry has won an unexpected Brexit boost as one of Britains largest providers of workers uniforms has brought manufacturing back to the UK.

Alsico had been buying fabric from Italy, but the slump in the value of the pound drove up its costs and the contract has been transferred to Bolton fabric company Carrington Workwear, whose fabrics go into uniforms for McDonalds and the British Army.

Alsico makes 75,000 uniforms a week and the contract is worth around 10 million a year for the 125-year-old Carrington, boosting employee numbers by almost 15 per cent.

Contract: Carringtons fabrics go in to uniforms for the Army

David Toon, chief executive of Preston-based Alsico, said: Due to the exchange rate, weve brought the vast majority of our fabric manufacture to Lancashire, creating jobs and allowing our new supplier, Carrington, to expand.

Today, a plant in the UK can be as efficient at making fabric as anywhere in the world, he added.

Carrington sales director Neil Davey said: This is our single biggest contract and I was very pleased when we won it. It happened very quickly. They decided in December and we started in February. Its all gone very smoothly.

Alsicos decision to move fabric manufacture back to the UK comes even though its Italian supplier had worked with the company for 50 years. But sterlings weakness made Alsico reconsider its options.

Alsicos biggest single customer is Johnson Service Group, which rents out workwear to companies across the country.

...but a big City jobs drain begins

The jobs market in the City of London is under stress as firms have begun to move posts to the Continent, according to specialist recruitment agency Morgan McKinley.

The number of City jobs available fell by almost a quarter in February compared with the previous month and was down by 17 per cent on the same period last year, the agency said.

'Under stress': The number of City jobs available fell by 17% compared to last year

Hakan Enver, operations director for Morgan McKinleys financial services division, said some firms were running out of patience with the Government.

Brexit has pushed institutions into two camps. On the one side weve got the business as usual team, and on the other we have the institutions that are tired of the Governments hemming and hawing and have already begun to move jobs to other EU countries. Its the latter group that has contributed to the quarter drop in jobs available, said Enver.

The agencys figures showed 6,945 jobs available in the City in February, down from just over 9,000 in January and 8,325 in February 2016. Last week, investment bank Goldman Sachs said it would relocate hundreds of jobs out of London as part of its contingency plans for the UK leaving the European Union.

Enver said Article 50 could actually produce an uptick in hiring as the outlook became clearer, but that the long-term trend would be downwards.

The data suggests that Brexit has had a fundamental depressing effect on City jobs. Weve already witnessed what was a handful of jobs leaving become hundreds. How long before we are looking at losing thousands?
MBABANE  After all has been said and done, it is not every old coin that can make the person who has it in his or her possession rich.



A lot of Swazis and South Africans who came to trade their old coins were left disappointed because they brought either old coins that did not qualify or were of a lower value.

As a result, a lot returned home disappointed and some went to the extent of borrowing money from the said businessman as they arrived with the hope of returning home very rich.

Almost E6 000 was loaned out to the disappointed sellers by the businessman, in a bid to provide transport money.



Some of them had come to his place hoping to strike it rich, only to find that the coins they were carrying were not worth much.

The business mogul, who cannot be named due to his position in the country and abroad, pays up to over E100 000, depending on the quality and age of that particular coin. The least amount one can get for an old coin is E25.

The most in-demand are gold coins manufactured before the year 1980. In Swaziland, the most sought after coins are those that have King Sobhuza IIs picture.



The recently phased out Swazi coins, which were for the year 2015 and the few years before, are also among those being bought.

However, those are only exchanged on a 1:1 ratio basis. This means that when one brings the phased out piece, he or she gets a new one of the same value.

This can spare the public the hustle of going to banks and facing long queues while trying to exchange the coins. Visited by the Times SUNDAY at his residence, the businessman confirmed that he had to turn back a lot of potential clients due to the fact that they brought what he was not looking for.

When the team arrived at his luxurious home, which is a double-storey building between Manzini and Mbabane, he was found still evaluating what he had received from the ecstatic coin sellers. The response was so overwhelming that I had to attend to over 100 people in an hour. It is not every coin that can give you good money. I had to give out cash amounting to E6 000 to several people who complained that they had no money to return home. One family came from South Africa and I had to give them E500, yet they had very poor coins which did not qualify for payment.



He also explained that the fact that he stopped the trade on Tuesday was merely a crowd control antic.


MANZINI  Sikhumbuzo Shongwe had guests at his glamorous wedding in stitches yesterday, when he made his vote of thanks.



He married Jabu Nkonyane at a colourful event attended by members of the royal family and the countrys whos who at the Divine Healing Ministries, in Manzini yesterday.

The wedding was graced by a representative of Her Majesty the Queen Mother in National Secretary Nhlanhla Dlamini, Princess Sikhanyiso and other members of the royal family.

Sikhumbuzo had guests laughing when he related about money to be given to him as gifts. He jokingly said he would accept anything above E18 000 and anything less than that could be given to his father, Bishop Nash Shongwe.

He said his father had already established himself while he on the other hand was yet to build his own mansion.



Sikhumbuzo thanked Lubombo Regional Administrator (RA) Sylvia Mthethwa for allowing them to take pictures at her home after the wedding. He said he was expecting more good news from Mthethwa.

Making reference to the RA, Sikhumbuzo said, I think she is yet to tell me that she will give us a room for our honeymoon because I dont envy a situation where we have to go back to sleep in our one room.

Sikhumbuzo also left Princess Sikhanyiso in stitches when he told his bride, Jabu Nkonyane, that she would meet renowned personalities now that she was married to him. He said should be glad that she met him since she would have a chance to rub shoulders with royalty.



He pointed out that there was even a representative of the Indlovukazi at the wording, which showed just how important he was.

Had you been marrying another guy, the only representative that would have been there would be one of Bucopho, joked Sikhumbuzo.



Inkhosatana Sikhanyiso was not spared from being a subject of Sikhumbuzos jokes. The groom said he noticed that the princess had not stood up when other guests were giving money to the couple.

He said he believed that the princess did not go forward to place her contribution because of the congestion. He asked the princess not to leave without taking a picture with them as his wife had expressed that she would love to see her at the wedding.



This will also be an opportunity for the princess to slip money into my jacket pocket, Sikhumbuzo joked.

He also joked about the presence of High Court judges at the event.
MATSAPHA  Swazi Airways may have decided to drop the idea of leasing a Boeing 737 from a South African company but the local entity still has a mountain to climb.



It needs to pay the company that leased the aircraft in the abandoned deal close to E6 million.

This is Global Hub, a company that acted as an agent for Star Air Cargo, who are owners of the jet.



The actual amount, the Times SUNDAY has established, is E5 954 260.

Swazi Airways is reported to have signed an acknowledgement of debt, to the tune of US$458 020.

This publication understands that Global Hub wants this amount paid to it, as soon as possible.



The aircraft in question is a Boeing 737-300 registered SZ-SPU.

It is 29 years old, having started flying in March 1988.



Investigations by the Times SUNDAY revealed that, before it was leased to Swazi Airways, the jet had been owned by or leased to various other airlines, under different registration numbers.

These include Air Europe, British World Airlines, Air Asia (a Malaysian airline firm), Velvet Sky (South Africa) and National Jet Italia.



For seven years, it was with Philippine Airlines. This was between 1992 and 1999. Responding to the allegation that the aircraft leased by Swazi Airways was too old, Global Hub, who acted as agents, said the aircraft in question was registered ZS-SPU and aged 28 years.

Further investigations by this newspaper uncovered the fact that the aircraft was now operating in Zimbabwe, under Air Zimbabwe. It flies from Johannesburg to Harare.

It had been leased to Swazi Airways by Star Air Cargo, a South African registered company that has a Domestic and International Aircraft Operating Certificate (AOC).



Star Air Cargo specialises in the wet, dry or damp leasing on short to medium term leases to airlines in Africa. Star Air has been trading since 1996.

Originally, it operated smaller aircraft, flying courier freight and small cargo for DHL Express (hence the Cargo name) and other companies contracted to fly for FedEx. After starting to operate passenger flights, Star Air decided to move out of the smaller aircraft and to begin operating the Boeing 737 and started with their first 737-200 aircraft in 2007.



Star Air has begun negotiating with aircraft leasing companies to lease in the newer generation 737-300 and 737-500 aircraft, which will begin to replace the 737-200s over a two-year period.

Star Air leases aircraft on short and medium terms leases to scheduled airlines in the sub-Saharan African Region.
By Press Trust of India: Kathmandu, Mar 26 (PTI) Indias new envoy to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri today presented his credentials to President Bidya Devi Bhandari at a ceremony here.

Puri met with President Bhandari at her official residence Sheetal Niwas and submitting his letters of credence, Indian Embassy here said.

Puri, a 1982 batch IFS officer, was on March 10 appointed as Indias 24th ambassador to Nepal. His predecessor Ranjit Rae completed his three and a half year-tenure on February 28.

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Before being assigned to Kathmandu mission, Puri, born in 1959, was Indias Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Prior to Brussels, he was Indias Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in New York from 2009 to 2013. He was also a senior member of Indias Security Council team during the years 2011 and 2012, when India served on the Security Council.

From 2005-09, he headed the United Nations Division in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi dealing with economic and social issues.

In the course of his Foreign Service career, Puri has served twice in Germany (in Bonn from 1984-86 and Berlin from 1991-94). He was the coordinator of the Festival of India in Germany in 1991-92 and established the Indian Cultural Centre in Berlin.

Puri has a Masters degree in Management. He did his BA (Honours) in Economics from St Stephens College in New Delhi. PTI CPS

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: From Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Mar 26 (PTI) Indias new envoy to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri today presented his credentials to President Bidya Devi Bhandari at a ceremony here.

Puri met with President Bhandari at her official residence Sheetal Niwas and submitted his letters of credence, Indian Embassy here said.

He arrived here yesterday to take up his new assignment.

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Puri, a 1982 batch IFS officer, was on March 10 appointed as Indias 24th ambassador to Nepal. His predecessor Ranjit Rae completed his three and a half year-tenure on February 28.

Before being assigned to Kathmandu mission, Puri, born in 1959, was Indias Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Prior to Brussels, he was Indias Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in New York from 2009 to 2013. He was also a senior member of Indias Security Council team during the years 2011 and 2012, when India served on the Security Council.

From 2005-09, he headed the United Nations Division in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi dealing with economic and social issues.

In the course of his Foreign Service career, Puri has served twice in Germany (in Bonn from 1984-86 and Berlin from 1991-94). He was the coordinator of the Festival of India in Germany in 1991-92 and established the Indian Cultural Centre in Berlin.

Puri has a Masters degree in Management. He did his BA (Honours) in Economics from St Stephens College in New Delhi. PTI SBP CPS

--- ENDS ---
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By Gina Martinez

JACKSON HEIGHTS  Police were on the lookout for a man suspected of robbery in Jackson Heights.

According to police, on March 6 at 3:31 a.m., a 49-year-old man was approached from behind by the suspect near Junction Boulevard and 34th Road. Police said the suspect placed the victim in a chokehold until the victim became unconscious. The suspect took the victims wallet, watch and jewelry and departed in an unknown direction. Police said the victim suffered a laceration to the back of his head and refused medical attention on the scene.

Police described the suspect as a Hispanic male, between 25 and 30 years old, 5-foot-9 inches tall, medium build and was last seen wearing sweat pants, a blue jacket, and white sneakers.
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By Mark Hallum

A bill that would make St. Patricks Day a school holiday in the state of New York passed the Senate chamber Monday.

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside)has been trying for recognition of the culture and religious observation of the Irish and Catholic celebration for over a year and is hoping to make the bill into law. The bill passed the Senate in March 2016, although it failed to get the required votes in the Assembly.

With the passage of my bill establishing St. Patricks Day as a school holiday in New York City schools, the Senate can proudly celebrate this holiday every year knowing theyve done their part in paying tribute to the contributions of the Irish community, Avella said. It is a shame that the city that invented the St. Patricks Day celebration refuses to do the same. I urge my colleagues in the Assembly to pass this legislation and send a message to the mayor that this disregard for cultural and religious celebrations has no place in our state.

Although New York City has a high concentration of Irish Americans as well as a parade going back to 1762, Avella said it does not receive the recognition given in Ireland as not only a celebration of ones culture but of religion.

Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway Beach) is sponsoring the bill for the school holiday in hopes it will pass and earn a signature from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

But Mayor Bill de Blasio took action to kill the motion in the Senate an Assembly in a letter sent from his office to lawmakers outlining why the holiday would be detrimental to schools.

The New York City Department of Education develops its school calendar to maximize the number of instructional days for students, while balancing educational, contractual and legal requirements and considerations, the letter said. To the extent possible, DOE also aims to avoid conflicts with religious and cultural holidays and occasions, but given the enormous diversity of the city, not all occasions can be accommodated with a system-wide holiday.

The letter continued to point out that since 2015, Muslim holidays Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha and later the Lunar New Year for Asian American students, there are not enough classroom days left in the year to designate another school holiday.

While the City recognizes the rich legacy and contributions of Irish-Americans, our attendance records in schools across the district do not reflect absenteeism on March 17, the letter from de Blasios office said.
Beaver County identifies mail-in voters with undated ballots

Anyone on the list should visit the Beaver County elections office by 8 p.m. Tuesday to make the necessary corrections.
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Albany

Three area land banks that target vacant and abandoned homes for demolition or resurrection will get $3.4 million in funds, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Friday.

The Albany County Land Bank, Troy Community Land Bank, and the Capital Region Land Bank that serves Schenectady and Amsterdam will get the money, part of $21 million being distributed statewide from legal settlements Schneiderman reached with banks.

"When the foreclosure and housing crisis hit a decade ago, it devastated communities," Schneiderman said at a news conference at the Albany County Office Building, surrounded by state and local officials, housing advocates and affected families.

Abandoned houses swiftly fell into disrepair, lowering the values of neighboring properties, he said.

While the state Legislature approved creating land banks in 2011, he said, no funding was available at first. As he reached settlements with banks charged with causing the financial crisis, Schneiderman said he knew some of the $5 billion New York received should go to fund them.

So far, he said, the three local land banks have put 125 properties back into owners' hands and 100 more vacant buildings have been demolished.

"In the past three years, we have acquired 644 vacant and abandoned properties," said Adam Zaranko, executive director of the Albany County Land Bank. Ninety are in the hands of new owners, 46 have been demolished, 70 lots have been improved and 63 buildings have been stabilized or rehabilitated, he said.

Albany County has provided $1.5 million and is about to give another $250,000, County Executive Dan McCoy said.

"This is keeping people in their homes and giving people the opportunity to buy a home," he said.

In Troy, the land bank has acquired 24 vacant properties in the city's poorest census tract, with 16 of them being rehabilitated for local owners.

Saretha and Luis Sotomayor are beneficiaries of the program. The couple came to the Albany area in 2014 from New York City, where they had once been homeless.

"We always knew about Habitat for Humanity. We decided to give it a try," Luis Sotomayor said.

Through Habitat for Humanity, the couple learned about the Albany County Land Bank. They were able to get a grant to purchase a Clinton Avenue home, where they will live with their three children, one grandchild and their son's girlfriend.

"It used to be a three-family house that has been converted into a single-family home for us," Saretha Sotomayor said.

As required by Habitat for Humanity, the couple provided "sweat equity" into the house, painting and doing other work that already has given them a sense of ownership. They are slated to move in next week.

tobrien@timesunion.com  518-454-5092  @timobrientu
Baghdad

An airstrike targeting Islamic State militants in the Iraqi city of Mosul that witnesses say killed at least 100 people was in fact launched by the U.S. military, American officials said Saturday.

U.S. officials did not confirm reports of civilian casualties but opened an investigation. In the days following the March 17 airstrike, U.S. officials had said they were unsure whether American forces were behind the attack.

The U.S.-led coalition statement said the airstrike had been requested by Iraqi security forces to target IS fighters and equipment "at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties." U.S.-backed government troops were fighting IS forces in that area of western Mosul, the statement said.

The coalition said it takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously and a formal Civilian Casualty Credibility Assessment had been opened to determine the facts surrounding this strike and the validity of the allegation of civilian casualties.

"Our goal has always been for zero civilian casualties, but the coalition will not abandon our commitment to our Iraqi partners because of ISIS's inhuman tactics terrorizing civilians, using human shields, and fighting from protected sites such as schools, hospitals, religious sites and civilian neighborhoods," the coalition said.

Altaf Musani, representative of the World Health Organization in Iraq, told The Associated Press in the Jordanian capital of Amman that the organization's priority was quick treatment for those wounded.

"It is our understanding that there was an incident and we have worked with the local health actors and they have confirmed more than 100 are dead," Musani said.

Musani said that since the operations in Mosul began in October, there have been at least 5,300 people referred to hospitals in and around the city. He added that since the attack on western Mosul began last month, "we have managed to capture more than 1,300" cases.

"When you take a better look at what those numbers mean, what is worrying for the WHO and aid actors is that roughly 30 percent of the total numbers are women," he said. "Roughly 30 percent of that large number are children under 15, and that is deeply concerning because of the capacities needed to treat those wounded coming out of the front lines."

Earlier Saturday, senior Sunni Muslim politicians expressed concern over reports of airstrikes that allegedly killed the civilians. Residents reported two airstrikes hitting a residential area March 13 and 17. The Iraqi Defense Ministry has provided no immediate comment.
By Press Trust of India: Koraput (Odisha), Mar 26 (PTI) An Odisha court has acquitted an Iranian-origin British charity worker who was awarded one-year imprisonment and Rs 3 lakh fine by a lower court in connection with the death of a six-year-old tribal boy.

After the acquittal of 28-year-old Narges K Asthari, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted, "I am happy Ms. Narges Ashtari is acquitted by Court. My friend @JZarif Foreign Minister and people of Iran should be happy and relieved.(sic)"

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Additional district judge (ADJ) of Rayagada Debdutta Dasmohapatra, while acquitting Asthari yesterday, also allowed her to seek compensation from the state government for being dragged into the case.

The court of sub-divisional judicial magistrate of Rayagada had on December 5 last year convicted Asthari holding that owing to her negligence, a tribal boy had drowned in Nagabali river in the district on November 2, 2014. It had also ordered that the fine of Rs 3 lakh to be paid as compensation to the bereaved family.

After examining all evidence, the ADJs court acquitted Asthari and allowed her to seek compensation from the state government if she wished as she was dragged for two years in a case.

The social worker used to run an orphanage, called Prishan Foundation, at Mukundapur in Rayagada district.

On November 2, 2014, she had taken the children of the orphanage to Rayagada town to watch a cinema and the next day she took them to a picnic at a place located on the outskirts of Rayagada town.

When the children were crossing a hanging bridge on Nagabali river, six-year-old Asim Jilakar, son of the watchman of the foundation, fell off and died.

Following the incident, Asims father Peter Jilakar had filed a case against Asthari and the foundations secretary Jwel Raju Gupta alleging that he had lost his son due to their negligence.

Last year, the lower court had acquitted Gupta for lack of evidence against him.

Asthari, who now stays in Hyderabad, is expected to reach Rayagada soon to collect her passport from the court and to complete other official formalities.

External Affairs Minister Swaraj had sought a detail report on the case from the state government on December 30 last year. PTI COR SKN KK PYK SMN SC SMN

--- ENDS ---
THE ISSUE:

A congressman appears ready to support a bad amendment to a bad health care bill.

THE STAKES:

Is he really prepared to turn his back on his constituents and fellow New Yorkers?

More Information To comment: tuletters@timesunion.com or at http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion See More Collapse

---

Up to now, U.S. Rep. John Faso has always appeared to be a man of principle, one true to his word. Sadly, it looks as if on Thursday he will show otherwise.

With his abrupt decision to support the American Health Care Act, the freshman Republican congressman from Kinderhook engages in a stunning series of betrayals  of tens of thousands of his constituents, of women in his district and beyond, and of taxpayers across New York state.

And for what? To go along with Republicans' misguided crusade to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act  Obamacare  at any cost? To stick Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo with an unfunded mandate? To avoid President Donald Trump's tweets?

It's bad enough that Mr. Faso plans to support AHCA, even with estimates that 24 million Americans will end up without health coverage as a result, including nearly 66,000 people in Mr. Faso's congressional district and 2.3 million or more across the state.

The AHCA would also deal a huge financial blow to New York  a cumulative $4.6 billion over the next four years, and $2.4 billion a year after that.

The legislation also contains a provision that Mr. Faso had said, repeatedly, that he would not support: the defunding of Planned Parenthood, long a target of anti-abortion activists and politicians (even though no federal dollars go to abortion services). So much for his promise not to harm a provider of health care to millions of women and men.

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The Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare got even worse with an amendment hatched by Mr. Faso and Rep. Chris Collins, a western New York Republican. On the surface, their scheme would relieve counties outside New York City of their share of Medicaid costs, which they say would save people money on their property tax bills. They provide, however, no federal funds to make up for the estimated $2.3 billion a year in lost taxes.

That would force state government to either push millions of people out of this vital program, slash benefits, or, quite possibly, raise state income taxes by anywhere from 10 percent to 26 percent, the Cuomo administration estimates. New York couldn't be blamed for calling it the Faso-Collins Tax if it comes to pass.

We hold out some hope that not everyone in Congress is so willing to sell out their constituents and fellow New Yorkers. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R- Willsboro, for one, said she was still studying the issue.

If Mr. Faso needs a reminder of what integrity and responsible governing look like, he might take a cue from Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, who is also president-elect of the New York State County Executives Association. While Mr. McCoy has long called for relief from the county's $64 million Medicaid mandate, he said he could not accept trading it for the more than 25,000 county residents whose coverage would be at risk under the Republicans' AHCA.

When we endorsed him last fall, we thought Mr. Faso had more integrity and fortitude. Perhaps when the roll is called, he will show he does, after all.
A look back on all of our reporting of the Delphi murders since 2017
From discarded saws to broken skateboards to any thrown-away piece of paper or cardboard one could imagine, materials in the Flagstaff Recycled Art Exhibition have long serviced innovative ideas in turning trash into treasure  where regional artists use their creative eye to save something from going into the landfill.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the event, which typically attracts around 100 or more pieces involving all manner of materials. The upcoming exhibit will feature the addition of artists who will work in the exclusive medium of broken sleds, ones left behind by snowplay enthusiasts in area forests. Also, the Artists Coalition of Flagstaff  the organization that facilitates the exhibit  invited veterans to submit work with their entry fees waived.

The exhibition runs from April 1 to April 30 at the Coalitions gallery in the Flagstaff Mall. An opening reception will take place Saturday, April 1 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The gallery is open seven days a week, noon to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Learn more at www.flagstaff-arts.org.

The appeal of the City of Flagstaff Recycled Art Exhibition cuts across all ages and demographics in northern Arizona, said Mike Frankel, executive director of the Artists Coalition of Flagstaff. Entrants from as young as 4 years old to 86 have been inspired over the years to create artwork that speaks  to the amount of inspiration and creativity one can put into artworks essentially created from trash, discarded materials and materials that people have no use for anymore.

The inclusiveness this year expands to added outreach to U.S. military veterans, which stems from one of the Coalition member artists Ken Whittaker, an Iraq veteran who has worked on art as therapy for his post-traumatic stress disorder. This inspired the Coalition to engage in this outreach.

I thought that it would be very therapeutic and helpful to extend participation to other U.S. Military veterans who may benefit from expressing themselves in artwork, Frankel said. Any veteran will be welcomed free to the event and the ACF has also provided materials, including some discarded snowplay materials to the veterans for possible use in their creations.

The snowplay materials idea came from Abbie Gripman, according to Frankel, who shared the idea of taking the mountains of broken sleds and other detritus left behind by visitors and residents alike who dont clean up their trash. The Coalition provided the material and is hosting a specific category, Best Use of Discarded Snowplay Materials, one of a number of categories on which the art is judged and awarded.

It is hard to predict how many pieces will be entered utilizing the discarded snow play materials, but over a dozen artists have picked up material for possible use, Frankel said. We will display all pieces that are entered  and hopefully shine a light on a serious Flagstaff environmental problem, with the thought of mitigating it in some way.
By Press Trust of India: Gurdaspur (Pb), Mar 26 (PTI) The authorities rewarded the inmates of the Gurdaspur central jail who "exhibited good behavior" and saved some staffers when some prisoners clashed last week.

The jail authorities today claimed the prisoners have returned to their daily routine.

"The situation in Gurdaspur jail is normal now," Punjabs Additional Director General of Police (Prison) Rohit Chaudhary said.

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"We have announced several measures for the inmates who exhibited good behavior during the incident of rioting by about 150 inmates," he said.

The inmates of four barracks were rewarded for sheltering four prison staff members who were stuck during the disturbance and saved them from any harm at the hands of rowdy group, a jail official said.

Violence had erupted in Gurdaspur jail after two groups of undertrials clashed when one group thrashed two staff members in the afternoon of March 24, forcing the police to open fire in the air, to rein them in.

On Friday night, around 150 inmates again ran amok with several inmates including hardened criminals making a jailbreak bid by breaking portion of the outer wall of the jail which was thwarted by police.

They broke locks of all the jail barracks, besides destroying CCTVs, mobile jammers and setting ablaze the quilts and furniture.

Gauging the gravity of the situation, additional force including SWAT was brought from Majitha, Tarn Taran and Amritsar to control the violence.

The situation was brought under control in the wee hours of Saturday, police said, adding that teargas shells were also lobbed.

As many as 21 inmates were shifted to other jails while 30 inmates were booked for attempt to murder, rioting, damaging public property, police said.

A mobile phone was also recovered from a gangster Jagtar Singh Jagga, police said.

Undertrials were upset over the increased security measures at the jail and alleged that the jail authorities used abusive language against them, a police officer said.

A bakery unit has also been approved for inmates while computer, yoga, music, English and meditation classes will be started next week in the barracks where the disturbance took place, official said.

More than 44 leave cases were approved which were pending in DC office, the official said.

Inmates were also encouraged to enroll for IGNOU courses in special enrollment drive and 31 inmates have expressed interest for it, the official said.

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As a special measure, inmates were allowed to meet their relatives for the whole week, the official said.

A helpline number for the quick disposal of parole cases will be started in the DC office, the official said.

There are around 900 inmates in Gurdaspur jail.

The jail authorities also held meeting with inmates of all the barracks and a peace committee was constituted with inmates of each barrack. Inmate pledged to prevent other inmates from indulging in creating disturbance in the jail, official said.

Taking a serious view of the jail violence, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has convened a high-level meeting of police and Home department officials next week to review the security in the states prisons. PTI CHS SMN

--- ENDS ---
Its been a solid two days since Kendrick Lamar dropped his newest track, The Heart Part 4, in which he warned everyone that weve got til April the 7th to get your shit together. Fans were instantly intrigued as to whether this means well be seeing his newest record coming at the start of April, but now, according to supposedly leaked documents, it looks that the new album has its tracklist all sorted, with a full list of production credits, too.

As triple j reports, a document entitled KL-2017 has been supposedly leaked online. The document outlines the tracklist, production credits, and list of collaborators on Lamars new record. Keep in mind though, that until this document is confirmed, we can only speculate as to the accuracy of the details mentioned therein.

The document lists a total of 14 tracks on the new, as yet untitled album, and confirms a number of featured contributions from artists such as Anderson .Paak, Andre 3000, Kanye West, Q-Tip, and Thundercat, who also contributes bass to a number of tracks.

In addition to noting samples on the album from sources as wide and varied as Jimi Hendrix, Kool & The Gang, and Aphex Twin, a closer look at the documents also outlines a number of credited vocal contributions from artists such as Sampha, SZA, and BJ The Chicago Kid.

Whether or not these documents are legit remains to be seen, and if Kendricks cryptic messages are true, we could see his new album on April 7th. However, at this point we can only wait and see whether this all turns out to be true, or an elaborate hoax. Check out the rumoured tracklist, and Kendricks The Heart Part 4, below.

Rumoured Kendrick Lamar Album Tracklist

1. Purple Hibiscus

2. Counterfeit

3. Trust Everyone

4. Delusional (Like You Havent) (feat. Anderson .Paak & Anna Wise)

5. Product (feat. Andre 3000)

6. Richard Nixon

7. None Of Your Business (feat. Anna Wise, Kanye West & Q-Tip)

8. Double Standards

9. If You Had Me, You Lost Me (Interlude)

10. Commercialized, Failed Experiments

11. Ten Steps (feat. Bilal, DAngelo, Thundercat)

12. Paranoia, Is Love Stronger Than Death?

13. Rest In Paradise (Interlude)

14. Swim With The Fishes (God Said)
Here's a funny bit of "journalism" reaction to our much powerful reporting. A couple of days ago we called out the REALITY of sidewalk promises from theand their proposed blank check . . . The response is an update aboutfrom the newspaper ...The juxtaposition . . .. . . Meanwhile, City Hall politicos offer only a measly resolution AFTER the upcoming election. You decide . . .
Empty casket displayed at Linwood & Troost as part of anti-violence efforts KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Community activists and church leaders used a unique prop Saturday with the hopes of leaving a powerful message with those who drove by Troost and Linwood. It wasn't a funeral or a burial, but volunteers rolled out an empty casket near the busy intersection.

The Kansas City murder spike continues despite a public discourse that's mostly focused on development. Meanwhile advocates against the local spate of killing seem to be growing more frustrated with the public's dismissal of this horrific body count. A glimpse of a bit of local art and a publicity stunt on the topic:
Migration Policy Minister Yannis Mouzalas urged European Union countries not to restore the Dublin Regulation which allows the return of asylum seekers to the first EU country they entered from, saying Greece cannot host any more refugees.

We could welcome a very small group at most, as a symbol that we dont reject the Dublin Regulations completely. Right now we have exhausted our capabilities. Of the agreed 32,000 refugees, only 10,000 have been relocated in other member-countries. Our position is very clear: We cannot host a single additional refugee. I am pleading to Europes common sense, he was quoted as telling German magazine Der Spiegel in an interview published on Sunday.

Mouzalas said Greece is already burdened heavily by the 60,000 refugees living in its territory, a number that, in proportion to the population, is comparable to that of Germany.

It would be wrong to burden Greece further with the restoration of the Dublin Regulations. We just managed to handle the situation with the housing of the refugees in the mainland and we are in the process of resolving issues on the islands. Pressure from Turkey on the refugee issue is also not lessening, he said.

Asked by the magazine if he categorically rejects the Dublin Regulations, he said: Yes, we are not in a position to implement the Dublin Regulations. I want the Germans to understand that this has nothing to do with political or ideological reasons or that we dont truly appreciate Germanys help. Its just that Greece is unable to cope with the arrival of other refugees. We just managed to stand on our feet. Do not make us stumble again."

Concerning the EU-Turkey agreement, the minister said it is complex and that grey areas remain, but the deal is a success because refugee flows have been sharply limited even without fences. After the deal, only 60 refugees arrive daily.

Mouzalas also said he considered natural to have delays in the return of Syrian refugees to Turkey because Greece is trying to implement international law in each individual case.

He also said that to help decongest the islands, Greece has asked permission from the EU to transfer some refugees in closed camps in the mainland, but has not received a reply yet.

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
Alara Resources, an Australian minerals exploration company with a portfolio of projects in Saudi Arabia and Oman, said its local units has signed an off-take agreement for the supply of copper concentrate from the Al Hadeetha Project, Washihi Reserve .



As per the agreement signed by Alara Oman Operations Private Limited, the annual concentrate production of 35,000 wmt (wet metric tonnes) will be shipped at regular intervals from the Sohar port.



There also exists the possibility of supplying the material to the Omani smelter in case it restarts. However, the project financial model allows for sea freight and other charges associated with the sale of concentrate from the port at Sohar, said the statement from the company.



After considering offtake proposals from several competing companies, the company entered an agreement with Statdrome, which have over 15 years experience in non-ferrous concentrates trading, including copper sales in and out of Oman.



Alara's Omani unit said the agreement also includes a pre-payment of $6 million to assist in funding project construction costs and mine start up.



The funds will be drawn down in instalments during the project construction phase, starting once the mining licence is issued, said the company in a statement.



The agreement forms an important part in financing and development of the mine and processing plant at Washihi, and has been completed in discussion with bank representatives, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
Oman Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) plans to increase the capacity of its polypropylene plant to 340,000 tonnes of high quality polypropylene per annum from the current 200,000 tonnes a year, said a report.



The Sohar Refinery of Orpic is the main supplier of raw materials used in the production of polypropylene.



The plant is a key component in the building of an integrated local petrochemical industry. It is also part of the efforts made by the sultanate to diversify sources of national income and benefit from gas production, added the Times of Oman report.



Orpic markets the product under the brand name 'Luban,' the most renowned Omani product for export in ancient times. The production, which ranges between very soft material and granules, is exported to 91 ports in more than 63 countries, including the GCC states, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Middle East and North Africa countries, China, Vietnam, Peru, South Korea, Myanmar, the Philippines and South Africa.



Luban is used in the production of plastic chairs, tables, carpets, packing materials, ropes, caps, packing straps and other electrical and home appliances.





Faisal Al Hajri, Orpic's regional sales manager for Middle East, Africa and Europe, said that the production currently meets 90 per cent of Omans needs.



Orpic seeks to develop the plastics industry in the sultanate and double its profits by benefiting from the growing demand for plastic, added the report.
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), a leading international aluminium smelter, officially launched Tims Academy, an in-house initiative, earlier this week in the presence of executive management, directors and managers.



Launched via the companys training department, Tims Academy was established with the aim to continue the people development initiatives launched by Albas chief executive officer Tim Murray, since his appointment in 2012, said a statement from the company.



Tims Academy includes the following - MBA Alumni: To impart the knowledge of the companys MBA graduates to Alba employees at different levels through short training workshops; Tims Book Club: The CEOs initiative to promote reading culture amongst Alba employees; Executive Education Series: workshops and short courses delivered by the CEO, executive team, expert consultants and academic professors; and SAS Mini MBA: One week of intensive training led by companys MBA Alumni under the guidance of Albas CEO to develop managerial and leadership skills of potential MBA candidates, it added.



Waleed Tamimi, director of administration, said: Education is a key driver of an economy. At our company we believe that education is the foundation of everything we do.



Through Tims Academy, we intend to share all that we have learnt through the various initiatives to our employees in order to create a pool of talent and leaders who will continue to drive the Company on a successful path, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
Qatar Airways welcomed Orbis Flying Eye Hospital to Doha last week with an official reception at Doha International Airport (DIA) attended by Ajay Sharma, British Ambassador to Qatar, Ashud Ahmed, Bangladeshi Ambassador to Qatar and executive director of Qatar Fund for Development Misfir Hamad Al-Shahwani, alongside other dignitaries and special guests.



A welcome speech was delivered by Hamad International Airport vice president commercial and marketing, Abdulaziz Al Mass.



The aircraft, a medical training facility housed within a MD-10 aircraft, will be on display until March 29 as part of a tour to raise awareness about preventable blindness and its impact on developing countries. The plane, which touched down in London and Ireland over the last few weeks, will offer students, medical professionals and partners a unique experience - the opportunity to explore the hospital with wings. While in Doha, the Flying Eye Hospital will be promoting Qatar Creating Vision, an eye health initiative that brings together three charities and 19 hospitals with the aim of providing 5.5 million child eye tests and treatments to children in India and Bangladesh before 2020.



Qatar Airways group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: Qatar Airways strongly believes in giving back to the global community. When you have the power to contribute towards making a difference, it is your obligation to do so. As an airline that connects communities and people around the world, we are delighted to have supported Orbis since 2012. We are proud to host the Flying Eye Hospital, and its arrival is a great way to draw attention to the work of Qatar Creating Vision. The initiative is highly commendable, helping give visually impaired children the chance to see again by providing them access to much-needed eye care.



Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari, director general, Qatar Fund for Development, said: Qatar has a longstanding commitment to driving a wide range of initiatives to strengthen healthcare provision both in Qatar and throughout the world. Many people take vision for granted and dont realise how significant eye problems can be, particularly for children in the developing world. Half of childhood vision loss can be prevented or cured, so there is much that we can do to improve access to eye care, which everyone deserves.



We are delighted that Qatar Creating Vision is proving to be a platform for NGOs, corporates and the community at large to get involved and help us provide children with a future not constricted or disrupted by a preventable blinding condition.



Dr. Robert Walters, Orbis Special Envoy to the Middle East, said: Through partnerships, we can change lives, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Akbar Al Baker for his generosity through the years and the State of Qatar - in particular, the Qatar Fund for Development - for enabling us to provide a clearer and brighter future for children by bringing eye care closer to home.



As a charity, Orbis trains eye care teams across the world by providing medical professionals with enhanced skills enabling them to treat people struggling with treatable blindness within their community. Orbis places a great deal of emphasis on the benefits of working as part of a team to bring about change. - TradeArabia News Service
Andrabi wasn't at home when the attack occured.

Farooq Andrabi was not at home at the time of the attack

By Shuja-ul-Haq : Armed militants attacked the home of Jammu and Kashmir minister Farooq Andrabi in Dooru Anantnag late on Sunday night, and injured two policemen.

Andrabi wasn't at home when the attack occured. He doesn't stay in the house, but his parents do, sources said.

The two policemen suffered bullet injuries, and have been hospitalised.

The militants snatched around five rifles from the policemen present at the minister's residence. According to latest reports, the area has been cordoned off.

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A contingent of police, Army, SOG, and CRPF personnel are searching for the militants.

The attack comes hours after two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed in an encounter in Pulwama and days ahead of two Parliamentary by-polls that will be held in the Valley.

(With inputs from Ashraf Wani)

ALSO READ | Kashmir: 2 Hizb militants killed while trying to ambush police party in south Kashmir

Bangladesh: 4 killed, around 30 injured in suicide attack near Sylhet militant hideout

ALSO WATCH | Kashmir: Security forces shoot dead 2 militants, including top Hizbul commander

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Los Angeles, Mar 26 (PTI) Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez enjoyed a romantic dinner date in Beverly Hills just days after returning from their whirlwind getaway to the Bahamas.

The pair was spotted leaving the Bel-Air Hotel together in a luxury car, reported E! Online.

Lopez, 47, wore her signature gold oversized hoop earrings to accessorize her light ensemble, while Rodriguez wore a black wool coat and matching shirt.

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"All his friends can tell he really likes JLo (but) in the beginning they thought this may just be a fling. Friends are slowly thinking this may actually be a great match.

"He calls JLo his lady. He would wife her up in a heartbeat... She is different than other people hes dated," a source said. PTI SSN SSN

--- ENDS ---
India House raised USD 100,000 as part of an initiative supported by the Consul General of India in Houston Dr. Anupam Ray to help Ian buy a house in his hometown.

This Feb. 23, 2017 image from a video provided by The University of Kansas Health System shows Ian Grillot, of Grandview, Mo., during an interview in the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan. Grillot was injured Wednesday night, Feb. 22, 2017

By Press Trust of India: A 24-year-old American, who took a bullet for an Indian, has been honoured as 'A True American Hero' by the Indian-American community in Houston which raised USD 100,000 to help him buy a house in his hometown Kansas.

Ian Grillot, who was injured when he tried to intervene in the shooting by a Navy veteran targeting Indians at a bar in Olathe, Kansas last month, was honoured as 'A True American Hero' at the 14th annual gala of India House Houston here.

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Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, was killed and his colleague Alok Madasani was critically injured in the shooting.

"On behalf of the Indian-American community in Houston, India House recognised this selfless act beyond the call of duty and has extended the community's gratitude to Ian Grillot by helping him to buy a house," said a statement posted on the India House Houston Facebook page.

India House raised USD 100,000 as part of an initiative supported by the Consul General of India in Houston Dr. Anupam Ray to help Ian buy a house in his hometown, it said.

India's Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna handed over a cheque of USD 100,000 to Ian.

Ian Grillot, who was injured while trying to intervene in Kansas shooting felicitated by Indian-Americans community with $100,000 in Houston pic.twitter.com/1oCmAwmymF- ANI (@ANI_news) March 26, 2017





"I don't know if I could've lived with myself if I wouldn't have stopped or attempted to stop the shooter because that would have been completely devastating. I do now have a very powerful message and if I can help empower people and spread hope and love, then why not? I am honored to be at India House that serves so many families from so many communities in the Houston area," Ian said.

India House is a community center built by Americans of Indian origin in the Greater Houston area.

"It is not every day that one meets a genuine hero a person who risks his life for another, and takes a bullet for a complete stranger. Ian Grillot is a man who reminds us of the promise of America and its greatness," said Jiten Agarwal, a prominent Houstonian and Chair of the annual gala.

Also Read:

Survivor of Kansas Ian Grillot bar shooting released from hospital

Suspect in Kansas shooting appears in court

Also Watch: Kansas bar shooting: Do we belong here, asks wife of murdered Indian techie

--- ENDS ---
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 25

The city police today carried out search operations at Gujjarpura and Guru Ki Wadali areas here today as part of its drive against drug trafficking.

Various police teams also carried out search operations at Sultanwind village. During the operation, the police arrested three persons and recovered 480 litres of illegal liquor and 150kg of Lahan. They were booked under the excise Act.

Meanwhile, Gate Hakima police held Narinder Kaur from Bharariwal area on a tip-off on charges of bootlegging. The police recovered nearly 40 bottles from her possession.

The teams were headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner of police (City I), Ranbir Singh and Assistant Commissioner of Police Prabhjot Virk.
Chetan Chandak

The government has proposed to make it mandatory to quote Aadhaar number while filing income tax returns and applying for PAN. The move has evoked mixed responses across the industry. The move is aimed at making Aadhaar a single document that can be used to trace all your financial transactions.

This points to the fact that the government is slowly making Aadhaar the sole document to be quoted across all financial transactions on the same lines as the Social Security Number in the USA. In the longer run, this will make tracing black money and benami transactions easier.

This will provide tax transparency to the government and an audit trail for all transactions. As a result, all transactions will be linked and the government will be able to resolve all discrepancies easily utilising the database at its disposal. However, PAN will not suddenly become redundant. That will be done in a phased manner.

In the longer run, Aadhaar might become the primary UID number to be quoted while filing returns and it will also be used to auto-populate data when you file your returns online on the ITD website.

The side-effects of demonetisation may have faded away, but the momentum it gave to digitisation and fight against parallel economy is showing no signs of dwindling. In the ongoing Budget session of Parliament, the government has proposed to make Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax return as well as for applying and retaining PAN.

These proposals have been made through amendments to the Finance Bill. Additionally, it is also lowering the threshold on cash transactions from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 2 lakh, which is in sync with the governments war against black money.

The government claims that 98 per cent citizens have already been linked with Aadhaar database and the step acts as a warning for all procrastinators. As per proposed amendments, all taxpayers will be asked to quote their Aadhaar UID in their income tax return.

Aadhaar already has 111 crore persons enrolled, while there are only 25 crore PAN holders in the country. The move is expected to help trace all fake PAN transactions where people file returns using multiple fake PAN cards.

A person applying for a new PAN will now need to provide his Aadhaar number. Taxpayers who already have a PAN also need to get their PAN linked with Aadhaar, the due date for which will be announced later. Those who want to apply for PAN will now have to produce their Aadhaar card.

The move is aimed at mapping all your financial and other transactions to your PAN through Aadhaar. The government is taking small steps in a phased manner so that Aadhaar can be used to link all your financial and property transactions. Aadhaar is already linked to most of your financial and property transactions. Now with PAN and Aadhaar being linked, each transaction will come under the tax department scanner. This means while filing tax returns, taxpayer will have to carefully analyse tax implications of all their financial transactions and report these correctly in the tax return. Failing to report it correctly may immediately attract tax departments attention.

The move is a major shift from the previous announcement by the government that specified that Aadhaar was voluntary. Quoting it for filing returns and applying for PAN has made it compulsory for all to apply for Aadhaar cards. Foreigners and NRIs staying outside India may face the heat of this move, especially if they need to file income taxes in India since they earn income in India. But possibly government will soon come with a notification exempting these foreigners and NRIs from the mandatory quoting of PAN.

This is a welcome move since it is ultimately going to lead to better monitoring of transactions and unearthing of benami transactions to create a black money-free economy. In the longer run, this will also help the government in bringing down the tax rate through increased tax collection.

 The author is Head of Tax Research, H&R Block India. The views expressed in this article are his own.
As per Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961, a deduction up to Rs 5,000 for expenditure on a preventive health check-up is allowed. If I have incurred an expenditure of Rs 4,000 on getting my MRI scan done to diagnose the acuteness of my cervical problem, will it come under a preventive check-up?  Shalini

The word preventive has not been defined by the Act. The Oxford dictionary defines the word preventive as designed to prevent something. So, in case, an MRI scan has been advised by the doctor to prevent a disease, it may be possible to claim a deduction in respect of expenditure incurred for preventive healthcare check-up. However, according to your query, a MRI report has been obtained to diagnose acuteness of the cervical problem. In my opinion, the expenditure incurred by you may not fall within the term preventive health check-up.

I, a retired employee of the Bank of India, am covered under a Bank of India retirees Mediclaim policy, which offers hospitalisation benefit of up to Rs 3 lakh to me and my wife. It is a group insurance scheme cover under United India Insurance Company Limited. As per rules, Rs 12,020 was deducted as insurance premium from my pension S/B A/c on October 20, 2016 and Rs 7,000 was reimbursed on February 22, 2017. What is the amount of the deduction under Section 80D?  Yash Paul Sharma

The amount of allowable deduction under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act 1961 (The Act) should be Rs 5,020 (Rs 12,020  Rs 7,000).

I, a senior citizen of 68 years, have been getting Rs 18,245 as disability pension (basic pension Rs 14,015, disability element Rs 1,755, and DR Rs 2,475) with effect from January 1, 2016. I am also receiving Rs 21,118 as civil pension. I am paying Rs 3,924 half yearly towards a LIC policy and have deposited Rs 1,50,000 in an EPF account.

My tax consultant has informed me that only disability element of the pension to the tune of Rs 1,755 is deductible. Similarly, EPF of Rs 1,00,000 + LIC premium of Rs 7,848 is admissible for a deduction, instead of Rs 1,50,000 deposited in the EPF account. Is my consultant right? What is the amount of the allowable deduction?  Santa Singh

Your queries are replied hereunder:-

a) According to letter No. F.No.200/51/99-ITA-I dated May 6, 2000, by Under Secretary to The Govt. of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, Central Board of Direct Taxes, New Delhi, addressed to Director (Pens), Govt. of India, Ministry of Defence, Department of Defence, New Delhi, it has been clarified that the entire disability pension --- disability element and service element--- is not chargeable to income tax.

b) It seems you have wrongly mentioned the term Employees Provident Fund as a retired employee cannot contribute to Employees Provident Fund. The deposit must have made by you in a Public Provident Fund to the extent of Rs 1,50,000. A total deduction of Rs 1,50,000 is allowable under Section 80C and therefore, the admissible amount would be restricted to Rs 1,50,000, if the deposit has been made in a public provident account.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 26

The Chandigarh international airport in Mohali today further expanded its wings with the launch of a daily direct flight between Chandigarh and Jaipur. A direct flight between Chandigarh and Bangkok is likely to take off in May. The Bangkok flight, which will be launched by Air India, will initially operate on alternate days, airport officials told The Tribune here today.

With this, the number of domestic flights has gone up to 35 while the direct Bangkok flight will take the number of international flights from here to four. At present, three international flights to Dubai and Sharjah are operating from here.

The airport began the summer schedule of flights from today. Now, the airport will remain open from 6 am to 10 pm on weekdays, till 8 pm on Saturday and Sunday and only till 1 pm on the first and third Sunday of every month. The airport was closed on March 19 and will also be closed on April 2 and April 16 for maintenance.

Jet Airways launched the daily direct flight between Chandigarh and Jaipur.

Ahead of the launch of its inaugural service, the airline conducted a prayer service and lit a symbolic lamp to mark the occasion. The lamp-lighting ceremony was led by Kavita Joshi, GM (Sales), Jet Airways.
K.R. Lakhanpal

The Sutlej-Yamuna link canal, or SYL as it is popularly known, is a proposed 214 km long channel to connect the two rivers. The canal is required to carry surplus Ravi-Beas waters that have been allocated to Haryana under various agreements.

The dispute regarding the sharing of river waters arose after Punjab was reorganised in 1966. Haryana demanded 4.8 MAF (million acre feet) share of water out of Punjabs total 7.2 MAF share of water from the rivers, while Punjab claimed the entire quantity belonged to it. As no agreement could be reached, Haryana requested the Union government to intervene in the matter. In 1976, when the country was under an internal Emergency, an executive order was issued by the Union government, which allocated 3.5 MAF of water to each of the two states and the remaining 0.2 MAF to Delhi.

The decision was met with opposition from various groups, including the All-India Sikh Students Federation, Damdami Taksal, Babbar Khalsa International and the Khalistan Liberation Force. In 1979, the Government of Punjab filed a suit in the Supreme Court challenging the 1976 executive order regarding sharing of waters between Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, and also vires of Section 78 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966.

Haryana also filed a civil suit in the Supreme Court seeking directions for construction of the SYL canal. In 1976 Haryana unilaterally submitted a project report for construction of SYL Canal to the Govt. of India, and also provided a sum of Rs. 1.0 crore to Punjab for the purpose. An agreement was reached on 31st December, 1981 between Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan under which Punjab's share was increased to 4.22 MAF and that of Rajasthan to 8.6 MAF, while the share of Haryana from the revised availability of 17.17 MAF, remained the same. A provision for the construction of SYL Canal was also made. All states withdrew their suits following signing of the agreement and the construction of the canal was formally launched on the 8th April, 1982. In 1985, the Punjab Legislative Assembly repudiated the 1981 agreement. Following the Rajiv-Longowal accord, Eradi Tribunal was constituted on 2 April, 1986. On 30th January, 1987, the tribunal upheld the legality of agreements of 1955, 1976 and 1981 and also increased the shares of Punjab and Haryana, allocating them 5 and 3.83 MAF, respectively.

The construction of the canal had to be abandoned in 1990 due to the gunning down of 30 labourers on the site of the canal in 1988 and the murder of a Chief Engineer and a Superintending Engineer in 1990 by the militants. Since then, the construction of the canal has been embroiled in disputes, in and outside of courts, between the warring states, culminating into the enactment of the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, which abrogated all the previous river water agreements with the neighbouring non-riparian states, and the President of India making a reference to the Supreme Court of India under Article 143(1) of the Constitution of India, seeking its advisory opinion on the legality of the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004 and the honourable apex court, has returned the Presidential reference with its opinion. However, on 30-11-2016, the Honourable court directed status quo regarding land and property of SYL Canal. Haryana has now moved an application for execution of decree to construct SYL canal. The matter is now fixed for hearing before the apex court on the March 28.

The introduction to the dispute is necessitated to put the issue in perspective and to trace its chequered and bloody past. Pursuing construction of the canal without first determining the total quantum of water that is available for distribution amongst various states, its current usage, and quantification of surplus water, if any, for allocation to Haryana through a process of fair and judicious adjudication under the relevant laws would only be tantamount to putting the cart before the horse. It is also to examine the myth that construction of the canal is a win-win and cost-free venture for both the stakeholders. That it is quite to the contrary is evident from the following:

Firstly, the so-called agreements for sharing the river waters between different states are unilateral, arbitrary and a product of political expediency, rather than an outcome of a fair and judicious process of adjudication. When Punjabs request for constituting a new tribunal was not acceded to and the Supreme Court decreed the Haryana suit for construction of the SYL canal, the state government was left with no alternative but to enact a law abrogating all such agreements to safeguard the interests of the farmers of the state. Even while doing so, the government took care to safeguard the current use of water by different states by a specific provision in Section 5 of the Termination of Agreements Act, 2004. It shows that the states intention is not to deny any state its fair share of waters.

Secondly, even though the Presidential reference under Article 143(1) of the Constitution has been returned by the honourable apex court with its opinion, it is advisory in nature and the President is yet to take a view on this. As such, a window of opportunity still exists for the Union government to find a fair and just solution to this vexed issue by consulting all stakeholders. This must be seized to avoid miscarriage of justice that is bound to result from the single-minded pursuit of the construction of the canal.

Thirdly, the award of the Eradi Tribunal, holding various agreements in the matter as legally tenable, cannot be enforced, as it is yet to be finally notified after publication and hearing objections of the stakeholders, as required under the provisions of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956. In the meanwhile, the Eradi Tribunal has become defunct due to the death of its Chairman. Therefore, a fair solution would be to make a reference to a new Tribunal under the new law in the making, with new terms of reference having regard to ground realities.

Fourthly, contrary to the popular belief that there is enough surplus water, which the State of Punjab is letting go down to Pakistan, rather than sharing it with its needy neighbours, there is just no surplus water. Therefore, any additional water to be given to Haryana over and above its current usage through the Bhakra Main Line (BML) system, consequent upon the completion of the SYL canal, will be through diversion and at the cost of its current users in Punjab. This will render large tracts of land in the south western Punjab a desert and will cause untold misery to lakhs of its farmers. It is also going to cost the nation dearly if apart from the cost of construction of the canal, costs arising out of loss of income and livelihood to Punjabi farmers, loss of water through leakage, seepage and evaporation over such long carrying system and the cost of lifting the water from the Western Yamuna Canal for use by Haryana farmers are also reckoned. If we add to it the incalculable cost of violence which the construction of the canal is likely to lead to, it sounds rather Tughlakesque.

Fifthly, after a long flux of time of over 40 years since the issuance of the first order of allocation of waters in 1976, the order of the Supreme Court for the construction of the SYL canal has been rendered impracticable for implementation. Radical changes in agronomy, hydrology and ecology have taken place since. The most important of such changes is the change in the availability of water for allocation to different states, which is evident from the following table:

Flow series Available water

(in maf)

1921-1960 17.17

1981-2002 14.37

1981-2013 13.38

It would be observed from the data that the water availability has reduced from 17.17 MAF based on the 1921-1960 flow series to 13.38 MAF based on 1981-2013 series. Therefore, contrary to the common belief, there is no surplus water, Punjab is not misutilising even a cusec of water and the water flows to Pakistan occur mostly during the monsoon, because of inability to store.

Sixthly, the waters of the Yamuna also formed an asset of erstwhile Punjab at the time of its reorganisation on November 1, 1966. As much as 2.64 MAF of Yamuna waters were being utilised in Haryana areas at that time. As per the agreement of 1994 amongst the states of UP, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal and Delhi, Haryana was allocated 4.65 MAF of Yamuna waters, an increase of 2.01 MAF over and above their utilisation at the time of reorganisation of Punjab. In the absence of construction of storage dams on the Yamuna, full utilisation of Yamuna waters is not being made and part of it is at present going waste.

It may, therefore, be fair to conclude that the construction of the SYL canal is likely to be a zero-sum game, resulting in no net benefit to the nation. It will only result in a diversion of about 2 MAF of water from the current usage by farmers of Punjab to an inefficient future usage by farmers of Haryana and leave in its wake a tale of misery and violence. Such a misadventure is better avoided in the larger national interest, for which the Union government must intercede with the apex court and the legitimate water needs of Haryana be met by alternative innovative means.

The writer is former Chief Secretary, Punjab. The views are personal
New York, March 25

A Sikh-American girl was harassed on a subway train here when a white man, mistaking her to be from the Middle East, allegedly shouted go back to Lebanon and you dont belong in this country, the latest in a series of hate crimes against people of South-Asian origin.

Rajpreet Heir was taking the subway train to a friends birthday party in Manhattan this month when the white man began shouting at her, according to a report in the New York Times.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Heir recounted the ordeal in a video for a Times section called This Week in Hate, which highlights hate crimes and harassment around the country since the election of President Donald Trump.

Heir said she was looking at her phone when the white man shouted at her saying, Do you even know what a Marine looks like? Do you know what they have to see? What they do for this country? Because of people like you. He told Heir he hoped she was sent back to Lebanon and using expletives said, You dont belong in this country, before he left the subway. Heir, a Sikh, said she was born 30 miles from Lebanon, not the Middle Eastern country but a namesake city in the American state of Indiana.

The report said two fellow passengers stepped in to help Heir after the incident on the train. One woman tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she was all right, while another reported the incident to the police. Earlier this month, a Sikh man was shot while working on his car in his driveway in Washington.  PTI
Chandigarh, March 26

The Haryana Forest Department is planning to release eight vultures, which were bred in captivity, into the wild after attaching tracking devices to them.

This will be the first-ever release of White-backed, Long-billed and Slender-billed vultures into the wild, a spokesman of the Haryana Forest Department said here today.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

With a view of tracking the endangered vultures after their release into the wild, the Centre had granted permission for attaching satellite transmitters  Platform Transmitter Terminals (PTTs) to them.

Vultures, which act as natural scavengers, have immense ecological, economic, social and religious importance.

However, as their population started declining rapidly in the 1990s, Haryana initiated a programme for their conservation and reintroduction into the wild.

On June 3 last, Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar initiated reintroduction of vultures into the wild from the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre in Pinjore.

The spokesman said only wing-tags could be put on the birds for identification and one bird could be followed for 45 days.

"By then, the bird had successfully started locating food and water and was flying very high into the clouds. This was for the first time that successful reintroduction of vultures into the wild was carried out," he said.

"However, it was not possible to follow the birds further because no tracking device was put on them. Therefore, the Forest Department initiated the process of obtaining permission from the Centre's Department of Telecommunications in November, 2015 to put Platform Transmitter Terminals (PTTs) on vultures to help locate them through satellite once they are released into wild," the spokesman said.

Haryana Forest Minister Rao Narbir Singh had written a demi-official letter to the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change requesting him to grant permission to the Forest Department to deploy PTTs, he said.

The department has deposited the required fee with the Union Ministry of Telecommunication in February this year and the frequencies on which the satellites would operate would soon be issued, he said.

The Forest Department, in collaboration with Bombay Natural History Society, had established the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre in Pinjore in 2001, to save the three critically-endangered resident species of vultures from possible extinction.

This is the first-of-its-kind centre in Asia and houses 226 birds of the three species of vultures.  PTI
Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, March 26

National BJP president Amit Shah today exhorted the party workers to take the policies of the party to masses. Shah was interacting with nearly 154 whole-time party workers at Punjabi dharamsala here on the concluding day of the three-day state-level training programme for the whole-time workers.

Shah was accompanied by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, national BJP general secretary and in charge, Haryana affairs, Anil Jain, state president Subhash Barala, state general secretary Vedpal and several ministers from the state. The media was not allowed inside the convention hall. Shah even left the venue without interacting with mediapersons.

However, party workers who attended the convention said Shah not only boosted the morale of the whole-time workers, but also asked them to reach out to the masses to spread the policies of the party.

The BJP is observing the birth anniversary of Pt Deen Dayal Upadhaya as the year of National Work Expansion Scheme. Therefore, the workers would have to shoulder the responsibility to expand the base of the party at the grassroots level, Shah told the workers.

He said that the main objective of the BJP was to eradicate corruption, casteism and regionalism and to make the country corruption, caste and Congress-free. He exhorted the party workers to contribute to achieve this target. Expansion scheme is important and it could be successful with the utmost dedication of the party workers. They would have to dedicate themselves for the expansion of the party, Shah said.

While addressing the workers, Khattar said that the government had been working on the principle of Sabka Sath-Sabka Vikas for which around 120 welfare schemes had been launched across the state.

He said that new enterprises promotion policy had been framed to attract and promote business in the state. Advocate Vedpal said that the whole-time workers had decided to dedicate their precious time for the development of the party. Sources said that Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini was not present in the meeting today.

Shah welcomed

Karnal: Earlier, party leaders, including HAFED Chairman Harvinder Kalyan, Nilokheri MLA Bhagwan Das Kabirpanthi and others welcomed the national BJP president near Bastara toll plaza while he was on his way to Kurukshetra. While returning from Kurukshetra in the evening, Shah reached Shri Krishna Dham in Sector-9 and took blessings from Swami Gyananand Maharaj, founder of Shri Krishan Kripa Dham in Mathura.

Sonepat: Amit Shah, BJP president, was accorded a warm welcome by party workers here on Sunday. Shah was enroute to Kurukshetra from Delhi to address a state-level traders conference. Sonepat MP Ramesh Kaushik and Krishna Gahlaut, chairperson, Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board, received Shah at the Kundli border. Urban Local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain welcomed him at Murthal crossing on the GT Road. OC
Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad/Palwal, March 26

Following a crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh, the supply of all kinds of meat from Palwal and adjoining parts of Mewat has come to a standstill.

Police sources said the movement of trucks carrying meat and cattle in the area had declined or stopped altogether. Slaughterhouses located in parts of Mewat had a primary market in Meerut, Aligarh and Hapur districts, they said.

Before the UP Governments move, at least four to five truckloads used to pass from here daily on their way to Aligarh and other parts of western UP, said an official. Admitting it had been a cause of tension in the area and led to violence many times in the past few years, he said the UP Governments move would have a positive effect as far as the law and order was concerned.

Suresh Kumar Chahal, SDM, Palwal, on the other hand, said there was no official record of such activities in the district as there was no slaughterhouse. He, however, claimed that he had caught a truck carrying cattle a few months ago.

Claiming the region had become infamous for cattle smuggling or lifting, Devdutt, an activist of the Goraksha Dal, said UPs move was expected to bring some relief in the state also.

Meanwhile, Seema Trikha, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, has asked the officials to act against any illegal activity, including selling of meat, in the Badkhal assembly segment represented by her.
Forces have launched a search operation for a missing third militant.

By Shuja-ul-Haq : Two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Pulwama district's Awantipora area.

A total of three militants were travelling in a private car. Based on specific information, the car was intercepted by the Awantipora Police and 55 Rashtriya Rifles at a joint security post.

As the security personnel asked the car drive to stop, the militants opened fire. 2 of the men, including a top Hizbul Mujahideen commander were killed in the resulting exchange of fire.

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Forces have launched a search for the third militant.

WATCH VIDEO

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Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, March 26

Exhorting over 150 full-time workers to spread the policies of the party to masses, BJP national president Amit Shah on Sunday interacted with them for around an hour at Punjabi Dharamsala here.

On the concluding day of three-day state-level training programme for whole-time workers, Shah was accompanied by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, BJP national general secretary and incharge, Haryana affairs, Anil Jain, state president Subhash Barala, state general secretary Advocate Vedpal and several Cabinet ministers of Haryana.

Media was not allowed inside the convention hall. Shah even left the venue without giving interacting with the mediapersons.

The party sources in the convention said Shah not only boosted the morale of these whole timers, but also asked them to reach out to masses to spread the policies of the party.

BJP is observing the birth year of Pt Deen Dayal Upadhaya as year of National Work Expansion scheme, therefore, the workers would have to shoulder the responsibility to expand the base of party at grass root level, Shah said.

He said the key objective of the BJP was to eradicate corruption, casteism and regionalism and to make the country corruption, caste and Congress free.

Expansion scheme is important and it could be successful with the utmost dedication of party workers. They would have to dedicate themselves for the expansion of party, Shah said.

CM Khattar while addressing the party workers said the present government has been working on the ideology of Sabka Sath-Sabka Vikas, for which around 120 welfare schemes have been launched across the state.

He also exhorted them to work hard to convey the policies of the party at the ground level. He said new enterprises promotion policy had been framed to attract and promote business in the state.



Shah welcomed in Karnal

Karnal: Earlier, BJP leaders, including HAFED chairman Harvinder Kalyan, Nilokheri MLA Bhagwan Das Kabirpanthi and others, welcomed BJP national president Amit Shah near Bastara toll plaza while he was going to Kurukshetra from Delhi.

While returning from Kurukshetra, Shah reached Shri Krishna Dham in Sector 9, Karnal, and took blessings from Swami Gyananand Maharaj, founder of Shri Krishan Kripa Dham in Mathura.
Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 26

Launching a blistering attack on former Chief Minister P K Dhumal and his family members, Youth Congress president Vikramaditya Singh today accused MP Hamirpur Anurag Thakur of having links with criminals and drug lords of Punjab and termed the Dhumal family as don of drugs.

Addressing media persons here today, Singh said the old tactics of the BJP to divide people on region and caste is not working and, therefore, it has unleashed a false propaganda of mafia raj against the state government. Dhumal is making unsubstantiated allegations against Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to save his political leadership.

Quoting crime data, he said that 1,229 cases were registered under the NDPS Act in 2016 as compared to 374 cases registered in 2008 under the BJP regime which shows the commitment of the state government to fight drug menace. Amendments have been made to make the law on drugs more stringent, four medicines commonly used as drugs have been banned and 22 additional posts of drug inspector and three posts of assistant drug controller have been sanctioned.

The Himachal Pradesh Beverages Corporation was formed to bring transparency and stop black marketing of liquor in the border areas.

Accusing the BJP government of rampant corruption in giving permission under Section 118 of HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, especially to educational institutes in Solan district, he said that he had enough evidence which he would produce at the right moment.

The Youth Congress would organise rallies to counter mafia raj hatao, Himachal Pradesh bachao campaign of the BJP and the first rally would be organized in Sarkaghat tomorrow, he said.

Supporting the decision of making Dharamsala as a second capital, he said that the move would ensure cultural and emotional integration but the administration would not be shifted. The Congress would be benefitted due to this decision would play a key role in forming the next Congress government, he added.

The development works undertaken by the present Congress government throughout the state and especially in Hamirpur would pave way for the victory of Congress candidate in the Bhoranj by election, he asserted.
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 26

Two militants were killed in a brief gunfight in poll-bound Pulwama district in south Kashmir on Sunday afternoon.

The encounter broke out when the Pulwama Superintendent of Police, his deputy and another SP-rank officer were on way to Awantipore to attend a meeting.

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IPS officers while on their way to Awantipore were ambushed at Padgampora by terrorists. The daring officers' retaliatory fire killed two terrorists, while one managed to escape, J&K Director General of Police Shesh Paul Vaid said.

The terrorists were moving in a car when they fired at the police officer. We are trying to ascertain their identity.

The gunfight took place in Pulwama district that is part of Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency where byelection will be held on April 12.

Among the two militants shot dead, police said, was a wanted commander of Hizbul Mujahideen.

The two slain militants have been identified as Rayees Kachroo of Rajpora in Pulwama and Farooq Hurra of Nazneenpora in Shopian district. Kachroo was on top of the security forces' wanted list of militants operating in south Kashmir areas.

"He was wanted in connection with attacks on security forces. His killing is a major setback to militancy in south Kashmir," a police officer said.  With IANS inputs
Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 26

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Jammu and Kashmir on April 2, three youths snatched an AK-47 rifle from a policeman near the Masjid-Mandir point on the Tawi bridge in the Jewel area of Jammu on Saturday night, keeping the entire police force on tenterhooks.

While two suspects have been arrested, the third suspect, who has the rifle, is still at large. The police are raiding different areas in Jammu city to nab the suspect.

A red alert has been sounded in the entire district and all entry and exit points of Jammu city have been put under surveillance. The Jammu-Srinagar national highway has also been put on high alert.

According to the police, three suspects identified as Amir, Masood and Shahid, all residents of Shopian district, attacked police constable Muhammad Hanief, 50, posted as personal security officer of Anjuman Minhaj-e-Rasool chairman Maulana Dehlavi, near the main Tawi bridge while he was returning to the police lines after dropping Maulana at circuit house. The suspects attacked the policeman with a stick and also threw chilli powder in his eyes. They snatched the AK-47 rifle from him and fled, said Sunil Gupta, SSP, Jammu.

The SSP said Masood was arrested in the Jewel area along with a bike last night and Shahid was nabbed from the Ban toll plaza this morning while he was trying to flee to the Valley in a commercial vehicle. We are trying to nab the third suspect also but he is still at large, Gupta added.

Rifle snatching incidents are common in the Valley where youths attack police and CRPF personnel and snatch rifles before joining militant organisations.

The incident has sent alarm bells ringing among the security agencies ahead of the PMs visit to the state. The PM is scheduled to visit the Chenani area of Udhampur district on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which is 90 km from Jammu, on April 2 to inaugurate the 9.2 km-long Chenani-Nashri road tunnel.

No terror angle: DGP

DGP SP Vaid ruled out any terror angle to the incident and termed them as criminals only. They are criminals and wanted to loot a bank, the motive which led to the snatching of the rifle from the policeman, Vaid said. He said the police were on the job to nab the third suspect as well.
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 26

Two local militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in a brief gunfight when they ambushed a cavalcade of senior police officers in poll-bound south Kashmir this afternoon.

The militants, who were travelling in a car, appeared from a narrow lane and started firing at the cavalcade of Superintendent of Police, Pulwama, Rayees Mohammad Bhat, Superintendent of Police, Awantipora, Mohammad Zahid and Additional Superintendent of Police, Pulwama, Chandan Kohli at Padgampora in Pulwama, some 25 km from Srinagar.

IPS officers while on their way to Awantipora were ambushed by terrorists at Padgampora. The daring officers retaliatory fire killed two terrorists, while one managed to escape, Director General of Police Shesh Paul Vaid told The Tribune. The two terrorists were neutralised swiftly, he said.

The police seized two weapons, including a self-loading rifle, that was snatched from a policeman guarding a minority picket in Pulwama last year.

The two slain Hizbul militants were identified as Shabaz Ahmed Wani, alias Rayees Kachru, of Below, Pulwama, and Farooq Ahmad Hurra of Nazneenpora, Shopian. Rayees had joined militancy in June 2016.

Soon after the gunfight, clashes broke out in the Pulwama, Rajpora and Tahab areas of south Kashmir.

The gunfight took place in the same village where two local militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed on March 9.

The senior police officers, who were attacked at Padgampora, were on their way to Awantipora from Pulwama after attending a meeting with the Chief Electoral Officer in connection with the byelections to the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat. The elections will be held on April 12.

South Kashmir districts  Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian  remains a major concern for the security forces as around 100 militants are active in this belt. There are apprehensions that the voting turnout in the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency may be low as compared to the previous elections.
Ehsan Fazili

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 26

Once again, Srinagar is bracing for the battle of the ballot. With the byelection to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat due on April 9, a tough fight is on the cards between two arch rivals, the ruling PDP and opposition National Conference, but sans the traditional poll fervour in the backdrop of nearly three-decade-old militancy.

The byelection was necessitated by the resignation of sitting PDP MP Tariq Hameed Karra both from the party and Lok Sabha late last year, following his differences over the unholy alliance of the PDP and the BJP and handling of the 2016 unrest in Kashmir.

This byelection is going to take place in the aftermath of an undercurrent of anger against the ruling alliance and nearly six months long unrest in the Valley last year.

The National Conference-Congress alliance has taken up the challenge by fielding the NCs stalwart, a three-time former Chief Minister and a former Union minister, Farooq Abdullah. Farooq had so far faced the only electoral defeat from Srinagar against Karra in the 2014 elections. Now, Farooq in his election campaign has on his side Karra, who joined the Congress recently after bidding farewell to the PDP. The NC and the Congress, which had a coalition government led by Omar Abdullah between 2009 and 2014, have again a poll alliance against the ruling PDP-BJP.

A general feeling of wait and watch is being observed in the constituency comprising three districts of central Kashmir  Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal.

The separatist-sponsored anti-election campaign has staged a comeback, particularly on Fridays after the rampant protest demonstrations leading to clashes between stone-throwers and the police against the civilian killings triggered by militant commander Burhan Wanis killing in south Kashmir in July last year.

The anti-election campaign is centred in downtown Srinagar which has been witnessing more trouble than anywhere else in the capital city. However, the traditional poll fervour is lacking elsewhere in the city which forms about 50 per cent of the Assembly segments. Srinagar is spread over 15 Assembly segments  eight in Srinagar district, five in Budgam and two in Ganderbal district. The rallies have started in two districts of Budgam and Ganderbal flanking the central capital city of Srinagar.

Of the 15 Assembly segments, the PDP and the NC have got seven seats each, while the remaining seat of Khansahib in Budgam district is represented by Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, heading his own party, the Peoples Democratic Front, for the past three consecutive terms. The central Kashmir has been a bastion of the National Conference, but in the past three elections the PDP has made inroads into it representing five of the eight seats in Srinagar and two in Budgam district. Two seats of Ganderbal and Kangan are represented by the NC.

The anti-PDP-BJP rant of the NC-Congress poll alliance is going to be at the centre of the poll battle with the anti-incumbency factor in the light of unholy alliance of the ruling parties. The PDP managed to wrest the Anantnag Assembly seat in June last year paving way for Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to enter the Legislature.

The forthcoming byelections to Srinagar and Anantnag Lok Sabha seats are going to be a litmus test for the party, which has grown from 16 Assembly seats to the present 25 in the last three elections since it was born in 1999.
Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 26

Amid reported remarks on Naga territories by one of the Centre-NSCN-IM accord signatories Thuingaleng Muivah, the government yesterday came out with a statement strongly rebutting that it had agreed to carve out a greater Nagaland by carving out Naga-dominated areas of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.

The rebuttal also came amid pressure after Congress demand for making public details of the accord reached in 2015. In a statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the government claimed that the reports were erroneous. It said, Some media reports have appeared recently to the effect that the Government of India has agreed to carve out a larger Nagaland State by taking away the territories of the states contiguous to Nagaland. Such reports are erroneous. It is clarified that there is no such agreement or decision of the Government of India.

A senior MHA official otherwise insisted that the pact had only set the political parameters for further negotiation to arrive at a final and lasting solution. However, reportedly on last Wednesday, Muivah had told a council meeting of the NSCN (IM) at its headquarters in Hebron near Dimapur in Nagaland that the agreement also recognises the legitimate right of the Nagas to integration of all Naga territories.

The Naga leader was reflecting on the terms of the Framework Agreement signed between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak Muivah) in August 2015. But so far the government has kept the same under wraps.
Lucknow/New Delhi, March 26

Meat sellers across Uttar Pradesh would go on an indefinite strike from Monday against the crackdown on illegal and mechanised slaughterhouses.

Fish vendors were also claimed to have resolved to join the stir which has seen non-vegetarian delicacies go off the menu in several parts of the state.

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"We have decided to intensify our strike from tomorrow.

All shops will remain closed. Fish sellers too have joined us and are extending support to us," Lucknow Bakra Gosht Vypar Mandal office-bearer Mubeen Qureshi said.

He said, in the wake of the crackdown, there was no question of the strike being called off anytime soon.

"It will go on indefinitely," he said.

Due to the strike, non-vegetarian food outlets, including the famous Tunday and Rahim's have shifted to mutton and chicken dishes after buffalo meat became scarce.

"The meat sellers are piqued over the crackdown on slaughter houses which has adversely hit the livelihood of lakhs of people," Qureshi said.

After coming to power, the Yogi Adityanath government has ordered closure of illegal slaughterhouses and strict enforcement of the ban on cow smuggling to fulfil a key electoral promise.

As the mouth-watering kebabs went off the platter, the owner of another famous eatery said the situation might force the hoteliers to get mutton from Delhi.

"But there will be no compromise on the quality of the food," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

At the same time, he supported the closure of illegal and mechanised slaughter houses in the state, saying it was difficult for a common man to pass through a locality where the slaughter houses were operating almost openly.

He also alleged that the illegal abattoirs even indulged in slaughtering dogs.

Replying to a question, he said, "This is not a religious issue. In fact, it is directly linked to the health of people, who have the right to good quality of meat and fish."

Meanwhile, BJP national spokesman Sambit Patra said in Delhi that the government was only following a court order as illegal abattoirs were contributing to UP's ill-health by getting ground water polluted.

He claimed those running meat outlets legally and in accordance with norms were not being victimised.

"There has been a court order about illegal abattoirs which was not implemented by the previous government. The state's Chief Secretary has constituted committees in each district headed by the Collector and comprising ten people each. The committee is visiting every slaughterhouse to see if they are being run legally and submitting a report every day," he said.

About loss of livelihood and lack of meat in the market, Patra said," If there is large-scale disruption, the state government will look at it and resolve the issue.

Senior UP Congress leader Akhilesh Pratap Singh said only small meat vendors were being targeted during the drive.

"How is it that the small shops are getting closed and meat exports are going up. The government should have made people aware of the laws and rules before launching the drive," he said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had yesterday said abattoirs operating legally will not be touched but action will be taken against those run illegally.

"The government will not touch those (abattoirs) which are operating as per the provisions of law and have a valid licence. But those that are violating the orders of the NGT and playing with the health of the public would not be spared...," he had said.  PTI
Chandigarh, March 26

Taking a serious note of the deaths of eight people in two major road accidents in less than 24 hours, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday directed state traffic authorities to crack down on over-speeding and violation of traffic rules by vehicles, especially buses.

The Chief Minister further asked the Transport Department to examine the feasibility of installing speed governors in public transport.

Amarinder has ordered the Transport Department and traffic police to launch a state-wide drive to prevent such avoidable mishaps, an official release quoting him said here.

The chief minister condoled the deaths and expressed his heartfelt sympathies to the grief-stricken families of the deceased.

Notably, four persons were killed yesterday when the car in which they were travelling was involved in a collision with a private bus in Barnala district.

In another mishap today, four persons including two women were killed and eleven others injured in an accident involving three vehicles in Bathinda districts Talwandi Sabo town.

Among other measures, the chief minister has directed the traffic police to check over-speeding and overcrowding, as well as plying of vehicles converted into public transport through unauthorised modification, across the state.

He has also asked the Transport Department to check out the possibility of installation of speed governors in public transport, especially buses and trucks, which are found to be the main culprits in majority of the road accidents in Punjab.

Instructions have also been issued to the Public Works Department (PWD) to ensure that precisely engineered and properly marked speed breakers are in place on all state highways and roads, including link roads, along with other necessary measures to minimise accidents.

Warning that no laxity on these issues would be tolerated, the chief minister has asked the concerned officials to expedite the process of review of bus permits and take all illegally plying buses off the roads at the earliest.

The review process, which covers former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badals Orbit buses that have been in the news for a long time for their brazen violation of road safety rules, has already commenced, the release said.

The chief minister also assured that work on setting up a road safety authority to study the causes of frequent accidents on the states roads, as decided by his Cabinet at its maiden meeting, had already been initiated.

The recommendations of the authority, which would be the first-of-its-kind in region, would be taken up on priority to make the states roads accident-free and safe, it said.  PTI
Tribune News Service

Sangrur, March 26

Two main farmer organisations here are at loggerheads in the district over the Jhaloor land row.

The BKU Ekta (Ugrahan) has announced to start a protest in front of the DC office from Monday for the arrest of all 33 accused in the murder case of 72-year-old Dalit woman Gurdev Kaur from Jhaloor village near Lehragaga. She had died on November 11 at PGIMER, Chandigarh, following a clash over the panchayat land, reserved for SCs, between Dalits and upper caste persons on October 5 at Jhaloor village.

However, BKU Ekta (Sidhupur) has announced to start a protest in front of the Lehragaga police station from April 3 for reinvestigation of all case as it alleged that innocents were booked by the police. A few months after the registration of case against 33 persons, who attacked the Dalits and are responsible for the death of Gurdev Kaur, the police have arrested only five accused. We will start a protest for the arrest of all accused in front of the Sangrur DC office from tomorrow, said Joginder Singh, president, BKU Ekta (Ugraha).

The police have booked innocents under the pressure of BKU Ekta (Ugraha) leaders. We will start a protest in front of the Lehragaga police station from April 3 for the cancellation of the FIRs, said Bikramjit Singh, Sangrur district president of BKU Ekta (Sidhupur).

Harvinder Singh, SHO, Lehragaga police station, said the court had ordered reinvestigations of the Gurdev Kaur murder case.

Our special investigation team under the supervision of SP (D) has been working and there is no delay on our part. We are conducting reinvestigation as early as possible, he said.

Farmers to hold march in Delhi

Chandigarh: Farmers of the state will hold a protest march to Parliament in New Delhi on Thursday against the anti-farmer policies of the Union Government. BKU Ekta (Dakaunda) state president Buta Singh Burjgill said farmers were disappointed over import of those grains which the country already had in sufficient amount. The Swaminathan Committee report should be implemented for suitable remunerations of all crops, he added. tns
Top bureaucrats are provided with accommodations during their tenure in office which they are supposed to vacate if they are transferred or they retire from service. But, they have to pay the rent if they overstay.

By Mayuresh Ganapatye: Several top bureaucrats from Maharashtra are on the list of defaulters who owe money to the state government for overstaying in the flats allotted to them while in service & after retirement.

Top bureaucrats are provided with accommodations during their tenure in office which they are supposed to vacate if they are transferred or they retire from service. But, they have to pay the rent if they overstay.

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Govt failed to collect rent from top babus

When state govt presented its Budget this time, it was deficit budget of Rs 4,511 crore. On one hand, govt is worried about how to bridge this deficit gap, but on other, state govt's has failed to collect almost Rs 92 lakh rent from top babus for occupying government quarters.

"Unfortunately, we don't have any rule that govt can deduct the due amount from the salaries or from pension of bureaucrats. Govt must ask these bureaucrats to pay the dues immediately or else others will also get inspired to exercise such bad practice which will ultimately hit our state," said RTI activist Anil Galgali.

Replying to the RTI query filed by Galgali, PWD department stated that there are 11 bureaucrats who have not yet vacated their respective accommodations allotted to them despite being transferred and retired long time back. Also, PDW department informed Galgali that 6 officers are yet to vacate government accommodations after they got transferred.

Officials who owe dues

IAS Officer Kamalakar Fund (Rs 24,15,496), General Manager of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation Rajendra Ahirwar ( Rs 5,96,260), Deputy Collector Dhanaji Toraskar ( Rs 6,04,400), Sudhir Joshi ( Rs 8,21,852), Senior Police Officer Ashok Kumar Sharma (Rs 4,97,335) & Ashok Solankar ( Rs 2,14,847)

Three retired judges -- Prakash Kumar Rahile ( Rs 6,93,085) Prakash Rathod ( Rs 7,96,375) & T M Jahagirdar ( Rs 4,86,036) yet to pay dues. Retired IAS Officer Sudhir Khan Aapure (Rs 2,65,545) & Prem Kumar Jain (Rs 17,57,272)

Interestingly, after court's order PK Jain vacated his govt accommodation, but is yet to pay his dues.

Despite being on the list of nonpayment of dues for using govt accommodation after retirement, Fadnavis govt appointed PK Jain as member of Maharashtra State Police Complaint Authority.

"I have no fair knowledge of this mater, but if there is no provision of exemption, then certainly they will have to pay that amount. Be it minister, IAS officials or any govt officials. Govt will be certainly recovering the due amount as per the rules. To help farmers of state we need that money ," said state Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar.

Also read:

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56 politicos failed to pay rent for overstaying in Lutyens' Zone bungalows

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ANGLO-Indian critics claim that Sir Archibald Birkmyre has given the Government of India his valuable opinion on the question of Home Rule for India. That opinion is that all the present agitation for it is useless and India is not fit for the reform. It is true, he says, that India will deserve Home Rule at some distant future which she is sure to get. No doubt, the learned speaker is entitled to his opinions, but he, like others who are opposed to Home Rule, considers the question a matter of mere opinion. To the bulk of the people of India, and those who speak for them, it is not a matter of opinions but of national existence. We should like to see all opponents of Home Rule give their opinions by imagining themselves governed by a bureaucracy in their own home with rights and privileges and wrongs and restraints like Indians.
Moscow, March 26

Thousands of Russians demonstrated across the country on Sunday to protest at corruption, defying bans on rallies which were called by prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny -- who was arrested along with dozens of others.

Navalny called for the protests after publishing a detailed report this month accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of controlling a property empire through a shadowy network of non-profit organisations.

The report has been viewed over 11 million times on YouTube but Medvedev has so far made no comments on the claims.

Navalny, who has announced his intention to run for president in next year's election, has been rallying supporters in major Russian cities in recent weeks.

In Moscow, Navalny called on supporters to walk along the main Tverskaya street, and people congregated on the nearby squares lined with dozens of police vans and rows of riot officers as a police helicopter hovered overhead.

"We have all seen the movie, it gives specific examples of corruption and there has been no reaction," said 26-year-old factory worker Nikolai Moisey.

"They steal and they lie but still people will be patient to the end. The protest is a first push for people to start acting."

Police detained Navalny shortly after 2:00 pm (1100 GMT) as he was walking to the protest, putting him in a police minibus, and the surrounding crowd briefly tried to block it from driving off shouting "Shame!" and "Let him out!"

"Guys, I am all right, go on along Tverskaya," Navalny tweeted from the van.

Between 3,000 and 4,000 people filled Pushkin square, with some shouting "Russia without Putin", referring to President Vladimir Putin.

They also shouted "Russia will be free" as police seized protesters who held up placards.

"The whole country is tired of corruption on such a scale," 50-year-old Natalia Demidova said. "Medvedev should be fired once such exposes come to light."

Some cities have officially sanctioned Sunday's protest.

In the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, about 2,000 gathered in the city centre carrying signs like "No to corruption," according to local news website Sib.fm.

"People came out even in cities where there have not been any rallies for years," Navalny said in a message shortly after the Moscow rally began.  AFP
Dhaka, March 26

Elite commandos on Sunday battled to neutralise Islamist militants holed up in a building rocked by fresh explosions, hours after six people were killed and over 50 others injured in blasts claimed by the Islamic State outside the complex in Bangladesh's northeastern Sylhet city.

"A ban has been enforced barring entry of ordinary people within the vicinity of the building as final preparations were underway to flush the militants out from their den," a police officer told reporters on the scene.

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At least three blasts were heard from inside the five-storey 'Atia Mahal' since 9:57 am (local time). A huge blast near the building tilted it towards one side, the Daily Star reported, citing its photojournalist who was on the spot.

Several gunshots were also heard. But it is unclear who were firing the shots as army prepared for a final assault.

Sylhet-based 17 Infantry Division's Major General Anwarul Momen is leading the operation codenamed 'Twilight', which was assisted by police's SWAT and counter-terrorism units. The elite Rapid Action Battalion is also involved.

It was not immediately clear whether the blasts were bomb attacks carried out in support of the militants holed up in the building.

Eyewitnesses said sounds of intermittent gunshots and explosions were heard, indicating militants' response to the security siege that continued for the last three days.

Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime chief Monirul Islam said on Saturday they had information that JMB chief Musa along with some other JMB militants were in Sylhet, but it was not clear if they were the ones hiding in the building.

The neo-JMB, said to be inclined to the Islamic State, was behind the July 1 terror attack on a Dhaka cafe in which 22 people, including 17 foreigners, were killed.

On Saturday, the first blast happened around 7:00 pm about 400 metres off the building where the militants were holed up.

It targeted the onlookers and policemen.

The Dhaka Tribune quoted Sylhet Metropolitan Police ADC Jedan Al Musa as saying the blast was a "suicide attack".

Another blast took place in front of the hideout an hour later. Six people, including two police officers, were killed in twin blasts. The dead included two police inspectors and four onlookers, two of them college students.

Hours later the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack through its propaganda news agency 'Amaq'.

The target of the attack was security forces, it said.

This was the third attack in Bangladesh in eight days for which the Islamic State claimed credit.

Elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Intelligence Wing chief Lt Col Abul Kalam was seriously wounded in blasts and flown to Dhaka for treatment. Doctors said over 50 people were treated at a major state-run hospital in Sylhet alone.

Citing one of the injured people, bdnews24.com said that the second blast took place when RAB and police personnel went to the spot after the first blast.

CTTC Assistant Commissioner Rohmot Ullah Chowdhury says that there are multiple live bombs still hidden throughout the hideout.

"We have enforced today the Section 144 strictly barring peoples' entry within the vicinity for security following the casualties," a police officer told newsmen.

Police had raided the building early morning Friday and cordoned off the area. TV channels were barred from broadcasting the operation "live".

The Operation Twilight was launched after a suicide bomber on Friday night blew himself up at the international airport in Dhaka in an attack claimed by the Islamic State. It came a week after an identical attack on a RAB camp in Dhaka.

Police had tracked down the Sylhet hideout less than a week after they busted two militant dens on the outskirts of the southeastern port city Chittagong.

Bangladesh has been witnessing a spate of attacks on secular activists, foreigners and religious minorities since 2013. The country launched a massive crackdown on militants, especially after the Dhaka cafe attack.  PTI
Cincinnati, March 26

Gunfire erupted inside a crowded nightclub early today, killing one person and wounding 14 others. The police said there was no indication the shooting at the Cameo club was terrorism related. Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate said in a tweet that the motive was still unclear, however. Authorities also didnt immediately have any suspects in the 1:30 am shooting on a busy weekend night.

Neudigate tweeted that there was only one reported shooter but that police were investigating whether others were involved. The police earlier said at least a couple of shooters were involved.

Capt Kim Williams said there was just a lot of chaos, obviously, when shots were fired. Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst, she said.

Several officers were working security detail at the club and performed first aid and tried to revive the person who died, Williams said.

A single body was removed by the coroner shortly after 6 am. Fifteen people were shot, police said. Some of them drove themselves to area hospitals and others were taken by ambulance.

Authorities asked anyone with information to come forward. Investigators are checking to see if surveillance cameras were working, Williams said. WLWT reported that at least one person was in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

The area is mostly industrial but also home to several nightclubs with a smattering of homes. The area is fairly desolate at night, with the exception of the nightlife scene and 24-hour gas stations. The road where the club sits was easily cordoned off by a single police cruiser and officer at either end.

Authorities are interviewing several witnesses, but Williams said a lot of the clubgoers had left. The biggest problem when you have a large crowd like this and the shots ring out, a lot of the witnesses disappear, she said.  AP
Huntington Beach, Calif., March 26

Supporters of President Donald Trump holding a rally on a popular southern California beach clashed with counter-protesters on Saturday.

Multiple fights broke out and, according to local media, at least one Trump supporter was doused with pepper spray when pro-Trump demonstrators marching along Bolsa Chica State Beach encountered a small group opposed to the Republican president who had gathered to denounce the rally.

The fights appeared to start in the early afternoon when a dozen anti-Trump protesters dressed in all black refused to move from a bike path to allow a larger group of pro-Trump supporters taking part in the Make America Great Again rally to pass. The confrontation escalated into a fight with more skirmishes quickly breaking out.

At least one person was pepper-sprayed by an anti-Trump protester, local media reported. The Los Angles Times identified the woman who was sprayed as an organizer of the rally, which drew hundreds of Trump supporters to the stretch of coastline located south of the ocean-side community of Huntington Beach.

Known as Surf City, USA, Huntington Beach is located some 40 miles (64 km) south of Los Angeles.

Video footage from social media uploaded to the newspapers website showed a chaotic scene with men fighting in the sand and a group of around 20 Trump supporters, some carrying Trump flags, chasing a man in a black mask away from the beach and on to a freeway. The man was stopped by members of the California Highway Patrol, the newspaper said.

The masked man had used the pepper spray and was set upon by a group of Trump supporters, the newspaper reported.

Members of the California State Parks police appeared to arrest two of the black-clad individuals, but the number of arrests was unclear.

The Huntington Beach Police Department directed questions from Reuters about the incident to the California State Parks police, who could not immediately be reached for comment. The California Highway Patrol could not immediately be reached for comment.

Demonstrations denouncing the Trump administration have drawn hundreds of thousands since he took office in January.

Smaller rallies have been staged across the country in support of Trump.

On Saturday, Trump praised his supporters.

Thanks you for all of the Trump Rallies today. Amazing support. We will all MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! He said in a message on Twitter.  Reuters
By Siddhartha Rai: THE first Mail Today Culture Conclave on Saturday saw a spirited discussion between proponents of divergent visions of Indian nationalism. While some laid emphasis on "composite culture", others underscored "cultural ethos".

"The churn we are facing today is civilisational, reorienting India back to its moorings after a secularist interlude," said professor Makarand Paranjape of Jawaharlal Nehru University's English department.

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"India is not a secular country in the sense in which the church and the state were separated in Europe. It is rather a very 'Dharmic' country. Of course one idea of nationalism has the danger to be a hegemonic idea, but this turning back to our moorings is healthy as, secularism as it has come to understood today does not represent the mainstream of India. Secularism has itself become a form of communalism."

'TEXTURED SPIRITUALITY'

The conversation came against the backdrop of opposition parties and activists accusing the BJP government of trying to turn multi-faith India into a Hindu nation and painting detractors as "anti-nationals". "I agree that India is a religious nation and we must all accept it. But it is a textured spirituality; it has been a very inclusive spirituality," said activist and writer Sadia Dehlvi.

She referred to the Sufi traditions of Indian history and said there had always been a very healthy interaction between the different cultural strains in the country. But Dehlvi also maintained that such a way of life is under attack in today's India and that she is very afraid to dissent.

"The tolerance that marks the Ganga-Jamuni culture of India is on the wane. Any dissent is taken such offence at from social media to otherwise; people say 'you go to Pakistan', etc. But, why should I go? I am called Dehlvi precisely as I have an ancestry rooted in Delhi for the past 400 years. They are all buried here," she said.

INDIA MOST TOLERANT COUNTRY I'VE VISITED, SAYS US-BORN VEDIC SCHOLAR DAVID FRAWLEY

Pitching in, US-born Vedic teacher and author David Frawley pointed at the political situation across the world and in India's neighbouring countries, terming India the most "tolerant" country that he has visited.

"Unlike Europe, etc, India is the most tolerant country in the world. Also, the minority -majority question in India must be seen in the international context. Hindus may be a majority in India, but they are a minority in the global sense," he said.

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Responding to the claim by Dehlvi that minorities had been left behind in India, Frawley said that in India, in the name of secularism, "the majority has been left behind in so many ways". Professor Paranjape argued that certain aspects of Indian history, pertaining to Muslims being invaders and the atrocities committed by the Muslim rulers on Hindus, need to be exposed and not glossed over.

Pavan Varma, former IFS officer and ex-adviser to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, accepted Paranjape's point, but recommended a way out based on the recognition of India's composite culture.

ALSO READ | Anti-nationalism in the name of freedom of speech on the rise: Wrestler Yogeshwar to India Today

After Jamia, RSS-backed forum takes nationalism, triple talaq debate to AMU, Hyderabad University

ALSO WATCH | Bullying on nationalism or freedom of speech: Campuses no place for debate anymore?

--- ENDS ---
Nine and Seven are at odds over pooled news footage and assorted watermarks.

Nine alleged pooled aerial vision of the Adele concert in Perth and the Essendon plane crash last month were claimed as First on 7 when Nine ran the vision at the same time.

A Nine spokeswoman told the Australian Financial Review senior management dialogue had been productive in trying to address industry challenges.

But, then day-to-day there is disunity within Seven and they are all over the place, some playing by the rules and some labelling chopper vision, pool vision or press conference vision as First on Seven to mislead viewers, they said.

But a Seven spokesman said Nine needed to calm down.

They have a list of our material they have appropriated or inappropriately labelled as their own over the past few weeks. It is quite a list. Surely, they have more important things in their life, like not losing in news.

Meanwhile sources inside the TEN newsroom alleged Seven took its footage from the Essendon plane crash and obscured their logo.

Nine hasnt ruled out taking further action.
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The strike was called by the student body in protest against the inclusion of a non-Manipuri independent candidate Ashab Uddin in the recent 11th state Assembly election of Manipur.

By Manogya Loiwal : A general strike called by the Democratic Students Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) affected normal life in Manipur on Sunday. The 17-hour long strike started from midnight of March 25 and concluded today at 5 pm.

All the markets and business establishments remained closed. As it was a Sunday, the strike did not affect the activities and government administration or the educational institutions. However, all the public and passenger vehicles were off the road due to the strike. Besides, inter-village, districts and inter-state bus services were halted for today.

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Volunteers of the DESAM blocked roads at different places by piling up huge logs and burning used tyers. No vehicle was allowed to pass through the roads. However, people going to attend rituals and religious ceremonies, essential services including media were let to move freely during the general strike. No untoward incident was reported during the strike.

The strike was called by the student body in protest against the inclusion of a non-Manipuri independent candidate Ashab Uddin, who was elected from Jiribam Assembly constituency in the recent 11th state Assembly election of Manipur. The candidate was inducted as parliamentary secretary in the BJP-led government in the state, headed by Chief Minister N Biren.

"Many forms of agitation will be launched after the ongoing class X and XII examination conducted by Board of Secondary Education Manipur and Council of Higher Secondary Education, Manipur is over. DESAM will not agree to allow a non- Manipuri, who is from Bangladesh, to include in the administration of Manipur. Unless the Manipur government revokes his induction as Parliamentary secretary, the student body will continue the agitation. If any untoward incident happens, the responsibility should be owned by the state government," General secretary of DESAM Jameson warned.

(With inputs from Jit Ningomba)

Also read: Manipur makes a fresh start as Nagas end 139-day economic blockade

--- ENDS ---
Going to High School is a matter of chance, but attending College is more of a privilege. Saving for collegiate tuition fees has been a costly struggle for students whose families belong to the middle class. Fortunately, Canada and England are offering cheaper quality educational institutions.

For one thing, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recorded a whopping $1.3 trillion on student loans in 2016. Moreover, it has been reported that almost 70 percent of graduating senior students in the U.S. have debts. The average tuition fee for a four-year in-state university in America, often excluding board and lodging, is around $21, 447 USD. Thus, others prefer to go abroad and enroll in more affordable schools like the ones stated below.

University of Victoria

According to Business Insider, this Canadian institution offers a total of $27, 645 CAD for a yearly payment. Luckily, it is only equivalent to about $20, 506 USD. Meanwhile, those who have dual US/Canadian citizenships get an even lower price of $5, 227 USD annual tuition fee. Academically, it is noted for programs in Law, Economics, as well as Earth and Ocean Sciences.

University of Sheffield

Found in England, this university provides Arts and Social Sciences courses for $19,446 USD. Consequently, it caters to Archaeology, Architecture, Journalism, Math, and Music students for a price of not more than $21, 875 USD. The highest offer, though, is at $24, 878 USD for Engineering, Non-clinical Medicine and Dentistry programs. Times Higher Education earlier reported that the University of Sheffield ranks 13th among the best UK Universities.

McGill University

While tuition fees in Canada vary per province, Quebec provides one of the lowest. McGill University, for example, offers quality education for $21, 221 USD only. Do note that it already includes average housing options for foreign students. In particular, board and lodging plus food at McGill range between $7, 420 USD and $18, 000 USD.
In his Mann Ki Baat today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on issues ranging from digital payment and new India to depression and maternity leave for working women. PM Modi called for more citizen-government engagement for overall development of the country.

By India Today Web Desk: Addressing the nation through his monthly radio-broadcast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced an enhanced maternity leave for working women.

PM Modi said, "Working women will now be given maternity leave of 26 weeks, instead of the earlier 12 weeks, for their pregnancy and delivery. The basic aim is to ensure proper care of the newborn, the future citizen of India, from the time of birth."

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In his radio address PM Modi also said that his call for 'New India' is not a 'government scheme' but a process of change in mindset of '125 crore Indians'.

Addressing the 30th edition of Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi said, " New India is not a government scheme or a matter of politics. It manifests the strength of each and every India, who will together create a Bhavya Bharat."

Elaborating his point, Modi further said, " It is the essence of the emotions of the 125 crore Indians wanting to come together and create a magnificent India."

WHAT ELSE DID MODI SAY New India manifests the strength and skills of 125 crore Indians, who will create a Bhavya and Divya Bharat. We live in 21st century. Desire of 125 crore countrymen for change, effort to change, is what will lay strong foundation of 'New India'. New India is the clarion call of 125 crore countrymen. 125 crore Indians nurture a hope, a zeal, a resolve, a desire. There are lakhs of people, who besides their own personal responsibilities, are working selflessly for society. Every citizen must discharge his civic duties and responsibilities. This in itself would be a good beginning to the New India. People in large numbers participated in digital payment in Digidhan movement. There has been increase in curiosity about cashless transactions. India has extended support to the movement towards digital transactions. People of India have rejected corruption and black money. Whenever I ask for ideas and suggestions for Mann Ki Baat, one theme on which I keep getting suggestions is Swachhata. People of India are getting angry as far as dirt is concerned and this is a welcome sign. Making cleanliness an integral part of our lives and ensuring a clean India. Wastage of food is unfortunate. I know of several youngsters who are using technology and helping prevent wastage of food. Depression can be overcome. We all can play a role in helping those suffering from depression overcome it. Always good to share your feelings with others, if feeling depressed. Yoga too is a good means for mental well-being. Yoga helps in relieving tension and stress, and leads one towards a happy state of mind.

ALSO READ|

Mann Ki Baat updates: Everything what PM Narendra Modi said in his radio address

WATCH | Mann ki Baat: PM Modi urges people to join New India movement, announces increase in maternity leave

--- ENDS ---
It is never easy to accept and deal with any college rejection. But, what students must know and understand is that there is still life outside the college admissions, and that it is okay to receive a rejection letter from one or a number of schools.

Students who have already submitted their college applications this year must already be looking forward to the acceptance (and rejection letters). But when they finally hear back and did not receive an offer, here are the things that college applicants must do.

Never panic

Students must acknowledge that it is not the end of the world, yet. Rejection is a natural part of life and that is something that all people will have to deal with at one point or another.

Talk to a friend, mentor or counselor

While rejection can be difficult to handle, especially when it comes from someone's dream school, it will probably be a lot easier if discussed with a school counselor or mentor, according to USA Today College. This will make it easier for the applicant to deal with the feelings of rejection, and also ask any questions pertaining to the admissions process.

Consider second-choice school

Students usually apply to more than one school, and the reason behind it is for them to have a wide range of options when some schools don't accept them, and that is exactly the point. Students who have been rejected from their dream schools should realize that it is not the only institution that offers the qualities they like, according to US News. Even if the second-choice school does not match the dream school, there are still plenty of reasons why it is unique and still likeable.

Come up with a plan to transfer

Just because a student didn't get accepted at their dream school, does not mean they cannot graduate there. Many students transfer after a year or two and this is something that anyone can do too.
Harper Adams University (HAU) provides the best campus experience for students in the United Kingdom. The institution got the top spot against 120 universities according to over 15,000 student respondents. "It is great to see our students rate the university so highly and coming first is a fantastic result," Vice-Chancellor David Llewellyn said in earlier interviews.

Harper Adams University: Awards

HAU ranked first on "good community atmosphere" in the Times Higher Education student experience survey. It also landed third on "good social life", following Newcastle University and the University of Leeds. Moreover, it got the fourth place for "high-quality staff and lectures", which was dominated by the University of Oxford, Cambridge, and St. Andrews.

Another second place was awarded to the Harper institution for "helpful and interesting staff." Well, Oxford also got the top spot for this category. On the other hand, HAU also ranked in high "quality of teaching" and good "campus facilities".

Llewellyn further stressed that while they give their students an "outstanding" academic journey, these young minds are regularly prompted to be socially active as well. "We work closely with our student community on their social life and extracurricular activities," the official added. For the record, per FG Insight, professors encourage their students to think about innovations for the UK farming system too.

Future of campus life

The inevitable rise of online classes could end the era of physical universities. Thus, in order to catch up, schools will soon offer high-tech AI (artificial intelligence) teachers. If it pushes through, the project will permit the historic partnership between academic robots and human professors.

Simply put, if these AI's already know how to drive cars, then it should learn how to word-process as well. However, the incorporation of robots may actually replace the human teachers in the long run. Additionally, school lawyers, accountants, and other employees would also disappear.

Lastly, a "smart campus" is already being planned. The next campus designs may sport LED lights for a "flashy" future. In relation to this, sensors are being developed to track whether classroom are empty or not. They can also detect how many people are attending in a particular lecture.
Fisk University announced on Thursday that Kevin Rome will officially step into the position president for Fisk University on July 1st. Rome is currently president of Lincoln University in Missouri. With his years of experience he will become the 16th president for the historically black institution.

He will replace the school's interim president Frank Sims, who has led the university after H. James Williams resigned in 2015. It took eight months of planning that included forums with alumni in multiple states, faculty and staff. Barbara Bowles, chair of the Fisk Board of Trustees, said that Rome is the transformational leader that Fisk is looking for to shape the school's future and accelerate growth.

Rome had four years of presidency for Lincoln University. Prior to that, he was an administrator at North Carolina Central University.

Rome said that the previous president, Sims, left a strong legacy of leadership and he is ready to build on Fisk's legacy. Fisk University had a central role in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

As the nation's historically black colleges and universities are facing an interesting chapter, he remains positive that Fisk's story of academic excellence, diversity, and integrity expand over the next 150 years will remain according to Nashville Public Radio.

In 2012 the university shared their celebrated Alfred Stieglitz Collection with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas. The multimillion-dollar deal saved Fisk from having to close its doors.

After the university's accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges was put on two-year probation they overhauled its financial practices several years ago. As a result, the probation was lifted in 2013.

Rome's experience with managing a budget of more than $57 million at Lincoln University was a key factor for his selection. Lincoln enrollment jumped 50 percent during his time and Fisk hopes that he can help the university with grow in the same sense.

Cynthia McIntyre, a Fisk trustee, said Rome's past accomplishments can very well increase Fisk's partnership with the greater Nashville community according to The Tennessean.
Google will finally build a university for coders right its Mountain View Headquarters in California. However, the company will give preference to students from historically black universities and colleges.

The move was pushed forward by Google to help black youths to be computer programmers that can eventually help push forward the boundaries of technology today to its limits. As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the said university will help both Howard University and Google and help society. This is the main objective of Google as they also pointed out the they are not being sponsored by the said university to put up the school in their compound.

NBC reported that Google's employee demographics lack a balance of ethnicity. Only five percent of the company are black, while most are Asians and Caucasians. The University will focus on fixing this disparity by giving incentives and opportunity for minorities, such as black and Latinos to have a good educational background and at the same time, equal opportunity to land a decent job in one of the biggest companies to date.

The curriculum of this Howard university extension are computer programming, software engineering and computer science. Google's move will surely would open the gates of opportunity for many of the black and Latino community as the university is intended for minorities in the first place. Though it is not a political statement, the move does give priority to Blacks and Latinos, who regularly get into issues of racism and discrimination.

According to Bonita Steward, Google Global Partnerships and also a Howard Alumni, that the lack of access to mentors and exposure to decent education will result in the decay of minority society. This is the goal both Howard University and the government, that students become educated, dependent and extremely equip to tackle any technical problems that may come their way.
Students from the University of California proved that distance affects our attraction towards other people. The researchers have examined the romantic behaviors of over 1,000 current and former couples. Interestingly, people do not fall in love by choice alone as external factors also impact our relationships.

According to Today, Paul Eastwick and his colleagues conducted three experiments for their paper published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. In the first test, the University of California students required 97 respondents to reveal the Facebook profiles of their exes. The researchers later analyzed the online accounts to determine if there are similarities between each of the person's previous relationships.

The second study then asked 574 people to give any information about at least two ex-lovers. Here, the students tried to identify the similarities between the respondent and his or her exes. They have used seven parameters like delinquency, depression, educational aspirations, intelligence, religiosity, sef-0esteem, and vitality.

Lastly, the third trial made use of a website that allows women to rate their male friends, flings, relatives, crushes, and current boyfriends. These females would grade the males based on humor, appearance, ambition, manners, commitment, and even sexual satisfaction. For the record, the website does not exist anymore.

So, what were the findings? Per Refinery 29, the study concluded that people are highly likely to be drawn to the opposite sex with the same level of attractiveness, wit, and religious beliefs. Moreover, educational background and commitment play vital roles during the process of "partner-selection".

On the other hand, the researchers found out something more intriguing when it comes to choosing our partners. Apparently, we unknowingly pick people based on location. To illustrate, we may have chosen someone who is religious but we did not select that person because of the trait. It is just that religious people in one area have higher chances to meet each other but it does not equate that religious people seek out religious people only.

Basically, love is driven by the people you often encounter. The greater the distance you have from each other, the lesser the chance of igniting the spark. Thus, proximity matters.
On Tuesday, hackers allegedly accessed as many as 559 million Apple emails on iCloud and me.com domains. The group further plans a massive wipe-out of iPhone data such as photos, videos, and even private messages. Read on to find out how to protect your files from an imminent privacy breach.

According to Forbes, the online terrorists call themselves the "Turkish Crime Family". Reportedly, they are demanding $75,000 in bitcoin from Apple or $100,000 in iTunes gift cards. The hackers gave the valuable company until April 7 to make the deal.

Using the cached usernames and passwords, the Turkish Crime Family will reset a lot of iPhone devices if the tech firm does not comply with their demands. While the company has not confirmed the authenticity of the scoop, an unidentified spokesperson told Fortune that the data may have come from stolen LinkedIn accounts.

Nevertheless, prevention is always better than cure. Whether the hacking is true or not, protect the contents of your devices at all times. For one thing, you can change your password to a "high-entropy" one. It technically includes random numbers, upper and lower-case letters, and special characters.

Also, do note that you should not have the same answer for every security question. If the online terrorists really managed to breach into your account, then they would have your security answers by now. The only way to combat this incident is to make sure your answers differ slightly from site to site.

Lastly, activate two-factor authentication with a safe mobile number. This requires you to enter a code texted to your handset whenever you want to log in. Meanwhile, high-value targets could choose a number separate from their main mobile numbers, which is preferably a Google Voice number. Hackers cannot easily take this information without your official consent.
President Trump recently announced his budget proposal. It showed that the administration is planning to cut funds from the Department of Education by 13.5 percent or about $9.2 billion.

President Trump's budget proposal is still just a blueprint, though. Lawmakers will draft their own budget proposals and the plan that Congress passes will form the basis of the appropriation bills that fund the government.

It will reduce or cut funding for over 20 departmental programs. It also suggested the removal of $2.4 billion in grants for teacher training and $1.2 billion in funding for after-school programs.

According to Cleveland.com, this can have a negative impact on large, urban districts like Cleveland. The Ohio city's public schools have relied on a stable, rising pool of federal money to help poor students gain access to education as well as children with special needs.

However, President Trump's proposed education budget may make these goals challenging. He did admit that the money for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will not be touched but schools have already complained that the federal share has never been the same as the government's original promise.

It was noted that President Trump would increase money in the federal Title 1 program, which would be directly given to schools with low-income families. The new money would allow students to choose which public schools they wanted to go to.

Some believe that this is a win for low-income families looking for other school options. However, this could hurt the urban districts if its brightest students leave for other schools and bring the federal money with them.

Jesse Berman, an Opinion columnist at The Cavalier Daily, described President Trump's proposed budget as something that "belongs in a third world country." Berman noted that the government is obliged to provide its citizens with the essentials of a first-world country.

Congress members still have a say on the budget. They will be the ones to determine the annual spending bills and the changes made to the education budget can still be changed for the better.
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and Duke University Medical Center have discovered that people who carry two variants of specific genes have higher chances of developing multiple sclerosis. Their findings are expected to lead to the development of more accurate tests to identify individuals with the greatest risk of the disease.

One of these variants is in IL7R and the other is in DDX39B. The former has already been previously associated with MS while the latter was not known to be connected to the disease until now, MedicalXpress reported.

Aside from leading to more accurate tests for early detection of the disease, the latest discovery could also result to better understanding other autoimmune disorders. The study has been published in the latest issue of "Cell."

Multiple sclerosis is known to be a major cause of neurological disease in younger adults aged 20 to 50 years old. It has also been known to disproportionately affect women.

The disease lets the individual's own immune system attack nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. MS is treatable but has no cure. It often leads to problems with vision, muscle control, balance, basic body functions, among others, and has the potential to lead to disability.

The study was a collaboration between scientists at UTMB, Duke, University of California, Berkeley, and Case Western Reserve University. They found that when to specific DNA variants in the DDX39B and IL7R genes are present in an individual's genetic code, their interaction could result to an overproduction of the protein sIL7R.

The interactions of this protein with the human body's immune system play a major role in multiple sclerosis. However, its role is still not completely understood.

Lead author Simon Gregory, director of Genomics and Epigenetics at the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute at Duke University Medical Center, said that the study recognizes an interaction between a known MS risk gene to unlock a new MS candidate gene. With this, it opens a new mechanism that is associated with an increased risk of multiple sclerosis as well as other autoimmune diseases.
Several schools stand to gain from a $1 million State STEM grant awarded earlier this month to a national nonprofit that will help expand engineering and computer science education for students in schools across the Commonwealth from grades six to 12.

The STEM High-Quality Career Pathway Capacity Grant was created to increase access for students to engage in project-based STEM courses. The grant prioritizes district schools that are building STEM pathways across all grade levels, The Barnstable Patriot reported.

Project Lead The Way, is a national nonprofit organization, which is focused on improving engineering, biomedical science and computer science, was awarded a state grant of $750,000 for K-12 students and teachers. It also received an additional matching grant of over $300,000 from One8 Foundation, a Massachusetts-based philanthropy that focuses on educational excellence for all children.

One8 Foundation's matching grant was to ensure the expansion of the number of schools that would benefit from the grant. Accordingly, Barnstable High School, Oak Bluffs Elementary School, Sandwich High School, Minot Forest School, Oak Ridge School, Wareham Senior High School and Wareham Middle School were included in the expanded program. A complete list of beneficiary schools is listed in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education website.

Governor Charlie Baker said STEM educational opportunities are critical to prepare students with education and skills they will need for their success in industries thriving in the Commonwealth. Additionally, he said that the grant addresses challenges they face in the state's innovation economy. Accordingly, the aim is to fill the gap of jobs in STEM fields and providing workers for filling those jobs.

The STEM Advisory Council and the Governor's Workforce Skills Cabinet are working in conjunction with STEM High-Quality Career Pathway Capacity Grant and the Executive Office of Education oversees it. Also serving as the coordinating entity, the Stem Advisory Council brings together state agency participants, as well as, those involved in STEM education planning and programming, such as the legislature, including the public and private sectors

Furthermore, the thrust of the program will align with the state's need in fields relating to science, technology, engineering, digital literacy and computer science curriculum frameworks. The program will also focus on providing intensive training and professional development for teachers.
"Burning Sands," Netflix's new fictionalized film that delves into the fraternity pledge process of a historically black college. It brings to focus the challenges five pledges faced in their last week of their pledge process while they are hazed by initiated members a fictional fraternity.

The pledges go through what is termed as hell week, wherein the lead character Zurich, played by Trevor Jackson, is torn between honoring the tradition of a code of silence or whether to speak out against the physical and mental abuses that pass during the pledge process.

Gerard McMurray, "Burning Sands" director and co-writer draw from his own experiences in pledging Omega Psi Phi at Howard University. He wanted to show what it was like attending a historically black college or university (HBCU).

McMurray hopes that by showing "Burning Sands," it might generate talks regarding the Black Greek community, particularly the 'Divine 9,' Ebony reported. He knew that the underground process of pledging with a black fraternity is going to rouse up reactions; accordingly, he is ready for the criticism and is willing to lead talks about keeping Black Greek organizations alive.

Talks indeed started just as soon as the trailer for "Burning Sands" was dropped. Many have taken issue with McMurray's presentation of the seemingly outlawed practice many fraternities and sororities still engage in today.

Though the nine Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs) in the NPHC outlawed pledging back in 1990, McMurray's film aims to shed light that the practice of hazing is still prevalent on campuses across the nation. NPHC stated that its member organizations do not condone, support or encourage the production of movies, literature or social media that promotes hazing.

Notwithstanding NPHC's statement, hazing still persists, not only in Black Greek organizations. There are recorded incidents that sometimes turned out deadly. In 2010, Phi Beta Sigma was disbanded due to the death of a pledge in a hazing incident involving extraneous workout, according to Dallas News.

A 2011 incident at Florida's A&M University inspired McMurray to write "Burning Sands." Curiously, it does not involve a fraternity but the university's marching band. A hazing ritual caused the death of a student. The police called it hazing. State law called it a felony. The marching band called it Crossing Bus C. Touch the back wall and it is over, Tampa Bay Times reported.

Although "Burning Sands" caused a stir in the NPHC community, McMurray hopes that it starts meaningful dialogue pertaining to underground hazing in BGLO's as well as other organizations on college campuses.
The Tamil Nadu farmers are at Jantar Mantar protesting with the skulls, which they claim are of their fellow farmers who have committed suicides.

By Parbina Purkayastha: It is almost a fortnight for the Tamil Nadu farmers, who are agitating on the streets of the national capital, still crying to draw the central government's attention. The Tamil Nadu farmers are at Jantar Mantar protesting with the skulls, which they claim are of their fellow farmers who have committed suicides. Their unique and sad way to protest continues with ropes around their necks warning that they will take the extreme step of suicide if their demands are not met soon.

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MDMK general secretary Vaiko today spent the day with the farmers at the Jantar Mantar and raised slogans against Modi government for ignoring the Tamil Nadu farmers.

"It is nothing, but discrimination towards these farmers. They can give assurance to Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, but why not to Tamil Nadu?" Vaiko asked.

Almost 100 Tamil Nadu drought-hit farmers are living in a tent at Jantar Mantar for almost 15 days now to draw the Modi government's attention to their demands. Ignored by the government, the Delhi weather is taking a toll on these farmers who are finding it difficult to adjust to capital's heat and food habit.

"These poor farmers have come to the capital with their own money, but sadly Modi government's discriminating attitude has left them neglected," said Vaiko.

In these 13 days, many leaders and prominent figures visited the farmers.

Popular Tamil actors like Prakash Raj, Vishal and director Pandiraj visited the protest side to express solidarity with the farmers' cause. It was Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Thambidurai who took the president of the farmers, Ayyakannu, to the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who took two day's time to talk to the RBI officials if it is possible to waive off their loans.

"Arun Jaitley said he will consider and it is almost a week now he never got back. We are tired with the word consider and they never get back to us. We will also not leave the capital until our demands are met," said Ayyakannu.

They also met Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan and Water Resource Minister Uma Bharti to look into their demands.

As farmers of this country continue to suffer in different parts, Vaiko appeals all of them to join the Tamil Nadu farmers.

"I appeal to all the farmers of India to be with them," said Viako.

Also read:

Tamil Nadu farmers soldier on with skull protest in Delhi's heat even as government turns deaf ear

Tamil Nadu farmers vow to continue protest at Jantar Mantar

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WATCH THE VIDEO:

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Space is now contested and congested, said former Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James during her State of the Air Force address in September 2016. It is extremely important to everything that we do in the military, including precision guidance, navigation, missile warning, weather, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and communication.



With so much of the Air Forces capabilities relying on space assets, defense of these assets is becoming increasingly important.



So, how does the Air Force defend its resources in space? One answer to this question was a proof of concept system started in 2005. At that time the 379th Expeditionary Operation Support Squadron was tasked with testing the capabilities of a new defensive space control system, which would protect U.S. Central Commands satellite networks. The proof of concept was so successful that the operation remained active, and is now called Operation Silent Sentry.

Jan. 30, 2017 - U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Chris Hayes, a Bounty Hunter crew chief with the 379th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron, uses a control to locate a satellite in space at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. Hayes supports Operation Silent Sentry, which provides defensive space capabilities for the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Miles Wilson) The current focus of Silent Sentry is to detect, characterize and monitor electromagnetic interference on signals of interest across the area of responsibility, said Capt. Marcus Losinski, commander of Operation Silent Sentry.



Since its inception twelve years ago, Operation Silent Sentry has grown and become an important asset to not only the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, but the entire CENTCOM theater. 2nd Lt. Kasey Crowe, a Bounty Hunter crew commander with the 379th EOSS, explained how the effectiveness of Operation Silent Sentry has increased through improvements made by its personnel.



Just as the battle tempo and rhythm changes constantly, said Crowe, so does a tactical operators perspective on how to be a more effective weapon in a fight. The Silent Sentry team members are just that, tactical operators and we are always trying to incorporate new tactics, techniques and procedures that will get us in the fight quicker and provide faster and more accurate products.



Recently, the Silent Sentry team has been improving on several processes to help gain faster responses to interference, thereby allowing for quicker decisions on how to resolve the issue. One method that the team has implemented is called the overwatch concept. This concept allows for the Silent Sentry team to monitor specific frequencies for known patterns of interference, rather than observing a large group of frequencies, and thereby eliminate excess information to process.



We have changed how we monitor the spectrum, said Losinski. We now follow an air tasking order based signals priority list. This allows our weapon systems to be better tuned to catch and geolocate interference should it come up. That pre-tuning of the system allows us to get our data quicker and be more responsive.



The team has also transitioned from simply responding to interference, to taking proactive measures to find and anticipate certain patterns of interference before they surface. By doing this, response times are decreased dramatically, as well as overall capability.

Jan. 30, 2017 - U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jeff Schumacher, a Raiders Deployable Ground Segment-0 crew chief with the 379th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron, attaches a low noise amplifier to an antenna at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. These antennas are used in Operation Silent Sentry and help detect and geolocate electromagnetic interference to signals of interest. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Miles Wilson) When Silent Sentry planning processes can get ahead of the adversary by properly prioritizing tasking and proactively optimizing our resource allocation said Master Sgt. Daniel Dempsey, the Silent Sentry superintendent, we shift the philosophy towards anticipating what may come next rather than forcing ourselves into a responsive posture. Our interference detection and refined geolocations process have been reduced from many hours to just minutes, and we can characterize that interference eight times faster than before.



As the tactics and procedures of the Silent Sentry team are continuously being improved and worked upon, so too is the foundation for future teams to further improve the security of future defensive space control systems.



As Silent Sentry continues its twelfth year of deployed operations, its operators will continue to defend space-based communications, and at the same time refine and shape the future of the defensive space control mission. By U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Miles Wilson

Provided through DVIDS

Copyright 2017 Comment on this article




WASHINGTON D.C.  Egypts state-owned paper Al-Ahram has announced that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will meet with President Donald Trump on April 3. The White House has confirmed that Sisi accepted the invitation Trump extended to him just days after his inauguration.

The meeting will be al-Sisis first visit to Washington since being elected president in 2014.

Sisi and Trump first met in September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, The Guardian reported. Trump described their meeting as having good chemistry. Sisi, a general-turned-politician, said Trump would without a doubt make a strong leader.

Cairo and Washington could have a warmer relationship under Trump after years of tension between Sisi and Barack Obama and Cairos perception that Obama supported the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, The Guardian reported.

As defense minister, Sisi led the militarys 2013 overthrow of the Brotherhoods Mohamed Morsi following massive protests against the Islamist leader.

Morsis removal preceded a crackdown on Islamists and secular pro-democracy activists  a crackdown that was criticized by the Obama administration and led to the suspension of some foreign aid to Sisis government.

Unlike Trump, Obama never invited Sisi to the White House.

Egypt and the U.S. have been close allies for most of the almost four decades since Cairo signed a peace treaty with Israel. At one point, The Guardian noted, Egypt became the second-largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel.

Sisi has made building relationships inside his country and abroad a hallmark of his tenure as president.

In February, he met with American-Jewish leaders in Cairo. Alaa Youssef, Sisis spokesperson, said he met with Jewish leaders to strengthen cooperation. The delegation was from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella organization that represents over 50 major U.S. Jewish groups.

At the meeting, Sisi discussed the war on terror, Egypts financial challenges, the campaign against corruption and perks for investors. Youssef said that Sisis American counterparts expressed appreciation of the presidents efforts on severals fronts, including the war on terror.

Sisi was criticized on Arab social media for meeting with American Jewish leaders.

Sisi is the biggest Zionist in the Middle East, Saleh Almansoori tweeted.

On Tuesday, Sisi took part in Egyptian Womens Day on the occasion of Mothers Day, the Egypt Daily News reported. The celebration was held in one of Cairos hotels in the presence of high-ranking state officials and the head of the Womens National Council.

Sisis speech included praise of Egyptian women and their struggles throughout the different historical stages in Egypt, in addition to their sacrifices in Egypts war against terrorism, the Daily News reported.

Recently, Egyptian women were on the forefront of promoting revolutions that aimed at achieving freedom and dignity and played an important role in restoring Egypt from the rule radical groups [sic] that worked hard to kidnap Egypt, Sisi said.

Moreover, Sisi praised Egyptian women for bearing the hardships that stemmed from the recent economic reforms and proved their efficiency in different positions, such as being parliament members, great scholars, and judges, the Daily News reported.

Al-Sisi ended his speech by noting the instructions he issued to the government to provide state-sponsored care to children to allow Egyptian women to work outside the home, the Daily News reported.
The armed men barged into the house of Abdul Samad, Baramulla jail superintendent in Hafru in central Kashmir's Budgam district, and told his family that they had come to kill him for not being not lenient.

By Ashraf Wani: On the heels of issuing threats to Jammu and Kashmir policemen, two militants on Saturday 'barged into the house of a senior officer with an intention to kill him'.

The armed men barged into the house of Abdul Samad, Baramulla jail superintendent in Hafru in central Kashmir's Budgam district, and told his family that they had come to kill him for not being not lenient.

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Sources said since Samad was not at home, the militants took his son Ashiq and relative Bilal along with them when they left, but set them free at Doulatpora in Chadoora.

The militants however drove away with the vehicle to Kralchek on Newa road, where they fired a few rounds and torched the car in the middle of the road.

Earlier this month, armed militants had attacked the family of Special Operation Group DSP in Kulgam. The DSP was not home but his property was damaged.

Following the incident, the state DGP had warned militant groups not to bring families into the fight, as they - militants - too have families.

Also Read:

J-K: Militants open fire on CRPF camp in Kulgam district, none hurt

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The Selknam, a stone-age hunting culture inhabited the Tierra del Fuego area of southern Argentina and Chile for 7,000 years. During those times the tribes lived nomadically and in tune with the landhunting, gathering and fishing.The Selknam had no chiefs, but were instead led by wise men (fathers of the world) who were believed to possess spiritual power over people, weather and events. The tribes most sacred ceremony was the coming-of-age, or the hain. Adult male members of the tribe would be painted with red, black and white paint and don fur, down and bark costumes, impersonating much feared spirits. Over a period of days or weeks they would conduct a complex initiation to transition boys into manhood.One of the last such ceremonies was performed in 1920 and recorded by the missionary, Martin Gusinde . When Gusinde was ordained as a priest in Germany in 1911, he hoped to travel to New Guinea to work as a missionary among exotic tribes. Instead, his superiors sent him to Chile to teach at the German school in Santiago. Within a few years, however, he found his calling at Chiles Museum of Ethnology and Anthropology, carrying out expeditions to Tierra del Fuego in the far south of Chile and Argentina.Gusinde first went to Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego in December of 1918, filled with (in his own words) indescribable enthusiasm and youthful dreams of an encounter with archaic tribes. Gusindes haunting photographs of the Selknam, Yamana, and Kawesqar peoples present a way of life that was already on the brink of extinction when he visited the region in 19181924 and that has since ceased to exist.
Speaking at the Nanaji memorial lecture at Balayogi auditorium in the Parliament, Bhagwat said that development would be complete when the weakest person standing last in the line benefits from it.

By Brijesh Pandey: Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas", RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said it was a declaration of "dharma."

Speaking at the Nanaji memorial lecture at Balayogi auditorium in the Parliament, Bhagwat said that development would be complete when the weakest person standing last in the line benefits from it.

He added that development in India should happen according to its temperament and culture.

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"India is a religious country and till she has religion she has nothing to worry about. But if there is no religion then nothing can save her. Therefore religion is at the centre of development. And religion is something which takes everybody along with it," he said.

Talking about the ongoing battle between development and the environment, Mohan Bhagwat said that both can't go together.

"There is no specific of Hindu religion nor do we have a prescribed methodology. Real religion is one which takes along everybody," he said.

"Deendayal Upadhyay spoke about antyodaya and the real challenge of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas is antyodaya," Bhagwat said.

ALSO READ | PM Modi in Varanasi: Our motto is 'sabka sath sabka vikas', but Opposition believes in 'kuch ka saath, kuch ka vikas'

ALSO WATCH | Will follow PM Modi's mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath

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Tradition and Spirit Behind the Day of the Dead

Remembering the deceased has been at the core of many traditional rituals and celebrations. This especially rings true in Mexico, where family and friends gather annually to pray and tell anecdotes about the departed, build altars to encourage their souls to visit the human realm, and even dress up as
The American University of Afghanistan, a prestigious institution of higher education in the country, has just reopened seven months after a deadly terrorist attack that killed 13 people and injured more than 35 others.

Among those killed last August were seven students, one professor, three police officers and two security guards according to the countrys Ministry of Interior Affairs.



The school - whose faculty consists of Afghans and foreign nationals, including Americans -officially reopened on Saturday, but classes are scheduled to start March 28.



We continued our commitment to the future of Afghanistan, David Sedney, Acting President of the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) told VOAs Afghanistan service.



Sedney added that the university campus is now safer than before because of new security measures taken in the wake of last years terrorist attack.



The university seemed to have been a target of the militants for a while. Prior to the attack, but during the same month, an American and an Australian professor were kidnapped at gunpoint while on their way to the campus.



Both professors appeared in a video in January asking the American government to negotiate and secure their release, but they have yet to be freed.



Campus is safe



While the American University of Afghanistans doors remained closed for students after the August 2016 attack, we reviewed our security system to make it stronger so that our students return to a safer environment, Zubaida Akbar, director of communications at the university told VOA.



Established in 2006 with the help of Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, the university offers graduate and undergraduate programs based on the American system.



Today is a good day for the world. I am delighted that AUAF has reopened. I know that the university community has been eagerly waiting for this day, Khalilzad, who is also a member of the AUAF Board of Trustees, told VOA.



The Afghan people and the Afghan leadership rallied in support of the University, he added.



The university has about 1,700 students and is viewed as one of the countrys finest institutions of higher education. Some of its graduates are working in senior positions within the Afghan government.



Our goal is to help provide a modern and prosperous future to Afghanistan and we want to help educate the future leaders of Afghanistan, Akbar said.



Attack not deterring students



The terrorist attack has not deterred Afghans from seeking education at AUAF.



We have 80 new students this semester, the highest enrollment rate in a single year, Akbar said.



Militants have increasingly targeted educational institutions, young professionals and educated members of the Afghan society. Experts believe militants are purposely targeting these institutions to deprive the younger generation from education and to disconnect them from the rest of the world.



The attackers wanted to permanently close this excellent center of learning. They failed, Khalilzad said. I wish the AUAF success in delivering on its mission: to educate its students and provide them with 21st century skills, who can lead successful lives and, in turn, can help Afghanistan succeed.



Initially, for many the attack on the school seemed to have been the beginning of an end for the university. But the institutions administrators told VOA that many of the universitys foreign faculty have returned.



Some parents remain concerned about the safety of their children, fearing another attack by the militants.



But the university says parents are welcome to visit the campus to examine the new security measures put in place by the administration in the wake of the terrorist attack.



To students like Faryal Yaqubi, however, the American University of Afghanistan presents an opportunity and hope of a better tomorrow.



My parents and I want to complete my studies at this university because it is one of the best universities in the country, Yaqubi told VOA. Now, we do not have any [security] issues. The university is fully functional.



Business administration student, freshman Kabir Ali, told VOA that he was anxious to return to the classroom.



I have been impatiently waiting for the reopening of the university. Now I feel safer and more optimistic about my higher education at AUAF, Ali said.



VOAs Afghanistan service contributed to this report.
Authorities in Bahrain say they have smashed a terror cell responsible for last month's bus attack and planning to murder senior officials.

The state-run news agency quoted interior ministry officials Sunday as saying 14 people were arrested.

The officials say the suspects were backed by two exiled Bahrainis living in Iran. Some of the suspects were trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard or Iraqi terrorists.

Bahraini officials say those arrested Sunday were responsible for the February 26 bus bombing in Bahrain that wounded five policemen.

Tension has been simmering in the Shi'ite-led kingdom since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 when the government began cracking down on protesters demanding free elections.
Riot police in Belarus launched a massive crackdown Saturday on protesters trying to hold a banned march in Minsk. Hundreds were reported arrested, and a human rights leader said many of the detainees had been beaten by police and needed medical attention.

An estimated 700 people were trying to march through a central part of the capital, part of a wave of anti-government protests against a new tax on workers. Truckloads of police intercepted the protesters and attacked them with clubs.

Witnesses said unarmed civilians also were assaulted, and a Reuters reporter said at least 10 journalists were arrested.

Earlier Saturday, officials from the opposition group Vesna-96 said police had raided their headquarters in the capital and detained about 60 activists. All were later released, and there was no official comment on the incident.

Earlier this week, Belarus' authoritarian president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, said dozens of militants planning an "armed provocation" had been arrested in Minsk and elsewhere in the former Soviet republic.

Lukashenko claims conspiracy

Lukashenko, who has been in power in Minsk since 1994, said the detained militants had undergone training in neighboring Ukraine and had been funded by Poland and Lithuania. Relations between Belarus and those two other neighboring, pro-Western states have been strained throughout Lukashenko's time in power.

Lukashenko offered no evidence to support his claim that protesters in his capital had been trained and funded by other nations, nor did he provide any details of the alleged plot.

Protesters in Belarus have been staging civil disobedience actions in reaction to a new labor law that forces citizens to pay the government the equivalent of $250 if they work less than six months in a year, or if they fail to register with state labor exchanges.

Belarus, a country of 9.4 million people, has been mired in recession since 2015. Many opponents of the unpopular tax say they are effectively being penalized by the same government that has failed to reduce unemployment.

Responding to mounting public pressure, Lukashenko suspended collection of the unemployment fee earlier this month, but protests have continued.
An Egyptian court sentenced 56 people to prison terms of up to 14 years on Sunday over the capsizing of a boat that killed over 200 people, one of the deadliest disasters in the dangerous Mediterranean crossings of migrants to Europe.

The boat capsized off the Egyptian coast on Sept. 21. Rescue workers and fishermen rescued at least 169 people, but at least 202 died.

Fifty-seven people faced charges including causing the accidental death of 202 passengers, not using sufficient rescue equipment, endangering lives, receiving money from the victims, hiding suspects from authorities and using a vessel without a license. One woman was acquitted.

The boat sank in the Mediterranean off Burg Rashid, a village in Egypt's northern Beheira province where the sea and the Nile meet. It had been carrying Egyptian, Sudanese, Eritrean and Somali migrants and was believed to be heading for Italy.

One month after the boat sank Egypt's parliament passed legislation setting prison terms and fines for those found guilty of smuggling migrants, acting as brokers or facilitating migrants' journeys.

A record 5,000 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean last year, aid agencies have said. In the worst known incident, around 500 African migrants and their children died when a fishing boat capsized off Egypt's coast in April.

Since Turkey and the European Union reached an agreement a year ago to curb the flow of migrants and refugees sailing from Turkish shores to Greece, most migrant journeys have taken the more dangerous route from north Africa to Italy.

In Libya, people traffickers have operated with relative ease, but many migrants and refugees also set off from Egypt.
The family of a former FBI agent who went missing in Iran a decade ago on an unauthorized CIA assignment has filed a lawsuit against the Islamic Republic, accusing it of using "cold, cynical and false denials'' to torture his loved ones.



The lawsuit by Robert Levinson's family in U.S. federal court comes years after the last hostage photos and video of the 69-year-old investigator surfaced in emails they say were sent by Iran so the country "would not be held responsible for his ultimate fate." The lawsuit also describes in detail offers by Iran to "arrange" for his release in exchange for a series of concessions, including the return of a Revolutionary Guard general who defected to the West.



"Iran has, for many years, established a pattern of seizing and holding hostages in order to extract concessions from the hostage's home country," the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Washington reads. "That Robert Levinson's seizure is a part of that pattern is reflected in Iran's multiple attempts to use Robert Levinson's imprisonment to extort concessions from the United States."



The family's lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages from Iran.



Iran's mission at the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment Sunday, amid Iran's long celebration of the annual Nowruz holiday that marks the Persian New Year and the arrival of spring. Iranian media previously carried international reports on the lawsuit, without elaborating.



Levinson disappeared from Iran's Kish Island on March 9, 2007. For years, U.S. officials would only say that Levinson, a meticulous FBI investigator credited with busting Russian and Italian mobsters, was working for a private firm on his trip.



In December 2013, The Associated Press revealed Levinson in fact had been on a mission for CIA analysts who had no authority to run spy operations. Levinson's family had received a $2.5 million annuity from the CIA in order to stop a lawsuit revealing details of his work, while the agency forced out three veteran analysts and disciplined seven others.



The lawsuit said emails to Levinson's family and friends began in August 2007, though the only photos and video of Levinson emerged in 2010 and 2011. The video message included a demand for $3 million and the release of "certain named individuals," the lawsuit said.



Iranian authorities also used a meeting with an American religious organization to ask for the release of a report on its nuclear program to be delayed in exchange for Levinson, the lawsuit said. At another time, Iran asked for the exchange of the defecting general, while Levinson remained held all the while, it said.



"For the past 10 years the Iranian government has held Robert Levinson captive while at the same time denying any knowledge or involvement in the circumstances of his capture," the lawsuit said. "In order to maintain its false story, Iran has held Robert Levinson incommunicado."


A letter found by a train driver near Agra contained a threat to target Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh. The person who wrote the letter, Mohammed Mirza, claims to be an ISI commandant.

By Shashank Shekhar, Arvind Ojha: Around 7.30 pm on March 17, the driver of the Andaman Express going from Chennai to Jammu spotted a boulder on the train tracks near Agra. He slammed the emergency brakes but the locomotive's cattle guard was damaged after it crashed into the rock.

"The driver got down and removed the stone from the tracks. Underneath, he found a piece of paper with a letter written in Hindi. It was a threat to target Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh," a senior officer told MAIL TODAY.

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Authorities ordered a sweeping security review following the threat. The incident has left agencies searching for the writer who identifies himself as Mohammad Mirza. Officials say a similar threat was sent using the same name through a letter at Cantt station in Agra last year.

Mirza claims to be an ISI commandant and the mastermind behind several terror attacks in the country.

CASE REGISTERED

GRP registered a case and is taking the help of several security agencies including the UP anti-terrorism squad (ATS) to investigate the case.

Over 150 people died on November 21 when the Indore-Patna Express flew off the tracks. A month later, 50 people were injured when the Ajmer-Sealdah Express derailed. Authorities are probing the possibility of sabotage in these and a clutch of other train crashes.

BLASTS REPORTED NEAR CANTT RAILWAY STATION

The Agra incident has worried officials because two low-intensity blasts were reported near the Cantt railway station within that week. An explosion took place when municipality staff was collecting garbage from a dumping site. An hour later, there was another blast in a locality near the station. No casualties or damage were reported but a forensic team found traces of explosives in the second incident.

"Out of the two blasts, one appears to be a mere tyre burst of tractor trolley, while the other one was likely a crude bomb thrown on the tin roof a house," said a senior police officer. However, central security agencies have been instructed to review and redraw arrangements based on the threat letter. A special security provision should be made for the Prime Minister and Parliament building, said sources. Intelligence channels have been alerted to collect information pertaining to VIP security in Delhi and closely monitor possible movement of "inimical elements" towards the Capitals.

Several attempts have been made to attack Modi who is on the top of terror outfits' hit lists.

Alleged ISIS terrorist Saifullah, who was gunned down this month by Uttar Pradesh ATS in Lucknow, was behind a blast that took place just 200 metres away from the PM's rally in the state capital on October 11, 2016.

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ATS officers said it was a trial explosion and went unnoticed due to the loud noise of burning of effigies and crackers on Dussehra.

Officials said Saifullah was behind the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train blast in Madhya Pradesh on March 7 in which nearly 10 people were injured.

ALSO READ | Sub-inspector deputed on PM Modi's security shoots himself dead

ALSO WATCH | PM Modi breaks security protocol, waves at crowd during Republic Day at Rajpath

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Francois Fillons aides used an umbrella to shield him from eggs thrown by protesters in southwest France on Saturday as the beleaguered conservative fell further behind centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-rightist Marine Le Pen in opinion polls.

The contrast between former front-runner Fillon, embroiled in a financial scandal, and new poll favorite Macron was striking as both candidates campaigned 29 days before the first round of Frances unpredictable presidential election.

Addressing a rally in the French island of La Reunion, in the Indian ocean, Macron departed from typical campaign speeches by inviting members of the audience  including a 6-year old who asked him How do you get to be president?  on stage to ask questions on a wide range of issues.

Its historic, we need to decide whether we want to be afraid of the century that has just started ... or want to bring fresh ambition to France, the 39-year-old former investment banker said to chants of Macron President!

Macron, a former economy minister to Socialist President Francois Hollande, set up his own centrist party last year.

Macron leads in polls

He has shot to first place in opinion polls since Fillon was put under investigation over suspicions he misused public funds by paying his wife hundreds of thousands of euros as a parliamentary assistant for work she may not have done. Fillon denies any wrongdoing.

Fillon slipped to 17 percent in a BVA poll published Saturday, which saw Macron getting 26 percent of the first-round vote, up 1 percentage point from a week ago with Le Pen at 25 percent, down one point.

The number of undecided voters for the first round remains high, with 40 percent of voters still undecided.

The poll showed Macron winning a second round vote with 62 percent of the vote versus 38 percent for Le Pen, who is to hold a rally in the northern France city of Lille on Sunday.

The poll was carried out partly before a TV interview Thursday night in which Fillon, 63, accused Hollande of leading a smear campaign against him.

Voters throw eggs, bang pans

Met by some 30 protesters throwing eggs and banging pots and pans to shouts of Fillon in prison in the southwest France town of Cambo-les-Bains, Fillon told reporters: Those protests are an insult to democracy ... the more they protest, the more French voters will support me.

Meanwhile, a faction of the centrist UDI party, which is allied with Fillons The Republicans, was kicked out of the party Saturday for rallying behind Macron.

The BVA poll also showed far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon gaining ground in the first round, up 2 points from a week earlier to 14 percent, now 2.5 points ahead of the ruling Socialist Partys candidate Benoit Hamon.
One person was killed and about 14 injured when violence erupted following a scuffle between Muslim and Hindu school students in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat, a senior administrative official said Sunday.

A crowd of about 5,000 people attacked Muslim residents and set dozens of homes and vehicles on fire at Vadavali village in Patan district Saturday after Hindu students complained of misbehavior by Muslim students, said K. K. Nirala, the district's top administrative official.

Members of the Muslim community retaliated by throwing stones, and police used teargas and fired seven rounds to disperse the crowd and control the violence, Nirala said.

History of violence

Gujarat has a history of serious communal trouble.

Rioters killed about 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, in the state 2002, according to estimates.

Modi was chief minister at the time, and he was accused of turning a blind eye to one of the worst outbreaks of religious violence in independent India.

Modi denied any involvement in the unrest, and in 2013 a panel appointed by the Supreme Court said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him.

Nirala said the situation had been brought under control and three companies of the State Reserve Police have been asked to stay in the village to maintain peace.
The leaders of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development regional grouping, meeting in Nairobi Saturday, agreed to facilitate the voluntary return of refugees and address the political and security situation in Somalia.

Eight leaders from eastern Africa met in Nairobi to discuss the situation of Somali refugees in the region.

The meeting was held two months before the planned Dadaab refugee camp closure by the Kenyan government.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta insists the refugee camp in the northeast part of his country is no longer just a sanctuary for refugees but is the scene of criminal and terror activities too.

Instead Dadaab has become a protracted situation characterized by hopelessness that easily feeds environmental destructions, a conflict between refugees and host communities, insecurity, radicalization, criminality and also allows terrorist operatives to exploit for its operational efforts, he said.

More than 200,000 refugees live in the Dadaab refugee camp. Close to a million Somalis are refugees in neighboring countries. Kenya hosts a third of those, and Ethiopia is home to a quarter of a million of Somalis.

The region is also facing a humanitarian crisis. More than 17 million are affected by drought and are in need of aid assistance.

The leaders said there was a need to respond to the humanitarian crisis to prevent new displacement of people.

Observers fear the current crisis may threaten the lives of refugees returning to Somalia where 6 million-half of the population is hungry.

The heads of the nations in the summit said that voluntary repatriation is not the only option and has urged other countries to come forward and share responsibility through settling some of the refugees in third countries.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed says his compatriots tell him the situation back at home has forced them to live in camps.

Today 2.5 million Somalis refugees and IDPs live in camps in and out of the country. Tragically some have lived in the camps for three generations," he said. "All the environment was not conducive enough in Somalia for them to return.

Mohamed says his government will call on the rest of the nations in the region to improve the security situation.

We will increase our effort to jointly achieve the objectives of this conference on the voluntary return of our people, safe and dignified manner and to provide global solutions so that they can participate in the rebuilding of prosperous, and peaceful Somalia at peace and harmony with itself and neighbors, he said.

Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Burundi and Ethiopia have sent troops to Somalia to support the government and fight Islamist militant group al-Shabab.

The UNHCRs assistant high commissioner for operations, George Obbo, creating a safe place for refugees will require a collective effort.

Solutions for refugees and internal displaced are, however, fundamentally linked to resolving conflict, and building stability inside Somalia but these should not be pursued as sequential states rather we need to engage a range of tools and actors," he said. "To help build the conditions will allow those refugees who are ready to return home to do so voluntarily.

The U.N.s refugee agency is calling for a joint effort to mitigate the effect of drought and avert famine in the region to reduce the suffering of the population in Eastern Africa.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says the Trump administration "has put Iran on notice," and will not tolerate Iranian efforts to "destabilize the region and jeopardize Israel's security."

His comments Sunday night in Washington came at the opening of the three-day annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Pence said U.S. commitment to Israel is "non-negotiable," and that President Donald Trump is committed to finding a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

He also said the president is seriously considering moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Such a move could seriously impair peace efforts, with Palestinians viewing East Jerusalem as the capital of their state under a two-state solution.

Pence also reiterated the administration's opposition of the deal the U.S. and five other nations struck with Iran during the administration of former President Barack Obama to curb the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.The vice president criticized what he called the "disastrous end" of economic sanctions that were put in place amid allegations Iran was working to develop nuclear weapons, which Iran has denied.

The AIPAC conference opened just days after a bipartisan coalition of U.S. senators introduced legislation calling for new sanctions against the Islamic Republic, targeting Tehran's ballistic missile testing and its alleged support of terrorism.

In opening remarks Sunday, Israel's U.S. Ambassador Ron Dermer voiced hope for improved bilateral ties under President Trump, saying "there was a meeting of the minds" when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Trump last month at the White House.

"This has made me even more confident that our alliance will be considerably stronger in the years ahead," Dermer said in comments widely quoted in Israeli media.

Outside the conference venue, several hundred protesters from the anti-Israeli occupation group "IfNotNow" marched, some of them carrying placards and banners denouncing Israel's occupation of the West Bank.

One banner read: "Jews Won't be Free Until Palestinians Are.Reject AIPAC, reject Occupation."
A state election Sunday in western Germany offers Chancellor Angela Merkels conservatives a tough test against their resurgent center-left rivals six months before Merkel seeks a fourth term in a national vote.

The election for the state legislature in Saarland, a region of just less than 1 million people on the French border that Merkels Christian Democrats have led since 1999, is the first of three regional votes before Germanys September 24 national vote.

Test for Merkel, Schulz

Its being watched closely as the first electoral test since the center-left Social Democrats nominated Martin Schulz as Merkels challenger in January.

Schulz, a former president of the European Parliament but a newcomer to national politics, has boosted his partys long-moribund poll ratings and injected it with new self-confidence. Hes offering a classic though often vague center-left pitch of tackling economic inequality at home.

That boost means that a fourth Merkel term no longer looks inevitable  and it also has tightened the race in Saarland.

Conservative governor Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer until recently looked certain to win a new five-year term. But Social Democrat rival Anke Rehlinger now hopes to finish first, and polls suggest she could win a majority for an alliance with the opposition Left Party.

The two women currently govern together in a grand coalition of the biggest parties, an alliance similar to Merkels at the national level.

Governor's race important

Kramp-Karrenbauer is one of only five conservative governors in Germanys 16 states. Losing her would be a worrying signal for the national campaign and for two bigger state elections in May  in Schleswig-Holstein and Germanys most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, both led by the Social Democrats.

Merkel has barely mentioned Schulz so far, but warned at a rally in Saarland on Thursday against a left-wing coalition there.

We dont want the clocks to go back on Sunday; we want the clocks to be put forward, she said.
It was lights out in about 170 countries on Saturday as millions of people and thousands of cities took part in Earth Hour, a global effort to draw attention to climate change.

The World Wide Fund for Nature organized the first Earth Hour in 2007 in Australia. The international effort began as a grass-roots event to urge people to reduce their use of energy as a way to help combat climate change.

Dozens of well-known monuments, buildings and locales  from Red Square in Moscow to Big Ben in London to the Sydney Opera House to the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building in Dubai  took part, dousing their lights for 60 minutes at 8:30 p.m., local time.

"We started Earth Hour in 2007 to show leaders that climate change was an issue people cared about," coordinator Siddarth Das of WWF told the French news agency AFP. "For that symbolic moment to turn into the global movement it is today, is really humbling and speaks volumes about the powerful role of people in issues that affect their lives."

Many events were staged to draw awareness to how human activities contribute to climate change.

In India, hundreds of cyclists participated in "Pedal for the Planet," part of a campaign to encourage people to save energy and minimize the use of fossil fuels.

Organizer Anuj Mathur told Reuters news agency, "This is for our society, this is for the well-being of our planet and this is something we need to give to our kids, to our generation. So this we are doing for the planet, and this is a small initiative to show our commitment toward our country and society."

Largest group of its kind

The World Wide Fund for Nature dates to 1961, when it was founded in Switzerland as the World Wildlife Fund. The world's largest conservation organization changed its name years later to reflect a broader focus on all environmental issues rather than just wildlife; it is still known as the World Wildlife Fund in the United States and Canada, and all units worldwide use the acronym WWF.

In January, NASA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said research has shown that 2016 was the hottest year on record, for the third year in a row. "The 2016 globally averaged surface temperature ended as the highest since record-keeping began in 1880," the two agencies said.

They also said temperatures, raised mainly by man-made greenhouse gases and partly by a natural El Nino weather event that released heat from the Pacific Ocean, beat the previous record in 2015, when 200 nations signed on to the Paris Agreement, a plan to limit global warming.
Nigerian lawmakers on Saturday summoned the attorney general, accountant general, minister of interior and representatives of four companies to appear next month before a committee of parliamentarians over allegations that revenues were withheld from the immigration service.

The head of the Nigeria Immigration Service told a committee led by Senator Solomon Adeola that the companies performed services for the NIS in public-private partnerships. The services, provided between 2012 and 2016, included the production of e-passports and expatriate residence permits.

The companies had "contractual agreements to perform some revenue-generating service on behalf of the NIS, with the company withholding a hefty percentage of revenue that would have accrued to the federal government," a spokesman for Adeola said.

A statement issued by the committee, which met Saturday, said there was a "need to get clarification on this issue from all the parties involved."

The government and company officials are to appear before the committee of senators April 6.
A joint committee of ministers from OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers has agreed to review whether a global pact to limit supplies should be extended by six months, it said in a statement on Sunday.

An earlier draft of the statement said the committee "reports high level of conformity and recommends six-month extension."

But the final statement said only that the committee had requested a technical group and the OPEC Secretariat "review the oil market conditions and revert ... in April, 2017 regarding the extension of the voluntary production adjustments."

It was not immediately clear why the wording had been changed, although a senior industry source said the committee lacked the legal mandate to recommend an extension.

OPEC and rival oil-producing countries were meeting in Kuwait to review progress with their global pact to cut supplies.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 other leading oil producers including Russia agreed in December to cut their combined output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of the year.

"Any country has the freedom to say whether they do or they don't support [an extension]. Unless we have conformity with everybody, we cannot go ahead with the extension of the deal," Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq said, adding that he hoped a decision would come by the end of April.

The oil ministerial committee "expressed its satisfaction with the progress made towards full conformity with the voluntary production adjustments and encouraged all participating countries to press on towards 100 percent conformity," the statement said.

The December accord, aimed at supporting the oil market, has lifted crude to more than $50 a barrel. But the price gain has encouraged U.S. shale oil producers, which are not part of the pact, to boost output.

The committee said it took note that certain factors, such as low seasonal demand, refinery maintenance and rising non-OPEC supply had led to an increase in crude oil stocks. It also observed the liquidation of positions by financial players.

"However, the end of the refinery maintenance season and noticeable slowdown in U.S. stock build as well as the reduction in floating storage will support the positive efforts undertaken to achieve stability in the market," it said.

It asked the OPEC Secretariat to review oil market conditions and come back with recommendations in April regarding an extension of the agreement.



"This reaffirms the commitment of OPEC and participating non-OPEC countries to continue to cooperate," the statement said.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said it was too early to say whether there would be an extension, although the agreement was working well and all countries were committed to 100 percent compliance.

'Encouraging elements'

Before the meeting, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi told reporters there were some encouraging elements that suggested the oil market was improving, and that if all OPEC members agreed measures to help price stability, Iraq would support such steps.



"Any decisions taken unanimously by members of OPEC ... Iraq will be part of the decision and will not be deviating from this," Luaibi said.

Iraq's oil production is running at 4.312 million bpd this month, Luaibi said, adding that his country had cut its oil exports by 187,000 bpd so far and would reach 210,000 bpd in a few days.

Compliance with the supply-cut deal was 94 percent in February among OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers combined, Russia's Novak said.

Russia is committed to cuts of 300,000 bpd by the end of April, Novak said.

Novak said he expects global oil stockpiles to decrease in the second quarter of this year.

"The dynamics are positive here, I believe," Novak said, adding that inventories in the United States and other industrialized countries had risen by less than in the past.

Kuwait's oil minister said the market may return to balance by the third quarter of this year if producers comply fully with their production targets.

"More has to be done. We need to see conformity across the board. We assured ourselves and the world that we would reach our adjustment to 100 percent conformity," Marzouq said.
The U.S. State Department has "strongly condemned" the detention of hundreds of protesters throughout Russia including the country's opposition leader on Sunday.

Tens of thousands of Russians demonstrated in cities across the country in support of a call by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny for accountability among Russia's elite. Nearly 500 people were detained around Moscows Pushkin square, including Navalny, for protesting without permission.

"Detaining peaceful protesters, human rights observers, and journalists is an affront to core democratic values," acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.

He said the United States was "troubled" by the arrest of Navalny, who has announced plans to run for president in the 2018 election.

Navalny, a Kremlin critic, was detained as he arrived to join the Moscow rally. Reports from the scene say police put him in a truck that was surrounded by hundreds of protesters who tried to open its doors and halt the arrest.

The protests appeared to be the largest coordinated outpouring of dissatisfaction since the massive 2011-2012 demonstrations following a fraud-tainted parliamentary election.

This is an important event! We came here to express our position as citizens, said one protester who just gave her first name-Alina. We came to remain citizens of our country.



By my presence here, I stand against the corruption of the incumbent power, said another protester who only gave his first name-Maxim. The authorities do not feel like talking to their people, they communicate only through force-applying methods.

Navalny called the demonstrations after publishing a detailed report earlier this month accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of amassing a collection of mansions, yachts and vineyards through a shadowy network of non-profit organizations.

The report has been viewed over 11 million times on YouTube. Medvedev has not reacted to it so far.

Navalny said on his official website that 99 Russian cities planned to protest, but that in 72 of them local authorities did not give permission.

There was scant coverage of the demonstrations on Russia's official media. A short report on Tass said a police officer was injured during an "unauthorized" rally in Moscow.

Navalny, who has announced his intention to run for president in next year's election, has been rallying supporters in major Russian cities in recent weeks.
Rwandas President Paul Kagame hailed Rwanda-Israel friendship Sunday in an address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference.

He was the first African head of state ever to address the pro-Israel forum that brings together thousands of activists, experts and elected officials.

My message today is simple: Rwanda is, without question, a friend of Israel, said Kagame,who is credited for putting an end to the 1994 genocide in his country.

In a refence to the genocide perpetrated against the Jews in Europe during World War II, he told an audience of close to 18,000 delegates that the shared history of tragedy has brought Israel and Rwanda much closer.

No tragedy is so great, so vast that human ingenuity and resilience cannot give rise to a better future. he said. The survival and renewal of our two nations testifies to this truth.

AIPAC, with more than 100,000 members from across the United States, works to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship. It opened its three-day annual conference in Washington on Sunday.

David Victor, AIPACs past president, hailed Kagame for ushering his people beyond the tragedy of the past to the promise of the future. He has transformed his nation, grown its economy, redeveloped its infrastructure and reunited its people, he said.

Victor said he was struck by Kagames strong connection to Israel's story. Last year Kagame hosted Benjamin Netanyahu during the Israeli prime ministers historic visit to Africa.

For Rwanda and many other countries in Africa, Kagame said, engaging productively with Israel has opened new horizons.

While on an African tour last year, Netanyahu announced his intention to hold an Israel-Africa summit in October.

We are happy that Israel is engaging with Africa, has come back to Africa and Africa is responding in a good way, said Kagame.

He said when countries share complementary capabilities and mutual interests there should be no obstacle to pursuing these together.

In 2014, when Rwanda sat on the United Nations Security Council, Kigali abstained from a resolution that advocated the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

Explaining the vote, Kagame said, We thought this was going to be prejudicial to other things that had to be addressed  allowing people to determine without allowing the parties concerned to sit and agree on what the way forward should be.

It doesnt mean that when you are a friend of Israel, that you are an enemy of someone else.

Kagame said Israel has the right to exist and thrive, as a full member of the international community.

This is not an infringement on the rights of any other people, and should not be seen as such.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) An 18-member delegation of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) officials today left for Beijing for a week-long training stint in public space management and development, planting and pruning of trees, city planning and tourism.

The team comprising persons from horticulture, civil and health departments will also be acquainted with latest technology, mechanisation of horticulture and smart city facilities in the Chinese capital.

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NDMC chairperson Naresh Kumar said that the delegation would interact with the officials of 29 Lian Hua chi XI LI, Feugtia district on the topics of city public roads, transportation network and automation of city transport including integration of traffic controls, automated ticketing and security maintenance.

He said that the other topics for interacting with 12th Xuanwumen West Street, Xicheng district of Beijing would be on supply of clean water, management of water flow, distribution, metering, segmentation of water supply, purification and monitoring.

Kumar added that the team will also visit the smart manufacturing and equipment industry division of Beijing Municipal at 6 Huixin East Road, Chaoyang district of Beijing.

The NDMC chairman who wished safe journey to the team at IGI Airport said that the delegation will also visit the site of Beijing Tourism Development Commission to understand ICT tools application automation including management of tourist flows, multimodal payment and gateways of ticketing and interact with the Emergency Medical Center for health facilities in mega cities, and provision of basic facilities for city dwellers.

The team will also study the clean city facilities being provided by Beijing Municipal Commission city administration, and discussions will be held on sanitation of urban streets and public areas, urban cleaning mechanisation, sanitation and waste management.

Kumar said that NDMC is planning to depute a team of officials to Dubai and Israel consisting of 12 members of horticulture and civil engineering for acquiring latest technology in these fields. PTI MNL KUN

--- ENDS ---
Moroccan Prime Minster Saad Eddine El Othmani said Saturday he had agreed to form a coalition government with five other parties, breaking nearly six months of post-election deadlock.

Othmani, from the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), was appointed as premier last week by Moroccos King Mohammed VI. He replaced PJD leader Abdelilah Benkirane, whose efforts to form a government following October elections had been frustrated.

The next steps will be deciding on government structure and ministerial appointments, Othmani told reporters, surrounded by the leaders of the five other parties. We need to move beyond previous obstacles.

Othmani said the governments priorities would include reinforcing stability, justice reform, education, rural development and energy.

Negotiations stalled for months

Before Othmanis appointment, negotiations had stalled largely over the insistence by the National Rally of Independents (RNI) party on including the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) in a coalition.

Both parties are among those now expected to form a new government. The other parties are the Popular Movement (MP), the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) and the Constitutional Union (UC).

The inclusion of four smaller parties alongside the RNI is seen as weakening the PJDs position, which analysts said was why Benkirane had resisted such an outcome.

Tensions with the palace

The PJD came to power in 2011, when King Mohammed ceded some powers to ease Arab Spring protests. Morocco has since presented itself as a model for economic stability and gradual reform in a region troubled by conflict and political turmoil.

Last years election campaign was marked by tensions between the PJD and a resurgent royal establishment, though the PJD retained its position as the largest party, increasing its number of seats to 125.

But Benkiranes efforts to form a coalition met with opposition from other parties that critics say are too close to the palace. The RNI, which has 37 seats in parliament, is led by Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Aziz Akhannouch, a close friend of the king.

The deadlock led to concerns that public spending was being put at risk, and delays to economic reform.

After the kings replacement of Benkirane, a charismatic figure popular with the PJD base, the partys potential partners quickly expressed optimism that a coalition could be formed.

Coalitions mandated

Under Moroccos election law, no party can win an outright majority in the 395-seat parliament, making coalition governments necessary in a system where the king holds ultimate power.

The Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), the second largest in parliament, has said publicly that it intends to remain in opposition.

The conservative Istiqlal party, which was in coalition with the PJD from 2012-2013 before relations soured over economic reform, is also expected to be in opposition.
President Donald Trump is set to move on this week after suffering the worst defeat of his young presidency. With the words repeal and replace Obamacare still ringing in voters ears, Trumps loudest campaign promise crashed when the Republican majority in Congress proved incapable of taking the first legislative step to put an alternative plan in place.

Im disappointed, the president said Friday after it became clear there were not enough Republican votes to move forward on a replacement bill. Im a little surprised, to be honest with you. We really had it. It was pretty much there within grasp.

By Sunday, however, Trump was venting his frustration on Twitter, blaming conservative Republican groups who had urged defeat of the bill. He tweeted, Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare!

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, on "Fox News Sunday," attempted to quash prominent news reports that Trump was blaming him and House Speaker Paul Ryan for the defeat. Im not in any trouble, he said.  This is the work of gossip hounds, he told host Chris Wallace.

Priebus defended Ryan, saying, He thought Paul Ryan worked really hard. He [Trump] thinks Paul Ryan is a great speaker of the House. Rep. Mark Meadows, head of the conservative Freedom Caucus faction of the Republican Party, told ABCs "This Week program," There are no conversations going on right now with regard to replacing Ryan.

Dysfunctional?



Nevertheless, Washingtons journalists and myriad political observers were merciless, questioning whether the Republican party led by Trump and Ryan was capable of governing. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristofs critique was titled Trumps Triumph of Incompetence. CNN anchor Dana Bash, opened her Sunday discussion program State of the Union, with a one-word summary. Dysfunctional.

Priebus suggested the presidents legislative strategy going forward would be to work toward the center for support on health care. It would be nice to get some Democrats on board, but at the end of the day I believe its time for the [Republican] party to start governing.



Administration officials signaled Sunday that Trump would focus this week on rolling back Obama era environmental regulations, including the Clean Power Plan. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt told "This Week" the president would sign an Energy Independence Executive Order as early as Tuesday." The EPA chief said the order is intended to make sure that we have a pro-growth and pro-environment approach to how we do regulation in this country."

Tax reform



Another item high on Trumps agenda is tax reform. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the news site Axios Friday that he has been overseeing the administration's tax reform bill for the past two months. He said the bill would include proposals to cut individual and corporate taxes. "Our primary focus is a tax cut for the middle income [earners] and not at the top."

Mnuchin declined to say what corporate tax rate would be proposed, other than it will be "a lot lower" than the current rate of 35 percent. The former Wall Street banker and hedge fund manager said the president's tax plan would be introduced soon and hopes it will win congressional approval as early as August.
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order this week scrapping Obama cuts in power plant emissions, Trump's environmental chief says.

EPA director Scott Pruitt told ABC Television's This Week broadcast Sunday that Trump believes the U.S. needs what he calls a "pro-growth and pro-environment approach."

"For too long...we have accepted a narrative that if you're pro-growth, pro-jobs, you're anti-environment; if you're pro-environment, you're anti-jobs or anti-growth," Pruitt said.

He said the Trump plan to lift restrictions on emissions by plants that burn coal and other fossil fuels will be both pro-growth and pro-environment, but within the rules spelled out by the the Clean Air Act.

Pruitt pointed out that innovation and technology, particularly in coal and natural gas, have brought the country's carbon footprint to pre-1994 levels. He said Trump's move will also bring down also electricity rates for consumers.

Trump has already alarmed environmentalists by ordering completion of the controversial Keystone oil pipeline, promising to revive the moribund U.S. coal industry, and asking the EPA to reconsider rules regulating clean water and fuel economy for cars.

Trump also threatened during his campaign to tear up the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The deal calls on most signatories to cut greenhouse gas emissions, blamed for global warming, by 2025 at the latest.

While the future of U.S. participation in the deal is still uncertain, Pruitt calls it a "bad deal."

"China and India...the largest producers of CO2 internationally, got away scot-free. They didn't have to take steps until 2030," he said.

Pruitt says the U.S. has penalized itself through lost jobs by signing the agreement.
Tens of thousands of pro-EU demonstrators rallied in London, despite heightened concerns about the terrorism threat, to mark the European Union's 60th anniversary -- just days before Britain's exit from the EU is expected to formally begin.

Organizers said about 80,000 people joined the march calling for Britain to stay in the EU on March 25.

The demonstration came four days before British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would formally start Britain's exit negotiations by invoking Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty.

Hundreds of blue EU flags were carried by protesters in the procession as it stretched through central London.

Banners carried by the demonstrators had slogans like "I am European," and "I'm 15 -- I want my future back!"

The protesters fell silent as they moved through Parliament Square, where a British-born terrorist earlier this week drove a car through crowds of people before crashing into a fence and stabbing a police officer to death.

One banner raised in front of Britain's Parliament said, "Terrorism won't divide us -- Brexit will."

About 10,000 EU supporters also marched in Rome on March 25 while about 4,000 gathered in Berlin.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has started rehabilitating some of the dilapidated Zimbabwe prisons, most built during the colonial era. The first one to be refurbished  Mlondolozi Prison, about 500 kilometers southwest of Harare  houses mentally ill inmates.

Among the improvements, the prison now has better ventilation and natural lighting within patients' cells, as well as improved water and sanitation facilities, according to Thomas Merkelbach, the head the ICRC in Zimbabwe. In addition, there is more space for rehabilitation activities, and kitchens have been upgraded to improve cooking capacity and energy efficiency.

The work is being done by Zimbabwe prison artisans and ICRC engineers.

Investing in improvements for mental health patients first was a clear choice, according to Merkelbach.

"Mlondolozi is a special institution," he said. "In a way, here you have patients that are doubly disadvantaged. On one hand, they are on the wrong side of the law. On top of that, they are mentally ill. In an institution like this, you have to really be able to care for your patients. They are patients, but they are inmates first and foremost. So, it was the obvious choice when the Zimbabwe prisons asked us if we would support this here. We said yes."

Mlondolozi Prison, built in the late 1970s, is one of many deteriorating facilities for inmates in Zimbabwe. Courts have declared that some of the detention places  including police cells  are not suitable for human habitation. However, inmates continue to live there.

Moses Chihobvu, the deputy head of Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, says Harare wants prison conditions to be improved, if funds permit.

"With the assistance of non-governmental organizations, like what the ICRC has done, we are getting somewhere," he said.

He added that all prisons built after Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 meet the minimum standards of habitable facilities.
Photo: Al Levine/NBC via Getty Images

A belated but pretty awesome celebration of the lives of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher occurred yesterday in Los Angeles, with a public memorial held to honor the legacies of the fearless mother and daughter duo. One of the speakers, Fishers former fiance Dan Aykroyd, took to the podium to once again honor one of his favorite ladies in a very Aykrodian way: with humor. Firstly, I feel responsible in part myself for why Carrie is not with us today because I once saved her life applying the Heimlich to dislodge a Brussels sprout, he shared, according to People. If I had been with our beloved showboat I might have been able to save her again. Aykroyd also explained that the two were seriously considering having children together, but Paul Simon swooped in and ruined their plans (god damnit Paul):



She had long conversations on the phone in my presence with Paul Simon, with whom she was attempting to reconcile at the time of my relationship with her. Here I found myself in love with a woman who was returning to a former intimate, and might I say a much better choice. But a woman who confided deeply in me and who valued my counsel  Throughout the process of her decision to not marry me and wed another, the reward for my unwavering support in whatever decision she wanted to do was the time I had with her as a trusted friend and fellow night hawk.

Despite growing apart romantically, the two had remained on very friendly terms in the decades since.


Love Marty Dobbs Season 2 Episode 8 Editors Rating 4 stars * * * * Previous Next   Previous Episode Next Episode  Paul Rust as Gus, Gillian Jacobs as Mickey. Photo: Suzanne Hanover/Netflix

Does Love know just how badly Gus screws up in this episode? Well discuss the details of what he does in Marty Dobbs in a few paragraphs, but even if his heart is in the right place  man, he dun goofed. That Mickey forgives him so easily is indicative of just how much she needs the men in her life to stick around. Lets get to it.

Gus wakes up to find Mickey is already awake and clanging around in the kitchen. She seems manic, cleaning and emptying the fridge of Berties half-finished yogurts before her dad, Marty, comes to town. Mickey invites Gus to come with her, but Gus is nervous  meeting a dad is a big deal. Mickey talks him into it, and Gus asks Bertie if she thinks its too soon. Bertie seems unsure, but Gus goes anyway.

Gus asks Mickey about her dad, who used to be a dentist but lost his license. Now hes a consultant, and they havent seen each other in two or three years. Mickey assures Gus that theyre not estranged or anything, and Gus tells her that he gives good dad. (He would say that.)

Long after Marty was supposed to land, he still hasnt shown up. Gus and Mickey (in a gorgeous burgundy sweater dress that only she can pull off) wait for him and when he eventually arrives, Gus gives him an awkward hug. Marty Dobbs isnt immediately impressed with Gus and his overeagerness.

At a Himalayan restaurant, Marty complains about his flight and about the dog who sat next to him. While Gus dutifully agrees with his grumpy old-man opinions, Marty disparages Mickey and the fact that she named her cat Grandpa. He seems proud of her new job, but cant even be 100 percent positive about that. Mickey brags about Gus, and Marty seems to approve.

Marty hits on the young waitress before ordering too much for all three of them. Gus asks what brings him to town and he tells them that hes only in Los Angeles because Southwest doesnt fly New Jersey to San Francisco. Hes meeting with an investor in Palo Alto about his new app  like Uber, but better.

Gus jokingly asks Marty for stories about Mickey as a kid, and Marty tells Gus about Mickey getting busted doing whip-its at age 11 and running out of the car in the middle of the night. The discomfort Gus feels about Mickeys history is clear, as is Mickeys discomfort about her dad bringing up old things as opposed to focusing on her current accomplishments.

When Marty excuses himself to the bathroom, Mickey says, Fuck him. She tells Gus why she ran out of the car: She was mad that he made her wait in the lobby of his office while he did a shady business deal, and then he yelled at her to get out. So she did it. He left her there. And Mickey isnt over it. Gus tries to make an excuse for Martys behavior and Mickey gets mad at him. She says, All I ever wanted   but is cut off when Marty comes back.

Mickey is disappointed when Marty announces that hes leaving early and wont be staying with her. She at least wants him to see her place, but he convinces her to just stay around the airport area. Mickeys immediate backing down is unlike her, but it makes sense. Her dad has a history of leaving, so she wants to make staying as easy on him as possible.

Marty suggests they go get a drink and celebrate. Gus suggests they go to a donut place or a museum instead, but Marty insists on a bar. He hits on a woman at the bar while Mickey and Gus get a table. Mickey doesnt want to drink during the day because her dads an alcoholic, too. She doesnt want to leave, though, because she doesnt want to piss her father off. Gus reassures her that whatever she wants to do, hes there for her. Marty brings Mickey a drink and she reluctantly cheers. She goes outside to smoke, leaving Marty and Gus alone to talk. Gus suggests he ask her how shes doing. Gus tells Marty that Mickey is sober  GUS WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?  and Marty doesnt seem supportive.

Carol, the woman Marty was hitting on in the bar, bums a smoke off Mickey. Shes from New Jersey, too, two towns away from Marty. Shes sitting at the bar, waiting for the happy hour to start, already drunk. Carol tells Mickey that shes got a good dad, but the moment is ruined by Carols nipple popping out of her dress.

Marty sends Gus to the jukebox when Mickey gets back, then Marty tells Mickey that he knows shes in AA. Marty asks why shed do that to herself again. Marty insists to her that its bullshit. AA, he says, was started by a bunch of Evangelical fuck-ups. Gus once again tries to defend Mickey, but Marty gets angry. Mickey tells him to stay out of it, before changing the subject and asking Marty about his app. Martys app is the R-Car  like Uber, but you can reserve your car in advance (which Uber now can do, FYI). Mickey says this is dumb because there are always Ubers around. Marty says he has to get going, and Mickey encourages him to leave.

Outside the bar, Gus watches father and daughter smoke in unison. The taxi pulls up, then Mickey and Marty exchange terse claims of I love you before he heads to the airport.

On their way home, Mickey gets mad at Gus for telling Marty that shes sober. She didnt want Guss help; she wanted him to act as a buffer. Shes frustrated that things with her dad will never be different, and because of Gus, she couldnt even have a decent day with her dad. She pulls the car over and they both get out. Gus defends his position, but Mickey wonders (correctly) why Gus wanted her dads approval more than he wanted to stick up for her. Gus apologizes for his behavior and Mickey apologizes, too. Its not about Gus, she says. Its about her shitty dad. Mickey offers to drive Gus home to give him a break from her, but he says he doesnt want a break.

They hold each other on the side of the road before going to the beach to watch planes take off.

Its a bit heavy-handed: the difference between what happens when Gus and Marty, two men decades apart, both faced with the choice of abandoning Mickey on the side of the road. The moment itself is nice, even if I didnt want Mickey to forgive Gus quite so easily. What he did was inexcusable, and Im still not over the fact that he didnt give her space in the first place when she asked for it. As an episode, however, Marty Dobbs is tense, cohesive, and furthers our understanding of who Mickey is, even as it foreshadows the dark patterns that might consume her if she doesnt hold fast on her recovery.
Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Last month, Morning Joe hit Kellyanne Conway with a pretty biting blow: The programs two hosts, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, explained that she and her fake news were no longer welcome to appear on their popular MSNBC show. Shes just saying things, Scarborough said at the time, just to get in front of the TV set and prove her relevance. Weeks later, Brzezinski is now expounding a bit more on Conway and her diminishing television presence, and still maintains her view that Conway should be blacklisted on all other news programs. I feel even more so that everyone should ban her, Brzezinski explained to Variety. Im surprised that these little acrobatic games are played with her on live national television. I think it denigrates what we do. Its clear she doesnt bring anything to the table. Its clear she doesnt know exactly what shes talking about. Its clear shes making it up as she goes along.

Indeed, heres the proof nobody can dodge an interview question like Conway:

Brzezinski implores other news programs to follow Morning Joes lead, even if it may seem a bit uncomfortable or detrimental to ratings at first. Quite seriously, its unbelievable she has this job and what it says about this presidency that she has this job, Brzezinski continued. Look, its not the most comfortable thing to do, but its something you just have to. You have to say, This is garbage, and rip up the script, and you have to cut to the chase and cut through the b.s., and she brings nothing more to the table than a lot of that. Were sure Trumps real first lady will spin this into something else a little more pleasant. Maybe on Meet the Press?


By Press Trust of India: From Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, Mar 26 (PTI) Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari will visit India from April 17, her first official foreign trip after assuming office in 2015.

The Presidents Office has confirmed her India visit, though the detail itinerary of the visit is yet to be made public.

Bhandari, Nepals first woman President, is visiting India at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.

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During the visit, she will meet President Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other leaders from the ruling and opposition parties, said Madan Kumar Bhattarai, foreign relations adviser to Bhandari.

Bhandari will also visit Varanasi, where she will attend a function at the Banaras Hindu University.

"Some agreements as a gesture of friendly relations between Nepal and India is likely to be sealed during her visit," Bhattarai said.

Bhandari was scheduled to visit India in May last year, but it was cancelled after the then cabinet did not endorse the visit programme citing lack of preparations on the part of the government.

The bilateral ties between the two countries had faced turbulence last year due to the Madhesi agitation and subsequent blockade which halted the supply of essential goods to landlocked Nepal from India.

Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, had been demanding the new Constitution be amended to include their concerns about adequate political representation and redrawing of federal boundaries. PTI SBP PMS

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Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari was preparing to visit India in May last year but it was cancelled due to the lack of preparations on the government's part.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari will begin a state visit to India on April 17, a media report said on Sunday.

The Nepal President's Office confirmed her India visit, which will be her first foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015, the Kathmandu Post reported.

The President will be meeting her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, leaders from the ruling and opposition parties and top Indian officials on April 18 in New Delhi, said Madan Kumar Bhattarai, Foreign Relations Adviser to Bhandari.

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The itinerary of the visit is yet to be finalised, he added. Some minor agreements as a gesture of friendly relations between Nepal and India will likely be sealed during her visit.

The President was preparing to visit India in May last year but it was cancelled due to the lack of preparations on the government's part.

After completing her engagements in Delhi, she will be attending a function at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

Also read: Manjeev Singh Puri is India's envoy to Nepal

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By AP: A gunfight broke out inside a crowded Cincinnati nightclub early Sunday, leaving one man dead and 15 others wounded after a dispute among several patrons escalated into a shootout, authorities said.

No suspects were in custody by Sunday night in the shooting at the Cameo club, which has a history of gun violence, and police said there was no indication of any terrorism link.

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Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said one of the wounded was in "extremely critical condition," while a hospital spokeswoman said two victims were listed in critical condition.

Police began receiving calls at 1:30 a.m. about gunshots at the club near the Ohio River east of downtown Cincinnati. Isaac said some 200 people were inside the club, one of the few hip-hop venues in the city, for music and dancing.

Isaac identified the dead man as 27-year-old O'Bryan Spikes, but provided no other details. He said 15 others were injured, with some already treated and released from hospitals.

"What we know at this point in the investigation is that several local men got into some type of dispute inside the bar, and it escalated into shots being fired from several individuals," Isaac said. It wasn't clear how many people fired shots.

'IT WAS JUST CRAZY'

Club patron Mauricio Thompson described a chaotic scene in which as many as 20 shots were fired as people scrambled to get away. He said there was a fight and people were yelling for security to intervene before the gunfire began.

"Once I got outside, people coming out bloody, gunshot wounds on them, some of their friends carrying them to the car, rushing them to the hospital," Thompson told WCPO-TV. "It was just crazy."

Police Sgt. Daniel Hils said the large crowd at the club was a factor in the number of people who suffered gunshot wounds.

"When you're talking about something tightly packed like that, I think intended targets aren't going to be the only thing that's hit," said Hils, who is president of the Fraternal Order of Police local. "When you starting throwing lead around, and there's a lot of other people standing around, then the other people are going to get hit."

Isaac said the club has its own security operation that uses detection wands and pat-downs, but that police believe several firearms got inside. Four officers were working security in the club's parking lot and some tried unsuccessfully to revive the man who died.

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Cameo's Facebook profile said it caters to college students on Friday nights, when anyone over 18 is allowed in, while Saturdays are "grown and sexy night" for ages 21 and older. The page was taken down later Sunday.'JUST A LOT OF CHAOS'

The club has a history of gun violence, including a shooting inside the club on New Year's Day in 2015 and one in the parking lot in September of that year, City Manager Harry Black said.

Police Capt. Kim Williams said there was "just a lot of chaos, obviously, when shots were fired."

"Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst," she said.

Referring to initial speculation about possible terrorism, Mayor John Cranley said: "What difference does that make to the victims? Innocent people were shot."

He called the shootings "unacceptable" and said authorities would work to find ways to prevent such violence.

A single body was removed by the coroner shortly after 6 a.m. A federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives team was also at the scene.

Among the injured, five were treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and released, hospital spokeswoman Kelly Martin said. She said two people were in critical condition and another three were listed in stable condition by late afternoon. She had no details on the types of injuries or the ages of the victims. Other injured people were taken to or drove themselves to other hospitals.

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Authorities asked anyone with information to come forward. Investigators were checking to see if surveillance cameras were working, Williams said.

An Associated Press phone call to the club Sunday night went unanswered.

The area is mostly industrial but also home to several nightclubs with a smattering of homes. A regional airport is nearby. The neighborhood is fairly desolate at night, with the exception of the nightlife scene and 24-hour gas stations. The road where the club is located was easily cordoned off by a single police cruiser and officer at either end.

First responders had problems reaching the shooting victims because the parking lots were full, Sgt. Eric Franz told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on Twitter that he was "saddened to learn about last night's shooting" and that he was offering the state's assistance.

Watch video here

Also read: Indian-Americans in Houston raise USD 100,000 for Kansas survivor Ian Grillot

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Also read: US strike kills al-Qaeda leader accused of 2009 attack on Sri Lanka cricket team in Pakistan

Also read: Las Vegas shooting: Gunman surrenders, police rule out terrorism

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In 2010, Dustin Chapman started as McLennan Countys part-time grant administrator for $15 an hour.

Seven years later, Chapman holds arguably the most vital position in the county under the commissioners court. His ascent is also reflected in his salary, which has more than doubled since he started as a part-timer.

County Judge Scott Felton said Chapman is known both locally and statewide as the county administrator.

Chapmans position and function have slowly, whether intentionally or not, grown into a liaisonlike role between department heads and the commissioners court.

How the position should continue to evolve, if at all, continues to be debated, as the court faces an employee handling countywide issues who answers only to Felton.

Despite the continued back-and-forth regarding the role, theres no debate among elected leaders that Chapman excels at his work.

County Attorney Mike Dixon said if anyone has doubts about the glue the holds operations together, they can speak to any agency the county works with or leaders from the city of Waco and other area officials.

They adore Dustin because he gets his stuff done. . . . These are high-level things that require knowing where to go to research it; having, a lot of times, some legal knowledge; having had experience with a lot of times grants, assistance programs, those sort of things, Dixon said. Were constantly in discussions with other agencies and counties and cities that involve working out these minute details so we can bring them back to you, so you can look at it and decide what you want to do. It is a specialized thing he does.

Chapman, who graduated from Baylor Law School in 2004, joined the county in a part-time capacity in March 2010 as the grant administrator making $15 an hour. The position was made full time in October 2011, and Chapmans salary was set at $42,661.

He now makes $78,263, and before the court adopted the fiscal year 2017 budget, Felton argued Chapman should be paid even more. The county judge pushed for the court to bump Chapmans salary to $90,000, about $4,000 less than commissioners make.

Updated policy

On Friday, commissioners met to discuss adopting an updated employee policy guide and Chapmans job duties. The two became intertwined as Commissioner Kelly Snell pointed out multiple references throughout the guide that direct department heads to report to Chapman for various problems and questions.

So Dixon and Human Resources Director Amanda Talbert, who have spearheaded the revision of the policy guide, arrived to the meeting with two versions in hand: one with all the references directing staff to the county administrator and the other directing department heads elsewhere. The court ultimately adopted the version lacking all the references to a county administrator but not after debating the idea of Chapman having his own office, reporting to all commissioners and potentially having an assistant.

Its not really like an authority position over appointed officials or anything like that, Dixon said. The only thing he would have authority to do is whatever you gave him authority to do.

But ultimately, Chapman works in the county judges office, and Felton signs his time sheet and is in charge of his evaluations.

With all the work Chapman does countywide, it would make more sense if Chapman answered to the entire commissioners court, not just Felton, Commissioner Ben Perry said.

Dixon said moving Chapman under the supervision of all the commissioners would give the court more control of that position.

It would increase your say-so, your evaluation, your consideration of his salary, all those things, he said.

Felton said the court drives the countys strategic plans and overall direction, and Chapman is there to follow through on the courts direction.

Chapman said he feels as if he should, and does, report to all the commissioners as a whole. Reporting to the full court is especially important as he handles the countys more than 350 Americans With Disabilities Act violations and other countywide projects assigned to him.

I do manage day-to-day affairs in the judges office, but I see my job as being much broader than that, Chapman said. Just about everything I do ultimately ends up on the agenda for the court to approve anyway.

Commissioner Will Jones said he was under the impression the county was considering moving to a system similar to one used by Tarrant County, which has a county administrators office that is not assigned to the county judges office.

I thought thats the model that we were looking to go toward, and I liked it because there is a certain amount of autonomy there, not all one office is driving the direction, Dustins direction, Jones said.

Chapmans title changed from grants and special projects coordinator to legal and grant specialist in November 2012. Less than a year later, the position became the chief administrator.

His salary went from $45,060 as grant administrator to $61,966 when he became chief administrator.

In July 2013, the court established a policy designating Chapman as the first point of contact for all requests for legal assistance or advice related to county business. The policy went into effect immediately, for all county departments except the district attorney, the sheriffs office and members of the commissioners court. Feltons office was dubbed backup if Chapman couldnt be reached.

In October 2015, Chapmans title changed from the chief administrator to county administrator, and his responsibilities expanded again.

Commissioners approved the change unanimously after a July 2015 presentation from Felton. The move also came with a raise, from $66,950 to $75,000. But there was no action recorded regarding the title when the final budget was adopted, according to county documents. In 2013, the county judges staff consisted of four people.

One position was eliminated after a staffer left. Felton said at the time that left three people to do the work of four, and since that time, Chapmans workload had increased as the county added new programs, including the rural transit district, the McLennan County Spaceport Development Corp. and a water resources group.

A liaison system

Snell suggested perhaps Chapman get his own office and take one of the other employees in Feltons office with him for assistance.

Snell has previously said he fears having all department heads report to Chapman would re-establish the type of liaison system the county abolished a few years back.

Commissioners agreed in March 2012 to eliminate its liaison assignments after two weeks of heated discussion. Each member of the court was appointed as the contact person for different county departments. The measure at the time was opposed by Commissioner Lester Gibson and then-County Judge Jim Lewis, who said ending the system could slow down business. Perry and Snell voted for the elimination. Commissioners had used liaisons since at least 1970, according to Tribune-Herald archives.

Snell said commissioners should be reachable by all the department heads and elected officials, especially since individual commissioners cannot make a decision for the county. But one commissioner can get an item on the courts agenda for discussion.

Dustin is in the judges office and works for the judge. Thats circumventing the entire courts involvement, Snell said. Im there every day. I dont mind it if theyve got questions. They can come talk to me. We dont need to funnel everything to one person. Theres no way one person can do all that stuff. Dont get me wrong. I like Dustin. Hes a good guy. Hes a hard worker, but you can only load up a mule so much before he falls down.
Given that Meals on Wheels organizations have collectively become a virtual poster child for all that seems wrong-headed about the bare-bones 2018 federal budget proposed by the Trump White House this month, I asked Melody McDermitt, executive director of Wacos Meals & Wheels, if she worries much about funding problems.

Her answer: No more than usual. Which means yes.

I think we enjoy a lot of community support, both from volunteers and from donors, she said after another lunch run in three counties Thursday (and, yes, it is Meals & Wheels, a reflection of unique services offered locally including transportation, even collaboration with Wacos Animal Birth Control Clinic to get clients pets any grooming or veterinary care they might need). The difficulty is it isnt keeping up with how fast our aging population is growing.

Thats another way of saying members of the Greatest Generation are fast ceding the senior stage to plenty of aging Baby Boomers. Consider just some of the relevant factors: The average age of lonely, local shut-ins who receive hot sustenance delivered to their residences: 80. Ironically, many Meals & Wheels drivers are themselves in their 70s and 80s.

One driver, attorney and former state lawmaker Tom Moore, is 98. He turns 99 in May.

Other bracing details:

The local Meals & Wheels receives some 45 percent of its funding from federal and state sources. Many funds come through the Older Americans Act, administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The nonprofit matches these with private dollars to serve needy people meals in McLennan, Falls and Hill counties. The combination of federal, state and private funding (including some $60,000 from churches) is what McDermitt calls a great example of successful public-private partnership.

The local Meals & Wheels has a waiting list of 87 primarily because funds are limited even now. In January it had 50 people waiting, but this list is climbing due to increased need.

If you were to deliver meals locally, Meals & Wheels officials say, you would most likely encounter an 80-year-old white woman living alone.

Eight years ago, Meals & Wheels served about 650 people daily. Today the $1.5 million program prepares some 1,000 meals daily, the majority delivered to clients homes. The rest are prepared for senior centers.

McDermitt says she doesnt know enough about the Trump budget to be anymore worried than she already is. Some press reports regarding cuts referred to the national office, which is solely administrative. Budget details, however, are scarce about such crucial programs as those under the Older Americans Act.

And while national press reports focused on wildly inconsistent comments by Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney concerning the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments community development block grants, those block-grant funds that come to Waco are funneled to other worthy needs including housing  not Meals & Wheels.

Then theres funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Texas Department of Agricultures Texans Feeding Texans program. Again, without hard numbers, its unsure whats happening at the federal level and just how any cuts there might impact funds allocated through the state agency.

Finally, to clear up at least some confusion on the bewildering mix of budget cuts: While Republican Congressman Bill Flores, whose district includes Waco, champions cutting certain budget programs and cutting taxes to spur economic growth that prompts people to land good-paying jobs, he stresses that he doesnt mean Meals on Wheels clients should be in the harness in the twilight of life. Flores says he not only voted to fund through 2019 the Older Americans Act, which McDermitt says is so crucial to the local Meals & Wheels, he has vowed to continue support of the program in Congress. Aside from any humanitarian motive, Flores support also makes sense from a strictly conservative viewpoint.

As McDermitt notes, Meals on Wheels is a compassionate program but also a fiscally responsible investment. She says it costs $6 a day to produce and deliver a meal. Research shows this keeps seniors healthier and independent, allowing them to remain in their homes instead of winding up in Medicaid-financed nursing homes at, say, $150 a day or being hospitalized for malnutrition and dehydration at $1,500 a day. In short, she says, We can feed a senior for one year for approximately the same cost as one day in a hospital.

Flores isnt the only Texas Republican lawmaker hearing about concern regarding Meals on Wheels. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, majority whip, is co-sponsoring a bill to increase the tax deduction for charitable use of passenger automobiles to deliver meals to homebound individuals who are elderly, disabled or frail. The bill would shift the deduction from 14 cents per mile to the standard business rate, currently 53.5 cents per mile.

In doing so, Cornyn says, the legislation (co-sponsored with Maine independent Angus King) would bring equity and fairness to the millions of Americans who volunteer their time and resources to deliver meals and would help ensure that meal-delivery programs remain strong and continue to help those in need. The bill could benefit some 2 million volunteer drivers.

All things considered, no one should offer eulogies for Meals on Wheels programs just yet, here or anywhere else. As Congressman John Katko, a Republican colleague of Flores from New York, noted in an interview about Meals on Wheels and any idea of sacking federal support for it: My mother would kick my butt because she delivered Meals on Wheels for 20 years.
The March 18 Waco Symphony concert at Baylor Universitys Waco Hall featuring music by George Gershwin set me to pondering. While Gershwins most popular compositions including Porgy and Bess and An American in Paris echoed in my mind, I thought upon Gershwin, the second son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, and his stature as one of Americas most enduring composers, notwithstanding his death at age 39. I wondered where American music might be today had Gershwins parents not come to America.

As always in Waco Hall, I thought of my own parents performing song, dance and comedy as part of the 101-year-old Waco Founder Lions Clubs old-time minstrels at this very venue more than six decades ago. The impact of watching Mother and Father on stage surely influenced me. I later participated in drama, debate and public speaking. The stage was a place of great creation and comfort for me.

And just thinking about the history of Waco Hall gave me pause. Listening to Gershwin as I viewed a huge audience and the halls intricate architecture, I recalled how Waco Hall came to be. It was dedicated in 1930 as a joint project of Baylor University and the citizens of Waco to help ensure Baylor remained in Waco versus moving off to Dallas. Thus began a long history of special speeches, concerts and activities in one of Wacos largest performance venues. First lady Eleanor Roosevelt spoke in Waco Hall during her visit to Waco in 1939, on the eve of a global conflagration that would test all Americans and see our many arts instill patriotism.

Viewing the orchestra, dressed elegantly in black with their impressively polished instruments, I thought of the brilliance of longtime conductor Stephen Heyde and relished the evenings guest conductor, Kory Katseanes, director of the School of Music at Brigham Young University, and Baylors vocal group, VirtuOSO. I thought of the amazing Waco Symphony Orchestra board and officers, along with decades-long executive director Susan Taylor and her staff, all of whom help keep Wacos quality of life and performing arts alive and well.

The evening included presentation of the Waco Symphony Councils Belles and Brass graduates, an epicurean collection of more than 100 young Waco men and women from area high schools who have participated in an array of music education, leadership training, dining etiquette and volunteer opportunities to hone their citizenship skills. These will ensure they take their place as some of the next generations cohort of builders and shakers. How grand to see older generations passing important traditions along to the next. The evening even included a canned food drive to help the poor.

Its overwhelming at times to think of the vast collaboration involved in making a symphony evening at Waco Hall a reality. Without supporters of the arts, civic volunteers, the musical contributions of a first-generation American of immigrant parents influenced by African-American music and jazz, the architects of a unique performance venue and the philanthropy of a community, that life-affirming Saturday evening could never have come together in our town.

I worry, too, that the singular pleasure of such an evening might be impossible sometime in the future because of decisions we make today regarding the arts or the sciences or volunteering or philanthropy. We hear of efforts in far-off Washington, D.C., to undermine or junk the National Endowment for the Arts or the Corporation for National and Community Service, including RSVP and Meals on Wheels programs, or the 1906 Antiquities Act, which paved the way for our great national parks, including Waco Mammoth National Monument, and efforts to reduce or scuttle the charitable contribution income-tax deduction. And if we appreciate whats before us,, we must take full stock of whats important to the quality of life in America.

In this day and age, we have personally and professionally benefited from an investment made many years ago by generations interested in celebrating and bolstering our rich culture and society. Do we owe future generations the same gift? I hope the answer is a resounding yes. I hope our grandchildren can look forward to the same kind of Saturday evening enjoyed by so many Wacoans attending the symphony at Baylors Waco Hall a little more than a week ago.

Harry Harelik is former executive director of the McLennan Community College Foundation and a lifetime member of Keep Waco Beautiful.
By Press Trust of India: From Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, Mar 25 (PTI) An eight-member delegation of human rights observers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will visit Pakistan and PoK next week to get the "first-hand understanding" of the Kashmir issue, Pakistan said today.

The delegation of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) belonging to eight different OIC countries will be led by IPHRC Chairperson Med S Kaggwa and will visit Pakistan and PoK from March 27 to 29, Foreign Office (FO) said.

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It said the delegation had plans to visit the entire Kashmir but India did not respond to a request by the OIC for the visit.

"The IPHRC requested the Indian authorities for access to Kashmir to assess the human rights situation there. However, India has not responded to the IPHRC request to date," the FO said.

India has maintained that OIC, a grouping of 57 Muslim countries, has no locus standi in the Kashmir issue.

Pakistan Foreign Office said that last year the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights offered to send a fact-finding mission to Kashmir, but the request was also denied by India.

It said the OIC delegation will visit PoK to gain firsthand understanding of the Jammu and Kashmir issue and will also visit refugee camps.

The delegation will also call on Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Adviser on Foreign Affairs and Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan. PTI SH PMS AKJ PMS

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Ever tried keeping three children under the age of three quiet in a 40-minute queue at the post office?



Holly Pender has. And the experience is one she would rather forget.

"I do almost all my shopping online because it is so difficult for me to get out. The whole purpose is that I get deliveries straight to my house."

And yet the mother of three from Merrylands says she still has to head to Australia Post to pick up about 80 per cent of the five to 10 packages her household receives each week.

"It has become more common that the delivery guy just drops off a mail card, even though someone is home," Ms Pender said.
The RAC helicopter has airlifted a patient to hospital following a car rollover in Bullsbrook.

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It is understood the incident occurred on Great Northern Highway, near the intersection of Stock Road.
A test of Western Australia's raw sewage revealed some of the highest recorded levels of methylamphetamine consumption in Australia.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission released the first National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program report on Sunday, and found WA had far exceeded the national 'average' of ice use.

Wastewater tests showed WA has the highest level of meth use in the country.

The analysis tested for methamphetamine, or ice, and 12 other illicit and licit substances including cocaine, MDMA, tobacco and alcohol at 51 sites across the country, with four undisclosed sites named in WA.

According to the report, the national average of daily meth consumption is around one dose per 28 people. The report quantified a dose as "the average amount of compound consumed in one go, [for example] in one cigarette".
London: The short life of the United Kingdom Independence Party, or UKIP, may be coming to a close after its only member of Parliament, Douglas Carswell, quit the party to become an independent.

Mr Carswell, 45, was considered a great catch, defecting to UKIP from the ruling Conservative Party in August 2014 because, he said, he believed that the Conservative government was ambivalent about holding a referendum to leave the European Union.

In a message on his website on Saturday, however, Mr Carswell told his constituents: "Like many of you, I switched to UKIP because I desperately wanted us to leave the EU. Now we can be certain that that is going to happen, I have decided that I will be leaving UKIP."

The Conservative government, under Prime Minister Theresa May, is set to invoke Article 50 to carry out Britain's departure from the European Union, known as Brexit, undermining UKIP's reason for being.
The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency also seized 18 boats. The incident comes soon after Indian Coast Guard detained nine Pakistani nationals.

The fishermen were detained by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (Photo for representation)

By Press Trust of India: Over 100 Indian fishermen were apprehended and around 18 of their boats seized by the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) off Jakhau coast in Gujarat's Kutch district, a fishermen association official said on Sunday.

"We have learnt that more than 100 fishermen who were on board around 18 fishing boats were apprehended by PMSA near the international maritime boundary line off Jakhau coast on Saturday," National Fishworkers' Forum (NFF) secretary Manish Lodhari said.

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"The fishermen who escaped have informed us about this," he said.

The NFF is trying to establish contact with the Pakistani agencies to get the exact number of those abducted by PMSA, he said.

225 FISHERMEN APPREHENDED IN MARCH SO FAR

The PMSA had earlier this month also apprehended 115 fishermen and seized 19 boats.

"In March so far, the PMSA has separately held over 225 fishermen along with nearly three dozen boats," Lodhari said.

The development comes after the Indian Coast Guard captured nine Pakistani nationals along with a fishing boat off Jakhau coast in Kutch on Friday.

Last month, the BSF had apprehended four abandoned Pakistani fishing boats near Sir Creek in Kutch district during an extensive search operation in the area.

ALSO READ | Indian Coast Guard apprehends Pakistani boat with 9 crew members off Gujarat's Jakhau coast

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By Shivangi Thakur: Indian TV actor Parth Samthaan who rose to fame with MTV Kaisi Yeh Yaariyan, has been involved in yet another controversy. A complaint of molestation was lodged against the actor by Sushmita Chakroborty, a 20-year-old model in Bangar Nagar police station under section 354 A of the Indian Penal Code on Saturday.

Later Parth issued a statement and said that allegations made against him are false and baseless.

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Also read: Parth Samthaan issues statement in molestation case, says allegations against him false

Victim Sushmita Chakroborty has issued a statement after Parth rubbished the allegation against him.

She has accused Parth of sexual misconduct on multiple occasions. "There was no dispute between me and Parth Samthaan on any financial matter. As a matter of fact I have known him for more than 4 years. Parth has in many occasions tried to propose me - not for a relationship but having a good time, which I have very politely turned down. It might be cool in his group for women to sleep around with him, and I have no issues with other girls and the choices they make, but I have different value system. After returning from a party in an alcoholic state, Parth misbehaved with me. After which I stopped contact with for some time. Later he apologised, and as we have been friends for years I decided to forgive the behaviour. But soon after that I started getting insulting and shameful calls from boys who would want favours from me. Someone was sharing my number with people. Parth actually tried to show that he is helping me but in reality he out of vengeance was the one doing it. His WhatsApp controversy where they made a group called 'whores and more whores' where he shared details about women, and his voice notes are available. The voice notes clearly mention me where he is stating that I have a bad character and I am easy. January last week was the last time I met him where he again misbehaved with me and I informed about it to my mother, who then gave me the strength to file the FIR . Yes there was a lot of pressure from my family, as this case might go public with him being an actor and we almost were discussing to take the case back with him giving a written apology but I realised that it's not just me but the other women in the group targeted were as young as 16 years old. These actors target young girls and then share their details so that they can be exploited. Just because I didn't give in, I was targeted and my reputation was put at stake. I am not taking any case back and I will fight it till the end . They have leaked my pictures online and revealed my name. I will not be slut shamed into taking the FIR back. I come from an educated family and I know when someone is right no matter, what difficulties will come if I stand by the truth, I will get justice."

The FIR was filed last month, as the incident had apparently occurred on February 20. Parth has been summoned by the police, but he has not yet made his appearance.

Parth had to face a lot of heat last year when he had accused former 'friend' and producer Vikas Gupta of molestation. Many said that the two were in a relationship. Later TV producer Ekta Kapoor also confirmed that Vikas and Parth were in a relationship.

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Calvert City to help get letters to Santa
Phillauri did decent business on the second day since its release. The Anushka Sharma and Diljit Dosanjh-starrer released in theatres on March 24.

By India Today Web Desk: After starting off with a modest Rs 4.02 crore, Anushka Sharma and Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Phillauri saw a rise in box-office collections on Saturday.

The supernatural drama follows the story of a young man Kanan (Suraj Sharma) who is forced to marry a tree on account of being manglik. However, due to doing so, he gets permanently attached to a spirit named Shashi (Anushka Sharma) who used to reside in the tree.

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Said to be partially (and unofficially) inspired by Tim Burton's The Corpse's Bride, Phillauri is a novel idea as far as mainstream Hindi cinema is concerned. The concept, coupled with Anushka Sharma and the indie cred of Diljit Dosanjh (of Udta Punjab fame) and Suraj Sharma (of Life of Pi fame), promises a decent box-office return by the end of its run in the theatres.

Here is the day-by-day breakdown of Phillauri's box-office collection:

Day 1: Friday (March 24) - Rs 4.02 crore

Day 2: Saturday (March 25) - Rs 5.20 crore

Total box-office collection of Phillauri in two days: Rs 9.22 crore

Earlier, Phillauri had already recovered half its budget, Rs 12 crore, from satellite and music rights prior to the movie's release. According to estimates, from its theatrical run, Phillauri only needs Rs 9 crore to break even. With Rs 9.22 crore already in the kitty, Phillauri has made a profit of Rs 0.22 crore, as of now.

ALSO READ: Phillauri movie review

WATCH: Anushka-Diljit talk about Phillauri on In Da Club

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Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 26/03/2017 (2052 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Peguis First Nation has elected Glenn Hudson as chief again in an election thats likely to push ahead on negotiations with Ottawa over Kapyong Barracks.

Hudson was elected Friday to a two-year term after being turned out of office in 2015 when the Ojibway-Cree First Nation slammed the brakes on Hudsons aggressive business development initiatives, including commercial real estate dreams to redevelop the former military barracks on Kenaston Boulevard.

The election results were officially posted by the communitys electoral officer Sunday even though the election was held Friday.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Glenn Hudson has been elected to a two-year term as chief of Peguis First Nation.

It took two days to count the votes, a task done by hand in the Peguis First Nation Community hall on Saturday and completed early Sunday.

Hudson defeated Cindy Spence, who replaced him two years ago in band elections. Spence conceded the election Sunday, saying, It was an honour to serve the people.

She added that she is considering an appeal.

I am still considering all the factors and any irregularities that may warrant an appeal, Spence said.

Peguis, located 220 kilometres north of Winnipeg, is known as the largest First Nation in Manitoba, with a population of 10,000.

The election results filtered through social media Sunday with Hudson himself being among the first to post the results and accept congratulations.

People have continued to believe in my vision, in our progress and thats what shone through in this election, Hudson said Sunday following congratulatory shout-outs from supporters on Facebook.

Hudson posted a final update on his election Facebook Page Sunday that read Final Update: 1139 Glenn (Hudson), 855 Cindy (Spence) and 414 Albert (Sutherland).

The results are final! Election Day is over in Peguis! Now back to business, Hudsons page posted.

Kapyong is on his top-priority list for action, the chief confirmed.

We are going to be moving forward, as Treaty 1 First Nations on that, said Hudson. For me, its about working together as treaty nations.

Progress virtually ground to a halt in 2015 on Kapyong when Peguis withdrew behind a curtain of silence in the election that turned Hudson out of office.

Federal officials have said negotiations continue and a deal has not been concluded.

Within indigenous circles, however, the story was much different; the reaction to Peguiss isolation was resentment behind the scenes within the provinces indigenous business development proponents.

Hudson referred to that indirectly Sunday, saying the infighting of the last two years and Peguiss political isolation was now over.

JOHN WOOD / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Cindy Spence may appeal results.

In the end it hurt her, Hudson said of Spence.

Spence said her administration, which has alleged past financial irregularities, ordered two separate audits of the First Nation. One is looking into the Peguis treaty land entitlement fund and the other regards a land settlement package. Peguis received a $126-million compensation package several years ago.

Spence said no matter what happens with the election, shes pursuing the audits.

Part of this is because Im calling for accountability. People in Peguis elected me in 2015 because they wanted answers and I believe people will not stop until they get them, Spence said.

Hudson disputed any allegations of financial irregularities.

That was just slander, a lot of negative stuff, Hudson said Sunday.

A lawsuit between Ottawa and Treaty 1 First Nations over land entitlement to the nearby Kapyong Barracks put the business development of the valuable real estate on hold for much of the preceding decade.

The lawsuit was over the Kapyong Barracks site at the corner of Kenaston Boulevard and Grant Avenue, which Ottawa declared surplus in 2007 and attempted to sell to its Crown corporation developer.

But the redevelopment plan was shelved as Ottawa and the First Nations squared off in an eight-year legal battle over whether Ottawa should have consulted the First Nations before selling the land to someone else.

Federal courts sided with the First Nations and during the 2015 federal election, the former Conservative government decided not to appeal the latest ruling.

 with files from Mia Rabson

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) Pollution and climate change are adversely affecting people of all age groups and these are also going to have a serious impact in the future, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today.

Addressing the valedictory session at the NGT World Environment Conference here, he said climate change has now a days been recognised as a major global challenge.

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"We in India believe that climate change is the result of emission of greenhouse gases and the resultant global warming that came from the industrial advancement in developed nations, powered by fossil fuel," he said.

The Home Minister said although a developing country like India has little to do with this phenomenon, it has to face the consequences.

"Pollution and Climate change are adversely influencing our present and they are also going to have a serious impact on our future.

"Climate change poses a big threat to millions of our farmers with the changes in weather patterns and increasing intensity of natural disasters," he said.

Singh said it has been observed that if the current consumption and production patterns remain the same and population reaches 9.6 billion by 2050, then, three planets would be required to sustain the current ways of living and consumption.

The Home Minister said India is deeply concerned about the rising level of the oceans as the planet was melting at both the ends.

The Arctic and Antarctica have hit a record low ice extents this year and melting poles are a threat to the coastlines.

"We in India are also worried about the retreat of glaciers in Himalayas that feed our rivers and nurture our civilisation," he said.

Singh said while the climate-change challenge is formidable it also presents the opportunity to accelerate sustainable development and ensure a better future for everyone on the planet.

Under the Paris agreement, the governments of the world have committed to reducing their carbon emissions drastically, in order to keep global warming below 2C. The vast majority of signatory countries have already presented national action plans for achieving this goal.

"I hope these plans will become more determined over time," he said.

The Home Minister said these nationally-determined contributions would include renewable-energy targets and proposals for sustainable transportation and energy efficiency. MORE PTI ACB SMJ

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Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/03/2017 (2053 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You dont expect a funeral service to turn hilarious, even for someone as colourful as former city councillor Harvey Smith.

But when people started telling what they called Harvey Smith stories Saturday, the venue exploded with laughter more befitting a comedy club than a place to pay last respects.

The stories ranged from his loud ties, which were especially gaudy to protest then-mayor Bill Norries edict he wear a tie in council, to his wild ideas  such as giving people lifetime bus passes in exchange for turning in their old vehicles.

KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Former city councillor Harvey Smith, shown here in 2013, fought for the less fortunate over decades of public service.

It wasnt just his political life. Smith, whose parents died in a car crash he miraculously survived as a school-age child, was as difficult to handle when he was a teacher before turning to politics.

He was called to the principals office more than any student, said Paul Moist, former president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, on Smiths time as a teacher.

Moist and Donna Pacholok, Smiths friend for nearly half a century, organized the event. The West End Cultural Centre, which Smith helped found as a councillor, donated its premises.

As a teacher, he once led a siege of Lower Fort Garry because he didnt think it was being properly used. This was before Ottawa started employing people in period costume to bring the forts history to life. Smith led a group of what one speaker called his hippie friends, scaled the fort walls one night and claimed it in protest.

He once had a River East Collegiate student spray-painted gold like the Golden Boy statue and, holding a torch, run to the legislative building in January wearing only shorts to deliver the government a list of demands.

He would always come up with wild ideas  wild ideas that just might make sense, said Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski), who worked with Smith on numerous issues.

With too many politicians in the audience to list, and with what one speaker described as unparliamentarian language in some of the tributes, it often seemed more like a revival of the Winnipeg Press Clubs Beer and Skits.

After losing his parents, Smith was raised by a brother and his wife in Vancouver. He returned to Winnipeg after obtaining arts and education degrees, and was a teacher and librarian in the town of Birtle, as well as at River East Collegiate and Tec Voc High School.

He was first elected to Winnipeg city council in 1980 for the Sargent Park ward for six years. He was an NDP MLA for the Ellice constituency for two years until the Howard Pawley government was defeated. He was re-elected councillor for the Daniel McIntyre ward in 1998 and served four straight terms until 2014.

But it was his energy and passion for helping others that people talked about Saturday. Several friends described him as less of a political ideologue and more as someone who wanted to help others. Eadie called him a hybrid socialist because Smith had acute entrepreneurial skills and was instrumental in launching the West End Business Improvement Zone (BIZ).

But he was a capitalist with heart.

He would give you the last dollar out of his pocket if you needed it, Moist said.

Janek Lowe / Winnipeg Free Press Files Harvey Smith, pictured outside City Hall in 2010, was remembered by friends and colleagues at a funeral service, Saturday.

One story told Saturday was how Smith and Eadie ran a campaign against a council plan to raise bus fares by 25 cents. Smith broke his hip in a fall and ran the campaign from his hospital bed. The increase was defeated.

One of his proudest achievements was the recently completed restoration of what is now called Kinsmen Sherbrook Pool. Smiths efforts to save Sherbrook Pool for less-advantaged kids date back to 1981, when it was first slated to close, said Myrna Phillips, who was an MLA from 1981 to 1988.

Smith persisted all that time.

Talk about tenacity, she said. That man never gave up in 36 years.

Phillips directed a warning toward Mayor Brian Bowman, in the audience.

Mayor Bowman, if you think youre going to get your work done in four years, dont count on it, she said.

Smith, 80, died at Victoria General Hospital on March 12 after a stroke 10 days earlier.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 26/03/2017 (2052 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sweet Sunday

Today, MAWA (Mentoring Artists for Womens Art) is holding Over the Top, an art auction and cupcake party. For $12, you can eat cupcakes, enter raffles and bid on work by talented locals. The event is at 611 Main St. and runs from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are available at the door.

Wet and wild

CHRISTIES An oil portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

This week, Oak Hammock Marsh is hosting daily activities for Wild, Weird and Wonderful, a learning event including movies, games and crafts that highlight the reptiles, amphibians, fish, mammals, birds and invertebrates that live in the marsh. The activities are from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Spa day

Thermea is holding its first Discovery Evening on Thursday, and the theme is cabane a sucre. The night starts at 6 p.m., and for $63 you get a bathrobe rental, access to the thermal experience and maple taffy station, a music performance and themed Aufguss rituals every hour.

Mature play at MTC

On Thursday, Kill Me Now is opening at the Tom Hendry Warehouse at 8 p.m. The play is about the relationship between a father and his disabled son. If you cant make it Thursday, Kill Me Now will be playing until April 22. Tickets are between $32.50 and $41 depending on the night. The play is recommended for mature audiences. For more information, visit royalmtc.ca.

Hang loose

The Winnipeg Art Gallery is having a two-day Boarder X Film Fest to celebrate the end of the exhibit of the same name  featuring stories about skating, surfing and snowboarding. On Friday, there will be two movies from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. On Saturday, there are three movies from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The festival and exhibition are free to attend.

Cosplay and comics

Central Canada Comic Con is hosting the Manitoba Comic Con & Sci Fi Expo next weekend at the RBC Convention Centre. The event will feature costumes, collectables and guests Emma Caulfield from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series and animator Tom Cook. This convention is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 2. Tickets are $12.25 a day or $20.25 for the weekend. For more information, visit c4winnipeg.com.

Amadeus, Amadeus

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestras Mozart and Serenades is happening next weekend at Westminster United Church. Four composers will be highlighting sections of the WSO, playing a mash-up of classical and folk music, combined with strings and brass. The evening starts at 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday. Tickets start at $25.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 26/03/2017 (2052 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Donald Trumps daughter, Ivanka Trump, is set to join the U.S. presidents administration in an unspecified but reportedly influential policy role. She claims she will not be a government employee despite having an office in the White House, holding a high-level security clearance and performing government work.

In a statement, Ivanka Trump concedes there is no modern precedent for an adult child of the president, but pledges to voluntarily comply with ethics rules. What the first daughter fails to acknowledge is that the very nature of her proposed role breaches ethical standards to which previous administrations have adhered for generations. That ethical breach does more than shake up Washington by breaking with norms and decorum  it threatens the national security of the United States.

At their core, ethics rules are national security rules. They are designed to guard against conflicts to reassure the public that individuals trusted with matters of immense national importance are guided only by the best interests of the country. But from the earliest days, Trump and his children have violated these standards.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / The Associated Press files The American people will see whether U.S. President Donald Trump intends to treat his daughter, Ivanka Trump, like any other staffer.

The presidents questionable conflicts-mitigation strategy put his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., at the helm of his business without removing his financial interest in the companies.

One need only look at photos of the two seated in the front row at the White House announcement of Judge Neil Gorsuchs nomination to the Supreme Court to grasp how insufficiently that separates the president from his business interests.

The two Trump family members with White House roles have likewise flouted ethical norms. Shortly after the election, Ivanka Trump drew criticism for participating in her fathers meeting with the Japanese prime minister while her own business was negotiating a licensing deal with a company owned by the Japanese government. She has since officially ceded daily management of her company to a top executive and placed its assets in a trust, but she retains sole ownership and details of the extent of her control are wanting.

Ivanka Trumps husband, Jared Kushner, now a senior adviser in the White House, was similarly criticized for a post-election meeting with Chinese nationals with whom he was negotiating a commercial joint venture on behalf of his own familys business. Kushner has also taken steps to divest from that business by transferring assets to his mother and brother, a move some have likened to a meaningless shell game.

The undisclosed foreign financial entanglements of Trumps children elevate the security implications. Before now, theres been very little dispute that foreign money could pose a threat: the implications of overseas investments are so critical that there is an interagency committee tasked with reviewing the national security risks of transactions that could render control of a U.S. business to a foreign person.

The potential compromises of foreign business relationships run both ways, and the Trumps myriad foreign financial relationships creates the risk that in matters of national security and foreign policy, their choices will be guided by what is best for their bank accounts, not the United States.

But Ivanka Trumps new West Wing post doesnt only bring more financial conflicts of interest into the White House; because shes the presidents daughter, it also makes them worse. The inherently compromising loyalty of family relationships and the necessity of genuine expertise in senior government roles are why federal law prohibits nepotism  and why that law explicitly applies to the president. Trump appeared to recognize this when he repeatedly reassured the public that his children would not have any role in the government.

In the 50 years since the enactment of the anti-nepotism law, presidents have generally avoided testing its limits. The day after Trump was sworn in, however, the Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) determined that the statute does not apply to the presidents hiring of White House staff.

This was an affirmative change of the offices past analysis. In 1972, OLC determined the law did apply to White House staff and would prevent president Richard Nixon from appointing a relative. A 1977 opinion likewise concluded that president Jimmy Carter could not legally appoint his son to even an unpaid position in the White House.

The about-face of the January opinion may be legally defensible; it rests on a conflicting statute that grants broad presidential authority to staff the White House without regard to any other provision of law. But the issue here isnt one of legal technicalities. OLCs job is to offer counsel on bare legality stripped of policy prescription. We cant expect it or the statutes it interprets to substitute for an administration with sound judgment.

The issues of legality and ethics reduce down to this: Ivanka Trumps role in the administration is possibly, though not certainly, legal under the federal anti-nepotism law. It is wrong as a matter of ethics, though, and it violates the tenets of good governance. And her undisclosed financial entanglements raise the spectre of decision-making based on individual or financial gain, rather than in the national interest.

Some have suggested in her defence that Ivanka Trump is the functional first lady. The comparison is inapt, in addition to being an insult to both Ivankas intellect and the actual first lady, Melania Trump. First ladies financial interests are considered inseparable from the presidents own, and while they are exposed to classified information by virtue of being around the president, they have not typically used that access to play substantive policy roles on national security.

Ivanka Trumps personal relationship to the president may compromise the national security of the United States in immediate and practical terms.

If she gets a high-level security clearance, that will grant her access to the nations more sensitive and consequential secrets  a fact that highlights the risks of compromising financial relationships and lack of expertise.

It would be astounding, however, if her background investigation failed to uncover a recent article detailing her involvement in a hotel deal in Azerbaijan that appears to be a corrupt operation engineered by oligarchs tied to Irans Revolutionary Guard. No ordinary person would be granted a clearance before questions of business ties to sanctioned individuals or entities were fully resolved.

The president is empowered to ignore that kind of derogatory information on a background investigation. But to do so would be a grave breach his oath of office  an oath his daughter will not take in her officially unofficial role.

So the American people will now see if Donald Trump really intends to treat Ivanka like any other staffer. Will he act in the best interest of the American people in assessing whether she has demonstrated the judgment and integrity expected of those entrusted with the nations secrets?

Blood is thicker than water. We must now wonder if the presidents commitment to his oath of office is stronger than his family loyalty.

Helen Klein Murillo is a Lawfare contributor and a student at Harvard Law School, where she is an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Susan Hennessey is a national security fellow at the Brookings Institution and managing editor of Lawfare; previously, she was a lawyer in the Office of General Counsel of the National Security Agency.

 Washington Post
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/03/2017 (2053 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Judith Lewis is tall, so thats a clue. The first time she met her birth mother at an emotional reunion in Vancouver, she marvelled at just how tiny the elder woman was.

I was so surprised, Lewis recalls. That was the first impression.

That was 21 years ago. They never met again.

Lewis' mother Olga Husack was featured in an Australian newspaper article in 1957.

There is just one other clue: Lewiss eyes are brown. Her birth mothers were blue. And most of her birth mothers family share the same light eyes, which leads Lewis to conclude that her birth father had brown eyes, and height.

After that, the trail goes cold. When Lewiss birth mother, Olga Husack, died in 2001, Lewiss best hope of ever finding her birth father died with her. Yet on the opposite side of the globe, she never stopped searching for answers.

Now, Lewis is hoping that somewhere in Manitoba  a province shes never been to, in a country she barely knows  someone will remember another clue. Maybe Husack confided in someone. Or maybe Lewiss birth father did.

It would mean the world to me, Lewis says, chatting over the phone from her home on the east coast of Australia. But I dont know where to start. Its been a closed door everywhere I go. Its been like that my whole life.

So, lets sketch out this story. In 1957, a 30-year-old schoolteacher from Fisher Branch arrived in Australia, ostensibly on a teaching tour and stayed for seven months. Near the end of her trip, a local newspaper clipping trumpeted her visit.

TEACHER ON WORLD TOUR, the headline read. (News was gleefully hyper-local back then.)

Yet by the time that newspaper was published, Husack was already carrying a secret. In Sydney, she had lived at a home for unmarried mothers. In January 1958, shed given birth to an infant daughter, and placed her for adoption.

She named the baby Judith and left the birth fathers name blank on the documents. The babys name never changed.

Husack would have been about five months pregnant when she left her teaching job in Sandy Lake and travelled to Australia. When she returned to Canada, she evidently told no one about the baby.

Lewis, meanwhile, grew up happy. Under the guidance of a Catholic priest, she was adopted by a couple who lived in Papua New Guinea, just north of Australia. They were loving parents, and Lewiss memories of her childhood home are warm ones.

Eventually, she returned to Australia and became a teacher, just like her biological mom.

Still, like many adopted children, Lewis always wondered where she came from, and who her birth parents were.

Its hard to describe to people who were not adopted. Some of it is practical  family medical history, for example; years later, Lewiss brother Chris, who was also adopted, died of a condition doctors suspected could be genetic.

But a good deal of what fuels the search lives in the heart. Thats more difficult to explain. Its ephemeral, English doesnt quite have the words for it, and it can change. It is, simply, wanting to fill in the spaces of ones own story.

When Lewis was 19, an Australian search service located her birth mother in Manitoba. Husack was thrilled; she would have done the same thing in Lewiss shoes, she says. For years, the two wrote letters and traded photographs.

By then, Husack had married and started a family of her own. She took pains to keep her relationship with Lewis private; she would go to the post office to pick up the letters, read them and tear them up before going home.

Looking back now, Lewis can see how much pressure Husack must have been under. Her whole life, it was like a double life, really, she says. It would have been so lovely if she had been able to confide in someone.

Australian Judith Lewis reconnected with her Manitoba birth mother, Olga Husack, 21 years ago. She is now seeking information on her birth father.

In 1996, they finally met in person. Lewis and her husband flew to Vancouver and met Husack for lunch. They talked for hours, and Husack seemed excited. She was very, very sweet, is how Lewis remembers her.

Yet when she asked about her birth father, Husack fell silent. She got flustered and put her hands over her face. It wasnt something she was ready to talk about. Lewis, not wanting to upset her, dropped it.

They stayed in touch, but in 2001 the communication dried up. Lewis later learned that Husack died that November. She eventually tracked down Husacks living relatives; they didnt know anything about her birth father, either.

Now Lewis stood at a crossroads: with all avenues to identify her birth father exhausted, should she end her search? Perhaps it would be best to let Husacks secret rest with her; thats what some people suggested.

She wrestled with that. But its a different time now, she decided. Its no longer common for women to be sent away to give birth under a veil of silence. Most people, it seems, can empathize now, understanding the emotional burden Husack must have carried all those years.

Besides, Husacks story has an ending. Lewiss is still being written. And for now, there is still a chapter that needs filling, one that informs later pages: her features, why shes tall, why she has brown eyes when her birth mother did not.

Its just wanting to know things, she says. Even just what he looked like. Id love to know what my father looked like. When I met Olga I saw a slight resemblance, but not a strong resemblance. I suspect I looked more like him.

So this is Lewiss last hope: that somewhere in Manitoba, someone will know. Maybe a man confided in somebody about a child he never got to see, one born in Australia and placed for adoption. Maybe hes alive and reading this now.

Or maybe someone remembers gossip from the late 1950s around Fisher Branch or Sandy Lake about the teacher who went away. Maybe the gossip included a name, something  anything  Lewis can brush off the dust to see where it leads.

If anyone has memories that might give Lewis some answers, they can email me. I will pass on the information.

And if not, well, at least Lewis knows she tried. Searching doesnt always find answers, but there will never be answers if you dont ask.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Winona

Thursday 8 a.m.  A woman reported that her drivers side mirror had been broken off overnight near the intersections of Huff and Fifth streets.

8:17 a.m.  A city of Winona truck collided with the caboose of a Canadian Pacific train at the Front Street and Carimona Street tracks, with minor damage to the truck reported and no injuries.

Friday

2:41 a.m.  An woman reported the rear window of her car was shattered at the intersection of Dakota and Mill streets.

Winona County

Thursday

9:14 p.m.  Charges of driving after revocation, fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance and driving under the influence of a controlled substance were referred against Andrew Joseph Lomprey, 28, La Crosse, after a traffic stop for a warrant arrest and a search of his vehicle on Hwy. 61 near Hwy. 248.

Lomprey had in his possession a container with a substance that tested positive for Alpha-PVP and a hypodermic needle which tested positive for cocaine.
Part of the fun of traveling is not knowing what or who you will encounter. Sometimes one gets lucky with timing and one gets to experience the unexpected. It happened to us on our recent trip to the island country of Malta. When lists are drawn up of foreign places one would like to visit most, Malta would probably not be on many peoples lists. For the American tourist it does not have the same attraction of London or Paris. And yet there we were for an international conference, prepared to get a strong dose of history, a taste of the local culture, and a brush with current political realities.

Malta has fascinated me primarily because of the Knights of Malta, a chivalric order of laypersons with origins from the 11th century Crusades. Taking on the role of protectors of pilgrims, it evolved into a provider of hospital care, hence its previous nameKnights of St. John, Hospitaliers. I am intrigued by their history. As a military order, it was at the forefront of the Muslim-Christian conflict, a conflict that carries on today. It was an elitist club whose members were drawn from the sons of European nobles. Even today, a noble lineage no matter how tenuous, is expected of the highest rung of members. It took part in many epic battles none more epic than the Great Siege of Malta in 1565 launched by the Ottoman Turks. The fortifications of Malta held though at a great loss of life on both sides. Today, the main waterfront avenue of its capital, Valetta, is called the Great Siege road. It was also fascinating to me that an island could just be given away to an order of knights. It is said that the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, gave the Knights of Malta dominion over the islands in exchange for an annual tribute of one Maltese Falcon. So it was also a colonial powerforeigners dominating the local population thereby creating resentments and other problems. It took Napoleons power to finally expel the Knights of Malta from the islands in 1798.

Today, there are reminders of the dominating presence of the Knights exemplified by the vast fortifications along the harbor and the magnificent co-Cathedral of St. John, decorated in the ornate style that is Baroque. But Malta is more than just the history of knights. It has become a destination of choice particularly for Eastern Europeans. Expensive yachts dot its harbor. It is surrounded by the beauty of the Mediterranean whose color turns into stunning blue around the numerous coves. And once inside the cove you are treated to a vibrant display of purple corals. But before getting on one of the small fishing boats to take you to the coves, consider the strong waves you will encounter.

Our timing was fortunate as well because we arrived at the height of Carnavala major celebration or fiesta complete with richly decorated floats and a cacophony of music. It is like Mardi Gras without the bawdiness. It is like Rio de Janeiro minus the scantily clad samba queens. Instead, it is a wholesome event for families to enjoy the parades and when daughters are dressed as princesses and sons as Spiderman or some such superhero. Malta is also a place of myths  this is the island where Odysseus supposedly spent 7 years with the bewitching Calypso before finally going home to his wife.

We were fortunate to be in Malta while it held the rotating presidency of the European Union. Members of the European Parliament were in Malta at the time we were there, many staying at the same hotel we were at. It was somewhat of an irony for peripatetic travelers like us that we were around when a committee of parliament voted to require Americans to have visas before entering Europe. Aside from the damage to the tourism industry this can cause, I hope it is never implemented because it merely plays into the hands of those who would restrict the movement of people. But the vote served as a dire reminder of the damaging tit-for-tat that international relations is devolving into. We were reminded as well of the fragility of our earth. A geological formation that looked like a gigantic window to the azure waters of the Mediterranean, just suddenly disappeared a few days after we left, a casualty of wind and water erosion. And as another sign of our troubled times, we heard concerns about the effects of refugees from various parts of Africa using Malta as a stepping stone to the larger and richer countries of Europe. This is a concern we have repeatedly heard during our travels in Europe, a concern that has found a voice in nativist movements. I do wonder what the old Knights of Malta, themselves a multinational force, would have thought of these developments.
Wisconsin residents will be able to nominate and elect local representatives to the Wisconsin Conservation Congress and express support or non-support for a range of advisory questions on conservation and natural resources management issues at the spring meetings held in every county of the state at 7 p.m. on April 10.

In Dodge County, the meeting will be held at Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center, N7725 Highway 28.

According to the Dale Maas, chair of the Dodge County delegation, there will be two seats up for election in Dodge County. Any citizen of the county who is at least 18 may be nominated to the Conservation Congress for a two or three year term.

Nominees must be willing to volunteer their time and represent their local citizens on natural resource issues, Maas said.

For more information, contact Maas at 920-928-2131.

In addition to the election of local representatives, there also will be opportunities to discuss and register support or opposition for congress proposals that could someday become the rules that regulate fishing, hunting, trapping and other outdoor recreation activities in Wisconsin. They also may submit resolutions addressing concerns or conservation needs.

Results of the publics input on the proposals will be presented to the Natural Resources Board in May. If there is support for a proposal, the advisory question could become a DNR rule change proposal the following year.

Among the 49 advisory questions this year are:

A proposal to establish the wild turkey at Wisconsins game bird;

A proposal to provide training on lead reclamation for shooting ranges;

A proposal to add a surcharge on other applications to fund aquatic furbearer research;

A proposal to establish a new bear hunting zone south of Highway 10;

There also may be local county resolutions offered. Each year, there are 200 resolutions submitted locally. Not all pass, but those that do are advanced to the Conservation Congress advisory committees and district leadership council for consideration.

Anyone submitting a resolution, must submit two copies of the resolution typed or neatly printed on 8  by 11 white paper. Resolution writing instructions and a template for writing a resolution are available at dnr.wi.gov, search for Spring Hearing and click on the about link.
Despite its name, the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance doesnt fret the arrival of April tax time.

Todd Berry, president for almost two dozen years of the 85-year-old nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to policy research and citizenship education, prefers to think of the alliance as an alternative to fake news.

Taxpayers, voters, school students, state and local officials, and the press all benefit from our work, said Berry, a former marketing manager for Jones Dairy Farm in Fort Atkinson. In an age of shrinking news staffs and highly partisan careerist politics, it is increasingly difficult for the public and press to get objective, understandable, factual information about their government.

The alliance, Berry said, does research and provides the resulting information in vehicles the average citizen can understand. Those channels include a monthly magazine, a biweekly newsletter, a civics text that soon will be published in its 19th edition, annual municipal and school finance guides, civic lectures, website and social media.

Q. How has your role in the Wisconsin political landscape changed in the last five to 10 years? Is there more or less of a hunger for impartial data?

A. In Wisconsin, the political landscape has evolved over the past 30 to 40 years with the advent of the full-time professional legislature, the centralization of power in the offices of legislative party leaders and the governor, and the increasingly take-no-prisoners partisanship that has developed among activists on the far left and far right. Respect, kindness, polite behavior, decorum are much less evident in capitol buildings today.

This has resulted in the last five to 10 years in the increasing inability of government at state and federal levels to work through and solve difficult problems. That gridlock and dysfunction has led to increased citizen alienation from public institutions. Regardless of party or ideology, both the 2008 and 2016 presidential elections were really protest elections with voters begging for problem-solving, for results, and willing to take a chance on anyone who might deliver that.

Q. Are you experiencing a decline in financial support for what you do?

A. We are a nonprofit 501(c)(3) and like all charitable organizations, every year presents new challenges. The irony is that white-hat truth-telling and fact-finding are not what most easily motivate financial giving in the public arena. Reflecting our politics today, it is anger and emotion and simplistic answers that move many donors to act.

For us, this is complicated by the fact that what we offer is a public good. Anyone can request most of our work for free: our civic and community lectures are free, part of our public service mission; serving as a resource to media reporters and editors is free; answering inquiries from citizens and local officials is free. People can benefit from much of our work without having to pay for it.

And although our research, writing, and speaking remain mostly free as part of our commitment to public service, it costs to provide all those services.

Another challenge for many local charities is the business mergers and acquisitions that strip the state of company headquarters, civic leadership and a commitment to finance state and local nonprofits.

Q. What does nonpartisan mean anymore?

A. Our view of nonpartisanship has not changed for the last 85 years. We take the responsibility of being a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) very seriously. Internally, staff members are required to have no links to any kind of partisan or political activity, other than voting. We actively police each others work to ensure that it is objective. We do no lobbying, no advocacy, no electioneering, no endorsing of candidates. We affiliate with no other organizations  national, state or local  and turn down all requests for project collaboration.

The only time we are accused of being partisan is when we put out factual information that might put an incumbent politician and his or her allies in a bad light. Emperors do not like to be shown wearing no clothes. We have been attacked from the extremes of both left and right.

We always are willing to provide information to every candidate for office, regardless of affiliation. The 2002 campaign remains a great example. Pre-primary, the campaigns of the multiple Democratic gubernatorial candidates came in for discussions and information; so did the incumbent Republicans campaign. The libertarian candidate, Ed Thompson, came multiple times in person to talk with us.

Q. How is the election of Donald Trump as president changing the way Wisconsin enacts public policy? A. It is too early to tell whether Trump is having or will have any effect on policy-making. It will depend on what happens with federal tax, fiscal, and health policy, and those will be decisions that ultimately rest with Congress and not the president.

Q. What word best describes the mood of Wisconsin residents when you go out to address groups?

A. Curious. Refreshing. Appreciative. People are hungry for reliable information, candor and honesty that they dont feel theyre getting from politicians or much of the media. I am always struck by the eagerness of audiences to know more about their government, and the appreciation they show after my colleagues and I speak.

Q. What troubles you about the current legislative system in Wisconsin, if anything?

A. There are policies in state law that exacerbate electoral politics at the legislative level. Both parties have refused to reform the redistricting process when they had the power to do so  Republicans, post-2010; Democrats, post-2008. Independent drawing of constituency lines that ensured that districts were compact and followed municipal and county lines, violating as few civil boundaries as possible, would make a significant difference.

An even more important factor, though, is the voting process. Partisan primary elections  the La Follette legacy gone terribly wrong  encourage extreme candidates, both left and right, accentuating partisanship, division and gridlock. The Washington state blanket-primary approach would address this. An alternative would be rank voting where there would be no need for primaries; we simply rank our candidate preferences, with computer processing producing the choice most acceptable to the most voters.

Q. Who are one or two of your favorite Wisconsin political figures  alive or dead  and why?

A. Warren Knowles for his grace and magnanimity. Pat Lucey for his courage to be a governor willing to lead and make big reforms, some of which worked and some of which proved less successful. Lee Dreyfus for his ability to see far into the future  and be proven correct. Tony Earl and Tommy Thompson for being the last governors of their respective parties who believed in working across party lines, respecting opponents and attempting to solve problems.

Q. Where is the alliance heading in the next five years or so?

A. The need for the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance has never been greater. The erosion of news media resources, the extreme polarization and professionalization of politics, and the decline of school civics instruction have left the public desperate for reliable, factual information about government. We must work harder than ever to fill that void.
This exhibition, on in Delhi from March 29 to 31, brings back to life the pain of the Partition.

The exhibition will show photos as well as letters and artifacts of the time. Picture courtesy: Mail Today

By Srijani Ganguly/Mail Today: So many years have passed since the Partition but it still remains alive in the memories of families who were forced to leave their house and their loved ones in the place of their birth.

Those memories are now slowly amalgamating to form a collective narrative inside the Partition Museum in Amritsar, which was established in October 26 last year. A slice of these memories will soon be on display at Stein Auditorium inside the India Habitat Centre from March 29 to 31.

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The exhibition will be a part of 'India at 70', the summit held by London School of Economics and Political Science's South Asia Centre. Since the summit will focus on 70 years of India's independence and debate core issues central to India's future, the special exhibition on Partition will be an intrinsic part of the proceedings.

The exhibition will show photos as well as letters and artifacts of the time. Picture courtesy: Mail Today

There is another connection between the two. Dr Nilanjan Sarkar, deputy director and development manager, South Asia Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science, explains, "LSE South Asia Centre is the sole academic advisor to the Partition Museum Project, and has been involved with its growth from the beginning."

The exhibition in Delhi will consist of four different kinds of objects, says Kishwar Desai, chairman, Partition Museum Project. "First, it will include personal artefacts of people - for example, a refugee registration card. Secondly, it will include photographs from the migration. Thirdly, there will be letters that were written by refugees - most of these are written to the government asking for help. Finally, the exhibition will also include an art installation created by our designer that symbolises the refugees' journey."

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Test your knowledge of the English language with us. We'll give you the definition, you pick the correct word. It's that simple.



Good luck.

*All definitions are according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Two Reedsburg men and one Baraboo woman were arrested on suspected drug offenses following a search on March 23 in Reedsburg.

At about 9 a.m. the Sauk County Drug Task Force executed a narcotic search warrant at a residence in the 800 block of East Main Street. The search turned up marijuana, drug paraphernalia, methamphetamine and several unknown pills, according to a report from the Reedsburg Police Department.

Officers arrested Matthew J. Davis, 46, and Clifford L. Judd, 39, both of Reedsburg, for charges related to possession and maintaining a drug house, according to the report. An occupant, Pamela L. Powell, 33, of Baraboo, was taken into custody on a probation apprehension request.

The investigation is ongoing and charges were expected to be submitted to the Sauk County District Attorneys Office, according to the report.

The Sauk County Drug Task Force includes investigators from the Sauk County Sheriffs Office, Reedsburg Police Department, Baraboo Police Department, Sauk Prairie Police Department, Lake Delton Police Department, Spring Green/Plain Police Department and Wisconsin State Patrol.
M&T Bank Corporation operates as a bank holding company that provides commercial and retail banking services. The company's Business Banking segment offers deposit, lending, cash management, and other financial services to small businesses and professionals. Its Commercial Banking segment provides deposit products, commercial lending and leasing, letters of credit, and cash management services for middle-market and large commercial customers. The company's Commercial Real Estate segment originates, sells, and services commercial real estate loans; and offers deposit services. Its Discretionary Portfolio segment provides deposits; securities, residential real estate loans, and other assets; and short and long term borrowed funds, as well as foreign exchange services. The company's Residential Mortgage Banking segment offers residential real estate loans for consumers and sells those loans in the secondary market; and purchases servicing rights to loans originated by other entities. Its Retail Banking segment offers demand, savings, and time accounts; consumer installment loans, automobile and recreational finance loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, and credit cards; mutual funds and annuities; and other services. The company also provides trust and wealth management; fiduciary and custodial; insurance agency; institutional brokerage and securities; and investment management services. It offers its services through banking offices, business banking centers, telephone and internet banking, and automated teller machines. As of December 31, 2021, the company operates 688 domestic banking offices in New York State, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia; and a full-service commercial banking office in Ontario, Canada. M&T Bank Corporation was founded in 1856 and is headquartered in Buffalo, New York.
By Press Trust of India: Chennai, Mar 25 (PTI) Bowing to pressure from pro-Tamil outfits, superstar Rajinikanth today cancelled his visit to Sri Lanka where he was scheduled to hand over to displaced ethnic Tamils the houses built by a foundation producing his movie.

The pro-Tamil outfits had cautioned the superstar from getting "involved" in the emotive ethnic issue.

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The 66-year-old "Enthiran" actor said he took the decision after founders of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Vaiko and Thol Thirumavalavan respectively, and Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) leader T Velmurugan asked him to consider withdrawing from the programme.

In a statement, the actor said Vaiko had spoken to him over the phone on the issue, while Thirumavalavan had made a plea through the media and Velmurugan had sent across a message through a friend. "They placed before me various political reasons and kindly asked me not to participate in the programme. Although I could not wholeheartedly accept what they said, I avoid attending the function heeding their request," he said.

Rajinikanth was scheduled to hand over the homes built by Lyca Groups Gnanam Foundation for displaced Tamils in northern Jaffna on April 9-10. Lyca Productions, owned by Subashkaran Allirajah, is producing the actors latest sci-fi movie "2.0", a sequel to his earlier "Enthiran".

In 2014 various Tamil outfits, including VCK and TVK, had opposed Lyca Productions Tamil movie "Kaththi", alleging that Allirajah had close business ties with then Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is often criticised in Tamil Nadu for the death of civilian Tamils during the final battle against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009. Explaining the reason behind his earlier decision to take part in the programme, Rajinikanth said it was his long-time desire to "salute that brave soil." "There was a long-time desire in me to set foot on that brave soil where lakhs of (Tamil) people gave their lives for the cause of their race. After fulfilling that, I was also eagerly waiting to meet the people and have an open talk with them," he said. Further, he had planned to meet Sri Lankan President Maithiripala Sirisena to take up the emotive fishermen issue, the actor said. Apparently pained at the opposition to his Lanka visit, the actor said he was "not a politician, but an artiste" whose duty was to entertain people. He said if there were any future visits by him to the neighbouring country, it should not be politicised. "If I get the privilege of witnessing that divine soil in the future by visiting there and entertaining the people, kindly do not politicise that visit," he said. Rajinikanth said he should not be stopped during such future visits, adding, he was "making the plea humbly and it was his right."

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The actor said he was scheduled to hand over the keys of houses to beneficiaries along with British MP James Berry, Chief Minister of the Northern Province, CV Vigneswaran and others on April 9.

There was also a plan to give away Research Building Fund for the Jaffna University, he said. The next day, he was supposed to participate in a sapling planting event, Rajinikanth said, adding, both events were scheduled at Vavuniya in Sri Lanka. The popular actor said Allirajah had constructed 150 houses in memory of his mother Gnanambika. While Thirumavalavan had asked the actor not to "get involved" in the emotive ethnic issue, TVK leader Velmurugan had alleged that the programme was an effort to paint a rosy picture of the relations between Sinhalese and Tamils. PTI SA BN SRY AKK

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Michael Whalen with Allie

By: William Martin WorldWideWeirdNews.com

(Scroll down for video) A dog owner said that he killed his beloved pet in the most compassionate way before burying the remains at a beach.

However, police do not consider his act as humane, and he was charged with animal cruelty.

65-year-old Michael Whalen of Virginia, said that he loved his dog, a hound mix named Allie.

Whalen has many cool photos with himself and his beloved dog, which he had for 15 years, and he took the pet with him wherever he went.

When the dog was diagnosed with Cushings disease, a veterinarian offered to euthanize it.

However, Whalen was not ready to part with Allie. Sadly, the dogs health deteriorated. Unable to get to a veterinarian, Whalen decided to shoot and kill the dog to end its suffering.

Whalen buried Allie in the sand dunes at Virginia Beach. Someone found the dogs remains and called police, leading to Whalen being charged with animal cruelty.

Whalen claims that his act was not a crime, but an act of love to end Allies suffering. Unfortunately for him, shooting a dog is not seen as a compassionate way of euthanizing an animal.
Police officers (illustration)

By: Mason White WorldWideWeirdNews.com

Several police officers were injured after a migrant rammed his car into a checkpoint and stabbed them, according to police in Italy.

Foggia police said that the migrant from Northern Africa, rammed his car into police officers on Wednesday afternoon.

According to witnesses at the scene, the suspect, who was not identified, pulled up to the checkpoint, where police officers ordered him to stop.

Instead of stopping the vehicle, the migrant rammed his Range Rover into the officers. As a result of the impact, the suspect fell out of the SUV.

He then pulled out a knife and headed towards the police, wounding at least one. The officers then managed to immobilize the suspect and arrested him.

The two injured police officers were admitted to the emergency room of the Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Ospedali Riuniti Di Foggia hospital.

Their conditions were not being considered life threatening.

The mayor of Foggia, Franco Landella, commented on the incident, saying that police will increase patrols in the city due to the massive increase in foreign nationals.
Communities in North Wales Reassured Following Events in London

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Mar 23rd, 2017

North Wales Police are reassuring local communities and advising extra vigilance following yesterdays terrorist attack in Westminster.

Additional High Vis patrols and a Policing presence will be evident although North Wales Police are reiterating that the additional security is not based on any new or emerging intelligence.

Temporary Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard said: Following yesterdays terrible events in Westminster our thoughts are very much with all those who have been affected and Id like to pay tribute to the professionalism and bravery of all the emergency services who responded and indeed those members of the public who provided comfort and support to those injured.

It is prudent in the immediate aftermath of such an horrific event to provide our communities with a visible reassurance and so additional uniformed officers will be out on patrol. I must emphasise however there is no specific threat towards north Wales.

We are in regular contact with the Metropolitan Police Service and Welsh Extremist and Counter Terrorism Unit (WECTU) and will continue to monitor the situation.

We have a range of contingency plans in place if required but none of these have been activated. We stand together with our communities and our advice is to remain alert but not alarmed and if you see anything suspicious call 999 immediately.

The security threat level nationally remains unchanged at Severe meaning an attack is highly likely. As ever the public are urged to remain alert and not alarmed.

Everyone is advised to be vigilant and to report any concerns to the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321. In an emergency, always dial 999.
Rajinikanth had specifically mentioned that he wished to visit the place where the 'holy war' occurred and it was not right to politicise it.

By Pramod Madhav: The decision of Thalaivar Rajinikanth to visit Sri Lanka and participate in an event where newly built homes were to be given to war torn Eelam Tamil families, irked politicians of Tamil Nadu so much that it made him cancel the trip.

Rajinikanth had specifically mentioned that he wished to visit the place where the 'holy war' occurred and it was not right to politicise it.

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Meanwhile, Gnanam, the NGO owned by Lyca, called this debacle an outcome of politicians acting on lies and rumours.

A discreet statement released by Gnanam stated that the event was scheduled to provide 150 homes to war torn Tamil families from Vavuniya. The houses were designed to contain two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom.

"An event to hand over the deeds of the newly built houses to the 150 families was going to be held on April 9 in Jaffna. Superstar Rajinikanth was invited to take part in this momentous charity and he readily agreed," claimed the statement.

Superstar Rajinikanth had agreed to visit Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mannar, Triconamalee and Batticaloa which were all LTTE strongholds earlier.

Lyca's Gnanam foundation regretfully expressed that they do not want the superstar to be subjected to any uncomfortable and embarrassing situation.

Lyca also wanted to make it clear that many baseless rumours are spread by business competitors regarding relationship with Rajapaksa and called these rumours untrue and unfounded.

"The actions of some Tamil Nadu politicicans who repeatedly speak out in support of those who are attempting to gain petty advantage by spreading rumours like these should be condemned," said Gnanam foundation and added that they suspect that such unnecessary rumours are spread to hurt their business.

Lyca's Gnanam foundation also alleged that these politicians did nothing to alleviate the suffering and hardship of the people affected by the war.

However, Lyca did not answer the major claim by the Tamil politicians who are raising the concerns of their Eelam counterparts seeking the army to return the occupied Tamil lands.

Also Read:

Rajinikanth cancels Sri Lanka visit after protests from Tamil groups

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MIAMI, Fla. (AP) - A month before a South Florida foster child live-streamed her suicide on Facebook Live, the dosage of an antidepressant given to her was doubled by a doctor.

The Miami Herald (http://hrld.us/2nCPVN9 ) reported Sunday that Zoloft, the antidepressant prescribed to 14-year-old Naika Venant, has a critical warning that it increased the risk of suicide in children.

The drug had a "black box" warning that is U.S. Food and Drug Administration's strongest advisory.

A spokesman for Zoloft's parent company, Pfizer, says the black box warning includes a note to families and caregivers about monitoring patients for suicidal thoughts or unusual changes in behavior.

Florida Department of Children & Families Secretary Mike Carroll told the Herald that the agency doesn't prescribe medications for children in its custody, only doctors do.
Swamy also said the former prime minister had contributed to the awakening of the Hindus.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy also said the Congress appears to be in a mood to commit suicide

By Press Trust of India: Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Sunday praised Rajiv Gandhi as the only good human being in the Nehru-Gandhi family and said that the former prime minister had contributed to awakening of the Hindus.

"Rajiv Gandhi was the only good human being in the (Nehru-Gandhi) family and had contributed to awakening of the Hindus," he told reporters in Patna.

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The Rajya Sabha MP recalled that the former Rajiv Gandhi had allowed the telecast of popular mythological serial Ramayana on Doordarshan and later got the locks of Ram temple at Ayodhya opened for prayers.

"Rajiv (Gandhi) allowed telecast of the mythological soap Ramayana on Doordarshan, the national television network, despite fierce opposition from Congress leaders," he said.

Swamy exuded optimism about resolution of the vexed Ayodhya dispute in the wake of the Supreme Court's prodding to the contending parties to work out an off-the-court settlement.

The senior BJP leader took a dig at the Congress over its electoral reverses, saying, "The Congress appears to be in a mood to commit suicide... we are there to carry out its funeral."

Swamy was in Patna to deliver a lecture on the Ayodhya issue.

ALSO WATCH | BJP MP Subramanian Swamy reacts to Supreme Court's Ayodhya push

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QUINCY, Fla. (WTXL) - A historic high school building in Quincy caught fire early Sunday morning.

UPDATE FROM THE GADSDEN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE:

"On March 26, 2017, 911 calls rang out at approximately 1:19AM at the Gadsden County Sheriffs Office Communications Center advising that the historic building of the Old William Stevens High School in Quincy, Florida was on fire.

The William Stevens School was built for all grades in the 1920s as the Dunbar School, with funding from the Rosenwald Foundation. Dr. William Spencer Stevens, for whom the school was named, graduated from Florida State Normal and Industrial College and in 1904 received a medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. Stevens became the first African American to open a medical practice in Quincy. In 1906, he opened Stevens' Drug Store in downtown Quincy and in the 1930s built a two-story building that served as a community hospital for the black community. In 1914, Stevens was named supervisor of the Quincy City Schools and in 1925 he began a four-year process to expand Dunbar School. The new school building was renamed in his honor and Dr. Stevens continued to serve the city of Quincy as Supervisor of City Schools until his death in 1949.

Sheriff Morris A. Young said that the loss of the school is going to have a grave impact on the people and the community as a whole and there were easily a thousand people lining the street watching the building as it burned and people didn't want to leave. On Sunday evening, the remains were still smoldering with a plume of gray smoke towering over the community and a few walls still standing as many people drove by and stated they just wanted to get that last memory and called it a "surreal" scene.

State Representative, Ramon Alexander also stated that It will take a while for us to assess the full impacts of the loss of this historic landmark and Florida has lost a part of its rich history.

The Old William Stevens School, which was owned by the Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners, and was home to an African Artifact and Cultural Museum which had many valuable artifacts and art work as well as other small programs which also utilized some of the space.

No injuries were reported and the fire was declared under control at about 7:30 a.m. six hours after it was reported. The Old Williams Stevens School as many called it covered a half square-block area in a residential neighborhood in the city limits of Quincy."
HAVANA, Fla. (WTXL) - A community event at the old Havana Northside High School turns violent when a physical altercation leads to gun shots.

The Gadsden County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene Saturday to find one person shot and another who had been hit over the head with a bottle. Both victims were treated at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and have been released.

Officials tell us no one has been arrested yet, but they do have a possible suspect. Because the shooting investigation is still ongoing, the suspect's name is not yet being released.

Stick with WTXL on air and online for updates.
Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad is reportedly untraceable. Forced to travel by train after airliners put him on no-fly list, Gaikwad is said to have left the Mumbai-bound August Kranti Express mid-way.

By India Today Web Desk: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad is untraceable. Put on no-fly list by all the major airliners, Ravindra Gaikwad was forced to take train from New Delhi to Mumbai on Friday.

But it has emerged that Ravindra Gaikwad did not get down at the Mumbai Central station yesterday as expected. Gaikwad left the August Kranti Express train somewhere mid-way.

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Some reports claimed that Shiv Sena MP Gaikwad de-boarded the train at Vapi in Gujarat. But, it could not be ascertained whether he headed to his constituency Osmanabad or Mumbai by road from Vapi.

Ravindra Gaikwad is said to be untraceable. He was expected to meet Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, but it appears that Gaikwad has not yet communicated to his party boss about his visit.

Gaikwad was banned by the Federation of India Airlines and Air India following his assault on a 60-year-old staffer of the national carrier.

Gaikwad insisted on being shifted to business class despite having boarded an all-economy Pune-New Delhi Air India flight on Thursday.

The incident triggered a nationwide outrage against the Shiv Sena MP, who was summoned by his party chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Shiv Sena has condemned Gaikwad's behaviour in the flight. Delhi Police registered two FIRs against Gaikwad booking him for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

However, Gaikwad has remained unapologetic about his assault. He has blamed the Air India staffer for the incident.

ALSO READ|

Ravindra Gaikwad row: Shiv Sena MP unlikely to be arrested any time soon. Here's why

WATCH

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A collection of travel trailers, motor homes and tents behind the Dayspring Ministrys homeless facility on the 2600 block of West Bruneau Place in Kennewick, is gone. The religious group continues to offer three meals a day to the homeless and hungry. (Bob Brawdy / Tri-City Herald file_
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During World War One, thousands of men enlisted to fight for the United States, leaving their jobs empty and up for the taking. This caused a 
The RBI team arrived in Kathmandu on Saturday to hold discussions on extending exchange facilities to Nepalis, who are holding banned Indian banknotes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations.

By India Today Web Desk: A team of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) visiting Nepal has hinted that it will allow exchange of up to Rs 4,500 in banned Indian currency notes to Nepali citizens.

As India had earlier allowed Nepali citizens to possess up to Rs 25,000 each, the central bank's proposal has sent waves of nervousness among the Nepali public.

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An RBI team led by Dipali Pant Joshi, executive director, RBI, held talks with a Nepali team, led by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Deputy Governor Chintamani Siwakoti, in Kathmandu and offered to provide exchange facilities up to INR 4,500 in banned Indian currency notes and gave one week's window to complete the exchange formalities.

However, the Nepali side has been pushing to arrange facilities up to Indian Rs 25,000. The NRB team has conveyed to the RBI team that it is also impossible to exchange banned Indian notes within a week as the Nepali side is yet to conduct inventory of banned Indian bills possessed by Nepalis. However, the RBI team said it was ready to exchange Indian notes held with Nepali banking and financial institutions immediately but currency notes held by individuals should be exchanged through the banking system.

If the RBI remains adamant over the decision, many Nepali citizens possessing banned Indian rupee notes would suffer.

The next meeting between the two teams has been scheduled for March 27.

DISCUSSION ON EXCHANGE OF CURRENCY

The RBI team arrived in Kathmandu on Saturday to hold discussions on extending exchange facilities to Nepalis, who are holding banned Indian banknotes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations. This is the second time that the Indian team has visited Nepal to hold talks on allowing exchange facilities.

Earlier, the Indian team had expressed fears about Nepal being used as a "clearing house" to channel illegally amassed banknotes into the Indian financial system.

The Indian government's November 8 move to demonetise Rs 500 and 1,000 bank notes has caused inconvenience to many Nepalis, especially daily-wage earners and labourers working in India, and those visiting the neighbouring country for medical treatment, studies and purchasing goods from Indian markets in border areas.

Nepal's central bank has been claiming that its financial system is holding Indian Rs 33.6 million at various banks and financial institutions besides the NRB itself. But the actual stock of banned Indian notes is expected to be much higher because Nepalis were previously allowed to carry Indian bank notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations amounting to Indian Rs 25,000.

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Also, those residing in areas bordering India usually keep Indian notes of higher denominations as they have to visit Indian markets frequently to buy essential commodities.

(With inputs from IANS)

Also read: Demonetisation: Why no window to deposit banned notes after December 31, Supreme Court asks Centre

Also read: Government reveals how much it costs to print new Rs 500, Rs 2000 notes

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A Jordanian court rejected an American request to extradite terrorist Ahlam Tamimi , who drove the suicide bomber that murdered 15 people and wounded 140 at the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem in 2001, including two US citizens. While the murderer knows that the victims included seven children and a pregnant woman, she has declared proudly: I would do it again.

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The Jordanian public opinion is familiar with the horrific details of the massacre, yet Tamimi is an admired figure, a television star. According to the former head of the Jordanian Bar Association, for example, the murderer has the right to resist the occupation and the right to self-determination.

The public opinion in Israel ignored the report. The Right ignored it because it didnt expect anything else, while the Left erased troubling facts that contradict its ideology.

Ahmad Daqamseh. Had he murdered seven European girls, he would have surely been sentenced to death

Ahmad Daqamseh, who murdered seven Israeli girls by gunshots at the Island of Peace in Naharayim in 1997, was released from Jordanian prison recently after 20 years. He was a soldier who was put in charge of these girls security. The affair is remembered thanks to King Husseins heart-rending visit to the grieving families, but Israel ignored the fact that the king represented himself alone and not his people. The fact that the murderer only received a prison sentence says it all. Had he murdered seven European girls, he would have surely been sentenced to death. The king knew however, that if a person who had shed the blood of Jewish children were executed, his people would rebel and endanger his rule. The Israeli government knew that too, and moved on.

Its unclear why Israels governments, along with the public opinion, are ignoring this reality, nurturing the Jordanians image as charming Arabs and spoiling them with different perksfrom the water of the dried-up Sea of Galilee to industrial factories at our workers expense. Only a year ago, on the Jordanian Independence Day, our president said that Jordan serves as a special example Israel is proud to be its partner and stand by its side.

Those of us who do not suffer from the psychological phenomenon known as denial should take note of the Jordanian peoples response to Daqamsehs release: Signs posted in his hometown welcomed the Lion of the Valley; a senior commentator said, We feel a sense of revenge, a sort of compensation; and social media was filled with support for the hero. All this, after they watched him say upon his release: The Israelis are human garbage that the nations of the world disgorged on our doorstep It must be removed by burning or burying it. King Abdullah, who is the first person to come out against Israel in international forums, kept quiet in light of the comments which encompass the Auschwitz program.

The conclusion is not to avoid upholding the formal peace with the Jordanians, but not to give them anything for free. Respect, sympathy and compassion cannot be bought, and the investment is in vain because under the calm and the cooperation with us, which they cannot do without, there will always be hate which has nothing to do with the occupation, the settlements or even Jerusalem. It was there before all that, and we dont understand why. The Jews have always tried to understand and appease anti-Semites too, but to no avail.

So when will we stop asking, Will we forever live by the sword? After all, there is a peace agreement, the armies are cooperating, we opened the American market to them, Jordanians are employed in Eilat. Is there anything we have not thrown into the open mouth of false peace, in the face of insatiable hatred?
A fictional Turkish television series is causing great concern in the Jewish community there with its storylines depicting Theodor Herzl intending to establish a Jewish state extending from the Euphrates to the Nile and a Jew attempting to assassinate Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

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The Israeli embassy in Ankara intends to bring these concerns to the Turkish government.

The attempted assassination scene

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The series about Abdul Hamid II is being broadcast on the television channel TRT. At the time of this articles writing, only three episodes have been broadcast, but it already has plenty of scenes to worry Jews in Turkey and abroad.

One of the episodes shows a discussion between Herzl (the visionary behind modern Zionism) and his father, who rejects his sons Zionist ideas and tells him that God did not promise the Land of Israel to the Jews.

Another scene shows a failed attempt to assassinate the sultan, in which the would-be killer holds a pendant with a Star of David in his hand while another Jew runs to murder the ruler, none of which is based in historical reality.

The fictional Herzl presenting his flag

Yet another scene depicts Herzl declaring to the World Jewish Congress his intention to establish a Jewish state. The young man presents his vision for a future flag for the country, which is a hand-drawn version of the Israeli flag, and explains that the two blue stripes represent the Niles and the Euphrates, implying that Israel shall be established on the land between those two rivers.

Herzl is also shown as trying to fool Turkish authorities and use a train intended to bring Muslims to Mecca for the purpose of transporting Jews to the swath of land he has planned for their future state.

Jews who have seen the first episodes claim that the series is full of such fabrications that only serve to inflame the hatred of Jews.

(Translated and edited by J. Herzog)
By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Mar 26 (PTI) Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who hit the headlines early this week allegedly for thrashing an Air India official, is being awaited eagerly among others in his constituency are his two canines at home.

The dogs, a golden retriever and a St Bernard, are owned by Gaikwad and the latter is his favourite, said one of MPs family member.

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The 57-year-old MP had on Thursday allegedly abused and assaulted a 60-year-old duty manager of Air India with slippers for not being able to fly business class despite having boarded an all-economy Pune-New Delhi flight.

Both the dogs are fed mostly vegetarian food. The St Bernard was purchased from Kolkata for Rs 30,000, he added.

Gaikwad, who got down at Vapi yesterday, was scheduled to reach Omerga this morning, via Pune but changed his plans at the last moment, he said.

Theres no word yet on when he will meet Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, an associate of the MP said.

The Lok Sabha member who represents Osmanabad had told PTI that he was asked by a senior Sena leader not to speak to with media over the issue till Wednesday March 29.

Meanwhile, the MPs supporters have called for a bandh at Osmanabad tomorrow against humiliation of their leader over the AI staffer assault incident. PTI VT NRB RAX

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Israel was summarily blamed for the assassination of Hamas commander Mazan Fukha , but it wasn't the only one interested in his untimely demise. The Palestinian Authority, the Salafi movement and Hamas itself all had an interest in eliminating Fukha as well.

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Israel is the main and immediate suspect. Mazan Fukha worked day and night from the Gaza Strip to plan and execute attacks against Israel by establishing and guiding military cells in the West Bank. He was one of the pillars of Hamas's "West Bank branch," which is headed by Salah al-Arouri and dedicated to carrying out attacks in Israel or against Israeli targets. The Shin Bet and Palestinian security forces have been hard at work in recent years in an effort to thwart these attacks and apprehend the members of these terror cells.

Fukha has in the past addressed reports about his role, along with other freed prisoners, at the "West Bank branch," which he says were leaked by the Israeli defense establishment.

Mazan Fukha

The general belief in the Gaza Strip is that Israel used this assassination to send a message to two groups. The first, other released prisoners expelled to Gaza who have returned to terror activity. The second, Hamas's new leadership, particularly new leader Yahiya Sinwar. The message being that no one in Gaza is safe from the long arm of Israel.

Hamas too had an interest in Fukha's demise. Hamas is known as an organization that does not shy away from harming those who do not follow the orders of its top command and appear to be too creative or too competitiveand it doesn't matter how senior they are.

A noted example is the assassination a year ago of Mahmoud Eshtewi , a senior commander in Hamas's military branch. Eshtewi was likely liquidated because of his harsh criticism against Yahya Sinwar. Another theory is that Eshtewi was an Israeli spy. In any case, it was Sinwar himself who ordered Eshtewi's killing.

It is possible that Fukha was also suspected of being a double agent in service of Israel and that Sinwar ordered him killed in a way that implicated Israel. Sinwar has no qualms about killing collaborators and has murdered more than ten of them himself.

Mazan Fukha

What did the Salafi movement stand to gain from Fukha's death? Over the last few months, Hamas has arrested hundreds of Salafists affiliated with ISIS as part of the warming of ties between Gaza and Cairo and Hamas's desire to gain favor with Egypt. Salafists have also been arrested for firing rockets at Israel, something Hamas has paid a heavy price for in Israel's retaliatory strikes.

It's possible the Salafists decided to punish Hamas by assassinating one of its top commanders, particularly one who didn't have tight security like other senior Hamas officials.

The Palestinian Authority had more or less the same reasons as Israel to see Fukha six feet under. The PA may not have a presence in Gaza, but their security services have agents in the strip who were possibly the ones leading the cell that assassinated Fukha. However, the chances of that option are rather low compared to other options.

One final possibility is that Fukha was assassinated because of a personal feud that had nothing to do with his military activity. That option is rather unlikely because it appears the assassination was done quite professionallyhe was shot at short range near his home by an assassin (or assassins) using a silenced weapon. His killers fired four bullets to his head and escaped. He was killed on the spot.
Israel Police believe that the young Israeli man suspected of making bomb threats to Jewish institutions in the US made more than 1,000 threatening calls to different institutions across the world, including to Delta Air Lines, which grounded two flights.

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According to Chief Superintendant Meir Ohayon of the Israel Police's cyber unit, New Zealand police requested assistance in tracing the source of the calls last September.

After getting the relevant details and conducting a preliminary investigation, Israel Police informed their counterparts from New Zealand that they believed that source of the calls was Israel. "At that point, the hunt for the Israeli 'hacker' who drove the world crazy was on," said Ohayon.

Photo: AFP

According to investigators, the suspect employed a variety of techniques to avoid detection, including using different computers connected to grids in different regions of the country and an antenna enabling him to connect to wireless networks far from his home.

The tactics initially proved successful, with investigators zeroing in on areas in southern Israel where the calls seemed to be originating from, only to come up empty handed.

Antenna outside the suspect's home

Eventually, police managed to narrow down the whereabouts of the suspect and noticed under surveillance that he rarely left the apartment. After being sufficiently confident they had their man, police invited American representatives to join in the arrest.

"His method was very simple," said an officer involved in the investigation. "The moment he saw that his message caused panic, he kept going on and on. It excited him."

(Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg)
For now, Israel is neither confirming nor denying any involvement in the assassination of Mazan Fukha , a senior commander in Hamas military wing, but that doesnt really matter. The fact that Hamas leaders are attributing the assassination to Israel raises the tensions and the possibility of escalation on the Gazan front. Hamas will seek revenge, and experience shows that it will try to do so through a murderous terror attack.

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The preference is to target soldiers or members of the Israeli security forces. This is a familiar tactic which we must prepare for. In general, therefore, the chance of a flare-up between Israel and the Palestinians in the strip increased upon Fukhas assassination. It likely wont happen tomorrow morning. They will wait with their revenge until they locate a weak spot and until they prepare it, but it may take place on the Gaza border or in the West Bank.

Mazan Fukha. Joined Hamas military wing immediately after being released from Israeli prison

The question is: If Fukha was indeed assassinated by Israel, was it the right and appropriate thing to do? The answerif thats really what happenedis probably yes. Fukha is one of the 1,027 prisoners who were released in 2011 in exchange for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Immediately after his release, he joined the leadership of Hamas military wing and began initiating terror attacks. Most of Hamas terror attack planning systems and main units in the West Bank and Gaza are headed by prisoners who were released in the Shalit deal, led by the recently elected Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sanwar

Hamas militants mourn Fukhas death (Photo: EPA)

Fukhas family members say the Shin Bet warned them several times that if their son, who was deported to Gaza due to the risk he posed, would continue to operate Hamas terror attack system in the West Bankhe would be punished. Fukhas father, who lives in the town of Tubas in the northern West Bank, said that Israeli intelligence officers came to our house many times and relayed messages to us that Mazan would be assassinated if he continued his actions.

Hamas leaders Yahya Sanwar and Ismail Haniyeh at Fukhas funeral, Saturday (Photo: AFP)

If what the family is saying is true, it was a yellow penalty card, and the assassination was possibly the red card that Israel showed Hamas in Gaza. Its reasonable to assume that Israel would have had no interest in assassinating Fukha if it were not for his involvement in planning a terror attack which left several Israelis dead. His assassination, even if it was not carried out or commissioned by Israel, serves as a warning to the rest of the prisoners who were released in the Shalit deal and returned to their evil ways.

Fukhas father, who says the Shin Bet warned him several times (Photo: Reuters)

We should also take into account the possibility that Fukhas assassins were Gazans who had scores to settle with him and with Hamas military wing. For example, members of the Salafi organizations who are being persecuted by Hamas in a bid to improve its relations with Egypt. The members of these organizations are trying to deter Hamas from continuing the mass arrests of their people, which is why they also had an interest to convey a deterring message to the Hamas leadership. Another possibility is that there was a combination of interests here.

In any event, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman is likely not too sorry about the assassination. The act itself definitely matches what is perceived as the hawkish approach he is leading in the defense establishment. While that does not prove that Israel did it, it should also be taken into account.

Israel should prepare for the possibility of escalation or a revenge attack, but that will likely not happen immediately. Hamas has its interests and it will find a way to get what it wants without risking a general conflict.
Nabih Berri, Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, called Israel's proposed legislation to annex a section of disputed maritime territory a "declaration of war."

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In an interview with Lebanese media, Berri said, "This will be the Shebaa Farms conflict at sea, which will open a situation with many dangerous possibilities."

Israel's maritime border divided into sections for bidding (disputed territory with Lebanon includes 1-3)

Last week, Yedioth Ahronoth learned that the Israeli government is planning to pass the Maritime Areas Bill, which will define Israel's economic waters and include the disputed maritime territory between Lebanon and Israel.

The disputed territory is an 800 square-kilometer triangular section of the sea beginning near Rosh HaNikra (marked in the map above as sections 1-3). Both states claim ownership and the right to search for and harvest natural gas, oil or other natural resources.

The application of the law has been delayed for years while the United States and UN attempted to mediate the dispute.

Israeli gas rigs (Photo: AFP)

While Israel has included the territory on maps delineating resource search zones, it has for years refrained from taking tenders on the disputed territory. However, for the first time, Lebanon has included the disputed territory in tenders for search licenses.

In response, Israel formally protested the Lebanese decision at the UN and decided to promote the aforementioned bill.

"This is a new attack by Israel on Lebanese sovereignty. What was exposed in the Israeli press is not a casual move, but rather the way Israel is trying to take control of gas and oil in our economic territory," said Berri.

Israel's Ministry of Energy issued a statement saying, "The Maritime Areas Bill is intended to clearly define the various maritime areas according to international law, and Israeli law will apply to them. Regarding the disputed area with Lebanon, Israel did not include it in the tender process and is open to all dialogue for solutions while safeguarding the Israeli interest."

(Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg)
Hamas closed the border crossing between the Gaza Strip in Israel on Sunday morning in the wake of the assassination of one of its commanders, Mazan Fukha.

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As a result of the closing, neither Palestinians nor international representatives are allowed in or out of the strip.

The crossing, which controlled by Hamas and situated after the Israeli Erez Crossing, will be closed until further notice, according to a statement by the Hamas Interior Ministry.

Photo: Avi Rokach

All other exit points from the Gaza Strip have also been closed in an effort to make it harder on Fukha's assassins or their accomplices to leave the strip.

The Rafah border crossing, which connects the strip with Egypt, will also be closed by Hamaseven if Egypt decides to open itwhile fishermen are barred from going out the sea.

The only crossing that remains open is Kerem Shalom between Israel and Gaza, where only goods are allowed to pass.
"20-25% of the German population expresses anti-Semitism when it comes to criticism of Israel," says Dr. Andreas Zick of Bielefeld University.

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Dr. Zick has been conducting surveys on xenophobia for years and the results of his latest survey are concerning.

Interview with Dr. Zick (:  )

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"There is a rise in anti-Semitism, especially in the right-wing, populist movement," said Dr. Zick to Ynet. "However, we are also seeing the differences between traditional anti-Semitism, which is quite low, and modern anti-Semitism, especially with regard to criticism of Israel, which is on a big rise."

According to Dr. Zick, "Anti-Semitism is linked to other forms of hostility. We call this group-based hostility and it is related to immigration resistence. In Germany, anti-Semitism is also connected to anti-Islamic feelings. This explains why there are so many hate crimes in Germany. In Berlin for example, we recorded 500 attacks against Jews in 2016. This can be explained by Jews not being viewed as an integral part of society, but rather as foreigners."

Based on your research, would you say Jews are in danger in Germany?

"Yes, tangible danger and it comes from very different sides. There is anti-Semitism in the general population, there is modern anti-Semitism that stems from criticism of Israel and there is a lot of Muslim anti-Semitism, especially from the extreme Muslim community."

Photo: Reuters

Dr. Zick presented his research before the Knesset as part of his participation in an international conference on the Holocaust at the Massuah Institute in Tel Yitzhak.

Dr. Zick stressed that anti-Semitism is not likely to go away and it is wrong to think that the European right has become pro-Israel because of its hatred for Muslims. "This does not limit anti-Semitism against Jews in the country, but rather presents a more complicated picture."

(Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg)
The Arab-Jewish Planning Forum, which includes professionals from the fields of building and architecture, sent an open letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday. The letter opposes the building policies set forth by most Israeli governments since the countrys founding, which the forum sees as consistently discriminatory. So far, the letter has managed to collect the signatures of over 280 building planners.

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Specifically, the Building Planners Letter, as it has been dubbed, describes a lack of issuing building permits for Arab communities, while simultaneously going ahead with the demolition of illegally built structures within those communities.

Photo taken in Umm al-Hiran near the remains of a home during a tour organized by the forum two weeks ago (Photo: Adi Bartov)

We, Jewish and Arab planners, citizens of Israel, object to the ongoing discrimination against the Arab population in Israel in the area of housing and planning, the letter opens. After years of discriminatory planning policies, which reached new heights with recent demolitions in the town of Qalansawe and the village of Umm al-Hiran we can no longer remain silent.

The Building Planners Letter stresses that the lack of building permitswhich would have allowed the Arab population to legally build more structuresbrought on illegal building within those communities in an effort to meet the basic needs of this growing demographic.

Natural growth on the one hand, and lack of planning on the other, has forced the Arab population to build without permits on a massive scale. The demolition of these homes, constructed out of distress in the absence of equitable planning, violates morality and basic civil rights.

Protests against demolitions in Qalansawe

House demolitions are not the answer to building without permits. We demand an immediate end to the policy of house demolitions and call upon the authorities to advance worthy and fair planning policiestogether with local communitiesthrough which housing construction will be regulated and the needs of the population will be met."

The letter ends by saying that as planners and human beings, we aim to create hope. We are convinced that planning solutions are within reach and believe that equitable planning is the basis for a just, democratic society that serves the public good.

The Arab-Jewish Planning Forum was founded several weeks ago and is comprised of planners, architects and engineers who wish to combine their professional work with creating social change.

Home to be demolished in Wadi Ara

Among those who have already signed the letter are: Architect Yuval Yaski, the dean of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Designs Architecture department; Prof. Oren Yiftachel, from Ben-Gurion University; Prof. Rassem Khamaisi, from Haifa University; Architect Ayala Ronel; and Architect Amnon Bar Or.

Ofir Fichman, an architect who is a member of the Arab-Jewish Planning Forum, admitted that theres a lot of illegal building going on, but its due to real distress derived from the growth of the Arab population without there being specific master plans.

He emphasized that this isnt an accusation against the current government. Were talking about the discriminatory policies of most of Israels governments, which didnt invest funds to promote detailed building plans for Arab communities.

Demolitions

And are you now calling for more funds to be invested or also offering master plans and solutions?

Were a young forum, so we havent put together building plans, but our first call to action is a call to stop the demolitions within Israeli territories, which do not allow for a real solution. Demolishing a house and leaving people out in the rain does not offer a solution. The real solution here is to promote detailed master plans for Arab municipalities.

Despite not yet having a course of action, what do you as professionals say about whats going on in the field of building and planning in Israel?

There is discrimination in the field of building within the State of Israel; the government doesnt promote building within Arab society, answered Fichman, adding that the forum also believes in working together with local municipalities.

For the time being, the forum has yet to formulate a position on the resistance coming from members of the Arab community to building initiatives that have come from municipalities and government.

One such plan has been offered by the Jerusalem Municipality, which aims to regulate Arab building by retroactively issuing permits for certain buildings while demolishing others, in favor of building new structures that will meet the official building standards and requirements.

We havent taken it upon ourselves to represent the Arab population as a whole, noted Fichman. We are representing ourselves, as planners who oppose widespread structure demolitions.
BEIRUT -- ISIS has warned that the Tabqa dam, which a US-backed Kurdish and Arab militia is trying to capture from the militant group, is at imminent risk of collapse because of airstrikes and increased water levels.

It also said in messages carried on its social media channels that the dam's operations had been put out of service and that all flood gates were closed.

The dam, on the Euphrates about 40 km (25 miles) upstream from Islamic State's stronghold of Raqqa, is the largest in Syria. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces has been battling to capture the dam from Islamic State since Friday.

A Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said it had also learned from its own sources that the dam had stopped functioning but that Islamic State remained in control of its main operational buildings and turbines.

The dam is about 4 km long and the SDF has advanced a small distance along the dam from the northern bank but its progress is slow because Islamic State has heavily mined the area, the Observatory said.
Iran has imposed sanctions on 15 American companies over their alleged support for Israel, terrorism and repression in the region.

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A Foreign Ministry statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency Sunday said the companies are barred from any agreements with Iranian firms and that former and current directors will not be eligible for visas.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (Photo: AP)

The move is seen as a response to US sanctions placed on dozens of Iranian entities in February following an Iranian missile test. Iran's sanctions are unlikely to have much impact as none of the targeted US companies are known to do business in Iran.

The companies include Bent Tal, United Technologies Products. ITT Corporation, Raytheon, Re/Max Real Estate, Magnum Research Inc., Oshkosh Corporation, Kahr Arms and Elbit Systems.

A senior Iranian lawmaker meanwhile said Iran would consider a bill branding the US military and the CIA as terrorist groups if the US Congress passes a bill designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

Such moves could heighten tensions in Iraq and Syria, where Iranian-backed forces and a US-led coalition are battling ISIS.

Allaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, was quoted by state TV as saying the move to further sanction the Revolutionary Guard goes against the 2015 nuclear deal Iran reached with the United States and other world powers.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon met Sunday to resolve their disagreement about the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation, but sources close to the talks said the crisis has yet to resolve.

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Netanyahu and Coalition Chairman David Bitan have threatened to disband the coalition and call for new elections if Kahlon does not agree to disband the new public broadcaster, which is scheduled to begin operations at the end of April.

(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

Shas Party leader Aryeh Deri also attended the meeting, apparently to act as mediator between the two sides.

Netanyahu also addressed conflicting reports around Israels negotiations with the White House on the topic of settlements' construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

There have been reports in the media lately regarding apparent agreements in the talks we are holding with the White House on the issue of settlement construction, stated Netanyahu in the coalition meeting.

I would like to make it clear that there is much in these reports that is not true. I will not go into details. Our talks with the White House are continuing; I hope they will conclude quickly, he stated on the matter.

There are growing signs that Trumps policy on the matter is not radically different than President Obamas. Before departing China on Wednesday, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that significant progress had been made with the Trump administration on the issue but Thursday, Israel Radio quoted an unnamed government official who said the administration would likely limit its approval for settlement building to existing settlement blocks while freezing all construction outside of them.
By Press Trust of India: Hyderabad, Mar 26 (PTI) Police today foiled attempt by the Left parties and other organisations to undertake a run in protest against the Telangana Governments proposal to shift "Dharna Chowk", the venue to hold demonstrations, from Indira Park to outskirts of the city.

"Over 100 members of Left parties and other organisations were taken into preventive custody, along with the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) chairman M Kodandaram," Gandhinagar Police Station Inspector A Sanjeeva Rao said, adding they were released later.

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The protesters had planned to undertake the two-km run from Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Barkatpura towards Indira Park, where "Dharna Chowk" is located.

The protesters raised anti-government slogans and demanded that the protest venue should not be shifted.

The Opposition parties had earlier urged Governor ESL Narasimhan to direct the Telangana government to withdraw its proposal to relocate Dharna Chowk. PTI VVK NSK JMF

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KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip  Surrounded by militant training sites on uprooted Jewish settlement lands, the first movie set in the Gaza Strip is growing, depicting the history-rich, volatile alleyways of Jerusalems Old City.

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The set is the latest effort by the al-Aqsa channel, run by Gazas Islamic militant Hamas rulers, to kick-start its drama production in the territory and release another series slated to air in the month of Ramadan.

Actors create a scene of confrontation between Israeli police and settlers and Palestinians. (Photo: AP)

In Gaza, filming footage of Jerusalem and other central locations from the conflict is a challenge.

Gazas population of about 2 million live in mostly cramped conditions in the coastal sandy territory compared to the rugged mountain terrain of the West Bank, so crews have struggled to film the twisting ancient alleyways of Jerusalems Old City. And that is how the idea to create a set depicting Jerusalem was born.

Palestinian actors dressed as ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and settlers perform. (Photo: AP)

The fate of Jerusalem is an emotional issue at the heart of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel captured east Jerusalem, home to the Old City with its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestinians want the territory for their future state.

The hilltop compound is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, where the two biblical Jewish Temples stood and is the most sacred place in Judaism. It is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the gold-topped Dome of the Rock, the third-holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

A director gives instructions to the actors dressed as Israeli policemen during a shoot. (Photo: AP)

Mohammed Thoraya, the channels manager, described how the Old City was depicted on set. We brought something simple of the wall decorations there andthank Godwe could simulate something small of what is there, he said.

On a recent day, actors divided into two groups. One portraying ultra-Orthodox Jews and the other Arab residents of Jerusalem trying to prevent the Jews from entering the holy site compound that is still under construction.

Actors dressed as Israeli border policemen stand during a shoot. (Photo: AP)

Clashes were staged, and actors playing Israeli policemen in riot gear and wielding M16 assault rifles struggled with those depicting the Arabs. Occasionally, an actor would smile or forget their lines, prompting the director to reshoot the scene, sometimes over 10 times. Actors are paid between $4 and $9 a day.

The series being filmed is set to be aired in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins in late May this year. Its the fifth such production by the al-Aqsa channel. Some watchdogs have considered previous productions of the channel anti-Semitic. Hamas is sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state. After winning the 2006 legislative elections, Hamas seized Gaza from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in bloody street battles in 2007, and has since fought three wars with Israel.

A Palestinian actor shouts during a shoot. (Photo: AP)

The series, Heavens Gate, shows the steadfastness of Jerusalemites and their sticking to their land and properties in the face of Zionist settlement, said the director, Zouhir al-Efrengi.

Most of the film crew has never been to Jerusalem. They secured footage of Jerusalem and the West Bank separately.

The location features an alleyway, cafe and homes with green doors. Boards painted brown simulate the ancient stone of Jerusalems Old Citys walls.

A Palestinian actor dressed as ultra Orthodox Jew walks during a shoot. (Photo: AP)

Thoraya, the manager, said an expansion of the location would see building al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. It will also be open for visitors and those who long for Jerusalem.

For three months, the crew has been spending 15 to 18 hours daily shooting. I cried when I first came here and saw it, said Ali Nasman, 32, an actor in the film It ignited the nostalgia of Jerusalem from when I was a child.

Producers would not reveal production costs, but cranes and some expensive state-of-the-art cameras were deployed.
Officers from the Afula division of juvenile justice have arrested 10 children between the ages of 9 and 14 in the past few weeks on suspicion of throwing stones at buses.

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The stone throwing incidents involved several different groups of children, which the police say are unrelated. Nevertheless, the investigators said the children explained they had committed the acts out of a desire to perform a prank and that all those who followed through, were perceived as men.

(Photo: Israel Police)

The events have taken place over the past few months, and time and again, drivers at Egged and Superbus complained that vandals were throwing stones at the buses. No injuries were incurred as a result of the stone-throwing, but the windows of the buses were shattered.

The stones were thrown at buses on Route 65, which runs from Afula and passes between Afula Illit and Givat Hamoreh, before continuing northward.

Following the increasing complaints, the investigators went undercover, scouting the area and travelling on the bus lines that suffered the brunt of the attacks.

(Photo: Israel Police)

The police said that suspects were soon arrested. "It was not an organized gang, but small groups of children who would go down the street and throw stones as a matter of course," the investigators said. "They did not even think about the risks, they just treated it as a prank."

The children stated during their interrogation that anyone who dared throw stones at buses would be considered a man."

The children's parents were also summoned to the police station, and as the interrogation wrapped up, they posted their bail.

Police said that the investigation materials would soon be transferred to the Northern District Prosecutor's Office, where it will be decided whether the children, some of whom are under the age of criminal responsibility, should be brought to trial.

(Translated and edited by N. Elias)
On Sunday evening, ultra-Orthodox demonstrators blocked the intersection of Jabotinsky and Ben-Gurion Roads between Bnei Brak and Ramat Gan. This event is just one in many over the past couple of months, protesting the arrest of IDF deserters . Police dispersed the protesters, only for them to return to the scene shortly thereafter.

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Ultra-Orthodox protests in Bnei Brak

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Several demonstrators were detained for questioning and four have been arrested thus far. Earlier, the Committee to Save the Torah World, which organizes the demonstrations of the ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem faction against the IDF draft, called out to its followers to block the main thoroughfare.

Detained protesters

Earlier Sunday, police arrested 30 ultra-Orthodox demonstrators who tried to block the Mesubim Junction on Route 4. The leader of the Lithuanian Jerusalem faction, Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, called on his people to continue the fierce protests against the arrest of the deserters. The rabbi was quoted as saying: "We must fight to the last drop of blood."

Attempts to block Jabotinsky thoroughfare

In recent weeks there have been demonstrations by the extremist faction, which has blocked roads throughout the country. Dozens of activists were arrested after clashes with police officers.

Most of Rabbi Auerbach's struggle is with the draft law, even after its revised version was formulated at the initiative of the ultra-Orthodox parties and guided by their councils of sages and great Torah scholars.

According to him, setting quotas for army service among yeshiva students is the destruction of the world of Torah. For this reason, Auerbach instructed his followers to refrain from cooperating with the army, and completely ignore draft orders.

(Photo: Israel Police)

Many students who adhere to Auerbach are defined as deserters. In the eyes of the "faction," any arrest of such a young man is proof that the draft law is an ultra-Orthodox failure, the result of the compromising approach of the mainstream leadership.

It should be noted that in recent days a large-scale operation was carried out by the Military Police, in which 300 deserters and draft evaders were arrested. However, some of the detainees are ultra-Orthodox, including a man who visited Israel after 15 years of dodging the draft.

(Translated and edited N. Elias)
With an eye toward Washington, leaders of a fractured and conflict-ridden Arab world hold their annual summit this week, seeking common positions and possible leverage as President Donald Trump weighs his approach toward the region.

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From their hotel on the Dead Sea, they have a view of the West Bank on the opposite shorea visual reminder of the stalled Palestinian quest for statehood, an issue that host Jordan says will take center stage this year.

Here is a look ahead.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) and King Abdullah II meeting in Aman this month (Photo: AFP / Yousef Allan / Jordanian Royal Palace)

Who's attending?

Jordan's King Abdullah II plays host. Key participants include King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Staffan de Mistura, the UN and Arab League envoy for Syria, are coming, along with US and Russian envoys. The leadership summit is scheduled for Wednesday.

Syria's seat will remain empty. President Bashar Assad hasn't been invited to an Arab summit since his country was suspended from the 22-member Arab League in late 2011, several months after an uprising against him turned into a civil war.

Palestine on the horizon?

The leaders are to reaffirm a Saudi-led peace plan that offers Israel full relations with dozens of Arab and Muslim states in exchange for its withdrawal from lands captured in 1967. The Arab Peace Initiative, which would pave the way for a Palestinian state in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, was first proposed in 2002. This week, the summit is being asked to endorse the plan "as is," a request promoted by Abbas, who says reopening it to negotiations would further weaken the Palestinians.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz (Photo: MCT)

Such a reaffirmation undercuts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's talk of "regional peace," in which Israeli-Arab normalization would precede a deal with the Palestinians. It would also remind Netanyahu and Trump, who in recent comments seemed to pull back from a two-state solution, that the Arab world backs that idea.

In previous summits, the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 and their chaotic aftermath overshadowed the Palestinian issue. This year, Jordan wants it high on the agenda. The stakes are high for the kingdom, which has a large Palestinian population and custodianship of a major Muslim shrine in contested Jerusalem.

"We firmly stand behind the Arab Peace Initiative," Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani said Sunday. "We want to establish the two-state solution. We want to bring justice to the Palestinian people."

Egypt-Saudi rapprochement?

The summit could offer an opportunity for Egypt and Saudi Arabia to defuse months of tensions, mainly over Syria.

Saudi Arabia is a leading supporter of the Syrian opposition, while Egypt, fearful of Islamic militants among the rebels' ranks, has pushed for a political solution that might keep Assad in power. Salman has also sought closer ties with Turkey and Qatar, which have tense relations with Egypt. On another contentious point, Saudi Arabia had hoped, in vain, that Egypt might contribute ground troops to a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

President al-Sisi speaking before the UN (Photo: AFP)

In October, the Saudis abruptly suspended oil aid to Egypt just days after Egypt backed a UN Security Council resolution on Syria drafted by Assad ally Russia. Under the initial oil deal, Saudi Arabia agreed in April 2016 to provide Egypt with 700,000 tons of fuel monthly for five years on easy repayment terms.

The shipments resumed several days ago, signaling possible rapprochement that could perhaps be sealed at the summit.

Amr Adly, a Cairo-based analyst at the Carnegie Middle East Center, said the two countries have different priorities, with Saudi Arabia focused on containing its main regional rival, Iran, while Egypt seeks to combat the Muslim Brotherhood, a region-wide movement that Cairo views as a terrorist group.

Syria, anyone?

Don't look to the summit for a new push to end the Syrian civil war.

Leaders remain divided over Assad's role, if any, in a possible political transition. Some argue that in shutting Assad out early on in the war, the Arab League created a vacuum that allowed non-Arab Russia, Iran and Turkey a greater say over an eventual solution. The trio now serves as guarantor of a shaky cease-fire between the Syrian government and the opposition, while UN-brokered talks in Geneva aim to coax them toward a political transition.

De Mistura, the international Syria envoy, said last week that he is not expecting breakthroughs in Geneva. He also urged Russia, Iran and Turkey to regain control of a "worrisome" situation on the ground in Syria, following repeated violations of a cease-fire reached in December.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last week that the Trump administration is still working on its Syria strategy, but that the top goal in the region is to defeat the Islamic State group, which holds territory in Syria and Iraq. The US has significantly widened its footprint in northern Syria in recent weeks, including airlifting allied Kurdish fighters ahead of a battle for Raqqa, the de facto ISIS capital.

Trump has promised closer cooperation with Russia, an unsettling prospect for the Arab world's staunchest Assad opponents.

What about Iran?

A Trump administration warning that it is putting Shiite Iran "on notice" has been welcomed by the Sunni Arab camp headed by Saudi Arabia. Tehran and Riyadh back opposite sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen, and a more aggressive US stance toward Iran would presumably help the Saudis contain their regional archrival. As with Syria, Trump hasn't formulated a detailed Iran policy yet.

The summit might make do with a standard warning to Iran.

Momani, the Jordanian spokesman, said Sunday in response to a question from reporters that "any attempt to destabilize the Arab countries in any form, by deed or speech, is rejected and condemned in the strongest terms."
The Russian tourist visiting Israel will be more polite in the near future. "Do not use words like 'putz,' 'schmuck,' 'slut'; do not get drunk; and refrain from criticizing Israel, because Israelis are very sensitive about their country," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a warning to tourists visiting Israel.

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The Russian Foreign Ministry is asking Russian citizens abroad to respect local customs, to be nice to the local population and to refrain from using certain words that could rub the citizens of the various countries the wrong way.

(Photo: Israel Government Tourist Office in Moscow)

Russian citizens are also asked not to overdo it with alcohol drinking and definitely not wander around drunk. Upon contact with the locals, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, a distance of 50 cm should be maintained.

In Israel, Russian tourists are warned that because the country is a country of immigrants, its residents understand many languages, including Russian, so they are likely to understand Russian curses, especially since some of them actually infiltrated the Hebrew language.

Alex Tenzer, a Russian communications expert, expressed his hope that Israel would follow Russia's example and publish a similar recommendation for Israeli tourists abroad.

As for Turkey, the Russians are warned not to raise two fingers in the air in the form of a V as a sign of victory, as it is a Kurdish symbol; in Canada, it is not recommended to tell gay jokes and in Spain, it is customary to say hello upon entering an elevator or shopseven to people you do not know.

(Translated and edited by N. Elias)
The Palestinian security forces arrested two Israelis who entered the village of Aqraba in Area A, which is under full Palestinian control. The two men knowingly entered the area for commercial purposes. One of them was armed. The security personnel turned them over to the Civil Administration.


The Ring-tailed Lemur habitat at Zoo Vienna Schonbrunn just got a lot livelier with the birth of twins on March 18.

Mom has her hands full nursing her two tiny babies, but she is doing well and gets extra help from other females in the group. Twins are not uncommon in Ring-tailed Lemurs.



Photo Credit: Schonbrunn Zoo/Norbert Potensky

For the first few days of life, the babies spent most of their time nursing or sleeping as they clung to moms belly. Newborn Lemurs are born with the ability to grip moms fur tightly so they can hang on as she climbs through the trees. After a few weeks, the babies will climb onto moms back and start to view their surroundings. By one month of age, the babies will start to nibble on fruits and vegetables.



Ring-tailed Lemurs are one of about 100 species of Lemurs, all of which are found only on the African island of Madagascar. More than two thirds of the species are Endangered or Critically Endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.



A dramatic loss of forest habitat in Madagascar is blamed for the rapid decline in Lemur numbers. More than 90% of Madagascars original forest cover has been lost, mainly due to the demand for lumber, firewood, and charcoal by a growing human population.
The actress is set to auction her belongings for a good cause.

By India Today Web Desk: Sonam Kapoor is hailed as the diva that made the whole Hindi-movie industry more fashion conscious than ever before. Now, this diva is giving the country and her fans some perspective by auctioning out just the things that earned her the 'dive' tag, because it's all for a good cause.

Last year, the Delhi 6 actress was appointed as the goodwill ambassador for Mumbai-based NGO, Fight Hunger Foundation. Now, she's all set to auction her bags and designer clothes for the benefit of this NGO, which she says is very close to her heart.

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Besides all the proceeds from her auction going to Fight Hunger Foundation, a portion of the amount will also go towards a charity organisation she represents, Cuddles Foundation, which works for children battling cancer.

But before you get excited, Sonam's not auctioning ALL of her clothes and bags--she's chosen just 12 pieces so far, which include her vintage couture gowns and a few designer handbags.

"Given that she is a big name in the fashion space, big funds are expected to be generated from the auction," an insider told Mid-Day.

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By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, Mar 26 (PTI) The television premiere of internationally acclaimed film "The Danish Girl" has been put on hold on Sony Le Plex as the channel was unable to get necessary certification.

The Tom Hooper-directed film, starring Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, is based on the life of Elbe, one of the first known recipients of sex reassignment surgery. It was scheduled to be telecast tonight.

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"We regret to inform you that Sony Le Plex HD is unable to telecast the much-awaited television premiere of the international acclaimed award-winning film The Danish Girl on March 26 as the necessary certification to enable telecast of the movie has not been received," the channel posted on its official Twitter account.

"We continue making all necessary efforts to secure the certification and will keep you informed of the future date of the telecast. We thank you for your continuous support and understanding. Any inconvenience caused is sincerely regretted," it added. PTI SSN JCH JCH

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The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 12 fishermen from Tamil Nadu's Pudukkottai and Nagapattinam districts.

The latest incident of arrest is the fifth such detention of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy this month.

By Press Trust of India: Twelve fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on the charge of fishing in the territorial waters of the island nation.

The fishermen, who had put to out to sea from Jegadapattinam in Pudukottai district, were arrested near Neduntheevu late Saturday night, a Fisheries official said today.

The fishermen along with their two mechanised boats had been taken to Kankesanthurai Port in northern Sri Lanka, Assistant Director of Fisheries Alexander said.

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Besides, around 2,000 fishermen from Rameswaram who were fishing near Neduntheevu in 500 boats were chased away by the Lankan Naval personnel and they returned to the shores here last night, officials said.

PROTESTS, ARRESTS AND MORE

The latest incident of arrest is the fifth such detention of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy this month.

Boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy. Boats seized by the Sri Lankan Navy.

The fishermen along with their two mechanised boats had been taken to Kankesanthurai Port in northern Sri Lanka.

While Sri Lanka released 77 fishermen on March 14, as many as 38 fishermen, including those arrested today, are in the custody of the neighbouring nation.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami had on March 23 written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to ensure the release of the fishermen and 131 boats in the custody of Sri Lanka.

Voicing concern over the recurring detentions of fishermen, he had appealed to the Prime Minister to direct the External Affairs Ministry to take up matter with Sri Lankan authorities in a "concrete and decisive manner".

Fishermen in the state have also staged protests, including over the recent killing of a colleague allegedly by Sri Lankan Naval personnel, and demanded steps to resolve the issue of fishing rights in the Palk Straits and ensure that their livelihood was protected.

Also read: Tamil Nadu: Amid peace talks, Sri Lanka arrests 10 fishermen

Also read: Sri Lankan Navy releases 53 Indian fishermen as goodwill gesture

Also read: Tamil Nadu: 3000 Rameshwaram fishermen threatened by Sri Lankan Navy to return home

WATCH | Sri Lankan Navy arrests 12 Indian fishermen

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OPEC countries are complying with a landmark deal to reduce a worldwide glut in oil

OPEC and non-OPEC producers said Sunday at a meeting in Kuwait they were looking into extending an output cuts deal aimed at stabilising the market, as compliance with the milestone pact increases.

The cuts aim to reduce world oil supplies and boost prices that have slumped since mid-2014.

The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee "expressed its satisfaction with the progress made towards full conformity with the voluntary production adjustments and encouraged all participating countries to press on towards 100 percent conformity," producers said after their day-long meeting.

The committee, formed by OPEC and non-OPEC members to oversee compliance with the deal to reduce output reached last year, also studied the possibility of extending the cuts for another six-month period.

It said its technical committee, in coordination with the OPEC secretariat, should "review the oil market conditions" and report back at a committee meeting next month.

Participating producers had reached 94 percent compliance with the cuts in February, up eight percent from January.

Kuwait's Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouk, who heads the joint committee, told a press conference that OPEC compliance had reached 106 percent, while non-OPEC compliance rates remained around 65 percent.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries in November agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from January 1, initially for a period of six months.

Non-OPEC producers led by Russia agreed in December to cut their own output to 558,000 bpd.

The meeting was attended by the oil ministers of Oman, Iraq, UAE, Venezuela and Russia.

Bloomberg News reported that Venezuela, Oman and Iraq voiced support in Kuwait for a rollover of the cuts beyond June.

Marzouk said the market could rebalance by the third quarter of the year if OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached full compliance with the deal.

But the Kuwaiti minister also warned that crude oil stocks remained high and price volatility was on the rise.

Story continues

After the output cuts went into effect in January, oil prices rose to above $55 a barrel before shedding some of the gains due to fears from high inventory levels.

But OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo said he expected most of the glut to disappear in three months.

"We still believe that the full and timely implementation of the decisions taken last year will see destocking accelerate by the end of the first half of 2017," Barkindo said in his speech.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers who signed up to the cuts are scheduled to hold a crucial meeting in late May to consider whether to extend the reductions.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) The surrogacy bill introduced in Parliament making altruistic a third-party woman carrying the foetus of a married infertile couple is "riddled with loopholes", says author Pinki Virani.

She, however, welcomes the governments complete ban on commercial surrogacy.

She has sent stakeholder suggestions towards strengthening the surrogacy bill to the Rajya Sabhas Standing Committee currently examining it, in which she points to "the trafficking of poor women for surrogacy continuing, they are being bussed across the border".

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Viranis latest book "Politics Of The Womb: The Perils Of IVF, Surrogacy & Modified Babies", released by Penguin Viking, exposes the physical and mental harm that aggressive IVF (in vitro fertilisation) can inflict upon a baby and its mother, whether she is the "direct patient" or the surrogate.

"Some artificial reproductive procedures can carry dangers of deadly diseases, deformities and disorders," says the book while providing proof from international experts.

"India must be mindful that other countries, near or far, may be encouraging their medical economies through the bodies of women. They may not allow their fertility clinics to practise commercial surrogacy on their own women citizens but would turn a blind eye to women being trafficked inwards.

"A comprehensive surrogacy law must equally ensure that no womb, with the woman attached, is trafficked into our country for the exploitative purpose of commercial surrogacy. Every country, India included, needs to clamp down to prevent reproductive trafficking.

"Unfortunately, in its current exclusionary form, the surrogacy bill allows for human-trafficking," the author claims.

Suggesting solutions, she says, "The intending parents will identify their own surrogate birth mother and the final approval will be by the Surrogacy Board."

Under offences and penalties where the bill disallows persons and organisations to undertake commercial surrogacy or provide related facilities like arranging for surrogate mothers at "clinics, laboratories or at any other place", Virani says.

She also suggests the adding of "inclusive of using Indian passport-holders as surrogate birth mothers internationally".

She further asks for the bill to clarify that the surrogate "will be an Indian citizen residing in India".

"Not only to prevent inwards trafficking," she says.

"The altruistic surrogate is the intending childs birth-mother even as its genetic-mother is the egg or oocyte-giver. It is a combination of genetic and giving birth which, in the general context of human reproduction, makes for biological mothers.

"It is this third-party reproduction childs right to know all its parents, so that there is no biological bewilderment. It is also every newly-borns right to be breastfed. If the altruistic surrogate as birth-mother extends her generosity and the genetic parents grasp the importance of breastfeeding for their baby, its the best start for a baby." PTI ZMN TRS

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It's not just Mexican cement giant Cemex that's refusing to bid on the Great Wall of Trump; many of the firms in the super-concentrated large-scale construction sector are signalling their unwillingness to participate in the wall's construction.

It's not just reputational concerns, either: there's also the risk that California Democrats will pass their proposed law excluding any contractor who participates in the wall from state contracting; not to mention a legislative proposal that would ban the state's pension plans from investing in any of the people who help build the wall.

There are smaller companies that might take the contracts, but the sector is one of the many that is super-concentrated and building thousand-mile-long walls is hard.

That sits well with California lawmakers, Lara said. The legislature will consider a bill that would require the teacher and public-employee retirement funds, which together manage more than $500 billion, to divest from companies that help build the wall. "This legislature has made it clear what our position is on the Trump policies," said Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, a Democratic assemblywoman from Oceanside who co-sponsored the measure. "We have supermajorities in both houses that are committed to lead the resistance."

Trump's Wall Is 30 Feet of Scary Politics for Builders

[Thomas Black/Bloomberg]

(Image: Berlin  Checkpoint Charlie (1970), Roger W, CC-BY-SA)
An Air Canada flight headed for Shanghai was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after taking off from Trudeau airport on Saturday.

Passengers onboard flight AC017 reported hearing unusual sounds as the plane pulled away from the tarmac.

"Already a few moments after take off, we knew something wasn't working right," said Josh Jacobs, a Boston resident who was on the flight.

"But the captain intervened quickly and made an announcement, which avoided panic."

Officials with the airline said a warning light came on in the cockpit of the Boeing 787. The crew, following emergency procedures, shut down the engine, dumped fuel and contacted emergency teams on the ground.

Jacobs captured an image of the fuel dump on his phone.

The emergency landing was executed without incident, the airline said. 

"Our technical team will proceed with an inspection of the engine to determine the cause of the incident," said Isabelle Arthur, a spokesperson for Air Canada.

There were 213 passengers onboard the flight. Air Canada arranged for them to continue to Shanghai on Saturday evening.
We need to try these Starbucks Frappuccino flavors you can only find in other countries

If you are a Starbucks fanatic, you know all about the secret menu. But it turns out that not enough people know about Starbucks region-specific menu items. Thus, we need to try these international Starbucks Frappuccino flavors you can only find in other countries ASAP. BRB, planning an around-the-world trip.

Because Starbucks is an international franchise, they cater to a variety of different audiences. Someone in Europe might like something that an American customer thinks is weird. Luckily, thanks to the internet and Spoon U, we know exactly the types of frappuccino flavors we are missing out on.

1. Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino

   ! #StrawberriesAndCreamFrappuccino A post shared by Starbucks Greece (@starbucksgr) on Jun 10, 2016 at 12:46am PDT

This delicious concoction is popular over in the U.K. But it looks like it has moved on to Greece as well. Furthermore, Frapps already taste like delicious chocolate milk. So adding a favorite desert flavoring should be something Americans would enjoy.

2. Algarrobina Frappuccino

 Alto Algarrobina Frappuccino #Algarrobina #AlgarrobinaFrappuccino #StarbucksPeru #Starbucks #StarbucksDrink #Drink #Foodporn #Peru #Cusco A post shared by Scott V. Tran (@vs.travels) on Nov 28, 2014 at 11:45am PST

Algarrobina is basically a syrup that is made from the black carob tree. It is very popular in Peru. Additionally, combined with chocolate chips, mocha, milk, and ice, it makes for a perfect summer treat.

3. Coffee Jelly Frappuccino

*  .  .  . #starbucks##coffeejellyfrappuccino#yum A post shared by Nanako (@nanarope_0901) on Jul 19, 2016 at 2:40am PDT

This is an amazing combination of innovation and flavor. First, freshly brewed coffee is made into jelly. Then, its topped with a regular Frappuccino. The drink is really popular in Japan and provides three textures while you drink.

4.Yoghurt Frappuccino

       ! #RedBerry #Banana #YoghurtFrappuccino A post shared by Starbucks Greece (@starbucksgr) on May 20, 2016 at 12:18am PDT

Popular in Greece, this drink comes in three flavors: strawberry, banana, and honey. Not only is this a Frapp, but its blended with Greek yogurt. And who doesnt like that?

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5.Orange Honeycomb Crunch Frappuccino

Buy 1 free 1 mocha honeycomb crunch frappuccino & orange honeycomb crunch frappuccino But I prefer orange flavour  #mochahoneycombcrunchfrappuccino#orangehoneycombcrunchfrappuccino A post shared by Lim Sin Ying (@sinying_freedom) on Aug 5, 2015 at 7:58am PDT

This drink is a favorite amongst people living in Thailand. Fruity and refreshing, complete with pieces of honeycomb.

6. Lemon Vanilla Frappuccino

Limon serinligi, vanilyann kars konulmaz lezzetiyle bulusuyor. Lemon Vanilla Frappuccino'ya hazr msnz? #starbuckstr #frappuccino #lemonvanilla #lemonvanillafrappuccino A post shared by Starbucks Turkiye (@starbucks_tr) on Aug 3, 2015 at 2:28am PDT

This drink is similar to the Lemon Bar Frapp we are used to in the States. Right now, people in Europe are really digging it as a menu item.

7. Summer Berry Panna Cotta Frappuccino

  #starbucks #summerberrypannacottafrappuccino #  A post shared by Heather Chang (@_hsinc) on May 4, 2016 at 7:05am PDT

If you are in Singapore, you might want to try out this delicious berry-filled concoction.

8. Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino

Sweetened red bean kernels are placed atop green tea frapp mix. This drink is very popular in the Asian Pacific regions, as well as China and Japan.

9. Mango Jelly Frappuccino

#mangojellyfrappuccino A post shared by erika takai (@jelly_space) on Aug 19, 2016 at 6:54am PDT

In select Asian markets, this drink is off the chain!

If you find yourself in a different country, try out something new. You never know! Maybe you will find a new favorite Frappuccino flavor. But be that as it may, the Caramel Waffle Cone Frappuccino is pretty bomb if you cant leave the U.S. for your next Starbucks trip.

That awesome moment when your coworker knows exactly what you need to get your day started! #Starbucks #CaramelWaffleConeFrappuccino A post shared by Michelle Giles (@michellegilesj) on Jul 15, 2016 at 6:14am PDT

So go out there and explore!
Montreal's police chief has drawn up a plan to overhaul the "culture" of his scandal-plagued force, and it has the backing of officials in both Quebec City and City Hall.

Details of the plan won't be made public until March 31, Mayor Denis Coderre said Sunday. But the mayor did reveal it contains proposals to address infighting within the Service de police de la Ville de Montreal (SPVM).

"There are elements within it that will change the culture (of the SPVM)," Coderre said. He added the plan also addresses the management structure of the force.

"More and more we were seeing that there were clans from the past. We had to shine light on that," Coderre said.

Coiteux asked for change

Last month, Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux asked Montreal police Chief Philippe Pichet to draw up a plan for restoring confidence in the force following a series of scandals involving its internal affairs division.

Former officers came forward with allegations that the division fabricated evidence in an effort to silence whistleblowers who tried to expose corruption in the police. That prompted the Surete du Quebec to launch a criminal investigation.

The deputy director of the force was relieved of his duties earlier this month pending the results of the SQ probe.

Pichet submitted his proposed changes to the minister on Friday. The two met the next day, and on Sunday, Coiteux expressed his support for Pichet's plan.

"For me it's a convincing plan," Coiteux told CBC News. "It is a part of the whole process that we have started to restore, to re-establish public confidence in the SPVM."

Support for Montreal chief

It was an important vote of confidence for Pichet, who declined to comment on Sunday. Opposition politicians at both the municipal and provincial levels have questioned his leadership since he was appointed in 2015.

The allegations of fabrication of evidence against whistleblowers is the second major controversy to have hit the force in recent months. In the fall, it was revealed Montreal police sought to monitor conversations of certain journalists.

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Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Coderre highlighted Quebec City's support for Pichet's plan.

"Unlike the opposition, who wanted to get rid of Mr. Pichet ... I think stability is important," Coderre said. "Mr. Pichet is the man for the situation."

The mayor also stressed that the alleged incidents of evidence fabrication pre-date Pichet's appointment as chief.

Montreal's public safety commission will discuss the plan at an in-camera meeting on Wednesday.

The commission will hold a rare public session on Friday, when details of the four-page plan will be revealed. The commission will have the responsibility of ensuring the reform plan is carried out.

Whether the plan is successful at restoring public trust in the SPVM will depend on if it receives the support of rank-and-file officers, Coiteux said.

"Now everybody has to collaborate on this ... that includes the police brotherhood," Coiteux added, referring to the police officer's union.

The union declined to comment on Sunday, saying it had not yet seen the reform proposals.

Along with the SQ investigation, Coiteux also ordered an administrative inquiry into the SPVM. The results of that inquiry are not expected for several months.
The City of Winnipeg and its largest union are trading accusations of bad-faith negotiations as the two parties try to hammer out a collective bargaining agreement.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500, which represents more than 5,000 city workers, plans to file a complaint to the Manitoba Labour Board next week about the City of Winnipeg.

CUPE 500 president Gord Delbridge said he does not believe the city has bargained in good faith since the last collective bargaining agreement expired late in 2016.

"They're putting so many roadblocks up, we feel we can't bargain in good faith. They've presented us with so many challenges, we feel we can't move forward," Delbridge said in a telephone interview Saturday.

Delbridge said the roadblocks included an "unprecedented proposal package," but said he could not divulge details due to the confidential nature of negotiations.

The city, meanwhile, has already filed an unfair labour-practice complaint against CUPE 500. Chief corporate services officer Michael Jack said the city asserted on Feb. 27 that CUPE was refusing to bargain in good faith.

"On the second scheduled day of bargaining, CUPE walked out of negotiations after just seven minutes at the table and refused to allow the city's bargaining team to go through its bargaining proposals and provide explanations," Jack said Saturday in a statement.

This led the city to seek help from a conciliator, who was appointed the next day, he said.

"On the first day of conciliation, CUPE again refused to meet face to face and bargain in good faith, which is making the conciliation process extremely challenging," Jack said.

"The city recognizes the important work performed by all of our staff in CUPE, and remains committed to finding a fair and reasonable solution to these ongoing negotiations. We look forward to resuming negotiations with CUPE, and coming to an agreement that is fair and reasonable to all parties, including Winnipeg taxpayers."

Story continues

Delbridge said some of what the city has proposed during negotiations would significantly hinder operations. Delbridge placed much of the blame on a new city labour-relations manager. "He's been a real challenge to deal with," he said.

The CUPE leader said he heard similar complaints about the city's negotiating tactics at a meeting of city union leaders on Friday. Unions representing the city's police officers, paramedics, transit workers and professionals were also in attendance, he said.

A total of five city unions have been without contracts since December and talks with four are at a standstill. The city has asked for a conciliator to assist talks with CUPE 500, while the Winnipeg Police Association, the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Association of Public Service Officers have requested arbitration.

On Wednesday, Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman refused to say whether the city is playing hardball with its unions.

"We have an obligation to ensure that the mandate that is provided to our new chief negotiator is fair and reasonable to our valued employees, but also protects the bottom line of taxpayers. We're trying to achieve both," Bowman said.

Delbridge said CUPE does not have a strike vote planned.

"We've never been on strike before. I'm one who thinks we should negotiate and get to a deal," he said.

"If they're pushing for a strike, that alone would be in bad faith."

Jack said the city has zero interest in a labour stoppage.

"We know full well a strike or a lockout can not only be massively damaging, in a way that people can't predict, but can leave scars that can last a very long time," he said in a telephone interview.
A pilot model of the Uber self-driving car is displayed at the Uber Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (AFP Photo/Angelo Merendino) (AFP/File)

Washington (AFP) - Uber has grounded its fleet of self-driving cars pending an investigation into the crash of an Uber autonomous vehicle in Arizona, a spokesperson for the car-hailing service said Sunday.

No one was seriously injured in the accident which occurred Friday in Tempe, Arizona while the vehicle -- a Volvo SUV -- was in self-driving mode, the company said.

"We are continuing to look into this incident and can confirm we had no backseat passengers in the vehicle," the Uber spokesperson said.

The accident occurred when the other vehicle "failed to yield" while making a left turn, Tempe police spokeswoman Josie Montenegros said.

"The vehicles collided causing the autonomous vehicle to roll onto it's side. There were no serious injuries," she said.

Self-driving Uber vehicles always have a driver who can take over the controls at any time.

Montenegro said it was uncertain whether the Uber driver was controlling the vehicle at the time of the collision.

The company grounded its self-driving vehicles in Arizona after the accident, and then followed up on Saturday pulling them off the road in Pittsburg and San Francisco, the two other locations where it operates self-driving vehicles, the company said.

The car-hailing service has been dented by a series of bad news stories, including disclosures about a culture of sexism, cut-throat workplace tactics and covert use of law enforcement-evading software.

A number of executives have left the company in recent weeks, including president Jeff Jones, as troubles have mounted.

Advocates of self-driving cars say that they can cut down on deadly traffic accidents by eliminating human error.

But there have been accidents, including a fatality in Florida in May when a truck struck a speeding Tesla that was on autopilot.

An investigation found no safety-related defects with the autopilot system, but concluded that the driver may have had time to avert the crash if he had been paying closer attention.
iamba wrote:

Letter writer: Illegal drug use is often associated with other serious problems, such as armed robbery and other violent crimes. Statistics indicate that each time police increase their enforcement of anti-drug laws in the city, the number of violent crimes committed in the city declines as a result. However, eliminating criminal penalties for drug use would almost certainly decrease rather than increase the incidence of armed robbery and other violent crime. If drugs were no longer illegal, the price would drop precipitously, and drug users would no longer need to commit crimes to acquire the money necessary to support their drug habits.



In the letter writers argument, the two portions in boldface play which of the following roles?





A) The first is support offered by the letter writer for a certain forecast; the second is that forecast.



B) The first acknowledges an observation that refutes the main position that the letter writer takes; the second is that position.



C) The first is a direct relationship between two activities that the letter writer argues is an infallible predictor of future events; the second acknowledges a circumstance in which that relationship would not apply.



D) The first is a direct relationship between two activities that the letter writer predicts will not hold in the future; the second offers information that, if true, would support that prediction.



E) The first is a statement that the letter writer believes is true; the second is presented as a logical inference drawn from the truth of that statement.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

(D) CORRECT.

The letter writer believes that if criminal penalties for drug use are eliminated, the incidence of armed robbery and other violent crimes will decrease. In support of that belief, the letter writer offers the second boldface portion of the argument: an assertion that crimes are committed by drug users because they need money to buy expensive illegal drugs, and that if drugs were legal and therefore cheaper, the crimes would become unnecessary. The first boldface portion of the argument mentions an observed relationship between drug use and other crimes: when drug use declines, other crimes decline as well. This observation is counter to the letter writers ultimate claim.(A) The letter writer forecasts that violent crime will decline even if drug use is decriminalized. The first boldface portion does not offer support for that forecast, but rather evidence that violent crime decreases when anti-drug laws are enforced. The second boldface portion is not the letter writers forecast, but rather the support given for it.(B) The first boldface portion is an observation that violent crime decreases when anti-drug laws are enforced; that observation weighs against the letter writers main position, but falls short of refuting his claim that violent crime will decrease as a result of decriminalizing drug use. The second boldface portion is support for the letter writers main position, not the position itself.(C) The first boldface portion shows a direct relationship between a decline in drug activity and a decline in violent crime, but the letter writer does not argue that future events are predicted by this relationship. In fact, the letter writer ultimately claims the opposite: that violent crime will decrease when criminal penalties for drug use are eliminated, even if drug use increases as a result.The first boldface portion shows a direct relationship between a decline in drug activity and a decline in violent crime, but the letter writer claims that violent crime will decrease when criminal penalties for drug use are eliminated, even if drug use increases as a result. If true, the information in the second boldface section explains why the letter writer makes that claim: that the high cost of illegal drugs is the reason drug users commit violent crimes, so cheaper, legalized drugs will cause crime to decline.(E) The first boldface portion is presented by the letter writer as true. However, the second boldface is not an inference drawn from the first boldface portion; rather, it contradicts the first boldface portion._________________
Sushmita Sen recently posted a video on Instagram where she is seen dancing to Shape Of You by Ed Sheeran. Accompanying her is her daughter Alisah.

Sushmita Sen with Renee and Alisah (L); Sushmita and Alisah dancing to Shape of You (R)

By India Today Web Desk: Perhaps, people all over the internet have been put on gunpoint to dance to or make a cover of Ed Sheeran's Shape Of You and then share it online.

The latest to join the trend is actor and 1994 Miss Universe pageant Sushmita Sen. Accompanying her is her younger daughter, the 7-year-old Alisah, and the two of them are seen dancing by a pool.

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While Sushmita Sen's dance moves appear as elegant as one can imagine her to be, Alisah's dance moves were impromptu.

The sensational Sen captioned the video, "Alisah with breaded hair owns her moves."

Sushmita's other daughter Renee also features in the video which is altogether a montage of different moments from Sushmita Sen's vacation with both her daughters.

On the film front, Sushmita was last seen in the 2015 Bengali psychological drama Nirbaak.

Watch Sushmita Sen dance to Ed Sheeran's Shape Of You here:

ALSO SEE: Sushmita Sen's daughters Renee and Alisah charmed by Shah Rukh Khan

WATCH: Sushmita Sen gets candid about marriage

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Michigan Ross vs Duke Fuqua [ #permalink

1 Kudos

I know these are very similar schools that have been compared ad nauseum but I'm looking for a little insight. I'm in at Ross and on the WL at Fuqua but if I gain acceptance to Fuqua next week (March 13 Round 2 decisions) then I've heard there is a 24-48 hour response time required for admitted candidates from the WL. Of course all of this is moot if I'm not able to convert the WL to an acceptance at Duke and if that's the case I'll be ecstatic to head to Ross this fall. Just want to make sure I'm not missing something in case I do get the Duke offer. Assume no scholarship offers from either school.



Both schools are great and have similar offerings. My background is in the provider and payer space of the healthcare industry and I'd like to stay in that area post-MBA at a consulting firm or internal strategy role. Duke has a great Health Sector Management program but Ross launched a new Health Care Management concentration and has some great resources available as well.



Duke has the largest class of healthcare focused students (70-100 students depending on the year) and attracts a lot of healthcare employers, but I'm only interested in provider or payer opportunities. I'm not interested in biotech, pharma, med device, etc.



Would being part of a smaller group of healthcare interested students at Ross put me at any advantage for recruiting? Or would the greater number of healthcare recruiters coming to Fuqua and more developed healthcare program negate the added interest from fellow students? I noticed one firm, The Chartis Group, a healthcare provider consulting firm, recruits at Ross but not at Fuqua. Not sure if there are other provider/payer firms that recruit at one school but not the other.



I really like both schools. Both are collaborative, have great sports, and offer practical work experience (MAP @ Ross vs FCCP at Fuqua). I'm fine with either location. I'm in the Midwest now but have ties to the Southeast. I could see myself spending 2 years in Ann Arbor or Durham and taking a post-MBA job in Chicago, Atlanta, or any other location. I'm more interested in the post-MBA job itself rather than where it would be located.



I appreciate any insight you all may have!
Quote:

"X" once conducted operations from mining at one end of the process to shipping at the other have greatly downsized, or in some cases shut down altogether.



X once conducted Y from A to B HAVE VER-ed,



So HAVE VERB-ed doesn't take X as SUBJECT ????



have /has downsized

Thank you Daagh for your time on GMAT Club and all your contributions! Thank you for everything you did!

Your work will remain a great tribute to you here on GMAT Club !

-bb -bb Signature Read More

"X" once conducted operations from mining at one end of the process to shipping at the other have greatly downsized, or in some cases shut down altogether.This clause per se is ungrammatical because there are two actions here that are not properly conjugated. So this is a run-on.1. "X" once conducted operations from mining at one end of the process to shipping at the other2. have greatly downsized, or in some cases shut down altogether.Now you can amend the error in two ways. The first is the way the text does. i.e. - by introducing a relative pronoun such as that or which at the right juncture, say just after the subject. The construction becomes a complex sentence involving a sub-clause and a main clause with the two given verbs smugly fitting in their own subjectsThe other way is to convert it into a compound sentence with the introduction of an appropriate co-ordinate conjunction such as and, but etc;1. The amended sentence will read as: "X" once conducted operations from mining at one end of the process to shipping at the other, but have/ has greatly downsized, or in some cases shut down altogether.Now you may see that the second verbcan take X as the subject and only for the sake of brevity, it is elliptical._________________
bb wrote:

Got it - thank you for educating me on this one (I suspected but was not aware).

You will have to choose between reputation for the rest of your life vs. 2 years of experience. It is hard to go wrong with either. It depends how you feel now - if you are exhausted and need a longer break to compose yourself, then UCLA would be my suggestion. If you feel strong and ready to battle, then Kellogg is a good fit and will be strong for your goals.



UCLA is highly regional - most of the alums/hiring base is within SoCal and not even going as far north as SF Bay area. Do you have potential employers in the LA area? There are not many large ones and even the Nestle is leaving I heard....



It is a hard choice. Do you have a chance to go for the admitted students weekend?

emancipated123 wrote:

Kellogg 1-yr admitting you with only 2 yrs of experience and at only 23 means they want successful entrepreneur based in SE Asia 20 yrs down the line which is a good thing because they think you can execute.



I will go to UCLA, if I were you.



I dont think it really matters where you go to MBA between these two. You are gonna end up running the family business. I would rather get a better and well-rounded education which I don't think you will get in just 1 yr at Kellogg.



If you wanted to do MBB in SE Asia after MBA, I would have said go with Kellogg. Thats an industry where marginal differences in prestige/ranking actually makes big difference in outcome. Running your own business, I don't think people would care 5 yrs down the line if you went to Kellogg/UCLA.

Don't get me wrong but Northwestern/Kellogg isn't not a household name either like Yale/Stanford/Harvard. I dont think people outside the MBA community when you are in the real world in SE Asia care or know ranking differences between those two.



So go to UCLA, enjoy and learn for 2 yrs and get a job in food tech firm in LA out of MBA and go back home after 2-3 yrs and start running ****.

bkhu wrote:

i'd vote for ucla. 1 year seems like it won't get you what you want from b-school. if you are going back to your family business, gaining the tools necessary to really make a difference takes that extra time. plus having twice as much time to build a network is helpful. i think 1 year programs are more suited for people who are older and may have graduate degrees already. good luck and congrats

Yeah, Nestle is unfortunately moving Eastward. I'm looking into companies such as Amazon (Fresh) and Thrive Market, both of which recruits from UCLA, however I can't deny that Kellogg's recruitment is way better... but with 1Y i think my chances are next to almost 0 given my WE. The opportunity for academic internship at UCLA to work with start ups/other firms during second year would be super beneficial to me. I'm currently preparing for my tourist visa. I can't believe I've never been to the US after all these years!That's pretty true coz at the end it's family business and not corporate world. And at the end of the day it's all about results. One guy with MIT undergrad + Wharton MBA still has to go to my uncle who only finished vocational degree for business partners and network. You made a really convincing argument. Do you think it'll be possible for me to ask Kellogg to convert or chances are pretty much down the drain?Thank you for your input! I also agree about the skills. I don't really wanna go for gradschool just for a piece of paper (albeit a year is still a long time but 2 years is still much better)._________________
As the world celebrates 'Mother's Day' on Sunday, March 26, the photos of a woman who is the oldest woman in a LGA in Rivers state, have surfaced online.

A group on Facebook identified as, Ask Obalga Youths has taken to the social networking platform to post photos and share the story of a woman who is the oldest woman in Obio Akpor LGA of Rivers state. The woman identified as Madam Sarah Nwakohwu Wuche, was born in 1883, she is currently 134 years.

The oldest woman in Rivers state

READ ALSO: Man declared wanted for duping two ladies in Delta state (photos)

They posted the picture of the woman with how they intend to pay her visit so they can celebrate Mothers Day with her. Their post reads:

REMINDER

In a bid to make ASSOCIATION OF OBIO/AKPOR YOUTHS (AOY) Great again the President general and his Excos set up a committee to search for the oldest Woman in Obio-Akpor ,Subsequently the committee headed by Chief Acheru Wagwu chairman, comrade Allwell Chinwor secretary, Mr Nkem Nnadi, Mr Azeru Oziri, Hon. Ikwunga Chinedu Gift,Chimenem Steve ,Atuzie Kennedy, Kelvin C. Amadi, Pamoses Omah,Mrs Nneoma Queen and Perperbuchim Abel as members . In a bid in making AOY great again the mothering Sunday committee have withdrawn the earlier nomination made by Confirming the New nominee in Person of Madam Sarah Nwakohwu Wuche from Rumuwokerebe in Rumuokwurusi community born 1883 till date wit age bracket of (134yrs) .in view of the this we ask that madam Sarah haven met the criteria as the current oldest woman in Obio/Akpor local Government Area as confirmed by the Joint committee and AOY President General Amadi Promzy Chimenem today 25-3-2017.

Watch Legit.ng related video of the strongest man below:

While Mrs Salomi Njob from Eneka community born 1897-Till date (120) came second while the following persons came third with 115years each they include Mrs Nwenennda Ejekwu from Elelenwo community and mrs Margaret Worlu Wada . The Executive has confirmed and approved the nomination of Madam Sarah Nwakohwu Wuche (AGE 134) from Rumuokwurusi community as the oldest Woman in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area Of Rivers State Of Nigeria. We apologize to the people of Eneka community for the inconvenience in the change.

READ ALSO: I sleep with snakes every night - Prophet reveals shocking secrets

N/B the general house will be meeting by 3pm at the front of First Bank plc Rumuokwurusi TODAY Sunday 26th March 2017 as our take off point to the house of Madam Sarah Nwakohwu wuche to celebrate this year mothering Sunday with her.

HON.COMRD Amadi Promzy Chimenem

President General of Association of Obio/Akpor Youths (AOY)

BARR. Omasirichi Asiri Wede

SECRETARY GENERAL

See post below:

Happy Mother's Day!

Source: Legit.ng
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) Terrorism has thrown a big challenge to humanity and people should draw inspiration from ancient scriptures to take on the menace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today.

"Terrorism has gripped the entire world. It has thrown a challenge to humanity. If we try to analyse incidents mentioned in ancient scriptures and set those in the present context, I would say that Jatayu was the first to fight against terrorism. He gave the message of fearlessness," he said.

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In epic Ramayana, Jatayu, a vulture, had valiantly tried to rescue Sita when she was being kidnapped by Ravana, sacrificing his life in the process.

The Prime Minister said Jatayu sacrificed his life taking on a strong man to defend the dignity of a woman. "Jatayus fight gives us the inspiration to take on terrorism. It also gives the message to live for humanity," he said.

Modi was addressing a gathering at the residence of Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu here to celebrate Ugadi, the Telugu and Kannada new year day.

Referring to different languages and cultures in the country, Modi said various states should ensure cultural exchanges between people. Haryana and Telangana have already signed an agreement in this regard.

He said cultural exchanges and quiz competitions can be organised to spread culture and language of one state in the other.

Modi said diversity of India was both its identity and strength. The Prime Minister, while greeting the nation on Ugadi, said the festivals are a reflection of changing facets of nature and are linked to culture and traditions. Citing the Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat initiative of his government, Modi said it would enable the coming generations to understand the cultural diversity of different states. This would strengthen the feeling of oneness and unity amongst all Indians, Modi said, as he called upon states to collaborate with each other in promoting the uniqueness of their respective cultures and traditions.

Greeting people on the occasion, Naidu said the day heralds the beginning of the new year and good days will turn into even better days under Modi. He also said that unity of the country is in its diversity. "Achche din have come and aur bhi achche din aane wale hain desh mein (good days have come and even better days will come) under Narendra Modis leadership," he said. Naidu said Ugadi would bring prosperity and growth to the country under the leadership of Modi. The function was attended by lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal, Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad and a host of Union Ministers. Artists from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh gave cultural performances. PTI SKC NAB SK SK

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By Press Trust of India: Bhagwat

New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today gave thumbs up to the Modi governments slogan of sabka saath, sabka vikas, but said its real test would be when the poorest of the poor get its benefits.

He also stressed on the need to ensure that development and environment go hand in hand. In an apparent message to the government, the RSS Sarsanghchalak said development of one section should not come at the cost of neglecting the other as "vikas" has to be a broad-based phenomenon.

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Delivering the 7th Nanaji Deshmukh memorial lecture here on indigenous model of development, Bhagwat said while India never attacks anyone, it is capable of defending itself.

Referring to the sabka saath, sabka vikas slogan, he said it is a "religious" slogan, but religion in this case should not be confused with its "modern connotations" which make it a very tricky issue.

He said religion is something which prompts a person to do his or her duty. He also said religion helps strike a balance so that everyone goes along together.

He said the true test for the slogan would be when the fruits of development reach the last man in queue. He said Sangh visionary Deen Dayal Upadhyay, and Mahatma Gandhi talked of antodaya or the development of the last person.

The RSS head also stressed on the need to have development and environment on the same page like "friends". His remarks on environment assume significance as the government has often stressed that environmental concerns and development projects have to go together.

Some activists have alleged that environment and ecology are being compromised for development.

Bhagwat said, to get the fruits of development people have to put in hard work. Similarly, to win elections politicians have to work hard so that they have an impressive report card.

He said people do not "press button" (of EVM) to vote without going through the work of politicians in the past five years.

The Sangh chief was also critical of developed nations, which according to him, had forced their model of development on the rest of the world.

He said while Indian model of development based on its ethos and culture has been worth emulating, it has to be remastered after every few years based on circumstances.

Senior journalist Rajat Sharma also spoke on the occasion and recalled how Deshmukh had made Jayaprakash Narayan join the students movement in 1974. PTI NAB TIR

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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 ...
When going to the movies with a group of friends, one small action can make a big difference when it comes to being on the same page after the movie: eye contact. A simple conversation before the movie sets you up to be more in sync with your friends after the movie.

These findings come from an unlikely placenot the lab, or even a movie theater, but a classroom. Using portable EEG to measure brain activity among groups of students, researchers were able to record from multiple people simultaneously to study social interactions in real life.

"The goal of our research is to understand the neurodynamics of real-world social interactions, and we used the classroom as a real-world social neuroscience lab," says Suzanne Dikker of NYU and Utrecht University, who is presenting this new research at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) annual conference today. "The set-up we developed allows us investigate aspects of human social interaction that are difficult or even impossible to study in a canonical laboratory setting."

While Dikker's work focuses on brain synchrony, she is but one of a growing number of neuroscientists both taking their work to more naturalistic settings and using more multisensory stimuli. From classrooms to museums to the NICU, real-world settings are now possible with the advent of new neuroimaging techniques and advanced computational power, combined with a better understanding of the multisensory nature of our brains.

"The last 10 years are special in that they witnessed a confluence of advances in technology and in theoretical models that now are mature enough to take into consideration the full breadth of the complexity of the sensory environment and how we interact with it," says Pawel Matusz of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and chair of the CNS symposium on real-world neuroscience. Work in multiple settings is yielding unique insights into social interactions, attention, and neurodevelopment for the young and old alike.

Brains in sync

Conducting studies on brain synchrony - neural activity that is in sync among people - in real-world settings offers a great opportunity for new types of data, Dikker says. But with this opportunity comes a major challenge: adapting technologies and techniques for rapid deployment outside the lab. Most lab-grade neuroimaging equipment is expensive and not mobile. It is not possible, for example, to bring 10 fMRI scanners into a classroom or museum. Dikker and colleagues instead have adapted a low-grade EEG system for use in experiments, one that they can set up in only 5 minutes.

This adaptation comes with some sacrifices, she says. "It is unrealistic to expect the same level of data quality and experimental control from real-world neuroscience studies as we demand from laboratory experiments," Dikker says. "And we would never argue that efforts like ours move the field in a direction where the lab will become obsolete. Instead, we think of real-world research as a complementary approach that can inform, enrich, and inspire lab research, and vice versa."

In her latest work, Dikker and colleagues measured how much students are thinking about the same thing at the same time. They measured electrical brain activity with portable EEG and took survey data on social relationships and personality.

They found that the more a student felt part of the group, the more that student was engaged and in sync with the rest of the group. They also found that how much the students liked each other influenced brain synchrony during class - but, interestingly, it only mattered for those students who had eye contact at the beginning of class. "How much you like someone only matters if you have some actual interaction with that person," Dikker says.

In another study for which she will be presenting preliminary results at the CNS meeting, Dikker and colleagues measured brain synchrony in a museum installation. Collecting data from more than 2,000 people in the "Mutual Wave Machine," they also explored the role of eye contact in establishing synchrony.

An offshoot of a project with performance artist Marina Abramovic, the Mutual Wave Machine invites two people at a time to sit in a dome-like structure and gaze at each other while seeing a simplified visualization of their brain activity with lights all around them. They had to greatly simplify the EEG data being collected (using only canonical frequency bands) to come up with an intuitive way to visualize the neural activity. "There are only small light sources when your brainwaves are not in sync, and when your brainwaves are perfectly in sync, the dome fills up with light," Dikker says.

They found that brain synchrony was higher for more empathetic individuals. Furthermore, people felt more connected and their brain activity was more in-sync with each other at the end of the experience than at the beginning. This occurred only for people who didn't know each other to start, however, and for those who were explicitly told that what they were seeing was feedback from the brain; some were not told.

The research has potential applications in therapeutic workfor example, Dikker's team would like to test game-like neurofeedback in high-functioning autistic teens, to see if the method can help them respond better to social cues. But above those applications, the studies lay groundwork for future investigations to establish crosstalk between the lab and real world. For example, Dikker wants to further investigate in the lab what it is about eye contact that sets up the joint attention and brain synchrony.

Our multisensory brains

"Experiments that are conducted in naturalistic settings, such as those, for example, conducted by Suzanne Dikker, are informative as they explore new dimensions characterizing information processing in the real world," says Matusz of the University of Lausanne. "These technology-inspired neuroscientific investigations, using advanced signal processing methods, push the frontier on what we know about functional brain organization and the mind."

But he says that naturalistic studies should ideally be well-controlled lab experiments that aim to emulate the characteristics of information processing in everyday environments, while controlling for confounding factors. One of the most striking realizations of the past decade of work has been that information processing follows somewhat different principles than those established with traditional research involving just visual or just auditory stimuli.

"Information across different senses is exchanged and integrated at much earlier stages of brain processing than previously thought," Matusz says. "This has profound implications for our understanding of perception, attention, learning and memory processes."

For example, recognizing and finding a friend at a cocktail party full of people will be much easier if you not only see the person but also hear him/her. However, you will be also more easily distracted during this task than predicted by traditional models because multisensory objects are more distracting than just visual or auditory ones. A person next to you shouting and waving to someone else across the room, or someone bumping into you and saying sorry, will make it harder to locate your friend. These are tradeoffs that control our "selective attention"our ability to process important information and suppress distracting informationin real-world environments.

In work being presented at the CNS meeting, Matusz's team used multisensory, audiovisual distractors to reveal that children can actually be less distracted than adults or older children. These results, published in Cognition in 2015, Matusz says "go against traditional models of brain and attention development, according to which there is a mature, adult state of attention that we gradually reach as we grow older from 'distractful youth.'"

In novel results building on that finding, he and colleagues explored how experience interacts with our selective attention as we grow. They asked young and adult participants to search for numerical digits, a category of objects where school-entering children are more familiar first with their sounds than their shapes. While the younger children benefited from having the audio, the sounds proved a distraction for the older children and adults. "These results echo recent voices in the neuroscience community suggesting that neuroscientific research provides meaningful knowledge when it is based on well-conceptualized studies of behavior," he says.

Clinically, this growing body of knowledge on the multisensory brain is opening novel avenues for addressing sensory and learning disorders. For example, in a collaborative project with Nathalie Maitre from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio and Micah Murray from the University of Lausanne, Matusz worked with pre-term babies and their sense of touch. Every year, 15 million children worldwide are born prematurely, but the existing interventions are unclear in terms of their actual effects on sensory and brain processing. As published this month in Current Biology, the researchers recorded EEG in premature babies in the NICU and demonstrated a direct role of both negative and positive touch in shaping their somatosensory brain responses.

More information: Dikker and Matusz are two speakers who will be presenting in the Journal information: Current Biology , Cognition Dikker and Matusz are two speakers who will be presenting in the symposium "Are we ready for real-world neuroscience research?"at the CNS annual meeting in San Francisco. More than 1,500 scientists are attending the meeting from March 25-28, 2017.
He was very forthcoming with us, Chief Aubry said. He knew what he was doing when he was coming up here, and he relayed all of that information to us.

The attack on Mr. Caughman, who was black, came as cities across the country, especially New York City, are experiencing a rise in hate crimes since the presidential election. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has condemned the attacks, denounced the killing, which he said appeared to be based solely on Mr. Caughmans race.

More than an unspeakable human tragedy, this is an assault on what makes this the greatest city in the world: our inclusiveness and our diversity, he said.

The victim, who lived in a homeless shelter on West 36th Street, and was an avid recycler, according to his Twitter profile, had been sifting through the trash around the corner on 9th Avenue, in front of a row of restaurants, when he was accosted by a man in a dark coat around 11:15 p.m. on Monday, the police said. The assailant argued with Mr. Caughman before stabbing the victim, according to the police, who declined to say what words they exchanged. After the attack, Mr. Jackson, the police said, threw the sword in a nearby garbage can and went into a restaurant restroom to wash the blood off.

Image Timothy Caughman in an image from Twitter.

Mr. Caughman walked two blocks to the Midtown South Precinct, where he arrived about 10 minutes after the attack. Officers summoned an ambulance to take him to Bellevue Hospital where Mr. Caughman was later pronounced dead.
Important stuff you won't get from the liberal media! We do the surfing so you can be informed AND have a life!
By Press Trust of India: Hyderabad, Mar 26 (PTI) Two staff nurses of state-run Gandhi Hospital were today suspended after allegations that they administered expired injections to some children undergoing treatment there.

However, the hospital and health officials have denied the allegations.

The parents of around 10 children, who were admitted to hospital yesterday for various ailments alleged that their kids suffered reaction ranging from fever, motions to allergy after the nurses administered them with "expired" injections.

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The Telangana Director of Medical Education (DME) M Ramani said an inquiry will be conducted in this regard tomorrow.

"An inquiry will be conducted tomorrow following allegations by some parents that expired injections were given. Two staff nurses have been suspended pending inquiry," Ramani told PTI.

They (parents) are alleging that "sisters" (nurses) have given injections that were expired, however, "It is not expired injections...what has been given is within expiry date only, but inquiry has to be conducted," she added.

Earlier, on March 18, two personnel of the hospital were suspended for allegedly demanding money for use of a wheel-chair from a patient having severe immobility problem.

The matter hogged limelight after patient, S Raju (in his 40s) had to move around in the hospital using a toy-vehicle as he was unable to shell out the alleged bribe amount of Rs 100 to Rs 200 for getting a wheel-chair. PTI VVK RMT JMF

--- ENDS ---
It says Full HD on the box, on the back of the TV, and the salesman confirms the display puts out 1080p. Theres just one problem: the panel is not Full HD.

MyBroadband was recently contacted by Abu-Huraira Oman Abdalla, a member of ISACA, who shared the results of tests he conducted on a Full HD Telefunken TV.

Abdalla purchased a 32-inch Telefunken TV (TLEDD-32FHDB) from a Game store in KwaZulu-Natal and connected it to a PC for testing.

The TV is sold as a Full HD LED unit with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, with Full HD markings on the box and the back of the device.

When plugged into the PC, though, there was no Full HD resolution to be found.

Tests  Round 1

The first warning sign Abdalla found was that Windows recommended a resolution of 1,360 x 768 when the TV was connected to his test PC.

Tests using MonitorInfoView to see the EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) readings showed that the TV had a maximum resolution of 1,360 x 768.

We used EDID because it polls data from the TFT control chip on the panel itself and often skips the interface board. It is accurate at gathering information about the OEM panel and avoids

having to open the TV, said Abdalla.

Abdalla also took photos of the TVs screen and did a physical pixel count to confirm the findings above.

He found that in a sample area of 12mm x 12mm, there were 32 x 32 pixels. That is roughly 2.67 pixels per millimetre, he said.

This works out to approximately 901,125 pixels in total in the display, which is on par with a panel that outputs 720p, he said.

Digital testing along with physical testing leads to the conclusion that the display panel in the Telefunken is not capable of Full HD output of 1,920 x 1,080.

Abdalla said he could find no country, standards authority, distributor, or retailer which accepts 1,366 x 768 as being Full HD.

He said certain retailers he dealt with regarding the TV investigation did not sell the unit as they did not believe in misleading or lying to customers.

I am quite sure that brands that adhered to the rules lost significant sales of 32 TV sets [correctly] marked as HD Ready. The term Full HD has probably lost its weight with consumers who bought these Telefunken TV sets, he said.

Abdalla said he has never come across this type of marketing in South Africa before, and found it beyond what the Advertising Standards Authority would call misleading.

Tests  Round 2

Abdallas tests were backed up by testing done by MyBroadband, after we went to a Game store in Gauteng and purchased the same Telefunken TV.

MyBroadbands tests on the television showed that:

Windows reported the recommended resolution of the TV as 1,360 x 768.

At 1,360 x 768, the Windows GUI looked crisp. When the resolution was set to 1,920 x 1,080, it became blurry.

Nirsofts dumpEDID tool with the TV connected via HDMI and via VGA produced EDID data which showed that the maximum resolution of the screen was 1,360 x 768.

We also opened the TV to access the panel and its linked PCBs  which we photographed and sent to Abdalla for further investigation.

Abdalla provided MyBroadband with manufacturer data on the panel in the TV, which showed the TV was not a Full HD unit.

Panel Size  31.5 inch

 31.5 inch Resolution  1,366 x 768

Game, Telefunken, and Nu-World  No claim on native resolution

MyBroadband contacted Game, Nu-World (the distributors of Telefunken TVs in South Africa), and Telefunken international about the TV and its resolution capabilities.

Telefunken

Telefunken said it is a licenser and that its licensee and distribution partner in South Africa, Nu-World, would be the right company to contact about the TV.

Game

Game provided MyBroadband with detailed feedback on our questions, stating that the TV complied with the relevant standards and laws.

It said the TV was ISO 900:2008 compliant, was tested and complied with the IEC 60065:2014 standard, and received a letter of authority from the NRCS.

We believe that the product is compliant, said Game.

The product is marketed as Full HD, and the TV supports FHD 1080p, and in general terms any Full HD TV is purely dependant on the source media.

There will be a variation between using a DStv decoder which has a maximum HD resolution of 1,366 x 768 (720p), to using a PlayStation or Blu-ray which has a maximum HD resolution of 1080p.

The Telefunken HD TV complies with South African compulsory regulations for audio visual equipment by having a test report compliant to IEC 60065.

Game was then asked if the Telefunken TV in question used a Full HD panel (1,920 x 1,080) panel or a 1,366 x 768 panel.

The model supports full HD through HDMI and is dependent on source. There is no claim on native resolution, the unit is sold as a TV and not as a high-end monitor.

The native resolution of an LCD display refers to its single fixed resolution.

If the requirements are for high-end perfect resolution, one should consider purchasing a unit specifically manufactured for such a purpose, said Game.

Different panels are used on different shipments from time to time.

Nu-World

Nu-World was asked similar questions to Game, including whether the TV uses a 1,920 x 1,080 panel or a 1,366 x 768 panel.

The company said the unit is sold as a TV and supports Full HD dependent on source through HDMI.

We make no claim to native resolution. Different panels are used from time to time, said Nu-World.

The company said if consumers are looking to utilise the TV as a monitor, they should consider an actual monitor, which panels are specifically produced for such a purpose.

Testing the TV

Abdallas tests also consisted of comparing the Telefunken unit against a 720p Hisense unit.

The image below shows the Windows start menu running on the Hisense at 1,366 x 768, and on the Telefunken at 1,920 x 1,080.

The image below shows the square section of pixels which Abdalla measured and counted as part of the tests.

The EDID data from Abdallas tests is detailed in the screenshot below. (The software identified the panel as a 26-inch unit during certain tests.)

MyBroadbands EDID tests

MyBroadbands EDID tests produced the following results:

Monitor Name : AAA

EDID Version : 1.3

Display Gamma : 1.00

Vertical Frequency : 50  76 Hz

Horizontal Frequency : 30  80 KHz

Image Size : 57.5 x 32.3 cm (26.0 Inch)

Maximum Resolution : 1360 x 768 Supported Display Modes : 720 x 400 70 Hz

640 x 480 60 Hz

800 x 600 56 Hz

800 x 600 60 Hz

1024 x 768 60 Hz

1360 x 768 60 Hz

Opening the TV for testing

Now read: Big price tag for new Sony OLED 4K TVs
Introducing new security measures for the airline industry is rarely done lightly by governments. Certainly its underpinned by the responsibility to ensure passenger safety.

But its not clear how effective the recent ban on laptops and large electronic devices in aircraft cabin baggage on flights from certain Middle Eastern airports to the US and UK will be.

There is evidence that airport baggage scanners in many developing world airports arent sophisticated enough to detect the latest explosive devices that can be hidden in electronic devices.

But limiting the restrictions to just ten specific airports leaves open significant other risks that could be exploited.

The laptop ban is reportedly due to evaluated intelligence about attempts to smuggle explosive devices in various consumer items.

This is almost certainly linked to the attack on the Daallo Airlines Flight from Mogadishu, Somalia in February 2016, when an explosive device hidden in a laptop was detonated shortly after take-off.

Since this incident, there has been concern that the bomb-making capabilities of terrorist groups such as Al-Shabaab, ISIS and Al-Qaeda may have become sophisticated enough to bypass airport X-ray machines.

However, CNN terror analyst Paul Cruikshank has argued that the layered state-of-the-art detection systems that are now in place at most airports in the developed world make it very hard for terrorists to sneak bombs onto planes.

He believes that, due to the levels of technology in place, it is unlikely that any explosive device would go undetected in the screening process used in many international airports.

But security threats must still be addressed and, given that many airports in the developing world do not have this level of screening, there is no doubt that banning electronic devices from the cabin goes some way towards addressing this threat.

Yet perhaps the ban implemented across ten airports, including major hubs in Doha, Istanbul and Dubai (which has the worlds third busiest airport), does not go far enough.

Only outbound direct flights to the US and UK run by specifically named airline operators are bound by the restrictions.

All the airports on the list are in countries that are either at risk from terrorism or are seen as a particular focus of terrorist activity.

But a number of the above airports operate the highly sophisticated state-of-the-art detection systems that Cruikshank refers to.

If the ban is implemented at these airports, then what of those many airports in the developing world which do not have state-of-the-art machines, or benefit from highly qualified staff?

And the threat of terrorism exists in other parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, where there is support for Al Qaeda, ISIS and other terrorist networks.

We also need to consider potential terrorist behaviour. We cant ignore the fact that terrorists may simply take an alternative route to the US or UK that isnt subject to these restrictions. In this case, the vulnerability just shifts somewhere else.

Unresolved risks

It would also be very naive to assume that simply forcing customers to pack their electronic devices into hold baggage would be safer than taking them in the cabin.

If a bomb would go undetected in carry-on luggage, there is a strong chance it wouldnt be found if it were screened for the cargo hold.

Another key security risk area is not just the technology used in airports but the vulnerabilities within it. If terrorist groups are intent on attacks on aircraft, they can do so from any airport in the world by recruiting sympathisers among airport staff.

As happened during the Somali attack last year, some airports may place their staff under less scrutiny than others, allowing access to restricted areas where devices could be placed on aircraft.

There is no doubt that terrorists will continually try and find ways to avert detection and bypass security.

But shifting the vulnerability is not the solution. Only by the whole of the international aviation industry working together will the threat be minimised.

Michaela Preddy, Lecturer in Airport Security Management and Policing, School of Forensic and Applied Sciences, University of Central Lancashire

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
President: UAE is a responsible energy supplier as long as the world needs oil and gas

EU has serious concerns about US inflation reduction act

Head of IMF: The global surge in consumer prices may be close to the high point

Germany wants EU to resume trade talks with US as soon as possible

Pashinyan's closed meeting with MPs of ruling Civil Contract faction is over

Hungary will not support EU efforts to help Ukraine with joint funds

Greece to soon ban sale of spyware

U.S. military delegation arrives in Turkey

German industry calls for postponement of global minimum corporate tax

Podolyak: Ukraine has never refused to negotiate

Elon Musk calls on 'independent-minded' voters to vote for Republicans

Bezos Earth Fund pledges $1 billion by 2030 to protect carbon stocks and biodiversity

7 people killed in collision between truck and passenger bus in Turkey

Nikol Pashinyan holds closed meeting with members of ruling party faction

Qatar's foreign minister calls criticism of West 'arrogant' and 'racist'

Algeria officially applies to join BRICS group

Delegations headed by Armenian and Azerbaijani FMs meet in Washington

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Armenian President: Aliyev's statements about intentional destruction of mosques have nothing to do with reality

German MFA reports constructive talks in EU on new sanctions against Iran

Kazakhstani President Tokayev instructs to increase oil supplies bypassing Russia

President of Artsakh holds expanded working meeting

Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports to receive more than 250 billion drams in 2023

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General: Iran riots were US plan to derail nuclear deal

Minister: 'Lydian Armenia' may start exploitation of gold mine on Mountain Amulsar

Armenia political scientist: Balance is formed in region thanks to Iran

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By Press Trust of India: From Aditi Khanna

London, Mar 26 (PTI) The brazen terror attack on British parliament which killed four people ended within 82 seconds and was carried out by Khalid Masood who acted alone, Scotland Yard confirmed today, conceding they may "never understand" the 52-year-old attackers motive.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Polices Counter Terrorism Command confirmed after detailed probe that the attack started at 14:40:08 (local time) on Wednesday when the car that Masood was driving over Westminster Bridge first mounted the northbound pavement.

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He continued towards Bridge Street along both the footpath and road until 14:40:38 before crashing into the perimeter fence of the Palace of Westminster. At 14:40:59, the first 999 call was made to the Met, reporting the incident, it said.

Masood left the vehicle and was shot by a police firearms officer inside the Palace of Westminster boundary at 14:41:30.

"Our investigation continues at pace. I am grateful for the public support so far, but I am asking for more help. If you knew Khalid Masood and had spoken to him in the months, weeks or days leading up to this attack please come forward," said Met police Indian-origin Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, who is the Senior National Coordinator for UK Counter Terrorism Policing.

"We still believe that Masood acted alone on the day and there is no information or intelligence to suggest there are further attacks planned," Basu said.

His remarks came after two of the 11 people arrested in connection with the attack were questioned by police to establish whether the attacker acted alone or had associates.

"Whilst the attack lasted only 82 seconds it will remain in the memories of many forever. The thoughts of all those working on this investigation are with those so deeply affected," Basu said.

"One person remains in custody in connection with the attack after 11 arrests in the aftermath of the attack," he said.

Born as Adrian Russell Ajao in Dartford before converting to Islam, Masood was known to UK police and intelligences services.

He was born to a white mother and black father and is said to have been affected by racism while growing up.

"Even if he acted alone in the preparation we need to establish with absolute clarity why he did these unspeakable acts to bring reassurance to Londoners, and to provide answers and closure for the families of those killed and the victims and survivors of this atrocity," Basu said.

"We must all accept that there is a possibility we will never understand why he did this. That understanding may have died with him.

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"Nevertheless, we are determined to understand if Masood was a lone actor inspired by terrorist propaganda or if others have encouraged, supported or directed him. If the latter proves to be the case, they will face justice," he said. PTI AK MRJ

--- ENDS ---
YEREVAN.  The march for free and fair elections toward the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), and with a demand for the cancelation of the ruling Republican Party of Armenias (RPA) registration in the forthcoming parliamentary election, kicked off from Liberty Square in downtown Yerevan, the capital city.

A small group of people had assembled at the square, and with the large photographs of the school and kindergarten principals who are preparing lists of voters for the RPA, the Armenian News-NEWS.am reporter informed from on location.

Human rights activist Artur Sakunts stated at the event that the ruling party was abusing its administrative resources and committing systematic and continued election violations, and therefore they need to petition to the CEC so that it go to court for the cancelation of the RPAs registration for the voting.

As reported earlier, the Union of Informed Citizens NGO had released details of the conversations with the principals of 84 schools and 30 kindergartens of the country, and with respect to their preparing lists of voters for the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, in the lead-up to the National Assembly election in the country.

The parliamentary election in Armenia will be conducted on April 2.
The latest

Hamburger Mary's offers drag queen food delivery service

Starting today, you can get burgers and shakes delivered to your door by a drag queen from Hamburger Mary's. How fun is that?!
WhatsApp is a mobile messaging service

The British government said Sunday that its security services must have access to encrypted messaging applications such as WhatsApp, as it revealed that the service was used by the man behind the parliament attack.

Khalid Masood, the 52-year-old Briton who killed four people in a rampage in Westminster on Wednesday before being shot dead, reportedly used the Facebook-owned service moments before the assault.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd told Sky News it was "completely unacceptable" that police and security services had not been able to crack the heavily encrypted service.

"You can't have a situation where you have terrorists talking to each otherwhere this terrorist sent a WhatsApp messageand it can't be accessed," she said.

Police said Saturday that they still did not know why Masood, a Muslim convert with a violent criminal past, carried out the attack and that he probably acted alone, despite a claim of responsibility by the Islamic State group.

"There should be no place for terrorists to hide," Rudd said in a separate interview with the BBC.

"We need to make sure that organisations like WhatsAppand there are plenty of others like thatdon't provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other."

She said end-to-end encryption was vital to cyber security, to ensure that business, banking and other transactions were safebut said it must also be accessible.

"It's not incompatible. You can have a system whereby they can build it so that we can have access to it when it is absolutely necessary," she told Sky News.

Rudd said she did not yet intend to force the industry's hand with new legislation, but would meet key players on Thursday to discuss this issue, as well as the "constant battle" against extremist videos posted online.

"The best peoplewho understand the technology, who understand the necessary hashtagsto stop this stuff even being put up, not just taking it down, are going to be them," she told the BBC.

WhatsApp 'horrified' by attack

WhatsApp said it was working with British authorities investigating the Westminster attack, but did not specify whether it would change its policy on encrypted messaging.

"We are horrified at the attack carried out in London earlier this week and are cooperating with law enforcement as they continue their investigations," a company spokeswoman told AFP.

US authorities last year fought a legal battle with tech giant Apple to get it to unlock a smartphone used by one of the shooters in a terror attack last year in San Bernadino, California.

The FBI's own experts ended up breaking into the device.

Social media giants are also coming under pressure over extremist content being posted on their sites.

Germany this month proposed imposing fines on social networks such as Facebook if they fail to remove illegal hate speech from their sites.

Google, meanwhile, has faced a boycott by companies whose adverts appeared alongside extremist content on its internet platforms, particularly its video-sharing site YouTube.

 2017 AFP
Scotland Yard has confirmed that the UK Parliament attacker acted on his own without any help from outside. Scotland Yard said that there was no evidence to suggest that there were plans for more such attacks.

By Press Trust of India: Scotland Yard today admitted they may never know the motive behind the brazen terror attack on the British parliament by Khalid Masood who acted alone and said there is no information to suggest further attacks are planned.

The attack last week that killed five people, including the 52-year-old attacker, ended within 82 seconds, according to new revelations.

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"We still believe that Masood acted alone on the day and there is no information or intelligence to suggest there are further attacks planned," said Met police Indian-origin Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, who is the Senior National Coordinator for UK Counter Terrorism Policing.

"Even if he acted alone in the preparation we need to establish with absolute clarity why he did these unspeakable acts to bring reassurance to Londoners, and to provide answers and closure for the families of those killed and the victims and survivors of this atrocity," Basu said.

"We must all accept that there is a possibility we will never understand why he did this. That understanding may have died with him," he said.

His remarks came after two of the 11 people arrested in connection with the attack were questioned by police to establish whether the attacker acted alone or had associates.

"One person remains in custody in connection with the attack after 11 arrests in the aftermath of the attack," he said.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Polices Counter Terrorism Command said that the attack started at 14:40:08 on Wednesday when the car that Masood was driving over Westminster Bridge first mounted the northbound pavement.

After a detailed investigation, it said he continued towards Bridge Street along both the footpath and road until 14:40:38 before crashing into the perimeter fence of the Palace of Westminster.

At 14:40:59, the first 999 call was made to the Met, reporting the incident, it said.

Masood left the vehicle and was shot by a police firearms officer inside the Palace of Westminster boundary at 14:41:30.

The Islamic State group claimed that one of its "soldiers" carried out the attack.

"Our investigation continues at pace. I am grateful for the public support so far, but I am asking for more help. If you knew Khalid Masood and had spoken to him in the months, weeks or days leading up to this attack please come forward," Basu said.

"Whilst the attack lasted only 82 seconds it will remain in the memories of many forever. The thoughts of all those working on this investigation are with those so deeply affected," he added.

advertisement

Born as Adrian Russell Ajao in Dartford before converting to Islam, Masood was known to UK police and intelligences services. He was born to a white mother and black father and is said to have been affected by racism while growing up.

"Nevertheless, we are determined to understand if Masood was a lone actor inspired by terrorist propaganda or if others have encouraged, supported or directed him. If the latter proves to be the case, they will face justice," he said.

ALSO READ|

UK Parliament attack: 5 dead, nearly 40 injured; All you need to know

WATCH

--- ENDS ---
The chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has led members of the party on a thank you visit to Speaker Yakubu Dogara.

The party chieftains visited Dogara late Thursday, March 23 commending him for his loyalty and support for the federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Oyegun later told journalists what was discussed in the meeting

The Nigerian Television Authority reports that while speaking to journalists after a closed-door meeting with the lawmakers, Oyegun confirmed that the House of Representatives under Dogara had been very supportive of President Muhammadu Buharis administration and deserved to be appreciated.

READ ALSO: Senate stops investigation of Babachir after shunning appearance before lawmakers

The meeting between the APC leaders and Dogara lasted two hours.

Aside the commendation, Oyegun said the progress of the 2017 appropriation bill was also discussed. The budget is yet to be passed.

As you can see we are all smiling. We discussed general issues; the budget and the progress it is making.

READ ALSO: Dino Melaye files N5 billion law suit against Sahara Reporters

The fact that the House has been very supportive of the government and the party, we congratulate the Rt Hon Speaker and members for the way so far they have been behind federal government and the party, he said.

Source: Legit.ng
Boyko Borisov, who scored yet another comeback in snap elections Sunday, has long dominated the Bulgarian political scene in a manner befitting his imposing physical presence. Born in 1959 in communist Bulgaria, the son of a policeman and a teacher, Borisov graduated from the Sofia police academy and worked as a firefighter before setting up his own security company in 1991. He provided protection for Bulgaria's communist dictator Todor Zhivkov after he was pushed from power in 1989, and in the mid-1990s for former king Simeon Saxe Coburg after he returned from exile. "I had the unique chance to interact, in an informal setting, with both the number one of communism and his antipode, the ex-monarch. What I heard from them taught me how to understand history and the mechanisms of power," Borisov told AFP in a 2009 interview. Saxe Coburg, who later became prime minister, picked Borisov to be chief of staff in the interior ministry in 2001, and three years later promoted him to the highest rank in the police. But Borisov had bigger ambitions. He left the ministry to win election as mayor of Sofia as an independent candidate and in 2006 formed his own political party, Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB). - Rampant corruption - In 2009 he put his down-to-earth charm to good use to secure a victory for GERB in national elections, and became prime minister at the head of a minority government. Once in power, he toured the country incessantly to inaugurate infrastructure projects but failed to enact structural reforms or to tackle the rampant corruption and organised crime that Brussels has long complained about. Political analysts meanwhile highlighted his tendency to backtrack on important decisions if he found them unpopular. The end came in the winter of 2012-13 when Bulgarians fed up with corruption and poverty -- one in five households live below the poverty line -- took to the streets across the country. Resigning in February 2013, he still came first in elections three months later, but was unable to form a government. Instead the left and the Turkish minority party installed a technocrat administration. But that government lasted just 14 months before throwing in the towel in July. Campaigning with an older-and-wiser image, GERB won the subsequent elections and this time managed to form a government. - Shot down - But again, reforms failed to get off the ground, in particular changes to the justice system and plans to help cash-strapped schools and the creaking health care system. An anti-corruption law was rejected by parliament -- making for unfavourable comparisons with neighbouring Romania, which also joined the EU in 2007 but which has made progress tackling graft. After much squabbling with his partners and several resignations, the end came in November last year when Rumen Radev, an air force commander backed by the Socialists, was elected president. Borisov had expected his hand-picked candidate, the uninspiring Tsetska Tsacheva, to win hands down. As a result he quit as premier for the second time. "If Bulgarians want a political crisis then they shall have one," Borisov said at the time. - National saviour - In the latest election, Borisov campaigned as a saviour of the nation in an uncertain world, with migrants in neighbouring Turkey wanting to enter the country and the Balkans facing renewed instability. "Never has the situation in the Balkans been so warlike. GERB has to win the elections to ensure that Bulgaria remains an island of stability," he said on the campaign trail. The strategy worked, with GERB coming first on Sunday again, fending off a strong challenge from the newly energised Socialists. "Borisov had the wonderful idea of being reassuring, of adopting the role of unifier, of conciliator," said political analyst Haralan Alexandrov. But after quitting twice before, it remains uncertain whether Borisov will be able to form a government, in particular one that can implement reforms and stay the course.
(Bloomberg) -- China Southern Airlines Co. advanced to a seven-month high after saying it is in negotiations to sell a stake to American Airlines Group Inc., the worlds biggest carrier.

The negotiations are over a possible major strategic cooperation with American Airlines Inc. involving, among others, proposed issue of shares of the company and other business cooperation, Asias largest airline by passengers said in an exchange filing Sunday. The stock, which resumed trading Monday in Hong Kong, gained 0.7 percent to HK$5.49, the highest closing level since Aug. 16.

Trading in the Guangzhou-based operator had been suspended since March 23 after Bloomberg News reported that Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines will likely make an investment of about $200 million in China Southerns Hong Kong-listed shares through a private placement. American Airlines would nominate an observer without voting rights to the Chinese companys board, according to people familiar with the matter.

The companies havent reached a binding or definitive agreement, and the cooperation may or may not proceed, China Southern said in its statement. American Airlines spokeswoman Polly Tracey declined to comment.

For American, a deal would strengthen its presence in the Chinese market after rival Delta Air Lines Inc. acquired a minority stake in China Eastern Airlines Corp. in 2015. China Southern would be the last of the nations top three airlines to bring in a non-mainland Chinese strategic investor. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., based in Hong Kong, owns about 18 percent of flag carrier Air China Ltd.

Network Nature

All big U.S. carriers will be making deals of one kind or another with major airlines all over Asia and certainly within China, Robert Crandall, former chairman of American, told Bloomberg Television on Monday. These things are going to grow and because of the network nature of the airline industry, everybody is going to play and everybody needs to play.

Story continues

An agreement will help boost the expansion plans of China Southern, which indicated in January that it was considering bringing in strategic investors. The carrier has been adding routes to Australia, New Zealand and countries in Southeast Asia as it competes with China Eastern and Air China. A tie-up will increase China Southerns visibility in the U.S., said Will Horton, a senior analyst at the CAPA Centre for Aviation in Hong Kong.

China Southern may be the largest airline in Asia but its relatively unknown in the U.S., Horton said. U.S. consumer mindset changes if American is putting cash in: China Southern isnt just another airline or partner, its a carrier American believes in.

Biggest Market

Shares of China Southern will remain suspended in Shanghai until further notice, the carrier said separately.

China Southern and its subsidiaries have ordered more than $15 billion of new aircraft from Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE since 2015 as more people fly in the worlds most populous nation. The International Air Transport Association predicts China will surpass the U.S. to become the worlds biggest air travel market in terms of passengers by 2024.

Any stake sale by China Southern may be part of the governments efforts to diversify ownership of state-controlled enterprises. Authorities in Beijing have urged firms in industries including power, energy, defense and aviation to take measures this year to broaden ownership.

China Southern, Delta and China Eastern are members of the SkyTeam global airline alliance. American is in the competing Oneworld group, which doesnt have a mainland China-based partner. Such alliances make it easier for passengers to fly around the world by combining schedules through one carrier and allowing travelers to accrue and use frequent-flier miles across airlines.

(Updates with closing share price in second paragraph.)

--With assistance from Ben Sharples Jonathan Browning Steven Yang Kyunghee Park Betty Liu and Haidi Lun

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Dong Lyu in Beijing at dlyu3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Nagarajan at samnagarajan@bloomberg.net, Kenneth Wong

2017 Bloomberg L.P.
Hundreds of people including top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny were arrested on Sunday as thousands of Russians defied bans to stage protests across the country against corruption. Navalny had called for the marches after publishing a detailed report this month accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of controlling a property empire through a shadowy network of nonprofit organisations. The report has been viewed over 11 million times on YouTube, but so far Medvedev has made no comment on the claims. Sunday's march in Moscow was one of the biggest unauthorised demonstrations in recent years, with police putting turnout at 7,000-8,000 people. Police detained Navalny, who has announced plans to run for president in the 2018 election, as he was walking to the protest, putting him in a police minibus. The crowd briefly tried to block it from driving off, shouting "Shame!" and "Let him out!" "Guys, I am all right, go on along Tverskaya," Navalny tweeted from the van, referring to Moscow's main central street. Police said about 500 people had been arrested in Moscow, while OVD-Info, a website that monitors the detention of activists, said at least 933 had been detained, as well as dozens in other cities. The Interfax news agency said 130 people were arrested in Saint Petersburg, where about 4,000 people gathered in the city centre. "We're tired of the lies, we have to do something," Sergei Timofeyev, a 23-year-old protester in Saint Petersburg, told AFP. A spokeswoman for Navalny's Anti-corruption Foundation (FBK) said on Twitter than he would be held overnight before being brought before a judge on Monday. He will face charges of calling a rally that disrupted public order, and could be held for up to 15 days. From his cell, Navalny posted on Twitter that he was "proud" of the protesters and said the mass detentions were "understandable". "The thieves defend themselves this way. But you cannot arrest everyone who is against corruption. There are millions of us," he wrote. The United States condemned the arrests as an affront to democracy. "Detaining peaceful protesters, human rights observers, and journalists is an affront to core democratic values," acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement. - 'They steal and lie' - Thousands of people filled central Pushkin Square, some shouting "Russia without (President Vladimir) Putin". Some climbed on to lamp posts and the monument to poet Alexander Pushkin, shouting "impeachment!" Dozens of police vans and rows of riot officers were lined up as a police helicopter hovered overhead. "We have all seen the movie, it gives specific examples of corruption, and there has been no reaction," Nikolai Moisey, a 26-year-old factory worker, said of the claims against Medvedev. "They steal and they lie but still people will be patient to the end. The protest is a first push for people to start acting." Police officers moved to detain protesters and clear the square, with some using truncheons and pepper spray to disperse the crowd, AFP correspondents said. Police also searched FBK offices over alleged incitement to hatred, and "Everyone was detained and brought to the police," the organisation's spokeswoman Kira Iarmych said. - '99 cities' - Despite the dramatic scenes in Moscow, state TV did not cover the protests, instead showing soap operas and nature films. "The whole country is tired of corruption on such a scale," 50-year-old Natalia Demidova said. "Medvedev should be fired once such exposes come to light." Elsewhere, about 2,000 gathered in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, carrying signs such as "No to corruption," according to local news website Sib.fm. Some held up images of yellow rubber ducks, following reports that Medvedev has a special house for a duck on one of his properties. Local media estimated about 1,500 people turned out in each of the Siberian cities of Krasnoyarsk and Omsk. The Russian constitution allows public gatherings, but recent laws have criminalised protests unauthorised by city authorities, who frequently refuse to grant permission for rallies by Kremlin critics. Navalny said on his website that 99 Russian cities planned to protest, but that in 72 of them the local authorities did not give permission, citing reasons such as street cleaning, a bell-ringing concert and rival events by various pro-Kremlin groups. There were also protests in Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg, according to local reports. Navalny, a 40-year-old lawyer by training announced plans to run for the presidency after he won a surprise 27 percent of the vote in the Moscow mayoral election in 2013. But he has been the subject of several legal prosecutions in recent years, and in February he was found guilty of embezzlement and given a five-year suspended sentence which could make him ineligible to run in next year's vote.
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
The aircraft, a Soviet-designed Mi-2, crashed near Kramatorsk, the headquarter of Ukrainian government forces that oppose pro-Russian separatists, the ministry said.

By Reuters: A small Ukrainian military helicopter crashed in the east of the country on Sunday, killing its two crew members and three passengers, Ukraine's defence ministry said.

The aircraft, a Soviet-designed Mi-2, crashed near Kramatorsk, the headquarter of Ukrainian government forces that oppose pro-Russian separatists, the ministry said.

The ministry said it is most likely that the Mi-2 had flown into a power line

--- ENDS ---

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2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #12

Posted on 26 March 2017 by John Hartz

Story of the Week... El Nino/La Nina Update... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... He Said What?... Graphic of the Week... SkS in the News... Photo of the Week... SkS Spotlights... Video of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... 97 Hours of Consensus...

Story of the Week...

Ice at Both Poles Shrinks to Record Lows

Here's another entry in the parade of sobering climate change records: The National Snow and Ice Data Center announced Wednesday that Arctic sea ice hit its maximum extent for the year on March 7, and it was the lowest in the 38 years of satellite records.

The total ice coverage as the winter drew to a close was 471,000 square miles less than the 1981-2010 averagemeaning ice larger than the combined size of California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada failed to form this year.

"We have had three record-setting low years of maximum sea ice extent in a row," said Walter Meier, a research scientist specializing in sea ice at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

After decades of expansion, the sea ice surrounding Antarctica, where the summer is just ending, also hit a record low, NSIDC reported. Its minimum extent for year was reached on March 3, and was roughly 900,000 square miles below the 1981-2010 late-summer average.

Ice at Both Poles Shrinks to Record Lows by Sabrina Shankman, InsideClimate News, Mar 22, 2017

El Nino/La Nina Update

The odds of El Nino's development by the late summer or early fall have increased, according to the latest output from forecast model guidance.

NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) officially declared La Nina's end in early February as sea temperatures have steadily warmed in the equatorial region of the central and eastern Pacific, and we're now in the neutral phase of the oscillation. Neutral means that neither La Nina or El Nino conditions exist.

As shown below, models currently suggest we'll be in the neutral category through the spring and into the early summer months (April-May-June, or AMJ), but after that, sea temperatures could be warm enough for El Nino conditions to take over.

The chance for various phases of El Nino, according to IRI's mid-March model-based probabilistic forecast. Red bars show the probability of El Nino's development during each three-month period. (International Research Institute for Climate and Society)

El Nino's Odds to Return By Late Summer or Fall Increasing by Jonathan Belles & Brian Donegan, WunderBlog, Weather Undergound, Mar 23, 2017

Toon of the Week...

Quote of the Week...

From "Sense and Sensibility" to "Love Actually" and "Nanny McPhee", British actress Emma Thompson is known for her memorable roles in costumes dramas, comedies and fantasy films.

But like fellow Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio, the 57-year-old is also an avid environmental campaigner, seeking to raise awareness on issues such as fracking and climate change.

"I think that we've all got to shout as loudly as we can," Thompson told Reuters in an interview. "Ordinary people now need to know more. They need to inform themselves. You can't just sit back and go 'look, I recycle'."

The actress was speaking in Sweden, where she is adding her voice to fellow activists' criticism of Norway's plans to open up more oil and gas exploration in the Arctic.

Emma Thompson says wants people to 'shout loudly' about climate change by Ilze Filks, Reuters, Mar 24, 2017

He Said What?...

There is little doubt that we are living in a warm period, said Ole Humlum, a physical geography professor at the University Centre in Norway and author of the GWPF report.

Humlum is a global warming skeptic whos spent decades studying glaciers and climate. Humlum argues that while the world is warming, its well within the bounds of natural variability.

However, there is also little doubt that current climate change is not abnormal and not outside the range of natural variations that might be expected, Humlum said.

REPORT: Current Global Warming Is Not Outside The Range Of Natural Variations by Michael Bastasch, The Daily Caller, Mar 23, 2017

Graphic of the Week...

[Click here for larger image]

Climate breaks multiple records in 2016, with global impacts., WMO Press Release, Mar 21, 2017

SkS in the News...

[To be added.]

Photo of the Week

Image credit: Peoples Climate March 2014 in NYC, by Susan Melkisethian via Flickr CC

SkS Spotlights...

START promotes research-driven capacity building to advance knowledge on global environmental change in Africa and Asia-Pacific. We accomplish this through research grants and fellowships, knowledge assessments and syntheses, curricula development, advanced training institutes, multi-stakeholder dialogues, and place-based strategic planning. Our work focuses on climate variability and change, disaster risk reduction, land-use/land-cover change, biodiversity conservation, urban development, human health, water resources management, agriculture and food security, and regional climate modeling and climate services. STARTs actions target science, as well as the interface of science, policy and practice, and inform actions toward fostering more resilient and adaptable development.

Video of the Week...

If You Love Your Children http://www.ifyouloveyourchildren.org a 2014 Canadian short film  depicting climate change, directed and produced by Sanjay Patel. The film has received many awards and nominations since its release in August 2014.

If You Love Your Children https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_You_Love_Your_Children

Climate Change Film: If You Love Your Children, Climate State, Mar 17, 2017

Coming Soon on SkS...

PBs is the only network reporting on climate. Trump wants to cut it (Dana)

(Dana) Dear Mr President #2 - all about the discovery of the Greenhouse Effect (John Mason)

(John Mason) Trump launches an all-out offensive in the war on science (Dana)

(Dana) Sea ice falls to record lows in both the Arctic and Antarctic (Roz Pidcock)

(Roz Pidcock) Guest Post (John Abraham )

(John Abraham ) 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #13 (John Hartz)

(John Hartz) 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Waming Digest #13 (John Hartz)

Poster of the Week...

Climate Feedback Reviews...

Climate Feedback asked its network of scientists to review the article, Record-breaking climate change pushes world into uncharted territory by Damian Carrington, Guadian. Mar 20, 2017

Eight scientists analyzed the article and estimated its overall scientific credibility to be high to very high. A majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Accurate.

Click here to access the entire review.

SkS Week in Review...

97 Hours of Consensus...

Gerald Meehl's bio page

Quote shortened from:

" "Even if you stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases, you are still committed to a certain amount of climate change no matter what you do because of the lag in the ocean," said Gerald Meehl, a climate scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.



Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide collect in the atmosphere and are believed to act as a blanket, trapping heat and causing the Earth to warm. To stop this warming, many scientists say humans must reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they emit.



Human activities that make the largest contributions to greenhouse gases include exhaust fumes from automobiles and commercial jets and emissions from power stations and factories.



"The longer you wait to do something, the more climate change you are committed to in the future," Meehl said. "

High resolution JPEG (1024 pixels wide)
Also the number of transactions made by payment cards increased in annual comparison.

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Banks in Slovakia issued a total of 5.5 million payment cards last year, nearly 200,000 more than the previous year.

The highest share was represented by debit cards for current accounts, followed by credit cards and pre-paid cards, the TASR newswire reported in early March.

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Also the number of transactions made by payment cards increased by 14 percent year-on-year. The volume of transactions rose by 7 percent compared with the previous year.

Clients carried out 77 transactions a year on average, the Slovak Banking Association (SBA) informed, as quoted by TASR.

Bank clients still prefer contactless cards. Currently, some 82 percent of issued cards offer this service. Nearly 38 percent of all payments were contactless in 2016, while in 2012 it was only 1.2 percent, according to SBA.

The average amount for which contactless payment is used oscillates around 13.4.

Meanwhile, the number of cash dispensers also increased in Slovakia last year, by 27 units to 2,765, while the volume of cash withdrawals rose compared with 2015, as well.

The average amount of one cash withdrawal carried out increased by 3 to 145.2, SBA added, as quoted by TASR.

On the other hand, the number of payment terminals dropped last year by nearly 7,500, which represents 15 percent, to 42,150 units. The number of payments via the terminals, however, increased 9.5 percent y/y, while the volume of transactions rose by 3.9 percent compared with the previous year.
Young photographer Simon Trnka is proving the beauty of (not only) Slovak mountains in his photographs.

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Simon Trnka is a 28-year-old photographer from Zilina, who became popular by taking a picture of the aurora in the Mala Fatra national park while heading to Velky Krivan, he said about himself.

Read also:

Read also: Discover natural wonders by foot (Spectacular Slovakia - travel guide) Read more

In his own words, he loves spending time in nature, sleeping at the top of mountains, waking up with the sunrise and watching the Milky Way and falling stars. All of these activities can be found in his breathtaking photographs.

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His photos have been shared by Bored Panda, French magazine Phototech, British Daily Mail and National Geographic. His Facebook profile has almost 24,000 fans while he has 13,000 on Instagram. His albums can be viewed on his official website.
CAIRO, March 26 (Reuters) - BP has made a gas discovery in the North Damietta Offshore Concession in Egypt's East Nile Delta, its third in the block, it said on Sunday.

The Qattameya Shallow-1 exploration well was drilled to a total depth of 1,961 metres in water depth of around 108 metres, the company said.

"This latest discovery confirms our belief that the Nile Delta is a world-class basin," BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said in a statement.

The well is 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Damietta city in northern Egypt. BP has 100 percent equity in the discovery.

BP produces around 40 percent of Egypt's total gas. (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; editing by Susan Thomas)
Storyful

Music boomed through a darkened street in Kyiv, Ukraine, on November 5, despite the city experiencing widespread blackouts due to the damage of critical infrastructure.Video filmed by Sergio Olmos shows the light from a patio heater illuminating a section of an otherwise dark street in Kyiv while speakers play electronic music.The National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities of Ukraine released a statement regarding the blackouts on November 4, blaming Russian energy terror for the restricted service.Such measures are forced steps to ensure the balance of the energy system and avoid network overload. The commission emphasizes that emergency teams of energy companies are doing everything possible to restore all energy facilities damaged by Russian attacks as soon as possible. With this in mind, the NKRECP appeals to consumers and asks them to understand such temporary steps to restrict electricity supply, the regulator said, according to a machine translation.On November 4, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 450,000 people in the city were without power.On November 6, Klitschko posted on Facebook saying officials have to be prepared for different scenarios and urged people to save electricity, according to a machine translation.In the war situation in which we live, you need to have plans in case of various scenarios of events and emergencies. And be prepared for action. Preparing for winter, we have purchased, engaged from foreign partners and continue to purchase generators, heat guns, equip heat points, secure critical infrastructure facilities. We are doing everything we can to ensure the livelihood of the capital in these difficult conditions, Klitschko wrote.According to a New York Times report, Ukrainian officials have begun planning for the possibility of a total blackout in Kyiv, and the evacuation of its civilians. Credit: Sergio Olmos via Storyful
ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast rescinded an order on Sunday to increase security at its two main ports after determining that an earlier reported threat of terrorism was unfounded, according to a document seen by Reuters. The first transport ministry memorandum had ordered security under the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code to be increased to level two due to "probable terrorist attacks" on Ivory Coast's national territory. "After compiling the information ... it emerged that the threat is not real," the head of maritime security Colonel Bertin Koffi Tano wrote in a second order to the Abidjan and San Pedro port authorities and shipping companies on Sunday. "I ask that you return to the normal security level, which is level one," he added in the document. The decision to boost security had been made as a regional maritime exercise - known as Obangame Express - sponsored by the U.S. military's Africa Command was being held off the coast of Ivory Coast's commercial capital Abidjan. It also came a year after al Qaeda militants stormed the Ivory Coast beach resort of Grand Bassam, gunning down swimmers and sunbathers in an attack that killed 19 people. The ports of Abidjan and San Pedro are both important hubs for West African imports and exports, notably of cocoa. Ivory Coast is the world's biggest cocoa producer. Ivory Coast has been a staunch ally of the West in the fight against the growing threat of Islamist militancy in West Africa and its arid Sahel region, making it a declared target for reprisals by groups including al Qaeda. (Reporting by Ange Aboa and Joe Bavier; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
Several hundred Jewish protesters organized by If Not Now gathered outside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on March 26 amid the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) 2017 Convention in Washington.

The footage shows protesters situated along L Street NW between the two convention center buildings singing songs about Israel. If Not Now, the group responsible for the protest, blasted the right-leaning pro-Israel lobbying group for its support towards Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. Credit: Instagram/erik887 via Storyful
By Reuters: A US-backed Syrian alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias on Sunday took a military airport in northern Syria held by Islamic State, close to the country's largest dam that may be in danger of collapse.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias supported by a US-led international coalition, said in a statement it had seized the air base.

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Earlier, SDF spokesman Talal Silo said its fighters had seized "60 to 70 percent" of the airport but were still engaged in intense clashes with the ultra-hardline militants inside the air base and on its outskirts.

The SDF, backed by US special forces in a campaign that has driven Islamic State from large swathes of northern Syria, fights separately from other rebel groups that seek to topple President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

The SDF has been battling the militants near the Tabqa dam and air base west of the Syrian city of Raqqa in an accelerating campaign to capture Islamic State's stronghold.

FAMILIES FLEE TABQA

Hundreds of families were fleeing the city of Tabqa to the relative safety of outlying areas as US-led coalition air strikes intensified in the past few days, according to former residents in touch with relatives.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war in Syria, said a week-long campaign of US-led strikes on Tabqa and the western countryside of Raqqa province had killed at least 90 civilians, a quarter of them children, while injuring dozens.

A media representative for the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State said it was looking into the Observatory's assertion.

Last week, the Pentagon said there were no indications a US-led coalition air strike near Raqqa had hit civilians, in response to an Observatory statement that at least 33 people were killed in a strike that hit a school sheltering displaced people near the city. The Pentagon added it would carry out further investigations.

A group of civic bodies and local and tribal notables from Raqqa province warned of an impending humanitarian crisis in the city of Raqqa as a result of the escalating campaign to seize the de facto capital of the militants.

"We call for immediate efforts to save people and protect them," the statement of the Turkey-based opposition-run Local Council of Raqqa Province said, urging the international coalition to provide safe passage to civilians and ending bombing of infrastructure in the fight against Islamic State.

DAM AT RISK

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The Pentagon said last Wednesday it had for the first time airdropped local ground forces behind enemy lines near Tabqa in a move aimed at retaking the major dam.

Islamic State said on its social media channels that Tabqa dam had been put out of service and all flood gates were closed. It said the dam was at risk of collapse because of air strikes and increased water levels.

Islamic State captured the Tabqa Dam, also known as the Euphrates Dam, which is about 40 km (25 miles) upstream from Raqqa and the air base, at the height of its expansion in Syria and Iraq in 2014.

The United Nations warned this year of catastrophic flooding in Syria from the Tabqa dam, which is at risk from high water levels, deliberate sabotage by Islamic State and further damage from air strikes by the US-led coalition.

The director of the Syrian government's General Authority of Euphrates Dam that formerly operated the huge project blamed US strikes in the past two days for disrupting internal control systems and putting the dam out of service, and warned of growing risks that could lead to flooding and future collapses.

"Before the latest strikes by the Americans, the dam was working. Two days ago, the dam was functioning normally," Nejm Saleh told Reuters.

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"God forbid ... there could be collapses or big failures that could lead to flooding," Saleh said.

An SDF spokesman denied that coalition strikes hit the structure of the dam and said the air drop landing last week was conducted to prevent any damage to the main structure by engaging the militants away from the dam.

"The capture of the dam is being conducted slowly and carefully and this is why the liberation of the dam needs more time," Silo said, adding that militants dug inside the dam knowing they would not be hit for fear of damaging the dam.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had also learned from its own sources that the dam had stopped functioning but that Islamic State remained in control of its main operational buildings and turbines.

The dam is about 4.5 km (2.8 miles) long. The SDF has advanced a small distance along the dam from the northern bank but its progress is slow because Islamic State has heavily mined the area, the Observatory said.

ALSO READ | Islamic State claims responsibility for London attack: Reports

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Syrian Army announces recapture of Palmyra from Islamic State

ALSO WATCH | How youth of India have been lured by terror outfit ISIS in recent times

--- ENDS ---
Poetic police officers turned their warning over a seized car into a lecturing limerick, posting their amusing message on Twitter.

The verse, tweeted by Lincolnshire Police Specials, was posted along with a picture of the retrieved Vauxhall Corsa as it was loaded onto the back of a recovery lorry.

It read: There was a young lady in Welton, Her Corsa, insurance not held on, Vehicle we seized, Driver displeased, And summons for her now to reflect on.

There was a young lady in Welton

Her Corsa, insurance not held on

Vehicle we seized

Driver displeased

And summons for her now to reflect on pic.twitter.com/RrcymiJxTj  LincsPolice Specials (@LincsSpecials) March 23, 2017

Police have powers to seize cars if they believe they are being driven without insurance. Last year the UKs 1.5 millionth uninsured vehicle  also a Vauxhall Corsa  was seized in Haringey, North London.

Yet despite hundreds of thousands of seizures each year, an estimated one million people still drive without insurance in the UK.

MORE: Can you see the mans smiling face? Psychologist shows off incredible illusion

MORE: Millennials dont act like adults until they are 30 (or even 40), research finds

Its not the first time police have used poetry to get their message across.

Cleveland Police composed a crime prevention poem with helpful tips to keep burglars away over the festive season.

Our crime prevention poem will help you keep the burglars away this festive season! Have a safe and crime-free Xmas! pic.twitter.com/bo9stWS6dW  Cleveland Police UK (@ClevelandPolice) December 22, 2015

(Top picture: SWNS/Twitter/Lincolnshire Police Specials)
Turkeys foreign ministry has reportedly summoned Switzerlands deputy ambassador to Ankara following protests in Bern. Around 250 people gathered in front of parliament in the Swiss capital on Saturday to rally against President Erdogan. They also called for a No vote in Turkeys upcoming referendum, which could give the Turkish leader sweeping new powers. We are afraid when we arrive at the airport in Turkey. Were afraid that well be arrested or questioned by the Turkish authorities under false accusations, one man protesting in Bern said. The demonstration was organised by several Kurdish groups and is also said to have included members of the outlawed PKK group. During the rally, some protesters held a flag of the Turkish president with a gun pointing to his head. That drew a furious response from Erdogan. Radical terrorist organisations had a picture of me outside the Swiss parliament today showing a gun pointing to my head. Is it possible that there is such a mentality? Is it possible that there is such a way of thinking? And this took place in Switzerland, the Turkish president said. Erdogan has vowed to review ties with Europe and earlier on Saturday he also said he might hold another referendum on whether to continue EU accession talks. Ankara has accused some European countries, notably Germany and the Netherlands, of allowing No campaign rallies to take place ahead of Aprils constitutional referendum vote while banning the Yes camp.
EU leaders may have pushed for unity on the anniversary of the birth of the blocs foundation, but opinions were divided elsewhere in the Italian capital. We have united for the better. Europe is our common future.Rome Declaration on #FutureofEurope: https://t.co/aACtJKBPOC#EU60 Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) March 25, 2017 Thousands of activists have marched to either support or denounce the Union. At the Colosseum, in central Rome, two different pro-Europe rallies came together. One was organised by the European Federalist Movement I am only one among many Europeans who want to fight against populism and to send a message to those who govern us, to tell them that we need more from Europe, a more-integrated Europe, one man told euronews. The other march, which called for a different Europe, was coordinated by various left-wing groups. I think this shows that the majority of Europeans believe in the European project but dont want the Europe that is being created now, another man added. Anti-EU protesters included members of the left-wing social platform Eurostop. Their criticism was wide-ranging: no to Europe; no to the euro; and no to NATO. We are against Europe, because this is their vision of Europe, said one man, pointing to the visible police presence. Their Europe is the absence of democracy and it is done to starve people. Its a provocation against this rally which is coming democratically and peacefully to the square. Dozens of riot police officers were deployed. Five unelected presidents of EU, all white grey men, speak on 60th anniversary of Treaty of Rome. Doubt there will be a 70th Andrew Pierce (@toryboypierce) March 25, 2017
C64wiki

It can be hard to write about the music of videogames while we are bathed in the projected glory of todays high-definition, 4K, 60-frames-per-second photorealistic graphics. And given that in the roots of videogaming we find an often eerily quiet world, perhaps its not surprising that we sometimes forget that theres an audio in audio-visual.

The earliest videogames, such as Spacewar!, created at MIT in 1962, had no sound at all. While this might be seen as a ruthless dedication to authenticity (after all, in space no one can hear you scream) in reality, it was due to technical limitations. A decade later, things were not much different: the first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey, introduced a generation to the thrills of electronic gameplay without so much as a beep. This was a quiet revolution. Even the phenomenally successful Atari VCS/2600 put graphics before sound and sound before music. It did a good line in raucous engine noises and explosions but was not especially musician-friendly, nor particularly listener-friendly.

Quoted in Brian Bagnalls history of Commodore electronics engineer Rob Yannes summed up the situation:

I thought the sound chips on the market, including those in the Atari computers, were primitive and obviously had been designed by people who knew nothing about music.

Fortunately, Yannes did know something about music, as well as semiconductors and designing chips. And so in 1981 he began work on what would arguably become the most important milestone in videogame music and one whose influence still resonates to this day: the MOS Technology 6581, also known as the Sound Interface Device, but much better known as the SID.

As the sound chip in the Commodore 64  the best-selling home computer and games machine of all time  the SID was remarkably sophisticated: a well-specified synthesizer with features more usually found on cutting-edge electronic keyboards of the time such as the Mini Moog and Roland Jupiter 8. Although it was designed to be part of a home computer, the SID chip was above all a musical instrument  but at US$595 for a C64 compared to US$5,195 for a Jupiter 8, it came at a fraction of the price.

Story continues

Technically the SID is a three-voice synthesizer module  it can play three sounds simultaneously. They can each be one different note, played together as a three-note chord. Or they can be three different sounds, such as a bass, a melody and a harmony. But three voices, and only three  that is until a glitch in the chip was discovered that allowed a fourth voice to play sampled drums or speech.

Each of those voices can generate a sawtooth, variable pulsewidth, triangle or noise waveform, or an intriguing, unique and not well-documented combination of them. Various modulation effects can be applied to these voices to give bell-like or other metallic effects, or voices may be hard-synced together to create a characteristic rasping sound common in early electronic music solos.

The sound of the voices can be further contoured using an envelope generator capable of altering the sounds attack (how quickly the sound grows once the note is played), decay (how quickly it tails off from peak to sustain level), sustain (the level while the note is held), and release (how quickly it tails off to nil), or through various filters (which due to manufacturing tolerances vary immensely in sound between different versions of the SID).

While the same subtractive synthesis techniques are used today, for anybody who has used even entry-level music production software such as Apples Garageband, with its huge library of acoustic and electronic instruments, drums and loops, the SID probably looks horribly limited.

Musicianship vs limitations

To surmount its limitations, one of the simplest strategy was to rapidly switch between sounds to simulate the effect of a larger palette of instruments. Listen to a piece like Rob Hubbards Monty on the Run, for instance, and youll hear numerous short passages of just a few bars, shifting between different sounds which share the main melody. Its as though members of a big band take turns to stand up and riff around the solo.

Or composers could dig deeper into the SIDs synthesis capabilities, adding movement and interest by modulating the pulsewidth of a sound over time, creating a thicker, more dynamic effect. Composer Martin Galway was a master of this technique, which can be heard in tunes such as Parallax, Wizball, and his seminal Ocean Loader music that made waiting for a game to load from cassette a pleasure rather than a chore.

More than any other technique, though, the use of arpeggiation was the SID chips  and by extension videogame musics  most evocative and enduring sonic fingerprint. If you dont recognise the term arpeggio, youll recognise the effect: an often rapid sequence of rising and falling notes. From contemporary music a good example is Clocks by Coldplay, but on the SID and other sound chips from home computers of the era, its the warbling sound of two or more extremely rapidly alternating notes. Rather than play the C, E, and G of a C-major chord and use up all three of SIDs previous voices, composers rapidly triggered each note in turn far faster than even the most nimble-fingered of musicians could perform. And thus, a three-note chord plays from just one voice.

Musicianship vs programming

If that seems straightforward remember that the SID wasnt a synthesizer with a piano keyboard, but merely a chip inside the C64. There was no audio workstation software like Cubase or even a Tracker to sequence the SIDs sounds. Although consumer programs and add-on devices would come later, these were too inefficient for composers eking out every drop of the C64s performance and embedding their music into games. For early C64 composers there were, in fact, no libraries, no middleware, no tools at all. The only way to make SID sing was through programming.

If you wanted to be a videogame musician in the early 1980s, having a fantastic tune and even a Royal College of Music diploma meant nothing without some lateral thinking and a significant amount of programming skills, because the SID chip needed special software routines to turn its potential into sound. You had to know how to compose both melodies and machine code.

Given these achievements, its no wonder that C64 musicians were well-known and well-respected. Alongside features on programmers such as Jeff Minter or Andrew Braybrook, SID composers such as Rob Hubbard, Martin Galway and Ben Daglish would grace the pages of magazines like Zzap!64, satisfying gamers interest in the technical prowess of their musical heroes.

Each composer had their own unique and identifiable style that exploited different aspects of the SID chip and brought different musical sensibilities. Where Hubbard was the master of percussion with an ability to tease out complex rhythms, Galways deceptively simple, melodic compositions revealed the softer, more mellow side of the SID chip. So revered were their compositions that many players would buy games just for the music. In the world of 1980s computer gaming, these musicians were superstars.

A musical legacy Bob and SID would be proud of

And they still are. The chiptune culture of music made with SID and other computer sound chips is alive and well. In fact, its probably stronger today than ever. The original themes are rearranged by their original composers and others and played live at concerts, even with symphony orchestras. The High Voltage SID Collection has collected nearly 50,000 SID tunes, which can be replayed with emulators made for modern computer and mobile platforms.

This isnt just nostalgia. New SID tunes are being written by composers re-discovering the chips distinctive sonic quality. Chiptunes influence can be identified across electronic music through direct sampling, such as Zombie Nations use of David Whittakers tune from the C64 game Lazy Jones, producer Timbalands sampling of a SID tune by Finnish musician Janne Suni for Do It by Nelly Furtado, or Crystal Castles pillaging of 8-bit chiptune sounds.

But more so, the hyperactive sounds of the SID have become part of the lexicon of electronic music-making. Sample libraries for modern music software include SID and chiptune sounds alongside other archetypes of modern electronic music such as the classic sounds of the Roland TB-303 bass station and TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines. In fact, such is the popularity of the SID sound that you can buy hardware devices that include genuine SID chips pulled from vintage C64s that can be integrated into modular synthesizer and studio setups, or software emulations that allow the gloriously lo-fi, 8-bit, ultra-fast arpeggios and barely intelligible digitised speech to be reproduced with pristine fidelity.

And as for Bob Yannes, father of SID, he was far from done. After Commodore he co-founded music technology company Ensoniq, which would go on to make an enormous impact on music-making again with the release of the Mirage sampler. The Mirage was the first affordable digital sampler  one that musicians would use to capture and mash-up snippets of C64 tunes, ensuring that SID would never be silenced.

James Newman will be hosting Ludo2017, the Sixth Easter Conference on Video Game Music and Sound, April 2022 at Bath Spa University, UK.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The Conversation

James Newman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.
By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - The Syrian opposition rejects terrorism and is "fed up" with banned militants but they cannot be stopped if Syria continues evicting populations of besieged areas, opposition negotiator Basma Kodmani said on Sunday. Syria's government has always cited the fight against terrorism to justify its part in a six-year war that has killed hundreds of thousands, and brands all its opponents and their backers as terrorists and sponsors of terror. The opposition's chief negotiator Nasr al-Hariri, who is trying to negotiate an end the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, began this month by saying its stance against terrorism was proven on the battlefield and not mere words. But subsequently rebel groups launched an offensive spearheaded by suicide-bombers from the jihadi Tahrir al-Sham alliance. Tahrir al-Sham includes fighters who formerly belonged to the Nusra Front, once an al Qaeda affiliate and - along with Islamic State - one of the two groups in Syria designated as "terrorists" by the United Nations. Kodmani, in Geneva for U.N.-led peace talks, said the opposition's stance was "unambiguous condemnation, disassociation from, and willingness to fight the terrorist groups" designated by the U.N. "The fact that Nusra or Tahrir al-Sham puts itself in those battles does not mean in any way that this is a new alliance or a renewed alliance," she told Reuters. The militants liked to elbow their way into prominent roles but they never led an offensive on their own or maintained a ceasefire line, she said. "We are fed up with Nusra. They are the biggest danger inside the areas where the opposition is sitting. But if you are bombed from above, you just have to postpone the battle against extremists, even though they are a mortal danger for you. "The day the international community gives us anything to work with, believe me, the opposition will immediately turn against all the extremists and expel them from their areas." COURTING TRUMP The recent offensive was launched by local armed groups to prevent forced displacement, Kodmani said. Forces loyal to Assad have used the tactic of forced displacement repeatedly in the past year, especially in Aleppo, starving and bombarding besieged areas until the local fighters agree to leave in what is effectively a surrender. The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria has said such displacements are war crimes. Kodmani said the international community was doing nothing to stop them. "What options is the international community giving the population, for Gods sake? What can we tell people on the ground? Don't use force? They only have force," she said. "This is not about terror and about working with terrorists. It's about who protects civilians." Both Assad and the opposition hope U.S. President Donald Trump will see them as his ideal partner against terrorism. Kodmani said there was growing understanding in the U.S. administration that working with Assad meant working with Iran-led militias that do much of the fighting for him. "I am hoping that in the next two or three months, before the summer, we will have a clear U.S. policy that sees the obvious, which is that this country cannot be put back together if the Iran-led militias remain," she said. "We cannot get the jihadis out, we cannot have the moderates fight the extremists, if we do not have a ceasefire and Iran-led militias included in the call for withdrawal of all foreign fighters." (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania's President John Magufuli warned the country's journalists on Friday that there were limits to their press freedom, comments that will add to opposition concern that his government is further narrowing the space for public criticism. Magufuli made the remarks during the swearing in of new Information Minister Harrison Mwakyembe, who was appointed in a reshuffle. Critics said Mwakyembe's predecessor Nape Nnauye was sacked as retribution for ordering a probe into an alleged raid on a private television station by a senior government official. "I would like to tell media owners - be careful, watch it. If you think you have that kind of freedom, (it is) not to that extent," Magufuli said. He ordered Mwakyembe to clamp down on media organisations that publish or broadcast material deemed to incite unrest, saying his government would not allow a few individuals to destabilise east Africa's second-biggest economy, which is home to 50 million people. Magufuli, nicknamed "the Bulldozer" for his strict leadership style, has dismissed dozens of senior public officials over allegations of corruption and inefficiency since he was elected in late 2015 as part of a reform drive. Opponents accuse him of becoming increasingly authoritarian, undermining democracy and cracking down on dissent. He denies the allegations. (Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Editing by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Alison Williams)
theresamay58

Sky News

Prime Minister Theresa May's speech comes after she chaired a Cabinet Office Briefing Room meeting.

Four people were killed, including a police officer, after a terrorist attack in Westminster, London.

May said, "Let me make it clear today ... any attempt to defeat those values through violence is doomed to failure. The streets of Westminster are ingrained with the spirit of freedom."

Police have identified the suspect.

Heartbreaking images from London's day of horror.

Live updates on the investigation here.

LONDON  Prime Minister Theresa May just delivered a speech in response to the attacks that occurred outside the Houses of Parliament and along Westminster Bridge.

"The location of the attack was no accident, where all people from all nationalities, religions and cultures come together to celebrate liberation and democracy," she said.

"Let me make it clear today... any attempt to defeat those values through violence is doomed to failure. The streets of Westminster are ingrained with the spirit of freedom."

"Tomorrow morning Parliament will meet as normal. We will come together as normal. And Londoners and others around the world will get up and go about their day as normal. They will board their trains. They will leave their hotels. They will walk these streets. They will live their lives, they will all move forward together, never giving into terror and never allowing the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart."

She also thanked the service people who attended to those on the scenes of the attacks.

"Once again today these exceptional men and women ran towards the danger even as they encouraged others to move the other way. They have lost one of their own in today's attack only makes their calmness and professionalism under pressure all the more remarkable," May said.

You can watch her full speech on video here:

Her speech comes after her chairing a Cabinet Office Briefing Room meeting. COBR meetings are the locations for a type of crisis response committee set up to co-ordinate the actions of bodies within the Government.

Story continues

Around 2.40 p.m. GMT (10.40 a.m. ET) on Wednesday, March 22, a car drove into dozens of people on crowded Westminster Bridge while a police officer was stabbed in the grounds of parliament around the same time. The officer has since died from the stabbing.

Both incidents occurred on the anniversary of the Brussels airport terror attack.

In a statement given at around 4.45 p.m. GMT (12.45 p.m. ET), a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police confirmed that a counterterrorism investigation is ongoing and that additional officers will patrol the capital tonight and Thursday.

NOW WATCH: 'If he's not joking, of course!': Sean Spicer on whether Trump's statements can be trusted 'to be real'

See Also:

SEE ALSO: 2 dead and police officer stabbed in suspected terror attacks in Westminster
Aussies for Poker Not Tapping Out: 'We Will Win the War'

March 26 2017 Mo Nuwwarah

An unfavorable result in the Australian parliament isn't stopping Australians from continuing the fight for online poker.

Many are assuming the writing is on the wall after an amendment that would have exempted online poker from the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016 failed to pass. The bill itself has yet to pass into law as some details have not been hammered out, but doom appears to be on the horizon for online poker Down Under.

Not so fast, said Joseph Del Duca of the Australian Online Poker Alliance.

"How many times in poker have you seen a player lose a big hand early on and then come back and win?" he told PokerNews. "This happens all the time and our campaign is no different. Poker players are amazingly resilient people. Giving up is not the answer.

"We still have a long way until the final table so it is important that we all stay positive and focused on the job at hand. We know that this decision has hurt and saddened a lot of the Australian online poker community. Our message to you is this: We may have lost the battle, but we will win the war."

Del Duca stressed that this setback, while potentially significant, can be overcome. In fact, he's taking heart that the grassroots efforts of the community he organised has made progress fighting against what initially looked like a forgone conclusion.

For example, the AOPA's efforts convinced Sen. David Leyonhjelm to move the aforementioned amendment for the vote that ultimately failed. Just getting that amendment in front of the Senate was a step in the right direction. And while the amendment didn't go through, it did receive support from senators from four different parties. One senator, who has generally been opposed to gambling, even admitted that the government banning poker is inconsistent with its position on other forms of gambling.

Leyonhjelm has served as a sort of spokesman for the AOPA and delivered a speech in support of online poker during the proceedings.

Australia features dedicated live poker rooms, such as the one at Crown Melbourne that hosts Aussie Millions, one of the premier poker festivals held anywhere in the world. There are also countless home games and "pub games" available for players. It makes no sense, he reasoned, for those games to exist and online poker to be outlawed.

"We're saying, 'You're not allowed to do that online, you're only allowed to do that face-to-face,'" he said. "It's a little bit like saying, 'You're allowed to talk to each other by telephone, but you're not allowed to talk to each other by FaceTime, because FaceTime goes via a server in another country.'

"We're saying one kind of playing poker is OK, but another kind of playing poker is not OK, because it's online. I mean, seriously, this is the 21st century  almost everything is online these days."

While Leyonhjelm's efforts were noble, they weren't enough to overcome the majority party, which maintained the original language of the bill as far as online poker is concerned.

The exodus of major operators from Australia has already begun with 888poker exiting the market in January. A top official from PokerStars also confirmed the world's leading operator will be exiting "very soon."

That means poker players in Australia who want to continue to play online will either have to circumvent the laws using available technology like virtual private networks (VPNs) or they'll turn to less scrupulous black market operators.

"Australians will be exposed to the same risks Americans were playing on unregulated operators, like how Lock [Poker] stole from Americans," said Australian poker player Oliver Gill, who has been a driving force behind the AOPA.

Gill has nearly $2 million in online cashes according to PocketFives but identifies himself as a recreational player. He has no plans to move if the bill becomes law but said he's now forced to consider playing on black market sites to continue to enjoy his hobby. Others, he said, have it worse than he does.

"I'll have friends who have to move overseas, other friends who have families who will have to try and find a new career with a 10-year resume gap or relocate their young family to continue their career, and dozens of friends who play recreationally who will lose an enjoyable hobby," he said. "It sucks."

However, like Del Duca, Gill stressed that all hope is not lost, as actions have already been taken to continue the fight.

Sen. Leyonhjelm put out the call to Australian poker players to see if there would be enough support for a committee inquiry, and north of 200 responses have already been posted. Leyonhjelm wrote that it would take "a lot of work" and that the online poker community would have to band together, raise their voices and give evidence at committee hearings.

That's right up the AOPA's alley, so they're ready to take on the admittedly hefty challenge head-on.

"The main thing the Australian and global poker community can do now is stay positive and keep making noise," Del Duca said. "This is not the end. This is just the beginning of a fight we can and will win. Stay connected with our page and keep in touch to find out how you can help in this fight!"

Sharelines It's too early to give up the fight for online poker in Australia.
Cash Game Festival Heads to Tallinn April 26-30

March 26 2017 Jason Glatzer

For the first time this year, the Cash Game Festival will return to where it all began in Tallinn, Estonia April 26-30 at Olympic Park Casino for five days and more than 120 hours of nonstop ring games.

The Cash Game Festival is a relatively new tour starting out in Tallinn in 2014 when the tour's co-founders Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk and Enri Orav recognized that while there are many poker tournament festivals, there wasn't anything to accommodate players that love cash games.

After the first Cash Game Festival proved its success, the poker festival returned to Tallinn for a second stop in 2015 before going international in 2016 with stops in London (twice), Malta, Bulgaria and Tallinn.

This year, Cash Game Festival organizers plan for at least 10 stops. Before Tallinn, the Cash Game Festival hit Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City in London in February and Perla Casino at the border of Italy in Nova Gorica, Slovenia in March. After Tallinn, the Cash Game Festival will head to Sunborn Yacht Hotel & Casino in Gibraltar May 17-21.

As has been the case at previous festivals, the Cash Game Festival Tallinn will allow players to enjoy a variety of games at stakes both high and low. Past festivals have featured no-limit hold'em, dealer's choice pot-limit Omaha, dealer's choice mixed games, Sviten Special (also known as drawmaha), open-face Chinese Poker and more.

In Slovenia, there were even players playing a pot-limit hold'em game where they held two cards on their head and only their opponents could see their cards.

The Cash Game Festival Tallinn will also host two televised feature tables each day hosted by Brandon Allen. Players can reserve a spot on the feature table on the Cash Game Festival website as well as other tables throughout the festival.

One great thing about the Cash Game Festival is that like-minded players can get together to socialize both on and off the felt. There will be plenty of activities planned each day for those either winning or purchasing the world-class hospitality package that will include welcome drinks, a sporting event, a city tour, a VIP dinner and a party.

Cash Game Festival Marketing and Content Creator Manager Inga Raudsepp confirmed that one activity will be shooting at a gun range.

Players can also inquire about purchasing hospitality package on the Cash Game Festival website or alternatively can win a package online at NordicBet now or at OlyBet and Triobet starting in April.

Flights are convenient to Tallinn from many destinations including London, Dublin and Stockholm. The festival's travel partner, Main Event Travel, can also assist in finding the right package for you.

As will be the case for all of the at least 10 stops of the 2017 Cash Game Festival tour, the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on hand to report highlights and player interviews each day.

Here is a look at some of the action from the first two Cash Game Festival stops this year in London and Slovenia.

*Lead image and videos courtesy of Cash Game Festival.

Sharelines The Cash Game Festival heads back to where it all began in Tallinn, Estonia.
Arthur and David Pike discuss and sign Detour New Mexico at 3 p.m. today at Page 1 Books, Mountain Run Shopping Center, 5850 Eubank NE; and at two events on Tuesday, March 28. The first is at Barnes and Noble, Cottonwood Corners, 3701 Ellison NW, and the second one is at 6 p.m. at Bookworks, 4022 Rio Grande NW.

The word detours has a special place in New Mexico history. About 90 years ago, the Fred Harvey Co., of Harvey House chain fame, created Indian Detours, a business that took railroad travelers  detourists, if you will  to visit the pueblos and Indian ruins of northern New Mexico.

From the mid-1920s through most of the 30s, they toured in elegant cars guided by women in Navajo-inspired outfits.

A recent entry in the states detour world is the self-guided touristy-history book Detour New Mexico  Historic Destinations & Natural Wonders by brothers Arthur and David Pike; they grew up in Truth or Consequences.

It contains 17 detours, mostly on secondary road trips.

We went back and forth on a couple of ideas with the editor we worked with at the History Press, said David Pike, an Albuquerque resident. We hit on the detour idea. We wanted to talk about places that maybe were off the interstate or major highways and to highlight things you could see.

Brother Arthur, a Houston resident, added: Another guiding principle was to keep these independent trips bite-sized. We thought people could get in and get out in a day and see a lot of stuff.

Not all. Detour 4, the Rio Grande Detour, has you paralleling the river for about 165 miles. Hardly a jaunt for a day tripper if you stop to sightsee. It begins on N.M. 47 in Albuquerque to Bernalillo, then onto Interstate 25 to Santa Fe. Then it switches to U.S. 285 before jumping on N.M. 68 to Taos.

The book provides ample information about selected sights, but it serves up too much historical background. For example, Detour 4 begins at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque. Then theres a long section awkwardly inserted on the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Back to the cultural center. And north to a string of more pueblos. The narrative in most of the chapters is split by two devices. One is the helpful Whats in It for You, one-liners about what to do, such as in Detour 4, stroll through the historic, eclectic Santa Fe Plaza, check out the states premier flea market on Tesuque Pueblo. (The flea market is, or was, next to the Santa Fe Opera. It recently closed.)

The other device is called Detour Deja Vu. These can be distracting references to other, geographically distant, detours. Heres one Deja Vu in Detour 4. Go to the Badlands Detour (Detour 1) to see Inscription Rock (at El Morro) and view Army Lt. Edward Beales signature. That rock is over in western New Mexico, so why bring it up? Theres a thin connection between two rock formations  Inscription Rock and Camel Rock  which is on Tesuque Pueblo. Second, and equally thin, theres a Camel Rock-and-camels link. Beale led a caravan of supply-laden camels from Texas to Los Angeles.

At times, the writing turns silly. In Detour 13, which takes in Deming, Columbus, Hachita and Lordsburg, the text says, By the way, if it happens to rain while youre in Deming and you get the urge to start singing, theres a logical explanation. Youll find it in Nacio Herb Brown Park. Nothing said about where in park, though the book notes Brown, a Deming native, composed the title song of the popular 1952 film Singin in the Rain.

Readers will benefit from the detour maps that Chris Pike and Emily Lewis illustrated. David Pike is known for his book Roadside New Mexico: A Guide to Historical Markers.
Owners claim the fate of more than 6.5 lakh employees directly involved with the Rs 22,000-crore trade remains hanging as officials are taking action without sending any notice.

By Shashank Shekhar: Action against illegal slaughter of cows and buffaloes has left several authorised mechanised slaughterhouses - mostly in western UP - troubled. Owners claim the fate of more than 6.5 lakh employees directly involved with the Rs 22,000-crore trade remains hanging as officials are taking action without sending any notice.

They also complain of being harassed by 'vigilante groups'. In the last one week, four mechanised plants have been shut in UP.

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Officials have also sealed buffalo meat processing plants belonging to a former BSP MP's family.

Samples were seized and forwarded for forensic examination to check whether they contained beef.

Exporters say action against units are initiated without any showcause notice or warning. Even those operational for several years with approvals from Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), which comes under the Union ministry of commerce and industry, were targeted.

"There are more than 40 mechanised units in UP. All of them have necessary approvals and have been exporting buffalo meat to more than 70 countries for several years," said Fauzan Alavi, member secretary, All India Meat & Livestock Exporters Association.

CM ADITYANATH'S INTERVENTION REQUESTED

The association has given a three-page letter to the CMO requesting Yogi Adityanath to intervene. "UP alone contributes 60-70 per cent of the total buffalo meat exported from the country. Some 6.5 lakh people are engaged directly with the industry and with allied sectors such as dairy and leather," Alavi said.

Some owners said vigilante groups are harassing and extorting money as they stop trucks carrying buffalo. Intekhab Alam, general manager of Eagle Continental Foods, said his firm employs about 1,300 people who are just a small fraction of the workforce that will rendered jobless if the all abattoirs are shut down.

"We have been closely working with government agencies and each time, a government veterinarian is present to monitor the entire process," Alam said. Dairy and leather industries may also face adverse impact Some owners complain of extortion by vigilante groups.

ALSO READ | Yogi Adityanath's crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses: Meat trade bleeds in Uttar Pradesh

Vegetarian days ahead for Yogi Adityanath's UP: Meat vendors plan state-wide indefinite strike from today

Only police, administration can act against illegal slaughterhouses, says UP DGP

ALSO WATCH | Slaughterhouses easy meat? Lucknow's famous Tunday Kababi shut due to meat shortage

--- ENDS ---
Bicycles zipping past at remarkable speeds is one of the traditions of midspring in Silver City as the Tour of the Gila winds through the town and the surrounding mountains.

The Tour (tourofthegila.com), entering its 31st year April 19-23, is one of just six in the United States that include Union Cycliste Internationale-recognized professional racing. Its the same organization that oversees other stage races, including the Tour de France, organizer Jack Brennan said.

That separates us from other, regular regional races, he said.

The pros will includes mens and womens teams from Mexico, Ecuador, Canada and Australia.

While the races grind through a grueling five days of competition climbing steep passes and zooming down frightening declines, the best day for viewing is Saturday, April 22, as all the riders  pros and amateurs  pedal furiously through Silver City streets in a criterium, which involves several laps through a closed course. It lasts from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For those who like the idea of a ride in the country, the event even includes a citizens race on April 23, a comparatively leisurely 32-mile ride from the upper Mimbres Valley to Pinos Altos, which will be the finish for all of the days rides.

Its not an Olympic year, and a lot of the bigger names have retired, Brennan said. But well have high-quality racing for men and women.

If something a touch more sedate is on tap, the 22nd annual Silver City Blues Festival (www.facebook.com/SilverCityBluesFestival) is ready to salve all the cares in the world May 26-28.

Its a community celebration of the arts, said Elizabeth Rydeski, event marketing coordinator. Blues music as well as showcasing some of our local artists and what it is they do. Theyll be doing some demonstrations, interactive material and attraction for kids and families so people can do more than just sit on the grass and listen to music.

The festivities start May 26 with the Memphis, Tenn.-based the Ghost Town Blues Band, which features horns, guitars, Allman Brothers-style jams and a hip-hop trombone player, she said.

The blues festival is coupled with the inaugural Gila Glass Classic, which will be a glass, torch-working competition, Rydeski said.

Its a glass-blowing showdown where different glass-blowing artists come and compete and people will come and watch to see what it is the artists do, she said. The pieces will be auctioned off on (May 27). Were definitely excited about it. We really want people to come on Friday.

In addition to the nonstop music throughout the weekend from local and national bands, Denvers Knomad Colab will create a light installation in the park.

Were not sure what were going to have them light up, Rydeski said. They came down last year, and we have a bridge that they lit up at night. We will pick a place for them to do a light installation. Its art.

If its prehistoric art that is a lure, the Western New Mexico University museum (wnmumuseum.org), for instance, houses one of the finest collections of Mimbres pottery, as well as the recently acquired private NAN Ranch collection, which in itself is a comprehensive collection of Mimbres art, said Phillip Cave, assistant director.

People really love the designs, the motifs, the geometric shapes and animals, he said.

The Silver City Museum (silvercitymuseum.org/index.html ) offers a look at the areas rich mining history and houses a voluminous photo archive, with more than 20,000 photos from the 1870s to the 1970s.
An important part of radios past has been moved from Rio Rancho to Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Its the extensive collection of radio transcriptions that once belonged to Richard Dick Defore, an audiophile who wanted his beloved lifelong collection to go to a worthy place.

These transcriptions were about the same size as what we term albums and, like records, were played on turntables. But these were not available to John Q. Public.

Defore began his rare-hobby collection in the 1930s, when he was a seventh-grader growing up in Wisconsin, and loved listening to music, which he still does. The small office in his home contains a slice of life in American recordings: In addition to the transcriptions, he has reels of music, cassettes  no 8-track carts, though  and even CDs.

Ive got it all, he said.

Now 83 and a resident of Rio Rancho for two decades, Defore said, My specialization involves collecting radio music library recordings stations utilized as early as the 1930s, ending in the early 1950s. They represent a specialized collection of discs not available for home use because they were pressed on 16-inch transcriptions, revolving at 331/3 rpm. (A search on eBay reveals such relics listed in the neighborhood of $10-$50 each.)

Transcribed music was the basic source stations used for their recorded music programs, especially in the 1930s when 78 rpm commercial discs were not licensed for radio broadcast, he explained.

He grew up listening to the radio. Music has always been part of the radio picture, he said. Defore worked as a DJ on Saturdays in Pueblo, Colo., and as the editor of his high school newspaper, when he was also doing a local newscast on a small-town radio station.

It was my first radio job, he recalled. I was a stringer in Duluth, Minn.

He is a learned guy, to be sure, who says, I like jazz; smooth jazz. Dizzy Gillespie is among his favorite artists; yes, some Gillespie goodies are on the transcription discs, of course.

Seven decades ago, known artists were under contract to record selections by the 10 or so production companies engaged in leasing their services to stations. A wide range of musical interests was covered, including popular music of the period, concerts, show tunes, country/western, and even specialized areas such as light jazz, folk, PSAs, war bond pleas, Red Cross information, military marches and Hawaiian music. Four to five selections were cut on each side, utilizing the standard recording groove width employed by the 78 records.

Defore wanted to be assured his priceless collection was going to a good home.

He did his homework: I recently sought out possible archival sites interested in acquiring my collection. Thanks to leads provided by the Society for American Music in Pittsburgh, I was put in contact with Dr. Gregory Reish, director of the Center for Popular Music at Middle Tennessee State University.

Reish met all the criteria Defore had listed and was willing to transport the collection. In the interim, Defore had time to transcribe his favorites from the transcription library to CD.

People say Im tenacious, he joked.

I was still working at 10:15 last night, he added, as Reish began assembling the prized 1,900-item collection.

Back in Murfreesboro  just a short drive from Nashville, aka Music City  the Defore items will join, according to its website, approximately 237,000 commercial sound recordings, in formats from early cylinders to compact discs and MP3 files, as well as about 450 hours of archival recordings at the center, where, the commercial collection of 78s, 45s, vinyl LPs, cassette tapes, compact discs and digital files has been assembled to represent the full breadth of Americas popular music recording history.

In addition to playing guitar in a band and running the center, Reish is also a professor Middle Tennessee State there and works for a radio station. During the early March spring break, he flew to Albuquerque, leased an SUV, headed to Rio Rancho, loaded the collection and headed east.

Its quite significant  a sizeable collection, for one  certainly not the biggest, but its still a hefty amount of material, Reish said, anticipating a summer junket to Billings, Mont., to acquire a collection of 19,000 45-rpm records.

Defore gave up his collection, but he wont give up his love for music of a past generation. He founded the Nostalgia Music, TV & Movies Club at Meadowlark Senior Center, which meets the second and fourth Tuesdays each month.

They ate it up, he said. I still attend. We just sit and listen to music and watch videos.

Its been very fulfilling.
Before the Internet, Meetup groups, texting and social media became de rigueur forms of communicating, there was word of mouth.

The concept seems oddly quaint now when the soft clicking of thumbs on a miniature screen keyboard has replaced conversation in so many settings, but that informal publicity technique has helped keep a local French conversation group going for nearly 30 years.

Le Groupe Francais held its first get together in March 1988 with just eight people sitting on the floor of an Albuquerque apartment.

We werent sure it would survive, said group co-founder David Wilson.

Wilson and fellow founder Rene Lopez had participated in a Spanish conversation group where they met many people who also spoke French. At the time, Wilson said, there werent opportunities for people to get together to speak that language. They modeled their group on what had been working for the Spanish group.

We wanted to make it informal. Theres no board, no dues. You just show up with a bottle of wine and a snack, Wilson said. One of the beautiful things is that we meet at a different persons house each time. People really like that.

In the early days, Wilson and Lopez printed out copies of the meeting schedule, hand-wrote addresses and mailed them to members. The advent of email meant Wilson could automate this time-consuming and costly method of communication. The group has also created a Facebook page, facebook.com/LeGroupeFrancais-Albuquerque, where activities are posted and people can leave messages.

But mostly Le Groupe has relied on word of mouth, or de bouche a oreille (from mouth to ear), as they would say in French.

The group still follows the original format with meetings every other Wednesday evening. About three times a year, they hold a potluck meal and on the Wednesday during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta the group invites balloon pilots and chase crews from French-speaking countries such as France, Belgium, Switzerland and Quebec, Canada.

Over the years, theyve had people show up from a host of other Francophone countries like Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo and the islands of Madagascar and Mauritius off the African coast.

Le Groupe gives people a point of contact where they have a chance to speak their language, Wilson said.

Wilson took French in high school in Columbus, Miss., continued in college and eventually spent a year as a translator/interpreter for a non-governmental organization in Cote dIvoire (Ivory Coast) in West Africa.

Many of those who regularly attend Le Groupe meetings are international couples. Dave Coulie met his French wife, Marie Claire, when he was stationed at a U.S. Air Force base in France in the early 1960s. Gary Millers wife Christiane is from Alsace, France. They met when she came to visit friends in the United States. Letty Buchholz is from Mauritius; she met her American husband when she was an exchange student in Spain and he was serving at a U.S. base outside Madrid.

Some are Americans who just love French.

I am passionate about French. I love the culture, the food, the people, said Thelma Bowles, who grew up in Santa Fe, studied French, lived in France and taught the language for many years.

Others are native speakers like Odile and Jean-Marie de la Beaujardiere, French scientists who came to work in the United States in the 1960s.

Le Groupe Francais is not the only foreign language group in Albuquerque. The Spanish conversation group on which it was modeled still thrives.

There are many new Meetup language groups. Among the long-term groups is the Albuquerque Italian Language and Culture Group, which was started in the early 1990s. The group meets twice monthly at Scalo Northern Italian Grill in Nob Hill and posts information on its Facebook page. The group also organizes the annual Italian Film & Culture Festival in Albuquerque.

The groups offer a good opportunity to practice the language without spending the money to travel, said Rav Nicholson, a member of several language groups, who speaks French, Spanish, Italian, German and a little Swedish.
As a physician in Curry County, I often see the need for rural patients to seek care in nearby Texas. In some cases, care that is available less than an hour away in Texas could mean the difference between life and death.

There is only one hospital with a Level I trauma center that can provide comprehensive service  University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. New Mexico has no Level II trauma centers to collaborate with UNMH. When patients in rural parts of New Mexico receive emergency treatment and have been stabilized, they have two choices: A 3-hour drive to Albuquerque, or about half that to two Level I trauma centers in Texas.

Thats why I applaud the New Mexico Supreme Courts recent decision that recognizes that cross-border medical services in Texas are essential to New Mexico residents. This is the outcome of the courts ruling that Texas physicians serving New Mexico patients in Texas will be able to serve their patients under the protections of law in the state in which they are practicing.

Without this ruling, the ability of Texas providers to treat New Mexico patients would have been shaken. Texas physicians treating New Mexico patients would have been exposed to unlimited liability. This would have endangered access to health care, especially for the most vulnerable patients  those whose physicians already face low reimbursement rates and are without the ability to pass on or absorb additional costs.

Physicians outside of New Mexico can now rest assured they are protected by liability protections in states where they are licensed. Physicians in New Mexico can now confidently refer their patients to their colleagues in Texas, ensuring access to much-needed specialty care for their patients, which is very limited in rural New Mexico. And New Mexico patients know they will not be turned away by physicians unable to afford to treat them due to increased costs.

A coalition of national, state and local medical societies, including the American Medical Association, the New Mexico Medical Society and the Texas Medical Association, submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in support of maintaining access to cross-border health care. The Texas Alliance for Patient Access, the University of Texas System, and medical malpractice insurers including The Doctors Company and Texas Medical Liability Trust also worked to overturn the decision.

As chairman of The Doctors Companys New Mexico Physician Advisory Board, I applaud all of these efforts to ensure the scales of justice were balanced in favor of the practice of good medicine.

As a physician, I believe the Supreme Court struck a fair balance between access to care for all New Mexicans and the rights of patients to pursue legal remedies when they allege injury. Its a win-win for patients and physicians alike.

Dr. Haynes, previously a surgeon, currently has a general medical practice in Clovis.
Last Saturday, one of the most productive and bipartisan legislative sessions in memory concluded with the passage of a balanced budget supported by a reasonable revenue package. As your volunteer citizen legislators returned home, they  and I imagine you  were surprised and perplexed by statements from our governor. Instead of committing to the work of reviewing and acting on the budget, the governor has threatened a series of rash vetoes of the budget and revenue bills; has irresponsibly announced a possible shutdown of state government; and has belittled the hard work of your legislators.

New Mexicans from every walk of life came together before the legislative session to send us one clear and unequivocal message: The era of balancing the budget through cuts alone is over. New Mexicans know that more budget cuts would have meant larger class sizes, less access to health care  especially behavioral health care  and devastating reductions to the economic development initiatives that offer hope for future economic growth.

The people of our great state asked us to pass a budget that achieved balance by closing ineffective tax loopholes, making our tax system more fair, and modifying antiquated tax rates paid by large industries and out-of-state corporations. In response, we did exactly what the people wanted. We leveled the playing field for local businesses, blocked a corporate tax cut, rejected a personal income tax increase on the middle class and the poor, and offered a new revenue stream to fix our crumbling roads.

Despite bipartisan votes in the House and Senate to pass parts of this package, the governor has responded with an irresponsible hiring freeze, threats to close state parks and museums, and a refusal to even consider this legislation that is still on its way to her desk.

The budget that passed with bipartisan support works only with increased revenue for the state. The budget safeguards the top priorities of hardworking New Mexicans, including health care and economic development, and reverses the education cuts of the past by increasing our investment in our kids and schools by $65 million.

There are a number of other bills that will benefit New Mexico families on the governors desk that she should consider signing, and the most critical is an increase to the minimum wage.

The Houses minimum wage bill raises the states minimum wage to $9.25 per hour, a sensible increase over the current minimum wage of $7.50 an hour. This legislation would put an extra $3,000 a year into the pockets of many New Mexicans who work full time earning minimum wage.

Beyond the minimum wage increase, bipartisan efforts brought New Mexicans other significant results. The 2017 session also ended with the passage of historic legislation to create an ethics commission. Key campaign finance reform measures that would require more transparency for money in politics await the governors consideration. Also addressed were the first steps to increasing access to broadband, a critical issue for ensuring New Mexicos place in our 21st century economy. Finally, the Legislature came together to push key reforms and funding of New Mexicos economic development programs to help make these programs more accessible and competitive.

After 60 days of extraordinarily hard work and deliberation, your citizen legislators have answered the call of New Mexicos families  a budget that protects education and health care balanced with a fair revenue package, measures to ensure that hard work receives fair pay, initiatives to help New Mexico compete in a 21st century economy, and a push for more ethics and transparency in government. The governor has all the tools she needs to move our state forward and avoid fiscal brinkmanship.

Its time our governor took the baton handed to her by your Legislature and got our state moving again with these responsible and sensible bills before her.
As we close the book on the 2017 legislative session, Republicans have a lot to be proud of. Despite being in the minority in both chambers, Republican legislators led on many of the major issues facing our state in the Legislature this year.

Gov. (Susana) Martinez will soon be forced to call a special session on the budget, something she warned legislators would happen if the majority didnt pass a sensible, balanced budget. Had the Democrats lived up to their campaign promises to remove gridlock in Santa Fe and deliver results for New Mexico, this session would not be necessary.

Instead of working with Gov. Martinez to craft a responsible budget, Democrats focused on campaign donor paybacks, protest bills against President Trump, and time-wasting memorials like designating an official state cheeseburger and holiday song. While Democrats sponsored memorials that hurt our extractive industries and took money away from our schools, Republican legislators successfully defended the Local Economic Development Act, a crucial economic development program that has a proven record of bringing jobs to New Mexico, from Democratic budget cuts. Republicans passed legislation ensuring our courts remained fully funded, and protected students from union-backed Democratic efforts to ban charter schools. Sen. Gay Kernan, R-Hobbs, passed several important education reforms, helping keep at-risk kids on track and easing the transfer of college credits. Time after time, Democrats dodged serious reforms in favor of advancing legislation designed to curry favor with special interest groups and big donors.

With the misplaced priorities of the Democratic majority, Republicans were left to pick up the pieces and lead from the minority. When tasked with balancing our budget, Democrats prioritized tax increases they knew would be vetoed. Rep. Jason Harper, R-Rio Rancho, however, put together a comprehensive tax reform bill that received widespread acclaim. Democrats ran out the clock on his legislation, but they would be smart to revisit his proposal when the special session begins. The reforms laid out in his bill are long overdue and would serve taxpayers well.

Republicans recognized that New Mexico has more important problems than the lack of an official state holiday song or state dance. They sponsored public safety legislation to help law enforcements fight against crime, protect our families, and decrease the number of DWIs. Despite being good for New Mexico, nearly all those initiatives were casualties of the Democratic majority, many of them left untouched after reaching the Senate floor. While Democrats puzzled over cheeseburgers, Reps. Sarah Maestas Barnes, R-Albuquerque, and Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences, passed HB 370, which will help local communities fight the scourge of opioid addiction ravaging our state, as well as help save the lives of those who overdose on these drugs. We have been in dire need of leadership on this front for far too long, and HB 370 will have a huge positive impact on our state.

One of the most noteworthy Republican victories this year was the successful passage of a state ethics commission, long championed by good government advocate Rep. Jim Dines, R-Albuquerque. Dines worked hard to complete his yearslong push to establish a state ethics commission while Democrats were busy trying to sneak through a series of anti-transparency bills. His perseverance and commitment to this issue is commendable and has finally paid off for our state.

During the coming special session, Democrats must get serious about the issues our state faces and work with the Republicans proposing innovative solutions to those problems. Harpers tax reform package deserves careful consideration, as does a proposal by Rep. Kelly Fajardo, R-Belen, for capital outlay reform. New Mexicans deserve no less, but Democrats have not yet lived up to the responsibility the voters trusted them with last November. It is imperative during the special session that Democratic leadership in both the House and Senate put politics aside and do what is right for the state by passing a balanced budget that places New Mexicans first and doesnt further burden taxpayers.
A sure thing may not be a slam dunk after all, as Albuquerque city leaders are finding out.

The city had reasonable assurances that it would receive $69 million in federal funds for the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project. The first portion of funding for ART is included in the 2017 federal budget as part of the Federal Transit Administrations New Starts grant program. That budget has yet to be passed by Congress, but city officials have said money designated under the FTAs Capital Investment New Starts program  like the ART funding  has always come through.

The project, which will turn Albuquerques Central Avenue into a transit corridor with nine miles of bus-only lanes and bus stations, is scheduled to be finished by the end of this year, roughly coinciding with the end of the Mayor Richard Berry administration.

Berry is the leading force behind the project, pointing to its potential for increased economic development, a true mass transit corridor through the heart of the city and a new fresh look to attract businesses and young people who want to live near where they work and play. Opponents, however, fear it will choke traffic along the corridor, deter customers from patronizing local businesses and harm the character of what was once Route 66.

Work on the project got started in the fall, with the blessing of the FTA.

But the funding designation occurred in a different world in a different time. President Donald Trumps budget blueprint for Fiscal Year 2018 doesnt include money earmarked by the Obama administration for the $119 million project. In fact it does away with New Starts grants. It will, however, fund projects already approved. So as long as Congress approves the 2017 budget with ART in it, it appears continued funding is safe.

But given some uncertainty, some ART opponents, notably business owners and nearby residents, are taking a told you so attitude and wondering if they were sold a bill of expensive goods, and whether local taxpayers will be left with the bill if the feds, via Congress, dont come through.

The questions over funding are only adding fuel to opposition of the project, which the Journal has supported.

And it doesnt help the citys credibility that it has yet to roll out a loan and grant program promised to assist businesses along the Central Avenue corridor. The city has yet to even release the programs details, which Economic Development Director Gary Oppedahl had said would be revealed by the last week of February and the money would be available March 1.

Last July, the city said it would raise $2 million for the loans; that goal has been reduced and so far it has raised something shy of $500,000.

Everyone knew construction would cause problems for businesses along Central due to traffic delays  but in some cases, reality has proven even worse than anticipated. Longtime shops and restaurants say business is down significantly, and some retailers have closed their doors.

The city insists kickoff of the loan program is imminent. Lets hope so  it appears its already too late for some. And the longer the delay, the greater the perception that the city isnt keeping its promises.

As for the federal funding, Berry seems confident. Theres no indication at this point that wed be the first city in history not to get funding after getting to this point, he said.

In July, City Attorney Jessica Hernandez said the city received a Letter of No Prejudice from the federal government. That allowed the city to immediately spend up to $59 million that is eligible for FTA reimbursement.

In November, the citys chief operating officer, Michael Riordan, told city councilors its standard practice for cities to begin construction once a project wins a federal recommendation, an environmental clearance and approval to start work. And a consultant whos worked on Small Starts and similar projects for years agreed, telling the Journal that any concerns otherwise are completely unfounded.

Regardless of whether you agree with ART, the decision to build it was made more than a year ago in a bipartisan vote of the City Council. And in the arcane workings of the federal government, there was no reason for the city to think the federal funding would not be forthcoming.

Now, its up to Congress  and New Mexicos congressional delegation  to make sure that happens.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

The state Supreme Court is forming a commission to look into issues surrounding New Mexicos system of court-appointed guardians and conservators for incapacitated people.

Chief Justice Charles Daniels told the Journal on Friday that he and the other four justices want the commission to do a comprehensive study of the issue and inform the court of its findings after holding public proceedings.

Were in the early stages of creating a mechanism or a board or commission to look into the issues that have been a matter of public attention and try to do an objective study of the current practices and current laws to determine whether theres a need for improvement.

The court announcement comes after the Journal published a series of articles highlighting the problems faced by families and loved ones when elders have been determined to be incapacitated by a state district judge and placed under a guardianship, conservatorship or both. The Journal investigation also found that New Mexico lags behind other states that have instituted reforms to improve transparency in the mostly confidential system, and make guardians and conservators more accountable to the courts, including requiring certification or licensing of guardians and conservators.

The Journal, KANW-FM and the Albuquerque Department of Senior Affairs also sponsored a town hall forum last week at the Albuquerque Journal auditorium. The two-hour session, broadcast on KANW and featuring a panel of lawmakers, judges, family members and industry professionals, attracted a standing-room only audience of about 90 people.

Daniels himself was in the audience.

At this point were going into this with open minds, Daniels said Friday. Theres enough that has been aired recently for us to realize this is something we ought to look into without prejudging whos right and whos wrong.

He said that if improvements are warranted, the court could seek legislation, if that is required; recommend executive agencies enact greater safeguards; or change court rules.

Daniels said the court in the coming weeks will decide the composition of the commission, which he said will have balanced representation  from all kinds of diverse interests, including people representing the concerns of families who have been critical of the system.

Forum comments

During last weeks forum, Susan Bennett, who co-founded the New Mexico Guardianship Association, took issue with what she said was a portrayal in the recent Journal series of guardians as bad people. She said many guardians are good and tireless people who do the very challenging daily work of protecting our elders.

For instance, she said, she had spent up to 12 hours in an emergency room with a ward.

Bennett said that often, nonfamily guardians are appointed because of how toxic some family members can be to their parents.

Bennett did acknowledge, We do need a broader system to train, certify and oversee guardians and conservators.

Investigative journalist Diane Dimond, an Albuquerque native who reported and wrote much of the Journal series Who Guards the Guardians, was also one of the forum panelists and summarized her findings. Among them: Industry insiders wield undue clout in the system. She said family members complained that for-profit guardians and conservators in some cases ignored the wishes of the incapacitated person and of family members, and in some cases wasted the assets of the estate.

Panelist Jorja Armijo Brasher, director of Albuquerques Department of Senior Affairs, said that based on her involvement with seniors and other information she has gathered, she believes there are a number of problems with the current system.

For instance, she said, judges typically give unwarranted deference to the lawyer who files the petition seeking to place an allegedly incapacitated person under a guardianship or conservatorship. She said family members should have a voice in the court appointment of the attorney for the alleged incapacitated person, and other advisers.

She also said it appears there is an insufficient process of managing the costs of court-appointed advisers who handle the finances of the estate and make life decisions for the person under a guardianship.

Service providers arent incentivized to minimize costs to the estate of the incapacitated person, she added.

Corrales resident Emily Darnell Nunez gave a family members perspective. She told the forum that although she was a professional with access to resources, she felt intimidated by the process. She echoed concerns of other family members interviewed by the Journal and said she kept her head down and her mouth shut for fear that if she said much in protest she would be barred from seeing her mother at all.

Secrecy

District Judge Alan Malott of Albuquerque told forum attendees that state law mandates guardianship cases be sequestered, or kept from the public eye, for the most part.

But he added, I happen to personally agree that the only things that should be sequestered (from the public) is medical and financial information. Family members should get everything.

He said the current degree of confidentiality could conceivably cover up misconduct by the parties.

Bennett countered that incapacitated people under guardianships deserve privacy.

A lot of these cases are very messy and nasty, and the family dirty laundry will be public and it can be very hard on everyone, she said.

Malott acknowledged that the 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque had been mistakenly withholding docket sheet information on such cases but is now making changes to provide public access required by law.

Malott said family members who are critical of actions taken by typically for-profit guardian agencies can always write his court a letter, and he will set a hearing to look into the concerns. But he said he doesnt speak for all judges.

People have to speak up; people cant be afraid, he added.

Outreach number

Mayor Richard Berry said he was concerned about the issues that had been raised and wanted to help connect people to resources that could help them. He gave a phone number for the Office of Senior Affairs: 764-6400.

Let us be your eyes and ears, he added.

Former state Rep. Conrad James, R-Albuquerque, who tried in 2016 to pass a bill to permit visitation by family members of a loved one under guardianship, told the audience that isolation is the first step in the abuse process and that incremental changes in the law can help.

I dont think we can wait until theres a perfect solution for this problem. We have to take baby steps, if necessary.

Online

A podcast of last weeks Town Hall on Guardianship sponsored by the Journal, KANW-FM and the citys Department of Senior Affairs can be found on kanw.com.
When the Entranosa Water Cooperative decided to buy its own wells and water rights, the small East Mountain system sought U.S. Department of Agriculture loans to make the purchase.

The cooperative obtained USDA loans totalling $6 million from 2003 to 2010 to buy about 1,600 acre-feet, giving it control of the wells it needs to serve clients and plan for growth, said John Jones, the systems manager.

The purchase allows Entranosa to control our own destiny, said Jones, who oversees a system that provides drinking water for about 8,500 people across 280 square miles of Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties.

But a proposed cut in President Donald Trumps 2018 budget plan squarely takes aim at the USDA water and wastewater loan and grant program.

Since 2012, the USDA has provided about $81 million in grants and loans for dozens of projects at small water and wastewater systems in 17 New Mexico counties.

The proposed cut would save $498 million in the federal budget, the plan estimates.

An advocate for rural water systems in New Mexico said Trumps proposal would cut off a vital source of financing for small water and wastewater systems.

In New Mexico, something like 85 percent of our water systems serve a population of 500 or less, said Bill Conner, executive director of the New Mexico Rural Water Association, which represents about 480 largely small water systems.

I believe that it would be very hard for some of our small water systems to operate  to get funding to replace infrastructure if Congress enacts the proposed cut, Conner said.

Trumps budget plan proposes that rural communities instead obtain private-sector financing or seek funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which itself faces a 31 percent funding cut under Trumps proposed budget.

Rural communities can be served by private sector financing or other federal investments in rural water infrastructure, such as the Environmental Protection Agencys State Revolving Funds, the plan said.

Trumps budget proposes $2.3 billion funding in state revolving funds nationally in 2018, a $4 million increase from 2017.

Conner said most of New Mexicos tiny water systems dont have access to private funding or state-managed EPA funding.

To a large extent, the small systems could not go out and get financing from banks or commercial companies, Conner said. There are many, many systems in New Mexico that receive their funding through USDA.

Dozens of projects funded

From 2012 to 2016, U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development obligated a total of $81.6 million in grants and loans for New Mexico water and wastewater projects, according to USDA data. That figure included $63.5 million in grants and $18 million in loans.

In 2016 alone, USDA provided $6.6 million in grants and loans for New Mexico water projects.

USDA financed projects that range from an $11.3 million water system improvement in Jal to dozens of smaller projects in 17 counties, according to a list provided by USDA.

They include projects on tribal lands and in colonias  unregulated settlements typically found near the Mexican border.

Jones said USDA loans were the best option available to Entranosa for purchasing wells and water rights to serve its 3,280 metered connections.

The chief alternative to USDA loans is the EPA state revolving fund, managed by the New Mexico Environment Department, which typically funds projects for larger water systems, he said.

Some of the larger counties with water systems typically have better access to that money, Jones said. USDA (funding) is dedicated to the small systems.

Small systems seeking EPA state revolving fund loans must compete with large water systems and privately owned utilities, which have a competitive advantage over small systems, he said.

Another key advantage of USDA loans is their 40-year payback period, Jones said. EPA state revolving fund loans must be paid back in 20 years, making monthly payments higher and more onerous for small systems, he said.

A New Mexico report on the state revolving fund submitted to the EPA in June estimated that the fund would have about $14.8 million available to lend for New Mexico water projects this year. That total include a federal contribution of $8.3 million and state matching funds of about $1.7 million.

EPA rules require states to provide at least 15 percent of loans to small systems, defined as those serving 10,000 people or fewer, the report said.

The National Rural Water Association estimates that 75 percent of EPA state revolving fund loans nationwide are made to systems that serve a population of 10,000 or greater. Of the 52,000 community water supplies in the U.S., 92 percent serve a population of 10,000 or less, the association said.
New Mexico might be removed from a worst of list when it comes to consumer safety, thanks to a bill passed unanimously by the House and Senate.

If the governor signs it, the Data Breach Notification Act will require companies to tell customers when the customers identity has been stolen. New Mexico, Alabama and South Dakota are the only states that dont have a notification law, said Paul Stull, president and CEO of the Credit Union Association of New Mexico.

This is the very first time that New Mexico is giving consumers a tool to protect themselves, he said. This is a crime thats insidious.

Once people know their identity is stolen, they can take steps to prevent financial damage by notifying their credit card companies and placing alerts on their accounts or canceling their credit cards.



Parents and grandparents, be aware of this very scary ploy aimed at playing on your worst fears: the virtual child kidnapping scam.

It involves a call from someone claiming to have kidnapped a child in your family. Worst part: you may even hear sounds of a child in distress in the background, according to the Federal Trade Commission, which says this scam has resurfaced recently.

The bad guys will demand immediate payment and often will want you to send it by wire transfer or prepaid credit. The idea is to prompt you to act quickly without thinking or trying to confirm their information. And they know those payment methods make it difficult to trace or recover money sent that way.

Also, they might insist you keep the situation secret and not alert police.

This is yet another family emergency scam, and it sometimes works because scammers can make it sound legitimate. They can easily pick up details about you, thanks to the internet and social media sites, so that what they say has a ring of truth.

If you get a call like this, resist the urge to send money immediately, no matter how dramatic the story, the FTC says. Even if it feels really real, never wire money or pay by prepaid card to anyone who asks you to.

Hang up on these calls. If you feel uncertain, get in touch with the childs school or relative to reassure yourself about their welfare.

Also, consider limiting access to social sites on which you post information about yourself. Obviously, never post your Social Security number or other private information.



New Mexicans reported 15,916 scams in 2016, a nearly 10 percent increase over the year before, according to the Federal Trade Commissions annual study.

Debt collection was by far the most-often reported fraud among the nearly 15,916 complaints filed in the state in 2016, at 29 percent. Coming in at No. 2 were imposter scams at 16 percent. Imposter scams include calls from fake IRS agents, law enforcement agents and others who pretend to be someone in authority to bilk you out of money.

Among the 2,016 complaints about identity theft, the most common was employment- or tax-related identity theft. In the first case, the scammer steals your Social Security number and uses it to get a job. In the second, someone is seeking to get a tax refund in your name.

Santa Fe continued to rank near the top of metro areas for per-capita fraud, coming in at No. 8 with 816 complaints.

Ellen Marks is assistant business editor at the Albuquerque Journal. Contact her at emarks@ abqjournal.com or 505-823-3842 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-844-255-9210.
By Shashank Shekhar, Ajay Kumar: Meat items are flying off the menu from a majority of eateries in Uttar Pradesh as a host of illegal abattoirs have been forced to shut shop under the Yogi Adityanath government.

The Muslim-dominated western parts, adjoining the national Capital, are among the worst affected, a reality check by MAIL TODAY found.

While the debilitated meat supply highlights the fact that erstwhile governments in UP had turned a blind eye to unlawful slaughterhouses, it also proves the incumbent government had no consolidated plan to avoid a crisis-like situation.

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"I have not seen such scarcity of raw meat in the last 35 years that we have been in business," said Mohamad Khalid, owner of Al-Nafis dhaba at Dasna on NH 24. "The last 10 days have been harrowing. This is worse than the demonetisation phase," said Khalid, the second generation owner of the popular dhaba serving highway frequenters.

RS 4,000 CRORE IN LOSSES

The accumulated losses in the last two months since the BJP manifesto promised closure of illegal slaughterhouses runs into Rs 4,000 crore, according to All India Meat and Livestock Exporters Association. Association members recently met Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow and requested him to intervene in protecting legal business and clear confusion.

Four mechanised plants, which slaughter and process buffalo meat, were shut last week by district administration across UP. Two of them were in Meerut and one each in Bijnor and Saharanpur.

The exporters' association said while the move by the government is against illegal slaughterhouses, an overzealous tribe of officers and vigilante groups have forced even legal traders to suspend operations. "Transporting meat is a risky task nowadays and only very few vehicle-owners are ready to stick their necks out," said a meat trader.

But numbers speak for themselves. "UP has only 41 slaughter houses, which are certified by the Union ministry. These units contribute to 60-70 per cent of the total export of buffalo meat, worth around Rs 320 billion. The fear of closure is among the owners' mind, who are now being troubled by several agencies," Fauzan Alavi, member secretary of the exporters' association told MAIL TODAY.

CERTIFICATION PROCESS A TEDIOUS PROCESS, SAYS SMALL SLAUGHTERHOUSES

Several small illegal slaughterhouses that the MAIL TODAY team spoke to were united in complaining that certification process for an abattoir is a tedious process, often requiring multiple clearances at the state and central level. "It is not feasible for a small operator to attain all the clearances," said one such owner, who downed shutters soon after Yogi's ascension as CM.

The closure of these slaughterhouses has a ripple effect on smaller units selling meat or cooked preparations. A number of small eateries and mobile food carts in Muzaffarnagar and Ghaziabad have been out of business.

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Chetan, a chicken shop owner at Murad Nagar in Ghaziabad, told MAIL TODAY that 20 members of his family are dependent on his shop, running for seven years. But now, uncertainty looms on them as he could be forced to look for other job. "Police warned me to shut the shop. I have put a curtain at the entry of my shop to keep business limited only to loyal customers. I will apply for a license at the tehsil office and if I do not get it, I would think of another business like selling vegetables," he said.

"Taking surprise decisions is the BJP's trademark," said owner of a food cart, Ishaan Qureshi, in Muzaffarnagar. "First it was note ban and now meat ban. We live in an area where economy depends on unorganised sectors. Now people are losing bread and jobs."

Meat shops and eateries in proximity with the national Capital still had an easy run as they shifted their supply route towards Delhi's Ghazipur meat mandi.

"Our hotel has a daily consumption of 30-35 kg of buffalo meat that was earlier available in slaughterhouses locally. Now, we are purchasing it from Ghazipur at Rs 170-180 per kg, which is Rs 30 higher than earlier," said Mohammad Akhlak, owner of Shahdan Muslim Dhaba on NH 24. "Ninety per cent of eateries have either suspended operation temporarily or raised prices."

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Akhlak said in the last one week police vigilance has been high and seizure of meat consignment always looms large during transportation. There is total fear in the mind of street vendors and roadside eateries about restarting their businesses, he added.

ALSO READ | Vegetarian days ahead for Yogi Adityanath's UP: Meat vendors plan state-wide indefinite strike from today

Only police, administration can act against illegal slaughterhouses, says UP DGP

Watch video here

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WASHINGTON  Ask most Americans if the U.S. war in Iraq was a bad idea and a majority would say yes  at least in retrospect, according to polls.

But during an upcoming lecture in Albuquerque, a New York University professor will explore the question of whether the formation of Iraq itself a century ago was a bad idea. Her short answer: No, but its complicated.

Sara Pursley, author and professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University, will discuss Iraqs complex history and uncertain future during a lecture at the UNM Continuing Education Auditorium in Albuquerque on Friday, March 31. The talk is part of the Albuquerque International Associations lecture series on foreign affairs.

Im interested in why so many people of such different political persuasions seem to agree that Iraqs problems can be explained by the countrys supposed artificiality,' Pursley told the

Journal in an email. The idea is that the map of Iraq was drawn arbitrarily by the British after World War I and that since these borders do not conform to ethnic and sectarian boundaries they were bound to fail. You find everyone from the Islamic State to the senior officials of the U.S. government saying this, and among American political commentators everyone from Noam Chomsky to Glenn Beck.

But Pursley, whose first book on the history of Iraq is under contract with Stanford University Press, said there are many problems with that version of history.

Iraqs borders were created like the borders of all countries have been created: through war, political conflict, and negotiation, she said. It was a long, drawn-out process, and it took decades. So why is this story so popular? Thats one question my talk will address. I think the topic matters because the story distracts attention from the actual causes of Iraqs problems, and thus from possible solutions.

In ancient times, the area now known as Iraq was called Mesopotamia  the land between the rivers. But in the early 1900s, the United Kingdom took control and renamed it the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932. In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created.

In 2003, the U.S. military invaded Iraq and deposed its iron-fisted dictator, Saddam Hussein. Today, the country is mired in sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shiites, and some say Iraqs sovereignty is threatened by the ISIS terrorist group, although ISIS influence appears to be waning.

Pursely declined to predict what the future holds for the war-torn country, but she did say Iraq is likely to stay intact.

My guess is that Iraq will continue to exist, even if some of its borders are modified, she said. In my view, the idea that Iraq is an artificial state is actually a very dangerous one. Following that idea to its logical conclusion leads to one place, and that place is not peace in the Middle East, but rather the violence of ethnic and sectarian cleansing.
Amazon has announced plans to start charging sales tax in the remaining four states that require it. In the early days of the company, the fact that online companies were not required to charge sales tax gave them a very significant advantage over those who owned physical stores in the states that required the tax. Initially this didnt prove to be a significant threat to traditional stores but, as online sales grew, the number of complaints regarding the advantage online stores presented increased. Now, as sales have increased, the number of physical locations Amazon required has also gone up, to the point where the company now charges sales tax in all but four states that require the tax. Starting April 1st, though, this will no longer be the case.

From next month onward, Amazon will charge sales tax in Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico and Maine, meaning the company will officially charge it in any states that require it. Initially, Amazon only started charging the tax wherever the law required it due to the expansion of its services via the creation of warehouses and data centers across the country. The latest additions, though, appear to simply be in order to enforce the policy nationwide, instead of gradually doing it as the company further expands, therefore avoiding any confusions. The additions now officially put the company on par with physical retailers, meaning the tax advantage no longer exists. Unfortunately for the latter, though, this is unlikely to stop Amazons expansion, with many customers no longer interested in the price advantage, instead the overall commodity is what attracts customers, especially with services such as Amazon Prime which guarantee two-day delivery.

With the new policy coming into effect next Saturday, itll remain to be seen what customers reactions will be, as well as reactions from competitors. Nonetheless, with the tax now enforced in all states where necessary, itll also remain to be seen how the company decides to further expand its operations over the course of the next year. Considering the tax is a nationwide policy now, its likely the company will start expanding its operations wherever it deems strategically beneficial without worrying about increasing prices.
"A senior Sena leader ordered me not to speak with media till Wednesday (March 29) and so I am not coming before the media," Gaikwad said today.

By Press Trust of India: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who allegedly assaulted a senior Air India official, today claimed that he was asked by a top party leader not to speak with the media over the issue.

Threatening legal action against the national carrier, the Parliamentarian said he has not gone into hiding and will be present in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

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"A senior Sena leader ordered me not to speak with media till Wednesday (March 29) and so I am not coming before the media. I will come to Omerga on Tuesday and celebrate Marathi new year Gudi Padwa with my family and Shiv Sainiks. I will then attend Lok Sabha session (in New Delhi) on Wednesday," Gaikwad told PTI over phone.

The 57-year-old MP, who represents Osmanabad, however did not disclose his present location.

"I am not hiding and will speak to all after Wednesday," he added.

WHAT HAPPENED

Gaikwad had on Thursday abused and assaulted a 60-year-old duty manager of the national carrier with slippers over not being able to fly business class despite having boarded an all-economy Pune-New Delhi flight.

Following the incident, he was barred from flying by major domestic airlines.

"A senior Sena leader did not call me to Matoshree (Thackeray residence in Mumbai) and hence I am not going there to meet senior party leaders," he added.

"Air India employees abused me. I will take legal action against Air India," Gaikwad said.

He demanded that an inquiry should be initiated into the video (about the incident), which has gone viral.

Meanwhile, local Sena workers today burnt an effigy of Air India employees at Turori village in Gaikwad's support.

Also read

Where is Ravindra Gaikwad? Shiv Sena MP who assaulted Air India staffer goes 'missing' from train

Ravindra Gaikwad row: Shiv Sena MP unlikely to be arrested any time soon. Here's why

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YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. The launch of activities of Investors club of Armenia non-public contractual investment fund was officially heralded on March 25 with the participation of the Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan and over 3 dozens of Diaspora Armenian businessmen from the Russian Federation. Note that back on January 25, 2017 numerous Armenian businessmen in Russia had issued a statement on their readiness to support the reform process in Armenia and to participate together with the Government of Armenia in the initiatives and business projects in Armenia.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Armenian Government, in his welcoming remarks the Prime Minister said, I personally know each participant of the club and I am in friendly relations with most of them. In reality this club will be groundbreaking for us not only for that healthy and long-term investments will be attracted to Armenia, but also will have a new corporal culture. I have repeated numerous times in meetings with our citizens that several countries which acquired new quality during the last 20-30 years faced no lesser problems than we face today. But their courage, ambitious projects, pragmatic and rational thinking, will, purposefulness and in some cases toughness have resulted in changing the country. Why cannot we have a good country? Why others can, but we cannot?

Karen Karapetyan stressed that each member of the Investors club of Armenia has created a business empire and by coming to Armenia they will change a lot. Karen Karapetyan thanked the members of the club, noting that their presence in Armenia will fill numerous gaps. He also stated that the club is not a charity club, but an aggressive business club.

The Investors club of Armenia is the first non-public contractual investment fund registered by the CB Armenia. The goal of the club is to foster the development of key spheres of the Armenian economy such as energy, including alternative, energy and tourism infrastructural, mining, ore processing, food and light industry by attracting domestic and external private resources.
Amid high-stakes postmortems that include conversations with President Trump about White House staffing and operations, aides are rewriting their plans for the next legislative fight  with a weakened President and Speaker, emboldened House hardliners, and a party at war with itself.

"It's like you're in a room with 2-year- olds, and one side complains about any attention you give the other," a White House official said.

Forget pie in the sky like tax reform or a massive infrastructure package. Now aides fear a government shutdown when the current continuing resolution runs out at the end of April.

"I'm worried about everything right now," said a senior Republican operative who's in the war.

The new White House sequence: Focus on the Supreme Court confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch between now and the Easter congressional break. After that, work urgently on funding the government, and begin the conversation about tax reform.

The bottom line: Trump advisers tell us they're pessimistic about figuring out how to get anything done  the "lessons learned" don't include even a theoretical path to victory.

A White House official: "We underestimated the vitriol in the Republican conference. The animosity between [the hardline House Freedom Caucus] and leadership is such that it's hard to see how the coalition comes together. Each time there was an accommodation, there was a new demand."
The West Bengal CID has arrested Khokon Saha, a 65-year-old man who is one of the "top three traders" involved in the smuggling of endangered species in the state.

By Baishali Adak: In a major crackdown on turtle poaching, the West Bengal CID has arrested Khokon Saha, a 65-year-old man who is one of the "top three traders" involved in the smuggling of endangered species in the state.

According to the police, the accused dealt with two species of turtles - Indian Flapshell and Softshell - both endangered and protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972. The two species are caught from the tributaries of Ganges - Ghagra, Gomti and Chambal - in Uttar Pradesh and then smuggled to over 1,000 km to the south of West Bengal.

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Here, the turtle meat is eaten as a delicacy by both Hindus and Muslims, mostly in the villages of Bongaon, Barasat, Chandpara, Gobordanga and Basirhat that fall along the Indo-Bangladesh border. It is consumed mostly by immigrants from Bangladesh, fisher folk and the poor, said the police.

"The rest, over 40 per cent, is sent to Bangladesh through the Petrapole-Benapole border checkpoint by train, as hand carry and head-loads. Here the soft flesh is consumed and dried shells are powdered for medicinal use. The smaller Indian Star Tortoise is routed to Hong Kong and Thailand to be sold as pets," said Dr. Shailendra Singh, Turtle Survival Alliance.

Police said that Saha was picked up from Chandpara, Police Station Gai Ghata of North 24 Parganas, where he was hiding at a relative's shanty. The elderly man, who police say has been in the trade for more than a decade, is suffering from very high blood sugar, rotten feet and gangrene.

As a result, he did not offer much resistance. He was produced in Kalyani Court, Nadia District, and has been sent to five days police custody.

KHOKON MONITORED BY POLICE SINCE LAST WINTER

A senior officer in the Special Operation Group, West Bengal CID, who did not wish to be named said, "We were keeping an eye on Khokon since winters last year. That's the time when turtles arrive at the beach to lay eggs, and the mothers are most vulnerable. We received a lot of inputs regarding hauls of thousands of turtles arriving at Khokon's behest."

The officer added, "He distributed them among retailers who would sell them in small markets." While near Chambal River in UP, a turtle would sell for `60-100 per kg, in Bengal the price could be as high as `400-500 per kg. In Bangladesh, these turtles fetch anywhere between `700 and 800 per kg.

A senior officer in the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, east region, said that with Khokon's arrest, almost the entire network of turtle receivers and sellers in Bengal has been killed. "After Khokon, two other prominent names are Tarok Ghosh and Bhola Ghosh. The former is absconding while the latter was caught 15 days ago."

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ALSO READ | Is illegal animal trafficking a threat to the nation?

Nagaur: Cattle fairs become hubs for illegal animal trafficking

ALSO WATCH | Illegal animal trafficking causing threat to national security

--- ENDS ---
A person attempted self-immolation outside Gorakshnath temple, where Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was staying during his visit to Gorakhpur. The man demanded waiver of a loan that he had taken for some treatment.

By India Today Web Desk: A person today attempted self-immolation outside the Gorakshnath temple in Gorakhpur. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is on a two-day visit to Gorakhpur, which is his parliamentary constituency.

The person, who sprayed petrol on his body as he attempt to immolate self, demanded waiver of loan which he took for his treatment. He was prevented from taking such an extreme step by the people present over there.

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Later, police detained the person and taken to nearby police station.

It is not clear as to whether UP CM Yogi Adityanath took note of the demand made by the person. But, his government has come under criticism for not missing the loan waiver scheme in the first cabinet meeting as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

THE OTHER LOAN WAIVER

PM Modi had said that the new UP government would take a decision in its first cabinet meeting on the loan waiver scheme for the farmers of Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP president Amit Shah too reiterated this ahead of formation of the government in the state.

But, no such move was made by the Yogi Adityanath government, which has taken measures to implement other poll promises like forming an anti-romeo squad and action against illegal slaughterhouses.

Addressing his supporters yesterday, Yogi Adityanath committed himself to fulfil all the promises made in the BJP manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

Adityanath defended setting up of anti-romeo squad saying it would ensure safety of women in Uttar Pradesh.

Yogi also said that only those slaughterhouses would be shut down which did not follow the guidelines of the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

YOGI IN GORAKHPUR

Yogi Adityanath has a busy schedule in Gorakhpur today - the second and last day of his visit to the city.

Adityanath will be attending a function on the occasion of the death anniversary of Yogiraaj Baba Gambhirnath. He is likely to address a gathering there.

Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place for Yogi Adityanath's visit. Security of the Gorakshnath temple has been beefed up with metal detectors placed at all the entry points into the temple. All the devotees thronging the temple are being thoroughly frisked before being allowed inside.

In the afternoon, Yogi Adityanath will be meeting the BJP workers at Bebiganj in Gorakhpur. He will also be meeting the district Police and civil administration officials at Taramandal in Gorakhpur.

WATCH | Yogi Adityanath's day 2 in Gorakhpur: Man attempts self-immolation outside Gorakhnath temple

--- ENDS ---

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After almost a year of looking at the challenges facing the voluntary sector, the House of Lords Select Committee on Charities published a wide-ranging report with 100 conclusions and recommendations.

The report, Stronger Charities for a Stronger Society, was published today (Sunday 26 March).

Some sector leaders thought there were a lot of positives in the report, and urged government to take it forward, but others were disappointed that it did not go further.

Key themes that emerged from the report were the accessibility of funding, improving governance, and reform of the regulatory environment.

NCVO: Charging for regulation must go hand in hand with governance reform

NCVO focused on the committee's 'grave concerns' about charging for regulation. It urged the Charity Commission to reflect on the message from the committee and revealed that it would shortly be setting out a range of criteria, against which any scheme for charging should be judged.

It also reiterated that the Commissions own governance should be reformed to ensure it is independent of government, and that in its view any changes to the regulators funding model should come with changes to its governance.

Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive, said: We know the Charity Commission is under financial pressure, and that it is in charities interests to have a well-funded regulator. But the Lords have been unambiguous in saying that they do not think the Charity Commission have properly considered their plans to levy fees on charities.

"The Commission must now consider the questions of principle that the committee have raised before it launches into consultation on the detail of a charging scheme.



We plan to set out a range of criteria by which a charging scheme should be judged. These will include seeking reassurances that fees from charities are not simply used to replace rather than supplement its existing funding, and that appropriate accountability measures will be put in place.



Given concerns over partisan appointments to the Charity Commission board, there is a clear case that any move to charging should go hand in hand with an overhaul of the Commissions governance to ensure it is properly independent of the government of the day. The committee are right to highlight the current absence of significant charity experience on the Commissions board, and I hope that this is addressed in future appointments.

NCVO is also pleased that the committee picked up its suggestion for statutory time off for trustees.

Etherington said: I am very pleased that the committee has backed this recommendation. We know that many small and medium-sized charities in particular struggle to recruit trustees.

Putting trusteeship on a footing with other public duties by ensuring employers had to make allowances for trustees, as they would for school governors or magistrates, would raise its profile and help broaden the range of people able to contribute by volunteering as a trustee.

In a blog on NCVO's website, Karl Wilding, director of public policy and volunteering, said his organisation would be collaborating more and would respond with an "action plan".

Acevo: The report offers real change

Acevo said it was committed to improving governance and leadership and working in partnership with others to do so.

Vicky Browning, chief executive, said: "This is a comprehensive and progressive report which addresses itself to many issues the charity and social enterprise sector has been raising for some time. It's particularly welcome that the committee doesn't just air the issues but also offers real change.

I'm naturally pleased to see the emphasis on the need for strong leadership and good governance, as well as recommendations around uptake of digital technology, better commissioning, stronger collaboration, a robust defence of the role of charities in campaigning and a call for better engagement between government and the charity sector."

Navca: Acid test is what difference this will make

Navca was broadly supportive of the report, but felt it could have gone further in some aspects.

Barney Mynott, head of public affairs at Navca, said: This weighty publication shows the select committee has done a thorough job. We are delighted to see support for grant funding, a re-commitment to not paying trustees, recognition that charity campaigning is a sign of a healthy democracy and the timely expression of concern about the Charity Commission introducing charging.



But maybe some of the commissioning recommendations lack ambition. Bidding consortia is not working for smaller charities and there are better alternatives, especially the Single Point of Contact model. We also would have liked a stronger endorsement of coproduction.



We notice the committee recognise how vital local infrastructure is and the many ways it can support charities but says very little about investing in these services. This is a mistake.



The acid test is what difference this will make. Rob Wilson and OCS have to take up the challenge of this report and turn these words into real support for charities.

CFG: We must not rush into charging

The Charity Finance Group is pleased that the committee has noted the concern around charging for regulation.

Andrew OBrien, head of policy and engagement, Charity Finance Group said: So far, we havent seen a case made for charging and our research has highlighted a number of concerns around the independence of the Commission. We are pleased that the committee has picked up these issues and is encouraging the Commission to make a better argument for why charging is necessary.



We must not rush into charging, as it could have significant consequences for the future of the sector and public confidence in charities. Short-term pressure on public finances, should not lead to changes that could have long-term damage.

He also urged government to address issues with commissioning and irrecoverable VAT, which were raised in the report.



The report has rightly highlighted the need for commissioners in the public sector to pay the full cost to charities for the services that they provide. Implementing full cost recovery, particularly for small charities, is essential for the sustainability of many charitable organisations. It is now up to government to act on this report and educate commissioners.



Irrecoverable VAT is a long running issue and with the Brexit vote, we now have a chance to finally reform the system. Polling by CFG and Institute of Fundraising has found considerable public support for this change, and politicians now need to step up and deliver.

Small Charities Coalition: This report must not sit on a shelf

The Small Charities Coalition said that it was important that government and others now take action.

Becca Bunce, policy and engagement manager, said: The wide scope of issues raised in this report demonstrates the range of competing issues facing small charities today. It also highlights the need to support these organisations so they are able to continue to provide for their beneficiaries.

It is important that this report does not just sit on a shelf, as whilst the issues are complex and many, there are clear calls to action. In particular, we must ensure that commissioning reform works for small charities. The Lords rightly note that currently the commissioning landscape is skewed against smaller charities.

The minister for civil society announced measures to begin to address this last year and it is essential that all stakeholders work together to ensure these are strong enough to bring the change that is needed.



Across all of the recommendations, we must continue to make space to hear and champion small charities voices. Despite being 97 per cent of the sector, they often still go unheard. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with organisations across the third sector and more widely, to ensure that small charities are at the table in decisions affecting their futures."

ACF: Government must consider evidence from funders

The Association of Charitable Foundations urged government to consider how to take the report's recommendations forward.

Carol Mack, chief executive said: We are particularly pleased that the evidence given by ACF on the vital work of foundations, the importance of grant-funding and the desirability of supportive, enabling relations between charities, the government and the regulator have been so extensively acknowledged.



It is also important that the voice of funders themselves were heard. We urge government to consider fully the quoted evidence given by ACF members, as funders and social investors, on issues such as core funding, the pressure on services, the significance of small and medium sized charities and the role of foundations in building leadership.



The committee has produced an extensive, consensus report, with specific recommendations for funders and infrastructure bodies. We must all now take time to consider the report in more detail, and ACF will be analysing and testing the findings with members. For now we are eager to see how the government ensures the policy implications of the findings are worked through into actions that will enhance the resilience of charities and maximise their ability to deliver impact in service of their beneficiaries.

NPC: The committee has failed to bite the bullet on paying trustees

Charity sector think tank, NPC, said the conclusions of the report were mixed.

Patrick Murray, head of policy and external affairs, said he was pleased that the committee recognised importance of charities understanding and demonstrating their impact, not least to ensure transparency and accountability to stakeholders including beneficiaries, and in particular recognition for efforts such as the Inspiring Impact programme.



He was also positive about the recommendations relating to commissioning and strengthening the Social Value Act.

But said there were some areas where the Select Committee could have done more.

We are disappointed to see the committee recommending against further reporting. As NPC has set out before ensuring boards report on impact will drive a different focus beyond organisational survival. There is no reason for this to be a burden on smaller charities as it can be done on a proportionate basis.



Similarly the committee has failed to appreciate that providing information to people setting up a charity about what other charities working on similar causes in their area exist, and how they are performing, can be done relatively easily through providing data the Charity Commission holds.

He added that the select committee has failed to bite the bullet on paying trustees.

The idea that paying expenses is enough to compensate people for time missed from work, or caring responsibilities for example is erroneous. It should be up to charities to decide themselves and be able make the case if they believe it will enable them to deliver greater impact.

DSC: Thrilled about the revitalisation of grants

The Directory of Social Change, which is involved in the Grants for Good campaign, said it was thrilled about the call for more grants.

Jay Kennedy, director of policy, said the report was a colossal amount of work and thanked the committee.

DSC is thrilled to see the Committee include sections and recommendations on a revitalised role for grants in commissioning and in supporting charities generally. Government needs to seriously consider all of these points and open a real dialogue with the sector about grants  at national and local levels.

He was pleased about the recommendations about the Charity Commission charging but said: Unfortunately they stopped short of recommending against the idea completely.

He also warned of the risk that the report is ignored and said: There is so much to consider and it will take time to digest. Weve seen many reports of this type over the years, and the risk is always that no matter how well-intentioned, their impact becomes dissipated.

For example, Lord Hodgsons sound report on revamping the Lobbying Act, which the government commissioned, has been gathering dust for a year with zero action. The committee rightly notes that his recommendations need to be taken up.

Power to Change: Voluntary groups should jump at the chance to share private sector expertise

Power to Change, grant funder for community businesses said the reported highlighted how some charities needed to adapt and form new partnerships.

It also said it will be publishing a new analysis of the Social Value Act this year.

Vidhya Alakeson, chief executive, said: The committee is absolutely right that government should encourage civil society to become more business-savvy. There is so much expertise in the private sector, and voluntary groups should jump at the chance to share in it.



We see great examples of community businesses who benefit from the advice and skills of local businesses. If large employers got help from government so that staff could do more with community groups, this would be very good news.



This is part of a bigger movement. Grants will always have an important role to play, as the report recognises, but the old-style public grants system has less and less capacity to deliver. Many groups, led by community businesses, are already focused more on their trading profits than applying for grants, precisely because this is what will guarantee their chance to do good long into the future.

ICSA: Regular skills audits are essential

ICSA: the Governance Institute endorsed the committees recommendation for regular skills audits.

Louise Thomson, head of policy (not for profit), said: Regular skills audits are essential as they are the primary way that charities can ensure that trustees have the necessary capabilities to undertake their vital governance role. With specific regard to the Committees suggestion of a template for inductions and free access for smaller charities, we have guidance on this which smaller charities are welcome to access.

She added: ICSA actively supports governance in the sector and welcomes opportunities to work with partners to further enhance understanding and the application of good governance in all sizes of charities.

Support for fundraising big opportunity that has been largely overlooked, says IoF

The Institute of Fundraising has said that the lack of support to help small charities fundraise represented a "big opportunity that has been largely overlooked" by the House of Lords report.

The IoF statement said: "There is a huge amount in this detailed report that we support and would like to see put into practice in the near future. In particular the opportunities presented from devolution processes and on improving grants and contracts are key points that should be progressed.

"There is a big opportunity that has been largely overlooked in the report - the potential presented by more and better support to help smaller charities to fundraise. The link between the public and the causes they support goes to the heart of the charity sector. On average, For every 1 invested in fundraising, roughly 4 is received for good causes. Much of the most innovative and cutting edge practice in the sector is led by charity fundraisers. And yet, some recent surveys show that fewer than one in four local charities and groups feel they have the skills needed to run a successful fundraising campaign.

So, in addition to the important measures in this report, we would like to see more from government, funding bodies and the charity sector itself to step up support for excellent fundraising to help smaller charities to flourish in the future."




copyright Parliament

In Brief













Peers have raised have warned that the commissioning landsape does not work for small charities and have recommended a number of improvements, including a move to more grant funding.

The House of Lords Select Committee on Charities was set up to study the sustainability of the charity sector. Its final report is published today (26 March).

In its report, Stronger Charities for a Stronger Society, the committee said that charity income from government contracts has increased substantially since 2003/04 from 5.8bn, to over 12bn in 2013/14.

However, the report said that that the commissioning landscape is skewed against smaller charities and recommended that practices be reformed to open up the space to smaller organsiations and to encourage genuine partnerships.

Peers recommend that contracting authorities embrace the recent changes to public procurement rules, which allow for smaller contracts as a way of potentially giving charities better access to funding opportunities.

It also recommended that the governments implementation group on commissioning practices "considers the risks of larger organisation exploiting smaller charities through the commissioning and subcontracting process".

The report said that future government guidance on commissioning should highlight these risks and encourage the design of contracts in a way which prevents such practice so far as possible.

Peers also called for the Social Value Act to be strengthened.

Return to grants

Public sector commissioners have moved away from grant funding in favour of contracts to deliver specific services, but the committee warned that grants played a vital role in supporting smaller charities.

Peers recommended that funders consider this when making future budget decisions.

The report said that grant funding has great potential in sustaining a healthy civil society and recommended that local authorities across the UK should bear this in mind in the course of their financial planning and maintain or revive grants wherever possible.

While acknowledging the increasing financial constraints that public sector bodies are under, we emphasise the important role that grant funding plays in ensuring the sustainability of charities, particularly with regard to innovation, said the report.

The report also highlights the role that grants play in enabling charities to test new ideas and innovate which can be of benefit in the long term.

As part of this, the report recommended that commissioning organisation refrain from setting overly-detailed requirements for the mechanism of service delivery when it came to offering grants and commissions.

The committee has also recommended that the government ought to considers the impact of Payment by Results contracts on charities and examines what support the sector needs to engage in service delivery in a sustainable manner.

Core costs should be included in contracts

The reports recommends that public sector commissioners show regard for charities core costs when they tender for services.

Witnesses in the House of Lords investigation said charities increasingly struggled to find money for staffing, project management, office costs, accountancy, and regulatory compliance, partly due to them being forced to remove such costs from their bids to be competitive.

We recommend that public sector commissioners should be expected to have regard for the sustainability of the organisations which they commission to deliver services, it says.

This should include an expectation that realistic and justifiable core costs are included in contracts.

Focus on Social Impact Bonds disproportionate

The report also criticised the governments focus on social impact bonds as disproportionate to their potential impact and effectively called on the government to refocus its efforts on more financially sustainable social investment products.

Social impact bonds are a specialised form of payment by results contract involving a deal between service delivery charities, social lenders, and a government commissioner. They require complex impact measures and are expensive to procure, but despite this the Office for Civil Society has promoted them heavily.

The expectations placed upon social impact bonds have yet to materialise and we believe the governments focus on them has been disproportionate to their potential impact," the report says.

While the government should redouble its efforts to make them work better, future public funding should be reoriented towards financial products with application to a wider range of charities and beneficiaries.

The report said that, while SIBs can be a useful tool for both charities and the public sector they are only relevant where they produce a saving that can be transferred to a private investor.

More flexibility for volunteering

The report calls on the Office for Civil Society to collaborate with other organisations to encourage greater flexibility for workers to take time off for charitable work.

Peers also urged funders to provide resources for volunteer managers and co-ordinators, which many charities that provided evidence said was needed.

It recommends government guidance on public sector grants and contracts is amended to reflect this and set a standard for other funders.

HMRC needs to have regard for charities

The report calls for OCS and HM Revenue & Customs to ensure that the needs of charities are high on the agenda in relation to future changes to VAT and the National Living Wage.

The report recommends OCS works with HMRC on potential changes to Gift Aid.

Some smaller charities do not currently claim Gift Aid due to its administrative burden and the report urges the two bodies to examine whether changes could be made to rectify this.

It is imperative for the charity sector that tax policies and processes are structured to ensure that charities are able to maximise their income and that bureaucracy is kept to a minimum, it says.

Peers also criticised government departments for not offering payroll giving to their staff, despite the government promoting it.

It urges all government departments to offering payroll giving to all their staff to set an example for other organisations.

We recommend that the OCS works to improve significantly the awareness and availability of payroll giving by companies, it says.

Reporting by Rob Preston and Hugh Radojev
In Brief















Trustee roles should remain voluntary, but more must be done to improve skills and diversity, a House of Lords report into the future of charity has said.

The House of Lords Select Committee on Charities was set up to study the sustainability of the charity sector. Its final report is published today (26 March).

In its report, Stronger Charities for a Stronger Society, the committee said the government should consult on statutory time off work to be a trustee, and said charities must ensure trustees receive expenses.

The committee said in its report that the voluntary principle of trusteeship is an important one and that trustees should not receive payment for undertaking the role.

Some pieces of evidence had suggested that making it easier to pay trustees would be one way to attract more people to the role.

The committee acknowledged that there might be highly exceptional circumstances, where people are otherwise unable to act as a trustee, it may be acceptable to consider some form of remuneration.

The report said that the explanation and justification for such arrangements must be set out in the charitys annual report. It continued that more broadly, trustees should be able to claim relevant expenses to ensure that financial considerations do not unduly deter people from taking up the role.

The committee included Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, who in 2012 published a review of the Charities Act: Trusted and Independent: Giving charity back to charities. The committee nonetheless disagreed with Lord Hodgson's report, which had said that charities should have more flexibility when it comes to ex gratia payments, and that it should be acceptable to pay trustees at larger charities.

The House of Lords also recommended that that the government takes fresh measures to get more senior business leaders directly involved with charities to foster those relationships and maximise their value.

Improve trustee diversity

The report said more can be done by government, the Charity Commission, infrastructure bodies and charities themselves to promote trusteeship and incentivise people to become trustees. it said there was much greater scope to enable disadvantaged people to become trustees and thus improve diversity.

It said the peers believe that trustee diversity is important, as boards with a range of skills, experiences, ages and backgrounds are likely to lead to better governance.

The report recommends that the Office for Civil Society works with other departments and business leaders to develop a new initiative to promote trusteeship to employees and employers and thereby encourage greater participation and diversity.

Time off work to be a trustee

The committee called on the government to hold a public consultation on introducing a statutory duty for larger employers to give staff "limited time off work to perform trustee roles".

This would give trusteeship the same status as being a magistrate or school governor and was suggested by NCVO during evidence. NCVO believe this would make it easier for small and medium sized charities to attract trustees with the right skills.

Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, said: "Putting trusteeship on a footing with other public duties by ensuring employers had to make allowances for trustees, as they would for school governors or magistrates, would raise its profile and help broaden the range of people able to contribute by volunteering as a trustee."

Access to training

The report also said that current trustee training is disproportionately London-based. It said that training and development are essential for charity trustees in order for the sector to work effectively.

The report recommended that the sectors infrastructure bodies review the training opportunities that exist, identify where there may be shortcomings in provision, particularly for small charities, and take action to address them.

It said that they could assist charities by publishing collated information about available training and providing a platform for users to rate the value of courses they have accessed.

Mergers not a sign of failure

The duplication of work by charities was raised as an issue, with some of those giving evidence to the committee saying mergers and collaborations should be considered more frequently. The Lords report said that mergers can often be considered a measure of success and maturity, and a reflection of a charity keeping a proper focus on its beneficiaries.

It said that staff, trustees and volunteers should reflect upon the possibilities for mergers, and consult with their beneficiaries where opportunities may exist. It stressed that mergers should not be seen as a sign of failure.

It continued to say that it would be easier to avoid overlapping work in the charity sector by discouraging charities with similar purposes from being established where existing charities in the same field are working well and delivering for their beneficiaries. However, the report said that the House of Lords would not want to discourage people from establishing new charities, which could be the effect of such a system.

It added that the Commission currently has neither the structure nor the financial capacity to carry out this work.

The report said it welcomed work done by the Law Commission on this to address some of the legal and technical barriers to charities looking to merge, and recommends that the government brings forward the Bill at the earliest opportunity.

It added that the Commission should consider what support and guidance it can offer to charities seeking to merge.

The report also recommend that the Charity Commission include options for time-limited structures in the model governing documents that they produce for charities, as such clauses would prompt new charities to consider their lifespan from their inception. It said that time-limited structures are a good option for ensuring that small charities such as memorial foundations are able to dissolve when they have delivered on their charitable objectives.

All charities should have a website

Peers said they heard a lot about the potential for digital technologies to improve charities accountability and transparency. It said that this is essential for charities to ensure they function properly, deliver for their beneficiaries and retain the trust of the public.

It said: In order to respond to the greater expectations upon them, charities need to operate with a presumption of openness.

One recommendation from the Lords was the need for a website or social media page. It said: We believe that it is important for all but the very smallest charities to have a simple website or public social media page to provide that transparency.

Not embracing technology a risk

Speaking on this subject, the report said that the capacity of the charity sector to embrace digital technology varies considerably, and while some are at the cutting edge of the use of technology, others risk organisational stagnation and decay by not embracing it successfully. It says that this is a risk to the charity sector.

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The report said that charities should actively consider including a digital trustee role on their boards, adding we note the potential benefits to board diversity that would be likely to result from adopting such an approach.

It recommended that infrastructure bodies share knowledge and best practice on innovation and digitisation across the sector and coordinate training opportunities, at minimal cost, for charities with limited digital experience. It said that the Big Lottery Fund could provide support to enable this.

The report said that the technology sector needs to work to ensure that charities can develop the skills and capacity to fully engage with the digital realm, and that this may include the more widespread promotion of training and development opportunities, particularly to smaller charities with limited experience of digital engagement.

Civil Society Media provides a number of training courses designed to help improve governance in the charity sector. For more information click here.
Members of a Lords committee set up to scrutinise the charity sector have expressed grave concerns about the Charity Commission's plans to charge charities for regulation.

In a report, Stronger Charities for a Stronger Society, published today (Sunday 26 March), members of the House of Lords Select Committee on Charities said they are not convinced that the regulator has considered all the risks of going forward with charging.

The Charity Commission recently revealed that it has obtained permission from the Treasury to proceed with plans to consult on models for charging charities for regulation and a consultation is expected in the coming months.

In response to the Lords committee, the Commission said no changes would be made without a without a full, open consultation.

A number of sector bodies have already raised concerns about the impact charging for regulation could have on public trust in both the sector and the regulator and today the committee said it too had grave concerns and urged the Commission to set our clearer plans.

The committee said a mandatory charge for registered charities would mark a fundamental change in the sectors relationship with its regulator.

Charities would seek to influence how money is spent

Peers suggested that if charities were paying towards the regulator they might not unreasonably, seek to be represented on the board so that they could ensure they have a say in how the money is spent.

It might also prompt calls for the regulator to become fully independent of government, the report said.

Peers said it was not clear that the Commission had taken full account of the potential impact of charging for regulation both in terms of the financial impact on charities and how the public might view the move.

If charging is mishandled, there are significant risks for the strength of the charity sector, its relationship with the regulator, and overall public confidence and trust in the charities, the report said.

The committee said it was pleased about the recent assurance from the Treasury that funding from the sector would be additional, but said adequate direct funding from central government should be maintained. It called on the Commission to be transparent about how additional funding would be used.

In response a Commission spokesman said: We recognise that this is a difficult discussion to have but are pleased that the committee understands why we need to consider this important issue and ask the question.

We agree that making the benefits of any changes clear to charities, as well as the way in which our services may be enhanced, is important. We also recognise the funding pressures on charities, especially the small ones, and hope to find a way forward which is sensitive to that. No decisions will be made on charging without a full, open consultation.

Commissions governance needs to improve

The committee acknowledged the progress that the Commission has made in recent years, but also expressed concern about the regulators own governance arrangements, particularly the lack of diversity on its board.

During evidence sessions the regulator's board was criticised by Lord Foulkes for being a fairly right-wing, upper middle-class, white, middle-aged group of people from the south of England.

In supplementary written evidence Shawcross responded to say that he was disappointed by the comments and emphasise that the Commission has had people from different ethnic backgrounds on the board in the recent past.

In its report the committee concluded that the more should be done to increase diversity at the next opportunity.

It said: We acknowledge the challenges that the Charity Commission faces in securing a diverse board, however the regulator cannot expect to hold the sector to a higher standard than it is able to achieve itself.

We recommend that the Commission is mindful of the example it sets to the sector and that when filling future vacancies it explicitly seeks to recruit individuals with a range of skills, charity experiences and demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, ethnicity and geography.

We expect to see the results of this approach in the next set of board appointments.

Commission: we are committed to diversity

The Commission said it was committed to diversity and said that it would ask the Department for Culture Media and Sport, which is responsible for advertising for and recruiting board members, to work with a specialist recruiter.

A commission spokesman said: Diversity is an important issue for the Commission and charities to consider. Indeed, it is an issue across government, parliament and in wider society.

We are committed to continuing to improve diversity throughout the Commission, including on our board which has until recently comprised women from BAME backgrounds. Appointments to the board will be made by DCMS ministers, but when vacancies are next advertised we will ask DCMS to allow us to work with a specialist recruiter with expertise in recruiting a diverse range of candidates.

NCVO: 'Charging must go hand-in-hand with reform'

Both charging for regulation and the Commissions governance are areas of concern for many of the sectors representative bodies, which commented on this part of the report in their responses.

NCVO said it plans to set out a range of criteria to judge charging proposals against.

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Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, said that any move to charging should go hand in hand with an overhaul of the Commissions governance.

The Directory of Social Change and the Charity Finance Group have both been vocal opponents of any move to charging charities and said they welcomed the committees stance.
"UP CM Adityanath said that Lok Sabha polls will take place after two years and by then the work done by the central government and state government must be visible," said Rameshwar Chaurasia, UP co-in-charge, who was also present in the meeting.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath Yogi today met with the party MPS, MLAs of Gorakhpur and askled them to gear up for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"UP CM Adityanath said that Lok Sabha polls will take place after two years and by then the work done by the central government and state government must be visible," said Rameshwar Chaurasia, UP co-in-charge, who was also present in the meeting.

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Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's example and how he worked 18-hours a day, chief minister Adityanath urged bureaucrats and party workers to work in a coordinated manner for development of the state.

"Adityanath said if officers and party workers work hard then in the next two years people in the state will benefit and they will realise that Uttar Pradesh is now on the track of development. He asked everyone to work hard like PM Modi and himself," Chaurasia said

Chaurasia added that Adityanath stressed upon the need to provide uninterrupted electricity supply in the state in the next two months and also fill all the potholes in the state till June 15.

13 MPs and 46 MLAs were present in the meeting along with other senior functionaries.

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Ground report on Yogi Adityanath: What Aligarh Muslim University campus thinks about UP Chief Minister

Yogi Adityanath gets cracking: 3 days, 5 big decisions of new Uttar Pradesh chief minister

Muslims in Uttar Pradesh have mixed feelings for Yogi Adityanath as chief minister

--- ENDS ---
With Yogi Adityanath being elected CM, the campus is buzzing. And most are skeptical of the new regime. However, most students say they believe the image makeover Yogi has shown recently.

By Ilma Hasan: It was a clean sweep for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, expected by the exit polls, but the numbers unprecedented. Then came another shocker as the BJP chose five-time MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister of UP. It is well documented that Yogi Adityanath has the image of a hardliner, a man known for spewing vitriol. The controversial new CM has also openly targeted the Muslim community in the past.

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So how does an educational institution with majority of Muslim students react to it? The India Today team went to the prestigious Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to find out.

A central university established in 1875, AMU is one of India's top ranking universities and is known to have produced many notable alumni. The sprawling 1,100 acre campus has some of India's best academicians as professors. There are over 50 per cent Muslim students and the varsity has been fighting for minority status for the last few years.

MOST SKEPTICAL OF NEW REGIME

With Yogi Adityanath being elected CM, the campus is buzzing. And most are skeptical of the new regime. AMU is a fairly cosmopolitan campus, where debate and dissent are encouraged. With the new appointment there is palpable unease in the campus. But AMU is no stranger to controversy, and because of it, most students and professors are afraid to criticise Yogi publicly. A professor who doesn't wish to me named, said, "I'd rather not say anything, because if I do I know the RSS will lash out at me. Anyway, we all know what kind of a man he is. What is the point of voicing an opinion now anyway?"

Being under the UGC, students and professors claim they will remain unfazed by the election of the new UP CM. Embroiled in the middle of fighting for minority status and finding a new Vice Chancellor, they say that state administration doesn't affect the varsity at all. However, they all admit they were surprised when the BJP chose a man like Yogi Adityanath.

Professor Ali Nadeem Naqvi said, "Choosing a man who is so divisive, should make us think about what is happening in our country". Mass communication professor Shafey Kidwai said, "Culturally it could have an impact because AMU is cosmopolitan. It could have a demoralising effect on our students who feel deprived because they don't have enough representation in the government."

STUDENTS SEEM HOPEFUL OF NEW REGIME

Students in AMU seemed more hopeful of the new regime. Abdul, an MA student said, "He (Yogi Adityanath) is not a suitable person for communal harmony of India, but now that he is the CM, he said people should get equal opportunity, so let's wait and watch". Another student, Nitin said, "We all were surprised, but he's repeatedly been elected from Gorakhpur. Let's give him a chance, all we want is employment and development, which he promises to deliver on."

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Another student of the university said, "Religion is the means of politics. But we don't care about these things. We want employment, WiFi and infrastructure. Shamshaan-kabristan will happen when we die. God will decide where I go. Let's focus on now."

The University has had its brushes with Yogi in the past. A member of Hindu Yuva Vahini, a saffron group found by the UP CM, called AMU a "nursery of terror" saying people there have links with ISIS.

However, most students say they believe the image makeover Yogi has shown recently. Azam said, "The means to reach the top is to be communal, but once they are there, they do follow sabka saath, sabka vikas". Those studying at AMU might be weary, but they are also hopeful that UP's Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has changed his ways.

ALSO READ | Muslims in Uttar Pradesh have mixed feelings for Yogi Adityanath as chief minister

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ALSO READ | 7 reasons why Adityanath as Uttar Pradesh chief minister is a BJP masterstroke

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WATCH | What does Aligarh Muslim University make of UP's saffron sweep?

--- ENDS ---
March 26, 2017 - San Francisco - When going to the movies with a group of friends, one small action can make a big difference when it comes to being on the same page after the movie: eye contact. A simple conversation before the movie sets you up to be more in sync with your friends after the movie.

These findings come from an unlikely place -- not the lab, or even a movie theater, but a classroom. Using portable EEG to measure brain activity among groups of students, researchers were able to record from multiple people simultaneously to study social interactions in real life.

"The goal of our research is to understand the neurodynamics of real-world social interactions, and we used the classroom as a real-world social neuroscience lab," says Suzanne Dikker of NYU and Utrecht University, who is presenting this new research at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) annual conference today. "The set-up we developed allows us investigate aspects of human social interaction that are difficult or even impossible to study in a canonical laboratory setting."

While Dikker's work focuses on brain synchrony, she is but one of a growing number of neuroscientists both taking their work to more naturalistic settings and using more multisensory stimuli. From classrooms to museums to the NICU, real-world settings are now possible with the advent of new neuroimaging techniques and advanced computational power, combined with a better understanding of the multisensory nature of our brains.

"The last 10 years are special in that they witnessed a confluence of advances in technology and in theoretical models that now are mature enough to take into consideration the full breadth of the complexity of the sensory environment and how we interact with it," says Pawel Matusz of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and chair of the CNS symposium on real-world neuroscience. Work in multiple settings is yielding unique insights into social interactions, attention, and neurodevelopment for the young and old alike.

Brains in sync

Conducting studies on brain synchrony - neural activity that is in sync among people - in real-world settings offers a great opportunity for new types of data, Dikker says. But with this opportunity comes a major challenge: adapting technologies and techniques for rapid deployment outside the lab. Most lab-grade neuroimaging equipment is expensive and not mobile. It is not possible, for example, to bring 10 fMRI scanners into a classroom or museum. Dikker and colleagues instead have adapted a low-grade EEG system for use in experiments, one that they can set up in only 5 minutes.

This adaptation comes with some sacrifices, she says. "It is unrealistic to expect the same level of data quality and experimental control from real-world neuroscience studies as we demand from laboratory experiments," Dikker says. "And we would never argue that efforts like ours move the field in a direction where the lab will become obsolete. Instead, we think of real-world research as a complementary approach that can inform, enrich, and inspire lab research, and vice versa."

In her latest work, Dikker and colleagues measured how much students are thinking about the same thing at the same time. They measured electrical brain activity with portable EEG and took survey data on social relationships and personality.

They found that the more a student felt part of the group, the more that student was engaged and in sync with the rest of the group. They also found that how much the students liked each other influenced brain synchrony during class - but, interestingly, it only mattered for those students who had eye contact at the beginning of class. "How much you like someone only matters if you have some actual interaction with that person," Dikker says.

In another study for which she will be presenting preliminary results at the CNS meeting, Dikker and colleagues measured brain synchrony in a museum installation. Collecting data from more than 2,000 people in the "Mutual Wave Machine," they also explored the role of eye contact in establishing synchrony.

An offshoot of a project with performance artist Marina Abramovic, the Mutual Wave Machine invites two people at a time to sit in a dome-like structure and gaze at each other while seeing a simplified visualization of their brain activity with lights all around them. They had to greatly simplify the EEG data being collected (using only canonical frequency bands) to come up with an intuitive way to visualize the neural activity. "There are only small light sources when your brainwaves are not in sync, and when your brainwaves are perfectly in sync, the dome fills up with light," Dikker says.

They found that brain synchrony was higher for more empathetic individuals. Furthermore, people felt more connected and their brain activity was more in-sync with each other at the end of the experience than at the beginning. This occurred only for people who didn't know each other to start, however, and for those who were explicitly told that what they were seeing was feedback from the brain; some were not told.

The research has potential applications in therapeutic work -- for example, Dikker's team would like to test game-like neurofeedback in high-functioning autistic teens, to see if the method can help them respond better to social cues. But above those applications, the studies lay groundwork for future investigations to establish crosstalk between the lab and real world. For example, Dikker wants to further investigate in the lab what it is about eye contact that sets up the joint attention and brain synchrony.

Our multisensory brains

"Experiments that are conducted in naturalistic settings, such as those, for example, conducted by Suzanne Dikker, are informative as they explore new dimensions characterizing information processing in the real world," says Matusz of the University of Lausanne. "These technology-inspired neuroscientific investigations, using advanced signal processing methods, push the frontier on what we know about functional brain organization and the mind."

But he says that naturalistic studies should ideally be well-controlled lab experiments that aim to emulate the characteristics of information processing in everyday environments, while controlling for confounding factors. One of the most striking realizations of the past decade of work has been that information processing follows somewhat different principles than those established with traditional research involving just visual or just auditory stimuli.

"Information across different senses is exchanged and integrated at much earlier stages of brain processing than previously thought," Matusz says. "This has profound implications for our understanding of perception, attention, learning and memory processes."

For example, recognizing and finding a friend at a cocktail party full of people will be much easier if you not only see the person but also hear him/her. However, you will be also more easily distracted during this task than predicted by traditional models because multisensory objects are more distracting than just visual or auditory ones. A person next to you shouting and waving to someone else across the room, or someone bumping into you and saying sorry, will make it harder to locate your friend. These are tradeoffs that control our "selective attention" -- our ability to process important information and suppress distracting information -- in real-world environments.

In work being presented at the CNS meeting, Matusz's team used multisensory, audiovisual distractors to reveal that children can actually be less distracted than adults or older children. These results, published in Cognition in 2015, Matusz says "go against traditional models of brain and attention development, according to which there is a mature, adult state of attention that we gradually reach as we grow older from 'distractful youth.'"

In novel results building on that finding, he and colleagues explored how experience interacts with our selective attention as we grow. They asked young and adult participants to search for numerical digits, a category of objects where school-entering children are more familiar first with their sounds than their shapes. While the younger children benefited from having the audio, the sounds proved a distraction for the older children and adults. "These results echo recent voices in the neuroscience community suggesting that neuroscientific research provides meaningful knowledge when it is based on well-conceptualized studies of behavior," he says.

Clinically, this growing body of knowledge on the multisensory brain is opening novel avenues for addressing sensory and learning disorders. For example, in a collaborative project with Nathalie Maitre from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio and Micah Murray from the University of Lausanne, Matusz worked with pre-term babies and their sense of touch. Every year, 15 million children worldwide are born prematurely, but the existing interventions are unclear in terms of their actual effects on sensory and brain processing. As published this month in Current Biology, the researchers recorded EEG in premature babies in the NICU and demonstrated a direct role of both negative and positive touch in shaping their somatosensory brain responses.

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Dikker and Matusz are two speakers who will be presenting in the symposium "Are we ready for real-world neuroscience research?"at the CNS annual meeting in San Francisco. More than 1,500 scientists are attending the meeting from March 25-28, 2017. Follow the conference on Twitter, #CNS2017, and our blog.

CNS is committed to the development of mind and brain research aimed at investigating the psychological, computational, and neuroscientific bases of cognition. Since its founding in 1994, the Society has been dedicated to bringing its 2,000 members worldwide the latest research to facilitate public, professional, and scientific discourse.
March 26, 2017 - San Francisco - Researchers have identified more than 100 genes important for memory in people. The study is the first to identify correlations between gene data and brain activity during memory processing, providing a new window into human memory.

"This is very exciting because the identification of these gene-to-behavior relationships opens up new research avenues for testing the role of these genes in specific aspects of memory function and dysfunction," says Genevieve Konopka of UT Southwestern, who is presenting this new work in San Francisco today at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) annual conference. "It means we are closer to understanding the molecular mechanisms supporting human memory and thus will be able to use this information someday to assist with all kinds of memory issues."

The study is part of the nascent but growing field of "imaging genetics," which aims to relate genetic variation to variation in brain anatomy and function. "Genes shape the anatomy and functional organization of the brain, and these structural and functional characteristics of the brain give rise to the observable behaviors," says Evelina Fedorenko of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.

While past work has aimed to connect behavior to genes, researchers have lacked neural markers, which can provide a powerful bridge between the two. "Probing the genes-brain relationship is likely to yield a rich understanding of the human cognitive and neural architecture, including insights into human uniqueness in the animal kingdom," says Fedorenko, who is chairing the symposium on imaging genetics at the CNS conference.

The new field is now possible because genotyping has gotten progressively cheaper and easier, while large brain-imaging and electrophysiology datasets have become increasingly available. At the same time, there has been a rise in the number of large-scale international collaborations (e.g., ENIGMA) that "foster novel theorizing, further methodological innovations, as well as allow aggregating datasets across labs, countries and continents," she says.

Combining cognitive neuroscience with genetics can involve several different approaches, Fedorenko says. Researchers, for example, can search for neural differences in individuals with developmental disorders that are associated with certain genetic variants and compare them to a control group. Others may compare brain anatomy and function in identical versus fraternal twins. While yet other researchers may look for patterns of gene expression across the cortex and relate the observed patterns to other data on brain architecture - which is the approach Konopka and colleagues used for the new memory-gene study.

The goal of the study, performed in collaboration with neurosurgeon Dr. Bradley Lega, was to identify genes important for "normal cognition" such as learning and memory. Previous work established that certain groups of genes have altered gene expression in individuals with cognitive deficits. The work also builds on prior analyses by Konopka's team of fMRI data, linking resting-state brain behavior to specific genes.

The researchers used two sets of data: RNA in post-mortem brain tissue and intracranial EEG (iEEG) data from epilepsy patients. "We measure RNA as a proxy for gene expression in the brain," Konopka explains. "Quantitating RNA in the brain requires extracting RNA from the brain tissue itself. Thus, we are limited to accessing brain tissue post-mortem, or, in rare occasions, can obtain tissue from surgical resections of the brain."

The iEEG dataset includes data from epilepsy patients performing an episodic memory task while they were undergoing electrode monitoring to localize seizures. Collected over 10 years from the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson University, it is one of the largest available datasets for such memory data across the brain. "While the subjects all suffer from epilepsy, we take several precautions to include the intracranial data that is not affected by epileptic activity," Konopka says. "Thus, we believe the resulting genes we identify are generalizable beyond the epilepsy population." Both the RNA and iEEG data are from neocortical regions of the left hemisphere of the brain, allowing for population-level analysis.

The genes the researchers identified as being important for human memory are distinct from genes previously correlated with other types of cognitive processing and resting state fMRI activity. "At this point, we cannot say whether the gene expression itself might drive memory or whether it is simply a reflection of the brain activity patterns needed for proper memory formation," Konopka says.

The memory genes also overlap with several genes associated with autism, which means "we have identified a window into the molecular pathways important for normal memory function that are at risk from a genetic perspective in autism," she says. The new study will inform future work, specifically identifying gene targets for further experimentation in animal models of memory function.

Fedorenko is excited by these and many other early findings from the new imaging genetics field. But she points out that their robustness and replicability have yet to be established. "We, as a field, need to increase our standards of rigor and require results to be replicated at least across two datasets before they are published, so as not to flood the literature with false positives," she says.

Another challenge, Fedorenko says, surrounds the issue of "big data." Understanding genetic variability intrinsically requires large numbers, she says. Indeed, her own work on the human language system has accumulated large datasets with good individual-level neural markers of language activity, enabling brain-genetic investigations. "Oftentimes, however, data-mining bottom-up approaches need to be supplemented with more targeted hypothesis-driven carefully controlled experimental studies," she says.

Still, Fedorenko emphasizes that the marriage between cognitive neuroscience and genetics is likely to be a fruitful one. "Given the inherently interdisciplinary nature of this emerging field of research, I hope many young neuroscientists and geneticists will get excited about possibilities of new critical discoveries and join our efforts by bringing in fresh energy and revolutionary ideas, so that together we can understand how genes give rise to our neural and cognitive architecture."

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Konopka and Fedorenko are two speakers who will be presenting in the symposium "Genetics and cognitive neuroscience: What does the future hold?" at the CNS annual meeting in San Francisco. More than 1,500 scientists are attending the meeting from March 25-28, 2017. Follow the conference on Twitter, #CNS2017, and our blog.

CNS is committed to the development of mind and brain research aimed at investigating the psychological, computational, and neuroscientific bases of cognition. Since its founding in 1994, the Society has been dedicated to bringing its 2,000 members worldwide the latest research to facilitate public, professional, and scientific discourse.
A cross-county police initiative has been launched to close legal loopholes against dot attacks on livestock.

With the lambing season underway, five police Forces (North Yorkshire, Sussex, North Wales, Hertfordshire and Devon and Cornwall) are to take part in the new initiative that could lead to a tightening up of the law against dog attacks on livestock.

Injury to livestock can cost farmers and livestock owners thousands of pounds, but police and countryside campaigners are concerned that there may be gaps in the current laws that make it more difficult to deal with the issue effectively.

This week (21 March 2017) five rural police Forces have joined up with Sheepwatch UK and the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England to launch a special initiative aimed at gathering more information about dog attacks on livestock, and the power of the police to deal with them.

The Forces will look at how livestock attacks are reported, recorded and handled, to assess whether the law needs to be changed or updated.

Definition of livestock

Chief Constable Dave Jones of North Yorkshire Police, who is the national policing lead for rural and wildlife crime, explains: Our experience of dealing with dog attacks suggests that there are some areas of the current legislation that could be improved.

For example, the definition of livestock doesnt cover all the types of animals that we know can be affected. In some cases, the police cant legally seize a dog that has been involved in an attack, which makes it difficult to prevent the same thing happening again.

And whilst livestock damage can be extremely costly for the animals owner, the maximum fine under law is relatively low and can be disproportionate to the loss. We believe that there may be scope for the law to be tightened up, but we need hard evidence to confirm it.

Through the initiative we have launched this week, five rural Forces will start to gather more details about dog attacks on livestock so that, if the evidence supports it, we can present a clear case for a change in the law.

Evidence at House of Lords

The dog attack evidence initiative was launched today (21 March) with an event at the House of Lords in Westminster.

Representatives from the police, together with farming and livestock associations, discussed the issue of livestock worrying and dog control with MPs from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare.

MPs heard that the initiative will last approximately six months with an initial report expected in September.

Meanwhile, police are calling for dog owners to be responsible when out in the countryside and keep their pets on a leash around livestock.

Farmers are urged to report any incident of dog worrying by calling the police on 101.
New research has revealed that the immune response of farmed chickens does not develop fast enough to fight off Campylobacter during their short lifespan.

The findings,from the University of Liverpool, have important implications in the challenge towards developing a poultry vaccine for the bug, which is the UK's leading cause of food poisoning.

As both a public health and animal welfare issue, finding a way to control Campylobacter infection is a priority for the poultry industry. There are currently no commercial vaccines and their development is hampered by poor understanding of the immunobiology of the infection.

In the first study of functional immunity to Campylobacter jejuni in the chicken, researchers have shown that antibody production plays a role, albeit limited, in the clearance of intestinal infection.

However, it fails to clear the bacterium within the lifetime of a commercial broiler chicken, which is typically around six weeks of age.

Broiler chickens

Professor Paul Wigley, from the University's Institute of Infection and Global Health, said: "Our findings suggest that any Campylobacter vaccine relying solely on an antibody response is unlikely to be effective in broiler chickens."

Researchers carried out the study by chemically inhibiting the production of antibody-producing white blood cells (B lymphocytes) in broiler chicks, before introducing C.jejuni infection at the age of three weeks and then monitoring bacteria levels in the gut for the next nine weeks.

They found that an antibody-associated drop in bacteria levels only became apparent after seven weeks and suggest that the adaptive immune response in the gut only begins to mature at six weeks of age.

'Very challenging'

Professor Wigley added: "It's likely to be very challenging to produce a protective immune response in broiler chickens before slaughter age, which is around six weeks of age."

"Vaccines that focus on a cell-mediated immune response, or alternatively some way of speeding up the production of antibodies in broiler chickens, may offer more promising routes to controlling Campylobacter, and ultimately reducing the amount of contaminated chicken in our supermarkets."

Approximately four in five cases of Campylobacter infection in the UK result from contaminated poultry  either through consumption of undercooked meat or through cross contamination in the kitchen.

While good hygiene and thorough cooking can effectively prevent infection, there are still more than 280,000 cases in the UK and the cost to the economy is estimated at up to 900M each year.
Earlier this week the Scottish Government was found liable for compensation claims from tenant farmers in a case that has dragged on for years.

Tenant farmers involved in the long running Salvesen Riddell debacle have scored a partial victory in their legal case against the Scottish government for compensation following the loss of their farms.

The Court of Session ruled this week that the Government were liable to compensate the tenants .. for loss directly arising from reasonable reliance upon defective legislation passed by it, which was then remedied by further legislation which interfered with the individuals rights.

Lord Clark rejected the tenants claims based on the value of the tenancy and but accepted that compensation should be paid in respect of specific losses directly sustained by the tenants who had acted in good faith on defective legislation and for frustration and inconvenience.

Lord Clark also pointed out that both sides had agreed that the case had been brought to establish the principle of whether or not the tenants were entitled to compensation.

As a consequence he was not in a position to quantify the scale of the compensation which he noted would have to take several factors into account, such as any capital investment they may have made in the holdings balanced by the fact that they had enjoyed an extended tenure beyond which they would have originally expected.

'Incredibly complex case'

Commenting on the court ruling, Scottish Tenant Farmers Association (STFA) director Angus McCall said: This is an incredibly complex case and it will take some time for the tenants legal team to evaluate Lord Clarks ruling.

What has been made clear, however, is that the tenants are due some compensation for the harm caused to them by the flawed legislation instigated by the Liberal/Labour coalition and passed by the Scottish parliament 14 years ago.

STFA urged the Scottish government to engage with the affected tenants to reach a mutually agreeable settlement, which will take away the need to spend yet more time and money in litigation where the only beneficiaries will be the legal profession.
Medusa Mining Limitedhas announced a contract miner has died at its underground mine in the Philippines.The fatal accident occurred at the gold producers Co-O mine on Wednesday 22 March 2017, when two miners were extending a timber support that was about 6 meters above a main track level.The second miner heard a loud noise and then found his work partner on the track level below and unconscious. He was immediately taken to the company hospital but pronounced dead on arrival.The company has continued to operate the mine, but stopped activities where the incident occurred while a detail investigation takes place.Medusa Mining is providing support to the miners family.Shares in Medusa Mining Limitedlast traded 1.4% higher on Friday at 36.5 cents.
If you earn income from self-employment -- such as from a small business you own, consulting you do, or freelance work -- it may be subject to self-employment tax. Self-employment tax consists of two parts -- Social Security and Medicare taxes. Here's how your self-employment tax will be determined in 2017, as well as a calculator that can simplify the process for you.

What is self-employment tax?

When you work for an employer, taxes for Social Security and Medicare are typically withheld from your paychecks. In addition to this, your employer matches the amount of tax you pay to both programs.

Self-employed individuals don't have Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from their earnings, nor is there an employer making these payments on their behalf. Therefore, both the employer and employee portions of the Social Security and Medicare taxes are the responsibility of the self-employed individual, and are collectively known as the self-employment tax.

In general, you are required to pay self-employment tax if your net self-employment earnings were $400 or more for the year.

Rates and maximums

As I mentioned, there are two components to the self-employment tax -- Social Security and Medicare.

For the 2017 tax year, Social Security tax is assessed at a rate of 6.2% for the employer and employee. Since self-employed individuals are considered to be both the employer and the employee, the Social Security tax rate for self-employed individuals is 12.4%. However, Social Security tax is only assessed on the first $127,200 of earned income.

The Medicare tax rate is 1.45% each for employers and employees, so self-employed individuals pay a Medicare tax rate of 2.9%. Unlike Social Security tax, there is no income cap for Medicare tax. The 2.9% rate applies to all of your earned income, no matter how high it is. In addition, high-income individuals pay an additional Medicare tax, at a rate of 0.9% for any income above $200,000 (single filers) or $250,000 (married filing jointly).

So, the self-employment tax structure for 2017 is:

15.3% on the first $127,200 in net self-employment income.

2.9% on any net self-employment income above $127,200.

Net self-employment income

To calculate your net self-employment income -- that is, the amount of your self-employment income used to calculate your self-employment tax, simply multiply your total self-employment income by 92.35%, or 0.9235.

For example, let's say that you earn a profit of $130,000 from self-employment in 2017, and you had no other income. Multiplying this amount by 92.35% gives net self-employment income of $120,055. Since this is less than the Social Security taxable maximum, the 15.3% rate would apply to the entire amount, and you would owe $18,368 in self-employment tax. Half of this amount, or $9,184 (the employer's portion) is deductible on your tax return.

How to calculate yours

The calculation for self-employment tax can be a little complicated. To make your life a little easier, here's a calculator that can do the math for you.

You'll notice that there's a place in the calculator for any income you get from an employer. This is because while you'll pay Medicare tax on every dime of earned income, the Social Security wage limit applies to all of your income, not separately to self-employment income.

In other words, let's say that you have a full-time job with an employer, and that you earn a salary of $100,000. On the side, you run a consulting business and earn a net income of $50,000. Since your employer has already withheld Social Security tax on your $100,000 salary, you'll only need to pay Social Security tax on the first $27,200 of self-employment income.
With the Midterm Elections less than one week away: What do you consider the top issues that you will be voting on to be corrected by your better representation?

Education Crime Big Government getting Bigger Biden /Democrat controlled Spike in Energy Cost Inflation created by Legislation of Majority in Power Gender Reassignment Corrupted Bureaucratic /Service (DOJ, FBI, etc.) Institutions Abortion Discredited Legacy Media Ending the Corruption of Dishonest Politicians Corruptive Influence of Social Media Wide Open Southern Border
Prem Kholi | HENB | Karachi : When the Hindu Temples and those properties in Pakistan are being grabbed by the Islamic land Mafias and facing existential threat, the Sindh High Court comes forwards in such a case of illegal encroachment of temple properties.

The Sindh High Court has directed the Sujawal districts deputy commissioner and police officials to protect the Hindu communitys 160-year-old place of worship and take action against land grabbers in the district.

Hearing a petition, a division bench headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar directed the deputy commissioner to take action against three men who had allegedly encroached upon the temples land.

The petitioner, Ashwar Kumar, had moved the court against the unlawful occupation of the Shewalo (Shivalo) Mandir and disallowing worshipers entry into their place of worship by the land grabbers.

He submitted that the temple, survey No. 95, was located in Union Council Chohar Jamali. He alleged that Sattar, Pappu and Malo had recently illegally occupied the temples premises and were not allowing worshippers to perform their religious rituals.

He said complaints had been filed with the Mukhtiarkar of Shahbandar, the SHO of Chohar Jamali Police Station and other authorities, but no action was being taken to remedy the situation. He said the deputy commissioner too had not yet taken any action on his application. He requested the court to order the authorities to take action against the culprits and to ensure free access of worshipers to the place.

During the previous hearing, the court had summoned Shahbandar Mukhtiarkar Abdul Rasheed and SHO Sub-Inspector Mushtaq Ahmed. They appeared before the court and gave an undertaking that they would provide full protection to the petitioner and protect the temple.

Rasheed pointed out that the petitioners complaint was pending before the deputy commissioner, who also undertook to take action in accordance with the law. The judges directed them to ensure security for the worshipers and the temple. They also directed the deputy commission to file a compliance report, failing which he would have to appear in person. The next hearing is on April 7.

From the site of Pakistan Hindu Council it is known that there were 644 Hindu Temples in 2007 in Sindh province of Pakistan+, where the majority of Hindus live. An confidential source reports that only 358 Temples are saved in 2017, when almost half of the total Hindu temples are destroyed, encroached or changed to shopping place, Muslim private property, govt roads, bus stand shade, or place of other use, just in 10 years.

Particularly in Sujawal district in Sindh, there were 18 temples in 2007. Now only 9 temples exist so far. If this Shewalo (Shivalo) Temple is not saved anyway, the count of temples in Sujawal district will reach down to the half mark.

In 2014, authorities in Karachi compelled to halt the construction of an overpass, which threatened the foundation of a 150-year-old Ratneshwar Mahadev Hindu temple+ due to the agitation by the Hindu activists and for an order passed by the Supreme court of Pakistan.

Despite the cry of Hindus and the efforts of Courts to save, the number of Hindu Temples come down to half of mark in Pakistan in last 10 years.

Source : Hindu Existence
Upendra Bharti | HENB | New Delhi : There is an Islamic society in Pakistan, where minorities live in a situation where a Hindu student had to write apology on affidavit because he celebrated Holi in university as he committed crime. He wrote and promised that he would never celebrate again and felt ashamed of it.

The alleged incident took place at Sindh University, Jamshoro.

The post has taken social media by storm, with users slamming Pakistani attitude to demean the minorities and their culture.

According to reports, the varsity took the students ID card They did take his ID card which I admit is wrong. What forced this guy to write an apology was that someone spread fake news that Uni was going to expel all the students involved in the celebration. So probably under pressure this guy went to such length to save the situation.

After the matter went viral on social media, a portion of pro-Islamic people tried to deny the incident. But, some Urdu news paper clearly flashed the mentality of the University in this regard.

As a matter of fact, the head of the department , Mass communication confessed that he did all that with 16 students and snatched their cards and stopped them to attend classes for 15 days and assured the return of the cards if they would write apology in written on affidavit.

The case of Raja Dipak (s/o Chandi Ram) came to the light as he was the first to submit an affidavit to the University authority.

Such a humiliation for the Hindu students in a Pakistan University happened within a week after the loud proclamation of minority rights in Pakistan by none other than Pak PM Nawaz Sarif.

When our correspondent, Prem Dalpat reported from Karachi as PM Nawaz Sharifs greetings to Pak Hindus on Holi eve nothing but a Taqiyya, many of our readers were found annoyed with the reporting.

But, Radical Islam in Pakistan or wherever else is very much critical thing to analyse.

However, many of common Muslims condemned such a fanatic attitude of the culpable Sindh University, Jamshoro, who vilified a celebration of Holi comprising color, joy and friendship.

Source : Hindu Existence
Proposed Bill can be a boon for employees and employers Millennials are the largest generation of Americans yet. Its no wonder that companies want to tap this potential workforce. However, how do you convince talented employees that your company is the place to be? Give them perks they can use  and offer a choice. With outstanding student loan debt at $1.3 trillion  and some millennials putting off life milestones due to their debt  its no surprise that young employees want help paying it off. To address this growing need, companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers and Fidelity began offering student loan repayment assistance to their employees. With new legislation in the works, student loan repayment assistance can be a boon for employees and employers alike. See how this workplace benefit can be a win-win for everyone involved. New Bill Offers Incentives to Employers Not only can student loan benefits help your employees, but theres a chance that tax benefits could be on the way for employers offering student loan repayment assistance. Some members of Congress are making noise about the idea of letting employers offer pre-tax dollars for student loan repayment benefits. A bipartisan bill extending tax breaks to employers who offer student loan repayment has been introduced into Congress. If passed, this bill would allow an employer to pay up to $5,250 pre-tax toward each employees...
Key findings from young workers and student debt survey Gone are the days when it was enough for companies to only offer health insurance and 401k retirement savings plans. Today, many companies who seek to hire and retain the best talent must stay competitive by differentiating themselves through the benefits they offer. Recent trends include unlimited vacation time and paternity leave, but more and more employees are feeling the pinch when it comes to paying off their student loans, and this is directly affecting their work. The average amount of student debt graduates carry now exceeds $37,000. So it should come as no surprise that a recent study by American Student Assistancereflects this enormous burden on young workers. The results of Young Workers and Student Debt highlight the many challenges faced by young employees with student debt and the strong demand for benefits such as financial literacy, one-on-one counseling, sign-on bonuses and student loan repayment. The Young Workers and Student Debt survey polled 502 young workers between the ages of 22 and 33 as well as 451 human resource managers at companies with at least 100 employees. The results found a disconnect between human resource managers and their young workforce as to the perceived impact of student loans, as well as a lack of understanding about employees demand for solutions in exchange for their loyalty. Key findings include: Student Loans Have V...
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By Paul Rogers | ( OpenDemocracy.net ) |  

Donald Trumps election campaign made much of his predecessor Barack Obamas failure to control and defeat ISIL, contrasting this with his own determination to destroy the movement if and when he became the United States president.

Around the time of his inauguration in January, he ordered the Pentagon to produce a plan for immediate and radical action. Since then, not much has happened. So in this interim period, how does Washingtons outlook relate to the fluid events on the ground?

The Pentagons response to Trumps request was, according to informed sources, simply to advocate more of the existing strategy. That means more air-power; a bit more arming of opposition groups, especially the Kurds; somewhat closer involvement in the fight against ISIL in Mosul; and deploying some additional American troops to the region, primarily in Syria.

The deeper reality is one of drift: a routinely distracted administration, still lacking far too many senior expert appointments.

This cluster of suggestions, far from a substantial change, makes even more interesting the administrations stance at the summit meeting in Washington on 22-23 March of the sixty-eight countries involved in the anti-ISIL coalition. Its purpose, says the state department, is to accelerate international efforts to defeat ISIL in the remaining areas it holds in Iraq and Syria and maximize

pressure on its branches, affiliates, and networks.

Some positive spin and even a few tweets are the guaranteed outcome. But the deeper reality is one of drift: a routinely distracted administration, still lacking far too many senior expert appointments and facing swingeing budget cuts, not least in the pivotal state department itself.

Jon Alterman, senior vice-president at the prestigious, and very much establishment, Center for Strategic and International Studies, says:

What I find puzzling is going ahead with something which would normally require a huge amount of staff work at a time when the staff really isnt in place. Normally this sort of thing would involve armies of aides drawing up planning documents, agenda, talking points, conclusion briefs on all kinds of things. The Trump administration doesnt have armies of aides working on these issues.

Alterman concludes with a particularly acid comment:

Nobody can imagine a world without the U.S. in a leading role, but governments are starting to think that they need to imagine and hedge against it.

This alone is a serious matter that deserves close attention. But the context of the anti-ISIL summit is a phase of rapid change in several theatres of conflict: Syria and Iraq, but also increasingly problematic Afghanistan, while Israel is getting more directly involved in the Syrian imbroglio.

A surprise assault

Mosul is a good place to start. There, a coalition of ground troops supported by copious airstrikes is trying to wrest control of the western half of the Iraqi city in face of very strong resistance. ISIL will lose control of Mosul . . . The longer it takes the greater will be the cost. This is because the elite Iraqi special forces spearheading the attack are experiencing such heavy casualties that the ability of Haider al-Abadis government in Baghdad to hold the country together in the face of a post-Mosul civil war will inevitably be severely compromised.

Across the border in Syria, a coalition of extreme Islamist militias succeeding this week in conducting a sophisticated ambush on the forces of the Bashir al-Assad regime in eastern Damascus. Both the suddenness of the attack, and the extent to which disparate opposition groups united for the offensive, are ominous for the regime.

In the event, pro-regime forces initially regained much of the territory quite quickly  but, in a development that was as surprising as the original rebel advance, lost it to a renewed thrust. Moreover, the coalescing of some opposition groups evident here is happening elsewhere in Syria, most notably near Hama where nominal regime control is threatened by another rebel coalition.

These twists in Syrias multi-pronged war are causing concern in Washington but also in Moscow, where Vladimir Putins forces are eager to minimise the considerable economic costs of continuing to support the regime but cannot afford to let it fail.

An absent leadership

Three further strands should focus minds at the summit, though it is far from clear that Trumps team are following them or to what extent.

The strong suspicion, to put it no higher, that the White House has not thought things through, lacks expert advice, and is dominated by ideologues makes it hard to believe in a positive outcome.

First, the Israelis have recently stepped up their rate of airstrikes in Syria, primarily against Hizbollah but also against Syrian army units. This follows a report that the Syrians fired on an Israeli aircraft, drawing a sharp response from the Russians This, in turn, led to an Israeli demand that the Russians work to limit Iranian intelligence activities in Syria. That factor is probably at the root of Israeli concerns over Hizbollah, whose power-base in southern Lebanon is so close to Israels north-east border

More generally, Israel is getting steadily more involved in Syria while strengthening its ties with a wider range of overseas militaries. The annual Blue Flag air-warfare exercise this autumn will be the largest ever, involving Israels airforce and those of seven other states: the United States, Greece, Poland, France, Germany, India and Italy

Second, of much more immediate concern to the Trump team should be the status of ISIL in Raqqa, its powerbase. Trump is determined to oust ISIL from here, especially after the movement loses Mosul, but to do so he needs the support of the Syrian Kurdish militia known as the Peoples Protection Units (YPG). Turkey is adamantly opposed to the Syrian Kurds growing influence, with Recep Tayyip Erdogan intent on countering this trend as he campaigns for more presidential power at home.

Trumps only other viable option is to inject US ground-forces directly into the fight for Raqqa. This might work, but more American boots on the ground will supply Islamist propagandists with welcome evidence for their claim that what is happening is a crusader assault on Islam.

Third, Afghanistans government has just renewed its plea for more military support from Washington in response to the growing reach of the Taliban and other armed opposition groups, including those linked to ISIL. The plea came too late to prevent the capture by the Taliban of the important town of Sangin, in Helmand province, on 23 March.

If all these trends are put together, it becomes clearer that the Trump administration confronts multiple problems in handling the complex conflicts across the Middle East and south-west Asia. The strong suspicion, to put it no higher, that the White House has not thought things through, lacks expert advice, and is dominated by ideologues makes it hard to believe in a positive outcome.
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | (Video Clip) |  

March 21 was the Persian New Year (Now Ruz), marking also the first day of spring (the vernal equinox). In Iran on that day it is a custom to set out a table top with 7 things on it, the names of which start with s in Persian. In modern Iran it has become customary also to put out a bowl with goldfish in it, as a symbol of the constellation Pisces, which the sun enters on the vernal equinox.

The problem is that people dont really want to keep and feed goldfish all year round, so they typically flush away 5 million of them every spring when the festivities end. Last year President Hassan Rouhani declined to put out a goldfish, implicitly joining with animal rights protesters in Iran, who want to stop the annual great goldfish genocide.

Since the internet is mainly about cats, IC is illustrating this problem with a video of a cat terrorizing the New Year goldfish in an Iranian home:

Persian Kitten and Iranian New Year Goldfish
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The Nationals have kind of settled on their choice for a closer, Dusty Baker told Jamal Collier of MLB.com, but the manager hasnt revealed the decision to anyone competing for the role. Koda Glover, Shawn Kelley and Blake Treinen have all been vying for the job this spring, and it appears the inexperienced Glover is the front-runner. Although Glover has just 19 2/3 major league innings on his resume, the hard-throwing 23-year-old is the favorite to handle the ninth, according to FanRags Jon Heyman, who adds that Washington likes his moxie.

More from D.C. and two other NL East cities:
The Minister of the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, has assured the Presidency and Parliament that the security agencies are committed to employing effective measures to protect the security of the President and Members of Parliament (MPs).

He was answering a question on the floor of Parliament last Thursday on the security of the President in view of last Wednesdays attack near the Houses of Parliament in the United Kingdom (UK) that led to the death of four people, including the attacker.

Mr Dery said the security personnel at the Presidency would receive further training to enhance their capacities.

He added that security was a collective responsibility, and therefore asked all to collaborate with the security agencies to enhance their work.

Mr Dery later told journalists that security measures would be improved at Parliament House to improve security for MPs.

Wake-up call

The MP for Okaikoi Central, Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah, said the UKs attack was a wake-up call for the security of Ghanas MPs to be enhanced.

For instance, he said, the security situation in the House was so relaxed that people with an ulterior motive could easily access the place to unleash mayhem on legislators.

Speaking with journalists, Mr Boamah said MPs were representatives of people, hence the need for their security to be taken seriously.

He said MPs should be assigned security personnel in their respective homes to protect them against attacks.

According to Mr Boamah, it was not every Ghanaian who would get the privilege of serving his people as an MP.

UK solidarity

Mr Boamah, who is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, expressed solidarity with the government and people of the UK on the recent terrorist attack in that country.

He condemned the attack, which led to deaths and injuries to several people and gave an assurance that, Ghana is with the UK in these trying moments in the countrys democracy.


Prince Ofosu Sefa

26.03.2017 LISTEN

Ghanaians in North America, more particularly Canada have applauded the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo for giving ear to their concerns.

According to them, the creation of the Diasporan Liaison Office [DLO] is indicative of the fact that the president is a listening president indeed.

However, they have appealed to the president to appoint a universally respected leader of great repute to work as a director to ensure that his dream of tapping excellent skills and talents of Ghanaians living in foreign destinations for national development succeeds.

A universally respected leader of great repute for the president to appoint as a director of DLO, they were quick to refer Prince Ofosu Sefa, the secretary of Canada Chapter of NPP as the one who can stir affairs successfully for the president to succeed in running such office.

The appeal was contained in a press statement issued and signed by Mr. Kwaku Appiah [Branch Secretary Germany] and Dr. Samuel Amposah [Branch Secretary-Japan] copied to the media.

Accordingly, within the international branches of the New Patriotic Party [NPP], Prince Ofosu Sefa is an institution, a universally respected leader of great repute who can manage the DLO well.

He is very hard working and experienced, having worked and achieved immense results at various levels the party chapters, Canada branch and on many international efforts Dr. Amponsah and Mr. Appiah challenged.

They held that Prince Sefa has the requisite skills, work ethics and experience to bring about the progress needed to strengthen the international branches.

Many has acknowledged his experience and personal integrity to hit the road running and about measurable progress Dr. Amponsah and Mr. Appiah further challenged adding interestingly, he worked closely with the outgoing Director of International Affairs [DIA] Mr. Charles Owiredu to navigate the potential pitfalls the role entails.

Agreeing with other NPP members in North America, the Mr. Appiah and Dr. Amponsah, strongly believed that Prince Sefas appointment will send an immediate signal to the international Ghanaian communities that the party really wants to move ahead in strengthening them, particularly at a time when the implementation of ROPA and OMOV are likely.
When I read about the jumping into the lagoon of the 35 years old doctor, I knew something was amiss so I didn't publish or comment on it. I reached out to my "crack team" and this is a narrative of our findings.

First, I was asked the question, "Martin Beck Nworah, what possible reasons will make a 35 years old guy to have a driver?"

We dug for details and discovered that Dr Orji suffers from sickle cell anaemia and has seizures most times even on duty. To protect him, the family (mum) had to get a driver for him. Because there could be circumstances where he may be driving and will have an attack. To save him and other road users, a driver was employed to drive him around.

Having established his medical condition, it is becoming clear to you the genesis of his depression. As a medical doctor and a young one at that, you have sacrificed your life to keep others healthy but you can't enjoy your own life. Suffering from sickle cell anaemia is not a jolly good ride especially in a country like Nigeria. You have to fight to be your own motivation.

"But Martin Beck Nworah, that's not enough evidence to ground suicide. What else might have motivated him?" Well; he is 35, single and in a profession that allows less time to be social. From findings, he is a loner and rarely interacts with anybody. People living around their locality in Lagos attested to this fact. Although jovial and friendly to everyone on the outside, he is reclusive. More like an extreme introvert.

He had attempted committing suicide in the past by jumping down from their building in Lagos but was saved by neighbours. The Nissan jeep he was being driven in that fateful day belonged to the hard working mum who is a wealthy business woman. The father of Dr. Orji died four years ago and given tendencies shown by Dr Orji, the mum decided to take extra caution in protecting her child. At some point, she tried arranging a marriage for him just to lessen his loneliness and to have a companion. This arrangement didn't work out well.

And you may ask, "If the driver knew of the suicidal tendencies of the doctor, why stop on 3rd Mainland bridge of all places?"

Further findings reveal that the driver of the doctor was recently changed and from what transpired on Sunday, it was obvious the new driver was not properly briefed on the condition or suicidal tendencies of his master. Because if he was, the mere thought of stopping on the bridge on the instruction of his master would have alerted him.

Although many will argue that his medical condition isn't enough reason to commit suicide, you need to evaluate surrounding issues in his life.

He was an intelligent, dedicated and hardworking medical doctor. The stress of the profession and his almost nonexistent social life fuelled the thought. Dr Orji has two other siblings in the medical line and it becomes obvious the kind of family he grew up in. Everybody was engaged in personal development that little or no attention was given to creating or establishing a strong bond.

From details though not verified, he recently passed an exam that would promote him in the medical profession but having passed the exams, he was denied promotion citing his medical condition as a reason. Although this point is not yet verified, if it is true, then the doctor would have had many thoughts going on in his head.

All indications point to the fact that Dr Orji was extremely stressed out by isolation, work pressure and society's fake standards that didn't welcome him to believe there's a reason to live. If he had close social ties, the tendency towards suicide will be checked from time to time. This is a man who was giving everything he had to make others happy, why couldn't he find his own happiness? 

I must stress here that his thought of suicide didn't just happen. Over the years; life events, situations, insults because of his condition and other issues were piling up in his head. And once a seizure happens, it brings back all those sad memories. At that point, he became tired of having to deal with it. And as he had repeatedly asked himself, is this how I will live this life? 

We must all understand that we are fighting so many battles in this life. We need to be more humane in dealing with each other for you do not know the cross one is carrying. And your actions or words may just nail a decision to end it all.

Everybody is preaching reach out but very few people understand what it means to be in pains, depressed and hurt. I have been there repeatedly and only God saved me with the help of a friend. I didn't say everyone, just one person who understood me and was able to offer me what I needed. Do you know how it feels to go three or four days without sleep?  Do you know what it feels like to give others life and yet you can't live yours in peace? 

We need to start practising what we preach in this nation. We need to sincerely and genuinely start caring about ourselves and the people in our life.

That text, chat, email or phone call can go a long way in giving hope. That little conversation face to face can melt hearts and give life. Never underestimate the power of your words and actions to heal or destroy.

May the soul of Dr. Orji journey in peace.

Till we get to the Promised Land, I shall be waiting for when you will pass me a glass of water and thank God for the gift of grace for the race.

#MBN

Martin Beck Nworah is a Creativity Expert, Conversationalist and Political Strategist. He writes from Awka, Anambra State.
Contrary to accusations made by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish government, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament has concluded that Fethullah Gulen and the movement he inspired as a whole were not behind a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15.

The committee concluded that Given the brutality of the events of 15 July, the severity of the charges made against the Gulenists, and the scale of the purges of perceived Gulenists that has been justified on this basis, there is a relative lack of hard, publiclyavailable evidence to prove that the Gulenists as an organisation were responsible for the coup attempt in Turkey. While there is evidence to indicate that some individual Gulenists were involved, it is mostly anecdotal or circumstantial, sometimes premised on information from confessions or informants, and isso farinconclusive in relation to the organisation as a whole or its leadership.

A statement issued Saturday morning by the FAC as it released its report said, The Committee took evidence from the Gulenists, including an oral hearing which stands as a rare example of the movement being scrutinised in public, and that in contradiction to claims made over the past two years by Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, The FCO [The Foreign & Commonwealth Office] did not have evidence to justify the designation of the Gulenists as a terrorist organisation by the UK, and the Committee agrees with this assessment.

A report titled The UKs relations with Turkey and issued on Saturday by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee also elaborated on the issue.

Underlining that nine months after the coup attempt, neither the UK nor Turkish governments can point the FAC to one person who has been found guilty by a court of involvement in the coup attempt, let alone anyone being found guilty with evidence of involvement with Gulenist motives, the report said: We also note that, despite Turkey purportedly submitting 80 boxes of evidence to the US to achieve the extradition of Fethullah Gulen on the basis that he masterminded the coup attempt, the US judiciary has not yet moved to deport him.

Gulenists are unlikely to have been the only elements involved in the coup attempt. Kemalist elements within the military, those who opposed the AK Party, or those who simply wished to preserve their own positions, are also likely to have been involved. Some, especially in the lower ranks of the military, appeared to have taken part, at least initially, without realising that they were involved in a coup attempt, the report added.

After statements from Germany and the US

The UK Parliament statement came a week after Germany rejected Erdogan and the Turkish governments accusations against the Gulen movement about July 15.

Last week the head of Germanys Federal Intelligence Service (BND), Bruno Kahl, said Turkey could not convince them that US-based Turkish-Islamic scholar Gulen was behind a failed coup attempt on July 15.

Similarly, Devin Nunes, chairman of United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he has not seen any evidence showing Gulens involvement in the failed coup attempt in Turkey.

Democratic culture and human rights undermined

In the statement, the Foreign Affairs Committee also affirmed the importance of Turkey as an international partner for the UK but raises concerns about the weakening of both democracy and human rights in the country as the UK moves to strengthen the bilateral relationship.

Expressing that the UK was right to support Turkey against the threat posed by the coup attempt, the FAC, however, underlined: The actions undertaken by the Turkish government under its current State of Emergency undermine democratic culture and human rights in Turkey. In the effort to secure its wider interests, the UK risks being perceived as deprioritising its own values in human rights.

Despite the scale of the threat faced by Turkey, the committee concluded that the Turkish governments response has been disproportionate.

Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Crispin Blunt MP, commented:

Turkey is an important strategic partner facing a volatile period. It needs and deserves our support, but that support needs to include our critique where Turkish policy is not in its own, or our joint long-term interests: these are regional security and stability as well as strong and accountable institutions in Turkey.

The current purges by the Turkish government amount to a root-and-branch attempt to eradicate the Gulenist movement from positions of public influence, but they have also extended beyond that to affect opposition and pro-Kurdish activists.

View of the River Thames and Westminister in London.

Large numbers have been punished on the basis of a broad and vague definition of terrorism and a worryingly low threshold of evidence. Many of those dismissed and detained have been punished without trial or access to the evidence against them. There are alarmingly inadequate avenues for redress.

These purges risk undermining Turkeys reputation, its economy, the UKs ability to trade there, and the capabilities of the Turkish military against shared enemies such as ISIL. More fundamentally, they undermine the values of human rights and democracy in Turkey, already significantly weakened before the coup.

We met President Erdogan during our visit, and he has made himself as central to twenty-first century Turkey as Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was in the twentieth century. But now is a profound moment of decision for him and his divided country. Whether he secures an executive presidency or not, the choices that President Erdogan now makes will determine whether Turkey will be a repressive or a recovering state. Avoiding catastrophe, and instead shaping a positive outcome, is clearly in the interest of the UKs economy, security, and values.

The FCO must help Turkey reinforce accountable state institutions, while also developing ties far beyond them: the UK needs a deeper and therefore more durable relationship with the Turkish people, whichever background they hold, while working to uphold the values of human rights and democracy that benefit them all.

The Foreign Affairs Committee visited Turkey in January 2017 and put questions to the senior political leadership, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It heard from a wide range of activists, journalists, and analysts  as well as business leaders and young Turkish citizens.

There is an intolerance of alternative narratives in Turkey, with the Turkish government broadly suppressing, discrediting, or punishing those who contradict its authorised accounts of sensitive events. The powers afforded by the State of Emergencycombined with a vaguely-framed definition of terrorism, a pliant media, and a politicised judiciaryhave allowed the government to silence a broad spectrum of critics by labelling them as Gulenists or terrorists on the basis of light evidence or broad interpretations. While the Committee supports the British Governments effort to win itself a voice to help deliver a positive future for Turkey, it must not forget its responsibilities to promote our democratic values. And therefore it recommends that Turkey is listed as a Human Rights Priority country.
Prof. Ebenezer A .Jackson Co-Chair, The Jackson Foundation

26.03.2017 LISTEN

Jackson Educational Complex (JEC), Ghana's leading private College of education is taking steps to institute a scholarship scheme to support its underprivileged students.

As part of efforts to achieve this laudable objective, management intends to launch the Jackson Foundation which is expected to mobilize financial resources for the project.

The principal goal of this project is to create equal opportunities for all students to pursue their programs without financial hindrances.

A statement issued by the College ahead of the launch indicated that over 50 per cent of its student population were from rural and deprived communities and were struggling to bail themselves out of their financial insolvency as they owed the College a lot of fees.

It said since the inception of the school in 2009, the authorities had on several occasions waived part of the fees of some students before they could complete their programmes. In consequence of this, on humanitarian grounds , the foundation is yet to be launched to support such students.

The launching which is scheduled for April 6, 2017 at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Kumasi would have the Ashanti Regional Representative on the Council of State as the special guest of honour.

Also expected to grace the occasion as guest speaker is Lawyer Maurice Ampaw, a renowned legal practitioner.
Guwahati: The Gurgaon based Medanta-the Medicity Hospital on Saturday (25 March 2017) conducted the weekly evening clinic at Guwahati Press Club, where Dr Prasun Ghosh (Urology) and Dr Nabajit Talukdar (Cardiology) checked the health status of around 25 participants and advised them accordingly. The health camp, open for the press club members along with their dependants, was supported by Manoranjan Kalita of the acclaimed hospital.

It may be mentioned that the press club launched the unique healthcare program titled Evening with a Doctor with initial supports from Dr Jayanta Bardoloi, managing director of Dispur Hospitals in last August. The city based hospital also conducted the first evening clinic in the press club premises.

Till date a number of practicing doctors from Apollo Chennai Hospital, GNRC Group of Hospitals, Down Town Hospitals, Narayana Super-Specialty Hospitals, Swagat Super-Surgical Institute, Sankaradeva Nethralaya Guwahati, Wintrobe Hospital, Barthakur Clinic, Nemcare Hospital, Rahman Hospitals, Sun Valley Hospital, Sight First eye-clinic, Government Ayurvedic College, Institute of Dental Science & Research Centre etc attended the camps
The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, has described as palpable false, claims that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah founded independent Ghana.

His comment revives the long-standing debate about the actual founder of Ghana especially after the president, Nana Akufo-Addo subtly also suggested so in the address he delivered at Ghana's 60th independence anniversary parade.

The History Professor argued that the independence struggle was not championed by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah alone and the glory of independence could therefore not be attributed to him alone.

Speaking at the Institute of Economic Affairs' (IEA) showing of a documentary of the political history of Ghana between 1844 and the Fourth Republican Constitution, Prof Mike Oquaye condemned the current history curriculum which credited Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as a founder of independent Ghana and said it was misleading.

We are not searching apparently about anything including our GDP, Tema Oil Refinery debts, vital statistics that are simple to ascertain in many parts of the world. And this has been an unfortunate part of our history so much so that, today we celebrate one founding father which is palpable false, we have founding fathers. I'll like to see Nkrumah celebrated by way of a holiday in his honour as the first President. A president who had a lot of vision in terms of education, health, African unity and so many areas of our national development but definitely not as the founder of this nation because it is palpably false, he said.

Kwame Nkrumah

The erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) government with the approval of Parliament declared Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's birthday, 21st September as a statutory public holiday; thus Founder's Day, to recognize Nkrumah for his tremendous contribution towards the independence of Ghana and Liberation struggle for the entire African continent.

But according to Prof. Oquaye, he expects that the country celebrates a founders' day, which will honour all others who contributed to Ghana's independence and not single out Nkrumah.

It pains me, particularly that we teach our children such false history. I look forward to the day where the founder's day will be founders' day and we shall all celebrate those who really together founded this nation, including Kwame Nkrumah, he said.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @jnyabor
The National Chairman of the Convention People's Party (CPP), Professor Edmund Delle has vowed that the party will resist any attempt to rewrite the country's history in a way that discredits Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's significant role in Ghana's independence struggle.

He said people agitating over the consistent reference to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as the founder of independent Ghana are only being selective with history.

Prof. Delle's comment comes against an earlier assertion by the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye that holding Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as the founder of independent Ghana was wrong.

Speaking at the Institute of Economic Affairs' (IEA) showing of a documentary of the political history of Ghana between 1844 and the Fourth Republican Constitution, Prof. Oquaye described as palpable falsehood claims at Nkrumah was the founding father of Ghana saying that the country must recognize other persons involved in the independence struggle and not hail only Nkrumah.

The comment revives the long-standing debate about the actual founder of Ghana especially after the president, Nana Akufo-Addo subtly also suggested so in the address he delivered at Ghana's 60th independence anniversary parade.

But according to the CPP chairman, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah led the charge for Ghana's independence, and must not be denied the associated recognition.

Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye

He told Citi News, anything you can say against Nkrumah, you say it, but as long as Ghana lives and Africa lives, he will be greater and greater still.

We are not denying that being human, he had some faults but you have to see the situation that made him do these acts I don't deny that people contributed, so I am personally not against the fact of recognizing people who contributed. There is no doubt about that; J.B Danquah and the rest. They all contributed to it, but no matter how many contributed, you identify one person.

He noted that his party will study the claims by persons attempting to rewrite the countrys history and we will come out with our version on the matter.

It is their opinion, they want founders we have decided on founder; the greatest African that has ever lived.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @jnyabor
Accra, March 26, GNA - The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in partnership with the Elections Committee of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) would on Tuesday, March 28, host candidates contesting the various positions in the Association at a public forum in Accra.

A statement issued by the MFWA and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the forum would feature a debate among candidates contesting the presidential slot.

It said candidates contesting the other positions would also be presented an opportunity to speak to the electorate.

It noted that the presidential debate which would be chaired by Nana Kwasi-Gyan Apenteng, Chairman of the National Media Commission, would offer a platform for the aspirants to share with the electorate their policies, plans and vision for promoting professional journalism and the welfare of media professionals in Ghana.

The statement noted that the event would also offer the opportunity to the electorate to quiz aspirants on their proposed plans for the Association and other pertinent issues confronting the media in Ghana.

It said the forum would bring together media experts and practitioners, the diplomatic community, academia and civil society organisations and would be held at the International Press Centre in Accra at 1400 hours.

The statement said the MFWA was supporting this event because it was important for the competing candidates to clearly articulate their visions and plans and be interrogated on them.

''We see this presidential debate as a crucial moment where the electorate would have the opportunity to scrutinise the policies of all the contestants in order to make informed choices come the Election Day,'' said Abigail Larbi, the Programme Manager, MFWA.

GNA
Mildred Siabi-Mensah, GNA

Ankobra (WR) March 25, GNA - Five Chinese and five Ghanaian illegal miners have been busted in an operation by the Western Regional Police Command around the Ankobra river in the Western Region during their mining for gold.

The ten illegal miners were spotted digging in the river Ankobra in two communities, Bamiankor and Duwale both in the western region.

The swoop was embarked upon following a tip off received from an informant.

The Chinese suspects included; Dong Cheng 30, Hung Jian 51, Ning Guorui 42, Yin Biquiang 46, Li Zilong 44. While the five Ghanaians are Eric Owusu 28, Kwabena Adjei 50, Nana Adu 42, Kwasi Owusu 28 and Kofi Darko 21.

The police also seized mining equipment used for the operations.

Investigations revealed that whilst some Chinese nationals were engaged in the illegal mining activities, others were involved in renting out equipment for the nefarious act.

ASP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer told the GNA that the command dispatched personnel of the service upon information that some Chinese nationals were mining in the Ankobra river

She indicated that in the process, ten suspects, made up of five Chinese and five Ghanaians were arrested.

According to the Regional Police PRO, the suspects claimed that they had sold all their gold to another Chinese national called Wang Weng at Wasa Akropong on Thursday but the money had been transferred to China.

She noted that the suspects were put before a Sekondi magistrate court and were remanded to reappear on Monday, March 27, 2017.

GNA
By Samuel Akapule, GNA

Tongo(UE), March 26, GNA - Many school going- age children would have been out of school without the implementation of the Complementary Basic Education (CBE) programme, Directors of Education in the Upper East Region have said.

The programme which begun in the year 2013 in the Talensi, Bongo, Bawku and Pusiga Districts in the Upper East Region and Kariga District in the Northern Region, had developed strategies to register children of school-going age in communities and mainstream them into the formal education system.

This came to light when Afrikids Ghana, a Child focused NGO and one of the implementing agents of the programme, undertook separate monitoring visits to the Talensi and the Nabdam Districts to see how the project was fairing.

Giving an account of the programme implementation status in the Talensi District, the District Director of Education for the area, Mrs Stephanie Mosore, said the programme in the year 2015 and 2016 was able to register 441 and 399 children of school going- age respectively, from the communities and mainstreamed them into the formal education system.

She said plans were far advanced to mainstream another batch of 325 of the beneficiaries who were currently undergoing literacy, numeracy and life skills classes organised by trained facilitators to be mainstreamed into formal education.

Mrs Mosore said the beneficiaries of the programme were performing better than those who entered directly into the formal schooling system and indicated that there were still some of them in some of the communities who were not in school.

The District Director of the Bongo District, Mr Duncan Nsoh, who expressed happiness about the programme in the District, said it was complementing the efforts of the Directorate to ensure that no children of school going age were left out of school.

Mr Edward Asakeya, the Acting CBE Coordinator for Afrikids Ghana, attributed the success story of the project to the intensive training programme of the facilitators offered by the project, the numeracy, literacy and life skills teaching methodology, the high level of collaboration between the Ghana Education Service, Teachers, School Management Committees, Local Committees, Chiefs and Assembly members among others.

The External Affairs Manager of Afrikids Ghana, Mr Raymond Ayine explained that the programme which was funded with support from the UK Government through its Department for International Development (DFID) seeks to help the disadvantaged children attain basic numeracy and literacy skills so they could be integrated into the mainstream school and complete a full cycle of primary education.

'Over a period of just nine months, children aged 8-14 who are not in school are taught basic literacy, numeracy and life skills in their mother tongue using accelerated literacy strategies contextualised to their community. They are then ready to join primary school for the first time.' he said.

The External Affairs Manager said the CBE programme was key to Ghana's Education Strategic Plan 2010-2020 which included functional literacy for out of school children and commended the stakeholders for working hard together to make the project realise its aims and objectives.

Most of the beneficiary communities visited were seen demonstrating their acquired skills in Numeracy, Literacy and Life Skills they obtained from their facilitators.

GNA
Nairobi (AFP) - Six aid workers have been killed in an ambush in South Sudan, the UN said Sunday, the latest such attack in the country suffering a famine blamed on a brutal civil war.

The aid workers were killed while travelling from the capital Juba to the town of Pibor in the east of the country.

"I am appalled and outraged by the heinous murder yesterday of six courageous humanitarians in South Sudan," said Eugene Owusu of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in a statement.

"At a time when humanitarian needs have reached unprecedented levels, it is entirely unacceptable that those who are trying to help are being attacked and killed."

Contacted by AFP, the agency could not reveal who employed the aid workers.

Some 100,000 people are suffering from the man-made famine in South Sudan and another million are not far off after a nasty stop-start three-year civil war in which starvation has become a battlefield tactic.

It is no coincidence that areas afflicted by famine are opposition areas, home to mostly ethnic Nuer and controlled for the most part by rebels, a leaked report by United Nations investigators said last week.

According to OCHA, the ambush represents the highest number of aid workers killed in a single incident since the conflict began in December 2013.

It follows two other attacks on aid workers this month.

A health worker and a patient were killed in an attack on a humanitarian convoy responding to a cholera outbreak in the central town of Yirol on March 14.

Earlier during fighting in northern Mayendit on March 10, the local staff of an international NGO were detained by armed rebels and released four days later, said OCHA.
Washington (AFP) - Rwanda's President Paul Kagame became the first African leader to address Washington's biggest pro-Israel forum Sunday, hailing the Jewish state as an inspiration for his own country's rebirth after genocide.

Kagame was commander of the rebel force that put an end to the 1994 slaughter of Rwandan Tutsis by Hutu extremists and has led the country since 2000, as it recovers from the conflict and becomes a regional economic success story.

In Washington to attend the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), he hailed the success of the state of Israel after the horrors of the Holocaust and pledged Rwanda's friendship.

"The security of peoples who have once been targeted for extermination can never be exclusively physical," Kagame told the delegates, who received him with warm applause.

"Until all ideologies which justify killing as a patriotic duty are defeated our world is not truly safe. Not for us, not for anyone."

Israel's relations with African governments have not always been easy.

Some African political movements saw their own struggles against colonial rule reflected in the Palestinian fight for statehood -- and many remember Israel's military support for South Africa's former Apartheid regime.

But Israel has an active diplomatic engagement on the continent and has won friends through economic and technical cooperation with major players like Rwanda.

'Reckless efforts'

Last year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured four African countries -- including Rwanda -- and in October he is expected to meet around 30 leaders at an Israel-Africa summit in Togo.

Kagame visited Israel in 2008 and made clear at AIPAC that he sees the country as a friend and ally, rejecting what he sees as efforts in some quarters to delegitimize Israeli statehood.

"Together with friends like the United States we must call for renewed global solidarity against the reckless efforts to deny genocide and to trivialize the victims," he said.

"Israel has the right to exist and thrive as a full member the international community. This is not an infringement of the rights of any other people," he declared.

Rwanda's friendship with Israel is also a diplomatic boon for both countries, which have both relied on strong US support but have also tried the patience of Washington's foreign policy establishment in recent years.

Under former president Barack Obama, the United States expressed concern at what they saw as an authoritarian drift in Kagame's rule and in particular a 2015 reform to the constitution to allow him to run for a third term.

The White House also sparred with Netanyahu's government, warning that its accelerated program of Jewish settlement building on occupied Palestinian land had put the Middle East peace process in jeopardy.

In 2014, when Rwanda sat on the United Nations Security Council, Kigali abstained from a resolution that advocated the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories but was ultimately rejected.

US President Donald Trump's new administration has so far proved more sympathetic to Israel's ambitions, and both Rwanda and Israel hope for warm relations.

Speaking to AIPAC before Kagame, Israeli's ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer said: "For the first time in years there is no daylight between our governments."

Israel insists a peace deal with the Palestinians can only come through direct negotiations between the parties, without outside diplomatic pressure, a position that Kagame fully endorsed.
Unilever Ghana was on Saturday adjudged the overall best Organization in HR Practice by the Institute of Human Resources, Management Practitioners, Ghana (IHRMP).

in addition, Unilever received the Best Organization in Learning & Development Practice award, Best Talent Management Strategy award and Best use of CSR in HR award.

Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL) received 3 awards as the Best Workplace Diversity Strategy award, Most Innovative Use of Technology award and Best Organization in Employee Relations Practice.

Graphic Communications Group Limited was adjudged the Best Organization in Recruitment and Selection award, while HFC Bank was awarded as the Most Successful Change Management Programme.

Other winners of the event that was held on March 25, 2017, at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel include Barclays Bank, which won two awards: Best Organization in Rewards Management Practice and the Best Organization in Performance Management.

The Head of HR of Tullow Oil Ghana, Mrs. Irene Asare won the Best HR Practitioner of the year, while, Ghana Prisons Service received an award as the most promising Public Sector Organization in the use of ICT.

In his statement at the function, the President of the IHRMP, Mr. John Wilson said the maiden CDH-Phoenix Ghana HR Star awards has been instituted to motivate HR Practitioners and Organizations in both Public and Private Sectors.

The relevance of this event is coincidentally ventilated by the Governments strategic direction as indicated by our President, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo in the State of the Nation Address delivered on 27th February 2017. He said, 'in the immediate term, targeted legislative policy and institutional reforms will have to be undertaken to unleash the suppressed potential of the economy and allow Ghanaians entrepreneurship to rise and thrive domestically and internationally. In recognition of these efforts to get the best out of our talent, the HR Star Awards and other similar Awards for Excellence are expected to drive the right behaviours to contribute to the growth of human capital, Mr. Wilson explained.

Photo: The Overall Best HR Organization of the year, Unilever Ghana displaying their awards

The Guest Speaker, Mr. Edward Briku-Boadu, the Chairman of National Labour Commission, speaking under the theme: Human Capital and National Development, urged HR Practitioners to take Training and Retraining of their workers seriously because it is a strategic component of human capital formation and it is firmly recognized in the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).

Under section 9 of the Act which prescribes the duties of an employer, it placed an obligation on the employer (section 9 (d) to develop the human resources by way of training and retraining of the workers. Similarly, under section 10 (c) of the Labour Act, it is the right of the worker to be trained and retrained for the development of skills. It is my hope that those of you who find yourselves directly involved in the day to day management of workers will strictly comply with these provisions in the Act, he added

The Chairman of the Planning Committee, Dr. Edward Kwapong, who is also the Vice-President of IHRMP, expressed delight and appreciation to various sponsors for making sure that the 1st Ghana HR Star Awards has been successfully done.

The event, which was attended by HR Practitioners, Governing Council members, Corporate bodies and the general public, was sponsored by CDH-Phoenix as headline sponsor. Other sponsors include GCB Bank, Tullow Oil Ghana, Ghana Water Company Ltd, Fidelity Bank, Unilever Ghana, South Akim Rural Bank, Raincoat Roofing Systems, Tema Lube Oil Company Ltd, Valco, Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited, Everpure Ghana Ltd and La Palm Royal Beach Hotel. Other media sponsors include Graphic Communications Group Limited, New Times Corporation, Multimedia, Daily Guide, Parliamentary News and Todays Newspaper.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | GN
Nairobi (AFP) - Six aid workers have been killed in an ambush in South Sudan, the UN said Sunday, in another blow to humanitarian efforts a country suffering from war-induced famine.

A humanitarian source told AFP the victims -- three Kenyans and three South Sudanese working for a local aid group -- were killed on Saturday as they travelled in convoy from the capital Juba to the eastern town of Pibor.

Unknown assailants stopped the car, forced them out and then they were "shot and killed," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Three years of civil war in South Sudan have seen warring parties deny access to aid, attack humanitarian workers and loot relief supplies.

It has also displaced about 2.5 million people and created a devastating humanitarian crisis, including a famine that has already affected 100,000 people and is threatening to reach up to a million.

"I am appalled and outraged by the heinous murder yesterday (Saturday) of six courageous humanitarians in South Sudan," said Eugene Owusu of the UN humanitarian agency OCHA in a statement.

"At a time when humanitarian needs have reached unprecedented levels, it is entirely unacceptable that those who are trying to help are being attacked and killed."

According to OCHA, it was the highest number of aid workers killed in a single incident since the conflict began in December 2013 in the world's youngest country.

David Shearer, the special representative of UN chief Antonio Guterres in South Sudan, said the killing took place in government-controlled territory and urged authorities to "investigate and apprehend the killers."

"This cold-blooded killing is utterly reprehensible, not least, because these aid workers were dedicated to alleviating the ongoing suffering of the people of South Sudan," he said in a statement.

79 aid workers killed

The ambush follows two other attacks on aid workers this month.

On March 14, a health worker and a patient were killed in an attack on a humanitarian convoy responding to a cholera outbreak in the central town of Yirol.

And four days earlier, local staff of an international NGO were detained by armed rebels and released four days later during fighting in the northern area of Mayendit, OCHA said.

The agency said at least 79 aid workers have been killed in South Sudan since December 2013.

This year alone, 12 have died and at least eight humanitarian convoys have been attacked.

Observers have accused the government of using starvation as a battlefield tactic.

A leaked report by UN investigators said last week it was no coincidence that areas afflicted by famine are opposition areas, home to mostly ethnic Nuer and controlled for the most part by rebels.

Michele Sison, deputy US representative to the UN, on Thursday told a Security Council meeting that the government's obstacles to humanitarian work in the famine-struck areas "may amount to deliberate starvation tactics."

'Peace, not food aid'

South Sudan's leaders fought for decades for independence, but once it was achieved in 2011, the fighting turned inward.

Map of South Sudan locating regions hit by famine and food shortages

A long-standing power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar sparked fighting in Juba in December 2013 which quickly turned into a wider conflict between Kiir's Dinka supporters and Machar's Nuer community.

Since then the fighting has spread across the country and among ethnic groups jockeying for political and military advantage and to protect their communities.

On Thursday, UN chief Guterres denounced "a refusal by the leadership to even acknowledge the crisis or to fulfil its responsibilities to end it".

Regional peace efforts have borne no fruit and the UN has been unable to push through an arms embargo.

According to OCHA some 7.5 million people in South Sudan are in need of humanitarian assistance.
The Minister for Gender and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba, over the weekend urged girls not to attract rape by wearing provocative clothing to the outrage of some Ghanaians.

During her opening address as the Co-Chairperson at the 90th anniversary and Speech and prize giving day for Krobo Girls Presbyterian Senior School, Madam Djaba intimated that girls' wearing short dresses could attract a rapist.

In conclusion, I want to say to you, be bold, be confident, be respectful. If you wear a short dress, it's fashionable but, know that it can attract somebody who would want to rape or defile you. You must be responsible for the choices you make, she said.

Madam Djaba also had some words for teachers who sexually assaulted girls saying it is an abuse of their rights and you are their role model you must not be the one to abuse the rights of the young girls, she stated.

But her correlation between rape and girls dressing rubbed some Ghanaians the wrong way with many taking to social media to express their displeasure with the Gender Minister with a number of them questioning her logic and others accusing her of victim blaming and shaming.

Some have called on the president to remove her from her position as her comments suggest women are responsible for preventing rape, which they consider a crime borne out of violence and power.

This is would not the first time the minister has provoked the ire of the public. Recently, her delay in condemning the violent sexual attack on a woman suspected in Kumasi also angered many.

Some also noted that Madam Djabas comments were backwards, irresponsible and reflected badly on the Akufo-Addo government.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Paramount Chief of Abola Piam, Nii Ayitey Anumle Oyanka II

27.03.2017 LISTEN

The paramount chief of Abola Piam We in the Greater Accra Region, Nii Ayitey Anumle Oyanka II, has rewarded two police officers with parcels of land, for exhibiting professionalism in directing traffic on the popular Accra-Nsawam highway.

For several years now the stretch between the Taifa junction to Pokuase has always posed a headache to motorists who ply the road due to congestion that kept motorist moving at snail pace.

However, with the transfer of Corporal Mark Boateng and Samuel Afukaah to direct traffic, the duo have with a stroke of ingenuity managed to divert the traffic from ACP junction to Pokuase Junction which has eased the movement of vehicles in the area and more importantly on the Accra-Nsawam highway.

Speaking at a ceremony to present the land to the officers in the Ga West District, Nii Anumle Oyanka II praised the officers for their show of patriotism and professionalism in discharging their national duty as policemen.

He said "when other officers are in the comfort of their air-conditioned offices enjoying, these two would always be on duty controlling the traffic".

He described the officers as heroes who stand daily in the hot and scorching sun controlling traffic to ensure that motorists get to their destination quickly and safely.

Nii Anumle Oyanka II who is popular for his humanitarian endeavours in the Obilieman Opah and Obola Piam We communities promised to provide further assistance to the officers to make their work comfortable.

The chief called on the Inspector General of Police and other stakeholders in the security services to recognize the officers for other personnel to emulate their exemplary actions for a better Ghana.
Under no circumstance should you ever commit suicide even if your peer pressure, your culture, your failures, life situations, exam results, medical issues, court issues, admissions, setbacks, breach of confidence among others or your society dictate you to do so.

In recent years, it is very alarming that there is incessant increase of suicides menace among Ghanaians especially the youth in the country in which there is the needs to be checked to save souls because In the past if you heard someone attempting suicide or committing suicide, its a 40, 50 or 60 year old person. Now 11, 12 13 year olds are attempting suicide according to the Chief Executive of the Mental Health Authority, Dr. Akwesi Osei.

Just last 6th march, 2017 we celebrated our 60th anniversary as a country to commemorate our founding fathers for their immense contribution towards our independence and the development of our nation Ghana.

The question here is, what are we doing so that in future, that generation can also celebrate for? It seems like our future leaders who will be the custodian to our country in future, are now killing themselves through suicide which endangers our generational heritage and development as a country.

The reason being that the increasing rate at which Ghanaian youth involved in suicide incidents is becoming rampant and therefore setting alarm bells for immediate pragmatic action to be taken in order to curb the spate in a sense that according to the Network for Anti-suicide and Crisis Prevention reveal that about 531 youngsters between the ages of 9 and 19 kill themselves over a year through suicide which is unacceptable by a developing country like Ghana.

THE CURRENT SUICIDE CASES IN THE COUNTRY

It seems the situation is becoming out of hand in a sense that within two weeks, I can make reference to several of such terrible and disheartens incidents like the 18-year-old petrochemical engineering student of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Adwoa Anyimadu-Antwi who was the daughter of an MP at Asanti Akim Central Constituency who left a suicide note with her alleged own hand writing apologizing to her parents for not living up to their standard On February 28, 2017, that was published in the newspapers.

According to Hon. Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi the father, in expressing his disappointment about the daughters suicide incident said, As of now, I have tried hard to find answers to the puzzle as to why my daughter could die in such a tragic manner because we provided everything for her and make sure she was always happy. She was my best friend.

We can also refer to Barbara Asante from Akim Tafo a junior high school student of the Child of Hope Preparatory School at Akyem Osiem in the Eastern Region who also committed suicide that was published in Daily Graphic on 11th March, 2017, Babara Asante was found hanging from a rope in the kitchen of her familys residence at Akim Tafo that brought wretchedness on the people of Tafo and the country as a whole for a 15 year girl to die in that state.

Moreover, a level 400 student of the University of Ghana, Jennifer Nyarko who felt to her death after jumping from the fourth floor of Akuafo Hall residence on March 8, 2017 morning incidents also come to mind with a similar shocking heartrending scene.

We cannot also fail to recall another similar incident of suicide at Ashaiman Jericho Municipality of the Greater Accra Region where a man, believed to be in his thirties, was found hanging on a neem tree (Botanical Name:Azadirachta indica ) at a site near the Ashaiman irrigation development area.

In another related development, a 30 year old driver james Ayiem, who was also found hanging on a mango tree (Botanical Name: Mangifera indica) near Presbyterian Church at peace town at half-Assini in the Western Region.

It is also impossible to eliminate another suicide incident that occurred at a resident of Ekye Amanfrom in the eastern region where her name was only given as Leticia in the current rampant suicides in the country now.

In conclusion I can emphatically state that within only two weeks at least seven suicide incidents has been committed in the different location within the country which is extremely alarming and frustrating for a country to lose such royal human resource with such a shortest possible time that needs to be checked.

CAUSES OF SUICIDES

Then, here comes the question of the causes of such an evil phenomenon comes in mind. Some spectators have attributed this unacceptable phenomenon to the media that the media is the culprit in this matter that the news of suicide is certainly newsworthy and in their reportage, they use language that sensationalizes or normalized suicide as well as using explicit description of methods used in suicide, that served as a form of educating public on how to cause suicide.

They added that the media did not exercise caution in using photograph or video footages and also did not take a particular care in reporting celebrity suicide whilst in a related development, did not provide information about where to seek help in that critical situation in their reportage.

Another guideline of World Health Organization in preventing suicide for media professionals is to avoid prominent placements and undue repetitions of stories about suicide and avoiding detailed information about the site of completed or attempted suicides.

Others have an opinion that there is lack of centers for troubled teenagers to go and seek help even when they express such a suicidal tendencies.

Others observed that youth unemployment, adolescent victims of physical and sexual abuse, and conflicts of parents with the law and physical disability of the teenagers are also a contributing factor. In addition, failure in examination and the feeling of being despised by friends and blood relations also lead to teenage suicide.

There are also some causes of teenage suicide which has been noted in several research works, including the separation of parents, divorce leading to break up of family, intimate relationships with partners against parental wishes, loss of intimate friends or close relative in the family, alcoholism, frequent quarrels in the family, Confusion about who to see and what advice to take especially in religious practices for example is also a contributing factor. For example there are certain issues instead of going to see a doctor, one will go and see a pastor and vice versa.

According to Dr Dan-Bright Dzorgbo, Head of the Sociology Department of the University of Ghana also attributed the causes of suicide as a result of social inequality due to the wide gap between the rich and the poor and explained that even though Ghana could be classified as a lower middle-income country, only few people in the country were economically satisfied, leaving majority to wallow in abject poverty.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SUICIDE

From the Biblical perspective, there are eight suicides mentioned in the Old Testament, two in the Apocrypha, and one in the New Testament. But, none of the passages in the Bible, describing these suicides, makes any adverse comments on the morality of these acts. Throughout the New Testament, there are frequent reminders to the faithful that earthly life is of little importance (for example, I put no value on my life, Paul tells us in Acts 20.24). Unfortunately, a religion which preaches that life on this planet is a vale of tears, a prelude to a better afterlife, would seem to be inviting its adherents to kill themselves. In fact, suicide among the early Christians became increasingly popular and began to threaten the very existence of the Christian Church. Therefore, in the fourth century AD, persuaded by the arguments of Augustine, a strict prohibition of suicide was adopted and, it became a mortal sin.

Taking ancient times also into consideration, suicide was not regarded as a cultural taboo. The Ancient Egyptians saw suicide as a means of dying to end both physical and emotional suffering. Socrates was the first individual to discuss the morality surrounding suicide and no specific judgment was attached to this form of death. The increasing social stigma tied to suicide was more obvious as a result of religious, civil and criminal persecutions, during the middle ages. The proper burial of a person who committed suicide was not allowed and the custom of disgracing the body of the deceased was a common practice. Other practices included dragging the body in the streets, placing the head on a pole outside the city as warning to others, or for animals to feed. During the next era of the Renaissance, as well as during the 17th 15 and 18th centuries, the rise of intellectual currents challenged the ancient views and attitudes towards suicide. Suicide became a matter of interest and many writers like Shakespeare reminded society that suicide was a part of everyday life.

In the 21st Century, suicide has become offensive, intolerable and unendurable around the globe and therefore, a pragmatic measures should put in place to curb such disheartening Phenomenon in our society especially at this era in Ghana, where this menace seem to be extremely escalated among our youth.

THE CURBING STRATEGIES

The burden of suicide does not weigh solely on the health sector; it has multiple impacts on many sectors in society as a whole. Thus, to start a successful journey towards the prevention of suicide, Ghana should employ a multi sectorial approach that addresses suicide in a comprehensive manner.

The Ministry of Health has a critical role to play in providing leadership and in bringing together stakeholders from other sectors in the country to help coordinate across sectors including education, public and private media, justice, labour, social welfare, religion, transportation and agriculture to effectively engage them in suicide prevention activities to curb suicide in Ghana.

The way forward is to act together, and the time to act is now and therefore, I call upon all stakeholders to make suicide prevention an imperative in all action plans in Ghana because every single life lost to suicide is one too many of us as citizens.

What I know is that Suicides are preventable and for national responses to be effective, a comprehensive multi-sectorial suicide prevention strategy is needed. An effective strategy for preventing suicides and suicide attempts is to restrict access to the most common means, including pesticides, firearms and certain medications and therefore Ghana Health Services needs to incorporate suicide prevention as a core component in its all activities to cub the situation.

Mental disorders and harmful use of alcohol contribute too many suicides around the world including Ghana and early identification and effective management are keys to ensure that people receive the care they needed from depression.

In other words, Communities must also play a critical role in suicide prevention and they can provide social support to vulnerable individuals and engage in follow-up care, fight stigma and support those bereaved by suicide.

It is also important to strengthen the guidance and counseling units in every education institution by the government in order to compromise effective intermittent counseling services to students and also the religious bodies should incorporate counseling and guidance to their congregation periodically to manage depression among members.

The parent and guidance who served as a direct agent of socialization should always pay extreme attention to their wards and they should become their friends at home so that the affection, love and cooperation will serve as a sense of belongingness and certain disturbing and pressing personal issues can also be shared to deter the rate of suicidal incidents.

The entire country should also send this to prayers since prayers can remove mountains and all obstacles because there is a believe that some of this menace has a spiritual connotations for the protection of God as Hon. Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi the father of Adwoa Anyimadu-Antwi said. One thing I have learnt from the death of my daughter is that this unfortunate incident could happen to anybody or any family and that as parents we need to constantly pray for our children in school so that such things do not befall them, .

By Abraham Frank Eshun

[email protected]/[email protected]
27.03.2017 LISTEN

The Glory of God is Our God Himself Who has assured Christians with His presence in them through the Holy Spirit and His Glory which goes with those who serve and worship with their lives, through Psalms, Songs of Praise, and hymns. This includes the disciples who continue to learn and stays with Jesus Christ day by day and night by night selflessly. When such people appear or when you meet them there is an undisputed evidence of the presence of God with them.

What comes out of mouths is also evident enough. He God makes them look so to the world as Jesus Christ gives us the ability and charisma to attract many to God by any simple means.It is different from those who tricks people or their followers for the flock of God knows who are the true servants of God hears the voice of God in such persons.

Acts 7:2 ...The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia...

(3) And said to him, Come out from your land and from your relatives, and come into the land which I will show you.

(4) Then he came forth...

Matt 4:19 And He said to them, Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.

(20) And immediately leaving the nets, they followed Him.

The first aspect of the motive and strength to accept God's calling was God's appearing. If I were to come to you, it would mean nothing because I am nothing. If the president of the United States or our Royal Highness were to pay you a personal visit, you would be very excited. Probably you would be unable to sleep for a whole night. But who came to visit Abraham? The God of glory.

In Matthew, we are told that as Jesus walked by the sea of Galilee He called Peter, Andrew, James, and John. The Lord Jesus simply said to them, Follow Me, and they followed Him. For many years I was unable to understand this. The little Jesus of Nazareth spoke the words, Follow Me, and they followed Him. I did not understand this until one day I noticed that the Jesus who walked by the sea of Galilee was a great light (Matt. 4:16). Peter, Andrew, James, and John were all attracted by that great light. When Jesus looked at them and called them, they were attracted to Him.

Apparently, the One who called them was a poor Nazarene; actually, He was the God of glory. Likewise, the God of glory appeared to Abraham in the land of demons. I believe that, in principle, we all

have experienced such an appearing. When you are blessed with such appearance you need not do anything just be yourself for God to let you look extraordinary to anyone you can to come to Jesus Christ, not yourself.

SHALOM I PRAY SUFFICE US ALWAYS TO LIGHT THE WAY FOR OTHERS IN CHRIST JESUS AMEN.
The Leadership of the newly launched Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs-West Africa (CAYE-WA) paid a courtesy call to the Presidency of Ghana. The group led by the Program Manager of Commonwealth Secretariat-Youth Division and CEO of National Youth Authority was received by the Vice President at around 5:20 pm.

The CEO of NYA thanked the VEEP for his reception and introduced the team.

Mr. Sushil Ram, Programme Manager, Youth Division at Commonwealth Secretary threw more lights on the Alliance. He indicated that, The Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (CAYE) is an initiative of the Commonwealth Secretariat which seeks to strengthen and support the ambitions of young entrepreneurs throughout the Commonwealth of Nations. These regional networks ensure they have a combined voice and representation at fora to influence policy development on youth entrepreneurship.

The West African Regional chapter which was launched yesterday in Ghana seeks to champion the cause of young entrepreneurs at the national and regional levels, through its engagement with Governments, the Media, the Public, and other relevant Stakeholders. It will commit to achieving measurable progress towards the development of youth entrepreneurship and innovation within West African sub region.

The Inaugural elected Regional Coordinator of CAYE-WA, Mr. Bernard Oduro Takyi from Ghana and a leading Member of Ghana Entrepreneurs Club (GEC) also commended the Vice President for his warm reception. He added that it will be prudent if Ghana comes out with a working Youth Entrepreneurship Policy that will champion the cause of young entrepreneurs. He also call on the Vice President to leverage on the fact that, Ghana is the Gateway to Africa to push policies within the West African sub Region. I am very happy with the many interventional projects stated in your budget and I so much believe that your government will do wonders when it comes to Youth Entrepreneurship as stipulated in the 2017 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Ghana under Job Creation. We therefore call for a more strategic partnership and cooperation from the Government to enable us create this unique platform for Young Entrepreneurs to accelerate business growth.

H.E Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia congratulated the team and thanked the Queen for such a wonderful Initiative. He stated that unemployment across the globe is dominantly a youth problem. Policy must therefore focus on improving the youth socioeconomic conditions. The government however is not the only major actor to solve this, hence the promotion of youth entrepreneurship.

In the same light, the business environment must become friendly across the continent. By so doing, reducing the cost of entering into and doing business is key to youth enterprise. Tax polishing and abolishing has become Ghana's disruptive innovation technique towards a thriving youth economy. Tax collection has simply been shifted to employment taxes where people freely create employment by developing industry in a tax friendly environment, and then the Government will get tax from the salaries of the employees.

Our government is abolishing taxes on all raw material imports, machinery and spare parts to encourage foreign and domestic investments. 70% OF GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT, is allocated to local enterprises, of which 30% allocated to youth enterprises. Ghana is implementing a digital address system to facilitate the digitization of the entire economy" This will go a long way in promoting youth enterprises.

Our young people are just amazing, they blow me away with their world class innovations in technology and other fields. We need to give them a platform to redefine the future of our continent. We are excited about the future only because of the youth.

The delegation had an equal representation from four member Commonwealth Nations within the West African Sub Region; Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Cameroon.

Mr. Bernard Oduro Takyi  Regional Coordinator, CAYE-WA

National Coordinators:

Cameroon

Mr Gabriel Mokate Ashu-Arrey  Global Entrepreneurship Corps

Mr Dominique Yakan Brand  Kiroo Games

Ghana:

Mr Sherif Ghali  Ghanas Young Entrepreneurs

Mr David Boakye Danquah  Ghana Entrepreneurs Club

Nigeria:

Ms Andidiong Okon  Andies Candies

Mr Olalekan Oshunkoya  Alliance of Young Nigerian Entrepreneurs (AYNE)

Sierra Leone:
I am shocked, that of all the trials our women have to endure in our chauvinist society, our gender minister, of all people, should find it necessary to justify the raping of women, if they just happen to be wearing a skirt an inch or so too short. And Ghanaian society, including women groups, have all kept quiet about it.

Who decides who qualifies to be raped in our country? Where is the law on what length of skirt a woman has to wear?. How many inches above the knee should our womens' skirts be, in order that our kind horny gentlemen would have mercy on them and not rape them, Madam Gender Minister?

Rape is a criminal offence, almost at par with murder. Women have committed suicide or led lives of misery after being raped. Nobody in their right minds would condone such an act simply because a man happens to be offended by a woman's dress. With all due respect, we are not goats sniffing pheromones in the street. We are human beings capable of self control and of looking away if we don't like what we see.The emphasis should be on educating men to understand, that rape is a criminal offense and there is no justification whatsoever for it

Suppose, just for the sake of argument, that I was offended by men wearing long beards. Would I be justified in attacking them physically. Would our minister make a law on what length of beard men could wear in order that they were not attacked?

Recently, an Assembly in Ghana passed a law, that men who impregnated school girls would be fined 350 gh. Sex with an underage girl is a criminal offence. Are we legalizing paedophilia in Ghana for those who happen to have the right amount of cash? I have not heard the minister say a word about that. That is how lowly we regard our women.

The things that should offend Ghanaians should be the rampant corruption even as we speak the best tongues in the world. We should be offended by the rampant galamsey destroying our environment. We should be offended by the open defaecation and the dumping of untreated sewage in the sea and leave our poor women alone. They have enough to contend with as it is.

This is the kind of nonsense we'll get when we appoint semi-illiterate political buffoons like Otiko as ministers. And I'm not going to apologize for that. It's political talk.

Papa Appiah

[email protected]
Lithurs letter made me sneeze three times on Sunday morning. She must have laced it with jalapeno pepper and ginger. I could feel it, I could smell it, and I could taste its recipe. The message depicts a worried citizen----seeking protection for her inalienable rights, like someone lost in the woods trying to find her way home amid encircling gloom.

It portrays a peace-loving people seemingly losing their peaceful habitat to a group that mimics the zombies. The language was carefully crafted using emotive plea and civility at the same time hammering home her core message.

Protect our right to security, our right to human dignity and preserve the rule of law in Ghana. Freedom and Justice, screamed the letter.

Lithurs letter brings to memory the famous line perhaps every preschooler and elementary school pupil often say when one wants to attend to natures call. Please teacher or Madam may I go out

Mr. President, Minister of Interior, National Security Advisor, please address with urgency, the operation of vigilante groups and the unlawful extra judicial unorthodox methods being used by the Invincible Forces, Delta Force and other vigilante groups to seek justice or address issues in Ghana, wrote the former Minister of Gender Children and Social Protection Nana Oye Lithur .

Indeed, Lithurs letter reminds me of a piece I wrote some weeks back concerning vigilante groups operation in Ghana.

At the time it was the Invisible or Invincible group of the NPP. A member of the said group was alleged to have manhandled a guard at the Flagstaff House. And today we have a sister group--Delta Force which purportedly forced itself or invaded the Ashanti regional security office on Friday 24 March 2017.

Is it how we are shaping our democracy?

Not long ago the president spoke about this troubling issue. His demeanor said it all. He wasnt happy at all about the activities of these vigilante groups.

It appears these events are predicated on some concept of equalisation, as they happened in 2009 and were repeated in 2017. I condemn all such conduct and call on all political parties especially NPP and NDC to ensure that this the last time such undignified acts occur during our periods of transition, President Akufo-Addo said.

Did they get that call? I m afraid it seems his call didnt resonate. We are rather witnessing an emboldened group whose activities are undermining the very principles of our entrenched laws and our fledgling democracy. And when must we say enough is enough. I think its about time the mandated state institutions--- security agencies cracked the whip. The police must ensure that the actions of these groups are thwarted and if possible crashed before they grow wings like the Right-wing paramilitary groups in Columbia --the armed groups that claim to be acting in opposition to revolutionary Marxists-Leninist guerrilla forces and their allies among the civilian population.

Thats how Boko Haram in neighbouring Nigeria started. And thats how even most political parties begin. They start as movements and pressure groups. Therefore, we must be careful we dont raise an army of wolves thinking we are tendering sheep.

Lithurs letter seems to suggest that government is sleeping and perhaps out of touch with reality.

The forceful removal of a lawfully appointed public official was violent and blood was shed, with Government property being destroyed. This adds on to the list of forceful seizure and management of state property, that is, the Kintampo Falls tourist facility, seizure of toll booths, seizure of vehicles etc.

There have been numerous reports of extra judicial and unlawful violent acts by these groups. Ghanaians are peace loving and law abiding. We have been sustained as a nation by respect for the rule of law. We do not want this violence to escalate; neither do we want this situation to degenerate.

What do we do with the groups: Integrate or disintegrate them?

Some have argued that they must be integrated into the regular security services in the country, for example, the military, the police, the prisons, the immigration and the fire services. It is believed this would help mitigate the morbid agitations and violence being orchestrated by the groups. Those for integration also think that leaving them at the mercy of the world could cost the nation. They hold the view that there would be crime wave. Armed robbery, murders and other social vices could reach an alarming proportion, which would in the long run have a toll on the countrys security.

However, those against think the earlier theyre (the vigilante groups) disintegrated the better. Crash them and ban them, they suggest.

Well, I dont know if that method would work to the hilt. This is Ghana its hard to trust our politicians--- be they the NDC or the NPP. Remember when the Supreme Court ordered the police and valuators to go to NDC bankroller Woyomes residence? You know what happened.

There could yet be a third rail, i.e getting the young ones in the group some education. The argument is that most of these members are not educated; if true how do you integrate them into say the police or the military. You would end up putting a square peg in a round hole. Or worse still enlisting crooks and lootees into the regular services.

Public Reactions

The Fridays onslaught by the Delta Force has sparked a huge reaction from the public. A social commentator Sydney Casely-Hayford has expressed this sentiments. It boggles my mind. I do not understand how something like this should go on. At least someone should be in jail and we should look forward to their prosecution We are too close now to allowing all of this to continue and I am very disappointed in government that after two, three days of this happening, there doesnt seem to be any attempt to try and deal with these groups.

People invading political party headquarters with cutlasses and machetes and fighting among themselves and nobody is arrested? This is where it is all going wrongBecause we think it is politically not going to help us, we will not do the right thing. It is too much. I am tired of it.

Reacting to the attack the Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako condemned the attack on the newly appointed Ashanti Region Security Coordinator but says the newly created office flouts the constitution.

According to him the existing Regional Security Council, which is made up of an assembly of Executive appointees, security personnel, and civilians, is sanctioned by law and would serve the same purpose as the newly created office.

Where is the legal basis? Where is the legal regime? he questioned of the regional security coordinator office. It is not clear what the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator has been tasked to do, but the name suggests a planner of security activities of sorts.

However, Mr. Baako thinks the membership of the constitutionally recognised Regional Security Council is well thought out and adequate for the purpose of linking the local government to the central government on security issues.

Also a member of the Ashanti regional communications team of the NDC Francis Dodovi has wondered why Delta Forces will besiege a place like the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council (ARCC) and conduct themselves in the manner they did wondering if President Nana Akufo-Addo has not already started sleeping on the job.

O how I wish our politicians would stop groping in broad daylight. Stop pretending that wrong is right and right is wrong. Rather they should be bold and call spade a spade. They must stop defending the indefensible, stop signing petitions to free contemnors and thugs under the guise that all is well and cool. ..Because they very often behave like a selfish mother:

See, the love of a good mother to her child never wavers. It doesnt matter whether s/he is young or old, good or bad. Also its only the mother who understands her child better, if for example hes a brat. And even though she knows her child is a nuisance to society theres still that love, that bond and that selfish element that cling on.

Its like an umbilical cord she cant let go until the babys born. Still the mothers love will live on and the bond will be solidified. The child could be a thief, an armed robber, a murderer, a monster, a nincompoop or a first-class rogue the womb that bore that child will stand by him.

But she must consider this: She must learn not to condone crime or overlook evil-doing perpetrated by her adorable child. She must learn to let go that selfish element (that shepherds the brat kid) just as she allowed the umbilical cord to be severed during birth or delivery.

There should be a time a mother must let her child know she cannot continue to be selfish while society is plunged into a sea of disorder and violence. She must let the child know that when he commits the crime he must as well be ready to serve the time. Thats a far cry for being unloved or breaking an existing bond. Thats called tough love.

He who pays the piper calls the tune. The rogue child must learn to accept responsibility and be aware that he cannot take society for a ride. Also he must learn that his right to movement, his right to speak, his right to form a group or a movement doesnt infringe upon ones rights and freedom.
The Minister for Gender and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba has admonished students of Krobo Girls Presbyterian Senior High School not to allow men to make them pregnant while they are still in school.

Delivering her opening remarks as the Co-Chairperson at the 90th anniversary and Speech and prize giving day of Krobo Girls Presbyterian Senior School, the minister said the girls should focus on their studies and not allow themselves to be impregnated which could end their education.

The teachers who impregnate girls, this is a serious warning to you. It is an abuse of their rights and you are their role model you must not be the one to abuse the rights of the young girls. We must also put an end to child marriage, she stated.

She continued: We want to initiate a mentoring program; a girls-girls leadership program in all the schools, from basic to tertiary and as well as within the communities to ensure that we know our rights and we understand what it is to be a woman who is an equal partner in society, no longer women behind but side by side with our men as equal partners.

In conclusion, I want to say to you, be bold, be confident, be respectful. If you wear a short dress, its fashionable but know that it can attract somebody who would want to rape or defile you. You must be responsible for the choices you make.
Several Nigerian politicians have been involved in certificate scandal at one time or the other, so it is nothing new.

Two days ago, President Muhammadu Buhari decried the spate of cheating in examination and attainment of fake certificates among Nigerians.

According to him, it had become a normal thing because of the collapse of values in the society.

Legit.ng brings you a list of some Nigerian politicians who have been involved in certificate scandal.

1. President Muhammadu Buhari:

Nigerians will never forget the Buhari certificate saga during the build up to the 2015 presidential election. Reports had claimed that the president did not have a valid WAEC certificate as he allegedly did not include his 1961 Cambridge West African School Certificate (WASC) certificate in the binder of documents he tendered to the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) as required for candidates in an election. It got more controversial when the military said it did not have the document in its possession.

READ ALSO: 6 most wanted people in Nigeria by the EFCC (photos)

Buhari was mercilessly trolled by some Nigerians over allegations that the he did possess a WAEC certificate

Also, an Abuja based legal practitioner, Nnamdi Nwokocha-Ahaaiwe, challenged the educational qualification. He dragged Buhari to court, saying he was not qualified to run for the office of the president.

Buhari came under harsh criticisms as some Nigerians faulted him for refusing to produce his certificate.

2. Dino Melaye

This is the most recent certificate scandal and it has been trending for days. The controversy started after Sahara Reporters reported that he did not graduate from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria as he claimed. The Senate is investigating Melaye over claims that he may have forged the certificate with which he ran for the legislative seat.

READ ALSO: Paris Club refund: Presidency releases details, SEE how much each state got

3. Sabo Garba

Sabo Garba allegedly forged his certificate to enable contest in the election

In 2016, documents emerged, showing that Garba, a member of the House of Representatives from Yobe state, forged his education certificate to enable him to be eligible to run for the legislative seat. This became public during a fierce legal battle with him and Ali Yakubu, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) contending for same seat.

4. Bola Tinubu

Tinubu was involved in a certificate scandal during his first tenure as Lagos state governor

During his first tenure as governor of Lagos state between 1999 and 2003, the national leader of the APC was prosecuted by late human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, over certificate forgery. However, he was saved by the brilliance and firmness of former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo who is now the vice president.

5. Dickson Tarkighir

Tarkighir dismissed the report, describing it as a figment of the writer's imagination

In 2016, the member representing Makurdi/Guma federal constituency at the House of Representatives was listed among federal lawmakers who got elected into the Nigerian parliament during the 2015 general elections with either Secondary School Certificates or Grade-II Teachers Certificates as their highest educational qualification. But he dismissed the report as a figment of the writers imagination.

READ ALSO: Buhari spits fire, threatens to deal with politicians with fake certificates

6. Abdulrazak Nuhu Bature

In 2012, the University of Jos through its registrar, Jilli-Dandam, Danjuma had urged the National Assembly to disregard Batures claim that he attended the institution. In a petition dated November 12, and addressed to the speaker of the House of Reps, Aminu Tambuwal,124 members of his constituents called for an investigation into alleged certificate forgery against a member,

7. Salisu Buhari

Salisu Buhari who was the speaker of the House of Reps during the fourth assembly resigned following the allegations

During the 4th assembly, Salisu Buhari was accused of certificate forgery. Shortly after members of the House of Representatives elected him as speaker, it was discovered that he contested and won election using a forged university degree certificate purportedly obtained from the University of Toronto, Canada, and had also lied about his age. He broke down in tears when he resigned following the allegations of forgery.

Legit.ng was on the streets of Lagos and they met the man in the video below who said 98% of Nigerians are animals.

Source: Legit.ng
IP is gr-r-reat!

A commitment to commission research on how institutions commercialise their IP, looking licensing and spin outs, and how practices vary between different institutions (institution here generally meaning universities)

their IP, looking licensing and spin outs, and how practices vary between different institutions (institution here generally meaning universities) A commitment to reviewing how the IP system maximises incentives for collaboration and licensing

and New IPO representatives in the the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine

in the the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine The role of IP in innovative public procurement

The independent review in to the UK creative industries which will include the role of IPR





Non-UK readers may curious as to the "Northern Powerhouse" and "Midlands Engine." Every good economic spin needs a catchy name (Asian Tigers, [Merpel is very upset the UK monikers are no longer of the feline persuasion. She suggests instead the Northern Panther and Midlands Manx.] Northern Powerhouse refers to the economies of the North England cities of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle; The strategy has popped up in multiple IP and research discussions in recent weeks. A key theme has been that there remain key challenges in understanding how IP works in practice, such as commercialisation and licensing. The role of IP in university spin-outs is a long-standing problem; a problem that is perhaps dwarfed by the challenges of making such start-ups/spin-outs survive. There are also multiple criticisms that the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund , which will launch with 270M to fund research on AI, robotics, nuclear energy, manufacturing and others, is noticeably lacking a human side.Non-UK readers may curious as to the "Northern Powerhouse" and "Midlands Engine." Every good economic spin needs a catchy name ( see Celtic Tiger ).Northern Powerhouse refers to the economies of the North England cities of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle; Midlands Engine is the economy of the area between the South of England and the North. The focus on these areas is likely in recognition of the need to decentralise the UK economy away from London, although Scotland, North Ireland and Wales do not seem to have received the same treatment.





It is hard to view the strategy without considering the political context. The uncertainty surrounding Brexit, and its impact on labour and skills, in addition to pending questions on international trade agreements, mean that domestic innovation and industry are more important than ever. Government investments and tax credits form part of industrial strategy and may be key in keeping and attracting multinational corporations. It is too early to tell if the industrial strategy is anticipating direct Brexit implications on IP.





The call for responses to the consultation on the industrial strategy closes April 17th

As the policy wheels turn, the UK government is consulting on its industrial strategy . The strategy is the government's plan for developing innovation and encouraging economic growth. The launch is just the start; what follows next is a whole host of consultations and discussions on how the plan will translate into practice.IP, unsurprisingly, has a role to play. There are multiple direct references to IP in the strategy:
- Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state has finally opened up on the controversial memo he wrote to President Muhammdu Buahri

- He said he will continue to do memos whenever he sees anything wrong in Buhari's government

- He also noted that he was not aware how the memo was leaked to media

Some days after his memo written to President Muhammadu Buhari leaked to the media, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state has finally revealed why he authored the controversial memo.

President Muhammadu Buhari

In an interview conducted by Daily Trust, Mallam El-Rufai said that the memo was sent to the president to right some wrongs in his administration.

Legit.ng reports that El-Rufai said he was compelled to write the memo because he felt that people close the president could not tell him the bitter truth he would like to hear.

READ ALSO: Dino Melayes Bachelor of Arts certificate fake - ABU Dino Melayes Bachelor of Arts certificate fake - ABU

First of all, let me say that this is not the first memo I have written to the president. From the time I began to interact politically with him in 2010, anytime I saw a situation requiring advice or change in direction, I usually went to discuss with him. I always said, I will go and reduce it to writing so you can have a document to reflect upon and decide and guide your action.

This is not even the tenth memo I have written to the president. I have probably written more than 20 memos. I did this at various stages  from our days in the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), before the 2011 elections, after the 2011 elections and during the merger process. I have always felt that my duty to him as my political leader is to pick up what he doesnt hear because as a lower person, I get to hear more about what is going on. And if I see things going wrong, I have duty to go to him and say, This is what I have heard, the facts I have established and my advice on the way forward.

They are all problem-solving memos, they identify problems, analyse them and propose solutions. So, this is the spirit of all my memoranda to the president from 2010 till date.

READ ALSO: London School of Economic denies Melaye attended institution

I wrote this memo because I felt very strongly at that time that many things were not working as planned. I was part of All Progressives Congress (APC) Strategic Planning Committee. I am one of the authors of the manifesto; I was part of the 34 people that signed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) document to register the party. So, I consider the APC as one of my children. I know the dream we had and the very high expectations our people had in Buharis government. And I am close enough to the president to know what he is committed to in terms of social justice and progress. I see the people that have been trusted to drive the agenda are not doing it.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state

They are focused on other things that what is Buharism. And I am a Buharist. I believe in the man, I gave the last seven years of my life working with him and knowing him. From the time we worked with Obasanjos government, Oby Ezekwesil and I would always go and confront him when we see something going wrong. When it required writing, we would write to him. This is how I have been. I feel that the duty of every subordinate is to tell the truth to his superior and the superior can take a decision.

I saw these things going on and decided that I would have a comprehensive discussion with him. I raised many issues in the memo in the previous discussions with him because every once in a while I go to the president with my list of issues.

When I visited him in Daura during last sallah in the company of Pastor Tunde Bakare, his running mate in the 2011 presidential election, I shared some of the items on the memo with him, So three of us sat with the president and went through the first draft memo. We looked at it and debated. He gave his views about some aspects of the memo. This was about seven months ago.

I have done my bit. I have put on the record what I think is not going the right way. It is the presidents call to move the agenda forward. If you look at some aspects of the memo, you would see that he has begun implementing some.

Asked why the memo was leaked to the media, Mallam El-Rufai said that he didnt know how it became the public property, adding that if had wanted it to be made public he would have done so before now.

READ ALSO: Dino Melaye spits fire, vows to send SaharaReporters publisher to jail

He said: As I said, I have written several memos to the president. This is the first one that has leaked. I can state categorically that I didnt leak it. If I did, I would say so. I wrote the memo, its my memo, I could have made it public if I chose to, but I did not.

Source: Legit.ng
While growing up, there were usually three professions extolled by the average Nigerian parent. They either wanted their children to be doctors, engineers or lawyers. Sometimes this dream did not come to pass.

Why a lawyer? The favorite reasons were and still are: money, power and the prestige that come with having a lawyer as a child. Apparently, there is money in the law profession.

Legit.ng recently gathered the names and a little background information on the wealthiest lawyers in Nigeria. Below are their names according to a website on law and lawyers in Nigeria known as Lawrepository.

1. Tunde Folawiyo

Tunde Folawiyo has been featured on Forbes Magazine

Mr Tijani Babatunde Folawiyo popularly known as Tunde Folawiyo is a lawyer and a businessman. He is the managing director of Yinka Folawiyo Group and director of MTN Nigeria. According to Forbes, he has an estimated net worth of $650 million.

2. John Olatunde Ayeni

John Olatunde Ayeni is also the chairman of Skye bank and worth millions of dollars

John Olatunde Ayeni was born on April 4, 1967. He is a Nigerian lawyer, investor and business magnate. He holds board positions on companies throughout Nigeria.

In 2011, Ayeni became chairman of Skye Bank, which was formed in 2005 when five commercial banks merged to create a new entity with a balance sheet in excess of 1 trillion. He is currently worth about $600 million.

3. Adewumi Ogunsanya SAN

Ogunsanya who is the chairman of Multichoice Nigeria is also on the board of Heritage Bank

Source: UGC

Mr Ogunsanya is a managing partner in the law firm of Ogunsanya & Ogunsanya and he is one of the newest senior advocates in Nigeria.

He is also the chairman of several companies like Smile Nigeria, Trocadero Group of Companies, Multichoice Nigeria and a host of others.

Mr Ogunsanya who is a board member of Heritage Bank is reportedly worth over over $250 million.

READ ALSO: Kanus lawyer writes Buhari, demands the release of IPOB leader

4. Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim

Jimoh Ibrahim once contested for governor of Ondo state

Jimoh Ibrahim was born on February 24, 1967, same year as Mr Ayeni. He is a lawyer, politician, businessman, and philanthropist.

He is the chairman of Global Fleet Group, which controls such companies as Air Nigeria, NICON Insurance, Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation, NICON Luxury Hotel, formerly Le' Meridien Hotel and about 8 others. He is reportedly worth about $200 million.

5. Aare Afe Babalola

Aare Afe Babalola is the founder of one of Nigeria's most popular universities named after him

Afe Babalola SAN, OFR, CON, born 1929, is the founding partner of Afe Babalola & Co (Emmanuel Chambers), one of the largest law firms in Nigeria.

He is also the founder of the popular Afe Babalola University. He has an estimated net worth of $150 million.

READ ALSO: How lawyer allegedly indicted of fraud in UK was nominated as Judge of Nigerias Court of Appeal

6. Wole Olanipekun

Wole Olanipekun was once the president of the Nigerian Bar association

Mr Wole Olanipekun SAN, is a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in 2002 and the managing partner of Wole Olanipekun & Co, a firm he founded.

With litigation costs running into several millions of dollars, Mr. Olanipekun is worth an estimated $122 million.

7. Gbenga Oyebode MFR

Gbenga Oyebode who holds a minority share in MTN is a media darling

Gbenga Oyebode is a founder and managing partner of Aluko & Oyebode who also owns a minority shareholding in MTN Nigeria, and sits on the companys board.

He has an estimated net worth of $120 million and was the former chairman of Access Bank PLC and the current chairman of Okomu Oil and Crusade Insurance.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng has been covering news of scandal around one of Nigeria's popular and rich pastors, Apostle Suleman. Watch a video of him below:

Source: Legit.ng
- The $1.5billion solar power plant is said to be largest of its kind in Africa

- UniIlorin VC AbdulGaniyu Ambali said the university is working with the American company to build the plant to tackle Nigeria's power problems

- The project is set to be completed in 18 months says Brain Travis, the managing director of the American company

UNIILORIN and the US firm want to create a mighty solar plant from panels like this in 18 months.

AbdulGaniyu Ambali, the vice chancellor of the University of Iliorin (UNIILORIN) has revealed that the tertiary institution is partnering with a US company to build a 500 megawatts solar energy plant as part of efforts to tackle the challenge of power supply in Nigeria.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ambali disclosed this while speaking its forum in Abuja on Sunday, March 26.

READ ALSO: Buhari's government breaks record, releases N1 trillion for capital projects in 2016 Buhari's government breaks record, releases N1 trillion for capital projects in 2016

He said: The 500 megawatts is too much for the university alone to utilise; in fact, we in the university require just a maximum of four megawatts.

Which means the extra 496 megawatts would have to be given to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, either the immediate community or nationwide. I think that is what is being processed.

We have had talks with various stakeholders who are going to be party to the consumption and payment of the 496 megawatts because the project is going to cost about 1.5 billion dollars.

It is a heavy investment. Which means the company that is going to bring the 1.5 billion dollars, has to be convinced that it will recoup its investment.

They (company) have made tremendous progress, they have talked to the government, they are talking with agencies of government and by the time they harmonise all these products of their discussion, I am sure they will take off and the government and Nigeria will now be the overall beneficiary of all those efforts.

Brain Travis, the managing director of the American company, said the selection of University of Ilorin as its partner was because the university had many reliable innovative projects.

He described the project as the largest solar plant in Africa and said it would help empower the locals in terms of employment and training.

Most of us probably know there are difficulties with the whole power system in Nigeria. We will all like to have stable power.

We also are going to not sell into the national grid but try to solve the problem by entering into direct contract with Discos; because of the location of Ilorin, we have direct access to six district discos up and down the coast.

Each of those discos is determining how much of the power they want; they determine when they need the power, how they need it and how they are going to sell it.

READ ALSO: El-Rufai finally opens up on leaked memo, vows to expose more ills in Buharis govtEl-Rufai finally opens up on leaked memo, vows to expose more ills in Buharis govt

So we will be effectively dealing with the people who need the power. So that we do not have the supply chain issues that exists now and that is the reason we are doing the solar project here. It has got good solar radiation.

We have an excellent host; you heard about the innovative projects of the Vice-Chancellor and its that spirit that allows us to come in and negotiate for a significant piece of property.

Also there is an obligation I understand from the university to help the local community. So we are going to be hiring local people as contractors as well as training local people in solar and renewable.

Legit.ng recalls that UniIlorin was rated the best university in Nigeria in 2014.

This was according to the 2014 University Web Ranking for Africa which placed the university ahead of the likes University of Lagos, University of Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo University among others..

Source: Legit.ng
The UAEs first of four reactors should be in use in a few months, making it the first Arab state that has a civilian nuclear program.

Other Middle Eastern countries with ongoing plans to implement their own independent nuclear programs are Ehypy, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

It could be because of energy needs, but it could also be that these plans are advancing due to the threat from Iran.

As it stands, the Iran nuclear deal allows the Islamic Republic to pursue unrestricted uranium enrichment in the future, other Middle Eastern countries have reasons to implement enrichment programs. Despite pressure from the United States, Saudi Arabia and Jordan have decided to keep their options open regarding uranium enrichment.

Another factor is inter-Arab competition because Saudi-Arabia, for example, does not want the UAE to have one-up. Its plans include 16 nuclear reactors and officials in the kingdom say that the site will soon be operational. Nuclear experts have been sent abroad for training.

Saudi Arabia has also completed nuclear cooperation agreements with China, South Korea and Russia. A source said in 2015 that Saudi Arabia was keen to have another look at domestic enrichment and said that it no longer felt obliged by the United States agreement. Al-Otaiba said to Congressman Ed Royce: Your worst enemy has achieved this right to enrich. Its a right to enrich now that your friends are going to want, too, and we wont be the only one.

If the Iran nuclear deal does not collapse, the Middle Eastern neighbours of Iran have approximately a decade to pursue their emerging nuclear plans. Looking further into the future, the nuclear programs can cut down on military program development.

The future of the nuclear deal is uncertain. During the election campaign, Donald Trump said that he would scrap the deal  saying it was the worst deal. However, for now, he has pledged to enforce the deal and impose additional sanctions.

Whatever happens with the deal, the Middle Eastern neighbours of Iran want to match or exceed its nuclear capabilities causing a possible nuclear arms race.
A certain Mr Paul Nchui has been arrested by the Cross River state police command, after he allegedly poisoned food in a restaurant that has left 2 people dead and over 46 hospitalized in Oboso community of Mbube in Ogoja local government area of the state.

Mr Paul Nchui is said to have poisoned meals in his eatery, thus leading to two deaths, there are fears that more my die. Credit: Linda Ikeji

The State Police Public Relations Officer, Irene Ugbo who confirmed the arrest said that the 35 year-old suspect from Oboso, the affected community in Ogoja Local Government area of the state has confessed to the crime.

No fewer than 46 people are currently hospitalized after eating the poisoned food. The food vendor and her husband, Mr. Edidi died immediately after eating food from their restaurant on Friday, March 24th.

The incident raised serious tension in the state as many suspected that it was an outbreak of Ebola, Lassa or some strange ailment. Confirming the incident, Health Commissioner, Dr. Inyang Asibong said all the affected cases are from a food vendor in Oboso and was actually food poisoning.

READ ALSO: Bloody Friday! Suspected herdsmen strike in Delta, kill DELSU staff

"She (the food vendor) and her husband died on Friday following onset of symptoms" Dr. Inyang said, adding that 40 people are currently admitted in General Hospital, Ogoja, while 4 in a private hospital.

A statement issued by the police read: "Mr. Paul Nchui, a suspect who poisoned a restaurant of a food vendor in Oboso community in Ogoja has been arrested. The suspect is in our custody and has confessed to the crime. He will soon be charged to court".

The reason for the suspects action was not confirmed by the Police at news time but it is speculated in the state that the suspect has confessed that he poisoned the restaurant to punish the community for the treatment meted on him.

According to a source, The suspect has confessed that he poisoned the restaurant to punish the entire community because of the ill treatment they meted on him."

Source: Legit.ng
- The Charge daffaires of the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington has revealed some facts

- Mr Hakeem Balogun spoke on why some Nigerians were being barred from entering the US

- He gave about three salient points that have led to this travel problem Nigerians face

Mr Hakeem Balogun made it clear that the Trump travel ban was not the bane of Nigeria's travel issues

The Charge daffaires of the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, Mr Hakeem Balogun, has revealed different reasons responsible for the problems Nigerians face while trying to enter the US.

In a recent interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Washington, he gave the reasons while adding that the President Donald Trumps travel ban did not affect Nigerians.

He said: "The executive ban on immigration does not affect Nigerians. Whatever must have taken place regarding visa issuance, vetting at the airports, its all normal.

"All these things have been on even before President Trump. Lets get one thing well. That you are issued visa is not a guarantee that you will end up wherever youre going.

READ ALSO: How to avoid Trumps immigration trap: Nigerians in US advised

"Its a global thing; its not just United States. Even with us in Nigeria, we issue a visa to you here in the Nigerian Embassy.

"There is no guarantee that you will get in when you get to Murtala Muhammed Airport or when you get to Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport.

"The final authority is the man at the point of entry  immigration officers there. For instance, you can come to the Embassy here, we ask for all the things you need to get the visa.

"How much do you have that we feel will be enough for you to stay in Nigeria for the period youre going.

"May be as at that time, you were able to show us evidence that you have a thousand dollars which we feel will be enough for you to stay in Nigeria.

"By the time you get to Murtala Muhammed Airport, the man at that end there asked you, all you have to show to him is 100 dollars, definitely, he might turn you back, and thats normal."

Mr. Balogun also said Nigerians are restricted because of the following:

"Then there are other things. What manner of visa did you collect to come to the United States?

"For instance, a pregnant woman who comes to the United States on visiting visa will probably be turned back at the point of entry because she does not have a medical visa.

"You are coming in on a visiting visa and the immigration man sees you pregnant. Naturally, he will turn you back.

"Even if you have the medical visa, they want to know if you have medical insurance; do you have your medical documents for you to be able to come and use their medical facilities here.

READ ALSO: More Nigerians voluntarily return from Libya

"So these are issues. Nigeria is not being singled out. We are not one of those countries that have been mentioned. We are definitely not one of them."

In the same vein, Legit.ng recently reported that Geoffrey Onyeama, Foreign Affairs Minister said no Nigerian with full valid entry visa has been denied entry to the U.S. as being widely spread.

Onyeama, stated this while fielding questions from newsmen over the issue, and said that Nigerians were free to travel to U.S. as the country was not on the ban list.

Recently, the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport in Abuja was closed for repairs. Legit.ng visited to talk to the concerned passengers. Watch the video below:

Source: Legit.ng
- Nasir El-Rufai has insisted he has no apologies regarding his memo to the president

- In a recent interview, he insisted that everything he wrote was true and he was standing by it

- The Kaduna governor also said that this was not his first or last memo to the presidency

El-Rufai's memo to the president has been a huge topic of discussion in political circles around Nigeria

When Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai wrote a memo to President Buhari criticizing some of the people around the president, many were surprised at the harshness of the memo.

El-Rufai however, has insisted he owes no one apology about the memo he wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari, recommending that some reforms be made.

In the memo, El-Rufai making reference to the Presidents Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, said the people around Buhari were selfish and inexperienced.

An excerpt from the letter reads:

"The secretary to the government of the federation and the chief of staff do not have experience in public service, lack humility in addition to being insensitive and rude to virtually most of the party leaders, ministers and governors.

"The chief of staff is totally clueless about the APC and its internal politics at best as he was neither part of its formation nor a participant in the primaries, campaign, and elections.

"In summary, neither of them has the personality, experience, and the reach to manage your politics nationally or even regionally."

READ ALSO: El-Rufai finally opens up on leaked memo, vows to expose more ills in Buharis govt

Following the sending of the memo, Senator Shehu Sani, called for El-Rufai to be sanctioned. In a recent interview with Daily Trust however, El-Rufai said:

I know Abba Kyari well, he will not disagree with what I wrote there. He knows it to be true and he is not hearing for the first time.

Many people have complained about this, so I dont think it will cause a strain in my relationship with the chief of staff because we have been friends for so many years. But anyone who feels he is upset because of what I have written, so be it.

"First of all, let me say that this is not the first memo that I have written to the president. From the time I began to interact politically with him since 2010, anytime I saw a situation requiring advice or change in direction, I usually went to discuss with him.

"I always said, I will go and reduce it to writing so you can have a document to reflect upon and decide and guide your action.

"This is not even the tenth memo I have written to the president. I have probably written more than 20 memos. I did this at various stages  from our days in the Congress for progressive Change (CPC), before the 2011 elections, after the 2011 elections, and during the merger process.

READ ALSO: El-Rufai returns to school, hands-over to deputy

"I have always felt that my duty to him as my political leader is to pick up what he doesnt hear, because as a lower level person, I get to hear more about what is going on. And if I see things going wrong, I have a duty to go to him and say, This is what Ive heard, the facts I have established and my advice on the way forward.'

"They are all problem-solving memos, they identify the problems, analyse them and propose solutions. So this is the spirit of all my memoranda to the president from 2010 till date."

Meanwhile, Legit.ng recently reported that El-Rufai said that he encourages his subordinates to tell him the truth all the time.

The governor also said that the biggest danger to any government is sycophancy.

The railway from Kaduna to Abuja is functional and in this video Legit.ng takes you on the experience of a train ride. Watch the video below:

Source: Legit.ng
Boris Epshteyn, an official in the White House press office who had a contentious relationship with television producers and was once a frequent presence on TV himself, is leaving his job, according to three people with knowledge of the move.

The departure was treated with some mystery. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, would not comment on the reason Mr. Epshteyn, an old friend of President Trumps son Eric, was expected to depart the post.

A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said only that officials were exploring other opportunities in the administration for Mr. Epshteyn, who at one point was on cable news as many as seven times a day promoting Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign.

Another person briefed on the discussions said that Mr. Epshteyns move was still pending, and that both he and the administration sought it. The person maintained that it was not an acrimonious situation.
A concert by Gloria Gaynor will be the centerpiece of a Library of Congress tribute to the disco era, arriving in Washington next month.

The tribute series is Library of Congress Bibliodiscotheque and it will showcase the music, dance and fashion represented in the national collections. Ms. Gaynor, whose disco hit I Will Survive was recently added to the National Recording Registry, will perform on May 6 in the Jefferson Buildings Great Hall. That day, she will also be interviewed by the Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts in a symposium.

The series will also include an interview with Tim Gunn of Project Runway on the fashion of disco (May 2); a lecture on African dance rhythms (May 4); and film screenings of Saturday Night Fever (April 27), ABBA: The Movie (May 3) and more.

This will be the first time the library has honored a music genre with this sort of programming, according to Bryonna Head, a public affairs assistant for the Library of Congress. Free tickets will be available starting on Thursday; a full schedule is at loc.gov.
Raise a dram to Michael Jackson  the renowned beer and whiskey writer from England, not the King of Pop.

International Whisk(e)y Day was announced on this day in 2008 in honor of Mr. Jackson, who died in 2007 after a decade-long battle with Parkinsons disease. It officially began at the North Netherlands Whisky Festival on March 27, 2009, on what would have been Mr. Jacksons 67th birthday.

The festivities center on tastings and celebrating whiskey, but the aim is to promote awareness and raise money for curing Parkinsons. Each year, whiskey fans donate to charities of their choice.

Mr. Jackson is perhaps best known for his book Michael Jacksons Malt Whisky Companion, first published in 1989. He contributed to several publications in Britain and the United States and hosted The Beer Hunter, a BBC documentary series. He began his career writing about beer, but later shifted focus to Scotland and malt whisky.

Lastly, if youre wondering whether its whiskey or whisky, heres the entry in The Timess stylebook: Use whiskey (and whiskeys) as a general term for liquors distilled from a mash of grain, and in specific references to the Irish and American versions. Use whisky (and whiskies) in specific references to Scotch and Canadian varieties.

Inyoung Kang contributed reporting.

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Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online.

What would you like to see here? Contact us at asiabriefing@nytimes.com.
If a brand doesnt want to be associated with a particular publisher for whatever reason, its kind of crazy that they request for it to be blacklisted and still spend money on it, said Andrew Casale, the chief executive of Index Exchange, an online advertising exchange. This is all evidence of gaps in our supply chain, which are becoming visible to the mainstream.

AT&T and Johnson & Johnson were among prominent advertisers that pulled their marketing from YouTube and Google ad exchanges on Wednesday after news reports showed their ads running next to offensive material. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Walmart were part of another wave of companies that pulled nonsearch ads from Google on Friday after The Wall Street Journal discovered the brands alongside YouTube videos with racist and anti-Semitic content.

The actions extended Google boycotts that advertisers in Britain, such as The Guardian and clients of Havas, a French advertising multinational, began earlier in the month based on similar reports.

Those motivated to choke off Breitbarts ad revenue have become particularly attentive to which brands appear on the site. That effort has been led by a Twitter account called Sleeping Giants, which uses screenshots to publicize and shame brands with ads on the site. The anonymously led account, which has more than 75,000 followers, was created in November as Breitbart drew attention for its ties to Stephen K. Bannon, the sites former chairman and now the chief White House strategist, and as critics accused the site of promoting racist and misogynistic views.

Breitbart and fake news have become the focal points for advertiser awareness around brand safety domestically, said Brian Wieser, a media industry analyst at Pivotal Research. A spokesman for Breitbart did not respond to requests to comment.
Durable Corporations plan, which Mr. Secor said had worked well for the companys 37 employees, omits some benefits that are required to meet the health laws minimum coverage standards. So far, the plan has been grandfathered in, allowing Durable to keep it  but if that protection ends, Mr. Secor does not know if his company can afford to continue offering insurance, he said.

Rural areas like ours are seeing insurance companies just flee, Mr. Secor, 59, said. Until somebody comes up with something that addresses cost, youre going to see a continual erosion of coverage. I dont care which party it is. Lets all get together and work on a better product because what we have now isnt working.

Bipartisan cooperation on anything has become vanishingly rare in Washington, but one recent effort offered a glimmer of hope: In December, the parties aligned to overwhelmingly support the 21st Century Cures Act. The law increased funding for disease research and included an array of other health care adjustments and changes.

One of them was a fix long sought by small-business owners to an obscure  but, for some, devastating  Affordable Care Act clause that prohibited companies from using pretax money to reimburse employees for insurance that they bought on their own. The Cures Act revived that arrangement, giving it a legal green light for companies with fewer than 50 employees.

The change came as a huge relief for Warren Hudak, 53, who immediately took advantage of it to provide the eight full-time employees at his accounting firm in Lemoyne, Pa., with a monthly allowance toward their health care costs. He would like to see a similar across-party-lines effort to curb health care costs.

I cant believe anybody today would look at the Affordable Care Act and say, Its working fine, Mr. Hudak said.

He now pays $2,400 a month  enough, he said with frustration, to hire another worker for his business  for a family insurance policy with a glaring omission: It does not cover the $6,000-a-month prescription drugs his wife needs to combat her multiple sclerosis. Mr. Hudak said he had to contact the drug manufacturer himself and negotiate a discounted rate that his family could afford to pay.
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Good morning. Back in 1967, this was an Easter Sunday, and a crowd of more than 10,000 gathered on the Sheep Meadow in Central Park for what some called a happening. It made the front page of The Times on Monday morning. Our Bernard Weinraub, now a theater man in Los Angeles, had the byline and a terrific lede, which is the word newspaper people use to describe the top of the articles they write.

L-O-V-E. L-O-V-E. L-O-V-E. They circled policemen and shrieked it. They strummed guitars and sang of it. They painted their foreheads pink with it. And they jumped up and down and hollered it.

Poets from the Bronx, dropouts from the East Village, interior decorators from the East Side, teachers from the West Side and teeny-boppers from Long Island trooped into muddy Central Park yesterday for a noisy, swarming, chaotic and utterly surrealistic Be-In.
Anshai Lals Phillauri is a Bollywood movie toggling between a contemporary screwball rom-com and a sweeping historical love story. Balancing both proves to be challenging.

In a sprawling home in Punjab, the families of Kanan (Suraj Sharma), a 26-year-old aspiring rapper, and his longtime girlfriend, Anu (Mehreen Pirzada), prepare for their wedding. But Kanan has his doubts  he thinks he might be too young for marriage  and to make matters worse, his family insists he first participate in a ceremony marrying him to a tree. (In this way, he is told, the hapless Kanan can avoid the usual fate of a manglik, a person born under a cursed star.)

Soon Kanan is haunted by the glowing ghost of Shashi (Anushka Sharma, no relation to Mr. Sharma), a friendly female spirit only he can see, who has a connection to the tree. His initial terror of, and conversations with, a seemingly nonexistent woman gives his fiancee pause.

Just when you think Phillauri is becoming a Ghost Town- or Topper-type romp, it switches gears, as Shashi imparts her own past. Flash back to almost a century ago, when she was a poet, secretly submitting verse to a newspaper under an assumed name. When she meets another poet, Phillauri (Diljit Dosanjh), a dashing neer-do-well, they fall into a love forbidden by Shashis pious brother. Its painful to witness the scripts transformation of Shashi at that point from a hardheaded freethinker into a lovelorn obsessive. But things become worse for her: The abuses of British rule  specifically the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, in Amritsar, Punjab, in 1919  lead to a dire personal loss.
Theres a new breed thats moving in, Clarence Harris, who has lived in Hampden for almost 50 years, said from his front stoop, where he joked with neighbors and pointed out Killer, the orange street cat he called Hampdens mascot. I guess youd call them yuppies. Theyre always trying to buy my house.

Baltimore has a history of being a Balkanized city, with neighborhoods often cleaving along ethnic and religious lines, said Elizabeth M. Nix, a history professor at the University of Baltimore. Hampden, she said, has always been slightly different, its identity forged by the workers drawn from the South and Appalachia to the jobs in nearby mills and factories, and its geographic isolation from the rest of the city, with a river, a highway, park space and the campus of Johns Hopkins University hemming it in.

It was very much a place of its own, Professor Nix said.

Not unlike many communities in America, newer generations in Hampden have been left to confront an ugly racial past. The neighborhood gained broader notoriety from news accounts of racially tinged episodes, including one in the late 1980s when a black family was chased out by white residents who broke their windows, threw rocks and hurled racial epithets, and another in 1987 when there was a melee outside of a school involving black and white students that community leaders described as an outburst of mounting racial tension.
Weve done a pretty good job of covering them up, the Rev. Schuyler Vogel said.

By them, he meant two swastikas and the words race and office that were carved into the front doors of Mr. Vogels church, Fourth Universalist Society, on Central Park West at 76th Street, last month. The two words were obscure but ominous: The Nazis had an Office of Racial Policy whose responsibilities included approving SS officers marriage plans after investigating the brides-to-be.

With dye, Jeff Collie, the churchs building engineer, reduced the swastikas and the words to little more than scratch marks. But the hurt remains sharp, and in this pocket of the Upper West Side, the shock is still fresh: Had the brutes of bigotry been roused to the point that it could happen here? Was cruelty that close by? Mr. Collie said the last vandalism at the church  graffiti  occurred 12 years ago.

Now, Fourth Universalist finds itself on a list of disturbing statistics. There was a startling increase in hate crimes in New York City from Jan. 1 to March 19  122, up from 59 in the same time last year, according to figures from the New York Police Department. Of those 122, by far the most  72  were classified as Semitic, up 177 percent from 26 in the same period last year. The breakdown does not show how many incidents involved synagogues or, as in this case, a church.

The motivation for the attack, if the attackers were as knowledgeable as they seem, is puzzling. Mr. Vogel said the incident had long roots that precede the election  including Donald J. Trumps affinity for the language and rhetoric of division, first as a candidate, then as the president-elect and ultimately as the president.
Race is an underlying factor and dynamic among the Democrats in the Senate, said Gerald Benjamin, a professor of political science at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Its always beneath the surface.

The balance of power in the Senate is as confounding to insiders as outsiders. The Assembly and the executive branch, with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo at the helm, are controlled by Democrats. But the Senate, historically led by Republicans, has the thinnest of margins. The 63-seat Senate now comprises 31 Republicans and 32 Democrats, including an empty seat that is likely to be filled by another Democrat this spring.

The eight breakaway Democrats who caucus with the Republicans are joined by Senator Simcha Felder of Brooklyn. A Democrat, he recently ran on the Republican line as well.

When Senator Jeffrey D. Klein, who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester County, first broke from the mainstream Democrats to form the Independent Democratic Conference, there were four members, all of them white. It has since emerged as an independent faction in its own right. In recent months, the conference has grown more diverse as well; Ms. Alcantara successfully ran on the groups line in the primary last year. Senator Jesse Hamilton of Brooklyn, who is black, joined the conference in the fall. And in January, Senator Jose R. Peralta of Queens, a first-generation Dominican-American, followed suit.

With President Trumps victory prompting protests among liberal activists across the nation, renewed attention is being paid to the independent Democrats. Rallies and websites accuse them of betraying a liberal agenda by teaming with Republicans. That has put the Independent Democratic Conference on the defensive.
I wont speak for the mayor, he said, but I do think it was a learning experience for us.

The mayor has said the current effort could reduce the number of people in the citys main shelter system by 2,500 over the next five years. The administrations belief is that people will be better positioned to return to permanent housing if they are in purpose-built shelters near family and community anchors, like churches and schools, instead of being sent to hotels or stopgap apartments far from where they had been living.

The mayors plan calls for adding 18 new shelters this year to a system of more than 275 throughout the city. To make such an undertaking work, City Hall officials will need to go neighborhood by neighborhood to address local opposition, hoping to avert large, damaging protests. In an effort to be more transparent, the city is giving communities 30 days notice before a shelter opens, an increase from one week.

Emma Wolfe, a top aide to the mayor, said the strategy was intended to make those discussions easier. It makes it a much more logical conversation, she said. Even if youre going to have some sites where theres a massive flare-up.

Some level of opposition will always materialize. The city was forced to delay the opening of a mens shelter in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, after a judge in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn issued a temporary restraining order on Friday in response to a lawsuit filed by several residents and civic organizations.

According to the lawsuit, the city is foisting yet another shelter on Crown Heights, a largely West Indian and African-American community, in order to avoid the vocal criticism of the affluent and largely white citizenry in other neighborhoods. The matter is to be heard before Justice Katherine A. Levine on Tuesday.

Though gentrifying, Crown Heights remains one of the citys poorer neighborhoods, and Mr. de Blasios math  intended to match new shelter capacity with the communities where the homeless are most prevalent  will give wealthier, whiter communities fewer shelters than poorer ones.
The actor and sound designer Ben Williams says hes never been scared at a show. But he shudders as he recalls what happened one night in 1985, after watching The Exorcist on television as a 6-year-old.

I had a dream watching my grandmothers old green 1979 Oldsmobile going down the street and Linda Blair in the back seat spinning her head to turn around and watch me as it was going by, said Mr. Williams, who has worked regularly with the Wooster Group and Elevator Repair Service. I was more freaked out by what I dreamt than the movie itself.

Despite that scare, Mr. Williams, 37, became a horror fan, a bona fide he brings to his body-rumbling sound design for The Terrifying, Julia Jarchos new nightmarish drama that runs through April 2 at the Abrons Arts Center. Inspired by the literary grotesquerie of the writer Nikolai Gogol and the gothic fright films of the British studio Hammer, the play is about an unseen, bloodthirsty monster who noisily eats its way through a village. Mr. Williamss soundscape, some of which is improvised during each performance, surrounds the audience via speakers overhead and under the onstage risers, on which the audience sits, facing the auditorium.

A lot of the sound design goes back and forth between creating a place thats safe and soothing  Julia asked for moments where things seem really nice  and other moments with actual violence, Mr. Williams said. Its a question of keeping it unpredictable.
Speaker Ryan, you come in with all your swagger and experience and you sell em a bill of goods, which ends up a complete and total failure, and you allow our president in his first 100 days to come out of the box like that, based on what? Ms. Pirro said.

On Fox News on Sunday, Mr. Trumps chief of staff, Reince Priebus, an ally of Mr. Ryans, said he had not spoken to the president about the Twitter post, but he called the timing coincidental.

Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Mr. Ryan, said, The speaker and president talked for an hour yesterday about moving forward on the agenda, and their relationship is stronger than ever right now.

Another spokesman in Mr. Ryans office said on Sunday: The two spoke again today, and the president was clear his tweet had nothing to do with the speaker. They are both eager to get back to work on the agenda.

On Friday, after House Republicans pulled the health care bill, Mr. Trump voiced support for Mr. Ryan, saying the speaker had worked very, very hard. A person close to the president said that aides did not believe that Mr. Trump had spoken with Ms. Pirro before his Twitter post, or that he was trying to advertise criticism of Mr. Ryans leadership.
Interest groups on the right were also divided, with natural allies like Americans for Tax Reform, the anti-tax outfit, and Americans for Prosperity, a free-market group backed by the Koch brothers, on opposing sides.

While Republicans often said they would deliver freedom and good fortune if given their turn at the wheel, they are now jolted by the realization that their struggles to reach a consensus have thrown into doubt whether they can reach deals on other priorities like a tax overhaul, infrastructure, trade and immigration.

It is a challenge for the modern Republican Party and the Trump administration to figure out how to get to 218 on a regular basis, said Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, who supported the Republican health care bill that failed last week. Generally, 218 is the number of votes needed to pass legislation in the House.

Mr. Norquist said the desire for sweeping change had distorted some conservatives perceptions about what could be achieved and how quickly. They want to change the rules, he added. But until you actually change the rules, theyre there, and you have to live by them.

In a sign of just how deeply this episode has shaken the conservative faction of the party, one of the Freedom Caucuss members resigned in protest on Sunday, saying he no longer believed the group was effective.

Saying no is easy, leading is hard, but that is what we were elected to do, said the lawmaker, Representative Ted Poe of Texas.

What makes progress on any issue so complicated is the fundamental clash between the belief systems of Mr. Trump, whose instincts are more populist than conservative, and Republican leaders in Congress, who are more oriented toward a small-government, free-market policy vision.
United Airlines barred two teenage girls from boarding a flight on Sunday morning and required a child to change into a dress after a gate agent decided the leggings they were wearing were inappropriate. That set off waves of anger on social media, with users criticizing what they called an intrusive, sexist policy, but the airline maintained its support for the gate agents decision.

The girls, who were about to board a flight to Minneapolis, were turned away at the gate at Denver International Airport, the company said on Sunday. United doubled down on that decision, defending it in a series of tweets on Sunday.

The incident was first reported on Twitter by Shannon Watts, a passenger at the airport who was waiting to board a flight to Mexico. In a telephone interview from Mexico on Sunday afternoon, Ms. Watts said she noticed two visibly upset teenage girls leaving the gate next to hers. Both were wearing leggings.

Ms. Watts went over to the neighboring gate and saw a frantic family with two young girls, one of whom was also wearing leggings, engaged in a tense exchange with a gate agent who told them, I dont make the rules, I just enforce them.
BEIJING  A Chinese-born professor at an Australian university who has often criticized Beijings crackdown on political dissent has been barred from leaving China and is being questioned by state security officers as a suspected threat to national security, his lawyer said on Sunday.

The confinement of Feng Chongyi, an associate professor at the University of Technology Sydney, or U.T.S., unfolded over the weekend while Chinas premier, Li Keqiang, visited Australia to promote deeper trade and diplomatic ties. Professor Fengs case could cloud those ties.

The lawyer, Chen Jinxue, said Professor Feng had not been arrested or formally charged.

The professor has been staying in a hotel in Guangzhou, a city in southern China, and has been repeatedly questioned by national security officers after being stopped by entry-exit checkpoint officials on Friday and Saturday from taking flights back to Australia, Mr. Chen said from Guangzhou, where he was accompanying Professor Feng.

Hes been told hes suspected of involvement in a threat to national security, Mr. Chen said by telephone, adding that Professor Feng declined to comment.
DHAKA, Bangladesh  Bangladeshi troops using armored vehicles and firing bullets and tear gas assaulted an apartment house on Sunday in the northeastern city of Sylhet, killing two of the militants besieged in the building, the authorities said.

But the troops did not succeed in ending a violent three-day standoff that has left six other people dead, including two police officers, and has injured at least 43.

Zedan Al Musa, an additional deputy commissioner of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police, said in a telephone interview that the injured included two officers of the armys antiterrorism Rapid Action Battalion, including its director of intelligence, Lt. Col. Abul Kalam Azad.

A spokesman for the battalion, Cmdr. Mufti Mahmud Khan, said on Sunday that Colonel Azad was in critical condition and had been flown to Singapore for treatment.
HONG KONG  A committee dominated by supporters of the Chinese government chose Carrie Lam as Hong Kongs next leader on Sunday, opting for Beijings preferred candidate in a move likely to dismay residents who see the citys freedoms as being under threat from China.

Mrs. Lam, a former No. 2 official in the city, received 777 out of 1,163 votes cast to become the next chief executive, as Hong Kongs leader is called. She defeated John Tsang, a former finance secretary who polls indicated was more popular with the public.

The leader of this semiautonomous Chinese city of 7.3 million is chosen by just 1,194 electors, most of them business and political figures who have close ties to Beijing.

In an apparent act of protest, one elector drew a cross on the ballot with check marks, and another wrote an obscenity on it.
BERLIN  Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany received a significant lift to her re-election bid on Sunday when her party finished a clear first in a state election that was widely watched as a test of her strength.

Results from Sundays vote in tiny Saarland, which borders France and is home to around one million people, showed that Ms. Merkels center-right Christian Democrats had won 40.7 percent of the vote.

The popular Christian Democrat governor of Saarland, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who secured the win, is such a close ally of the chancellor that she is often called the mini-Merkel. So Sundays election also seemed a victory for Germanys leader.

Ms. Merkel is seeking a fourth term in national elections on Sept. 24, a race that has grown more challenging in recent weeks after her center-left rivals, the Social Democrats, unanimously selected a new candidate, Martin Schulz, to lead them into the fight.
The aim of the offender was to kill him, and he decides to take a long-distance shot  could be a learning effect from what happened one or two days before, Inspector Horn said. Which is pretty much what you see all the time nowadays. Most homicides are personal, and follow violence and an escalation of violence. I want to follow him, find him and kill him. All the emotions we have in homicide, these things have not died out in all these years.

Robbery can certainly be ruled out, he said. Otzi had a copper ax, a valuable artifact only rarely seen in burials of the period. His clothing and kit were a match for the harsh alpine climate, and probably valuable, made from the leather and fur of at least 10 animals of six species.

This was not a robbery gone bad or something, Inspector Horn said; clearly, the killer was trying to cover up his act. You go back to your village with this unusual ax, it would be pretty obvious what had happened.

Otzis cold case continues to yield surprises to scientists in many disciplines who still are studying his remains. Last year, for example, they discovered that he was infected with an unusual strain of H. pylori, the bacteria believed responsible for ulcers today.

There is one thing they are unlikely to discover, as Inspector Horn noted with a chuckle. Im not optimistic well find the offender in Otzis case.

Both in life and in death, the Iceman seems uncannily familiar to his modern descendants, said the museums deputy director, Katharina Hersel.

He is so close to us. He uses the same equipment as we do when he goes to the mountain, just the materials are different, she said. And we are still killing each other, so maybe there hasnt been so much evolution after all.
The protests in Russia on Sunday  nominally against corruption but also a rare show of public defiance against Mr. Putin, who has found a fierce and enduring critic in Mr. Navalny  were the largest coordinated display of public dissatisfaction since anti-Kremlin demonstrations in 2011 and 2012, after an election that was tainted by fraud.

Protesters tried to prevent a police van from taking Mr. Navalny away and chanted: This is our city. This is our city. Others shouted, Russia without Putin, and held up pieces of paper denouncing the Russian president and his allies as thieves.

In a Twitter post, Mr. Navalny urged his followers to continue with the demonstration after he was grabbed by police officers as he tried to join the crowds along Tverskaya Street in the center of Moscow.

Guys, Im O.K., he wrote in a message in Russian. No need to fight to get me out. Walk along Tverskaya. Our topic of the day is the fight against corruption.

The Moscow Police Department said on its website that around 500 people had been arrested in the city for taking part in an unapproved public event. OVD-info, a group that monitors arrests, said the number of arrests in Moscow was at least 1,000.

Instead of waving big banners with antigovernment slogans as in previous protests, most of those who joined Sundays walk on Tverskaya Street displayed their feelings discreetly. Some waved Russian flags, cloaking their opposition in the same patriotism that Mr. Putin has used so successfully to boost his popularity.
BEIJING  A Chinese court has ruled in favor of Apple in design patent disputes with a domestic phone maker, overturning a ban on selling iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus phones in China, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Last May, a Beijing patent regulator ordered Apples Chinese subsidiary and a local retailer, Zoomflight, to stop selling the iPhones after Shenzhen Baili Marketing Services lodged a complaint claiming that the patent for the design of its 100c mobile phone was being infringed on by the iPhone sales.

Apple and Zoomflight challenged the ban by the regulator, the Beijing Intellectual Property Office.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Court revoked the ban on Friday, saying that Apple and Zoomflight had not violated Shenzhen Bailis design patent.

The court ruled that the regulator had not properly followed procedures in ordering the ban while there was no sufficient proof to claim that the designs constituted a violation of intellectual-property rights.
DUBAI  Iran imposed sanctions on 15 American companies, saying that they were involved in human rights violations and had cooperated with Israel, the state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday, in a tit-for-tat reaction to a move by Washington.

The agency quoted Irans foreign ministry as saying the companies had flagrantly violated human rights and cooperated with Israel in its terrorism against Palestinians and in the expansion of Jewish settlements.

It was not immediately clear if any of the companies, which included the military technology firm Raytheon, had any dealings with Iran or whether they would be affected by Tehrans action, which IRNA said would include seizing of their assets and a ban on contacts with them.

The affected companies, many of them military contractors, also included ITT Corporation, United Technologies and the specialty-vehicle maker Oshkosh Corporation.
From Common Dreams

A few things that happened this week: one set of researchers announced that February was the planet's fourth-warmest month on record, which is especially bad news since the El Nino that produced last year's record-breaking heat is over and we're supposed to be cooling a little. Another group of scientists published data showing that, for the third year in a row, Arctic ice has set a new record winter low. Still other statisticians showed that, to date, this has been by far the worst wildfire season on record in the United States -- two million acres burned against an average of 200,000. In Peru, last fall's record drought has given way to record flooding, with dozens dead and 100,000 homes damaged. In Namibia, the worst flooding in history ... I could go on.

Someone should do something. But that someone clearly isn't going to be the federal government. Instead, President Trump's appointees spent the week dismantling 40 years' worth of environmental laws and regulations. In the past few days, we've learned that they plan to ditch Obama-era laws that would increase gas mileage for cars and shut down old coal-fired power plants. A new analysis shows that if such plans are carried out, it will be impossible for the United States to meet the targets it pledged to hit in the Paris climate accords -- we'd break our promise by a billion tons of carbon.

One way of dealing with those unpleasant truths is to stop paying attention. A spokesman for the White House said last week that the federal government was no longer going to "waste money" on climate research. Money to maintain even existing climate satellites is disappearing. NASA has been told to stop worrying about our home planet and focus on Mars.

So who's going to stand up? The answer, for the moment, is states and cities. On Wednesday, the governors of the West Coast states and the mayors of most of its big cities put out a stirring joint message: "We speak as a region of over 50 million people with a combined GDP of $2.8 trillion. There is no question that to act on climate is to act in our best economic interests. Through expanded climate policies, we have grown jobs and expanded our economies while cleaning our air." They would, the officials promised, keep at it. They added that they hoped other local and regional leaders would "join us in leading and re-affirming our commitment to cut carbon emissions and reverse the damaging impacts to our communities of unfettered pollution."

This is not just a national effort -- California Governor Jerry Brown has been helping spearhead the Under2 coalition, joining together "subnational units" from around the planet working to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050. (Massachusetts is a signatory.) And state officials are doing their best to keep the fossil fuel industry honest, even as Washington effectively ends any real oversight. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, for instance, has bravely joined her New York counterpart, Eric Schneiderman, to investigate Exxon's outsize role in fostering the climate denial now in power in Washington. States and cities may be able to keep some of the clean energy momentum rolling. But they can't do it by themselves, at least, not for long. Reuters recently reported on the growing number of national governments trying to rein in mayors and governors who push "too fast" on climate pollution -- from Norway to Australia, conservative governments are now trying to rein in progressive big-city mayors.

Which means that the rest of us need to add our weight to the political balance. Upset by EPA chief Scott Pruitt and his assertion that carbon dioxide isn't driving global warming? Scared by Trump's insistence that climate change is a Chinese hoax? Inspired by the plucky local officials determined to try and keep the fight alive? Then show up in Washington on April 29, for the next great mobilization of the cresting resistance. More than 100,000 people have already RSVP'd for the People's Climate March -- it's our chance to say we won't stand silently by as the planet melts.
From Our Future



Democratic Donkey - Caricature

(Image by DonkeyHotey) Details DMCA



When FBI Director James Comey informed the House Intelligence Committee of the ongoing FBI investigation of the Trump campaign's connections with Russia, Democrats reacted like hounds provided the scent of a rabbit. Off the pack went, baying at the sun, eager to run down the rabbit hole.

MoveOn called on Congress to stop all "appointments and legislation until the American people learn the full truth about Trump and Russia." Other progressive networks scrambled to echo MoveOn.

Senator Elizabeth Warren joined minority leader Chuck Schumer to argue for suspending any vote on the Gorsuch Supreme Court nomination until the investigation is completed. Another group circulated a petition suggesting that citizens disobey all laws or regulations passed since Trump took office until the investigation was completed. Senator Dianne Feinstein suggested that Trump would "get himself out of office soon."

"There's a smell of treason in the air," wrote historian David Brinkley.

Reason is the first casualty in a stampede. If, as the intelligence agencies have concluded, the Russians hacked into our elections, then a full, independent investigation, with maximum public disclosure is utterly necessary. Democrats should continue to insist on it; Republicans are craven to resist it.

But going all-in on the theory that Putin did it is a bad bet. The FBI investigation will no doubt unearth all sorts of unseemly financial ties between the Trump family and Trump campaign operatives and Russian oligarchs and operatives.

That's true also of Democratic lobbyists and campaign operatives selling their services to dictators and thugs across the world. Collusion or coordination, however, will be extremely hard to prove, even if it exists. And the reality is that the DNC hacks weren't even close to the reason Trump is in the White House.

The dangers of making the investigation the focus of Democratic opposition to Trump are apparent. Democrats are railing about the Russians and the last election, while Trump is talking jobs, law and order, protecting our borders, and health care. We know which of these speak to the challenges Americans face.

Worse, the Democratic attack targets Trump individually, removing the right-wing Republican Congress from the picture. This simply distracts from the real deal.

Trump is a huckster running a massive con job. He pretends to care about working people, while turning his economic policy over to Goldman Sachs alums. He says he'll focus on rebuilding America, while doubling down on endless wars in the Middle East.

His health-care plan would deprive millions of health insurance in order to cut the taxes on the very rich that pay for current subsidies. His budget lards more money into the Pentagon, while eviscerating support for the vulnerable, the young, impacted urban and rural areas.

His tax plan, presumably a variant of what he presented in the campaign, will be festooned with more tax cuts for the wealthy and the corporations. His populist posturing and tweet-driven chaos only cover the reality that he's pushing the failed policies of the right.

Democrats have both a political and moral imperative to expose this reality relentlessly. Eventually, Americans will catch onto the scam, but only if Democrats and activists rip the cover off repeatedly.

For example, activists should be pushing Democrats to block the Gorsuch appointment not because of what Putin did but because Gorsuch is a right-wing judicial activist, handpicked by the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society, who has and will protect corporate interests over the rights of women, minorities, and citizens generally. He's been taught how to present himself to Congress, but so were Roberts and Alito before him.

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I recently drove out to Reno, Nevada, from Santa Barbara, California. I went to meet with sheriffs attending the Western States Sheriffs Association (WSSA). There were many sheriffs there whom I have spoken with multiple times. It's about the legal issue surrounding Article V and the convention clause. The states have satisfied the clause, and members of the 115th Congress are illegally failing to carry out their ministerial duty.

Sheriffs,





I learned a lot at Reno and needed about a week to process it. I then sent a follow-up email to Sheriff Mascher regarding our brief conversation there. I've not heard back, so I'm sending this to him and sheriffs I've known and/or spoke with in Reno.





Boring as it may sound, the right of the whole to formally discuss change is what makes us who we are, and unless you're talking a different Earth and USA, a different Constitution and office of county sheriff, there is no other peaceable way out of our predicament. We are currently being denied what is essential to our survival as a free society, and the hard line, based on fact and law, is that a sheriff can detain a member of Congress until the 115th carries out its ministerial duty and issues the call. That's the hard line, yet Representative Messer's staff (6th District Indiana) recently said they're attempting to revive HR 5306 for our new Congress, so perhaps a softer approach would be for sheriffs, as signatories to a proclamation, to declare that they're aware of the situation and monitoring it.





While speaking with Sheriff D'Agostini for the third time over the years, he recounted how someone from his community requested to be let out the back after being booked. He said it doesn't matter who you are, everyone leaves out the front. In that same spirit, it doesn't matter who you are, ignorance of law is no excuse in breaking it. Every member of the 115th Congress is currently engaged in federal criminal activity by failing the instruction of Article V.

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From Strategic Culture

Only hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a bloodcurdling warning about terror attacks against European citizens, four people lay dead on the streets of London. That death toll may rise further because several of those injured in the attack this week in the British capital are in critical condition, fighting for their lives.

Erdogan was speaking Wednesday in what was yet another diatribe in his ongoing war of words with the European Union. The Turkish leader has been enraged by European governments refusing ministers from Ankara holding political rallies in Germany, Netherlands and Austria among other countries. As a result of the injunctions, he has accused the EU of displaying Islamophobia and hostility towards Turkey.

In his latest barrage earlier this week, Erdogan warned that there would be dire repercussions for EU citizens owing to the perceived stance of their governments.

If you continue to behave like this, tomorrow in no part of the world, no European, no Westerner will be able to take steps on the street safely and peacefully, Erdogan said.

Tragically, within hours of announcing these very words, a British-born man plowed his speeding car into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge, killing several of them and seriously wounding dozens more. The assailant then got out of his crashed vehicle and ran into the grounds of the British parliament where he stabbed a police officer to death, before being fatally shot by another officer.

The attacker was named as 52-year-old Khalid Masood, a British citizen. It is not clear yet what his precise motives were, but the deadly attack was subsequently claimed by the Islamic State terror group.

Turkey's Erdogan was reportedly one of many world leaders who quickly phoned British premier Theresa May to offer his condolences. Later on Wednesday night, Erdogan released a statement on social media, saying: "We stand in solidarity with the UK, our friend and ally, against terrorism, the greatest threat to global peace and security."

There is a sense here that the Turkish leader was reeling from his own earlier warnings of would-be terror consequences for European citizens, and how his tirades against the EU might be implicated in inciting violence.

Certainly, the EU, in short-order, seemed to find Erdogan's forecasting of acts of terrorism against European citizens and how they would not be safe on streets around the world to be lamentable.

Turkey's envoy in Brussels was promptly summoned to explain the president's doom-laden words. The day after the London killings, the EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic reportedly said: "We have asked the Turkish permanent delegate to the EU to come... as we would like to receive an explanation with regard to the comments by President Erdogan concerning the safety of Europeans on the streets of the world."

At best, Erdogan's chilling warnings against European citizens are grossly insensitive. Apart from the carnage in London, on the very day that he issued his grim forecast of violence, the date was also the first anniversary of the terror attacks in Brussels when more than 30 people were killed by suicide bombers in the Belgian capital on March 22 last year.

Over the past year, there have been several other terror attacks on the streets of European cities, including the carnage in Nice when a would-be jihadist drove an articulated lorry into a pedestrians last July, killing over 80.

There was also an horrific attack in Berlin when an assailant drove a lorry into a crowded Christmas market.

In all these incidents, there appears to be an Islamist connection. The perpetrators may be acting in some sort of lone wolf capacity, without the organizational support of the al Qaeda terror network. But that's beside the point. The attacks appear to be motivated by some level of Islamist grievance. Perhaps acts of revenge against European governments and citizens who are perceived as being complicit in illegal wars on, or persecution of, Muslim majority countries in the Middle East.

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As I watch Republicans scramble in a vain attempt to repair a terminally ill healthcare plan, indeed, severely defective from its inception, I must ask the authors the true 64,000-dollar question: "Where the heck is Tom Coburn?" No offense to Dr. Tom Price, but Coburn is the real dean of any legitimate attempt by conservatives to initiate private sector-based national healthcare. Make no mistake. I am in no way a proponent of the private insurance-sector-owning "global" national healthcare policies. I do not think that they are financially capable of doing so without massive handouts by the federal government and I believe that the math will prove this every time. I have written many times that if Medicare is "deloused," "fumigated," cleansed of fraud and lobbyist infestation, it can be extended in some form to all.

Dr. Coburn, however, makes a reasonable case for private insurance companies based on a similar concept of "pest control." He believes that if we had transparent prices for durable goods, oxygen, laboratory tests, drugs, hospital and outpatient treatments as well as more up-to-date government oversight, some of the classical conservative measures might actually work. He has a point, of course. Health-savings accounts, interstate competition, vouchers, tax credits, limited Medicaid expansion, and other "conservative" financial contributions by the federal government could at least be fairly evaluated if the "proximate" or true costs of medical care could be controlled. That is, the real cost of an antibiotic, a cast, a procedure, hospitalization, a motorized scooter, oxygen or a shoe insert has to be known before the bean counters can calculate "real costs." How much does it really cost an insurance company to manage and own healthcare policies before they pay out CEOs and shareholders? As Coburn, like his former colleague Bernie Sanders, rare honest birds for Senators, fully realize, no program will work as long as it is hampered by the widespread fraud and deceit perpetrated by members of the Senate, the House, and government agencies in their dealings with various corrupt lobbies.

President Trump would be wise, even now, to do what should have been done already, to assemble a bipartisan healthcare committee, chaired by his Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Price. On that committee he should warm seats for Coburn, Tom Daschle, former Bush HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt, and various other conservative and liberal students of national healthcare as opposed to political hacks with ties to the very lobbies that currently benefit so generously from our present "system." If nothing else, they could show credible evidence that no matter the political ideology of our country's healthcare initiative, it must begin at the initial source of the problem, which is the unfettered cost of the physical care of patients.

Allen Finkelstein, D.O., M.Ed. 3/24/17
Measure would let legislators serve 16 years before hitting cap; previous efforts have not prevailed

State Rep. Dennis Riddell, R-Alamance, is under no illusion a constitutional amendment to impose legislative term limits will be an easy sell, even though the earliest anyone would be barred from running for re-election is 2035.After all, in 2013 U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis - the then-popular Republican House speaker - couldn't persuade the General Assembly to approve a bipartisan constitutional amendment to limit the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore to two two-year terms.Nonetheless, Riddell, and fellow Reps. Bert Jones, R-Rockingham; John Faircloth, R-Guilford; and House Speaker Pro Tempore Sarah Stevens, R-Wilkes; primary sponsors of House Bill 413 , think it's time to push a measure on which Jones has done the heavy lifting.The bill, introduced Tuesday and referred to the Rules Committee, would impose 16-year term limits on House and Senate members. All 16 years wouldn't have to be served in one chamber but would rather be a cumulative total of service in both chambers.Nick Tomboulides is executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based national advocacy organization U.S. Term Limits, which has helped 15 states to pass legislative term limitsThe 16-year cap underwhelms him.Tomboulides said.Of the 15 states with term limits, only Arkansas has a 16-year maximum, he said.Because H.B. 413 is a constitutional amendment it must receive three-fifths majority votes in both chambers, and pass in a ballot referendum in the November 2018 general election. It would grandfather in all sitting lawmakers.Riddell said. That means it would take until 2035 to accumulate 16 years of legislative service.Jones said. H.B. 413 gives voters an opportunity to help determine self-governance through a ballot referendum, he said.Jones said there was a reason the lawmakers chose 16 years.Jones said.Riddell said the intent of the legislation would prevent lawmakers from becoming what he called homesteaders. He laid out what he thinks is a better plan for a citizen legislature.Riddell said.Two other term-limit constitutional amendments were already introduced in the House. House Bill 193 would make all legislative terms four years, and limit representation to three terms, or 12 years total. House Bill 182 would limit the House Speaker and Senate President Pro Tempore to four two-year terms in those leadership posts.According to Tomboulides, 36 governors have term limits of either four or eight years, and the average tenure in any state legislature is fewer than 16 years.In North Carolina, only 13 of 120 current House members (10.8 percent) have 16 years or more of service [Mickey Michaux, D-Durham, 38.5; Julia Howard, R-Davie, 30; Beverly Earle, D-Mecklenburg, 24; Verla Insko, D-Orange, 22; John Blust, R-Guilford, 20; Mitchell Setzer R-Catawba, 20; Larry Bell, D-Sampson, 18; Linda Johnson, R-Cabarrus, 18; Marvin Lucas, D-Cumberland, 18; Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg, 16; Jean Farmer-Butterfield, D-Wilson, 16; David Lewis, R-Harnett, 16; Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, 16.]Five of 50 senators (10 percent) have 16 years or more of legislative service [Dan Blue, D-Wake, 34; Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, 18; Andrew Brock, R-Davie, 16; Louis Pate, R-Wayne, 16; Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph, 16].
From Strategic Culture

There was a time when Russophobia served as an effective form of population control -- used by the American ruling class in particular to command the general US population into patriotic loyalty. Not any longer. Now, Russophobia is a sign of weakness, of desperate implosion among the US ruling class from their own rotten, internal decay.

This propaganda technique worked adequately well during the Cold War decades when the former Soviet Union could be easily demonized as godless communism and an evil empire. Such stereotypes, no matter how false, could be sustained largely because of the monopoly control of Western media by governments and official regulators.

The Soviet Union passed away more than a quarter of a century ago, but Russophobia among the US political class is more virulent than ever.

This week it was evident from Congressional hearings in Washington into alleged Russian interference in US politics that large sections of American government and establishment media are fixated by Russophobia and a belief that Russia is a malign foreign adversary.

However, the power of the Russophobia propaganda technique over the wider population seems to have greatly diminished from its Cold War heyday. This is partly due to more diverse global communications which challenge the previous Western monopoly for controlling narrative and perception. Contemporary Russophobia -- demonizing Russian President Vladimir Putin or Russian military forces -- does not have the same potency for scaring the Western public. Indeed, due to greater diversity in global news media sources, it is fair to say that official Western depictions of Russia as an enemy, for example allegedly about to invade Europe or allegedly interfering in electoral politics, are met with a healthy skepticism -- if not ridicule by many Western citizens.

What is increasingly apparent here is a gaping chasm between the political class and the wider public on the matter of Russophobia. This is true for Western countries generally, but especially in the US. The political class -- the lawmakers in Washington and the mainstream news media -- are frenzied by claims that Russia interfered in the US presidential elections and that Russia has some kind of sinister leverage on the presidency of Donald Trump.

But this frenzy of Russophobia is not reflected among the wider public of ordinary American citizens. Rabid accusations that Russia hacked the computers of Trump's Democrat rival Hillary Clinton to spread damaging information about her; that this alleged sabotage of American democracy was an act of war; that President Trump is guilty of treason by colluding with a Russian influence campaign -- all of these sensational claims seem to be only a preoccupation of the privileged political class. Most ordinary Americans, concerned about making a living in a crumbling society, either don't buy the claims or view them as idle chatter.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov this week dismissed the Congressional hearings into alleged Russian interference in US politics. He aptly said that US lawmakers and the corporate media have become entangled in their own fabrications. They are trying to find evidence for conclusions that they have already made, said Peskov.

Other suitable imagery is that the US political class are tilting at windmills, chasing their own tails, or running from their own shadows. There seems to be a collective delusional mindset.

Unable to accept the reality that the governing structure of the US has lost legitimacy in the eyes of the people, that the people rebelled by electing an outsider in the form of business mogul-turned-politician Donald Trump, that the collapse of American traditional politics is due to the atrophy of its bankrupt capitalist economy over several decades -- the ruling class have fabricated their own excuse for demise by blaming it all on Russia.

The American ruling class cannot accept, or come to terms, with the fact of systemic failure in their own political system. The election of Trump is a symptom of this failure and the widespread disillusionment among voters towards the two-party train wreck of Republicans and Democrats. That is why the specter of Russian interference in the US political system had to be conjured up, by necessity, as a way of explaining the abject failure and the ensuing popular revolt.

Russophobia was rehabilitated from the Cold War closet by the American political establishment to distract from the glaring internal collapse of American politics.

The corrosive, self-destruction seems to know no bounds. James Comey, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, told Congress this week that the White House is being probed for illicit contacts with Russia. This dramatic notice served by Comey was greeted with general approval by political opponents of the Trump administration, as well as by news media outlets.

The New York Times said the FBI was in effect holding a criminal investigation at the doorstep of the White House.

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Even Further

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About two decades ago at UCLA one professor announced an ambitious plan to study the digital revolution as it occurred.

What journalist doesn't covet a chance to cover history as it happens ?

Wasn't Edgar Rice Burroughs a reporter on the staff of the Honolulu Bulletin on the weekend of December 7, 1941?

Pioneer hippie Sharla Delacroix is attempting to gather a group of writers, photographers, videographers.to participate in a quest to cover the Green Revolution in America as it goes down.

It could evolve into a documentary film, a cable TV series or a book project.

Should such an expedition star in California's Humboldt County?

Would the site of Virginia City, Nevada's Red Dog Saloon be a better jumping off point?

Will legalization of pot mean that marijuana will lose it's outlaw luster for rebels?

Are pro-pot pieces of journalism called puff pieces?

Such a pot quest would require a publicity magnet vehicle, a charismatic Neal Cassidy type driver/tour guide, a well-planned itinerary and some quant and curious rest stops plus a generous portion of serendipity.

If all goes as planned, the pot revolution bus tour during Donald Trump's (first?) term in office will provide a tsunami of material. If not, just vicariously following the quest should provide some amusement value for armchair Don Quixote.

Should "El Jefe" sell seats on the bus or " what?

Is it true that the Trip Commandante has such a fine/educated sense of smell that the concept of being a sommelier of smoke is appropriate? (Will Lloyd's insure that proboscis for a million dollars.)

Should Green Turtle be asked about bus rentals?

If readers are interested in participating in the adventure please use the comments section to indicate your level of interest.

" tbc
[This article originally appeared on Inside Syria Media Center without attribution and was submitted to OEN for republication by Anna Jaunger. The article was also republished by the Ghana Nation and the Greenville Post...editor]

According to "Inside Syria Media Center", the U.S. authorities and the Syrian Kurds reached an agreement last week on the boundaries of the Kurdish autonomy in the territory of Syria, which had been guaranteed to Kurds in case of capturing Raqqa and Al-Tabqah (34 miles to the West of Raqqa). These documents support the U.S. plan to divide Syria.

In addition, Washington has already defined the boundaries of the new state of the Great Kurdistan on the territory of Syria and Iraq. It is to be created after ISIS is defeated and the final collapse of the Syrian Arab Republic. According to the U.S. military, Kurds remain the only force capable of defeating ISIS.

In order to strengthen its positions the new U.S. administration announced plans for the liberation of the so-called ISIS capital, Raqqa. To grease the wheels the Americans resort to money, their weapon of choice. They bribe ISIS field commanders and increase payments to YPG and FSA units.

The U.S. government intentions are the capture of Raqqa by April and to eliminate ISIS in Syria and Iraq this summer. The implementation of these plans requires making concessions to Kurds. This is why the U.S. promises them an independent state in case of victory.
From Gush Shalom

WHAT IS the difference between a "corporation" and an "authority"?

You don't know? Join the 8.5 million Israelis who don't know either.

It's a national riddle. The whole country is absorbed by it. The Prime Minister announces that he will "go to the very end" to achieve his end. Which end? I don't know. I am not sure that he knows. Nobody I know knows.

The Prime Minister threatens the worst. If he does not get his way -- whatever it is -- he will do something absolutely awful: announce new elections. Let the people decide whether they want the authority or the corporation. Whatever they are.

WHAT IS it all about? One thing is certain: it concerns the public media.

Binyamin Netanyahu wants to have them under his control. Completely. Totally. Radio. Television. The social media. The lot.

Seems it is not so easy to get a firm grip on them.

Long before there was Israel and long before there was television, the British Government of Palestine founded the Voice of Jerusalem, a radio station that provided us with the news throughout World War II. When the State of Israel came into being, this radio station changed into the Voice of Israel. The Broadcasting Authority remained. Formally it belongs to the government, but it enjoys considerable autonomy.

Then TV came along, and now there are several networks, one of them a public one. It belongs to the same authority.

Netanyahu is very sensitive. He does not like criticism. Neither does his wife, Sarah'le. The Royal couple wondered how to silence the impertinent voices and hit upon a remedy: abolish the authority and create a corporation. By this simple stratagem, they could get rid of all the old hands (and mouths) they detest.

So it was decided, laws were enacted, a budget was adopted, new personnel were hired.

BUT THEN Netanyahu -- or his wife -- woke up one night and asked: Hey, what are we doing?

Who will tell all these good corporation people what to broadcast and what not?

The new corporation was modeled on the much admired BBC -- the British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC enjoys a lot of independence. Do we really want a corporation that ignores the wishes of the Prime Minister? Worse, the wishes of his wife?

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See original here

Progressives and Democrats not working with Republicans is not why Trumpcare effort failed, explains independent senator from Vermont

By Jon Queally, staff writer



Bernie Sanders

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While intra-party disagreement among Republicans and a nationwide grassroots effort to stop the cruel and unpopular healthcare reform bill known as Trumpcare undoubtedly fueled its collapse on Friday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday morning made it quite clear that Democrats not cooperating with Donald Trump and the GOP's regressive agenda is not the problem that needs addressing on Capitol Hill.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Sanders told CNN's Dana Bash during an interview when she asked if he would reach across the aisle to Republicans and tell Democrats to "stop being intransigent" with Trump and the Republicans on healthcare.

Cutting off Bash with a smile, Sanders said, "Look, what rational people would say is, 'What are the problems? And how do we fix it?' Are deductibles too high? Of course they are. Are there some parts of the country where people don't have a choice? Yes, that's true. Let us do, among other things, a public option. Let us give people in every state of this country a public option from which they can choose. Let's talk about lowering the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 55. Let's deal with the greed of the pharmaceutical industry. Those are areas that we can work together on."

Watch:

On Friday night, after the spectacular collapse of Trumpcare (officially the American Health Care Act or AHCA) in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, Sanders discussed the implications of the defeat and announced that he would soon introduce new Medicare for All legislation.
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From Consortium News



Walter Raymond Jr., a CIA propaganda and disinformation specialist who oversaw President Reagan's 'perception management' and psyops projects at the National Security Council. Raymond is partially obscured by President Reagan and is sitting next to Nation

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Newly declassified documents from the Reagan presidential library help explain how the U.S. government developed its sophisticated psychological operations capabilities that -- over the past three decades -- have created an alternative reality both for people in targeted countries and for American citizens, a structure that expanded U.S. influence abroad and quieted dissent at home.

The documents reveal the formation of a psyops bureaucracy under the direction of Walter Raymond Jr., a senior CIA covert operations specialist who was assigned to President Reagan's National Security Council staff to enhance the importance of propaganda and psyops in undermining U.S. adversaries around the world and ensuring sufficient public support for foreign policies inside the United States.

Raymond, who has been compared to a character from a John LeCarre' novel slipping easily into the woodwork, spent his years inside Reagan's White House as a shadowy puppet master who tried his best to avoid public attention or -- it seems -- even having his picture taken. From the tens of thousands of photographs from meetings at Reagan's White House, I found only a couple showing Raymond -- and he is seated in groups, partially concealed by other officials.

But Raymond appears to have grasped his true importance. In his NSC files, I found a doodle of an organizational chart that had Raymond at the top holding what looks like the crossed handles used by puppeteers to control the puppets below them. Although it's impossible to know exactly what the doodler had in mind, the drawing fits the reality of Raymond as the behind-the-curtains operative who was controlling the various inter-agency task forces that were responsible for implementing various propaganda and psyops strategies.

Until the 1980s, psyops were normally regarded as a military technique for undermining the will of an enemy force by spreading lies, confusion and terror. A classic case was Gen. Edward Lansdale -- considered the father of modern psyops -- draining the blood from a dead Filipino rebel in a such a way so the dead rebel's superstitious comrades would think that a vampire-like creature was on the prowl. In Vietnam, Lansdale's psyops team supplied fake and dire astrological predictions for the fate of North Vietnamese and Vietcong leaders.

Essentially, the psyops idea was to play on the cultural weaknesses of a target population so they could be more easily manipulated and controlled. But the challenges facing the Reagan administration in the 1980s led to its determination that peacetime psyops were also needed and that the target populations had to include the American public.

The Reagan administration was obsessed with the problems left behind by the 1970s' disclosures of government lying about the Vietnam War and revelations about CIA abuses both in overthrowing democratically elected governments and spying on American dissidents. This so-called "Vietnam Syndrome" produced profound skepticism from regular American citizens as well as journalists and politicians when President Reagan tried to sell his plans for intervention in the civil wars then underway in Central America, Africa and elsewhere.

While Reagan saw Central America as a "Soviet beachhead," many Americans saw brutal Central American oligarchs and their bloody security forces slaughtering priests, nuns, labor activists, students, peasants and indigenous populations. Reagan and his advisers realized that they had to turn those perceptions around if they hoped to get sustained funding for the militaries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras as well as for the Nicaraguan Contra rebels, the CIA-organized paramilitary force marauding around leftist-ruled Nicaragua.

So, it became a high priority to reshape public perceptions to gain support for Reagan's Central American military operations both inside those targeted countries and among Americans.

A "Psyops Totality"

As Col. Alfred R. Paddock Jr. wrote in an influential November 1983 paper, entitled "Military Psychological Operations and US Strategy," "the planned use of communications to influence attitudes or behavior should, if properly used, precede, accompany, and follow all applications of force. Put another way, psychological operations is the one weapons system which has an important role to play in peacetime, throughout the spectrum of conflict, and during the aftermath of conflict."



President Ronald Reagan leading a meeting on terrorism on Jan. 26, 1981, with National Security Advisor Richard Allen, Secretary of State Alexander Haig, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and White House counselor Edwin Meese.

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Paddock continued, "Military psychological operations are an important part of the 'PSYOP Totality,' both in peace and war. ... We need a program of psychological operations as an integral part of our national security policies and programs. ... The continuity of a standing interagency board or committee to provide the necessary coordinating mechanism for development of a coherent, worldwide psychological operations strategy is badly needed."

Some of Raymond's recently available handwritten notes show a focus on El Salvador with the implementation of "Nation wide multi-media psyops" spread through rallies and electronic media. "Radio + TV also carried Psyops messages," Raymond wrote. (Emphasis in original.) Though Raymond's crimped handwriting is often hard to decipher, the notes make clear that psyops programs also were directed at Honduras, Guatemala and Peru.

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From The Guardian

Never before has Senate leadership so openly and intentionally played political games with our highest court. The consequences are staggering

While Russia's involvement in our elections is unquestionably horrible, and it will likely take many more drip, drip, drips before we know the full extent of it, our democracy is facing an equally devastating threat much closer to home.

On Monday,[March 20] when Judge Gorsuch's confirmation hearing is scheduled to begin, the Republicans will attempt to complete their cynical political takeover of the US supreme court, launched last year when they failed to confirm or to even give a hearing to Judge Merrick Garland. Never before has Senate leadership so openly and intentionally played political games with our highest court. Already, the legitimacy of the supreme court has taken a severe blow because of it. But, if Gorsuch is confirmed, it would lock in a dangerous precedent from which the legitimacy of our highest court might never recover. Republican senators abandoned their constitutional responsibilities and blocked Judge Garland's nomination last year, for 293 days, leaving the court without a deciding vote on critical issues. They offered no legal justification for their actions, fully admitting that their sole intention was to orchestrate a coup of the supreme court by betting that a Republican would win the White House. Some even pledged to keep the seat vacant for four more years in the event that a Democrat won the White House. The severity of this action and what it will mean for the court if Gorsuch is confirmed cannot be understated. Confirming Gorsuch would endorse and normalize unconstitutional political games. It would encourage both parties to use and expand this strategy in the future, at the expense of our highest court and its critical role in our judicial system. This time it was the last year of a president's term, next it will be the year before midterm elections. It won't be long before it extends to the whole two-year presidential campaign, amounting to three years of any presidential term where a supreme court seat cannot be filled.

I have always considered the supreme court our country's safety valve. When everything else fails, the court is there to protect the constitution and protect our civil rights. But today, the most important safety valve is the US Senate, specifically those senators with the conviction to fight for the legitimacy of the supreme court. And it is not just the supreme court that will be affected, as the strategy will be used to block appointments to lower courts.

This is a slippery slope that ends with decimating the legitimacy of an entire branch of government, and the resulting checks and balances on which our democracy depends. Judge Gorsuch might be qualified. He might be a fine judge. But the vacancy on the supreme court does not belong to him. When President Trump took office, he had three options for filling the vacancy. He could have renominated Judge Garland, rectifying the wrong committed by the Republican party last year. He could have worked with both parties to nominate a consensus candidate, at least recognizing the need to reaffirm the legitimacy of the court by not validating the Republicans' coup. Or he could do what he did -- nominate a partisan judge, completely validating the Republicans' coup and locking it in as a precedent.



Preventing this precedent and its resulting slippery slope now falls to the Senate. Democratic and independent senators, and any Republicans who still care about the legitimacy of the supreme court, must filibuster Gorsuch's nomination. They must demand that Judge Garland be renominated, or at a minimum, that a consensus candidate be selected with input from both parties -- a nominee that will restore confidence in our nomination process, our judicial branch and our system of checks and balances.


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Joy-ann Reid gives three specific reasons why Trumpcare scared even conservative Republicans as it provided a mirror to them whose reflection scared them. Reid pointed out in, this excerpted video, a reality that most failed to cover appropriately. The utter cruelty of the Trumpcare bill doomed it more than anything else.





"The problems for Republicans is this seventeen-day odyssey reveal three things that are not good for them," Reid said. "Number one, that the zeal was really just about taking this thing that Obama did away which a lot of the people on the Democratic side perceived. Repeal and replace is about taking away Obama's signature achievement. But affirmatively, what did they want to do. Republicans have spent the last thirty-forty years trying to replace this image of callousness toward the poor, callousness toward the elderly, with this idea of compassionate conservatism. That was whisked away over this process. There was a cruelty to this bill that was even apparent to conservative voters, to Republican voters who were shocked at the cruelty. And the third thing and the president has kind of hinted to this too. This was a tax cut. This was an attempt to jam through a giant tax cut for the wealthy to set the stage for tax reform which is another tax cut."





Chuck Todd interjected and said even Republican Charlie Dent (R-PA) corroborated what Joy-ann Reid said about the bill being a tax cut to finance tax reform.




[ The Musa Sadr Trilogy, part 3 of 3. For part 2 see Who Ordered the killing of Imam Musa Sadr and Why?For part 1 see When, Where, and How Imam Musa Sadr was Assassinated]

(Maison De Avocat, Beirut)

According to more than one Lebanese lawyers following the Hannibal Gadaffi case discussed above, Amal leader Nabeh Berri, among a small group in the Shia community learned about the death of Musa Sadr's delegation in Libya on September 11, 1978, less than two weeks after he and his companions, Sheik Mohammad Yaacoob, and journalist Abbas Badreddine were last seen in public at the Tripoli airport as they attempted to return to Lebanon. This, even though at the time Berri was living in the US. He was reportedly also told that the three bodies were dropped into the Mediterranean Sea.

According to Boursha Khalil, the former lawyer of Hannibal Gadaffi, certain current Amal officials and plenty of others in this region were told about the delegations fate shortly after its member's disappearance.

For financial, but also political reasons, lawyer Khail claims, some in Lebanon purposely played dumb, as many in Libya and elsewhere still do, in order to deceive Lebanon's Shia community with made up reports that Imam Sadr is still alive and has been seen from time to time in various Libyan prisons. Part of the rationale for the theatrics involves millions of dollars in annual donations from the credulous Shia community and others. For more than three decades thousands of billboards and posters have regularly been plastered around Lebanon. This campaign is reportedly viewed suspiciously and only designed to help with political and cash agendas.

According to Hannibal Gadhafi's former lawyer and others monitoring his case, the Sadr disappearance soon became all about political corruption and money, and remains so today. Increasingly, Lebanon's Shia community and others are asking why do certain political leaders who have had knowledge of Imam Musa Sadr's death for the past nearly 40 years continue to deceive the Lebanon's public into thinking that the Imam is alive and, as noted above, "Was recently seen in a Libyan prison"?

As recently as 8/31/2016 Amal leader Berri said in an address he gave Al-Kassam Square in the coastal Lebanese city of Tyre, marking the 38 annual commemoration of the disappearance of Imam Musa Sadr and his companions: "We have new evidence that until this day suggests that Al-Sadr and his comrades are alive." But what is that evidence, family members of the disappeared Musa Sadr delegation want to know.

Berri regularly repeats, as Amal staffers have more than once to this observer, that their bodies have not been found and indeed they were seen recently alive in a Libyan prison. Never mentioned are the claims from Libya and elsewhere that the bodies have decomposed nearly four decades in the Sea off Janzour, Liyba and that not one of the claimed "alive in a Libyan prison" sightings have ever been shown to be true. The fact of the matter is that there has ever been any probative evidence that Musa Sadr was ever seen alive since August 31, 1978. According to lawyer Khalil, and some family members of the disappeared, what the Shia community receives is "more smoke and mirrors and rumors being circulated and meant to deceive the public for political and financial objectives."

The hoax about Musa Sadr being seen alive in a Libyan prison was reportedly conceived by and implemented from the same sources outside of Lebanon, but not in Libya, that for similar political motives, made false claims about three Iranian diplomats and an IRNA photojournalist who were abducted in Lebanon on 4 July 1982. The diplomats disappeared after reaching the al-Barbareh checkpoint in northern Lebanon, at the hands of Lebanese Phalange forces headed by Samir Geagea. The four victims were stopped and abducted and reportedly imprisoned under the supervision of Elie Hobeika, a then Phalangist. None of them have been seen since nor their bodies recovered.

Similar to the Sadr case, Iranian officials, including Ghazanfar Roknabadi, former Iranian ambassador in Lebanon, repeatedly claimed that "there are concrete evidences proving that they are alive and imprisoned in Israel." Where is the evidence? For nearly four decades no evidence has ever been forthcoming despite assurances that "their whereabouts will be revealed soon."

The widely believed to be false claim about the Iranians being alive has been regularly repeated the past three decades by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Iran's former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Iran's current Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan among others. France and the US accuse Gen.Dehghan, appointed by Iran's President Hasan Rouhani, as being the organizer of the US Marine Barracks and French compound bombings in October of 1983. Dehghan's role was also testified to by former Iranian Brigadier General Ali Reza Asgari, who according to Kai Bird author of The Good Spy, was "the man who built, promoted and founded Hezbollah," and is now under protective custody in the United States since his defection from the IRGC via Turkey in 2007.

At Iran's request, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has intensely investigated the disappearance case and several times followed up Iranian media claims with Israel officials. No evidence was ever found to support the "they were seen alive in an Israeli prison" claims.

Samir Geagea, who is still leader of the Lebanese Forces admitted that the Iranians died sometime shortly after their capture and were buried in what later became a construction site. Hobeika's security chief in the early 1980s, Robert Hatem, code-named "Cobra," accused him of "kidnapping and murdering four Iranians in 1982," in his published biography of Hobeika.

Some of the same people who want to keep the "Musa Sadr was seen in a prison" file open for political and financial reasons include some of the same individuals who concocted and continue to perpetuate the "the missing Iranian are in an Israeli prison" suspected hoax. More specifics about the relationship between the two cases and the individuals involved are documented in the above noted soon to be published Manuscript.

There are opinions being expressed by lawyers again this month who are monitoring the Hannibal Gadaffi case that Parliament Speaker Berri knows his credibility in being increasingly questioned by Musa Sadr supporters. These days Berri is apt to become irritated when questioned about his claims. When asked last month about the fact that is still repeating rumors that Musa Sadr has been seen in various Libyan prisons and that many are claiming that he is hiding the truth about Musa Sadr, Berri angrily replied "Do not try me in the Imam's case, not now and not later. Our stance will remain the same."

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Don Walton Political reporter/columnist Don Walton covers politics and the Legislature along with writing a weekly column. Follow Don Walton Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

They're saddling up their horses now.

The tax battle is gathering just over the horizon where you can see the dust rising in the air. Listen carefully and you will hear the distant hoofbeats approaching.

This Legislature has been playing softball since early January; April and May will be hardball.

The proposed 2017-2019 state budget that emerges from the Appropriations Committee will challenge state senators, but it's the tax decisions that will try and test them.

The tax package that is forming in the Revenue Committee is complicated and complex and still in play and the legislative tax decisions that follow will shape -- is that enhance? Or limit? Or just alter? -- the state's future.

Senators will be under enormous pressure to reduce property and income taxes with most of the pressure applied quite naturally by those who will benefit the most. At the beginning of this battle, property tax reduction may hold the upper hand.

Some of the pressure that is flowing into the legislative chamber will be political and it already has begun to arrive.

On the other side of the coin, the argument to ensure retention of the capacity to raise sufficient revenue to maintain -- or even improve -- programs and services usually is drowned out. Just check the record of a virtually annual string of tax reductions that have been a contributing factor in helping shape, or perhaps just deepen, the state's current fiscal challenge.

Although taxes are the target, education finds itself in the crosshairs, at the K-12 level and at the university level.

This is a showdown that might determine the political future of some state senators and it's a battle that could seep into and impact the 2018 gubernatorial race.

One of the key elements in the evolving tax package is its potential to place limits on available state revenue even in good economic times, thereby shaping the future far beyond this coming biennium.

Triggers that would generate automatic income tax reductions as state revenue begins to recover from its current challenges and grow once again would tend to limit the capacity to ever fully reverse the impact of spartan budget decisions made during challenging economic times.

So, the coming battle is also about the future, not just about here and now.

And it should be great theater.

* * *

Ben Nelson suggests that last week's Republican failure to enact a House plan to replace Obamacare opens an opportunity now for President Trump, congressional Republicans and congressional Democrats to act together in the interests of the American people to reduce prescription drug costs.

All sides have agreed that rising health care costs are a problem and must be addressed and Trump has specifically pledged to reduce drug costs.

With the GOP unable to "repeal and replace" Obamacare, Nelson said, the best option now is to "repair" the Affordable Care Act in the interests of the American people.

"One major repair that's needed is the high cost of drugs," the former Democratic senator said during a telephone call over the weekend.

"That has to be dealt with. There is no excuse for the fact that Canadians pay far less for the same drugs as Americans do. That's the place to start.

"Do what is right," Nelson uged legislators in both political parties.

"This could be done with the right bill if they will roll up their sleeves and do the right thing."

* * *

Patty Pansing Brooks has amended her original legislative proposal to replace the Columbus Day state holiday with the Standing Bear and Indigenous Leaders Day holiday to simply add that recognition of Nebraska's Native leaders to Columbus Day.

What better time to decide to recognize Standing Bear and other Native leaders than during Nebraska's sesquicentennial year, Pansing Brooks told a legislative committee last week.

Standing Bear is a historic figure in Nebraska and a national symbol of civil rights, the Lincoln senator said.

In testimony supporting the bill at its public hearing, Ponca Tribe Chairman Larry Wright Jr. said, "We firmly believe the state's story has not fully been told" and that this recognition would help assure it will always be remembered.

"With a full heart," Tom Brewer -- Nebraska's only Native American senator -- told Pansing Brooks, "I just want to say, Thank you."

* * *

Finishing up:

* Openings in the 2018 election for secretary of state and state treasurer are stirring lots of interest among potential Republican candidates, including members of the Legislature; the brutal political fact of life for Nebraska Democrats is that the next occupants of those two "down-ballot" offices will almost certainly be chosen in the GOP primary election.

* Already reeling from low commodity prices, Nebraska agriculture took a hit when President Trump walked away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and could take another one if aggressive immigration enforcement disrupts the state's meatpacking industry.

* A caller who participated in Gov. Pete Ricketts' call-in radio show last week raised questions about the cost of educating refugee children in Nebraska public schools. The governor said he has no data to estimate the fiscal impact.

* Custer County rancher and entrepreneur Jim Jenkins was featured in a telephone town hall last week with Trent Fellers and Mark Fahleson that discussed the major property tax reduction proposal championed by Reform for Nebraska's Future. Jenkins once was urged to consider a gubernatorial bid and was a Senate candidate in 2014.

* Baseball. Sunday. Opening day.
Liberals in the United States are relatively educated, yet extremely inarticulate when it comes to Trump, his budget proposal, or the U.S. military.

In a typical email, Moveon.org sent out the message this week that nobody should confirm a Supreme Court nominee until it's determined that Trump is a "legitimate president." Until then, the U.S. military should go on slaughtering families for him? And once he's "legitimate" then a horrible fascist Supreme Court nominee should be approved? And what would it take for Trump to become "legitimate." According to the email, it would take proving that Trump didn't collaborate with Putin to rig the U.S. election. According to the linked video, it would take that plus seeing Trump's tax returns, plus proving that Trump is not violating the foreign emoluments clause. All three demands are given a xenophobic slant.

Of course Trump is blatantly violating the foreign and the stronger domestic emoluments clauses. That's not a question to be investigated or doubted. But there has been zero evidence made public by anyone that he and Putin "rigged" his election. However, examining what Robert Reich in the video linked above, and others, mean by "rigged" points to one of numerous reasons that considering the election "legitimate" would be ridiculous. What they mean is that there exists the slimmest possibility that Trump sent Putin and Putin sent WikiLeaks the emails that added extra evidence to the transparent sabotaging by the Democratic Party of its own strongest candidate. Under those known circumstances, the election is already knowable as illegitimate. Add to that Trump's losing the popular vote, Trump's openly intimidating and threatening voters, Trump's court battles against counting paper ballots where they existed, the absence of verifiable ballots in many places, the exclusion of voters by Republican Secretaries of State stripping them from the rolls, the exclusion of voters with ID requirements, the nomination of Trump by the corporate media through disproportionate coverage, the open and never-denied system of bribery used to fund all the campaigns, etc. Suggesting that explaining away a xenophobic fantasy would make such an election legitimate is disgusting.

The idea that Trump could be a legitimate president if he had been fairly and properly elected is equally outrageous. He's murdering people in large numbers in numerous countries. He's creating so-called laws through executive orders. These include unconstitutional acts of discrimination. He is opposed by the vast majority of the public. He is protected in Congress by the Democrats' weakness and inability to communicate honestly, but also by an election system rigged in many of the ways noted above, plus gerrymandering in the extreme.

As I have been pointing out, the liberal line on Trump's budget proposal is dangerously dishonest. Trump doesn't propose cutting anything at all. He proposes moving money from everything else to the military. Denouncing supposed "cuts" while avoiding mention of the military stirs up the "small government" advocates in favor of the supposedly smaller budget. It also licenses an infinite military. The current proposal plus an expected supplemental puts the military at 60% to 65% of discretionary spending. Every indication is that it could reach 100% before liberals would mention it, at which point they would cease mentioning the federal budget at all.

As Dave Lindorff notes, even when a liberal economist like Dean Baker claims to be explaining the budget and correcting misunderstandings, he just states what a small percentage of the budget various good but relatively tiny programs are, without ever mentioning the existence of the U.S. military. The reader is left to assume that every big government program is just 1% or 2% of the budget because, of course, there are hundreds of big government programs. The idea that the military costs money, much less the majority of the money, never enters awareness.

Saturday evening I attended a panel discussion that was part of the Virginia Festival of the Book, attended by hundreds of people in the old Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia. The director of the festival opened by denouncing Trump's supposed cuts to the arts, never hinting that Trump's proposal is actually to move the money to the military. She also declared a welcome to all immigrants -- which had nothing to do with the event at hand. One of the authors during the discussion brought up "alternative facts." This was clearly a forum in which it was not verboten to mention horrible crises that are upon us or to badmouth a U.S. president. And yet, nobody would ever mention where the money was moving or what would be done with it.

In fact, one of the books under discussion was related to work that had been funded by the U.S. military. More such work might be funded under Trump's budget than under the current budget. And many more people might die as a result. That uncomfortable situation was totally avoided. That African American women were able to work on rockets after World War II was discussed -- and the whole event was quite intelligent and positive and fascinating -- without ever mentioning the leading rocket makers and former utilizers of slave labor who came through Operation Paperclip, without even mentioning all the people and villages blown up over the years by the rockets. When a woman asked a question about the good work of other women mathematicians who helped create nukes at Los Alamos, only positive responses were heard. Sounds like another great book to be written, commented the moderator.

What 2017 U.S. liberalism fails to grasp, I think, is that -- while racism and misogyny are indeed outrageous -- other outrages do exist. The people Trump is murdering by the hundreds are mostly dark-skinned women, children, and the elderly. I spoke on a panel on Thursday on which one of the other speakers described a mass-murder operation in Yemen thusly: "We lost a naval officer." When did morality die? Nobody was lost. A participant in a mass-slaughter of families was killed in action. That's horrific. But so are all the deaths he helped cause, and all the deaths that will result from the cycle of violence to follow. And "we" suffer all of those deaths, not just the ones in U.S. uniforms.

If inventing nuclear bombs is noble because women were involved, if Trump's funding for "more usable" nukes is unworthy of comment because pretending he's shrinking the budget is the best way to fail and Democrats are addicted to failure, if wars no longer outrage, I can only draw this conclusion, which ought to thrill every liberal soul: Hillary Clinton has won after all.
From Consortium News

Since Donald Trump's election, former Special FBI Agent Coleen Rowley has been alarmed over how Democratic hawks, neocons and other associates in the "deep state" have obsessed over "resurrecting the ghost of Joseph McCarthy" and have built political support for a permanent war policy around hatred of Russia.

Rowley, whose 2002 memo to the FBI Director exposed some of the FBI's pre-9/11 failures, compared the current anti-Russia hysteria to "the 'Red Scare' fear of Communism" famously associated with legendary FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover who collaborated with Sen. Joe McCarthy's hunt for disloyal Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

In an interview, Rowley told me that while Trump was wrong about his claim that President Obama ordered a surveillance "tapp" of Trump Tower, the broader point may have been correct as explained by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, R-California, who described how U.S. intelligence apparently picked up conversations by Trump associates while monitoring other targets.

Dennis Bernstein: A former high-level FBI whistleblower says Trump is vindicated on his claims of being surveilled by the previous administration. Joining us to take a close look at what's been going on, what's been unfolding in Washington, D.C. is Coleen Rowley. She's a former FBI special agent and division council. She wrote a May 2002 memo to the FBI director that exposed some of the FBI's pre-9/11 failures, major failures. She was Time magazine's person of the year in 2002. ... Help us explain what chairman Nunes reported in terms of the collecting process and Trumps innocence or guilt?

Coleen Rowley: I think the Chairman Nunes said [Wednesday] that Trump was monitored instead of wiretapped. And these are terms of art that for three weeks or so, no one has fully understood and so there's been all this confusion. Trump, himself, did not understand, and was clumsy in saying "my campaign was wiretapped." Wiretapping itself is almost obsolete. It means tapping into a wire, that's the old way, when the way communications used to go over wires and now they're digital and they... Snowden, if you remember, all of the disclosures from Edward Snowden, and other NSA whistleblowers, there's something going on now called collect it all, massive surveillance. And that is done, there are some targets, but then lots and lots of Americans are incidentally monitored" they aren't monitored but their conversations, and their phone numbers that they're dialing and their e-mails that they're e-mailing are collected.

And, of course, when Trump was under investigation it would be natural that they would have some... not his... not necessarily him personally, but his campaign staff obviously, that's going to mean surveillance of those people.

DB: Now, monitoring, does that mean that Obama was in fact, surveilling? Is that a good word? Was Trump being surveilled? Were his claims essentially correct?



Former FBI official Coleen Rowley (second from left) with other government whistleblowers and/or critics of the Surveillance State, from left to right: Kirk Wiebe, Rowley, Raymond McGovern, Daniel Ellsberg, William Binney, Jesselyn Radack, and Thomas Drak

(Image by (@McClellanKM) via Twitter) Details DMCA



CR: I think Trump is vindicated, again he didn't understand the terms that he was using. And he did misuse the term, so when Comey said "No... that that tweet about being wiretapped, we have found no evidence of that." Comey was able to be honest because a wiretap has a specific meaning. But, you notice, in five hours Comey never said that there's been no surveillance of anyone connected to the Trump campaign. In fact, he implied the opposite. He implied that the Trump campaign, some persons, he didn't mention names, but some of them have been investigated since this summer.

And, so, obviously that does mean that, for starters, if you think... remember all of the disclosures from Edward Snowden and the other NSA whistleblowers, they can access all of the communications that have already been collected. That's for starters, so if you have somebody that you are now investigating, you can go back into these NSA databases and say pull up everything on so-and-so. And I've just got to add one more thing, the NSA whistleblowers including Edward Snowden all warned for really now for two or three years, we have been warning the American public that this "collect it all" is really a recipe for, not only a lack of privacy, but even for hurting our own democracy.

If you go back to Frank Church, for instance, the reason the Church committee ... well it was because Frank Church, Senator Frank Church was, himself, under surveillance by the NSA. And we warned now for two or three years, that they tell the public "Don't worry, you have nothing to hide. Why would you worry about any of these NSA... they're helping us catch terrorists. And you don't have anything to hide."

But, of course, the politicians in Washington are the ones that have things to hide. They could have conflicts of interests, there's all kinds of things going on, certainly just political opposition, partisanship. So this is always an ongoing game in Washington, to try to find out dirt about your opponent, etc. So, they are the ones, actually, who should have been more aware of how this could be used against themselves. And yet, they just disregarded these warnings and told the public "Oh, don't worry you have nothing to hide."

DB: We've got Donald Trump vindicated about, in essence, being monitored, surveilled, without his own knowledge although I would imagine he should have known, or assumed. But now that tells us that there has been a lot of information collected and we can now assume, I guess, that all the... a lot of the communications from the Trump people, in Washington, also, at Trump Tower, so even though it wasn't wiretapped, it was monitored.

CR: It was collected. And, again, this isn't necessarily about Trump personally, just cause it's not about Obama, personally ordering. What this is about is if there are even members of Trump's campaign staff, or even associates, that could even be a little bit distant from the actual campaign, but just associates. It may be that they were the actual targets. And, still, might be the targets. But, then incidentally Trump could have ended up being, himself, intercepted.

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After 12 levels, there are still 11 left standing in the 2017 Marrakech Poker Open Main Event. Tahiri Hassani leads the way with 816,000.

The plan was to play until nine or the conclusion of level 21. As the clock ticked down, the 11 players couldnt be reduced any further, so they will all return tomorrow with a shot at the 300,000 Dirham (27,847) first prize.

Morocco is well represented in the final 11 players, with chipleader Tahiri Hassani joined by overnight chipleader Abdellah El Ghrari who bagged up 536,000.

Naturally there is still a whole host of French players in action with Ouassini Mansouri (590,000), Jerome Zerbib (424,000) and Idir Haiche (390,000) all sticking around for Day 3.

As well as three Frenchmen, there are three Spaniards. Hot on the heels of chipleader Hassani is Francisco Vargas, who enjoyed two late double ups to finish on 768,000. He is joined by Moises Touhle (370,000) and Tsunamy (165,000).

Rounding out the Day 3 competitors is Erik Ostergaard (702,000), Andrei-Salustin Luncan (266,000) and Valeryi Chupin (463,000).

A number of new entries joined the fray on Day 2, including High Roller champion Fadhil Farag. Last night he took only eight minutes to finish off the remaining two players in the tournament to scoop the 300,000 Dirham first prize.

Today he took a similar amount of time to bust the Main Event. His aces were cracked by the king-jack of Lasse Jacobsen.

Ludovic Geilich also entered the mix today, but he faded to bust short of the money along with Barny Boatman, November Niner Fernando Pons, Christopher Chaudey and a whole host of others.

The bubble boy was Eric Rabut, whose ace-king was defeated by the pocket fives of Rabah Ait Abdelmalek.

Next to go was Leo Margets (1,578), whose mistimed a river bluff with kings against Mansouri and was called with the Frenchman holding a set of fours.

The chip lead changed hands a lot, especially with so many quick bustouts. Pierre Neuville (20th  1,856), Hamza N Baba (19th  1,856) and Mehdi Sehdaji (18th  1,856) all busted in quick succession. Mostafa Boukri battled hard and became the third Moroccan to hit the rail in a row when he was eliminated in 17th.

It looked increasingly likely that the players would not reach nine this evening, and perhaps with that in mind, the group tightened their belts.

After Hassan Ali Khalils elimination in 16th (2,227) and Thierry Oldak in 15th (2,227) the pace of the tournament slowed considerably.

Hossein El Otmani had a good run in the High Roller two days ago and doubled up for sub-five big blinds twice in a row before falling to the ace-eight of Andrei-Salustin Luncan.

Vargas is in a good position, after he doubled first through Tsunamy, and then again through Benoit Grobocopatel, crippling him. The Frenchman would then fall in 13th Place (3,156) despite holding kings.

It looked like that would be that for the night, but there was still time for another player to bust holding kings.

Rabah Ait Abdelmalek limped with them under the gun, and was shoved on by Moises in the small blind.

Abdelmalek was ahead of Moises ace-queen, but an ace on the flop ended that and there were 11 remaining.

Tomorrow play resumes at 2:00 p.m. local time. Remember that clocks go forward one hour here in Marrakech, but PokerNews will be here to provide you with live updates through until we reach a winner.
A B-1 bomber aircraft, which is forward deployed to Guam, was part of a flyover above the disputed East China Sea last week, and while the U.S. Pacific Air Forces described it as a routine activity, China wasn't happy about it.

Chinese officials on Thursday warned during the flyover that the U.S. bomber was illegally flying inside China's self-declared air defense identification zone in the East China Sea, Reuters reported.

China declared the zone, in which aircraft are supposed to identify themselves to Chinese authorities, in 2013. The Pentagon has refused to recognize China's declaration of the zone, according to a previously released Defense Department press conference transcript.

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On March 24, the Hawaii-based Pacific Air Forces Command tweeted a photo of the B-1 Lancer leading an aerial formation over the East China Sea that also included fighter jets.

"A B-1B Lancer completed bilateral training missions alongside our Japanese and Korean allies," U.S. Pacific Air Forces Command tweeted. "The sorties were part of U.S. Pacific Command's continuous bomber presence mission and helped to improve tactical skills and interoperability between the United States Air Force, Republic of Korea Air Force and the (Japan Air Self Defense Force)."

Several B-1B Lancers and airmen with the 7th Bomb Wing from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, deployed to Guam's Andersen Air Force Base in February.

This is the second time B-1s were deployed to Guam in more than a decade, according a previous statement from Andersen Air Force Base.

A week before China protested the flyover of the Guam-based B-1 bomber, it also opposed the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system in South Korea, according to China's state-run People's Daily.

South Korean officials traveled to Guam last year to see a similar U.S. missile defense system installed at Andersen.
The US broadcast regulator FCC has said that TV stations could share channels, in a win for low-power TV (LPTVs) stations.

However, the order noted that channel-sharing will not confer new must-carry rights to LPTVs, and so these small stations will not be able to demand carriage obligations from cable, IPTV and satellite companies, unless they had must-carry status previously.The order has two main effects: following the broadcast incentive auction many stations swapped their spectrum for cash and now can remain in business by striking spectrum-sharing deals with other local TV affiliates. Meanwhile, many Class A LPTVs will be displaced by spectrum repacking, which is the process of moving TV stations into the remaining spectrum not freed up in the auction. So the sharing provision gives them a path to viability.Many LPTVs are public access-type stations that cater to the underserved  many are minority-owned and have limited resources, and the repacking process is expected to be expensive. The order said that LPTVs can now share with other LPTVs or full-power stations in order to stay on the air.NAB commends the commission for providing additional flexibility to channel-sharing broadcasters following the auction," said NAB EVP of communications Dennis Wharton. "By giving stations options to replace sharing agreements that expire or terminate after the auction, the Commission provides greater certainty for stations that choose to enter into such agreements.While the sharing protections are welcome news for LPTVs, FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn said that the FCC had missed an opportunity by closing the door on must-carry."In doing so, we have stricken from the order a simple acknowledgement that the 'benefits of channel sharing for secondary stations, outweigh any theoretical increase in the number of secondary stations cable operators may be required to carry,'" she said, adding that LPTVs can still attempt to negotiate carriage with local pay-TV distributors. "I am hopeful that many stations will find this to be a viable option."
A set of Google Street View mapping cars, specially equipped with cutting-edge methane analyzers, are allowing Colorado State University researchers to "see" invisible methane leaks from natural gas lines beneath our streets.

The technical and computational challenges of measuring methane, and the complex methodologies used to collect, analyze and publicize the data, are detailed in a new paper in the journal Environmental Science and Technology March 22.

The groundbreaking project is led by Joe von Fischer, CSU associate professor in biology, in partnership with the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and Google Earth Outreach. von Fischer's CSU co-authors include researchers from statistics (Dan Cooley), atmospheric science (Russ Schumacher), and soil and crop sciences (Jay Ham), as well as experts from University of Northern Colorado and the nonprofit science collective Conservation Science Partners.

Data from the project are helping utilities, regulators and advocacy groups reduce wasteful and environmentally damaging leaks faster and more cost effectively.

Besides being the main ingredient in natural gas, methane is also a potent greenhouse gas, with over 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year timeframe. Growing awareness of this climate risk has spurred new interest in finding and fixing low-level leaks throughout the natural gas supply chain, including local utility systems, where many low-level leaks can persist for many years. That need has spawned a new kind of science.

"This is a huge challenge that almost nobody had been thinking about. Now we're finding out just how widespread these leaks are," von Fischer said. "The faster you fix them, the bigger the environmental benefits are. But utilities and regulators didn't have the data to focus their efforts. That's where we come in. Our goal is to make it faster, cheaper and easier to find and measure methane leaks from natural gas lines to help accelerate crucial repairs."

For the Google project, von Fischer and colleagues were especially eager to identify and quantify methane leaks from the nation's urban areas, where natural gas distribution pipelines lie several feet below the ground. Their EDF Google Street View project is a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive inventory of methane leak sources within cities. The goal is to shine a powerful light on this previously invisible, hard-to-define problem.

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A chief motivation of the project is to help utility companies and governments prioritize leak repairs based on the magnitude of emissions. The researchers calculate that fixing the largest 8 percent of leaks would cut pipeline methane emissions by 30 percent. The New Jersey utility company PSE&G has approved almost $1 billion worth of upgrades directed in part by the CSU researchers' data.

The baseline technology that's allowed the project to bloom is an infrared laser methane analyzer. These mobile instruments, which didn't even exist a decade ago, can identify plumes of methane gas in real time, without the need for a gas chromatography analysis in the lab.

"The air contains gases that make it look foggy in the infrared spectrum," von Fischer explained. "The laser can scan through colors of infrared light and 'see' how much methane is present."

At the core of the effort is a set of algorithms and protocols that provide accurate accounting of methane leaks, including the size of the plumes.

Before they took their technology into Street View cars, the researchers first ran preliminary tests with research vehicles driven around campus and on the tarmac at the Christman air field. This included controlled releases of methane in both open and urban environments.

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The project has involved designing optimal routes for the Google drivers, while keeping the drivers' interaction with the equipment passive and simple. The researchers have also developed methods for screening out false positive readings - for example, how to tell the difference between a true methane leak, and a wayward reading from a landfill or nearby power facility.

For von Fischer, a classically trained ecosystem ecologist, the project has stretched him as a scientist and has catalyzed interactions with a dizzying array of disciplines. "I regularly talk with lawyers, industry people, statisticians, computer scientists, atmospheric physicists, Google....this is just a part of my life now," he said.

At present, there are four Google Street View cars in various cities carrying the CSU methane analyzers, as von Fischer and colleagues' work continues. The drivers are instructed to drive all the roads in a predetermined area to capture leak data that the CSU researchers download, analyze, and upload to a public website hosted by EDF.

To deal with the enormous streams of data the project produces -- about 2,000 data points per minute -- CSU computer science researcher Sangmi Pallickara is creating a cloud-based platform to manage, store and present the data.

So far, the CSU methane analyzers have provided leak maps of Boston; Burlington, Vermont; Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Mesa, Arizona; Pittsburgh; Staten Island, New York; and Syracuse, New York.

Among other things, they've reported that, on average, Boston, Staten Island and Syracuse -- cities with old, corrosion-prone distribution lines -- had leaks that released 25 times more methane per kilometer of road (2 liters of methane per minute per kilometer) than Burlington and Indianapolis (0.08 liters of methane per minute per kilometer).
With as many as 140 species, Atractus is the most diverse snake genus in the world, even though it can be found exclusively in Central and South America. However, these colubrid ground snakes seem largely under-researched, since there have been thirty-three species discovered in the last ten years only.

As concluded by a team of scientists, led by Alejandro Arteaga, Tropical Herping, Ecuador, this is the result of a lack of DNA information in the original descriptions of many of these species. Consequently, there have been a lot of specimens sitting in museum collection that remain either misidentified, or anonymous.

To address the issue around the problematic identification of these snakes and their correct placement in the tree of life, the scientists have studied the hereditary molecular differences in the genus using both newly collected specimens, as well as previous publications on the species occurring in the Pacific lowlands and the adjacent Andean slopes.

Their research results in a new paper, published in the open access journal ZooKeys, which describes a total of three new species from Ecuador. The authors also propose a new species group and a redefinition of a previously established one.

Interestingly, one of the new species is to be referred to as Cerberus Groundsnake, while in the books it will appear under Atractus cerberus. It is predominantly brown in colour with faint black longitudinal bands, and measures about 21 -- 31 cm in length. The biologists justify the curious name of this species with the peculiar location where they spotted the first known specimen. Found at the gates of the newly formed "Refineria del Pacifico," a massive industrial oil-processing plant, the authors were quick to recall the multi-headed monstrous dog Cerberus, known to be guarding the gates of the underworld, according to Greek mythology.

In terms of their conservation status, the scientists have proposed the Cerberus Groundsnake to be listed as Critically Endangered, according to the IUCN criteria, since its single known habitat is highly likely to be the only one, being isolated from any other similar habitats. Moreover, it comprises a relatively small patch of land, which in turn is declining in both size and quality due to deforestation. According to the IUCN criteria, a Critically Endangered status is given to a (group of) species whenever the best available evidence indicates that it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

The other two new species, the Indistinct (Atractus esepe) and the Pyron's (Atractus pyroni) ground snakes are to be listed as Data Deficient as the information about them is currently insufficient for their risk of extinction to be assessed.

Having increased the number of Atractus species in Ecuador to twenty-seven, the authors expect that the count is yet to rise. "We hope that the novel genetic and morphological data provided herein will promote future researchers to examine species boundaries in Atractus, as additional work clearly is waiting," they add.
Loss of biodiversity is a major challenge in today's world as is the quest for peace in regions engaged in conflict. But scientists writing in a Review published March 22 in Trends in Ecology & Evolution say that efforts to conserve natural resources present an opportunity to find common ground between communities at odds, building trust and renewed hope for peace.

"Nature can build bridges between nations," said Alexandre Roulin of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. "We use nature conservation to favor communication between communities in conflict. Although we've developed efforts in the Middle East, including Israel, Jordan, and the Palestine Authority, we hope that our work will become a platform to stimulate similar initiatives around the world."

Roulin says it all started about 35 years ago when co-author Yossi Leshem from Israel's Tel-Aviv University noticed that Israeli farmers were using poison to kill rodents. The trouble was that the rodents' natural bird predators were also dying from poisoning. It took years, but they ultimately convinced farmers and the Israeli government to eliminate the use of the pesticides and begin building nest boxes for barn owls and kestrels instead.

The effort helped to protect wildlife without any increase in crop loss. That's because each pair of owls can produce 11 offspring in a year. Those owls, in turn, consume thousands of rodents per year.

But there was more. The scientists began to realize that farmers in Jordan and the Palestinian Authority faced similar challenges, which needed to be addressed on a regional scale. They also began to realize that the project could unite Jordanians, Israelis, and Palestinians for a common cause despite their religious and political differences. Roulin recounts many examples in which people engaged in the project over the years have laughed and joked together, visited each other's places of worship, and more.

Roulin says it's best to start small. By documenting small-scale successes, you can begin to identify committed partners in other places. Ultimately, programs such as their "Birds know no boundaries" effort can be expanded to reach a national and international scale.

"The combination of nature conservation and peace-building is not only important, but it also brings a new message of hope that our society is looking for," Roulin said. "We hope to persuade the international community to consider such projects as diplomatic tools to pave the road to peace."

Their project in the Middle East has continued undeterred despite the conflict. There's already interest in their example from the Swiss and Chinese armies. There's also hope that a similar effort could be a starting point for bringing people from North and South Korea together.

"Unexpected ideas, such as working scientifically with barn owls, can be the source of great inspiration for issues that are far bigger than our scientific questions," Roulin said.

Roulin says he and his colleagues now hope to launch an educational program in Europe, to encourage connection between children from Europe and the Middle East and raise awareness about the interdependence of nature on a global scale.
In the South China Sea, a 2C rise in the sea surface temperature in June 2015 was amplified to produce a 6C rise on Dongsha Atoll, a shallow coral reef ecosystem, killing approximately 40 percent of the resident coral community within weeks, according to a study published in Scientific Reports this week.

Wind and waves churn the sea, flushing shallow-water coral reefs with seawater from the open ocean to help them stay cool. But according to new research from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), when the weather turns still and these natural cooling mechanisms subside, just a few degrees of ocean warming can prove lethal to the corals that live there.

Scientists at WHOI studied this phenomenon in June 2015 while conducting research on Dongsha Atoll, an almost perfectly circular coral reef in the remote South China Sea. The findings, published in the March 24, 2017 issue of the journal Scientific Reports, highlight the devastation caused when global-scale ocean warming interacts with short-lived weather anomalies, and adds urgency to the question of how reefs will fare through the end of this century.

"Dongsha Atoll is typically hit with tropical storms and strong winds in June, which keep the corals as cool as the open ocean," said Tom DeCarlo, lead author of the study and a then-graduate student in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography. "But in 2015, the weather in June was exceptionally calm -- at one point, there was basically no wind and no waves. This had an amplifying effect on the water temperatures, which were already feeling the heat from global warming and El Nino. The whole reef became a giant swimming pool that just sat there and baked in the sun."

According the DeCarlo, who is now a scientist with the University of Western Australia, it only took a few days of calm winds and waves before the reef lost its supply of cooler water from the open ocean. "We saw water temperatures surge to 36 C (97 F) -- a full 6 C above normal summertime temperatures. This caused 100% of the corals to bleach, and 40% of them died," he said.

Gone and back again

DeCarlo, WHOI scientist Anne Cohen, and dive master Pat Lohmann, witnessed the start of the mass die-off on the last day of their month-long field visit to Dongsha. They had just finished up an ecological survey of coral cover on the reef, and before heading home, jumped in the water to retrieve instruments they use to monitor water temperature, pH and currents. "That's when we saw that all the corals had turned white," said DeCarlo. "We had to catch our flights the next day, but the situation looked dire so Anne sent us back out to the site within a few weeks.

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According to Cohen, the lead principal investigator on the project, the timing was remarkable given they were still on site when the bleaching started. "It's quite uncommon to be out there in such a remote place as a massive bleaching event is actually happening," said Cohen. "From Tom's surveys, we knew what the healthy reef looked like just before the bleaching, so we could make a direct comparison with the post-bleaching data to assess the effects of the warming."

Upon their return, the scientists boated back out to the reef and saw a green tint shimmering through the water -- a possible sign that the corals made it through the bleaching event and were returning to a normal state. But when they dove in, they realized what they had seen was actually green turf algae covering dead corals. "This was the fastest-calcifying reef we've ever studied," said DeCarlo. "So we thought it would have shown resiliency. But everything had come crashing down in the space of a few weeks."

Cooling system shutdown

The team suspected the amplified warming was due to the weather lull, but they couldn't automatically rule out the possibility that fewer clouds and more sunlight in 2015 versus previous years had caused the event. To test this hypothesis, DeCarlo and co-author Kristen Davis, using data recorded by instruments deployed on the reef, conducted a number of "heat budget" calculations to hone in on the specific factors that drove the extreme heating.

"We saw that air-to-sea heating mechanisms like sunlight and air temperature had remained nearly constant throughout June, but the wind- and wave-driven currents pushing in cooler offshore water were essentially turned off for a few days. This was the big change that caused the water temperatures to spike on the reef, so our hypothesis was correct -- the unusually calm weather pattern was the primary culprit," said DeCarlo.

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Scanning history

Water temperatures stabilized in early July as the winds and waves finally kicked up. But the widespread damage had already been done. Given the magnitude of the event, the scientists wanted to know if this reef had experienced similar temperature extremes in the past, and if so, whether the corals recovered. According to Cohen, however, few historical bleaching data existed for the region.

"This is a super-remote place that takes two hours to get to by plane from mainland Taiwan," she said. There were unpublished accounts of bleaching in 1997, but the severity and extent of that event were not quantified.

Without precise historical records, the team drilled core samples from corals living on the reef and used Computed Tomography (CT) scans to look for signals of thermal stress in the past. The scans, which look like an x-rayed mop handle, reveal annual rings or "bands" of varying densities in the coral's skeleton.

"These bands are like a history book for coral reefs, allowing you to count back in time to specific years and events," said Cohen, who attributes her lab's unique "paleo perspective" to her background in paleo-oceanography. "The brighter, high-density bands, which we call 'stress bands,' are signatures of long and intense bleaching events. Based on cores we scanned, it appears there had been only three previous bleaching events between 1983 and 2015, each of which happened in El Nino years. But we detected very few stress bands in the cores, so while there had been bleaching, these events were not nearly as severe as 2015."

Interpreting the CT scan data, DeCarlo says many corals that had bleached in the past appear to have recovered. "The skeletal records show that less than 50 percent of the colonies had bleached during these historical events, which is a stark contrast to the 100 percent bleaching we saw in 2015. This suggests that the area had not seen thermal stress this extreme in the last forty years at least -- maybe even in the last 100 years."

21st century reef

The study highlights the consequences for shallow-water coral reefs when global warming intersects with short-lived weather anomalies. But the scientists say their observations also suggest the possibility that climate model projections may underestimate what some coral reefs will experience as the ocean continues to warm over this century.

"The current global climate models and prognosis for reefs are based on a 2 C warming scenario for the open ocean," said DeCarlo. "But these projections usually don't account for the kind of regional and local weather anomalies we saw at Dongsha. When you have weather amplification events superimposed on top of carbon dioxide-driven ocean warming, that's when things can get really bad for corals. Models based on open-ocean warming already paint a dire picture for coral reefs, but the scary reality is that they may be too optimistic for many shallow reefs."

"Projections based on open-ocean temperatures may not be 100% relevant to these shallow-water environments, where many coral communities live," Cohen added. "It's possible that coral reefs are in much more immediate danger than we have anticipated. When global and regional anomalies align, a seemingly-mild two-degree warming could be more like six degrees."
Emerging evidence suggests that the safety standards for glyphosate--a chemical widely used in common weed-killers--may be failing to protect public and environmental health, suggest experts in an essay published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

The standards are based on out of date science, say the researchers, and may not therefore be able to address the full complement of potential health hazards associated with exposure to these chemicals. They call for an urgent review of these standards.

Earlier this month, the European Chemicals Agency gave glyphosate the all-clear, concluding that it is not linked to a heightened risk of cancer in people. This ruling will be used to inform the European Commission's decision later this year on whether to re-authorise the use of this chemical.*

In the US, glyphosate use has increased rapidly over the past two decades and it is now the most widely used weed-killer in the nation. And global estimates suggest that in 2014 enough glyphosate was used to spray nearly 0.5 kg on every hectare of arable land across the entire planet.

Glyphosate is not only used to kill off weeds before crops are planted, and to control weed growth afterwards, but it is also used to speed up the natural drying of seeds before harvest. Residues have also been found in soybeans, wheat, barley and many other crops and foods, say the researchers.

But most of the science used to support the safety standards applied in the US was carried out more than 30 years ago, and relatively little of it was subject to peer review, they point out. More than 1500 studies have been published on the chemical over the past decade alone.

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"It is incongruous that safety assessments of the most widely used herbicide on the planet rely largely on fewer than 300 unpublished, non-peer reviewed studies while excluding the vast modern literature on glyphosate effects," say the experts.

And despite the rapid increase in use there is no systematic monitoring system for tracking levels in human tissue, and few studies have looked at potential harms to human health.

But recent animal studies have suggested that glyphosate at doses lower than those used to assess risk, may be linked to heightened risks of liver, kidney, eye and cardiovascular system damage.

And weed-killers, which combine glyphosate with other 'so-called inert ingredients,' may be even more potent. But these mixtures are regarded as commercially sensitive by the manufacturers and are therefore not available for public scrutiny, say the experts.

Debate continues to rage as to whether glyphosate is associated with a heightened risk of cancer or whether it has the potential to disrupt hormone function.

The researchers call for:

improved surveillance of the levels of glyphosate and its metabolites in people

the latest state of the art tests and technology to be applied to risk assessments of these chemicals and other combination weed-killers

further research to track occupational exposures in agricultural workers, manufacturers, and other vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women and their children

evaluations of commercial combination weed-killers containing glyphosate.

"After a review of all evaluations, we conclude that the current safety standards are outdated and may fail to protect public health and the environment," they write.
Gender discrimination can be found in the most unexpected fields. An international team, involving Demian Battaglia, a CNRS researcher at the Institut de neurosciences des systemes, as well as researchers from Yale and the Max Planck Institute (Germany), has just demonstrated that women are underrepresented in the peer review of scientific publications. This research is published in the journal eLife on March 21, 2017.

Gender discriminations are a well-known phenomenon. Scientific research is not immune to these issues, particularly academic publications, one of the cornerstones of scientific work. To be validated, an article must be approved by independent researchers, who are supposed to be selected on the basis of their skills rather than their gender. Yet an international team has found that women scientists -- already in a minority in their field -- are underselected for peer review. This is due to the natural and unconscious tendency of publishers, most of whom are men, to select a reviewer of their own sex.

Demian Battaglia, a CNRS researcher at the Institut de neurosciences des systemes (Inserm/AMU), alongside Markus Helmer and his collaborators, has worked on the journals of the publishing house Frontiers, the only one to make the names of its peer reviewers public. Based on a series of 41,000 publications in various fields (science, health, engineering, the social sciences), published between 2007 and 2015, and a dataset of 43,000 reviewers, they observed that women are underrepresented in various scientific domains, as well as being less often asked to act as peer reviewers than one would statistically expect.

The reason is simple: publishers, whether men or women, display a tendency, known as homophily, to select reviewers of their own sex. This is common practice both in terms of friendly and professional relationships. But it manifests itself differently between the sexes. This behavior is widespread among men (more than 50% of individuals), and limited -- albeit practiced to the extreme -- among women (around 10% of women publishers are very strongly homophilic).

According to the authors, the result of this process is that even where a policy of parity is in effect, and women and men are equally represented in theory, this homophilic bias may persist. The real issue at stake, it seems, is to change behaviors. The authors of the study therefore put forward proposals, including the use of tables that would be displayed when publishing proofs, showing sexism-related figures.

The team now hopes to repeat its analyses in a few years' time in order to see whether its recommendations have been acted upon.
Most website visits these days entail a database query -- to look up airline flights, for example, or to find the fastest driving route between two addresses.

But online database queries can reveal a surprising amount of information about the people making them. And some travel sites have been known to jack up the prices on flights whose routes are drawing an unusually high volume of queries.

At the USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation next week, researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Stanford University will present a new encryption system that disguises users' database queries so that they reveal no private information.

The system is called Splinter because it splits a query up and distributes it across copies of the same database on multiple servers. The servers return results that make sense only when recombined according to a procedure that the user alone knows. As long as at least one of the servers can be trusted, it's impossible for anyone other than the user to determine what query the servers executed.

"The canonical example behind this line of work was public patent databases," says Frank Wang, an MIT graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science and first author on the conference paper. "When people were searching for certain kinds of patents, they gave away the research they were working on. Stock prices is another example: A lot of the time, when you search for stock quotes, it gives away information about what stocks you're going to buy. Another example is maps: When you're searching for where you are and where you're going to go, it reveals a wealth of information about you."

Honest broker

Of course, if the site that hosts the database is itself collecting users' data without their consent, the requirement of at least one trusted server is difficult to enforce.

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Wang, however, points to the increasing popularity of services such as DuckDuckGo, a search engine that uses search results from other sites, such as Bing and Yahoo, but vows not to profile its customers.

"We see a shift toward people wanting private queries," Wang says. "We can imagine a model in which other services scrape a travel site, and maybe they volunteer to host the information for you, or maybe you subscribe to them. Or maybe in the future, travel sites realize that these services are becoming more popular and they volunteer the data. But right now, we're trusting that third-party sites have adequate protections, and with Splinter we try to make that more of a guarantee."

Division of labor

Splinter uses a technique called function secret sharing, which was first described in a 2015 paper by a trio of Israeli computer scientists. One of them, Elette Boyle, earned her PhD at MIT studying with RSA Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Shafi Goldwasser, a 2013 recipient of the Turing Award, the highest award in computer science. Goldwasser, in turn, is one of Wang's co-authors on the new paper, along with Vinod Vaikuntanathan, an MIT associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science (EECS); Catherine Yun, an EECS graduate student; and Matei Zaharia, an assistant professor of computer science at Stanford.

Systems for disguising database queries have been proposed in the past, but function secret sharing could make them as much as 10 times faster. In experiments, the MIT and Stanford researchers found that Splinter could return a result from a database with millions of entries -- including a duplicate of the Yelp database for selected cities -- in about a second.

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With function secret sharing, a database query is converted into a set of complementary mathematical functions, each of which is sent to a different database server. On each server, the function must be applied to every record in the database; otherwise, a spy could determine what data the user is interested in. Every time the function is applied to a new record, it updates a value stored in memory. After it's been applied to the last record, the final value is returned to the user. But that value is meaningless until it's combined with the values reported by the other servers.

Splinter represents several key elaborations on previous work on function secret sharing. Whereas earlier research focused on concealing simple binary-comparison and addition operations, Splinter executes more complex operations typical of database queries, such as finding a specified number of records with the highest or lowest values for some variable -- such as the 10 lowest fares for a particular flight itinerary. The MIT and Stanford researchers had to devise cryptographic functions that could perform all the comparing and sorting required for ranking results without betraying any information.

Practical considerations

Splinter has also been engineered to run efficiently on real database systems. Most modern computer chips, for instance, are hardwired to implement the encryption scheme known as AES. Hardwiring makes AES hundreds of times faster than it would be if it were implemented in software, but AES has some idiosyncrasies that make it less than ideal for function secret sharing. Through a clever combination of software processes and AES encryption, the MIT and Stanford researchers were able to make Splinter 2.5 times as efficient as it would be if it used the AES circuits alone.

"There's always this gap between something being proposed on paper and actually implementing it," Wang says. "We do a lot of optimization to get it to work, and we have to do a lot of tricks to get it to support actual database queries."
Researchers from Emory University have found that specific patterns of activity on brain scans may help clinicians identify whether psychotherapy or antidepressant medication is more likely to help individual patients recover from depression.

The study, called PReDICT, randomly assigned patients to 12 weeks of treatment with one of two antidepressant medications or with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). At the start of the study, patients underwent a functional MRI brain scan, which was then analyzed to see whether the outcome from CBT or medication depended on the state of the brain prior to starting treatment. The study results are published as two papers in the March 24 online issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The MRI scans identified that the degree of functional connectivity between an important emotion processing center (the subcallosal cingulate cortex) and three other areas of the brain was associated with the treatment outcomes. Specifically, patients with positive connectivity between the brain regions were significantly more likely to achieve remission with CBT, whereas patients with negative or absent connectivity were more likely to remit with antidepressant medication.

"All depressions are not equal and like different types of cancer, different types of depression will require specific treatments. Using these scans, we may be able to match a patient to the treatment that is most likely to help them, while avoiding treatments unlikely to provide benefit," says Helen Mayberg, MD, who led the imaging study. Mayberg is a Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology and Radiology and the Dorothy C. Fuqua Chair in Psychiatric Imaging and Therapeutics at Emory University School of Medicine.

Mayberg and co- investigators Boadie Dunlop, MD, Director of the Emory Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, and W. Edward Craighead, PhD, J. Rex Fuqua Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, sought to develop methods for a more personalized approach to treating depression.

Current treatment guidelines for major depression recommend that a patient's preference for psychotherapy or medication be considered in selecting the initial treatment approach. However, in the PReDICT study patients' preferences were only weakly associated with outcomes; preferences predicted treatment drop-out but not improvement. These results are consistent with prior studies, suggesting that achieving personalized treatment for depressed patients will depend more on identifying specific biological characteristics in patients rather than relying on their symptoms or treatment preferences. The results from PReDICT suggest that brain scans may offer the best approach for personalizing treatment going forward.

In recruiting 344 patients for the study from across the metro Atlanta area, researchers were able to convene a more diverse group of patients than other previous studies, with roughly half of the participants self-identified as African-American or Hispanic.

"Our diverse sample demonstrated that the evidence-based psychotherapy and medication treatments recommended as first line treatments for depression can be extended with confidence beyond a white, non-Hispanic population," says Dunlop.

"Ultimately our studies show that clinical characteristics, such as age, gender, etc., and even patients' preferences regarding treatment, are not as good at identifying likely treatment outcomes as the brain measurement," adds Mayberg.
Despite having the strongest academic support from parents, teachers, and friends, second-generation Asian American adolescents benefit much less from these supports than others, finds a study by NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

The findings, published in the Asian American Journal of Psychology, suggest that support may be experienced as pressure and that stereotyping Asian Americans as high achievers can be problematic.

"The tension produced from immigrant parents' high expectations and their children's efforts to fulfill these expectations might exacerbate the academic pressures experienced by second-generation Asian Americans," said Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng, assistant professor of international education at NYU Steinhardt and author of the study.

Support from parents, friends, and teachers is a vital resource for adolescents when they form their own academic expectations. High academic expectations and support from others are linked with students having higher expectations for themselves and other important academic outcomes, such as getting good grades or going to college.

However, academic social support and its benefits are not necessarily uniform across students of different racial and generational backgrounds. In the case of Asian American youth, scholars have described two theories that may shape the academic expectations of Asian Americans: the Immigrant Bargain and the Model Minority Stereotype. The Immigrant Bargain explains how immigrant children, who are aware of their parents' sacrifices, feel obligated to be successful in order to justify the hardships experienced by their parents. The Model Minority Stereotype constructs Asian American identity around high academic achievement.

In this study, Cherng and his co-author, NYU Steinhardt doctoral student Jia-Lin Liu, sought to understand whether academic social support from parents, friends, and teachers actually helps Asian American students or compounds the pressure that the youth experience.

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The researchers used data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, a nationally representative dataset of 15,360 high school students. They looked at information reported by the students, students' parents, and teachers during the students' sophomore year, including whether parents and teachers expected students to go to college. This information was linked to academic expectations reported by students in their senior year of high school -- specifically, whether they anticipated completing a college degree. The researchers also looked at demographics, such as race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and immigration status (first-generation, second-generation, and third-generation and beyond).

They found that academic social support was an important ingredient in the formation of college-going expectations and that second-generation Asian Americans had the strongest social support. However, the influence of parents, friends, and teachers was not uniform: second-generation Asian Americans benefited less -- or sometimes not at all -- from academic social support despite having parents and teachers with the highest expectations and friends who were the most academically oriented.

For example, second-generation Asian Americans who had the highest level of support actually had lower probabilities of going to college, at 74 percent, compared to their peers with lower levels of support, at 83 percent. In contrast, third-generation Whites who had the highest level of support had 3 percent higher probabilities of expecting to go to college than did their peers with less support.

In addition to second-generation Asian Americans, parents of all generations of Latino students, third-generation Black students, and second-generation White students had significantly higher academic expectations compared to parents of third-generation White students.

Teacher's academic expectations also varied on students based on students' backgrounds. Both first- and second-generation Asian Americans and White students had teachers with higher expectations compared to third-generation White students. Teachers had significantly lower expectations towards Latino and Black students from all generations.

"Although sometimes thought of as a 'positive stereotype,' the Model Minority Stereotype not only can place pressure on Asian American youth to excel, but does not fully reflect the history and achievement of Asian Americans," Cherng said. "Teachers and policymakers who believe that all Asian Americans excel can overlook the educational needs of those who need assistance."

Given the negative influence the Model Minority Stereotype can have on Asian American youth, the authors conclude that more efforts should be taken to recognize and address this issue. For example, teachers can facilitate productive dialogue about Asian American stereotypes with students and families.
Researchers have shown for the first time that Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and schizophrenia have a shared genetic origin, indicating that the causes of these diverse conditions are biologically linked. The work has just been published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.

By analyzing the genetic profiles of almost 13,000 ALS/MND cases and over 30,000 schizophrenia cases, the research led by scientists from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland confirms that many of the genes that are associated with these two very different conditions are the same.

In fact, the research which involved collaborators from the University of Utrecht, Kings College London and members of the Project MinE and Psychiatric Genome Consortia has shown an overlap of 14% in genetic susceptibility to the adult onset neuro-degeneration condition ALS/MND and the developmental neuropsychiatric disorder schizophrenia.

While overlaps between schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric conditions including bipolar affective disorder and autism have been shown in the past, this is the first time that an overlap in genetic susceptibility between ALS/MND and psychiatric conditions has been shown.

Dr Russell McLaughlin, Ussher Assistant Professor in Genome Analysis at Trinity College Dublin, and lead author of the paper said: "This study demonstrates the power of genetics in understanding the causes of diseases. While neurological and psychiatric conditions may have very different characteristics and clinical presentations, our work has shown that the biological pathways that lead to these diverse conditions have much in common."

Professor of Neurology in Trinity and Consultant Neurologist at the National Neuroscience Centre, Orla Hardiman, who is the senior author and lead investigator on the project said: "Our work over the years has shown us that ALS/MND is a much more complex disease than we originally thought. Our recent observations of links with psychiatric conditions in some families have made us think differently about how we should study ALS/MND. When combined with our clinical work and our studies using MRI and EEG, it becomes clear that ALS/MND is not just a disorder of individual nerve cells, but a disorder of the way these nerve cells talk to one another as part of a larger network."

She continued: "So instead of thinking of ALS/MND as a degeneration of one cell at a time, and looking for a 'magic bullet' treatment that works, we should think about ALS/MND in the same way that we think about schizophrenia, which is a problem of disruptions in connectivity between different regions of the brain, and we should look for drugs that help to stabilize the failing brain networks".

"The other significant issue that this research brings up is that the divide between psychiatry and neurology is a false one. We need to recognise that brain disease has many different manifestations, and the best way to develop new treatments is to understand the biology of what is happening. This will have major implications for how we classify diseases going forward, and in turn how we train our future doctors in both psychiatry and neurology. That in itself will have knock on consequences for how society understands, approaches and treats people with psychiatric and neurological conditions," Professor Hardiman added.

The new research was prompted by earlier epidemiological studies by researchers at Trinity, led by Professor Hardiman. These studies showed that people with ALS/MND were more likely than expected to have other family members with schizophrenia, and to have had another family member who had committed suicide. This was first noted as family histories were ascertained from people with ALS/MND in the Irish National ALS Clinic and was subsequently investigated as part of case control studies in Ireland in which over 192 families with ALS/MND and 200 controls participated. Details of over 12,000 relatives were analysed and the rates of various neurological and psychiatric conditions calculated in family member of those with ALS/MND and controls. This work was subsequently published in the prestigious American journal the Annals of Neurology in 2013.

This led the Trinity group to team up with European collaborators in ALS/MND to see if these epidemiological observations could be due to a genetic overlap between ALS/MND and schizophrenia.

The Trinity group, along with their partners in the University of Utrecht, will continue to study the links between ALS/MND and psychiatric conditions using modern genetics, epidemiology and neuroimaging, and in this way will develop new and more effective treatments that are based on stabilizing disrupted brain networks.
All it takes is the flip of a protein "switch" within the tiny wire-like capillaries of the brain to increase the blood flow that ensures optimal brain function. New research has uncovered that capillaries have the capacity to both sense brain activity and generate an electrical vasodilatory signal to evoke blood flow and direct nutrients to nourish hard-working neurons.

These findings were reported online in Nature Neuroscience.

When there is an increase in brain activity, there is an increase in blood flow, says Thomas Longden, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and first author of the study. "The area of the brain covered by the capillaries -- the smallest blood vessels in the body -- vastly surpasses the area covered by arterioles. This ideally positions them for monitoring neuronal activity and controlling blood flow."

Understanding the mechanisms that precisely direct cerebrovascular blood flow to satisfy the brain's ever-changing energy needs has, to date, eluded scientists. Neurons consume an enormous amount of the body's energy supplies -- about 20 percent -- yet lack their own reserves, so are reliant on blood to deliver nutrients. Previously, capillaries were thought to be passive tubes and the arterioles were thought to be the source of action. Now, Longden and colleagues have discovered that capillaries actively control blood flow by acting like a series of wires, transmitting electrical signals to direct blood to the areas that need it most.

To achieve this feat, the capillary sensory network relies on a protein (an ion channel) that detects increases in potassium during neuronal activity. Increased activity of this channel facilitates the flow of ions across the capillary membrane, thereby creating a small electrical current that generates a negative charge -- a rapidly transmitted signal -- that communicates the need for additional blood flow to the upstream arterioles, which then results in increased blood flow to the capillaries.

The team's study also determined that if the potassium level is too high, this mechanism can be disabled, which may contribute to blood flow disturbances in a broad range of brain disorders.

"These findings open new avenues in the way we can investigate cerebral diseases with a vascular component," says co-first author Fabrice Dabertrand, Ph.D., an assistant professor of pharmacology at the University of Vermont's Larner College of Medicine. Cerebrovascular illnesses like Alzheimer's disease, CADASIL, and other conditions that cause cognitive decline can, in part, be a consequence of neurons not receiving enough blood flow and therefore not getting sufficient nutrients.

"If you're hungry, you're not able to do your best work; it may be the same for neurons," says Dabertrand, who adds that the group's next phase of research will focus on exploring potential pathological factors involved in disabling the capillary potassium-sensing mechanism.

An image from the Vermont team's research will be featured on the cover of the May 2017 issue of Nature Neuroscience.
Until recently, work on biological clocks that dictate daily fluctuations in most body functions, including core body temperature and alertness, focused on neurons, those electrically excitable cells that are the divas of the central nervous system.

Asked to define the body's master clock, biologists would say it is two small spheres -- the suprachiasmatic nuclei, or SCN -- in the brain that consist of 20,000 neurons. They likely wouldn't even mention the 6,000 astroglia mixed in with the neurons, said Erik Herzog, a neuroscientist in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. In a March 23 advance online publication from Current Biology, Herzog and his collaborators show that the astroglia help to set the pace of the SCN to schedule a mouse's day.

The astroglia, or astrocytes, were passed over in silence partly because they weren't considered to be important. Often called "support cells," they were supposed to be gap fillers or place holders. Their Latin name, after all, means "starry glue."

Then two things happened. Scientists discovered that almost all the cells in the body keep time, with a few exceptions such as stem cells. And they also began to realize that the astrocytes do a lot more than they had thought. Among other things, they secrete and slurp neurotransmitters and help neurons form strengthened synapses to consolidate what we've learned. In fact, scientists began to speak of the tripartite synapse, emphasizing the role of an astrocyte in the communication between two neurons.

So for a neuroscientist like Herzog, the obvious question was: What were the astrocytes doing in the SCN? Were they keeping time? And if they were keeping time, how did the astrocyte clocks interact with the neuron clocks?

Herzog answered the first question in 2005 -- yes, astrocytes have daily clocks -- but then the research got stuck. To figure out what the astrocytes were doing in living networks of cells and in living animals, the scientists had to be able to manipulate them independently of the neurons with which they are entwined. The tools to do this simply didn't exist.

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Now, Herzog's graduate student Matt Tso, the first author on the paper, has solved the problem. The tools he devised allow astrocytes in the SCN to be independently controlled. Using his toolkit, the lab ran two experiments, altering the astrocyte clocks and monitoring the highly ritualized, daily behavior of wheel-running in mice.

The scientists were surprised by the results, to be published in the April 7 print issue of Current Biology. In both experiments, tweaks to the astrocyte clocks reliably slowed the mouse's sense of time. "We had no idea they would be that influential," Tso said.

The scientists are already planning follow-up experiments.

Figuring out how and where these clocks function in the brain and body is important because their influence is ubiquitous. For his part, Herzog is already looking at the connections between circadian rhythm and brain cancer, pre-term birth, manic depression and other diseases.

Astrocytes clock in

A biological clock is a series of interlocking reactions that act somewhat like a biochemical hourglass. An accumulating protein eventually shuts down its own production, much as the sand eventually drains from the top half of the hourglass. But then -- through the magic of feedback loops -- the biochemical hourglass, in effect, turns itself over and starts again.

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At first, scientists were aware only of the clock in the SCN. If it is destroyed in an animal such as a rat, the rat will sleep for the same amount of time but in fits and starts instead of for long periods.

But then the genes that make up the biological clock began to be found in many different kinds of cells: lung, heart, liver, and sperm. Hair cells, by the way, prefer to grow in the evening.

So Herzog began to wonder about astrocytes in the SCN. Were they, too, keeping time?

To find out, he coupled a bioluminescent protein to a clock gene and then isolated astrocytes in a glass dish. He found that the astrocytes brightened and dimmed rhythmically, proof that they were keeping time.

The obvious next step was to look at the astrocytes not only in a glass dish but also in SCN slices and in living animals. But that turned out to be easier said than done. "We burned through two postdocs trying to get these experiments to work," Herzog said.

So it is a technical triumph that Tso was able to make the astrocytes light up when they were expressing clock genes and to add or delete clock genes in the astrocytes while leaving the neurons intact, Herzog said.

As a first step, collaborator Michihiro Mieda from Kanazawa University created a "conditional reporter" that switched on a firefly luciferase whenever a clock gene was being expressed in a cell of interest. Tso delivered the tiny switch to the astrocytes inside a virus.

In slices of a mouse SCN with this reporter in place, the scientists could see that the star-shaped cells were expressing the clock gene in a rhythmic pattern. This proved that astrocytes keep time in living tissue where they are interacting with one another and with neurons, as well as when they are isolated in a dish.

Next, the scientists used the new gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to delete a clock gene in only the astrocytes of the SCN of living mice. They then monitored the mice for changes in the time they started running on a wheel each day.

Running is an easily measured behavior that provides a reliable indication of the state of the underlying body clock. A mouse in constant darkness will start running on a wheel approximately every 23.7 hours, typically deviating by less than 10 minutes from this schedule.

"When we deleted the gene in the astrocytes, we had good reason to predict the rhythm would remain unchanged," Tso said. "When people deleted this clock gene in neurons, the animals completely lost rhythm, which suggests that the neurons are necessary to sustain a daily rhythm."

Instead, when astrocyte clock was deleted, the SCN clock ran slower. The mice climbed into their wheels one hour later than usual every day.

"This was quite a surprise," Tso said.

The results of the next experiment were even more exciting for them. The scientists began with a mouse that has a mutation making its clocks run fast and then "rescued" this mutation in astrocytes but not in neurons. This meant that the astrocyte clocks were running at the normal pace but the neuron clocks were still fast.

"We expected the SCN to follow the neurons' pace. There are 10 times more neurons in the SCN than astrocytes. Why would the behavior follow the astrocytes'? " Tso said.

But that is exactly what they did. The mice with the restored astrocyte clocks climbed into their wheels two hours later than mice whose astrocytes and neurons were both fast-paced.

The scientists don't know why the astrocytes are so important or how they are communicating with neurons. But their research adds to a body of work suggesting that astrocytes, far from being place holders or gap fillers, may actually be running the show. It wouldn't be the first time the power was behind rather than on the throne.
Traveling to India is an assault on your senses, a conscience shaking, intense trip with the brilliance of almost shattering color -- an unbelievable even life-changing experience in the face of the raw reality of life and death.

This journey is about 

* the wondrous, soft melody of a flute player accompanying a sunrise on the holy Ganges River -- as well as the opera of relentless horn honks as you try to maneuver a crazed rickshaw through Delhi.

* an almost claustrophobic sensation of the mere crush of people: motorbikes, tuk-tuks, cars, bicycles and pedestrians squeezing their way through some of the globes most populous alleys and byways.

* delicious scents of genuine Indian dishes, fragrant incenses and spices, and the not so delicious aromas of big city haze -- or the oppressiveness of the pervasive, invasive, abrasive dust.

* vivid, riotous color -- in sequined saris, golden marigolds, street vendor wares, silks and rugs, even adornments on trucks and bicycles.

* some of the warmest, most kindhearted people ever -- people who welcome you into their lives without hesitation.

* the exquisite sight of the Taj Mahal -- more gorgeous than any picture can ever capture -- in contrast to some of the worst living conditions I have ever personally witnessed. The country is a third the size of the continental United States, yet somehow wraps its arms around 17 percent of the worlds population (1.25 billion) and a startling one-third of the worlds poverty.

Inevitably, sometime or somewhere on a trek to India, a person puts down a camera in clear recognition and submission there is no real way to capture this country in photographs. As the people in India will caution: This is a place that is not seen with your eyes, but must be felt in your soul.

I took a two-week trip to the north and central areas of India in early March through travel sponsored by the Lincoln Childrens Zoo. Our journeys included several major national parks, as well as the Taj Mahal in Agra and the sacred city of Varanasi (one of the oldest living cities in the world located on the banks of the Ganges River -- and my personal favorite stop).

Marilyn Moore, my traveling companion to India, wrote of Varanasi: Sunday sunrise on the Ganges River, a most holy site for Hindus, and a holy worship site for me today. We lit candles embedded in marigold baskets, which were blessed with a Hindu chant, and then set afloat on the river. I'm convinced that if God is above us, and God is beneath us, and God surrounds us, and God is within us, then God was present this morning at sunrise in the Ganges River.

Our experiences on this journey included: witnessing stunning tigers in the wild, riding elephants through tall grasses that parted and suddenly revealed endangered rhinos, walking barefoot in the 10th century temples of Khajuraho, etched with erotically carved edifices -- and, of course, drinking in the grand finale, the white marble Taj Mahal (the ultimate requiem of love created to memorialize a beloved wife).

We crashed a traditional Indian wedding, then were invited to join the party. On one of our almost demented rickshaw rides, we stumbled smack dab into the middle of a political rally and inadvertently campaigned for the Lotus Party.

We were amazed and bewildered at the synchronized sunset ceremony on the banks of the Ganges -- Ganga Aarti, performed every evening -- with candles, bells and incense. We embraced the reverence of ancient funeral ghats and crematory pyres on the banks of the Ganges, fired up 24 hours a day in the embers and unending cycle of life and death.

And through it all, we grieved the stark destitution that inevitably overshadows much of the land.

A country of contrasts and contradictions, Indias cities roar with the likes of snake charmers and naked monks  while its national parks quiet with gigantic banyans, cheerful langur monkeys, mysterious ghost trees and hide-and-seek tigers.

I asked my fellow travelers for lasting impressions and here are just a few:

Mary Greenfield: The people of India reach deep into the soul. Their ready smiles and waves of affirmation demonstrate an incredible capacity for joy and hopefulness despite life in environments lacking many basic human necessities.

Pam Lay: India is a beehive filled with a cacophony of sound, kaleidoscope of color, palette of tastes, olfactory overload and endless textures, all orchestrated by an invisible maestro weaving it together into a masterpiece of life exploding with reverence.

Jan Thelen: A favorite experience, at Jamtara Camp in Pench National Park, the galaxy of stars hanging down so brilliantly from a velvet sky seemed to nearly touch the earth, while the lanterns twinkling above in a nearby banyan tree rose up to meet them. Peace on Earth. Namaste.

In the end, of course, travel is truly about the journey and not the destination.

India is not a particularly easy journey -- physically or emotionally -- but if you allow the country into your heart, it can be a profound one.

This trip was part of the Journeys with John series, sponsored by the Lincoln Childrens Zoo and hosted by Zoo Executive Director John Chapo. The mission of the Lincoln Childrens Zoo is to enrich lives through firsthand interactions with living things, and international travel is one aspect of fulfilling that mission.

For more information about the next adventure, South Africa, or all upcoming trips, contact Chapo at 402-475-6741, ext. 125.
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The FBI is helping to investigate a Saturday morning robbery at the Cornerstone Bank branch in Murray.

At approximately 9:55 a.m., the Cass County Sheriffs Office, Nebraska State Patrol and FBI responded to the robbery. Two men held up the bank at gunpoint, according to a news release.

An undetermined amount of cash was taken by the men, who may have been driving a black Hyundai and a maroon Ford Escort. No injuries were reported.

Authorities said there is a cash reward for any information resulting in an arrest. Contact the FBI at 402-493-8688.
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Linkedin EDITORIAL (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, March 24, 2017

We find it mind-boggling trying to understand the European Unions stubborn policy to maintain the 2013 anti-dumping duties on the importation of Indonesian biodiesel, despite a court ruling last year that annulled the duties. The court ruled last September that Indonesian domestic palm oil prices were not regulated.

The dumping complaint only validates our suspicion that the seemingly endless attacks on palm oil by green NGOs and consumer organizations since the late 1990s have partly been prompted by strong lobbying by the EU vegetable oil industry to weaken the competitiveness of Indonesian palm oil. Hence, the governments decision to file next week a complaint at the Geneva-based World Trade Organization against the EU anti-dumping duties is imperative.

Palm oil, which now accounts for almost 50 percent of global vegetable oil consumption, has increasingly been leading the market as a result of its high competitiveness. The yield of oil palm trees per hectare is nine times higher than soybeans, five times that of rapeseed and eight times that of sunflowers.
The resignation of Robin Camp, the judge who asked a sexual assault complainant why she didnt just keep her knees together.

A judge who broke new ground by ordering a convicted rapist to pay his victims legal bill.

The federal government putting $100 million toward a national strategy for preventing gender-based violence.

It has been a year since former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi was acquitted of sexually assaulting three women after a trial that led to national debate about the justice systems handling of such cases, but sexual violence has remained in the spotlight.

Despite a few positive steps in the past 12 months, including changes to tenant and workplace laws in Ontario, its important not to overstate progress and how challenging and multifaceted the problem remains, advocates and academics say.

Every time someone asks me how do I better support (a sexual assault survivor) I think we are moving forward, says Farrah Khan, the co-ordinator of sexual violence education and support at Ryerson University.

But there are still so many women who are sexually assaulted and they still face so much victim-blaming.

There is no doubt public awareness of sexual violence has increased, and that politicians are paying attention, but the same problems still exist, says Isabel Grant, a law professor at the University of British Columbia.

She points to the recent decision (now under appeal) by a Halifax judge to acquit a taxi driver of sexual assault despite the extreme intoxication of the complainant as just one example of how the criminal justice system is still failing.

There is so much work to be done, says Grant. I think we are at the beginning of it now . . . I dont think we should feel smug.

Outside the courtroom, crucial supports for women through rape crisis organizations and shelters remain underfunded, and many women, especially from marginalized communities, still face overwhelming barriers to services and protection.

What are we doing for the most vulnerable women? she says.

Educator and activist Julie Lalonde says there is growing recognition from the public and politicians that sexual violence is a widespread and complicated issue  but she says it remains frustrating that it has taken so long to get to this point.

How many high-profile trials (or investigations) will it take for you not to be shocked all the time? she says of politicians. Front-line advocates have been talking about this for years . . . You are not listening.

Much of the focus over the past year has been on the criminal justice system, and judges in particular. A pilot program was introduced to provide four free hours of legal advice to sexual assault survivors. The Canadian Judicial Council recommended Camp be removed as a judge after a rare public inquiry. And judicial education is the focus of a fast-tracked federal bill proposing would-be judges undergo mandatory comprehensive training in sexual assault law. The bill also calls for reports on how many current judges participate in continuing education seminars on sexual assault law.

There have been halting but significant advances, says Amanda Dale, the executive director of the Barbra Schlifer clinic for women experiencing violence, pointing to Camps resignation and public debate about ethically-questionable defence lawyer tactics.

However, she says, there is a long way to go in removing the reliance on rape myths from investigations and cross-examinations.

Innocent until proven guilty and rigorous cross examination may never be a healing activity for survivors, but they should at least not be principles that justify discrimination and abuse, she says.

The federal government allocating funding to diversity training for judges is a positive step but the government also needs to do a better job of appointing diverse, well-qualified judges, says Gillian Hnatiw, a lawyer who specializes in sexual assault and harassment cases.

But faith in the criminal justice systems ability to properly handle sexual assault cases remains shaken.

Hnatiw says she has seen an increase over the past year in the number of women coming forward to talk about their options beyond reporting their sexual assault to the police  whether it is pursuing a claim at the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, going to the human rights tribunal, going to a regulatory body like the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, or suing their abuser in civil court.

I think women have become bolder about calling for change and calling out injustice when they see it, she adds. I think the Halifax decision is an example of how women are empowered to not just gnash their teeth anymore, but pick up the phone and complain. The Ghomeshi case didnt make women angry, I think a lot of women were already angry and it was the spark that compelled them to start (speaking out).

In the year since the Ghomeshi verdict, the cases most high-profile complainant Lucy DeCoutere has spent a lot of time thinking about alternative ways for sexual assault survivors to seek justice outside the criminal court system, like restorative justice programs.

It should be the safest thing, she says of reporting a sexual assault to the police. But the legal system is not a friend to you . . . The system is not there to help you. The system is there to go through motions that work as they have for hundreds of years and it takes a long time to turn that ship around.

Though she applauds women who do testify in court, she says the cost to her has been too expensive for no payback.

By expensive she means not just the financial cost of therapy, but the cost to her health and her professional and social life.

The toll of the case, the publicity, the online harassment and the emotionally exhausting conversations with well-meaning strangers left her seriously ill for eight months, she says, and she is only now improving.

She is moving forward by educating the young people around her about consent and intimate-partner violence, so that they understand things she did not.

Kids are still being taught the bad guys are in the bushes.

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NEWARK, OHIOJames Cassidy didnt need the director of the FBI to tell him Barack Obama never wiretapped Donald Trump at Trump Tower. Cassidy knew from the start that Trump made the whole thing up.

He was happy the president lied.

Hes ruffling every feather in Washington that he can ruffle. These guys are scrambling. So: yeah! I like it. I think its a good thing. I want to see them jump around a little bit, Cassidy, 58, said on Tuesday.

It was the first afternoon of spring. Cassidy, an unemployed former construction worker, was smoking outside a bar on one of the faded downtown streets of Newark, a city of 48,000 people about 45 minutes east of Columbus. When a buddy rolled up on a bicycle, they soon got to talking about their chronic pain.

Cassidy is hurting, and he wants powerful people to hurt too.

So when Trump sent Congress and the media and the big intelligence agencies into a perplexed frenzy with a four-tweet lie in early March about supposed surveillance McCarthyism by his sick predecessor, Cassidy smiled to himself.

Sure, Cassidy thought, Trumps claim was obviously false. Why would he? Why would Obama do that? But Trump had promised to slap some sense into the out-of-touch Washington elites, and he was doing what he said he was going to do, wasnt he?

He makes them uncomfortable, he said, which makes me happy.

The day prior, Trump had suffered what appeared to be a credibility catastrophe. Rarely before has a president been so publicly debunked: James Comey, the FBI chief, told a televised congressional committee that he had no information to corroborate Trumps allegation about Obama. Even Republican congresspeople, the New York Times reported, were privately complaining that Trumps tweets were undermining his presidency.

That may be true. But there was no hint of a collapsing brand this week on the streets and in the stores of two Ohio cities where Trump won more than 60 per cent of the vote in the 2016 election. In the eyes of his voters in Newark and nearby Zanesville, Trump was either correct, possibly correct, mistaken but well-intentioned, or a delightfully cunning manipulator fomenting chaos to strengthen his political hand.

What he was wanting to do was keep things stirred up so it was all confused. He said he was going to do that from the time he started running for the election, said the man on the bike, retired factory worker John Tolliver, 75. Thats what its going to take. When theyre confused, they dont know what theyre doing, theyre going to make a mistake, and hes going to grab them.

On the whole, Trump has never been viewed more negatively on matters of truth. A Quinnipiac University poll this week found that 60 per cent of Americans think he is dishonest, a new high. Time ran a cover story on Trump with the headline Is truth dead? The Wall Street Journal editorial board, long Trump-friendly, accused him of damaging his presidency with a seemingly endless stream of exaggerations, evidence-free accusations, implausible denials and other falsehoods.

Yet Trump has also managed a remarkable feat: maintaining a reputation among millions of Americans as a man of rare honesty at the same time as he launches an unprecedented daily barrage of Oval Office lies.

Trump would have never said that (Obama wiretapped him) unless it was true, said Robert Duffy, 73, retired from owning a trucking company, as he shopped for groceries at a Zanesville Walmart. Thats too much of a gamble for him to take. His reputation, you know?

Two polls this week found that about 60 per cent of Republicans believe the inaccurate wiretapping claim is accurate. And interviews about that claim with 25 of his supporters in Newark and Zanesville, a humble city of 25,000 a half-hour to the east, suggest he might not have irked even the people who think hes wrong.

The challenge for Trump opponents is not merely that many Trump supporters believe his false claims. It is that supporters are willing to explain away the claims they dont think are fully accurate.

Only one person in the unscientific sample, 58-year-old Zanesville retiree Daniel Jones, criticized Trump for the wiretapping story. Other skeptics rationalized it.

He believed, truthfully, in his heart, that they were trying to tag him, said retired Air Force employee Mark Hittle, 71, who closely follows political news. Hittle said he was sure there was some kind of wiretapping, though likely not by Obama himself.

Charlie Sykes, the Trump critic and former conservative talk radio host in Wisconsin, says there is an alternative reality bubble within the right, created in part by conservative media. Trump, he said, is both developing and exploiting this post-truth environment, elevating once-fringe conspiracy theorists and propagandists who will then amplify his lies.

He is extremely aware of his ability to sort of throw these giant turd bombs out there and create disruption. And to a certain extent thats all he really needs to do. Just create enough doubt, spread enough chaos, and he will survive. In the long term, Sykes said, the destruction of his credibility is potentially fatal  but news cycle by news cycle, it probably works for him.

His success with lying, however temporary, reflects broader problems afflicting the U.S. political system: extreme partisan polarization and historically low trust in institutions. Trump supporters scant faith in institutions, actively encouraged by Trump himself, makes them skeptical of the people who have called him out on the wiretapping lie: news outlets, Democratic leaders, even law enforcement.

Darla Stewart, a 51-year-old office manager, said Obama absolutely could have done that. Asked about Comeys debunking, she said: Thats the same FBI director that let Hillary Clinton go. I dont trust him as far as I can throw him.

Barb Beddard, a 66-year-old retiree, began to question Trumps claim, then stopped.

Its possible, but they said that theres no  I feel the medias against Trump, and it was done by Nixon, I wouldnt put anything past Obama or the Clintons, she said.

It has never been clear how much of Trumps deceit is strategic and how much it is impulsive. But there is one thing he has known since his days as a serially untruthful businessman: attempts to correct his nonsense get far less attention than the original nonsense itself.

Anthony Skaggs, 50, a Newark engineer for a Fortune 500 company, said he had heard about the wiretapping claim. I dont know if I necessarily believe it, he said, but it wouldnt surprise me. He had only heard a little bit of a blurb, though, about Comeys debunking.

To tell you the truth, Ive been turning away from the news a lot recently, he said. Because it gives me a headache and I need to take a break every now and then.

He called the claim smoke and mirrors, something to distract you away from real problems. But he also defended Trumps penchant for embellishing for dramatic effect, saying Trump was really not that much different from historical figures like president Teddy Roosevelt  and circus impresario P.T. Barnum.

Wes Grumme, a farmer, said he supports Trump because the president tells the truth. The wiretapping claim, he said, was a comical joke.

I think that was just something just to rattle Obama. I dont think any less of him because of it, said Grumme, 60, as he waited for a McDonalds order in Zanesville. As long as he dont keep it up continuously  every once in a while, sure, take a little stab and crack at him or something. You expect that. Hes a humorous guy.

Robin Pierce, the owner of a mens clothing store in Newark, said he doesnt think anybody wiretapped Trump. But Pierce, 70, was almost gleeful as he offered an explanation for Trumps claim.

I think Trump just did that to freak them out  they were giving him bad times, so he gave them bad times. Mess with their brains, he said.

He broke into a loud laugh.

I like that, he said. Because weve had so much crap in Washington for years, and now we have someone shaking em up really good.

Two retirees ate lunch on Thursday at an Italian joint in Zanesville. As Evelyn Lasure spoke on the phone for a moment, her friend Linda Bennett mocked Trump as a baby for his petty refusal to relinquish the attack on Obama even post-debunking.

Then Lasure, 63, returned to the conversation. She said she was not yet convinced Trump was wrong. He had, after all, always impressed her with his forthrightness.

To me, I want to see what the persons going to do, if hes honest, hes straight, she said. And hes pretty straight.

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From the knees together judge to others across the country who have made questionable comments and rulings, its time the province make training for sexual assault cases mandatory, say opposition MPPs and victim support groups.

I think it helps change the culture and helps reassure Ontarians  and especially victims  that judges are sensitive when they hear these cases, and could prompt more women to come forward, said Progressive Conservative MPP Laurie Scott (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock), her partys womens issues critic, who has urged Attorney General Yasir Naqvi to make changes.

 . . . There are ways we can do better, and mandatory training of judges in sexual assault is a good first step.

On Friday, Premier Kathleen Wynne suggested Naqvi is considering writing a letter to the provinces judges asking them to consider more training in the handling of sexual assault cases.

We cant mandate the specific training that judges receive, Wynne told reporters on Friday, echoing comments from Naqvi about the independence of the judiciary. However, she said, the attorney general is looking at what he could do to encourage this.

Read more:

Judges unusual approach in Mandi Gray sex assault trial questioned

Courts struggle to determine how drunk is too drunk to consent

Knees together judge in sexual assault trial says he will resign from the bench

A year after Ghomeshi verdict, sexual violence experts see significant advances

Scott, who brought up the issue during Question Period last week, said shes disappointed the government wont force what is a common sense proposal.

She told the Star she will pursue the issue, following the lead of the federal PC party and introducing a private members bill.

Last last month, Interim federal PC Leader Rona Ambrose brought forward a bill that would require training for any lawyer wishing to become a federally appointed judge. With unanimous support, the bill is now being fast-tracked through the House of Commons.

Naqvi said he has spoken to the provinces chief justice, and that training in sexual assault cases is available, though not required.

However, he will continue to raise the issue, that we need to make sure theres robust training for the judiciary on sexual violence and harassment. But that decision is up to the chief justice and courts to make.

But victims support groups wonder why the government wont follow the federal lead, when sexual violence seems to be a priority  the Liberals launched an awareness campaign, Its Never Okay, on sexual harassment and violence and have boosted spending to assault centres.

For years, the judiciary has hidden behind its independence as an excuse to avoid training on women's issues. That view has been reinforced recently by the Ontario government, said Megan Walker of the London Abused Womens Centre.

The failure of the judiciary to participate in mandatory sexual assault and domestic violence training denies women of full equality rights before and under the law. Its ludicrous to suggest that judges are allowed to be held to a lower standard than any other criminal justice service provider.

It is irresponsible leadership to refuse to make a system better, she said, adding if the federal government can do it, so should every province.

NDP MPP France Gelinas (Nickel Belt) agreed, saying you cannot have a premier who comes out and wants us to believe that this is a priority for her and doesnt find the tools within her tool box to make sure that this first step  which is just a first step of training on this issue  cannot be done.

We can all read the paper, we can all listen to the radio, we can all see that some of our judges need that training, she added. Its a win-win.

The federal budget recently allocated almost $3 million over five years for equity and gender training, which Ontario judges will be able to access.

Kate Andrew, speaking for the Office of the Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, said issues related to sexual assault are regularly integrated into education programs for new judges and in the ongoing education programs.

The court, she added, is following the current public and legislative discussions concerning judicial education on sexual assault. While the Court recognizes the importance of sexual assault education, there is no mandatory judicial education on any specific area of law.

Elaine Craig, a professor at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, said the potential harms that occur in sexual assault trials when judges lack proper training, legal knowledge, and the ability to identity and resist rape mythology are greater than in many other types of legal proceedings.

Requiring training is not about interference, its about education, added Scott. And thats our best weapon  its education in schools and its also education for our judicial system. And its about victims feeling more comfortable about coming forward and getting the justice they deserve.

With files from Rob Ferguson

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The state of Arkansas, which plans to execute eight inmates over 10 days next month, is struggling to overcome a logistical problem to carry that out: There are not enough people who want to watch them die.

A state law requires that at least six people witness an execution to ensure that the states death penalty laws are properly followed. But so far, finding that many volunteer witnesses to cover all of the scheduled executions has proved difficult, prompting the director at the Department of Correction to take the extraordinary step of personally seeking volunteers.

A department spokesperson declined to say whom the director, Wendy Kelley, has approached for help, but she has extended invitations at least to members of the Little Rock Rotary Club, according to news reports. Kelley made the request, which the members initially thought was a joke, after delivering a keynote address on Tuesday.

You seem to be a group that does not have felony backgrounds and are over 21, Kelley told the Rotarians, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. So if youre interested in serving in that area, in this serious role, just call my office.

Bill Booker, a Rotary Club member, said some people in the audience initially laughed at Kelleys remarks.

It quickly became obvious that she was not kidding, he told KARK-TV, an NBC affiliate in Little Rock.

The spokesperson for the Department of Correction, Solomon Graves, declined to describe the response Kelley had received to her requests.

Under Arkansas state law, execution witnesses must be at least 21 years old and a resident of the state, cannot have a felony conviction and cannot be related to the death row inmate or a victim in the case.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson last month scheduled the executions of eight men  four black and four white, and all convicted of murder  from April 17 to 27. Two men will be executed on each of four execution dates.

The dates were placed so closely together because of another logistical issue: Arkansas supply of midazolam, a sedative used in a three-drug injection method, has an expiration date at the end of April.

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The examinations, X-rays and dry runs using a 3D model of her tiny spine all came down to this: A team of surgeons made a careful incision and, over the next six hours, systematically removed an extra pelvis, legs, feet and tiny toes that were protruding from her neck and back.

Since birth, baby Dominique had been carrying her parasitic twin.

Its as if the parasitic twin dove into Dominiques body and almost made it in except for the waist out, said John Ruge, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Advocate Childrens Hospital near Chicago.

Doctors say parasitic twins  asymmetric conjoined twins in which one depends on the others bodily functions  are extremely rare. Even more uncommon are parasitic rachipagus twins, twins connected at the spine.

Ruge said fewer than 30 cases are documented in medical literature  so few, in fact, that they are often referenced using the patients names.

This one would be Dominique from Chicago,  Ruge said.

Ten-month-old Dominique, whose last name has not been released, travelled more than 8,000 kilometres in February from Ivory Coast in West Africa to Chicago to undergo an operation at Advocate Childrens Hospital to remove her parasitic twin. Her doctors said the surgery was necessary because without it, her heart and lungs would struggle to support the extra limbs and the strain would ultimately shorten her life.

It would take an army of volunteers to make it all happen.

Childrens Medical Mission West, an Ohio-based nonprofit, arranged Dominiques trip to the United States, according to Advocate Childrens Hospital. Flight attendants accompanied her from Ivory Coast.

On Feb. 5, a host family in Chicago was waiting to care for her during her stay.

Dominique flew halfway across the world with just a small bag that contained a few pairs of pajamas, diapers, a bottle and powder formula called Nursie, a sippy cup, a rosary, and a piece of beautiful fabric that her mother wore around her shoulders for a photo at the Abidjan airport before she bid farewell to her beloved baby for two long months, Nancy Swabb, from Chicago, wrote on Facebook.

Dominique was jet-lagged and tired that first evening (Ivory Coast is six hours ahead of Chicago). The next morning, however, Dominiques bubbly personality was on full, joyful display!

Swabb had seen Dominiques picture in a Facebook Post from Childrens Medical Mission West. The photo, which showed Dominique apparently sitting on her mothers lap, read: Needing a home in Chicago area for a baby girl coming Feb. 5th. She will be in the states for 2 months. Let me know if you are interested or know someone willing to host this baby.

It really spoke to me, said Swabb, who has two adopted daughters with her husband, Tim. We just wanted to open our hearts and our home to a baby.

Swabb took Dominique to her doctors appointments, where she met her surgical team and underwent extensive tests, including an MRI, an MRA, a CAT scan, X-rays and a CT pyelogram to help doctors construct a 3D model of her unusual anatomy. She carried her twins pelvis and bladder, legs, feet and toes (and toenails), and spine  which was intertwined with her own, her doctors said.

This provided a challenge with regard to the disconnection, Ruge, the neurosurgeon, said about the infants two spines. It turns out the parasitic twins pelvis was attached to the spine and providing some structural stability for Dominiques spine. So it was important to understand how the structural stability of her spine was so that we did not destabilize her when we removed the parasitic twin.

For weeks, the medical team pored over Dominiques case, discussing possible concerns and solutions. They practised the surgery using the 3D model.

Then early in the morning of March 8, Swabb took the child to Advocate Childrens Hospital, where more than 50 surgeons, nurses and clinicians were waiting.

The highest risk to Dominique was paralysis, Ruge said. The reason is that the legs were functional from the parasitic twin, so they had nerve innervation from Dominiques spinal cord and if there were any traction or pressure put on Dominiques spinal cord, that would cause her to be paralyzed. The cervical portion of Dominiques spinal cord had no bony protection. Everything was planned to avoid this problem.

The surgeons disconnected the pelvis, nerves and blood vessels, then removed Dominiques parasitic twin.

They were left with a gaping hole that they covered with soft tissue and muscle from the extra appendages.

From the outside, Dominique now looks like most other infants, aside from a bump on her neck that doctors say will go down over time.

Inside, her neurosurgeon said, she still has some peculiarities. She kept a piece of abnormal bone that is stabilizing her spinal column, and one kidney is located in the upper portion of her chest.

But, Ruge said, everything is functioning normally, and I expect Dominique to have a normal life.

Five days after her surgery, Dominique was discharged from Advocate Childrens Hospital and returned to her host mothers care.

Shes just back to normal, Swabb said.

Swabb said she has been doing her own form of physical therapy for Dominique  having the baby turn her head side to side and putting things out of her reach so she had to grab them.

If you met her now youd never know she had complex surgery, Swabb said.

Dominiques father is a primary schoolteacher and her mother is a stay-at-home mom who cares for Dominique and her three older sisters, according to a statement from Advocate Childrens Hospital.

Her family could not financially afford to accompany her, but is receiving ongoing updates, the statement read. Dominique will be escorted home in a few weeks and will find her family waiting at the airport in Abidjan, the largest city in Ivory Coast.

Swabb said she has great respect for the childs family.

They were not willing to give up on their baby girl despite her challenges and they sought this care for her, so its inspiring to hear their story of love, she said. They were willing to trust escorts who flew her here and doctors they had never met and a host family. They really put a lot of trust in the whole network.

While Dominique was in Chicago, she brought a community together, Swabb said.

Friends and neighbors offered diapers and wipes and formula, Swabb said. She sleeps in a borrowed Pack n Play, she rides in a borrowed car seat. Neighbours bought bottles for her at the store. . . . Were kind of living in a turbulent world and shes brought a ray of sunlight to our neighbourhood and our family.

The Swabbs said they taught Dominique how to repeat English words like, da, da, da.

They saw her experience snow, grow her first two teeth and start to bear weight on her feet.

Shell always be part of our family, Swabb said. Even though weve never met her parents, I feel like we have such a bond because of the trust among strangers in another country on another continent.

It really has been amazing just how this whole network has put itself together, from the doctors to our little part of it.

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JAKARTA, INDONESIAParlin Sitio leaned back from a table of empty dishes at a restaurant in eastern Jakarta with a look of satisfaction. He had just enjoyed an order of rica-rica  dog meat with Indonesian spices.

Minimum, I eat it once a week, said Sitio, who sells mobile phones for a living. The taste is good and its served fresh here. It keeps the body warm and the blood flowing.

In Indonesia, as in some other countries where dogs are eaten, the industry operates largely in the shadows and reliable data on consumption is scarce. But restaurant owners, butchers, researchers and animal rights advocates agree that more dogs are being killed and eaten here.

That makes for a surprising contrast with other Asian countries such as South Korea and China, where the practice appears to have been increasingly shunned as incomes have risen, along with pet ownership and concern for animal welfare.

Indonesia is an example of how economic development can also have the opposite effect, making dog meat newly affordable for people who have no particular objection to it, people who have studied the subject say.

Its a pattern, not just in Indonesia, but throughout the Southeast Asian region, said Dr. Eric Brum, a veterinarian and a country team leader for the United Nations agriculture agency in Bangladesh, who worked in Indonesia for nine years.

Some of these communities have more access to markets and greater disposable income, so theres more demand, he said. As dog demand increases, theres going to be more and more production, and more trade.

Many Indonesians who are still too poor to eat beef, except on special occasions, can now afford dog or cat, said Brad Anthony, a Canadian animal protection researcher and analyst who lives in Singapore.

From a strictly practical, agricultural point of view, growing dogs and cats for meat requires far less space and feed resources than growing cows and is therefore cheaper, Anthony said. The economics of it all is likely the primary motivator for production and consumption.

Besides affordability, many who eat dog meat cite what they consider to be its special health benefits. (The warm quality that Sitio mentioned alludes to a traditional belief that certain foods have warm energy, others cold.)

The Indonesian government does not collect data on how many dogs are killed for food or consumed each year. That is because dogs are not classified as livestock, the way cows, pigs and chickens are. Because of this, the slaughter, distribution, sale and consumption of dogs are not regulated.

Many Muslims, who make up the overwhelming majority of Indonesians, tend to regard dog meat as unclean, though Islamic tradition does not forbid it outright, as it does pork.

But animal rights advocates say the eating of dog meat seems to be thriving in Muslim areas, as well as on the island of Bali, the countrys one majority-Hindu province, where it has also traditionally been discouraged. And some of Indonesias many ethnic minorities  such as Sitios Batak, who are primarily Christian  have eaten dogs for centuries.

The Bali Animal Welfare Association estimates that as many as 70,000 dogs are slaughtered and consumed on the popular resort island every year.

In our investigations, 60 per cent of the customers were Balinese women who felt it was the warmest and most inexpensive form of protein, said the groups founder, Janice Girardi, an American who has lived on Bali for decades. They believe eating black dogs cures asthma and maybe other diseases.

Karin Franken, a manager for the Jakarta Animal Aid Network, which is trying to collect nationwide data on the subject, said its research indicates that 215 dogs are consumed daily in the city of Yogyakarta and at least double or triple that much in Jakarta, the capital. Other regions in Java, Indonesias most populous island, serve as supply chains, with stray dogs rounded up or pets snatched off the streets for slaughter, she added.

They trade all over the country, Franken said. In Yogyakarta, a dish of dog meat and rice is only 8,000 rupiah, or about 60 cents (U.S), she said.

In Jakarta, Juniatur Silitonga, whose family has been in the business since 1975, says he slaughters about 20 dogs in an average week. He sells the meat to Batak food stalls in his neighbourhood in east Jakarta, as well as to some Korean restaurants around town. He buys live dogs from various suppliers in Java for about $15 each, he said, and sells the meat for about $2 a pound.

Its cheaper than beef, he said. Eating dog meat is a tradition among local tribes and they are mostly Christian, but Muslims also eat dog meat soup for medicinal reasons.

Silitongas slaughterhouse is in a side room of his dilapidated two-story shop house. The dogs are locked in a second-story room where a fierce stench prevails.

One by one, they are taken down a flight of steps to an open room with a concrete pig sty in the back. The dogs are beaten over the head with a wooden club, then stabbed through the throat as they lie unconscious. The blood is drained into buckets and sold to restaurants along with the meat, for cooking purposes.

Dogs are slaughtered much more cruelly on Bali, said Girardi, the Bali animal welfare advocate. Many are strangled and then butchered immediately, she said, on the theory that strangling them makes the meat more tender. Others are put in sacks and beaten to death.

The cruelty of the dog meat trade in Indonesia shocks me even after years of working on the anti-dog meat campaigns in South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines, said Lola Webber, a co-founder of the Change for Animals Foundation, who is based in Bali.

Indonesia has a law against cruelty to animals, but it applies only to livestock, not dogs, cats or wild animals. Animal welfare activists here have all but given up campaigning against the dog trade on cruelty grounds, because no one cares, Franken said.

Instead, she said, they focus on the potential for the unregulated trade to spread rabies  a persistent problem in Bali and elsewhere  as strays and other dogs are transported from one region to another.

Indonesia will never get the rabies problem fixed as long as theres this underground meat market going on, said Anthony, the Canadian researcher.

Local governments, including Jakartas, vaccinate dogs against rabies but cannot prevent trucks from bringing them in, said Sri Hartati, head of the capitals livestock and animal health division.

Its a grey area, and we are stuck in the middle, Hartati said. Its traditional culture versus animal lovers, and we have no grounds to interfere.

Silitonga is undeterred by fear of rabies  he says he has been bitten dozens of times. And he is not without affection for dogs. He keeps one named Luna as a pet.

Shes not for eating, he said.

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Investigators worked Saturday evening to determine the cause of an afternoon house fire on the 2200 block of Ammon Avenue in northeast Lincoln.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue arrived around 2:40 p.m. after callers to dispatch reported seeing flames. Firefighters arrived and searched the house for occupants, but the home was empty.

Battalion Chief Leo Benes said the fire started in the basement, which sustained heavy damage. The rest of the home had smoke damage.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue estimated the fire caused around $100,000 in damage to the structure and contents.
The stunning collapse of the Republican health-care bill now imperils the rest of U.S. President Donald Trumps ambitious congressional agenda, with few prospects for quick victory on tax reform, construction projects or a host of other issues in the months ahead despite complete GOP control of government.

While Republicans broadly share the goal of Trumps promised big tax cuts, the president will have to bridge many of the same divides within his own party that sunk the attempted overhaul of the Affordable Care Act. And without savings anticipated from the health-care bill, paying for the massive cuts Trump has promised for corporations and middle-class families becomes considerably more complicated.

Meanwhile, other marquee agenda items, including a $1-trillion investment in roads and other infrastructure and proposed crackdowns on both legal and illegal immigration, will require the support of Democrats, many of whom have been alienated by the highly partisan start to Trumps tenure.

Read the latest on U.S. President Donald Trump

The lone exception for near-term victory could come with the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch  but even that faces the prospect of a threatened filibuster by Democrats.

Trump and Republican leaders continued Saturday in their attempts to put a brave face on the health-care debacle. ObamaCare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE, Trump wrote in a morning tweet. Do not worry!

But others in the party acknowledged the political damage sustained by pulling the House bill, particularly for a president who had touted his own deal-making prowess.

Its a momentum issue, said Republican Rep. Mike Coffman. The fact is that, you know, you came out of the gate and you stumbled.

Doug Heye, a GOP consultant and former congressional staffer, said Republicans, having achieved control of both chambers of Congress and the White House, were left with a lot to prove.

It sends a troubling sign to a lot of folks about the broader issue of whether Republicans will be able to govern, he said.

Trump has said he would have preferred to start his term by cutting the hell out of taxes. Even before the health-care bill was pulled Friday, the president was already starting to turn the page.

Determined to highlight other priorities, Trump staged two announcements in the White House meant to underscore his commitment to creating jobs: granting a construction permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and appearing with executives of a telecom giant as they pledged to hire thousands of new employees.

Separately, Trumps treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, said at an event Friday that he will push Congress to enact comprehensive tax reform by its August recess, though he acknowledged the timetable might slip.

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The White House signalled Saturday it was eager to move on. Trumps weekly address made no mention of the health-care fight, instead focusing on his signing of legislation authorizing funding for NASA and his commitment to space exploration.

Were going to roll our sleeves up, and were going to cut taxes across the board for working families, small businesses and family farms, Vice-President Mike Pence said Saturday at an appearance in Scott Depot, W. Va.

A senior White House official, however, said it was unlikely that Trump would ramp up a major sales effort on tax reform immediately, given his team had been planning on using the coming days to push for Senate action on the health-care bill.

Trumps top advisers had envisioned a three-step legislative agenda this year, starting with scaling back president Barack Obamas health-care law. After that was complete, they wanted to move to a comprehensive overhaul of the tax code, followed by the creation of a $1-trillion infrastructure package.

The implosion of the health-care effort complicates the tax overhaul both logistically and politically.

Reworking the health-care law as the White House envisioned would have also cut roughly $1 trillion in revenues. That would make it simpler for Republicans to pass a future overhaul of the tax code because they wouldnt have to find additional revenue to offset new tax cuts.

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist said the bloc of hardline Republicans who helped stymie the health-care overhaul were guilty of ripping the lungs out of tax reform. If they dont revisit the health-care bill immediately, Norquist said, they will soon realize that they didnt shoot and wound health-care reform, they shot and killed permanent tax reform.

House Speaker Paul Ryan acknowledged Friday that the health-care defeat does make tax reform more difficult, but it does not make it impossible.

We are going to proceed with tax reform, Ryan said.

Trump has proposed cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 15 per cent, though many Republicans on Capitol Hill have been aiming for a 20 per cent rate. Trump has also proposed consolidating the existing seven individual income tax brackets into three brackets of 10 per cent, 20 per cent and 25 per cent.

Trumps advisers have argued these changes would trigger a big expansion of economic growth, but some budget analysts have said the changes would widen the deficit by anywhere from $2.6 trillion to $7 trillion over 10 years, depending on how it is measured.

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HONG KONGThe candidate favoured by Chinas Communist leadership was chosen as Hong Kongs new leader on Sunday, in the first such vote since huge pro-democracy protests erupted over the semi-autonomous Chinese citys election system in 2014.

A committee dominated by pro-Beijing elites selected Carrie Lam, Hong Kongs former No. 2 official, as the financial hubs chief executive even though she was far less popular than her main rival. Lam received 67 per cent of the votes cast by the 1,194-member committee.

Her victory was hardly a surprise. Chinas leaders had lobbied heavily behind the scenes for the 59-year-old Lam, who will become Hong Kongs first female leader and its fourth since British colonial control ended in 1997. After the votes were counted, she bowed to the crowd and shook hands with the second-place finisher, former Finance Secretary John Tsang.

Some pro-democracy supporters in the official seating area yelled slogans and held up a yellow umbrella, the symbol of the 2014 protests, as the results were announced. The elite election committee was at the root of the protests, with activists decrying the lack of a direct choice by Hong Kongs 3.8 million registered voters.

Democracy supporters called Sundays vote a fake election and blasted Beijing for meddling in Hong Kongs affairs.

Political party Demosisto, founded by the young pro-democracy protest leader Joshua Wong, said in a Facebook post that this result is a nightmare to Hong Kongers. It said it would organize a large civil disobedience protest when Lam is sworn in on July 1.

Lam, a lifelong civil servant, has a reputation as an efficient and pragmatic administrator, but is unpopular with Hong Kongers because shes seen as a proxy for Beijing and out of touch with ordinary people. Tsang, in contrast, is highly popular because of his easygoing persona and deft use of social media. He was nicknamed Pringles or Uncle Chips in Cantonese for his signature moustache that drew comparisons to the snack food mascot.

Lam received 777 of the 1,163 validly cast votes. Tsang got 365 votes, or 31 per cent, while the third candidate, retired judge Woo Kwok-hing, had 21 votes.

As the next leader of the Asian financial centre, Lam will inherit a city roiled by political divisions, including a burgeoning independence movement, and saddled with sluggish economic growth. Many fear that Beijing is tightening control and undermining the one country, two systems framework that guarantees Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy. Those fears have been amplified by several cases in recent years, including the secret detention on the mainland of five Hong Kong booksellers and a Chinese tycoons suspected abduction in Hong Kong by mainland security agents.

Lams ability to soothe tensions relies on how much public support she can gain. She lagged far behind Tsang in opinion polls.

My priority will be to heal the divide and to ease the frustrations and to unite our society to move forward, she said at a news conference after the results were announced.

Lam said she would not immediately revive attempts to revamp the electoral system, a potential political flashpoint that could rekindle protests by pro-democracy supporters. She said she wanted to focus on other more pressing issues such as housing, education and health care.

There is a serious divide in Hong Kong, so why dont we start with the easier subjects and try to reach consensus on how to tackle them, she said.

Lam succeeds current leader Leung Chun-ying, who cited family reasons when he ruled out a second term. Political analysts suspect Beijing asked Leung, a highly polarizing figure, to step aside.

The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Chinas Cabinet, said in a statement that Lam met the standards to be the citys leader, including being trusted by the central government, a key factor that Tsangs opponents repeatedly said he did not enjoy.

When reporters asked Tsang on Sunday whether he thought Beijing had interfered in the selection process, he said he respected the decision of the election committee members.

I mean, all they have is themselves and their conscience when they voted. So its their responsibility, nobody elses, Tsang said.

Members of the Hong Kong election committee include tycoons like Li Ka-shing, Hong Kongs richest person. They represent industry and trade groups such as finance, accounting, real estate and textiles. The way the members are chosen also irks democracy activists. Some are elected by peers, but others are uncontested, especially in sectors most supportive of Chinas Communist leaders.

Hong Kong lawmakers, local councillors and delegates to Chinas rubber-stamp parliament also have votes, and some 326 seats, mostly in the education, legal, health and social welfare sectors, are held by pro-democracy supporters.

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CINCINNATIA gunfight broke out inside a crowded Cincinnati nightclub early Sunday, leaving one man dead and 15 other people wounded after a dispute among several patrons escalated into a shootout, authorities said.

No suspects were in custody by Sunday night in the shooting at the Cameo club, which has a history of gun violence, and police said there was no indication of any terrorism link.

Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said one of the wounded was in extremely critical condition, while a hospital spokeswoman said two victims were listed in critical condition.

Police began receiving calls at 1:30 a.m. about gunshots at the club near the Ohio River east of downtown Cincinnati. Isaac said some 200 people were inside the club, one of the few hip-hop venues in the city, for music and dancing.

Isaac identified the dead man as 27-year-old OBryan Spikes, but provided no other details. He said 15 others were injured, with some already treated and released from hospitals.

What we know at this point in the investigation is that several local men got into some type of dispute inside the bar, and it escalated into shots being fired from several individuals, Isaac said. It wasnt clear how many people fired shots.

Club patron Mauricio Thompson described a chaotic scene in which as many as 20 shots were fired as people scrambled to get away. He said there was a fight and people were yelling for security to intervene before the gunfire began.

Once I got outside, people coming out bloody, gunshot wounds on them, some of their friends carrying them to the car, rushing them to the hospital, Thompson told WCPO-TV. It was just crazy.

Another patron told the television station that she dove to the ground outside the nightclub to dodge bullets and her boyfriend climbed on top of her to protect her.

I thought I was going to die. At that point survival skills started kicking in, said Sherell, who preferred not to give her last name. Once I heard the third shot  I didnt know whether it was coming from outside, someone was shooting at the club, or whether it was coming from inside.

Police Sgt. Daniel Hils said the large crowd at the club was a factor in the number of people who suffered gunshot wounds.

When youre talking about something tightly packed like that, I think intended targets arent going to be the only thing thats hit, said Hils, who is president of the Fraternal Order of Police local. When you starting throwing lead around, and theres a lot of other people standing around, then the other people are going to get hit.

Isaac said the club has its own security operation that uses detection wands and pat-downs, but that police believe several firearms got inside. Four officers were working security in the clubs parking lot and some tried unsuccessfully to revive the man who died.

Cameos Facebook profile said it caters to college students on Friday nights, when anyone over 18 is allowed in, while Saturdays are grown and sexy night for ages 21 and older. The page was taken down later Sunday.

The club has a history of gun violence, including a shooting inside the club on New Years Day in 2015 and one in the parking lot in September of that year, City Manager Harry Black said.

Police Capt. Kim Williams said there was just a lot of chaos, obviously, when shots were fired.

Saturday night, it is a very young crowd. We have had incidents here in the past, but this is by far the worst, she said.

Referring to initial speculation about possible terrorism, Mayor John Cranley said: What difference does that make to the victims? Innocent people were shot.

He called the shootings unacceptable and said authorities would work to find ways to prevent such violence.

A single body was removed by the coroner shortly after 6 a.m. A federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives team was also at the scene.

Among the injured, five were treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and released, hospital spokeswoman Kelly Martin said. She said two people were in critical condition and another three were listed in stable condition by late afternoon. She had no details on the types of injuries or the ages of the victims. Other injured people were taken to or drove themselves to other hospitals.

Authorities asked anyone with information to come forward. Investigators were checking to see if surveillance cameras were working, Williams said.

The owner of the nightclub, Jay Rodgers, released a statement Sunday night calling the shooting that took place there, senseless.

We will do everything in our power to co-operate and make sure the monsters that did this are caught and brought to justice, Rodgers said.

He added that the club would remain closed until both our management completes our own investigation and the Cincinnati Police Department completes their investigation.

The area is mostly industrial but also home to several nightclubs with a smattering of homes. A regional airport is nearby. The neighbourhood is fairly desolate at night, with the exception of the nightlife scene and 24-hour gas stations. The road where the club is located was easily cordoned off by a single police cruiser and officer at either end.

First responders had problems reaching the shooting victims because the parking lots were full, Sgt. Eric Franz told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on Twitter that he was saddened to learn about last nights shooting and that he was offering the states assistance.

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TEHRAN, IRANIran on Sunday sanctioned what it described as 15 American companies, alleging they support terrorism, repression and Israels occupation of land Palestinians want for a future state, likely in retaliation for sanctions earlier announced by the U.S.

The wide-ranging list from an American real estate company to a major arms manufacturer appeared more symbolic than anything else as the firms werent immediately known to be doing business anywhere in the Islamic Republic.

A Foreign Ministry statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency said the sanctions barred companies from any agreements with Iranian firms and that former and current directors would not be eligible for visas. It also said any of the companys assets in Iran could be seized.

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The sanctioned companies have, directly and/or indirectly, been involved in the brutal atrocities committed by the Zionist regime in the occupied Palestinian territories, or they have supported the regimes terrorist activities and Israels development of Zionist settlements on the Palestinian soil, the IRNA report said.

The IRNA report referred to the sanctions as a reciprocal act, without elaborating. Irans new sanctions come after the Trump administration in February sanctioned more than two dozen people and companies in retaliation for a recent ballistic missile test.

The companies named did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday. They included ITT Corp., missile-maker Raytheon Co. and United Technologies Corp. Denvers Re/Max Holdings Inc., a real estate company, also made the list. One of the named companies, Israeli defence contractor Elbit, declined to comment on the matter.

Another firm on the list, truck maker Oshkosh, has worked closely with Israeli armoured products maker Plasan, including on the Sand Cat armoured vehicle that is used by several countries, including Israel. The Israeli Defence Ministry is reportedly seeking to buy some 200 tactical trucks from the Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based company.

Kahr Arms and Magnum Research, two sanctioned firms which share the same parent company, advertise .44-calibre Magnum and .50-calibre Desert Eagle pistols  a product line that previously has been made in Israel.

Meanwhile, a senior Iranian lawmaker said Iran would consider a bill branding the U.S. military and the CIA as terrorist groups if the U.S. Congress passes a bill designating Irans Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

Allaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of parliaments national security and foreign policy committee, was quoted by Iranian state television as saying the move to further sanction the Revolutionary Guard goes against the 2015 nuclear deal Iran reached with the United States and other world powers.

The nuclear deal saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some economic sanctions. In the time since, Chicago-based Boeing Co. has struck a $16.6 billion deal with Iran for passenger planes.

Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since 1979, when militant students stormed the U.S. Embassy and took 52 Americans hostages for 444 days. Tensions eased slightly with the nuclear deal struck by moderate President Hassan Rouhanis administration, though hard-liners have detained those with Western ties in the time since.

Sundays sanctions announcement also comes ahead of a May presidential election in which Rouhani is expected to seek re-election.

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ORLANDO, FLA. A judge says a lawsuit brought by victims of the Orlando nightclub massacre against the gunmans employer and wife may be tossed out of federal court.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra last week issued an order raising questions about whether federal court was the proper jurisdiction for the lawsuit. The judge gave the plaintiffs 10 days to file a revised lawsuit or he said he would dismiss the complaint.

Attorneys for the Pulse victims didnt immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Sunday.

Read more: Orlando club shooters wife to go free before trial on aiding attack

Almost five dozen victims and families of the deceased filed the lawsuit last week in federal court in South Florida against security firm G4S and the wife of Omar Mateen, claiming they could have stopped the gunman before the attack last June but didnt.

Forty-nine people died in the worst mass shooting in recent U.S. history, and dozens more were injured.

The lawsuit was seeking an undisclosed amount of money.

The complaint said that G4S bosses knew Mateen was mentally unstable yet continued to employee him as a security guard and didnt seek to have his firearms license revoked, even after he was investigated by the FBI in 2013 for telling co-workers he had connections to terrorists and a mass shooter. He later told his bosses he had made that up to get his co-workers to stop teasing him about being Muslim and the FBI determined he was not a threat.

A spokeswoman for G4S last week said the lawsuit was without merit and that the company would vigorously defend itself. A company spokeswoman on Sunday didnt immediately respond to an email inquiry.

The lawsuit also said that Mateens wife, Noor Salman, knew her husband was going to carry out the killings ahead of time yet did nothing. Salman currently is in jail awaiting trial in a separate criminal case. She has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of aiding and abetting her husband, and obstruction of justice.

The federal judge said cases should be brought to federal court because of diversity jurisdiction only if the lawsuits are between residents of different states, U.S. residents and residents of a foreign nation or residents of different states in which other parties may be subjects of foreign countries.

Although G4S is a British company, its principal place of business is in Florida, the judge said. He added that Salman was a Florida resident, as were many of the Pulse victims and their families, raising question about whether federal court is the proper venue.

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LONDONWestminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood sent a WhatsApp message that cannot be accessed because it was encrypted by the popular messaging service, a top British security official said Sunday.

British press reports suggest Masood used the messaging service owned by Facebook just minutes before the Wednesday rampage that left three pedestrians and one police officer dead and dozens more wounded.

As controversy swirled over the encrypted messages, police made another arrest in Birmingham, England, where Masood had lived. The 30-year-old is one of two men now in custody over possible links to the attack. Neither has been charged or publicly named.

Masood was shot dead on the grounds of Parliament.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd used appearances on BBC and Sky News to urge WhatsApp and other encrypted services to make their platforms accessible to intelligence services and police trying to carrying out lawful eavesdropping.

"It is completely unacceptable, there should be no place for terrorists to hide, Rudd told BBC Ones Andrew Marr Show.

Read more:

U.K. attacker taught English in Saudi Arabia, officials say

London attacker was cheerful, joking the night before rampage

We need to make sure that organizations like WhatsApp  and there are plenty of others like that  dont provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other, she said.

Rudd did not provide any details about Masoods use of WhatsApp, saying only this terrorist sent a WhatsApp message and it cant be accessed.

But her call for a back door system to allow authorities to retrieve information is likely to meet resistance from the tech industry, which has faced previous law enforcement demands for access to data after major attacks.

In the United States, Apple fought the FBIs request for the passcodes needed to unlock an iPhone that had been used by one of the perpetrators in the 2015 extremist attack in San Bernardino, California.

The FBI initially claimed it could obtain the data only with Apples help, but ultimately found another way to hack into the locked phone.

Masood drove a rented SUV into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before smashing it into Parliaments gates and rushing onto the grounds, where he fatally stabbed a policeman and was shot by other officers. A detailed police reconstruction has found the entire attack lasted 82 seconds.

Police are trying to pinpoint his motive and identify any possible accomplices, making the WhatsApp message a potential clue to his state of mind and his social media contacts.

Rudd said attacks like Masoods would be easier to prevent if authorities could penetrate encrypted services after obtaining warrants similar to the ones used to listen in on telephone calls or  in snail mail days  to steam open letters and read their contents.

Without a change in the system, she said terrorists would be able to communicate with each other without fear of being overheard even in cases where a legal warrant has been obtained.

Rudd also urged technology companies to do a better job at preventing the publication of material that promotes extremism. She plans to meet with firms Thursday about setting up an industry board that would take steps to make the web less useful to extremists.

British police investigating the attack say they still believe Masood, a 52-year-old Briton, acted alone and say they have no indications that further attacks are planned.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said it may never be possible to fully determine Masoods motives.

That understanding may have died with him, Basu said Saturday night as police appealed for people who knew Masood or saw him to contact investigators. Even if he acted alone in the preparation, we need to establish with absolute clarity why he did these unspeakable acts, to bring reassurance to Londoners.

Daesh, which is losing territory in Iraq and Syria but still has radical followers in other parts of the world, has claimed Masood was a soldier carrying out its wishes to attack Western countries.

Masood had convictions for violent crimes in the U.K. and spent time in prison. He also worked in Saudi Arabia teaching English for two years and travelled there again in 2015 on a visa designed for religious pilgrimages.

Along with the man arrested Sunday, a 58-year-old man detained in Birmingham several days ago remains in custody in the case. Nine others arrested after the attack have been freed without charges, while one person was released on bail.

The family of slain police officer Keith Palmer, meanwhile, released a statement thanking those who tried to save his life.

There was nothing more you could have done. You did your best and we are just grateful he was not alone, the statement said.

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The U.S. military acknowledged for the first time Saturday that it launched an airstrike against Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, in the densely packed Iraqi city of Mosul, where residents say more than 100 people were killed in a single event.

If confirmed, the March 17 incident would mark the greatest loss of civilian life since the United States began strikes on Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

An initial review showed that the coalition struck Daesh fighters and equipment in west Mosul at the request of Iraq forces and at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties, the task force leading the coalition said in a statement.

Previously, the U.S.-led coalition had said officials were unsure whether there were any air attacks targeting the specific area of the neighbourhood Mosul al-Jadida at the time when residents claim a strike killed 137 civilians.

Iraqi officials working on the rescue said they had pulled 83 bodies  including many women and children  from a destroyed building by sundown on Saturday. They have yet to complete excavations at the site.

The U.S. military is conducting an initial investigation into the incident.

Read more:

Battle for west Mosul could be deadliest yet for Iraqis

Ottawa likely to extend military mission in Iraq

Allegations of large-scale civilian carnage deepen questions about the conduct of counterterrorism operations under U.S. President Donald Trump, who promised to act more aggressively to stamp out militant groups but whose short presidency has been marked by a spate of high-profile incidents in which civilians may have died.

In addition to the March 17 strike in Mosul, the U.S. military is now investigating a separate attack this month alleged to have killed scores of civilians at a mosque in Syria. Military leaders have also acknowledged the death of at least some civilians in a Navy SEAL raid in Yemen in January.

Activists including Airwars, a U.K.-based monitoring group, have raised the alarm at what they say is a surge in U.S.-linked deaths in Iraq and Syria, asserting that 1,000 civilians have died this month alone in strikes by the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria.

While the Obama administration acknowledged that its military operations resulted in a number of civilian casualty incidents in Iraq and Syria and elsewhere, the tightly spaced series of recent allegations is striking.

It remains unclear what, if any, common factors may be behind the reported uptick in civilian bloodshed.

Operations against Daesh strongholds have reached a new, more intense phase in Mosul, where local forces are battling militants in heavily populated neighbourhoods, and in Syria, where the United States is seeking to deal a decisive blow to several militant groups.

In his first days in office, President Trump, who criticized his predecessor as weak against militant groups, asked the Pentagon to consider whether restrictions on U.S. military operations against the group, designed in part to protect civilian life, should be loosened.

Officials maintain that, so far at least, no changes to existing rules for military operations have taken place.

Military commanders also say they take extensive measures to protect civilian life. In its statement, the U.S.-led coalition said its goal was zero civilian casualties.

But the coalition will not abandon our commitment to our Iraqi partners because of ISISs inhuman tactics terrorizing civilians, using human shields, and fighting from protected sites such as schools, hospitals, religious sites and civilian neighborhoods, the statement read.

Like other strikes conducted in support of Iraqi ground operations, the March 17 attack was approved at a U.S. command centre either in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East, defense officials said. Typically, a one-star general or a team working under him or her reviews and approves such strikes. That makes them different from strikes targeting a specific individual, which are planned much further in advance and could require approval from the White House.

The increase in civilian casualty claims threatens to tarnish the gains of Iraqi forces and the U.S.-led coalition. Analysts have said that with residents fed up after nearly three years of brutal Daesh rule, the operation to retake the city presents an opportunity to reset relations between the majority Sunni city and the government in Baghdad  essential for preventing extremism.

But the extended operation to retake Daeshs last remaining stronghold in Iraq has turned into a messy battle, where civilians are caught in the crossfire.

Leaving the bombed-out street with tears in his eyes on Friday, Saban Ahmed Ibrahim was among those who claimed to have lost relatives in the strike. He said he moved his wife and two children  a 2-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl  out of his neighbourhood to shelter in Mosul al-Jadida because of the heavy fighting around his home. But after his neighbourhood was retaken by Iraqi security forces, his family became trapped on the other side of the front line.

He was still waiting for the bodies of his loved ones to be recovered from the building.

I blame everyone, he said. I still have God, and I trust that he will take his revenge.

Iraqi commanders have attempted to play down the incident and have restricted media access to the area. An Iraqi military commander suggested that the large death toll in the March 17 incident may have been partially caused by the fact that a missile struck a car bomb, unleashing a giant explosion. Another suggested militants booby-trapped the building with explosives and detonated it.

However, several civil defense officials said that they could tell by the direction of the blast damage and the lack of a crater associated with a car-bomb explosion that damage was caused by a direct airstrike on the property.

Rescue workers and residents described a hellish scene, where scores of civilians were killed in nearby buildings in heavy bombardment lasting several days. Other families on an adjacent street also alleged their houses were destroyed by airstrikes  killing scores more.

U.S. officials said it has been difficult to determine exactly what occurred because the same area appeared to have been hit with a number of strikes or explosions in the days surrounding the March 17 attack.

Daesh fighters moved families into the area as they used it to launch attacks on the advancing Iraqi forces, residents said. They said the Islamist extremists are also forcing residents to leave their front doors open so the fighters can move from house to house easily.

Residents said the house was packed during the heavy fighting with several families because it was one of the few in the area with a basement. Daesh headquarters were discovered in a building nearby.

They have a new style of fighting, which is a heinous one, said Iraqi counterterrorism commander Lt. Gen. Abdul Ghani al-Assadi. They gather civilians into a house where they are fighting so we will request an airstrike and then they will die with the civilians, he said, but claimed the mass casualty incident in Mosul al-Jadida was caused by the detonation of a Daesh car bomb.

Relatives and rescue workers have been picking through debris in the neighbourhood for days, pulling out corpses and lifting them into blue body bags for burial.

Rescue efforts were initially hampered by a lack of security and poorly equipped civil defense teams. Extra workers were sent from Baghdad to assist, but by the time they arrived in the neighbourhood five days after the strikes, hope of finding anyone alive had dimmed.

Islamic State is gathering people and using them as shields and the coalition comes and bombs  they are both to blame, said Moataz Haitham as he wheeled a wooden cart carrying three of his dead cousins.

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Less than three months into Donald Trumps tumultuous presidency, whispers of impeachment are becoming louder.

Ladbrokes, a British bookmaker, has Trumps odds of leaving office via impeachment or resignation before the end of his first term at 10/11. I am not a betting man, but with those odds, do not expect a large payoff.

Allan Lichtman, the professor at American University who has famously predicted the outcome of every presidential election since 1984, has written a book on what he refers to as Trumps imminent impeachment.

Impeachment talk is almost a fetish in American presidential politics. For George W. Bush, the issues that prompted such talk were the Iraq War, the Valerie Plame affair, the treatment of PoWs, wiretapping, and the government responses to 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.

For Barack Obama, the issues that prompted such talk included the notion that he wasnt born in the U.S., the handling of the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, the federal directive on gender-neutral washrooms, and the alleged failure to enforce immigration laws.

In reality, only two of the 45 presidents in American history  Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton  have suffered the humiliation of an impeachment vote, and neither was actually convicted. Richard Nixon dodged impeachment over the Watergate scandal by resigning.

That said, the allegations of foreign influence seem far more damaging than an affair with a staff member.

Trump is facing three specific risks.

First is his unsubstantiated claim that Obama ordered a wiretap of his phones at the Trump Tower during the presidential campaign. On Monday, FBI Director James Comey delivered a thinly veiled rebuke to the president, saying he had no information to support Trumps allegations.

The second is the ongoing and now-confirmed FBI investigation into contacts between Trump associates and Russian officials. If it is proven that any collaboration between Russia and the Trump campaign helped elect the president, and that members of the Trump team were aware and helped co-ordinate these efforts, the Trump administration will be in serious jeopardy.

And finally, at the congressional hearings to confirm Neil Gorsuchs appointment to the Supreme Court, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham warned last week that if Trump were to bring back waterboarding, he could get impeached.

Alas, the impeachment process is akin to the process to amend the Canadian Constitution  in that it is frequently discussed, but is designed to be difficult to carry out, and is likely never going to happen.

This is for good reason.

While liberals might fantasize about a Trump impeachment, the results of such a scenario might not be what they envision.

The likelihood of a Trump impeachment is significantly greater than was the case with either Bush or Obama, but it is important to keep in mind that Trump maintains an 80-per-cent approval rating with Republican voters and that the presidents party controls both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Barring a confession, or something as dramatic as, say, a nuclear crisis, it would be up to Democrats to start the impeachment process.

While such an effort would temporarily stymie the Republicans legislative agenda, it would be detrimental to the Democrats long-term interests.

If Trump were impeached, or if he resigns, Vice-President Mike Pence would become president. Pence is a skilled legislator, a more disciplined politician and has a far more aggressively conservative agenda than that of Trump.

Democrats ought to know that a Mike Pence presidency would almost certainly undo more of Obamas legacy than the erratic, easily distracted and unpredictable Trump. A return to the Bush years might not be exactly what the Democratic Party is looking for.

In addition, an impeachment of President Trump would only serve to reinforce his narrative that the special interests of Washington will do anything to protect themselves. His impeachment would only galvanize his base of support and further anger those legions of Americans who feel that President Trump is their voice against interests that have long been aligned against them.

His impeachment would be a personal attack on them, their values, and their way of life.

Trumps ideas and his way of doing politics are not exclusive to him. Pushing him out of office could increase the likelihood that a similar, or perhaps more erratic, candidate emerges in time for the 2020 election.

Democrats should instead look inward and refocus their energy on the 2018 mid-term elections and on rebounding in the 2020 presidential race.

It was a strategy that worked well for the Republicans in 2008, allowing them to sweep local and national offices across the United States.

It would be a wasted opportunity for the Democrats to pass up in favour of distracting, and ultimately pointless, impeachment attempts.

Jaime Watt is the executive chairman of Navigator Ltd. and a Conservative strategist.

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Does the Senate have a right to fire?

Callers to Rita Cellis CBC radio show Ontario Today on Wednesday were perplexed with recent revelations regarding the damning and detailed report from the Senate ethics officer concerning the actions of Sen. Don Meredith.

Charges have not been laid by the Ottawa police after their own investigation, but Merediths admission, apology and appeal for forgiveness, regarding a sexual relationship with a teenager, would on the face of it, seem to violate the 2014 Senate Code. It establishes a broad obligation for Senators to uphold the highest standards of dignity and to refrain from acting in a way that could reflect adversely on the position of Senator or on the institution of the Senate.

Calls for Merediths resignation have come from both his peers and from journalists.

Individuals phoning into the show pointed out that people in regular jobs would have been fired immediately. After all, dismissals for all sorts of reasons seem to be the new norm in todays workplace of churn and precarious job security.

Even the beloved puppet figure of Elmo on Sesame Street had an employment trauma this past week. In a clever video parody, Whats Trending filmed Elmo as he was being fired after 32 years with PBS because of the proposed Trump budget cuts. In a heart breaking moment, Elmo leans his head to one side, and asks softly what he will do now. That little move speaks volumes about the uncertainty of losing your job.

More familiar is the Donald Trump gesture when he points his gun-like finger at some poor contestant on his show The Apprentice, while gleefully saying youre fired. That more aggressive move showcases the competitive nature of the marketplace.

However, none of this applies if you are 1 of 105 senators.

They are not fired, nor are they subject to layoffs. In fact, their salaries were raised in 2016 to $145,400. Market place competition doesnt apply because they operate as co-equals. They are accountable to only themselves, not to the people. They cannot be voted out. Appointed until age 75, senators have tremendous job security by virtue of tradition, unwritten conventions and constitutional law.

But do they have the power to fire one of their own?

The answer depends on your view of the concept of parliamentary privilege.

Parliamentary proceduralists would argue that privilege is unfettered by the written vacancy rules contained in s.31 of the Constitution Act, 1867. This section lists the reasons for the declaration of a Senate vacancy (i.e. fails to attend two consecutive sessions of Parliament, death, retirement, bankruptcy, treason, infamous crimes). Other lawyers, however, maintain that s.31 codifies the reasons for a declaration of vacancy and are therefore exhaustive.

The bottom line is that no senator has ever been explicitly dismissed by their peers. They have, however, been suspended, with or without pay, and have had privileges docked. Senators who have been convicted of various crimes have chosen to resign instead.

Michel Cogger, Eric Bernston and Raymond Lavigne all resigned following conviction for influence peddling or misuse of public funds (although Coggers charges were later discharged by the Quebec Court of Appeal). It could be argued that Andy Thompson, after failing to report for many sittings, was constructively dismissed as his privileges were removed along with his right to sit. He, too, eventually resigned.

At this moment, Senator Meredith is on sick leave. He has hired a new lawyer, who has thankfully, decided to dial down original charges of racism again the Senate. The Senate ethics committee is quite properly considering its recommendations and will eventually make those findings to the Senate as a whole. Under s.33, the Senate is free to interpret the written rules, as noted in Prof. Adam Dodeks book, The Canadian Constitution. Perhaps, this is the time to seize that opportunity.

Individual senators perform amazing and worthwhile work but their brand has taken too many hits over the years. They must find the will to push the reset button now and they must do it with firmness, fairness, clarity and transparency. It is a tall order because they are wading into unchartered legal and political waters. But it is time.

It is time that the independence and security of a Senate appointment must walk hand in hand with accountability. It is time for senators to face head on the questions of employment law and modern workplace challenges. It is time for senators to acknowledge, that although they can wear a cloak of immunity, it is wiser to remove that cloak and walk among the rest of us.

If not now, when?

Penny Collenette is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Ottawa and was a senior director of the Prime Ministers Office for Jean Chretien.

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Re: Canadians know that Palestinians deserve justice, March 23

Canadians know that Palestinians deserve justice, March 23

There is in the world a growing antipathy for the plight of the Israeli people and, lately, wherever Jews turn, they are met by ignorant know-alls, howling their anthems of hatred. The apex of this anti-Israeli pathology is typified in Azeekha Kanjis article, especially her equating Israel with apartheid.

I am somewhat astounded at the brazenness of her assertions of Israel being an apartheid state. As one who was born and lived in South Africa all my life, and who has written and sat face to face and argued with our apartheid rulers, I can claim to know a little about apartheid.

I have also got to know Israel over many years, and cannot claim to recognize it from Kanjis description. Tiny Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and its entire population is that of a largish city in Europe, Asia or North America.

Kanji should examine Israels neighbours, all of whom practice some form of apartheid. Each stands accused of separation, repression and expulsion of people, especially Jews and Christians.

The apartheid accusations are merely a pretext in the hands of activists who are determined to be anti-Israel, regardless of the facts. The activists who accuse Israel of apartheid and similar charges deserve absolutely no credibility.

Ben-Gurion wrote in a letter to his son: We do not wish and do not need to expel Arabs and take their places. All our aspiration is built on the assumption that there is enough room in the country for ourselves and the Arabs . . . In our state there will be non-Jews as well  and all of them will be equal citizens; equal in everything without exception; the state will be their state as well.

This is enshrined in Israels constitution and remains valid to this day.

Rodney Mazinter, Camps Bay, South Africa

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Sandy Scofield found the Capitol Beach Lake community by accident.

She was marking up a map of Lincoln, trying to find a neighborhood close to where she worked.

"I figured out this was pretty close and convenient," said Scofield, who has lived in a house overlooking the lake's east shore since 2004. "It feels like a small town out here."

It's Capitol Beach's wildlife, however -- birds and fish, mostly -- that has convinced Scofield to stick around.

And this year has been somewhat of an outlier for wildlife at the lake, which was recently restocked with catfish after being deepened several years ago. Hundreds of American white pelicans have used it as a rest stop in the past couple of weeks.

"We've seen pelicans in the past, but only a few dozen or so," Scofield said.

It's not uncommon to see this many pelicans congregating at food spots in late March, according to University of Nebraska-Lincoln ornithologist Paul Johnsgard.

"There must be enough fish out there to attract them, fish that are easy to catch," he said.

The pelicans are en route to their summer destination in North Dakota, where they will arrive in June.

But for now they're sticking around in places like Capitol Beach Lake and Pioneers Park, possibly until late April, said Johnsgard. Pelicans like shallow wetlands and tend to gather where fish are.

Harvey Schwartz, who serves as the vice president of the Capitol Beach board of directors, said he hasn't seen this many pelicans in the 20 years he's lived at the lake.

"It's absolutely remarkable," said Schwartz, who credits the higher fish populations in attracting more pelicans.

Capitol Beach was drained and deepened several years ago, according to Schwartz, so the lake was restocked with thousands of fish in order to find a species that fit.

It wasn't until recently that varying species of catfish were introduced with some success.

"That seems to be the formula, and they're even reproducing," said Schwartz about the new catfish.

Schwartz believes this is why the pelicans have flocked to the lake in such high numbers.

"It's beautiful, and they're amazing birds, but they're voracious eaters," he said. "They're more anxious to stay because there's food now."

Scofield likes to watch the pelicans from her back patio with a bird watcher's guide in hand.

"It's been great, and there's always something to watch," Scofield said. "It's a fun place to live."
Re: Federal budget money for child care is a good first step but not nearly enough, advocates say, March 22

Federal budget money for child care is a good first step but not nearly enough, advocates say, March 22

The article by Laurie Monsebraaten quoting parents Andy Guglielmi and Mimi Rego accurately points out that they both have good jobs (at about $90,000 per year). But they need help. From whom?

The government of Canada website tells me that, in 2014, about 83 per cent of Canadian and Ontario individuals made less than $75,000. About 91 per cent made less than $100,000.

So your quoted parents are brushing the top 10 per cent of all Canadian earners. To support them means higher taxes. The only people who can pay higher taxes and still eat are the top 20 per cent (over $75,000) and especially the top 10 per cent (over $100,000).

And yet they are calling for help. From whom?

Paul Crowe, Uxbridge, Ont.

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Theres a place in northern Germany where a kid can be a kid. And in this same place, the inner child of every adult screams to be set free. This is one of Europes most visited attractions. This is Miniature Wonderland (or Miniatur Wunderland in German). But youd be mistaken if you assumed that this was only a kids thing.

Going back to the summer of 1984, I spent dozens of hours holed up in the basement of my parents house with my friend Petey. Together, Petey and I were building the worlds biggest and more impressive train set. And it was amazing to our young eyes.

It had two sets of track, two mountains, a gravel airport, a river, a small pond, a stream, a waterfall, tunnels, a town, roads, trees and everything that would turn the make-believe world believable. In retrospect, we were ahead of our time. We were doing on a small scale what Miniature Wonderland would ultimately perfect.

Working on my trainset back in 1984

The famous Neuschwanstein Castle

Now, 32 years later, someone else has reached the apex of our childhood ambitions. This is quite simply the most amazing thing you will ever see. This is the worlds largest model train set. And its still years away from final completion.

The Speicherstadt model

The current model railway is massive and occupies several floors of a warehouse in the historic Speicherstadt district. There are over 65,000 feet of track, which is divided up into sections. These include several Germany sections (central Germany, Hamburg city, the fictitious city of Knuffingen and its airport), Austria, the United States, Scandinavia, Switzerland, and Italy.

There are still several sections left in development before the project is completely finished around 2025: Monaco, England/Scotland, France, Ireland, and Benelux.

The Italy model looks an awful lot like San Gimignano

While the scale of the railway is massive. The most impressive elements can be found in the miniature: a group of sunbathers at a lake splashing each other in the water, a parade in a German village with everyone in lederhosen, or Superman responding to an accident where a car went through a guardrail and nearly toppled over a cliff.

The attention to detail is incredible!

There is something to see everywhere. And everything moves. Sure, youd expect the trains to run on a model railway, and they do. But the cars drive down the street. Cable cars whisk skiers to the tops of mountains to ski. And the skiers can go down the hill. And some people move. And the rollercoaster goes on thrilling rides. And ships sail across water. And the airplanes at the airport take offand land.

Every 15 minutes, the day becomes night and the whole exhibition can be experienced in a whole new way. All of the trains, cars and buildings have lights, which come on. And the streetlights actually light up. And the car headlights turn on.

The attention to detail is something I never would have dreamed possible. When I spent the summer of 1984 working away in the basement on my model railway, this is exactly what I thought I was creating. Somewhere along the way, I gave up on model trains.

But Im thrilled somebody didnt give up on train sets. This place is what happens when you follow your dreams. And its absolutely awesome to visit!

Miniature Wonderland Details

To understand the scale of Miniature Wonderland, you just need to take in the scale of the operation:

Size: 24,000+ square feet of space

Figurines: 400,000 different people

Trains: Over 1,300 different trains

Track: 65,000+ feet of track

Lights: 500,000 lights

Cars: 10,000 moving vehicles

Computers: 64 different computers control all the action

Visiting Information for Miniature Wonderland

Hours of Operation

The facility is open 365 days a year. General hours of operation are from 9:30-18:00. Hours are slightly longer on Tuesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Lines can be quite long on weekends and school holidays, so pre-booking your timeslot online can be quite smart.

Miniature Wonderland Ticket Prices

Tickets are Adult 13.00 for adults and 6.50 for children. Other ticket options and packages are available.

Location and Address

It is conveniently located within the Speicherstadt district.

Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg

Kehrwieder 2-4,

Block D 20457 Hamburg  Speicherstadt

Getting There

There are several parking garages nearby if arriving by private car. However, public transit is also convenient. The nearest metro station (called the U-Bahn in Hamburg) is Baumwall, located on the U3 (yellow line).

For More Information

http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com

Nearby Accommodations

There are number of accommodation options nearby. Check out prices at nearby hotels. We stayed at the nearby AMERON Hotel Speicherstadt.

We visited explored Hamburg as the guests of German National Tourist Board. All opinions of the small and fantastic are our own.

And because you can never have too many pictures:
ASHLAND -- Dennis Portrey was only 12 when word of his Army brother's disappearance reached the Richardson County town of Preston.

A Douglas C-54 Skymaster carrying eight service members, including 19-year-old Army Cpl. Bernard Portrey, along with 36 civilians, lost communication while en route to Great Falls Air Force Base in Montana from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska on Jan. 26, 1950.

Snow and wind had been in the forecast.

That flight should never have happened, said Dennis Portrey. It should have been scrubbed.

A massive search party covering thousands of miles turned up no trace of the plane or the cause of its disappearance.

Some 67 years later, Cpl. Portreys family honored his service under the shadows of a C-54 in a hangar of the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum on Saturday.

The Honor and Remember Nebraska Chapter, which holds tributes for families of fallen service members, presented the Portrey siblings with a red and white Honor and Remember flag.

Younger sister Betty Massey, who was only 8 when Cpl. Portrey died, described her older brother as a sweetheart and an even-tempered man.

Massey, who now lives in Falls City, said the ceremony helped bring closure.

I cant explain how it makes me feel, just to know hes recognized for giving his life, she said.

Jim Meier, director of the Honor and Remember Nebraska Chapter, said Cpl. Portrey must have felt pretty lucky to be aboard the plane. An officer had cancelled at the last minute and Portrey, who was on furlough, got the seat.

He donned the uniform; he enlisted to do so, Meier said. The U.S. flag doesnt fly unless people fight for it, and die for it.

Portreys disappearance came as relations between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union continued to deteriorate in the early stages of the Cold War.

Its somewhat of a forgotten war, Meier said, because there were no direct hostilities between the nations.

The all-volunteer Honor and Remember Nebraska Chapter is part of a national charity organization formed in 2008 to recognize the sacrifice of military members who die serving in the military.

In 2016, the chapter presented 26 Honor and Remember flags -- embroidered with the service members rank, name, date of death and place of death -- to families.

The flags are funded through sponsors and fundraisers. Portreys flag was sponsored by grocery store chain SpartanNash.

For Dennis Portrey, the ceremony was way overdue. He also said its important to continue honoring servicemen and women.

Theyre defending and fighting for our countrys freedom, and freedom is the greatest thing there is, he said.


Mobcraft Girl Grey IPA, brewed by Alexandrias Larissa Hanpeter and Mobcraft. (Mobcraft)

Last summer, Alexandria homebrewer Larissa Hanpeter had an idea for a new beer combining two of her favorite things: a hoppy IPA and the flavor of Earl Grey tea. She took Twinings tea leaves and painstakingly smelled and tasted them next to a number of hop varieties, and eventually dry-hopped the 5-gallon batch with both hops and tea. I had no idea if it was going to be really great or if it was going to be a miss, she says.

Thankfully, Girl Grey IPA was good. Good enough, in fact, to win a contest sponsored by Wisconsin brewers Mobcraft and Girls Pint Out, a national organization for female craft beer lovers. In January, Hanpeter flew to Milwaukee, where she brewed a 30-barrel (930-gallon) batch with Mobcrafts brewers. The beer made its debut in Washington on March 21. I didnt just show up and stand around, Hanpeter says. The pros told her: Youre the brewer, its your recipe. Tell us what you want to do.

Girl Grey IPA is a delightful beer for spring, with familiar aromas of bergamot and lemon from the tea leaves  the final version includes organic Earl Grey tea from Rishi, an organic tea blender in Milwaukee  and a dry, pleasant bitterness with grassy, herbal hops. The golden IPA is very approachable, rather than aggressively hoppy.

The beer has made its way to a number of local beer bars, including the Black Squirrel, Pizzeria Paradiso and Roofers Union, while tallboy cans were sent to Schneiders of Capitol Hill, Calvert Woodley and other liquor stores. Hanpeter and local Girls Pint Out chapter president Chrystalle Ball will host a tasting at Craft Beer Cellar (301 H St. NE) on March 29, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

 Fritz Hahn

Mobcraft Girl Grey IPA. facebook.com/dcmetrogirlspintout. About $15 per four-pack of 16-ounce cans, and $7 per pint on tap in bars.
Dorothy Lievers marveled at herself in the mirror just before she got her beauty shots taken in the brightly lit Baltimore studio of fashion photographer P.A. Greene. Her smooth, mahogany skin glowed. Smoky eye shadow with a tinge of shimmer danced across the ridge just under her eyebrows. Her lips had a hint of matte pink lipstick.

My granddaughter will probably say, Youve been with Mr. Reggie,  she said as she gently patted the silver ringlets that rested in a symmetrical wave on the top right half of her head.

Lieverss face had just been transformed by Reggie Wells, a soft-spoken yet sharp-tongued, salt-and-pepper-haired man who was Oprah Winfreys Emmy Award-winning makeup artist for nearly three decades.

For the past year and a half, Wells has been living in relative anonymity in a retirement community in the Baltimore neighborhood of Park Heights to be near his 96-year-old father. It was his aging father who brought the self-taught makeup artist back to his hometown after living in Chicago since 1990.

Im giving back my life to him while hes on Earth, the 69-year-old Wells said.

It was seeing his father and the senior women from Weinberg Manor that inspired him to provide free makeovers.

What I learned from Oprah is why I am doing this today, he said. Im doing this for the forgotten people of families. Im taking unknown mothers and grandmothers and giving them the type of makeovers that Oprah would give.

On this day, Wells took a group of four women from his Northwest Baltimore community and brought them downtown to the Mount Vernon neighborhood, where he did their makeup and then had them professionally photographed. Wells hopes to continue the effort locally and then launch the program nationally.

The effort completes the circle for Wells, a Baltimore native and Maryland Institute College of Art graduate who was an art teacher in Baltimore in the mid-1970s before moving to New York to pursue his dream of becoming a makeup artist.

It was in New York that he honed his craft working at a number of makeup counters before catching the eye of a fashion editor and eventually working with the likes of Glamour, Life and Harpers Bazaar. But it was his work with Essence  he did makeup for the model or celebrity on more than 100 covers  that resulted in his work with Winfrey and other major black female entertainers from the 1970s to today.

Wells rattles off celebrity stories  he seems to have an endless number  with ease.

Hes beaten the face  a positive term, used to describe when an artist has applied flawless makeup  of Beyonce, Halle Berry and Michelle Obama.

He was Robin Givenss makeup artist for important events such as her wedding to Mike Tyson and their famous interview with Barbara Walters. He did the makeup for Lauryn Hills neo-soul classic Doo-Wop (That Thing) video in 1998. He was also there for a number of Aretha Franklin photos  he calls her ReRe.

His work was so good that he said the late Joan Rivers demanded to know how much plastic surgery his clients had done.

I told her, Black people dont get cut. Im the doctor, as I took out my brush, he recalled with a chuckle. I think I shocked a lot of people.

The women in his retirement community eat up every juicy detail.

This is what we have to go through, Lievers exclaimed with a laugh.

It hasnt always been fun for Wells. There were a lot of dark times.

Wells said he was molested as a child. I never told anyone, he said.

There was the constant teasing about being gay and repeated fights. Later on, he deflected homophobia from parents and co-workers alike who were skeptical of a gay man teaching art and dance to students.

They didnt understand what a homosexual was, he said.

He lost numerous friends during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s.

Even trying to break into the makeup industry was a challenge  especially for someone looking to provide makeup services for women of color.

Wells started out during a time when there were no major cosmetic companies that catered to black women.

Wells had to custom-create his own makeup, concocting lipstick and eye shadow for his black clients with foundations and powders meant for white skin tones.

Oprah never credited makeup companies in the beginning because we had to make it up. Oprah didnt believe in lying, he said. I had to create all of the makeup. They just didnt exist.

It was Wellss willingness to pioneer new makeup techniques for black women that caught Winfreys eye, according to Wells.

I did contouring in 1981 before it became a clowns look, Wells said.

Wells remembers when he first completed the makeup on the budding media moguls skin for an Essence cover.

She said, Ive never looked this good before. I told her that I could make her look that good every day, he recalled of the 1986 encounter.

By 1990, Oprah brought Wells to Chicago to be her full-time makeup artist.

There, Wellss work didnt end with makeup. He worked with lighting technicians to come up with nontraditional ways to light sets so that black skin would look its best on camera.

The lighting was not acceptable for black people, he said, adding that he incorporated six spotlights, which were traditionally used in theaters, for studio tapings. I told Oprah that I would never win an Emmy with this [old] lighting.

Wells delivered. In 1995, he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Makeup. He was nominated four additional times.

Wells is quick to attribute much of his success to his work with Winfrey.

Theres no secret how Oprah is not afraid to show herself, Wells said while swiveling between two chairs as he put the finishing touches on Lievers. You extend yourself and leave parts of yourself behind. If you dont give, you dont receive.

Wells said he traveled the world with Winfrey during the rise and at the height of her career. That included trips to South Africa, where she opened a school for girls; Australia; and the Middle East.

I was available to her 24/7. I was at her beck and call, he said with a laugh.

It was through these trips that Wells said he learned the meaning of giving back. Oprah is a genuine giver and an exciting woman who thinks that everything is possible, he said.

Winfrey, who was traveling, could not be reached for comment for this story, according to a spokeswoman.

Meanwhile, Wellss work for Essence and Winfrey garnered many fans.

Ursula Augustine, a professional makeup artist based in Philadelphia, said she collected each issue of Essence and studied Wellss work while growing up in Philadelphia.

Essence was my at-home makeup course. It was my beauty bible, said Augustine, who owns Ursulas About Phace Rittenhouse Makeup Studio and whose celebrity clients have included Prince, James Taylor and Jesse Jackson.

It was Wells who inspired Augustine to become a makeup artist, she said, adding that she even took a master class with him at the annual International Beauty Show in New York.

To say that Reggie Wells is just a makeup artist is like saying the Grand Canyon is just a hole in the ground, said Augustine.

Baltimore-based fashion historian Caprece Jackson-Garrett is excited to have Wells back in the area. She has admired his work for decades.

He understands how to enhance a womans features, she said. Hes a real makeup artist for real women. I think thats why he was with Oprah for as long as he was. He knew her face. It was a face that we loved. And he kept that face relatable.

In addition to the makeovers, Wells has taught master makeup classes in the Baltimore area. Hes currently working on a memoir. You wont be able to put it down, he promised.

And hes looking to pitch his signature makeup compact he calls the clockpot on Shark Tank.

But in the meantime, hes bringing smiles to the faces of Baltimores seniors.

Its been quite interesting knowing Reggie, Marie Dingle, 79, joked as she waited for Wells to apply the last flicks of powder to solidify his work of art. I feel great knowing that he did Oprah. Thats even better.
When celebrities leave our area permanently, it would be easy for us to turn our backs on them, make a clean break and go on to other things.

But after her wildly popular stay here, and after the enormous affection she evoked, it is not so simple to let go.

So it seems only proper to report that Bao Bao, the young giant panda who was born at the National Zoo, and achieved creature stardom there, has made her first public appearance in her new home in China.

After a month in quarantine, Bao Bao made her public debut Friday, said the website of China Global Television Network (CGTN). CGTN describes itself as Chinas new international media organization.

In its account, CGTN said fans were already on hand for Bao Baos appearance at a panda center outside Chengdu in Sichuan province.

It was unclear whether any were from Washington, where she was born Aug. 23, 2013, to panda parents Mei Xiang and Tian Tian.

Most of the worlds giant pandas are on loan from China, and cubs born abroad go back for breeding before turning 4.

On Feb. 21, after fond farewells, sheltered in a white shipping crate, Bao Bao, as she was bound to be, was FedExed off to China.

Now, according to CGTN, she seems to be having the same effect there as here. Her debut was made, CGTN said, under the eyes of an adoring crowd.
Fixing schools is slow. Superintendents and principals come up with plans. Guidelines are issued. Families are informed. Teachers introduce new lessons. Students follow as best they can, while years pass without big results.

Yet one category of change is much faster, often not in a good way. School districts have been experimenting with changes in rules to reduce the number of children sent home for bad behavior. They do that, and boom! Out-of-school suspension rates plummet, usually producing not applause but bitter disputes over racial differences and renewed disruption.

In a revealing analysis of California data, where out-of-school suspensions dropped more than 30 percent from 2013 to 2015, a Brookings Institution scholar found that changing the size and configuration of schools may be a better approach than changing the rules for who gets sent home.

Breaking large schools up into smaller units may reduce suspension rates for all students  and especially for black students  but that means reassigning students to new schools, said Tom Loveless, a nonresident senior fellow at the institutions Brown Center on Education Policy.

He also suggested that switching from traditional separate elementary and middle schools to kindergarten-through-eighth-grade campuses  a change some D.C. public schools made in the past decade  could reduce suspensions of sixth-graders.

[New scrutiny on suspension rates in some D.C. charter schools]

A longitudinal study of New York City sixth-graders found that attending sixth grade in a middle school, as opposed to a K-8 school, produced a negative impact on achievement that began in the first year and extended throughout the middle school years, Loveless said. In surveys of both students and parents, respondents described middle school campuses as less safe, peer behavior as more immature and antisocial, and the overall quality of education as lower than in K-8 schools.

By contrast, California appears to have achieved its sharp decline in out-of-school suspensions in two ways. It outlawed suspensions in some grades for willful defiance, which can range from yelling expletives to forgetting to bring a book to class. It also held meetings for perpetrators, victims, parents, teachers and educators to help students take responsibility for their actions  a method called restorative justice. Loveless said it was difficult to determine what had the greatest effect on suspension declines, but some educators complained that safety and learning suffered when fewer troubled kids were sent home. A petition signed by teachers at a Fresno high school said increased disruptions after suspensions were reduced were unfair to students who come to school ready to learn and the teachers ready to engage them.

Much controversy has been over black children continuing to be suspended out of proportion to their numbers even after suspensions have been reduced. Loveless noted that the negative effects of disruptive students on rule-abiding peers almost certainly fall disproportionately on black students as well.

[Racial disparities in discipline in D.C. schools]

Restorative justice and other discipline method changes may prove to be good alternatives to out-of-school suspensions, Loveless said, but their efficacy has not yet been evaluated in rigorously designed evaluations.

The same can be said for smaller schools, often associated with better school climates. Large schools present management challenges that administrators in small schools do not face, Loveless said. Troubled students may be lost in big schools. Some charter schools say that their smaller sizes explain in part their better results. Loveless showed that 38.2 percent of Californias largest schools, those with more than 1,300 students, have high suspension rates, compared with 22.4 percent with low rates, but there is not much research buttressing that connection, he said. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation failed to prove that reducing high school sizes leads to more achievement.

With so much unknown, school districts are unlikely to give smaller and better configured schools, the approaches Loveless finds most promising, much time to work. Sending disruptive students home seems the simplest solution to trouble at school, so it will remain a key method, even if it leaves children without adult supervision and falling further behind.
A sign on F Street NW reminds dog owners to clean up after their pets. In Britain, people who walk their dogs in forest are being told to flick the poop into the woods rather than leave plastic bags out. (John Kelly/The Washington Post)

These days, more than ever,winning seems to be vitally important. Of course, the best sort of winning is the old win-win, as in a win-win situation.

Its a close cousin to killing two birds with one stone. Thats the exemplar of efficiency: a good thing  unless youre the birds.

Its easy to think of win-win/multi-bird situations after the fact, but Ive been thinking of how to create win-win situations. We have so many problems facing us these days that a lot of us would settle for a tie-tie.

But lets not think small. I have an idea. It starts with dog poop.

Were all agreed its a scourge. It neednt be. Just pick up your dogs poop, put it in the proper receptacle and its not a problem. I dont even care what you pick it up with. A plastic bag is the best option, but you can use anything from a sterling silver pie server to your bare hands.

If you do happen to use a bag, the jobs not over till youve thrown the bag away (in your own trash, please, not a neighbors). You must not leave the bag on the ground or  as we often see  hanging from a tree branch.

Unless you live in England.

Reader Christina Kennedy directed me to a story in the British press about Anne Main, a Conservative member of Parliament and self-styled dog-poo czar.

Like many people, I like to walk my dog out in the countryside, parks and in woodland, but over the last few years Ive noticed an increasing number of dog-poo bags hanging off bushes, trees and railings  and its disgusting, Main told the BBC.

[Sure, most dog owners bag their poochs waste, but why then leave the bag behind?]

Main suggested that dog walkers follow the suggestions of Britains Forestry Commission, which recommends what it calls stick and flick. When a dog poops on a forest trail, its owner should use a stick to flick it into the underbrush, where it is less likely to be trod upon.

The Forestry Commission even produced a poem in an attempt to spread the message. It includes the lines:

If your dog should do a plop,

Take a while and make a stop.

Just find a stick and flick it wide

Into the undergrowth at the side.

Kennedy thinks this makes sense. She said shes seen too many non-biodegradable bags left behind at places like River Bend and Great Falls parks.

The Fairfax County Park Authority does not endorse stick-and-flick.

Scoop it, then trash it or flush it, said David Ochs, manager of stewardship communications for the countys park authority. He directed me to Section 41.1-2-6 of the county ordinance, which stipulates: The owner or custodian of any dog shall be responsible for the removal of excreta deposited by such dog on the property of another, including public places.

Ochs said there are 87,000 dogs registered in Fairfax County. His colleague, ecologist Kristen Sinclair, said the average dog produces about three-quarters of a pound of poop a day. You can do the math.

Uncollected dog poop washes into streams, bringing pathogens with it.

Its not unlike people excreting in the woods, Sinclair said. It has E. coli, salmonella, giardia and all that stuff.

What about the argument that foxes, squirrels, bears and other wild animals already poop in the woods?

Theyre part of the ecosystem, Sinclair said. The dogs are visitors to the park. Theyre supposed to be on a leash, with their owners. Its leave no trace behind. 

Main calls colorful plastic bags of canine excreta poo baubles. That almost makes them sound valuable.

Which brings me to this: Have you heard whats going on over in Reston? Residents are livid that Boston Properties, the owner of Reston Town Center, has started charging for parking. It used to be free, but now it costs $2 an hour.

[End of free parking is the last straw for some Reston residents]

Some stores and restaurants validate parking, but critics say its on a confusing store-by-store and garage-by-garage basis. The app Boston Properties wants motorists to use is balky and needlessly intrusive. There arent enough pay stations.

Well, who needs an app and a pay station when theres all this uncollected gold sitting out there for the taking? I suggest Boston Properties require drivers to pay for their Reston Town Center parking with poo baubles. People will be scouring the parks.

Two birds, one stone. Win-win.

Twitter: @johnkelly

For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.
With two weeks left before the end of Marylands 2017 legislative session, lawmakers are rushing to pass a package of bills aimed at combating the heroin and opioid epidemic that a new Washington Post-University of Maryland poll shows is touching about one-third of state residents.

Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and members of the Democratic-majority legislature have introduced at least 30 bills combined to address the crisis, the most since the rate of overdose deaths began skyrocketing about six years ago. The proposals, many of which have merged in recent weeks, focus on prevention, treatment, law enforcement, insurance coverage and public awareness.

Two of the most sweeping measures, sponsored by Democrats but which also have Republican support, drew the endorsement Friday of House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert).

Both are expected to come up for floor votes this week.

A House work group scaled back a separate bill from the Hogan administration designed to hold doctors accountable for how many pain pills they prescribe to an individual, following criticism that the proposal left physicians with almost no flexibility to do what they think is best for patients. The revised legislation also is on track to reach the House floor this week.

Weve checked our parties at the door, and were getting the job done, said Del. Eric M. Bromwell (D-Baltimore County), the head of the work group, which was tasked with reviewing and revising the opioid-related bills in an effort to advance a comprehensive legislative package.

The Post-U. Md. poll finds 34 percent of Marylanders have a family member or close friend addicted to prescription pain pills or heroin, up slightly from 29 percent in 2015.

[Read full poll results | How it was conducted]

Health experts say rising addiction to prescription opioids is driving a more than five-year surge in overdose deaths, with people becoming hooked on pain medication and later turning to cheaper heroin for a similar high. Increasingly, users unwittingly take heroin mixed with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is more powerful.

One of the Democratic measures, known as the HOPE Act, would establish at least 10 new crisis-treatment centers throughout Maryland; require the state to increase its reimbursement rates for substance-abuse clinics every year; request at least $2 million in the governors next budget to expand drug-court programs; and allow individuals to administer an overdose-reversal drug without training.

The other Democratic bill would require public schools to keep overdose-reversal drugs on hand; authorize school nurses and other health personnel to administer the drugs; mandate that colleges educate incoming students about substance abuse; and require that degrees for many health occupations include instruction about addiction treatment and safe pain management.

[Leaders in Montgomery County consider launching new recovery school]

At a news conference Friday, Hogan said his administration has taken every step possible to address the opioid epidemic, and was glad to see the legislature taking action as well.

Hogans prescriber-limits legislation originally would have barred doctors from prescribing more than a seven-day supply of an opioid, with exceptions for certain patients, such as those dealing with cancer or receiving hospice care. But the states medical society resisted the rule, saying it wasnt practical and left physicians too few options.

The state health department and the medical society, known as MedChi, worked out a compromise that would require doctors to follow best practices, such as standards from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while making them accountable to the Maryland Board of Physicians for following those guidelines.

In a way, the seven-day will become the rule in many cases, because thats what the standards actually say, said Gene Ransom, MedChis chief executive. There is a clear message now from the General Assembly that physicians have to pay attention to what is going on with prescribing.

Hannah Marr, a spokeswoman for the governors office, said the administration believes Hogans original proposal was stronger but that the revised version is a step in the right direction nonetheless.

The Hogan administration also proposed creating a new felony category that would allow prison sentences of up to 30 years for sales of fentanyl-laced heroin resulting in a fatal overdose. The legislation has been changed to add 10 years to a sentence for individuals who knowingly distribute fentanyl, regardless of whether a death occurs.

Lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee, which is reviewing the measure, say the bill may not advance in time to pass both chambers before the end of the legislative session on April 10. Theres a higher mountain to cross for that one, mostly because it adds a new penalty, said Del. Brett R. Wilson (R-Washington), a member of the panel.

The latest data from the state health department shows that 317 Marylanders died of overdoses related to prescription opioids from January through September of last year, up 41 percent compared to the same period in 2010. Another 918 heroin-related deaths occurred in Maryland during the first three-quarters of last year, more than four times the number for the same stretch in 2010.

Hogan declared a state of emergency this month over the heroin and opioid crisis, pledging to provide $50 million over the next five years to address the problem with treatment and prevention efforts. Last week, he asked the legislature to approve $10 million of the funding, and his fiscal 2018 budget would provide another $11.5 million to deal with the issue, including more than $6 million for treatment programs.

The Post-U. Md. poll showed the governors approval rating on the issue has increased 12 points since last year, rising to 47 percent.

Many addiction-services advocates are pushing the state to expand access to long-term residential treatment, saying it is one of the most effective ways to reduce the number of overdose deaths.

We need a lot more resources for treatment, and it has to be long-term and quality treatment, said Linda Williams, executive director of Addiction Connections Resource. I would like for there not to be a waiting list.

The poll shows 72 percent of Marylanders support increasing state funding for long-term residential treatment, with about 41 percent in favor of adding $10 million or more, while the rest either prefer a smaller rise or have no opinion on an amount. Support for increased funding is strong regardless of party affiliation, with 80 percent of Democrats, 70 percent of independents and 59 percent of Republicans backing the idea.

I can never find enough beds, Williams said. Sometimes it takes me two to three weeks to get someone in.

The poll, conducted March 16-19 among a random sample of 914 Maryland residents reached on landline and mobile phones, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.

Scott Clement and Emily Guskin contributed to this report.
Lincoln city officials are searching the metaphorical sofa cushions for a spare $20 million after learning the estimated price tag for constructing a beltway around the citys southern side has spiked.

State officials told the city Public Works & Utilities Department in January that preliminary cost estimates had jumped 50 percent, from $200 million to $300 million, after a major revision of construction plans resulting from surveys of the route for the long-awaited South Beltway.

The news set off pencil sharpening and number crunching in the mayors office. While 80 percent of the bill will be paid through state sales tax receipts earmarked by the Build Nebraska Act, the other 20 percent is the responsibility of the city and the local Railroad Transportation Safety District. The revised cost estimate bumped the required local match from $40 million to $60 million.

We have had numerous meetings on how to deal with the challenge of finding up to an additional $20 million, Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler said in an emailed statement.

It took a lot of effort to identify $40 million to cover the state's original South Beltway estimate and still keep pace with Lincoln's street construction and repair needs. We are concerned that an additional $20 million could greatly delay other important street projects across the city.

Originally proposed in the 1960s as part of an expressway to circle Lincoln, the planned four-lane South Beltway would link U.S. 77 southwest of the city to Nebraska 2 east of Lincoln.

Its a really important project for Lancaster County. It will give us a heck of a lot of connectivity, as well as pull trucks off of our rural roads and keep them from driving through the city. Its going to relieve the traffic pressure immensely in south Lincoln, Lancaster County Engineer Pam Dingman said.

The new price tag isnt frightening off state or local officials. The three groups splitting the bill have all expressed continuing support for getting construction underway by 2020.

Barring any legislative changes -- past bills have suggested rescinding the Build Nebraska Act -- the state Roads Department is prepared to move forward, Deputy Director of Engineering Khalil Jaber said.

We think its an excellent project We will have the way and the means to address whatever funding we need, Jaber said. Weve communicated that to all our partners.

The city and Railroad District have been squirreling away money annually in anticipation of paying the local match and so far have appropriated $22.3 million.

While the Railroad District has no formal agreement obligating it fund beltway construction, the six-member board previously agreed to pay $13 million to cover the then-estimated cost of improving railroad infrastructure.

Roger Figard, the Railroad Districts executive director, said board members will discuss additional funding at a future meeting but generally have expressed continued support.

The state Roads Department always noted construction estimates were preliminary and could change, Jaber said, although he acknowledged the amount of increase in this case might have left some community members with sticker shock.

We understand that, Jaber said. If you asked me, Is that your standard business? Id tell you, no. We have a lot of other projects we have a lot more certainty.

But the South Beltway is unique and complicated. Its an entirely new major roadway impacting many existing roads, utilities and properties, as well as requiring the purchase of right of way, he added.

The Roads Department issued its 2014 estimate based on the average cost of past construction, Jaber said.

Then, in the fall of 2015, a group of engineers, environmentalists, design consultants and right-of-way experts walked and drove the planned route.

Many factors -- from bridge modifications to adding retaining walls to needing more right of way -- contributed to the price increase, Jaber said.

There is grading when you add a retaining wall, grading changes the cross sections. If you change any modifications to the bridge, obviously the girders are different, some of the piers and some of the foundation. If you extend a box culvert or add a box culvert because you are trying to minimize wetland impact, that changes a lot of things, Jaber said.

Everything really was touched. A good 75 to 80 percent of the quantities were touched as part of these modifications.

And the cost estimate could change again, Jaber said.

Officials plan to hold a hearing for a South Beltway draft environmental assessment this summer and take public comment. After evaluating the public input, engineers will create a final design, Jaber said.

As part of our process, we will also do another value engineering trying to make sure if there is any savings out there hidden, Jaber said.

State officials plan to begin talking with landowners about property acquisition sometime next year, he said.

The beltway likely will be built in stages allowing motorists to use portions before its entirely complete, which could take years. Jaber declined to speculate on how long it would be before cars are driving the beltway from end to end.

State politicians have been working to find ways to accelerate completion.

Gov. Pete Ricketts in January submitted the South Beltway and four other state projects for consideration as part of President Donald Trump's proposed new national infrastructure program, funding that could fast-track construction.

Nebraska legislators on Tuesday handed 42-0 first-stage approval to a bill (LB271) introduced by Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln that would authorize the Nebraska Department of Roads to assume responsibility from the U.S. Department of Transportation for environmental review of federal highway projects in Nebraska.

Hilgers said the change could "shave off a year or more" in speeding construction of the proposed South Beltway.
Plastic cups spell out Rockville Strong at Rockville High School in Rockville, Md, on Thursday. The school has been thrust into the national immigration debate after a 14-year-old student said she was raped in a bathroom, allegedly by two classmates who came to the United States illegally from Central America. (Brian Witte/AP)

About 100 demonstrators rallied Sunday in front of Montgomery County government headquarters, urging county leaders to do more to prevent crimes in public schools after a 14-year-old girl was reportedly raped inside the bathroom at Rockville High School this month.

Many of the demonstrators were angrythat the two suspects in that crime  Henry E. Sanchez Milian, 18, and Jose O. Montano, 17  were undocumented immigrants who enrolled in the school after arriving in the United States illegally from Central America.

Although school officials have repeatedly said that the suspects were in a special program for non-English speaking students, demonstrators  waving signs that read Keep MoCo safe and Protect Our Girls  seemed to believe that the older teenagers were in regular ninth-grade classes.

Theyre not looking after the safety of our children, Patricia Fenati, a local Republican Party committee member, said about County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and schools Superintendent Jack Smith.

I have problems with illegal immigration, but thats not the issue, Fenati added. The issue is that theyre pushing these kids into classrooms with younger children.

Demonstrators rallied in front of the Montgomery County Council Building to push county officials to adopt ways to prevent attacks on public school campuses like the rape of a 14-year-old girl at Rockville High School. (Tony Olivo/The Washington Post)

Speaker after speaker criticized U.S. policies toward illegal immigration that have allowed more than 150,000 unaccompanied minors from Central America into the country in recent years, crowding immigration courts and public schools. They blamed Montgomery Countys controlling Democratic Party leadership for sanctuary policies that prohibit government employees from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, except in cases involving serious crimes.

This was probably the most terrible incident that Ive heard of in 60 years in Montgomery County, Robin Ficker, a Republican candidate for county executive, said about the alleged rape. That shows Montgomery County is not going the right way.

Across Maryland Avenue, a smaller group of demonstrators tried to drown out the protest, chanting No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here! That was met with counter chants of U.S.A., U.S.A.!

On both sides, however, some demonstrators said they were worried how a traumatic incident involving a 14-year-old girl has taken what they see as distracting political overtones.

Ann Foxen, who was among the counterprotesters, said community reaction to the rape case has just descended into something irrational. Its a terribly unfortunate incident, said Foxen, 70. But it isnt something that just an immigrant would do.
It was a signature achievement for Montgomery County Council member Hans Riemer: passage of the 2012 Open Government bill, which requires all county departments to make public records more available and accessible through a central Web portal.

You have a right to know what your government is doing. And I have made protecting that right a central part of my work, Riemer (D-At Large) said in his campaign literature as he ran for reelection in Marylands largest jurisdiction in 2014.

Last week, however, after more than 200,000 email addresses of people receiving newsletters and other information from the county government were made public on the countys website, Riemer and some of his colleagues decided they had opened the portals of government a bit too wide.

What followed was an example of how the competing interests of government transparency and personal privacy can create serious friction.

A five-member majority of council members  Reimer, Nancy Floreen (D-At Large), Sidney Katz (D-Rockville-Gaithersburg), Nancy Navarro (D-Midcounty) and Craig Rice (D-Upcounty)  ordered their attorney to pull back from public view more than 90,000 of the email addresses published on DataMontgomery , the portal created under Riemers bill. The bill required publication on the portal of any information released through a Maryland Public Information Act request.

The lawmakers who authorized the deletion said they feared that tens of thousands of residents subscribing to newsletters would be the targets of spammers if they did not act.

This is like a treasure trove for marketers, agreed Council President Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda), who was not one of the five. Publication of the addresses, he said, could have created a chilling effect that would prevent many of the countys 1 million residents from interacting with local government.

Pulling the email addresses violated the 2012 law, which is similar to new open-government statutes in other states and localities. Riemer said the decision was forced by exigent circumstances and argued that the public interest served by mass distribution of the addresses was outweighed by privacy concerns.

A lot of people would be very upset by signing up for the countys solid-waste newsletter and having their [email addresses] end up in 24 political campaigns and 150 different spammers, he said.

He has drafted an amendment to the Open Government law that would bar such email disclosures in the future. It will be introduced at the councils April 4 session.

John Verdi, vice president for policy at the Future of Privacy Forum, a nonprofit group that promotes best data practices, said the email-address issue illustrates what is becoming a familiar conflict.

Everybody agrees that transparent government is a good thing, said Verdi, a former Obama administration official who worked on privacy issues. You have data that is purely government data, and data appropriately excluded by public information laws. Then you get the gray area in the middle, where an increasingly important question being asked is about the right balance between openness and privacy.

Verdi said Montgomerys experience highlights governments responsibility to provide notice to folks that information they submit might be made public.

The release of the torrent of addresses started with a Public Information Act request by MocoVoters, a new grass-roots group that wants to increase turnout at the polls in the 2018 elections. Its co-founder, Robert Lipman, was active in opposing the countys plan to redevelop the Westbard neighborhood of Bethesda.

As first reported by Bethesda Beat, the group asked for email addresses of subscribers to all County Council newsletters and to Paperless Airplane, an electronic newsletter put out by Montgomerys public information office.

That meant a total of more than 200,000 addresses forwarded to MocoVoters, and posted on DataMontgomery.

Leaders of MocoVoters wanted to use the addresses to inform voters about issues such as the influence of real estate developers on incumbent council members and the potential for electing new faces through the public campaign finance law.

Our democracy works better if outsiders have an ability to communicate with voters about the upcoming elections, said Lipman.

Some council members were not so enthusiastic about handing over email addresses to an advocacy group they regard as less than friendly. But their attorney, Amanda Mihill, said they had no choice.

Public information director Patrick Lacefield got the same advice from counsel regarding subscriber lists for Paperless Airplane.

As it turns out, once MocoVoters received the email addresses, it had second thoughts about using them.

For one thing, the group needed help with the sheer volume of data it had accumulated. It consulted with MailChimp, the email marketing platform, which said that as a matter of policy it didnt handle email addresses acquired from third parties, which in this case would be the county.

Instead, Lipman said, the group will grow its own address list, using social media to draw potential members.

In recent days, the public-information request has spawned at least two bogus copycats. On Friday, someone claiming to be Lipman filed a request for all phone numbers in the emergency alert system operated by the county. The request was immediately declined on security grounds.

The second was a parody of an old Internet scam. A person claiming to be Mohammad Abacha, a son of the late Nigerian president, Sani Abacha, asked that all emails the county had received from Lipman, the MocoVoters group and the Parents Coalition of Montgomery County be posted on DataMontgomery.

In an email to the county council, the writer who called himself Montgomery County Nigerian Prince, also thanked the county for the email addresses it had already made available on the portal.

It is my pleasure to contact each and every one of these individuals for a business venture I intend to establish in Montgomery County, he wrote, adding that he has access to $13.2 million that he wants to invest in the county for security and political reasons.
McGruff (13293/794) is a 12-year-old male terrier mix who was surrendered by his owner. He obeys commands to sit, and he loves attention. (Prince William County SPCA)

McGruff (13293/794) is a 12-year-old male terrier mix who was surrendered by his owner. He obeys commands to sit, and he loves attention. Minnie (13332/830) is a 12-year-old female domestic shorthair who was surrendered by her owner. She isnt bothered by dogs or other cats. She also loves attention.

The Prince William County Animal Shelter, 14807 Bristow Rd., Manassas, makes animals available for adoption by residents of Manassas and Manassas Park and Prince William, Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier and Stafford counties. If the animal is spayed or neutered, adopters may live outside these areas. Additional animals can be seen at pwcshelter.petfinder.com. Viewing and adoption hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. The shelter is closed Mondays and holidays. Adoptions end a half-hour before closing. For information, call 703-792-6465.
Prince George's County police are investigating the killing of a teenager in the Kent Village area of the county. (Prince George's County police department/Prince George's County police department)

A teenager was shot and killed Saturday night in the Landover area of Prince Georges County, police said.

Police had not released his name as of late Sunday. However, someone familiar with the investigation gave his name as Dennis Taylor and his age as 15.

Police said they found the victim dead at the scene in the 2200 block of Columbia Place about 9:40 p.m. They said a handgun was found at the scene.

Based on preliminary investigation, police said, the shooting did not appear to be a random act.

No further details could be immediately confirmed. The location is about a mile northwest of FedEx Field and near the Prince Georges Country Club.
One of several signs rejected by Metro that were submitted by Mohamed Soltan. Soltan is an Egyptian American human rights advocate and a former political prisoner in Egypt. (Courtesy of Mohamed Soltan)

A former political prisoner has taken his protest to Metros front door after the transit agency rejected his $20,000 subway and bus ad campaign highlighting human rights abuses in Egypt.

The ads display information about political activists who have been killed or imprisoned in Egypt and are timed to coincide with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissis upcoming visit to Washington, planned for the first week of April.

One ad says, Egyptian prisons hold thousands of dissidents, many in cruel and inhuman conditions. Another: Egypt ranks third in the world for the number of journalists imprisoned. One simply reads: #FREEDOMFIRST Coming Soon.

But Metro rejected the campaign, saying the ads violate the agencys ban on issues-oriented advertising.

[Metro says no to issues-oriented advertising]

Mohamed Soltan. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Advertisements intended to influence members of the public regarding an issue on which there are varying opinions are prohibited, say the agencys guidelines, which Metro cited in response to questions about its rejection of the campaign by Mohamed Soltan.

Metro declined to answer any other questions related to the dispute.

Meanwhile, Soltan has hired a truck with a digital advertising screen to park in front of Metro headquarters near Judiciary Square, displaying the messages.

Soltan, a 29-year-old Fairfax City resident and U.S. citizen, has a close connection to the issues highlighted in the ads. He spent nearly two years imprisoned in Egypt and was tortured, he said, after being sentenced to life for transmitting false news while live-tweeting a violent government crackdown on protesters opposing a military coup.

[Cairo judge sentences Egyptian American to life in prison]

Soltan, who raised the money for the ads, argues that they do not offer an opinion or advocate for a policy position. Instead, he said, they state facts and statistics, attributed to nonprofit organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Its not an opinion or an issue-based anything, said Soltan, who is considering suing the transit agency over its decision. Its just facts, education. Its very basic.

One of several signs rejected by WMATA that were submitted by Mohamed Soltan. Soltan is an Egyptian-American human rights advocate and a former political prisoner in Egypt. (Courtesy of Mohamed Soltan)

[U.S. citizen Mohamed Soltan freed from Egyptian prison]

Its not the first time Metro has been involved in a dispute over its ad policy, and this incident is the latest in a slew of legal skirmishes around the country involving free speech and advertising on transit. Transit agencies in New York, Boston and Seattle have dealt with similar controversies in recent years, as has Metro.

Metros policy against issues-oriented advertisements has been in place since 2015, when a controversial pro-Israel group called the American Freedom Defense Initiative attempted to place ads on Metro that depicted an offensive caricature of the prophet Muhammad. Metro officials worried that the advertisements could be dangerous.

Weeks earlier, the cartoon had been displayed at a Muhammad cartoon exhibit and contest in Garland, Tex. Two men, apparently offended by the event, opened fire with semiautomatic rifles outside the building. A security guard was wounded, and the two men were shot and killed by a police officer.

I think theres a potential threat and a danger if we were to accept that ad, Metro board member Michael Goldman said then. Better to be safe than sorry.

While imprisoned in Egypt, Soltan embarked on a months-long hunger strike and nearly died before intervention by the Obama administration helped garner his release and return to the United States in 2015. His father, Salah Soltan, a political dissident, was sentenced to death and remains in prison there.

Since his return to the United States, Mohamed Soltan has advocated for others who he says remain in Egyptian custody without justification. The advertising campaign planned for Metro was funded by private citizens in the United States, many from the Egyptian diaspora, who support his mission.

Soltan approached Metros advertising contractor, Outfront Media, two weeks ago to inquire about placing the ads throughout the transit network. He agreed to a $20,000 package that would buy ad space on 250 Metro cars, in 45 stations and on 25 buses for two weeks  pending Metros approval of the sign design.

Several days later, Outfront returned with word from Metro: The signs violated its policies.

[Metro board clears way for alcohol advertising in transit system

Anything could be political, depending on how you look at it, Soltan said. By whose lens? By whose measure? It can be so loosely interpreted. What we have here is a fact, and its a fact from world-renowned human rights organizations. . . . Were just educating people about facts and things that are happening.

Soltan likened the agencys ban on issues-based advertising with the censorship and acts of oppression in Egypt that he advocates against.

The irony is that, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, we have to have this battle here at home, he said. To have a quasi-governmental agency like [the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority] that is censoring facts  its very, very disheartening.

Federal courts have already ruled decisively that transit agencies cannot selectively ban advertisements that they deem too offensive to appear in stations and buses. Instead of allowing the anti-Muslim cartoon campaign, Metro took the option that is increasingly prevalent at other transit agencies: They chose to ban all issues-oriented advertising.

Now, its guidelines cover a range of prohibited advertising themes: signs that promote or oppose any religion or religious belief; messages that are intended to influence public policy; or political campaign advertising  a serious blow to Metros pool of potential advertisers, considering the region is home to the nations capital.

Other transit agencies across the country have adopted similarly broad policies  usually resulting from costly lawsuits  that cover things they believe would be controversial, offensive or incite violence.

Rebecca Tushnet, a professor at Georgetown University who specializes in commercial speech and advertising law, said Metros success in a potential lawsuit would hinge on its ability to prove that its policy is consistently enforced  and just because an advertisement displays attributed facts or statistics does not mean that it wont be considered politically themed, she said.

I understand the desire not to have a swastika or aborted fetus shoved in my face when Im on a train and really a captive audience because I cant leave while Im in there, Tushnet said. As a compromise, the kind of blanket commercial-versus-political distinction makes a lot of sense.

But Monica Hopkins-Maxwell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia, said Metro may be in a precarious legal position if a court finds that the agencys policy is excessively broad. Almost any kind of subway advertisement  be it an advocacy poster, commercial advertising or a government-sponsored public service announcement  could be considered an attempt to influence members of the public, she argued. She said Metros policy should be far more narrowly tailored, especially in a political place like Washington.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans and international visitors come through this city, which could be considered the protest capital of the free world, Hopkins-Maxwell said. The ability to exchange ideas or come into contact with ideas  whether we agree with them or not  is fundamental to democracy, and it would be a shame if, in a place like D.C., those opportunities are being shut down because the government is afraid of free speech.
THE DISTRICT

Police: Woman scales fence by White House, again

A woman was arrested early Sunday after scaling a fence near the White House  the third time she has been taken into custody near the presidential residence in less than a week, the Secret Service said.

Marci Wahl, 38, of Everett, Wash., tripped an alarm about 2:15 a.m., after scaling the fence at the southeast corner of the Treasury Building adjacent to 15th Street NW and near the White House, the security force said.

Officers responded and took Wahl into custody. An explosives team checked the backpack she carried with her and found nothing dangerous inside, the Secret Service said.

She was charged with unlawful entry and contempt of court. Wahl was first arrested March 21 when she was found dangling from the White House fence by her shoelaces.

 Justin Jouvenal

Man is fatally shot in Southeast D.C.

A 24-year-old Maryland man was shot and killed late Saturday in Southeast Washington, police said Sunday.

The shooting happened about 9:20 p.m. in the 1500 block of White Place in Southeast, at the intersection with Minnesota Avenue, police said.

Police identified the man as Nathaniel Davis of Accokeek, Md.

 Luz Lazo

Womans body found in the Potomac River

A womans body was recovered Saturday from the Potomac River, D.C. police said.

The body was found near the Districts sewage treatment plant in Southwest Washington about 10:30 a.m. Saturday, police spokesman Sean Hickman said. No identity was released.

 Luz Lazo
A Las Vegas SWAT team surrounded a bus on the Las Vegas Boulevard on Saturday. Police said part of the Strip had been closed after a slaying and a barricade inside the bus. The standoff began after a shooting on the Strip near a hotel-casino. (John Locher/AP)

NEVADA

1 dead in Vegas attack; man surrenders

A gunman who had barricaded himself inside a bus Saturday along the Las Vegas Strip after a shooting that left one person dead and another wounded surrendered later in the afternoon, officials said.

The attack prompted a partial closure of the busy boulevard, but pedestrians had started returning to the normally busy area by late in the afternoon.

The standoff began about 11 a.m. after a shooting on a double-decker bus stopped on Las Vegas Boulevard near the Cosmopolitan hotel-casino, in the heart of the Strip.

He was on the bus. He was shooting people on the bus. He was just contained to that location. He never exited the bus, Clark County Assistant Sheriff Tom Roberts said.

University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said two people were taken to a hospital after the shooting. She said one died and the other was in fair condition.

 Associated Press

CALIFORNIA

3 arrested at beach during Trump rally

Three people were arrested on suspicion of illegal use of pepper spray after a scuffle at a rally to support President Trump at a Southern California beach Saturday.

Capt. Kevin Pearsall of the California State Parks Police said the arrests happened when counterprotesters sprayed Trump supporters.

Pearsall said that there were several other arrests and that two people suffered minor injuries.

 Associated Press

NEW YORK

Mourners pack church, road for medic

Emergency medic Yadira Arroyo was beloved  by colleagues, by patients she transported to the hospital, by the store owner she spoke to on her way to work and by children who walked by her Bronx station house.

The 14-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department and mother of five sons, killed March 16 when she was hit by her own ambulance that had been stolen, was remembered Saturday by thousands of mourners who packed a Bronx church and poured into the streets.

Most of all, she was a hero, Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said. She died as one, but most importantly, she lived as one.

Arroyo, 44, and her partner, Monique Williams, were responding to a call of a pregnant woman in distress when they were flagged down by a pedestrian about a theft, authorities said. Arroyo got out of the vehicle, and a man darted into the drivers seat and ran her down before crashing into parked cars.

Jose Gonzalez, 25, was charged with murder in Arroyos death.

 Associated Press

Boy dies in fall from N.Y. roof: New York police said a boy was killed and another teen injured as they tried to hop along rooftops in Brooklyn and plunged about four stories to the ground. The boys were found behind a building in Bushwick about 5:30 p.m. Friday. Rame Pierre-Louis, 13, had severe trauma to his head and body. His 15-year-old friend had pelvic injuries but was expected to live.

S.C. man gets 5 years for animal cruelty: A South Carolina man who wrapped tape around a dogs muzzle to stop her from barking has been sentenced to five years in prison. Media outlets reported that William Dodsons sentence Friday represented the states maximum for animal cruelty. I wish I could give you more, Judge Markley Dennis told the 43-year-old North Charleston man. The dog, Caitlyn, was found in critical condition.

Hawaii beach evacuated: Honolulu police say a popular beach on Oahu was evacuated Saturday as officers and bomb squad officials responded to the discovery of a possible explosive, Hawaii News Now reported. The news service said hundreds were asked to leave Hanauma Bay beach after the item was found about 10:40 a.m. Police told the news service that the item was a canister that washed ashore.

 From news services
The State of Nebraska is clearly facing fiscal challenges. During these times, the Legislature is required to balance the budget by adding taxes, cutting spending or using other management tools. There are no easy choices.

Conservative states like ours generally focus on scaling back on spending. But that approach can cause significant disruption for education, where 80 percent of budgets are directed toward people. And when it comes to higher education, cuts in state funding often result in new taxes in the form of tuition increases for students and families, who are working hard to pay for a college degree.

Fortunately for Nebraskans, a conservative policy was adopted in the mid-1980s whereby, during profitable economic times, money is systematically placed in a rainy-day fund. The fund provides for fiscal restraint in good times and, in bad times, is available to fill the short-term gaps that result from lower revenue. Its for all practical purposes a shock absorber to keep a steady flow of funds available for vital state functions, and it allows us to smooth out the impact of the ups and downs that are part of the normal economic cycle.

In other words, Nebraska policymakers had the foresight to create a financial policy to save money for times of fiscal stress, when its needed.

Its needed now.

The rainy-day fund was never designed as extra money for operations. Rather, its purpose is to fill the gaps of funding when we experience downturns. This fund is the appropriate management tool to use in these times: Not for new programs or expansion of existing programs, but to protect the state from cutting already lean budgets.

The University of Nebraska is a good example of why the rainy-day fund was created. The fund should be used to prevent quick and potentially damaging budget cuts at the university that would impact jobs, programs and services that benefit the entire state. And using the rainy-day fund could help prevent double-digit tuition increases that the university would have to consider under the appropriations package currently being proposed. We know from past experience what happens when the university increases tuition by double digits. Students are driven away, and it takes years to regain the losses in enrollment. At a time when Nebraskas workforce demands more college graduates  not fewer  thats the wrong approach for our state.

The University of Nebraska should not and does not expect to be granted new money in tough economic times. The universitys leadership understands that they will need to make budget cuts and theyve laid out a comprehensive approach for doing so. These cuts are going to cause pain. And tuition will certainly have to be part of the solution. But students and families should not have to pay significantly higher taxes in the form of double-digit tuition increases. And we should not allow the academic quality of our only public university to suffer in the long term because of a temporary slowdown of the economy.

The Legislature was wise to create a conservative management tool to help our state navigate periods of fiscal stress. Now the Legislature would be wise to use the rainy-day fund as it considers Nebraskas current budget situation and particularly its effect on the University of Nebraska, an economic development engine that, together with the private sector, drives our state.

This is the time to create funding stability, through responsible use of the rainy-day fund, for the University of Nebraska, its 53,000 students, and the people across the state it serves.
 A former participant in a Boy Scouts-affiliated career apprentice program for teenagers has alleged that two Louisville Metro Police Department officers sexually abused him in their homes and vehicles while they were working with him, and the citys mayor has asked the FBI to look into the police departments actions.

The accuser has alleged that the officers assaulted and raped him from when he was 17 until he was 19, at times filming the sex acts. He also alleged that police department officials  including the police chief and the head of internal affairs  knew about and covered up the assaults, which allegedly occurred while the victim was taking part in the Youth Explorer program to learn about policing and criminal justice as a potential career path.

The investigation appears to have begun in September, when Louisville police executed a search warrant at the home of officer Brandon Wood. There, investigators found videos of a sexual nature that allegedly involved the victim and Wood. Another police officer, Kenneth Betts, is also accused of abusing the victim. Betts left the force in 2013. Wood remains a police officer and is on administrative assignment. No charges have been filed.

Steve Schroering, an attorney who represents Wood, said his client maintains his innocence. Brian Butler, an attorney representing Betts, did not respond to a request for comment.

Alicia Smiley, a spokeswoman for the Louisville Metro Police Department, also declined to comment on the case, saying the department is prohibited from speaking on the current investigation because of a lawsuit the victim has filed and a criminal investigation into the matter.

Two sources with knowledge of the case said authorities are trying to determine whether there are more victims.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has asked the FBI to look into the allegations, and the FBI confirmed that it has been requested to investigate the Louisville police departments Youth Explorer program.

We are reviewing that request and the allegations surrounding the Explorer program, FBI Louisville Field Office Chief Counsel David Habich wrote in an email.

Louisville Metro Councilman David James, chairman of the citys public safety committee, also confirmed the FBIs involvement in the case. The FBI is examining the situation to determine whether federal crimes have been committed, he said.

The victim, now in his early 20s, filed a lawsuit against the two officers, the Boy Scouts of America, the city of Louisville, the police department and the leader of the departments Explorer program. That civil case has been sealed but was made public this month when the Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper reported its existence in several stories that have rocked the citys political and law enforcement establishments. The FBI last week began a review of the mayors request to investigate the program during the period the plaintiff was involved in it. City officials said the police departments Youth Explorer program has been suspended.

David Yates, an attorney representing the victim and two others who allege they, too, were abused, said they have been patient, hoping for justice.

They had hoped there would be some sort of criminal prosecution, and there was not, said Yates, who is also president of the Louisville Metro Council. I believe that most of the men and women in the police department who put their lives on the line for our community are supportive of holding accountable the individuals who hurt children and those who might have covered up their actions.

After the Courier-Journal reported news of the lawsuit, Fischer announced an independent investigation into the allegations, headed by former U.S. attorney Kerry B. Harvey, in addition to requesting the FBI to review the case.

We have to get to the bottom of these disturbing allegations  for ourselves, for our citizens, for the thousands of LMPD officers who are honest, compassionate, courageous people of integrity, Fischer said in a news release. We need to know the truth. And, most importantly, for the victims of anyone who may have committed a crime while wearing an LMPD uniform. We have to get the whole story  and we will.

A potential charge of statutory rape, according to Kentucky law, can apply when a victim is younger than 16, unless the alleged offender is in a position of authority over the victim; then the age rises to 18.

The police department sponsors the youth program for Law Enforcement Exploring and is open to anyone who has completed sixth grade or is up to 20 years old and who has an interest in a career in law enforcement or within the criminal justice system. Exploring is a worksite-based program of Learning for Life, a subsidiary of Boy Scouts of America. It offers apprentice-style programs to give young people experience in career fields including law enforcement, health care, fire and EMS, and aviation.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of FBI Louisville Field Office Chief Counsel David Habich. The article has been updated.
SYRIA

Womens prison hit by airstrike, activists say

Airstrikes hit a womens prison and a clinic in rebel-held parts of Syria on Saturday, killing and wounding scores of people amid clashes on multiple fronts between government forces and insurgent groups in some of the countrys worst violence in weeks, opposition activists said.

The airstrikes, which some activists said included Russian air raids, were concentrated on the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, the central province of Hama and suburbs of Damascus that have come under attack by insurgent groups over the past week.

One of the airstrikes hit a main street in the Damascus suburb of Hamouriyeh, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 50, activists said. The airstrikes caused wide destruction in the area.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said in a statement released in Geneva that he is deeply concerned by the recent escalation of violence in Syria, highlighting that it undermines a Dec. 30 cease-fire brokered by Turkey, Iran and Russia.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes killed 16, including eight women and children, and wounded more than 50. The Local Coordination Committees said 18 were killed and dozens were wounded. Both groups said that some people are missing and that the death toll could rise.

 Associated Press

BELARUS

Mass arrests reported at forbidden protest

Police in Belarus cracked down hard Saturday on opposition protesters who tried to hold a forbidden demonstration in the capital  a human rights group said that more than 400 people were arrested and that many were beaten.

The demonstrators had hoped to build on a rising wave of defiance of the former Soviet republics authoritarian government, led by President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled since 1994.

About 700 people had tried to march Saturday along Minsks main avenue, but they were blocked by a cordon of riot police wielding clubs and holding shields. After a standoff, the arrests began.

 Associated Press

Islamist militants kill 4 more police officers in Egypts Sinai: A pair of attacks by suspected Islamist militants killed four policemen and injured six others in the turbulent north of Egypts Sinai Peninsula, according to security officials. The deaths bring to 16 the number of police officers and soldiers known to have been slain in the area in three days. They said three police officers were killed when their armored vehicle hit a roadside bomb south of Sinais coastal city of el-Arish. Six more policemen were injured in that attack. Later on Saturday, a police officer manning a checkpoint south of el-Arish was killed by a snipers bullet, they said.

Moroccan premier forms coalition government: Moroccos Prime Minister Saad Eddine el-Othmani says he has agreed to form a coalition government with five other parties, breaking nearly six months of post-election deadlock. Othmani, from the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), was appointed as premier this month by Moroccos King Mohammed VI. He replaced PJD leader Abdelilah Benkirane, whose efforts to form a government following October elections had been frustrated.

Deadly explosions rock Bangladesh city: Two civilians and a police officer were killed in explosions in Bangladesh as troops raided a suspected military hideout in the countrys east, police said. Golam Kibria, a senior police official in the city of Sylhet, said 25 people were also wounded in the explosions, which took place on a road near an Islamic religious school. Since Friday, paramilitary troops have been engaged in an operation to flush out a group of Islamist radicals holed up in a nearby building with a large cache of ammunition.

Cambodians rescue 11 endangered wild elephants: Eleven endangered wild elephants were rescued in Cambodia on Saturday, four days after getting stuck in a mud hole, officials said. The animals were rescued in northeastern Mondulkiri province, home to about 250 wild elephants, said Wildlife Alliance official Botumroat Lebun. The elephants apparently got stuck in the mud when they went to drink water at a 10-foot-deep hole. After being rescued, the elephants were sent back to the jungle.

Gunmen in Mali mount fatal attack on military post: Officials in Mali say three soldiers were killed and four others injured in an attack by armed men on a military post in the countrys north. The area where the attack occurred is frequented by drug traffickers and Islamist militant groups, notably al-Mourabitoun.

 From news services
An elite election committee composed of Beijing loyalists chose a new leader Sunday for the 7.3 million people of Hong Kong: Carrie Lam, who is expected to follow the central governments instructions to the letter.

To become Hong Kongs chief executive, Lam beat out John Tsang, a former finance secretary who enjoyed considerable popularity, according to opinion polls, and Woo Kwok-hing, a retired high court judge who never stood a chance. The three-person ticket was itself the product of tightly controlled, small-circle vetting.

We have a qualified electorate of millions, but I dont have a vote, and most other people dont have a vote, said Anson Chan, who once served as Hong Kongs top civil servant.

Though a Chinese official said Sunday that Lam had the support of Hong Kongs people, her victory over a popular opponent will almost certainly deepen fear about Beijings tightening grip on the Chinese special administrative region and compound frustration that the fight for universal suffrage has stalled.

This is a selection, not an election, said Joshua Wong, a former student leader who headed 2014 pro-democracy protests. Carrie Lam will be a nightmare for us.

This was the fifth such change in leadership in the 20 years since Hong Kong was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997  and perhaps the most contentious.

Under a political compromise known as one country, two systems, the territory was promised a high degree of autonomy, including the right to elect its leader by 2017.

Many Hong Kong residents believe Beijing broke its word. Instead of getting more autonomous and democratic, critics say, Hong Kong is increasingly being strong-armed by Beijing.

We have been waiting for 20 years now, and the electoral law is still not fair or democratic, said Martin Lee, a veteran pro-democracy campaigner. Beijing has tried to rule Hong Kong by controlling us.

The promise of one country, two systems has always been an unhappy compromise, one that pits the Peoples Republic of Chinas intransigent Communist Party against Hong Kongs scrappy pan-democratic camp.

With an electoral system stacked in favor of the central government, the pro-democratic movement has turned to mass protests, blocking an unpopular state security law in 2003 and, more recently, thwarting Beijings plans for patriotic education in Hong Kong.

In August 2014, Beijing issued a white paper on the territorys future that many Hong Kong residents saw as a step too far. The 14,500-word document stressed that the central government has comprehensive jurisdiction over the territory.

The high degree of autonomy of the HKSAR [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region] is not full autonomy, nor a decentralized power, it read. It is the power to run local affairs as authorized by the central leadership.

Student leaders such as Wong led tens of thousands into the streets, occupying the heart of the city, after the document was issued. When police fired pepper spray at the crowd, they used umbrellas to shield their faces  and what became known as the Umbrella Movement was born.

Months of protests did not secure concession from Beijing.

In the original one country, two systems, the message was, Hong Kong people, put your hearts at ease,  says Michael Davis, a former constitutional expert at Hong Kong University. Since 2014, the message has been, Beijing is the boss. 

The central governments hard-line stance continues to divide the city. In 2015, when Beijing put forward an election blueprint that would see the chief executive elected by popular vote  but from a list of vetted candidates  the pro-democratic camp decried the plan.

Frustration over electoral reform and other issues has fueled a small but vocal group of Hong Kong independence activists.

In November, Beijing intervened in a Hong Kong court case to block two politicians from taking seats in the citys legislature. Both had pledged allegiance to the Hong Kong nation, not the Peoples Republic of China, while taking their oaths of office.

Though the reach of the independence movement remains limited, the incident served as a useful pretext for Beijing to justify curtailing freedom of election and expression, said Willy Lam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Theres a real fear that Beijing will use the pretext of a separatist movement to crack down.

Beijing is becoming bolder about interfering in Hong Kong affairs, experts said.

In January, a Chinese-born tycoon was wheeled out of a luxury Hong Kong hotel in a wheelchair; he then turned up in police custody across the border, in an incident that reminded many of the 2016 abduction and detention of five Hong Kong booksellers.

Carrie Lams win will do little to ease concern about Beijings influence.

There is substantial apprehension that she will follow the overall policies of unpopular politics of [her predecessor] C.Y. Leung, who is seen as too loyal in carrying out Xi Jinpings draconian measures, said Willy Lam.

Veteran democracy activists stressed that it is not really about who won the chief executive race.

Whoever is chief executive, the policy will continue, because at this point they just execute the policy of the central government  increase government control of political and social life, of the economy, and to promote integration between the mainland and Hong Kong, said Ho-fung Hung, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University

Unless Beijings policy changes for the better, changing the chief executive alone is not that useful, said Lee, the democracy campaigner, because if Beijing continues to dictate to them how to rule, there is no change.

Luna Lin and Jin Xin in Beijing contributed to this report.

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The mother of Mazen Fuqaha holds his picture in her house in the West Bank town of Tubas. (Abed Omar Qusini/Reuters)

Hamas closed its only civilian border crossing with Israel on Sunday, and Israeli troops were on high alert as tensions between the two enemies continued to rise two days after a senior Hamas operative was mysteriously shot at point-blank range in the garage of his home.

Hamas has accused Israel of being behind the killing of Mazen Fuqaha, 38, a senior commander in the militant Islamist movements military wing. He spent nine years in an Israeli prison for his part in planning suicide bombings that killed dozens of Israeli civilians during the second intifada, or uprising, in the early 2000s.

Fuqaha was one of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released in 2011 in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Upon his release, Fuqaha was barred from returning to his childhood village in the West Bank and expelled to the Gaza Strip. From there, he managed Hamass military operations in the West Bank.

His death has brought tensions between Israel and Hamas to their highest level since 2014, when the two sides fought a 50-day war that killed about 74 Israelis and more than 2,100 Palestinians.

[WorldViews: Heres what really happened in the Gaza war (according to the Israelis)]

This is the first time Hamas has closed the Erez crossing, a checkpoint most frequently used by Gazans seeking health care in Israel and the West Bank. Erez is also used by aid workers and foreign journalists seeking to enter Gaza. Gaza also has a crossing into Egypt, but that is almost permanently closed.

Hamas, which Israel and the United States consider a terrorist organization, set up checkpoints across Gaza in pursuit of those who might have been involved in Fuqahas killing.

We say it clearly that the crime was planned and conducted by the Zionist enemy. And the enemy will be responsible for the crime consequences, Hamass military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.

Israel has not commented on Fuqahas death.

Israel has carried out assassinations of Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip in the past, but the attacks were launched from the air. Such an up-close killing  Gazas Health Ministry said Fuqaha was shot at close range with a silencer-fitted pistol  would be almost impossible for Israel to achieve without having people on the inside. Such an attack has not occurred in the coastal enclave since Israel withdrew from the territory in 2005.

Fuqahas wife, Nahed Asida, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that the family had just returned from a day out. Her husband went to park the car in their basement garage, she said, and when he did not return for more than half an hour, she thought he had gone to see neighbors. She learned of her husbands death only when a friend came to tell her.

I couldnt believe it at all. It was a shock, she said. He received death threats all the time since his release in 2011, but he never paid any attention to it.

No one has asserted responsibility for the attack, but Israeli media reported Sunday that it was similar in style to the killing of Hamas drone engineer Mohammed al-Zawari on Dec. 15, outside his house in Tunisia. That operation was attributed to the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency.

Additionally, Fuqahas father told Palestinian media that officers from Shin Bet, Israels security agency, had visited him several times, threatening that if his son did not halt attacks on Israel, they would get hold of him. During one such visit, the elder Fuqaha said, he put the agents on the phone with his son.

He was listed by the Israeli security bodies, and his name was mentioned many times before, but what is surprising is the way the assassination was conducted. It is the first time that Israel has operated in such a way in the Gaza Strip, said Ibrahim Madhoun, a columnist at the Hamas-affiliated newspaper al-Resalah.

Until now, Israel has used missiles and jets to kill Hamas leaders, he said.

Madhoun said that what might have raised Hamass suspicions that Israel was behind the attack is that Fuqaha is not well known in Gaza but is responsible for Hamass activities in the West Bank. That would make him a target for Israel.

Israel is bracing for a reprisal. Troops and communities in southern Israel were put on alert throughout the weekend.

Amos Yadlin, former director of military intelligence, said in a public forum Saturday that Fuqahas killing could quickly spiral into renewed clashes between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas could decide that Fuqaha was assassinated by Israel and retaliate, and then we will retaliate to the retaliation, and we could be in another clash very quickly, he said.

Balousha reported from Gaza City.

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Iraqi civilians and rescue workers inspect the damage in Mosul's al-Jadida area Sunday after airstrikes that reportedly killed civilians during an ongoing offensive against the Islamic State. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)

Rescue workers said Sunday they had finished extracting more than 100 bodies from the ruins of a house in Mosul where the U.S.-led coalition is alleged to have carried out an airstrike.

The remains of 101 people had been recovered from the rubble by the end of the day, said Col. Safaa Saadi, a civil defense official on the scene. Families may have also removed a few bodies from the wrecked building themselves without registering them, he said.

The civil defense teams are still working to clear other houses in the decimated neighborhood, where residents say some families were wiped out during a heavy bombardment involving coalition airstrikes and artillery as Iraqi forces advanced.

The U.S.-led coalition has acknowledged that it carried out an airstrike against Islamic State fighters at the location corresponding to the allegations of civilian casualties, but it is still investigating the incident. The militants positioned snipers on rooftops and forced civilians to stay in the area as they battled advancing forces, residents said.

Local officials have accused both the coalition and the Iraqi forces they are backing of acting with recklessness as they advance on the western side of the city, which is densely inhabited. Police forces have been using heavy artillery, and accusations of civilian casualties in U.S.-strikes since President Trump took office have raised questions about whether the new administration is fulfilling his pledge to ramp up the campaign against the Islamic State at the expense of civilians.

We request that when they do an airstrike they presume that there are civilians in these houses, said Hussam al-Abar, a provincial council member. They cant just drop a half-ton bomb to kill a sniper when there may be a family inside.

Basma Baseem, the head of Mosuls local council, said that senior security leaders had issued an order banning her from entering western Mosul after she showed the real image of the destruction caused by the international coalition.

She compared the devastation in the neighborhood to that of Kobane in Syria, which was left in ruins after Kurdish forces backed by coalition airstrikes retook the town in 2015.

Iraqs joint operations command offered an alternative account of events Sunday, as security forces barred Baseem and journalists from entering the area after publicizing the strike.

In its statement, the command said that the damage to the house was caused by Islamic State fighters who had booby-trapped it after moving civilians inside. It said military experts had inspected the house.

There doesnt seem to be hole or indication that it was subjected to an airstrike, the statement said.

However, Mosuls civil defense chief, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Mahmoud, insisted that the damage was consistent with an airstrike. A burned room at the back where the bodies of several women were found was probably where the missile hit, he said.

Iraqi military commanders had initially said that the damage was caused when a missile hit a car bomb. The house is down a side street, and there is no crater in the road consistent with a car bomb.

Residents said there was a car bomb that day, but on the main thoroughfare of the market.

It is unclear if all the 101 bodies recovered from the building are civilians, or if militants are among them. Saadi said that one found wearing an ammunition belt was not included in the count, but it is difficult to ascertain if other male bodies belonged to militants or civilians. He said women and children had been pulled from the wreckage, but he didnt have a breakdown for those killed.

The area was one with a high militant presence and an Islamic State headquarters nearby. A neighboring house belonging to an Islamic State fighter who was killed along with his wife and two children was also destroyed, Saadi said. Weapons were also found in the wreckage, he added.

Residents said most of the families sheltering in the house had moved there from other neighborhoods and that it was one of the few in the area with a basement.

Iraqi commanders say that the militants are increasingly using civilians as human shields, packing them into buildings that they are using as weapons storage facilities or as headquarters.

Col. Joseph Scrocca, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Baghdad, said the coalition does all it can to reduce civilian casualties but that it would not abandon its commitment to Iraq even as Islamic State militants are using human shields and fighting from civilian neighborhoods.

Civilian casualties have taken away from the joy of victory for Mosul, said the provinces governor, Nawfal al-Agoub. What we want from the coalition is for them not to repeat their mistakes and to be more cautious and accurate.

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, center, attends a session of Irans Assembly of Experts in Tehran. Rouhani is slated to travel Monday to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Ho/AFP/Getty Images)

As U.S. influence wanes across the Middle East, Iran and Russia have joined forces to expand their power in the region, strengthening political and diplomatic ties and stepping up joint military operations in Syria.

In a sign of the closer relations, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is slated to travel Monday to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is expected to be Rouhanis last major trip before he faces reelection in May.

Together, the two countries have fought Syrian rebels, sidelined the United States from regional diplomacy and embraced each other as bulwarks against the West.

In a meeting Tuesday, Putin and Rouhani are scheduled officially to discuss projects in areas such as energy, infrastructure and technology. Unofficially, however, the talks are likely to be dominated by their tacit alliance in the Middle East.

The visit shows the importance that Russia has in Iranian foreign policy. For Russia, Iran is one of their most important political allies, said Mohsen Milani, executive director of the Center for Strategic and Diplomatic Studies at the University of South Florida.

Iran is playing a key role in Putins longer-term strategy to become a major player in the Middle East, said Milani, who is also the author of  The Making of Irans Islamic Revolution: From Monarchy to Islamic Republic .

But Iran and Russia, which compete with each other in global energy markets and have publicly sparred over stalled weapons deals, were never traditional allies. For decades, they have been wary of the others intentions, and leaders on both sides remain cautious of the growing ties.

Still, the level and scale of the cooperation  including Russias use of an Iranian air base for Syrian operations last fall  has been unprecedented, analysts say. The partnership has been driven by the two countries shared goals in Syria, where a rebellion has threatened Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of both Iran and Russia.

Since the Russians got more heavily involved in Syria, the relationship between Moscow and Tehran has entered a new phase, said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

When Syrias revolt began in 2011, the country was host to Russias only military base in the Middle East. And for Iran, Syria provided a stable land corridor through which to send arms and cash to the Lebanese Hezbollah.

As the Obama administration weighed intervention to support Syrias rebels, Iran and Russia stepped up with weapons and manpower to back the regime. Russia provided air cover for Iranian military advisers and proxy forces on the ground. The coordination ended up defeating the rebels in Aleppo  empowering Iran and Russia, along with Turkey, to set up parallel peace talks that cut out the United States.

If you look at Syria and the way that Syria has evolved, it has become the crucible of cooperation between Tehran and Moscow, said Geranmayeh, whose work focuses on Iranian foreign policy, and pushed their political links to a new level of military cooperation.

Various power factions in Iran had long pushed for closer relations with Russia, Geranmayeh said. But Rouhanis moderate government insisted on a more balanced foreign policy, eventually securing a nuclear deal under which U.N. and other sanctions were lifted.

But that outreach to the West has not proved as fruitful as expected, and Rouhani is under fire at home for failing to deliver economic progress.

Ahead of the election in Iran, Rouhani is trying to solidify his position and demonstrate that while he has been willing to negotiate with the West and the United States, he is equally willing to solidify Irans relationship with Russia, Milani said.

Beyond the potential ramifications at home, Iran is also worried that Putin will normalize ties with what appears to be a more Russia-friendly Trump administration. On Iran, President Trump has taken a much more hawkish stance than his predecessor, putting the Tehran government on notice within the first two weeks of his presidency.

Theres a big concern in Tehran that Moscow will use it as a bargaining chip for better relations with Washington, said Maxim A. Suchkov, the Moscow-based editor of Russia-Mideast coverage at Al-Monitor, an online news portal focused on the region.

This is an issue on which Rouhani may need if not solid guarantees then at least some confidence that Putin will not undercut Iran, Suchkov said.

There are similar worries among Iranian leaders over Russias relationship with Israel, which has carried out strikes on Hezbollah targets and Iranian ground forces in Syria.

Rouhani will want to persuade Putin to refrain from aiding Israel to counter Iran or share sensitive intelligence information that could hurt Iranian positions in Syria, Suchkov said.

But Geranmayeh said that while the Israel factor limits Iran-Russia relations, it is unlikely Moscow would even entertain the notion of marginalizing Iran in Syria, especially when they are proving to be quite an effective partner on the ground.

Russia legitimately sees itself as a global player and sees Iran as an important regional player to consider, she said. Iran wont necessarily override other important regional players like Israel.

Some in the Trump administration believe that it would be possible for the U.S. to get much tougher on Iran and also maintain a good relationship with Russia in Syria, Milani said.

You would have to be exceptionally talented with some sort of divine protection to pull off that kind of diplomatic coup detat, he said.

Not only is their cooperation effective on the ground, but the relationship between Iran and Russia is much more comprehensive than the future of Assad or the future of Syria, Milani said.

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Surveillance on foreign persons: This requires the approval of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA)

Surveillance on US Citizens: This requires the issuance of a court order by a domestic court.

Get a warrant from a domestic court.

Get a warrant from the FISA court

Do it without a warrant knowing that I will not need to explain it because my candidate for office is almost guaranteed to win and I can easily cover this up in the next administration.

not

I contend that, while we may unsophisticatedly feel secure in our rights to privacy we are actually subject to continuous surveillance if we are anywhere around people of foreign nationalities. With the abundance of video cameras around, no one should have a sense of autonomy I any public setting and that is not an intrusion on our privacy. It is just a reality of current technology.

If I understand the current law regarding our intelligence agencies ability to legally conduce surveillance, it is broken down into two categories. As is my habit, I tried to do some basic research into the procedure of getting a FISA warrant.For the sake of argument, let's just say that I want to set up surveillance of you as an American Citizen. Well I have twoe options.But wait you say, You canget a warrant from the FISA court to conduct surveillance on an American Citizen. There is a simple workaround that. What if you happened to own a hotel where you also live and it has restaurants that hire legal 'FOREIGN' cooks and bottle washers? Maybe you also rent rooms to 'FOREIGN' nationals. Occasionally 'FOREIGN' national groups hold banquets and meetings in your conference hall.It appears obvious to me that you might accidentally gatherabout almost anyone in the hotel including the owner and resident. Of course we also have "STRICT" procedures that will protect the identify of US Citizens from disclosure or use of thatOne would think that the system would protect against abuse and use for other than legal purposes. See the chart below, this is the record of FISA Warrant request and approval: WIKI- FISA My high school friend Clay once told me a story aboutwiretapping. He formerly worked for Southern Bell and told me a story that happened back in the 1970s. I have written about him before her on BCN. ( Aging and the Passing of Friends He was a telephone repairman and had a dispatch to check on a phone in an apartment complex that had complained about dropped calls and clicking on the line. This was long before anyone had cell phones, DSL or any other electronic gadgets like those that we do today. He went to the apartment, checked the line and found no problems. Then he went to the man phone pedestal by the street. He removed the cover but noticed a wire running from the pedestal into the woods. He followed the wire and it lead to the parking lot next to the woods. He saw it led to a van, parked in the parking lot. He knocked on the van and two guys dressed in suits opened the sliding door. When he explained that he was a telephone repairman, they told him to get lost as the guy who places the repair order was under surveillance.He returned to the apartment and told the resident that he had not found any problem and that he would check the box further down the street. He left, closed out the order and forgot about it. He had no idea if the surveillance was legal, drug related or any other of a number of reasons.Now knowing that the FISA court almost never (.034%) denies request for warrants, and that a warrant can be requested because they think that the foriegn busboy or cook in the your local restaurant could be under suspicion of 'high crimes and misdemeanors.' Disregard that he could be an "UNDOCUMENTED PERSON." Apparently, that does not rise to the level of concern by our authorities.I used to be of the opinion that you should not be afraid if you have done nothing wrong. I still have a tenuous attachment to that naivety, but my observations of our government systematic abuse and disregard for our rights under law, leaves me with a somewhat paranoid feeling that the frog must have felt when he noticed that the water was getting warmer.Do you feel more comfortable now that we have court assigned to protect your rights?
Former Speaker Newt Gingrichs opinion regarding mandatory minimum sentences published in Thursdays Lincoln Journal Star does not support the conservative ideal that governments most important function is to ensure public saftety and does not accurately reflect the facts in Nebraska.

Mr. Gingrich wrongly asserts that the Nebraska Legislature will consider scaling back mandatory minimums for some first-time, minor drug offenses when it next debates an amended version of Sen. Ernie Chambers LB447. The reality is that these drug offenses are anything but minor. Under Nebraska law, mandatory minimum sentences only apply to drug offenses when one is found guilty of manufacturing or dealing significant quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine or heroin, dealing these drugs in a school zone, dealing with possession of a gun, or recruiting kids to deal them.

Current Nebraska law does not allow for mandatory minimums to apply to mere possession of these drugs, let alone marijuana or any other controlled substance.

The typical dose for a user of any of these substances is 0.2 grams. The amount of these narcotics to which a drug dealer would receive a three-year mandatory minimum sentence is 10 to 28 grams or approximately 50 to 136 doses of these incontrovertibly dangerous drugs.

As Senator Chambers acknowledged during the 1989 debate when these types of sentences were established for crack and cocaine the amount of drugs required before even being eligible for a mandatory minimum sentence of just three years is substantial.

The fact that mandatory minimum sentences apply only to hardened drug dealers is also evidenced by the fact that the number of inmates serving such a sentence comprises less than 2 percent of Nebraskas total prison population.

When one surveys the publicly available information on these inmates one is hard pressed to find an example of a first-time, minor drug offender. These facts also refute the unfounded assertion that this legislation could save Nebraskan taxpayers millions of dollars. To the contrary, the Legislatures most recent fiscal note on this bill indicates a potential savings of just $38,456.

Mr. Gingrich further asserts that this legislation would somehow increase public safety. In the not too distant past, Nebraska faced a meth lab crisis; if national trends continue, Nebraska may soon face a heroin problem of epidemic proportions. Allowing meth lab operators and heroin dealers to be given probation does not increase public safety. It also sends the wrong message as to how we as a state view these dangerous drugs.

These inaccurate conclusions about state law are a sympathetic characterization of Mr. Leo Guthmiller, who was prosecuted under federal law. Mandatory minimums for federal drug crimes have nothing to do with the state law at issue in LB447. What was unfortunately left out of the narrative was that Mr. Guthmiller pled guilty in a federal prosecution to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams of methamphetamine and over 1 kilogram of heroin. Consider the effect that quantity of drugs would have on the lives of the people and families to whom those drugs are sold, and what impact that has on the community in general.

Mr. Gingrich does rightly make reference to the Justice Reinvestment efforts undertaken by the Legislature over the past two years. The recommendations made by the Council of State Governments that the Legislature relied upon came after significant examination of state law and Nebraska data. CSGs recommendations never included elimination or modification of sentencing for drug dealers and manufacturers whose crimes warrant a mandatory minimum sentence.

Mr. Gingrichs narrative is not based on Nebraskas reality, but rather on a Washington, D.C., solution aimed at problems in our federal criminal justice system. State legislators should be leery of such outside solutions regardless of who supports them. Nebraskans trust that their state legislators will do their due diligence by reviewing state law and what actually occurs in our state. Public safety and proper justice depends on it.
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee was on his way to an event in Washington late Tuesday when the evenings plans abruptly changed. After taking a brief phone call, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) swapped cars and slipped away from his staff, congressional officials said. He appears to have used that unaccounted-for stretch of time to review classified intelligence files brought to his attention by sources he has said he will not name.

The next morning, Nunes stepped up to a set of microphones in the Capitol complex to declare that he had learned that U.S. spy agencies had incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition.

Within hours President Trump was declaring that he had been vindicated for his tweets alleging that Trump Tower had been wiretapped by his predecessor, Barack Obama. Public attention on the revelation that the FBI was investigating possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Moscow had shifted to questions about whether Trump officials were victims of spying abuse. And by weeks end, a congressional probe capable of threatening Trump was consumed in partisan fighting and scheduling turmoil.

That sequence was largely engineered by a conservative lawmaker from Californias Central Valley who has emerged as one of Trumps most tenacious allies on Capitol Hill.

Nunes, 43, has said he is committed to leading an impartial inquiry into Russias interference in the 2016 U.S. election, and search for any evidence of coordination with Trump or his associates. But Nunes, who served as an adviser on Trumps transition team, has also at times used his position as chair of the intelligence committee in ways that seem aligned with the interests of the White House.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) speaks to journalists about an upcoming investigation hearing on Capitol Hill on March 24. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

The committees course so far has raised concerns about whether it can serve the mission it was given when it was created in the 1970s, putting critical matters of national security above partisan politics.

Former Republican congressman Mike Rogers, who was Nuness predecessor as chairman, said that both sides have struggled so far to live up to that historic mandate. It sows distrust, it shows they dont have a good working foundation for really hard things, Rogers said. Everybody wants to find what they want to find to affirm their political position. Thats no way to run an investigation.

Last year, Nunes repeatedly skirmished with intelligence leaders over assessments that Russia sought to help Trump win. He has sought to help the White House knock down news stories alleging close ties between Trump associates and the Kremlin. And Nunes has pushed his panel to focus on lines of inquiry  including hunting the sources of damaging news leaks  that seem more favorable to Trump.

Nuness latest move came Friday, when he made a flurry of announcements that on the surface signaled promising new investigative paths, including an agreement to hear testimony from Trumps former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. But to Democrats, Nuness actions again seemed to show the hidden agenda of the White House.

Most immediately, Nunes canceled an open hearing that had been scheduled for Tuesday with former senior officials who have battled Trump. Among them is former acting attorney general Sally Q. Yates, who was fired by Trump; former director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., who publicly disputed Trumps wiretapping claim; and former CIA director John Brennan, who has said that Trump should be ashamed of himself over his behavior toward U.S. spy agencies.

When Nunes announced the hearing, it appeared that Republicans would use the session to confront the former Obama administration officials over a raft of news leaks. But after the five-hour performance by FBI Director James B. Comey before the committee last week  widely perceived as politically damaging to Trump  GOP members worried about giving Democrats another open hearing to hammer away on Russian interference in the election and any Trump campaign ties to Moscow.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the intelligence committee, said that he suspected the cancellation was driven by very strong pushback from the White House.

Schiff also implied he suspects a White House hand in what he called Nuness dead-of-night excursion to view classified documents. Several congressional officials said they were told about the phone call and swapped cars by members of Nuness staff.

Jack Langer, a spokesman for Nunes, disputed the depiction. That account is inaccurate, Langer said. He declined to elaborate.

To review classified files without breaking the law, Nunes would have needed to do so at a secure facility. Congressional officials said that the director of National Intelligence, the FBI and National Security Agency had all indicated that they got no late-night visit from Nunes, a trip that probably would have been entered in security logs.

Nunes has repeatedly refused to say where he went or whether the documents were provided by the White House, including when confronted by committee members during a closed-door meeting on Thursday, officials said.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer also refused to rule out a White House role in providing access to the files. I dont know where he got the documents from, so I cant say anything more than I dont know,  Spicer said during Fridays White House briefing.

There are clues that such a transaction was coming. Trump said in a recent interview on Fox News that he would be submitting things before the committee very soon. And Nunes used his opening statement in the Comey hearing to issue a peculiar request for anonymous sources to bring the committee relevant information.

Arguing the intelligence

Nunes and Trump could hardly have come from more disparate backgrounds.

Nunes grew up among farmers in the flat stretch of fertile land between Fresno and Bakersfield, Calif. He has said that he began buying cattle as a teenager and earned an agriculture degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

But he showed early ambition and aptitude for politics. After serving on the board of trustees for the community college he had attended, Nunes was elected to the House in 2002. He became a protege of former House speaker John A. Boehner, who tapped Nunes as chairman of the intelligence panel in 2014.

On Capitol Hill, Nunes is known more for his skills as a political operator than his expertise on policy. He can be intemperate and is a fierce protector of allies.

He is loyal to his friends. And if theyre in a fight, hes going to be on your side in the fight, said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.).

That instinct was on display last week when Nunes withheld information about the intelligence reports he had seen from his own committee while rushing to share the information with the White House. The move outraged Democrats and was seen even by some GOP members as a tactical mistake. Nunes apologized the next day.

Loyalty can sometimes make you, you know, go a step too far, Cole said. Im pretty heartened that [Nunes] recognized that within 24 hours and moved to change it.

Before the Russia issue, Nunes was mainly known in intelligence circles for his role as an architect of the GOPs politically charged investigation of terrorist attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, and his preoccupation with the fate of an obscure U.S. military outpost in the Atlantic Ocean.

That facility, Lajes Field, is a remote U.S. Air Force base in the Azores, wind-swept islands 1,000 miles from Europe. Nunes, a descendant of immigrants from the Azores, waged a lengthy campaign to compel the Pentagon to relocate a major intelligence base in the United Kingdom to the Azores.

Pentagon and U.S. intelligence officials objected, citing prohibitive costs and concerns that civilian employees of the Defense Intelligence Agency  which supplied a large share of the workforce for the U.K. base  would refuse to move there. Nunes responded by inserting a provision in a spending bill that stripped housing allowances for DIA civilians overseas. The language was subsequently removed, but administration officials saw it as a sign of how Nunes operated.

Nunes became an early supporter of Trump and was particularly influential in shaping his national security team. Nunes urged Trump to install retired U.S. Marine Gen. Jim Mattis as defense secretary. For CIA chief, Trump turned to a close Nunes ally from the House committee, Republican congressman Mike Pompeo of Kansas.

Nunes has been at odds with Trump in a few cases, most notably when Nunes said that Trump was simply wrong about the claim that Obama had ordered a wiretap of Trump Tower to listen to the Republican presidential candidate. But those differences have been rare and seem not to have jeopardized Nuness standing with the president.

Unlike Trump, Nunes is a consistent critic of Russia and Putin. But the chairman has argued with intelligence agencies about their conclusion that Russias assault on the presidential campaign  which involved the release of tens of thousands of emails from Democratic Party computer networks  was designed at least in part to help Trump win.

In December, when The Washington Post reported that the CIA had reached that conclusion, Nunes dismissed the finding, saying it was based on a lot of innuendo, lots of circumstantial evidence, thats it.

Nunes went on to suggest that the FBI didnt agree with the CIA and sought to stage a showdown before the committee. When intelligence officials declined to appear  noting that they were still finishing a final report on the matter  Nunes issued a news release blasting spy agencies for withholding information from Congress. We want to clarify press reports that the CIA has a new assessment that it has not shared with us, Nunes said.

The move angered then-CIA Director Brennan, who placed a series of calls to Nunes to remind the chairman that he had been briefed on the latest Russia intelligence. Former officials familiar with the matter said that Nunes did not take Brennans calls for nearly two days, speaking to the CIA director only after Nunes had issued his news release.

Brennan went public himself on Dec. 16, saying that the FBI, DNI and CIA were all in agreement on the Russia hacking and its aims. There is strong consensus among us on the scope, nature and intent of Russian interference, Brennan said in a public statement.

Langer, Nuness spokesman, said Friday, every element of that account is false.

When Brennans staff sought to arrange a call, Nunes could not participate in the call immediately because he needed to be in a location where he could access a secure line. The call was then arranged for the following morning, Langer said.

Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima and Julie Tate contributed to this report.
Newly recruited Houthi fighters ride on the back of a truck during a parade in Sanaa, Yemen, before going to fight government forces. (Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has asked the White House to lift Obama-era restrictions on U.S. military support for Persian Gulf states engaged in a protracted civil war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to senior Trump administration officials.

In a memo this month to national security adviser H.R. McMaster, Mattis said that limited support for Yemen operations being conducted by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  including a planned Emirati offensive to retake a key Red Sea port  would help combat a common threat.

Approval of the request would mark a significant policy shift. U.S. military activity in Yemen until now has been confined mainly to counterterrorism operations against al-Qaedas affiliate there, with limited indirect backing for gulf state efforts in a two-year-old war that has yielded significant civilian casualties.

It would also be a clear signal of the administrations intention to move more aggressively against Iran. The Trump White House, in far stronger terms than its predecessor, has echoed Saudi and Emirati charges that Iran is training, arming and directing the Shiite Houthis in a proxy war to increase its regional clout against the Gulfs Sunni monarchies.

The administration is in the midst of a larger review of overall Yemen policy that is not expected to be completed until next month.





But the immediate question, addressed by Mattiss memo and tentatively slated to come before the principals committee of senior national security aides this week, is whether to provide support for a proposed UAE-led operation to push the Houthis from the port of Hodeida, through which humanitarian aid and rebel supplies pass.

The Pentagon memo does not recommend agreeing to every element of the Emirati request. A proposal to provide American Special Operations forces on the ground on the Red Sea coast was not part of the request [Mattis] is making, said a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss planning and the review.

This official and several others said that Mattis and his advisers have asked for removal of President Barack Obamas prohibitions, which would enable the military to support Emirati operations against the Houthis with surveillance and intelligence, refueling, and operational planning assistance without asking for case-by-case White House approval.

A similar Emirati proposal for help in attacking Hodeida was rejected late last year by the Obama administration, on the grounds that Emirati ships and warplanes, U.S. Special Operations forces and Yemeni government troops were unlikely to succeed in dislodging the entrenched, well-armed rebels and could worsen the humanitarian situation. The effort was seen as sure to escalate a war that the United States and the United Nations have been trying to stop.

[Hundreds of thousands of Yemeni children are nearing starvation]

Some advisers to President Trump share those same concerns, the senior official said. There has been no decision yet as to whether [the restrictions] will be lifted. There is certainly broad disagreement across our government.

While acknowledging that some might see ending the limits as a green light for direct involvement in a major war. . . . We cant judge yet what the [review] results will be, the official said, adding that the limits could be modified, removed or left in place.

A Yemeni man walks past graffiti protesting U.S. drone operations. (Yahya Arhab/European Pressphoto Agency)

Advisers are considering whether direct support for the anti-Houthi coalition would take too many resources away from the counterterrorism fight against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and a nascent Islamic State organization in Yemen, the U.S. priority there.

At the same time, what is described as a bare-bones UAE plan has given rise to worry that the Emiratis may not be capable of such a large operation, including holding and stabilizing any reclaimed area, without sucking in U.S. forces.

Without knowing whether the Houthis will give in or fight back  including with Iranian-

supplied missiles  there is also concern among U.S. officials that the offensive would further undermine stalemated efforts to negotiate an end to the war and make an already dire humanitarian situation worse.

Yemens population centers have been decimated by the conflict, in which indiscriminate Saudi airstrikes and fighting on the ground have killed an estimated 10,000 civilians. Both the Houthis, who hold the capital, Sanaa, Hodeida and other cities, and Saudi Arabia, which controls the sea perimeter around Hodeida, have restricted delivery of aid and other goods flowing through the port to other population centers.

On Wednesday, U.N. humanitarian officials said that millions of Yemenis were on the verge of starvation. Yves Daccord, director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, warned that an extended battle for the port city would put even more pressure on the population and could tip the country into greater humanitarian crisis.

While the warring parties have taken part in U.N.-brokered peace talks, negotiations are stalled and all parties remain in practice most interested in battlefield victory, Daccord said in an interview. Thats the problem in Yemen, he said. They all still think they can win militarily.

Gulf nations see Hodeida as a vital asset for the Houthis and a lifeline to their backers in Iran.

A plan developed by the U.S. Central Command to assist the operation includes other elements that are not part of Mattiss request, officials said. While Marine Corps ships have been off the coast of Yemen for about a year, it was not clear what support role they might play.

The Obama administrations reluctance to take part in the Yemen war was part of Trumps campaign indictment of his predecessor as weak on dealing with Iran, and it led to tensions between the United States and Persian Gulf states.

Obama provided limited support for the Saudi and Emirati operations, selling them weapons and refueling their aircraft. But dismay over reports of Saudi pilots repeated strikes on hospitals, schools and other soft targets prompted his administration to distance itself from the Houthi campaign and impose restrictions. Administration lawyers also raised concerns about U.S. legal responsibility for acts committed by the Saudi-led gulf coalition.

[Trump administration looks to resume Saudi arms sale criticized as endangering civilians in Yemen]

Late last year, in response to a particularly gruesome strike, the Obama administration further scaled back support to the air campaign and froze the sale of certain munitions to Riyadh.

For their part, gulf leaders complained that Obama was pushing them to wrap up the war quickly while withholding support they saw as crucial to pushing the Houthis to the negotiating table.

Trump shares the Sunni gulf states antipathy for Obamas Iran nuclear deal, along with their belief that Tehran is the principal driver in the Yemen war, and he has signaled a new approach. In a statement last month condemning Iranian ballistic missile tests, Michael Flynn, then Trumps national security adviser, spoke at length about the Iran-Houthi threat and said the administration was putting Iran on notice.

A senior administration official said at the time that we assess Iran seeks to leverage this relationship with the Houthis to build a long-term presence in Yemen and that we are going to take appropriate action. We are considering a whole range of options.

Early this month, the State Department approved a resumption of sales of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia. A White House spokesman would not comment on whether Trump had signed off on the sales, saying only that the requisite congressional notification had not yet been made.

For the administration, the response to the Emirati proposal is partly rooted in a desire to act against a troubling threat off Yemens western coast, where officials say Houthi missile attacks have endangered freedom of navigation in a key commercial waterway. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait provides a narrow entry into the Red Sea between the Arabian Peninsula and the African continent.

In a rare direct attack on Houthi interests, the United States in October struck Houthi-controlled coastal radar sites with Tomahawk cruise missiles, in retaliation for an assault on U.S. and allied ships. One of the Houthi missiles launched at the USS Mason, a guided-missile destroyer, was fired from Hodeida, officials said at the time.

Restrictions on some intelligence-sharing have already been lifted, allowing the United States to reveal more detailed information on the location of Houthi missile sites. The United States is expected to take other steps to counter that threat, including positioning additional ships in the area.

Some former officials believe stepped-up action is overdue. One of our bedrock interests in the Middle East is freedom of navigation in and around the Arabian Peninsula, and while I understand why no one wanted to get further enmeshed in the Houthi conflict, we came dangerously close to dropping the ball on protecting our interests toward the end of the administration, said Andrew Exum, who was a senior Pentagon official under Obama. We were too hesitant to respond forcefully.

[U.S. plan to help Yemenis obtain humanitarian aid falters]

With Trumps selection of Mattis to lead the Pentagon and other Iran hawks at the White House, gulf officials see an opportunity to act jointly against their regional rival.

Saudi Maj. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, a spokesman for the gulf coalition, said in a phone interview that at least now we understand that the government of the United States sees the reality on the ground . . . and that there is a country in the area that wants to use militias and spoil the situation.

Now the U.S., Saudis and the UAE are back on the same page, said Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to Washington. Were getting the support we need.

Full consideration of Mattiss proposal, and the overall Yemen review, have been delayed by other national security issues, including a major meeting last week in Washington of the 68-member U.S. coalition against the Islamic State.

But if decisions are not made soon, the senior administration official said, were afraid the situation in Yemen may escalate, and our partners may take action regardless. And we wont have visibility, and we wont be in a position to understand what it does to our counterterrorism operations.

Regional experts expressed varying opinions about U.S. support for the Hodeida operation,

My own view is that we should be encouraging the government and the coalition not to undertake offensive actions with the single exception if they can get Hodeida to relieve the humanitarian crisis, said Gerald Feierstein, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen.

But April Longley Alley, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, warned that the offensive could intensify Yemenis suffering and prolong the negotiations stalemate.

Its a tragic situation for Yemen, and one that could backfire on the coalition, Alley said.

Thomas Gibbons-Neff contributed to this report.

Read more:

Trapped by all the sides in Yemens largely ignored war
A wave of unsanctioned rallies swept across Russia on Sunday to protest corruption in the government of President Vladimir Putin, in a nationwide show of defiance not seen in years, one the Kremlin had tried in vain to prevent with bans and warnings.

Too angry to be cowed, they poured into the street, fed up with their countrys wide-reaching corruption and a government unwilling, or unable, to stop it. Police responded with barricades, tear gas and mass arrests in cities across Russia.

By Sunday evening, riot police in body armor and helmets had hauled in more than 700 demonstrators in central Moscow, as the crowd, numbering in the tens of thousands, cheered, whistled and chanted, Shame! Shame!

As twilight approached, protesters in the city clashed with police, and at least one officer was hospitalized with head trauma, the Meduza news agency reported.

One of the first detained in Moscow was the chief architect of the rallies, Alexei Navalny, who called on people to protest in the wake of his allegations that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has amassed vineyards, luxury yachts and lavish mansions worth more than $1 billion.

(David Filipov, The Washington Post)

One of Navalnys associates tweeted that he was told he could face charges of extremism for broadcasting the rally illegally. If that is the case, a lot of people are going to be in trouble: Thousands of iPhones recorded as police closed off central Moscows Pushkin Square, lined major streets and hauled anyone carrying signs into large buses. Also among the detained was American Alec Luhn, an accredited reporter for the Guardian; he was later released.

A man with a sign that read We Found Your Money and depicted drawings of the luxury boats and estates mentioned in Navalnys report was carried off by police seconds after he took the sign out.

This is all about corruption. Everyone here knows that all of our leaders are thieves, said Vitaly Kerzunov, a protester who had come to Moscow from Belgorod, about 400 miles to the south. He wanted to take out his own poster, wrapped in a black plastic bag, but he feared arrest.

Fear was one thing authorities were counting on to keep people away. On Friday, senior Russian police official Alexander Gorovoi warned that authorities would bear no responsibility for any possible negative consequences for people who did show up. Putins spokesman said that even telling people to come to the rallies was illegal.

[Despite Kremlins warning, defiant Putin critic Navalny to hold illegal rally]

Instead, the demonstrations appear to amount to the largest coordinated protests in Russia since the street rallies that broke out in 2011 and 2012 after a parliamentary election that opposition leaders decried as fraudulent. Back then, Putin accused Hillary Clinton, secretary of state at the time, of inciting the protests.

On Sunday night, the State Department condemned the detentions, saying in a statement that detaining peaceful protesters, human rights observers, and journalists is an affront to core democratic values. It added that the United States will monitor this situation, and we call on the government of Russia to immediately release all peaceful protesters.

1 of 29 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  See photos of Russian citizens protesting against government corruption View Photos . Caption Unsanctioned rallies sweep across Russia to protest corruption in the government of President Vladimir Putin. Police respond with barricades, tear gas and hundreds of arrests. Moscow Riot police stand guard blocking a street during an anti-corruption rally in central Moscow called by prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was arrested along with scores of others. Alexander Utkin/AFP/Getty Images Wait 1 second to continue.

State-run Russian television was silent on the matter. But images posted on social media sites such as Twitter suggested that sizable rallies were underway across the country, and unofficial news agencies such as the Riga-based Meduza carried extensive updates.

The privately owned Interfax news agency reported on rallies across Siberia and in Russias Far East, where it said two dozen protesters had been detained. The agency cited police as saying that about 7,000 protesters gathered in Moscow, but the crowd, which lined Moscows main artery, Tverskaya Street, on both sidewalks for more than a mile and crammed the spacious Pushkin Square, appeared to be much larger than that. 

For some time, the protesters blocked the street until Interior Ministry troops in combat gear pushed them off. An irritant gas similar to tear gas was discharged; police later reported that someone in the crowd discharged it. For about an hour after the rally began, a voice on a loudspeaker asked protesters who came out on this spring Sunday to go express their will as citizens at a park away from the city center. Later, as scores of riot police filled the square, the message became more strident.

You are participants in an unsanctioned demonstration, the voice intoned. Consider the consequences.

Protesters responded by the thousands in the 21st-century way: They bombarded officers with selfies and videos. One grim-faced lieutenant in urban camouflage cracked a grin as he told The Washington Post, I must have been photographed 1,000 times today. No, wait; much more than that. Then he posed for another.

The Moscow protest presented an odd juxtaposition of anger and an outdoor party. High school-age young people danced and laughed at the long lines of police as the crowd cheered, then led everyone in a chant: You cant jail us all! When a young man held up a pair of yellow rubber ducks  a reference to a detail in Navalnys report that ducks have their own house at one of the lavish estates allegedly owned by Medvedev  he was immediately dragged off.

Shame, shame! screamed the young people. Shame! a small group of pensioners chimed in.

Official Moscow has dismissed Navalny, who has said he will run for president in 2018, as a widely reviled nuisance whose allegations are an attention-grabbing stunt. Putin, who almost certainly will run for reelection, is hoping for a landslide to validate his past six years of authoritarian rule, a time in which the Russian economy has slid but the country has asserted itself militarily in Syria and Ukraine.

[Here are 10 critics of Vladimir Putin who died violently or in suspicious ways]

One of the slogans for Sundays rallies is No one showed up, a reference to the dismissal by authorities of Navalnys popular support.

A young Moscow couple, who gave only their first names, Alexei and Olga, had brought their 1-year-old daughter, Agata.

We wanted the leaders to see that were here, Alexei said. And we had no one to leave her with.



Navalny, who emerged as an anti-corruption whistleblower and took a leading role in the street protests that accompanied Putins 2012 return to the presidency, has been the target of fraud and embezzlement probes he says are politically motivated. In 2013, he was convicted of siphoning money off a lumber sale, a verdict that the European Court of Human Rights declared prejudicial, saying that Navalny and his co-defendant were denied the right to a fair trial.

In November, Russias Supreme Court declared a retrial, and Navalny was convicted of embezzlement and handed a five-year suspended sentence in February, which by Russian law would prevent him from running for president.

Andrew Roth in Moscow and Carol Morello in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more

Russia dismisses sweeping allegations against Medvedev

This is what its like to be the token American journalist on Russian state TV
Unsanctioned rallies sweep across Russia to protest corruption in the government of President Vladimir Putin. Police respond with barricades, tear gas and hundreds of arrests.

Moscow Riot police stand guard blocking a street during an anti-corruption rally in central Moscow called by prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was arrested along with scores of others. Alexander Utkin/AFP/Getty Images
A Louisiana law enforcement officer has been found guilty of manslaughter in the fatal 2015 shooting of a 6-year-old autistic boy, multiple outlets report.

Derrick Stafford was convicted by an Avoyelles Parish jury on Friday in a 10-2 vote, The Advocate reported.

The 33-year-old former Marksville police officer and part-time city marshal had been charged with counts of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in the shooting.

He and another officer, Norris Greenhouse Jr., had opened 18 rounds of fire on the car of the boys father, Christopher Few, after police had followed the 26-year-old through town for two-miles.

The shooting, which took place just after 9 p.m. on Nov. 3, 2015, left Few seriously injured with bullet fragments in his brain and lung while his son - Jeremy Mardis - was killed on the scene while sitting buckled in the front seat.

Mardis had autism and loved everything, everybody, relatives have said.

Jeremy Mardis

During the trial, Few said he heard no warnings from law enforcement before the officers fired, NBC News reported.

Stafford, meanwhile, testified on the stand that he did not see the fathers hands in the air and did not know the boy was in the car, NBC News reported.

Never in a million years would I have fired my weapon if I knew a child was in that car. I would have called off the pursuit myself, Stafford said, according to NBC News.

He added he shot at the car fearing Few was going to back up his Kia Sportage and hit Greenhouse Jr. I felt I had no choice but to save Norris, Stafford said, NBC News reported. That is the only reason I fired my weapon.

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

Body camera video showing that Few had his hands in the air before marshals opened fire was made public in September 2016. Prosecutors argued it showed that the officers were not in any danger, NBC News reported.

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This was not a threatening situation for the police, Mark Jeansonne, Fews attorney previously told the Associated Press.

Two other officers were on the scene at the time of the shooting - though they didnt fire their weapons.

Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenhouse Jr.

Stafford was also found guilty of attempted manslaughter in the wounding of Few, KALB reported. Greenhouse Jr, 25, will face a separate trial later this year for the same counts beginning in June.

Both Stafford and Greenhouse plead not guilty to their charges, according to the Associated Press.

After hearing the verdict, Stafford hugged and kissed his sobbing wife - telling her itll be alright, KALB reported. He was given 20 minutes to bid goodbye to his family before he was cuffed and lead out of the courtroom.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry Statement on Former #Marksville Deputy Marshall Derrick Stafford Guilty Verdict pic.twitter.com/9ugLHJdkzT - AG Jeff Landry (@AGJeffLandry) March 25, 2017

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said in a statement that he was pleased with the verdict.

As we have said all along, our goal in this case was to get justice for Jeremy Mardis, his family, and the people of Louisiana, he wrote. Today, that happened.

This article was originally published on PEOPLE.com
President Donald Trump appeared at the White House on Friday with Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge to tout the companys plans to hire tens of thousands of new workers, which Charter committed to before the election, and make a $25 billion investment in infrastructure and operations.

In an appearance in the Oval Office, Rutledge stood to Trumps left, as the president said that his administration would massively eliminate job-killing regulations and added that youre going to see thousands and thousands and thousands of jobs and companies and everything coming back into our country. Theyre coming in far faster than even I had projected.

Last year, Charter announced plans to hire 20,000 new employees, including many in customer service.

Shortly after it announced its plans to acquire Time Warner Cable in 2015, Charter said more generally that it would create thousands of U.S.-based jobs by hiring customer service call center and field technician operators, and return TW Cables call centers to the United States.

With Rutledges White House visit, Charter added a new detail to those plans; its hiring those workers within four years.

Charter announced on Friday that it was planning to invest $25 billion in broadband infrastructure and technology over the next four years, and that those plans were made with confidence in the deregulatory policies of the administration and the FCC.

Charter has been insourcing jobs for the past five years, and as a result of that our company has performed tremendously, Rutledge said from the Oval Office. He said that if you do the job right the first time, its a lot less expensive than re-doing it.

He said that the plans to invest $25 billion is predicated on the kind of regulatory efficiency and consistency that we expect as a country.

Included in that figure is a commitment that Charter already made to the FCC last year as a condition of its merger with Time Warner Cable: To deploy high-speed broadband to two million more homes and a low-income broadband program for eligible households.

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Trump and Rutledge also appeared with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and talked of the opening of a new Charter bilingual call center in McAllen, Texas, with 600 new jobs, which was first announced last summer.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a statement in which he said that he was pleased to see that our investment-friendly policies, along with the administrations overall regulatory approach, are already producing results.

Pai has been a critic of the FCCs net neutrality rules, but he has not yet said if or how he would move to rollback those regulations.

On Thursday, the Senate voted to scuttle a set of FCC privacy rules for internet providers. Those regulations required ISPs to obtain consent from their subscribers before sharing user information.
Sir David Attenborough is accruing quite a substantial collection of things named after him. This week our favourite documentarian was the inspiration for the name of a 430 million year old fossil.

And there's an an abundance of other species and objects, including a boat, that carry the Attenborough name.

SEE ALSO: Watch Kids Narrate 'Planet Earth'

Here are ten of the best namesakes, starting with that fossil:

1. Cascolus Ravitis

Cascolus ravitis is the name of the 430 million year old fossil of a one centimeter long crustacean that was found preserved in volcanic rock. The first name of the new species is the Latin translation for Attenborough.

"The biggest compliment that a biologist or palaeontologist can pay to another one is to name a fossil in his honour and I take this as a very great compliment." Attenborough said in response.

Cascolus ravitis is the latest fossil to be named after the famous naturalist.

Image: Siveter

2. Electrotettix attenboroughi

Electrotettix attenboroughi is an extinct species of pygmy grasshopper that was found preserved in amber.

This adult female Electrotettix attenboroughi was preserved in amber.

Image: wikimedia commons/Sam W. Heads/M. Jared Thomas/Yinan Wang

3. Materpiscis attenboroughi

Materpiscis attenboroughi was a fossilized fish found in Western Australia that was preserved with an unborn embryo. The discovery makes the materpiscis the oldest known vertebrate to give birth to live young.

This model of the materpiscis depicts the fish giving birth to live young.

Image: wikimedia commons/sularko

4. Euptychia attenboroughi

A rare Amazonian butterfly was named Euptychia attenboroughi after Sir David Attenborough in honor of his affinity for the beautiful insects. Attenborough has been an outspoken advocate for butterfly conservation.

The Euptychia attenboroughi is a rare butterfly living in Latin American tropical rainforests.

Image: wikimedia commons

5. Nepenthes attenboroughii

Nepenthes attenboroughii or Attenborough's pitcher plant is a carnivorous plant. It was found on the summit of Mount Victoria in the Philippines.

This carnivorous pitcher plant was named after Attenborough because of his affinity for the species.

Image: wikimedia commons/Dr. Alastair Robinson

6. Trigonopterus attenboroughi

Trigonopterus attenboroughi is a flightless weevil from Indonesia.

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Wonder how we feels about this flightless weevil being named after him?

Image: wikimedia commons/Riedel

7. The David Attenborough Building

The David Attenborough Building in Cambridge, England was opened in 2016 as a center for biodiversity. Attenborough abseiled down a 13 meter wall covered in foliage to celebrate its grand opening.

The man himself abseiling down a wall at the Sir David Attenborough Building at Cambridge University.

Image: Photography/REX/Shutterstock

8. Attenborosaurus

The Attenborosaurus is a genus of aquatic reptiles that was named after Sir David Attenborough. The dinosaur lived millions of years ago and was was discovered in Dorset, England. Its fossil resides in the Natural History Museum, London.

This is an image of what the Attenborosaurus might have looked like.

Image: wikimedia commons/Nobu Tamura

9. Sirdavidia solannona

Sirdavidia solannona was discovered off a mountain road in Gabon's botanically rich Crystal Mountains National Park. It was named in honor of Sir David Attenborough who had a major impact on the lives of the scientists who discovered it.

The rare flower was found in Gabon

Image: wikimedia commons/Couvreur TLP, /Niangadouma R, /sonke B/Sauquet H

10. RRS Sir David Attenborough

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) decided to allow the public to weigh in on the naming of a polar research vessel. They did not anticipate the public would choose the name Boaty McBoatface. Despite the poll results, the council decided it would opt for a more prestigious title and named the ship RRS Sir David Attenborough.

The RRS Sir David Attenborough is one of the most advanced polar vessels in the world.

Image: Rolls Royce

As a consolation to the public, the NERC dubbed an exploratory auto-submarine Boaty McBoatface. Boaty will soon embark on her first Antarctic mission.

Boaty McBoatface topped the list of names with over 124,000 votes.

Image: Povl Abrahamsen/British Antarctic Survey

There's not many people who could pip Boaty McBoatface to the post without provoking the ire of the public.

Hats of to you Sir David!

WATCH: Let footage of glowing microorganisms in the sea sooth you into the weekend
OMAHA  A rally near downtown Omaha in support of President Donald Trump saw the arrest of some who showed up to protest the president.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that eight arrests were made Saturday as a small group of anti-Trump protesters showed up at the rally held on the steps of the Douglas County Courthouse.

The protesters held signs and flags, but were quickly intercepted by a line of police on bicycles and horses to keep the two groups separated. Chants shouted by the group where drowned out by shouts of "USA" from the rally crowd of about 200. The group of protesters dispersed soon after arriving.

Similar confrontations took place at rallies organized by Trump supporters across the country.

Omaha police did not immediately return phone and email messages Saturday seeking more information on the arrests.
JOLO, Philippines (AP)  At least four people were killed and 23 others wounded in a grenade attack in the southern Philippines that appears to be unrelated to terrorism, officials said Sunday.

Army Col. Cirilito Sobejana said the attacker was arrested following the late Saturday grenade blast in Busbus village near the domestic airport in Sulu province's Jolo town.

The motive for the attack wasn't immediately clear, but a military officer said the attacker, who was identified by police as Sedimar Rabbah, returned to the area to retaliate after being beaten by a group of men who accused him of stealing a cellphone. Police, however, were checking if he has links with Abu Sayyaf militants.

Aside from kidnappings for ransom, bombings and killings by Abu Sayyaf extremists, predominantly Muslim Sulu has long been troubled by a large number of illegal guns and other weapons, many in the hands of warlords and other armed groups.

Jungle-clad Sulu, about 950 kilometers (590 miles) south of Manila, is one of the country's poorest provinces, although it has rich resources and pristine beaches and islands.
NEW YORK (AP)  Forty-six dogs were flown to New York from South Korea after being rescued at a farm where they were to be slaughtered for human consumption, animal advocates said Sunday.

The Humane Society International is responsible for saving the dogs that were fed barely enough to survive.

The animals arrived at Kennedy International Airport late Saturday and were headed to emergency shelters in New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania on Sunday.

The farm in Goyang, a city just north of Seoul, "was more like a dungeon, where there's very little light, little to no ventilation, so the stench of ammonia would bring tears to your eyes when you walk through," said Kelly O'Meara, who oversees the society's companion animal-related international projects. "You'd see eyes peering at you, but it was hard to actually see the dogs themselves in the dark."

An estimated 17,000 other such farms still operate in South Korea, said O'Meara. However, she said, it's a diminishing industry in a society where demand for dog meat has been plummeting. Meat from about 2 million dogs still is eaten there each year.

In the United States, the rescued dogs will be available for adoption after the shelters evaluate their behavior and medical needs and make sure each one is ready for a new life in someone's home.

In South Korea, O'Meara said, the dogs receive no veterinary care of any kind.

"They either get through it or they die in their cage and they receive just enough food to get by," she said.

At the seven farms from which the Humane Society rescued more than 800 dogs since 2015, those to be slaughtered included both mixed breed dogs and purebred ones  from a Chihuahua and a Maltese to various spaniels and a Saint Bernard.

A German shorthaired pointer and a miniature pinscher came from the latest farm.

The Washington-based Humane Society International, which relies on private donations, deals directly with farmers to close down and demolish dog meat businesses and help owners financially to transition to other work.

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The animals must be taken abroad, O'Meara said, because they're generally not wanted in South Korea as pets or companion dogs. Some had been abandoned pets, and others were raised to be sold as pets but given to the meat industry if that failed.

___

Associated Press radio correspondent Julie Walker contributed to this story.

___

This story has been corrected to show the dogs arrived Saturday, not Sunday.
Thinking about how to sell your house while minimizing the cost?

One way is to eliminate the real estate agent from the picture. If you sell the house yourself, you can save as much as 6 percent in commissions. On a $300,000 house, that comes to $18,000.

Before taking that route, however, keep in mind that the process is far from easy. You'll have to invest a lot of time doing the work an agent would ordinarily handle, which includes everything from showing your home and marketing it to negotiating the final price.

Also understand that you'll need to take care of all the legal and financial paperwork, which can be daunting. (It's probably a good idea to hire a lawyer to help with that.) There also are a number of websites, such as ForSaleByOwner.com and FSBO.com, to help walk you through the process.

With all this in mindif you're still determined to sell the house on your ownhere are five tips to help you get started:

Set a realistic price. Many people think their homes are worth more than they are. Colby Sambrotto, president of USRealty.com, says to put your emotions aside and set a price based on hard data. Online pricing calculators like Zillows Zestimate give an estimate of your homes worth based on factors such as square footage, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and your homes location.

You can also check to see what comparable homes sold for in your neighborhood. Websites such as Trulia can help you get this information, and you can also search through local property tax records. You can find that information by checking with your states assessors office or the county clerk.

Another option: Go to the Federal Housing Finance Agencys website. It offers tools that draw from home sale data pulled from mortgages that are backed by the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac.

One of those tools is the FHFA's House Price Calculator. The calculator does not project the actual value of your particular house. Instead, you plug in the amount you paid for your home and the year, and the calculator projects your homes worth if it appreciated at the average rate of all homes in the area.

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You could also hire an appraiser to give you an estimate. Michael Malkasian, president of FSBO.com, a real estate advertising company, says you may want to consider that a last option because youll have to pay about $400 for the appraisal, and the buyers bank will do an appraisal anyway. You can find an appraiser by searching on the website of the Appraisal Institute.

Advertise. In the old days, you would stick a sign in your yard and hope for the best, says USRealtys Sambrotto. Today there are more options. Some 90 percent of homebuyers last year started their search online, according to Malkasian. You can list your home on his website, FSBO.com, for about $100 for one year. The listing will also appear automatically on the real estate website Redfin. Malkasian says his firm will also list your home on Trulia and Zillow for no extra charge.



Other sites for listing your home include ForSaleByOwner.com (which operates similarly to FSBO.com), Patch, and StreetEasy (in New York City).



To reach more people, consider signing up for the Multiple Listing Service, which real estate brokers use. It costs about $400 per year, and you can do it through websites such as EntryOnly.com, ForSaleByOwner.com, FSBO.com, and Owners.com.

Give a detailed description of your home. When you list your home, include photos of the exterior and interior of your house. Malkasian says you may want to hire a professional to make the photos as appealing as possible. The listing should include all the basics, such as price, location, age of the home, and the number of rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms. But Malkasian says to also highlight any improvements such as a new roof or water heater.

Be patient. Dont be disappointed if there are no offers after the first open house. Revisit your asking price, update your marketing materials, and make sure your home is widely listed if no buyers have come by.



Consider paying a broker for limited services. Many home sellers dont realize they have more options than either using a full-service agent to sell their home or selling it on their own. Some agents offer limited services that can help you with just particular aspects of selling a home. Through FSBO.com, for example, you can get a market analysis done or have an agent review a purchase contract for $200. If you need help negotiating price and the details of a sale, that costs $700.





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright  2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc.
If you were raised in the '90s, it's not that far of a reach to say that television played a sizable role in your upbringing. Luckily for us '90s kids, we just happened to grow up with some of the best television in recent memory and everything seemed to have a specific life lesson embedded into its content.

For instance, Kenan & Kel was packed with life lessons. Whether it was "don't do drugs" or "Kel loves orange soda (LOL)," each episode seemed to hammer home a point about life. But there are just some things that, alas, it was unable to teach us.

SEE ALSO: 16 great ideas we have for Nintendo's 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild'

Here are six things that I unfortunately did not learn from Kenan & Kel.

1. Time is a precious currency that you cannot un-spend.

We all know that money is valuable. However, time is even more valuable and, unlike money, once you spend it, you cant get it back. This is a delicate concept that Teen Nick sitcom Kenan & Kel failed to broach and make easily digestible for my young, growing mind.

Time is free, but it is also priceless. This is a subject you must learn, regrettably, from a source other than Kenan & Kel.

2. Company stock may have special tax treatment.

If your 401(k) plan has an employee stock ownership plan within it, and you own a great amount of company stock, a special tax rule may apply to you. This tax rule, which is never even touched by the children's show Kenan & Kel, is referred to as net unrealized appreciation. At retirement, it allows you to allocate company stock and only pay regular income tax on the cost basis of the stock. Then, as you sell the stock off, you can usually pay tax on the gain at the capital gains tax rate, which is lower than the regular income tax rate.

This is but one of many things that Kenan & Kel failed to teach me.

We all know that Kel loved orange soda. But what did that knowledge earn us in the long run?

Image: nickelodeon

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3. The ever growing feeling of isolation.



As you age, your social circumstances shift, and you may find that making friends becomes harder and harder.

Gone are the days of going to school, where friends seemed to be built into the experience, and your coworkers, though fine, just dont seem to resonate with you. As you realize this, you may find yourself spending more time alone at home, feeling as if you, and only you, are missing out on the experience of "life."

I was unfortunately unable to extract how to deal with this complex emotion from the '90s kids show Kenan & Kel.

4. You may not feel validated by your job.



When you were a child, you may have fantasized about adult life as a famous rock star or perhaps a brave fire fighter. Instead you might find yourself a 9-to-5 office drone, clocking in precious hours of your life to work for a company you dont necessarily believe in. Truly, the best laid schemes o mice and men gang aft agley...

The lighthearted comic mischief of Kenan Rockmore and Kel Kimble in no way prepared me for this ceaselessly growing feeling of invalidation and despondence.

5. The Iran Hostage Crisis.



This is not necessarily about adulthood, but I find it troubling that I had to look elsewhere to learn even one thing about the Iran Hostage Crisis, in which 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage after students loyal to the Iranian Revolution took hold of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

As far as I know, the Iran Hostage Crisis has no place in the Kenan & Kel canon.

Kel would often cause a ruckus at Kenan's part time job at Rigby's. Though amusing, it afforded us nothing useful in our adult lives.

Image: nickelodeon

6. What to do in the event that youve been wrongly accused of regicide.

You may at some point in your life feel compelled to travel to Nepal with your old high school friend Andy for a summer trip. You may also find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time during the assassination of King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah, and even though you had nothing to do with the crime, you may nonetheless be arrested for it and charged with it. Being kept in a Nepali prison while you await trial for regicide is not an ideal way to spend your summer. Yet, in the entire 62 episode breadth of teen sitcom Kenan & Kel, this specific situation goes, lamentably, unexplored.
By Letitia Stein





NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (Reuters) - The day after the flaming out of U.S. President Donald Trump's first major legislative initiative, his supporters across America were lashing out - at conservatives, at Democrats, at leaders of his Republican Party in Congress.





Only Trump himself was spared their wrath.





Many voters who elected him appeared largely willing to give him a pass on the collapse of his campaign promise to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, stressing his short time in office.





"Being a businessman, he'll not take 'no' for an answer," said Tony Nappi, a 71-year-old from Trinity, Florida, one of the many disappointed Republicans on his weekend softball team. "He'll get the job done."





Support for Trump appeared unflagging, from the playing fields of a Republican stronghold in central Florida to the small town diners of North Carolina, the suburbs of Arkansas and the streets of working-class Staten Island in New York City.





Rebellion among members of his own party sealed the failure of Trump's effort to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act - known as Obamacare - the signature domestic policy achievement of Democratic former President Barack Obama.





Despite casting himself on the campaign trail as the best dealmaker there is", Trump could not save the healthcare bill yanked by Republican leaders in the House of Representatives on Friday in an embarrassing turn of events for them and Trump. Objections among Republican moderates and the party's most conservative lawmakers left leaders short of the votes needed for passage, with Democrats unified in opposition.





"He can't wave a magic wand," said Ramona Bourdo, 70, a retired nurse, eating breakfast at a McDonald's in suburban Little Rock, Arkansas. "I've not lost confidence in him."





Still, the barista at the Grind Cafe in Morganton, North Carolina, who cannot afford his own insurance and remains on his parents' plan, felt Trump shared responsibility in the debacle.

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"I think it's partially his fault," said Joel Martin, a 21-year-old Republican and Trump supporter. "I don't think he has enough personal knowledge to do what he needs to do to get a healthcare bill through Congress."

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.





His hometown, population 17,000, sits within the heavily rural congressional district of Representative Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican whose opposition as the head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus helped sink the bill.





Sharing in the frustration of loyal Republicans was 82-year-old Jeanette Madison, a registered independent in the New York City borough of Staten Island, who voted for Trump.





"I blame the Democrats and Republicans in Congress. They are a bunch of bastards. I'm just fed up," she said, apologizing for colorful language as she walked her dog down a city street.

LESSONS TO LEARN





In Florida's Pasco County, where Trump's stronger-than-expected showing helped to seal his victory in the largest U.S. battleground state, some fans seized on the silver lining.





Neighbors Patti Niehaus, a Democrat, and Margie Hahne, a Republican, agreed that Trump may have needed last week's crash course in governing, having never before held elected office.





"You can't just go and tell people what to do like he's used to doing," said Hahne, 74. "Trump's got to learn a lot."





Bridging Tampa's booming suburbs and still rural parts of central Florida, Pasco County lies in a politically decisive swing region of the state along the Interstate 4 highway corridor linking Tampa and Orlando.





Trump won 58.4 percent of the vote in the mostly white, working- and middle-class county, surpassing the past two Republican presidential candidates by tens of thousands of votes.





His pledge to end Obamacare helped to sway Kelle DeGroat, a 37-year-old nurse, a Republican who is open to other parties.





"I thought there was a good plan the way he talked," said DeGroat, still confident in Trump's ability to make reform happen. "I was shocked that it didn't pass."





Other Republicans applauded their leaders for returning to the drawing board, with polls showing the derailed healthcare plan to be unpopular following predictions that it would jeopardize or increase the cost of insurance for millions.





Lisa Collins, a 53-year-old teacher with two adult children benefiting from Obamacare, for the first time started calling the region's elected representatives to voice her opposition.





"This is a success that the party listened," said Collins, a Republican who did not support Trump. "To me, that's amazing. They represented the average normal guy, the small guy."





(Additional reporting by Greg Lacour in North Carolina, Steve Barnes in Arkansas and Chris Francescani in New York; Editing by Frank McGurty and Mary Milliken)
Mars, despite its current rusted and parched appearance, was once a world where water flowed freely. Detailed observations of the red planets atmosphere and surface have led scientists to speculate that perhaps about 3.8 billion years ago, Mars had enough liquid water to form an ocean occupying almost half of its northern hemisphere.

Now, in a study published Saturday in the Journal of Geophysical Research Planets, a team of researchers has argued that not only did Mars have an ocean in its northern hemisphere three billion years ago, parts of the planet may even have experience powerful tsunamis. Moreover, the researchers have even identified a crater that they say was created by an asteroid that triggered one such event.

According to the authors of the study, the over 90 mile wide Lomonosov crater, located in Mars' northern plains, was created by an asteroid that, when it struck the said ocean about three billion years ago, triggered tsunami waves reaching heights of nearly 500 feet.

"The possibility that a large ocean once occupied the Martian northern plains is one of the most important and controversial hypotheses to have originated from the exploration of Mars," the researchers wrote in the study. "We mapped lobate deposits, which appear and are potential tsunami deposits associated with the existence of a former ocean. We identified the most probable crater sources of the proposed tsunami deposits from a numerical modeling."

Although scientists have previously proposed the occurrence of tsunamis on ancient Mars, this is the first study to link an event to an impact crater.

The researchers also cited the existence of lobate flow deposits on the Martian dichotomy boundary, which separates the planet's southern highlands from the northern plains, as evidence for a tsunami that pushed waves of water toward an ancient shoreline in the southern hemisphere.

"These lobate deposits propagate uphill from the northern plains and do so in close association with a potential palaeo-shoreline. The predictions of the numerical modelling that Francois and his colleagues have done provide a very persuasive case for an ocean at this time," study co-author Stephen Clifford from the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas, told BBC News.

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This is not the first time scientists have examined evidence for oceans on ancient Mars. Last May, in a study published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, a team of researchers argued that two mega-tsunamis had wiped out the shorelines of an ocean that existed in the northern hemisphere.

The study, based on images captured by Mars-orbiting spacecraft, posited that over a span of a few million years about 3.4 billion years ago, two meteors crashed into the Martian ocean, triggering 400-foot-high tsunami waves that plowed into its coast and inundated huge swaths of land.

Related Articles
India trudged to 64-1 at lunch in the face of some intense bowling by the Australian quicks on the second day of the decisive fourth and final Test on Sunday.

Opener Lokesh Rahul was batting on 31 with Cheteshwar Pujara on 22 after the hosts lost Murali Vijay early in the first session at Dharamsala, India's newest Test venue.

India trail by 236 runs with Australia having made 300 in their first innings, largely thanks to a century by skipper Steve Smith.

The Australia new ball pair of Josh Hazlewood (1-16) and Pat Cummins bowled their hearts out on a lively track that offered ample pace and bounce.

The duo's testing spells peppered generously with short balls kept the Indian batsmen in check in a gripping first session which saw the hosts score at just over two runs an over.

The bowlers' consistent effort was rewarded soon when Hazlewood lured Vijay (11) into edging one behind to wicketkeeper Matthew Wade in the 11th over.

Rahul, dropped on 14 by Matt Renshaw at first slip off Cummins, batted cautiously and facing 75 balls while hitting five boundaries.

Pujara, coming into the match on the back of an epic 202-run knock in the drawn Ranchi Test, struck the second ball he faced for a delectable boundary through the covers.

But from then on he batted sedately, opting mostly for low-risk shots during the 57 balls he has faced.

With the series tied 1-1 going into the finale, top-ranked India must win the match to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

Australia, who triumphed at home in 2014-15, need just a draw to retain the trophy.
TOWNSVILLE, Australia (AP)  Thousands of people began evacuating low-lying areas of Australia's tropical northeast on Monday as a powerful cyclone bore down on the coast.

Cyclone Debbie was expected to cross the Queensland state coast along a sparsely populated 100-kilometer (60-mile) stretch between the towns of Ayr and Bowen early Tuesday, Australian Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Michael Paech said.

The cyclone was churning over the Pacific Ocean as a Category 3 storm on Monday, with wind gusts up to 165 kilometers per hour (100 mph). It was expected to intensify to a Category 4 storm with wind gusts up to 260 kph per hour (160 mph) when it crosses on to land, Paech said.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk urged people in the most vulnerable areas to evacuate on Monday before conditions deteriorate.

She said the farming region had never experienced a storm stronger than Category 2, which packs wind gusts of between 125 and 164 kph (78 and 102 mph). Older homes would not withstand a Category 4 storm, Palaszczuk said.

"This window of opportunity to leave is drastically closing," Palaszczuk told reporters. "I am just pleading to everyone, please, listen to authorities. I do, you must as well. This is about your safety, it is about the safety of your family and the safety of your children."

People were being bused out of low-lying areas ahead of a tidal surge that could be as high as 4 meters (13 feet), Palaszczuk said.

The storm late Monday morning was about 375 kilometers (230 miles) east of Townsville, a coastal city 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Ayr.
DHAKA (Reuters) - At least six people, including two police officials, were killed and scores wounded in two bomb blasts in Bangladesh on Saturday near a militant hideout that was raided by commandos, police said. The explosions in the northeastern district of Sylhet came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security checkpoint near the country's main airport in an attack claimed by Islamic State. "At least six people including two police official were killed in two explosions, one near the hideout and another in front of the building," said Sylhet police spokesman Zedan Al Musa. More than 40 people were wounded, several critically, he added. About a dozen army and police personnel were among the injured. Islamic State claimed responsibility "for a bombing on Bangladeshi forces in Sylhet", the SITE monitoring service said, citing the militant group's news agency Amaq. Army commandos had stormed the hideout, which belonged to a domestic Islamist group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, and was blamed for a cafe attack in July last year in which 22 people were killed, most of them foreigners. On Saturday, commandos rescued all 78 people trapped inside the five-storey building for more than a day in an operation that was still underway. The raid came after a string of suicide attacks on security bases this month. A forensic report confirmed that Friday's attack was a suicide blast that was the third incident involving explosives in the capital, Dhaka, in a week. Islamic State and al Qaeda have made competing claims over killings of foreigners, liberals and members of religious minorities in Bangladesh, a mostly Muslim country of 160 million people. The government has consistently ruled out the presence of such groups, blaming domestic militants instead. (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Brussels (AFP) - EU fishing fleets are increasingly anxious about their future access to teeming British waters as Britain prepares to trigger the two-year countdown to its exit from the bloc.

Fleets from nine EU countries including France, Germany and Spain have banded together in a newly-created European Fisheries Alliance, formerly launched at the European Parliament last week, warning of steep losses if divorce proceedings turn bitter.

Alain Vidalies, France's secretary of state for fisheries, stressed in Paris last week "the importance of preserving fairness between European and British fleets" post-Brexit.

European fleets obtain one-third of their catch in the exclusive economic zone around the British Isles, and loss of access to those waters could cut their profits in half in the short term, the fishing alliance says.

In the long term, EU fleets could lose a combined 500 to 600 vessels if they were excluded from British waters, representing 15 percent of the total, and up to 3,000 fleet jobs.

Industry officials are pressing for negotiations on Britain's post-Brexit future to include continued access to British waters.

"If you don't want to pay 30 percent tariffs you will have to negotiate. Negotiations should be tied to access to the market," Ivan Lopez Van der Veen, who represents the Spanish fishing association Pesquera Ancora, said at the EU Parliament last week.

- Linked fortunes -

Non-British EU vessels currently land almost eight times more fish and shellfish by weight from British waters than UK boats, or almost five times more by value, said Ian Napier, senior policy advisor at the NAFC Marine Centre, based on Scotlands' Shetland Islands.

From 2011 to 2015, European fleets caught 700,000 tonnes of fish and seafood in British waters, valued at about 530 million pounds (612 million euros, $660 million), the NAFC said in a report published in January.

British vessels, by contrast, caught just 92,000 tonnes, valued at 110 million pounds, in other EU waters.

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And the European Fisheries Alliance notes that Britain cannot eat all the salmon, lobster, scallops and other fish and seafood its boats produce: about 70 percent of production, worth a billion euros a year, is exported to its European partners.

Despite this, a UK parliament White Paper published in December found that the majority of fish consumed in Britain are imported.

"Continued access to free, or preferential, trade in fish and seafood will therefore be crucial for the seafood industry and UK consumers" after Brexit, the paper said.

And depending on whether Britain negotiates a "hard" or "soft" exit, the viability of dozens of fishing centres, from Concarneau in France and Rostock in Germany to Galway in Ireland or Gdansk in Poland, could be at stake.

But others say that leaving the EU would give Britain a chance to revive homegrown fleets.

"Brexit is an opportunity for the UK to revitalise its fishing industry, stabilise threatened ecosystems and create thousands of new jobs," said Lasse Gustavsson, executive director in Europe for Oceana, an environmental advocacy group.

"But this will only happen if overfishing is stopped."
PLAINVIEW  Robotic dairy operations may seem like a thing of the future. In fact, they were in Nebraska until last month.

That's when Demerath Farms near Plainview made state history when it began using four robotic milking systems on its expanding dairy operation. At maximum capacity, the dairy will milk 240 cows, three times a day.

Bill Demerath said the day-to-day work on the farm has, indeed, changed since the robots were installed Feb. 21.

"We'll be able to come in and do our chores, but we can do them whenever we want," Demerath said. "In the old (milking) barn, we would've walked in at 5:30 in the morning. Four hours in the morning, four hours in the afternoon we had to be milking cows, so we couldn't get anything else done."

For Demerath, the switch to robotic milking was a long process.

"I've been working with Norfolk Dairy Systems, and we've kind of been through five years of this to get to this point," he said. "We wanted to increase the herd without increasing labor. We needed a new barn. Our other free-stall barn was 40-plus years old. So we decided to go with this."

With the robots, the cows are able to essentially milk themselves.

"In this barn, they'll milk 24 hours a day," he said. "There's just more flexibility, better flexibility."

As part of the expansion of the operation, a new barn was built housing four robots, two on each side of the barn.

"Each robot can handle about 60 head. So we can do about 120 on each side," Demerath said.

The cows wear an electronic collar that can track their activities and record information regarding milking. The collar identifies which cows are being milked, and information is sent to Demerath's smartphone.

The cows had to be trained to use the robots, just as their human handlers did. They are fed a pelleted feed while being milked by the robot. It's used as an incentive for them. If they come to the robot to be milked, they receive their pelleted feed.

The robot works by attaching to each of the four quarters of the cow's udder and then detaching when the cow is milked  all on its own.

The milk is then transported to a bulk tank  a large storage tank that keeps the milk cool until it can be put on a truck and hauled away. But the milk must go through a cooling process to take it from the cow's temperature, 104 degrees, to the temperature of milk in the bulk tank, 38 degrees. A plate cooler is used to cool the milk.

"We're dropping that to 55 degrees before it hits the bulk tank, and that's just with ground water. All you're doing is just running milk by water to cool it. That's what a plate cooler is," Demerath said.

The milk is sold to Associated Milk Producers Inc., which picks it up every other day.

Demerath said training the cows is going better than expected.

"Things are going very well. Even the guys who put the robots in said our cows are taking to it extremely well compared to some other barns. So I was amazed," he said.

The cows also are offered every comfort when they are not being milked. They have access to large brushes that they can utilize as back scratchers.

"It's just for comfort. It gives them something to do, helps to keep themselves clean," Demerath said. "It stimulates blood flow in the cow. It's relaxing to them."

Demerath said time that used to be spent milking can now be devoted to other tasks, such as cleaning stalls more frequently.

"Happy cows, comfortable cows. That's the whole thing," he said.
London (AFP) - Along with banks that have signalled they will be moving jobs abroad, Brexit will probably see the European Banking Authority leave London -- and rival cities are jockeying to be its next host.

The London headquarters of the European Union's financial regulator, in the Canary Wharf district, has 170 staff members from 27 of the 28 European Union nations.

Brexit is "a major talking point among the staff", executive director Adam Farkas told AFP, as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to take the historic step of launching the exit process this week.

"The outcome of the referendum, which will likely lead to a removal of the EBA from London, is having a major impact," said Farkas, 49, a Hungarian who has headed the EBA since 2011.

Britons voted in June to quit the EU bloc in a referendum that sent shockwaves across the globe and prompted several banks to announce plans to move jobs from London to continental Europe.

Media reports suggest that cities including Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris and Vienna could be trying to woo the EBA away.

"We have seen really wide interest from European capitals, and even not only from capitals but other cities as well, who expressed their desire or intention to host us," Farkas said.

There are "quite a number of cities in the picture".

The EBA is perhaps best known for its regular stress tests on the EU's financial sector, which have become a vital focus for investors and regulators in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The EBA's London home -- in one of the city's tallest skyscrapers -- is enshrined in EU law, so moving will require legislative action.

"We do not have a formal role in deciding this," Farkas said.

"If we see some sort of shortlist emerging... we would of course consult the staff and seek for their views."

"We have not done so until now because it would probably be too open-ended and not very conclusive -- but we engage with the staff very actively."

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Farkas said being in London was "very natural" for the EBA but emphasised that the organisation would rather have an early decision that would remove uncertainty and provide a longer transition period.

A state of limbo is also the case for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and its London staff of 900, including pharmaceutical experts, biologists and doctors from every corner of Europe.

Asked what the personal impact had been of Britain's referendum to leave the EU, Farkas said: "Of course Brexit... caused a lot of anxiety among the staff", who must decide whether they will try to stay in London or leave for an as-yet-unknown city.
Sofia (AFP) - Bulgarian voters went to the polls Sunday in a tightly fought election pitting Socialists seen as closer to Russia against two-time centre-right premier Boyko Borisov, who is seeking another comeback.

Opinion polls ahead of the vote in the European Union's poorest country, where the average monthly salary is just 500 euros ($540) and corruption is rife, also indicated a strong showing by nationalists.

A close result is expected between the karate-kicking Borisov's enthusiastically pro-European Union GERB party and the Socialist Party (BSP), newly led by the energetic Kornelia Ninova.

GERB had a narrow lead in an early exit poll -- published by local media in defiance of a ban on releasing early results -- with 31.6 percent to the BSP's 30.8 percent.

It is the ex-communist nation's third election in four years and turnout at 1 pm (1000 GMT) was just over 25 percent -- two points higher than at the same point in the last parliamentary election in 2014.

"I voted for a stable, predictable and united Bulgaria," Borisov said after casting his ballot, adding: "Bulgarians must decide today who is fit to lead this kind of politics so let them choose."

The scourge of graft -- ever-present in Bulgaria -- loomed over the poll, with prosecutors saying 79 electoral fraud probes had been launched. The Nova television channel said it had filmed ballots being offered for sale for as little as 15 euros each.

Socialist chief Ninova denied that her party's perceived Russian sympathies would have any impact if it took office.

"No foreign country, eastern or western, should be allowed to influence Bulgarian politics," she said.

Borisov, 57, once a bodyguard for Bulgaria's last communist leader, has long been the dominant figure in national politics, serving as premier from 2009 to 2013 and again from 2014 to 2017.

In between, the BSP was in power for barely a year.

Both times Borisov quit early, first in 2013 after mass protests and then last November after his candidate for the presidency was beaten by an air force general backed by the BSP.

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- Rise of fringe parties -

Many voters now seem to be turning away from the main parties towards groups on the fringes, or are not bothering to vote.

"The big parties are totally disconnected from the reality of what is going on in Bulgaria and that is outright irresponsible," said IT worker Alexander Naydenov, 35.

"That is why I voted for one of the smaller parties with the hope that they can act as a balance to the big ones."

If Ninova becomes premier, it raises the prospect of NATO member Bulgaria, which has long walked a tightrope between East and West, drifting more towards Moscow.

Ninova has said she is not content with Bulgaria being a "second-class member" of the EU and that she will veto an extension of sanctions imposed by Brussels on Moscow.

Russia, which has long had close cultural and economic ties with Bulgaria, has been accused of seeking to expand its influence in other Balkan countries in recent months.

But Borisov has also said that he wants more "pragmatic" ties with Russia and Ninova, 48, insists that she remains committed to the EU.

"We are the party that ushered Bulgaria into the European Union and NATO and we stand by (our obligations in) these organisations," she told AFP in a recent interview.

- Tough coalition talks ahead -

Whichever party comes first will find it hard to form a coalition in what will likely be a highly fragmented parliament and the resulting government may not last long.

Both of the main players have ruled out a tie-up with the MRF party representing Bulgaria's Turkish minority, expected to get between eight and 11 percent of the vote.

Bulgaria is home to a 700,000-strong Muslim minority, most of them ethnic Turks, while at least 200,000 ethnic Turks with Bulgarian passports live in Turkey.

Ankara's support for a new party, Dost, which unlike the MRF fervently backs Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has fuelled a spat in recent days.

This in turn has boosted the United Patriots nationalists, who blocked the border on Friday to stop voters coming in from Turkey, and who may come third.

Another potential coalition partner is Veselin Mareshki, a colourful populist who likes being called the Bulgarian Donald Trump.
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP)  The center-right GERB party of former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov took the lead in Bulgaria's parliamentary election on Sunday, a pair of exit polls showed, a result that if confirmed by official returns indicates support for the country keeping its European identity.

The Alpha Research exit poll said GERB won 32.2 percent of the vote, with the Socialist Party coming in second with 28 percent, while a separate exit poll by Gallup International Balkan had GERB with 32.8 percent and the Socialists with 28.4 percent.

The leader of the Socialists Party later conceded defeat and said the party would not take part in a coalition government with GERB.

Official results are expected Monday. If they confirm the exit polls, Borisov, a political maverick who combines man-in-the-street rhetoric with a pro-European Union disposition, will be handed a mandate to form his third cabinet.

GERB did not win enough votes to govern alone, and will likely form a coalition government with the United Patriots, an alliance of three nationalist parties that the exit polls showed placing third.

Borisov, 57, resigned as prime minister after his party lost the November 2016 presidential election. Parliament was dissolved in January, and the president appointed a caretaker government that will stay until a new government is formed.

Borisov said GERB had the "duty to form a government because this is the will of the people and because we triggered these early elections." He declined to say what parties may be in a future coalition, pending final results.

Support for the nationalist alliance reflected widespread anger over an influx of migrants to this southeastern European nation that borders Greece, Turkey and Romania, and over Turkey's open support for a party representing Bulgaria's sizeable Muslim minority.

Along with immigration, the election campaign focused on the future of the European Union, which Bulgaria joined in 2007, and the influence of Russia and Turkey on domestic politics.

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Socialist Party leader Kornelia Ninova, who campaigned on forging closer relations with Russia, conceded defeat Sunday evening. Ninova congratulated GERB as the election's winner, and ruled out any option of serving in a coalition government with the center-right party.

The Socialists, a party made up mostly of ex-communists, want EU sanctions against Russia lifted and tried to woo voters with promises of higher salaries and pensions.

If "GERB fails to form a government, we will try to do so," Ninova said.

The GERB party's popularity faded during Borisov's previous term as prime minister because of the slow pace of reforms to eliminate graft and poverty and to overhaul the judicial system. Bulgaria is the EU's poorest member.

It is now pledging to fight corruption and to raise minimum wages, and supports EU sanctions on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis.

A populist party named Volya (Will) may end up entering Parliament. Exit polls showed it winning about 5 percent of the vote, exceeding the 4 percent minimum threshold.

The party is led by Veselin Mareshki, a wealthy businessman whose anti-establishment message combines patriotic rhetoric with promises of strict immigration controls and friendlier relations with Moscow.

The Central Election Commission said voter turnout for the election stood at nearly 43 percent at 5 p.m., a larger showing than in previous elections.

The election sparked protests at the Turkish border by Bulgarian nationalists who were determined to keep Bulgarian citizens living permanently in Turkey from coming in to vote. The protesters claimed Turkish officials were forcing expatriate voters to support DOST, a pro-Ankara party running for the first time.

Some 10 percent of Bulgarians are of Turkish origin or Muslim. More than 300,000 Bulgarians have settled permanently in Turkey, but still hold Bulgarian passports and are eligible to vote.

The border tensions prompted a spat between the two nations' leaders. While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized what he described as "pressure" on ethnic Turks in Bulgaria, Radev retorted that his country would not accept democracy lessons from Turkey.

"We will not allow any interference of foreign powers in Bulgaria's internal affairs," Borisov said Sunday.
Sofia (AFP) - Bulgaria's comeback king Boyko Borisov faced an uphill battle on Monday to build a stable coalition government following an election win that will see him crowned prime minister for a third time.

His pro-EU centre-right GERB party won Sunday's snap election in the European Union's poorest country with 32.6 percent of the ballot.

Official results showed GERB will hold 95 of 240 parliamentary seats -- 11 more than in the outgoing administration.

The burly Borisov, a former firefighter and bodyguard, saw off a stiff challenge from the Moscow-friendly Socialist Party (BSP), which garnered 27 percent and more than doubled their MPs to 80.

"Personally I am happy with the election results. It is important that the communists (Socialist party) will not be in power," restaurant owner Bozhidar Ivanov, 41, told AFP on Monday.

But whether Borisov can form an effective government that stays the course, unlike his previous two attempts, remains to be seen.

The 57-year-old has already ruled out a coalition with all parties except with a group of anti-immigration nationalists, although they may not back his anti-corruption reform plans.

Once a bodyguard for Bulgaria's last communist leader and its ex-king, Borisov has long dominated national politics in the southeastern European state, serving as premier from 2009 to 2013 and again from 2014 to 2017.

But both times he quit early, first in 2013 after mass protests and then last November after his candidate for the presidency was beaten by an air force commander backed by the BSP.

Bulgaria, where the average monthly salary is just 500 euros ($540) and corruption is rife even after 10 years in the EU, has now seen three elections in the past four years.

Borisov's reform efforts in office, in particular to meet Brussels' demands to tackle graft and organised crime, failed to get off the ground.

In January Bulgaria takes up the rotating presidency of the EU, in the midst of negotiations with Britain on the terms of the latter's exit from the bloc.

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- 'Second-class' -

A victory for the Socialists would have raised the prospect of a tilt toward Moscow in the NATO member state, home to 7.4 million people.

Russia, which has long had close cultural and economic ties with Bulgaria, has recently been accused of seeking to expand its influence in other Balkan countries.

BSP leader Kornelia Ninova had said she was not content with Bulgaria being a "second-class member" of the EU, and that she would veto an extension of sanctions imposed by Brussels on Moscow.

But Borisov, too, said during the campaign that he wanted more "pragmatic" ties with Russia and to revive contentious joint projects.

He also successfully portrayed himself as being able to preserve Bulgaria's status as an "island of stability" in an unstable Balkans region and amid tensions with neighbouring Turkey.

"Borisov had the wonderful idea of being reassuring, of adopting the role of unifier, of conciliator," said political analyst Haralan Alexandrov.

- 'Votes for sale' -

The scourge of graft loomed over the poll, with prosecutors launching multiple probes into electoral fraud and television channels alleging sales of votes for as little as 15 euros.

Voter apathy and disillusionment with the main parties were also widespread.

In the campaign, Borisov ruled out a tie-up with the centrist Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MDL) party representing Bulgaria's Turkish minority which came fourth with around nine percent.

Potential partners include the third-placed United Patriots, scoring just over nine percent, and Veselin Mareshki, a charismatic businessman who likes being called the Bulgarian Donald Trump.

Results have yet to confirm whether Mareshki's party, Volya ("Will"), has cleared the four-percent hurdle needed to gain seats in parliament.

Observers say the United Patriots could hurt GERB's ties with its allies in the European Parliament.

"The European People's Party will be concerned if GERB enters a coalition with the nationalists," said analyst Andrey Raytchev.
It was a show, not a memorial.

That's how Todd Fisher described the public service he organized for his sister Carrie Fisher and mom Debbie Reynolds in Los Angeles on Saturday.

SEE ALSO: Here's what it's like waiting in line with fans at Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds' memorial

Held at the Forest Lawn Cemetery, the event drew more than 1,200 friends and fans, or "extended family," as Fisher put it. Those who couldn't attend were able to watch online or follow along from a screen outside.

The event, held three months after Fisher and Reynolds' deaths and two months after their actual burial, was designed as a celebration rather than a somber memorial.

It was as joyous and theatrical as you'd expect for two Hollywood icons, along with some personal moments of reflection.

There were hundreds and hundreds of fans

Good morning from Forest Lawn Cemetery, where a line of fans are already here waiting for access to #carriefisher #debbiereynolds funeral pic.twitter.com/APzht40Ejc  Saba Hamedy (@saba_h) March 25, 2017

Some lined up as early as 2:30 a.m. to get seats inside the Hall of Liberty.

"Did we ever meet Carrie Fisher? We've seen her, but we didn't know her. But from everything she gave fans  her books, her roles  we felt like we knew her. When I found out she passed, it was like we lost a family member," said Liza Rios-Proprofsky, who was at the front of the line with her husband.

The two even had a Star Wars-themed wedding last year. "We want to be here to be amongst other people, and just to say goodbye to Carrie and Debbie in a more personal way," she added.

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Star Wars and Singin' in the Rain memorabilia was on display (because duh)

Inside, there was an area set up featuring costumes from Fisher and Reynolds' most iconic roles.

Princess Leia's signature outfit and one of Kathy Selden (Singin' in the Rain)'s costumes were available for the public to look at, alongside a handful of the actresses' accolades.

Yep, even an Oscar.

Speaking of Star Wars, R2-D2 got to say goodbye to his Princess

R2-D2 attends Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher Memorial at Forest Lawn Cemetery on March 25, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

Image: Getty Images

In a nod to one of Fisher's most famous roles, a special guest star made an appearance.

R2-D2 rolled onto stage after Todd Fisher played a video of movie clips and images of the family.

The loveable droid beeped and moped while staring at a photo of Carrie Fisher.

And the droid wasn't the only VIP

Actor Dan Aykroyd was one of the biggest celebrities to speak at the event.

"We shouldn't be here so soon in our lives," he told the crowd.

He also spoke about his friendship with Carrie Fisher, and joked about their brief engagement in the late 1970s.

James Blunt, who was not in attendance, wrote a special song dedicated to Carrie Fisher. The actress was godmother to Blunt's son.

The tune debuted at the event, accompanied by a slideshow of photos. One lyric read, "You left without saying goodbye/ I'm here to let you know/ I'm here to let you go."

Actress Ruta Lee sang "I'll Be Seeing You" for Reynolds after speaking about their collective charitable efforts.

Ben Mankiewicz of Turner Classic Movies spoke about Reynolds' constant support.

"She understood the value of classic Hollywood," he said. "That it was much more than nostalgia, that it's a meaningful connection to our past."

Notably absent: Carrie Fisher's daughter and Reynolds' granddaughter Billie Lourd, as well as Carrie's beloved dog, Gary.

The event also featured a ton of dancing

A group from The Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio performed two tap dancing numbers.

Another dance group performed a tribute to "Singin' in the Rain" (with a hip-hop twist).

The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles also performed Cyndi Lauper's True Colors.

In the end, it was a celebration that Todd Fisher said his mother and sister would have loved.

"This show was designed for you to be in our living room together ... celebrating two amazing women," he said. And it was.

WATCH: Debbie Reynolds, Hollywood royalty and mother of Carrie Fisher, dies
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  China's premier has arrived in New Zealand for high-level talks at a time that both countries are pushing to expand free trade.

Premier Li Keqiang arrived at Wellington Airport on Sunday, where he was greeted at the military terminal by New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English.

The premier stepped off his plane, gave a quick wave toward media and then stepped into a waiting car. His motorcade left for Premier House where he was attending a dinner.

As the motorcade left the airport, the premier was greeted by Chinese well-wishers wearing red shirts and holding banners and the flags of both China and New Zealand. Unlike on some previous visits by Chinese leaders, there weren't any visible protesters.

Li plans to be in the country until Wednesday. As well as a bilateral meeting with English, the premier is planning to visit a factory and view a photography exhibition.

The premier traveled to New Zealand after visiting Australia, where he warned against protectionism and said China wanted to expand its trading relationship.

New Zealand has also been pushing to expand free trade. Last week English announced a goal to have free trade agreements cover 90 percent of exports by 2030, up from just over 50 percent at the moment.

As part of that plan, New Zealand will spend tens of millions of dollars opening a new embassy in Ireland, a new high commission in Sri Lanka, and targeting barriers it considers are holding back trade.

The approach from China and New Zealand stands in contrast to that of the U.S., where President Donald Trump has pulled out of a planned Pacific free-trade agreement and has expressed skepticism about other such agreements.

China and Australia represent New Zealand's largest export markets. China buys huge quantities of milk powder from New Zealand, which is used in high-end infant formula.

China and New Zealand signed a free-trade agreement in 2008. English said recently the agreement is working well but needs some fine-tuning.
By Philip Wen and Peter Gosnell BEIJING/SYDNEY (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have blocked an Australia-based academic from boarding a flight home, Australia said on Sunday, after what sources said was repeated interrogation over his links to liberal intellectuals in mainland China. The case of long-serving University of Technology Sydney (UTS) associate professor Feng Chongyi comes just as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang winds up a five-day official visit in Canberra and Sydney espousing free trade and closer economic ties between Australia and China. Feng, who is an Australian permanent resident but retains his Chinese passport, entered China three weeks ago. He was first held for questioning in Kunming, the provincial capital of southwestern Yunnan earlier this week, before being barred from boarding a flight to Sydney at Guangzhous international airport on Friday morning, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. He is traveling with his wife, who is an Australian national. Having subsequently requested help from Australian authorities, Feng felt confident his case had been resolved and he would be free to travel, one of the sources said. But he was again notified he was on a no-fly list when attempting to board a second flight home late on Saturday. "The Australian government is aware that a UTS professor, who is an Australian permanent resident, has been prevented from leaving China, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Sunday. "According to the Australia-China consular treaty, the Australian government is able to provide consular assistance only to Australian citizens who have entered China on their Australian passport." China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Public Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Feng, who was head of China Studies at UTS for 11 years, is well-known in academic circles for his research into contemporary politics, the growth of rights consciousness and democratic forces in mainland China. He has been vocal in the Australian media over what he and numerous fellow China experts consider Beijing's increasing attempts to influence Australian politics and exert control over Chinese-language media. For research into his academic work, the sources said, Feng had been meeting fellow academics, intellectuals and rights lawyers in Beijing and other cities in mainland China, before he was picked up at his hotel in Kunming by provincial state security and taken away to another hotel and questioned for three hours. After traveling to Guangzhou to board his flight to Sydney, he received a call from the same state security officers informing him they had followed him to Guangzhou, the sources said. They arranged to meet and Feng was questioned for another three hours over who he met while in Beijing and who his contacts were in Australia. It is understood that, as of Sunday morning, Feng remained free to move around within mainland China and had not been physically detained. Since coming to power, President Xi Jinping has presided over a sweeping crackdown on dissent that has seen hundreds of rights lawyers detained or questioned, sending a chill through intellectual, academic, art and journalist circles. But Feng's ordeal represents a rare, if not the first, instance of a prominent foreign-university academic being subjected to the same treatment. It comes despite UTS having set up an Australia-China Relations Institute which says it has an unabashedly "positive and optimistic" view on bilateral ties. (Reporting by Philip Wen in BEIJING and Peter Gosnell in SYDNEY; Editing by Robert Birsel)
POTSDAM, Germany (AP)  Tyron Zeuge retained his WBA super middleweight title by unanimous decision over Isaac Ekpo of Nigeria despite the bout stopping in the fifth round due to a cut above his eye on Saturday.

The unbeaten German shaded the opening rounds but clashed heads with Ekpo in the third, opening the large cut over his right eye. Accidental head-butt, said the referee, who allowed the fight to proceed.

Encouraged by blood streaming from the wound, Ekpo dominated the next round as Zeuge held on with his vision impaired. The ring doctor checked the cut in the fifth and the bout was ended when he had to check it again.

"You train for 12 weeks for such a fight and then that happens," Zeuge said. "We're fighters, we want to fight."

The judges awarded it 49-46, 48-47 and 49-47 to Zeuge, making the first defense of the title he won by beating Italy's Giovanni De Carolis last November at the same venue near Berlin, his hometown.

Zeuge, trained by former two-time world champion Juergen Braehmer, improved to 19-0-1 (11 KOs), while the Don King-promoted Ekpo, who'd initially thought he'd won by TKO, dropped to 31-3 (24 KOs).

"For it to end like that is annoying," Braehmer said.
Jena (Germany) (AFP) - With higher unemployment rates than western Germany and support for the anti-immigration AfD party reaching 20 percent, the country's former communist east has often been associated with economic decline and xenophobia.

But some cities in eastern Germany have emerged as economic bright spots where populist politicians are finding it hard to gain ground.

Take the city of Jena in Thuringia state -- population 100,000, unemployment rate 6.5 percent.

Long known as a "lighthouse" of the region, the city boasts a flourishing high-tech sector and a strong optical technology sector that even the communist years didn't extinguish.

Just a short walk from the colourful facades of the market square, a white building stands out, bearing the blue letters "Jenoptik".

The company's chief executive Michael Mertin, who employs 3,500 people, told AFP that "the combination of high-tech, well-trained employees and internationalisation have certainly been a factor of success".

The company traces its beginnings to the optical giant Carl Zeiss, part of which was nationalised during the communist era.

Jenoptik grew out of the nationalised firm after German reunification in 1990.

Today, it makes and sells optic systems and laser equipment across the world.

During a late-winter visit, the company was playing host to two South Koreans in town to learn how to use its high-precision laser technology that cuts car parts.

Jenoptik is not alone in success in Jena, which now boasts some 5,000 enterprises.

A long-standing university has also regained popularity, and students make up a quarter of the population.

- 'Still prejudices' -

"Jena has managed to overcome crises, because the technology companies of the city target a range of markets with varied products and are strong in exports," said Wilfried Roepke, who heads the city's economic promotion agency Jena Wirtschaft (Jena Economy).

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That makes the city one of a few exceptions in eastern Germany, even if it's not the only success story today.

Mercedes-Benz is investing millions of euros in Ludwigsfeld in Brandenburg state that surrounds Berlin, while BMW has built an ultra-modern factory in Leipzig.

Dresden has its Silicon Saxony of IT firms, and in Potsdam, the Babelsberg studios is again attracting international movie producers.

Despite the growing opportunities, "eastern Germany often doesn't have such a positive image, there are still prejudices," said Roepke.

That extends to recruitment, where potential employees often have to first overcome an "initial reticence" stemming from the stereotype of eastern Germany as unattractive and backward.

A psychological barrier still exists mainly among Germans themselves, said Mertin, who hails from the western city of Cologne.

From abroad, "Germany is viewed as a single strong entity," he said.

And there are signs the situation is improving, with eastern regions having recently begun seeing a net gain in population, according to a Berlin research institute.

But the struggle continues to close the economic gap with the west.

At 8.6 percent, the unemployment rate in the east remains three percentage points higher than in the west, while gross output per inhabitant in 2015 was nearly 30 percent less than in western Germany.

According to the Jenoptik boss, the main challenge is the absence of "big companies that have the potential of becoming international by themselves".

None of Germany's 30 biggest listed enterprises are based in the east.

- 'Scapegoats' -

Given the economic divide, much of eastern Germany is fertile ground for the populist party AfD (Alternative for Germany), which accuses foreigners of stealing German jobs and faults globalisation for moving industry abroad.

"The economic situation in Jena is relatively good, but 30 kilometres (19 miles) to the east, the situation is far worse," said Denny Jankowski, the AfD's candidate for Jena in the September general elections.

He sees the gap between the east and west as wide as ever, and complains that many easterners are trapped in low-paying jobs.

The AfD has also been railing against a record influx of around a million asylum-seekers in 2015, playing on fears that Germany would not be able to integrate the newcomers who make up about one percent of the country's population.

Better performing cities like Jena also suffer from the double-edged sword of rising rents as the population grows.

There is a "kind of fear that people won't be able to maintain their standard of living", said Mertin, but he insisted that "in every change, there is an opportunity."

Opinion polls suggest that one in five voters in Jena's state of Thuringia in favour of the AfD, while the national average is half that at around 10 percent.

For Roepke, economic success alone is not enough to steer the population away from populist arguments.

But he is hopeful that "when the economic situation leads a large part of the population to be satisfied with his or her situation, then there would be less of a need to look for scapegoats or simplistic solutions."
By Alastair Macdonald and Jan Strupczewski ROME (Reuters) - Europeans must contain their squabbling and carping about the EU if the Union is to survive, leaders warned on Saturday as they marked the 60th anniversary of its founding in Rome by signing a formal declaration of unity. Four days before Prime Minister Theresa May, absent from the ceremony in the Italian capital, delivers an unprecedented blow to the bloc's growth by filing Britain's formal exit papers, her fellow leaders hailed 60 years of peace and prosperity and pledged to deepen a unity frayed by regional and global crises. But days of wrangling about the wording of a 1,000-word Rome Declaration, May's impending Brexit confirmation and tens of thousands of protesters gathering beyond the tight police cordon around the Campidoglio palace offered a more sober reminder of the challenges of holding the 27 nations to a common course. "We have stopped in our tracks and this has caused a crisis of rejection by public opinion," said their host, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, noting Britons' repudiation of the EU. He said the failure to push the project forward during a decade of economic slump had fueled a re-emergence of "blinkered nationalism". Rome offered a fresh start: "The Union is starting up again ... and has a vision for the next 10 years," he said. Others, however, are wary of such enthusiasm for giving up more national sovereignty -- and also of others in the Union moving faster with integration. Poland's nationalist government has led protests against a "multispeed Europe", which it fears would consign the poor ex-communist east to second-class status. Leaders hailed the visionary "war generation" of leaders from old foes France and Germany who signed the Treaty of Rome in the same room on March 25, 1957, along with Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; some offered personal memories of their own generation's debts to the expanding European Union. Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU chief executive, recalled how his father in Luxembourg was forced into the German army in World War Two; Donald Tusk, the summit chair born in Gdansk a month after the Treaty was signed, remembered growing up in the ruins of war and yearning for freedom behind the Iron Curtain. "That really was a two-speed Europe," he said in a pointed dig at his domestic foes now ruling in Warsaw, who have tried to block a push by the western powers to deepen their integration. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the bloc's dominant leader who faces a re-election test in September, stressed the Union must also address the complaints of generations for whom war is fading into history. "We will in the future have to concern ourselves above all with the issue of jobs," she told reporters. "UNITED, OR NOT AT ALL" Fearing that the departure of its second-biggest economy and major global power could prompt the unraveling of the bloc, many leaders argue that only forward motion can revive popular support for the EU by generating economic and security benefits. "Today we renew our vows and reaffirm our commitment to an undivided and indivisible Union," Juncker told them, urging the bloc not to get bogged down in details that alienated voters. Tusk, too, warned against the impression the EU was about petty regulations: "Why should we lose our trust in the purpose of unity today? Is it only because it has become our reality? Or because we have become bored or tired of it?" he asked. Merkel said leaders wanted to respond to people's concerns, about the economy, welfare, migration and defense with "a protective Europe" that offered assurances on their wellbeing. All 27 national leaders, along with the heads of Brussels institutions, signed a declaration which concluded: "We have united for the better. Europe is our common future." They promised to listen to citizens. But locked away behind rings of armed police, the leaders may hear little of what thousands of protesters have to say on Saturday. Addressing right-wing supporters of the Fratelli d'Italia movement, its leader Giorgia Meloni denounced a "great EU deception". "The real enemies of Europe," she said, "Are the bankers, usurers and technocrats." The Union, she added, must be replaced by a new alliance of "free and sovereign countries". But for Maximilien De-Wyse, 26, from the northern French city of Lille, that was the wrong answer. Taking part in a pro-EU march in Rome, he recalled his Polish immigrant grandparents and said: "It is only united that we can save peace." (Additional reporting by Isla Binnie, Andreas Rinke and Crispian Balmer; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Helen Popper)
By Marianna Parraga and Alexandra Ulmer HOUSTON/CARACAS (Reuters) - A gasoline shortage in OPEC member Venezuela was exacerbated by an increase in fuel exports to foreign allies such as Cuba and Nicaragua and an exodus of crucial personnel from state-run energy company PDVSA, according to internal PDVSA documents and sources familiar with its operations. Leftist-run Venezuela sells its citizens the world's cheapest gasoline. Fuel supplies have continued flowing despite a domestic oil industry in turmoil and a deepening economic crisis under President Nicolas Maduro that has left the South American country with scant supplies of many basic necessities. That changed on Wednesday, when Venezuelans faced their first nationwide shortage of motor fuel since an explosion ripped through one of the world's largest refineries five years ago. At the time, the government of then-President Hugo Chavez curbed exports to guarantee there was enough fuel at home. This week's shortage was also mainly due to problems at refineries, as a mix of plant glitches and maintenance cut fuel production in half. Unlike five years ago, Caracas has continued exporting fuel to political allies and even raised the volume of shipments last month despite warnings within the government-run company that doing so could trigger a domestic supply crunch. Shipments from refineries to the domestic market needed to be redirected to meet those export commitments, the internal documents showed. "Should this additional volume ... be exported, it would impact a cargo scheduled for the local market," read one email sent from an official in the company's domestic marketing department to its international trade unit. Venezuela last month exported 88,000 barrels per day (bpd) of fuels - equivalent to a fifth of its domestic consumption - to Cuba, Nicaragua and other countries, according to internal PDVSA documents seen by Reuters. That was up 22,000 bpd on the volumes Venezuela had been shipping to those two countries under accords struck by Chavez to expand his diplomatic clout by lowering their fuel costs through cheap supplies of crude and fuel. The order to increase exports came from PDVSA's top executives, according to the internal emails seen by Reuters. Venezuela's oil ministry and state-run PDVSA, formally known as Petroleos de Venezuela SA, did not reply to requests for comment for this story. FUEL STRAIN, BRAIN DRAIN The strain on the country's fuel system has been worsened by the departure of staff in PDVSA's trade and supply unit who are key to ensuring fuel gets to where it is needed and making payments for imports, three sources close to the company said. The unit has seen around a dozen key staffers depart since Maduro shook up PDVSA's top management in January. Among those who left was the head of budget and payments, two sources said. "Every week someone leaves for one reason or another," said a PDVSA source familiar with the unit's operations. Some have been fired, while others have left since the shake-up inserted political and military officials into top positions and bolstered Maduro's grip on the company that powers the nation's economy. The imposition of leaders with little or no experience in the industry has further disillusioned some of the company's experienced professionals and accelerated an exodus that had already taken hold as economic and social conditions in Venezuela worsened. A recent internal PDVSA report seen by Reuters mentioned "a low capacity to retain key personnel," amid salaries of a few dozen dollars a month at the black market rate. UNPAID BILLS The departure of staff responsible for paying suppliers, as well as a cash crunch in the company and the country, have led to an accumulation of unpaid bills for fuel imports into Venezuela. Had those bills been paid, the supply crunch would have been less acute, the company sources said. About 10 tankers are waiting near PDVSA ports in Venezuela and the Caribbean to discharge fuel for domestic consumption and for oil blending. Only one vessel bringing fuel imports has been discharged since the beginning of the week, shipping data showed. PDVSA ordered some of the cargoes as it prepared alternative supplies while refineries undergo maintenance. The tankers sitting offshore will not unload until PDVSA pays for their cargoes, said shippers and the company sources. Should PDVSA pay - up to $20 million per cargo - shortages could blow over relatively soon. The cash-strapped company has struggled since the global oil price crash that began in 2014 cut revenue for its crude exports. PDVSA is tight on cash as it prepares for some $2.5 billion in bond payments due next month. While the vessels sit offshore, lines of dozens of cars waited at gas stations in central Venezuela on Wednesday and Thursday. The shortages angered Venezuelans who already face long lines for scarce food and drugs. PDVSA blamed the supply crunch on unspecified problems for shipping fuel from domestic refineries to distribution centers. The company said it was working hard to solve the gasoline situation by boosting deliveries to the worst-hit regions. A shortage of trucks to move refined products has also caused bottlenecks, oil workers told PDVSA President Eulogio Del Pino during a visit to a fuel facility this week, asking for help. Trucks are in short supply because the country does not have enough funds to pay for imports of spare parts. It was unclear when fuel supplies would return to normal, although by late Thursday PDVSA appeared to have distributed some fuel from storage to Caracas and the eastern city of Puerto Ordaz. Lines to fill up at gasoline stations shortened in both cities, according to Reuters witnesses. Workers at the 335,000-bpd Isla refinery on the nearby island of Curacao operated by PDVSA said on Friday that the refinery had begun restarting its catalytic cracking unit, which could boost fuel supplies in the coming days. (Additional reporting by Mircely Guanipa in Punto Fijo and Maria Ramirez in Puerto Ordaz; Editing by Simon Webb and Marguerita Choy)
DEAD SEA, Jordan (AP)  With an eye toward Washington, leaders of a fractured and conflict-ridden Arab world hold their annual summit this week, seeking common positions and possible leverage as President Donald Trump weighs his approach toward the region.

From their hotel on the Dead Sea, they have a view of the Israeli-occupied West Bank on the opposite shore  a visual reminder of the stalled Palestinian quest for statehood, an issue that host Jordan says will take center stage this year.

Here is a look ahead.

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WHO'S ATTENDING?

Jordan's King Abdullah II plays host. Key participants include King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. and Arab League envoy for Syria, are coming, along with U.S. and Russian envoys. The leadership summit is scheduled for Wednesday.

Syria's seat will remain empty. President Bashar Assad hasn't been invited to an Arab summit since his country was suspended from the 22-member Arab League in late 2011, several months after an uprising against him turned into a civil war.

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PALESTINE ON THE HORIZON?

The leaders are to reaffirm a Saudi-led peace plan that offers Israel full relations with dozens of Arab and Muslim states in exchange for its withdrawal from lands captured in 1967. The Arab Peace Initiative, which would pave the way for a Palestinian state in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, was first proposed in 2002. This week, the summit is being asked to endorse the plan "as is," a request promoted by Abbas, who says reopening it to negotiations would further weaken the Palestinians.

Such a reaffirmation undercuts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's talk of "regional peace," in which Israeli-Arab normalization would precede a deal with the Palestinians. It would also remind Netanyahu and Trump, who in recent comments seemed to pull back from a two-state solution, that the Arab world backs that idea.

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In previous summits, the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 and their chaotic aftermath overshadowed the Palestinian issue. This year, Jordan wants it high on the agenda. The stakes are high for the kingdom, which has a large Palestinian population and custodianship of a major Muslim shrine in contested Jerusalem.

"We firmly stand behind the Arab Peace Initiative," Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani said Sunday. "We want to establish the two-state solution. We want to bring justice to the Palestinian people."

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EGYPT-SAUDI RAPPROCHEMENT?

The summit could offer an opportunity for Egypt and Saudi Arabia to defuse months of tensions, mainly over Syria.

Saudi Arabia is a leading supporter of the Syrian opposition, while Egypt, fearful of Islamic militants among the rebels' ranks, has pushed for a political solution that might keep Assad in power. Salman has also sought closer ties with Turkey and Qatar, which have tense relations with Egypt. On another contentious point, Saudi Arabia had hoped, in vain, that Egypt might contribute ground troops to a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

In October, the Saudis abruptly suspended oil aid to Egypt just days after Egypt backed a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria drafted by Assad ally Russia. Under the initial oil deal, Saudi Arabia agreed in April 2016 to provide Egypt with 700,000 tons of fuel monthly for five years on easy repayment terms.

The shipments resumed several days ago, signaling possible rapprochement that could perhaps be sealed at the summit.

Amr Adly, a Cairo-based analyst at the Carnegie Middle East Center, said the two countries have different priorities, with Saudi Arabia focused on containing its main regional rival, Iran, while Egypt seeks to combat the Muslim Brotherhood, a region-wide movement that Cairo views as a terrorist group.

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SYRIA, ANYONE?

Don't look to the summit for a new push to end the Syrian civil war.

Leaders remain divided over Assad's role, if any, in a possible political transition. Some argue that in shutting Assad out early on in the war, the Arab League created a vacuum that allowed non-Arab Russia, Iran and Turkey a greater say over an eventual solution. The trio now serves as guarantor of a shaky cease-fire between the Syrian government and the opposition, while U.N.-brokered talks in Geneva aim to coax them toward a political transition.

De Mistura, the international Syria envoy, said last week that he is not expecting breakthroughs in Geneva. He also urged Russia, Iran and Turkey to regain control of a "worrisome" situation on the ground in Syria, following repeated violations of a cease-fire reached in December.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last week that the Trump administration is still working on its Syria strategy, but that the top goal in the region is to defeat the Islamic State group, which holds territory in Syria and Iraq. The U.S. has significantly widened its footprint in northern Syria in recent weeks, including airlifting allied Kurdish fighters ahead of a battle for Raqqa, the de facto IS capital.

Trump has promised closer cooperation with Russia, an unsettling prospect for the Arab world's staunchest Assad opponents.

___

WHAT ABOUT IRAN?

A Trump administration warning that it is putting Shiite Iran "on notice" has been welcomed by the Sunni Arab camp headed by Saudi Arabia. Tehran and Riyadh back opposite sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen, and a more aggressive U.S. stance toward Iran would presumably help the Saudis contain their regional archrival. As with Syria, Trump hasn't formulated a detailed Iran policy yet.

The summit might make do with a standard warning to Iran.

Momani, the Jordanian spokesman, said Sunday in response to a question from reporters that "any attempt to destabilize the Arab countries in any form, by deed or speech, is rejected and condemned in the strongest terms."
Frankfurt (Oder) (Germany) (AFP) - A social worker in the drab eastern German city of Frankfurt an der Oder admits she feels isolated at work whenever talk turns to the country's record influx of refugees.

"I have to say that my colleagues are not very friendly towards foreigners and I am almost alone in my opinion," Elisabeth, who gave just her first name, told AFP.

Foreigners are rarely seen in the former communist city about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Berlin, but as in much of eastern Germany, there is deep suspicion toward migrants.

With its attacks on Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to let in around a million asylum seekers since 2015, the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has found fertile ground in the east.

At the last state elections in 2014, before Germany's migrant crisis erupted, the AfD won 11 seats in the state assembly of Brandenburg, where Frankfurt an der Oder is located.

Police commissioner Wilko Moeller, who leads the city's local chapter of the AfD, noted that the region offers "great potential" for his protest party.

In an illustration of how favourable the climate is for the AfD, its deputy chairman Alexander Gauland is running for a national seat in Frankfurt an der Oder in the September 24 general elections.

- 'Far too many migrants' -

With its tall concrete residential blocks in the centre of town, Frankfurt an der Oder, at the border with Poland, has struggled to shed its ex-communist yoke.

Like other parts of the eastern region, the city has been losing population.

Once home to 87,000 inhabitants, a quarter-century later only 58,000 people are left as many have moved west in search of better opportunities.

The unemployment rate stands at 10 percent, far above the 5.9 percent rate nationwide.

And even if foreigners make up just over one percent of the city's population, some 1,400 people -- half of them asylum seekers who arrived in 2015 -- many locals still feel that's too many.

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A retiree, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "I don't think refugees should have been allowed in like that. Even if we are a social country, we have our own problems.

"I am not xenophobic, but that was far too many."

Her sentiment is mirrored across much of Germany's five states in the former communist east, where the number of jobless is higher than the western average and where few migrants are seen on the streets.

Even in 2015 -- when the mass migrant influx brought the total number of foreigners in Germany to 9.1 million -- only 476,000 made their home in the east, according to official data.

- 'Structural racism' -

Hajo Funke, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University, said eastern Germany suffers from a "structural" problem of racism.

The former East Germany "was an authoritarian regime that was not very open to diversity and which did not seek to integrate foreigners," he said.

Following reunification in 1990, resentment also built up over the economic gap with western Germany as new prosperity failed to materialise quickly enough, he said.

Just two years later in 1992, race riots rocked the eastern coastal city of Rostock, with mobs flinging petrol bombs and stones at an apartment block housing migrants while thousands of bystanders applauded.

More recently, the anti-Islam PEGIDA movement was born in the biggest city in the east, Dresden, and the proportion of assaults against shelters for asylum seekers has been far higher than in the west.

The neo-Nazi party NPD also has some 264 elected municipal officials in the east, compared with 74 in the west.

Funke noted that the Rostock riots became a template of violence for a generation that grew up during the turbulent reunification years, and became drawn to the extremist movement.

But the AfD's Moeller rejects any racist view of east Germans, saying it is disillusionment that has pushed them to the right.

Reflecting its voter base, Moeller's AfD office is located not in the town centre, but in the working class district of Neuberesinchen, where Gerd, 61, lives.

Smoking a cigar at the foot of a decrepit building with peeling paint, Gerd, who is a far-left Linke party voter, nevertheless defended the AfD.

"They don't want the Nazis to come back," he said. "They don't want a Hitler either."

Thomas Klaehn, who works with a migrant aid group, believes that those who deny they are racist while rejecting migrants "often have had no contact with refugees".

"But if someone manages to put them in contact and build a positive relationship, then they could be brought over to the side of 30 percent who are for them.".
Beirut (AFP) - Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance, on Sunday seized a military airport from the Islamic State jihadist group in northern Syria, a spokesman said.

The capture of Tabqa airbase comes as the alliance prepares an attack on IS's de facto Syrian capital Raqa, seeking to effectively surround the city before launching its assault.

SDF forces are also battling for the nearby Tabqa dam, held by IS, which was forced out of service on Sunday after its power station was damaged, a technical source there told AFP.

"The Syrian Democratic Forces have full control of Tabqa military airport and operations to clear and demine are under way in order to secure the airport fully," spokesman Talal Sello told AFP.

SDF forces entered the airport earlier Sunday, backed by heavy artillery fire and air strikes by the US-led coalition, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

IS seized the base from government troops in August 2014 and carried out one of its worst massacres there, killing up to 200 government soldiers.

With support from the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq, SDF fighters have inched closer to Raqa, taking territory to the north and east.

At their closest point, they are just eight kilometres (five miles) from the city, to the northeast.

But they are mostly further away, between 18 and 29 kilometres from Raqa.

Earlier this week, US forces airlifted SDF fighters behind IS lines to allow them to launch the Tabqa assault, and on Friday the alliance reached one of the dam's entrances.

- Tabqa dam faces danger -

But the fight for the dam, the biggest in Syria, forced it out of service on Sunday, risking dangerous rising water levels.

"Shelling on the area... that supplies that dam with electricity has put it out of service," the technical source said.

"The work needed to fix the problem is not possible because there is not sufficient staff available as a result of the intensive shelling in the area of the dam," he added.

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"If the problem is not fixed, it will begin to pose a danger to the dam."

The SDF's Sello told AFP there was no imminent danger to the dam, adding it had not been hit in air strikes.

The dam remains under IS control, with SDF progress being hampered by the exposed nature of the terrain, which is also heavily mined, the Observatory said.

IS issued warnings through its propaganda agency Amaq that the dam "is threatened with collapse at any moment because of American strikes and a large rise in water levels".

But the source at the dam told AFP there had not yet been significant water level increases, though he acknowledged levels would rise if the facility remained out of service.

Earlier this year, the UN's humanitarian coordination agency OCHA said water levels in the Euphrates had risen 10 metres (33 feet) since late January, in part from heavy rainfall and snow.

But it warned that damage to the dam "could lead to massive scale flooding across Raqa and as far away as Deir Ezzor" province to the southeast.

Any further rises in the water level or damage to the Tabqa dam "would have catastrophic humanitarian implications in all areas downstream", the UN warned.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since its conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.
By Patrick T. Fallon

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (Reuters) - Supporters of President Donald Trump holding a rally on a popular southern California beach clashed with counter-protesters on Saturday and four people were arrested, law enforcement said.

Multiple fights broke out and at least one Trump supporter was doused with pepper spray when pro-Trump demonstrators marching along Bolsa Chica State Beach encountered a small group opposed to the Republican president who had gathered to denounce the rally.

Slideshow: Violence erupts at pro-Trump rally on California beach >>>

Four counter-protesters were arrested, three for illegal use of pepper spray and one for assault and battery, Kevin Pearsall, a spokesman for the California State Parks Police said on Saturday evening.

The fights appeared to start in the early afternoon when around a dozen anti-Trump protesters dressed in all black refused to move from a bike path to allow a larger group of pro-Trump supporters taking part in the Make America Great Again rally to pass. The confrontation escalated into a fight with more skirmishes quickly breaking out.

At least one person was pepper-sprayed by an anti-Trump protester, Pearsall said. Park police estimated that 2,000 Trump supporters flocked to the stretch of coastline located south of the ocean-side community of Huntington Beach. Around 20 counter-protesters attended, Pearsall said.

Known as Surf City, U.S.A., Huntington Beach is located some 40 miles (64 km) south of Los Angeles.

Video footage from social media uploaded to the Los Angeles Times' website showed a chaotic scene with men fighting in the sand and a group of around 20 Trump supporters, some carrying Trump flags, chasing a man in a black mask away from the beach and on to a freeway. The man was stopped by members of the California Highway Patrol, the newspaper said.

The masked man had used pepper spray on a female rally organizer and was set upon by a group of Trump supporters, the newspaper reported.

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Demonstrations denouncing the Trump administration have drawn hundreds of thousands since he took office in January. Smaller rallies have been staged across the country in support of Trump.

On Saturday, Trump praised his supporters.

"Thanks you for all of the Trump Rallies today. Amazing support. We will all MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" He said in a message on Twitter.





(Reporting by Patrick T. Fallon; Writing by Timothy Mclaughlin; Editing by Sandra Maler)
SINGAPORE (AP)  French President Francois Hollande, on an official visit to Singapore, expressed a desire Sunday to strengthen France's partnership with the Southeast Asian city-state.

"France considers Singapore not only for an economic partner, but also as a friendly country," Hollande said at a state banquet, where he gave a toast in French.

"In this geopolitical environment of isolation, nationalism and protectionism, we have to lead by example and make our bilateral partnership not only strong and dynamic, but to show the way for opening confidence in international trade," added Hollande, making the first official visit by a French president to Singapore.

The two countries signed a Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership in 2012 to deepen cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, defense and space technology.

Singapore's president, Tony Tan, said that France was a "special friend," noting that it was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Singapore after its independence in 1965.

"At a time when the global political and economic environment is uncertain, many governments are facing pressures to turn inwards," Tan said. "Against this backdrop, being able to work with reliable friends is more important than ever. France is such a friend of Singapore." Some 15,000 French nationals and 1,800 French enterprises are based in the city-state.

Trade between the two countries is strong as well. Last year, their bilateral trade was valued at 16 billion Singapore dollars ($11.4 billion). France was Singapore's second-biggest trading partner in the European Union.

In 2015, French foreign direct investment in Singapore was about 14.8 billion Singapore dollars ($10.6 billion).

Hollande is set to meet with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and deliver a lecture on Monday. He leaves for Malaysia on Tuesday.
Cayenne (AFP) - French Guiana came to a standstill Sunday on the eve of a major strike which has elbowed its way into France's presidential campaign.

Air France cancelled all flights to the South American territory for Sunday and Monday, when 37 labour unions were to launch a general strike demanding a "Marshall Plan" to improve public services and security.

Barricades have been erected on roads since last week, and the US State Department has warned travellers to stay away, citing the risk of violence.

The protests also led to the indefinite postponement of an Arianespace rocket launch at Europe's Guiana Space Centre in Kourou.

The French government has sent a delegation to negotiate with the strikers, asking them to lay out their demands.

But 13 of the territory's 22 mayors have refused to meet the delegation, demanding along with the strikers that French ministers come in person.

"This has gone on long enough! All we have is plundered, it's time to recognise the people of Guiana," a woman at the barricade blocking access to the airport at Cayenne, the capital, told AFP on Sunday.

"I am listening to the Guianans," said Ericka Bareigts, the minister of overseas territories, though she has ruled out travelling to the territory for now.

"We will be able to go to Guiana once the conditions are right and progress has been made," she said.

The road barricades were temporarily lifted Sunday and some stores opened so that people could stock up on food and other supplies before the strike began.

- 'Failed policies' -

The "Collective to Get Guiana Moving" has called for better access to health services and electricity, economic development and job creation programmes, and renewed efforts to keep children from dropping out of school.

The territory, with about 250,000 inhabitants, relies on huge injections of public funds.

"The government must respond rapidly to these requests," Segolene Royal, the French environment minister, said after a recent visit to the territory.

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The visiting delegation has already had a scanner installed at the airport to help stop drug trafficking, and pledged to speed up the arrival of EU aide.

But several of the candidates seeking the French presidency have pounced on the crisis just a month before the first round of voting.

For Francois Fillon, the conservative candidate, "This situation is the consequence of the failed policies of Francois Hollande," the outgoing Socialist president.

Marine Le Pen, the far-right National Front candidate, condemned what she called an "cruel minimum service" of recent governments in Paris toward the territory.

In response, Bareigts, the overseas territories minister, and Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said Sunday after a meeting with Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve that "We will not tolerate any exploitation of this social crisis, neither to disrupt public order nor for campaign purposes."

A similar revolt gripped French Guiana in 2008 over soaring fuel prices, shutting down schools and the airport.

The strike ended after 11 days, when the government agreed to cut fuel prices.
Saarbrucken (Germany) (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party easily won a regional election Sunday, dealing an early blow to centre-left hopes of ending her more than decade-long reign.

In the Saarland state vote held six months before a general election, Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) won 40 percent against 30 percent for the Social Democrats (SPD), according to early results by public broadcasters.

The result spelt a five-point boost for the CDU over the SPD, which has served as the unhappy junior partner to the conservatives in so-called grand coalitions at both the state and national levels.

The vote in the tiny state on the French border, which has a population of only one million, was seen as a bellwether ahead of the September 24 general election in which Merkel, the veteran leader often dubbed "the Queen of Europe", will seek a fourth term.

The SPD have made strong gains in national opinion surveys since Martin Schulz, the folksy and plain-spoken former president of the European Parliament, took over in January.

The "Schulz effect" has seen especially younger voters flock to the more than 150-year-old workers' party, which is now polling neck-and-neck at the national level with Merkel's conservative bloc.

But the new euphoria did not translate into the strong results the SPD had hoped for in Saarland, a former coal mining region, which held the first of three German state polls scheduled in the run-up to the national election.

Schulz conceded it was "not a nice evening" and that "the CDU clearly won" but insisted that "our goal is a change of federal government" this year, calling the campaign until then "a marathon, not a sprint".

- 'Path of success' -

The CDU's popular state premier Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who was cheered by jubilant supporters, admitted she was "floored" by the strong result, about five points up from the last election amid strong turnout of around 70 percent.

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Merkel's right-hand man Peter Altmaier, the chancellery chief-of-staff who hails from Saarland, said "it's an outcome that gives us courage".

The result suggested many voters in Saarland were frightened by talk of a "red-red" coalition between the SPD and the far-left Linke party, which scored about 13 percent.

Merkel, 62, had warned local voters last week that "red-red... experiments should be avoided" and urged them to stick with the CDU's "path of success".

She had also cautioned at a campaign event that a leftist coalition would harm the economy and "wall it in with taxes, bureaucracy and red tape".

A starker warning came from the pro-business Free Democrats who cautioned against turning Saarland into a modern version of the former communist East Germany or "a GDR lite".

- 'Uncertain times' -

The SPD's Justice Minister Heiko Maas admitted the outcome was "disappointing" and conceded that "we had clearly hoped for a better result".

He said the debate over a possible red-red coalition had "obviously penalised the SPD" by frightening part of the electorate.

Another leftist party -- the ecologist Greens, possible candidates for a future "red-red-green" national coalition -- meanwhile scored less than five percent, meaning they missed the hurdle for parliamentary representation and were kicked out of the state assembly.

CDU secretary general Peter Tauber said the outcome was "a clear rejection of red-red-green", including at the national level.

"In uncertain times, the people trust in leaders and political forces that govern in a dependable way," he said.

The anti-immigration and right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party just scraped in with six percent, meaning it is now represented in 11 of Germany's 16 state assemblies.

It was however the AfD's worst result after five state elections in which it topped 10 percent, in a sign that the abating refugee crisis and bitter infighting have damaged popular support for the protest party.
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Hamas shut the crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Sunday after blaming the Jewish state for the assassination of one of its officials in the Palestinian enclave.

The interior ministry in Gaza, run by Islamist movement Hamas, said it was shutting the Erez crossing for an indefinite period as it investigates Friday's murder.

It did not give details on the reason behind the closure, though there was speculation authorities may be seeking to prevent those responsible for the killing from leaving.

Hamas security forces were deployed along the Gazan borders and exits by sea were also banned, officials said.

Hamas officials have blamed the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and its "collaborators" for the killing of Mazen Faqha, 38, who was shot dead by unknown gunmen.

He was killed by four bullets from a pistol equipped with a silencer.

Israel has not commented on the shooting.

According to Israeli media, Faqha was responsible for cells of Hamas's military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

On Sunday, Faqha's wife, Nahed Assida, called on "Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to respond to this assassination."

"The price of my husband's blood is in your hands," she said during a women's conference in Gaza.

Faqha's funeral on Saturday drew thousands of Hamas supporters into the streets with chants of "revenge" and "death to Israel."

Ismail Haniya, until recently head of Hamas in Gaza, and Yahya Sinwar, who replaced him as leader, headed the procession.

According to Hamas, Faqha formed cells for the Islamist group's military wing in the West Bank cities of Tubas, also where he was born, and Jenin.

It said he played an important role in preparing two major attacks.

They included a suicide attack in the Israeli settlement neighbourhood of Gilo in east Jerusalem in 2002 that killed 19 people.

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The second was a suicide bus attack later that year that killed nine people in the northern Israeli city of Safed.

They were part of a wave of suicide attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis during the second intifada, or uprising, between 2000 and 2005.

Israel sentenced him to nine life sentences plus 50 years, but he was released in 2011 along with more than 1,000 other Palestinians in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier Hamas had detained for five years, and transferred to Gaza.

Israel did not immediately comment in detail on Sunday's closure but said its side of the crossing remained open.

The Erez crossing is the only one between Gaza and Israel for people. Another crossing with Israel, Kerem Shalom, is used for goods and remained open on Sunday, Palestinian officials said.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade. Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israel have fought three wars since 2008.

Gaza's sole crossing with Egypt has also remained largely closed in recent years.
President Donald Trump is doing just great after the Republican healthcare bill failed to make it to a vote Friday, thank you so much.

No heads will roll for that humiliating defeat. Especially not the Just Cuts noggin of House Speaker Paul Ryan. It's all love and affection and onwards and upwards on Pennsylvania Avenue.

SEE ALSO: Trumpcare might be gone but the internet is memeing it to death just in case

So, please don't read anything into the fact Trump told his 27 million Twitter followers to watch Justice with Judge Jeanine on Fox News at 9 p.m Saturday, in which the host absolutely eviscerated the Speaker and called for him to resign.

It was just coincidence, surely, that Jeanine Pirro tore Ryan limb from limb.

"Paul Ryan needs to step down as speaker of the house.The reason? He failed to deliver the votes on his healthcare bill." #openingstatement pic.twitter.com/75WbI4mcYX  Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) March 26, 2017

"I want to be clear: this is not on President Trump. No one expected a business man to completely understand the nuances ... of Washington," Pirro went on, fulsomely defending the president in a way Trump definitely did not intend for America to hear.

The Fox anchor insisted she had not spoken to Trump directly. Nevertheless, in her honest opinion, he is handling the healthcare collapse "with dignity."

White House press secretary Sean Spicer downplayed Trump's tweet earlier Saturday. According to the Washington Post, Spicer said Trump tweeted only because he was a fan of Pirro's show.

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In any case, no one noticed that little Trump-Pirro coincidence apart from most of the internet.

Quick look at Trump and Paul Ryan talking tonight pic.twitter.com/gYimciiAWr  Jensen Karp (@JensenClan88) March 26, 2017

This is a COLD-BLOODED Trump move. Revenge is a dish best served via Jeanine Pirro apparently. Paul Ryan is terrible but even I'm like pic.twitter.com/GmwOHTy6D5  David Chen (@davechensky) March 26, 2017

Today's mini-play, courtesy of reality:

Trump: Watch Jeanine Pirro's show tonight!

Pirro: Paul Ryan must resign!

Ryan: Wait, what?  Ben Greenman (@bengreenman) March 26, 2017

Trump tweeted a promo for Judge Pirro's Fox show this AM, reason unclear.



Tonight, she began her show calling for Ryan to resign.



....? pic.twitter.com/iRTAAtI6oY  Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) March 26, 2017

Trump told people on Twitter to watch @JudgeJeanine. She began her show calling for Speaker Ryan to resign. Coincidence? I'm sure!  Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) March 26, 2017

The White House has been contacted for comment.

WATCH: This Lego camera actually works
WATERFORD  Robert Laplander has been studying and researching Americas participation in World War I  and specifically the Lost Battalion of the 77th Division  for more than 20 years.

The 51-year-old Waterford residents fascination with that element of WWI produced a 2006 book titled Finding the Lost Battalion: Beyond the Rumors, Myths and Legends of Americas Famous WWI Epic. And, more recently, it earned him a role in the production of the PBS documentary The Great War, which is set to premiere April 10-12 as part of PBS American Experience series.

The three-part, six-hour documentary is scheduled to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Americas entry into the war on April 6, 1917. It features the voices of Campbell Scott, Bylthe Danner, Courtney Vance and others as it tells the rich and complex story of WWI through the experiences of nurses, journalists, aviators and the American troops who came to be known as doughboys.

World War I was the soil from which so many things today really grew, starting with Americas place in the world, said American Experience Executive Producer Mark Samels in a press release. Before the war, America was isolated and uninvolved in world affairs. After the war, America stepped onto the world stage, and that continues today with our troops becoming involved in conflicts around the world.

Laplander  who is originally from Tucson, Ariz., and grew up in northern and southeastern Wisconsin  is one of the featured experts in the documentary. He is recognized internationally for his knowledge of the Lost Battalion event, and has provided professional development lectures for the U.S. Army to both the old 77th Regional Readiness Command and the 78th (Training) Division.

The author, historian and father of three is also a partner in the U.S. WWI Centennial Commission, managing both Doughboy MIA, a site which tracks all missing U.S. service personnel from the war, and The Lost Battalion portions of the Commissions web presence (www.worldwar1centennial.org).

He answered some questions about his work and his role in the documentary.

How long have you lived in Waterford and what brought you there?

My wife and I moved out here in November 2003 from Milwaukee. We moved here primarily because we wanted to raise our family outside the city. Ive never been a city kind of guy!

What first led you to delve into the history of the First World War?

Ive studied WW1 my whole life. Its sort of a fascination/obsession away from anything else I do. Its always made for an escape of sorts into an era that is largely forgotten.

Reviews of your book cite your thorough research of the subject. Can you share some of the most exciting finds you experienced in researching Finding the Lost Battalion?

Well, we discovered a lot of paperwork that hadnt been declassified until 1947 that no other researcher had seen; and we uncovered several diaries and unpublished memoirs. In fact, the Library of Congress called me in to review and authenticate a diary of a Lost Battalion man that had been donated to them.

What was your role in creating the documentary The Great War for PBS American Experience series?

They contacted me about two years ago wanting to know if Id be available to help them with the Lost Battalion portion of the series. That mushroomed into helping them with the whole battle in the Argonne Forest and then from there into face time on camera.

How do you think the series will enlighten viewers?

WW1 is a forgotten war. One hundred years is a long time, and there has been so much that has happened in that time and the world has changed so much, that its hard for todays generation to understand it. This series will paint a clear picture of that era and the long-range effects of that war  effects that we live with to this day.

Beyond WWI, what are some of your other interests and/or favorite subjects to write about?

I have been a working musician for over 30 years (honky-tonk and rockabilly), and after the Great War centennial is over I will be doing a book on bank robberies in Wisconsin between 1900 and 1940 called Badger State Bank Robberies.
On the evening of Oct. 21, 2014, Carrie Lam sat down with the people. It was the 25th night of the Umbrella Movement, the massive pro-democracy demonstration that would shake Hong Kong for nearly three months, and Lam, a steely bureaucrat who had served as Chief Secretary, essentially the governments COO, since 2012, had been sent to represent the government in a televised debate with a delegation of protesters. Their demand was simple: give the Hong Kong people the right to directly elect the chief executive, the territorys top leader, in the next election in 2017.

It did not go well. Since 1997, when China reclaimed Hong Kong from the British as a semiautonomous city-state, the Chief Executive has been selected by a small electoral college comprising lawmakers, businesspeople, professionals and others; most are members of Hong Kongs elite, and most defer to what Beijing wants for Hong Kong. The protesters decried this as an insult to their autonomy, but Lam waved them off, telling them that their proposed alternative was simply outside of Hong Kongs legal latitude. Hong Kong is not an independent entity ... and cannot decide on its own its political development, she said. I hope you have the courage and wisdom to think of a way out of the current situation. Two weeks later, she told those in the streets they were going to be arrested if they did not pack up and go home.

On Sunday, Lam, 59, was elected Hong Kongs fourth Chief Executive. She was a beneficiary of the system she had celebrated two and a half years earlier, which was ultimately unchanged by the Umbrella protests: of the 1,200 members of the so-called Election Committee, she took 777 votes. (Hong Kong netizens have since noted with rueful delight that the Cantonese word for seven sounds very similar to a Cantonese slang term for penis.)

Despite Lams unpopularity among many Hong Kongers, Beijing had made it clear that she was their preferred candidate, reportedly because she would loyally enact their will. (In February, the South China Morning Post reported that Zhang Dejiang, the senior Chinese official who leads the countrys legislature, was touting Lam as Beijings top pick.) Her primary opponent, former Financial Secretary John Tsang, earned only 365 votes, after running a campaign that earned an unprecedented degree of public support.

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Hong Kong's new chief executive Carrie Lam (C) stands on stage with her defeated opponents John Tsang (L) and Woo Kwok-hing (R) after she won the Hong Kong chief executive election in Hong Kong on March 26, 2017.

They ran good campaigns that taught me a lot, Lam said of her opponents in her victory speech early Sunday afternoon. But the work of uniting our society to move forward begins now.

For many Hong Kongers, these are empty words. The town once celebrated as Asias most crucial and cosmopolitan city now faces one of its most uncertain periods in its 170-year history - an existential dilemma strained by its liberal genetic fiber on one side and its political subservience to Beijings authoritarian government on the other. The strongman tendencies of Chinese President Xi Jinping have aggravated the situation, as has the leadership of current Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, under whom Hong Kong has become a deeply polarized society. (Leung did not run for a second five-year term, apparently because Beijing simply deemed him too controversial.) Things have only worsened in the two and a half years since the Umbrella protests: outspoken publishers have been spirited away and wound up in detention on the Chinese mainland; elected representatives who call for the territorys secession have been barred from taking office. Hong Kongs people and Beijings authorities are caught at an impasse of mutual distrust so intense that many in Hong Kong are now joining the call for outright independence.

The Chief Executive election represented a crossroads of sorts - an opportunity for Beijing to rectify the blunders and oversteps of recent years. For many, this would have meant the selection of John Tsang, 65, an erstwhile establishment figure who has reinvented himself in recent months as an affable moderate populist. Tsang, most recently Financial Secretary, enjoyed the support of nearly half of all adults in Hong Kong, while only around a quarter backed Lam, according to a poll commissioned by the South China Morning Post. We need to let Beijing hear our voices, Jacky Tam, a 35-year-old government worker, said at a rally in support of Tsang last week.

It was an outstanding achievement for a former senior government official, Willy Lam, a China expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, says of Tsangs celebrity-level popularity. But Beijings most important criteria is still loyalty, and an ability to effectively implement Beijings orders. If John Tsang had become Chief Executive, he would have made more compromises.

In other words, Lam won simply because she would be the more obedient chief executive. To many Hong Kongers, her election confirms that Beijing would rather mollify the discontent here with force rather than compromise.

Whatever mainland China wants to [impose] on Hong Kong is now quite likely to be achieved, Irene Tiu, a 24-year-old who works in sales, says. If I could have taken part in the nomination and the voting, it wouldnt have been any of these [candidates], and I think many Hong Kongers think likewise.

A pro-democracy protester holds up placards featuring (L) Hong Kong's former Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam and Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying during a rally in Hong Kong on December 11, 2016.

Does the mainland want Carrie Lam? Absolutely, David Zweig, a political scientist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, told TIME last week. Shes simply much more reliable on the primary issue, which is political stability in Hong Kong - preventing Hong Kong from becoming an pro-independence hotbed.

Hong Kong people now face a different crossroads: whether they will succumb to disillusionment and apathy or continue to fight against the system for their democratic freedoms. I dont expect more massive protests right now, Ho-Fung Hung, a sociologist at Johns Hopkins University, says. The opposition is in low tide mode - they will need some time to regroup.

For the younger, more radical political set in Hong Kong, Lams election is further confirmation that the system cannot be changed from within. This is just a selection made by Xi Jinpings government, Joshua Wong, the 20-year-old democracy activist who came to prominence during the Umbrella protests, said on Sunday while demonstrating outside of the complex where the vote was conducted. Its an antidemocracy election system. This is why we have to keep engaging in civil disobedience.

Lam will take office on July 1 - the day that marks the 20th anniversary of Hong Kongs return to Chinese control. Xi Jinping is expected to travel to Hong Kong to attend the ceremonies. Because the stakes are high, more-moderate experts say, Lam could be enticed to exercise caution.

Because of her background - her low popularity in the opinion polls - I think she will try to be more careful in the beginning, Hung says. She wont do anything drastic. Beijing wont want her to do anything drastic.

In her victory speech, Lam struck a humble tone and seemed to realize that she had the hard task of balancing Beijings demands with Hong Kongs aspirations. For now, she said the right things: that she would defend Hong Kongs freedoms, reach out to those who oppose her, try to heal the deep divisions.

[Lam] knows this city is completely split asunder, Emily Lau, a retired pro-democracy legislator, says. Quite a bit depends on her - whether shes willing to heal the rift, whether she will act quickly to reach out to civil society and show that she is an inclusive person.

The question: now that Chinas leaders have gotten whom they wanted as Hong Kongs chief executive, will they let her do her job? Dont get me wrong - I am not optimistic, Lau continues. I cannot tell the people of Hong Kong that we ... should all either start a revolution or just emigrate. But we have to live in hope.

- With reporting by Kevin Lui / Hong Kong

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Hong Kongs new leader was elected by a group of almost 1,200 electors  mostly supporters of the Chinese government  sparking protests by pro-democracy activists in the region. Carrie Lam, Hong Kongs first female chief executive won by a massive majority Sunday.

The British returned Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, following which it was to be governed under the principle of one country, two systems, giving Hong Kong a semi-autonomous status. In the recent years, however, pro-democracy flanks within Hong Kong say that China has gone back on the agreed plan and pushed for greater control over the region.

Read: No Jail Time For Hong Kongs Umbrella Protests Student Leaders

The victorious candidate, Lam, is also seen as a pro-China figure by many, and was not elected by popular vote. She won with 777 votes from the 1,194-person committee. The other candidates were John Tsang, a former finance secretary who was looked at more favorably by the masses, according to opinion polls, and Woo Kok-hing, a retired high court judge.

carrie lam

Photo: REUTERS/Bobby Yip

But who is Carrie Lam?

Lam was second highest official in Hong Kong under current Chief Executive CY Leung, and only announced her candidature after the latter chose not to stand for reelection.

The 59-year-old initially planned to go back to her family after retiring from her position as deputy chief this year. In an interview with Hong Kongs The Standard last year, she said, The first thing will be to visit my two sons as they are not in Hong Kong. If they are available, Ill just stay for a while. Maybe a month. I can cook them meals and take care of them.

The long time civil servant, who graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1980 to join the administration, is expected to continue with the policies of the outgoing chief executive. This is being looked at as a major blow for democracy in Hong Kong.

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This is a selection, not an election, said Joshua Wong, a former student leader who led Hong Kongs 2014 pro-democracy protests, according to Washington Post. Carrie Lam will be a nightmare for us.

The lack of representation in Hong Kongs election process has sparked of massive protests in the region with activists saying that the citys leader is chosen by (Chinese) President Xi Jinping not Hong Kongers.

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Hong Kong's new leader Carrie Lam, seen as tough and capable by supporters but hated by the pro-democracy camp, faces a difficult task in calming political tensions in the divided city.

Voted in as chief executive Sunday by a committee weighted towards Beijing, critics say she will only further polarise a society riven by protests two years ago that centred on fears of China's growing influence.

Lam, who will be the first woman to run Hong Kong, rose through the ranks as a career civil servant before taking public office.

She served as deputy to Hong Kong's outgoing leader Leung Chun-ying and is tainted by her association with an unpopular figure who was criticised for doing Beijing's bidding while in office.

Lam is nicknamed "lai-ma" or "wet-nurse" by opponents in a jibe over what they say was fawning loyalty towards her former boss.

Her negative image among activists was sealed when she promoted a Beijing-backed reform package rejected as "fake democracy" by opponents.

The plan triggered mass street protests in 2014 that paralysed the city for more than two months but failed to win concessions from Beijing on fully free leadership elections.

Lam has made no commitment to revisit the political reform debate, instead trying to connect with the public on livelihood issues.

The 59-year-old cast herself as a force for change on the campaign trail, focusing on issues such as poverty and housing which have also fuelled unrest.

Although she was well behind main rival John Tsang in most opinion polls before the vote, she had strong support among older residents.

Ex-finance minister Tsang, seen as a more moderate establishment figure, garnered backing from young people.

Lam was widely perceived as Beijing's favoured candidate throughout the race and was viewed as the most likely winner.

Her resignation from her position as deputy leader in January, a move that signalled her candidacy, was quickly endorsed by Beijing.

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In contrast, Tsang's resignation took more than a month to be approved by Chinese authorities.

Lam has promised to try to build consensus and "restore faith and hope" in Hong Kong. But she has also said she would "strengthen the relationship between Hong Kong and China".

"Hong Kong, our home, is suffering from quite a serious divisiveness and has accumulated a lot of frustrations. My priority will be to heal the divide," she said in a victory speech.

Lam has also emphasised there is no room for independence for the city, responding to a rise in calls for a direct split from China by some young activists -- a sentiment viewed as unthinkable just a few years ago.

She said she was "deeply honoured" to become the first female chief executive, adding gender equality was necessary for stable development.

Lam's bid to be seen as a woman of the people hit stumbling blocks as she sought the leadership.

While using the city's underground rail network as part of campaigning, she appeared unfamiliar with how to use the ubiquitous "Octopus" travel card to get through barriers.

She was also mocked for a lack of common sense after an anecdote related to reporters -- about a late-night hunt for toilet paper -- revealed she didn't know where to buy essentials in a city packed with convenience stores.

However in an election decided by a committee heavily weighted towards Beijing and branded unrepresentative by many campaigners, she eventually won by 777 votes, against Tsang's 365, and with former judge Woo Kwok-hing gaining 21.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has imposed sanctions on 15 U.S. companies for alleged human rights violations and cooperating with Israel, the state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday, in a tit-for-tat reaction to a move by Washington. The agency quoted Iran's foreign ministry as saying the companies had "flagrantly violated human rights" and cooperated with Israel in its "terrorism" against the Palestinians and the expansion of Jewish settlements. It was not immediately clear if any of the companies, which included defense technology firm Raytheon, had any dealings with Iran or whether they would be affected in any way by Tehran's action, which IRNA said would include seizure of their assets and a ban on contacts with them. The sanctioned companies also included ITT Corporation, United Technologies and specialty vehicles maker Oshkosh Corp. For a full list click on: http://bit.ly/2noZWNo The Iranian move came two days after the United States imposed sanctions on 11 companies or individuals from China, North Korea or the United Arab Emirates for technology transfers that could boost Tehran's ballistic missile program. Iran would face tighter U.S. sanctions over ballistic missile launches and other non-nuclear activities under a bill announced on Thursday by a bipartisan group of senators, echoing a harder line on Tehran espoused by Republican President Donald Trump. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Andrew Torchia and Elaine Hardcastle)
By Hamuda Hassan and John Davison MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Conflicting accounts emerged on Sunday about an explosion in Iraq's Mosul a week ago after a U.S.-led coalition strike against Islamic State that local officials say collapsed buildings, killing and burying many people. Iraq's military said 61 bodies had been recovered from a destroyed building that Islamic State had booby-trapped in west Mosul, but that there was no sign the building had been hit by a coalition air strike. The military statement differed from reports by witnesses and local officials that said many more bodies were pulled from the building after a coalition strike targeted IS militants and equipment in the Jadida district. Ninevah provincial governor's health directorate said on Sunday 160 bodies had been officially buried after they were recovered from the site where eyewitnesses said buildings had been flattened by the March 17 blast. "Six alleyways of the neighbourhood were completely destroyed," Laith Habbaba, head of Nineveh health directorate, told Reuters. "Civil defence has extracted and buried 160 bodies up to this moment." What happened on March 17 remains unclear and details are difficult to confirm as Iraqi forces battle with Islamic State to recapture the densely populated parts of the western half of Mosul, the militant group's last stronghold in Iraq. Eyewitnesses on Sunday described horrific scenes from the blast, with body parts strewn over rubble, residents trying desperately to pull out survivors and other people buried out of reach. "We felt the earth shaking as if it was an earthquake. It was an airstrike that targeted my street. Dust, shattered glass and powder were the only things my wife, myself and three kids were feeling," said one Jadida resident, Abu Ayman. "We heard screams and loud crying coming from the house next door. After the bombing stopped, I went out with some neighbours and found that some houses on my street were levelled." As combat continues, the Jadida incident highlights the complexity of the fighting in west Mosul, where militants hide among families, using them as shields and putting at risk as many as half a million people still caught in Islamic State-held areas. Iraqi forces on Sunday hit militant positions with helicopter strikes, and exchanged heavy gunfire and rockets around al Nuri mosque in west Mosul, where the Islamic State leader declared his caliphate nearly three years ago. At the north edge of Mosul, Iraqi army divisions raided and entered the Badush cement factory, to where militants had retreated, Lt. Col. Ali Jassem of the 9th armoured division said. Army units are clearing villages to the north. Thousands of people have already fled Mosul and coalition officials and Iraq's Shi'ite-led government are wary of incidents that could alienate residents of the mainly Sunni city and fuel the kind of sectarian tensions that helped Islamic State's rise. The U.S.-led coalition backing Iraqi forces on Saturday said it carried out a strike on Islamic State militants and equipment in the area of the reported deaths, and was investigating. It did not give figures for any casualties or details of targets. The Iraqi military command said witnesses had told troops that the building was booby-trapped and militants had forced residents inside basements to use them as shields. IS militants had also fired on troops from houses, it said. "A team of military experts from field commanders checked the building where the media reported that the house was completely destroyed. All walls were booby-trapped and there is no hole that indicates an air strike," it said. "Sixty-one bodies were evacuated," the statement said. A coalition air strike had hit the area at the time though there was no sign it struck that building, it said. CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS The military's casualty figure was much lower than that given by local officials - a municipal official had said on Saturday that 240 bodies had been pulled from the rubble. A local lawmaker and two witnesses say a coalition air strike may have targeted a large truck bomb, triggering a blast that collapsed buildings. Ghazwan al-Dawoodi, head of the Nineveh governorate human rights council, said his team had made a field visit and that 173 people were killed after militants forced them into a bunker, and then opened fire on gunships to prompt an airstrike. Another eyewitness Abu Obeid, a teacher, told Reuters Islamic State had parked a truck bomb in the neighbourhood. There was one huge blast then several others. When he emerged from his home after three hours, many homes were destroyed, he said. Iraqi forces have retaken the east of Mosul and half of the west, across the Tigris River that divides Iraq's second city. Thousands of people are fleeing each day to escape the fighting. Aid groups are scrambling to build more camps to cope with the surge. The Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said that since the campaign against western Mosul began on Feb. 19, unconfirmed reports have said nearly 700 civilians have been killed by government and coalition air strikes or Islamic State action. The militants have used car bombs, snipers and mortar fire to counter the offensive. They have also stationed themselves in homes belonging to Mosul residents, from which they fire at Iraqi troops, often drawing air or artillery strikes that have killed civilians. (Reporting by Baghdad bureau; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
Mosul (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraqi civil defence forces and volunteers removed bodies from the rubble of houses on Sunday in a west Mosul area where air strikes reportedly took a devastating toll on civilians.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians are still trapped, caught between advancing Iraqi forces and the Islamic State group jihadists that they are fighting to defeat.

Iraqi officials and witnesses said air strikes killed civilians in the Mosul al-Jadida area in recent days, but the number of victims -- said by some to number in the hundreds -- could not be independently confirmed.

An AFP photographer saw civil defence personnel and volunteers digging through the remains of houses to recover the dead in Mosul al-Jadida, where at least six homes were completely destroyed.

The remains of 12 people -- among them women and children -- were placed in blue plastic body bags.

A 45-year-old man who wept as he spoke said he was living with more than 20 relatives in one of the houses that was destroyed.

The man, who did not want to be identified, survived because he was away at the time, but said he was told that an air strike targeted the house where IS had positioned two snipers on the roof.

Several senior Iraqi military officers visited Mosul al-Jadida on Sunday and asked people what had happened, the AFP photographer said.

Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, the spokesman for the Joint Operations Command, said Iraq is investigating reports of civilian deaths in west Mosul.

- Coalition potentially responsible -

"The defence ministry opened an investigation into this issue," Rasool said.

The US-led coalition against IS has indicated that it may have been responsible for at least some of the civilian deaths, and said it is also conducting an investigation.

"An initial review of strike data... indicates that, at the request of the Iraqi security forces, the coalition struck (IS) fighters and equipment, March 17, in west Mosul at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties," it said in a statement on Saturday.

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But that only addresses one day, while Iraqi officials referred to strikes carried out over several.

On Sunday, US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel called recent civilian deaths in Mosul a "terrible tragedy".

"We are investigating the incident to determine exactly what happened and will continue to take extraordinary measures to avoid harming civilians," he said in a statement.

At the beginning of this month the international alliance had said that "it is more likely than not, at least 220 civilians have been unintentionally killed by coalition strikes", and other incidents were still under investigation.

Two witnesses who have now fled the city said that a building with around 170 people inside was destroyed in Mosul al-Jadida.

One of them said that IS snipers had fired on Iraqi forces, after which an aircraft targeted them with a missile.

An Iraqi brigadier general said that 27 residential buildings had been damaged by multiple days of strikes in west Mosul, and some were completely destroyed.

- Jihadists using human shields -

Some officials from Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, have put the death toll from the strikes in the hundreds, but the number of victims is unclear.

Following the raids, the United Nations called for "everything possible" to be done to protect civilians in Mosul.

"International humanitarian law is clear. Parties to the conflict -- all parties -- are obliged to do everything possible to protect civilians. This means that combatants cannot use people as human shields and cannot imperil lives through indiscriminate use of fire-power," said Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Iraq.

Rasool, meanwhile, said Iraqi forces were seeking to target jihadists using civilians as human shields.

IS "began to use citizens as human shields, and we are trying to target them with... snipers to eliminate them," he said.

Iraqi forces are relying on "light and medium weapons, among them sniper (rifles), to hunt for Daesh members" located among civilians, Rasool said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

However, Iraqi forces have also frequently fired mortar rounds and unguided rockets during the battle for west Mosul -- weapons that pose a much greater risk to residents where fighting is taking place.

Rasool accused IS of gathering civilians together and blowing up vehicles nearby to make it look like "Iraqi forces... are targeting innocent civilians".

According to Iraqi authorities, more than 200,000 people have fled west Mosul since the operation to retake the area began on February 19.

However, the UN has said that around 600,000 are still inside the city.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State has warned that the Tabqa dam, which a U.S.-backed Kurdish and Arab militia is trying to capture from the militant group, is at imminent risk of collapse because of airstrikes and increased water levels. It also said in messages carried on its social media channels that the dam's operations had been put out of service and that all flood gates were closed. The dam, on the Euphrates about 40 km (25 miles) upstream from Islamic State's stronghold of Raqqa, is the largest in Syria. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces has been battling to capture the dam from Islamic State since Friday. A Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said it had also learned from its own sources that the dam had stopped functioning but that Islamic State remained in control of its main operational buildings and turbines. The dam is about 4 km long and the SDF has advanced a small distance along the dam from the northern bank but its progress is slow because Islamic State has heavily mined the area, the Observatory said. (Reporting by Angus McDowall; editing by Susan Thomas)
Washington (AFP) - Rwanda's President Paul Kagame became the first African leader to address Washington's biggest pro-Israel forum Sunday, hailing the Jewish state as an inspiration for his own country's rebirth after genocide.

Kagame was commander of the rebel force that put an end to the 1994 slaughter of Rwandan Tutsis by Hutu extremists and has led the country since 2000, as it recovers from the conflict and becomes a regional economic success story.

In Washington to attend the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), he hailed the success of the state of Israel after the horrors of the Holocaust and pledged Rwanda's friendship.

"The security of peoples who have once been targeted for extermination can never be exclusively physical," Kagame told the delegates, who received him with warm applause.

"Until all ideologies which justify killing as a patriotic duty are defeated our world is not truly safe. Not for us, not for anyone."

Israel's relations with African governments have not always been easy.

Some African political movements saw their own struggles against colonial rule reflected in the Palestinian fight for statehood -- and many remember Israel's military support for South Africa's former Apartheid regime.

But Israel has an active diplomatic engagement on the continent and has won friends through economic and technical cooperation with major players like Rwanda.

- 'Reckless efforts' -

Last year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured four African countries -- including Rwanda -- and in October he is expected to meet around 30 leaders at an Israel-Africa summit in Togo.

Kagame visited Israel in 2008 and made clear at AIPAC that he sees the country as a friend and ally, rejecting what he sees as efforts in some quarters to delegitimize Israeli statehood.

"Together with friends like the United States we must call for renewed global solidarity against the reckless efforts to deny genocide and to trivialize the victims," he said.

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"Israel has the right to exist and thrive as a full member the international community. This is not an infringement of the rights of any other people," he declared.

Rwanda's friendship with Israel is also a diplomatic boon for both countries, which have both relied on strong US support but have also tried the patience of Washington's foreign policy establishment in recent years.

Under former president Barack Obama, the United States expressed concern at what they saw as an authoritarian drift in Kagame's rule and in particular a 2015 reform to the constitution to allow him to run for a third term.

The White House also sparred with Netanyahu's government, warning that its accelerated program of Jewish settlement building on occupied Palestinian land had put the Middle East peace process in jeopardy.

In 2014, when Rwanda sat on the United Nations Security Council, Kigali abstained from a resolution that advocated the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories but was ultimately rejected.

US President Donald Trump's new administration has so far proved more sympathetic to Israel's ambitions, and both Rwanda and Israel hope for warm relations.

Speaking to AIPAC before Kagame, Israeli's ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer said: "For the first time in years there is no daylight between our governments."

Israel insists a peace deal with the Palestinians can only come through direct negotiations between the parties, without outside diplomatic pressure, a position that Kagame fully endorsed.
This list is not comprehensive. Municipalities are listed as they appear on the criminal complaint. Suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. To see mugshots of the accused, visit www.journaltimes.com/gallery. Additional information about the complaints can be found at: journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts.

Joshua L. Adams, 1800 block of Taylor Ave., Racine, battery, criminal damage to property, and bail jumping.

Connie M. Adkins, 3400 block of Fischer Drive, Burlington, disorderly conduct, domestic abuse assessments.

Michael E. Andresen III, 1900 block of State St., Racine, operate a motor vehicle while revoked, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, obstructing an officer, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, bail jumping, battery, disorderly conduct, domestic abuse assessments.

Radojko R. Andric, address unknown, Racine, disorderly conduct, and operating a motor vehicle without owners consent.

Jasmin Avila, 300 block of N. Butrick St., Waukegan, Ill., possession with intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Alex A. Bane, 1500 block of Albert St., Racine, throw or discharge bodily fluids at public safety worker.

Edward B. Bick, 600 block of S. Green Bay Road, Racine, disorderly conduct.

Christopher C. Boone, 1000 block of Davis Place, Racine, robbery with use of force, and battery.

Jean M. Boothe, 1800 block of 84th Place, Kenosha, operating while intoxicated causing injury, and operate motor vehicle while revoked.

Conell Brown, 5600 block of N. 91st St., Milwaukee, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, and operating a motor vehicle and while revoked.

Trevon J. Bunck, 700 block of Villa St., Racine, disorderly conduct, obstructing an officer, and possession of marijuana.

Jason D. Christon, 1300 block of Terrace Ave., Racine, battery, disorderly conduct, domestic abuse assessments.

Devontae M. Cobbins, 1000 block of Hagerer St., Racine, possess illegally obtained prescription, and obstructing an officer.

Victor D. Colon, 1100 block of Irving Place, Racine, battery, and disorderly conduct.

Isaiah B. Cornell, 1900 block of Hickory Grive Ave., Racine, dangerous weapon on school premises.

Dustin L. Costanzo, 7500 block of W. River Road, Caledonia, possession of narcotic drugs, possession of a controlled substance, and obstructing an officer.

Christopher A. Cosey Jr., 2400 block of Carmel Ave., Racine, burglary of a building or dwelling, and carrying a concealed weapon.

Deston M. Davis, 3700 block of 21st St., Racine, possession with intent to deliver cocaine, and possession with intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana.

Benjamin I. Dolphin, 600 block of Foxmead Place, Waterford, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Deontaye A. Famous, 1900 block of Hayes Ave., Racine, manufacture/deliver cocaine, bail jumping, possession of marijuana, possession with intent to deliver cocaine, and possession with intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana.

Devante J. Fells, 9100 block of N. Joyce Ave., Milwaukee, operating a motor vehicle without owners consent, and theft of moveable property.

Akeem W. First, 1200 block of Buchanan St., Racine, obstructing an officer.

Avery S. Franklin, 1600 block of Perry Ave., Racine, criminal damage to property, and disorderly conduct.

Jahmal D. Furet Jr., 1700 block of Holmes Ave., Racine, robbery, battery, and disorderly conduct.

Maurice E. Hall II, 2300 block of Olive St., Racine, possession of marijuana.

Thomas A. Hamilton Jr., 2000 block of S. 95th St., Milwaukee, disorderly conduct, and stalking.

Anthony M. Harrison, 400 block of S. Kendrick, Burlington, criminal damage to property, domestic abuse assessments, criminal trespass, and disorderly conduct.

Stephen N. Hesse, 3100 block of Rapids Drive, Racine, physical abuse of a child, recklessly cause great bodily harm.

Jose M. Huerta Guzman, 200 block of N. Metropolitan Ave., Waukegan, Ill., possession with intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Patricia A. Hummel, 3000 block of Durand Ave., Racine, hit and run attended vehicle.

Jermaris T. Johnson, 3300 block of Victory Ave., Racine, personal identity theft for financial gain, and bail jumping.

Cyrus J. Johnson-Moss, 5800 block of Middle Road, Racine, first degree sexual assault of a child under age 12, and repeated sexual assault of a child.

Maria C. Joiner, 1000 block of Erie St., Racine, criminal trespass, and disorderly conduct.

Steven S. Kimura, 1400 block of Greenfield Ave., Burlington, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

George E. Kramer, 900 block of Washington Ave., Racine, retail theft.

Thomas J. Krivitz, 5400 block of S. Lake Drive, Cudahy, theft by contractor.

Heather R. Langlois, 31500 block of Ranke Road, Waterford, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Dawon A. McIntosh, 300 block of Parkview Drive, Racine, battery, disorderly conduct, domestic abuse assessments.

Matthew M. Madisen, 1200 block of Augusta St., Racine, disorderly conduct.

Robert A. Metcaffe, 14800 block of W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood, Colo., first degree sexual assault.

Jeffrey A. Mico, 3000 block of 21st St., Racine, disorderly conduct.

Jerald J. Middleton, 3400 block of 17th St., Racine, disorderly conduct.

Tina M. Miller, 1700 block of S. 89th St., Milwaukee, theft.

Tyler J. Mohrbacher, 5800 block of Embassy Drive, Mount Pleasant, battery, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct, domestic abuse assessments.

Joshua I. Morris, 4200 block of Durand Ave., Racine, disorderly conduct, domestic abuse assessments, possession of a firearm by a felon, and obstructing an officer.

Anthony D. Mullins, 1700 block of Mead St., Racine, physical abuse of a child, bail jumping, domestic abuse assessments.

Kyle M. Newhouse, 2900 block of 73rd St., Kenosha, bail jumping, domestic abuse assessments.

Dimitri Ousley, 1800 block of Clark St., Manitowoc, obstructing an officer, and bail jumping.

Amarion A. Person, 900 block of Racine St., Racine, battery by prisoners, and disorderly conduct.

Jason A. Pica, 11900 block of W. Mill Road, Milwaukee, possession of a firearm while intoxicated, resisting an officer causing injury to the officer, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, operating with prohibited alcohol concentration, carrying a concealed weapon, resisting an officer, and disorderly conduct.

Davon L. Price, 1100 block of Racine St., Racine, failure to report to jail.

Kirrionta V. Rhinehouse, 900 block of Chicago St., Racine, possession of marijuana.

Florentino Rodriguez, 1700 block of Virginia St., Racine, knowingly violate a domestic abuse injunction, bail jumping, and criminal damage to property.

Johnathan R. Roemer, 2200 block of Shoop St., Racine, criminal damage to property, and disorderly conduct.

Carl A. Rogers-Irish, 500 block of 10th St., Racine, concealing stolen property, and bail jumping.

Demetria S. Rogers, 3700 block of 21st St., Racine, possession with intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana, possession with intent to deliver cocaine, maintaining a drug trafficking place, receiving stolen firearm, and child neglect.

Andrew J. Rothfelder, 9300 block of N. Pine Road, Milton, theft.

Xavier R. Scott, 1200 block of Marquette St., Racine, battery, domestic abuse assessments, and bail jumping.

Sierra L. Seamandel, 9500 block of Broadway Drive, Sturtevant, battery, disorderly conduct, domestic abuse assessments, criminal damage to property, bail jumping, fraudulent use of a credit card, and theft.

Ashley D. Taylor, 800 block of Hagerer St., Racine, substantial battery, disorderly conduct, domestic abuse assessments.

Peter M. Vanko, 2700 block of Cottage Drive, Sturtevant, operating while intoxicated causing injury, and operating with prohibited alcohol concentration causing injury.

Darcy D. Wade, 2800 block of N. 12th St., Milwaukee, possession of marijuana.

Lynda K. Whitmore, 5700 block of N. 77th St., Milwaukee, bail jumping.

Lashan T. Wilkerson, 1600 block of Summit Ave., Racine, theft, and concealing stolen property.

Lee A. Wrencher, 5600 block of Byrd Ave., Racine, possession with intent to deliver or manufacture marijuana, maintaining a drug trafficking place, possession of narcotic drugs, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Carrington Wright, 4300 block of N. 104th St., Milwaukee, possession of marijuana, and obstructing an officer.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP)  A reporter for a radio station at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has been fired after state lawmakers complained she failed to disclose her presence during a meeting on a state transgender bathroom bill.

The Chattanooga Times-Free Press (http://bit.ly/2nfiEW3 ) reports that lawmakers said WUTC-FM reporter Jacqui Helbert failed to properly identify herself as a reporter during meetings March 7 between lawmakers and a group of high school students.

Helbert says she wore a press ID badge at the Capitol, was carrying radio equipment, and never concealed her intentions.

University spokesman George Heddleston says in a statement the university's decision to fire Helbert was "based on a violation of journalism ethics."

The students were advocating against the bathroom bill, which failed to make it out of the Senate Education Committee.

___

Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP)  Moving day at the Kia Classic set up what should be an exciting final 18 holes at Aviara on Sunday.

Mirim Lee shot a 5-under 67 in the third round Saturday to go to 13-under and take a one shot lead over Mi Jung Hur, who made a 67-foot putt on No. 18 to card a 66.

Another South Korean, In Gee Chun, was tied at 10-under with Cristie Kerr, who was in a three-way tie for the lead after the first round and was alone atop the leaderboard after 36 holes.

The most pressure Sunday might be on Kerr, the 2015 Kia champion.

Kerr had her most erratic round of the tournament, a 1-under 71 that ended with a bogey on 18.

"I like my position," Kerr said. "Honestly, I didn't hit it that great today. I scrambled a lot. That last pin was really difficult. It was kind of hard to judge the speed through the shadows, and I didn't do a very good job. I three-putted the last hole."

She said her coach flew in on Saturday, "so I get to go do a little session with him tonight. I'm going to go work with my coach and try to hit it a little better tomorrow and give myself more opportunities to make birdies."

Hur was energized by her long putt on 18, which she thinks was the longest she's ever made.

"I definitely feel very, very good right now because I finish with a birdie on the last hole," she said. "That was a huge, long putt. That helps a lot, the last putt. It put me second place. I'm getting excited to be playing tomorrow."

Her only bogey was on the par-3 11th.

"I just want to stay positive and still be patient for those greens," she said. "It actually was good today and my putter was good. I struggled a little bit with my iron shots."

Brittany Lincicome made an early run with four birdies and an eagle in her first eight holes to get to 10-under before she had two bogeys on the back nine in a round of 67 that tied her with Austin Ernst and Karine Icher at 9-under.

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In a group of five golfers at 8-under was Jackie Stoelting, who at 30 has earned, lost and earned back her tour card. After making the cut in an LPGA tournament for the first time since 2015, she got to 11-under through 10 holes before double-bogeying the par-4 13th and bogeying the 18th for a 70.

Two years ago at the Kia, she shot 4-under in the first round and 4-over in the second round and missed the cut by one.

"I'm not going to lie, yesterday I had a lot of nerves thinking, 'I don't want to do that again,'" said Stoelting, whose husband, Travis, is her caddie. "I made a couple birdies  actually bogeyed my second hole and made a couple birdies coming in the front nine and really settled down.

"I've been in contention a lot on the Symetra Tour," said Stoelting, who admitted getting nervous Saturday when the TV crew began following her.

"That really helped me settle down a little bit more, knowing that I've dealt with cameras before," she said. "It's definitely different out here. But I enjoy that feeling."

She has only $10,398 in career LPGA earnings and is ranked 303 in the world. Her biggest paycheck has come via Big Break on the Golf Channel, when she won some $70,000 and other prizes.

Stoelting said she owes a lot to her clothing sponsor, 2GG Apparel, which is owned by former major league pitcher Russ Ortiz.

"We talked a lot last week just about playing fearless and just really believing in myself," she said. "I think that's the biggest difference this week."

She said she decided last year she was either going to get her card through the Symetra Tour or Q-School, or quit. She got it through the Symetra Tour.

"A lot of people say, 'You're 30, you're 30.' But the golf ball has no clue how old I am."
By Dan Freed and Anthony Esposito ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican financiers and politicians blasted populism at a top banking conference this week in a thinly veiled attack on the frontrunner for the 2018 presidential election - but some worry they overdid it and may have played right into his hands. The chosen theme of the annual meeting at the beach resort of Acapulco was "liberalism versus populism," with President Enrique Pena Nieto, senior ministers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and ex-Secretary of State Colin Powell among the grandees squarely lined up on one side. Without a voice but very much on the lips of the Mexicans was Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist former Mexico City mayor and twice presidential runner-up whose relentless campaigning has put him in contention to go one better in 2018. Lopez Obrador's broadsides against corruption and inequality sting a Mexican political establishment tainted by allegations of graft, even as U.S. President Donald Trump's populist jabs at Mexico have generated some sympathy for Pena Nieto at home. After extensive security checks in this fabled tourist destination that today struggles with gang violence, Mexican bankers heard speakers condemn what Pena Nieto called the "easy escapes" and "magical solutions" of populism. Still, mindful of Trump's shock victory across the border in November, several bankers said they would have liked to hear from populists, and for their lobby, the Mexican Banking Association (ABM), to avoid choosing sides. "You have to be balanced and objective. Putting liberalism as all good and populism as all bad doesn't represent what all banks want," said Raul Martinez-Ostos, chief executive officer and president of Barclays Mexico. The possibility of a Lopez Obrador victory in July 2018 is already causing nervousness among economists. Luis Robles, the ABM's president and chairman of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria's Mexico unit, Bancomer, said the point was not to pick sides, but to analyze a phenomenon. Robles said the ABM did not invite Lopez Obrador because "he's a politician and this is a banking convention." That did not stop officials including Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade from warning about people urging Mexicans to "return to the past, isolate ourselves and ignore technological change." Pena Nieto was invited, not as a politician but to represent a Mexican institution, Robles said. Even if debate had been the goal, it would not have been possible, he argued: "It's hard to debate something that's false by definition: false premises, alternative realities that aren't objective." But other bankers said such voices needed to be heard. "Populist governments have proven they don't work, and they can hurt lots of countries, including ours," said Oscar Dominguez, a senior Mexico executive at Volkswagen Financial Services. "Still, it makes a lot of sense to listen to what they have to say. That voice was missing from the conference." Lopez Obrador respects the decisions of the ABM, said his spokesman Cesar Yanez. "We aren't fighting with any constituency in this country -not with bankers, not with businessmen," he said. "We need all of them to move our country forward." (Corrects title of Barclays executive in paragraph 7) (Additional reporting by Roberto Aguilar and Noe Torres; Editing by Dave Graham and Paul Simao)
As tensions escalate in East Asia, North Korea may be closing in to conducting its sixth underground nuclear test, a report citing intelligence gathered by the United States said Friday.

Two U.S. officials, speaking to CNN, said there existed satellite imagery of the Punggye-ri test site, which showed significant changes on the site. The images regularly show military personnel, vehicles and equipment along with two tunnel entrances that could have been dug for use during the underground test.

Read: Kim Jong Un's Regime Issues Threat To US Over Possible Preemptive Strike

The latest images, however, showed a complete stoppage of such activity, as was the case before Pyongyangs previous nuclear tests. According to the officials, this shows that the final preparations had concluded. A similar statement was issued by U.S. ally South Korea.

It is assessed that North Korea is ready to carry out a nuclear test anytime if its leadership decides to do so, Ministry of Unification spokesman Lee Duk-haeng said in a press briefing. South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities evaluate that North Korea is ready to carry out a nuclear test anytime on the leadership's decision

Pyongyang has been hinting at further tests and a North Korean envoy said Tuesday that their Supreme Commander Kim Jong Un will launch an intercontinental ballistic missile at any time and at any place that he pleased.

The U.S. and South Korea have been attempting to deter the North Korean nuclear threat and a powerful long-range bomber was flown over the Korean peninsula Wednesday. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, during a trip to Seoul last week, said preemptive strikes were on the table if the U.S. and its allies were threatened with North Koreas nuclear program.

In response, Pyongyangs official mouthpiece KCNA published an article titled U.S. should not run wild, pondering over the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its attempt at a preemptive strike.

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Kuwait City (AFP) - OPEC and non-OPEC producers said Sunday at a meeting in Kuwait they were looking into extending an output cuts deal aimed at stabilising the market, as compliance with the milestone pact increases.

The cuts aim to reduce world oil supplies and boost prices that have slumped since mid-2014.

The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee "expressed its satisfaction with the progress made towards full conformity with the voluntary production adjustments and encouraged all participating countries to press on towards 100 percent conformity," producers said after their day-long meeting.

The committee, formed by OPEC and non-OPEC members to oversee compliance with the deal to reduce output reached last year, also studied the possibility of extending the cuts for another six-month period.

It said its technical committee, in coordination with the OPEC secretariat, should "review the oil market conditions" and report back at a committee meeting next month.

Participating producers had reached 94 percent compliance with the cuts in February, up eight percent from January.

Kuwait's Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouk, who heads the joint committee, told a press conference that OPEC compliance had reached 106 percent, while non-OPEC compliance rates remained around 65 percent.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries in November agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from January 1, initially for a period of six months.

Non-OPEC producers led by Russia agreed in December to cut their own output to 558,000 bpd.

The meeting was attended by the oil ministers of Oman, Iraq, UAE, Venezuela and Russia.

Bloomberg News reported that Venezuela, Oman and Iraq voiced support in Kuwait for a rollover of the cuts beyond June.

Marzouk said the market could rebalance by the third quarter of the year if OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached full compliance with the deal.

But the Kuwaiti minister also warned that crude oil stocks remained high and price volatility was on the rise.

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After the output cuts went into effect in January, oil prices rose to above $55 a barrel before shedding some of the gains due to fears from high inventory levels.

But OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo said he expected most of the glut to disappear in three months.

"We still believe that the full and timely implementation of the decisions taken last year will see destocking accelerate by the end of the first half of 2017," Barkindo said in his speech.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers who signed up to the cuts are scheduled to hold a crucial meeting in late May to consider whether to extend the reductions.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP)  A city councilwoman is asking homeowners in an Oklahoma college town to rename a street honoring a prominent former university professor and Ku Klux Klan member.

Norman Councilwoman Breea Clark has posted an online petition asking residents to help change the name of DeBarr Avenue. If at least three-fourths of Norman homeowners agree, the city  home to the University of Oklahoma  would be among several cities nationwide renaming monuments and streets named after prominent KKK members.

"I'm not trying to hide from our past . but we don't have to honor that past with street names," Clark, who works at the university, told the Oklahoman newspaper (http://bit.ly/2nX2TGv ).

The block-long street honors Edwin DeBarr, one of the university's first professors and founder of its chemistry department. DeBarr became a grand dragon in the KKK while at the school, and regents forced him out in 1923 because of his Klan involvement.

Some homeowners who live along DeBarr Avenue support the name change, including 24-year-old student Lourya Winn.

"It does kind of tarnish it a little when you learn," said Winn, who is black.

Last year, University of Tulsa trustees voted to strip John Rogers' name from the law school building because of his ties to the Klan. Rogers helped found the law school in 1943, but also helped incorporate the KKK-affiliated Tulsa Benevolent Association.

In 2013, Tulsa city councilors voted to rename the city's glitzy arts district, which had been named after KKK member Wyatt Tate Brady. The street is still called Brady, but for the Civil War photographer Mathew Brady.

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Information from: The Oklahoman, http://www.newsok.com
Washington (AFP) - Gunfire erupted in a crowded Ohio nightclub early Sunday after a personal dispute boiled over, killing one person and wounding at least 15 as partygoers scattered into the night, authorities said.

The gunmen remained at large following the shooting at the Cameo nightclub in Cincinnati that Police Chief Eliot Isaac said was packed with revelers.

"Several local men got into some type of dispute inside the bar and it escalated into shots being fired from several individuals," Isaac told reporters.

"As a result, there were 16 people that sustained gunshot injuries, one of which is deceased," he said, adding that one victim was in "an extremely critical condition."

Isaac named the man killed at the scene as 27-year-old Obryan Spikes.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said there was "no evidence that this was a terrorist attack."

"However, to the victims, what difference does it make? They've been terrorized by gun violence, innocent victims," he said.

"It's important for everyone to understand that people were just going to have a good time and ended up getting shot. That is totally unacceptable."

Police began receiving calls about shots being fired at the club at about 1:30 am (0530 GMT), according to Isaac.

No arrests have yet been made, and Isaac could not confirm whether any of the injured were among the shooters.

"The investigation is in its very early stages," the police chief said.

Authorities in the Midwestern city called on anyone with information that could help the probe to come forward.

- 'Grown and sexy' -

According to its Facebook page, Cameo admits "grown and sexy" partygoers aged 21 and over on Saturday nights.

"It was a young crowd and we have had incidents in the past, but this is the worst by far," Captain Kimberly Williams, the district's police commander, told CNN.

She said there was "a lot of chaos when the shots went off."

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Cameo was the site of two shooting investigations in 2015, local news station WLWT reported.

Someone was shot in the foot there on New Year's Day, and a shooting victim was found in the parking lot in September, WLWT said.

Ohio Governor John Kasich said his office was offering help to local authorities.

"You see things like this and you begin to wonder, where is it safe to go?" he said on CNN.

Although authorities said there was no evidence of terrorism, the attack inevitably raised memories of last year's rampage at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

That mass shooting -- which left 49 dead and 68 wounded -- was the deadliest terror attack in the United States since September 11, 2001.

The gunman, Omar Mateen, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State jihadist group in a call to police during the assault.

- American gun violence -

But shootings are a common feature of life in America, where the right to bear arms is protected by the US Constitution.

Cincinnati, a city of 300,000 people nestled along the northern banks of the Ohio River, had 66 homicides in 2016, all but nine of them as a result of firearms.

This year has seen a spike in gun violence, with 57 shooting victims in the city as of Thursday last week, compared to 31 during the same period last year.

Elsewhere in the United States, a gunman opened fire Saturday on a double-decker bus on the Las Vegas Strip, killing one person and wounding another. Police said the suspect appeared to have "mental issues."

More notorious gun crimes in recent years included the rampage carried out by 21-year-old white supremacist Dylann Roof, who shot to death nine people during a Bible study session at a historically African American church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015.

And a massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012 claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults. Gunman Adam Lanza, who had a history of mental illness, also killed his mother and went on to commit suicide.

The tragedy sparked calls for stricter gun control laws, but bills banning assault weapons and expanding background checks on gun purchases were defeated in the US Congress.
RACINE  While addressing Racine and Kenosha Republicans at the annual Lincoln Day dinner on Saturday night, House Speaker Paul Ryan admitted that Friday "was not the best day."

Not only did the House of Representatives not vote on Ryan's attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare -- the bill was pulled in the afternoon, when it was apparent it did not have the votes to pass the Republican-majority House -- but as he pointed out, Ryan's beloved Wisconsin Badgers fell at the buzzer in the NCAA Tournament late Friday night.

"I'm at the airport ready to come home to Jenna and the kids and she texts me, 'Man, you really picked the wrong Lent to give up drinking beer,' " Ryan quipped.

But in his 30-minute speech to some of his most faithful constituents at Festival Hall, 5 Fifth St., Ryan struck an optimistic tone about the future of the Republicans' ACA replacement, the American Health Care Act, and the future of the Republican Party in general.

"We didn't get quite over the finish line in our efforts, in our seven-year quest to repeal and replace Obamacare, and I am not going to stop until we do," Ryan said.

Ryan frequently used terms such as "hiccup" and "speed bump" to describe Friday's health care legislation setback. He also discussed the difficulty of getting 216 congressmen to support his bill.

"It's a real challenge," Ryan said. "But it's a challenge I believe that we are up to."

Ryan also touched on how he's noticed "growing pains" among Republicans in Congress as the party has had to transition from being the opposition party to controlling both houses of the federal legislature and holding the presidency.

"We were a pretty good opposition party for the last 10 years," he said. "We're trying to go from that mindset and mentality to becoming a governing, proposition party and we're trying to do it in a really big way in about three months."

Ryan spoke about other issues besides health care in the speech, including military spending, business taxes and improving the American economy. He also mentioned his positive working relationship with President Donald Trump.

"He's a very, very engaged guy," Ryan said. "Seeing him get so involved and so wrapped up in the details, working on legislation in Congress, it's really quite refreshing."

Protesters march to Festival Hall

Before the event began, nearly 100 protesters representing Forward Racine and Forward Kenosha marched from Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church, 625 College Ave., to Festival Hall to air their grievances, which were mostly directed toward Ryan.

"Many of us, the constituents of Paul Ryan, are feeling frustrated that we are having trouble communicating with his office," said Natalia Taft, one of the protest's organizers. "We're feeling like, as constituents, he's not really hearing us."

Inside Festival Hall, the event's emcee, local conservative radio host Dan O'Donnell, made light of the protest outside.

"When your deep, intellectual, logical argument for the passage or non-passage of health care begins with, 'hey, hey, ho, ho,' chances are it's not all that intellectual," O'Donnell said.
A father of three was killed and 14 injured at an Ohio nightclub early Sunday morning after a lone gunman opened fire inside, according to reports.

Shots reportedly rung out around 1 a.m. at the Cameo Night Club in Cincinnati and witnesses told police they heard the hip hop clubs DJ call for security before the gunshots started.

Read: Officer is Found Guilty in Shooting Death of 6-Year-Old Boy With Autism

"It was just a lot of chaos, obviously, when the shots went off," Cincinnati Police Department Capt. Kimberly Williams said. "People (were) just trying to get out of harm's way.

O'Bryan Spikes, 27, died in the shooting and multiple victims suffered life-threatening injuries.

Cincinnati Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate said authorities have not identified a suspect but are investigating what led to the chaotic crime scene.

While the motive is unclear, authorities also added that there is no reason to suspect terrorism.

"We are in the middle of a very horrific situation that occurred at the nightclub with multiple victims," Neudigate said. "It's going to be a long night for our homicide units to investigate.

The manager of the club said the shooting was sparked between two speciifc groups and eventually escalated.

The victims were taken to four area hospitals, some driving themselves, according to reports.

Police said many of the witnesses fled the scene after the shooting, but they are still searching for club-goers that saw what happened.

Read: 4 Killed Including Police Officer After Domestic Dispute Turns into Deadly Shooting Spree

"The biggest problem when you have a large crowd like this and the shots ring out, a lot of the witnesses disappear, Williams said.

The shooting isnt reportedly the first violent incident at the club, according to reports, multiple assaults occurred at the venue from 2014-2016.

Story continues

Cameo's Facebook profile says it serves college students on Friday nights, when anyone over 18 is allowed in, while Saturdays are "grown and sexy night" for ages 21 and over.

Watch: Dad Dies Shielding Son From Gunman In Targeted Shooting That Killed 2 Children

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By Joe Wessels CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Gunfire erupted inside a packed nightclub in Cincinnati, Ohio, early Sunday morning, killing one person and injuring 15 others, as an apparent argument that may have started earlier in the day turned violent, authorities said. Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said there was no evidence of "a terrorist attack," as with last year's Pulse nightclub slaughter in Orlando, Florida that killed 49 people in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. "However to the victims, what difference does it make?" Cranley said. "People were just going to have a good time and ended up getting shot." No arrests had been made hours after the shooting took place around 1 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT) as hundreds of people partied inside Cameo Nightlife. The club has a history of gun violence, including two shootings in 2015, City Manager Harry Black said in a statement. Authorities believe multiple gunmen were involved in the Sunday morning shooting, which grew out of "some kind of dispute" inside the bar, Police Chief Eliot Isaac said. The disagreement may have been started earlier in the day, Black said. "At this point it's unclear exactly what instigated the shooting," police Captain Kimberly Williams said at a televised briefing. "Just a lot of chaos when the shots went off." Four police officers, who were providing security in the parking lot when the shots rang out, ran into the club and treated victims, the chief said. In addition to those hit by gunfire, several people sustained minor injuries attempting to flee. Police did not have a good description of the suspects, in part because witnesses were reluctant to cooperate, Williams told WCPO television. The man who was killed was identified by authorities as 27-year-old O'Bryan Spikes. Two of the injured were in critical condition, a University of Cincinnati Medical Center spokeswoman said. The others hit by gunfire were in stable condition in other area hospitals, and some were treated and released. Ohio Governor John Kasich sent his condolences and offered state help in the case. "Saddened to learn about last night's shooting in Cincinnati," Kasich said on Twitter. "Our prayers are with the victims and families of all of those involved." Cameo Nightlife's Facebook page says it features "College Friday's" for students 18 and older and "Saturday's 21+ grown and sexy night." The club, a large single-story structure, is a 7-mile (11 km) drive from downtown Cincinnati near the southeast corner of the city, the heart of the second largest metropolitan area in Ohio with more than 2 million residents. (Additional reporting by Melissa Fares and Barbara Goldberg in New York; Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Andrew Bolton and Jeffrey Benkoe)
Baghdad (AFP) - More than 200,000 people have fled fighting in west Mosul since the operation to retake the area from jihadists was launched last month, Iraq's ministry of migration and displaced said Saturday.

The battle for west Mosul -- the most populated urban area still held by the Islamic State group -- was launched on February 19, and Iraqi forces have since recaptured a series of neighbourhoods from the jihadists.

"The number of displaced from the areas of the right bank (west side) of the city of Mosul has risen to 201,275 people," the ministry said in a statement.

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since retaken most of the territory they lost.

Iraqi forces launched the operation to recapture Mosul in October, retaking the east of the city before setting their sights on the smaller but more densely populated west.

The United Nations said Thursday that there were some 600,000 people still in west Mosul, 400,000 of whom are "trapped" in the Old City area under siege-like conditions.
Washington (AFP) - The Pentagon under President Donald Trump is enjoying greater freedom to run its wars the way it wants -- and not constantly seek White House approval on important decisions.

Many in the military appreciate this increased autonomy, but critics charge it is raising civilian death rates, puts the lives of US troops at greater risk and leads to a lack of oversight of America's conflicts.

Nowhere has the shift been more visible than in the fight against the Islamic State group in northern Syria, where under Barack Obama even minor tweaks to US plans underwent exhaustive White House scrutiny.

Since Trump's inauguration, the Marine Corps has brought an artillery battery into Syria, and the Army has moved in hundreds of Rangers, bringing the total number of US forces there to almost 1,000.

Commanders are weighing the possibility of deploying hundreds more, and the Pentagon this week announced it had provided artillery support and choppered local forces behind enemy lines in a bid to seize a strategic dam.

The greater leeway marks a departure for the National Security Council (NSC), which coordinates foreign and military policy and implements the president's national security agenda.

Under Obama, the NSC oversaw just about every aspect of America's wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, with then Pentagon chief Ash Carter was kept on a short leash.

Trump, conversely, has repeatedly deferred to his defense secretary, Jim Mattis, on military moves.

Mattis, a retired general, has delegated expanded authorities to his battlefield commanders.

"Jim Mattis has been given the latitude to conduct military operations in the way he sees best," Pentagon spokesman Chris Sherwood said.

- '30-something year olds' -

The United States is fighting IS in Iraq and Syria and the Taliban in Afghanistan "by, with and through" local forces backed by US and allied air power.

That overall strategy hasn't changed, but commanders now have greater discretion to move troops and equipment around.

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Troop increases were especially sensitive for Obama, who campaigned on a promise to end America's Middle East wars and not put US boots on the ground.

Senator John McCain, who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, was a frequent critic of what he calls NSC micromanagement.

The veteran lawmaker said he favors battlefield commanders getting greater latitude.

"We don't have to ask the 30-something-year-olds for permission to respond to an attack in Afghanistan," he said.

McCain's congressional counterpart Mac Thornberry described a visit he made to Afghanistan under Obama, when he overheard a call from an NSC staffer asking how much fuel was in the planes on the tarmac.

"The level of micromanagement was incredible, and of course by the time you work your way through the NSC process your target has moved," he said.

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- Hands off -

Trump has also faced criticism for his hands-off approach, especially after he approved a special operations raid in Yemen that went horribly wrong, leading to the death of a Navy SEAL, multiple civilians including children and a crashed helicopter.

Though the White House insisted the raid yielded vital intelligence and was a "successful operation by all standards," critics said the military had been rash to execute the mission.

Observers are also calling into question whether the Pentagon is allowing civilian casualties to mount.

Military officials vehemently deny this and stress that civilian safety is a top priority in approving any strike.

Airwars, a London-based collective of journalists and researchers, said Friday it had become so overwhelmed tracking civilian deaths allegedly caused by US and coalition planes that it has stopped tracking Russian strikes.

"The decision to temporarily suspend our Russia strike assessments has been a very difficult one to take," Airwars director Chris Woods said.

"Moscow is still reportedly killing hundreds of civilians in Syria every month. But with coalition casualty claims escalating so steeply -- and with very limited Airwars resources - we believe our key focus at present needs to be on the US-led alliance."

The Pentagon has acknowledged at least 220 civilians have been unintentionally killed since operations to defeat IS began in late summer 2014. Airwars estimates the real number to be more than 10 times that.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said a coalition air strike early Tuesday killed 33 displaced civilians near the town of Al-Mansura west of Raqa.

A US defense official stressed that any extra deaths are a result of fighting occurring in more densely packed urban areas, such as Mosul in Iraq and around Raqa in Syria.

"I know for a fact that there is no change in civilian casualties tolerance," the official said.

General Thomas Waldhauser, who heads the US Africa Command, said Friday he hopes the White House will loosen restrictions for operations in Somalia, where the US is targeting Shebaab militants.

"It allows us to prosecute targets in a more rapid fashion," he said, stressing new authorities would not come at the expense of civilians.

"The cardinal rule in these types of engagements is to not make more enemies than you already have," Waldhauser said.

"We are not going to turn Somalia into a free-fire zone."
The Pentagon is looking to increase support for Saudi Arabias two-year-old war against Houthi rebels in Yemen, signaling a possible expansion of Washingtons controversial backing for a campaign that human rights groups say has killed hundreds of civilians and fueled a growing humanitarian crisis.

Several Defense officials told Foreign Policy the prospect of more American help for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen was under discussion even as the administration examines its broader strategy in the region, including looking at ways to counter Iran and to defeat Islamic State militants. The Pentagon views increased support for the Saudi-led coalition as one way of potentially pushing back against Irans influence in Yemen, as well as shoring up ties with an ally that felt neglected by the previous administration.

The Trump administration has yet to make a final decision and Defense Department officials are locked in a debate over the issue with the White House, with some senior aides to Trump favoring confronting Iran elsewhere, one advisor said.

But pressing ahead with more U.S. hardware and intelligence for Saudi Arabias troubled intervention in Yemen brings with it an array of risks and pitfalls, experts and former officials said.

By pouring more weapons and ammunition into the civil war, now entering its third year, Washington could inadvertently strengthen the hand of al Qaedas most lethal branch, which has already exploited the chaos to its benefit.

Encouraging the Saudi-led coalition in its military campaign, which has so far proved unable to defeat the outgunned Houthi rebels, could prolong the suffering of a civilian population that aid agencies warn is on the verge of famine.

And seeking to checkmate Irans influence in Yemen could provoke retaliation from Tehran against the United States and its allies elsewhere in the region, possibly posing a danger to vital shipping lanes or American military advisors deployed in Iraq.

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The possible increase in U.S. support would likely involve a few key elements: Pressing ahead with stalled arms shipments to the Saudi government; using drones to help gather intelligence for strikes on Houthi targets; and assistance in planning the recapture of the critical Red Sea port city Hodeidah from Houthi forces, which would allow humanitarian supplies to flow into the famine-wracked country.

The port would open a gateway for delivering humanitarian aid in a country in which 60 percent of the population is at risk of starvation, according to relief agencies. Riyadh recently floated the idea of the United Nations taking control of the port, something the international body has ruled out. Pushing the Houthi forces out of the Hodeidah would also cut off the rebels from a major transport link to the outside world.

Were interested in building the capability of the Saudis to operate in Yemen and elsewhere, said one U.S. defense official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to explain the thinking within the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command.

The Saudis came away extremely pleased after a series of meetings in Washington last week that saw Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visit the White House. Saudi officials celebrated the meeting as a milestone in resetting a relationship that had frayed under the Obama administration.

What we heard was that they would increase cooperation in all the dimensions of military support and providing new weapons, Saudi Gen. Ahmed Asiri, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, told reporters in Washington. He said that teams from the two countries are already engaged in talks, and the stepped-up cooperation would likely involve intelligence sharing, equipment, and training, for Saudi pilots and troops.

We had a commitment that they will increase cooperation, Asiri said.

The potential for more American help would represent a sharp break from the Obama administrations strained ties with the Kingdom. The Saudis have drawn widespread international condemnation for bombing raids that have caused numerous civilian casualties, adding to the humanitarian crisis brought on by the civil war.

The Obama White House last year put a hold on shipments of thousands of precision-guided munitions and cluster bombs, and pulled back some intelligence-gathering support, due to concerns about botched targeting in Saudi air strikes. The bombing of a crowded funeral ceremony by coalition aircraft on Oct. 8 last year in the capital Sanaa left more than 100 dead and hundreds more wounded.

But under the Trump administration, the State Department recently approved a proposed sale of precision-guided munitions to Riyadh worth about $390 million, officials said, and the White House is expected to notify Congress soon of the planned deal.

Human rights groups warned Washington that such a deal would feed the crisis in Yemen, even as the United States attempts to bar entry to civilians trying to flee the conflict under a proposed travel ban that would cover travellers from Yemen and several other mainly-Muslim states.

The U.S. should not continue to arm governments that violate international human rights and humanitarian law and simultaneously shut its doors to those fleeing the violence it helps to escalate, Amnesty International said in a letter this month to the White House.

U.S. involvement in Yemen fits into the broader picture of the regional power struggle. Officials in the Trump administration and at the Pentagon see Iran as playing a disruptive role in Yemens civil war, and believe Tehran is seeking to extend its reach in the Gulf region, while keeping its rival in Riyadh off balance. Any American support for Saudi efforts in the country would be a way to check Tehrans ambitions, something that Washingtons Sunni allies in the Gulf complained the Obama administration ignored.

You cant overestimate the degree the Saudis were frustrated and felt the Obama White House was hostile to them, said Gerald Feierstein, who served as ambassador to Yemen from 2010 to 2013.

Iran is a key player in whats happening in Yemen, Feierstein added. They are providing arms and assistance to the Houthis, and have been going back quite a long time, well before the civil war broke out. The Obama administration had acknowledged Iranian involvement, but some officials were reluctant to confront Tehran over the conflict, arguing they could achieve some additional progress in normalizing a relationship with Iran, he said. They saw the conflict in Yemen as getting in the way of that, Feierstein said.

The Trump administration has taken a more aggressive stand on Iran, at least rhetorically. Inside the Pentagon  where Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is a noted Iran hawk  and at U.S. Central Command which oversees forces in the Middle East, planners are looking to do more, and quickly.

The two sides also have discussed potential U.S. support for retaking the Yemeni port at Hodeidah. Were very interested in helping, but want to make sure theres some strategic patience in order to avoid civilian casualties, the officer said.

Senior U.S. officers are looking to move quickly on the issue, and the exodus of political appointees from the Pentagon at the end of the Obama term  and the inability or unwillingness of the Trump administration to replace them  has helped move decisions quickly up the chain of command.

The organization has flattened, a defense official said, so from a military perspective you have a little more agility, and can make decisions more quickly.

With dozens of civilian policymakers desks sitting empty or being filled on a temporary basis, the officers on the Joint Staff and regional military commanders have adapted to the White Houses willingness to let the generals make the calls over troop movements.

The military has a bias to action and wed rather act than sit there and ponder it forever, the officer said.

But it remains unclear if the Saudi military would be able to achieve more success on the battlefield even with American help.

One former Pentagon official called the Saudi effort in Yemen an incompetently run and tragic campaign, and said the view of the previous administration  and many in the Pentagon  was that the Saudis got themselves into a mess that they couldnt win.

The air and ground wars have killed at least 10,000 people, according to the United Nations. Earlier this month, the World Food Program estimated that about 17 million Yemenis, well over half of the countrys population, are in crisis or emergency food situations. Human rights monitors say the coalition air raids are to blame for the majority of civilian deaths. But the Saudis reject responsibility for the bulk of the civilian casualties, and human rights groups also have reported that militias on the ground have used child soldiers, and planted mines in civilian areas.

A White House National Security Council official said that we remain concerned about civilian casualties in Yemen and urge all sides to take additional measures to mitigate against the risk of civilian harm.

But the NSC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to comment on whether the administration was poised to ratchet up support for Saudi Arabia.

Washington has already tried to help the Saudis improve targeting in its Yemen campaign over the last two years, and while there was some modest success and influence, the Saudis were not always listening to our advice, according to Brian McKeon, who worked as undersecretary of defense for policy in the last months of the Obama administration.

His concern is that expanded U.S. involvement, without a diplomatic push for a political settlement to the civil war, might just yield more conflict and suffering.

Photo Credit: FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images
Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump's enthusiasm for his 19th century predecessor Andrew Jackson is stoking fears he may cancel plans to replace that controversial president on the $20 bill with abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

The Treasury Department announced a year ago that by 2020 it would remove slave-owner Jackson's likeness in favor of an image of Tubman, an African-American who escaped from slavery and helped others to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

Tubman, who also fought for women to be granted the right to vote, would be the first African-American as well as the first woman to appear on a US banknote.

With nine billion in circulation, the $20 bill is among the most widely used denomination along with $1 bills, which number 11.7 billion.

During the administration of president Barack Obama, the Treasury conducted a survey on who should be the first woman to appear on the currency, and selected Tubman.

Another survey by "Women on 20s," a group calling for a woman to appear on the $20 banknote, collected more than a half-million responses in an online poll in which Tubman was first out of four finalists, including civil rights icon Rosa Parks and stateswoman and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

But since Trump's election, Andrew Jackson's stock has risen strikingly in the White House, a development that worries Tubman supporters.

- Displayed in the Oval Office -

"We are keeping a very close eye as to any further signal and any delay or change in the progress towards having design and production ready for Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill by 2020," Women on 20s Founder Barbara Ortiz told AFP.

Trump "seems to be using every opportunity to extol the virtues of Jackson," she said, recalling was Jackson's a slave owner and his role in the "Trail of Tears."

Jackson oversaw the start of forcible expulsions of Native Americans from their ancestral lands in the southeastern United States to areas west of the Mississippi River, resulting in thousands of deaths from starvation, exposure and disease.

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As a military officer, Jackson also led an invasion of Spanish Florida to destroy the "Negro Fort," where former slaves had settled.

Five days after his inauguration, Trump displayed Jackson's portrait prominently in the Oval Office, drawing inspiration from the former army commander, who was famed for his success in battle against the British and seen as a "man of the people."

Trump's advisor Stephen Bannon also praised Trump's inaugural address as "very Jacksonian."

Last week, Trump laid a wreath by Jackson's tomb at his former Tennessee plantation, marking the 250th anniversary of his birth. Trump praised the "very great" Jackson for taking on "an arrogant elite."

"Does that sound familiar to you?" Trump asked.

When Tubman's selection was announced during his campaign, Trump panned the choice as "purely politically correct," and said Tubman's picture would be better placed on the $2 bill, which is hardly used.

The Treasury Department declined to comment.

Before his departure, former Treasury secretary Jack Lew considered unveiling the new bill's design publicly to help make the change irreversible. But this was nixed to avoid encouraging counterfeiters.

Instead, in January and during Trump's inaugural ceremonies, the Treasury, which is located next to the White House, displayed portraits of the heroes emblazoned on banknotes, George Washington ($1 bill), Abraham Lincoln ($5 bill), Alexander Hamilton (the first Treasury secretary who appears on the $10 bill) and Harriet Tubman, slated to appear on the $20 bill.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday joked that Trump himself should appear on the $1,000 bill, which is no longer in circulation.
Madrid (AFP) - The race for the leadership of Spain's main opposition Socialists heated up Sunday as the president of the southern Andalusia region launched her bid to head the deeply-divided party.

At a rally of some 6,000 party faithful in Madrid, among them former prime ministers Felipe Gonzalez and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, 42-year-old career politician Susana Diaz said she would stand in the May primaries.

"I am presenting myself as a candidate because I want to bring back the passion for winning," said Diaz, a plumber's daughter who since 2013 has been the regional president of Andalusia, a party stronghold.

She will face off against the party's previous chief, former economics professor Pedro Sanchez, 45, who was ousted in a bitter internal rebellion last year and Patxi Lopez, the 57-year-old former president of the northern Basque Country.

The primaries, to be held on an as yet unspecified date in May, will see some 180,000 activists -- a quarter of them from Andalusia -- vote for their preferred candidate in a choice which will set the future direction of the party.

Plagued by bad results in general and regional elections in 2015 and 2016, and challenged from the far-left by Podemos, the Socialist party is struggling to rise again and impose itself.

Podemos, under the charismatic Pablo Iglesias, has become Spain's third most powerful political force and threatens to overtake the Socialists as the main opposition grouping.

- 'Loves winning' -

Sanchez has been a staunch opponent of Spain's conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and insists the party continue in this vein to have any hope of clawing back voters.

"With me as secretary general everyone, first of all Rajoy, will know what will happen after the primaries," he told a rally of supporters in the Mediterranean region of Valencia.

"We will never again have Socialist votes for rightwing policies in this country."

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But this dogged resistance was his eventual downfall.

In October, high-ranking Socialist party members rebelled against him, arguing it was best to let a Rajoy-led government through rather than go to a third round of elections in poll-weary Spain and risk losing even more votes.

Sanchez resigned, an interim executive took charge and Rajoy eventually returned to power at the head of a minority government that now needs to negotiate many of its moves.

Conservatives fear that if Sanchez again leads the Socialists, his party and its lawmakers will go back into confrontation mode, blocking their bills or policies.

On the other hand, Diaz, who has said she "loves winning," advocates "moderation" and is seen as being more amenable to negotiating with other parties.

Lopez is also seen as a moderate.
Sanaa (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Yemen's rebel-held capital Sunday in a show of support for the insurgents, two years after a Gulf coalition intervened against the rebels.

The Yemen conflict pits the Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies against government troops supported since March 2015 by a Saudi-led coalition.

The Iran-backed rebels staged a show of force over the weekend with the mass rally in Sanaa and a symbolic court ruling against Yemen's embattled president.

Crowds converged on the capital's Sabaeen Square on Sunday, chanting their vows to "resist to the end".

The protest came a day after a rebel court in Sanaa sentenced President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to death for high treason in absentia.

The court found Hadi guilty of "usurping the title of president after the end of his term in office ... instigating attacks by Saudi Arabia and undermining the independence and integrity of the Republic of Yemen", the rebel-controlled Saba agency said.

Six members of the Hadi government were also sentenced to death.

Hadi, whose two-year term in office expired in February 2014, now lives in Saudi Arabia although he also visits his government's temporary capital of Aden.

- Iranian 'plot' -

The president was placed under house arrest after the Huthis overran the capital in September 2014, and later fled to the southern port city of Aden.

The coalition intervened with airstrikes on March 26, 2015, after Huthis advanced on other parts of the country including the port city.

Hadi's forces have since gained ground in southern Yemen, but the Huthis still control the capital and strategic ports on the Red Sea coastline.

The government-run Saba news agency on Sunday ran an editorial slamming the "rise of the Huthi militia" as an Iranian "plot" targeting Yemen and neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

On Saturday, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a Huthi ally, slammed Saudi Arabia's role in the conflict.

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"Free Yemenis will continue to choose resistance, as long as the coalition led by Saudi Arabia continues to choose war," Saba quoted Saleh as saying in a speech marking the two-year anniversary.

Rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi said the coalition had been "living under the illusion that they can take Yemen in a week or a month... but have sunk into the mud".

- Possible 'war crime' -

Home to one of Al-Qaeda's most dangerous branches, Yemen has a complex history of civil unrest.

The rebels had long complained of marginalisation and in 2011 mobilised protests demanding economic and political reform that led to Saleh's resignation the next year after decades in power.

But the Huthis and Saleh put their differences behind them in 2014, as the rebels took control of the capital with the support of troops still loyal to the former president.

More than 7,700 people have been killed and three million displaced in Yemen since March 2015, the United Nations says.

This month, 42 people, mainly Somali refugees, were killed when a boat transporting them out of Yemen came under an air attack off the main Red Sea port of Hodeida.

On Sunday, Human Rights Watch said there was evidence the attack may have come from the coalition and could amount to a war crime.

Saudi Arabia has denied involvement and called for the United Nations to take control of the Hodeida port, which is currently in the hands of the Huthis.

The United Nations has described Yemen as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today, with fighting leaving millions desperate for food and shelter.

It says the country this year also faces a serious risk of famine.
Sanaa (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Yemen's rebel-held capital on Sunday in a show of support for the insurgents, two years after a Gulf coalition intervened against the rebels.

The Iran-backed Huthi rebels staged a show of force over the weekend with the mass rally in Sanaa and a symbolic court ruling against Yemen's embattled president, whose troops are supported by the Saudi-led Gulf coalition.

Crowds converged on Sabeen Square in Sanaa, raising banners in protest against the Saudi-led intervention and chanting a vow to "resist to the end".

"We came back today to Sabeen Square to send a message to Arabs and Muslims: does your religion allow you to attack a people in its totality without any reason?" Abdullah Qadiry told AFP at Sabeen Square.

Former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a Huthi ally and political rival of current head of state Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, appeared briefly in person at the rally to thunderous applause.

Sunday's protest came a day after a rebel court in Sanaa sentenced Hadi to death in absentia for high treason.

The court found Hadi guilty of "usurping the title of president after the end of his term in office... instigating attacks by Saudi Arabia and undermining the independence and integrity of the Republic of Yemen", the rebel-controlled Saba agency said.

Six members of the Hadi government were also sentenced to death.

Hadi, whose two-year term in office expired in February 2014, now lives in Saudi Arabia, although he also visits his government's temporary capital of Aden.

- Iranian 'plot' -

The president was placed under house arrest after the Huthis overran the capital in September 2014, and later fled to the southern port city of Aden.

The Gulf coalition intervened with air strikes on March 26, 2015, after Huthis advanced on other parts of the country including Aden.

Hadi's forces have since gained ground in the south, but the Huthis still control the capital and strategic ports on the Red Sea coast.

Story continues

The government-run Saba news agency on Sunday ran an editorial slamming the "rise of the Huthi militia" as an Iranian "plot" targeting Yemen and neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

On Saturday, Ali Abdullah Saleh denounced Riyadh's role in the conflict.

"Free Yemenis will continue to choose resistance, as long as the coalition led by Saudi Arabia continues to choose war," Saba quoted Saleh as saying in a speech marking the anniversary.

Rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi said the coalition had been "living under the illusion that they can take Yemen in a week or a month... but have sunk into the mud".

- Possible 'war crime' -

Home to one of Al-Qaeda's most dangerous branches, Yemen has a complex history of civil unrest.

The rebels, who had long complained of marginalisation, in 2011 mobilised protests demanding economic and political reform that led to Saleh's resignation the following year after decades in power.

But the Huthis and Saleh put their differences behind them in 2014, as the rebels took Sanaa with the support of troops still loyal to the former president.

More than 7,700 people have been killed and three million displaced in Yemen since March 2015, the United Nations says.

This month, 42 people, mainly Somali refugees, were killed when a boat transporting them out of Yemen came under air attack off the main Red Sea port of Hodeida.

On Sunday, Human Rights Watch said there was evidence the attack may have come from the coalition and could amount to a war crime.

Saudi Arabia has denied involvement and called for the UN to take control of Hodeida port, which is currently in the hands of the Huthis.

The UN has described Yemen as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today, with fighting leaving millions desperate for food and shelter.

It says the country also faces a serious risk of famine this year.

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KENOSHA  WGTD (91.1 FM) is owned and operated as a public service of Gateway Technical College and is an affiliate of Wisconsin Public Radio. For an updated schedule, visit its website at www.wgtd.org.

The Morning Show airs every weekday morning between 8:10 and 9 a.m. Following is a schedule of show topics for the coming week:

Monday  Leonard Marcus, author of Golden Legacy: The Story of Golden Books. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the publication of the first Golden Book by Western Publishing in Racine.

Tuesday  Todd Tucker, author of Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan.

Wednesday  Postponed from two weeks ago: Dale Maharidge, author of Denison, Iowa: Searching for the Soul of America through the Secrets of a Midwest Town. This book offers a discerning look at the attitudes of Small Town America.

Thursday  Dr. Thomas Carr, director of the paleontology program at Carthage College. He will discusses his newest research.

Friday  Dr. Jerry Mast, associate professor of political science at Carthage College.

Saturday  Programming includes Financial Overview at 9 a.m., Breakfast Bytes at 9:45 a.m., Education Matters at 10:30 a.m. and Community Matters at 11:15 a.m.
American politics is deep into the theater of the absurdbut unfortunately, it is a deadly absurdity, like being in a horror funhouse where the creatures leaping out at you have real knives and chainsaws. Americans now have to face at least the possibility, a tangible one, that the election itself was subverted by a hostile foreign power in league with the winning presidential campaign, with implications all the way down the ballot.

What to do if that proves to be the case? It is a question I have been asked a lot; my stock answer begins with, The Constitution does not have a do-over clause. But I am now rethinking the response: Maybe it needs a do-over clause. And it does not have to require a constitutional amendment.

From the day after the 9/11 catastrophe, I threw myself into creating a set of safety nets for the constitutional system, ensuring that the United States would have a rapid, orderly, and legitimate set of ways to ensure the continuity of government in the event of a terror attack that could decapitate one or more of its three branches. It started with Congress, and the need to have emergency interim appointments if an attack dropped either or both of its houses below the constitutionally mandated quorum of half the membership to do any business, until reasonable, deliberative elections could be held to fill vacancies.

Recommended: The Republican Waterloo

But the Continuity of Government Commission that Tom Mann and I worked to create also focused on presidential succession. Unlike Congress, this did not require a constitutional amendment, but could be done legislatively. It was clear to us that there were real problems in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. It was enacted at the urging of President Harry Truman, when, in the dangerous environment just after the war, he traveled with his Secretary of State Edward Stettinius, then next in line for the presidency, to Potsdam and realized the systems vulnerability.

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Here is what the Constitution says about presidential succession:

The Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

Congress accepted Trumans recommendation to return the leaders in Congress to the line after the Vice President, starting with the speaker of the House and then the president pro tem of the Senate (an earlier succession plan from 1792 had included first the Senate leader followed by the speaker; when revised in 1886, congressional leaders were dropped.) They were then followed by Cabinet members in order of the creation of their offices.

The 1947 Act was flawed in many respects, starting with the dubious constitutionality of having congressional leaders in the line of succession (they are not Officers of the United States, as the Constitution requires) not to mention their inherent conflicts, including their role in impeachment of the president. But it was also the case that everyone in the line resided in Washington, creating a vulnerability in the modern age of small but potent nuclear and other weapons that Truman and his allies could not have foreseen. At the same time, having all Cabinet members in the linemany of whom were not chosen because of their breadth of policy expertise or qualifications to step in as commander in chiefwas not wise.

Recommended: Can Religious Charities Take the Place of the Welfare State?

So the Commission recommended streamlining the line of succession, dropping lower-level Cabinet members, and adding a new category of people deputized as Officers, chosen by the president to be confirmed in the posts by the Senate, representing geographical breadth and presumably policy and even political depth.

Unfortunately, that reasoned and reasonable suggestion went nowhere (along with all the other recommendations of our Continuity of Government Commission; once the immediate threat faded, Congress had no interest in looking ahead and building in some insurance for the future.) That is more than unfortunate; it is potentially tragic, since the threat is even greater now. Those issues can and should be revisited. But in particular it is now time to revive the dormant interest in, and importance of, presidential succession to take the new nightmare into account.

Here is the big problem. What if the election was effectively stolen? Under the current presidential succession structure, if Donald Trump were impeached and removed from office, Mike Pence would replace him. But if the election had been stolen, Pences place as president would be no more legitimate than that of Trump. After PencePaul Ryan, the speaker, followed by Orrin Hatch, the president pro tem, followed by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. If voters collective desires were subverted by foreign interference and a partys collusion, none would have a legitimate claimespecially since the control of the Senate, at least, would have been affected by the Russian role.

Recommended: Nobody Knew Governing Could Be So Complicated

The Constitution leaves a lot of leeway for Congress. So it is time to consider a new law, one that cleans up the issues and discrepancies in the existing succession act but does more. It should allow for a special election for president and vice president under extraordinary circumstances. Those could include a terrorist attack or an attack by a foreign power or others on Election Day or on the election system or process that destroys or distorts the results. It can also include foreign interference in the election combined with a winning partys involvement in or reinforcement of the interference. Such a provision would have to be carefully drawn and set a high bar, to avoid any chicanery to call an election for the wrong reasons. It would probably have to require a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress.

Of course, realistically, no do-over option will or could happen to deal with the current ungodly mess. It may well be that the Trump campaigns role has been exaggerated by its critics; there is not yet any public evidence of collusion. But if the worst case proves to be true, America will have to live with the consequences, including the dark cloud of illegitimacy that would hang over all actions taken by an administration that won with the aid of foreign interference. The evidence that is already public makes it clear that malign foreign forces have tried, and will try again to influence, distort and even swing American elections. Thats why Americans need to begin serious work and debate toward crafting a reasonable option so that this Friday the 13th doesnt turn into a series, and so that Americans finally give themselves some protection against the kind of nightmares that modern cyberwarfare and terrorism can allow.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
The British royal family announced Friday that soon-to-be-4-year-old Prince George will head to Thomas's School in Battersea this fall  not his father's alma mater.

Though Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, attended Wetherby School in London, he and his wife, Catherine, revealed Friday they were sending the toddler to Thomas's Battersea, which has about 540 boys and girls up to age 13. He will start in September.

"This is clearly a significant moment for their family and most certainly for Thomas's. Like so many parents, the Duke and Duchess have put a great deal of thought into the choice of their eldest child's first 'big school,'" headmaster Ben Thomas wrote in a letter to parents shared in the English press. "They would like, as far as is possible, for him to enjoy the same education that all of our pupils receive and for them to join the school community as all of our new parents do."

Read: Kate Middleton Talks Prince Georges Hobbies During Pancake Day Event

Tuition at Thomas's Battersea costs about 6,385 a term, which equals about $7,980, according to the Sun. The school has a theater, gym, music school, two libraries, three laboratories and a 1-acre playground, among other amenities, according to its website. Thomas said school staff have been preparing for George in recent weeks, upping security and communication.

"Their Royal Highnesses are delighted to have found a school where they are confident George will have a happy and successful start to his education," a spokesman for the palace told the Telegraph.

Read: After Queen Elizabeth Dies, Where Prince George Stands In The Succession Line To The UK Throne

Thomas's Battersea has made headlines in recent years for suggesting its students not make best friends, instead recommending that kids have several good friends without singling out one person. It wasn't an official policy but inspired controversy in 2013 nonetheless.

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Children should be free to choose their friends. It is absurd  schools shouldnt be interfering at that level," retired headmaster Chris McGovern told the Telegraph at the time.

Prince George currently attends Westacre Montessori.

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Moscow (AFP) - A quarter of a century after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia is finally set to pay off all the foreign debt it inherited from the vanished Communist empire.

Keen to establish a reputation of a reliable borrower -- despite Western financial sanctions over the Ukraine conflict -- Moscow announced last week it would pay off $125.2 million in Soviet-era debt to Bosnia-Herzegovina within 45 days.

The payment "completes the settlement of the external public debt of the former USSR, which is a historic event," said Russia's deputy finance minister Sergei Storchak.

In February, Moscow paid $60.6 million to Macedonia.

After the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, Russia assumed responsibility for its foreign debt of some $70 billion.

- Paying for perestroika -

This was mostly contracted during the difficult perestroikaera from 1985 to 1991, a time of failed attempts to reform the USSR's dysfunctional political and economic system.

This commitment proved a painful burden in the 1990s as Russia faced catastrophic economic problems that culminated in a humiliating default on its foreign debt in 1998.

But in 2006 -- thanks to a steady influx of petrodollars since the early 2000s -- Russia was able to pay off its debts to 17 major creditor-countries in the so-called Paris Club.

A payment of more than $20 billion -- or 95 percent of the value of all Soviet-era loans -- was made eight years after the 1998 default.

Russia has also allowed itself the luxury of cancelling some country's debts, with Cuba the latest in 2014.

The remaining debt chiefly consisted of "commercial" debts that resulted from the imports of goods to the Soviet Union from ally countries.

Such debts were formed "in a strange way", Anatoly Aksakov, head of the parliament's economic market committee, told RIA Novosti state news agency.

He questioned how such countries turned out to be creditors of the Soviet Union even though it was "a very rich country".

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- A faultless borrower -

In the case of the former Yugoslavia -- which the USSR provided with military equipment in exchange for consumer goods -- Russia faced the tricky task of dividing up the debt among the countries that emerged from its breakup.

"It is politically important: Russia has paid off the USSR's debt to a country that no longer exists," said Yuri Yudenkov, a professor at the Russian University of Economics and Public Administration.

"This is very important in terms of reputation: the ability to repay on time, the responsibility," he told AFP.

Yudenkov contrasted this with Kiev which has refused to repay a $3-billion loan Moscow gave the pro-Russian government of former president Viktor Yanukovych before he was ousted from power in 2014.

The relatively modest payments to Macedonia and Bosnia have helped Russia to cultivate the image of a faultless borrower as Western economic sanctions dissuade foreign investors.

Many analysts had warned that the sanctions imposed over Russia's actions in Ukraine could deplete the country's finances.

But the Kremlin has so far managed to maintain financial stability despite also being hit hard by the slump in oil prices.

Thanks to drastic cuts in public spending, Russia's budget deficit remained under control at just 3.6 percent of GDP last year -- and salaries, pensions, and social benefits continue to be paid out in the public sector.

The public debt stands at less than 15 percent of GDP -- much lower than in most Western countries.

After a few months of turbulence following the imposition of sanctions, Russia has successfully returned to the international financial market.

While rating agencies initially downgraded the country's outlook, they now show an increasing optimism about Russia's economic prospects.
London (AFP) - Talks to resolve Northern Ireland's political stalemate have reached the "end of the road", the Sinn Fein party said, but London said it hoped a power-sharing government could be formed ahead of a Monday deadline.

After three weeks of negotiations to form a power-sharing executive in the province, the Irish Republican party Sinn Fein said Sunday that no deal had been reached.

Sinn Fein, representing Catholic Irish nationalists, and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of the pro-British Protestants, have until Monday afternoon to reach an agreement or governance of the province could be transferred to London.

"Today we have come to the end of the road," said Michelle O'Neill, the party's leader in Northern Ireland.

"The talks process has run its course and Sinn Fein will not be nominating for the position of speaker or for the executive office tomorrow."

DUP Leader Arlene Foster gave a similar assessment of the Belfast talks, which have been chaired by Britain's Northern Ireland Minister James Brokenshire.

"Regrettable the reality is that sufficient progress was not achieved in the time available to form a new executive," said Foster, who served as first minister before the executive collapsed.

The political crisis began when O'Neill's predecessor, Martin McGuinness, stepped down in protest at the handling of a botched green energy programme by Foster.

McGuinness died on Tuesday of a rare heart condition.

Despite Sinn Fein's assertion that talks were over, the British government said it was still determined to see a "functioning executive" put in place.

"Even at this stage I urge political parties to agree to work to form an executive and provide people here with the strong and stable devolved government that they want," said Brokenshire.

The discussions have also been keenly followed by Dublin, with Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan calling for power-sharing to be re-established.

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"I therefore urge the parties to avail of the remaining time available to re-engage on the few outstanding issues that divide them," he said on Sunday.

- Brexit begins -

If Northern Ireland's main parties fail to reach a deal by 4:00pm (1500 GMT) on Monday, Brokenshire will intervene, which could lead to direct rule from London being imposed.

The minister could also call fresh elections, although those held in March following McGuinness's resignation failed to resolve the differences between Sinn Fein and the DUP.

Sinn Fein won 27 seats in the 90-seat assembly in the March 2 election, while the DUP took 28, with unionist parties losing their absolute majority in Northern Ireland's legislature for the first time since the creation of the province in 1921.

The controversial energy scheme which prompted Sinn Fein to pull the plug on the executive was introduced by Foster when she was economy minister.

Its failure is expected to cost taxpayers up to half a billion pounds ($625 million, 580 million euros) and Sinn Fein has said it will not share power with Foster until the conclusion of a public inquiry into the programme.

The political deadline in Northern Ireland comes just ahead of Prime Minister Theresa May launching Britain's exit from the European Union on Wednesday, when the government is due to trigger Article 50 of the bloc's Lisbon Treaty.

Central to Brexit discussions will be the fate of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which remains an EU member.
Madrid (AFP) - Deeply divided and weakened by the rise of far-left party Podemos, Spain's Socialists are gearing up for a leadership contest that will see ousted chief Pedro Sanchez attempt a comeback.

The 45-year-old former economics professor will be up against two other prominent candidates in a contest that will prove decisive for the future of a party that has run out of steam, much like fellow socialists in France and Britain.

The battle begins in earnest Sunday when Susana Diaz, 42, the president of the southern region of Andalusia and one of Spain's most powerful female politicians, is due to announce she will run in May primaries.

A long-time rival of Sanchez, who was ousted in October after a bitter internal rebellion, Diaz will launch her candidacy near Madrid with the backing and presence of two former Socialist prime ministers -- Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Felipe Gonzalez.

That same day, Patxi Lopez, the 57-year-old former president of the Basque Country and already a candidate, will meet with supporters in the northern region of Cantabria.

And Sanchez will head up a gathering in Valencia in the east, having already announced he will attempt a comeback.

Much like Britain's Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who survived a leadership challenge last year but still faces internal dissent, Sanchez enjoys considerable support among grassroots Socialist activists.

Diaz, though, is backed by many high-ranking party members.

- 'Start to win again' -

The primaries due in May at an as-yet unannounced date will see some 180,000 activists vote for their preferred candidate -- a choice that will determine the future direction of the party.

Plagued by bad results in general and regional elections in 2015 and 2016, and challenged from the far-left by Podemos, the Socialist party is struggling to rise again and impose itself.

Podemos, led by the charismatic Pablo Iglesias, has become Spain's third most powerful political force and threatens to overtake the Socialists as the main opposition grouping.

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"The Socialist party must stop battling to avoid being relegated to third place, it must (instead) start to win again," Socialist lawmaker Eduardo Madina summed up last week.

- But how? -

Sanchez has been a staunch opponent of Spain's conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and maintains that the party must continue in this vein to have any hope of winning back voters.

Rajoy must know that there "will be no Socialist votes for right-wing policies," he has said, deeply critical of corruption scandals impacting the conservatives and of their severe austerity measures.

When still Socialist chief last year at the height of a deep-set political stalemate following two inconclusive elections, Sanchez repeatedly rejected Rajoy's overtures to enter a coalition or let his minority government rule.

But this dogged resistance was his eventual downfall, as high-ranking Socialist party members rebelled against him in October, arguing it was best to let a Rajoy-led government through rather than go to third elections in poll-weary Spain and risk losing even more votes.

Sanchez resigned, an interim executive took charge and Rajoy eventually came back to power at the head of a minority government that now needs to negotiate many of its moves.

Conservatives fear that if Sanchez again leads the Socialists, his party and its lawmakers will go back into confrontation mode, blocking their bills or policies.

On the other hand, Diaz, who has said she "loves winning," advocates "moderation" and is seen as being more amenable to negotiating with other parties.

Lopez is also seen as a moderate.

Whether the Socialists will manage to revive their political clout, however, will ultimately only be determined at the next elections.
Kingston upon Hull (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Gregory Gaultier became the oldest winner of the British Open since Hashim Khan in the late 1950s when he beat Nick Matthew, the oldest finalist since that era, in a four-game final on Sunday.

The 34-year-old Frenchmanas 8-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-3 win over the 36-year-old Englishman earned him his third British Open title and made him the oldest ever world number one on a ranking system which began in the 1970s.

"There is a lot of emotion in winning such an old and great title as this," said Gaultier.

"I am near the end of my career a- six months ago I was thinking of hanging my rackets up, but winning this will give me extra motivation."

Gaultier destroyed opponents so efficiently in the earlier rounds that Matthew came to the final having competed for two-and-a-half hours longer than his rival.

By the third game his movement was beginning to slow.

There was trouble for Gaultier when he was admonished by the referee for taking his opponent's space late in the second and warned that next time he would lose a conduct stroke.

But gone are the moments when Gaultier would sometimes lose concentration, and an immediate surge of eight points in a row which carried him to 6-0 in the third game irrevocably swung the direction of the match.

- 'Never 100 percent comfortable' -

Laura Massaro became the first English woman in 58 years to defend the British Open twice when she beat surprise finalist, Sarah-Jane Perry, her seventh-seeded compatriot, by 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6.

It was Perryas first World Series final and by far the biggest final of her career, whereas the 33-year-old Massaro was a former British Open champion, a former world champion, a former world number one, and was playing her fourth British Open final in five years.

The disparity in experience was soon apparent.

The fifth-seeded Massaro had also beaten the two top Egyptians, the world number one Nour El Sherbini and the former world number one Raneem El Welily, and was the more consistent player, more often keeping the ball tight, and waiting more patiently before attempting attacking forays which involved risk.

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She was not though as comfortable as she looked.

"I tried to relax, or be as relaxed as I could be, but I was never one hundred percent comfortable," she admitted.

"Sarah-Jane has improved a lot this season, and she changes direction (of her shots) so much, so I'm thrilled to have won this again."

With England producing three finalists for the first time in 26 years, the home countryas apparent decline seemed at least to have been granted a bright sunset.

It was the first time in four years that Egypt -- which has three of the top five men in the top ten, and three of the top four women -- had failed to produce a finalist.

However, the outcomes may be very different at the World Championships at El Gouna on the Red Sea in a fortnightas time.
Khartoum (AFP) - President Omar al-Bashir will attend an Arab League summit in Amman this week, Sudan's foreign minister said Sunday, despite a top rights group urging Jordan to deny him entry.

Bashir is wanted by The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged genocide and war crimes related to the conflict in war-torn Darfur.

"President Omar al-Bashir will participate in the Arab summit in spite of his hectic schedule," Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour told the official SUNA news agency.

Ghandour said Bashir was attending the Arab League's annual summit as Jordan's King Abdullah II insisted that he come.

"President Bashir has never fled from ICC, and he will continue executing his responsibilities," Ghandour said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has called on Jordan, an ICC member, to deny entry to Bashir or arrest him if he comes for the summit, which begins on Wednesday near the Dead Sea.

"Jordan would be defying its international obligations as an ICC member if it allows Bashir to visit without arresting him, said Elise Keppler, associate international justice director at HRW in a statement.

"Welcoming an ICC fugitive would undermine the Jordanian governments recent efforts to strengthen the countrys rule of law."

The Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for Bashir in 2009 and 2010, but he has so far evaded arrest and steadfastly denies the charges related to conflict in Darfur.

The conflict in Darfur, a region the size of France, erupted in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Bashir's Arab-dominated government in Khartoum, accusing it of marginalising the region economically and politically.

At least 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and another 2.5 million displaced since the conflict erupted, the United Nations says.

In 2015, South Africa refused to arrest Bashir when he attended an African Union summit there, claiming he had immunity as the head of an AU member state.

The ICC will hold a public hearing on April 7 to probe whether South Africa -- a signatory to the Rome Statute of the world war crimes court -- failed in its duty in refusing to do so.
Bryan Mills (Clive Standen), Christina Hart (Jennifer Beals) and the rest of the team at National Intelligence must retrieve sensitive documents in Zurich in Season 1, episode 5 of NBCs Taken.

According to the synopsis for the episode, titled A Clockwork Swiss, the National Intelligence must get hold of the said documents to prevent an economic and political disaster.

In a sneak peek from the episode, Christina learns about the documents from the Associate Attorney General of the United States, Tracy Dyer (Saad Siddiqui). Christina wants to brief the President about the documents, but Tracy stops her. Apparently, Tracy knows National Intelligences covert assassination of the Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense last episode, so Christina is left with no choice but to comply with Tracys requests.

READ: Is The Office returning to NBC?

Retrieving the documents, however, isnt going to be easy, as there are other groups who are also interested in the files.

In another sneak peek from the episode, Mitus  who is supposed to hand the documents to Bryan  is killed, and the files hes bringing with him are taken away.

In another sneak peek, Faaron (Simu Liu) finds out that the group who killed Mitus and stole the documents is headed by Byron Kaine (Daniel Kash), a man reported to have died in 2008.

While the team tries to retrieve the documents from Kaines group, Bryans lover, Asha (Brooklyn Sudano), is continued to be tricked by Elena (Layla Alizada) who disguises herself as a friendly neighbor. As revealed at the very end of last episode, Elena and her partner Juan Pablo (Ivan Wanis-Ruiz) are befriending Asha to ultimately use Bryan in finding Carlos Mejia (Romano Orzari).

In the promo clip for the episode, Bryan seems ready to reveal his job to Asha. But will Asha still pursue her relationship with Bryan when she finds out that hes working as an agent for the National Intelligence? Only time will tell.

Taken Season 1, episode 5 airs on Monday, March 27 at 10 p.m. EST on NBC. Watch the sneak peeks and the promo clip for the episode below:

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Clive Standen as Bryan Mills

Photo: Ken Woroner/NBC

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MOUNT PLEASANT  A group home in Mount Pleasant is under investigation after a 20-year-old resident with a mental disability entered a neighbor's home, uninvited, at least twice.

That neighbor, Shanda Hess, describes it another way.

"It was a home invasion, bottom line," Hess said. "I don't feel safe in my home."

The latest incident occurred on March 11, at about 1:30 p.m. at a house near an Alpha Homes of Wisconsin, Inc. group home in the 2100 block of Sutton Drive. Hess said the man charged through her unlocked front door.

"I screamed. I didn't know if he was going to attack us. I ran outside barefoot," Hess said.

Her friend Robert Holbus, inside, described what the man did next.

"He grabbed an empty pot of coffee to try to drink it. He was moving quick and erratically," Holbus said.

Then, according to the police report, the man opened a 2-liter bottle of soda.

"He opened it and tried to chug it. He was dumping it all over himself and all over the house. He was squirting it," Holbus said. "I bear-hugged him and forced him out the door."

Hess called police, but said she did not file charges because the man is autistic.

Hess said the same man entered her house last May in a similar incident, coming in through the back door unannounced. Out of sympathy for the man Hess said, she did not call police for that incident.

When Holbus took the man back to the group home, the front door was open and the caretaker was reportedly asleep in front of the television with an alarm of some sort sounding.

"I woke him up and he started apologizing," Holbus said. "He offered to replace the soda."

Police investigating

Mount Pleasant Police Chief Tim Zarzecki said his department has launched an investigation, along with the Racine County Adult Protective Services.

"We're concerned and committed to finding a way to solve this," Zarzecki said.

"We're working with (Racine County) and Alpha Homes to try and prevent this from happening again, and to get to the bottom of why this keeps happening. Because we feel it puts not only the patient, or resident, at risk but it alarms our homeowners in the village when they wander into their house."

Zarzecki said he's concerned about the young man's care.

"I think the workers in the home have a responsibility to make sure the person in the home is properly cared, in my opinion, also includes not leaving the house unattended. There is a responsibility on the caretaker of the home to make sure things like this don't happen. They need to put whatever measures that they are allowed to do," Zarzecki said.

Group home response

Mike Bannon, an attorney from DeMark, Kolbe & Brodek who represents Racine-based Alpha Homes, Inc. owner Dave Duffeck, said the worker on duty during the March incident was alone with the man at the group home as the other residents were away with another caregiver on an outing.

"He failed to follow certain policies which allowed this to occur," Bannon said. "That particular employee has suffered discipline in relationship to that."

Bannon declined to elaborate on what the discipline entailed.

Bannon said his client has offered to pay for any damages, including cleaning Hess's house.

"We want to be a good neighbor and we certainly want to make sure we've done everything possible to address any harm or damage that they may have suffered," Bannon said of Alpha Homes of Wisconsin, Inc, which operates about 20 group homes.

Calls for service

According to Mount Pleasant Police, in the past year the group home has had a half-dozen calls for service for rescue calls as well as things like an open door, theft, civil trouble and a "mental subject."

Bannon does not see the calls for service as a disruption in the neighborhood and defends staff for calling for help.

"It's not surprising that there is numerous calls," Bannon said. "You have to understand that if our staff is instructed that if anything out of the norm occurs, their first call should be to 911. We certainly are not trying to hide anything and we want to make sure everything is properly contained."

While Hess expresses sympathy for the disabled man, she is traumatized by the intrusions and worried about the future.

"I am sure it will happen again," Hess said. "The owner of the group home told me the man is nonviolent. How am I supposed to know that?

"I'm terrified. It's like I have PTSD. I freak out when people come to the door. I don't want to live here anymore. I want them out of the neighborhood."

State inspection

Alpha Homes are some of more than 200 group homes located in Racine County.

Designated as adult family homes in Wisconsin, group homes can have up to four residents in need of long-term care for physical and or mental disabilities, which may require some nursing care.

Since 2007, group homes are no longer licensed by Racine County but are regulated by the state Department of Health Services, which conducts periodic inspections and can shut down a home for deficiencies. DHS conducts background checks on workers, can order drug and mental evaluations for employees and ban from employment workers who abuse residents.

Dan Idzikowski, executive director of Disability Rights Wisconsin, the states designated protection and advocacy agency for people with disabilities, said neighborhood group homes help the disabled.

"We want people to live in the community; that is where people should be. That's where people should be able to interact with the community. But they need quality support," Idzikowski said.

Idzikowski said the personal-care industry is facing systematic problems that affect quality of care.

"One of the difficulties is the system where people are not receiving wages, benefits or training," Idzikowski said. "There is high turnover, and lack of attention to the values of the work, in terms of insuring that individuals with disabilities exercise their right to interact in the community and live a high-quality life,"

Hess filed a complaint with DHS as well as the Village of Mount Pleasant.

Inspections

After the March 11 incident, Bannon confirmed an inspection of the group home was initiated.

"A lot of these inspections will occur with these various HMOs (health maintenance organizations) that represent the various consumers. Each house is inspected by the state on a yearly basis," Bannon said.

Elizabeth Goodsitt, a spokeswoman for DHS, would not confirm if an investigation is underway after the complaint, but did confirm that the group home has not been inspected by the agency  what it calls a compliance survey  in more than three years. Goodsitt blamed the agency's workload.

"It is DHS policy to survey (group homes) within two years of the preceding compliance survey. While the agency goal is to conduct surveys at least every two years, workload priorities are managed to ensure that complaints are investigated first," Goodsitt said.

Goodsitt said DHS has 36 inspectors for all of the state's licensed community-based residential facilities, adult day care programs, residential care apartment complexes and group homes, which it calls adult family homes.

Outcome unclear

Zarzecki said it's doubtful a case could be made against the intruder for criminal behavior.

"In this case, there did not appear to be intent for the person to do actually any damage or harm, based on their cognitive or physical disability. The officers felt that was the best approach at the time," Zarzecki said.

Zarzecki credits the responding officer's training on autism and crisis intervention training for de-escalating the situation.

"We have a responsibility to make sure the resident is cared for in a proper manner in regards to their disability or condition," Zarzecki said. "And to make sure the homeowners in the village are safe as well, and don't have to worry about someone coming into their home and threatening them, or appear to be threatening them, or get into their home."

Zarzecki encourages anyone living near a group home to call police if they need to.

"Neighbors should always feel free to reach out to us," Zarzecki said. "If they see anything suspicious, out of the ordinary, or they don't feel the residents of the group home are being taken care of, they should call us to investigate."
Ted Koppel says Fox News host Sean Hannity is bad for America.

On CBS Sunday Morning, the veteran newsman told Hannity that the audience he attracts is unable to distinguish between the divisive political rhetoric that marked the 2016 presidential campaign and the truth.

You have attracted people who are determined that ideology is more important than facts, Koppel told Hannity.

Hannity, who emerged as an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump during the campaign and a combative conservative voice since Trumps election, said Koppel isnt giving the audience enough credit. The Fox News host has repeatedly insisted he isnt part of the news media business  and sees himself as a pundit.

We have to give some credit to the American people that they are somewhat intelligent and that they know the difference between an opinion show and a news show, Hannity said. Youre cynical.

I am cynical, Koppel, the former host of ABCs Nightline, replied.

Do you think were bad for America? Hannity asked. You think Im bad for America?

Yeah, Koppel replied.

You do? Hannity said. Really? Thats sad, Ted. Thats sad.

On Twitter, Hannity accused CBS of selectively editing his interview with Koppel.

Fake "edited" news. I did about a 45 minute interview with CBS. They ran less than 2. Why did Ted cut out my many examples of media bias? https://t.co/prynzE2yLQ  Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 26, 2017

Fake "edited" news. I gave a example after example of why I say "journalism is dead". I also gave many examples of how liberalism has failed https://t.co/prynzE2yLQ  Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 26, 2017

"Fake Edited News" @CBSNews release the Unedited 45 minute interview so people can see the BS games you play in the edit room. I dare you! https://t.co/prynzE2yLQ  Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 26, 2017

Editing claims aside, there is reason for Koppel to be cynical.

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A Pew Research Center study published shortly before the November election found that 81 percent of voters could not agree even on basic facts.

And it doesnt help that Hannity continues to spew falsehoods under the guise of opinion.

Earlier this month on his syndicated radio show, Hannity suggested the federal judge in Hawaii who blocked President Trumps most recent executive order on immigration had done drugs with former President Barack Obama.

This judge who issued the travel ban ruling is an Obama law school classmate, Hannity said.  Were they best friends in Hawaii? Were they part of the Choom Gang, smoking pot and hanging out? And doing a little bit of weed and maybe even a little blow?

Hannity then floated the popular, fact-free right-wing conspiracy that Obama had traveled to the Aloha State before the ruling to influence the judge.

Obama made a surprise visit to Hawaii 48 hours before the judge blocked the Trump travel ban, Hannity said. Did he see his buddy? Not saying he did, but considering NBC, CNN, and every other, you know, abusively biased alt-left, propaganda, destroy-Trump media outlet is into conspiracies these days, I guess nothing is off the table.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Empire star Terrence Howard recently slammed rumors that hes been abusive towards his former partners.

In a previous interview, the actor admitted to hitting his first wife, but he most recently clarified that being abusive is not part of his history. On his Twitter account, the actor said that he has never been abusive to anyone in his entire life. He went on to say that he has made terrible mistakes in the past, but he still remains to be the same loving being he was on day one.

He also explained that when he said hes made mistakes in the past when it comes to his relationship, he didnt mean that he hurt anyone physically. Rather, he simply meant that he trusted the wrong people.

Read: Cookie and Lucious go to war in Empire Season 3

According to New York Magazine, the actor, who plays the role of Lucious Lyon in the hit FOX TV series, was arrested in 2001. At the time, he pleaded guilty for misconduct and for punching his then-wife, Lori McCommas.

A few years later, Howard opened up to Rolling Stone about the incident and said that he had blacked out. She was talking to me real strong, and I lost my mind and slapped her in front of the kids. Her lawyer said it was a closeted fist, but even slapping her was wrong, he said in 2015. Howard and McCommas were married in 1989 but divorced in 2003. They remarried each other in 2005 but divorced again in 2007.

Meanwhile, Howard also tied the knot with Michelle Ghent. In 2013, the latter was granted a restraining order against the actor after he allegedly kicked and hit her during a family vacation. But the actor said that he had only been trying to protect himself from Ghent.

Terrence Howard

Photo: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

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A fresco of St. Matthew the Evangelist by artist Josef Kastner. (Photo: Getty Images)

Its one of the best-known passages in the New Testament, even  or especially  among people who dont usually read the Bible. And by last week, the conservative commentator and radio host Erick Erickson was getting tired of having it quoted to him: Matthew 25:40 (The King will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.), an evocative and stirring call to charity and compassion.

The sainted Mother Teresa herself was fond of quoting the verse to explain why she devoted her life to serving the poor. Even before the inauguration, a progressive faith group was promoting what it called the Matthew 25 Movement, seeking online signers to a pledge to protect and defend vulnerable people in the name of Jesus. In early March, when House Speaker Paul Ryan described the repeal of Obamacare as an act of mercy, Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, D-Mass., retorted that Matthew reminds us that we are judged not by how we treat the powerful, but by how we care for the least among us.

Throughout American history, momentous events (the Civil War, the civil rights movement) have had Biblical passages associated with them. The leading candidate for the Trump era so far seems to be the one whose alleged misinterpretation irked Erickson, the former editor in chief of RedState who now runs another conservative news site, The Resurgent.

And so when Erickson defended President Trumps draft budget, specifically including cuts to programs that fund Meals on Wheels, Twitterdom responded with a deluge of tweets on the theme of his heartlessness in general and ignorance of Scripture specifically. Erickson responded by denouncing what he regarded as the secular-humanist tendency to quote Scripture only when it suits a progressive agenda (If you dont support Meals on Wheels, youre not a good Christian, according to people who arent Christians and dont believe in Jesus.), and then delving into textual analysis, tweeting, In Matt 25, when Jesus talks about caring for the least of these, he isnt talking about the poor in general, but fellow Christians.

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That touched off another wave of denunciations.

Matthew Dowd, the ABC analyst who was the chief political consultant for the 2004 Bush campaign, tweeted: Please stop. You embarrass all of us who call ourselves Christians (or, presumably, Matthews.)

In fact, I tweeted something mildly sarcastic myself.

Only afterward did I stop and ask myself: How did I know Erickson was wrong?

Matthew 25:40, it turns out, is a famously difficult and controversial passage, the subject of at least one book, numerous articles and contentious disagreements among biblical scholars. According to biblical scholar Diana Butler Bass, the inclusivist interpretation  that Jesus was referring to the poor and outcasts  was favored in the Eastern Catholic tradition and began gaining ground in the West with the ascendance of humanist beliefs and the rise of the Social Gospel in the 19th century.

But in an email exchange with me, Erickson referenced an older exclusivist tradition in Western Christianity:

The prevailing wisdom in the early, renaissance, and reformation church era from Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant writers was that the least of these refers to Christians, particularly ministers and those sharing the gospel.

Erickson cited an influential 2015 blog post by Denny Burk, a professor of biblical studies at Boyce College. Burks article was prompted by a Leadership Summit on Overcoming Poverty at Georgetown University, at which, he wrote, I think every speaker on the panel  including President Obama  used the phrase least of these to refer to our fellow citizens who live in poverty and who need help.

Burk thinks thats a misreading of the passage. As with any difficult biblical verse, you have to read it in context, he wrote. In Matthew 18, Jesus refers to his disciples three times as little ones (vv. 6, 10, 14) with a term closely related to the least of these in Matthew 25:40, 46. So when Jesus talks about feeding, clothing, and caring for the least of these in Matthew 25:40, hes talking about his disciples.

And then Burk put it in a contemporary context: This text is not about poor people generally. Its about Christians getting the door slammed in their face while sharing the gospel with a neighbor. Its about the baker/florist/photographer who is being mistreated for bearing faithful witness to Christ. Its about disciples of Jesus having their heads cut off by Islamic radicals. In other words, its about any disciple of Jesus who was ever mistreated in the name of Jesus.

Erick Erickson and Jeannine Brown, PhD. (Photos: Courtesy of WSB Radio and Jeannine Brown)

Leaving aside Burks contentious views on the rights and obligations of a Christian wedding photographer, his broader point is a perfectly respectable  probably even majority  view among biblical scholars. But it is by no means universal. Jeannine Brown, a professor at Bethel Seminary in San Diego and a leading Matthew scholar, responded to Burk with an article titled Where did the poor go? In Browns view, the proper context for Matthew 25:40 is the surrounding passage, 25:31-46, which begins with Christ on his throne, dividing people into categories of the just and the unjust as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?

The King will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

Why  to paraphrase Browns argument  should the righteous need to be reminded of what they did for the Lord? If they had given shelter or food to a disciple of Jesus  the people Burk and Erickson think the passage is about  that should stick in their minds, and their heavenly reward shouldnt require an explanation. It is this element of surprise that confounds a straightforward reading of the least as Christian poor, she writes. The element of surprise makes most sense if those who received aid were not transparently believers in Jesus.

In an interview, she adds: The surprise helps keep us a little on our toes, and not so sure that we have it exactly right.  The point of the parable is we should be where Jesus is  in poor communities, in prisons. Were supposed to be where Jesus is in these really surprising places.

What is striking about this intense and passionate debate is that no one is disputing the larger point of Christs compassion for the poor, which is found throughout the New Testament. As Erickson told me in an email:

I made clear in both prior and subsequent tweets that the Bible does require Christians to care for the widows, orphans, poor, and refugees (one reason I oppose the Presidents immigration stance), but Matthew 25 does not.

Using Matthew 25 is a case of using the wrong text to defend the right doctrine.

Of course, Erickson is no liberal, and his view of caring for widows and the poor does not require paying taxes for it. He told me: There is no dispute on helping the poor. The Bible commands it, but does not lay out how or if government programs are required. It is clearly a personal obligation of believers and the church community.

But even with all good Christians on the same side of the larger question, what Brown calls the tug of war over Matthew 25:40 continues to play out. The text is such a lightning rod, its such a powerful phrase. Theres a tug of war over this text, who gets to own it, she says. Its power is what drew Mother Teresa, and countless missionaries throughout the centuries who devoted themselves to caring for the bodies as well as the souls of the least among us. Perhaps Trump, who has called the Bible his favorite book, could find inspiration in it as well.

Read more from Yahoo News:
By Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Roger Stone, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, said on Sunday he has offered to testify before a congressional committee investigating possible Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and ties to the Trump campaign.

Stone, an informal adviser to Trump, told ABC's "This Week" he had not received a reply from the House of Representatives intelligence committee on his offer of public testimony.

Along with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who has also offered to appear before the panel, Stone was among the Trump associates whose communications and financial transactions were being examined by the FBI and others as part of a larger investigation into possible links with Russian officials, according to a Jan. 20 report in the New York Times.

Without citing any names, FBI Director James Comey confirmed at the committee's public hearing last week that the FBI was investigating possible Russian ties to Trump's campaign as Moscow sought to influence the 2016 election.

Stone said he was anxious to testify in public.

"I reiterate again, I have had no contacts or collusions with the Russians," he told ABC, adding later, "There is no collusion, none, at least none that I know about, in Donald Trump's campaign for president."

At Monday's intelligence committee hearing, Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the panel, cited concern over Stone's communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Guccifer 2, who claimed responsibility for hacking the Democratic groups.

Stone said he had spoken to Assange through an intermediary and to Guccifer on Twitter in an exchange he made public. Stone also cast doubt on whether Guccifer was a Russian agent.

"Just because the intelligence services say something, as we know from history, does not make it true," he said, reflecting the doubts that Trump himself has sown about U.S. spy agencies.

Carter Page, another Trump campaign adviser whose contacts with Russians were mentioned by Schiff at Monday's hearing, also has offered to appear before the committee, according to multiple media reports.

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For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android.

The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Russia sponsored the hacking of Democratic Party groups during the 2016 campaign to benefit Republican Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton. Russia has denied the allegations of meddling.

Trump has dismissed the idea of any coordination between his campaign and Russia and has accused Democrats and the media of using the issue to attack him.

The House committee investigation was marred on Wednesday after its Republican chairman, Representative Devin Nunes, announced to the public and briefed Trump that U.S. intelligence may have swept up communications by Trump associates before telling the committee.

Nunes apologized to the intelligence panel the next day.

However, he further alienated Democrats on the committee on Friday when he canceled a hearing with intelligence officials from former Democratic President Barack Obama's administration in order to have a classified briefing with the directors of the National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The committee's top Democrat, Adam Schiff, suggested the cancellation came after pressure from the White House.

Schiff and other Democrats said last week's actions raised more doubts about whether Nunes, a Trump ally who served on the president's transition team, can conduct a credible investigation.

"I think the chairman has to make a decision whether to act as a surrogate of the White House as he did during the campaign and the transition or to lead an independent and credible, investigation, Schiff told CBS' Face the Nation.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Additional reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
ANKARA (Reuters) - The Turkish foreign ministry summoned Switzerland's ambassador in Ankara on Sunday over a protest in Bern that it said was organized by supporters of terrorist groups and targeted President Tayyip Erdogan, ministry sources said. On Saturday several thousand people, including Kurdish protesters, joined a rally in the Swiss capital calling for a 'No' vote in Turkey's April 16 referendum that could give sweeping powers to Erdogan under a constitutional overhaul. The referendum issue has already badly strained relations between Turkey and several European countries, including Germany, after they banned Turkish ministers from campaigning on their territory for a 'Yes' vote in the referendum. Turkish foreign ministry sources said the Swiss charge d'affaires had been summoned on Saturday because Swiss ambassador Walter Haffner was out of Ankara. On Sunday, Turkey told Haffner it expected the Swiss authorities to bring those responsible for the protest to justice and to take precautions to ensure such incidents do not happen again, sources said. The Turkish foreign ministry says the protest was organized by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, but not by Switzerland. In a speech in Istanbul on Sunday, Erdogan once again lashed out at European countries, saying that through their media they were campaigning for a 'No' vote. "Switzerland took it a step further. Their leftist parties and the terrorists ... have come together and carried out a march. In the Swiss parliament, they hang my picture with a gun to my head. The Swiss parliament remains silent in the face of this," Erdogan said. A spokesman for the Swiss foreign ministry declined to comment on Erdogan's accusations. Organizers and Bern police said the rally had passed off peacefully, though images from the demonstration showed a poster depicting Erdogan with a pistol pointing at his head. Ankara has accused some European countries of allowing 'No' supporters to campaign freely ahead of the Turkish referendum while deliberately banning rallies planned by the 'Yes' camp. Germany and the Netherlands, both home to many expatriate Turks with the right to vote in the referendum, have said the decision to ban several planned rallies was taken on security grounds and was not politically motivated. (Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Additional reporting by Kirsti Knolle in Vienna; Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey summoned the Swiss ambassador on Sunday to protest at a Kurdish rally in Bern which Ankara dubbed a "terrorist gathering", a diplomatic source said.

"Walter Haffner has been summoned to our (foreign) ministry where he has been made aware of our displeasure... The ambassador has been told those responsable must face justice," the source said.

Several thousand people attended Saturday's rally called by Kurdish associations and Swiss political parties in Bern.

Ankara believes the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey dubs a terrorist group, was behind the rally where some people brandished a banner showing a gun pointing at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's head alongside the words "Kill Erdogan".

Erdogan criticised the Swiss for hosting the event, warning that "you will reap what you have sown".

The Turkish leader has been angered by the refusal of several European states to allow Turkish ministers to campaign on the continent for a 'yes' vote in next month's referendum on expanding his powers.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had on Saturday informed Swiss counterpart Didier Burkhalter of his country's anger over the march.

On Friday, Swiss prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into alleged spying on Turks living in Switzerland by an unspecified intelligence service after the attorney general's office cited "concrete suspicions" of espionage.

Burkhalter has previously voiced concerns about a crackdown in Turkey following a failed July coup against Erdogan that Ankara has blamed on US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.
By Angus McDowall and Suleiman Al-Khalidi BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - A U.S.-backed Syrian alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias on Sunday took a military airport in northern Syria held by Islamic State, close to the country's largest dam that may be in danger of collapse. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias supported by a U.S.-led international coalition, said in a statement it had seized the air base. Earlier, SDF spokesman Talal Silo said its fighters had seized "60 to 70 percent" of the airport but were still engaged in intense clashes with the ultra-hardline militants inside the air base and on its outskirts. The SDF, backed by U.S. special forces in a campaign that has driven Islamic State from large swathes of northern Syria, fights separately from other rebel groups that seek to topple President Bashar al-Assad's rule. The SDF has been battling the militants near the Tabqa dam and air base west of the Syrian city of Raqqa in an accelerating campaign to capture Islamic State's stronghold. Hundreds of families were fleeing the city of Tabqa to the relative safety of outlying areas as U.S.-led coalition air strikes intensified in the past few days, according to former residents in touch with relatives. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war in Syria, said a week-long campaign of U.S-led strikes on Tabqa and the western countryside of Raqqa province had killed at least 90 civilians, a quarter of them children, while injuring dozens. The U.S. Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last week, the Pentagon said there were no indications a U.S.-led coalition air strike near Raqqa had hit civilians, in response to an Observatory statement that at least 33 people were killed in a strike that hit a school sheltering displaced people near the city. The Pentagon added it would carry out further investigations. A group of civic bodies and local and tribal notables from Raqqa province warned of an impending humanitarian crisis in the city of Raqqa as a result of the escalating campaign to seize the de facto capital of the militants. "We call for immediate efforts to save people and protect them," the statement of the Turkey-based opposition-run Local Council of Raqqa Province said, urging the international coalition to provide safe passage to civilians and ending bombing of infrastructure in the fight against Islamic State. DAM AT RISK The Pentagon said last Wednesday it had for the first time airdropped local ground forces behind enemy lines near Tabqa in a move aimed at retaking the major dam. Islamic State said on its social media channels that Tabqa dam had been put out of service and all flood gates were closed. It said the dam was at risk of collapse because of air strikes and increased water levels. Islamic State captured the Tabqa Dam, also known as the Euphrates Dam, which is about 40 km (25 miles) upstream from Raqqa and the air base, at the height of its expansion in Syria and Iraq in 2014. The United Nations warned this year of catastrophic flooding in Syria from the Tabqa dam, which is at risk from high water levels, deliberate sabotage by Islamic State and further damage from air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition. The director of the Syrian government's General Authority of Euphrates Dam that formerly operated the huge project blamed U.S. strikes in the past two days for disrupting internal control systems and putting the dam out of service, and warned of growing risks that could lead to flooding and future collapses. "Before the latest strikes by the Americans, the dam was working. Two days ago, the dam was functioning normally," Nejm Saleh told Reuters. "God forbid ... there could be collapses or big failures that could lead to flooding," Saleh said. An SDF spokesman denied that coalition strikes hit the structure of the dam and said the air drop landing last week was conducted to prevent any damage to the main structure by engaging the militants away from the dam. "The capture of the dam is being conducted slowly and carefully and this is why the liberation of the dam needs more time," Silo said, adding that militants dug inside the dam knowing they would not be hit for fear of damaging the dam. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had also learned from its own sources that the dam had stopped functioning but that Islamic State remained in control of its main operational buildings and turbines. The dam is about 4.5 km (2.8 miles) long. The SDF has advanced a small distance along the dam from the northern bank but its progress is slow because Islamic State has heavily mined the area, the Observatory said. (Reporting by Angus McDowall in Beirut and Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman; Additional reporting by Kinda Makieh in Damascus; Editing by Tom Heneghan and Peter Cooney)
United Airlines is in hot water after a dress code incident on Sunday morning.

In a series of live tweets, activist Shannon Watts explained that two girls who were wearing leggings were asked by the United Airlines gate agent to either change clothing or not board their flight to Minneapolis.

SEE ALSO: Teenagers spot fire on plane flying overhead, avert major disaster

1) A @united gate agent isn't letting girls in leggings get on flight from Denver to Minneapolis because spandex is not allowed?  Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) March 26, 2017

2) She's forcing them to change or put dresses on over leggings or they can't board. Since when does @united police women's clothing?  Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) March 26, 2017

3) Gate agent for flt 215 at 7:55. Said she doesn't make the rules, just follows them. I guess @united not letting women wear athletic wear?  Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) March 26, 2017

"This behavior is sexist and sexualizes young girls. Not to mention that the families were mortified and inconvenienced," Watts explained on Twitter.

"As the mother of 4 daughters who live and travel in yoga pants, I'd like to know how many boys @ United has penalized for the same reason. Their father, who was allowed to board with no issue, was wearing shorts," she wrote.

Another girl in grey leggings was allowed to fly after changing into a dress, according to Watt's tweets.

After a large amount of backlash from Twitter users, United Airlines responded to angry inquiries online, citing a dress code that appears in their "Contract of Carriage" that allows them to "refuse passengers who are not properly clothed."

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@finallydeirdre UA shall have the right to refuse passengers who are not properly clothed via our Contract of Carriage. ^FS  United (@united) March 26, 2017

"Casual attire is allowed as long as it looks neat and is in good taste for the local environment," the airlines also tweeted.

@PattyArquette Casual attire is allowed as long as it looks neat and is in good taste for the local environment. (1/2)  United (@united) March 26, 2017

The internet was outraged, both over United's actions and its public response to the controversy.

@united @PattyArquette Friendly Advice, United: No one is nearly as offended by a little girl in spandex as they are by this situation.  Nick Bolton (@NickBolton13) March 26, 2017

@shannonrwatts There are women in leggings and bathing suits in a recent @united safety video. https://t.co/b1xByiCZ3f  Ian Schafer (@ischafer) March 26, 2017

The only place @united's Contract of Carriage mentions clothing is regarding safety. Were these dangerous leggings? https://t.co/gQhX7l943d  Chris (@filmbuffcw) March 26, 2017

@shannonrwatts Hey, @united, you know how this ends, right? Images of women in leggings tagging you on social as they fly your competition.  Jenn (@jennvzande) March 26, 2017

Please #mansplain to me why a 10 yr old in leggings is "inappropriate attire" #boycottunited https://t.co/YOaqd7d8wm  Girl Science (@GoGirlScience) March 26, 2017

The @united response to this leggings thing is a case study on how not to respond to a brand crisis https://t.co/stO7dco5co  laura olin (@lauraolin) March 26, 2017

Mashable has reached out to United Airlines for comment and will update this post accordingly.

UPDATE: March 26, 2017, 2:14 p.m. EDT The two girls were United Airlines "pass riders," defined by the company as "United employees or their eligible dependents standing by on a space-available basis."

There is a separate dress code for pass riders, unrelated to United Airlines previous citations of the "Contract of Carriage," that remains "internal policy" and will not be released, according to a statement made to NBC's Colorado affiliate, 9 News.

WATCH: Airbus is redefining the future of flying.
Doha (AFP) - Spain's Maverick Vinales on a Yamaha won a dramatic season-opening Qatar MotoGP on Sunday, finally beating off Andrea Dovizioso after the pair swapped the lead several times over the final seven laps.

The 22-year-old Vinales, who took all the headlines in pre-season testing as well as practice in Qatar, shrugged off a poor start from pole position under the desert floodlights to win and further enhance his growing reputation.

"It feels great," he said immediately afterwards.

"Honestly, the track was so difficult. I was taking so much care at the start.

"Anyway, the bike was great. I have to say thanks to the team. Even if the conditions were difficult we were there all the time."

Vinales triumphed in a race reduced to 20 laps after rain and a wet track had delayed the start by 45 minutes and in a high-quality field which included 10 world champions.

In fact organisers were extremely lucky as the heavens again opened up immediately after the race ended in a weekend dominated by wet weather in Qatar, and which saw qualifying cancelled on Saturday because of thunderstorms.

Dovizioso on a Ducati finished a determined runner-up, while nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi took third on the second factory Yamaha despite having started in 10th place on the grid.

"It was very difficult," said Dovizioso. "We knew the race couldn't be so fast.

"At some points I tried to stay with Maverick until the end. I tried to overtake him on the last lap but he was too far."

Rossi said: "I don't know what happened but I was good.

"I was good in braking. I hope we understand enough in this race to continue in this way."

Defending world champion Marc Marquez, who had made it clear before the race he would be happy with a podium finish, was just edged out into fourth place on a Honda.

Vinales looked to have blown his chances early on after his poor start.

The early leader was France's Johann Zarco, who on his MotoGP debut riding a Yamaha Tech3, dominated the early laps taking a lead of more than a second into the sixth lap, before dramatically crashing out unchallenged at the head of the race.

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But Vinales always stayed in contention and with seven laps to go was on the wheel of leader Italian Dovizioso.

His nimble Yamaha was enough to ensure he took the lead with a third of the race left but Dovizioso was far from finished.

There then followed a fascinating race of cat and mouse as Dovizioso regained his lead several times on his faster Ducati.

Adding more drama, 38-year-old veteran Rossi was always in touch and threatened to pull off a memorable victory.

But with two laps to go, Vinales finally took a decisive lead of over half a second and held on for victory.

Also crashing out were Italian Andrea Iannone, who left the race at the halfway mark while in third position, and Britain's Cal Crutchlow, an early faller.

It is the 14th time the race has been held in Qatar, the 10th time under floodlights.

The racers now head to Argentina for the next race on April 9.

In the Moto2 race, Italy's Franco Morbidelli, riding a Kalex, clinched a lights to flag victory.

The 22-year-old from Rome had started on pole position and took his first career win ahead of fellow Kalex riders, Thomas Luthi of Switzerland and Japan's Takaaki Nakagami.

Spain's Joan Mir, on a Honda, won the Moto3 event for his second career success.

The 19-year-old finished ahead of Britain's John McPhee and Spanish compatriot Jorge Martin as Honda swept the podium.
SANAA, Yemen (AP)  Tens of thousands of Yemenis protested Sunday in the capital Sanaa against the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen as it marked its second anniversary.

The protests, organized by Shiite Houthi rebels supporting former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and Houthi leader Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, called for an end to the conflict which has killed more than 10,000 civilians, displaced over three million people and pushed the impoverished country to the brink of famine.

"I participated in the protests against the aggression (by the Saudi-led coalition), maybe our voice will be heard by the world over to stop the war," protester Ahmed Mohsen told The Associated Press.

Addressing the crowds, Saleh al-Samad, chairman of the Supreme Political Council, the highest political body in Yemen's rebel-held areas, gave a speech urging Yemenis to continue to support the Houthis.

The protests come as fighting raged between the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels in the Nihm district northeast of Sanaa, and the southern city of Taiz.

The coalition, which backs Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's internationally recognized government, has been launching airstrikes in the hopes of driving out the rebels and restoring Hadi's rule. Despite the ongoing military campaign, the Houthis and their allies still control Sanaa and much of Yemen's north.

Supported by the U.S. and British governments, the coalition has been largely criticized by human rights watchdogs for the deaths of civilians killed by airstrikes on or around mosques, funerals, weddings, homes, markets and schools.

Human Rights Watch said in a January report that it has documented 61 apparently "unlawful Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, some of which may amount to war crimes" and urged the British and American governments to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

The war has ground into a stalemated conflict in recent months. Peace efforts by the United Nations also have faltered.
New York (AFP) - With a skyline crowded with ever-more luxury towers, the construction of another Manhattan skyscraper wouldn't normally be remarkable.

But the American Copper Buildings going up on the East River -- a complex of two towers with 764 apartments, panoramic views and a huge entrance hall with a doorman -- is different.

Planned just after deadly Hurricane Sandy ravaged New York in October 2012 -- sounding another alarm about the mounting effects of climate change -- it was designed with new threats in mind, reflecting how the real estate world is evolving to account for global warming, in contrast to President Donald Trump's moves to roll back environmental protection.

The huge storm killed more than 40 people in New York, paralyzing the US financial capital for days.

JDS, the company developing the American Copper Buildings, bought the land for the project around the same time.

"The whole thing was a lake, we could have toured the site in a canoe," said Simon Koster, a principal at the company.

"We knew something like that would happen again," he added. "So we said, 'How can we make sure that if we lived here, we will not be facing that scenario?' So we let the designers loose."

- Tools to survive -

One of the main innovations was to ensure residents have access to electricity as long as possible in the event of an outage in the city.

Instead of planning an opulent penthouse on the top floor, the architects reserved space for big natural-gas generators designed to keep key equipment functioning if the power fails.

Although the machines are situated "in the most valuable real estate of this building," Koster said, "it makes all the other units all the more valuable."

"We are going to have more of these events, it's just being strategic and smart about how you prepare for them," architect Gregg Pasquarelli said.

"If we lose power, if you can go up and down in the elevator and your refrigerator works and you have one outlet available that you charge your phone on, you can probably survive in New York for a week," he added.

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Every kitchen has two electrical outlets -- one reserved for refrigerators -- connected to a back-up circuit fed by the generators. That means smartphones can be charged during a breakdown.

Traditionally relegated to the basement, the heating, ventilation and large electrical equipment have been installed on the first floor instead, more than 20 feet (seven meters) above the street to minimize the risk of flooding.

The main entrance hall is large and austere, with steel pillars and floor tiling designed for outside use.

Wood-paneled walls warm the atmosphere -- but the open side panels can dry easily with no damage in the event of flooding.

The building's cheapest studios will be available for rent starting from $3,000 a month, and include the luxury perks of access to a swimming pool and huge terrace with views of the Empire State Building in addition to the more prosaic bonus of flood resistance.

- Embracing resilience -

New York is embracing resilient architecture more than most cities in the country because its exorbitantly priced real estate drives up the financial stakes, says Alex Wilson, president of the Vermont-based Resilient Design Institute, which specializes in such issues.

Besides electricity, architects are also coming up with ways of providing drinking water -- with accessible faucets for everyone now obligatory on lower floors -- as well as maintaining reasonable temperatures.

In the event of a summer power outage, "a lot of condominiums are heavily glazed and would become inhabitable," Wilson said.

The city is identifying the most vulnerable existing buildings for adaptation.

However, the obstacles for reconstructing older structures are greater than integrating flood resistance during the construction of new projects such as the Copper Buildings -- and so are the costs -- Wilson said.

Politics may also get in the way. The Trump administration plans to slash the Environmental Protection Agency's budget, which may affect the collection of data to assess weak infrastructure.

"If the government stops collecting the data on flooding vulnerabilities, heat waves, then it's going to be harder for the design and development communities to incorporate changes in their design," Wilson said.

Still, he's optimistic the government's rejection of science about the effects of climate change will have only a temporary effect.

"The private sector is well aware of this, the insurance industry is increasingly aware of this and these industries will continue to drive progress in resilience."
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Tom Latham and Jeet Raval weathered an intense examination for over 25 overs to guide New Zealand to 67 without loss at the close of the rain-affected second day of the third test against South Africa at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday. Latham was 42 not out, while Raval was on 25 when bad light forced the players off with 3.3 overs of play remaining. South Africa had been dismissed for 314 about 30 minutes after tea following an almost two-hour rain delay that washed out virtually all of the middle session. Quinton de Kock had again proved his value to South Africa's lineup with his ability to score quickly and marshall the lower order as they scored 124 runs for the final four wickets. The wicketkeeper top-scored with 90, falling short of a century for his second successive innings after he made 91 in the second test in Wellington. He had hit 11 fours and two sixes in his 118-ball stay before left-armer Neil Wagner got a ball to swing in and then straighten off the pitch and trap him in front. De Kock failed to overturn the leg before decision on review. Kagiso Rabada was the last man out as he scored a career-best 34 with six boundaries a six. Prior to the rearguard action, New Zealand had been well-placed to dismiss the visitors for not much more than 200 when they managed to remove the overnight pair of Temba Bavuma for 29 and Faf du Plessis for 53 that left South Africa at 190 for six. Bavuma had attempted to hook a slow, short Matt Henry delivery and only succeeded in getting a nick to first slip Raval, while Du Plessis fell to a brilliant catch by Latham just after reaching his 12th test half century. The skipper set himself for a lap sweep against left arm-spinner Mitchell Santner but Latham, fielding at forward short leg, moved swiftly to his right and plucked the ball out of the air. Henry finished with career-best figures of 4-93. South Africa hold a 1-0 lead in the three-match series having won the second game in Wellington by eight wickets. The first test in Dunedin ended in a draw with the entire final day washed out. (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Sudipto Ganguly)
Scientists at Carleton University in Canada have found that microfibers, a kind of plastic found in modern apparel like yoga pants and fleece-jackets, are contaminating rivers, streams and oceans.

When these and other similar kinds of garments are washed, hundreds of thousands of microfibers are flushed into the wastewater system, eventually reaching oceans and rivers.

This has serious repercussions on aquatic life as ingesting microfibers makes all kinds of marine life, everything from fish to crabs, feel full but provides no nutrition. The animals that eat them eventually starve to death.

What really surprised us is that we found plastic particles in every single water and sediment sample we took, so the plastic was really prevalent in the river system. said Jesse Vermaire, assistant professor of environmental science and geography at Carleton. As much as 95 per cent of the plastic in the water samples collected by Vermaire and the Ottawa Riverkeepers was made up of microfibers. Around five per cent of the plastic was made up of micobeads.

Microbeads are another kind of synthetic plastic threatening aquatic ecosystems. Governments have sought to ban the use of mircrobeads in products like toothpaste, facial scrubs and body washes. Many companies have taken them out of their products by choice in order to help the environment.

As for microfibers, a ban or return to the drawing board for clothing companies may be in store; reformulating the materials that make it into our clothes may be the only way to keep microfibers out of the fish food chain for good.

Scientists believe the problem has already started to impact seafood consumed by humans. The microfibers, as they sit in a fishs digestive tract, begin to bioaccumulate leading to toxins building up in the fishs tissue.

How pervasive is the problem? A 2011 study found that debris on 85% of shorelines around the world were made up of microfibers. Plastic Soup, an ocean advocacy group, says that 75% of all ocean debris is plastic or polystyrene.

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Some studies have shown enormous impact on the fish that may one day end up on your plate. One study found that that 36% of fish caught in the English Channel had plastic in their stomachs. Another found 83% of crayfish studied in Norway contained plastic fibres. One study found fulmars, aquatic birds, had plastic in their stomachs at a rate of almost 100% of those examined.

Solutions are being proposed that vary from coating clothes that use synthetic plastics with an anti-shed layer to introducing waterless washing machines that clean clothes with pressurized carbon-dioxide. A filter on conventional washing machines, or a ball that attracts shed microfibers, have also been proposed. So far, industry has been slow to move in instituting reforms.

Gregg Treinish, founder and executive director of Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation, says that the studies hes read have switched him off of seafood. I dont want to have eaten fish for 50 years and then say, Oh, whoops, Treinish said in an interview with The Guardian.

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Is Microsoft finally releasing its long-awaited and long-rumored Surface Phone this year? A new patent that was published this week surfaced online, and it contains details for what could be the powerful Windows-running smartphone of the Redmond giant.

Last Thursday, Microsoft was awarded with patent US 2017/0086308 A1. The patent, which was originally filed on Sept. 17, 2015, is for different configurations of a display devices components. The display device being described by the document has four main parts: two transparent panels that are adjacent to each other and a display layer with two display panels separated by a gap. There are redirecting elements positioned between each side of the transparent panel and display panel combination. The end-result is a folding display device.

Despite the separation between the two sides due to the gap, Microsoft indicated in the patent that users will perceive the image being displayed by the folding device as one single image. This is because the gap is being kept to a minimum size. There is also mention of organic light-emitting diode or OLED panels and liquid crystal display as the materials to be used for the display panel. There are several other embodiments mentioned in the patent, but Microsoft noted that each is subject to change.

The publication of the new patent online just comes a day after All About Microsoft reporter of ZDNet Mary Jo Foley shared some juicy bits on what fans can expect from the Redmond tech giant this spring. During the latest Windows Weekly session, Foley claimed that its unlikely for Microsoft to bring out the successor to the Surface Book line. For the most part, Foley speculated that Microsoft is creating a new breed of clamshell device that would still focus on creativity like the Surface Book and Surface Surface.

We keep hearing that theres going to be a spring hardware launch from Microsoft. And now were officially in spring, right? No invitations have gone out  But we do keep hearing that there is gonna be a hardware launch, Foley said before adding that the tech giant is unlikely to introduce the Surface Book 2 and the Surface Pro 5 at this time of the year.

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Although there is no confirmation that Microsoft is already working on its Surface Phone, any new information that could be hinting at the handsets existence is being taken as a sign that the Redmond company is ready to put out its highly anticipated powerhouse soon. Furthermore, the new patent somehow corroborates another patent that was awarded to Microsoft back in January. The latter basically outed details about a 2-in-1 device that folds from being a smartphone into a tablet and vice versa, as per Phone Arena.

Should Microsoft really introduce a folding smartphone this spring, it is going to meet some tough competition from South Korea companies Samsung and LG. There have been reports about the two working on foldable phones for release. Aside from the upcoming Galaxy S8 and S8+, Samsung is believed to be hard at work in developing prototypes for its foldable phone. On the other hand. LG has already earned three patents for a phone-tablet hybrid.

Microsoft

Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar

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An self-driving vehicle being tested in a pedestrian zone of London (AFP Photo/JUSTIN TALLIS) (AFP/File)

Washington (AFP) - Are robots coming for your job?

Although technology has long affected the labor force, recent advances in artificial intelligence and robotics are heightening concerns about automation replacing a growing number of occupations, including highly skilled or "knowledge-based" jobs.

Just a few examples: self-driving technology may eliminate the need for taxi, Uber and truck drivers, algorithms are playing a growing role in journalism, robots are informing consumers as mall greeters, and medicine is adapting robotic surgery and artificial intelligence to detect cancer and heart conditions.

Of 700 occupations in the United States, 47 percent are at "high risk" from automation, an Oxford University study concluded in 2013.

A McKinsey study released this year offered a similar view, saying "about half" of activities in the world's workforce "could potentially be automated by adapting currently demonstrated technologies."

Still, McKinsey researchers offered a caveat, saying that only around five percent of jobs can be "fully automated."

Another report, by PwC this month, concluded that around a third of jobs in the United States, Germany and Britain could be eliminated by automation by the early 2030s, with the losses concentrated in transportation and storage, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail trade.

But experts warn that such studies may fail to grasp the full extent of the risks to the working population.

"The studies are underestimating the impact of technology -- some 80 to 90 percent of jobs will be eliminated in the next 10 to 15 years," said Vivek Wadhwa, a tech entrepreneur and faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University in Silicon Valley.

- Dire consequences -

"Artificial intelligence is moving a lot faster than anyone had expected," said Wadhwa, who is co-author of a forthcoming book on the topic. "Alexa (Amazon's home hub) and Google Home are getting amazingly intelligent very fast. Microsoft and Google have demonstrated that AI can understand human speech better than humans can."

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Wadhwa calls the driverless car a "metaphor" for the future of labor and a sign of a major shift.

Warnings of dire social consequences from automation have also come from the likes of the physicist Stephen Hawking and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, among others.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem historian Yuval Harari writes in his 2017 book, "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" that technology will lead to "superfluous people" as "intelligent non-conscious algorithms" improve.

"As algorithms push humans out of the job market," he writes, "wealth and power might become concentrated in the hands of the tiny elite that owns the all-powerful algorithms, creating unprecedented social and political inequality."

Harari points to the Oxford study, estimating a high probability of job loss to automation -- cashiers (97 percent), paralegals (94 percent), bakers (89 percent) and bartenders (77 percent), for example.

Others disagree.

Boston University economist and researcher James Bessen dismisses alarmist predictions, contending that advances in technology generally lead to more jobs, even if the nature of work changes.

His research found that the proliferation of ATM machines did not decrease bank tellers' employment in recent decades, and that automation of textile mills in the 19th century led to an increase in weaving jobs because it created more demand.

"Robots can replace humans in certain tasks but don't entirely replace humans," he said.

But he acknowledged that automation "is destroying a lot of low-skill, low wage jobs, and the new jobs being created need higher skills."

Former president Barack Obama's council of economic advisors also warned last year that most jobs paying less than $20 an hour "would come under pressure from automation."

- 'Tax the robot' -

Although the net impact of robots remains unclear, tech leaders and others are already debating how to deal with the potential job displacement.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates said last month that he supports a "robot tax," an idea floated in Europe, including by a socialist presidential candidate in France.

But Bessen, a former fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center, said taxing robots could be counterproductive.

"You don't want to be taxing the machines because they enable people to earn higher wages," he said. "If you tax machines, you will slow the beneficial side of the process."

Peter Diamandis, chairman of the X Prize Foundation for technical innovation and founder of the Silicon Valley think-tank Singularity University, is among those calling for a "universal basic income" to compensate people for job losses.

Offering income guarantees "will be one of many tools empowering self-actualization at scale," he said in a blog post, arguing that automation will allow people "to follow their passions, be more creative."

But Wadhwa says the problems run deeper and will require more creative solutions.

"A basic income won't solve the social problems of joblessness because people's identity revolves around our jobs," he said.

"Even if we have enough food and energy, we have to deal with the social disruption that's coming. We need a much broader discussion."

Bessen says reversing the trends of the past decades, where high-skilled jobs gain at the expense of others, pose a "big challenge."

"It's entirely possible we can meet the challenge," he said. "But the evidence in the past 20 years is that things are moving in the wrong direction."
Rebecca Gail "Becky" Woolard Moore, age 61, a resident of Pinetown, NC died Friday March 24, 2017 at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville.A graveside service will be held at 11:00 AM on Monday March 27, 2017 at Yeatesville Cemetery and will be officiated by Rev. Raymond Lagcher.Mrs. Moore was born in Beaufort County on December 1, 1955 to the late James Edward Woolard and Cottie Mae Modlin Woolard. She was a 1973 graduate of Pantego High School and continued her education at Beaufort County Community College and received an Associate's Degree in communications. Mrs. Moore was a member of Free Union Free Will Baptist Church. On September 24, 1977, she married Dexter Dewain Moore. She loved to go hunting with her brother Wayne and her nephew Eric. Mrs. Moore enjoyed flowers in her yard and being around animals. She was a people person, loved her family and friends and likewise they loved her. Mrs. Moore had a wonderful sense of humor with a quick wit.Survivors include her husband Dexter Dewain Moore, a step son, Michael Romanek and wife Lynn of London, England, UK, two step grandchildren, Kai Romanek, Anders Romanek, three sisters, Phyllis Dickerson and husband Robert of Plymouth, Carolyn Boyd and husband George of Long Acre community Plymouth, Brenda Cooper of Pantego, a brother Wayne Woolard and wife Regina of Belhaven, and many nieces and nephews.She is preceded in death by a step son, C.J. Moore, and two sisters, Dorothy Waters and Betty Jean Cuthrell.The family will receive friends at the home 21218 US Hwy 264 E, Pinetown, NC 21865.Flowers are appreciated or memorial contributions may be made to the Children's Miracle Network, c/o Log-A-Load For Kids, P.O. Box 15030, New Bern, NC 28562.Condolences may be addressed to the family online by visiting www.paulfuenralhome.com Paul Funeral Home & Crematory of Washington is honored to serve the Moore family.
3 killed after bike crashes into stationary tractor trolley

As many as three persons were killed in a motorbike accident on Saturday night along the Chaumala Kuchauni road stretch of Kailali.
Brazil meat scandal: China and others lift ban

China has lifted a total ban on imports of Brazilian meat imposed over allegations that companies have been selling unsafe produce for years.
Chinese defence minister returns, India army chief arriving Tuesday

As Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan wrapped up his three-day Nepal visit on Saturday, chief of the Indian Army Gen Bipin Rawat is arriving in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
Dahal for speeding up implementation of deals with China

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said on Saturday that Nepal and China have agreed to speed up implementation of the agreements reached between the two countries earlier and finalise the instruments under consideration.
DPR of industrial area in Hetauda initiated

The government has initiated the process of preparing a detailed project report (DPR) to build an industrial area in Mayurdhap of Hetauda.
Hong Kong election: Carrie Lam becomes first female leader

Carrie Lam has been elected as Hong Kong's new leader, becoming the first woman to hold the top job.
Local level elections: Recruitment begins for temporary police in Lamjung

With the local level election on the offing, recruitment process to hire Myadi (temporary) police personnel has begun in the district from Sunday.
Nail culprits of Madhes

KP Oli has an old-world constituency to pursue divisive politics that is practically perilous for the national interest, and his scant knowledge makes him uniquely placed to hard-sell an unfiltered version of nationalism.
Nepal, India to sign new petro supply agreement next week

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) are all set to sign a new petroleum supply agreement next week in a bid to smoothen the supply of petrol, diesel and cooking gas from India.
Perspective on Indian inclusiveness

Not only can Nepal learn from Indias inclusionary polity, India too can learn from Nepals exercise in inclusiveness
PM stresses inclusive globalisation at Boao

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has called on Asian business community to invest in various sectors including hydropower, infrastructure development and tourism in Nepal.
Polls after constitution amendment, says Thakur

Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party Chairman Mahantha Thakur has said the Madhesi Morcha, an alliance of seven Madhes-based parties, will participate in the local level elections only after endorsement of constitution amendment bill.
President to visit India in April

President Bidya Devi Bhandari will embark on a state visit to India on April 17 at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee.
Ramechhap locals struggle to build houses for lack of timber

Shortage of timber in various parts of Ramechhap, one of the districts most affected by the April 2015 earthquake, has forced quake survivors here to shell out money on expensive iron rods.
Demonitised currency exchange facility: RBI officials in Capital for talks

Delegates from India arrived in Nepal on Saturday to hold discussions on extending exchange facility to Nepalis who are holding banned Indian banknotes of 500 and 1000.
Roadkill of wild animals in BNP area alarming

Wildlife deaths due to road collisions inside the Banke National Park (BNP) area are reaching an alarming high levels, with as many as 71 animals being killed in the past 11 months. A dozen of them were killed between mid-February and mid-March alone, according to the BNP authorities.
Sales of masks soar as problem of dust pollution deepens

Facial masks have started flying off the shelves of many retail stores in the Kathmandu Valley, as those residing here try to beat plumes of dust created by continuous digging of the roads to lay the drinking water pipes.
Singapore teen blogger Amos Yee granted US asylum

Singapore teen blogger Amos Yee, who was jailed twice in his homeland for posting political and religious criticism online, has been granted asylum in the United States.
A second new Jiffy Lube is under construction on the Billings West End, with a planned opening for late this summer.

The new store is going up at 741 S. 24th St. W., the former home of Valet Cleaners, which was torn down in February.

Its also roughly two miles away from another Jiffy Lube being built at Shiloh Crossing in front of Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Popeyes Chicken.

Matt Johnson, who owns both locations, said the long winter delayed construction of the Shiloh Crossing store, which is why wood beams are being erected at both sites simultaneously.

While the two new locations are close together, Johnson said he believes both will succeed.

Both these locations on the West End have specific traffic flows that vary from each other in some ways. We love the idea of having options for our customers depending on their specific daily agenda, Johnson said in an email.

Johnson and his partners, Kelly Thompson and Kelly Kent of Oregon, opened Billings first Jiffy Lube in the Heights in October 2015. The Shiloh Crossing store is expected to open in June.

We have received great support and interest in the variety of different services we offer and have enjoyed good success thus far, Johnson said.

Billings-based Langlas Construction is the contractor for both stores.

The 24th Street West store will be 4,014 square feet and cost $798,794, according to Catherine Bergman, owner of Langlas.

Jiffy is the nations largest quick-service oil change shop with more than 2,000 stores nationwide. Its a Houston-based subsidiary of Shell Oil Co., but all service stations are owned by franchisees.

Marco's Pizza is looking

Another national pizza chain, Marcos Pizza, is looking to expand to Billings.

Toledo, Ohio-based Marcos announced last week that its holding a meeting 6:30 p.m. March 30 at the downtown DoubleTree by Hilton hotel to find potential franchisees for three restaurants.

Area representative Josh Holdinghausen, a former Billings resident, will be there and says Marcos is a good fit for the area.

This is a great franchisor that is constantly improving its operating and inventory systems to grow sales and become a bigger slice of the pizza industry, Holdinghausen, a former manager of the Billings Golden Corral, said in a written statement.

A Marcos franchise owner must raise $100,000 in capital and prove a net worth of $350,000. The company estimates the total investment between $224,092 and $549,092. Financing is available.

Marcos was founded in 1978 by Italian immigrant Pasquale Pat Giammarco and now operates 800 stores in 30 states and four countries.

The announcement from Marcos comes about a week after a different chain, Pizza Factory, announced its seeking to open new stores in Billings.

Uber insurance available

State Farm announced last week its selling a new policy aimed at drivers who use their vehicles for ride-sharing companies, such as Uber.

The new service, called Transportation Network Company Driver Coverage, provides up to $1 million in liability coverage while a paying passenger occupies the vehicle, or while drivers are headed to pick up passengers, according to State Farm.

Uber launched in Montana in August 2016, the first ride-sharing service to come to the state. Since then, drivers had struggled with potential gaps in coverage between driving for personal use and on duty.

Farmers Insurance also offers a similar product.

The new, optional State Farm coverage allows policy holders to use their personal policies to fill in any gaps in the Transportation Network Company Driver Coverage, according to State Farm.

The transportation network industry is rapidly growing but drivers of these services are exposed to new risks. This new product offers peace of mind to drivers that use their personal cars to provide ride-hailing services, Brad Hilliard, a State Farm spokesman, said in a written statement.

Haikus from the valley

Billings keeps Penney

for now. Sad loss for Sidney,

Sheridan, others.
Steep fall in potato price hits farmers

Farmers in Aambhanjhyang, Makwanpur, have started storing potatoes in their houses after prices of the agricultural product plunged following hike in imports of cheap produce from India.
Student unions demand postponement of FSU election at RR Campus

Nine different student organisations have demanded postponement of the Free Students Union (FSU) election at Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus scheduled for Tuesday.
Sylhet blasts kill four amid Bangladesh militant raid

Six people - two police officers and four civilians - have been killed in twin bombings in north-eastern Bangladesh, officials say.
UML to resume poll campaign in State 2 in a week

The main opposition CPN-UML has decided to hold a gathering of the partys cadres in Bardibas on March 29 and 30 to discuss ways to resume the stalled publicity campaign in Province 2.
HELENA - Montana is gearing up for its first full boating season after the detection here of some of the most problematic invasive species in North America, zebra and quagga mussels.

State agencies are seeking $11 million over the next two years to double the number of watercraft inspection stations, check all out-of-state boats and implement mandatory decontamination at the Tiber and Canyon Ferry reservoirs, two of the states most popular. Mussel larvae were detected at Tiber last year and suspected larvae were discovered at Canyon Ferry Reservoir.

Lawmakers have responded with multiple bills to fund and shape the states fight against the invaders.

Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, proposed legislation Friday, Senate Bill 363, that would impose fees on boaters, irrigators and hydropower to finance aquatic invasive species (AIS) programs.

Were casting a broad net and that was done purposefully, Vincent said in an interview. Weve expanded that net because everyone needs to be at the table to deal with this urgent situation.

Infestations of quagga and zebra mussels in the Great Lakes, Midwest and Colorado River basin resulted in significant economic and environmental consequences. Once established, mussels clog hydropower, irrigation and water treatment infrastructure. They also filter plankton which sends ripples through the ecosystem impacting fish and other aquatic life.

There is no known means of eradicating mussels once established. The best current measures, experts say, are to prevent their spread through inspection and education.

SB363 as passed by the Senate Natural Resources Committee proposes an annual $50 nonresident invasive species decal and a $25 decal for resident watercraft. Owners of irrigated farmland would also pay a $25 fee annually and fees on hydropower facilities would also be charged.

In committee action Friday, amendments passed to include major utilities and electric cooperatives, although there was some debate about how those charges affect customers and the role the Public Service Commission will play.

An amendment to alter the funding sources by stripping the irrigation and resident fees and adding $10 to nonresident fishing licenses was voted down. Vincent argued that double or triple dipping  such as repeatedly charging an irrigator who owns boats and pays for power  is unfair. Simply charging residents for power provides a more equitable system for residents, he said.

The individuals who should bear the lion's share should be the individuals who brought it to us. In this case, its out of staters, Vincent told the committee.

Although unverified, the prevailing theory of how mussels came to Montana is either as adults attached to a boat or larvae contained in ballast or live well water.

SB363 drew public support from several conservation groups and state agencies. Opposition from utilities, electric cooperatives and agriculture groups centered not on the need to fund the AIS program, but on developing a fair and equitable fee system.

With a transmittal deadline looming next week, Vincent reluctantly pressed the committee to take action with anticipation that further amendments will come in the House.

This bill is far from perfect, it is far from finished, Vincent told the committee. We have a lot of technical discussions yet to have about how to make this fair and equitable. We have several amendments to consider.

"I did not hear anyone say, though, this is not an issue we shouldnt be trying to figure out how to address.

Both Vincent and fellow Republican, Rep. Mike Cuffe of Libby, say their experience working with the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region nonprofit prompted their initial interest in invasive species.

The Columbia River basin is the last major basin in the lower 48 without invasive mussels, and the organization has estimated a $500 million annual regional impact if the mollusks take hold.

That makes the Continental Divide a dividing line and makes avoiding transport of mussels to the West a major emphasis of Montanas AIS program.

There is a firm belief that when spring comes were going to find definite signs of mussels at least in Tiber, and we have some hopes theyve not taken a foothold in Canyon Ferry, Rep. Mike Cuffe said. Montana managed to avoid them until last summer, but this is a game changer.

Cuffe was involved in setting up and funding the pre-mussel detection AIS program, which ran inspection stations and education campaigns such as Clean, Drain, Dry for boat decontamination.

We set up the best program we could at the time and weve learned a lot since then, Cuffe said. This potential infestation really opened the eyes of everyone.

Cuffes House Bill 622 came before the House Natural Resources on Friday. The legislation codifies an invasive species council to advise the governor and creates an Upper Columbia conservation commission to monitor and report on invasive species in that basin.

I believe the program that Montana is developing right now will be the model program for other states, Cuffe said.

Both Cuffe and Vincent complimented the states response to the larvae discovery. A coalition of agencies led by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation convened a rapid response team under a governor-declared emergency.

What this task force did in a couple of months has been really impressive to me, Vincent said. Their focus and sincerity to stand up this program to contain and further prevent mussels as efficiently as they did, I believe, will be modeled and replicated across the region.

Both lawmakers were also candid about the expense of the programs and the challenge of pushing the legislation in a lean budget year. An estimated 300 FWP employees are expected to have a role in the programs, including the hiring of seasonal employees to run decontamination and inspection stations.

This is a major job, but if were serious about containing, controlling and preventing mussels we needed to step up our game seriously, Cuffe said. Montana has so many entrances, so many miles of roads, so many water bodies, it takes a lot of dollars to cover that ground.

A potential long-term funding source could also come through an aquatic invasive species trust fund created in 2015. The current legislation does not tackle sweeping any extra revenue into the trust, but if a funding mechanism can be secured, Vincent and others suggest that the interest on the trust could make the program self-sustaining and the proposed fees could sunset.

While the bulk of funding comes through SB363, other legislation did come forward to provide some AIS funding or shape the programs, including propsoals to increase Montana bed taxes, soft drink taxes and boat launch fees. But all died in committee last week.

One major question surrounding invasive species efforts is what role federal funding will play. The state is pursuing dollars through the Water Resources Development Act and the Water Infrastructure Improvements Act. Officials are cautiously optimistic about that funding coming through as Montana is the headwaters for many other downstream states.

With the administration and some of the federal funding freezes, its hard to rely on that and know what the feds are going to do, said Mike Volesky, chief of operations for FWP. We cant gamble on the federal funding so were only asking for what we need and (will) be prepared to fund this through the state.

State agency spending is a two-fold process. A funding source must be secured, but the Legislature also grants authority to spend that funding.

HB2 and HB3 are the authority bills with the former spending over the next biennium and the latter authorizing the funding to date. HB3 has already gone to the governor while HB2 passed the House and is currently being debated in the Senate.
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A storm is coming. You feel it in the air, and you can smell it as thunder grumbles in the distance. It was in the forecast, it was on todays radar, but in the new novel Mangrove Lightning by Randy Wayne White, its been coming for generations.

Gracie Barlow had never seen a bigger woman. Strong as two men, she was, with a head like a pumpkin, a horrid odor, and a powerful slap, the woman was terrifying. And yet, Gracie knew that Mr. Bird was worse: on his orders, the 17-year-old had been chained, naked and choking, to a wall inside a bricked-up cubicle.

For sure, Gracies boyfriend was dead.

Just after a fight with her mother and Gracie stomped out of the house, there was Slaten. It was destiny, and she was in love; he told her wonderful things and gave her amazing drugs. He was older, an artist, and it was his idea to go to Chino Hole in search of bamboo that he said was the best in Florida for tattooing. And then he was caught by that woman, and so was Gracie.

Gracie knew Slaten was dead.

She knew she was next.

Known around Florida for his fishing knowledge, retired guide Tootsie Barlow was afraid. His family, he believed, had been cursed since 1925, due to their involvement in the Marco Island War, which pitted neighbor against neighbor and ended in the disappearance of a deputy and his family, possibly to the bottom of Chino Hole. Having recently lost two of his kin to suspicious accidents, Tootsie asked biologist-cum-detective Doc Ford to find the truth: was it a curse or just plain bad luck?

Because Ford was embroiled in the resolution of a British blackmail scheme, his friend, Tomlinson, stepped in to see what could be learned. Surely, there was something going on near Chino Hole. Tomlinson felt the area roil with evil, which he couldve attributed to weed, until he saw a massive woman.

Gone are the days when Doc Ford was just a marine biologist who happened to solve mysteries in his beloved Florida. Gone is the perpetually-under-the-influence sidekick who thrives off the grid. No, the new Ford is more James Bond-ish, with access to uber-high-tech equipment, alibis, and rich women, while the new Tomlinson is a man of responsibility. Neither of these changes diminish Mangrove Lightning, but they do make it very different.

Indeed, White seems also to be edging this novel into the paranormal, in a story based loosely on historical events that make a great tale even without the presence of eerie voices and maniacal killers. The addition of those two facets serves to stir up this novel, though, sometimes to the point of silly and other times to heart-pounding.

Even so, I dont believe Id take this book to bed. Its exciting and creepy enough to cause bad dreams because this aint your mothers cozy mystery. Remember that, as youre reading Mangrove Lightning, or things could get a little stormy.
Allen Lee Gutzel, 77, of La Crosse died Friday, March 24, 2017, at Bethany Riverside Health Care Center in La Crosse. Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at Coulee Region Cremation Group in Onalaska. Funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, April 1, with visitation from 10 a.m. to time of service at English Lutheran Church in La Crosse. A full obituary will follow.
Wisconsin farmers have plenty of challenges, but for the time being the state is fairly free from wild pigs.

However, it may not stay that way for long.

A recent report from the National Wildlife Research Center, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, warns that the national feral-hog population  estimated at 6 million  continues to grow. While most of the population is south of here, projections show that within the next 30 to 50 years wild pigs could be living in every county in the country.

I raise domestic pigs and am amazed at their ability to dig and grub around in the ground. Wild pigs are even more efficient at destroying plants and vegetation and cause an estimated $1.5 billion in damage every year. Feral swine not only destroy ecosystems, but they also carry diseases that are potentially harmful to other animals and humans.

Texas is ground zero in the feral-hog war, with an estimated 3 million animals. Even though there is year-round no-limit hunting, the population there continues to explode. Recently the state announced it was going to start using Kaput Feral Hog, a warfarin-based poison similar to that used to kill rodents, as another weapon in the hog war.

I asked Noah Balgooyen, a wildlife damage specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, what the feral-hog situation is in our state. I remember when farmers in Crawford County were asking for hunters help in killing feral pigs. A Texas man in 2008 was acquitted of charges that he released 31 wild hogs in the county, brought from Texas in 2002.

Balgooyen said Gays Mills and Bell Center are the historic hot spots for wild hogs. He said an estimated 300 have been shot in that area through the years, but there are no current reports of wild hogs there.

Also called razorbacks, feral hogs were established when colonists came in the 1500s and some of their wild and domesticated pigs escaped. Those eventually bred with the Eurasian wild boar  brought here in the 19th century for hunting.

A recent study analyzed data collected between 1982 and 2012 to plot the expansion of wild hogs, which are moving north at a rate of four to eight miles a year. The potential invasion of states like Wisconsin could come earlier if wild boars in Canada continue to move south.

Wild pigs are prolific breeders, averaging 1.5 litters per year with five or six pigs per litter. Under ideal nutritional conditions, they can have as many as four litters per year. Young females can start giving birth at about a year of age or even younger. The pigs can run up to 30 miles per hour, are good climbers and can sense odors 5 to 7 miles away or as much as 25 feet underground.

Feral hogs eat pretty much anything and have no natural predators. Folks, this sounds like the stuff youd find in a Stephen King horror novel. A marauding herd of feral pigs that develop a taste for human flesh  Id call it Charlottes Lot.

The good news is that feral pigs are smart enough to generally avoid humans. Thats where the concept of Kaput comes into play. The procedure starts with a nontoxic feed to accustom the hogs to feeding; then the nontoxic feed is replaced with the toxin.

The proposal is controversial, but the situation in Texas is desperate. Nothing like Kaput has been used in Wisconsin, Balgooyen said, and would need to be approved for use by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Due to the damage that feral pigs can wreak on farms, private property and natural areas, we certainly wouldnt want to rule out any potential management tools, Balgooyen said. But due to the successes weve had in controlling the population here with more traditional methods, I think the use of toxicants would be a tough sell unless the situation deteriorated significantly.

Lets hope it doesnt come to that. Its illegal to release or even raise feral pigs in Wisconsin without a permit. They can be shot anytime by any landowner or by others with a small-game license.

With plenty of other hunting opportunities in Wisconsin, theres no need for us to go hog wild.

Former La Crosse Tribune editor Chris Hardie and his wife, Sherry, raise sheep and cattle on his great-grandparents Jackson County farm.
The meeting was eight or 10 years ago, but I doubt much has changed. The Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin annual meeting included a session called Consumer Perception of Farmers.

Farmers had just topped a list of most-respected professions, ahead of MDs, lawyers, teachers, etc. Veterinarians had just lost that title to farmers.

For the most part, consumers view farmers as hardworking, honest people who wear flannel shirts and seed corn caps.

A few days ago, I visited my 93-year-old mother at her assisted-living home. I arrived about 6 p.m. About 10 residents were sitting in the dining room, waiting to return to their rooms. As I walked past the dining room, an elderly woman, who I did not know, shouted out, Look, a farmer! I smiled, waved and continued on to my mothers room.

After the visit with my mom, I noticed the woman who had identified me as a farmer sitting in the lounge. I walked up to her and started a conversation. She had farmed in Sparta with her husband. Talking about her past gave her some comfort and made both of us smile. I asked how she knew I was a farmer. She said, The manure on your sleeve gave it away.

Twenty-plus years ago, I went down to the DMV to get a vehicle title for our TMR mixer truck. There were about five rather burly truck drivers in line ahead of me getting new titles for their trucks. The woman behind the counter seemed to be running short on patience. She told each of the truck drivers in line ahead of me they didnt have the application filled out correctly.

Fill it out correctly, and get back in line.

When my number was called, I thought Id try a different approach. What did I have to lose? Excuse me maam, but Im a dairy farmer and this is all pretty complicated for me to figure out. Could you help me?

The woman put a smile on her face, asked me the pertinent questions and filled out the form for me. I left with a new title in hand and a lot of dirty looks from the other truck drivers who were back in line.

Then there was the time I was running late, as usual, for my annual physical. I had 15 minutes to drive another 20 miles. Everybody knows what happens then. I was about 2 miles from home when I met a county sheriffs deputy. I was going 50 mph in a 35 mph zone. The flashing lights came on, and I pulled off on the shoulder.

The deputy was soon at my door asking for my drivers license. I admitted guilt, and told him I was late for a doctor appointment. He recognized my name, and asked if I farmed over on Hwy. Q. I said that was my farm. He paused a minute and said, The milk price is so bad you couldnt afford to pay this ticket anyway. Ill give you a warning instead. I said thank you very much.

Most of us farmers feel like we never get a break, only get things that break. That isnt always true. There are some perks to farming. Ive learned to take advantage of them when I can.
Depending on political perspective, its either an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy or an important layer of protection for the environment. And the future of the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board has been put in question by the states Republican-controlled Legislature.

Omnibus environmental bills that would reduce the role of the environmental oversight board and make changes to the the environmental permitting process have been introduced into both houses of the Minnesota legislature.

The 44-year-old Environmental Quality Board is a 14-member group that consists of nine state agency heads, including the Department of Natural Resources and the Pollution Control Agency, plus five citizen members. The board is charged with coordinating state water resource management activities between the member agencies, writing the rules for conducting environmental reviews, and providing leadership and coordination across agencies on priority environmental issues as well as opportunities for public access and engagement.

A bill in Senate would eliminate the current Environmental Quality Board, while allowing industries to write their own environmental impact statements.

The House bill would just change the authority and makeup of the board, and includes other environmental policy changes as well.

While supporters say the elimination or reduction of the board simply removes something that is done or could be done by other agencies, those opposing the bill argue the board is vital in the effort to share knowledge and be accountable.

Bobby King, policy and organizing director for the Land Stewardship Project, said elimination or changes to the board would remove a public voice from the environmental review process.

King said the boards reports in the past, including on frac sand safety and state water quality, have provided a multi-agency, fully-developed study which includes citizen voices, and are done in full view of the public.

If you dont coordinate your response you dont have an effective response, King said.

King and others compared the legislative proposals to the removal of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Citizens Board several years ago, an action which was also included in an omnibus bill and subject to very little discussion.

Winona City Council member Paul Schollmeier, brought the legislation to the attention of the council March 20, said that it could stifle environmental concerns.

It takes one of the last few opportunities for citizens voice, Schollmeier said. I view this as an attack on citizen involvement.

Schollmeier didnt think that reducing redundancies in government was worth that loss, and said the board served a useful function to bring all of those agencies together.

Sponsored by Rep. Dan Fabian, R-Roseau, in the House and Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, in the Senate, the bills have been endorsed by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

Thursday in the House Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee, Fabian said they wanted the Environmental Quality Board to focus on permitting issues  which he said he receives complaints about. The bill would allow them to focus on permitting, environmental review and costs by reducing their work load.

Both large businesses and small cities suffer from long waits, he said, and ctizens can contact a number of other agencies to register complaints.

We are not eliminating the Environmental Quality Board, he said, we are trying to reformulate what the Environmental Quality Board does.

We have a tremendous concern here in the state of Minnesota, particularly in my caucus, with regards to environmental review and permitting, and I really want those issues addressed.

As redefined in the Houses omnibus bill, the board would continue to exist, but see reduction in responsibility and scope.

It would remove the EQBs authority to initiate interdepartmental investigations, review state agency programs that impact the environment, and review and report on proposed legislation relating to the environment. It would also repeal statutes requiring the board to work with development commissions in certain circumstances and give authority to task forces or subcommittees.

The bill would eliminate the governors representative on the board, but increase the citizen members from five to eight.

I have not had complaints for the environmental quality board, Rep. Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona, said. I would not be in support of (the bill).

In a statement, Sen. Jeremy Miller, R-Winona, said that he had not heard both sides of the issue, but would like to before making a decision.

Based on some of the feedback I received from constituents, I had concerns about the proposal to cut the funding for the Environmental Quality Board, Miller said in a statement.
Montana's proposed budget would slash funding for an online class program that disproportionately serves rural students, where small schools typically struggle to offer specialty classes.

The Montana Digital Academy has grown significantly since its first classes in 2010, but it has never received sustainable funding from the state keeping pace with that growth. Instead, one-time-only funding has been added on top of its original $2.3 million allocation. This year, no one-time only funding has been added, effectively resulting in a $1.7 million decrease.

That leaves the program examining its options, which would likely boil down to either cutting class offerings, charging schools for classes, or a combination of the two.

"We haven't worked out all the scenarios," executive director Robert Currie said. "I don't know what I would really even want to predict."

Several education advocates singled out the group for additional funding in testimony before the Senate Finance and Claims Committee on Wednesday.

"I would characterize (it) as being one of the best things Montana has done for school choice in the last decade," said School Administrators of Montana executive director Kirk Miller, invoking school choice proposals that are often popular among Republican legislators. Miller framed the issue as offering more educational options for rural students who don't have any nearby additional brick-and-mortar options.

Digital academy classes serve a disproportionate number of rural students; kids from Class C schools make up 23 percent of enrollment.

In Roberts, where about 25 students attend high school, up to three-quarters of the students are taking a digital academy course at any given point, said Superintendent Alex Ator. Almost all of the students have taken at least one in their high school career, ranging from photography to personal finance, and from remedial work to AP classes for college credit.

Like many rural schools, there's no way Roberts can offer most of those classes. Rural schools often struggle finding teachers certified for specialty classes, and with low enrollments, they would likely only be able to offer part-time jobs even if they had enough interested students to fill a class.

The Montana Digital Academy really, really fulfills a need for small schools that take advantage of that, Ator said.

In early estimates of what a funding cut could result in, costs of $140 for a one-semester class could get passed on to schools.

"We have grave concerns that what rural high schools will be forced (to do), is to decide whether or not to provide any access and any online coursework, which will reduce that equity of access," said Montana Rural Education Association executive director Dennis Parman.

Currie noted that students from each school in the hometowns of each legislator on the Senate committee were enrolled in digital academy classes.

Since the academy started, about 18,000 students have taken more than 30,000 courses, he said. This year will likely finish with about 8,000 enrollments. Enrollments in AP classes are up 49 percent, Currie said.

A new forecast that predicts the state could see $106 million in additional revenue over the next two years was released after the House passed the budget. But lawmakers from both parties have said they will not assume all of that extra money will actually be available, and Republican majority leaders may use any additional revenue to bulk up the states cash reserves to protect against future revenue and spending changes.

At Roberts, the $140 price tag would leave the school on the hook for more than $5,000 per year, Ator estimated.

Would we pick up that tab?... Absolutely, he said. (But) I dont know how many other schools would go looking to find that 5,600 bucks.
ST. PAUL, Minn.  At least four times a day, John Fritz sits on the sofa of his modest St. Paul apartment off Ayd Mill Road and watches the freight trains roll outside. He eyes the bridge underpass beneath St. Clair Avenue and thinks: its good to be indoors. After half a lifetime of homelessness, its a welcome change.

I could be living under that bridge, and by that freight track, said Fritz, 57, pointing through his living room window. All I have to do is take a drink.

Fritz rode those freight rails for nearly 25 years, always imagining hed live and die as a self-described tramp. Alcoholism and troubling memories of childhood abuse were his downfall. His moment of truth came on April 20, 2010, waking up in an Interstate 94 highway ditch near Snelling and University avenues, his last memory being the handmade sign hed waved at drivers coming off the exit.

These days, he rents his own apartment, where he plays backgammon with friends and has discovered a passion for live theater. Hes sober now, and reconciled with his two adult sons. Last year, he rode an Amtrak train to visit them in Portland, Ore.  the first train ride he can ever remember paying for.

And hes a published author. His sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-terrifying paperback autobiography, Homeless Is Not Hopeless, landed on Amazon.com in October. On the evening of April 4, hell sign copies at Subtext bookstore in downtown St. Paul.

The Beacon Interfaith group, which housed Fritz for 18 months in their dorm-like American House group home complex in Lowertown, points to him as a success story  an illustration of how even the chronic homeless can find stability with the right support services, housing being chief among them.

Get people in homes, and they can start working on their addictions, said Fritz, who credits Beacon Interfaith with helping him to stay sober at a crucial time in his treatment program. And then they can start working on their mental health.

State officials believe the same housing first approach has helped cut the numbers of unsheltered, long-term homeless in Minnesota nearly in half, from more than 1,450 people during a one-day count in January 2010 to 749 in January 2016. Rather than wait for the chronic homeless to achieve sobriety or get a mental illness under control, the recent strategy has been to offer targeted housing services alongside, or even before, treatment services.

The thinking is that housing provides an important first step toward seeking mental health counseling and treatment for alcoholism and substance abuse, as well as other health conditions that can contribute to long-term homelessness. Its difficult to stick to a treatment regimen when youre constantly looking for shelter.

Instead of saying to that person well get you into housing, but first you must address all these other issues in your life, weve said lets get you into housing first, and then we will connect you to services, said Cathy ten Broeke, state director to prevent and end homelessness.

Fritz said this is the first time in his life hes taken medication for depression and anxiety on a regular basis and stuck to the schedule. Its common for the homeless to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. In the past, when I quit my meds, Fritz writes in his book, I start drinking.

Fritz, who was charged with driving under the influence at least a dozen times in his life, said he flunked out of substance abuse programs 16 times before he found stable housing.

Id been staying with people that were drinking and using dope, he recalled. Id sleep outside sometimes just to get away from it.

At the opposite extreme, alcohol was never allowed in the emergency shelters or missions  one of the main reasons that he and others like him refused to step foot in those places.

Rules, Fritz said. Simple as that. Rules  somebody telling you youve got to be in at this time of day, somebody telling you youve got to be out at this time of day.

Between the two extremes, American House provided him a kind of happy medium. Tenants were allowed to bring alcohol onto the premises, and theres people drinking, but you can shut them out, said Fritz, pantomiming closing the door to his own room. Youve got your own space.

In 2013, the state of Minnesota launched the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness, which includes commissioners from 11 state agencies and the governors chief of staff. The council oversees Heading Home Minnesota, the umbrella term for 22 separate initiatives that seek to prevent or end homelessness in Minnesota.

Strategies include identifying young people aging out of foster care or juvenile corrections to help them come up with a plan and a place to stay once they turn 18. Another campaign focused on homeless veterans has housed some 800 vets in the past few years. We expect to be able to declare that weve ended veteran homelessness in Minnesota in the not-too-distant future, ten Broeke said.

Yet another effort has aimed to increase the amount of family housing linked to support services, such as caseworkers who can help parents find job training and financial planning.

Despite the progress, officials say rising rental prices have put a strain on families just trying to get by. In Wilder Research surveys of the homeless, more than a third said they had lost their last home because of their inability to afford their rent or mortgage, and 22 percent said there is no housing they could afford.

Fritz, who fled violence at home and moved out of his parents house when he was 16, represents a different face of homelessness. A hardcore drinker, he spent a combined total of four years in county jails for DWIs, as well as four years in prison. Even surviving a train car derailment that killed an acquaintance wasnt enough to scare him into sobriety.

I hate to put drinking as the face of homelessness, but its got a lot to do with it, he said. I consider myself chronic homeless. I couldnt figure out how to get out of it.

Waking up in a highway ditch seven years ago convinced him he couldnt do it alone. A chaplain at the Union Gospel Mission outside downtown St. Paul convinced him to seek help at Regions Hospital, where concerned staffers threatened to have him committed to a state hospital if he didnt enter treatment.

For nearly four years, he took leadership roles in an Alcoholics Anonymous group that meets in downtown St. Paul.

Through a social services outreach agency, People Incorporated, he lined up free tickets to see live theatrical performances at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Over the past four years, he said, hes rarely missed a show. In fact, hes become a regular volunteer, leading tours backstage. Sometimes, he takes a date.

In October of 2012, when he moved into his own apartment, he threw himself a big party, Fritz writes in his autobiography. I made meatballs and chicken. I made all sorts of food, and I probably had 15 people here. I was in my glory. I was in my own home.

Standing in that apartment on Thursday, Fritz made a surprising prediction. Despite his outreach to others, a short speech he gave at the State Capitol rotunda during Homeless Day on the Hill last week, and all his optimism, he knows this battle isnt entirely winnable.

Were never going to end homelessness, Fritz said. Theres too many people who want to live that way. But we can put a dent in it. And we can help the kids, before they become homeless.
VERONA  At $162.8 million, a referendum here to build a new high school, convert the existing high school to a middle school and complete several other projects is one of the largest in state history.

Yet, if the April 4 ballot measure passes, the tax bite on the average homeowner will be smaller than other recently approved referendums.

Thats because $140 million of the construction costs could be absorbed by a tsunami of new money that flowed into the district this year after Epic Systems Corp. was fully entered on the citys tax rolls.

Since the first spade of dirt was turned in 2003, all of the medical software giants property taxes had been diverted into a tax incremental finance (TIF) district that was used to cover road, sewer and other infrastructure costs at the sprawling, fairyland-like campus.

The TIF closed at the end of 2016, meaning that revenue stream is now available to local taxing authorities to use as they wish. For officials in the Verona School District, that means addressing aging facilities, crowding and getting ahead of what the district expects to be more than 1,500 additional students by 2030.

To get a sense of the opportunity Verona faces, consider this: If the district does nothing, the school tax rate would drop from $11.98 per $1,000 of valuation to $9.45, saving the owner of a $250,000 home $527 a year.

But by tapping the Epic money to complete what district officials say is a much-needed expansion, the school tax rate would rise by 42 cents, costing the owner of a $250,000 home an additional $105 a year.

By comparison, a $75 million referendum approved in Hudson last year cost the owner of a $250,000 home about $180 a year. An $89.5 million referendum approved in Sun Prairie in November has a tax impact on a $250,000 home of about $125.

Its unusual. Its truly epic, said Michele Wiberg, a financial consultant for the Verona School District and a vice president at PMA Securities in Milwaukee where she advises other districts around the state. No one has the opportunity, that Im working with, that is being presented here. This is a unique situation.

Not all of the projects costs are covered, and there is more the district wants to do. Two other questions on the ballot next month could ultimately drive up taxes on the average homeowner by $342 a year beginning in 2021.

Epic-driven growth

Suburban school districts throughout Dane County have expanded and upgraded facilities over the past 20 years as their communities have grown. Sun Prairie opened a new high school in 2010 and will likely go to referendum in 2018 to get permission to build a second high school. In the past three years, voters in McFarland ($65.1 million), DeForest ($41 million) and Waunakee ($44.8 million) approved school building proposals.

The Verona area is booming, too. Since 1989, the Verona School District has seen its enrollment more than double to 5,111 students. In that time, the district has built three elementary schools and two middle schools, but more students are on the way, according to district projections, with 4,400 housing units expected to be added by 2030.

Residents here have also witnessed one of the the largest private construction projects in state history develop at their back door.

The Epic development  with its own field of solar panels, an 11,400-seat auditorium and 27 buildings housing 9,600 employees  has helped fuel dramatic growth in downtown Madison, where apartments and condominiums are being gobbled up by young Epic workers who want to live in a more urban setting close to restaurants, bars and shopping areas. Other communities, like Mount Horeb, Dodgeville and even Cross Plains have felt the impact of the growing workforce, but now the Verona School District has a chance to cash in on the success of Dane Countys largest private employer that in 2016 had $2.5 billion in revenue.

Really, nobody understood what the impact of that would be, but we knew it would be big to a certain extent. I thought the three buildings they built in the beginning were phenomenal, said Dennis Beres, 63, the Verona School Board president who was first elected to the board when the Epic campus was still farmland. One of the things that was clearly brought forward by the community was that they wanted a comprehensive plan. They didnt want a Band-Aid type of thing.
Wisconsin voters have never elected a female governor. A woman has never represented six of the states eight congressional districts. Just one has been the states top lawyer.

Despite making up more than half of Wisconsins population, women represent fewer than a quarter of the states 132 legislative districts.

That dearth of female representation is especially pronounced in the Republican Party; its 12 female members make up just 9 percent of the state Legislature.

Moreover, no female Republican has ever been elected to the states federal delegation. By contrast, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Madison Democrat, served in the House for more than a decade before becoming the first woman elected senator from Wisconsin in 2012.

Why so few Republican women in office?

Female GOP lawmakers and experts who study the topic cite several reasons:

Its harder for Republican women to win increasingly partisan primary elections, in part because they are perceived as moderate and the GOP is moving to the right.

Republicans generally reject identity politics, the idea that groups of voters deserve representation.

A lack of aggressive recruitment efforts on the part of party leaders.

Family obligations.

A perception among some voters that women arent qualified.

If you read anything about my primary, I wasnt exactly recruited, said Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch.

She was not the state GOP establishments pick when she first ran in 2010, but party leaders have since embraced her.

She also didnt dream up the idea on her own. Like most female Republican lawmakers interviewed for this story, she didnt seriously consider running for office until family and friends, including former Lt. Gov. Margaret Farrow, encouraged it.

Obviously if you are a stay-at-home mom and an independent business owner, when you look in the mirror, you dont exactly see a statewide politician staring back at you, Kleefisch said.

Nationally, 38 percent of all female state legislators are Republicans. Almost all of the rest  61 percent  are Democrats.

One reason for that gap is the Republicans lack of an aggressive, nationally supported candidate recruitment group like Emerge Wisconsin is for Democrats.

Alec Zimmerman, spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said statewide recruitment of Republican candidates is not a function of the states official political party.

Republican candidate recruitment is done on the grassroots level from the ground up by local groups, not through a top-down approach, he said.

Republicans also tend to eschew identity politics, making such a group less likely to gain traction, said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

There is something slightly antithetical to the whole idea of identity politics on the Republican side, Walsh said. It almost philosophically makes it more complicated for (women) to run.

The experience of Rep. Joan Ballweg of Markesan illustrates the situation: I never met the party leadership until I came down here.

Ballweg was the only female candidate in a nine-way Republican primary in 2004 for the Assembly in her area. She advanced to the general election, and won it.

Walsh said female Republican candidates are now generally having more trouble replicating Ballwegs success.

Regardless of their positions on issues, female candidates can be perceived by Republican primary voters as more moderate than their male counterparts, she said.

As the Republican Party has shifted in the way as it has to the right in that period, weve seen the demise of Republican-elected women, Walsh said. There are just fewer and fewer of them.

Since 1975, the number of Republican women in the Wisconsin Legislature peaked at 37 in 2004, or 28 percent, according to center data. And Republican women outnumbered Democrats from 1999 until 2006  but have trailed since then.

Family encouragement

is important

A common theme among female Republican lawmakers is that they first thought about running for statewide office because of the encouragement of family members.

Ballweg had served two terms each on the Markesan City Council and as the citys mayor while operating her familys farm equipment business when her husband suggested she try to win the Assembly seat.

Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, ran for her first term in the Assembly after her brother Jim, a former lawmaker, encouraged her.

Running for office was never on my radar, said Harsdorf, a former dairy farmer. At that point, I was milking cows and farming until noon and then the rest of the day I would go out and campaign.

When Harsdorf was first sworn in as a member the state Assembly in 1989, there were a couple more female lawmakers in the state Legislature than there are today.

But in the Senate, where Harsdorf is now one of nine female senators (and one of three Republicans), there were only four women at the time.

As someone who came from an (agriculture) field, I was used to being in a field dominated by males, Harsdorf said. So it wasnt anything out of the ordinary for me.

Rep. Samantha Kerkman, R-Salem, said she was encouraged to run by her father, who served on the local town board. But even her grandfather said she probably couldnt win.

I think that was old-school thinking, Kerkman said. On election day, he was proud as he could be, and grinning from ear to ear.

Kerkman, who was first elected in 2000, said the male-dominated Legislature treated her as a kind of fleeting novelty  not always a serious stateswoman.

Early on they called me prom queen. I was like, I didnt even go to prom,  she said. It was hard because people were like, what are you going to do once you have kids? I was like, People in the business world do this all the time. 

New GOP program

Kleefisch said until the last several years Republicans have not had an aggressive operation to recruit female candidates and then support and mentor them throughout their campaigns.

She helped create a national project through the Republican State Leadership Committee similar to Emerge America called Right Women Right Now.

We have had six years of building infrastructure that perhaps really hadnt occurred to the party fathers before. ... Under the circumstances, its kind of notable, Kleefisch said. We have ushered in a new era and its an era thats supportive of wanting to represent 53 percent of the electorate.

But on the state side, efforts to boost recruitment have waned.

Id love to see more recruitment, Ballweg said. Weve tried to do that on the Republican side. ... Its hard to generate some kind of initiative like that.

Issues not at issue

Republican lawmakers said its not the issues and policies of the Republican Party that are resulting in fewer women being drawn to Republican politics, and they said none of the issues taken up by either house would change remarkably if more women were there.

I wouldnt say there is an issue Im more interested in because Im a female and not a male, said Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Delafield. I can tell you the women dont get treated any different than the men.

Harsdorf said the appeal of running lay in bringing her knowledge of the dairy farming industry to making laws that affect her and other dairy farmers.

There were decisions being made in Madison that affected me as a dairy farmer and were being made by people who probably didnt have a lot of knowledge about the industry, she said.

Family obligations, an unfair perception that men are more qualified to make laws and a sometimes hostile reception on social media can prevent women from entering politics in Wisconsin, according to interviews.

I can tell you a lot of the women who are Democrats are from the Milwaukee and Madison area and I have to tell you if I was driving four hours for this job  I have to tell you  its tough. Thats a long commute, Duchow said.

Where legislative candidates are recruited from also plays a role, Ballweg said. She said while women often hold county offices, county boards end up being more of a bench to draw legislative candidates from and those tend to be more male-dominated.

Social media has opened doors to easier communication between constituents and their representatives, but with it comes an avenue for toxic feedback, too, which can discourage women from running.

Kleefisch said that new environment once prevented her from recruiting two female friends to run for an open school board seat in Oconomowoc.

They both recoiled in horror at the suggestion that they do anything in the political hemisphere because they see me, she said. They see the stuff people say and they see in some cases the gross and moronic remarks that people put out to be preserved for all of history and for my children to Google. So not every woman is willing to subject their family to that.

[Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect a correction. A photo caption in the web version of this story misstated the number of members of the Wisconsin Legislature.]
When traveling west-bound from Tomah to Warrens via the Interstate highway, a mural of ducks flying over marshland can be viewed on the side of a barn.

Well, it can be partially seen, its faded  after all, it was painted in the summer of 1976.

Its in need of a little tender, loving care, said Mike Bergum, one of the seven former Tomah High School students who originally painted the 12 foot by 45 foot mural.

TLC is just what Begum hopes to give the mural come July.

The reason? History.

As you look at it from the (Interstate), its showing its wear; thats why we should take some time to restore it, he said. This area is rich in history, and that mural now is part of that history and, it needs to be restored ... so it has another 41 years for other generations to enjoy.

The mural itself was one of six statewide murals sponsored by the Wisconsin Arts Board and was painted over the course of 10 days.

It was a lot of fun to paint, Bergum said.

All the people that worked on it worked really hard, and they showed up and it was a lot of fun for everybody, he said. It was a good time.

Its an experience Bergum will never forget. He said hell always remember how the mural came to be and the final design was not the original one that former THS art teacher Michael Donnelly intended to paint.

The first design Mr. Donnelly didnt like, he said. I dont even recall what that first design was, but he scrapped that idea and came up with the ducks flying out of the marsh, because thats reminiscent of that area  youve got cranberry marshes, you got marshland, so thats what he came up with, thats what he settled on.

The mural was also painted in a non-typical way, Bergum said.

Its interesting that (Donnelly) free-handed that picture onto the side of that barn, but then to paint it, I do recall that he used a paint-by-number system, he said. He had a key that he went by  he had the color of the paint that he wanted with a corresponding number. When we taped off the area, he was able to put a number in there and we followed the number. So it was this huge paint-by-number mural, and it turned out really well.

Painting the mural was also memorable due to the beef cattle that liked to nudge the scaffolding, Begum said.

It was secure, we werent in danger or anything, but (the scaffolding) did move, he said. (I remember) trying to be very precise ... and then looking down and here was the cow looking up. I think that was one of those times that stands out as a real decent memory.

To restore the mural Bergum hopes to reunite the original group who painted it.

Down on the very bottom of the mural, we all signed our names, if this group comes back theyll be able to re-sign, he said. We can re-do 1976 and re-do the signatures, or what we can do is we can put, Restored 2017, by the following individuals. But I really would like Mr. Donnelly to come back and put his signature on there.

Permission to restore the mural was given by the landowner, Corey Clay, Bergum said, who initially intended to cover over the mural.

Im very pleased that the landowner has given us permission to do this and not decide to just cover it over with steel siding, he said.

Clay said hes OK with leaving the one side of the barn free of siding for the mural if it gets restored.

I was planning on putting it on this side, but I wont if it gets repainted, or if I do, Ill just go up to the painting, like along the edge by about three feet, he said. Its pretty sentimental to them, so I just felt that they would obviously want to do it, and Ive had other people question me about resealing it, and I feel this is probably the best way to go about doing it.

With Clays permission, the only things left are to contact all the original painters and to get donated supplies, Bergum said.

Ive reached out on Facebook to a number of the other students that helped out. Hopefully I will get some kind of response so that we can line this up and actually put this together to do something with it possibly in July, he said. I am going to do my best to meet with local businesses to see if we cant get materials donated, once again, just like we did back in the summer of 1976.

Materials needed for the restoration include paint, brushes and scaffolding.

For more information contact Michael Bergum at michaelbergum@hotmail.com.
Calling all of Trumpeteers. Presidential success doesnt end in November. Your new president needs help.

A lot of Wisconsin voters showed up last November to vote Donald J. Trump for president. Many of those folks were new voters. There were at least two million more voters nationwide. About 200,000 of those new voters live right here in Wisconsin.

The presidential election historically attracts the most voters. Its an election that chooses the leader of the free world, but the president cannot implement his agenda alone. He needs help that can only be delivered in follow up elections.

There is more to instituting change than voting once in November. If the president is going to move along his agenda, he needs a team that supports him. If you question that, ask former President Barack Obama how it worked for him after the voters changed the lineup in 2010.

On April 4, there is another election. Historically, less than half of the November electorate will show up. On the ballot are several local positions, but in this election, the big race is for the Department of Public Instructions Superintendent of Schools. Its an important election if you support the new presidents agenda to improve our nations schools.

The current DPI chief is Tony Evers. His website looks a lot like his last seven-and-a-half years in office. There is nothing to it. It consists of five pages, none of which tell you what he intends to do for our children. You can, however, get involved and send him money. You can check it out at tonyforwisconsin.com.

Evers largest accomplishment during his tenure was to accept the federal cash cow that came with implementing the national Common Core standards. It really must have been a strain to sign off on a program that forced school districts across the state to redo their entire math and reading curriculums to align with these new national standards.

Common Core has been such a huge failure even the left leaning Huffington Post declared it a failure in May 2016. HuffPo reported the National Assessment of Educational Progress had learned the curriculum is failing. HuffPo reported that then-Secretary of Education John King conceded the tests are basically designed so that 70 percent of students will fail, with a much higher percentage among students with disabilities, English language learners, and children who live in poverty.

In other words, the students that Common Core and the high-stakes testing regime were supposedly designed to support the most were the least successful. Evers signature piece, Wisconsins adoption of Common Core, crashed and burned alongside Obamacare. Its time for something different.

That is why Trump brought in Betsy Devos. The new secretary of education has been a strong advocate of putting parents back in control of their kids educations. Rather than forcing kids to attend failing schools, like several in the Milwaukee area, she supports programs that allow families in poor neighborhoods to give their children the same education only the wealthy can afford through a private education. Thats what a voucher program does.

Evers opponent is Dr. Lowell Holtz. Holtz supports vouchers and charters schools. He believes in putting control of education back into the hands of teachers and parents, not into the federal bureaucratic system. His platform recognizes that parental choice is only part of the solution.

Last week Holtz unveiled his plan for a Teachers Bill of Rights. The objective is to free Wisconsin public school teachers of burdensome administrative chores and let teachers teach. Its a bill of rights that promotes school safety, eliminates the bureaucracy, restores local control, and gives teachers a voice at DPI. Unlike the DPI of the past, it wont be the union leadership alone that gets the ear of Holtz should he be elected.

Feel free to compare the two candidates for yourself. You can check out Holtz at kidservative.org. There you can compare the platform of Holtz to the platform of Evers. On second thought, Evers doesnt even offer a platform so maybe you should just go look to see that it actually doesnt exist.

A lot of new voters sent a clear message that they are tired of the status quo. If they want to continue to make a generational change and get rid of the status quo in education, then they need to shake things up in places other than the White House.

Making this change means showing up at elections in April, too.

Tim McCumber is a resident of Merrimac.
Officers from Juneau County and the Wisconsin State Patrol apprehended a man after a dangerous high-speed chase that went through Monroe County Wednesdaay.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, the subject, wanted for retail theft, fled from La Crosse and Onalaska officers just after noon.

The state patrol began pursuing the vehicle after it merged onto Interstate 90. The driver continued at a high rate of speed, and the chase was terminated near West Salem.

Authorities continued the investigation, spotting the vehicle in the parking lot of Loves Truck Stop in Oakdale. According to a DOT press release, the male returned to his vehicle and left the parking lot, nearly hitting an officer as he fled.

Shortly thereafter, the vehicle attempted to pass a truck and livestock trailer on the median side of the roadway, lost control, struck the trailer and became disabled. The subject fled the scene on foot, leading officers to field a few miles north of Mauston.

The area was searched heavily by officers from the state patrol, New Lisbon Police Department, Mauston PD and the Department of Criminal Investigation. Officers located the man around 2 p.m. and he was taken into custody without any injuries to law enforcement.

Charges for the man are pending, and his name has not yet been released.
Alterowitz gymnasium on the Montana State University Billings campus was filled with curiosity on Saturday.

What laundry detergent removes coffee, ketchup, chocolate, syrup and mustard the best?

What kind of flour will make the most dense cake?

How do electrons behave while passing through different materials?

Does the quality of a fossil depend on the kind of soil in which it was created?

These and many other questions were posed as part of the 306 science projects entered by students in grades 1-12 at this years Billings Clinic Science Expo. This was the 29th year for the event that rewards students interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subjects.

They receive prizes and accolades, and its an achievement, said Marietta Reviczky-Dolan, expo organizer. Its something thats going to be very worthwhile for them the rest of their lives because it might lead into a career.

Its also the only school science fair in Montana that includes such young students.

Thats because we want them to start on track of being interested from the very beginning, and hopefully theyll come back every year, Reviczky-Dolan said. Their experiments will grow more sophisticated and their knowledge will grow.

Saturday morning, long tables were filled with decorated tri-fold cardboard exhibits that laid out the details of each of the experiments. Students obviously went to great lengths to get the story of their efforts across to their audience.

Volunteer judges examined the entries on Friday night and left tags on the projects they deemed worthy of an award. Students were to learn exactly what they had won at a ceremony Saturday afternoon at Lincoln Center Auditorium.

One experiment that was tagged for a prize was done by Jacob Hostetler and his fifth-grade class at Orchard Elementary. Jacob sat in a chair next to the classs exhibit, titled FANTASTIC FOSSILS! ready to answer any questions that came his way.

He explained that the students in his class tried to determine the best mixture needed to make a fossil. Using three aluminum pans, they placed sand in one container, soil in the next and then a blend of the two.

And we got our plaster of Paris ready and then we pushed down the shells into the sand, the soil and the sand-soil mixture and we lifted them up, Jacob said. And we then put the plaster of Paris into those marks and we let them dry for about a day and a half.

At that point, as the class had predicted, the sand-soil blend worked the best. But it still wasnt as good as it might be, Jacob said.

So they added additional water to the sand-soil mix and got a great result.

You could see the barnacles on this shell and you could see all the holes in this rock and you could see the stripes in this shell, he said, nodding to a photo included in the exhibit.

He admitted the experiment could have gone wrong.

"The plaster of Paris might have gotten too wet from the water that we poured in and it might not have worked," Jacob said. "But it did."

His proud grandmother, Laurie Grudzinski, of Billings stood by, proudly watching Jacob as he talked about the project.

"I could see him working for NASA one day," she said, smiling. "He's very detail-oriented and he likes to do this kind of stuff."

Another winning entry a couple of rows away belonged to a trio of seventh-graders from Sleeping Giant Middle School in Livingston, Cassiday Fletcher, 12, Bailey Opitz, 13 and Franny Hester, 13.

The three students focused on aquaponics, Cassiday explained.

Basically what aquaponics is, its a combination of aquaculture, which is fish farming, and hydroponics, which is the process of growing plants on top of water, she said.

The goal of the experiment, Bailey added, was to see if we could conserve water, and we thought, well whats the point of conserving water if its not going to be pure and healthy for the fish?

So they did a water quality test.

They tested for ammonia, nitrate and nitrite, Franny said, and learned that their water was ammonia-free, which was a good thing because it is poisonous to the fish. And they discovered the water had plenty nitrate and nitrite, which is also good.

They also learned, Cassiday said, that the experiment did, indeed, do what they hoped.

The way we found out we can conserve water is the water is being filtered through over and over again, she said, with them only having to add a little more.

And the solar panels provided by their teacher David Pettit allow the system to run on solar energy, so that conserves energy, she said.

Franny enjoyed the four-month experiment, for which the judges also awarded a prize.

I knew about the aquaponics system, but I didnt know in-depth about it so I learned a lot, she said.

Pettit said he gave his students a choice between completing a project in class or a science expo experiment that would be done mostly out of class.

I wanted it to be a learning experience, something they themselves wanted to learn about because as a teacher I like learning, Pettit said. But I dont like learning something that somebody tells me I have to learn."

Out of 115, 71 took him up on the experiment. He was pleased as he watched them work together to complete their projects.

Asked if he sees his students as the future of science, Pettit agreed

Theyre pretty good ones, I think.
A 45-year-old Green Lake man faces multiple charges after a March 11 incident at Three Bears Lodge in Warrens.

Police responded to a report of a report of a belligerent and intoxicated man, later identified as Edward D. Froehlich, who was reportedly involved in a domestic dispute. The report says a woman told police that Froelich slapped her in face, grabbed her in a sexual manner and threw an alarm clock across the room. The report also says Froelich stripped naked and made lewd remarks in front of two children.

Froelich submitted a preliminary breath test and registered a blood-alcohol count of .332. He was referred for disorderly conduct, battery, fourth-degree sexual assault and exposing his genitals to a child.

In other Monroe County Sheriffs Office news:

Gregory Hernandez, 27, and Lacy Newbury, 31, both of Sparta, were referred to the district attorney for bail jumping. They are accused of exchanging emails in violation of a no-contact order while prisoners in the Monroe County Jail.

Cassandra M. Carmody, 28, Sparta, was referred to the district attorney for illegal possession of a prescription. According to the report, Carmodys probation officer found a pill bottle for Hydrocodone with one pill of Suboxone inside.

Mikayla Leis, 22, Sparta, was referred to the district attorney for bail jumping and contempt of court for allegedly sending emails as a prisoner in the Monroe County Jail in violation of a no-contact order.

Heather L. Denton, 35, Sparta, was referred to the district attorney for disorderly conduct after a Feb. 21 incident in Cashton.

According to the report, Denton entered a residence to speak with a man and became angry when she discovered there was another woman in the residence. The report says she acknowledged yelling and swearing at the man but denied hitting him as the man alleged.

Morgan A. Davidson, 23, Norwalk, was referred to the district attorney for disorderly conduct and bail jumping after a March 10 incident in the town of Ridgeville.

According to the report, Davidson was screaming at a couple inside the couples residence. The report said Davidson got into the face of one of the residents and used vulgar language. The report also says Davidson violated a no-contact order, which triggered the bail jumping referral.

Joshua Perrigo, 24, Wilton, was referred to the district attorney for bail jumping. He is accused of sending emails in violation of a no-contact order while a prisoner in the Monroe County Jail.

Yoel Cruz, 18, Chicago, was referred to the district attorney for battery by a prisoner and violating laws governing a county institution after a March 8 incident in the Monroe County Jail.

Cruz is accused of punching a fellow inmate while another attempted to conceal the assault by putting a bed sheet against the cell door. The victim told jail staff he was rendered unconscious by one of the blows. The inmate suffered bruises and cuts on his face.

Anthony Cox, 19, Sparta, was referred to the district attorney for disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property while a prisoner in the Monroe County Jail.

Cox is accused of vandalizing a sprinkler head, which caused water to rush into one of the jail cells. He reportedly told police he wanted to go to booking and that pulling the sprinkler was the only way to have the request granted.
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After just two months, there is no question that the Donald Trump presidency is an unmitigated disaster.

The FBI is conducting an investigation to determine whether members of the Trump campaign cooperated with Russian efforts to help elect Donald Trump last year. This by itself is extraordinary and unprecedented. As Republicans noted last year, it is very difficult to have a presidential administration under FBI investigation.

No one knows what the investigation will find, but what we already know is bad enough. Senior Trump advisors lied about their contacts with Russian officials; one, Michael Flynn, was forced to resign from the administration.

The Trump administration is weakening NATO as well as key U.S.-European alliancesboth items which advance Vladimir Putins agenda. Trump and his family have made clear that access to the administration is for sale, and Trump is enjoying immense financial benefits from monetizing the office of the presidency and raising concerns about unconstitutional corruption. Steve Bannon, a top White House advisor, is a white nationalist who sees the world in terms of a Manichean racial and religious conflict. Scholars warn about Trumps authoritarian tendencies as the president and administration officials bully and threaten journalists, federal judges and anyone else who stands in their way.

Trump and his administration claim the power to define reality itself, advancing dangerous lies about non-existent voter fraud and a fantasized plot by Barack Obama and British intelligence to tap phones at Trump Tower before the election.

In a parliamentary system, Trump would almost certainly face a no confidence vote forcing a new election, as his public support has dropped to historically low levels and even members of his own party in Congress worry about his presidency, and even his stability. The U.S. system doesnt expressly allow for this, so most of the discussion regarding the possibility of removing Trump from office (discussion engaged in by Republican commentators as well as Democrats) has focused on impeachment or the 25th Amendment. But there is, at least in theory, a way to call for a new election under the American system, and this needs to be part of the discussion as well.

It has famously been said (in a different context) that the Constitution is not a suicide pact. One implication of this observation is that we dont need to sit around and twiddle our thumbs as Donald Trump does his best to destroy American constitutional democracy. Article V of the Constitution provides for the familiar amendment process that produced the Bill of Rights, ended slavery, and extended the vote to women and black Americans. That same process can be used to call for a special election.

Heres how it could work: Each chamber of Congress, the House and the Senate, would have to vote by a two-thirds majority to hold a special election. three-quarters of state legislatures would have to ratify the amendment. The amendment would call for a one time special election, allowing qualified political parties (the Republicans and Democrats, and other parties who can meet a threshold to qualify for the ballot) one month to choose a nominee and then one month for a general election, to be held on a national holiday. The amendment would make clear this is a one-time event. After the election is held, we would revert to pre-existing constitutional procedures, for example, with a presidential election held every four years. The amendment could also provide for a national unity government to occupy the executive branch while the short election campaign goes on.

It is perfectly reasonable to describe this as the longest of long shots-- most centrally because this could only happen if Republicans and Congress and in state legislatures crossed party lines. Something like this happened during the Watergate crisis, but today is a more polarized time. However, its well worth making the effort to persuade Republicans. The alternative is to continue living under an administration that grows more dysfunctional, rudderless and dangerous every day.

The benefit of having a special election instead of using existing constitutional processes to remove the president from office is that the taint of Russian interference associated with the last election could be removed and American voters would retain the authority to select the president.

A special presidential election in the United States would be extraordinary and unprecedented, and should not be taken lightly. But the problem the Trump administration poses is itself extraordinary and unprecedented. Its time to think creatively about all possible solutions, and its important to understand that the U.S. Constitution gives us the ability to do just that, if we are willing to act boldly and decisively.

Chris Edelson is an assistant professor of government in American Universitys School of Public Affairs. His latest book, "Power Without Constraint: The Post 9/11 Presidency and National Security," was published in 2016 by the University of Wisconsin Press.


A team of scientists and workers have completed repairs on what is said to be the burial place of Jesus Christ in Jerusalems Old City.

It was the first time that workers have repaired the religious shrine since 1810.

The project took nine months to complete. The area reopened to the public on Wednesday.

The limestone and marble structure stands at the center of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, one of the worlds oldest religious centers.



The shrine is considered among the holiest places in Christianity. It needed urgent repairs after years of damage from water, humidity and smoke.

The Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Roman Catholic religions share ownership of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Disputes between them had prevented repairs from taking place on the grounds for more than 200 years.

Bonnie Burnham is with the World Monuments Fund, an American non-profit group. She told the Associated Press: "If this intervention hadn't happened now, there is a very great risk that there could have been a collapse.

Work on the tomb finally began last year, after officials with Israels Antiquities Authority called the area unsafe.

The team worked mainly on repairing a small structure above the burial place. It is known as the Edicule.

Workers removed an iron cage that long surrounded the Edicule. British crews set up the cage in the 1940s to help support the walls. After the repair work, supportive equipment is no longer needed.

Workers also cleaned the shrines walls of black soot, which had built up from many years of visitors lighting candles. Now, the tomb is closer to its original coloring, a warm, reddish yellow color.

Antonia Moropoulou is with the National Technical University of Athens in Greece. She oversaw the repair project.

Before this the monument was black, she told Agence France-Presse. This is the actual color of the monument, the color of hope.

Each of the three religious denominations reportedly donated money toward the restoration project. Jordans King Abdullah also reportedly made a donation.

The repairs cost more than $3 million.

Im Ashley Thompson.

Ashley Thompson adapted this article for VOA Learning English. Her story was based on reports from Reuters and the Associated Press, plus additional materials. George Grow was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

shrine - n. a place connected with a holy person or event where people go to worship

cage - n. a box made of wire or metal bars in which people keep animals or birds

original - adj. happening or existing first or at the beginning

denomination - n. a religious group
Indonesian President Joko Widodo gave control of nine forests back to native, or indigenous, groups last December. The move was praised as an important step to recognize and protect forests traditionally held by indigenous Indonesians.

However, indigenous groups were disappointed earlier this month when President Widodo did not attend a congress of Indonesian indigenous groups.

Instead, he sent Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya. She said the recent release of land was, in her words, just the beginning.

The Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago, or AMAN, says an estimated 8.2 million hectares of forests belong to indigenous people. But, the group says only 20,000 hectares of forest have been divested back to indigenous leaders by Indonesia.

The newly-elected secretary-general of AMAN did not blame the president, but those around him for slowing progress on the issue.

In 2012, Indonesias Constitutional Court ruled that indigenous forests should be protected. But it took more than three years, after the ruling, for President Widodo to sign over the first forests.

There are other issues that have slowed the transfer of land to indigenous groups. These include wide geographical differences between areas to be protected and environmental threats. Adding to that are the many different traditional laws among the countrys indigenous groups.

Government action took time after forest ruling

Wimar Witolar worked with the Environment and Forest Ministry until 2015. He said, This is the first time anything like this has been tried on Indonesian lands. He said the biggest part of the effort was to make a map of indigenous forests. Now that the maps are done, he says, transfers can go forward.

Deny Rahadian is head of the Indonesian Community Mapping Network. Rahadian said getting district-level governments to supervise traditional village boundaries is important to speed the forest transfers.

For instance, it took eight years to recognize that certain West Javanese forests belong to the Kesapuhan Banten Kidul people, said Rahadian.

Environmental activist, Aleta Baun said the goal is to have the government turn over all eight million hectares to indigenous communities. She spoke at the meeting of indigenous groups. She said Jokowis absence at the indigenous meeting this month hurt efforts to transfer forest lands.

Kinarang Boy is an indigenous person from the island of Borneo. He says that a forest being designated as indigenous does not protect it from farming or other activities. He says there are not yet any laws regulating the use of these traditional lands.

We have customary land rights that are not yet encoded into laws, but we use our land for many things.

That includes farming and caring for traditional relics and burial places. But these are not permitted by law.

Forest management proves not easy but necessary

Moira Moeliono is with the Center for International Forestry Research.

She says the government has been slow to give forests to indigenous groups out of concern for how they will manage the forests.

Yet the government management of forests was not much better, she said, adding that, It was either use or conserve.

However, indigenous control of forests does not mean that business activity stops. One group in South Sulawesi still permits logging in its forests in some areas.

Tropical forests are of special interest because they can have an effect on the worlds climate.

A report from the Word Resources Institute and Woods Hole Research Center in 2016 said tropical forests on indigenous lands are important for storing carbon. It said more than one quarter of all carbon held in tropical forests is on indigenous lands.

Kinarang Boy said indigenous people can deal with delays. We will wait for our forests to be protected, he said. We have held on to our land(s) this far, and we dont plan to sell them at any point in the future.

Im Mario Ritter.

Krithika Varagur reported this story from Sumatra for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

Indigenous adj. native to a place, from a place since the beginning

Divest v. to sell or give away something of value

Quarry v. to cut rock for use in building or other activities

Designated adj. to be identified as, to be officially considered a member of some group

Relics n. objects from the past
The more than 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States offer many different educational experiences.

For hundreds of years, young people have come to these schools to learn new things and find direction in life. But now, with the help of technology, the way knowledge passes from teachers to their students is changing.

In February 2016, the Babson Survey Research Group reported that 28 percent of all U.S. college students took at least one class over the internet. The research group, part of Babson College in Massachusetts, studies all levels of education across the country.

Yet, having students take a few online classes during their college years is not the only change technology is driving.

Many U.S. colleges and universities now offer full degree programs online. This opens up all kinds of possibilities for students around the world.

One such student, Leanne from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, is using an online degree program to meet her needs. The 30-year-old asked VOA not to share her last name as she has yet to complete her studies.

In 2012, Leanne earned a bachelors degree in nursing through a traditional study program at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. She then started working as a nurse in the Washington, DC area.

After a few years, Leanne decided she wanted to earn a masters degree to help further her career in medicine. However, she did not want to move to another city to continue her education, as can often be the case for students. Her job and her husband were in Washington, and she only wanted to study part-time. So, Leanne decided to look for an online program.

"There were a lot of good, appealing things about doing it online -- it allowed me to work full-time and fit the schoolwork into my schedule, which often made it a lot more financially feasible. And  the nurse practitioner program, they have nationally gone  towards being online, to the point where its actually very difficult to find a program that was in person."

In 2014, Leanne began taking nursing classes through the online masters degree program at DCs George Washington University. The program provides medical training videos through her home computer. She also is involved in discussion groups, takes tests, and submits projects online.

Leanne says much of her studies are self-directed. But students also must physically visit the university at least four times during their three-year program for in-person testing.

Leanne says her program appeals to a lot of people with full-time jobs. And, George Washington University is not alone in its efforts to spread online education.

The communications company AT&T gave the Georgia Institute of Technology $4 million to create an online degree program in 2014. This led to an online masters degree program in computer science.

And in the past few years, the program has become a true success story, says Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of public policy at Harvard University. Goodman studied the effects of the online program. Harvards Kennedy School of Government published his findings last September.

Goodman says online degree programs have faced two major barriers. First, it has often been lesser-known, lower-quality, or for-profit universities that have offered online programs. Second, well-known, high-quality schools charged the same price for online and in-person programs. This often led to students choosing the traditional programs.

But the Georgia Tech program may have solved these problems, Goodman says. Many experts consider the university to have one of the best computer science masters degree programs in the country. Also, Georgia Tech began offering the online program at less than one sixth of the cost of the traditional program.

The schools in-person program only has room for about 300 students. The online program had about 1,700 new students at the start of the school year.

Yet Goodman argues it is not just the quality or the price that make Georgia Techs online program so successful. The average age of students trying to get into the traditional program is about 24. The average age of the online students is 34. These are people in the middle of their careers, Goodman notes. They are not free to drop everything and spend a few years studying instead of working.

Goodman says before the Georgia Tech program, many of these people had no other good choices for furthering their education.

"The folks who applied for this program  did not have other educational options that they would do if they didnt get into this program.  What we found is that if they got into this program, they went, they did this degree. And if they didnt get in, almost none of them went to another university. So it seems like this program is creating educational opportunities for mid-career people that would not have otherwise existed."

Online degree programs seem to not only help students with non-traditional needs. In some cases, the appeal of the programs has helped the schools themselves. This is especially important considering many colleges and universities have struggled financially in recent years.

Simmons College is a small, private college in Boston, Massachusetts. For several years, Simmons accepted more graduate students than undergraduates. In 2012, the school created a plan to start offering two of its most popular masters degree programs online. The two are in nursing and social work.

Last year, the college collected about $45 million in student payments for those programs. This year the programs are expected to bring in about $55.9 million. This is about $3 million more than all the in-person graduate programs Simmons offers, combined.

Suzanne Murphy is the head of the online programs at Simmons. She says the reason those programs appeal to so many students is the quality.

You measure success in student outcomes, Murphy said. How are the students doing? How are they progressing through the programs? Things like that. And the programs that we put online are the same programs that we have on the ground.

Leanne, Goodman and Murphy all agree there are many other ways to improve online degree programs in general. Next week, we will look at some of the problems such programs still face.

Im Pete Musto.

Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. How do you think online degree programs compare to in-person programs? What are the good or bad qualities you think online programs have? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

online  adj. done over the Internet

class(es)  n. a series of meetings in which students are taught a particular subject or activity

degree  n. an official document and title that is given to someone who has successfully completed a series of classes at a college or university

open(s) up  p.v. to become or cause something to become available or possible

bachelors  n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after four years of study

masters  n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after one or two years of additional study following a bachelor's degree

allow(ed)  v. to let someone have or do something

schedule  n. a plan of things that will be done and the times when they will be done

financially  adv. relating to money

feasible  adj. possible to do

nurse practitioner  n. a nurse who is trained to do some of the things a doctor does, such as give physical exams or order certain medical tests

folk(s)  n. people in general

applied  v. asked formally for something, such as a job, admission to a school, or a loan, usually in writing

graduate  adj. of or relating to a course of studies taken at a college or university after earning a bachelor's degree or other first degree

undergraduate(s)  n. a student at a college or university who has not yet earned a degree

outcome(s)  n. something that happens as a result of an activity or process
Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.

Today, we are down on the farm!

Since the 16th century, the word "farm" has meant "land used for agricultural purposes." But a much older meaning is related to economics. The English word farm comes from the Latin word firma, which means an unchanging payment.

Experts say the earliest meaning of "farm" was a yearly payment made on a loan or as a tax. Centuries ago, English farmers did not own their land. They made payments to the owner for the right to grow crops.

Okay, so the word farm has roots in economics. Therefore, its no surprise to hear about someone buying a farm -- a farm. That is very different from someone who has bought the farm. When someone tells you that someone bought the farm, do not offer your congratulations. Bought the farm is a light-hearted way to say that a person has died.

Now, buying the farm is very different from betting the farm. When you bet the farm, you are willing to risk everything because you are confident in something. Used in conversation, it may sound like this: Jack was out really late last night. I'm willing to bet the farm that today he will be late for work.

So, you can buy, own or bet a farm. You can also just farm, as in the verb. But today, the verb farm has come to mean something more than raising crops. To farm something out means to give work or duties to someone else to finish.

This farming action is quite different from planting and raising crops. To do that, farmers plant seeds. You could say that seeds start the growth process. In business, seed money is the financing you need to launch a project or company.

Now, sometimes we call the act of raising crops "sowing crops." To sow means to plant seeds in the ground. The verb sow also means to set in motion or to cause something to exist -- especially things such as fear, doubt or suspicion.

We use the word sow in two common idioms.

Lets say you have a friend who shows a lack of common sense and does stupid, crazy things. You might defend their behavior by saying: Oh, he doesnt mean any harm. Hes just sowing his wild oats. When someone sows their wild oats they act foolishly and make bad decisions when they are young.

Many people learn from their wild mistakes of youth -- some the hard way. They might have to reap what they sow. This expression means that we all must deal with the results of our actions. Young and old alike might one day have to reap what they sow.

However, if your friend continues to act foolishly, you could plant a seed of caution in him. To plant a seed in someone is to influence another persons thinking or behavior. And as we just heard, you can plant a seed of something. Americans often use the expression to plant a seed of doubt.

If that seed -- whether of doubt, caution or some other idea -- takes root, it begins to develop into something bigger. If it dies on the vine, it doesnt grow into anything worth keeping -- just something else to clean up.

We can also say that a plant, person or idea has gone to seed. To go to seed is to "worsen in condition because of lack of care." This expression is based on the actual meaning of plants that go to seed. They stop producing flowers and start producing seeds.

Now, lets hear these common farming expressions used in a casual conversation about work.

Two friends on their way to work stop for coffee and to talk shop -- they talk about work.

Dialogue :

I want to stop for coffee before heading into work. Do you have time?

Sure. Actually, I want to hear about your new start-up. So, how is your new product launch going?

Its going better now. But I ran into a rough patch a few weeks ago.

What happened?

Well, a man who worked for me was trying to steal my customers. After every meeting with a customer, he would pull them aside and try to plant seeds of doubt about whether my business was the right fit for them.

Wow, thats awful. What did you do?

I fired him.

Its a good thing his attempts to hurt your business didnt take root.

Actually, in the end, it only hurt him. Word got around and now people dont trust him. So, he hasnt been able to find another job. I saw him the other day and he looks awful. He has really gone to seed.

You know what they say: You reap what you sow. If you do bad things, you will sooner or later have to deal the results.

That is so true. But now, I have another problem -- money. I used up all the seed money I had saved for the project.

I know you pretty well. Ill bet the farm that you will not let your business die on the vine.

No way. I have already found another investor. And I started farming out the art work to some university students. That will save me a lot of money.

Well, it sounds like youre really busy, but happy.

I love my work. You know, I was talking to an old college friend last night. We both sowed our wild oats when we were younger. Now, that were older and, hopefully, wiser we are perfectly happy spending much of our time on work.

You know, I never did anything too crazy when I was younger. Maybe these restless feelings I have are my wild oats that I didnt sow. Maybe Ill quit my job and travel around Europe for a month!

That sounds fun. But let me plant a seed of caution -- before you quit your job, save up a lot of money and have another job waiting for when you get back.

Well that doesnt sound like a crazy, wild time.

Exactly. Youre not in your 20s any more.

Good point. Well, heres our coffee order.

This ones on me. If youre going to be traveling around Europe, youd better start saving your money now.

Cheers!

Cheers!

And that brings us to the end of Words and Their Stories. Hopefully some of these farm expressions will take root in your everyday English.

Im Anna Matteo.

"You can have a lot of fun in a New York minute, but there some things you can't do in those city limits. There ain't no closing time, there ain't no cover charge, just country boys and girls getting down on the farm."

Anna Matteo and Marilyn Rice Christiano wrote this story for Learning English. At the end of the story, Garth Brooks sings "Down on the Farm." This program was first published in March of 2017.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

light-hearted  adj. free from care, anxiety or seriousness

doubt  n. a feeling of being uncertain or unsure about something

neglect  v. to leave undone or unattended to especially through carelessness

talk shop informal phrase to talk about work: They like to talk shop during lunch.

start-up  n. a newly established business

reap  v. cut or gather (a crop or harvest)
We owe a debt of gratitude to the hardworking people of Colstrip for their contributions to Montanas economy. We agree stakeholders in public and private sectors should be working together to ease the transition and retirement of Colstrip Units 1 and 2 which have been a mainstay in the community for nearly 50 years and provided a reliable source of power before the larger Units 3 and 4 were constructed in the mid-1980s.

While we understand the sentiment behind Senate Bill 338, sponsored by Sen. Duane Ankney of Colstrip, we have grave concerns about the far-reaching scope of the so-called decommissioning included in the bill.

Deterring New Business to Montana

The Montana Chamber of Commerce works very hard to create the most optimal business climate in Montana. Our message is that Montana is open for business. Nowhere in this recruiting process are these businesses told that if they have to depart, that they will be assessed an exit fee. As currently written, the bill would require the owners of the Colstrip to pay an exit fee to the State of Montana regardless of whether market conditions, laws, and regulatory requirements make retiring the unit the most reasonable decision.

If the state wishes to create an exit impact policy it should be in place and made known to businesses as they locate in Montana so they can factor that into the equation as they make their decision where to locate.

There is Time for a Better Solution

There is a myth that we need to pass this bill now and Montana isnt paying any attention to Colstrip. The fact is, the Montana Attorney General has been granted intervenor status in Washington State to help represent Montana in Puget Sound Energys general rate case proceeding before the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.

It will be years until Units 1 and 2 are retired and decommissioned.

Meanwhile, the newer, higher employing and more powerful Units 3 and 4 will continue to operate and contribute to the local economy. All four units combined pay approximately 78 percent of property taxes in the City of Colstrip. When Units 1 and 2 are retired and fully decommissioned years from now, Units 3 and 4 will continue to pay 71 percent of local property taxes.

There is time to get this right and we owe it to the people of Colstrip and the entire state to come up with a more workable solution so we do not unintentionally drive these good paying employers out of our state.

In summary, SB 338 is not the right path forward. We have seen many large employers come and go from this state without being asked to pay an exit fee  but this bill singles out the energy industry. In effect, this policy condones punishing businesses for making a perfectly legitimate (and legal) business decision to stop operating. This bill offers no certainty for Colstrip and would set a new precedent that could harm future natural resource investment in Montana.

We agree with the sentiment that we want to do right by Colstrip, but there must be a better way that wont hurt future investment in Montana and cripple Montanas ability to attract new businesses to the state.

Brown is the President and CEO of the Montana Chamber of Commerce and Bob Story is Montana Taxpayers Association Executive Director.
In these contested political times, it is not often that a bill to cut waste and put money in the pockets of the public can find broad bipartisan support. Even rarer is the emergence of something in Helena that almost everybody agrees will create jobs, increase the value of your home and will involve no government spending or mandates.

All of these goodies are made possible by a bill known as PACE.

The bill would make available to Montanans what is essentially a funding mechanism for home energy improvements. If done properly, the PACE mechanism allows you to pay for these energy improvements over time by means of the very savings the improvements will create. Montanas Legislature has to agree to make this tool available to us. In doing so, Montana would join states as different as Texas, Rhode Island, Florida and Ohio in having the PACE mechanism available.

There will be a hearing on PACE in Helena on March 28. Find out more about PACE at mtpace.com. Then let members of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee know that this is a bill we can all get behind.

Christopher Preston

Missoula
The FUSD Governing Board announced Saturday that they have entered into superintendent negotiations with Michael Penca, one of two finalists interviewed by the board, staff and students in Flagstaff Wednesday. He is expected to start July 3.

Penca currently serves as the interim superintendent of the Mason City Community School District in north central Iowa under a one-year, $173,000 contract that expires July 31. He has worked in Mason City schools for 20 years and was hired by the board last June after it bought out the contract of the previous superintendent on short notice.

He was a finalist for the permanent job this winter and, according to an editorial in the Mason City Globe Gazette, was credited with stabilizing the leadership team and providing the board with a "steady hand."

But Penca was passed over by the board for another candidate from outside the Mason City district, which has more than 3,700 students and 600 staff.

According to a press release, Penca stated, I am excited for the opportunity to serve the Flagstaff Unified School District and community as superintendent. My wife and I appreciate the welcome we received and look forward to making Flagstaff our home.

Penca has earned degrees from the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and Drake University.

Penca beat out the other finalist, Frank Chiapetti, who was the superintendent of Gallup McKinley County Schools in New Mexico.

Current FUSD Interim Superintendent Dave Dirksen was not included in the list of finalists by a 3-2 vote of the governing board.
The Idaho Supreme Court says it will not reconsider the clemency case of a terminally ill man who is facing execution for his role in the 1985 slayings of two gold prospectors. The court made the decision Friday in Gerald Ross Pizzuto Jr.s case. That means the state remains free to seek a death warrant for Pizzuto. Once issued, the warrant would set the execution in the next 30 days. Deborah Czuba is one of Pizzuto's attorneys with the Federal Defender Services of Idaho. She says the Supreme Court's decision is disappointing, and that she hopes Idaho Gov. Brad Little will reconsider the execution or at least wait until after the holidays.
BUHL  The community is invited to attend a Severe Weather Spotter Training Workshop co-sponsored by Twin Falls County Emergency Management and the National Weather Service (NWS). The training session is slated for April 26 in the Buhl Fire Department at 203 Broadway Ave. N. The session will begin at 7 p.m. and will last about an hour and a half.
BURLEY  A new judge has been assigned to a Declo murder case in which a man is charged with murder and mayhem in the death of his wife.

Ronnie Kincaid Jr., 36, was charged with first-degree murder, mayhem, alteration or concealment or destruction of evidence and two counts of sexual penetration by forcible use of a foreign object and a persistent violator enhancement charge after his wife, Melissia Dawn Kincaid, 34, was found dead at the couples home.

The case, which had previously been presided over by Cassia County Judge Michael Crabtree, was reassigned to Jerome Judge John K. Butler.

Crabtree is set to retire on May 31.

A jury trial remains set for May 1 in Cassia County District Court.

The county prosecutors office and defense met March 16 to try to mediate the case.

Due to the confidential nature of a criminal mediation, the only public comment I can make is the case is still set for trial in May, County Prosecutor Doug Abenroth, wrote in an email to the Times-News.

Jail logs show Kincaid has been incarcerated for 564 days since his arrest in September 2015.

Kincaids son Ronnie Kincaid III was initially charged with accessory to murder and destroying and concealing evidence. Deputies said he helped his father wash DNA and blood from Melissias Kincaids body.

Abenroth dismissed the charges against the teen in April after the judge would not delay the trial. Abenroth said at the time he planned to refile the charges in the future. He has declined further comment on the case.

Melissia Kincaid was found by officials in a back bedroom at the home. Her husband told deputies she became unresponsive after the couple had sex. He said he put her in the shower to wake her up, but he did not call police until 9 a.m. the next morning.
MONDAY morning the Senate State Affairs Committee cleared by a single vote a bill to make it easier for courts to get involved if a child whose parents believe in faith healing is at risk of serious injury or death. The House passed the states education budgets by wide margins and narrowly passed Attorney General Lawrence Wasdens budget, with some lawmakers saying they were voting against it because of their unhappiness with the states settlement of a lawsuit Planned Parenthood filed over Idahos telemedicine abortion bans. The full Senate passed the bill repealing the law and thus ratifying the settlement and also, among others, a bill putting more strictures around Idahos civil asset forfeiture laws.

TUESDAY the full Senate killed the faith healing bill, with most of the debate centering around concerns about infringing on religious freedom, although some lawmakers problem was that the bill didnt go far enough. A proposed victims rights constitutional amendment was killed by the House State Affairs Committee. The House passed the states community colleges budget 48-22. The Senate approved the amendments to a grocery tax repeal bill and a major transportation funding measure, a necessary step before voting on both later in the week.

WEDNESDAY the Senate passed the grocery tax repeal bill but killed the transportation funding one, the latter action throwing into question what deal the House and Senate would make to fund transportation before the end of the session. Both sides said they still wanted a deal, but the Canyon County House members insisted they wouldnt go home until the state found a way to fund the expansion of a section of Interstate 84 in the Nampa area, while some senators were uncomfortable with the federally backed bonding that would pay for this.

THURSDAY it became clear that the Legislature would not adjourn on Friday as had been originally planned. The House passed only three bills all day, grinding to a halt due to a protest from a handful of far-right Republicans who demanded every bill be read in full rather than the usual unanimous consent request to waive reading. Meanwhile, the Senate mostly cleared its calendar. By the end of the day, leadership in both houses acknowledged they would be coming back on Monday.

FRIDAY both the House and the Senate met in the morning and made their way through the bills on the calendar without much controversy. The House came back in the afternoon and passed some more bills, including approving the new school science standards that have become controversial since the House Education Committee deleted five paragraphs related to climate change. The House Ways and Means Committee printed a new version of a bill to reduce each income tax bracket by one-tenth of 1 percent, combined with an adjustment in the unemployment insurance tax rate.

NEXT WEEK the House Revenue and Taxation Committee will hold a hearing Monday afternoon on the grocery tax repeal bill, and possibly also on the new income tax cut bill. Well see if a transportation funding compromise take shape. You can probably expect the session to end sometime next week. Which day, though, is anybodys guess.
TWIN FALLS  Just in time for summer and the 100 deadliest days on Idahos roadways, the Twin Falls County Coroners Office will soon have a converted ambulance at its disposal to act as a mobile command center and transport multiple bodies when needed.

Coroner Gene Turley said his office received an ambulance as a gift from Lincoln County, though he planned to trade the four-wheel drive ambulance to the Castleford Quick Response Unit in exchange for a two-wheel drive rig.

We dont need a four-wheel drive, but Castleford could use it, so we agreed to switch, Turley said.

The coroner said he was recently at a meeting in Lincoln County where he mentioned he was looking for an ambulance his office could refurbish to use as a mobile command center in inclement weather or when they respond to crashes with multiple deaths. Cresley McConnell, a Lincoln County commissioner and deputy coroner, approached Turley after the meeting and told him Lincoln County had an ambulance they would donate. He said they would donate it because Twin Falls County has been good to them over the years, Turley said.

Coroners new certification

Turley meanwhile gained a new certification last week that will allow him to testify as an expert witness in other counties and act as a consultant for county coroners who seek his help. The American College of Forensic Examiners Institution announced in a statement that Turley is now a certified forensic consultant, a certification reserved for well-trained forensic specialists who are often brought into civil and criminal court cases to provide objective analysis, expert opinions and specialized knowledge of evidence.

The CFC designation contributes to the weight of testimony a forensic professional presents, the statement said. And it helps verify the validity of the evidence presented, the application of specialized knowledge to the facts of the case, and the relevance of the evidence to the issues in the case.

The certification will allow Turley to consult for other counties, testify as an expert in other counties and be paid as a consultant.

Because of Turleys experience, he did not have to take the standard test to gain the certification, he said. Turley was a police officer and served as county coroner from his appointment in 1993 until his resignation in 2001; in 2014 he won back the position hed left by beating incumbent Dennis Chambers in the Republican primary.
This appeared in Saturdays Washington Post.

The next time someone argues that a businessman would manage the country better than an experienced politician, remember this past week. The attempt by President Donald Trump and House Republicans to force through a health-care bill scorned by experts across the spectrum, projected to be a disaster for aging and low-income people and opposed by a large majority of Americans ended in debacle. Now the danger is that a wounded president and his GOP allies will act on their sore feelings by irresponsibly attacking the existing health-care system in other ways.

The right course for Trump and congressional Republicans following their decisive defeat would be to ensure that the system created by President Barack Obama is properly overseen, for the sake of the millions who depend on it. That would mean abandoning their unilateral and unpopular legislative push to replace Obamacare with a radically different scheme. None of the major repeal-and-replace proposals they have offered would improve the systemand repealing Obamacare without a replacement would invite disaster in health-care markets.

Unfortunately, there are signs that Trump will act rashly on his own, without Congress, weakening Obamacare on purpose or by sheer incompetence. Several times in recent weeks, Trump suggested that it would be savvier for Republicans to let the system persistand collapse. Independent experts, including the Congressional Budget Office just this month, predict no such crumbling. Yet they may not have satisfactorily considered the likelihood of administrative sabotage: The Trump administration has already undermined federal enrollment efforts and the individual mandate that holds the system together. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who would lead any executive-branch regulatory overhaul, has shown himself to be a rigid ideologue on health-care policy.

Trump should not imagine that angry Americans will blame Democrats, who are totally locked out of power, if he presides over an unraveling of the system. Public reaction to the replacement effort, including in polls, showed substantial support for Obamacare and rejection of the Republican effort to destroy it.

A better option would be the one that Republicans have explored least: actually fixing the systems flaws. Trump could use his executive power to shore it upenhancing enforcement of the individual mandate and encouraging people to sign up. Then he should approach Democrats to see if there is room for an agreement on a repair bill. This would have to be an authentic deal, not an ultimatum, in which Democrats traded things Republicans want, such as medical liability reform and some limited regulatory reform, in exchange for things they should want, such as enhanced subsidies for vulnerable people.

For the good of the country, Republicans must finally admit two things. First, Obamacare is mostly working and millions will be hurt if it is abruptly repealed. Second, the GOP is incapable of the near-unanimity on health-care policy that is required to act without Democrats.
Wald in MDRT

Joseph F. Wald, an agent for New York Life in Dickinson, has earned membership in the Million Dollar Round Table for 2016. MDRT membership represents the top life insurance and financial service professionals worldwide.

Wald has been a New York Life agent since 2010.

Hinsz qualifies

Julie Hinsz has qualified to attend Investment Centers of Americas National Conference in May in St. Pete Beach, Fla.

Hintz is with Planningteam Financial Advisors in Bismarck and Center.

Olney completes

Jody Olney, a financial adviser with Legacy Financial Partners in Bismarck, recently obtained certified financial planner certification after completing required coursework and examinations.

Hired, promoted

One person was recently hired and two were promoted at Kirkwood Bank & Trust.

Tanya Black, hired as office coordinator at the north Bismarck bank, moved to Bismarck from Las Vegas. She has 30 years experience in sales/office coordinator and customer service.

Shauna Scott has been promoted to mortgage receptionist/processor. She is a native of Mandan and has been with the bank since 2014, working as a teller and office coordinator.

Lorie Thom, most recently a mortgage receptionist, has been promoted to mortgage loan processor. She is a native of Oregon and a graduate of Bob Jones University. She joined the bank in 2015.

Schneider promoted

Kaelin Schneider has been promoted to lead flightline technician at Bismarck Aero Center.

Schneider has an aviation work background, an associate's degree in business management from Bismarck State College and a private pilots license. He recently passed the written exam for an instrument rating.

Bloom passes exam

Rick Bloom, an aircraft maintenance technician at Mandan Aero Center, has passed the certification exam to receive his inspection authorization license through the FAA.

Bloom has worked in aircraft maintenance for nearly 30 years. He attended Cheyenne Aero Tech in Wyoming, where he received his A&P license for aircraft maintenance.

Kvarness hired

Sharlene Kvarness has been hired as an accounts payable specialist in the Bismarck office of KLJ.

Kvarness earned an associate degree in accounting from Rasmussen College.

Urbanec certified

Daniel Urbanec is now a board-certified critical care nurse by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.

Urbanec works in the critical care unit at Sanford Health in Bismarck. He has been with Sanford for six years.

Walch with Integra

Stacy Walch has joined the real estate agents at Integra Realty Group Inc.

Walch has a sales background and will specialize in residential sales in the Bismarck-Mandan area.

Keller joins Alliance

Steve Keller has joined Alliance Real Estate.

Keller is a former Marine and current contractor.
The following editoral appears on Bloomberg View:

Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford found something constructive to tell senators on an appropriations subcommittee this week, even if it had nothing to do with the Pentagon budget. The two men challenged lawmakers to finally provide a legal basis for the U.S. war against terrorist groups.

Its something that President Barack Obama was never able to get from Congress. So instead, for his entire presidency, Obama based U.S. counterterrorism efforts abroad mostly on the authorization for the use of force that Congress passed shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. The logical problem here is obvious: todays biggest terrorist enemies  groups such as Islamic State, Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, and Al-Shabaab in Somalia  didnt exist in 2001. Thus its absurd to say they count among the terrorists who planned, authorized, committed or aided the Sept. 11 atrocities. Nor are they covered by the follow-on 2002 authorization to invade Iraq.

This is more than legal semantics. Congress has for too long abdicated its role in American war-making, another example of it ceding ever-more ground to the executive branch on matters of highest national importance.

And now that President Donald Trump is reportedly looking at counterterrorism actions going well beyond the Obama approach  including bringing Islamic State members and other new terrorists to Guantanamo Bay, and loosening the rules on and broadening the air war in Yemen and Somalia  the legal precariousness poses a tangible threat. Any new detainees brought to Gitmo would have a strong claim to U.S. courts that their imprisonment is illegal, while international authorities could more easily make the case that drone strikes in Somalia or Yemen are war crimes.

Another important, if overlooked, aspect is the effect on the troops. As General Dunford put it, the men and women in harms way would benefit from an authorization for the use of military force that would let them know that the American people, in the form of their Congress, were fully supportive of what theyre doing out there.

Of course, there are many issues to be hashed out on the language of a new measure. Would it be have geographic constraints, or allow the U.S. the fight the jihadists wherever they go? Would it be indefinite or have a sunset date of two or three years? Would it replace the 2001 measure or just augment it? In any case, a new authorization should include requirements for the administration to report regularly to lawmakers and the public on where actions have taken place and what groups have been added to the target list.

But before Congress can even start grappling with these questions, it needs to get serious about its constitutional requirement to get involved. Lets hope Generals Mattis and Dunford gave lawmakers the boost of courage they needed.
I wish someone would inform President Trump that he isn't on "The Apprentice" anymore  you can't or shouldn't say "you're fired!" We the people might tell him the same thing (Trump, you're fired) and as to the wall, why doesn't he pay for it if he wants it so bad? We the taxpayers sure can't pay for it. We need to fix our roads and power grid and our drinking water pipes way before we worry about a wall. And what kind of idiot puts a corporate CEO of an oil company in charge of the EPA? There may need to be changes, but we need to have a person that cares about our air, water, land. Not about profits or creating jobs that will only make the rich, richer!
After Napoleons escape from the Isle of Elba, the allies declared war, not on France, but on him; so it was off to war again which led to Napoleons defeat at Waterloo. Hoping for better terms, the emperor general surrendered to the British and they sent him to St. Helena to await a trial that never came. After all, since imperialism is just a fancy word for state sponsored armed robbery, how could the British bring to trial an imperialist who did nothing different than all the other imperialist? Upon his arrival at St. Helena, he supposedly remarked, Im a head of state. You cannot put a head of state on trial like a man who steals a pig. Well, maybe we should. With that in mind, Janet Reno, the wicked witch of Waco, Texas, is dead. Ruby Ridge? LaVoy Finicum? Where do these sworn supporters and defenders, obviously not enforcers, of the U.S. Constitution come from? Fredrick Douglas writes: Find out just what the people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong that will be imposed upon them, and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows or both. The limit of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those they oppress.
Bismarck-Mandan could soon see a dramatic change to its skyline as a new railroad bridge is built as soon as next year.

BNSF Railway is in the early planning stages for a new crossing over the Missouri River to take over the role of one of Bismarck's oldest and most recognizable landmarks.

Company Spokeswoman Amy McBeth said the current bridge, built in 1882, is reaching the end of its useful lifespan. Though routine repairs have been done in the past several years, it's an old piece of infrastructure. While still structurally sound, the spans of the bridge date back to 1905, she said.

"Its just the lifespan of the physical asset, part of our bridge management plan includes evaluating our physical infrastructure, including the bridges across our network," she said.

Despite its age, the bridge still allows 14 to 16 trains filled with oil, coal, crops and consumer goods to cross the Missouri River every day, according to McBeth, who said she understands the bridge is significant to the city and she expects community input will figure into new designs.

"We would anticipate that people will be interested," she said. "We will want to be talking with the community."

She said the company is still evaluating whether to take the old bridge down.

Building the bridge was a major feat in railroad history, opening the way for travel westward.

It was profound, said Walter Bailey, executive director of the Bismarck Historical Society, of the bridge's effect on the region. It really opened the way to settlement in the west river country and was a major influence on the growth of Bismarck.

Planning for the bridge began in the early 1880s as the Northern Pacific Railway attempted to complete its transcontinental crossing. The company couldn't build the rest of the railroad without a bridge to transport supplies across the Missouri River. To people in Bismarck, the crossing was critical to bring people and confidence to town.

It also brought people to the city for jobs and expanded farming westward. Mandan began as a workers' village on the west side, and locals would commute across by train to visit each other.

The bridge is still vital to the local economy, Bailey noted, but it's also known for its beauty and engineering history.

State Geologist Ed Murphy chronicled the bridge's feats and struggles in the North Dakota History journal in 1995. Murphy took an interest in the bridge while investigating slope stability, an issue that would plague the structure for its first 70 years.

The wild river presented challenges to engineer William Morison, of New York. The waterway was too wide, so he built a dike to narrow it. Dangerous ice jams came frequently, so he added steel edges to slice through it. There were few qualified workers, so he ordered in contractors from Chicago and Minneapolis.

Very soon after its construction, the east pier began sliding into the river. In the first 15 years, it moved 4 feet. The slope behind the pier was sliding in, partly due to water leaking from the treatment plant and reservoirs above. It took multiple engineering efforts  including installing pipes to drain the hill and physically pushing the pier back into place  to finally correct the problem enough that, by the 1960s, the bridge slid only one-third of an inch westward on a yearly basis.

McBeth said she couldn't say whether the bridge might still be sliding.
By Adam Minter

Its never easy for American businesses to make it in China. Cultural differences, government interference and the sheer cost of competing in a market that dwarfs the US have frustrated companies ranging from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to Uber Technologies Inc. Those stumbles arent dissuading Airbnb Inc., however. This week the home-sharing pioneer announced that its changing its local brand name in China and doubling its investment there.

By any measure, the opportunity is immense. In 2015, Chinese travelers spent nearly $500 billion, and the government expects that number to more than double by 2020 as the countrys middle class expands. But capturing a major piece of that market will require Airbnb to navigate a far more tangled thicket of cultural issues than what confronted Uber and other tech companies in China. And judging by its efforts so far, it probably wont be up to the task.

In theory, China should be one of the worlds biggest and best markets for home-sharing. Chinese travelers took 2.2-billion domestic trips in just the first half of 2016, up nearly 10.5 percent year-on-year. Yet China has only four hotel rooms for every 1,000 people, compared to 20 in the US. And thanks to Chinas housing boom, about 50-million empty homes are scattered across the country just waiting (in theory) for paying visitors.

But that doesnt mean Chinese will jump on the opportunity to rent out their properties or stay in someone elses home. The biggest barrier is establishing trust between owners and renters. In recent years, Chinese consumers have been confronted by scandals ranging from tainted fast food to dodgy pharmaceuticals. They chronically complain of poor-quality goods and misleading marketing or labeling. And theyre highly suspicious of small vendors. So renting a room from a stranger advertising on the internet wont come naturally.

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Homeowners, meanwhile, have their own concerns. Many of Chinas vacant properties are purchased as investments, and most affluent homeownersespecially those with desirable vacation rentalswill hesitate to open their doors to poorer tourists, who constitute most Chinese travelers these days and who would be the most likely to forgo a hotel. That reluctance is only heightened by the near-constant stream of news reports about misbehavior among Chinese travelers at home and abroad.

Bridging this gap in trust will be difficult. But theres some evidence that local companieswhich are more familiar with local customs and concernsare figuring it out. For example, Tujia.com, Chinas biggest home-sharing site, takes the ambitious approach of managing each of the 400,000 properties on its site (or hiring a third party to do so). That includes hotel-like services, such as housekeeping, as well as conducting due diligence to confirm that listings are accurate. That doesnt just improve the experience for renters; it also expands the number of properties available by giving ownersmany of whom live far away from their investmentsless upkeep to worry about and more peace of mind.

Airbnb, with its paltry 80,000 listings in China, hasnt made any such effort, focusing instead on self-starting younger travelers. Where Tujia arranges for home cleaners, Airbnbs new investments are focused on curated Experiences, such as tours of local landmarks, that can be purchased alongside a room. That kind of thing wont be enough to overcome the cultural barriers inhibiting home-sharing in China. And so far, theres little evidence that Airbnb is savvy enough to come up with a more appealing approach. On Wednesday, shortly after the company announced its new Chinese brand nameAibiyingsocial media users were widely mocking it as nonsensical and hard to pronounce.

Its not all bad news for Airbnb. Chinas growing tourism market means that even a niche player focused on adventurous young travelers has a big opportunity. Equally important, outbound travel is growing, and Airbnbs three-million global listings will remain the best home-sharing option for Chinese who want one, a fact conceded even by its Chinese competitors.

When it comes to winning Chinas local home-sharing market, however, Airbnb should probably check out early.

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Completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline is expected to fundamentally change the direction of North Dakota oil.

The "interstate highway" for Bakken crude will take barrels off the rail cars headed east-west and take them south to refineries on the Gulf Coast, where experts expect oil producers will find higher prices and lower transportation costs.

"It is going to certainly shake up the existing transportation modes," said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council.

The $3.8 billion, four-state oil pipeline will connect the state's oil fields to a pipeline in Illinois that leads to refineries in Texas. It could ultimately carry up to 570,000 barrels a day. For months, construction stalled as the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its allies filed legal challenges and protested in southern Morton County, expressing concerns that a leak may contaminate the tribe's water supply.

The change may lead to some long-term growth in oil production here, because investors may have more confidence in the prices the oil can fetch, Ness said. It's also expected to bring in more than $100 million yearly in taxes for the state.

The company says the pipeline is committed for 470,000 barrels a day, which is about half of the daily production from the Bakken. That's got to come from somewhere, said Trisha Curtis, co-founder of Petro-Nerds, an energy analytics and advising firm from Denver.

"When you add all that up, the only place you can pull that from is rail," Curtis said.

Some oil will continue moving by train, because there will still be demand from refineries in Philadelphia, New Jersey and the Pacific Northwest.

"Crude by rail really gets the product to some refineries that are not reachable by pipeline," said Julie Fedorchak, North Dakota public service commissioner.

But already rail proponents are bemoaning the loss of business.

John Risch, national legislative director of the SMART transportation division, said the downturn in oil and coal shipments by rail may affect BNSF's ability to continue investing in the rail services that are critical to agricultural producers.

"All of the sudden, whos going to pay for all this infrastructure?" Risch asked.

With Dakota Access, experts say the state has fulfilled the main infrastructure needs that were pressing in the early days of the oil boom. There are two outstanding pipeline projects that would affect North Dakota. These are the Keystone XL and the Transcanada Uplander, which would carry oil from the Bakken to a pipeline leading to eastern Canada. Also, there continues to be a need for gas plants, and an oil refinery in Belfield is being permitted.

Whether the months of tribal and environmental protests against Dakota Access will affect these projects in the state is unknown, and experts have mixed opinions about whether protesting could discourage companies from building oil infrastructure here.

"There were a lot of very unique circumstances that made this the perfect storm," Ness said of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. "I dont think it would stop somebody from planning a project."

But Fedorchak suggested it might have a "chilling effect" on companies that might want to make less risky investments.

"Its another big X factor that could make people choose to invest their money elsewhere," she said.

The protests should be a wake-up call for regulators around the country to take public input and establish a strong record on the front-end in case of opposition, according to Fedorchak.

"The reality is we have to have these infrastructure projects .... our economy, safety, quality of life depends on them," she said. "We need to remain committed to following these things according to law."
Despite the still-prodigious support for President Rodrigo Duterte, one issue manages to divide even his staunchest, most devoted followers: Foreign policy. In particular, some say that his perceived closeness to Beijing even as he pivots away from the United States belies his claims of instituting a so-called independent foreign policy.

This was brought to fore anew when reports surfaced that Chinese ships were seen surveying the waters of Benham Rise, the huge potentially resource-rich area east of the country. To many, Dutertes lackadaisical reaction to the reportsincluding a joke about the Philippines becoming a Chinese provincesignaled the same subservience to what had been perceived as characteristic aggression from Beijing. This also represents a clear turnaround from the vigorous stance put up by Dutertes predecessor, Noynoy Aquino, whose administration challenged Chinas belligerence in the West Philippine Sea by filing and winning an arbitration case at The Hague.

But Duterte is only being strategic, some might point out, because he knows that antagonizing the rising Asian power will not be productive, as Chinas sheer military might will enable it to do anything it pleases, whether its in the West Philippine Sea or Benham Rise.

What is Dutertes real foreign policy then, and what kind of prospects does it hold? For Dr. Renato de Castro, a professor of international studies at De La Salle University, the major security challenge posed by Beijings moves are surely unprecedented and thus require a complex approach.

A lot of developments right now seem to be superseding some of the points raised by historians, specifically when we talk about our countrys policy vis-a-vis China in the light of its assertive behavior in the South China Sea, Dr. De Castro told the audience at a recent forum organized by the think-tank Stratbase ADR Institute for International Studies.

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But Dutertes actions, he added, seem to undermine, if not completely undo, what the Aquino administration has achieved in terms of maintaining relative stability in the region, in alliance with Washington.

The AFPs buildup of its territorial defense capabilities is aimed to complement the deterrence provided by the US forward deployed forces, he said. It was predicated upon the US assertion of its position as the dominant naval power in the Pacific. In a way, the minimum deterrent effort envisioned by the AFP coincided with the Obama administrations decision to pursue a rebalancing to Asia.

For his part, Duterte played down the victory of the countrys arbitration case against China. He also declared the end of the joint patrols between the Philippine and US Navies in the West Philippine Sea. He even said that the Philippine-US Amphibious Landing Exercise 2016 would be the last joint military exercise between two allies.

What this reveals, according to Dr. de Castro, is a shift in Philippine policy on China from that of balancing to appeasement. [But] with that change, you are generating a crisis not only with our alliance with the United States but with our security partnerships with South Korea, Japan, and even Australia.

Dr. De Castro said the complexity of the regions security situation has blurred the notion of independent foreign policy. Absolute independence only exists in the mind, he stressed. Severing ties with a long-time superpower ally only to kowtow to another does not constitute independence.

Instead, the Philippines should leverage on its existing reliable alliances. It should maintain stable and healthy relations with the United States by implementing the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. More crucially, the country should explore how the VFA can facilitate the involvement of South Korea, Japan, and Australia in enhancing AFPs capabilities in maritime security.

Foreign and defense policies should also be coordinated with the US and its security partners through annual defense consultations, joint trainings in counter-terrorism and maritime security, among others. At the same time, the Philippines should continue to build up its maritime capacity through arms acquisition from and training with the US and its key security partners.

Dealing with China need not be a zero-sum game, he said. The Philippines should lay the groundwork for constructive bilateral negotiations that are guided by the primacy of the rule of law and close consultation with other allies.

Dr. De Castro also emphasized that while policy should be determined by the national leadership, it is a decision that cannot be taken lightly. There should be a public discussion, in which all stakeholders, first and foremost the people, are consulted. The strength of public opinion against Dutertes forgiving attitude toward China attests to this.

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We spent three days in Taichung in central Taiwan for a team-building exercise for personnel of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, which has offices in Manila, Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung.

En route to the venue situated in upland Taichung we passed by an old railroad tunnel built by the Japanese in 1900 when for 50 years the island was its colony. Nothing really remarkable about the tunnel, which was constructed of bricks using the hard labor of the Atayal natives.

The old railroad tunnel, just about 460 meters long, no longer in use because it was single-track and outmoded, was converted into a tourist destination with simple son et lumiere effects.

Along the way, there were Atayal descendants selling native delicacies, mostly dried fruit and vegetable produce of their villages, from dried guava to plums to persimmons.

In the hotel where we held the team-building exercise, we were fed local food, which meant mushrooms, bamboo shoots, highland veggies with very little meat and seafood. I was told by the tour operator who organized the visit that these were the simple fare of the aborigines.

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In a visit to other parts of Taiwan, I noticed that the natives took pride in their cuisine, their customs, their produce, and except for the capitals, there were hardly any fast-food joints, whether local MOS burgers or McDonalds. Some were excellent, like the Jiaoxi chicken roasted in brick and mortar urns using lychee wood as fuel. As I write this piece, we are on our way to a roadside eatery that served mushroom shabu-shabu, with some 10 different varieties of locally grown mushrooms flavoring the broth. Some of the food may have tasted so-so, but nonetheless, the Taiwanese took pride in these and served their local fare to tourists.

So very unlike the Philippines, where provincial cuisine had been killed by execrable fast food joints. I used to travel to the countryside to savor good native delicacies, such as maliputo in Taal and Lemery, goto in Lipa, tawilis from Lake Taal in Tanauan, longganisa from Lucban in Candelaria, sinigang na ulang and adobong kanduro in Calumpit. Nowadays, all you see dotting the highways are Jollibee and McDo.

Similarly, their local handicrafts are promoted, from teacups made of fired ceramic to tea kettles and ladles made of beautifully crafted bamboo.

In fine, there is pride of place, heritage and culture.

On the other hand, we copied Hollywood, period.

Que lastima!, the old folks would exclaim.

Taiwan is not as beautiful as the Philippines, far from it. But the Taiwanese take extra effort to make their island postcard-pretty. They reforest their mountains with evergreens and bamboo and there is hardly a bald patch of earth your eyes would rue.

They plant vegetables and fruits everywhere they can and tend to these with loving care. Their macopa is sweet and large; while we have hardly any macopa trees left. Their balimbing is apolitical, large and sweet, not tart, because as the fruit begins to flower, they individually wrap these in plastic or paper, to protect it from rain or dew, and warm the outside temperature for the fruit to grow better and sweeter. In short, tender loving care.

This article is not intended to slur or denigrate our culture; nor is it to pander to my host country. It is an eulogy to our nationalism, an essay on our forgetfulness of roots, our ignorance of heritage, our cavalier attitude towards culture.

* * *

Let me wish our President, Rodrigo Roa Duterte warm felicitations on his 72nd birthday tomorrow.

As is his wont, he intends to celebrate the day simply, with no fanfare, no party, just another day. As he loves to say, usa ka tuog ra na, loosely, lilipas din iyan as the Tagalogs would put it.

May the President be granted his simple wish: More strength to serve his people and our country.

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Scientists shocked to discover how many people are dying from Volkswagens toxic emissions every year

A new study by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, has examined the impact of toxic emissions from the 2.6 million vehicles produced by Volkswagen in Germany. Scientists looked at the risk of premature death directly linked to the pollutants released into the air by these vehicles. They found that over 11 million of Volkswagens cars worldwide are in violation of pollution safety standards, and that in Europe alone, the additional pollutants will be responsible for 1,200 people dying a decade sooner than they should have. These deaths will mainly be caused by respiratory illnesses.

The study concluded that about 500 of the premature deaths will take place in Germany itself, but that the population density in Europe means that around 60 percent of the deaths will take place in other European countries. The pollution impact was only studied for VW, Audi, Skoda and Seat vehicles actually purchased in Germany, which of course means that the problem could be far worse if all vehicles purchased in Europe were included in the assessment.

Science Daily explains that several different pollutants in vehicle emissions can have a negative impact on human health and on the environment, including hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxide, particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The MIT study, however, focused on another damaging pollutant: nitrogen oxides or nitric oxides (NOx). NOx is generated when nitrogen in the air reacts with oxygen under high pressure and at high temperature  vehicle engines provide the perfect environment for this to take place. NOx is a precursor to both smog and acid rain, and is extremely reactive.

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Since NOx inhalation destroys the bodys resistance to respiratory infection, prolonged exposure can result in trouble breathing, reduced lung function, ongoing headaches, eye irritations and a loss of appetite, among other problems. As illustrated by the study, these emissions can even result in premature death, and this is true of about 23,500 people annually in the U.K. alone. The researchers found that getting all the affected vehicles off the road would save the European community upwards of 4.1 billion euros in healthcare costs.

The fact that this study only looked at vehicles produced by Volkswagen and only in Germany, is a cause for immediate concern, as it seems obvious that if all vehicle manufacturers were looked at globally, the scale of the problem would likely be staggering.

There are several suggestions about how we can individually reduce our vehicle emissions to try to improve the situation. One simple and sensible suggestion is to shut your vehicles engine off when youre waiting in traffic. Another good idea is to try to use your air conditioner less when traveling, as this also slightly lowers vehicle emissions. Remote workers who manage their workload from home are also able to drastically reduce the time they spend traveling to and from work, thereby reducing their contribution to the problem. (RELATED: If you are concerned about other threats to the environment, be sure to visit Environ.news.)

While the damage caused by vehicle emissions is likely to be an ongoing problem  at least for the foreseeable future  one way to dramatically improve the quality of the air your family breathes is to install a high-quality air purification system like the Dreval D-850 seven-stage system in your home. It eliminates 99.97 percent of all particles in the air, even those as small as 0.01 micron. With a system like this, pollutants, harmful gases, damaging chemicals like ammonia and benzene, allergens like dust mites, mold spores and pollen, and causes of disease like bacteria, germs and viruses, can all be safely eliminated from your home.

Sources for this article include:

ScienceDaily.com

DailyMail.co.uk
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Most people havent experienced all the effects that climate change is having on Montanas waterways, but fly-fishing guides and outfitters, who are out nearly every day, say they have seen serious negative impacts on the fragile ecosystem in the past decade.

They've seen more dead fish than usual, due to things like drastically higher summer and fall water temperatures. They've noticed reduced winter snowpack that melts earlier than usual and leads to bone-dry creeks in August.

They've noticed non-native species like brown trout invading areas as bull trout populations decline due to warming waters. And they've seen the expansion of parasites and diseases that kill off tens of thousands of fish, which harms the fly-fishing and tourism industries.

And of course, they have been affected by earlier hoot owl fishing closures on more and more bodies of water.

These are just some of the topics discussed at a meeting last week at the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks headquarters in Missoula with the local chapter of the National Wildlife Federation and more than a dozen local fishing guides. Their goal was to talk about how climate change is affecting Montanas outdoor recreation industry, which generates roughly $6 billion in annual spending every year in the state.

Currently, theres a lot of threats to our fisheries in relation to climate change, said Alec Underwood, the Montana Wildlife Federations climate change outreach assistant. In todays society, we often think about whats going to happen next week, next month or next year, but looking to the future is important. I want kids to have the same opportunities to fish as I did.

Chris Clancy, a longtime fisheries biologist with FWP, gave a presentation about how he and his colleagues have documented an alarming increase in the number of nonnative brown trout in the upper reaches of tributaries that feed into the Bitterroot River, places where native bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout are on the decline because of higher average stream temperatures.

Temperatures are getting hotter across the region, especially over the last 30 years, Clancy said. That affects streamflows. Weve observed trends for August flows for the Northern Rockies. Streams have experienced a 21 percent average decline during August in this portion of the country. Were seeing low flows in August largely because of climate change. The snowpack doesnt last as long. Its declining in April where it used to not decline, and there is more frequent flooding in winter or early spring.

The effect goes beyond fly-fishing guides and trout. In 2014, the FWP documented $907 million in angling-related expenditures in Montana. Of that, $64 million was spent in Missoula County. Fishing draws tourists here and is a major source of economic activity, according to Underwood.

The guiding and outfitting community is an important part of our economy, Underwood said.

He said the meeting was held in part to connect younger guides with more veteran guides who have seen more changes over their lifetimes. Underwood wanted to have the group brainstorm ideas to see how they can increase public discourse on the issue, and work together to find solutions.

Were at a crossroads, said longtime Bozeman fishing guide Sean Blaine. This isnt business as usual. Ive seen a lot of changes. We are at an inflection point in our industry. Were in an industry with declining resources and increasing numbers. We are the gatekeepers. We are the spokespeople for our industry.

Clancy and Underwood showed a series of slides that illustrated data collected by hydrologists, biologists and other scientists in the region over the last several decades. The message was clear, according to Underwood.

Across the West theres a serious trend of declining snowpack and that ultimately leads to a change in stream discharge, Underwood said. Last year, we thought we were doing fine with the snowpack, but we had some of the earliest hoot owl closures weve ever had and on the most water bodies weve ever had, 22. There is less discharge later in the summer, and that leads to higher temperatures.

Clancy said the debate over whether climate change is real or is caused by humans should be over.

Its not bunk, he said. Thats just a political argument, not a scientific one.

He said that a 2010 National Academy of Scientists study showed that 908 climate scientists who have 20 or more published papers on the subject  97 percent  are convinced by the evidence of human-induced climate change.

Some people think brown trout expansion is cool, but from a native fish standpoint its not so cool, he said. Bull trout populations are pulling back as brown trout expand. The data seems to indicate that browns are just filling a niche because bull trout cant tolerate water temperatures over about 60 degrees. Bull trout by far, more than any other trout species, need cold water to thrive.

Clancy said he and his staff have found brown trout in streams the past few years where theyve never been recorded before.

They are getting up into areas and invading areas that are native fish strongholds, Clancy said. And forest fires are increasing water temperatures.

Eddy Olwell, a longtime fishing guide in the Bitterroot, said the issue isnt a lost cause. He said fishing guides can help by working on habitat restoration projects to increase the amount of vegetation covering streams to reduce water temperatures in the summer. He said guides also have to be careful not to fish lower stretches of river on hot days and to use barbless hooks.

People are not aware of the risks and threats facing our resources and we need to do a better job of that, he said. I see a lot of guides who dont get the connection between the health of resources and the health of the rivers. We have to pressure our peers and get them involved.

Underwood said that fighting climate change should be a nonpartisan issue, and he urged everyone with a stake in the outdoor recreation industry to call their senators or congressmen when they make a stupid decision.

There may be threats, but together we can make change happen, he said. You guys are important. You have a strong voice and influence.
In the early 1970s, David E. Thomas moved up to the Libby area to work on the dam as a carpenter's helper.

In his spare time, the ROTC cadet-turned-hippie and aspiring poet was reading Lao Tzu and other Taoist writers.

"I'd been sitting out at this cabin in the woods smoking weed and reading these guys, tuning into nature, and then here I am on the dam," he said recently. To try and resolve that contradiction, he said, he wrote the beginnings of a poem about his day job, and all the things a carpenter's helper must keep track of.

With revisions and time, "The Ten Thousand Things," was picked for "The Last Best Place," the nearly 800-page anthology of Montana writing from Indian stories to the present. Garrison Keillor read the poem on his radio show, "The Writer's Almanac."

His friend and fellow poet Mark Gibbons thinks of Thomas as "the walking poet of Missoula." His subjects include the smoky bars of the 1970s and '80s like Eddie's Club (now Charlie B's), the mountains and landscape, and the places where those two meet, and how they change over time.

"I think he's a master of putting us in a particular place and letting us experience what that's like. He doesn't get in the way very often," Gibbons said.

Writer and friend James Crumley, who died in 2008, once called him "the last and best of the hippie, working class, street-smart poets."

Thomas, who will turn 70 this week, still likes to write in a little notebook when he walks around town.

He said that he "develop(s) a rhythm while I'm walking and then when I sit down, I let the words sort of take the shape they want on the page."

He sets many of his nature poems in the places where modern civilization and wilderness meet, and the contrast between the two is the most acute. On a hike to the Moon-Randolph Homestead, he notes something everyone tries to ignore: the view of the landfill. Like a good Hi-Line native, when he travels up Going-to-the-Sun Road, he pays attention to the wind. Here's the opening from "Logan Pass Visitor Center":

"Wind

clear

as a double pane

window"

He likes to make the words "dance" across the page, he said, and never had much interest in learning traditional rhyme and meter.

"I always wanted to get said whatever I had to say and not worry about the cuteness of form," he said. That free-form verse, sometimes only a word a line, may irritate some people, but he doesn't care.

Gibbons said he sees the influence of the Beat generation and Eastern poetry. "It's very quiet and very observant but it's Montana" in the language and landscape, he said.

***

Thomas was born on the Hi-Line in Havre and grew up in Chinook, where his father was a district judge.

By the time he was finishing high school, it appeared that serving in the Vietnam War was inevitable. He figured it would be easier to serve as an officer, so he applied for the Air Force and Naval Academies. He was denied, based on his color blindness and math skills.

After enrolling at the University of Montana in 1965, he joined the ROTC and earned a scholarship for his junior and senior years. As the war intensified, another contradiction developed in his life. With his advanced ROTC peers, he would practice small-unit tactics and shoot live rounds at the target range on Blue Mountain. In his social life, however, most of his friends were against the war.

"I was having a harder and harder time reconciling how I really felt about things with my military career, so to speak," he said.

He spent the summer of 1967 working a construction job in Seattle and living with "beatniks and hippies" on Capitol Hill. The following April, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and Thomas participated in a memorial on campus that turned into a march downtown. He took part in another march, against the draft, too. His ROTC adviser told him he needed to "get with the program or get out," Thomas said.

He got out.

He returned to Seattle the next summer and was living with "a bunch of bohemian beatniks." He knew he wanted to be an artist, but didn't know what kind. He happened to find his life's art while struggling with a drawing.

"One day, we were up at Green Lake, and I was trying to draw some ducks and I just wasn't seeing them. I couldn't get into it," he said. Some phrases came to him, and "he's been at it ever since."

Back at UM, he took a creative writing class from Crumley, the hard-living writer who went on to pen influential crime novels like "The Last Good Kiss." He took a couple of humanities seminars from Roger Dunsmore, the poet and longtime professor.

He headed to San Francisco in 1969, catching what was left of the counter-culture in Haight-Ashbury.

"There was still a little flash of energy through there every once in awhile. It was getting to be pretty grim though," he said. "A lot of speed freaks and junkies around by then."

He read work by Gary Synder, and poet Kenneth Rexroth's "One Hundred Poems from the Chinese."

"I was reading a lot and trying to figure out how to orient myself in terms of my psychedelic experiences and the requirements that mundane life," he said.

He returned to Missoula in part because of the draft. "I couldn't really take anything else seriously until I got that figured out."

***

After successfully qualifying as a conscientious objector, he went through a flurry of moves. A stint on a railroad tie gang in Paradise. The Libby Dam work. Another trip down to L.A. Some couple of years in Glacier National Park. He spent most of his 20s and early 30s traveling: Mexico, South America, Alaska.

"I always never felt like I was done traveling till I got back to Missoula," he said. After getting tired of traveling, he moved into the Montaignes, the apartment building on the corner of South Third Street West and Higgins Avenue, that's home to University of Montana students, artists, writers and other contemporary bohemians.

Missoula "was as probably as interesting a place to be as there was on the planet" during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was still a logging town then, and bars like Charlie's were a haven for hippies and artists.

"We just rocked out for as long as we could stand it," he said.

He's stayed in the Montaignes ever since, too, working a succession of labor-type jobs until he was in his mid-50s and the labor got too hard on his body.

He wrote, too, producing five books of poems. Last year, he published "Old Power Company Road," which range from the 1980s ("Theory of Color in the Top Hat") to the present. There are fair number of elegies for friends who have passed, and quiet observances of the changing city.
The Missoula Public Librarys Paulette Parpart will be recognized as the Sheila Cates Librarian of the Year at the Montana Library Associations 2017 statewide library conference in Billings, which occurs from March 29-31.

The award is conferred upon a librarian in recognition of outstanding leadership and accomplishment in library service. Parpart has been employed at the Missoula Public Library for 42 years and has been working in the cataloging department since 1986. In addition to her many years of service to the Missoula community, she has also served on numerous committees through the state library on cataloging standards and quality control and currently serves on the Montana Shared Catalog Content Management Committee as the Large Public Library representative.

Paulette has also been involved for many years in the areas of local history and genealogy both within the library and in the community through the local Western Montana History Club, the Western Montana Genealogical Society (WMGS), and the Montana State Genealogical Society (MSGS).

Previous award winners from Missoula Public Library include current library director Honore Bray (2013), retired reference librarian Vaun Stevens (2009), and former library director Bette Ammon (2002).

Folk music concert featuring prominent fiddlers occurring in April

Music lovers and fiddle fans alike are welcome to an evening of old dance tunes, whirling waltzes and groovy jigs when the library hosts an educational folk music concert featuring fiddle music from the Metis and Nordic traditions with musicians Jamie Fox and Kristian Bugge on Monday, April 3, at 7 p.m. in the Large Meeting Room.

Bugge, who is from Denmark, is widely considered a master of traditional Danish music and was awarded Folk Musician of the Year at the Danish Music Awards in 2016. Fox, who is from Montana, is one of the most well-known young players of Metis fiddle music, which is mired in a tradition crossing ties of Celtic, French and Native American music cultures. The duos contrast in approach and style helps to create a complex and sundry sound.

Please join us for a fun and entertaining night of fiddle music featuring an educational component that will explore the culture of these folk music styles.

Staff Reviews

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy, illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley (Simon & Schuster, 2016) Call Number: JB Ginsburg

The American Library Association recently introduced the Amelia Bloomer Project to remind readers of those who paved the way for the rights women enjoy today. A starred review from this list is about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Bader Ginsburg objected to different expectations for girls and boys, prejudice against minority groups in places like hotels and restaurants, and women having fewer opportunities than men.

As a child, Ruth experienced the sting of prejudice when her Jewish family went on vacation and saw a sign stating No Dogs or Jews. Her intelligence and hard work allowed her to attended law school, even though she was one of nine female students in a class with 500 men. This picture book shows that disagreeing does not make you disagreeable, and change can happen one disagreement at a time. I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark serves as jumping-off point for future discussions with children about how notions of justice and fairness evolve. More information and book lists are available at The Project website, which is located at: ameliabloomer.wordpress.com.

Review by Tove Elvrom

MakerSpace Offerings

Computer Electronics

Mondays from 3 to 7 p.m. and Thursdays from 3 to 6 p.m.

Monday Night Jewelry Workshop (meets upstairs in the library directors office)

Mondays from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m.

Open Hours

Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fridays from 1 to 6 p.m.

Community Creative Writing Workshop

Tuesdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Drop-in environment focusing on the creative writing workshop process.

Watercolor Painting Class

Fridays from noon to 2 p.m. in the Large Meeting Room

Local artist Robert Peltzer will help you understand and develop the skills and techniques necessary to enjoy and succeed at watercolor painting. Open to adults ages 18 and older. Bring your own watercolor paper, paints, brushes, and palette. For questions, call 406-258-3867 and leave a message.

Computer Classes

Internet Searching

Monday, March 27, from 6 to 7 p.m.

Learn how to use the internet in order to effectively find information. The class includes security tips.

Easy Steps to eBooks

Wednesday, March 29, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

This class is an introduction and overview of the eBook resources available at the library. The instructor will cover how to use various eReaders to access the librarys collection. Attendees are encouraged to bring their eReaders to class.

Registration is required to attend MPLs computer classes. Call 406-721-BOOK (2665) to secure your spot.
HELENA  Those arent voices you hear as you descend the steps to the storage rooms of the Montana Historical Society.

Or are they?

Does Charlie Russell, whose art is so prominently displayed up on the museums main floor, spin yarns about the rest of his 232 pieces down here in the art vault?

Maybe thats Tommy Cruse, the illiterate Irishman who struck it rich up at Marysville, extolling the virtues of his electric bathrobe over there in the textile section.

You dont know Mary Frances Benton Connor, but way back in archival storage, secured from the public but bursting with Montana stories, comes the plaintive voice of the 54-year-old schoolteacher. Shes in Goldstone, a hop and jump from Canada in northern Hill County and, well, shes not particularly enamored with things.

Childhood was never, ever meant/In such a land as this to be spent, Mary Frances moans. Of grownups too I have my doubts/If they were meant to settle hereabouts.

She wrote those lines on May 11, 1921, a Wednesday, and the AABB rhyme scheme is no accident. The historical society received Bentons 1921 diary from a donor.

She writes the entire thing in verse. Doesnt break stride once, Rich Aarstad marveled last week. And she doesnt wax poetically about the prairie and the prairie school. She bitches about her students, bitches about her family, complains about them always wanting money from her. Its great stuff.

To Aarstad, senior manuscript archivist at the historical society, this is every bit as important to the collection as, say, the Abraham Lincoln signatures in 1864 on appointments of Sidney Edgerton as Montana Territorys first governor and of Hezekiah Hosmer as territorial chief justice.

We have what I like to call the high and mighty, and then we have the average people, Aarstad said. Those are the ones that really tell a story of Montana.

Its an issue of pertinence.

Attempts to fund and build a bigger, better Montana Heritage Center have been ongoing for more than a decade. Staff and supporters say the current museum and research center in a 1950 building across North Roberts Street from the state Capitol is, among other things, bursting at the seams, outdated and unbefitting of the gem of a collection it houses.

The proposed center as currently designed would be expanded downhill to the north, with a concourse and exhibit area under Sixth Avenue connecting old to new. Its price tag of $37.5 million in 2005 has ballooned to $44 million, and there are a couple of proposals across the street at the Legislature to get it built.

One would increase a state tax on lodging. Another would require the historical society to sell off up to $50 million worth of its 60,000-piece collection to fund it.

Rep. Dennis Lenz, R-Billings, sponsored the latter solution.

We all sometimes have to sell things we dont want to, Lenz said at a House Administration committee hearing Thursday. Id suggest to you there may be a fine line between a hoard and a museum.

The difference is in the eye of the beholder.

At the state Historical Society, established in Virginia City the year after Montana became a territory, a five-person museum acquisition committee is charged with vetting potential donations.

Its a job fraught with responsibility.

Weve been in existence since 1865, and weve been collecting that entire time, said Amanda Streeter Trum, curator of collections.

Would-be donors are asked to fill out questionnaires, explaining the stories and particulars of their articles.

We consider things like the space we have available to care for these things and whether we have duplicates of these items already, Trum said. Of course the main thing is that we want to see that there is a specific connection to Montana history.

Bev Donaldson of Helena knows and approves of how the system works. She lives just up the street from the museum. A few years ago Donaldson lined up her collection of vintage clothes from the 1940s through the '60s and invited staff to her home to see if any of it was museum material.

Beautiful things, exquisite fabrics, unusual styles, Donaldson said. They took pictures and ended up keeping probably half of it.

Thats how an old-time bathing suit and cap came into the museums possession. Among other items Donaldson has given to the museum is the green 4-H jacket that belonged to her late husband, state legislator and education advocate Gene Donaldson. She grew up in Cut Bank, he in the Helena Valley.

They met as teenagers at Camp Neihardt 4-H camp.

Ive chosen to donate things to the museum because I see items that are part of growing up and theyre unknown to the generation of today, Donaldson said. As the years go by we dont think of history until were older, and my grandchildren have not identified with the same things I grew up with.

To illustrate her point, Donaldson told the story of sending one of her grandchildren to fetch a simple shoehorn. After an inordinately long wait, she said, I realized he didnt know what a shoehorn was.

***

Frequent or even occasional visitors to the Montana Historical Society over the decades will recognize a few icons. The entrance to the Mackay Gallery of Russell Art at the far end of the lobby is still graced by the heroic-scale bronze of C.M. Russell, Montanas cowboy artist. Theres the buffalo jump diorama created in the early 1950s by Gardell Dano Christensen and completed by artist Leslie H. Peters. Big Medicine, the sacred white buffalo from the National Bison Range that died in 1959, remains mounted in a second-floor display.

Downstairs, the museums main storage room is accessible to the public, although youre asked to set up an appointment in advance.

It looks much as youd expect: a long room of concrete, lined by paintings, drawers, benches and tables, gewgaws and curiosities. Propped in the corner are two inordinately long wooden skis that were part of the exhibit of photographer F. Jay Haynes upstairs for three decades.

Theres a separate room for saddles, tack, firearms and other weapons. Inside the climate-controlled (somewhat) art vault are 4,500 pieces by the likes of Russell, Edgar S. Paxson, and Ralph DeCamp  the trio represented by murals in the Capitol.

Assiniboine artist William Standing is also represented, and theres a color pencil sketch Haynes produced showing himself photographing a Native American party, with mosquitoes buzzing around his head. Night Attack in Indian Country, he called it.

Much of the museums Native American selection is stored farther back, in drawers labeled pipes and toys, beaded vests and dresses.

Headdresses are stored in individual, custom-made boxes, sitting high on a top shelf.

Theyre often very fragile, Trum said. So to view them we take the lid off the top of the box and undo ties on the side so the front comes down. Then we pull out the tray that the headdress is sitting on. That way you dont try to pull it out of the top.

These things are very much treated with respect, said Tom Cook, the historical societys public information officer.

He remembers back in the early 1990s when the museum received Sitting Bulls 1866 Henry repeating rifle, one taken from the Lakota Sioux holy man on the day he was killed in 1890.

We actually had all kinds of elders come in from Standing Rock, Cook said. They did a sweetgrass ceremony and looked at it for its religious symbolism. It was amazing.

Cook stopped beside a pile of colorful picket signs. Some were solicited, others showed up at the front door after the Jan. 21 Womens March of Montana at the Capitol.

History doesnt stop, he said.

None of the signs are part of the museum collection yet, said senior curator Jennifer Bottomly-OLooney. But they represent an important part of Montanas story. The crowd of women, men and children was estimated at 10,000.

Theres never been a march of that number of people, Bottomly-OLooney said.

Still, history is nonpartisan.

In addition to selecting a representation of offered signs from the Womens March, we are soliciting Montana-related President (Donald) Trump items, ideally something that a Montanan wore or used such as Make America Great or other related memorabilia, she said. This is part of our mission to collect continuing Montana history.

***

The citizens of Montana own a pair of Big Dorothys black heels. The madam of Helena operated a brothel in Last Chance Gulch until it was raided and shut down in 1973. Dorothy Baker died less than a month later.

I think these are good example of the breadth of items we collect here, Trum said, holding up a nightie she said belonged to one of Dorothys girls.

The sheer gown still sports a cigarette burn.

The presence and use of brothels is always a popular subject," Trum said. "Its a part of our history and has been a part of our history since Europeans started moving out.

Two floors up, Jeff Malcomson opens an album from what has quickly become a prize addition to the photo archives he patrols, one that contains somewhere north of half a million photograph items.

Fred Miller was a land clerk at Crow Agency from 1898-1910 and carried a camera to prove it. The Crow called him Boxpotapesh and after his death in 1936 his collection of glass plates, negatives and prints was sold at auction and scattered around the country. Beginning in the 1970s, Millers daughter and granddaughter set out to reconstruct his body of work, Malcomson said.

That granddaughter, Nancy Fields OConnor, completed the project before she died in 2014. A University of Montana graduate, OConnor married another UM grad, Carroll OConnor, who was making a name as Archie Bunker of "All In the Family" about that time.

In January, the Montana Historical Society officially came into possession of the Miller collection as a donation. It consists of 135 glass-plate negatives and something less than 1,000 vintage or original prints, which had been turned over to a specialty shop. It came to Helena with its components cleaned and complete with housings for the glass plate negatives, casings and mattings for the vintage prints and a bar-coding system.

Its really a remarkable collection because of that, Malcomson said. Weve never gotten a collection with anything close to this amount of work. Everything is pristine and very nicely conserved.

Why here?

It was created in Montana. Obviously they were attracted to us for that reason, and also just because we have the facilities and staff to care for a collection like this and can make them available and accessible to researchers and the public, Malcomson said. I think the quote was they felt like the collection was coming home.

***

Theres a lot of bad reasons to sell off any of the historical societys collection, let alone $50 million of it, Bruce Whittenberg argued last week.

Probably the most important is the public trust that would be violated after 152 years of collecting, preserving and telling Montanas stories, said Whittenberg, who as director carries the museums banner into legislative battles.

He appreciates Lenzs interest in helping find a way in tight state budget times to pay for the new heritage center.

Its just not a good way, he said.

No one knows how much the entire collection is worth, and Whittenbergs staff figures it would cost millions just to find out. Certainly at least some of the Russell works are worth in the millions, and the Paxsons, Remingtons and the entire collections of Blackfeet sculptor/artist Bob Scriver are difficult to monetize.

This, said Aarstad, is a phenomenal collection. I mean, theres just no way to describe what it covers and what it contains.
As it stands, the three candidates for Missoula County Public Schools' board of trustees will be elected by acclamation.

Incumbents Heidi Kendall and Jennifer Newbold filed for the two open K-12 seats on the board. Facing no challengers, an MCPS board resolution approved last month will go into effect, electing them by acclamation and cancelling the May 2 trustee election for MCPS.

The same goes for the sole candidate for a high school seat representing the Seeley Lake region, Elliott Dugger, who lives in the Potomac valley.

Write-in candidates still have until 5 p.m. Thursday to file, however, and if any file for these seats, it would trigger an election.

Dugger is running for the seat vacated by Debbie Dupree's departure after 15 years on the board. The seat represents Seeley-Swan High, as well as the Clinton, Potomac, Sunset and Swan Valley districts.

He and his wife decided three years ago they wanted to make Montana their home, moving here from Georgia. They both have backgrounds in special education: she now teaches in Arlee, and he's now wrapping up his law degree at the University of Montana after a 20-year teaching career.

"One of the things that drew me out here  besides the fact that my wife and I traveled this part of the world a little while and I fell in love with Montana almost instantly  was the education clause in the state constitution," Dugger said. "It's a very strong clause, and a responsibility that the people of Montana have taken upon themselves to educate their children."

He wants to see education get back on track after what he saw as a failure of No Child Left Behind being a "one size fits all product."

"I think that's where public trust comes into play," he said. "It broke down because of that."

Change happens at the local level, he said, which is why he wants to serve on the school board.

"Education was always intended to be locally controlled," he said. "We need to listen to parents and children about what they want to do with their lives. It's only at the local level where the rubber meets the road, when you're sitting in that school can you really get in tune with what that looks like for that community."

***

The only local school board race with challengers so far will be in Frenchtown, with four people on the ballot for two seats.

Incumbents Evan Jordan and Teresa Teagle filed, as did challengers Bryce Simpson and Lauren Atkin.

By the filing deadline Thursday, no one had filed for two seats on the Alberton school board, two seats on the Florence school board, or the sole open seat on the DeSmet school board.

Throughout Missoula County, several incumbents want to retain their seats:

Tom McLaughlin and Rich Thornock filed again for the two open seats on the Hellgate Elementary board.

Brandon Wright filed again for his seat on the Lolo board.

Wendy Forgey and Lisa Koetter filed for the two seats on the Arlee board.

Ryan Ludemann filed for one of the two open seats on the Bonner board.

Bill Paulson filed for the open seat on the Woodman board.

Jennifer Long and Bob Carter filed for the two three-year seats on the Target Range board.

Todd Johnson filed for one of the two seats on the Seeley Lake board.

Incumbent Kelsey Ployhar and another candidate, Steven VanGrinsven, filed for the two open seats on the Potomac board.

Incumbent Ann Halverson and candidate Doug Kopp filed for the two seats on the Clinton board.

Ann Lowder filed for the one-year term on the Target Range board.

Laura Nygard-Russell filed for the two-year seat on the Sunset board, and Juanita Vero filed for the three-year seat.

James Demarest Boyd filed for one of the two seats on the Swan board.
North Dakotas coal producers are looking to the future, not the past, to ensure lignite keeps its powerful place at the energy table.

They are taking on the challenge of reducing carbon dioxide emissions while a federal mandate in the Clean Power Plan to reduce statewide carbon emissions by 45 percent  though wavering amid President Donald Trump's administration  still looms ahead.

There are two paths forward to a cleaner coal, carbon-restrained future. One is retrofitting existing plants with specialized scrubbers to capture the carbon gas for sequestration before it leaves the emission stack. The second is new construction of Allam cycle plants, in which coal is liquefied into a synthetic gas for the plant fuel and super-heated carbon powers the turbine and then is sequestered.

State coal and power companies, along with the Lignite Research Council and the Energy and Environmental Research Center in Grand Forks, are moving ahead on both fronts, though it will be into the 2020s before either technology would be demonstrated or installed here. Since theres no future in capturing carbon without taking it out of the atmosphere, either scenario creates the additional challenge of finding somewhere for it to go. The potential for storing it in deep underground salt caverns near Beulah and Center or piping it to conventional North Dakota oilfields for enhanced oil recovery is also being studied.

The Clean Power Plan, central to the countrys climate change policy under the Obama administration, is in abeyance while its legality is settled in the federal courts. The U.S. Supreme Court has been waiting for a full justice panel before taking up the case.

Wade Boeshans, president and general manager of BNI Energy, says the additional time to prepare is critical to success.

This is a much-needed pause. The regulations were moving faster than the technology, he said. If the regulations came on tomorrow, we just wouldnt be ready.

BNI Energy operates the Center coal mine, which feeds the nearby Minnkota Power Milton R. Young power plant. It is a subsidiary of Allete Inc., a partner in ongoing research that could change the very face of lignite energy production as its known today.

Project Tundra

Boeshans said Project Tundra was picked to name the project that could result in the Minnkota plant at Oliver being retrofitted with a carbon scrubber.

While the EERC conducts research to see how lignite carbon works in the amine-based scrubbing system, all eyes are on a 600-megawatt NRG coal power plant in Texas. There, the scrubbing technology developed in partnership with PetraNova has been installed to remove carbon from a 240-megawatt slipstream and the gas is being used to enhance oil recovery in a nearby oil field.

Boeshans said Project Tundra partners  Allete Clean Energy, BNI Energy and Minnkota Power  are in early discussions with the U.S. Department of Energy on a Clean Coal Initiative matching grant to install a scrubber on one of the Minnkota units with the potential to move the carbon to the Williston region for conventional  not Bakken  oilfield recovery. However, the future of such grants may be jeopardized by Trump's proposed budget cuts.

A lot of variables are in play, including how well the technology works for lignite, but Boeshans said there is potential for Minnkota to be a forerunner.

We are talking about a scale up of the Texas project, with the possibility of retrofitting a whole unit at Minnkota, roughly up to 400 megawatts, said Boeshans, adding the net effect would be the removal of 2.3 to 3.4 million tons annually of carbon.

Allam cycle

The Allam cycle is viewed as the next generation of coal-based energy  not a retrofit, but a complete do-over.

Again, all eyes are on Texas where a 25-megawatt, demonstration Allam cycle plant is expected to go on line later this year, in a Net Power Partnership. EERC research for this technology is focusing on key technical challenges associated with adapting the Allam cycle to North Dakota lignite. Those include what type of metal would hold up to the corrosive effect of lignite-based carbon in a high-pressure cycle and what kind of gasifier would best marry up with the Allam cycle, Boeshans said.

Itll be a green light if carbon turns the turbine, Boeshans said. Its very promising technology for near-zero emissions, including carbon dioxide. Thats what got me so excited; Ive looked at dozens of technologies over the years, but this is the first one Ive seen that is technically feasible and economically feasible.

While its not been decided, its possible that sometime in the range of 2022-2024, a large-scale Allam cycle demonstration project could be co-located with Dakota Gasification Co. near Beulah, according to Boeshans. The idea would be to take advantage of the carbon pipeline infrastructure already in place at DGC that delivers the gas to Canada for enhanced oil recovery.

Jason Bohrer, head of the Lignite Energy Council, said the Clean Power Plan is not the main driver behind the Allam cycle technology. The process is far more efficient  double the electricity per ton of coal  and the plants have about one-fifth the footprint of a combustion plant. Because liquefied natural gas from coal and not straight coal is the plant fuel, it doesnt produce traditional pollutants, such as nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide.

It wont even produce most of those things, Bohrer said. Its a huge technical leap forward. This is a revolutionary rethinking of the power industry. This is the way we will be producing energy from coal in the future.
With just over half of the legislative session completed, there have been over $280 million in tax hikes proposed thus far. Most of that revenue would come from sales taxes on products Montanans use every day. For instance, there is one proposal from Democratic legislators to impose a general sales tax on all Internet transactions, like the products you buy from Amazon or eBay.

The thing is, over the long term the state doesnt need to impose those sales taxes. Its true that state government faces a budget hole for the next two years, but most experts acknowledge the budget gap were in is temporary.

When economic activity returns to normaland there is some evidence that it already isstate tax revenues will stabilize and well be able fund government to do everything that were doing today.

Though were facing a temporary budget hole, none of the sales taxes being proposed are temporary. Every proposal thats been floated so far has been for permanent sales tax hikes.

Thats probably by design, and weve seen this happen before. Any time the legislature faces a budget gap, the backers of big government come out of the woodwork to propose new and permanent tax increases. They know that if they can succeed in imposing a permanent tax increase to address a temporary problem, then in subsequent years they can use the revenue windfall to expand the scope of government.

This is exactly what were seeing today with all these sales tax proposals. Its an end-around play to impose permanent tax increases on all Montanans.

Unfortunately, this time around the legislature is dealing with the most insidious of all taxes: sales taxes. Sales taxes are regressive, meaning that lower-income Montanans end up paying a disproportionate share. Sales taxes hit those on fixed incomes, younger Montanans, and working families especially hard. They also act as an anchor on our economyslowing economic growth by taking money out of the pockets of everyday Montanans and creating government bloat.

So by imposing new, permanent sales taxes to address a very temporary problem, wed be saddling ourselves with long-term negative impacts on individuals and on our economy at large. This is not good policy.

You can do something about it. Contact your legislators and let them know you dont support new sales taxes.

Instead, lets address this temporary problem with a temporary solution. Lets tighten our belts for the short term until the economy gets back on track. Unlike new sales taxes, budget cuts are always temporary. Its far easier for the legislature to come back in two years and restore temporary funding cuts than it is for the legislature to repeal tax hikes.

Imposing new sales taxes would slow economic recovery and have a disproportionate impact on those who can least afford to pay them. In Montana, were fortunate not to have to pay sales taxeslets keep it that way.
Last year, when the Montana State Fund distributed its largest-ever dividend of $35 million to some 23,000 policyholders, it still seemed possible that state legislators would recognize that the funds success was evidence it is working well and should not be meddled with.

Alas, it was too much to hope for. Two bills have been drafted so far this legislative session that would destroy the Montana State Fund and put an end to its growing success. One proposal would eliminate the fund; the other would privatize it. Neither are necessary or even helpful, given that the fund is doing just fine as it is.

The Montana State Fund is the largest provider of workers compensation insurance in the state, covering more than 26,000 individual businesses, the majority of which are small businesses that might struggle to afford coverage  or even obtain coverage  from other insurers. The State Fund is the only provider in the state that is required to provide coverage, no matter the risk, even to those businesses that private insurers turn away.

The fund is set up as a nonprofit, with a board appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. Workers compensation insurance in Montana has had a long and somewhat turbulent history, which reached a low point about 30 years ago, when Montanas workers compensation insurance fund had accumulated a deficit of more than $157 million, with unfunded liabilities of more than $500 million. The 1989 Legislature moved $20 million from the general fund as a stopgap, then in a special legislative session created an Old Fund and a New Fund to separate injury claims prior to July 1, 1990 from those that occurred after that date.

Hundreds of open claims remain in the Old Fund, which still accepts claims for injuries that occurred prior to 1990, mostly from workers who were exposed to asbestos near Libby. However, the Montana State Fund has not only helped shore up the Old Fund, it has steadily strengthened its financial position by taking the long view on investments and remaining committed to holding rates steady.

Which isnt to say the fund has resisted change. In fact, it asked the 2015 Legislature to grant the state insurance commissioner regulatory oversight of the State Fund, and the Legislature obliged. Now, the funds rates will receive the same kind of official review as other insurance companies doing business in Montana.

Montana, unfortunately, has historically had some of the highest rates of workplace injury in the nation, which means employers pay some of the rates for insurance. Although the state has made some regulatory improvements in this regard, its a safe bet that the incentives provided by the State Fund have helped as well.

The State Fund distributes dividends to policy holders based on several factors, a major one of which is safety. Businesses that invest in safety equipment and training not only help protect their workers from injury, they can reap bigger dividends from the State Fund. And the fund has distributed dividends in progressively larger amounts each year for the past 17 years, growing from $2 million total in 2010 to a historic high of $35 million in 2016.

Those who manage the fund also use dividends to counter any factors that might cause rates to fluctuate, providing employers with both stability and predictability  something critical to small businesses working with small budgets. Its worth noting  and applauding  that the fund has managed to decrease rates by 39 percent over the past 10 years. Just this month, the fund announced a further rate reduction of 5 percent.

And it receives no state funding whatsoever.

The Montana State Fund appears to be doing everything right, despite the challenges posed by Montanas relatively high incidence of workplace injury; it was third-highest in the nation at last count. The Montana State Fund, by itself, handles roughly 10,000 injured worker claims each year.

Nevertheless, bill draft LC 144 proposes to toss this successful model in favor of an experiment to potentially benefit private insurers. Miles City Republican Sen. Eric Moore is guessing that private companies would lower their rates if the Montana State Fund were eliminated as a competitor. That seems highly unlikely, and in any case, incredibly risky.

Meanwhile, Senate Bill 369 would create a commission to look into transitioning the State Fund itself into a private company. First, state officials would study the transition details and recommend legislation for the 2019 Legislature.

So much for stability and predictability.

Granted, it is the job of legislators to scrutinize and question the decisions made by government entities, even semi-public ones like the Montana State Fund, which counts nearly 300 employees. However, legislators should also take pains to better understand the reasoning for those decisions before proposing sweeping changes.

They should also remember to be skeptical of proposals pushed by special interests. Moore, for instance, was reportedly urged to carry his bill by the owner of a private insurance company that has spent more than $40,500 so far to lobby for the proposal.

Neither bill should advance until they can be fully discussed and debated, of course; however, the bills first public hearings were held just last week. Legislators have some digging to do if they hope to thoroughly understand the implications of privatizing or killing off the Montana State Fund. We are confident that they will learn neither option is a good one for Montanas employers or their workers.
An open letter to U.S. Sen. Steve Daines:

Im nauseated after hearing the news about U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, sharing privileged information with the subject of the investigation, President Trump, and following up this act (which may violate the Espionage Act) with a press conference from the White House lawn. Nunes could not have made it more clear that he is acting as a partisan representative of the Republican Party, and not in the greater good of our country.

This conduct must stop. Ive asked you numerous times in the past, Senator Daines, to call for an independent investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. You have refused, saying in your tele-town hall that only the House Committees can be trusted to be non-partisan. Your answer made no sense at the time, and now is clearly proven to be false.

I ask you, Senator Daines, to put the good of your country above the good of your party and partisan politics. Please join U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in demanding an independent investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, and join your colleague, U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, in calling for an investigation into Nunes conduct.

Karin Riley,

Missoula
Rob Chaneys excellent article (March 6) reviewing the biker-grizzly bear collision reminded us that the grizzly bear is not the only endangered species when mountain bikes cruse wild land trails. If the bear had been a person on horseback, perhaps there would have been two humans severely injured or killed.

A rider on a horse or mule typically travels at three miles per hour. The horse is a prey animal primed to bolt and run when startled. The horse does not see directly behind itself. A bicycle traveling at 20 miles per hour approaching a horse from behind will precipitate a wild and dangerous ride even if a direct collision can be avoided.

Montana bikers need and deserve specific trails. Not all backcountry trails are appropriate for mountain bikes. Many wildland trails are best suited for three miles per hour foot or horse travel.

Randy Velin,

Missoula
Parents often talk about how having children changes your perspective and priorities; it makes you less selfish. That may be so, but I already struggle to balance the life I have. Dont you? No one does it alone. Is it a spouse, parent, grandparent, friend, community group or the social safety net? If being a parent doesnt embolden you to fight harder and take real meaningful actions for a better future and for the communities we live in, isn't that selfish?

Ive always been interested in what makes our country tick. Its really about people of all generations, families and communities. So this message is a call to action for Montanans all stripes, especially parents. We need to set an example for young people, get involved in the community and campaigns for politicians who break the mold, speak up against injustice, do more than just pay attention to the aftermath of the election.

Part of the process of democracy is holding our elected officials accountable. If those politicians are more concerned about stuffing campaign coffers and pleasing moneyed interest groups than earning our votes, dont vote for them. They should be just as concerned about our future and our communities as we are.

Beth Rowley,

Missoula
It was music to our ears to hear Rob Quist speak at a recent gathering in Polson. If elected to Congress, he stated that a priority would be to work on the committee for veterans, helping them to heal from post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments by forming local bands with music as a healing agent.

Other issues Quist would fight for include keeping public lands public and strengthening public schools. He wants to get rid of dark money, including overturning Citizens United. As a small-businessman, he wants to help Montana families succeed. Access to health care is another priority.

When we met Rob Quist, he came across as a genuine, down-to-earth guy; a refreshing man of integrity who cares about all Montanans. While Greg Gianforte is trying to buy another political race by pelting the airwaves with continual mud slinging funded by out-of-state political action committee money, Rob Quist is gathering support by visiting small towns all across the state. He is one of us.

Consider what is best for your state and country and vote with an open mind. If you care about character and strong values, vote for Rob Quist. He will be an independent voice for all Montanans.

Nancy Teggeman,

Gary Teggeman,

Polson
HELENA  Gov. Steve Bullock and Republican legislators agree that the state should put aside money for emergencies. But they disagree on just how to do it, and that dispute is at the core of current budget negotiations.

The budget proposal approved by the House and under review in the Senate aims for an operating reserve, or ending fund balance, of $200 million, the figure Republicans argue is sufficient. Bullock, a Democrat, has insisted on a reserve of $300 million to manage cash flow and to maintain the states bond rating.

Montana is one of only three states without a formal rainy day fund, akin to a personal savings account. For years, legislators have simply left extra money in the General Fund, similar to a checking account, to cover cash flow needs and buffer against unexpected dips or economic downturns.

Senate Bill 261 would establish a Budget Stabilization Fund that sets the reserve at a percentage of spending equivalent to about $200 million and would allow governors access to additional pockets of cash if certain triggers are met. It also tucks away extra revenue to buffer against tougher years in the future.

There is merit to $300 million in the bank. I cant argue it is more preventative. You will hit the triggers (for budget cuts) less often, Senate Finance Chairman Llew Jones, R-Conrad, said. But I can argue that by the time you hit the triggers, its ran through so much money that were on a downward slope so steep it causes so many problems. I would argue we should trigger more often and cure more quickly.

Although Bullock likes the general idea, he has concerns about some of the details.

The idea of taking best practices and creating a budget stabilization fund, or a rainy day fund, makes sense to me as the executive, he said. From my perspective, the differences between where I am and Sen. (Llew) Jones is are the details of what is actually the best practice.

Revenue estimates are a piece of the negotiations between Bullock Budget Director Dan Villa, Jones and House Appropriations Chairwoman Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton.

Revenue estimates by their nature are political, Ballance said.

Future tax collections are projected based on analyses of economic indicators for Montanas industries and used to guide the Legislature as members build a state budget. It is not uncommon for the governors budget office and the Legislative Services Division to present two different revenue estimates, straining tensions between the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democrat governor about how much money is available to spend. Leaders often view the figures through a partisan lens, typically by being more or less optimistic about future economic growth and what that means for budgeting priorities.

The rainy day fund proposed by Jones uses the revenue estimate approved by legislators to set triggers for the Budget Stabilization Fund. For instance, if revenue comes in higher than projected, half would go into the stabilization fund and the other half into the general fund to be spent on anything.

There have been years we budgeted for $300 million, came back and there was $500 million, Jones said.

The difference could be caused by inaccurate projections, unusual and sudden economic changes, or perhaps a compromise between the estimates put forward by the governors office and legislative division.

Thats why Robert Zahradnik, an expert on state fiscal health at the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts, recommends states tie rainy day fund triggers to revenue volatility  not to the accuracy of revenue estimates  especially because the groups research has shown economic variability has increased over time.

Montanas revenue collections, he noted, are more volatile than most states, which means its booms are bigger and its busts deeper. To cover the worst of those cycles, the state might need as much as $480-720 million in savings, based on the model of a University of Arkansas researcher whose work has gained traction in state finance circles in recent years. Most states manage tough times with a mix of savings, cuts and tax increases.

That volatility makes revenue estimating more difficult and keeping the budget balanced more challenging, Zahradnik told the Joint Senate Finance and Claims Committee on Thursday. If your fund is designed to help smooth out volatility you should connect the rules for the fund to volatility.

Virginia, for instance, takes a six-year average of its historical revenue and uses that figure to set the triggers for its rainy day fund.

You want to put money aside when revenues are growing the fastest, he said. If you put money in (a rainy day fund) when times are good, it means youre not building your budget up to a point thats not sustainable. And youre taking money out when times arent good to get you closer to your normal spending.

Villa proposed a third option.

We believe a better path would be similar to whats done in North Carolina, where you set aside 15 percent of revenue growth year over year, he said. You set aside dollars automatically, not set it at the foibles of a process that has not worked but that we build it off certainty. That if we take in a new dollar tomorrow, we will set it aside.

Ballance isnt sold on the trigger ideas put forward by Zahradnik and Villa.

The Legislative Fiscal Division has been doing a lot of work on revenue volatility and refining their estimates to the point that theyre getting pretty accurate, said Ballance, a retired chief financial officer of an international insurance and financial services company. Personally, Im opposed to backward looking analysis when you have forward looking data available. Use your backward looking information to inform your decision, but dont use it alone.

The real challenge, she said, is setting up a system where the inherent politics of the governors office and Legislature are removed from the estimates. Ballance hopes that same challenge doesnt get in the way of state leaders finding a compromise that improves the states fiscal health, particularly as they grapple with a budget deficit that would not have been so bad if Montana had had a proper rainy day fund.

You seldom have the political will to do it when you dont have a crisis, she said. Thats what I worry about. If we dont learn anything from this issue we had to deal with, that hurts.

Bullock is hopeful that a plan can be hammered out before legislators leave at the end of April.

Theres certainly enough time, Bullock said. Now we just have to determine if theres enough will to do so.
During 2016, at least 60 rapes were reported in Yellowstone County.

Law enforcement sent 18 of the cases they investigated to the County Attorneys office to be reviewed for charges and prosecution.

Not a single case was charged.

Rape cases are tough. Both police and prosecutors struggle getting the cases to trial. Once the case is filed, the public becomes the last hurdle and jurors bring their own biases into the courtroom.

During the last five years, Yellowstone County has prosecuted about 15 percent of the adult rape cases investigated and forwarded for possible charges.

In about half the rape cases referred to Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito, he declined to press charges because he didn't think they were strong enough to take to trial.

This reluctance to charge rape cases became an issue for Missoula County officials. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice rebuked the Missoula County Attorney's office for prosecuting just 17 percent of the rape cases referred to the office by police investigators between January 2008 and May 2012.

Between 2012 and 2016, Missoula County, with a population of about 111,000, charged 32 cases of rape with adult victims. During that same period, Yellowstone County, with its larger population of about 154,000, charged 17 cases.

When Yellowstone County officials are asked about why so few cases go to court, they say the problem lies with the hesitation of some victims to go forward and the reluctance of juries to convict people of a rape charge.

Rape cases

Rape victims are often hesitant to proceed with investigations and trials. They may be scared they won't be believed. They may feel re-traumatized by the rape kit exam, in which evidence gathered may include photos of their genitals. They may also be scared of telling a room full of strangers about the intimacy of the assault.

Victims are also often frightened of sitting in a courtroom within a few feet of the rape suspect. Very few rapes are committed by strangers. The majority of suspects are known to the victim, often friends, ex-partners or an acquaintance.

Missoula police

After the DOJ forced changes in the way Missoula County handled rape allegations, Missoula Police Detective Capt. Michael Colyer played a large role in bringing his department into compliance with the DOJs policies on investigating sexual assault cases.

Police there began training in a trauma-informed approach to victims, Colyer said. Before that, investigators had treated adult victims of sexual crimes like any other crime victim. That hurt the victims and stymied the investigations, he said.

We didnt know what we didnt know, Colyer said.

An important part of the training was understanding what happens to a victims memory when they experience a traumatic event, Colyer said.

Colyer offered an analogy from Dr. Rebecca Campbell, who helped train some of the Missoula police: Imagine the way a person stores memories during the day is by using sticky notes. All day long, the person is writing down a memory and then sticking the note to a wall. A traumatic event can cause those sticky notes to blow away, leaving them scattered on the floor. As investigators ask a victim questions, the victim is trying, sometimes under pressure, to sort through that random pile.

Officers relying on traditional indicators of deception may see the victim struggling to recall details as fishy, Colyer said. Police had to shift from viewing reports of sexual assault with suspicion toward understanding the signs of a traumatized mind.

All Missoula police are now trained in a trauma-informed and victim-centered approach to investigations, Colyer said. To help make sure the sex assault cases are a priority, Missoula police established a Special Victims Unit in its detectives division. Detectives get more training and work with advocate Erin Shreder, who was hired to help victims through the process. She has her own office in the police department and sits in on police interviews with the victims.

Victim interviews are no longer done in the sterile investigation rooms used to question suspects, Colyer said. Instead they're brought into a "soft room," a room with a couch and maybe a plant.

A big success of the DOJ-enforced policies has been data collection. Because the Missoula police are tracking these reports, Colyer was able to determine that the number of false reports was much lower than suspected. A previous Missoula Police chief had cited two studies suggesting as many as 45 percent of rape cases were based on false accusations, according to an article in the Missoulian.

The actual number of false reports, at least in Missoula, is between three and six percent, Colyer said. Thats close to the rate other national studies have suggested, at two to eight percent.

The only way to determine what happened in a case is through a thorough and objective investigation, he said.

Tom Tremblay is the former Burlington, Vermont, police chief who monitored Missoula's DOJ compliance. Police have some control over the number of victims who stay connected with the process, Tremblay said. Missoula police have seen a reduction in the number of victims not following through with cases since the department implemented new policies.

Victims can sense when someone doesn't believe them, Tremblay said. When that happens, they might either recant or walk out of the process, he said.

The training the Missoula Police Department had is something police are only now learning about, and wasn't available 10 years ago, Tremblay said.

The changes didnt come easily for anyone after the DOJ investigation, Colyer said. When the Missoula Police Department entered into an agreement with the DOJ, the report included harsh language. Phrases like "biased police" and "anti-women" got thrown around.

It made it sound like we set out on purpose to devastate these victims lives, Colyer said.

What Colyer saw was a lack of education, not a malicious police force bent on discrediting rape victims.

Billings police

The Billings Police Department doesn't have a soft room. They don't have advocates in the office, and even if they got them, they wouldn't have a place to put them. As it is now, detectives are working out of storage closets.

There arent enough detectives in the department to have a dedicated unit to investigate adult sex crimes, said Billings Police Capt. Jeremy House. The Billings Police lost two grant-funded detective positions in the past five years, House said. In 2014, Billings voters rejected a public safety levy that would have given the department additional funding to add staff.

I could easily keep another five full-time detectives busy up here, House said.

Compared to other cities in Montana, Billings has the fewest officers per 1,000 residents, according to the departments 2016 budget presentation. In addition, the citys population swells during the day with commuters and visitors, said Billings Police Chief Rich St. John.

St. John said he hasn't heard complaints about how his department handles rape cases. Investigators at the BPD are trained and compassionate, St. John said. Officers encourage victims to be brave and to stick with the cases. Patrol officers are all trained in investigative skills, which is critical to the initial rape investigation, the chief said.

Patrol officers investigate initial rape reports and may do some of the follow-up on a case. If the patrol officer thinks an arrest can be made, the case must then go to the detective division. If detectives in turn believe evidence suggests probable cause to have the suspect charged and prosecuted, it is then forwarded to the county attorneys office.

Billings police had 46 adults report being raped during 2016, according to initial reports filed by the office.

The department does not have policies on how to handle these cases, even though the International Association of Chiefs of Police recommends all departments have procedures in place.

The Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office had 14 initial reports of adult rape in 2016.

In total, at least 60 adult rapes were reported to the Billings Police Department and Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office in 2016.

None of these agencies track the cases statistically to monitor victim retention and completion of investigations.

"You see a lot of departments not analyzing data," said Tremblay, the DOJ monitor. Police departments need to know their numbers, he said. It is about making these cases a priority, Tremblay said.

During 2015, law enforcement agencies in Yellowstone County referred about 22 rape cases to prosecutors for charges, with the majority of those cases coming from BPD. That is more than double the number of cases referred by Missoula police to prosecutors that year.

Yellowstone County

The Yellowstone County Attorneys Office has talked to the state Attorney Generals office about procedures. All of the office's policies are the best practices known to prosecutors, Twito said  except that it takes about 45 days from receiving a complete investigation for prosecutors in Yellowstone County to make a charging decision.

Victim-witness coordinators in the office will now make contact with the victim within at least five days of receiving the file.

In response to the DOJ investigation, Missoula tries to make a charging decision within a week.

In a five-year period from 2012 through 2016, Yellowstone County charged 15 fewer cases than Missoula. But when Yellowstone County gets a conviction, the sentences appear to be longer.

In the six adult victim rape cases Yellowstone County prosecutors got a conviction on during that period, the average sentence was close to 24 years. Missoulas average sentence is five years, due mostly to pre-trial plea agreements.

Yellowstone County takes the strongest cases it can to trial, said Twito, making it more probable there will be a conviction and later, a harsh sentence.

In total, law enforcement agencies in Yellowstone County referred 112 cases involving the alleged rape of an adult to Twitos office between 2012 and the end of 2016. Twito's office has charged 17 of those cases.

In as many as 43 cases, victims either did not cooperate or attorneys could not get into contact with them. There are 10 cases waiting for a charging decision, one dating back to 2013.

In about 42 cases, the prosecutors chose not to prosecute because they either didn't believe they would be successful at trial or didn't have probable cause to make an arrest.

Lack of evidence can be a factor in choosing not to charge. Victim credibility can also be a factor in these cases, Twito said.

Twito doesn't have an explanation for why no cases were charged in 2016, saying his office's practices haven't changed from the year before. In 2015 the office charged four cases involving the rape of an adult.

The county did not charge any cases from the Yellowstone County Sheriff's office as misdemeanor sexual assault cases, said the County Attorney's Deputy Chief of Operations Christopher Morris. Any cases of rape returned to Billings police could have been charged by the Billings City Attorney as misdemeanor sexual assault cases, though the office is unaware of any that did.

Twitos sex crime prosecutors are handling far more child abuse cases than Missoula. The 15 rape cases Twitos office filed in 2016 all involved child victims.

Prosecution and rape myths

Missoula County faces many of the same hurdles as Yellowstone County when it comes to prosecuting cases.

Montana Assistant Attorney General Ole Olson sees how difficult it is to get victims all the way from initial report to their first meeting with a prosecutor. By the time victims meet with him, at best, they've only had to tell a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, a police officer and a detective what has happened to them. Then, Olson has to tell them they have to go tell a courtroom full of strangers about what happened, with their accused rapist sitting just a few feet away.

But a victims testimony is essential to these cases, because other evidence is often hard to find.

To illustrate to potential jurors why these crimes are different from testifying about a theft or a burglary, Missoula Deputy County Attorney Jason Marks does an exercise with them. He will ask potential jurors to turn to the person next to them and describe their last sexual experience. This helps put them in the mindset of the victim.

Missoula prosecutors bring in expert witnesses, along with people like Olson from the Montana Attorney General's office, and they present the best case they can with the evidence they have.

Several of these cases have resulted in juries being deadlocked over whether to convict the suspect. Missoula prosecutors have kept track of some of the alarming comments made by jurors who couldn't agree on a verdict.

One of the prosecutors was told she had relied too heavily on the guys confession, Marks said.

In a case where a student was drunk to the point of being incapacitated, then driven home and raped outside her mothers house, one juror said, Thats just college. You get drunk and things happen.

Missoula's Lead Special Victims Unit Attorney Suzy Boylan had a juror tell her, "I came in here wanting to convict a rapist and you didn't give us a rape case."

The jurors in that trial were given an anonymous survey to fill out, and one wrote, "Why did you take this case?"

"To us, it was obvious," Boylan said.

These jurors arent basing their verdicts on the facts of the case, Olson said. They are basing the verdicts on wrong perceptions about rape. Stranger rapists like Toby Eugene Griego, who attacked multiple people in Billings in 2013, is a rare type of rapist.

Part of the reason for jurors' confusion in these cases is that the facts of rape don't fit Montana statute, Boylan said.

When jurors are sent to deliberate over a case, they will be given jury instructions, which allow them to read the sexual intercourse without consent statute. One juror complained the instructions didn't say anything about "no means no," which is true. Montana law does not say that if a person says no to sex, and the other person continues, it's rape.

That is why Legislators have introduced a bill this session to update Montana's consent laws. Montana Attorney General Tim Fox's office has supported the bill to make the changes.

As a nation, we have a problem with sexual assault, Fox said. We can always do better to fight the old stereotypes of rape and take these crimes and these victims seriously, he said.

The change

The changes implemented in Missoula focused not only on the victims experience in the justice system but also how the county attorney and police communicated with each another, Boylan said.

Prosecutors havent seen a huge increase in the number of cases being charged, but overall, victims report being more satisfied with the system, Boylan said.

Colyer, the Missoula Police detective, measures how his department is doing on multiple points, including increased reporting and fewer victims declining to help with an investigation. He also measures it by the number of people being charged.

On some level, weve got to find justice, Colyer said.

Changing people's minds on rape myths is slow and gradual, like trying to turn a ship in the sea, he added.
When I ask North Dakotans about their hopes for the future, they dont hesitate: We all want great schools for our kids, safe communities and good-paying jobs so we can support our families  and so our kids can raise families here, too.

Thats why, at the height of the boom in western North Dakota, I launched my Strong & Safe Communities Initiative. Our state has reaped major rewards from the energy boom with good jobs and innovation. But its also brought challenges, and I knew that bringing together leaders from across North Dakota was the best way to strategically take on these issues. The initiative shined a light on drug abuse, human trafficking and a spike in crime. It also worked to address housing shortages, made sure first responders were getting support as more crude oil traveled by rail and helped protect the tight-knit communities that make North Dakota unique.

We need to work as a community to solve community problems if were going to maintain whats best about our state, and thats what my Strong & Safe Communities Initiative is about.

This year, Im continuing my work to make sure North Dakota is strong for generations to come  and that includes tackling our states opioid epidemic, supporting startups to help diversify North Dakotas economy and fighting for good-paying jobs and retirement security.

Its impossible to talk about jobs in North Dakota without talking about agriculture. Folks who dont spend much time on a tractor might not see how the farm economy impacts them, but think about this: One in four North Dakota workers is a farmer or rancher, or works in a farm-related job. Thats a huge economic engine in our state.

North Dakota needs a robust Farm Bill in 2018 to support our economy, and thats my top priority in the U.S. Senate. We also need strong trade deals so farmers and ranchers can reach markets hungry for our crops.

While its great to see the administration focus on jobs, Im concerned about how its anti-trade rhetoric has spooked our top trading partners, like Mexico and China. Proposing a 20 percent tax on imports from Mexico has raised the specter of a trade war, which would hurt our farmers. Confusion about those proposals has already made Mexican businesses reluctant to deal with North Dakota farmers, costing our producers valuable deals.

With $4.1 billion in North Dakota agricultural products sold abroad each year, overseas markets are vital in our farm-driven economy. Agricultural exports alone support 27,000 good-paying jobs in North Dakota, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

North Dakota cant afford to lose that business  and when trade relationships are lost, theyre often gone for good. In meeting after meeting, Ive pushed the president and his cabinet nominees to recognize how foundational trade is for North Dakota  and how we can create opportunity in rural America through good trade deals that get our products into growing and valuable markets, from Japan to Nigeria to Cuba.

Fighting for jobs in North Dakota is only part of the battle, though. Equally important is making sure we dont let up in the fight against opioid abuse, which has ravaged families and communities across our state.

Congress passed a bill I supported last year to take on the opioid epidemic, but Im going to keep pushing to get much-needed federal funding into North Dakota.

North Dakotas potential is limitless. In the U.S. Senate, Im fighting for the policies we need to harness that potential  whether thats strengthening our economy through smart trade deals, protecting our communities from addiction or guaranteeing anyone in North Dakota is prepared for a good-paying job close to home.
Brazilian 'weak flesh' probe sends steaks higher

April cattle futures exploded this week to the highest level in over a year, nearing $1.23 per pound. The price rally is a welcome relief for ranchers who have seen prices rise over 25 percent from bankruptcy-inducing levels under $1 per pound last fall.

Buying was prompted by reports that Brazilian police recently busted two of that countrys largest meat producers in a probe dubbed Weak Flesh. The companies are accused of bribing health inspectors and politicians, selling rotten beef, and mixing impurities like cardboard and soybeans into meat to stretch it and boost profits. These allegations have prompted buyers around the world to restrict Brazilian meat imports.

Brazil is the second-largest beef producer in the world after the United States; with the loss of Brazilian exports, foreign buyers may become more dependent on U.S. meat.

However, this rally may be short-lived if the scandal is contained to the 21 Brazilian meat processing plants currently implicated. Furthermore, many nations may not reduce imports for long, opting to increase inspections on imports, which would prevent a sharp increase in demand for U.S. beef. Worse yet, news of the scandal may cause a drop in beef demand, ultimately sending prices lower, which means that U.S. beef producers may need to act fast to capture the current high prices.

Oil flows lower on XL pipeline approval

On Friday, President Trump approved the Keystone XL pipeline, paving the way for more Canadian crude oil to flow to U.S. refineries. This move was widely expected, but would increase oil supplies by 800,000 barrels per day, exacerbating a domestic oil glut.

Oil markets fell near a four-month low, trading Friday under $48 per barrel, taking gasoline and diesel fuel prices lower by about two cents per gallon as well.

Perdue heads toward USDA position

Sonny Perdue, the nominee for Secretary of Agriculture, received a warm welcome this week in the Senate at his confirmation hearing. Perdue, the former governor of Georgia, addressed bipartisan concerns about budget cuts, immigration curbs, and limits on free trade.

If confirmed by the Senate, Perdue would oversee the USDA, an agency with nearly 100,000 employees that focuses on agriculture, forestry, rural development, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.
MISSOULA  There are signs from the outside that one particular house in the Rattlesnake Valley isn't typical.

From a distance, it might appear that the homeowners set a cubist smokestack on the porch. Sheltered under a roof, it might look as though they've kept a large tree trunk, sanded and painted with colorful lines.

Since this is the longtime home of the late Rudy and Lela Autio, those objects are not what they might seem. That burner is a 500-pound bronze sculpture by Peter Voulkos, the Bozeman native who went on to an influential career in abstract expressionist ceramics. If you want to see another Voulkos, head to the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, where he's the subject of a solo exhibition called "The Breakthrough Years."

Take a few steps closer, and that trunk is actually a tall ceramic form by Jun Kaneko. He calls them "dangos," the Japanese word for "rounded form" and also "dumpling." The artist, born in Japan and now based in Omaha, shows his work around the world.

Inside the home, behind the couch in the living room, hangs an abstract painting, roughly 6 by 8 feet, by David Askevold, a Montana native who went on to an influential career in conceptual art.

The Autios were collecting  and making  art in Montana since the 1950s, helping pioneer modernism in a rural state where the Western romanticism of Charlie Russell was de rigueur.

In Helena, Rudy Autio helped found the Archie Bray Foundation, the ceramics center that grounded Montana as a vital hub for clay art around the country. In Missoula, he started the University of Montana ceramics program. Lela, a freewheeling experimentalist, taught art in the local schools and showed her work around the state.

Rudy Autios public metal relief of mining activity in the Butte copper camp has spanned the interior south wall of US Bank at the corner of Park and Main in Butte since 1968.

His 1957 carved block relief of Christ surrounded by children stands at Gold Hill Lutheran Church in Butte.

Together, the Autios maintained friendships and nurtured students through the decades. They were voracious collectors, trading or buying art, often from friends like Voulkos and Kaneko, or students like Askevold who went on to careers.

Rudy died in 2007 at age 80. Lela died in 2016 at 88. Their son, Chris Autio, a photographer, has been documenting the collection to create a proper archive. He's photographed 2,200 pieces, including his parents' own and work by others, and estimates he has another 800 to go. Besides ceramics, Rudy made murals, paintings and drawings, the latter of which accounts for the high volume.

A new exhibition at the Missoula Art Museum, "Nexus: The Lela and Rudy Autio Family Collection," gives a glimpse into their artists' lives.

"We wanted to paint this rich, complex picture of them, giving them full due in their role as central to contemporary art in Montana," said senior curator Brandon Reintjes. He imagines a "parade of creative energy that came and went" from the Autio home over the decades, including mentors, colleagues and students, both formal and informal.

It's one of the greatest art collections in Montana right now, he said, in terms of its depth and breadth and the impact on the culture.

On one wall, you'll see a series of small works that hearken back to the beginning. There's a drawing by Henry Meloy, the Columbia University-educated modernist who hailed from Townsend. Along with his brother Peter, he helped an industrialist named Archie Bray turn a brickyard into a ceramics wellspring.

Nearby, there's a piece by Frances Senska, the potter who taught Rudy and Voulkos at Montana State University. Next to it is a Rudy lithograph of Voulkos at work on a small ceramic piece. The two were founding artists at the Bray, friends with highly contrasting styles who are credited with shaping ceramics as art instead of a craft.

Rudy's work is represented, too. He also made purely abstract bronzes. His mural work can't fairly be represented in a museum show, but there's a brick from the abstract mural he made for the Charlie Russell Museum in Great Falls.

The works that have become his signature are there as well: the Matisse-inspired flowing vessels, which he decorated with paintings of nude figures and for which he's best known are there. One such piece, "Glass Slipper," is likely among the last works he completed before he died of leukemia, said his daughter Lisa Autio. During a remission in 2005, he returned to the Bray to work. The piece shows all lush line work and vitality he's known for.

In a phone interview, Kaneko said Rudy's pieces are "like a direct translation of his personality." They're warm, graceful and subtle. He admired the speed at which Rudy could work, a rate that's only possible if you master the materials.

"He was definitely one of the most important ceramic artists in American history," Kaneko said.

While Rudy was a quiet and subtle person, the son of a Finnish miner in Butte who learned to work with his hands, Lela created boisterous art that matched her personality. She was raised in Great Falls by a single father, a ranch hand from Belt. She was creative with her swearing and deeply loved education her entire life. In her art, she was bold and cared little for convention. She naturally moved from abstract painting into an even more expressive mode, with fiber and Plexiglas constructions that burst from the 2D plane.

Former MAM curator Steve Glueckert described her as "an artist's artist," and recalled how Rudy and Voulkos often discussed how her work was more innovative.

In an oral history interview with the Smithsonian Archives of Art, recorded in 1983-84, Rudy said, "Lela's been kind of the driving force, the organizer behind me and I have to admit that it could have very easily been the other way, you know. Lela's a very talented artist. And I think that she let a lot of that slip because she's been supporting me. And I regret that. I wish that Lela's career could have paralleled mine ... ."

Chris said that his father thought of Lela as his best critic.

"I still, even in my own work, have the deepest respect for Lela's perception," Rudy said in the oral history. "When she walks around the studio and says, 'My God, that's awful.' Or, 'You shouldn't use that blue on a yellow.' It will bug me for weeks! I have that much respect for what she's thinking about that I think that a lot of my work is a union of what Lela thinks and what I do, you know."

The children had several stories about Lela gleaning pieces of art from students. Kensuke Yamada stopped by the Autio house in 2010 after his MFA show at the University of Montana. He happened to have several ceramic sculptures in the back of his truck. After Lela inquired what he was doing with them  throwing them away  she insisted on taking them and paying him "handsomely" for it, Chris said. (One of those, an untitled, loosely expressionist bust, is in the MAM.)

She loved "anything that really was messy and colorful," daughter Lisa said. Only a year before Lela died, she bought a large diamond-shaped piece, made from spray paint and found objects such as carpet, from an MFA show.

Rudy had many students earlier in his career who are now well-known artists in their own right. Beth Lo has shown her ceramics here and abroad, and mentored a generation of clay artists herself. Rudy also taught the late Jay Rummel, the hard-living artist and musician whose prints still can be seen around town. The Autios have one of his rarer works, a ceramic platter, which Rummel painted with some of his signature material: a woman and a guitar accented with design-like filigree.

Askevold, a student of Rudy's, traded him the painting for an old farm truck. After leaving Montana, Askevold shifted into conceptual art out of a new home base in Nova Scotia. He showed his work in major museums around the United States before his death in 2008.

Several of Rudy's colleagues' work will catch the viewer's eye. Ted Waddell, before he became famous for his expressionist paintings of the Plains, worked in minimalist stainless steel sculptures like the one the Autios have.

Ken Little, who led the UM art department in the 1970s before pursuing a prominent career in Texas, befriended the Autios. They have two pieces from his varied careers: a combine in the spirit of Rauschenberg of a mounted steer head decorated with shoes, plus a more minimal bronze doe mask.

Their friends and counterparts Robert and Gennie DeWeese are represented in the show, too. While the Autios were based in Missoula, the art scene in Bozeman flourished around the DeWeeses.

"The DeWeese family was just magical," Lisa said, opening their doors to artists, writers, poets, musicians and more. "It was that kind of family. You were always welcome."

One such friend, Robert Pirsig, included them in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."

The Autios used to vacation together at Flathead Lake during the summers, and have drawn pictures of each others' families at gatherings.

The Autios maintained ties to their artist friends outside Montana through travel. Often Rudy Autio would visit, give a workshop and create works, leaving a piece behind.

Kaneko, a resident artist at the Bray in 1967, met Rudy through Voulkos. They came to Omaha for one of his invitational "experimental studio" gatherings. Kaneko had a workspace large enough to build and fire his sprawling works.

During one such visit, Autio constructed one of his largest pieces, at 4 by 4 feet. He thought it was too big to bring back to Montana, and so he offered it to Kaneko, who holds it in his collection, operated by a nonprofit organization. In return, he sent the Autios the Dango.

Voulkos, who left Montana in the 1960s, built the monumental "Stack" at a ceramics event in Missoula called Wood Stack 95, Chris Autio said. The title is a reference to stacking a wood-fired anagama kiln. Chris remembers the piece taking three days, as Voulkos threw platters and tore them apart to construct the base. After creating a mold and casting a heavy bronze, he gave it to his friend.

It's not the kind of piece you move very often, Lisa said. The MAM exhibition is one of the rare times it's left the house at all, joining work by Voulkos' and Autios' friends and peers, where the stories and connections reverberate through the gallery.

"It's like the story of Montana art," Reintjes said. "It's like a story that's being told with variations endlessly. The building blocks are there. Any time you come to a new situation, you see a new configuration of objects, it gives you more insight into what that whole story is."
A church-based flyer with the words "We're gonna have to kill Him" that the U.S. Postal Service wouldn't allow to be mailed is being inserted in several Montana newspapers as an advertisement on Sunday, including The Montana Standard.

The words typed across the simulated yellow pad are decidedly provocative. Watermarks ring the left corner of the page, and a web address, KillHim.tv, sits toward the bottom. In truth, the single sheet is a promotional piece Harvest Church created for its series of sermons leading up to Easter.

The Billings church, which has satellites in Lockwood, Plentywood, and Butte and Cody, Wyoming, planned to send out 38,000 mailers to the cities it serves. It hoped to draw people to the website for a preview and to church for the full sermons.

But the U.S. Postal Service refused to mail the piece. According to the church, local postal officials cited Section 9.5.5. of the federal agency's "mailability" standards.

Leann Bennett, communications director for the church, disputes that was the reason. After multiple conversations with local USPS officials ascertaining the requirements for the mailer, Bennett was told Thursday, March 16, that the mailer would not be accepted.

"They came back and said it was not mailable," Bennett said Friday, March 17. "They said, 'We're not willing to put our name on this.'"

The sermon series deals with four incidents in the Gospels that spurred religious leaders to seek the death of Jesus, said the Rev. Vern Streeter, lead pastor at Harvest.

Streeter admits the marketing piece is edgy. It's not the first time the Billings church has gone that route to draw interest.
HELENA  Gov. Steve Bullock and Republican legislators agree that the state should put aside money for emergencies. But they disagree on just how to do it, and that dispute is at the core of current budget negotiations.

The budget proposal approved by the House and under review in the Senate aims for an operating reserve, or ending fund balance, of $200 million, the figure Republicans argue is sufficient. Bullock, a Democrat, has insisted on a reserve of $300 million to manage cash flow and to maintain the state's bond rating.

Montana is one of only three states without a formal "rainy-day fund," akin to a personal savings account. For years, legislators have simply left extra money in the general fund, similar to a checking account, to cover cash flow needs and buffer against unexpected dips or economic downturns. Senate Bill 261 would establish a Budget Stabilization Fund that sets the reserve at a percentage of spending equivalent to about $200 million and would allow governors access to additional pockets of cash if certain triggers are met. It also tucks away extra revenues to buffer against tougher years in the future.

"There is merit to $300 million in the bank. I can't argue it is more preventative. You will hit the triggers (for budget cuts) less often," Senate Finance Chairman Llew Jones, R-Conrad, said. "But I can argue that by the time you hit the triggers, it's ran through so much money that we're on a downward slope so steep it causes so many problems. I would argue we should trigger more often and cure more quickly."

Although Bullock likes the general idea, he has concerns about some of the details.

"The idea of taking best practices and creating a budget-stabilization fund, or a rainy-day fund, makes sense to me as the executive," he said. "From my perspective, the differences between where I am and Sen. (Llew) Jones is are the details of what is actually the best practice."

Revenue estimates are a piece of the negotiations between Bullock Budget Director Dan Villa; Jones; and House Appropriations Chairwoman Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton.

"Revenue estimates by their nature are political," Ballance said.

Future tax collections are projected based on analyses of economic indicators for Montana's industries and used to guide the Legislature as members build a state budget. It is not uncommon for the governor's budget office and the Legislative Services Division to present two different revenue estimates, straining tensions between the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic governor about how much money is available to spend. Leaders often view the figures through a partisan lens, typically by being more or less optimistic about future economic growth and what that means for budgeting priorities.

The rainy-day fund proposed by Jones uses the revenue estimate approved by legislators to set triggers for the Budget Stabilization Fund. For instance, if revenues come in higher than projected, half would go into the stabilization fund and the other half into the general fund to be spent on anything.

"There have been years we budgeted for $300 million, came back, and there was $500 million," Jones said.

The difference could be caused by inaccurate projections, unusual and sudden economic changes, or perhaps a compromise between the estimates put forward by the governor's office and legislative division.

That's why Robert Zahradnik, an expert on state fiscal health at the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts, recommends states tie rainy-day fund triggers to revenue volatility  not to the accuracy of revenue estimates  especially because the group's research has shown economic variability has increased over time.

Montana's revenue collections, he noted, are more volatile than most states, which means its booms are bigger and its busts deeper. To cover the worst of those cycles, the state might need as much as $480 million to $720 million in savings, based on the model of University of Arkansas researcher whose work has gained traction in state finance circles in recent years. Most states manage tough times with a mix of savings, cuts, and tax increases.

"That volatility makes revenue estimating more difficult and keeping the budget balanced more challenging," Zahradnik told the Joint Senate Finance and Claims Committee on Thursday. "If your fund is designed to help smooth out volatility, you should connect the rules for the fund to volatility."

Virginia, for instance, takes a six-year average of their historical revenues and uses that figure to set the triggers for their rainy-day fund.

"You want to put money aside when revenues are growing the fastest," he said. "If you put money in (a rainy-day fund) when times are good, it means you're not building your budget up to a point that's not sustainable. And you're taking money out when times aren't good to get you closer to your normal spending."

Villa proposed a third option.

"We believe a better path would be similar to what's done in North Carolina, where you set aside 15 percent of revenue growth year over year," he said. "You set aside dollars automatically, not set it at the foibles of a process that has not worked  but that we build it off certainty. That if we take in a new dollar tomorrow, we will set it aside."

Ballance isn't sold on the trigger ideas put forward by Zahradnik and Villa.

"The Legislative Fiscal Division has been doing a lot of work on revenue volatility and refining their estimates to the point that they're getting pretty accurate," said Ballance, a retired chief financial officer of an international insurance and financial services company. "Personally, I'm opposed to backward-looking analysis when you have forward-looking data available. Use your backward-looking information to inform your decision, but don't use it alone."

The real challenge, she said, is setting up a system where the inherent politics of the governor's office and Legislature are removed from the estimates. Ballance hopes that same challenge doesn't get in the way of state leaders finding a compromise that improves the state's fiscal health, particularly as those leaders grapple with a budget deficit that would not have been so bad if Montana had had a proper rainy-day fund.

"You seldom have the political will to do it when you don't have a crisis," she said. "That's what I worry about. If we don't learn anything from this issue we had to deal with, that hurts."

Bullock is hopeful that a plan can be hammered out before legislators leave at the end of April.

"There's certainly enough time," Bullock said. "Now we just have to determine if there's enough will to do so."
Note to Democrats: Spare us the lectures about doing the right thing. And while you're at it, don't bother finger-wagging at us about some faux concerns you have. And don't even think of uttering the name Merrick Garland.

On Thursday, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., announced that he would oppose the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court, and that Senate Democrats would likely begin filibustering the nomination, all but assuring Gorsuch's bid would fail to clear the 60 votes needed to win confirmation.

All in all, something mighty big must have happened between now and 2006 when Gorsuch was first confirmed to the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals by a unanimous vote.

The only problem is that Democrats can't quite contort themselves enough to give a clear answer as to why Gorsuch was so qualified then and not now.

Senate Democrats, during days of grilling Gorsuch, seemed to not like him because he wouldn't give them definitive answers. But, isn't that what you want in a future Supreme Court justice  one whose mind is open enough to not prejudge a case or issue before a careful analysis of the facts and law?

It seems to us like Gorsuch's cool, respectful approach, even during intensely pointed questioning, makes him the ideal candidate in this overheated political climate.

Surely Gorsuch's opinions haven't been so unorthodox, so unsupported that he's unqualified to sit on the bench of the nation's highest court.

Instead, this move seems to be nothing more than a partisan and tired response to the politicking the Senate Republicans did last year when Garland was nominated.

Granted, at least Gorsuch was granted a hearing. Garland was never even asked. However, in the end, both could result in the same thing  not giving a nominee the courtesy of a "yes" or "no" vote.

What's good enough advice for a 2-year-old spoiled child seems good enough for a group of petty Senators: Two wrongs don't make a right.

Gorsuch deserves an up-or-down vote regardless. If Democrats are so concerned about the ideology or legal philosophy of Gorsuch, then they should vote their conscience and make their case.

A filibuster isn't a vote. A filibuster is just another symptom of a diseased and dysfunctional political process that continues to value a tit-for-tat mindset while the voters see little get done. This kind of one-upsmanship will only serve to widen the divisions in our politics.

We believe that Gorsuch's background and legal bonafides have positioned him well for the spot formerly held by Justice Antonin Scalia. And even though some of his rulings may cause eyebrows to raise, he has been praised by conservatives and liberals alike for his thoughtful and consistent approach to ruling on the bench.

In many ways, the courts are our last and still-best hope for preserving our rights and liberties when politicians try to usurp or co-opt them by terrible legislation, policy or executive orders. In that way, Gorsuch would seem to be ideal for the position, as he criticized the very man  President Donald J. Trump  for the commander-in-chief's unwarranted criticism of federal judges. That kind of independent chutzpah is exactly what we need.

We call on the Senate to relent and do the right thing: Confirm Gorsuch. He was good enough in 2006 and he's certainly qualified now. Rise above the partisanship, and we believe the independent voters and those citizens who continue to be alienated by the politics might see that the system can still work.

We know Montana Sen. Steve Daines supports Gorsuch. Sen. Jon Tester remains undecided, according to his office on Thursday. A spokesperson said that if he ultimately supports Gorsuch, he will vote for cloture to end a filibuster. If he doesn't support Gorsuch, he will not vote for cloture, meaning the filibuster could continue, if it begins.

We have to wonder: After weeks of review of Gorsuch's writing, days of testimony and responses from Montanans, why is Tester still undecided? That seems like waffling. What in the next couple of days or weeks will suddenly sway Tester's mind one way or another? And if he's still waiting on feedback from Montanans, is this some kind of popularity contest? Shouldn't there be more a more thoughtful reason?

If not, no more lectures about swamps and their need to be drained because Democrats would seem to be wallowing in the muck on this one.

-- The Billings Gazette
When I came to Congress four years ago as North Dakotas only member in the House of Representatives, it was clear right away our state had something many others didnt. We had a robust economy and the fastest growing population in the nation fueled by all-of-the-above energy policies and diverse agriculture operations.

My colleagues from other states could not relate to how North Dakotans had shaped their own responsible policies to make the best of their resources and economic opportunities. Pragmatic by nature, North Dakotans have constantly adapted to weather extremes, global economies and production challenges, always innovating to keep moving forward. As part of this innovation, the state developed, among other successes, responsible environmental stewardship that has yielded the cleanest ambient air quality in the nation.

Yet, a great frustration North Dakotans had was regulatory overreach from Washington that made life more difficult for farmers, ranchers, oil producers, coal miners and many small businesses.

The one-size-fits-all approach from Washington was threatening farmers and producers with regulations like the Waters of the United States rules attempt to regulate every puddle on every farm.

Coal producers were facing forced compliance with sweeping Stream Protection regulations that applied the same land management restrictions to them as for mining operations in Appalachia. Energy producers were grappling with proposed federal Bureau of Land Management venting, flaring and fracking regulations duplicating successful state practices. And, power plants were bracing for unreasonable carbon dioxide emission limits through the Clean Power Plan.

Along with this is the growing burden of our healthcare industry spiraling in the wrong direction with Obamacares rising premium costs. This has hit small businesses, farmers and ranchers especially hard and significantly limited their ability to afford basic healthcare services.

I spent my first two terms in Congress fighting for the best interests of North Dakotans over Washingtons federal regulatory overreach and other harmful policies. Since starting my third term in January, the new Republican Congress and President Donald Trump have done more for North Dakotans than any Congress or president in recent history.

Through executive orders, Trump has stopped the WOTUS rule and initiated the administrative rollback of the Dodd-Frank law that hurts community banks and reduces access to credit for farmers. He allowed construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline to be completed and has granted permission for the building of the Keystone XL pipeline. He signed a Congressional Review Act resolution passed by both the House and Senate that stops the Stream Protection regulations, and halted a federal BLM fracking lawsuit. The House has passed another Congressional Review Act resolution stopping the BLM venting and flaring rule, and I expect Trump to rescind the Clean Power Plan and other harmful regulations very soon.

This is the beginning of a new time in our nation when states and individuals are being empowered with greater control over the issues affecting them most. It is putting the vision of a more prosperous North Dakota in better focus. I cant speak for other states, but North Dakotans have a record of success making decisions about what works best for them. I am looking forward to being part of this new era of empowerment.
On August 24, 2016, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said at a public meeting in Livingston on the Yellowstone fish kill that he wanted to find out what caused it and prevent it from ever happening again. 

Global warming driven by the burning of fossil fuels caused it.

Although the immediate cause was Proliferative Kidney Disease, or PKD, the parasite that causes the disease thrives in the low stream flows and high water temperatures caused by climate change. In fact Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reported at the time of the outbreak that Yellowstone River flows were near historic lows and daytime high water temperature in the Yellowstone at Livingston hovered around 70 degrees for more than a month, starting in mid-July. Ideal temperature for mountain whitefish and trout is in the mid-50s.

Global warming is caused by human activity, a finding accepted by over 99.99% of published climate scientists.

Yet Senator Daines has the audacity to reject this indisputable scientific fact. We view science as a way to deepen our appreciation and wonder at the majesty of Gods Creation including the complex, beautiful and life-sustaining planet earth. We see no conflict between our religious faith and the findings of science.

We cannot remain silent while a U.S. senator from Montana chooses willful ignorance of the greatest threat this state has ever faced and which is already causing extreme damage to our cherished Montana environment. We cannot tolerate a U.S. senator from Montana choosing to ignore the scientific reality that unfolding climate change is caused primarily by burning coal, oil and natural gas.

There is cruelty and violence inherent in deciding to overlook the fact that the United States is by far the worlds largest historic contributor to the climate crisis and therefore bears the greatest responsibility for addressing it. Why do you look at the speck of dust in your brothers eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? as Jesus once asked.

The Carbon Vulnerability Monitor reports that many hundreds of children, per day, are being killed by climate change. They are dying mostly from hunger and communicable diseases. But since the overwhelming majority of these victims are poor and live in distant lands, it may be easy for a U.S. Senator to think he can write them off. We remind the senator that no one is left out in the vision of humanity that we believe that Jesus of Nazareth embodied in his life and teaching, least of all the poor and marginalized that were such an abiding focus of his concern.

Furthermore, Sen. Daines voted to confirm the nomination of Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Scott Pruitt, like Senator Daines, also chooses to deny the reality of climate change, including stating recently that he does not believe that carbon dioxide is causing global warming, when in fact its excess accumulation in the atmosphere is the primary cause of the climate crisis. When the head of a federal agency has trouble accepting a fact the average fifth-grader grasps its probably because the federal official is not interested in the truth.

Senator Daines has said that he cares about Montanas environment. He has also stressed how important his Christian faith is to him. Well, as someone once said, Don't tell me what you believe in. I'll observe how you behave and I will make my own determination.

Senator Daines can prove both of his beliefs by immediately and publicly declaring that he accepts the scientific fact that currently unfolding climate change is caused by human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels.

By transformation gratitude for Creation into action at this critical time, Senator Daines could help to bestow much-needed protection for Montana and all humanity.

-- Rev. Amy Carter, United Church of Christ, Missoula

-- Rev. Laura Folkwein, United Church of Christ, Missoula

-- Rev. Susan Barnes, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Billings

-- Father Robert Grosch, St. Patrick Co-Cathedral, Billings
Im a student at Montana Tech and I want to urge the Montana Legislature to do everything it can to restore funding to higher education in Montana. For students studying in higher education, completing their degree is key to becoming a prospering member of society. Over 80 percent of Montana University System (MUS) graduates stay and work in Montana the first year after they graduate.

We love this state and want to remain here. Unfortunately, a significant cut to higher education has been proposed by lawmakers, $11.8 million to be exact. An $11.8 million cut would make it harder for students to attend school. It may cause increases in tuition, which is already high enough. A budget decrease could also result in program and faculty cuts that would make it harder for students to graduate on time.

This cut would have statewide effects and therefore requires a statewide response. Working with other student leaders across the MUS campuses, peaceful student rallies will be taking place on campuses statewide next week to show that students are not okay with these cuts.

A cut to higher education would be bad for students, and detrimental to the state of Montana, which relies on a well-trained workforce as we move further into the 21st century economy. Students are supporting all types of measures to avoid cuts, including responsible revenue enhancements to find money without taking it away from other important programs.

Im asking our representatives to be responsible too, and vote to restore funding to higher education. Our legislative representatives in Butte are Rep. Amanda Curtis, Rep. Jim Keane, Rep. Ryan Lynch, Sen. Jon Sesso and Sen. Edie McClafferty.

I urge you to perform a quick Google search on your district (or go to leg.mt.gov) and contact your representatives to respectively let them know that higher education is important to you. I know I will be.

-- Ross Boggs, Butte, a senior at Montana Tech, is vice president of the Associated Students of Montana Tech and is a member of the Montana Associated Students. Feel free to contact him with questions or if you need help finding your representatives at asmt.vicepresident@mtech.edu
The word "infrastructure" is about as popular in Helena right now as "health care" is in Washington.

Everybody's getting testy. Governor Steve Bullock has a sign prominently posted outside his office counting the days since the start of the session. On Friday, the sign read "81."

Bullock had called on the Legislature to get the little matter of infrastructure dealt with early this session so it wouldn't get caught up in the horse-trading as time grew short.

Yeah, right.

On infrastructure, this legislative session is so far looking as petty, short-sighted, and discouraging as the last. For two years, Montana has had to live with the fact that because a minority of the Republican majority refused to support the infrastructure compromise their party's leadership had negotiated with Bullock and their Democratic colleagues, vital projects went unfunded. Afterward, this was rationalized two ways: One, the governor had "failed to negotiate beyond the compromise." Two, because the conservative wing of the GOP felt they had lost on everything else in the session, this represented the one win they could take homeso they took home precisely nothing, calling it a victory.

We realize it's an archaic term in today's political reality, but "compromise" means each side gives something in order to produce a good result for all.

Caught in this ridiculous political crossfire last session were many critical local infrastructure projects as well as three equally important building projects. The fact that some legislators didn't want to support a veterans home for southwest Montana, a renovation of Romney Hall at Montana State University in Bozeman, and a new Montana Historical Society museum in Helena because they were in urban areas is beneath contempt.

As those same three projects are similarly held hostage this year, let's look at some facts behind the bloviating:

The veterans facility is desperately needed. Montana is at or near the top of the list of states ranked by the number of veterans per capita. Nearly 10 percent of Montanans are veterans. The current veterans homes elsewhere in the state are at capacity and are far distant from southwest Montana. There's not a politician in Montana who does not give lip service to supporting veterans  but this issue has separated empty talk from action.

Also, the state money for the veterans home would take the form of a temporary bridge loan to enable construction to proceed. The federal government will ultimately pay the state back, making the Legislature's failure to act even more tragic and contemptible.

The Romney Hall renovation is sorely needed on a campus that is growing by leaps and bounds. Montana State, like our entire university system, pays back the taxpayers' investment over and over, providing the education that enables our children to prosper and the talent that drives our state's economy and improves the lives of all Montanans.

And the way the Legislature has treated the state's historical heritage over the years is nothing short of scandalous. Montana has a proud history and a rich culture that deserve to be revered and celebrated. It has been more than 67 years since the Legislature funded the Historical Society's first and current home. The last five Legislatures have rejected a renovation and expansion of this, one of the state's greatest treasures. As a result, the state's cultural artifacts are endangered. The survival of both fine art and important historical archives is threatened. The current building has long outlived its ability to both conserve and correctly exhibit this material. A recent proposal to sell off some of these items in order to fund a building in which they could have been preserved is mind-boggling in its short-sightedness.

Montana's colorful history is not only a point of pride for its residents, it's a major driver for tourism and economic development. How this cannot be understood by a majority of our legislators is a mystery, but perhaps it would help to point out that we are competing for both tourism and economic development with other Western states who apparently understand this far better.

Kid Russell didn't refuse to paint "Bronc to Breakfast" in 1908 because he wanted to make a political point. Montana State University's professors didn't refuse to teach our children over the last 124 years because they wanted to take sides in an ideological snit.

Most importantly, our veterans didn't refuse to serve in 1942 and 1950 and 1969 and 1990 and 2001 because they decided to indulge in petty partisanship. And they don't deserve to be mistreated today because of a heedless tantrum thrown by legislators who evade accountability for what their irresponsibility and lack of leadership are doing to the state they were elected to serve.

Our southwest Montana delegation understands  and is doing all it can. We hope the rest of the 65th Legislature can get its act together, and fast.
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
Whats the outlook for Bismarck-Mandan and North Dakota during 2017 and beyond? Today, the Tribune offers a special 24-page section, Vision 17, that provides some answers.

Vision 17 looks at the key areas of our economy: businesses, education, government, tourism, agriculture and energy. We review Gov. Doug Burgums efforts to reinvent government, what kind of rebound the oil patch may enjoy this year, the challenges facing education and more.

Each member of North Dakotas congressional delegation has written an essay on what they see in North Dakotas future. They are optimistic, especially Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., who expects the changes under President Donald Trump to have a positive impact on the state. Cramers essay is on Page N2, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., has an essay on Page M2, and Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamps essay is on Page M9.

Expectations are high for the state despite the revenue shortage and the lingering slowdown in the oil patch. The stories and photos were compiled by the Tribunes reporting and photo staff. We hope you find Vision 17 insightful.

 Steve Wallick, editor
COLLECTIVE MADNESS



Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."
It's been five years since the five parishes of Bismarck came together and established the Light of Christ Catholic Schools system.

In that time, the school system has seen marked growth alongside the two public school districts in the area.

One way to measure the student growth is by a new, multi-million dollar Catholic high school, which is expected to open in fall 2019.

Tim McCaffrey, director of mission advancement for Light of Christ Schools, said, as of March, collections have amounted to more than half what is needed to build the new school.

With just under $25 million of the needed $46.5 million, McCaffrey said the school system is on track to break ground on the project in August.

The support from the community has been extremely strong," McCaffrey said in a recent interview in his office at St. Mary's Central High School.

Last year, a local developer donated 48 acres of land in northern Bismarck for the new school, which sits untouched with a sign that reads, "Future Home of the St. Mary's Central High School Saints." McCaffrey said Light of Christ has already selected a construction company to begin building it, with hopes of construction being completed by April 2019.

School officials said the new building is long overdue. The current high school has been around for about 65 years and students and staff have outgrown its space.

Last school year, the entire Catholic school system saw a 7 percent jump in student enrollment, and growth is expected to continue, said Gerald Vetter, president of Light of Christ Schools.

To accommodate more students, Light of Christ has six portable classrooms  four at St. Mary's Central High School and two at St. Marys Grade School. Next school year, partially in response to the sixth-graders moving into the seventh- and eighth-grade Academy, they will add six to eight more portable classrooms within the system, according to Vetter.

Its pretty significant, Vetter said.

Much of the student growth is occurring at the elementary schools, which are filling up with students.

In addition, $6 million raised though the campaign for the new high school will go toward improvements and additions at the elementary schools, including an add-on at St. Mary's Grade School planned to be constructed next year.

New high school, new curriculum

The new St. Mary's high school will be much more than a building, according to school officials. It will also bring some educational changes.

This is not just about a building, but really has a lot to do with us taking advantage of this opportunity to make our curriculum dynamic and one that will reach the kids in a different way," McCaffrey said.

Light of Christ is establishing more business partnerships, including with Choice Financial Bank in Bismarck, to work on new curriculum at the high school. Choice Financial donated $10 million to open a financial literacy center to help students learn money management and business skills.

Another goal is to get more students involved with the Career Academy near the Bismarck State College campus. McCaffrey said this will help students who might not fit in the "box" of attending a four-year college after high school and opens options to two-year programs, including technical and mechanical education.

Were going to put that out more to our student body so it becomes more about the student getting what they need rather than us trying to fit them into a box," McCaffrey said.

The school system also will expand its STEAM education  science, technology, art and math  at the new high school, as part of the fundraising campaign. McCaffrey said Light of Christ hasn't had the resources to expand STEM curriculum to the high schools. Currently, it's offered at the elementary through middle school level.

Recently, a St. Mary's high school teacher also visited the Orange County School for Arts, a public charter school, to try to incorporate what they're doing at the school out there, which offers art conservatories, into the fine arts program here, McCaffrey said.

Vetter, president of the Catholic schools system, said he expects the new St. Mary's Central High School and changes to curriculum will attract more students from the Bismarck-Mandan area.
Napa bank robber faces 20 years in prison

A 53-year-old man is facing 20 years in state prison after pleading no contest to felony robbery in Napa County Superior Court last week, according to the Napa County District Attorneys Office.

The DA said Robert Keith Dennis, who has a criminal history, robbed the Wells Fargo bank on Jefferson Street in Napa on Aug. 29, 2016. Dennis demanded money from the bank teller while his accomplice, Elizabeth Morse, 47, waited outside in the car, the DA said.

The teller complied and Dennis fled with Morse, the DA said.

Dennis was later identified on the banks security cameras and eventually tied to additional bank robberies in several other Northern California counties.

Dennis pleaded no contest to the robbery on Wednesday. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 27.

Morse was sentenced to two years in state prison after pleading no contest to felony robbery on Jan. 19.
AMERICAN CANYON  Students at American Canyon High School learned this month that life after graduation can mean more than operating a cash register or flipping burgers if they dont go to college.

Good paying blue-collar jobs are another option to consider, union representatives told hundreds of students at a special career day event in the ACHS Theater.

We need the next generation of construction workers coming in, said Danny Bernardini, business manager for the Napa-Solano Building and Construction Trades Council.

Bernardini and six other union reps, most of them from the building trades, spent nearly two hours telling students about what they do for a living  and how teenagers can follow in their footsteps if they so choose.

The blue-collar career forum was a first for the high school, which has tended to focus more on steering students toward filling out college applications, according to government teacher Tom Solberg.

Our motto at Napa Valley Unified is college and career readiness, said Solberg, who helped organize the special forum. We spend a lot of resources on the college side of it, but often only provide a dabbling of career training, internships and other opportunities for the non-college bound, he said.

Solberg said every year only 30-35 percent of ACHS graduates go directly to a four-year university. Others might attend a community college, but there are always kids who never spend a day in a college classroom, which was why he helped bring local unions onto campus on March 15.

Students who filed into the theater, which was mostly filled, heard brief presentations from Bernardini and officials representing operating engineers, sheetmetal workers, sprinkler fitters, plumbers/steamfitters, ironworkers and automotive mechanics.

Each rep explained what their industries do, and how they got into their trades. They also pointed out the advantages of a labor apprenticeship over attending college.

Holly Brown, with Operating Engineers Local 3, told the audience how they can make living wages and gain skills that cant be taken away from them as well as gaining a free education that doesnt require taking out student loans.

Brown was the only female trades rep at the event  a distinction that was not lost on her. She said it was important for the young girls who attended to see her there.

Its good for them to see women in these roles, so they can see themselves doing it, said Brown, 51, whos been with the operating engineers for 19 years. It lets them know women can do the trades.

Visualization is an important way for kids to get on a career patch, said Solberg, echoing Browns words. You cannot be what you cannot see, he said.

Brown said the event was well attended by girls as well as minorities  two groups the unions could use more of, she said.

The Baby Boomers are retiring, she said, noting that her industry needs new blood.

Bernardini agreed, saying the ranks of many blue-collar trades these days are skewing older and soon will have some gaps as a result of retirements.

Some of the union members told students that they can enjoy middle-class lifestyles if theyre willing to put in the work and stay committed and out of trouble.

We talked about real life with them, said Bernardini. We asked them, Can you get up early? Can you pass a drug test? 

He told the students, As long as you can the pass mental and physical requirements of the work, well take you.

Bernardini said there are tons of opportunities with the building trades. We got something for everyone.

Solberg said a lot of the students were engaged and interested in learning about apprenticeships for such careers.

I saw the light bulbs come on, on a lot of the students, said Solberg. If the kids arent going to go to college, we dont want them working at the menial jobs, like Wal-Mart or Dunkin Donuts.

Those interested in learning about apprenticeship programs can visit www.calapprenticeship.org. They can also call the building and trades council at 707-426-6454.
Napa County is near to a historic Vallejo water empire of small reservoirs that just might play a role in the countys water and recreation future.

Neighboring Solano County is in the preliminary phase of exploring whether to lease and manage Vallejos Lake Frey, Lake Madigan and Lake Curry reservoirs in the hills along the Napa-Solano boundary. Whether Napa County might have a supporting role remains to be seen.

Perhaps Napa County could secure additional water supplies to be prepared for the next drought. Perhaps Lake Curry in the remote mountains of the east county could open up for recreation.

From my view, I think Napa could be a good partner and I think they could benefit from this, Solano County Supervisor Jim Spering said.

Napa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Alfredo Pedroza wants to keep that possibility open, given how valuable water is in California.

I think its an opportunity we have to explore, Pedroza said. I think a partnership could be potentially forged with Solano.

But the situation will remain murky for the next few months. Solano County is working on a study to see if leasing the Vallejo Lakes System makes any sense financially and practically. If it decides in the affirmative, it would have to strike a deal with Vallejo.

Weve got a long ways to go, Spering said. Were in the exploration phase right now.

Vallejo in the late 1800s created Lake Frey and in 1908 created nearby Lake Madigan in the hills just east of Napa County. In the mid-1920, it created Lake Curry in eastern Napa County. Pipes brought the water to Vallejo.

This was long before the creation of massive Lake Berryessa reservoir in Napa County and the state system of reservoirs, canals and pipes that move water all over California. Having a local reservoir system was a coup for Vallejo a century ago and helped fuel the growth of Mare Island Naval Shipyard.

Today, the system pipes are old and need repairs. The main users are about 850 customersmostly in rural Solano County, but some in rural Napa County  that are being hit with expensive water bills. Vallejo has considered selling its reservoirs.

Vallejo and Solano County in November entered into an agreement that gives the county a year to evaluate leasing the Lakes Water System.

Its been recognized over the last 10-plus years that the operation of that system is expensive for the city of Vallejo, Vallejo Public Works Director David Kleinschmidt told the Vallejo City Council.

Perhaps the county could expand the customer base and lower operating costs, he said. That could lower the cost to customers.

Solano Countys motivation is providing water for residents who are in a bind. But it might consider opening Lake Frey, Lake Madigan and Lake Curry for public use, something Vallejo hasnt allowed for decades.

It could be, Spering said. Its not something were precluding and its not something were including at this point.

Since Lake Curry is in Napa County, the logical group to oversee public access there would be the Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District.

Lake Curry is hardly Napa Countys biggest reservoir, given it holds less than 1 percent of the water of Lake Berryessa. But Lake Berryessa is huge, so Lake Curry isnt necessarily a pond  it is more than a mile across at its widest points.

Its very beautiful, Open Space District General Manager John Woodbury said. Around the lake, its oak woodlands and grassland. Most of the watershed is either oak woodland or chaparral. Theres a caretakers residence there. The lake is a great amenity.

Lake Curry is about a 35-minute drive from the city of Napa, Woodbury said. The general public cannot reach the lake because the road in Gordon Valley leading to it is gated.

Vallejo used Lake Curry as a water supply until 1992. It tried to resume use about eight years later, but laws protecting rare steelhead trout in Suisun Creek downstream from the reservoirs dam proved a challenge. By 2009, Vallejo had Lake Curry on the market.

The Open Space District doesnt necessarily want to buy a lake and take on all the responsibilities of caring for a dam, beyond the fact it doesnt have the money for such a large purchase.

On the other hand, the district manages Bothe-Napa Valley State Park for California. It oversees camping and other activities, even as the state continues to own the land. That could prove a template for a Lake Curry leased by Solano County.

At this point, all were able to do is offer our institutional structure to operate something, similar to what weve done at the state park, Woodbury said.

Maybe it will be like early 1926 again, shortly after Vallejo built the dam to form Lake Curry. The March 3, 1926, The Napa Journal reported that a large number of Vallejo motorists on a Sunday traveled to see the reservoir and were impressed by its size.

From now on, it is expected that many residents will pay weekend visits to the lake as it makes an ideal trip, being but 28 miles from town, the paper reported.

Vallejo tried to give people even more reason to visit the new lake, back in those days when it allowed visitors. It applied to the state to stock the reservoir with fish.

Perhaps Vallejo wanted to curry some favor in early 1926 when it named the reservoir after Charles F. Curry. Curry represented the area in Congress.

The primary honor for the success of this project is due to the progressive people of Vallejo, who taxed themselves so heavily to secure an adequate water supply for the city of Vallejo and the Mare Island Navy Yard, Curry wrote to the city.

Lake Curry was the latest jewel in Vallejos local reservoir crown. It joined Lake Madigan, named after one-time Vallejo Mayor J.J. Madigan, and Lake Frey, named after John Frey, considered the father of Vallejos municipal water system.

Lake Madigan and Lake Frey are closer to downtown Napa than Lake Curry, being only about a six-mile drive east to Wild Horse Valley. As they are in Solano County, the job of operating them as a recreation area, should that happen, might go to a Solano County group.

But the Vallejo Lakes System is primarily about drinking water.

Potentially, what Napa could get is a water allocation, something it could sell or use, Spering said.

The local city most in need of more water supplies is American Canyon, which depends on the highly variable State Water Project. Public Works Director Jason Holley said Solano County has yet to contact him about possibly buying Vallejo Lakes System water.

Its hard to know, Holley said. The details would be important. Were open to any particular situation. Were always interested in keeping our ears to the ground as to whats been out there.

Steelhead trout in Suisun Creek below Lake Curry remain an issue.

Laurel Marcus of the California Land Stewardship Institute said theres no pipe to carry Lake Curry water to a water treatment plant. A possibility is to release the water into Suisun Creek, then let it run downstream to the Putah South Canal that transports Lake Berryessa water.

Water from Lake Curry could be released in the winter for people and be released in the summer for fish, Marcus said. Her group is using a state grant to study how Lake Curry could be operated to improve water conditions for fish.

All of this is one more piece of the complicated Vallejo Lakes System puzzle. But the value of water in California has Solano County  and maybe Napa County in a supporting role  interested in trying to solve it.
Yountville is inviting comments on its strategy for the towns future development, and residents will be able to share their opinions online.

The town has issued a survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YvilleStrategicPlan for people to discuss Yountvilles draft strategic plan. Responses will be anonymous and can be sent through 5 p.m. on April 7.

The survey is available to those who are unable to attend the three public forums Yountville has scheduled to discuss the strategic plan.

Yountville is seeking public comment on the framework of the plan, which is being developed with the Novak Consulting Group. Earlier talks involving the Town Council and Yountville staff produced a draft with a focus on improving in six areas including town services, resident engagement, leadership, tourism, fiscal policy and amenities.

Two of the public forums are scheduled for April 6, from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Community Center at 6516 Washington St. A final meeting is set for 9 to 11 a.m. on April 7 in the Town Hall council chamber, 6550 Yount St.

For more information, contact Town Manager Steve Rogers at 707-944-8851 or srogers@yville.com.
[Breaking news update, published at 4:39 p.m. ET]

One person was killed Saturday by a shooter on the Las Vegas Strip, police spokesman Officer Larry Hadfield said, and one other person was wounded. The suspect is barricaded on a bus, and tactical teams and negotiators are on the scene on Las Vegas Boulevard.

[Previous story, published at 4:22 p.m. ET]

Part of the Las Vegas Strip was shut down Saturday as police investigated a shooting that sent at least one person to the hospital.

Police surrounded a bus as they investigated the shooting, Officer Larry Hadfield told CNN. Police said they believe the shooter is on the bus.

"This incident is being treated as a barricade at this time. There is no credible information that there is a second suspect," Hadfield said.

The Cosmopolitan Hotel, near where the bus was parked, said its staff was cooperating with police but that it had no other details about the shooting.

Developing story - more to come
Who could use a hug? Probably all of us, correct? We hug family, friends and co-workers to congratulate them, to console them, to encourage them, to remind them were so grateful for their presence in our lives and for what they do to make our lives better. Journalists are no exception but given the explosion of websites, blogs, virtual news sources, etc., doubts arise as lines are blurred about the role of journalists and the press in our society.

Its time to recognize and publicly appreciate the daily efforts of journalists and newspersons in our community and around the country, who simply report the news, inform the public and detail potential outcomes of an action or policy. And as whimsical as it may sound, were hoping residents will join together with us to celebrate National Hug a Newsperson Day.

Even though officially celebrated on April 4, our local version of National Hug a Newsperson Day will feature a simple get together at the Hydro Grill on Monday, the 3rd of April, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.. Complimentary light bites will be served and no-host cocktails, beer, etc. will be available. All are welcome to attend: service groups who appreciate the coverage their fundraisers and activities receive; faith based organizations who rely on our local newspapers to communicate to the larger community; residents who want to keep abreast of upcoming events impacting their social, governmental or day to day life in Calistoga.

On Tuesday, April 4, its our understanding Mayor Chris Canning will read a proclamation celebrating free speech in journalism at the regularly scheduled City Council meeting.

The following quote from Encyclopedia.com, aptly explains the role of the press: Freedom of the press, like freedom of speech, is not absolute. Notwithstanding the limitations placed on it, the press exercises enormous power and influence, and is burdened with commensurate responsibility. Because journalists generally have access to more information than does the average individual, they serve as the eyes, ears, and voice of the public. Some legal scholars even argue that the press is an important force in the democratic system of checks and balances.

Join us for an appreciative toast to our local journalists.

Gayle Keller, Co-Owner

Hydro Grill and All Seasons Bistro

Calistoga
The demand for on-campus housing has resulted in a more residential feel to the Bismarck State College campus.

In the past two years, the school has added two new residences, Lloyd Ritchie and Gate City Bank halls, in response to more students wanting to live on campus. In 2007, BSC housed 200 students. Today, the college offers a total of 434 beds.

Heather Sheehan, director of student and residence life, said the new residence halls have changed the energy and landscape of the campus.

"It's bustling," Sheehan said. You have more people around; it definitely feels more residential.

BSC had extensive waiting lists for several years, and the college still is striving to meet the demand for on-campus housing, according to Sheehan.

I definitely think more students want that experience," she said.

Since the college added the two residence halls, funded by the BSC Foundation, there's still a waiting list, but it's smaller, Sheehan indicated.

BSC President Larry Skogen said he's not sure if more residence halls will be built in the college's future.

Right now, we need to let all that settle down and figure out if theres more need for residence halls," he said. "For right now, I think were feeling pretty comfortable with our 434 beds.

Energy enrollment down

Though enrollment is down in BSC's energy programs, Skogen said the cyclical nature of the industry does not have him overly concerned.

Overall, the school's online enrollment numbers were down 5.3 percent this past fall, with a 19.5 percent decrease in the school's online energy programs. When the energy industry took a tumble so did enrollment in the educational programs, Skogen said.

Anything that has the name oil or petroleum in its title has taken a big hit right now," Skogen said.

The school has 12 energy programs, including electric power technology, nuclear power technology, petroleum and renewable energy.

Despite numbers in these programs being down, Skogen said he expects them to pick back up  eventually.

"These things are cyclical, and because energy is so important to the state of North Dakota and because Bismarck State really has a national reputation in the energy programs, the risk we take with that is having to ride with the markets," he said.

On the plus side, liberal arts and transfer students increased by 5 percent this past fall. Also, the school enrolled the highest number of North Dakota students: 3,200 out of 3,900 enrolled students were from North Dakota versus out of state.

Thats a record number for us," Skogen said.

A sign of the changing times, BSC has adapted to offer different programs to meet current workforce needs. The college started a cybersecurity program this school year, and currently there are 52 students enrolled.

Continue to grow

Skogen sees continued growth at BSC for the next five years.

The college is going to be focused on more applied sciences and providing internships and apprenticeships, as well as education for students in technical programs," Skogen said.

One of the biggest issues facing higher education will be automation of the workplace and elimination of jobs, according to Skogen.

That means that higher education has to be in the position to prepare people for a future in which they have to constantly be learning," Skogen said. "So, if that requires new programs, thats what we will do."

New home for nursing students

Bismarck State College has no upcoming construction projects currently planned. Its only imminent space-related concern is for BSC's nursing program, according to Skogen.

The school's nursing program is in a building located in the the vicinity of the downtown FiveSouth project, which is expected to break ground this spring and be completed in about three years. Skogen said the building is going to be demolished at some point.

When you talk about our structural needs, our only current structural needs is what are we going to do with our nursing program?" Skogen said.
As the debate over school choice and school vouchers stirs the nation, North Dakota's alternative education options are gaining traction.

Proponents of school choice and charter schools include Betsy DeVos, the U.S. Secretary of Education, and President Donald Trump, who recently gave an address to a joint session of Congress, describing education as "the civil rights issue of our time" and calling on lawmakers to pass a school choice bill.

Trump's 2018 budget proposal also allocates $1.4 billion to school choice programs.

So, what will this push for school choice mean for North Dakota students?

North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler said she's optimistic that DeVos will allow states control over a school choice program, including finding what school options are the best fit for them.

This year, the North Dakota Legislature considered launching a study on the feasibility of a more formalized school choice program. Republican state legislators introduced a proposal to establish education saving accounts, an idea that received strong pushback from the state teacher's union that said it would hurt public education.

No charter schools operate in North Dakota, and there are few virtual schools. However, recent state data shows more parents are opting for private schools and homeschooling, signaling, perhaps, that more parents are already choosing an alternative education for their kids.

Catholic education

In the 2016-17 school year, there were 7,293 students enrolled in 53 private schools across the state, compared to 6,442 in 2012, according to data from the Department of Public Instruction.

Burleigh County has a large percentage of those enrolled in non-public schools, with a total of 1,926 private school students enrolled this school year.

The head of a Catholic school system in Bismarck said he thinks more parents are choosing private schools, because they better align with their own philosophies, as well as religion.

North Dakota has good schools, Im not afraid to admit that," said Gerald Vetter, president of Light of Christ Catholic Schools. "What we offer is an alternative, its a differentiator, and having options is a good thing.

Light of Christ schools have grown 25 percent in the past five years, Vetter said. The school is also in the middle of a fundraising campaign to build a multimillion dollar high school to accommodate the growth.

Vetter said he thinks school choice is different in each region of the country. In North Dakota, school choice should include additional support from the state in the form of a tax credit or tax deduction, he said. This would allow private school families who pay property and income taxes to reinvest some of those dollars.

Every student who goes to school in North Dakota is a North Dakota student, he said. And I think that our state needs to embrace that.

Rep. Rick Becker, R-Bismarck, introduced a bill that would create education savings accounts, or debit accounts, for parents. The "follow the money" program would allow public school funds to be used for private school, home school, online school or any combination.

The bill was amended and turned into a study to explore a school choice program in North Dakota over the next two years. The bill passed in the House, but was later turned down on a 12-32 vote in the Senate.

Although the bill did not pass this session, Vetter said he supports studying the idea.

Whenever you can use quality data to make good decisions to affect education, thats a good thing," Vetter said.

'It just wasn't right for us'

Kristy Rose lives in a densely wooded area in south Bismarck, just a mile or so away from the University of Mary campus.

She, her husband and their two children, Adam, 12, and Gracey, 8, have lived in their home since 2011. For the past five years, she's been homeschooling her two children.

Theres nothing wrong with the school system," said Rose, indicating it wasn't the right choice for her family.

Adam started at a Montessori school and then went to a public school for kindergarten. Rose said things quickly did not work out at the school due to bullying and an issue with a teacher. So, Adam was moved to a private Christian school until second grade.

Rose said she was surprised when she found they still encountered problems at the private school. During the drive home on the day she pulled him from the school, she contemplated home education. By the time she got home, she was already talking about the curriculum she wanted to use.

"It was like it finally just clicked," said Rose, adding that she supports school choice and thinks all parents should have the right to choose what's best for their children. Every child is different, every family is different. Our needs our different. You cant put kids in boxes. We personalize everything in our society, so why shouldnt education be personalized?

Rose is also the coordinator of Bismarck-Mandan Area Home Educators, which has a total of 168 families and nearly 500 children. Since 2014, the association has doubled in membership, Rose said.

Of the 178 public school districts in the state, in 2016, 119 public school districts reported having home-school children  a total of 2,345 students, according to data from the Department of Public Instruction. That's nearly double the number of home-school children in 2012.

A typical school day at the Rose household starts with math: algebra for Adam and third-grade math for Gracey. Then, they do English-language arts, take a break for lunch, and after, depending on the day, they'll do science or history, or some days both.

On Tuesdays and Thursday, they finish the day with physical education classes with other home-schooled kids in town.

Adam, who loves science, spends most of his free time inventing things in his room. He plans to participate in the state Science Olympiad this year.

Adam said he likes home schooling more than public or private school. He said he has quite a few friends, one of which is a public school student, whom he met in a youth group.

"I enjoy it a lot. You get to sleep in a little bit more," Adam said. "Sure, school is a little harder, but its fun."

Rose said she supports the idea of more options and resources for home-school families like hers. She still has reservations about the idea of an education savings account and would like to hear more details about it.

Now, with homeschooling and private schools and these new savings accounts, my concern is that anything that the government pays for, the government controls. So what stipulations are going to come with that? she said. And then, I dont know. That might not be a good fit.
Sonowal, who called on Rajnath Singh at his residence in the national capital, also asked for installations of new fencing with modern design, and that the border fencing in Assam's neighbouring states should also be completed soon, a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office said in Guwahati.

The Home Minister agreed to re-examine the entire matter of Indo-Bangladesh border fencing in a time-bound manner, it added.

The fencing of Indo-Bangladesh border is one of the main poll planks of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which came to power in Assam last year.

The Home Minister had earlier assured that the Central government would take up steps to seal the India-Bangladesh border to end the illegal infiltration problem.

Sonowal, during his nearly two hour-long meeting with Rajnath Singh, also apprised him about the critical issues of the state, including expeditious updation of National Register of Citizens, implementation of the Assam Accord, granting of Scheduled Tribe status to six communities, Bodoland, police modernisation and deployment of additional security forces.

--IANS ah/sm/vd

( 211 Words)

2017-03-26-17:38:07 (IANS)
The "Ghost in the Shell" star is one of the highest grossing actresses in the industry, reports femalefirst.co.uk

"There's something icky about me having that conversation unless it applies to a greater whole," Johansson told The Observer newspaper.

Johansson is known for her work in films like "Captain America: Civil War", "Lucy", "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", "The Avengers", "Iron Man 2" and "Chef".

--IANS ks/rb

( 88 Words)

2017-03-27-02:56:08 (IANS)
In this new era of medical therapy dawning, fecal transplants are poised to help fight a range of conditions, from deadly superbugs to obesity and now, autism is in the firing line. Children with autism may benefit from fecal transplants - a method of introducing donated healthy microbes into people with gastrointestinal disease to rebalance the gut, a new University of Arizona study has found. Behavioural symptoms of autism and gastrointestinal distress often go hand-in-hand and both improved when a small group of children with the disorder underwent fecal transplant and subsequent treatment. In the study of 18 children with autism and moderate to severe gastrointestinal problems, parents and doctors said they saw positive changes that lasted at least eight weeks after the treatment. Children without autism were included for comparison of bacterial and viral gut composition prior to the study. "Transplants are working for people with other gastrointestinal problems. And, with autism, gastrointestinal symptoms are often severe, so we thought this could be potentially valuable," said lead author Ann Gregory. "Following treatment, we found a positive change in GI symptoms and neurological symptoms overall," she said. A growing body of research is drawing connections between the bacteria and viruses that inhabit the gut and problems in the brain, and it is possible the two are tied together in an important way in autism, she said. Previous research has established that children with autism typically have fewer types of some important bacteria in their guts and less bacterial diversity overall - a difference that held true in this study. That could be because many of them are prescribed a lot of antibiotics in the first three years of life, the research team wrote in the study. Parents of the children not only reported a decrease in gut woes including diarrhea and stomach pain in the eight weeks following the end of treatment: They also said they saw significant changes for the better when it came to behavioral autism symptoms in their sons and daughters, who ranged from 7 to 16 years old. Fecal transplantation is done by processing donor feces and screening it for disease-causing viruses and bacteria before introducing it into another person's gastrointestinal tract. In this study, the researchers used a method called microbiota transfer therapy, which started with the children receiving a two-week course of antibiotics to wipe out much of their existing gut flora. Then, doctors gave them an initial high-dose fecal transplant in liquid form. In the seven to eight weeks that followed, the children drank smoothies blended with a lower-dose powder. There currently exists no approved pharmaceutical treatment for autism. James Adams, one of the study's lead authors and an Arizona State University professor who specializes in autism, called the results compelling, but cautioned that larger, more rigorous studies confirming benefits must be done before the approach could be used widely. Limitations of this study include its small size. The children and their parents also knew they were receiving the experimental treatment (neither the researchers nor the subjects were blinded to that) and the researchers relied heavily on parents' observations, both of which open the door for false perceived benefits. The research team cautioned that families should not try to replicate the experimental treatment on their own, as it could harm children if done improperly. The study appears in Microbiome. (ANI)
In third such detention within a week, the Sri Lankan navy arrested 12 Indian fishermen and confiscated two fishing boats for allegedly violating the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and poaching in the Island nation's territorial waters at midnight last night. State fisheries department officials said the arrest was confirmed by Sri Lankan Navy in its official website this morning. The arrested fishermen hailed from Jagadapattinam coastal hamlet in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu. According to Lankan Navy, the naval personnel on board a Fast Attack Craft attached to the Northern Naval Command together with Sri Lanka Coast Guard arrested 12 Indian fishermen along with 2 fishing trawlers poaching in the Sri Lankan waters Northwest of Delft Island. The arrested fishermen were to be handed over the Jaffna Assistant Director of Fisheries for onward legal action. The Lankan Navy personnel also attacked Rameswaram fishermen and chased them away while they were fishing on the high seas near the controversial Katchatheevu island last night. The fishermen, who hurriedly winded up fishing activities and returned to Rameswaram fishing jetty this morning alleged that the Lankan Naval personnel, who came in 5 fast attack crafts encircled their fishing boats and hurled stones and soda bottles causing extensive loss to them. The Sri Lankan navy arrested 10 fishermen hailing from Rameswaram and impounded their boat for cross border fishing on March 20. In second instance, the Lankan navy arrested 16 more fishermen eight each from Rameswaram in Ramanathapuram district and Jagadapattinam in Pudukottai district in two separate incidents and seized two boats on March 22. The fishermen alleged that the Sri Lankan navy have stepped up their offensive against Tamil Nadu fishermen, after a delegation of fishermen from the State met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at New Delhi on March 21 and redressed their grievances in the wake of brutal killing of K.Britjo (21), a fisherman hailing from Thangatchimadam village in the alleged firing by Sri Lankan Navy on March 6. UNI GSM CS 1136 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1203714.Xml
A twin strike called by two organisations on different issues affected life here today. This is the first strike of the Nongthombam Biren Singh government.Democratic Students Alliance of Manipur (DESAM) has called a statewide bandh from the midnight of March 25, for 17 hours to oppose alleged appointment of a person who is not an indigenous people as a Parliamentary Secretary. Manipur Muslim Welfare Organisation has also imposed a strike today to demand a white paper on the frame work signed between the government and the NSCN(IM).President of the Organisation, Abdullah said the organisation is also demanding passing of bill to check influx of illegal immigrants.DESAM and other organisations have also demanded passing of bills to check influx so that the indigenous people may be protected. Due to the strike streets were deserted. Most of the shops remained closed. Being a Sunday all offices, educational institutes remained closed today. Chief Secretary, O Nabakishore said representatives of DESAM were invited to discuss their demands with Chief Minister, N Biren however, they have not turned up for the meeting. Chief Secretary said the bandh puts enormous hardship to people in general. He reminded that "The Supreme Court of India and the High Court of Manipur have passed judgments and orders declaring bandhs to be illegal as the fundamental rights of the people are curtailed. It implies that anybody engaged in calling and enforcement of bandh is liable to be prosecuted under the law. The State Government cannot remain to be silent spectators when people are suffering due to bandhs. State machinery will be compelled to take legal actions against the persons calling and enforcing bandh." Security was tightened and police personnel were posted in sensitive areas. There was no report of any untoward incident so far. UNI NS RN 1149 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0311-1203733.Xml
With the state facing a budget crunch for the first time in several years, lawmakers are trying to strike the right balance between thorough review of tax incentives while maintaining a business friendly climate.

Were winning some, and were losing some, said Andy Peterson, president of the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, of bills relating to business this session.

Items in the win column include a top legislative priority of not raising taxes. One loss for the group was the elimination of a tax credit for manufacturing machinery purchases and equipment for automated manufacturing processes.

The Legislature has been very friendly toward us, Peterson said.

The tight budget situation is something businesses understand to be cyclical. However, Peterson said the chamber is hoping the Legislature doesnt go too far in removing tax incentives or adding business restrictions in the process.

One item to loosen restrictions is House Bill 1163, which would repeal the states Sunday closing laws, also known as blue laws.

It sends a message to the country that were business-friendly, HB1163 primary sponsor Pamela Anderson, D-Fargo, said.

HB1163 makes Sunday openings optional, allowing businesses more flexibility to operate as they see fit.

The Chamber is on board with HB1163, which barely passed the House but later died in the Senate.

A bill to eliminate property tax exemptions for developers in Renaissance Zones has passed the House and is being considered by the Senate.

Supporters have deemed Renaissance Zones unnecessary and say that, ultimately, the revenue has to be made up somewhere. Opponents of the bill counter that the zones have a major impact in communities large and small in attracting new businesses as well as more significant investments.

House Bill 1045 would make significant changes to the states angel fund investment tax credit.

The tax credit over the interim drew heavy scrutiny over a perceived lack of transparency, which lawmakers say they hope HB1045 will remedy. Investments being made in out-of-state companies that might not be providing a benefit to North Dakota was a serious concern of some lawmakers.

HB1045 contains tighter reporting requirements and provisions for having businesses have operations in North Dakota, among other changes.

Senate Finance and Taxation Committee Chairman Dwight Cook, R-Mandan, said thorough review of incentives, including Renaissance Zones and angel funds, is a new trend in states that was long overdue.

The beneficiary needs to be the taxpayers, Cook said of the positive impacts of tax incentives on the state.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has said that the central government has "not learnt any lesson from the Pathankot attack" and recommended that there remains an urgent need to further strengthen the Security network in the country. The Committee headed by former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram which also comprises Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), Derek O' Brien (Trinamool), Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Congress) and Prem Singh Chandumajra (Akali Dal) said that the government ought to "plug the serious gaps in security establishment and intelligence gathering or sharing that have come to the fore in the recent (terror) attacks". Despite several steps reportedly taken by the government to strengthen the security measures, it has comprehensively failed to prevent recurrence of such attacks that took place at Pampore, Uri, Baramula, Handwara and Nagrota. The Committee observes that the Government has not learnt any lesson from the Pathankot attack," it said. The report presented in both Houses of Parliament, said that it "does not share" the perception of the Ministry of Home Affairs that overall internal security scenario remained under control during 2016. "The Committee is constrained to note that 82 personnel of security forces were martyred last year. At the same time, the committee is anguished at the vulnerabilities and loop holes in Security of the establishment of the forces exposed by a series of terrorist attacks that occurred in 2016," the panel said. The panel also asked the government to "put rigorous efforts to completely stop infiltration from across the border and prevent all types of terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir". The Committee, however, felt "the terrorism in the hinterland of the country and Left Wing Extremism remained comparatively muted during 2016". Nevertheless, the report said, "The Committee is constrained to observe that lack of financial resources is becoming a reason for casualty of valuable lives of police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel which are "being lost in the battle against Left Wing Extremism". The panel also asked the government to augment vehicular preparedness for police and Central Armed Police Forces and said the government should explore opportunities created by the 'Make in India' programme and develop indigenous vehicles. It also said the Ministry should explore other measures including import of suitable vehicles.UNI DEVN SHS CJ PM1011 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1203382.Xml
The hosts started their innings on a slow note and received the first jolt when the scorecard was reading just 21 runs. Josh Hazlewood striked in the 10th over to dismiss Vijay.

Incoming batsman Cheteshwar Pujara then joined KL Rahul and the duo stiched a 43-run partnership to ensure that the hosts inch towards a good total.

Earlier, the visitors were bundled out on 300 runs yesterday.

Rahul and Pujara were unbeaten on 31 and 22 runs respectively when the umpires called for the lunch break.UNI XC-KU SDR PM1148

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0348-1203721.Xml
Police have arrested one more person in weapon snatch case here while two more are still at large with Ak-47 in this winter capital of the state. "Another suspect identified as Mohammad Shahid has been detained by police by overnight raids at various hideouts in city area post snatching of weapon from a police constable," police spokespersons here today said. He said that one Masrool Ahmed Malik was already arrested and on his disclosure, second arrest was made. He further added that two others identified as Asif and Aamir are still at large with official weapon (Ak-47) and 30 round magazine of constable, who was hospitalised after attacked by the miscreants by spraying chilly powder in his eyes and hit by a rod. The police personnel namely Sgct Mohd Hanif of JKAP 4th Batallion was on special duty and deputed as PSO with one Maulana Dehlavi, who had come from Delhi and staying at state guest house here.UNI VBH SHS 1324 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1203830.Xml
A 75-year-old undertrial prisoner who was lodged in Beur Model Central Jail died during treatment here today. Beur Jail Superintendent Rupak Kumar said here that the undertrial prisoner Chandraket Singh, who was lodged in the jail November last under NDPS Act was suffering from asthma since long. He said the prisoner, a native of Buddha Colony police station area in the state capital was rushed to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) after his health condition deteriorated suddenly. He said the prisoner died during treatment.The body of the prisoner had been sent for autopsy, Mr Kumar added. UNI DH RN 1502 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0311-1203918.Xml
Saseendran resigned after an audio tape of alleged sexual harassment was aired on a regional channel.

"I am resigning on moral grounds. I am making it clear that all allegations charged on me is absolutely baseless. But I am now tendering resignation as it is not right on my path to continue in this position when an investigation is underway. It is up to the Chief Minister and government to investigate the matter and they can investigate with any agency. Also I don't want the government to be on the back foot," Saseendran said.

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the matter would be thoroughly probed.

A Malayalam regional channel Mangalam has aired an audio tape of the conservation between Saseendran and a woman who approached him to submit a petition.

In the tape, the minister allegedly speaks with sexual intention to the lady.

The authenticity of the tape is not confirmed yet. (ANI)
The 3rd G-20 Framework Working Group (FWG) Meeting under the G-20 German Presidency is being co-hosted by Department of Economic Affairs, Finance Ministry, and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Varanasi on March 28 and 29. The first two G 20 FWG meetings under the G-20 German Presidency have already been held at Berlin in December 16 and at Riyadh in February 17. In the Varanasi meeting, the G-20 FWG will discuss the current global economic situation as well as deliberate on the policy options that countries can pursue to counter the important development challenges. The meeting will also deliberate on the inclusive growth agenda of G-20 and formulate a framework that will enable countries to help frame country-specific inclusive growth policies. The G-20 is the group of 19 countries and European Union (EU) deliberating on global economic issues and other important development challenges. G-20 Framework Working Group (FWG) is one of the core working groups of G-20. The mandate of FWG is to deliberate on the challenges facing the global economy and the policy options that countries can use to address these challenges. India along with Canada has been co-chairing this group. This is the fourth occasion that India is hosting this meeting since the inception of the FWG in 2009. Previously, India had hosted the G-20 FWG Meetings in Neemrana, Rajasthan (2012 under Mexican Presidency), in Goa (in 2014 under G-20 Australian Presidency) and in Kerala (2015 under G-20 Turkish Presidency), an official release here said.UNI SD SHK 1541 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0005-1203947.Xml
In a major embarrassment to the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government in Kerala, Transport Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader A K Saseendran today tendered his resignation from the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet after allegations of obscene talk with a woman. The septuagenarian minister announced his resignation in a hurriedly convened press conference, after cutting short his official engagements, following a newly-launched television channel 'Mangalam' aired an audio clip in which Mr Saseendran is heard having a lewd conversation with a woman who approached him for official matters. Seventy one-year-old Saseendran, a five time legislator, said ''though I have not committed any mistake, I am stepping down to protect dignity of my party and ruling front.'' ''The resignation may not be considered that I am admitting the crime. I have not done anything that is against my morality,'' he said. Apparently hinting a conspiracy behind the issue, he said let the Chief Minister order a probe into entire gamut of the issue. However, no formal complaint has been lodged by the victim so far. The resignation came after the Chief Minister made it clear that he would look into the allegations seriously and promised action. Mr Saseendran became the second minister to step down from the eleven-month-old Pinarayi Vijayan. Earlier, senior CPI(M) leader E P Jayarajan, who was holding the portfolio of Industries, has stepped down in October after allegations that he appointed his family members as heads of public sector undertakings. The NCP has two members in the Kerala Assembly and it is not known immediately whether the second member Thomas Chandy will be given a Cabinet berth. The controversy that erupted during the electioneering to the Malappuram Lok Sabha by-poll came as a major blow to the LDF Government which is also facing allegations that incidence of atrocities against women in Kerala were on the rise during the recent past. Mr Saseendran entered politics through the student movement as leader of the Kerala Students Union. He was the general secretary of the Union between 1967 and 1969. He was also active in the youth movement, becoming the president of the Kerala Pradesh Youth Congress committee in 1977-78 period. Later, he joined the NCP. Welcoming the decision, Indian Union Muslim League, the second largest partner in the LDF, said the resignation came while taking into account the April 12 byelection in Malappuram constituency. Reacting to the resignation IUML state General Secretary K P A Majeed said a probe should be necessary to find out the veracity of the allegation. Agreeing the decision to quit, senior NCP leader Peethambaran Master said it was not fair on his part to continue in office in case the government ordered a probe into the issue. UNI CR/PCH CS 1624 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0324-1204032.Xml
With the exercise of credit rating of cities and towns gaining momentum, 94 of the 500 cities included in Smart City Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) have obtained such ratings as a precursor to issuing Municipal Bonds for mobilisation of resources. Reviewing the progress of Credit Rating exercise yesterday by Urban Development Minister M.Venkaiah Naidu, it was revealed that 55 of these cities have got 'Investment Grade' ratings. Mr Naidu noted that 59 per cent of cities assessed getting Investment Grade rating was better than what was thought of about the financial situation of Urban Local Bodies in the country. Of them, NDMC, Navi Mumbai and Pune led with AA+ rating while Ahmedabad, Visakahapatnam, Hyderabad came next with AA rating. Kolkata was graded A+, Bhopal and Jaipur-A-, Thiruvananthapuram and Panaji-BBB, Ranchi-BBB were all rated as investment grade. The 94 cities that have so far been assigned credit ratings are spread across 14 States. Ministry of Urban Development is promoting Credit Rating of cities as one of the five Transformational Reforms under which about 500 cities and towns that account for about 65 per cent of total urban population were to be given Credit Ratings during this year. Of the total 20 ratings ranging from AAA to D, BBB- is the 'Investment Grade' ratings and cities rated below BBB- need to undertake necessary interventions to improve their ratings for obtaining positive response to the Municipal Bonds to be issued. Credit Ratings are assigned based on assets and liabilities of Urban Local Bodies, revenue streams, resources available for capital investments, Double Entry Accounting practice and other governance practices. Besides the Credit Rating of Urban Local Bodies, ratings for individual projects for which resources are to bemobilised through Municipal Bonds would have a bearing on the response to such bonds, an official release here said.UNI SD SHK 1631 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0005-1204040.Xml
At least six people, including two police officials, died and scores wounded in two bomb blasts in Bangladesh near a militant hideout.

"The troopers along the Indo-Bangla border have been asked to keep an extra vigil round the clock following yesterday's explosion in Sylhet," Inspector General of BSF in-charge Meghalaya frontier P K Dubey told UNI.

He said the BSF are in touch with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and is keeping a close watch on the situation in that country.

Mr Dubey said the BSF is also sharing intelligence inputs with the state police and central agencies on the situation in Bangladesh.

India and Bangladesh share a 4,096 km-long international border, the fifth-longest land border in the world, with West Bengal having the highest length with 2,217 km.

The length of the border in the other four states is Tripura(856km), Meghalaya(443km), Assam (262km) and Mizoram (180km). UNI RRK AD1731

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0108-1204161.Xml
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had a detailed discussion with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on a gamut of security and other important issues concerning the state and its people at the latter's official residence in New Delhi today. In course of the almost two hours of discussions, Mr Sonowal apprised the Union Home Minister about the critical issues of the state, including expeditious updation of NRC, implementation of Assam Accord, sealing of the Indo-Bangladesh border, illegal immigrants, granting of Scheduled Tribe status to six ethnic communities, Bodoland issues, police modernisation and deployment of additional forces in the state. The chief minister requested the Union Home Minister to hold tripartite talks at the political level with various organizations on their demands. These would include the leaders of the six ethnic communities demanding ST status; the ABSU, PJACBM, NDFB(P), NDFB (RD) regarding Bodoland issues; ANCC regarding issues of Adivasis in Assam; AKRSU (H) and AKRSU (P) regarding Koch Rajbhongshi issues and with AASU regarding Assam Accord implementation. The Union Home Minister agreed to hold talks early and said the dates for the meetings would be communicated soon. The chief minister apprised the Union Minister about concerns regarding the NRC updation exercise, relating to modalities, time frame and fund flow. The RGI, MHA, agreed to complete the process in a time-bound manner subject to directions of the Supreme Court. The RGI was requested to seek legal opinion on admissibility of the documents prescribed for NRC updation in the light of Gauhati High Court judgment pertaining to one of the documents i e, GP Secretary certificate. With regard to implementation of the Assam Accord, Mr Sonowal urged the Union Home Minister to give appropriate instructions to complete the Indo-Bangladesh border fencing, including the riverine areas and also install a new fencing with modern design. The Union Home minister agreed to re-examine the entire matter of IBB fencing in a time-bound manner. The matter of Foreigners' Tribunals and Detention Centres for persons detected as foreigners was also discussed and it was agreed to give extension for functioning of the 100 foreigners' tribunals with proper infrastructure and amenities. Implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord was discussed pertaining to constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to the people of Assam. In this regard, the chief minister suggested to set up a committee comprising eminent experts from legal, constitutional, sociological, historical and cultural backgrounds to give recommendations on how to effectively implement Clause 6 for constitutional safeguards of indigenous people of Assam. Others issues that were discussed included additional deployment of CAPF in the State in view of the law and order situation, raising of new India Reserve Battalion (IRBn), enhanced allocation in modernization of police force, revision of SRE scheme guidelines pertaining to CI Ops logistic support, Homeguards and VDP payment norms, training and camp maintenance charges of SoO cadres, designated camps and appointment of a new interlocutor for peace talks with ULFA (PT), NDFB (P) and NDFB (RD). The Union Home minister assured to look into all the above matters and added that already process has been initiated for approval of five new IRBn for Assam. The chief minister drew the attention of the Union Home Minister to the statement of T Muivah regarding Nagalim issue. It was informed by the Ministry of Home Affairs that a detailed clarification has been issued in this regard. UNI SG AD1743 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0108-1204174.Xml
Rise up and celebrate, Norskes. The "Old Country" may not have discovered the fountain of youth but it just won first prize as the happiest nation in the world.

So plan an extra day at the North American mecca for Scandinavians, the Hostfest in Minot Sept. 27-30. Heck! This is a big deal. Take two days.

Share the joy. Take a lefse stuffed with lutefisk to your Swedish neighbor.

Swing into a Norwegian square dance with the Bohemians down the street.

Bring a big bowl of torsk to the crotchety troll from Trondheim in the nursing home.

After all, the "Old Country" is on a roll. Happiness No. 1 is only one of its recent achievements. In 2016 or 2015, Norway ranked No. 1 in Human Development, in OECD Better Life, the Prosperity Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index.

Meanwhile, our adopted United States ranked 14th on the happiness scale. The Norwegians who immigrated to the United States to find the American dream are going to pull up stakes and go back home where happiness is more than a free quarter of land.

To stop this emigration, we American-Norwegians need to ask ourselves: What has Norway got that we dont have in America? We should plan some remedial work before the next ranking comes out.

There is no doubt that we have been working hard at being happy here in the U.S.

In North Dakota, breweries are cropping up throughout the state with the hope that we can drown our unhappiness.

Groping for happiness, we are opening our liquor establishments on Sunday mornings because church isnt cutting it.

We have created such a strong market for drugs that the Mexican drug lords are killing each other for our business.

On the opiate market, the United States ranks 27th in the world while Norway stands at 47th.

One the obesity scale, the United States ranks 19th, while Norway is 84th. While Americans are counting on comfort food, the Norwegians are snowshoeing across the mountains.

Legislators and governors have been telling us for years that happiness can be found in low taxes. Well, happy high-tax Norway ranks ninth in the world on the tax scale while low-tax North Dakota ranks 33rd.

We can only conclude that high taxes make a happier country. Thats easy to understand. Norwegians dont have to worry about money because the government has all of it. Workers dont end up with take-home pay  they get allowances.

But high taxes make it possible for Norway to rank second in health care costs at $9,003 per capita while America spends $8,895. For the extra $108, Norway wins first place in the OECD Better Life Index.

When it comes to religiosity, 78 percent of the Norwegians think religion is not important while only 31 percent hold that view in the United States.

There is an explanation. For centuries, Lutheran was the official state religion, meaning that the government ran the church and paid the preachers without the involvement of the parishioners. So the citizenry didnt absorb a lot of theology.

In the last few years, the Norwegian government has decided to get out of the church business. It wasnt working, anyway. People were being nice without religion.

Since the happiest country in the world is low in religiosity, should the United States cut back on religion to be more competitive in 2018? Some patriotic parishioners would cheerfully give up their pews if it would help make America great again.

By emulating the attitudes and lifestyles in Norway, we could become a happier country by 2018. But lets look at all other options first.
Asserting that radical groups should be kept aside, Chairman Anjuman Minhaj-e-Rasool Maulana Athar Dehlavi today advocated for talks with people of Kashmir comprising every stakeholder but not with Pakistan by keeping the radical forces away."What Pakistan did in Afghanistan is being repeated in Kashmir and my personal belief is that all stakeholders within Kashmir should be involved into dialogue to solve decades old mess," Dehlavi here told UNI.He said that the Government of India should initiate talks on Naga Talks pattern, adding, "earlier the situation in Kashmir was political, but now it taking colour of communalism.""Our organistation always batted for restoration of peace and harmony in the region including the Kashmir Valley," he said adding that during his three-day stay in Kashmir valley observed that people in the Valley want to live in peace and harmony. They want development.Prevailing Kashmir situation is like what happened in Punjab post 1984, he added and said, "Pakistan is trying to create Afghanistan, Palestine like scene in Kashmir valley but we need to understand its nefarious design.""Youth in Kashmir want to connect itself, need education, facilities and for that matter, Centre has to initiate talks with people within the Kashmir valley except the radical forces," he added.Common man suffered a lot due to 2014 floods, tourism affected but the Prime Minister Narendra Modi under his slogan, "sabaka saath, sabaka vikas", should think of reviving industrial sector, tourism, education and focus on other developmental areas to keep Kashmir's bond intact with the country."The PM talks of farmers but we feel that the words of Lal Bahadur Shastri--'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan', fit rightly for people living on the Line of Control and International Border in this state as they are protecting integrity of the country on borders by fighting against Pakistan and also cultivating their land amid tension," he asserted.Centre should develop border areas under Border Area Development Authority, he demanded.On a question regarding prevailing Kashmir situation, the Maulana said, "Pakistan is instigating and provoking youth in Kashmir by false propaganda. He is making best use of social media to do so.""Still there is a ray of hope as youth want to come out of pellets and guns. People want facilities," he added and said that Pak channels are viewed more in Kashmir than Indian, which is also causing trouble.On upcoming by polls he said, "people want to vote by defying the boycott calls issued by the separatists. If democracy will win, we will win Kashmir."UNI VBH JW SNU 1758 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1204100.Xml
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called upon the nation to fight against the evil of terrorism, saying that it has posed a great challenge to humanity. While recalling the incident on Jatayu trying to save Sita from the clutches of Ravana in Indian epic 'Ramayana', Prime Minister Modi said the bird serves as an inspiration for all to fight against terrorism. "Today, the entire world is perturbed by terrorism. Terrorism has posed a great challenge to humanity. If we go by history, then the first war against terrorism was fought by Japan. A strong message was given by Jatayu who fought with such a strong man (Ravana) for saving a woman (Sita). He acts as in inspiration for all to fight against terrorism," the Prime Minister said while addressing the Ugadi Milan function here. While indicating towards the importance of unity in a country like India, the Prime Minister said the government's programme 'Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat' aims towards the same. "India is full of diversity. Diversity is India's identity and its strength. The Indian Government's programme 'Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat' has been made to achieve the same. If India has to be made best, then unity is its first essential. If India moves forward with the element of unity, then the pace will be much faster," he added. (ANI)
He was 80 and is survived by his wife, four sons and one daughter.

In a condolence message, Dr Aier said Phom hailed from Bura Namsang Village under Longleng district of Nagaland.

Phom was born in January, 1937.

Prior to entering politics, he served as Pastor from 1957 to 59.

He was elected as the Member of Legislative Assembly in 1974 from Tamlu Assembly Constituency under Longleng district.

In his message, Dr Aier said, "At this hour of gloom and grief, I on my own behalf and on behalf of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly convey our heartfelt condolences and we all wished that may the departed soul rest in eternal peace." UNI AS AD1822

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The most formidable Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft of the Indian Navy TU142M will call it a day on March 29 after 29 years of service. The aircraft would be formally de-inducted by Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, Chief of the Naval Staff at a special ceremony scheduled to be held at INS Rajali, India's premiere Naval Air Station in Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu. To commemorate the stellar service of the TU142M, a TU Static Display Aircraft would also be inaugurated by the Chief of Naval Staff at INS Rajali.The TU142M Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft was inducted into Indian Navy at Dabolim Goa from erstwhile USSR in 1988. The aircraft subsequently shifted base permanently to INS Rajali in 1992 and became the most formidable LRMR ASW aircraft of the Indian Navy. The aircraft has done the Indian Navy proud by participating in all major naval exercises and operations with distinction. The aircraft saw action during operation 'Cactus' in Maldives and participated in operational missions off Sri Lanka to provide airborne surveillance. TU142M aircraft with its 04 powerful engines, contra rotating, slender fuselage and swept wings is the fastest turboprop aircraft in the world and reportedly has been difficult to intercept by fighters. With its enhanced endurance, speed, long range weapons and sensors the aircraft transformed the aspects of Maritime reconnaissance and airborne ASW for the Indian Navy and was one of the most formidable platforms around the world. TU142M aircraft operations over the years stand testament to the skill, courage and professionalism of the men and women who have been entrusted with the responsibility to fly and maintain this vital aviation asset of the Indian Navy. The aircraft has had a distinguished service with over 30,000 hours of accident free flying, the Indian Navy said here today. During its service life, the aircraft has undergone several modifications and retro fitments to keep up with evolving technology and changing requirements of Indian Navy. As a result, the aircraft has throughout its service life, been participating in and has been a major factor during all Naval operations. Despite being in its twilight year, the aircraft performed exceptionally well during the recently conducted Naval Exercise TROPEX in Mar 2017. The other event on March 29 would be the Silver Jubilee of INS Rajali, the naval air station which was synonymous with the TU and its home for the last 29 years. The role of TU142M will now be taken on by the newly inducted P-8l aircraft. The P-8I aircraft has proven all its systems and has been fully integrated into the operational grid of the Indian Navy. Commander Yogender Mair, the last Commanding officer of the squadron with TU142M aircraft will hand over the reins to Commander V Ranganathan, who will be the first Squadron Commanding Officer with the P-8l. UNI NAZ SHK 1836 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1204205.Xml
Extending his greetings on Cheti Chand and Samvatsar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked the Brahma Kumaris to spread the use of digital transactions. He praised Brahma Kumar and Kumaris by saying that they have spread the message of India's rich culture throughout the world. "Dadi Janki continues to inspire the society. In our culture, the 80th anniversary is a very special occasion. Last year, Dadi Janki Ji completed 100 years. She is a true Karma Yogi and she continues to serve society," Prime Minister Modi said while addressing the 80th anniversary celebrations of Brahma Kumaris via video conferencing. He also talked about the way in which Brahma Kumaris have taken forward the reach of solar energy actively. "India has always said there God is one. There may be different forms of worshiping God. The way Brahma Kumaris family have taken forward the reach of solar energy actively is commendable. By 2030, India aims to generate 40 percent energy from non-fossil fuels. By 2022, our aim is to ensure 175 GW of clean energy," he added. He said the use of digital transactions would bring down corruption. "About Rs. 11,000 crore has been saved by the use of LED bulbs. Brahma Kumaris organisation can help spread this message. Exploitation of nature is a crime for us, we believe in milking of nature. Urge Brahma Kumaris family, Central and State departments to come up with plans to ensure proper nutrition," the Prime Minister added. The Prime Minister took the opportunity to inform the people that his government has amended the Maternity Bill and this will benefit working women as leaves have been enhanced from 12 to 26 weeks. He concluded by saying, "Dadiji & Brahma Kumaris have contributed towards Swachhata. Let us aim to build a Swachh Bharat that will be a tribute to Gandhiji." (ANI)
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today greeted the people of Bangladesh on their Independence Day. "My heartiest greetings to all my brothers and sisters of Bangladesh on the occasion of Independence Day," Ms Banerjee tweeted. The Independence Day of Bangladesh on March 26 is a national holiday. It is for the country's declaration of independence from Pakistan. On the night of March 25, 1971, Pakistani Army brutally committed genocide on unarmed civilian Bengalis in the name of "Operation Searchlight". On March 26, Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan was declared by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the nine month long bloody liberation war was commenced. The day is a memorial to the deaths of millions of civilians and valiant freedom fighters who died in the Bangladesh Liberation War. Nearly three million people, mostly Bengali civilians, died in these nine months, more than a quarter of a million Bengali women were dishonoured - something that makes Bangladesh's freedom a very hard-earned one. For the first time this year, Bangladesh nationally observed March 25 as Genocide Day commemorating those killed by the Pakistani occupation on that night in 1971. Bangladesh is also pitching for global recognition of the Day. The chief minister also today strongly condemned the suicide bombing in Bangladesh's Sylhet area where some six people died. "The incident in Sylhet during this time is very unfortunate. I strongly condemn it and express my solidarity with my brothers and sisters in Bangladesh," she said. A Dhaka report said at least six people, including two police officials, died and scores wounded in two bomb blasts in Bangladesh near a militant hideout that was raided by commandos. UNI BM AD2002 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0108-1204422.Xml
Uttar Pradesh is facing the non-veg crisis, after the BJP government ordered crackdown on illegal slaughter houses and meat shops.The decision that even pushed carnivorous animals in zoo and Lions in the state's only Lion Safari close to starvation. The decision to close down illegal slaughter houses and butchery shops was taken after saint-turned-politician Adityanath Yogi took over as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on March 19. ''All the illegal operations in slaughter houses should end now. Majority of the slaughter houses and meat shops are running without licence and government approval. I know in the name of buffalo, cows are being slaughtered in many abattoirs. This should end,'' the Chief Minister said, while addressing a public rally in Gorakhpur today.Slaughtering cow is banned in Uttar Pradesh and it is a punishable offence. Uttar Pradesh is India's largest meat producing state and has 41 licensed slaughter houses. Many more operate illegally by bribing local authorities. Uttar Pradesh government earns over Rs 11,000 crore from this industry annually.''We know it is a money spinner industry for the government, but the party had promised to people in its election campaign to close down illegal slaughter houses and meat shops. Money or not, we will fulfill our poll promise,'' BJP state General Secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said. ''Those who have licence should not be afraid of action, while those who do not have licence, should get them made,'' he said. Meat sellers across Uttar Pradesh have closed their shops, in protest against the government crackdown. Aquil Ahmad, a meat shop owner here in the state capital said that though he has a licence, he has decided to close down his shop, in support of people of his fraternity.Not all of them have licence. Niaz Queresshi, who is an office bearer of Quereshi Mahasabha an association of meat sellers said, ''This is unjustified action (of government). Officials are saying get licence made, but they are asking for bribe now. We are being sent from one table to another and from one room to another by clerks. They are harassing us.'' The decision severely impacted the meat industry. Many iconic eating joints like 105-year-old Lucknow's famous Tundey Kababi has stopped serving Kababs made of buffalo meat called Badey ka kabab since Tuesday, because of paucity of buffalo meat.''We are not getting adequate supply of meat (buffalo) because of crackdown on slaughter houses. Thus, we are forced to sell kababas made of chicken and goat meat. Our customers are not happy, but we have no other option,'' said Raees Ahmad, owner of Tundey Kababi.It is not just humans, even animals have started feeling the pinch of this crackdown. The Zoological parks in Lucknow and Kanpur have sent an SoS to the government, saying lions have stopped eating goat meat. ''In Lucknow zoo, we get 150 kg buffalo meat per day but since Tuesday, the contractor is not able to supply buffalo meat. Now, we serve goat meat but the animals are not eating it to their fill,'' Dr Nasim Zaidi said.The government has received similar complaint from Lion Safari in Etawah, which is home to three lions and two cubs.Zoo Minister Dara Singh Chauhan said that no animal will be allowed to die of hunger. ''Initially, the lions were fed goat and chicken meat, but I am told that they are not relishing it. Arrangements have been made to transport buffalo meat from other areas of the state,'' he said.UNI MB RJ 2014 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1204370.Xml
Armed criminals looted a gemstone ring worth Rs 5 crore from the house of a retired bank officer in Nageshwar Colony under Kotwali police station area here today. Deputy Police Superintendent (Law and Order) Shibli Nomani told UNI here that four criminals, one of them identified as Mushtaque Khan of Samanpura locality entered into the house of the bank officer Baban Choubey and looted the ring by brandishing their pistol. He said that Mushtaque was known to the retired bank officer as the former had promised him to sell the precious ring whose original owner was Mr Choubey's neighbour Kulkant. DSP said that Mr Choubey allowed the entry of Musthaque along with his three associates as the outlaw introduced them as prospective customers for the precious ring. He said that the CCTV camera fitted in an adjoining apartment recorded the movement of outlaws who had arrived on a car. He said that Mr Choubey in his FIR claimed that the value of the ring was Rs five crore and outlaws also looted jewellery worth Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs. 70,000 in cash. He said that a massive manhunt had been launched to nab criminals. UNI DH AD2133 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0108-1204504.Xml
Activists of the Delhi Mahila Congress today protested outside the residence of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi over alleged irregularities by DPCC chief Ajay Maken in ticket distribution for MCD election. Mr Gandhi assured the protestors that he would take action into the matter.The workers charged the DPCC chief of favouring the kin of sitting councillors in ticket distribution. Following the protests, Mr Gandhi came out of his residence and assured that he would take a look into the matter and take necessary action.Elections to the three Municipal Corporations are scheduled on April 23.UNI AR PY RJ 2152 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-1204511.Xml
The tragic killing of a gray wolf mistaken for a coyote in North Dakotas Walsh County recently is a painful reminder of why wolves still need federal endangered species protections.

This poor creature was the first known wolf in North Dakota since one was confirmed in Bowman County in December 2014. Before that, hunters in McKenzie County killed one in 2012.

These wolf deaths are bad for North Dakotas ecosystems, which are out of balance without large carnivores.

Because wolves target the weak, diseased, old and injured, they help keep prey populations of deer and elk more vigorous. Wolves also promote biodiversity by preventing prey from overgrazing vegetation, degrading habitat and harming other native wildlife.

The death of this wolf is a blow to wolf recovery in the state.

Although wolves elsewhere in the country have made significant progress under the protections of the Endangered Species Act, they are nowhere near fully recovered.

Wolves have returned to only about 10 percent of their historic range in the United States and could return to areas of North Dakota with abundant prey, such as the Badlands  if people would stop killing them.

Indeed, with Endangered Species Act protections, the wolf population in Minnesota grew and wolves dispersed to begin repopulating Wisconsin and then Michigan. Recovery to additional Midwest and Great Lakes states depends on the protections afforded by the act.

But if elected officials from those areas have their way, wolves will be stripped of federal protections. Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota are pushing for removing those protections to appease livestock producers and trophy hunters. They have introduced legislation in Congress, HR424 and S164, that would remove federal protections without any review by the courts and turn wolf management over to states.

As an attorney working for more than a decade to protect wolves and stop cruel wildlife exploitation, I know these bills would be devastating.

Weve already seen how states treat wolves when they are allowed management. As soon as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed wolf protections  prematurely  in 2012, Minnesota and Wisconsin worked to open trophy hunting and trapping seasons, contributing to a 25 percent decline in Minnesota.

When the court restored protections, wolf populations in Minnesota began to rebound. That shows that the Endangered Species Act works.

Wolves are an important part of our natural heritage but were driven to the brink of extinction across much of the country more than a century ago. They deserve a real chance at recovery. And, for starters, that means continued federal protections in Minnesota and across the Midwest and more tolerance for them on the ground.

One day, hopefully, well see them breeding again in North Dakota.
Another such case of dowry death came to the fore, where a woman was found hanging at her residence here.

30-year-old Bhagyalaxmi left a suicide note mentioning in it the harassment which she was facing by her in-laws and husband.

Unfortunately, the woman committed suicide on the day of her first marriage anniversary.

Married to Shashidhar, an employee in the Google, on March 25, 2016, deceased Bhagyalaxmi was bearing torture right from the second day of her marriage.

Bhagyalaxmi had earlier also filed a complaint in the women's police station after which the issue was settled for the moment.

However, the police have now registered a case of dowry harassment under section 304B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

"Probe is going on. The accused has not been arrested yet," Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) S. Ranga Rao told ANI. (ANI)
Third-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada withdrew from the Miami Open today with a hamstring injury.Raonic had been scheduled to play American qualifier Jared Donaldson in a third-round match."It's related to the previous injury I sustained almost four weeks ago... in Delray Beach," he told reporters."It's the same muscle in the hamstring up high. It got progressively worse after my first round. It seemed like it was not possible for me to compete today without putting myself at significant risk."Raonic said he would not return until he felt 100 per cent fit again."That could be in two weeks; that could be a little bit longer." REUTERS PY AN2321 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-1204537.Xml
The Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957, creating the European Economic Community, a predecessor to the modern EU, Xinhua news agency reported.

Sixty years later, leaders from 27 nations met in the same room to sign the Rome Declaration, stressing their commitment to Europe's "common future."

The document called the bloc a "unique union with common institutions and strong values, a community of peace, freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law."

The Rome Declaration comes as the EU faces some of the most intense challenges in its history.

After the Brexit vote last year, Britain is set to be the first country to leave the bloc.

"It's significant that leaders renewed their pledge for unity, cooperation, and a common future at such a trying point in the European Union's history," Andrea Milanese, a political affairs analyst with ABS Securities in Milan, said in an interview.

( 179 Words)

2017-03-26-05:04:08 (IANS)
Chinese authorities have blocked an Australia-based academic from boarding a flight home, Australia said today, after what sources said was repeated interrogation over his links to liberal intellectuals in mainland China.The case of long-serving University of Technology Sydney (UTS) associate professor Feng Chongyi comes just as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang winds up a five-day official visit in Canberra and Sydney espousing free trade and closer economic ties between Australia and China.Feng, who is an Australian permanent resident but retains his Chinese passport, entered China three weeks ago.He was first held for questioning in Kunming, the provincial capital of southwestern Yunnan earlier this week, before being barred from boarding a flight to Sydney at Guangzhou's international airport on Friday morning, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.He is travelling with his wife, who is an Australian national.Having subsequently requested help from Australian authorities, Feng felt confident his case had been resolved and he would be free to travel, one of the sources said. But he was again notified he was on a no-fly list when attempting to board a second flight home late yesterday."The Australian government is aware that a UTS professor, who is an Australian permanent resident, has been prevented from leaving China," a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said today."According to the Australia-China consular treaty, the Australian government is able to provide consular assistance only to Australian citizens who have entered China on their Australian passport."China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Public Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Feng, who was head of China Studies at UTS for 11 years, is well-known in academic circles for his research into contemporary politics, the growth of rights consciousness and democratic forces in mainland China.He has been vocal in the Australian media over what he and numerous fellow China experts consider Beijing's increasing attempts to influence Australian politics and exert control over Chinese-language media.For research into his academic work, the sources said, Feng had been meeting fellow academics, intellectuals and rights lawyers in Beijing and other cities in mainland China, before he was picked up at his hotel in Kunming by provincial state security and taken away to another hotel and questioned for three hours.After travelling to Guangzhou to board his flight to Sydney, he received a call from the same state security officers informing him they had followed him to Guangzhou, the sources said. They arranged to meet and Feng was questioned for another three hours over who he met while in Beijing and who his contacts were in Australia.It is understood that, as of today morning, Feng remained free to move around within mainland China and had not been physically detained.Since coming to power, President Xi Jinping has presided over a sweeping crackdown on dissent that has seen hundreds of rights lawyers detained or questioned, sending a chill through intellectual, academic, art and journalist circles.But Feng's ordeal represents a rare, if not the first, instance of a prominent foreign-university academic being subjected to the same treatment.It comes despite UTS having set up an Australia-China Relations Institute which says it has an unabashedly "positive and optimistic" view on bilateral ties.REUTERS SDR PM0852 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1203624.Xml
Germans in the small western state of Saarland voted today in a regional election that could deliver an upset to Chancellor Angela Merkel and hurt her prospects of winning a fourth term in September's national election.The election carries significance as it is the first of three regional votes ahead of the September 24 federal vote and as such it offers an opportunity for the parties to build - or lose - momentum in their quest to prevail at national level.The vote is the first electoral test for the Social Democrats under their new leader, Martin Schulz who has re-energised the centre-left party with a promise to tackle inequality that is resonating with many voters tired of Merkel."This time every vote really counts," an unusually impassioned Merkel told a rally in Sankt Wendel, near Germany's border with France and Luxembourg, on Thursday."Take my words seriously," she said in a last-gasp effort to drum up support for her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU).Voting began at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) and runs until 6 p.m. (1600 GMT), after which exit polls are released.Like federal Germany, Saarland is currently governed by a 'grand coalition' of Merkel's conservatives and the Social Democratic Party (SPD).But polls suggest a left-leaning 'red-red-green' alliance of the SPD, the far-left Linke party and the environmentalist Greens - or even a 'red-red' coalition if the Greens fail to win enough votes - could emerge after the vote.A three-way leftist alliance in Saarland would be the third at state level after Berlin and the eastern region of Thuringia and could give impetus to a similar format at national level.A survey by pollster Emnid published in Sunday's Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed national support for the SPD had risen slightly from a week ago and the centre-left party was tied with Merkel's conservative bloc on 33 percent.With the Linke and Greens both on 8 percent nationally, the poll suggested the three left-leaning parties could form a federal coalition government after September's election.Under Merkel, Germany has enjoyed economic growth and high employment, but the gap between rich and poor has grown.Schulz is trying to win over dissatisfied working class voters with a message of social justice.The SPD, Linke and Greens have discussed refraining from attacking each other during the national campaign. Schulz is wary of talking about coalition formations before the state and federal elections, keen to maximise SPD support."The same applies in Saarland as at the federal level: we want to be the strongest party," he told Bild am Sonntag. "Whoever then wants to govern with us, is very welcome to come to us."REUTERS JW BD1457 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1203896.Xml
Bulgarians were voting in a snap general election today, with the centre-right GERB party challenged for power by Socialists who say they will improve ties with Russia even if it means upsetting the country's European Union partners.Many Bulgarians feel a strong cultural affinity for Russia, with which they share the Cyrillic script and Orthodox Christianity and a decade after joining the EU, the Balkan country remains the bloc's poorest member with corruption rife.The Kremlin's most loyal satellite during the Cold War era, Bulgaria remains a popular holiday destination for Russians attracted by its Black Sea beaches and low prices, and it is also almost entirely dependent on Russian energy supplies.Opinion polls put the GERB party of former prime minister Boiko Borisov, 57, only narrowly ahead of the Socialists (BSP), who have seen their popularity rise since the candidate they backed, Rumen Radev, won the presidency in November.Voting in the country of 7.2 million people got underway at 7 a.m (0400 GMT) on Sunday with the turnout by 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) 8.4 percent, slightly up from the previous parliamentary vote in 2014, the central electoral commission said.Borisov resigned in the wake of Radev's victory, triggering Bulgaria's third parliamentary election in just four years.While Bulgaria historically has had strong ties with Moscow, Borisov's GERB party is strongly pro-EU and has supported the bloc's sanctions imposed on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis."BSP is quite right. Who, if not Bulgaria, should be Russia's closest partner? Why don't we remember what Russia did?" said Georgi Kasabov, a 69-year-old pensioner."It liberated us, it helped us build so many factories," Kasabov said, referring to the end of Ottoman rule in 1878 and industrial development during the Communist era.The Socialists, led by 48-year-old Kornelia Ninova, have vowed to vote against continuing the sanctions, posing another potential headache for the EU as it grapples with Britain's move to leave, the rise of right-wing populists and the future shape of the bloc.Bulgaria takes over the EU's rotating six-month presidency in January 2018."The GERB party, to a much greater extent, will maintain Bulgaria's Euro-Atlantic orientation and integration," said Boriana Dimitrova, an analyst with pollster Alpha Research."If Bulgaria begins giving up on participation in a number of EU integration policies, underlining its specific interest and privileged relations with Russia, that wouldn't just put it on Europe's periphery, it would move it into a different orbit."FRAGILE COALITIONThe latest opinion poll put the GERB party on 31.7 percent and the Socialists close behind on 29.1 percent.If it retains power, the GERB party is expected to maintain a tight rein on public spending key to Bulgaria's currency peg to the euro in contrast to the Socialists who have pledged to raise wages and pensions and expand public spending."GERB deserves another chance to complete the good things it started," said voter Radoslava Kamenova, 57, after casting her ballot in a Sofia suburb polling station."It is a modern party, which takes care of the young who are the future of this country," she added.Neither party, however, is likely to win enough votes to govern alone and will struggle to form what analysts expect to be a fragile and diverse coalition.They will almost certainly have to court the United Patriots, an alliance of three nationalist parties polling third before the election thanks to widespread anger over the flow of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia trying to reach Western Europe via the Balkans.On Friday, the nationalists blocked Bulgaria's border crossings with Turkey, saying they would stop Turks who hold Bulgarian passports from trying to vote to sway the election.REUTERS JW RK1600 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1203988.Xml
Gunfire erupted inside a packed nightclub in Cincinnati, Ohio, today morning, killing at least one person and injuring 14, and police said they were still looking for the shooter.The motive was unclear, but Cincinnati Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate said on Twitter that "there are no indications this incident is terrorism related."The shooting took place around 1 a.m. when hundreds of people were inside the Cameo Nightlife club, which the Cincinnati Police Department said has had "multiple problems" in the past."At this point it's unclear exactly what instigated the shooting," Captain Kimberly Williams said at a televised briefing. "Just a lot of chaos when the shots went off."The shooting comes less than a year after a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. It was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.Police initially said they believed at least two shooters were involved in Cincinnati, but later Neudigate said in a Twitter message that there was only one reported gunman, though police were still trying to determine if there were others.Hours after the shooting, the suspect was still at large, and police did not have a good description, in part because witnesses were reluctant to cooperate, Williams told WCPO."We are in the middle of a very horrific situation that occurred at the nightclub with multiple victims," Neudigate told NBC News."It's going to be a long night for our homicide units to investigate this incident, but right now things are stable." Several of the victims in Cincinnati had life-threatening injuries, WLWT-TV reported on its website, quoting Neudigate, who said hundreds of people were in the nightclub at the time of shooting.The University of Cincinnati Medical Center admitted eight people injured in the shooting, one of them in critical condition, a spokeswoman told NBC News. A representative of the hospital could not be reached immediately for comment.Cameo Nightlife's Facebook page says it features "College Friday's" for students 18 and older and "Saturday's 21+ grown and sexy night."The club, a large single-story structure, is a 7-mile (11 km) drive from downtown Cincinnati near the southeast corner of the city, the heart of the second largest metropolitan area in Ohio with more than 2 million residents.REUTERS JW BL1733 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1204146.Xml
Gunfire erupted inside a packed nightclub in Cincinnati, Ohio, early today morning, killing one person and injuring 15 others, as an apparent argument that may have started earlier in the day turned violent, authorities said.Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said there was no evidence of "a terrorist attack," as with last year's Pulse nightclub slaughter in Orlando, Florida that killed 49 people in the deadliest mass shooting in US history."However to the victims, what difference does it make?" Cranley said. "People were just going to have a good time and ended up getting shot."No arrests had been made hours after the shooting took place around 0600 GMT as hundreds of people partied inside Cameo Nightlife. The club has a history of gun violence, including two shootings in 2015, City Manager Harry Black said in a statement.Authorities believe multiple gunmen were involved in the Sunday morning shooting, which grew out of "some kind of dispute" inside the bar, Police Chief Eliot Isaac said.The disagreement may have been started earlier in the day, Black said."At this point it's unclear exactly what instigated the shooting," police Captain Kimberly Williams said at a televised briefing. "Just a lot of chaos when the shots went off."Four police officers, who were providing security in the parking lot when the shots rang out, ran into the club and treated victims, the chief said. In addition to those hit by gunfire, several people sustained minor injuries attempting to flee.Police did not have a good description of the suspects, in part because witnesses were reluctant to cooperate, Williams told WCPO television.The man who was killed was identified by authorities as 27-year-old O'Bryan Spikes. Two of the injured were in critical condition, a University of Cincinnati Medical Center spokeswoman said. The others hit by gunfire were in stable condition in other area hospitals, and some were treated and released.Ohio Governor John Kasich sent his condolences and offered state help in the case."Saddened to learn about last night's shooting in Cincinnati," Kasich said on Twitter. "Our prayers are with the victims and families of all of those involved."Cameo Nightlife's Facebook page says it features "College Friday's" for students 18 and older and "Saturday's 21+ grown and sexy night."The club, a large single-story structure, is a 11 km drive from downtown Cincinnati near the southeast corner of the city, the heart of the second largest metropolitan area in Ohio with more than 2 million residents.REUTERS PY PR2225 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0298-1204524.Xml
NEW YORK, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The United States banking industry is in a total safe state and it is ready for some deregulation to sustain development, former Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley John J. Mack has said here.

The regulatory oversight now is dramatic in the financial sector, the amount of capital that firms appearing is huge, and the amount of risk has been de-risked, Mack said in an event titled "Conversations with Global Business Leaders" in New York on Thursday.

Mack, the CEO who led the investment bank through the 2008 financial crisis, said that situation now is completely different from nine years ago in the banking industry.

The financial crisis in 2008 began with a crisis in the U.S. subprime mortgage market, and developed into a global banking crisis with the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers. Many considered that excessive risk taken by banks was the major cause of the crisis.

"Today there are a lot more regulation; the Federal Reserve is much more involved in the risks that investment banks take. The banks clearly remember what they went through, there is much more focus on risk control," Mack said.

"Now I don't see any risk from overexposure too much leverage, also we have done a lot of work on cleaning up the housing market and mortgages," he added.

In response to the 2008 financial crisis, former U.S. President Barack Obama enacted a bill called the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010.

Under the law, regulators introduced strict capital standards on banks, called for annual stress tests for systemically important banks, and created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

However, U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to scale back Dodd-Frank Act, saying the Wall Street reform law is a "disaster" and "horrible" for business vitality.

The financial sector in the stock market posted sharp gains since Trump was elected, surging 18 percent on his promise to cut bank regulations.

Trump's viewpoints were echoed by Mack, who said that too much regulation may hurt the market.

"There does need some change in the regulatory oversize," he said. "The stocks may go down in the future with too much control."
NANNING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A military transport plane used in the World War II was put on permanent display in China to honor an American air squadron which helped the Chinese fight against Japanese aggression.

The C-47 aircraft was placed in the Flying Tiger Heritage Park in the city of Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The park is built on the site of Yangtang Airfield, which served as the command base where the "Flying Tigers", the moniker of American Volunteer Group, launched missions throughout southern China.

The 72-year-old aircraft was purchased by the American Flying Tiger Historical Organization from Australia in 2016. After a major repair, the organization's president Larry Jobe led a five-member crew with an average age of 71.8 years to fly the C-47 all the way to China.

It particularly repeated a flight of the treacherous Hump, or the "death route" over the Himalayan mountains, operated jointly by China and the United States to transport military supplies from India to China from 1942 to 1945.

The Flying Tigers were formed in 1941 led by U.S. General Claire Lee Chennault to help China drive out invading Japanese troops.

After a brief period of intensive training, Gen. Chennault led the Flying Tigers to China. In their first air combat in December 1941, the Flying Tigers downed six enemy bombers and damaged four.

In the ensuing six months, the Flying Tigers fought more than 100 combats, shooting down 272 enemy aircraft and destroying another 225 on the ground, which earned them great appreciation and praises.
Most people in this area eagerly await spring, but for those who struggle with seasonal allergies, the warmer weather is a mixed blessing.

Basking outdoors on the longer, sunny days makes you vulnerable to pollens that trigger allergy symptoms such as congestion, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, sore throat and exercise-induced asthma.

Spring allergy season usually revs up when the thermometer reaches 60 degrees for three or four days, experts say. Thats when pollen from trees and shrubs starts moving through the air.

Depending on where you live, that typically happens in April, said Dr. John Jacobsen, an allergy specialist with Altru Health System in Grand Forks.

Some trees are pollinated based on the number of hours of light theyve received each day, and the angle of sun, he said. Some of it depends on the temperature.

Allergy or cold?

Since some allergy symptoms mimic those of a cold, it may be difficult to tell the difference.

Seasonal allergy tends to be repetitive, Jacobsen said. Colds come and go. The symptoms last for three days to three weeks, with symptoms like a runny nose, head congestion, coughing.

Allergy symptoms last through a season -- March, April and May -- when trees are pollinated. In weed season, symptoms occur in August and September, even in July.

Mold season will last from spring until snow covers the ground, he said.

His approach to treating patients with allergies is to start with minimal or nonsedating antihistamines, he said. Generic forms are good.

As time goes by, there are more generic forms of these medications. The only difference is the price.

An antihistamine can be used every day or as needed, he said.

Seasonal allergies also can be managed with decongestants and nasal cortisone spray, such as Flonase, which can be used every day during allergy season, he said.

If these medications are not effective, allergy injections, administered by an allergy specialist, may be necessary.

We start with a tiny dose, Jacobsen said. If warranted, the dose and frequency are increased.

Some health professionals suggest taking allergy medications well before symptoms are expected to appear, but he is unconvinced that is necessary.

We used to say, if you know youre having a seasonal allergy, take medication a day or two in advance or a couple of hours ahead, Jacobsen said.

Now most meds have pretty rapid onset. With (products such as) Zyrtec, Claritin and Allegra, you get benefit within hours.

Side effects

While some medications tend to make the user drowsy, there are products on the market that dont -- or ones that lessen that effect.

Many over-the-counter meds are sedating, such as Benadryl, Jacobsen said.

The least-sedating products are Zyrtec, Allegra and Claritin.

However troubling, allergy symptoms are signs that the bodys defense system, the immune system, is fighting off substances it perceives as foreign.

But its an unnecessary fight -- one that scientists dont fully understand, he said.

Allergens are not invading the body. Theres no real reason to fight off ragweed pollen or tree pollen.

Having grown up on a farm in central Nebraska, he knows the problems allergies create because he fought allergies in his youth.

Especially in the fall, the ragweed is terrible, he said. Youre sneezing, snorting, your eyes are watering, and youre half-blind from allergies.

Some of the most common recommendations are not all that practical.

The advice is to stay indoors, close windows and use air conditioning, Jacobsen said. But if youre young and active, thats hard to do.
OSLO, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Some Norwegian environmental organizations criticized the government's decision on 20 percent biofuel in all cars in 2020, calling it a "political comfort pillow" and an "unreasonable environmental measure," newspaper Aftenposten reported Saturday.

Frederic Hauge, leader of Bellona Foundation, said the parliamentary decision to increase the turnover requirement for biofuels to 20 percent in 2020 joins a number of "unreasonable environmental measures from that side."

"We do not doubt the good intentions, but both biofuels and plug-in hybrids are more about political negotiations based on symbols and lobby than on facts," Hauge said.

Several Norwegian newspapers have recently published a number of articles on the reality of the ambition to increase blending of biofuels and its consequences. This has sparked a fierce debate, also among the leaders of different environmental organizations.

Truls Gulowsen, leader of Greenpeace Norway, expressed scepticism about biofuels as a good climate solution, since this would lead to further use of the internal combustion engine.

Hauge stressed that he and Bellona are very interested in biomass as part of the solution to gain control of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. But on boats and planes, not cars.

However, environmental organization Zero supports the government's decision that was taken before Christmas. Its leader Marius Holm disagrees with Greenpeace that biofuels will promote further use of the internal combustion engine.

"We believe in opposite, that biofuels initiative will accelerate the phasing out of the internal combustion engine," Holm said, adding that biofuels will be "used to replace fossil in aircraft, ships, and heavy vehicles where electrification has not come as far."
TEHRAN, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The third airbus passenger plane, purchased from the French company following the removal of western sanctions against the Islamic republic, has landed in the capital Tehran, Press TV reported on Sunday.

The Airbus A330 landed at Mehrabad International Airport on Saturday morning.

It joined another A330 and a smaller A321 delivered to Iran in March and January this year as Iran's brand-new planes in over 37 years.

The delivery of the planes takes place within a batch of 100 jets purchased by Iran Air recently to renew its aged passenger fleet.
DEAD SEA, Jordan, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Permanent representatives at the Arab League on Saturday adopted a resolution considering the presence of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries a temporary situation.

At their meeting at the Dead Sea Saturday as part of preparatory meetings for the 28th Arab Summit, they said the resolution, which was brokered by Jordan, calls for setting up a mechanism to support countries that host Syrian refugees.

The resolution, they said, entails sharing the burdens of hosting large numbers of Syrians refugees among the Arab states.

The resolution, announced at the meeting Saturday, indicated that the presence of a large number of Syrian refugees in neighboring countries is a temporary condition and stressed on the need to create the necessary environment for the refugees to be able to return to their homes and contribute to the reconstruction of their country.

It also called on the international community and the donor countries to shoulder their responsibilities in supporting host communities.

One of the resolutions adopted Saturday commended Jordan's historic role in protecting the holy Islamic and Christian sites in Jerusalem and stressed on rejection of any Israeli attempts to alter the situation in Jerusalem.

The resolution underlined that the Palestinian issue is a central issue for the Arab nation and stressed on the Palestinian's right in statehood.

Arabs also stress on their commitment to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which entails that Arab normalize ties with Israel in return for withdrawal from territories it occupied in 1967.

The resolution also calls on the international community to recognize the state of Palestine. It also condemns all Israeli settlement activities and discrimination against the Palestinians.

The resolution, which among others will be referred for Arab leaders for endorsement, stressed on the support for the steadfastness of the Palestinians in the face of Israeli aggression.
NEW DELHI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 people were injured in a series of high-intensity explosions that rocked an ordnance factory in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh Saturday night, a senior police official said.

"The cause of the explosions is not ascertained yet. But the explosions triggered a fire inside Ordnance Factory Khamaria and fire tenders have been pressed into service," he said.

"Those injured have been admitted to a nearby army hospital, where five are said to be critical," he said.

Local TV channels reported, quoting unnamed sources, that some workers may have been trapped under the debris of the factory building which partially collapsed in the impact of the explosions.

"Indian army personnel have arrived at the spot and joined the fire fighters in the rescue work. Reports of some people being trapped inside is being verified," the police official said.

The ordnance factory was established in 1942. It manufactures ammunition components, hardware, shell, primer and cartridge cases for medium and high calibre ammunition for the defense sector.

Explosive filling and assembly of medium and high calibre ammunition including small arms are also done at the factory.
DEAD SEA, Jordan, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said Saturday that a U.S. presidential envoy will attend the 28th Arab Summit held in Jordan.

Speaking at a press conference at the summit's media centre, Momani said the summit will also be attended by United Nations Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

The UN official will also take part in the Arab foreign ministers meeting and will brief them on the latest developments in Geneva talks between the Syrian regime and the opposition, said Momani.

He added that representatives from the UN, Russia and the EU will also take part in the summit.

Referring to issues discussed during the preparatory meetings for the Arab Summit, Momani said the Arab League officials discussed the threat of terrorism and extremism and means to address them.

Discussions also focused on the need that Arab states take the lead in the fight against terrorism especially since terrorists seek to tarnish the image of Islam.

The Arab Summit, he said, will work on unifying Arab stances regarding the various issues.

Arabs also stressed on their rejection of relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, said the minister.

Stressing that there was a "positive atmosphere" during the summit, Momani said efforts are ongoing to enhance ties between all Arab states.
GDANSK, Poland, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The 24th edition of AMBERIF, the International Fair of Amber, Jewellery and Gemstones, concluded in Gdansk, northern Poland on Saturday.

Running from March 22 to 25, the four-day event is the most important amber exhibition and the largest jewellery event in Central and Eastern Europe.

A total of 460 companies from 16 countries, including industry exhibitors, took part in the event.

It was a perfect opportunity to observe latest trends and technologies and products showcased by both small studios and large amber jewellery companies. Apart from that, importers of watches, gold and silver jewellery, manufacturers and importers of machines, tools and technologies were present at the event.

The event was accompanied by the AMBER LOOK trends & styles 2017 Amber and Fashion Gala and Amberif Design Award International Amber Jewellery Design Competition.
by David Musyoka

NAIROBI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Saturday called on humanitarian and development actors working on Somalia to return to help in the reconstruction of the Horn of Africa nation.

Speaking at the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Special Summit of Regional Heads of State on durable solutions for the protracted Somali refugee situation in Nairobi, Mohamed said several parts of Somalia are largely peaceful despite attacks from the militants.

"We understand that there are serious security limitations in certain areas, but the vast majority of our country is relatively peaceful. And experience shows us that, when partners operate within Somalia, their impact is qualitatively better than those operating remotely," Mohamed said.

He pledged to increase security for all relief agencies in the Horn of Africa nation and promised to fix humanitarian challenges to enable agencies to work from inside Somalia.

The Horn of Africa nation has been mired in conflict since civil war broke out in 1991 and is one of the most difficult countries for relief agencies to operate in.

The UN says over 100 violent incidents resulted in the death of nine, injury of 11, arrest and detention of 16, abduction of three and physical assault of five humanitarian personnel also took place by September 2016.

The Islamist group Al-Shabaab which is fighting to topple the Western-backed government has been targeting humanitarian workers for political gain, sometimes demanding ransom in order to free the hostages.

Mohamed said his government will implement various projects and programs in partnership with the agencies.

"My administration will empower relevant line ministries to cooperate with all of you. And we will hold each other accountable to achieving declared objectives," he said.

He said the problem of Somali refugees in the region has been going on for far too long and urged international community to move swiftly to find a lasting solution to the menace.

"I'm confident that you will continue to honor the institution of asylum as enshrined in the international humanitarian conventions and maintain our people in safety and dignity in the best tradition of African hospitality," Mohamed told the summit.

"From our side, we will increase our effort to jointly achieve the objective of this conference on the voluntary return of our people in a safe and dignified manner, and to provide durable solutions so that they can participate in the rebuilding of a prosperous and peaceful Somalia at peace and harmony with itself and its neighbors," he added. Enditem
NAIROBI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A regional summit on refugee situation in Somalia on Saturday proposed the establishment of a trust fund to help the reconstruction of the Horn of Africa nation.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta who hosted the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Special Summit on Somalia said mobilization of financial resources is a crucial component in the re-building of social and economic infrastructure in Somalia.

"In this regard, I propose the establishment of a Trust Fund for the reconstruction of Somalia under the auspices of IGAD," Kenyatta told leaders from Uganda, South Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia.

He told international humanitarian agencies to relocate back to Somalia as the Horn of Africa nation embarks on reconstruction path.

Kenyatta said the trust fund would mobilize resources for the provision of adequate housing, education facilities, healthcare centres and livelihood activities among others.

"I urge international community to join us in this initiative. Now that Somalia is stabilizing we must, all, stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters," he said.

Kenya hosted IGAD summit that brought together Eastern African heads of state to discuss the situation of Somali refugees in the region, as the threat of pervasive drought and food insecurity in Somalia looms.

The East African nation's role as host is marred by its continued insistence on closing Dadaab refugee camp, host to over 300,000 Somali refugees, by May.

Kenyatta said the remittances from Somalia's Diaspora can be tapped as part of a framework for rebuilding.

"We are informed by the World Bank that in 2015, Somalia received 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in remittances, which is almost a quarter of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP)," he said.

The Kenyan leader told the summit that there is also an available solution in the utilization of accelerated resettlement to third countries, as stipulated in the 1951 Refugee Convention.

"It is my hope that partner countries will open their doors to increase their resettlement quarter for Somali refugees," he said. Enditem
by Chripinus Omar and David Musyoka

NAIROBI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A regional summit on the plight of Somali refugees opened in Nairobi Saturday, with calls for Kenya to keep Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp open, as solutions are sought to end the long suffering of the refugees.

In his opening remarks, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta however called on the international community to act right to fully bring back Somalia into the fold of the international community of nations, as he rooted for durable solutions to the Somali refugees problem.

Kenyatta said the recent presidential elections in Somalia is the latest indication that Somalia is on the right track thanks to the determination of its people, the commitment by the African Union and the support of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

"The recent election of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed is the latest and clearest indication of the progressive success of our collective efforts, alongside the brave people of Somalia," said Kenyatta who hosted a special IGAD summit whose agenda was to find a lasting solution to return Somali refugees back to their homes.

Kenya has been pushing for the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp, citing security challenges that it faces as a result of the influx of refugees, who also include supporters of extremist groups.

"The refugee camp in Dadaab has lost its value as a ground for humanitarian assistance. It has become a source of terrorism," Kenyatta told the Summit in Nairobi.

He made a passionate appeal that turned focus on the refugees themselves and why it was the right time for them to go back home and participate in building their nation.

"A refugee camp was never meant to be a permanent home, nor is being a refugee a promise of losing your citizenship and your country," he said.

Kenyatta detailed that more than 400,000 refugees from Somalia have been cramped into the Dadaab refugee for more than two decades.

He said the camp has always operated with a fraction of the budget it requires and the life has been hard on the refugees.

Besides, the suffering for the refugees, the president said the camp has long lost its humanitarian character.

"It is not acceptable to us that a space that is supposed to provide safety and assistance is transformed to facilitate agents of terror and destruction," said Kenyatta.

The IGAD Special Summit on the plight of the Somali refugees was attended by heads of state including Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Salva Kiir of South Sudan, hosts, Kenyatta, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed of Somalia, Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. Sudan was represented by its Vice President Hassabo Mohamed Abdulrahman.

Somalia's newly-elected President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, also known as Farmajo, also attended the regional Summit alongside President Omer Guelleh of Djibouti to discuss long-term solutions to the crisis facing the refugees from Somalia, affected by twin crises of war and drought.

During the summit, Hailemariam Desalegn who is also the Chairman of IGAD Heads of State Summit outlined a series of measures to help deal with the refugee crisis and to handle the drought in the region.

Desalegn said the search for a lasting solution to the Somali refugee problem must be placed at the centre of peace and security efforts in the region.

He applauded the time of the summit, saying: "This meeting could hardly be more timely to address the plight of the Somali refugees."

The Ethiopian PM said his nation will keep her doors open to the refugees but also asked other countries to do the same.

"We are in the grip of a serious drought leading to the loss of livestock, a crisis which would inevitably make it difficult to recover. The refugee issue and the drought in Somalia is a global problem and a global approach is required," he said.

Saying Somalia President Mohamed has a clear vision to develop Somalia and address the problem of refugees, Desalegn called for enhanced capacity for the Somali Government to win the war against Al-Shabaab to ensure peace and security.

He encouraged development partners and financial institutions to continue supporting the resilience of refugee hosting countries and facilitate the voluntary repatriation and resettlement of refugees.

The leaders from the East African region, whose countries have been receiving an influx of refugees since the outbreak of the Somali political crisis, agreed to promote the safe return of the Somali refugees.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A new report from Stanford University researchers calls for China and the United States to work more closely together on solar energy with each country capitalizing on its particular strengths.

Recognizing China as the major driver of the global solar industry, the researchers with Stanford's Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance believe the rapidly expanding solar energy industry could contribute to curbing climate change only if governments and the private sector approach it more economically and efficiently.

"The Chinese are not only leading the world in terms of the manufacturing of solar equipment, but they are also the largest deployer of solar energy," said Dan Reicher, a co-author of the report and executive director of the Steyer-Taylor Center. "And they are getting increasingly competitive in the research and development area, which the U.S. has historically been dominating. With a new federal administration and a new Congress, this is the time to be thinking about what we want the U.S. role in solar industry to look like five, 10 years from now."

The center, a joint research center involving Stanford Law School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, unveiled the report, The New Solar System, this week during an event at the Brookings Institution, a think tank based in Wahington D.C.

Solar power currently supplies about 1 percent of global electricity, but the International Energy Agency predicts that solar photovoltaic technology, namely panels that convert sunlight into electricity, could grow to 16 percent by the middle of this century.

The U.S. government should embrace a globalizing solar industry, continue to invest in the deployment as well as research and development (R&D) of solar energy, and prioritize plans that reduce the cost of solar power, the researchers said, adding that the government should encourage research collaborations with China.

Arguing that solar R&D has a greater long-term economic value to the U.S. than solar manufacturing, the researchers suggested reforming a federal policy that requires those who accept U.S. federal funding for solar research and development to promise to manufacture the resulting technologies "substantially" in the Unted States. Created in an effort to maximize U.S. solar-manufacturing jobs, the current policy may instead diminish the quality of the research ideas being funded by the federal government.

The researchers analyzed the current state of China's solar industry, debunking several myths that are prevalent in Western countries. "China's solar industry and market is grossly misunderstood in the West," said Jeffrey Ball, the scholar-in-residence at the Steyer-Taylor Center and the report's lead author. For example, there is a perception that the global solar industry is centralizing in China and that its solar market is largely closed to foreign investment. However, the researchers found that China's dominant solar companies are, as they grow larger, increasingly tapping international capital and spreading their operations across the globe.

In addition, the study found that top Chinese officials and corporate executives are eager to apply a range of more efficient financing mechanisms that have been used in the West to dramatically scale up solar deployment in China, already the world's largest solar market, which represents a potentially valuable opportunity for America and other countries in the West.

Another Western perception is that China doesn't innovate, but uses other countries' technological advances to bring down its manufacturing costs. While it's true that manufacturing processes have been China's strength, the country is intensifying its solar R&D efforts, according to the report. And, Chinese researchers are producing increasingly notable results in solar research. For example, Trina Solar, one of the world's largest solar manufacturers, recently became the first China-based firm to be recognized by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory as having achieved a world record in the efficiency of a laboratory-scale multi-crystalline-silicon cell, the type of solar cell that dominates the global market.

"China has very ambitious targets for solar, and as a manufacturer and deployer of solar it already dwarfs the U.S.," Ball was quoted as saying in a news release from Stanford. "The goal for the United States should not be to beat China. It should be to play to U.S. comparative advantages -- to craft policies to reduce the cost of solar power for the benefit of the world and, in the process, for the benefit of the U.S."

"There is an array of decisions the U.S. government is in charge of making that will have serious implications for the future of the U.S. solar industry," said Reicher. "This is a good moment to consider them in serious depth."
LONDON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Central London was brought to a standstill on Saturday as tens of thousands of people gathered to protest against Britain's departure from the European Union (EU).

From the London's Park Lane to the Houses of Parliament, the crowds, many carrying pro-EU banners, marched more than 3 kilometers to demonstrate their call for Britain to remain within the EU.

The protest came on the day when leaders of 27 EU member states gathered in Rome to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome which paved the way for the EU.

It also came just days before British Prime Minister Theresa May finally triggers Article 50, the mechanism laid down by the EU for a member state wishing to leave. May has announced she will send her letter next Wednesday to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

March organisers, Unite for Europe, held talks with the Metropolitan Police in London and city officials following this week's attack on Westminster. The authorities agreed the march could continue as planned.

A number of leading pro-EU politicians addressed the crowds during the demonstration. The event, accompanied by a band, went quiet during a minute's silence in memory of those killed and injured in this week's attack.

One of the speakers, MP Nick Clegg who was deputy prime minister in David Cameron's coalition government, told the crowd: "I was profoundly saddened by the outcome of the referendum, but that sadness has given way to a perpetual sense of anger about the choices that Theresa May and her government have taken since."

He accused May of threatening to turn Britain into "a bargain basement cowboy economy."

London MP David Lammy said there are a lot of people against Brexit in Britain, adding that in democracies people are always allowed to change their minds.

Many EU nationals living in London joined the march, while some demonstrators waved EU flags to show their support.

A spokesman for Unite for Europe said: "We want to remain in the European Union. We value the peace, friendships, relationships, rights, business and academic collaborations, economic prosperity and outward-looking attitude that EU membership delivers.

"We are the 48 percent, who voted against Brexit and those who were not allowed to vote against it -- the young and the EU nationals living, working and paying taxes in the UK. We are outraged by the government's current direction in dealing with the result of the referendum."

The march also came as the MP Douglas Carswell, the only politician in the House of Commons from the pro-leave UKIP party, announced his resignation from UKIP. He will continue to serve as an MP as an independent member.

Explaining his reason for leaving, Carswell said following the referendum result by Britain to leave the EU, the job of UKIP had been done. Carswell had fallen out with former UKIP leader Nigel Farage who said on social media that Carswell had jumped before he could be pushed.
DAMASCUS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 22 people were killed Saturday by airstrikes on rebel-held areas in the eastern countryside of the capital Damascus, a monitor group reported.

The airstrikes targeted several areas in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, as part of the government forces counter offensive against the rebels' major attacks on the capital.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 10 children and women were among those killed by the airstrikes.

The airstrikes came a day after the Syrian army announced repelling the rebel offensive on the capital, and striking the depth of the rebel-held areas in Ghouta area.

The offensive of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and other jihadi groups started last Sunday with suicide car bombs and relentless mortar shelling on the capital.

On Saturday morning, Syrian warplanes were roaring in the Damascus skies, with smoke seen rising from eastern Damascus.

The jihadi offensive on Damascus was coupled with another attack on government positions in the central province of Hama.

Both attacks were said to aim to pressure the Syrian government into giving concessions to the opposition during the currently-underway intra-Syrian talks in Geneva.

Earlier in the day, the Syrian army captured the city of Kokab in Hama countryside from the rebels, who stormed this city and other areas there during their current offensive.

Activists said 40 rebels were killed during the Syrian army's offensive to retake Kokab.

Meanwhile, state news agency SANA said that the Syrian army has expanded its operations in the northern countryside of Hama against the rebel offensive in that area.

It also said that the military forces captured new areas in the eastern countryside of the northern province of Aleppo, following battles with the Islamic State (IS) group.

SANA said the army secured the evacuation of 5,000 people from areas under the IS control in eastern Aleppo countryside through secure passages to other safe areas.
RABAT, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's PM Saadeddine El Othmani announced here on Saturday the formation of a new governmental coalition.

El Othmani told the press that the new coalition will consist of six parties, namely his Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), the liberal National Rally of Independents (RNI), the nationalist Popular Movement (MP), the Constitutional Union Party (UC), the leftists parties of Socialist Union of Popular Forces Party (USFP) and the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS).

The designated PM said that the parties will decide later on the ministries portfolios, adding that they will work on setting up an efficient government that live up to the expectations of the people as well as the challenges facing the country.

While his predecessor Abdelah Benkirane took over the PM post five months without forming a government, El Othmani succeeded in less than ten days to secure a comfortable majority of 395-seat parliament.

Benkirane restricted the membership of the new government to the parties making up the previous coalition and refused to add up any other party. Two of his former partnering parties, RNI and MP, however, refused his offer on the basis that they already formed an alliance with UC and USFP.

Having the green light from the part, El Othmani accepted to form a government with his close ally PPS as well as the four allying parties.
MEXICO CITY, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The value of Mexico's mezcal exports rose to 26.8 million U.S. dollars in 2016, marking a startling 35 percent rise on the previous year, the Ministry of Agriculture announced Saturday.

The statement stated that exports of the alcohol distilled from the agave cactus, the origins of which go back to the pre-Hispanic era, rose by more than 7 million U.S. dollars as new markets opened up.

The U.S. led the list of mezcal importers by far accounting for 17.2 million U.S. dollars, followed by France, Spain, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Colombia.

The majority of its expansion also came from the U.S., which imported 12.1 million U.S. dollars in 2015, although France seems to be acquiring a growing taste for the drink, going from 85,000 U.S. dollars in 2015 to 757,000 U.S. dollars in 2016.

In total, mezcal was exported to 38 markets last year, including Asian markets such as China, Japan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, read the statement.

The total volume of mezcal exported also grew by 30.6 percent year-on-year to reach 2.7 million liters.

Eight states across Mexico have the right to produce labelled mezcal, with the southern state of Oaxaca being considered the birthplace of Mexico's iconic drink.
A technician walks insolar panels in Golmud, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Sept. 5, 2016. Qinghai benefited from solar panels with annual electricity output reached 20 billion kilowatt-hours. (Xinhua/Zhang Hongxiang)

SAN FRANCISCO, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A new report from Stanford University researchers calls for China and the United States to work more closely together on solar energy with each country capitalizing on its particular strengths.

Recognizing China as the major driver of the global solar industry, the researchers with Stanford's Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance believe the rapidly expanding solar energy industry could contribute to curbing climate change only if governments and the private sector approach it more economically and efficiently.

"The Chinese are not only leading the world in terms of the manufacturing of solar equipment, but they are also the largest deployer of solar energy," said Dan Reicher, a co-author of the report and executive director of the Steyer-Taylor Center. "And they are getting increasingly competitive in the research and development area, which the U.S. has historically been dominating. With a new federal administration and a new Congress, this is the time to be thinking about what we want the U.S. role in solar industry to look like five, 10 years from now."

The center, a joint research center involving Stanford Law School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, unveiled the report, The New Solar System, this week during an event at the Brookings Institution, a think tank based in Wahington D.C.

Solar power currently supplies about 1 percent of global electricity, but the International Energy Agency predicts that solar photovoltaic technology, namely panels that convert sunlight into electricity, could grow to 16 percent by the middle of this century.

The U.S. government should embrace a globalizing solar industry, continue to invest in the deployment as well as research and development (R&D) of solar energy, and prioritize plans that reduce the cost of solar power, the researchers said, adding that the government should encourage research collaborations with China.

Arguing that solar R&D has a greater long-term economic value to the U.S. than solar manufacturing, the researchers suggested reforming a federal policy that requires those who accept U.S. federal funding for solar research and development to promise to manufacture the resulting technologies "substantially" in the Unted States. Created in an effort to maximize U.S. solar-manufacturing jobs, the current policy may instead diminish the quality of the research ideas being funded by the federal government.

The researchers analyzed the current state of China's solar industry, debunking several myths that are prevalent in Western countries. "China's solar industry and market is grossly misunderstood in the West," said Jeffrey Ball, the scholar-in-residence at the Steyer-Taylor Center and the report's lead author. For example, there is a perception that the global solar industry is centralizing in China and that its solar market is largely closed to foreign investment. However, the researchers found that China's dominant solar companies are, as they grow larger, increasingly tapping international capital and spreading their operations across the globe.

In addition, the study found that top Chinese officials and corporate executives are eager to apply a range of more efficient financing mechanisms that have been used in the West to dramatically scale up solar deployment in China, already the world's largest solar market, which represents a potentially valuable opportunity for America and other countries in the West.

Another Western perception is that China doesn't innovate, but uses other countries' technological advances to bring down its manufacturing costs. While it's true that manufacturing processes have been China's strength, the country is intensifying its solar R&D efforts, according to the report. And, Chinese researchers are producing increasingly notable results in solar research. For example, Trina Solar, one of the world's largest solar manufacturers, recently became the first China-based firm to be recognized by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory as having achieved a world record in the efficiency of a laboratory-scale multi-crystalline-silicon cell, the type of solar cell that dominates the global market.

"China has very ambitious targets for solar, and as a manufacturer and deployer of solar it already dwarfs the U.S.," Ball was quoted as saying in a news release from Stanford. "The goal for the United States should not be to beat China. It should be to play to U.S. comparative advantages -- to craft policies to reduce the cost of solar power for the benefit of the world and, in the process, for the benefit of the U.S."

"There is an array of decisions the U.S. government is in charge of making that will have serious implications for the future of the U.S. solar industry," said Reicher. "This is a good moment to consider them in serious depth."
BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The development of China-Africa relations has picked up speed since the country put forward a notion on its policy towards the continent four years ago, with their major infrastructure cooperation projects gaining momentum.

During a visit to Africa in March 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed developing relations with Africa with sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith.

At the second summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in December 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa, China announced that it would roll out 10 major plans to boost cooperation with Africa in the coming three years, in areas including infrastructure.

The following is a brief introduction of the two sides' major infrastructure cooperation projects which have drawn worldwide attention.

Lobito-Luau railway in Angola

In February 2015, a 1,344-km railroad project spanning Angola was completed and put into operation.

The line, built by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited, boasts the fastest traveling speed in Angola and serves as a significant economic corridor in the country.

The railway, linking the coastal city of Lobito in the west and Luau city that borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, is the second longest railway built by a Chinese company for Africa after the Tanzania-Zambia Railway.

Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (AA-LRT) in Ethiopia

The electrified AA-LRT was the first light railway in Africa with two lines with a total length of 34 km. The project, built by China Railway Group Limited, became operational in September 2015.

The rail service, estimated to transport about 60,000 passengers per day, helps ease people's travels in the Ethiopian capital.

Kigamboni Bridge in Tanzania

The bridge, built by China Railway Construction Engineering Group and China Railway Major Bridge Group, was inaugurated in the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam.

The 680-meter-long bridge, the first of its kind in eastern and central Africa, connects Dar es Salaam's business district with Kigamboni Creek.

The bridge, 32 meters wide, has six lanes, three in each direction. It also has two 2.5-meter-wide pedestrian and cyclist lanes, one on each side.

The 135 million-U.S.-dollar project funded by the Tanzanian government and the National Social Security Fund is expected to contribute to the country's economic growth.

Abuja-Kaduna railway in Nigeria

The railway, built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, covers a distance of 186.5 km and links the capital city of Abuja and the northwestern state of Kaduna. It has nine stations and a designed speed of 150 km per hour.

Built in 2011, the railway became operational in July 2016. It is part of Nigeria's railway modernization initiative aimed at replacing the existing narrow gauge system with the wider standard gauge system while allowing high-speed train operations on the railway network.

Ethio-Djibouti railway

The 752.7-km railway linking the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and the port of Djibouti was inaugurated in October 2016.

The railway, with a designed speed of 120 km per hour, is Africa's first modern electrified railway. It is expected to help landlocked Ethiopia improve access to the sea and speed up a burgeoning industrialization process.

It took six years to complete the construction of the railway, which was implemented by China Railway Group Limited and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, with a total investment of 4 billion dollars.

Tanzania-Zambia railway

China, Zambia and Tanzania will work to revitalize the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, built with Chinese assistance in the 1970s as a monument to the China-Africa friendship.

Through a comprehensive reform of the management system, effectively linking the railway to ports, and building an industrial economic belt along the railway, it is hoped that the 1,860-km railway line will gain renewed vigor and help Tanzania, Zambia and other African countries realize independent and sustainable development.

Pointe Noire special economic zone

As a vital embodiment of enhanced China-Africa cooperation, China would help the Republic of Congo build a special economic zone in the harbor city Pointe Noire, in an effort to turn it into a flagship program for China-Africa production capacity cooperation and a model project for Africa's intensive development.

Garissa power plant

To encourage renewable energy and support the alleviation of poisonous gas emissions, China and Kenya jointly launched the construction of a 50-megawatt PV power plant in northeast Kenya's Garissa County in September 2016.

The project was financed by the Export-Import Bank of China, which provided a concessional loan of 13 billion KES (135 million dollars) for the largest PV power plant in east Africa.

According to the project's Chinese contractor, China's Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic and Technical Cooperation (CJIC), the plant, upon completion, will generate more than 7,600 kilowatt-hours of power each year and reduce a yearly carbon dioxide emission of 64,190 tons.
TRIPOLI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Libya's UN-backed government of national accord formed a security force of 3,000 fighters on Friday to secure the city of Sirte, according to an official statement.

"In accordance with this decision, a force will be formed under the ministry of defense to preserve the security and stability in Sirte and its outskirts" against any acts of terrorism, it said.

Sirte, located nearly 450 km east the capital Tripoli, was controlled by Islamic State (IS) affiliates for over a year before the unity government's forces took it over in December following a seven-month fight that killed and injured hundreds of government forces.

The new security force will "work to enable the state's military and security institutions, mainly police and regular military units, in Sirte to start working," the statement said.

Government forces announced on March 15 that IS affiliates continued to exist in some parts of Sirte, and decided to impose a curfew in the entire city and its outskirts.

Libya is controlled by many armed groups with shifting loyalties amid political division and unrest.
DHAKA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people were killed and about a dozen others injured in a fiery crash between a truck and a mini truck carrying day laborers in Bangladesh's Chuadanga, some 215 km west of Dhaka, on Sunday, a local police official said.

The Chuadanga district police official said the fatal road accident took place on a highway connecting the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka and southern Khulna divisional town, some 180 km southwest of the capital city.

The truck and the mini truck collided at around 6:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, said the official who did not like to be named.

The official confirmed the death of 10 people of the locally made mini truck, saying the toll might rise as some of the injured people from the mini truck were in critical condition.

The truck's driver has been detained.

The cause for the accident is not immediately available.

Bangladesh has one of the highest fatality rates for road accidents in the world mainly due to shoddy highways, poorly maintained vehicles, violation of traffic rules and lack of monitoring of the traffic department.

Thousands of people are killed in road accidents in Bangladesh every year, and many of the fatalities occur in rural areas.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull hold talks in Canberra, Australia, March 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

SYDNEY, March 26 (Xinhua) -- From Canberra to Sydney, from the annual meeting with his Australian counterpart to the CEO roundtable, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's exchanges with Australian politicians and local business leaders have boosted the two countries' relations.

Li's five-day official visit, the first to the Oceanian country by a Chinese premier in 11 years, has produced substantial outcomes in a wide range of areas, and proved to be a timely and fruitful visit.

A TIMELY, IMPORTANT VISIT

Li's visit was wrapped up on Sunday. The trip, described by Australian media as "an economic charm offensive," came at a time when protectionism is on the rise especially in some major developed economies, which is a grave concern for Australia, a long-term beneficiary of free trade.

Christine Holgate, CEO of Australian vitamin maker Blackmores, told Xinhua that she was worried about the anti-globalization trend around the world.

However, Holgate felt "inspired" by Premier Li's remarks about free trade and China-Australia economic ties.

"First, I have come for free trade. The world is seeing a rising tide of trade protectionism and growing backlash against globalization," Li said at a luncheon hosted by his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday.

"We are ready to enhance relevant cooperation with Australia and demonstrate to the region and the world our determination to uphold trade liberalization and economic globalization," Li added.

The reassuring note struck by Li about China's commitment to free trade is cheering news to Australian businesses.

China has been Australia's largest trading partner for the past eight years. It is a loyal buyer of Australian goods, from iron ore to red wine. China exports clothing, telecom equipment and parts to Australia.

The trade structure has put China in a trade deficit with Australia for years. Last year, trade between the two countries reached 107.8 billion U.S. dollars, with China seeing a deficit of more than 30 billion dollars.

"We ran a trade deficit of tens of billions of U.S. dollars against Australia last year. Of course, we don't like trade imbalances. Yet, we believe the solution to trade imbalances lies in further expanding our trade, rather than closing our doors," Li said at the luncheon.

Jennifer Westacott, CEO of Business Council of Australia, was at the luncheon, describing Li's visit as "timely" and "important."

"The two countries have reaffirmed the importance of free trade and open market, and the importance of not retreating into isolationism," Westacott told Xinhua.

When attending the China-Australia Economy and Trade Cooperation Forum on Friday, Li and Turnbull agreed to promote trade facilitation and liberalization.

China is ready to work with Australia to further open markets to each other in the spirit of fair trade, said Li at the forum.

Turnbull said that protectionism is "not a ladder to get out of the low-growth trap," but "a shovel to dig it deeper."

"We stand ready to work with other countries to support economic globalization and free trade, improve the global governance system and facilitate progress of mankind," Li said upon his arrival in an article published on Wednesday by The Australian, a local leading newspaper.

According to the outcome list of Li' s visit to Australia, the two countries agreed to shared commitment to an open world economy, and continued commitment to advancing global and regional trade and investment liberalization through the WTO, APEC and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

A FRUITFUL, INFLUENTIAL VISIT

This year marks the 45th anniversary of China's diplomatic ties with Australia.

Premier Li's visit to Australia has enhanced not only global confidence in trade facilitation and liberalization, but also business opportunities for both sides amid closer China-Australia ties.

"We are not a self-sufficient country, and a booming economic relationship with China is vital for us. If we lose that, moms and dads will lose their jobs, and factories will collapse," said Holgate, the Blackmores CEO.

Blackmores saw its business in China surge from almost zero five years ago to a volume accounting for 40 percent of its total business in 2016. Holgate attributed the growth to booming economic ties between the two countries and expected an even stronger growth following Premier Li' s visit.

To further bilateral economic ties and bring about more benefits to the two peoples, the two sides agreed to continue to implement the China-Australia FTA and work hard to usher in a new era of FTA-driven boom,according to the outcome list

The two sides will also enhance synergy between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Vision for Developing North Australia, and between their innovation strategies.

Cooperation in energy, resources, infrastructure, agriculture, animal husbandry, and scientific and technological innovation would also be expanded after the visit, said the list.

The two sides also agreed to enhance exchanges and cooperation in education, culture, tourism, security, law enforcement, anti-corruption and defense as well as at subnational levels, step up communication and coordination at the UN, G20, APEC, East Asia Summit and other multilateral institutions, and jointly promote world peace, stability and prosperity.

While announcing the establishment of the China-Australia Ministerial Dialogue on Energy, the two countries agreed to establish the China-Australia Innovation Dialogue and the China-Australia High-level Security Dialogue.

In the agricultural area, the two sides signed the Plan of Action (2017-2019) on Implementing Agricultural Cooperation Projects Between the Ministry of Agriculture of China and the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.

On science and technology cooperation, the two countries agreed to continue the collaboration under the China-Australia Science and Research Fund in prioritized areas of advanced manufacturing, medical technology and pharmaceuticals, and resources and energy, with a budget of up to 6 million U.S. dollars from each side.

After his Australian trip, the Chinese premier will pay an official visit to New Zealand starting Sunday. This year also marks the 45th anniversary of China's diplomatic ties with New Zealand.
Stephen Hawking, beamed as hologram, delivers speech at the Hong Kong Science Park March 25, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang shen)

HONG KONG, March 25 (Xinhua) -- "Could you hear me?" Stephen Hawking asked in his iconic computer-synthesized voice, getting a cheerful "yes" from hundreds of people in a speech hall at the Hong Kong Science Park.

"I can hear you, too," in seconds he replied, this time triggering from the audience even more exclamations: "Wow", "Cool"!

This dialogue on Friday night appeared to be a face-to-face chat, but according to the organizer, Hawking was actually sitting in front of a green screen in his office in Cambridge, only having his image beamed to a transparent screen in the hall in Hong Kong and presented to the audience as a digital human hologram.

In the over-one-hour speech, Hawking talked about his life experience and research progress, shared his views on topics from the beginning of time to Brexit, and encouraged the audience to tackle difficulties in life just as how he did.

The speech included a touching account of the world-famous physicist's early life, as well as flashes of his sense of humor.

Talking about how he almost lost confidence in life after his was diagnosed with a motor-neuron disease but regained momentum for continuing his research after meeting his future wife, Hawking said: "If I want to get married, I need to finish my Ph.D. and get a job."

When referring to his bestselling book A Brief History of Time, he joked: "I am sure you have all read it from cover to cover, so I shall be asking questions later."

This virtually-delivered speech was realized thanks to the augmented reality holographic technology that enables the "monetization of digital humans", or HumaGram, as called by the developer ARHT Media on its website.

ARHT Media, in cooperation with Chinese internet game developer NetDragon, demonstrated the technology for the first time in Hong Kong.

According to the company, the technology can "create living, deceased and even fictional HumaGrams, beam them over the public internet for live, two-way interaction".

ARHT Media President and CEO Paul Duffy said he hoped to use this technology to "bring" more outstanding figures to Hong Kong and provide inspirations for citizens here.

A university student in the audience told Xinhua after the event that he expected the speech to be longer and include a live Q&A session so that the audience can better experience the "interactive feature" as publicized by the developer.
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.
by Peter Mertz, Huang Heng

DENVER, the United States, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Beneath the gold-domed state capitol, Colorado Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper gave Republican President Donald Trump an American business salute, saying improved China-U.S. relations would benefit both countries.

"I suspect President Trump will work very hard building a positive relationship and I think he's going to look at China as an important ally and partner," Hickenlooper said.

"And if that's the case, I think good things can happen."

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, the two-term governor, who has a similar background to the U.S. president as a successful businessman, looked at Trump's potential success with China.

Hickenlooper was a successful businessman before suddenly turning his sights on politics, and was elected Denver mayor in 2003.

Just a few months ago, the Colorado politician of 14 years was considered a top pick to join Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's administration as vice-president or secretary of agriculture.

In the interview, Hickenlooper was openly gracious toward Trump, and shared his optimism about Trump's international agenda, especially concerning China.

"President Trump wants to rethink our international strategies, and that's not necessarily a bad thing," the governor said, noting that early American pioneers were entrepreneurs, unafraid to take a chance, work hard, and saw into the future.

"President Trump keeps giving indications he wants to be more isolated and not be engaged in the world, and I'm not sure if that's really true," he said.

"I think he's first and foremost a businessman and deal maker, and I'm cautiously optimistic he will come to recognize that when countries trade with each other, it creates wealth. It's one of the basic principles of wealth creation," the governor told Xinhua.

"They (China and the United States) have a natural self-interest in maintaining a growing economy worldwide, recognizing each other's autonomy, and providing motivation and incentive for each side to do well," said Hickenlooper.

"I think if you look over the last 20 years, the two countries really have benefited - they've created a relationship where both sides have benefited," he said.

Hickenlooper recalled his experience in 2015 when he took a business delegation to China. He was stunned by the high-speed bullet trains and transportation systems in the biggest, newest cities on Earth.

"Cities like Shanghai match New York City, Paris, Melbourne, or any modern international city in terms of beauty and excitement," the governor said, adding that the two countries also have some places showing a very traditional way of life, "like old west ranching and farming."

"I think China and the United States have so much to share, and I would argue that Colorado has many of the same qualities that China has," Hickenlooper said.

In a direct reference to Trump's pledge to stop jobs from leaving the country, Hickenlooper said that the best way to deal with the problem is to train and retool American workers instead of trade wars with other countries.

"Obviously there've been winners and losers as there is in any changing and growing economy, and I think in the United States we have perhaps not retrained people who have lost their careers and professions to outsourcing or automation," said the governor.

"But we'll figure that out, and we'll be able to get people back into a growing economy," he said, saying more investment and tourists from China would be helpful toward that goal.
MANILA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- At least four people have been killed and 23 others injured in a grenade explosion in Jolo, the largest of the Sulu islands in southern Philippines, the Philippine military said Sunday.

Col. Cirilito Sobejana, the commanded of Joint Task Force Sulu, said a suspect threw a grenade into a bakeshop in Jolo around 7 p.m. Saturday night that instantly killed three people and hurt more than 20 others.

He said one of the severely wounded victims died Sunday morning at a local hospital, where most of the injured were being treated.

"The suspect was arrested and now in police custody," Sobejana said.

Local police were still investigating the incident.
SOFIA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarians went to polls on Sunday to vote in the country's early parliamentary elections, with opinion polls predicting victory for the center-right GERB party or the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

As many as 12,081 polling stations were opened across the country at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and are due to close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), the Central Election Commission said. At the same time, 371 more ballot boxes are available in 70 countries for Bulgarians living abroad.

More than 6.8 million voters are eligible to elect 240 lawmakers from 4,680 candidates from 11 political parties and nine coalitions.

Only parties and coalitions that receive no less than 4 percent of the votes will enter the parliament. The votes cast for the others will be distributed proportionally among the qualified parties and coalitions.

Exit polls will be announced immediately after polls close, and the official results are expected on Thursday.

Kolyo Kolev, director of Mediana Polling Agency, in an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday predicted that 28.6 percent voters would support the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and 26.6 percent would back the GERB party. He said the margin of error of his prediction was within 3 percent.

Meanwhile, about 8-9 percent of the ballots will go to the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and the United Patriots, while Volya party would take some 8.5 percent, Kolev said.

Two other players -- the Reformist Bloc-People's Voice coalition and the ABV-Movement 21 coalition -- also had the chance to enter the parliament, Kolev said.

Direct BSP-GERB coalition for now was impossible and any other double coalition was not sufficient, so it would be extremely difficult to form a government, he said.

The elections were scheduled after the GERB party-led coalition cabinet resigned in mid-November last year, and the parliamentary parties failed to form a new cabinet.
PYONGYANG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The military of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) warned on Sunday the United States and South Korea against any attempt to stage a "special operation" to hit its leadership and military installations, including the nuclear arms base.

The Korean People's Army said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency that it is ready to "mercilessly smash the enemy's moves with its own style of special operation and preemptive attack, now that the sinister aim of the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean War maniacs' 'special operation' to hurt the dignity of the DPRK's supreme leadership has become clear, and they disclosed even the dangerous attempt at 'preemptive attack.'"

It accused the United States and South Korea of being "busy staging madcap joint military drills for aggression involving more than 300,000 troops, U.S. nuclear carrier Carl Vinson and B-1B and other nuclear strategic assets."
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor meets the press after winning the election in Hong Kong, south China, March 26, 2017. Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Sunday won the election of the fifth-term chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). (Xinhua/Qin Qing)

HONG KONG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor won the election of the fifth-term chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Sunday, vowing to do her utmost to safeguard the "one country, two systems" principle.

The Electoral Affairs Commission of the Hong Kong SAR declared that Lam garnered 777 of 1,163 valid votes, followed by Tsang Chun-wah with 365 and Woo Kwok-hing with 21.

A candidate wins the election when he or she obtains more than 600 valid votes in any round of voting and will be appointed by the central government, according to Hong Kong's Basic Law and the Chief Executive Election Ordinance.

After the appointment, the winner will take oath of office on July 1 and become the fifth-term chief executive.

In her speech to the press after winning the election, Lam said "I shall do my utmost to uphold 'one country, two systems' and to guard our core values."

"With care, listening and action, I will build a better Hong Kong," she said.

"The victory ...that I have in this election is very much the effort of my team and myself and the supporters who believe I can take Hong Kong forward."

She also said that she will give opportunities to young people, and her first priority will be to "heal the divide."

Another candidate Tsang Chun-wah conceded his defeat and called on his supporters to back the upcoming new administration.

"I accept this outcome," he said, asking his supporters to "lend her your support."

Incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying on Sunday congratulated Lam for winning the fifth-term chief executive election.

"The fifth-term chief executive election has just concluded smoothly," Leung said in a statement on the results of the election.

"I extend my sincere congratulations to Mrs. Carrie Lam (Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor) on her successful election and I will submit later today a report of the election results to the Central People's Government," he said.

Leung said the present-term government of the Hong Kong SAR and he himself will ensure a "seamless transition," adding that "we will fully support the preparation for forming the new term of government."

Related:

Election fair, Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor meets standard: central gov't

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said Sunday that the election of the chief executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was fair and the newly elected HKSAR chief executive meets the established standards. Full story

Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor vows to lead Hong Kong forward in solidarity
PYONGYANG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sunday expressed its wish to strengthen ties with Bangladesh as the South Asian nation celebrated the 46th anniversary of independence.

Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, sent a message of greeting to Abdul Hamid, president of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, on the occasion of the Independence Day, said the Korean Central News Agency.

Kim in the message expressed belief that the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries would continue to strengthen in conformity with common interests, and wished the president great success in the work for the happiness and prosperity of the people of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh gained independence in 1971 after fighting a partition war with Pakistan.
BOAO, China, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China's Belt and Road Initiative is doing a key job in restructuring the global production value chain amid profound changes in the post-crisis world, agreed government and business leaders attending an forum here for promoting cooperation across Asia.

Traditional international investment and trade structure is undergoing a readjustment, they said during the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia held in south China's Hainan province.

Dwindling investment from the developed world and the rich countries' focus on rebooting their own manufacturing industry will result in sluggish trade and production around the world.

Pessimists are talking about the end of globalization. However, scholars are pointing to a new type of globalization that will be driven more by the East than the West.

ENHANCED INTER-CONNECTIVITY, BETTER COOPERATION

"Opening-up" has been a catch phrase by Chinese officials for quite a few decades. While sticking to its pledge for common development and shared prosperity with the rest of the world, China is pressing ahead with its supply-side structural reform.

The painstaking job promises to optimize China's growth mode and economic structure, enabling it to turn out better products and services for cooperative partners along the ancient trade routes, analysts said.

More than 30 years of opening up and rapid development since China adopted the policy of reform and opening to the outside world in 1978 have lifted China into the status of the world's second largest economy, Dong Wenbiao, chairman of China Minsheng Investment Group, told a special session on the Belt and Road Initiative in Boao.

It is transforming from a manufacturing powerhouse to a country stressing more on high-tech-led progress, said Dong, adding that "We hope to share our experience with the rest of the world, and the Belt and Road Initiative is a pilot project of such endeavors."

Proposed in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Belt and Road Initiative comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

The initiative has so far gained the support of over 100 countries and international organizations, and more than 40 of them have signed cooperation agreements with China.

According to Dong, Chinese investors attach great importance to training of local people, especially in less developed regions, in realization of the Belt and Road Initiative. The trainees include not only senior managers, but also technicians and other workers.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is a very encouraging vision. Companies in Singapore welcome this initiative and they are very ready to help realize this vision," said Ann Sim, Senior Minister of the State of Singapore.

Sim said she can not think of a better example than the third government-to-government project between China and Singapore, or the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative (CCI), as a demonstration project within the framework of this initiative.

The CCI, after the launch of two government-led projects, the Suzhou Industrial Park in 1994 and the Tianjin Eco-City 2008 respectively, has demonstrated Singapore's support and dedication to the Belt and Road Initiative. It enhances the link between Chongqing and the rest of China, and with Southeast Asia in terms of transportation, finance and development of high technology.

"A strong connectivity is important for any country that is open to free trade," she said.

Portuguese Economy Minister Manuel Caldeira Cabral said his country is not only interested in Chinese investment in the energy and financial sectors, but also believes this investment has opened a door for China to reach deeper into Europe.

"Considering the special status and geographical position of Portugal, Chinese investment here also creates a platform for bringing the Belt and Road Initiative into Latin America and Africa," the minister was upbeat when talking about the strategy during the Boao forum.

GLOBALIZATION 2.0

The type of globalization is changing largely because of the rise of China and the "globalization 2.0" is more about investment, infrastructure and development rather than just trade in the old times, said Amitav Acharya, writer of the popular book "The End of American World Order" in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Acharya said that China's biggest push to globalization is construction of infrastructure. He invited attentions to the Belt and Road Initiative with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.

With an eye for a more inclusive, mutually beneficial and equitable globalization, China has invested 18.5 billion U.S. dollars in 56 economic and trade zones in countries along the routes.

The huge input has generated 1.1 billion dollars of tax and 180,000 jobs in host countries, Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said earlier this month.

"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."

Investments and advanced technologies from China will push for a gradual formation of the "Silk Road value chain," analysts said.

The large presence of Chinese companies, especially those with special advantages in high-speed railway construction, and nuclear power and communication engineering, will boost the industrialization and urbanization of the countries on routes of the initiative, they said.
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor meets the press after winning the election in Hong Kong, south China, March 26, 2017. Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Sunday won the election of the fifth-term chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). (Xinhua/Qin Qing)

HONG KONG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, winner of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR)'s fifth-term chief executive election, on Sunday vowed that she will lead Hong Kong forward in solidarity.

Lam made the pledge in her speech to the press after winning the election. She said she is ready to begin a new chapter in the journey together with Hong Kong people.

"The work of uniting our society to move forward begins now," she said, adding that during the election process, she heard a lot from people's hearts and learnt and experienced many new things.

Lam said she will discuss with people from various sectors on the development of Hong Kong, such as applying new resources in education, tackling housing problem and introducing new financial and tax measures.

She also stressed that she will "do my utmost to uphold 'one country, two systems' and to guard our core values."
PYONGYANG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The military of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Sunday warned the United States and South Korea against any attempt to stage a "special operation" to hit its leadership and military installations, including the nuclear arms base.

The General Staff of the Korean People's Army said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency that it is ready to "mercilessly smash the enemy's moves with its own style of special operation and preemptive attack, now that the sinister aim of the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean War maniacs' 'special operation' to hurt the dignity of the DPRK's supreme leadership has become clear, and they disclosed even the dangerous attempt at 'preemptive attack.'"

It accused the United States and South Korea of being "busy staging madcap joint military drills for aggression involving more than 300,000 troops, U.S. nuclear carrier Carl Vinson and B-1B and other nuclear strategic assets."

"The situation has reached an extreme phase which should not be overlooked," the General Staff said in the statement.

The statement urged Washington and Seoul to think twice about the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by their outrageous military actions.

On March 13, combined forces of South Korea and the United States kicked off the annual command post exercise code-named Key Resolve, following the launch on March 1 of the joint field training drill with the code-name of Foal Eagle. The DPRK has denounced the joint military exercises as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.

The U.S.-South Korea commands will exercise a so-called Operation Plan 5015 during the Key Resolve drill, according to local media reports. The operation plan includes preemptive strikes against the DPRK's nuclear and missile facilities when signs of attack are detected.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives with his wife Cheng Hong in Wellington, New Zealand, March 26, 2017, for an official visit to New Zealand at the invitation of his New Zealand's counterpart Bill English. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

WELLINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here on Sunday for an official visit to New Zealand, the first to the Oceanian country since he took office as Chinese premier in 2013.

Li, accompanied by his wife Cheng Hong, arrived in Wellington as the guest of his New Zealand counterpart, Bill English.

Li said he is very delighted to visit New Zealand on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic ties, in a written statement upon his arrival.

For a long time, relations between the two countries, with substantial development, have been at the forefront among China's ties with developed countries, he said.

The premier said he expects to exchange in-depth views with the New Zealand side to enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields and strengthen friendship among the two peoples, so as to continuously promote the China-New Zealand ties to higher levels.

Noting the sluggish global economic recovery and the rising trend of anti-globalization and protectionism, the premier called on both sides to make joint efforts to send positive signals that China and New Zealand oppose protectionism and promote trade and investment liberalization.

Both China and New Zealand are advocates and implementers of free trade, Li said, adding that trade liberalization is not only in line with the two countries' common interests, but also beneficial to the stability, development and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific as well as the world.

During his four-day stay, Li is scheduled to hold talks with English and meet Governor-General Patsy Reddy and other officials. He will witness the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents in the capital.

Li will also pay a visit to Auckland, the largest city of the country, for a number of business and culture exchange activities.

The two sides are expected to expand cooperation in such areas as infrastructure, agriculture and husbandry, technological innovation, education, culture, tourism and civil aviation, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang told a press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

For his part, English expressed hopes for closer ties and cooperation between the two countries.

"The visit is an important opportunity to set the agenda for the next stage of our strong relationship and demonstrates our shared commitment to open trade and economic growth," English said in a statement.

Bilateral trade between China and New Zealand has increased nearly threefold compared with 2008, when the two countries reached a free trade agreement. The first round of negotiations on upgrading the deal will be held in the first half of this year.

The upgrading will bring more opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation, and push the two sides to increase market openness and reach consensus on such areas as services, trade and e-commerce, Zheng said.

It is the second and final leg of Li's trip to Oceania. He was in Australia for a five-day visit during March 22-26.
BLACK REPUBLICAN BLOG - The Republican Party is the party of civil rights and the four Fs: faith, family, freedom and fairness. The Democratic Party is the party of the four Ss: slavery, secession, segregation and socialism (Quote By Author Michael Scheuer).
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor meets the press after winning the election in Hong Kong, south China, March 26, 2017. Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Sunday won the election of the fifth-term chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). (Xinhua/Qin Qing)

HONG KONG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, winner of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR)'s fifth-term chief executive election, on Sunday vowed that she will lead Hong Kong forward in solidarity.

Lam made the pledge in her speech to the press after winning the election. She said she is ready to begin a new chapter in the journey together with the Hong Kong people.

"The work of uniting our society to move forward begins now," she said, adding that during the election process, she heard a lot from people's hearts and learnt and experienced many new things.

Lam said she will discuss with people from various sectors on the development of Hong Kong, such as applying new resources in education, tackling housing problem and introducing new financial and tax measures.

She also stressed that she will do her utmost to uphold "one country, two systems" and to guard Hong Kong's core values.

In her manifesto, Lam proposed to increase the recurrent expenditure for education by 5 billion HK dollars (about 644 million U.S. dollars). She said she would reach out to various stakeholders and legislators to discuss and decide how to apply these new resources.

"I am confident that we can put aside any differences and achieve a win-win situation," she said.

As for economic development, Lam proposed to apply financial and tax measures in a strategic way, by introducing a two-tier profits tax system and tax deductions to incentivize research and development.

She said she would invite employers and employees in all sectors as well as experts and academics to come up with ideas to help devise new plans.

On the housing issue, she said "I have pledged to help Hong Kong people attain home ownership and to improve living conditions. To do this, we need more usable land."

The key is to reach a consensus on how to increase land supply, she added.

In her speech, Lam also put emphasis on young people, saying large parts of her manifesto were inspired by them.

"In this campaign, I have felt deeply our younger people's strong desires and their passion for Hong Kong," she said.

Lam said there would be plenty of work to do in the next five years and the problems will not be easy to overcome. She believed that through caring, listening and taking action, an even better Hong Kong can be built.
Afghan policemen inspect the site of Taliban attack on a security checkpoint in Behsood district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, March 26, 2017. Two police personnel and three civilians were killed and two persons wounded in two separate clashes in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, the provincial government said on Sunday. (Xinhua/Rahman Safi)

JALALABAD, Afghanistan, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Two police personnel and three civilians were killed and two persons were wounded in two separate clashes in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, the provincial government said on Sunday.

Two policemen and two civilians were killed and one police wounded after Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint in Behsood district late on Saturday, it said in a statement.

The policemen manning the post also returned fire and several militants were killed and wounded during the gun battle, but their number could not be exactly specified as the militants evacuated their casualties, according to the statement.

In another attack, one child was killed and another teenage wounded when armed militants ambushed a security forces' patrol in neighboring Mumand Dara district in the province, 120 km east of the capital Kabul, also on Saturday evening, the statement noted.

The Taliban militants, who ruled the country before being ousted in late 2001, renewed armed insurgency, killing government troops as well as civilians.

The Taliban insurgency has been on the rampage since the beginning of 2015 when the Afghan security forces assumed full responsibilities of security from the U.S. and NATO troops.
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor meets the press after winning the election in Hong Kong, south China, March 26, 2017. Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Sunday won the election of the fifth-term chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). (Xinhua/Qin Qing)

HONG KONG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor won the election of the fifth-term chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Sunday, vowing to lead Hong Kong forward in solidarity.

The Electoral Affairs Commission of the Hong Kong SAR declared that Lam garnered 777 of 1,163 valid votes, followed by Tsang Chun-wah with 365 and Woo Kwok-hing with 21.

A candidate wins the election when he or she obtains more than 600 valid votes in any round of voting and will be appointed by the central government, according to Hong Kong's Basic Law and the Chief Executive Election Ordinance.

After the appointment, the winner will take oath of office on July 1 and become the fifth-term chief executive.

Lam, 59, said in her speech to the press after winning the election that she is ready to begin a new chapter in the journey together with the Hong Kong people.

"The work of uniting our society to move forward begins now," she said.

Lam said she will discuss with people from various sectors on the development of Hong Kong, such as applying new resources in education, tackling housing problem and introducing new financial and tax measures.

She also pledged to do her utmost to uphold "one country, two systems" and to guard Hong Kong's core values.

In her manifesto, Lam proposed to increase the recurrent expenditure for education by 5 billion HK dollars (about 644 million U.S. dollars). She said she would reach out to various stakeholders and legislators to discuss and decide how to apply these new resources.

"I am confident that we can put aside any differences and achieve a win-win situation," she said.

As for economic development, Lam proposed to apply financial and tax measures in a strategic way, by introducing a two-tier profits tax system and tax deductions to incentivize research and development.

She said she would invite employers and employees in all sectors as well as experts and academics to come up with ideas to help devise new plans.

On the housing issue, Lam had pledged to help Hong Kong people attain home ownership and to improve living conditions.

The key is to reach consensus on how to increase land supply, she said during the speech.

Meanwhile, another candidate Tsang Chun-wah conceded his defeat and called on his supporters to back the upcoming new administration.

"I accept this outcome," he said, asking his supporters to "lend her (Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor) your support."

Incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying on Sunday congratulated Lam for winning the election.

"I extend my sincere congratulations to Mrs. Carrie Lam (Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor) on her successful election and I will submit later today a report of the election results to the Central People's Government," Leung said in a statement.

Leung said the present-term government of the Hong Kong SAR and he himself will ensure a "seamless transition," adding that "we will fully support the preparation for forming the new term of government."

Between 2000 and 2017, Lam held various posts in the Hong Kong SAR government, including director of Social Welfare Department; permanent secretary for housing, planning and lands; director-general of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, as well as permanent secretary for home affairs.

She was appointed secretary for development in 2007. In 2012, she was appointed chief secretary for administration.

Related:

Election fair, Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor meets standard: central gov't

BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said Sunday that the election of the chief executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was fair and the newly elected HKSAR chief executive meets the established standards. Full story

Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor vows to lead Hong Kong forward in solidarity

HONG KONG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, winner of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR)'s fifth-term chief executive election, on Sunday vowed that she will lead Hong Kong forward in solidarity. Full story

Commentary: Everyone must work together for HK's future
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor meets the press after winning the election in Hong Kong, south China, March 26, 2017. Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Sunday won the election of the fifth-term chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). (Xinhua/Qin Qing)

HONG KONG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was elected fifth-term chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Sunday.

From the election of the election committee to Sunday's ballot, the procedure followed the HKSAR Basic Law, relevant decisions by the National People's Congress Standing Committee, and the electoral law of the HKSAR.

The process embodied the principles of openness, fair play and justice, demonstrating the seriousness of the election.

Chief Executive-elect Lam meets all the central government's standards for the role. She loves the country and loves Hong Kong, has the trust of the central government, proven governance capabilities and the support of the people of Hong Kong.

With nearly 40 years' experiences as a civil servant, Lam's diligence and devotion to her work has been widely applauded.

The election marks the beginning of a new journey for the region. How will people's consensus be pooled, and the "one country, two systems" principle and the Basic Law be implemented fully and accurately? Can Hong Kong ensure its prosperity and stability and achieve better development for the next five years?

These are not only the questions of Hong Kong's people, but define the mission of Lam and the new SAR government.

July 1 will be the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland and the "one country, two systems" undertaking will enter a new phase.

Hong Kong faces many challenges including slow economic upgrading and a lack of competitiveness as economic rivals appear around the globe.

In addition, filibustering by some opposition lawmakers in the SAR legislature has disrupted policy implementation. Pursuit of "Hong Kong independence" has had an even worse effect on social stability and severely handicaps Hong Kong.

The new chief executive has an in-tray filled difficulties which must be addressed if Hong Kong's development is to be assured for the next five years.

She must unite society and create harmony. She must work to develop the economy, find new sources of growth, speed up diversification and improve competitiveness. She must find ways to improve the lives, and she must resolve the problems that Hong Kong citizens care most about.

The new administration takes office just as the SAR celebrates its 20th birthday, and must accept responsibility for implementing the "one country, two systems" principle and the Basic Law steadfastly, without bending or distortion.

Running for election, Lam said that the "one country, two systems" principle had ensured Hong Kong's prosperity and stability for almost twenty years and she promised to strive for "a new peak."

At this historical point, the new chief executive should work with Hong Kong's citizens to make the most of opportunities as they present themselves. She must weather current difficulties and ensure that Hong Kong has a bright future of harmony, stability and prosperity.
KATHMANDU, March 26 (Xinhua) -- India has proposed to Nepal that it was ready to exchange banned Indian currency notes of 500 and 1,000 rupees up to 4,500 Indian rupees (68.8 U.S. dollars) for individuals in Nepal, way below the amount legally allowed to posses in the himalayan country, a senior official of Nepal's central bank said.

Nepal has allowed Nepalese individuals and Indian nationals to carry such notes to maximum 25,000 rupees (382 U.S. dollar) in Nepal since January 2015. But Indian currency notes denominated up to 100 rupees are freely exchangeable in Nepal since long.

Although India had made arrangement of exchanging the banned notes in India since they were banned on Nov. 8, 2016, it has not yet made arrangement of exchanging such notes from Nepal.

Officials of Nepalese central bank and visiting officials of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are holding discussion on the issue from Sunday.

"RBI officials have maintained that they could exchange the banned IC (Indian currency) notes up to 4,500 rupees possessed by individual in Nepal which we feel very low amount," said Bhisma Raj Dhungana, chief of foreign exchange management department of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), central bank of the Himalayan country. "But, we have requested the Indian side to exchange such notes up to the legally allowed 25,000 rupees."

According to NRB officials, two senior officials of RBI have come to negotiate on the matter and the two sides will continue negotiation until Monday.

Nepal's banks and financial institutions have held banned Indian currency notes worth 78.3 million rupees, according to NRB. But neither the central bank nor the government has any idea as to how much Nepalese individual citizens have possessed.

Nepalese traders involved in trade with India and the Nepalese migrant workers are supposed to have possessed such notes in abundant amount.

But Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) President Pashupati Murarka told Xinhua that he believed the traders do not have much banned Indian currency notes.

"Due to uncertainty over exchange of banned IC notes in Nepal, many traders have made settlement of such notes they had possessed in their own way," he said.

He also asked Nepal's central bank to make arrangement of exchanging banned Indian currency notes to the maximum limit as much as possible.
A picture taken on March 25, 2017, shows the damaged streets of the Old City of Mosul, during the government forces' ongoing offensive to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

BAGHDAD, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi military on Sunday blamed the Islamic State (IS) militant group for the killing of dozens of civilians at a house in the western side of Mosul.

A statement by the Joint Operations Command also denied that the house was bombed by airstrikes conducted by the coalition aircraft.

A team of experts dispatched to the scene of a destroyed house at a neighborhood in the western side of Mosul and discovered that all the walls of the house, which was completely destroyed, had been booby-trapped by IS militants.

The experts also found remains of a destroyed large booby-trapped truck beside the house, which could be the reason behind the house collapse, according to the statement.

It said that there was no evidence that the house was hit by an airstrike.

Earlier, media reports said hundreds of civilians were buried under the debris of their houses by heavy bombardments of U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi aircraft during the past few days.

On Friday, the United Nations expressed concerns about reports of civilian casualties in Mosul, and urged parties of the conflict to avoid such casualties.

"We are stunned by this terrible loss of life and wish to express our deepest condolences to many families who have reportedly been impacted by this tragedy," a UN statement quoted Lise Grande, the humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, as saying.

"Nothing in this conflict is more important than protecting civilians. All parties of the conflict are obliged to do everything possible to protect civilians. This means that combatants cannot use people as human shields and cannot imperil lives through indiscriminate use of fire power," Grande said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces, announced the start of an offensive on Feb. 19 to drive extremist militants out of the western side of Mosul, locally known as the right bank of the Tigris River which bisects the city.

Late in January, Abadi declared the liberation of Mosul's eastern side, or the left bank of Tigris, after over 100 days of fighting IS militants.

However, Mosul's heavily-populated western part with its narrow streets appears to be a bigger challenge to Iraqi forces.

Mosul, 400 km north of Iraqi capital of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when government forces abandoned their posts and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
COPENHAGEN, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Denmark's most visited zoo in the capital city of Copenhagen unveiled on Sunday the design of a planned enclosure for two giant pandas that are scheduled to come to Denmark from China around the end of next year.

The Panda House is a brainchild of Copenhagen Zoo in collaboration with two local architects and landscape companies, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and Schonherr A/S.

According to BIG, the design of the enclosure begins with a circular shape, formed by the surrounding existing facilities. The site will be divided into two parts, following the yin-yang symbol from China's traditional philosophy and creating separate enclosures for male and female pandas.

"The Panda House is designed to feel like the humans are the visitors in the pandas' home, rather than the pandas being exotic guests from faraway lands," according to a BIG presentation.

"The habitat creates the freest and most naturalistic possible environment for their lives and relationship with each other, having the freedom to roam about and the ideal conditions to mate," it added.

According to Copenhagen Zoo, director and CEO Steffen Straede, the Panda House will be located on the site where it is now the old Elephant House, a 103-year-old building that has been empty since the new elephant house was put into use.

"It means that the old Elephant House that has been empty since 2008 will be demolished to make room for the two prestigious zoo animals and a brand new recreation area for guests," said Straede.

He added that it has not been a simple decision to demolish the iconic building down, but a restoration would be too costly.

Construction of the Panda House will begin in November this year and last for 12 to 13 months. It is estimated that the whole project will need an investment of around 125-150 million Danish kroner (18-22 million U.S. dollars), said Straede, noting that he is still in search of funds and investors who want to be part of the project.

"We expect to attract guests from all over the world, and for me it is clear that the high-profile animals like the pandas call on an ambitious facility that will attract international attention," Straede said.

China and Denmark have agreed on the giant panda rental program during Queen Margrethe II's state visit to China in 2014.

Straede said this has embodied the long-term friendship and cooperation between the two nations, and hoped that the arrival of the two animals by the end of next year would help more Danes better know and understand China.

"We hope in the future we'll be more engaged in China's nature reservation efforts with our knowledge," Straede said.

"For us it is not only about panda but also about Denmark and China," he added.
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A Taliban senior commander Mullah Karimullah nicknamed Kalamullah has been arrested in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province, a security official said on Sunday.

The official who declined to be named said that Mullah Karimullah was detained following an intelligence report on Saturday and is currently held in custody.

Taliban militants are yet to make comment.

Mullah Karimullah is the younger brother of Taliban former shadowy governor for Kunduz province Mullah Salam who was killed in a drone attack in late February.
Learners at Groote Schuur High School pose for photos during the launch of Confucius Classroom in Cape Town, South Africa, March 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Werner Herboth)

CAPE TOWN, March 26 (Xinhua)-- South Africa on Friday opened its fourth Confucius Classroom, adding impetus to Mandarin learning in the country.

The Groote Schuur High School (GSHS) in Cape Town is the first among the four to be sponsored by the Confucius Institute.

Marius Ehrenreich, Principal of the school, said the Confucius Classroom provides a good opportunity to study Mandarin and the Chinese culture.

As more and more South Africans study Mandarin, friendship and cooperation between South Africa and China will grow, he said.

Kang Yong, the Chinese Consul General in Cape Town, said the past years have witnessed growing enthusiasm in studying Mandarin in South Africa.

He attributed this to the development of Sino-South African relations and the growing business opportunities such relations provide.

The introduction of Chinese Mandarin as the fourth language offered at GSHS allows learners to make connections with a world completely new and indeed foreign to them here in the South of Africa, Ehrenreich said.

It adds significantly to the school's efforts to grow its links with foreign cultures, languages and people so as to gain a broader world view, he said.

According to the school, learners in Grade 8 took to the new subject with unrivalled and unbridled enthusiasm, which carried over to Grade 9 in 2017.

More than 40 schools across South Africa have introduced Mandarin since 2016, the Ministry of Basic Education said.

As planned, a total number of 500 schools in South Africa will offer Mandarin as a second additional language in the next five years.

The roll-out of Mandarin teaching was incrementally implemented in schools with Grades 4-9 and 10 in January 2016, to be followed by Grade 11 in 2017 and Grade 12 in 2018.

Under the South African Schools Act of 1996, education is compulsory for all South Africans from the age of seven (grade 1) to age 15, or the completion of grade 9. Further Education and Training takes place from grades 10 to 12.

The Chinese government will send Chinese teachers to South Africa and donate 2,000 textbooks to assist in teaching Mandarin in schools until a South African textbook is developed, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said earlier.

Mandarin is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world.

The Chinese government sponsors much of the Mandarin language education in Africa through the Confucius Institutes affiliated with China's Ministry of Education.

There are at least 46 Confucius Institutes across Africa, five of them in South Africa, with more expected in the coming years.
KABUL, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A total of 27 armed insurgents affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group were killed after Afghan forces aircrafts targeted militants positions in parts of the eastern Nangarhar province Saturday night, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

According to a statement, the aircrafts targeted militants' hideouts in the Chenar Keli, Sahiban and Mullah Badur villages of Kot district Saturday night, leaving 27 armed IS fighters dead, besides destroying their weapon caches.

IS insurgents who are active in Kot, Haskamina and other parts of Nangarhar province have not commented on the report.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation(NEW YORK) -- As law enforcement officers across the country continue to hunt for Tennessee teen Elizabeth Thomas and her former teacher Tad Cummins --- who allegedly kidnapped the 15-year-old -- investigators have shed light on their relationship, revealing that emails between the pair have uncovered a "romantic interest in each other."



Thomas and Cummins wrote emails to each other but did not send them -- instead they would save the email in the drafts folder of 40-year-old Cummins' school email account, the Maury County District Attorney and the Sheriff's Office revealed Friday.



"They would write the message and let it save as a draft," Maury County District Attorney Brent Cooper explained to ABC affiliate WAAY in Huntsville, Alabama. "The other person would log in, read the message and then delete it and then write another message that was saved as a draft."

NEW PICTURE: Here's Tad Cummins and Elizabeth Thomas at school in January, days before his alleged inappropriate contact with her. pic.twitter.com/BzyIz8KPpY  TBI (@TBInvestigation) March 21, 2017

Investigators said the pair wrote inappropriate messages to each other, but Cooper declined to elaborate.



"If you read them you would immediately recognize you are reading messages between two people who have a romantic interest in each other," Cooper said.



The lead investigator on the case shared one of the emails with WAAY-TV.



"'I saw you standing next to you backpack this morning' and [Cummins] makes a reference to a body part of hers and how nice that looked," said Marcus Alright with the Maury County Sheriff's Department.

UPDATE: We have determined the purchase of hair dye by Tad Cummins was not part of his intended plan for #ElizabethThomas. #TNAMBERAlert pic.twitter.com/mzrPlhvOhQ  TBI (@TBInvestigation) March 21, 2017

Meanwhile, a former coworker of Cummins is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.



Chandler Anderson, a nurse practitioner in Columbia, Tennessee, first met Cummins in 1998. Prior to being a teacher he was a respiratory therapist.



Anderson says he's worried about Thomas.



"You've got to do something to motivate people to be more vigilant about trying to find this young girl, because this is not going to end well if we don't get her home, and get her home soon," he said.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
BOAO, China, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Economic development brought about by close cooperation between China and the ASEAN countries within such frameworks as China's Belt and Road Initiative promises to reduce tensions in the South China Sea, said panelists at the annual Boao Forum for Asia here on Sunday.

The overall situation in the South China Sea region has been steadily progressing towards detente since the latter half of 2016 thanks to joint efforts by China and ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations)countries, said Wu Shicun, President of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies.

"We should think about how to grasp the opportunities brought about by China's initiative of building the 21th Century Maritime Silk Road, so as to promote common development of the greater South China Sea," said Wu.

He proposed the construction of an economic cooperation sphere of the greater South China Sea region, and promotion of maritime cooperation among littoral states in an all-round manner to promote trust and confidence among the parties concerned.

Sovereignty could hardly be compromised, but provisional measures could be called in to improve relations between rival parties, said Surakiart Sathirathai, former deputy prime minister of Thailand and chairman of the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council.

"If the benefit of the provisional measures is big enough, such measures could even be prolonged," he said.

Efforts should be made to enlarge the pool of profit available across the South China Sea region, said Zheng Yongnian, director of East Asian Institute of National University of Singapore.

"Conflicts usually arise from competition for limited development opportunities or economic benefits, and this is why we should give a priority to the Belt and Road Initiative," said Zheng.

The Boao Forum for Asia annual conference opened on Thursday at Boao, a seaside resort in southern Chinese province of Hainan. The four-day event is focused on free trade and efforts against deglobalization.

The Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was brought up by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.
FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, March 26 (Xinhua) -- At least two Taliban militants were killed as fighting flared up in Yaftal-e-Bala neighborhood outside Faizabad, the capital of Afghanistan's northern Badakhshan province on Saturday night, security official Abdul Khalil said Sunday.

Two more insurgents sustained injuries in the firefight which lasted for a while, the official said.

Neither the security personnel nor civilians had been hurt during the clash, the official added.

Taliban militants who are in control of parts of Badakhshan province are yet to make comment.
BEIJING, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Once widely considered the world's richest man, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said China is the "best place" for the young to fulfil their ambitions to make the world a better place.

In a Friday lecture to Peking University students, the billionaire philanthropist described the skepticism in some developed countries about whether globalization works for ordinary people.

He said the results of the U.S. presidential election and the Brexit vote showed how any country may turn inward when confronted with difficult issues like immigration, security and global development. In a world suddenly short of experienced leaders, Gates commended China for assuming greater responsibility for critical global issues like climate change and inclusive development.

Gates told hundreds of students attending the lecture of his high hopes for China's youth as they enter the workforce at the time of "China's rise as a center of global progress and innovation."

"The world's eyes are on China...the world's eyes are specifically on all of you... What an incredible thing is the belief that you can make the world a better place. There has never been a better moment."

Gates said China has to deal with the most urgent challenges the world faces.

Health, agriculture, energy, and technology are areas where Gates sees "exciting opportunities" for more "amazing progress" for China and for the world.

Gates believes China could lead the world in eradicating malaria. He commended Tu Youyou's discovery of artemisinin, which won her a Nobel Prize in 2015, and said there was need to develop more powerful tools -- like a single-dose treatment -- to block transmission of the malaria parasite form mosquitos to humans. More than 3.2 billion people in the world still live with the risk of malaria infection, he said.

On agriculture, Gates said China's continuing advances in rice growing could benefit to millions of small farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Gates' foundation has keen interest in Africa and is working with the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture on sustainable agriculture throughout Africa.

He said China understands that helping other countries creates a more stable and secure world for people everywhere.

The founder of Microsoft sees great potential in China's tech sector. A lab he set up in Beijing about 20 years ago has grown into Microsoft's largest research center outside the United States with some 200 of the world's top researchers, developers and more than 300 visiting scientists and fellows.

He said the lab also supports up-and-coming software developers by hiring more than 5,000 interns.

"Maybe you want to develop the next vaccine that protects everyone from malaria. Maybe you want to design the battery that lights people's desks at night..." he told students.

"No matter what, if your ambition is to improve the world, this is the best time and the best place to do it."
Bangladesh Army commandos conduct an assault in Bangladesh's seaport city Chittagong, on March 27, 2017. Operation Twilight to flash out a militant den by joint forces led by Bangladesh Army Para-Commando Battalion on Monday spilled into its fourth day since Friday, leaving so far eight people including police officers and two militants dead. (Xinhua/Rabby)

DHAKA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi army on Sunday claimed to have killed two suspected militants during a raid at a militant hideout in Sylhet city, some 240 km northeast of capital Dhaka, Brigadier Gen. Fakhrul Ahsan told journalists at a briefing.

Ahsan, spokesperson of the operation, said, "two militants have so far been killed inside. Several more militants still were active inside.

The operation "Twilight" on Sunday spilled into its third day since Thursday afternoon.

A senior Sylhet police official earlier said the militants rented the ground floor of a five-story building three months ago.

78 residents from adjacent houses have been evacuated to safe areas. Six people, including two policemen, were killed and dozens of others injured in two explosions Saturday near the militant hideout.

The Islamic State (IS) reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks which came after four suspected militants were killed as Bangladeshi law enforcers on Thursday stormed a militant hideout at Sitakunda on the outskirts of the country's seaport city Chittagong, some 240 km southeast of capital Dhaka.
Yasunori Kagoike (L), president of Moritomo Gakuen school, answers questions during a session of the House of Councillors Budget Committee in Tokyo, March 23, 2017. Yasunori Kagoike, head of a nationalist school operator involved in a land deal scandal in Japan, testified under oath on Thursday that he received 1 million yen (8,900 U.S. dollars) from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife Akie. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)

TOKYO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Support rate for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet slipped further over a shady land deal scandal here, with the majority of the respondents considering the government not doing enough to clear up the issue, according to a Kyodo News poll released on Sunday.

According to the news agency's telephone survey over the weekend, support rate for the prime minister's cabinet dropped to 52.4 percent, down 3.3 percentage points from a survey on March 11 to March 12, and down 9.3 percentage points compared to a month ago.

82.5 percent of the respondents said the government has not done enough to clear away suspicions surrounding the scandal, while only 10.7 percent said the government has made enough explanations.

62.6 percent said they were not convinced with Abe's denial of any involvement by himself or his wife Akie in the cut-price land deal. Only 28.7 percent said they were convinced that neither of the Abes was involved.

52 percent said Akie Abe should testify under oath in parliament, while 42.8 percent said it was not necessary.

An earlier poll by Nippon News Network (NNN) showed that the support rate for the prime minister's cabinet dropped to 47.6 percent, down 7.3 percentage points from last month, while the disapproval rate increased 6.9 percentage points to 32.9 percent.

There has been an escalating furor surrounding Moritomo Gakuen for a cut-price land deal for the operator to purchase a plot of land from the government at a massively discounted price with the land to be used to build a new elementary school.

Abe's wife, Akie, was supposed to serve as honorary principal of the would-be school, but has since stepped down as the scandal widened and video of the school's nationalist agenda began to be beamed across social media platforms and regular broadcasting sites.

Yasunori Kagoike, head of the school operator, gave sworn testimony in both chambers of parliament on Thursday stating that he thinks the land deal involved "politicians' intervention."

He presented to parliament a fax between him and Akie Abe's aide, Saeko Tani, saying the fax was evidence of the fact that Tani had made inquiries to the Finance Ministry about the land on his behalf.

He also said Akie Abe gave him an envelop containing 1 million yen (8,900 U.S. dollars) on behalf of her husband before giving a speech at a kindergarten run by the school operator on Sept. 5, 2015.

Abe on Friday denied that he or his wife Akie were involved in the murky land deal and said the testimony by Kagoike was regrettable and against the truth.

Japan's opposition parties, while saying Kagoike's testimony was "one-sided," called for Akie Abe and some other key figures to be summoned to parliament to give sworn testimony.

Related:

Spotlight: Japanese scholars, citizens protest against land deal scandal involving PM Abe

TOKYO, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of students and citizens rallied in front of a parliament building Thursday evening to protest against a school land deal scandal that involves Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie, after a key figure in the scandal testified in parliament earlier in the day. Full story

Spotlight: Scandal-hit school operator in Japan doubles down on receiving donation from Abe's wife
MOSCOW, March 26 (Xinhua) -- New sanctions imposed by the United States on Russian companies go back on Washington's promises to prioritize the fight against terrorism, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

A U.S. State Department representative said Saturday that penalties are being applied to eight Russian companies for their violations of the Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA).

The INKSNA authorizes the United States to impose sanctions against foreign individuals, private entities and governments that engage in proliferation activities.

The U.S. decision to punish the Russian companies, including those related to aircraft construction and the training of flight specialists, is "puzzling and disappointing," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

The United States did not even mention specific reasons but only referred to their legislation prohibiting individuals and entities from cooperating with Iran and Syria, she said.

The new sanctions run counter to Washington's anti-terrorism commitments and undermine the prospects for establishing broad multilateral cooperation to defeat the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, said the spokeswoman.

The sanctions will bring no serious problems to Russia, Zakharova added.

The sanctions resulting from violation of INKSNA marks a new round of sanctions imposed by Washington and its allies against Moscow. Since 2014, the United States, the European Union and some of their allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia for the country's role in the Ukraine crisis.
ISLAMABAD, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani and Afghan lawmakers, former officials, members of civil society and media will hold a three-day dialogue here from Monday to explore ways to bring ties closer, organizers said on Sunday.

Independent think tank the Center for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad and the Kabul-based Women & Peace Studies Organization will hold the talks at a time when tensions have affected bilateral official contacts.

The last week meeting of senior Pakistani and Afghan advisers in London led to the reopening of the border after nearly a month and both sides also agreed on "bilateral engagement."

However, a follow-up meeting has not yet been held since the advisers' meeting on March 15.

The civil delegates will also hold meetings with senior Pakistani officials including Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz and National Security Adviser Nasir Janjua. Some of them will also speak to students at two major universities.

Organizers said the dialogue aimed at developing understanding on the identified bilateral issues to help detox narratives, improve public perceptions, and mitigate mutual allegations and suspicions.

They said the members will act as bridge between the two governments to ensure continuation of bilateral conversation and promote and foster better people-to-people contacts between the two countries.

During their dialogue last month in Kabul, the Afghan and Pakistani members called on both countries to exercise restraint in the current situation in the larger interest of the people of the two countries.

The groups also called on both governments to instantly provide counsellor access to prisoners detained in both countries on various charges as this could help in providing mutual legal assistance and fair trial.
JUBA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plans to step up collaboration with China to promote Beijing's contribution to relief assistance and to enable Chinese people to better understand the humanitarian challenges facing Africa, a senior ICRC official told Xinhua.

Patricia Danzi, ICRC's Regional Director for Africa, said her planned trip to Beijing later this month seeks to build stronger partnership to tackle Africa's humanitarian crisis.

"For us it is important to get the attention of the Chinese people on the humanitarian issues that the continent is facing because it is always more complex than just avert issues," Danzi said in an interview in Juba.

"There are nuances to this and we would like the Chinese people to be curious about the nuance and we would like the Chinese population to be aware of the different needs," she added.

During a five-day visit to South Sudan, Danzi held talks with the Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan to shed light about her planned visit to China.

She also visited ICRC teams that are helping thousands of South Sudanese with urgent food and medical assistance.

"What we like to promote more is to raise awareness among the Chinese leaders, Chinese audience, the average Chinese men and women in the street," Danzi told Xinhua.

Danzi appealed to donors to expedite mobilization of resources to avert looming humanitarian catastrophe in South Sudan, where the UN declared a famine in some parts of the country and where 100,000 people are said to be starving and another 1 million on the brink of starvation.

"We have seen the long, slow deterioration in people's health because of the extended fighting, the abandoning of homes and crops and the constant nutritional deficit that has weakened people. People in South Sudan and Somalia are tough people. But now they tell us a combination of drought and conflict has made them more vulnerable," Danzi noted.

"The crisis is serious; the international community should act and should look at it seriously because it's not only about providing food to hungry people that the problem will be solved over night. It is a responsibility of many," she said.

According to the UN, at least 12 million people in East Africa's Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are in need of food assistance due to severe drought.

It said since the start of 2017, things have gotten worse due to increasing food insecurity, rise in diseases and continued displacement of people.

According to the UN refugee agency, sub-Saharan Africa hosts more than 26 percent (over 18 million) of the world's refugee population, with the numbers projected to soar amid ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR), Somalia, Nigeria and South Sudan.
ALGIERS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Chief of the terrorist group Daesh in Algeria was killed on Saturday overnight by Algerian counterterrorism forces in the eastern province of Constantine, local media reported on Sunday.

TSA news website quoted a security source as saying that counterterrorism unit shot dead two terrorists in the eastern woods of Constantine overnight Saturday.

The source specified that one of the two killed terrorists is nicknamed Abu Hammam, head of al Ghoraba squadron, which is the Algerian branch of Daesh.

Detectives retrieved the gun of a policeman assassinated last October in a restaurant in Constantine. The gun was in the possession of Abu Hamman, said the source.

Wanted since 2008, Abu Hamman was reportedly involved in the assassination of police officer last October.

On Feb. 26, a police officer foiled a suicide bomb attack that targeted a police station in downtown Constantine. The attack was later claimed by Daesh.

Located in a region plagued by unprecedented security and political instability, Algeria faces ongoing terrorist threats, experts say.

A few militants affiliated to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and recently established Daesh affiliate groups are still taking refuge in the dense woods in the north, and remote desert areas near Libya and Mali.
LONDON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Police in the British city of Liverpool confirmed Sunday that 33 people were injured, with two in serious condition, when a big explosion wrecked a number of buildings near the city in northwestern England on Saturday night.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said it was called at 2114 GMT on Saturday to reports of a suspected gas explosion which destroyed a large dance studio and dozens of buildings within a zone of several hundred meters at New Ferry, a community on the banks of the River Mersey.

The loud blast could be heard more than 10 kilometers away. Chief Fire Officer Dan Stephens said the scale of damage was considerable.

Residents nearby told local media that the explosion was like an earthquake.

The injured people have been taken to hospital after the blast.H The area was cordoned off for security reasons and some houses were evacuated.
Photo provided to Xinhua by Copenhagen Zoo shows a computer image of the Panda House.

COPENHAGEN, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Denmark's most visited zoo in the capital city of Copenhagen unveiled on Sunday the design of a planned enclosure for two giant pandas that are scheduled to come to Denmark from China around the end of next year.

The Panda House is a brainchild of Copenhagen Zoo in collaboration with two local architects and landscape companies, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and Schonherr A/S.

According to BIG, the design of the enclosure begins with a circular shape, formed by the surrounding existing facilities. The site will be divided into two parts, following the yin-yang symbol from China's traditional philosophy and creating separate enclosures for male and female pandas.

"The Panda House is designed to feel like the humans are the visitors in the pandas' home, rather than the pandas being exotic guests from faraway lands," according to a BIG presentation.

"The habitat creates the freest and most naturalistic possible environment for their lives and relationship with each other, having the freedom to roam about and the ideal conditions to mate," it added.

According to Copenhagen Zoo director and CEO Steffen Straede, the Panda House will be located on the site where it is now the old Elephant House, a 103-year-old building that has been empty since the new elephant house was put into use.

"It means that the old Elephant House that has been empty since 2008 will be demolished to make room for the two prestigious zoo animals and a brand new recreation area for guests," said Straede.

He added that it has not been a simple decision to demolish the iconic building down, but a restoration would be too costly.

Construction of the Panda House will begin in November this year and last for 12 to 13 months. It is estimated that the whole project will need an investment of around 125-150 million Danish kroner (18-22 million U.S. dollars), said Straede, noting that he is still in search of funds and investors who want to be part of the project.

China and Denmark have agreed on the giant panda rental program during Queen Margrethe II's state visit to China in 2014.

Straede said this has embodied the long-term friendship and cooperation between the two nations, and hoped that the arrival of the two animals by the end of next year would help more Danes better know and understand China.

"We hope in the future we'll be more engaged in China's nature reservation efforts with our knowledge," Straede said.

"For us it is not only about panda but also about Denmark and China," he added.
ANKARA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A total of 14 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants were killed in an anti-terror operation in Tunceli province of eastern Turkey on Sunday.

Local gendarmerie launched an operation against PKK militants in Kutuderesi region in the early morning, engaging in an armed clash with the militants, the Tunceli governor's office said in a statement.

Fourteen PKK terrorists were killed and their ammunitions were seized, read the statement.

One soldier was wounded in the clash with PKK, the statement said.

The operation is continuing with the support of Cobra helicopters firing shots on militants' potential escape routes.

On Friday, six PKK terrorists were killed during a Turkish military operation in northern Iraq, Turkish Armed Forces said in a statement.

Two other terrorists were captured Friday in Turkey's southeastern Hakkari and Batman provinces during the ongoing operations and road checks in the region, according to the statement.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU, resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015 after a brief reconciliation period.
SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Two militants belonging to Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) outfit were killed Sunday in a gunfight with police in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.

The gunfight broke out at village Padgampora in Pulwama district, 29 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"Two militants of HM were killed today in a brief gunfight with police in Padgampora village here" a senior police official Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani told media in Awantipora.

According to Gillani, the policemen inside the vehicle were returning to Awantipora after attending a meeting at Pulwama town.

"Militants travelling in a private car fired upon a police vehicle, prompting policemen to retaliate the fire and in the process two militants were gunned down." Gillani said.

"We have recovered two bodies from the car and the police officials present there think one of the militants might have escaped."

Police said they have not suffered any damage in the gunfight.

The slain militants have been identified as local cadres of HM, the region's indigenous militant outfit.

Police said they have recovered two assault rifles belonging to militants from the car militants were travelling in.

Following the killing of militants, clashes erupted between locals and government forces at several places in Pulwama. Locals said police and paramilitary troopers fired dozens of tear smoke shells to disperse people who had gathered on roads to protest militant killings. The protesters were throwing stones and brickbats on government forces.

Meanwhile, the bodies of slain militants were handed over to their families.

On Thursday, militants fired upon police vehicles in adjacent Shopian district.

Last week, three militants belonging to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit and a girl were killed, while as a policeman and a boy wounded in a gunfight in the region.

A guerrilla war is going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in the region since 1989. However, of late Indian policemen too have been trained to fight them.

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.
Jihan Sheikh Ahmed (C), the official spokesperson of the Raqqa campaign, talks during a conference, east of Raqqa city, Syria March 26, 2017. (REUTERS Photo)

DAMASCUS, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) entered the Tabqa airport west of the northern city of Raqqa on Sunday, following battles with the Islamic State (IS) group, the SDF spokesman told Xinhua.

The SDF entered the Tabqa airport in the city bearing the same name in the western countryside of Raqqa Province, the de facto capital of the IS.

Talal Silo, the SDF military spokesman, said the battles with the IS militants are taking place inside and around the airport, adding that the facility will be declared liberated from IS within hours.

Silo said the achievement comes with the help of only the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, the main backer to the Kurdish groups in northern Syria.

The Syrian army did not join in the attack on Tabqa, he added.

The push by the U.S.-backed SDF toward the city of Tabqa and the nearby areas is part of a major offensive against Raqqa.

The first stage of the attack is aimed at isolating Raqqa from Tabqa and other IS positions in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour.

Earlier in the day, Kurdish officials said the battle against Raqqa city will start early next month.

Meanwhile, Silo said the airport needs repairing, without elaborating whether the United States will use the airfield as a base for its forces, who have been either airdropped or crossed from Iraq to aid the Kurds in their push against the IS strongholds on the basis of a new Pentagon plan against the terror group.

The Tabqa Air Base has a strategic value for the SDF, as it will enable the Kurdish-led group to tighten the noose on IS militants in the city of Tabqa from three directions.

There are also reports that the U.S.-led coalition may plan to use the base to provide supplies for SDF units in the upcoming battle of Raqqa.

Silo said the Tabqa airport will be the first to be controlled by the SDF, noting that the airfield had been used for military and civilian aviation.

The Syrian army withdrew from the airbase in August 2014, the year IS declared its caliphate in Raqqa and took the city as its capital.
A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, on March 26, 2017. The center-right GERB party is leading in the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria on Sunday, winning about one third of the votes, according to exit polls announced at the Bulgarian National TV channel. (Xinhua/Zhan Xiaoyi)

SOFIA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The center-right GERB party is leading in the parliamentary elections in Bulgaria on Sunday, winning about one third of the votes, according to exit polls announced at the Bulgarian National TV channel.

Boriana Dimitrova, managing partner of Alpha Research Agency, said that GERB is expected to have 32.2 percent of the votes, against 28.0 percent for the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

The agency said they would be followed by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) with 9.7 percent, the United Patriots with 9.5 percent, and Volya party with 5.1 percent, while the Reformist Bloc-People's Voice coalition was just at the 4-percent borderline with 4.0 percent.

Zhivko Georgiev from Gallup International said in turn that GERB has got 32.8 percent of the votes, followed by BSP with 28.4, the United Patriots with 8.8 percent, MRF with 7.8 percent and Volya party with 4.6 percent, while the Reformist Bloc-People's Voice coalition was with 3.8 percent.

As number of legislators in the 240-seat parliament, according to Alpha Research, GERB would have from 86 to 88, BSP -- 75 to 77, MRF -- 25 to 27, the Patriots -- 25 to 27, Volya -- 13 to 15 and the Reformists -- 10 to 11.

According to Gallup International, GERB would have from 94 to 98 seats, BSP -- 81 to 85, the Patriots -- 24 to 28, MRF -- 20 to 24, and Volya -- 12 to 14.

First forecasts based on partial parallel count are expected to be available later on Sunday, and the official results are expected to be released on Thursday.

Earlier on Sunday, after casting a ballot in a polling station in Sofia, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev called for rapid formation of the new government.

Radev said he hoped that the parties that will enter parliament, will show "common sense and national responsibility, and at the cost of compromises that are inevitable in this situation", the new government will be formed as quickly as possible.

The elections were scheduled after the GERB party-led coalition cabinet resigned in mid-November last year, and the parliamentary parties failed to form a new cabinet.
VALLETTA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A group of EU Members of Parliament (MEPs) expressed their concern regarding bird hunting in Malta, urging the Maltese government to close the spring hunt on migratory birds.

In a letter addressed to Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the 29 EU MEPs also demanded the Maltese government to increase its efforts to curb illegal hunting as well as to prohibit all kinds of bird traps.

The letter raises concern as to the fact that, according to some nature conservation organizations, more than 100,000 birds are killed in Malta every year.

The letter, drafted on March 22, will be handed to Maltese authorities on Monday by Dutch MEP Anja Hazekamp (Party for the Animals).

Whilst visiting Maltese hunting grounds over the past weekend, she witnessed first-hand several breaches of EU conservation laws, such as the use of electronic bird callers, which is illegal under the EU Birds Directive.

"As Malta is currently holding the EU Presidency, we count on the Maltese government to take the lead in this matter," said the MEPs in their letter.

"We call on the Maltese government to set an example by swiftly and properly implementing the Birds and Habitats Directives and to offer migrating birds a safe resting place during their trip to the North," they added.
A flock of ruffs fly over the wet land in Liminka Bay, Finland on May 13, 2016. Liminka Bay, located in northwestern Finland, is one of the most valuable bird habitats in Europe. Every spring, migrants begin to gather here. (Xinhua/Zhang Xuan)

VALLETTA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A group of EU Members of Parliament (MEPs) expressed their concern regarding bird hunting in Malta, urging the Maltese government to close the spring hunt on migratory birds.

In a letter addressed to Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the 29 EU MEPs also demanded the Maltese government to increase its efforts to curb illegal hunting as well as to prohibit all kinds of bird traps.

The letter raises concern as to the fact that, according to some nature conservation organizations, more than 100,000 birds are killed in Malta every year.

The letter, drafted on March 22, will be handed to Maltese authorities on Monday by Dutch MEP Anja Hazekamp (Party for the Animals).

Whilst visiting Maltese hunting grounds over the past weekend, she witnessed first-hand several breaches of EU conservation laws, such as the use of electronic bird callers, which is illegal under the EU Birds Directive.

"As Malta is currently holding the EU Presidency, we count on the Maltese government to take the lead in this matter," said the MEPs in their letter.

"We call on the Maltese government to set an example by swiftly and properly implementing the Birds and Habitats Directives and to offer migrating birds a safe resting place during their trip to the North," they added.
German Chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Angela Merkel makes her keynote speech during the CDU party congress in Karlsruhe, Germany Dec. 14, 2015. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)

BERLIN, March 26 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party CDU was ahead with a clear lead over rival SPD in the Saarland state elections, exit polls showed on Sunday.

The vote was the first in a series leading up to German federal elections in September.

Some 800,000 eligible voters cast their ballots. Exit polls showed that CDU was ahead with 41 percent with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) trailing behind on 29.5 percent.

The Left party (Linke) was reported to have won 13 percent of the votes, Alternative for Germany (AfD) 6 percent and the Greens 4.5 percent.

The outcome of the vote in Germany's smallest non-city state is being widely watched as a sign of voter sentiment ahead of state elections in Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia in May, and federal elections in September, German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) reported.

Some local analysts saw the result as a boost to Merkel's ruling political union, and a major setback for SPD, whose leader Martin Schulz failed to transform his popularity into ballot tickets.

In the past several months, some opinion polls have constantly showed Schulz will have the edge over his major competitor Merkel in the coming federal election.

The CDU has ruled the southwestern state for the past 18 years. Enditem
JOHANNESBURG, March 26 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's power utility, Eskom said Sunday the country saved 420 MW during the Earth Hour on Saturday night.

This comes after they had encouraged citizens to join the global community by switching off lights, non-essential electrical gadgets and make noise for climate change action on Saturday night between 20:30 to 21:30 p.m.

Eskom then compared the consumption on Saturday during the Earth Hour against typical consumption for this time on an average Saturday evening.

In a statement issued on Sunday Eskom said, "South Africans took action against climate change on Saturday evening when they switched off their lights for Earth Hour from 20:30 to 21:30, saving an average of 420 MW during the hour. This is enough to power a city the size of Polokwane or Port Elizabeth (medium South Africa cities) for an hour."

Eskom said they are using Earth Hour by using its power to showcase the contribution to South Africa's journey in meeting sustainable development goals.

The power utility encouraged South Africans to make energy efficiency and environmental conservation part of their daily lifestyles.

Eskom also encouraged people to reduce their energy consumption every day by using electricity efficiently, switching off all non-essential lights and appliances.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, and it is organized by the World Wide Fund to raise awareness about climate change. Over 162 countries and territories worldwide are part of this initiative.
MADRID, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Spanish police was on Sunday night searching for an armed man hiden inside a hotel in the northern Spanish city of Barakaldo.

Spanish media quoted local security sources as reporting that the man was suspicious of committing drug-related crimes and local police had already arrested the other two persons.

Police has cordoned off the area around the hotel.
KHARTOUM, March 26 (Xinhua) -- At a time when international efforts are growing to ease the impact of famine in South Sudan, Khartoum's agreement to open a new humanitarian corridor adds momentum to the ongoing relief activities and saves plenty of time and effort.

On Sunday, the Sudanese government said it agreed on opening a new corridor via El Obied, Heglig, Rubkona and Bentiu for delivery of humanitarian aid to the population affected by famine in South Sudan's Unity and Greater Bahr el Ghazal States.

Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Ahmed Mohamed Adam said Khartoum's agreement came because of the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, adding that delivery of the humanitarian aid through the new corridor would begin this week.

Khartoum has also agreed to re-open the river corridor linking Kosti town in central Sudan and South Sudan's river ports, on condition that Juba returns 11 river boats seized earlier.

The newly-opened humanitarian corridor would help deliver food aid on time and reduce the reliance on airlift, which costs six to seven times as much as by river and road.

Marta Ruedas, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, welcomed on Sunday Sudan's decision to open a new humanitarian corridor to South Sudan, where 100,000 people are suffering famine amid a deepening humanitarian crisis across the country.

"By opening this cross-border corridor, the government of Sudan is showing its commitment to the people of South Sudan and further strengthening cooperation with the international community to pull South Sudan back from a widening famine that could affect another one million people," said Ruedas in a press release.

"This decision also comes at a critical time just before South Sudan's rainy season, which starts in May and usually renders these roads impassable," she added.

This week, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) will deliver 11,000 tons of sorghum, which is enough to feed 300,000 people for three months, to famine-afflicted areas in South Sudan, according to the release.

At least 7.5 million people across South Sudan, almost two thirds of the population, need humanitarian assistance, WFP said.

South Sudan said earlier that about five million people are at risk of famine, which has hit two areas in Unity State and is spreading to Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.

The famine in South Sudan was attributed to many reasons including the civil war and collapse of the economy in the new-born state.
BUJUMBURA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- At least six people died and 12 others were injured when a church building under construction collapsed on Saturday at Muramba in Bubanza province, 35km west of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, local administration authorities said.

"The church building under construction collapsed around noon when agents were at work. Six people died on the spot when one of the walls fell on them. Twelve others were injured, five of them seriously," Bubanza Governor Tharcisse Niyongabo said.

According to him, injured victims were rushed to Bubanza Hospital for urgent treatment.

Niyongabo indicated that the Burundi Red Cross helped during the operation to rescue the victims.

He added that the six killed victims include three men, two women and a child.
Photo taken on March 22, 2017 shows the the ceremony to celebrate the forthcoming 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome in the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Italy. Italian lawmakers gathered in the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday to celebrate the forthcoming 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which triggered the whole integration process in 1957. (Xinhua/Jin Yu)

By Eric J. Lyman

ROME, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Italy's Five-Star Movement, the political organization created eight years ago by comedian-turned-activist Beppe Grillo, may be poised for its best-ever election result the next time when Italians go to the polls nationally.

It is, however, still anyone's guess what will happen if the party finishes ahead of all its rivals for the first time.

There is still no firm date on when the elections will take place. As of now, the vote is scheduled for the first half of 2018. But some political figures are pushing for it to take place earlier, after the country's 2018 budget is finalized later this year.

But with the Democratic Party, the dominant party of the last generation, in disarray after some members of its old guard spit away to form a rival party, and a wave of support for anti-establishment parties across Europe, circumstances may be lining up in favor of the Five-Star Movement -- regardless of when the vote takes place.

"The problems within the Democratic Party are certainly an advantage for the Five-Star Movement," Roberto Biorcio, a sociologist and political scientist with Milano-Bicocca University, said in an interview. "The question is: What will happen to the Five-Star Movement if it wins."

The Five-Star Movement is coming off its best election results yet, when a nationwide series of mayoral elections last year resulted in the party winning in Rome and Turin, Italy's first and fourth largest cities, respectively.

The two mayors -- Virginia Raggi in Rome and Chiara Appendino in Turin -- are the two highest ranking elected figures in the party's history.

The next vote in Italy will also come amid a rising tide of anti-establishment sentiment in Europe.

Still, despite all that, few are predicting the party will reach the 40-percent threshold needed to form a government on its own. And the Five-Star Movement's own bylaws include language prohibiting it from entering into binding alliances, making it difficult for the party to emerge as the head of a coalition.

"Don't forget that if the Five-Star Movement was willing to govern as part of a coalition, that could have happened in 2013 when the Democratic Party fell short of a majority and [then Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi] Bersani reached out and Grillo was not interested," Biorcio said.

There are also growing divisions within the Five-Star Movement, between what Biorcio calls the traditional radical faction that founded the party and a more pragmatic wing open to compromise. It is unclear how long the two blocs will be able to work together.

It might not matter. According to Mattia Diletti, a political science researcher at Rome's La Sapienza University, the Five-Star Movement is more comfortable in opposition.

"If the Five-Star Movement emerges from the next election as the largest party in parliament and they remain as an opposition party, then they would be in an even stronger position to disrupt than they are today," Diletti told Xinhua.

That would be a recipe for an even weaker political situation than the one that exists today. For that reason, Biorcio, Diletti, and other commentators say, new elections are unlikely until after the 2018 budget is passed.

The current government, led by the Democratic Party's Paolo Gentiloni, has been low-key enough to avoid strong opposition from any of the opposing factions, and it is likely the Gentiloni government could put together a national budget that parliament will approve.

After that? It's still anyone's guess.

Political scientists and economists agree Italy is in need of major reforms to foster political stability and spark economic growth.

That is unlikely to come from a future minority government with a powerful Five-Star Movement in opposition.
ST. PETERSBURG, March. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav Volodin proposed the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Parliamentary Assembly to develop common general criteria for recognizing organizations as terrorist and extremist.

According to TASS report, Volodin also said that the CSTO should cooperate with with European parliamentary assemblies in the fight against terrorism.

The Russian politician noted that terrorists, smugglers and other participants have already established effective channels of international cooperation, so the fight against them requires joint efforts of many countries.
Bangladesh's elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members guard around the site of a blast in Dhaka, Bangladesh on March 24, 2017. A suspected suicide bomber died after blowing himself up near Bangladesh's principal airport in capital Dhaka on Friday night, a police official said. No others were injured in the blast. (Xinhua/Jibon Ashan)
Winners and their creations attend the award ceremony of the 'Hempel Award' the 25th China International Young Fashion Designers Contest during the China Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2017/2018 in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2017. (Xinhua/Chen Jianli)
Mans body washes ashore

Clarke had jumped off a jetty in the area at about 2 am and never resurfaced.

The Coast Guard was called to assist but could not find him.

However, the Coast Guard later received information from a resident that a body had washed ashore near to the same jetty late Friday night. It was retrieved and handed over to the Carenage police.
Prisoner stabbed to death

According to reports, at about 10.30 am, Nicholas Raymond, 23, was in the exercise yard with other prisoners when there was an altercation and he was stabbed with a sharp instrument. He was taken to the Arima District Health Facility but died while being treated.

Raymond was in prison on marijuana- related offences and was awaiting an appeal.

Prison officers detained several inmates and recovered a knife which they believe was used to stab Raymond.
Relatives: Probe police killing of dad of 2

Smith, 42, also called Shaka, was a father of two and lived on Piparo Road, Tabaquite.

Relatives insisted on Friday his death was a cold-blooded murder by police as Smith was unarmed.

The police tell a different story. A report states that at about 7 pm on Thursday, police responded to a robbery in Rio Claro.

The police claimed they were fired upon while proceeding along Tabaquite Road, Rio Claro an area surrounded mainly by teak trees. They returned fire and Smith who was driving in the area got shot. He died en-route to Rio Claro Health Facility.

Smiths common- law wife Sonia Belass, 51, however said he had gone to find his brother Cleavon, 34, who had telephoned him saying gunmen had opened fire on him.

Belass said Smith was welding at home when Cleavon called and said he was hiding in a forested area.

Fearful for brothers life, Smith left home and went in search of him. However, subsequent calls to Smiths cellular phone went unanswered.

Everyone started to call one another to find out what was going on. Curtis (another brother) and their father went to the Rio Claro Police Station, Belass said. They asked police if Shaka was locked up and they (police) said he was at Forensic (Science Centre). She said police never contacted relatives about the shooting death and called on the authorities to investigate the incident.

They did not call me and now I am hearing police are saying that he had a gun.

They mashed him up.

They killed him for nothing. Why couldnt they just shoot him in the hand or something.

All he wanted to do was make sure his brother safe, she said.

Smith, a construction worker, was the father of Jason, 20, and Jamerson, 18.

Cleavon recalled he was driving along Tabaquite Road and near Brickfield Junction an unmarked car drove in front of his station- wagon. Another car drove up behind causing him to stop.

The people in the front vehicle opened fire first. At the time, I did not know who they were. They just started to shoot up the car. I opened the door and run through the bushes but they continued firing shots behind me. When I reached a road, I called for him (Smith) to come for me, said Cleavon.

Sometime later, Cleavon spotted his brothers car.

He went to turn around to come back for me. While coming back, they started to shoot up his car. It was dark so I could not see anything but I heard him scream, he real bawl. I even heard him say Dont shoot, he said.

Their father Andrew Smith, 70, of Mc Carthy Trace, Tabaquite vowed to seek legal advice We not sure what the police version of the story is. It could have been both sons.

We will be seeking legal advice on this. Not a single police came here as yet to tell us anything, said Andrew.

Police however continue to investigate the case.
Genres : Drama, Thriller

Starring : Sidney Poitier, River Phoenix, Richard Jenkins

Director : Richard Benjamin

Plot Synopsis

A timely espionage thriller which stars River Phoenix as a seemingly average teenager, except in one respect--his real name is Nikita. River Phoenix has been living a dangerous lie and Sidney Poitier is the secret agent who forces him to face the hard truth about his parents' true identity in this riveting spy thriller.
A Caribbean genius

These were some of the ways St Lucian Nobel laureate Derek Alton Walcott was described at the funeral service for him held yesterday at the Cathedral Minor Basilica in Castries, St Lucia .

Walcott, who had been ailing for some time, died on March 17 at his home in St Lucia .

He was 87 .

Before the State funeral yesterday Walcotts casket, which was draped over with the St Lucia flag, had been placed in the Parliament chamber for public viewing .

At about 1.50 pm, the police band started to play and the honour guard brought down his casket, being careful as they had to fit through the tight entrance .

The casket was placed inside a hearse and the procession began with the police in front followed by his relatives and close friends including his partner of almost four decades Sigrid Nama, daughters Anna and Elizabeth and his grandchildren .

Some of them held each others hands as they marched solemnly .

The streets were full of onlookers of all ages including schoolchildren in uniform. St Lucia Prime Minister Allen Chastanet greeted people and shook hands as he walked .

When the entourage arrived at the cathedral the casket was removed from the hearse and the honour guard bowed in respect. At the Derek Walcott Memorial Park opposite, people had gathered to watch the proceedings in tents .

Walcott was a Methodist but the service was conducted at the Roman Catholic cathedral .

Rev Seth Ampadu said the nation had lost one of the greatest sons of the soil not only for St Lucia but for the Caribbean and the entire world. He said St Lucians should come together and young people especially should learn from Walcotts life and his sense of community, dedication and discipline as we continue to build our nation. Jamaican poet and professor emeritus Edward Baugh began the eulogy with the opening lines of Walcotts poem Sea Grapes and said Walcott had gone to see his friends and family including his late mother and twin brother Roderick .

Baugh said Walcotts achievement was more astonishing because it began at a time when there was no West Indian literature. He traced his career from reading his first poem in school at age 10 and said Walcott was always seeking to perfect his craft .

He noted that a few months ago, Walcott released his latest book of poetry Morning, Paramin in collaboration with Trinidad- based artist Peter Doig. Baugh recalled that following the launch in St Lucia three months ago, Walcott had to be rushed to hospital .

Baugh said Walcott helped the region to articulate its relationship with history and colonial memory and these themes also featured in his plays. He also noted his many achievements including his Noble Prize in Literature in 1992, his Humming Bird Medal Gold from Trinidad in 1969, being the first to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of the West Indies (1973) and being knighted by St Lucia last year .

We mourn and celebrate a genius who was a prodigy. A Caribbean man. Baugh said Walcott was also a man with shortcomings, had been short-tempered but was also kind, generous, considerate of others, a loving father, a doting grandfather and a lover of corny jokes .

Monsignor Patrick Anthony in his homily said Walcott was in the class of Homer, Sophocles and Shakespeare and his work has been compared to the biblical prophet Isaiah .

Derek has made our Caribbean voice immortal.
I dont know who killed my wife

I would not know who did that to her, Toolsie told Sunday Newsday before he went to collect chairs with relatives for the funeral service to be held at their home in Petersville, Felicity.

He was allowed to go home late Thursday night, after hours with the police following the discovery of Somais half-naked body with a black bag over her head in bushes behind houses along Felicity Main Road earlier that day. Somai, 23, went missing from their home after she said she was going to a parlour to buy a phone card on Tuesday night.

An autopsy on Friday revealed Somai, who has a four-year-old son with Toolsie, died from suffocation.

Everything was above board.

Everything that needs to be said is already there. I was not interrogated but they ask me to come down by the police station, Toolsie said as he stood with Somais sister Ria Rampersad and male relatives in the front yard making final funeral preparations.

Homicide detectives (Region 3) had asked Toolsie to go to the Chaguanas Police Station to assist them with the investigation.

Sunday Newsday learned yesterday that Toolsie was also taken to the homicide office in San Fernando. Investigators report Toolsie told them that after Somai left to buy the phone car he went with their son to a gas station.

His wife was not at home when they returned and her cellular phone was on the porch.

Detectives said they have not yet confirmed if Somai went to a parlour.

I do not know what to say.

Everything has already been said and is all over the media, Toolsie said yesterday, I have nothing more to say more about what happened. He said Somai would not have wanted media attention on her funeral.

I just giving she want she wanted, Toolsie said. Asked how was their son, Toolsie repeated he did not want to say anything more about his wifes death.

However, Somais sister said the family told the little boy his mother had gone out and had not returned home as yet.

I dont know how he is going to hold up for the funeral, Rampersad said. Who would want to kill her like that? We need justice in this. We are struggling to cope. On Somais Facebook page, several photos are posted with her, family and friends in happier times..
Minister: Walcott part of TT culture

Gadsby-Dolly was among those signing the condolence book for Walcott at the Parliament Chamber in St Lucia yesterday and she shared what she wrote with Sunday Newsday.

I really just thanked Sir Derek for what he had done for Trinidad and Tobago on behalf of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.

Acknowledging that his work has been in many times a labour of love and really dedication and commitment to the literary arts and we honour him for that. She reported that Cabinet had made a decision that the country should be represented at a time like this.

Sir Derek was a Caribbean man. And I think to Trinidad and Tobago he was important. She explained that Albert Laveau, director of the Trinidad Theatre Workshop (TTW) which was founded by Walcott in 1959, was brought as part of their delegation because the Government felt it important that they also be represented.

(TTW is) a living embodiment of Sir Dereks influence on the theatre landscape in Trinidad and Tobago.

So I think as a matter of respect and honour and acknowledgement of all that he has done for our country the Government thought it important that I be here. On Thursday at the post-Cabinet media briefing it was announced that the TTW, whose building at Jerningham Avenue had been put up for sale, would be provided a State building at Newbold Street, St Clair at the nominal rent of $10 per year. Yesterday Gadsby-Dolly reported that she was contacted by members of the TTW about them holding an event in his honour and the ministry will be working with them. She also reported that NGC Bocas Lit Fest had expressed interest in doing an event to honour the late icon. At the entrance to the chamber a creole quadrille band, Mamai la Kay, performed up tempo music. Among the dignitaries in attendance at the viewing were St Lucia Governor General Dame Pearlette Louisy, St Lucia Prime Minister Allen Chastanet and members of the diplomatic corps based in St Lucia. Walcotts longtime partner Sigrid Nama and his daughters Anna and Elizabeth were at the Chamber greeting visitors.
Kamla: Govt failing TT

The march began at Bhupsingh Park, Penal and finished with a panel discussion on crime at Bakal Recreation Ground in Penal.

Persad-Bissessar, flanked by MPs Roodal Moonilal, Vidia Gayadeen- Gopeesingh, Tim Gopeesingh, Barry Padarath, David Lee, Rodney Charles, Dr Lackram Bodoe, and Deputy UNC leader Khadija Ameen, marched at the front of hundreds of people waving placards and dressed in black and white.

This is not a UNC event, it is organised by the Penal/Debe Foundation, said Persad- Bissessar in a brief speech before a panel discussion.

But why are we here? It is to make it very clear that this Government has failed in every regard  education, health care, the economy, jobs, and in the fight against crime.

I want to promise you as your MP and as your Leader of the Opposition that together with our team, we will do all that we can to ensure that the Government listens, that the Government takes charge because they are in charge now to deal with the issue of the fight against crime. Shortly after her speech, Persad-Bissessar and the MPs left to attend another event.

Then a panel discussion was held with retired Brigadier General Carl Alphonso, former commissioner of police James Philbert, former Independent senator and youth activist Nikolai Edwards, director of the National Counselling Association Sandra Jaggernauth, and Shiva Roopnarine, president of the Penal/ Debe Chamber of Commerce. The panel discussion focused on the definition of crime and how to recognise it; the punishment of crime; and rehabilitation of those released from prison after serving their time. From the discussions, a policy paper would be produced and sent to the Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader, and the Commissioner of Police for their comment and their action.

President of the Penal/ Debe Foundation Khemraj Seecharan said they were moved to have the march to make a statement against the upsurge in crime in the country, and in their community. There has been a great change in this community where people once felt safe are now afraid to leave their home over the past few months.
Pull back PI bill

Likening the bill to United States President Donald Trumps proposed heath care package, Elder insisted that the legislation, though seemingly noble in intent, was fundamentally flawed and should be pulled back and revamped.

The respected Senior Counsel, who spoke to reporters at her Alfredo Street, Woodbrook, Chambers, further stressed that the Government should have consulted with members of the legal fraternity and other stakeholders whilst drafting the legislation.

She said the bill, which required a simple majority for passage, does nothing to minimise the burdens that have long plagued the criminal justice system.

My juniors and I have given deep thought to the clauses of this bill and it is our considered opinion that this bill does nothing to address the issues plaguing the criminal justice system, she said. Let me say that the intentions behind this bill seem noble but it is bad law. Alluding to statements made by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard at a parliamentary Joint Select Committee meeting on Friday, that the legislation was short-sighted, Elder quipped: But Mr Gaspard is blessed with the gift of the garb and he can use euphemisms. She dismissed the bill as a compilation of legislative babble. It is flawed. It disregards the rights of the accused. It is contradictory in certain respects . It contains a cut and paste approach, in that certain clauses have been pulled from the existing act and placed in this bill without an understanding as to the significance of those clauses which is really cut and paste, she said.

The Pre-Trial Procedure Bill was passed in the Parliament on March 18 with no support from the Opposition bench. Nineteen Government members voted in favour of the legislation while 16 Opposition members voted against.

Elder also said the bill, with due respect to whoever drafted it shows a deep misunderstanding of criminal practice and procedure. This bill is going to wreck the system. It is a wrecking bill, she added.

Elder said when she heard Gaspard say at the JSC meeting that there were about 800 murder cases before the high Court and that if preliminary inquiries were abolished, people will just have to join the queue, she immediately thought about MX Primes Road March hit, Full Extreme.

So, even with this bill, we still jammin.

And this bill is going to aggravate the position, she said.

Elder said the problems in the legislation begin from the moment an individual is charged and appears in the magistrates court.

He appears before the magistrates court and the DPP has three months to serve him with statements and a list of exhibits and other items, she said.

After he is served, the accused has three months to file any statements if he wishes and notice of alibi and after the DPP has considered the DPPs statements and the accused statements, if any, the DPP has the discretion to file an indictment So, we are moving from charged, statements exchanged, indictment.

The issue which immediately arises is what is the jurisdiction of the magistrate over these proceedings because the bill is abolishing preliminary enquiries. Elder said she thought the bill would have said, immediately, what a magistrate would do if an accused appeared before him or her charged with an indictable offence.

Elder took issue with part three of the legislation which dealt with pre-trial procedures
During a visit to South Korea earlier this month, Rex Tillerson, [Donald] Trumps secretary of state, announced what appeared to be a dramatic change in American policy toward the nuclear threat of North Korea.

Since the diplomacy of the past 20 years has failed, he warned, pre-emptive military action against North Korea is now on the table. Tillersons warning reflected the U.S. governments worry that Kims renegade regime is accelerating its nuclear program.





Having lost big time in Congress, Trump will not take Korean threats -- which are not new -- lying down:





This nuclear challenge has confronted several American presidents since the 1990s. It has also frustrated China, North Koreas neighbour and chief economic benefactor, which potentially stands to lose the most if the Korean Peninsula descends into chaos.

This sudden reference by the Trump administration to the possibility of pre-emptive military action against North Korea has rattled the region. There are few informed analysts who see this option, if pursued, as anything but a certain catastrophe.

North Koreas nuclear arsenal is thought to be widely dispersed throughout the country. No single military strike could destroy it. North Korea also has an even larger stockpile of chemical and biological weapons. Analysts believe that an attack would give Kims regime ample time to hit back immediately at neighbouring South Korea and at U.S. military bases in the region.

The potential death toll from such a conflict would be breathtaking. South Koreas capital city of Seoul has a population of more than 10 million and is only about 50 kilometres from the border.





Mr.Trump was willing to throw 14 million people off medicare. Would the lives of 10 million Koreans lay heavily on his conscience?





Burman writes that "rather than a pre-emptive strike, what is needed is increasing economic and diplomatic pressure  in tandem with China  to rein in the North Korean regime."





We saw how Trump operates last week. That's not his style. Nor is it Kim Jong Un's.





Image: Daily Express

Americans were in danger of losing their health care last week. They dodged a bullet. But there is a bigger danger looming. Tony Burman writes
The Tunisian Foreign Ministry said that it has summoned the UKs ambassador to protest against a decision to ban passengers on flights from Tunisia from carrying their electronic gadgets in cabin.



The UK has banned carrying in cabin electronic devices larger than a mobile phone including laptops and tablets for security reasons. The ban requires that these devices be placed in hold luggage for Britain bound flights from the following countries in the Middle East and North Africa: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia.

Tunisias Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the British decision was unjustified and did not reflect an improved security situation in Tunisia.

Tunisia is surprised by this decision, which was taken without consultation with the Tunisian authorities or informing them in advance, the statement said.

The UK airline electronics ban was enforced after the US took a similar decision banning passengers from carrying their devices in cabin. The US ban concerns flights originating from 10 airports serving the cities of Cairo in Egypt; Amman in Jordan; Kuwait City in Kuwait; Casablanca in Morocco; Doha in Qatar; Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; Istanbul in Turkey; and Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates,

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement that the procedure will affect Jordanian Airlines, EgyptAir, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Etihad Airways.

The DHS noted that restrictions were necessary as terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation and are aggressively pursuing innovative methods to undertake their attacks, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items.

Based on this information, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly and Transportation Security Administration Acting Administrator Huban Gowadia have determined it is necessary to enhance security procedures for passengers at certain last point of departure airports to the United States, the statement said.
Starring : Andy Goldenberg, Emily O'Brien, Nick Armstrong, Arnie Pantoja, Kevin Farley

Director : Ricardo Herrera

Plot Synopsis

A bush-league group of amateur filmmakers venture into the backwoods of Georgia to search for the mysterious and elusive Bigfoot. As the team tries to overcome the forest  and each other - Steve, the groups leader, is obsessed and will stop at nothing to track down the mystic monster. Hes out to prove to world that Bigfoot does exist.
King Mohammed VI of Morocco sent messages with envoys to heads of state of the West African Economic Community (ECOWAS) which the Kingdom applied to join.

In this regards, Minister Delegate to foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita handed Royal messages to the heads of state of Ghana, Nigeria, Mali and Gambia.

In the same vein, head of Moroccos foreign intelligence agency (known by its French acronym DGED) Yassine Mansouri handed a Royal message to Burkina Fasos President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

As part of the same diplomatic momentum to gather support for Moroccos bid to join the ECOWAS, Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar visited Dakar where he met Senegalese President Macky Sall before he travelled to Niger to hand a Royal message to President Mahamadou Issoufou.

Earlier this month, Morocco, which has an observer status in the ECOWAS and is bound by strong relations with its member states, has officially applied to become a fully-fledged member of the grouping.

Before submitting the bid to join the ECOWAS, King Mohammed VI visited several countries in the region where Morocco is one of the largest investors. Recently Morocco gave further substance to its south-south cooperation approach in the continent and sealed an agreement with Nigeria to build the Africa Atlantic Pipeline.

In the face of the paralysis crippling the Maghreb union, Morocco opted to look south reaching out to its partners in West Africa with whom it has been building partnerships on a sound foundation underpinned by a south-south cooperation approach. So, Moroccos request to join ECOWAS is the continuation of a decades-long process of fostering ties with the countries of the region.

In his landmark speech in Addis Ababa on the occasion of Moroccos return to AU, King Mohammed VI lauded the ECOWAS achievements saying that intra-regional trade has reached 10% between the member countries of the west African sub-region adding that this grouping offers a reliable space for free movement of persons, goods and capital.

With the inclusion of Morocco, the ECOWAS will bolster its aggregated GDP to the 16th rank globally ahead of Turkey and right after Indonesia.
Saad Eddine El Othmani, Head of the Government designate and president of the National Council of the Islamist PJD party announced the composition of the new government coalition after an impasse that left Morocco without a cabinet for more than five months.

The announcement was made by El Othmani at a press conference Saturday. The leaders of the participating parties in the government coalition: Liberal RNI and UC, traditionalist MP and socialist PPS and USFP attended the press conference.

El Othmani, who was appointed Head of Government and tasked with forming the new Cabinet nine days ago has broken away with the rhetoric and the stands of his predecessor, the PJD Secretary General Abdelilah Benkirane.

Head of the government designate said that a joint committee will be formed bringing together representatives from the parties of the governmental coalition to draft a governmental program in line with the large-scale reforms launched in Morocco notably upgrading administration, improving services such as education, health and employment, fighting corruption and bolstering Moroccos African policy.

During the negotiations led by Benkirane, the main obstacle was admitting the USFP to the government. The RNI conditioned its participation in the new cabinet with the inclusion of three parties with minor results: the UC, the MP and the USFP. Benkirane refused to let the USFP in accusing it of sabotaging negotiations. He argued that a USFP leader was elected speaker of the Parliament and that is enough for a party with only 20 seats in parliament.

A governmental coalition between the PJD and the five parties will make up a majority of 240 seats out of 395. The PJD emerged victorious in the October 7 general elections by 125 seats followed by PAM (102), the conservative PI (46), the RNI (37), MP (27), USFP (20), UC (19) and the PPS (12).

The fragmentation of Moroccos political landscape makes no party able to win an outright majority. To secure the majority of seats, coalition between several parties is necessary, putting the distribution of ministerial portfolios on a rocky road, not to speak of compromises on the policies of the different partners in the future government.
"We will not abandon our hidden Christians who live in fear."

Religion has always fascinated - okay, obsessed - Martin Scorsese, and his deep personal connection to it, born from a strict Catholic upbringing, has spawned such powerful and controversial movies as The Last Temptation of Christ and Kundun. Religious overtones, symbolism, and allegories even permeate some of his mobster movies, so it's no surprise the Oscar-winning director would embrace Silence with such unabashed ardor. For decades, Scorsese worked with screenwriter Jay Cocks to adapt Shusako Endo's devastating tale of defiance, persecution, and spiritual exploration, and though his passion for the material is strikingly evident in almost every frame of the finished film, Silence only sporadically provokes the same response in us. Deeply personal projects occasionally become engulfed by a director's encompassing immersion in them, and Silence often falls victim to that malaise.

Which isn't to say Scorsese's epic isn't a beautiful, exotic, thought-provoking, impeccably crafted, moving, and, at times, harrowing work. It's all of those things. But Silence is also incredibly slow-paced, achingly reflective, and devoid of a driving plot that's able to fuel its 160-minute running time. Scorsese is a superior artist - that's an unequivocal fact - but the gravity of his subject and the responsibility he must have felt to perfectly realize his vision seem to weigh upon him and are reflected in the movie's presentation. Like the Catholic church, there's a stiffness to Silence that's off-putting. The somber, didactic tone and methodical narrative progression often stymie the story, as does Scorsese's obsession with the potent religious themes running through it. Silence examines the nature of spirituality with a rare and unwavering intensity, and like many esoteric undertakings, pays a price for it.

In 1637, two young Portuguese Jesuit priests, Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Garupe (Adam Driver), refuse to accept the news that their beloved mentor, Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson), denounced his faith and disappeared while promoting Christianity in Japan. The notion that someone so strong and devout could abandon everything he believes, even under the most horrific circumstances, is unfathomable to the two idealistic, headstrong priests, who quickly implore their superior to let them pursue the missing missionary and help the collapsing Christian cause in Japan. Permission is reluctantly granted, and the impressionable "army of two" embarks upon an arduous and dangerous odyssey into a hostile, foreign, and staggeringly complex culture.

Determined to quash Christianity and punish those who practice it, Japan's ruthless hierarchy ceaselessly attempts to root out the Christian underground and force its followers to commit korobu, an act requiring them to fall down, surrender, and give up their faith. The reign of terror ravages the country, and against this turbulent backdrop, Father Rodrigues and Father Garupe desperately scour the country in search of Christians, and seek to nurture and protect them. But Inquisitor Inoue (Issei Ogata) continually sabotages their tireless efforts, resulting in captivity and torture. Father Rodrigues beseeches God to intervene and end the suffering and strife, but his prayers yield only silence. And that silence slowly tortures Father Rodrigues and forces him to question God's love and God's will.

Based largely on historical events, Silence immerses us in the primitive atmosphere of 17th century Japan and allows us to discover the nation's customs and cultural idiosyncrasies along with the characters. It's a bit confusing at first, and the thick dialects make deciphering critical information difficult, but as the movie progresses we begin to assimilate, and soon develop a deeper understanding of the conflicts that divide the country. The scenes of Christian persecution are reminiscent of the barbarism that consumed many followers of the faith in ancient Rome (memorably depicted in the 1951 film Quo Vadis), and all are heartbreaking, disturbing, and uncomfortably graphic. Yet they instill in us tremendous sympathy and admiration for both the sacrifices so many were willing to make and their unwavering commitment to and belief in their religion.



At times, the incessant philosophical dialogue becomes wearing, but the excellent performances almost make it bearable. Garfield, when given worthy material, is unquestionably one of cinema's finest young actors, and his earnest, emotional, and vigorous portrayal of the anguished Father Rodrigues carries the film. Driver, in a much smaller role (and looking frighteningly gaunt), complements him well, as does the always magnetic Neeson as the elusive Father Ferreira. The part is little more than a cameo, but Neeson makes the most of it, making us wish he could have had more screen time.

Silence has all the hallmarks of a great film - a probing subject, acute insight, spectacular cinematography, and fine portrayals - but by transforming this intimate tale into a bloated epic, Scorsese dulls the movie's impact. More restraint and a tighter focus would make Silence stronger, more affecting, and more palatable to a wider audience. It's still an impressive film worthy of attention, but one that requires patience and endurance... qualities the characters possess in spades, but many contemporary viewers may not.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray

Silence arrives on Blu-ray packaged in a standard case inside a matte sleeve with raised lettering. A Digital HD redemption code is tucked inside the front cover. The video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and default audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu with music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it.
This brainfart from the Republican speaker of the house dates to 2013, not the aftermath of his failure to pass 2017's universally-loathed Obamacare replacement plan. Snopes:

WHAT'S TRUE



House Speaker Ryan said he would not give up on destroying the United States' health care system. WHAT'S FALSE



The statement was a gaffe that was taken out of context, not an actual admission of intent.  Although Ryan did say "we're not going to give up on destroying the healthcare system for the American people," this was merely a gaffe, not a statement of intent. Ryan was referring to the Affordable Care Act and his efforts to not let that law destroy the health care system.

This is fair context, but "merely a gaffe" handwaves what makes gaffes interesting. Lack of intent is not intrinsic to gaffes. Indeed, the fact gaffes tend to reveal intent is embodied by a term a journalists use for political ones to distinguish them from lesser varieties: the Kinsley Gaffe.

The first appearance in print of "Kinsley's Law of Gaffes" may have been on January 17, 2008, when Hendrik Hertzberg wrote in a post about a Democratic candidates' debate in his New Yorker blog: No article or blog post of this kind can be complete without a reference to (Michael) Kinsley's Law of Gaffes, which states that a gaffe occurs when a politician accidentally tells the truth. Perhaps this should be supplemented by the notion of a Deductive Slip, meaning something a politician says, however inadvertently, that can be shoehorned into a pre-existing "narrative."

Kinsley himself points out that in political cases, the supposed gaffe is never animated by surprise. Just as everyone knew, for example, that Rush Limbaugh had a low opinion of women before revealing it in a "gaffe," everyone already knows Paul Ryan didn't need Obamacare to become an Ayn Randian laissez-faire dork. What he is has already been established; the gaffe is haggling over the price.
Call it The Landmaid's Tale: two girls were barred from boarding a flight by a United Airlines agent Sunday, and the airline confirmed that leggings are against a dress policy it applies to people traveling on passes issued to employees and their dependents.

A United Airlines gate agent barred two girls from boarding a flight Sunday morning because the girls were wearing leggings. Another girl who was wearing gray leggings had to change before she was allowed to board the flight from Denver to Minneapolis, a witness said. "She's forcing them to change or put dresses on over leggings or they can't board," Shannon Watts, who was at a gate at Denver International Airport said on Twitter. "Since when does @united police women's clothing?"

The airline, when challenged, backed up its gate agent on Twitter.

@shannonrwatts In our Contract of Carriage, Rule 21, we do have the right to refuse transport for passengers who  https://t.co/52kRVgaCyb  United (@united) March 26, 2017

"Casual attire is allowed as long as it looks neat and is in good taste for the local environment," tweeted a United Airlines spokesperson.

The "contract" referred to turns out to be very vague indeed, specifying only that passengers must be "properly clothed."

Later, though, United Airlines said that the girls were "United pass travelers" who are "United employees or their eligible dependents standing by on a space-available basis," meaning that the company was was applying an employee policy to someone "who was denied boarding this morning because her attire didn't meet the United pass travel clothing requirements." Normal passengers' attire "doesn't need to meet the United pass travel clothing requirement," they wrote.

@levarburton who was denied boarding this morning because her attire didn't meet the United pass travel clothing requirements. ^FS (2/2)  United (@united) March 26, 2017

The girls' father boarded in shorts, according to a witness, after putting his daughters in dresses.

The airline is currently taking on all-comers on Twitter, ensuring everyone knows that its employee-related policies, however comically puritan ("Pass riders may wear  shorts that are no more than three inches above the knee"), do not apply to general boarding.

The passengers this morning were United pass riders who were not in compliance with our dress code policy for company benefit travel.  United (@united) March 26, 2017

Reminder: they're talking about little girls in leggingsand before it got its story straight, United plainly asserted that it would apply the no-leggings policy to all passengers irrespective of status on the basis of its general contract of carriage, updated Feb 17, 2017.
Trumps 2021 bestseller may be called The Art of the Shruggie. Photo: Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images

Following the spectacular failure of the American Health Care Act, its now abundantly clear that President Trumps first 100 days in office will almost certainly not include a significant legislative victory for him or the Republican Party, despite their rare control of Washington, or their repeated promises to get rid of Obamacare. Furthermore, a central, self-made myth about Trump  that he is a master deal-maker  seemed to evaporate when it came to negotiating legislation. Indeed, insider accounts suggest that Trumps deal-making style likely hurt the AHCA more than it helped, as did his seeming lack of commitment to the actual process of policy-making and governing.

Here are some of the key takeaways (and leaked bits of gossip) that have emerged in the various postmortems published since the AHCAs demise on Friday.

Trumps Lack of Effort

Despite the proclamations of Paul Ryan, Sean Spicer, and others to spin Trumps participation in the AHCA push as some impressive feat of presidential prowess, several reports indicate that Trump was mostly disengaged from the process, divided over its merits, and only involved himself at the last minute, largely out of ego.

The perception among lawmakers and White House insiders was that Trump was never personally invested in the bill, repeatedly asking aides if they thought it was good or not, typically prompted by the consistently negative media coverage of the bill that Trump was watching, according to the Washington Post. Politico adds that the oft-distracted president would also interrupt conversations about the health-care push to bring up other issues.

The Times noted on Saturday that Trump only seems to have come to the full realization that the bill required his personal effort on Wednesday, a late admission that shocked others involved in the process. Before and after that point, the president did end up conducting a lot of face-to-face meetings and making a lot of phone calls in support of the bill. He did not, however, push the bill directly to his supporters at rallies or on television, which could have helped generate some bottom-up pressure for the legislation, particularly since its Trumps base which has always intimidated his GOP opponents the most. As for the Democrats, Trump made no apparent effort to include them in the AHCA process  other than blaming them for its failure after the fact.

An unnamed top Republican who attended AHCA meetings with Trump summed up the suspicions of many to Politico:

[The White Houses] heart was not in the healthcare battle. Think about the level of intensity on the executive orders for the travel ban, or on the wiretapping claims. He certainly checked the boxes on healthcare, to his credit. But its self-evident there was not a certain level of intensity devoted to this.

In the end, Trumps efforts were too little, too late, and too lightweight to make a definitive difference, and by the time it was all over, Trump had not, as Spicer claimed on Friday, left everything on the field.

In addition, insiders told Politico that Trump seemed relieved that the short, dramatically fruitless health-care push was now over, with one White House official saying that, No bullshit, I think hes actually pretty comfortable with the outcome. He wants to move ahead and do taxes.

Trump Only Cared About Winning, Not Policy, Procedure, or Governing

Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated, Trump told a group of governors in February. A month later, when the president finally decided to embrace his role in the legislative process and try to whip up support for the AHCA bill, Trump deployed a messaging strategy that was light on substance, heavy on Trump. Rather than assuage the policy concerns of skeptical Republicans, Trump often bullied them instead, asking them how well he did in their districts and telling them how badly the bills failure might hurt them, and him, politically.

Forget about the little shit, Trump reportedly said to a group of 30 representatives who had come to the White House. Lets focus on the big picture here, and by big picture Trump meant his reputation, his agenda, and his chances at reelection.

Motivated by the desire to win, perhaps exclusively, Trump was unable to address specific policy issues when talking with members of the House GOP or conservative groups, and was just trying to play  and enjoy  the role of closer. Trump didnt know, didnt care, or both, when it came to details, according to a congressional aide who spoke with CNN. A GOP congressmember added that the president did very little to say why we should vote yes, and kept talking about his damn election.

Its not clear how detail-oriented Trumps real-estate negotiations were as a businessman, but his approach to legislative negotiation was decidedly style over substance. Reports the Post:

He cajoled and charmed uncertain members, offering flattery and attention to some and admonishment and the vague threat of political retribution to others. He invited members to the White House for bowling sessions, gave others rides on Air Force One (complete with lasagna) and grinned for pictures in the Oval Office, where he reminded lawmakers of his margins of victory in their districts.



But legislating, it turned out, was different from cutting deals to splash his name across skyscrapers.

Trumps tactics were, of course, ultimately ineffective, which isnt surprising when considering how poorly the AHCA, and Trump himself, have been faring in opinion polls. For the House Freedom Caucus  the original members of the antiestablishment GOP  messing up Republican Party plans has been a point of pride for years, and the once-dominant Trump proved no more effective at cajoling their support with concessions and threats than the establishment Republican leaders who preceded him. For vulnerable Republicans in swing districts, all the rightward concessions made the bill too risky to back, and just like that, Trump found himself stuck in the muck of a long-running party feud that almost anyone with a partial understanding of GOP politics could have anticipated.

The Post adds that some of the conservatives who stuck with their opposition to the AHCA appreciated Trumps style, but as House Freedom Caucus chair Mark Meadows said during the process, This is about policy, and were not going to make it about anything else. As it turned out, Meadows and his hardliner compatriots couldnt be taken for granted, and Meadows himself was reportedly already looking for an opportunity to prove his independence from Trump.

Furthermore, if its true that Trump is now relieved to be able to move on to tax reform, that provides yet more evidence that the new president has little understanding of what it actually takes to govern, since the failure of the AHCA is sure to linger, and the resumption of GOP infighting, even under the populist Trump, suggests more legislative friction in the future.

Language, Please

Politico reports that one of Trumps contributions to the AHCA was to tell Paul Ryan that he objected to Ryans use of the word buckets to describe parts of the plan. I dont like that word buckets. You throw trash in buckets. I dont like that word, Trump apparently told Ryan, and the Speaker subsequently started using the Trump-suggested phases instead.

Ultimately Empty Threats

As the AHCAs survival chances dropped, Trump and White House adopted a bullying tactic that was a trademark of Art of the Deal: ultimatums. The White House told representatives that if they didnt support the AHCA during this week, Obamacare would remain in place. Frustrated with the shifting demands of the House Freedom Caucus, Trump apparently told Representative Meadows on Thursday that the White Houses proposal, as it stood at that point, was the final offer, and then cut off further discussion, according to The Wall Street Journal. It didnt work.

Another threat was made, supported by Bannon, Pence, and budget director Mick Mulvaney, to push ahead with a vote under the theory that Republicans, if forced into a binary choice, would opt to support Trump and the AHCA rather than risk being seen as aligned with Democrats for Obamacare. It wasnt so much about shaming members who would vote No so much as daring them to do so, a senior administration official told CNN. That didnt work either, as Trump eventually backed down after being convinced the vote could do more harm than good during the 2018 midterm elections, as well as how he might still need the support of GOP lawmakers for other legislative pushes in the future.

Both threats essentially amounted to Trump and the White House saying: Stand with us or else, but the administration got its bluff called instead.

Said Trump, after pulling the AHCA: We all learned a lot. We learned a lot about loyalty. We learned a lot about the vote-getting process. We learned a lot about some very arcane rules in obviously both the Senate and in the House.

Bannons Failed Paternalism

Chief White House strategist Steve Bannon reportedly fought relatively hard for the AHCA, though perhaps not wholeheartedly, but some of his tactics didnt carry much weight with hard-line members of the Freedom Caucus, despite the former Breitbart executives right-wing credibility. Axioss Mike Allen reports that Bannon ordered the Caucus dissenters to support the bill during a meeting, insisting that, This is not a discussion. This is not a debate. You have no choice but to vote for this bill.

According to Allen, one congressperson apparently replied, You know, the last time someone ordered me to something, I was 18 years old. And it was my daddy. And I didnt listen to him, either.

Bannon also unsuccessfully pushed for a public, win-or-lose vote on the bill because he wanted to compile an enemies list so that the White House could identify and punish Republicans who voted against the president. Bannon undoubtedly has a perpetually revised enemies list, but his scorched-earth vote idea was vetoed by Trump.

Kushners Ski Trip

Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and supposed top advisor, spent most of last week on a family ski trip in Aspen, Colorado, with his wife Ivanka and their three kids, as well as Trumps sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, and their families. Kushner apparently never liked the AHCA, nor did his alleged White House ally, economic policy adviser Gary Cohn, but he probably should have skipped the slopes in the middle of the Trump administrations signature accomplishment attempt.



Trump was reportedly annoyed that Kushner was not at the White House during the final push for the AHCA, though the White House has since denied those reports.



Knives Out for Ryan?

According to the Breitbart set, the website is already reporting that sources in the White House and GOP want Paul Ryan gone, and they have a pile of angry anonymous quotes to back it up. Said one close to the president insider on Friday:

Speaker Ryan proved today that he does not have the best interests of the President at heart. He sold out the president and showed his word can be taken with a grain of salt. There is only one course of action that should be taken to move past this catastrophe and that is the swift removal of Paul Ryan from the speakership.

Vice-President Pence, worried about the bills flaws, reportedly urged the president to refer to the plan as Ryancare instead of Trumpcare, and thats what Breitbart has been calling the plan. (Trump didnt heed that advice and went all in on the final AHCA push.) White House officials also seem to regret that they trusted Ryan to manage so much of the AHCAs development, roll out, and marketing  and the failure of the bill may prompt the Trump administration to build more of its own legislation from now on.

This is 100 percent a Ryan failure, a White House official told Politico on Friday before the AHCA was even gone, but even if that was a consensus view within the Trump administration, its unlikely that they can successfully push future legislative efforts in the middle of a White Housesupported leadership fight.

Trump apparently spoke with Ryan for an hour on Saturday, but didnt send the most supportive signal when he coincidentally promoted a broadcast of Judge Jeanine Pirros show on Fox News during which Pirro called for Ryan to resign in a brutal opening monologue.

Knives Out for Priebus?

The Times reported Saturday that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, a close ally and friend of Ryan, had become a primary target of Trumps discontent, according to sources familiar with Trumps latest discussions. A CNN source claims that Trump seemed more upset with his own staff for allowing him to support the AHCA than he was with external players. Priebus, the former head of the RNC, apparently helped convince Trump to back the bill.

Priebus has survived previous anonymous disparagement from within the Trump administration, but Trump may decide he needs to make an example of someone following the embarrassing AHCA failure, and he cant exactly fire the speaker of the House.



Preibus, responding to the Times story during a Fox News appearance on Sunday, denied that he was in trouble.

Blame Early, Blame Democrats

Trump quickly realized what was at stake from the failed AHCA gambit, and was already on the phone to reporters trying to control the bad story before everyone had even realized the bill was dead.



He also quickly decided whose fault it was that he and the Republican-controlled Congress were suddenly unable to govern: Democrats. Despite the fact that it was the president and Republicans who opted against trying to negotiate a compromise bill with Democratic lawmakers, as of Friday they were the monsters in the closet, even without President Obama at the helm or much measurable power in D.C. The Times reports that Trump was advised that this argument was nonsensical, but he went ahead with it anyway.

This post has been updated to reflect additional insight and news reported over the weekend.
Travis Kalanick and Gabi Holzwarth. Photo: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Google

Looks like former Uber president Jeff Jones quit just in time to avoid the latest scandal to hit the Silicon Valley moneymaker. Professional violinist Gabi Holzwarth, the ex-girlfriend of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, told the Information that in 2014 she accompanied Kalanick and five Uber employees to an escort-karaoke bar in Seoul, South Korea. Four of the men present  including executive Emil Michael  picked a woman by number to sit with. The outing resulted in a complaint to human resources a year later by one of the female employees present, according to Holzwarth. The Information reports that Holzwarth discussed the complaint with Kalanick and separately with the woman via instant message.

Engadget reports:

[I]n the last month Michael contacted Holzwarth in an attempt to stop the trip from becoming public knowledge, telling her to simply say they went to karaoke and had a good time. His statement, which is quoted in the article, reads: Given the intense news cycle I thought it was the right thing to do to reach out and let her know that reporters may try to contact her directly. I have known her for a long time, consider her a friend and did not want her to be taken by surprise. Her recollection of this conversation was different from mine and I am very sorry if the purpose of my call was misunderstood.

Uber stated in response, This all happened about three years ago and was previously reported to human resources. In early March it was referred to Eric Holder and Tammy Albarran as part of their review.

In February, a former Uber engineer wrote extensively about her experiences working for the company, describing a dysfunctional environment where sexual harassment was ignored and covered up by managers and HR.
when i graduate i wanna re-read the unbearable lightness of being



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lol I hate this book. It's like a fav of liberal fuckboys.

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it's a kill bill siren book. if a dude says it's his favorite it's time to evacuate yourself.

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oh my god, yes.

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this is so true, lol

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Lol, I wanted to read it; should I not bother?

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I liked the book but yeah you're right

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Weirdly the only one of them I've read is to kill a mockingbird and this list has kinda pushed me to pick up some of the rest lol! Kind of an odd thing to admit on here given that i have a master's in English literature but there you go i guess.



Edited at 2017-03-26 08:30 am (UTC)

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Not that odd. I have a Master's in English and only one of those read at uni was The God of Small Things. Then again, the courses I took centered around either Black American literature, Aboriginal literature or Maori literature

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what book(s) are y'all reading rn?? i just started electroboy (a memoir rec'd by maria bamford lol) while i wait for my others 2 be ready~

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I just finished I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and started Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia Butler. Also chugging away through a book called Ada Blackjack, about an Inuit Alaskan woman who becomes the only survivor of an Arctic expedition to settle the Wrangel Island.

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just finished The Patriots by Sana Krasikov, a family saga in russia. liked it a lot

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I'm reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, absolutely loving it.



Edited at 2017-03-26 12:58 am (UTC)

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Still reading Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw. Still very eh about it. It's alright, but I won't go out of my way to recommend it.



I just bought some books today, and I have a ton of books on my TBR shelf. I need to stop buying them :(

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arabella by georgette heyer. it's hilarious

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the underground railroad & reviving ophelia: saving the selves of adolescent girls

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Just finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and currently reading The Tale of Genji.

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Modern Romance by Aziz Anzari

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Just started Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston.

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Just picked up You by Caroline Kepnes

Summary: Thriller of the year' Daily.Mail When aspiring writer Guinevere Beck strides into the bookstore where Joe works he is instantly smitten. Beck is everything Joe has ever wanted: tough, razor-smart and sexier than his wildest dreams. He'd kill to have her. Soon Beck can't resist her feelings for a guy who seems custom made for her. When a string of macabre incidents tears her world apart there is only one person she can turn to. But there's more to Joe than Beck realises and much more to Beck than her perfect facade. The obsessive relationship quickly spirals into a whirlwind of deadly consequences... A chilling account of unrelenting, terrifying deceit, Caroline Kepnes' You is a thriller more perversely clever and dangerously twisted than any YOU have ever read.



I haven't started it yet, but my sister said it's creepy af.

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I just finished My Age of Anxiety. I'm reading Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America. I'll finish that book by the end of this week :)

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I'm about to start A Gathering of Shadows after finishing A Darker Shade of Magic

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the second neopolitan novel, the story of a new name. it's been a while since i read the last one so i'm still in the "who are all you people?" stage

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I'm in the middle of The Feast of All Saints. Hoping to start Crazy Rich Asians after I finish it.

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just finished margaret atwood's 'the heart goes last' today and it was not as compelling as her other books tbh... considering my next read now

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Just finished Crime and Punishment and I'm about to start reading The Zookeeper's Wife (I want to finish it before I see the movie).

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The Land of Green Plums by Herta Muller

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I'm reading the final volume of iZombie and rereading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!

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yes, i'm still reading up from slavery. i really want to read corrigedora next.

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I'm in the middle of the Rogue One novelisation



I kind of like it but can't regard it as anything more than glorified fan fiction

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I just started The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman last night, which is about the world of female bare knuckle boxers in the early 19th century. I also just finished The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth which I loved.

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Tibetan Peach Pie by Tom Robbins <3

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American Gods. Pretty good so far! I'm still in the beginning.

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'Please Look After Mom' by Shin Kyung-sook

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I just finished 1984 actually lol



RN I'm reading The Goldfinch and I'm not sure if the copy I "bought" is like the original or what but there are SO any mistakes. Like it needs a good edit, the semicolons and commas and at one point the mains name is spelled wrong?! Am I going crazy or is this the actual book cause it's so distracting (since I want to be an editor lol)

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I finally got around to reading Slaughterhouse-Five (though I guess I should immediately re-read it now), I'm also about to finish Perdido Street Station, The Good Immigrant, The Descent of Man, Catalyst (a Star Wars thing), and Mary Beard's SPQR. I also just picked up a short story by H G Wells called The Sea Raiders and Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology which I'm about to start. I didn't realise I had so many books on the go, actually...

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Just finished reading the final Fitz and the Fool book, Assassins Fate, by Robin Hobb. It was so sad, so beautiful, so bittersweet. I recommend it and it made my respect for books one and true for the trilogy a bit more justified.

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Recently finished 'Sofia Khan is Not Obliged' and started 'The Handmaid's Tale.'

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I just started Girl on the Train. I've heard reviews all over the place about it so I decided to just read it so I can watch the movie already (I really love Emily Blunt). I'm not disliking it so far so that's a good start, but it is a little slow.



I also just bought Ru. Haven't started reading it but really looking forward to it. I'm trying to just do one book at a time since I usually read a bunch at once and it takes me forever to finish them all (the life of an English major who also wants to read for fun?).

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Code Name Verity

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omg I loved that book

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I got a little paranoid when I read 1984. I don't want to read it again.

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I just read The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Anybody else read it? Now I'm reading I'm Judging You by Luvvie Ajayi. I had to put down Dark Money by Jane Mayer after the inauguration because it was making me too mad.

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The Hate U Give, was it intense? I bought it and I'm meaning to read it but I keep putting ot off because I feel like it's going to be intense and I have to be in the mood to read it.

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I would say yes. It made me angry because I know this shit is actually happening. I usually don't get too emotional when I read books but I did cry at the ending. However - it was really good and a quick read because I wanted to know what happened.

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I didn't get to finish The Mothers bc I ran out of chances to renew it lmao. Bloop. I want to read 1984.

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I think I wanna reread Woyzeck at some point. In school I found it complicated and confusing, but I really liked it in theater. Also I wish I could see the version with John Boyega.



Right now I am reading the Autobiography of Malcom X. Love it so far.

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+ Fahrenheit 451

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I wanted that for my birthday and got it. I'll have to wait until summer to read it though, but I'm looking forward to it.



I've only ever read Sound of Thunder which I have because I teach a Future Visions theme and include that

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i've been meaning to reread 1984 for a while now...idk why they make you read books like that in middle school when most of the content is gonna go over your head.



also to kill a mockingbird is awful and overrated af.



Edited at 2017-03-26 12:16 am (UTC)

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let me rephrase: i ~got it (and i did skim some of it lol), but i would've appreciated it more reading it as an adult, or at least in college. tbh i barely even remember anything from it besides the overall concept, and the terms double think and double speak.

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IA kids are smarter than people give them credit for

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i hated 1984 in hs because of the misogyny. the part where the protag imagines graphically raping his love interest in the beginning...yikes.

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I must be really naive, but at the end of high school I heard from a lot of my classmates (we were in Honors English classes, mind you) that they almost never read the assigned the books for English and just read the Sparknotes...because I was *SHOCKED*. lol





...and then I went to college and didn't always do the reading for undergrad....oop

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I just re-read 1984 this past January. The misogyny was too much for me.

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This. Personally I found it really dry in high school. Which doesn't surprise me considering my leisure books would've been Harry Potter etc.

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I think all socioeconomic/racial/sexist themes in the books I had to read in secondary school went over my head. It might be different for teens now because they're exposed to much more stuff online but back then I didn't know shit during my sheltered surburban upbringing.

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ita about both your points. I didn't have to read 1984 in school, but I tried to read it on my own ad it just flew over my head and I didn't really like it.



And YAS at To Kill a Mockingbird. idk why anyone stans for it. It sucks and is overrated. Everyone gives me shit for saying that, but come at me bro.

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Mockingbird the only book on this list that we were made to read at school and i did not get into it at all.

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I'm waiting on an Amazon order with two books, one is Sophie kinsella's new one off book, I normally like her non shopaholic books except the last one wedding nights or something was awful I never finished it, hope this one is better



And then some book I can't remember but someone on ontd said if I like the movie labyrinth I would like this book so I'm taking a chance on that!

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it's called My Not So Perfect Life



I haven't read it yet but I suspect it's going to be a kind of millennial everyone is living this perfect life but I'm not kind of thing and then she realizes that's how everyone feels, BUT I'm totally just guessing based off the cover/title I could be way off lol

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shopaholic is so frustrating. she never learns.



I really like Can You Keep a Secret. I havent read her other ones. I'll check them out.

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omg i love labyrinth. maybe i should check that out..

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Omg I want to know what the other book is! Sounds like something I would love too

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sis, we need the name of the other book! you got us hooked

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Hm, when I read God of Small Things I could very much tell it was Roy's first novel. Some of the way she would write things was very annoying.

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I re-read 1984 last month as part of a reading list that came out after Agent Orange's inauguration. I wept for like two days after. Not only does love not exist, the government is a giant mindfuck.



I picked up a few books for the WHM list. Nectar in a Sieve and The Bluest Eyes. I hope to get through at least one tomorrow.

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I'm a big ol' hopeless romantic, so it was particularly devastating to me that ~true love~ didn't win after all that he went through.

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lol I read it 1984 bc of our future being very close to it too. I was hoping there would be a hopeful message in it (I hadn't read it before) and fuck my dreams were dashed.

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I wanted to like Slaughterhouse Five but I could not get into it.

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I didn't particularly like it when I was reading it but it haunted me for like two weeks after I'd finished it

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my credit score is 720. I got my first card at 18.

I have a lot of credit card debt but I'm working on getting it down.

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Similar to me. I got my first card my first year of college. I wracked up a ton on it over the years as they kept upping my limit. I think the highest I ever got was around $13,000. I finally started making some money and started actually being stringent with my spending and was finally able to pay it all off last month (after 20 years). Unfortunately I had to put $1500 back on it to fix my car but I should be back to a zero balance in a month or so. My credit score is now around 800 but it has taken me a LONG time to get here.

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I somehow have ten grand which going nowhere this lifetime. La la la...

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that's a good idea

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lol ikr

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I wish I had known in my early 20's that there was no use spending money in order imitate other people's lifestyles. Learning how to be happy with what I have and not compare myself to others was my biggest money lesson.

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my mom always says, just because people are spending money doesn't mean they actually have it. she said that one lesson she learned once she was older was that in really talking to people, she found a lot of them didn't mind being in legit debt in order to make certain (unnecessary) purchases. it's good to not make your own financial decisions just because other people justify it to themselves.

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thats an extremely good lesson, damn.

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yep

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i'm trying to learn this lesson now :/

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Credit cards are great if you manage them well and you know how to maximize the points structure. I have like...a nearly $100,000 line of credit (that I will never use), and just knowing what cards to use for what have netted me enough points to buy multiple tickets to different countries.



Also I love AMEX.

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yaass amex. I've had a green card for 13 years.

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I have an AMEX and I feel like i am not using it to its potential since my air points are so low even though I use it for practically everything.

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Is it a gold / platinum?

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Damn sis teach me

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what's the advantage with AMEX? in my country it's not accepted at a lot of places; Visa and Mastercard are they only cards everyone will accept

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What Amex card do you have?

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Hooooowwww? I have a top tier credit score, but I probably only get like ~$400/year in rewards.

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I worked for Amex, hated it there. But I love the cards. They would literally do everything for you. I lost my wallet overseas once and one call and I was able to get a travellers check from the hotel concierge.

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Exactly! I do this and it has paid for SO MANY TRIPS. Just got back from Cabo. I used British Airways points to book the flights, Citi Prestige airline credit to pay the taxes, and Hyatt points to pay for the room.



You have to be responsible and stay on top of your shit to fuck with credit cards, but it is perfect for me, a detail-oriented unemployed person.

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Lmao. You must be rich asf. I always thought Amex is some fancy cc or shit like that lmao

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Shit I actually have an unopened mail from AMEX to sign up for one, I usually shred them but now you're making me think haha



(might wait till I get a new job though)

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I love my AMEX gold, it has done me well lol. I'm not sure I could ever pay the platinum fee even though the travel perks sound great (for a frequent traveler).

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i love amex for the pre-sale concert tickets lol, especially because in canada where it's not as popular as visa/mc

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i use a debit card bc im impulsive and bad with money and i would probably end up in debt with a cc lol. i do worry about how im going to build my credit. im only 21 so it doesnt really matter for a few years i guess

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omg are you me. i'm 20 and the thought of a cc is so scary to me bc im reckless with money

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I was like that in my early 20s. I didn't get my first credit card until I was like 27-28. After I bought my condo lol. I just pay it off every month and it's fine. Plus you get cash back unlike your debit card.

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lol I was the same way bb don't worry.

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lol i recommend the capital one secured card. it has a limit of like $200 so i just use it for gas.

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my credit score is soooo bad lol. i have like $3k in credit card debt. i just try not to think about it and pay it off slowly what can ya do

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i don't got one

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That's probably for the best.

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ok well that was rude

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I don't have one either

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Me too omg I don't know if I should care that much or shame myself for it. Maybe a little both? 

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I have one but it's not activated. So i basically don't have it lmao

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same. i never really understood the point of spending on it then paying it off... instead of just using a debit card instead? i paid off my car, have been renting for a decade. i don't even know if i can qualify for one or if i'd have to get a secured one. getting on that soon though but the whole credit mindset is so weird to me. aside from a huge purchase like a house or car, i'd rather save up and buy something upfront.

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I'm probably gonna end up like him then, bc I don't understand a thing about it I just know it's very easy to get in debt by having one?

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it's only easy if you're irresponsible. the worst thing you can do is think of it as free money. i only use it to buy things that i have money for so i can pay it off instantly (unless absolutely necessary and then just make sure to pay your monthly minimum and try to pay it off as quickly as possible to avoid interest)

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One thing to do is to use it only to pay for things you're going to pay for anyway. Like rent (although you might get fees for that, so double check first) and groceries. I use my debit card still for groceries lol because I almost always need cash back, but yeah it's not a bad way to go about it. A lot of them also have autopay direct from your bank account every month. You just gotta keep track of it.



My CC is through my bank so I can transfer money super easily from my dashboard.

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Why put rent on a credit card? You have to pay interest on that...



ETA: If you don't pay it off when the statement comes, anyway. Still don't see much reason to put it on a credit card, though, unless you have to use money orders to pay rent otherwise...



Edited at 2017-03-26 08:06 am (UTC)

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Same sis, and also I feel like it's not thatttttttttt common here unless you literally need extra money you don't have? But I think young people if they live within their means most of the time don't get them here, and don't see the need to.



I'm like 30 now and I only recently started thinking about this whole 'credit score' situation like wtf is going on with that whole kettle of fish.



My best friend is 34 and has two houses and a stable uni admin job, and SHE has credit cards and is all financially savvy (but also has student debt and a mortgage etc).... whereas i've just flip-flopped from one degree to the next, always got grants and funding somewhere somehow, thankfully never had a loan, and just lived off grant money and also job money on my debit card.



I'm now realising that this credit score thing is something we supposedly need for adult concerns?



HmmmmmmmmT (halp).

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All I've ever heard is how easy it is to go into debt with one so like Lin I've been too paranoid to get one, lol

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Only if you spend more than you have. Think of it as money coming out of your checking account (which it will eventually) instead of out of your credit limit and that will help a lot.

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In the EU you get extra protection on purchases if you buy using a credit card, like if the company you bought from goes bust without you receiving anything you can claim it back from the CC company.

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Just don't ever buy anything you can't afford to begin with. I buy literally everything--all my day to day stuff-- I purchase on credit. I also pay the entire balance off every month, no exceptions.



I've got great credit. And accumulate enough point to fly for free most of the time.



But hey start small. Get a gas card or the likes. Just always always always pay it off to avoid the interest accumulating.

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What I've done in the more recent past, when I got my shit together, was I bought myself a sweet purse that was expensive but I paid a little every week and paid it off in a month. That can get tricky if you get something too expensive but it worked for me.

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I got my first credit card at like 19. I never really had a problem taking "advantage" of it. I just looked at it as money still coming out of my wallet.



My credit score is like 750.

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When I was like 18 it felt like free money but now that I'm financially independent I get all these credit card offers in the mail for big credit limits and I'm like k but I just have to pay it back sooo nah I'm good

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I got an offer for a blackcard and I was so excited and was like "I made it in life!" lol then I saw what you have to spend on a monthly/yearly basis....and i was no thanks.

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can you please link me the chicago ham bootleg?

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omg can you send me the chiham one?!

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Late but omg BEGGING for a link <3

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late but could i get one too please?

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Credit Karma sis.

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is that actually legit?

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capital one has their own credit checker and it's free. credit wise.

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credit cards are great for the rewards as long as you dont spend more than what you have. otherwise its just like getting rewards for spending your own money. treat it like a debit card. apply for college credit card if you can. cuz it is harder for people to get it later on in life. im 25 and help friends over the past few years learn more about credit cards.

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One user here was talking about needing to spend like thousands of dollars to get some reward bonus and it's like sis that's not how you should use a credit card you don't LOOK for extra things to buy



Anyway if that user reads this I'm not talking about you I'm talking about someone else 

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The only time I've done that is when I have had 0% Apr on a cc and needed to spend a certain amount to reach my bonus 

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ah must be like travel rewards cards huh. usually its those where its like spend $4k in 3 mo and get $600 worth in travel points. i see it as, sure, get it to get the bonus - but dont manufacturer purchases you wouldnt usually do like you said. cuz thats def a slippery slope of making frivolous purchases.

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i have three cc & im 21 (redcard, wells fargo & discover)

got my first one at 18, & my credit score went to shit after i started paying my tuition with my discover card

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I was 18 and I pretended it was a debit card. I still pretend my credit card is a debit card at age 30. My credit score is flawless now. It helped that I have a father who's financially literate and taught me both how to build credit and how to spend within my means. I owe a lot to him when it comes to my financial health.

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Same. My dad instilled in me to live within my means and pay it off every month. At one point I had three cc but made sure to only use them when needed. My score is pretty great at the moment.

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I'm the same way. Paying interest when you have the money to pay the whole thing is wasteful. I only use credit cards for the perks.

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Same! Helpful dad's for the win

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hahahaha AHAHAHAHA

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I thought liberals had a free speech issue? Also love how none of the mainstream Russian news sites including RT are covering the massive protests in Russia.



Also, WHY THE FUCK IS HUMA ABEDIN GIVING WEINER ANOTHER CHANCE? Why? why? por que?



Edited at 2017-03-26 06:41 pm (UTC)

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Huma is a mess. I had a lot a of compassion and understanding for her before but after he literally helped tank Hillarys campaign AND creeped on an underage girl, shes own her own. How pathetic can you be?

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Yeah, I am getting to the point where I am running out of fucks to give. She is an attractive woman who can do so so so much better than that fucking creep.

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oh god she is... nooo Huma. NOOOO!!!

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Huma needs to love herself, omg.

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omg she is? what the fuck?????

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she needs to love herself :/ #SaveHuma

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Huma is pathetic. She stayed with him through his scandal in office then again AFTER the FBI investigation with the teen girl! I don't feel sorry for her at all.

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At this point Weiner would have to murder someone in front of her face for her to say okay this is it.



Like GIRL LOVE YASELF.

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True story: I saw Huma and Weiner with their child in Union Square NYC a few years ago and Weiner had a wandering eye. He checked me out in Huma's presence. I felt sorry for Huma that she married a dog. It seems like she loves him a lot and I am not surprised that she is back with him (if the story is real...).

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Also, WHY THE FUCK IS HUMA ABEDIN GIVING WEINER ANOTHER CHANCE? Why? why? por que?



she what. why. I didn't know that. =_________=

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Too sad. Too tragic. MESS

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God, you're right. Changes to driver's license requirements are front page news and the protests aren't, apparently. I shouldn't be surprised, but that's still kind of nuts.

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She's so orange looking

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That's just residue from kissing up to President Cheeto.

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lmao

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lmaoo perfect

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omg

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bless

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lmao

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Reba's filming a new pilot at the church where I take singing lessons, and I keep hoping I'll bump into her...

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Lol I would ask her FOR singing lessons lol. She's my singing idol

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lmao I was not expecting a Reba gif

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hahahaha

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Very appropriate

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I'M DEAD





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Yaaas let me get my Reba diary

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i caaaaan't



lmaoooooooo

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this gif is fucking killing me omw



stan ha!!!

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Whatever. Not here for people seizing on her doing the absolute least and trying to make her their little right-wing feminist hero like they tried with Megyn Kelly and Ivanka before her.



This also feels contrived.

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The people that are forgiving her are nuts. And must be white feminists too. Like shes still awful, sexist and racist.

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Lmaoo I saw tweets saying I respect her now and I stand with her now.



White feminists are only here for WHITE women so it's predictable that a lot of them are standing with someone who's anti-LGBTQ, anti-Muslim anti-Black, anti-immigrants basically anti anyone who isn't white and straight. I wouldn't be surprised if next MSNBC or better yet the View hires her because we all need "different view points"

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Of course, they're white feminists. She dogged people of different races and backgrounds, even though I'm not like the,? No problem. She stands for the same things I do and looks like me? I'm so sorry Tomi. I forgive you! I welcome you back into the fold!



And you know those same twerps who are being all forgiving of this brat are the ones who went to the women's march and made a big hoopla about being for all women...so long as it's other white women.

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https://www.theodysseyonline.com/an-apology-to-tomi-lahren



:/



(Love how the comments are going in.) :/(Love how the comments are going in.)

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Are people really doing this though? Have I surrounded myself with so many petty assholes that I can't see the acceptance for her forming behind my circle of gleeful gigglers?

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Ikr. Like so what? She's not garbage on one issue. What about everything else?

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Yeah, I'm not giving her any credit for having the bare-minimum self-awareness to admit that it's hypocritical to be "small government!!11" but okay with government controlling a woman's uterus and medical decisions. You don't have to be some women's rights crusader to realize that, just capable of logical consistency.



I don't think she was taking any kind of principled stand, either, I think she was just doing her "well ACTUALLY" style of "debating" and saying whatever sounds good at the time to keep the (perceived) high ground in the discussion. She just didn't realize how it would blow up.



Edited at 2017-03-26 11:57 pm (UTC)

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whoop

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omg

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Seth Abramson is fucking dumbass, though. I'd think twice before taking his word for anything.

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he might have seen the writing on the wall and decided to flip on Trump to avoid a polonium cocktail.



I hope so!!

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i've been hearing about this for a few days and i'm dripping wet at the prospect

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He had another interesting twitter thread but he didn't specify the source.



Here's hoping shit hits the fan and soon.

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This has gone from "OMG, the world is fucked" to "OMG, this is the best political show ever" to then realise this is actual real life and get depressed all over again.

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She said her sources speculated that based on how quiet he's been. She then backtracked on Facebook. It's not based on anything unfortunately.

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ITS ABOUT TO GO DOWN

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i predicted this. flynn would squeal on someone to save his own ass.

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lmao I watched that tweetstorm in real time yesterday and it was amazing. It's all still rumor and speculation but still.

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Bless !!!

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her insta is so fucking extra like "I'm ok" " #TomiStrong " bitch is the specialist of triggered snowflakes

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lol what a loser

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well now that she is jobless, if she needs mental health care thank god the ACA is still in effect.

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i like how her latest images are like "back to being a ho. back to the old me"

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lmao

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i thought she wasn't a ~victim.

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omfggggg that hashtag

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OMFG at that hashtag.

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i really cannot give two shits about this



esp if this is their way of transitioning her stupid ass to mainstream media outlets

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I feel as badly for her as I did Milo.



HAHAHAHAHAHAHA BYE.

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whatever pays her bills. this ayran princess thing was just a way for her to cash in

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Gotta pay those bills somehow.

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Worked for Meagan McCain for the hottest of seconds.

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I'm sure fox will take her and news orgs will still continue to book her for panel discussions. Everyone involved is trash.

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ugh, don't even put that out there cuz i can already see it happening, smdh

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Italian oil company Eni drilled the first well by an international oil company in Mexican waters, and on March 23 they said the well indicated a meaningful volume of oil.

The discovery was not entirely a surprise, given that state-owned Mexican oil company Pemex had already explored the area in the past. For more than seven decades, Pemex was the sole owner and operator of Mexicos energy assets, but that all changed in 2013 with a monumental liberalization by the Mexican government. The energy reform package ended Pemexs monopoly and the privatization effort was intended to attract international companies that could bring in capital and drilling expertise.

Enis latest announcement will provide a boost to supporters of the liberalization. Eni says that the results from the Amoca-2 well indicate that there is more oil than Pemex originally estimated.

The result will also surely spark more interest in Mexicos oil reserves, perhaps attracting more companies to bid in the upcoming June auction for offshore acreage. Eni drilled in the Campeche Bay, where some of Mexicos most prolific oil fields are located. In particular, two offshore fields  Ku-Maloob-Zaap (KMZ) and Cantarell  produce nearly half of Mexicos oil. Cantarell used to be one of the largest oil fields in the world, peaking at 2.1 million barrels per day in 2004. But falling reservoir pressure forced the field into rapid decline, with output from the field now standing at roughly 200,000 bpd. Related: Saudis Bet Big On Houston As Drilling Activity Picks Up

(Click to enlarge)

But that does not mean that Mexicos offshore is played out. Enis discovery, Mexicos government hopes, is the first of many more. Enis well was drilled in just 25 meters of water, but the upward revision on the reserve estimates will grab the attention of the industry. [The discovery] is 7-8km from the shore and 20-30km from Pemex [infrastructure] facilities so if we need to accelerate [development], I think it can be done very quickly, Enis CEO Claudio Descalzi told the FT. We want to go fast . . . its reasonable to think that in a couple of years, three years, we could start production. There is a lot more acreage in deeper waters that have not been explored yet, which will put a lot of attention on the June auction.

However, just as Mexicos energy reform appears to be bearing fruit, there are some clouds of uncertainty starting to form around the investment climate. President Trump might imperil energy investments in Mexicos offshore sector  ironic for the unabashedly pro-oil president. That is because Trumps anti-Mexico rhetoric  calls for a crackdown on immigration and the construction of a border wall  is sparking anti-Trump sentiment south of the border. Trumps call for Mexico to pay for the wall is a humiliating demand that could never be agreed to by any leader, and it has Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto plunging in the polls, posting a shocking 12 percent approval rating. Related: PetroChina Mulls $85 Billion Spinoff

Consequently, a rival politician, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a brash leftist who closely lost the 2006 presidential election, is surging in the polls on his anti-Trump rhetoric. He is the leading candidate right now for the 2018 election.

Crucial for the oil and gas industry is Obradors pledge to hold a public referendum on the 2013 energy reform laws, which is what has allowed companies like Eni and other oil majors to gain access to Mexicos reserves in the first place. Obrador says he would not nationalize the assets, but would allow the people to vote on the issue in a national referendum. If the public votes against the energy reform, he would turn to international courts and other legal means to roll back the privatization effort. If the people support the energy reform, on the other hand, Obrador pledged to accept the result and work to attract international investment.

Obradors election, then, wouldnt present a mortal threat to oil and gas investments. With falling production  down to 2.5 million barrels per day currently from a peak of 3.85 mb/d in 2004  Obrador seems to recognize that international companies will be needed to reverse the decline. You cant move Mexico forward only with public investment, he told Bloomberg in mid-March. You need to crank up the three motors of the economy: public sector, private sector, social sector. He did not specify what that arrangement might look like.

But a shift from the current government to one more confrontational with the U.S. and towards Mexicos own energy reforms would certainly complicate the calculation for companies considering spending hundreds of millions of dollars.

For now, however, Enis latest discovery will likely lead to more interest in Mexicos June auction.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Climate change may not be a significant factor in the decision-making processes of the United States government, according to the White House. As per a directive signed by President Donald Trump, decisions concerning anything from appliance standards to pipeline approvals will be made without considering climate change as largely as has been done in the past.

This directive extends above and beyond the promise made to remove the regulations implemented by the Obama administration. Those measures, such as the blocking of coal leasing and efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses, are likely to be repealed by the White House, as has been discussed for months.

But this directive is much broader. The goal is specifically to reverse the approach taken by President Obama to address climate change. For example, the Obama Administration ordered government agencies to consider climate change in all environmental reviews.

Take, for instance, the Keystone XL pipeline. Any proposal similar to the pipeline was looked at through the lens of climate change. The order from the President Trump will also include a thorough review of the social cost of carbon, a metric that supposedly estimates the economic cost of climate change. This metric was coined by the Obama administration, and was promptly used to justify its many regulatory reforms.

Unsurprisingly, fuel-oriented advocacy groups are excited about these comprehensive and broad directives. These groups argue that the regulations set forth by President Obama made it difficult to utilize coal, oil, and natural gas, which harms American competitiveness on the global market. Related: The Upcoming Surge In U.S. Oil Demand Explained In One Chart

Environmentalists, however, argue that the United States has set an international precedent concerning how to deal with climate change and carbon emissions. The leadership of the Obama Administration has encouraged other countries to follow suit. The reversal by President Trump threatens all that progress.

And the international concerns do not stop there. Scientists from the United Kingdom have voiced concerns that Trumps plan could hamper their research significantly. The U.K. relies on international coordination to progress their agenda. Moreover, climate change analysts in the U.K. rely on U.S. satellite data, which could potentially be cut under this proposal.

Despite refusal from White House staff to elaborate on the plan at this time, it is clear that the directive will enforce policy changes to aid in coal extraction and incentivize its burning.

For example, the directive will undo the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency rule that demanded states reduce their use of coal-fired electricity. The same is true for an order from the former administration that blocks new coal-mining rights on federal lands from being sold to producers.

The repeal would also include the end of regulations that limit emissions of methane from the oil industry  specifically regulations that targeted the curtailing of greenhouse gas. Related: Energy Market Deregulation: Be Careful What You Wish For

The President hopes to make good on his promise to reduce the job-killing regulations by enforcing these policy changes, specifically those regulations that cost coal miners their jobs. Indeed, the support of these blue collar workers is what helped drive him to victory. However, analysts and pundits have criticized his actions, citing the fact that the changes will not have any impact on mining jobs, nor will it make coal more prominent.

Moreover, coal producers showed little interest in adding federal coal reserves to their platforms even before President Obama imposed the moratorium. The fact is that utilities have been increasingly turning towards natural gas and away from coal for a while.

However, the repeal by President Trump could put a pause on coals decline  this in turn would hinder growth prospects for natural gas. Whether or not the new administration goes through with this repeal remains to be seen.

By Michael McDonald for Oilprice.com

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